#but this was fun to type up!

[quicksiluers]

spoilers under the cut cause I wanted to talk about how repeat viewings of this movie are just...so good

So obviously, with the ending, we know that the killer the entire time was Landor. The first time I finished this movie, I was floored. I couldn’t believe it. Were there clues that I had missed during the movie? and the answer is yes! I’ve gone back and rewatched this movie...3 times now (and read the book which is FANTASTIC, check it out for sure!) and I think one of the biggest things to point out is just how good Bale is. I mean, this seems obvious right? Bale has always been a great actor. But he makes these little choices in scenes that, once you know the ending, it’s like...”wow...how did I miss this?”

I have some screenshots from the movie, starting with this one: 

The start of the movie...now I won’t lie, the first time I watched this, for a moment I DID think he was washing blood from his hands! But then I noticed the leaves in the water and reassured myself that wasn’t the case....but actually, it was! Sneaky Cooper...very sneaky of you. And also in this scene, Landor is looking around. Like he’s checking to make sure no one else is around. 

Then we get to the scene at West Point. And I think Bale is great here because what he is doing is subtle. I think, for the first part of their conversation, Landor thinks he’s been caught. Why else would he be brought here? So when Hitchcock tells him that they are looking for someone to investigate something for them, his reaction is great: 

The screenshot doesn’t do it justice but he has this beat where he lifts up his hand, nods, and just goes “Huh” which is like “Ok...so you don’t know it was me.”. And then he goes on and continues to listen to what they have to say. 

Obviously this news doesn’t shock Landor cause, duh, he killed Fry. And he’s not too broken up about! For obvious reasons! And again, screenshots don’t do it justice, but Bale does very subtle things that you clue into when you watch it with the knowlegd of the ending. Landor is always trying to gather information. Not just for the invesitgation....but also for himself, to see what other people know (and if they know he was involved somehow)

Now he knows that the only person who would have seen him didn’t see him. Small moment again but it plays perfectly because not only does it help the overall invesitgation....it helps Landor know where he stands and what he has to worry about. 

And then we get back to Fry’s body and of course he asks Dr. Marquis about Fry’s head...because he knows he slammed the back of it with...whatever it was he was using, I never got a good idea of what Landor was carrying around. 

This scene, when Dr, Marquis says there is something there and he “missed it” also puts us, the viewer, on tto he idea of Dr. Marquis being....not all he seems to be, which is almost all the characters in this movie if you think about it!

Then we got back to the landing and Landor is looking around. I believe he’s looking around to see if he left any sign of himself behind. And he stumbles upon this foot print. 

I couldn’t find a really good shot of the shoes that Landor was wearing in this movie but from a few angles, it did look like the shape of this footprint matched his footwear. And watching the flashback sequence back when he attacked Fry, he was standing over and behind Fry, so it looks like Landor’s footprint over Fry’s....could be a stretch, but that was my thinking when re-watching!

Then we get to the scene where Poe decodes the message....and then when Poe gives up on the first two lines, Landor basically tells him what is said (cause he knows since he wrote it!) but makes it seem like he’s just helping Poe along....and Poe catches on that Landor knew the whole time

“I had an idea” aka “I wrote the thing I should know what it says”...as a side note, I love this scene. Landor and Poe are just so good. And I love how amused that Landor seems to be with Poe’s way of things. Makes the ending sadder! 

These next to two things, I wouldn’t call them clues...but they are important in another scene coming up. The scene where Landor is looking through Fry’s diary. So we got the necklace (which we know belongs to Fry) and then we have this shot of a covered bridge...

which brings us to what I think is the biggest clue. And they happen so quickly, it’s hard to put all the pieces together if you don’t pause and read it. The scene with Landor looking through the diary.

So I’ll type out what we can see in this diary entry:

“...caded has arrived who knew nothing of the young ladies who would be arriving for the pleasure of our acquitance.  There were some particularly lovely young ladies who we had had our eyes on and had promised a dance under the supervision of our officers. A young lady, who caught my eye, as well as the eye of several other cadets, agreed that she would gives us the pleasure a dance. My fellow cadet Ballinger and his good friend Stoddard had also se-” 

It cuts off there. But I think it’s a good guess that the young lady he is talking about is probably Mattie. And then we get to what Landor has written down as he’s looking through this book:

We have “covered bridge” (which is the bridge they showed a shot of), by the river (bridge was going over the river), necklace (Fry’s necklace), and I believe the last word is “locket”. 

and then the next time we have that shot, the words are: 

“Academy ball” (the ball that Mattie was so excited to go to and the one Fry talks about), and “Followed her” (which when I read that, just...yeah...)

None of that has to do with Fry’s heart. It all has to do with Mattie. Which is exactly what Landor was looking for because he only knew Fry from the necklace. But he knew there were others. And now he has names. A few scenes later, Ballinger is dead. And Stoddard makes a run for it. Now in the book, Landor mentions that he gave himself away to Stoddard cause he went to the mess hall and just glared at the cadet which spooked him. And I think we may have something like that in this movie, but the scene makes you think Landor is glaring at Artemus. But I’m not 100% sure on that so I’ll leave that out. 

So! Those are the breadcrumnbs I noticed on my rewatches. If anyone else has any, I’d love to hear them. But I think a lot of it comes from Bale’s protrayal. I watched an interview with Scott Cooper and he mentioned that they wanted see how far they could go without outright showing their hands on the first watch. And I agree with him that the movie is great on a rewatch because it makes you look at every scene differently. 

Anyway, this was wayyyy too long but I had a fun time. And I must say again, if you enjoyed the movie, you need to read the book! I loved it and it really adds to the movie. There is some stuff in the book where I’m like “yeah...I can see why that didn’t make it” cause the back half....a lot if happening in that back half of the book lol even though I loved it! And you can look for those same breadcrumbs in the book like the movie since Landor is the POV character.

I’m rambling, hope you enjoyed this silly long post. 

[eggwishing]

I ONCE TRIED TO WASH THAT SCUFFED OLD THING WHILE HE WAS TAKING ONE OF HIS NAPS, BUT WHEN I TOOK IT OFF HE WAS WEARING ANOTHER IDENTICAL ONE UNDERNEATH! AND ANOTHER! I GOT THROUGH TEN MORE LAYERS OF THE SAME THING BEFORE HE WOKE UP. I WAS SO FRUSTRATED! WHERE DID HE EVEN GET THOSE FROM? THEY ALL EVEN HAD THE SAME STAINS!!

[aphel1on]

AuDHD is so funny sometimes like what do you mean my hyperfixations/special interests will last for years on end or possibly forever but they will cycle out every month or two with absolutely no transitional period or warning. like i will think about the same topic every day obsessively for 46 days in a row and on the 47th day with no visible cause adhd brain goes "ok! bored of that now" and autism brain goes "dw i got something queued up for ya" and i blast into full blown obsession on some other topic whose mental file folders haven't opened in 9 months. brain's out here treating hyperfixations like a crop rotation. once the dopamine runs out it cycles in another one but once something's in the rotation it never ever leaves. last summer we brought in one from when i was 11. it's so funny to me but frustrating too bc like. i cannot stress enough my inability to predict or control this. or how completely abrupt and random it can be

[ruporas]

trigunned the hades or hadesed the trigun (id in alt)

[starrysharks]

friendship is magic

closeups:

[wuntrum]

long day of portaling 😮‍💨

[wardingshout]

Zelda goes mushroom girl

[hiekka]

cleaning out my sketch closets, did this a while a go when I just wanted to draw these two in something fun

[choccy-milky]

part 3 to my modern AU 💞🍺 (part 1 / part 2)

[moonlightcycle571]

Wouldn’t it be funny if Billy could only give powers to one person at a time, so the Vasquez kids take turns being Captain Marvel Junior (as they still look like kids) and they make everyone thinks it’s one shape shifting child.

Reporter: Captain Marvel, who is this new protoge worth you?

Marvel: you’ve met Junior though?

Mary, who wanted to take over: yeah we talked last week.

Reporter: ah what

At first it’s just Mary and Freddy (mostly Freddy cause he’s really into being a superhero) so everyone thinks Captain Marvel Junior is a shape shifting gender fluid kid and Marvel is a supportive dad.

But then the other Vasquez’s join in the fun

Reporter: Captain, new protoge?

Eugene, in it for shots and giggles: Claire, it’s me, Junior

Reporter: … you’re Asian now?

Eugene: woooooowww

Marvel: that’s low even for you

Reportee: but I-

Eugene: Both Captain and I have lived lives of many genders, colours and have been in many cultures. And yet you shame me for feeling nostalgic and reverting to an ancient form of mine.

Reporter: I- w h a t

It’s sparks a lot of debate of cultural appropriation for shapeshifters in general, with a lot of people invoking Martian Manhunter, fae and other shapeshifters. So naturally Pedro steps up

Captain Marvel and Junior both volunteering at a homeless shelter.

Reporter: … junior?

Pedro: yes?

Reporter: what are you doing

Pedro, making an ancient Mexican recipe he got from the Library in the Rock: making a dish I learned a couple of centuries ago from my then family.

Reporter, really doesn’t want to get cancelled: ok

Naturally this takes a lot of coordination, and a lot of people test them by giving info to one kid, and different info to the other. Solomon sees right through them cause the divine group chat is connected to Billy and the chosen Junior. Things were starting to chill for a bit. Then Darla joined in.

Darla, visibly younger than the other forms: Hi :D

Reporter: why do you keep getting younger and younger???

Darla: :3

At this point the reporter is so done. Are you a child with a lightning emblem on you? You are Captain Marvel Junior. And it seems to work most of the time.

Billy: *gets deaged as Cap*

Reporter: oh junior! New form? This one looks closer to Cap!

Billy: I’m not Junior???

Reporter: *bluescreens*

Bonus:

In a Justice League Meeting

Flash: So is Junior like a mantle? If so why is it only one kid at a time?

Hal: yeah, what do the others do when you take one at a time?

Billy, an absolute troll at heart: what do you mean, it’s the one kid?

Superman: what???

Billy: yeah so Junior hasn’t settled into which form they like the best and switch it up. I think they like it better that way.

Martian Manhunter, troll n2: *nods along* finding ones main form is an important part of self discovery. On Mars, many like to alternate between forms as they could not be tied down to one.

JL: ah

Bonus 2:

Batman: *slowly puts away the ‘Not An Adoption Problem’ Support Group invite*

Bonus 3:

Dudley: please please please please

Billy, fed up: WHY

Dudley: it’ll be so funny.

Billy: you know what, fine!

Later Dudley is given some powers but decides to only let the Reporter see him.

Reporter: … Junior????

Dudley: no one will ever believe you *flies off*

[umblrspectrum]

you'll never guess which movie i finally watched after 2 years of being lazy

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

got a worm nibbling my brain. can someone help me find a piece of obscure media?

webcomic/indie comic from the 2010s. basically a sci-fi short story about a young girl (with red hair?) who was being raised by scientists as part of an experiment. she receives a haircut/has her head shaved, in preparation for her annual brain scan/testing. it is revealed that while her body is human, her "brain" is artificial, made of computer implants throughout her skull and spine. at some point her biological mother (also a scientist on the same campus?) encounters her and is repulsed, viewing her as a machine who has murdered her daughter.

it was very poignant and it bruised my heart and i can NOT find it anywhere

[le-fruit-de-la-passion]

Ok, hear me out, Machine Herald Viktor x Reader AU with this line from Epic,,

Jayce: After everything you've done... how will you sleep at night?

Viktor: Next to my wife.

[ranseur]

actual scene as it happened in the show

[millidew]

i think he deserves the therapy dinosaur

ft. lyra’s own ominous ass chikorita

[aroaceleovaldez]

i am once again thinking about Percy and Annabeth and their respective relationships with their step-parents, particularly how the other views the other's dynamic with their step-parents.

Because there's a really interesting subtle thing that we see which is when Annabeth talks about her step-mom to Percy, Percy's assumption is that Annabeth's step-mom is like Gabe. He just presumes that because that's what's familiar with him and based on his own experiences he assumes their situations are similar.

But then when Percy actually meets Annabeth's step-mom (and her dad) he realizes their situations aren't at all the same. He was expecting another Gabe, but instead he just found a genuinely caring family that was just struggling to find their footing with one another.

The interesting thing is that this implies an inverse - especially with what we know about how Percy and Annabeth describe their experiences. Percy doesn't really talk about Gabe ever. To anyone. Grover knows the whole picture there but he's basically the only one of Percy's friends who does. As far as we know, unless Grover told her at some point, Annabeth doesn't know about Gabe. She knows he was a jerk, but Percy out loud doesn't ever really get into details about it. She knows they didn't get along and eventually Gabe disappeared and Percy basically never spoke of it again. Presumably, Annabeth thinks Percy's dynamic with Gabe was like her dynamic with her step-mom, like how Percy had thought their situations were the same. Especially given we know Percy assumed their situations were the same and likely spoke about it as such if it ever came up.

Like. That's such an interesting tiny aspect of their dynamic that never gets touched upon. Annabeth likely doesn't know about this very core traumatic experience Percy endured before they met because she's operating under the assumption that their family just was a little rocky like hers was.