DAWN AGAIN
I need to talk about the Boothill Animation we got for Hoyofair. Its currently out on Crunchyroll and will be on YT on the 22nd, But Holy shit I need to talk about it because I CANNOT get it out of my head.
I think it is incredible. Go watch it RIGHT NOW.
Spoilers ahead
HOLY SHIT.
Andrew Russell and Brenna Larson did an INCREDIBLE job singing this piece together and it will be going on my spotify IMMEDIATELY. I love how Andrew will always jump at the chance to play Boothill no matter what.
Andrew doing the main singing with Brenna backing him (I think she is representing Clementine (For those who dont know Andrew Named Boothill's daughter Clementine)), and she ONLY comes in when Boothill finds her in the animation and Then Brenna leaves after We switch to see that this was truly just memories replaying in Boothill's head.
I wonder if this is what the IPC was doing to him. Trying to extract his memories or shut him down, as it looks like he was being rescued by Dan Heng, Aventurine, March 7th and Argenti. So This cant be when he gets his body, as we know he was alone when he got his body and threatened the doctor to give him it. AND I KNOWWW these arent cannon but I do think that these have some sort of truth to them, especially when they are representing a characters past like this one.
I also want to add: The entire song is played on a guitar. The one thing that is HIGHLIGHTED in Boothill's story is the Guitar his daughter would once play. Now broken and burned by the flames. And the song starts off gentle and loving, so this was PROBABLY a lullaby Boothill sung to Clementine...
I love that we were able to see kid Boothill again. Last time we saw him was in that one quest with Rappa!! But I also love that we were able to see Boothill's siblings, FINALLY. And I LOVE how each of them are different, as said in Boothill's Story Grey and Nick took in a lot of kids.
I am SO SO happy that we were able to see them doing dumb shit that kids do, Like Boothill stepping on a rake and getting smacked in the face and his brother laughing at him.
Him singing songs around the campfire with his family. Also it looks like Grey has black and white hair too, so I wonder if that is just a coincidence or Boothill and Grey are from the same area and their people have that hair pattern.
I also LOVE that we were able to see them grow up together.
Just a happy life.
And then Clementine comes into his life. And he is TERRIFIED. But he tries his best...
ALSO MIND YOU: The blanket he wraps her in is the same fucking red as the blanket wrapped around his shoulder. I like that they implemented that little headcannon into the animation!!
I LOVE CLEMENTINE!!! I love that we finally have some sort of design to her.
And I am VERRYY Glad that we were able to see her grow up just the tinyest bit. It seems like she was walking and talking and about 5 years old, even though in Boothill's story it says that Clementine was only JUST walking. So I am pretty happy that they gave Boothill time to love her.
Both clementine and Boothill had so much love around them...
THIS SHOT!!! This shot is incredible. I love the framework done for this but also, Clementine holding up the hair covering his eye, The same one that he says he lost. The same one he keeps covered.
But then him in the window, HIM from the now. Cyborg and alone.
And its the fact that the crosshairs is looking DIRECTLY at him. As if its getting ready to kill. To kill the man he once was.
This is my FAVORITE scene. I think we have seen fanart that looks EXACTLY like this and Im glad that someone did it <3
Now this shit. This shit makes me cry. The fact that the Red crayon looks like blood. As if a foreshadowing to whats to come. A foreshadowing of her death. And he wipes away the crayon...
But his hands are stained...
With her blood...
Now the fucking Juxtoposition of THIS SHOT specifically. Him looking out at his daughter happy, turning to him hooked up to machines, his mind gone...
Alone...
Until Rappa, Dan Heng, March 7th and Argenti come and save him...
I want to talk about the fucking lighting differences. OH MY GODS. The lighting differences going from Warm and loving to cold and dead. But also Andrew's voice slowly and slowly Rising over Brenna's and getting more and more painful. More and more to a scream of agony...
And then a scream of Agony...
As the IPC rains down the horrors...
and he is alone... Once again. Screaming out in pain for his family... For clementine.
And Brenna's voice is gone... He is alone.
I FUCKING loved how this scene was sung, with the growl from Andrew, Brenna's voice fading away into nothingness, and Boothill standing there alone, once with his daughter, now alone. With the IPC raining down on the planet he once loved.
Onto the home he once cared about.
And then there is THIS Shot. I am ABSOLUTELY redrawing this scene
Him escaping, with the memories of his family behind him..
I think this is my FAVORITE scene. Him running alongside his former self. A man left behind... Two free souls.
One gentle and free while the other ready to kill.
And then this shot. This shit is going as my wallpaper.
The Way this shot was done was incredible. The two aiming each others guns towards each other and then Boothill killing his former self.
And a farewell to the man he once was. And the daughter he loved.
I also love that in SO many shots there is the eagle to symbolize the freedom he has. Once in the beginning. Once in the middle. Once with Clementine. And the final one where the blood is on his hands.
I can also see a lot of inspiration from the movie Spirit funnily enough. Especially with the Shots with the Eagle and the way of escaping.
Boothill's story is ABSOLUTELY a story on colonization and it mirrors a lot of indeginous stories, especially about colonization. There is an incredible analysis of Boothill which goes over this topic a lot. PLEASSEEE give it a look!!
Anyways. Thats my ramblings about my blorbo. Andrew Russell you are an incredible singer and I will be causing chaos in your twitch chat again. I will be making another pull video for sheephill.
Also I really REALLY hope that during Edo we get to see more of Boothill's story, and not just the parts we saw in the Slumbernana quest. And I really do hope Hoyo names her Clementine. It fits so well for her and most of the fandom has already been calling her that.
Anyways. I gotta go sleep.