The '00s 'minimal' layout

Title of entry

against my better judgement, i’m going to make another post about cool animation on peridot’s fingers.

i know we all felt the weight of that scene when she first steps out into the rain, but peridot’s whole pre-existing “thing” with hands makes it even more potent.

imma start here:

peri’s just having fun checking out what she looks like here; probably not something she had reason to do often, but of course nothing too unfamiliar for her…until she focuses on her hand. look at how uncomfortable she looks when she first notices it, almost like it startles her. after that her expression just shifts to something like confusion, sort of a “what is THIS doing here? what is it good for???” look.

either way, not something she likes.

it’s safe to say she’s had the limb enhancers for the vast majority [if not, the entirety] of her conscious life. sure she was aware of her normal hands under them, but she never had a need to physically use them; it’s different seeing one bare like that. it’s what she actually is, and it’s all she’s got now. and it’s not much.

here, there’s obviously a lot more behind the uncertainty and contemplation as she looks down at her hand; again, this is all she’s got now. can she trust steven with it?

there’s already a >really awesome post< about all the trust and emotion conveyed in this bit, so i’ve no need to talk about that. this post is about the meaning of the animation anyway.

i know this is something we’re SUPPOSED to notice, and this entire set of motions is clearly very painstakingly deliberate but i’m gonna emphasize them anyway.

look how delicate that movement is. peridot is not a delicate gem.

cautious, sure, but everywhere else, she’s been characterized by exaggerated expressions and movements.

this, though…this is strikingly minute and personal. this is probably nearly the first time she’s had a tactile sense on her actual hands, and absolutely the first time using them to interact with something so alien. of course it’s going to cause her to pull back a bit at first, but she just takes the moment to feel it and try to understand it before accepting it and taking a step forward.

i feel this is something of a metaphor; the unfamiliarity of sense on her hands as one for learning to be comfortable with herself, and the rain itself for how alien it is for her to have faith in someone.

oh man, and don’t even get me started on the music drop here, and slightly afterwars when she’s talking to steven. aivi and surrashu killin’ it as always.