#There’s a couple of scenes in the movie that indicate a need for the movie to progress a CERTAIN way instead of a realistic way

[polyamoryprincess]

I mean… yeah, that was a huge part of the underlying plot. The beginning of the movie is about how Bal is literally a poor orphan who was only given a chance at success by joining the army and was immediately used as propaganda for child soldiers for the next ~10-15 years up until he’s used as a scapegoat. Even Nimona’s whole backstory is about them using Gloreth, a child, and painting her as an adult woman defeating a monster. You could even assume the child soldier stuff started specifically because of that fight with Nimona and is probably Nimona’s main tangible goal - to end the child soldiers program.

Which is how Nimona, who is literally a Permanent Child, brings all of those themes together. She’s brash, loud, chaotic, and a unique individual, everything a child is that being a soldier would take from you, and that the society tries to take from you, (goldenloin’s big internal monologues and his general dorkiness when not in public is a big example of this) and they paint her as a monster for it. Her entire goal is to tear down the institute, specifically as it pertains to gloreth and she chooses the main subject of the child soldier propaganda who is chewed up and spit out, and I genuinely think the only reason Nimona doesn’t explicitly say to Bal, when he’s still iffy about hurting the institutes image, “dude… you’re literally a child soldier. They’re making kids into killers,” is purely to keep the plot from being too short and to avoid ever explicitly mentioning it in the movie for the sake of audience participation.

Like the director was a villain, but so was the queen, so was the society handing over their kids. So was everyone who kept letting this happen and acting like it was normal and fine.

A line I don’t think gets talked about enough:

“He didn’t cut off my arm. He was disarming a weapon. It’s how we were trained.”

The Institute took young kids and turned them into weapons. The Knights were trained to view themselves and their bodies as weapons.

Ambrosius cutting off Ballister’s arm was ingrained instinct. You can see in his face that he doesn’t realize what he’s doing until it’s too late, until the blade is already too far along in it’s swing. And after, he drops his sword like he didn’t realize how it got into his hand in the first place. He looks at Ballister with a dawning horror of what he’s just done, on instinct.

And then, the big fight. There’s a reason Ballister was top of the class. When fighting the guards he isn’t touched. In the middle of fighting Ambrosius, he cloths-lines a guard behind him WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING. Ambrosius doesn’t even look surprised that Ballister won, as if it’s normal, as if Ballister had always won their duels before.

I just. I have a lot of thoughts about this and I don’t have the words to express them. I just want other people to see what I see and talk about it too. To think about the implications of that line and how it’s delivered in a matter-of-fact way.

[luckybyler]

My observations on the VR game re: Byler, including a couple of things I haven’t seen mentioned yet

I just saw part of a game walk through on YouTube (I can’t afford VR), and hoo boy!

1. The Mike that says El is so amazing and Will wouldn’t get it isn’t the real Mike, it’s the Mike that Vecna shows Will to terrorize him: In Chapter 3, Vecna possesses Will. Will resorts to a happy memory (Mike and him in Castle Byers), where Mike gives him a a ViewMaster. Will starts playing it, but Vecna makes every memory awful, full of spiders and particles. He distorts scenes, showing things like everyone ditching Will after calling him weird and other things that blatantly didn’t happen. Then he tells him he’ll show him suffering and shows that scene where Mike talks about El while particles fall down.

2. Will is confirmed to be a human being with wants and needs of his own: During that scene, Vecna goads him to tell Mike how he feels, and that he doesn’t want to meet El at all. At this point Will and El hadn’t met in the real world, and Will didn’t wish harm on her or anything, he just didn’t want her to be there, which is a normal and natural thing to feel about your crush’s hypothetical crush.

3. Vecna’s full of shit: In chapter four, Vecna tries to possess the four boys from the Party, and fails. He tells Dustin he puts double the effort into the friendship than the other three boys do, but Dustin turns him off with the TV remote (is Dustin’s happy memory watching tv?). Then he basically tells Lucas “you’re black and people judge you for it”, but he’s in a memory of a movie date with Max (at a drive-in theatre somehow) watching happy memories of the Party. Lucas does see the monster (so it somewhat hits?), but Max says it can’t do anything and they easily shut Vecna down. He also taunts Mike by telling him he’ll never see the most awesome person he’s ever met (El) and it’s his fault because he didn’t try hard enough, but he’s in the middle of a DnD battle with the boys and doesn’t even pay attention. A couple of dice bring Vecna down no problem.

4. Mike lovingly tends to Will’s nosebleed: Vecna does almost succeed in possessing Will, but he’s with the boys playing DnD, and Mike soon realizes Will’s nose is bleeding. He takes Nancy’s shirt and uses it to clean the blood/attempt to stop the bleeding, and admonishes Lucas and Dustin for not going to get a towel. Notice that in season 1 the boys saw El have nosebleeds and Mike was never as precious about it, unless she passed out of something and then they all helped. Lucas and Dustin are even heard in the background pointing out that nobody dies from a nosebleed. There’s a funny moment when Vecna tells Will he will always be alone right as Mike sweetly asks him if he’s ok while holding his face.

5. Brenner is training Vecna (???) and points out that he’s full of shit: I don’t know if this means anything for the show’s canon, but it’s interesting. Before Vecna tries to possess the boys, Brenner points out that they’re too young and untroubled, and afterwards he makes fun of Vecna for losing against children, again.

6. Will isn’t the weakest link, he’s the link Vecna knows best: Brenner points out to Vecna that the reason he could possess Will easier is because he already knew him (from the Upside Down) and knows the nature of his fear. When Vecna tries to possess Will, he does tell him to help him find out about Lucas’, Dustin’s and Mike’s fears, and actually asks him “what is Mike afraid of?”, indicating that he knows jack shit about them. Which leads us to:

WHERE THE LEDE IS BURIED:

7. LOSING EL ISN’T MIKE’S BIGGEST FEAR. OR SOURCE OF GUILT.

It might be a fear or regret of Mike, but it’s not THE fear.

Turns out Vecna was attacking Lucas, Dustin and Mike based on superficial knowledge, suppositions and stereotypes (Dustin’s the newest of the group, Lucas is black, Mike met El), not an actual, deep knowledge of their minds. Yes, good memories helped them keep Vecna at bay. Yes, those things Vecna told them might bother them. No, those aren’t the things that are at the core of their fear and guilt, or the right angle to drive them to either the dark side or suicide if pushed about them enough.

P.S.: At some point (that I haven’t seen yet, Max tells El that she doesn’t need to be a superhero all the time, that she’s more than fine as Jane, her friend. I think this might be literal, as in, superpowers are not the key to defeating Vecna. This is a psychological thriller disguised as supernatural horror, therefore the weapons to defeat him might be more psychological.

TL; DR: Vecna will be defeated with the power of Cognitive Behavioral TherapyLove and Friendship.

[corpsebasil]

Pool Shenanigans

The battle is waging.

(The Ethan to Chad pipeline is real asf ladies and gents)

You stared at one another, glaring hard at the girl across from you. Tara’s expression was just as fierce, her dark eyes locked onto your own.

“Wanna make the first move, Y/N?” Tara asked, raising a brow. “Or are you too chicken?”

A couple of onlookers chuckled and whistled, and a smirk grew on your face.

“For a girl that’s been dunked three times now, you sure have a lot to say.” You put your hand to your ear, mimicking her mouth. “All I hear is yapping.”

“Are you gonna let her disrespect me like that?” Tara gasped, glancing down at Ethan. He was blushing furiously, his head trapped in between Tara’s thighs as he adjusted his grip on her legs.

“Stop squeezing me so hard, Tara,” Ethan muttered, swaying a bit in the pool. “you’re gonna knock me out.”

“Too weak to handle a girl when her legs are around your head, E?” Chad taunted, his own grip on your legs tight and firm. “Never had an issue with thighs around my face before.” Onlookers jeered, laughing as you smirked down at Chad. “Isn’t right baby?” He asked, shooting you a wink.

“Mhmm.” You purred, your fingers in his hair as someone wolf whistled. “Let’s teach these losers a lesson.”

-

Later, after easily taking down Tara two more times, she’d finally given up, crowning you and Chad king and queen of the pool. Now she was laughing with Mindy inside, and Ethan was laying on a floaty on the opposite side of the pool, trying to flirt with a girl in a red bikini.

You had your legs around Chad’s waist, arms looped around his neck as he rested against the wall of the pool, expression sleepy and blissful. You run your fingers over his hair as you smiled at him.

“We whooped their asses.” You giggled, letting him give you a long, slow kiss as he held your bikini-clad body pressed against his chest. You’d been in a sort of friends-with-benefits relationship essentially since the two of you had met, and it worked out for the both of you.

Whether it was his partner for beer pong, binge watching Bridgerton, or letting him screw you in the bathroom when your friends came over for movie night, you two were constantly together. Mindy was on your asses all the time about why the two of you weren’t official, but you both just shrugged her off.

“Y/N!” Tara called and you looked over Chad’s shoulder. She held open the back door of your elaborate home and beckoned for you to come over, a robe now on her with her hair tied up. “Come on. We’re making cookies.” She said, waving dramatically.

“Okay!” You called back, squeezing Chad’s shoulders to indicate you wanted down. But when he gripped your legs tighter, pressing against you, you let out a surprised laugh. “Chad, come on. I need to make sure she doesn’t burn the house down.”

“Just a few more minutes.” He argued, leaning in to crush his mouth to yours.

It ended up being more than a few minutes, the other guests leaving the pool as they went home, and then it was just your friend group that was sleeping over, all of you crammed into the kitchen as Mindy took the cookies out of the oven.

“Where’ve you guys been?” Tara asked, raising a brow as you walked downstairs, your bathing suit traded for an oversized t-shirt that was definitely Chad’s.

“Chad’s in the shower.” You said, shrugging nonchalantly. “Said the pool water made him smell weird.”

“Were you in the shower?” Mindy demanded and you laughed. Tara squealed and shoved Ethan when he pretended to faint. “You two are disgusting. Absolute heathens.”

“We weren’t hooking up.” You insisted, walking over to slip an arm around Ethan’s waist.

“You two fuck like bunnies.” Mindy deadpanned.

“Who fucks like bunnies?” Chad asked, walking downstairs, and his lack of a shirt even made Tara blush.

“Come get a cookie.” You said, forcing a wide grin as he approached, dropping a kiss onto your head.

He did, and, when he insisted the two of you recreate that scene from Lady and the Tramp, everyone laughed as chocolate and crumbs got over the both of you.

——————

Incorrect quote because it’s funny to me

Next day at campus

Tara: I heard a rumor that you fucked Chad in the pool yesterday

You: we did not fuck in the pool.

Chad: I have…vague memories of any inappropriate behaviors occurring in a body of water

Mindy: So you fucked in the pool.

You: Why does everyone think we fUCKED?

[gunsandspaceships]

Many degrees of Doctor Stark

It is widely known that 616 Tony has several doctorates. The number varies from 3 to 7, but it doesn't really matter whether he is 300 or 700% Doctor. He is one. And he doesn’t use his title 99.999% of the time.

Ok, but what about the MCU?

It is never mentioned whether Tony has a PhD or even a master's degree. Kinda weird. Both the absence of mentions and lack of degrees, since Tony is so smart and productive.

Let’s check, maybe he actually has some.

Here we have a file from a deleted scene from The Avengers (2012):

As we can see, the work is sloppy – there are inaccuracies in his hair color (it’s not black, it’s brown), and the fact that he speaks French was not included. Can we rely on this paper? Let’s not 100%, but we can still use things that don't contradict the movies.

The fact that he received his BS in Engineering from MIT does not contradict this, so we can mark it as valid. He started in 1984 when he was 14 years old and graduated in 1987 when he was 17.

We see no further education in the file. But we know something that this file doesn’t. We watched the movies.

Remember, in Civil War at 0:13:25, in the scene where Tony sees his parents for the last time, Maria tells Howard, “Be nice, dear, he’s been studying abroad”. Tony is 21 here, this is December 16, 1991. Looks like he is on winter break.

But wait… Didn’t he graduate in 1987 and stop then? Well, Maria tells us he continued.

Between 17 and 21 there are 4 years. What could he have done in these 4 years? A lot, right? He is smart and productive, we know that. A master’s degree usually takes 2 years. Tony could earn it in 1. 1 or 2, we still have 2-3 years that we need to fill with some kind of studying. I doubt he just went back and got another bachelor's or master's. That said, he was working on his PhD.

We don't know where. “Abroad” is a very broad concept. Maybe he went to Europe to study at Oxford? We do not know. Perhaps he stayed at MIT and just went somewhere else for the fall semester. We do not know. But he did go somewhere for (most probably) a PhD.

The question is: did he finish it?

Well, his parents died in Dec 1991, and we know from the first Iron Man (0:04:50) that Stane was the interim president of Stark Industries from that date until 1992. Most likely, Tony became CEO before his birthday, that is, May 29, which corresponds to the stated age of 21. He had a few months between.

We don’t know where he was in his degree at that time. But we know he is smart and productive. He doesn’t need 4 years to write a dissertation.

So, there are 2 options:

1) He did not complete his doctorate and devoted himself entirely to the company;

2) He completed it in the few months he had and then took over the company.

Here’s the evidence for the second option:

“Confusing matters more, a recently deleted LinkedIn profile for Tony Stark indicated he received doctorates in engineering physics and artificial intelligence.”

Source: https://alum.mit.edu/slice/who-iron-man

Given all the information and analysis we have, as well as a little logic, we can conclude that Tony has a Ph.D. Even two. He had time to do them. Why doesn't he use his title? Well, maybe for the same reason 616 Tony doesn’t? He doesn’t usually brag. Check out this post if you have any doubts about my statement.

Here are some additional hints:

He gave lectures at scientific conferences (IM1 and IM3 - Bern 1999).

His scientific expertise was not limited to engineering and his company's affairs (all the movies, but specifically I can point you to IM3– the scene with Maya Hansen and her Extremis-enhanced plants in Bern).

“He must have graduated after 1990, because the '90 Brass rat was the first one with the skyline on the edge.” MIT alumni commentary https://alum.mit.edu/slice/who-iron-man

Conclusion (actual): call him Doctor Stark, guys, he deserves it. Despite his modesty about his scientific achievements, Dr Stark has a couple of master's degrees and at least two PhD degrees in the MCU - in engineering physics and artificial intelligence.

[kenshimybeloved]

Part 2 of me talking too fucking much about these men!

At this point in the story, we start to see Johnny filming everyone/everything that he finds interesting enough to include in his stories. The first thing we see him film is an interaction between Kung Lao and Raiden at Wu Shi Academy. As pictured, you can see Johnny finds them important enough to the story to film, but his face and body language aren’t exactly giving excitement- he’s more so just doing a task. Again- not that he dislikes Kung Lao and Raiden or that he finds them super boring- but at this point he’s just kinda filming to film. He then approaches the two and starts complaining about how long this all is taking, and how he needs something crazier to happen to include in his movies. This is when Kenshi walks up

[side note: THE WAY HE SHOWS UP ON SCREEN STRETCHING IN THIS SCENE DOES THINGS TO ME]

and immediately begins an argument with Johnny over his motives for being here. Despite training together for months, the two are still butting heads at every interaction- or so you’d think if you were any of the characters in the game. I want to take extra time here just to fully acknowledge the fact that this interaction is not only happening in a public space but directly in front of Kung Lao and Raiden who are the two original people of this conversation (Johnny really saw them having a good time and decided he needed to come in and whine about shit and Kenshi saw that as an opportunity to start an argument with him- can these bitches just let Lao and Raiden be happy together??). The conversation leads to the comment ‘my ex’ll rue the day she gave up on me’ from Johnny which immediately earns an eye roll from Kenshi and the sarcastic reply ‘so selfless.’ I want to note that Johnnys been here for months- he says “ex” casually enough to imply that at least most people know he’s going through a divorce but most people don’t know enough to know her actual name. Or, he’s specifically putting emphasis on the fact that they are very much over and Johnny is very much single in front of a certain somebody. Maybe a healthy balance of both. I also want to note that the way Johnny speaks of his ex wife is very much indicative of the fact that Johnnys motive currently is to redeem himself and prove to everyone that he isn’t a lost cause. These movies becoming a success is his only hope at this time. However, this also means his focus should be shifted from Sento onto his movies now, right? Wrong! You’d think since now he’s putting all of the pressure of getting his life together on these movies he’s be willing to give up the sword that used to symbolize his past life, but no. Even tho his focus is now on something he can do currently/in the future to get his life back on a track rather than fixating on an object from his past, he’s still clinging to Sento. Though he’s now looking forward, his goal is still centered around people from his past (him wanting to prove to everyone that left him that they were all wrong about him rather than fixing himself for his own sake). The argument escalates to Johnny calling Kenshi ‘tattoo’ and tells him he’s only here for his sword anyways.

[side note: him calling him tattoo despite Kenshis effort to cover up the majority of his tattoos means a couple of things- Johnny is studying Kenshi. As mentioned in my previous post, Johnny is absolutely infatuated with Kenshi and wants to know everything he can. It also means he’s poking at Kenshi, letting him know that though he may try to be reserved, Johnny will stop at nothing to get to know him. He’s just going to keep observing the little things about him until Kenshi can open up about the realer shit]

IMO, Johnny very clearly knows what Sento represents for Kenshi and saving his family is much more important than the sword itself (at this point it’s important to remember nobody knows of Sentos powers- it’s just a symbolic thing to Kenshi since it’s his family sword). Deep down he knows objectively this sword should go to Kenshi, but he’s unwilling to admit it. Here’s where a lot of headcanoning happens for me- since this is a new timeline, we can’t guarantee things we know about these characters from previous games are still true. However, based on how Johnny behaves, I think it’s safe to assume his relationship with his dad was still rough as a kid (is this mentioned in this timeline? I can only seem to remember it being mentioned in MK11). I headcanon that while his dad was abusive, his mother was his rock. Unfortunately, living with both a negative and a positive parent in the same house creates instability and often leads to things like NPD, BPD, Bipolar Disorder, etc. I don’t specifically think Johnny has any of these, but maybe just aspects here and there that show up. For example, when you grow up with your needs unmet and never being a priority of your parent’s, you learn to provide for yourself. Sometimes this can be in a healthy self sustaining way, and sometimes this can mean over compensating when you perceive that somebody doesn’t think your problems are very important- like Johnny knowing that Kenshi deserves the sword more than he does, but hearing him say it leads Johnny to double down and cling to the sword with his life. Anyways, this is getting too long so there will have to be a part 2 of my analysis of the scenes at Wu Shi Academy.

[avoicebehindthestars]

On Rob's Good Omens sweaters...

Bluesky has some photos of Rob Wilkins wearing these two holiday sweaters:

At the first glance you go "awww, how perfect, I need those sweaters!" but then you're like "hold on a second!"

For the sake of this meta, I'm going to assume the designs are deliberate, and not just idk cheap fakes ordered from temu lol.

Let's start with stating the obvious. The red sweater has the characters' roles reversed - Crawly is sheltering Aziraphale. It's not a "book thing" either - there, Aziraphale held his own wings above himself. This is a minor detail, but Crawly's stance is also different than in the show - his legs are apart, in a position indicating strength, confidence, and protection. Meanwhile, the blue sweater has what looks like angel!Crowley sheltering a black-haired fallen angel. My first thought was that is could be Satan and this might be a hint that we're going to see Crowley's fall after all. But now I think different.

Regarding the red sweater in particular, my thoughts immediately wandered towards the multiple Edens theory and the two Crowleys theory. Just to quickly recap: discrepancies in the details on the walls of Eden have been spotted, and at one point someone from the crew mentioned that there were "many Edens" in existence (possibly testing grounds before the real one? Or several different enclosures for the first breeding pairs? We never found out). As for Crowley - many people have noticed differences in his looks throughout season 2. Most notably, his sideburns have differing length and it shifts within the same scene, e.g. the sideburns are long in the pub, but short when he leaves the pub; they are short during the "exactlys" argument, but long when Crowley snatches his sunglasses while storming out of the bookshop. Bildad the Shuhite also has two different hairstyle (one is shorter, more evenly cut and carefully combed, whereas the other is longer and a bit more "windswept"). There's also the matter of different camera filters, which is a commonly used technique to show different worlds (think Supernatural, and I think also some MCU films?), and the disappearing props.

So, taking the sweaters into consideration, could the world of Good Omens be comprised of multiple realities? The novel is one. Season 1 is another. Season 2 shows TWO (!), which are almost identical. Who knows, perhaps the Crowley with the short sideburns managed to sway Aziraphale in the Final Fifteen, or even changed his mind and hopped on the lift at the last moment? What if, presented on the sweaters are two more? On, in which it was Crawly offering shelfter to Aziraphale, and another one in which it was Aziraphale who fell (and his hair blackened in the process). Perhaps there are versions of this (sorry, couldn't resist!) in which they both fell, neither did, or they were an established couple by season 1?

It this were to prove true in the movie, it will have some pros, of course. Firstly, it would legitimise virtually all headcanons you might have (I was a little upset when s2 finale made it clear they weren't secretly a couple before). It would also boost creativity for all the reverse!Omens fic writers. And, of course, it would explain many things fans have noticed, especially about s2.

However, other than that, I don't think I like it that much. Above all, I simply dislike multiverse - I find them often too convenient narratively, while also needlessly convoluted. But aside from that, I wouldn't be happy to see that particular take in the movie. If we were getting out 6 episodes, it would be fun to watch particular scenes and increasingly go "huh?" as we spot consecutive discrepancies and minor details that don't work. And by the time it was revealed it would feel really rewarding that you have spotted the details, even if you failed to work it all out. Within mere 90 minutes… it just doesn't feel like enough time to drop enough hints, or, alternatively, the movie would be oversaturated with them. Finally, it would mean less screentime for the mercilessly truncated Aziracrow reconcilliation arc (which I am still grieving over), as instead we would receive glimpses of different universes, while still navigating the complex Second Coming plotline. Also, what would be the endgame? All the Aziraphales and Crowleys combining their forces to beat heaven and hell/the new christ/god herself? That's a bit too Marvel if you ask me, and with all my reservations about the movie, I rather trust Narrativia to offer us something much more original.

[starlight-bread-blog]

Why Lokius Should Have Been Canon

This is a sort of combo of two metas that didn't quite get point my across. Some parts will be copied directly, but there's a lot of original content. I will discuss the ship between Loki and Mobius, their place in the show, and the MCU at large. My focus for this meta won't be parallels or motifs, because these things border on well-written friendships. But there will be some of that.

Romance in the MCU

There are a lot of straight couples in the MCU. (Almost) Every main hero is in some heterosexual relationship, Loki included.

(That's not all, not remotely).

But in the LGBTQ+ department... uh.. I think it was mentioned that Valkyrie had a girlfriend... uh... America Chavez had a pride pin... and Loki:

One line. Queer experiences are never a focal point of a show/movie the same way heterosexual experiences are. And that needs to change.

Romance In the Show

Wrong, toxic, or unsuccessfu romantic love is a recurring theme in the show.

Sylki

Sylki was an icky relationship right off the bat. They are the same person. I can't find the post at the moment, but someone has pointed out in their post that them being the same person is referenced in every episode in season 1 (edit: here it is), which is when the romance took place. This made their romance uncomfortable for many viewers.

(Some consider Sylki a toxic relationship, but for this post, the topic is too large to handle with the nuance I'd like to handle it with).

When he's drunk, Loki compares love to a dagger, stating that it hurts you, but when you try to find strength in it, it's not real.

Which is exactly what happens. Sylvie pushes Loki into a portal and they never get back together.

The Love Triangle

In 02×03, Ravonna Renslayer is infatuated with Victor Timely, but he leaves her behind and betrays her when Miss Minutes told him to. One episode later, we discover that they were indeed an item, and established the TVA together. He Who Remains deleted her memories and they never rekindle their love.

Later in the episode, is the best example of "wrong" romance in the show. Miss Minutes, the AI clock, confesses her love to Viktor Timely. He, obviously, freaks out and shuts her off. Nothing ever comes of this.

Brad and Dox

This one is small, but a big indication to romance being a theme. In 02×01, we're shown this:

The gap in the age of the actors is uncomfortable, and a character in universe has this reaction to it. It is never mentioned again.

So what does all of this leave us with? Not much. None of this properly ties to the finale, or anything really. If I were to write the show I would cut a lot of this out, since it serves no purpose. But it does make you keep romance and its shortcomings in mind. The writers want it to be there, in the back of your head.

Loki and Mobius

Finally! I got to talk about them. The two people in question. First things first, who are they, together? They became really supportive, close friends.

Fans even drew parallels to Chaos & Order, which is a very important theme in Loki. But I'm not here to unpack them. These things don't necessarily make them in love. So what does make them in love? I'll present you my evidence, and you ask yourself,

Would it be valid to suggest romantic implications if a man and a women are:

1) Extremely thouchy with each other.

2) Riding on a tandem bike together.

3) Willing to suffer a fate worst than death for another.

4) Falling on each other after that^

5) Literally the Interrupted Declaration of Love trope. (Ex)

6) Being framed in a circle.

7) Waiting & giving permission to attack.

8) Fixing themselvs before seeing the other.

Of course yes. Maybe you think some of these are a strech, but ultimately, people would point out romantic connotations across the board. And I'm here, pointing them out right now. Some scenes between Loki and Mobius have romantic implications.

Conclusion

Loki is a queer protagonist in the MCU, a universe that lacks representation of queer experiences. His show constantlty reminded us of romance, sometimes for seemigly no reason. In the second season, they wrote him and his best friend with romantic implications. And then, nothing. It should not have been nothing. Lokius should have been canon.

[randomfoggytiger]

Perhaps you can help settle a little tidbit of a visual interpretation. In the movie scene of AD Hollywood, you can see on Scully's armrest some knuckles. Are she and Mulder holding hands because a couple of us can't decide which directions the knuckles are going in, if the hand posture is awkward and unnatural, and whether the hand may be a little too big for Scully.

Such stupid little details in an old show has some OCDs having a nonsensical discussion. Damn show!

This one was a toughy, not gonna lie. And I could still be very, very wrong:

Are Mulder and Scully locking arms in the theater? My vote is no (but they may as well have been.)

There isn't a clear shot of their arms in the beginning, so I had to skip towards the end. In the below pic, we can see Mulder and Scully's arms touching... and is that his hand between them?

Unfortunately no.

Zooming in, we can see knuckles that match Scully's skin-- and a mysterious red... something. (That red something-or-other is the key to this puzzle.)

Scully's arms are straight down and tight to her body, and Mulder's posture fluctuates between being further away from and closer to his partner-- but not open enough at the shoulder to indicate an arm flaring out and slipping through hers. I think.

When he storms off, Scully's posture shifts: she leans to her left, watching him go, supported by her undisturbed left arm. Her right arm then comes around front, possibly holding something in front of her body. Mulder's exit, then, doesn't knock against or slip away from her left arm-- more proof that he didn't need to unloop his in order to retreat.

Now. The red something-or-other.

Scully is holding a red (or red striped) snack bucket, curling her left hand around it (hence the knuckles mentioned above.) When Mulder leaves, she swings her right arm forward to keep it on her lap as she twists to watch him go.

How do we know she was holding a snack bowl? Because Skinner is holding a red(ish) one, too:

In conclusion: Mulder and Scully might not be locking arms, but she did bring a tasty little snack in with her.

Our Town's food bucket strikes again.

Hope that helped, anon!

[foressfaction]

The puppet theory CRP/slenderverse HEADCANON

WARNING: mentions of suicide, death, mutilation, sensitive back story topics and more.

What even is a Proxy, proxies to me are anti hero coded beings whose mind fell so weak they physically had to rely on a higher ranked being or entity. In this case, The Operator. And no this is not Slender man. The Operator is more lanky and disoriented. It has a neck that can extend and a mouth only shows when it is pissed off. It looks more like a dead tree. It communicates through static well like the slender man, but also uses telepathy to get into its victims minds. Sometimes the biggest indicator that it is around is a faint ringing noise and strong wind out of nowhere even if the weather is clear.

Its killing tactic is different from the slenderman, gathering its followers and proxies to do the job for it, taking in the weakest minds and turning them into emotionless killing machines with no mercy. It ruins their lives from the very beginning just to act as the hero in the end.

I focus on Toby a lot and like to think that it all fell into place with him ever since he was 4. He was unlucky enough to already have a form of schizophrenia and began to see this figure and draw a lot. It made him think it was a friend therefore he had to listen to it and fall for its tricks. Eventually it started to wreck his life by being the reason his sister died and why his dad was so morally fucked. It was putting an influence onto him and his family. At first it just wanted Toby to commit s*icide but bro was strong as fuck. Around his later teen years it got worse. After his sister's death it took control of his even weaker mind than before and put bad shit into his brain. It drove him to insanity and he ended the life of his father due to pue anger and brainwashing.

How does he qualify for the puppet theory? In the rewrite, a couple of snobby kids assaulted him and cut the operator symbol into his lower stomach due to the bullying of him drawing it everywhere himself. It had been carved inro him by a third party source, immediately making the influence of the operator extremely strong. The gateway was wide open now. It was like some unknown ritual. After that his hallucinations, nightmares and vision became more visceral and morbid.

Cutting to after the death of his dad, he was “taken in” as you would say, by that I mean he passed out cold in the middle of the fire he set to his neighborhood only to have a very vivid dream of the entity taking him somewhere. It took control of him then and practically saved him from being burned alive. He woke up in sweat in the middle od rhw woods somewhere with NO recollection of anything before the fire. That and a newly freshened carved symbol on his upper left arm. He now had two.

What exactly is the puppet theory and does it only affect proxies?

It only affects proxies, as youd have to have some form or relationship with the entity, good or bad. The theory goes as expected. The entity can take control of the proxy, like a puppet, it can make them do unspeakable things that aren't limited to just killing. It gets darker from there… mutilation is just one example of how it can use its human puppets to end people. (i'd feel like some of the crime scenes would look like the death scenes from the Terrifier movies if you've seen those films)

The puppet's eyes will go white and emit a soft glow. It'll speak in a different language usually from decent. For Toby it's German. It will make him go non verbal and responsive to anything mortal. Its literally just the operator taking physical form to harm people. It will hurt those that proxies might care about using their own bodies. It has no mercy. If it wants you dead it will go as far as using someone close to you to satisfy that need.

If a proxy had been controlled multiple times eventually their eyes would fade. They will stay white, usually starting in one eye rather than both at the same time. Once you start seeing that sign in a proxy it's considered too late unless a damn miracle happens.

When under the influence of the operator, Proxies might hurt or even eat small animals, walk on all fours, make feral noises, attack at random, go nonverbal and more. I can't go into too much detail. For Toby, he cannot keep weight on, he has hypermobility, unlimited stamina and of course cant feel pain.

If someone were to harm the proxy while they are being controlled, it would only hurt them and limit their human body when back to normal. The operator will not feel it or let that stop it from getting what it needs done.

For example, if you were to shoot Toby multiple times when he's trying to attack you, it wont do shit.. But when the entity decides to dip, he's left with the wounds and the physical limit of having them. Like any other person would if they were shot.

Being a puppet grants the proxy temporary immortality as well until it wants to replace them. There's so many times Toby really should have died but woke right back up like nothing and would just stare in disbelief that he survived that.

Is there a way to stop the control or restrain an influenced proxy? Yes actually. Even though the operator gives a human certain inhuman strengths, it's still limited to a human body. So rope, physical restraint and maybe multiple hits on the head will take one down. It's really not hard if you can just get them on the ground, taking their weapon source also works. Obviously taking limbs off will make the operator immobile in the body so it would be forced to leave and find another vessel.

It's safer to use the method of tying them to something or leaving them alone tied in the woods somewhere till the proxy comes to after the possession. However they will have no recollection of even being controlled.

There's times where Toby would wake up after slaughtering someone and their mutilated body is the first thing he sees. He knew he did it, but does not remember. And that tears him from the inside out.

I can honestly go on about his personal feelings with living as a puppet but it would be useless. He hates it, that's about all.

In short, the theory is just a morbid way to think about Proxies. Ofc not all proxies are puppets, but that's up to who you like to write about and have hcs for.

Disclaimer: I came up with this headcanon on my own but that's not to say others don't have very similar ones to mine. I'm not gatekeeping it. You guys can take it and run, just don't plagiarize my writing.

[redwhitebuddie]

the season six finale has officially become the lowest rated episode of 911 ever. here's my thoughts as to why season six as a whole is bad. this is long. it is needed.

objectively, the show has become repetitive.

kirsten reidel has no creativity when it comes to the storylines of buck and eddie. i am going to be focusing a lot on buck and eddie during this talk due to the fact that they have been the most neglected characters when it comes to relationships, and because there has been some serious, queerbaiting throughout the season alongside the worst of the show's writing.

this is our third love interest that buck has had that was representing one singular aspect of himself that becomes suddenly prominent due to the plot at the time. ali made buck realize that he needed someone who was going to appreciate his line of work and that it was a non-negotiable part of himself. abby served as a tool for buck to realize he could be in a serious relationship involving something more than sex. and now with natalia, she just represents this part of his life where he gets himself into near death situations and how to deal with them. these are all important aspects to buck’s personality and life; however, they don’t represent him as a whole.

buck deserves someone who knows him for all parts of who he is, and this show refuses to do that, because if we go from a logical standpoint, if eddie was a woman, and they still had the kind of relationship that they have now, they would be together. their personalities match, they are fucking coparent, and their lives are parallel to one another. 75% of their storylines outside of the emergencies at work are intertwined and coexist with one another.

the only other people with such interconnected storylines are the other couples and the families.

yes, hypothetically if they introduced a character who is basically like a woman version of eddie, and genuinely had this chemistry with buck then i wouldn't be mad. yet they actively choose people who do not have chemistry with him. especially with natalia having chosen a woman who failed a chemistry read with him (oliver) for a fucking romance movie. how are we, as an audience, supposed to ignore their lack of chemistry?

and i will say there was also something that happened in an interview with oliver that made me mad. as we have seen throughout the show, chris has become one of, if not the most, important person to buck outside of his sister. he fathers chris like he wished his father did to him. and oliver has even discussed this in interviews before, stating that buck is coparenting with eddie. but in his most recent interview, he made it seem like the idea of parenting is completely new to buck.

i don’t wanna put the blame on oliver, but the way that he is speaking so differently within such a short amount of time about these relationships, indicates that there was a change at some point. because during the second interview, it was very obvious that they were treating Buck like a second parent to christopher. they said that he was giving him the parental love that he never had. and now they are acting like buck has never experienced what it’s like to be a parental figure, which we have seen (and been told in the past) is the furthest thing from the truth.

before i get into eddie’s relationships, i do want to point out a couple things that also did make me mad this season that are smaller, but still important.

there was a scene between hen, karen and hen's mom when denny was trying to have a relationship with his father. hen's motherly "said that a boy needs his father". this is homophobia. it’s not even subtle. saying to two fantastic mothers of a child that that a child needs a father figure to grow up correctly. this show prides itself on having diversity, although a negligent amount. having a black lesbian family can go so far and be great representation. but now they are just throwing all of their work away by having this character say the most homophobic shit.

in general, the show is very good at not including repercussions of actions or situations. we have not gotten discussion about athena‘s father since the episode about him. they completely abandoned hen's medical storyline, giving an unjust ending that felt incomplete. and bobby’s storyline about that sponsor of his was just dropped like nothing. yes this happens a lot in procedural dramas. however, that doesn’t mean it should happen. this show is nothing without these characters, they make the show. yet, they set up all these gigantic plot lines only to not follow through or provide any insight about how it’s impacting the character going forward, leaving so many things feeling incomplete. and this leads me to eddie.

last time that we saw eddie date, christopher literally ran away from home to bucks because he was upset. and now, with zero resolution about christopher‘s feelings, with little to no talks about it, eddie has allowed chris to have information regarding a woman that he might possibly date before even dating her. this makes no sense for who eddie is as a person. his number one priority is his son, and he has made that clear several times that his son comes before dating. why suddenly is he spreading this information to christopher like it’s nothing? yes, chris has grown up a lot since then, but it was still an unresolved plot line that heavily impacted two of our main characters, but it was dropped like nothing.

i want to talk about the couch theory. oliver had hinted that the couch theory was very important and was going to come to a head at the season finale. i find it extremely difficult to believe that the couch theory that has been set up since the beginning of this season was created to be finalized with a character that we have seen for less than 10 minutes of screen time and has been in less than three episodes. you cannot begin to tell me that all of this work towards this metaphor that has been beautifully written is now just finished with a random character, that we know little to nothing about except her job. hypothetically, if we go with the idea that this was what it was meant to be from the beginning, they did a terrible job doing it. that is really undeniable. but if the originally story involved buddie due to the heavy involvement of eddie and chris in this metaphor, why change it? there have been undeniable parallels throughout the season and an almost frame by frame shot of buck and christopher doing the exact same thing on eddie’s couch, only for the answer to buck's "couch problem" to be natalia? i dont buy it.

as for this season six finale, it was a fucking disaster. for a drama about fire fighters, for all they have been through, a bridge collapse is nothing. there was no moment where i thought one of our main characters were dead. there was no intensity and very little emotion about the scene, except from maddie.

it was only made worse by the jumpcut at the end where all the characters are just fine. eddie had several broken ribs? nope, he's all healed, let him cheer and jump in the air. chim had a rod through his abdomen (that he proceeded to pull out because despite him being a paramedic, he definitely wouldn't know proper procedure)? he's perfectly fine, no mention of any repercussions of that injury. and cap had no injuries after being crushed by a literal bridge? of course, makes perfect sense!

when comparing this season finale to other plot lines like the tsunami, the earthquakes, the texas fires, the lightning strike, the firetruck on bugs leg, and countless others, this felt so subtle. and it was only exasperated by the last 20 minutes of the episode feeling incredibly out of place, like someone wrote it without seeing the first half of the script.

-

in general, i think that if 911 continues to have the same show runners and writers from this point forward, it is going to be a repetitive nightmare of a mess of a procedural drama. it is no longer good, there is no creativity in the show anymore, they have created these backstories for all of their characters and refuse to follow through with them.

i have loved this show and the community of 911 since season two when I started watching it, and it is undeniable that there have been some masterpieces of storytelling in the show. nothing will ever beat the tsunami, or any of the "_____ begins" episodes. that is where they peak. they peak when they focus on their main characters and showing their history and how human they are. and yet with every new episode, they undo the work.

i don’t like to throw queerbaiting around for a plethora of reasons, but season six has changed my mind on that. if they truly created the couch theory just to have it end up with natalia, then why include buck being on eddie’s couch then parallels it to their son? why would you cast someone who failed a chemistry test with your main character to be that character's love interest? i legitimately want a reason. because at this point it is just homophobia. they don’t want to do the storyline because it would mean that two more of their characters are queer. and it seems like they want the minimum diversity possible. they already have one gay couple, so why have another? they already hit the gay diversity mark.

there’s a reason that this episode is the lowest rated episode of 911 of all time. If ABC does not listen to 911 fans, season eight will be the last season of the show.

[lunetoone]

touch only where supposed to

summary , a movie night turns upside down when you get curious and touch xiao's horns. obviously, you were only massaging him. to him however....

⊰: incubus!sub!xiao x naive! neutral!reader

minors dni

xiao seems to be uncomfortable from sitting on the same spot and the same seat for 2 hours now.., really did you have to pick a 3 hour movie? was an hour not enough for you?

he really regrets making the one year one day deal where he has to listen to whatever you say. he sighs to himself.

"xiao ? are you okay? you seem uncomfortable" you glance over at the yaksha, squirming in his seat and sighing occasionally. "you think? ive been seating here for 2 hours when is this movie ending??" he crosses his arms pouting and scoffing like a brat. "xiao you should've said something, here come lay on my lap" you pat your lap inviting him and smiling.

he hesitates but cave in after being uncomfortable for the hundredth time. the position is rather comforting to him and he can finally stretch his legs, thank archons you're rich and have a huge ass couch.

you seemed to be focusing alot on the movie. before xiao layed on your lap you played around with the spare remote that has the batteries removed. twirling it, pushing the buttons and dragging your fingers along it. now with xiao on your lap how can you distract yourself, you want to play with something in your hands and surprise surprise your little incubus boyfriend has sharp horns.

you've always been curious about a demons horns, you've read it was highly sensitive but you dont think so i mean its just horns right ? whats the big deal.

so without warning you land your hands on his horns, his eyes only widens but he leaves it be knowing you probably just needed to lay your hands on something.

but to his surprise you continue touching it more, especially the pointy part. you press your thumb on it not realising how sensitive that part is, honestly you just want to see how sharp it is. you drag and stroke your finger on the poor demons horns , but he seems quiet so your theory was correct a demons horn are not that sensitive after all!

but to xiao this was torture. if you could see his face right now you'd stop what youre doing. his hands are on his mouth muffling the moans he tried oh so hard to keep earlier but you keep touching them. his body is trembling and his free hand gripping the couch, a very visible hard on.

"ah.. ahn.. love c-can you stop that?" his voice comes out more whiny then expected of his usual cold stern voice. "stop what? oh this? sorry but you seem fine dont worry. imagine this like a... oh! a spa, you've never been to one right? yeah imagine this is a massage at the spa" your reply of innocence shines and so does the smile you give to the demon.

"mmh.. what youre doing i-isnt a massage.. ah-" despite his moans and whines you still insist on saying this is a spa, your naive brain is not processing just how dangerous this is. "relax xiao, now shut up its a good part"

but how can he shut up if you just wont stop touching him! this poor boy. again, you keep touching it. you use it as a indicator on your feelings towards to movie, some sad scenes you gripped onto his horns and oh boy was he loud.

"ah! a-...p-please love, ha.. st-stop" obviously you didnt hear him. even if a burglar came into your house you wouldn't hear them. at happy scenes you slow down, his moans and pants were of a relieved one only for you to continue abusing his poor horns because the soon happy scene turned to a murder one.

the end of the movie is nearing and so is xiao, the couple of the movie seems to finally make the next step and get married. you cry tears of happiness after the buildup of the couple, but xiao's tears was of overstimulation. youre stroking and gripping is only faster now and his voice and moans are way louder, he gives no fucks, he'll even let the neighbors hear.

"ah! pl,-please dont stop haa... hnnh love f-aster!" he whines, incoherent words and mumbles come out with slurry tones. his before muffled mouth from his hand are of a crosseyed lip biting xiao, his free hand if you can even see them from the dim lighting is palming his bulge that was leaking of precum moments ago.

finally the couple of the movie kiss and you grip so hard out of happiness with tears rolling down your eyes, and so does xiao.

"ah!! s-shit" his body jolts and his pants are faster and then slower to now heavy breaths.

the movie plays the end credits and you turn on the lights, stretching. "wow that was an amazing movie! i loved the part where they confessed on the beach, what was your favourite part?"

xiao who was now sitting up, body twitching while slouching, eyes closed and occasionally moaning softly from the aftermath, only nods. and finally everything click, the sweat beads and wet spot of his pants.... that wasnt just a massage it was a special massage.

that night you were apologising to a sulking xiao, next time he'll remember to get back at you and your pervy ways.

[logicheartsoul]

This meta has been a few years coming, but recently inspired due to: 1) Sian (@siancore) mentioning and incorporating into her amazing fic End of the World the moment that this meta is about, and 2) talking to Mexi (@thatmexisaurusrex) about this and then when she made that "share your fave sambucky moments that are canon" post, I knew this needed to finally been written and have its own proper post.

(Also, to @elektraking who wanted to be pinged when I finally wrote this, I finally did it!)

This post is long and image heavy but I didn't want to put it all under a read more.

We all know this scene from Infinity War, it's been all over people's dashes and giffed and etc etc. We also know it's a pretty quick scene, not necessarily a blink and you miss it one, but because it moves pretty quickly. If you're not paying too much attention to everyone else in the background, things will slip by.

However, watching things in 4K can really make things interesting because 1) you can zoom in and 2) you can zoom in and see some pretty clear detail, like the fact Sam and Bucky are looking at each other during this entire scene.

You can see here that everyone present except Sam isn't really watching Steve and Bucky interact -- either they're blocked from of the camera (Rhodey, Ayo, Bruce) or they're not looking at them (Nat has her eyes closed, T'Challa is looking at the side).

Sam is clearly in Bucky's line of sight, even if Bucky is looking at Steve (because we know Steve is moving closer to him and is about to talk to him)

On zoom in, we can see Sam is not zoned out, this is a very focused look at what is happening in front of him.

The next moment is where Steve goes in for the hug, but during this hug, a couple of things happen: 1) Sam moves closer towards them a bit, 2) he and Bucky actually DO stare at each other over Steve's shoulder

And for more than a few moments. Sort of significant if you think about the fact that Sam and Bucky seem to communicate a lot with nonverbal looks between each other. (We see this a few times in Civil War, and then later in this movie, but that will be even more apparent as fact in Endgame and, of course, TFATWS.)

And perhaps this could be passed off as "looking at each other coz we're looking in the same direction" except for the fact that Bucky makes a deliberate look at Sam when we get the pan over to his face.

When Steve backs away from the hug, we see Sam is still looking at Bucky, so we can assume during the entire exchange when the camera goes towards Bucky, Sam is still doing that.

Which leads us to when the camera pans over to Bucky.

(Yeah, yeah the cropping on this is kinda weird for me, but I wanted to make sure you could see his face.)

Steve proceeds to ask Bucky how he's doing. And of course, Bucky gives some kind of cutesy quip that fills space and time before going to the next big plot thing.

It's very interesting that Bucky pauses right after saying "uh, not bad", but as indicated by the arrow I put in the gif, he's staring in the exact direction where Sam would be. Because if you notice in the screenshots before this moment, above, when Bucky and Steve break away from the hug, Sam is in Bucky's line of sight but somewhat to the side, the same direction as the glance in the gif.

Now, as we know, the others are barely watching Steve and Bucky's interaction except Sam, who's still watching with focused attention.

If you were standing where Sam is standing, watching all of this, hearing Steve asking Bucky, "how's it going" and he responds "uh, not bad," and pauses WHILE looking at a glance in your direction, most people would consider that a moment.

And why wouldn't it be a moment? No one else is paying attention to Bucky or Steve except Sam. Bucky and Sam have before this comment were looking at each other when Steve brings in Bucky to a hug. Hell, Bucky could have just said "for the end of the world" without looking sideways and the scene would've worked as intended.

Yet, he gives that glance, and has a smile as he says, "not bad". While looking at Sam. It's so quick, yet it says so much. And considering how we know it's canon for them to be able to speak volumes by just sharing glances at each other (hello Sam looking at Bucky during Endgame), why wouldn't that apply here too? Because the glance wasn't really needed if you think about it.

And of course, Bucky deflects with his "for the end of the world" coz 1) he doesn't want Steve to try to make more small talk and 2) world ending shit is happening, they do NOT have time to stand around, they need to coordinate and they're on a time table. Because we all know Steve, he would want to know the reason why Bucky is actually smiling probably one of the first genuine smiles he's given on screen since TWS.

Anyway, we all know the rest: the plot moves forward, Sam and Bucky end up standing close to each other to witness Thanos' forces trying to get through Wakanda's shields, and then they end up being blipped.

Still, while a short, quick moment, on closer inspection, a lot can be said. Another in a line of Sam and Bucky's "saying things with a look" moments, but an underappreciated one.

[froggerland]

Omg i watched the terror when i had just started s2 of game of thrones on a rewatch (i still am, actually, rewatching got s2, because the terror made it basicslly unwatchable to me when there's a scene beyond the wall, also this was just a month ago) and your comparison of them when talking about details on characters (even - and maybe especially minor characters) makes sooooo much sense to me!!!!! Also i was talking with my bf (who also has watched the terror bc of my recommendation) about lord of the rings and i joked about how the fans of the movies have watched them so many times that at this point even side characters/totally background people (or even a siege weapon... with Lore!) have became fan favourites, and it's funny to think about this because he rewatched the terror this week and he told me that he barely noticed bridgens and peglar at his first watch, and now their scenes made him sad, so it's so fascinating to me that the terror is a show with So Much details on everything and everyone like im sure i missed a couple of character acts on my first watch and now i will understand much of What Was Happening much better. And not only because i've watched it already but also because ive read a little more about the franklin expedition. Anyway I came here just to say i loved the comparison with game of thrones but this got wayyyy too long and YOU ARE RIGHT WE NEED MORE STUFF LIKE THE TERROR!!!!!

Yes yes YES!! Kept nodding harder and harder while reading this, you're so right

1. Yes I can't take Mace Raider serious anymore either bc I'm like "Sir John Franklin what in God's name are you doing beyond The Wall" (same for Edmure Tully lowkey)

2. People loving the most minor characters in GoT and the Terror is so real and I think that's an indicator for a good show, I came on here and people were foaming at the mouth over Tom Hartnell, I was like "who THE FUCK is that" (fun fact when he dies and Crozier coos his "you did so well son" speech (absolute crack cocaine for daddy issues havers like me btw) I thought Hartnell was ACTUALLY his son and I was a next level oblivious the entire time ahshjwjsh)

3. I feel like you can tell that both stories really respect the fact that they're working with history, GRRM is famously a historian above anything else, if you read a little into medieval history he took A LOT straight up from the history books but without tweaking it to make it more palatable for modern audiences. Same for the Terror, no quirky dialog, all true to the historical setting and that's what I fucking LOVE

[goddamnelsa]

i’ve always been a slight defender of useless cameos in star wars media, specifically movie characters showing up in the TV shows, because i always figured like hey, it’s star wars, it’s fun, and it’s a little fun to see those two randos show up in a show or other movie, wheeee, whatever

but Melshi in Andor is how you do a fucking film cameo/callback. Melshi, a once-named ground soldier in the Battle of Scarif. Melshi, who has like two scenes before he dies like everyone else. And they put him on Narkina 5 with Cassian, and it’s brilliant.

Melshi doesn’t need a backstory! He’s a side character! I think the only reason I knew his name is because I read the novelization and have watched Rogue One a gajillion times. And you don’t need to know who he is for his mini-arc to work in Andor, but if you do, it adds some dimension to him and to Cassian!! Like Cassian escaped prison with this dude and then went back and recruited him for the Rebellion??? (maybe, who knows, we’ll hopefully find out in s2) The few scenes they have together in Rogue One indicate that they know each other, they’ve worked together on missions before, which makes sense in the context of the film with what we know of Cassian, that he’s been in the Rebellion for awhile and presumably so has Melshi. But having them be in prison together, and break out together*, their familiarity with each other makes so much sense, and that Melshi is willing to go on this suicide mission to help Cassian and the rest of the Rogues. Of course, Melshi will risk it all because he already did with Cassian once and it paid off.

And Melshi has a reason to be in this story. He is part of the prison break, he’s part of Cassian’s group. They don’t give him special treatment in the story, there’s no slow mo shot to him when they say his name, he’s just there. And if you know, you know, and if you don’t, it’s still a great fucking storyline and it ties us back to Rogue One without being obnoxious about it.**

that’s how you do a fucking film callback

* a break out that is yet another spark in getting people to fight back against the Empire!!! god this fucking SHOW I’M YELLING

**saw’s couple of scenes also did this, but i just assume all rebellion era stuff will have saw in it, and forest whitaker is putting his whole self into that role, you go forest

[humbledragon669]

S1E1 – In The Beginning Write Up P2

– Eleven Years Ago

Once the credits have finished rolling, the audience are catapulted in to a close-to-present-day time space.  Eleven years prior to “present day” to be exact – the helpful on-screen signpost tells us we are seeing events “eleven years ago”. I rather like it when TV shows and movies are so reluctant to set a specific time period as a backdrop – it helps future audiences feel like the content is still relevant if and when they discover it. This neutrality is maintained in a number of ways throughout both series of GO and despite the fact that we will see scenes that have incredibly specific dates that they take place in, all the “present day” material has a subtle avoidance of date specification. Whether considering Crowley’s timeless outfit against Aziraphale’s decidedly dated ensemble, Crowley’s use of a vintage car, the setting of an antiquarian book shop contrasted with a modern-day coffee shop complete with almond milk lattes, or the repeated used of the couple’s favourite place to eat (opened in 1906 and largely unchanged since then), an audience would be hard-pressed to say exactly when the show is set, other than it feels modern-day. The closest we come to being able to specify a year is in knowing how long Crowley has owned the Bentley (ninety years, from new) and the year it was made (1927, according to the book), but even those two pieces of information feel rather hazy.

If snippets of writing are a constant source of Easter eggs in this series, the music is the parallel supplier of subtextual plot enforcement. I do not believe it is a coincidence that the Bentley’s choice of music on the approach to the graveyard gives us an early indication that Crowley is about to get more than he bargained for out of the meeting – Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, a rock ballad about a condemned man awaiting his fate - and which line more appropriate than what is playing exactly as he pulls up and turns off the engine:

Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me, for me

Side note: this is a graveyard attached to a church, which means the land would likely be consecrated, meaning the three demons should not be able to walk on its grounds, let alone emerge from it as Hastur and Ligur do. I think this is likely an oversight; after all, where is creepier for three dark figures to lurk than a graveyard at night?

What we see of Crowley in this first scene is that he has a thinly veiled nonchalance towards his employer that only seems to go amiss by his colleagues because none of them appear to be able to appreciate the subtle nuances of human characteristics that he delivers so well, even if they do think he’s “gone native”. He shrugs off the “Hail Satan” greeting expected of him and is clearly bored by such minor trivial “deeds” as tempting a priest, appearing to revel more in the pure mischief and ingenuity of his achievements rather than the actual results that Hell would be interested in (almost like he’d done something clever and needed to tell someone about it before he popped…) – just look at his smug little face:

Oh, and he clearly wants no part in the delivery of the Antichrist.

Like it or not (most definitely NOT), Crowley has no choice but to take the Antichrist. He receives his instructions from a delightfully camp sounding but unnamed character through his stereo which, according to the script, belongs to none other than Satan himself (and, according to the book, should sound exactly like Freddie Mercury). If this is indeed meant to be Satan, I feel it’s a shame we aren’t explicitly told this – the knowledge that Satan himself has issued the instructions for the delivery of his only son would really hammer home the message of how much shit is hitting the fan at this point in time.

The scenes that follow are mostly narrative in nature, but there are still nuggets of information to be had from them.  This is where we are introduced to Aziraphale’s love of food, and the notion that this is most certainly not expected behaviour for an angel.

We learn of Gabriel’s appreciation for the clothes available on Earth (which is not viewed with the same disdain as Aziraphale’s eating fixation). Most importantly we discover that Heaven appears to be completely unaware of the fact that Crowley and Aziraphale are not only aware of each other, but have been meeting on pretty friendly terms for quite some time.

The fast pacing of the baby switching scene at the nunnery is expertly put together – it conveys just enough of a sense of chaos whilst making sure that the audience are keeping up with the plot twists. It is interesting that the playing card used to represent the Antichrist (before it is magically converted into an image of the Beast) is the King of Hearts, which is perhaps a nod to what will become his true nature (all the more noticeable in the book). We can assume that Crowley is known to the nuns (they refer to him as “Master Crowley”) prior to his arrival, but we are not given any information about how this has come to be. Considering that Crowley’s involvement in the delivery of the Antichrist came as something as a surprise to Crowley himself, I find this interesting, though this may simply be a case of his reputation preceding him, as we see in later episodes. Baby B’s unfortunately undecided fate feels terribly dark, even for a series that has, in the first half of its first episode, introduced Satanic nuns and the Antichrist. Interestingly, the book offers a more optimistic outlook for this innocent babe, even if it is for him to grow up to become the village bully nicknamed “Greasy”. I suspect this may have been omitted from the finished script due to time and budget constraints (one less child actor and chaperone to pay…).

Back in the Bentley, we’re treated to what I believe is another subtextual Clue about Crowley’s true feelings – Queen’s “It’s a Hard Life” croons out of the stereo as he tries to call Aziraphale. Great song as this is, I cannot believe that these particular lyrics have not been chosen for a very specific purpose for this exact point in the story:

You win, you lose It's a chance you have to take with love Oh yeah, I fell in love

The song itself is actually the same as the one playing on Crowley’s earlier arrival at the hospital, but the lyrics are, interestingly, from a point in the song after all the instances of the lyrics we hear during the attempted call to Aziraphale, meaning the song must be on repeat during this period of time. Examining the lyrics of the song as a whole, it actually feels like a particularly appropriate song to use against the backdrop for establishing the present-day nature of Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship – it really strikes a chord with me. Is it dusty in here or is my hay fever playing up? (I don’t even get hay fever…)

An undescribed period of time passes (we’re suddenly in broad daylight, so it’s at least one night). The next conversation between the pair reveals quite a bit about the level of familiarity that Crowley has for Aziraphale. He clearly finds his optimism delightful – just look at this smitten kitten face:

And Crowley knows exactly what buttons to press to try to get Aziraphale on side, pointing out that he’s about to lose all his favourite things – classical music, food, and finally (just for full impact) his own book shop. Even when Aziraphale won’t bend to the demon’s temptations, it’s clear that (despite the fact that Armageddon has just been set on its slow and wandering way) Crowley just wants to spend more time with Aziraphale, offering to pay for lunch, which is clearly the best way to get the angel to engage fully. Interestingly, Crowley knows that he owes a lunch but can’t remember when for, whereas Aziraphale knows exactly when, where, and what they had – I would hazard a guess that he would probably be able to recite those facts for every instance of a meal they have ever eaten together.

Side note: I am not remiss of the fact that the year given by Aziraphale here ties up with the scene from episode 3, or that those events also coincide with an “I Was Wrong” dance performance. I have some ideas about those apology dances, which I will be covering in a (much) later post, with (I hope) a couple of fanfic chapters.

And so we are introduced to the Ritz, a place I’m sure everyone knows will come to be important to this pair, with this tableau:

I know there has been a LOT said about this tiny snippet of a scene. I am one of the people who find it pretty interesting that we never see Crowley eat (yes, I know we see him with food in front of him, but we never actually see him put anything in his mouth or chewing). I’m not saying that he doesn’t – the book and several script references make it clear that he does – but I do think he derives much more pleasure from watching Aziraphale eat than from eating himself (see the Lockdown episode for a good indicator of this). And let’s be really honest for a minute – that shot of him watching Aziraphale finish off whatever he’s eating in the Ritz is almost pornographic. Do we really think that the sound at the start of the scene of a champagne cork popping in the background as Crowley is staring at him is a coincidence? I certainly don’t. In my honest opinion, this is as close to the demon being actually aroused as we ever see him.

I also find Aziraphale’s choice of words to conclude their meal at the Ritz interesting:

So, what are you in the mood for now?

There’s something… knowing about this. Like Aziraphale knows exactly what Crowley has been thinking whilst he’s watched him eat. It’s almost flirty but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It does not escape my attention that, if Aziraphale is aware of Crowley’s thought process, he hasn’t exactly been demure whilst he’s eating – his expression as he finishes that final bite is positively post-coital. Not to mention the little teasing smirk and the once over he gives the demon after he’s offered Crowley carte blanche of activity choice. One wonders whether “alcohol” was really what he had in mind here…

Side note: we have no idea of what has happened during this meal. We could assume that the talk has been about the Antichrist and Armageddon but given that’s the topic of conversation when they get back to the book shop, and that Aziraphale put a very clear stop to that discussion when they left St James Park, I find that unlikely. I have my own idea of what took place, which you might already know if you’ve read Dangerous Liaisons. I’m not going to go into it much further here but am hoping to explore it further in another fanfic. Let’s just say I think there might have been some discussion around true feelings and potential plans to act on them at this point.

As we see the couple strolling down the Soho street up to Aziraphale’s shop, we are witness to, I think, two physical touches between them. They’re small – Aziraphale’s hand on Crowley’s leg and then an arm brush – and they could be accidental owing to the momentum of bodies and limbs caused by walking but I’m not so sure, especially not after the subtextual display we’re treated to at the Ritz. If I’m right about the topic of conversation at the Ritz, this would make a lot of sense too. It would also explain why Aziraphale offers the very nice wine he’s been saving for “special occasions” – who considers the dawning of Armageddon a special occasion?!

Let’s talk about the entry into the book shop for a moment. More specifically, Aziraphale’s comments preceding their entry into the book shop and Crowley’s reaction to them.

First off, we have the (futile) reminder that they’re supposed to be “hereditary enemies”. I feel like Aziraphale says this to attempt to remind Crowley of what they’re relationship is supposed to be, and I find Crowley’s reaction to it pretty delightful – we only get a glimpse of his expression before the camera switches back to Aziraphale’s face, but we can see the demon mocking him on the side of the screen. He’s clearly not interested in playing along with their cover story here – he reminds me of a child being told off for something minor and unimportant.

This charming little interaction is concluded with Aziraphale’s assertions that Crowley get behind him, only to invite him to lead the way. I’m sure there are some that would attribute this to comedic writing combined with the further establishment of Aziraphale having impeccable manners. However, I have a filthy mind and adore this couple, so I cannot help but see this as a hint towards the establishment of sexual positions. There we go, it’s out, I said it. I will not unsay it. Sue me. Besides, adding that bit of subtext to the scene makes it smuttier funnier. Not to mention that Crowley seems a bit taken aback by Aziraphale’s first suggestion (“get thee behind me”), but nods his agreement after the second (“after you”) – I interpret this as him being on the same page, at least at this point in time anyway.

As we enter into the book shop, we are shown one of the compass points marked on the mezzanine level. It won’t come to make much sense at this point, not until we’ve seen at least one more of them but it’s my understanding that this is deliberate, and that Aziraphale’s desk sits to the east, which is a nod towards his position of Angel of the Eastern Gate. The music played here is another stroke of genius – it’s highly uncomfortable but purveys perfectly just how wasted this pair are.

NEWS FLASH! Crowley takes his glasses off now that he’s suitably hammered and inside the book shop. We will come to see that when he removes those glasses, it’s a sign that he’s comfortable, feels that he’s in a safe space, and that he can speak freely. This is a really important aspect of Crowley for us to understand and we’ll see it used as a device throughout both series. What’s similarly important to observe is that Aziraphale doesn’t react to it at all – he’s clearly very accustomed to seeing Crowley without his glasses and takes the underlying meaning for granted. For some less subtle display of intimacy between them in this scene, let’s examine that slightly odd and awkward pouting that both of them engage in when discussing fish/marine mammals:

There is a look here, from Crowley, that I cannot decipher. Look? Stare, perhaps. Most certainly not a gaze. It’s paired with a little repositioning of his body. To me it looks like he’s steeling himself to do or say something that he might consider brave.

This is immediately followed by Aziraphale’s announcement that he’s about to sober up, which Crowley follows suit on. I can’t help but wonder what exactly was going through their minds here that makes them believe that being drunk is such a bad thing? We’re led to believe that the heavy nature of the Armageddon conversation is the trigger. I like to think there might be something more sexual at play here…

Side note: I particularly love the idea of being able to be suddenly not drunk at will, and that the alcohol goes nice and neatly back into its bottles when you do so. Imagine how much fun you could have without spending a fortune if you could do that!!

When considering the fate of the Satanic nuns, I find it rather interesting that Hastur has such fun burning the nunnery down to the ground. When we were introduced to his character in the cemetery it had appeared that his motivations were driven by Hell’s goal of acquiring souls for Satan, and that he was interested in little outside of that scope. Here we see him laughing maniacally at the destruction of an institution that has only served his master. It indicates that mischief is something he enjoys, which is something he shares with Crowley despite his disdain at our demon’s personality.

I’m finishing up this part of the write up with a brief look at the interaction between Crowley and Aziraphale around being godfathers to the Antichrist.

There’s no denying that the pair of them are really delighted with this idea – being able to work together to a common goal. Not to mention it’s likely to mean that they will be seeing more of each other, albeit in disguise. Again, if my suspicions about the conversation at the Ritz are correct, their joy here is easy to explain. We finish this scene with a cheeky little exchange between them about being damned and it not being so bad “once you get used to it”. It’s pretty easy to interpret this as a bit of friendly mischief on Crowley’s part. I choose to believe there’s more to it than that – if the two of them really had finally confronted their feelings and decided to act on them over lunch, it’s not unreasonable to suppose that Heaven would indeed consider Aziraphale damned. Crowley’s closing wink says that’s something he’s aware of, that he knows he would be the cause, that he doesn’t care, and that he wants the angel to know he’ll help him work through whatever that means. Even if my suppositions are incorrect, that wink still says all of those things, and ensures that we as an audience have been well established into the comfortable nature of the relationship between them both.

[criticalpraisefilm]

Alien: Romulus - first impressions

There are, off the top of my head, two major sci-fi franchises where the first movie was a straight up horror, and the second skewed more towards action, in which the popular opinion is that the action sequel is the better movie. In the case of both Alien and Terminator, people in my experience generally prefer the action heavy sequels. I, however, in both cases, prefer the original. This opinion is not heretical, but is not often agreed upon, but it does mean that I will never complain about Alien going back to straight horror, and oh boy does Romulus go for horror.

The movie presents three sets of orphaned siblings: Rain (Cailee Spaeny) is a miner who looks after her adopted brother Andy (David Jonsson), a reprogrammed synthetic; Tyler (Archie Renaux), Rain's ex-boyfriend and his sister Kay (Isabela Merced); and finally Tyler and Kay's cousin Bjorn (Spike Fearn) and his adopted sister Navarro (Aileen Wu). After Rain's attempts to get herself and Andy away from the miserable world they live on are thwarted by a forcibly extended work contract, she teams up with the others to raid a decommisioned space station and steal cyrosleep pods to get them to paradise. Unfortunately the space station was decommisioned after it retrieved remains from the wreck of the Nostromo from the first movie, so naturally there are deadly aliens aboard and things go south, leading to the team having to find a way to escape with the help of the station's half-dead medical officer Rook (Daniel Betts), while being hunted by facehuggers and Xenomorphs.

Okay I'm getting this out of the way now: deepfaked Ian Holm as the physical presence of Rook is weird and distracting and pointless and dystopian. Not even death can get movie studios to stop you reprising your role time and time again for nostalgia's sake. I hate it. Moving on.

While we're on the negativity train, let's start with the biggest problem, which is that while Rain and Andy get plenty of development and scenes to make us feel for them and build tension when they're threatened, nobody else really gets that. They get moments to show that they're people with lives, but it's mostly just small things: praying while taking off into space, or doing silly tricks with gravity while taking off into space, or getting sick while taking off into space because they're secretly pregnant. In fact, the takeoff into space scene does quite a lot to show us that these people have rich inner lives and personalities. It's really the only scene that does that.

There is an attempt at banter between the characters, but it's mostly quite shallow. One character is consistently unpleasant to Andy because he doesn't like synthetics, and another character tells us it's because a synthetic made a decision that killed his parents. He doesn't really get any other character traits, and any horror movie needs an unpleasant character we don't like to be the first victim and establish the stakes and the scares, but nobody else gets much after the first couple scenes either. Truth be told, I didn't realise that Rain and Tyler were supposed to be ex-partners while watching the movie, because I missed the dialogue in the very noisy beginning establishing that and nothing about their businesslike and perfunctory interactions throughout the rest of the movie gave me that impression. We care about the people because they're people, but we're given no reason to connect to one character besides the fact that she's pregnant, and she has little personality outside of that.

Rain, Tyler and Andy get the best of it, but Tyler is mostly practical besides a few moments, and Andy spends much of the movie with his personality being overwritten by a module that grants him power, but forces him to prioritise the interests of the company over his friends and family. A good indication of the company valuing profit and property over people's lives and safety, and a rather effective exploration of the theme of capitalism ruining everything, certainly, but not something that endears you to the character.

When Rain puts herself in danger to save her brother, despite having spent much of the movie hiding a pretty major secret from him, and her brother having spent much of the movie putting her friends in danger for profit (granted against his will) the decision seems noble, but not built up to, since the movie has gone out of its way to show us how unpleasant Andy is now. I don't disagree with the decision, but maybe more indications on how her brother is still in there throughout the movie would have worked better than the likeable character being completely subsumed by the character we hate would have worked better.

Okay, negativity over, and despite my ranting I did really like the movie because it does a good job with the tension and the scares and really does a great job at selling how deadly and terrifying the xenomorphs are. Quickly establishing how many extremely prepared people on the space station were annihilated by a single xenomorph, the movie, once in the dangerous situation, does a wonderful job in rapid escalation, putting characters in danger, tearing the group dynamic apart due to the stress and different priorities, only to then make everything fall apart by tearing someone's chest open because, well, that's what these aliens do, and it's terrifying. The effects work is spectacular and the character/creature work on the creatures is gorgeously scary. I spent half of the movie with my hand over my mouth, both because of the tension (and there are a few cheap jumpscares, I'll say, but most of the scares are well earned and very effective) and because of the horrifying imagery.

While everyone else is just sort of there, our main protagonist is likeable, reacts in interesting and believable and mostly intelligent ways to the bad situation she's in, and we want to see her do well, which makes it very tense when she's about to get got by one of the multiple horrifying creatures stalking her and her friends throughout the setting, and Cailee Spaeny sells every moment. She really is the standout here, and her slow evolution comes across less as arbitrary action heroine-fication and more like desensitisation: by the end of the movie she's seen enough horrors that the thing she's staring down now seems less scary, but no less threatening, and you never lose the sense that this character you want to succeed is in just so much danger at all times, which makes her decision to put herself in more danger to help her friends make her even more noble and makes you want to see her succeed, especially juxtaposed with the somewhat selfish place she started from.

I'll admit I've spent more time on the negative than the positive here. It's strange that the criticisms are somewhat more interesting to talk about. The praise is perhaps generic praise for a good Alien movie, but this is a really good Alien movie with some characterisation issues sprinkled throughout. Basic, perhaps, but if you're going into an Alien movie looking for sci-fi horror, it gives you what you want.

Oh and the turn the movie takes in the third act is gross and I love it so much. Extremely good and distressing imagery on display here, it's awful and it's amazing.