#another thing im going to have to pay attention to on rewatch...

[unnonexistence]

feeling mildly insane over stacker pentecost because is he ever not the fixed point? do we ever get a moment where he isn't being something for someone?

[mouthpoisons]

on viktor's doomed destiny as the magical harbinger of the apocalypse, sky being a secret mastermind, the butterfly effect, the message within the pattern, the arcane being a sentient manifestation of The Narrative and pushing everyone towards tragedy

so this started out as a halfhearted joke post that went something along the lines of ''maybe sky is such a nothing character because she was always the arcane's y/n x viktor self insert and not just after the hexcore eats her'', then it turned into me spending like a whole day examining sky scenes through this lens and acquiring a massive tin foil hat about it, and then while paying attention to sky i also started viewing the arcane as a whole as something conscious, malignant, the plot of the show itself manipulating and urging everyone, but especially viktor, towards it's end goal of him becoming heimerdinger's world ending mage. and then This post happened. because i was initially writing an analysis on sky, this post is mostly me talking about sky. i started Realising Other Shit about halfway through and i simply wont be rewriting what ive already put down. but the more i think about it and go back and rewatch parts of the show, the more this makes perfect sense and i'll definitely be coming back with a part two. part 2 will likely be about jinx because that ''use your explosive potential and maybe you can change your story'' line from vi, which we can only assume is directed at her sister, is doing cartwheels in my brain

this is massive and long and messy and its going under a readmore. enter if u dare

disclaimer because theres gonna be people who Seriously hate this and might wanna assume things about me because of it but i hope youll understand im coming from a place of pure story and meta analysis. this theory is unfortunately going to assume theres a manipulative ulterior motive to Everything sky says and does, and this is not written in any way to spite people who like sky as simply the sweet doomed lady who has a crush on viktor, skyvik shippers, etc. i honestly just think she is currently the worst written character in the show by miles and that that... cant be it. trying to attach any secret meaning to what she went through and her role in the story beyond ''fridged woman'', i promise, is out of love, despite what im about to spend a billion words accusing her of. i deeply want her ass to secretly be part of the craziest reveal in the show.

if anything im about to say stays one of the most crackpot theories about the show ever written, then i will firmly be a member of the ''she deserved better'' camp, in which you can all beat me with hammers if you want. anyway lets get right into it.

i think sky has been some kind of arcane manifestation who scouted out, has been keeping an eye on, and has urging viktor along the path he's been on the entire show, and not just after the hexcore ''killed'' her. i believe she is essentially another herald who foreshadows some of viktor's major character developmental moments, that she is the butterfly effect, that the arcane is a conscious character and she is one of the vessels it uses to manipulate the show's story towards it's end goal, which very much seems to be setting up viktor as a world ender. i also believe that she may have had one major instance of manipulating the trajectory of jayce's story in service of this

before i continue i need you to know i tried to pull up a wiki page about her just now incase theres any Extra Lore that hasnt appeared in the show and apparently all anyone could be bothered to write down for her is ''Viktor's assistant with an unrequited admiration for the scientist.'' lmfao. if there Is any missing lore, behind the scenes stuff, etc, id love to hear it, whether it supports or contradicts any of this.

ok then, whatever, what do i remember about sky. shes from zaun, shes viktors assistant, they knew eachother or at least met that one time when they were children, she's been doing her own private research, and she has a massive crush on/admiration for him. viktor doesnt pay her too much attention until she ''dies'' and then he is consumed by guilt surrounding her death. sky also has a pattern of becoming more and more ''relevant'' to viktor as the show goes on, and a lot of people have criticised this as a form of reconning her fridging, and yeah if all of this is bullshit then it might be, but if not, wow. i also vaguely remember hearing something about amanda overton being very proud of sky's character which... right now? youre kidding me. if literally any of this is true? holy shit, i get it.

as a last bit of additional context; this theory was also super inspired the other theory that the corrupted spot heimerdinger noticed at the base of the hexgate is where some of viktor's blood fell as he... divinely received the idea to build the hexcore? (that's going to be such a fucking facepalm moment for all of us in retrospect if im onto something here lol). it's one of the things that really got me thinking. he shouldn't have been in any way magical at that point. my theory is in essence a massive continuation of the idea that arcane forces have been having an effect on viktor for longer than we realise.

i'll pitch this theory primarily through some scene analysis, and mostly from season 1 since everyone else has ''wait is she being Bad here'' season 2 sky analysis on lock, most of us agree she's being strange and ominous after her ''death''. i might be the first insane person on earth to pitch that she's also being strange and weird Before her ''death''

i'll start with what might be one of my personal smokiest of guns and biggest Insane In Retrospect Moments, which has a lot of the core thematic stuff shoved into it and laid out quite plainly, then im just gonna go wherever the flow takes me. im not an essay guy. this will be messy and im sorry in advance.

in this scene, viktor is messing around with the hexcore. sky is watching behind him, and remarks that it's beautiful. viktor expresses his frustration at not being able to figure out the device, sky responds ''you will'', asks to walk him home with her, and he declines, saying that he's going to keep working on it through the night. sky doubles down, asking ''again? yknow there's always tomorrow, right?''. he dismisses her and she leaves. pretty much immediately, viktor passes out coughing up blood, which merges with the hexcore.

viktor has been established as a wildcard and a risk taker who doesnt like unnecessary stalling and delays. at this point in the show his health is starting to take a heavy toll on him. jayce has recently hit the pause button on releasing their new hextech tools (more on that in a bit). he's incredibly frustrated with the overall situation and is in tunnel vision mode. my theory is that sky very purposefully asked him to take his time, to give it a rest, knowing that he would do the opposite. this is an example of some potential reverse psychology sky demonstrates a couple times during the show. the other one is a very prominent scene in s2e6 that also got me Thinking about all this, the part where she says to viktor ''you once told me, all systems have limits'', and he responds by asserting vander is worth the risk. course vander's continued presence in the camp as viktor tries to heal him kickstarts the rest of the horribleness that happens that episode, which in the end makes viktor ''understand'' the futility of the human condition, and perhaps if he hadnt just gotten shot by jayce, wouldve been the moment he becomes the apocalypse wizard.

in this s1 scene though... she didnt really have to flex it here. the purpose this specific example would theoretically serve would be to piss off the audience upon rewatch, because we all thought she was just flirting lol

her assuring him that he will figure it out, and then a massive advancement happening instantly, is crazy. it's as if she knew what was going to happen, as if she heralded it into being. this is also her first speaking scene in the show which feels significant especially when it comes to retrospect potential

next i wanna talk about the scene where she may have, in a such a blink-it-and-youll-miss way, manipulated jayce's trajectory. this is also her first appearance in the show period

before jayces progress day speech, he asks viktor to come onto the stage with him, ''we're partners'', and sky adjusts her glasses while looking in on in the background. viktor declines, anxious about the idea of being on stage, and sky hands jayce his script.

jayce confidently reads from the script for a bit, but then changes his mind about what he wants to say, and this is when he hits the brakes on unveiling the new hextech devices, suddenly disappointing both viktor and mel, who he sought out for advice on the matter just a couple of scenes prior. his mind is assumedly comfortably made up about this. hell, enough to write a script, set up a presentation, and for mel and viktor to also be confident about how the presentation will go. the decision was extremely on-the-spot; it's a very awkward moment as jayce freezes mid sentence, we get several shots of the hexgem behind him, strange noises start chiming in the background (which do sound a lot like the mic feedback that's also going in that scene, but these ones seem.. different? certainly deliberately placed), and he suddenly decides against the tech demo. the shots of the hexgem behind jayce have the potential to be ominous as fuck in hindsight. certainly ominous enough to snap me out of simply writing a theory about sky, to thinking about the arcane's influence on the characters and plot as a whole.

this is a possible example of sky, as some kind of arcane avatar, manipulating the plot, with the goal of creating tension between jayce and viktor, and frustrating viktor with the stalling of their technology. after the progress day speech, jayce remains a lot more safety-cautious, and is given his councillor positon, which furthers the rift between them. viktor states all of this in their brief argument in the scene at the hexgate, before he coughs up blood over the railing and has his vision of the hexcore. within the context of this theory, it really feels like the arcane kind of saying to itself, ''all according to plan, he's ready for the next big thing.''

this now. on a personal I Was A Disabled Loner Kid Too Once level this scene has always bugged me and i never quite understood why most people seem to take it as ''aw their first bonding moment''

viktor cant play with the other kids because of his disability, so he hangs out on his own and builds toys. sky comes over, literally looks down on him from a cliff, seems very curious about what he's doing but only briefly, and is called away by her friends, leaving with a smile, as quickly as she arrived. she... acknowledges him, but that's about it. this scene is significant to my theory in that she appears, does her little bit, and then viktor meets singed, who shows actual sustained interest in him and his toy boat, and lets him hang out so they can ''be loners together''. this is a seed planting moment in so many ways and it even threatens to come full circle next week if singed is going to revive viktor again. this very well may well have been when the arcane, through sky, ''chose'' viktor, or at least decided that his story is to be put into motion now, and set him on the path. he literally gets up and starts following his boat down a river.

i'm also pointing out the butterflies in this and jayce's flashback scenes. i dont have much to say about them that a lot of other people havent already especially since butterflies and insect imagery started popping up Everywhere for jayvik in season 2, but yeah *vague hand wave* im pointing them out.

pausing scene analysis for a moment to talk about the idea of viktor really being The Center Of All Of This, as caitlyn said in the act 3 trailer, before i go onto the next bit.

viktor, for this whole show, has been so unbelievably doomed, and it's ramped up to the nth degree in season 2. he's felt especially at the mercy of outside forces to the point where me and everyone else are starting to get real tired of the lack of agency the story is affording him. he becomes terminally ill, he rages against the dying of the light for a bit, but then shit gets scary and he makes jayce promise to destroy the hexcore (and let him die), he gets jinx nuked, jayce revives him explicitly against his wishes, comes back from time prison and kills him again, its a mess. its infuriating. i think that viktor's entrapment by the narrative, and everything becoming more hopeless and out of his hands, is going to be extremely important in act 3. that him giving the biggest Fuck You to his arcane destiny and tearing away from the narrative with claws and teeth is going to be the moment he becomes our machine herald.

i wrote a much shorter post about this earlier, but since then i've also become confident that the bad ending apocalypse wizard viktor himself is who sends jayce back to destroy the hexcore, effectively breaking the cycle and thrusting viktor's story into uncharted waters, which he will Gloriously Evolve above, but only after singed puts him through hell and fills him with resentment for jayce.

ok back to scene analysis

viktor has already come close to breaking free of his predetermined path before. in the context of this theory, viktor's beautiful hopeful triumphant moment, seemingly having a massive breakthrough in rising above his fate and body, outrunning the boat, being immediately cut short by sky showing up and dying and throwing him into a pit of guilt, despair, and desperate need to atone, is in no way accidental. im about to spill whats probably going to be this post's most egregious sky character assassination so be warned i guess!!!!

to put it very bluntly, heres how this whole scene goes according to my theory. viktor gears up to transmutate himself again, but because he's doing so while so full of hope, in a way that's threatening to break him out of his doomed narrative, maybe even just the fact he's doing it to himself instead of jayce doing it in a frantic attempt to save him from death, sky steps in. viktor must die, physically, emotionally, before he becomes the magician.

sky takes the drastic measure of ''killing herself'' in order to curse viktor with the crushing guilt that would morph him into someone who desperately needs to pay for what he did. fix the world, no longer as a driven idealistic scientist, but all consumingly, obsessively, and devastatingly.

if sky didn't intervene, viktor presumably still would've become some form of magical purple guy, but it wouldve been... the best possible timeline? a timeline completely untainted by death? like imagine the cocoon emergence scene and that conversation with jayce but a version where he's not absolutely destroyed by guilt surrounding sky. he was so, so close to just outright winning the game.

as sky's walking down the hall thinking about how she's going to pitch her ''private project'' to viktor, she says something that's potentially a massive red flag hidden in plain sight. she says that she's been working on it for weeks, then changes her mind and says she's been working on it for a year. that's... a huge time difference? if it was months vs a year it would sound much more organic, but weeks vs a year? of course in the real life ''everything im saying here is bullshit'' world she's just figuring out how to pitch herself and sound impressive, but whichever way you look at it and no matter her intent, she was preparing to lie to viktor here.

back in my delusional mind palace, i think viktor's full transmutation attempt takes her (the arcane/the narrative) by surprise - she was formulating her next move here, but it becomes her having to throw a spanner in the works immediately in order to keep him on the path of despair, of death and guilt.

so sky's a pile of ash now. sky is a pile of ash. she wasn't absorbed by the hexcore, on the contrary it looks to be actively pushed away from it (metaphorical skin shedding?) something else is happening for her to be manifesting herself to viktor in season 2. there's also that extremely ominous freezeframe of her when viktor picks up her glasses, but i cant for the life of me get a screenshot of it.

viktor picks up and starts reading sky's journal, and i'll be honest i cant really find any hidden message in her words there apart from the idea that this wide eyed, sweet, idealistic girl that viktor has just let down drastically is some kind of persona. it does stick out to me how much sky seems to envoke a younger viktor - someone who's stuck in an assistant role when she has her own big dreams. This tragic reveal that this cute but inconsequential background character had an inner life and goals too… it's a shock! And it’s all very personal. He paid her barely and mind and now she’s dead because of him, this poor girl who was inspired, by him, to change the world, just like him. It’s like. It’s so tailor made to make him feel like shit.

the next thing that happens is viktor gets Big Mad and tries to smash the hexcore, but it goes ''nuh huh!'' and makes him fall over in a show of power over him. he's firmly stuck in this narrative now, and he wont be breaking out again for a while. the mask is off and his story is locked. he will die, one way or another, and come back to destroy the world.

viktor cant break himself out of the narrative anymore, it has him by the neck and it makes sure he knows it, but someone else promises to.

and he cant, initially. it takes betrayal through reviving him with the hexcore (exactly what it wants). it takes a guilt-ridden viktor being overtly guided along by a much more suspicious sky, for him to get so in his head about this cult shit that it approaches the event horizon of becoming all consuming, it takes jayce being trapped in a time loop desperately trying to find any possible way around this. but the destruction of the hexcore, the narrative, sky, the destruction of the arcane within viktor is the only way for him to truly gloriously evolve.

jayces love for viktor was dooming him into becoming the arcane that ends the world, and the only way to chart a new course was by truly saving him. destroying the hexcore, sky, freeing him from the narrative, at the ultimate cost of viktor's love for him.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

yea.... 😭😭😭

now my logical followup is rewatching rogue one for the first time since seeing it (multiple times) in theaters i believe? Will i cry a lot, which i am always prone to do w/media & things but all the more so lately, it seems

[goddessxdivine]

SYDCARMY RANTING (this is ridiculously long, im sorry, and you’ve been warned)

so this started out with thinking about a SydCarmy scene in S3Ep9 that went something along the lines of:

S: “it’s hard to keep up with you sometimes”

C: “yeah well I’ve been this a lot longer so…”

S: “…I didn’t mean on a skill level”

[some in between conversation]

C: “i don’t want it to be hard to keep up with me”

S: “… okay …. then goodnight”

i always go into some kind of spiral with them because they give so much but so little lol when I first watched that scene I always interpreted it as Carmy telling Syd that he wants to be better about his behavior so he’s not hard to keep up with & Syd not thinking that was “enough” (as in “what are you gonna do so i can see those changes”) which led to their awkward goodbye/goodnight. but, and forgive if im super late to this realization, now im seeing how maybe Syd interpreted Carmy’s words to mean that she needs to change how she executes her duties so that she can keep up with him, essentially telling her to step her game up.

either way im sure there are many interpretations of that scene and what they each meant with their words/looks. because one thing about Sydney and Carmen, is they will have full conversations with just their eyes. however, their communication is off. when it comes to really fleshing out those deep conversations that help people become closer, they often shy away from it. this is not to say that they don’t get deep with each other. but to me, there are many opportunities where they could deepen their relationship as friends and co-owners but then they stop before it can get too heavy. i think this is both a character trait for Syd & Carmy but also a choice of the creators to not include those scenes. if you’ve experienced anything similar to what happened to westallen then you may be familiar with a creator/showrunner excluding necessary conversations that provide context to a character’s decision. or tptb just straight up deleting scenes vital to the characters. so i think Syd and Carmy keep misunderstanding each other for many reasons.

back to the S3Ep9 scene. i went from thinking about it to realizing i needed to rewatch the entire scene. and in doing so i feel like im able to see certain things in a different light. so the conversation goes

C: “tonight was off”

S: “been off”

C: “im sorry”

then Syd brings up it being hard to keep up him as i mentioned about before. i think, in that moment of Carmy apologizing for his energy that contributes to “been off”, Syd starts to approach mentioning how his behavior has affected her and their work environment (by telling him “it’s hard to keep up with you”). but Carmy, who is much too focused on perfecting this dish, isn’t really paying attention to what Syd is trying to softly communicate causing him to respond badly. which then annoys Syd, making her feel like maybe it’s time to broach the much dreaded Shapiro offer. however, she stops herself. i think in classic Syd-form, she took a step back to look at the bigger picture. she and Carmy know each other well; she knows he’s stressed out causing him to obsess and he knows when she has something that’s bothering her to say.

even when he annoys her, they’ve built something greater than her just wanting to further her career and flippantly tell him that she’s considering another job offer. there are many relationships in that kitchen that they formed together. if im not mistaken, Carmy had been working at The Beef for about 2 months when Syd came in to stage. when she started Richie and Tina were still very anti. Carmy and Syd wrangled everyone to be a real restaurant with close friendships together. dare i say, Syd coming into the beef gave Carmy hope that he could actually prove what he’d always wanted to Mikey.

there are times where Syd and Carmy give those two people (romantic or platonic) who become so close so quickly and when they’re at odds with one another, mending that is difficult for them. at some point they realize that they have yet to figure out how best to communicate with each other. they’ve created a space where things that could be discussed, met with compromise, and quickly put to bed, ends up with both parties feeling unheard. which goes back to what im saying about them needing to know each other more deeply because they already know each other well. for example, Carmy’s “im right here” when Syd says “[the Shapiro thing] can wait.” they know each other well enough for her to know (outside of personal avoidance) maybe he doesn’t need to hear this right now and he knows her well enough to know that she probably really needs to talk about something.

after this, Carmy invites Syd to the Ever funeral. while i do think that he invited her because, as he said, it’d be her “last chance to eat there” and “it’s Ever”, it might have also been personal for him. i think that he knew there was a chance of angry-mean-NY chef being there and other people/situations that may make him anxious. and as we know, a fancam of Syd helps him calm down. but that wouldn’t have been enough, he needed Syd there in real time. idk I’ve just always felt like Syd empowered (for lack of a better term) Carmy.

then finally we’re back to Carmy saying “I don’t want it to be so hard to keep up with me” and Syd leaves seemingly upset which further exemplifies their miscommunication

okay done now :))

[plantmommoonbaby]

I have covid (rant about that later), and to keep my mind from rotting, I'm rewatching IwtV. So, please enjoy

My Delirious Ramblings about Our Favorite Beautiful Vampire Divorcés (pt 1)

Episode 1:

It feels like it means something that went Lestat does the mind control thing, his victims eyes look like his

Uuugh i saw a tumblr post wondering if the widow du Pointe duLac ever convinced herself Louis pushed Paul so she could believe Paul went to heaven and 😭

That means his mother starts to see him as a monster the literal morning he chooses to become a monster

God, if she never subtle accused him, would he even have agreed to Lestat's offer??

Louis talking over what Lestat said to convince him makes me think all he had to say was that he loved him...

I mean... valid since he just lost his mother's love 💔

Episode 2:

Ummm, Louis, why do you have a painting by your grampa??

Armand isn't even acting in this scene, is he? Boy worships Louis

But, like... how is Armand--sorry, Rashid 🙄 being the only staff member who doesn't mask not a dead give away?

Louis's eyes go green when he has blood lust

Tiny buns 💓

I have a hard time believing Louis diets out of compassion when he'll eat a hogtied endangered species...

God bless Grace du Pointe du Lac

You can say you aren't buying in to the killing, Louis... but your eyes are very green...

Oop, Daniel couldn't stay objective while reliving that little dish... this is when the lines start getting blurry

Episode 3:

It has to be a superiority thing, coz the way he ate that poor kitty was brutal...

Daniel has not kiki'd over exes enough and it shows. Louis reeks of missing his ex. You don't point out how obvious it is until after a few drinks and making sure he can't slide into the DMs first...

Ooooh if looks could kill. Our literal green eyed monster damn near drained Antoinette right there... I guarantee the only reason he didn't is because he thought Lestat was going to drain her later

Checking to make sure Lestat is paying attention before making Jonah think about "them old days" 💀 Louis said "fuck around and find out, Daddy 😘"

Jonah, I know a certain European who is cares a whole lot about who you are looking at, and I'm pretty fucking sure he's not gonna be sensible about it...

Louis, you're not you when you're hungry...

Lestat plays fucked up games, but seeing Louis's green eyes and knowing he isn't stable enough to actually restrain himself and then hurting himself to get them all out is actually pretty respectful of his diet...

Lestat wasn't wrong about Louis being a natural... he's just a natural serial killer, not hunter. He has to want to kill his victim...

Louis kicks in one door, his sister sees him as the devil. He kicks in another and Claudia sees him as an angel 😭😭😭 IM NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING

I think I need a nap...

[tonydaddingham]

six months on (albeit, a bit late) part 2/3

part one | part two | epilogue (at some point)

okay right this is significantly more important (and more interesting frankly) than doing the job that im actually paid to do, so let's pick up where we left off in part one. main conclusions that ive come to so far, as a recap:

aziraphale feels threatened by the conversation with the metatron and feels he has little choice but to go to heaven. also, possibly feels aware that the metatron might be able to see/hear their conversation, and so has to be careful in his own proposal that does not alert crowley to there being something wrong, and does not alert metatron to his suspicion of him

wants to bring crowley with him because... yk, love. and he thinks that the restoration might be something that crowley has always wanted anyway, so he has to offer it without clueing crowley in on the possibility that aziraphale is under some kind of duress

aziraphale was initially very resistant to going, but only gave in when a) metatron brought up crowley in the first place (implied threat aforementioned), b) crowley could be restored (which he thinks crowley might want anyway but never entertained could happen), and c) it would give aziraphale an opportunity to not only change heaven as it currently is, but also recognises him - in all his perceived imperfection as an angel - to be the "right man for the job"

crowley understandably refuses, and launches into his confession/proposal. both of them want the same end result - being together - but the journey there is the contested part. aziraphale tries to persuade crowley into coming with him by subtly changing his language and mannerisms, almost like he's leaking out hints as to why it is so important that they remain together

the only true miscommunication they have - that aptly heralds the beginning of the end - is "nothing lasts forever". everything else, arguably (aside from aziraphale's attempt to keep things under wraps) is fairly well communicated, but they simply. disagree

i will hastily add, as i said in part one, that this is still only my interpretation of the whole sequence; there have been so many amazing observations that have made my opinion/interpretation of the final fifteen flit from one stance to another, and these two posts are purely me rewatching it all, paying closer attention, and working out what the hell (ha) i think is going on.

so, we left off at "good luck".

aziraphale definitely appears taken aback that crowley has not, in fact, understood what he meant throughout the whole conversation, and most of all appears to have completely shut down with "nothing lasts forever". where aziraphale thinks that crowley putting his glasses back on means that they're about to leave together, hand in hand, and face whatever has been dealt to them... it's actually crowley drawing the line in the sand, and sticking (rightly so) to his set boundary that he will not return to heaven as an angel - regardless of the optimistic assumption of what that would precisely entail (ie. this is assuming that restoration is even possible, let alone that crowley would be able to be restored and simultaneously keep his memories/his "him" in the process... arguably, these two options are likely the more realistic).

aziraphale is now, more desperately and in plainer language, resorting to begging crowley to see why this is the best choice they can make to remain together. but this is also where i feel like aziraphale's double-speak language that he exhibited with "...i can make a difference"/"we can make a difference", and the metatron jibe, is growing more frantic and - as a result - more obvious.

to me, he's clearly trying to impress upon crowley that he is not rejecting him, that he wants crowley with him desperately... but is equally having to keep his expression of this as... strategic as possible. it's almost like he's flitting between talking to crowley in as heartfelt and candid a manner as he can, and then squeaking in the caveats that are for the benefit of this assumed pretence he's playing - i guess what im trying to say is that aziraphale can't very well turn around and say, 'crowley i am not rejecting you, i want to be with you, but i cannot get out of this situation im being placed in, and i cannot leave you here on your own because i have no idea - and am scared of - what will happen.' the way he says "work with me!"; 'its going to be me and you against them, still. that's all it was ever going to be; i am not theirs, i am yours, but i have to play this game' - which incidentally, to any outside ears, would arguably just sound like aziraphale asking for crowley to... well, work with him. "we can be together!" is said with all due emphasis and cry, and aziraphale neatly tacks on, "angels, doing good!", because they would do good - good as they see it - and crowley would have to be an angel in order to do so, yes, but ultimately aziraphale wants him... and yet still remains plausible to anyone who could be listening.

i do still think - for the record - that there is a part of aziraphale that thinks that this is absolutely the right thing to do. crowley has put other options to him that, in contrast, solve nothing as far as aziraphale is concerned, and this sense of threat from the metatron only forces into sharp relief that whatever happens, wherever they go, they are not free of anything and never will be until something changes. this line of thinking has not always been how aziraphale has thought historically - but it's who he is now. if we accept that all of the hard, agonising decisions and choices that aziraphale has had to make, all of the times where he has battled with what is the right thing to do (arguably - exactly as crowley has taught him), has led to this moment, then aziraphale standing steadfast to his decision is absolutely in line with the character development we've been shown throughout both seasons.

that is just my interpretation given the events that come before this bit of the dialogue; whichever way you look at it though, aziraphale is evidently panicked and erratic that this might actually be it - that he and crowley are done. the really interesting bit for me, however, lies in his movements, his body language, and his expressions? they feel more in line with how aziraphale normally acts. to me, all of this is genuine, it's not put on, nor faked; where before he was trying to hide his fear under the guise of excitement, it now feels like this is actually aziraphale speaking, and not some uncanny facsimile who is trying to clutch every fraying string and keep it all together. also worth noting that during this part of the interaction that not once, as far as we see it, does aziraphale look out of the window.

whichever way you look at it though, aziraphale is evidently panicked and erratic that this might actually be it - that he and crowley are done. the really interesting bit for me lies in his movements, his body language, and his expressions? they feel more in line with how aziraphale normally acts. to me, all of this is genuine, it's not put on, nor faked; where before he was trying to hide his fear under the guise of excitement, it now feels like this is actually aziraphale speaking, and not some uncanny facsimile who is trying to clutch every fraying string and keep it all together. also worth noting that during this part of the interaction that not once, as far as we see it, does aziraphale look out of the window.

crowley though? crowley has clocked out. noone could blame him at all, especially after the sucker punch of the previous half of the sequence, because whilst i think he's hearing aziraphale say these things spoken with sincerety, probably even recognises them to be genuine, he's possibly also hearing the unspoken, perceived caveat that comes along with them. "we can be together... but you have to change." "we can be together... but i'll never love you, as you are, as much as you want me to."

he's hearing what aziraphale is saying, and either he doesn't believe it, or he's resentful that he would say this now - from crowley's pov - to cover up and compensate for what he said before. as he goes to walk away, but is called back by aziraphale, his turn and his carriage is... not petulant, that's the wrong word, but almost impatient? like he's humouring aziraphale at this point, but not that he has much more interest in what aziraphale has got to say. and again! given everything that has just been said and done, from crowley's perspective, that's completely understandable.

it's the turn of the head; crowley already has his barrier up with his glasses on, but he's cutting off any remaining communication he can give to aziraphale. it's interesting that he's specifically chosen to look out of the window, where we presume the metatron is - but does crowley even see him? does crowley essentially dissociating so rapidly that he can't even see that the metatron is there? or does he see him, and think that it's of very little consequence - the metatron won, he's got aziraphale (or - aziraphale was always heaven's, anyway), and it's barely worth notice or comment?

but it's also like he's giving aziraphale another chance - another chance to change his mind. if he didn't at least have a small flicker of hope left that that might happen, it stands to reason that crowley would have simply kept on walking. but he stops, and he waits. as aziraphale keeps talking, however, he turns his head specifically as he says "together", and appears to clamp his mouth shut as he does so, as if almost to say 'it's no use saying all this, because i'm hurt and i'm angry and i'm giving up. you want us to be together only if i come back; i'm never going back, you keep pushing, so how can you so desperately want to be with me if this is the only circumstance in which you can bring yourself to do so?'

of course, then, we get aziraphale's last gut-wrenching plea that he needs crowley. it's so simple a statement, and it has no condition afterwards, nothing to qualify it - and yet it is still something that aziraphale has never said, or - to my recollection - ever expressed in this capacity. sure, he's begged him with puppy-dog eyes to make hamlet popular, or to miracle the stain out of his coat, but nothing so heartfelt and dire as this. it's as true to any love confession that i think we get in the final fifteen; especially when you consider the mirror of the line in 1862 - "i don't need you..." / "and the feeling is mutual, obviously!" - and the context in which that is said.

aziraphale has, as bravely and vulnerably as we've seen aziraphale do anything else, vocalised something as close to a love confession as he can currently get... and crowley doesn't say anything? doesn't even look at him? throughout this confession of sorts, crowley has continued to look out of the window, and whilst we know that this is likely out of self-preservation on his part, what must this seem like from aziraphale's perspective? presumably it feels like a rejection - but is that a rejection of the entire thing - the whole offer - or of what aziraphale has just told him?

in the above moment, we can see aziraphale's face clearly crumple in hurt when crowley doesn't even acknowledge what he's just said, before masking it rapidly with indignation. he then lashes out with "i don't think you understand what i'm offering you."

indenting this next bit, because i need to ramble it out:

whilst i do think (as i said in the last post), that aziraphale might genuinely believe that crowley in some small part wants to return to heaven to be an angel, crowley has quite clearly rejected, in the room, any notion of it. his repulsion at heaven, and the notion of forgiveness, is not as wishy-washy as it was at the bandstand; now, he is vehement and firm that his opinion of heaven cannot get any lower. and i think aziraphale knows it. plus, the way that aziraphale words and proposes the restoration offer to crowley feels like he was aware that it might be a hard sell. so when aziraphale says 'you don't understand what i'm offering you', i don't think that aziraphale was himself talking about the restoration specifically; i don't think he's essentially saying, 'crowley, you're being so stupid, you could be an angel again - what part of this don't you understand? do you even comprehend what i'm trying to give you, here?' what i think aziraphale is, however, offering to crowley is that he and crowley remain together. aziraphale doesn't have much of a choice in going back to heaven - that much seems fairly apparent - and the only way, as far as he sees it, that they can remain together is if they go back to heaven together. and to do that, crowley would need to become an angel. i know people have often viewed aziraphale's decision to return to heaven along of the lines of, 'he loves heaven more than he loves crowley'... but i don't think that's it at all. to aziraphale - him begging crowley to come with him, work with and help him to make a difference (i.e. the right thing to do, i.e. a difference that is meaningful to, and controlled by, them), for crowley to not even look at him when he tells him he needs him - it must frankly feel like a rejection of aziraphale himself? when aziraphale says that crowley doesn't understand what he's offering him, i think it's more along the lines of aziraphale saying that he's offering all of himself to crowley. in the hope that, even if it means crowley has to return to heaven, being together is enough to warrant it? that aziraphale himself is enough for crowley to want to do that? 'do you hate heaven more than you love me?'

this feels like a stretch, i grant you, but given everything we saw towards the beginning of the episode - especially where shax's first jibe at aziraphale is to undermine what aziraphale actually means to crowley ("emotional support angel"), something that aziraphale presumably already fears (i.e. that he's a means to an end, of sorts) - it doesn't seems implausible.

furthermore, when crowley retorts that he understands perfectly, and understands more than aziraphale does, aziraphale's reaction then makes more emotional sense. of course, from crowley's perspective, he thinks that this is about the restoration, and of course he understands more about what aziraphale is offering... because how can he not?! he is fallen, he fell, and there is no way he, someone who has gone thousands of years (potentially millions) being deemed unforgivable and irredeemable, can ever be restored like aziraphale is hoping he can. and why would he want to be? that's not something aziraphale as an angel would ever be able to fully understand; the futility of wishing otherwise, the insult, and the impossibility.

i do think that it's worth bearing in mind that canonically, the implication is that aziraphale was not there to witness crowley's fall - possibly not even the fall in its entirety. we're never shown any instance where crowley even talks about it to aziraphale. absolutely, this is evidently a delicate and (if nothing else) touchy subject for crowley, and he doesn't owe aziraphale a deeper account than the questionable "sauntered vaguely downwards". but equally, it's not fair to assume that aziraphale knows how much of a boundary he is crossing by even entertaining the idea, and pushing it.

perhaps he should have inferred it at a previous point, true, but... the closest we get to crowley talking about it is "the angel you knew is not me", and "i won't be forgiven! not ever!". it's not unrealistic that aziraphale would infer these two poignant lines as crowley being wistful for the chance at redemption or forgiveness. ultimately, in my view, it's not until the final fifteen that aziraphale begins to have even the faintest idea of just how deep crowley's antipathy for heaven runs. it's not a case of just thinking they're a bunch of dicks, but that fundamentally, crowley will never align with heaven under any circumstances.

so when crowley says this, he is absolutely saying 'i know about this subject more than you do; i am fallen, you are not, and you therefore are not able to understand like i do why being restored is not only unthinkable, but the worst outcome possible for me. it's not the good thing you think it is. i want us to be together, but you're asking for something i cannot - and will not - give you, and you don't seem to see the problem in asking me in the first place.'

but aziraphale is not thinking of this; what i think he might be hearing from crowley is, 'no no, i know you want to be together, and are offering yourself up to me with your whole heart; the issue is though that if it means i have to go to heaven to have it, to have you... it's not enough to make me do this. i don't want it; nothing and noone would warrant me doing this. you are not enough for me to acquiesce to going, and moreover you're not clever enough to understand that.'

it very quickly, i think, stops being about crowley not wanting to return to heaven - at least, not in the way they were previously discussing. instead, it feels like aziraphale is now starting to internalise crowley's reaction as a reflection on himself. which then, for me, that makes aziraphale's next line of "well... then there's nothing more to say." make all the more sense to me... because that's the kinda thing you say after things have really hit the ground, right? and i imagine, for aziraphale, hearing crowley essentially say that he's not enough would probably elicit that reaction. that crowley ultimately has no further use for him (again: "emotional support angel"), because crowley can so easily discard what they had, and so very nearly could have had. and not only that - crowley implies in his wording that, once again, whilst aziraphale is incredibly intelligent in some ways, he can also be phenomenally stupid (which turned out great the last time he said it).

aziraphale clearly tries to put a brave face on - school his expression, blink away the tears that are clearly gathering and brace his mouth against the trembling - and slap on the fakest, tightest, weakest smile. just before it switches to crowley, however, you can see the anger begin to set in; looking towards the ground, aziraphale seems like he's already given way to the feelings of disappointment and betrayal, and possibly even humiliation? that he's laid out his own heart - he thinks - so clearly, and it's being refused as if it's nothing.

now look, idk about anyone else watching this scene for the first time, but... my reaction to the part of this bit of dialogue was... not dissimilar to aziraphale's. after all of this emotional outpouring, both parties being hurt by the other, etc., it feels completely apropos of nothing for crowley to suddenly be asking if aziraphale can hear whatever he's meant to be hearing. aziraphale's reaction, to me, not only within character, but entirely reasonable; he's wound up, going through a thousand different emotions, and yet he's meant to be hearing... what? a car alarm? someone thumping out some drum and bass? of course aziraphale retorts testily, and agitatedly; they've just reached the end of an intense discussion and - as he sees it - the whimper end of six thousand years of being an 'us' in various capacities. he obviously isn't, but i can imagine that it would feel that crowley is trivialising what's just happened and, in aziraphale's shoes, i'd probably be a bit shitty - and subsequently bitchy - in my delivery too.

but of course - ha - we then get the suckerpunch of the nightingale line, and we feel the weight of it right alongside aziraphale. the poignancy and tragedy of what crowley is saying with this. there's been numerous of delicious metas regarding the motif or symbolism of the nightingale (personal favourite for me is the shakespearean link to the nightingale/lark in R&J), but in the context of the story? the context that both these characters presumably know and understand? we know about the end of s1, and it's suddenly apparent that the song was diegetic. that both of these characters recognise that the nightingale represents what they nearly - and did - have and accomplish by the end of s1.

there's no piano tinkling in the background, playing what we now understand is considered by both of them to be their song, (i still have very narrowed, suspicious eyes at 1941), to put them in a lovey-dovey mood... because this? right here? this isn't going to have a happy ending. calling attention to the sheer absence of it, figuratively speaking, only confirms for the both of them that whatever they did have - or were on the cusp of having - is gone.

moreso for aziraphale; it's abundantly clear when the finality of this hits him, evident in his dumbfounded expression that follows immediately after crowley says the line. and the way that crowley says it, how it could be perceived as incredibly nonchalant and casual (and for the audience absolutely betrays just how devastated crowley likely is in saying it), is evidently shocking for aziraphale; the notion that this is truly broken, this is done, and there is no coming back from it... and crowley already has a foot out the door already.

which is only hammered home with this:

idk, again, if this was the same for anyone else, but even upon first viewing, this felt acutely unfair. not only the idiot line, which as i've already alluded to seems to be a firm boundary for aziraphale (we'll get to 'i forgive you' in a minute huns, i promise), but the way that crowley very firmly places this whole thing upon aziraphale.

up until this point on first viewing, personally, i was content with appreciating that both of them had a good point; that their perspectives were so agonisingly polarising but had equal merit. but this does not all rest on aziraphale's shoulders; there isn't, to my mind, even any blame to assign in this whole sequence, but to my mind they are both equally accountable for the outcome. they cannot align their separate belief systems, can't align what they think is the right thing to do, but share the devastating want to be together. there's miscommunication, sure - but not enough that i think either leave each other not knowing that the other cares for them deeply. it's understandable why their paths have diverged, but both of them have been fighting for 'us' until this bitter end.

so, to then watch crowley essentially drop the blame for them not being together so squarely on aziraphale's shoulders was... frustrating, to say the least. that aziraphale is so firmly in the wrong, and that him being 'an idiot' is the only reason why they're not making out on the sofa and skipping into the metaphorical sunset right now. that - if we're being real here - if aziraphale had abandoned whatever he had considered to be the right thing to do, and followed crowley in what he wanted, what he considered right, that they'd have a future together (and that's not even taking into account the whole metatron-threat thing, but i hadn't reflected on that upon first watch).

i think the fact that crowley did this, frankly, is not lost on aziraphale. he certainly reacts accordingly; his face crumples minutely before he turns reflexively away - both away from crowley, and away from the metatron (because, lest we forget, he is still outside). it feels like what were web-like fractures spidering out across aziraphale have now suddenly cracked under the pressure, and the first piece has fallen. it makes sense that in this moment of actual physical vulnerability, something that aziraphale wasn't quick enough to school away and mask, he would turn from crowley to hide the hurt he's just handed him.

(lol are you ready bc i'm not)

sigh.

okay right; this is probably the only bit of the final fifteen sequence where, by large, my reaction to it has not changed. to be clear; i love the kiss for what it does narratively, and the delicious possibilities that it opens up in s3. i think the kiss, and their respective reactions within it, are perfectly in line with their characters. frankly, on the whole, i enjoy it for what it is.

lets start with the preceding bit, as a reminder; crowley's distraught, aziraphale's distraught, we're all distraught. crowley has said something that, to my mind, is quite frankly unfair, but understandable for him to say from his perspective. it's also the line that causes aziraphale to physically break, and he's turned away from crowley to hide himself and prevent crowley from seeing the hurt that it's caused him, the ensuing vulnerability. to my mind, by extension, aziraphale is now at a point where he thinks it's all over, that there's nothing to salvage, and that they're done. crowley certainly seemed to give that impression with his line about the nightingales, and "we could have been us."

aziraphale breaking, and turning away, evidently spurs something within crowley; that there does seem, somehow, to be some hope that aziraphale will stay, and so crowley immediately strides over to him. the thing is that after initially watching it, and then thinking on it a little more (and rewatched another six or so times), i... didn't get it? i didn't get what the point of it was. it seemed abundantly clear to the both of them that aziraphale wasn't going to change his mind, and neither was crowley (and tbh, neither of them should - and even if one of them did, it wouldn't erase the *waves around vigorously* everything that just happened), so what was the kiss meant to prove? what result was it meant to have?

it could be that there wasn't meant to be a result of any kind, that crowley was just outpouring his emotion in a make-or-break physical way. yes, absolutely, and i would think that (that it was a purely emotional action, not necessarily meant to do anything), but... when they break apart, crowley clearly appears to be waiting for something.

but i'll get to that in a minute; the point however seems to be it's aziraphale's break that kicks crowley into action. that he still has an 'in', and he can use it. aziraphale cracked, crowley sees a glimmer of hope, and does the most direct thing that comes to mind that would impress upon aziraphale just how desperate crowley is for him to change his mind.

i said in a meta a few months ago, god knows where it is now, that the whole interaction appears somewhat predatory - like, literally, in the animalistic sense. it's violent, and fast, and there's no room for discussion or manoeuvre in it; grab him by the lapels, drag him round, plant it on him, and hold him there. the dance and motion of it is almost serpentine in nature. of course, again, i absolutely recognise the desperation with which crowley is evidently acting, and there's no part of me that thinks that this is done out of anything but the most deep-seated, painful, aching love, but it's... still uncomfortable. i don't see any romance in this, personally, at all.

that doesn't diminish the romantic feelings fuelling it, however, but it's not the kind of kiss, i think, you would expect to see from someone intending to romance someone into remaining with them...? of course it's more than possible (a certainty really, depending on the hc; ymmv) that crowley has simply never kissed anyone before, and just simply doesn't know... what to do? and maybe that explains why he doesn't move, doesn't actually... do much of anything, whilst kissing aziraphale. but we know crowley has seen at least one stereotypically romantic film, and presumably has seen romantic kisses throughout history. so to me, it kinda begs the question of - if a typically-romantic, climactic, show-stopping snog wasn't the intention here, what was?

i put this in a photoset when the parallel had struck me, as they often do, at 2am; there was a huge emphasis played, in crowley and aziraphale's first truly meaningful encounter post-eden, on aziraphale's first temptation. something that he obviously enjoyed for millennia to come, and has a huge impact on him as an angel and as a person.

additionally, someone else posted at some point soon after s2 aired that the way aziraphale devours a whole bloody cow is reflective of the fact that, at the time, he didn't realise he was starving. apply this to the kiss, and we can imagine what kissing crowley would mean for him in turn. if aziraphale succumbed to the ox-rib temptation, and likely other temptations that followed afterwards, it would make sense that crowley might - might - resort to a similar method in getting him to stay, at a point when all else has failed, and crowley thinks he has no other option left.

i'm in two minds as to whether crowley meant the kiss, full-chest, to actually be a temptation (for me, it makes his characterisation even more nuanced and complex, so i'm largely on the side of it having been intentional, i'm afraid), but the way that he pulls back afterwards, and waits for the verdict, strongly suggests to me that it might have been.... waiting/hoping? for aziraphale to change his mind. that if it was a temptation, that he pulls away hoping that aziraphale will declare himself to remain on earth with crowley.

i realise the above may be a point of contention, and accept that - tbh, i just enjoy exploring the possibility. and even if crowley hadn't intended it that way, i think aziraphale certainly may have seen it that way (which again, for me, is in line with aziraphale's development starting in s1 with resisting crowley's insistence that he kill the antichrist etc.). but again i'm getting ahead of myself-

so wham, in with the kiss. aziraphale obviously reacts initially in shock (no, i don't think it's revulsion, but it's certainly surprise and likely a bit of the ole 'what the fuck'); he keeps his eyes open, his eyebrows drawn together in a frown, his posture is stiff, and his hands flail. but then... he melts into it. more than melts into it - he returns it. his eyes close, his face relaxes, and his hands come up, hesitantly and tentatively pressing into crowley's back. there does come a point during the kiss, however, where aziraphale's hands detach from crowley's back, and return to flitting around like he's unsure of what to do with them. at which point crowley finally releases him, and breaks the kiss.

a combination of aziraphale not physically pushing him away, and even proceeding to draw crowley in, with tenderness? to crowley, i can imagine he breaks the kiss hoping ever so slightly that whatever it was meant to be or convey - temptation, whatever - made aziraphale change his mind. that this last-ditch effort was enough to make aziraphale stay. he pulls back, and almost seems expectant of some kind of result.

aziraphale's immediate reaction, once the kiss breaks, is not so static. he falls back out of crowley's clenched fists, and his face takes to unadulterated heartbreak and despair, but ultimately seems to be rooted in panic...? shock? aziraphale also pointedly looking out towards the doors is telling, because i don't think it's wholly left his mind about who's waiting outside, and the position that he's now been put into - where he has to reconcile this really quite distressing experience with everything that has come before it.

by god does aziraphale cycle through some emotions here. he can't even look at crowley whilst he processes this maelstrom that's going on - sorrow, longing, confusion, and pure shock - and stumbles over his words trying, i think, to find the right ones to say. the kiss, i think, has very nearly done its job; aziraphale is clearly conflicted, but i think struggling to find a way to express that he wants this, but he still can't stay. trying to anchor himself to something, to a decision, that won't destroy himself or crowley in the process.

however, before he even gets that far, there is a really key moment where his expression abruptly changes, almost like he's realised something. in that moment, it's where he finally makes eye contact with crowley, and for an infinitesimal moment, aziraphale seems to eye him with something like... betrayal? disbelief? and that's where, unfortunately, i think the temptation element comes in, because i think aziraphale recognises it (or at least, thinks he does). and possibly recognises that, from aziraphale's perspective, crowley has resorted to something that he knows nearly always works on aziraphale, trying to force his hand into doing something that aziraphale has already expressed he will not - and presumably cannot - do.

but beyond that; i've said before whilst kisses do not feature in austen's literary works, aziraphale is hardly ignorant of the trope that a kiss - typically - in romantic fiction can carry weight as a declaration of love. has aziraphale ever idly wondered on what it would be like to have a first kiss with crowley? yeah, probably. but arguably what crowley has done is taken that - taken something that is precious, tender, meaningful, and cannot be taken back and redone - and turned it into something heartbreaking, possibly manipulative, and overall - frankly - something ugly.

aziraphale even gets a little smirk on, because in that moment i think he's genuinely angry at crowley... for any/all of the above. he seems so plainly resentful and appalled by what he thinks crowley was doing, thinking that aziraphale wouldn't see through it, and resorts to his textbook bitchiness in the guise of a sarcastic and sardonic smile. and even his body language - he exhales sharply in a small huff, his shoulders relax and his posture straightens, and he even bears his teeth slightly the smallest of snarls. and then, of course, he delivers the fatal blow of "i forgive you".

i know there have been a fair few interpretations of this line, and what aziraphale was saying with it. mine, personally, is very simple; this is how aziraphale can basically get away with telling crowley to go fuck himself. in s1, he says it in a way - responding to crowley's rather painful line about aziraphale being 'so clever, but so stupid' - that almost feels, on the surface, as if it's intended with benevolence and kindness... but is instead saying 'fuck you, that hurt. so i'm going to say this in return knowing it will hurt/annoy you in turn.'

and tbh, i don't think it's any different in this moment of the final fifteen sequence either. aziraphale is clearly hurt (once he delivers the line, you can see his face shift once again back into soft sorrow) and clearly angry. he is lashing out in a way befitting his 'bit (see: lot) of a bastard' streak, because he perceives it to be striking at something that resembles a weakness, or sore point, for crowley. it's also a clever insomuch that should anyone ever overhear him, he's being his devout angel self... but to him and crowley, it's absolutely a code that they both patently understand.

crowley then seems to just... accept that nothing has changed/it didn't work, and simultaneously rolls with the gut punch that was "i forgive you", like he's not even really surprised that aziraphale had that response to give him. he sighs, in a way that practically vocalises 'disappointed but not surprised', and succumbs to the inevitability of them not having (yet) the happy ending that he'd perhaps hoped. he turns, tosses "don't bother" over his shoulder, and leaves the shop.

i think "don't bother" could be taken multiple ways; if we accept that crowley actually knows the underlying subtext in "i forgive you", it could him saying, essentially, 'don't waste your breath, we're done/i'm going'. if he takes it literally, it could be 'i'm a demon, as you've so clearly pointed out, don't bother trying'... or 'i'm not sorry or asking for forgiveness, i did what i felt was right'.

last little bit before i close off here (i'll do an epilogue for the last bit of the sequence, up until credits roll; there's too much to try to squeeze into like two gifs and a couple of paragraphs):

when crowley leaves, aziraphale most obviously looks desperate himself, panicked, and heartbroken... i'm even somewhat sure that he's about to call crowley's name, or a simple "no" (this bit is next on my 'lipread' list) and stops himself. his lip pouts, he's breathing heavily, and whilst - by god - his eyes are a watery mess throughout the entire sequence, this is probably as close as he gets to shedding actual tears. there's still some residue confusion, like 'what the fuck just happened, that's not how that was supposed to go'.

it's clear that aziraphale is generally distressed, and he certainly looks this way... just before the point that his hand raises to his lips. the way it's so shaky, and hesitant, the wide-eyed, shocked stare before rapidly blinking, perhaps both in disbelief and also to rid himself of the tears building? and then, whilst his fingers are almost trying to imprint the kiss even more, he lowers them and reveals his face stiffening into a sneer (jaw and nose tightens, eyes become more hooded, eyebrows draw together).

now, i'm in two minds as to who this sneer is directed at - is it at crowley, because of the same reasons he may have said 'i forgive you'? or is it at metatron, for putting him in this position in the first place? honestly, i think it's the former; aziraphale seems to have almost all but forgotten the metatron, and his reaction to metatron returning to the bookshop would support that. his head turns so quickly to the door when it opens, and that hope and surprise quickly disappears when he realises it's not crowley... turns away, most likely to wipe his eyes (even possibly his mouth), before turning back to the metatron to answer as to crowley's reaction.

which - and i'll leave off with this, because it'll follow neatly into the epilogue post - seems odd. metatron has presumably seen crowley come out of the shop, and even if they don't exchange a look, let alone words, he can clearly surmise that negotiations went a bit sour if crowley has left without aziraphale... if it wasn't obvious by now, it's seems to be a very blatant, and yet artfully delivered ploy. whether the motive was to separate them out of fear/trepidation, or just simply get aziraphale back in heaven under his thumb without crowley's influence, it's clear that the metatron never intended - nor thought it plausible - that crowley would agree to return to heaven. his next lines certainly cement that thought, and i think might have registered to aziraphale too.

i'll be back at some point ciao

[redwhitebuddie]

this is not something id usually post but why not!

ive been on a queer movie kick lately, and wanted to give a few reviews and recommendations of some lesser known ones so i can spread the word because some of these are complete hidden gems!

Beautiful Thing | 1996

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

i rated this movie four stars. not because it is outrageously deep or new or profound. but of how it’s so particularly captured such a subculture of life, and can make even the worst things seem joyful. the relationships, even outside of the main romance, were also nuanced and detailed, and it felt like you knew all of the characters from people in your own life. ithink the best way that I can describe it is that it was endearing in a really normal way. and the last shot is perfect.

Shelter | 2007

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

i have rewatch this movie twice since I originally have seen it. once again, this movie really captures a particular person’s life and it’s so much more about life than it is just the romance. It felt like a natural connection, the characters had chemistry, and i was just giggling a lot of the time. im a sucker for a found family movie and this really hit the spot. i did cry the first time. 

Latter Days | 2003

⭐️⭐️⭐️

this movie was interesting. I really enjoyed the main characters connection with his best friend and I found most of the scenes totally normal early 2000s stuff. the romance was good, the chemistry was there most of the time, and I was rooting for them after one of the big events later in the movie. I watched this after the first two and my expectations from those put me at too high a bar, and just this one fell in comparison. 

Birdcage | 1996

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

this movie was a pleasure. i absolutely love Robin Williams, and I think his performance in this was great. I love queer movies that involve drag, as that is such a big portion of queer culture. I thought the premise was interesting enough to keep me connected, I felt like it had a logical chain of events that culminates in an interesting watch. there were some points where I felt like it was dragging on too long, or the joke was repeating itself too much however, I think some parts of it absolutely captured queer culture in a way that makes me have to appreciate it. I definitely recommend.

Shiva Baby | 2020

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

this whole movie was centered in one house, 99% of it was just scenes in this home from a funeral which on paper, sounds like it could make it boring but I really enjoyed watching this movie. rachel is so talented and her performance in this movie was great and I think this role was perfect for her. I’m a big fan of slice of life and this was definitely that. but also extremely dramatic and messy and complicated in the best way. 

Theater Camp | 2023

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

as someone who did not grow up in theater, but had friends that did, this movie was absolutely incredible. the characters were great, and knew when and how to make fun of itself, while still taking itself seriously in someways. their performances throughout the whole thing are great. this movie is really stuck with me for one reason or another, i think it’s gonna be a new go to comfort movie.

The Four-Faced Liar | 2010

⭐️⭐️⭐️

if I’m being honest, this movie wasn’t great. but when you’re trying to find sapphic films that aren’t historical or depressing, it’s really hard to be picky. It’s a dramdy at its finest. interconnected and messy relationships, slightly insufferable characters then sprinkle in some cringe you get this movie. but sometimes the drama is what you need. and there’s also movies that you need to make fun of while also paying half attention to, if you’re looking for that this is your pick.

[justlemoney]

From your character ask game for the Cars movies! Zero obligations to answer, but I myself love doing these.

Im not going to send you a character. Ill ask you instead to pick two for yourself under certain criteria.

1) A character that you were inatantly drawn to on your first watch. The character that ultimately and initially became your favourite.

2) A character grew on you over time and over several reruns of the movie(s). Also please tell me why this occured. It fascinates me.

Brace yourself, theres a few!

1

2

3

10

12

13

16

18

20

21

22

24

25

26

Im so sorry I cannot remember what they were! I just wrote down the numbers. Love your blog!

Alrighty! This is gonna be fun, also I love this request- thank you so much honestly (⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ

Characters I have chosen (it's 3, I couldn't decide on the first criteria, so this is gonna be quite a long post):

For the first criteria we have Strip 'The King' Weathers and Finn McMissile

And for the second criteria we have Francesco Bernoulli.

-> When I first watched the second movie of the Cars-Trilogy I mainly focused on the whole espionage thing that was going on, and less on the World Grand Prix racing. Therefore I didn't pay much attention to the other racers individually. And at first I did not like Francesco at all. He reminded me too much of Lightning, when Lightning was a rookie and I didn't like that. Bernoulli gave me, as mentioned, similar vibes as rookie Lightning, the vibes of the whole 'being a one-man-kind of show' thing. Francesco came across as a cocky, flirtatious, over confident character with a high ego. (At least for me ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ)

But after I rewatched the movie several times, I started to like him more. (Well and maybe some fanfictions had their influence as well-) I began to think more about him, about his way on and off the track, his relations and so on. I saw that, despite his seemingly high ego, he is indeed a kind soul. For example how he seems to like the fact that his mother is his 'biggest/greatest' fan, and he is open about that too. I have a feeling some other racers would be embarrassed to see their family members, especially their mother, cheering for them. But he doesn't mind it. (Alright- this turned out longer than expected-) ⊂⁠(⁠(⁠・⁠▽⁠・⁠)⁠)⁠⊃

NOW- let's get going with the rest of your 'Character Asks' request (⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ

I am gonna go in the following order for each number: Strip Weathers, Finn McMissile, Francesco Bernoulli

1) My first impression of them

-> A racer with great potential, that is also blue and works for an agency with a Dino as a logo. (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

-> Uiii cool looking, normal, spy guy. Actually, scratch that- a wild traumatized appeared (Pokemon reference intended)

-> Rookie Lightning McQueen but make him Italian and take away his fenders

2) When I think I truly started to like them

-> When he told off Lightning at the beginning of Cars 1. No elaboration.

-> Right at the start of Cars 2, due to the whole entire chasing scene.

-> After rerunning the movie several times, and fanfiction-

3) A Song that reminds me of them

-> 'Gossip' by Måneskin

-> 'Set it off' by Skillet

-> 'Iconic' by Simple Plan

10) Describe the character in one sentence

-> Silly country boi that loves racing and his wife (and sponsor.) ⊂⁠(⁠・⁠▽⁠・⁠⊂⁠)

-> Bisexual- I am sorry- British secret spy agent with trauma.

-> Italian racer that is shamelessly flirting (and in love) with McQueen

12) Sexuality hc!

-> Bisexual or Unlabeled (already mentioned in another ask)

-> Gay- Bisexual ʘ⁠‿⁠ʘ

-> *clap clap, finger guns* Pan. (⁠☞⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)⁠☞

13) Your favorite friendship they have

-> Him and Tex/Him and Junior

-> Him and Tomber

-> Him and McQueen

16) A childhood headcanon

-> Never liked playing/interacting with other kids

-> Grew up somewhere in Germany

-> Used to steal- eh I mean borrow, Mama Bernoulli's cosmetics

18) How do you think they were as a kid?

-> Shy and reserved, didn't know how to connect with others around him

-> Bubbly and happy, always in action, until some trauma happens (Explanation in 22)

-> Outgoing and enthusiastic, loved to brag about Mama Bernoulli's delicious food (he still does that)

20) A weird headcanon

-> Had a goth/punk phase as a teen. (⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠)

-> Once needed to plan a wedding for a Spy-Mission, as part of a cover

-> He knows how to knit and sew. (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠) Mama taught him (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

21) When do you think they were at their happiest?

-> Whenever he is/was on the track or with Lynda/Tex, and later on whenever Cal or Junior are around, oh and when he met Doc Hudson (⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ

-> Training Academy with Leland and when he was/is with Mater/Holley and or Tomber

-> Also while racing, around his fellow racers (The other WGP racers), and of course when he is with his Mama

22) When do you think they were at their lowest?

-> When he crashed at the Tiebreaker race, and during middle school

-> After his mother's death, and later when Leland passed

-> After a harsh break up, and unlucky for him, his Mama was very ill at the same time too (she got better of course)

24) What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone

-> He once wanted to commit. (I'm sorry, I'm dumping so much trauma on the poor guy) Never told anyone. Not even his parents found out. Not even Lynda or Tex know, he keeps that secret to himself and he will take it with him into his grave.

-> He will never tell anyone, how exactly his mother passed, only he knows the real reason and he is gonna keep it that way

-> He used to eat flowers when he was bored, and occasionally he still does that. Of course he isn't gonna tell anyone, his Mama doesn't know either

25) When do you think they acted the most ooc?

-> When he met Doc for the first time and was alone with him. I don't know what kind of hyperfixation suddenly hit him, but he suddenly became all excited and bubbly. I mean his Idol was in front of him. (I am sorry I couldn't think of any movie scene that seemed ooc for him)

-> That one scene in Cars 2 in Japan, where he fought with some of the lemons. There is this one scene, one split second, where he was shocked to suddenly be rammed

-> Also in Japan, during the race on the dirt part of the track. We all know he lost his momentum there due to not knowing how to properly drive in dirt. That was the one moment his self-confidence/his ego took damage.

26) When do you think they were being 'themselves' the most?

-> Honestly, on the track, with Lynda and Tex, with other friends, with his nephew and so on

-> Around Leland/Tomber, and with Mater/(Holley)

-> With his fellow WGP racers, especially with Lightning

AND DONE (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

This was fun to write, took me about an hour plus and I loved it! (⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ

Thank you so much for this, it really got me into my thoughts and just- thank you! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

[batsplat]

this is an insane question to ask lmao but are there any riders you’ve noticed through the years who are like…nice to the umbrella girls hahaha. I’m generally not tooooo bothered abt them, like yeah I think it’s sexist, but I can also imagine that if I’d been into motogp at 19 I probably would’ve tried to be one 💀 but like sometimes I feel bad the riders just straight up ignore them :( is there anyone who talks to there umbrella girls? I’ve noticed Cal Crutchlow (random ik but I’m rewatching 2015 lmfao) doesn’t rly spray them with champagne which seemed polite of him lmao. And I saw a comment somewhere that Casey had his wife be his umbrella girl which is cute if tru <3 Ik Vale’s gf / mother of his kids was also an umbrella girl so like…obv he had to be talking to them sometimes hahaha. SORRY this question is so random but actually no one’s rly weighed in on this on Reddit or anything so im curious

nothing insane about this question but, and I'm aware this gets me a D for feminism, this is quite honestly an aspect of the sport that makes me actively uncomfortable enough that I just try not to pay attention to it. I get that if you have them around, you're right in that it is probably nicer to interact with them but also like... idk, I'd probably be minded to ignore them too on the grid before competing, and I just can't really give any points for men spraying these women with champagne on podiums. there's definitely quite a few blokes who do it, which I notice insofar as I usually just look away. the one vaguely positive example I can come up with is indy 2008, where a very cold and very wet valentino has to shed his jacket before headed on the podium (which quite honestly I would simply not do) and gives it to one of the women. she takes it off again at some point (I would also not do this) and then I am once again reminded of how weird it is that these women are half naked in the cold and the wet

with casey, yeah, his wife did do that, though this is also another thing that I have very 'eh' feelings about. they met when both of them were still young but she was very young, and she's following him around the world at an age where she just should not have been doing that. I'm not calling casey a bad person over it etc etc etc, I think this is a case where you needed some actual adults to step in and tell them that this just was not going to fly. preferably her parents. this isn't a knock on anyone who feels differently, it really isn't... but I just struggle to enjoy watching this girl constantly hold umbrellas for some bloke, rather than doing literally anything else with her time

again, this is absolutely nothing against the ask, it is interesting and I get the impulse! I'm just the worst person possible to get an answer from because I actively attempt to turn off my brain whenever I am perceiving a grid girl. which, again, I am also extremely aware isn't a particularly great approach. just ignoring the few women who are present on my screen for the sake of my own comfort is far from ideal. but that's where I'm at

[shewholovestoread]

GYEONGSEONG CREATURE PART 1 - THE OVERVIEW (PART 1 OF 2)

Good news: I finished Gyeongseong Creature Part 1 last night, in one sitting.

Bad news: Now I have to wait till the 5th of January for the remaining episodes.

Plot: Based in Korea in the 1940s while it struggles under the Japanese occupation, a group of people enter a hospital to look for someone only to discover that a missing person is the least of their concerns with a literal monster on the rampage.

Cast: Park Seo-joon, Han So-hee, Wi Ha-joon, Kim Soo-hyun (Claudia Kim), Jo Han-chul, Kim Hae-sook, Ji Woo, Im Chul-soo, Choi Young-joon

The Overview

I went into this show pretty blind outside of the basic gist of the plot, I expected a run-of-the-mill creature feature and the show definitely delivers in that respect but it also gives us characters worth rooting for even if they don't always agree with each other and strong and complex women across the spectrum.

I know there are some who are a little annoyed about the shorter season (10 episodes instead of the usual 16-episode season) and while I understand the frustration, I think the shorter season was the only way to handle a story like this.

Another thing that is a little frustrating is the decision to split the season into 2 parts, so part 1 dropped with 7 episodes and the remaining 3 episodes will drop on the 5th of January. I knew about the split going into part 1 and.... I don't hate it. The way part 1 ends makes it bearable. It's not quite a cliffhanger (on the cliffhanger scale, this was positively kind) And that way I can do a full rewatch and then watch part 2, making it a more complete experience.

There is no respite in this show, once the story gets going and it gets going pretty quickly, there is no break in the tension. There are no filler episodes. The pace is also consistent throughout all 7 episodes, so it feels more like a very long, stressful film instead of a 7-episode show and I think that works in its favour.

The narrative is also very streamlined, we have very clear narrative arcs that we're following. The first episode opening voice over can be a little tedious but this is an original show (as in not based on a webcomic), so I could deal with that. The writer has done a great job balancing the time they spend with the people inside the hospital and those outside, coupled with competing motives even when people are seemingly on the same side. And the fact that all of this easy to follow is no small feat. This is one of the tightest, most cohesive shows I've seen in a while.

Gyeongseong Creature has one of the most visually striking opening credits and it's worth paying attention to. Outside of the visual appeal, there are a lot of clues/foreshadowing to be found there. The credits also add to the unsettling atmosphere of the show. 10/10.

The show takes place in Korea under the brutal Japanese occupation. I suggest paying attention to the language the characters use (Korean vs Japanese) because it can really give you insight about the character or the context of the conversation. When you're watching the show, there are conversations, where if you're not paying attention, you won't understand why the atmosphere is so charged. To live in a place, where the mere act of speaking in your own language could mean getting brutally beaten became an act of rebellion. It adds a whole other level of nuance and I loved that.

The show also doesn't shy away from the cruelty of the Japanese occupation, the sheer callous way that the local population was treated. It also brings in the medical experiments that the Japanese scientists conducted on the local people (both in China and Korea) Their attitude is perhaps the most chilling (I was cheering when the monster got loose)

It also makes you question who the monster actually is, the literal monster (the person who was turned without their consent) or the people facilitating this, the ones conducting these 'experiments'. Everyone from children to old people were fair game in their twisted quest for progress.

More in Part 2.

[sharp-tooths]

Ok ok hang on cause ive been thinking about something in tristamp and i havent seen anyone else talk about it so i wanna ramble about my source of brainrot-

Tristamp rant w/ spoilers under the cut w/ some minor trimax/98 tidbits

And i cant believe no ones talked about it yet? Or maybe i just havent seen it, but in trigun stampede when Vash is fighting Livio on the sandsteamer and Livio kicks Vash away before Wolfwood gets to him and ya know how vash doesnt immediately get back up?

Well I thought that was kinda weird, considering youve got a guy whos clearly not there mentally with two automatic guns willing to shoot anyone who gets close to him, theres no way vash wouldnt get right back up to continue trying to stop him, but maybe hes trying to give wolfwood his chance, right? But then why does he stay down when Livio aims the gun at himself? For someone who can react fast enough to shoot a bullet out of the air with perfect aim, and wants to save everyone, why didnt he get up to stop him?

So in each rewatch of the show, i would keep looking, and i realized. Its another one of those small details that isnt ever acknowledged or talked about, but if you watch, Livio kicks Vash in the left side of his chest, and when Vash sits back up, he has his hand up over that side of his chest

We still havent clearly seen whats going on on the left side of Vash's chest in tristamp, but since theres clearly at least a scar there, and in trimax/98 he has a metal grate, its easy to come to the conclusion that whatever happened to the left side of his chest was(is) bad, if livio kicking him kept vash down long enough to be unable to save him from killing himself

I know its one of those things you can easily look over, as that would seem like a normal human reaction to having your chest kicked hard enough to send you flying back several feet, but taking into account that Vash is a plant with supernatural healing, and in episode 10 he just basically walks off a gunshot to the gut AND in ep 12 when hes shot down with MULTIPLE bullet wounds he still gets back up fairly quickly (considering a human would most likely be down and out for the count with 4(?) bullets in em) so im wondering if maybe in tristamp theyre even paying attention to the old injuries vash got that were bad enough to Scar a Plant that can Heal himself, and/or maybe how the metal implants in his body could affect him??

Cause i did also notice that tristamp vash had less visible physical scarring, but more metal implants, and im thinkin maybe theyre leanin into the "healing powers" plants have, meaning that maybe plants dont scar as easily as humans, like when wolfwood drinks his vials and ends up 100% fine after being turned into swiss cheese with no scarring (a separate post about conrad being a plant scientist) which ALSO means that any scars Plants DO get, means that it was REALLY. REALLY BAD. Also a separate post about trimax vash possibly going through a litteral blender to end up with those scars as a plant.

Aanyways im done chewing on tristamp for rn im falling asleep

[nalyra-dreaming]

im sweating no one has asked it yet. i have been sitting on an ask for a while that suddenly seems a lot more plausible and therefore worthy of asking. I also have a couple of things that caught my attention.

1785 refering to nicolas and lestat joining the theatre makes a lot of sense. I mean what else can go there? Nothing. Non of the characters (in the show) have anything important happen around that time. Plus it makes sense for lestat to rise through the ranks of the theatre over the course of years instead of several months.

!!!if nicki is there he needs to be cast which means we also meet him way before we thought we would. !! Also that might mean that the other unexpected character from the vc is Nicki!

This also means that the books are a lot more condensed than we originally thought. And if the joining of the theatre is in s2 what from tvl will they add as well and what will they leave for a comprehensive tvl 3rd season? Tho i have to say that it would make sense to put tvl partially in another season because i just cant see how you can properly adapt that book to only 8 40min episodes, there is just too much happening.

Uhhm more chaotic thoughts......

Oh yes! That ask i had been sitting on.

2. so about a week or so ago i was doing some writing and suddenly i had this thought. You know how we have been speculating that dubai is in the merric era and that lestat maybe in a coma in another room? And how we will find this out at the end, which then leads us into s3? Like they show us unconcious lestat and fade out? Yeah what if they open with it tho. What if the first episode starts on a shot of Lestat, in dubai, unconcious. Actually this makes no sense cause that would ruin louis further narrative before daniel has even gotten his hands on it. And like it would have been sort of hinted in the synposis right with "with the apperance of an unexpected factor" or something vague like that? The reason im telling you this anyway is because; how can there be flashbacks from lestat if he, or some representation of him isnt there? Did he write diaries too? We know there was a paragraph of the wolfkiller in one of the claudia diaries. I think someone had discovered that in a frame back in november or something. I dont quite remember and i couldnt find it upon rewatching, but maybe i should pay closer attention.

3. I also realised we know quite some things about lestats timeline already. I dont know if anyone has mentioned this already. So i had been rewatching episode three, the bit where lestat offers the tickets to 'donazettis comic masterpiece' the opera i dont remeber the name of. He describes having met donazetti and having seen the premier 73 years ago in Salle Ventadour. Salle Ventadour is in Paris, 1917-73= 1844 which means he was a vampire and hasnt left paris yet. Is this takingplace in lestats era before turning nicky where he is going to all these society events as gentleman death and meets armand? No obviously not, that would make nicky 60ish by the time he is turned. So its after, its probably in that time just before he decides to go seek marius. The time in which nicky, post vamp transformation grows to resent and distance himself from lestat even more. What if lestat tries to distract himself from his nicki who is getting more and more antagonistic as the years, in this case , go by, by going to operas and stuff? It would make sense for lastat to hold hope for a long time, to endure for a long time (you saw how fast time started passing in season 1 as soon as the vampirism hit) It would also make sense for lestat to take decades to find marius. So timeline!!

1760= lestat born >(lestat gets the green pendent form the marquise)> 1884ish 24 yo= nicky and lestat run away to paris (maybe the wolfkiller happens in the same year) >> 1785 25yo=nicky and lestat join the theatre >> 1794 (middle of the french revolution, girls(gn) what a time to be turned into a vampire)= lestat is kidnaped and turned into a vamprire, im not actually sure they are going to show that in too much detail as they have already talked about it. > i think gabrielle gets turned before the FRev ends and nicky between 1800 and 1810, that would make 1 century before Louis > 1844= lestat sees the premier of DON PASQUALE DONIZETTIS COMIC MASTERPIECE, i remember! Nicki is turned, but lestat is not out of paris so nicki is not dead yet.> between 1844 and 1909/10 there is a fallout with nicki, lestat leaves paris, looks for marius, nicki dies, marius is found, those who mist be kept, lestat goes to america in very old clothes that he doesnt bother to change until louis tells him to. (If not for his father why does lestat go to america here?)>>1910=lestat arrives in new orleans.

That was all i have for today, damn, i hope that made some sense:) And I hope you have a nice day!!

Yes!! You made sense, I just answered an ask also theorizing in regards to the changed structure (but I didn't combine them because would have been too long^^ and also:)

1785 also marks the point in time where Armand would have needed to vacate Les Innocents with his coven, since the bones were relocated to the catacombs in 1786. That must have been quite the change for him - no matter how it happens, and it changes some of the story of The Vampire Lestat already!

The "mistake" (what they called it but while that may be true I don't know if I should believe them^^) of the diary entry being part of Lestat's story is in episode 4, where Daniel thumbs through one of the diaries. It could be used to give us a part of Lestat's story, yes, but... you know, I bet we will see Lestat in a coma towards the end of the season, and I could easily see it beeing Armand who is taking Daniel there to show him - and Louis might use that moment to try to kill himself. (I would love that. Can you imagine Armand being with Lestat down there and slowly realizing what's happening, and then Lestat's eyes opening?????? PLEASE^^)

Yes, I also was thinking about that the other day, but you are totally correct, and I haven't seen much about this either. >> As you correctly point out the remark to the premier is particularly interesting. The date of said premier was January 3rd 1843. It has already been theorized that Lestat's turning was likely during the Reign of Terror, as he himself said he was turned in 1794. For him to be staying in Paris for such a long time after the turning... that is quite the change. (If we take it as him staying, rather than him returning at some point, which is also possible I suppose) the ties must have been very strong. What if... what if Nicolas actually was successful, too, and then couldn't be anymore since he became a vampire, too. And yes, Nicolas must've been turned (just) prior to 1810 (if we take the 100 years literally) and after Gabrielle, but that still makes a few years in which he would have mourned Lestat?! Which makes me also think the relationship between them will actually be portrayed as even deeper. What if there is an echo to what is happening to Louis later... what if there is more to Nicolas' depression than we thought? And also... I think for me it all depends a bit on where Armand was during that time. What if Armand went back to Rome for a bit? The Roman coven is gone after all when Lestat gets there, only some vagabonds around... What if Armand went there when Les Innocents was closed, realized that Santino had abandoned his teachings and it all crumbled there before he returned? But yes, I also think that Lestat's travels likely took place between 1844 and 1910 - and I also think that they kept Marius and TwmbK more or less unchanged (at least for now).

I personally cannot wait to see where they take these changes... there is so much already in there, so much set up. I've said it before, they not only have done their homework but they are also fearlessly rearranging, and I love it. AND they must have a bigger plan already worked out, because there’s just... too much details already. Too many little things. Choices.

I love it.

[gettingfrilly]

Hello, sorry if this is random but I was wondering if you could give some advice for writing fanfics? I’m pretty new to writing them, and feel very unconfident about my writing skills.

oh gosh, im flattered you think im a good person to go to for advice with this. I'll do my best to say something helpful.

General writing tips:

Read! and not just fanfics. it's the second best way to improve your craft overall.

Write! this is the number one best way to improve your writing. practice practice practice, even if you're not going to upload it anywhere. even just sitting down to write a few paragraphs of whatever comes to mind is good practice.

Be intentional in your writing. Why did you have that character say that? why did you use that adjective as opposed to another? why did you structure that sentence in that manner? what are you trying to get across to your reader with your choices? Think of yourself as controlling a spotlight for a play that the reader's eyes and thoughts have to follow along with.

use a mix of simple, compound, and complex sentences. too many simple sentences makes your prose choppy, but too many compound and complex sentences makes it hard to keep track of what's going on. think of simple sentences as giving the reader's brain a break. simple sentences can also be used for dramatic impact or to draw attention to something important, especially if you put it in the middle of or right after a long winded sentence or group of sentences.

Show AND tell, and be intentional about why you're doing one over the other for a particular scene. Showing is better for imagery and making a scene vivid or dramatic, telling helps you tighten up the pace of a story. it's not too dissimilar from why you should use a mix of simple, compound, and complex sentences.

motivation motivation motivation. What motivates your characters? why are they saying what they're saying and doing what they're doing? Keep those motivations consistent, and their methods of obtaining what they want consistent, or at the very least changing in a way that makes sense for their character growth.

Read it out loud. Reading what you write out loud to yourself is a great way to notice not just spelling and grammatical errors, but where your writing flows well and where it doesn't.

Fanfic tips:

Stay familiar with the source material. rewatch, reread, replay. pay close attention to how everyone's characterized, and refer back to those canon characterizations in your writing. If your characters are in an AU or aged up or down, make sure their characterization still makes sense when you take the source material into consideration.

that being said, don't be afraid to take some artistic license! fanfics exist to give fans something other than the source material to chew on. showing how their characterization would change in different circumstances and settings is part of the fun.

practice mindfulness and self affirmations, i am dead serious. putting something you crafted out into the world is so super vulnerable. be aware of any feelings this brings up, don't judge yourself for having those feelings, and then practice letting those feelings go. remind yourself that no matter what your skill level, every single time you write something, you are still practicing and learning new things. this is true of every writer ever. also i supes promise that if you post something no one ends up engaging with, you will still live to write another day. remember, a human being can survive anything short of being flattened by a steam roller.

that's all i got! would appreciate people adding onto this as sometimes i am but a potato smacking itself against a keyboard. again im super flattered you'd come to me for advice, ty for your interest in my writing <3

[jrueships]

what are the best wire ships?

YALL SHOULD NOT HAVE ASKED ME THIS LMAO 😭😭 i am so not serious to be the header on the wire fandom resurrection front but here we go 😭 i guess 😭! I HOPE URE READY CUS IM NOT LMFAO

FYI this post might contain some spoilers to the show but if u want a nonspoilerly version, just asked! it's pretty old so if yall haven't seen it i 10/10 recommend!!!

im painfully trying a rewatch of the show, i say painfully because my attention span watching a show vs a movie is KAPOOT! i can't stream 30 hours of a show but i can sit thru a 3 hr movie (if i haven't seen it before. Ill still have to get up and stretch sometime in the middle of it but ill be attentive nonetheless). LIKE... sitting thru a long movie holds more accountability to my mind i think. If i can't binge thru multiple episodes and end on a comfy, even number like episode 10, i can't bring myself to sit thru one without checking my phone 😭 BUT IT IS A GOOD SHOW! i just suck at watching shows in general, especially past the 1st season.. idek why.. it's like i get thru the 1st season in a happy binge breeze then BOOM! no more motivation... BUT WHAT I MEANT WITH THIS IS!!!!

This 1st post will mainly just kinda lightly touch on general knowledge from season 1 then expand in detail the more seasons i rewatch (with more ships too probably). This is mainly my fav ships i noticed now or back then

TO BE NOTED THO!! the wire isn't a really shippy show tbh, it's mainly about dynamics thru relationships contributing to story/effect on the story rather than romantic relationships. Every plot point has to have an eventual purpose for the story, every interaction, etc. It has like one will they won't they mainly for angst, and it's for Detective McNulty who has a general 'will he won't he' beat the Irish drinking gene or whatever lmao. If u wanna ship, u gotta really take the few nuggets the show might give u and REALLY turn them to gold. Cus they are gold in general, but it's up to you to make them really profit! IN CONCLUSION.. u gotta be. A little delusional. Hence our first 'ship' introduction..

🩵 stinkum & bird 🩵

... i told you we had to be a little unwell to really indulge. Sorry.

this is a totally biased list so please excuse me. Stinkum n Bird are two of Avon's muscle in the game and they both get outta it pretty quick. Involuntarily, of course, because they're the typa freaks that love it. With these two, you need context clues n connections. Almost EVERY scene Stinkum is in, he's GOT TO bring up his boy Bird. Hell, it might just be every. This is mainly due to the writers knowing the actor of bird is a big shot cameo, so it'd be too expensive to have Bird in a lot of scenes, especially in a TV show budget. And they also knew Stinkum wasn't made to last long so why not just use him as a substitute introduction to Bird's character so we don't have to pay that much for personal appearance in prologue? Bird's supposed to be the 'unhinged' one in the crew, the Crazy Guy. Crude, rude, cruel, & ruthless. Don't have the budget to show it, cheaper to tell it instead. Stinkum's just the hype man to Bird, essentially. Also he has another thing going on that leads to his early demise, but besides that, that's pretty much it. Goes to show how the show wants every dime spent for a strategical reason. Good TV shows need Causation, not 'and then's, but 'therefore' 'so' ETC.

... doesn't mean we can't have fun with it ourselves though. See, The Wire brings you quality entertainment, & it's up to us what we make of that quality to be entertained. Up to our love of the show to keep coming back to it and exploring the prime time possibilities it presented/hinted/hid. Which is a lot since practically every part of it is practical. The beauty of Stinkum n Bird to me is Stinkum being some wide-eyed doe eyed obsessed little freak who woobifies n glorifies n babygirlifies Brutal As Fuck bird because? He's insane. I guess? They both are! This is evidenced in the show, on purpose for plot! But this purpose can be made even better if we make something accidental out of it. Take the gold and spread its profits through smaller amounts, cut the product for bigger prices! LISTEN LIKE.. they made stinkum's character constantly bringing up Bird's name for plot... but him always yammering on about Bird can mean other things...... dare i say... gay things 😈. WHY does he always talk about Bird? For cheap character intro to get us ready when Bird makes his short appearance eventually yea but WHAT ELSE? they're giving us an ELSE without rlly GIVING us an else! Stinkum, who's a bit of a dopey lil goon guy, might have been unknown to a certain shooting danger one night when BLAM! He turns around, not filled with lead, but with awe for the guy he just saw skin a man alive... save HIS skin by dealing with his unforeseen assailant. Stinkum sees a softer side to the craziest, cruelest guy in their group, and has his respect eternally earned. Does Bird ever return it?? We don't know.... Bird never mentions Stink. Which creates more fun for us cus we get bounce off that with whatever the hell we want. It always goes back to the source! IF YOU WANT.. i recommend looking up 'the wire stinkum' / 'the wire bird' and ull find their scenes that show more of their character. I can elaborate on a single ship in more detail if u want, just ask ! trust me, id be MORE than happy to lmao!

🩵 Bird n Omar 🩵

Apparently, thanks to Stinkum, we know Bird n Omar jailed with each other. And STINKUM heard from BIRD that Omar was gay?? Which is like.. ok. Thanks stinkum/bird??? That's a bit.. what do u mean by that... have you, Bird, man whose little scenes he's shown is spewing same sex sexuality slander 99% of the time, Experienced that info Firsthand? Are you. Perhaps. Were you... One of Omar's whole stable of boys he had while locked up at Jess Up 🤨? ...the public needs to know 😈. Is all this talk you have against the lgbt.. perhaps... coming from a bit of internalized Rage 🤨? hm 😼? AND THIS ISNT JUST MY SPECULATION EITHER!! Other wire fans thought this!! They were sus on stinkum n Bird's relationship too!!! hell i GOT that idea from one of the wire's youtube COMMENTS!! yall we see it.. we do. Also Omar is 5'10... Bird is 5'3 at worst (says he's 5'5 but trust me. That is a definite lie.) .. Bird's also Omar's type too (which i find hilarious).. lightskinned. some may say, even, a little bratty BUT HEY! HEY!! im just usin my context clues given to me from THE SHOW ok! dont shoot the messenger bird... Omar looked like he was enjoying Bird getting his comeuppance a little Too well in that police interrogation scene.. i wouldn't be surprised if there was a deleted scene of him saying 'oh what a mouth'... BUT FROM THE SCENE GIVEN TO US THO.. what do you Mean 'bird really knows how to bring it out of people', Omar 🤨? What do you. What do you Mean by That 🤔? something.... explicit 🫣?

ANYWAYYYSS... smthin Bigger.

🩵Avon & Stringer 🩵

u rlly do have to see the show for all of these to rlly land with u tbh, the bigger ones especially bcs when the show has two characters they keep close for long... u know they're gonna be in pain. And u are too. I love avon and stringer man they make me so 😭😭!! One bleeds red the other bleeds green... ones all for family, the other for profession but DAMN IT! He thought he was family too, isn't it? Aren't i... Avon ? If the other ship types were doofy tongue out loyal to the bone tail wagging dumbly following dog Stinkum x asshole cat with claws who Maybeeee has a Slight soft spot for the dog where only HE can scratch it sometimes Bird, or elegant silk n clever streetcat with a semi bitten ear who steals fish with class Omar x rowdy rabid orange tabby cat who jumps at windows trying to eat other cats Bird..... this one is . Opposites attract. Unlikely friends to the end. Unlikely betrayal in bonds. Unlikely.. Unlikely. I don't wanna speak on it too much incase u haven't seen the show. It's just so good, it needs a justification thru watch. Avon and stringer together.. u can just feel the connection. Like these two Were childhood friends and now all this shit is happening to them.. this rift. It sucks!! It makes u wish the old days with them!! It makes u feel like an old head! Makes u feel what they're probably feeling but can't express cus they don't have the power or the pride rn!! I love them. They make me miserable. Avon and stringer were THE powercouple on the wire. They were THE girlboss malewife powercouple takeover. THE adhd bf Autistic bf romance. OKAY??? I just have to tell u the terms, it's up to u to see the show explain it. Watching stringer infodump about whatever smthing new he learned in his community college econ's is so cute. His finance bro business bro interests 😭 Avon acknowledging it and helping him indulge in it!! Making it a giant part of his organization!!! Avon the hardworking son from a long line of feared bad blood incorporating his businesstime consigliere godfather type shit ! Seeing avon get all excited at the bball game, jumping up n stomping the ground when he's winning or losing Lmao. Stringer roasting the competition, joining in on the pettiness. I love them. They're my petty powercouple and I GET TO SAY THEY DESERVED TO KISS EACH OTHER!! And GET MARRIED and LOVE EACH OTHER!!! okay!!! In another life avon is the prideful n stubborn basketball coach for their cc's poor basketball team and stringer is the sexy rich new econ professor who got demoted for being too harsh on his past private college students. D'angelo the spoiled nephew hates going to Stringer's class and hates Stringer even more when he becomes his strict new stepdad thanks to googly eyes at Avon. The coparenting comes with its troubles..

Another big crime dealing (literally) powercouple on the newer side..

🩵 marlo & Chris 🩵SHUTUP ABT CHRIS'S HAIR I TRIED OKAY IM NOT TRYING THAT HARD OKA

this one is mainly dynamic, there are some works for marlo/chris, but it's mainly dynamic exploration or relationship hinting if u squint but kept kinda dim under the surface. What's interesting abt these two is that.. They're just so interesting. It's like.. how Did they meet? WHY is chris so loyal to marlo? Also it's on misinterpretations too cus people might look at chris and think he's the ruthless killer who takes joy in his killings since he's big muscle for marlo's group... but actually he's a very chill (unless ur crime is Bad.) kinda kind n polite guy with a butler-like professional nature in his affable behavior sometimes . VS everyone thinking marlo is some emotionless, bug-eyed freak who just watches from the dark. And he is LMAO. Just like how chris CAN be ruthless, marlo CAN be hauntingly apathetic. But he can ALSO be very petty. I mean, half his Google images are of him looking disgusted LMAO. He's almost always vaguely annoyed, impeded upon, or intrigued. And chris n him Both know the other should not be messed with when pissed. If avon and stringer are the more kind of 'front and center' powercouple at the party, Marlo and chris are the two lonely assholes sitting in the dark corner (uninvited btw) of the party, vaping and judging people. Marlo doesn't drink, so he's just sipping ice water out of a red solo cup telling chris to kill whomever marlo finds insignificant (so everyone) while chris stares at the weather app on his phone, not knowing what to do. I love them in the goofy sense. They're just so awkward. Bruh girl 4 bruh girl. When two mfers with social skills where u can tell it's ok Except there's just smthin kinda Off about them, keeping them from being normL, find each other... the world burns. And it Did. They both have insane trauma and i think they should kiss. Ill def reblog with more abt them when i get to the later seasons rewatch..

🩵 Omar's og crew with him, Brandon, n bailey 🩵

i loved Omar's og little Robin hood crew so much 😭 it's a shame the wire back then didn't know how successful it'd be, so they introduced n had the other members live so short for story. They shouldve had more screen time fr! Doing shenanigans!! i just love the dynamic of Omar n Brandon being best bfs... Omar simping for Brandon n letting his mistakes slide bcs hes down bad for the lightskin.. and then there's lone wolf John bailey who just has to third wheel with them. Bailey is known to just go wherever the money goes, do whatever to get whatever, mix with whatever for whatever, so gotdammit if he has to spend time stealing money n drugs with gay people, he'll spend time stealing money n drugs with gay people!! i guess 😭. he definitely will be using that time to side eye them tho 😭😭. The funny gay couple and the straight man (literally) doing stealing shenanigans.. smh. We were robbed 😭 from their robbing!!!!!!!! i wish we saw more of them (dont get it twisted from all the praise the wire gets, it does have its faults, every show does!).. got to explore them more! We barely get to see Brandon before he dies n we don't even get to see John bailey's end result! Just hear it passing by! SMH!!! they were a cute lil ragtag group and i wanted to see them successful!!! also.. just saying John but... if u stayed n had a threesome instead of going to see ur 'mom', you wouldve lived longer...... probably not that long when you've got avon n his muscle minions after u... but still. You missed out big time bro. It's time to consider switching sexuality sides, methinks !

AS CLOSING SINCE WE'RE RUNNIN A LIL LONG!!

🩵 gay ppl.. everywhere

🩵 The Baltimore fuzz can also be poly excluding kima as platonic <3. Herc n Carver have too many sus conversations to be just bros at this point ... but ill talk more abt them later probably! They're rlly cute tho! And bunk n McNulty have their buddycop banter that's very domestic and assholic because they are domestic assholes. Bunk made lester bow-legged. Bunk ALSO outside of police stuff, has some childhood lore with Omar, of all people. Perhaps Omar had a schoolgirl crush on THE JOCK bunkster, feared star of his... school's game with the stick or whatever lol it sounds cute though! I'll talk more abt the fuzzy side of the show if u want, but they're pretty big so ull see more of that for urself with less explanation needed if u watch it !

🩵 avon's barksdale crew could be a poly powercouple gang takeover !! As could marlo's! With obvious platonic pieces as snoop probably has her own gf n such. Wee-bey is just so beautiful he needs to be a bf!! he needs someone to listen to his fish facts!! Him and stringer probably trade fish facts n finance facts! Avon and his gang kiss <3

🩵 bodie/Wallace have some fans! The stubborn kid playing tough guy to survive trying to steel his heart and the smart kid who's a little too soft and a little too supportive.. it's sweet and sad :( .

🩵 Bodie n poot are cute too. The second coming of girlboss malewife. Lil Kevin had to be in a poly with them or smthin cus there's no other reason why they should keep him along 😭 he was so shit at being muscle. It's not even funny LOL. Poot was also kinda shitty at being muscle too. Lil spoon headass, desperately debilitatingly declining hairline headass. Fuckin poot 😭.. bodie rlly spent his whole life carrying the team tbh. No wonder he's always such a crabby Lil guy! Yall make him do too much! By the time he was 26, he felt 86 probably !!

🩵 there's also cutty n slim charles, n other people that show in the later seasons that i can address later in a reblog, but yea! So far those are my favs mentioned n can be elaborated later! thank u SO much 4 asking, this was SUPER fun n appreciated 🩵🩵🩵 i doubt many ppl will read this n i don't blame yall but TRY if u can.. to watch The Wire if ure ever bored n have some freetime!! it's so good 😭

[adampage]

bestie i have to tell you your tags on things make me scream, sitting at a wedding drunk watching that match how did you cope 😭😭

i spent the entirety of the chamber pulling my cousins to the dance floor, spilling my drink, and then going back to get another one and popping up next to my brother (who watched the whole thing) just to see what match he was on. when he got to the main event he yelled at me to show up so i stopped dancing and the music was very loud and i could barely even hear the sami montreal pop and well anyway the music was so loud that no one could hear me smashing my palm on the table every time roman fucked sami up basically

once elim chamber was over it was pretty much time to leave slkjdgfjshdgfj it was fun tho!!!!! i got so drunk i had a very important heart to heart with my cousin who was getting married, that he needed to always tell his new wife how he was feeling and to never keep anything a secret bc that shit builds up and hurts the relationship if you arent careful but my dumb ass didnt tell her the same thing (to be fair, she was the more popular of the two so it was hard to get her alone). its important

all this to say, alcohol was my best friend i dont think i wouldve had fun if it didnt drink a lil bit bc its the only reason i actually tried to dance and have fun so yes i missed most of the matches and it was hard to pay attention to the main event (like, the wrestling bit) but i caught the narratively important parts of the match so i was very wrecked about it. i DO have to rewatch the main event fully tho. now that im like. Normal

[boypussydilf]

Im literally pointing into the air with my finger randomly for your episode opinions cuz i like your thoughts. 39 and 169 and 300

ihad. a whole thing written out about ep 39,. and tumbltr glitched and deleted it. sigh. lets do this again

39 - the first christmas ep (A part) and The One Where Teaches Everyone How To Clean (B part) !!! This one is just a fun time. its got the aliens not knowing what chrismtas is bc theyre aliens,. tamama being a kid. whatever kururu and aki have going on. Tangent but like it’s really funny that kururu like,. Thinks Aki is hot? I guess? Because its established. in canon. that to keronians humans look weird as hell and kind of creepy. because like. duh. they look drastically different. Like. It’s not supposed to be “Kururu has weird as fuck taste” that’s not the joke they didn’t even think about that it’s just oouuu aki sexy big boob mom etc. But. Kururu canon alienfucker. Anyway what was I saying? Oh yeah it also has Keroro’s deep passion for Cleaning the House, which is always good. He loves that shit. Keroro probably reads blogs belonging to moms and housewives to look for cleaning tips. Its got all that what’s not to like. Fun episode.

169 - PART A IVE OMLY SEEN ONE TIME BUT I LOVE IT. urere is my best fuckin g friend in the whole wide world and it has dororo’s weird thing with driving and it has giroros train autism and it has a good gag and its a good episode. big fan. The b part is the giruru episode but I saw “giroro” and “beautiful girl” in the episode title and opted to only half pay attention when watching lmao

300 - OH THE ONONO ONE!!! i like this episode :) id almost forgotten its yet ANOTHER “Kiruru Going Haywire” story god. Well actually that kiruru system might have been working as intended. Well. They do work as intended half the time it’s just that how they’re intended to work is “kill a bunch of stuff real good” so it just kind of. They go bad no matter what. Ouuu kirurus are so interestiiiiiing!! Also there’s an old guy. i jest onono is cool but ive only seen the episode one time. He and darere - thats the name right darere? Hard to get the names of side frogs straight. Anyway - they would sure as hell have stuff to talk about. “Keron soldiers who have firsthand seen the keron army using vastly unnecessary destruction and violence and they did NOT fucking like it”. Boo keron everyone still hates your pussy!! I dont remember a ton of stuff that happened in this episode i just skimmed thru a few parts to remind myself but its a good episode i gotta be sure to rewatch it :)