#she speaks!

[ghostfacerseffect]

Thinking about film scores & concept albums & auditory storytelling

#grrr argh bite #it's so!!!!! #i love you film & tv composers you're my world #film scores #songwriting #narratives #music #film #leitmotifs #media analysis #themes #motifs #she speaks! #id in alt text #15k

[hum--hallelujah]

man I mean just. the SMFS album lettering is made of clay. the cover art is an actual physical painting. there's a lot less fx on the album as a whole than Mania (which is NOT a knock on my bbg Mania btw, just pointing out the different approach) or even SRAR and ABAP. the songs sound basically the same live as they do on the record because the production is so minimal. they have a huge vinyl dog head onstage with them, that they touch and interact with and talk to (and, in Pete's case, get eaten by). the attic scene is made by lowering a piece of rigging to literally make the stage smaller. there's actually a LOT of sets especially comparatively to their previous tours, the rigging around the stage is done up almost as a physical frame for it. they only have one screen onstage and it's small, its purpose is to be the 8-ball and to add a little bit of texture to the wider design. the backdrops, even the new desert scene for 2ourdust, are physical backdrops — one of which was made by one of Pete's kids — not LED or projections. the album title is made of clay. it's about existing in the world, making things so you feel alive, making the world a little more fuckin weird! do you get it yet?

#this has been in my drafts for a while and i meant to post it right after my show but. ough #pete said the thing about make weird art and he mentioned bracelets and i had made SO MANY bracelets #there was a kid maybe 11ish in the row behind me and i turned around during fake out to give her my fake out bracelet #and like. at the end pete had everybody clap for the venue and tech crew and that nearly made me cry #make the world a weirder place… the physical tactile things MATTER #she speaks! #fob #fall out boy #2ourdust #my show

[dustyforeskin]

I love MC's unrelenting commitment to chaos

#nightbringer spoilers #obey me nightbringer spoilers #obey me nightbringer #obey me #obey me! #obey me shall we date #mammon #obey me mammon #she speaks!

[desos-records]

The part I appreciate the most in the Lockwood and Co show is how it handles depression and suicidal thoughts in teenagers. As a theme, it’s not often (ever) done well. Lockwood and Co is the only story I can think of that depicts it in a nuanced, realistic, non-romanticized way

but first, before I get into it: [if you’re in crisis or need someone to talk to and don’t want to/can’t use your national hotline, highly recommend Samaritans, genuinely saved my life] okay, let’s go

Lockwood is the most obvious, with his general disregard for his own life and admitted suicidal ideation. Lucy struggles with her self-worth and the intensity of the emotions she’s subjected to. George worries that he doesn’t belong, that there’s something useless or wrong about him. The show depicts these thoughts and feelings in a way that isn’t overblown or dramatized, it’s all but casual. Which is how it happens. Depression or suicidal thoughts don’t crash into you all at once, they creep into your life without you noticing

But more importantly (and again, something I’ve never seen anywhere else), the show also offers counterpoints to those thoughts and feelings. It shows that there is a way out, even though you may feel trapped and hopeless. This is crucial for the show’s target demographic. Bad media depictions of depression or suicide get internalized, contribute to the stigma, and make it harder for people to ask for help. This show doesn’t do that. This show tells its audience that, yes, things are scary and painful and it fucking sucks, but it’s not hopeless. And it says it so well

In the second episode, when Lucy wants to quit, she admits something that I’m almost certain she’s never told anyone

“sometimes I just think I’d be better off dead”

And when I watched this the first time, I expected Lockwood to react the way I’ve seen people react in my own life; with silence or panic or downright dismissal. But he didn’t. He stays calm and he says something that is so so important to hear when you’re struggling under the weight of feelings like this

“I understand that”

Saying this tells someone several things: that you’re on their side, they aren’t strange or monstrous for feeling like this, and that you’re not going to attack or abandon them because of it. And you can see the impact it has on Lucy, the way her face clears. She went from struggling to breathe and near tears to calm and steady. It’s no mistake that in this moment we hear his and Lucy’s theme for the first time (those simple, beautiful guitar strings)

The next thing he says is also important

“and it’s not true”

Simple, to the point, directly addressing her feelings, and (the most common mistake) doesn’t make it about him. Telling someone that you love them or that they’d be upset to lose you might sound nice, and it can be later on in the conversation, but in a moment like this, it’s infinitely more helpful to confront the thought itself

A similar moment in the first book stuck with me too, when they’re underneath Combe Carey Hall and Lucy almost steps into the well. What she’s hearing in her head (and the general phenomenon of malaise that ghosts produce) is very similar to depressive or suicidal thoughts. Before she can fall, Lockwood pulls her back

“no, Lucy, that’s not the way it’s going to be”

Depressive and suicidal thoughts deal in absolutes, so sometimes it takes an absolute to counter it

In the last episode, George has that heart-breaking moment where he says all the awful things he thinks about himself, partly because of the influence of the boneglass and Bickerstaff, but it’s also been building up, there in the background. Increasingly, it’s Lockwood and Lucy working together and George working on his own, which picks at old wounds (engineer, engineer, engineer, weirdo). He bonds with Joplin because he feels like she understands him in a way the others don’t

“it’s nice to have someone to show off to”

But Lucy pushes back against all that because she sees herself in all the ugly things George is saying, because she’s felt that way too. She understands that. She’s so surprised and horrified to hear him saying those things, resigning himself to dying down there, she’s not going to let him go on believing them

“you’re not a third wheel or an oddball or whatever it is that you think you are”

“you’re the best of us”

“we are not losing you, Georgie”

Flo called him that earlier too, but Lucy wasn’t there for that and coming unprompted from her it sounds so much like something you might call your slightly annoying younger brother. She’s so absolute about it all, with no opening for doubt, and you can see something like surprise on George’s face (but also pain because now Lucy’s in danger too)

For all Lucy knows, the boneglass will kill her. I don’t think for a second she genuinely believes her talent will protect her; she told Joplin that to protect George. It’s unclear when exactly she came up with the plan to use the skull, but she was willing to risk it anyway. And she knows, she knows, George will blame himself for this (because she would too, if it were the other way around), but even then, she’s very clear

“this isn’t your fault”

Their whole scene down in the catacombs is two kids trying to keep each other alive, physically obviously, but on the inside as well. And, oh god, George almost crashing down next to Lucy after he’s knocked over the boneglass, trying to wake her up. His voice

“Lucy, Lucy, it’s me, it’s me, say something, speak to me”

I think it’s down in those catacombs that George and Lucy really understand each other for the first time. In their own ways, they’re both curious and suspicious about the Problem and what causes it, trying to learn more about it (and stressing Lockwood out in the process). They both left their families; they both struggle with feeling strange and different than everyone around them. That connection pulls them both back from the edge

Lockwood, for all his confidence, is practically in crisis or was fairly recently (I suspect living with George helped). It’s fairly common, actually, for someone suicidal to overcompensate with an exterior shell to hide it, which can manifest in different ways depending on the person (they may not even realize they’re doing it, I didn’t)

And I love how the show handles it. He’s not made into this dark, tragic figure. He’s so full of life it hurts. He jokes around with George and Flo, fights with Kipps, admires Fairfax. He has dreams (plans) for the future. He’s struggling with trauma, they all are, but he’s not Broken™ in the way similar leading characters are often made out to be, in the way we often fear we are

And, of course, there’s Lucy, a wreaking ball through the precarious balance of Lockwood’s life. It’s not so much that she gives him a reason to live (although she definitely helps), but she holds him accountable in a way no one else does. This is the difficult part of recovery that no one talks about. Having people care for you (George) and sympathize with you (Flo) is great and necessary, especially early on. But at some point, you have to take responsibility for yourself and the noise in your head (you have to open your door on the landing)

What that looks like is complicated and messy and different for every person, but seeing it played out in a story is remarkable. I’ve never seen anything like it. This is a difficult thing for anyone to learn (many adults never even try)

That shot of George, Lucy, Lockwood (and Kipps) rising up on the catafalque sums it all up for me. Each of them fell into darkness alone and rose out of it together. They inspired each other to fight and win their individual battles, even when they couldn’t be there to help

#lockwood and co #lockwood & co #anthony lockwood #lucy carlyle #george karim #george cubbins #quill kipps #lockwood and lucy #lucy and lockwood #locklyle #lockwood netflix #flo bones #She speaks!

[ratislatis]

HELP MY ANIMATION PROFESSOR FOR NEXT YEAR WANTS EXAMPLES OF MY ART SO HE CAN WAIVE THE PRE-REQS FOR AN ANIMATION COURSE BUT ALL I DRAW IS DUNGEONS AND DADDIES

#she speaks! #dungeons and daddies #dndads #AAAAUUUGHHHH

[boyfriendlucy]

Game changer

#boygenius #anti-curse #song: anti-curse #music #lyrics #words #julien baker #lucy dacus #phoebe bridgers #she speaks!

[dracognition]

this is too short to tag as a proper wip snip but it's making me laugh and i want to put it somewhere so:

He took a moment to look at Malfoy properly: he remembered, back when his friends had the wrong idea about sixth year, that Hermione had said he was rather odd-looking on top of everything else, wasn’t he? Very pointy. Awful person. Harry could do better.

#she speaks! #drarry #is malfoy canonically attractive? probably #but i've always preferred writing him as someone a bit weird-looking that harry's madly into #to the confusion of all his friends. he's mean! he's annoying! he's vaguely classist a lot of the time! and he's not even that hot! #and yet the saviour of the wizarding world is enamoured...

[clarasoswinoswalds]

King - Florence and the Machine // As Yet Unsent - Tamsyn Muir

#the locked tomb #as yet unsent #florence and the machine #fatm #jodybeth #judith deuteros #coronabeth tridentarius #tlt #web weaving #yes. i know this has been done before but i wanted to do it! starting a series of tlt and fatm lyrics i think #tltfatm #she speaks!

[brendonloverurie]

I love tumblr so much. I really hope it lasts forever. ❤️ I don't wanna ever go back to not having any friends, even if my friends are just online strangers.

@staff

#tumblr #@staff #my thoughts #she speaks!

[dreamyinwriting]

I would be a Max apologist if there were anything to apologize for

#the quarry #the quarry spoilers #not really but just in case #max the quarry #max brinly #she speaks!

[grace4867]

i keep hearing about dungeon meshi do i dare ask about it

Oh boy I'm so glad you asked!!

TLDR, Guy and his friends save his sister through the power of autism, yuri, and eating a balanced meal.

After challenging a dragon and losing his sister in the process, Laios (The blonde armor guy) and his party are brought back to the surface with basically no money. He and Marcille (Blue elf girl) decide they can't wait to go back into the dungeon, but being that they have no money Laios decides that they'll just eat the monsters in the dungeon to get back down to the dragon. Chilchuck (Guy who looks like he's twelve) goes with them so they don't die. Once in the dungeon they meet Senshi (Dwarf guy) who knows how to cook monsters and has been living down there for years. Together they make their way back to the dragon to save Falin.

Being able to eat monsters is Laios' dream come true, Senshi just likes to cook, and Marcille and Chilchuck are constantly finding new ways to be horrified by the food they're eating, though it always tastes good in the end.

I personally like Dungeon Meshi for characters! (Marcille, Chilchuck, and Itzumi are personal favs) They all feel like actually people, and the world building is pretty cool too! It has a bit of a DND meets FMAB vibe to it, so if you're into those I'd definately check it out!

#she speaks! #dungeon meshi #sorry if this doesnt make sense or you were looking for different info feel free to ask me more questions!! #I tried to keep it as spoiler free as possible too in case you do want to watch or read it

[ghostfacerseffect]

#listen the new kid seems lovely this isn't a diss this is just my personal desire #also a Joke(tm) #but fr please do you know what i would do #doctor who #dw #dw memes #doctor who memes #nuwho #doctor who companions #she speaks!

[hum--hallelujah]

actually I can make my own post look at him

#she speaks! #fob #fall out boy #ps #patrick stump #2ourdust

[starry-nights12]

September 29 is my birthday!!!🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

It would be really nice if I would get any birthday wishes and gifts😭 (fanart, gift fics, hcs, etc)

#she speaks! #my birthday #my post #also gonna change my theme #I love ekko but I had it for too long😭 #Not expecting much but it woyld be a pleasant surprise

[desos-records]

the moments in the Lockwood and Co show that really break my heart are the ones where Lockwood’s armor cracks. god bless the actor, his expressions are so subtle but convey so much.

you see it a little when he’s asking Lucy if she’ll take the job (if she’ll stay), then a little with Kipps (telling Lucy not to stay), a bit when his charming words, a weapon as real as his rapier, fail completely on Barnes

but the first real break happens when Lucy’s possessed because he’s completely unprepared for this and it has nothing to do with the ghost and everything to do with how she’s touching his face and how she’s looking at him (like she loves him, like she means it when she says that). and worse, how she’s asking him not to hurt her (he’s afraid he will one day)

then again when Barnes tells Lockwood to fire Lucy (that he won’t be able to let her stay), probably because there’s no one to see his face. his mask shoots right back up as soon as he turns around. 

and again when Lucy threatens to quit

“we need you [I need you].” 

“why?” 

“because [it’s too soon to tell you this] because you’re [someone I already can’t stand the thought of losing] you’re Lucy Carlyle [and you make everything better]”

you see it a little after they blow up the well, but it looks more like a strange sort of relief than a break (Lucy and George are safe) and all he needs is a little grounding (holding Lucy’s hand). the real one happens when Fairfax calls his bluff and points a gun at him, not because of the gun, not really, but because his words can’t protect him (but Lucy can)

when he apologizes to Lucy for yelling at her (hiding how rattled he was by George’s comment about his feelings for her), his armor doesn’t break so much as he sets it down on purpose this time. he can’t stand the thought of hurting her and if he has to come out from behind his mask to make amends (if that’s what it takes for her to stay), he will

there are cracks all over his armor when Winkman threatens him (because his words mean nothing here), but it shatters when he threatens Lucy. he’s begging this man to kill him for the chance that Lucy lives. and oh, when Winkman says he’ll kill Lockwood first so he won’t have to watch her die (his words don’t just fail to protect him, they fail to protect her)

and you can see that part of him wants to set it down when Lucy asks him why he was so so quick to die for her, but he just managed to pull it back together and the wound is too raw. he understands that she’s angry with him (and he cannot stand that), but I’m not sure he understands why. because it doesn’t occur to him that she cares about him too (that she cannot stand the thought of losing him). all he can process right then is that Lucy’s alive and she’s angry with him, but at least she’s safe now

from the beginning he’s constantly trying to make sure she’s safe, but he’s more and more obvious about it. it isn’t George saying Lockwood’s in charge, not her, that gets him moving (he could barely sit still as it is), it’s the reminder that she’s in danger and he’s not there to make sure she’s safe. he was fully prepared to break down that basement door if it meant rescuing her. he grounds her the best way he knows how (the way his hand runs down her forearm before he holds her hand) and tells her

“we’ve got you now [I’m here].”

“you’re safe now, okay? you’re with us. [I’ll make sure you’re safe].”

there’s still more hairline fractures when he sees Lucy with Kipps, when he sees her with Fittes. which is why he gives her the necklace. the thought of her maybe choosing someone else sends him running to tell her how important she is to him (as clumsy as it is) and ask her to stay. it’s not as outright as before because it’s not just them, it’s everything he’s threatened by

“I can’t compete with this [with someone else for your favor]”

the worst of it, of course, is around the auction. before it starts, the DEPRAC agent sees right through him, giving Lockwood a painful reminder of his age (which he tries to act above) with one hand

and when he and Lucy are fighting, he pushes her away, would’ve charged in there alone, but she stays (it’s much too real now). she calls him out and his armor fails him, but he still can’t seem to process her point. he thinks just being around him (much less getting close to him) will hurt her. failing to understand that losing him would hurt her (and it is far too late to turn back)

and then after, when the DEPRAC agent dies and Lockwood is so quick to blame himself, it isn’t just a break. he loses all of it. his center is on full display, his fear and his bleeding heart. he can barely stand.

he still reaches out to Lucy to ground himself (because when he can’t protect himself, she does) and she’s so forceful with her feelings for him. she’s not gently touching his face, but holding his head and jarring him back to present (which is the real way Lucy loves). he can’t hold onto her properly or even look at her, but she’s the one who gives him back his armor. she presses their foreheads together and he takes a breath and he starts to build it back up

it’s ramshackle and unsteady, but it’s back by the time they step out of the car. it’s still nothing against Lucy. and he realizes here, as she’s walking away from him, what she’s been trying to tell him

so by the time he quietly steals into the kitchen, he’s left it behind again, because he’s learning that he doesn’t need it with Lucy (it’s hardly protection if it’s hurting her). this is his center too, the part full of love, and it’s no mistake that it happens in the kitchen, the center of their house. and he’s more honest than he’s ever been

“don’t give up on me.”

“the bottom of the thames used to be a far more appealing place to be.”

“and really no one would have cared.”

“but now... [now there’s you and you care and I won’t hurt something you care about].”

and of course it does come back during the final fight (it is a survival instinct after all) and when he’s collapsing, in pain, afraid (old habits don’t go away overnight). but Lucy and George push back before he goes too far

“this isn’t how you die.”

“how do you know?”

“we won’t let you.”

“never.”

he’s in a place where he can start healing (now that the wound’s been cleaned out), which is why he opens the door. because, yes, his armor is useful, but he doesn’t need it with George and Lucy

#thank you for coming to my tedtalk #lockwood and co #lockwood & co #anthony lockwood #lucy carlyle #lockwood and lucy #locklyle #george karim #george cubbins #lockwood netflix #lockwood and co netflix #She speaks!

[ratislatis]

guys if there is ever a dungeons and daddies secret santa (or fanart/fanfic exchange) i dont CARE if i look inactive SOMEBODY TAG ME PLEASE. PUHLEAAAASDSSEEE I MISS THINGS SO EASILY 😭 I WANT TO BE PART OF THE COMMUNITY SO BADDDD

#dndads #dungeons and daddies #she speaks! #I COULD LITERALLY SOB ‘PART OF YOUR WORLD’ RN #but also dont. dont worry #I just need people to know #I’d LOVE #to be in an art secret santa of any kind #I think they’re so COOL #and im never IN THEM #and it makes me SAD LMAO