#rachel amber character analysis

[rach-amber]

If Rachel only ever used Chloe & never loved her then...

Why prepare Chloe a bag full of clothes within the first few days they've met and just kept giving ever since? (Loving means giving)

Why did the exact same 😁 post-it note appear in Rachel's drawer, then subsequently, on Chloe's table?

(unrelated but notice how Rachel is organised on the surface, but not really in her drawer. Deck9 put great details in)

Why did she send her this post card full of love when she's not in Arcadia?? (Surely someone who's manipulative at her age wouldn't go that far. Sigh why do I even have to clarify)

Why staunchly tell James "Chloe stays" and hold her hand when it's the most personal thing there is for her (contrast it with her reservations towards Chloe on day 1) & that James have reservations about Chloe??

And these ???

Why read Chloe's book reccomendation? And hug her when she's dyed her hair blue?

Look at her eyes lighting up and smiling when she sees Chloe's new hair. Also the hug. Then tell me she doesn't love that girl.

Oh and lying for Chloe after skipping class, telling her she's gonna get in "serious trouble" when Chloe tries to argue, & even after she was told she's gonna be removed from her duty as Well's assistant AND The Tempest play (which she was excited & rehearsed & prepared for a long time), still said "it's okay Chloe, you don't have to do this, really." ???

also Rachel shoving Damon away telling him not to touch Chloe even though she was facing a whole grown-ass drug dealer? And standing slightly in front of Chloe even though she's afraid of the knife pulled out as well?

Even Frank & Max-imagined Jeffersh*t couldn't compare to Chloe.

Rachel "cared about a lot of people.. especially Chloe".

"I was jealous."

"Now I get why she dug her."

"they're f***ing together in heaven right now. Is that what you wanna hear?" (Max's subconscious knows)

I'm pretty sure she'd tell Bowers and Jeffers*n to screw off if Chloe went missing and they stood in the way of finding her.

AmberPrice never was a toxic relationship. They were true teenage lovers discontinued by life.

#rachel amber #lis #amberprice #life is strange #chloe price #rachel amber 4ever #life is strange before the storm #lis bts #lgbtq+ #gaming #character analysis #rachel amber character analysis #amberprice4ever #lis: bts #lis before the storm #she deserved better #max caufield

[arcadiabaytornado]

I want to talk about Rachel’s junkyard letter to Chloe because it contextualizes her relationship with Frank and Mark. (Note: She is more than likely talking about Mark here. Frank doesn’t seem wise, and he is scary, but in a pretty conventional way. Mark will even say that Frank was Rachel’s bad boy phase in Episode 5. Plus, “We hooked up near campus,” also points to Mark.)

This note has a lot of substance regarding the nature of Rachel and Chloe’s ambiguous relationship, but that’s not really what I want to talk about...for today at least. Instead, I want to talk about how this is so clearly a note written by a young woman who’s way over her head. She acknowledges that Chloe would find her relationship with Mark gross, and she then says that if Chloe freaked, “she wouldn’t blame her.” She then elaborates on this point by saying she has to keep her relationship with her teacher a secret because she knows that Chloe would be right to react with disgust. Max even says that Rachel sounded confused and ashamed about this relationship. 

But what's somehow even more alarming is Rachel referring to Mark as scary, and honestly, that just breaks my heart. We don't know what Mark did, but we know that Rachel had already been in a scary situation with an older man. In Frank's RV, we can find a letter where Rachel says that Frank went ballistic and frightened her. She was an eighteen-year-old girl, at the oldest, and in an RV with a drug dealer who was losing his shit. Then she meets Mark. Another older man who has power over her grades and future. She hooks up with him, but...she finds him scary too. We don't know what he said to make her this way. Or what he did. Or if Rachel just got a weird vibe...but she was in her second relationship in her young life with a man who scared her...and she was right to fear them both. Especially Mark. 

More Undercut

Rachel Amber was not a seductress. She was not a harlot sent to lead the men of Arcadia Bay astray. Rachel Amber was a victim. She was eighteen years old and dated men who had power over her, not just in their age, but in drugs and grades. She feared each of them, and no one could save her in time. She died in the darkroom. Overdosed on Frank's drugs while Mark took photos of her body. And yet...such a tragedy so often boiled down to "She hurt Chloe's feelings!"

As much as I love Chloe, that's not the worst thing to happen in this situation. The worst thing to happen is the grooming and subsequent murder. I know that’s kind of harsh phrasing, and I really hope I'm not coming off as overly critical, but I’ve noticed that Rachel’s relationship with Frank and Mark is often talked about in terms of how it affected Chloe instead of how it affected Rachel.

And while, yes, Chloe’s feelings were hurt, and that shouldn't be minimized, Rachel's relationships with these men affected Rachel more than anyone. That's not to say I'm opposed to talking about how Rachel's relationships hurt Chloe!!!! Because they did!!! I'm just saying that it makes me uneasy how Chloe is sometimes treated like the biggest victim of Rachel's relationships when Rachel is dead at the hands of the men who groomed her.

Sorry that I went off on a tangent at the end there, but I’ve never liked it when characters are boiled down to their romantic relationships, and I tend to think that what happened with Frank and Mark should be looked outside the lens of Amberprice a little. Just like I think Chloe deserves an analysis of who she is as a person outside the lens of Amberprice and/or Pricefield.

OKAY I have got to end this post because that was another tangent but quick thoughts: A: Rachel was a victim and it seeps through every letter of this note. B: Rachel deserved better. C: I wish the Mark/Frank situation wasn’t often boiled down to how it made Chloe feel. I feel like Rachel’s character is sometimes not given the analysis it deserves because of it. 

#Rachel Amber #lis #life is strange #Before the Storm

[rhodesberry]

a sad story between the lines, but i choose not to look at

ive finished before the storm, just for the record: ive cried a lot with the ending, like fuck it, whoever had the idea of this ending, i hate you, you gave me the same feeling of grief! anyway, knowing rachel ambers story and seeing what chloe was before the main story of this universe, and searching some analysis about the characters on youtube made me realize how much the subjects approached in this game are about toxic relationships. This universe, and searching for some analysis about the characters on youtube made me realize how much the themes in this game are about toxic relationships, Lis is about Max changing his own world to make things better for Chloe and making up for moving to Seattle and never looking back, Before the Storm is about Chloe trying to deal with her own fear of neglect and this reflects on her attitude towards Rachel, always trying to help her and forgetting that shes still dealing with grief, even after 2 years of her dad gone. For a moment I thought that amberprice was my ultimate couple, but unfortunately all couples and love in these games are somehow sad stories if you look closely between the lines. I just want to make clear that Chloe remains my favorite character, and see Amberprice story was emotional and remarkable, ill never forget the moments of happiness, saddenes and surprise I had with this game.

#chloe price #life is strange #amberprice #arcadia bay #before the storm #rachel amber #lis #prequel #dlc #lgbt #indie games

[spaceorphan18]

Glee Musical Retrospective : And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going (Sectionals)

Sung by: Mercedes Jones Original Artist(s): from Dreamgirls OS

So. Before I dig into this, there are a couple of things I need to mention. The first being something that really irritates me... the show has a tendency to do this to Mercedes. They show case how much she is an amazing, amazing talent -- go out of their way to point out how great a singer she is and that she deserves the spot light as much as Rachel does. Gets to sing this kind of song -- and knock it out of the park. Then they plot it away so that Rachel can still be star of the show.

Amber Riley is a magnificent vocalist, one of the strongest female vocalist on the show, and possibly one of the most impactful. It's a shame that the despite giving her a lot of music to do, never really showcased her character they way she really deserved.

The other thing is that this song is from the Dreamgirls Soundtrack. Amber Riley, after Glee, goes on to star as Effie White on the West End and got an award for it. Dreamgirls will be a reoccurring theme with her character, and it seems fitting in retrospect.

Also there's a hilarious beat where Rachel calls her a balladeer and Mercedes is like 'wtf' to Matt of all people, who has no idea either. It's so random an the expressions are hilarious. I'd be remiss if I didn't point it out.

Alright, on with the show...

Story Analysis

The thing about this song is that it's about unrequited or lost love. Mercedes is using it more as a statement. You can't take away her self worth or the depth of her talent because she will throw it right back into your face. She really goes there with the emotion of the song -- and uses it as a proclamation that she won't back down to Rachel's challenge.

Tear down the mountain Yell scream and shout You can say what you want I'm not walking out Stomp on the rivers Push, strike and kill I'm not gonna leave you, There's no way I will

I think the second half of the song is more indicative to Mercedes's story -- it's another one of those moments where she declares that you can push me around all you want -- but I'm not backing down from the fight, and I'm still going to come out on top no matter what.

I'm stayin' I'm stayin' And you and you and you You're gonna love me

This is probably one of my favorite musical moments on the show. I love that this moment (when she sings this) is Mercedes standing her ground. And basically telling her classmates (and the audience, and the world) that you're going to see how talented I am - and cheer me on for it. It's so, so good.

Technical Analysis

So - first I want to point out that Amber Riley sang it live, but then - for a cleaner version - they used the studio version. I really wish we could have heard the live version, I'm so fascinated by that. Anyway, one (tiny) drawback is that you can tell this is lip synced. I get why they did it - but it throws me just a little bit during the performance.

That said... Mercedes's performance is pretty flawless. She's got that raw grit and emotion that really sells it very quickly. The thing I love about Mercedes's solos is that she feels them so deeply and with her whole body. She gives the performance an incredibly captivating energy, which is why everyone gets so drawn in by it.

If I had to guess - I'd say that the reaction shots were probably genuine -- the kids were probably allowed to react honestly as they watched their friend Amber just kill the song. (Of course - the one exception being Rachel, who has to be in character so that she can be humbled by the performance.)

Glee Live

This is Amber Riley performing at the Olivier Awards (for which she one for Best Actress, btw). The thing that's incredible to me -- Riley at the beginning of Glee is mega talented, but very raw. This performance shows how much she's grown as an artist. It's a more polished and nuanced version of the one she did on Glee, and it's remarkable how much she's built on that great foundation. I have nothing but gushing things to say.

vs. The Studio Version : It's the full version - and you can hear the instrumentation clearer in this one. (The mix is more balanced.) I can understand why they pulled away from the accompaniment in the show -- so that Mercedes's voice could be more the focal point.

vs. The Original Version : And here's Jennifer Holliday, who originated the role of Effie White on Broadway. The first thing I want to point out is the fact that Glee updated the arrangement. This particular recording (and I assume it's based on the original Broadway production) has much more synth accompaniment, which dates to that late 70s/early 80s feel.

Jennifer Holliday is an amazing talent. You can see where Mercedes gets her influence -- Mercedes (and Amber Riley) definitely takes inspiration from Holliday's performance and style.

#the great glee rewatch #so's musical retrospective #glee #glee music #Youtube

[asm5129]

So when I was playing through BtS Remastered on my twitch sand i just got Rachel and Chloe to kiss, I got thinking about Rachel as a character. Obviously she’s very complicated, and a lot of people have different interpretations of her.

And I think Chloe probably dismissed a lot of red flags (like drugging Victoria to get her part back or causing a massive forest fire) because she *needed* that relationship to be a good one. She had no other relationship at the time that made her feel accepted or loved, so because Rachel made her feel that way I think she dismissed any of Rachel’s actions that would have challenged that feeling. Even before BTS came out, the way Chloe referred to Rachel as her “angel” implies a certain amount of that reluctance to see her flaws.

So, civilly, what are peoples thoughts on Rachel Amber? Do you agree or disagree with my analysis? Why or why not?

[gender-in-the-media-glee]

Glee S1 E20 - Theatricality Analysis - LY

Gender in this episode is portrayed through characters' costume choices, performance styles, and dialogues. The Lady Gaga theme encourages students to explore their identities through her iconic, gender-bending style. A standout example is Kurt, whose outfit and performance challenge traditional gender norms. Kurt, wearing high heels and flamboyant costumes, pays homage to Lady Gaga and simultaneously challenges gender conventions. He articulates this in a memorable line: “I dress to be me, not to impress or offend anyone.” This statement directly reflects the personal and liberating nature of gender expression.

The assumed genders of most characters align with their biological sex, but characters like Kurt break this mold. Kurt, an openly gay character, transcends traditional male boundaries in his gender expression, showcasing the diversity of gender representation. Meanwhile, characters like Rachel and Mercedes adhere to traditional female gender norms but display strength and independence, emblematic of female empowerment. Dialogue frequency is relatively balanced between male and female characters in this episode. Importantly, each character’s dialogue ties closely to their personal stories and the overall plot. Kurt's dialogue and storyline are particularly prominent as he navigates exploring his gender identity and seeking understanding and acceptance from his father. For example, he tells his father, “I know I'm not the son you wanted, but this is me.” This reflects his struggle between pursuing his identity and seeking familial acceptance. The episode challenges traditional gender stereotypes through the portrayal of characters like Kurt. Kurt breaks stereotypes not just in his attire but in his personality and emotional expression, challenging common tropes about homosexual characters. Similarly, female characters like Rachel and Mercedes might adhere to some traditional female traits in appearance but demonstrate strength and depth in their pursuit of dreams and self-expression.

Through Kurt's narrative, the episode addresses the political issue of LGBTQ+ acceptance and rights. Being an openly gay character, Kurt has difficulties at home and at school, which is representative of larger society problems with acceptance of LGBTQ+ people. His battle is a microcosm of the LGBTQ+ community's struggle for acceptance and equality. Kurt once said to his father Burt, "When you're different, when you're special, sometimes you have to get used to being alone." It's a moving quote that perfectly describes this. This sentence challenges social standards that compel conformity and captures the sense of alienation that members of the LGBTQ+ community frequently experience.

In this episode, choir director Will Schuester gives the students a "Lady Gaga"-themed assignment designed to encourage them to explore and express their personalities and identities through performance. The episode also focuses on Tina Cohen-Chang, who is challenged and pressured by the campus administration for her gothic style.

In the twentieth episode of the first season of Glee, "Theatricality," the issue of race is not the main focus of the episode, but it is still represented through the backgrounds and interactions of the characters. The episode focuses more on themes of gender and identity, but it indirectly demonstrates racial diversity through its diverse cast of characters. For example, characters such as Mercedes Jones (played by African American actress Amber Riley) and Tina Cohen-Chang (played by Asian American actress Jenna Ushkowitz) demonstrate the importance of racial diversity through their presence and participation, and this diverse characterization is in itself a challenge to the traditional television series racial monolithic nature. 

[gossiptrends]

Jenna Ortega Replacing Rachel Ziegler in Snow White: The Inside Scoop! | Gossip Trends

Jenna Ortega Replacing Rachel Ziegler in Snow White: The Inside Scoop! | Gossip Trends https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbeZWy6N1lI Get the inside scoop on Disney's surprise casting change in our latest video! Jenna Ortega steps into Snow White's iconic shoes as Rachel Zegler departs due to unexpected scheduling conflicts. What led to this unexpected switch, and how does the new Snow White feel about taking on this beloved character? But there's more to the story as Rachel Zegler's recent comments about Disney's classic tale have ignited a heated debate. Discover how her outspoken remarks and bold statements have ruffled feathers and left fans divided. The revamped Snow White movie is generating buzz, but with the release date approaching, can Disney address the negative reactions? Find out the implications for Rachel's career and the film in our in-depth analysis. Is Rachel her own worst enemy, or can she regain public favor? Share your thoughts in the comments. ✅ Please Subscribe to our channel to get more up-to-date about Hollywood buzz, entertainment news, and intriguing stories: https://www.youtube.com/@GossipTrends ====================================== ✅ Other Videos You Might Be Interested In Watching: 👉 Taylor Swift and Matty Healy: What REALLY Happened During Their Night Together? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcWZB3QI3IU 👉 Why Kanye West LOST It When He Saw Kim Kardashian... You Won't Believe What Happened Next! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHN1mUz4i9U 👉 One Last Lie! The REAL reason Amber Heard is "Leaving Hollywood!" Here's the TRUTH! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8R4xObVSQg 👉 The Shocking Details Behind Ariana Grande's Marriage You WON'T Believe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bYmLqST4ZM ✅ Welcome to Gossip Trends: Welcome to "GOSSIP TRENDS," where our aim is to provide you with the most up-to-date Hollywood buzz, entertainment news, and intriguing stories! We deliver the hottest celebrity drama from your favorite celebrities. Rest assured; our channel is your go-to source for the latest from the world of Hollywood! Whether you're yearning for some juicy gossip or eager to stay informed about your beloved actors and film franchises, subscribing to our channel is a must. We ensure that you're always in the loop with the latest news! Wanna keep up to date on the latest news? Subscribe to our channel for more content. 🔔 Please Subscribe to our channel to get more up-to-date about Hollywood buzz, entertainment news, and intriguing stories: https://www.youtube.com/@GossipTrends ====================================== #celebritynews #exclusiveinterview #shockingnews #SnowWhite #Disney #RachelZegler Disclaimer: Our content might be gossip, rumors, exaggerated, or indirectly beside the truth. The viewers are advised to do their own research before forming their opinion. The content might be opinionated. Do your own research. Copyright Notice: This video and our YouTube channel contain copyrighted music and images. Any public, media, and any other business usage are subject to a business license. Unauthorized usage and publications are prohibited. © GossipTrends via Gossip Trends https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyRco5r0GyRhCqEYY3v2cGQ November 18, 2023 at 02:00AM

#entertainmentnews #news #viralstories #trendingstory #popculturefacts #tvshows #moviestarfacts #celebrities #celebnews #celebgossip #beyondthescreen #hollywood

[chriscdcase95]

LIS + Vampyr: Fanfic worldbuilding and update.

Unlife is Strange related post. Edit: As of August 2023, with several changes to the story, this post is a little out of date. On the upside, I get to do another update!

It's been a while since I talked that much it exclusively. While I’m gonna put more work into Love’s Sacrifices, I thought “Why the Hell not ?” Especially since the current story is a far cry from what I originally planned.

As my readers know Unlife is Strange is a crossover between Life is Strange, Vampyr and Until Dawn. I already talked about ideas for the Until Dawn side of things, should I write a solo story, but I never talked at length over the Vampyr and Life is Strange stuff in a while. 

The story is going on temporary hiatus, due to the upcoming True Colors. This mostly has to do with Steph's presence, and me having to rework the later half of the story; Steph was going be a more active character in the later chapters, and Ambergrich was gonna be one of the main ships - but I really want to take True Colors into account and see what’s gonna change. And it would give me time to finish up the chapters that are already half written.

 In the meantime, I thought I'd share a little world + character building. Most of what I share is already put in the story thus far, so it’s not like I'm not spoiling much. 

 1. I have gone back and forth on whether or not to tie Unlife is Strange and Love's Sacrifices together. I ultimately decided they wouldn't be directly connected, but I do entertain the idea that the two are part of a multiverse and that they are each others "parallel". Not even directly, but more of a "Weird that it happened twice" sort of way. 

See here for details. 

 2. Multiple mythological figures existed as vampires as per Vampyr lore. In Unlife is Strange,  Myrddin's champions include figures such as Cú Chulainn and Beowulf; examples of the Red Queen's champions include Queen Medb and Morgause. While Myrddin usually takes male champions - and his mother takes females - there is a rare occasion they will accept an "heir" of the opposite gender in the event of their champions premature death. 

Examples for the Red Queen include Mordred, who also serves as one of the secondary antagonist of the story (who I am having a blast writing). Female examples serving Myrddin, Ashbury previously took up William Marshall's sword when he disappeared from the world. In the present day, Ashbury also leads her own Escalon club, because she is the stories girl boss. 

As for roots the in mythology, The Red Queen was the partial basis behind the myth of Morgana Le Fey. Also to differentiate the Red Queen from the goddess Morrigan, I use an interpretation I’ve been told that the Morrigan was a title that three goddesses shared. On the flip side, Myrddin was also known as "Merlin" in Arthur's time, and in Cú Chulainn's time, was called (and the basis behind) the Celtic god Lugh.

3.  As anyone who reads the story can guess, the protagonist would is a vampirized Rachel Amber. I picked her as I decided that out of any LiS character to become a vampiric champion, Rachel made the most sense to be, behind Chloe.

Unlife’s portrayal of Rachel is largely based off of my headcanons of her, based in part of an analysis of her and Chloe’s relationship I wrote back in 2019. Rachel is someone who, simply put, has issues. I play up the chameleon aspect of her character, in that she takes on at least two personas to cover up her resurrection.

One of these is “Vivian Manning”, who she poses as in her “public life” in LA, wherein she makes a name for herself as an obscure but successful YA novelist. There is a story arc that focuses on Rachel’s unlife in LA leading up to the present day; honestly one of the reasons I’m taking a while to write the chapters is due to Arc Fatigue and wanting to focus more on the present day arcs.

All in all, Rachel can be a toxic person, as per canon, but I use this to write her as more of an Anti Hero. She’s not without her virtues or morals; she has complicated feelings regarding Chloe and her other partners; feels general compassion to those she attaches herself to; and she has a Mama Bear streak we will be seeing more of; she isn’t exactly sure of her place as the Red Queen’s champion. She’s also not without her vices; she might not go out of her way to kill innocent people, but she will make a mess when she does fight/kill others. She still has a party girl/drug and drinking habit and takes advantage of the fact they can’t kill her. She’s also shameless about her sexuality - in fact, there are times where she borders onto nymphomania.

The best way I can describe what Rachel will be like in forthcoming chapters is the love child of Tree Gelbman (Happy Death Day) and Jennifer Check (Jennifer’s Body).

4. Among the crossovers I already include, I also write tie-ins to what I call the Rockstarverse (Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead) and Remedyverse (Alan Wake and Control). Nothing to significant, mostly just cameos and Easter Eggs. 

In this world, the fictional cities from GTA are swapped out for their real world counterparts (Los Santos - Los Angeles, Liberty City - New York, etc), but characters and events remain otherwise the same. Control at least has plot relevance with the FBC being involved in ongoing investigations. I even have a small gag where GTA and RDR myths are under the FBC's watch. 

I'm also considering a few animated titles for future crossovers or follow ups; even have a cameo for a certain character in mind for the current story. Just mixing things up a little. I just haven't put as much thought into these ones as the others, other than The Owl House and Amphibia.

 I just haven't thought of a plot for that yet. 

 5.  I said it before, but it bares repeating. Some chapters I dub Route A and Route B. These take longer to write as Route A takes place in a "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay/Parting Ways" timeline; Route B follows "Sacrifice Chloe/Redemption". 

Regardless, following both ends of the first Life is Strange, the events of Arcadia Bay were investigated by the FBC. An investigation that went on until late 2015, and will be covered in two upcoming chapters. In Route A chapters, I made a list of characters who I decided survive the Storm. 

What this segways too is that I am also writing two versions of Chloe Price. In Route A, who I dub Mama!Chloe is a parent with Max and has become a more stable individual over time, due to being in an out of therapy, and largely changing herself for her son, Bill. This may a spoiler, but Route B will be featuring Vampire!Chloe, who is a different character due to different circumstances. 

Let me put it this way. Mama!Chloe = Eda Clawthrone; Vampire!Chloe = Catra.

 6.  Mary Reid has an ongoing, significant role in Unlife, and like the Red Queen, will be expanded on a more than the game does. 

My main reason for bringing Mary back to life in this story was because I felt she was under-utilized in Vampyr proper. Here Mary and her relationship with Jonathan is one of the primary focuses on their arcs. As my introduction chapter for Mary shows, she ends up enslaved to the Red Queen and her followers; at their creates and helps groom potential champions. She's a dark counterpart to how I wrote Rachel, in that to write them both as self indulgent, outgoing and carefree girls, and are shameless about their sexuality. Matter of fact, Mary is part of the reason the Red Queen had her eyes on Rachel. They get along famously.

Mary and Jonathan's relationship as siblings is pretty on and off over the course of the 20th, and in the present day, they are pretty distant. Not helping is that Mary does go back and forth to serving the Red Queen and being "free".  There are still unfinished chapters I’m working on that explore their history and dynamic over the years; I’ll be finishing them up during the hiatus.

 7.  Vampires are capable of sexual reproduction, it's just requires a lot of "work". Damphir pregnancies more often than not result in miscarriages or stillbirths. Even if one is born, it's rare they live to adulthood. Their blood however is lucrative as it allows vampires to survive in the daylight. An example of a damphir in this story is Mordred; one of the reasons he's held in such a regard is not only is he a damphir who lived to adulthood, but he has lived for nine centuries at the time of the story. 

Hereditary vampires are a little different. At birth, they are effectively human, and their vampire traits really don't kick in until their pubescent years. Even then, they have to drink human blood to become a full vampire. If not, they remain effectively human, only they live longer than normal, and age slower. A hereditary vampire in their 90's would appear no older than their early 60's.

 8. Count Dracula exists in this "verse". We know little of him, but where humans take him lightly, vampires dread him. There’s a Running Gag where someone would jokingly bring him up, and those who know of him would warn not to invoke his name.

 9. An OC character of mine for the present day is Bill Caulfield Price, who is Max and Chloe's son. He'll exist in both Route A and Route B, the explanation for the latter is that Chloe was an organ donor, and Max got a hold to her ovums.

 In either timeline, Bill is the golden child of his clan, honorary to otherwise. There's not much to talk about him other than he's baby, and much like pretty how I write Bella Conrad in Loves Sacrifices, just gender swapped. In Route A, he's largely responsible for Chloe getting her act together, and she's an absolute Mama Bear towards him; in Route B, Max is mostly a single parent, reliant on friends and family to help raise him. His two favorite aunts are Kate and Dana (something they are very competitive about). 

One thing that stands out about Bill is his own set of powers; e is a seer of sorts, and dreams of the past, present and truth. Especially if it is of someone he's connected to. They mostly involving King Arthur and Mordred, but he also has dreams of Chloe and Max, mostly seeing the events of the first game, BTS, and Farewell from their perspective. He even dreams of Rachel, despite having no apparent connection to her or even knowing who she is. 

There's also a downside to his "power", as it makes him a target of the supernatural; vampires, evil spirits, you name it ? Drawn to him like moths to a flame. It’s usually the wicked ones who are attracted to him.

#life is strange #life is strange before the storm #vampyr #max caulfield #chloe price #rachel amber #kate marsh #victoria chase #stephanie grinrich #pricefiled #amberprice #chasemarsh #ambergrich #crossover fanfiction #control game #jesse faden #emily pope #until dawn #samantha giddings #mike munroe #jessica riley #emily davis #the owl house #luz noceda #amity blight #eda clawthorne #lumity

[isazulabaeorwhat]

Rachel Amber, The Broken Angel Who Demonized Herself

Fair warning, please bear with this probably incredibly **longass** (I’m not kidding it’s rlly long) analysis of one of the fandom’s most controversial disliked characters, Rachel Amber. This is just my attempt to analyze her character based on observation from BtS to LiS so by no means do you have to accept them. Productive discussions are obviously very welcomed :D

In LiS, when we asked about Rachel around campus, most of them had nothing but compliments and praises for the missing girl. She was essentially an honorary Vortex Club member who socialised with the snobs, yet she also hung out with the skater stoners and was friendly with those at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Then we see those graffiti around where it hints at Rachel’s promiscuity, debts and conflicts with other people. That’s the first sign we see that Rachel Amber isn’t as perfect as everyone was making her out to be. Afterwards we discover that Rachel was a stoner herself and into whatever drugs there were, partied harder than anyone else, promiscuous, entered a relationship with local drug dealer Frank Bowers while having a secret relationship with Psycho teacher Mark Jefferson— all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA in her studies and being considered perfect and adored by practically everyone in her school. The girl’s incredible, obviously, or maybe scary for someone to be so spread out in everything.

Rachel was a straight A student with a 4.0 GPA, an administrative assistant to the Principal, beloved by students and faculty alike, literal goddess beauty, had ambitions to be a model and study international law, daughter of the DA and was the closest to perfection anyone would ever be— so what went wrong? What made her romanticise the idea of running away from a town where everyone loves and adores her?

Because of the above.

Yes, it may sound whiny and dramatic to feel tired of being loved and being the center of attention all the time, but there’s no point to it if it’s not you who they adore, but the person you’re pretending to be— (“I was feeling angsty and reckless. Tired of living up to the perfect image everybody expects out of me.”) —especially when you have to do so much just to maintain the lie.

Throughout LiS and BtS, Rachel’s ability to get along with everyone was always mentioned. At face value she was akin to a social butterfly. She hung out with stoners regardless of their social status (skaters or the vortex club), was friendly with anyone regardless of their place in the social hierarchy (eg; Daniel/Evan/Steph/Drew/Nathan) or even to strangers others usually ignored (Samuel/Homeless lady). Like Evan said, Her friends were her friends. She wasn’t one to let peer pressure affect her relationships so she wasn’t afraid to make all those acquaintances.

However, for those who knew her closely (Chloe and Jefferson), she was referred to as a chameleon, someone who blended in with everyone and everywhere seamlessly. This was an important detail regarding who Rachel was and her intimacy with others. To be able to make that comparison, they would’ve needed to know who the person Rachel actually was underneath the masks she’d created over the years. Chloe was the first to truly see and accept her for who she was. Jefferson was the one who exploited her for it.

For most, being a social chameleon would count as a beneficial social skill if they’re subtle. So long as the person doesn’t lose themselves in the process and is able to separate their personas from their true self, it remains a skill and will be used as such.

The problem with Rachel was that it transcended beyond a skill. A social chameleon was *what* she became, and that led to losing her own sense of identity, to becoming a stranger in her own body.

We see her confiding to Chloe about this feeling in Brave New World: (“Do you think there’s a point when you’ve been acting so much that you don’t even have your own personality anymore? You’re just whatever you think other people want you to be?”) —to which Chloe tells her she does have a personality because she assumed Rachel was talking about herself. But Rachel apparently wasn’t and clarifies she was talking about her father. She then elaborates on how her father doesn’t really exist, that how he was in the principal’s office was a mere performance and then the actual truth— that she’s afraid she’ll end up like him.

No matter how you interpret that scene, the conclusion is that one of Rachel’s fears was becoming like James— someone who’s been so wrapped up in all the lies and manipulation that he no longer seemed recognisable to even his own daughter.

At that point her defence mechanism of deflection and avoidance came into play after Chloe got a little too close to home. We first see this on the train scene when they play Two Truths and a Lie. Rachel gave factual statements as opposed to Chloe who gave facts that elaborated into her personal life. At one point Chloe can ask how Rachel knew about having a distal radius fracture and It’s a very minor detail, but when she explains that it’s because she broke her wrist when she was 10, she says it extremely fast. When Chloe is about to press for more info about something personal no matter what option you choose, Rachel dismissively turns around the conversation from herself back to Chloe again.

The next time we see her deflecting is right after witnessing her father cheating. When Chloe asks about her, Rachel deflects and guilt trips her into somehow thinking she’s at fault for failing to get them wasted and then proceeds to drown her sorrows into alcohol instead of opening up. Afterwards when they find the junkyard, Rachel chooses to isolate herself from Chloe and withdraws to the corner, getting irritated if Chloe chooses to invade her space. When Chloe confronts her about her sudden moodiness, Rachel yet again deflects and shifts the attention to Chloe by essentially telling her she’s self-centred. This scene was classic Deflection 101 brought by Rachel’s defence mechanism to cope with her father’s betrayal.

Rachel uses deflection and avoidance as a defence mechanism, a habit which stems from the dynamics of the Amber family. When you have a Politician as a father whose life work is to manipulate and lie, and a Stepford Wife as a mother who wilfully acts like a servant to her husband out of sacrifice and duty— an environment of deceit and suppression of one’s feelings will be fostered. This is what shapes Rachel to be distrusting and unhealthily altruistic as we see in BtS.

And so Rachel’s deflection is driven by 2 things: mistrust (James) and her unhealthy altruism (Rose).

As a district attorney, James unfortunately carried his work persona into his personal life and can be presumed to lie to even his own family on a daily basis to the point that Rachel can tell when he’s lying: (“When your Dad is the District Attorney, I guess lying is...something you're used to.”) (Why can't you just tell me the fucking truth?! Stop lying! Stop being a politician for one fucking minute! Can’t you just be my Dad?”) What that tells us is that Rachel’s actually used to being lied at and treated with cynicism, so naturally that would make her guarded around others. Not to mention since James often exercised his professional prerogative (just recall how he spoke to Chloe and her comment about his micro-aggressions towards his own family), it’s most likely that he was also cynical towards people in general and carried that mindset forward at Rachel as well.

As for Rose, you have to really observe how she carried herself and her choice of words. A lot of people pointed out how robotic she sounded and blamed it on bad voice acting, but I think that was actually intentional. She was too mannered, too submissive and too robotic as a person. It’s not exactly a bad thing, but a lot of her personality seemed to be too... *political* for the sake of her husband’s political career. It was altruistic in the way that she sacrificed her own needs for her husband’s and was unfailingly supportive (eg; preparing dinner all by herself, *respectfully* asking James for his drink, even going so far as to excuse James for kissing Sera like wtf). Point is, Rose was the stereotypical political wife whose job was to shut up, look good and smile for her husband while he does the talking. At one point in the dinner scene when they start fighting, James even dared to say ‘Rose, let me handle this’ as if Rose’s voice was irrelevant and unimportant to the table (when he literally just got exposed for cheating lmao).

So what happens when your family environment consists of a father who actively lies and uses manipulation to twist facts, expects you to be compliant in exchange for rewards (birthday money), has the ability to read people, and a mother who does too much for someone who does the barest minimum for the family and represses herself for the sake of others? An environment of deceit and suppression will be fostered, and you develop all of their qualities, for better or worse. That’s difficult to change when your own family dynamics molded you to be that way and then reward you for it. If you recall, Rachel’s mannerisms changed completely when in front of her family and if Chloe complained about having to play the goody two shoes formal well-behaved humorless girl, Rachel would say: ‘try doing it your whole life’. So not only was she playing different roles in school but evidently at home as well.

But It’s not as if the Amber family was aware of the toxic environment they’d created. That’s just what their normal was: to be well-mannered, formal, professional, mature and well-articulated.

This is where Rachel’s social chameleon tendencies develops. Social chameleons usually have reasons for blending in when it comes to personal relationships:

1. Being liked is important for them (they value what people think of them).

2. They want to blend in so as to not stand out (they don’t like attention).

3. They’re doing it to make the other person comfortable (the needs of others come first before theirs).

Considering how Rachel was extremely popular, active in all sorts of school activities and enjoyed the attention of being the star, no. 2 is out. She confessed to wanting to stop being a social chameleon and didn’t seem to care much about Victoria’s dislike of her + she also did it to her family so no. 1 is out as well, which leaves us to no. 3— doing it for the comfort of others. In other words, because she *gave too much shit about other people all the time*.

What further supports the point of Rachel’s unhealthy altruism is what she says to Chloe at the junkyard— (“Maybe you should try giving a shit about other people for once.”) —which essentially tells us that she’s been doing exactly that to be able to lecture Chloe into following her own perspective. Another example would be what she tells Chloe during their therapy session: “—Because she was tired of having to give so many fucks all the time.”

One thing however that all *extreme* social chameleons share is the fact that they **loathe** themselves, or at the very least— dislike who they are. Why else would they go all the trouble of creating different personas for everyone to the point of forgetting their own, if they actually liked themselves?

One of the many things that Chloe and Rachel shared in common was their self-awareness in how undeniably shitty they can be, and that they hated who they were. Whereas Chloe embraced that whole part of her down her self destructive road, Rachel tried to cover hers up by playing other roles for people. Both girls played their sides to the ends of the spectrum; Chloe being selfish (causing problems for everyone in general unnecessarily) and Rachel being selfless (posing no problem for anyone in general even if there was a problem). They had no healthy balance and their unhealthy mindset ultimately drove them down a self destructive path.

Rachel knew she was selfish by nature, and that she’d take it out on Chloe in Ep 1. That’s why instead of talking about what was wrong, she chose to drown herself to alcohol and distance herself from Chloe. When Chloe confronts her about it, she either tells her that not everything revolves around her or that she should try giving a shit about people for once. In other words, ‘Other people have bigger problems than you so shut up and don’t make it worse for them.’ That was Rachel’s mentality and in that moment of poor lapse in judgment, she applied that logic to Chloe expecting her to think the way she does— to put others before yourself.

With Rachel, she always had her walls up and couldn’t help it even if she wanted to because it's practically second nature to have her guard up (“I never said how dearly I hold thee; my habit's been to keep my soul well-draped.“). It’s only in her lowest vulnerable moments is when she finally let her walls down because that’s when she’s too tired to keep them up.

Luckily (or unluckily) for Rachel, she recognized her problem. The only thing is that she didn’t know how to solve them. She confided to Chloe about feeling like she doesn’t exist, but then backtracked and clarified she was talking about her dad instead when Chloe got too close to home. Even IF she was genuinely talking about her father, it doesn’t erase the fact that she believed there was a possibility she was going to become like him— because she already saw the signs and made the comparison between them.

Remember her infamous outbursts in Awake? Unlike Chloe, she’s the type who keeps everything bottled in until it’s too much. Seeing her father kissing another woman was the breaking point and that’s why she reacted badly. And then when she kicked that bin, that was equivalent to Chloe smashing up the junkyard. And then that scream. That scream was the result of years bottling her pent up frustration, stress, anger at everyone including herself. Because she did everything to make her family proud, to please everyone to the point that she felt so empty and hollow, only to realize that it was all for nothing because her father was destroying her family. It wasn’t just a betrayal from her father but a betrayal to herself.

And then there’s Chloe Price. The girl who is the total opposite of her, yet who she can somehow still connect with at the same time. While she cared too much about what others thought, Chloe gave absolutely no fucks. That was her most attractive and admirable quality for Rachel. So what does she do? She latches onto Chloe to do exactly what she knows best. Become the ideal version of whoever wants her to be. In other words, the Rachel Amber who would finally give no fucks.

Rachel was the closest to her truest self when she was around Chloe. Just as she brought life and hope back into the girl’s life, so did Chloe for her. Chloe broke the walls she put up, and she’d seen her vulnerable enough times to let her mask slip. Chloe saw her at her lowest, ugliest self even when she wasn’t doing her usual thing of keeping everyone around her happy, yet she didn’t mock or leave her for it. For the first time, she was selfish, and *still* Chloe came back. That was a BIG reason to trust each other for the both of them. And that’s ultimately what bonded them for so long— the fact that they could be the shittiest people on earth, yet still see the best in each other even if they only see the worst in themselves.

Chloe was the first one to see through her social chameleon act because she slipped, and she continued to let her unmask who she was because that night Rachel just didn’t care enough to hold up the act any longer. This detail of Rachel’s chameleon act slipping *only* when something was wrong is a vital part in understanding the context around her. The first time was when she witnessed her whole world crash, the second was when she realized she was becoming like James, and the third was when she discovered what a monster James was. The fourth— when she asked that trucker for a drive out and didn’t bother to be her usual social chameleon self. We may never know what happened, but something wrong was going on in Rachel’s life that she didn’t want Chloe to be a part of— because why would she put the girl who stuck by her during her darkest hours through her bullshit again?

But at the end of the day, that wasn’t enough. Chloe wasn’t enough. And that’s understandable because a teenager truly can’t and shouldn’t have to be responsible for someone else’s happiness. No matter what choice Chloe makes at the end of BtS, the truth inevitably gets out and leads to Rachel having a fall out with her parents. When that happened, she lost a big pillar of her support system which only leaves her with Chloe who’s another emotionally damaged teen that’s on the road to self-destruction. Chloe can’t help others without helping herself first. But still, who else is there to make them feel a little less shitty except each other?

After her fall out with her parents and her father in particular, she seemed to have developed a taste for men twice her age: Frank Bowers (32) and Mark Jefferson (38). Whatever the reason her relationship with Frank was, she still wrote him those letters and seemed to have cared for him to some extent. Not only was he the source for drugs for her very much needed escape, but he was also the man who helped save her life in one of her most vulnerable moments, and a possible lead to find Sera. It’s not that surprising she’d seek comfort and safety in his arms when he already proved himself once. But clearly it wasn’t serious because she was fooling around with Jefferson at the same time (and Frank knew they wouldn’t have lasted anyway).

Now, Jefferson. The devs confirmed that Rachel was in love with Jefferson and honestly, that’s the least surprising thing ever considering how he basically had the female population of Blackwell head over heels for him. Even Rachel wasn’t immune to that psychopath’s charm. He was a well reputable photographer, had the connections to propel her modeling career, was attractive and mysterious and apparently a damaged soul. He was the perfect one way ticket out of Arcadia Bay. He was her photographer and she was his muse. He was basically the perfect solution to her problems.

The girl clearly had deep rooted daddy issues and was ashamed of it herself since she couldn’t even share her secret relationship to the one person she trusted the most despite sharing her other relationships with her (except Frank).

This is where the drugs and partying come in. They’re a way for her to escape the bullshit in her life for a few hours. Chloe was what made her feel real, but the drugs and partying was what made her forget— forget that her biological mother chose drugs and money over her (twice), forget that her own father was so despicable that he was planning to overdose Sera (this is what Chloe said in the silent dialogue), forget that her biological mother may just be dead somewhere because of James, forget that her own family was a lie, forget all the expectations placed upon her, forget that she herself was a lie, forget that she was so insecure that she had to seek warmth and safety in the arms of men twice her age, forget the guilt of knowing the girl who would die for her was still not enough, forget that at the end of the day all her problems is caused by her own mind and that her own fears had come to reality. And she hated herself for that.

But still, Rachel wasn’t a total junkie or outwardly self destructive to the point that she abandoned her studies like Chloe did. She didn’t let the drugs and partying dictate her life, hence the 4.0 GPA. After all, she still had a reputation to maintain. She was still the DA’s daughter, and getting into college was still a way to get out of Arcadia Bay.

BUT SEE, that was exactly Rachel’s problem. She could never choose which to be; The Problematic Junkie of a Disappointment (Sera), or the Golden Child (James & Rose) everyone expected her to be. She wanted to be as free as Chloe, but she also didn’t want to be a disappointment. She was tired of everything but couldn’t allow herself to fall because it was her nature to demand the best of herself for others as long as she could do it. But what happens when it’s your very own nature you’re going against? It gets really complicated. So instead of choosing, she doesn’t and becomes both. That was ultimately the worst decision she ever made.

Make no mistake, Rachel was an absolute idiot for being so indecisive. She could have easily solved her problems if she just finally gave no shit and did whatever she wanted to. But that’s the problem with people who’re labeled as perfect growing up. They eventually believe it and demand perfection of themselves. They care too much about everything because if they have the ability to be perfect, then why would you choose not to be? When someone is seen to be perfect, disappointment is 10x worse. Even Chloe was guilty of idealizing Rachel to be this perfect girl and was disappointed when she realized Rachel was just like everyone else who puts in hard work—(“Rachel's always made being an A student seem so easy. Almost sad to see all this... effort."), but it’s Chloe accepting Rachel for who she was despite no longer being the perfect girl she believed her to be that mattered.

With being seen as perfect usually comes with the assumption that your whole life is. Just as everyone invalidated her problems because she’s Little Miss Perfect with the perfect grades and the seemingly perfect family, so did she.

‘Cause hey, what does she have to be mad about when she’s a rich white girl who’s been given everything she’s ever wanted, right? (James basically said that). At that point the only problem Rachel had was that she was acting as the perfect daughter and perfect friend and perfect student at the expense of her own happiness, and then throw in the sudden slap in the face that it was all for nothing because her father was destroying the family she’d tried so hard to do proud.

But then again even if that wasn’t enough reason to spiral, it really would mess you up if your own father told you that your biological mother chose money and drugs over you, that everything you’ve done so far was all for a lie and worst of all, that your own father was going to kill your biological mother and there’s nothing you can do to change that. I mean really, I’m not a therapist or anything but I wouldn’t be surprised if Rachel’s mental health was suffering by that point.

I mean get this: she abused drugs and partied harder than anyone else and got wasted even though she knew they were wrong (Sera would’ve been a painful reminder), slept around with older men who undoubtedly took advantage and controlled her, continued to act like the perfect student and pretended to be someone she’s not just to keep everyone happy even though it was causing her to question her own existence— it’s almost as if she was punishing herself for continuing down that path.

Ultimately what Rachel was running away from was who she had become in Arcadia Bay. Once she’d be out, she wouldn’t be Little Miss Perfect anymore. She wouldn’t be the DA’s daughter. She wouldn’t have to keep lying. She would be able to start over. She would just be Rachel Amber, the nobody.

She cared too much in contrast to Chloe’s ‘I don’t give a shit’ attitude, and that’s why she still managed to maintain her perfect image even when she was already so broken. Whereas Chloe’s first instinct was to blame others, Rachel’s was to blame herself. Both never had a healthy balance when it came to accepting responsibility and that’s what connected them so well together.

Call it selflessness or selfishness or stupidity or melodrama, but at the end of the day Rachel tried to keep everyone around her happy, just like Max tried to do with her powers except Rachel used lies to do it. She was greedy and selfish, no disagreement to that, but she also tried to be selfless for most of her life. She was her own enemy and she demonized herself for it. And that got her murdered, thrown and buried away like the used rag doll she treated herself to be.

She was Chloe’s angel and Chloe was hers, but she was also her own demon. And there’s only so much two broken angels can do against a demon.

**TL;DR:** Idealizing her to be the Perfect Girl was what made her want to run away. Her family was what broke her. Desperation for escape was what killed her. Her family just *really* suck.

Now, I’m not trying to justify Rachel’s actions but merely rationalizing her character. I acknowledge that she was capable of being a shitty person at times, but just as Chloe had her issues, so did she, and so I choose to see them both for what they tried to be. Good hearted people just trying to make their shitty life a little easier. At the end of the day, Rachel Amber was a deeply flawed, insecure and emotionally damaged girl that pretended like nothing was wrong to forget about her troubles for a little, and was just dealt a bad hand in life. Literally.

After writing all of this, I realize that holy shit this girl was fucking complicated and a single post doesn’t do her justice nor explains her character properly enough. I thought it’d be simple enough to word it out, but then again, someone who was basically a junkie yet still managed to maintain her perfect reputation amongst her peers and the faculty is bound to be this complexed. Also as you can see I got very lazy at the middle of the elaborations and repetition has probably made this unnecessarily long but thank you for reading and finishing this overall confusing and messy essay.

#life is strange #amberprice #chloeprice #rachelamber #analysis #meta #I posted this on Reddit n it got a nice reception #so here it is on tumblr #yk just to stay true to what this blog was supposed to b lmao

[residentevil2remake]

Who are your top 5 favorite characters from Life is Strange?

Hmmm i’m not sure if i’ll even get a five (is this from one game or lis2 counts??? i’ll assume it does) 

1. Chloe Price. Basically the reason I even got interesrted in the game. Fucking love her desing, love her dialogue. It’s also my gay awakening if being real honest, so she’s very important to me. Not the biggest fan of what prequels did in some aspects, but I’d take it anyway. Was obssesd with her, but since I’m not that into LiS anymore, here we are.2. Sean Diaz. I was really surprised to like him as a protagonist, I think he really did fited in this universe perfectly and organically.  So I guess I enjoyed him as much more as I expected so that’ why he is this high. He also got a lot of cool outfit changes and I liked his perfomance.3. Max Caulfield. I’m not sure If I’d call Max my fav out of all protags (I think Sean and Chloe thoughts are more intresting to listen/read to). I like some hints in her character, love her ark. She also has my favorite shirt desing in both games (Jane Doe, chikens, moth print). 4. Victoria Chase. Out of all side chars she is the one I probably found the most complex (again prequels kind of changed that), I like Kate and she’s nice but Vic has a little bit more of quatable dialogue.5. Rachel Amber. Again, I think I liked her incarnation in og lis a little bit more. I enjoyed her being on the screen, but her being the biggest mistery was the best part of her character, because you could’ve just add stuff to her yourself and figure it all that. it wasn’t, kind of, onedimensional? Wish the prequels didn’t retconned a lot of stuff incorrectly :(

Hope this sounds not boring, a bit hard to explain because I think I used to have much better analysis about LiS and my thoughts regarding it’s writing, but at the moment - not so.

Thank you!! 

ask me top 5 anything

#<3 #answered #leons-kennedys

[multimetaverse]

so, Amber Marty and TJ are in episode 16 or 17? the 3 are in utah today.

Buffy, Marty, and Amber were on set at and around the spoon Saturday but Luke most likely was not. For one thing, Josh flew out to LA  Friday night and Luke’s insta photo was originally posted as being related to a wardrobe check which means it was for a previous ep, and he didn’t post from set like Garren and Emily did.

The most interesting thing is that they brought Garren back for 3x16 when we know that 3x17, which films from November 3rd-9th is a very important Muffy episode. I’ll put the rest under the cut as this analysis touches directly upon massive spoilers.

As discussed here, we know that in 3x17 Buffy encounters Marty and his girlfriend Rachel at the bowling alley and Rachel is jealous and questions whether Buffy and Marty have feelings for each other. Buffy must be there other people, presumably Cyrus and Andi and in order for Rachel to question their feelings she must get to see Buffy and Marty interacting so most likely they all end up bowling together and it’s obvious that Marty and Buffy like each other. There will be fallout, I’m sure that Buffy will deny liking Marty in a ‘the lady doth protest too much’ kind of way that won’t fool her friends and Rachel surely breaks up with Marty. 

The show will have to tow a very careful line to not make Buffy look like a homewrecker or Marty look like a cheating scoundrel. The more scenes Buffy and Marty have while he’s still dating Rachel the messier things become. His reappearance in ep 8 will be brief and his scenes with Buffy in eps 13/14 will focus on Buffy forgiving him and them re-establishing their friendship. 

So why bring Marty back for ep 16? I think what happens in ep 16 is that we really start to see their romantic chemistry return and that we’ll get to see Buffy twirling her hair so the audience knows that she has a crush on Marty even if Buffy herself won’t realize it until the next ep. Bringing back Marty right before a big Buffy ep suggests to me that they’ll be dialing the Muffy drama and angst up to eleven in ep 17. Now I don’t think they’ll be hastily put together as Muffy are a straight couple and Buffy a true main character it’s not like Terri has to deal with a ton of restrictions or fight hard to get Disney to approve their moments. 

We know that on Friday and Saturday they were filming scenes at the spoon while also requiring the use of marathon runners. I’d guess that Buffy and Marty participate in the run and then swing by the spoon after where Amber is their waitress. I’d imagine we get a callback to Marty and Buffy’s spoon scene in 2x07 and with Amber not having interacted with Marty before they could easily go the route of her thinking Muffy are dating. 

That they’re giving the Muffy drama set up also makes me wonder if their arc might climax a bit earlier than I would have thought. I still think it likely ties in with Buffy’s basketball arc so perhaps that ends a bit earlier as well. We’ll definitely see Buffy’s mom again and I’d imagine that whatever ep she’s in is when Buffy decides to go for it and ask Marty out; since she’s the main character and it was her who turned Marty down in S2 it’s what makes sense story wise. Since we already saw Buffy and her mom talk about Marty I think it will be a similar conversation that spurs Buffy to act on her feelings rather than try and ignore them; after all, Driscoll doesn’t draw. I also wonder if this heavy Muffy focus also means that the final Jandi arc starts a bit earlier as well, it’s hard to tell since they’re both main characters and are always on set. I think Muffy could be a real shot in the arm for the show in 3b and I’m excited for the drama and angst and passion. I think the key to Buffy’s arc in S3 is that her feelings are the one thing she can’t outrun. 

#andi mack #muffy #buffy driscoll #marty from the party #amber #jandi #tj kippen #andi mack asks #asks #answered #andi mack season 3 #andi mack meta

[rach-amber]

Amazing plays from lis bts. Rachel as a teenager in 2010 being absorbed in plays from the early 1900s, is such a dreamy-Cali-kid thing. "Full of imagination", as Chloe says.

Rachel "delving into the mind of Chloe Price" by reading the book Chloe liked while she waited for Chloe to dye her hair.

Oh Chloe you'll realise Rachel's such a big fan of Tennessee Williams & Shakespeare, she even hangs posters of their plays in her room.

Kiss Me Kate inspired from Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Some of these giving me 🏳️‍🌈 vibes

Blanche fits Rachel like a shirt. Imagine her own heartbreaking take on it.

Reading book "recs" from a fandom is such an experience

More to come!

#rachel amber #life is strange #lis bts #life is strange before the storm #lis: bts #plays #tennessee williams #william shakespere #a streetcar named desire #the glass menagerie #amberprice #whos afraid of virginia woolf #drama #theatre #chloe price #lis #rachel amber 4ever #lgbtq+ #lgbtq #rachel amber character analysis #rachel dawn amber #dreamy #奇异人生 #瑞秋安珀 #theatre poster #theatre play #lifeisstrange #lis before the storm #rachelamber #life is strange rachel

[class-wom]

What if the story of FX's Legion, created and scripted by TV writer (Fargo) and novelist (Before the Fall) Noah Hawley, is less about the story arc of the series itself and more the story about how and why it got made in the first place? Hawley had improbably turned the brilliant Coen Brothers movie, Fargo, into the acclaimed, separately realized vision of a TV series. So what if Legion was a lark from a prestige cable channel rewarding a very smart writer, and the extended generosity ends up being that Hawley, no fan of superheroes, wants to make a Marvel superhero story about mental illness rather than superpowers? And he also wants to mess with the notion that the hero in question has to be heroic at all.

I mean, if you're FX, with a long history of taking chances on exceptional talents, you probably say, "OK, sure, let's see what you come up with." Which is exactly the answer you want if you love television as a creative exploration rather than predictable, formulaic movement from episode to episode, season to season.

It would certainly explain the triptastic, visually stunning first season of Legion, which was basically a more coherent exploration of weirdness than Twin Peaks. And then the perception-changing second season (Jon Hamm as a narrator that didn't exist before!), which seemed intent on taking a Marvel vehicle (that will unlikely be tampered with again) and giving it a kind of Breaking Bad halo, disconcertingly telling its audience that the person at the center of the story, the hero they were rooting for, was in fact pretty awful.

How else to explain the fact that, by the end of that second season, anyone tuning in for a typical Marvel series was probably tuning out. Legion was seemingly moving from oddball project for Hawley into an experiment that wouldn't likely hold, given how busy he was and the inherent limitations of Marvel-centric superhero stories inside the mind of someone not particularly interested in those limitations or the expectations for that genre.

Translation: You probably wouldn't be too far off assuming, at the end of Legion season two, that Hawley's mindset was: "OK, that was a cool experiment but I'm over it." Of course, that assumption could be way off, and the third and final season of Legion was planned as the end all along (that's certainly the narrative) and all that's left is a pro forma wrap-up where the main character, David (Dan Stephens), course-corrects his Walter White excursion and the series closes with everybody doing the moral and ethical thing and putting the world right.

Sure, maybe, I don't know. I'd probably watch that.

But instead, what looks to be happening after last season's experimentation is that Hawley is once again having a blast reimagining a Marvel superhero show. He is tripling down on the visual gymnastics and mind-altering aspects, but with the kind of narrative focus that will culminate in a three-years-is-ideal big picture analysis, lovingly concluding that he got it all right, or at least right enough to be riveting.

I hope that's true, but without the full season to examine at length (eight total; I've seen four), who knows what will happen. But I'm loving the direction the third and final season of Legion is going in because the journey has been less about Marvel and more about Hawley and, given the television track record of each, I'll take the latter every time.

There's an unmistakable creative energy about each episode of the third season, as if Hawley, his writing staff and collection of directors all gathered around and said, "Let's go out on fire." I'd argue that the second season, which simultaneously seemed to annoy fans of the comic and fall short of satisfying some critics, did its job of upending the narrative built in season one. But it also perhaps had to come to terms with the fact that its weirdness was vast, like its stable of excellent actors, and if the third season was really going to be the end, some snipping would have to be done. It wasn't perfect but it was unfailingly creative, funny and risky, which is often more than enough to overcome quibbles.

Look, Legion was doing most things remarkably well — notably giving people like Aubrey Plaza, Navid Negahban, Bill Irwin and Jemaine Clement, to name a handful of random examples, room to explore and crush the acute weirdness of their characters in a way that few series ever do. (There are 10-minute scenes in every episode of Legion where I'd take just that and only that over a full episode of something else.) And while the work of Stevens' David and Rachel Keller's Syd is the no-doors, no-safety-belt rollercoaster car that fuels the Legion story, at least half the fun of the show is watching other actors run around the theme park with their hair on fire.

Which is to say, sure, if you really want to focus on the plotting, that can be your hill to die on. But all this other vigorous exploration of the mind's infinite possibilities (especially for a mutant) is pretty damned intriguing on its own.

I'm assuming but neither hoping nor demanding that Legion will end with a plot arc that feels satisfying. Season three could end with former hero David dying as the villain at the hands of new hero Syd, who saves the world. It could be David coming back from the depth of madness and harnessing his powers (whatever those really are) and there being some kind of interior peace for him. It could (and likely will) end... differently.

Viewers often come to the realization, after several seasons of a drama, that it's not the thing they'd hoped it would be. This is especially true for genre series like fantasy and sci-fi and superheroes. It seems as if more people should know when they sign up that their results may vary (spoiler: most don't know and thus are disappointed). But with Hawley's Legion, if you were expecting something predictable or literal, well, you weren't paying attention from the very first frame.

The journey is the joy here, and if you want yet another confirmation of that, watch the first episode of season three and look what director Andrew Stanton (all things Pixar) does with the material that Hawley and co-writer Nathaniel Halpern give him.

Season three adds David's real father, Charles Xavier (aka Professor X, leader of the X-Men), in the form of Harry Lloyd (Counterpart, Game of Thrones), and his mother Gabrielle in the form of Stephanie Corneliussen (Mr. Robot), who sheds some light on "The World's Angriest Boy In the World," plus an essential new character, Switch (Lauren Tsai), who is a time-traveler.

If the Professor X revelation pulls back in fans of the comic book or X-Men, it probably won't end well for them. Hawley doesn't seem to have particular interest in the franchise or superheroes in general, and was at least partially attracted to the idea so that he could portray mental illness in a different way — while also having a hell of a time with mind-bending visuals, tricky editing and now, in the final season, hallucinatory drugs adding to the fugue state effect.

Maybe, as someone not particularly interested (fine, not at all interested) in X-Men stuff, I fall into that weird subset where Legion is the perfect series. I just go with what's on the screen, revel in the conceptual ideas and applaud the acting turns, willingly negligent about Marvel-universe connections and never expecting — as others seem to be demanding — that this show, of all shows, be more concise, more linear, more understandable.

Cast: Dan Stevens, Rachel Keller, Aubrey Plaza, Jean Smart, Jeremie Harris, Bill Irwin, Amber Midthunder, Jemaine Clement, Hamish Linklater, Navid Negahban, Lauren Tsai, Harry Lloyd, Stephanie Corneliussen Created and written by: Noah Hawley First episode directed by: Andrew Stanton Premieres June 24, 10 p.m. FX

If I had to pick one single sentence from this review to summarize my current admittedly tortured state of mind regarding this show, it’s this:  “Viewers often come to the realization, after several seasons of a drama, that it's not the thing they'd hoped it would be. “  But there are those who already knew this about Yours Truly, whether they needed to or not!  😏  (Also love the unwritten “I’m looking at you, fans of Game of Thrones!”-implications here, lol)

#Legion Season 3 #Review #The Hollywood Reporter

[hypeathon]

RWBY - Volume 6, Chapter 5 Production Analysis

Vol 6, Ch 1 Production Analysis 

Vol 6, Ch 2 Production Analysis 

Vol 6, Ch 3 Production Analysis 

Vol 6, Ch 4 Production Analysis 

It can be a bit scary when I’m right on the money about something. The previous production analysis for volume 6 ended on a note pointing out how there were less names in the animation department section of of ending credits of chapter 4 compared to prior episodes. This led me to wonder if either the animators more heavily involved with RWBY would either be working on Gen:Lock at around this point in the volume 6′s production or their time and attention would be spent on a later episode. I am happy to find that it was the latter but also admittedly shocked to find that the “later episode” would be this one.

Before diving into the bit everyone has been losing their minds about, let’s briefly talk about the storyboards and camera layout in the opening scene. Despite having spent time extensively dissecting how Rachel Doda does storyboards and camera layouts in the scenes she’s assigned in the the production analysis for chapter 2, I try to be mindful not to let confirmation bias get the better of me as I’m trying to learn more about the other storyboard and camera layout artists within the show. That being said though, it wouldn’t hurt to least make a conscious presumption that the first sequence had her involvement given the cues and techniques mentioned before. A similarly-presented panning shot and blocking between characters to highlight the reveal of one of them, among other things are signs that Rachel Doda either did the boards or the camera layout for the setup of the scene and probably even the fight itself.

Okay, now to finally address the elephant in the room. Neo is back and in a redone character model no less! Of all the characters to have had a recurring appearance into the show, she has by far been given the most unconventional approach. Many fans by now are aware of the gist as to how she came to be, but for those not in the know, Neo was a character that was conceived a mere 10 days prior to the release of volume 2′s fourth episode. Her design was partially inspired by a genderbent cosplay from Sonja Carter, otherwise known as Soulfire Photography. Her semblance was the result of from is the result of Monty Oum needing an easier way to animate her and Torchwick making a quick escape according to the volume 2 blu-ray directors and animators commentary tracks respectively:

“I needed an uh, it's so backwards how like, I needed them to exit the scene like, Neo was like Torchwick's escape plan. And I was like, "oh yeah, they could get in the ship and then get away." I was like, "That's hard to animate.”  Let's just have them shatter into glass, that's simple!"

“And then we have Neo come in and do... something weird. I guess, I tried to think of it as an illusionary technique. It’s like her version of ninja smoke bomb where it’s like she gets away because she causes some sort of distraction because the umbrella is relatively fast, the ship was probably waiting.”

Her entire character was born from the kind of creative process Monty had in general. It’s something he was a bit outspoken about where he compared his own process to that of most film or animation productions, referring to the latter’s structured, step-by-step process as “baking”, while he referred to his own personal, improvisational process as “stir-frying.” Both approaches have their merits and faults, but whether or not one is seen as more favorable over the other in animation production is not the point to get across. Rather, it’s to point out how a character like Neo can come to be in the first place:

“ When I’m working on my own, I tend to run editorial and animation concurrently. I’m averse to storyboards and over-planning. I like to talk about traditional 3D pipelines as being akin to baking: everything is very deliberate and methodical. My version of 3D animation is more like stir-frying. It’s very live and in the moment. If I need a model, I make a model. If a shot or sequence isn’t working, I’ll cut it, move it, or use it later - sometimes several years later.”

-Monty Oum, interview at Creativebloq (yes, they spelled “RWBY” wrong)

So with the story of how Neo came to be out of the way, let’s talk about her in action sequences since a lot has happened in RWBY’s production between last appearance and her grand return. Up until now, only 3 people have ever had a chance to animate Neo fighting. Monty Oum during chapters 4 & 7 of volume 2 and Joel Mann and Andrea Caprotti in chapter 11 of volume 3, the latter two also animated Cinder, Emerald, & Mercury vs Amber in chapter 7 of the same volume. Without going too much into detail, my stance on Monty and how he created fight scenes have always been more conflicted compared to the general consensus. A lot of that has to do with two of the several hats he wore up until his passing, his role as the show’s initial director and as lead animator. As the director, it always felt unclear as to how much thought was considered behind the character motivations within a fight or the consequences that would logically follow after one. Something just feels off in hindsight when say, a criminal wreaks havoc on a highway by knocking away multiple cars, using a mech that’s stolen, top-secret military property and we don’t ever get a scene showing the military general’s reaction to the incident, whether or not he ultimately does anything about it. As much as I appreciate good choreography and rhythm when I see it, having the story being weaved within and around a given fight in works of fiction is what can make them engaging in the first place.

That being said, Monty’s skills as an animator were definitely made clear in the fight scenes he assigned himself to within the show. Animation in general is not an easy medium to tackle, regardless of what kind of gestures or expressions one wants to sell and creating action sequences require both the 12 principles of animation and a few other guidelines in editing and cinematography to make them engaging. In the case of the character Neo, Monty made it very evident what kind of character he wanted to portray through her body language, facial expressions and poses. She fights in a classy way, but unlike Weiss Schnee who is shown as being more consciously routine and disciplined, Neo is comparatively more sassy and provoking. She likes to push her opponent’s buttons with the way she dodges, defends and attacks. Jumping into volume 3, Joel Mann and Andrea Caprotti picked up the pieces from where Monty left off up until his passing and captured much of the same personality to how she fights. Finally, three volumes later, we have her fight with Cinder in this chapter. Not only were just about all of the same traits with Neo’s character left intact, but the list of animators involved this time around were a pleasant surprise. Matt Drury, Megan Pellino, and Joe Vick were confirmed to have animated the fight with current assistant lead animator, Melanie Stern providing some assistance by animating a couple of shots herself. I’ve gone on record in previous posts on how between volume 5 having on of the biggest waves of new recruits, the overall restructuring of animation teams between RWBY’s sixth volume and Gen:Lock on the horizon, and the staff list on the Adam Character short, it’s now more important than ever to remain aware of who will be animating any fight scene or non-fight scene. “Keep moving forward” is a golden phrase within the fan base originally uttered by one of Monty’s tweets and this mantra can be applied to acknowledging new names involved in the production rather than staying stagnant. This episode is a good example of why that’s vital.

This fight sequence was not only an opportunity to show off the return of a fan-favorite character, but it also needed to formally establish the narrative reason as to why Neo is here now. Keyword being “formally”. Yes, fans have spent weeks speculating the possibility of her character through the opening theme and the second chapter. But that doesn’t change the fact that the CRWBY have been spent several months on the production of this part of the volume and still need to make it clear what this character’s motives are for appearing again after a few years without the scene coming off as pointless fanservice. That can be especially challenging for a mute character, but Melanie, Matt, Megan & Joe made that all clear through the choreography and more importantly, the emotional action and reaction. Despite the supposed intentions to why she’s combating against Cinder, Neo is all about taunting her opponent. So it’s only natural that she would ride the line between fighting aggressively and playfully, going as far as momentarily taking out her blade via a split-second smear, all while displaying an appropriate grin on her face. This constant assault in turn escalates the intensity from Cinder’s perspective by shifting her emotions from confusion to frustration. She drops being defensive and starts swinging fists and kicks so aggressively, that her actions come off a little animalistic and she eventually gets more acrobatic and starts breaking furniture.

Though none of Cinder’s actions and reactions are displayed senselessly, despite her facial expressions and vocal cries on Jessica Nigri’s part suggesting otherwise. In the fifth episode of season 2 of CRWBY: Behind the Episode. In it, Matt Drury. who seems to have animated the bit with Neo and Cinder going at it on the bar stand, talked about applying the notion of “see, think, do”, in which a character stays keen on his/her opponent’s movements based on what the latter is going to strike with and then responds accordingly. It’s essentially something learned in Martial arts in general, even competitive fighting games apply this concept. The same use of “see, think, do” can also be seen in Matt’s previous animated sequences in the Adam Character Short. Despite wearing a mask, there are various alternative ways he goes about handling each opponent such as the gunshots in the forest sequence and the framing of shots in the Schnee Dust Company facility to help see what Adam sees and thinks. 

I could go on about how great the physical aspects of the fight turned out adding the great use of staging in certain shots and even the brief instance of Neo attacking with her hidden blade through the different colored smears and sound effects that would’ve been easy to miss otherwise. But there’s still a bit more to talk about Neo and Cinder’s conflict outside of the fighting animation. Being a mute character, facial expressions are important to get right in both fighting and dialogue scenes and when Neo’s worn-&-torn character model is shown, heartache, surprise, fear and reluctance are all emotions made very clear. Finally, there’s some 2-D visual effects, likely from Myke Chapman again, this time in the form of wind. I can only imagine the overall design of the wind column surrounding Cinder is fairly elaborate to animate, despite it being looped. But it’s pulled off really well. The wind seems to be divided in three layers: there’s the swirling wind in front of Cinder, the wind swirling behind her and the base on the bottom which seems to be animated on 2s while the former two are animated on 1s. There’s also the additional wind bursting out at the bottom when Cinder levitates up or back down to the ground. Even though I have praised the 2-D effects in chapter 3, a bit of concern was felt as to whether the timing would be played around enough by utilizing what is called “frame modulation”. To put simply, the phrase has to do with an animator fluctuating between animating a sequence on 1s, 2s and 3s, depending on what exactly is meant to be conveyed. This was what I was slightly worried about with the 2-D effects going forward, but thankfully, this one effect soundly put the concern itself to rest.

Despite the harsh criticisms being common knowledge at this point (some of which are certainly valid), I have contrarily been willing to defend the general presentation of fights in volumes 4 & 5 for at least tapping into the idea of more consciously displaying the motivation and consequences between characters engaged in conflict. That being said, both the emotional narrative and physical choreography can both coexist and this Neo vs Cinder conflict served as a great, concise example of just that. I would not necessarily call the scene a “return to form” like many fans have been quick to state. But that should not take away from the level of effort being paid off in the first half of this episode serves as a effective reminder of moving forward to acknowledge both new and recurring talent. With that said, the topic of Cinder vs Neo has been greatly exhausted so let’s move on to a different change of pace in the latter half of the episode. It’s almost night and day in terms of what to break down with the Brunswick Farms scenes. Though there is just as much to talk about, just for mostly different reasons. The latter half of the episode has more emphasis on character acting through a mixture between motion capture and hand-keyed animations, timing of staging of moments through camera layout and editing, 3-D effects for the snow, and even the sound effects taking the spotlight to capture the eerie feeling of the setting.

Speaking of sound effects, let’s talk about that. Despite, talking this series of posts being about breaking down and speculating the production of RWBY, I’ve admittedly been very negligent on the audio and mixing up until now. But the audio department’s effort definitely deserve their due this episode with Chris Kokkinos taking the helm as lead of said-department since volume... Immediately, the sounds of the winds picking up in the storm are the first things made clear to the viewer. Even though there are dissolve transitions to shots of just the snowy setting for a few seconds, with the visibility being deliberately kept at a minimum, one can’t help but be drawn to the audio of the harsh winds. Once they barge inside, the music actually drops entirely for a moment and the sounds within the household immediately come to play. The creaking and footsteps of the wooden floors increase the tense feeling that something is amiss and though the music starts again once Ruby spots the family portraits, it doesn’t fight against the sound effects for attention. Next is Kara Eberle’s well-done screaming and panicky breathing as Weiss which is probably the only moment where the vocal delivery plays a punchy part of the uncomfortable setting. That, combined with the zoom-out from Ruby and Blake entering the room to seeing the rotted, sleeping corpses serves a great reminder of why I don’t care for horror movies in general, regardless of how laughably bad they can be. Congratulations CRWBY.

Next is the scene with the gang at the living room, starting with a shot of the fireplace. It’s more 2-D effects work on the fire which is simple and serviceable, though I’m not the most fond of the... “rendering” of the soot, for lack of a better way to explain it? It’s slightly jarring to look at in that it’s made too obvious that the elements of 2-D and 3-D don’t mesh as well as they could. But it’s really just a nitpick when all is said and done. The fluctuating shadow or lack thereof is interesting however since this extends to the characters. As much as the Pencil plug-in in 3DS Max has served as beneficial to the overall shading effect in RWBY’s character models for the past few volumes, making shadow flicker in front of a stable fire does not seem to be that doable. Whether this is due to lack of a simulation feature or it being possible to do manually but too time consuming, what very likely the lighting or compositing department have done before and did again in this chapter is use a subtle flickering effect that doesn’t change the shading on the characters so much as it slightly dims the light source, being the fireplace. It’s an interesting trick and it works fine, though I’m curious whether there is at all a way to manipulate the shading itself or rim lighting if added via the Pencil plug-in. Though the rim lighting is definitely seen a bit later in a couple of shots with Weiss.

Moving on, the living room scene itself seems to have been at least partially animated by Asha Bishi since much of her tells in character acting are there. Very expressive gestures and a combination of Blake’s cat ear shifts and eyes widening with the pupils being a tad more dilated, the last of which is something that been made more obvious after the last CRWBY episode. With that said, it’s a little hard to pin down when her sequence of cuts end. Next is the cut with Blake and Yang traversing in the snow which is actually the first shot and only shot newcomer, Nyle Pierson has animated in the show as of this episode. It’s a small bit but it totally nails how Blake and Yang would go about dealing with harsh snowy winds differently with one covering herself while the other tries to tough it out. Plus the follow-through on their clothing and hair are very well handled by avoiding feeling too similar, almost distinguishing which character’s clothes are sturdier. Now would also be a good time to briefly talk about the snow effects in this chapter and in this volume in general thus far. It’s all possibly a simulation done via Adobe After Effects from the compositing team since it doesn’t really interact with the main cast themselves. One exception though may be the moment Qrow stepped inside to dry off, though it’s honestly hard to say. The snow being brushed off seem to be done by the visual effects artists, but the wet spots formed on the floor may have been composited since they fade into the ground.

Moving into the shed scene, the quiet atmosphere is consistently well-set where only the sound effects and voice acting are heard. The choice of boards and camera layout also help ease into the sense of intimacy being brought between Blake and Yang’s conversation, going from wider and more distant shots that show the entire interior to having more medium and close-up shots and then back to a wider shot to take things back to square one. The last shot of this scene especially couldn’t be any more obvious as the visual equivalent of being given the cold shoulder. The animations through the facial expressions and gestures also serve to compliment the intention of the scene. I want to say Hannah Novotny animated this, but It’s still a little tricky to say for certain since she and Asha have similar approaches to animating the same characters. Jumping into the last scene of the episode and we get a couple of neat lighting choices, particularly with the small flames from Weiss and the flashlight on Ruby’s scroll. The show is no stranger to artificial lighting via vehicles and objects, but there hasn’t exactly been a light source done as small and bright before. There’s also an interesting detail by having the shape of the light be a couple of rings. Aside from that, nothing else to add beyond the cute, comedic character acting between Ruby and Weiss at the end of the episode. Not sure who the animator was that worked on it, but it served as an appropriately small, light-heard break in an otherwise very atmospheric set of scenes.

With that, this marks the end of another production analysis for volume 6 thus far. Despite the length being only slightly longer than the previous episode, chapter 5 had more going on overall with a more varied change of pace between the two-halves of the episode. With the return of a character who has been overdue for another appearance and a setting that invites visual and audio techniques from the horror film genre, it’s a bit hard to imagine how much more absurd things will go. But based on tweets Miles Luna and Melanie Stern have been teasing, things are expected to get even more nuts. This has made me especially curious as to what the next chapter or so is going to offer. One more thing to add: I want to give a special thanks and shout-out to Changyuraptor from the RWBY sub-reddit and his Source McGourse document on practically every confirmed scene each animator has done over the course of RWBY’s production. As much as I do my best to keep track of who has done what, Changyuraptor is arguably more on top of things than I am when it comes to searching high and low for any up-to-date information of confirmed sequences in volume 6 and a couple of the animators I found out from him.

#rwby #rwby6 #rwby spoilers #rwby analysis #crwby #production analysis #production #analysis #matt drury #matt #drury #megan pellino #megan #pellino #joe vick #joe #vick

[shesneverleavingme]

Surely at this point we should just use the chat 😂 We know how Nathan and Victoria occasionally hang out and I’m sure that Nathan is good at heart. But what do you think happened to Victoria to make her so hostile to Max? I’m sure it’s just hidden attraction but hey. Guess I’m being annoying at this point, but I’ve nothing else to do

// I mean, whatever floats your goats. I’m down for messenger any day!

I do think Nathan is good at heart, but I am also ridiculously optimistic and naive when it comes to people. Nathan needs psychiatric help to overcome his intense familial pressure, his issues with his dad, his estrangement from his sister (mainly because she’s just not there, not because they choose it), along with the fact that he needs to stop medicating himself with the hard drugs. Ffs. Don’t do drugs, stay in school kids. I believe that the Nathan I saw in BtS, especially with Sam, could be good. (Or, rather, at least I got the good part. I didn’t get the part where he breaks Sam’s arm.)

Victoria has a multitude of things going on:

1. The biggest secret crush on Max anyone’s ever seen. 2. The biggest unrequited love for Rachel Amber, possibly even bigger than her thing for Max. (BtS Vic totally wanted on that. Wtf.)3. Jealousy, insecurity, and extremely high expectations. Victoria’s got the same sort of deadly cocktail that Nathan has, minus having a sibling. Their pressures are great in different ways: Victoria is the heir to the Chase name and fortune, therefore must succeed because she’s the one who is going to have to carry on their line. Nathan is similar, especially since he’s a boy (I just feel like Sean would be that kind of a dick about gender), and he has added pressure because his older sister is succeeding. Then, here comes Max Caulfield: sub-standard breed, not much money, completely hipster/hippie sort of attitude (so, unrefined), and using sub-standard technology that is outdated as hell. Max shouldn’t be a competitor and should, honestly, be laughed the fuck out of Blackwell. But she isn’t. That’s terrifying. Victoria has the best money can buy, has probably had the best tutors since she could talk (and her first words were actually an in-depth analysis on chiaroscuro), and yet this under-educated, lower-in-society transfer student with a crummy wardrobe and a camera that predates her birth by a good 20 years (as Polaroid cameras were around their height of popularity in the late 70s) is showing up and not only is accepted into the damn photography program but is gaining attention of one of the most famous photographers of the modern age.

You are definitely not being annoying. I will talk about character analysis and thoughts and headcanons to death, especially with my followers and readers!! Plus you gave me the opportunity to talk about my love for Chasefield which is just such an untapped guilty pleasure that ugh. 

#ooc #character analysis #life is strange #victoria chase #justanotherproudlesbo

[fearsmagazine]

INTERVENTION - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Buffalo 8

SYNOPSIS: Laura Green suffers from a rare type of Amnesia that causes her memories to be erased every night, once she goes to sleep. Each morning she must reacquaint herself with her own life, piecing together fragments of her past from cryptic clues on her computer. When her friends video call her to celebrate her birthday, reminding her of a life she cannot recall, she becomes suspicious. Are they being completely truthful? Are they even her real friends?

REVIEW: INTERVENTION is a micro budget attempt at trying to combine themes from films such as “Memento” and “Identity,” and a few other films I could point out in the new format that is the successor to the found footage film - the video conference call.

INTERVENTION  is a balance between the narrative and visual style. In terms of the plot, there is not much meat on the bone. Some of the story is revealed through “clues,” notes on Laura’s computer. When she clicks on them, to reveal what is written there, the cursor slides along the words like a game show model displaying a prize. It happens often enough to be annoying, almost condescending. The director, Samesh Ramjattan, should never play poker. He lays out the actors in a way that most of the time hints at who these characters are to Laura. The film begins with Laura exploring her computer before she receives the call. In the third act there are limited images and videos that feel like they were done on the cheap. In fact, I couldn’t say if it was a choice of style or, again, doing this on the cheap, where the sound cuts out when the focus moves to a different speaker, which often happens with low bandwidth on a video conference call. It just becomes another annoying element to the film. The film brings in elements of witchcraft and makes a grand supposition. After the film drags the viewer through this convoluted setup of course the film ends where it began, the next morning as Laura struggles to remember who she is.

The film is mostly stagnant as the only real “action” is the switching between the speaking characters and the screen layout. The rooms these characters are in are flat. There is minimal set dressing. It could have been interesting to have one or two of the characters participating on their smartphones in a more fluid location to break things up a bit. Daniel Patrick-Murrell gets a score credit, but the only music I remember was at the beginning and end credits, and that’s really not a score. The costumes are functional, nothing special.

The actors try hard to sell the tale and engage the viewer, but the format renders them stagnant. The performances are ambitious but the film lacks any creative support to help them forge their characters in the drama. There are times when the characters are all chiming in, stepping on each other's lines, that is, again, annoying.

Samesh Ramjattan’s INTERVENTION feels like an idea that is not fully realized. The limitations of the format and its execution makes the film suffer from lack of engagement or energy. Granted it's an interesting blend of ideas, but the trauma suffered by the central character lacks any gravitas. Those plot points surrounding the trauma feel superficial. In the final analysis, if the narrative was pruned down into a short film it might have made a more interesting and engaging story. At one hour and forty-four minutes, it just drags on and becomes a chore to watch.

CAST: Amber Doig-Thorne, Bibi Lucille, Laura McQuiggin, Heather Elise Nelson, Jasmine Rachelle, and Lucia France. CREW: Director/Screenplay/Producer/Production Design - Samesh Ramjattan; Screenplay - T D M Flynn; Cinematographer - Guillem Valle; Score - Daniel Patrick-Murrell; Editors - Ivana Anastasovska & Guido Benedicto; Visual Effects Artist - Tim Greenfield. OFFICIAL: https://www.brava.film/intervention FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/bravafilmstudios TWITTER: https://twitter.com/brava_studios TRAILER: https://youtu.be/he3iRwXATho RELEASE DATE: April 22nd, 2022, Digital & VOD.

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay),  or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri

#film review #movie review #intervention #interventionmovie #buffalo 8 #samesh ramjattan #amber doig-thorne #bibi lucille #Laura McQuiggin #heather elise nelson #jasmine rachelle #lucia france #horror #witches #thriller #video conference #joseph mauceri #joseph b mauceri