#self-portrait with a harp

[fine-arts-gallery]

Self-Portrait with a Harp (1791) by Rose-Adelaïde Ducreux.

[eirene]

Self-Portrait with a Harp, 1791 Rose-Adelaïde Ducreux

[whiterosebrian]

Around a year ago, I began writing exercises in poetry, as I had developed a very serious interest in learning to write (and perform at some later point) original poetry for reasons well beyond this post. I drew myself as a masked bard for title-cards to accompany texts on posts on Instagram. Gradually I discovered that I really did have an aptitude for poetry, so I kept writing more exercises. Now I've drawn and posted an updated image. Where the previous one was complete Tolkien-like cosplay, this one is closer to how I might show up on stage. I do indeed own a mask and cloak for magical training (and might show up on stage for some poems), though I still doubt that I can play and maintain an elaborate and expensive musical instrument. I do hope to reach a point very soon where I feel ready to start performing poetry in public. Do expect me to post more written exercises in the near future!

[utopians]

sorry to keep harping but the thing is. like. people pretty much universally have profoundly complex and richly textured lives outside of the internet. like everyone you'll ever meet will have their share of complicated relationships, personal struggles, identity issues, et cetera. and these people will likely have deep inner lives and senses of self that an outsider is not easily privy to yk. but then you get all these Posters with a superiority complex who log into the fandom blogging website, see a fandom blogger blogging about fandom, and for some reason forget that other human beings have a rich inner world and assume that this little niche interest site somehow represents the totality of the fandom blogger's life and that they can deduce some sort of damning portrait of a Life Consumed by Media from the fact that they sometimes blog about fandom on the fandom blogging website. and then they make stupid ass posts like the aforementioned. it's so pretentious and self important and mean spirited with zero substance. Banished to the salt mines for 10000 years

[crooked-wasteland]

a review said it best that Charlie was just repackaged Christianity, and that HH is just a meta commentary about viv trying to pitch the show to studios, like Charlie is trying to pitch the hotel to heaven, except we’re being gaslighted by a manipulator. With everything that happened BTS of the show being pitched and VAs being recasted, viv pretty much just burned bridges and backstabbed the people that helped her make it but plays victim. Charlie comes across as bratty and entitled, so the writers have to make everyone shitty to make Charlie look like the victim, Charlie is supposed to be underdog but she’s powerful, rich and the princess of hell, has been alive for thousands of years, but she’s sheltered by her parents, the only thing she’s got going is that her parents are divorced. I hate how angel had to be the one to apologize and appreciate Charlie when she didn’t do anything except make his day worse. People harp on alastor for being useless and he is, he didn’t do anything for the entire season except get his ass locked by Adam, but charlie just as worse because the show tries to make it seem like she did everything herself when she didn’t do shit.

That's honestly a pretty decent reading of the series. And Sir Pentious stumbling his way into Heaven would be like Helluva Boss' season 1 maintaining consistently strong viewership until the final episode. An underdog proof of concept that her idea could work.

However that's also a bit disturbing. Something in my Media Literacy essay I was looking to bring up touches on how there is no such thing as art solely for entertainment. Even the most vapid and superficial artistic endeavors have something to say. If it isn't a curated message that has been carefully crafted through the characters and narrative, it is always an accidental self portrait of the creator and their priorities.

You will always say more about yourself than you realize when making art. Unless you are exceptionally self aware of what you are creating, you will only ever create your own reflection. And the idea that Charlie and the hotel is merely an allegory for Vivziepop and her shows lines up almost perfectly, both in concept and how Medrano recounts her own mythological rise to success.

[balanceoflightanddark]

Bigger, Scarier, More Teeth

Paleontology is, by its very nature, a very speculative science. For most of its history, we've only had fragmentary remains of ancient animals that sometimes have no easy modern day counterpart to compare with. Of course, the field is also good at self correcting these errors, which means our image of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures is constantly evolving. While admittedly we may never know with 100% accuracy what these animals were like, we can certainly narrow down and tweak our perception to come up with the closest possible image.

Then...there's instances where dinosaurs were deliberately modified. Not a case of misidentification mind you. Cases where the animal was physically altered in order to seem more impressive or threatening.

Case in point: the Giganotosaurus from Jurassic World Dominion. One of the most recent examples, the Giga was depicted with a row of spines running along its crocodilian esque back. Naturally, we have no evidence of these in actual specimens and was probably added to make the final big carnivore of the series look more threatening.

Admittedly I'm not gonna harp on too hard about this since there is a difference between a fictional portrayal and something that's supposed to be accurate and the Jurassic Park series isn't really known for its accuracy. This is honestly just a bench mark for what we're working with and a notable and recent example.

What's a bit more headscratching when said altering happens in more scientific portrayals of dinosaurs.

Take shrinkwrapping for example. For decades, shrinkwrapping was the standard fair in portraying dinosaurs. What it involved was basically showing visible bone structures underneath the skin of the animal.

The results were...

...basically skeletons with skin stretched over them.

The idea, as pointed out by Mark P. Witton in the link above, is not just to portray them as fast, agile, bird like animals, but also matching a popular but inaccurate depiction:

Secondly, images of prehistoric animals as heroically-built, powerful beings are preferred by many merchandisers and palaeoart fans, these interpretations most closely matching the erroneous but popular portrayal of prehistory as a savage struggle for survival, where only the most powerful animals survived.

Thing was, these depictions completely ignored the muscle and tissue underneath the skin which gives the animals more bulk in favor of portraying them as more intimidating. Which in retrospect didn't work since if a dinosaur looked shrink-wrapped in real life, it probably was starving, ill, or basically on the verge of death.

In contrast, there are some artists that go the complete opposite direction. As is the case with David Peters and his...unique look at pterosaurs.

David Peters, a once respected independent researcher and artist, once claimed that he was able to identify hidden features and anatomical structures in pterosaur remains that no-one else had been able to identify. These include elongated fleshy crests, spines, and extravagant feathers.

The results speak for themselves. It's almost astonishing that anybody would think that any animal could even fly with that amount of extra weight and protrusions.

Now while we can poke fun at paleoart all day, the thing is that altered dinosaurs or other prehistoric animals aren't just restricted to art alone. There have been cases where specimens themselves have been altered to look more impressive.

Such is the case with Irritator challengeri, a spinosaurid first discovered in Brazil, South America in 1996. While the original specimen is noted for having one of the most complete skulls of any spinosaurid anywhere, its name is referring to a much more...interesting background.

Irritator wasn't actually discovered by scientists. It was purchased from a fossil dealer which made its way to Germany’s Stuttgart State Museum of the Natural Sciences. In this case, material from the back of the skull had been removed, and placed on the tip of the snout, making the skull appear longer. Presumably this was to make the specimen more marketable. Paleontologist David Martill and his team had to painstakingly remove the altered bit of the snout and restore them to their original location. It was such a pain, they eventually named the species Irritator due to the difficulty of removing and reattaching the material without damaging the specimen.

But even the case of Irritator is nowhere near the levels of altering than the case of Archaeoraptor. AKA: the dinosaur that was completely made up.

Like with Irritator, the Archaeoraptor specimen was an altered fossil (also known as a chimera) sold on the fossil market. Though instead of a single specimen, it was several individuals put together to create a complete product that would sell for a much higher price. Smuggled out of China and sold in the US for $80,000 USD during 1999, it ended up in the hands of amateur dinosaur enthusiast Stephen Czerkas who wanted it to be the centerpiece of his museum in Blanding, Utah. Working with noted paleontologist Phil Currie and Chris Sloane of the National Geographic magazine, they determined that the specimen was the long sought-after missing link between dinosaurs and birds. A groundbreaking discovery like this would've revolutionized the field. So much so the magazine did a story on it and christened it Archaeoraptor even before a more formal study could be conducted.

The result: a complete disaster and embarrassment to both paleontology and National Geographic when it was revealed to be a hoax. Creationists had a field day, practically tearing the reveal apart and used it as evidence against paleontologists and their work. The zeal for the missing link resulted in an absolute blunder for science.

Ironically though, it's now believed that the two species used in the specimen belong to Yanornis (an early bird) and the famous Microraptor, both of which are stronger contenders for the title of "missing-link".

Here's a link to an excellent video by Dino Diego that goes into detail if you're interested: The Bizarre Archaeoraptor Hoax - YouTube

Needless to say, the field of paleontology is full of fabrications and falsehoods. And more often than not it's difficult to truly pick out what's real and what isn't. Which is a problem since it draws into question the validity of both research done by paleontologists, the work of paleoartists, and the very specimens themselves. Naturally it should come to no surprise that researchers need to be diligent in how dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals are portrayed and studied. Especially when sensation overcomes the truth many work so hard to find.

[stoopystuppy]

crippling heathers headcanons 😭

this is just mostly the Heathers + V & JD ueueueue some of them may be OOC ueueueue

Artistic side

 ▪︎ McNamara:

- she'd be the type to have a cute cartoony and vibrant artstyle, and if it were the modern days, she'd definitely be an animation kid

- artstyle is very inconsistent, one second she’s doing an anime artstyle then the next she suddenly know how to draw semi-realism 

- uses pen, paper, markers and colored pencils but eventually switched to digital 

- isn’t afraid to try other mediums but she’s super comfortable with digital

- doodle!! doodle!! doodles!!

- vents via art

 ▪︎ Duke:

- she’s defo a painter kind of artist (more comfortable with oil painting), draws whatever she sees; objects, old pictures (she sometimes draw her gfs but hides it from them)

- experiments with different mediums

- she’s the type to say “lol yeah this is just a sketch” to a finished-looking output

- hates her works and probably burns them (the others cry for her but she’s like “lmao”)

 ▪︎ Chandler: 

- isn’t really the artistic type but since she’s surrounded with artists she kinda has those amateur artstyle that doesn’t look messy but has no knowledge in anatomy and such

- draws a lot of clothing designs (likes to draw floral designs)

- her gfs support her and they try to make her designs real and they wear it for her

- she just draws for fun or if she’s bored

 ▪︎ Veronica:

- can’t draw for shite, very messy and shaky hands because of coffee and little to no experience

- the type to draw pp for fun

- but fr, she would attempt to do realism and loves drawing with graphites

- does scenery artworks and portraits

- combines traditional and digital (linework in traditional, colorwork in digital)

 ▪︎ JD:

- the type to draw small edgy stickmen but when he draws seriously its like he's a facking god 

- draws in a monotone color (usually black)

- comfortable with using only charcoal and graphites

- throws his art away (the only thing he and Duke bonds over /j) 

▪︎ Martha:

- SHE HAS THE ANIME ARTSTYLE!!!

- loves drawing animals (especially ponies)

- she and McNamara do collabs together

Playing instruments

 ▪︎ Veronica: 

- plays the acoustic and electric guitar, maybe some drums but she likes playing the acoustic guitar more 

- plays the ukulele time to time

- she's also learning to play the bass (being taught by JD) 

- ironically plays the clarinet 

 ▪︎ McNamara: 

- just likes playing the recorder and drums, had lessons for both

- she also plays maracas and harmonica bc she likes annoying her gfs

- is being taught the guitar by Veronica

- loves learning different kind of instruments, although they don’t get used anymore once she finds a new instrument to play (tho if there are similar functions, the skill will go over it)

 ▪︎ Duke:

- was most likely forced to play the violin

- is learning other instruments via her gfs’ and recently fell in love playing the drums

- being taught the drums by both Veronica and McNamara :] 

 ▪︎ Chandler:

- more on vocal but was forced to play the harp or/and piano 

- does duets with Duke <3

- LITERALLY THE ONLY ONE THAT DOESN’T PLAY THE DRUMS BETWEEN THE FOUR OF THEM

- and also the only one that doesn’t have any plans on learning or hoarding other instruments because she’s burnt out with playing the two

▪︎ JD:

- pianist and a self-taught bassist 

- his mom was supportive of him playing the piano and he had piano lessons when she was still around but he stopped learning when she’s gone because he didn’t want to be reminded of her for the longest time

- bought his own bass with his own earned money to distract himself and learned it instead

- good thing for him too because it wasn’t as loud as the piano so his dad doesn’t scold him

- every single time he sees or/and touches a piano, he feels his mom around and would be emotional, he doesn’t have any plan on coming back but gets sentimental when he gets a chance to play it

Texting/Chatting style

 ▪︎ McNamara:

- loves using tone indicators and often uses them in her messages

- she types really fast and would make a lot of typos but fixes them 

- doesn’t care about punctuations and would elongate her words

- loves loves loves using emoticons because she thinks its cute :D especially these ones; ٩(＾◡＾)۶ , (ᗒᗣᗕ) ՞, (づ ◕‿◕ )づ , (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄) , (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

- loves using (yellow) emojis like; 💛✨🎉👑🧀

- enjoys keyboard smashing and using caps lock because she thinks it shows her excitement on things or shows how upset she is; "DHMJDKWODUQKOSHWJISJSJZ!!!!!!" and "hdjsksjnsnsnkz"

- laughs in either keyboard smash or “hehe”

- ex;

  Mac-a-: Guysssss i splled milk n the bed :((( /srs

  Mac-a-: spilled* on*  sowwy ╥﹏╥ fnkfianmkf /lu

—--------

  Mac-a-: UWUWEUUWEUWEUWUEWUEWUU✨✨✨✨✨✨

  Chandy: ????

 ▪︎ Veronica:

- uses tone indicator a lot for McNamara, Martha and JD 

- has good punctuation and grammar but does not give a damn about capitalization nor does she put periods at the end of her messages (unlike a certain someone)

- uses "lol" "lmao" and etc in a lower caps

- sends copypasta bc she thinks its funny

- the only time she uses caps lock is when she's screaming or laughing

- ex; 

  -Ronnie: is anyone up for pizza? /genq

  -Ronnie: no? well, that's alright /nm

—--------

   -Ronnie: cum

   Chandy: y am i dating u

 ▪︎ Chandler:

-  she isn’t really up to date with tone indicators and one time someone was ranting and she’s just “ok what the hell is a /neg” and then everyone just screamed at her (via chat form) and told her to shut up (only V and M did that) and that JD was venting lmfao

- she later was then taught about tone indicators and uses it sometimes (only with McNamara)

- uses emojis a lot and laughs with emoji; 😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣

- T A K E S   H O U R S  TO RESPOND but expects you to respond to her quickly 😭 

- she’s too lazy to type so she either uses auto-correct/predictive text thingy to continue her sentences or she literally just have missing letters in her words and go like “wht u doin??”

- her texts are literally either “r u hre? ive been waitin 4 u🙄😒😪” or “Are You Here? I’ve Been Waiting For You 🙄😒😪” (auto-correct/predictive text)

- followed by that is 3791874218 missed calls from her

- IRONICALLY SENDS THOSE “GOOD MORNING” GIFS FHIWAINFISAF and McNamara’s the only one who hearts it and replies with a “GOOD MORNING!!!”

 ▪︎ Duke:

- talking to her would literally be like talking to a bot or reading a research paper, bc of that she’s such a dry texter

- girls got proper punctuation, proper grammar and capitalization, EVERYTHING

- often gets annoyed when she sees grammar mistakes and would fix it for the person

- will literally type a whole paragraph scolding you to type better 

- doesn’t laugh in “haha’s”, just uses “lol” in lowercase, uses "lmao" after every offense towards others or herself

- barely text/chat and would rather just vc and send vm instead and then McNamara and Chandler join her and they all just started sending vms (V: w..what?)

- ex; 

  Dandy: Don't forget, we have an assignment due later at 4PM.

  Mac-a-: waIT WHAT??!?!

—--------

  Dandy: I hate myself lmao.

  Chandy: dont 😐😘💞

  Dandy: K.

—--------

  Dandy: I want to kill someone.

  John Doe: same.

  Pony Martha: You guys are /j right? 😊😊

  Dandy: *seen*

  John Doe: *seen*

  Mac-a-: aRE YALL /J OR /SRS!??!!??!?!?!??!

▪︎ JD:

- types slowly and somehow still makes typos and he doesn't fix them

- he just lets other people interpret what he's typing because he doesn't give a damn about them

- nor does he give a damn about proper punctuation and grammar although he adds a period at the end of his messages

- just uses tone indicators for Martha, Veronica and McNamara

- uses emojis but only the edgy looking ones; 🖤💔🔪🔫⚰🥀

- laughs in “haha’s” and doesn’t use acronyms

- ex;  

   John Doe: wnns sese my hmsrerz.

   Chandy: what

   -Ronnie: sure

   John Doe: *sends pics of his hamsters*

—--------

   Chandy: istg ur worse than me

   John Doe: slay.

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "Trials of the Darksaber"

Delicious. Finally some good kriffing Sabine backstory. :)

Really love the unique design of Atollon, the coral reef type plantlife, like the ocean floor drained of water. Love that we get lots of establishing shots this season just looking at and admiring the coral formations. <3

From this look Sabine gives as Rau heads up the ramp into the Ghost's cargo hold I think she already suspects and/or dreads why he's there.

Rau looks at the darksaber with reverence and awe and disbelief like it's Excalibur.

"Liberated" is an awfully nice way of saying y'all stole it, Rau. And oh boy the ink I could spill on that.

Long story short, the thing never should have become a cultural icon for the Mandalorians in the first place, Tarre left it with the Temple, if he wanted the Mandos to have it he would have instructed the Jedi Order to give it to them. Actually kind of sick that a Jedi lightsaber--representative of peace and diplomacy--got used instead for warfare, conquest, and dominance.

Side note though, the 2D animation sequence of the darksaber's backstory is gorgeous.

"I imagine Sabine was excited to recover it." Yeeeeeeeah you don't know her at all, Rau. Sabine has too many family trauma-shaped issues for that. She thought for one second about the implications of finding the darksaber and was like, "Nope! Not dealing with that." straight into denial and avoidance.

Which is not the last time her character journey in this episode will mirror Ezra's from all the way back in "Empire Day/Gathering Forces".

This is so cute. <3

From how Sabine has painted herself this particular wall art must have been added sometime in Season Two, probably earlier in the season. Her depiction of Ezra here is a little bit more flattering than the one she painted in Season One... but still kind of poking fun at him. XD

(Really kind of amazing to contrast this portrait with the one she did in the finale, where Ezra is centered instead of her, and finally looks serene and grown up.)

Sabine is kind of curled up, clutching her helmet a bit self-protectively.

Be honest, you thought the purr Chopper gives when Sabine pets him as she passes was cute too.

The score is already heavily reliant on clarinet and harp, a combination that makes this cue sound vaguely exotic.

Hmm, does this collective family confrontation seem familar?

It does!

Ezra points out the obvious: It's a lot harder for someone non-Force Sensitive to wield and be proficient in a lightsaber. Something that the Ahsoka show will hopefully delve into.

Maybe?

Perhaps?

Please?

Kanan agrees that Sabine "can't fight like a Jedi" (more evidence that she's not actually Force Sensitive) but she can become proficient with the blade, to which Sabine objects because "[...]that is a lightsaber." and there is this raw look of actual fear in her eyes.

This is the first time we hear her theme, by the way, faint in the background.

Sabine has such a defeatist attitude about reconciling with her family. :(

Tiya's voice acting is amazing this episode, Sabine already sounds like she's about to cry.

(Also note she curls her arms around herself self-protectively here, juuuuust like a little Season One Loth-rat we could name. :) )

Hera is being SO very gentle about the fact that she has to, as Rebellion leader, ask Sabine to try and make a strategic alliance with a prominent Mandalorian clan. Sabine feels a little bit betrayed by this, obviously, but Kanan emphasizes she can still walk away if that's her choice, which I really wish the people who trauma-coddle Sabine would remember as a thing he and Hera did.

Does Sabine relent because she feels a sense of pressure? Probably. But also she was not healing ducking and avoiding the issue.

Even though she agrees she's not really committed to her actions yet, and Ezra points out that getting her head right about that is going to be the first step. (Hera kind of gives him stinkeye for this but Hera, this is Jedi Training 101, let the padawan who's already wrestled with this have a say. He's not even that mean about it.)

Sabine gets angry, which is the opposite of what she needs to be in order to do this. (Also, "Give me the lightsaber and I'll make the connection!"/"Gimme the sword, I'm gonna learn how to kick your--") At Kanan's urging she calms herself, though, and it's only then that he lets her hold the darksaber.

AND THUS WE GET ROAD TRIP AND JEDI BOOTCAMP WITH KANAN. :D

Ezra doesn't often get the chance to poke Sabine back so you know he's enjoying this.

Sabine is actually being way pricklier at the teasing than she normally would be, and that's one of our clues of just how emotionally unbalanced and rattled she is this episode.

They start setting up camp and Sabine immediately begins questioning Kanan's training methods, to which Ezra assures her this kind of thing is normal.

Something I really like and appreciate about this episode? Ezra never once acts jealous or bratty about the fact that Kanan's training Sabine too. He's actually very eager and helpful to walk her through the forms.

The only two times he complains it's because Kanan made him unload the supplies Fenn brought instead of taking a break to rest--which isn't really about Sabine at all, more like a typical teenager griping about the chores--and when Sabine uses her new gauntlet arsenal on him. Because you know, that's cheating.

There is nooooooo particular reason I'm including this screencap, nope. None at all.

I said like a liar.

Look at him, he's so proud for her. <3

I love watching the choreography in this episode. Sabine lunges, almost off balance from the very-start, movement heavily telegraphed, and slashes with very little thought or strategy, and none of the elegance or precision she's going to need with an actual lightsaber. So obviously, Kanan easily deflects and overpowers her.

This first clash is punctuated with some lovely drum percussion in the score. Possibly some wood blocks too? That or the drums are Japanese Taiko or something.

He's so excited to teach her, look at him. <3

Fun note from the closed captions: "Hey, slow down, all right? You're not gonna learn this in one day." Ezra being encouraging when she's frustrated about her progress.

After the commercial cut we're back with Ezra and Sabine again and she's almost gotten herself perfectly synced to him.

Hera: "Were you careful with Ezra?" Ah, that would be a NO, Hera. He was not. Lol.

Both Hera and Kanan have points here. Kanan, understandably, doesn't want Sabine to get hurt (his "I'm trying things differently" line) and Hera accuses him of doubting in her abilities because she doesn't have the Force. And it's not that it's that her emotional blockage is going to completely screw up her ability to hold a lightsaber, because to use the Force properly in any fashion, even just enough to hold a lightsaber without dismembering yourself you have to be at peace.

You can't be channeling your emotions because that feedback loops through the Force and amplifies whatever you're feeling and amps it up to dangerous levels you can't always control, especially if you aren't trained.

Kanan is the Jedi, he knows this. But Hera is the mom, and she knows Sabine. By not letting her actually confront herself via the real blade, Kanan isn't helping her work through her issues.

Mostly because he doesn't know how to even begin to approach those issues because Sabine's got everything so battened down and bottled up under stubborn layers of denial and anger and hurt. (So he's going to have to throw her in the deep end like he did with Ezra, and it seems like he doesn't want to.)

Like, this episode is an almost perfect encapsulation of why the Jedi practice mindfulness and why the Jedi way can't be for everyone who shows Force potential.

Though on those lines, again, please note that the show completely supports the premise that Sabine is not Force Sensitive, even with Kanan's line about how the Force resides in all things but you have to be open to it. We'll put a bookmark on this and hopefully we won't have to come back to it for reference with the Ahsoka show. *narrow stare at Filoni*

"I'll be sending out supplies, is there anything specific that you need?" "Patience, understanding..." SUCH a #married line lol.

Back to the boot camp and Sabine is doing marginally better, her movements sharper, more controlled, kept closer to her chest. She's still pressing forward too much, too eager to just attack and overwhelm; Ezra barely expends any effort dodging and blocking her. His form is polished, casual. You can spot several of the established canon block positions. Sabine's is erratic and stiff, her strikes all over the place.

She smacks him for his chipper encouraging compliment but also--

She smiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiing. ^_^

There's a move here Ezra does where he spins around Sabine's strike that gif-makers have noticed she uses later in her fight with Saxon.

Sabine is SO ANNOYED that Rau is adding to the chorus of critical voices lolol.

Rau spoiling Sabine like a doting uncle, aww.

The gifts provide Sabine with a temporary, artificial confidence, which leads to a bit of arrogance on her part. She's too caught up in getting one over her opponent that she forgets all respect and decorum and attacks Kanan out of turn.

Kanan gets a little pissy in return, quickly turning things around and emphasizing that her bullish attitude is going to get her killed.

Oh, something else I love? Sabine doesn't ever target Ezra with her anger, even here where she's yelling at Kanan, all her bitterness is directed squarely at him and she only mentions Ezra because she incredulous he's learned so well when he has such a "lousy" teacher.

But oof, Kanan and Ezra's expressions, ow.

There's this painful little pinch of guilt. Wonder if he's remembering Kanan's doubts about being a good teacher for him, about how when things were at their worst he was the one lashing out at Kanan and claiming he didn't need him.

Sabine goes off to be by herself and after a moment Ezra follows, attempting another of his infamous impromptu therapy sessions no doubt lol.

I love this scene so much. The soft lighting, the quiet rendition of Sabine's theme in harp. Ezra trying to be encouraging and understanding and Sabine just bursting at the seams with all the hurt and pain she's trying to hide because if she gives voice to the reason she left she has to confront it all over again.

Thematically it's all the same beats as their conversation back in "Gathering Forces" where Sabine was urging him to reconcile with and resolve the trauma in his past, reconnect with his former family, only now with the roles reversed, now he's the one urging her.

Gif-makers have not failed to notice the shot-for-shot blocking, the parallels are so strong and clearly deliberate. Ezra's trying to be there for Sabine the way she was for him, with the same results, Sabine shuts down and shuts him out. Ezra withdraws respectfully, though not before pointing out that she still has a chance, because her parents are still alive to reconcile with. (I hear a snatch of his theme right here, very nice.)

Boy fandom gave him so much unnecessary grief for that line. It made... zero sense. Then and now.

Sabine tries to call after him, a bit too late, and just stays alone with her thoughts some more.

Hi Bendu!

See what I said above, Kanan's thinking about the practicality of letting a volatile emotionally-compromised teenager swing around a Force weapon and Hera knows she's not going to get past her issues if she's given an out to avoid things. (Hera also alludes to her issues with Cham, which is probably what got Sabine to start trusting her in the first place.)

Ezra voicing some worry about how long she's been gone. <3 And complete faith in her abilities, feeling like Kanan's maybe pushing her too hard. <3

He's so happy to see her back, too. <3

Oooh this track, relying on those unique instruments again, some kind of flute and that might be an erhu but I'm not sure. This is "Sabine's Catharsis", a cue which takes her leitmotif through an emotional wringer, bending it around different percussion harmonies and giving the theme to different parts of the orchestra. (I counted at least four or five shifts, from the flute, to the erhu and violins, to a cello and some horns, to the full string section and back around again.)

Sabine looks trepidacious at finally being handed the darksaber.

Ezra with an expression of, "Oh this 'bout to get good."

And his anxious glance at Rau when he realizes Kanan isn't dialing down his saber to training mode lol.

Ho man this overhead shot.

This whole sequence. *chef's kiss* The lighting, the score, the character drama... Kanan pushing Sabine to her limit, physically and emotionally, to break past the walls that are preventing her from healing, from accessing that place of catharsis she needs.

Sabine's choreography starts fraying as the duel goes on, Kanan still easily able to knock her down or push her about. At one point the darksaber glances off her right vambrace, singing it, which is probably what Kanan was worried about when he hesitated to actually give her the sword.

(Ezra almost rushes in, because she's hurt, but Fenn holds him back. People holding Ezra back from trying to protect Sabine will almost become a running gag in this arc lol.)

Again, I would love to point out those sweet sweet parallels in the dialogue here.

"You're blocked!"/"You're not committed to this. You should quit."

"I'm not afraid of them!" "Then what?"/"You did run, didn't you?" "No!"

"Ezra, what are you afraid of?"/"Then what's the truth?"

And... it works.

"I'm... I'm afraid of knowing. I'm afraid of the truth!"/"The truth... is that... I left to save everyone!"

Frick, the emotion in Tiya's performance here, it's so raw. :(((((

And finally that juicy juicy Sabine backstory they've been sprinkling out a trickle at a time, lol.

:(((((

All of them pledging to support her as we close out on this powerful image.

Oh man I love this episode. Something that becomes apparent in Season Three is that Sabine is being moved forward into narrative prominence, to wind up ultimately as a co-protagonist to Ezra. That spot had previously been taken up by Kanan, who has been sort of stepping back, the writers very slowly shifting him out of focus and allowing Sabine to grow, and also allowing her and Ezra to grow up together. (I think at this point they already knew that Kanan's days were numbered as Ezra's mentor, and were making sure he still had someone who was always going to be in his corner.)

In the end the show is about them, the children who become adults too soon in a world at war. "A boy who was lost" and "a girl who was broken" as Hera's trailer voiceovers would say, later.

Sabine's backstory confession is heartbreaking. Slightly confusing in places, @seleneisrising has an attempt at a coherent timeline of events, but nothing that dampens the emotional resonance of the scene. So many things about Sabine make sense now, and boy I hurt for her.

Great music, great character work... This episode is on people's top fives for a reason.

[digitalfashionmuseum]

Oil Painting, 1791, French.

By Rose Adélaïde Ducreux.

Portraying the artist in a blue striped silk dress.

Met Museum.

[arwenkenobi48]

I’ve decided to make my own rewrite of alternate Gabriel and put him in a new original story, in light of recent events

[Warning: long post]

Basically, Gabe (as he is now called) is the subject of a painting created by an artist who unknowingly has the power to bring his artwork to life. Gabe loved it when his creator called him the most beautiful thing he’d seen and when the artist moved on to other projects, the painted angel basically went mad with jealousy.

Breaking free from his canvas, Gabe began corrupting the artist’s other paintings, turning them into twisted, monstrous images. When the horrified artist saw what was happening, he decried Gabe as a monster. Heartbroken and furious that his creator rejected him, Gabe killed the man and used his blood to create a new painting; a portrait identical to his dead creator, one that would be eternally loyal to him.

Gabe’s second in command, simply known as Edward (an expy of Six/the Intruder), still retains the skills of an artist and the mysterious powers he possessed before his murder. He creates more disturbing minions for his master, all while passing them off as ‘horror art’.

The vast majority of these art pieces fall into the hands of an eccentric rich man named Zekiel Thomson, who adds them to his vast collection. This guy’s so rich he has his own private art gallery that he shows off to all his wealthy socialite friends. After installing the ‘horror art’, however, things begin to take a turn for the worse.

First, mysterious music is heard in the night; the sickly sweet sound of a harp and the operatic voice of an angel. The last person to awaken to its sound is found dead the next day, mutilated and - most disturbingly - with a significant amount of blood missing.

As more and more of these mysterious murders unfold, Zekiel is plagued by nightmares in which Gabe’s demonic underlings are tormenting him. He resorts to hiring a detective named Vincent Truman, who’s something of a theology/occult enthusiast.

The main framing sequence of the story is told through Vincent’s notes on the case, as he goes from being sceptical of Zekiel’s credibility to finding himself in a tangled web of mass murder and blood magic, to standing face to face with the devil himself, The Painted Angel, Gabe.

I haven’t yet decided on a title for this story, but I quite like the sound of The Painted Angel. The Peculiar Case of Zekiel Thomson is another potential title, although it is a little wordy.

Also I decided to set the whole thing in England bc that’s a pretty good place for haunted paintings and unexplained phenomena. Adds a gothic feel to the whole thing too.

Kinda toying with the idea of frequently switching between different POVs between chapters but I don’t want it to get confusing. I guess that once I have the entire story mapped out it should be fine.

There’s going to be recurring themes of facing one’s inner demons, unprocessed trauma and self worth. Elements of the horror game Layers of Fear, an old Victorian story titled The New Mother, Skinamarink and Motion Picture Soundtrack by Radiohead are also going to be worked into the project.

I haven’t yet decided if this is going to be a straight up novel or a comic yet. My ability to draw is…inconsistent at best. I feel like the story might work better with some accompanying visuals, though.

But yeah that’s my thoughts so far. I have had bits and pieces of this project in my drafts for a while but I had no idea what to do with it. I think this could probably tie it all together.

Now I need to get some sleep bc I am exhausted. Lmk what you think of this idea and feel free to suggest any potential titles.

[postgameroutesix]

…Accepting the reality of being a colonizer means agreeing to be a nonlegitimate privileged person, that is, a usurper. To be sure, a usurper claims his place and, if need be, will defend it by every means at his disposal. This amounts to saying that at the very time of his triumph, he admits that what triumphs in him is an image which he condemns. His true victory will therefore never be upon him: now he need only to record it in the laws and morals. For this he would have to convince the others, if not himself. In other words, to possess victory completely he needs to absolve himself of it and the conditions under which it was attained. This explains his strenuous insistence, strange for a victor, on apparently futile matters. He endeavors to falsify history, he rewrites laws, he would extinguish memories — anything to succeed in transforming his usurpation into legitimacy.

How? How can usurpation pass for legitimacy? One attempt can be made by demonstrating the usurper’s eminent merits, so eminent that they deserve such compensation. Another is to harp on the usurped’s demerits, so deep that they cannot help leading to misfortune. His disquiet and resulting thirst for justification require the usurper to extol himself to the skies and to drive the usurped below the ground at the same time. In effect, these two attempts at legitimacy are actually inseparable.

Moreover, the more the usurped is downtrodden, the more the usurper triumphs and, thereafter, confirms his guilt and establishes his self-condemnation. Thus, the momentum of this mechanism for defense propels itself and worsens as it continues to move. This self-defeating process pushes the usurper to go one step further; to wish the disappearance of the usurped, whose very existence causes him to take the role of usurper, and whose heavier and heavier oppression makes him more and more of an oppressor himself.

[…]

With all his [the colonialist’s] power he must disown the colonized while their existence is indispensable to his own. Having chosen to maintain the colonial system, he must contribute more vigor to its defense than would have been needed to dissolve it completely. Having become aware of the unjust relationship which ties him to the colonized, he must continually attempt to absolve himself. He never forgets to make a public show of his own virtues, and will argue with vehemence to appear heroic and great. At the same time his privileges arise just as much from his glory as from degrading the colonized. He will persist in degrading them, using the darkest colors to depict them. If need be, he will act to devalue them, annihilate them. But he can never escape from this circle.

- The Colonizer and The Colonized, The Portrait of The Colonizer: The Colonizer who Accepts by Albert Memmi

(emphasis is my own)

[ratsoh-writes]

For the new skeletons

They wake up as a different species of monster, one wakes up as a human

Zen: *froggit* his hands and fingers are significantly shorter now making playing the harp a lot harder. He’s sulky about it and is real excited to turn back

Shield: *stone golem*. He has to borrow another guards armor since he has no hope of ever fitting into his own right now. Clothes aside, shield isn’t too bothered by this development. Sure the crazy strength took a hot minute to get used to, but he thinks he has it under control

Hilda: *dog monster* she can run faster, but lost her wings in the process, so the whole chance to feel the wind in her fur is lost. She’s pissed lol

Saga: *cat monster* she took the day off work to basically play with hair styles all afternoon. If she’s gonna be a cat for a day, she wants to enjoy it to the fullest. She even dyes her fur. She’ll be rather sad to wake up as a skeleton again the next day

Helios: *fire elemental* so now he’s always on fire. Oh what a shocker. He doesn’t care

Artemis: *water elemental* she’s quite put out that of all the monsters she could’ve been turned into, she became one that is the exact opposite of her aesthetics. She likes warm colors dangit! And now she’s all blue!

Alden: *human* oh wow! He’s pretty handsome! After admiring his face in the mirror for a while, Al gets to work and paints a self portrait to remember this day. He gets too into it though and is unable to finish before he turns back

Ollivander: *human* he’s big into family history and does have humans somewhere along his fathers side, so when he’s turned into a human with a caramel skin and dark black hair, he’s shocked. All the humans he could trace back were pale, full of freckles and redheads. Where did this face come from? This leads ollie to the discovery of a great great great (x8) ancestor who was from the Philippines

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

I pick my songs largely based on vibes & lyricism so these won't be very one to one parallels, but I thought I'd share :3 Peacemaker by The Mechanisms has always been very much a Lucio song to me. The song itself exists in the context of its own story (this is also my not-so-subtle "listen to The Mechanisms" propaganda), but its lyricism is just absolutely gorgeous & so reflective of Lucio's approach to violence to me.

On the note of songs that remind me of Lucio, I'm a really big fan of Ceasar by The Oh Hellos (yes those Oh Hellos). I don't have a lot to say about this one but it's the royalty/monarchy imagery that really cements it. The reference to O Sleeper off another one of their albums, Eurus, is really delightful to me because O Sleeper reminds me of Asra.

On the note of The Oh Hellos, Eat You Alive is such a Julian song to me. To me it's just extremely reflective of his own self-destructive nature that shows most prominently in the beginning of his route, but is a consistent throughline in his character. The song to me reads as a warning against his determination to ensure his own destruction: "There is no courage in flirting with fear / To prove you're alive".

I also think The Amazing Devil's Farewell Wanderlust is an artful exploration of guilt & regret while not wholly fitting Julian & his story, definitely captures the broad strokes & is worth the listen. I'd recommend you go into that one blind without reading the lyrics first. It's a little on the edgier, more dramatic side, but it's wonderfully executed & the sheer talent in it is lovely.

I think A Lady by Tally Hall is a really short and sweet Nadia type song. Not necessarily as accurate in terms of lyricism but the delicate harp(?) & background vocals just conjure up the image really well.

Shallow River by The Crane Wives, on top of being (partly) the inspiration for my url, is also a song that reminds me of Nadia in a lot of ways. The ideas of wasted glory and conflict, complex ties to both family and lovers, danger always on the horizon... it's not easy being Countess.

That's all I have for now but if you'd like to hear more I have a lot of thoughts on Shop: A Pop Opera & its little bite-sized character conflicts in relation to the M6, & a few other songs here and there. I apologize for the length & lack of structure; hopefully this ask isn't too much to untangle :3 (this ask also paints a very poor portrait of my music taste... I promise I have better & more varied taste than this) —fool-in-his-wedding-gown

@fool-in-his-wedding-gown don't apologize! All these selections are so thoughtful and insightful, I'm absolutely adding it to the tag ^.^

I don't think there's much more for me to add, you summed it all up so well!

[princess-viola]

Self-portrait with a Harp (1791, Rose-Adélaïde Ducreux)

[artejoke]

This is how we Ducreux it

Rose-Adélaïde Ducreux, Self-Portrait with a Harp, circa 1791, Metropolitan Museum of Art

[891movies]

508 to go

The Burmese Harp (1956, dir. Kon Ichikawa): This movie made me cryyyy. It's not just the soldiers yearning to return home, or the healing power of music, or the way the group refuses to leave even one man behind, or reckoning with all that we've lost and how to move on from it while still paying our respects to the fallen... it's all of it and also those adorable talking parrots.

Anatomy of a Murder (1959, dir. Otto Preminger): I worried for the first half that the subject material might not be treated with the care and respect needed. I'm so sorry for doubting you, Mr. Preminger.

Johnny Guitar (1954, dir. Nicholas Ray): All I knew about this movie going in was that it featured Joan Crawford in a black shirt (as featured in one of my favorite documentaries, The Celluloid Closet) and honestly, that was enough to get me interested. I didn't expect such a volatile portrait of the damaging effects of repression or the beautifully melodramatic love story.

Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie (1988, dir. Max Ophüls): The closest comparison here is to Shoah but that's not exactly in this movie's favor. I admire Ophül's persistence and bravery but I wish this had been more focused, it didn't need to be 267 minutes.

That said, this documentary also consistently proves its importance with every interview subject who refuses to take accountability or who complains that atrocities that happened only forty years ago (still well in living memory!!) happened too long ago to be punishing its perpetrators now.

Tenet (2020, dir. Christopher Nolan): Convoluted, poorly structured, too long and lacking in characterization. It's honestly shocking to me to witness such, and I don't have another word for it, inept filmmaking from such an accomplished director.

Fatal Attraction (1987, dir. Adrian Lyne): All that drama over Michael Douglas? Girl.

Total Recall (1990, dir. Paul Verhoeven): Perfect action movie. Those practical effects are truly spectacular!

Weekend (1967, dir. Jean-Luc Godard): I'm actually kind of starting to dig how self indulgent Godard is with his philosophical and political rants. Of course, in this case the bizarre and violent surroundings help to balance it.