#had to do a little ominous foreshadowing :3

[merge-conflict]

does valentine have any gossip for me

(you are a member of counterintel at a company-sponsored team-building exercise ((happy hour)) being loomed over by someone just hitting the ballmer peak)

You know, usually when people trot out the "oh, they've brought in some outside team that's reviewing every second of camera footage and access requests and the snapshot of my dick I sent to the intern that should have been deleted from the media server" it's like, okay and who's paying for that, right? Like don't get me wrong, it's nice to have that sort of reputation, but there's not enough room on that fucking air carrier for that kind of operation, and where are they? I mean sure, turnover is high lately after... all of that, but c'mon it's not like they actually cleared out whole departments, someone would have noticed. Have you seen the numbers lately? As fast as those little fucking Millipedes scurry in (here, the rapid fluttering of metal finger joints approximates the sound of hundreds of insect legs), they get rooted out- and yeah, some of them are pretty obvious new plants or quiet fuckers getting greedy, but twice this week I've seen the paperwork for someone I'm not sure I would have caught unless I happened to be watching them 24/7. If you ask me, it's not some team it's some new AI, one that actually works instead of flagging some poor saps who just happen to be- well, you know. Hey, it could happen! I'm getting another beer, you need anything?

[subwayfloorlicker1978]

every single time i try to speculate on what jax’s “big bad secret” is going to be revealed as later in the story i get stuck. repeatedly.

like okay. if you haven’t noticed, goose has been foreshadowing this like a lot. the little detail of jax having keys that can open any door that seems a LITTLE too specific for it to just be a one-off thing. the clear implication that jax’s room is supposed to hold a secret of some kind (cough the pins). on her list of content warnings for tadc she literally put “jax” as one of the warnings. (presumably as a half joke but she’s very monotone so im not really sure.) apparently he “likes a lot of things he’s not willing to admit”, which is ominous as hell?? his dynamic with pomni is MESSY now apparently.

so my guess is that he’s going to do something absolutely, completely unforgivable in the future. or something really bad happens related to him or something idk. SOMETHING related to him contains dark themes, but the more i think about how the environment of the digital circus works, the more confusing it gets.

like. okay well he can’t exactly kill any of his castmates so that’s sort of out of the question. can he make someone abstract? possibly. maybe that’s what happened to queenie… but i think the rest of the cast would be WAY more unforgiving/cold to him if that actually happened. so probably not. i think with what we know now, maybe he could realistically set caine off so badly that it results in like… super dire consequences. like maybe the world starts glitching out and makes someone abstract bc of it or something. eyedeekay!

it’s also difficult too bc there’s so much we still don’t really know about the circus. like before episode 3 we had absolutely no idea that caine’s emotional state affected the “structural integrity” of the circus i guess.

also… and i know people are gonna disagree with me on this… i do not think we know enough about jax to have an “in character” image of him in our heads. like yeah his surface level traits are there but we really don’t know a lot about him. like at all. i think the closest we’ve ever been shown to “the real jax” (excluding the crumbs that goose has given us) are those scenes in episode 1 where he breaks character a little bit and looks super tired as if he’s putting up a facade. which i DO think he is, it’s just that his motivations are super important too and we’re completely unaware of what he’s actually planning on doing later on….

also extra note before i finish my silly rant. goose said on twitter that she saw a piece of fanart for tadc that mirrors something that happens later on in the story and ive seen quite a few pieces on the tumblr front page for the #tadc hashtag that depict jax abstracting …so. idk if its gonna happen though teehee. okay bye guys.

[bartholomew-junior]

23 25 26... hmm. maybe sips ANd erina And gothi (unless you dont feel like that feel free to just choose one of them cause. 6 entire different answers to think) <3<3

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE thank u circular 4 ur boon of kindness. it is appreciated. apologies for the wait, as i had to let the ideas for this ripen be4 properly answering. i’m gonna start the first ask off with gothi from ep.10.

first of all, i just love her mask and am permanently sad that she never gets to wear it again. bonus for foreshadowing face reveal a few episodes down the line and making her an incredibly ominous cryptid like presence kind of. i just think she’s neat. next is erina in ep.32:

honestly i was really tempted to use a frame from when she was xanu possessed cuz it looked real fuckin cool, but i think this one’s more meaningful. she’s sympathizing with sips for once instead of trying to one up him (at least after a bit) and realizing how tough shit must’ve been for him. agh they make me insane. next is sips from ep.15:

from right after he ate bou claire’s heart. the buildup narration to him looking into the mirror is, ,, agghhh. the fact this was used to promo merch is funny also.

now for q. 25: technically, my first impression of gothi was her getting sips to do karaoke while drunk (lol) and that being the catalyst for EVERYTHING (this campaign is the equivalent of a snowball rolling down a hill). but now, it was her kind of managing and trying to quell sips’ anger best she could along with erina.

erina was just a memelord to me lol. sips wasn’t in the best condition the first few episodes, so my first impression was just that he was a bottomless pit of rage. now looking at the early episodes feels like looking at alpha minecraft in comparison to 1.21, especially without xanu or abby. sneeze was just a little guy.

ok freebie question time. i’m gonna pick q. 22 even tho there hasn’t been a new fic at all on ao3 since i updated my own fic (which makes sense considering we’ve kinda already met the goal of the series even if there’s a lot of stuff on the horizon). and i’ll pick all 3 of them + xanu for this cuz. why not

sips: a lot of the fics on ao3 4 this fandom are oneshots, so there isn’t much they’re able to explore if they’re low word counts, but my dream sips-centric fic would be like. a collection of missed/deleted scenes from his early life and time in ammurin with a kind of dream/void/death motif. bonus points if he’s trans

erina: i haven’t seen ANYTHING about her early life in kylandria being the child of busy royal entertainers, hell even her weapons are like a carnival trick, so i’d really like to see a bit of early life stuff again. are you sensing a trend. also her just dealing with royalty is fun and i have many ideas

gothi: early life again. listen she was a whole ass princess who was allowed to exist only because of her rank she was under so much pressure all of the time, especially with being buddies with xanu. did she ever talk to another defective foreclaimer. who are her parents. did they love her. ugh. also, seeing her interact with vicky is something i haven’t really seen before, so that’d be fun.

xanu: listen. i feel like he’d be the hermit on the high mountain type never interacting with anyone like thanos after killing half the universe. also, i feel like a lot of aspects of his character get discarded in favor of making him easier to digest and write, which i’ve done, and this does not do him any service. i think making all the fools gold cast kind of,, mlp headcanon designified is also fun and i want to do it. also bonus vicky

in conclusion: thank u circular <3333333 :]] :), i hope this isn’t miserably long. i’ve been all worded out for the day. do u ever think abt how vicky and sips are parallels and

[yatorihell]

Noragami Reread Volume 7-10

One word: Hate!

Volume 7

24

Oh the art of the three of them I'm so sad

Oh look at Yato's face he's so sad I hope we see it again in the final chapter

'Don't cut our ties I want to be with you longer' I'm going to kill myself live at five

God Yato planning the wedding and holidays he's down bad

Oh that's so me calling someone whilst already lurking nearby

SEVERAL GUN EMOJIS FUJISAKI IS HERE

What if Hiyori and Fujisaki get together at the end lol (I will commit)

HE'S A GOOD BOY LOOK AT HIM

YATO SAYING SAKURA AND HE'S THINKING IF HIS DEAD SHINKI AND YUKINE'S REAL NAME AND WHERE HE BURIED HIM

Yukine not questioning Hiyori if they're gunna picnic again next year he believes her I'm so sad

AND YATO WILL KNOW YUKINE'S GRAVE IS FLOWERING RN

Hiyori forcing peace between Yato and Bishamon at the picnic

Oh the picnic I'm do sad Aiha is apologising to Hiyori

Oh yh make Yatobisha canon this is hot

Bubble era Yato fucks (hypothetically)

'Yato would become a raging spirit for you if he had to' I'm vomiting

I'm going to kms 'Because your life was in danger. Even if it meant plunging the heavens in to chaos, killing a god, rescuing you was their highest priority'

Tenjin telling Hiyori she has the power to make Yato like that's its been 24 chapters!!!!

Tbh Kofuku at the party is bad luck

YATO WHY DID YOU FAKE KISS HER getmarried I'm Aiha's reaction

'I ain't gunna help you a third time' lol sike

Hiyori annoyed blushing remembering the kiss

'You're yatos first' I hate life

Oh the little trio picnic

'He must have been lonely for such a long time'

Oh they're walking together their height is changed she's taller it's been 6 months

Divine possession for the plot let's gooo

25

Bishamon military outfit is a serve

Crafter plot begins

Ebisu's stupid little hat (affectionate)

This is such a dodgy chapter jahshs Yato please

Yato sabotaging Hiyori reputation

Yes beat the shit out of him Yukine this is not a good chapter

26

All theese horny kids looking for Hiyori's services Jesus

Argument about selling Yukine to Ebiau hshsh

'I'll build my own shrine without any help'

Yato in a money pile

My god did someone call whilst masturbating

'GO GET YOUR BACK DOOR SMASHED IN' the way I choked!!!

'You just can't commit'

No one would make him a shrine oh I'm so sad Adachitoka you make me so sad

Shrine!!!!!! She made him a shrine!!!!!!

Yukine go away it's a perfectly fine shrine

'ITS PROOF THAT PEOPLE CARE'

Ebisu is so ominous and turns out he's just like a guy who can't do shit

27

Yato forced them to approve the shrine he's a real god now

'Once people forget about them they fade away'

'Shrine helps people remember better' is it going to trigger Hiyori final chapter

Yato survival through the ages called into question foreshadowing

Foreshadowing of Kazuma binding Yukine

'Someone once told me I didn't need one of those things' yh your bitchass dad

'I'm gunna make Hiyori the happiest girl in the world' CAN YOU

Oh the lamp night light for Yukine I'm so sad

Oh Nora you little freak get him

Yato gets a pass for killing that guy because he was bad <3

Yato failing to break up with Nora 

Father get a haircut

'Do you think Hiyori and Yukine can really love you' YES!!!

Image of Father taking the shrine

I liked it more when Hiyori got kidnapped lol

Vol 8

28

He prefers Yukine as a shinki!!!!

How would Father know about Yato's shrine???

Father shaggy hair era

Hiyori knowing something wrong that Yato didn't appear for a while

Yato disappeared months or years leaving shinki behind, I wonder if any of them strayed

Father stop trying to smash your sons girl

Savage Hiyori doesn't like your musty ass

I like Okuninushi

Why does he can Ebisu baldy

Why is there a bunny on his bike

Kuraha questioning his purpose is me

Yato has a conscious of who he's killing if it's justice

Yato putting the kid in the cupboard to save him from seeing the murder

Wonder if its an old wish from the woman or her soul, and is she aware she was left to die up there

Tbf it's good work he does killing these people

Oh he's panicking about Hiyori forgetting him

Oh look at that crazy face girl gone wild

Oh he's so scared

Yomi arc let's go

29

Hhf Daikoku is a rip off version

'I need to get back' + Hiyori vision

I'm begging please stop the Hiyori sex thing

Capyperland trip incoming

Hiyori's starting to forget about them hate!!!

Takemikasuchi is such a snitch then it turns out he's just lame

Yukine became hafuri in 6 months daddy issues makes strong bonds

'Even if I do make it back in one piece it won't mean a damn thing' WHAT WILL HAPPEN FINAL CHAPTER!!!!!

30

Yato feeling sick about sharing shinki

HOME TO THEM

Yukine studying at Bishamons house

CAPYPERLAND

Oh I hate his bangs kill him look at all the bookmarks in his guide

Bitch is really at a theme park with Yato's girl whilst he's fighting for his life

Oh I'm so sad she's thinking of Yato and seeing him in bitch boy

SHE'S FORGETTINGGGG I'm ending it she can feel somethings wrong what will happen final chapter!!!!!!

Fujisaki stop fucking blushing

'I feel like someone is missing even though we were always together'

'MAYBE THAT PERSON NEVER EXISTED' MAYBE I'LL KILL MYSELF

I WANTED TO BE WITH HIM LONGER

The face I made looking at that kiss

31

Fujisaki die challenge

SHE CAN'T SEE HIMMMM Yukine stopped worrying about being forgotten and was forgotten

Oh I hope the scent triggers her memories I'm so sad maybe it'll be open ending

Daikoku bursting in crying about kofuku then embarrassed Hiyori is there

Hiyori's diary entey 'Yato is staring at me and not saying anything'

'Thought I would never forget but I'm not an exception' I hate this manga

I don't believe it's a joke that Yato knows bondage art

Heavens justice net foreshadowing

'Why do you exist yato'

'So I don't wanna disappear' vs latest chapter I'm so sad

'I just wanted to make someone happy'

A god that brings people happiness

Oshi is such a bitch strays aren't illegal you've just got purity culture

Kagome song is creepy look it up

Nora gets more emotional and expressive as the manga goes on, mainly because Father's always leaving her behind

Vol 9

32

Yato sees Hiyori in Izanami as persin he's comfortable with

'You love me too don't you' he combusting

Father pocked marked girl flashback

'I wonder if he ever got to see his loved one' HAAAAA

Lore starta alluding to another name for Yato

Daikoku and Yukine height difference kills me

'A human could never love like that'

I love the fight scenes you can actually tell what's happening

Yeah grab him by the neck wait what

Nora you duplicitous bitch

33

Hiyori pouts being told not to go to ayomu then does the opposite

It's a shame we don't get to see Okuninushi in action in the manga I wanna see the spider freak

'Someone who can make her proud'!!!

Yato helping Ebisu lice

Hiyori thinking of Yato for help when Kuguha grabs her

34

'You're Yato's pride and joy'

Yato tied up ohoho

Yato really trauma bonds with Ebisu and hauls ass out of there

35

Baby ebisu

'Don't you dare die on me' AHA

Ebisu wanting to live after meeting Yato

Oh Kiun yes

Bishamon’s armour is such a look it's a shame we don't see it more

'My blessed one' and people wonder why Kazuma is her bitch

Exploding child out of left field, that was such a confusing scene when I first read it

The chapter opening and ending with 'you will live again'

Ebisu really just blows up... reminds me of the Gamecube edit I made of that lol

Vol 10

36

God Yukine witnesses Ebisu's death, what if he thought that would happen to Yato in the recent chapter

Oh Bishamon’s so pissed let her pop

'Yato's blessed one'

Yukine is so small next to Hiyori and Daikoku

Yato knowing he wouldn't bring Yukine into Yomi because of the dark

'You're a god, who gave you your name?' technically it's Sakura regardless

If/when Yato returns final chapter, I wonder if his true name would be Yato not Yaboku

Hearing Yaboku then imagining Hiyori

Oh the shadow of his father haunting him the parallels

Yes tie him up Izanami

Bishamon has come to collect her twink

Yato's face getting rescued like how have we got this far

Amaterasu first appearance

'The heavens are always right they must never bow to another' are you sure about that

The imagery of Yomi is so pretty, all the line things I forget the name

'Bishamon won't be replaced' girl you had us worried for like 2 years you would be

Yato starts fighting knowing Hiyori and Yukine are waiting

Bishamon starting to be eaten by the women and Kazuma's reaction

'Father heard a voice calling his name' the Tamayobi lore in the notes is interesting to explain how he came back

Soul call oh I'm so sad Adachitoka you make me so sad I'm going to kms

Oh imagine getting to end of 37 for the first time and finding out who father is

38

Hiyori visiting Yato all the time that Yukine is like why are you here again

Yato calling Bsihamon skank even after all that, the misogynist

Oh he's gunna find Ebisu reincarnated

Oh he's so sad

Stealing Kazuma's clothes

Yato telling Ebisu that Bishamon’s real name is skank is dirty

'I fell in love with the world as soon as I saw it' he's too pure for this world

'Was I the kind of god who could make people happy' vs Yato deciding to be that

'You were always willing to give up your own life for others(...) a guy like me could never even compete' vs recent chapter I'm so sad I'm ending it

I WISH I COULD BE LIKE YOU

Kazuma panicking about his missing stuff and the phone

Iwami making Ebisu promise not to die again

Father getting Ebisu taken out because he wants brush good plan all in all

Yato releases Nora and now we have the whole picture of what they went through growing up it makes you hope Nora gets adopted

39

Yato keeping Kazuma's phone saying its his

Yukine stabbing Yato to death is valid

Bishamon starts her personal grudge against Father

Yato watching Hiyori and Hiyori dropping her body to follow, girl you gotta stop

Did Yato watch her then go to Yukine to ask how to be a god who makes people happy I hate it here

Yato past revealed

Yato saying he didn't want stop killing but basically it's OK because he always knew they were bad people

[salusa-suckondis]

dune: house atreides

chapter 5:

page 38: oooh arrakis is so pretty when it isn't actively trying to kill you <3 also: KYNES IS BACK EVERYONE MY BEST FRIEND PARDOT IS BACK AGAIN

also 38: ...rabban has gotten a single sentence of this novel thus far, and yet it is the most in-character thing i have ever read. of course he wants to hunt a sandworm, it's glossu rabban

39: the return of chadimir harkonnen, this time with his big kissable lips oooh

39-40: kynes talking about corrinth: yea it's pretty but yknow. cities and civilised places don't much interest a planetologist like me :)

kynes talking about carthag: god, what an ugly shithole. i hate it here

40: ah, i see abulurd must be very pro sun protection then.

okay, i know we all like to laugh at rabban and his stupid decisions, but also, like. have you ever been 21 and severely sunburned all over your fucking face and you had a shitass haircut (presumably bc your cringefail dad has luscious locks??) to boot? maybe you would hunt a sandworm under those conditions, you don't know

41: thekar,,, thekar you are playing with fire here, come on,,, stop sowing before you start reaping

'then today we shall kill a god.' ok glossu

also 41: Rabban: I have a plan

The plan: make shai-hulud explode :)

42: THEKAR YOU ARE REAPING

also... 'delicious little grin?' the narrator has the hots for rabban too, it would seem. those damn harkonnen genes run strong.... the genetic marker of thick lips and endless, invisible to regular people, rizz,,, chadimir and rizzban,,,

43: "my friend" ooooh that's comically evil, i like it.

44: thekar, actively running for his life, desperately trying to outpace a fucking sandworm:

kynes, having a great time on arrakis: that is so sad. anyway this rock is pretty cool, what is that, basalt? oooh and quartz, of course!

45: Glossu Rabban, perhaps the biggest asshole in the Canopus solar system (unfortunately affectionate)

46: SHAI HULUD NOOO

also,,, beached furwhale, huh? i see u foreshadowing

also 46: oh, hey thekar

side note, i think that the book should let the sandworms eat someone. (not u, thekar <3) to this day, i have not seen or read a scene of someone getting absolutely decimated by shai-hulud, and that feels cruel to Me.

48: yet more reaping for poor thekar, i guess. wow what an ominous thing to say, rabban. sure hope it doesn't have anything to do with the next chapter which is set on giedi prime :)

yknow, the thing about rabban is that he isn't actually stupid? he's tempermental and childish and short-sighted and compared to the legendary schemers that are his uncle and piter de vries, he comes across as incredibly slow, but there is actually something going on in that head of his. also, he seems to command some sort of respect/fear/weird affection from his men? all of a sudden it doesn't seem quite as laughably ludicrous that glossu rabban was the baron's heir at one point

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: Avengers #293: AND FLIGHTS OF ANGELS...

July, 1988

THE FATE OF MARRINA!

Wait, hold up... the fate of Marrina tm? Flights of angels...? Isn’t that usually followed by sing thee to thy rest?

Yup. Yuuup. Marrina is going to die.

Shame. Shaaaame.

She seemed like she had potential as an Avenger. How long has it been since we had a married couple on the Avengers? ... Oh, when Vision and Scarlet Witch were on the team. Still, though!

But I might be jumping the gun.

Last times on Avengers: the Avengers are having a tough time lately. Because this is the character assassination era. Captain Marvel Monica Rambeau is a weak and ineffectual leader who wants to do things like... not kill Marrina. Dr Druid very much wants to kill Marrina as a first and only option and is actively undermining Monica and having ominous sex dreams. Marrina turned into a giant sea monster for some reason and has been sinking ships and destroying coastal settlements. Namor is sad because his wife doesn’t seem to love him anymore and also is a giant world-threatening monster.

Tough times.

You know who else is having tough times?

Atlantis.

Marrina is smashing them UP!

Which is pretty fascinating! It implies there’s still some of Marrina within her because no doubt she’d harbor some resentment for Atlantis giving her beloved husband the boot and elevating one of his worst enemies to the throne.

Maybe we can ignore the blatant foreshadowing and snap Marrina out of-

Oh.

This doesn’t imply anything. Dr Druid caused this, for some reason.

Ffs.

I’ll get to that when it’s relevant in the plot.

Meanwhile, Simonson gets to put on his Literature Hat by quoting Milton’s Paradise Lost regarding the biblical Leviathan which has little to do with Marrina except being a big aquatic troublemaker.

Namor shows up after Marrina has already gotten bored and wandered off and is distraught to see that Marrina is now killing people that he cares about.

Okay, not really.

But considering its her attack on Atlantis that makes Namor go rejoin the Avengers, it really does feel kind of like all that other damage and other death she’s caused bothered him significantly less.

Over at Hydrobase, Dr Drui psychically spies on Namor, satisfied that his manipulations have paid off.

He also swoons so that he can flashback to something that happened recently but that the audience doesn’t know about.

Very considerate!

Dr Druid: “Apparently only I have the will to save all who can be saved. I pray this will give me the strength to do what must be done!”

Fuck you Dr Druid Point 1: Dr Druid can use “controlled clairvoyance to find Leviathan Marrina so all that time the Avengers couldn’t find her fast enough to prevent damage, Druid was just holding out on them.

Dr Druid: “So, my terrible friend, let us see what we can do to convince the others that you are indeed a menace that must be dealt with properly!”

Fuck you Dr Druid Point 2: He lured Marrina to attack and destroy Atlantis by creating an illusion of a nice, juicy boat and since sea serpents are dumb, he just had the boat head down towards Atlantis.

Fuck you Dr Druid Point 1+2=3: Given that he can find Marrina with “controlled clairvoyance” and lure Marrina with illusion boats, he could have been finding and diverting her and saving lives this whole time. Granted, the effort seems to exhaust him. So maybe he couldn’t have kept it up for long. But he’s refusing to help to his fullest abilities and then criticizing Monica for not being interested in saving lives.

You, sir, Dr Druid, are the menace that must be dealt with properly.

Grump grump.

Anyway.

Dr Druid feels bad about being an evil shithead but comforts himself that he’s saving lives by luring Marrina to kill a bunch of Atlanteans and convincing Namor to rejoin the Avengers so Druid can convince the other Avengers that killing Marrina as their first option is the best and only option.

Dr Druid: “She is too dangerous to be allowed to roam the seas at will... while Captain Marvel wastes time and lives seeking vainly for some illusory cure for Marrina’s condition. But there is no time to waste in that direction. For I have had such dreams that foretell of grave danger in the near future... and Marrina could be just the beginning. Yet how could I convince my fellow Avengers of a threat heralded by dreams? Best to keep my own counsel... and deflect the Avengers from Captain Marvel’s useless endeavors...”

And he finds She-Hulk, Thor, and Captain Marvel talking to Dr Pym on the video phone.

Pym isn’t promising any miracles because the information they sent over was fragmentary. But he used his science brain and scienced up a possible cure. A shot in the dark really. A shot in the dark in the form several hypodermic harpoon needles that will inject Marrina with viral recombinant DNA suppressor. Which MIGHT revert her back to her previous form.

Dr Pym also warns the Avengers to obviously not stick themselves with the harpoon needles because that’d be dumb.

Can’t tell if this is a chekov’s gun or just added detail.

Like that super special dart gun in Lost World Jurassic Park that would kill a dude in less than a second if they accidentally stuck themselves with it. But then the gun never got used at all.

Anyway, Black Knight says it’ll take him a couple hours to make some bazookas to shoot these harpoon needles.

He still sees the problem that Namor will get in the way. But Namor shows up to say he’ll definitely not get in the way!

Namor: “A true monach, Dane, will sacrifice anything, even his own happiness, for the good of the subjects he rules. That is his sacred trust. And though I am no longer a monarch, am I not a guardian of Earth and its mortal inhabitants? Is my trust not as sacred?”

Thor: “Well spoken, Prince Namor. I do not bid thee welcome, for what glad greeting can cloak the grim task that confronts us -- a kinslaying. But I speak as one Avenger to another... thy sacred trust in this hour of trial is gratefully received. No other warrior would I as lief have at my side.”

Frens. Or allies. Avengers. Whatever.

Namor sweetens the rejoining deal. Not only will he be more of a help than a hindrance, he’ll also show the Avengers where Leviathan Marrina is keeping all the ships she sinks.

And he does.

The Avengers get in their QUINJET and fly to the random part of the ocean that Namor tells them.

They don’t see Marrina which could mean she’s out looking for more ships.

Thor suggests they start searching.

Dr Druid says he’ll try a clairvoyant trace. WHICH WE ALREADY KNOW HE CAN USE TO FIND HER. HE DOESN’T FIND HER HERE. THE WORST.

Black Knight cobbled together a sonar pod to scan the oceans.

And Captain Marvel nyooms out in her lightform to zoom all around the world searching the oceans.

THEY STILL DON’T FIND ANYTHING FOR HOURS.

When they eventually find her its because there’s a static patch on their scanners, since Leviathan Marrina can, for some reason, jam signals.

When the Avengers find her, she’s sinking another ship. They arrive too late to save the ship and I guess there’s no survivors in the water because they jump right to trying to harpoon dart Marrina.

The first harpoon needle shatters against her armored scales.

She-Hulk reloads the bazooka and Black Knight figures that maybe her underbelly will be more penetrable. But Leviathan Marrina twists at the last moment and the second harpoon shatters against her armored head.

Thor jumps out of the Quinjet too and starts Mjolniring Marrina in the face, trying to distract her so Black Knight can get a good shot.

Thor: “HAVE AT THEE, CREATURE OF THE DEPTHS! The Avengers shall endeavor to save thee in spite of thyself!”

Black Knight takes aim at the stunned Leviathan Marrina’s underbelly... and no luck!

Her soft underbelly is still too armored.

And now there’s only one harpoon needle left...

Leviathan Marrina rises up to try to eat the people that keep shooting at her and She-Hulk has a sudden good idea.

She-Hulk: “That’s it! Her mouth! Aim for her mouth, Dane! No armor!”

With the very last shot, Black Knight shoots Marrina in the tonsils (ouch) with the cure.

AND IT WORKS!

God only knows where her swimsuit came from when she turned back into her normal self. But she’s back to normal!

Good times are here again.

Marrina: “Oh, my love. Is this another fevered illusion... or have my fondest dreams come true?”

Namor: “Fear not, my heart. You’re safe now, I promise. And here is my kiss upon it.”

Aw, that’s nice.

Now we scene change to the Kang subplot that’s happening for some reason and I’m sure everyone is excited about.

Remember? The one with Kang-123488.23497?

That guy! That specific Kang! Also, a billion other Kangs. Too many Kangs.

Beard Kang says that its rare for Kangs to survive a council war which means that despite the point of the original Council of Kangs to be a trap to kill all Kangs but Cape Kang, there’s so many infinite Kangs that there are multiple council wars of which Kang-123488.23497 is just the latest (whatever that means in terms of a group that transcends time) survivor to be scouted to join the Council of Cross-Time Kangs.

Which is like a Council of Kangs but probably less of a trap to secretly murder its members.

Since Kang-123488.23497 or Kang has survived a council war and also killed a little baby assassin Kang, he has proven he has the stuff to join the Council of Cross-Time Kangs.

And since its a join or die situation, Kang joins.

The lady Kang is apparently Nebula Kang and she is told to escort Kang to his new quarters.

OH HI NEBULA!

(Except it isn’t really.)

(Retcon alert: it will later turn out that this Nebula is actually Ravonna, spying on the Council of Cross-Time Kangs for Immortus or something. Which does follow up on that plot thread. But at the expense of following up on the Nebula plot thread. Nebula was transported by the Beyonder to somewhere away due to Firelord’s careless words. Starfox left the Avengers to go look for her while the team went back to Earth. Wouldn’t it make this stupid new infinite Kang pile more relevant to the team if it was Nebula? This is where she wound up after the Beyonder yeeted her? And because her plot thread was never tied off, she’s back and causing trouble for the Avengers? Spoiler alert: Nebula Kang will cause trouble for the Avengers.)

OH HI NEBULA! SO THIS IS WHERE YOU’VE BEEN

Kang is confused that Nebula Kang is called Nebula so she explains that since everyone is a Kang, they choose individual names to avoid confusion.

Kang-123488.23497 decides he’s going to be Fred. Fred the Kang. Fred Kang.

As in Flintstone.

Such a choice.

Nebula Kang also tells Fred Kang that her quarters are just down the hall from his. And flirtatiously suggests he come visit her sometime so she can whisper sweet lore dumps in his ear.

I don’t know if Kangs fucking Kangs is weird or not. Nebula Kang, whether Ravonna or Nebula, isn’t Kang. So its fair game for her. But they all dress alike so its a bit narcissistic, isn’t it?

Anyway, the lore dump she wants to sweetly whisper to him is about “the deadliest weapon in the omniverse” and how the Council of Cross-Time Kangs is all about finding it.

Well, that answers my question of what the hell this organization even does.

After she returns to her quarters, Nebula Kang says there are depths to Fred that she’ll enjoy plumbing.

God, Nebula. Stop being horny.

But she sits in a comfy looking chair and puts on what looks like an airplane neck pillows so she can check on her “catspaw.”

Nebula Kang: “Becoming a member of the Kang Korps was the wisest move of my career. And seducing the future leader of the Avengers will be the second!”

AND SHE TAKES ON THE FORM OF THE SEXY OMINOUS LADY FROM DR DRUID’S OMINOUS SEX DREAMS!

GOD DAMMIT DR DRUID, YOU’RE LETTING NEBULA MANIPULATE YOU! STOP THINKING WITH YOUR DICK, YOU DICK!

Anyway.

Back at the plot, the Avengers fly Marrina toward a hospital. Namor refuses to let anyone else hold her because he’s a romantic like that.

But suddenly everything goes wrong because we’re not allowed nice things in editorial mandate land.

Marrina: “I’m cold. So cold. I feel as though a hand of ice clutches at my heart and freezes my blood!”

Namor tries to warm her up with kisses but observes that her lips are like ice.

And suddenly she freaks out, begging Namor for help while also thrashing and clawing at him.

The cure didn’t. She’s reverting to the bestial form that preceded the leviathan. And shortly after, reverting to the leviathan.

Her thrashing causes Namor to crash into the ocean.

Thor tells Namor to kill Marrina before she can become big huge large again but Namor hesitates and she becomes big huge large.

Where the fuck did the mass for that come from?

Whatever. This is the Marvel universe where Hank Pym makes conservation of mass weep like a tiny child.

Actually... Speaking of that... hey this is a dramatic moment and all... its very sad that Hank Pym’s shot in the dark cure didn’t work... Why didn’t he just send the Avengers an assload of Pym Particles?

They shrink Marrina, put her in a little terrarium, and then study her and try to cure her from a more informed point?

Dammit, Hank!

You’ll shrink Tigra later and put her in a cat carrier but you won’t shrink Marrina? Playing favorites!

Anyway, not only does Marrina grow back up to a big ol�� Leviathan, she grows bigger than she was before.

Makes no sense but sometimes writers have to force the ending they want.

See, this isn’t the same level of threat the Avengers were already dealing with. It’s an indeterminate but larger level of threat.

Thor even says that if Marrina keeps getting bigger, she may endanger THE ENTIRE EARTH! As opposed to just shipping and coastal communities.

Thor and Captain Marvel decide to unleash electricity on Marrina, hoping to electrocute her before she finishes transforming.

For some reason, Monica decides this is the time to comment that she doesn’t know if she reaaaaally believes Thor is the reeeeal Norse god of thunder. But whatever, it’s not a relevant line of thought to this situation.

Thor summons lightning with Mjolnir and Captain Marvel turns herself into electrical energy and both slam into Leviathan Marrina with a KRAKKATHOOOUM!

Ah, Simonson. If nothing else, always good with lightning noises.

Anyway, its not going to be clear until next issue but this is the end of Monica Rambeau's stint as Avengers chairwoman.

She accidentally fucked up electrifying this giant sea monster, dissipated too much of her energy, and winds up de-powered and nearly dead.

This is the character assassination era. Even in this moment, she can’t be allowed a heroic sacrifice. It has to be another colossal boneheaded Monica Rambeau pratfall.

Sigh.

We’ll get to that with issue #294.

For right now, Captain Marvel is an afterthought, lost in the confusion of everything else going on.

The massive electrocution (which remember, cost Monica her powers accidentally) does not stop Leviathan Marrina. Hell, its not even said that it significantly inconvenienced her.

So Black Knight decides that despite the curse of bad shit if it tastes blood, he must use his extremely cursed cut anything sword to kill Leviathan Marrina.

Namor stops him. Because This Is Something He Has To Do Himself.

But the thing is. Black Knight did decide to risk the effects of the curse to save the world. I’m contrasting it with Monica losing her powers because of a fuck-up.

I’m so grumpy right now.

Sigh sigh sigh.

Namor: “Marrina, my beloved. Hear me, wherever you may be. That which I swore to guard has been taken from us both... And only death now can free your soul from within this living prison! RISE LEVIATHAN! Rise up, and meet your nemesis! FOR MY BELOVED! FOR MARRINA!”

Also, Black Knight freaks out yelling about blood.

Huh. I knew there was a curse on the Ebony Blade that would activate if it ever tasted blood and that’s why Dane tended to just whack people with it.

But I don’t know if he’s ever said what the curse would do, exactly.

For starters, it seems to knock him the fuck out. And his Atomic Steed nearly plummets into the ocean before Thor catches him.

Thor comments that if the curse has really activated, he might be better off dead. So Thor apparently knows what it does.

Dangit, leaving the audience in the dark.

Leviathan Marrina isn’t quite dead because she’s quite big and takes quite a while to die.

She swims to the bottom of the ocean to where she piled all her sunken ships to die among her prizes... and her eggs.

‘TWAS A NEST!

There’s three eggs. Which hatch and the babies zoom off into the ocean depths.

One of the Avengers (it’s unclear because they’re speaking from off-panel) wonders who the father was and another Avenger says they may never know.

But judging by that one hatchling, I’d say that the father was most likely Black Panther.

No wonder Namor is so pissed off at the guy later on.

Marrina shrinks down to her pre-monsterified form (where did the mass go??) and Namor cradles her dead, deceased corpse and swears to find her babies and “teach them of their mother’s spirit.”

Presumably her Alpha Flight and Avengers spirit and not the spirit of all the ship sinking.

He also swims off to build Marrina “a bier fit for a queen... where you will rest forever amidst the coral, the sea jade, and mother-of-pearl... the most precious jewel in all the sea.”

And Namor fucks off.

So I guess he’s not actually rejoining the team.

He’s going through a lot right now so it’s understandable.

With Marrina dead and Namor fucked off, the Avengers decide to go to a hospital for Black Knight when suddenly (as the end of issue cliffhanger) Dr Druid realizes Captain Marvel never came back from that lightning thing.

Great. So not only is her depowering presented (next issue) as something that was a fuckup and not an intentional sacrifice), also none of her friends even noticed she was gone. The dude that’s been constantly undermining her was the only one that noticed.

This issue fucking sucks.

I’ll complain more about Monica’s treatment when I get to next issue but Marrina gets the short end of the stick too!

Turned into a giant, world-threatening monster for reasons of -shrug, confused grunt- and her husband is forced to kill her. After they try all of one time to cure her.

She didn’t get to do a lot in Avengers but she was an established character over in Alpha Flight and she’s being killed off as part of a story to kick Monica off the team and presumably to make Namor sad.

Stern was apparently kicked off the book for pushing back against the character assassination era but I don’t know whether Marrina was always part of Gruenwald’s plan or whether Simonson added that on.

Either way, it sucks.

I feel very negative about this stretch of comics.

Maybe things will get better. But the Worst Roster in issue #300 is upcoming. And then after a bit, John Byrne will be taking over both Avengers books.

There’s some that like John Byrne’s writing but his run contains several very irritating retcons and shifts in characterization.

We’ll see.

Follow @essential-avengers​ because where else are you going to get this level of olde Avengers coverage? The rest of the internet? Don’t be ridiculous. Like and reblog and comment, maybe.

[dykesynthezoid]

for the fic ask, arthurian samtory lawrusso:

1,3 and 6!

- landslided

Hiiiiii and ty 💕✨

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

Hmm the only way I think the fic ends up being uniquely structured is that I planned to include little backstory interludes that read like a medieval chronicle. Bc it just seemed like such a convenient way to enlighten the audience in terms of what happened between Daniel, Johnny, Kreese etc without necessarily needing to have big lore dumps in the present plot.

Also I literally listen to podcasts that are Just Some Guy straight up reading medieval chronicles and I think that really made me go “I could write like a medieval chronicle probably. I could do it”

(Also the chronicle interludes in the fic are supposed to have been written by a specific character in-universe, which I think adds another layer of fun… Like I wonder what character is in a profession where people write manuscripts all the time and was also there in person for all of that backstory 🤔 hmm)

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

So far I think it’s just all of Sam’s first prophetic dream/vision, bc not only did I get to really double down on the description and symbolism, but also got to weave in some really important thematic elements and foreshadowing.

“Of course, there is no glory without suffering, without sacrifice,” continued the figure, and here beneath the hoofbeats and the trumpets Sam could hear water, rushing as if in a vast flood. In the fire, the bridge had dissolved into sparkling pinpricks, leaving that ominous cavalry racing in the sky, hanging above a swift and churning river.

….

A sense of claustrophobia shot through Sam with a chill; as the noise rose, closer and closer it felt. The fire faded in her vision, blackened and hazy, until the entire room was a dark blur. Soon, she could hear nothing but the river, so near it felt as if it embraced her, wrapping her in its thundering stream.

6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

I’ve written longfics before but ohhhh I know this is gonna be long lmao. Quite long. And I’ve had to do way more research than I might normally do, and the process of building the plot piece by piece and interweaving all of the themes I want to hit on is much more complex and time consuming

Honestly creating this AU has really felt like I’ve been just fully losing my mind the whole time but 🩷 love that for me

[phantom-of-the-501st]

Chapter 18 Thoughts

Spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 3

Ngl, I have no clue how much of this episode I actually took in. It was... a lot.

Peli hiring the Jawas steal ship parts so she can con customers should not surprise me and yet I was surprised. 😂

Also happy to see they did not forget the fact that her tooth was knocked out.

Boonta Eve!

"Was that his first word?" Foreshadowing Grogu starting to speak maybe? 🤨

Okay so the whole droid situation being sorted out so quickly threw me off. I won't be surprised if they go back to IG-11 at some point but I thought that this episode would be about getting the part. Instead Din just picks up R5-D4 in the first 5 minutes.

And I know that R5 was in the ship in the trailers but I did not expect to see it this early!

Ugh, Din opening up about his past with Grogu. 😭

The dad vibes are gonna kill me.

Actually, back to the Grogu speaking thing, he does seem to be making more noises now. I wouldn't be too surprised if we started getting words.

Jeez, there's turbulence and then there's turbulence.

Note to self, flying into the atmosphere of Mandalore is not fun.

Aww. Grogu's worries about his dad. 🥲

THERE ARE MULTIPLE OF THAT THING?!

The scenery in this episode is great!

Totally forgot Din had a jetpack and was wondering how he was gonna climb all the way down there. 🤣

WTF IS THAT THING

Of course Din would get himself kidnapped by a giant robo insect.

I thought that thing was gonna spit roast him. 😭

He's clad in metal. He'd probably cook quite easily.

As much as I had no idea what was happening at this point, I did find the robots really awesome design-wise.

Hahahaha okay the Grogu sequence was kind of incredible. 🤣

Could Bo-Katan not tell that Din wasn't in the N-1? Like did she just think he was hunched over or something?

"Let's get rid of him once and for all"

Well that's ominous. 😐

Yeeess Grogu go help your dad

YOUR DAD 😭

Alamites. Okay. I will probably forget that name but good to know. 🤣

YAAASSS BO WITH THE DARKSABER

I don't love Bo-Katan but she looks very cool wielding that thing.

Also was that thing gonna drink Din's blood? 😦

YOUR KID

Honestly this "your dad/kid" stuff is hitting me right in the feels. 🥲

Hehe, Din sharing his soup with Grogu.

Okay, getting more into the Bo-Katan backstop. Interesting.

Din, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but everything you do goes incredibly wrong. How about we don't go into the dark body of water in the mines full of things that have been trying to kill you.

Din looks so odd without his cape. 🤣

DIN WHAT DID I JUST SAY?!

Man sank like a fucking rock. 🤣

Also how was he gonna get proof of this? Like "hello here's my soggy clothing that got wet when I went in the Living Waters"???

THERE'S A FUCKING MYTHOSAUR?!

Okay, so I don't really know how to collect my feelings on this episode because it was a lot. Like episode one, they threw about as much in as they could in the time frame, making it feel a little bit rushed. Just as I started getting my head around one thing, it jumped to the next. That doesn't mean it's all bad though. It kept me on my toes.

Once again, this episode didn't feel particularly self-contained. They seem to have drifted more into this being serial rather than episodic, but we'll see how it goes as the season progresses.

There's been some interesting things set up in these first few episodes, so I'm excited to see where this season goes. This may be an episode I need to look back on to fully grasp what I even watched because so much happened. 🤣 Din got his ass kicked a lot this episode.

I definitely think I prefer Chapter 17 rn, but I still found this episode enjoyable! Part of it may be because the most recent episode of TBB was so good that Ch 18 didn't hit quite as hard.

Loving the chaotic father-son dynamic though and I'm very curious to see where we go from here because I do not have a clue.

[blackghostm2o]

Lil stupid story time . Pfft, hahaah. (Plus ramblings about the series itself)

So… My fried and I were trying to watch And “Then there were none” or “10 little Indians” she remember watching a rather new movie about it (probably 2017/2018) but we couldn’t find it neither in Italian nor in English (even tho now that I think about it, at least me, it could have been confused this with “Murder at the Oriental Express” which actually came out in 2017).

And, a bit desperate, I was: “Do you know any actors? We could look up their name and we could search it between their movies.” She clearly didn’t (understandable) and was looking at the cast of the 2015 BBC miniseries and slowly read “Charles Dance”. And I repeated the name and then it clicked, the actor that was Erik in the 1990 miniseries! So I was “CHARLES DANCE!?!? YOOOOO!!! I wanted to see something else in which he was in!” And now I was much more eager to see this version of it, heh.

THIS MINISERIES IS REALLY GOOD THO, you should check it out.

SPOILERS AHEAD (I need to yap about this a lil). BIG YAPPING SESSION, BEWARE.

The miniseries has 3 episodes, each 1 h long.

I haven’t read the novel (my friend did) and the only thing that I know is that everyone dies (I asked her), but not who’s the killer.

I love how right from the start there’s this atmosphere of uneasiness: the place is gloomy, the music is ominous, the guests seem to barely tolerate each other (which is true) and the circumstances of how they where invited are a bit strange. Also really like how you see all the characters slowly going mad (some more than others), abandoning all their nice facades and giving in to their more unpleasant characteristics, also slowly accepting what they did and confessing to it (not everyone obviously, but the endgame people sure do)

Basically the 10 people here are all guilty of something (the 10 lil Indians or soliders) and get killed based on a nursery rhyme, by the same name, tho some actions are more dire than others and the order of the killings are based on that (my friend made me notice that).

The ten little soldiers and how they are killed (not in order):

- Mr and Mrs Rogers: the keepers of the house. He killed a wealthy woman in her sleep (basically pulled a James Sunderland) and his wife didn’t denounce it. The man got slaughtered with an axe (foreshadowed by a long sghot (?) of the axe) (chopped himself in a half”) and the woman killed in her sleep (probably with the pillow) (“overslept himself”)

- General MacArthur: General during WWI. He discovered that his wife had an affair with a good friend of his so he shot him in the head and… Yk… He was counted as a victim of the battlefield. Well… His wife died shortly afterwards, because of the Spanish flu so it was all useless. Gets his head cracked open outside the house. (Stayed in Devon).

- Dr. Armstrong: a doctor who was specialised in female neurosis (how lovely), he obviously was a fucking misogynist. He failed (really badly) a surgery… Probably was too drunk for it? He is shown drinking to alleviate the shaking of his hands, so probably did the same in that occasion. Medical malpractice, yay! I really find it amusing how the was one of the first ones to loose his marbles… He really went crazy and paranoid, didn’t trust Philip and especially Vera (they heated each other’s guts a lot, making jabs at each other right from the start). He was the most fragile of the guests and the most unbalanced, really ironic considering how he treated people with neurosis. Found outside near the coast all wet and with seaweed on him, probably drowned. (“A Red herring swallowed one”)

- Anthony Marston: the first to die. Your average rich young man that could do whatever the fuck he wanted with daddy’s money. Was obsessed with cars (he treated his own like his wife, my god). Always speeding, run over 2 children, says that it was their parents fault, because they have let the children out at night (it was in the countryside and they had some lamps). This mf, who doesn’t feel guilty, only got his license revoked for 6 months, no jail time no nothing… Really annoying mf, used to take “stimulants” (drugs, but our good gentlemen obviously cannot use that rude and unstylish word). Killed with Cyanide (“chocked himself”).

- William Blore: a pig (policeman). As pigs do, he has beaten a criminal to death, he should have let him go, but didn’t do it. One of the last standing ones, he breaks down when left with Philip and Vera and confesses, he also reached the deeper end and was “What if we are all already dead and this is just Hell?”. Him talking about his lil piece of land, gives him some humanity and makes us almost feel bad for him. Stabbed to death (“A bear hugged one”)

- Emily Brent: I’m a bit confused about her character… She’s into those teaching circles, about what a good woman should do and whatnot and had taken a girl “under her wing” to teach her… My confusion comes from here… There’s a scene in which she is sucking the bleeding finger of the girl, so sexual tension… Does that mean the she SA the poor girl and then abandoned her when she wanted to tell everything? Then the girl threw herself under a train… She got stubbed at the neck with a crochet hook (“A bumblebee stung one”)

- Philip Lombard: a mercenary, killed 21 men for some diamonds (your average white colonialist). In his case I was pretty sure that he wasn’t the killer, it would have been too obvious, he is the only one that immediately admits his crime. He is a sick mf for what he has done, but he is in peace with himself, really nonchalant about it. He gets shoot by Vera Claythorne (multiple times), because she didn’t trust him, as I said he was the obvious choice (a gun for hire, man with no morals) and the “only other left” besides her. (“Frizzled up”)

- Vera Claythorne: a secretary. So… The series wants you to believe that she’s the one last standing, there are many shots in which she is seen with a noose (like at the start when she was in the train) or something related (the hook on the ceiling)… So you are like: “Everyone has to die, so she’s killing everyone and then herself.” Tho towards the end Bill gets killed and she is following (not closely) Philip and this throws you off a lil bit: “It couldn’t have been her. Are they just killing each other, because they cannot trust anyone???”. It is shown her true story, how she wanted to kill Cybill so Hugo could get rich and then live a happy life with Vera (what a bitch… Poor child) and this leaves you a bit shocked (a pretty big twist, am I right?), because throughout the whole thing she seems the more guilty ridden of everyone so you don’t expect that shit. She goes to hang herself (obviously). (“He went out and hanged himself”).

NOW THERE’S THE REAL BIG PLOT TWIST! SPOILER!!!

You might say “Hey! What about the 10th person?” LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THAT MF, MY FRIEND.

THE REAL LAST PERSON IS THE JUDGE LAWRENCE WARGRAVE!… (Charles Dance, btw)

This man was a judge and was really well known for the fact that he watched every hanging of the people he sentenced to death, so we are lead to think that this is another sick fuck that enjoys this shit. His crime is convicting a dude (don’t remember his name) who apparently was a serial killer, but the way this is shown and the fact that he refused the hood makes us think that in reality he was innocent. While watching this I wasn’t really convinced by his mannerisms… He was too calm, too collected for that situation, everyone was going mad (even Philip) and it is mentioned that he had cancer (tho HE tells us that he was able to get rid of it)… So I obviously was: “Ok… It has to be him, he doesn’t have anything to loose, probably the cancer will come again and is TOO collected. I don’t trust this mf.” But then HE GETS SHOT TO THE HEAD!!! So obviously we all are: “Oh… So it wasn’t him… He’s dead… Huh.” And you are still left to wonder who is the killer. The thing is , AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS, HE IS NOT DEAD!!!! HE MADE AN ALLIANCE WITH THE DOCTOR (who was too paranoid of the others and already had shown trust to the judge “we are both fine and intelligent men, not like these other people”) TO FAKE HIS DEATH WITH SOME LIVER AND OTHER ORGANS (previously shown missing in the fridge). THE DR CHECKED AND PRONOUNCED HIM DEAD AND EVERYONE BELIEVED HIM. Those 2 met outside at night and Wargrave killed Armstrong…

The scene in which he appears made me loose my shit: we have Vera trying to hang herself and then we hear rustling and THE FUCKING JUDGE OPENS THE DOOR!!!! Then they talk, she is slowly dying of asphyxiation because she lost her balance on the chair and is barely touching it and begging Wargrave to help her and to give the blame to Philip. After calmly sitting next to her he starts listening to her (while watching her dying) and hen explains everything and how that specific hanging (of the serial killer, who, btw, was NOT INNOCENT) made him realise how similar they were, tho the dude killed innocents and he only guilty people. He also says that the cancer was spreading (so he really had nothing to loose). Listens to Vera’s pleads for help in such a cold way, probably used to it and most likely finding her revolting (for what she did and for how quickly she wanted to betray Philip, they had sex the previous night and were being together a lot). He’s also pretty sassy here, because she was asking why and he was “I have a strong sense of duty (he explained previously in the 3rd ep to the remaining people.) I thought that I made that clear.” She was also saying that he couldn’t kill himself because the gun was empty so to help her, then he shows one bullet “You forgot the bullet that killed me” and gets up AND NONCHALANTLY TAKES HER CHAIR AND GOES AWAY AFTER CLOSING THE DOOR.

The last scene is him going to the dining room setting 2 glasses of wine and 2 tissues at the opposite ends of the ramble, cleans the gun and shoots himself and the gun slides to the opposite end of the table. He is smiling.

I loved this miniseries so fucking much, that’s why I’m blabbing about it. Oh, Wargrave’s character is fantastic. This is a very well written story, the tension… The uncertainty… The twists, I should try to read some of Agatha Christie’s novels.

The actors did a good job :)

[naffeclipse]

THIS IS INCREDIBLE TO SEE AFTER MORE THAN A YEAR OF WORK?! OH MY GOSH!!! I'M BITING THE DRYWALL ABOUT THIS!! Oh my gosh, I love how the scenes flow together and intercut! Your art style is so lovely, especially with the more fluid parts of the animation. I love, love the expressions, especially from the vigilante! I'm also simply amazed by the progress that it took from the early WIP to its completion and it's just *mwah*!

Okay, I'm going to get into the nitty-gritty about what I love in the animatic because augh, there are so many details and blink-and-you-'ll-miss-it moments! I had to open it up on YouTube and go by it frame by frame and ohhh did I find some goodies!

I love that it begins without the vigilante already having the ribbons. It establishes the bells and ribbons as belonging to the detectives first, tied around their wrists, and the scene ends with the vigilante running and now possessing their ironic hair tie! ALSO The vigilante making the same face on the wanted poster is simply *chef's kiss* It's such a smooth transition into the first scene from the fic!

The foreshadowing of the Afton file and Mayor Freddy's hand reaching into it is so good, it had me vibrating in my seat! Also the smooth gif of revealing parts of the vigilante's past with the two chains around their throat, the blood, and of course, the iconic purple makes me insane and I'm 100% not normal about it! I'm glad you linked a closer look at that part because I love the details that went into that frame so much!

I also adore how sweet the detectives are with the vigilante, especially Sun holding their hand and their little blush! Juxtaposing with the bloody bathtub scene while the vigilante is holding their wounds and getting discovered is so good, I'm rattling you! Until next time makes me writhe on the ground in the best way possible augh <333

LASJDF The dance scene! The dancing with Detective Sun is wonderful, and I love how much Sun gets into it while the vigilante blushes in his arms! AND MOON BUSTING IN FURIOUS ALASDJF The vigilante in the dress twirling around and turning back to the first fic across the street is such a clever transition and I giggled at the detectives' faces while they stand there caught in their own handcuffs! I'm also feral about the vigilante bowing! That's such a showoff for them but they had to do it just for their detectives <3

I think this scene is my favorite (or at least one of them) with the dark red gun as the music changes up for a moment. Pairing that with the photographer immediately took me to Eclipse's favor that the vigilante owes him. AND I SEE THAT FRAME! THAT SPLIT-SECOND FRAME OF MICHAEL AND THE VIGILANTE! OHHHH IT RIPPED MY HEART OUT AND STOMPED IT, I LOVE IT! And the photographer being buried?! Yes, yes, yesss!!! I am putting this animatic in my mouth and shaking it!

The little montage of the vigilante running from the detectives in the past versus the current where they're seemingly nowhere to be found is a beautiful way to set up what they're going to find when they sneak into the detectives' apartment later! And the hand holding the cigar in the red dark is delicious foreshadowing! Again, I love the expressions when the vigilante finds Moon in desperate need of a celestial wire and Sun's shock at finding them here is *mwah*!

Gosh, I love how heavy and dark it becomes when the vigilante goes to Eclipse. He is looming over them, his smile overtaking them, and the focus on the cigar in his hand creates this air of ominous mystery and I'm entirely here for it. The darkness continues even after the vigilante gets the wire and brings it to Sun! It's like Eclipse is already, well, eclipsing everything over the vigilante because of the favor they promised! And Sun knows what it means by his expression! He's so concerned! The vigilante leaving with the window reflecting the past of the detectives and the mass boss before shining back to the present is so beautifully done! I enjoy the thoughtfulness put it hiding it in the window shine!

Not me about to sob over the vigilante leaving the boys to join Eclipse! Their expressions here are devastated and desperate, and the way they reach for the vigilante?! Ahhhh!!! It hurts my heart in the best way possible! AND THE DARK RIBBON OVERSHADOWING THE BOYS' RIBBON AHHHHHH!

It's so nice to see the vigilante needing a moment to compose themselves before facing the devil himself. Though they slap on a smile and aggressively let him know that they're not exactly happy, it's good to see the smallest part of them dreading him. The kiss here captures Eclipse's greedy possession so well as the vigilante endures it! The photo being knocked away to show just what he has on them is icing on the cake.

Ah, Detective Moon returning with his red eyes focused on the vigilante and Gregory, the smallest moment of uncertainty from them and mostly shock from Moon is *chef's kiss* The car chase is here and I love the animation of the vigilante slipped out of Sun's seat because the gunfight is over and slumping into the passenger side!

It becomes so soft when the lyrics of the song become about family, and the view of the vigilante looking at the detectives' tending to Gregory is so sweet. The vigilante is just so adorable when they talk about Michael! The sheer worry and fear of the vigilante here, reaching out for Sun and holding his hands, really soaking in that terror of losing their two favorite detectives because of their past is tangible here, and it makes me froth at the mouth. The distance between the vigilante and the detectives growing while the vigilante becomes painted in red is so striking and I love how you illustrated that fear of theirs come to life.

Dancing with Moon!! It's so soft and I love the movements, the arm holding before Detective Moon twirls the vigilante back against him, and holds them, and Detective Sun joins to completely it is actually heart-melting and I'm a mere puddle on the floor! The absolute attention it calls when it falls silent, and the vigilante is left hugging themselves with the memory of it, smiling, is so precious and yet foreboding.

The reunion between Gregory and Mayor Freddy is delightful, and with the detectives watching over it, it's just such a neat bow on top of it all. Detective Sun smiles and Detective Moon praises the vigilante! And it's so lovely until the mayor flashes that Afton file, and I lose my mind when the vigilante's face dawns in horror at how they just lost their two favorite detectives!

THE CHASE SCENE! I LOVE THE FLOW OF THE VIGILANTE'S HAIR WHILE THEY'RE RUNNING AWAY AND THE DETECTIVES JUST RIGHT AT THEIR HEELS! AND MOON! MOON RIPPING THEIR SHIRT OFF JUST AS HE CATCHES THEM FOR ONLY A MOMENT! OHHHH YOU CAPTURE THE DESPERATION OF THE VIGILANTE SO WELL AS THEY RUN INTO THEIR HIDEOUT AND DROP TO THE GROUND! THIS IS MY OTHER FAVORITE SCENE!!

Oh, I get goosebumps when the dark red descends onto the frame with the smoke hanging in the air and Eclipse's shadow falling over the vigilante! It's the perfect, gut-wrenching way to end it!!!

Ahhh, I have to tell you that I'm so amazed by all this and I can't sing its praises enough. That's incredible how much work you put into it and how beautifully it turned out because of that! Thank you from the bottom of my heart <3

And thank you so much for sharing!

The long awaited Marriage Material animatic, is here. The final version that is. Feel free to compare with the very very very much wip version from- ...that was- that was more than a year ago i did not realize its been that long..

huh. Anyway, I'm sure you already notice many changes haha

The Sleuth Jesters fics are written by @naffeclipse and the detective au belongs to @sunnys-aesthetic

Youtube link and thumbnail below cuz I like how the thumbnail turned out + a bit more talking

Check out This post and This post for a lil closer look at some parts that I liked making a lot and one you only get to see a little bit of

I don't know if I'll make it public just yet so for now it's gonna be an unlisted vid

(There is a dance earlier in the animatic and i used this vid as heavy ref and Im gonna link it just in case its too similar. idk just in case)

i DEEPLY encourage watching multiple times cuz i added a whole lot of details in some sections (some hard to catch hehe) and im curious to see ppl react to some :3c

Feel free to lmk which section was ur favorite cuz there were some parts that I definitely loved making the most.

[nonsensegnomes]

they get on like a house on fire

or, the evil john & mary prequel we deserve

~half of the songs here released before mary died in 1983: ft. joan baez, jimi hendrix, beyoncé’s lemonade, kd lang, the twin peaks soundtrack, 4 zeppelin songs for mary 😇, 3 sonny & cher for john 🙄, and a version of hey jude that doesn’t even involve the beatles

–––

IMAGE DESCRIPTION BEGINS

Two cover images for this Supernatural playlist. The first is a close-up of young John’s face in 4.03, as looking over Mary’s shoulder as she hugs him just after restoring him from the dead. Overlaid is the title of the playlist: BUYING THE STAIRWAY. 

The second is a mid-shot from the same scene of Mary looking over her shoulder at Dean (not pictured), as she realises the repercussions of the deal she just made for John’s life. Both images are slightly distorted in a way that makes it look like they are on an old/pre-digital tv screen.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION ENDS

–––

Liner Notes:

House Burning Down, Jimi Hendrix

Look at the sky turn a hell fire red Somebody's house is burnin' down down, down down Down, down, down

i think we gotta do the tragedy thing of starting with a flash-forward to the moment of disaster and/or some really fucking ominous foreshadowing, right? so anyway i think when mary gets back home after 4.03 her childhood home is burning down

Mississippi, The Secret Sisters

Taking off for Mississippi Wearing someone else's name Brought you in this world and I Can take you from it just the same

when john reveals he remembers going to hell when he died and mary admits she made a deal with the devil for his soul & they’re just looking at each other like:

Stairway To Heaven, Led Zeppelin

There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold And she's buying a stairway to heaven

thesis. statement.

Summertime, Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald

Your daddy's rich and your ma is good lookin' So hush, little baby, don't you cry

my parents used to sing this to me as a kid, so i have no problem appropriating it as an ominous opener for a spn playlist

Lady Weeping At The Crossroads, Carla Bruni

Run with terror all before you And regret behind

Little Man, Sonny & Cher

You're growin' old, my mother's cold Now it's time that you learned what it meant to be mature

idk, i just think it’d be funny if john didn’t actually like classic rock and all those tapes were a result of mary’s taste/a whole lot of posturing + his favourite artists that he was so distressed to learn broke up were. sonny & cher.

Bird On A Wire, k.d. lang

Like a knight from some old-fashioned book I have saved all my ribbons for thee

Give It Up, Angel Olsen

What is it you think I need Everything, it's not true Give it all up for you

the inherent violence of becoming a suburban housewife etc etc

I Walk The Line, Johnny Cash

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine I keep my eyes wide open all the time. I keep the ends out for the tie that binds

The Power Of Love, Frankie Goes To Hollywood

I'll protect you from the hooded claw Keep the vampires from your door

...

Dreams are like angels They keep bad at bay, bad at bay

hopefully it’s clear most of these love songs are uh. ironic.

Americans, Janelle Monáe

I like my woman in the kitchen I teach my children superstitions

this is not putting respect on the name of dirty computer and the biting satire janelle achieved in this song is far too good for spn, but it works too well to NOT use

Happy Together, Slothrust

Me and you and you and me No matter how they toss the dice, it had to be

theeeeee vibe

Mariners Apartment Complex, Lana Del Ray

People can change, but you don't have to leave her When everyone's talking, you can make a stand

in my head this is their first disastrous attempt to break up, when the angels first reel them back in together w/ forced amnesia and other tricks

Angel from Montgomery, John Prine

If dreams were lightning And thunder were desire This old house would've burned down A long time ago

about here is where anna enters, i think. per this post, she’s stranded in the 70s but still trying to thwart the apocalypse as a human, and when she first meets mary she tries to stab her in the heart with like a bread knife :)

Love Of My Life, Queen

Love of my life, you've hurt me

Where Did You Sleep Last Night, Nirvana

My girl, my girl, don't lie to me Tell me where did you sleep last night

Dancing Days, Led Zeppelin

Dancing days are here again, As the summer evenings grow.

i feel like they have to have SOME good times just so the ugly stuff hits harder, so they should dance to this in the kitchen while a baby dean watches on & develops Complexes :)

If You Could Read My Mind, Gordon Lightfoot

And I will never be set free As long as I am a ghost, you can't see

i Really want to know what mary got up to in those TWENTY TWO YEARS she spent haunting their house

Black Books - Live, Nils Lofgren

She wants to hurt other guys Put tears in other eyes

can’t possible beat the sopranos scene, but if we gesture towards it...

Somebody That I Used To Know, Gotye & Kimbra

When you said you felt so happy you could die

this is when they actually do have a shitty yet relatively mature break-up, and the angels just immediately eternal-sunshine them

Happy, Mitski

I was in the bathroom, I didn't hear him leave I locked the door behind him and I turned around to see All the cookie wrappers and the empty cups of tea Well I sighed and mumbled to myself again, I have to clean

can’t say why, but this one has major timeloop vibes. anyway, this is when the powers that be just replay their first meeting again & again until they get it perfect

Questions About Angels, Carrie Elkin

All them things were black and white to you You can’t question an angel

mary brings john into the loop about what’s happening to them

Snake Eyes, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

What did I do last night and will I be ashamed

Everybody Knows, Leonard Cohen

Everybody knows that you love me baby Everybody knows that you really do

...

Everybody knows you've been discreet But there were so many people you just had to meet

this is when jary try to do a truman show fake relationship while plotting to escape & the angels see right through them

The House That Dripped Blood, The Mountain Goats

And the cellar door is an open throat

Running Up That Hill (Deal With God), Kate Bush

Let me steal this moment from you now. C'mon, angel, c'mon, c'mon, darling, Let's exchange the experience

obviously.

O Death, Shakey Graves & Monica Martin

When God is gone and the Devil takes hold Who will have mercy on your soul?

when the orig soundtrack is good, it’s GOOD

Mary, Big Thief

Heavens, when you looked at me Your eyes were like machinery Your hands were making artifacts in the corner of my mind

Sandcastles, Beyoncé

Pictures snatched out the frame Bitch, I scratched out your name and your face What is it about you that I can't erase, baby?

Moderation, Florence + The Machine

You think you need it, you think you want love You wouldn't want it if you knew what it was

Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting), Elton John

Oh, don't give us none of your aggravation We had it with your discipline

HAS to play over a wacky sequence where mary is trying to go on a date with john & investigate a hunt on the same night out; some real disney channel vibes

Only The Good Die Young, Billy Joel

You didn't count on me When you were counting on your rosary

annamary question mark?

Oh Ana, Mother Mother

You are the angel that I couldn't kill

so guys, this one is about anna

Red Right Hand, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

You're one microscopic cog In his catastrophic plan

so i think at a certain point heaven recruits mary to do some of its more delicate dirty work

A Cowboy’s Work Is Never Done, Sonny & Cher

I used to jump my horse and ride I had a six-gun at my side I was so handsome, women cried And I got shot but I never died

mary is MY marlboro man <3

She’s A Self Made Man, Larkin Poe

Lord have mercy, I'm a self-made-man

Jockey Full Of Bourbon, Tom Waits

Hey little bird, fly away home Your house is on fire, your children are alone

sometimes you leave your young children in another state to go take a case where an oracle then tells you beware the ides (nov 22nd 1983)

Headfirst Slide Into Cooperstown On A Bad Bet, Fall Out Boy

I don't just want to be a footnote in someone else's happiness Does your husband know the way That the sunshine gleams from your wedding band?

did i mention we’re doing annamary? >:)

The Only Thing That I Know, The Mountain Goats

And I know you're lying And you know you're lying too That is just about The only thing I know about you

DIVORCCCCCEEEEEEE!!!

When The Levee Breaks, Led Zeppelin

If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break When the levee breaks, I'll have no place to stay

Gunpowder & Lead, Maria Lambert

If he wants a fight, well, now he's got one And he ain't seen me crazy yet

i simply think mary should get the murder john, as a treat (see below)

The Patron Saint of Liars and Fakes, Fall Out Boy

And when it all goes to hell (Take this to your grave) Will you be able to tell me "sorry" with a straight face? (And I'll take it to mine) And when it all goes to hell And when it all goes to hell And when it all goes to hell And when it all goes

Everything Put Together Falls Apart, Paul Simon

For all the good it'll do you You can die

Laugh, I Nearly Died, The Rolling Stones

Feeling so despised When you laugh, laugh, I almost died

okay so that scene in bloody mary did change me on a foundational level when i saw it as a child, so obviously we’re going to upstage it! this is after the rage & resentment brewing between john & mary comes to a head, and they have a really UGLY fight, and there’s a moment where you think he might be about to hit her... before he just storms off to go drink at the VFW. and so when he comes home she puts a bullet in his head. and then after calmly disposing of the body, she goes to drive off, and there he is in her rearview – miraculously whole. and not remembering any of it

Ain’t No Grave, Johnny Cash

Us And Them, Pink Floyd

Heroes, David Bowie

The Gambler, Kenny Rogers

The Way It Goes, Gillian Welch

One Way Or Another, Blondie

but w/ a really ominous tone like this one riverdale vid

Angeleyes, ABBA

Johnny, I Hardly Knew Yeh, Joan Baez

Kentucky Gambler, Dolly Parton

i’ve already had my say on this song

Moonlight Shadow, Mike Oldfield

‘70: They’re Killing Children Over There, The Magnetic Fields

so this amv changed my life...

I Want To Break Free, Queen

Tomorrow’s Money, My Chemical Romance

The Grocery, Manchester Orchestra

Nowhere to Run, BOGA

Ask the Angels, Patti Smith

Oh! You Pretty Things, David Bowie

Hey Jude, Wilson Pickett

Who Do You Love?, George Thorogood & The Destroyers

any destiel song can should must & will be appropriated for the annamary cause

What Is and What Should Never Be, Led Zeppelin

House Carpenter, Joan Baez

What hills, what hills are those, my love That rise so fair and high? Those are the hills of heaven, my love But not for you and I

i have SUCH a complicated & sick little amv plotted out in my head for footage that doesn’t exist set to this song, which we really can’t get into right now i suppose, but!! suffice to say things go poorly when heaven finds out about anna & mary’s last-ditch desperate escape attempt

All Along the Watchtower, Bob Dylan

destiel retrospectively homophobic canon yet AGAIN when we kill anna in a clear reference to cas’s death in the s12 finale

All the Angels, My Chemical Romance

Love Will Tear Us Apart, Joy Division

Jenny, Sleater-Kinney

No Children, The Mountain Goats

duh.

Everybody Knows, The Chicks

Sycamore Trees, Jimmy Scott

Stuck In The Middle With You, Stealers Wheel

American Girl, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

The Beat Goes On, Sonny & Cher

The Chain (Live at the Forum 1982), Fleetwood Mac

yes this performance specifically

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, Paul Simon

---

[cordria]

Rewrite an episode: The Ultimate Enemy

While there is a lot of good stuff in this episode, there have always been three things that bothered me:

1. Nobody would cheat on a career aptitude test. 

2. Clockwork doesn’t have totally clear reasoning for pulling Danny in to do this. We’ve fanon-ed things in, but the episode sort of pulls a catch-22 on this. I realize they use the plot hammer of the observants thinking Danny will become evil, but let’s put some actual thought into the reasoning here.

3. Danny has little actual responsibility for the creation of Dan. This cuts down on the angst - and also how the episode hits in a moral sense.

So I wanted to ‘fix it’ while keeping the large brush-strokes the same. Read on for my thoughts.

(Assume proper foreshadowing of these, were I rewriting the entire series.)

Story opens with Danny struggling with frustration and anger that has been building. Not to a personality-change level, but more to a ‘there’s realistic consequences for his actions and he’s frustrated with it’ level. He’s frustrated about his grades and detentions. He’s angry with Val for continuing to hunt him. He’s tired and getting angry with his parents for not listening to him.

An actual high-stakes test is coming up - let’s make it a placement test for whatever the IB/College in the Schools this universe has. In order to even have a chance at being accepted into the astronomy program Danny’s been eyeing, he has to get into the honors-level science and math classes in high school. Which means he has to pass this test.

He comes up with a plan to study. Sam and Tucker and Jazz try to help. Whenever he gets a chance to focus and study, it’s clear he has the knowledge to pass. He’s acing the questions, quick answers, etc. But the ghosts are on a rampage, and Danny’s study times always get cut short. 

Morning of the test arrives and Danny is a mess. He’s exhausted from dealing with a ghost all night, his brain feels like mush, and there’s zero chance of him passing this must-pass test. Frustrated at the ghosts and angry about the situation (because he would have passed easily without the ghosts!), he makes a choice. He sneaks into the school using his ghost powers and deliberately steals a copy of the test. Not the answers, because that’s stupid. None of the testing companies would give a school a copy of the answers even with a gun pointed at their heads.

So he brings the test home and looks up the answers before school starts. He waves it off by saying if his ghost powers were going to cause him to fail, he should be allowed to use his ghost powers to pass.

Deliberate choice to cheat.

Enter Box Lunch attacking the school before the test starts (which delays the test to the next day) so Danny ends up with the time medallion, and Skulk-Tech shows up which clues Danny-and-crew into what the time medallion does. Head over to Clockwork as per the actual episode, and Danny sees his future. Sees Dan and the destruction that was caused. The fact that Danny is choosing to cheat and using his frustration to manipulate things makes his comment about Dan looking cool more ominous. 

Again, Danny-and-crew end up in the future and run into Valerie. Sam and Tucker head home and Danny gets tossed into the ghost zone. There, he confronts the ghostly results of his anger. They attack him and he can’t fend them off. But he’s listening, and he hears how he destroyed their lives, and he feels bad. He wants to go back and fix things - but he needs them to leave him alone to do that. So he finds his Ghostly Wail.

Yada, yada, he ends up at future-Vlad’s place. Vlad does the recap - only it’s a bit different. Instead of some freak accident, Danny ended up continuing to allow his frustration and anger to make bad choices. Danny slowly twisted into a person that freaks even Vlad out. Angry all the time and willing to use his ghost powers to subdue whatever caused that anger.

Vlad chose to remove Danny’s ghost when Danny is in his early twenties, in a bid to prevent Danny from getting worse, and with the assumption that Phantom would disintegrate without a body holding it in place. Phantom didn’t, and freed from whatever humanity Danny’s mind had left, attacked Vlad. So we, again, get a human-Vlad and creepy-Danny/Vlad ghost combo known as Dan. Begin epic destruction of both worlds for the next several years.

Vlad removes the time medallion, Danny ends up back in their normal time. Dan has been behind the scene orchestrating some destruction, setting in motion a bid to utterly destroy Danny in the present time and continue to wreak his anger-filled havok on this new world. While he was gone, Maddie, Jack, Lancer, Jazz, Sam, and Tucker ended up learning that Danny cheated on the test. 

They corner Danny (not at the Nasty Burger - it never made any sense for them to meet at the Nasty Burger in the first place) and Danny starts to react with frustration and anger. It’s not his fault he’s not getting any sleep, and didn’t get time to study, and it’s not fair that all his future dreams rest on this one test. 

Dan attacks. The humans are kidnapped and locked up at the Nasty Burger. Danny follows, trying to fight Dan. Angry at Dan, Danny isn’t able to access his new power. It’s not until he lets go of that anger (Star Wars reference, right?), and is attacking to save his family from destruction, that he can finally use it to subdue Dan and lock him away in a Thermos.

Of course, Danny is too slow, as per the show, and Clockwork has to step in to prevent the death and destruction and ends up resetting the time stream. 

It’s the morning of the test, Danny is still exhausted and a mess, and he gets to make a new choice. No cheating. Instead he goes and talks to Lancer about how he’s not been sleeping and didn’t have the time to study like he needed, and Lancer lets him take the make-up test the following week.

Lesson learned - talk through your problems, get help when you need, and don’t wallow in anger and frustration.

Oh, and Dan comes up again in some later episode. Because why create such a wonderful example of angst and never use it again.

Anywho, that’s my thoughts on how I’d rewrite this one. :)

[emmys-grimoire]

FINALE analysis + season 4 predictions

I was right about where we were headed, but I didn’t expect THAT twist. Damn.

It was the goodbye lesson like anticipated. Mammon’s being broody because you’ll inevitably have to part, and the others are varying degrees of depressed. They throw the party they were planning last episode.

Then the brothers spring their request on Diavolo, in hope he would have the power to make MC a permanent part of the family.

It doesn’t go quite as planned.

Bad Blood

Diavolo apologizes and refuses (or for some reason he can’t?). The reason he does so is mildly interesting.

The conflict between the Celestial Realm and the Devildom is well-documented and frequently alluded to, but this might suggest there’s some bad blood between the Devildom and the Human World, too. Do they even have a ruler, though? A CEO of humanity? Haven’t heard of him, if so. 

The Celestial Realm doesn’t claim MC as far as I know. I’m not sure how MC officially “joining” the family via polygamous marriage would upset the balance between the three realms, unless everyone’s aware of just how much of a powerhouse they are.

When you catch up with him later, you discover Diavolo is feeling jealous again.

He DID admit he doesn’t like sharing back in Season 2.

But he seems to be a good sport about it so far.

Simeon’s Brother

The bombshell comes at the very end of the lesson, delivered in a cliffhanger after the brothers say their goodbyes and leave.

Back at the cafe, Simeon gets a surprise visitor!

And it’s...

Raphael!

Judging by how they react to each other, I suspect Raphael is disguised and not easily recognizable, and he wasn’t the person Simeon was meeting with in a prior lesson because it seems this is the first time he’s seen Simeon in his ‘human’ form.

... I’m a little concerned that Raphael feels the need to disguise himself, and it’s a good enough get up to fool someone as perceptive as Simeon. I don’t know if he’s acting on Michael’s orders, if so. It’s clear Simeon wasn’t expecting him, too.

I did wonder if Michael had brothers like Lucifer. When I learned that Raphael acted more like a retainer towards him, I dismissed him as a potential sibling candidate. It did not occur to me that he could be Simeon’s brother, because Simeon didn’t mention having any brothers of his own.

Which also concerns me because that might mean they’re not particularly close for some reason...

Additionally...

... This is pretty alarming. Diavolo doesn’t reveal whether or not this information was voluntarily given to him by the Celestial Realm, or if he has agents who deliver him news. The Celestial Realm seems to be pretty insular and close-fisted, to the point of frustration (Diavolo complains about it to Simeon during their tea party in season 2), so I’m wondering if this is someone else paging him out of alarm. It doesn’t sound like it’d be Luke, because it’s “regarding the Celestial Realm” as a whole, not just Simeon in particular.

In conclusion...

Cerberus was a red herring. Maybe he pops up in hard mode?

I was right about us heading to the Celestial Realm next, but at this point I think that was an obvious conclusion.

I am dreadfully curious about how season 4 is going to start after such a juicy cliffhanger. Somehow I can’t see it starting with Raphael being an obvious villain and endangering Simeon right off the bat, and I can’t think of Simeon doing anything that might earn him the ire of the Celestial Realm (angel x human relationships are not forbidden). He certainly hasn’t done anything on the same level as stealing an incredibly powerful artifact from his boss this season. 

I’m thinking the start won’t be as ominous as it foreshadows, and it might have something to do with Father acting up. They did just establish Simeon fears him above everything else: maybe he woke up from a long nap and he’s cranky about something related to Simeon. Maybe Michael was forced to reveal what happened to the Ring of Light.

But conflict with Father immediately? At the start of Season 4? Eh...

I don’t think Simeon has fallen. Can you quietly fall? Sounds like it’d be a pretty dramatic thing, and something Diavolo would notice.

Regardless, I’m hype for Raphael/Michael/Celestial Realm drama. They’re definitely coming. I’m getting the snarky vibes from Raph already, and he’s only been given one line of dialogue.

I’ll be writing a season 3 review after this semester is wrapped up. Then maybe I’ll have the time to finally write all the other things I planned, too.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale's Top 10: Villain Songs (4 through 1)

(10 through 5)

Same rules apply

1. The song must be sung By The villain, about the villain, and/or be a villainized version of a song.

2. The song can NOT be a fan songs for a villain.

3. The song doesn't need to be in the movie or show, but has to be some part produced by the creators.

4. No villain songs that are covers of other songs that existed outside of the movie/tv show/ video game/ etc.

5. I will be limiting my Disney movie picks. only 1 from an animated movie and 1 from live action. (tv shows have more leeway)

6. One per franchise

7. I need to be able to find the audio of it for it to count.

_____________________________________________________________

4. Prince of Egypt - Playing with the Big Boys

Now we are getting into the harder calls. This song really gets to the conflict of Moses vs Pharaoh. We see these two cunning 'Magicians' mimic Moses' miracle with the power of Showmanship that Megamind would applaud at. The two are so convincing with their parlor tricks that even though they went through so much additional effort, they are the two that sway the crowd. Showing presentation is key. The only way Moses even tops them is by dropping 10 plagues on them.

3. Steven Universe: The Movie - Other Friends

Between this, and Whats the point of Feeling blue. I think we knew which villain song from Steven Universe had to make it.

Spinel wants revenge on Steven because she blames him for taking EVERYTHING away from her. Now the song is high energy, the action is fast and blink it ya miss it. The swing and ominous sounds just sell this unsettling vibe to the whole thing. Spinel puts pretty much every aspect of her twisted self on display here and it is a delight. Lets also discuss how she just OFFED 3 of the main cast at the last note. (really just showing how much of a threat she is.) Now THATS how you do a villain intro.

2. Little Shop of Horrors -Mean Green Mother from outer space

Alien plant bullies nerd for 3 minutes while singing about how he stands no chance at stopping it. The high energy, the actions of the villainous plant monster. The self assurance it has its gonna win. Its so smug and sure and it reflects practically flawlessly in this song.

I also like the original intended ending when the plant eats Seymour and takes over the world. But thats just cause I like happy endings.

1. The hunchback of Notredame - Hellfire

I know, its obvious. While I can find more enjoyment out of Be Prepared (which would have been my true number 2 if I allowed for more Disney on the list) or Friends on the other side. One can't deny that Hellfire is the best Disney villain song. It is just so... striking. This if Frollo at his most raw, he is despicable, evil but still somehow thinks he is good. Its fascinating. It also foreshadows his fate. One could write countless essays of each Frame and every word spoken. This song is the Platinum standard of villain songs.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 19, part two

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff) (Previous Post)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

The Man Comes Around

Over at the Wen Indoctrination Tower, which seems to exist just to torture Lan Wangji with stair climbing, Lan Wangji is climbing the stairs. Too bad his cultivation level is too low to be able to just jump up. At least this time his leg isn't broken.

This is the first vengeful stair-climb in the show, but not the last. (Parallel gifset here).

The Wen guards are stationed all the way at the pinnacle of this tower to guard...what? Why are they not at the bottom of the stairs? What is this location for, actually? This is further up the stairs than the scenes with the indoctrination lectures. Anyway, it's been three months since Wen Chao threw Wei Wuxian into the burial mounds, so naturally these guards are talking about that exact thing as Lan Wangji approaches.

Lan Wangji knocks them all down with a blast from his guqin. Did you know his guqin is named Wangji, by the way? It is. A guy who is that lazy about naming his quqin maybe shouldn't feel so superior to a guy who named his sword "whatever." 

(I'm suddenly remembering a plush lamb I had as a child, whose eyes were orange, that I named "orange eyes.") (I, however, was three. And I had a lot of plush lambs. Little ones. Grown-ups found it hilarious to give them to me.) (Native speakers of English can probably guess what OP's real name is. Hint: it rhymes with Canary.) (Everybody else: there is a kid's rhyming song called Mary Had A Little Lamb. OP's name is Mary.)

Anyhoo, after Lan Wangji is finally finished with his dramatic entrance, Jiang Cheng comes flying in from wherever he's been hovering for the past 20 minutes of stair time. A bunch of Lan sidekicks also flood into the frame from wherever they were hiding during the wide shots of LWJ on the staircase.

In case you hope that CQL Lan Wangji is as much of a top (offscreen) as MZDS Lan Wangji is (on the page), here's a gif for you.

(more after the cut)

He uses the patented Lan string attack to choke this guard.  Lan Wangji doesn't have to hold a guqin string in his hands to choke someone with it. He doesn't even have to tighten it, judging by how absurdly not-tight this string is.

Or maybe this guy is choking on the chin strap of his helmet. This is exactly how OP's son reacts when OP sticks a bike helmet on him. (Note: it's GOOD that they are following choking safety protocols on set. Very good. However, they could have just left the string out and pretended, and it would look better, in this instance)

The Wen guard tells Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng about the whole "thrown into the burial mounds" thing.  Team Let's Find Wei Wuxian is not happy to hear this.

A Vengeful Ghost

Meanwhile, in some Wen office somewhere? Where the hell is this? Yiling, we get an ominous shot of the rooftops where Wei Wuxian is lurking and then we see Wang Lingjiao trying to sleep and having a nightmare.

Wang Lingjiao has gone to sleep with a full face of makeup on instead of washing her face before bed. She has forgotten the important maxim, Go To Sleep Pretty, Wake Up Zitty.

She leaps out of bed to go cling to Wen Chao and freak out about Wei Wuxian's ghost. Wen Chao is trying to read the sports section and has clearly had enough of this crap. This has presumably been going on for a little while now.

Wang Lingjiao is in a new outfit, which is...pajamas? It has the feel of a 1930's French peignoir set, and it's much more softly colored than her usual bright red-purple combo. If this is her pajamas is it weird that her day clothes are a lot more aggressively sexy-looking than her nightgown? A freak in the streets but a lady in the sheets.

Wen Chao rants about the Sunshot Campaign and talks some smack about Wen Qing, and then leaves to go to the bar and watch the game with Wen Zhuliu. After he leaves Wang Lingjiao freaks out for a bit and then looks at the notice he was reading.

The notice basically says that the Sunshot Campaign is kicking their ass. She should be proud for inspiring the name of the campaign with that kite-shooting bullshit she made up at Lotus Pier. Before slaughtering everyone.

No Matter What You Do, I Only Want To Be With You

Back at the Indoctrination Tower, Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng are having feelings about Wei Wuxian. Jiang Chang does all the talking but Lan Wangji's thoughts are louder because a sad violin is playing Wangxian while they talk.

Jiang Cheng tells Lan Wangji about their meetup plan and says he thought WWX had dumped him to go find Lan Wangji in Lanling. Lan Wangji telepathically indicates that this didn’t happen. This means two things: 1. Lan Wangji has been hanging out in Lanling, where Jiang Yanli has been hanging out, so maybe they have bonded over the past 3 months and 2. This is the first time Jiang Cheng has talked to Lan Wangji since Wei Wuxian disappeared. 

Much as my fic-loving heart would like to believe these two spent three months on the road together looking for Wei Wuxian, in fact they are both important high-level fighters in an active military campaign, and Lan Wangji was busy taking back the Cloud Recesses while Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian were having elective surgery. They probably both were assigned to the "Indoctrination Bureau" mission and this is the first chance they've had to talk about Wei Wuxian.

Is it heartbreaking that, while Wei Wuxian was helplessly getting his ass beat because he'd sacrificed his golden core for Jiang Cheng, Jiang Cheng believed Wei Wuxian had abandoned him for Lan Wangji? Yes. Yes it is.

For some reason Jiang Cheng is hesitant to believe that Wei Wuxian really was thrown into the Burial Mounds. I mean, I understand not wanting to believe Wei Wuxian is dead, but given that Wen Chao is the dude who oversaw the massacre of all of the people at Lotus Pier, including kids, why would Jiang Cheng think his guards are wrong? Maybe he just feels like Wei Wuxian is invincible, since so far he kinda has been. 

The Sword is Mightier Than Not Having a Sword

While they've been chatting, the Lan disciples have found their swords. One disciple is holding Bichen (LWJ's sword), Sandu (JC's sword), and OP consults wiki Suihua (Jin Zixuan's sword). Another disciple is holding Subian (WWX's sword).  

Jiang Cheng grabs Sandu while the Lan disciples, who apparently know their gongzi’s heart, offer Wei Wuxian's sword to Lan Wangji. 

Lan Wangji takes Subian (Bichen: What am I, chopped watercress?) and immediately tries to draw it. Like you don't do. It's sealed itself, which apparently means that it's upset. It's unclear if it's upset because Wei Wuxian is dead or if it just misses him, however.  

Lan Wangji definitely misses him, and wonders, out loud inside his own head, where Wei Wuxian is. Um, he's in the Burial Mounds, dude, they just told you. Well, I guess he's actually in Yiling proper at this point, haunting Wang Lingjiao as he promised her he would.

Twa Corbies

The scene shifts to Qinghe, where there are about 12 dead bodies lying around, which in this show means that there are really a few hundred. In fact, per Jiang Yanli's statement "nothing can be seen but corpses covering the plains." The camera can't see most of them, is all.

Wen Xu's head is hanging in the doorway, and the Jins talk about how Nie Mingjue killed him, cutting his head off with just one swing. Is this foreshadowing anything, like perhaps someone else's head being cut off by Baxia in just one swing? Nope, definitely not.

A couple of crows are perched on a body, totally not eating it, but Jin Zixuan gallantly zaps them with a talisman to make them fly away anyway.  It might be noteworthy that nobody used to use talismans but gradually more and more people are using them - particularly people who have spent time with Wei Wuxian.

With mony a lock of his golden hair-o, we’ll theek our nest when it grows bare-o

Asshole cousin Jin Zixun says “scavenger rights,” so Jin Zixuan puts him in charge of collecting all the bodies. 

Since OP just finished watching fur-collar-happy Nirvana in Fire, these crows look to me like they are wearing luxurious fur collars. Where OP lives, crows are not this fancy. 

A Romantic Corpse-Filled Interlude

Disaster het Jin Zixuan goes to help Jiang Yanli get out of the carriage but she rejects his hand just like he rejected hers back in Gusu.

Jiang Yanli is extremely shocked when she sees Wen Xu's severed head, and turns away in horror, preferring to calmly rest her eyes on dozens of crow-pecked corpses.

Jin Zixuan tries to comfort her and she tells him she'll be going now, thanks for the hospitality. He tries to say that he has to personally deliver her to a representative of the patriarchy one of her brothers, but then one of her brothers shows up.

Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng arrive, having presumably flown there from Qishan. They show that they are flying by blowing a fan on the ground and then jumping off of a box, which is better than the effects we were subjected to earlier in the episode.

Jiang Cheng rushes over to have an emotional reunion with Jiang Yanli, while Lan Wangji rushes over to have an emotional reunion with Wen Xu’s severed head. Jin Zixuan kind of spoils it for him by talking about Wei Wuxian's absence while Lan Wangji is trying to have a moment.

The whole time Jin Zixuan is talking to him, Lan Wangji appears to be gazing into the middle distance but in fact he is staring at Wen Xu's severed head. This is the guy who led the burning of Cloud Recesses, killed a bunch of disciples, and personally broke Lan Wangji's leg. Lan Wangji stares at his head for more than a full minute before glancing away.

Jiang Yanli hasn't seen Jiang Cheng since they were in Wen Qing's clinic, and she is happy he's recovered. When she asks about Wei Wuxian he gives her the bad news in the classic Jiang fashion, which is to say nothing, but look stricken until your interlocutor figures out that something is horribly wrong, but not precisely what.

Four Angry Men

Inside the fortress, Nie Mingjue is slapping the table and saying, this bad boy can hold so much resentment and vengeance. They're having a mini war council and we're getting a better sense of Nie Mingjue's anger management problem. Note for those who don't get the gif reference: this is a The Godfather joke, not a sex joke, but it can be both, if you like.

We're also getting a little more info about Baxia, who seems to be eager to go fight even without anyone wielding it. (Her? Him? Them? do swords have gender? I don't know). Well done, person below the camera frame whose job is to rattle Baxia in a menacing manner.

They've got a giant model of the battle targets, which looks like it was carved out of real rock (I mean, as much as any of the rocks on this show look like real rocks) and has its own table and everything, decorated in Nie colors. Where was this before they took Qinghe back? Has Nie Mingjue been traveling with it? 

Anyway, I'm assuming Nie Huaisang made it, because it's pretty nice. Hopefully they will keep it around for tabletop gaming after the war is over.

Jiang Cheng is upset but is using his anger management mantra to help control his temper while Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji talk with Nie Mingjue. 

Lan Wangji talks by leaning forward meaningfully, mostly not by using any words, but he asks for a battle assignment and Jiang Cheng immediately joins in. They both want to go find Wei Wuxian. 

Nie Mingjue says Yiling is too difficult of a target, but Lan Wangji puts on his determined face, which is apparently very persuasive.  

After Team Find Wei Wuxian leaves, Nie Mingjue asks Jin Zixuan to hang back so he can ask him how Meng Yao is doing. This is the first time he finds out that his ex didn't go to Lanling. Jin Zixuan tries to delicately remind him that Dad's got, like, SO many bastard children, they really don't have space for all of them. Nie Mingjue dismisses him immediately and abruptly. 

Nie Mingjue might invite the straights to his party but he isn't interested in actually socializing with them.

Unconditional Soup is Only for A-Xian

Jiang Cheng can't sleep, and takes some time, now, to be sad about Wei Wuxian. Presumably he spent the prior 3 months being mad, not sad, because he really thought he just buggered off without saying anything for all that time. Which is sort of fair, but sort of not. One thing about these two bros is that for as close as they have been and as much as they love each other, their mutual understanding has some big, messy gaps.

Fortunately while he is feeling sad, Jiang Cheng does not try to draw Subian from its sheath, because wouldn't THAT be awkward.

Jiang Yanli can't sleep either, and comes to sit with him. Jiang Cheng feels bad that she's wearing herself out with worry and she says "As your sister, I have nothing to do but to worry about you." Jiang Yanli isn't one to complain but she doesn't like being inactive or helpless. In Lanling she was far from the war, but now that she's in Qinghe she'll make herself useful by tending the wounded, and later she'll help Jiang Cheng shoulder his responsibilities as he takes over the Jiang clan.

At the moment, however, all she can do is fret and make soup. As she gives Jiang Cheng a bowlful she reminds him that he absolutely has to rescue their brother who has, according to his captors, been reduced to bone dust.

With all the impossible shit that Jiang Cheng is expected to achieve - and in many instances, does achieve - he is absolutely the embodiment of the Jiang Clan's motto. Fuck his father for disrespecting him because he hadn't figured out how to do everything by the age of 16.

Definitely Not Chilling in Yiling

Back in Yiling, Wen Chao is hearing the news that the Qishan Indoctrination Bureau has fallen and that he's being called back to Nightless City. Wen Chao says he shouldn't need to go back because his dad has a new right-hand man. That new right-hand man, we will eventually learn, is Meng Yao. Wang Lingjiao, meanwhile, is hiding under the bed covers and deciding it's time to dump Wen Chao.

She locks the door and goes to pull out her jewelry box, which is locked and hidden under the bed. Maybe this is Wen Chao's jewelry box, because she acts kind of squirrely about opening it. Upon opening the jewelry box, she doesn't find jewelry but a pair of bloody fake eyeballs staring at her.  She screams and freaks out and then the wind picks up and we hear the sound of a flute, playing the "I'm here to fuck your shit up" tune that Wei Wuxian likes.

Wang Lingjiao runs to the door and pulls down the protection talisman that's pasted above it, and pastes it directly to her chest instead, which is, we will learn in the next episode, the worst idea she could possibly have at this point.

Then she uses a poking stick to go flip the jewelry box open and finds it's full of ugly-ass jewelry again, plus an improbable number of weird round paper-mache biscuits that have been painted gold. None of this jewelry looks anything like the exquisite accessories people wear in this show, which means this stash was put together by the practical effects department, not by the costume department.

Anyway, Wang Lingjiao apparently thinks she can sell this fakeass stuff for a good price, so more power to her. But then we get a short glimpse of the menacing eyeballs again, this time on the floor, having moved out of the box and brought their little blood pool with them. Screeching ensues.

Next episode: Lady in Red!

Soundtrack: Twa Corbies, by Steeleye Span

[kaypeace21]

Possible theories about the teaser

#1 theory) it's a nightmare/ el ptsd flashback of what happened to the other numbers. And they died. In the s4 trailer brenner says to the other numbers "today i have very special plans for you." In s1 brenner tells el " today is a very special day. Because today we make contact (with the demogorgan/upsidedown)." And so the initial teaser for this trailer with the bloodbath could show it didn't go well. And that's why el was kept isolated from the other kids... there just were no other numbers left!!!!! In a s4 film hellraiser 2 the psychiatrist used patients to open a portal to another world which usually k*lled them so maybe el was locked away in her room for not obeying brenner like in the past- and just heard what happened with the door closed? .The last clip could be unrelated to the first scene of Brenner/the numbers-  so el opening her eyes with a possible buzzcut  & audio of brenner asking if she was listening/el hyperventilating could be from several diff eps of the present day and not even connected to one another.

 audio of Brenner  saying "eleven are you listening " could be a call back to how billy (when hurting someone) sensed El spying in the present day- and then el hyperventilates when billy sees her and acknowledges her presence. Sort of like the trailer. 

 In quite a few movies on the s4 list the m*rder victims had numbers carved on them- its possible they were dumped in Hawkins woods/quary years ago (aka lucas saying it wasn’t Will but another kid in the quary could be foreshadowing). And that causes all the paranoia/satanic panic in Hawkins. Because the catalyst for satanic panic of a small town-in one film was finding children dead in the woods and river (paradise lost).its possible someone comes across their bodies in Hawkins woods years after they were dumped/burried there?

 El later probably tracks brenner down at penthurst with her tracking powers   (after Kali asks her to) cause El may want to prevent another tragedy if she suspects he  is starting up a new program . Kali even asked El in s2 for El to “face their father and heal their wounds together”. Pic Brenner’s actor (matthew modine) posted pre s3.

I think el has all her powers except telekinesis. El/kali team up and maybe sneak into pethurst facility (like in ace Ventura -people posing as siblings investigate a m*rder and one fakes being ‘crazy’ to sneak in to the psych facility and find a murderer) . In hellraiser 2 it was a real psych facility -but the basement was where the evil dr did his secret experiments unbeknownst to the other staff members. In ‘peanut butter solution’ 2 kids - 1 of them is goth/not american teams up with a girl to find a man named ‘senior ‘ who is kidnapping kids for their powers. That character snuck into the senior’s place to find their friend/sibling (maybe Will?? based off some foreshadowing/that bts pic of the noah look alike ...idk it’s possible). Also wtf is 12 if not maybe Will?

The one who sneaks in starts calling senior “dad” (like papa) to trick him into thinking they trust him.  Kali already busted Dottie out of a psych hospital (so she may help El do the same) and lucas referenced El being at pethurst in s1 where she had never been - but the facility has been shown in s4 bts pics. Alexi in s3 even watches roadrunner- -in that “papa bear” throws him in a psych facility. So I think someone will be captured by Brenner (accidental or otherwise)- most likely el to save new experiments/ maybe Will. 

Her appearing to have a buzzcut at the end of the trailer may be a shot from a diff episode when captured again-possibly in the upsidedown/void on Brenner’s request?

Other alternative possibilities/theories

#2 theory ) it could be something in the present day? but cut scenes/audio are once again meshed together to confuse us. This could be how s4 ends -on a ominous cliffhanger-with El and Will captured (and their futures undecided). And Brenner saying a line reminiscent to s1- which was what  caused the portal to the upsidedown to open in the first place.

“TODAY we make contact...or maybe TOMORROW?” Could be a hint this scene in the s4 teaser is a cliffhanger ending  . He says at the end of s4 “today is a very special day” cause of his plans to make contact again. But we have to wait for s5- to see them make contact again.There’s  also only 2 teens who’s faces are obscured (everyone else is little kids). Like the older guy playing chess could be Will hard to say (it’s an older male teen - with an adam’s apple- and moles -similar to noah). And the only other teen is across from him and looks female. Will likes board games- and the older teen across from him could be el.  in s4 bts people thought they saw millie (with her leg scar) and Noah at pethurst both wearing the lab gowns from the trailer. And the shot of the rooms 11 (and the room next to it - could be labeled 12 -since in another shot we saw a diff door from a diff hallway’s than El’s -say 10).  If the door right next to her’s isn’t 10- well it may be 12. The other numbers could just be reused after the originals died/ escaped/ the hawkins lab program was forced to shut down (and brenner captured new kids in those 3 years El left -like starting from scratch back to 1-10 -and El and Will are 11 and 12 since they’re captured at the end). That could also explain why the rainbow room looks so different than the one in s2′s hawkins lab flashbacks-cause it’s at a new facility at pethurst. The real pethurst (from Pennsylvania) not the one in st/indianna was infamous for human rights ab*ses which is why it was shut down in the 80s. Not to mention how in s1/2 the lab was watching El/Will in the same way -and it was hinted Brenner suspected Will had powers.The Will ST comic- referenced ‘house of stairs’ (Will throws that book at the demogorgan) .It involved a gay male teen (in love with his childhood bff) and a gal with buzzcut -being kidnapped and thrown in the facility by an evil psychiatrist who is trying to make the teens into weapons for the government. And the “into the fire” st comic had a fire wielding character  with mental health issues (cough Will the wise- having fire powers/ penthurst being a psych facility) . She was stuck in Brenner’s facility- and escapes using her fire powers. So I think it’s pretty likely it’s Will.And probably El too who go to Pethurst, where Brenner is. 

#3) it's a flashback from Kali-like how el used her powers to see Terry and Billy's traumatic memories. However the way its shot is very crisp and clean. Terry's memories were blurry around the edges, or in parts of the void, or choppy memories blended together in a fast sequence. Billy's were also choppy/blended together in fast sequence and also in the upsidedown/void. But it could be a hint certain powers are getting stronger without her telekinesis? It could show how kali escaped - maybe an allusion of a bloodbath was used as a distraction? Kali said she escaped when el dissapeared from the rainbow room -and el appears to be isolated from the room.but idk since everyone has buzzcuts which kali didn't have in her 2 flashbacks (or heck in the comic the 3 other numbers-including the male/female teens who escaped had all their hair too)- what was the catalyst for the haircuts if not someone or multiple girls escaping? So would the teaser be post-kali’s escape? We may see kali flashbacks but that footage may not be from this teaser? I feel the theory of 1 or 2/a combo of 1 and 2  are the most likely. Kali may even try to rescue them with the help of others in s5/4

Personally,  whatever happens, I still feel like we’ll see BOTH flashbacks of the lab- and El and Will captured by Brenner at Pethurst.