#bird motifs are so important to me actually

[schro4444]

something about white doves and black feathers

#the vibes are dramatic rn #consider this an art experiment lol #bird motifs are so important to me actually #dcmk #magic kaito #detective conan #kuroba kaito #kaitou kid #dc #mk #schroodles

[runwayrunway]

No. 52 - Alaska Airlines Xáat Kwáani and Salmon-Thirty-Salmon Liveries

Did you think I was done with Alaska Airlines?

No, this is actually my last post about them for now (though, mark my words, you will be seeing a post about the Gold Nugget Jet in the not-too-distant future - I just feel like we need a break from nothing but consecutive posts about the same airline, and I have other things I want to cover). But it's something that's both requested and which I've wanted to talk about for some time.

In my last post I discussed the identity of the man on the Alaska Airlines tailfin. It wasn't a major part of the story, only taking up a small piece, but I did touch on how ChatGPT apparently will lie when asked about the background of the livery. Not only does it falsely attribute the livery to Fred Kabotie, who I'm sure had more important things to do, but it also falsely claims Fred Kabotie, who was Hopi, to be Tlingit. As it turns out, though, Alaska Airlines does have a livery designed by a Tlingit artist.

image: Brandon Farris

Crystal Kaakeeyáa Rose Demientieff Worl is a Tlingit artist known for large public artwork which heavily incorporates indigenous artistic traditions and visual motifs across many mediums. Some of her previous work includes large-scale murals in Alaska and throughout the world and guardrail panels at Juneau International Airport. She feels like the most natural choice possible to design an airliner livery, given the scale and diverse canvases she works with, and in May of this year the airplane you can see looming behind her was unveiled in a brand new livery that I, and a lot of other people, immediately fell in love with.

It's safe to say that this is one of the most ambitious and unique special liveries out there. Xáat Kwáani (which means 'salmon people' in Tlingit) is a beautiful and one-of-a-kind take on the often-noticed resemblance airplanes have to fish.

Salmon fishing is huge in Alaska, both now and historically. Today fishing is a major part of the Alaskan economy and something many people making a living off, but historically they were even more directly responsible for making the difference between life and death for those who lived beside them. A major source of food, they were literally life-bringing to indigenous societies, necessary to survival. Humans and salmon were part of the same ecosystem.

Independent of this fact, airplanes seem to lend themselves to comparisons to sea creatures. They may be called 'birds', but time and time again other people confirm that I'm not just imagining it, they do distinctly look like cetaceans and fish. Very early on in this blog the fact that 747s look like Humphead Wrasse was discussed. Amakusa Airlines, Japan Transocean Air, and Southwest Airlines have all leaned into this fish resemblance, and I'm sure over time my sea creature plane tag will continue to grow. This genre of livery will never cease to delight me.

I think it's fairly predictable that I always loved N559AS, the brilliantly named salmon-thirty-salmon plane. I was devastated when I learned that the livery was going to be removed. I mean...just look at her.

The salmon-thirty-salmon was a very unconventional take on the fish-plane, using a much more realistic drawing than any other attempt. It doesn't even try to transform the plane itself into the fish, which I think is potentially a smart way of accepting the limits of doing so. Instead, it fully displays the honestly hilarious and adorable face that salmon have while providing a nice canvas, a bit of water for the salmon to be carried on. At the same time it incorporates thoughtful details like the scales on the interior winglets, and the way the salmon's body is aligned with the empennage and nose feels very precisely done. It can create a somewhat uncanny doubling effect from a few angles, but by no means is it enough to rob the livery of its charm or elegance.

The salmon-thirty-salmon gets an A.

I've lived near the ocean my whole life. I love fish. I loved this plane. I was heartbroken when I learned the livery was going to serve its final milk run before rolling into the hangar for the very last time, coming out repainted and lost forever. It's always a bitter pill to swallow when airlines retire special liveries, particularly when it involves the plane being repainted into the standard colors. A lot of other people were sad to see this design go too.

What we didn't know was that this was not the end of the salmon-thirty-salmon. She was not lost, but transformed. When she emerged from the hangar again she was not wearing Alaska Airlines' default colors but something even more eye-catching, a livery honoring the same fish but with extra layers of meaning added by means of an intricate and beautiful new design.

Costs, materials, and man-hours used to paint an airplane vary dramatically from case to case, livery to livery, model to model, airline to airline. The numbers in my description are somewhat conservative estimates used for comedic value. Alaska Airlines actually gave some numbers for Xáat Kwáani - twelve days, 117 gallons of paint. The colors used are Midnight Blue and Atlas Blue for the background, White for the fish themselves, and Pink for highlights, and a clear coat has been applied over the top in order to preserve the livery. Alaska Airlines has every intention of keeping it intact for as long as possible.

The use of colors is beautiful. The waves of darker and lighter blue keep it from ever looking too light or too dark, adjusting to the lighting in order to always remain saturated and vivid, and the irregular wave pattern keeps any part of the livery from looking static. The use of the pink as a highlight is sparing but effective. The white, though, is what makes this livery so fantastic. A central tenet of this blog is a disdain for the dominant trend of livery design in recent history, Eurowhite - that of an almost entirely white fuselage. And there is a legitimate sense of general derision for white, but it can be so powerful as a design feature. There is no contrast more powerful than a stark and complete absence, a space carved out fully from the world and color around it. It is the color of bone and snow.

The balance of each color is just perfect, the blue never overpowering the white, the white never fully blocking out the blue, the pink subtly adding depth throughout, and the shapes of the salmon are placed perfectly, not feeling cramped or confined. They are free to wander the fuselage and they have an amazing sense of movement to them, as if caught mid-leap. I've seen salmon swimming upstream to spawn, and they are so startlingly large and vivacious. The fish on this plane, though stylized, perfectly capture the way that these fish look in motion.

Formline is a style of art historically created by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. It was a common and versatile visual element, present in everything from painting to carving to weaving. It is defined by its use of continuous, curving lines which may change in angle, width, and direction but do not terminate. Though it was diminished in quantity by suppression of indigenous culture by US and Canadian settlers it never went away, and from the second half of the 20th century onwards it has been surging back as more and more indigenous artists are able to produce and display their work. Worl has worked with formline many times before. She is quoted as saying:

Every time I looked at an Alaska plane, I couldn’t help but visualize the salmon being in formline [...] I can’t help but look at things and see how to Indigenize them.

And the idea has now come to life in this absolutely unforgettable livery. I wish I was within the range of the 737-800 from Alaska Airlines' hubs so that Xáat Kwáani could pay a visit to my home airport, because this is among the most beautiful planes in the world right now. And beyond just nice colors and pleasing shapes it represents something important - indigenous artists being given a 40-meter-long flying platform on which to honor fish which have provided countless centuries of life to the people who live beside them.

Worl's work is above and beyond what I would have ever expected for a custom airplane livery. Even the 'Alaska' wordmark is neatly incorporated into the formline, blending into the background to the point it's hard to notice in a good way.

Most liveries are designed by graphic designers and branding firms. Landor Associates design liveries and logo, but they aren't building monuments or putting their work in galleries. I don't mean to diminish their work - obviously I'm passionate about it, I have a blog about it - but it's just fundamentally different from what Worl does. It has different priorities, a different philosophy, and a different level of personal investment.

From my perspective Xáat Kwáani feels less like branding material and more like a piece of artwork. This isn't something designed to go on letterhead, to be put in a press kit, to be widely reproduced. It's something to be looked at, thought about, and remembered. This is a mural that flies.

I mean...A+, obviously.

There is just about nothing else in the sky which has the same visual power as Xáat Kwáani. As far as I'm concerned, every gallon of paint was worth it to give us this flying tribute to the people and wildlife of the state Alaska Airlines takes its name from.

#tarmac fashion week #grade: a #grade: a+ #alaska airlines #special liveries #aquairium

[mirror-ralsei]

THEORY: The Butterfly Effect

I'd like to thank VGFM for forming the basis of this theory with theirs, the excellent "The True Identity and Importance of "Everyman"". I highly recommend reading it!

---

A while ago, VGFM brought to my attention the presence of a butterfly motif in UTDR.

They noted the presence of butterflies in three specific places: Whimsun/Whimsalot's bullets, Reaper Bird/Everyman's bullets, and King's cape.

I'd like to expound on this by analyzing these usages, and also add another two instances of a butterfly motif that, all together, lead me to a conclusion about what butterflies in UTDR could mean.

1: Everyman's bullets

Probably the most memorable appearance of butterflies across Undertale and Deltarune. It's our pal Everyman!

In case it was possible to forget, here's a refresher: the amalgamate Reaper Bird in the True Lab features a guest star in their attacks. The strange, embryonic "Everyman" initially just stands there. Then their face is painfully eaten by butterflies, and they subsequently will go on the attack. Everyman has since cameoed in Deltarune a few times, but the butterflies have been conspicuously absent.

Still, this seems to be the character most obviously linked to butterflies so far.

As for what butterflies could mean here, there's only one really major thing to note: Everyman was not aggressive until the butterflies infested their face. In one of their attacks, the butterflies even seem to be "puppeting" a staggering Everyman, and are the ones actually inflicting damage by flying out of their head.

Does this mean the butterflies represent aggression? I'm not so sure. However, as we're about to see, they do seem to appear a lot in the context of antagonism.

2: King's Mantle

Another butterfly was visible in Deltarune Chapter 1, taking the shape of King's... cape?

At the time of VGFM's theory, we didn't have the Chapter 1 livestream, but Toby gave us this one for free: "Cool mantle, bro."

Setting aside the weighted term "mantle" for this theory (but rest assured, you're in good company thinking about the SkyMantle and ShadowMantle), I'd like to focus on the King himself.

Firstly: Many people refer to this character as the "Chaos King," likely due to the titular track that plays during his fight. But the character himself is only ever referred to as "(a) King." Let's squirrel this away for later.

Secondly: During said battle with King, during which he has his greyscale mantle, he is able to use a greyscale "tail" from his belly to attack us by slightly manipulating the UI.

King uses that grey belly tail to drag our box around the screen and into bullets in various ways, almost reminiscent of fighting Sans. As far as I can remember, (correct me if I'm wrong), he's one of the only DR characters who do this (ETA: @potabo pointed out Queen also has a UI-affecting attack, as does Spamton in a scrapped attack).

But after the King's mantle has flown away, we only see him using basic spade bullets. We never see the belly tail again.

Now, of course, this could just be gameplay/story dichotomy - we're in a cutscene, not in battle, so of course we don't see any grander attacks.

But it would be interesting if the mantle itself was what granted him the meta power to manipulate the UI. If true, then by extension, this might associate the butterfly motif with similar powers.

Remember what I said about "Chaos King" not being his real name? That begs the question: why is the track titled that?

3: CHAOS SABER

This one's a little sneaky.

We've all probably noticed by now that Asriel's battle is chock full of Deltarune references, and plot elements we weren't even aware of. There's plenty of theories and speculation out there about that.

But one of the elements flying under the radar is his attack "CHAOS SABER."

Not the Kris-like sword attack, or the unusual animations, or the Deltarune-like sparkles at the end... but the very sword sprites themselves.

Take a look again.

Yep - when put together, the two swords Asriel uses form a butterfly shape. (They're also reflections of each other...)

What do we know about this instance of the butterfly motif? Not much, really, aside from the use of swords to cut, the production of those Darkner-representing stars, and the title: "CHAOS SABER."

Uh-oh. Maybe we shouldn't speak too loudly of "chaos..."

4: Jevil's voiceline

Just a small one, but I think worth noting: Jevil, a character strongly associated with Chaos, has the voiceline "METAMORPHOSIS."

Yes, it's one of his references to those Line stickers. But face it: when you hear "metamorphosis," what's the first thing that comes to mind?

It may not directly spell out the word "butterfly." But fellow Line reference "I CAN DO ANYTHING" doesn't directly spell out "freedom," anyway, and that's an actual confirmed Jevil motif.

All I'm saying is, it's not out of the question that the "METAMORPHOSIS" line might tie into this ongoing butterfly motif.

5: Whimsun/Whimsalot's Bullets

You may have gone through this list wondering: where are Whimsun and Whimsalot? What profound meaning do they have? What fascinating secrets can we glean from their depiction of butterflies?

The answer is: I dunno lol.

Sorry, there was a reason I shunted them off to the end. Unfortunately, I just can't find anything that sorely sticks out! Whimsalot is one of the CORE enemies, sure, and those seem Deltarune-relevant in some way, but otherwise... I just don't know! If anyone has more profound insight to offer here, feel free to sound off - I'd love to hear your ideas. Personally, I'm gonna throw in the towel until we get another chapter.

CONCLUSION

You've probably noticed by now, but there seems to be a common thread throughout half of these instances.

Jevil, "Chaos King," "CHAOS SABER"...

In Undertale and Deltarune, butterflies may represent CHAOS.

And honestly, it makes more sense than you'd think.

The butterfly effect is pretty well-referenced in media: a single flap of a butterfly's wings, rippling out to eventually cause a hurricane somewhere else.

And what discipline, exactly, does the butterfly effect fall under? Chaos theory.

If this is the imagery Toby Fox is trying to invoke, I wonder if our actions won't "ripple out" in a great chain of cause-and-effect, either. After all, he did state some things "only appear random. All chaos is ordered."

As for what this means for the affected characters, the one that jumps out the most as an example is Everyman. Again, in Reaper Bird's attack, the poor fellow appears to be engulfed by butterflies - so, metaphorically, by CHAOS. Only after this do they actually become aggressive. And interestingly, Toby Fox also remarks on how the Dark Fountain may have changed King's behavior.

After all, in terms of the greater plot, the most solid thing we know about the role of CHAOS is that it will apparently result when the Dark Fountains fill the sky, and cause the Roaring.

So, is "Chaos King" actually King altered by the CHAOS-causing presence of the fountain? How many more benign characters like Everyman have been spurred into aggression in this way? And how long before all this mounting CHAOS becomes a true Roaring?

It seems we'll have to keep an eye on the butterflies.

...Well, that's all I've got for today. Feel free to leave your essays about Whimsun being the most important Undertale character - once things ripple out enough, you might just be right.

(Screenshot credit: 1, 2, 3)

#deltarune theory #undertale theory #utdr theory #here's how morpho knight can still win!!!!!!!!111

[zeephyre]

CR3 EPISODE 65 SPOILERS HOLY FUCK

IMOGEN AND LAUDNA KISSED?!!?!-72828_ LAURA BAILEY ALMOST GAVE ME A FUCKING HEART ATTACK LIKE OBVIOUSLY I COULD SENSE THE TENSION BETWEEN THEM THE WHOLE EPISODE AND I KNEW THAT AFTER SEPARATING THEIR RELATIONSHIP WOULD SHIFT BUT I WASN'T EXCEPTING THEM TO ACTUALLY KISS TONIGHT???#?1)£ I LITERALLY YELPED IN TERROR I THOUGHT I WAS HALLUCINATING IM SO GIDDY RIGHT NOW

god chetney totally clocked them, it's so funny bc they were NAWT subtle -- also, patê low-key exposing them and laudna very subtly (not) changing the subject... chef's kiss.

this episode????? was so good??? i am so happy that my hellians are back together??? i can barely focus rn so I'll try to remember all the good bits (which was the whole episode).

fcg and ashton -- im really glad ash specifically told fcg to hold onto the feelings they have for frida to give them smth to come home to, bc he's brought up how self destructive fcg can get bc they don't consider themself important. it was a very cute moment, and i almost cried bc i love ashton and... idk. he's not coping.

ashton gave me very manic energy this episode. a lot of emotional distress disguised as an epiphany, but that moment of them telling fcg that they can't afford to be useless explained every second of flustered panic.

(not to be that person but i uh...i am starting to ship milo and ashton. i liked it before but now i REALLY like it).

i need to know wtf talie and matt have cooked up those little bastards.

chetney getting caught in a trap almost immediately after ajit warned them to be careful or whatever was pretty funny. the whole time that was going down i kept thinking, "the world is ending. we have better shit to be thinking abt than this fr," and not in a bad way. it's just ??? bro who cares who hired you, we are BUSY. i knew chetney attacking that shop keeper was gonna bite him in the ass, and it honestly was hilarious.

i know it was just casual and also sort of a trick, but i loved fearne giving chet a little kiss. they are so real to me y'all don't understand.

i have a very complicated relationship with the matron, bc i love her aesthetic, love her vibe (tho i hate birds, but i love a raven motif), and i also will never forgive her for taking my skrunkly wunkle away from me. that shared vision between orym, chet and fearne was... fucking amazing. matt outdid himself this episode fr. it's probably one of my favourite scenes of this whole campaign.

speaking of which... VAX SCREAMING???? HE'S IN PAIN????????? LET MY BABY GIRL OUT????? I STARTED FUCKING BAWLING NO JOKE. The imagery was so visceral i felt sick to my stomach and i just started tearing up. ludinus your days are fucking numbered.

SPEAKING OF THAT WHITE HAIRED OLD BITCH. HE'S ON THE FAWKING MOON WITH LILIANA???? IRA IS ALSO ON THE MOON???? WITH A REILORA???? AND WE'RE DEFINITELY GOING TO THE MOON AT SOME POINT??????? I LOVE THIS CAMPAIGN RAHAHWHSHJSJ

:( still no caleb safety confirmation but i think he's fine guys what could have possibly gone wrong /s.

we're in zephrah 🥺 i knew the episode was about to end, and it was so damn beautiful, but i can't wait until thursday. we're gonna see kiki. we have to tell her abt vax, but i also don't want her to know that he's suffering.

is it thursday yet :(

#imodna #critical role #cr3 #bells hells #critical role campaign 3 #laudna x imogen #imogen x laudna #imogen temult #laudna #cr laudna #laudnogen #ashton greymoore #orym of the air ashari #fcg critical role #cr fcg #fearne calloway #fearne x chetney #cr fearne #chetney pock o'pea #c3 ep65 #cr c3e65 #c3e65 #cr spoilers #chetney x fearne

[gemsofthegalaxy]

really hope that the scene with Greg and Ewan after the funeral is in the deleted scenes !!

it also makes me sad for some of the other things that were cut between them as well.

I think it's very interesting how toys and animals get brought up here. Maybe I'm being an insane gif-comber, pepe silvia ass, but... The scripts strongly implies that Greg and Ewan bonded over animals and animal welfare, but this was also used as a weapon against Greg to get him to do what Ewan wanted, and the fingerprints of this are left in canon. It's so fucking interesting and also we were robbed.

Greg in the scripts is a Zoology major, which implies he likes animals to some degree, or was he trying to gain approval from his grandfather, who cares more about animals than about his grandson- Greg in the scripts was sent animal gore by his grandfather in an effort to make him stop using disposable razors.

In their last deleted scenes, which is a fight between them with Greg accusing Ewan of disliking him and Ewan accusing Greg of being ungrateful and not wanting to spend time with him, they discuss the activities they did when Greg was a kid. Ewan says "i took you fishing and you hurt a frog" which to me is a very interesting set of two things.... fishing kills the fish, and he was the one who brought Greg to do that, but then seems to be accusing him of being cruel to animals, which, again, is a motif that was embedded between them but mostly did not make the cut.

Then the conversation switches more to material possessions, which I also have a lot to say about, but I'll get there in a second. After talking about toys, Ewan says he bought Greg a book about birds. Another animal thing, that Greg probably had a genuine interest in, and out of all the stuff that was said, this brings Greg to a standstill.

With all of this, it feels so much more pointed that Ewan uses Greenpeace, which fights for the environment and the natural world, as a punishment for Greg choosing Waystar, Logan, and "capitalism" over him and his/their shared apparent love of animals. And Greg being willing to sue Greenpeace back (although I am still not sure if, like, Greg actually got anywhere with that or was just saying it to be a brat mostly) is just.... woof.

More about the material possessions stuff under the cut.

First. Just like to point out. Greg in canon was willing to drive 24 hours to get his grandfather simply because Ewan doesn't like to fly for environmental reasons, and seemed excited to spend a bunch of time with him. Ewan in the scripts accuses Greg of "never coming to see him" which Greg disputes.

Ewan in the scripts deprived Greg of very typical material possessions such as TV and power wheels, and in canon says that "thinking one's work is so important is akin to mental illness" or something along those lines. Greg in the scripts throws ideas of "productivity" in his face because he knows his grandfather is anticapitalist.... but, again, I ask, what does Ewan think the alternative is, for Greg? He was sitting on money for him but both Marianne and Greg had very little money, and Marianne was implied to be irresponsible with money thus he can't have taught her how to manage it because he, what, wants to pretend he already lives in a world where it doesn't exist?

I've pointed out before and this deleted scene corroborates! In my opinion, Ewan seemingly tried to make sure Greg was not materialistic as a person, and instead created outright scarcity of both material goods AND affection. Greg doesn't think Ewan even likes him! and Ewan can barely insist he does. He says "i liked you well enough" you would think a parental figure, a grandpa, would say "i love you" or "of course i like you" but those are too strong of statements because Ewan is entirely emotionally unavailable.

You could argue he saw how spoiled Logan's kids were and didn't want his own turning out like that, but it's insane for him to think that the solution, then, is just give them literally nothing and that will work out well? Especially when they KNOW you have millions of dollars you're sitting on, it's asking to be resented and that's not even the angle Greg takes with him. Greg still fucking wants his love and his approval even more than his money. goddamn i get sad.

#greg hirsch #ewan roy #succession #succession scripts #idk i could prob say even more but!!!

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Deathless Thoughts:

I only read this book in full once in 2017 and have only really paged through it a lot since. I definitely found it much more deliberate and thematically coherent this time around. I remember initially feeling like the surrealism and constant jumps ahead were disjointed but it reads very cohesively to me now. I’m very curious if that will continue past the latter 50% which I haven’t reread yet. I remember starkly disliking that portion and I have no idea if I’ll feel similarly this time around— because I already enjoyed the second act much more on reread and acknowledged its purpose, when up until now I did not lol

My initial thoughts were that the fantasy elements were too surreal to care about and that the relationship was too much of a nothing, with too little not unpleasant screen time to justify its centrality to the plot. But having read more classic surrealist Russian lit has familiarized me to the former and makes me actually understand what it’s going for. And for the latter I think I’m just more onboard with unpleasantness and abuse being the point. So currently, my perspective is almost wholly positive.

I enjoy the book’s use of its subject material— fairytales set in actual history— as many many metaphors. First folktales and fantasy specifically in the Soviet era, so rife with censorship, as a vehicle for allegory, their use and importance in literature itself being a motif. Then the metaphor for inexorable class hierarchies and unchangeable power structures before and after the revolution, the way only the branding changed, but the power structures remained. And also, most pervasively, as a way to examine gender roles and gendered loss of agency; the politics of a marriage.

I really liked the way the novel built up Koschei and how everything is about Marya’s relationship with Koschei (her relationship with agency and the lack thereof) even when he’s fairly infrequently on screen. From her sister’s bird husbands in the opening, and child Marya’s musing on the potential transformative nature of marriage— but also the inherently unequal power dynamic and resolving that she will do/be better because she knows more than they did. To the metaphor of her thinking that a secret will treat her well and then later the line where the personified secret is then likened to a husband who will be her ruin. Even that when Koschei finally shows up to take her away it’s compared to being taken away by the revolutionary government/the police.

Marya is herself highlighted for her knowledge and her desire for it. Specifically the ability to see discrepancies in the stories she is told whether that is the magical or ideological and political. The sisters in the opening marry into seemingly static unmoving snapshots of history. Meanwhile Marya’s singled out in her precociousness and open admittance of there being anything completely beyond the ideologies presented by each suitor in his human form [the power structure of the Tsarist state, and the Soviet Union]. She’s defined by wanting to see beyond dichotomies and limited scopes of propaganda. She sees it as a skill, and it is, but it’s also something that singles her out for misery, both by her peers (the scarf incident) and by the likes of Koschei who is specifically drawn to willfulness and a lack of adherence to a particular role with the intent of breaking that will.

The entire seduction segment that is turning all the food and her illness into an erotic power exchange is also just explicitly about breaking her will, and fostering perfect obedience and dependence on him. It’s also really interesting that, in going with him, she does somewhat lucidly give up and trade away her agency/ability to dictate a story/her own perspective in exchange for being physically well cared for. (But then even that is very thorny and with many strings attached)

So by part two, she is stuck in the dichotomy of “who is to rule” and either she can be a Yelena/Vasalisa or a soon-to-be Baba Yaga. Yet, either way, she is never good enough and it is still inevitably an exploitative and draining situation.

Marya being successful in her willingness to do degrading and cruel things to earn Baba Yaga’s blessing and Koschei’s favor being punctuated by all her friends— who without which she would never have succeeded at all— dying horribly illustrates that so well. In her success she is only further isolated. She will never repay their help, because being Tsaritsa of Buyan, and having any sort of power, is inherently antithetical to that.

The emphasis on Lebedeva’s girlboss magic makeup and the passage about Marya being told that girls must care only for vapid, pretty things, among other moments, might feel extremely dated. But I do think they’re intended to be employed in a way where traditional femininity presents a sort of deliberate and acknowledged safety? And it goes hand in hand with Marya, while never choosing to be a “Yelena” in traditional soft femininity, does end up choosing to try to leverage soft power and soft manipulation within deliberately gendered terms fairly often. But again it’s just presented from a very dated and particular context.

So far, the sheer dedication of the book to being an explicit Bluebeard tale and a story about abuse, and how there is no winning in that sort of relationship has been very fun for me.

I also enjoyed Koschei outright lying about the Yelenas and Vasalisas— and then later about the location of his death. I think that’s a character type you usually expect to deceive via omission but, no, he just outright lies a lot.

Another example is that Widow Likho’s book makes it clear that humans best enter into Buyan when ill, and meanwhile everything Koschei does is of course explicitly a repetition of previous stories. So it’s practically confirmed that he had taken every Yelena etc on that same long trip and made them ill on purpose. Even though in the moment he claims to be surprised by it, and spontaneous in caring for her through her illness.

Or the suggestion that he found a reason to put all the other girls in the stable when they got to Buyan as punishment for disobeying him. That the point is the punishment and breaking of the will rather than there being any sort of standard the bride could realistically meet where he would be happy with her and welcome her to her new home without that initial humiliation and fear.

It’s also incredibly funny and refreshing that this book buys into Koschei’s nonsense way less than any of its subsequent imitators. (The Grisha trilogy included!) I enjoyed Baba Yaga being like “Why is everything black, stop being dramatic 🙄”

He’s barely present in the book at all. His page count is truly negligible! And it’s great!

Like I mention earlier, that was actually something I was annoyed by on my first read, the relationship just seemed fairly thin, even though the snapshots of it that we get are fascinating. But after being inundated with so many books worshipping the ground love interests like him stand on, I love how much he doesn’t fucking matter and how little page time he has. How that itself allows Marya’s emotions and conflicted feelings to remain central. The narrative doesn’t care about him, it’s only what impact he has on her that’s relevant.

Anyway somewhat superficial but I really enjoy the goth love interest being the Tsar of Life, because authors typically go a more obvious and melodramatic route. Despite all of the goth mystique, him not being associated with death, darkness, night, etc was refreshing. But also I do generally just find the concept of life being equated with the lurid and demanding, the parasitical, something that is always in a personal sense at war with death— aka the mention of him always looking sickly or feeling skeletal initially when he kisses Marya— a compelling one. It’s death and the maiden wrapped up in a single person essentially.

Anyway I also appreciated the parallel of the Yelenas being trapped in eternity weaving soldiers while Marya’s first thought upon seeing Koschei is that if she had knitted herself a perfect lover he would look like that. There is the constant underpinning of Marya being wholly separate from them, the question of whether she is greater or more horrible than them, but at the heart of it she’s really not. She’s just another victim in a long string of them.

#cautiously hopeful that I’ll like the second half just as much despite my opinions on first read #deathless #koschei the deathless #marya morevna #book talk #i ramble sometimes #*writer’s cap*

[peridouu]

“why do we slumber?” - post honkai star rail 2.2 story analysis

HELLO HI HI HI!! my name is aster, and i normally don’t make analysis posts, actually, but penacony’s 2.2 story was so interesting to me that i had to make a post, in particular about order vs. harmony and what we can take away from this message. this is a short analysis but if i ever have anything to add i’ll reblog it!

i’m an artist in many forms, and the music motifs in particular stood out to me during the boss fight, so that’s what i’ll be focusing on, as being an artist in these trying times can be very strenuous 😭 likes and reblogs always appreciated!

please take this whole analysis with ten cups of salt, i ended up skipping a lot of the dialogue in this quest b/c i spaced out really badly, so if i interpreted anything wrong, lmk please!

without further ado, let’s begin!

(spoilers for hsr 2.2 trailblaze quests below the cut)

i. Harmony vs. Order (wait, what’s the difference?)

just to make it clear, i wanted to talk about the differences between Xipe and Ena. i don’t remember if they talked about this in the quest! so i’m going to yap!

Harmony by definition is notes arranged to sound nice in chords. When applied as a path, the “notes” are people, and the “sound” is humanity creating connections and peace between one another. The harmonious interactions between people, if you will.

Order achieves mainly the same thing, and is why it was eventually assimilated into Harmony, but the biggest difference in my eyes is how the “harmony” is achieved. With Harmony, it’s organic connections. People getting along of their own will and agency. This is kind of reflected in how Robin previously did outreach to other planets, almost like a religious missionary - serving others and spreading the word of her own accord. 

The harmony achieved by order, however, feels more constricted. When you interact with the NPCs who are already in the order’s dreamscape, their state is always “Satisfied”, but they’re robotic and soulless, almost. The “Harmonious Choir” boss wields a baton, the tool conductors use to command music ensembles. Herta describes Ena as “a control freak.” The Order is all managed by one entity, and in Penacony’s case, Sunday. But even so, Sunday and Robin were raised by the Order. It’s a cycle. 

And even though both essentially achieve the same thing, one of them feels much more righteous and moral in our anime protagonist eyes, and spoiler alert: it’s not the Order. Why?

ii. Sunday’s Philosophy (and how it pertains to artists)

Sunday’s whole reasoning as to why he wants to trap the universe in a dream is b/c he believes it’s less painful than the real world. Robin and the trailblaze believe people should have the choice to live in reality. Their conflict is still an extension of Order vs. Harmony. Free will vs. One safe option. The bird in the cage.

Set the bird free, where it will inevitably die, or nurture it in a confined cage? If you’re like me, when I got asked this question during the gameshow, I was very very very conflicted. I asked March, Himeko, and Firefly for their opinions and still didn’t have a complete answer. I ended up picking “Set the bird free” because, well, Trailblazer is essentially an anime protagonist, and that’s what my idealist heart wanted to pick, but….

I still pondered that question for a long time after.

“Why does life slumber?” is the question that we are asked throughout the quest, but it is only at the end of the fight that we have an answer:

Sunday: Why does life slumber?

(Trailblazer): Because... someday...

(Trailblazer): We will wake from our dreams!

And aside from protagonist reasons, I’ve come up with an interpretation of this response that makes sense, at least in my mind. It’s still important to indulge in our fantasies and dream, but eventually we have to wake up and make the choice to get out of bed, make the choice to continue forward, and that holds more value than hiding from our problems in the Dreamscape. And this is also an extension of Order vs. Harmony, and the reason why Xipe triumphed over Ena. 

but taking it from an artist’s perspective: 

As someone who creates art, it’s always our goal to make art as perfect as possible. We want our works to be as good as they can be, perfect like the Dreamscape. Obviously, that’s not possible, and it’s always discouraging to not create at the caliber you want. But art is meant to be imperfect, and I’ll talk about that in the next segment. 

iii. Penacony’s First and Last Disharmony

When Robin brings her song and the Astral Express into the boss fight, Welt says this: “Penacony’s first, and last, disharmony.” (fun fact, this was the quote that basically prompted this whole analysis! thanks welt!!) Robin’s voice is absolutely beautiful, so why is it referred to as “disharmony”?!?!?!?!?

First, the goals of the Trailblazers (and everyone else on their side, whom i’m collectively calling trailblazers) is to destroy the Dreamscape and let everyone return to reality. This means that everyone who was blissfully ignoring their problems suddenly has to awake from their dreams and face their issues head-on instead of ignoring them, disrupting the “harmony” Sunday created.

Music will always be imperfect in the hands of humans, and it’s exactly why music is able to connect with people, because everyone can see parts of themselves and their humanity in the music. It’s something powerful that so many people can connect with, just like how Robin has so many fans across the universe, and just like the Harmony itself. 

If you’ve ever played an instrument and you’ve taken lessons, your teacher will likely make you listen to the piece you’re playing. the more advanced the piece (concertos, etc) the more recordings there will probably be. Even when just comparing 2 performances, there are already so many differences, but they’re both the same piece, and both recordings are probably really good. Different interpretations, but both contribute to the piece you play. 

Especially as we live in a time of AI where computers are creating more and more “art” it’s important to know that humanity will always reign supreme over soulless works. Because AI art might look pretty and might sound passable, but it will never carry the soul and meaning of human work, and that is the most important thing. Because when people create music, they put parts of themselves into it.

TL;DR: Art is imperfect and human and that’s what makes it so valuable, and that’s why Harmony will always triumph. 

#hsr #honkai: star rail #robin hsr #hsr sunday #penacony #hsr analysis #aster analyzes #CHAT DID I COOK…. #trailblazer hsr #2.2 spoilers #this quest was so… deep #like i was not expecting to think this much about the meaning of life

[itsame-ariana]

(kinda sorta)

Life SMP Hadestown AU

//Life SMP Hadestown AU//

Master post for something no one may see.

Idk if this is anything but enjoy

I dunno- this and into the woods is my favorite musicals and I’ve had traffic brain rot for AGESSS and I was finally re-listening to Hadestown and this absolute fever dream of an idea dawned on me during hey little song bird

So yeah. Enjoy?

Here’s the original post when I got this idea

And obvious disclaimer this are all the character versions of these people not the actual people thank you very much for you patience.

ANYWAY

//Life series Hadestown AU//

Eurydice- Jimmy Solidarity ✨the canary✨ you see the vision. This (joke?) is what started this whole thing so.

Orpheus- Still deciding between Scott and Tango

Tango pros:

- They are soulmates

- the goat horns are kinda vaguely like music/an instrument 👀

- ranchers duo is SO SWEET always

- their lives are tethered which in a way fits the story of the show and the myth.

- idk i just like this idea

- why are you still here? It’s over. Go home.

- c!jimmy seems to be on better terms with c!tango than c!scott soooo

Scott pros:

- they were husbands, Jimmy died first tragically (very accurate to original myth)

- THE FLOWER MOTIF- specifically a red flower. It’s just so perfect

- they saw each other in the afterlife

- Scott is always attached to flower husbands which seems fitting

- he likes to sing? Empires musical? I don’t know but it seems like it works

-flower husbands and desert duo have connections (you will see why this is important)

So yeah leaning towards tango for the vibes but leaning towards Scott for actual similarities in plot and such.

(If someone wants to say Joel or someone I will happily hear you out lol)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hades and Persephone- c!Grian and c!Scar/desert duo. The characters were once in love and then it grew into a a more bitter relationship. There are lots of potential parallels with Hadestown older lovers and desert duo. Grian and scar also have flower/plant motifs.

Grian as hades- He is a watcher, which seems fitting. Creator of the games seems fitting for god of death and also the industrial foreman Hadestown has. Original winner.

Scar as Persephone- Now that he is a winner, I personally love the idea of him being the earth, which is perfect for the god(dess) of spring. I also think his secret life skins going from green to black is an accidental parallel.

The only real issue with this is I want to incorporate Grian being the sun but that’s contradictory;-;

Hermes- My main idea atm is Martyn. This is mostly because storytelling and lore is very connected to him and his character. Who doesn’t love some eyes and ears AU/lore

I am also considering pearl just because I like that idea, her being the moon and being connected to g and s, etc

And Ren because he is such a storyteller/theater kid

The Fates- I have several ideas for this

-the watchers(and secret keeper.) Obvious reasons

- the other winners

-clethubs because they are a fun/good trio lol

- ren, pearl, Scott (in case I don’t have them as Hermes/orpheus)

- the remaining Evo members: bigb (also he was so creechur in third life ), pearl, and if he’s not Hermes, Martyn (also good since pearl and martyn have won)

__________________________________________

Based on a lot of the plant motifs imagine if instead of a carnation it was a poppy.

I’m very slow with drawing and have never written any kind of fic before but if people like this idea I’d love suggestions for the AU and I’ll definitely make some character designs :)

Character designs/descriptions:

Jimmy coming soon to a theater near you

Other posts for the AU:

Full circle lol

Potential name

How to include both Scott and Tango

#this started as a joke #slash weird idea #now here we are #hadestownx life series #life series Hadestown AU #traffic smp Hadestown AU #life series #traffic smp #3rd life #last life #double life #secret life #limited life #jimmy solidarity #Grian #good times with scar #flower husbands #ranchers duo #desert duo #Hadestown #musical theater #orpheus and eurydice myth #Greek mythology #when I am doing a minor in folklore and mythology studies- I really hope my professors never see this #life smp Hadestown AU

[dayurno]

general hcs for aftg zombie apocalypse? me i think kevin would try to be leader but unfortunately no one would listen to him/take him seriously :(

now i think if we’re talking like a few years into the apocalypse then it gets interesting like how the characters would change physically like….and what weapons would they use!! they’d def run into people who use exy rackets as weapons and kevin would be disgusted with them i think.

i LOVE apocalypse aus but none center kevin or write him right i wanna know what you’d think he’d be like in one

SUCH A FUN ASK THANK YOUUUUUUU! first of all your idea for kevin is so funny i have to concede. its true no one would care for him at all even if he tries.... honestly though (thinking hard) i think what kevin lacks in leader charisma he makes up for in the department of giving the rest of the group a Reason To Live and creating schedule and purpose where there is neither, so maybe he ummm...... well he's not gonna be the leader of the pack but he can be like the mascot. the shiny thing to cling to. you know what i mean. kevin's indomitable human spirit!

not to be guy who is kandreil pilled but i do think kevin would be very important for andrew and neil to live beyond the survival! i will put a dollar in the kevin day bird motif jar for this but in a way hed be like their little canary in a coal mine... while the crew travels i think kevin would be the one to point out the scenery or the bits of history along or to go over peoples houses and find pieces of life that are useful and maybe even endearing. and yeah hed hate the racquets as weapons! the complaining and the grumbling about it is not as annoying as andreil thought it would be (they are pleasantly surprised kevin still has it in him to care about anything)

AHHH sorry u asked for fun hcs and i gave you a long poem about kevin day being everyones special little boy lets see hmmm... of course andrew has the knives but i think he would eventually pick up something more violent as the world falls deeper in despair. a mallet perhaps? a hammer? something heavy! neil would i think do well with a gun and not actual hand to hand combat, sniping behind them....... i think kevin would also have a weapon of sorts something like a switchblade or a baseball bat. non-lethal but definitely harmful

#sorry i think kevin would be one of those terrible terrible people (me) who would not want to kill #even after fights i think hed be the person to give andreil the stink eye and ask them why they didnt aim for the leg or the arm #kevin would be actually Very methodical about all of this. have many rules as to when its fair to kill a human and when its not #and of course he has his little list of priorities on what to do. it should go something like this #talking first always. never shoot the first shot! we are gentlemen after all andrew #second if talking isnt achievable and violence has to be the answer #you should always incapacitate first #only when That isnt possible do you actually kill someone. its the last resort. for him at least #obviously andreil dont care but you know #also i think hed be a stickler about burials and funeral rites and sending people off #which drags the journey a lot admittedly #but he does insist. so #its faster if andreil help anyway. and they do. Theyve no choice #asks #kevin #andrew #neil

[needle-noggins]

Volume 4 time. Lexapro can't save me from the anxiety spiral today so the analysis will be brief if at all, but I just really love this volume and Knives' little pose.

First off, does anyone have a good explanation as to why Vash didn't tell little Jessica he was leaving? If someone talked about it, I'm sorry, but help. That part was a little confusing to me. I do adore Vash and Brad's friendship in Trimax, and I feel like Tristamp will lend itself well to this in the future.

Anyway. The girls teasing Vash and WW about having water, but then immediately turning back to save their dehydrated asses is so good. I love the entire Trigang so much and they got a lot of page-time so to speak in this volume. (also, random bird panel - birds will be a more important motif later. Just wait.)

MILLY AND MERYL MY BELOVEDS! Once again, we have some rando creep (continued SA understones, thanks again Nightow...) and Milly doesn't even bat an eye. Meryl may be small but she is just as powerful and capable as her little derringers. I am forever thanking Nightow for how he writes women like actual people.

Vash literally jumping out a window and onto a worm to save Meryl. He doesn't even know where the fuck Meryl went. He's just that dedicated. I love this crazy SOB and I am not immune to Vashmeryl propaganda.

peak comedy. Big 98 vibes. Zazie's face as they kick (?) Vash off the worm like it's whatever. Get wrecked, Wolfwood. Maybe this was the inspiration for Meryl hitting him with the car in Stampede.

I really love the Milly and Wolfwood interactions in this volume. They both are very protective people and very capable, and of course WW is asking her to stay out of it. She's outright challenging him about it. Love that for her. Be the Milly you wish to see in the world. Maybe Trigun would have been shorter if they only let Milly at 'em sometimes.

part 2 coming soon!

#trigunbookclub #trimax #trigun maximum

[athosfuckedurdad]

okay first, spoiler warning! talking about season two here don't read if you care about spoilers

I haven't seen very many people talking about the music of this season/series, and while i'm certainly not the most experienced when it comes to musical analysis, but i have noticed some things!

Particularly relating to what i'm calling the "love motif" from here on out. It's the first three notes in the violin music that plays at the end of the blitz scene in season one, right after Crowley returns the books to Aziraphale. That is not the only time we hear that group of three notes and it's making me go insane for a few reasons

the most obvious two examples we hear this theme play are in season two episode two, and season two episode four.

Really only one of these is actually SIGNIFICANT in relation to Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship but i'll talk about them anyways. In episode two, we see a lot of Aziraphale's transition towards being actually "on the same side" as Crowley. He eats human food for the first time, lies to heaven, and most importantly- realizes that Crowley isn't quite as bad as he insists he is. Crowley didn't kill the goats, he only transformed them into birds. And as soon as those goats are transformed back into their true selves, we hear the love motif. All of the music beforehand is tense and suspenseful strings as Aziraphale attempts to walk away from Crowley. We as the audience are supposed to believe Crowley's insistance that he is evil. He isn't good.

And then a bird bleats like a goat. And Aziraphale turns them back into their true forms and we hear it; those same three notes from the blitz scene. There's more support in the bass this time, but that only serves to flesh out the tune and continue to make it unique.

In my opinion this isn't Aziraphale supposedly falling for Crowley significantly earlier than many expected, I'm of the opinion that he fell somewhere before the french revolution, but realized his feelings during the blitz. However, to me, this is the moment that Aziraphale realizes he can trust Crowley to some extent. He may not be the angel Aziraphale once knew, but he certainly still has some good in him. Aziraphale can allow himself to befriend (and eventually fall in love with) Crowley because of this moment, and the music depicts that perfectly. The moment is short, but it's sweet and impactful

Season two episode four's moment with the theme is a lot less thematically important; it's the flashback to the blitz scene but from the zombie's perspectives. The motif plays in a traditional minor key, as we witness Aziraphale and Crowley walk off together from a hidden and blurry perspective. This doesn't really show much about their relationship, but certainly is another example of the motif being used.

This isn't the only time the motif is used, though. I wouldn't be surprised if I missed a few examples of it, but I certainly noticed a few.

The motif plays twice in episode six, which is not surprising in the slightest to me, knowing the ending 20 minutes

The first time is plays is while Crowley is tidying the bookshop, in the short period after Aziraphale has left to talk to the metatron but before Maggie and Nina come to demand he actually communicate for once in his goddamn life. The motif plays on cello three times in a row and he switches the bookshelves back from the ballroom decor to their regular shelves and moves an armchair back to it's usual place. it's a variation on the theme we hear in the blitz scene, sure, but it's there. I honestly just think this one is really sweet; Crowley is tidying up the bookshop Aziraphale cares so much about, even if he certainly doesn't. It could imply that one of Crowley's love languages could be acts of service, but i haven't deliberately looked for enough evidence throughout the series to conclusively say that's the case.

The other time I noticed it play is... a lot less obvious. I could be wrong honestly, but if i'm right it absolutely HURTS.

A minor key version of the love motif plays just as Aziraphale enters the elevator up to heaven. It sounds a lot less eerie than the zombie episode version, and a lot more regretful to me. But it's so quickly drowned out by choral voices singing in anticipation, then as the shot switches from aziraphale to Crowley/Maggie and Nina it changes again to something melancholic.

However, heartbreakingly- There is absolutely none of the motif during Aziraphale and Crowley's kiss. Violins and choral voices sing, and i've just now noticed that some of the vocal progressions in the elevator/in the kiss are very similar (which might mean something- or might just be that it's a cool sounding melancholic choral bit), but there is NOTHING of the love motif in their kiss. Nothing I could even possibly spin into thinking "Oh, it's just distorted/in a minor key", there is nothing. This kiss is not one of love. Not even one of regretful, painful love. It is a goodbye, it is a plea for aziraphale to just realize what he is losing, but it is not something coming from love.

And doesn't that just HURT

(I can only hope that we'll be able to hear this motif in season three, can only hope that just maybe they'll be able to kiss again and we'll hear it play in something epic and beautiful. But if it does play, then that only feels like it proves the lack of love in this current kiss which will just be pain all over again)

I'm gonna watch through season one again specifically looking out for the motif, and probably keep an eye out when i inevitably watch through season two again. If anyone else noticed the motif play at other points lmk and i will update this/make a new post as a sequel

EDIT: Found some season one examples!

I decided to check the bandstand scene and the “when i’m off in the stars, i won’t even THINK about you” scene, the motif is there in BOTH. It’s much more obvious in the bandstand scene, though not quite enough for me to pick up on it when i wasn’t looking explicitly for it. On the bandstand is the variation on the melody that stays the most consistant to when we first hear it- it’s almost just violins, just in a slow and regretful minor key. It’s not surprising to me in the slightest, though the fact it plays in this scene certainly helps to pad out the likelyhood that this is all intentional. Composers are smart as hell, it likely is.

In the “when i’m off in the stars” scene, it’s a LOT harder to notice. That scene is so loud and emotional it can be hard to pick up on what's being played at all, let alone the motifs they hold. This is another moment i'm really not sure i'm actually correct on, but again- it's another emotionally heavy moment for the pair where a set of strings plays three notes in a similar pattern to all of the other times the motif has been noticed (although in this case it's on a lower set of strings, and is sandwiched within the much more unique music for this scene specifically. It's not at the beginning of the music, unlike the other examples.) I'm curious as to if the hiddenness of the motif is meaningful in this scenario, but considering that it looks SO clearly like a breakup to quite literally everyone watching (ie the dude who says "it's not worth it" to aziraphale immediately after Crowley leaves) i think it may just be that the romantic tensions are so obvious in this scene that it's unnecessary? Or i'm looking too far into it. Either way, i think it was there.

it wasn't present in the ritz scene right at the end of the first season, but considering the nightengale song playing on the piano being so significant for other reasons, it would have been really quite out of place in that scene, so it's really not a surprise to me in this case. Would've made me smile, though. either way!

THE MOTIF IS ALSO IN THE TITLE SEQUENCE. THE FUCKING OPENING SONG. At around like 1:10 in the song on spotify it plays, on violin, just much faster and livelier than what we hear in the actual show during the emotional moments it plays to fit in with the rest of the music. https://open.spotify.com/track/5XZw1AA2w7Y5WZI9YQrMhi?si=e815c70a7dc64aad

I'm sure it's on every version of the opening, this is just the track i actually 100% know the timestamps for, so. And this just feels absolutely huge to me, personally; this is a love story. It has always been a love story, from the start of the first season. The motif that plays in every dramatic and love fueled moment in the show is present from the very first episode: it's in the title sequence. David Arnold you goddamn genious

#Good omens #good omens season 2 spoilers #good omens spoilers #gos2 spoilers #go2 spoilers #music #ineffable husbands #ineffable divorce

[sansastarkmeta]

Sansa, the whistleblower

The following indented paragraphs are all quoted from a post by @bidonica from 2011 (I'm reposting the bulk of it with permission).

I think we shouldn't underestimate the angle of both Sandor and Petyr not only playing a role in her disillusionment in knights and honor in general, but also triggering Sansa's sexual awakening in sort of an oblique way ("oblique" especially when comparing it to Dany's - I think that by now Sansa is of the same age as Daenerys in AGoT?). The scene where she overhears Lysa and Petyr having sex and then she has a nightmare about her wedding night where she substitutes Tyrion with Sandor really stuck with me in this sense. So idk, while I think that Petyr's impact on Sansa's arc is the one now on the forefront - and also the one that makes for the biggest ripercussions on the bigger story - I'm not sure Sandor is entirely out of her life either? Mostly because I think he and Petyr kind of act as each other's foil where Sansa is concerned, one is all about the importance of lies while the other is all about telling it like it is, down to the physicality like Sandor being huge and rough where Petyr is short and refined. I'm also pretty sure that Sandor is projecting on Sansa just as much as Petyr is projecting his dream!Cat on her

Bold emphasis is mine because I thought it was a really interesting observation. (And if anyone has written about this or has thoughts to share, please do!)

(though it bugs the hell out of me that GRRM uses "little bird" both as Sandor's nickname for Sansa and for Varys' child spies. Which from an in-story perspective is probably just a coincidence because it's a common phrase or something? But is it? #secondguessingEVERYTHING)

Sandor calls Sansa a little bird because he's calling her out on repeating back things she's been taught, like a parrot would. Varys' little birds act similarly in the sense that it's in their job description as spies to repeat everything they hear back to Varys. Of course, unlike Varys, Sansa doesn't exactly have some grand hidden political agenda.

But there's definitely food for thought there in terms of how it can relate back to Petyr who like Varys has his own spy network, but unlike Varys brings the bird motif directly onto himself (his personal arms bear mockingbirds… singing birds), and later onto Sansa through her posing as his bastard daughter Alayne (he even gifts her a mockingbird brooch as we learn in AFFC Alayne II) and teaching her how to play the game of thrones. Add in Bran who is being taught to use the weirwoods to see through time and space (and eventually influence events) by Bloodraven, and who has his own bird motif going on… I guess GRRM really wants us to know birds go hand in hand with scheming in ASOIAF. And scheming definitely deals with questions of honesty and falsehoods, a recurring theme in Sansa's storyline.

We see Sansa become a more convincing liar throughout the books, but also become more comfortable with lies under Petyr's influence (see AFFC Sansa I) as he starts teaching/manipulating/grooming her all at the same time. Sandor called out Sansa on her so-called lies which was really about enacting "courtesy is a lady's armor" – and he wasn't the only one, Cersei and Tyrion call out Sansa too, in their thoughts or to her face. Depending on the scene, Sansa was just trying to be polite or her responses were the placating strategy of an abuse victim protecting herself from more potential abuse. It's worth mentioning Arya too, both a foil and parallel to her sister, who vocally chafed against Sansa's actual lies, and has been resorting to vigilantism lately. All this on top of an overarching thematic preoccupation with justice/honor/ideals found in almost every POV.

I'm entering speculation territory here, but I think this theme of truths/lies, the tension that derives from having values you want to uphold, and the time and place for it all will play out and come to a head in the context of confronting the reality of who Petyr is and the fine line she is walking alongside him in terms of culpability/responsibility. (In addition to what has already happened, who knows what else Petyr gets them entagled in by the time we see a resolution to this portion of her storyline.) Such a moment would also be an oppotunity to showcase Sansa honing her political skills (student surpassing the teacher trope, assuming she manages to keep her head which if nothing else seems a safe bet), as well as a step on her path to healing, likely as she brings him to justice for his crimes by coming forward as a witness or even accomplice. Sort of acting as a whistleblower, and here we're back to the little bird/mockingbird of it all.

#sansa stark #asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #ssm #ssm originals #x sandor clegane #x petyr baelish #topic: themes and motifs #topic: bird and flight #topic: lies and truth #topic: morals and loss of innocence #topic: speculation #tbc: sansa will bring down littlefinger

[adobe-outdesign]

For poke reviews, I'd like to see what your thoughts are on the Vivillon line, or maybe the Unfezant line? I personally think Pidove is one of the better starter route birds because its evolution doesn't just look like a bigger version of itself.

I already did the Pidove line over here, but as for Vivillon:

I don't know why, but I've always loved the aesthetic of this line. In addition to a square motif, which is used to reflect their paralyzing powder, they also incorporate other shapes, such as triangles and circles. Something about it just really jives with the design part of my brain; it reminds me a bit of modern art (which might be intentional–Vivillon does have a modern pattern that's very Mondrian-esq). It also helps to visually connect the line together and gives them a unique aesthetic different from the other butterfly lines.

I also like how Scatterbug here has a subtle but pleasing brown and warm gray palette that then becomes steadily more colorful as it evolves.

My only thing with Scatterbug is that the head's a bit too big for my tastes; it looks like it's about to fall over. Something about the perfectly rounded back also looks weird to me, most likely because it has no legs to support it back there. I wonder if it couldn't have had another triangle back there like the legs, as a nod to hornworms or something.

Part of me also wonders how necessary it was to get another three stage caterpillar -> pupa -> butterfly line; it feels like Vivillon's gimmick is unique enough that it probably could get away with being a one-stager (I know that's not how butterflies work, but it's a fantasy series). Regardless, Scatterbug is a good foundation for the line.

Spewpa is probably the best cocoon Pokemon out there; I tend to find them underwhelming, as there's only so much you can do with an unmoving pupa stage. It's refreshing to have such a different take on the idea, as instead of doing the usual, Spewpa has a stylized head, with a fluffy blanket of powder around its body (which is also a nice continuation from Scatterbug's collar). It kind of references the idea of a silk cocoon without being too literal about it.

As I said above, I like how it starts to get some color at this stage, and how it continues to play around with the square and circle motif. And, of course, it's its own unique thing; not being too similar to either of the other stages while also clearly visually connecting the two. Good stuff.

Side note: why does Spewpa have highlights in its eyes when Scatterbug doesn't? This isn't important, it's just odd.

I think I've mentioned this before, but Vivillon's actually my favorite butterfly 'mon. First, the aforementioned square motif is continued here, and all the squares and "pixelation" in the wings tie everything together visually, both in terms of the pre-evos and in terms of the different forms. I also love how the compound eyes are three squares, and how the eyes are triangles to tie back into the shape thing. Even little details, like the way each body segment is split half and half and how the wings have the square outcroppings at the tips, add to the overall design.

However, I do have one or two nitpicks. First, I don't love the human mouth; I would've preferred a little ^ shaped mouth to tie into Scatterbug (or a V shape, if you want to make it look happier).

And secondly, the weird oval hind legs look tacked on and don't fit the pre-established shapes; they're particularly weird when the top legs are circular, as they should all be the shame shape. It would've been better if they were all circles, or even all triangles to tie into Scatterbug's legs.

So if I have nitpicks, why is this my favorite butterfly? Simple: one of the best features about butterflies is how their wings are stunningly gorgeous, and how each species has its own colors and patterns. Vivillon's the only butterfly 'mon that really captures this with its different forms:

On top of that, the wing patterns changing depending on your region is somewhat accurate to IRL butterflies (though not to this extreme, obviously). Limenitis arthemis is my favorite example of this; out west, it has white stripes (left), but in the east it's all black/blue (right) to mimic the poisonous Pipevine Swallowtails that live in that region:

Anyway, out of the forms, my favorites are the Pokeball pattern (I love the general design of Pokeballs to begin with, and the circular pattern around the body looks really cool), the ocean pattern (such pretty colors!), the modern pattern (as mentioned above, fits with the pre-existing design), and the polar pattern (very striking). My least fav is probably the monsoon or archipelago pattern (monsoon because the grey doesn't really work, archipelago because the the colors and patterns don't stand out that much). And even then, I wouldn't consider any of the forms bad.

In fact, the only bad thing about it is the mechanics. Having the form depend solely on your IRL region kind of sucks. First, because the Switch requires online to trade, it effectively locks all the forms, the best part, behind a paywall. And even ignoring that, some forms are harder to get than others depending on how many Pokemon fans are in each region; for example, the tundra pattern tends to be rarer as far as I'm aware.

Vivillon's coming back for SV, so maybe they'll consider adding a few forms depending on your in-game area this time? Or perhaps there could be a system where you get the form for your region by default, but could use something like Pokeblocks to change it before evolution? I'd just like an easy(ish) way to obtain all the forms that doesn't require paying to do a trade, basically.

Also, Vivillon is Pokemon #666 and that will never not amuse me.

Overall, the line as a whole has some unique visuals with the shape motif, which also works to tie all the stages together. Scatterbug is good aesthetically but the body is a tad weird, Spewpa is a great and unique take on a cocoon Pokemon, and Vivillon's forms are perfect for a butterfly and quite pretty. Solid A+ from me.

#scatterbug #spewpa #vivillon #pokemon #pokemon reviews #long post

[clay-cuttlefish]

Finishing out post-Crisis continuity on all Renee's highest notes. I miss her (characterization that was outdated by more than a decade before I started reading)

The Question #37

I am going to eat this.

Shiva and Renee are great here, I love how they both work with the theme of rebirth, but it's Tot's driving emotion being greed that makes this issue so critical to me. He's so consistently restrained, the sensible one to Vic and Renee's burning curiosity, and that facade completely shattering to show that he's just as driven to find answers as they are? Chef's kiss.

Tot is the first person to ever shoot Shiva. David Cain has nothing on the power of old man lunacy.

"Charlie, son... Goodbye..." UNHINGED.

The absolute Question dream team on this one: Dennis O'Neil and Greg Rucka on writing, Denys Cowan on pencils, Bill Sienkiewicz on inks, even Cully Hamner doing the cover.

IT'S THE FIVE HUNDREDTH ISSUE TOO???

I don't have the words so please imagine me biting my hand because the normal chewing stim is not powerful enough to vent the feelings.

It helps/worsens the feelings that this is a single issue with no buildup that comes after a few bad minor appearances and Final Crisis, so I've let my guard down.

Pipeline Chapter One (Tec #854-858)

Into Pipeline now. It's not technically a Renee solo, but it's about miniseries length.

She's got a website! And takes cases!

It's nice to have a return to the classic Question staples of being nosy, fighting thugs, trying to help the vulnerable, and getting shot. Good to end up in the river sometimes, yknow? Not everything can be grand evils and crisis events.

The Eighth Deadly Sin (Batman Annual 27, Tec Annual 11)

Dick is way less uptight about getting help than Bruce, so he calls her in to help with a case.

Not important or anything but it's a good time.

GO (Tec #859-860)

Renee's first relationship with Kate, and their first breakup.

Pipeline Chapter Two (Tec #859-865)

Helena!

Renee and Helena reminiscing over Vic is very sweet. It's nice that he's still important to Helena despite how badly it ended.

Nobody tells either of them anything about the superhero community, apparently.

Love that Renee's broke. Charlie left her a lighthouse and Tot's fairly well off but she doesn't have private jet money.

I like that it calls back to 52 with Veronica Cale before following up on Revelations.

"I believe in friendship." I LOVE YOUUUU

The most powerful forces in the world are friendship and also gay longing.

All the Rage (Tec Annual #12, Batman Annual #28)

I don't like this plot at all, but this is important for Renee bearing the Mark of Cain - it doesn't get followed up on in anything else.

Paralleling the Mark with the double Venus scar Renee has from Gotham Central as two scars that provoke religious rejection.

It's wild to me that I didn't come across this the first time I did my Renee reading. I had interpreted the ending of Pipeline as ambiguous, and her appearance in Convergence without it to mean she never received it, but that's just not at all true.

Extending the metaphor here Dick is a kind of insensitive but generally well-meaning lesbian ally. That checks out.

Generally she's written fine in this. Not amazing but it's solid and it gets the point across.

Marked Woman (Tec Annual #12)

The real Mark of Cain was internalized homophobia the whole time, and the reason she's able to bear it is because she's learned to accept herself.

Adding transformative queer self-acceptance to the list of the most powerful forces in the world.

Hostile Takeover (Birds of Prey #12-13)

Important note: the Question that Helena calls Q as a cute pet name in the comics is Renee. IIRC the only person who calls Vic Q is Ted. Make of this what you will.

Slight variation on the drowning motif - Renee only ends up in the sewer for a moment, but Helena goes apeshit and tries to drown a guy in it, so it counts.

"Our first date." "*Snerk.* Shut up. Nerd." This is just fully gay. They are dating.

It actually pisses me off that this is such a promising setup. I'd be able to handle the New 52 more if Renee was left off right after the Mark of Cain arc, I might be able to convince myself it works as an open-ended "and the adventure continues" for her, but no I have to live with the knowledge she was going to be on the Birds of Prey and be adorable with Helena and then DC blew everyone up.

Guess I'll go fuck myself then.

Danger Drive (Batman 80-Page Giant 2011)

Sneaking in just under the reboot, it's... basically just that time Vic punched the Riddler, but with a different terrible Riddler outfit and a Jeopardy theme. Well. That's disappointing.

If I was less masochistic I'd end the project here, but if I was less masochistic I wouldn't have started it in the first place.

#clayposts #the question #renee montoya #clayreads

[wasabikitcat]

So the new teasers on the Deltarune website. I think this area is actually a dark world version of Kris and Asriel's room.

The couch on the left is green with two yellow stripes, similar to Asriel's bed, and his iconic green and yellow striped shirt in Undertale. Asriel's bed is also on left in their room.

The couch on the right is blue with some wear. Kris' bed is a faint blue, and their dark world form is alsp blue, as is the color of their icons in the menu. As for the wear, it may be because of the shelves above their bed, or possibly something more symbolic?

There are star lights hanging from the ceiling, in addition to a general star motif around the room. Above Asriel's bed are those sticky glow stars, as well as a star shaped trophy.

The vending machine on the left could be Asriel's bedside table, or maybe his alarm clock?

The colors of the flooring in the room are an orange with some green. The bedroom has an orange carpet with a green rug in the center.

What appears to be a shopfront in the middle holds a lot of evidence. It's in the center and has curtains around it, which means it likely represents the window in the center of the bedroom.

The shop front also seems to be selling what are either swords or knives, which are stored on the right side. A sword is Kris' weapon in the dark world. Perhaps Kris has more knives stored in their bedside table, or maybe they're pencils, which we also know to turn into swords in the dark world. Either way, the shop is selling Kris' primary weapon.

The shop also seems to be selling some kind of bottles (perhaps a healing item of some kind) and something unidentifiable stored beneath the counter on the left side. Perhaps the bottles are Asriel's trophies, and the objects beneath the counter are the things under Asriel's bed.

What is perhaps the biggest piece of evidence imo that tipped me off on this theory is the Maus hanging in the shop front on the left. I thought this was out of place at first, why would there be a cyber darkener in what seems to be the TV based dark world we've all been expecting? And then it made sense: Asriel has a computer on his side of the room. The Maus is the mouse from Asriel's computer.

The last piece of evidence I will present is simply the concept of a green room. A green room is where you prepare and relax before a show starts. A bedroom is where you prepare and relax before the day starts.

Now, for what this theory doesn't explain.

The two TVs. While one of them could be Asriel's computer, why is there a second when there isn't an equivalent object on Kris' side of the room?

The two plants in the corners of the room. Once again, while one may be the pencil holder on Asriel's side of the desk, why is there a second on the other side? Also this is just a side tangent, but it's worth noting that the plants are a pallete swapped version of the sprite of the cactus in the upstairs hallway, as well as Toriel's cactus in her room in Undertale.

The platter in the center. Maybe it's the cage on Kris' side, but I would expect that to have a more important dark world equivalent considering it's significance in Chapter 1's ending. If it's not that though, I'm not sure what it could be.

The doors on the opposite sides of the room. This may not be an issue and is instead just a game design decision. Dark worlds do take some liberties in their layouts after all.

The door on the right side of the room. This is interesting to me, I'm not sure what it's lightworld equivalent is. It could be Kris' bedside table, or under their bed, or maybe even the bird cage. Or something else entirely? Or maybe it's just the entrance to get inside the shop front. Who knows.

So yeah. Don't know how to end this. Anyone feel free to add anything I might have missed, or some possible explanations for the unidentified objects.

#deltarune #theory #deltarune theory

[corviisquire]

Ranne lore time….

So yeah here we go. There’s tiers or a hierarchy of beings in the Ranne World (I’ll think of a name). I’ve said this before on my BIG HUGE MASSIVE RANNE LORE DUMP but I’ll say it again. It kinda goes like:

- Elder Gods

- Gods (example: Ranne, Milborough, Lorelei, Cymbeline, etc)

- Demi-Gods, Lower Gods (Punicae), Eldritch Creatures (sentient ?)

- Eldritch Creatures (mindless)

- Quarter Gods, Patrons to the Gods, Mortal leaders (kings, queens, priests, figures of importance in the mortal sphere)

- Mortals and regular ass creatures

Being a patron to a deity is: Offering sacrifices and offerings, wearing the deity’s sigil or garments, and giving honor. In return, the patron is gifted a blessing and if the deity favors a specific patron a lot, they may gift the patron defense or armaments/armor.

Offerings depend on the deity. Examples are Offerings to Ranne can be flowers that bloom in winter (plant life works how I want you can’t tell me otherwise), animals skins, jewelry, and strawberries (Leon gave me the idea when Ranne was first created and it’s stuck with me ever since that an eldritch god that had probably killed lotsa people likes strawberries). Offerings will be gifted during winters and can range from three offerings the entire season or three a week. Some offerings can offend the deity being given to. Let’s say you gift Ranne a bird (dead or alive), they’re gonna kill you. Instadeath. Some deities are more casual or strict with their offerings. Punicae probably dgaf. If you give her something she’s probably like “WOW TYSM YOU DONT NEED TO SO THAT HERE HAVE AN ETHEREAL NECKLACE” (not actually she’ll say it in Shakespearean or smth).

Side note: It’s probably also a good idea if you frequently pass through or live in a deity’s territory to give them offerings, even if you don’t love the deity.

Every deity has a sigil or motif their patrons must wear. It can be crest on their armor, cloak, armament, sword hilts, helm, somewhere. If you aren’t wearing the sigil/crest, wear something similar to the deity? Ranne patrons probably wear black or silver armor, blues, greys, blacks, and whites in their clothing if they were armor or not.

Giving honor is just no slander towards the god.

#creature #oc #ranne my beloved #lore