Ane!Reblogs - Blog Posts
I am so in fucking love with the stairway to heaven animation and the only ways I can express that is to either say I am bricked the FUCK up, or I give in to the uber instincts of my uber autism and write an essay on what I THINK are some of the references/inspirations used in the animation. I chose the essay because I need people to know why I am "bricked up."
I am fully willing to accept if I am wrong/reaching for some of these but even then, I think it's cool that I can still connect certain moments with things I enjoy. With that out of the way, behold my analysis/breakdown of Stairway to Heaven!
Spoilers below the cut not just for the animation, but also minor spoilers for Kane Pixel's backrooms series, Liminal Land, Skinamarink, and Mandela Catalogue. Also just a warning for the incoherent ramblings of a guy who's abnormal about analog/indie horror. Please please please please PLEASE go watch the animation if you haven't.
First, "subject 087" is in reference to SCP-087, the never ending staircase SCP. I actually didn't even catch that the first time until I scrolled down to the comments lmao. In my defense, when SCP was blowing up in the mid 2010s I wasn't really old enough to appreciate it or find the format interesting (and honestly it is still hard for me to really get into it, but that's more of a me thing. Conceptually a clinical approach to horror like with SCPs or in All Tomorrows is fascinating, but it can be a bit of a slog for me), so I only knew the main three's numbers. (173, 096, and 682).
"Motion detected" has been used in just about every analog horror series now, but Mandela Catalogue is probably the main series that popularized the trope when analog horror first started getting popular.
The backrooms is, obviously, the backrooms. You can probably assume it's Kane Pixels' backrooms because his version really blew up but it feels more like early days backrooms before we got all those monsters and almond water stuff. (Which btw it's so funny we got "almond water" from whoever the first person to say the air smells like almonds was. For reference, almonds smell like cyanide. OP was trying to say the air smells toxic, not that almonds are the safest thing to consume in the backrooms.)
This shot just reminded me of The Oldest View, ALSO from Kane Pixels. Tbh that's probably just me but I thought it was neat.
Next up, the door. Aside from the obvious 333 angel numbers which also appear very prominently in Mandela Catalogue (this series is going to pop up a lot, I'm sorry), but for some reason it reminded me of the Silent Hill 4 door. Again, that's just the tism probably.
Skinamarink ahh shot, was honestly expecting the door to just poof, disappear.
Next, the shot with all the houses. While KP's Backrooms do have that creepy neighbourhood, this exact shot and set up feels closer to H.O.M.E. from Liminal Land.
And then our most darling biblically accurate horror icon Columbina would make False Gabriel proud, and just... she is so fucking cool and creepy in this and I love her so much.
This whole sequence was for one absolutely horrifying and beautiful, but what caught MY attention were the settings and locations shown. These are standard creepy liminal spaces and analog horror gore censorship, yes, but they also reminded me of the locations Trevor Henderson uses in his art pieces, so suffice to say I think Columbina looks RIGHT AT HOME regardless of how you wanna look at these shots. And the animation on her face opening up into wings and eyes is just an absolute chef's kiss moment. Props to the animators, man.
This trope, the whole main character monologue overlaying the screen moment, very common in analog horror but for me, again popularized by its use in the Mandela Catalogue.
The smudged picture is a reference to one of the ending shots in Skinamarink, where it pans over the childhood photos only for their heads and faces to now be missing, which most agree is the movie's way of saying these kids were trapped her for so long they eventually just stopped existing/faded into nothingness.
And finally, the classic ending scene of KP's first Backrooms video.
I know for a fact there are probably other references to liminal spaces/analog horror that I either missed or they're like general concepts/tropes used in analog horror. I did almost mention the mill in petscop because of Columbina's "two in the mill, one taken, one left" because that phrasing felt really specific, but it doesn't quite fit the vibes of all the other references. Also her only being seen in the camera is a trope used in all manner of horror media. My first thought was the forest scene in VHS (2012) where the murderer could only be seen in the film static.
I just wanted to get the especially cool/unique moments out there. I didn't even touch on the storyline but that's because it seems pretty straightforward. I'm also aware not many people are gonna read my red string corkboard ramblings, which I'm fine with. I just needed to get this out of my system, but I do appreciate those who did take the time to indulge my ramblings!
That's all for now, back to whatever the hell I had planned for today.
This man took a rocket to the moon, hid the existence of aliens from the public, and personally knows the Goddess of Earth btw
I hate when I can't buy a Sampo Koski because I've reached the maximum Sampo Koski storage limit
Lighter’s Mental State
PSA WARNING : DO NOT READ IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE TALKS OF SUICIDAL THOUGHTS.
Background Context: I was speed running my chance to have Inky the stray black cat as my pet and changed the time to Evening, but I was at Lumina Square when I did it. So, I went to the map icon to go back to Sixth Street when I saw Lighter’s icon in the Lumina Square area and I had to check out why he’s there.
I was not prepared for the interaction between us.
I just want everyone to know that I am not a licensed psychologist, I am only days away from getting my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, but Lighter’s choice of words are heavily implying that he has suicidal ideation.
You have three choices to tell him. I already did the second and third choices. This is what he’ll say:
The first pic happens when you picked the last one, and he’s going to do a bunch of death jokes to lighten the mood, but the Proxy will still remind him in the end to live his life. If you pick the second, it’s the rest of the pictures and he’s going to tell you that he is doing fine and was overthinking his situation, but will say he envies you for a secret reason. I will try to find him again tomorrow for the first one, but I just want people to know that Lighter has suffered and is still dealing with PTSD from his past so every time the Proxy talks to him, Lighter becomes happier because of us. His interactions with the Proxy does show that he does care about our relationship with him and that he will not do anything reckless for the sake of his relationship with us.
Literally minutes after our interaction. He’s in a happier state.
Lighter might not want people to know his situation, but the instant he hears someone wanting him to live or is willing to die with him, he changes his mind and wants to live so the person who cares about him doesn’t have to worry about him. He truly is a well written character and I will defend him with everything I have.
so far the renovation event has revealed the void archives has:
- rebuilt this old ass bartender robot. - given it their voice and smug ass intonation. - ruined its food menu. - instructed it to make horrible jokes? given it the ability to teach itself horrible jokes? - taught it jokes about murder. - accidentally imparted a few of his own insecurities about "what you're made for" on to it. - named it after an incident when he got chased out.
himeko: literally barely holding her rage back welt: oh, good, she's not that angry
y’all ever see a piece of fan content about your favorite character that is so horrifically different from what you personally believe and you just
Dr. Ratio: I've read 20 textbooks on romance and human relationships. I followed all the instructions. Why does he still think I hate him?
Dr. Ratio: I likened him to a beautiful bird ("The Attini Peacock boasts one of the universe's more jarring songs, and your choice of attire is somewhat peacock-esque").
Dr. Ratio: I complimented his abilities ("He's not awful to work with").
Dr. Ratio: I playfully implied that he'd look better without his clothes ("I keep telling him the flashy outfits are just making his job harder").
Dr. Ratio: I indulge in his whims ("You could easily squash me with just a pinch"—"If that is your wish, I will do so without a moment's hesitation").
His rubber ducky he was talking to all this time: … (can you please be normal for like 5 minutes and just go and talk to him?)
i'm obsessed with asagiri saying he can't do anything strange to bsd!akutagawa because his editor loves irl!akutagawa. like, yeah, i suppose it would be strange for bsd!akutagawa to catch a fucking break; irl!akutagawa sure couldn't. malicious compliance.
people are saying his accent sounds russian??? he does NOT sound russian. i can't say much on it but it's not 'stereotypical' american/canadian,, pls elaborate on the transatlantic accent?
ANON I LOVE YOU gladly!
Russian is one of many guesses I've seen. I've also seen French, German and British. The reason people can't pin point or agree on what accent he has is because it isn't an accent from any particular place. It's not even a real accent, really. It's a transatlantic accent, a learned accent taught to entertainment personalities during the 1930s and 40s which has very much died out nowadays. He sounds old fashioned, because he's definitely meant to.
It's like a mix between an American and British accent. Apparently, Directors of the past favoured this accent as it was neutral and so you could use it in films that weren't specific to one setting, but it was also seen as a more sophisticated accent overall and held high prestige and became the standard accent in American Film, Radio and TV. Frustratingly, there isn't a great deal of information on the accent, but if you've ever watched an old black and white film then you'll definitely have heard it.
Another theory is that filmmakers were trying to create a way of speaking that could be understood clearly across multiple different English speaking countries since talkies were a new form of media, hence the merging of an American and a British accent together into one. A different potential reason for it's existence and use in media is that the enunciating of vowels made the voices of entertainment personalities easier to understand over old TV, Radios and Film who didn't have entirely clear sound at the time, plus it's non geographical placement makes the accent good for characters that aren't from a specific area such as angels or the voice of God or aliens.
In a nutshell, it's an accent created for entertainment personalities and was taught in affluent schools and Hollywood Film Studios, and that's why he speaks with it, and why he sounds like he's from the 40s or 50s. He's meant to sound that way, it's a conscious choice.
What I find quite funny is that neither Mr Reca's English or Japanese voices really suit his very hot face (i haven't heard the other dubs). And this isn't an issue because I really like the voice acting in both!
But then Reca is a memokeeper (like Black Swan) which means he doesn't have a physical form and he chooses how he looks. So he's chosen sexy YouTube play button eyes and youthful visage and sweeping bi coloured hair and ??? Then he starts talking like 58 year old film professor who has missed his last two doses of lithium.
im thinking so hard about that fuckingg void archives apology bartender robot. it even looks like it could be their kid. streets are saying it was around for the original trailblazing trio's exploration period but the void archives freaked up its menu. i fucking love it. (welt voice) the cube is telling the robot to put motor oil in all our drinks
not to mention its name being the last thing himeko said to him. 'i named our robot shut the fuck up bc you told me to shut up over a year ago'. this cube is bad at letting things go? more at 10. lets kill them
Honkai: Star rail | Mr. Reca
yknow what, im gonna say it
despite what most people/players say, genshins story and world building sucks ASS. the seven main nations are there yes and they all represent one thing or mainly representing one thing but isnt it weird how mondstadt, liyue and inazuma are very traditional fantasy themed with the whole super specific technology only the fantasy world has, the usual fantasy weapons, powers etc but then sumeru and natlan and BOOM! internet, dj, clubbing and all those advanced things are shown? isnt fontaine supposed to be the only technologically advanced nation out of the seven? dont even get me started on the whitewashing of sumeru and natlan characters/cast and the extremely racist undertones of the origin of hilichurls
edit: i was too angry when typing the first part that i forgot the main reason i wanted to ramble-
2) the traveler.
in the game/story/characters’ voicelines, the traveler is constantly alluded to be a witness to the change/shift of teyvat and its rebellion against the heavenly orders/celestia. even zhongli said it during his companion quest (i believe). okay cool, got it, the traveler is a witness— ay ay ay, why is there a backstory thing going on? wdym the traveler is meant to be a self-insert type of mc? you cant make a character a self-insert with a lore/backstory thing going on. you cant make a character a self-insert if they have a rich lore going on. make it clear already, is the traveler a self-insert AKA. stand in for us, the player? or are they meant to be their own character with story instead?
3) immortality/mortality
i dont know what it says on the chinese language dictionary but im pretty sure 500 year old survivor of kheanri’ah doesnt exactly translate to mortal, human, or hell, normal. idk man, i suck at math, but i think being cursed with immortality and living until ur 500 or smt years old makes you an immortal/inhuman
4) fatui harbingers
the MAIN reason i wanted to ramble in anger. from their very first introduction with la signora in mondstadt, you can already just feel that the fatui are a force that is feared all across the seven nations as both a diplomatic and military force. theyre elusive, sneaky, will not hesitate to get their hands dirty and their so called ‘diplomats’ (the harbingers) can and will step over the diplomatic boundaries to not only insult, but assault the archon of mondstadt. theyre a threat threat but now theyre just another laughing stock. if anything, they feel like a fucking circus.
at the introduction video of all the harbingers and the last act of sumeru archon quest, we are given the lore bomb that the first three fatui harbingers have a power to rival the GODS and had been quietly eluded that capitano had even defeated a god or two despite being a mere mortal. and that is terrifying, that is fear inducing. just the thought of a mere mortal like ourselves going tow to toe against gods is a terrifying thought itself and arlecchino has proven herself and set the bar even higher when she made an absolute fool out of the traveler during the fontaine archon quest. the next nation will have capitano, the strongest mortal, the first fatui harbinger, the man that could rival the gods and now ur telling us that he is not in fact a mortal man but yet another 500 year old khaenri’ah survivor? we get it hoyo, u love the number 500, but that makes him NOT a mere mortal doesnt it? and he basically got his ass handed to himself too. i am immensely disappointed
my first favorite hobby is yapping. second is being extremely quiet and not talking ever at all ever.
you can only find comments like these on tumblr anymore i have never seen these fourteen words in the same sentence before
ok, i have OFFICIALLY reached my limit -> lets talk about absolutely forced the ZZZ hate is
like- it's fine if the game isn't your cup of tea, i totally understand that it can be a bit much for some people, but my brother in christ did you know your thumbs- the same ones you used to make a pointless hate post or comment- CAN SCROLL??
no one is forcing this game down y'all's throats you can simply block the tag, you can select 'not interested' on videos, AND you can live a peaceful life
it is literally just a game, it was never that serious
"b-but Jane-" SHUT UP 👹
Jane is an interrogator, it's her job to make people uncomfortable so that they spill information. She didn't SA anybody, be so fucking for real. Her hand brushed someone's chest and she kneeled between their legs and that is literally all that happened. -> Is it right? No, of course not! But it was for a job that was actively putting people in danger, and NOT in an everyday situation. bc she would never genuinely assault somebody
was her trailer a bit much? for me, yeah it was. i didn't particularly enjoy it. but yk what? i put on my big kid pants and i moved on with my life
ZZZ is a MEME game, it does not take itself seriously because it's not supposed to be serious. it has it's moment, of course, and they're executed beautifully but at it's core
✨IT'S ENTERTAINMENT✨
if you don't like the fan service, THAT'S FINE! everybody has different tastes, and yk what? nobody is forcing you to play
scroll and give yourself some peace.
There's just something about the rubble only being visible in Fyodor's shadow in this panel.
Something about how he destroys everything he touches, about how misery and ruin is all he's capable of creating, about how everything that's happening, has happened, all comes back to him.
Shadows usually obscure things from view, but darkness is all Fyodor is, that's where he's revealed.
goddddddddd void's design drives me mad. why are you dressed like a gay priest? who are you praying to? other men? a specific man, even?