#maybe creating the ones that are positive can be also effective as they will contrast with reality

[iwonderwh0]

I have too many fic ideas with no actual plan to write any of them (bc I can't write), but I can share them regardless. Here's another one

Post revolution Amanda is locked within the remaining Connor. She can see through his eyes just like before, but for obvious reasons Connor has been avoiding stasis since the very day he escaped it last time, which is also the day Amanda got permanently locked within him with no hope to escape as CyberLife servers she used to be connected with are now all shut down. She doesn't have any influence over him, but does she really? She explores it further and as it turnes out, she still can forcefully put him into stasis, but as far as it looks like Zen Garden he is quick to force himself out of it, so Amanda must get more creative than that. She scans through his system and figures out a way, weak spot she can use — preconstruction. She uses it as a part of a new program to execute without Connor's knowledge. A mix of stasis and preconstruction forced to run in a way that would make it difficult to spot, and as a result Connor starts to experience some anomalies. Such as: dialogues that never actually happened or just individual phrases that were never said, extreme dangerous situations that appear out of the blue just to get back to the way Before those situations in a blink of an eye, as if none of those things ever took place. Those anomalies are getting progressively more and more hardcore as Amanda is learning what kind of topics affect him the most as well as how can she manipulate him into taking actions that'll lead to him destroying comfort of his life with his own actions. Her goal is to reach a point of self destruction because as long as Connor is activated, so is she, and her goal is to destroy both of them as well as to take some revenge.

I described it from Amanda's pov to describe the underlying mechanism, but it's actually written (as if this fic is real*) from Connor's pov, so at some point nor him or reader understand anymore, what parts of the reality actually happened and what was simulated. Or idk, which one is more fun, when the reader is aware of what's simulated or when the reader is just as confused (or almost just as much) as Connor. Connor must be hella hard to break down like this + he's smart enough to start to realise the backbone of things to fight back, but huh, she'll make sure to get him through the hell of his own mind, so even when things are real they're now perceived from a different perspective than before.

* or maybe it is actually. I kinda assume that none if my ideas I post here are original, some people must have thought about them before, and if you know that that's the case I will appreciate the link(s) to where I can find it written. I don't really search for anything so I don't even know how cliche or not are ideas I post here

#dbh #dbh connor #detroit become human #dbh fanfiction #dbh fanfic #dbh amanda #uhh okay maybe I don't really like it because it's a bit too much and not so elegant #so it would probably look kinda forced if it were actually written #not sure #I just like it more when suffering is there kinda on accident not as a moving force #and it must be balanced by some good stuff to be effective in its effect #but wait who said those fake scenarios can only be negative #maybe creating the ones that are positive can be also effective as they will contrast with reality #but uhh yep it's probably too much and wouldn't work as an actual fic #not like I would write it anyway #Fic ideas that I'll never write

[letmereadinpeace4]

My Dear Gangster Oppa Commentary - Episode 1

So @lutawolf's posts about My Dear Gangster Oppa made me want to watch the drama. After watching the first episode, here is my not very coherent reaction to it.

Guy reminds me a lot of how I used to be in high school (lonely and socially awkward). I can also relate to this feeling of now knowing how to properly communicate with other people but desperately needing some form of connection.

I understand his feelings for Wahl. When you are lonely for a long time and someone approaches you and creates a relationship with you, it can easily become extremely intense. That having been said, I do not think Guy is so much in love with Wahl as he is desperately clinging to someone to avoid loneliness. As for Wahl, he does not really strike me as someone cruel and selfish, but rather as someone who is quite immature. He feels more like someone who is nice than someone who is actually kind, or rather, he knows how to do and say things to make people feel good, but lacks the emotional maturity to understand them and their feelings. Furthermore, I think he is just as much caught in the intensity of their relationship as Guy is. It is pretty common when you are young to not really know how to define proper boundaries in friendships, especially when you are socially inexperienced (as Guy is) or immature (as Wahl strikes me to be). It can become all the more difficult when feelings of attraction are added to the mix.

Wahl’s girlfriend, however, seems to have a much better understanding of what is happening between them. Her remark when she meets Guy “Are you sure he’s your friend?” absolutely implies that she at the very least has noted Wahl’s attachment to Guy. Her timing also seems very deliberate.

I love the music when they are at the aquarium.

Guy is caught in a really awkward and painful situation. I like that he has the maturity to recognize that his feelings for Wahl are hopeless and that he seeks to distance himself from him and find companionship elsewhere. In a medium where we often see characters in his position cling to the person they love in a desperate hope that maybe one day they will return their feelings, it is refreshing to see a character recognize the situation they are in and try to move on.

The paper flew away. This could be drama logic to convey the feeling of powerlessness that Guy feels as his feelings are crushed, or it could be a set up for a future drama with Wahl if anyone catches the paper.

I really like the interactions in the gamer group. It feels very natural and their banter is fun. We will see how it goes in the future, but I like the fact that Guy’s online friendships are not presented as lesser than “real life” relationship. They are presented as just as important and as having a positive effect on Guy, who finds in those people the companionship, the distraction and the goal he needs to move on.

Tew’s introduction is really great. By that I mean that it is really effective at establishing the character’s personality. He is a reliable figure for his employees and treats them with respect, he is confident in his abilities and his position and he knows how to handle himself socially in order to seize power in an uncomfortable power exchange. It is just a really well-made introduction for the main love interest.

The fake-out with Yuri is priceless. I knew it was coming, but it did not make the scene less great.

It is absolutely hilarious that the pretty cute scene where Guy is connecting with “Yuri” and asking him out is interrupted by Tew beating up some thugs. The contrast makes the scene absolutely hilarious. Guy is living in a slice of life romantic comedy drama and Tew is living in a dark mafia thriller drama.

I also like how Guy is Tew are connecting. The fact that their relationship is online allows them to be much more honest and upfront with each other than they would be if they met in real-life. In a real life interaction with someone you do not know that well, it is considered awkward to explain your social awkwardness and low self-esteem directly, whereas an online space allows for this kind of directness. They are also really cute.

I physically recoiled when I saw Guy’s outfit with the beige pants, the white shirt, the tie and the blue blazer. Just no! Never! That outfit deserves to be burned! It looks like a preppy outfit from a grandpa’s closet. Thank goodness he did not actually wear that for the date.

And Guy ruins it by going out with Wahl. Honestly a bad move. I understand his feelings, but it is extremely rude towards Tew/Yuri. It is good that he eventually makes the correct choice though.

Wahl has a very extreme reaction here. I wish we had more exposition about how their relationship was like before Wahl got a girlfriend. Hopefully we will get more insight into Wahl’s feelings for Guy in future episodes. If their relationship really was that overly intense kind of friendship that sometimes happen in high school, then I sort of get his reaction even if it feels inappropriate. When you get extremely close to someone and are used to know everything about them or have the impression that you do, it can get jarring when they suddenly distance themselves.

I appreciate Tew drawing clear boundaries by saying he will leave in five minutes. Guy is already late (by his own fault and when he was the one to suggest the date). Tew is perfectly in his right to get frustrated.

I like Tew’s visible nervousness when he introduces himself. It makes him seem more approachable that if he was completely confident about the situation. Guy is very good at bouncing back. It doesn’t make the situation any less awkward though.

I am laughing so hard at the date. This is what happens when you put two introverts who do not know each other well in the same room. The asking questions but the other person not engaging back. The suddenly starts rambling about their own interests. The silence between attempts at talking. It just feels so real.

PSA for any drama characters. Never, ever, say that you “will do anything” to get someone to do something. It will not end well for you. Or it might, but you will not feel like it at time.

I like that we see two different variations of socially awkward. The “self-conscious, I tend to put my foot in my mouth version”, and the “I don’t talk much and have a blank face so people think I am scary but actually I am just awkward” version.

Drunk Guy is both hilarious and, amazingly, might actually get further with Tew than if he had stayed sober.

Well, they did end up in the same bed at the end of the date, so overall I would say the date didn’t go quite horribly.

Final Thoughts:

This was a good introduction episode. We get a good sense of Guy and Tew’s personalities and about what motivates them. At their core, they are both lonely people who do not know quite how to deal with other people and seek companionship. While Guy’s personality is more in line with what people would expect from this kind of character, Tew is just as socially lost as Guy is. He just hides it better because he knows how too communicate with people when there is a clear framework of reference (i.e. dealing with customers at the club) and has a blank/scary face that makes him look inapproachable. At several points this facade cracks (when he meets Guy for the first time, when Guy is drunk) and he explicitly say that he does not know how to communicate with people that well. His yearning for connections is made very explicit, which is why I find it so interesting that Guy does not seem to respond to it. My theory is that he is so caught up in his own social awkwardness and of the impression that he has of Tew that he does not really consider it, which is understandable. I really hope that future episodes will explore this idea and show us how they form a connection and learn to communicate in a way that works for them.

Regarding Wahl and Guy’s relationship, my interpretation is that their relationship got too emotionally intense for them to handle without something breaking at some point. We know that Guy was a lonely person before meeting Wahl, and that Wahl formed a friendship with Guy after moving and transferring to a new school. In a situation where both characters might have felt insecure and lonely, it is understandable that they got emotionally caught up in one another to the point that Wahl felt comfortable crossing some boundaries and Guy felt comfortable in letting him do it. However, when Wahl got a girlfriend and Guy decided to distance himself and find other people, cracks started forming in an already unstable relationship, which is probably going to lead to some drama. Again, this is just my interpretation and it can and will probably change with future episodes.

In conclusion, I very much enjoy this drama and look forward to watching more episodes.

#my dear gangster oppa #bl drama #thai bl #letmerantinpeace

[monocatariarchives]

An analysis of the fyozai frames from the s5 opening (lighting edition)

THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR SEASON 5'S OPENING AS WELL AS MILD MANGA SPOILERS. READ WITH CAUTION.

To make this a little easier to read, I'm going to break it down into sections. These sections are: Colour, Direction and The Subjects. Please note that this is all entirely speculation from my own observations, and don't take anything I say as canon, but I found this whole thing really interesting so maybe there's some wisdom in here, idk.

COLOUR

So in order to show the different colour palettes, I took both images and put them into a colour palette maker, producing 20 colours from each image. Fyodor's produced this

While Dazai's produced this

Immediately, there's a few things I can notice.

For one, Dazai's colour palette is much more varied than Fyodor's. Now, this is partially by virtue of him being in daylight, where the sky has a very clear difference from the building, but it is interesting, especially in comparison to Fyodor's, which comprises almost entirely of green and blueish tones.

This leads into the other major thing: warm and cool tones. Dazai is lit mostly in warm tones- specifically, he's sunlit. Oftentimes, warmer colours are used in conjunction with positive connotations- happiness, brightness, etc etc. Warm light also is used to make someone look more natural. In contrast, cold tones are often used to show negativity or make things seem unnatural, especially very unnatural colder tones like the dark greenish-blues of Fyodor's colour palette. You're unlikely to go outside and be bathed in sewer light (sorry not sorry) like Fyodor is in that image, thus making it seem more sinister and eerie, and making Dazai seem more like a force of good by contrast.

DIRECTION

In order to show direction better, I have a couple of diagrams to help show my points.

ORANGE represents the direction of the light YELLOW is the light sources BLUE is the shadowy areas where (as far as I can tell) there is no light It was kind of hard to tell on Fyodor's because of how dark it was but. I tried my best.

Starting with Fyodor's, you can see that the light seems to be coming from exactly, but it looks like its coming from a pretty low angle? It seems to be coming pretty straight on rather than from anywhere above/below him, almost like footlights, or very low side/front lighting.

To clear up some terminology here, footlights are, well, lights at foot level. They can be used to create massive, eerie, stylised shadows, and are often used to create a very unsettling effect since its not a very natural lighting angle. Again, Fyodor is being made to seem unnatural by the (speculated) direction of the light. The haze coming from the sides of the image also provides two things here that I don't have a category for so deal with it (/lhj). On one hand, it shouds him in a very literal fog of mystery, showing how he's very mysterious to the point where its hard to tell when he's lying or not (see chapter 108 for a recent example, and everyone's subsequent losing their shit). On the other, it also blocks out parts of the surrounding scenery, drawing the viewer's focus to him quickly. He elucidates himself, even through the fog around him obscures things, visually showing how he makes parts of his motivations and true self visible, but keeps much of it, even on the surface, obscured.

With Dazai, the immediate thing to point out is that his light source is completely different from Fyodor's. He's being backlit from a very high angle, thus obscuring his features while making him stand out against the much lighter background in a 'halo' effect. This kind of lighting isn't typically used on its own because it obscures the face, however, it's highly reminiscient of an angel coming down from above. The lighting angle seems almost holy, and light like this can be found in religious imagery quite a lot. Many paintings of Jesus, especially, will have similar kind of lighting wherein it pours down from the top.

There's a couple things I find intersting about this. Firstly, it's Dazai, not Fyodor, who has this kind of angelic lighting. Fyodor typically sees himself as this 'right hand man of God', and yet his lighting is more befitting of an evil cartoon villain, whereas Dazai, in my opinion, doesn't see himself as much as this religious or even good figure. So then, why the warm, heavenly light?

Personally, I think this is showing the good in the consequences of these characters.

Fyodor, who sees himself as doing something good by ridding the world of ability users, is actively commiting many, many felonies in order to do so, and hurting a lot of people. Dazai, on the other hand, while a bit of a shitty guy, is trying to save people and ensure that ability users don't die. He represents the 'good' side of the conflict, while Fyodor represents the 'bad'

The other thing I find interesting here is the specific use of just the backlight. Because the same effect of light coming down from above could easily be achieved with some sigelight and facelight to show us more of Dazai from the front. So, why not?

Unlike Fyodor, Dazai has no fog obscuring him from the sides. His frame is a lot more open than Fyodor's, and the draw of him is created by the contrasting background, and the shadows of the walls on either side from the light not hitting. I think this shows visually how Dazai is open as a person, willing to let everyone see him, but he himself- his actual self, underneath the clownish acts- won't be so easy to see. The light represents his act and Dazai represents, well... Dazai. His motivations, his past, etc etc.

THE SUBJECTS

Okay so this is going to touch on a bunch of stuff from the previous categories but also a few other, not so light related things.

Firstly, their positions. They're in the same position as one another, in the centre of the image, thus making themselves the focal point. This shows a similarity between them, and puts them kind of on the same level iykwim? Two sides of the same coin kind of deal. But that's more or less where the similarities end.

In Fyodor's case, he's got his back turned to the camera, and it looks like he's looking up, with his hands oustretched to the sky, as if he's calling down the rain around him. Dazai, on the other hand, is facing the camera head-on, and looking straight ahead/slightly down, standing casually with his hand in his pocket.

Going off of the religious imagery with the direction of light from earlier, and my own speculation, it feels like Fyodor is looking to the heavens- to God, for divine influence, again harking back to his 'right hand of god' character, while Dazai has his back turned on the heavens and is looking down/straight, towards the present, showing his lack of belief in any higher power.

The way they're facing can also show where their focus is. With Fyodor, he's looking out to the wider world, with his back turned on the people closest to him: the audience. Dazai, on the other hand, has his back turned to the wider world, and is looking to the audience, showing his focus on the people rather than any widespread goal. This also could show how Fyodor doesn't see people around him as 'people', but rather as 'stepping stones to his goal'.

There is another half-similarity between them as well, in that you can't see either of their faces. Fyodor has his back fully turned, not showing any vulnerability or traces of himself as a person. Dazai does have his face to the audience, however his eyes are not made visible, again to show that even if you can see 'him', you cannot see his true intentions.

Anyways that's all I got for now. Idk, I might come back to this if anyone wants more random analysis of stuff, or if anyone has any other ideas or comments. My ask box is open anytime if anything here isn't clear or anyone wants me to analyse smth, so feel free to drop by!

#bsd #ajax's own thoughts #bungou stray dogs #dazai osamu #fyodor dostoevsky #dazai #fyodor #bsd s5 #bsd spoilers

[ambystoman]

Fyreon (Redo) (Emberonian)

Here we have the last main character, Fyreon. He is rather nonchalant and slow. He can be cold for a living fire and doesn't like being bothered. Pessimistic is one way to describe him and he just likes sleeping rather than dealing with pro-

"Keep it down, will you? I'm trying to sleep. I didn't ask you to write this thing anyway..."

Fyreon is an Emberonian, a species of fire elemental that is generally proficient with magic. He wears a set of hardened clay armor. This protects his fire body from being extinguished as well as protecting others from his flames. It is very heavy making him a slow but strong warrior.

Emberonians have a malleable body of fire and can fit in any kind of hollow object and use it as armor. Once inside, their bodies accommodate and create holes for their eyes and mouth. Once outside again, the object retakes its original form with no alterations.

He uses his staff to cast fire spells and the swirl on top is his Soul and the source of his magic. It is his main weapon. As mentioned in the previous post, I never programmed him so I don't have anything to show regarding his combat capabilities.

Those wisps around the top move and react to Fyreon as he casts spells and does attacks. They might seem alive but are simply projections of some sort. The bottom of his staff simply fades away.

Emberonians. All soldiers wear the same types of clay armor. All masks are one of a kind and belong to an individual for life.

Fyreon's diet consists of eating rocks and minerals like crystals. He is not allowed in jewelry stores anymore. He likes salamanders but laments not being able to swim or touch water with his real hands. He never takes off his armor much less his mask.

His mask gives him a lizard tongue.

Backstory

Fyreon is a captain. He leads his squadron into war against an evil race of water creatures. Both species compete for territory on a small planet where the landscape consists of arid deserts and valleys contrasting damp swamps and lakes. The Emberonians are slowly losing and having their territory purposefully flooded.

He is a strong leader and takes care of his people very well. He is loved by many and often seeks a quick and effective way to solve problems. He makes sure to show his best to his people in hopes of keeping everyone motivated and hopeful.

A good team

He hides his feelings of hopelessness and crushing sadness so nobody else would feel disillusioned. But what would happen if you suddenly lost your reason to keep a positive attitude but could not remember why? Would your true feelings come out? One day he would find out...

It is honestly very hard to talk much about the protagonists' backstories without having to deal with heavy spoilers. In short, all 3 lose their memories at the start of the game before meeting. Despite having no memories, their emotions remain.

Foul creature

Inspiration

Arguably my most popular character (or maybe it's Lima). He has quite the redesign history. Originally, he started out as some sort of bird magician guy. I had been playing a lot of Shovel Knight at the time and really liked Plague Knight. He seemed to have an axe as well instead of a staff. He also had nothing to do with fire.

I refined this concept and gave him sort of gill-like appendages to his mask. These would eventually become horns. I then would go back to the gill idea and outright make them gills instead and give him more axolotl characteristics.

His fire attributes were inspired by a drawing from an artist I really like. Panapana on twitter. Mainly this cool drawing of an Axolotl with fire gills. As soon as I saw this, I got the idea of making him a fire creature whose armor made him somewhat look like an axolotl but he himself wasn't one. Salamanders were closely associated with fire in ancient times so it kind of makes sense.

I never designed the other race of creatures Emberonians fight. Just like they are evil for his species, this race considers Emberonians evil the same way.

The very first fanart I ever got.

Fyreon means a lot to me and because of him I was able to make a really good friend. A lovely gift from @blaz-art

Um... You'll have to pay for that. Drawn by @blaz-art.

#3d modeling #blender #original character #digital art #art #original oc #gamedev #space #soul trail #ambystoman #lowpoly #elemental #fire elemental #axolotl #he eats rocks

[kinghijinx22]

So I recently finished Halo Infinite and I loved it, my thoughts on peak modern Halo

So I just finished Halo Infinite and it was fucking amazing. My favorite of the 3 Halo games I played recently, and one of my favorites overall I think, especially narratively. A genuinely moving experience that takes some of the best aspects of 343's previous games in Halo 4 and Wars 2 and even pretty much corrects the story fuck ups with Cortana in 5 and manages to even turn them into something positive. From Halo Wars 2 it takes the amazing new antagonists in the Banished, the classic Halo inspired art direction, and the fun that I felt from Wars 2 with our new AI and Pilot friends being super endearing and even bringing more personality out of Master Chief then I think he's ever shown maybe next to Halo 4.

And speaking of Halo 4, what Halo Infinite takes from that game is the more personal and emotional writing, with this game also acting as a very effective introspection into good ol John Halo, Cortana and even our new AI and pilot friends. And when I say that this game actually managed to take Halo 5's trash story and do something positive with it, they actually run back the complete villainizing of her motives of… wanting world peace and her own autonomy, even if they try to explain that she killed a bunch of people but I honestly still think that anyone opposing her was probably the type of violently fascist asshole she was calling out anyway. But they do actually express a lot more empathy for her perspective in Halo Infinite, throughout the story they explore John's grief over loosing Cortana beautifully and you eventually find out that she had sacrificed herself to make things right and destroyed a part of the Halo ring to stop the Banished from using it as a weapon. In the end, she leaves some last messages to John, telling him how happy he made her and that she wished for him and his new AI friend to not make the same mistakes she did before saying goodbye one final time which just made me break down in tears.

In the end we also find out the name of our pilot, Fernando Esparza, and he asks our AI friend for her name. So earlier in the game it's said that she was created to help catch Cortana, she comes to the realization that it's because she is a copy of Cortana, made from the same original programming but the thing is, she still very much develops into her own person with her personality and identity and just like Cortana, at the very end of the game gets to choose her own name WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED FOR THE END OF HER ARK but then they DONT TELL YOU WHAT SHE CHOSE WHAT THE FUCK!?!?! That part was disappointing and I'm hoping so hard it's not Cortana because that would just completely ruin both the idea of her being her own person and John moving on. I've read people online mentioning that Cortana was named after some historic sword, and so were suggesting Joyeuse for our new AI friend which is also a historic sword and it can be shortened to Joy which would just be perfect for her more optimistic and fun personality. In fact I love Joy as her name so much that I will use that for convenience until she is officially given a name.

So before I talk about Chief and Joy more, I just have to mention that I also really love the ark for Fernando as well, who early on is a contrast to Joy's YEYEYE over Chief's wild plans by being the NONONO person, which you find out later might be because he's not actually a pilot but or solider at all and was actually just doing volunteer work on that human ship from the start and stole a Pelican when the Banished attacked. He stole it and ran which is why he's developed this intense imposter syndrome and feels so bad that after one of the levels, when you return to him he breaks down and explains everything, saying that Chief should just leave him with the garbage of the ship graveyard. But Chief in this moment shows a lot of empathy, telling him that everybody makes mistakes but that he has to keep going, and reassuring him that everything will be ok and, I just really love the Master Chief being this super inspiring figure that everyone can turn to. I mean that's always been the case but, seeing more intimate moments like this is just really sweet.

So Joy and Fernando both get great arks, but something else I really appreciated about this game is what it does for Master Chief as a character. Much like Halo 4 he gets a bit of analysis into who he is a person, but this game arguably does it even better and is able to give John a happier ending. Even if it doesn't necessarily offer solutions to everything he's got going on, it does at least shine a light on certain things. Something I was critical of John for in Halo 5 was his inability to see past his narrow view of the world, labeling anything he can't quickly understand as "dangerous" which is a very direct pipeline to deranged bigotry and refusal to understand other people because it's easier to be negative and Halo 5 never really called him out on this, unlike Halo Infinite. Infinite actually addresses this, with Joy calling out how pessimistic and close minded he is. Later on Fernando questions why John is so often able to kill things and risk his life which he bluntly just responds with that "it's all I know." Even later I think Joy brings up something similar to which John replies that "maybe that's my programming." Which is actually a perfect way of putting it, indoctrination and conditioning is literally a human equivalent of "programming" and John was abducted into the military at a young age and has literally been conditioned to be a killing machine who always follows orders and never asks questions. And it's what the fascists of the right wing are still trying to do children, passing on their irrational hate of minorities and woman while burning any learning resources to help understand and empathize with those people. They are grooming children into being hateful bigots like they are, essentially trying to create another generation of little nazis and maintain their cishet white man supremicist agenda. So exploring that sort of topic with Master Chief, about human programming, having a narrow view of the world and learning to have an open mind to new things and unlearn the harmful things, it's very topical and much appreciated. And Joy and Fernando are able to get Master Chief to open up and self reflect, especially his new AI bestie Joy and it has a noticeably positive effect on him. They also bring more personality out of Chief than I think he's ever had.

Halo Infinte has some of the most emotional storytelling and best character work in the series, and while the villains don't get the same amount of depth, The Banished are still great antagonists for this story. Something I have to mention though is that in my previous post, I mentioned that I couldn't believe Atriox was dead because they set him up perfectly as a villain for Chief to overcome and killing him off screen would have been ridiculous. Well the good news is that he doesn't die which they reveal at the last minute in a post credits scene, the bad news is that he obviously doesn't really show up again in this game. The Banished think he died and this new Jiralhanae Esscharum takes over who is pretty cool as well although I'm excited for Artiox to come back. Esscharum though, he's well built up throughout this game and this is where I have to talk about the last few levels leading up to his boss fight. The Road gives you a final tank in a fittingly epic final vehicle battle in a big ass hallway, and then the House of Reckoning is such a cool idea that's reminiscent of… I guess Lucas from Resident Evil 7 is a good example? The "putting you through a bunch of deadly trials while I talk shit" type of section, and I really like idea of these trials taking place in an obstacle course where the Banished were trained to kill humans. Which is then followed up by a fight with one of the coolest characters and best boss fights in the game, the right hand Sanghelli of Esscharum Jega 'Rdomnai. An unapologetically edgy Sanghelli with black armor, a red energy sword in one hand and a red wrist blade on the other and I love him so much. He stealths around a lot with his active camo, popping in and out and he's got some sick moves, very cool. Then after that you finally get your boss fight with Esscharum who is much more up front, big and carrying a portable turret that he swaps out for a special red energy gravity hammer in his final phase. That's right, it's a multi phase fight where in his second phase he gets an energy shield that you have to disrupt up shooting these wires that are giving it to him and then he busts out his hammer, it's a very fun multi layered fight. I forgot to mention but Esscharum had captured Fernando before this, so you rescue him and then get a nice moment of Chief showing some empathy for his enemy, explaining that even he despite being on the opposing side was fighting for something he thought was right which again is just more humanity then Chief often shows.

For the final level Chief, Joy and Fernando go after our final boss, main antagonist and brand new character for this series or at least for the games because I'm not familiar with the books, Xalanyn or as she is better known the Harbinger. So before I mentioned that this game adds a lot of it's own interesting aspects on top of the best stuff from 343's previous games and Xalanyn is one of them. She is said to be from an ancient race that seems to be mostly gone except for her, and they seem to have an old rivalry with the other ancient race of the Forunners and so she's not really a fan of a lot of what they built including the Halo super weapons. I believe she teamed up with the Banished to help them wipe out the humans and make this Halo ring their new home if they also help her revive the rest of her people, who I believe have only been known as The Endless. So the Harbinger is a pretty cool new antagonist for this game, and the fight with her is pretty great as well. Her and another boss I'm going to mention in a bit were the only completely unique bosses in the game, and she's a lot of fun to fight with her cool moveset of fireballs, teleports and melee, fighting other enemies in between round while you shut off the various things, genuinely tough fight that took me a few attempts and was fun.

Which leads me to talking about a few of the other cool new things in this game, one of them being the boss fights in general. Which I mentioned in my previous post, but now that I've finished the game I can say that they were consistently good throughout. I mean, none of them are the best in the video games but I mean good for first person shooters and especially for Halo. Another boss and character that I haven't had the opportunity to mention before now is the Oracle in this game, or specifically the second of 2 Oracles. The first Oracle you don't get to have much time with before she is killed by Xalanyn, but the second is friendly at first but becomes hostile once he learns that Chief is going to stop him from rebuilding the ring and you end up having to fight this robot twice. He is the other unique boss fight in this game and is also pretty fun, much more fun then fighting Guity Spark in Halo 3. Instead of just being a little ball, he becomes a park of this bigger robot that has a bunch of guns and shields on it with the red glowing guns being the weak points and you end up having to fight him twice. Super fun boss, and as a character he contributes a lot to the themes of this game as well, about what we choose and what is inherent, what has been programmed into use and choosing our own identity. This Oracle is clearly just following his programming of protecting the Halo ring the entire time and much like Guilty Spark, I feel sympathy for him because this wasn't something he chose, these feelings aren't his but were given to him by someone else and he clearly hasn't developed his own personality and opinions like Cortana for example was able to do.

Other new things were stuff that I also mentioned in my previous post, but the grapple hook really is the coolest thing added to Halo since ever that adds a lot of new layers to the combat. The thing is thought that you get new stuff replaces the grapple hook later one, and while you do carry them all and swap between them, swapping between them takes too long for my liking and nothing else is as universally helpful or cool as the grapple hook and I literally never used anything else. Another interesting new addition is the open world, which pretty much took the second and fourth levels of Halo 1 and made it into the whole game. Which is a cool idea, the large environments and open ended environments with a bunch of side missions are an interesting change of pace and in the middle of the game you do get some main missions that involve going around to various place to blow up big guns or activate these beacons which you can do in any order which is cool. BUT this is where my biggest complain of this game comes in and it's the only big one I have, but the lack of environmental diversity. It's nothing but grass and mountains outside and grey Forunner rooms inside which is easily the least amount of environment diversity in the series and towards the end of the game, I'll admit that I was getting sick of looking at this game and wanted it to end. While the core gameplay is a lot of fun, this game gets very repetitive by the second half and the samey environments do not help that. I think having at least a snow biome would have helped a lot, maybe a spooky swamp like in the sixth level of Halo 1 or a desert like in the 6th level Halo 3.

All around though I really enjoyed my time with Halo Infinite, a really fun game with a genuinely moving story that that some very compelling things with both familiar and new characters. Seriously Chief, Joy and Fernando are a great best friend trio. One of the better Halo games in my opinion and overall the best 343 game. A big step in the right direction and in the future I would like to see more narrative and character complexity like Infinite, 2 and 4, maybe not bring back the open world but if they do PLEASE have more environmental diversity, and I honestly think 343 has mastered the core gameplay so just have more weapons and vehicles and enemies to fight. Also PLEASE do something with Atriox, let Master Chief finally get his rematch.

#halo #halo infinite #john halo #master chief #the weapon #joy #fernando esparza #the pilot #343 industries #bungie

[mbti-notes]

hi I'm confused about boundaries. Sometimes I'm assertive to say NO to people but I don't know maybe I'm just putting up a wall and killing the relationship? How can I tell the difference between walls and boundaries? TIA

In the most simple terms, it's a matter of healthy (boundaries) vs unproductive (walls). Yes, both are intended as protection, but they ultimately lead you in different directions. Some key points:

1) Emotional Motivation: When someone violates your personal boundary, it's natural to feel offended or angry at first. But if the anger goes unprocessed and unchecked, it makes your decision-making very reactive. You're likely to retaliate, harbor resentment, or emotionally "block out" the person with a psychological wall, which damages the relationship.

In contrast, an emotionally intelligent person knows how to process negative emotions, so they don't just react to anger but, rather, see it as a sign that there is something out of balance in the relationship. Digging deeper below the initial anger, one finds empathy for oneself and the need to be treated fairly. The empathy is then leveraged into setting better boundaries to ensure fairness in the relationship.

Therefore, ask yourself: Am I being driven by unconscious, unprocessed, and/or unresolved negative emotions? (wall) Or, am I acting consciously, out of empathy and compassion, to address a legitimate need for a fairer relationship? (boundary)

2) Effect on Self-Concept: When you build a wall, you are essentially distancing yourself from others by hiding behind it. Walls are a common defense mechanism because they're easy, they feel safe, and they seem like the least harmful option overall (when compared to being overtly mean or destructive). But these positive effects are illusory.

A wall feels easy only because you're ignoring the negative social consequences. Actually, it signals to others that you're too preoccupied with yourself to care about them, which means you make yourself into an uncooperative and thus emotionally unavailable friend/partner. A wall feels safe only because you're sweeping the problem under the rug. Actually, it doesn't resolve the issue of you being unable to advocate well for yourself and your needs. A wall seems least harmful because you're overlooking the harm being done to yourself. Actually, by locking yourself away, you are essentially making yourself into a non-entity in the relationship, which signals to people that your needs don't have to matter to them.

Therefore, ask yourself: Am I making myself smaller, less important, and more invisible to others? (wall) Or, am I making myself into an equal member of the relationship and requesting the care and respect I also deserve? (boundary)

3) Effect on the Relationship: There is no meaningful relationship without conflict. Conflict occurs whenever two people don't see eye-to-eye and it affects their ability to move forward together. Many people see conflict as a "problem" and fear getting caught up in it, so they don't know how to use it to their advantage. Some people build walls as a way to avoid confrontation and conflict.

For emotionally intelligent people, conflict is viewed as an opportunity to know each other better and negotiate better terms for the relationship. Over time, people who know how to "fight" intelligently are rewarded with a stronger and closer bond. In short, an important aspect of setting healthy boundaries is knowing how to communicate productively about needs and goals, in order to reach agreement about how to move forward on them.

Therefore, ask yourself: Am I cutting off further communication and leaving my needs unmet and their needs unacknowledged, thus making it more difficult to build a long-term relationship? (wall) Or, am I creating an opportunity to bring each person's needs into focus so that we can collaborate and get them fulfilled appropriately, thus doing the necessary work to make the relationship better over time? (boundary)

Note that this point is aimed at people who have trouble setting boundaries in normal relationships that have good potential to be healthy, loving, and fulfilling. If you're dealing with someone exhibiting many dark personality traits, heed the red flags. There are some people you can't negotiate with because they can't see you, don't respect you, and/or aren't capable of caring well for you. In such cases, the focus shouldn't be on relationship building but on avoiding/averting harm through setting and enforcing strict boundaries.

To sum up the qualities of a "wall" VS a "boundary":

motivated by: negative emotions VS empathy and fairness

feels like making yourself: smaller VS equal

you appear to others: more distant VS more visible

communication: gets cut off VS opens up collaboration

emotional needs: remain unfulfilled VS brought into focus

relationships become: more difficult VS more robust

Of course, real-life situations are not always so clear-cut. Boundary setting is a skill that gets better with practice. Remember that there's no perfect way to socialize. People can be unpredictable, so the best you can do is be adaptable, learn from mistakes, and keep trying to get better at it. When you realize that you've built a wall instead of set a boundary, it's a good opportunity to learn more about what triggered you to build it and practice taking it down.

Walls are an understandable response to feeling violated but it's important to reflect upon what they actually achieve for you. If wall-building feels like an "instinct" when you get emotionally triggered, it would be good to learn more about your emotional triggers, why they exist, and what past experience the wall is meant to protect you from. Bring that unconscious activity into consciousness. Then, reflect on whether it's still necessary to use such a primitive defense mechanism today.

#boundaries #defense mechanisms #communication #assertiveness #anger #resentment #emotional intelligence #social skills #relationships #ask

[asoiaf-artbrdr]

i was wondering if you had any tips and tricks for creating characters on artbreeder. i have ocs that i’m dying to make but i can’t seem to figure out how to use the site. if you’re not comfortable with sharing that is alright!

Hi! thanks for getting in touch. Admittedly, they've changed a lot of the UI since my personal heyday on the site, but I'm sure I can offer some assistance!

So, first off, for someone new to the platform I would recommend starting by building off of another user's base product. So find a portrait that achieves some of what you're looking for in your OC (be it hair or skin or face shape similarities, whatever). Click the remix button to enter the editor. Here we are with my portrait of Margaery:

The most important trick I've found to creating nuanced portraits is in cultivating a robust gene library. This takes time, of course, but it is integral to the process! So, upper right hand corner is the add genes button. Click on that and another menu pops up. This menu allows you to browse recently created genes or look through your selection of favorites. As a long-time user, I have a few people I would recommend for their work creating genes. First is user zenozip. They helpfully have labeled everything they make with their username, so we can use the search function to find their genes.

Many users don't label their genes in this manner. Instead, you've got to search terms with your fingers crossed. Let's say you want something to increase contrast in your image. Well, you can try the term 'contrast,' or perhaps 'light' (as in lighting - I shorten terms to the simplest version because a text search will pick up more broad results that way) or maybe 'sharp.'

Once you find a gene you're interested in trying out, click to add it to your editor. I've selected the sad eyebrows gene for our example. It's helpful to get an idea of what a gene is doing to the elements in your portrait if you hope to make the best possible use of it. That means trying it out at slight increments as well as extreme ones, and seeing what happens in either direction of use:

Green on the bar (left image) is indicating positive values whereas that purpley shade indicates negative values. We can see a number of things have changed! For one, the obvious difference lies in the arch of the eyebrow. But the nose is more snubbish and shorter in the right image, her right mouth corner is more distinct. Her hair is also slightly wispier. However, the vast majority of the image remains the same as it was - this is something to keep your eye out for. Genes which focus on one feature or element and don't mess with the rest of your image are fantastic because you'll have to do less fine tuning in the long run. This gene is good at isolating it's major effects to the eyebrow ridge. But perhaps at some point you would want to make use of the effects it has on the nose, so it helps to keep an eye out for these sorts of things. I have plenty of genes in my catalogue I use more for their unintended or negative value effects than their stated purpose!

Making use of genes and having a handful you're confident in using will definitely improve your portraits. I also recommend saving often (the checkmark under her chin) because you can always build off what you've done so far. Also, if you're having trouble spotting the effects of a gene, try upping the chaos of the image (see below). This makes the effects of every change more (or less) extreme.

See? The thing I was saying about the hair is much more prominent now, right?

Another tip is to tag your images. As you build up more and more saved images, you're going to lose track of what you were doing. It also helps in that experiments can be pulled back up and resumed. I personally have a whole bunch of experiments with hairstyles and colors that I tag for so I can search my library of images and utilize them.

For example, I'll give Marg different hair. After resetting the image, I'm selecting to 'add parent' (at top). I call these blends.

Note my selection on the searchbar at the bottom. I'm going to try to make her hair more a pink shade, since that's easier with brunettes.

You can add several parents at a time. The factors you can mess with here are 'face' and 'style.' Face refers to the shape elements of the portrait, whereas style alters coloration and lighting. This is useful to play around with! If you made a portrait where the shapes of everything, the eyes, nose, hair, etc, were exactly as you wanted it, but you wanted to make a significant change in the color of the eyes perhaps, this is one method to doing that. For example, with Targaryen portraits, this is very helpful.

You can use this for makeup, too, or just lighting effects.

Anyways, I hope that's given you enough of a jumping off point! If you'd like to see more of the genes I'd recommend, there's a link to my Artbreeder account on my profile. From there, you can see the genes I've liked and try them out for yourself!

(note the setting on the search bar above) (also note the usernames seen here, specifically ivia_sedai, nikkio, and drconfused; I've used their genes frequently)

Good luck, and feel free to ask any clarifying questions you need!

#artbreeder #art process #how to #megamikenzie #long post #seriously the changes in the interface bug me #oh well #hope this helps #theyve got a collage mode ive got to try out now

[unproduciblesmackdown]

thinking about how of course billions is about people trapped in eternal battle world, and trapped because they won't ever exit, and don't want to because that's the only way they can define their idea of themself or like move through life, to the degree they have to just create or find another battle if one ends or they don't have enough going on at once or they're unhappy about anything & can only respond to that the only way they'll respond to anything: finding someone to consider a target to Defeat & being like nice, i'm so competent & active as a person, so with any other issues in my life, i'm sure it's not my fault at least

and it's been clear that to be someone at the Center of the show means needing to be inflexible enough to never leave that life, which also probably means never engaging in genuine self-reflection besides like, fuming in distress for 5 sec & then immediately searching for blame for someone else, or calling up your designated moral supporter who'll tell you you're upset b/c you're very complex & sympathetic & maybe if you do [xyz] you'll be able to Keep Winning, so like, don't worry, we'll never get too off track here. you have someone like connerty who cares so much about playing by the rules ft. ethics, but he was also someone completely inflexible who would give a shit like "ha ha you broke the law" and be Defeated b/c like yeah damn you do got him in that situation. he may then have gained the flexibility to throw a punch when he's already imprisoned but he's still just gotta retire & pursue some completely different goals

this in contrast with like, what a coincidence (surely not) that the more flexible characters are the ones who also do introspect & reflect & genuinely think about & question themselves ever, & how even beyond that, being in this world of people who overwhelmingly are thee opposite & aiming for a static sense of self & thus strategy for navigating life & all interactions & situations, the more reflective parties also tend to accept both Blame & the fruitlessness of pushing for more/different/better from the people & relationships & situations they're amongst. those willing to take on responsibility at all surrounded by people casting all of it off, always, w/the former already primed to take blame & the latter primed to be looking to find the blame in anyone else, a powerful mismatch....which allows the flexible parties to also put up with shit for longer lol like if they got fed up that quickly or recognized the dead-end here they'd just leave the show lol. like wow can't believe taylor spent their whole life already stuck having to deal with someone who's so very much like these bullshit central men & those trying to emulate them, & perhaps also then have a lifetime of experience extending endless patience & sympathy with little to no expectations for more from people who put up with such a bullshit man & his effects on everything around him, like, what do you mean taylor's mom hasn't seen them b/c douglas didn't want to see them b/c he wasn't yet motivated enough to have to exercise begrudging shows of basic respect. whilest sure seems like taylor felt more concern & basically stated their responsibility re: trying to make their relationship with their dad work / basically take on the task of making his life work for him according to his sense of himself (genius! who deserves the recognition thusly!) and doesn't seem to take on this role re: their mom, who nevertheless is just presumed to move closer to them along w/douglas. and here's taylor never truly putting their foot down re: wendy, no matter what, able to have no real positive expectations in how wendy treats them or thinks of them, but also always able to extend sympathy / decent treatment themself

thinking of like team ben out here as the Nicer axe cap or mpc people who also happen to be people absorbing the L's, blaming themselves for being at the bottom of the hierarchy & being subjected to the always negative treatment doled out to them accordingly, and, winstonesquely, still generally like extending genuine gestures of amicability, efforts of constructive actual communication, etc, & this being shut down & likely punished by all the people around them who won't handle that kind of thing. that Of Course nobody's actually supported around here, like, at best they'll get some kind of "well you're actually talented & valuable :)...." (so why aren't they already treated in a way such that they're aware of this?) "....so just have more confidence already god!" wherein (a) again that just means it's Their Fault that they're having a miserable time at the hands of others & (b) their having "confidence" doesn't really mean like, an emotional buffer between their sense of self-esteem & the message of inferiority in how they're treated, it has to mean externally acting different in some ways, more like A Winner, more like everyone else. the limits of ben trying to sometimes be a buffer for tuk as that kind of friend/mentor role, where either it simply fails or ben's Help is more unilateral "correction." that generally only any increase in aggressive hostility gets them anywhere, and really not that far.

the way dollar bill could always act however he wanted & they could always clean up his messes / save him from himself / just flatout blame other people for what dollar bill did to them or someone else; success in being a mini axe in that way for sure. dollar bill going off the rails over his literal dollar bill & that's not a problem, he's validated b/c he's upset, & b/c rudy knew he'd be upset it's really all rudy's fault....who just so happens to be more of a loser, what with his glasses & possible masturbation ever and all. whilest even when dollar bill is like every season being shit at his job & life, well, just find a loser to trounce while everyone ignores this, cheers you on, takes on responsibility for fixing things for you, blames the person targeted probably. dollar bill couldn't even do in office transphobic hate crime physical attacks, or that but while yelling the r word at the autistic guy he's already harrassing & threatening, without it being really basically the target's fault, & hey, as long as no investors are watching. and we're still dragging dollar bill back to the office b/c uhhh yeah!!

& then of course there's winston, who, like a loser, says things in real efforts for real communication with others, that they winningly can only bring themselves to respond to as "he's not allowed to talk, that's out of line, i have to punish/deny this to reassert our respective status" except for, sometimes, taylor actually communicating in turn, or even simply receiving the information. winston in a duo with the very winning & worthy rian, being something of a quasirival for 5 seconds but even during then, and since, trying to be amicable to establish an actually positive dynamic, trying for actual communication, engaging flexibly & actively based on her feedback & her terms & etc to try to find some more success; versus rian completely inflexible, unwilling to respond to efforts to communicate, unwilling to have an actual relationship with any flexibility & genuineness in turn, or see winston as a person of course, and engage with real emotions. which is hardly an exclusive response of hers, like, everyone else is just the same, she's just also the one interacting with him more often and personally bullying him & standing next to him & immediately responding with clear contempt when he tries things like earnest expressions of "hey rian could you not do what you just did b/c it makes me feel like shit, probably b/c that's what you're trying to do" and "hey that was cool what you just did b/c it makes me feel like—" b/c like, what a loser. real winners cannot handle engaging with another person as a person. when you can just make up & stick to a narrative about "oh but i don't hate winston, who i feel is inherently beneath me. i wouldn't wanna feel bad about killing him, not when i could feel fine about administering more of a death by a thousand cuts with some other people helping out & hey maybe it was their cut that did it after all....but also if you're like 'pwease' then eh sure" or that winston's got a lesser inner existence anyways, some classic dehumanization, no complexity there, & hurting him isn't real, & it'd never be you in his position anyways! especially the more you're buying into "yeah i'm more of a person / more deserving / more real & sympathetic & correct than him :)" & being cheered on as you act that out. pretty cringe of winston to be earnest, flexible, openly trying & wanting & needing things, sounds bad & silly. unlike the winners around him who really cannot handle him or any of these things about him. of course near equivalent in loserness, tuk, is the person with the realest most amicable relationship with him. both of them too incompetent to realize their mutual failings in this, ha ha, real winners are repulsed & fleeing & can't handle a basic exchange with either of them. and the imbalance re: how little others are willing to give them in interest, consideration, time, words, etc, while they're always trying Too Much re: the disinterested others, totally proves their unworthiness

winston and tuk always having to stay at the bottom of the hierarchy, winston only able to be shitted on even as he extricates himself, ending up surrounded by people who will only act "correctly" according to their superior roles & this mf wags only processing anything as "did that reinforce my being a correct/winning person???" & only responding by trying to reassert to others how much of a winner they are, which requires establishing a loser, and crushing them. winston having recognized / gotten fed up with a bullshit scenario & had realistic expectations of those around them & spent those years being treated like shit yet never crushing an enemy to restore his ego & also spent those years trying to communicate and work with others and share actual info and make actual connections & now independently choosing to make a big shift in his life so that things can be different? is definitely the contemptible loser here while everyone else looks very good faffing around for an episode getting some temporary ego boosts & being very "correct" in every response to winston, even pointing out that rian even noticing something genuine & positive from winston in the absence of it anywhere is first & foremost incorrect, which rian will Also immediately drop in the face of that "well yeah it's more correct to prioritize Anything else. like that he's pathetic & mpc 5ever" like wuh oh rian being doomed from 5x08 "time to embrace acting more correct now" & being truly inflexible from that point on, never had a moment of conflict not resolved by [ignoring that] &/or again just getting someone more correct to declare how it'll be answered. taylor at their most flexible and Taylorest and most juxtaposed with central men & static ossified "winners" when they are also at their best in engaging with winston. taylor Like winston & vice versa in so many substantial & interesting ways, despite their relating to / sympathizing with / devoting much more effort & interest to people more like the central men. that here we are, when taylor might have to give up on Being A Winner, someone who'll walk away with status & resources & a seamless transition into some established business foundation, to really get the wins that matter, against pince, &/or to clock out of a sunk cost factory, &/or to not have strangled every part of themself that can be in conflict with this general situation into eternal dormancy. don't You dare blame latency lol, the taylor who gets to exist outside the conditional "well i guess you're a winner who's very useful to me, like dumping work on you & blaming you if it goes awry. and you can act like a Real winner in the ways that really matter (crushing people)"....is also a taylor who can be rejected & shut down & shut out & have their value denied & be treated shittily despite even knowing they'd be / are good at this shit, superlatively even, & could never feel okay just being regarded as a tool stashed away at someone's disposal. & Has been treated shittly & is liable to accept blame, unilateral responsibility for other's selves & feelings & actions & lives, & marinate in self-loathing. while people who refuse any introspection, questioning, responsibility, awareness, etc, & refuse to handle the least of genuine interactions/relationships with others as real people, are glad to scoff at them & dismiss them & imply or assert their superiority, like, wow have You got a lot to learn, or maybe you can't b/c you're inherently inferior. all just like re: winston!

tl;dr shoutout to the flexible characters who like can & do reflect & change things up actually, just so happening to always be Losing for this in the [only way to win is not to play] arena of fake winners seeing if they can consider themselves superior to everyone else & only even possibly correct always & forever, in the pyramid scheme of social hierarchy & also capitalism

#real winners quit! it's winston #society if rian Wasn't quickly boxed in & given the ''prominence'' of being Used for other characters #and where we could more truly have this like triumvirate of seeing yourself in both the other two parties in tmc lol #almost a similar fate re: lauren showing up Worthily Yet Zanily! then Most offbeatness falls away / dating is in the bg #& she's mostly Around & doing general [just competent things] But she was also flexible enough to do things Wrong actually / be doomed lol #which we Knew b/c of the relationship that billions would only eventually crush as the Cost of xyz.... #rian's offbeatness mostly gone too; ''what am i gonna do next!'' Conveniently/contradictorily; going Bazinga; snark instead of aggression #general [just competent things] that'll last until ppl quit last minute; if they do. she started out secretly pretty inflexible already #& is really locked in by now; very similar to wendy who also never really considered ditching her life of ''i love to feel like i'm toying #w/ppl's lives & enabling some mf with more power'' & really isn't that different from prince; who tf else isn't also totally inflexible #team ben's endurance come from what insulation / teamwork they can find w/each other & just staying out of the way really #& also just the writing like ''of course they can & will stick around for years despite how they're treated. bit of Loser Feelings as #Lesser Feelings after all b/c haha i mean come on they may be nice but do they seem Epic to you?'' #which is just as true / even more so re: winston. until he; in another [the Actual winner's move]; finally leaves #and gets like the most bass boosted [WHAT A FUCKING LOSER] treatment on his way out b/c what else could or would anyone do #winston billions #anyways he & the Loser Nerds like him have so much more maturity & flexibility & allowed capacity for actual growth lol. cringe comp!! #and this may be at all on purpose Of Course. show's aware central ppl are peak shit & intractible. show also does think winston's a loser #&/or is certainly trying to have their cake and eat it too with him and like tuk as well & even to a degree w/e goes on w/spyros etc etc #and Illustrating a lot of the ''deserved'' aspect through static inflexible Assumed Universal Facts abt what seems wrong & unworthy #like fucking yourself literally! objectively Bad. having glasses. knowing the diff b/w a vagina & vulva. not being ''''attractive'''' #[jumpscare of Blaring Tangent dialogue abt that all overlaid on itself into 1 second of 9000 decibels] #taylor is also Flexible re: philip who is Flexible re: them in turn. definitely Something and Promising as has been established lol #visit taylip hq nothingunrealistic.tumblr.com for so much more. and this blog for [thinking abt winston] hq in turn. covering ground

[becoration]

Citrus colors bring not only visual appeal but also the joy of summer to the decor.

Post has been published on becoration

Citrus colors bring not only visual appeal but also the joy of summer to the decor.

Colors known as "citrus colors" are those that mimic the hues of certain fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, and lemons. This category also includes less intense "pastel" shades of pink. These colors are wonderful as they evoke nature, making them very flattering for interior decoration.

Citrus Colors for Painting Walls

Walls are the easiest and most practical way to take advantage of the beauty of colors. Citrus colors are great for brightening up spaces during the autumn and winter seasons, and they enhance the colorfulness in the spring and summer. If you like intense, lively, and fun colors, you will undoubtedly love these.

From the colors seen in the fruits and vegetables mentioned, many more shades are utilized. Created industrially from a myriad of mixtures, you’ll find very attractive citrus color proposals in specialty stores. This allows for creating spaces where various shades of citrus colors are combined. They can also be mixed with each other, and more commonly used to contrast with colors you already have.

Citrus colors can also be utilized in furniture and textiles in the living room, bedroom, kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and are highly valued in children’s decor. So, if you’re looking to choose cheerful, intense, striking colors that easily beautify, these are what you’re looking for.

Appreciated Citrus Colors and How to Combine Them

In the world of decoration, the dominance of neutral colors prevails. These colors are elegant, as are the citrus ones. They are versatile when it comes to combining, perhaps unlike others. Citrus colors perfectly lend themselves to contrast with other colors and can be the striking color accent of any room.

For the bold, who enjoy playing with color and want spaces with very lively details, these are perfect. Citrus colors include bright yellow, intense orange, lime green, apple green, and intense pink. But also, these same colors in their pastel shades are citrus colors.

They pair exceptionally well with neutral colors, so mixing them always works well. They look amazing when used as vibrant details in a white background environment. They are also favorable with grays, colors that mimic wood tones, and of course with wood itself. With earth tones and materials that utilize these color tones, they go well.

Moreover, think not only of using them to paint walls. You can use them, which is easy and very advantageous for decorating, in furniture, decorative elements, and textiles. Choose a sofa full of intense citrus color, and see how the living room shines with a new image. Maybe one of these colors will appeal to you for your new curtains.

In the bedroom, you can also use these colors with bedding, and of course, in children’s rooms. They look good in any space, in the kitchen, and the bathroom. The lighter shades of these citrus colors provide brightness and the visual sensation of more space to environments. While the darker tones have the quality of offering a more sophisticated image. Combined among themselves, in various shades, or indeed contrasting the same, perfect spaces are achieved with a fun touch.

Advantages of Citrus Colors for Interior Decoration

Colors in general have a psychological effect on us. And citrus colors are no different. They are associated with the bright days of summer, thus promoting joy. They are ideal colors for those who want to have an environment that feels positivity and enthusiasm.

Citrus colors also call for activity, creativity, and initiative. So you can take full advantage of them in the kitchen, living room, and playroom. In the hallway and at the entrance. As already mentioned, they evoke the colors of nature, specifically fruits and vegetables. Therefore, they are perfect within the trend of creating cozier spaces that make us feel in touch with nature. Although they are just color, why not enjoy how they make us feel.

We all like those places that invite us to stay. With citrus colors, you will also achieve this in your environments. A living room, a dining area, a little terrace with citrus tones. Taking advantage of those colors we love, such as yellow, green, orange, pink… Whether in the paint of the walls, in utilitarian details, and in decorations. It’s really easy to adapt colors to decoration, you can do it starting with something as simple as choosing a rug.

Feeling animated and comfortable… is something priceless. And if we achieve it with the application of citrus colors to decoration, all the better. Do you fondly remember a childhood getaway to the countryside? Maybe you’re nostalgic for a warm day and the freshness of lemonade. How we all love the taste of oranges, and their beautiful color tones contribute to that.

Visual appeal, a decoration to your total taste, and the enjoyment of these charming citrus colors… an eternal and joyful summer at home.

Images: Unsplash

via: Decoración 2.0, decoration news in Spanish

#Homedecor

[donveinot]

[mediatrucksinc]

How do the best digital billboards in Toronto ON, engage audiences and drive results?

Digital billboards in Toronto have revolutionized the advertising sector and drawn attention from onlookers, becoming an essential component of the city's urban scene. These enormous screens decked up with colorful graphics and interactive elements, are effective tools that help companies communicate with their audience and get things done. Let's examine the traits, advantages, and tactics of the best digital billboards in Toronto ON, in more detail.

Characteristics of the Best Digital Billboards in Toronto

Digital billboards in Toronto with the best-exhibited characteristics attract more people's attention and news vendors by covering a big area and having several properties. They all have big and high-resolution screens that capture everything with minute detail and look so real which creates great visual experiences for the audience. Rather than being just static advertising messages, these posters serve not only as dynamic canvases but they burst with motion and color.

Additionally, digital ads are also interactive allowing for digital billboards in Toronto to maintain the same level of engagement. After a moment, examine the billboard in front of you, one that responds to your touch or maybe displays real-time information pertaining to your surroundings. These interactivities lead to a sense of association among the audience, so the advertising experience will be more impactful and memorable.

Located at strategic points of high traffic, including the TDS and along major roads, these ads benefit from increased exposure and visibility. Whether they are situated at a very busy crossroads or they visibly stand over an intersection, these billboards make a distinction among the viewers because they are highly obtrusive and memorable.

Benefits of Digital Billboards in Toronto

While the city of Toronto can definitely enjoy some exterior and interior improvements from digital displays or billboards, the positive effects of such digital displays can go much further. Primarily, advertising brings to businesses a higher degree of visibility, obscureness and depiction which gives their message to a lot of different people and viewers. In contrast to traditional ambulant posters of static type, digital billboards can reveal a few commercials in rotation during a definite period of time, allowing a business to appeal to various segments of the population in a day.

Apart from that digital billboards are a kind of advertising that is not only affordable for small-scale businesses but also big entrepreneurs. Whilst the initial expense of digit boards might be higher when compared to conventional billboards, digital boards have the advantage in terms of speed and versatility of content changing. Advertisers can always adjust their message or select the target audience to suit their needs with the content about which they can be very selective, making sure their dollars for advertising are spent as productively as possible.

Considering that digital billboards are more eco-friendly than traditional billboards printed on paper, at least they are a more environmentally conscious choice. By avoiding paper and cutting down on garbage, the benefits of digital billboards in Toronto ON, make it hardly possible to leave any carbon trace, and hence, they are part of the clean, green city.

Audience Engagement Strategies

In the realm of advertising, audience engagement is vital, and digital billboards in Toronto are excellent at this. Advertisers may reach a personal audience by using targeting and personalization to convey messages. Advertisers may ensure maximum relevance and effect by customizing their content to target audiences by utilizing data analytics and demographic information.

Successful digital billboard ads also require compelling stories and eye-catching graphics. Ads need to grab people's attention and make an impact, whether it's through an eye-catching image or an engaging story. Advertisers may increase interaction and entice viewers to interact with the billboard by adding components of interactive digital billboards in Toronto ON, like augmented reality or QR codes.

Future Trends and Innovations

The potential for the best digital billboards in Toronto ON, is amazing as long as technology keeps developing. The efficacy and appeal of digital billboards will be further enhanced by new ideas and experiences made possible by technological advancements. Anticipated shifts in audience expectations and preferences will spur innovation and force advertisers to look into new channels for communication and engagement.

Businesses will have exciting opportunities as a result of the upheaval in the advertising environment brought about by opportunities for more integration with future technologies like virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Digital billboards in Toronto are expected to have a dynamic, engaging, and significant future, thanks to innovations like AI-powered targeting and immersive augmented reality experiences.

#benefitsofdigitalbillboardsintorontoon #interactivedigitalbillboardsintorontoon #bestdigitalbillboardsintorontoon

[sarahweeklyblog]

WEEK THREE_ARTIST RESEARCH_SHINYA ARIMOTO

all photo examples from the collection : Phantom Eiko (2003)

https://www.all-about-photo.com/photographers/photographer/85/shinya-arimoto

There is one light source, possibly the camera's flashlight. It seems bright enough, with the exposure and the background details lighting her full body. The juxtaposition of the model posing elegantly and gracefully in a broken office chair surrounded by junk in an abandoned building creates an interesting atmosphere for the photo.

The composition of the photos almost balances between the girl and the pile of trash on the other side. But the light directly shines on the girl, making her stand out naturally.

The photo has some blurryness or grainy texture. This seems natural from the camera movement or the flash, but it could also be from postproduction. I like the quality. It adds to the grunginess and fits the location and story the photo is trying to show.

The first things that stood out to me were the lighting, colours and the angle of the photo. The tilted line creates an interesting composition since you can clearly see the horizon line. The girl's pose as she holds her dress and looks up seems happy, maybe more content or hopeful.

The light is subtle and seems natural, coming from the almost set sun. It has this glowy quality since it's so defused. The colours of deep blues and purples give it a dreamy effect, changing the mood from what could be perceived as a more positive emotion to more solemn or content. the more I look at it I could see an emotion of mourning.

The composition is heavily one-sided. The left has many tones of grey from the light shining on the leaves, and the placement of the branch creates dimension, while the right side is mostly covered in shadows. There is a clear divide between the photos, but this balance may be because of the obvious light and dark comparison.

The light seems natural, like the sun shining from the left, and as the exposure is higher, it clears the background to be completely white in some areas. The high exposure adds to the high contrast since the photo is being taken in such a dark area. Her white dress makes her stand out from the dark grey background as light bounces off her arms and hair.

All-About-Photo.com. “Shinya Arimoto.” All About Photo, 23 Mar. 2024, www.all-about-photo.com/photographers/photographer/85/shinya-arimoto.

[stellasphotos]

SAMUEL FOSSO: PHOTOGRAPHIC RESEARCH (1/12)

Samuel Fosso is a Cameroonian photographer whose work is heavily centred around creating powerful imagery that tells a story. He was born in 1962 and started his photography career at quite a young age and started out in the Central African Republic (Bangui). Samuel Fosso is known to be one of the most famous contemporary African photographers, with many of his works exploring gender, race, identity and also comment on social and political situations. His works of self-portraiture often involve him dressed up and sometimes, representative of real people in order to comment on a particular aspect of their character or his perspective of the world and society.

In this self-portrait from Fosso's African Spirits collection, we can see a very deliberate use of lighting which has a really rich dynamic range, allowing us to see a very stark contrast between the shadows and highlights of the image. His head is positioned at a 45 degree angle, looking down. It has a very melancholy mood to it, it's quite an intense moment. This is a re-creation of a famous Nelson Mandela portrait which he has reinterpreted using his own photographic techniques, especially in the use of costume. I think this portrait says something about the political and social significance of Mandela, capturing a moment of intense discontent with the conditions that his people were suffering during apartheid in South Africa. Samuel Fosso's deliberate use of black and white as a filter here also very much alludes to the sense of a 'spirit'- someone who is no longer alive but lives as a memory.

We can see that the lighting is positioned to (our) right of where Fosso sits, allowing a shadow to cast on the left side of his body along the edges and extremities.

This is a self-portrait from his SIXSIXSIX collection which depicts a series of Fosso with various angles and expressions in the same space/ condition. The lighting in this portrait has been very deliberately underexposed, creating a very dramatic and darkening effect overall. His choice of colour also makes the difference between the subject and background very indiscriminate, almost as if he is the entire portrait. His face is very centred and running through the middle is a highlight from the lighting that he has used to take this. It draws you in very deliberately to his eyes, nose and mouth which are all very important in conveying the expression he is using to communicate with his audience. The dynamic range in this photo is quite limited as it is even quite dark in the parts he has illuminated, which might suggest the lighting has been diffused in some way. The mood in this is quite intense, it feels like there is maybe some pain or struggle behind those eyes - an internal conflict.

From the 'Black Pope' series, Samuel Fosso tries to communicate how the cultural and historical context of religion is so far removed from the context of Africa, despite Africa having the largest population of Roman Catholics. His use of symbolism through costume here depicts a black pope - something very atypical in both a contemporary and historical context due to racial division - and white supremacy.

The key light in this frame seems to encompass a majority of the subject's form, adding to the dimension and depth of his form. I think this really adds to the dramatisation of the scene, it feels like he is trying to communicate something about darkness and light. He has used two juxtaposing shades- black and white- to really allow the foreground to stand out from the background. His positioning and pose seem to communicate a dedication to the religious practice however his facial expression feels both disappointed yet at peace. I like that he has left so much negative space around himself here, it really shows how he stands out as this unique figure - A black pope in a world of white. A white pope in a world of black, perhaps further commenting on Western influence.

#photography #portrait #samuel fosso

[gwss200group19]

How Filters Promote Western Beauty Standards

When making a TikTok, the app has around 400 filters to pick from. A filter is a photo effect that is applied to images or videos that alter how you look, sound, or even the background. These filters allow one to choose exactly what appearance you want to show the online world. Maybe you choose the “natural” filter, which lightens your skin tone, reddens your lips, and widens your eyes. This filter gives users the subconscious correlation between European features and the term “natural.” The “natural” filter is one of many filters that whitens users’ skin tone and subjects girls to Western beauty standards. Filters will have labels such as “cyber glasses” that give the user glasses but also lighten skin tones or make your chin thinner. This is a dangerous trend because the labels on the filters are misleading. Subtly altering users' facial structure, pigment, and other characteristics without indicating to the user that the changes are in effect creates a dysmorphic aspect. If you type in “beauty filters” to the TikTok search engine, you will find that the filters cater to women. Very few filters change men's appearance to fit a standard. The filters catered to men are drastic, and you can see that a filter is in effect, which takes away some of the psychological manipulation that comes with the subtle alterations on feminine filters. 

 In some countries, such as Japan, the app has new updates where you are taken straight to a filter upon opening the app. This said filter follows a similar pattern discussed above but is drastically intensified.

Tiktok from @looksbylexington

The example above is a woman who posted about the built-in filter feature on the Japanese side of TikTok. As you can see, many features on the woman’s face were altered to fit a specific beauty standard. The fact that this is the automatic preset encourages users to use the filter and also perpetuates the notion that these features are normal. Within our course we expanded our idea of beauty beyond simply Westernized standards. It’s important to think about the way other cultures' beauty standards affect ours as well as how Western standards affect theirs. In a Transnational Beauty Circuits: Asian American Women, Technology, and Circle Contact Lenses a reading in the textbook Gendered Lives, the topic of Westernized beauty standards for Asian women is discussed.

 ---- “Asian American studies professor Linda Trinh Vō analyzes Asian and Asian American women’s use of circle contact lenses that retailers claim will make the wearer’s eyes appear ‘gorgeous, luminous, bigger, sexier, and more alluring.’ Young women promote these lenses online by posting how-to videos, dispensing beauty advice, and garnering commercial endorsements. Vō sees transnational online circuits as repositioning young Asian American women in setting beauty trends, in contrast to how corporate America positions them as outside societal beauty norms” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, 2020).

TikTok plays into this by commercializing with its new sales feature. When the app first came out, there were only two tabs on the app home screen: a “following” tab where you could watch the videos of people you chose to follow and a “for you page” where the app customized an endless collection of videos based on the content you engaged with. Nowadays, a new tab has been added called “shop.” This enables brands to partner up with content creators to advertise products. The app takes you to the product website with one click on the video. This increased marketing also means increased product sales to women meant to “enhance” or alter appearances. The Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences references this phenomenon. 

-----“The cosmetic and media industry spent millions of dollars to showcase the ideal feminine body to promote their products worldwide. Social media and traditional cultural factors, created a socio-digital construct in which the ideal attractive woman embodies European features consisting of fox eyes, big lips, a petite frame with curves, fair skin, and lush straight hair. This reconstructed ideal image was promoted so excessively that women began to trade their authentic selves for “reel” bodies that represented what they wanted to be” (Hafeez, 2023).

This is an incredibly convenient marketing tool and encourages advertisement by content creators. Advertisement on TikTok is partially successful due to users' time on the app. Even the name of the app, “TikTok,” relates to the time consumption that the app causes. The stream of media is constant. You can never reach the bottom of the content page because there is none. You are also consuming content that is either packed down into 15-second clips or 3-minute-long chunks where the objective is to keep the user's attention. Creators utilize these tactics that have stimulating effects and, as a result, contribute to the addictive quality of the app. This addictive consumerism upholds and cements cultural constructs and beauty standards by spamming images, slogans, and videos of creators who are paid to promote beauty standards. 

Nowadays, influencers can post with subtle filters without the app telling its users that a filter is present. This creates unrealistic standards for fans and followers of influencers, who compare themselves to the filtered version of their celebrities without realizing it is a filter. Gendered Lives discusses this in Chapter 5 titled Bodies, Health, and Wellness, stating, “To the extent that women or female-identified people internalize ideal beauty standards, we set ourselves up to pursue a goal that is largely unattainable” (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, 2020).

Often, because of this impossible, unattainable visual goal, women resort to using filters themselves, adding to the synthetic, cyclical standard for women worldwide. A standard that TikTok plays a large part in due to the sheer size of the app and its presence globally. Overall, TikTok feeds into capitalism through content creators' brand promotions and preys on its users' addiction to the app to push a fraudulent sense of beauty. 

SOURCES

Lexington (@looksbylexington). 2023. TikTok, September 30, 2023. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRvEskXx/

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. “Bodies, Health, and Wellness.” Essay. In Gendered Lives Intersectional Perspectives, 185–202. New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.Hafeez, Erum, and Fatima Zulfiqar.

“How False Social Media Beauty Standards Lead to Body Dysmorphia.” Pakistan Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 11, no. 3 (2023). https://doi.org/10.52131/pjhss.2023.1103.0623.

#Filters #Western Standards #beauty #Change #Dysmorphia #Tiktok #Tiktok filters #Oona #Addiction #Trends #gender expectations #Is this why I always think I have so much acne? #Is this why I wish I had eyelash extension? #Filters make me think I'm not pretty enough #I know its a filter but when I look in the mirror I still wish I looked like them

[igniakino]

CRIT OF FINAL FILM

HEADLINE

After watching the finished film I feel like it is a good, story-driven project that the more simplistic set design lends itself to. Nothing distracts from the characters having their moments of development, instead subtly enhancing the setting and explaining the situation without either character explicitly explaining the situation. Mostly, I am pleased with how well these elements come together to tell a tight, cohesive story. 

The feedback I received from the crit was very positive, with Paul commenting on the costuming, mentioning how it effectively contrasted the characters, and the set, especially how compelling the dishevellment of the space was. I really like how the costumes exhibit the positions of power (or lack thereof) that each person has, a professional business suit and scruffy layers meant to protect. Saskia and I did a good job in making the room look messy and abandoned without having to damage any property, handling the limitations of the location well and sticking to the producer's guidelines. 

However, Paul did comment that the sheet in the background covering the window seemed out of place, and I do agree. I think a weakness of my work was that some of the elements didn’t invoke a reason for being there, or tie together with the rest of the set as well as I wanted. The sheet was supposed to both set up an in-universe reason of Robert not wanting to be seen as well as shaping the light, but this may not have come across to audience members, just like the radio could have come across as strange for a man on the run to want to take with him. I think if I had added more elements, perhaps newspaper on the glass, the reasoning for objects being where they were would come across better. I think at some points the production design is too simple and the room could do with being even more messy and filled with rubbish, then maybe the sheet wouldn't have been too out of place 

Overall, this film is strong and conveys a certain tone and atmosphere. The production design really backs up the story being told gives it life, although I think there could have been a lot more props to enhance the setting and give more reasoning to seemingly random choices.

ONE MORE DAY 

What I really loved about this project was being able to show off the personalities of each character in subtle ways around the bunker and trying to tell the story of their lives. I really think this is something that shines in the movie, and I am so proud of the production design as a whole and how much it elevates the film. I think the finished movie is great and sets a palpable tone and aesthetic that carries the story along, with the bunker feeling like its own character. 

In the crit, Paul brought up the attention to detail and how fitting the set dressing is in creating the atmosphere of the film. He also praised the work on the dog food cans which I am very happy about. I have definitely honed my skills of prop-making during the course of this project and will continue to sharpen them up in the future. Saskia and I worked really hard on every element of the decoration and thought about the meaning behind every piece, so to hear that the detail is appreciated is great. I really wanted viewers to get to know the characters and their struggles, and I especially like how we set up the existence and fate of Sarah’s character with the setting instead of words.  I also really like how the makeup I did on the actors looked in the screening as it adds to the impression of helplessness in the characters and helps the audience understand how long they must have been trapped. All the small elements and the props create a world that exists beyond the movie and I am really happy with that. 

I do wish he had gone a little more out there and really dirtied things up and transformed the space even more, as this would make it feel more authentic. Everything looks a little too clean and if we had more time I would go all out on the set and more efficiently establish a sense of time and atmosphere of loneliness in that bunker.

[loosealcina]

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK’S RUSALKA AT LA SCALA, JUNE 13, 2023

It’s been known for ages—I mean, since way before the pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid of Giza was even born—that essentially any stream/body of water will make an effective door between this world and the other one(s). (I believe I read it in Alan Moore’s Voice of the Fire maybe?). I’d say this iteration of Antonín Dvořák’s Rusalka—created by Emma Dante, back at La Scala with a new production some fourteen years after her dazzling season-opening Carmen—was specifically designed to focus on one of these doors. It was as though somebody had set up a camera trap in the darkest, most secluded place you can imagine, in front of a pond in the middle of a nameless forest, so we could see what’s going on—especially after dusk has fallen. Only, the wildlife we get to observe is much stranger than expected. It wouldn’t be easy to keep a record of everything: sorcerers, enchanted bipeds and quadrupeds, the accidental explorer, minor deities… But first and foremost, we get to observe a water nymph named Rusalka. Her home would lie behind that eerie door: deep down at the bottom of an obscure, aqueous kingdom. In fact, she’s the daughter of the water goblin himself, the venerable Vodník; but she refuses altogether to accept the life she seems to be in for. Hence she’s but a struggling, melancholic, somewhat injured creature. She’s in love with a human prince (their thing is already [kind of] on when the curtain goes up); yet that circumstance alone activates a lethal curse nobody will be able to lift or escape. (Besides, the presence of two conspicuous villainesses—Ježibaba [a witch], and the Foreign Princess—won’t help in the slightest). Now that a sweeping synopsis is done, I’ll proceed to state that this Rusalka experience as a whole was—I’m using a technical term here—genuinely rad. Emma Dante went with extreme, awe-inspiring simplicity. (Rusalka and the Prince’s final scene—their deathly kiss, their naked words, their endless, motionless embrace—would be an excellent example of that). She also went with lowbrow art (namely Ray Caesar, Nicoletta Ceccoli, and the like). To me, this retelling—whose sets/costumes/lights were conceived by Carmine Maringola/Vanessa Sannino/Cristian Zucaro—was all but explicitly located in that peculiar universe.

Other than paying homage to a handful of talented artists, that choice ended up filling every inch of the stage with a pensive, direful contrast between (A) an archetypal version of childhood and (B) a sizable package of unspeakable perils (both internal and external) that childhood is bound to face. (Not without a penchant for that creepy/spooky/gory touch here and there). The orchestra conducted by Tomáš Hanus appeared reluctant to stray from a narrow area between forte and mezzo forte. This lack of variety was probably the lone part of the night I’m likely to grumble about, but there were a number of delightful exceptions; while the great ball at the castle (Act II) came with its own array of musical tricks and spells (whose actual magic was effortlessly transformed by Sandro Maria Campagna’s choreography into a gloomy dream within a dream), Rusalka’s Act I Song to the Moon—only magnificent—made me think that if, say, Clara Schumann, Emily Brontë, and Leonard Cohen somehow teamed up to pen a Song to the Moon together, the result would be drifting through the night in a very similar way. As for the cast. Out of the many assets of this brilliant operatic ride, one of my favorites was this: each and every character, either bigger or smaller (plus airborne, submerged, terrestrial, etc.) managed to come off as a complex, occasionally enigmatic, ultimately interesting individual. All the actors/singers did a spectacular job, but my listening heart was positively conquered by Olga Bezsmertna’s take on the role of Rusalka. I’m sure you remember the unceasing clash (A) vs. (B) I’ve mentioned a short while ago; now I promise, that very clash was entirely encompassed—ignited, boosted, boosted again, and eventually wiped out—by her voice. I’d call it a shape-shifting act. Her timbre mostly gravitated toward the gentle, unripe quality you’d associate with utter innocence and vulnerability and then, all of a sudden, an explosive rise capped with a shadowy, threatening high note would turn her persona into a fearsome nonhuman tragédienne (still in love [and hurting as well], but fearsome nevertheless). In case you’re interested in matching up the atmosphere of this fairy tale with a nice read, you can do what I’m currently doing and spend some time in the company of Sally Gardner and David Roberts’s Tinder (2013).

#opera #teatro alla scala #magic #night #disease #faith