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maxinemartinsdrill · 6 months ago

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spn women I have strong feelings about:

1. ROWENA ROWENA ROWENA. Rowena will get CRAZYYYYY interesting backstory dropped in various episodes and ppl just ignore it. like she grew up poor and when she had Crowley she was miserable and alone and she despised him for it because she needed to be strong and he felt like a weakness to her. and then she spends years fleeing witch hunts running around Europe and she finally grasps some level of power to find security because magic is her way out magic is her strength etc etc. and we first see her killing pimps and then helping those girls and then punishing them for lacking the strength she wants to see in them. like is she a nice person? absolutely not. but the reasons for her desperation to hold onto power are SO SOS SO COMPELLING. ppl would be allllllll over her if she were a man I mean that so sincerely.

AND THEN. She meets the Winchesters and they keep kidnapping her and she gets thrown into all this shit with Lucifer and she's not as strong as she thought she was. she's not strong enough to be safe. but the she gets to know Sam better and she finally gains the levels of power she's sought of angling for as well as some of the emotional security because he's vulnerable with her and he gets it a little bit. and she can let herself be bit more vulnerable and she can open herself up to feeling more than just scared or vengeful. the fact that when she's safe she will let herself love people??? excellent. like her becoming less evil to me is wayyyyy more interesting than the way spn does this a lot of the time and it feels rly fucking authentic.

AND EVERYTHING AFTER THA IS GREAT AS WELL. her trying to decide where she stands morally, admitting she did awful things to herself and getting on with it, only being able to love her son after he's dead, bequeathing Sam everything she had after she died. LIKE THERES SO MUCH THERE. and obligatory Lucifer trauma mention because samwena Lucifer trauma bonding was what got me back into spn and into Sam in the first place.

2. BILLIE. singing oh death in the hospital. holding Rowena while she completely loses itm she is THEE benevolent death to me. I love the fact shs one of the only characters who banters with Dean on his level of strange anachronisms. Love how when she was reaping him she was debating whether to tell him sam was still alive. possibly I am just obsessed with her because for once they gave a woman interiority in a way that wasn't inherently evil (like she wasn't portrayed as a saint for it but it was like just business) and then s15... At least 75% of my hatred of the cas confession comes from the fact they made Billie 'evil' in order to set it up.

3. Mary.... ohhhhhh mary. More about the implication than anything else - 'they couldn't stand each other at first but by the time we were done with them...' truly awful. the way she tries her whole life to get away from hunting and runs right back into it. and she comes back to deeply troubled children who she is expected to parent without having any idea of how to do this because she does not know them. and she's a mother to them not mary.

4. bela talbot :(( you're dying. And utterly alone. and you died to free yourself and you've been running and running your entire life but you can't run any longer. and there's someone on the phone, maybe the only person who can understand you. you're similar and he may as well be the only person left in the world. and then he calls you a bitch and says you deserve to die. and you get ripped apart by dogs and tortured for the rest of eternity.

5. KELLY KLINE!!!!!!!!! craziest mf on the show istg. again do I think the writers were trying to do anything serious with her? No. BUT THE IMPLICATIONS. like as I have rambled about before she is insanely republican and Christian pregnant with the antichrist AND on the run with a queer fallen angel who went on a blasphemous murdering homophobes and republicans spree a couple of years back. she is overwhelmingly positive despite this possibly because she is completely divorced from reality due to her bizarre politics (how to have an affair with the president in a god honouring way is it morally wrong to get an abortion if the fetus is the devil etc). and for some reason she is convinced that jack will save the world which is so fun!!!! I also really enjoy the fact that most of her bizarreness was left to be implied because it allows us to see her as a normal person doing her best in an awful situation and empathise with her. Despite the fact that they could have easily made her a full blown lady Jessica type (i don't know enough about dune to say if this is right) with the whole magical pregnancy manipulative religious delusions/cult type thing going. which would have still been interesting but also lacked depth in places. here they just tell you shes absolutely ridiculous and then have her interact completely normally despite the abnormal circumstances. which (accidentally???) gives her a lot going on. also the bit where she meets jack in heaven and realises he's dead the 'cas said he would look out for you' one of if not the most devastating line in late seasons spn not even joking.

honorary mentions:

Amara :))) literally 90% if when she is on screen I am unconvinced however gimme shelter was sooooooo good. SHES A FEMINIST!!! OBLIGATORY SHOUT OUT TO THE WIRE MOTHER CLOTH MKTHER DEAN AMARA POST

#spn #spn women #i hesitate go even put billie on here #because i left any angels out because of weird angel gender stuff #but shs on. here anywa #billie #rowena macleod #bela talbot #kelly kline #mary winchester

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merrysithmas · 3 years ago

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hello gothic anon here THANK YOU FOR THE LONG ANSWER!! you get it!!! gosh i actually have rambled about how vaderwan is gothic adjacent so often to my friend that they must have been sick to death 😂 btw i present you, some quotes that got me absolutely batsh*t insane bcs of how perfect they are in describing vaderwan:

Candyman to Helen: “It was always you, Helen. Be my victim. Be my victim.”

Koschei the Deathless to Marya: “Oh, I will be cruel to you, Marya Morevna. It will stop your breath, how cruel I can be. But you understand, don’t you? You are clever enough. I am a demanding creature. I am selfish and cruel and extremely unreasonable. But I am your servant. When you starve I will feed you; when you are sick I will tend you. I crawl at your feet; for before your love, your kisses, I am debased. For you alone I will be weak.”

Carmilla to Laura: “You will think me cruel, very selfish, but love is always selfish; the more ardent the more selfish. How jealous I am you cannot know. You must come with me, loving me, to death; or else hate me, and still come with me, and hating me through death and after. There is no such word as indifference in my apathetic nature.”

YESSS thank you for bringing Carmilla into this!! and of course Koschei.

In return, here is my gigantic list (a way too long post) of SOME of the Gothic Romance/Horror quotes that remind me of Obikin.

"Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright." - The Wolfman

"I believe a man lost in the mazes of his own mind may imagine that he's anything.” - The Wolfman

"Larry, to some people, life is very simple. They decide that this is good, that is bad. This is wrong, that's right. There's no right in wrong, no good in bad. No shadings and greys, all blacks and whites...Now others of us find that good, bad, right, wrong, are many-sided, complex things. We try to see every side but the more we see, the less sure we are. Now you asked me if I believe a man can become a wolf. If you mean "Can it take on physical traits of an animal?" No, it's fantastic. However, I do believe that most anything can happen to a man in his own mind." - The Wolfman

Lawrence Talbot : You should kill yourself.

Sir John Talbot : Oh, I cannot tell you how often I've considered that. But life is far too glorious, Lawrence, especially to the cursed and the damned, like myself. -The Wolfman (2010)

"All right, you fools. You've brought it on yourselves! Everything would have come right if you'd only left me alone. You've driven me near madness with your peering through the keyholes and gaping through the curtains, and now you'll suffer for it! You're crazy to know who I am, aren't you? All right! I'll show you!" - The Invisible Man

"Power, I said! Power to walk into the gold vaults of the nations, into the secrets of kings, into the Holy of Holies; power to make multitudes run squealing in terror at the touch of my little invisible finger. Even the moon's frightened of me, frightened to death! The whole world's frightened to death" - The Invisible Man

"An evil spirit possessed you. I pray God it is satisfied now, and you find peace. The evil eye has done its work; my life is over, spared for a lifetime of horrors in my sleep, waking each day to grief. Goodbye, Katrina." - Sleepy Hollow (film)

"My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being." -Wuthering Heights

"I have not broken your heart—you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine.” - Wuthering Heights

"He wanted all to lie in an ecstasy of peace; I wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious jubilee. I said his heaven would be only half alive; and he said mine would be drunk: I said I should fall asleep in his; and he said he could not breathe in mine.” - Wuthering Heights

"If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger.” - Wuthering Heights

"If you ever looked at me once with what I know is in you, I would be your slave.” - Wuthering Heights

"Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it." - Frankenstein

"I do know that for the sympathy of one living being, I would make peace with all. I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other." - Frankenstein (😭😭)

"There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand." - Frankenstein

"I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel..." - Frankenstein

"Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth. Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures." - Frankenstein (😭😭)

"It is true, we shall be monsters, cut off from all the world; but on that account we shall be more attached to one another." - Frankenstein

"When falsehood can look so like the truth, who can assure themselves of certain happiness?" - Frankenstein

"The whole series of my life appeared to me as a dream; I sometimes doubted if indeed it were all true, for it never presented itself to my mind with the force of reality" - Frankenstein

#can you tell frankenstein's monster is one of my favorite characters of all time if not my flat out favorite #obikin #long post #anakin skywalker #obi wan kenobi #ask #anon #ilu my gothic anon #someone PLEAe make obikin edits with these quotes #pleaseeeeee sjsjsjjs i beg

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reaction2whatever · 3 years ago

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Agents of SHIELD S3E12-S3E14 reaction

So I'm already in the latter half of the season. Can't believe how fast I binged this show lol. I'm obsessed.

Agents of SHIELD S3E12

-Ok. This alien warm thingy can possess people, get access to their memories, and is immune to inhuman powers

-Just Splendid. upgraded evil Ward is even more creepy.

-Hunter calling Daisy and Lincoln "shake n bake" will forever be funny to me lololol

-I'm very proud of Daisy awwww she went from "I'm a monster and everyone's at risk" to "Terrigenesis made me who I was supposed to be"

-She's come a long way in terms of self-acceptance

-Creel?? Isn't he dead? He died after touching the obelisk didn't he???

-I don't like Talbot...he's just...a whole mixed bag of sexism and racism and condescending with that "clothes from another culture is a dress and I don't wear dresses" comment...just overall ignorant and annoying. Maybe it's supposed to be a comedic moment but nah I don't accept that

-Had to admit tho, this spar between Daisy and Lincoln Sexy AF.

-Lincoln is a lucky man to be pinned by Daisy smh

-I love Hunter. He's a smart man for bringing weapons lol

-This fight between Lincoln and Daisy is mmmm

-I mean I can understand both sides honestly. Both Lincoln and Daisy have valid points so I'm neutral.

-But the way Lincoln said"I wasn't hacking my way through life" is pretty hurtful, especially to Daisy who only learned hacking to find her parents and worked really hard to become a competent agent before getting her powers.

-It's perfectly okay to have a disagreement on something but mmm... maybe i'm overthinking this lol

-I never get tired of seeing Bobbi beat up a man lol

-waiiiiittt excuse meeeee Daisy did not just took off her clothes like that omg she's way too gorgeous and way too hot to do that I CANNOT handle it

-Lincoln you lucky lucky man

-Also why do I feel like Daisy is the dominant one in this relationship since she kissed lincoln and she pinned him and she took off her own clothes....just a thought lol

-ughhh just when I thought Ward couldn't get grosser and creepier. He just did. yuck

-Where are Hunter and Bobbi going??

Agents of SHIELD S3E13

-wtf why is Bobbi former shield and captured what just happened

-Lol the way she ordered a burger while being interrogated

-Is this gonna be a Bobbi and Hunter centered episode? ahhh I'm thrilled.

-Hunter is captured too lol and talking about mushrooms. This is gonna be a rescue mission episode huh

-awww Bobbi and Hunter never went on a vacation together?

-I like the dynamic between them. They are both just such fun characters

-Thinking about Daisy saying dirty talk in Russian and that's oddly hot

-Hunter's first name is Amadeus? lol did not expect that

-"Your weakness is each other" awww I know they're in trouble but still. I think Bobbi and Hunter might be my favorite couple on this show

-"Come on Daisy you can hack the Pentagon and shake the earth. You are gonna let a few backwards letters trip you up?"

-I love Bobbi

-I also ship Daisy and Bobbi lol

-Inhuman politician and a coup in Russia...This won't end well

-I love the conversation between May and Hunter. It's very in character

-Love hacker Daisy she so cute ughh

-I have a thing for smart ladies lol

-The way two Russians are having a meeting but speaking English to each other. just does not make any sense lolol

-Oh I love Daisy fighting alongside Bobbi way too much

-ohhhhh fuckkkk so Hunter saved the president and he still got arrested?

-and Bobbi is also arrested for killing the Inhuman Russian general...

-But yeah Coulson is gonna save them right?

-Oh no what's going on why won't they escape

-This theme is going too somber to save them

-Holy fuck nooooo are they leaving the show?????

-I mean I'm glad that they get to walk free but...

-"It's the Spy's goodbye"

-oh no they are really leaving

-The way I got so emotional

-But they are such good characters???!!!

-Whyyyyyy

-ugghhhh crying rn

Agents of SHIELD S3E14

-I'm still not over Bobbi and Hunter leaving.

-LOL the way Daisy cannot follow the sciency talk between Fitz and Mack and call them the nerd herd

-Her Skye humor is still there and I love that

-Seeing Simmons blames herself for the Inhumans Andrew killed is nice

-Not that she should lame herself, but that it's nice to see that the previous events have effects on the characters and that they were given the time and attention to react. Makes these characters more human

-omfg how cool and badass is Daisy when she just stopped a whole car

-just LOOK AT HER and THAT SMILE

-Daisy Johnson Ma'am you are gorgeous and please step on me

-I can feel Fitz judging Daisy's actions and frankly I don't really feel bad for the guy

-Also I don't think Fitz gets to criticize Daisy for breaking two windows when he helped open a portal to let the body jumping super creepy monster warm that looks like Ward got to earth lol

-Also two windows are nothing compared to a whole ass building

-I miss Fitz's little drones. Feels like they appear a lot less recently

-Oh no Fitz can't die of this sticky bomb thing right???? Is Fitz gonna get a cool scar on his neck?

-Oh no they thought Mack was an Inhuman. I worry for his brother lol

-There is no way they are gonna kill off Mack but his brother is a minor role and in real danger right now

-That shotgun axe is pretty cool

-I still miss Bobbi and Hunter. Are they really not coming back?

#agents of s.h.i.e.l.d.#agents of shield

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legowolas · 3 years ago

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Some more New Era thoughts:

First of all I'm now very sorry for ever doubting that they could dispose of Daisy's attraction to women. I do have complaints about hers and Andy's marriage which I'll get to in a minute but the Daisy/Myrna content was PRESENT

The Mary/Myrna content was not as abundant as I had wished for but honestly I've built ships with less. At least Mary went to see her movie and called her hot. Also they stood next to each other a few times which is always good and I'm SURE I can work with the voiceover thing

Also I'm kind of sad about her lack of affair 😭 I mean, I wasn't really expecting an affair (especially not with Myrna), it was mostly wishful thinking, but tHEY REALLY MADE A MARY/DIRECTOR (I forgot his name 😔) AFFAIR SEEM LIKE A POSSIBILITY AND THEN BACKTRACKED.

I'm too angry with Henry Talbot to even put it into words. All I will say is Mary my queen I would treat you so much better than him

Anyway, what the fuck was with Cora being sick?? What was the point??? What did it add to the movie besides misery???? Riddle me THAT Mr "it's a feel-good movie" Fellowes

Also wHY THE FUCK DID THEY KILL VIOLET ON-SCREEN. I WAS EXPECTING THEM TO JUST END IT LIKE THE LAST ONE AND BE LIKE "oh yeah Violet will die soon 😔" BUT NOOOO WE HAD TO SIT IN THE FUCKING CINEMA AND WATCH THE LIFE LEAVE HER FUCKING BODY. WHAT THE FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.

In other news, the Daisy and Andy marriage is as much of a nightmare scenario as I'd imagined. They just keep on making Andy more and more unlikable don't they. I mean, I still love him, it's not his fault the writers hate him, but like??

HOW COULD THEY HAVE DAISY TURN AGAINST MR MASON THIS IS A NIGHTMARE

WILLIAM DIDN'T DIE FOR THIS I'M GOING TO THROW A TABLE

I'm conflicted on Daisy's schemery in this movie, because on one hand, I hate the circumstances, but on the other hand, I love seeing her be evil <3

The Baxley proposal was cute, but like,,,,,,, idk I don't have solid thoughts on it bc this movie just didn't put me in the headspace to enjoy anything about it :////

Anyway as if all of this wasn't bad enough... straight Albert?? Really???

Okay I saved Thomas for last because once I get started on him I am not going to stop.

I know a lot of people don't like the implication that he just stays at Downton because he thinks it's the best he's going to get, which is fair, but honestly, I got way more of that feeling with his elopement??

Like, maybe this is just because I don't like Guy that much, but I didn't really get the feeling that Thomas was interested in him at all? I feel like he just accepted him because he thought it was his only chance at being in a committed relationship, and just,,,,, idk I didn't like it.

There is exactly one positive(??) thing about this, which is that I can now parallel him to Sybil :)))

However, this is not nearly enough compensation. And I'm so sorry but my desire to ignore this movie does outweigh my devotion to Thomas and Sybil. So I think I'll just take the fact that she borrows his evil music and be happy with that

Where do I begin with Richard.

This is the worst thing that could have happened I think. I really really thought they were just going to pretend that Richard didn't exist and I mean I would have been angry about that as well bUT THIS IS WORSE.

Genuinely I would have preferred if Thomas cheated on him. Do you know how long I've been plotting the Richard "Before He Cheats" music video in my brain????? It's been fucking months. And they even took THAT away from me.

AND they took away the pre-existing Richard's wife extended universe which exists in my brain. Y'all. They were neighbours growing up. She's a lesbian. I haven't decided if he marries her before or after the war but it happens at some point and they move to London and get a flat. She's a very good cook and makes all their food bc Richard can't cook for shit. But it's fine because she can't sew for shit and Richard fixes all their clothes. She works in a bakery. Her girlfriend is Lady Anne Acland (one of the women at that dinner with Mary and Henry and Evelyn and Tom in S6). She ships Richard and Thomas very hard. Her name is Maggie. I'm very attached to her. AND NOW THEY TELL ME HE'S MARRYING SOME RANDO?????? SERIOUSLY I'M GOING TO SUE.

(I honestly didn't even ship Thomas and Richard very much after I found out about the deleted phone call scene (I KNOW IT WASN'T ACTUALLY IN THE MOVIE SO IT'S NOT TECHNICALLY CANON BUT IT'S THE INTENT THAT MATTERS TO ME), but then I had a dream about Richard's wife being a lesbian and trying to set up Richard and Thomas and THAT was what made me think the ship could work. And now they take my lavender marriage happily ever after solution away. What the FUCK)

Anyway. Dead Violet, runaway Thomas, Baxley endgame..... there definitely isn't going to be a third movie and they really just ended the whole fucking franchise like this. I'm currently on S6 in my permanent Downton rewatch but girlies I might just have to go all the way back to S1 to calm my nerves 😩

Also as if I wasn't already personally offended enough, they had to imply that Robert was a Cancer. Are you fucking joking. I do not claim him, Leos I apologise but I am tossing this one to you

In conclusion, I think the best thing about this movie was Thomas with sideburns

EDIT: Oh also I did like the old Hollywood-esque music near the beginning but then they got rid of it almost immediately?? ://

#i didn't want to clutter up my blog and all of your dashes by putting all my thoughts into separate posts so I'm just gonna put the ones i #can remember here #i might post more later but this is all i have for now i think #downton abbey #a new era spoilers #i doin a speak #jesus it really took me an hour to write all of this

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ziracona · 3 years ago

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hello i just finished in living memory and i just wanna say i really enjoyed it:)) my heart is still in pieces over philip and vigo’s story, tho:( i don’t know about what you have posted here but in the story there isn’t much about vigo. he is very mysterious and i want to know more about him

Ah! Thank you so much! I’m really happy you enjoyed it. And I’m glad that Vigo and Philip’s relationship was impactful—I know the sadness though. TuT

(Spoilers for In Living Memory ahead for anyone else reading this)

There’s for sure a lot in the Vigo tag on my blog if you’re interested, but I’m happy to answer questions too! The short overview is that he’s from the 19teens/1920s, Sámi (and Ethiopian on his Mother’s side), and from Norway, ended up in the realm sort of on purpose—went monster hunting after hearing a lot of legends about a cursed place and some evil spirit, and got more than he bargained for. Was trapped in the realm, figured out how to create a lot of things like the hatch tunnels, and made the Entity regret taking him, which it had previously thought was so funny and clever, and eventually became such a problem it basically tried to assassinate him by sending killers out hunting for him. He met Philip after Philip was sent to hunt Talbot, who ended up misplaced when entering the realm, and Philip was one of the killers trapped by Talbot before eventually Trapper broke free and the Entity got him. Vigo met Philip a few weeks later, and mistook him for a survivor. They kind of speedran enemies to friends to lovers at breakneck speed. And tried to work together to kill the Entity, which, as you know from ILM, ended in an extremely upsetting failure.

Even after death, Vigo refused to totally give up, and the Entity was too proud to kill-kill him (because that would he like admitting a human truly was a threat), and so trapped suffering 98% dead in the void, Vigo used the little remaining energy he had to try and watch Philip (and the survivors in the realm) and do anything he could to influence, or at the least, chronicle, events to mark them with meaning even if everyone else eventually ended up dead too, so at least Philip would not be utterly alone (he’s responsible for some minor luck strokes, like Kate finding the tape. There’s not much he can do, but when he can, he does). Vigo is also the narrator/editor for In Living Memory itself, which is why the flavor is how it is, and he addresses the audience directly at least twice, and why the end becomes slightly scattered/nonlinear once they’re outside the realm, as his connection is weaker so he has to kind of hunt for memories of what’s happening looking for what he wants, instead of vicariously experiencing things simultaneously, and why the story finally ends once he knows his connection will be gone soon with them out and him in the void/realm still, and is able to see Philip is going to be alright, so he is able to let go knowing it’s okay to and his loved will be alright. It’s called ‘In Living Memory’ as a play on ‘In Loving Memory’ & ‘Living Memory,’ as it’s in a way a funeral gift, but it’s chronicling life ongoing and how significant their struggles and loves and pain and hopes and connections all were, no matter where it ended. There’s a prequel that I’ll do sometime called ‘Signifying Nothing’ (also narrated by Vigo), as a reference to the Macbeth monologue (life is but a walking shadow, a poor player, who struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is seen no more. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing’), as en expression of loss and pain in the face of his failure there, in a way naming it ‘About Nothing’ — that perspective comes full circle with ILM, which exists to mark meaning to Philip’s life whatever happens, and which is essentially called ‘About Everything’. Love and life and memory, and marked significance.

They’re very tragic and sweet. Both end up completing the other’s character arc for them. In SN, Vigo’s goal is to save everyone and beat the Entity, and Philip’s is just to be/reclaim being a decent person at peace, living an okay life. Philip throws both his personal quest and future away in ILM trying to finish what Vigo started (and succeeds/beats the Entity and saves everyone), and Vigo similarly fails utterly in life at his own goal, but spends his whole afterlife chronicling Philip’s story and recording him as the good person deserving of peace that he is in stone, and is largely responsible for Philip’s survival in Memento Mori/Vs, because he defended him viciously in the void to anyone with a problem. Which lets both characters end up happy and at peace. They saved each other, even when Vigo was dead, and Philip couldn’t remember him.

Anyway! I’m so happy you liked them; both characters and Vigojomo are close to my heart. Feel free to ask any specific questions if you have them!

#ask #anonymous #thank you! I’m so happy you enjoyed it #in living memory (fic)#in living memory #dead by daylight #ilm spoilers #in living memory spoilers #signifying nothing (fic)#signifying nothing #SN spoilers #Vigo #vigojomo

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rinkrats · 5 years ago

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No. 1: One of his nicknames in the dressing room is “Creature”, a nod to his freakish lower body. It is huge. Gigantic. Hugantic. His caboose would make J-Lo jealous. His thighs are bigger than my torso. All his pants have to be custom made. And the scary part is, his upper body is starting to catch up.

Sid’s other nicknames in the room are now entirely related to his facial hair struggles. They include “Three-Beard”, “Zorro”...

No. 2: Sid can fight. We’ve seen him do it only once in his career (against Andrew Ference this year), but his self-appointed trainer, Georges Laraque, says any fool who decides to drop mitts with Crosby better watch out.

“He came to me last year after I’d shown a couple of the other guys how to defend themselves properly in a fight. He wanted to learn. I was showing him some stuff and we were going at it, and I couldn’t move him, he’s so strong. He’d be really tough to fight.”

So, did you pop him one, Georges? “Are you nuts? I value my career.”

No. 3: Sid is superstitious. OK, this one you may have heard. But the extent of his superstition is as extreme as his skill. For instance, when he walks through the Mellon Arena, he has a specific route that defies logic.

“He will walk 20 yards out of the way to go around a certain pole or go through a specific door. And it never, ever varies,” says one Penguins staffer, who showed me the route. It was baffling.

He also won’t wear proper shoes in the dressing room. If he’s showered and fully dressed, and has to go back into the room, he’ll take his dress shoes off at the door, as if it were some traditional Japanese restaurant. When he eats, Maxime Talbot must sit on his left, Pascal Dupuis on his right. At a recent team breakfast in Detroit, a Penguins staffer sat down to eat, and was met with shocked stares from the players around him.

“That’s Sid’s seat!” they said.

“He wouldn’t have gotten mad or anything, he’s too nice for that,” says the seat-stealer. “But if I would have stayed there, he just would have hovered around quietly until I left.”

Oh, and he raises his legs and touches the window when driving over railway crossings, but who doesn’t do that?

No. 4: Sid might be moving. After three years living in Mario Lemieux’s house, Crosby has started looking for his own place. Good thing, as I was about to give him another nickname: Kato Kaelin (who lived in OJ Simpson’s guesthouse).

No. 5: Sid isn’t a health-food freak. The other day after practice, we chatted while he ate an ugly, white bread, mystery-meat, mayo-laden sandwich.

“You sure that’s good for you?” I asked.

“You must have me mixed up with Robs (Gary Roberts),” he said, laughing. “I’m not picky. When I’m hungry, I eat.’

“I’m working on him,” says Roberts. “He came to my house last summer for a few days to train, and one night I made him this granola, flax-oil, yoghurt snack before bed. The next morning, he looked like hell. He’d been in the bathroom all night. Didn’t go down so well.”

No.6: Sid understands the media better than Marshall McLuhan.

“It’s crazy how smart and savvy he is,” says Penguins defenceman Hal Gill. “Sometimes, he’ll say to us, ‘The media is trying to write a certain story, so when they ask you this question, answer it this way’.”

Hey, wait a second! Maybe he’s doing that to me right now. Evil genius, that Crosby.

No. 7: Sid is not always the “quiet” leader.

“When we lost that one game to the Rangers, he spoke to us about it,” said another Penguins teammate. “He let us know we hadn’t played our game. He did the same after Game 1 of the final. He just told us to relax. He doesn’t do long speeches, but he knows when to speak up.”

No. 8: Sid loves to kill bad guys. Sorry, I should clarify. I mean in video games. Last season, eight of the Penguins got PSPs so they could play a shoot-‘em-up army game called SOCOM against each other. The guys were supposed to play only on planes, but it soon became clear Sid was practising at home.

“Of course he had to beat us all,” says Laraque. “He’s so competitive.”

They’ve now moved on to Call of Duty on Xbox.

“He plays like a girl,” says Talbot. “He’s always hiding in the corner. Anything to win.”

No. 9: Sid does anything to win because he hates losing. At Sunday dinner at a friend’s house, he lost a game of Bingo to the friend’s nine-year-old son. His instant reaction was to slam his fist on the board, sending tiny bingo markers flying in all directions. He then blushed and laughed. But make no mistake, the reaction was genuine.

No. 10: This is the most important game of Sid’s life.

Oh, wait, that part you knew.

Postscript: The morning the column was published (the day of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2008), Sid spotted me in the hallway outside the Penguins dressing room and smiled. “You dug up some dirt on me, eh?” he said with a laugh. “Pretty accurate, I gotta admit.”

His Penguins lost the game and the Stanley Cup that night. They would get their revenge one spring later, beating the Red Wings in seven games. Crosby hurt his knee in the second period of Game 7 and came back only for one shift. I interviewed him after the game and I have never seen a face so happy and eyes so glassy. The combination of joy, painkillers and champagne had turned Sid into one delirious mess.

-10 Things You Didn’t Know About Sid The Kid, compiled in James Duthie’s book The Day I (Almost) KIlled Two Gretzkys: And Other Off-The-Wall Stories About Sports and Life, 2010

#sidney crosby #text #long post #queue

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bktynes-writes · 4 years ago

Photo

As per the fantastic advice of the wonderful and amazing Mallory, @valleydean, I made some graphics for my fic, The Blood Of The Covenant. It’s a long, slow burn, Mafia AU, and I have no idea where it’s gonna end up, but I hope you’ll all reblog and join me for the ride. Here is the summary, and the first chapter is under the cut. Read on Ao3.

The Blood Of The Covenant The Winchester Dynasty will never fall.

At least, that’s what John and Mary, heads of the most powerful crime family in the city believe. They have built their empire from nothing, and are willing to do whatever it takes to maintain their control.

When a new family, the Novaks, threaten the delicate balance of power they have maintained for years, the eldest son, Dean, is tasked with infiltrating the ranks of the Novak’s organization to destroy them from the inside.

Dean has always been a soldier in his parent’s wars, never questioning where his loyalties lie, but when he comes face to face with Castiel Novak, one of the sons of the family threatening to destroy his own, he wonders if maybe there could be more to life than he believed. Maybe this blue-eyed stranger can offer him the ticket out he never knew he wanted.

They say that the blood of the covenant runs thicker than the water of the womb, but how do you turn your back on family? Will Dean choose love over loyalty? Will he leave behind all he’s ever known? Or are he and Castiel destined to just be pawns in the war for power that rules the city’s underworld?

Chapter 1: Dinner

The city at night always had a certain charm about it that Dean couldn’t put his finger on. Maybe it was the way everything lit up a bit more or the fact that the darkness hid the grime that clung to every surface like a second skin, but the alleyways and culverts of the buildings seemed more inviting when they were filled with shadow.

He loved this city. Every dirty stairwell, every seedy bar, every doorway that led to nowhere, Dean knew them all. He had grown up on these streets, and he wouldn’t change it for the world.

The sound of a car horn brought him back to reality, pulling him out of his nostalgic reverie and into the moment. He looked down at his dress shoes, sparkling in the neon lights against the damp pavement, and smiled. If there was one thing Dean Winchester knew how to do, it was dress to impress. His father had instilled in him that first impressions were important at a very young age, and how a man looks could change the direction of any transaction.

Tonight was the first Sunday of the month, which meant dinner with the Family at Cain’s. Dean never looked forward to these dinners - he found them to be mundane - but as the eldest son of the most powerful crime family in the city, he knew his mother and father expected him to attend.

Thus, he found himself in his best suit, pulling open the restaurant’s glass door and striding past the host stand like he owned the place. The young woman there gave him a nervous look, and he shot her his most charming smile, causing her to duck her head as a deep red blush crept up her cheeks. He passed by the other tables and made his way to the back of the restaurant, pointedly ignoring the stares and whispers that followed him from the other patrons. He was used to this behaviour. Anyone who was anyone in the city recognized the Winchesters, and their reputation preceded them.

He made his way past the kitchen, stopping briefly to say hello to Cain, clapping him on the shoulder.

“Dean!” Cain exclaimed, turning around and pulling him into a rib-crushing hug. “I didn’t think you were gonna show! Everyone else is already here.”

Dean laughed. In another life, he would have called him a friend.

But Winchesters didn’t have friends.

“Yeah, I figured they would be.” He said. “What can I say? Fashionably late is kinda my style.” He shrugged and smiled.

“That’s my boy, always gotta make an entrance.” Cain beamed at him. “They’re in the back room. I’ll get your usual added to the order. Hurry up before your dad tears a strip off you!”

“Thanks, Cain,” Dean said. He ducked past him and headed to the very back of the dining room.

Dean could now see the usual suspects gathered around their regular table. He spotted Bobby gruffly speaking to Ellen Harvelle and her daughter Jo. The Harvelles were powerful associates who owned many of the bars and rest stops along the freeway into the city, and Dean’s father liked to keep them close because he had been friends with Ellen’s late husband, Bill.

Ellen was a good source of information for the family. People let information slip that they shouldn’t after a few rounds of shots at one of Ellen’s roadhouses, and she and Jo had ears like bats. Dean was pretty sure the main reason she was included in these clandestine meetings of the family, though, is that his parents, despite their vehement claims otherwise, were a little bit afraid of her. He couldn’t blame them. He had grown up with Jo and, despite being six years older, had had his ass handed to him more times than he could count by the feisty blonde.

Dean chuckled to himself at the memory as he slid quietly into the seat next to his younger brother, Sam.

“You’re late,” stated the younger of the Winchester brothers, his arm draped lazily across his girlfriend Jessica’s shoulders.

“Yeah, I was over at the mill. Gordon owes us and is being…difficult.” He reached for the bottle of wine that sat on the table and filled his glass. He wasn’t usually a fan of wine, but Cain always brought out the good bottles for these meetings, and when he didn’t have to pay, it would be rude to refuse.

“Dad is gonna be pissed.” Said Sam, finishing his own glass and holding it out for Dean to refill.

“No, he won’t,” Dean replied, pouring too much wine into his brother’s glass. “He knows how Gordon is. He’ll just be glad I didn’t break too many of his fingers to get him to agree to pay his dues.”

“Whatever you say, Dean,” Sam replied, rolling his eyes. He ran his fingers through his absurdly long hair, and Dean found himself itching to strap his brother into a barber’s chair and order a buzz cut.

A clink of cutlery against glass brought the assembly to silence and drew everyone’s attention to the man standing at the head of the table. John Winchester was an imposing figure at the best of times, and his broad shoulders, clad in the threads of his fine Italian suit, added to his commanding demeanour. His neatly trimmed beard was flecked with grey, as was the perfectly slicked hair on his head. He stood with pride and demanded the respect of those around him with ease.

“Now that my son has finally decided to grace us with his presence, we can call this meeting to order,” John spoke with an air of distaste directed solely at Dean.

“Ah, you know me pops, better late than never,” Dean said nonchalantly. Sam was right; John was pissed.

“Indeed,” said his father coolly.

Dean tuned out most of the ensuing conversations. It was the typical discussion of territory, who was responsible for handling the gang activity on the west side, who was collecting from which businesses for protection owed and whether or not they had paid (Dean received a small nod of approval from John when he informed the table that Gordon would no longer be causing issues).

When the food came, Dean was treated to the most delicious looking plate of carbonara he had ever seen. Cain truly did know the way to his heart. Before he had the chance to dig in, a noise from the opposite end of the table drew everyone’s attention.

A beautiful woman with wavy brown hair rose from the table, and Dean rolled his eyes, huffing dramatically into his chair. Bela Talbot was always trying to draw attention to herself at these meetings, and tonight would be no exception. She wasn’t, strictly speaking, part of the Family, but she was part of a necessary evil alliance that the Winchesters had forged years ago to have hands in the art trade, and Dean had found her to be nothing but a nuisance ever since.

Her words dripped with a caramel sweetness, and despite his intense dislike of the woman, Dean couldn’t help but stare at her as she spoke.

“John. Mary. Dear Winchester Family. It has come to my attention that there appears to be a new family on the North shore. They arrived from New Jersey about six weeks ago and have been a thorn in my side ever since.” She scowled.

“Why hasn’t it been dealt with, Bela?” Asked Sam. “The North shore is your territory, isn’t it?” Sam was flexing his powers a little bit, addressing Bela that way. Usually, it would be up to John to chastise her for not taking care of a threat to their operations, but Dean could see the look of pride in his father’s eyes at Sam stepping in so willingly.

Bela’s face tinged pink slightly at the admonishing tone in Sam’s voice, and she puffed her cheeks out before speaking out again. “Under regular circumstances, Samuel, I would, but it seems that these Novaks are a bit better at playing cat and mouse than I would have anticipated.”

“Novak?” Dean snorted. “What is that, Polish?”

Bela glared at him. “I believe it’s Serbian, actually.”

Dean shrugged and twisted his fork idly in his pasta, hoping she would get to the point before it got cold. Sam continued to address her. “What’s the problem, Bela?”

“They’ve taken out three of my warehouses since their arrival, and the attendance at both the craps game and the pool hall is down by thirty-two percent.” She sighed, and Dean perked up. He almost wanted to shake the hand of anyone who could cause Bela this much distress, but this was clearly an attack on the family’s assets. “Half the shops on Arthur Street aren’t paying their fees because the Novaks have started charging them, and when I sent Ruby over to persuade them, she came back bloody and threatening to skip town.”

Dean’s smile faded as quickly as it had appeared. Ruby was savage in the art of ‘persuasion,’ and he could hardly imagine anyone getting the better of her. He leaned forward, his brow furrowed. A new family trying to start a war with the Winchesters? The last time that had happened, Dean was a teenager, and, much to his dismay, his parents had insisted he not be involved. He had watched helplessly from inside the Catholic boy’s school his father had shipped him to, as his people were shot in the street.

But Dean was in his thirties now, and the prospect of war looming on the horizon made him giddy with anticipation.

Mary Winchester, who had been quietly observing her husband and sons until this point, suddenly cleared her throat, which made all the men at the table sit up a little straighter. She was a fierce-looking woman with high cheekbones, a square jaw, and deep eyes, all framed by locks of cascading blonde curls. It was easy to see where her sons had gotten their charming good looks from.

She sat forward and touched her husband’s forearm gently. “Bela. While I’m sure the loss of your warehouses is devastating, no one would be foolish enough to start a war with our family.” She smiled. “And if Ruby and the girls from Rowena’s can’t handle what is being asked of them, then perhaps it is time to remind them who it is they work for. I’m sure Sam and Dean would be happy to deal with the Novaks, right boys?”

Sam nodded at his mother, and Dean could feel his excitement bubbling. He looked to his brother and saw a dark glint in his eye. The two of them together were unstoppable.

“Anything for you, mother,” Dean said, and he basked in her pride.

“Wonderful,” John said, clapping his hands together, dispelling the tension surrounding the table, and causing Bela to sink back into her seat as her concerns were dismissed. “Now, let’s eat before the food goes cold.”

The rest of the evening dissolved into easy conversation amongst the members of the meeting. Sam laughed wildly at Bobby’s account of a man who he had once held over a woodchipper for his disrespect, even though he had told the story a hundred times. Mary and John spoke quietly with Jessica about her parents and how thrilled they were that her contacts on Broadway would benefit the Winchester dynasty. Dean occupied himself by kicking Jo under the table and watching her face go from mildly irritated to genuinely annoyed as she tried to maintain a discussion with her mother about liquor importing.

When the food and wine had been consumed, John stood again and waited patiently for the conversations to cease. “Thank you all for joining us this evening.” He spoke warmly to everyone. “I trust to see you all again next month.” A chorus of murmured agreement rippled through those assembled. John raised his glass, and everyone else followed suit. “To the family.” He toasted and drained the remaining wine from his glass.

The sound of chairs scraping back from the table filled the small dining room as the Winchesters and their associates made to leave. They passed the other patrons, enjoying their meals and trying obviously not to stare as the finely dressed men and women filed out the front door, thanking Cain with handshakes and smiles as they left.

Dean stepped into the street and stretched, breathing the exhaust soaked air deeply into his lungs and once again being reminded of just how much he loved this city. A large hand dropped heavily onto his shoulder, and he turned to find his gargantuan little brother towering next to him.

“You wanna come over for a beer?” Sam asked casually.

“Nah, man, I was thinking about heading over to Lee’s,” Dean said. His head was foggy from the wine, and he needed some real liquor to bring his senses back.

Sam scowled. “You know, Dad doesn’t like you going out without protection.”

“Always keep a condom in my wallet, Sammy.” Dean winked, and Sam rolled his eyes dramatically.

“That’s not what I mean.” He said. “If Bela is right and the Novaks are looking to start a war, none of us should be going anywhere alone.”

“Oh, is Sam freaking Winchester scared of a few Jersey boys?” Dean snarked at his brother, punching him in the arm playfully. “I’ll be fine. Besides, it’s Lee’s bar. I’m basically royalty there.”

Jessica appeared at Sam’s side and snaked her arm around his waist. She really was beautiful, far too good for his brother. Dean sometimes wished he had met her first, but he shook the thoughts from his mind. Sam was happy with Jess, and that’s what he deserved.

“Your parents invited us over to look over the blueprints of the new hotel, honey.” She said. “Dean, will you be joining us?”

“Not tonight, sweetheart, but hey, tell 'em to put one of those fancy water features in like they’ve got in Vegas,” Dean replied sarcastically.

Jess smiled at him. “You ready, Sam?”

“Uh, yeah, one second. Why don’t you go ahead with Mom and Dad? I’ll meet you at the car.” Sam said. He rubbed his hand across her shoulders and leaned down to kiss her sweetly. Jess cast one more smile at Dean before turning back down the sidewalk to where Mary and John stood waiting.

“What’s up, Sammy?” Dean asked. He knew there was a reason his brother was holding him back.

Sam stepped closer to Dean and quickly looked over his shoulder before shoving his hand into his pocket and producing a small black velvet box. “I was going to wait until tomorrow, but I can’t help myself.” He said, opening the box. Inside was a beautiful diamond engagement ring. The center stone was massive and cut into the shape of a teardrop. On each side were two smaller diamonds, surrounded by a cluster of sparkling rubies. “I’m gonna ask Jess to marry me.”

Dean laughed out loud. “Holy shit, Sam!” He blurted out loudly and pulled his brother into a hug.

“Shhh!” Sam warned. “Keep your voice down! I don’t even know if she’ll say yes.”

Dean scoffed. “Of course she’ll say yes! You two have been together, what, forever?” He grinned. “Although, if she does say no, you can tell her I’m available.”

Sam smacked him around the head, and Dean laughed. “Alright, have fun at Lee’s. Call Benny if there’s any trouble.”

Dean waved over Sam’s shoulder at John, Mary, and Jess, and gave his brother a nod before turning and heading down the dark sidewalk in the direction of Lee Webb’s bar.

Swayze’s was more than a few blocks from Cain’s place, but Dean didn’t mind the walk. He’d left his car at home after visiting Gordon this afternoon, and he enjoyed the refreshing night air against his face. The downtown lights glared into the sky through the ever-present smog rising from the city, and Dean hummed a little to himself as he walked. This was his city. The Winchesters owned these streets. He knew one day, the empire his mother and father had built would fall to him and Sam to manage, but that time was a long way off. John would never relinquish control of the family assets to his sons while he still drew breath, and without any heirs of their own to ensure the continuation of the dynasty, that was even less likely.

Dean smiled to himself, thinking of the ring currently sitting in Sam’s pocket. Jess would be an excellent addition to the family. Her parents were both high profile talent agents on Broadway with a lot of influence there and in Hollywood. There had never been a reason for the Winchesters to get into theatre, but he knew they wouldn’t turn down the opportunity if Jess said yes to Sam tonight. His smile faltered slightly. It had been a long time since Dean had been as happy as Sam was now. His last relationship had been with Lisa Braeden, and that had only lasted a few months. She had a young son, Ben, who Dean still saw on occasion, but he had left when things had started to get really serious. He wasn’t going to drag someone else’s kid into this mafioso life. It wasn’t his place.

The truth was, Dean didn’t even know if he wanted kids. He’d thought about it, sure, and his mother had been pressuring him since his mid-twenties to find a nice girl to make babies with, but Dean liked his hang-up free lifestyle. He was happy to carry out orders for his father, help the family, and maybe hustle a few out of town suckers at pool when the mood struck him. Sam was business-minded, and Dean was more than happy to allow his not-so-little little brother to take over for their father when the time came.

Dean had been so deep in his own head that he barely registered when he had arrived at Lee’s. He sat down on a barstool and scanned around the room. Dean sighed contentedly. As he had expected, the bar was devoid of anyone immediately recognizable save for Lee himself.

Dean rapped his knuckles on the bar top to get Lee’s attention. “Who do I gotta gank to get a drink around here, hey buddy?” He said as Lee tossed the towel he had been using to clean a pint glass over his shoulder and turned to Dean. His expression changed from annoyed to ecstatic when he registered who was speaking.

“Dean freaking Winchester.” Lee drawled. “It’s been a while. You too good to come see me anymore?”

Dean grinned. “Never too good for you, Lee.”

“What’ll it be? On the house.” Lee spread his arms, gesturing at the impressive selection of alcohol arranged along the wall behind him.

“Whiskey. Neat.” Dean replied. Lee nodded approvingly, selecting a bottle from the top shelf and pouring a heavy-handed three ounces into a glass. He slid it across the bar to Dean, and he took a sip, letting the liquid burn deliciously in his throat and warm him from the inside out.

“That’s good stuff.” Dean smiled as a low rasp crept into his voice.

“Only the best for you.” Lee matched his tone. “So, what brings you out tonight?”

“Dinner with the family,” Dean replied noncommittally.

“Yeah, you always did hate those.” Lee whipped the towel off his shoulder and picked up another glass, wiping the water from around the rim. “Anything exciting?”

“No, just business as usual. Bela is being a bitch, Bobby’s still telling the same stories he has for the past 20 years…” He paused before taking another sip of his drink. “Oh, and uh, Sammy’s gonna ask Jess to marry him.”

“No shit!” Lee said, his eyebrows rising in mild surprise. “I’d say that’s pretty exciting.”

“Yeah, it’s been a long time coming.” Dean chuckled into his glass. “Never seen anybody as happy as those two. Kind of a miracle she hasn’t killed him yet with what a pain in the ass he can be.”

“Ah, you’re only saying that cuz he’s your brother.” Lee laughed.

“Yeah, well, brother or not, he’s still a giant pain.” Dean downed the rest of his drink and tapped the rim for a refill. Lee shook his head but complied.

“You feeling a little jealous there, buddy?” Lee smiled devilishly at him as he set the bottle down on the bar top.

Dean chuckled darkly. “Nothing to be jealous of. I’ve got my life, my health, my family,” he grinned at Lee over the rim of his glass. “And a buddy with a bar. What more could a guy need?”

Lee shook his head but said nothing. Dean appreciated the silence that fell immensely.

The sudden clatter of a barstool hitting the floor drew Dean’s attention to the opposite end of the bar. Two men stood chest to chest, shoving each other back and forth.

“What the fuck is your problem, man?!” One of them exclaimed.

“What’s my problem? What the hell is your problem?!” The other responded, punctuating his words with a shove to the man’s shoulders.

“Hey!” Lee shouted. “Take it outside, boys.”

“Yeah, some of us just wanna drink in peace,” Dean said.

“What the fuck did you just say?” One of the men said to Dean. Having found a common enemy in him, the two men turned towards Dean’s seat and advanced. He drew in a breath, immediately regretting his decision to speak up. They were both much larger than him by a wide margin, and Dean couldn’t help but think to himself ruefully that maybe Sam was right about needing protection.

As he balled his fists, ready to start swinging, he felt someone step into the space at his side.

“I believe both of these fine gentlemen just politely told you inbred walnuts to get lost.” The voice that spoke was low and gravelly, and Dean felt his stomach flip a little at the sound of it. He turned his head to identify the stranger and was met by a tan trenchcoat.

His eyes travelled upwards to the man’s face, and Dean felt his stomach do another small flip. A strong jawline covered in light stubble, slightly chapped pink lips, and tousled black hair were Dean’s first indications that the man suddenly standing next to him was unfamiliar. When the man cocked his head slightly, Dean caught his eye and felt his breath hitch in his chest. Framed by thick, dark eyelashes were a pair of icy blue eyes that Dean very quickly found himself staring at. He looked away as soon as he realized because, as much as he would have loved to stare, the two aggressively drunk men in front of him posed a much more immediate problem.

Returning his attention to them, Dean rose from his seat and drained the remaining liquid from his glass, vaguely registering that Lee had also rounded the bar and was standing behind him.

“Well, fellas. Looks like it’s two against three.” Dean said, gesturing at Lee and the stranger. “Not that I don’t like those odds being in my favour and all, but I’ll give you a chance to walk away before this gets too outta hand.” He heard Lee crack his knuckles and grinned. There was no one in this world Dean would rather have in his corner for a fight than Lee Webb, except maybe Sam.

The two men in front of him hesitated slightly before one of them let out a yell and charged towards Dean.

He reacted in an instant, ducking below the man’s outstretched arms and coming up under his knees to flip him over his back towards Lee. He heard the man hit the ground with a thud as Lee reached down and heaved him back up into the edge of the bar. Dean turned just in time to see the other man following his partner towards him, arms reaching out like some great ape. He didn’t have the forewarning or space to execute the same move, and so he simply ducked out of reach. As the man’s arms closed above his head, he heard the unmistakable sound of a fist colliding with a nose as the cartilage and bone crunched under the force. Glancing to his right, he saw the trenchcoated stranger land a blow directly into the second assailant’s face and smiled to himself. Not bad, he thought.

As the ape staggered back, clutching his now broken nose, blood streaming down between his fingers, Dean stood up and grabbed the man by his shirt. Together, he and Lee shoved the two towards the bar’s door and unceremoniously tossed them into the street.

“Don’t let me catch you goons in here again,” Lee shouted as they took off quickly down the alley.

Dean watched them go and shook his head ruefully. Even at Lee’s, trouble managed to find him. He looked to his friend and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Lee said, brushing him off. “Guys like that aren’t a problem. You and I both know I’ve fought worse.”

Dean laughed. “Ain’t that the truth.” They turned to go back inside, and Dean spied the mysterious stranger as he picked up a stool that had fallen over in the scuffle, cradling his right hand against his chest.

“Hey,” Dean called out to him. The man looked up at Dean, and he was pierced by the full intensity of his stare. Those blue eyes, which before had been icy and cold with adrenaline, were now pools of deep ocean blue, and Dean once again felt himself beginning to drown in them. He cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the lump that was quickly forming there. “Um, thanks. For that. You, uh, you didn’t have to get involved. Lee and I could have handled it.”

Way to sound ungrateful, Winchester, he kicked himself internally.

The stranger cocked his head to the side as he stared at Dean, his eyebrows knitted together in the most perplexing stare Dean had ever seen. Lee walked up next to him. “Lemme get you some ice for your hand. If that dude’s skull is as thick as it looked, you’re probably hurting pretty bad.” He walked behind the bar and began filling a small bag with ice. “Oh, and your next drink is on me. Dean may not know how to actually say thank you but, we aren’t all as uncivilized.”

Dean felt the heat rising in his cheeks as he sat back in his seat, and Lee refilled his glass, adding a second one for their new friend. “Thank you.” The man said, taking the bag of ice and placing it over his knuckles. He took a small sip of his drink and set it back on the bar top.

Dean shook himself and realized the man was still staring at him, and being under his scrutinizing eyes made Dean fidget uncomfortably. He cleared his throat again. “So, uh, you got a name?” He asked. Then, because Dean was not one to relinquish the upper hand, he plastered on his charming Winchester smile and said, “Or am I just supposed to call you handsome?”

A small smile lifted the corners of the man’s lips as he extended his uninjured hand for Dean to shake.

“Novak.” He said, and Dean felt the colour immediately drain from his face.

“My name is Castiel Novak.”

#supernatural au #supernatural fic #destiel #deancas #dean x castiel #mafia au #deancas fic #supernatural #spn fic #tag: tbotc #tw: blood #tw: alcohol #tw: violence

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according-to-the-laura · 3 years ago

Text

StackedNatural Day 28: 1x06, 3x03, 14x02

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

October 18, 2021

1x06: Skin

Written by: John Shiban

Directed by: Robert Duncan McNeill

Original air date: October 18, 2005

Plot Synopsis:

A serial killer shape-shifter adopts the likeness of Sam's college buddy to commit a gruesome murder. When the brothers investigate, the being "borrows" Dean's form to continue the killing spree.

Features:

Sam’s college friends, the first shapeshifter, manhunt for Dean, Dean’s first official “death”.

My Thoughts:

This is SUCH a classic episode. The opener is really well filmed with a great reveal of Dean’s face, the special effects are actually good (and gross) all the way through, the aesthetics are off the charts. It’s a great example of the first few seasons at their best.

We’re only six episodes in to the entire series and they’ve already written THEE Dean thesis episode. Literally look at the notable lines down there. I love that it’s delivered by Dean’s face but Jackles plays it just enough different that you can tell it’s not Dean. I’m into it.

Also, @weedsinavacantlot, did I clock your alley again? Is this the same Romeo + Juliet neon cross reunion alley from season 13?

Notable/Kickass Lines:

“He’s sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don’t think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you? [...] See, deep down, I’m just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I’m a freak. And sooner or later, everybody’s gonna leave me.”

“Evolution is about mutation, right? So, maybe this thing was born human but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else.”

“ It’s funny. I kind of understand him. He’s all alone—close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him. He’s like me.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 9.2

IMdB rating: 8.4

3x03: Bad Day at Black Rock

Written by: Ben Edlund

Directed by: Robert Singer

Original air date: October 18, 2007

Plot Synopsis:

The Winchesters are called regarding a robbery of their father's storage unit, and track down the robbers to find the item stolen is a cursed rabbit's foot, which provides great luck until lost, and once lost the previous owner dies within a week. Sam picks up the foot and has great fortune, until it is pickpocketed away by the mercenary Bela. Dean must then get it back before Sam's bad luck gets him killed. To complicate the whole situation, Gordon, from his prison home, has convinced two other hunters that Sam is pure evil and must be killed.

Features:

Gordon is in prison, cursed rabbit’s foot, Bela Talbot, Sam gets shot and loses a shoe, the hunt for Sam is on.

My Thoughts:

This arc with Gordon leading other hunters to chase Sam down and kill him is what the Cole arc in season 10 wishes it was. I forget Cole exists the moment he’s no longer on screen. Gordon is a cool villain.

Love the juxtaposition of Sam’s soccer trophy and Dean’s first shotgun. Clearly only one of these boys got even the semblance of a childhood.

Every fight scene in this episode is so silly and fun to watch. They do such a great Chekov’s gun fake out with the beer bottle that the guy eventually trips over.

I am SO obsessed with Bela. When she said “a great thief”, I whispered out loud “please marry me”. She is so cool and I wish she’d lasted like 10 more seasons. Maybe we all would have believed in Dean’s heterosexuality more if she stuck around.

Notable/Kickass Lines:

“She's lying, you gotta know that, don't you? She knows what your weakness is – it's me.”

“Oh, wow! It's my first sawed-off. I made it myself. Sixth grade.”

“I lost my shoe.”

“Being a Hunter is so much more noble? A bunch of obsessed, revenge-driven sociopaths trying to save a world that can't be saved?”

“We're all going to Hell, Dean. Might as well enjoy the ride.”

“We're on deck for the endgame here, right?”

“I’m batman!”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 9.6

IMdB Rating: 9.3

14x02: Gods and Monsters

Written by: Buckleming

Directed by: Richard Speight Jr.

Original air date: October 18, 2018

Plot Synopsis:

Sam finds a clue to Dean's whereabouts, so he, Mary and Bobby set out to investigate. Castiel imparts some sage advice on Jack, who, still desperate to belong, seeks out a familial connection.

Features:

Nick’s revenge, Michael’s monster-enhancing experiments, Jack meets his grandparents, Michael frees Dean.

My Thoughts:

Before the episode even started Megan and I were ranting about how they established that the blade they used on Lucifer didn’t kill the vessel and they didn’t ever think to use it on Michael!Dean. And they established it when Dean was already possessed by Michael! Truly terrible writing.

Actually, for a Buckleming episode this isn’t too bad at all. Mark P. is definitely a better Lucifer than he is a Nick, but he’s not unwatchable. The first scene between Cas and Nick is well done, and there are some beautifully acted, emotional scenes between Cas and Jack. Plus, that scene between Jack and his grandparents? I almost teared up!

@meg3point0 said that the reason Jack is willing to kill Dean to get Michael is that he finally met people that he loves who aren’t hunters and can’t protect themselves from him.

Notable/Kickass Lines:

“That was no man. That’s not man. That’s a monster. It’s a monster, and then Lucifer found me and made me a monster, too.”

“I had something else that was extremely helpful. I had myself. Just the basic me, as, uh...as Dean would say, without all the bells and whistles. You know, Sam and Dean, they weren’t born with their expertise. They’ve been at it since they were children. Failing, winning, developing over the years. Patience, persistence - those are skills too. The past, where you come from, that’s important, but it is not as important as the future and where you’re going.”

“You know, in all my thousands of years, what happened to Jimmy Novak and his family are my greatest regret.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 7.5

IMdB Rating: 8.0

In Conclusion: I always forget how goddamn good early season episodes are. Super excited to be able to chart out how I feel about the series as a whole at the end of this experiment!

<< Previous Day | Next Day >>

#Stackednatural #supernatural #spn #1x06 #Skin #3x03 #Bad Day at Black Rock #14x02 #Gods and Monsters

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thebirdandhersong · 4 years ago

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Favourite moments from s3 (under the cut because there were a LOT):

Fitz holding Jemma when they realise they not on that planet anymore

Fitz taking Jemma’s hand when he leads her into the lab

Fitz not changing a single thing about Jemma’s desk because he knows she doesn’t like change

“You’re too hard on yourself, you know that?” (Coulson’s response when May says that Andrew left because of her)

Jemma saying good night to a picture of Fitz when she’s alone on the planet

Fitz and Jemma watching the sunrise together (Fitz’s face when she says she MEANT it when she said she’d like to settle down in a cottage one day)

Lincoln very obviously finding Daisy’s cleverness and resourcefulness attractive

Mack and Daisy’s fist bump right before they go to rescue Fitz and Simmons

Coulson dreaming about Rosalind and Rosalind telling him that he needs to wake up (actually him falling for Rosalind is also not that big of a surprise. Coulson definitely has a type. Camilla from s1 and Rosalind in s3 and May?? It is most definitely a type)

Daisy giving Jemma a quick hug after they reunite

May’s smile of relief when she hears Mack say “open the doors. I’m letting them in” (and realising that all of them are safe)

The look in May’s eyes when she sees that Coulson is alive

Daisy asking Jose about his home and Jose telling her that he misses Sundays because his mom cooks on Sundays

Bobbi, Hunter, and Daisy coming to get Mack and Bobbi greeting with Mack with “Hey, you” and Mack responding with a smile

MACK AND YO-YO’S CONVERSATION ABOUT FAITH (ACTUALLY ALL OF THEM)

Elena’s quiet smile of pride when she knocks on the car door with the ID she just stole (and seeing Daisy’s astonished face)

Elena and Daisy working together as a team!!!

And Elena obviously enjoying herself

Mack knowing Daisy so well that he knows what the Knowing Look she gives him means without her having to say a word

Bobbi’s “I love you” after Hunter reveals the weapons he secretly brought onboard for the mission

“Call me Glenn. Occasionally”

Hunter’s mushroom story

the fact that Hunter told Fitz about a documentary about the Amazon and Fitz and Jemma actually watched it

Mack calling Bobbi “Rosetta Stone”

Hunter’s recipe for mushroom soup

Daisy and Mack talking to Bobbi about how she’s never had a vacation with Hunter…. while on a mission

Hunter and Bobbi holding hands when they’re reunited (after the mission)

Everyone saying goodbye to Bobbi and Hunter :’(

Fitz and Jemma are back to their back-to-back information dump/banter sessions!!!

Mack talking about the combat part of being an agent: “Reuben. I’m a mechanic. I hate this stuff”

Daisy supervising the future fight scene and May shouting “BANG” whenever she pretends to shoot an agent

Coulson telling Daisy to “Come home safe” before she heads off

Mack and Daisy’s hug after they reunite (post-house break in)

Daisy demanding the truth because her experience with Ward has given her a fear of not knowing the people who know her heart

Jose and Elena returning!!!!

Elena and Jose’s friendship and the little conversations they have in Spanish

“Hello. It’s good to see you again. You look well” and how Elena kept practicing it!!!

Mack speaking to Elena in Spanish??? (He practiced too??)

“I have a new name, too. They all call me Yo-Yo. Your fault”

“It’s okay, Mack. I trust you”

When Daisy is stressed because she can’t find Joey and Lincoln holds her head and kisses the top of it :’)

May telling Daisy, “You did good today. You led them well”

“It’s times like these when there’s no clear path that I understand why people pray” (Coulson)

Fitz and Jemma holding hands :)

“Who needs space? Because I’ve got something magnificent right here” (Fitz to Jemma)

“Daisy’s my partner. I should’ve known, I should’ve seen…” (Mack)

“Daisy’s always longed for family, for a connection. I thought I could give it to her with SHIELD”

“She’s the closest thing I have to a daughter” (Coulson about Daisy)

Coulson’s shield watch resembling Captain America’s shield :’)

“Your hands are freezing” (Of Course Fitz would reference Pride and Prejudice. What a nerd)

“We all care about Daisy!”

Lincoln volunteering to be the test subject for Fitz and Jemma

May recognising that everyone has an It’s-My-Fault problem

“And you are?” “Nauseous” Iconic, May

“SHIELD can finally stop trying to save me” Daisy

How gentle Mack is while talking to Daisy (Hive! Daisy)

Coulson saying that Cap and Peggy were his heroes when he was growing up :’)

May telling Lincoln he needs to eat something

Elena helping Mack adjust his ice pack :’)

“You need a beer. And some faith”

“That’s when evil wins. When good people doubt and run the other way instead of stand up and fight”

“Evil preys on the weak because their fears are strong”

Lash carrying Daisy onto the ship and Daisy holding his hand before he dies :’(

“This is Agent Daisy Johnson. I’m coming home” AH a direct callback to Coulson telling her to come home earlier on

“Keep the faith, Alphonso Mackenzie” (!!!!!!)

Fitz’s screen test with Talbot

Coulson talking to Daisy about vengeance and how it doesn’t satisfy you

“Turtle Man”

“He’s lucky he is handsome” (Elena)

Mack hugging Daisy and telling her that he forgives her!!!!

“It’s up to that individual to make a choice. Either let that darkness fester and grow or let the light inside shine through and vanquish the darkness”

Elena taking a bullet for Mack

“Mack lit me on fire”

“I’m just here to offer a helping hand. Pun absolutely intended” (I love Coulson)

“Plus, I’ve always wanted to to do this. Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi. You’re my only h-“

“Saving the girl I love and the world at the same time? Feels pretty right to me”

Daisy giving Robin the carved robin at the end

#well THIS was a roller coaster #so much happened in this season #i am not liking the excerpt they gave us at the end #(SIGHHHH)#but we shall have to see what happens next i guess #aos liveblog: my whole heart!!

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springmagpies · 4 years ago

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My Uncle Reacts to AoS Season 4

So, instead of getting chores done this morning, my uncle and I finished Season 4 of Agents of Shield. Here are his reactions! Enjoy! Fair warning, it is a long post because Steve had a lot of feelings.

4x01

Before the episode: I’m guessing Coulson was like “I got too close to the situation and could no longer be impartial.” And then he passed over the title of director to May or that general guy. Talbot! That’s his name.

He’s like ghost rider is all. Holy crap he is ghost rider! I didn’t realize he was marvel.

Why’d they have to break up the band?

I am concerned about the robots.

Well, ghost rider is badass.

4x02

“You’re an engineer Mack. And a small tank.” Bwhahahahahaha, that’s so true.

The director is Talbot. Ooooh, not Talbot. Someone new.

Oh, Daisy has a picture of Lincoln. I miss him.

May is not okay. May needs a nap.

I still can’t get over Mack offering that maybe they’re just ghosts. Fitzsimmons faces were amazing.

Mace is such a politician.

4x03

*Lincoln is mentioned* Owwwwwww

I love the Phil, Mack, and Fitz team up.

Wow, Fitz is badass this episode.

Okay, so Elena is amazing. That shot with the light was awesome!

4x04

Fitzsimmons moving in together, count me in.

I see where Daisy is coming from, but not awesome that she’s using her friends and then leaving.

Come on Daisy! Come home.

Heylo? Hahahahaha

Radcliffe, I don’t think telling the android it’s okay to lie sometimes is a good idea.

What’s that face she’s giving? Oh shit, is she feeling things? Is she feeling things for Fitz. That’s not good.

I don’t trust James. *moments later* Called it.

Yes, Mack, two fire dudes just fell into fireworks.

Jemma for sure knows she’s an android.

“I prefer a classical beauty myself.” Awww, Fitz.

4x05

Oh, Fitz, a high five will not fix her being mad at you. Trust me.

“I’m sure they have it under control.” *cuts to chaos* Okay, that’s the best transition of the whole show.

Robbie, please don’t go after that guy. Just keep going please. Dammit. Why can no one just follow instructions in Shield.

Way to go Jemma! But what happened with Mace?? What did he do?

May had a heart to heart with her and she’s still leaving? Is Daisy really going to leave after all of this? She can’t, right?

Robbies uncle is going to get sucked into that book. Yeah, look at his expression. That’s not good at all is it.

Well that senator sucks.

4x06

*Mace mad at Coulson* Daaaang

Fitz is so smart. He would be a millionaire if he was an inventor or something. But he just wants to help people.

Wait, shit, Eli is bad!

*Fitz, Coulson, and Robbie disappear* Oh no!!!! Wait, that’s how the episode ends! Noooo!!

4x07

Shit, where are they.

Oh, so that’s where they are. That’s not good.

“I have to phone Simmons to tell her... I’m in another dimension.” Bwhahahahaha oh no.

That’s not Mack. Holy shit!

“Oh Mack’s the ghost rider no big deal. But you can’t hear us.” Oh my god, these lines are amazing.

The dialogue this episode is fantastic.

No!!!!! Don’t give the darkhold to Radcliffe. He’s already so morally grey!!!

Fitz is going to hit Mace

Aww, Fitzsimmons

There’s some flirtation with Phil and Melinda going on.

Have we seen who’s in that photo Mack is looking at? Hope?

Oh hey Robbie, how was hell.

Ummm, is Aida building a brain? Is she corrupted. Yep. She’s corrupted. We’ve got a corrupted android. Great.

4x08

Coulson’s comedic timing is everything.

Oof, Robbie is not having a good time.

“Oh yeah, Fitz solved that” Of course he did. He’s Fitz.

*Badass Fitzsimmons duo scene* They truly are a dynamic duo aren’t they. That shot was awesome!

*Daisy looking at Robbie’s car* well, you’ve got a sweet car.

*Mackelena finally kiss* gasps. There it is!

*Aida kills Nathanson* Oh dears.

*Reveal that May is an LMD* Wait wait wait. Holy shit. Oh shit. Damn.

4x09

Aida’s so sweet to May. And she sweetly killed Nathanson like it was nothing. Not creepy at all.

Once again Mack’s lines are amazing.

Yeah, don’t attack the android guys. Not a good idea.

“Why would you want to hurt me Leopold.” Aaaah haaaa, umm. No.

“Well, Simmons has only been kidnapped twice on this planet.” Hahahahahahaha that’s hilarious.

Smart people are stupid. That’s amazing.

*Aida freezes may* AAAH, she doesn’t even know she’s a robot!

*Radcliffe reveal* O. M. G. He’s corrupted. He played them. Asshole. Dammit he read it for just a second! No!

This is a good part of the show! I’m really enjoying this.

4x10

What the heck’s in that brief case?

And Radcliffe is now super creepy.

Poor Fitz, he doesn’t know his friend totally betrayed him.

“I did this to protect you.” Awww, Fitz. I mean, let’s not make robots, but that’s still really sweet. He just wanted to protect Simmons and everyone.

*May wakes up* Jesus, god May. She’s a badass. Imagine waking up like that! God! That’s terrifying.

“I can’t help feeling like somethings off.” Yeah, May, you aren’t real.

Mace isn’t an inhuman! Oh damn.

*Fitz analyzing Aida’s head* Uh oh Fitz.

“Is it weird that I found that attractive?” Hahahahahahahaha. Fantastic.

*Coulson back in charge* hell yeah!

*May finds out she’s an LMD* Aaaaaaah! Well, that’s an existential crisis.

4x11

Does Radcliffe have more of them? Because he just happened to have May.

*May waking up over and over again* Feels like I’m watching The Good Place.

*Aida breaks a glass* That’s concerning that a robot would make a mistake like that.

*Hope reveal* Oh that’s awful! Poor Mack.

Whose the other LMD?

*Radcliffe LMD reveal* Ohhhh noooo. Poor Fitz.

4x12

Hey! I was wondering where the lanyard guys were!

“You’re going all Gollumy again” bwhahahahaha that’s amazing

“I’ve lost too much already, I’m not losing you.” Awww, Phil.

*Robo Radcliffe talks about Fitz’s past* Oh my gosh, that explains so much. Oh Fitz! Screw Fitz’s dad.

How many Koenigs are there?

Awww, baby Fitz!—Maggie

I bet that’s his real mom too!—Steve

Fitz and Simmons are cute!

*Philinda kiss* Noooo! She’s a robot!

“Sorry, you weren’t meant to last” Radcliffe you ass. You evil ass.

4x13

*Agnes reveal* Eeeek, creepy. That’s who she’s based on!

Wait, is she really Australian? Damn, she does a great American accent.

Mace really got the short end of the stick in a lot of this didn’t he.

*Shockley gets turned into an inhuman* Oooh shit.

Did they just put Shockley on the plane. The dude that blows up? Well, damn.

*Fitzsimmons realize Shockley is the bomb* Way to go dynamic duo. Now gooooo! Oh, they’re going. Simmons pushing Fitz is amazing.

Aaaaaah! Fitz! Fitz and Mace!

*Fitzsimmons hug* Awww. I know I’ve said it before but they’re cute.

Noooo! Mace! Shit they kidnapped Mace!

*Aida takes put on Agnes’s necklace* Ewwwww, creepy. Creepy creepy creepy! Aaah.

4x14

*The superior walking* He must have this ‘I’m so cool face’ on at all times.

Aww, is Radcliffe in there to be with Agnes. That’s so sad.

*Flashback with Phil and May* Aww, May is all playful. It’s before the sad times.

*Mace chained* that’s not great for your circulation.

They’re going to kill Mace. No, don’t kill Mace.

“Morales, you’re with me.” Uh oh, Morales. More redshirts with names making me nervous.

“You’ve enhanced yourself with alien technology.” Actually Fitz built his hand.

“Cool origin story, bro.” Okay, that’s incredible.

“Concern only slightly lessened.” Davis is just like ‘thanks dude.’ Fantastic.

Mack doesn’t need super powers to be a badass.

*LMD reveal* Holy shit. Holy shiiiit. They switched out all four of them??? All four??? Holy shiiiit. Fitzsimmons are all alone. Aaaahaaa.

“Even filth has a purpose.” Ewwww, and she’s leaning over him like that. So creeeeppyyy. Eewwww.

“He’s a shrink.” Oh awwww. It’s Andrew. She falls in love with him.

Well I guess Phil and Melinda’s robots can be together. Kind of weird but okay.

Oh my god, this is stressing me out!!!

‘Even filth has a purpose.” Gaaah, ewww. I’m still thinking about it.

So is Radcliffe even in control anymore? Or is he too preoccupied with the framework to care. Like, is Aida just doing whatever the heck she wants now because that’s unsettling.

4x15

Where are all of them? Oh they’re in the framework. Uh oh.

Ewwww, Aida is evil! He’s (Ivanov) alive and she’s cutting into him.

Aaah, they’ve got them surrounded. It’s so creepy.

This is some body snatchers shit.

*fitzsimmons LMD scene* *Steve biting his nails with wide eyes* oh my god that was awful.

*Steve rewinds to rewatch the LMD scene* they’re so good. And it hurt so much to see Fitz go so cold. Owwww. Because it was him and how he would act and then it just shuts off. Ugh, they’re so good.

*Jemma stabbing Fitz scene* Oh he’s thought about getting married. Oh my god, that’s so awful. So disturbing. That hurts. They’re so talented.

*Daisy LMDs* Ohhhh that’s so disturbing. This is all so disturbing. Oh my gosh.

*Daisy and Jemma scene* Awwww, they found the only other person to trust. That’s so sweet. Gosh, that was also a brilliantly acted scene.

They’re all such good actors. All of them.

God, this is all so disturbing.

*Aida kills Radcliffe* oh shit. Aaaaah. That’s so creepy.

“Because you and Fitz belong together.” Thats the truth.

“Their poor base” -Maggie

“And they just retiled the bathrooms.” -Steve

Ooh, quake jump, that’s so cool.

*Slow motion quake* That’s sooo badasssss!

*Davis flying the Zephyr* Aah, Davis. Careful. He just started training.

*LMD May blows up the base.* oooh ho. Damn.

“Lincoln?” Oh noooo. That’s awful.

*Ward reveal* Whaaaaat?

*Coulson reveal* Whaaaaaat?

*Mack reveal* oh nooo, he’s got his daughter.

*Fitz reveal* Whaaaaaat? But, damn.

*Jemma reveal* Whaaaaaaaaat? She’s in a grave? Who’s in the car with Fitz?

*May reveal* is she an avenger? *Hydra logo appears* Waaaaait. Whaaaaaaaaat?

What the hell is going on. What the hell? What is this place. Are they all evil? Some of them evil? Mack isn’t evil right?

*Ivanov’s head* Ewwww creepy.

Whaaaat the helllll. As Fitz would say *does Fitz impression* what the hell?

Dammit why do I have to put the kids to bed!! I want to watch the next episode!! Gosh dang it.

That’s disturbing count: around 15

4x16

“Skye?” Skye??? Skye!!!

*Logo* ooooh, agents of hydra

“You’re on another planet this morning.” Yeah, she is. No shit Ward.

*Daisy looks up Lincoln* Awwww. Owwwww.

*Jemma jumps from the grave.* Lucky she was in a shallow grave.

They’re having a bad week.

Vijay isn’t real. He’s at the bottom of the ocean.

*Ward punches Vijay* wait, did he want him to stop talking? Hmmm.

*Coulson class scene* Aaaahhaa that’s not awful at all.

*May Bahrain reveal* oh shit, it changed that much! Shit.

“We’ve got him doctor” Radcliffe? *Fitz reveal* Ooooh nooo! Noooo! Shit, noooo! Jemma died and he went all dark. Nooooo.

“It’s a magical place.” Oh damn!

“My father used to say...” Shit, does Fitz have his dad’s influence?????

*Ward double agent reveal* Ooooooh! Shiiit. That’s so interesting!!

“This isn’t the framework this is hell” Jemma’s so pissed.

“Drones, Dwarves. Whatever.” Awww, Jemma’s heart just broke right there.

Are they stuck in the framework! Well shit!

*Fitz and Aida kiss* Ewwww. I mean it makes sense in this world because of course she’s using Fitz but ewww.

She replaced Jemma with herself. That’s not creepy at all.

“Daisy?” Aaaah! He remembers!

This place is messed up! Interesting, but messed up!

4x17

“I make my own soap now.” Bwhahahahahaha. That’s amazing.

Aww, Mack has his daughter. And she’s adorable. Oh no!

Ophelia? Oooh, she’s got her own name.

“I’d cross the universe for you.” Ewwww! Noooo. He literally crossed the universe for Jemma.

*Fitz and Aida make out* *Maggie screams and Steve shivers* But why is Fitz so hot in the framework though—Maggie *Steve nods*

“The soap made me do it.” Bwhahahahaha

*Mace reveal* Aaaaah! Mace! He’s all gruff now and an inhuman! He got everything that he ever wanted.

“And we’ll make our society great again.” Ewwwwwwwhewe!

This is so interesting! I’m really liking it!

*Mack and hope get taken by Hydra* that’s so awful! That is so disturbing!

Coulson is so nerdy, I love it.

“You’re Daisy Johnson. We’re agents of shield.” Mack remembers.

*Revealed that Mack doesn’t remember* No! Shit.

*Fitz kills Agnes* *sharp intake of breath, Steve stays silent for a very long time.*

*Mack joins Shield* Good job Mack.

“How do you feel?”-Maggie.

Steve quietly: “sick.”

4x18

I love how Mace is all scruffy and his suits all scratched.

Aaah, evil Fitz makes me sad.

*Jemma seeing Mack and Hope* Yeah, it’s an oh shit moment.

“Tell your old man all about it.” *Steve gasps* Oh no.

“I don’t know the kind of man I’d be without you father.” “That’s why I’m here.” Yep, to brainwash him.

TRIP!

*Brainwash room* Oh no! It’s the other kid too! No!

MACE! Noooo! Why would Aida do that. She’s so evil.

That’s so messed up.

*May used Terrigen on Daisy* Yes. Good job May. And hopefully it’ll heal her in the process.

4x19

Ha, Bakshi has a tv show.

Aww, mace is dead. He was a good man.

*Daisy quakes Aida out a window* *Steve laughs* That took her by surprise didn’t it.

“It’s like sipping poison...” Mmm, Fox News.

“You’re the new head of hydra” Yikes.

*Ward throws remote* Umm, you guys have limited remotes!

*Steve pauses show* I don’t like any of this. It’s interesting but I hurt inside. It hurts that Fitz is evil. Mace is dead. Agnes is dead. Radcliffe is in prison. May was evil. I’m sad.

Aww, Coulson all of a sudden became that paternal leader.

Wait, so she totally used Fitz in like every way. What a jerk.

Trips the best.

Sorry Ward. She wants to feel bad for you but she can’t.

So much Scottishness this season. I love it.

*Radcliffe yells at Alistar* yep, because you’re a worthless asshole ya jerk. Oof, he just throat punched Radcliffe.

Aww, Coulson is coming into his own.

“When this is over-“ Do I get Skye! “Do I get my Skye back?” Called it!

I liked that scene with Grant. It was the redemption that the other Ward didn’t deserve but this one did. It was nice. Also really well acted.

“Hydra giving alternative facts.” Ooooh, they’re calling them out. They are so not fans of Trump and it’s amazing.

*Coulson on the news* This is Shield’s please vote! Please vote.

That was amazing.

4x20

Yeah, I hate all of this.

This all hurts.

*Fitz talks to Radcliffe* Come on Radcliffe, please don’t betray us. Please.

*Jemma kills Alistair* Well, that’s not going to help us.

“I’m sure everything is fine.” It is not. Simmons killed Fitz’s dad.

I hate this. It’s fascinating and I hate it. She’s just made him mad. God, no.

*Trip saying goodbye* Awww, this hurts. He’s goneeee in our world. Whyyyyy.

Is Aida trying to build her spine *body being built on the other side* Ohhh. Damn.

*Coulson gets shot* SHIT

*Coulson wakes up* You’re going to have to fight a killer robot, Phil.

*May wakes up* Awww she did it! She followed him!!

*Radcliffe redeems himself* Yes! Radcliffe! Yes! Thank you!

*Fitz falls through* Thank God!

Thank you Radcliffe.

*Mack not coming with* Maggie, I really don’t like this.

Oh gosh, Fitz is so freaked out. They’re all so freaked out. Aaah, Aida!

*Aida and Fitz teleport* Well that was unexpected.

I feel really ill. Like, this hurts a lot. I hurt a lot.

It’s like The Red Wedding but drawn out over 4 episodes and I hurt.

4x21

Before the episode: I came into the framework so optimistic and it crushed me. Like I thought May was an avenger and then it was like hahaha pain.

Oh yeah! And then she teleported with Fitz. JERK!

Fitz really got screwed by the framework didn’t he.

*Coulson kills Robo Ivanov with a shield* WOAHHH!!! That was amazing! ...and disturbing.

*Coulson recounts what happened with Robbie Reyes* BWHAHAHAHAHA. It sounds so ridiculous when you recount it but it’s so amazing watching it.

Will she stop teleporting Fitz! He already feels sick!

Yeaaaah, giving Fitz his abuser back and replacing the woman he loves with yourself is not what would make him happy Aida!

“If he wanted to kill us he could just flood the place. Why is he stalling.” TO FLOOD THE PLACE, PHIL!

“I drank the bottle of Haig” “you piece of—“ *Steve can’t stop laughing*

*Mack almost drowning* Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. OH SHIT.

*Fitz and Aida rescuing mack* THANK GOD.

*Jemma shoots Aida* well, yeah.

*Jemma shoots Fitz* Love ya Fitz, sorry man.

“What do we do with Fitz?” Talk to him!!

“I’m just like Ward.” Oh ho, that hurts.

“There’s only room in my heart for her.” YES! Oh shit, Aida’s not happy.

OH SHIT!

NO DAVIS! DAVIS!

*Toddler starts crying IRL over a toy* Now imagine if we gave her powers.That’s what’s happening with Aida.

*Fitzsimmons pod scene* oww

*Yoyo plugs herself into the framwork* This is a mess.

*Aida throws bottle in anger* His vodka!

*Aida and Ivanov scene* Aaah! Inhuman robot sex. Oh. Nope. Murder.

*Robbie comes back* Welcome back buddy! SHIELD shit has hit the fan.

4x22

“How do we kill Aida?” Hell chains? I’m thinking hell chains.

*Robbie waiting for Shield* Hello, back from another dimension? No way, us too!

Well Radcliffe is screwed if the framework is falling apart.

“I’ll talk to him. He’ll remember me.” No he won’t Elena. Wish he would though.

*Robo!Daisy shoots Talbot* *Steve sits with his mouth open* NO!! I mean, he could be annoying but he was a good man! And he’s been around since season 1!

“There’s a pulse.” How? Yay! But how?

“Once you say you can’t stop me. Well—“ it’s like when you say you feel safe on Survivor and then get voted off the island.

*Daisy & Robbie team up* Boom bitches!! That was super cool!

Mack’s not going to leave until Hope de-materializes. And that sucks ass.

“Robot May was much more supportive.” HA! That’s amazing.

EVERYTHING’S A MESS AND EVERYONE IS HURT AND DIE AND PAIN AND OWW AND THINGS.

Maggie: “What?”

Steve: “You heard me.”

*Aida kills LMD!Jemma* WHAT! What the hell? I feel so sick. Oh thank god she’s an LMD! But I feel ill.

Eeeewwwww the kiss Aida gave Fitz on the cheek is so disturbing.

*Jemma shoots Aida* YES! AWESOME!

*Coulson ghost rider reveal* HOLY SHIT THAT’S AMAZING! I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER!

*Aida dies* Well that was awesome and terrible and poor everyone.

They really do a great job of making you feel sick don’t they.

*Mack and Hope scene*

Maggie: “you okay?”

Steve: *wipes away tear* no.

Wait, is there more to Coulson’s deal with the Ghost Rider?

“Gave me a glimpse of the life I could have here.” Oooh! Mack and Elena! She did almost die for him. They’re in love.

*Robbie having to leave* He and Daisy couldn’t like kiss before he left? No? Fine.

*Daisy speech to Fitz* someone hug him, please!

*Diner scene* Whaaaat?

We’re in space next season!!?? Whooo!!

They’re all so messed up after all of this. I feel messed up after all of this.

#steve reacts to aos #personal nonsense #agents of shield #season 4

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thephantomcasebook · 4 years ago

Text

Matt’s “Reasonable” Downton Abbey Movie Sequel Pitch

Since I’ve been known to take extreme flights of fancy ... maybe wedding Downton Abbey continuity to Pulp and Classic Adventure stories in the past ... this time I’m gonna pitch something that is plausible on the Silver Screen.

The Summery:

Set in the Mid-1950′s. Lady Mary Talbot hosts a house party at Downton Abbey, like the old days, before the war. However - during the party - a maid is found dead. Miles from competent investigators, Edward Pelham enlists the help of his childhood hero and older cousin, the Earl of Grantham, George Crawley. Once a famed adventurer and war hero - no one has seen or heard from him since the war ended. He has chosen solitude and exile in the seclusion of Crawley House with his young son and his faithful butler Thomas Barrow.

Together, with the help of old friends, the two cousins try to unveil the murderer that is on the loose in Downton Abbey looking to avenge an old sin from the past.

PRINCIPLE RETURNING CAST:

Lady Mary, Lady Edith, and Tom Branson - Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, and Allen Leech

Lady Rose Aldridge, “Dowager Countess of Sinderby” - Lily James

Mrs. Lucy Branson - Tuppence Middleton

Anna Bates - Joanne Froggett

Thomas Barrow & Richard Ellis - Richard Collier & Max Brown

NEW PRINCIPLE CAST

Captain George “The Comet” Crawley, Earl of Grantham - Henry Cavil

youtube

Crippled during battle while Storming an SS held Austrian Castle in May 1945, George Crawley chose seclusion rather than Downton Abbey. For the last ten years he has retreated from the world. Surrounded by Libraries of ancient texts and Medieval Chronicles - glass cases filled with trophies and artifacts from his adventures - George broods darkly over the death of his men and a betrayal by the one he loved most in Matthew Crawley’s old chair by the fire..

However, his young idealistic cousin rouses the once heroic and valiant adventurer back to action with the encouragement of his son Jason Crawley and Thomas Barrow, who believe George has sat idle too long and must become the leader and man of action he once was.

“Well, well, well ... if it isn’t Captain George “The Comet” Crawley himself. The most Dangerous Man in the whole Empire, this one was ... Once.

“Yes, I dare say, and how are you holding up these days, eh, Old Boy?!”

“With a cane.”

Ms. Sybil “Sybbie” Branson - Jessica De Gouw

youtube

A Genius Mechanical Engineer, Sybbie was once the partner and companion of George Crawley on many adventure and stayed by his side throughout the war. However in 1943, during a mission with their SOE Commando Team in Greece, Sybbie Branson turned coat on the Allies and was revealed to be a Nazi Agent ... Her betrayal caused the unintended death of John “Johnny” Bates Jr.

Captured in Austrian Castle in May of 1945 at great cost in George’s blood and the lives of his men by her fanatical suitor and body guards, Sybbie was tried at Nuremberg for helping design super weapons for the Nazis. However, just before her execution, at the last moment, she was reprieved and recruited by “Operation Paper Clip” ... some believed sparing her life was the last thing George did before going into seclusion.

Ten years later, Ms. Sybil Darcy splits her time in Hollywood as an Oscar winning actress and a Southern California Military Base where she helps develop rockets for a fledgling American Space Program. It is only by chance that on another guilt ridden drinking binge that she awakens at the doors of Downton Abbey - her childhood home - where her International Playboy fiance was invited to Lady Mary’s House Party.

“When I’m in his arms all I can think of is home, and when I think of home all I can think of is you. I know what I’ve done is evil and can never be forgiven. And I don’t ask for it from you ... all I ask is that you wait for me ... please, don’t leave me here alone. I don’t remember what this world was like without you in it, And all I know is that I cannot live in such a world. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I love you, and I’ll never stop ... Never.”

Lady Marigold Fraser, “Countess of Tarahill” - Elizabeth Henstridge

During the “Battle of Britain” and “The Blitz” Corporal Marigold Crawley served as a operator and airwoman in the RAF control room. When George and Sybbie’s squadron was sent to break the Siege of Malta and fight in the North Africa Campaign , Marigold would not be left behind. Thus, she resigned commission and became a War Corespondent for her Mamma and Aunt Laura at “The Sketch” - covering George and his men’s exploits from the ‘safety’ of Sybbie’s mechanic’s hanger. Later, during Sybbie’s arch betrayal, Marigold used her media and diplomatic pass as a Marquess’s step-daughter to rescue a hunted George with the help of local resistance. She went on to cover D-Day, Market Garden, and the Battle of the Bulge while attached to a much darker and violent George and his Commandos,

Marigold was vaulted as a “Female Pioneer in Journalism”. But falling in Love with a Scottish Colonel in the British Airborne during Market Garden, she chose marriage rather than her career. But 10 years later the call of adventure is stirred in the societal matron’s blood once more upon her reunion with best friend George and a Mystery to solve.

“Do you ever think of it, George?”

“The war?”

“Would you think me terrible if I told you that I miss it?”

“What particularly do you miss about the Ardennes or Arnhem Bridge?”

“It’s not the places, not the snowy woods all bundled tight together in our freezing foxhole under artillery fire, or escaping Holland on rubber rafts in the middle of the night ... I miss our men, I miss ... waking up in the morning and knowing that we were apart of something, that it was you and me, and the old chaps, against the world ... I miss being useful, George. I guess, I’d rather like to feel that way again.”

Ms. Caroline Talbot - Daisy Ridley

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Beautiful, Spoiled, Clever, Selfish, and Effete, the co-heiress to “Branson & Talbot Motors” has spent her life attempting to get a rise out of her mother. As most desirable of debutantes and Crown Princess of British High Society, Caroline spends her days scheming and contriving against other society girls, of whom she loves to torment. Her nights in nightclubs spent drinking and dancing, waking up in different beds throughout the poshest London Houses.

She loathes her mother, and blames Henry’s death on George, whose Spitfire shot down the German Bomber that crashed into Henry and Bertie’s train during “The Battle of Britain”. With George and Sybbie having never gotten along with, or been able to stand, Henry - Caroline believes George plotted her father’s death.

However, her arrogance and anger is dropped only in the presence of her best and only true friend, her cousin Edward. The only person in her unhappy life of whom she knows she truly loves.

“JUST SAY IT, MAMMA! WHY CAN’T YOU SAY IT! Why can’t you just say you didn’t love him! I’m certainly not the first unloved child ever born to a widow looking for a cheap thrill! I guess I owe you enough thanks for at least marrying Daddy!”

“Oh, pipe down, you spoiled little bitch!”

“Shut up, you Nazi whore! You two ran off to have your little adventures and you never stopped to think, just once, about me!”

“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ! Here we are again! What could you possibly want more of?! Huh? You got everyone’s attention!”

“George, leave it!.”

“No, no more, mom! She got everything I didn’t! She got a mother and father, parents! You left me behind so that you and Henry could start your trendy new fashionable family! You took their side against me! You and Uncle Tom! Just so you can continue to play grab ass with your pathetic little trio! I spent years away from home, Christmases at Aunt Edith’s, all because Henry didn’t want me here! MY OWN HOUSE! And still, after all that, his brat wants more! So, what, Goddamnit!? What do you want from me, Caroline!?”

“YOU! I wanted my brother! I loved you and I needed you! And you left me with HER!

Lord Edward Robert Pelham, “Marquess of Hexham” - William Moseley

youtube

Upright and just minded, Lord Hexham grew up on the stories of adventure and mystery that his older cousins, George and Sybbie, were famous for. At the death of his father in the war, he looked up to his cousin George as a male role model.

Thirteen years later, while on break from Oxford - he is not sure what to do with his life. Determined to save his beloved best friend Caroline from a nose dive of alcohol and sex turning into a death spiral, he finds himself at Downton Abbey - a guest of his Aunt Mary - when a murder takes place. But when the Killer leaves a message that it would only be the first. it seems everyone turns to him - as senior peer - for guidance. Unsure what to do, he goes to find his old mentor, George - who has much more experience in this kind of danger and mystery.

“I don’t know, Marigold ... sometimes I think I’m the wrong man for this job.”

“Nonsense. In fact, rising above the bias of an older sister and the person who helped raise you, I just happen to think you’re the perfect man for the job.”

“I feel ashamed sometimes. There are lads out there that don’t have two pounds in their hands. And here I am, a Marquess, leaving Oxford, to snuggle up to my big sister’s beast, because, I’m frustrated.”

“Well, they are fantastic breasts.”

“I’m serious ... I just, I keep telling Caroline that there’s more in life. But I feel like it’s all just words. Neither Mummy nor Papa were ever so ambitious. And it’s not that I want more power, how could I? It’s just ... I feel like there’s something out there, waiting for me to get into its shouting distance.”

Jason Matthew Crawley, Lord of Downton - Unknown (I don’t know child actors)

youtube

Born in 1944 to an unknown mother of whom George refuses to speak of to anyone. Mary and the rest of the family were shocked and confused to find George return from the war hobbled on a cane and carrying a toddler that was unmistakably his son.

Ten years later the blue eyed raven curled boy attends the local Downton school, but is often pursued by high ranking academies for his extremely high intellect. But George refuses to entertain sending him away. Spending most days with Mary,Tom, and Edith, the boy is famed around the county for his Holmesian deduction skills ... and aptitude for machinery - which his father refuses to allow him to pursue. Serving as his father and ‘Uncle Edward’s’ assistant while investigating the murder, they find him a much bigger help than they thought possible.

“You listen to me, Cowboy ... cause I’m only going to tell you once. You stay away from Sybbie, do you understand me?”

“I was just saying that she’s beautiful -”

“Under no circumstance do you go near her or even speak to that woman.”

“But what does a movie star want with me?”

“This conversation is concluded, mind what I say.”

“But, Pop ... wha -?”

“That’s an order, Cowboy.”

“Ye- yes, Sir.”

#Downton Abbey #Sybbie Branson #George Crawley #Marigold Crawley #Caroline Talbot #Jessica De Gouw #Henry Cavill #Elizabeth Henstridge #William Moseley #Daisy Ridley

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agl03 · 5 years ago

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Daisy's behaviour this episode really bothered me. The whole "kill freddy to prevent hydra's foundation" thing, kind of brought back the s5 "kill one persone to save many" debate (like when yoyo killed ruby) but, while back then she was firmly against yoyo actions, she doesn't even esitate now in front of the possibility of killing someone in cold blood. Not to mention that she asked deke to do it, openly against mack's orders and everyone elses opinion. I hope this is addressed at some point

Hey Everyone!

Well. Daisy was a pretty hot topic after the episode last night so I decided to combine them all into one mega ask response as to not totally spam your dashes more than I already do because many of these questions all pull off of each other.

I was very surprised by Daisy’s actions last night but in retrospect I shouldn’t have when you sit and really look back at her actions. Her doing something like that in the first few eps of the season is even a given pretty much at this point. This was a case of me wanting to see evidence for a theory start to show up and instead said theory was pretty much blown to bits.

Where she goes from here is going to come down to what Mack does, IE does he punish her for trying to completely alter the history of the world, bench one of their strongest assets. Or does he just look the other way like Coulson did for so many years. Even if Daisy had been Director, killing Freddie was the wrong call. Even worse was how she tried to make it happen via an inexperienced and confused Deke.

So starting with the OG ask above. I have struggled with Daisy’s impulsive decisions for the entire series. It happens every season where she ignores orders, does what she wants, and even betrayed the team. Those decisions have serious consequences for the team, some worse than others. Season 5 was one of the worst for me, drove me bonkers with her double standards, with how she treated Fitz and Elena yet talked to Hale about recruiting and training Ruby fresh off Ruby cutting off Elena’s arms, Torturing Talbot, and going for the destroyer machine while torturing Fitzsimmons in the process. Also had she listened to Fitz about the target in the first place they would have been there long before the Superior was stopping the loop there without losing anyone.

But its never been really formally addressed by her superiors with the exception of Season 1 when they put that computer blocker on her wrist for Running to the Rising Tide. Mack needs to do something about it and do something now, before it gets worse. This was only the first test and she failed. Disregarding everyone else and history and throwing out the butterfly effect that she saw full force in the Framework with just May’s regret did and AIDA warped it even more.

Ideally Mack would sit her down, have it out, and pretty much put her on a time out until he can trust and she can prove she can handle the mission again. The issue here is with May.....questionable right now though she is in protect my team mode, and I suspect that Elena has lost her powers, Daisy is one of their biggest assets and they will need her in a fight.

Anonymous said:

Who would you see becoming director of shield if Mack dies and knowing that Daisy is clearly not ready? I would have said May but after this episode not anymore and LMD Coulson is happy being a agent and I don’t think he wants to be director again so except Simmons I don’t see anyone being ready to take over if necessary.

I agree that Daisy isn’t remotely close to being ready and I don’t know if they have the real estate to get her there in 11 episodes now. Not with knowing some of her biggest tests are yet to come (Afterlife). I mean if the writers really want to get her there they will but its going to take some massive leaps and even will feel unearned to me after how last night went down.

I think we could see May heal and get better as the season progresses. She’s got a lot to process right now and needs to have Jemma properly look her over and then have it out with who she needs to have it out with over Robo Coulson. I can see her staying on if Mack falls out of a sense of duty but it would be a band aid kind of thing, only until someone else can be found and vetted.

I don’t see Fitzsimmons as an option, I’m pretty sure they are out either in another time or just out for their Scottage.

Elena and Deke won’t have enough experience or overall Shield knowledge to do it.

The get rid of the DIrector thing all together and start leading with some sort of Council?

Maria Hill comes in out of freaking no where.

So I’m going to throw out a very very out there option. Enoch. Last night he established himself with Koenig, he’s going to be with Shield now as it grows. I’ll bet that Koenig’s bar is the one above the Playground. And not only does he have ample knowledge of Shield history but earths history and a lot of the baddies that are lurking out there in the Universe as well. Because he is a Chronicom he’s calm and level headed....and it would be one heck of a twist there at the end.

Getting long so under the thing.

Anonymous said:

They just completely throw Daisy character development trough the window this episode. Like if they really wanted her to become director at the end of the season they wouldn’t have done that. I feel like she is going to keep going against the other and the mission and she is going to put someone from the team in danger or something

Unpopular opinion here. No, they didn’t throw away any development with Daisy. She does something like that every single season. There is a situation where she doesn’t agree with the higher ups and forges ahead with what she feels is the best coarse of action. And yes people do get hurt.

While we are a year removed from the Season 6 finale for the team its like hours. Hours from she and May going against the others, trusting that Coulson was somewhere in Sarge, and took him right to where he needed to be. Then he killed May, Elena almost died and has possibly lost her powers, and the evil Zombie Army nearly took over the world.

Just hours after that she’s ready to totally take out Hydra and do who knows what to the timeline. Even worse she tried to get Deke to do it by not giving him the whole story.

I think what scares me and many others is that this was mission one and she was ready to make a tidal wave. And next time she’s ready to screw history I want to fix this we don’t know who gets caught in the collateral damage.

Anonymous said:

It was unnerving to see Daisy almost make it happen for the Chronicoms just because of her personal issues with Malicks. After all Gideon was the one who brought Hive back and it led to death of Lincoln and Malicks were involved in helping Whitehall which destroyed her family. It was too personal and she doesn’t deal with that well. This is why Mack is the Director.

Yes, Daisy realized in Season 5 that her emotions were getting the better of her and handed it off to Mack. However, it only works if she follows his orders now that she has.

Yes, Malick hurt Daisy a lot, no question. But he also did a number of Fitzsimmons with the whole 4722 hours on a deserted hell planet thanks to his monolith then being kidnapped and tortured to force Fitz to take Ward over to pick up Hive, Fitz the sacrifice to him. Because of Malick Rosalind died and set off that lovely Darth Coulson arc. May lost Lashdrew. The team lost Bobbi and Hunter. So she wasn’t the only one hurt by him but she was the only one who was ready to change history about it.

Anonymous said:

This episode proves that Daisy is still not ready to become director

See Above.

Anonymous said:

Daisy is definitely going to continue to want to do whatever she/they can to stop HYDRA. She’s got a big personal stake there; and I don’t think she cares about their present all that much.

Unfortunately I do agree but its not just Hydra. We know Afterlife is in play and there is an insanely good chance that they come across her mother there and that is on massive emotional can of worms and one of the biggest temptations to fix. To try to tell herself that what all would it hurt if I did.......

I do think what will finally stop her is she is going to make too big of a wave and it is going to have some serious repercussions and have major fallout. Be it we see history changed or someone dies as a result of her actions.

#aos spoilers #prepares to dodge rotten fruit #I stand by this #no regrets

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filthyjanuary · 4 years ago

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7-12 and 16-20 for the asks!

7. What do you dislike about your favourite season?

i think season 2 is the best, but as i’ve said before, my favourite is 4 solely because the first few eps i watched were from s4. i think season 4 is very solid and even though it’s a season that HURTS BAD because of everything happening between sam and dean, i think the show earns the conflict for the most part. the literal only thing that still haunts me is that the STUPID VOICEMAIL THAT GETS ALTERED IS NEVER ADDRESSED. like i hate more than anything that sam still thinks dean said those things. like i know jared’s said that sam knows dean loves him but i don’t care!!! sam /and/ dean deserve to know the voicemail was changed.

OH also literally everything with anna milton. she deserved better <3 sorry the fridged you and gave part of your arc to a man, queen.

also sam and dean should’ve found out cas let sam out of the panic room.

8. Thoughts on Sam’s demon blood arc

i love sam’s demon blood arc. his hot girl summer! in all seriousness, it makes perfect sense. mystery spot sets it up that sam goes dark when he doesn’t have dean, and s4 is the natural progression of that. i love sam being hellbent on revenge, and the blood drinking was hot sorry not sorry. like obviously the end result wasn’t stellar and the handling of the demon blood as an addiction was handled rather shittily in the show, but overall this arc is near and dear to me and if i couldn’t have the boy king, i’m glad i got this instead. and it brings up some really interesting concepts that get explored really well in fic.

9. Thoughts on the Moc arc

i hate this arc mostly because like dean was terrible...which makes sense, but even after the mark was gone it’s like... he never /really/ pulls himself out of that place. it also just dragged on for FAR too long. like it didn’t need to be like 30 episodes or however long. i do like that it gave us demon!dean being like sexythreatening, and that scene of sam cradling dean’s face and begging him to tell him that he had to kill all those people and just the general sam is dean’s colette of it all. also the end of s10 with sam on his knees and dean telling him to close his eyes is deeply fucked up and i love it for that reason and obviously that happened bc of the MOC storyline.

10. Fave underrated ep

i am highkey obsessed with 1x04 phantom traveller, 2x07 the usual suspects and 4x19 jump the shark and i feel like most people don’t really care about those episodes or bring them up much. phantom traveller is just interesting bc i think the character moments are fun and i am obsessed with plane crashes for some reason. the usual suspects i just adore because it’s really a great exploration of HOW WELL sam and dean know each other and just how alike they are. and unfortunately i really like the cop lady in this one. jump the shark was the second episode of supernatural i ever saw and for some reason something in my brain latched onto adam and never let go. i love him so much (i know it’s not really him in the ep but ukno) and i love how much you learn about sam and dean through it too.

11. Thoughts on BMOL

boring. like...the actors were not good at their accents. they wanted what bela talbot had in s3. i just didn’t find ‘the british are evil’ a compelling storyline in a supernatural show.... like girl i live in real life you don’t need to preach to me about the british. also like they set up ketch to be evil like worse than toni who i already hate because she tortures/sexually assaults sam by having him kill magda i guess? but then they end up redeeming him and he survives longer than both mick (affectionate) and toni (derogatory), like seriously one of the worst Big Bads they’ve ever had.

12. Thoughts on Mary

to be honest, i think bringing her back was kind of a stupid idea in the sense that the ENTIRE SHOW starts because of her death. but i felt like HAVING DONE THAT, trying to deconstruct her image as like this nuclear housewife was compelling and the whole clash of sam and dean who just want their mom versus mary who left her kids as a an infant and a small child and now has these grown men who are older than her needing things she doesn’t know how to give was very interesting. and i wish they’d done more with that.

16. Any criticisms of their world building/lore

well i think everyone’s said it better than me that they can’t seem to get their stance on monsters straight at all and the show suffers for it. i also hate how like the later seasons especially just blatantly retcon so much. the prime example is the garden of eden in s5 vs s15.... the s5 version was so much more interesting and i hate that they brought it back just to destroy their own lore. the whole concept of the abrahamic god being like the ‘real’ god vs other gods just being minor annoyances didn’t like...make sense or feel good either. i also would’ve loved more exploration of like what the fuck it means to be a vessel and also exploration of other monsters/urban legends. like ok we get it ghosts/demons/vampires/werewolves sure w/e but there’s so much to pull from. it got repetitive and there’s so many other things they could’ve tried. hell the SECOND EPISODE of the show mentions black dogs and we never actually encounter one. or like chimeras... like there’s just plenty to dig into and they just get lazy.

17. What did you like about s15?

15x20 <3 also just...jack....that’s my son! MICHAEL/ADAM IN 15X08!!!! i think there were a couple moments i liked in like...the gambler and last holiday, and i thought belphagor was funny. oh! also sam’s nightmare visions were kinda fun even tho they led back to lucifer :/

18. Thoughts on Lucifer

he was a really excellent and intimidating villain in s5.... and frankly i enjoyed hallucifer as well because sure he was presented comedically but he was a deeply dark presence hanging over sam as a reminder of what he suffered. everything after that...sucked!!! it sucked!!!!! overstayed his welcome, letting him out of the cage again totally nullifies sam’s sacrifice and frankly he lost every smidge of intimidation factor he ever had. he was just annoying and whiny and pointless and sam should’ve killed him <3 fuck that guy.

19. Most uncomfortable moments throughout the show for you?

answered here

20. Define the different eras in a few lines or words (s1-5, s6-7, s8-11, s12-15)

this was meant to be short... and then it wasnt... sorry.

kripke: PEAK SUPERNATURAL. racist AND sexist but like i frankly do not care because the actually storytelling is so GOOD. COHERENT. i long for what could’ve been had the strike not kneecapped s3 and we’d gotten boyking, but hell the arc we DID get... so good. so fulfilling. aesthetics go off the charts. character dynamics so good!!! conflicts are earned!!!! there was a fucking vision here and it was unique and interesting and the show was COMMITTED TO IT. literally iconic television i love her so much. eric kripke needs a therapist but i’m glad he wrote this show instead of going to see one.

gamble: sera THEE gamble.... overarching storylines kinda weak, but SO FUN! i had fucking fun! soulless sam is a comedian, godstiel was the last time cas was remotely interesting, like!!!! she gave us everything!!!!! gets slandered way too much by this hell fandom like yes the leviathans were stupid but the were FUN and the character moments in s6-s7!!! so good!!!! lots of excellent MOTW eps as well, which... as we know...i love. when the show lost gamble, it lost something great, i’ll die on this hill. i love u #girlboss.

carver: there’s a lot of good here and a lot i despise. dean steadily grows darker throughout the show but there’s like a real VEER into being awful in s9 that the show never recovers from. it makes dean very unlikeable for the rest of its run, mostly by virtue of the show not realizing how unlikeable it’s made dean because it needs him to always be right so the fact that he’s basically turned into john is never like....addressed in any meaningful way. some storylines (MOC!!) dragged on for too long, while others were way too short (TRIALS!!!) but ultimately i think there were some good ideas here and moments i’m fond of. season 11 is Beautiful. i love her so much. there’s some really excellent eps in s11 and the character moments are good.

dabb: i literally hate it here (jack sweetie you are not included in this assessment you’re doing great). it was just stupid. the characterizations of EVERYBODY sucked and fell flat. way too obsessed with pandering to the loudest faction on twitter. took the wreckage of dean that carver left and full destroyed him. like straight up could’ve done something meaningful if they’d bothered to address it at all but they literally didn’t ever make dean be accountable for his actions??? can’t tell u what cas was doing it was so forgettable he obviously had no purpose literally the only scenes i remember were a couple where he’s being cute with jack and that one ep where he and sam go to that old-timey town and sam gets brainwashed. sam like... exists, and his character is intact but it’s only intact because the writers that were left didn’t want to bother giving him anything meaty to do to so the were like *spins wheel* leadership arc that goes nowhere, and he just exists being kind and compassionate and putting up with too much shit. BUT HE HAD REALLY FUCKING EXCELLENT MOMENTS WITH JACK and that alone is why i think it’s worth the slog. sam/jack is my favourite dynamic on the show following sam/dean so...unfortunately based on that.... i can’t just burn the whole dabb era but seriously... way to make every character a hollow, one-dimensional shell.

send me supernatural asks

#ALLISON THANK U I LOVE U #asks #spn #long post #so-excuse-my-tantrum

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mattbrothersscriptwriter · 5 years ago

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My Top 20 Films of 2019 - Part Two

I don’t think I’ve had a year where my top ten jostled and shifted as much as this one did - these really are the best of the best and my personal favourites of 2019.

10. Toy Story 4

I think we can all agree that Toy Story 3 was a pretty much perfect conclusion to a perfect trilogy right? About as close as is likely to get, I’m sure. I shared the same trepidation when part four was announced, especially after some underwhelming sequels like Finding Dory and Cars 3 (though I do have a lot of time for Monsters University and Incredibles 2). So maybe it’s because the odds were so stacked against this being good but I thought it was wonderful. A truly existential nightmare of an epilogue that does away with Andy (and mostly kids altogether) to focus on the dreams and desires of the toys themselves - separate from their ‘duties’ as playthings to biological Gods. What is their purpose in life without an owner? Can they be their own person and carve their own path? In the case of breakout new character Forky (Tony Hale), what IS life? Big big questions for a cash grab kids films huh?

The animation is somehow yet another huge leap forward (that opening rainstorm!), Bo Peep’s return is excellently pitched and the series tradition of being unnervingly horrifying is back as well thanks to those creepy ventriloquist dolls! Keanu Reeves continues his ‘Keanuassaince‘ as the hilarious Duke Caboom and this time, hopefully, the ending at least feels finite. This series means so much to me: I think the first movie is possibly the tightest, most perfect script ever written, the third is one of my favourites of the decade and growing up with the franchise (I was 9 when the first came out, 13 for part two, 24 for part three and now 32 for this one), these characters are like old friends so of course it was great to see them again. All this film had to do was be good enough to justify its existence and while there are certainly those out there that don’t believe this one managed it, I think the fact that it went as far as it did showed that Pixar are still capable of pushing boundaries and exploring infinity and beyond when they really put their minds to it.

9. The Nightingale

Hoo boy. Already controversial with talk of mass walkouts (I witnessed a few when this screened at Sundance London), it’s not hard to see why but easy to understand. Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) is a truly fearless filmmaker following up her acclaimed suburban horror movie come grief allegory with a period revenge tale set in the Tasmanian wilderness during British colonial rule in the early 1800s. It’s rare to see the British depicted with the monstrous brutality for which they were known in the distant colonies and this unflinching drama sorely needed an Australian voice behind the camera to do it justice.

The film is front loaded with some genuinely upsetting, nasty scenes of cruel violence but its uncensored brutality and the almost casual nature of its depiction is entirely the point - this was normalised behaviour over there and by treating it so matter of factly, it doesn’t slip into gratuitous ‘movie violence’. It is what it is. And what it is is hard to watch. If anything, as Kent has often stated, it’s still toned down from the actual atrocities that occurred so it’s a delicate balance that I think Kent more than understands. Quoting from an excellent Vanity Fair interview she did about how she directs, Kent said “I think audiences have become very anaesthetised to violence on screen and it’s something I find disturbing... People say ‘these scenes are so shocking and disturbing’. Of course they are. We need to feel that. When we become so removed from violence on screen, this is a very irresponsible thing. So I wanted to put us right within the frame with that person experiencing the loss of everything they hold dear”.

Aisling Franciosi is next level here as a woman who has her whole life torn from her, leaving her as nothing but a raging husk out for vengeance. It would be so easy to fall into odd couple tropes once she teams up with reluctant native tracker Billy (an equally impressive newcomer, Baykali Ganambarr) but the film continues to stay true to the harsh racism of the era, unafraid to depict our heroine - our point of sympathy - as horrendously racist towards her own ally. Their partnership is not easily solidified but that makes it all the stronger when they star to trust each other. Sam Claflin is also career best here, weaponizing his usual charm into dangerous menace and even after cementing himself as the year’s most evil villain, he can still draw out the humanity in such a broken and corrupt man.

Gorgeously shot in the Academy ratio, the forest landscape here is oppressive and claustrophobic. Kent also steps back into her horror roots with some mesmerising, skin crawling dream scenes that amplify the woozy nightmarish tone and overbearing sense of dread. Once seen, never forgotten, this is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea (and that’s fine) but when cinema can affect you on such a visceral level and be this powerful, reflective and honest about our own past, it’s hard to ignore. Stunning.

8. The Irishman

Aka Martin Scorsese’s magnum opus, I did manage to see this one in a cinema before the Netflix drop and absolutely loved it. I’ve watched 85 minute long movies that felt longer than this - Marty’s mastery of pace, energy and knowing when to let things play out in agonising detail is second to none. This epic tale of the life of Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) really is the cinematic equivalent of having your cake and eating it too, allowing Scorsese to run through a greatest hits victory lap of mobster set pieces, alpha male arguments, a decades spanning life story and one (last?) truly great Joe Pesci performance before simply letting the story... continue... to a natural, depressing and tragic ending, reflecting the emptiness of a life built on violence and crime.

For a film this long, it’s impressive how much the smallest details make the biggest impacts. A stammering phone call from a man emotionally incapable of offering any sort of condolence. The cold refusal of forgiveness from a once loving daughter. A simple mirroring of a bowl of cereal or a door left slightly ajar. These are the parts of life that haunt us all and it’s what we notice the most in a deliberately lengthy biopic that shows how much these things matter when everything else is said and done. The violence explodes in sudden, sharp bursts, often capping off unbearably tense sequences filled with the everyday (a car ride, a conversation about fish, ice cream...) and this contrast between the whizz bang of classic Scorsese and the contemplative nature of Silence era Scorsese is what makes this film feel like such an accomplishment. De Niro is FINALLY back but it’s the memorably against type role for Pesci and an invigorated Al Pacino who steals this one, along with a roll call of fantastic cameos, with perhaps the most screentime given to the wonderfully petty Stephen Graham as Tony Pro, not to mention Anna Paquin’s near silent performance which says more than possibly anyone else.

Yes, the CG de-aging is misguided at best, distracting at worst (I never really knew how old anyone was meant to be at any given time... which is kinda a problem) but like how you get used to it really quickly when it’s used well, here I kinda got past it being bad in an equally fast amount of time and just went with it. Would it have been a different beast had they cast younger actors to play them in the past? Undoubtedly. But if this gives us over three hours of Hollywood’s finest giving it their all for the last real time together, then that’s a compromise I can live with.

7. The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Wow. I was in love with this film from the moving first trailer but then the film itself surpassed all expectations. This is a true indie film success story, with lead actor Jimmie Fails developing the idea with director Joe Talbot for years before Kickstarting a proof of concept and eventually getting into Sundance with short film American Paradise, which led to the backing of this debut feature through Plan B and A24. The deeply personal and poetic drama follows a fictionalised version of Jimmie, trying to buy back an old Victorian town house he claims was built by his grandfather, in an act of rebellion against the increasingly gentrified San Francisco that both he and director Talbot call home.

The film is many things - a story of male friendship, of solidarity within our community, of how our cities can change right from underneath us - it moves to the beat of it’s own drum, with painterly cinematography full of gorgeous autumnal colours and my favourite score of the year from Emile Mosseri. The performances, mostly by newcomers or locals outside of brilliant turns from Jonathan Majors, Danny Glover and Thora Birch, are wonderful and the whole thing is such a beautiful love letter to the city that it makes you ache for a strong sense of place in your own home, even if your relationship with it is fractured or strained. As Jimmie says, “you’re not allowed to hate it unless you love it”.

For me, last year’s Blindspotting (my favourite film of the year) tackled gentrification within California more succinctly but this much more lyrical piece of work ebbs and flows through a number of themes like identity, family, memory and time. It’s a big film living inside a small, personal one and it is not to be overlooked.

6. Little Women

I had neither read the book nor seen any prior adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel so to me, this is by default the definitive telling of this story. If from what I hear, the non linear structure is Greta Gerwig’s addition, then it’s a total slam dunk. It works so well in breaking up the narrative and by jumping from past to present, her screenplay highlights certain moments and decisions with a palpable sense of irony, emotional weight or knowing wink. Getting to see a statement made with sincere conviction and then paid off within seconds, can be both a joy and a surefire recipe for tears. Whether it’s the devastating contrast between scenes centred around Beth’s illness or the juxtaposition of character’s attitudes to one another, it’s a massive triumph. Watching Amy angrily tell Laurie how she’s been in love with him all her life and then cutting back to her childishly making a plaster cast of her foot for him (’to remind him how small her feet are’) is so funny.

Gerwig and her impeccable cast bring an electric energy to the period setting, capturing the big, messy realities of family life with a mix of overwhelming cross-chatter and the smallest of intimate gestures. It’s a testament to the film that every sister feels fully serviced and represented, from Beth’s quiet strength to Amy’s unforgivable sibling rivalry. Chris Cooper’s turn as a stoic man suffering almost imperceptible grief is a personal heartbreaking favourite.

The book’s (I’m assuming) most sweeping romantic statements are wonderfully delivered, full of urgent passion and relatable heartache, from Marmie’s (Laura Dern) “I’m angry nearly every day of my life” moment to Jo’s (Saoirse Ronan) painful defiance of feminine attributes not being enough to cure her loneliness. The sheer amount of heart and warmth in this is just remarkable and I can easily see it being a film I return to again and again.

5. Booksmart

2019 has been a banner year for female directors, making their exclusion from some of the early awards conversations all the more damning. From this list alone, we have Lulu Wang, Jennifer Kent and Greta Gerwig. Not to mention Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers), Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim), Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe (Greener Grass), Sophie Hyde (Animals) and Rose Glass (Saint Maud - watch out for THIS one in 2020, it’s brilliant). Perhaps the most natural transition from in front of to behind the camera has been made by Olivia Wilde, who has created a borderline perfect teen comedy that can make you laugh till you cry, cry till you laugh and everything in-between.

Subverting the (usually male focused) ‘one last party before college’ tropes that fuel the likes of Superbad and it’s many inferior imitators, Booksmart follows two overachievers who, rather than go on a coming of age journey to get some booze or get laid, simply want to indulge in an insane night of teenage freedom after realising that all of the ‘cool kids’ who they assumed were dropouts, also managed to get a place in all of the big universities. It’s a subtly clever remix of an old favourite from the get go but the committed performances from Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein put you firmly in their shoes for the whole ride.

It’s a genuine blast, with big laughs and a bigger heart, portraying a supportive female friendship that doesn’t rely on hokey contrivances to tear them apart, meaning that when certain repressed feelings do come to the surface, the fallout is heartbreaking. As I stated in a twitter rave after first seeing it back in May, every single character, no matter how much they might appear to be simply representing a stock role or genre trope, gets their moment to be humanised. This is an impeccably cast ensemble of young unknowns who constantly surprise and the script is a marvel - a watertight structure without a beat out of place, callbacks and payoffs to throwaway gags circle back to be hugely important and most of all, the approach taken to sexuality and representation feels so natural. I really think it is destined to be looked back on and represent 2019 the way Heathers does ‘88, Clueless ‘95 or Easy A 2010. A new high benchmark for crowd pleasing, indie comedy - teen or otherwise.

4. Ad Astra

Brad Pitt is one of my favourite actors and one who, despite still being a huge A-lister even after 30 years in the game, never seems to get enough credit for the choices he makes, the movies he stars in and also the range of stories he helps produce through his company, Plan B. 2019 was something of a comeback year for Pitt as an actor with the insanely measured and controlled lead performance seen here in Ad Astra and the more charismatic and chaotic supporting role in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.

I love space movies, especially those that are more about broken people blasting themselves into the unknown to search for answers within themselves... which manages to sum up a lot of recent output in this weirdly specific sub-genre. First Man was a devastating look at grief characterised by a man who would rather go to a desolate rock than have to confront what he lost, all while being packaged as a heroic biopic with a stunning score. Gravity and The Martian both find their protagonists forced to rely on their own cunning and ingenuity to survive and Interstellar looked at the lengths we go to for those we love left behind. Smaller, arty character studies like High Life or Moon are also astounding. All of this is to say that Ad Astra takes these concepts and runs with them, challenging Pitt to cross the solar system to talk some sense into his long thought dead father (Tommy Lee Jones). But within all the ‘sad dad’ stuff, there’s another film in here just daring you to try and second guess it - one that kicks things off with a terrifying free fall from space, gives us a Mad Max style buggy chase on the moon and sidesteps into horror for one particular set-piece involving a rabid baboon in zero G! It manages to feel so completely nuts, so episodic in structure, that I understand why a lot of people were turned off - feeling that the overall film was too scattershot to land the drama or too pondering to have any fun with. I get the criticisms but for me, both elements worked in tandem, propelling Pitt on this (assumed) one way journey at a crazy pace whilst sitting back and languishing in the ‘bigger themes’ more associated with a Malik or Kubrick film. Something that Pitt can sell me on in his sleep by this point.

I loved the visuals from cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar), loved the imagination and flair of the script from director James Gray and Ethan Gross and loved the score by Max Richter (with Lorne Balfe and Nils Frahm) but most of all, loved Pitt, proving that sometimes a lot less, is a lot more. The sting of hearing the one thing he surely knew (but hoped he wouldn’t) be destined to hear from his absent father, acted almost entirely in his eyes during a third act confrontation, summed up the movie’s brilliance for me - so much so that I can forgive some of the more outlandish ‘Mr Hyde’ moments of this thing’s alter ego... like, say, riding a piece of damaged hull like a surfboard through a meteor debris field!

3. Avengers: Endgame

It’s no secret that I think Marvel, the MCU in particular, have been going from strength to strength in recent years, slowly but surely taking bigger risks with filmmakers (the bonkers Taika Waititi, the indie darlings of Ryan Coogler, Cate Shortland and Chloe Zhao) whilst also carefully crafting an entertaining, interconnected universe of characters and stories. But what is the point of building up any movie ‘universe’ if you’re not going to pay it off and Endgame is perhaps the strongest conclusion to eleven years of movie sequels that fans could have possibly hoped for.

Going into this thing, the hype was off the charts (and for good reason, with it now being the highest grossing film of all time) but I remember souring on the first entry of this two-parter, Infinity War, during the time between initial release and Endgame’s premiere. That film had a game-changing climax, killing off half the heroes (and indeed the universe’s population) and letting the credits role on the villain having achieved his ultimate goal. It was daring, especially for a mammoth summer blockbuster but obviously, we all knew the deaths would never be permanent, especially with so many already-announced sequels for now ‘dusted’ characters. However, it wasn’t just the feeling that everything would inevitably be alright in the end. For me, the characters themselves felt hugely under-serviced, with arguably the franchise’s main goody two shoes Captain America being little more than a beardy bloke who showed up to fight a little bit. Basically what I’m getting at is that I felt Endgame, perhaps emboldened by the giant runtime, managed to not only address these character slights but ALSO managed to deliver the most action packed, comic booky, ‘bashing your toys together’ final fight as well.

It’s a film of three parts, each pretty much broken up into one hour sections. There’s the genuinely new and interesting initial section following our heroes dealing with the fact that they lost... and it stuck. Thor angrily kills Thanos within the first fifteen minutes but it’s a meaningless action by this point - empty revenge. Cutting to five years later, we get to see how defeat has affected them, for better or worse, trying to come to terms with grief and acceptance. Cap tries to help the everyman, Black Widow is out leading an intergalactic mop up squad and Thor is wallowing in a depressive black hole. It’s a shocking and vibrantly compelling deconstruction of the whole superhero thing and it gives the actors some real meat to chew on, especially Robert Downy Jr here who goes from being utterly broken to fighting within himself to do the right thing despite now having a daughter he doesn’t want to lose too. Part two is the trip down memory lane, fan service-y time heist which is possibly the most fun section of any of these movies, paying tribute to the franchise’s past whilst teetering on a knife’s edge trying to pull off a genuine ‘mission impossible’. And then it explodes into the extended finale which pays everyone off, demonstrates some brilliantly imaginative action and sticks the landing better than it had any right to. In a year which saw the ending of a handful of massive geek properties, from Game of Thrones to Star Wars, it’s a miracle even one of them got it right at all. That Endgame managed to get it SO right is an extraordinary accomplishment and if anything, I think Marvel may have shot themselves in the foot as it’s hard to imagine anything they can give us in the future having the intense emotional weight and momentum of this huge finale.

2. Knives Out

Rian Johnson has been having a ball leaping into genre sandpits and stirring shit up, from his teen spin on noir in Brick to his quirky con man caper with The Brothers Bloom, his time travel thriller Looper and even his approach to the Star Wars mythos in The Last Jedi. Turning his attention to the relatively dead ‘whodunnit’ genre, Knives Out is a perfect example of how to celebrate everything that excites you about a genre whilst weaponizing it’s tropes against your audience’s baggage and preconceptions.

An impeccable cast have the time of their lives here, revelling in playing self obsessed narcissists who scramble to punt the blame around when the family’s patriarch, a successful crime novelist (Christopher Plummer), winds up dead. Of course there’s something fishy going on so Daniel Craig’s brilliantly dry southern detective Benoit Blanc is called in to investigate.There are plenty of standouts here, from Don Johnson’s ignorant alpha wannabe Richard to Michael Shannon’s ferocious eldest son Walt to Chris Evan’s sweater wearing jock Ransom, full of unchecked, white privilege swagger. But the surprise was the wholly sympathetic, meek, vomit prone Marta, played brilliantly by Ana de Armas, cast against her usual type of sultry bombshell (Knock Knock, Blade Runner 2049), to spearhead the biggest shake up of the genre conventions. To go into more detail would begin to tread into spoiler territory but by flipping the audience’s engagement with the detective, we’re suddenly on the receiving end of the scrutiny and the tension derived from this switcheroo is genius and opens up the second act of the story immensely.

The whole thing is so lovingly crafted and the script is one of the tightest I’ve seen in years. The amount of setup and payoff here is staggering and never not hugely satisfying, especially as it heads into it’s final stretch. It really gives you some hope that you could have such a dense, plotty, character driven idea for a story and that it could survive the transition from page to screen intact and for the finished product to work as well as it does. I really hope Johnson returns to tell another Benoit Blanc mystery and judging by the roaring box office success (currently over $200 million worldwide for a non IP original), I certainly believe he will.

1. Eighth Grade

My film of the year is another example of the power of cinema to put us in other people’s shoes and to discover the traits, fears, joys and insecurities that we all share irregardless. It may shock you to learn this but I have never been a 13 year old teenage girl trying to get by in the modern world of social media peer pressure and ‘influencer’ culture whilst crippled with personal anxiety. My school days almost literally could not have looked more different than this (less Instagram, more POGs) and yet, this is a film about struggling with oneself, with loneliness, with wanting more but not knowing how to get it without changing yourself and the careless way we treat those with our best interests at heart in our selfish attempt to impress peers and fit in. That is understandable. That is universal. And as I’m sure I’ve said a bunch of times in this list, movies that present the most specific worldview whilst tapping into universal themes are the ones that inevitably resonate the most.

Youtuber and comedian Bo Burnham has crafted an impeccable debut feature, somehow portraying a generation of teens at least a couple of generations below his own, with such laser focused insight and intimate detail. It’s no accident that this film has often been called a sort of social-horror, with cringe levels off the charts and recognisable trappings of anxiety and depression in every frame. The film’s style services this feeling at every turn, from it’s long takes and nauseous handheld camerawork to the sensory overload in it’s score (take a bow Anna Meredith) and the naturalistic performances from all involved. Burnham struck gold when he found Elsie Fisher, delivering the most painful and effortlessly real portrayal of a tweenager in crisis as Kayla. The way she glances around skittishly, the way she is completely lost in her phone, the way she talks, even the way she breathes all feeds into the illusion - the film is oftentimes less a studio style teen comedy and more a fly on the wall documentary.

This is a film that could have coasted on being a distant, social media based cousin to more standard fare like Sex Drive or Superbad or even Easy A but it goes much deeper, unafraid to let you lower your guard and suddenly hit you with the most terrifying scene of casually attempted sexual aggression or let you watch this pure, kindhearted girl falter and question herself in ways she shouldn’t even have to worry about. And at it’s core, there is another beautiful father/daughter relationship, with Josh Hamilton stuck on the outside looking in, desperate to help Kayla with every fibre of his being but knowing there are certain things she has to figure out for herself. It absolutely had me and their scene around a backyard campfire is one of the year’s most touching.

This is a truly remarkable film that I think everyone should seek out but I’m especially excited for all the actual teenage girls who will get to watch this and feel seen. This isn’t about the popular kid, it isn’t about the dork who hangs out with his or her own band of misfits. This is about the true loner, that person trying everything to get noticed and still ending up invisible, that person trying to connect through the most disconnected means there is - the internet - and everything that comes with it. Learning that the version of yourself you ‘portray’ on a Youtube channel may act like they have all the answers but if you’re kidding yourself then how do you grow?

When I saw this in the cinema, I watched a mother take her seat with her two daughters, aged probably at around nine and twelve. Possibly a touch young for this, I thought, and I admit I cringed a bit on their behalf during some very adult trailers but in the end, I’m glad their mum decided they were mature enough to see this because a) they had a total blast and b) life simply IS R rated for the most part, especially during our school years, and those girls being able to see someone like Kayla have her story told on the big screen felt like a huge win. I honestly can’t wait to see what Burnham or Fisher decide to do next. 2019 has absolutely been their year... and it’s been a hell of a year.

#top 20 #films of the year #films of 2019 #10-1 #toy story 4 #the nightingale #the irishman #the last black man in san francisco #little women #booksmart #ad astra #avengers endgame #knives out #eighth grade

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