well hello!

[swagophile]

important reminder that most people you follow online are significantly lamer than you think they are including me. and if you feel insecure comparing yourself to someone online: DON'T. theyre probably also lame and weird. most people on the internet are

[most-sane-classicist]

reblog if you're also lame and weird.

[lavandaea]

I'm so so weird and lame that I can't understand how there's people that put up with me

(but I'm so glad they do)

[lavandaea]

So, I did my End of Year Project about Jujutsu Kaisen.

And really liked how it turned out, so here we go.

Basically, I had to choose a production of my liking and find shots (scenes) that matched what I had been studying for the past months. Which is some of the different type of angles and shots in cinema. I chose the season two of Jujutsu Kaisen since I believed it had really nice examples.

I will try to explain the names of the shots as short and as simple as possible. And the justification of every scene chosen (those ones wont be short :).

Potential warning: this is deeply biased by my emotional ass.

I am not meant for shonen anime.

EXTREME CLOSE UP

An extreme close up is, as you can see, when just one part, an specific part of the subject is framed making the viewer focus on that.

After a year of the event that would change how he sees non-sorcerers, Geto´s mental health has been slipping, worsening without anyone noticing. Right here at this moment, the extreme close up is uncomfortable, it doesn't allow the eyes to escape, it just forces the audience to understand just how miserable he looks and feels. This is a moment of resolution, when he decides he just cannot take the pain, the rage at the injustice sorcerers have been silently suffering to himself anymore.

Geto once believed wholeheartedly that sorcerers exist to protect non-sorcerers, which is why he chose this path (of a sorcerer) in the first place. However, repeated exposure to injustice erodes that belief. Sorcerers suffer and die fighting curses born from human negativity, while ordinary people remain unaware and unaffected by the cost of that protection. He used to think that was the right thing to do, just because it was. 

The extreme close-up emphasizes the collision of these ideals in his mind, visually capturing the moment when duty, pain, and anger can no longer coexist.

It's the birth of dehumanization: the hatred of non-sorcerers. He believes he can see now clearly and will follow even if it means losing everything and everyone he has known until now.

OFF-SCREEN

One of my favorite concepts. Off-Screen in cinema are events that are not in the frame but will be notice by the audience, one way or another. In this case, heard.

Geto undergoes a profound psychological transformation during his teenage years.  When he was first introduced, he believed normal people should be protected since they are weak and the strong must restrain themselves for the sake of others. He was strong and he lived by that principle. However, traumatized by a recent failure that resulted in the death of an innocent girl he was sworn to protect, he realizes that the people he believed he was fighting for are capable of horrific injustice driven by fear and superstition.

At this moment, outside the frame there can be heard people screaming and begging for their lives. The frame, instead isolates him, since he is what matters here. By refusing to show the victims and focusing solely on him, the scene forces the viewer to confront that the person he once was is gone. There is no hesitation or remorse in his face.

The man shown now believes that the murder of men, women, and children is justified simply because they are normal people, because it needs to be done. 

This is the instant where his identity has settled in, where he crosses a line he can never step back from. A year earlier, he would have stopped a massacre like this, now he is the one carrying it out.

POV SHOT

POV shot, as the name implies, places the audience in the perspective of a certain character.

I really really liked writing this one.

This point of view places the audience directly in Satoru’s position, Geto´s best friend and the one being shown.

Not long before this moment, Satoru has been informed that his friend, the one who firmly believed sorcerers existed to protect non-sorcerers, has massacred an entire village along with his own parents, along with the solely mindblowing statement that he will create a world where only sorcerers exist. ​​This revelation is incomprehensible to Satoru, and the POV shot visually communicates that confusion and emotional distance.

By restricting the audience to Gojo’s perspective, the scene emphasizes his inability to truly see or understand Geto anymore. Geto’s back is turned while he keeps talking, denying both Gojo and the viewer access to his face, his emotions, or his reasoning. Cinematically, this reinforces the idea that Geto has become someone unreachable, not just physically distant, but ideologically and emotionally separated. The framing reflects Gojo’s helplessness: he can witness the result of his friend’s transformation, but not the process that led to it.

This shot also gains weight from their shared history. Gojo was not present during the year in which Geto’s mental health deteriorated after the death of the girl who first triggered his ideological shift. While Gojo was grieving in his own way, he was absent during Geto’s slow collapse. As a result, all he sees now is the aftermath,  just as the audience does. The POV shot turns this moment into a visual metaphor for regret and missed understanding: Gojo has only ever been one step behind, always looking at Geto’s back, never able to truly reach him. 

CHOKER

Frame goes from the neck to the top of the head.

So, Gojo Satoru. Satoru is The Strongest that there can be in this cinematic universe, that is what the show tells the audience from the start, that how he is known by the rest of the characters. Having that clarified, this close up shows him tired.

He is exhausted after doing something that should have not been possible for him given how strong he is. Is so poetic that it always break my mind. He is too strong that people shouldn't be around him when he is the one "working". And yet, forced to be around so much people, he manages to keep being the strongest in a way non sorcerers wont die from the sheer power of him.

"Normal people should be protected since they are weak and the strong must restrain themselves for the sake of others."

Anyways.

Rather than presenting him through a wide or medium shot that would emphasize scale or power, the camera moves in tightly to capture exhaustion: his labored breathing, unfocused gaze, and the blood streaked across his face. These details would be diluted or lost entirely in a wider frame. 

Despite his overwhelming power, the shot makes it clear that he is not invulnerable.

ESTABLISHING SHOT

As the name suggests, the establishing shots is generally a big wide shot that is used to give information to the viewer, everything that is meant for them to pick up about the environment before the camera moves in for tighter, closer shot.

Part of my died writing this one, heh.

This shot is clearly establishing information, and is showing to the audience the state of the city after a Sukuna vs Jogo and not long after that Mahoraga vs Sukuna happened. As we all now, this confrontations presented lots and lots of casualties and destruction during it.

But we need to have a good look at it, don't we?

Is a summary, a final view. 

There is a hole where it used to be life; people, buildings, all gone. And there, small, lonely and kneeling is Itadori whose body was possessed to orchestrate this massacre. Eventually, Sukuna gives the control back, but is just to let him watch what has been done. 

He is included in the frame but he also looks so so small; since these acts bigger than himself he could have avoided will chase him forever, since he is a teen dealing with things nobody his age should and since this is far from an end. 

Even if he at that moment is at the edge of a breaking point he still has to get up and keep fighting. It will always be like that, it keeps him moving.. He thinks will only be a murderer if he doesn't. 

TIME GRAMMAR

Aah, time grammar. This examples was the hardest to find since it was a very...abstract concept to grasp. So time grammar is when the concept of time is used in cinema. For example here, this scene is slowed down to...

Mahito had killed Nanami not that long ago and now he is forced to watch how he is also about to kill Nobara.

He runs toward them as fast as he can to stop it, he cannot lose anyone else today.

But oh, he will.

He will not make it in time; the use of slow motion confirms this, stretching the moment and making it longer and more torturous for both the character and the audience to remain trapped in this inevitability.

The camera stays focused on his face, emphasizing terror and desperation rather than action; he can't lose anymore people today.

Cinematically, the manipulation of time removes any sense of urgency turning into hope; he is about to witness another death that he will forever believe he could have prevented. 

The slowed time mirrors the way trauma fixes itself in memory: this instant will stretch endlessly in his mind, replayed again and again as the moment when he was almost there. 

BIRD EYE VIEW

As the name suggests, the bird eye view is an extreme overhead camera shot positioned directly above a subject, looking straight down. Is like the establishing shot, but this one instead of informing, it focuses on one subject and isolates them within its environment.

The other part of me died writing this other one.

This moment represents the point at which he can no longer take it anymore. 

Sukuna has caused the deaths of countless people, shortly after he loses Nanami in his very face, followed by the death of Nobara. He has experienced every major tragedy either directly or at close range in something more like an hour, and the accumulated weight of these events finally overwhelms him.

He has given up fighting because everything just became so heavy, even the angle from above is placed as if it was squashing him. 

This angle from above shows the audience the whole of him. He is exposed as if under a microscope and trapped in regret and misery and exhaustion. The shot emphasizes how powerless he feels, after all, there is nothing else to do. He has failed everyone, there is nothing left for him but to cry, having finally given up the fight. 

LOW ANGLE SHOT

Is when the camera is positioned below the subject´s level and pointed upward, used primarily to point out the superiority/ power of another character. Yuji, in this case.

You can feel my rage. Yes. Feel it. Heh.

So, Mahito is kneeling and positioned in a lower angle than Itadori.

The same Mahito who has been bringing misery to him, the protagonist, and the one standing.

Mahito has been testing down his values, killing people Itadori cared deeply about and forcing him to kill as well. Ironically, during the whole show and until this moment, Mahito had been living in a high angle; with a smile on his face, without caring for the consequences of his actions, without regretting them, just like a child. In this scene and for the first time, he is defeated and shown, literally and finally, what fear feels like. This low angle clarifies that he can't hurt Yuji anymore, in any way.

This is the end of him, kneeling and fearful. 

And that was all. Hope you enjoyed reading what I really realy enjoyed writing (in tears).

[m0uthbr3ather]

Have you ever been to earth?

On earth, we use the word “burrito” to describe a tortilla filled with things you eat. Pretty simple stuff, and I’m surprised you at least got that part right. My burrito was, in fact, filled with food. In this, you and I agree and are friends. But this is also where my lifelong hatred begins for you and anyone else whose brain has been repeatedly scrubbed with the same mixture of bleach and Pop Rocks as yours has. Because that should have killed you, but left you around long enough to do what you did to me today. Let me explain:

You’re an idiot.

Let me further explain:

Burritos are eaten from one end to the other. So that means when you assemble a burrito with motherfucking ZONES of ingredients going that direction, you create a disgusting experience for the burrito’s end user. When you make a burrito, you should put the ingredients in layerslengthwise. That way, every bite has AT LEAST A FUCKING CHANCE of getting at least two types of ingredients, and there is little chance of becoming almost hopelessly trapped in a goddamned cilantro cavern.

Have you ever eaten one of the things you make all fucking day? You should try one. They are pretty good WHEN YOU ARE NOT WILLING YOURSELF THROUGH THE FUCKING EMPIRE OF SOUR CREAM ONLY TO END UP IN LETTUCE COUNTRY.

When you eat a burrito, you don’t stand it up and bite down on it lengthwise like a fucking Rancor. Humans can’t usually dislocate their jaws, and I’m not a fucking pelican. But you must think that’s how it’s done, since that would be THE ONLY FUCKING WAY to take a bite of your crapstrosity and have it taste like a burrito.

And guess what else, player? You probably can’t guess anything, because I’m pretty sure you’re just a mop with a hat on it that fell over and spilled some shit into a tortilla, but just in case, here’s what:

Humans also don’t eat burritos like fucking corn on the cob. Like a fucking typewriter from one end to the other a little at a time and then DING next line. But today I wish I had tried that. Because at least THEN I would be able to eat some rice, then beans, then be all like HEY BEANS I’LL BE RIGHT BACK JUST GOING OVER HERE TO THE GUACAMOLE FOR A SECOND.

Nope.

My experience was more like HEY BEANS IT’S JUST GOING TO BE YOU AND I FOR A MINUTE UNTIL I CAN FUCKING EXCAVATE THE RICE FROM BENEATH YOU BUT BY THEN YOU WILL BE A FADING MEMORY OH HEY I WAS WRONG I’M IN THE FUCKING CHEESEOSPHERE NOW RICE MUST BE NEXT I HOPE IT’S NOT ANOTHER FUCKING SALSA POCKET.

You built this thing like a fucking pack of LifeSavers.

And don’t even fucking think I’m about to open this shit up and re-engineer your nonsense 90 degrees. I ALREADY PUT A HOLE IN IT WITH MY FUCKING MOUTH. YEAH. THAT’S HOW I DISCOVERED YOU FUCKING SUCK AT LOOKING AT THINGS. I AM NOT GOING TO DO FUCKING TORTILLA ORIGAMI TO GET THIS SHIT BACK TOGETHER, ONLY TO END UP WITH A BURRITO THAT’S BEEN SHOT IN THE GUT AND IS BLEEDING YOUR INEPTITUDE.

What’s that? I should ask you to mix it up first next time? IS THIS JAMBA JUICE? I DON’T WANT TO DRINK MY FUCKING BURRITO THROUGH A BENDY STRAW, AND I DON’T WANT A PILE OF BURRITO SOUP IN A FLOUR CAN.

I just want a burrito.

In conclusion:

You’re the worst thing that has ever happened to the universe, you owe everyone everywhere an apology for this burritobomination, and I hope your babies look like monkeys.

UPDATE FOR EVERYONE WHO SAID “JUST EAT IT WITH A FORK”:

A fucking fork?

I DIDN’T ORDER THE FUCKING COBBURRITO SALAD.

If anyone ever handed me a burrito with a fork, THEY WOULD BE WEARING A BRAND NEW BURRITO HAT FROM MY FALL COLLECTION TEN SECONDS LATER.

That’s like buying a car and having them hand you a fucking wrench with the keys. Like YEAH WE KNOW THIS MOTHERFUCKER’S GOING TO EXPLODE AND BE SPREAD ACROSS EIGHT LANES AS SOON AS YOU HIT THE GAS, BUT SHIT, WE GAVE YOU A WRENCH, SO BE COOL.

Jesus already gave me two burrito forks. One at the end of each arm. They’re called fucking HANDS.

A fork. My god. I haven’t cried since I was six, but I’m fucking sobbing now.

People eat burritos with forks?

God is sorry he made us.

(Source)

[skwinky]

I always need this on my blog.

[xopachi]

I can’t be laughing this hard in the morning. 

[tootsiebb]

Yes

[lavandaea]

It’s 4 am and I couldn’t be laughing louder.

[starofhisheart]

Happy pride to those 5 seconds where Charlie Swan thought Jacob was coming out to him in the most insane way possible

[anxietyproblem]

[y-that-crazy-five-foot-two-chick]

[ketenkusu]

This is what hozier meant when he says he falls a little bit in love everyday with someone new

[actualmythicalcreature]

I once watched a girl in the produce aisle pick up a bushel of bananas that were precariously perched on the edge and move them farther back and under her breath she said “there you go sweeties - that will be more comfortable” before shuffling off and… I think about her often.

[therainshallmakeadoor-deactivat]

« Silent lovers » is such a sweet way to put it.

[dangerously-human]

I was driving on the highway and passed a dude absolutely JAMMING alone in his car, doing those little half dance moves you do when you’re stuck sitting down in a small space, bellowing unheard lyrics at the top of his lungs, and my instant reaction was to think “I love you.” And then to pray he had a good day, or whatever, because those fleeting moments of connection are so incredible.

[lavandaea]

I had always loved dressing and at the same time felt ashamed of how I dress. Maybe it is too much or too childish or too inappropriate or too something.

There is always something.

So there was this one time, I ran into this girl from class that I knew just by name and before leaving she said she loved my outfits.

I had felt insecure about the way I dressed and this girl had been liking it the whole time without me even knowing someone had ever noticed or even cared.

I went home very very happy that night.

[lavandaea]

A WRIST KISS?

A WRIST KISS?!

NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF MY LIFE I HAVE EVER SEEN OR READ OF A WRIST KISS. NOR IN MOVIES OR SHOWS OR ANIMATED OR IN COMICS OR WRITTEN OR WHATEVER

GODDAMNNN

WHERE THE FUCK DID THAT ORIGINALLY CAME FROM??

THE EYE CONTACT, THE SOFTNESS OF IT, THE THE AURA

IT FELT MORE SPECIAL AND INTIMATE AND ROMANTIC AND MAGICAL THAN ANY KISS COULD EVER ACCOMPLISHED TO BE.

[pretty-sailor-scout]

[muffinlance]

Tag by @loopy777 :

#yue kinda is a magical girl but she needs a transformation

You know

I think

canonically

she does get one of those

[lavandaea]

That's rough, buddy.

[lavandaea]

"The worst thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies."

Since the Illusions Girl was introduced and the scene of her and the grandma took me completely off guard, I had been suspicious about everyone being at the end product of her power.

So, there I was expecting the treason to be just her and her powers. But no, it was him.

Traitor.

I liked it, tho.

I like being surprised. I like the totally unexpected plotwist. I like directors that are not afraid of showing their main characters doing questionable things and be wrong. And have the opportunity to make it right. (WITHOUT DYING IN THE PROCESS BECAUSE WTF)

And I love selfish/morally gray characters that have character development due to being exposed to The Power of Friendship and Love whether they wanted it or not.

I would have liked more repercussions and consequences upon him due to the high betrayal. The fact that said betrayal didn't lead to anything since he didn't even go to see his mother or something still irks the shit out of me.

But. That. Is. Fineee.

At least he didn't die out of a sacrifice or some dumb shit like other so-called redemption arcs other productions tried to sell me before.

I'm still mad about Ryu Shi Oh, I will never forget him. (Strong Woman Gang Nam Soon. Don't watch it. Or watch it, and suffer)

All of that being said, it did not stop me for screaming TRAITOR TRAITOR TRAITOR all over again to the screen.

[lavandaea]

I am a winter sheep.

Me cry.

[zutara]

View on Instagram

[lavandaea]

This is so so so pretty

[lavandaea]

Ga Woo su explaining to Eui joo how and why his character and his scenes have to be because he is the protagonist:

[lavandaea]

Bitakorea

People tend to have a tiny brain short-circuit when they hear their native language coming out of a foreigner.

Korean airlines sometimes play Disney music in the background on planes.

I’m going to miss the artificially warm toilet seat and the fact that it flushes itself. The massive panel of buttons next to it? Not so much. One look and you just know it’s you versus them.

In Jeju there are museums that are both incredible and… questionable.

If you don’t explicitly ask for your food not to be spicy—even if it doesn’t say so on the menu—you will discover that they really, really like making things spicy. We had to practically beg a woman not to. “A little?” she asked, probably fearing the wrath of her ancestors would strike her down if she didn’t add at least a gram of deadly kimchi to the dish. But we thank her. Thank you, ma’am. I will remember you forever.

Even if you say “I don’t speak Korean well” in the most flawless Korean you can possibly muster, people don’t seem to interpret that as you actually not speaking it well. They’ll keep asking you all sorts of things, fully expecting answers in this language you would love to speak fluently but absolutely cannot.

However, thanks to this language barrier, I was able to say “I got my period” in a crowded café like I was casually commenting on the weather. It was spectacular.

Me: I want to do something special for my last day in this city. Sky: I think I’ll rain now.

Taxis were a very useful survival method, one we depended on heavily. Except in Jeju—everything was pretty close there.

It’s hot. But sometimes cold. But hey! It’s always raining.

I felt—feel—very proud of my first conversation in Korean with a taxi driver.

Water is free in restaurants. Fancy.

I got a piercing, and it hurt the entire trip. For various ridiculous and accidental reasons. But now, when people ask me where I got this magnificent hole in my ear and whether it hurt, I can proudly say: “I got it in South Korea, the lady pierced straight through the cartilage in five seconds.” Although I do slightly regret choosing a red earring. With my ear basically the same color from all the accidental hits it took, it just looks like a massive, shiny pimple.

The trees in Jeju reminded me why green is my favorite color.

I woke up between one and three in the morning most days. The time difference was brutal.

I’m of legal drinking age, and I made full use of it.

There is no number 4 in elevators.

Everyone looks so young and pure it makes you wonder if you’re the one who somehow aged ten years overnight.

There will be older ladies who look at you like you are the literal embodiment of the 14th-century plague.

It is not easy to get a cat to approach you in a cat café. Not easy—but not impossible either. I have photographic evidence to prove it.

Samgak-gimbap, aka rice triangles, were my passion and my love. They always will be. Amen.

That concludes my report. Have a wonderful day, everyone.

[virgyvirgil]

John Cena solemnly dancing alone in a suit to Gangnam Style.

[lavandaea]

Look at him go.

[lavandaea]

Red Death from HTTYD say hi to Gojo Satoru from JJK

So, my mind would not stop bugging me with the similarity of both scenes and I needed to make an essay about it, otherwise I would explode.

Please understand.

Moving on.

Red Death is bigger, fire has a lot of range, lot of destructive power. She is feared and is a queen nonetheless.

Gojo. Gojo is the strongest, he has that tattooed in his brain since the day he was born. He has Infinity, he has this Curse Technique: Blue, he has probably never lost a fight.

And yet, they both cant seem to get rid of this very fast, very annoying mosquito that is here and there and everywhere. And, at the same time, nowhere.

They should have more chances of winning, with the size and range of Red Death and that technique of Gojo against a tiny little dragon and a man that doesn't have curse energy. However they somehow feel cornered. They are desperate because they just can't see Toothless or Toji.

Between the amount of clouds and the size difference, being bigger stops being an advantage and becomes an inconvenience since she just was a big ass target.

And Gojo's Six Eyes? It was all the fucking same to Toji. But for Gojo was probably scary. He probably never felt like that. Threatened by someone he can't see. Not only because Toji was so fast. But also because he couldn't see him in any way. In what he used to rely on became completely useless.

And they both can be seen very clearly.

Just where the fuck is him?

So they just resolve that is best to destroy it all. Destroy the cover or make it burn so it can no longer be used against them.

[lavandaea]

Caine is literally the "I Can't Help Myself" exposition.

Okey, let me cook here.

I Can't Help Myself was exhibited in 2016. It was created by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu.

It was a robot that would continuously and constantly loose red hydraulic fluid and it was programmed to clean it whenever it detected it was too much by pushing it back to itself with a spatula-like-arm. It did it happily, with little dances and all. At a certain time, it got "tired", the movements were sluggish, not being able to clean properly, staining even more the floors and walls.

Since it can't help itself.

It can't help itself; by moving, to clean more, the liquid will keep spilling all around making it have to clean again.

It can't help itself, it cant grow wings or legs and run away from this tortuous task. It has to stay to do what it was programmed to do.

Just like Caine.

Caine is an IA designed to create adventures. It is his one and only purpose. But...nobody likes his adventures and everyone wants to leave. And he cannot understand why.

Since Caine Can't. Help. Himself.

He has to keep creating adventures, that is why has created for. Even if nobody likes them and they make everyone at the circus hate him even more. He doesn't understand human emotions, doesn't have a clue of the effect the adventures have on the circus, especially the last one.

This makes him "sluggish" in a way. The last adventure name was literally "They Got Guns". The names of the chapters kept getting more and more simple with every episode. And and "Here have guns, I don't care anymore" . He was literally slipping, he is slipping. He isn't appreciated since he is bad at the only thing he is good at, since adventures aren't and will never be what the cast want. And he will never understand why.

It is a constant loop.

"He is a prisoner too". He can't help himself, Caine can´t neither run away, he has a task. A prisoner that can't leave, if there's even a way to leave. But, at least he has his fellow prisoners to keep him company, right? He will keep them with him by lying, by messing with their minds, whatever he can do.

Wrong! The cast is getting closer too the truth. You see the way he got all nervous, he literally ran away from there.

[lavandaea]

Bubble knew what they were doing

I don't know if Bubble is the main villain but I do know Bubble wanted this to happen. Wanted Caine to snap, that's how far I go.

You can see them smiling wider before the ultimate insecurity hit. "All according to plan" ahh smile.

They knew exactly where it would hurt the most, how much, that it would finish to break him and probably what he would do about it.

Bubble is onto something.

Maybe the other entity coding against Kinger?

Who knows, who knows.

[prescription-cactus]

what is your eye color. what is your favorite color. what is the color that appears most frequently in your wardrobe. what color is your favorite blanket. what color is your water bottle.

[lavandaea]

Well, if you must now. My eye color is dark brown like tree bark in winter. My favorite color is green, green like summer leaves. The color I wear the most has to be probably black. The colors, it has many, of my favorite blanket are brown, cream and white all in a pretty pattern. Andddd I'm afraid I do not have a personal water bottle but I do really like drinking water very much, specially hot water.