#eli ever <3

[ineffable-hubbiewubbies]

sorry guys the evervale brainrot is setting in

[waltricia]

Regardless of whether anyone actually reads this, I need to show appreciation for the writing, blocking, and editing of the last scene of 3x03, “Forces of Nature.”

Recently, I noticed that the LW line “this author is captivated” was very specifically placed over a shot of Colin and I knew it was intentionally done to convey the double meaning of the narration being about her and him.

Since then, I’ve realized that the same thing is happening throughout that entire LW narration. And it is fucking BRILLIANT.

So, first of all, this is the transcript of the narration:

“This author believes that all of man’s greatest inventions are nothing more than a distraction from what is most natural to us. Our instincts. The innate animal impulse that is inside even the most sophisticated of us. For when all is said and done, our nature will always win out. It seems Lord Debling’s instinct has led this man of nature to the most surprising pick of the season in Miss Penelope Featherington. Suffice it to say, this author is captivated. For in the battle between man and nature, it is quite clear that the battle is in fact between man and himself.”

Now I’m going to break it down with captioned stills so that you can see which words line up with which frames and I’ll explain what I believe it all means.

“This author” - When it’s first said, it’s on Pen. The second time it’s on Colin. I think there are several meanings here. Firstly, she’s Whistledown and she’s published. He will be, assuming he publishes his travel journals or whatever. Secondly, I think it highlights how they will be united, in the Whistledown storyline along with everything else. There’s a third meaning, but I’m going to get back to it later, once we get to the second use of “this author.”

This is the Innovations Ball, so on the surface, LW is speaking about man-made technology versus the natural world. But with the introduction of “man,” the shot immediately cuts to Colin, so the second layer of the narration is about him. All of Colin’s invented personality traits are a cover, hiding his true self- his sensitivity and his feelings for Pen. Obviously, this echoes what she wrote about him in 3x01, but it’s different. The context is the same, but this time, she’s not speaking directly about him, and really, she may very well not be thinking about him at all in writing it. After all, she still doesn’t know about his feelings for her. But we know. And the feeling of what she’s saying this time is less jarring; more, fittingly, natural. Because he’s starting to confront all of it as well.

In this shot, Colin has been walking across the room to get to Pen. There were people on his right, obstructing his view of her, but as LW says “natural,” Colin passes those people and, though we cannot yet see Pen, we can tell from Colin’s face that he finally clearly can. She is what is most natural to him.

He comes up to her and says that he has a question for her. The narration starts again. But on this shot, it’s only the one word, “our.” Aside from this just being romantic, I think it highlights that the narration is about both of them. But I also think that it’s not just about them. It feels to me as if, metaphorically, it’s written by both of them. Hence, my emphasis on the importance of “this author.”

We cut to our first close-up of Colin in this particular intimate sequence of close-ups. And we’re really in his perspective now, as he’s struggling to manage his feelings.

Again, he had been masking, trying to be like the other “sophisticated” gentlemen.

But a shift is occurring within him.

And this where I really hope there is at least one other person out there paying attention because all of the elements are coming together to tell us something incredible here. We have our beloved Julie Andrews delivering the line with a profound heaviness. We have Kris Bowers’ “Call Me Simon” coming to a close, sounding like a clock striking midnight. And we have the decisive sentiment of the words themselves. I'm convinced that the words “done” and “win out” being said on Pen speak to the finality of Colin’s feelings. If there was uncertainty before, it is gone now and there is no turning back. He is in love with Pen.

But before Colin can say anything else, Debling steps in and takes Pen away to dance.

Side note: Amazingly, I can back up my theory with this shot and another one of my theories:

I had said, when the trailer came out, that when true red shows up behind Colin, that indicates his love for Pen. This is the first time we see that happen.

But anyway, back to Whistledown…

Debling is the literal “man of nature,” while Colin is the metaphoric “man of nature.” Both have picked Pen.

We’ve finally come to the second “this author” and here’s the third thing I wanted to say about it: Possibly my favorite thing about this sequence, is that it acts as a vehicle for the representation of the Polin role reversal. From one end of the Whistledown narration to the other, Pen and Colin literally and metaphorically switch places, seamlessly. They exchange their physical places in the room. She’s the wallflower, then he’s the wallflower. She’s the author, then he’s the author. In a metaphorical sense, they’re both writing this Whistledown piece. This whole sequence serves to show us how Colin and Pen have really been equal this whole time. They’re just star-crossed. It’s like what Luke has been saying in interviews, Colin and Pen keep missing each other. They have brief moments where they eclipse each other and then they slip right past until the next time they orbit around to each other again.

Ok, here’s the final stretch, and it is a fucking fascinating maneuver:

The battle isn’t between Colin and Debling. In fact, Debling doesn’t signify at all here. I’d say there are actually three other battles being referenced: Colin and himself, Pen and herself, and Colin and Pen. The first “man” of that sentence is said on Colin, while “nature” is said on Pen. So in the battle between Colin and Pen- for there is a battle, as Cressida will mention in 3x04 when she says “Eros and Psyche, battling it out”, and also there will be more blatant battling in part 2- the real battles Colin and Pen are facing are the ones within themselves.

Of course I’ve already written about Colin’s battle with himself.

The reference to Pen’s battle with herself is particularly interesting to me. At first, I didn’t see it and I didn’t understand why that bit of the narration was spoken over the Pen and Debling dance instead of over Colin. Then I realized that the second “man” of that sentence is said directly on top of this shot where, again, it’s not about Debling; it’s her face we’re seeing. Then, Debling spins her and the “himself” is on Pen too. And I know I’m right about this because the shot was in the trailer and I watched it so many times. And I noticed that Sam Phillips is very specifically looking away from the camera in this moment. I figured it was because we had to know that the moment was about her. And I was right.

Pen’s journey is her reconciliation with herself. Colin and Pen really have the same inner battles. They both need to drop their masks. That’s why the mirror scene is going to be so important- it’s about exposing and embracing the bare parts of both of them. They are already equal and united. They just need to see it.

Ok that’s it. I’m done. I got it out. And I literally can’t add any more images to this post. To anyone who will have read this fuckin novel I just wrote, thanks for sticking around. These ballroom sequences are particularly difficult for the cast and crew to do, and there is obviously so much complexity in this one, so I feel like it should all be acknowledged. Someone has to acknowledge it, and if that has to be me, I will gladly continue using up my Friday afternoons to do so.

To the cast and crew, to the captain of the season 3 ship, Jess Brownell, to the director, Andrew Ahn, and writer, Eli Wilson Pelton, to everyone’s favorite choreographer/movement director, Jack Murphy, to Luke, Nic, and Julie fuckin Andrews, I see you and I love you. Please keep doing what you’re doing. It’s all worth it. ♥️

[parched-chaos]

Finally got myself some energy to make a Vic drawing lol

[galamerapple]

victor drama queen vale spotted in merit

[blusandbirds]

eli moskowitz - tears for fun

[magdabuena]

“l am God's gift but why would he bless me with / Such wit without a conscience equipped?”

“For the salvation I'm bringing you / I'm a salesman, I'm selling you hooks and plans / And myself for making demands”

“I'm alright in bed, but I'm better with a pen”

“The kid was alright, but it went to his head”

victor vale OWNS this song in my mind. literally every line just sounds like him taunting eli. 🙏

[adamsrcnan]

villains.

- "Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human"

[LINK]

[longinghomecoming]

list of all the ways victor describes eli in a span of 30 pages (in vicious)

rich brown hair / bringing outs reds and even threads of gold (p. 17)

lanky

smiles too much (p.18)

precocious

frighteningly charming

the kind of guy who got away with everything, thanks to good genes and quick wits

interesting

decidedly wrong

full of small errors

seems perfectly normal (p.19)

consistently top of the class (p.20)

steady calm / bright with energy / glinting with hunger [eyes]

casual smile (p.21)

perfect teeth

easy laugh

glittering and sharp / broken glass

dangerous and hungry

model boyfriend

caring

attentive

dull (p. 29)

feigning boredom

sincerity in his friend’s voice

nervously shifting muscles

trying to hide excitement

the corners of his mouth

the fascination around his eyes

the energy in his jaw

fervor

charming, candy shell

it shone through his skin like light (p.33)

flashed him the kind of smile a cult leader (p.34)

bad person (p.43)

as many smiles as ice cream shops had flavors / secret (p.45)

practically bouncing in his seat 

ran his fingers through his hair

rattled

unsure

the light in his eyes was growing (p.47)

[retrogradedreaming]

I need to start thinking of ideas for the prompt list I made to get myself to sketch more in October, but instead I'm drawing self-indulgent comics about cats 😭

[evenstarfalls]

It's just a thing i think is very silly and stupid

Eli Ever = B/eliever

IT'S NOT SILLY AND STUPID I AM OBSESSED WITH YOUR MIND

The way Eli' wanted so badly to believe that ExtraOrdinaries were real and he could do something that be remembered. His obsessive belief in god. The way he believed in his crusade against EOs, even though everyone hated him for it. Eli's character is all about believing. Extreme, devoted, all-consuming belief that powers his delusions. Even with Victor, he believed and trembled. Belief carried him out of hell as a child. Belief brought him back from death. Belief carried him though life, and he clung to it at EON. It's such a wonderful word for him and I thank you for it

[homecomingvn]

I’ve seen this going around so now I gotta ask, what fruit would each of the characters be?

tee hee

HENRY: Watermelon

LYRA: Pomegranate

ELIJAH: Cherry

SANDY: Peach

[ineffable-hubbiewubbies]

me when eli cardale ever

eli ever

eli ever

ȩ̶̨̡̹͎͚̬̰͔̲̮̠͕͙͇̼̜̘͍͙͑̀͊̅͊͐̚͘ͅͅl̴̢̘̫̱̩͇̹͖̟̥͔̫̘̹̞̹̩̭̖̩̤̥̥̳͈͍̺̙̭̜̘͛̏̄͆̎̿͠͠ͅi̷̧̛͖͎͚̲͎̪͉͇̰̖͕̱̺̜̲̣̥͉̩̼̎͒̔̄͋́̇̂͐̽̓̾͗̔̎̎͐̃̌̊̃̋̀̍̂̓̈͛͘͘͠͝͠ ̴̧̨̜͉̪̗͎͉͖̯̰̯̺͂̔̊̋́̏̇̒̾́͑̈̆͛͗̀͂̀̃̔̔͘͜ě̷̛̘͓͍̩̿͂̎͗̓̉͋̈̊̑̍̑̇̈́͗̾̐͂̒̓͒̒̂̚̚͠͠v̷̨̢̢̨̫̜̱̬̞͓̥͓̞͔̻̲̆̎̈́̀͊ẽ̵̢̢̛͍͖̮̥̹̩̫̰̟̞̙̖͉̩͈͈̗̹̫͎̬̩͇͚̭͍̖̼̿͒̾̎̓̀͊͆̈́̆̑͛͛̇̄̍͛̂̎̊̈́̊͗̾́́͗͘ͅr̶͚̣̀̿̍̂́́͝ͅ

credit to @sackboys i saw them use the picture first so i think its theirs (if not lmk and i’ll untag you)

[parched-chaos]

Redraw of my last evervale drawing bc i didn't like one bit how it turned out lol, hope this one looks much better ;D/

[galamerapple]

obsessed with victor's need to dunk on eli in conversation every chance he gets

[warningsine]

[ambrosesystem]

a hoodie for the fall . . .

she likes it!