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#if i would do draw their s3 looks how i REALLY think...
golswia · 2 months
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divorcee meetup
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ladyluscinia · 6 months
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My hottest take from trying to delve into David Jenkins's interviews and piece together where he's going with this is that - for all he and everyone else are consistent about describing this show as a romance and a romcom (and The Muppets) - I don't think he finds the romance compelling??? At least, not the healthy endgame version.
Like, the one interview where he dropped that he was planning an unrequited romance in all those pitches of his until they shot the bathtub scene in 1x06...? Wild twist, but also it kind of makes sense.
Look at the comparisons he makes. Titanic (where Jack dies). Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (where both leads die). Shows like Insecure and Grey's Anatomy, where relationships get messy breakups constantly. He's excited about fanvids set to Olivia Rodrigo's "Favorite Crime". Writes an episode based on Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, a 1966 film of a play that attacks the concept of happy marriages. He mentions A Star Is Born repeatedly in reference to S2, a movie where the disaster marriage ends in suicide and heartbreak.
And even broad spectrum - he repeatedly explains that he's not compelled by pirate stories. Accuses the genre of being "creaky" and "hard to budge", and then claims to want to subvert it in one interview and shrugs about how "it's a pirate story" as reasoning in others. But the part he seems interested in...? Well it's the oncoming end of the Golden Age aspect, and also maybe the short and violent life of organized crime. He's drawing comparisons to mob movies and Westerns - two things I think we can say trend toward the bittersweet to tragic scale with endings. His examples certainly do.
I'm no longer surprised he was really compelled by the Edward and Izzy toxic divorce in S1 and the idea of doing an arc about "Can Izzy find himself outside of this toxic relationship?" only to answer "No." It seems right in his wheelhouse, tbh. Definitely enough that if he felt like Izzy ought to die due to vibes, I doubt he was looking too hard for an alternative.
For all his talk about "Can BlackBonnet put the work into this relationship?" I'm really getting the impression he thinks the more compelling answer is also "No." He likes the idea of a happy ending maybe, but he doesn't really seem into that as a story.
Now, he does seem to have gotten a crash course in "Maybe don't bury your gays?" and he's not lying about wanting to avoid the specific kinds of coming out and queer trauma stories - those are different kinds of tragedies - but I am... skeptical, perhaps, that the forced happy ending feeling of S2 will do anything but repeat in S3.
Just because, like, if I was scrolling these takes on a fic author's blog, I'd put majority odds on the main couple hanging in the final chapter, and I bet a happy sunset ending would come kinda out of nowhere...
Not really a recipe for satisfying, you know?
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bonearenaofmyskull · 3 months
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Hi there! I need your thoughts on the Dolce head-sawing scene. I have read different analyses, and the most recent one I read was saying that the reason Hannibal wanted to eat Will was because Will rejected him and eating him is the only way they could be together. Also, some say that he decided to kill Will only after Will tried to stab him. Additionally, was he slowing the process and waiting for someone to show up and stop him? What are your thoughts on this theory?
My thoughts about this can be more or less represented as, Well, yes, kind of, but also not really, and also definitely not. All these pieces are disjointed from the development of the relationship in the context of the season itself, as well as the series as a whole.
First off, I don't think Hannibal was super excited about the decision to eat Will in the first place because the expression on his face when he's talking to Bedelia about it looks pretty sick to his stomach. In the scene itself he has kind of a mournful tone--tender sometimes, cruel others: a little angry, a little bitter, a lot regretful. He talks about it, how he's sorry to be leaving Italy because he would have liked to do some things for himself there, but mostly that he would have liked to show it to Will. So it's not a stretch to believe that Hannibal didn't really want to eat Will very much (except insofar as he's probably curious about eating most people just as a general rule of thumb, and ofc since this is Will eating him would probably be omg so much better than eating anyone, so there is that).
But the decision had been made. After all, he did have the location prepped with a bone saw all ready to go. He made the decision all the way back in "Secondo" when Bedelia helped him draw the connection between how his sister influenced him in ways he could not control to the way that Will influences him in ways he cannot control: from love, to betrayal, and thence into forgiveness. That Will, through his interactions with Chiyoh that reflected Hannibal's interactions with Bedelia, had come to his own version of the same conclusion that Hannibal came to--that each's influence on the other was so sufficiently out of control that the only way to end it was to kill (and in Hannibal's case, eat) the other--was of no particular consequence to Hannibal's choice, at least not in a cause-and-effect fashion.
Thus it is not a rejection on Will's side any more than it is for Hannibal: it is a gesture of their forgiveness. "You dropped your forgiveness, Will," remember? "You forgive how God forgives," he complains, in his usual hypocritical fashion (which Will turns around on him with the comment about God gloating, which of course Hannibal approves of, since they are each God in his mind). This is, God-like, forgiveness through retribution. Seeing it as rejection is far too sane and rational--and certainly far too conventional--for these two delicate creatures. Hannibal eating Will and keeping a part of him inside forever in the Hobbsean style of cannibalism, as he did with his sister, is an acceptance of how important Will is to him. On Will's side of things, choosing to kill Hannibal is the exact same gesture of acceptance: Will cannot reject Hannibal through the choice of killing, of all things, which is exactly what Hannibal influences him to do. As we see later in "Digestivo," Will can only reject Hannibal through choosing not to kill him. What happens in "Dolce" or any other point in time in S3 isn't ever a rejection (including the hug, I might point out)--not as long as Will is playing their zero-sum game. Not as long as violence is involved. Never forget that violence is love and sex and all things in between on Hannibal.
Thus they each must attempt to kill the other simultaneously because they are one, not in spite of it. Bedelia observes that "Will Graham is en route to kill you, while you lie in wait to kill him" as an extension of the conversation about the reciprocity inherent in Hannibal and Will's relationship. Everything they do, they do reciprocally, at least at this point. This is why they can have such a tender meeting below La Primavera before getting down to business: all the deceptions are gone, and they're both seeing each other with not just truly clear eyes, but truly appreciative eyes. They each can see how much they mean to the other just as much as each thinks the only path forward is to subsume the other in order to regain self-control. They each offer the other "understanding and acceptance," Jack explains to Pazzi, right as Hannibal and Will are coming to same conclusion to off each other. Will can no more reject Hannibal in this moment than Hannibal can reject Will because they are the same.
As for whether Hannibal was slowing the meal process to wait for someone to show up and stop him, we have to look at the evidence of both what Hannibal knows and whether what he knows observably influences his choices.
Hannibal may have been able to deduce that Bedelia would give him up to the Polizia just as he would count that she'd give his location to Jack, but he might not have--Bedelia's kind of a wild card in that fashion, and her choice to give him up seems to have been made specifically in exchange for the investigator telling her that he'd let her off the hook for her and Hannibal's crimes in Italy. If she had not been able to solicit that commitment for whatever reason, then there's no reason to think that she'd have betrayed their location. She wouldn't play her card without getting her win. So it seems unlikely to me that that could be something that Hannibal would be able to know confidently one way or another.
Even if he did, it's hard to see it in the scene itself. He does wait for Jack initially, but that's because Jack has an important role to play. Hannibal doesn't seem to be in any particular hurry in the scene even after Jack shows up, but then he never is, so that means nothing in itself. He doesn't really waste any time once Jack is there, either. He incapacitates Jack and drugs him (he needs to do that to ensure Jack will eat), finishes his mise en place while he waits for Jack to become coherent-ish, and then to be fair, it's pretty minimal conversation before breaking out the bone saw. Just a couple minutes. So there's no evidence in the scene itself to suggest delay, and a certain amount of evidence to suggest otherwise. If the show had wanted to demonstrate delay, it would have been prudent to write Jack getting to the table earlier in the episode, and then use their conversation to emphasize the delay, with more than one scene in the episode. They could cut the elevator scene without any significant bearing on the plot. God forbid they speed up a scene with Bedelia in it. xD
But I think the real reason I reject the notion that Hannibal was delaying is because Jack was there. Hannibal is the devil, his punishments are symbolic retribution, the three of them are literally there in Florence acting out their own version of the Inferno. Hannibal may have been eating Will's brain to try to regain his own peace of mind, but he was absolutely involving Jack in the action because Jack deserved it. He played: it's his time to pay. And it isn't like Hannibal to half-ass a murder dinner, especially if he has a guest. How rude that would be!
I think these analyses that you've read tend to fall apart in kind of the same places as a lot of analyses these days, wherein they seem to assume that because the Hannigram relationship is the heart and foremost hook of the show, the only things that are analyzed are the actions of the two men. Where their actions and words don't directly and explicitly explain something, then people fill in the gaps with their own imagination and values, when in fact the other characters' words and actions and the overall context of the show usually explain things pretty clearly. The other characters are important, as is the overall path of the relationship.
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roxannepolice · 5 months
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Getting stuff out of my system so maybe I can sleep. So obviously I loved The Giggle and loved the Toymaker, but as a Thoschei shipper I can't express how important it is to me how impersonal the Toymaker was about the whole thing and while my dreams of old men making out have not been realied, the ghost of the Master hanging over the episode really emphasised that. Like, welcome home cheater jokes are great and I was getting lowkey irritated by how both the fans and the writers were making ALL of the Master's actions about the Doctor.
But I was also worried that with a campy game loving villain that would also have a love hate obsession with and resentment for the Doctor, RTD would basically say behold the Master only +++ this obviously had nothing to do with CC giving the Doctor a literal speech about being better than the Master introducing a Dia de los Muertos villain that has soooo much history with the Doctor but is also soooo very powerful and then reiterating that the Master hates themself and only wants to be the Doctor but can't because of essentialism posing as existentialism. nothing whatsoever.
But no. Again, I am a bit tired of the Master being presented mainly as not-Doctor and I do think that if Ten didn't timelock the Tardis, they wouldn't have chosen their pet planet specifically, but compare Saxon's No. This is my turn. Revenge. Best. Served. Hot. to the Toymaker's cold Best of three. Compare the Master drawing pleasure from playing Satan the accuser about humans-turned-toclafane to the Doctor specifically because it's their pet species to the Toymaker being himself attracted to humans because of their nature sth sth Johan Huizinga sth sth homo ludens and play as the foundation of culture sth sth 2001: SO with bone and ball sth sth murder as kickstarter of culture and play as kickstarter of culture. Look at Ten's addendum of If that's what you want to the offer he makes the Master in s3, emphasising that he wants to understand what is it that the latter is after, and at Fourteen's certainty that the Toymaker really is only after games.
Don't get me wrong, I'm far from throwing monogamy at either the Doctor or the Master and they probably both made out with the Toymaker, both individually and menage a trois. But if after literal weeks of holding my breath for an actual cameo I leave the episode fully sated after a gold tooth and laughing sounds and people from outside my Davy Jones' Locker stuck ghost ship notice it too, then I'd say RTD did some really good job hanging the Master's ghost over the story. And that was not just to fan serve. It also made a point about the differences between those relationships.
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howtobecomeadragon · 1 year
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Mike got upset at Hopper in s2 bc Hopper was keeping El hidden... when she could've been helping Will and preventing Will's situation from getting so bad
Obviously there are other reasons too, he was mourning and missed her, it was a shock to see her, etc. I'm just saying I think this is the bigger reason.
This also ties into Mike viewing El as a superhero and how this puts their relationship in a weird space. If someone is a superhero, you're not missing them as a person, you're missing them for their powers and what they can do for you.
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Obviously we saw that Mike was missing El in 2x01 and 2x02. But at the end of 2x02, we saw Mike having a new concern about what was going on with Will and that he was seeing something from the UD. Mike is confronted with the reality that he doesn't know much about the UD and doesn't know how to help. He doesn't know if this is real or just visions. He doesn't understand (although he does his best to help), the others wouldn't understand, but Eleven would. She would know, she'd be able to help, she'd know how to stop this.
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Because, after all, Mike has said it before: she's a weapon. He viewed her as a way to get Will back before (partly, not claiming this was his only motivation in his relationship with El) and now in s2, Mike is missing her for what she could have done here: helped Will.
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Mike does what he can to put positive spins on the situation and he provides that emotional support, which probably helped more than he knew.
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But that didn't exactly stop the bad things from happening. Mike still doesn't know how to fix this thing happening to Will. He does everything he can, he comes up with the idea to spy back and to put Will to sleep, but it's still a very upsetting day or two.
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When El returns, he greets her happily but as soon as he hears that she's been out there, listening to his calls, his face drops. He wanted to know she was out there. And then very quickly his anger moves to Hopper. El didn't know that Will was in trouble. She stayed away bc Hopper told her to, but she didn't know what was going on. Hopper knew. Hopper knew that El was probably one of the only people who might know enough to help, so he gets mad about Hopper hiding her, when she could've been there, she could've stepped in as soon as Will saw the Mind Flayer the first time.
Moving onto the fight scene:
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Mike and Hopper both look and gesture towards this wall a lot (EDIT: credit to @runninguplenorahills for pointing this out, this is also in Will's bedroom, similar to the s3 kiss with El in the finale. just another thing pointing to this being more to do with Will than the GA might thing), and I get that it's probably the direction of where El is in the kitchen, but just like always, Will is there symbolically too. He's there in the drawings that are on the wall between them in the dead center of the shot. It's a symbol of just how bad things got with Will.
Mike looks at the drawings and says he doesn't understand how Hopper let it go on so long with El there but hidden.
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Again, looking and gesturing at the walls. And there's this talk of blame here. "Don't blame her, she's already upset." "I don't blame her, I blame you."
Blame El for... just staying hidden? When Mike can tell she wasn't allowed to talk to him? That doesn't really fit perfectly with the word "blame." What Hopper might mean, instead, is for Mike to not blame El for how bad it got with Will. "Don't blame El for not coming to help sooner, don't blame her for everything that has happened the past couple days." And Mike doesn't, he says he's blaming Hopper.
Another couple things from the full fight scene:
"Protecting her?" Mike sees what happened. Hopper chose to protect El over protecting Will this season (in a way, balancing out his actions from s1, selling out El's location to Brenner to save Will).
"So I should be thanking you?" Along that same line: Mike isn't thinking about his or his family's safety. Brenner is gone, and it sounds like Hopper kept El hidden for reasons he doesn't understand or care about at the cost of Will's safety.
"Nothing about this is okay." There's so many things he's upset and overwhelmed and scared about right now. It's multifaceted, just like so many of Mike's scenes. He's not just mad bc he missed El, there's more there.
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After the scene with Hopper, Mike and El are standing away from each other. He even seems to be avoiding eye contact with her? Maybe from embarrassment over his outburst, maybe he just feels weird and conflicted already, feeling the strain of having his attention split when he's already so worried about Will. But either way, the shots are framed with Mike and Hopper together and everyone else with El. He didn't rush out from that fight to stick with El, be close, hold her hand, talk with her more.
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And the first time he speaks in this scene it feels a lot like another "I'm the only one who cares about Will" moment. He's put the pieces together and was considering Will's part in all of this. He's not voicing concern about El being in danger again or leaving again, his mind is on Will.
And I think this all goes to the goodbye scene between El and Mike. Mike is concerned about losing people close to him. He can't say goodbye to Will, but he says goodbye to El. She tries to kiss him, he leaves his eyes open and doesn't move closer at all. A car with Will drives away and a car with El drives away, both headed towards danger. He stares after both, scared.
GA viewers assume he's just focused on El as he watches the cars drive away, but he spent most of the season just focused on Will. GA viewers assume Mike's outburst just has to do with loving El, but he spent most of the season trying to help Will, just like s1, except this time he didn't have El, his helpful link to the UD, to make the supernatural mysteries a little bit easier.
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littlegaybean1 · 3 months
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Ok ok ok...
It's been almost 18 years since it aired, but who cares I'm talking about it anyway.
I've seen a lot of people hating on Cyberwoman. And yeah, I understand why. That costume choice was, er, quite something. But it's still my favourite episode and yk why? The build up. The plotline. And most of all the acting. Oh my god the acting. My favourite scene has got to be the tourist office, because oh my days have you seen the way Gareth David Lloyd plays Ianto? It gives me chills. After watching it, I rewatched Everything Changes and Ghost Machine because I never actually noticed Ianto in them, unless he's speaking. The only time you ever see him is when he intentionally draws attention to himself, which he rarely does. I watched them again, specifically focusing on Ianto. He's barely in them. He's one of the main 5 characters, but in the first three episodes he has one of the most minor roles. Like, you see him let Gwen into the Hub, delete the stuff she typed to make herself remember and see him introduced. That's it for episode one. And yes, everyone has a minor role in that, but you never actually see him as part of the team. He works alone, always.
Episode three really highlights that for me. He appears every so often with a funny comment. He has less screen time than Rhys. If it wasn't for the fact that I was actively thinking about him, I would have completely forgotten that he was there. One of his rare appearances really got to me - the ending. Jack gives him the ghost machine to put in the secure archives. That's normal, the archives are his area.
Except Jack doesn't even look at him. He just holds it out, like Ianto is a servant, not someone with years of experience dealing with aliens. Ianto worked at Torchwood One. He was the most qualified of anyone on that team when each of them joined. Owen was medically trained, but no experience with aliens. Tosh was a genius, but she had only experienced aliens through wrong blueprints of their technology, plus a charge of treason. Gwen had police training, nothing more. She got a job by being stubborn, and in the right place at the right time. Jack was reckless, dangerous, and did not want to join Torchwood. He only did it because he needed to do something in the 100+ years that he would be waiting for the Doctor.
Ianto had everything taken from him all at once, and nobody bothered to check on him. He looked fine, so they didn't give it any more thought. They of all people should know that that's not how it works. Ianto was repressing his grief, exhausting himself with the amount he worked both at his job and caring for Lisa. He never had any desire to cause anyone any harm. He was blinded by overwhelming grief. When humans experience loss, the automatic reaction is to cling to what you have. For most people, that means reaching out to friends and family, creating a support system. Ianto lost all his friends, all at once. We don't hear about his family until S3 (goddamn S3), but it's implied that they aren't close. I haven't listened to any of the audios, so if there's more to it than that then I don't know it.
Ianto had nothing, except an echo pretending to be Lisa. He did the most natural thing in the world, clung to what he had. Or at least, what he thought he had. Don't blame Ianto for the events of Cyberwoman. His actions correlate with normal reactions to grief. Yes, his actions were extreme. But so was his grief.
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ouroborosorder · 2 months
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what do you think the most stellar examples of arknights' vfx are?
Okay so there are a lot of examples, so I'm going to try to keep my description of each one short. Unsurprisingly, most of my favorite effects are on more recent, paid skins for fan-favorite/meta 6* operators, since those are the ones they put their whole ass into.
Executor the Ex Foedere. The way that it weaves blasts of light and the shapes of Sankta wings into his shotgun blasts is absurdly creative. Perfect for a saint of Laterano.
Passenger's Skin. Specifically his S3. Stellar lightning is a weird pitch, but it's so fucking beautiful that it works. This is the effect that convinced me that I might enjoy being a VFX artist after all, not fucking kidding.
Jessica Alter. Look. Her skills are underwhelming as fuck, they're all the same shot effects every time. But. Do you genuinely understand how amazing these gunshots look? Do you know how hard it is to make a stylized gunshot that doesn't just look like magic? These are breathtakingly good. The glass shattering on hit genuinely made my jaw drop when I first saw it.
Eyjafjalla the Hvit Aska. It's hard to make a healer that genuinely looks unique, but Eyjalter's dreamlike colors and flat effects manage to bring the visual style of So Long Adele into every map and make it look reasonable with the artstyle.
Kirin R Yato. Monster Hunter's effects are extremely distinct, and seeing them recreate MH's style in Arknights' is really lovely. My one sorrow is that I wish there was more lightning, since like. Kirin.
Lin. Glass is a legitamately hard thing to pull off because it so often just looks like crystal, but leaning more into glass dust and shards makes it work perfectly. Her skin is also quite pretty, but it loses the glass look that made me love Lin to begin with.
Reed the Flame Shadow. Holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit fire made of flowers?? The way the fire looks secondary to the whole thing while being undeniably present is stunning. Her skin is nowhere near as good tho.
Penance. Penance has such a stunning aesthetic that it immediately endeared me to her. Her vibe of gilded thorny chains carries to her effects and it works.
Texas the Omertosa. Fucking. Duh. It's hard to make a normal sword swipe look unqiue but Texas nails it. Her skin's effects are even more stunning, even if the animations are awful.
Minimalist. It's hard to make effects that are minimalist and still look good.
Specter the Unchained + Skin. I need to specificially call out her skin. Her skin may be one of my favorite pieces of effects at all time. The colors, the aegirian poetry as part of the visuals, the stellar water, it's all practically perfect.
Kazemaru. A sleeper hit!! She's got a lot going on with the "paper-controlling ninja whose clone has a completely unique aesthetic" thing so it seems like she might be too busy, but it manages to pull it off. Shoutouts to her clone's spawn, which actually does the slash mesh slightly wrong intentionally because the ring look actually helps a lot.
Goldenglow. It's rare that I see a lightning character and say "I have never seen anything like that before in my life" and Goldenglow's pink and blue stylized lightning genuinely shocked me.
Ling (Does it Wash The Strings). If you want my choice for best VFX in the game, this would at least be in running for first. It's flashy as hell, but manages to not be overbearing. The S3 dragon attacking with mountains rising from the earth alone is stunning, but the normal attack impact is my favorite part of the entire thing. It's so simple and elegant and stylish.
Amiya Guard. Amiya's Guard form is the combination of Amiya's Arts, Sarkaz Arts, Ch'en's swordfighting, the normal AK Arts and sword design languages, and a tiny bit of weird space tech to represent the Precursors. And it manages to come together to something that feels really cohesive while still drawing attention to how incongruous these elements are. The effects actively tell the story of Amiya - a girl with big shoes to fill, carrying the legacy of so many.
Ceobe, and her Unfettered Freedom skin. At this point in Arknights' lifespan, they had a much more defined visual language for how Casters look compared to melee units. Ceobe, being a Caster who throws fucking enchanted melee weapons instead of casting spells? So she combines their languages, with the buildup and trails of Arts casters and impacts of melee units, it's subtle and I love it. Unfettered Freedom deserves a special shoutout because I love geometric magic so fucking much.
Conviction's Skin. Why is this so good they're a joke operator.
Dorothy's Skin. I may have mixed opinions on this skin, but the effects are objectively stunning. I am personally heartbroken that she doesn't have the sand anymore, but that's a personal thing. I also don't like that her S3's range is obfuscated by the explosion but again that's nitpicking.
There's probably WAY more that I've missed and even more I cut for time, but those are my favorites after browsing the list of operators and skins for like, two hours straight. If there are a few I missed... Look, this list is this long already.
Also note that I didn't really list enemies or anything other than playable operators. Their enemy effects are usually... servicable, with a few standout exceptions with Talulah and Frostnova.
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quitealotofsodapop · 2 months
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So Mk gets surprise eggo because of paint and confined space and lack of food? Imagine that he has no idea what’s wrong with him, he goes to Lao Tzu, and when Lao Tzu goes “congrats on the baby” Everyone just kinda stops.
And Mk bursts into tears so loudly that all of heaven can hear. He’s all “I can’t have a baby, it’s too dangerous!” And “I’m not ready!” Pigsy and Wukong are trying to comfort him, and the poor boys is just a sobbing mess.
And Lao Tzu is just standing there like “?????”
Sorry MK XD You're getting Egged
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Bonus Anon asks:
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Referencing this post where someone pointed out that MK could theoretically create a Stone Egg + the sequel that pointed out that he'd most likely do it on accident.
I could see this most likely happening in the Canon! verse since I bet the other au MK's would be more wary of Stone Egg mishaps. But I could 100% see it happening in the SlowBoiled au since that causes more drama.
And as much as I love the idea of MK becoming *ahem* egg'd as the result of a bad guy's plans or a huge catarosphe, I think it would fit more if MK did it completely on accident.
So the idea:
Post S3 MK decides that he needs some "Me time" and takes a break from work and training after the whole "Saving the world from a bone demon"-thing. He just needs some time to shut off completely from his responsibilities in the city. His friends understand and wish him well, even though they're worried since MK won't tell him *Where* he's taking a break to.
"Where" turns out to be a cool cave-let MK found while exploring FFM during S2 with no Monkey King to hover over him. Its quiet, it's secluded, its completely off-grid... But MK just can't relax. His brain is all busy, and everytime he sleeps he sees Her.
So he starts painting. And drawing. And using charcoal. Maybe a little rough pottery with the muddy clay-like stuff in the water? And soon enough he's looking like his Artist Clone with how caked in material he is.
In liu of going to sleep and risking terrible bone demon nightmares, MK meditates like how he saw the Monkey King do. In these moments his thoughts wander into deep, dark teritory. Real "call of the void"-type of thoughts.... hey should he eat something? It's been... oh gosh Pigsy's gonna killl him if he doesn't at least text to tell him how his sabbatical is going.
After his inpromtu vacation is up, MK feels... really gross? Maybe thats cus he hasn't really washed or slept or ate, or spoken to anyone in all that time. Weird.
Pigsy asks him how long it's been since MK last ate a full meal, and huffs with disappointment at his nervous laugh before pouring his son a bowl of noodles.
Bouts of nausea and dizziness follow MK everywhere afterwards. He had no idea why - paint fumes maybe? Did some toxic chemical seep into his skin? Did he get sick somehow from isolating himself in that cave? Is that Jin and Yin trying to take over the city?
At somepoint in the utter chaos of S4 likely as the rest of the gang are recieving training from Subodhi; a certain alchemist meets MK to whisper a few questions into his ear.
Lao Tzu: "I was told that you've been experiencing extreme power fluctuations for the last few weeks. May I run a few test to rule out any abnormalities?"
MK: "Oh cool, no probs! Just don't put me in that furnace thing-y."
(*a few tests later*)
Lao Tzu: "Ok great news, it's not a curse or medical problem."
MK: "Phew! Then why is my body feels like its "glitching" all the time?"
Lao Tzu: "Thats a decaying glamour spell. Its likely that you had one affixed to you shortly before you were given up by your creators."
MK: "Glamour spell...? Wait, then what about my powers wigging out?"
Lao Tzu: "Oh thats easy. You're just pregnant."
MK (has not Done the Do): "What!?"
Mere seconds after Lao Tzu gives the diagnosis - MK just starts bawling.
He doesn't want this! Not now! He does want to have kid while all This is going on! The world might be ending for Buddha's sake!
MK is having a million panic attacks rn. He wants to have kids, so many, but only in the *Future*! When he's like semi-retired and has a protege of his own to take over the monkey business- HEY WAIT, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!?!
Subodhi has to drop the big lore that MK is a Stone Monkey - capable of reproducing asexually under extreme circumstances, in order to clear up the whole immaculate conception part.
Then Lao Tzu has to tell MK that the Stone Egg he carries will likely Kill him since he's (mostly) mortal.
MK starts crying before deciding to tackle the issue Later.
Ofc MK simply doesn't want his family to worry about him what with all this Brotherhood stuff going on... so he just keeps quiet for now.
His family are going to find out soon though. And by Guanyin, Pigsy is gonna freak.
Macaque (and later Wukong), just need to sniff MK once after they reunite to notice whats up.
Wukong offers to grab some No-Baby Spring Water immediately if MK doesnt want to keep the Egg. Macaque briefly panics thinking that the kid got knocked up the old-fashioned way... only to panic harder when he and Wukong determine it to be a Solo-Made Stone Egg(!!!). Cue two panicking fellow Stone Monkeys making MK feel even worse about his conflicted feelings on the matter.
Pls add on what you think so far! :3
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cult-of-the-eye · 5 months
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tma makeup headcanons:
Jonathan "serving cunt" Sims:
S1 Jon doesn't know what makeup is (he absolutely wore eyeliner every single day at uni but he's not letting everyone else know that)
He like spot conceals but that's about all he feels comfortable getting away with while maintaining his air of professionalism
He also despises the feeling of foundation on his face
S2 Jon is barefaced as the day he was born. My man's last priority is how he looks, he's too busy buying axes in central London and stalking his coworkers
S3 Jon has none of his makeup with him but he's got loads of spare time and Georgie has a whole drawer so he experiments a little bit, he goes for Kajal (black pencil eyeliner lining the inside of your eyes) instead of his previous winged eyeliner but he hesitates at the any colour because she managed to pull it off but he's never been one for drawing attention to himself like that but one day he goes for a burgundy or like dark purplish red colour and he's quite pleased with himself
I feel like Jon would go for a natural kind of look, with concealer and a skin tint at best, some dark brown eye shadow to deepen his hooded eyes and kajal
Martin Kslaying Blackwood:
Ugh I love this man so much
I'm literally such a fan of trans Martin it's pretty much canon to me so I'm headcanoning that he's very hesitant about makeup cause he was a late transitioner and had only just gotten used to passing recently so he doesn't want to do anything to risk that
But he's such a slut for a nice little blush or like a subtle lip tint
He goes for powder blushes cause liquid ones feel sticky on his face and also powder blushes just Look Nice
He also likes lip tints cause he's constantly rubbing off lip products, with the multiple mugs of tea a day and it's getting awkward handing Jon mugs of tea with faint lipstick stains on them
He keeps an emergency kit in his bag with like some eyeshadow if he needs to darken his facial hair and on a whim he puts a baby pink powder blush in there and a matching lip tint
So it's not like he decided to bring it to the safehouse, it was just sort of there
Jon finds it and he's like let's go, we're going down to the shops and buying some, we're gonna do some experimenting and Martin's like oh!!
When he was working for Peter Lukas, he was also barefaced, he didn't want to give him the satisfaction of thinking he put effort in
Timothy "Take notes" Stoker:
This man is such a fun makeup guy
He's a random dots around his eyes, shimmery colourful inner corner, new colour every day, just drawing shit around his eyes kinda man
He's a no foundation no concealer kinda guy as well I think
ugh just can you imagine??? They have a little tally of what colours/patterns Tim's using today and somehow he never managed to repeat a look - it might be a repeated colour but the pattern or the way it's used it's always different
And then one day he just stops. He still wears makeup but the colours are more muted and they make his eyes look bruised in a very decisive way
It's almost as if he's spent ages on a look and then tried to scrub it all away
Sashay Away James
She's such a glamorous girly I feel like she really enjoys the process of makeup more than actually changing the way she looks
I'd love her to be doing the whole shebang, spending hours picking the right primer and stuff like that
She goes for the yeah I'm wearing makeup and I'm slaying look
I feel like she's so good at a little nose highlight
Can you imagine every day Tim greeting Sasha every morning with like a love the highlight girl and it makes her happy every single time
Oh she's such a fake freckles girly absolutely
Hated false eyelashes cause they feel weird
Not Sasha believes makeup is pushing feminism backwards
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noemitenshi · 5 months
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Jake Otto as a brother
so i promised @minimoefoe to write down my thoughts on Jake. I hope I'm being coherent haha, it's all a big jumbled mess in my head that mostly boils down to seethign rage. I definitely hate Jake more than Jeremiah, so make of that what you will.
Jake, to me, seems to have taken on the role of 'the good kid' (you know, the thing that shouldn't happen between siblings, where one takes on the role of the black sheep and by contrast the other is good..) and not only has he taken it on, i mean, you can't really blame a kid for that (as long as the kid is, you know, a kid) but he seems to be have fully embraced that role in s3 where he is all grown up. Which is what really gets to me (he should know better by now).
You see that in all his interactions with Troy. He expects the worst of him, he's annoyed by all that Troy does. In fact, Troy can't win with him (funny how in s3ep8 jake is telling him "Do something!" about the militia being incapacitated etc and then when troy does do something it's still not good enough…). Also note how Troy, in contrast, almost never raises his voice at Jake (except for that one interaction where he's already all irritated/angry about mike leaving). He's mostly mild around Jake and at least I got the sense that he is resigned. Resigned to the fact that Jake will always see the worst in him. He's not even trying to convince him otherwise - so I assume they had several confrontations about that when they were little (actually would have loved to see more of their past relationship, these little hints we get seem so intriguing (eg tell me about the rabbits)).
I think the most hurtful interaction, imho, is when Troy tries to warn him not to go to Taqa to placate him after Troy went and got Alicia back. He seems earnest in his worry over Jake. "Brother, you leave, I don't think you're coming back" Troy tells Jake. And Jake, unable to see anything but confrontation in Troy and all Troy does goes "ask yourself if that would make you happier." Troy doesn't answer, not with words but his face says it all. He closes his mouth, unhappy. Opens it again as if to argue only to - stop. Probably because he knows there's no sense in arguing with Jake about how he sees Troy. He won't get him to change his mind.
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Also, since I rewatched the scene, notice how Troy actually does understand Jake. With the "i think you'd be happy if Walker took your scalp." Jake does seem like the self-sacrificing type (they both do haha, they are brothers after all), like he'd want to die for doing the right thing. Troy gets that about him. Whereas Jake does not seem to even start being able to comprehend Troy. There seems to be too much bitterness on Jake's side for empathy.
And sure, yes they've both grown up in an abusive household, yes, probably Jake was told to look after Troy a lot (so Troy was made his responsibility which is super unfair, absolutely), probably also blamed for when Troy behaved in a way deemed unacceptable (which, given the parents were drunks could be literally ANYTHING e.g. drawing too loudly (an example meant to show their unreasonableness). add to that the fact that Troy was shown to be easily upset (in the video tape in s3ep3 he starts crying when his parents fight), they probably didn't want to deal with him upset/crying, demanding he stop it or demanding jake do something abou it…). So yes, all that is horrible also for jake, an impossible -abusive- situation for both brothers.
Jake should've grown out of it though. He's an adult now but he still can't see past these roles they were given. He probably even still blames it on Troy, like if he were a better child to their parents things would've been easier also on Jake. Why can't Troy never do what he's asked to? Etc etc. And all this colors his interaction with Troy as grown ups. All sympathy he has ever felt for Troy eroded over the years...
And I do think as a kid he was also trying to help Troy and protect him, as he says -though I also think Troy protected Jake. Troy seems like he's very used to dealing with pain, so I definitely think he made sure the ire of his parents fell on him. Kinda playing into the black sheep role, too (like kids tend to do once they've got this role)… anyway so Jake tried to protect him/help him though I think with time the bitterness took over. And that's all he has for Troy now, bitterness and disappointment. And Jake gives himself away. When he says "Ask yourself if that [jake not coming back from trying to placate Taqa] would make you happier" that's not troy's thinking at all. It's HIM, Jake, who'd be happier if Troy went off to some kind of mission (exile) and wouldn't come back.
tl;dr Jake is a shit brother to Troy (while playing the white knight to others -or should that be 'and'- fully embracing the 'good kid' role) and I'll never like him
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theerurishipper · 6 months
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I know Elation is a fan favorite episode of S5 but looking back at it, how Marinette took advantage of Chat not knowing taht she's Ladybug to get him to stil date and kiss her really spiraled down into gross territory and once again it was ADRIEN who was told to do better and improve by taking accountability while Marinette continued crying and getting cuddled by the narrative.
Chat noir at least deceived with open cards, it's obvious that there is a person underneath his mask (even if Marinette never acts like it) but Ladybug didn't get her kissy kissy meow meow and then proceeded to let Chat shower Marinette Dupain-Cheng in all the affection she craves even though one would think Marinette too has a moral obligation in this partnership to protect Chat from any kind he feelings he has for her civilian side since Ladybug and Marinette are the same person and therefore there is logically a special draw that leaves him vulnerable to be taken advantage of by her (the way it literally happened twice, in Elation AND Glaciator 2, where both times Marinette used her civilian side to basically make Chat do whatever she wants as Ladybug).
A draw that interestingly the show had ADRIEN take full accountability for when he thought that's what happened with Marinette in Elation. That because she was so in love with Adrien Agreste she then also had unexplainable feelings for Chat this whole time that echo said civilian love, which ended up hurting her emotionally bc of their complex nature.
ADRIEN was made to take accountability for doing that, Marinette has been benefiting from the way Chat's love for Ladybug also draws him to Marinette Dupain-Cheng for seasons by now (even Weredad in s3) and it just gets swept under the rug. In fact, shes REWARDED for doing that by Adrien then blaming himself for everything and be her prince charming and do all the work for their relationship.
That is.. genuinely gross.
The way the episode AND Marinette both pretend like Marinette is a poor little civilian bystander in this scenario of Elation and NOT civilian Ladybug is pretty damn gross. Cause Ladybug is by the nature of the situation taking advantage of Chat being oblivious to her secret identitiy, who he didn't wanted to be in a relationship with anyone, since lets not kid ourselves Chat at the end of Determination couldn't have rejected her more directly in the most INDIRECT language even if he tried. I don't know how people look at these episodes and genuinely think Adrien isn't aware that LB is flirting as if he had no braincells.
Mate, he very obviously turned her down in Determination and from then onwards continued to non stop run towards Marinette as civilian bc after Determination Ladybug herself refused to take the "no" which she in Determination itself clearly understood it to be. The drastic shift between Marinette crying at the end of Determination and her being love obsessed in Passion makes sense and it results in the disaster of Elation.
It's just...man, the way Chat in Elation opens up to Marinette about how he thinks people wouldn't like him so much anymore if they knew who was under the mask, which for Marinette sounds like Chat is saying that he views Chat Noir as all the value he has as a person, and her then straight up replying that "she doesn't mind him wearing a mask, it doesn't matter who is underneath" is... gurl, who SAYS that? 😭
And the reason why she got away with it is bc Adrien's actually problem is the complete opposite. That Adrien fears that if people knew that Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste Chat would just.. stop existing to the world and Adrien Agreste™ would overwrite anything Chat ever made for himself.
Tahts why he while unhealthily craving love too reacted WELL to her saying she doesn't mind him wearing a mask and that it doesn't matter to her who's underneath.
But GURL, Marinette! From your perspective he just told you that he thinks the person he is underneath has no value and Chat is all he has to find self-worth in. And you just fucking AGREED with him that the person underneath doesn't matter bc you wanted kiss kiss meow meow and Chat's mask is what you wanted to kiss you?? 😱😭
Why is Marinette always written in the way where one seriously has to question if she even acknowledges BY SEASON 5 that Chat Noir exists as a civilian? Its not like her leadership paints any other picture than her apparently thinking Chat just spawns into existence for akumas and that's it.
Add that on top of her ignoring it when they kiss that Chat horrified rips open his eyes once he realizes taht what he's doing is wrong. Her just closing her eyes again bc apparently she genuinely didn't care for more than kiss kiss meow meow in that moment?
Then him trying to tell her that what they're doing is wrong and her just saying anything she thinks will make him go back to kissing her and whne he still refuses she has a whole mood swing, angrily yelling that she has had it with everyone telling her who she gets to love, saying taht SHE wants to finally decide that while starting to cry and, like, I GET her frustration but what she's doing is so guilt tripping by nature that it blows anything inappropriate out of the water Chat Noir ever did to Ladybug??
The person Marinette is kissing tells her no bc he doesn't feel comfortable about it morally bc of the circumstances and Marinette goes off in his face, saying that SHE decides who she kisses and loves and that she's had it that other people decide that for her, as if Chat has no right to possibly tell her no?? That he's a horrible Jerk for going against her decision to now make out with him and date him and she's OWED taht he does it??
Marinette continues literally bawling her eyes out in front of Chat who's feeling extremely guilty about all this and then Marinette is mere seconds away from accepting getting akumatized with the goal of revealing Chat's secret identitiy so he has no excuse anymore to deny her her kiss. An akumatization that only doesn't happen because Adrien is being forced to disregard his own boundaries he set with her and kiss her despite it making him EXTREMELY uncomfortable and feeling guilty of taking advantage of her. Making HIM start to freak out to out of guilt.
Afterwards Marinette is terrified but not because of her almost having turned into Chat's enemy and put his life, loved ones and Paris at risk bc he told her no, but because of the akumatization in general.
Topping it all of with Marinette saying that THEY really act irrationally because of their love, when, gurl, HE got his shit together minutes ago. YOU refused to let Chat Noir tell you no even just ONE time in any of your dynamics with him.
By that point taht wasn't a WE, that was a YOU. And the person who had to actually take fully accountability for this narrative wise was HIM.
Not to mention that Chat in the akuma battle had to finally find the courage to tell Ladybug no DIRECTLY in her face, and that he doesn't love her anymore the way he once did but only as a friend, and dead ass Marinette leaves in the next episode ruining the Hack-San ending.
Bc she was told no by Chat.
He doesn't love her romantically anymore, just as a friend, which apparently is still a horrible fate for Marinette as she's consistently characterized since s1 to concider being friends an unbearable torture inflicted on her. Something which ADRIEN in Protection then had to take accountability for too??
What is even happening anymore??
This is an interesting take! There are some things I agree with, and some things I disagree with, but it's still nice to hear your thoughts, anon. Thank you for your ask!
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thekatebridgerton · 9 days
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For the reverse tropes ask: reverse fake dating for Philoise
Okay so I made it a Reverse fake dating S3 Philoise au
Anthony sighed looking over at his family as he reviewed the guests for their next dinner " Baron Honeywell, Lady Astley, Madame Olsen, oh and for tonight's dinner the man who Eloise paid off to pretend to court her, will also be showing up so I want you all to be perfectly polite"
" I've said it before he's actually courting me !" Eloise snapped
"Of course he is" Daphne patted her shoulder
" We're just wondering how much you paid him to promenade with you" Hyacinth added " Sir Phillip doesn't look like he's strapped for money "
"I didn't pay him off! He asked me to promenade, it was his idea to dance with me at the Cowper ball" Eloise huffed
" We believe you sister, he also brought you flowers voluntarily" Benedict hummed "And whatever blackmail you have over him will never leave this room "
" Fine, Eloise didn't pay him off, I make a correction " Anthony rolled his eyes, but before his sister could thank him for defending her he continued "the man Eloise blackmailed into faking a courtship" The rest of the family made various humms of understanding
Eloise eye twitched, looking dangerously like she was about to punch someone " is it really so hard to believe that we actually like each other?"
Her siblings looked at each other and shrugged "Yes"
" You have to admit El, Sir Phillip is so normal and you are so.... You" Colin said gesturing to all of her being
"Hey what's that supposed to mean?!!"
"We don't mean to offend sister, it's just that you do tend swear off marriage in front of every man you meet" Francesca tried to explain gently " And Sir Phillip has two young children, that's not exactly a spring bachelor"
" He also likes gardening, medicinal tea brewing and estate management" Kate piped up ticking off her fingers " And you... The last time you picked up a flower arrangement pamphlet you used it as a cover to attend a political rally "
" He's a good boxer, and a good marksman but dislikes practicing both" Simon pointed out, seemingly being the only one who had actually spent time with Sir Phillip "You on the other hand almost got yourself shot chasing leads of lady Whistledown"
" You're fresh off a scandal, he's fresh off a failed marriage, admit it Eloise, there's no way you're actually courting" Colin pointed out cynically
" But we are! And I see that we don't have a lot in common but I do like him, I like him a whole lot, and I like his children" Eloise protested " why won't you believe me? he's been trying really hard to win you all over because he also likes me"
"Of course he does and just in time to make people forget about the political rally business" Violet Bridgerton announced entering the drawing room giving Eloise a wink " Sir Phillip has been the picture of the perfectly devoted suitor, whatever threat you have him under, it's certainly working" she said giving Eloise a proud pat in her shoulder
Eloise sighed, how could she convince her family that her relationship with Sir Phillip was real without revealing that they've been bonding over the loss of their loved ones and a secret love of banned books, in fact most of the things Eloise talked with Sir Phillip would either land her in scandal sheets again or in jail. But he was an avid listener and answered all her questions, no matter how impertinent or illegal. She was teaching Sir Phillip the finer points of social interaction because he seemed to be worse off than her when it came to facing crowds, while he taught her about the things he'd learned in University, Eloise didn't think they were that badly suited and welcome his courtship openly.
The problem lay in the fact that nobody believed they were actually courting! By this rate Phillip would propose and everyone would still think it was a ruse. God help her
An: I had so much fun writing this one
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Not there yet
No, I don't think that anything that Carmy -or Syd- does/do has a romantic connotation for them at this point. They are not there yet. All the things and hints we see, like the look on his face when she came back in Braciole and his "original" way of saying he was sorry by offering a partnership, how he tried to make plans with her outside work when they still didn't have the permits and had to leave early, how he always tries to stir the conversation to a more personal tone, how he always tries to make sure she's OK even when he's not (except when Claire interfered for a brief period of time), how he cares about her opinion most of all, even though his own sister is right there and is his business partner too, all he said under the table and how he said it, he talking about "their" chaos menu and putting so much work into those drawings when he should have been with Claire, IDK, making out or catching up, etc. Finding comfort in thinking about her during a nasty panic attack, forgetting to solve the walk-in handle issue but not forgetting to order a custom-made designer jacket for her, never giving her her notebook back and holding on to it as if it was something precious he will forever cherish, all of that, happens at a subconscious, even unconscious level. We, the viewers get to see the big picture and interpret the deeper meaning of it all, and not even all the viewers do that, as some would just prefer -or only be capable of- seeing the superficial aspects of these symbolisms, not going any further or deeper than that. But Carmen certainly doesn't see all of that or even understand it at this point in time. He's not there yet. Whilst I do think that after the panic attack, he is starting to see the tip of the iceberg, he's definitely not ready yet to really grasp the entirety of what's going on, of where exactly he's standing -on the verge of what exactly he's standing- because he is still too focused on his own trauma and his mourning, etc. Syd doesn't help either, TBH. And neither did Claire with her insistence, to which Carmy eventually caved. So, no, we are not there yet. I won't even get started on Syd, because her case is even way more complex than Carmy's. There's no trauma or mourning or environmental causes in her case. It's all her, her very nature. Her arc is a lot more "sophisticated" and therefore will take a lot longer to progress I think, except that a deep crisis breaks her down completely, and I hope it doesn't come to that. I guess Carmy will need to step up eventually, but like I said, he's not there yet and neither is Syd. So basically I need S3 more than I need oxygen right now to figure these characters out, but so far they haven't figured themselves or each other out either yet. That's my point.
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chirpsythismorning · 1 year
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Crack Theory: Will Byers is Twelve (012) - Part 3
I seriously meant it when I said things are about to get even more interesting. You're not ready.
I didn't notice this until literally today (so if it's a well known concept already, my apologizes!).
For those like me who didn't know about this, essentially we got two different versions of the opening to the Massacre at Hawkins Lab. The 4x01 version, and the 4x07 version.
They're almost identical, both one long take, but still with slight differences, especially in how they end. It's now clear to me that these are two entirely different takes. And so what purpose does that serve exactly?
I'm guessing they did this in large part to convey how El now has a more clear memory of that day, compared to at the start of the season.
But upon rewatching the 4x07 version, and specifically in the context of this Twelve theory, I'm shook.
4x07: The Massacre at Hawkins Lab (cont.)
Does this series of images... remind you of anything?
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ANYWAYS
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THERE HE IS ON THE LEFT!
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Oh nvm he's gone.
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WAIT THERE HE IS AGAIN!
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It's confirmed!?!! Twelve (Will) sat next to Eleven (El)!?!?! It's just that the story wasn't willing to reveal this in the beginning....
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And there he is again, just on the edge of the frame, to the right, coloring away...
Then, Brenner takes Ten out of the Rainbow room, and suddenly this moment that was framed as important in the s4 opener, is now being looked at from a more important perspective: El's.
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El then follows through with the plan, in hopes it will bring back her memory...
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The last time we see Twelve, he's still sitting at the desk drawing.
I will say before getting into what's about to happen, that this sequence is pretty haphazard at times. Like s3 ending w/the goodbye hugs level haphazard. What I'm saying is, there's visible shots during this sequence, where you can tell the blocking of the characters doesn't match up exactly with where they were in the previous shot/where they were probably intended to be for that shot.
However, I think it's helpful to think about how these are very young actors in this scene, and a scene that is extremely sensitive/serious at that. I wouldn't want children (or even adults) to have to work ungodly amounts of hours, redoing a take over and over because it wasn't perfect, nor would I expect them to do reshoots just because one or two shots doesn't match perfectly with what they intended continuity-wise. That just happens occasionally in film, and the only people with perfect continuity, I imagine are a pain in the ass to work with...
However, I think there is one specific detail that makes me slightly open to humoring this theory.
Because I will admit, I myself am skeptical for an abundance of reasons. There is still a lot that would need to be addressed in s5 if Will was indeed Twelve this whole time. Like a lot of explaining. Though, now looking back at past seasons, there is an interesting new angle to think about it with all of this in mind (that's a different post for a different day).
Still, one of the main arguments, that debunks this whole theory, is that presumably, all of the kids died that day, except for El. Right?
And so how the hell would Twelve (Will) have survived?
Well, that one specific detail I was just referring to, is the framing of Twelve in s4, and specifically in relation to El.
As you've seen so far, Twelve is either very much in focus more than the others, practically front and center, or he's lingering in the background of shots that are really odd for him to be in, or he is left out of the sequences almost entirely, while everyone else is shown. It is so. weird.!
And the ending of the massacre follows that same formula.
As El runs into the Rainbow room, the first place she looks is in the direction where she was just sitting before she left, which we now know happens to be where Twelve was as well (last time we saw him).
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However, we do not get to see what El saw in this exact moment. Instead, the camera continues to focus on El as her eyes scan the room from left to right.
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Once she looks down to her right, we finally get to see what she sees (I'm not going to post these shots for obvious reasons).
And so basically....
I think Twelve is under the mirror/window, roughly the same area where Twelve was when she left the Rainbow room...
The first time we get closer to seeing someone possibly under the mirror/window, they don't allow us to. It's as if they are panning over it, high enough so that test subject is out of view.
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But then, we see a pair of feet on the floor to the left, below the mirror/window, along with a very prominent bloody hand print.
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Take note of that handprint and those feet because I think it could be important...
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SHIT there it is again!
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And again, this time slightly between Henry and El, but more so closer to Henry.
God. I feel like any moment know, dramatic irony is gonna kick in and we're somehow gonna get something that makes us think of Will...
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IM SO SORRY
Part 4 coming soon!
Part 1, 2, 3, 4
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linagram · 15 days
Text
[ linagram season 3 albums info ]
this post includes season 3 album covers, original song titles, s3 voice drama titles, cover songs, album, character and song trailer voicelines and song previews! so yeah, very long post! but i feel like it's probably better to have everything in one place..
i've planned to go with a completely original concept for season 3 album covers but.. drawing all that would take too long.. and drawing the designs alone was already too much work for me, so i went with season 1-like album covers bc i actually haven't made these before! i've still tried to make them more. "linacore" and instead of a black background, i tried to make them more colorful. i think they came out too colorful.. apologies if they look too eyestrain-y..
(also i really tried to make them more hd but my editing apps kept ruining the quality. so sorry.. maybe that will make analyzing them more interesting in some way..)
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[ TRACK LIST ]
Miyagawa Akio.
01. [ Original song ] Experiment: Failed
02. [ Cover song ] Mosquito (Original by DECO*27)
03. [ Cover song ] Unfriendly Hater (Original by Meddmia)
04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] All-knowing All-agony
05. [ Voice drama ] The Right-Hand Man's Betrayal
[ Creator's comments ]
IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO COME UP WITH A TITLE FOR HIS SONG I'VE LITERALLY TRIED EVERYTHING BUT ALL OF THEM SOUNDED TOO BORING.. i really wanted to have more fun with the song titles this time, so hopefully this one sounds cool.. okay, so his covers! literally all of them are about his relationship with arata, haha. COME ON UNFRIENDLY HATER IS LITERALLY THEM BEFORE THEY STARTED DATING. (or. "dating" as akio likes to say) mosquito is a much more angsty AND realistic take on their relationship ("in any case, in any case, you're the only one getting high", "the more we pursue one another, the more unsavory you become", "i'll die if i stop sucking from you, 'cause i'm a mosquito", "i wonder why it was so beautiful despite being so warped"). meanwhile akaa is like, the saddest one out of them all since in this case it's basically akio begging arata to stay with him, continue to praise him and call him a genius no matter what. i wish i could've given him something that could tell more about his relationship with chise too..
Hanasaki Aimi.
01. [ Original song ] Blooming Connection
02. [ Cover song ] Starlight Girl (Original by DECO*27)
03. [ Cover song ] XxX Cat (Original by Kikuo)
04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] Deep Cover
05. [ Voice drama ] The End of All Friendships
[ Creator's comments ]
i think aimi's mv theme will be obvious, hehe. you won't have to think much about flower language and stuff like that tho, so don't worry. i really don't think i have to explain why i gave xxx cat to her, like. i think it's obvious jdkslsls (i also thought of maybe giving her bacterial contamination, but i changed my mind since even though the lyrics sound a lot like her, the aesthetic is.. not very aimicore). starlight girl was mostly given to her bc i thought it'd sound cute, but some lyrics do remind me of her and her relationship with her victim ("whispering that sweet lie, you disappeared", "but i still haven't been able to fill up this hole you left inside me"). was deep cover assigned to her only bc of the aimi (kotoko's va) pun?.. maybe. but no, no, i really do have a deeper reason for that! but for now, all i can say is. her relationship with miki and all other prisoners at the moment.
Ishizu Shun.
01. [ Original song ] ???
02. [ Cover song ] Zombies (Original by DECO*27)
03. [ Cover song ] Aishiteitanoni (Original by MARETU)
04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] MeMe
05. [ Voice drama ] Loving Too Much, Remembering Too Little
[ Creator's comments ]
i honestly gave up while trying to think of a title for his song, so i think "???" perfectly describes shun's character and how tired i felt. if you need to know how it's supposed to be pronounced, i imagine it being something like "uhh..", showing how shun is confused 24/7. AND FINALLY HE'S OFFICIALLY GETTING A ZOMBIES COVER.. the reason why i went with zombies is bc shun just.. feels like a zombie to me. like the way he talks, how i imagine him moving, his color palette.. and also the imagery of his victims' dead bodies. like aww, he's drinking tea and eating cake while both his "ex-gf" and her new bf are dead <3 how cute.. i think his character trailer voiceline will really show how much the lines like "your body is cold even when we hug", "i love you, half-decomposed isn't bad", etc, fit him.. about aishiteitanoni, I DON'T THINK I HAVE TO EXPLAIN ANYTHING, IT'S PERFECT FOR HIM, I SCREAMED WHEN I SAW IT SHOW UP IN MY NOTIFS HSHAHSHSJS. meme is. meme. that's what a guilty verdict does to a guy. and yes, his vd's title is supposed to be a reference to his t1 vd :)
Chiba Naomi.
01. [ Original song ] Like An Adult
02. [ Cover song ] Miraise (Original by DECO*27)
03. [ Cover song ] It's Just Life (Original by nulut)
04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] Double
05. [ Voice drama ] A Grown Up Child's Tantrum
[ Creator's comments ]
oh naomi.. if only it was easier to come up with song titles for you.. i was giggling while typing her vd's title tho LIKE YES NAOMI EMBRACE THE FACT THAT YOU WERE NEVER ABLE TO TRULY GROW UP!! her miraise cover is really up to interpretation, it can be both about her relationship with her mother and her trying to express her true feelings and make her mother listen, but it also can be about her relationship with tao ("you went before me, didn't you?", "how long do i have to wait? how long do i have to cry?", "i'm singing to the you that will be born after tomorrow") i felt like "it's just life" really fits her and her cover would sound very pretty and it's also just. sad. like naomi really is a smart and talented woman, she could have a bright future, she could have lots of friends, but.. she has way too many issues. and she can't accept that. HER DOUBLE COVER WOULD BE SO GOOD. THE INSTRUMENTAL WOULD MOSTLY BE THE SAME BUT HER VOICE WOULD STILL SOUND SOFT AND REALLY ANNOYED AT THE SAME TIME.. i get chills while thinking about her version of the scene where mikoto calls his mom..
Sanada Kei.
01. [ Original song ] Love=Pain
02. [ Cover song ] Rabbit Hole (Original by DECO*27)
03. [ Cover song ] Bad Honey Hunt (Original by Vell)
04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] This Is How To Be In Love With You
05. [ Voice drama ] Rose-Tinted Misery
[ Creator's comments ]
his song title was originally supposed to be a pun on the theme of his mv, but it sounded kinda meh to me, so i just went with his main philosophy instead sjskslsl. (the reference to that pun is still there on the cover though) also nO I'VE DECIDED THAT RABBIT HOLE IS VERY KEICORE A LONG TIME AGO EVEN BEFORE THAT ANIMATION SIT DOWN I'M POINTING MY GUN AT YOU SIT DOWN!!!! thank you now i didn't just go with rabbit hole bc "haha funny horny song", it actually does fit kei's aesthetic very well and the lyrics sound a lot like him because rabbit hole always sounded very.. childish to me? like yes, it's supposed to sound all silly and playful, but kei's whole thing is that even though he claims he's so cool and mature and gets all the bitches, this guy still feels like he's younger than eiji (who is six years younger than him), unconsciously regresses to cope with whatever life throws at him and rarely takes dark, scary and tragic stuff seriously. it does reveal some stuff about his crime and his relationship with the victims too! ("you want me to repent? what can i say?", "little miss devotion, the exit's over there, oh, so not going home after all?") as for his other covers, BAD HONEY HUNT FITS HIM SO WELL. LOOK AT THE THUMBNAIL. COME ON THAT'S SO HIM. and the lyrics sound a lot like him as well! about him getting tihtbilwy.. that's him taking his rose-colored glasses on again and singing about how he sees his relationship with ruka :')
Yoshioka Eiko.
01. [ Original song ] Miss Grave Robber
02. [ Cover song ] Parasite (Original by DECO*27)
03. [ Cover song ] Getcha (Original by Giga and Kira)
04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] Cat
05. [ Voice drama ] Funeral For The Alive
[ Creator's comments ]
EIKO IS OVER HERE GOING FULL SLAY MODE!!! i originally wanted the title to be smth like "grave robber-chan/san", since i prefer to use jp honorifics in my writing, but i felt like no honorifics would fit the song's vibe, so i went with good old "miss" instead. parasite fits eiko so well.. it describes her relationship with her victim perfectly.. the reason why i gave her cat is. well first of all IT WOULD SOUND REALLY COOL, but also, i actually don't see it as eiko singing about herself, i like to think that she's singing about takeru instead, making fun of him for lying to her and manipulating her ("lie until it gets better, follow the king of the masquerade", "victim and perpetrator, let's keep it simple", "i just wanted to ask, so it's out in the open, i just got a little greedy"). MY BRAIN EXPLODED WHEN I REALIZED HER COVER CAN BE INTERPRETED IN THAT WAY LIKE IMAGINE HER SINGING ABOUT HOW MUCH HE SUCKS WHILE STILL HAVING THE ORIGINAL INSTRUMENTAL. (also considering what he did to her, "let's take a breather" sounds very... sad) about her getting getcha. let's just. let her have her girlboss moment one last time.
Yano Asahi.
01. [ Original song ] Caterpillar's Cries
02. [ Cover song ] Hitojichi Koukan (Original by DECO*27)
03. [ Cover song ] Givuṛta (Original by Vell)
04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] Umbilical
05. [ Voice drama ] The Taste of Abandonment
[ Creator's comments ]
we're getting another insect themed mv!! (though spider isn't really an insect but kei's t2 mv also had butterfly motifs so...) the caterpillar motif won't be that strong in asahi's mv description, but it will be there. i think i should draw him in his t3 mv outfit to show it better.. i think his hitojichi koukan cover would sound very cute and sad and the lyrics describe his relationship with satsuki so well.. ("no matter how much you love me, all i do is get itchy", "i can't drag you along so let's say goodbye", "after all, i want to make you my servant") YES ANOTHER VELL SONG I LOVE VELL'S SONGS OKAY they're so short but so catchy.. i feel like the voice that i imagine asahi to have would fit perfectly, like it'd sound so cute, but so punchable, like this kid goes "noooo, relationships are more important than money!!" and then literally the next lyrics are "money and personal connections make the world go round" 😭😭 but also, to be more serious, the lyrics are very asahicore!! ("naturally i always put myself first", "it's boring that people's desires never end", "in a nutshell i do that because it's funny to me", "that's a trust relationship! if it's not enough, you should buy it") about his umbilical cover... well. first of all, again, it'd sound cute! but also, um. considering the way his biological mom died, i thought that him getting this song would be very. ironic.
Maruyama Yurika.
01. [ Original song ] Secret Ingredient
02. [ Cover song ] Salamander (Original by DECO*27)
03. [ Cover song ] Binomi (Original by MARETU)
04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] I Love You
05. [ Voice drama ] A Killer by Moonlight, A Maid by Daylight
[ Creator's comments ]
her voice drama's title is a sailor moon reference and her original song's title can be seen as a spongebob reference. i cannot take this woman seriously. but i actually like her mv's aesthetic a lot! i should definitely draw her in her t3 mv outfit one day.. (i say that even though i still haven't drawn her as that monster from her t2 mv. so sorry yurikers..) I HAD TO GIVE HER SALAMANDER OKAY!! I HAD TO!! it's literally perfect for one of the hunger prisoners, it's very yurikacore and the lyrics remind me a lot of her relationship with takame and just her personality in general. ("i surrender, i'm already hooked, i can't function without you anymore", "can i get seconds? one more time", "i'm already obsessed, is it doing super great?") love me some toxic spicy ramen yuri <3 binomi came out VERY recently and before that i was thinking of giving her eye by kanaria simply bc of the vibes, but maretu saved me once again 🙏 the hunger theme is so strong.. yurika deserves to cover all the cannibalism songs ever.. (fun fact yurika actually WAS supposed to be a cannibal but then i changed her crime. i think her current crime fits her better but still. we could've had a cannibal prisoner everyone) and again, i went with "i love you" bc 1) her relationship with takame and 2) i think there's something beautiful and horrifying about the concept of yurika feeding takame rats that she sees as a cake while also going "why can't i just do it right", considering the huge power imbalance they had with takame being older and being her boss and giving yurika literally everything she could've asked for and making yurika feel like she owes her in the process..
Kuroki Riku.
01. [ Original song ] Sun Sets, Games End
02. [ Cover song ] Undead Alice (Original by DECO*27)
03. [ Cover song ] Shinitagari (Original by Nashimoto-P)
04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] It's Not My Fault
05. [ Voice drama ] Have a Breakdown, Call It a Show
[ Creator's comments ]
OH RIKU..... and also nope, riku's mv won't exactly have a video game theme, that's shun's thing, but the lyrics will reference them a few times. riku's mv is actually one of my favorites so hopefully you guys like it too.. he's my special little boy he always gets the best mvs.. (/j i don't have any faves sjsklssl but riku definitely always gets my creative juices going) i originally wanted undead alice to be his t2 cover but chimera is just so rikucore and i thought it'd go with his t2 mv really well, so i changed it though i still think that maybe chimera would be better as his t3 cover bc of the guilty verdict vibes chimera has.. so anyway undead alice is literally yueriku ("live by feeding on me, since you can’t go out like you want to", "i'm starting to hate the butterflies in my stomach, so please die before i kill you", "let’s bury this cowardly love here, let’s stop and forget all this, it’s better to hate since it's easier that way" AND BASICALLY THE WHOLE SONG). about shinitagari, i actually was planning to assign it to riku as a cover back when i first came up with him and riku's character even was kinda inspired by it! except shinitagari has a more positive meaning meanwhile riku took "wanna die? go ahead and die then" a bit too literally.. also yeah, he's the one who gets inmf this time. i imagine him making a rock cover of it too.. he surely took his guilty verdict well <3
Himura Reina.
01. [ Original song ] (Un) Forgivable
02. [ Cover song ] Fake Actor (Original by DECO*27)
03. [ Cover song ] Hello Dystopia (Original by Mafumafu)
04. [ MILGRAM Cover song ] Triage
05. [ Voice drama ] Accepting The Innocence (For Now)
[ Creator's comments ]
reina's album cover doesn't really have much to show but i think it actually fits her character a lot. also idk if it's that noticeable, but i tried to make her album cover more glitchy than the others. when it comes to her deco cover, i mostly went with it bc of her name meaning, but some lyrics are very reinacore (+ they remind me a lot of her relationship with her brother)! ("so please, shut up before i feel too embarrassed to speak to you again", "because no matter how many times you fool me with "i'm going to change," it'll just end all over again", "so let’s play the "whose fault is it game," the rules are rather hard, even for the winners") hello dystopia reminds me a lot of her character in general and i also just think she deserves to get at least one cover where she goes absolutely wild. fake actor and triage are just her being all sad but in hello dystopia she can go a little insane!! a little crazy even!!
[ Album Trailer Voicelines ]
Akio: "He continued to try to get the rope off his neck."
Aimi: "I'm just glad he's dead."
Shun: "Do I have to jog your memory, Guard 002-san?"
Naomi: "End my suffering, just like I've ended Tao's."
Kei: "Someone is planning to kill Eiji?"
Eiko: "He told me it wasn't even a big deal."
Asahi: "And after that, something.. changed."
Yurika: "Haha. You got me. Congrats."
Riku: "Come on, I was just.. bullying him a little."
Reina: "That stupid kid was obsessed with "saving" me."
[ Song Trailer Voicelines ]
Akio: "You don't have to be a genius like me to put all these things together."
Aimi: "You see me as a victim. A perfect and fragile victim."
Shun: "Are you implying that we never were a couple?"
Naomi: "Why would I be jealous of that brat?"
Kei: "The truth is kinda lame, honestly."
Eiko: "I will take good care of Shun, Kei and Yurika for you."
Asahi: "What did you just call me, Miki-nee?"
Yurika: "I-it's like.. s-she really.. loved me.."
Riku: "He's just another source of attention to me."
Reina: "I guess you could say this was my plan all along."
[ Song Previews ]
Akio:
"Solve the problem! You know the answer! Good job! I love you, love you, you can do it!
I can't concentrate with those words playing in my head!
Well, whatever, I know I'll get the best grade in loving you anyway
So keep looking at me, keep saying I'm a genius, please praise me once more"
Aimi:
"Come on, accept my gift, tell me you're grateful, tell me how thoughtful I am
Did I do great? Am I a good friend? I know I am, I know I am
"This flower reminds me of you" I'm the sweetest person you've ever met, right?
"Sorry, but I gotta go" Hey, what do you think you're doing?"
Shun:
"It's a crime for me to be in love, so I'll play it safe
No more heartbreaks, no more lying to myself
I'm ready to live a happy loveless life 
So please, just forgive me already!"
Naomi:
"Your looks, your posture, your voice, your face
Everything about you is not mature enough
Don't laugh, don't cry, look them right in the eyes but not for too long
Go on, look at me, be honest with me, don't feel sorry for me, just like an adult would"
Kei:
"My love means nothing, if it doesn't make you cry
I don't want the kind of love that doesn't hurt me
"Play it safe"? Nah, that's not for me
Now can I get praised for being everyone's PERFECT lover?"
Eiko:
"Our love is dead, oh no, let us sing our prayers
Your lies were the only thing that kept me alive
Except I don't see your name on our grave, oh no, don't just leave me like this
Let's get buried next to each other, rotting together doesn't sound so bad"
Asahi:
""Stop, that's enough!" But it will never be enough
Sweet or sour, I don't care, I want everything I could never have
Even if it's rotten, even if it's broken, I just want to have something
Do you understand now? I live like I can die at any moment"
Yurika:
"What do you two think you're doing? Hey, hey, don't you know it's dangerous here?
Well, it's your fault now, shouldn't have taken a walk in the woods when it's this dark
What should we do with you? Should we tie you up? Should we cut off your limbs?
I bet you two taste like fear and betrayal, let me take a bite!"
Riku:
"Let's play until the sun goes down, let's play until we see the sky turn purple
That's what they want us to do anyway
Hey, are you having fun? Aren't you tired? Don't you wanna go home already?
"Nope, I'm just getting started!" Well, let me end everything here"
Reina:
"All of them? So guilty, guilty! 
"You are innocent" Haha, no, I am innocence itself!
This kind of behavior is unforgivable?
Then why did you still forgive me?"
[ Character Trailer Voicelines ]
Akio: "Uh.. Good morning, I guess.. No, it doesn't hurt as much as before, thankfully.. Hey. Why did you.. I mean.. Of course, I'm glad you've finally realized I'm innocent, but.. How could you just.. change your mind like that? What did you see in my video? Did you.. feel bad for me?"
".. Arata. Arata, I don't think he's supposed to- ARATA, WHY IS HE STILL ALIVE?!"
Aimi: "Hello, Miki-chan!~.. Hm? What? I mean, we're friends, so it's only right for me to call you that, right? Ehehe, you're like, my only friend here.. Ah, Akio-kun.. He's good too, I guess. But he's not really struggling anymore, so.. I don't think he will continue to rely on me anymore. I don't think he.. still likes me."
"It's okay.. It's okay, Nii-san couldn't be wrong.. They deserve it. All of them."
Shun: "LEAVE ME ALONE! STOP- DID MY PARENTS SEND YOU TO ME?! I SWEAR, IF YOU EVEN LOOK AT MY... Huh? Where.. am I? Where's Hina?.. And where's Jouhei?.. O-oh, it's you.. No, no, it's okay, I remember now. Even though I really.. don't want to remember."
"Ehehe, I've slept well.. Hey, what do you two want for breakfast? Come on, don't be shy~" 
Naomi: "I'M SORRY! I SAID I'M SORRY! PLEASE, MOM, I WILL DO ANYTHING, JUST DON'T.. Ah. It's you, Miki-san.. Hold on, where's Eiji-san?.. Well, I don't really care. So.. Guilty, huh.." *laughs* "I know I've said I'll be okay with any verdict, but.. How could you change your decision so quickly? Did you just remember how young my victim was?"
"When.. When will I finally be enough for her? Wait, is that.. Ah, whatever."
Kei: "Oh, Miki, it's you. And.. you're Hinode, right? Haha, I'm sure we'll have lots of fun together~.. Hey, is Eiji doing okay? This place doesn't have any doctors, so.. No, no, stop saying I'm kind. I'm just mad that I wasn't the one who has caused him so much pain. It's like someone stole a chance to show him more love from me.. Are you expecting me to thank you for saving me? Haha.. Dear, I know you're just playing with our lives as if we were your toys."
*crying* "Ruka.. I don't know why I did it.. It just.. It hurts so much.. C-can you hug me, please?" 
Eiko: "Takeru.. Takeru, please.. Did I do something wrong- O-oh, it's you, Miki-chan. And.. Woah, this new guy sure is handsome!.. But I still miss Eiji-kun. Hey, he's gonna come back, right? He will be okay, right?.." *in a lower voice* "It was her, right?.. I'll have to make her pay for this."
"Thanks for helping, I guess. Wow, it's like you have a lot of experience with this stuff.. Hey. What do you guys even do?"
Asahi: "A-ah, it's you, Miki-nee.. A-and who are you? Ugh, I just hope that he treats you better than Eiji-nii did.. Oh, I'm doing great! I mean, you forgave me again and all. Um.. I kinda miss Eiji-nii's cooking though. There's no point in trying to steal the guilty guys' food now.. Hm? S-shut up, I'm not fucking scared of them!"
"I'M SORRY! I JUST- I WAS SO AFRAID, I THOUGHT SHE- I THOUGHT SHE DOESN'T LOVE ME ANYMORE! PLEASE, LET ME STAY!"
Yurika: ".. I'm going to kill you. All three of you. And all the prisoners here. I hate you all. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU SO-.. Oh, it's you. What do you want from me? I know the third trial is starting, you don't have to tell me anything. Just leave already. Stop looking at me like that! If you don't leave, I will do what I promised to do to those two."
"We're finally done.. I won't have to deal with them anymore, I'm so happy.. U-uh, you're not mad at me, right?" 
Riku: ".. What do you want? Ugh, I still feel sick.. I don't want to talk to you. And you, especially.. Hey, do you feel proud of yourself, Miki? Didn't you say that "your forgiveness has its limits"? You're sooooo cool for voting me guilty. That was sooooo unexpected. You may have used that thing on me, but I still remember what you said. And I'm still mad."
"Come on. You knew it was me." *laughs* "Now.. Won't you do all of us a favor and die already?"
Reina: "Well, well, well. I got voted innocent. Again. What a surprise." *sighs* "When will this end, Miki? When will it end? It feels like my own personal hell at this point. And I agree that I should be punished, but.. Not like this. Come on. Would you want to be forgiven for killing your own little brother? If that's so, then you are truly heartless-" 
"Please, leave. I don't want to talk about it. It was my fault. My fault, my fault, my fault, my fault, my f-"
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ouroborosorder · 2 months
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Arknights VFX question: Any highlights or personal favourites as far as the "Stick a whole background/huge jpeg in there behind the character" category of skills goes?
Oh I like this question. This made me consider things I've never looked at before, so thank you for that. I had to do research.
So, there's not a lot of ops like this, and shockingly, I don't have many positive things to say about them. BUT I did find a few interesting highlights I think are worth discussing.
First off, I will leave Eine Variation out of this, as I have made my thoughts on that Thing very clear.
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But, my favorite skin in the game actually does indeed have the Background.Jpeg - Specter's As One!
Aaaand it's easily the worst part of my favorite skin. Don't get me wrong, i think it's probably one of the better executions of the idea, since it's like, a skybox, it matches the pallette, matches the artstyle of the skin, it's almost perfect. I wish it was a LITTLE less static, maybe have some distortion ripples across it like waves to keep the stars moving, or maybe have them twinkle a bit or something. But it's fine. But a good effect isn't everything.
Effects relies heavily on the principles of animation, too. Appeal, weight, color, and most importantly of all - timing. Having a proper lead in can make a bad effect good, and having a bad lead-in can make a good effect fucking terrible. And having no lead-in at all will absolutely fuck your effect and make it super clear that you took a jpeg from the skin art and superimposed it behind your operator.
Here. Look at the picture above. Now, I am going to tab back literally just one single frame in the animation and...
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oh ...there's no fade in at all. It just literally appears in a single frame. It draws way more attention to itself than it needs to just by virtue of literally popping in. It's SUPER obvious that it's just Skybox.jpeg. If it faded in with some sort of noise mask (which takes literally less than 2 minutes to make,) it would be so so so much better. Again, this is my favorite skin in the game, and I already think S3 is quite beautiful, so this is nitpicking, but this skybox always bugged me a lot.
Now to say a sentence no one has ever said - going up a step in quality from Specter to Hoederer!
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I can't fully get this one in a still image and I'm too tired to record a video / gif so just go with this, alright?
This one is ALMOST GOOD. ALMOST. IT'S SO FUCKING CLOSE. The texture is being distorted by a wavelike noise that is giving it the rippling effect of fire, which is the standard thing to do for making a stylized fire. The problem is that... The texture itself doesn't fucking move? It's just being UV distorted, just a bit of offset to the material and I just AUGH.
It's so so so obvious that it's just a static jpeg of fire that's being waved around like a flag to get it to contort into being fire. This wouldn't bother me if the actual fire texture didn't have implications of movement in the little waves and fades and stuff. I hate it it's so irritating it's so CLOSE. But also, animating an entire fire flipbook would have taken a lot more time, and I can 100% guarantee you the VFX artist is also unhappy with this one. Their A team was probably on Arturia or something. Speak of the devil -
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I've had a few people ask how I feel about Arturia's S3 after I expressed my hatred for Eine Variation, and I am here to say - this unambiguously fucking rules, for a few reasons.
First and least importantly, THE MONSTER MOVES. The monster itself has slight movement, you can notice its arms wiggle a little and mouth open and close. This is a small thing that goes a LONG way to make it feel way more dynamic and alive. It's also being distorted by a noise like Hoederer is, which is quite nice as a touch, really helps to make that limited movement feel way more significant than it is.
Second, is that the texture is monochromatic, but in a different way than Arturia is. The grays are colder, harsh blue-grays to contrast Arturia herself, who is a very warm gray. This makes it so that it adds a really nice background that looks like part of her, while also standing out and allowing her to stand out against it. It's a really smart use of monochrome to create visual interest using just different subtle shades of gray.
But that bluish hue also serves to compliment the only color in the effect - the blue light from the cello. Your eyes are naturally drawn to brighter glowing things, which is also the only colored spot on the effect - the cello from which her Arts emerge. As a result, the Beastie.jpg fades out of your attention, becoming monochromatic noise, which, due to being just kinda chaotic and aesthetically dissonant, you interpret more as abstract Shape than anything else. That abstract shape then makes a cone which leads you down into Arturia's center, which is her cello, which is where her Arts are coming from.
This is basically to say - These are very emblematic of what I think makes good effects textures in general. They work best when they're not alone. When these backgrounds are part of a larger whole that's all coming together to make an effect, rather than being the centerpiece of the whole thing. When I notice the background, it's a problem, in my eyes. Maybe people disagree. They keep putting them in skins, and a lot of people thought the Eine Variation goat was cool as hell, so clearly I'm in the wrong here, but hey. Who gives a shit.
I'm sure there's way more examples of this, (actually I know there are,) but I'm extremely tired and need to go the fuck to sleep. If there's any particular backgrounds ya'll want me to take a look at, lemme know and I'll get back to you when I've woken from my dread slumber.
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