My Top 5 Albums of 2023

↳ "Circle - The 1st Album" ONEW Favorite song: "Anywhere"

Makeup for Magick/Ritual: Imbolc

So, this is a post that got taken own off of reddit because, apparently, a post about makeup as a tool in witchcraft is not... about... witchcraft? Okay? Anyway, this is the copy/paste of the original first post and the rest of this series will be here, so I hope you enjoy. And to anyone coming here from r/witchcraft, welcome to the absolute hot mess that is The Whatever Book!

“Well, here we go! The first post in (hopefully) a series that some of you were surprisingly interested in! Not gonna lie, I thought it would get a bunch of downvotes and that'd be that, but here we are! Before I start, quick disclaimer: My current phone is a 3S, so the pictures aren't the... best quality. But it's what we're working with. Now let's get into it!

So, quick cheeky recap of what I said in my original post: My other passion besides witchcraft is makeup. It's how I express myself artistically and I often use themed makeup looks as a way to celebrate the sabbats, doubling as offerings on Imbolc and Lammas/Lughnasadh. Sometimes, I even incorporate themed looks into spellwork in the same way I would decorate an intention-specific altar. (I fully blame Ms. Frizzle for my love of themed/inspired-by makeup looks, btw.) Now let's get into the post! First sabbat: Imbolc.

Generally, my rituals focus on the more fiery aspect of Lady Brighid on Imbolc; so reds, oranges and yellows are what I reach for. Depending on what you focus on (cleansing/purification, healing, the returning warmth, prep for Spring, new growth, etc), what you choose may be way different. So lets take a peek at the palettes I have in my collection that I can see fitting this coming up sabbat, starting with Colourpop!

Here we have the "Uh Huh, Honey" palette, the "Orange You Glad?" palette and the "Main Squeeze" palette. I'd use these three together for my more fiery looks, but "Uh Huh, Honey" could be paired with a more icy look if your focus is on the returning warmth.

Speaking of! This is the "Going Coconuts" palette, "Blue Moon" palette, "Mint to Be" palette and "Just My Luck" palette.

"Going Coconuts" is definitely a good, affordable neutral palette for Imbolc. It's neutral, but can lean on the icier side thanks to the shade "Palm Reader". Add a pop of yellow from the "Uh Huh, Honey" palette and you're set for a "returning warmth" look.

Then there's the "Blue Moon" and "Mint to Be" palettes, which are both good for the more healing/cleansing aspects of Imbolc. "Blue Moon" can go icy (and be paired with "Uh Huh, Honey" for the returning warmth), or can be used to represent Brighid's healing/cleansing waters. The shades in "Mint to Be" are somewhere between wintery greens and spring greens, so perfect for Imbolc! These mints give me very "fresh and clean" vibes, and also would not be out of place on a set of nurse scrubs. More gentle healing than "Blue Moon".

"Just My Luck" is your girl if you're going for the green of "new growth". Try pairing with "Mint to Be" for a more interesting green look.

The last CP palette I'd look at is the "Yes, Please" palette. It's a descent dupe for the Give Me Glow "Extra Spicy" palette if it's sold out. This is Colourpop's original eyeshadow palette and has those fiery tones I reach for this time of year.

Then, onto the Give Me Glow palettes, there's the "Extra Spicy" palette. I would reach for this one over the "Yes, Please" palette, because it's a better formula and is multi-functional. "Mild", "Spicy Peach Martini" and "Habanero" make for really great blushes and "Ghost Pepper" is a really cool fiery-yellow highlighter. This is being discontinued, however, so If you want it you need to grab it while you can. 10/10, would absolutely recommend!

Next is "The Grunge" palette and the "Sweet & Sticky" palette. Both are descent neutral/nude palettes for this time of year (if you aren't like me and are down for to look like a "Happy Clown") "The Grunge" palette has some interesting matte pops and has two metallics that could lean either warm or cool depending on what you pair with it. It's currently out of stock, and I'm not sure if it's coming back? This past Black Friday, they had it labeled as "discontinued" but I'm not 100% sure.

"Sweet & Sticky" is a cinnamon bun themed palette, and the colors are spot on! I absolutely consider cinnamon buns to be an appropriate food for Imbolc, what with the white icing (melting snow) paired with the cinnamon filling (warmth) in the roll (earth). An excellent small palette for neutral lovers, and "Icing Drip" and "Sweet Cinnamon Latte" are good highlighters depending on your skin tone.

The last Give Me Glow palette is the "Summer Vibes" palette! Specifically for the shades "Orange Soda Pop", "Mango Margarita" and "Sunny". Again, for the fiery aspect of the Sabbat. All the shades in this palette are available in singles, but I'd say just get the palette if you're interested in it. This will definitely come up again in my post for Litha/Summer Solstice, no doubt about it.

Now onto BH Cosmetics! We'll start with the two bigger palettes I chose this time around: "The Zodiac" palette and the Holiday 2020 "Naughty" palette. "The Zodiac" is a that cool with a pop of warm that fots the Sabbat, and the formula is gorgeous! The middle shade is a baked highlighter as well, and looks great on fair/light skintones (don't ask me about deeper skin tones, since I'm out here looking like Casper the Friendly Ghost and have absolutely no clue).

The "Naughty" palette... I'd say it's the only holiday palette that I've seen in the past few years that a brand actually put any real thought and effort into. And the formula's 10/10, so well done, BH! If you want to do a warm tone or cool toned Imbolc look, it's got you. If you want to do a fiery look, it's got you. If you want to do an icy with a pop of fire look, it's got you. It can be used all year round, too, which is pretty great, and you can use it as a sort of anchor palette for different looks. The day I'm writing this (January 18-19, 2021) it's on sale for 60% off, so only $12, and I honestly think you should snatch it up. Definitely going to be showing up in my Yule/Winter Solstice post.

On to the smaller BH palettes! First batch are "Love in London", "Smitten in Switzerland" and "Chillin' in Chicago". These are the three more neutral/"wearable" (eff, I hate that word) palettes in the BH Travel Series. There are a couple more like this, but they'll pop up in later posts.

"Love in London" can go either warm or cool depending on the shades you use, but either way, the tones are deep enough to fit the winter season we're still in.

"Smitten in Switzerland" is more cool-toned, muted-colorful palette with a bright pop. My favorite sage green eyeshadow look is from this palette. Outside of any Sabbat uses, I genuinely cooked up an entire scenario based solely on the vibes of the palette. Like, this is the palette you'd wear if the world was no longer on fire, and you and your family decided to go to a ski lodge for a weekend. You're no winter sports kind of Witch, no skiing or snowboarding for you (you're not here to break all the bones in your body so, hard pass). Instead, you sit by the lodge's fireplace/hearth wearing a cute and cozy sweater, perhaps some cute boots. Maybe you're reading a book or on a laptop/phone/whatever with a mug filled with a hot beverage of your choice, possibly spiked. And there you stay, looking like a cute snow bunny while you wait for the rest of your family to be done nearly getting themselves killed on the slopes.

*Cough cough* Now back to the post... Eh-heh...

"Chillin' in Chicago" is the palette to grab for a muted fiery look. Still has some color to it, but nothing as intense as, lets say, the "Extra Spicy" palette. Great alternative.

Now for the two bright/colorful palettes from BH's Weekend Vibes series. "Avocado Toast" and "Blueberry Muffin". "Avocado Toast" has your greens/warm browns with a pink and yellow pop that'd work great for any "new growth" symbolism. Meanwhile, for my fellow New Englanders, "Blueberry Muffin" gives us those more icy tones for the foot of snow we usually get on, or around, Imbolc. Any other New England Witches just look at that whole "new growth" bit when they first got started and went "B!tch, how?!" ...No? Just me? Side note, "Decadent" is the exact shade of the stain from blueberry juice and that made me idiotically happy. Don't ask, cause I don't know either.

The Shroud Cosmetics "Creepy Cute" palette! Widely considered one of the best pastel palettes on the market (Use code BEAUTBEAN fo 10% off! Did I just plug one of my favorite beauty YouTubers Why yes, yes I did...), it's insanely pigmented! "Void", "Tombstone", "Creep It Real", and "Cold Shoulder" can help you with colder, more wintery looks. "Cold Shoulder" and "Creep It Real" could be used for healing/purification if that's your ritual focus, and "Third Eye" and "Strawberry Milk" could both be used as crease/blending shades for a more fore-based look.

These three are my mainstream "if color is not your jam" palettes. The Tarte "Tartelette Toasted" palette, and the Anastasia Beverly Hills "Soft Glam" palette and "Sultry" palette.

The "Tartelette Toasted" palette is your neutral fiery palette. It gives a nice orange-red "toasted" look that fits the Sabbat well. Not my first choice, but if you're looking for a "basic b!tch" warm palette, she's your girl.

"Soft Glam" and "Sultry" are more warm tone vs. cool tone. If you want a more "cold, thawing earth" vibe, "Sultry" is the way to go. If you want to get it, I think it's only available in bundles on Ulta and the ABH website (but it's like.. half off in Ulta sooooo....). And "Soft Glam", obviously, for the warmer aspects of the Sabbat.

Now, on to my single shadows!

The top five are from Shroud Cosmetics. The first four (left to right) would be good for a fiery look), while the last one would be good to use for a water look/pop.

"World Eater" (Drool-worthy metallic red), "Ignite" (coppery orange metallic), "Vigil" (yellow-gold metallic), "Oracle" (light gold "inner corner highlight" type of metallic), "Sea of Ghosts" (medium blue metallic with a gold shift).

The bottom one is from Colourpop in the shade "Glass Bull", which is the perfect inner corner highlight for icier blue/purple looks.

Last, but certainly not least, my Give Me Glow Singles!

The amount of times I had to curate these singles so they would fit into one large palette.. I just... That's why this took three years to figure out. Anyways, I have a few different color stories in this palette, so stick with me more a second.

*Row 1 (L-R)*

"Marshmallow" - White matte. Pretty basic.

"Halo" - White metallic with baby blue and gold shifts. Perfect inner corner pop of sun for icy looks.

"Satellite" - Straight up silver metallic. If the Tin Man is your fashion icon, this'll do ya.

"Bubbles" - Icy blue metallic.

"Sky High" - Bright sky blue matte. Not pictured because mine came broken, but it's legit the perfect Imbolc blue.

"Blue Jeans" - Muted grey-blue metallic.

*Row 2 (L-R)*

"Cream Please" - Basic cream shade.

"Spring Break" - Green-blue with gold shift.

"Kiwi" - Kiwi Green. What it says on the tin.

"Joker" - Olive green metallic with lime undertones.

"Patty"- Just a true green matte.

"Space Dust" - Deep Smokey true grey.

*Row 3 (L-R)*

"On Ice" - Pale champagne nude metallic.

"Highlight" - Pale champagne gold metallic.

"Lucky Charm" - Golden yellow metallic.

"Fierce" - Pale orangy peach matte.

"You're Cheesy" - Mac and cheese orange metallic.

"Low Battery" - True red orange matte, more on the red side.

*Row 4 (L-R)*

"Selfie" - Burnt golden orange metallic.

"Hashtag" - Grungy medium toned orange matte.

"Chili" - Deep blue based rusty red matte.

"Icy Frap" - Icy warm champagne metallic with taupe undertones.

"Iced Coffee" - Deep bronze gold metallic.

"Dark as My Soul" - Grungy deep warm brown matte.

Now on to the color stories:

*Color Story 1* Icy Blue with a sunny gold pop on the inner corner (returning warmth)

Marshmallow, Halo, Satellite, Bubbles, Sky High, Blue Jeans, Space Dust.

*Color Story 2* Greens (new growth)

Cream Please, Spring Break, Kiwi, Joker, Patty, Space Dust, On Ice.

*Color Story 3* Brighid's Fire

Highlight, Lucky Charm, Fierce, You're Cheesy, Low Battery

*Color Story 4* Warming earth (warm tone browns)

Selfie, Hashtag, Chili, Cream Please, Highlight.

*Color Story 5* Frozen earth (cool tone browns)

Icy Frap, Iced Coffee, Dark as My Soul, Marshmallow, Halo.

And that's that for Imbolc! Holy crap, that took ages! The pictured do not do these shadows justice. One day I'll have a phone with a properly functioning camera...

Well, Glamour Ghouls (you can boo me, it's fine), it's your turn to shop your stash and get those creative juices flowing! Is there anything in your collection that you'd grab for Imbolc? Sound off in the comments and let's inspire each other!”

no oripathy fucks with my baby by hozier ft. me

sqrt(-1) bit

The first thing Seth notices as he opens his office door is that firstly, his girlfriend is missing, and secondly, there is no note to indicate why. Dr. Kal'tsit would typically fill in for a secretarial role until other duties called her (and even then, that's if she wanted to), but she's nowhere to be seen either. Just then, and without enough time for Seth to set down his bags and get organized, his phone rings with the tone of one of Sora's newest singles. Seth answers quickly, and on the other end of the line comes the frantic and fast voice of Operator Mayer: "SethIjustsawyouwalkinandIknowit'sreallyearlybutpleasecometothemedbayrightnow." "Mayer, I have no idea what you just said to me." "Med bay." "Why?" Seth has an idea of why, but after all, the first stage of grief is denial. "Ptilopsis." Seth doesn't even bother exiting the conversation properly. One ended phone call later, Seth skids into the medical bay and is immediately greeted by a just-as-frantic Mayer, who, without even attempting to explain why it is Ptilopsis is in the med bay, drags him by the sleeve through a host of other infected Operators, and then to one of the last rooms on the left. Ptilopsis is quite a sight. She's not on an IV drip or anything, but it's clear she's in some sort of psuedo-comatose state. Dr. Kal'tsit sits at the side of the bed, clipboard in hand, writing furiously. Seth is speechless. Mayer is the first one to break the heavy silence. "We thought you could do something." Seth carefully approaches Ptilopsis, Mayer trailing close behind. "Why?" "It was Dr. Kal'tsit that suggested it. Something about Orignium's reaction to emotional stimuli." If Mayer were in any other mood, she would have gone on a tangent about how much she knows of the topic, but now is not the time. Seth pulls up a chair near the bed and sets his messenger bag aside. He looks at Ptilopsis for a moment, and notices the ever so slight twitching of her face; the expression she wears is not necessarily painful, but certainly cannot indicate that this is just another case of a narcoleptic episode. In fact, upon closer inspection, Seth notices a very light sheen of sweat on his girlfriend's face. Nothing good is happening here. "What do I do? I mean- I can stay here as long as you need me, sure, but..." "We were thinking," Dr. Kalt'sit looks up from her notes, "That Mayer could utilize one of her electronic devices to temporarily meld your mind with Ptilopsis'. She leans up and sets the clipboard on the nearby medical cart, then stands to go and get whatever device it is that she's talking about from Mayer's bag on the floor. "It wouldn't cause you any harm, unless you provoke the Oripathy inside of her." "And this will help how?" Seth has an inkling, but better to ask than to assume. "We figured that since you two have been together for...?" Mayer starts. "Six months." Dr. Kal'tsit rummages around in Mayer's personal bag for the device in question. "Six months, that your presence would curb the current spike in Oripathic activity within her system. 'Cause- um, how some infected Operators use music as a channel for controlling symptoms?That's just a form of expressing emotions." Mayer carefully explains, hoping that Dr. Kalt'sit won't interrupt her. The person in question stands up, the device in her hand. It is a thin, blue, and slightly transparent (as well as slightly glowing) piece of electronics that Seth assumes only Mayer can understand. Dr. Kal'tsit hands it off to Mayer for further usage. "How's it work?" "Well," Mayer taps on the screen, inputs what seems to be a password, and turns the screen to show Seth. "It searches for a certain type of Originium discharge- think of it like radiation- and 'links' up to that source. Then the other party just holds onto this device, and the Originium discharge is synced with the other party." Seth heaves a breath, not entirely sure what this entails, or if it will work. "Better to try and fail than to not do anything at all." In a normal setting, Mayer would fire back some remark about her genius, but she holds herself back. Mayer begins the scanning process, and after a tense five seconds in which Seth can almost see the despair on Dr. Kal'tsit's face, the device beeps and registers Ptilopsis' Oripathic signal. Mayer hands the device off to Seth. "Do I just-? Do I just hold it?" "Mhm. Wait a sec, let me just..." Mayer taps a button on the screen that says "begin sync." "Good luck." After just a moment, Seth's entire vision goes dark. He is standing in the shadow of the Originium within Ptilopsis; or, rather, the shadow currently is Ptilopsis, and it's his job to manage it, or at least try. "Ptilopsis?" He calls out in a sort of strange, desperate way, unsure if that's what Mayer and Dr. Kal'tsit are intending for him to do. "Hello." Comes a soft voice from behind him. He whips around to see Ptilopsis. "Are you... okay?" "Can you come here?" Seth steps closer, and Ptilopsis' eyes well with tears. "I-" And she starts again after a choked sob: "I don't know what's happening to me." Seth pulls Ptilopsis into a hug, one which she does not refuse. Seth posits that the "system nexus" of Ptilopsis- A.K.A. the very way she organizes her thoughts- was somehow disrupted, and it led to some sort of collapse of her body. "What can I do for you?" He asks, in a quiet tone as he speaks as calmly as he can manage into Ptilopsis' ear. "I don't know." "Um... I don't know either. But I'm gonna stay here until this gets fixed, alright?" "Alright. Thank you." "Of course." "Can you keep talking?" "Um, yeah. So- I went to Lungmen the other day for some clerical stuff with Ch'en, and in the part that didn't get wrecked during our fifth operation, I saw this really nice flower stand that was selling these fresh lilies. And I saw this bouquet of orange and white ones, and it reminded me of you. And I bought them- this was kind of meant to be a surprise for later- but then I was curious about what they meant, right? So I searched what they meant, and apparently white lilies represent virtue- and that's just you all over- and the orange ones represent confidence, and I just thought that was really fitting." "What else?" "What else? Uh, I found this really nice restaurant in Lungmen the other day- also the day with the flowers. It's sort of a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, but they sell the best vegetable rolls I've had in my entire life, and I don't know how much you like Lungmen food, but I just thought it would be nice to treat you to somewhere after your promotion. Which is also coming really soon, also meant to be a surprise, but... I just need the LMD to verify the promotion, then I can sign off." "Can you do something for me?" "Any time." "I'm sorry, but... can you say why you love me?" "Oh, hell, where do I even begin? I don't know, I guess I just... I feel really safe around you? You always ask me if making an advance is okay, you never berate me if I don't want to participate, you never once have made fun of me for not understanding the non-deterministic polynomial time problem, um- you're just so sweet, and kind, and I don't know what kind of person I'd be without you, and... I really love you. I really, really love you. And I hope that someday, sometime in the future, we can just- be together, without any hurdles, and with maybe a cat or something, and I can get to call you my wife. Or something like that." Seth closes his eyes and buries his face into Ptilopsis' shoulder. "Thank you." "No problem." "...It appears the system encountered a fatal error. Please wait while I finish rebooting. ...It appears there is an external device linked to the system. I assume this is what has caused you to appear within my subconscious. Did Mayer develop this device on her own?" "Yes, and on a whim, at that." "Give her my regards once you exit my subconscious." "Can do." Seth opens his eyes, and blinks as he adjusts to the now-near-white background of Ptilopsis's subconscious. "Why's your subconscious like this?" "Ptilopsis cannot return an answer for your query. Please try again later." "Figures. Um, hey- shit, I don't know if Mayer's listening, but, uh- Mayer, I kind of want out of my girlfriend's brain. Like, personal space and all that." Seth jolts back to consciousness outside of Ptilopsis' system nexus, and sighs deeply. He looks up to his girlfriend, who has just now opened her eyes. A hand grasps Seth's shoulder- Mayer's, firmer than expected- and the person in question grabs the device from his hands to power it off. "Good work, Mayer." "As expected of me. ...Thanks." She tucks the device back into her bag, and stands up. "Where're you going?" Seth looks around to see that Dr. Kal'tsit has also vacated the premises. "We figured you two wanted some alone time." "How considerate." Mayer gives Seth a thumbs-up and exits the room, leaving only Ptilopsis and her boyfriend. "Hi." Seth gives a little wave. Ptilopsis sits up carefully and orients herself to sit on the edge of the bed near Seth. "Hello. My deepest gratitude for your intervention on the spike in my Oripathic symptoms." "I just sat and talked. Already something i'm good at." "Yes. Especially your explanation as to why you are attracted to me." "That was really corny, though..." "I do not think so. A genuine profession of love cannot be 'corny.' And your explanation helped to recalibrate the system nexus as well." "Why do you think that is?" "Being attracted to you has been written into the base of the system nexus. Your explanation, spoken by you, grounded that written protocol and helped to realign the rest of the system." "That's kinda badass." "It is as you describe as 'badass.' I do think it is very peculiar myself, however. And I do have a question to ask of you." "What's up?" "Do you believe my Oripathy has ever affected, or will ever affect, your ability to stay attracted to me? It is quite burdensome to speak in this manner, and it is even moreso to cope with Oripathic spikes, if such an event were to occur again." "What? Ptilopsis, why would I care about that?" "...I do not like to be the bearer of bad news, but I will remind you that Oripathy has no known cure, and that if the Originium within Ptilopsis is not contained by the doctors at Rhodes Island, I may go rampant, or I may turn into a different person entirely." And then, quieter: "Or I may lose my life." "Do you think I didn't sign up for that when we started dating? I love you, Ptilopsis. L-O-V-E. Simple as that. It doesn't matter what happens. I want to be there for you." "Even such a difficult situation cannot stop you, Seth. Detecting emotional surge within Ptilopsis." "Can I kiss you?" "I was just about to ask the same thing." And so the two kiss, embracing each other very gently as it is done. Seth breaks for a moment, just to comment: "Ptilopsis, can I give you a very weird compliment?" "I would like to know what this compliment entails. Please continue with your explanation." "Um... your lips are very soft." "...Please do note that a spike in Oripathic activity does not correlate to being turned on." "That's not what I was-" Ptilopsis smiles lightly. "It was simply a joke. I cannot validate the truth behind such a statement. And I do appreciate the compliment." Meanwhile, just outside the door, in the Rhine Labs group chat created by Mayer: meeboo69420: GUSY meeboo69420: *guys meeboo69420: LOOK

Mayer posts a discreetly taken image of Ptilopsis and Dr. Warren making out, taken just seconds earlier. Saria: Mayer, you were assigned to the cargo escort team today. Aren't you supposed to be with them? Olivia: Mayer, it's very rude to post that kind of thing, even in a group chat. BBQ TIME: WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [fire emoticon] Medic Operator Ptilopsis: Mayer please send me that image immediately. I would like to set it as the lock and home screen wallpaper of my phone. Olivia: Look what you did...

TIME TO GUSH ABOUT TLJ cause I was looking through screenshots and here’s a bunch of things I might not have mentioned before and a few that I have

1) Paige Tico!!!! PAIGE TICO! her entire time in the spotlight is such a perfectly crafted, perfectly tense scene

2) UM THE OPENING SPACE BATTLE IS SICK the bombers have such striking silhouettes and this is used for some amazing shots

3) PAIGE’S DEATH BEING PRESENTED AS TRAGEDY (and not being softened heavily with the promise of being part of something meaningful the way R1′s deaths are) 

4) Captain Candy Crush’s death is given gravity too and I stan this, he’s not made sympathetic and still there’s nothing triumphant about people being blown up. war is not good

5) Finn’s pod is very flattering and angelic even though his water suit is silly. he basically has a halo and no filmmaker would accidentally give a character a halo so jot that down

6) Snoke’s throne room being utilitarian AND extravagant at the same time is impressive. also I still love the way that Snoke’s real form was made to be this exaggeratedly WASPy old man with the skin texture and wrinkles and pale tufty eyebrow hair, and you know what else? the fact that the camera favors showing the undamaged side of his face. I fucking stan the fact that Johnson took another disfigured villain and played up his old caucasian grandpa looks and made his disfigurement blend into his age. Snoke is a caricature of horrid old white men, possibly the first successful caricature of whiteness in speculative fiction. he looks like Henry Kissinger

7) Kylo Ren’s bandaid has a pattern on it. we ask ourselves. why. did he get to pick out the pattern. are there multiple patterns. are they all edgy and black. I’m now completely invested in whoever decided that they would have patterned bandaids but not make them TOO fun

8) the movie is so pretty im just. the fuckign. aesthetic. all of it. the palette seems to have been taken from a thunderstorm and it’s perfect. the use of gray is a reason I happen to think people didn’t like the film. they were like what the fuck is all this gray in star wars. star wars shouldn’t be gray. but it’s so unique, it’s not the gray of lazy color grading, it’s the gray of someone who knew that the feeling of haze and uncertainty needed some gray and rolled it in like a fog. I’m going to have to post more screenshots

9) I like the fact that the puppet porgs, as opposed to the CGI porgs, are actually kinda ugly cute

10) everything mark hamill does is perfect. every line, every facial expression, every pose. every moment from luke in tlj is unbelievably iconic. alec guinness would be so jealous 

11) Luke perking up and genuinely smiling when he sees R2D2 is the purest moment I have to just 

my eyes are moist

12) the architecture and set design is so amazing too? I love this shot introducing Rose, the harsh contrast that draws your eye away from her, the way she’s fading into her corner of brownish-gray, it’s so good for evoking... idk, just how the world seems too bright and too stark and made of shapes, after someone you love dies

13) I really love how much time we spend on Ahch-To, and how none of it has any campy space action. you’d expect to see some training there, but a lot of people were clearly hoping that Luke and Rey would leave the planet. but we linger so much on the setting, a setting which wholly embodies Luke’s state of mind

14) old luke is a handsome gent. i don’t see enough people with the hots for old luke. this is a big mistake

15) this shot foreshadows Kylo Ren becoming the Supreme Leader IMO. we see him surveying the war machine, watching the instruments of death be constructed, set apart from everyone -- a glimpse into Kylo’s desire for absolute power without anything being direct. maybe he’s contemplating his isolated existence, how much he doesn’t belong in the Order. or maybe he sees an allure to all this. this is what he wants to possess. it’s probably a mixture of both

16) Rey and Luke!!!!!!! everything about how the film frames them develops their relationship!! even as Luke is testy with her, we get shots like these where they’re sharing a warm sunset light and having deep heart to hearts. 

and you know what you know what what what

the fact that Rey starts asking WHO her parents are after meeting Luke is uhh clearly suggesting that she’s wondering if maybe Luke is her dad. I love in this one shot how he’s slumped and she’s sitting up straighter, making him the vulnerable one. I love how the sunset light highlights Rey’s buns. I love that she keeps her buns for a while. I love that people have headcanoned she kept the buns so that her parents would recognize her, and she has the buns in the whole time she’s trying to get Luke to act like the hero she believes in. like she’s trying to get him to recognize her

Rey adopts Luke as her dad and it’s beautiful get out of my face

17) ye there’s a lot of dead children but also I hadn’t really thought about the fact that R2 watched this as well? and R2 was powered off for so long, until the end of TFA? R2 was traumatized and grieving too, and he’s seen this before, he remembers all the way back to when it was Anakin

18) hors!!!!!!!

19) what the SHIT is this why is this movie a fucking painting why does it keep outdoing itself in paintingness argh the way this film uses the day-night cycle is unbelievable, having Rey and Finn’s stories be connected by having the same time

THE HCKING MOON THOUGH 

20) Ok we could talk about how the cold blue moonlight of uncertainty has become the warm orange light of companionship but we can’t forget what firelight also represents re: Kylo cough burning temple nice little double meaning, is Rey making a new friend or is she being tempted, is he going to warm her or burn her

but also I haven’t thought about how fucking awkward Kylo looks!! is he sitting on that barrel?? like since he’s not there is he just sort of compositing himself into the scene? using a convenient barrel

21) see what I mean about blue being cold. blue = asceticism, red = indulgence, the two extremes 

22) Luke sinks into darkness

23) BUT HE DOES ONE THING! the thing that breaks him out of his depression. he takes the fire -- which represents the burned temple, represents Ben Solo, represents the humanity of the Dark Side -- into his own hands. we see the fire symbolizing destruction, then intimacy, then change, in such short succession

fire represents light-dark, something that is both at once. we’ll get back to this

24) you could say that balance is about making your own light in the darkness

also this is why Poe’s line about being the spark that will burn the First Order down isn’t ~too violent~ cause fire has become a symbol of change, of destruction reclaimed as something restorative, thank you very much 

25) can we talk about the fact that between this being like a coffin and the way Rey is holding the saber, this actually has the heaviest resemblance to the way medieval knights were depicted atop their sarcophagi. I don’t even know what it means but maybe it hints that Rey sees herself as a martyr and a crusader in this quest to redeem Kylo and prove her valor

26) the fact that Poe isn’t the only one who gets in on the coup. because the Resistance isn’t a real military it’s a few thousand antifas gathered from all around the galaxy and their numbers are dwindling fast. people kind of put it all on Poe but Connix and Finn and Rose and this woman and this man and this alien were part of it too, and they could have told Poe to cut it out. I like how the blonde woman seems like she’s not sure what’s going on, she’s evaluating the situation 

27) you know what I stan? I continue to stan aspects of how Snoke is portrayed. I stan the fact that he gets all close up in Rey’s face and grabs her cheek and it kind of mirrors the way Kylo gets in her personal space in TFA but even less so than in TFA, Rey is not framed in the way girls often are when they’re restrained and in distress. when she’s being tortured, we’re not given any tantalizing views of her body. Snoke floating her around the room has her stiff and awkward, and the close-up of her screaming in pain puts the camera behind her head so we see this from her POV, we’re not voyeuristically staring at her, we’re experiencing this indignity with her

28) Kylo Ren killing Snoke has the exact same light on his face as when he killed Han Solo. this is very very interesting

here I am in my corner of Kylo having twisted affection for Snoke as well

29) I wish I could ship this more cause I don’t need all this talk of fairy tale weddings and force pregnancies when here they are slicing up lobster boys with laser swords

30) oh but this is where he makes Rey look sad and thats where!!! you know hes gonna have to pay!!! basically everything about the scene where Kylo tears Rey’s heart out and stomps on it and then asks her to be grateful is extremely well done and it did its intended job of making me Big Mad At Kylo 

also look the fire is back its Symbolic

31) you know what I can’t show in this post? the FUCKING SOUND THAT COMES AFTER THE HYPERSPEED RAM. that sound is the most glorious sound I’ve heard come out of a movie. it’s like a massive metal whale’s death scream. Star Wars has always run on sound design but literally that sound (along with the scene it’s attached to) outdoes everything that has come before it holy wow

32) Finn WHACKING Phasma. he didn’t use a lightsaber in this film, but he uses the baton he picked up the same way he used the lightsaber, and it even glows blue for good measure. and we can’t forget that this movie shows a boy holding a broom like a lightsaber, and Rey practicing saberplay with her staff, so -- objects that are not lightsabers symbolizing lightsabers is a thing 

33) I didn’t think about the fact that the Supreme Leader’s throne room is designed to display a view of the outside, or be cloaked in red. possibly it could display anything it pleases. this is great fun for imagining First Order characters making it display things they want to see, like beautiful vistas, or holofilms. possibly it can recreate whole scenes, like a Star Trek holodeck

34) I don’t have to talk about how Leia is framed by the dawn on Crait do I? we already got the picture when it comes to the day-night cycle and how beautiful it is

35) BABY 8 I can’t believe this droid gets belly scritches and nuzzles from Poe

36) fucking love when Kylo finally snaps and starts throwing petty tantrums again at the end of the film like he holds back his brattiness for 12 hours and then here comes the screaming and foot stamping and flailing

I have thrown too many temper tantrums in my life to not want to see one on the big screen in its full glory. no one has pushed him to the point where he’s just ugly crying on the floor, spewing snot and tearing at his hair

I got vicarious pleasure out of Poe’s outburst on the bridge too. people being angry and not being in the right. it’s something I need for catharsis

37) miniaturized Death Star technology aka BIGGEST LIGHTSABER. Kylo stop compensating

but AU where a ginormous person uses the cannon as an actual saber

38) I’VE TALKED ABOUT HOW FINN’S MOMENT IS IN MY TOP TWO FEELS MOMENTS (top one is the hyperslice) but basically if you don’t think he was affected by seeing the slave kids on Canto Bight, what do you think he’s so angry about here, what do you think has him in a blinding rage?

why do movies have to spell everything out for people in exhaustive detail? the only new thing Finn gets from his experience with Rose, is seeing how the First Order isn’t this isolated enclave of evil. the most powerful people in the galaxy have been supporting it all along. he stops trying to run away because he realizes there is nowhere he can run that won’t have injustice. and he’s seen villagers being massacred, he’s seen the Order attack people he cares about, he’s been personally threatened and had one-on-one duels, but on his trip with Rose he sees children being beaten into submission with electric whips

can’t believe people think Finn wasn’t affected by that when it’s the one thing motivating his character growth

every time he sees civilians getting hurt -- children and families -- he sees himself and the family he’ll never know in them, and is so overwhelmed that he does something brash and radical and self-endangering every time, and his arc is about learning to live with that anger. he runs away from feeling and his angst is so beautiful

and I’m still in the camp of Finn having had a Zuko-like arc when he was a teenager because that boiling frustration at not being able to express his natural empathy is what drove Zuko to angst so hard

FINN IS THE SOLIDARITY KING! HE CARES SO FUCKING MUCH 

39) fire. Luke facing his demons involves him walking through a gate of flame, out of the darkness, into the light

I will say that this is also very Buddhist imagery -- the flaming sword symbolizes wisdom, which cuts through the veil of illusion, specifically the illusion of duality

“Mañjuśrī is depicted as a male bodhisattva wielding a flaming sword in his right hand, representing the realization of transcendent wisdom which cuts down ignorance and duality”

and of course fire being the bridge between light and dark has come up before in the film. the veil is visibly burning here, Luke having fully reclaimed the image of fire, which was earlier in the film held by Kylo Ren 

I mean. just. YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

40) something about this shot is extra special. everything that’s going on on the salt flats is like on this higher dimension, this spiritual plane 

41) for a moment it looks like Luke and the First Order are standing against Kylo. gives you a glimpse into Kylo’s state of mind. is the Order his weapon, or his enemy? it’s both, and he’s absolutely terrified of it

also I’ve talked about how Palpatine’s Contingency plan is about getting revenge on his Empire because he hates its power as much as he revels in it, and he dedicates a good deal of time plotting ways to kill it, because he needs to prove that he is more powerful than it

being the Emperor or Supreme Leader carries with it the distinct horror of knowing that you can never be more powerful than the thing that has empowered you

42) 

43) Luke achieving 100% maximum Buddhist allegory

44) the slope of the floor is the slope of the opening crawl of a Star Wars film 

all right that’s all folks