#s1e4: act of god

[tarlosstory]

TARLOS | S1E4 | Part 1 [TK only] FULL TARLOS STORYLINE | ONLY TARLOS SCENES

[skitskatdacat63]

"Fernando" S1E4 - Fernando Alonso & Carlos Sainz Sr.

[percheduphere]

LET'S TALK ABOUT "HE'LL MAKE IT BACK"

Special thank you to @mmobiuses, @starrose17, and @stevenrogered whose gifs make-up the lion's share of this post. Thank you to all the other amazing gif artists as well, without you, my metas won't be possible.

This might come as a surprise to a lot of people, but I actually wasn't big on Lokius until Season 2. I thought Loki and Mobius made a cute ship in Season 1, but that was the extent of it. In truth, I lost interest in the Loki series by the S1 finale and had 0 interest in watching S2. I didn't give the series another try until I saw positive reviews on Tumblr. I therefore started watching S2 when S2E4 dropped.

LOKI SEASON 1

Enjoying the potential love story between two characters is a deeply personal and subjective experience. So take what I say as my personal experience observing Loki and Mobius's relationship.

I fully believed Mobius loved Loki in S1 in the platonic sense. Tom Hiddleston has given a few interviews on Loki's and Mobius's relationship and seems to believe in this sentiment as well [see 5:30-7:30 and 10:57-11:00]).

That is to say, in S1, I didn't feel, "Oh, my god ... he loves him." It was more, "Yes, he loves him", there is no question, his actions prove it.

There is wiggle-room for unrequited love in the S1E4 interrogation scene, but the jealousy Mobius exhibited could have just as easily been a combination of anger on behalf of his murdered colleagues and platonic jealousy.

However, I felt the first hint of unrequited love from Mobius occurred during his goodbye scene with Loki in S1E5. Specifically, this look:

I had no expectations for that look to pay off in any way. Season 2 surprised me.

LOKI SEASON 2

S2E1 is amazing episode because, through subtext, it reframes how Mobius's S1 emotions may be interpreted with stronger evidence for romantic motivation. In this episode, there appears to be a subtle, gradual build-up to the moment that Mobius's love for Loki may be viewed as fully romantic. Let's break down the episode and look at the progression:

First, learning that Loki is at the TVA: *sigh* I can't find the "Loki's here?" gif.

Second, and perhaps the most infamous, the reunion and whole-body support Mobius provides Loki in the TVA War Room (physical comfort):

Third, Mobius bringing Loki somewhere safe and quiet, assuring him that "it's okay" (emotional comfort):

Fourth, Mobius insisting that Loki's condition must be fixed, not once but twice, in two different scenes. A third (writer's magic 3s!) instance occurs in the Heart of the TVA, just before the gangway scene (prioritizing the other):

Fifth, Mobius's admission that Loki's timeslipping looks horrible, and he can't look at it anymore. He repeatedly stresses to Loki how serious this is (emotional and physical empathy):

Sixth, Mobius taking Loki to exact right person who can help. This is particularly significant, because Mobius is the only person in MCU canon who has verbally expressed concern for Loki's physical well-being and took immediate action to stop the pain (act of service):

Seventh, the third time Mobius prioritizes Loki's wellbeing. He scolds Loki and reminds him they have only one shot at getting his timeslipping corrected before the temporal radiation becomes too high (prioritizing the other):

Eighth, Mobius interrupting Loki, insisting that he will make it back. The subtext here is that no other outcome is acceptable or thinkable for Mobius (emotional comfort):

Finally, Ninth, the clincher: "He'll make it back." (self-comfort)

This scene is everything to me. Moments 1 through 8 build-up to this singular moment. Let's do a micro-analysis on it.

After Loki timeslips, the camera stays on Mobius. It tracks him as he kneels down to pick-up the time sick, the last thing Loki touched. The camera then pans up as Mobius rises.

@stevenrogered, THANK YOU for this gifset. It's literally the only one I could find that captures the camera tracking Mobius after Loki disappears, and this is my all-time favorite Mobius scene.

Mobius stands for a moment, motionless, and the camera holds on his facial expression. He's staring at where Loki WAS for extended period of time (keep this in mind for later). He's holding his breath. He's worried, scared, and hopeful, not for himself and the danger he faces on the gangway, but for Loki.

Finally, he exhales as he says to himself, "He'll make it back".

This entire sequence--particularly the moment when Mobius picks-up the time stick and holds it in silence--made me feel, "Oh ... Oh ... he loves him."

The camera stays with Mobius, capturing his reaction to this high-stakes situation for a significant amount of time (@loki-us, maybe you can get this timed starting from the moment Loki disappears and Mobius starts to kneel to pick-up the time stick?). Cinematographers don't do this type of hold unless they want to illicit a strong emotion from the audience regarding the character we are focusing on in the moment.

My insides swooped, which rarely ever happens when I view film or television.

And this camera hold, this pregnant pause, is mirrored by Loki's stare in S2E5:

[nofomogirl]

Before the Beginning (part 2.4.)

Part 1.1. | Part 1.2. | Part 1.3. | Part 1.4. | Part 1.5. |

Part 2.1. | Part 2.2. | Part 2.3.

In my previous post, I looked at the Bandstand Breakup, and how it hits differently after S2, where we learned that the end of the world most likely means the end of the entire universe, not just Earth.

Today I want to look at a scene from S1E4, which takes place the very next day in the canon. The one where Crowley is at his flat and utters his famous monologue, starting with considering his options for escape and ending with chastising God. Here's the whole thing, in case you need your memory refreshed:

Where should I go? England's out. America's out. Atlantis? Didn't exist yesterday. It exists today. Still out. The moon. No atmosphere. No nightlife. Alpha Centauri. That's always nice this time of year. Beautiful nebula. Look at that. I helped build that one. I only ever asked questions. That's all it took to be demon in the old days. Great Plan? God, you listening? Show me a Great Plan. Okay, I know you're testing them. You said you were goint to be testing them. You shouldn't test them to destruction. Not to the End of the World.

It's S1, with God as an omniscient and reliable narrator. Crowley is alone and in his private space with his glasses off. Which means we're seeing his most authentic self, being dramatic but not acting or performing for anyone's benefit except his own.

In other words, we have no reason to question this scene's credibility. What we see is how things are.

And what I see is Crowley spectacularly avoiding thinking about what the End of the World really means; about the magnitude of destruction it would bring.

He plans to escape Armageddon and yet he contemplates places that are on Earth! More than that, he actually starts with England, which, okay, isn't any better or worse than anything else, considering Crowley doesn't know about Adam at that point and therefore doesn't know where Armageddon will start, but still, it could hardly be called running away. The fact that Crowley considers moving meagre several miles within a portion of a small island he calls home - even if it's only to rule it out - shows us how much he dislikes changes. I believe that the reason he looks at the globe at all - the in-universe reason that is - is because his first instinct is to change as little as possible. Only go as far as strictly necessary. His brain searches for ways to stay and has to be reasoned with. Has to be reminded that no, the planet is about to be lost.

Now, I'm sure you're all familiar with the rule of three. If not, well, the short version is that just like God likes 7s, the human brain really likes 3s.

Now please note that Crowley considers (however briefly) three locations on Earth - England, America, Atlantis - but only two beyond it - the Moon and Alpha Centauri.

A list of three elements implies a full sequence. Having it followed by a very similar list of two elements strongly suggests we're looking at an incomplete version of the same pattern.

We all accepted it as a fact that Crowley simply made up his mind right then and there. He chose Alpha Centauri because it was an option he liked best and we created a great deal of meta about why. About what's so special about this specific system, what it may mean to Crowley, and how it connects to him and Aziraphale.

But what if the real reason Crowley got so fixated on Alpha Centauri wasn't any special quality of the system or its hidden personal significance, but simply the fact that this is where our demon hit pause on a train of thought he wasn't ready to see reach its destination?

Crowley names and rejects three places on Earth before he accepts the unpleasant truth he knew from the start - that there's no place on Earth where he could run from Armageddon.

The headcanon I am trying to sell you in this series of posts is that on some very deep semi-conscious level, Crowley knows that the entire universe is going to be annihilated. But he suppresses that terrifying truth with all his might. He'd rather reminisce about his time as an angel and attempt to plead with God than face the fact that there truly isn't anywhere to run.

[clarajohnson]

the magicians s1e4

filed under episodes you couldn't make today and that you shouldn't have made then. not that i don't love it because I DO but whew

watercolors!

(hamster who was turned into a human boy voice) no, my life is my life, this is--

i do think we need to grapple with how dumb tutting looks out of context

that napkin full of technicolor pills would've done numbers on 2014 tumblr at least

the physical kids is as suggestive a name for that group as they deserve

the moths are real bad !!!!!

ALICE'S BROW RAISE. i'm gonna find a screenshot of it i can't let it go

that's an episode of lost in space-- star trek-- what?-- that's an episode of star trek-- fine, that's an episode of star trek

there is so much eyebrow acting in this episode actually

in my first watch i was so pro-julia the whole time because quentin hadn't become an all-time little meow meow for me yet god this was always a terrible thing for her. the fake engagement is a particularly cruel dig like... how can i torture q the most? tell him nothing that's brought him joy and purpose in the last few years was real, tell him he's being left behind, tell him people are moving forward without him, everyone else knows how to be normal but him

ohhhhhhh julia did you want to see the fireworks? did you? rookie gaslighting mistake miss wicker

laughing at you? what kind of a friend would do that? AND THEN THE SMIRK ohhhhh she and marina could have been so good together

one thing that's real? you're always a raging dick

someone in the discord said penny is leaning into it so hard and i have to agree like... they should not have done this but at least arjun gets to have fun

[whispers] hashtag agree

in 2015 singing shake it off was one of the strangest things a man on television could do but eight years later it just seems like me watching myself in my apartment any given friday night

i understand the logistics that inhibit the pairing but alice and eliot had so much potential like at LEAST platonically

okay all of the stuff above was awful of julia but actually the most awful thing was making q think he'd harm his father (and that that harm was linked to magic use! which will come back around when magic shuts off!)

penny helping by shouting at quentin as loud and aggressively as he can :-) you racist motherfucker !!!!!!

julia and marina having a sexy raspy voice-off

high-end designer cooperative magic... said while wearing her little leather bondage outfit... hitting on kady... affectionately, you melodramatic cunt

our little q :-) he knows where he would take him on a first fucking date

do we know what marina's discipline was/would've been? ik it's not like (barf) hogwarts houses or whatever but i'm curious where brakebills placed her

jesus christ i didn't remember he was gonna get a fucking lobotomy

there's a lot of eye horror in this show which is just the worst

ughhhh bad episode for julia

god eliot is so obvious right from the start it is insane... patting q's head giving him things... fuckin loverboy

poor you and your taste of honey worse than none at all :-( marina they could NEVER make me hate you

[mlobsters]

supernatural s7e4 defending your life (w. adam glass)

possessed car?? we did ghost truck i guess that's different enough. oh, no. ghost car. okay, the splat effects (and sound effects) on the titles - i have been itching to snark about. combining the splat of the ghost car victim and the titles is so goofy

okay. *argh* stop making me mad at you, dean. he was just railing into sam about not telling them about the hallucinations, but now he just lied to sam's face about jewel staite.

DEAN Some kind of ghost? DEAN With a license? License to kill. SAM Seriously?

why are they acting like that's weird. wasn't there a ghost truck that killed people episode already?? are they gonna talk about cassie???? (no)

SAM No. Just dirt. Could be "Christine"-like. DEAN Ugh. Even possessed cars can't do stairs. It's something spectral.

great minds

sam's hair, it's very fluffy and long and feathery, what's going on

DEAN I gave up AA for Lent. SAM We're not Catholic. DEAN Always with the details. AA gives me the jeebs. SAM Wow. Shocker.

so is this gonna be a very special episode where we acknowledge dean's alcoholism? (no)

DEAN Kind of makes you wonder if the guy wasn't drunk when he ran her over. SAM Yeah.

this episode has been full of weird pauses/moments focusing on reactions to things that may or may not have warranted the reaction that happened.

okay so i was like you know there's not a lot of pale red haired covered-in-freckles people in media, being a pale and covered-in-freckles person myself i do tend to notice, so i had to get a screenshot of the hands. my people's hands 😂 though his face does not look freckled in the same way but it's stupid hard to cover with makeup and still look vaguely skin-like... anyway. he's also been in altered carbon lol

altered carbon s1e4 force of evil - teach grant as jimmy desoto

what's going on with grumpy mcgrumperson dean. very special episode where dean learns people can actually grow and change? people like jewel staite and i dunno, sam?? (no)

DEAN Wow. I'd be so interested in that if I ate apples.

you really gonna have dean "pie's #1 fan" winchester say this?

DEAN I'm gonna check the bar. SAM To work or drink? DEAN I haven't decided.

i'm at the very special episode about alcoholism. i'm at the very special episode where dean tries to learn that people can change. i'm at the combination alcoholism and how people can change very special episode.

BARTENDER Love life or job? Two quick doubles, it's something. I'm Mia, by the way. DEAN Well, Mia, that is a complex question. I'm Dean, by the way.

lol. and plausible deniability

oh he's grumpy because he killed jewel when he told sam he wouldn't and that he trusted sam? because you should feel bad about the lying. and the not trusting.

BOBBY They identify the God Osiris. Real authoritarian type. He gets ahold of you, he's judge, jury, and executioner. Lore says that he can see directly into the human heart. He weighs the guilt. If he finds more than a feather's worth – boom, you're done.

weighing guilt, great. clear consciences all around.

DEAN It's been a while. But you owe yourself. It's nothing but a ground ball – you just got to put your mitt down. You are Dean Winchester. This is what you do.

hyping himself up for his hookup? kind of assumed that was still happening off camera.

aw, he's "sammy" in dean's phone

OSIRIS You and that waitress had quite a talk, huh? Get a couple drinks in you, and the guilt comes pouring out.

course it was too much of a real interaction to be anything other than a little plot device. this dude's voice/accent was very familiar, and aha.

the magicians s3e1 the tales of the seven keys - faran tahir as the great cock of the darkling woods

haha lawyer!sam what au fic is this

SAM Witness is being called without prior notice. DEAN Good one. SAM I saw that on "The Good Wife."

this is a weird episode. tone and message keeps bopping around.

SAM So why'd you start? To impress some loudmouth ass you just met... Or 'cause you wanted to be like your dad? JO Daddy issues. Definitely.

dean looking hurt/embarrassed about being called a loudmouth ass, hum. and same jo, same.

OSIRIS But were you or were you not happily out of the family racket until Dean showed back up in that gas guzzler? Ah-ah. The truth, now.

you know i like to talk about the money they have to spend to keep the impala fueled

OSIRIS But don't you think that your brother dragged you back into that catastrophic mess because he'd rather damn you with him than be alone?

okay but all that and dean i guess REALLY feels guilty about is killing jewel staite. not the torturing people in hell thing. or a million other things. so don't feel guilty that that's what made you guilty, dean -_- was inevitable

login successful!

DEAN You were a kid. JO Not true. DEAN You and Sam. I just – you know, hunters are never kids. I never was. I didn't even stop to think about it. JO It's not your fault. It wasn't on you. DEAN No, but I didn't want to do it alone.

okay. no longer at the combination alcoholism and people can actually change very special episode. we're at the dean should not feel guilty for getting sam and jo into hunting very special episode? (eh?)

been a tick since their last scenic drink and chat date

SAM Look, I don't know what to tell you, Dean. I mean, I've spent a lot of time feeling pretty crappy – like, my whole life. DEAN What, you got a secret stash of happy pills? SAM Hell. SAM Look, I'm not saying it's logical. I just... you know, I feel like I did a lot of stuff I should have felt bad for, and then I paid a lot of dues and came out the other side, you know?

DEAN Well, I don't know whether to be, uh, jealous or weirded out. SAM You'll get used to it. I mean, I don't want to sound lame, but... I kind of feel good, Dean.

shut your mouth, sam, you know that's just asking for it. happiness is not allowed on this show. is this just denial though. foreshadowing something awful works all around

[archangelween]

Uriel also has two rings, neither on her left pinky. At least one is gold, the other may be silver but I don't know. The gold is on her left middle, I think, and the other is on her right index. This is s1e1.

In s1e4 above, I am fairly sure the second ring on her index is not gold, and probably silver, simply because the gold in this show is really obvious and this is hard to define. It may be rose gold, but I don't think so. This is the same hand and finger that a ring is on in the new promo poster, so I think this is supposed to be that star ring and thus silver. However, that new poster is quite obviously silver, and this shot here is not obviously silver, so perhaps there was a change between s1 and that new s2 poster. It looks like Uriel's second ring is missing on the new poster too, so I think a change may have happened.

Gabriel definitely doesn't have rings anywhere, any season, so far.

The Uriel photo from @indigovigilance's post is from s2, which definitely has a ring on their left pinky, which is NOT there in s1. Things definitely changed between s1 and s2 regarding the rings.

Similarly, the Michael photo is from s2. That is her left hand, left pinky. HOWEVER, in s1e4, here are her hands and rings: it's on her right pinky.

No other ring on her right during s2:

It is not correct that all angels wear them on the same hands or same fingers. They did not in s1, and they do not in s2. Things also changed between s1 and s2. Why they changed, who knows. Surely not everyone decided they were tired of fashion at once.

I think this is more evidence that when Adam rebooted the world, something significant changed. Supernaturals seem to be immune to "timeline changes" of that sort so they do not know what it is. I have been speculating that the fall didn't happen. The war could still have happened, but perhaps the fall didn't. Or maybe even the war didn't happen.

To sum up the rings situation:

Gabriel: no rings.

Muriel: no rings.

Michael: right pinky s1 to left pinky s2. Same gold with pearls. Shows up after Job.

Uriel: s1, right index (rose gold or silver?) and left middle (gold); s2, right index (silver star) and left pinky (gold). Possibly not the same rings from s1 to s2.

Sandalphon: s1, gold brutalist left pinky; not in s2.

Saraqael: not in s1; gold left ring finger.

Azpiraphale: right pinky, gold lion, both seasons. Shows up before Eden, after BTB.

So, by s2, Michael and Uriel both have a gold left pinky ring, and maybe Sandalphon will too. I don't think we can draw any conclusions because Saraqael doesn't have that, theirs is still on the left hand, and Uriel still has that extra ring. The left pinky means something, but I don't think it means "proper angel". They all would have had that in s1, and they did not. It means SOMETHING, but not that.

I kind of think the jewelry, like their face paint and possibly their clothing, might manifest outside their control? Like how Aziraphale's showed up when he was discorporated. Their corporations are a result of their "real" supernatural being, they reflect their "real" selves. I don't want to say "it's how god would dress them" but I feel like how they want to act, how they want to dress....is what god intended. I don't have any other explanation for why they'd take off their gold face paint to menace Aziraphale on earth and then stick it back on after that to burn him in hellfire.

Aziraphale's Ring Is a Queer Symbol

In a previous post I hold forth about the symbolism of the lion rampant on the escutcheon of Aziraphale's signet ring. The upshot is that the golden lion is used by Heaven as a symbol of its threat and its merciless, murderous corporate culture, and I argue that in S3 Aziraphale must subvert this stamp of Heavenly ownership and symbolically redefine the golden lion by summoning the courage to be soft.

Now I've learned some new stuff about how signet rings are worn. Come, sistren, and get nerdy with me.

Aziraphale's ring is one of several we see angels wearing in Good Omens. Here in an indispensably useful post, @indigovigilance lists the known rings of Show Omens angels and those rings' qualities and placement. Note how of the angels who have rings, everyone except Saraqael and Aziraphale wear their rings on their LEFT pinky fingers. There's a reason for this.

Since the medieval period in Britain and Germany, and from there in the U.S., signet rings have been bestowed by professional associations as a sign of membership, particularly at the upper end of society: trade guilds, colleges, hospitals, the Church(es), noble families, and societies like the Freemasons all issue(d) signet rings to some of their members. The traditional placement for signet rings of show professional affiliation is the left pinky finger.

In fact, as it was not socially acceptable in or past the Victorian era for men to wear rings on more than one finger, men who wore signet rings and wedding rings both would have their wedding rings sized to fit the pinky finger below the signet. If a ring had to be moved to preserve masculinity, it wasn't the pinky ring that was going anywhere. Family signets can be worn on any of a number of fingers, but since the Victorian period the men of the British Royal Family (who are from Germany) have been especial sticklers about wearing their signets on their left pinky fingers as well.

So. If you're British and you have a signet ring that's meant to indicate professional affiliation, you wear it on your left pinky.

But Aziraphale wears his signet ring on his RIGHT hand.

Before I offer my opinion on what that means, here's some more fun background on the history and significance of pinky rings in Anglo-American culture:

The Victorian period was when pinky rings started to become associated with queerness.

As fellow members of the Hundred Guineas Club, Oscar Wilde and Aziraphale would likely have been acquaintances.

According to Wikipedia (ibid.):

"During the Victorian era, both single men and women uninterested in pursuing marriage could wear a ring on the little finger of their left hand."

This quickly expanded to a pinky ring on either hand. Here's Wikipedia's picture of farmer and philanthropist Caroline Rose Foster in 1917, the Edwardian era, wearing a pinky ring on her right hand:

Do you smell a euphemism in "uninterested in pursuing marriage"? I do!

By midcentury--so only 30 years after Ms Foster up there--American and British queers, both men and women, were using signet pinky rings specifically to signal queerness to each other.

"For gay men in the 1950’s and 60’s, a way of signaling to others was through the wearing of a signet ring on the pinkie finger."

"During the 1950’s and 60’s signet rings were worn to signify membership of the gay community; both lesbians and homosexual men wore such rings."

The pinky rings @indigovigilance points out Maggie wears may mean she's an angel; they also match her midcentury lesbian style. Devious of the costumers to give her pinky rings on both hands rather than commit to one or the other.

Screenshot by @indigovigilance

To review, there are three reasons a person in Anglo-American culture might wear a pinky ring:

They just feel like it--This can be any kind of ring and can be worn on either hand or both

Professional affiliation--This is a signet ring worn on the left pinky finger

To signal queerness--This is a signet ring and can be worn on either pinky finger

Aziraphale has worn a signet ring on his RIGHT pinky finger at least since he repaired the Eastern "Gate" in the Wall of Eden, so I'm not suggesting that he adopted the 20th-century pinky signet trend to signal his queerness (although as a clockably 'gay' 'man,' Soho fixture, and member of the Hundred Guineas Club, he may well have started it). What I am suggesting is that Aziraphale has been given a ring by Heaven that Heaven intends him to use to show his professional affiliation, but as with the flaming sword he gives away, Aziraphale doesn't use the ring for its intended purpose. By wearing the ring on his right hand, Aziraphale removes the option of interpreting it as a symbol of his professional affiliation with Heaven and renders it strictly a personal ornament. He subverts a symbol of Heavenly menace into an object of beauty and queerness.

I mean queerness in both senses. If a human takes any symbolic notice of his ring, they'll note the signet is on his right hand and conclude Aziraphale is gay. If another angel takes any notice of it, they'll conclude Aziraphale is a bit odd--that he doesn't pay attention to the finer points of how to fit in with the archangels, doesn't do things like other angels do.

In conclusion, pinky signet rings as a queer signal are just the fucking coolest and I vote we bring them back immediately.

[talesofloreandlegend]

King Orfeo

SERIES · I  EPISODE · IV

Storyteller: Sebastian Odell Host: Rick Scott

Lady Heurodis is walking through the orchard of her castle. She's been following something since she first stepped outside. But she can't see it anymore.  And she can't rememeber what it was.

 She knows only that she must find it. The trees around her are in their most beuatiful stage of blossom. She cannot pause to admire them. The creature before her has gone on ahead, and she can't lose it now...

The Tale of Sir Orfeo is an adaption of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice into a medieval romance poem set in England. Orpheus has become the English King Sir Orfeo, and the Greek god of the dead, Hades, is instead the King of Elfland.

In this version of the tale, Orfeo’s queen is Heurodis, who has a dream of the King of Elfland and is subsequently kidnapped, in spite of the thousand knights which Orfeo sets as guard around the orchard where she sleeps.  There are three primary manuscript sources for the Sir Orfeo romance, dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The tales of King Orfeo is notable for several motifs. The forest and woods act as a boundary between the human and fairy world. Lost between the two, King Orfeo takes on the figure of a wild man cut off from civilisation and civility. As well as Orfeo’s kingly power and refinement, it is suggested that his sanity is stripped away. The elf king and his court are often depicted hunting, with Orfeo’s wife Huerodis the apparent target of the hunt. Orpheo is able to gain access to elf-land through knowledge of secret music or chords, just as Rowland was given magic words by the hen wife on his quest into Elf land. Orfeo’s occult music is based on the knowledge of divine music possessed by the Greek poet Orpheus, who was given the lyre of Hermes by Apollo, and taught to perfect the art of song, to charm all living things and compose hymns to the gods. Finally, Orfeo returns to his former home and seat of power in the disguise of a vagrant or beggar, as Odysseus does in the Odyssey.

IN FOLK SONG

Sir Orfeo was also adopted into a popular folk ballad. The ballad features fragments of the tale. Many contemporary performers have adapted or restored the ballad from the narrative of the poem. You can listen to versions by Fay Hield and Frankie Armstrong on Spotify.

​ELF-SHOT AND ELF-DREAMS

A significant element in Orfeo is that Heurodis is apparently haunted and later stolen away by the Elf King in her dreams. When she awakes from her first dream, Orfeo remarks upon her sickly complexion. There was a common belief that being hit by an ‘elf-shot’ or ‘elf arrow’ would cause the victim to sicken, and this condition was described in several anglo-saxon medical texts. These arrows were not fasioned by the fairies, but fell from the sky and were collected by them. In several of the ballad versions of King Orfeo, the Elf King is said to pierce Orfeo’s lady with his dart. This makes King Orfeo one of the few folk-lore stories we have found that feature this element of folklore. Another example is the Scandinavian folk tale 'Erlskud' (the Danish word for 'elf-shot'), in which the Elf King’s daughter uses an elf-shot as a dagger that causes the wounded protagonist to waste away and die. This ballad was the inspiration for a famous poem by Goethe called Erlskonig. Together, these tales associate the phenomena of elf-shot with the dangerous illusions and seductions of the fairies, and the wasting or sickening disease caused by their lethal darts.

​

SOURCE MATERIAL

Romance Sources 'Sir Orfeo' (Middle English Text) on Middle English Texts, University of Rochester

'Sir Orfeo' (Translated into English), Edward Hunt, 1909

'Sir Orfeo' (Modern English Prose) on eleusinianm - Medieval Romance and the Old Religion of Britain Ballad Sources

​'King Orfeo / Orfeo / Young Orphy' on Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Songs

'Elfin Shaft' in Danish Ballads, Smith-Dampier, E. M, (1920)

'Erlkönig (English Translation)' on Poems in Translation

Research Sources

'Sir Orfeo' on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 31 Dec. 2018. Web. 4 Jul. 2019.

"Erlkönig (Goethe)." on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 31 May. 2019. Web. 4 Jul. 2019.

​"Elfshot." on  Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 19 Jun. 2019. Web. 4 Jul. 2019.

​"Elveskud." on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 Dec. 2018. Web. 4 Jul. 2019.

[tarlosstory]

TARLOS | S1E4 | Part 4 [TK only] FULL TARLOS STORYLINE | ONLY TARLOS SCENES

[harmonuc]

Hi! This is my first fanfic, my memory is a bit foggy and I'm only on s1e4 of my LOK rewatch so I apologize for any inaccuracies!

a/n: this is just a quick blurb where the reader is the oldest child of Tenzin and has a crush on Bolin.

It's been six months since the Equalists' attack. Life seemed to be back in its peaceful state for you and your family, besides the occasional air scooter races between Korra and your siblings. You sat on your usual perch in one of the many trees of Air Temple Island. From the ground, you were mostly hidden so it was a great place to hide from your annoying siblings. It was quite peaceful. The gentle breeze, the swaying of the leaves, and the calming sound of water below the island. You closed your eyes, lost in thought. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't get the image of that earthbender out of your mind. Not only was he handsome, he was kind and honestly one of the gentlest souls you ever met.

"[Name]!" the sound interrupted your thoughts. You looked down to see Jinora, one of you younger siblings. You sighed quietly.

"Need something, Jinora?" you questioned her, a bit annoyed that the young airbender had wrecked your train of thought.

Jinora sent a gust of wind against the ground, causing her fly into the air and land on the branch that you were on. She coolly sat next to you, smiling softly. "No. I was just wondering where you were." She always seemed so.. above it all. "What were you thinking about?"

You shrugged, crossing your arms. "Not much."

Jinora didn't like that answer. "You seemed like you were really deep in thought, though." she replied in her usual calm tone.

"It was nothing important, really." you couldn't help the light blush that appeared on your face at the thought of Bolin again.

Your little sister picked up on this. "Nothing, huh? It seems to me like you were thinking about a certain earthbender." Jinora smiled cheekily.

"What?" you questioned, your heart dropped. You hoped to God that Jinora didn't figure it out. Was it really that obvious?

"Bolin." Jinora looked up at you, her brown eyes sparkling in excitement. "I saw the way you were looking at him when he first came to Air Temple Island."

You sighed. Well, at least it wasn't Meelo or Ikki who figured it out. "Please don't tell anyone. Especially not dad." you spoke quietly, a bit embarrassed.

"Don't worry, I won't tell a soul." Jinora reassured you that your secret was safe with her. Though, that might not be completely true. You knew at the back of your mind that she'd probably tell your other siblings- maybe even your mother. Jinora jumped down from the tree, smiling up at you as she shielded her eyes from the sunlight with her hand. "Bye, [Name]." She had a mischievous look on her face, one that was new to her. Jinora was usually the calm and collected one but now she seemed to act similarly to Ikki, as if she were up to something. You groaned quietly, watching the airbender as she walked off- most likely on her way to expose your secret.

[postsforposting]

If maggie is god, does that make nina satan?

We haven't seen either since s1.

Mrs Sandwich was also in black at the ball, which is hell aligned, so I do think that puts her out of the running for being god. She may represent people like priests, who play at god but actually aren't. Like the Metatron. After all, she compliments Crowley--the only one of the celestials we saw doing that was Satan, and Mrs Sandwich was bathed in the green light of hell when she said that.

Nina's shop is the green of hell inside, blue of heaven outside. that would fit the rebellion: I'll go make my own heaven, better than yours! But really it's just...hell. Does that mean Satan lied to those who rebelled with him, misrepresented what he was rebelling for? Lied about god's intent and plans? Or lied about what Satan himself was intending to change?

That would make Mrs Sandwich the demon council, giving advice to Satan and complaining all the time about the way he runs things.

This also fits Nina's and Maggie's crowds: everyone goes to the coffee shop, to hell; nobody goes to the record shop, to heaven.

What's the line about "I would be more worried about people breaking in and leaving more records behind"? What are the records representing?

I think absolution, grace, is the only thing that really fits; that's something that must be gotten from heaven, and must be paid for with true regret, and it's what heaven would keep records of. People can't just leave their sins behind and get grace for free. This is another of those payment issues. That Maggie hasn't been selling any records is a statement that people haven't been offering real confessions, but only fake "payment". At least, in god's eyes. Did even Job make it to heaven? Jemimah? How does god price her records?

Take a look at this shot from s1, when the bad angels are threatening Azi, s1e4 41:25:

Given we don't see the shop much in s1 (this is not Maggie's shop, but still), I think the staging in that shot has to be deliberate. If god is orange, and Satan is black, then literally everyone is menacing Azi here.

Not to mention the teal block between Azi's red shop and the orange record store: teal is heaven and hell together; god and satan stand outside both, as does Crowley. Set up for the fight every season over the system? God and satan on one side, heaven and hell the object of the fight, and Crowley and Azi on the other side.

You know what else is orange? Hellfire. God is also the most blunt instrument of pain and destruction, and god is also the holy hellfire in Azi's sword, the first weapon we see and the means of the first act of physical violence we see in the show itself. Lions are also orange; that was god attempting to murder Adam and Eve; had Azi not protected them, they would have been dead by God's design and own hand. Is that a coincidence or is that god working against itself? Can you pit god against itself? If the record store is orange and black, apparently you can.

I think that pretty much solidifies that orange==god, an instrument of god, or at least being watched by god.

You know who else wears orange, besides Job and Jemimah? This mofo, Mr Brown:

Another point towards "what heaven does and temptations are the same thing".

At the end in e6, Nina says that she can't get into another relationship immediately and she hopes Maggie will still be there when she's ready. If they are indeed Satan and god, I think this may hint that perhaps god didn't want anyone to fall, watched it happen anyway. Did god make it happen or did the archangels make that happen? Idk, but god allowed it either way. I don't think it means god is going to forgive anyone and everything will be forgotten as if it didn't happen, because the other god/Satan parallel going on is Lindsey and Nina in their abusive relationship.

Speaking of weird relationships, if Maggie is god, then it would make more sense why she seems to have this odd instant-love thing with Nina: she doesn't know her name, she knows nothing about her, and yet she's infatuated with her to the point of bawling over her in public, to the landlord she hasn't paid rent to for eight months. That's not normal person behavior, but it is "god loves everyone" behavior. It would also explain her weird speech pattern; god knows everything but maybe being human cuts off access to that omniscience, and Maggie can't decide what people actually know vs what she ought to tell them--or it could be that just sorting through all the omniscience to "what the person in front of you should and should not be told" is hard. It would also explain the "I never miss a meeting", because as god being omnipresent, she sure would be at every meeting. Her grandmother knew Azi's grandfather? Well yea, his grandfather was god, hers was herself was god, of course I know him, he's me.

maggie's store is solid orange. dark navy or black awning.

also, aziraphale offered her the eccles cakes--and if those are supposed to be a literal offering to god type of thing per i forgot whose theory that was, and azi asked whether she heard the trumpet announcement of the archangels landing on earth, WHO IS SHE???

god? we've not seen god yet so her being orange, to go along with job who was the only other character that had a ton of orange, would fit. she had a navy outfit in the ball, which is upstairs coded, and had--what I think are sideways, neutral, lapels. others thought they were down pointing though. either of those on a navy outfit would fit god, because down on blue is negative alignment, and "good"-aligned heaven colors are lighter blues, not dark.

her ball shirt also has a line of....pearl looking things? across the top section, as if it's separating "upstairs", the head, from the rest.

i've seen the theory that mrs sandwich is god, and that does check out biblically and obviously, but like....maggie could fit too.

[guardian-angle22]

911: Lone Star Rewatch -> Favorite Moments | Paul & Marjan in S1E4: Act of God

[mariacallous]

The Righteous Gemstones episode titles and related Bible verses

S1E2: "Is This the Man Who Made the Earth Tremble" - Isaiah 14:16 “Those who see you will gaze at you, And consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, Who shook kingdoms,”

S1E3: "They Are Weak, But He Is Strong" - Jesus Loves Me “Jesus loves me—this I know, For the Bible tells me so: Little ones to him belong,— They are weak, but he is strong.”

S1E4: "Wicked Lips" - Proverbs 17:4 “An evildoer listens to wicked lips; A liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.”

S1E6:  "Now the Sons of Eli Were Worthless Men" - 1 Samuel 2:12 “Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD“

S1E7: "And Yet One of You Is a Devil" - John 6:70 “Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.’”

S1E8:  "But the Righteous Will See Their Fall" - Proverbs 29:16 “When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases; But the righteous will see their fall.”

S1E9: "Better Is the End of a Thing Than Its Beginning" - Ecclesiastes 7:8 “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.“

S2E1:  "I Speak in the Tongues of Men and Angels" - 1 Corinthians 13:1 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.“

S2E2: "After I Leave, Savage Wolves Will Come" - Acts 20:29 “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.“

S2E3:  "For He Is a Liar and the Father of Lies" - John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.“

S2E4:  "As To How They Might Destroy Him" - Mark 3:6 “The Pharisees went out and immediately began conspiring with the Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.“

S2E6:  "Never Avenge Yourselves, But Leave It to the Wrath" - Romans 12:19 “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’”

S2E7:  "And Infants Shall Rule Over Them" - Isaiah 3:4 “And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them.“

S2E8: "The Prayers of a Righteous Man" - James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.“

S2E9:  "I Will Tell of All Your Deeds" - Psalm 9:1 “I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.”

[furubaa]

Notes on Mushishi - Vol 1 & 2

This is the start of my personal notes on every Mushishi chapter (anime ep # in brackets). I’ve reread the manga over and over again looking for specific stories, so this is just for easier reference. 

VOLUME 1

1 - The Green Gathering (S1E1, The Green Seat)

Ginko learns of a boy who can create life by drawing or writing and decides to pay him a visit 

“The green here is so vivid it’s eerie”

A personal invitation to a banquet, presented with clear sake in a shallow green saucer - the exquisite scent of kouki, the water of life. 

The dull pain of being frozen mid-transformation, one foot out the door; realisation of emptiness, and yearning for a full exit from the world

Color seeping out of an untouched brush; power passed down the generations

Everything covered in moss where the kouki soaked in the ground

2 - The Soft Horns (S1E3, Tender Horns)

Ginko is summoned to cure villagers from hearing problems caused by Mushi, and to cure the village head’s grandson Maho, who has sprouted four horns on his forehead.

A quiet village deep in the mountains where even the wind does not pass; absolute silence on snowy nights, when even the sound of your voice disappears.

Bombarded with a flood of sounds, the spirit tires, and body weakens til death. The murmuring of a single Mushi is a microscopic sound, until made aware of the trillions of Mushi clamouring all over the world, calling to each other like echoes.

An intimate gesture of protection - the sound of your mother. A volcanic eruption seen long ago. The lava inside of you, dissolving everything.

3 - The Pillow Path (S1E4 The Pillow Pathway)

Ginko pays a visit to a man named Jin who has premonitions in his dreams as a result of a Mushi affliction caused by Imeno no Awai. 

4 - The Light in the Eyelids (S1E2 The Light of the Eyelid)

Ginko visits a girl named Sui, who is suffering from a Mushi affliction that has made her eyes sensitive to light.

“Behind your eyelid you have another eyelid.” 

There's a river of light flowing underground that illuminates even the pitch black; there has to be total, true darkness to see it. “Light particles come from very far away/ and they flow past me.” “Stretching out for eternity at your feet”

Ginko sitting on the opposite side of the river bank; a warning from a stranger.

“You spent too much time in the dark with Sui” ... Mushi that breed in the darkness. 

5 - The Traveling Bog (S1E5 The Traveling Swamp)

Ginko is traveling through the mountains to see his friend, Adashino. Along the way, he meets a girl named Io, who lives inside a swamp that is capable of moving by itself.

Ginko finding himself travelling in step with a swamp that sinks into the earth and then floats up over and over again, passing through the mountains

A girl sacrificed to save her village from a flood, wearing ceremonial robes; a bride presented to the water god, pushed off a cliff in a storm.

A large green thing that calmly rose up through the raging water; swimming at the bottom of a river that was overflowing its banks. It said, “You should continue to live.”

“When people drink them, their bodies become transparent... and then, they flow away.” Choosing to become Mushi is to exist between life and death; slowly wearing away at your human heart.

Following the journey of a ten thousand year old swamp to its death; moving towards the sea, the dying form of a liquid mushi. Accompanying it on its final journey.

“Swamps are born, eventually they stagnate, and when the universe they have contained within themselves ends... they get up on their own and start to move.”

VOLUME 2

6 - The Mountain Sleeps (S1E11 The Sleeping Mountain)

While traveling, Ginko passes through a town settled near a mountain. He learns that a Mushi Master is living on the mountain, but hasn't visited the village for quite some time, and every person who had been sent to find him has fallen ill and died.

“A smell both sweet and rancid that rises from the ground and touches each leaf. One by one. Coiling around them and choking their skin. A light vein, where the river of light flows.”

Ginko tapping into a mushi that acts as the mountain's nerves, sinking their wills into the plants and running around. 

“The water of life (...) Women bear children like cats or dogs; twins, triplets, or even quadruplets, abandoned in the mountains.”

A travelling Mushishi who puts his roots down. The one he loves committing an unforgivable act so that they can be married. Assuming the role of a slain mountain boar god; his bones will lie here. 

An aged man, summoning an immortal spirit to take his place of guardian forever - a necessary sacrifice to return the world to natural order.

7 - The Sea of Brushstrokes (S1E20 A Sea of Writings)

Ginko comes to a house which has a library full of mushi-related scrolls. There, he meets the girl who writes the scrolls, and hears the story of the curse that has been afflicting her family for generations.

A large dark crypt; an enormous library of scripts recording ancient history

Scribes cursed with immobility and marked for death, the only way to quell the Mushi is to seal them with words. A tradition of inviting travelling Mushishis to feed the writers myths in order for them to expel their words, physically manifesting them, an excruciating process for survival of self - and if not, the survival of your descendants. Plucking words and returning them to order, duty. Little by little, a receding scar. 

8 - They That Breathe Ephemeral Life (S1E6 Those Who Inhale the Dew)

Ginko's services are requested by a boy named Nagi, who lives on a distant island, to investigate the case of Akoya, a girl revered by the people as a "Living God".

A brief moment during the spring tide is the only time you can get to the island; only safe one day per month to take a boat out. a barren island with little soil, villagers surviving with moral support from their god. 

Tapping the center of the forehead with a needle, a curlicule of a mushi spiralling out

“When i was the Ikigami and aged when the sun set i could always shut my eyes and fall asleep feeling satisfied (...) But now my legs tremble at the immense amount of time ahead of me.” Living Mushi's life cycle of a single day - every second of every day experienced fresh, so much wonder you can't keep up. “My heart was always satisfied.”

When faced with tragedy, the girl finally chooses to return to the state of suspension - the luxury to forget and detach from mortal burden.

9 - Rain Comes and a Rainbow is Born (S1E7 Raindrops and Rainbows)

Ginko encounters a man named Koro, who has a strange habit of pursuing rainbows, and helps him find one particular rainbow that he is looking for - the Kouda.

A father delirious for rain - a strange man running around happily, and a mysterious rainbow dancing in odd shapes. A body that thirsts - “I miss that rainbow so much… I can’t stand it.” 

A boy who runs away to escape the burden of a dying father; to prove his worth and his father’s.

Ginko who must travel constantly, taking a break by finding purpose in small goals - You can’t live only for the sake of living; rest is essential. 

A natural phenomena created from light and imbued with kouki - “There's a reason they occur, but they have no purpose - existing only to keep flowing. Nothing can affect them, but they affect those around them, and then they leave.”

* 10 - The Veil Spore (S1E21 Cotton Changeling)

A couple summons Ginko to investigate their sick child, Watahiko, who has developed green spots all over his body. The father explains that the child didn’t look human when born - instead, it was a strange green mass that swiftly escaped. A year later, he found a baby under the house.

A wedding procession that passes through a forest - “A green stain on my cotton wedding gown.” A boy born green and formless, that slipped out and under the house. The main body; a mat of spores spreading under the house, dirt that wriggles under the sun.

One year later, it sends out a human-mushroom; every half year, the same child born again and again. Harmless children joined together at the root, that exist only to collect nutrients, that die and spit out seeds. “Mushi that wear the skin of your dead child.”

The human instinct to kill everything we don’t understand.

A baby with a body that grows faster than the mind. Children that evolve rapidly - “After learning words i forgot how.. I forgot how.” The primal instinct for survival lost. The cost of intelligence.

The Watahiki, when faced with danger, disconnects its children from the root, in an attempt to save at least the seeds - the children change form and enter a long dormant period.

An organism that strays from its recorded life cycle. 

Not that I’m doing this for public consumption (who even is going to read all this) but anyways FYI I’ve got structured notes on the next volumes in my drafts & if I ever get round to finishing all of them they’ll be tagged as #mushishi notes 

[kooks71]

What a wonderful actress. She had Queen Mary down pat!

1.04 |  Elizabeth multiverse

[starring-movies]

Killing Eve: Episode Analysis

*SPOILERS*

Season 3, Episode 1 - Slowly Slowly Catchy Monkey

The first episode of Season 3 begins about 6 months after the events in Rome, from the end of the last season, and starts with Villanelle getting married to a woman named Maria - now Villanelle doesn’t have a job, she needs a way to support herself financially so she does this via Maria.

During her wedding speech, Villanelle refers to Eve as “my ex”. In S2E1 when she was speaking to Gabriel in the hospital, she also referred to Eve as “my girlfriend”. Both of these instances show us how Villanelle has considered that she and Eve were in a ‘relationship’ of some sort for all this time.

When Villanelle finds that Dasha has turned up to her “special day”, the same shots are repeated from S2E3. Villanelle runs up to Dasha and then tackles her to the ground, which is shot in the same way as when Villanelle runs up to Konstantin and then hugs him in S2E3. The choice to repeat the same shots is implemented to emphasise the difference in Villanelle’s relationship with Konstantin and Dasha (both people who had a big impact on Villanele while she was growing up) - after being separated from Konstantin, Villanelle fondly hugs him; but after being apart from Dasha for so long, Villanelle feels nothing but anger towards her.

When Villanelle is reunited with Dasha, after Dasha crashed Villanelle’s wedding, she keeps calling Villanelle “Oksana” and so Villanelle tells her “you call me, Villanelle”. This is small but clever little detail. Through just this act of Dasha calling Villanelle the wrong name, we are told that Dasha, like Anna, (who also calls her Oksana) is obviously someone who Villanelle knew a long time ago in her past, before she adopted the name ‘Villanelle’.

We are then reintroduced to Eve, who is doing her shopping in a Korean supermarket in New Malden, London. Not only is Eve buying junk food to stress eat, like she did with the sweets in S2E1, but the convenience food also has a deeper significance. When Eve was with Niko he was always the one who cooked, but now that they’ve separated, Eve doesn’t have anyone to cook for her, so she has to buy things like instant noodles because her lifestyle has changed.

While Eve is paying for her groceries, the woman at the checkout of the Korean supermarket is having a conversation with her friend, where she says “nothing says Romance like Rome” and that she wants to eat “spaghetti” the whole time she’s there. “Spaghetti” is what Eve told Villanelle she’d like her to cook for dinner in S2E8, and the comment that “nothing says Romance like Rome” could have been true for Villanelle and Eve, but for them Rome means tragedy and heartbreak instead.

We also find out that Eve has taken a job in a Korean restaurant. She’s decided to recoil back into the comfort of her culture, where people speak her mother language and eat food that she’s familiar with (and probably associates with home and family). In the restaurant her job is making the dumplings, which is a repetitive, mindless task, just like when we saw Eve chopping the vegetables for the roast chicken in S2E1.

Eve copes with her trauma in the same way as she did in S2E1, after she shot Villanelle. Not only does she do the repetitive tasks, but she also watches “It’s Not Just Shopping”, which is a teleshopping programme, just like how she listened to Armando trying (and succeeding) to sell her some “really expensive windows”.

However, although she is coping with the two situations in the same way, there is also a big difference between the Eve we see in the beginning of Season 2, and the Eve we see in the beginning of Season 3. In Season 2 Eve allowed herself, and was eager, to be sucked back into chasing after Villanelle when Carolyn recruited her again; whereas in Season 3, Eve is stronger and has a certain defiance in her actions. In Season 3 Eve tells her boss she doesn’t want to work in the front of the restaurant, but wants to remain in the kitchen, even though that means less money and more work. Eve also tells Carolyn, when she comes to see her at the restaurant, that she has no interest in Villanelle and trying to find her again, and it is only to investigate Kenny’s death that she decides to return to working with her.

In the office of the boss of the Korean restaurant, a Korean programme where a man gets shot in the head by a woman in playing on the TV behind her. When Eve is on the bus, there is also someone reading a book called “Vixen’s Bite”, with a woman with a gun on the front cover - Eve cannot seem to escape being reminded of Villanelle and of being shot by her.

We are then reintroduced to Kenny, at his new job being an investigative journalist at the ‘Bitter Pill’. Kenny has a conversation with Bear, where he says “well, remind me not to rely on you for anything”; which turns out not to be true, as in S3E8 Bear is the one who finds out Konstantin came to visit Kenny on the day he died.

When Eve is at home, she sends a message to Kenny of a picture of a loo roll. This is a call back to S1E2 when Kenny shows Eve to the toilets at the Trafalgar Office and tells her “it’s best that you bring in your own [loo roll] or it just disappears, how many sheets do you need?”.

After receiving Eve’s message, Kenny goes over to Eve’s apartment and during their conversation he asks her “are you still in touch with, er...” (meaning Niko), and Eve immediately thought Kenny was referring to Villanelle. Eve’s trying to convince herself (and everyone else) that she’s over Villanelle, not interested in her and not thinking about her; but the fact that Eve immediately jumps to thinking that Kenny is referring to Villanelle, and not her husband, shows that this is definitely not the case.

In this scene, she is also wearing the grey T-shirt with birds on it that belonged to Niko, he is seen wearing it in S1E1. However, we only see Eve wearing it when she wants comfort; like after Bill’s death in S1E4, and now in this episode when she’s recovering from what happened to her in Rome.

Later on, when Eve goes to visit Niko at the psychiatric facility, she brings him a bag of fruit pastels, but tells him that she already “ate the green ones for you”. Although Eve probably did this as a caring gesture (since Eve ate them, it’s implied Niko doesn’t like the green ones), it emphasises how Niko still can’t manage to gain control over his own life. Niko wasn’t given the opportunity to try the “green ones” (he may have changed his mind and started to like them) or leave them in the bag himself, Eve had already made the executive decision for him and he wasn’t given the choice to eat the bag of sweets how he wanted to eat them.

Eve eating the green fruit pastels for Niko could also be an indication that this was something that she used to do for him when they were first married/more happily married. If you take this view, then it could be that Eve is trying to simulate how things were previously, or she is being presumptuous that Niko wants things to go back to how they were - but he goes to Poland without telling Eve, so we can see he wants a new start.

Whilst working in the Korean restaurant’s kitchen, there are two men working behind Eve, who’s conversation mirrors Eve’s relationship with Villanelle. One of the men initially says to the other man, “first it was infatuation, this is love”. This definitely reflects how Villanelle’s relationship with Eve was portrayed; it began as Villanelle’s obsession with Eve because she had hair like Anna, but by the end of Season 2 she claims that it has gone beyond “infatuation” and that she does truly love Eve. This was probably also true for Eve, also beginning as an “infatuation” in Villanelle because she is an assassin, but then developing into a deeper sense of love; but at the end of Season 2, Eve was not ready to come to terms with her feelings, and Villanelle hadn’t reached the point of realising what loving Eve really is.

The next time the two men are having a conversation, Eve interjects by telling the man “you’re not even crying because of her, you’re crying because... because you feel stupid, because you were stupid”. This is obviously how Eve feels about what happened with her and Villanelle - she’s not upset because of Villanelle necessarily, but more because she feels that she was stupid. The same thing most likely applies to Villanelle as well, she probably feels stupid for loving Eve, and admitting to loving Eve, when she thought that she was someone “special”.

You can read my previous Killing Eve posts here:-

First Introduction to Villanelle

First Introduction to Eve

S1, E1 - Nice Face

S1, E2 - I’ll Deal With Him Later

S1, E3 - Don’t I Know You?

S1, E4 - Sorry Baby

S1, E5 - I Have a Thing about Bathrooms

S1, E6 - Take Me to the Hole!

S1, E7 - I Don’t Want to Be Free

S1, E8 - God, I’m Tired

S2, E1 - Do You Know How to Dispose of a Body?

S2, E2 - Nice and Neat

S2, E3 - The Hungry Caterpillar

S2, E4 - Desperate Times

S2, E5 - Smell Ya Later

S2, E6 - I Hope You Like Missionary!

S2, E7 - Wide Awake

S2, E8 - You’re Mine

S3, E2 - Management Sucks

S3, E3 - Meetings Have Biscuits

S3, E4 - Still Got It

S3, E5 - Are You From Pinner? [Part 1]

S3, E5 - Are You From Pinner? [Part 2]

S3, E6 - End of Game

S3, E7 - Beautiful Monster

S3, E8 - Are You Leading or Am I? [Part 1]

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