#no earthly clue why I'm posting so much

[lavenderprose]

Stizzy argument missionary sex. Not about anything important either. They're fighting about what they're going to eat for dinner. It got a little too heated and now Izzy is just muttering I hate mushy peas why do you always want mushy peas as Stede holds him down with a hand on his chest and drills him into the mattress.

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #91

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 6, Every Day, declared

...

Sideburns Check

Crowley's appearance changes during this sequence.

For both appearances, the sideburns are a long length that does not quite reach longest-length.

...

Brighter Red Streak Check

The more saturated red streak of hair can be found in both forms of Crowley's appearance.

...

Hairstyle Changes

Crowley's hairstyle finally changes with his altered appearance. The headband disappears, and the belt re-appears. Returned to his darker clothing and Belt Head being a belt, Crowley's top hair stretches taller, tilts to his right, and swoops back.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

Crowley, Saraqael, and Muriel avoid any further physical touches in the segment before they are shown walking toward the elevator.

On the walk toward the elevator, all three have reflections on the floor, but I'm not sure how much that counts for what because we skip whatever happened that led to Michael and Uriel joining them in the elevator.

Once in the elevator, the angels handle the touches.

Michael's right arm is on the wall of the elevator, and Michael has a self-touch with their hands.

Muriel is possibly touching the wall by extension through Michael since their arms are touching.

Uriel has an implied self-touch obscured by Saraqael's head.

Saraqael has both arms resting on arm rests with their wheelchair, and a self-touch with their hands.

...

Since we're wrapping up The Bigger Thresholds Trick, I'll be covering the pockets with its conclusion and go over things somewhat sequentially.

We're going to take a quick look back at the preceding scene from the bookshop. The next-to-last cut of that scene had Shax on a couch with Crowley's watch from season 1 on it. Shax's shoe visually touches the white sticker with the two red up arrows. Heaven is up.

The last cut of the scene then had Aziraphale with a right-side Overhead Light with a tiny but of that light off-screen.

The first cut of this scene has Crowley with both a right-side and a left-side Overhead Light. The right-side Overhead Light has a tiny bit of itself off-screen.

So, I'm going to be silly and say that the watch visual was somehow passed along through the Overhead Lights and maybe that sticker because Crowley's season 2 watch isn't as visible on his walk to the elevator as is often found with other retying instances.

Crowley has an extended index finger on his left hand during the walk to the elevator.

The walk to the elevator itself gives us another clue that Crowley wants to be first and that might somehow matter. Meanwhile, Saraqael is the middle, and Muriel is last. This walk reflects a Rule of Three being a met (pun very much intended).

Given all the clues from Heaven throughout season 2, it is extremely suspect that nothing about the matchbox comes to fruition in this exit sequence.

Much of the below is copied, with some editing, from my previous main post of The Sideburns Scheme.

In the elevator itself, we start off with 4 angels.

Those 4 angels are looking at Crowley, right?

You may already know my answer through a few other posts.

In my opinion, no, no, they are not.

They sure look like they are looking at him.

By Crowley starting his exit and maintaining touch on the threshold's door, he has become invisible to them. They probably saw him enter the elevator. We, as the audience, know that there is something special about maintaining touch on the door at the end of using a threshold as an entrance.

Now we see him do it during an exit by keeping a small part of his upper back against the elevator doors and the edge where they meet.

This scene is more like the angels are looking at his invisibility, not at Crowley himself. That's why they have the mixed reactions that they do.

Michael looks incredulous. Muriel looks mildly scared and amazed at the same time, in reaction to his place, not the angels surrounding them. Uriel looks annoyed. Saraqael remains neutral. Muriel's is the one I consider our biggest clue for reaction.

He's not reflected in the closer view of their eyes, but I can't say that happens much for the story or characters overall.

The elevator's surface is reflective and shows bigger shadows around the angels. There is no reflection or shadow to tell us Crowley is there when we see the angels. Muriel's white helmet is probably at least a little reflective. Still nothing.

Well, could it still be that they can see him and just have those thoughts on Crowley? I could just somehow be missing it, right?

Yes, of course. We're going to keep playing along.

Muriel shifts their right hand in such a way that a thumb tip becomes partly obscured by an index fingertip.

Uriel starts to look down, soon followed by Muriel, as the light starts to go up as Crowley's appearance changes. The light itself might be allowing them to see him as it travels, but the story doesn't tell us. Instead, it alerts us very pointedly that the only thing reflected in his sunglasses are the lights along the side and maybe behind Muriel.

He says, "Funny old world, isn't it?" because those angels are now forced to trust a demon in their shared space of this threshold, and each side is invisible to the other. He senses them with his eyes and not seeing them, but the reverse is probably not true for at least Muriel and Uriel. Saraqael gets a pass on being shown. Michael is the biggest hint of an exception since Michael does not look down.

The above ends the material copied and edited from the older Sideburns Scheme post.

The "funny old world" line is also a layered clue about the deeply hidden trust between Crowley and Muriel.

Because I've been reading Discworld novels in a desperate attempt to improve my play, I'll add that Terry Pratchett himself seemed to rather like the line in general.

A lot of visual stories will indicate invisibility with a certain level of transparency so that a viewer can understand such a thing.

But this story, this Earthly Objects game especially, wants an audience player to "think outside the pocket" and use imagination.

I initially figured it out because I was just drafting a post about how it made no sense for the angels to be looking at Crowley as if he was nothingness in front of them and for Crowley to be looking at them as if they were nothingness in front of him. Then it occurred to me it did make sense...if each side was invisible and that the acting was informing us those were the events of the story.

The lights for Crowley's sunglasses have that greenish tint and yet another clue about his special sight. That's part of the Heaven visit's numerous clues about The Window Trick.

Speaking of windows, given the overall mechanics of windows in the game, the lacking windows on the threshold in this scene is another contributing factor to how Crowley can be invisible.

For the Single of this The Bigger Thresholds Trick, I said I think Crowley is trying to be invisible to the door and visible to Mr. Arnold.

In both cases of this invisibility idea, Crowley pockets his thumbs. In the Single, he pockets his actual thumbs. Here, he pockets the thumbs and thumb joints of his Tied Hands.

...

Muriel's left hand movement is another clue about Muriel's layered collaboration with Crowley and their trust in each other. I suspect that's the release from Crowley being linked to Muriel's Pocket Chain. The pocket chain is on screen with the hand adjustment.

And...as noted in Bookend Buddies Part 2, I think Muriel has a special Pocket Frame during this exit.

Angel Arms.

I am amused by that one though I'm not sure I have its actual Touch Point.

The above is my initial guess.

If I'm wrong, here is my second guess:

My reasoning for this one is that it is an identifiable single video frame with Muriel's eyes fully closed, especially since I've been going on about invisibility. Plus, it's not the last video frame of the cut.

Since Muriel wears all white, that might be part of why they were able to take so long to get a Pocket Frame during a Threshold Trick. I'll bet their helmet helps somehow, but I cannot fathom how I will ever figure that one out. I'll point out that you can see the white helmet is within the white columns of light behind Muriel, at least.

Earthly Objects has a Rule of Three. If my play is on the right track, Muriel is actually first at something here.

This Pocket Frame is the first of three special instances with Pocket Frames that have Touch Points and do not have Crowley on screen. The second will be Gabriel and Beelzebub with Standing Chandeliers though I'm not sure I know the Touch Point for that one either. I still think it is a special Pocket Frame at least. The third will be a combined instance of Aziraphale with Elevator Edges and the Metatron with Doorknobs.

It's very possible that Muriel is instigating the light that goes up while Crowley changes appearance, given the timing of when they shift their digit tips and when that light starts going up. Muriel looks shocked and amazed, but their play still suggests the action was intentional.

...

Crowley receives one full cut in his disguised appearance against the doors.

Well, here we are wrapping up the second Threshold Trick for the whole game and the first of the five that will complete for this episode.

Because I'm familiar with how later Threshold Tricks are depicted, I'm guessing we are dealing with multipliers here.

It's a game.

Threshold Tricks are advanced moves that give theoretical bonus points or rewards in this game.

And some games like to give multipliers.

This game is one such game.

Here, we have one Crowley with one touch to two doors behind him, using the edge of where those doors meet.

So, my guess? Double multiplier for the touch to two doors.

Back to Michael, Muriel, and Uriel for a quick Rule of Three being met. Two of the three look down because it's time for the light to go up, and Crowley's appearance to change.

The light goes up.

Now, not only do we have one Crowley against two doors...we have a Crowley with two different appearances.

Is that another Double multiplier?

I like to think so, but this sneaky snake has me questioning something more.

The scene cuts to the angels as they look at him theoretically becoming visible to them again.

Then the scene cuts to the appearance change. During the appearance change, Crowley has a rainbow and three heads because both his headband and Belt Head are visible. That's his actual head, his angel disguise Belt Head that is his headband, and his demon Belt Head that he usually wears for a potential Triple multiplier. It's a possible Cerberus reference too.

This idea would give The Bigger Thresholds Trick quite the score, so that's part of my hesitance.

I'll confess my own mind goes more with two Double multipliers, but my bias for Crowley overall certainly favors the higher score of a Double multiplier and a Triple multiplier.

Granted, my bias also roots for The Sunglasses Trick to get the best score, but I certainly don't know how that one would be calculated.

...

The Bigger Thresholds Trick receives its official rainbow as the light goes up.

Crowley's Tied Hands are pocketed into his gray jacket and then black vest as this rainbow appears. His watch is visible. He's managing his thumb joints and right index finger. He has a special back touch to finish this Threshold Trick. So, I think the Tied Hands are retied.

...

I love that smile. It's my personal favorite for the season. The smile itself might be allowed or required given the circumstances. He had a smile on the first touch of The Bigger Thresholds Trick. Now he has a smile to finish the whole thing.

...

Story Commentary

(For reference: Bookend Buddies - Crowley and Muriel (Part 2))

I think I covered the main things I want to say for the story in the Earthly Objects section. So, I'll just take a moment to appreciate Muriel's role here.

Their level of assistance and importance in this Threshold Trick is easy to underestimate. Finding that through the absurdly difficult pocket mechanics is another rewarding and appreciated part of the game for me.

Bookend Buddies has now entered hyper-drive.

...

That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

...

Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme

[metatronhateblog]

The Opening Sequence Pt 2 The Cemetery

Welcome back to the opening sequence breakdown. It only took me forever to get back to this thanks to con crunching (curse you Crowley's leather vest), split attention, and work. Today I will be, you guessed it cause you probably read the title, talking about the cemetery sequence.

Now there isn't too terribly much here, and I'm sure a lot of this has already been talked about. I've no doubt people were smart enough to already find all this.

But as I have no self control and am in fact procrastinating finishing my Crowley cosplay, here we are. I promise we'll get into some more....weird? Less noticeable??? I don't even know? Stuff as time goes on. We're just starting off with the basics cause it's easier on my brain.

So in the cemetery, we already know that Jim is hiding out behind some headstones next to the mausoleum they enter. Nothing too weird there, aside from the fact he's hiding. BUT WE'RE NOT HERE TO TALK ABOUT JIM.

Instead I'm here to talk about all the weird little things on the headstones. Again, I wouldn't be surprised if it's all already been found, I just personally haven't seen anyone talk about it?

We start off seeing this little mausoleum that says 'ARCHER' on it

Which we also see make an appearance in episode 3, when our beloveds are in Edinburgh.

(Did I start this draft then immediately drop everything to lighten/color correct all of season 2 episode three so I could see if there was anything in the background? Maybe...)

Then we have our lovely statue of the one and only beloved yet self absorbed Gabriel. Again, nothing too fancy.

And this little cross with an very interesting symbol on it right next to Gabriel. The symbol from a glance looks to be a money sign but when you take a closer look, I think it's actually three crosses? Or maybe one cross with two little lines on either side and a big 'S' slapped over top.

Then we have our 'Everyday' headstone which is of no surprise due to reoccurring song appearances in the season.

But then something else caught my eye while I was making this post that I didn't notice previously... See that little guy up in the corner of the everyday headstone?

Him?

yeah well idk who he's supposed to be but he's not the only one...

And then a third that is hidden behind a cross

Perhaps important characters? Or maybe a little hint about something that I don't know yet. Or maybe even just put there to fill in the background with no meaning....who knows.

Either way these gentlemen (or ladies) appear in the actual episode behind the Gabriel statue.

Then here we have two...stone caskets? Above ground graves? Where they both look the same, but one appears to be crossed out, maybe worn away with time, and you can't see the other because it's hidden by a headstone that says 'Peter Paintball.'

I have no clue who Peter paintball is. Maybe it's a reference to Season 1, or maybe it's someone on the crew or something. But I have no Earthly clue.

Moving on. As our boys continue their cemetery date with a trail of people and creatures and...objects? Behind them. We see the mastermind behind our Clerkenwell Diamond Robbery. Miss Austen herself.

I'm just as unphased at her name being in this cemetery as I am 'everyday.'

From here, I've had to do a lot of tweaking and playing with the lighting, and I won't lie, some things are still kind of...not quite able to be made out imo. So now we have...

A two for one that kind of leaves my brain churning questions like butter. I'll start with the more legible one.

"Here lies the former shell of Beelzebub."

I mean 'they're just such a little ray of sunshine' so of course this headstone makes sense. But also...why? What exactly does this mean. Like what's it referring to? I get that demons are dead inside which...mood. But could this possibly be referring to whoever Beelzebub was before falling? Or maybe the fact that Beelzebub feels some sort of happiness after meeting Gabriel and therefore the shell has been buried? I don't know. I just sit here and mull this over sometimes and maybe it's not a detail I should agonize over, but still.

Then we have 'here lies...Adam...' with the words underneath that I can only barely make out some of. I have tried fixing this so many different ways, and maybe it's just my lacking photo editing skills but still. I believe Neil has said this headstone is referring to Adam as in Adam and Eve? (Correct me if I'm wrong.) And if I squint I can make out....(from my best attempt at cleaning this up enough to see it)

"I do not understand, surely your very existence requires....of the world..."

Some of the words I can't make out, and the whole bottom line is a mystery to me because it's blocked entirely by the shadow that I can't fix.

Buuuuuut using my skills of deduction I'm going to assume this is a quote from Adam in the show? Gonna assume show and not book all things considered. (Upon further investigation it's Death who says this to Adam.) I can't remember. But the quote is something like

"I do not understand, surely your very existence requires the ending of the world. It is written."

Which...well hell that's a very interesting thing to put on a headstone (once again questioning which Adam Neil said that headstone belongs to...)

(Maybe it's a reference to Adam Young but Neil is saying he's not dead? Because he never actually confirms which Adam this is a reference to but I suppose it could be either considering it begins and 'ends' with an Adam.

But the thing I find really interesting is actually the headstone right next to it, also a take on something Death says in season 1.

'Left early to beat the rush.'

Which. Hell this one took me by surprise the first time I read it. Death says it to the mail man in Season 1 'Think of it as leaving early to beat the rush.' And if I recall correctly (I don't know where the source is) Neil has said something similar about Terry? So for all I know this headstone could be a nod to Terry Pratchett....or it could be two very interesting Death quotes on back to back headstones.

Could the Adam one possibly be referring to the fact that Adam, by the end of season 1, technically reversed the end of the world? Or something along those lines? I just find it weird that amongst a bunch of (i'm using this word lightly) joke headstones we have two very intriguing Death quotes....

Finally, we have this little interesting bit on the side right here.

We have that symbol from before but a little clearer now...and? A head? There's a bust here in the corner in front of Gabriel.

At first glance it reminds me of the Gabriel angel statue...and maybe this is supposed to be Gabriel...But if you look a little closer...you can see a button up.

Now this is the best shot I can manage of it.

This looks specifically like Jim. Not Gabriel, but Jim. It's dressed similarly and I think that's his hairstyle. The face looks similar. I momentarily thought it might be Aziraphale or even Crowley but that wouldn't make sense...right?

So for now, I'm thinking that this is a bust of Jim. Very interesting considering Jimbriel is hiding right in front of it and there's a different statue of the Archangel Gabriel earlier in the cemetery....So what the heck is this all about...

Now if I missed any, or if any of the headstones in the background have writing that is hard to make out, let me know and I'll update this post.

But as I said before, I'm sure someone has already done this. Consider this a reference post, maybe let your gears turn a bit about some of the epitaphs because they're certainly some head scratchers if you ask me.

Thank you for reading this, and keep a look out for more of the opening sequence breakdown series in which I slowly lose more and more of my mind staring at this thing and picking out little tiny details.

[yakuzabrainrotlive]

Started the game and.... ÖAKZJFLALXKSNN. The devs woke up and chose immediate emotional violence. Played up until the part we met The Baby™

I think I'm gonna play on Hard difficulty for the first time. Might get my ass kicked, but I've done okay on Normal all the other games.

Just plot stuff, gonna make a separate post for QOL, UI and random side content stuff!

Literally said "OH NO, OH NO" out loud when I saw this title screen. I can tell this game is gonna obliterate me emotionally.

That light in his eyes? That smile? The soft tone of voice? THAT'S PURE AND UNCONDITONAL LOVE. HE'S SO FULL OF LOVE!!! I LOVE HIM 😭❤️

*remembers this is a yakuza game* Oh dear. Oh lord. Oh shit. PLEASE NO!! LET HIM HAVE THIS PLEASE!! 😭 COME ON RGG PLEASE DON'T... 😭😭

Haruto is.... it's truly one of the names of all time. Not gonna comment on that any more.

Saejima going back in the slammer is kinda becoming a series staple. Y'know, like... The Tojo clan is in peril, Date appears in a helicopter, there's an awful vehicle-related chase sequence and now there's also Saejima getting locked up. Classics.

I.... KEJDKQJSKWK THIS MAN DRIVES ME INSANE. It's always about "taking responsibility", making sacrifices for others so he doesn't "ruin things" or blaming himself for things that have been out of his control.

It makes me so sad that he loathes himself so much for choices he made when he was young. Even though, back in his full-time yakuza days, he was still a pretty damn decent person and he was always trying to stick to the right path.

He's so kind, considerate and loving and I HATE that he doesn't see it. He's always thinking "I could have", "I should have", "I can't"... the anger he has towards himself is. It sure is something. Does he have his flaws? Yes. Is he a saint? No. But he's not even remotely as bad as he thinks.

THREE YEARS??? For those crimes?? RIDICULOUS. Holy shit.

*sarcastic tone of voice* OH JEEZ. I WONDER WHERE SHE COULD HAVE ADOPTED THIS KIND OF SELF-SACRIFICING, SELF-BLAMING ATTITUDE FROM!!

*deadpan stare at Kiryu*

Okay okay, that was a very hyperbolic statement. Let's not be unfair. This kind of attitude can just be a thing that's a part of someone's personality.

But... I refuse to deny the fact that Kiryu has been Haruka's main parental figure from a very young age. She's grown up witnessing and living through the consequences of Kiryu's self-sacrificial tendencies (fresh example: the talk at the beach in Y5 before he leaves Morning Glory).

Kids tend to internalize attitudes, coping mechanisms and behaviors from their parents, especially when they're so close. Haruka thinks Kiryu is a very good person, she admires him. Of course she'd unconsciously wanna be like him in some regard.

Now, this can also just be a thing that very empathic and selfless people would do (and Haruka is both), but... I don't know. This is basically exactly the thing Kiryu did in Y5.

I'm making sounds that resemble sounds that a wounded animal would make. He looked so at peace and so HAPPY for just that single moment. His home is here. This is where he feels he can belong. Be himself. I'm. Ough.

SIGH he's not gonna be back, is he. He's currently in Hiroshima. God damnit. Why must these games hurt me so- NO. WHY MUST THESE GAMES HURT HIM SO. I'm in agony. Just... let him be a silly-print-shirt-wearing dad. Please. RGG. I am ON MY KNEES. I will give you all my earthly possessions.

Kiryu: I'm just here to find Haruka, let's not get involved in this mess...

Also Kiryu:

Okay, to be fair, it was something he had to do to get a clue on Haruka, but 😭😭 come on!!

Also... can't believe Akiyama is the one being targeted by the LA Gangs (AKA the triads) now... Chat, this is so sad. Can we hit one like for Akiyamer.

But for real: I'm actually kinda shook that things are THIS bad. Yeah, Tojo is always in a crisis of some sort. But... their very position as the top dogs in Kamuro not being shaken up? That's a big YIKES moment.

Majima AND Daigo are in prison?? Jeez, is there anyone competent even left in the clan? This whole group is gonna implode. It's gonna be a dumpsterfire.

Also. I WANNA SEE MAJIMA AND DAIGO WITH PRISON BUZZCUTS. PLEASE. DAIGO ESPECIALLY. PRETTY PLEASE😭🙏🏻

MORE YEARS IN THE JOINT MADE YOU A FUCKING GRANDPA

I swear on my entire bloodline that I'm not capping here; I was planning on making a "HARUKA TEEN PREGNANCY ARC" prediction in my previous post, but decided not to. Apollo... for god's sake.

Okay, I do have... OPINIONS.

-I will NOT fully believe this is Haruka's biological child until the young woman herself or a DNA test confirms it.

-I currently think she might have picked up the baby somewhere and took him in. If I HAD to guess.... MAYBE during the Little Asia fire? I'm not even sure if she was in Kamurocho back then, but... there could have been many casualties, including someone(s) who had a baby.

-If this IS her baby... I'm gonna quote Kiryu here; WHO IS THE DAD??

-Haruka naming her son Haruto is kinda funny to me. Kinda like an Erica naming her child Eric. Very small difference. If that's what she likes for him, that's good! I just can't imagine naming my own child like that. Then again, I wanna check if the kanji are the same.

-I don't wanna spoil myself by accident by googling him, but... Haruto seems to be around... 5-12 months old here?? At least younger than 2 years old since he didn't really seem to use any words yet.

>So Haruka would have been, uhhh.... like 17-18(??) while giving birth, if my guesses on both their ages match up. It's not unheard of - not at all - but that's QUITE young. Especially if the dad wasn't/isn't around to help. Idk how to feel about that. I need more info.

For now, I'm going with the theory that this is not her biological child. For my own peace of mind.

[sonkitty]

This list is way beyond a lot of me, but there are a few things I feel I've found and understand, so here is my take.

"Crowley's sunglasses. Could this be explained by POV switches? If so, why do they change halfway through and then stay that way?"

They cannot be explained by POV switches. Aziraphale "proposed" at the end of episode 2, that they borrow each other's homes to form a special connection. Crowley accepted despite his verbal and facial cues. It helps to watch how he manages his left hand to see how his response is a Yes. I'll go into it in my own series of posts when I can, but I'm not at that point just yet.

Crowley's sunglasses are his door to himself. He gave his door a new finish because it's a big step in their relationship to form this connection.

...

"Why does Micheal do the magician's "nothing in the box" display with the matchbox? It's a very specific action. Something's in that up with that damn matchbox. We're being asked to look at it, while something else happens that we're missing. And someone noticed that her nails are in terrible shape when she does it, but our eyes are on the matchbox."

That sequence is a clue to a hidden game in the story called Earthly Objects. It's a layered type of game the characters are playing. An audience member can play it by trying to figure out how the game works. The mechanics are heavily based on touching.

I suspect the Book of Life is actually disguised through the matchbox.

You can find me ramble on about these things in these posts:

Post #8 (finding out Gabriel is in the bookshop)

Post #10 (storming out)

I cover the matchbox touching sequence in the "storming out" part, the closing section.

...

"Crowley put something in Aziraphale's mouth during the kiss. I don't know what, but something he had to swallow. obligateweirdo pointed out that he seems to palm something out of his mouth when he touches his lips the second time, and that Houdini's wife used to slip him the keys to his cuffs with a kiss before his shows. Whatever Crowley gave Aziraphale, it's physical. And Michael Sheen has said he doesn't want to share what's in Aziraphale's pockets -- because Aziraphale put whatever Crowley gave him into a pocket?? Was it the fly? (But didn't that go into Gabriel's eye and stay there?) And if it was the fly, what was inside it?"

Pockets are a big deal in Earthly Objects. They are a really, really big deal. They are the more advanced mechanics within the game.

The game has a lot of findable, solvable puzzles, and a certain group that is very much meant to be found is 6 Threshold Tricks. Among those 6 is something called...The Pocket Trick...which is a giant pain due to a significant increase in difficulty scale. It impacts many things all over the place, including the other 5 Threshold Tricks.

I think the thing you found was a tie clasp of one of Crowley's ties, resized as necessary because it's too small to be just one as it is.

The tie strands are connected to the hands because they are Crowley's Tied Hands.

I wrote more about it here:

The Pocket Chain Rainbow Connection Part 4: The Door Trick and The Door Catch

...

"The rainbow lens flairs sure look like eyes. Like a pupil and iris. Is this a subtle hint that we are seeing through someone else's eyes?"

I don't know what parts you mean look like eyes, but rainbows are very much related to the pocket mechanics mentioned above. The Pocket Trick's core concept is, "Think outside the pocket," because a player has to use their imagination with word play.

Elvis Presley has a song titled, "A Pocketful of Rainbows." Each touch in The Pocket Trick has a "rainbow" to find. The Bigger Thresholds Trick, The Door Trick, and The Window Trick also have rainbows, all of which happen in episode 6. The Sunglasses Trick receives a reflection of white light, I assume, because it is beautifully layered.

There's a rainbow at the start of Crowley's first present day scene. There's a rainbow at the end of Crowley's last present day scene before the cut that is going to be used for the credits.

And there's a Rainbow Connection. I linked part of it earlier, but the more simplified post for the whole thing can be found here:

The Pocket Chain Rainbow Connection

My murder board

Updated 4/22/24

I'll add links as I can, but here's what I've got so far on the Good Omens season 2 puzzle/game. I feel it's important to note that I think we've been given all the puzzle pieces and a bunch of helpful hints besides.

The continuity errors:

Crowley's hair (POV thing)

Crowley's sideburns (POV)

The Bentley, "our car" but then it is Our Car in 1941 also -- WTF (There is a line in the book about someone being powerful enough to make something change and then make it so the change always was that way, but damned if I can recall the line or context now. Need to re-read AND re-watch! Found it! It's when Crowley first meets Adam after he's come into his powers -- he reads Crowley's mind and history like it's a book and this is the impression it leaves Crowley with. Adam's power is very similar to how the Book of Life is described in the show. Curiouser and curiouser!) (POV!)

Eccles cakes when Crowley leaves the shop, it's still morning, the continuity of time is messing with me. When they get the eccles cakes, it's light out. When Crowley leaves, it's dark out. He throws a lightning temper tantrum. He comes back after 9 by the clock in the shop. I still think it's not unreasonable to assume Aziraphale simply tidied away the eccles cakes in that time. Nina would have liked her plate back, after all. But all of this begs another question: 4a. Why is it around 11:30 when Aziraphale leaves Maggie's shop with the record and says he knows what he'll be doing for 21 minutes, but after 4 pm when Gabriel shows up? What happened for those 4+ hours? See 6. Clocks are wrong. Time is wrong!! (4.b the eccles cakes are prominent in at least one promo poster. Even if they don't disappear, do they mean something else??)

Portal rug it's a faded rug right up until the ball, when it becomes a thick red rug, then it's back to faded once the ball is tidied away. It just got made pretty for the ball, then changed back. The change is a nothingburger.

Clocks are wrong -- all over the damn place!!

Cross on Gabriel's statue -- appears to disappear. (POV)

Honolulu roast sign -- appears out of nowhere. (POV)

Title/location cards -- but there are some spots where the S1 title cards are used, what's going on there? (POV clues? -- this needs a closer look)

Drawing of Gabriel -- the one Aziraphale draws in the shop is NOT the one he shows the pub owner in Edinburgh. Why? (POV)

Wet roads/series poster -- what is up with all the rain??

Lights at Marguerites -- on again, off again. (POV? Or is it just when she's closed and open? It's a cafe, after all, they won't be open in the morning.)

Aziraphale's chair position in the Final Fifteen

1941 photo, Crowely's hand

Repeating extras -- not just repeating, but acting oddly -- walking back and forth, touching things, not eating, dressed the same every single day, etc. Do the people on the street in Edinburgh behave the same way?? (POV?)

Resurrectionist sign at the pub -- one with a scalpel, one with a butcher's knife. And it makes me think -- was Mr. Dalrymple a surgeon and a scientist with a scalpel, or a butcher with a cleaver? (POV. Wait, Aziraphale is the only MC there -- whose POVs would we be seeing?? Crowley's. He calls to tell Crowley what he found, what we're seeing is Crowley's idea of what happened.)

Store front signs -- appear and disappear. (POV)

Whickber street as seen from Heaven vs. on location -- the one Saraqael looks at in Heaven is the Google Maps picture of SoHo from 2019 with the book shop added in. It's not even from 2023! There is a building being torn down in it. In person on the show, it's different -- and the building is long gone in actual Google Maps 2023. (I think Saraqael is trying to hide the big miracle. She's showing the arc angels the book shop when it got reset by Adam in 2019.)

When Shax talks to Crowley and he takes off driving. When she appears, he is parked further up the street than when he leaves. Noticeably so. (POV? Or scenes out of order and this is a different time than it looks like?)

Edinburgh castle -- when Aziraphale arrives in Edinburgh, the castle is behind him. When the camera switches angles to behind him, Edinburgh castle is in front of him. The street he is on (streets, actually) are real streets. The castle was put in the first shot deliberately, but exists for real in the second shot. (POV)

Edinburgh streets -- when Aziraphale arrives in Edinburgh, the street he parks on is cobblestone. When the camera switches to behind him, the street is paved. (POV)

Weird sounds of all kinds?? (POV? Some of them yes.)

Crowley's sunglasses. Could this be explained by POV switches? If so, why do they change halfway through and then stay that way?

Questions about things the characters do:

Where did Crowley go during the Job flashback? And why was he wearing his spy turtleneck? (To meet up with Saraqael, perhaps? Seeing as Shax interrupted their meeting earlier that day?)

Where else did Aziraphale go in Edinburgh? And why did he go to the graveyard?

What did Gabriel need to bring to Aziraphale? What happened to it? (God's voice? A message from god? The Book of Life?)

Why does Micheal do the magician's "nothing in the box" display with the matchbox? It's a very specific action. Something's in that up with that damn matchbox. We're being asked to look at it, while something else happens that we're missing. And someone noticed that her nails are in terrible shape when she does it, but our eyes are on the matchbox.

What else did the Metatron say to Aziraphale? (Anything? Are we getting the whole, accurate story? Most of it? Any of it?)

How long was Crowley in Heaven, and what happened while he was there? (Did he sneak around and steal something? Did they harm him? He's acting a bit weird when he comes back.)

What happened to Aziraphale's briefcase? The one he took to Edinburgh. Where he did who knows what. (Is that a POV thing??)

What, if anything, is wrong with Crowley's memory? (Or is he just dissing Furfur and Saraqael?) (OR! Given the Gabriel removed HIS OWN MEMORY AND PUT IT IN THE FLY, so apparently angels ((AND demons??)) can affect their own memories, did Crowley deliberately do something to himself to get rid of unwanted memories??? He seems pretty untroubled by not remembering Furfur or Saraqael or why they made gravity -- almost as if he doesn't care the memories are gone. Okay, maybe he's gotten rid of some memories himself, but then WHY??) This could be a big old nothingburger. Or is he dissing Furfur and offering plausible deniability that he's met with Saraqael before -- like, when he was wearing his spy turtle neck??

What is Shax's mission? She says she's Crowley's replacement, but then she asks for "what she needs" from Crowley on the bench. Huh? What does she need?

How does Crowley know about hand washing in the Resurrectionists minisode? (This strikes different than the "lead ballon" remark on the wall. It's hard to say if Crowley knows about lead balloons, or if they're speaking an angelic language and it's being translated for us and the translator has a sense of humor or is trying to convey Crowley's sense of humor. The hand washing is actual, concrete, specific knowledge of the future.) Ah, I just re-read the book, where he mentions helicopters to DaVinci, and also Neil said this. It's something Crowley can do. He's a demon, he knows things.

What is going on with Maggie? I don't think she's a demon, but there is something up with her. (Also, one of the men in the graveyard in Edinburgh has a tattoo that says "no regerts." That's a real tattoo that circulates around the internet every once in a while -- I think it's a subtle reminder that humans aren't necessarily great at spelling, either.) But she has a Mason symbol on her necklace, and I still think the Masons are significant somehow; Aziraphale can't miracle-influence her; Aziraphale expects her to feel the arc angels arriving.

Why does Gabriel speak with god's voice? (Was that what he needed to bring? That message? But he says he needs to give Aziraphale something, and both times he speaks in god's voice, it's to Crowley. Hmm. IS that God's voice? It's a woman, but who is it?)

How did the pub owner recognize Gabriel's picture so fast? He says himself, "Look pal, I see a lot of people -- oh, yeah, I remember him!" ?? Was it just because Gabriel was weird at him?

Why is Crowley throwing books? It gives us a laugh, but is there a reason for it? He even seems confused as to why he's carrying them right before he does. (This is a POV thing -- the lens is "Aziraphale's" lens, so I think we're seeing Crowley tell Aziraphale what happened while Aziraphale was gone, and how Aziraphale imagines it would go.)

Why is Saraqael the only angel to react with fear before anyone else recognizes the Metatron? (Is it because she's been working WITH Gabriel, Beelzebub, AND Crowley and Aziraphale to thwart the second attempt at ending the world? Neil says he had some secret things for Sandalphon to do, but the actor wasn't available, so Saraqael does some of those things instead . . .)

Aziraphale gently laughs at Muriel's Inspector Constable persona, but then IMMEDIATELY adopts a just as over-the-top reporter persona. Is he doing it deliberately, or is he that un-self-aware? If he's doing it deliberately, why? Who's he trying to convince he's not that savvy? The pub owner? Anyone who might be spying? US?? Is that a POV thing? And if so, whose?? (AHA! I think this is Aziraphale telling Crowley what happened, and Crowley picturing Aziraphale being adorable in his disguise. Aziraphale is not that silly actually, but probably not as slick as he wants to think.)

Why the heck did Maggie and Nina go talk to Crowley while the Metatron was talking to Aziraphale? What they had to say wasn't important enough to leave Nina's shop during a rush, and I definitely don't think they derailed Crowley from what he needed to say to Aziraphale, though it might look at first as if they did. So what was that about?

When Shax stops Aziraphale for a ride, he says, "Oh, I really need to get to --" and then is cut off. He really needs to get to where? It's an easy assumption to think he means the book shop, or London. But is that all he means? Or was he on his way somewhere else? And if it was just the book shop, what does he mean he's late? Late for what? And that lens is still Crowley's lens -- Aziraphale is relating the story to Crowley. Crowley also knows where Aziraphale was going besides Edinburgh.

Crowley can tell something is wrong. Something. What?

Good God, this questions list just keeps getting longer. Why would the Metatron allow Beelzebub and Gabriel to leave, after trying to stop Armageddon 2.0, but come after Crowley and Aziraphale like that? Just because of the big miracle? (Which I'm not sure they did.)

Why does Crowley say "Oh, God," right before his confession in the final fifteen? To let Aziraphale know that he understands what Aziraphale is saying? That God (or the Voice) is there? Seems possible.

Why didn't Gabriel come down the lift in the Dirty Donkey? He also says he had to carry that box for sooo long. Where was he wandering around?

When Crowley leaves Heaven, he tells Saraqael and Muriel to come, too. But in the elevator, Michael and Uriel are there! When the fuck did they show up??

The whole time Aziraphale is in Maggie's shop asking about Every Day, he is looking out the windows and is VERY nervous. Is he just concerned about leaving Gabriel on his own, or is he nervous about something specific? He does react to the car horn outside as others have noted, but he is already jumpy and checking the windows repeatedly, the car horn isn't anything particular, he's just already fixated on the windows.

Why does Beelzebub tell Shax to attack the bookstore? Aren't they worried about Gabriel being harmed? And they know Hell is understaffed. Maybe that's why they command it? Because they know Shax won't be able to get the demons?

Questions about the world:

What about the Masons? It's such a specific thing for the pub owner to bring up, what is the meaning of it? And Maggie has a Mason symbol on her necklace. Did the Masons carve the statue of Gabriel? When did they see him?

The only narration we hear in the entire season is Aziraphale in the Resurrectionist flashback. Why? (Maybe to throw us off? I think we have multiple POV characters in season 2, not just Aziraphale, but we only hear Aziraphale so we assume he's the POV for the entire season. But still, why do we only hear him narrate 1 flashback? Argh, is he reading the diary to himself in the present day? That would explain the end, "And that was the last I was to see of Crowley for some time." If he is reading it in the present day, why? What made him think to go back to THAT entry?? Oh, duh! He JUST heard the story of the jukebox from Maggie. And Gabriel appearing -- same city that statue is in. Of course he thought of something important from that diary entry! Now, what did he notice?)

Is the Book of Life a real threat? We hear two stories about it, that it's real and that its ability to erase beings was something to scare the cherubs with, this is inconclusive. Crowley gets nervous after Beelzebub talks to him, but he could just be upset that their little break is interrupted, and now Heaven and Hell have taken an interest in them again.

Is reality fucked up? How? Whickber street bubble, Aziraphale's power turned up (how?), etc.? A LOT of it is POV shifts!

Job 41:19 on the matchbox: 1941?? YES. Bullet catch/kiss scene!

Where TF is God? "There was nothing for Her to do" my ass. She narrates. That's it. So there was nothing for her to narrate? Hm. (Because there was a host of other narrators? Are the Crowley/Aziraphale through the ages flashbacks in S1 narrated by God? I don't think they are, but I need to rewatch. They are not! And they aren't narrated by God because Crowely and Aziraphale are the POV characters in them.)

So many promo posters show Aziraphale, Crowley, and Jimbriel together, or symbols of them. Three feathers: two white, one black. Tea cup, cocoa mug, wine glass. The three of them. Not with Beelzebub, not with Muriel, the three of them. And all three of them have been Jesus-coded in some small way. No one else. Those three. What. Why. Are they the sacrifice required to bring about the new world? Why not Beez, then?

Wait. Two Crowleys?? WTF. There are two Crowley puppets in the magic shop, and Crowley doesn't remember Saraqael or Furfur. Is he dissing them, or is that the second Crowley that never did meet either of them? Am I insane? I have no theory here, just some wild speculation that needs a lot more time to simmer. Two actual Crowleys, or two ideas of Crowley? Or something to hurt my head?

Why are they in a cave in the opening sequence? The guy who made the opening sequence says they are in the fly that Gabriel stores his memory in. Okay, why? And Crowley lights a match to see. Hm. What else was in that fly that Gabriel didn't take when he got his memory out?

An album on the wall in Maggie's shop says "Rat Keith." This seems to me to be an allusion to The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett. In the book, some men have tied several rats' tails together to create a rat king that keeps the wild rats under control -- except that the rat king has too much power and is doing way more than just that. People die. So who's been given too much power and is now running the show instead of being a puppet? The Metatron, perhaps? Hm . . . Also, Keith is the young boy who plays the part of the Pied Piper for Maurice's scam. He leads all the rats out of town, never mind that the rats can talk and are in on the scam.

Things I think I know:

NEIL GAIMAN IS A LYING LIAR WHO LIES. Except when he's dropping hints or answering straight out. All of his answers to anything anyone asks about GO are suspect at best. (I cannot blame him or anyone else on the cast or crew -- they spent A LOT of time and energy building this very meticulous puzzle game for us -- why would ANY of them give ANY of it away? That would ruin all the fun!)

God has been removed/has vacated. Where did she go? I wonder if anyone knows. Is She just standing back and watching? In the book, Crowley says that anyone who can create a whole universe in six days doesn't let a war of rebellion happen unless they want it to. But that he and Aziraphale wouldn't understand, because if they understood, they wouldn't be them. It's INEFFABLE. He also then FORGETS what he was talking about a minute later.

God doesn't narrate because She's busy being Maggie. Aha!

The Metatron is working for himself. The dice on his tie seem to imply that while God does not play dice with the universe, this jerk surely does. Also, see the rat king observation above, #10.

Gabriel was bringing Aziraphale a message, the box is a red herring. But that brings me to another thing I suspect -- there was something else in the box, and the box is deeply important. Ah, damn -- is that what Crowley gave to Aziraphale in the kiss? Whatever was in the box? Was that what he found out while he was in Heaven? What Gabriel took? Did Gabriel put it in the fly with his memory?

Heaven did something bad to Crowley while he was there. That coffee is a red herring to draw our eye away from him. But that brings me to something else I suspect -- Crowley's knackered and a bit off when he returns from his TEN HOUR JAUNT in Heaven not because they did anything bad to him, but because he stole something very important. Maybe the thing he gives to Aziraphale during the break up?

Crowley and Aziraphale did NOT perform a huge miracle. I don't know what happened, but it wasn't them working together. (Or did they? Are angels and demons more powerful together? Did the Fall create a schism between them that weakened them all? Or are they and Saraqael hiding who did do the big miracle?)

This is a 2 man con. Of course it's a 2 man con. I read American Gods. Crowely and Aziraphale have a plan. This might be version B or C, they might be springing it sooner than they hoped, but that break up was a ruse. A hard, painful ruse, but a ruse. They knew their respite would be short-lived, they've been putting something together for years now.

Crowley put something in Aziraphale's mouth during the kiss. I don't know what, but something he had to swallow. obligateweirdo pointed out that he seems to palm something out of his mouth when he touches his lips the second time, and that Houdini's wife used to slip him the keys to his cuffs with a kiss before his shows. Whatever Crowley gave Aziraphale, it's physical. And Michael Sheen has said he doesn't want to share what's in Aziraphale's pockets -- because Aziraphale put whatever Crowley gave him into a pocket?? Was it the fly? (But didn't that go into Gabriel's eye and stay there?) And if it was the fly, what was inside it?

Gabriel went somewhere else before he went to the book shop. He didn't come down the elevator at the Dirty Donkey. Did he go to Edinburgh? Is that why the pub owner recognized that picture so fast? "Oi! That's that naked bloke was in here last week!" (Or was him walking down the street because we first see him from Nina or Maggie's perspective?? POV muckery?)

SECRET SONGS??? Why are the songs secret?? I'm losing my mind, what is happening??

Several narrators. I'm not even sure how many, but we're seeing the world through the eyes of characters, not God or a faceless narrator. This is part of why things are weird. I don't think that's the full explanation for the whole season, but I think it's a big part of the weirdness. A book that comes up often in the show is The Crow Road by Ian Banks. A brief description of the book says that it is written from the point of view of several characters and the story is told out of order and in no particular fashion, with changes from character to character POV coming at no particular interval and with no warning. AHA! (I did come up with the idea before I saw this post, but @highlandwhackamole beat me to writing it. Well done!) NOW I'm wondering if we aren't also seeing the story as told by the characters we see, but as heard but an as-yet unknown character . . .

The scenes are out of order. The DAMN SCENES ARE OUT OF ORDER! I don't know their correct order, but they are out of order. The Crow Road, again, is told out of order, forcing the reader to piece the scenes together (from a brief description, I'm thinking more and more I need to read this book rather than try to skim it). Is it as simple as watching the scenes in chronological order??

Our angel and demon have hidden something in the book shop. Something important. I have no current guesses as to what. Crowley still has his crank from starting up the nebula. What else might he have taken with him? Is that it? Or something else? HOLY SHIT ARE THEY HIDING JESUS??? Is THAT who did the miracle??

When Aziraphale tells Crowley that their Gabriel miracle set off alarms in Heaven, he sort of raises his eyebrows and says it in the same way he says other things he doesn't mean -- the same tone he says "I forgive you" after the Kiss, or how he says "He says he's Bildad the Shuite," in the Job minisode. It wasn't the Gabriel miracle that set off alarms in Heaven, it was whatever Saraqael was doing, or whoever Saraqael is hiding, and Crowley is well aware of it and whatever Saraqael is up to. Aziraphale just told Crowley that they have to take responsibility for whatever Saraqael did to allay Heaven's suspicions. They are talking in code through more of this season than we first think.

The rainbow lens flairs sure look like eyes. Like a pupil and iris. Is this a subtle hint that we are seeing through someone else's eyes?

When Crowley and Aziraphale argue about what to do with Jimbriel, behind Aziraphale is a privacy screen, and behind Crowley is an open door. Does this reflect how each of them feels, that Aziraphale believes they are speaking in private and Crowley believes they are being listened in on?

Repeating themes:

Beverages of all kinds -- tea for Aziraphale, wine or whiskey for Crowley, cocoa for Jim.

Time -- lots of clocks/mentions of time

Love/partnership/togetherness being stronger than separateness

Queer couples -- is literally everyone in season 2 in a non-cis-het relationship?? Even the guy in the graveyard says he uses his phone for Grindr -- a gay men's dating hook-up app. Nothing wrong with it, but it's an interesting writing choice. Why? Equality and representation -- or a Clue? (I think it's a POV Clue!)

Memories/forgetting/remembering

Payment -- money comes up in both the Resurrectionists minisode and the Flesh Eating Nazi Zombies minisode, but no one pays for anything in present. There is bartering, but no money.

Rising from the dead -- Job's kids (even though they weren't actually dead), bodies used for science, Nazi zombies, the Second Coming.

Unreliable narrators

Death in general -- but 9a., I'm a dirty pagan, why didn't I make this connection sooner, death always leads to REBIRTH, change, something totally new and 9b. there are tarot cards in the magic shop, and even if you're not a dirty pagan, the Death tarot card means transition, something must die before a new thing can be born. Hmmmm.

Morality and what is "good" and what is right

Recognition and identity

Repeating words and phrases OMG the list goes on:

Technically

Properly

Isn't it just?

Too late

Funny old world

Not as such

Made for each other

EVERYWHERE

Obviously

Hints:

Powell and Pressburg films

The Crow Road

Catch 22

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, Terry Pratchett in general

Jane Austin

Book Good Omens

The titles of episodes, minisodes, places, etc. 7a. The Arrival: a book and a movie, though the book seems far more relevant. And lovely. The Clue: a movie. Companion to Owls: a line from a Bible story. I Know Where I'm Going: a movie. The Resurrectionists: two novels, each called The Resurrectionist, singular. Both look unhinged. The Hitchhiker: a Twilight Zone episode. Nazi Zombie Flesheaters: Literally no other reference. ?? Nazi Zombies do appear in a LOT of movies, comics, and video games, usually as a dark joke. The Ball: a video game. Irrelevant? It's a puzzle-based game, so maybe not. Every Day: a song AND a movie. Some themes repeat here: Puzzle games, being re-directed from one's path to find true love, death and being brought back to life in a gruesome and unpleasant way.

That's what I have so far. I'll try to update with new ideas and information, as well as links to things that support my theories as I find them.

[slightlyrebelliouswriter23]

Hi em :) I have been binge reading your tfota analyses and they are all so well articulated and feel so spot on, even when I barely noticed most of the clues and what they potentially meant on my own. I feel like I was completely absorbed in the story and the characters but then I read your analyses that flesh the story out in such a real and epic way! Do you have any advice on how I can start reading more critically and see more things that aren't explicitly stated like you do?

hiya nonnie! oh, this makes me so happy to hear 🥺🥺❤️❤️ i'm so glad you've enjoyed my analysis posts!! there's so much specific advice that i could give you, but i'll start with the general stuff and if you have questions, feel free to follow up.

i would say, first and foremost, the number one rule of critical reading is that you must leave all of your earthly notions and morals at the door.

this is something i wish they would teach in schools. it's great to immerse yourself in a story, to have reactions to it. in fact, i would argue it wouldn't be good art if it didn't evoke a reaction. but your thoughts after the reaction, are what determine a critical reader from a passive one.

for example, when Taryn betrays Jude and doesn't tell her she's been seeing Locke, and Jude figures this out at the coronation ball, what is your reaction? if it's "GASP! that bitch!" followed by "i hate her now and forever because she betrayed her sister and what kind of a person would do that? only a terrible one!" you are a passive reader. if it's "GASP! that bitch!" followed by "omg but why???" you're on the right track to becoming a critical reader.

critical reading of a fictional story is impossible to do when you let real life and personal values seep into the work to muddle your comprehension. bringing morals into fiction ruins the art of it.

are you bored by the classical western literature canon? this is why. because centuries ago, moral stories were the only ones allowed to be told. aren't you so glad we are no longer subject to such crude chains?

second, my biggest piece of advice is to read every word on the page.

none of this "speed reading", skimming, scanning, "glance at the line and comprehend it" stuff. i understand some of you are quite good at that. i have never been afforded that luxury. if i do not see, hear, and listen to every word in my head as i read it, i comprehend next to nothing. and in fact, studies have proven reading comprehension and absorption deteriorate the faster you read. it's faster, yes. it gets the job done. you'll understand the basic concepts (unless you're me lol). but it won't help you understand more.

understanding is time-consuming. critical reading is time-consuming.

also, if you're only going to read the book once, i would advise against binge reading the whole thing in one sitting, as tempting as it might be. critical reading is a kind of meditation. if you're trying to understand something, the answer isn't going to be wrung out of the book by its spine. and the author is certainly not obliged to hand it over to you on a silver platter.

critical reading means giving yourself time to process the events. giving yourself time to remember what happened. so unless you're definitely planning on rereading the book, may i suggest spreading the book out over the course of say, two or three days? you don't have to do this with every book. just the ones you like.

and finally, the question is always "why?" and the answer always comes from a place of compassion. or at the very least, inquisitiveness.

your mind is capable of making hundreds of connections in the span of a breath. if you set your sights on understanding why something happens or why a character behaves a certain way, you'll more easily be able to set aside your own values and emotions regarding a specific event or character, because it puts you in charge of finding the answer instead of the author/text/character who may or may not give you what you want word-for-word. and to be quite honest with you, that is true immersion.

curiosity is your most formidable weapon of intellect. use it.

–Em 🖤🗡

theories & analysis masterlist

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #63

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 4, The Hitchhiker, happened

...

Sideburns Check

The sideburns are a medium length. They are longer than intended after driving in the present day but shorter than the longest-length that happens around Gabriel. They are more like the length around other demons and the car from the first two episodes.

Way back in episode 1, the tutorials of the "storming out" sequence informed us that there is an invisible supernatural border between the bookshop and the car for when the sideburns reach an intended shortness for being around humans.

Here, this episode is informing us that the border expanded. Even though the sideburns probably shortened, they did not shorten as much. Additionally, they are deemed long enough by Crowley himself that he's going to take the extra time and effort to shorten them further with a drive.

...

Brighter Red Streak Check

The more saturated red streak of hair is definitely visible.

...

Hairstyle Changes

Compared to Crowley's last present day scene, the sideburns have shortened a little. The top hair is more strongly collected together as it curves up to Crowley's right and then back.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

Both Crowley and Aziraphale touch the cardboard boxes of plants. Crowley touches one of the new doors onto his transformed car.

The plants touch the clothing on both Crowley and Aziraphale.

...

For paying attention to the pockets...

For signs of a possible retying of the Tied Hands...

Crowley's watch is visible. on the walk from the bookshop to the car.

Aziraphale could be an assist for an index finger to "make a point" since his index finger does so when Crowley passes him one of the boxes. He even shifts it down after this point is made. He uses an index finger yet again on the walk away from the car, toward the bookshop.

When Crowley smiles and greets his car, the thumbs and thumb joints of the Tied Hands dangle, switch position, and switch back. At various times, Crowley's actual thumb joints are visible.

As Crowley prepares to close the door to his car, I can reasonably conclude that one of the tie strands is actually touching his arm.

The strike on the lapel to his jacket probably happens when Aziraphale says "remember."

If Crowley wants an Overhead Light, he gets one when he says, "You're really hosting the meeting?"

Crowley has his right thumb joint close at his jacket edges in the next-to-last frame of the closing cut for the episode.

...

The Belt Head is briefly visible when Crowley passes Aziraphale a cardboard box.

...

When Crowley takes the box that Aziraphale had been holding, the two of them have a plant in the background pocketed between them. This same pocket exists as a reflection in the car itself. That's probably one of the many little clues about how important the pockets, plants, and reflections are together for their combined eventual act of The Door Trick and The Door Catch.

...

After Crowley closes the new door to the car, he makes a pocket with his left arm and torso as the camera views him from behind. Once the camera shifts to a view in front of Crowley, he's making a pocket with his right arm, right hand, torso, the bottom of the screen, and Aziraphale. This pocket is over this new door. Since I'm left to guess the meanings, if any, of such things, my own would be these pockets are Crowley's way of informing an audience player that yeah, he knows that door is there. That's why he used it. He is aware the car has transformed even if he's not outright saying such a thing verbally.

...

For dialogue points, there are some questions, Nina's name, Maggie's name, and possibly the name of the meeting.

...

In the last frame of the last cut, Crowley specifically has his left foot on the edge of the sidewalk and sidewalk while his right foot has not yet touched the ground.

...

Story Commentary

On the surface, this scene looks like both Crowley and Aziraphale not informing the other of their respective encounters with Shax, especially Aziraphale. Crowley replies, "Good, that's what we want to hear," so it looks like Aziraphale has succeeded in convincing him that nothing happened.

On a layered level, they're actually in the process of finalizing their forming connection between homes because of the plants. The Green of the plants is important to the Rainbow Connection.

Neither of them say the name "Gabriel" or "Jim," but a reference is implied, suggesting that Gabriel might actually sleep. The remark about snoring could be a clue about something but nothing I've been able to figure out myself. They could be talking about some whole other character in some whole other timeline or series of events, but I'll go with taking the contextual cues that they do indeed mean Gabriel.

While neither outright says what happened with Shax, the next episode will show that each have at least some layered awareness because they will be working together separately in earning solo Earthly Objects sets. These sets happen during the ball invitations.

Eventually, a supernatural zone is going to form along the street. The few humans around in this scene are acceptable in the context of the early morning, but it might be that a supernatural zone is already forming because Crowley's going to go for a drive to shorten his sideburns.

They don't want that zone active yet. It should happen as the humans arrive at the bookshop and as the demons arrive in the street, for some unknown reason.

Aziraphale looks at Crowley a few times where I think there's a decent chance he's checking that the sideburns are staying longer.

Additionally, Crowley can, and probably does, check his own car mirror when he puts the plants in the car, to see what length the sideburns are.

Aziraphale concludes the episode with the words, "a night to remember."

There is a book titled A Night to Remember about the Titanic sinking. I've actually read it and thought it was quite good by the way.

So, that is an interesting choice of words. Does this book and the movie it inspired exist in the Good Omens universe? Is Aziraphale dooming the ball on purpose? Is he foreshadowing for us, knowingly? Is it code for Crowley? Well, I don't know, but I like that last one best, especially given a lot of what's about to happen in the next two episodes.

Speaking of which, with episode 5 incoming, that means the Threshold Tricks will be back! The ball invitations are on the way. Earthly Objects is already plenty difficult, but...well, now it will be even more difficult! I have a post about the ball invitations, but it's a little dated for what I've learned since making it.

Incoming posts will probably slow down with my limited understanding of the games in play and the return of the Threshold Tricks.

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In personal news, my daughter graduated 5th grade today. I'm sad to see her elementary school years end, but it was a special day for her nonetheless.

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That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

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Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme

[sonkitty]

@saddybildaddy

The main thing I "know", and by "know" I mean generally theorize but am somewhat confident in such theory, is that there is a hidden game in the story called Earthly Objects.

It's a layered type of game that the characters play, and an audience member can play by trying to figure out how it works.

My play isn't good enough to figure this puzzle out for Mr. Brown specifically since I mainly focus on Crowley so much.

I'll at least say the newspaper looks intended to be a key earthly object as an identifying part of Mr. Brown's character. Since we didn't see his pre-ball outfit, if it were the same as the episode 2 outfit, it would actually match what happened to Mutt and Mrs. Sandwich. They are also in line with their clothing from before they entered the ball.

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@kayleefansposts

It's been a long time since you commented on any of my Earthly Objects posts, but I know you have months ago.

So, I'm sorry if the below is difficult to understand.

In my play of Earthly Objects, numbers generally are among the dialogue options for the characters.

For the number 7, I found it a very useful clue in finally solving the simple explanation for tricking the Heaven elevator (Post #84 (arrest)). The simple explanation is 7 words long (excluding Crowley's name or pronoun). He "pretended to be arrested by angel."

Seven is how many clear fingertips Crowley is using when touching his pants pockets when against the door in the music shop because a pinky fingertip is cast in shadow. He's tricking that threshold too. He "never let go of the door". Seven is the number of times Crowley says "blah" when telling Muriel how to arrest him. Muriel's "blah" words overlap his. Then he says "blah" another 7 times.

...

As for "ten," it's a dialogue point in that part.

Other than that, I noticed there are 10 candles or candle-type objects lit when Crowley and Aziraphale drink wine together in 1941.

The Earthly Objects game really likes pockets for advanced play. I don't fully get the pockets stuff, but I get that it's advanced and important, giving clues. Aziraphale and Crowley are visually pocketing all 10.

The scene itself stands out because Aziraphale more clearly is in a chair and has his back to it. Most of the time, something is keeping his back off a chair or his seat has no back anyway. But in this scene, he just has a part where removes his back from the chair to pick up the picture. Both Crowley and Aziraphale are visibly drinking wine on camera, which is also otherwise avoided during the season.

Oh, and I made a post (Count to Ten) about something found while reading Witches Abroad.

Granny Weatherwax always held that you ought to count up to ten before losing your temper. No one knew why, because the only effect of this was to build up the pressure and make the ensuing explosion a whole lot worse.

Repeating from that post: The counting to ten and exploding sounds familiar to Good Omens 2, doesn't it?

More Time Duckery

If you're a Best Not to Speculate™️ fan, instead of a It's A Clue!™️ fan, please keep scrolling!

*Please do not ask Neil about fan theories.*

So I've noticed many things in my rewatches and read tons of great metas. But I just realized something that adds to my belief of the weird Jeremy Bearimy time fuckery going on in Season 2.

I'm certain many of you have already noticed this, but I only watched the show a few months ago and my brain is utter chaos at any given moment, so bear with me:

We know that Mr. Brown is holding a newspaper with a very specific headline in Episode 2 at the pub. Even on my first watch of Season 2, I noticed the adorable duck and the headline.

And when he enters the bookshop for the "meeting"/ball, he isn't holding the newspaper. Fair. Why would he bring that? Isn't Episode 5 (the ball) happening on Thursday (I think), whereas Episode 2's events are at least a couple days prior?

Why is it that when Nina walks in and interacts with him, he somehow has it? WHY?

Why does he have it when he steps up to confront Shax??

He is holding a chewed up/destroyed version the next morning outside the coffee shop when Crowley brings him back from wherever the demons took him.

His outfit in this Episode 6 scene is also the same as Episode 2, but their clothing did change when they entered the bookshop for the ball. However, aren't Episode 2 pub scene and Episode 5 ball supposed to be on different days?????

Great meta here on Pub Guy/Hawaiian Shirt Guy who is one of the many odd extras this season and is seen wearing different outfits in the Episode 2 pub scene vs. the Episode 6 morning scene.

This is actually why I even noticed this in the first place. I recently wondered if Aziraphale ever gave the guests the books he promised them, and ended up going back to see if they walked out of the shop with the books - and they did. Out of the blue (because brainrot), I went from wondering why Mr. Brown was holding something when he wasn't given a book, to remembering his newspaper with the duck, to realizing that the pub scene was likely on a different day.

Please speculate away!

It's ok if you don't like metas - just ignore this! I'm interested in speculating, so I don't want to write this off as a continuity error. This is far more noticeable than some oddly specific things they discuss in BTS videos.

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #23

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 2, The Clue, blameless goats

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Hairstyle Notes

The hair is longer and more fluffy than the previous scene. It is also longer than the scene that started off the whole episode and minisode.

From the front when closer to Aziraphale, it looks more red.

The curls themselves change, dependent on camera angle too. If one wishes to lean into the character POV approach, the more red hair seen from the front is possibly Aziraphale's POV.

I still prefer to NOT lean into such a thing and think of it as generally shared myself because I put so much stock into how important the hiss is for this scene. It's important for Crowley since it's such an integral part of his own Threshold Trick for himself (The Sunglasses Trick). It's important for Aziraphale to remember that it happened because it's part of the message he is receiving.

Crowley's hair is generally dynamic throughout season 2, and the present day of season 2 even shows it can change based on his emotions.

Regardless, we are now shown a new type of space for this era.

This space is a human-built structure with no roof. It has not experienced the damage the barn did. It will be damaged later through the storm. This space also has a fountain, so water is nearby. There are no humans on entry, and there will be no humans by the time this scene ends.

As such, this hairstyle is the closest match to a "supernatural" reading when comparing to the season 2 present day.

The space recognizes Crowley is a demon, or at least a supernatural being. The crows already within it are the goats he transformed into crows earlier in the minisode.

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Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

Most of the scene looks to be outright avoiding earthly object touches, largely to help focus on the events of the scene itself with the revelation that the crows were the goats. As such, Crowley was, in a way, "holding" an earthly object during the scene through a miracle touch. Aziraphale himself touched the crows through changing them back to their original forms as goats. Aziraphale used Crowley's name for the time period, "Crawley".

During this scene is the next touch of The Sunglasses Trick.

Here is a GIF:

This time, we're at the second Single of a group of three Singles that will become a Triple.

Crowley makes a pocket between his right arm and beard, using his right hand to touch the right end piece. This pocket exists for both cuts that show the touch. The arm casts a shadow over where the season 2 present day Tied Hands would be. His headband is like his substitute Belt Head. He received overhead lights before this set of minisode scenes started. He also didn't show his actual hands in the preceding scene.

The sunglasses are different than the last Single, he hissed, and he was miracle-holding crows-that-are-secretly-goats. As a reminder, the sunglasses being different are what demonstrate this group of three is the one for three Singles to become a Triple. The hissing is what they have in common for their eventual switch to a Triple.

This touch really stands out in the Threshold Tricks overall because it is the only touch that takes place in a minisode. All of the others are in the season 2 present day.

Why?

Well, I'm always theorizing though I believe in some of my theories more strongly than others, but nonetheless, here's a reminder that's what I'm doing before I give my answer.

As stated before, these minisodes are stories with hidden messages between Crowley and Aziraphale. Gabriel arrived with a cardboard box at least twice. With the possibility of making themselves forget things from the first time, the characters left themselves clues to solve their own puzzle.

This scene is giving Aziraphale a huge clue that amounts to "goats". I mean, it could do more and mean more, but that's the relevant part for a certain step he's going to take in the present day.

Among the various clues listed on the record is "Goat Gate," so Aziraphale will consider the clues from the minisode, including the goats that are part of this scene, and decide to get himself to Goat Gate.

The next touch for The Sunglasses Trick will not be until episode 5.

Time to pay attention to the pockets.

After Crowley crosses the threshold on entry, he is shown pocketed between two plant stands before Aziraphale arrives.

When Aziraphale is first shown, he's also revealed to have passed a pocket of two plant stands.

I don't think these plant stand pockets mean much more than a general clue about how important the plants are for the season 2 overall connection and ending with The Door Trick, The Door Catch, and the maintained Green of Rainbow Connection.

Probably one of the most important pockets in the scene, communicating the same thing as above, is when Aziraphale and Crowley themselves are pocketing a plant as Aziraphale challenges Crowley to look him in the eye before the hiss. This pocket disappears after Crowley says his full line about "blameless goats", then briefly reappears as Aziraphale starts to walk away.

Crowley's robe makes a pocket with itself and the ground that is generally shadowy and black. It further opens slightly over the ground while the first crow bleats like a goat. That serves as a clue that yes, Crowley somehow lowered his guard enough to let it be known the crows were goats.

The last cut shows Crowley and Aziraphale pocketing the goats, before that cut is pushed away to the camera's left.

...

For my tangential reading progress, I finished re-reading Good Omens. I discussed some of that in this post here: Finished Re-Reading Good Omens. I have a lot more highlights and thoughts, but I don't have the energy to go over them in a post like this one, for now.

I started reading Eric by Terry Pratchett this morning.

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Story Commentary

Here we are again in the minisode with Crowley first, then Aziraphale. This time we are connected from a scene where we entered by looking at a book. Both of them were on screen, and Crowley received the focus to imply he was the one remembering that previous scene.

Eventually, we're going to pull out of this book and be left with Aziraphale, leaving us to assume that Crowley left sometime during the recollection of the minisode.

This scene is more serious than their last encounter because Aziraphale regards Crowley as a serious threat who destroyed Job's goats and on his way to destroy Job's children.

Crowley himself doesn't seem to take things seriously until Aziraphale draws closer and challenges him by saying he, Aziraphale, doesn't think he, Crawley, wants to destroy Job's children.

The two continue into a more dramatic confrontation that includes the touch on the sunglasses with the hiss.

Before that hiss, Aziraphale brings up the angel Crawley was, and Crawley says quite pointedly, "The angel you knew is not me."

This same angel was shown to not give his name in Before the Beginning.

Season 1 gave us more than one scene showing Crowley doesn't like being a demon. He remarked that he just hung around the wrong people, that he only ever asked questions, that he never asked to be a demon, and so on. Season 2 shows us here—and will show again—that doesn't mean he wants or wanted to go back to being an angel.

Season 2 also doesn't show us Crowley having the same level of regret at his demonic status that season 1 did. The Earthly Objects game even goes so far as to demonstrate Crowley play rather strategically, taking advantage of his status as a snake-eyed demon. The sunglasses are his door, yes, but they are also his accessory. They can switch and give the preferred points he wants within the game, dependent on his own play. He receives multiple Overhead Lights to his left, including and especially the sun in The Door Trick.

He said "former demon" in front of Shax earlier, but he'll drop the "former" when talking to Muriel later.

Moving on, Aziraphale still challenges Crowley further to look him in the eye and tell him he, Crawley, wants to do the destroying of Job's children.

Not only do we see the hiss, we are shown a specific choice in wording by Crowley in what he says, which is, "I want to. I long to destroy the blameless children of blameless Job, just as I destroyed his blameless goats."

It sounds menacing and works effectively. It's actually a lot like the mixed tutorial sequence we received in episode 1, in that there is a hidden truth within a lie. There is a big lie here of Crowley destroying the goats. He didn't do that. There is a truth within that lie. He longs to "destroy" the children just as he did the goats—which would be, not destroying them. Also, Rule of Three. The word "blameless" was used 3 times.

Crowley's lie and hiss are so effective that the lighting shifts to indicate Aziraphale's angel light dimmed, and Crowley's demon darkness darkened by making his robe look significantly more black.

Season 1 showed us Aziraphale can lie to Crowley in its present day and get away with it. Season 2 shows us, at least in 2500 BC, Crowley could lie to Aziraphale and get away with it.

With Aziraphale feeling defeated, Crowley lets Aziraphale learn the truth. That's then Crowley taking a chance on trusting Aziraphale this far back in their history together.

Aziraphale figures out the crows are goats and looks rather pleased with himself for doing so.

With the last cut shifting the way it does to the camera's left, it's reasonable to think that could be Crowley leaving the room.

However, Crowley's next present day scene is going to be the first touch of The Pocket Trick. We just had another touch in The Sunglasses Trick. The Tied Hands were retied before we entered the book to watch this part of the minisode.

If possible, something in this minisode should retie them, besides just being a minisode. I suspect that something is going to be the part with a sign saying, "THE NEXT DAY". I don't know if that means Crowley leaves the room when that part is happening on screen or not, but it's the type of thing I look for when playing the games of the story. I'll mention another oddity he does with his hands later when Job's children are restored, in the scene before we actually get back to the season 2 present day.

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That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

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Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme

[sonkitty]

My audience-player-instincts today suggested I listen to the elevator-exit scene with the first two scenes in mind because of the music. I've connected the first two scenes by the music in my head, even if I've never made a post about it until now.

So, general suggestion, for those interested, listen to the music.

This video is a compiled three clips because you know how much Earthly Objects loves the Rule of Three and my own habit of searching for such things.

Part 1: The Name of the Game (Earthly Objects)

Part 2: The Proposal

Part 3: Funny Old World

I'm just rambling below. This is me actively, visibly playing since I don't really have a point, just searching through the pieces and making notes.

In more detail...

Part 1 is Michael's scene with the matchbox in episode 1. This post seems like as good of a place as any to say that something I noticed while contemplating the game in the past week or so is that Michael's touch never goes inside the box. By that I mean, the mysterious contents could be invisible but still tangible. Michael wouldn't know since she doesn't try. Uriel uses the phrase, "earthly object," that I believe is intentionally there to find the name of the Earthly Objects game.

Part 2 is Aziraphale proposing to borrow the car in episode 2. This scene is extremely relevant to the other game I've named The Sideburns Scheme. The idea in play is that he and Crowley are going to borrow each other's homes to form a special connection and shift an invisible border from the middle of the street to expand.

Part 3 is Crowley's exit from Heaven in episode 6. For the first two, clips, I like naming the parts as they are given. This one, I'm a little hesitant because if this batch is meant to be found and even named, I'm not sure that is the name. "Cerberus" is also a good name because of the "three heads" thing happening. "First and Last" might not be as good, but it is relevant because of Crowley and Muriel with their respective rank clues. Another name in mind is "Threshold Trick" since this scene is the conclusion of the first of five Threshold Tricks that finish in the episode. I also think Crowley's invisible here, at least up until the light goes up.

The music is the main commonality that made me want to link the scenes. A noticed commonality when linking them is that each one has an associated idea of invisibility that has occurred to me at some point.

Sometimes my sub-conscious plays ahead of me, so that's why I wanted to get this post idea out of my system.

[sonkitty]

The Pocket Trick Touch #5 - Single - Between Door Windows

(For reference: Earthly Objects | The Pocket Trick - Basics)

General

This new version of this post is designed to go with The Sideburns Scheme posts. You can still find the older version of a main post here: The Pocket Trick - Single.

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This one is really, really difficult. It is beyond me in various ways. I suspect it is intended to partly show, by contrast, why it matters that Crowley is so still during The Door Trick because in this one, he keeps moving. It might also mean to show some aspects of the reflection mechanics. One arm crosses over the other, so it might be trying to communicate something important about Crowley's legs being crossed during The Door Trick. Regardless, I don't get these aspects, just sense that is the intent.

Despite that, this touch was also the biggest clue that I should go back and look at the touches again to start Round 2 of the Threshold Tricks. That leads to figuring out the touches in The Pocket Trick have Touch Points, Pocket Frames, a Pocket Chain, and Findable Rainbows.

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Here are GIFs of the touch:

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Pocket Preamble

This touch has a scene that I think of as a Pocket Preamble since I don't consider the touch to truly start until Crowley's left arm is aligned with the window frame of the broken window.

The Pocket Preamble has a Pocket Frame of Standing Chandeliers for Beelzebub and Gabriel.

Here is the cut:

Here is my guess for that Pocket Frame's Touch Point:

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Pocket Frame

The Pocket Frame is Door Windows, possibly even Grid Door Windows. To keep it simple, I say Door Windows.

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Touch Point

My guess for the Touch Point is when Crowley's thumb has a visual touch to the car window frame behind him. He is using the Pocket Chain to allow the touches he has on the actual door and alert an audience player that Touch Points exist at all. This Touch Point is close to the end of the cut for the touch, but it's ensured to be before the last video frame.

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The Hinge

The hinge is with a left thumb CMC joint, watch, and alignment of the jacket with the actual door being touched.

Usually, the hinges aim for the jacket directly, but this one has one pocket in use, instead of two, an actual building door being touched, and has Crowley being the one to open the door.

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Pocket Chain

The previous touch had a Pocket Frame of Car Windows, so that's the most recent link in Crowley's Pocket Chain.

The Pocket Chain has a big role here as what probably allows Crowley to touch the door in the way that he does with his left hand. A car window is visually behind him.

He does not touch only the door panel. His left thumb and its shadow touch the astragal. His left fingers touch the astragal and panel with his index finger managing a touch on a push plate edge in the process.

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Overhead Lights

The Overhead Lights are part of the difficulty of this touch.

Much like the Double, there is a prominently displayed earthly object with a reflective surface to Crowley's left. This time, the object is a standing chandelier.

Unlike the Double, however, Crowley is moving during the pocket touch. As he moves, near the end of the cut, a reflective surface appears above Crowley's left side of his head.

Another difference possibly related to this Overhead Light is that Crowley's mouth is open, and he doesn't talk during this touch either.

So, is that to indicate that reflective surface is the Overhead Light for both heads? I don't know. There are lights above and to the left the Belt Head that are visible through the window, so it at least has something else if I'm wrong.

And if that's the case, then why is Crowley's mouth open? Crowley is extremely particular about his play with his pocket touches in this game, so he's definitely doing that on purpose.

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Findable Rainbow

The findable rainbow is on the standing chandelier. It is animated, and not all colors are on screen at a given time because of that animation.

Finding it, for me, was the biggest clue that there are rainbows meant to be found for each touch. By the time I spotted this rainbow, I was grasping that there is a ridiculous level of attention to detail The Pocket Trick requires to be solved in Round 2.

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Rainbow Connection

(For reference: The Pocket Chain Rainbow Connection Part 3)

The Rainbow Connection starts on Red and switches to Orange. The hardest part is that I can't figure out if there is a switch from Red #1 to Red #2 (or a two-part switch), as there was for Purple.

The Door Trick will show that Yellow needs two switches, but The Door Catch will be allowed a switch to Blue and Purple at the same time.

If there is such an extra switch, it happens here:

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The below frame is the one I most strongly suspect as a Rainbow Connection Reflection. While this touch lacks reflections of anyone that I can find, the watch's reflective surface lights up with this line and a car mirror is likely becoming visible through the window pane, for the car behind Crowley.

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Tied Hands

If the Tied Hands require any word puzzle tying assistance from the preamble, they get it from "bell, book, and candle."

At least one clasp and tassel is visible when Crowley is walking by the broken window.

The tie strands swing off the jacket so much that the tassels twist themselves together and touch a window pane that is going to be part of the Pocket Frame.

After that, the tie strands swing back into Crowley's chest.

Clasps can be seen above Crowley's left hand while he opens the door. Once the left arm obscures the clasps, those clasps stay covered by the left arm.

While I cannot satisfactorily confirm for myself if the tie strands switch which strand is tied to which hand, I can at least say it is more clear the left-most tassel is tied to the left hand after my guess for when a Rainbow Connection Reflection happens.

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Belt Head

The Belt Head is becomes visible while the door is being opened.

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The Other Apparel

Jacket:

The jacket's main job is to create pockets with the door and receive the hinge touch from the watch while those sleeve pockets are happening with the left arm. It also visually passes over the door to Crowley's left.

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Vest: The vest is playing its role as a "thumb lock" in that Crowley's right vest tip is touching the right hand while the left hand is busy touching the door. This right vest tip gets very close to touching Crowley's actual right thumb tip. When this vest tip is progressively moving its touch off the right thumb, Crowley's actual left thumb is progressively moving its touch off the door.

Shirt: The right shirt sleeve is partially out, but I don't know its role here.

Watch: The watch's role in this touch is very strong. It transfers the hinge touch, and it's probably managing the Rainbow Connection mechanics based on when its reflective surface is lit.

Pants: Not much of the pants are shown during this touch. There's mainly enough to confirm the touch involves the right pants pocket. The pants are also used to create a small pocket with the door.

Shoes: Crowley's shoes are not visible at all during this touch.

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Actual Hands

Left Hand:

The actual left hand is very busy this touch because it is the hand opening the door. The hinge is transferred before the left hand touches the door.

The thumb touches the astragal but is receiving some assistance from its shadow. It is visually off the touch from the door once the left-most tassel is hidden in Crowley's jacket. This thumb is responsible for the illusionary touch on the car window frame behind Crowley. After that Touch Point, the thumb hides from view.

The index finger touches the lower part of a push plate on the door. This matches with an area of where Crowley's left sleeve aligned with the push plate on the door to his left during the hinge touch. With Crowley's movement, he does something with that index finger, as if trying to pinch the door but being unable to do such a thing. Eventually, the index finger is off the push plate and touching the door panel.

The middle finger and ring finger touch the astragal and door panel with the middle finger being on the other side of the edge of the push plate Crowley's index finger is touching. These two fingers keep to touching those parts of the door once Crowley has placed his hand on the door.

The pinky finger touches the astragal and door panel. However, after the left thumb has created a pocket with itself and the door as it starts to pull away, the pinky finger follows suit by creating a pocket. It eventually pulls off the door panel but aligns itself and shadow with the astragal instead. It is clearly not touching its shadow at the Touch Point. Then the astragal darkens enough to make it hard to tell if that's still happening for the last few video frames of the cut. It looks like the pinky finger is touching its shadow on the astragal by the last video frame of the cut.

The goal for the fingers might be to earn two Triple multipliers since there are two different instances of three fingertips on the door panel. The first instance includes the middle, ring, and pinky fingers. The second instance includes the index, middle, and ring fingers.

This touch is just plain too difficult for me, but that's still my guess since Crowley is an expert. He presumably has a reason for managing his index finger the way he does.

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Right Hand:

The right hand keeps to being mostly pocketed with the vest tip managing its own touch over Crowley's left thumb.

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Human Assistance

Human assistance is less obvious this time around but is most notable in that a human is driving the car being used for the Pocket Chain mechanics.

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Sequential

I consider the touch to officially start with Crowley's left arm aligned with a window frame of the broken window of the bookshop. As he is walking, a car is to his right. That car has a car window he is going to use for from the Pocket Chain to let him touch the door. Part of his jacket is indeed layered over the window frame.

Crowley's arms are positioned such that both hands could be in pockets or maybe his left hand is in his left pocket, and he's putting his right hand in his right pocket. You can only guess since you can't see his hands or his pants.

Muriel is shown on screen. I suspect Muriel is silently assisting with their all-white uniform though sadly, I cannot figure out exactly what their assistance does. They could be holding the Red for the Rainbow Connection until Crowley's aligned with part of his incoming Pocket Frame. Or, they could be holding something about the Pocket Chain with the car window.

Crowley appears through the windows on the door to the camera's right. There are 6 window panes total, but he makes sure his own actual head does not go as high up as the two window panes at the top.

He is mostly but not fully hidden from view as he passes behind where the doors meet each other.

The door on the camera's left also has 6 window panes. Crowley does place his head visually in the top-most window pane to the camera's right of that door. He keeps himself visually away from the 3 window panes on the other side that is the camera's left and his right.

As Crowley starts to open the door, his vest can be seen as partially visually touching his right hand that is not confirming its pocket touch yet.

The tassels that are the thumbs of his Tied Hands touch the lowest window pane. Crowley's mouth is covered by one of the window frames.

His actual right hand is visible and will soon be clear enough to confirm he has his right fingers in his right pants pocket.

As Crowley opens the door, pockets are formed between himself and that door.

Soon after, the hinge touch happens. The left thumb joint links with the watch as the door is being opened. At that moment, Crowley has 3 pockets made with the door and his own left side. Meanwhile, three other pockets are created among the other door's windows and Crowley's right side.

The watch looks like it is touching the left sleeve which is actually making a vertex touch to the door on Crowley's left at his elbow. In fact, that touch is near a push plate, which is what the index finger is going to mess with on the other door.

The car following along with Crowley is still behind him, and it is most likely why he is allowed to actually touch the astragal as much as he does for this touch.

The left hand starts to open the door and touches the astragal. The left thumb is definitely touching the astragal, and the shadow seems to be managing whatever might be happening with what the left thumb tip is allowed to do. Meanwhile, the index fingertip touches a push plate at a lower edge. The other fingertips touch the door panel with the middle finger being close to the push plate edge with the index finger. Meanwhile, the proximal phalanges of these fingers are touching the astragal. The tie has been successfully blocked from being fully in view.

Crowley's right thumb and Belt Head become visible between the doors.

Crowley's watch is visible and his left side of his jacket is appearing over the door to Crowley's left.

As he keeps moving, it becomes more clear that his right vest tip is touching his right thumb, and that his left arm overall is crossing visually over his right arm.

The watch's reflective surface lights up with that possible switch for Red #1 going up for the Rainbow Connection, to Red #2 for starting to go down.

A tassel of the tie appears below Crowley's left arm immediately after that moment.

He keeps moving with his body showing up more in front of the door to his left. The watch receives a more clearly defined moment of being lit with a white line going across its reflective surface. There is a more evident red alert light for the Rainbow Connection. His left thumb MCP joint is lined up over the edge of the door. The right vest tip is visually over the right thumb's MCP joint. So, that's probably the Rainbow Connection Reflection.

After that, it's also more clear the left-most tassel is tied to the left hand.

The reflective surface of an earthly object that could be the indoor Overhead Light appears above Crowley's left side of his head.

With his continued movement, the Touch Point happens involving the left thumb and the car window behind him.

I suspect it is the last video frame of the cut when the Rainbow Connection switches from Red to Orange.

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #9 v2 - LINK - Update

Behold, the grand knowledge bestowed upon me for trying to study retying of the Tied Hands and the activation of the Belt Head.

In the private room scene in episode 1, you never see Crowley's belt...except...this one time...this tiny little bit of it...right...here:

Yup, those are the silly treasures I find with thorough examination, that may or may not lead to understanding things better later.

Anyway, so here is the update for Sideburns Scheme Post #9.

I updated the following from:

There are a number of places where I think the hair is more red and hesitate. In my previous version of this post, I noted more examples than I will in this version. The main place where I think there is a streak, it actually moved to the right side of Crowley's head, like it did when he was driving. It's from the cut when he says, "So did I."

to:

There are a number of places where I think the hair is more red and hesitate, at this point thinking it is largely absent. If it is there, it may have moved to the right side of Crowley's head. Here is an image of what I mean:

Here is the image noted:

...

I updated the following from:

As stated in the last post, my initial streak theory was that the missing streak in that particular cut is a clue that part is Draft #1. It could still be, but I don't know why the streak disappears when it does in other scenes that I don't think are from Draft #1. The pieces don't line up in a way I understand.

to:

My theory goes that the streak is an after-effect of a Big Miracle performed either on Sunday at midnight or a previous timeline. So, this scene could be a mix of both Saturday and Monday or it could be that previous timeline. I still can't quite get the pieces to line up in a way I understand, but that's still my general guess from the story's clues.

And then a whole bunch of stuff was added to the Earthly Objects section.

Here is the stuff:

Edit, addition as of 09/05/2024:

As an addendum some months after making post, I have tried to study retying and the activation of the Belt Head. This scene is well beyond me in that regard, but I have picked up on a few other details I would like to add for the overall log.

Overhead Lights tend to go that left-side Overhead Lights are for demons, and right-side Overhead Lights are for angels. When Crowley and Aziraphale enter, their heads pocket the lights that reverse this understanding. The lights are to Crowley's right and Aziraphale's left. After passing these lights, Aziraphale's hand reflection can be found in the push plate of the door.

Then, during the scene, Overhead Lights for actual heads are avoided. However, there is partially open door with a push plate that sometimes gets visual touches over it during the scene, including the heads sometimes. It's not an Overhead Light, but it seems to serve some function in the mechanics with the lacking Overhead Lights, especially for Crowley's actual head.

Meanwhile, Crowley's belt is hidden for almost the entire scene. The top of the Belt Head can be found early in this one particular cut:

It's easy to miss. I only caught it because of how thorough I am being overall in my notes.

That cut is also the first of when the unlit lamp to Crowley's left is showing its pole stand that has a mildly reflective surface.

This lamp seems to act as the Belt Head's Overhead Light in a scene that very much avoids Overhead Lights for Crowley's actual head.

For the part where I said I thought Crowley's left hand and watch were up to something, I suspect that is a retying. I'm a little unsure due to how the thumb joints are managed, but various little clues still suggest that to be the case, especially with the watch and left index finger being so overt in action.

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #17 Redone

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 2, The Clue, (Job minisode; Crowley has a permit)

...

Introduction

Well, I said I would decide when the time came, and the time has come. So fine, here we are. As I said way back on my post about Before the Beginning, I have a high preference for present day Crowley as it is.

The whole story and its set of games include various challenges, and the minisodes are no exception, especially when it comes to analyzing Crowley's hair.

Surprisingly, the present day sideburns are still broadly solvable without the minisodes. If anything, they are a guide for trying to figure out the minisodes themselves by telling an audience player to seriously consider the spaces as the hair changes.

I've already admitted these things are a bit over my head when it comes to these memories, but I'll go over the how and why of it a bit more.

A good place to start is The Magic Trick You Didn't See theory I've referenced before, most notably in Post #8.

Reminder, the core theory there is that the Metatron has access to the Book of Life and has been editing it the whole time. More to the point, he's been editing mostly Aziraphale's memories and maybe Crowley's as well.

Now, something I have not said explicitly in my posts from that theory is that the author themself says Good Omens 2 has bad writing in it, presumably on purpose.

Sorry, but it does.

You know what? I'm not a professional author or even much of a reader, but that resonates.

Their idea is that the bad writing is a clue that the Metatron is editing the Book of Life, and he is a bad writer.

Well, I still think the Book of Life is actually in that matchbox, but otherwise, the idea strikes me as quite plausible. Well, sort of. You really shouldn't be able to edit someone's memories. I personally don't think that's a good story-telling device. What's the limit? What are the rules? Why not just write the story exactly as you want it to play out or the person exactly as you want them to be? Unless it's a game?

But I'm not a professional writer, especially Neil Gaiman, and I do believe the "Crowley storming out" sequence is meant to be an obvious story edit.

But not by the Metatron. That was a team effort. This effort suggests the "rules" of such a game would then entail that the Metatron isn't allowed to be the only being that can edit the story (or memories).

The Earthly Objects game is being played, and this game is powerful stuff.

As I've said, Earthly Objects itself might be a book that is a game. So, combining these ideas, Earthly Objects might still then be a book that the Metatron himself can edit, instead of the Book of Life. He still has to play the game at the end.

And certain players of a high enough caliber can make their own edits.

Then we approach what I think is a tricky question for this story.

What is the character point of view?

This question feels like a trap because of the spaces acting like a point of view within the game. People are going to ask the question anyway, especially with this episode giving at least three hints as to who was remembering a scene and who is about to remember a scene.

But since the Earthly Objects game exists, the Metatron could be editing parts, and Crowley and Aziraphale themselves can also be editing parts, an audience player is going to have a very hard time finding the answer.

My understanding is that the memories we see aren't just a person's memories.

These memories are stories, and the spaces in these memories still have readings of Crowley based on various factors though those factors aren't so easily and plainly paralleled to the present day ones.

The stories themselves, I believe, are embellished and contain hidden messages between Crowley and Aziraphale, even if they have to deal with the Metatron intruding on those memories and trying to separate them in the end.

For whatever it's worth to anyone on the character point of view question, I do think Crowley is the closest thing we can have to that.

Aziraphale is the surface-level point of view and messenger.

Crowley is the layered-level point of view and messenger.

On my first viewing, the Good Omens 2 story felt more like Aziraphale's story. It was disappointing and felt quite lacking on Crowley's end of things.

But when I dug deeper and found the games, things changed. I can't see the extent of Crowley's point of view on the story without playing the games. I can't speak for other people, but that's how I feel. The story is amazingly and beautifully different with the games. Since I have played them, I do think finding 6 Threshold Tricks is a big deal, especially with my limited understanding of how much The Pocket Trick affects so much else.

The Threshold Tricks help make the bookend nature between Crowley and Muriel scenes stand out. In turn, Crowley himself having bookend solo cuts for the season stands out more too. He's who we saw first in Before the Beginning. He's who we will see last before the credits slide his cut over to the side and start rolling. He "pockets" the story before those credits start.

So, that's why I have a hard time with the hair in the minisodes and understanding the character point of view. I'll still pass along my limited understanding throughout these posts.

...

Episode Title

This episode has got some nerve being titled The Clue!

It has the first "touch" of The Bigger Thresholds Trick, two more touches for The Sunglasses Trick, and the first two touches of The Pocket Trick. The Pocket Trick starts this episode—The Pocket Trick!!!

The Pocket Trick is loaded with so many clues, such as the most likely place to discover the existence of the Tied Hands.

This episode also has a reflection of Aziraphale in Crowley's sunglasses as a clue for The Window Trick.

There's like 10 million clues in this episode!

If the challenge is to guess The Clue that is not the record but to pick the most special clue of the clues or something, my answer is the Pocket Frame touch point in The Pocket Trick, Triple Part 2. That Pocket Frame is for capturing the Green with the rainbow. It happens before Aziraphale even "proposes".

Here is the video frame in question:

I will go over it more when I get to that part of the episode.

But anyway...

I'm using Crowley's name as a general preference and figuring I can get away with it because the official subtitles do.

Images are brightened as I see fit.

...

Hairstyle Notes

Crowley's hair is shorter than what's going to appear later, but in this minisode, short does not necessarily trend human as it does compared to the present day storyline. It doesn't necessarily mean Crowley's point of view or Aziraphale's point of view either.

This length goes down mostly to his shoulders. When he bows his head with the scroll, some skin can be seen at the neckline of his cloak.

The hair is not just short though. The sides of Crowley's hair are more fluffy and curly than what's going to be shown when he has shorter hair around Job and Sitis.

What's worth considering about the space?

Earth is a lot younger.

This reading looks more like "open" because of at least two factors that aren't Aziraphale or the goats or Crowley himself.

There are no humans in this scene.

Not only are there no humans, there are no human-built or human-inhabited structures with thresholds visible. I keep looking in case I missed it somewhere, and I'm not finding them.

The space is wide, open, and vast. There is a ravine in the background.

I still can't find any humans or human-built structures.

I can find goats, water, plant life, and rocks. There is also a supernatural ball of fire active during most of the scene though it is not formed until after the scene starts and dissipates before the scene's end.

In this particular story within the story, a stronger curl or fluff in the hair is associated with what most closely matches a "supernatural" reading later when human-built structures are involved.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

Crowley touches one of the goats. Aziraphale touches a rock by eventually going to stand up on a specific one. Crowley touches the scroll.

Neither addresses the other by direct name though Crowley is addressed as "Demon" by title initially. The names said are Almighty God, Almighty, God, Satan, and Job.

Questions include "Ah, shall we begin?" and "Where was I?"

Time to pay attention to the pockets.

With the changed costume, there are no present day Tied Hands. However, quickly in their place are threads on Crowley's chest that form pockets over him already.

Crowley creates a pocket between himself and the goat just by grabbing it.

He is pocketed between goats just before he creates the large supernatural ball of fire. Not only that, he briefly crosses his left arm horizontally above his right arm when "Land of Uz" appears on screen.

With his right-side snake tattoo being more evidently visible on his face than in preceding cuts, Crowley crosses his arms upward, then uncrosses them as his means to create the giant fireball.

When Aziraphale shows up, Crowley creates pockets between his arms and his head before fully lowering his arms. As a general guess, that helps keep the ball of fire where it is above him.

The scroll itself creates a massive pocket over the landscape with a small opening between Crowley and Aziraphale themselves::

Crowley is maintaining position under his fireball until he unleashes it. It's like his own temporary supernatural roof.

Aziraphale is notably touching his own robe at times during the scene.

When the crows appear, they are visually pocketed between Aziraphale's and Crowley's heads.

My tangential reading to improve my play has me at finishing Pyramids by Terry Pratchett and starting on Guards! Guards!, which is the book I've found most commonly recommended for reading first instead of going by published order. Yes, I still chose publishing order anyway. Pyramids has a funny-but-cruel "short-handed" joke, which is not a pun I've thought of yet, so I'll be keeping it in mind.

I'm also on The Sandman Volume 2 by Neil Gaiman. I'm in the early part of it but The Threshold was heavily emphasized with the introduction of Desire, and I've been emphasizing thresholds as quite important for this Good Omens 2 story in my own theories.

...

Story Commentary

The opening immediately gives us a year, 2500 BC, with some film grain on the cut as a visual alert that we have entered a story within the story we are watching. This part also helps alert us to something like a movie and different than the sign boards used in season 1. Between Crowley and Aziraphale, Crowley is the one the story tells us who likes movies. He'll mention a "Richard Curtis film" later this episode and was at a movie theater while waiting out whenever Hell would come for him in season 1.

In other words, when looking for a point of view, that's a likely clue, especially since much like Before the Beginning, Crowley is shown first, and he is alone.

Once Aziraphale arrives, does the scene shift to his point of view?

If so, I think it's shared because the stories themselves are like coded messages written between the players, mainly Crowley and Aziraphale, with some potential Metatron invasive edits.

Due to the scenes with the kids later, it's possible the camera angles hint to the point of view, at least sometimes. So, if that's the case, I think that Aziraphale's POV on Crowley is at least the 3/4ths Crowley's left view of Crowley's upper body and face.

That's this general angle:

This particular scene is exaggerated in ways that remind me of a cartoon, such as the scroll rolling its way all over the vast space. That's a clue for someone figuring out the hair about the nature of the space too. That's the type of clue I would expect from Crowley instead of Aziraphale because again, between the two of them, he's the one who is known to watch cartoons.

The scroll appears from nowhere, and once dropped, it doesn't actually go anywhere in the scene itself either. It's not on the ground. It went into that same "pocket" dimension other cartoon items do when items are grabbed for the convenience of a scene.

This scene is a parallel to the closing scene of the minisode, which is far more serious in tone. That makes it the front bookend, or part of an outer pocket, to the minisode itself.

Aziraphale alerts us to how "unreal" the scene is by saying, "This can't be real". The line itself then has two opposing meanings. The memory story can't be real, or isn't quite real, but the contents of the scroll allowing Crowley to destroy everything Job owns is "real".

Hence, maybe things didn't happen this exact way back then, but the messages inside the story are still going to be real enough to hold value to the characters.

In the dialogue, Crowley at one point says, "I am a demon. Maybe I'm lying." I can't find the post I have in mind, but I know there was one where the author remarked that was a signal for Aziraphale's POV since he talks like that in season 1. When Crowley says, "Would I lie to you?" Aziraphale says, "Well, obviously. You're a demon. That's what you do." That tracks...except of course if this memory is how Aziraphale got such notions into his head to begin with. No one ever said the game was fair.

But POV aside, I feel it worth pointing out that this logic works under the premise of "correlation equals causation." As in, the statement implies because Crowley is a demon, he is a liar. With the Rule of Three in Earthly Objects, this logic will repeat two more times during the episode. It will also show that extremely similar literal statements can have strongly different contextual meanings. Here, it means Crowley himself is suspect. Later, it means Crowley was manipulative to use Aziraphale to get him into the mansion and reach the kids. With the concluding scene of the minisode, it will mean a lie to oneself as a shield for admitting loneliness.

As I prefer to interpret the story, Crowley is not a liar because he is a demon. Crowley is a liar because he uses deception as a strategy, for his own side. That can be part of his job as a demon or part of coping with his own existence.

I have to do a lot of questioning for correlation and causation to play the games in the story itself.

In trying to examine how the spaces read Crowley, a few things came up in my notes that are worth mentioning here.

Fire is a relevant element to Crowley himself and occasionally the only visible light source within a scene. That's almost true of this one. Presumably, there is a sun out there somewhere to light the day, but it's never actually shown on screen. Aziraphale's halo—or whatever that thing is surrounding him—also acts as a temporary light source.

However, while the supernatural ball of fire is actively in place, it is shown to affect the lighting on Crowley himself, making his red hair look all the more red, for example.

General reminder, that the quote on the matchbox shown in episode 1 refers to "sparks of fire". I've mentioned I think a lot of things already suggest that link between that quote and Crowley. Fire is going to show up repeatedly.

Another thing that comes up is...hats. Or, in this case, a headband. This headband itself actually changes within the spaces too. Why hats? Why head gear that's not just his sunglasses? Do I have to start paying attention to other head accessories like earrings and regular eye glasses? I don't know. I haven't figured it out. What I have figured out is that at the end of The Door Trick, a symbol of fire can be found to Crowley's right, and a hat worn by a relevant passing human can be found to his left. He is "pocketed" between these two things that keep appearing in the spaces of the minisodes as if they have some meaning. A hat-wearing human was behind him for another crucial part in the preceding cut of Crowley facing the camera.

These are things I can also find in a number of places in season 1 once I know to look for them.

I have mentioned that I suspect Muriel's helmet helps them somehow in their part with The Bigger Thresholds Trick and being unable to fathom how I could ever figure that one out. It's still true.

If I progress further, I will update accordingly as time allows.

Yet another thing that comes up is...roofs. Roofs?!

Yeah, roofs. I was very perplexed at that.

This game is a mind trip, let me tell you. I wrote it out in my notes about my confusion for why the story wanted me to figure out something with the roofs. I know I've seen the roof of the elevator when Crowley and Muriel enter. I know Crowley touches the edge of the roof to his car in The Window Trick.

After reviewing The Door Trick and The Door Catch yet again, but not finding whatever mysterious roof thing I thought I should, I decided to look at the ending credits.

I am not joking that I wrote this in my notes:

"Why am I saving and watching the credits when the elevator roof is still lacking? What does my subconscious sense as relevant that I don't? Is that what's happening? So confused."

And do you know what happened?

Here is what I wrote:

"This game is such a mind trip.

Unbelievable.

My subconscious knew to check that Crowley raised his head enough to make a fucking self-pocket of hair that can be seen in line with the roof of his car when Aziraphale smiles before they are both blurred and disappear from the credits. WTF.

Crowley narrows his eyes when Aziraphale smiles.

That's what my subconscious wanted me to find because of the roof thing!!!"

I can't believe this game!!!

Here's my post about it before publishing this one: If no one ever told you...

Alas, while I have found the fire-and-hat pocket for the end of The Door Trick, I really don't understand why this story thinks those things are worth considering or what they mean. I just know I found a pattern that I suspect is intentional.

Anyway, time to move on...

Muriel

(For reference: Bookend Buddies - Crowley and Muriel (Part 2))

The scroll minisode scene acts as a front bookend to Muriel's one and only minisode scene in the season. Muriel is wearing a headband with some gold. It is not the exact same headband that Crowley wears, but the similarity is nonetheless noted.

I went ahead and made a composite picture to look at both of them their headbands:

The scroll looks very similar to the one Crowley held that disappeared in the preceding scene. Meaning, it's a same-or-similar earthly object they each touch even though they have no other form of interaction during the minisode.

Both Muriel and Aziraphale stand the entire time. Muriel has a desk much like what can be found in the present day scenes, but they have no chair as Michael does. The desk has folders on it too. These things remind of me of the present day form of Heaven since Muriel had a desk and folders there too.

For pockets, Muriel makes one with their hand and the scroll, some pockets between themself and the desk, and some pockets with their own hands.

Satan is brought up in the conversation but not the actual demons working for him. That is to say, Crowley is not named specifically in this conversation.

Muriel has no interaction with Gabriel. The two are not on screen together during the entirety of episode 2. Aziraphale talks to Gabriel and Michael when not with Muriel. When a number of angels show up at the end, Muriel and Uriel are not among them. Whereas both Crowley and Muriel touch the scroll, it is laid out on the floor when Gabriel is on screen, so he never physically touches it.

Crowley's scene is the front bookend to Muriel's scene. Gabriel's scene is the back bookend to Muriel's scene. Meanwhile, Aziraphale is a common thread between all three.

...

That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

...

Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme

[sonkitty]

The Door Trick Brainstorming Draft

The following content was drafted in late January/early February 2024. It was left incomplete for various reasons, such as my still trying to solve The Pocket Trick and starting to more closely consider that some people actually read my posts and are already familiar with the existence of The Door Trick so didn't actually need or want this silly introduction to what it was.

I'm sorting old drafts in my files, and this one is something I had a lot of fun writing at the time. I don't sound like I'm having fun since I'm venting, but no really, it was fun to write. So, please consider that context. Again, it is incomplete.

...

Do you see it?

Do you see what Crowley's left hand is doing?

How about his right hand?

Notice anything?

The left hand has four visible digits. We can't see the thumb.

But...there is a thumb way over there on the right pants pocket.

Are you intrigued?

No?

Well, I hate to break it those of you not interested, but you are supposed to be intrigued.

That is...a Clue. That is a Clue with a capital "C".

Yup. It's true. It is infuriatingly true.

I know, as much as one can know, that it's true.

How do I know?

Because I was intrigued. I wanted to know what could be so special about the hand being that way in that one shot.

He has longest-length sideburns, and he keeps just standing so still like that, but if you compare the preceding two front shots, this particular one stands out because he is showing his left hand after he hid it.

Why would he do that?

Such questions led me to start looking at the show more closely. I figured out, it seems, how the sideburns change in length for the present day.

In that project, I found a game. By this point, I do think it is, indeed, a game. The game is called Earthly Objects.

What does that have to do with Crowley's funny hands at the door?

Everything.

Infuriatingly, everything.

Earthly Objects wants the players to touch earthly objects. If they aim for a threshold-only touch, that requires better play in the game.

Do you know who the highest tier player is in Earthly Objects?

Most likely, it is Crowley, followed by Aziraphale.

What? Why? What do these two get out of being such good players? No one can even compete, can they?

Isn't there a story going on here?

Now there, I do not have answers. I would love to know why I had to spend such painstaking hours in numerous puzzles to find multiple games and to find out what Crowley is doing at the door.

I still haven't told you what he's doing, have I? Sorry about that.

He's doing The Door Trick.

There is, indeed a story, but it's a lying liar of a story that wants you to play its games. It wants you to find The Door Trick.

But that's not enough once you find it.

Nope.

That's what makes this puzzle so infuriating.

The Door Trick is only ONE of SIX Threshold Tricks Crowley does during Good Omens 2.

And do you know what the most infuriating Trick of them all is?

The Pocket Trick.

Crowley needed to use that pocket for The Door Trick.

Eventually, I figured it was time to learn pockets because I found five Threshold Tricks. They seemed to have names I'm supposed to find.

With one possible missing Trick, I figured "The Pocket Trick" was a likely one.

So, off I went to figure out pockets.

The main thing I have figured out about pockets is that everything on the screen is set out to drive you mad in solving the puzzles.

If these things have personalities, The Pocket Trick is the most annoying one though it does have a sense of humor. I'll give it that much. Tied hands on the tie strands? Belt head of the snake linking to Crowley's snake demon head? Holey Crowley pockets to help Aziraphale get into Heaven? The human yawning to his left in The Door Trick could lend him a hand? She is Yawning Yellow, probably. I cannot believe this thing.

Some of those are from The Door Trick, but we're still blaming The Pocket Trick because of its Pocket Chain making The Door Trick act this way. It's a bad influence. Well, more of an annoying influence. Annoying as it may be, pockets are powerful little things.

...

And that's it. That's where I left off. I probably stopped because also, how do you even explain pockets in Earthly Objects?

If you are somehow new here, read all that, and are interested, here are some links for the things I referenced:

Earthly Objects

The Pocket Trick - Basics

The Door Trick (scroll down to the Earthly Objects bold text)

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #84

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 5, The Ball, arrest

...

Sideburns Check

I think that the following is what happens with the sideburn length.

Crowley's left sideburn is shown first and is probably not quite longest-length.

He turns to realize Muriel is where they are.

Then the next cut shows Crowley's right sideburn, and it has lengthened to its longest-length state.

As he approaches Muriel, his right sideburn is still longest-length, and the left sideburn is still not quite as long.

For most of his conversation with Muriel, his right sideburn is the one visible. It's hard to be sure if it's still longest-length, but I think it is.

When he and Muriel start to cross the street, it is almost impossible to determine the sideburn length. Aside from being able to tell that they are still long at least, I can't tell if they shortened or stayed the same length.

By the time Crowley's sideburns are visible again from him turning around while in the elevator, they have shortened. They are not the human-space level short seen in human spaces or after driving time, but they are not as long as when Crowley approached Muriel.

So, if the sideburns are indeed linked with rank, he did actually have his longest-length rank activated for the right sideburn when convincing Muriel to arrest him.

...

Brighter Red Streak Check

The first two of the above images are brightened.

With the darkness, it's really difficult to figure out the streak. I'm finding it more by matching the brightness of some strands with the brightness of Crowley's hair on the left side of his head because that side tends to also get stronger saturation in red.

Once Crowley is closer to Muriel, it's easier to find the streak. That fits with a very recently developing theory that the streak fades with demon darkness.

...

Hairstyle Changes

Due to the lighting, it looks like the hair had not fully darkened to its color in the initial cut for this scene. In the second cut, Crowley's hair looks black with the darkness, even if I take the picture and increase the saturation as much as possible in a graphics editing program. As he approaches Muriel, the red becomes more evident. The style itself looks like the hair along the front, upper right changes from going straight up to leaning slightly to Crowley's right.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

Let's start with acknowledging the scene just before we see Crowley again. It features Aziraphale, Maggie, and Nina while Gabriel is quietly helping and not talking.

This scene establishes that the doors were closed. When were they closed and who closed them?

Well, going back to the escort scene and guessing based on the lighting, Crowley checked to make sure the doors were closed before he officially declared the meeting over.

Who closed them? Based on the limited clues, I think Nina and possibly Maggie since they are closest to the doors when the scene starts. The demons want in, so I doubt they closed them. The exiting humans were focused on exiting, so I doubt they closed the doors.

Another thing I want to know is when Muriel arrived. When Shax used the supernatural elevator, some of the demons turned and gave that elevator attention, so it seems unlikely that Muriel arrived that way.

Still, is there anything in this scene that tells us Muriel arrived?

Well, Aziraphale looks to his left three times when talking to Maggie and Nina. The first look is when he says Crowley will have a plan. Both the second and third look are while he's telling Nina that Crowley rescuing Aziraphale makes Crowley so happy. The second look is at the start of the statement, and the third look is at the end of that statement.

That doesn't really tell us when Muriel arrived so much as if Muriel was arriving from that direction, that's why Aziraphale would look there. A clue the story gives of this possibility is Aziraphale's, the Metatron's, and Muriel's positions after Crowley leaves in episode 6. They should have a way to cloak themselves from the demons then since the demons are in that area.

I still don't know what the deal is with Maggie and Nina, but I do agree with the sentiment that Maggie's dialogue is off here and a mismatch to the things Nina is saying. I think both of them are either used by or puppets of the Metatron, but Maggie's the one of them who comes across as more fake as a person.

And since this is the earthly objects section, Aziraphale and Gabriel touched rugs to ensure touches were happening in the scene.

...

(For reference: Bookend Buddies - Crowley and Muriel (Part 2))

Alright, this part is going to be long and detailed. I have a limited understanding of what's happening, but I will share that limited understanding.

As is my understanding from the clues with the pocket trickery of this game, Crowley and Muriel have a deep trust in each other. They have something like a trust switch, so that they don't seem to really remember each other or know each other very well, but their layered Earthly Objects play remembers or knows something and helps them through this part of the game.

The story has established that supernatural beings can selectively wipe their memory. Gabriel wiped most of his, but Aziraphale managed to manipulate his own mind so that he could learn French the hard way. Saraqael may have contributed to whatever the mechanics are that Crowley and Muriel use since we'll see Saraqel interact with them during their visit.

...

Once we're back to Crowley, this scene is the start of the Triple for The Bigger Thresholds Trick.

To start us off, here are links to the GIF sets I made for the Heaven entrance and Heaven exit in particular:

Heaven Entry GIF Set 1

Heaven Entry GIF Set 2

Heaven Entry GIF Set 3

Heaven Exit GIF Set

...

Each touch in The Bigger Thresholds Trick is a puzzle. The trick is done in a complex way, and then an audience player is supposed to figure out the answer based on the clues.

In the pub, Crowley "switched lanes".

In the music shop, Crowley "never let go of the door".

Here? I've admitted I don't know the answer, but I finally found the one I'm looking for in drafting this post. I cannot tell you how satisfying that is because I thought I would never get it. While I am in that uneasy state I was when I came up with, "Think outside the pocket," I am still more sure than I have ever been I got it. I have changed my mind and could still change my mind on things in the past, but that's where my play is today.

There are at least two answers and possibly a third bonus one because of the Rule of Three in Earthly Objects.

In round 1 of the Threshold Tricks, the answer is Crowley "did not touch the buttons".

In round 2 of the Threshold Tricks, the answer is Crowley "pretended to be arrested by an angel".

The bonus third answer is Crowley "engaged in misdirection".

The below segment is based on play that I did not reach that second answer just yet because I want to show any interested reader how I reached it. If it looks like I am stretching things, I am, but that is how to play this game. It is hard! If you are satisfied with knowing that is my answer is what it is, skip ahead to the sequential part indicated in bold. Know that the "blah" part in the sequential section is the rest of how I decided on "pretended to be arrested by an angel" is the answer.

...

Here? I don't have the answer, so I am going to lay out a lot of pieces.

The more general ideas in play are:

-Crowley did not touch the buttons.

-Crowley did not touch the doors on entry.

-Crowley pretended to be arrested.

-Crowley entered and turned around. Then Muriel entered and turned around.

-Misdirection is a great answer for the question as a basic riddle, "How do you trick an elevator?"

-Something is going on with the lighting and shadows, as if the threshold thinks Crowley is a shadow; he is theoretically invisible on exit.

-Crowley was first.

...

For the first two touches, both explanations include a verb and a noun with the noun matching the multiplicative adjective. By that I mean, in the pub, there are two lanes. In the music shop, there is one door. Ideally, the simple answer for Heaven would have a verb and a noun to represent the triple.

Another thing to keep in mind for this trick is that the buttons are the elevator's equivalent for doorknobs.

Excluding Crowley's name, the answer for the first touch is two words. The answer for the second touch is five words. Given that, we are looking for a relatively short answer.

Let's go over these ideas and why I am not quite satisfied with any of them.

...

Crowley not touching the buttons is the easy answer, but it feels a little too easy compared to the past two touches. It at least references the triple in that there are three buttons and has a verb with "touch".

At some point, I decided I wanted to make visual representations and GIF sets to help communicate that these Threshold Tricks are what they are. I was more strict on what segments of this trick to actually choose as GIFs.

Here is the original set:

Shortly after publishing and seeing the GIF set, it became evident to me that the trick is related to the chosen lighting and shadows of the atmosphere. Since the Threshold Tricks have two rounds, we might be able to get away with not needing a noun for the triple or be satisfied with finding a three or a triple some other way.

...

Crowley did not touch the doors on entry is part of whatever is happening, but the main thing it lacks is that the noun, "door," is not tripled, and it re-uses a noun from another touch.

...

Crowley "pretended to be arrested" is my current best guess, but I'm not convinced it's correct. It lacks a noun. For finding a three, I can mainly look to the letters within this prospective answer. Excluding Crowley's name, focusing on the phrase, "pretended to be arrested," there are 3 of the letter "r", 3 of the letter "t", and 3 of the letter "d". That's good to find because that's a triple. There are 3 sets of 3 found. While the phrase is 4 words, it does have 3 spaces when typed or written down.

When the doors closely slowly on both Crowley and Muriel, one of the doors has the word, "LETTERS" on it, so that's a clue that the letters within this answer are indeed worth considering.

Another sign that answer is the correct one is that when the doors close in on Crowley, he is shown to be contained in 3 windows that look like cells, reminiscent of a jail cell.

Still another clue is that Crowley literally says to Muriel, "You're arresting me, why would I be trying to trick you?" while inside the threshold. That's very likely a clue. For The Pocket Trick, Triple Part 2, he has one line that says, "Do you need a lift somewhere?" as the clue that the Pocket Frame is Cars.

The problem with this answer is that its link with the lighting and shadows is limited. Lighting is heavily a clue, especially if pockets are involved. Pockets are involved here, as we will see when we go over the entrance in a more detailed, sequential format. The strongest lighting is on Muriel. They are wearing all white. While there are lines of white light along the sides, Muriel is still the subject that dominates the entrance scene with given the most focus in the lighting due to their white attire.

That could fit with, "pretended to be arrested," since Muriel is in uniform as their Inspector Constable presentation.

...

For Crowley and Muriel turning around, I suspect that's related to whatever the true answer is, but it's still not the answer. The clues are stronger with the arrest if I start looking at things like a lacking noun and number of letters within the phrase. Plus, the arrest answer is part of the dialogue.

...

For misdirection, both Crowley and Muriel engage in misdirection for this scene. It looks like Crowley is tricking Muriel instead of Muriel being his trusted assistant for tricking the elevator.

"Misdirection" is the name of an achievement for a video game called Enter the Backrooms. "The Small Back Room" is the name of Maggie's record shop, and Aziraphale spelled that shop as "Backroom" on his list, so it's worth keeping in mind as part of an answer.

Misdirection is such a good answer, but it should be part of a phrase. Crowley engaged in misdirection?

Hmm.

Let's look at the LETTERS clue for this idea.

We already examined letters for "pretended to be arrested," but there is something we can look at in the letters for "misdirection".

Misdirection has a prefix, "mis," and it is three letters long.

I cannot come up with a phrase to be represented by each letter but since lighting and shows are on my mind, I can at least come up with, some word, followed by "in shadow" or "in shadows".

Misdirected in shadows? Missing in shadow? Melted in shadow? Meeting in shadows?

Nothing truly clicks, and the other issue is that the answer should be simple enough.

Now it's becoming too complicated. The mechanics are complicated, but the solution should still be a simple answer to, "How did Crowley trick the Heaven elevator?"

He pretended to be arrested by an angel.

I've added three more words this time with "by an angel", and one of the added words is a noun that is not tripled, but still, the answer is simple enough for me to understand compared to, "misdirected in shadows," or whatever m-word I can think of.

I like it though I'm a little uneasy about reaching 7 words. There is a tiny silly clue that's okay in that the previous touch mixed in with the Double from The Pocket Trick had 7 fingers used on the pants pockets. If that's the maximum words, we've found the answer.

Oh, but "misdirection" is such a good answer or part of an answer, especially with the context of the scene!

He "pretended to be arrested by an angel as misdirection" is probably too many words and too complex for a simple answer. The answer is still limited in its link with the shadows.

Can we have three acceptable answers since it's the Triple and Earthly Objects has a Rule of Three? Or is that, again, too complicated?

...

Another notable thing that happens but does not really fit with any of these answers is that the doors close slowly and end up over Crowley's watch.

I've described the watch as something like a lookout.

Whenever I watch the scene, the doors closing slowly is when it feels like that's where I'm supposed to see the answer.

But I don't.

...

While I doubt this answer is the answer the game is looking for, an underlying core part of the trick in play is that Crowley trusts Muriel.

...

In my earlier play of this game, I remarked that Crowley being first is the most confusing thing he does, given how he tends to manage thresholds and entries with Aziraphale. When he exited the bookshop, he was first with Mrs. Sandwich instead of first alone with someone behind him.

After finding the closer link between Crowley and Muriel, I noticed that not only is Crowley first, Muriel is last. I don't know why it matters, and if it matters a lot since my intuition alarms have quieted over time, but my intuition does tell me it probably has an intentional reason, some unknown value the characters find in it.

...

The Triple — Sequential

Alright, let's go over this first part of this touch in a sequential format...

It is the only touch of The Bigger Thresholds Trick that spans two episodes, so that's probably intentional for us to know how important this Triple is.

Crowley's a lone demon among demons. Muriel is blurry and to his right. Crowley takes a breath, and the scene creates a shared blur between him and Muriel as Crowley looks at Muriel. The clarity establishes that there is a sidewalk, so that means a threshold will be crossed.

There are two lights to Crowley's left, but they are evenly aligned with his left ear instead of above them, so they are not his Overhead Lights—at least not directly. Those lights are for Muriel, who is theoretically going to let Crowley in for using Muriel's Pocket Chain. These lights are indeed above Muriel's right ear already.

There is one demon near the corner of this sidewalk and another two near those Overhead Lights.

Crowley turns his head to look straight ahead by the end of the cut.

In the next cut, Crowley is looking straight ahead and decides to look to his right again. This cut establishes that Crowley's car is still in the supernatural zone as the general clue that we have this active supernatural zone stemming from him. As Crowley walks toward Muriel, his left shoulder visually touches his car behind him. Knowing Crowley, that's probably helping to establish that car is supposed to hold the zone while he's gone until the day resets.

Now there is another cut that shows us a switch.

Crowley's left shoulder is visually touching Muriel first. That puts Muriel on the angel side for how the shoulder angels and demons work in the story.

As Crowley approaches, the camera shifts to put Muriel as touched by Crowley's right shoulder. That puts Muriel on the demon side.

But that's not the only thing that happened with this switch.

In the last video frame of the cut, Crowley completely obscures the two demons who are near those Overhead Lights. Speaking of those Overhead Lights, this cut is when they are above and to the left of Crowley's left ear. They are obscured by the end of this cut. He doesn't do that with a lot of other Overhead Lights, so that might be to make sure those lights are still for Muriel.

This cut also shows Crowley passing by the demon near the corner, who is ignoring Crowley.

Now it's time to move onto the next cut.

This cut is when it's time to look for the Tied Hands being retied as Crowley says, "Officer, I need to report a crime."

They are already crossed with the strand that would be closest to Crowley's right, in standard position, all the way over Crowley's left arm. This placement includes the clasp and tassel that are the thumb joint and thumb.

It swings back toward Crowley's right, showing its tassel in such a way that we can reasonably conclude the clasp its obscuring is hitting the lapel edge for that requirement of the retying process. That also puts both clasps as potentially striking each other.

Crowley's right index finger is extended during this cut, for making a point.

The left CMC thumb joint probably meets a jacket edge shortly before the watch reaches its strongest moment of clarity in this cut. Additionally, the left MCP thumb joint is clear and using the shadows to assist where it's probably close to a lapel edge.

The Belt Head was visible during this sequence.

So, retying is likely done by now.

The Bentley was still visible in the background during this cut but not visually touched by Crowley.

Now let's move onto the next cut that focuses on Muriel.

During the cut, Muriel creates a small pocket with their left hand and notepad. Their left thumb MCP joint aligns with their Pocket Chain.

I'm going to play this part as saying that's Muriel letting Crowley in for using their Pocket Chain during this upcoming trick.

Crowley's Pocket Chain is heavily dependent on human presence, and there will be no humans in Heaven, as far as we can tell. We're going to see humans during this entrance, but I still suspect the mechanics at work are something like Muriel allowing Crowley to use their Pocket Chain will hold Crowley's place in the Rainbow Connection for his Pocket Chain. White keeps, and Muriel is wearing all white.

Muriel creates a pocket twice with their right arm, torso, and bottom of the screen during this cut as well. During that, their right hand's shadow is over one of their jacket pockets and extended two fingers. These two characters are working together, so that's probably intentional as well.

Crowley's body is obscuring those two Overhead Lights at the start of the cut. He moves to reveal them, obscures them again, and then still ensures they are visible by the end of the cut.

The next cut starts with, "You're a law enforcement officer?" This cut has no signs of retying, no Belt Head, no watch clarity, no Overhead Lights. It looks like we're maintaining position, so to speak. The car is probably a blurry black blob behind Crowley to Crowley's right, at the edge of the screen.

In the next cut, Muriel still has those Overhead Lights and makes pockets with their arms and the bottom of the screen, moreso with their right arm than their left.

The next includes dialogue, starting with, "As a law enforcement officer.." Crowley's car is still behind him. He's not making pockets, retying his Tied Hands, or getting overhead lights, so presumably he's still maintaining position.

In the next cut, Muriel still has those Overhead Lights and makes pockets with their arms and the bottom of the screen. This cut is with the "Yes, but.—" part of the dialogue. Muriel extends their left middle finger in this cut. That's an interesting choice.

In the next cut, Crowley says, "Good, then arrest me." Crowley spreads his arms. With that action, he creates two pockets. One pocket is with his right arm and bottom of the screen. The other pocket is with his left arm and Muriel's head, likely aligning left thumb CMC joint with Muriel's helmet. That helmet is going to help him with his actual head Overhead Light.

In the next cut, Muriel asks, "What?" This one also looks to be maintaining position. Muriel still has the Overhead Lights and is not making pockets or putting their digits or thumb joints in any particular places. The digits are off screen. Crowley moves enough to show those demons near the lights. Why are those demons there? They are so far removed from the others. Are they in on it?

In the next cut, Crowley brings his hands together, showing off his watch in the process. Anything related to tying his Tied Hands? If so, I would guess it's to allow the method he will use.

In the next cut, Muriel receives focus. Crowley is partly obscuring those Overhead Lights, and his actual hands can be seen near the bottom of the screen. Crowley moves to stop obscuring those lights as Muriel responds to him. With their response, there is one particular video frame where their left thumb tip visually touches their white Pocket Chain. Muriel's dialogue includes, "This is very difficult," and I agree Muriel. This part of the game is very difficult. Crowley does not obscure those Overhead Lights until near the end of the cut, but they are completely covered by Crowley by the end of the cut.

That must be a sign that Crowley and Muriel are linked for Muriel's Pocket Chain or an important step in the process.

In the next cut, Crowley leans forward and says a lot of words about him being a demon, demanding to be arrested, and them not having much time. The watch was on screen at the start of this cut and is gone by the end of the cut. Both his MCP thumb joints are visible early in the cut. He keeps moving his hands on and off screen near the bottom of the screen. His car behind him is finally removed from the camera's view as a clue that the link noted above is in place. If it's shown again, it's hard to tell because the demon nearby and how little of the car is shown.

In the next cut, Muriel's pocket chain is only barely visible at the start of the cut. It hides during the cut. Crowley is now completely covering those Overhead Lights.

Now for the "blah" words, and...I cannot believe the things this game gets me to do to play.

In the next two cuts, Crowley says the word "blah" multiple times, and Muriel says the "blah" multiple times with their voices overlapping for the last two "blah"s from Crowley and the first two "blah"s from Muriel.

Why do I care so much? Because of the numbers.

To play this part, I loaded up the video into an editing program and slowed down the audio so I could count the number of times each character said "blah" and when.

Crowley says "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." He says it 7 times, and here I am with my most likely answer at 7 words of "pretended to be arrested by an angel," based partly on a hint of 7 fingers involving pockets from the last touch. The Overhead Light for the pub is barely visible, but it is there, visually touched by Muriel's helmet, above and to the left of Crowley's left ear.

There are two overlapping "blah"s because Muriel starts to say "blah" while Crowley is talking.

Muriel says "blah" 5 times. If I remove the 2 overlapping ones, I have 3 clear "blah"s from Muriel here on the Triple. The official subtitles clued in me into look for the 3 Muriel said since they are the 3 the subtitles credit.

When I realized the voices were overlapping and confusing me for who said "blah" how many times, I decided to check the audio more thoroughly.

Still in a cut with Muriel receiving focus, Crowley says, "Good job, you've arrested me," with his shadow's movement being cast over Muriel's jacket pockets and pocket chain. That specific dialogue is well-timed with those underlying numbers of the "blah" words I just checked.

Once the shadow is done with its movement, Muriel asks, "I have?" They still have those Overhead Lights.

Then Crowley says "blah" 7 times again with no overlap from Muriel this time. That is 3 times the game has given me a 7 now as a clue. Crowley is repeating this clue in this scene here with the arrest of this Trick. That Overhead Light for the pub is barely in the cut again, visually touched by Muriel's helmet..

In the next cut, Muriel gives a little smile and has those right-side Overhead Lights with the pocket chain visible; the lower part of the pocket chain is cut off at the bottom of the screen.

In the next cut, Crowley says he'll come quietly. There's that Overhead Light from the pub again with Muriel's helmet.

In the next cut, Muriel asks, "Come where?" They still have Overhead Lights and their pocket chain partly visible in the cut. Their eyes were already glancing to their right, then shift to Crowley to wait for the answer. The pub is to their right and where they will summon the elevator.

In the next cut, Crowley makes a point with his index finger, shows clarity with his watch, and answers, "Heaven." The left arm is making a pocket with his torso and the bottom of the screen. Retying of the Tied Hands is starting, I think.

In the next cut, Muriel looks in the direction of where those two nearby demons should be and decides to summon the elevator. Those Overhead Lights are still on screen with Muriel.

In the next cut, Crowley turns to look at the pub. He keeps his index finger extended during the cut even though he moves it off screen. He says, "Right."

In the next cut, finally, we see the humans. It's so quick and easy to miss, but they are visible in the pub. I'll go over the implications of that with the story. For Earthly Objects play, it would seem that even with the supernatural zone, Crowley should have humans on screen before entering a threshold using Muriel's pocket chain. I'll go with guessing and saying it helps Crowley put his own Pocket Chain on pause for when he gets back.

In the same cut with the humans visible, that left-side Overhead Light from the pub is most clear. Crowley is not on screen with it, but that window from his second simple window look earlier is. Muriel is not on screen in this cut either.

Everything he's done is probably supposed to build up to allow him to use that Overhead Light. That's for his actual head. He should still get another one for his Belt Head.

In the next cut, over to the camera's left, which is Crowley's and Muriel's right are the two nearby demons and one obvious Overhead Light. There is also a tiny little light that's harder to notice. A little one was allowed as an Overhead Light during The Perfect Entrance Trick, so how does this one work?

For my own play, the bigger light starts as Muriel's Overhead Light because Muriel is closer to it. The little one starts as one for Crowley's Belt Head since this cut is when the Belt Head is visible before Crowley enters the elevator. If Crowley is going to use a right-side Overhead Light, something here needs to handle for that.

The something is that Muriel switches their sides. The smaller light briefly hides in the greenery of a tree as Muriel is behind Crowley during the switch. By switching the sides, Muriel also switches their Overhead Lights so that Crowley gets the bigger one.

Crowley's watch is visible from a distance. A strike of a clasp on a lapel edge probably happens when that clasp becomes shiny near the end of the cut. Instead of Crowley extending his index finger to make a point, he has both his right index and middle finger extended This part is them working together. Muriel will handle whatever needs to be done as extra for any further retying.

Crowley has a self-made pocket with his left arm, left hand, and lower jacket front as he starts to step down from the sidewalk. Muriel's white is in this pocket. Crowley's left thumb joint probably aligns with a jacket edge before his second step lands on the road.

Now Muriel has just that one little overhead light. Since they have a helmet, and Crowley's own past minisode head gear acted as his substitute Belt Head, Muriel probably should get at least two Overhead Lights in the much the same way Crowley does.

In the next cut, the elevator doors are shown to open.

Crowley jumps up, allowing his silhouette to strike various parts of the door frame on entry. This cut is the main one he shares with the humans. They are no longer clear due to the shadows. I can figure out they are still there based on where their lighter colors ended up once Muriel's miracle touch pushed them into a shadowed space from the zone. Crowley's reflection is in the window pane so visually touching over where those humans are.

With the jump, Crowley visually pockets the doorknob on the left door, from his view. He creates pockets of light with his right side and the door. His actual head goes above the door frame to visually touch a set of windows above it.

His lower jacket edges line up with the right side door frame in specific ways. His right hand visually touches the right side door frame. He creates a little pocket with his right shirt sleeve, right jacket sleeve, and the edge of that door. Muriel's reflection can be found in the window pane now instead, during this part involving the door frame.

Crowley's left thumb joint brushes up against the lower left corner of his jacket.

Before Crowley starts to turn around, Muriel's reflection is no longer in the window pane.

He turns around. With the turn, his tie strands are visible. They move so that one of the clasps probably hits a lapel edge as some of the tassels hide in the inner part of the jacket. The tassel tips are visible in this movement.

Crowley's left hand moves to touch the back of his lower jacket. With a slight delay to follow that movement, the tie strands center themselves on Crowley's vest.

Crowley's left vest tip is aligned visibly over a belt loop to help alert us that the Belt Head is active. It's going to take on the role of a headband eventually.

There is a tiny pocket Crowley has created with his right arm and jacket torso. His legs are forming a pocket with the bottom of the screen. I've seen his legs do that plenty of times, but it is somehow very distracting and hot, for me, here.

If Crowley truly needs assistance for retying from Muriel, Muriel probably handles it here by aligning the notepad with an edge of the door frame and pinky finger with another edge of a door frame. They have a small pocket with their left elbow and the bottom of the screen. Crowley's little pocket with his right arm is near his elbow.

In the next cut, Muriel receives focus. Crowley is not on screen. Those mysteriously helpful two demons are in the background near the Overhead Lights. Muriel asks, "You aren't trying to trick me, are you?" This question is a Trick question, haha. Their pocket chain is visible. The Overhead Lights look complicated, whatever they are doing, but they are above and to the left of Muriel's right ear, visible through a nearby tree. Muriel should have enough, but they'll get an extra cut for whatever this cut doesn't accomplish.

Crowley looks like he's tricking Muriel, certainly, on the surface-level story. In the layered Earthly Objects game, these two are tricking the elevator together, with Muriel as Crowley's trusted assistant.

The next cut shows us some of that assistance. With that question, Crowley gets another cut from within the elevator as he has his own Trick question back. Some things have changed since his last cut and before Muriel will enter with him. That little elbow pocket is gone. Crowley's left hand is no longer hiding with a touch behind the lower back part of his jacket. He has a different pocket created with his right shirt sleeve and side edge of his jacket, allowing the right thumb joint to be against that edge. He has a self-made pocket with his right hand.

The tie strands have settled in a little more with his vest. The tassel for the left-most strand had its tip crossed under the right-most tassel. The cross is gone, and they are both aligned more neatly and straight down with the vest and shirt. Retying should be officially done by this point.

In the next cut, the theoretical trust switch seems to activate to a higher awareness as Muriel blinks before deciding to enter the elevator. There is a more clearly defined Overhead Light for Muriel to their right.

In the next cut, Muriel shows that touch with the notepad again and moves to pocket that earthly object. In such movement, their right arm creates a pocket with their body. While Crowley visually pocketed a doorknob as he entered, Muriel does not. Muriel's right arm covers the right doorknob instead.

Their left arm briefly creates a pocket that must be visually over Crowley but with the fog and intense lighting of the elevator, I can't tell what part of him it might be, such as just part of his leg or the edge of where the jacket is over the leg.

Muriel is still visibly, physically touching their chosen jacket pocket to put the notepad away when Muriel's right jacket sleeve and hand are visually over the edge between the doors behind them and Crowley in the elevator.

They follow Crowley's lead in turning around.

At this point, it's worth reminding you that pocket doors are sliding doors, and this elevator's doors do slide. Once Muriel is done using that jacket pocket, it's time to stop visually touching that edge where the elevator doors meet.

Muriel's left arm is visually touched by the doorknob they did not pocket. It happens near that same elbow that made a pocket with the screen earlier. Muriel manages to avoid any visual touches with the buttons.

They look over to Crowley as he instructs them, "Close the doors."

They barely hesitate before obeying.

Another clue that Muriel is assisting with this Trick, rather than being tricked, is their right arm, elbow in particular, gets so close to visually touching over the edge between those elevator doors again. They manage to avoid the edge.

Because they got so close, that means they had a reason. It's time to look for other clues as to why that might be. Based on what I know how to play this game, it's so that Muriel's reflection could properly touch the door handle with where that reflection is found.

With the camera having zoomed in further on these two characters in the elevator, it becomes more evident that Crowley has a tiny self-made pocket of hair.

Another clue about Muriel being a trusted assistant is that Muriel looks down to ensure they have their position as it should be, arms at their sides and legs however they are supposed to be. I can't tell with the lighting if Muriel wants a pocket with the screen or a shadow there instead. Whatever it is, they check it.

As the doors close over the pair, the doors do not close directly over that line where the elevator doors behind Crowley and Muriel meet. The doors close over Crowley's watch.

The windows create a grid of cells. Three cells contain Crowley. The top cell is most of his head, but not all of it. For some reason, his chin is disrupted by this edge. Maybe it's because of how intends to use his Belt Head. The middle cell contains Crowley's chin, neck, right shoulder, and the lower line is below the knot of Crowley's tie and above where the thumbs and thumb joints of his Tied Hands are. The bottom cell is where those parts of the Tied Hands would be but are obscured by the fog.

Meanwhile, Muriel is mostly contained in three cells. However, Muriel's left arm is slightly outside one of the cells. Their top main cell is the top of their helmet. The main middle cell has their face and tie. The main bottom cell is where their pocket chain should be.

In the next cut, the elevator is shown going up. We are never told if either of them touched the buttons, and we do not get a miracle sound for if Muriel did such a thing either. Something this cut does show us is that the pub doors stay. We don't know what they become on the inside though the exit later suggests it is a wall instead of another set of doors.

In this cut, none of the demons notice the elevator.

In the next cut, Shax turns around and does notice. Shax's face remains neutral in watching the elevator go up. Given how the story unfolds, Shax could be another piece of the game the Metatron is using, so this look helps alert him it's time to make his own move to start entering the book.

No one is going to acknowledge that Crowley left or question where he went.

...

Story Commentary

We have a potential continuity issue with the doors. Those doors were closed when Aziraphale was talking to Nina and Maggie. They are open when Crowley approaches Muriel. They stay open. They will be closed when we see them at the start of episode 6.

That doesn't mean they didn't change; it means how and when they changed is suspect. Are we looking at different drafts of the story or not being shown who is changing what when actively as characters in the story? Did the demons open them, and then the beings inside closed them again? Then Shax will open them again at the start of episode 6?

In the earlier episodes with Crowley's car, I was never able to find humans through the windows in the street. Here, I can, but only when Shax and Muriel have activated the elevator to use. Otherwise, humans remain in appearing absent from the supernatural zone.

...

With the sideburns and their potential link to rank being activated, that means Crowley really is in charge with Muriel here. When he commands Muriel to put on the cuffs, the following cut is Muriel's thumb tip visually touching their Pocket Chain. That's their figurative way of following Crowley's order through the game. When he demonstrates what to say, Muriel says "blah," even if the number of times it is said is different. When he indicates Heaven, Muriel decides to summon the elevator. There is no order for Muriel to actually enter the elevator; the sideburns have shortened. Muriel pauses to ask their Trick question that allows Crowley his altered posture for the next cut. They then decide to enter and obey Crowley's order to close the doors.

...

(Theory)

Regarding the watch having the doors close in on it, this story requires some very outside-the-pocket thinking in order have its games played.

The characters are in a "pocket reality" that is their own story taking place. That story is in a book, or show, or something along those lines.

This pocket is going to be turned inside out. This book is going to be inverted or flipped or something so that the reader or editor outside who is the Metatron can get in. Those inside are not leaving the story or its pocket.

We have not heard the Metatron's name yet this season. We have not seen his face yet this season. We will not see him until during the visit in Heaven, and even then, that part will be past recordings as a floating head. He will be the only being lacking a corporal form during that segment.

A clue the story gives about the nature of this inversion or switch or whatever it will truly call this event in season 3, if it is explained, is that the main bookshop clock hands will invert their meaning.

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Because the doors closed on Crowley's watch, the Lookout for his advanced pocket mechanics, that suggests this inversion is done on purpose.

I'm not sure the purpose is to actually get the Metatron given the tension of the ending, but I suspect there is a reason Crowley and Aziraphale want the inversion to happen with Muriel's assistance.

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That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

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Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme