#your analysis makes total sense and is very well sourced

[sugar-grigri]

I think this chapter almost confirms that Fakesaw is the Chainsaw Man Devil, and it does it in three ways: the first is that he isn't present here. For his significance, it is quite obvious that he isn't part of the mob (I saw some people make that assumption), which leads me to the second way -- Fakesaw was always a symbol of Denji's identity being taken from him, a Chainsaw Man that he has no control over (the one in people's heads). The third, stemming from that, is that I think Fami's plan will have the unintended (or... unstated?) consequence of empowering her enemy -- Fakesaw has already stood in her way twice by killing Yuko and rescuing Denji and Asa, so it appears that whatever his goal is, it isn't in sync with Fami's. If people fear Chainsaw Man, who is only the fear of chainsaws, then the Chainsaw Man Devil will feed off that fear as well.

If we additionally consider the armageddon angle, wherein the Horsemen are themselves and Denji is the Lamb/Christ, then Fakesaw will be the first Beast of the Sea that people of the Earth were deceived (by the Fire devil, the second beast of the Earth) to worship. He is the Antichrist figure, born directly out of false perceptions and fears of Christ of this comic.

Like the last part, Death is but the prelude that forces Denji into a bad position, and the real resolution will be him confronting what it is he really wants.

The theory of Fake!CSM as a Demon resulting from the fear of Chainsaw Man totally works and for all the reasons you mentioned, I completely agree with you on that.

I don't know if it's mistrust resulting from Fujimoto's tendency to write... but the fact remains that I get the impression that it coincides too easily.

Although he's an author who likes to place clues, he's just as fond of issuing a revelation that would disrupt the whole thing. Which explains why I sometimes turn away from this theory and clumsily try to present alternative theories, because the path taken by the author is not always the most obvious.

Of course, what we're presenting are just theories, but Fake!CSM seems to be a pillar of this part 2 and his future interventions will only be there to confuse us even more

Where I agree with you again, and above all, is on the role of Death. Paradoxically, despite the presentation of the chapter, Nayuta and Fami's fear, I don't think she's the final boss of Part 2.

Once again it would be too simple, I don't see why Fujimoto would reveal all his cards

Obviously, from a narrative point of view, this sets up a sort of stressful countdown, but in all Fujimoto's works, death has been presented in an original way.

Chainsaw Man can't be satisfied with placing death in a purely negative light, just as he solved the problem of the old antagonist through love

At least that's something I'm hoping for, because to be honest, I find death more terrifying when it plays the silent observer

Than queen of terror

[cloud-based-and-rainpilled]

Nerdy “Aziraphale and Crowley are super in love” Analysis time! (Filmmaking and acting edition)

(Very late but I promise it’s worth it)

Imo the moment Aziraphale realizes he’s in love with Crowley is Ep 3 when the Apocalypse is looming and Crowley flippantly says, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you”

Aziraphale gives the look

And it all changes

From an acting perspective, Crowley takes a confident and almost defiant stance. Despite walking away, his arms are wide open. He constantly shrouds himself in being aloof and bad, so this exaggerated gesture is the way he shows his true feelings. This is the world I can provide you. Please take it.

From a filmmaking perspective, this is a wide shot, showing Crowley and Aziraphale's physical and emotional distance. Crowley is in focus, pointing out to the right. In Western filmmaking, characters moving left to right indicate progress

This doesn't apply to countries where they write right to left or up and down. Anime flows up and down for this reason, but that's another story

Crowley has his back to the camera because his reaction doesn't matter here. He knows what he wants; his needs are clear to himself and the audience

Aziraphale's reaction here is massive. As a new viewer (still 3 eps to go,) I first interpreted their relationship as an unusual companionship. The montage at the beginning of this episode shows their progress from having a mutual agreement to an alliance to a friendship

But this look

That’s the change

The camera pushes in as Aziraphale realizes what Crowley is implying, and he's overwhelmed to the point of burgeoning tears. It's not quite a Hitchcock/Jaws zoom, but it similarly presses the subject closer and tighter into the camera claustrophobically.

Subconsciously, as the audience, we now feel his feelings pressed into him

Part of Aziraphale's reaction is his high moral standard of being an angel. While here he calls Crowley a demon, he has previously insisted, because he is a fallen angel, there is hope for goodness still.

He sees his future as a possibility in Crowley, which would destroy his known world. His moral code however is much more malleable than he would like to think, but to admit that would be failure of doing his duty as an angel

But just this acting choice, his quivering palpable fear, this reaction is much more than, “I don’t want to kill a child/not be an angel.” If he agrees to go with Crowley, the ‘side’ he’s picking isn’t good or evil, it’s love

As the characters are asexual/nonbinary (I think?,) I don’t think canonically the fact that it’s a homosexual relationship is necessarily the issue. However, the metaphor of choosing to walk away from everything you know and believe and the rigid standards of goodness, and instead choosing to be with someone who will inevitably lead you to be cast out from your world, is (unfortunately) a universal gay experience, especially considering the source material is from the late 1980’s

Crowley’s reaction to this rejection is straight up anger played off as a totally reasonable, “C’mon man, we’re best buds,” but his eyes are covered by glasses. Eyes are the windows of the soul and he certainly doesn’t want to break right now in the face of rejection. His eyes are blocked in a very emotional tight shot of him which mirrors Aziraphale's.

Now his reaction matters and we don't really get to see it

I don't know where this goes from here (well uhhhhh I did see The Spoilers ™ but I ain't gonna talk about that lol,) but this just feels like a massive turning point, and the acting and filmmaking really enhance it. From an outsider's perspective, I didn't 'get' this ship at all, but now in context, it completely makes sense. This scene is utterly devastating

This has probably been talked about to death for 4+ years now lol, but just wanted to point out some acting/filmmaking choices that really brought the oh shit moment to light <3

[astrojulia]

hi! can u make a post about saturn rx in leo in the first house? thank u^^

Saturn Retrograde in the Natal Chart

~ Saturn Rx through the houses and signs analysis

Every planet when it is retrograde works differently than its direct placement. It's not TOTALLY different and so you can read and look up its normal placement, you just need to make a few changes, Saturn Rx (Retrograde) has the following things to look out for:

You may find it difficult to assert yourself, and people may not see you as an authority figure or someone mature enough to handle more elaborate tasks. This could impact your confidence and anger management.

You may not have been taught an accurate sense of what the rules are, or how much responsibility you have to take on in order to be considered responsible. Discipline may have been vague, and you may not have known when to stop yourself, or when is it enough.

You may not know your own limits, and have trouble setting boundaries, especially in the house and sign where Saturn is retrograde.

You may not have a clear understanding of what you can or cannot do.

“There is something missing in the relationship with the father that impacts the life — divorce, hard working and not with the family, on the road at lot, killed in a war or died early — with Neptune, he is preoccupied or ambivalent.”[lynnkoiner]

If you have retrograde Saturn in your chart, you may experience sadness, depression, loneliness, fatigue, or a lack of motivation. Disrespect from parents or other authority figures may also hold you back. Retrograde Saturn focuses on whatever is hindering your productivity and success, which could be an ongoing problem that requires attention.

⌦ .｡.:*♡ Spiritual/Karmic meaning: Many see Retrograde Planets as info of your past life and something you need to do now. In terms of the spiritual and karmic meaning, retrograde planets can provide insight into your past life and the lessons you need to learn in this one. If you have Saturn retrograde in your natal chart, it signifies a problem with self-discipline or avoidance of responsibility in a past life. Due to illness, immaturity, or disrespect, you may have neglected to take care of your loved ones. Some lessons or extra effort will be required in this life to pay off and leave behind this karmic debt. It is important to learn these lessons to avoid having to go through the difficult cycle again.

⌦ .｡.:*♡ Saturn Rx in the houses and signs:The position and aspect of retrograde Saturn can show the areas of life, personality traits, and behaviors that require extra development. Ideally, Saturn is disciplined, responsible, stable, respectful, and reliable. A healthy Saturn is hardworking and dedicated. The goal is to be strong enough, both physically and emotionally, to deal with life's difficulties and take responsibility for oneself and one's family. Depending on where Saturn is retrograde in your chart, you may need to focus on developing specific skills or traits to become more successful and fulfilled.

⌦ .｡.:*♡ Sources and Inspirations:Whoever reads this post will see that it's very similar to posts about Saturn but very negative, and well, this is the focus of this post, talking about the positive parts you can see in other posts. So the focus is on what Rx can do and what to work with. The inspirations for this post were few since it is specific, they were this one and this one, the template for this post is from sparklypalace on deviantart and poohsources on tumblr.

This placement can indicate a significant difficulty with self-esteem and saying 'no.' With Saturn Rx in a fire sign and house, issues related to fire can be stuck. There may be a fear of expressing oneself, speaking up a little louder, running, or indulging in carnal pleasures. You might be too afraid to step up and face life. You may not feel welcome in anything that showcases your creativity or deviates from tradition; you want to be like Picasso, but the world expects you to be like Da Vinci. First and foremost, any issues with Saturn are usually resolved with time, as our superego (that voice that dictates how we should behave in society) realizes that it doesn't need to be so restrictive because, deep down, nobody cares. With this aspect in mind, I think a lot about tattoos and body transformations as a means of freeing oneself and putting art on one's own body. Generally, it can be challenging to assert oneself as someone with their own unique tastes, and working with creativity without expecting the result to be worthy of a museum can be helpful.

Saturn Retrograde through the zodiac signs

✧. ┊ Aries and aspecting Mars: individuals may struggle with asserting themselves and expressing their needs and desires. They may lack confidence and have difficulty managing their anger, which can lead to conflicts and challenges in personal and professional relationships. They swallow their wills and feelings so much and end up locking themselves up. It's important for these individuals to work on building their self-esteem and learning healthy ways to express their emotions.

✧. ┊ Taurus and aspecting Venus: it can bring up issues related to finances, material possessions, and self-worth. It seems that everything they do in life forces them to step out of their comfort zone so that they never really feel comfortable (especially in the house where the Saturn is). Additionally, they may struggle with valuing themselves and their abilities, which can impact their personal and professional lives. They often question whether who they are has the makings of an honorable and valuable person. It's important for these individuals to work on building their self-worth and learning healthy financial habits.

✧. ┊ Gemini and aspecting Mercury: individuals may struggle with expressing themselves effectively. They may have difficulty making decisions and may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information they need to process. It's important for these individuals to work on developing their communication skills and learning to trust their instincts.

✧. ┊ Cancer and aspecting Moon: individuals may struggle with expressing their emotions and nurturing themselves and others. They may have difficulty with family relationships and may feel like they don't have a solid foundation in their personal lives. It's important for these individuals to work on developing healthy emotional habits and creating a supportive network of loved ones.

✧. ┊ Leo and aspecting Sun: individuals may struggle with self-expression, creativity, and leadership. They may feel like they don't have the confidence or skills to take on leadership roles or express themselves creatively. It's important for these individuals to work on building their self-confidence and developing their creative abilities.

✧. ┊ Virgo and aspecting Mercury: individuals may struggle with organization, analysis, and perfectionism. They may have difficulty staying focused and may feel overwhelmed by the amount of work they need to do. It's important for these individuals to work on developing healthy organizational habits and learning to prioritize their tasks. They may also benefit from working on letting go of their need for perfection and embracing their imperfections.

✧. ┊ Libra and aspecting Venus: Individuals with Saturn Retrograde in Libra may experience difficulties in maintaining relationships, particularly with romantic partners. They may struggle to find balance and harmony, which can result in issues with compromise and conflict resolution. These individuals may have a fear of abandonment and may struggle to express their needs and desires. It is important for them to learn how to communicate effectively and define their own boundaries to maintain healthy relationships.

✧. ┊ Scorpio and aspecting Pluto: Saturn Retrograde in Scorpio can lead to difficulties in trust, intimacy, and power dynamics. These individuals may struggle with trust issues and have difficulty forming deep emotional connections with others. They may also have a fear of vulnerability and struggle with expressing their own emotions. These individuals may have a tendency to manipulate others or feel manipulated by others, leading to power struggles in relationships. It is important for them to work on developing trust and emotional intimacy with others to cultivate healthy relationships.

✧. ┊ Sagittarius and aspecting Jupiter: Individuals with Saturn Retrograde in Sagittarius may struggle with belief systems, philosophy, and adventure. They may have difficulty finding their own identity and may feel trapped by societal or cultural expectations. These individuals may also have a fear of failure or a lack of direction in life. It is important for them to explore their own beliefs and values to find their true path in life.

✧. ┊ Capricorn and aspecting Saturn (sorry,not possible 😅): Saturn Retrograde in Capricorn can lead to difficulties with authority, responsibility, and ambition. These individuals may have a fear of failure and struggle with taking risks in life. They may also have difficulty with authority figures, either feeling intimidated by them or feeling the need to constantly challenge them. These individuals may also struggle with finding balance between their personal and professional lives. It is important for them to work on developing self-confidence and a sense of direction to achieve their goals.

✧. ┊ Aquarius and aspecting Uranus: Individuals with Saturn Retrograde in Aquarius may have difficulty with individuality, innovation, and detachment. They may feel pressure to conform to societal norms or struggle to find their own unique identity. These individuals may also have difficulty with emotional expression and forming deep connections with others. They may feel disconnected from others or struggle to fit in with their peers. It is important for them to embrace their individuality and work on developing emotional intimacy with others to cultivate healthy relationships.

✧. ┊ Pisces and aspecting Neptune: Saturn Retrograde in Pisces can lead to difficulties with boundaries, empathy, and spirituality. These individuals may struggle with setting boundaries and may feel overwhelmed by the emotions of others. They may also struggle with developing their own spirituality or may feel disconnected from their own intuition. These individuals may have a tendency to isolate themselves or feel like they are constantly giving to others without receiving in return. It is important for them to work on developing healthy boundaries and learning how to prioritize their own needs and emotions.

Saturn Retrograde through the houses

✧. ┊ 1st House: With Saturn Retrograde in the 1st house, you might find yourself struggling with self-image, self-worth, and self-esteem. Maybe you've always felt like you don't quite fit in, or that you're not good enough. You might try to make up for this by taking on too much responsibility for others. When Saturn goes direct, you might build up walls to protect yourself, but during retrograde, you might have trouble saying no.

✧. ┊ 2nd House: If you have Saturn Retrograde in the 2nd house, you might find yourself having a tough time with money, material possessions, and self-worth. Maybe you've been taught that you have to work really hard to get what you want, or you've seen your parents struggle financially. During retrograde, you might feel like you're responsible for other people's finances, and have a hard time setting boundaries.

✧. ┊ 3rd House: Saturn Retrograde in the 3rd house can make communication, learning, and decision-making difficult for you. Maybe you get really anxious in school, and it affects your ability to learn and express yourself. You might have trouble hearing correctly when you're nervous. But opening up about your struggles can help you form closer relationships with others.

✧. ┊ 4th House: With Saturn Retrograde in the 4th house, you might struggle with emotional expression, nurturing, and family relationships. Maybe you have a hard time connecting with your parents, but you still feel like you need to take care of them. You might take on too much responsibility to try to bond with your family, even if it's not good for you. Sometimes, it's necessary to set boundaries and distance yourself from your family to become your own person.

✧. ┊ 5th House: If you have Saturn Retrograde in the 5th house, you might have trouble with self-expression, creativity, and leadership. You might find it difficult to say no to your children, especially if they're your firstborn. Expressing your emotions might also be tough for you, which can lead to misunderstandings. When it comes to gambling or speculation, you're not likely to have much success unless you're well-aspected.

✧. ┊ 6th House: Saturn Retrograde in the 6th house can cause issues with organization, analysis, and perfectionism. You might be a perfectionist at work because you have a hard time setting boundaries. This can lead to bosses and coworkers taking advantage of you. This placement isn't great for being a boss yourself, since you might struggle with similar boundary-setting and perfectionism issues.

✧. ┊ 7th house: You might run into some trouble with your relationships. It can be tough to find a good balance and harmony with your partner, and you might feel like you're having some issues with being a parent. If this sounds like you, it's important to set some boundaries and learn how to say "no" to avoid getting into any sticky situations.

✧. ┊ 8th house: Trust and intimacy might be tough for you. You might find it hard to get on the same page as your partner when it comes to money, and you should be careful about tying yourself down legally until you really understand your financial situation. It could be helpful to look at your partner dad's attitude towards money to get some insight into their own finances.

✧. ┊ 9th house: You might find yourself struggling with your beliefs and sense of adventure. If you grew up in a really religious environment, you might feel like you're having trouble breaking away and finding your own identity. Try to challenge those old beliefs and create your own value system. You might also find yourself changing your mind about what you want to study in school or where you want to go, but it's important to keep questioning and finding your own path.

✧. ┊ 10th house: You might have a hard time with responsibility and boundaries at work. It can be tough to say "no" and take control of your own career, but it's important to define your own boundaries and responsibilities to achieve success. You might find that you have a bit of a struggle with authority figures, particularly your dad, but once you figure out your own attitude towards responsibility, you'll be in a better spot.

✧. ┊ 11th house: You feel like they're struggling to express their own personality and might feel a little disconnected from their friends. You might feel like you don't quite fit in with your own age group, and it can be tough to find a sense of belonging. When Saturn is transiting, you might be looking for a way to feel more connected to a group, but when it's retrograde, you might find yourself feeling a little intimidated by people your own age.

✧. ┊ 12th house: You might struggle with setting boundaries and connecting with other people. It can be tough to develop your own spirituality and empathize with others. You might feel a little bit isolated, but finding a job where you can work independently might be helpful for creating a sense of security.

[guardianbingo]

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[filmmakerdreamst]

How Lyra and Will suffered as Protagonists in BBC's His Dark Materials

Despite the cast and crews open love for the novels, and the insistent diligence to stay as faithful to the source material as possible — even trying to fill in many of the gaps in the books, as seen in all three seasons of the show — the BBC adaptation never manages to capture the spirit (the only time I felt like it did was in the third season) because of the fact that every character is altered and changed. Not just adaptationally changed either like making a character dumber, softer or harder. They’re completely different characters, separated from the source material e.g. Mrs Coulter is changed from a seductive, calm character to a feral, suicidal character. I must admit, I did like the expanded self harm element that she causes her daemon. However I felt in the novel, if she were to harm her monkey, it would be ‘to keep her lust for power at bay’ rather than shame for herself.

The atmosphere was off yet the events were similar and the complete opposite at the same time. But you can’t have similar events play out with different characterisations, at least not with ‘His Dark Materials’.

Philip Pullman’s characters in ‘His Dark Materials’ are extremely charismatic, but to put it lightly, are not very palatable to say the least. As stated in @clarabosswald’s analysis, there seemed to be this weird need to make EVERY single character digestible or palatable in some way or another in the BBC adaptation, regardless of it making sense or not. I noticed this upon my re-read of ‘The Northern Lights’ that they even humanised the doctor that sexually assaulted Lyra by grabbing Pantalaimon, which was very troubling.

Now with the opposing ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ film, they changed the characterisations to make them more sympathetic and accessible to a contemporary audience. They even dug deeper with the character Edmund which I thought was a fantastic choice. But the reason why those character changes worked was because C.S.Lewis was not concerned with building character, he was much more concerned with the place of Narnia itself. He almost used his characters to explore the world of Narnia, e.g. some characters would leave one book and come back 5 books later — which is why some of the later adaptations of Narnia didn’t do as well in the box office as the first one.

The character changes in that film enriched the story without effecting it in a way, because ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ and the other books are driven by the plot. Where as ‘His Dark Materials’ is primarily driven by characters.

Philip Pullman in total contrast to C.S.Lewis, built the world (you could say he used the world) around the characters in order for them to get to Point A to Point B. But he was not concerned about exploring the multiverse so you could see the entire picture, like with C.S. Lewis.

I heard once that he described writing as wondering through a forest on a path and the path is your story. Theres a difference between the story world and the storyline. And as an Author, your concern is the storyline. It would be easy to step away and stray from the path and explore the forest and admire all the trees, but for him the most important thing to do was to remain on the path and focus on the story rather than the details along the way.

I’m not apposed to different versions of the characters or different storylines. But with ‘His Dark Materials’, those books are driven by specific character traits. And the fact that they changed them, while still being faithful to the events in the story, the story beats either don’t land or don’t hit as hard or don’t make sense altogether.

More specifically with the main characters Lyra and Will, but mostly Lyra since she’s the heart of the story.

Lyra is first and fourmost a liar, which may seem a small part of her character but its huge. Her ability to lie and get her way out of situations is the cause of many events in the books. She’s feral. She’s wild. She’s manipulative. She’s described as a ‘half wild cat’ and a ‘greedy little savage’. She can’t sit still or behave herself. She’s impulsive. She’s a leader. She gets into fights. She gets dirty. She spends all her nights on the rooftops. She’s an extrovert. She’s street smart. She’s selfish. She’s brave.

She’s an emotional and passionate human being. Thats what makes Lyra a real girl, not just a character on the page. These nuanced character traits of hers is how she pushes everything forward in the story.

All of those negative/positive aspects of her character in the books were watered down so much in the series. To the point where alot of them were removed. Not only is that incredibly dehumanising but makes the plot points where “she lies” not land as well or plot points revolving around her “telling the truth” make no sense at all.

The whole reason why she’s called Lyra Silvertongue is because she tricked the bear king with her lies, a trait which is consistent throughout the entire story — but completely nonexistent throughout the show. Her tricking the bear king in the adaptation came off as a lucky experience rather something that comes naturally to her. Even the ironic plot point of her being given the Alethiometer “a device that tells her the truth” didn’t hit as hard. They tried to establish her as a ‘liar’ in the second episode of season one then gave up completely as the show continued on.

But the weird thing is, those flaws were still mentioned by other characters in the show, when it was not the character they were developing. Characters would mention that she’s a liar, insufferable, selfish or that ‘she doesn’t apologise easily’ — which seemed like an over exaggeration since the show version of her isn’t really any of those things. This applied when characters such as Lee praised her for being ‘brave’ and ‘good’. I heard a HDM podcast recapping season 2 saying that “her character in the show wasn’t hitting the right emotional beats” to be a child of a great destiny that every character seemingly falls over themselves to give their lives for her.

TV Lyra hasn’t completely lost her flaws, but she’s not as nearly as flawed as she was in the books. She felt so contained, rather than passionate. Which felt so odd because yes, Lyra grows out of some bad traits such as her rudeness, due to the influence of Will. But she isn’t naturally like that.

They changed her so much, but also tried to keep her “the same” that her character growth which is huge in the books felt like nothing had moved at all. It kind of got reduced to a simple thing like her innocence being taken away. It was like she wasn’t allowed to have any sort of loud, dislikable reaction in any way. It felt like they were taking away her agency.

And I know one of the biggest reasons why they changed her behaviour in the TV Show is because they aged the character up to 14–16 at the start. I get it. Theres a huge difference between 12 and 14 in terms of maturity . It works for the Will & Lyra romantic scenes as an adaptational choice later in the story (because she’s allegedly 12–13 in the books).

I think Dafne Keen was an inspired choice for the role of Lyra, since I saw some scenes of her in ‘Logan’ and I 100% believe she would of pulled off Book Lyra given the chance, but by the time they started filming she was already 13/14. And in all honesty, Lyra just becomes odd looking older. She’s just not convincing as a misbehaving little girl who can’t sit still, she just comes off as a really strange child thats immature or lacking in social skills. For example, there’s a scene between Mrs Coulter and Lyra in ‘The Idea of North’ where she’s telling a lie, but it doesn’t come off natural because 1. They didn’t establish her as a liar immediately and 2. Part of her ability to lie comes from her spontaneous nature of being a kid telling stories and using her imagination. Dafne Keen didn’t really look that age, for it to look like something she would do.

They also made her relationship with Roger more of a focus in the show, which makes sense as her motivation in the later half of the books comes from wanting to rescue him. However, they made him ‘the only friend that she has’ which I found to be a strange decision because Lyra in the books has tuns of friends. I would say their friendship is more balanced in the series, where as in the book it wasn’t so much.

She forgets him a few times while staying with Mrs Coulter in the book where as she remembers him constantly in the episode ‘The Idea of North’ which felt like a confused choice to me. They were trying to have it both ways; have her be seduced by Mrs Coulter while also actively asking her to look for Roger.

The imbalance in Roger and Lyra’s friendship is important because it adds to the need to set things right with him in The Land of the Dead. It goes to the core of how everyone thinks she is selfish. She needs to save Roger to prove to herself she’s a good person.

In the book, when Lyra dreams of Roger in The Land of the Dead, the two of them have constant talks of how much he’s suffering. In the show, she just has alot of ambiguous flash forward dreams of Roger, with the story not prioritising them as important as the main plot of ‘Asriel’s War’.

When she brings this up to Will in the episode, he dismisses it instead of agreeing to go (like in the book) because of his daddy issues, no I’m sorry, because of Asriel’s War which makes sense as it’s one of the main plots in the season — where it was more of a distracting B plot in the book — but it just kind of adds to the idea that “its unnecessary” or “why are they doing this?”.

The desire to get to Roger and apologise in the show doesn’t hit as hard because there was more of a balance in Lyra and Rogers relationship plus the changes to her character just made it seem like “she just wanted to do it” rather than it being the most important decision she ever makes, to try to better herself.

While they go to the suburbs of the dead, Will and Pan constantly question why she’s doing this (a conflict that was not in the book — Will is steadfastly loyal to her by this point and Pan is too shivery to speak) while Lyra just snaps at them, making her seem mean for no reason. When she has a chat with her death, she doesn’t lie that an angel told her to do it (because they didn’t establish her as a liar properly), she just says that she wants to be good which is not a convincing argument considering what happens next.

When Pan and her have the argument while she leaves him on the doc, which is a great scene on its own (it made me cry), it also adds to the unnecessary nature of it all. It’s a scene that makes sense in the book because of Lyra’s impulsive nature, but because of her seemingly calculative nature in the show, it just looks odd. It’s described in the book that if Lyra had heard Pan speak, she would have folded and never would of got on the boat, but since the show did the complete opposite of that, It makes the scene more harsh and cold.

I think what the writers were trying to do was make it more of a mystery like ‘why is she doing this’ ‘its not too late to turn around’ a mission that appears fruitless at first, but turns out to be the greatest act of humanity — but again, I still don’t think that works because of how much Lyra’s entire character is changed. The act is not just for everyone else. It’s a major step in her character growth, to care about others.

In the Land of the Dead, obviously they had to cut out the whole section where Lyra literally looses her ability to lie while she’s telling lies to the harpies, then learns to tell the truth to the dead. This is the final step for Lyra’s character, finally learning the power of telling the truth instead of lies. They didn’t replace that with anything, only with her telling the dead true stories, which was heartwarming on its own, but obviously those story beats don’t hit as hard in the same way because like I said, its not presented as the final step in her character growth, its presented as a one off scene. This is one of the reasons why her character is pretty static in the adaptation.

In the Land of the Dead, its Lyra for the most part (apart from one instance) that keeps a cool head, while Will looses his — which again, the complete opposite. In the books, its Lyra that goes off the rails and its Will that keeps her centred.

Which brings me onto how the character of Will is changed in the adaptation, and how that effects the story from the second book onwards.

Will was brought in by Philip Pullman in ‘The Subtle Knife’, to represent Lyra’s other half — in another parallel universe literally, and also to help her on her quest to fulfil the prophecy. If it was just her on her own with Pan, it wouldn’t work and would fail.

Though I was taken aback by his entrance in ‘The Subtle Knife’ — as it was such a jarring change coming from the suspenseful cliff hanger where Lyra walks into the new world after her best friend Roger got murdered — he quickly but surely became my favourite male literary character of all time.

I don’t have as a big of a problem with his character changes then I do with Lyra, because there were at least a few times in the show where he was allowed to act like ‘himself’. Amir Wilson was perfect casting as Will. It was like the character had just walked off the page it was that good. But all together, he’s a completely different character — which I can understand. Out of all the characters, I feel he’s the hardest to pin down and his development is done in a subtle and subconscious way.

Throughout the course of ‘The Subtle Knife’, he’s incredibly off putting as he’s mostly angry and tired and then he’s in pain because of his knife wound. It works in a book format, because your’e in his point of view and you understand that he’s a child thats at the end of his tether. But it would be hard to portray that in a nuanced way on screen, unless your’e clever with it.

They unfortunately took the easy route with his characterisation on screen by making him softer. Not only that, the writing for his character was incredibly inconsistent at times.

Will from the books is fierce. He’s frightening. He’s stoic. He gets angry. He’s a strategist. He does whats best for someone. He likes to stay invisible. He’s sarcastic. He’s an introvert. He likes to stay hidden. He’s practical. He’s a child carer. He’s naturally aggressive e.g. He beat up a bunch of boys at school because they were hurting his mother. He hardly smiles. At times, especially in the second book, he becomes incredibly depressed. He’s pretty much a 35 year old man in a young boy’s body. He’s incredibly soft, but the reader can’t tell until Lyra brings that out in him.

I would say Will is a more contained version of Lyra, yet the complete opposite of her. They’re like yin and yang. They both have something that the other lacks, and that helps them both grow up. Lyra brings out a softness out in him, brings out his impulsive nature where as he helps her strategise and learn not to just rush out and do things.

TV Will suffers from the same problem that TV Lyra does.

Every negative/positive aspect about him is watered down. Revealing a quite mild character. I feel that they didn’t touch on the fact that he was a child carer enough, which is a huge part of his character. It just came off as ‘he loves his mum’ more in the show. Will being a caterer is supposed to contrast Lyra whom didn’t grow up with parents and got to live out a childhood that he was never allowed to experience. This is a theme. Every character trait that contrasts Lyra in the books isn’t present so much. I would even go as far to say that they’re too similar in the TV Show.

I was wondering throughout the second season why the storyline was static and wasn’t going anywhere. Certain plot points such as Will being a murderer, Lyra helping Will find his father, The fight for the subtle knife and Will becoming the bearer of the Subtle Knife felt tacked on or weren’t hitting as hard as they should.

At first, I thought it was because the novel was ‘the weakest in the trilogy’. I often see ‘The Subtle Knife’ as a bridge between both ‘Northern Lights’ and ‘The Amber Spyglass’.

But since re-reading the book, I went ‘Oh my God, its because they changed Will’s character arc’.

TV Will, the more I think about it, does not suit becoming the bearer of the subtle knife. The only times we see him fighting is in the boxing ring. He expresses incredible regret over killing a man instead of brushing it off because he was protecting his mother. Even when he’s under threat, he says ‘I don’t want to hurt you’ He even has to be persuaded to fight. There’s even a moment in the show where he says “Maybe we’re better off not fixing the knife at all.” which kind of dismisses the practical nature of his character in the book. Plus the knife being a part of him, the same way as the Alethiometer is a part of Lyra. Even the remarks that Lyra makes about him being similar to Iorek the armoured Bear don’t make as much sense, because of the fact that he’s softer.

Book Will struggles with his warrior nature, and eventually learns thats not who he wants to be. But he isn’t naturally a soft person. He learns to be through his experiences and his relationship with Lyra. Which is why it was so odd to me that they included the line in the show where Will is saying to his father in the Land of the Dead “You told me that I was a warrior; That I can’t fight my nature. Your’e wrong.” I was just like, what are you talking about? That is so not the character the show had developed. TV Will had hardly been shown to fight anyone of his own free will — it didn’t make sense to me. They were trying to have it both ways. Completely ignoring his basic character traits and flaws, yet still going through the same arc (a somewhat watered down one) one e.g. idolising his dad for his whole life, realising his dad ain’t shit when he meets him, finding Lyra missing, ignoring the task his father set him etc.

Even the task that Lyra has to help Will find his father didn’t land as well because of the fact that the two of them were bonding straight away in the show, instead of it being like ‘oh no we’re stuck with each other’ to this slow process of her and Will learning to trust each other.

I understand that you have to translate Lyra and Will’s relationship alot differently in a Show format, because subconscious development doesn’t really work due to the lack of intimate point of views. Plus it adds to the narrative to flesh out their dynamic alot more on screen. The more something is changed in an adaptation, the more it stays the same.

I have openly praised the shows depiction of their relationship in another analysis I wrote (before i re-read the books) and how I loved how they gave them more soft moments. However, I will admit now that the soft moments that they had in season 2 felt off to me because they weren’t in character. I think, looking back I would of preferred more soft moments if they were in character.

Will’s initial softness towards Lyra in the show is partially to do with TV Lyra being much less feral and less of a threat. As a result their journey is warmer and far less angstier than it was in the books.

And that in turn messes with the tension.

The element of Will being slightly dismissive of her at the start, is important to how certain story beats land. It adds to the ‘OH SHIT’ when Lyra’s been taken and the task that his father set him that he’s been dreaming of his whole life suddenly isn’t important to him anymore. Thats why it’s such a big deal when he spends most of his time through ‘The Amber Spyglass’ looking for her.

But in the season 2 finale, it ends with Will going off into the sunset, presumably to fulfil is fathers wishes. Then in season 3, he finds her missing, goes ‘whoops’ and then there’s a montage of him trying to find her. Then when he does (quite easily) — he goes on about how “since his dad died he’s done none of the things that he asked him to do’ which makes him looking for Lyra within the show feel even more anticlimactic.

Also, this is more of a personal opinion that an analytical one, I did not appreciate when Lyra brought up going to the Land of The Dead, TV Will went “I saved you. I did everything I could to save you. You told me not to but I did it anyway” which felt to me like ‘Wow brilliant, of course you had to save her’

And instead of agreeing to go to the Land of the Dead with her like in the book, they had to insert some tension from ‘The Subtle Knife’ (because they messed with the tension in season 2) and have Will go on a rant about what his dad wanted him to do, Asriel’s war, dismissing Lyra’s wishes and even having him suggest maybe her dad regretted killing her friend.

This is something that Will from the books would never ever say, let alone to the girl that he loves. He’s fully aware how much her dad hurt her and he respects her too much by that point to ever suggest something like that. Even when he does think about ‘what his dad wanted him to do’ he’s still steadfastly loyal to Lyra. They were completely undermining the turning point in their relationship and Will’s character development by adding pointless drama to extend the episodes running time.

As mentioned in a very articulate post by @mamsellechosette24601 ‘the quest to find his father and fulfil his fathers wishes’ isn’t the point at all, its Will letting go of his childhood dreams, of realising what really matters is Lyra all along.

Now I’ve seen in another analysis of the adaptation that their path to falling in love in the show is alot clearer than in the books which I can understand and agree with (to a certain extent) because the books were much more concerned with philosophy than romance. This is true for the romance between Asriel and Marisa in the Book vs the TV Show as well.

The concept behind their relationship remains the same:

“Will and Lyra are very good people who learn to trust each other when they’re at their most vulnerable, they become the only thing they have in a terrifying world of enemies. By the end, when they realise they're in love only to discover they can never be together, they make the mature choice, however hard it may be.”

But their relationship is totally different in the TV Show because of their character changes.

I would say Lyra and Will have more of a enemies to lovers storyline in the books — where as the adaptation version of them doesn’t. The screenwriters clearly tried to iron out alot of the problematic elements, especially in the beginning and focus on them being “friends” more. I’m not apposed to them doing that, but the way they did it ended up muting a few of their scenes together.

I’ve actually made an argument in my other account (against the ‘His Dark Materials’ analysis saying that ‘the adaptation did a much better job at showing when Will and Lyra fell in love’) that their relationship development was a lot subtler in the books because the characters were alot younger and more immature. And that it was more ‘obvious’ in the tv show because they aged the characters up, therefore they could have more mature conversations and scenes together.

This was before I did my re-read.

After re-reading ‘The Subtle Knife’ and ‘The Amber Spyglass’ comparing it with how their relationship is handled in the TV Adaptation. I would actually argue the opposite .

In some ways, the growing romance between the two of them is much more mature (and makes more sense) in the books than in the show, at least to me. Unlike in the TV Show, their relationship never enters into neutral territory, even when they finally learn to trust each other. Theres much less emphasis on their ‘friendship’.

After their brutal first meeting — where they attack eachother — in ‘The Subtle Knife’ Lyra is immediately taken with Will and constantly thinks about him and what he thinks of her. There’s even a moment in ‘The Amber Spyglass’ where she’s trying to hide that she’s in pain while they’re walking (because of all that time she’s been asleep) because she doesn’t want to appear weak in front of him. 

The way Lyra and Will meet in the show, is reminiscent of how children meet for the first time. Though quite skeptical of each other, they instantly bond and make friends after 5 seconds, because why wouldn’t they? They’re kids the same age after all. Even though there’s still an element of mistrust there, there’s hardly any conflict between them. They don’t play off each other as much. There is one moment where he gets angry at her for making him wait, but all that is solved in a minute because of Lyra’s ‘calm nature’

Even when Lyra gives Will away by accident and says that she lost the Alethiometer, he doesn’t shout at her. There are few comments here and there but theres no real tension between the two of them.

When Will and Pan have a conversation, its presented as Pan going up to him to have a chat after he had a bad dream rather than Will finding the courage to speak to him in the book and saying ‘I think Lyra’s the best friend I’ve ever had’. This is presented more as a statement in the show because their friendship has already been established and less of a discovery (as he wasn’t reacting to her that much in the book as he had alot on his mind).

Lyra and Will even have a talk about Pan’s conversation with him afterwards in the show. But in the book, that never happened. It’s mentioned later but never discussed, because of the fact that it was a private conversation between Will and Pan.

You could say this was another problem that the adaptation had. It’s mentioned multiple times ‘YOU CAN’T TOUCH SOMEONES DAEMON’ but not emphasised why thats the case.

In the books, it’s heavily implied that touching someone else’s daemon is the equivalent of touching someone’s genitals. There’s a moment in ‘Northern Lights’ where Lyra and Iorek find Tony in the fish house without a daemon and Pan wants to comfort him but holds back because of the taboo. Thats why it’s such a big deal when Pan comforts Will and starts licking him in the book.

In the show, its quite an underwhelming scene that lasts 5 seconds where Pan strokes Wills fingers and Lyra says in a quiet voice ‘In my world, your’e not supposed to touch someone else’s daemon but you didn’t do something wrong’

And don’t get me started on the 5 second panning away shot where they’re finally touching each others daemons, instead of the moving moment from the book. It didn’t feel like they really understood the gravity of what those scenes meant and what it meant for their connection.

Again, this is more of a personal opinion. Near the end of the final book, when they enter the world of the Mulefa, Lyra and Will trust each other more than they ever have, which shows how much they’ve both grown since ‘The Subtle Knife’. Mary even describes that she never saw ‘more trust on a persons face’. But in the show, there’s this weird forced tension between them for the sake of ‘romance’. They’re suddenly awkward teenagers with each other — which was not a choice that I liked because it didn’t come naturally.

And when they have to be ripped from each other, a whole page worth of them bargaining to be together is turned into ‘I didn’t think it was possible to feel this bad.’ and ‘This is all wrong’, plus Mary and Serafina being weirdly insensitive while Will and Lyra are in different locations rather than being with each other.

This is possibly why I didn’t feel anything when they had to be forced apart because, the way it was handled felt rushed and soulless.

Overall, despite there being more ‘soft moments between the two of them’ Show Lyra and Will’s connection feels alot more shallow and simplified.

In the books, I got the vibe that even though they were very young, you couldn’t imagine them being with anyone else but with each other. They were each others other half. They were essentially the only family they had in a world full of enemies. There was never a moment in the books, where they weren’t already in love with each other to some degree. It went beyond the typical romantic duality.

In the show, it felt more temporary. This is mostly due to their character changes (they were too similar in my opinion). Like a connection between friends that became romantic at the end of the journey. And it’s something they’ll get over because “It won’t always feel like this” or “Its much more romantic to live for love than to die for it” or “It might not seem like it now but you have a future”

I think that was one of my main problems with the TV Show, it lacked emotion. Not just as an adaptation, but in general.

More than anything, the adaptation felt too confused. It was trying to reimagine the story while also paying homage to the original material. And thats why overall — despite my enjoyment for some of the episodes especially in season 3 — it didn’t work as well as it should have.

[katerinaaqu]

High Fantasy consept art inspired by Iliad and Odyssey (a small analysis of a forgotten character)

So let me be a bit annoying and call your attention for one second for an amazing artist and a great friend whom you can find here in Tumblr as well with the alias @artsofmetamoor. Her work is always a great dedication to detail, paying more attention to quality over quantity and, quite frankly, gaining inspiration of various sources.

She began getting more and more annoying talk from me XD regarding my passion for the classics like Iliad and Odyssey and the talk brought about the armors of Mycenaean Greece and she came up with a masterful piece of art:

Quite frankly we rarely ever see high fantasy armors or clothing inspired by anything else but western europe clothing (mixture between medieval Europe and 18th century details) and we rarely ever see high fantasy concepts inspired by ancient art and much less bronze age Greece that has some amazing pieces not many people know. My friend came up with an amazing concept design of a light armor that was heavily inspired by Iliad descriptions particularly Odysseus's helmet.

As you can see we were heavily inspired by Boar Tusk Helmets

The armor is essentially consisted by a light thorax and a boar-tusk or a horned helmet. Alternatives can be seen here:

Our character seems to be heavily linked to Odysseus. This is Caleb, from the comic series W.I.T.C.H and the animated adaptation but both her and I took a different route on the character creating our own original concepts of him

So why is he like Odysseus?

Caleb in the comic is a Whisperer, a type of plant-looking creature that was created as a soulless servant to a cruel magician Prince named Phobos who ruled with a Tyranical way the kingdom of Meridian. Caleb broke free from his control by seer will and became the leader of Rebellion against his creator to restore justice (much like Odysseus who couldn't avoid the war but did his best in it, Caleb struggles every day for the greater good)

Intelligent and clever. Caleb comes up with the craziest of plans in a second and he can in fact make his risky tactics to work. Much like Odysseus he is a master of survival and can guide his people in the toughest of situations

Team spirit that exceeds expectations. The rebel leader is capable of throwing himself to the fire for his comrades coming forward to save them if necessary

Family man like Odysseus, later in our story after a great ordeal that lasts almost 10 years in total, Caleb manages to return to the love of his life and start a family. He has an only son, whose name is Kai and Caleb will always return to them

Death fears him. No, honestly, Caleb escapes like some crazy situations in his lifetime! Hahaha He and Odysseus have a lot to discuss!

Notorious and Famous. His friends love him his enemies hate him. What more can one say?

Trained by a "goddess"

Well technically a bit of a stretch but Caleb is trained by a huge and powerful woman who also protects his every step. The woman named Dilla, is a warrior of a special Tribe of people (one can say she was inspired by Amazons and Viking warriors among others). She is tall, big and powerful but she has a golden heart and she makes it a goal of her life to protect him at any cost

Dilla teaches Caleb many things from her people including combat and customs and she protects him as his bodyguard. She is also "bright eyed" as you see (gosh Athena vibes being strong!) since she is blind but has hightened senses. She has also a very strong sense of justice and she is often the voice of reason among the crazy adult kid rebels! XD

Second in Command and Opposition

Caleb has also a brother who was adopted by his very adopted father by the name Diego and yup he is our "Eurylochus" in this case. He is loyal to death to Caleb but his often nasty attitude disrupts the team. That however comes from his own unresolved psychological issues, his complicated feelings and his complex personality.

Please consider checking her art out and we are both open to questions! ^_^

She has also created millions of AUs one can use as inspiration back for their own ideas! Trust me! She's awesome!

[melonteee]

First I really would like to thank you for your amazing work, it’s thanks to your videos that I finally kicked myself into catching up on OP. I don’t regret it the slightest, thank you for dragging me back into my life-long mad obsession, it really feels like coming home lmao.

Your Law video in particular really punched me in the guts, your analysis really shed a new light on him for me and now I’m obsessed with him. I was thinking about the potential place of guilt in Law’s quest of avenging Cora, especially survivor’s guilt and it's something that is worth mentioning I think. I noticed that Law blames himself a lot in his flashback, saying at several occasions that Cora’s been hurt because of him, and also in the light novel, where he loses himself in “what if”, where guilt eats him alive to the point of having nightmares and even telling himself than if he hadn’t met Cora then Cora would still be alive. That’s such a sad thing to think.

For survivors who suffer from this kind of ptsd, the mere fact of being alive is a constant source of guilt and anxiety. Law probably doesn’t feel worthy of living over the sacrifice of Cora, feels responsible for his death and overly blames his whole existence for it. His already existing feelings of worthlessness (induced by Doffy’s teaching methods, the internalized rejection due to amber lead and the emotional neglect he suffered from) and this overwhelming guilt definitely feed into each other in a vicious circle. This leads him to this need of constantly trying to make sense of his survival and his existence, like trying to pay penance and justify being alive. This is why he came to overburdening himself with the responsibility of avenging Cora’s death, and why he was so self-destructive while doing so. Because there’s also a strong process of identification to the deceased, as a coping mechanism. The survivors have this need to mirror the suffering the deceased went through, it’s a way for them to feel closer to the dead, like if they want to join them in death. It’s the survivor’s attempt to regain his own identity and to reduce the guilt and the psychological distress. I can definitely see that in Law, in how he made Corazon his whole identity, and how he was very willing to die to achieve his quest. There’s definitely a martyr complex going on there. He launched his whole-ass plan at 26 years old, same age Cora died, and I refuse to believe this is a coincidence. It's like he was forbidding himself to live longer than Cora did. And to think that he had all this simmering in him for basically half of his life...that's insane.

Anyway to me this guilt plays a lot in Law’s dedication to Cora and his obsession in avenging him. I also think about how he felt responsible for dragging Luffy into his mess and how he was willing to die as a penance. For me it is also one of the things that definitively separate Law from Doffy on a fundamental level. Because Doffy never has shown the slightest amount of guilt for everything he did, and while he might feel regrets for having killed his brother, regrets are different than remorses.

I’m sorry that was a long one. Told you I was obsessed. I hope the read was interesting anyway!

This is an amazing read anon! I don't have much else to say other than I totally agree! Law's character totally explores survivor's guilt, even if not said outright. It hits double hard considering not ONLY has he gotten this guilt from Corazon dying, but from being the ONLY survivor of Flevance town as well.

Robin was similar in this case, thinking her life was somewhat expendable and 'allowing' herself to die. The only thing is, Robin very much DIDN'T want to, she just saw no way to be ABLE to live. Her mother told her she must live, and Robin only found the will to KEEP living and being ALLOWED to live due to the Strawhats.

Law, on the other hand, was seemingly ready to die from the get go. At 10, he accepted his death from white lead poisoning - expecting to die at 13. Then, after Corazon saved him, Law fully expected to die at 26 with his fight against Doflamingo.

Law has never been able to grasp his own life in his hands, it feels as if he's had this idea he SHOULDN'T be alive and - since he IS alive - he must be alive for SOMETHING. Which is why when Sengoku tells him that ALL Corazon would want is for Law to LIVE, the way LAW wants, it was a big thing for Law!

Law's never had the thought that maybe he can just...exist. Maybe he doesn't need to be alive for a reason. There's truly an aspect of survivor's guilt in such an idea.

BUT now, thanks to Luffy and the people around him, Law's managed to break away from this line of thought. Law is truly starting to live for himself now, and it's wonderful to see!

[hl-obsessed]

Hi Shay! About this https://www.tumblr.com/hl-obsessed/759433349731319808?source=share is not good the translation or what do you think? Curious to know your thoughts.

first of all it's always just so fucking cringe to see lyrics translated coz it takes out so much vibe and meaning.

and i know translations are not always literal but dear god how i would prefer them to be. and just add explanation when something doesn't make sense.

about this one here, well, where the fuck do i start

first two lines, they totally fucking missed the meaning honestly 💀

mind that i probably haven't read any interpretation of the songs so i will explain it from how i understand it

for me it was always more poetic way to say 'getting drunk on beer' or something along the lines.

they translated it as waves and then going deep together with them

like some description of (not good, coz you going deep into the water) surfing in the sunset ?????? amber waves ????? alright

now where the fuck is the meaning of the second line???? they just throwed it to the 🗑️ and wrote some story in its place????

going deep for the ones who do the same to me was always a line about loyalty and friendship, about doing things for people when you know they would do the same for you in return. being by their side through thick and thin and all that

where the fuck is that line???? went fucking surfing and drowned apparently as i see

not sure of the original meaning of this line, but like it's about getting ready for something difficult? and the translation goes: i'm settling heavy once again

next i choked was translated to 'i was chocking' for how fucking long you were doing that????

now here at least i understand the mistake coz wiemy and znamy both translates to know but first is like 'i know (that)' and second one 'i know the joke' as i'm familiar with it', 'i'm on it'

and it was kinda important here for the meaning of 'stupid jokes only we know' and the translation make it like 'we'll remember.... stupid jokes' and then totally form nowhere 'only we know' and you are like ok but what do you know

it doesn't fit the whole meaning that it should fucking fit

here i could (przyjebać się do) point out 'you said' translated as 'you've been saying' and 'preach' as 'głosić nauki' which is very poetic instead of just 'pouczać' BUT that just more stylistics than meaning so it's somewhow okay

but then they've wrote 'know' as 'teach' and ????

wakin' up should be translated to 'budzę się' / 'budzimy się' or 'wstaje' / 'wstajemy'

coz they did it literally and non personal like description of activity and it should be understood like 'i am waking up' or 'we are waking up'

***

and well that all there is on the photo but i'm sure there are more fucked up things in the full text. if we will get full photo i will with pleasure end this analysis.

overally it not that bad but for me it's bad enough 🙈 (they should have taken me to do this translation, i would even do it for free 🙈🤣)

[heliza24]

@megfeiny left this comment on one of my posts:

“If you're up for it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Lucia scene in S1.E5. Simon's exasperation combined with his inability to resist Wilhelm's vulnerability is so powerful. And that hug!!! Oh my god. I have no words. It's just beautiful.”

So I thought I’d write a little installment of my intimate scene analysis series about this scene. (You can find the other posts in this series here, here, and here). I was especially interested to revisit it because I know some people really love it, but I haven’t really thought about it separate from the other things going on in that episode before. So let’s dive in and see what we can discover. 

The atmosphere of this scene is really off the charts, isn’t it? Sometimes I feel like a broken record talking about the beautiful lighting in all of the intimate scenes but it’s incredible here. I like that there are some candles lit on the windowsill of the classroom, giving an in-universe light source so it feels natural. But there’s also no way just a few candles could create such a soft, golden effect across the entire classroom. So hats off to the cinematographer for making the lighting feel both realistic and heightened at once. I love the way it transforms the classroom, which has often been a place where the differences between Simon and Wilhelm are reinforced (think about Simon realizing he has to basically bribe the teacher to give him the same grades as the rich kids) into a private sanctuary where they are equals.

I think it’s worth pointing out too that this scene isn’t without its strife; I think you can tell that Simon especially feels conflicted about Alexander taking the blame for the drugs. But as @megfeiny points out, Wilhelm’s total emotional vulnerability is what allows Simon to still connect to him, despite those conflicting feelings. And the way that the classroom feels out of time, separated from the rest of the school, reinforces that this is the only place that Wilhelm feels like he can be that vulnerable.

The image of both boys in their Lucia gowns is also really striking. They look like angels, which reinforces the idea that they’re in their own sacred world. White is also the color of innocence, and the gowns have very childish looking collars.  This is the last moment of innocence that Wilhelm and Simon have together before the video. I also think it’s significant that everyone is wearing a Lucia gown in this episode except August. I am not Swedish and am not super familiar with the Lucia tradition, but I know it’s about bringing light in the long, dark winter. That’s a thing that Wilhelm and Simon are both about to need, and August is the one causing the darkness in their lives. 

I’ve already written about the needle drop used here, Samurai Swords, in my post about the music in the show. But I love how it seems to apply to both Wilhelm and Simon and August, and how its melody really captures the sadness and desperation of the scene. 

I also think one of the reasons this scene is so effective is the editing. The way it cuts back and forth between Wilmon and August uploading the video creates a sense of urgency. These two events are happening at the same time, and we can feel Wilhelm and Simon’s time together running out. I also love how Sara and Felice both have significant scenes in this sequence as well (Sara seeing August, Felice giving Sara the role of Lucia). This is one of the moments where all five characters feel perfectly balanced. (Another editing/camera thing that I love, that isn’t about Wilhelm/Simon: the slow push into Sara watching August upload the video through the door of the library. It lets us feel the emotional and physical distance between Sara and August in that moment, but also captures her curiosity and his feeling of doom at being caught).

I also just have to shout out Edvin and Omar’s acting in this scene. The way Simon sighs with frustration when Wilhelm says that Simon is “the only person here he can actually talk to” even as he stands up to embrace him, and the way that Wilhelm is kind of shrunk into himself from all the stress, is just so well done. And of course the way they’re hanging on to each other for dear life in that hug is so affecting.

I think those are all of my thoughts! If you have another scene you want me to look at in more depth, my ask box is open.

[quaranmine]

ok ok that last characterization post that i reblogged made me start thinking about common tropes to hermitcraft and why that might be?

because i mentioned the whole responsible dadmin xisuma thing. and i think that's because people naturally want to be able to have someone In Charge in a fic. it's easier to write that way. but it's also an effect of worldbuilding in minecraft--the admins have special privleges that normal players don't have, and in a world where plots often have to do with "code" and other hybrid computer-y jargon, it stands to reason the admins must be powerful right? and with great power comes great responsibility lol.

it's also more entrenched in the fandom since this idea of admins being powerful has spread into being a common headcanon for multiple smps. I see it the most often in Hermitcraft, but I don't know if it was actually popularized in hermitcraft or if it's a remnant from older smps in the fandom. either way, the "admin is a powerful person" thing has spread to other fandoms (dsmp being a big one)

I also think one reason the Watchers continue to be so popular is that they fill the niche for a Big Bad in a hermitcraft story. Hermitcraft is more "difficult" to write plots for because most of the conflict has to come from an external source, which a lot of the time we don't have lore for (however moon big was a great source of an external issue) Because all the hermits are good guys, right? Most people tend not to write another hermit as the antagonist. Doc used to be put into the antagonist position a lot, which I honestly hate in earlier hermitcraft fanfic--I don't think he's evil, and most of the time it's not done well at all and is just insulting to him as a person.

Dream SMP on the other hand is EASY to write antagonists for. c!Dream is the obvious Big Bad in the story, but due to the nature of interpersonal conflicts on the dsmp, whoever the antagonist is can depend purely on who your characters are. It's easy to write conflict because the server has a lot of conflict. there isn't necessarily a reason to bring in outside forces when the characters generate enough antagonism on their own to be interesting, and if you do want a plot like that, there's canon avenues for it (i.e. egg plot can easily be turned into one that gives the server a common enemy, etc). Even on Empires, it's easy to write interpersonal/political conflicts due to the way the story is setup.

For Hermitcraft, the server doesn't have a lot of serious conflict between hermits. We may have the civil war or mycelium resistance or the S9 king plot, but there's always an ultimate understanding within the fandom that everyone is friends. they're on the same side. I do see people writing hermitcraft conflicts and storylines in a serious way, but it's not as common as it for these conflicts to be written as all in good fun. So, enter the watchers, which are beings just vague and powerful enough that you can do whatever you want with them, and they make a really easy threat for the hermits to face together, normally without make one hermit do anything bad lol

Life Series provides a lot of interpersonal conflict, but it also works within a structure that it very easily interpreted as being forced. Most people tend to interpret the players as being forced in some way--either trapped in a loop, lost their memories of their friends, lost their ability to think straight due to magicky bloodlust, etc. There's few works where everyone just like. genuinely turns on each other without something else going, which makes total sense given that these people are good friends everywhere else. thus, watchers was another common interpretation in life series, even well before martyn canonized it for his pov

ummmm i sort of lost where i was going with this, except for maybe an analysis of the fact that hermitcraft's found family/friendship dynamics lends most of its fanworks into being situations where everyone faces some sort of external force. which in turn influences what tropes and headcanons are common in the fandom. and it's not just watchers it's also the prevalence of possession plots (skulk? mycelium? the jungle?) and other things that provide a Common Enemy or influence a hermit badly in a way thats not Actually Their Fault

[the-good-spartan]

Stalkers in the Night: The Krypteia

Few groups are more obscure despite being comparatively well known as the Krypteia. Please be aware that this is a grim topic, so if the mention of brutality to slaves triggers you, you may like to skip this one.

There's a lot said about what the Krypteia was in modern scholarship, which as usual, presents speculation with the total confidence of fact. In reality, it can’t be so easily pinned down; or, as Ducat says in his work, Spartan Education, speaking of a general agreement between the preeminent scholars in the field, ‘[there is a] disproportion that… exists between what modern scholars say about the Krypteia, and what an objective analysis of the sources actually allows them to say.’

I have assembled all the primary sources that explicitly mention the Krypteia [here]. The following is just my summary and thoughts on the subject.

The Stalkers in the Night

We know that in Hellenistic times, the Krypteia were an intelligence gathering unit of the Spartan army - basically, scouts; however, it's broadly agreed that Sparta in the Classical period didn't engage in scouting (or spying) activites - a position that I find hard to believe, but more about that below.

There's a general prevalence of thinking of the Krypteia as, to use Cartledge's terms, 'a kind of secret police… roughly ‘Secret Ops Brigade’, the principal aim of which was to murder selected troublemaking Helots and spread terror amongst the rest.’

Two interpretations offered by Ducat.

As noted in the adjoined primary sources, Ducat discards two of the five sources keeping only Plato with the scolion, and Aristotle, so this is by no means an exhaustive array of possibilities.

A Test of Endurance.

In this version, the Krypteia was a test for the 'boys' in their final years of the agoge (Ducat posits 28-30, but perhaps between 18-20, when they weren't technically men - this, as I explain in my post about the agoge, is very shaky ground; there is nothing certain here), where they were sent out into the mountains. Initially, they would have no clothes or food. They were expected to survive for a year, during which they couldn’t be seen by people - perhaps older men whose task was to pursue them. They would have had to hide by day, while emerging to kill helots at random by night.

An Initiation Ritual

Drawing on Aristotle - a group of young men sent out for a brief period to target specific helot troublemakers as a test and perhaps a hunt. They, too, hid during the day and hunted at night. Ducat goes all in on the concept that this was an initiation rite into adulthood.

My Conclusion? I Don't Know Her.

One thing that Ducat really bangs on about is how this process, in whichever form, cannot possibly be a preparation for war. Where, he argues, would it be of use to be able to do without any supplies or clothes/shoes? To have to steal your food and make do without a slave? In standard warfare, these skills are of no use.

Personally, this is one of those times when I think the answer is entirely clear - this is not for warfare in the external, phalanx/battlefield sense; this is internal warfare, frankly guerilla warfare, very specifically against the helots. I firmly believe that whatever else the Krypteia may have been, or come to be, at this early period it was definitely the pointed end of the brutal and continuous warfare being waged against the slave population of Lakedaimon.

It was obviously intended to induce terror. The hiding, the coming out at night, the going unseen - this was intentional and consistent in all accounts. The killing of helots - whether targeted individuals or at random - was a process whereby these men were being killed without knowing it was coming.

I say men, as in Thucydides, he mentions how the Spartans (not the Krypteia specifically - he doesn't use this term at all) killed any Helot men they might see in the fields who was particularly well-built or strong-looking; and lest we forget the episode of the two thousand helots who'd served as hoplites along the Spartans in the phalanx that were killed after the terrible defeat at Koryphasion (Pylos) in 425 BCE. Thucydides says '...nobody knew how any of them were killed.' [Thuc, 4.80]. This smacks of the Krypteia. These were certainly all men.

I don't understand how anyone can come away from these sources thinking it didn't have anything to do with warfare - but that's Ducat. He and I do not see eye-to-eye on much.

I also just want to mention that I can't help but think there is more to the idea in Phylarkhos, though discounted by Ducat, that this was an intelligence unit in the army at this early stage; and that they were already intelligence gathering - even if that was only within Sparta. I mean, for one thing, if there are specific targets, then those targets had to be identified in the first place. Who was identifying them?

I could go on for much longer than this, but this is enough of a summary, I hope, to give you the broad strokes of my thoughts on the subject.

[reygwenwrites]

Astro's Magical Musical Adventures!!!

By Rey Gwen

March 15th, 2024

When I was 13 years old, I thought Astro was (very simply put) cool as fuck. I’m 20 years old now, and I still think Astro is cool as fuck. Being in musical spaces alongside Astro has opened my eyes to the versatility of his work- not only does he know anything and everything about music theory, but he also works on conlangs (by definition: a language that has been artificially created; a constructed language) and assortments of other hobbies that make him all the more interesting and super fun to talk to.

The release of Mint Gum at the beginning of February marks the 13th album Astro has put on Spotify. My favorite track is “ok girl !”, an electronic journey that feels like being whisked away to the liveliness of a big city in the summertime. The next track “Era” (my second favorite track) provides the same sense of being transported into whimsical life which is a skillset that Astro has proven time and time again he has mastered.

Needless to say- I'm thrilled to be talking to one of the most talented people I know, and I'm honored to say that Astro is one of my best friends.

REY GWEN: How do you even begin making music?

ASTRO: If I were to give a total newbie steps to making music in the way I make music, I would suggest they first learn to play the piano. My childhood self would have hated this advice, but playing the piano is both an unbelievably useful tool for musical expression and a gateway to music theory. If you learn to play all your favorite songs on the piano, you will learn quickly enough about chord functions and scales.

Speaking of chord functions, learn about chord functions. You can call it functional harmony, or roman numeral analysis, or whatever, but naming your chords in relation to the key is, I think, the most eye-opening thing you can do when learning to analyze music. Patterns are so much easier to identify and understand in roman numeral analysis. When I was teaching myself tonal music theory by just making music, I gleaned some intuition about how chords function, although I had no clue how to communicate that intuition. The sooner you start naming your chords things like "IV" and "vi" and so on, the better.

Western pop music has the advantage of mostly consisting of the chords I, IV, V, and vi. I could write a million words about the Discourse this has caused, but I'll say here that it's useful for beginners because there's so much beautiful things to be said about and expressed through the relationships of those four chords. Learn I IV V vi, and learn them well.

While I'm cramming advice,

Save everything you create. Make archives. Export as .flac or .wav. I am so angry at myself for not saving full-quality exports of anything before 2019.

Don't be shy to make remixes, or covers, or to 'steal' ideas altogether. You'll learn so much. You're probably competent enough to recognize what it means to take and transform an idea. You're not intending to lie about the sources of your material, so don't even act like you would be taking credit for others' work (which is immoral). Copyright is bullshit anyways, and I mean this sincerely.

Know that your music will perpetually sound bad. You will never stop pointing out flaws in your own work. That just means you're getting better! Isn't that sweet?

In the same vein, be smart about receiving critiques. When people point out the ways in which your music sucks, you will feel horrible. But they will be right in some way. You should try your hardest to feel grateful that someone isn't willing to lie and placate you. Instead of lingering on your ill-advised choices, come out as a smarter person who will make even better art. (This is much easier said than done!)

Ask a trusted adult to help you pirate FL studio

GWEN: Most of your songs provoke certain emotions, is this something you take into account before you start creating, or do the emotions unfold upon further work on the song?

ASTRO: I don't really consider anything before I start a song. Every song starts as some random synthesizer I wanted to hear, or a chord progression I wanted to play around with. I only think about the emotions I want to evoke as I'm developing a song, thinking about the album it will sit on, and reflecting on my evolving relationship with the song.

I've realized my perspective on a song's emotional presence totally depends on my experience with the song, which is radically different from my audience. Looking at your above description of my song "ok girl !", I've realized I have a totally different view of that song. To me, it feels intimidating, claustrophobic, obsessive, painful, and shameful. And I can't just listen to that song in a way that doesn't make me think about those feelings. By contrast, you saw it as brighter, like a bustling city in the summer. I find it incredible how (instrumental) (electronic) music invites such vivid yet disparate imaginations.

In general, I want to be more purposeful with my music's emotional aspects than before. I've been working on this song called "Obsession" where I'm again trying to tackle obsession, claustrophobia, and shame through the language of an energetic, electric sound. Honestly, I've been here before — this is the vague idea that drove my 2020 album 10k Degrees.

I doubt my real intent will come across in "Obsession" to my audience, and I'm okay with that. It's probably better to have my art inspire every person to inspect and extract their own emotions, rather than being so obvious as to cause the same emotions in everyone who experiences it. Isn't that why modern art is so interesting?

GWEN: How do you decide which songs go on albums? Do you have any songs sitting in a vault somewhere?

ASTRO: I made a promise to myself back in like 2019 that I would never again release a song if it weren't part of a bigger album. I don't feel like I can say a whole lot with one song alone. So, in short, every (non-remix) song will be released as part of an album, hopefully for the rest of my career. Except "ROSALIE", I guess.

I used to make albums sequentially, but lately I've been working on several simultaneously. This approach has been fun. It lets me think less of each album having to be better than the previous, which was an annoying, critical, unproductive feedback loop that binded me during 2022 and 2023. somewhere in the milky way was gonna be the blueprint for this new method of creation. I had another few album concepts in mind around that time (namely The Lakefront, Beloved, and Mint Gum) that didn't get past 2 or 3 songs, so I kinda just left them in their vaults. I was (and still am) adamant about not releasing them unless I had a whole album to put out. 2023 had me feeling stupid and unproductive because I had no full albums, only little collections of songs. 2023 also had me feeling stupid because I really wanted to make an album with vocals (more about that later), and felt guilty about the mere thought of releasing an instrumental album without finishing that vocal album first.

Mint Gum was a cute remedy of sorts to my conceptual slump. I took these little collections of 2-3 songs, which were made to fulfill some album concept that I gave up on, and just released them as one big album. Mint Gum is composed of a few vaults of mine. And it was so much fun! As I was releasing it, I was worried that I wouldn't develop an emotional connection to Mint Gum the same way I have with every other project, but I already have cherished memories and associations with the album.

I also have one very special vault from 2021 that I'm finally getting around to releasing very soon.

GWEN: Your remixes you put on Youtube are iconic, see: Katy Perry's Magical Musical Adventures!!! , how do you decide which songs get the Astro-treatment?

ASTRO: My remixes are really just an expression of the songs I love the most, the songs that I just can't get out of my head and want to hear through my own lens. In the past, I would sometimes go into a remix thinking "I want to make my own version that fits better with my taste". This is still pretty true — a lot of my remixes are non-EDM songs shoved into an EDM context because I just like the instrumentation of electronic music.

But lately I've been thinking of my remixes not as forward but as lateral. My remix of "Anti-Hero" by Taylor Swift isn't straight up 'how I would have produced Anti-Hero if tasked with it'. Because Taylor didn't ask me to do that. It's a reaction essay and a love poem. And I can expect the listeners to already be familiar with the elements of "Anti-Hero", so there's a musical lingo I can play with. I can be eccentric if you already know the original song. Sometimes this musical lingo even involves incorporating other songs, albeit I never know how well this lands. I don't know if sampling Yiruma's "River Flows in You" hits as hard for other people in my "Anti-Hero" remix, because I really can't be certain other people have the same history with that song as I do.

Most of the remixes I make honestly don't go anywhere. I feel like I'm starting a new remix every day or every other day, usually just some song I catch myself lip syncing to. It only works out if I'm feeling inspired to produce and compose too, the same way I would need to be for an original song. The pop acapella acts as scaffolding and an idea elicitor. I think pop vocals have so much harmonic richness to give, in a way that usually goes unappreciated in the original production.

GWEN: Who are your main musical inspirations? How did you start getting into making music?

ASTRO: I first got into making music when I was a wee lad forced to take piano lessons. I quit after three lessons and instead played video games about music, namely Wii Music.

As an aside, people HATE this game with all their hearts and I will not stand for it. It infamously has no score metric, so performing a song is actually reduced to self-expression. That is the best way for art to be, because this game isn't about being right, it's about making art. When I was a little boy I would queue these popular songs like "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire but refuse to play the 'right' notes, instead creating a new work all my own. When you play 'wrong' notes, the game fills it in with plausible pitches and chords. You can learn a lot about this algorithm and know precisely how to play the 'wrong' notes to create what you want. Wii Music is an incredible game and I credit it with my music career.

My parents were kinda disappointed in me for quitting piano lessons. They said my music would go nowhere if I couldn't play piano. They were pretty much right (the piano is an invaluable skill) but in rebellion, I took up drum lessons with the (very cool!) John Sparrow from the Milwaukee band Violent Femmes. I drummed along to Minecraft parodies with him like the very normal child I was.

I picked up piano later, had an incredible pitch recognition (I don't know if it was innate or if I acquired it from Wii Music), and wrote a ton of music for piano in notebooks. The irony is I can read and write sheet music when I concentrate, but I'm not fluent in it like a musician really should be.

I got free composition software on the family computer and started composing there. I don't know at what point I'd say I started producing (as opposed to just composing), probably somewhere in 2017. Learning to produce has actually been an arduous lifelong process. I spent so many years being mediocre, and at any given time, I only really like my last year or two of work. Everything old feels bad, which means I'm still getting better and more aware of my own process.

My biggest musical inspirations are:

Porter Robinson and Madeon. These come as a pair because they really defined my middle school taste for electronic music, which I still draw from today. I guess I'd call them pop, in contrast with the more experimental EDM I listen to. Their music has the polish you'd expect from a popular artist while still holding onto incredible character in every song.

Jane Remover. I've been a fan since Spaceage Radio (dear God that was so long ago) and it's insane how catchy everything she puts out is. No project of hers have any skips. I sincerely credit her remix of Teenage Dream for fueling my summer 2020 nightcore renaissance, an awakening which still influences my perspective on electronic music.

SOPHIE. Her songs are the pinnacle of pop earworms, which is especially mystifying considering how strange most of her music sounds. Her soundscapes are sparse with the most extraterrestrial instruments, but every element feels perfectly at home. I'm really jealous of how cleanly she can mix her strange sounds, because even mixing conventional sounds is difficult for me.

GWEN: I know you just released, but do you have any more projects planned?

ASTRO: I have so many projects planned. The next album is already done and coming absurdly soon, it's the very special vault I was talking about before.

I'm also actively working on two other albums. Album 15 is actually a sincere attempt at baking particular emotions into the fabric of my music. I'm trying to get the listener to feel the same madness/obsession I felt through my song "ok girl !". It probably won't come across to the audience because of how particular the experiences are to me, and it's still basically an instrumental album, but it's been a meaningful exercise to sonify these feelings.

Album 16 has been my precious project since 2022. Progress on it is so insanely slow, but that doesn't really matter, right? I really want to work with vocalists on this one because I have anthems that must be sung, God damn it! I've toyed with the idea of using UTAUloids to get the job done, and I definitely do want to make an UTAU album at some point, but Album 16 is not the place for that. Maybe when I do a Toki Pona album?

I also have a (comically large) remix collection in the works. Who knows when that will be done. It'll be waiting for you.

Astro on Spotify

Astro on Youtube

Astro on Bandcamp

[fadinggardenergarden]

Integrative Medication And Wellness Review

Integrative medicine, on the other hand, supplies several reliable, evidence-based approaches to dealing with anxiety that don't entail medicine. Many or else healthy and balanced individuals are finding out to handle the stress in their lives effectively by utilizing corresponding methods such as yoga exercise, meditation, massage and led imagery. The unification of alternate therapies in person monitoring, such as ayurvedic medicine, bodywork, Chinese medicine, homeopathy, mind/body medication and naturopathy. And steer clear of from 'alternative. medicine' carriers who urge you not to seek traditional health care along with corresponding treatments. Integrative medication brings together techniques as soon as took "alternative" medicine. Integrating those with the most up to date research study and clinical modern technology, cultivates the link between the mind, body and spirit that is often missing in standard medicine.

We are committed to aiding you achieve optimal wellness and health in all facets of life.

The funders had no function in the style of the study; in the collection, analyses, or analysis of information; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the choice to release the results.

One 2018 review suggests that females that exercise Hatha yoga together with other body and mind treatments might really feel less worried and distressed during in vitro fertilizing treatment.

Integration includes a larger mission that requires a remediation of the concentrate on health and recovery based upon the carrier-- client relationship.

Integrative medicine addresses lots of elements, including the physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and ecological influences that affect a person's wellness standing.

Some insurers need references, or may have extra requirements for certain treatment. Although integrative treatment was a lot more pricey, it prevented future health center admissions, which can aid medical facilities save money in the future. Alongside the idea of treatment, the wider concepts of wellness promo and the avoidance of health problem are extremely important. Gentle tai chi or yoga exercise can assist the transition back to an energetic life after disease or surgical procedure. Songs therapy can affect both your mental and physical wellness.

Massage Treatment

It makes use of several types of therapy to heal your mind, body and spirit. Functional medicine seeks to recognize and deal with the underlying reason for your condition. It centers on the idea that one problem might have lots of causes or one cause can have lots of problems. An integrative method to medicine, including research-backed corresponding treatments, is for every person, even healthy people. Yet it can be especially handy if you have a long-term or complex condition.

Statement – Unity in diversity is the very ethos of traditional ... - World Health Organization

Statement – Unity in diversity is the very ethos of traditional ....

Posted: Fri, 18 https://drmattjohnson.ca/how-i-can-help/sarcopenia/ Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

But "natural medicine" now has a very particular suggesting that doesn't put on the majority of people-- and isn't supported by research-driven, science-believing doctor. Integrative Medicine professionals normally take a holistic/total person method to their individuals. They comprehend that general wellness and wellness is a mix of numerous variables, including genetics, physiology, the atmosphere, individual relationships, health ideas, and the power of a favorable medical communication. In some scenarios, Integrative Medicine techniques might attain similar results to traditional medication with less negative effects, and may develop a greater sense of private self-efficacy.

What Sort Of Providers Provide Integrative Medication?

With integrative medicine, the relationships between you and your doctor are essential. Integrative medicine aims for well-coordinated treatment amongst different carriers and specialists. It unites traditional healthcare approaches and corresponding therapies. By doing this, integrative medicine "incorporates" all facets of your well-being to achieve optimum health and recovery.

Restorative Yoga with Ellen McNally hosted by Smilow Integrative ... - Yale School of Medicine

Restorative Yoga with Ellen McNally hosted by Smilow Integrative ....

Posted: Wed, 20 Sep 2023 09:19:59 GMT [source]

It concentrates on your full mind, body and soul and uses an evidence-based technique to boost your health and wellness and wellness. With integrative medicine, the relationships in between you and your doctor are very important. Always keep in mind, you are an equal companion in your recovery process. Maintain open communication with all of your companies to aid you obtain one of the most out of therapy. The treatments utilized by Mayo Facility's integrative medicine experts have been tested for safety and efficiency.

Botanicals And Supplements Consultation

A 2nd factor for the larger acceptance of integrative treatments is the impact of the infant boomer generation. This generation is open to a range of treatments as it checks out ways to age well. Additionally, child boomers are typically managing several medical issues, from weight control to joint discomfort, hypertension and elevated cholesterol. Not everybody wishes to start with drug; lots of prefer to attempt complementary methods initially. Some corresponding techniques may not nicely fit into either of these teams-- for instance, the practices of standard healers, Ayurvedic medication, standard Chinese medicine, homeopathy, naturopathy, and functional medicine. The amount of research on psychological and physical approaches differs commonly depending on the technique.

[diacto2022]

8 Critical Factors To Consider While Selecting The BI Tool

One of the most common trends observed for enterprises that have existed for decades, and are of a certain scale, is the overwhelming data. In most cases, this data is either never looked at, or is not looked at in real-time and optimally. Add to this the complexities Mergers & Aquisitions can add, if the enterprise has gone through any. Chances are, there are multiple ERP / CRM systems where powerful data is lying but no one knows how to consolidate all of it to make business sense.

If you are currently looking for a BI solution, you already understand the power of analysing real-time data and executive reports that can instantly show the leaders, the overall health of the business. However, according to Gartner, 70% – 80% BI projects fail. This is because organizations look at current requirements and don’t consider the dynamic business environments to find a solution that is futuristic and scalable.

Given below is a powerful list of eight critical factors you should consider while selecting a BI tool, which if followed through, can ensure you don’t regret your decision ever.

1. Data Visualization: Creating powerful data visualization focused on answering business question should be easy, user friendly and the tool should give you the ability to customize the level of access based on roles or functional groups.

2. Data Integration and Transformation: Rarely do organizations have their data at a single location. Whilst considering a BI tool, carefully consider the number of data sources and disparate systems you have today and the level of integration and transformation that will be required.

3. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Hardware, Software, License, BI Resources, Training, Implementation, Ongoing Support & Maintenance are key contributors to TCO. It is common mistake to make BI tool decision purely based on User License cost alone.

4. Ease of User Adoption: Ideally the BI tool adoption should be as easy as installing an app from the app store and get going without any/minimal training. You don’t want to be investing too much time in training users on how to use a complicated BI tool.

5. Self-Service: One of the most critical aspect of BI is self-service. You don’t want IT (BI team) to stand between data and decision maker. The tool should empower business users to easily and quickly build their own KPIs with minimal training.

6. Mobile Capability: A BI tool should be accessible from any device anywhere. This enables users get the information in real-time and make decisions as and when needed on-the-go. BI tool without great responsive experience is not a good idea.

7. Performance: It can be very frustrating to click a dashboard and wait for data to load. Lots of BI tools perform great at smaller data volumes but as the data increases, the performance starts to drop. Project your future data volume needs and ensure that the BI tool is scalable and capable of performing well at large data volumes too.

8. Notification Alerts: It is practically impossible to monitor each KPI especially when there are several moving parts. Notification alert enables “management by exception” so the decision makers are notified when set thresholds are breached.

There are many data analysis tools today in the market, so the decision process of selecting one is long and arduous. BI is the brain of the company that would enable better and faster decision making and action. You must get it absolutely right the first time as the rework and course correction in future is very expensive. While the tool is extremely important, the people who manage it are equally critical. If you don’t have the right team with business perspective, knowledge & experience, then you can easily get into issues early on. We offer free one-hour consultancy capsules that can help you make the right decision of selecting a BI tool for your company. To book an appointment, fill in the Contact Us form or reach out to us at info@diacto.com.

[filmmakerdreamst]

How Jack Thorne's 'His Dark Materials' wanted it both ways

Despite the cast and crews open love for the novels, and the insistent diligence to stay as faithful to the source material as possible — even trying to fill in many of the gaps in the books, as seen in all three seasons of the show — the BBC adaptation never manages to capture the spirit (the only time I felt like it did was in the third season) because of the fact that every character is altered and changed. Not just adaptationally changed either like making a character dumber, softer or harder. They’re completely different characters, separated from the source material e.g. Mrs Coulter is changed from a seductive, calm character to a feral, suicidal character. I must admit, I did like the expanded self harm element that she causes her daemon. However I felt in the novel, if she were to harm her monkey, it would be ‘to keep her lust for power at bay’ rather than shame for herself.

The atmosphere was off yet the events were similar and the complete opposite at the same time. But you can’t have similar events play out with different characterisations, at least not with ‘His Dark Materials’.

Philip Pullman’s characters in ‘His Dark Materials’ are extremely charismatic, but to put it lightly, are not very palatable to say the least. As stated in @clarabosswald’s analysis, there seemed to be this weird need to make EVERY single character digestible or palatable in some way or another in the BBC adaptation, regardless of it making sense or not. I noticed this upon my re-read of ‘The Northern Lights’ that they even humanised the doctor that sexually assaulted Lyra by grabbing Pantalaimon, which was very troubling.

Now with the opposing ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ film, they changed the characterisations to make them more sympathetic and accessible to a contemporary audience. They even dug deeper with the character Edmund which I thought was a fantastic choice. But the reason why those character changes worked was because C.S.Lewis was not concerned with building character, he was much more concerned with the place of Narnia itself. He almost used his characters to explore the world of Narnia, e.g. some characters would leave one book and come back 5 books later — which is why some of the later adaptations of Narnia didn’t do as well in the box office as the first one.

The character changes in that film enriched the story without effecting it in a way, because ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ and the other books are driven by the plot. Where as ‘His Dark Materials’ is primarily driven by characters.

Philip Pullman in total contrast to C.S.Lewis, built the world (you could say he used the world) around the characters in order for them to get to Point A to Point B. But he was not concerned about exploring the multiverse so you could see the entire picture, like with C.S. Lewis.

I heard once that he described writing as wondering through a forest on a path and the path is your story. Theres a difference between the story world and the storyline. And as an Author, your concern is the storyline. It would be easy to step away and stray from the path and explore the forest and admire all the trees, but for him the most important thing to do was to remain on the path and focus on the story rather than the details along the way.

I’m not apposed to different versions of the characters or different storylines. But with ‘His Dark Materials’, those books are driven by specific character traits. And the fact that they changed them, while still being faithful to the events in the story, the story beats either don’t land or don’t hit as hard or don’t make sense altogether.

More specifically with the main characters Lyra and Will, but mostly Lyra since she’s the heart of the story.

Lyra is first and fourmost a liar, which may seem a small part of her character but its huge. Her ability to lie and get her way out of situations is the cause of many events in the books. She’s feral. She’s wild. She’s manipulative. She’s described as a ‘half wild cat’ and a ‘greedy little savage’. She can’t sit still or behave herself. She’s impulsive. She’s a leader. She gets into fights. She gets dirty. She spends all her nights on the rooftops. She’s an extrovert. She’s street smart. She’s selfish. She’s brave.

She’s an emotional and passionate human being. Thats what makes Lyra a real girl, not just a character on the page. These nuanced character traits of hers is how she pushes everything forward in the story.

All of those negative/positive aspects of her character in the books were watered down so much in the series. To the point where alot of them were removed. Not only is that incredibly dehumanising but makes the plot points where “she lies” not land as well or plot points revolving around her “telling the truth” make no sense at all.

The whole reason why she’s called Lyra Silvertongue is because she tricked the bear king with her lies, a trait which is consistent throughout the entire story — but completely nonexistent throughout the show. Her tricking the bear king in the adaptation came off as a lucky experience rather something that comes naturally to her. Even the ironic plot point of her being given the Alethiometer “a device that tells her the truth” didn’t hit as hard. They tried to establish her as a ‘liar’ in the second episode of season one then gave up completely as the show continued on.

But the weird thing is, those flaws were still mentioned by other characters in the show, when it was not the character they were developing. Characters would mention that she’s a liar, insufferable, selfish or that ‘she doesn’t apologise easily’ — which seemed like an over exaggeration since the show version of her isn’t really any of those things. This applied when characters such as Lee praised her for being ‘brave’ and ‘good’. I heard a HDM podcast recapping season 2 saying that “her character in the show wasn’t hitting the right emotional beats” to be a child of a great destiny that every character seemingly falls over themselves to give their lives for her.

TV Lyra hasn’t completely lost her flaws, but she’s not as nearly as flawed as she was in the books. She felt so contained, rather than passionate. Which felt so odd because yes, Lyra grows out of some bad traits such as her rudeness, due to the influence of Will. But she isn’t naturally like that.

They changed her so much, but also tried to keep her “the same” that her character growth which is huge in the books felt like nothing had moved at all. It kind of got reduced to a simple thing like her innocence being taken away. It was like she wasn’t allowed to have any sort of loud, dislikable reaction in any way. It felt like they were taking away her agency.

And I know one of the biggest reasons why they changed her behaviour in the TV Show is because they aged the character up to 14–16 at the start. I get it. Theres a huge difference between 12 and 14 in terms of maturity . It works for the Will & Lyra romantic scenes as an adaptational choice later in the story (because she’s allegedly 12–13 in the books).

I think Dafne Keen was an inspired choice for the role of Lyra, since I saw some scenes of her in ‘Logan’ and I 100% believe she would of pulled off Book Lyra given the chance, but by the time they started filming she was already 13/14. And in all honesty, Lyra just becomes odd looking older. She’s just not convincing as a misbehaving little girl who can’t sit still, she just comes off as a really strange child thats immature or lacking in social skills. For example, there’s a scene between Mrs Coulter and Lyra in ‘The Idea of North’ where she’s telling a lie, but it doesn’t come off natural because 1. They didn’t establish her as a liar immediately and 2. Part of her ability to lie comes from her spontaneous nature of being a kid telling stories and using her imagination. Dafne Keen didn’t really look that age, for it to look like something she would do.

They also made her relationship with Roger more of a focus in the show, which makes sense as her motivation in the later half of the books comes from wanting to rescue him. However, they made him ‘the only friend that she has’ which I found to be a strange decision because Lyra in the books has tuns of friends. I would say their friendship is more balanced in the series, where as in the book it wasn’t so much.

She forgets him a few times while staying with Mrs Coulter in the book where as she remembers him constantly in the episode ‘The Idea of North’ which felt like a confused choice to me. They were trying to have it both ways; have her be seduced by Mrs Coulter while also actively asking her to look for Roger.

The imbalance in Roger and Lyra’s friendship is important because it adds to the need to set things right with him in The Land of the Dead. It goes to the core of how everyone thinks she is selfish. She needs to save Roger to prove to herself she’s a good person.

In the dreams she has of him in The Land of the Dead, her and Roger have constant talks of how much he’s suffering. In the show, she just has alot of ambiguous flash forward dreams of Roger, with the story not prioritising them as important as the main plot of ‘Asriel’s War’.

When she brings this up to Will in the episode, he dismisses it instead of agreeing to go (like in the book) because of his daddy issues, no I’m sorry, because of Asriel’s War which makes sense as it’s one of the main plots in the season — where it was more of a distracting B plot in the book — but it just kind of adds to the idea that “its unnecessary” or “why are they doing this?”.

The desire to get to Roger and apologise in the show doesn’t hit as hard because there was more of a balance in Lyra and Rogers relationship plus the changes to her character just made it seem like “she just wanted to do it” rather than it being the most important decision she ever makes, to try to better herself.

While they go to the suburbs of the dead, Will and Pan constantly question why she’s doing this (a conflict that was not in the book — Will is steadfastly loyal to her by this point and Pan is too shivery to speak) while Lyra just snaps at them, making her seem mean for no reason. When she has a chat with her death, she doesn’t lie that an angel told her to do it (because they didn’t establish her as a liar properly), she just says that she wants to be good which is not a convincing argument considering what happens next.

When Pan and her have the argument while she leaves him on the doc, which is a great scene on its own (it made me cry), it also adds to the unnecessary nature of it all. It’s a scene that makes sense in the book because of Lyra’s impulsive nature, but because of her seemingly calculative nature in the show, it just looks odd. It’s described in the book that if Lyra had heard Pan speak, she would have folded and never would of got on the boat, but since the show did the complete opposite of that, It makes the scene more harsh and cold.

I think what the writers were trying to do was make it more of a mystery like ‘why is she doing this’ ‘its not too late to turn around’ a mission that appears fruitless at first, but turns out to be the greatest act of humanity — but again, I still don’t think that works because of how much Lyra’s entire character is changed. The act is not just for everyone else. It’s a major step in her character growth, to care about others.

In the Land of the Dead, obviously they had to cut out the whole section where Lyra literally looses her ability to lie while she’s telling lies to the harpies, then learns to tell the truth to the dead. This is the final step for Lyra’s character, finally learning the power of telling the truth instead of lies. They didn’t replace that with anything, only with her telling the dead true stories, which was heartwarming on its own, but obviously those story beats don’t hit as hard in the same way because like I said, its not presented as the final step in her character growth, its presented as a one off scene. This is one of the reasons why her character is pretty static in the adaptation.

In the Land of the Dead, its Lyra for the most part (apart from one instance) that keeps a cool head, while Will looses his — which again, the complete opposite. In the books, its Lyra that goes off the rails and its Will that keeps her centred.

Which brings me onto how the character of Will is changed in the adaptation, and how that effects the story from the second book onwards.

Will was brought in by Philip Pullman in ‘The Subtle Knife’, to represent Lyra’s other half — in another parallel universe literally, and also to help her on her quest to fulfil the prophecy. If it was just her on her own with Pan, it wouldn’t work and would fail.

Though I was taken aback by his entrance in ‘The Subtle Knife’ — as it was such a jarring change coming from the suspenseful cliff hanger where Lyra walks into the new world after her best friend Roger got murdered — he quickly but surely became my favourite male literary character of all time.

I don’t have as a big of a problem with his character changes then I do with Lyra, because there were at least a few times in the show where he was allowed to act like ‘himself’. Amir Wilson was perfect casting as Will. It was like the character had just walked off the page it was that good. But all together, he’s a completely different character — which I can understand. Out of all the characters, I feel he’s the hardest to pin down and his development is done in a subtle and subconscious way.

Throughout the course of ‘The Subtle Knife’, he’s incredibly off putting as he’s mostly angry and tired and then he’s in pain because of his knife wound. It works in a book format, because your’e in his point of view and you understand that he’s a child thats at the end of his tether. But it would be hard to portray that in a nuanced way on screen, unless your’e clever with it.

They unfortunately took the easy route with his characterisation on screen by making him softer. Not only that, the writing for his character was incredibly inconsistent at times.

Will from the books is fierce. He’s frightening. He’s stoic. He gets angry. He’s a strategist. He does whats best for someone. He likes to stay invisible. He’s sarcastic. He's an introvert. He likes to stay hidden. He’s practical. He’s a child carer. He's naturally aggressive e.g. He beat up a bunch of boys at school because they were hurting his mother. He hardly smiles. At times, especially in the second book, he becomes incredibly depressed. He's pretty much a 35 year old man in a young boy's body. He’s incredibly soft, but the reader can’t tell until Lyra brings that out in him.

I would say Will is a more contained version of Lyra, yet the complete opposite of her. They’re like yin and yang. They both have something that the other lacks, and that helps them both grow up. Lyra brings out a softness out in him, brings out his impulsive nature where as he helps her strategise and learn not to just rush out and do things.

TV Will suffers from the same problem that TV Lyra does.

Every negative/positive aspect about him is watered down. Revealing a quite mild character. I feel that they didn’t touch on the fact that he was a child carer enough, which is a huge part of his character. It just came off as ‘he loves his mum’ more in the show. Will being a caterer is supposed to contrast Lyra whom didn’t grow up with parents and got to live out a childhood that he was never allowed to experience. This is a theme. Every character trait that contrasts Lyra in the books isn’t present so much. I would even go as far to say that they’re too similar in the TV Show.

I was wondering throughout the second season why the storyline was static and wasn’t going anywhere. Certain plot points such as Will being a murderer, Lyra helping Will find his father, The fight for the subtle knife and Will becoming the bearer of the Subtle Knife felt tacked on or weren’t hitting as hard as they should.

At first, I thought it was because the novel was ‘the weakest in the trilogy’. I often see ‘The Subtle Knife’ as a bridge between both ‘Northern Lights’ and ‘The Amber Spyglass’.

But since re-reading the book, I went ‘Oh my God, its because they changed Will’s character arc’.

TV Will, the more I think about it, does not suit becoming the bearer of the subtle knife. The only times we see him fighting is in the boxing ring. He expresses incredible regret over killing a man instead of brushing it off because he was protecting his mother. Even when he’s under threat, he says ‘I don’t want to hurt you’ He even has to be persuaded to fight. There’s even a moment in the show where he says “Maybe we’re better off not fixing the knife at all.” which kind of dismisses the practical nature of his character in the book. Plus the knife being a part of him, the same way as the Alethiometer is a part of Lyra. Even the remarks that Lyra makes about him being similar to Iorek the armoured Bear don't make as much sense, because of the fact that he's softer.

Book Will struggles with his warrior nature, and eventually learns thats not who he wants to be. But he isn’t naturally a soft person. He learns to be through his experiences and his relationship with Lyra. Which is why it was so odd to me that they included the line in the show where Will is saying to his father in the Land of the Dead “You told me that I was a warrior; That I can’t fight my nature. Your’e wrong.” I was just like, what are you talking about? That is so not the character the show had developed. TV Will had hardly been shown to fight anyone of his own free will — it didn’t make sense to me. They were trying to have it both ways. Completely ignoring his basic character traits and flaws, yet still going through the same arc (a somewhat watered down one) one e.g. idolising his dad for his whole life, realising his dad ain’t shit when he meets him, finding Lyra missing, ignoring the task his father set him etc.

Even the task that Lyra has to help Will find his father didn’t land as well because of the fact that the two of them were bonding straight away in the show, instead of it being like ‘oh no we’re stuck with each other’ to this slow process of her and Will learning to trust each other.

I understand that you have to translate Lyra and Will’s relationship alot differently in a Show format, because subconscious development doesn’t really work due to the lack of intimate point of views. The more something is changed in an adaptation, the more it stays the same.

I have openly praised the shows depiction of their relationship in another analysis I wrote (before i re-read the books) and how I loved how they gave them more soft moments. However, I will admit now that the soft moments that they had in season 2 felt off to me because they weren’t in character. I think, looking back I would of preferred more soft moments if they were in character.

Will’s initial softness towards Lyra in the show is partially to do with TV Lyra being much less feral and less of a threat. As a result their journey is warmer and far less angstier than it was in the books.

And that in turn messes with the tension.

The element of Will being slightly dismissive of her at the start, is important to how certain story beats land. It adds to the ‘OH SHIT’ when Lyra’s been taken and the task that his father set him that he’s been dreaming of his whole life suddenly isn’t important to him anymore. Thats why it’s such a big deal when he spends most of his time through ‘The Amber Spyglass’ looking for her.

But in the season 2 finale, it ends with Will going off into the sunset, presumably to fulfil is fathers wishes. Then in season 3, he finds her missing, goes ‘whoops’ and then there's a montage of him trying to find her. Then when he does (quite easily) — he goes on about how “since his dad died he’s done none of the things that he asked him to do’ which makes him looking for Lyra within the show feel even more anticlimactic.

Also, this is more of a personal opinion that an analytical one, I did not appreciate when Lyra brought up going to the Land of The Dead, TV Will went “I saved you. I did everything I could to save you. You told me not to but I did it anyway” which felt to me like ‘Wow brilliant, of course you had to save her’

And instead of agreeing to go to the Land of the Dead with her like in the book, they had to insert some tension from 'The Subtle Knife' (because they messed with the tension in season 2) and have Will go on a rant about what his dad wanted him to do, Asriel’s war, dismissing Lyra’s wishes and even having him suggest maybe her dad regretted killing her friend.

This is something that Will from the books would never ever say, let alone to the girl that he loves. He's fully aware how much her dad hurt her and he respects her too much by that point to ever suggest something like that. Even when he does think about ‘what his dad wanted him to do’ he’s still steadfastly loyal to Lyra. They were completely undermining the turning point in their relationship and Will’s character development by adding pointless drama to extend the episodes running time.

As mentioned in a very articulate post by @mamsellechosette24601 ‘the quest to find his father and fulfil his fathers wishes’ isn’t the point at all, its Will letting go of his childhood dreams, of realising what really matters is Lyra all along.

Now I’ve seen in another analysis of the adaptation that their path to falling in love in the show is alot clearer than in the books which I can understand and agree with (to a certain extent) because the books were much more concerned with philosophy than romance. This is true for the romance between Asriel and Marisa in the Book vs the TV Show as well.

The concept behind their relationship remains the same:

“Will and Lyra are very good people who learn to trust each other when they’re at their most vulnerable, they become the only thing they have in a terrifying world of enemies. By the end, when they realise they’re in love only to discover they can never be together, they make the mature choice, however hard it may be.”

But their relationship is totally different in the TV Show because of their character changes.

I would say Lyra and Will have more of a enemies to lovers storyline in the books - where as the adaptation version of them doesn't. The screenwriters clearly tried to iron out alot of the problematic elements, especially in the beginning and focus on them being "friends" more. I'm not apposed to them doing that, but the way they did it ended up muting a few of their scenes together.

I’ve actually made an argument in my other account (against the ‘His Dark Materials’ analysis saying that ‘the adaptation did a much better job at showing when Will and Lyra fell in love’) that their relationship development was a lot subtler in the books because the characters were alot younger and more immature. And that it was more ‘obvious’ in the tv show because they aged the characters up, therefore they could have more mature conversations and scenes together.

This was before I did my re-read.

After re-reading ‘The Subtle Knife’ and ‘The Amber Spyglass’ comparing it with how their relationship is handled in the TV Adaptation. I would actually argue the opposite .

In some ways, the growing romance between the two of them is much more mature (and makes more sense) in the books than in the show, at least to me. Unlike in the TV Show, their relationship never enters into neutral territory, even when they finally learn to trust each other. Theres much less emphasis on their ‘friendship’.

After their brutal first meeting — where they attack eachother — in ‘The Subtle Knife’ Lyra is immediately taken with Will and constantly thinks about him and what he thinks of her. There’s even a moment in ‘The Amber Spyglass’ where she’s trying to hide that she’s in pain while they’re walking (because of all that time she’s been asleep) because she doesn’t want to appear weak in front of him.

The way Lyra and Will meet in the show, is reminiscent of how children meet for the first time. Though quite skeptical of each other, they instantly bond and make friends after 5 seconds, because why wouldn’t they? They’re kids the same age after all. Even though there’s still an element of mistrust there, there’s hardly any conflict between them. They don’t play off each other as much. There is one moment where he gets angry at her for making him wait, but all that is solved in a minute because of Lyra’s ‘calm nature’

Even when Lyra gives Will away by accident and says that she lost the Alethiometer, he doesn’t shout at her. There are few comments here and there but theres no real tension between the two of them.

When Will and Pan have a conversation, its presented as Pan going up to him to have a chat after he had a bad dream rather than Will finding the courage to speak to him in the book and saying ‘I think Lyra’s the best friend I’ve ever had’. This is presented more as a statement in the show because their friendship has already been established and less of a discovery (as he wasn’t reacting to her that much in the book as he had alot on his mind).

Lyra and Will even have a talk about Pan’s conversation with him afterwards in the show. But in the book, that never happened. It’s mentioned later but never discussed, because of the fact that it was a private conversation between Will and Pan.

You could say this was another problem that the adaptation had. It’s mentioned multiple times ‘YOU CAN’T TOUCH SOMEONES DAEMON’ but not emphasised why thats the case.

In the books, it’s heavily implied that touching someone else’s daemon is the equivalent of touching someone’s genitals. There’s a moment in ‘Northern Lights’ where Lyra and Iorek find Tony in the fish house without a daemon and Pan wants to comfort him but holds back because of the taboo. Thats why it’s such a big deal when Pan comforts Will and starts licking him in the book.

In the show, its quite an underwhelming scene that lasts 5 seconds where Pan strokes Wills fingers and Lyra says in a quiet voice ‘In my world, your’e not supposed to touch someone else’s daemon but you didn’t do something wrong’

And don’t get me started on the 5 second panning away shot where they’re finally touching each others daemons, instead of the moving moment from the book. It didn’t feel like they really understood the gravity of what those scenes meant and what it meant for their connection.

Again, this is more of a personal opinion. Near the end of the final book, when they enter the world of the Mulefa, Lyra and Will trust each other more than they ever have, which shows how much they’ve both grown since ‘The Subtle Knife’. Mary even describes that she never saw ‘more trust on a persons face’. But in the show, there’s this weird forced tension between them for the sake of ‘romance’. They’re suddenly awkward teenagers with each other — which was not a choice that I liked because it didn’t come naturally.

And when they have to be ripped from each other, a whole page worth of them bargaining to be together is turned into ‘I didn’t think it was possible to feel this bad.’ and ‘This is all wrong’, plus Mary and Serafina being weirdly insensitive while Will and Lyra are in different locations rather than being with each other.

This is possibly why I didn’t feel anything when they had to be forced apart because, the way it was handled felt rushed and soulless.

Overall, despite there being more ‘soft moments between the two of them’ Show Lyra and Will’s connection feels alot more shallow and simplified.

In the books, I got the vibe that even though they were very young, you couldn’t imagine them being with anyone else but with each other. They were each others other half. They were essentially the only family they had in a world full of enemies. There was never a moment in the books, where they weren’t already in love with each other to some degree. It went beyond the typical romantic duality.

In the show, it felt more temporary. This is mostly due to their character changes (they were too similar in my opinion). Like a connection between friends that became romantic at the end of the journey. And it’s something they’ll get over because “It won’t always feel like this” or “Its much more romantic to live for love than to die for it” or “It might not seem like it now but you have a future”

I think that was one of my main problems with the TV Show, it lacked emotion. Not just as an adaptation, but in general.

More than anything, the adaptation felt too confused. It was trying to reimagine the story while also paying homage to the original material. And thats why overall — despite my enjoyment for some of the episodes especially in season 3 — it didn’t work as well as it should have.

[oceanbaby888]

DEGREES OF ASTROLOGY + CLAUDE'S THOUGHTS (Part 1) 🔥✨📜

NOTE: WHILE I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL ASTROLOGER, I LOVE ASTROLOGY & ITS ASPECTS. PLEASE DO NOT REPOST OR STEAL MY WORK!!

tw: mentions of choking, death, assassinations, suicide.

-Hey yall!!

-Today we are going to talk about the degree theory and how degrees can be analyzed in your chart! The degree theory is a more modern theory in astrology by the late Serbian astrologer Nikola Stojanovic! In this post I am going to break down Nikola's interpretations AND my own thoughts as well because I truly enjoyed studying this topic! Moreover, I am going to make notes of degree analysis from other works as well. Therefore, the bullets in red will represent my personal thoughts about the degrees in astrology. The black bullets will be from the various sources. Sources are also mentioned below:

*= 360 Degrees by Adriano Carelli

- To clarify, I will discuss from Aries-Virgo degrees and the others in a separate post to not make it seriously long.

- Nikola mentions in his book The Degrees Theory: The Secrets of the Exact Astrology that the degree theory applies if one is reading a chart using the placidus house system.

-Nikola also mentions that a degree at which a planet occurs applies for the whole range of said degree (0'00'00" - 0'59'59"). Degrees are in longitude, and there are 60 minutes in a degree.

-There are THIRTY degrees BEGINNING from 0° to 29° for each sign. (30*12=360 degrees in total, which is the entirety of the natal wheel!)

-Nikola claims that each of the degrees (besides the 0°) corresponds to each of the zodiac signs (1° = Aries, 2°= Taurus, 3°=Gemini) and it repeats until the 29th degree.

THE DEGREES:

0°:

- Nikola states that this degree represents the very raw, unfiltered energy of the sign and planet it is over. The emphasized characteristics of a sign/planet.

- In my opinion, since this degree represents the purest energy of a sign/planet, I've deduced that people with this degree in multiple planets can possibly rub others the wrong way because of how much they can (possibly) embody the sign/planet of whatever this degree is over. Ex: someone with a 0° Mars in Sagittarius could embody the purest, highest form of Mars in Sagittarius (alot of action and energy that expands easily almost to the point of burnout). So also if you have this degree be mindful of the power it can embody.

THE ARIES DEGREES (1°, 13°, 25°):

To be the first

Angles & corners

Carpenter, builders, construction workers

Blood

Engineers: In my opinion I think this is more tailored to civil engineers since Nikola is talking about building with these degrees.

Courage

Spicy foods

Germany

War, fighting, police officers, firefighters, any occupation that involves uniforms and possibly risking your life.

Weapons

Injuries

Brute force

Your head

Yelling. I thought of this when studying. I think yelling is a Martian quality. Because you have to put so much strain and energy and force on your vocal chords

THE TAURUS DEGREES (2°,14°,26°):

Banks, money, wallets, economy

Nature. (Fun Fact: Taurus is not only ruled by Venus, but also the Earth! Makes sense as Taurus is associated with nature, cattle, and anything earthly. Nikola pointed that out lmao.)

Throat, vocal chords

Village: I am thinking of village in the sense that people who mainly live off the land. Farmers comes to mind.

Possession

Gardening

Estates

To eat

Choking

Fatness, grease, bacon

14° - An oracle worker and or deeply religious individual*

Music. This is because I've noticed this pattern in the charts of the biggest names in music. Stevie Wonder (Taurus Sun), Kandi Burruss (Taurus Sun), Otis Redding (claimed as a Taurus moon & Venus dominant), Lizzo (Taurus Sun), Chris Brown( Taurus Sun. Yeah I know he doesn't have the best rep, but he's musically talented in the industry), James Brown (Taurus Sun), Sam Smith (Taurus Sun), Adele (Taurus Sun)

THE GEMINI DEGREES (3°, 15°, 27°):

Locality. Anything that is not at a far distance.

Things that come in double

Hands, arms

Siblings (Twins)

Means of transportation, streets, traffic

Shop assistant

Names, nicknames

Small/miniature (Makes sense because the opposite of Mercury (small) is Jupiter (big and expanded))

Documents

Writing utensils, paper

Newspapers, journalists, books, reading material

Forms of communications (telephones, messaging systems, the Internet, people talking, etc)

Post offices

Writers

Learning

Radio, TV, broadcasting

Stores, merchants

Stairs, hallways

Matchmaker

Literature. People educated in literature.

CANCER DEGREES (4°, 16°, 28°):

The homefront

The land

People of a country, patriotism

Public opinion

Liquids (Any liquid from water to milk to tears to even beer)

Explorer/pioneer*

Nations

Mother

Relationships with your family

Comfort zone: Remember my Sun in the 4th house video! The video talks about how the 4th house talks about what is home to us!

Privacy: Look at my video for this one too lol

History, things of the past: Nikola mentions that Capricorn degrees represents old things and history. Yet, remember the 4th house and the moon can represent the past, and therefore our history.

Fame at the local degree! Also known as the "household degrees." The 28° is popularly known as the household degree. I think since this particular degree is later on in the degrees, this household fame maybe more long lasting, just like how some claim that the last degree in Leo (29°) is the degree of long-lasting widespread fame.

Affinity with the moon. I feel like people with these degrees may like to study the phases of the moon.

THE LEO DEGREES (5°, 17°, 29°):

Sunny places

To live on a hill

Romantic partners (and yes that also includes mistresses and people on the side)

Positions of high esteem

Luxury, the elite

Holidays & what we love to do on those holidays

Power

Secondary school (this was very interesting)

Tourism, vacations

Father

Sports, athletics

Children

Joy, optimism

The one who makes decisions: This is due to the fact Leos like being the leaders and being in charge lmao. 😂😂

Entertainers, entertainment industry: The more I think about it, I think when other astrologers/astrology students group actors and actresses with these degrees, I think more of theatre actors/actresses. To be honest, my opinion of actors and actresses that are TV actors/actresses would have more Neptune, Mercury, and Pluto in their chart. Of course you need that Leo presence for acting, but to form and get into a character so deeply like on TV, the aforementioned planets.

THE VIRGO DEGREES (6°,18°)

Health. As in the whole umbrella of your health and what concerns it

Pets

Working in the service industry

Subtenants, renting

Clothing

Aunts and uncles

Adoptive parents/stepparents

Veterinarian science

Employees

Chess

To analyze

Bees! (Get it? Bees are the service workers of the animal kingdom. Workers bees lmao!). Also honey falls under this as well. 🐝🍯

Ambulances

Clientele

Receptionists

Stomach, nerves

Does not take friend's advice* (This is directed towards the 18°)

- That's all for this post! I'll come back tomorrow and finish it up! I hope you enjoyed this post!! See ya later!!

-Claude

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