#its just...its such a solid episode and you can watch it in any mood

[freckleslikestars]

Favourite X-FILES Episode Countdown {24/24} 1.01 | Pilot

[itsdappleagain]

BARK BARK ITS FINALLY TIME FOR THE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME CAPER

not giving up on my trademark of being late for csweekly even though i vowed i wouldn't be late on this one. i have an excuse. i was doing audition prep/submission for a musical

OKAY ANYWAY

i think if i ever actually visited the belltower i would take damage just from being in the space

notes under the cut as always!

OKAY starting thoughts. this is. literally my favorite episode in the entire show. my favorite. im so fucking stoked you don't even know i love watching my blorbos get beat up. me 🤝rueitae

anyways. biting this episode and shaking it violently

i like that the faculty tie actually makes sense and they have solid motivations. it isnt just a plot device for a tie

love this shiot/angle of bellum btw so behold her. she is so amazing

okay hi. immediately stopping to go on a rant about the atmosphere in this caper. its. fucking. incredible. the scenery is so perfect. the right balance of beautiful and desolate, and it changes as the mood does. i could do this later but i will do it now because idk i want to its my post

notice as the episode goes on how as the tone gets darker in carmen's plotline, the scenery and mood around her gets colder and literally darker as well.

ivy's backgrounds, meanwhile, stay pretty light throughout because she has somewhat of a more comedic and hopeful storyline while carmen dies in a ditch somewhere.

also, as soon as carmen calls chief, the snow/light of the hologram/shot composition away from the dark trees shows that there is hope now

just....hope that is tinted with cop fingerprints all over it. i just GOD i fucking LOVE how you can VISUALLY SEE HOW HER LIFE IS GOING its reflected by the very environment around her. compare any shot after she gets acme in to the very last one i put in that set of five.

no moment is darker for carmen than when she gives up, on the brink of death, and calls for help, submitting herself to prison and interrogation in the hopes that even if vile wins today, she can somehow survive to take them down again another day.

man, i am barely a minute into the actual episode and i have a lot to say. that trend will continue. sorry not sorry. back to the actual liveblogging.

fun fact the first time i watched this episode i did not notice the acme agents on top of the building watching "carmen"

i love the little hints dropped to audience members who arent entirely in the know yet (7 year olds) that its ivy, not carmen, and that something is up here. lack of gigantic poofy brown hair, different stature, ivys little smile as she goes past. of course, if you're obsessive like me, youve memorized every characters outline and can tell even with wigs on

OH hey my favorite acme agent hang on

its her. she is drop dead gorgeous and has a nose piercing. she also i think gets all of one line in the s4 opener telling crackle to do whatever (or maybe its her partner but anyway i love her)

I have already earned from her

have you been GAY for twenty years chief? julia has

julia slays so hard in this episode. wish devineaux stayed dead longer because she thrives when she's by herself

episode is literally so gorgeous

i love zari just being like oh my god this bitches gay. bad for them

that soft little "i should have known" smile julia does when carmen puts her hand on her shoulder guts me like an animal

live acme (ants to classify and monitor evildoers) reaction

hey!! next time ivy gets into a frozen adventure with carmen in germany she gets an earbud upgrade :D

zack too!!

that "but powerful" line is literally gay. happy pride month from ivy "muscles" "milady" "i feel powerful dressing in my girlfriend's clothing" lastname

obsessed with zack's little finger wiggles to emulate typing when he imitates player

i love just how. rrgh casual they are. yes carmen is super serious and focused this caper (for good reason. launch codes) but they get in a little. julia notices something small about carmen and that she's cold and the playful tone in the reply from carmen before everything kind of goes to shit. "had to loan my coat once I spotted your reinforcements!" its just a bit of information but its some that she trusts julia with. she asks julia if chief is listening but if she was. carmen would have already blown ivy's cover. i know she stole the pen for good measure but seriously she TRUSTS her

i love how julia pats her jacket and then does not react in the slightest she was just making sure that was HER pen not someone else's

ivy being horrible in snow gag is the best part of this episode

i love julia showing off. she doesnt get to infodump to anyone else but she knows carmen will appreciate it. and shes trying to be coy about knowing what carmen is there to do (sorry jules. you would have been right any other time)

i also like that as julia is infodumping shes absorbing MORE by walking backwards and gazing around the city hall

fun fact: i always wondered how the hell the acme agents got into/hid in the hall without anyone seeing them but there are doors in between all of those pillars!

also

this hallway does in fact exist! i mean considering the cs team probably went there to location scout in person (see below picture of duane and the team in san fran) it makes sense!!

anyway. should i made an "only vaguely related tangents" tally counter for these things at the end of the post lmao

i love how super serious carmen gets here. this episode is so much more mature in its theming than some other episodes. from the launch codes to the fakeout suicide to the continued death before capture thing carmen has going on. man. i cant tell if ivys comic relief section is good for lightheartedness or tonal whiplash lmao

she has for a split second the look of a mother who just heard her child say "i frew up"

ARGH and i also love how literally nothing julia can say in that time will help. she tries- oh, she tries- but "its not what you think" mistakenly sounds like she was still in on it. it looks, for the moment, like julia was trying to distract her or this acme agent missed her cue or something. of course later in the ep carmen has plennnty of time

interestingly cs does away with the doors in between the pillars for a more ethereal and sophisticated look but there are doors in my heart

i love how carmen turns to run sideways. girl even if there weren't acme agents there where were you going

i also just fucking love carmen's completely silent analysis once shit gets really serious. she calculates and recalculates what she needs to do to survive here. and she's RUTHLESS about it. i think this is kind of the one time we really see her vile training come out in comparison to someone other than vile itself. she takes those acme agents OUT

part of me wonders if carmen, in that little pause by the door, thought that maybe her chances were better backtracking but she didn't want to have to hurt jules to get out. maybe im just gay and wistful idk BUT okay here's my reasoning!! hang on! stay with me!! carmen equals BAD in tight spaces. saw it in rio, saw it in nz, saw it in poitiers. its everywhere- she does better with more space. however, she does like her high grounds, so honestly this is pure headcanon but like,,, not wanting to hurt julia. send post

also you can see in the background julia TAKING OFF after the other agents....no gun drawn of course

this fight scene with carmen is so fucking fantastic

she never. NEVER. EVER does full fight scenes where she does a lot of offensive but this situation is so different. she SPRINTS at that bitch she holds him HOSTAGE and while of course she's acting so that she doesn't get caught the fight almost portrays her a little villainously with the trail of bodies she leaves behind her as she goes

ALSO THAT FLIP OFF THE WALL MOVE IS SO DAMN COOL. she tricks the acme agent into gassing herself almost effortlessly and only takes a split second to coldly look behind her to make sure there's no one else coming before she takes off again

and then the other three who didnt get knocked out start going after her again which distracts her just enough to let zari catch her with the shot

the shaky "camera" and blurred vision pov as carmen fades in and out of consciousness while instinct alone keeps her going up the stairs is just ARGH chefs kiss

fun fact zari's "there after her" line gets reused in the series finale

btw carmen falling of the tower scared me so bad when i first watched this at like 13. suicide fakeout <3 scared me so bad

also how the camera keeps moving even when carmen doesnt even seem to be in the picture anymore before her glider catches up with it. top. tier

and then the stockholm music kicks in. hoo mama the music in this episode is fucking unparalleled. that incessant, chilling, repetitive string instrument motif as carmen's situation begins to get really dire. aurgh.

carmen's continued pov as player starts getting really concerned about her and she fades in and out. carmen weaving all over the sky and crashing into shit grggrgrgr its so good

ivy getting tazed. yeah.

ivy can pass as an....argentinian.. right boys

player and zack when two out of four of their active teammates just went mia in the span of a minute: 👁️👄👁️

man do you think they thought it was an ambush or something. like i mean it was but an organized effort by one team. do you think zack was scared he would be next and that player would be left in the dark. anyway

the way moose picks ivy up by the scruff like a cat kills me

the citizens of stockholm on this day watching a foreign police strike happen at city hall and then a tourist get tazed, mugged, and kidnapped by some locals: 👁️👄👁️

IN WITH THE HIGH NOTES ON THE PIANO IN THAT SAME REPETITIVE, INCESSANT, CHILLING STYLE OF MUSIC THIS EPISODE HAS AS CARMNE LIES MOTIONLESS IN THE SNOW ARGEHDHDHGDGSDGSDHD

i really enjoy that they show us this desolate, still shot of carmen, completely motionless, trapped in a ravine, miles and miles away from the city. she doesnt wake up. its just the cold, harsh reality. and its starting to snow a lot harder.

julia just snatching the pen gets me every time

i love the emotion dropping out of chiefs tone once she sees the 5'2" pissed off lesbian on the other end

YES julia GO OFF she should have gotten to do so much more. she should have gotten to kill someone.

julia glancing back at zari when she says "chase her away and squander her trust" and zari turning away and balling her first is such a juicy little character moment

the venom in "we had an agreement." fhrjhgfejsjjd step on me

you know how people want that throwback spinoff series for the owl house with the lost moments. that but cs. shadowsan's malaysia mission, how the team operated and the jobs while carmen was recovering, more of black sheep's time at vile/her holdover year, her and player learning together once she tours around after escaping, the shanghai job (not the tsonts one), the cairo job, the swiss bank job. how julia got into law, how chase chose his name, more on carlotta and dexter, the two years after vile's defeat and before their reappearance, more of evil carmen, player's backstory as told in silver lion. there is. so much i want to see. tangent tally.

god. player's decision here is such a hard one. he's like sixteen, and he's potentially juggling the lives of two of his best friends with that line. the decision seems obvious, but in this case it is completely, entirely wrong. player's choice to save ivy instead of carmen damn near kills her, and there's no way he could have known. player guilt angst, please!

once again the music. thank you.

carmen's cry of pure pain as she moves juuust tickles something in my brain. she has no one to put on a brave face for and that crash landing HURT.

also how hoarse her voice is

the more groans of pain as she forces herself off the ground they are so good.

i love this episode for its look into carmen's psyche. so much of her is playing off of others, but in this one she is utterly alone. we see her thought processes in the worst of times with no one to fight but the weather and herself. fantastic shit. never forgiving sarcastic chorus for skimming over this episode and saying nothing happens did you watch it

the puff of breath when carmen says "player"!!!

carmen's tone when she goes "oookay." just is so good. gina did not skimp out on this performance and part of me wonders if she could have done better if she wasnt always trying to play the emotionless, suave hero figure and she let carmen be more human, like in this episode. carmen is seeing that she is injured, acme is trying to reach her, her glider is broken, she has no protection from the cold, and that player and any other help is completely out of range and she is not happy about it

carmen crying out when she slips even more when she's trying to climb its so tangible and delicious

FUN ANECODTE because i havent gone on enough tangents for this post already but the first time i ever saw this episode my dad came to pick me up for his half of the week right here. i had to leave the episode right here, with ivy kidnapped and mia and carmen alone in the frozen ravine, the acme pen blinking. i didnt have access to netflix to finish the episode. for. four. days. let me tell you. um. this episode literally did not let me sleep. that first night i was lying in bed i stayed up until like 3am just staring at the ceiling replaying the scenes and making theories. i was dry in the mouth. when i fell asleep i dreamed about it and kept waking up in the middle of the night. i cornered my dad and recounted the entire episode to him and then reeled off my theories to him. i reeled off my theories to my friends. i was literally consumed by the ending of this episode that i could not see. it was Not Healthy and it impacted me VERY HEAVILY as you can see.

but anyway my one theory was that carmen was going to be forced to call acme for help and be arrested because they kept doing closeups on the pen. good job, thirteen year old me. the foreshadowing worked.

back to the episode

ivys literally so cute in this episode

look at her.

ottoman has chihuahua vibes

the ice lodge staff watching two guys drag some poor red haired white bitch into the hotel like a sack of potatos: im sure shes fine they probably told them she was drunk lmao

im goosebumping something wicked here is one of the phrases of all time

DUMSKALLE

that raw, desperate "no" and scream from carmen is so good. that fall hurt five thousand times more because it was a failure. and also she probably just broke all the ribs that weren't broken before

it took me a few watches originally to see that carmen hits her glider on the way down. first time around i was like where tf did she get that wack ass blanket

draw me like one of your moose boys

moose boy unironically seems like a nice guy who got dragged into this by otter

can you imagine if they showed up with ivy and were like HAHA. CARMEN SANDIEGO. what would the faculty do with this poor white girl who is definitely not carmen. probably wipe her memory and boot out otter and moose but can you imagine their reactions

MOOSE BOY IS VOICED BY SONIC THE HEDGEHOG?? SCREAMING

or maybe it was right here that i got cut off with the panning shot of the pen and carmen sitting away from it staring at it. whatever it was but anyway yeah

the sadness and defeat as carmen shivers and tells this imaginary chief that vile is winning today either way just kills me i love it so much. carmen's death before capture ideology (almost. capture wins but it almost doesnt)

LAUNCH CODES? AS IN NUCYULAH?

also team red. didnt know what was on the data crystal!! they didnt know what the handoff was!!! they just knew it was fucking serious and that makes this all the more scary. had ivy not gotten kidnapped they would have missed it. i mean carmen would have probably tried to drag her foot on deaths doorstep ass over to the ice lodge to try anyway but she would have gotten triple pulverized

someone swinging (insert wieldy object) at a gigantic villain and it doing nothing is my favorite battle trope

more ivy appreciation

she said NOPE

ivy is literally so cool in this episode. she's still herself but she's trying to channel carmen and fill her gigantic shoes by making her proud. but she isnt carmen, and thats okay. she ends up doing it with a mix of carmen's help and her own goofy, clumsy style

AND IVYS TWANGY LITTLE VERSION OF CARMENS THEME AS SHE SUITS UP. ITS AWESOME

again. ivy being terrible on ice gag is the best. winters in boston must have been torture

man it doesnt even show all of it but you can see the agonizing that went into carmen's decision to call acme. once she makes it she doesnt hesitate in grabbing and clicking it. she does it seamlessly and with resignation. shes already fought with herself enough in her own head.

carmen: literally in the middle of the woods, shaking like a travelling fair rollercoaster ride, and bleeding from a thousand cuts chief: oh hey! sorry about that

MAN CARMEN THREW THAT PEN A LONG WAY

i also like that carmen has to heave herself up from sitting, and that she's only standing as a last display of control when every other ounce of it has been ripped from her. she has to lean on the tree, still, even to manage it. as soon as she pushes off of that tree and starts walking towards chief she collapses.

chief those business negotiations. can you wait

i do appreciate that chief doesnt play dumb or think carmen is dumb. she's been calling that pen for as long as carmens been staring at it. she knows carmen knows what calling her means and doesnt try to hide that theyre coming for her.

haha. where in the world is carmen sandiego reference. get it

MAN AND THEN EVERYTHING GETS SOO BAD. you realize just how serious this is when carmen drops the tough act and just reaches out. she does a quip, but her face is just hopeless and she drops like a STONE. she was barely hanging on. already dumped this onto rueitae's post but i think that as soon as she knew she'd done everything she could do and had exhausted every single option except dying on the spot. well. she didnt have a reason to hang on anymore. she gave up every single ounce of control to chief when she clicked that pen and her body needed to shut down to save her. so so so good

i really really like chief running over and hesitating before she puts her "hand" on carmens shoulder. she knows she cant do anything, but she can pretend and she can hope

i really do think she was concerned about carmen here, not just about the intel she was potentially losing. this scene mirrors her past with wolfe nearly perfectly, and it NEVER gets talked about. once again a call chief made on a person who turned out to have innocent intentions (gun was really car keys, julia going off the grid was really just her and carmen talking it out) gets them killed- or, in carmen's case, almost. chief, this time, has the power to save her and fix this mistake. parallels are also fun because obviously carmen is wolfe's daughter so double angst.

ivy immediately switching to suspicious spy face after she slams into the bar is so funny

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW OFTEN I USED TO JUST RANDOMLY SAY "hello, im shady mcshade from some sleazy rogue nation, check out my briefcase full of untraceable cash!" to just RANDOM PEOPLE IN MY LIFE with NO CONTEXT

the bartender is not paid enough for this

I LOVE THE LADY WHO JUST GETS TF OUTTA THERE WHEN IVY CRASHES INTO HER CHAIR

the little trill of carmens triumph theme when ivy looks at the grappling hook is so good

girl. ivy. you missed that REALLY BADLY for someone who threw an anchor up three stories with pinpoint accuracy like a couple years ago

poor ivy she was doing so well with the quips and the competence until she announced it to the entire ice lodge

warrior cats girls on the playground

ivys unhinged scream as she barells towards otter is so fantastic

it would really have super sucked if zack had run ivy over

again. this episode is so beautiful

i love that otter and moose would normally have never even been glanced at for an episode because they suck so bad but because it was untrained baby ivy (who still kicked their asses) they could be there also who assigned them the nuclear fucking launch codes. who did that

oh man you can see the smile drop off ivys face when zack asks where they can find carmen. she doesnt even think that carmen is still missing. she probably thinks carmens back on track by now, not that it would be HOURS later and shes still missing.

zack getting to ivy on the other side of stockholm: 🐌🐌🐌 zack getting to carmen twice as far away in the middle of the woods: 🦔 (too lazy to find sonic meme. sonic meme.)

julia just giving zari the most disappointed look when zari kicks carmen when shes down

FUN FACT OF THE DAY! in the original storyboards, julia and zari were supposed to get a SHOOKETH reaction shot when chief offers carmen a way out with z and i. they cut it. rude.

the pen lowering down to reveal julia behind it has always felt like such an important shot and i dont know why. like theres some symbolism im majorly missing out on there

ahh, the heartbroken look between friends

AGAIN this episode punches you like an elephant on steroids with that quiet "is she going to make it?" CARMEN IS ON THE BRINK. OF DEATH. AND HER FRIENDS ARENT EVEN CERTAIN SHES GOING TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE NIGHT. MAN. it raises the stakes up so high like obviously she wont die but in a tvy7 kids cartoon this is so fucking serious

carmen, delirious with the cold and pain, wondering if someone made a clone of her:

addressing all groups of people from now on as "student body most vile"

hey vile has a sick waterfall wall

it is really interesting that they do in fact shut down the academy. no one is allowed at the castle anymore once they move there. its also cool that in s4 because bellum doesnt have to be there teaching she can go to the himalayas and tinker full time!

wow. zuko and luz are in that crowd <3

okay. so. best episode ever. i love it so much and ive already gushed about it way too much so i wont keep you much longer.

tangent tally final count: like at least five it depends how specific you are

sorry about how long this is take it up with a brick wall it will be remorseful than me

[ultraericthered]

So, uh... Lazytown was a thing during my adolescent years, but for me, only a thing I was aware of rather than a thing I was into. Even years later as I was becoming an adult and it had a revival, I only knew it through The Memes(TM). But late last year, partially on a whim and partially because August this year will mark the fifth anniversary of when a truly special, wonderful, and irreplaceable human being named Stefan Karl Stefansson tragically left this world, I decided to give Magnus Scheving’s original Icelandic stage play Áfram Latibær! and its direct sequel Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ (which introduced Stefansson as Glanni/Robbie) a watch. The first one was unironically fun but also super hokey and cheap in a lot of ways. The sequel was superior in almost all ways. Both of them got me in the mood to give a look to the TV show and see what I’d slept on (ha ha) for so long.

After having watched a few episodes here and there, I can say that this show...is basic. That’s really the best word for it. Worse childrens shows have been made, but better ones exist as well. Sometimes the writing is solid and will get a laugh out of me, other times it’s just dumb and eyeroll-inducing. I’m not a fan of the puppet characters and kind of check out when the focus is on them, the song and dance numbers can be hit or miss, Stephanie’s pretty cool when played by Julianna Rose Mauriello rather than Chloe Lang (more the material’s fault than Lang’s, she was a better Stephanie in her TikTok videos), and on that note I’m not even touching the Cartoonito Era of the show beyond the meme-worthy Robbie Rotten content it gave us. Also, how dare the show leave out Officer Obtuse, that is a crime!

But none of that matters because this post is really about the two characters pictured above - Robbie Rotten, played by the late and great Stefan Karl Stefansson, and Sportacus, played by Magnus Scheving himself. These two are what make the series for me. In the plays and the show, they’re the strongest elements. The actors’ portrayal of them is obviously a huge part of it (seriously, how the Hell was I sleeping on Robbie for so long? The guy’s legit hilarious!), but there’s something deeper that strikes me about them - they’re the best example of a Role Model VS an Anti Role Model I’ve ever seen.

What I mean by that is that Sportacus is the guy you like, you root for, and want to emulate in life. He’s there to make kids want to get more active, eat healthier, and make wiser life choices. Hell, he makes me want to get more active, eat healthier, and make wiser life choices! His athleticism and acrobatic abilities are like I’ve not seen since John Stork AKA Hyper-Strike on Who Wants To Be A Super Hero?, and his positive attitude and affable personality marks him as the Good Guy, the one you wish you could be like. ...But there’s always that awareness in the back of your mind that unless you are a very dedicated and talented pro gymnast like Magnus is, you will never be anywhere near as cool. You can follow in Sportacus’ footsteps but you cannot actually walk in them, it’s beyond you. Meanwhile, you’ve got Robbie Rotten, the guy you boo and hiss and enjoy watching as he gets thwarted, ridiculed, and bested every time he gets up to no good. You like him because he’s funny and not all that evil or dangerous (in the show, I mean - OG Glanni Glæpur was quite a different story), but do NOT want to emulate him and his lifestyle because it’s not at all subtle that he’s in the wrong, that sloth and gluttony are sins not to be encouraged in children. ...And yet, if you’re to be honest with yourself, you either know this guy or are this guy. You identify more with Robbie than with Sportacus because aside from the Jim Carrey-esque cartooniness and villainy, he’s more feasible. Any child could prefer to live more like how he does, and carry those preferences well into adulthood. It may not be healthy, but it’s easy, relaxing, self-gratifying and comfortably routine. Even if you’re better adjusted, you can’t help but find Robbie to be relatable in various ways at various points. Your want to not be like him is in part because you recognize in yourself qualities that he displays.

Yeah so basically I stan. These are iconic and immortal characters for a damn good reason.  

[cassthefrassreviews]

Wednesday- Netflix Show Review (spoilers duh)

Alright, i watched the show. Did i like it? Eh!! Will i still participate in fandom? Yes!

Show rating: 3 stars??

Right off the bat you can tell the only good actor in this show is the main character. Jenna Ortega 100% did this role amazingly, and was my second favorite character (first being Thing ofc). Everyone elses acting ranged from mid to just straight up not good? Not to mention like jesus the cast either looks 12 or late 20s, is this highschool, middle school or college?? And dont get me started on the MAIN MALE LEADS ACTING??? Tyler played by Hunter Doohan, deadass sounds like a shitty anime dub protagonist. And by GOD did that get on my nerves. I will say either the acting is better or more tolerable by the end of the season but thats most likely due to the fact the screen time mainly shifts onto the main character Wednesday. Which im fine with.

I love Wednesday, i love her so much. She is so autistic coded, just like me for real. Jennas portrayal is amazing. Line delivery, body language, everything down to the tea for amazing it was.

The writing...... yeah the writing..... yeah no..... Its not great, it feels like they only focused on making Wednesdays lines good and give 0 shits about anyone else. Some moments are great i wont lie, but alot of the writing comes off as???? Eh??? And the actors definitely didnt help carry the writing. Maybe with a different cast, it wouldn't have been so hard to watch.

The show starts off with a very strong pallet of "how do you do, fellow kids?" and honestly has one of the worse hooks ive ever seen. Social media being shoved down are throats and a couple of ad placements throughout the first episode, i was expecting a full on "HEY BUY THE LATEST IPHONE, EAT SOME DORITOS AND SHOP AT OLD NAVY" type of ads like the Addison Rae movie. Like oooooooooooof, thankfully they tone that down, but its still very obvious in some scenes.

SPOILERS BELLOW

Shows like this always make me feel weird where they have "outcast" "normie" type stuff. And yeah it was.... ?????? Man idk lmao. This show did alot of stereotypes and ???? stuff?? throughout it, that was honestly very weird? Like for example Enid isnt able to transform into a werewolf, and her mom wants to send her to.... wait for it.... CONVERSION THERAPY??? Are we serious??? And its like this long awkward scene that felt like a coming out scene of her turning down conversion therapy, and her mom storming out and her dad saying how proud he is and he will always support her....... like deadasss???? AND THEN!!! SHE ENDS UP "WOLFING OUT" AT THE END ANYWAYS????? So like are you serious??? They dealt with it like it was a coming out thing and it was a puberty thing and alsoa disability, so that was icky!!!

A HUGE ICK IS IN THE ENDING???? We find out what a hyde is and all of a sudden Wednesday finds out that Tylers mom, oh my god, was a HYDE!!! So she confronts him and let me just quote this scene for yall"

Wednesday: "Her postpartum depression triggered her condition"

Tyler: "My mom has severe bipolar disorder."

Wednesday: "We both now thats a lie..... She was a Hyde"

LIKE DID WE REALLY???? DID WE REALY JUST COMPARE A SEVERE MOOD DISORDER TO A CREATURE???? IN THE SHOW A HYDE IS DESCRIBED AND "UNLEASHED" By this: "artists by nature, but equally vindictive in temperament.” He wrote: “Born of mutation, the Hyde lays dormant until unleashed by a traumatic event or unlocked through chemical inducement or hypnosis."

Like???? what we arent going to do is compare an already severely stigmatized disorder to a literal monster. That is so fucked up??? On so many levels????

There were a couple good moments in the show, and i did really like watching the friendship between Enid and Wednesday blossom. Any scene with Thing was good and also the scenes with Eugene were pretty adorable. I do enjoy the way she does investigate and the mystery aspect is semi solid. Her visions are also portrayed very well and i like them. The fight scenes i would say are pretty well choreographed.

Wednesday has alot of autistic / neurodivergent traits, along with alot of the other characters and that is very fun to watch. Because omg me? Very relatable! Does put the whole "outcast" "normie" thing in a weird perspective tho huh?

Anways would i watch it again? No

Will i watch the second season? Yeah probably!!

Do I recommend it? EH??? If you can get through the first two episode and look past the cringey/ unbearable acting, then yeah go ahead. Its only 8 episodes, i finished it in a day, so if you just want the show in the background or youre bored sure. Again there are some captivating scenes but honestly none that are very hooking to me.

Anyways thats my review !!!

[purpleplaid17]

Jess Watches // Sun 17 Dec // Day 86 Synopses & Favourite Scenes & Poll

Person of Interest (rw with mum) 5x13 Return 0 (Series Finale)

Finch, Reese, Fusco and Shaw embark on one last mission to prevent Samaritan from destroying The Machine and cementing its hold over mankind.

The series seeming even more relevant a decade later. The dangers of living in a surveillance state and not trusting the government to monitor us with any kind of fairness and justice. The importance of human connections and helping others when we can. That the effort to be good is always worth it.

“Everyone dies alone. But if you mean something to someone… if you help someone or love someone, and even a single person remembers you… then maybe you never really die at all?”

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters 1x06 Terrifying Miracles

Shaw finds an unlikely ally within Monarch as the team has a harrowing run-in. Keiko and Lee grow closer while at a military ball.

I missed the 50's and having the dual storylines so it's not surprising this was one of the best of the season. I still don't trust Lee, but his doomed-by-the-narrative romance with Keiko is quite sweet. Even Bill noticing and giving them some privacy. I'm guessing Lee messing up by going to Japan will mean at some point in the future he does something for Monarch to try salvage his career and his relationship with Keiko, but it only pushes her further away. // Godzilla taking a decades long nap is a mood tbh. No wonder he was pissed at being woken. Also, Cate finding any opportunity to hold May's hand like the messy lesbian she is lol.

The Family Plan (Film)

Used car salesman Dan (Mark Wahlberg) is living the American dream as a family man in the suburbs with wonderful wife Jessica (Michelle Monaghan). But Dan has a secret.

So much potential but never quite reaching it. The fight scenes were pretty impressive (minus the baby always in shot during the early ones) and the acting was solid. It would've been a tenser action/drama without the script forcing the comedy element imo. Even though there was a couple of genuinely funny oneliners near the end, most of it just didn't work for me. And Michelle and Maggie should've been the exes!

[galacticlamps]

So in conclusion I’ve got more things to complain about than applaud with Tomb. The very short version is that I think it tries too hard to be mysterious, at the expense of not really caring if the characters’ actions add up to something that makes sense in the end, and that’s frustrating! It’s not so frustrating that I can’t watch it and still find some things to enjoy, but if it weren’t so short or some of its episodes were missing, then it might well be the kind of thing that doesn’t feel deserving of the effort you put into it for the story it gives you in return.

To me it feels very disjointed - of all the serials from this era, probably the one where it’s most obviously meant to be viewed once, live, and in order, because looking back will only make you realize how much doesn’t track through the entire serial, but is only functional as a method for getting from one moment to the immediate next. The lack of overarching motivations for several different characters means there are a lot of times when the serial just becomes Things Kinda Happening with little to no reason. (Or worse, like when everybody agrees that the Weapons Testing Room, the only room where one of their party already died by accident due to the dangerous objects inside it, is a good place to keep the unguarded prisoners, and it’s like, well obviously we’re doing that to set up a scene later on where they break out, not because any of these characters have any good reason to think that’s a fine idea.)

Most of the dialogue’s pretty bad, the plot’s difficult to follow and yet somehow still predictable, even the effects seem worse than usual, but I’m willing to concede that there are an awful lot of them - which might contribute to them being a bit lackluster. In fact, I’m fairly convinced that the number & density of effects in this serial is one of the main reasons it feels so disjointed on the whole. Knowing how they had to film things like that separately & then insert them as they performed the rest of the episode live, I wouldn’t be surprised if the amount of effects & therefore inserts also made it difficult for the director & actors to take control of a scene, its pacing, and mood with all the interruptions. And the bigger & more climactic the scene, the more effects there are, the less continuity between shots & the less chance there is of some solid emotional throughline for an audience to anchor themselves with. Between model shots, studio shots, location shots, & filmed inserts from a different studio where stunts were done all being spliced together, what else can the actors do but stand there and go oh! yes! no! watch out! etc blandly & often from out of frame? How do you even rehearse that without having to stop every other line to go “okay, and now Toberman defeats the Cyberman here, and when we cut back, Doctor, Jamie, Parry, you’ll be standing here (shoot one second of them looking scared) okay, now he’s fallen to the ground so in the next shot you’ll all walk up to him here....” it sounds utterly maddening

This one feels like it takes a LOT of suspension of disbelief with the size of the things characters don’t notice - that there are doors, for instance, or that Toberman has been partially converted when he first reappears after being down with the Cybermen for so long and acting blatantly differently - but it’s hard to suspend your disbelief when you don’t know what the narrative is trying to do, and you can’t identify what’s an important detail vs something to politely turn a blind eye on. If you want me to buy into this, you’ve gotta make it worth it - and not just intellectually, either. If I’m supposed to understand that the Doctor and Jamie are tragically separated from Victoria by a very slow-moving and totally passable door, convince me this is a serious part of the story, that they’re upset by it and didn’t just forget about it the next time they’re onscreen.

Things so desperately need to exist on the same plane for a story to work, and they just don’t here - if Victoria’s going to lie about seeing a gun in one room, and Kleig is going to believe her well enough to conclude that it means someone in there could be armed and a threat to him, then by the same token, locking him & Kaftan in the weapons room should be off the table. or vice versa. Either characters can be expected to have object permanence or they don’t, either they should be trying to plan for the future or they’re just going through the motions of what’s needed in one scene and not thinking about what’ll happen after that. The effect is disjointed enough to undermine the good bits that are in there, because a viewer doesn’t know what to take seriously and what to just ignore unless of course they’ve seen it before & know which bits go nowher, but no clues in the narrative will separate one thing from another

When we see the Doctor obviously gesture toward Kleig (as if anyone arriving to help him at this point would need Kleig pointed out as the enemy) are we supposed to take it as a serious blow that Kleig has noticed? or was it so obvious we can assume his gesturing existed on the same level as Victoria’s fake scream earlier, to distract Kaftan so Hopper could disarm her? We’ve no way of knowing what’s meant to be serious and what’s not, even from characters we trust & understand, so when Jamie comes out from the doorway, arms raised in genuine defeat, I’m still always a bit surprised - I mean, we didn’t even know he’d gone down there at that point, what a useless detail to include that as an ‘escape attempt’

Or that little speech the Doctor gives, to trick Kleig into thinking he could be on his side - in awe of him, even - only to conclude “well now i know you’re mad”? I’m not saying it’s not something the Doctor would do or say, but at this point we’re 4 weeks into the serial, we’ve had 90 minutes of story, we have less than ten left, and Kleig was presented as the stereotypical evil guy from the start, which the Doctor picked up on and has been watching without a single moment of questioning whether he could be good or not throughout. What do we need a moment like that for here, except that it might be funny? Sure he’s stalling for time, he’s always stalling for time, but then why end his ruse so early too, except again because the line itself is a bit funny?

In a way, Tomb feels like a sketch of a better serial, a glimpse of what will one day be popular on the show in either the near or far future: bases under siege, humanity replaced by computers, the Doctor behaving untrustworthily just for the hell of it apparently (perhaps because he’s old and full of hubris and has seen it all and lost touch with how reckless he’s being - but there’s nothing to suggest that’s what he’s doing here), one or two scenes carrying the entire emotional weight, and a smattering of quippy one-liners, some genuinely good, others just thrown in there so characters can briefly have something to do before stepping right back out of shot again. It’s just that none of it is done well enough here for me to even feel like ‘oh well if they just fixed these one or two things it’d actually be fantastic’

I’m sure some of these things have - or rather, could have - explanations read into them (if not pulled out of them) by someone really motivated to make it all make sense for a particular reason (like, say, if you were writing a fic about it or something) but otherwise, just watching it, I feel like that’s asking a lot, for little return. Here’s an actual image of me loosing the willpower to figure out ways in which it might make sense:

[emperorsfoot]

How would you rate the He Man shows?

Giving either of them empirical ratings is hard since my feelings about them shift daily depending on my moods or what details from them I'm thinking about at that time.

For example, I would give Revelation a 10/10 for being the first Masters of the Universe series to have any balls and kill off He-Man in the first episode. An act which allowed the narrative to focus on and showcase the other heroes. Giving us not one, but 3 strong female leads in Teela, Andra, and Lyn; and exploring the depth of their characters and range of their emotions to an extent that no other MotU series has done before. Good job Rev!

But, I would also give Revelation a 1/10 for utterly butchering all the other characters! I was just talking about this last night with @lemaistrechat but Rev made a lot of characters OOC and/or changed their backstories in ways that did not sit well with fans (me, that did not sit well with me, I am fans). Randor threatening the death penalty to his former best friend. Changing Orko's entire backstory to make him angsty and unloved from the start. Skeletor having a Fridge Wife in the tie-in comic, then being an abusive boyfriend to Lyn in the show. Kuduk Ungol (or anyone for that matter, really) saying "good bye" instead of what they're supposed to say on Eternia, "good journey". I know Kevin Smith used to be a fan of MotU, but you wouldn't know it watching Rev. Revelation feels like a show that was made by someone who was given an assignment and turned in the homework without ever reading the book.

So, for Masters of the Universe Revelation, I guess that averages out to a 5/10? But its not a solid 5/10, like I said, it depends on the day and my mood.

The Core/CGI series I generally have a higher opinion of overall. Yes, yes, they changed the characters dramatically. They de-aged Duncan so now he's the same age as Teela, they made Ram Man into Ram Ma'am, they made Keldor completely human instead of half-Gar, Mosquitor is now Mosquitara... Yes, these are all big and dramatic changes.

But-! These changes enhance the experience and uplift the narrative, while the changes made to Rev did not make sense and dragged down the narrative. That is the fundamental difference.

My biggest complaints about the series are mostly just that the Snakemen were just mindless zombies instead of actual characters and we never got to see King Hiss.

Overall, I guess I would give Core/CGI 8/10. Its not a perfect show, but it is better than Rev. They might have taken a lot of creative liberties and completely reimagined the world and characters into something dramatically different. But it's still recognizable as Masters of the Universe. You can tell the creators did the reading and understood the assignment.

[muerteporfavor]

I am someone who who partakes in therapy (although I also do a lot to improve myself outside of therapy because unfortunately I can sometimes go over a month without a session which sucks but that's life. This blog is something I started after my last therapy session and I actually haven't told my therapist about it yet because I haven't had a session since. That was almost a month ago and I won't see her again until October. I'm going to pretend this doesn't upset me. It helps no one.)

Anyway, I've been thinking about something she said in one of my sessions recently. I had said something along the lines of that "sometimes you just have to let yourself sit with your depression and not do anything but lay in bed until its over. Because sometimes when you push yourself you are just miserable outside of the house rather than in. And sometimes the things that are meant to bring joy don't even remotely lighten your mood."

My therapist asked me who told me that. And I told her "nobody it's just the way it works." as that is my experience. Sometimes I just need to reset where I go nowhere, see nobody, work on nothing, and watch a lot of tv or read a lot of fanfiction with sad music until I feel strong enough to drag my body out of the rut. However, she told me that you're supposed to leave the house, supposed to do something, even when you feel miserable. And I know, the things you are supposed to do aren't meant to suddenly remove the foul mood but it is supposed to make it bearable.

I haven't had a lay in bed depression in a while. Currently, I am sick or have been and wasn't allowed to leave my house a few times without risking infecting someone else (I am fine now, and I wasn't contagious when I was on vacation) and usually that puts me into a really bad depression spell where I do nothing. This time? My bed is a mess, I'm struggling to care for myself, but my desk is also a mess. Which is always a good sign for me because it means that I'm still working even if some days are lighter work than others. I'm still pushing even though a lot of days I just want to curl up in bed and never move again.

So maybe she had a point. I guess. I haven't been leaving the house but I have been holding myself up right. And that really is what matters doesn't it? I didn't do those things to remove the mood. I did them to accomplish something. Even menial.

Previously, I would try to force the mood away at any means necessary. Especially when I used to work at my job that didn't allow for slow days, days where I just needed to intermittently lay down to recharge. Sure, I found time to lay down but it wasn't ever enough to recharge before I had to jump into the action and get up off the cold hard floor. I just had to do eight hours with no breaks where I chugged caffeine and sugar and snacked like crazy until the clock struck punch out time and I could go home and not move for a solid hour.

Those were bad days. I remember once, I can't remember if I was in charge or not, but my coworker was trying to hand me a clipboard and was saying something to me but something in my system had shifted without warning. I've never felt underwater like that before. His voice was near impossible to hear, even harder to comprehend, and I just stopped moving. Like I was in the bottom of a whirlpool. And then I crashed to the surface everything came back into sharp focus, and I started moving again. My coworker had said they weren't even sure I was hearing them for a second. That is my life.

The amount of times my coworkers had to accommodate me (management is entirely clueless about) when my tic disorder would have an episode and I had to be away from customers until they calmed down because I couldn't do my job effectively. Or when I used to have really bad panic attacks all the time. The last one I thankfully fixed. And it became a very rare problem that I could work through feeling my hands or not.

But I grew so tired of that. After a while you have to you know? And I guess I couldn't separate the difference between pushing through to the brink of overexertion with the pushing through just enough to allow air into my lungs. Because to me they would result in the same near death experience.

And that's the problem with toxic environments isn't it? They reshape your brain, make you believe that all environments are toxic until you learn to separate the difference. Until you step away from the environments trying to kill you. There is something so addicting about toxicity.

[thetoxicgamer]

Minecraft meets Blue Planet in Attenborough style documentary

The Minecraft universe is gorgeous. There's something about Minecraft's art design that just clicks, despite the fact that we've seen it everywhere for the past twelve years since it originally took over to become the best-selling game ever. Developer Mojang is creating a series of mini-documentaries in the style of David Attenborough to highlight the beauty of the sandbox game as a way to commemorate the release of Minecraft 1.20, the Trails and Tales update. In this second instalment of Minecraft: The Great Wild, we explore the depths of the Minecraft Oceans, a place that many players are probably slightly less familiar with. I know it’s by far the Minecraft biome I’ve explored least – I just feel more content with my feet on (mostly) solid ground, y’know? So it’s good to get some more perspective on it and, honestly, the whole tone and framing of the series is just delightful. The video, which you can see below, perfectly captures the spirit of Attenborough for those of you who’ve enjoyed his nature documentaries such as Planet Earth, Frozen Planet (which was imitated in the first episode, covering Minecraft’s colder zones), and of course, Blue Planet, which we see here. We’re introduced to a family of turtles – the baby coming in at “a height of 0.0032 or 0.12 blocks,” making it one of the smallest Minecraft mobs, but also a potential snack for any nearby cats. Will the poor critter manage to elude its claws? You’ll just have to watch and find out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRBGEdXAkvU We also see a school of dolphins defending one another as they cross the ocean waters, before delving into one of Minecraft’s more fantastical, and dangerous, underwater creatures. Although honestly if you told me someone had discovered such a terror lurking in the murky depths of the Earth’s own oceans I would not be at all surprised. Of course, with Minecraft available to PC Game Pass subscribers – in both Bedrock and Java iterations – you’ll be able to explore the oceans for yourself after watching if the mood takes you. Discover some wondrous locales of your own by visiting some of the best Minecraft seeds, or add even more beauty and depth to the world with the best Minecraft mods. We’ve even picked out a great list of the best Minecraft skins you won’t want to miss in 2023. Read the full article

[higheldertala]

series 12 ranking list

please feel free to discuss and share your opinions on any of the episodes too! also please feel free to ask me any additional questions on my opinion of any specific subject!

ranking scale

good - a decent episode of doctor who.

okay - give it another draft and this would also be a good episode of doctor who.

bad - not great, noticeable flawed, needs a good fix up.

awful - downright dreadful or insulting to watch.

doctor is explicitly racist tier - does what it says on the tin.

i switched this round from my s11 ranking so this ranking is based on the ch*bnall era alone, not as the whole of nuwho.

looking back at my s11 ranking and i feel like it may have come across as a touch harsh. for clarification my big criticisms boil down to the lack of character work and obviously in s11 it was just pretty lacking of decent character work and characterisation which is probably why i ranked them all as bad and below. the same criticism of poor character still exists in this season, maybe not as bad? idk, still no where near the standard for actual good television. of course my opinions and rankings change depending on how/ what I am basing an episode on so this is none of this is concrete as such.

haunting of villa diodati - pretty good. if only all of ch*bnall’s episodes lived up to this standard, it might have actually have been good.

nikola’s tesla night of terror - solid episode, pretty reminiscent of an rtd era historic. i feel like the villian could have been a tad stronger and then it could be moved up to good.

spyfall pt1 - a solid start, sacha is a delight, definitely could used some a bit of tweaking to tidy it up.

fugitive of the judoon - ranking this episode in isolation and it ends up being middling. i feel like the fugitive plotline could be a lot stronger rather than leaving it as ✨a mystery✨. the subplot of the fam meeting jack could be a lot better and more engaging. could be worse but also be a lot better.

praxeus - the location hopping is an awful trope of ch*bnall designed nothing more than to show off the budget rather than be utilised to showcase a good story. also annoying side characters which barely add anything and only exist to become extra tag alongs.

ascension of the cyberman - gets put into the awful tier mainly because of how dull it is. a 50 minute build up for the second part (and yes I know this technically applies for all two parters but this one takes the piss). completely dull and unengaging.

revolution of the daleks - this one is perhaps harsh and it’s positioning could change based on my mood. i just don’t care for it at all honestly.

the timeless children - did no one think to stop this man when destroying 57 years of canon? yes fandom will be completely happy with this im sure(!)

spyfall pt2 - the second part falls apart. the plot is abandoned to become a run around episode, extremely bad moral decisions are made and the resolution literally happens off screen.

can you hear me? - insulting to mental health and completely wastes its fear aspect because all the main characters are severely underdeveloped.

orphan 55 - whatever was the original intent of this episode, the final execution of it is abysmal. a terrible episode of doctor who.

additional comments:

9 of out 11 episodes this series takes place on earth, with over half being set in the present day. THIS IS A SHOW ABOUT TIME AND SPACE TRAVEL. where did we lose you with this concept ch*bnall? wish we could ban earth stories for at least a season or something.

the companions still just exist for the majority of the runtime, occasionally given something to do but nothing of any consequence and are still never key players in the stories they are in. the addition of jack is pure key jangling in an attempt to get a boost in figures.

timeless child bad. destroying gallifrey again actually infuriates me more than the timeless child and i will be ignoring it as canon.

[ryansjane]

not me was my first "bl" if we can call it like that cause it's actually so much more, and i fell in love with it! so i was trying to watch other bls but they're not my thing at all, they're so different from not me, like they're directed to an entirely different audience, so i was wondering if you could recommend me some good bls in the not me style, not taking place in university, with an actual good plot and good acting? i tried 2gether and that's definitely not it, i had to stop each episode several times lmao

oof, well sorry to break it to you anon but there is NO other bl series like not me. I was thinking about it the other day & you just confirmed it, but I think one of the reasons it wasn't a hit with some bl fans is because it's so different from other bl shows, which is why in turn you don't like other bl shows bc not me was more your taste. personally I love both not me & the more romcom-y bl shows, but I sadly can say that there isn't any other show like not me, that's mostly a political action drama with queer love stories in it. the only other show that comes close but was much more focused on the romance imo, was manner of death. it's a pretty solid show that I'd really recommend. then there's the upcoming kinnporsche that is very much different than not me in most ways but also has that aspect of action thrillers mixed with queer love stories, and seems very well directed & mature too. oh, and also history3: trapped that is kinda the first more mature & crime related bl show, though it's much more focused on the romance aspect than the action one. but even then, I don't think trapped, manner of death & kinnporsche feel like not me at all, bc that show is truly something that will never be replicated, as its sole existence is already a miracle.

other bl shows I love but aren't like not me AT ALL are: I told sunset about you, crossing the line, mood indigo, theory of love, cherry magic, 1000 stars, life: love on the line, where your eyes linger, dark blue kiss & hello stranger.

xxx

[meruz]

i was gonna draw tonight but i dropped my tablet pen and the barrel of the pen broke off and flew somewhere underneath (??) my bed (?) and now i cant find it so I’m just gonna answer asks before bed instead. just some art asks and more mentions of infinity train LOL

What program and brushes do you use when making your art?

@ravki hi! part of this is in my FAQ but i’ll say it again anyways LOL: I use photoshop CC and have used photoshop for pretty much....my whole art career. I’ve dabbled in clip and paint tool sai in the past but photoshop is my true wife, we eloped away from her awful father adobe many years ago and are very happy together. 

as for brushes... I should prob put this info in my FAQ too lol,... my default brush set is actually free to download here! Tho I will say I also use steve ahn’s storyboarding brush sometimes and lately i’ve been using shiyoon kim’s brushes A TON. Shiyoon’s cost a couple bucks but they’re super worth it imo

How do you choose colors?

This is kind of a difficult one to describe from scratch but hmm.... I’ll put it this way. Generally when I go into coloring or painting something I already have some colors in mind. Like for a certain piece I know I want a bright green, or a magenta, or a dark blue in certain areas. A lot of the time I know a mood I want. So I’ll start with that core color tone and build around it. I’ll use an example from a recent piece

So you can see here that the first color I accessed was that bright cyan. So I start with that bright cyan and then bring in its “friends” in the form of analogous colors (shown below on the far left)

greens greys etc. THEN I know I want the characters to stand out against all the blue so I start laying down warm contrasting colors for them (middle group). the mat under them is orange, skin tones are warm, ryans flannel is red etc. then to get them to work together I work more cool colors into the shadows and slightly warmer (not too warm because its a cool img overall so in this case, greener LOL) colors into highlights. 

hope that makes sense? for me choosing colors is a lot about story and composition. If you know what you want to say, the mood you want to create, where you want to go, the path to get there becomes a lot clearer imo.

Have you ever considered making an art book?

I have! But I don’t think I currently have enough...original illustrations for one LOL? Not that an art book has to be all original work but if I were putting fanart in an art book...at that point I’d just make a fanzine. I’m making more original work lately though so maybe this year....? Who knows. For now, I do have a sketchbook up on gumroad. Hoping to do one of those next year too.

Any tips for keeping background drawings from getting super stiff, especially since things like interiors have a lot of straight lines?

This is a really interesting ask. Really great question that I don’t think gets asked enough - forgive me if I get a bit art school here but I drew up some examples.

First I think we have to investigate the assumption that straight lines make things stiff. That seems true on an instinctual level and certainly proves to be true very often But I don’t think its actually the straight lines themselves but the sort of arrangements and compositions they tend to dictate. Take this for instance.

pretty big difference, right? there’s a couple things that make a composition feel stiff and one of the most significant is lines that are perpendicular and parallel to the frame. it feels locked in and solid, like bricks. but the moment you shift these angles even a little the composition instantly becomes more dynamic because our innate senses of weight, gravity, and directionality can sense movement.

But it’s not just diagonals let’s take this one step further

when lines meet and terminate together those tangents can flatten and lock space so the best way to solve this is with overlap and complete intersection, forms continuing past or behind each other feel more layered and less like a flat mosaic... again, even in the simplest line drawings. So how do we apply this to a background?

ok I drew this really fast so its potentially not the best example but I think the idea is there. This space isn’t even particularly deep, it’s basically a room, a doorway, and a hallway behind it, and we’re not seeing that much of any of those things LOL. but when you draw an environmental object like a doorway in a way that lines up with the perpendicular and parallel lines of the canvas you’re automatically flattening it and making it look rigid.

and when you create tangents with objects and characters you flatten the space around them and make it difficult to tell what is actually in front or behind or if they’re on the same plane.

GOD I HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE. Anyways. avoid those things and you’ll instantly have less stiff bgs no matter what kind of bg you’re depicting.

I wanna mention however that this isn’t to say a stiff bg with flat space doesn’t have its purposes.

sometimes you want to create parallels and tangents. it can make characters feel closed in, trapped, regimented, part of a routine, etc. it’s also great for making a composition look ornamental (especially combined with symmetry).

directors like wes anderson can even use these compositional elements to make images feel uncanny or harrowing! its very versatile. I think the important thing is to just be aware of when you are making something rigid and when that’s the last thing you want to do. conscious choices.

Can you speak Tagalog?

@lemuelzero101​ I can! BUT NOT VERY WELL LOL ;;; both my parents are from Visayas! but they met and had me in the states lol so I’m pretty American born and raised. We go back to visit family on occasion but not regularly. My tagalog is mostly absorbed from listening to relatives at parties lol and my parents speak bisaya at home so I’m marginally better at that. Sorry to any filipinos out there hoping I’d be better educated, I’m like a little baby...

I do love meeting and talking to other filipinos online though, I grew up in an area that was relatively diverse but the asian population was small and the filipino population basically non-existent. I was like one of maybe 2 filipino kids in my highschool of 2000.

Apart from infinity train what shows are you watching now? Have you seen jujitsu kaisen?

Man this is gonna sound so boring but I haven’t watched a lot of tv lately.  It’s not really part of my daily routine. Let’s see... I was sort of watching Amphibia, Craig of the Creek, and the new Digimon Adventure 2020 but I keep falling off watching those for one reason or another. Also there’s a lot of episodes, it doesn’t feel like something I can just binge and be done with.

The last thing I binged was Succession. I want that show and Euphoria back so bad, when I’m done forcing all my friends to watch Infinity Train im cancelling my HBO subscription until Succession and Euphoria return so they know exactly what I’m on their list for LOL. 

I have not watched jujitsu kaisen but I’ve kept up with some of the sakuga news (I keep up with anime industry news and production info like x5 the amt i keep up with actual anime) for it and their compositing/editing looks dope. I’ve read the manga actually LOL or at least part of the beginning. I wasn’t super keen on the whole finger eating thing. Also to be honest I kinda feel like its the new Bleach and I never particularly cared about Bleach. Characters look nice enough tho. I wholeheartedly support jjk fans.

Thank you! Thank you @keznodzieja​! <3

And thank you anons who don’t watch infinity train LOL...it’s always nice to hear when people enjoy my fanart despite not knowing the source material because it lifts a little bit of the “oh god am I being annoying???” fear off my chest. But also I think you should watch infinity train because it’s really good I have no reservations recommending it.

[thewayofthemandalorian]

all that you are to me - oneshot

Pairing: Din Djarin x F!Reader Rating: M Word count: 3,224 Summary:  After the Razor Crest crash lands on a frozen planet, you and Din must work together to try and fix the ship and stay warm. When the temperature drops, causing you to be near-hypothermic, Din must find a way to keep you warm. Notes: Like  pretty to think, this one was inspired by this week’s episode of The Mandalorian, 2.02, “Chapter 10: The Passenger.” This one isn’t directly inspired by the episode, but rather is more lightly influenced by it. Even so, if you haven’t seen the episode, I’d advise waiting until watching to read this, even if it’s only ever so slightly inspired by a main plot point in the episode - just to be on the safe side. As always it will be under the cut. Warnings: Potential season 2 spoilers. Hypothermia, sharing body heat, mutual pining, implied/referenced sex.

Taglist: @dindjarindiaries​  @goldafterglow​ @frannyzooey​ @absurdthirst​ @catfishingmorales​ @ithinkhesgaybutwesavedmufasa​ @hopelikethesun​ @forever-rogue​ @f0rever15elf​ @thewaythisis​ @marvel-and-mischief​ @seasonschange-butpeopledont​ @sin-djarin​ @ezrasarm​ @din-damn-djarin​ @opheliaelysia​ @pajamasecrets​ @mandohatesdroids​ @poenariuniverse​ @fioccodineveautunnale​ @fleetwoodmactshirts​ @auty-ren​ @profkenobi​ @storiesofthefandomlovers​ @ithinkwehitametaphor​ @yespolkadotkitty​ @cinewhore​ @wille-zarr​ @tangledlove27​ @ahopelessromanticwritersworld​ @cryptkeepersoul​ @hayley-the-comet​ @clydesducktape​ @jaime1110​ @computeringturtle @lovinglokiforever​ @justanotherblonde23​ @sesamepancakes​ @phoenixhalliwell​ @giselatropicana​ @buckysalefty​ @fromthedeskoftheraven​ @paintballkid711​ @ghostwiththemostbitch​ @revolution-starter​ @demigod-dragonrider-schoolidol​ @lilkermit14​ @luvzoria​ @none-of-your-bullshit​ @sithkrispies  @xserenax-13​ @princess-and-pedro​ @dee-rosemary​ @kid-from-new-zealand @chibi-liz05 @dearspacepirates​ @mandolover86​

masterlist || read on ao3 || taglist form

The ship was losing fuel - and fast. As you fluttered out of sleep, you heard Mando cursing to himself as the console blared.

You had been in the Mandalorian’s employ for the past year or so, and in that time, you had taken on many roles as he had needed you to - navigator, co-pilot, carer for the Child, an extra bounty hunter.

As you stirred, you noticed a pair of TIE fighters on either side of the Razor Crest.

“No, no, no, no,” muttered Mando, his voice panicked and frustrated through the modulator.

Clearing your throat to make yourself known, you said, “What’s going on? Where are we?”

Mando just grunted as he pushed an arbitrary button on the console. “We have to land on this planet, mesh’la. Get the drop on these Imps.” He was always calling you something in his language: Mesh’la, cyar’ika, cyare. You didn’t really know what they meant. Probably girl or something along those lines.

“What are they doing?” You shucked your blanket off, already missing its warmth as you stood to join Mando at the console. “Are they after the kid?” You glanced at the baby, who was still asleep in his pram, blissfully unaware of what was happening.

Mando grunted as the Crest shuddered mid-flight. “Kriff,” he swore. “I think so. They got the jump on me about half an hour ago. I damaged one of the TIE fighters enough so that now there’s only two instead of three.”

You nodded. “What can I do?”

There was a jolt and the Razor Crest fell from the sky. A planet came into view.

“Hold on!” Mando says as a TIE fighter shoots a nearly fatal blast on the Crest.

There was a lurching jolt, giving no chance for you to get back to your seat. You lost your footing, landing in Mando’s lap. Instinctively - it must have been instinctively, right? - one of his gloved hands reached out to anchor around your hip, holding you steady as he attempted to fire back at the Imps from where the Razor Crest had landed with a crash.

Ignoring the thrill of sitting in Mando’s lap, you held your breath as the Crest gunned down the two TIE fighters. Now that Mando had the right vantage point - able to shoot them from where they were in the sky - it was easy work for the bounty hunter. A few minutes later, you heard the two fighters crash a few miles away.

From behind you, the child woke up, thoroughly displeased at the whole situation, about being rudely awakened. You forced yourself from Mando’s lap - though you desperately wished to stay seated there - to check on the baby.

“That wasn’t very nice, was it sweetheart?” you cooed gently to the baby. He gurgled in response, looking up at you reproachfully. “Your dad and I are trying to figure it out.”

The child’s father had started pressing buttons on the console again. The ship made a sputtering sound and then powered down. A frustrated sigh escaped the modulator. “Kriff,” Mando said again.

“That didn’t sound good,” you said, taking in the planet. It was an ice planet, though which one, you couldn’t be sure. “Where are we?” you asked as Mando pressed at buttons on the console with futility. The Crest wasn’t going anywhere without repairs.

“Nowhere good,” rasped Mando. “And if I can’t get the Crest up and running, we’ll surely freeze here.”

Your blood ran cold at his words. Freezing to death was not what you signed up for. “Chances we can get it working?” you asked, trying to keep your voice neutral, even.

Mando grunted. He wasn’t sure. “Come outside, cyare, help me take a look.”

Bundling the child in your blanket - he may have had special powers, but you weren’t taking any risks at getting him cold - you followed the Mandalorian outside into the cold.

* * *

You had been interested in the stoic, soft-spoken Mandalorian bounty hunter for some time, now. You weren’t sure if you could call it love - not yet anyway - but it was very much like. It was hard to tell if Mando reciprocated your feelings given that you were unable to read his face, hiddden away behind the helmet.

There were many nights where you dreamt of what his face might look like. You had seen what his skin looked like once or twice before when he had asked you to help him cauterize wounds or stitch him up, so you knew that he had tan skin.

You imagined that he had brown hair, dark eyes. Perhaps not as dark as the baby’s, but no less expressive. Did he have a beard, or was he clean-shaven? That part you were unclear of.

How funny it was to you that you had fallen for a man whose face you had never seen.

You knew he at least liked you. Well enough to keep you in his employ. And he trusted you well enough to take care of the baby, the one person who mattered to him more than anyone else. Mando seemed to value your opinion, and at the very least, enjoyed conversation with you. That is, when he was in the mood for conversation.

The one thing that threw you off the most about Mando after his helmet, with its blank expression, was the words he called you in the Mandalorian language. Before meeting him on Nevarro, you had never heard it spoken. While you could tell based on the cadence in his voice when Mando was swearing, you didn’t know what he meant when he called you mesh’la or cyar’ika.

He hadn’t always called you those things. At first he usually didn’t use any word to address you, sometimes he would call you by your name, but about three or four months ago, he had started calling you those words. You liked them, even though you didn’t know what they meant.

At some point, he would either figure out that you had feelings for him, or you would tell him. For right now, you needed to focus on getting off this planet with your lives.

* * *

“Can you pass me that wrench, sweet girl?” asked Mando as you stood by, baby securely in the carrier bag that was slung across your shoulder.

Sweet girl. That was new. Schooling your expression, you handed him the tool. “What exactly are you doing, Mando?” you asked, trying to ignore the electricity flowing through your veins at being called sweet girl by him.

Mando grunted as he reached into the bowels of his ship. “Improvising,” he grated out. You shivered. “Cold, cyare?” he asked, concern lacing his voice.

Fighting the shiver from your voice, you said, “A little bit.”

“I can practically see the cold radiating off you.” A shudder ran through you. With the sun setting quickly, it wouldn’t be too long before the temperature plunged even further down. Mando pulled his hand out from the inside of the ship. “Hopefully that does it. I don’t think we should be out here for much longer. You’re practically frozen solid, and the kid looks like he’s about to freeze, too.” The baby cooed at Mando.

Your voice shuddered as you spoke. “Y-you’re one t-t-to t-talk. Your he-helmet’s got f-fr-frost on it.”

Mando sighed, noticing the sun sinking further and further below the horizon; it wouldn’t be long before it was completely set. “If this doesn’t work, we’ll shut ourselves in the cockpit, get cozy and try again when the sun comes up.”

You nodded, fighting off another shiver. The temperature was already much colder than it had been when you set outside forty-five minutes ago.

“Come on, cyar’ika, let’s go inside. With any luck, that did the trick.” Mando didn’t sound optimistic.

Setting the child in his pram - he had fallen asleep instantly - you stood beside Mando’s seat as he flipped some switches on the console. The Crest sputtered, coughed, and died down again within fifteen seconds. Mando sighed. “Okay. So, it looks like we’re stuck here for tonight. There’s one thing that might work that we haven’t tried, but I don’t wanna risk going back outside tonight. It’s too cold. Find as many blankets as you can, tonight we’re huddling together.”

So many thoughts crossed your mind as you heard what Mando said. “O-okay,” you said, your tongue thick in your mouth. You knew he meant sharing blankets and staying close together.

* * *

You were freezing. Even though you had four blankets and not a single inch of skin beneath your chin was exposed to the cold air, you couldn’t stop shivering. You were almost warm from the cold air.

Mando, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be bothered at all. He had stripped his beskar off, leaving only his helmet in place. His tunic looked warm and cozy. He looked cozy, you corrected yourself. If he was cold, he didn’t complain. As you lay on the bedrolls that you and Mando had set up, your lips chattered together.

All of a sudden, the warmth returned. “Oh, this is nice,” you said as your body warmed up.

“Mesh’la?” Mando’s voice sounded from somewhere beside you. He sounded very far away. You hummed. “Your body temperature is dropping.” You could feel another piece of material being wrapped around you. Mando’s cape.

“No ‘m fine, Mando. Very warm. Might go to sleep,” you sighed.

Mando was suddenly above you. “No, cyare,” he said, his voice urgent. “We need to warm your core temperature up. Otherwise you might die.”

Maker knew he didn’t want you to die, not without you knowing how he truly felt.

“Silly Mando,” you said, drifting closer to sleep’s warm embrace.

“We need to huddle together,” said Mando. “Sharing body heat will warm you up.”

Before you could protest, he had taken his tunic off.

Mando had a tattoo on his chest. He had a few, the more you looked. They looked good.

“Thank you,” his modulated voice said, amusement trickling through. Huh? Oh, you had said that last bit out loud, you realized.

Shutting your eyes as Mando eased you up to take your own tunic off, you felt the heat radiating off of him. You always knew he would be a human furnace.

When the two of you were stripped down to nothing, Mando slipped into the bedroll beside you. “Keep your eyes closed?” he asked.

Nodding, you said, “Mmm-hmmm.” A few seconds later the room was shrouded in darkness; a hissing sound filled the cockpit.

“It’s dark enough, cyare, you don’t need to keep your eyes shut anymore,” he said. His voice sounded different.

Had he…? “Is your helmet off?” you asked. It was a stupid question, you could feel his stubble pressed against your skin.

It wasn’t long before you started to warm up, for real this time. Mando’s heat combined with your own made you feel much warmer, for a few reasons.

“Mando,” you whispered, your eyes still shut. “What if we die?”

Mando shushed you. “Put the question from your mind, sweet girl. We’re not going to die. I won’t let it happen.” His voice was so warm, so tender. You wished you could see his face.

You shifted in his strong embrace so that you were facing him. Reaching out blindly, you touched his face. He was smiling slightly, you realized as your fingers brushed his lips. He pressed his lips to your fingers, grazing them slightly with his kiss. “Sweet girl,” he whispered. “How good you are. The way you take care of me and the kid. How mesh’la - beautiful you are. Your kindness.”

“Mando,” you replied, your own voice quiet.

Before you could say anything else, Mando interrupted you. “It’s Din.” You frowned, not sure what that meant. Mando continued. “My name. It’s Din Djarin.”

It suited him, you thought.

“It suits you,” you said. You were still in disbelief that this was happening. You shivered again, but not from the cold air.

Feeling brave, you pressed your lips against his. You missed slightly, catching the corner of his mouth instead of full-on. Din righted you, slotting his lips against yours more properly.

Although Din didn’t have much experience kissing, you assumed, he was still very thorough. His arms tightened against you, pulling you closer to him. How that was possible when you were literally skin to skin already, you weren’t sure.

He pulled away from your lips, catching his breath. “Sweet girl. You don’t know what you do to me,” he said, his voice ragged with emotion.

You kissed him again, quickly. “I think I do. Because you do the same to me.”

Din stroked your back as he kissed you again, moaning at the feeling of your fingers coming up to knot in his hair. It was so soft, his hair. It curled a little at the nape of his neck.

“Warm me, Din Djarin,” you whispered as he pulled you on top of him.

Nipping the skin just beneath your ear, Din whispered, “Don’t worry, dear thing, I’ll keep you warm.”

* * *

You were definitely not cold anymore. As you lay sprawled across Din’s chest, you could hear his steady heartbeat, just beneath one of his tattoos.

“What are you thinking, cyare?” he asked, his chest rumbling against your ear with the vibration of his voice.

You smiled. “Just how nice this is.”

Mando hummed in agreement. “It is. I’ve wanted to tell you for a while how I felt, but seeing you almost freeze to death put my plans into hyperdrive.” He stroked your back as he spoke.

“Me, too. I’m glad you noticed that I was nearly hypothermic. For a number of reasons,” you said, pressing a kiss to his chest in gratitude.

“I wouldn’t have let my girl die on me,” Mando said softly. Your heart fluttered at the implications of his words.

After a moment’s silence, filled only by the soft snores that filtered through the child’s closed pram (thank the Maker it was soundproof on the inside).

“You are, right?” Mando’s voice was quiet, hesitant, giving you pause. “You are my girl, right?”

You propped yourself up on an elbow, looked in what you assumed was the direction of his eyes, wondering vaguely if he could see you. “For as long as you’ll have me, Din.” You kissed him clumsily, still unable to see him.

As you settled back against him, you yawned. “We should sleep, Din. We had a long day today, and I can only imagine what tomorrow will bring.”

Before you could go to sleep, Din spoke. “Join me and the kid in the sleep compartment. You don’t have to sleep in that awful makeshift cot anymore.”

Nodding sleepily against his chest, you said, “That sounds nice.”

“You rest, cyare. I’ll keep you warm.”

* * *

The following morning, you woke up to the press of Din’s lips to your temple. It was still dark in the cockpit. You weren’t too sure what time it was, but it was early.

“Morning,” you said groggily, reaching out to touch Din’s cheek, making sure that last night was real, that it had really happened the way you remembered it. The ache between your legs was confirmation enough, but it was nice to touch Din’s face.

“Are you warm enough?” asked Din, running a hand over your hairline, his touch feather light.

You leaned up to kiss him. “Mmm. I could always stand to be warmer.”

Sparing a glance to check that the kid was still asleep, Din was upon you in seconds, doing everything he could to make sure you were warm enough and also knew that he was with you in every sense of the word.

You could get used to this.

One day, perhaps, you would see his face, finally be able to know the colour of his eyes, his soft hair.

“Better?” he asked, just as the baby started to stir. Din reached blindly for his helmet.

One day, you thought, he might let you see his face. And when he was ready to, so would you.

Bundling back up, you and Din worked in tandem, just fixing the Razor Crest enough so that it would take off and get you to Corellia where it could be properly fixed by someone who knew what they were doing.

It was still frigid, but in the sun, it was just bearable compared to the end of the day yesterday. Just as you were starting to fully feel the chill of this planet’s atmosphere, Din was able to power up the ship.

“Let’s go, cyare,” called Din from the cockpit. "I want to get out of here before this ship dies on us." 

You didn’t need to be told twice. You bounded up the ramp, shutting it behind you.

Setting the baby in his pram, you gave him an extra blanket again to warm up before sitting in the passenger’s seat.

“After the ship is repaired, let’s go somewhere warm,” you teased as the Crest took off.

Din turned to look at you, his helmet expressionless, his voice full of promise. “Oh, don’t you worry about being warm, cyar’ika, I never break a promise.”

[atalana]

[copied over from my cr blog, also this is gonna get long, i’d apologise but im not sorry]

okay, so

this is a rant probably about 7 years in the making, bc when i first watched lok i had not done any music study, i had not done any composing of my own, my knowledge of music theory was at a primary school level and i still thought tv soundtracks were just made by one person composing a whole cache of music and then the audio editors pick and choose what track to place where

(spoiler alert that’s not how film and tv scoring works, i have now done a music composition course where we had to score a short film, among other things, and i have so much more respect for tv composers jesus christ)

but this one stuck out to me even way back then, bc me barely knowing what a leitmotif was was like “hey this one little refrain keeps popping up whenever bolin does lavabending, and i like it, i’m gonna see if it’s on the soundtrack”

it was not, and that’s sort of where i left it back in 2014, but i actually did a rewatch of lok pretty recently out of nostalgia, and then noticed it even more

and to explain why (and this is also a little bit why five’s stuck out to me in tua, i’ll get to that in another ask), let’s cover, leitmotifs, and tv scoring in general

so a leitmotif is basically just a short musical idea that represents something in a piece of music. when i studied motivic development we were encouraged to make that motif four notes or less, and then develop it into something longer (aka a theme), because if you can constantly come back to a really short idea while keeping the piece moving, that’s what makes a piece of music memorable

(you can ignore those rules on purpose but that’s a different essay)

so the most common way that a leitmotif shows up in soundtracks is to represent a character or a location - you play the motif when that character shows up or when you’re in that location and boom, the audience associates that motif with that person place or thing, and you can then use this to tell the audience things without actually telling them. for example, star wars playing the imperial march whenever someone does something darth vader related - darth vader isn’t on screen, but you can feel his presence, because his music is playing

and if we were a film score, where we have two hours to show one particular character’s development, great! we give them a simple motif, and then as they grow as a person we change their motif to reflect what is happening to them, until we end up with something that communicates on a subconscious level how much they’ve grown. we toss in as much symbolism as we can, and we have a really great soundtrack that’s instantly memorable

tv scoring, is harder. partially because of time constraints (have you ever composed half an hour of original music a week, and had to make sure it fits perfectly with every beat of what’s happening on screen? these guys have), partially because there’s a much larger focus on ensemble casts

so what atla and lok do, for the most part, is not score individual character motifs for everyone. this is fairly common in tv soundtracks, instead we score ideas, concepts, and feelings - these’ll come up a lot more and give you more information than just “oh hey this character’s on screen”

the avatar state, for example, has the strongest and most recognisable theme across both shows. i’m linking an atla track in here because it has the best example but you’ll know this shows up with korra too - and with particularly important moments for wan, for kyoshi, etc. they also appear in the opening of both shows, four strong notes that start and end on the same note (in the case of what i’m linking, it’s an F#)

the first part of this track is the more uncertain, pensive theme that comes up when both avatars are feeling doubt/worry/sadness, but then it transitions into the more recognisable four. worth noting though, those are both basically the same motif. if i write them out back to back, you’ll notice they both have four notes and start and end on F#. if i had to guess, four notes four elements, and it comes back to the start because the avatar is a cycle.

korra has a theme for when she’s fighting, but not an individual character theme. the airbenders as a concept have a theme, republic city has thematic instruments, as do some big name characters, like iroh and his tsungi horn (this is also a cross-series thing, he’s always playing it in atla, it shows up when zuko has to make big moral decisions, and when we first meet iroh in the spirit world in lok, it shows up there too, to let the audience know who this is before we properly see him)

so, if korra doesn’t get a single theme and instead has several for different aspects of her life, and mako and asami follow along with the mood of the story like all the other characters, the fact that bolin has a personal leitmotif at all, let alone a solid, developing one, is pretty remarkable!

now, granted, it mostly starts with book 3, before then he was like every other character, but it has clear symbolism through those last two books! and, initially i thought it was related only to his lavabending, since that’s most of when it shows up, but since my rewatch, i’ve started calling it his hero theme

see, when people wanna criticise mako and bolin, usually the comments they get are that bolin’s too immature and mako’s too serious/uptight. but like, that’s how they work, you can’t analyse either of them without the context of the other. since they were little kids on the streets, bolin chases his heart and mako makes sure they don’t die from it, that is their entire childhood. and neither would have got here on their own because mako wouldn’t take the necessary risks and bolin wouldn’t take the necessary precautions. (like. remove either one from the equation and they’d still be working for the triple threats bc s1 and their flashback miniseries make pretty clear that bolin got them out and mako kept them out)

and then book 2 proves it! because it splits team avatar up, and what happens? bolin is totally taken advantage of by varrick and used as a pawn in his evil plan and mako ends up in jail

so what’s book 3, to them? it’s, being able to find themselves without having that codependency. mako no longer has someone to protect, which is what he’s based his whole life around so far - bolin’s doing fine and he’s no longer dating either korra or asami. and bolin’s trying his hand at some of that responsibility (look at how he immediately adopts kai who is explicitly them but younger because he wants to be the older brother for once). most importantly, they find the rest of their family, and stop being defined by being orphans. they don’t have to be that singular piece of a puzzle, they can just be themselves. and that’s where bolin’s character really starts to shine, because that’s when they bring in the bending plot, and bending, perhaps more than any other character, really gets to the heart of who bolin is

if you want more of my thoughts on that i have an essay here, but tl;dr: bolin’s an extremely powerful earthbender, but he’s not a metalbender because metalbending requires you to double down on the earth characteristics and think like an earthbender, and bolin doesn’t, he’s too fluid for that, which is one of his major strengths, so of course he can lavabend

and finally - to his motif itself! (as a note, i’ve put all of these in the same key to show where it repeats, but there’s a variety of keys used in the show)

as far as i can find, it first shows up in s3e8, when bolin stuns p’li with this well placed shot

[Edit: it first showed up in the s2 finale, but again in a simplified version and again with him doing something heroic with earthbending, so we can still start the analysis here]

mako volunteers bolin for that job, because he knew bolin was capable of it. why? because bolin landed an identical shot earlier in the episode, after trying to metalbend, getting frustrated he can’t, and cheating with some extremely well aimed earthbending. it’s just a short refrain and you barely notice it, but it’s the first connection of this motif with the theme of bolin’s bending

it looks like this, and it’s always played on a trumpet, which is part of why i call it the hero theme, because, if you’re looking at music from a western perspective, trumpets were used to herald kings, and then used to represent military glory, and then when superhero themes started happening, they used trumpets too - it’s basically western music shorthand for hero these days

(it’s also symmetrical so that helps with the good vibes)

and he’s saving everyone here, so it’s linked to his bending, but it’s also linked to his heroism

it ties the two together, and they are tied together.

when’s the next time it shows up? episode 10, when the brothers are in prison in ba sing se, and bolin tries to metalbend them out. again, he’s doing this to save people, and this motif gets a few notes added on to the end in a raising pattern - they’re inspiring, but they don’t go anywhere. which is exactly what happens in the scene, because he’s trying to go about this in the wrong way. mako believes in him, but it won’t (and doesn’t) work

it appears in episode 12 when bolin saves everyone from ghazan destroying the temple, in a more fancy orchestral remake of the first version - it’s impressive, but it hasn’t actually developed yet, it’s just his discovery of it

the book 3 finale already has its own fucking amazing soundtrack, i love that entire episode’s score, but it gets its own moment there too, and the first real development!

because what we hear is not what we’ve heard before. we know it’s the same theme, because it’s using those signature trumpets, but it’s the second part of this phrase, the answer to the question supplied by the first one. why? because bolin’s figured out who he is and he’s starting to use it. it still hasn’t settled yet though, it’s early days and he’s still just turning ghazan’s lava back on him, so again, it raises, leaving it on a question mark

it doesn’t appear in s4e7 when he lavabends as a warning against the escaped prisoners, because he’s using it as a threat, not to help people. but it does later in the episode when he uses lavabending to save them from kuvira. and that’s when we get the first full phrase, question and answer

it keeps the first motif identical, takes out the first note of the second, and ties them together - except now it’s not open ended, now it knows where it’s going - it’s been three years, at this point bolin is confident in both himself and his bending

and then that phrase appears all over the place in the finale, because all bolin does is save people - everyone from the exploding building, he slows the giant mecha with lavabending, he saves opal, he slows the giant mecha again by collapsing a building on it, and most importantly, he’s the one rescuing his brother this time, instead of the other way around (though that one doesn’t get a motif appearance bc admittedly a fuck ton of other things are happening in the soundtrack at the time)

so to that question asked in book three - who is bolin when not next to someone else? well, funnily enough, we saw it in book two as well, just in a warped way, playing nuktuk. it just wasn’t truly him because it was created by varrick, and he needed to get away from varrick too. the question put forward by the narrative is who is bolin, and the answer given by the music is, he is a hero. and i don’t know why bolin is the only one to get a theme like this, but i think it may have something to do with the fact that, while everyone in team avatar has been a hero and saved people, he is the only one who has, from the start, solely been motivated by wanting to help people. he follows his heart, and his heart cares, about everyone. it’s been the driving force behind almost everything he’s ever done. and i love him so much

[hearts-hunger]

ciryc ca'tra (cold night sky): chapter two || din djarin x reader

Read on AO3 | Masterlist

chapter one

Series Summary: When you crash-land on a frozen planet on your way to Trask, you and Din work together to keep the Crest afloat and keep your little family safe under the cold night sky. || Part One of Jate’kara (Lucky Stars)

Chapter Summary: Despite your worries and the work to be done, you and Din take a breather to lean on each other. But on this frozen planet, you quickly realize that neither of you can afford to let your guard down. 

Pairings: Din Djarin x Wife!Reader

Genre: Hurt/comfort, fluff, angst

Word Count: 2.4k

Warnings: None!

A/N: I have to say I’m jut as flattered as can be by the generous and kind responses that chapter one of this series received. I’m so happy you guys are enjoying it! I’m planning around two or three more chapters for this fic, and if there’s any interest, maybe another episode rewrite with our sweet wife!reader character. I hope you enjoy this chapter! ♡

You ate with little regard for what you were actually tasting - it was nearly frozen anyways, and the things in the very back of your storage shelves were always the highly nutritive but relatively tasteless rations. They worked in a pinch, and you and Din had had your fair share of them in his bounty hunter days, but since then you’d made it a point to provide your family with balanced, flavorful meals with as much fresh produce as you could get your hands on. You felt that your husband’s current mood could be significantly improved by something warm and hearty to eat, and wished there was something you could do to ease his frustration.

As it was, Din took his dinner upstairs so he could take off his helmet and look for a missing tool while he was at it. You collected the empty plates when the baby and the frog lady had finished, and bumped into your husband on your way to put them back in storage.

“Just me,” you called before you rounded the corner, not wanting him to have to go through the trouble of quickly putting his helm back on. You saw he had been about to, but set the helmet back down on the shelf he was leaning against.

“Did you find what you needed?” you asked, unconsciously avoiding looking in his direction. Even after all this time, you still had to overcome the tiniest bit of awkwardness to look at him without his mask, especially if you weren’t there when he took it off. It felt a bit like walking in on him undressing - not unwelcome, but perhaps a moment where he had wanted privacy even from his wife and one that made you want to ask for permission to look.

“No,” he said. “It was a long shot anyways. I haven’t used it in ages, and it’s probably either stuck somewhere I’d never find it or long gone.”

He watched you put the dishes in the sink, running a little bit of water over them - the pipes were nearly frozen, and only a small stream of water came from the faucet.

“We should keep it running a little,” you said, setting the dishes to dry. “That way, maybe the pipes won’t freeze over completely.”

He hummed in agreement. Then, “Cyar’ika. Look at me.”

You did as he said, turning from the sink to meet his eyes. He gave you a smile, gentle and amused.

“Still gets you sometimes, hm?”

You blushed. “Sometimes.”

He brought his plate over to the sink and stood close to you, studying you with those warm brown eyes always so full of kindness. 

“I remember how you could barely look at me on our wedding night,” he said, his voice fond at the memory. “You were so embarrassed; you kept apologizing, stammering and blushing like you’d done something wrong.”

You smiled too, recalling how patient he’d been with you. “I felt like I had,” you said, in defense of your younger self. “As much as I wanted to see you, I had spent so long looking away if you needed to take your helmet off that I felt guilty for looking that night.”

You reached up to brush back his curls. “I’d spent our entire courtship wondering what you looked like,” you said, now freely looking over his beloved features. They had been so beautiful but so new to you that night, like a gift you’d been admonished not to open and suddenly had given to you, and you hadn’t quite known if you were allowed to have it yet.

“And you were so horrified by what you saw that you couldn’t stand the sight of me,” Din teased, his smile on your cheek as he kissed it gently. “Tried to figure out a way to get out of marrying me.”

You laughed at the utter absurdity of it, putting your arms around his neck and letting him hold you close. He had been the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen, with those dark eyes and his messy curls and his gentle smile. Every time he took off his helmet, you remembered how enchanted and lovesick you’d been on your wedding night and felt like you were a new bride all over again, seeing your husband for the first time.

“Too bad I’ve been stuck with you all this time,” you teased. “And now we have a baby... I just can’t seem to get rid of you.”

He chuckled as he nosed against your jaw. “Not even if you tried, riduur.”

You loved it when he called you that - wife, in his native tongue, a remembrance of your love-bond, your marriage vows. You let him hold you for a moment, comforted by how solid and steady his beskar felt and warmed by his kisses on your face.

“Come down when you can,” you said softly. “It’s lonely without you.”

He smiled. “You have the baby.”

“And he’s much too busy looking at those eggs to care about his mother.”

He huffed a laugh. “Yeah, we need to keep an eye on that.” He pulled away from you, but not before giving you one last kiss.

“I’m going to try one more place to find that tool,” he said. “If it’s not there, it’d probably best that we all just... try and get some rest.”

You could hear the weight of your predicament bleed back into his voice, but you tried to be cheerful.

“Go look and see,” you said. “Maybe you’ll get lucky and find it.”

He started to smile before he put the helmet back on, and you knew he still had a wry quirk to his mouth under the beskar.

“Maybe,” he agreed.

You came back down to the first level to see your foundling happily babbling away to the frog lady, who was returning his chatter with gentle croaks you could only describe as motherly. You smiled to yourself as you set about trying to make comfortable sleeping arrangements; Din had said he wanted to sleep outside of your bunk just as a precaution, in case the patching came undone or there was some unwelcome intrusion. You thought any sort of creature who lived on such an inhospitable planet would not be one you wanted to meet, and you appreciated your husband’s foresight in being where he could most readily protect those in his care.

As warm as your bunk would be, you didn’t really like the idea of sleeping without your husband beside you - it had been a long time since you’d slept alone. But you knew he would insist, and so you made up the bunk with as little as you could in order to give Din the extra blankets.

He came down without the tool he’d been searching for, as both of you had guessed he would, and made a quick check of the space before turning to the three of you.

“If you hadn’t guessed, we’re in a tight spot,” he said, mostly to the frog lady. He sounded discouraged and tired. “The main power drive is not responding, and the hull has lost its integrity. I suspect the temperature will drop significantly when night falls.”

He paused and looked around the ship, the one he’d called home long before you and the baby had, and you felt a wave of grief on his behalf.

“In the morning, I can have a better look at the outside of the ship,” he continued. “I’ll have a better idea of our prospects at that time.”

You saw the baby give a great big yawn for such a little thing, and picked him up to take him to bed. Din leaned down to touch his helm to your head and brush a gloved hand over the baby’s ear, a silent wish for good sleep and pleasant dreams for both of you, and hunkered down onto the makeshift pallet on the ship’s floor.

The frog lady started to croak a little frantically, and you looked over as you tucked the baby in. You could read the exhaustion and confusion in Din’s body language as he tried to parse what she was saying, but eventually he shook his head.

“I’m sorry, lady, I don’t understand frog,” he said tiredly. “Whatever it is, it can wait until morning. I recommend you get some sleep.”

Din crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall, looking far from comfortable, but you knew he’d fallen asleep in a soldier’s slump like that more times than he could count. You climbed into bed and tucked the baby against your side, singing a very soft lullaby to him that Din had taught you.

“Ka’ra laararir gar jate ca,” you sang. The stars sing you goodnight. You brushed a finger over his ear and he curled close to you, giving a sleepy coo as he closed his eyes and listened to your voice. You kissed his head before you laid your own head down. You listened to the faint sound of Din’s gentle snores through his modulator, and your own exhaustion quickly caught up to you as you lay with your baby in your arms.

-

“Wake up, Mandalorian.”

You jolted awake at the horrible voice, immediately moving your body to shield the baby before you even knew what the danger was. You saw Din with his blaster drawn, aimed across at the droid slung up in parts on the wall; his whole body was tense, fearful, angry. Your heart raced in your chest as you waited in silence for him to tell you what to do, explain what was going on.

“This cannot wait until morning,” the droid said, its lifeless, metallic voice filling the ship. You hated that droid, and had begged Din countless times to get rid of it. You had thought he would be even more keen than you to be rid of it, considering his distrust of droids, but it had stayed hung up on the wall in a tangle of broken parts and frayed wires. In the past you had mitigated the unease it brought you by reminding yourself that it was basically scrap metal, and you were filled with horror at the thought that it had now somehow come to life and started speaking.

“Do not be alarmed,” it continued, though it had the opposite effect. “I bypassed the droid’s security protocols and accessed its vocabulator.”

Only then did you notice the frog lady, who was standing by the droid holding a comlink that connected to the droid’s head through a long, snaking wire. Was she speaking through the droid?

Your husband seemed to come to the same realization, and after a glance your way to make sure you were alright, he put his blaster away. His shoulders retained their tense wariness, and his voice was strained with a panicked sort of ire.

“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded. His chest plate rose and fell with his deep, unsteady breaths, and you knew he was still shaken up by the fright of being woken by the droid’s voice.

“That droid is a killer,” he said, and you could not mistake the bitterness and hatred in his voice. You wished you could comfort him, somehow, but knew he would feel more at ease with you and the baby at a safe distance from the droid, even if it was only the frog lady speaking through it.

“These eggs are the last brood of my life cycle,” the droid - or the frog lady - said. You could hear her croaking under the ringing sound of the droid’s voice. “My husband has risked his life to carve out an existence for us on the only planet that is hospitable to our species. We fought too hard and suffered too much to resign ourselves to the extinction of our family line. I must demand that you hold true to the deal that you agreed to.”

She fell silent and waited for Din to speak, as did you. You understood her fears and empathized with her need to insist upon help - you’d challenge a Mandalorian too, if your baby’s life depended on it. But you also understood how very slim your chances truly were on this frozen planet, and you didn’t know what could be done that hadn’t been done already, unless Din was willing to put himself and the ship at even greater risk for the chance of repair.

Din sighed. “Look, lady, the deal is off,” he said, and you were reminded of how brusque he’d been before you really got to know him, and how that same bluntness tended to resurface when he was stressed. “We’re lucky if we get off this frozen tomb with our lives.”

The frog lady stood her ground. “I thought honoring one’s word was a part of the Mandalorian code,” the droid said for her. “I guess those are just stories for children.”

You bit your lip, feeling her words like a wound, and you were sure Din felt it even more than you did. Din was trying - he wouldn’t break a promise if he could help it. His honor as a Mandalorian, as a man, meant everything to him. You knew Din had been wrestling with feelings of uselessness and incompetence since the checkpoint with the New Republic pilots had gone bad, and you knew how much he hated not being able to fix everything and protect everyone and make good on every single one of his promises. He was a Mandalorian, and if couldn’t fix things, he didn’t deserve the beskar he wore. 

At least, that was his thinking, and you knew without a shadow of a doubt that the frog lady’s accusations were only making that clearer to him. You wanted to defend him, but you didn’t know what you’d say; you also knew that even if Din would have appreciated your support, he was perfectly capable of fighting his own battles. So, out of respect for his dignity and with confidence in his good sense, you waited for him to act.

He stood and grabbed his toolbox.

“This wasn’t part of the deal,” he said, though you knew his voice better than anyone and could tell it was more tiredness and frustration with himself than any malice directed at her. He cast a glance your way, and you nodded to tell him you and the baby were alright, that he didn’t need to worry about you on top of everything else. He gave a brief nod back and lifted the tarp to head out into the unforgiving cold.

Read chapter three!

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[time-to-write-and-suffer]

What's your fav book, TV show and movie? 👀

This is difficult to decide because lbr it changes depending on mood and I love a lot of different things equally.

But the book I can always enjoy and find inspiration in is probably Howl's Moving Castle. It's the perfect blend of whimsy and solid character exploration that never gets old and you find new stuff to enjoy about it every time you read it.

TV show is harder because I honestly don't really watch that much TV? Or any, actually. But recently I'd say it's What We Do in the Shadows. I was kind of worried about it first because I thought the movie was so good and the first episode is basically filled with the exact same jokes almost beat-for-beat as the movie, but as I watched it really became its own thing and I prefer it over the movie now.

Favorite movie ... Uuuuh. Hmm. I love Beauty and the Beast? The original Disney one. It's honestly as close to flawless as anything gets I think. But a less cliché answer is probably Lilo & Stitch. It's just so good and underrated! I'm glad it's getting the love it deserves now.