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humbledragon669 · 3 months ago

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S2E2 - The Clue Write Up P1 - Land of Uz (2500 BC) and London (Present Day) up to the credits

Ooh it’s been a while since got to use an in-screen caption as one of the headers and I am delighted to be able to do it again! I may well just use the same two headers as we switch between the two time periods in this episode, just for simplicity. Sue me.

There’s a tiny detail that’s been applied to this opening shot that I absolutely love – the video here has had an of effect applied to it to give it a vintage film feel. Sorry, that’s as close as I come to describing it with any sort of eloquence – I’m referring to the “fake” black marks and scratches that appear on the image briefly (you can see a couple on the header above). It doesn’t last long (only until Crawley finishes his first line), but I think this subtle little effect sets us very firmly in a cinematic (cinematographic?) context. I also feel like the colouring of the image has been altered for the same purpose – it puts me in mind of one of those historical films from the 50s and 60s, like Ben Hur and Spartacus (which I suspect is probably the whole point).

There’s something else interesting about Crawley’s appearance in this scene – his sunglasses. Cast your mind back to episode 3 in the first season (Hard Times), in which we saw him appearing without sunglasses all the way up to (and including) 33AD. I did comment on the appearance of the sunglasses in the 42AD scene in the write up for it:

I’m not sure I actually find this sudden appearance of sunglasses some 2500 years earlier all that interesting. There’s a part of me that feels that they have probably been included here because we, as an audience, have come to expect Crawley/Crowley’s costume to include a pair of stylised sunglasses by this point. I’d actually be strangely satisfied with that if it was the case – I feel like the reason behind his choosing to wear them could be so much more interesting if this was simply a “continuity error”.

Just wanted to include this because I am thrilled Aziraphale finally gets a really bad-ass entrance. How many times have we seen Crowley sauntering his way into a scene, looking like the coolest thing on Earth (and knowing it)? So glad the angel gets a turn at that here. That said. Why exactly is it that Aziraphale has happened to show up at this place and time? As we will come to find out shortly, Crawley is actually acting with Heaven’s authority so I don’t think the angel would have been sent there. It would present an interesting parallel to Crowley’s supposed knack of knowing when the angel is in trouble, but also resurfaces the suggestion about them being aware of the other’s whereabouts more often than not. I have to say, based on the conversation between them here, that seems unlikely – this exchange feels nothing but businesslike to me, cold even. Aziraphale even goes so far as to apologise (unapologetically) for having to do his job. We do learn that it has been about 500 years since they’ve seen each other, which is a nice little piece of backstory to have. I also consider it interesting to see Crowley providing a prompt to Aziraphale on how to complete his task, which provides a loose mirror parallel to what we saw Before the Beginning, that time with Aziraphale prompting his newfound friend that the incantations (for want of a better word) were not complete.

Side note: don’t you just love those little goats for staying exactly where they’ve been put? Pretty sure most animals would have scarpered extremely quickly when a huge flaming ball appeared above them, never mind having another being literally appearing from thin air in a really spiky portal of light. They must be some very calm goats.

Given the light show that Aziraphale has brought with him to make an imposing entrance on a demon, I’m pretty impressed with the restraint Crawley shows when he responds here – I mean he’s not exactly known for his patience is he? I also wonder if Aziraphale’s comment about jokes is meant to be a throwback to Hastur’s vehemence that he doesn’t like them, but the line is so throw-away that I can’t see what relevance it would add at this point. What I do find interesting is that, now we’re no longer in the “present day” of this season, we see Aziraphale struggling with his preconceived notions of right/good and wrong/evil. It’s something we saw quite a lot of in the first season, in both historical and “present” timelines. In the second season though, what with Aziraphale no longer working for Heaven, we tend to see it a lot less. We saw it in the first episode in the Before the Beginning segment, and we’ll see it again in the coming episodes, but predominantly in the historical scenes. There’s something about the fact that Aziraphale appears less conflicted about morality once he has been removed from the morality-defining authority, become more connected to humanity, and is found to be exercising his free will that I find deeply profound. No wonder the poor guy took 6000 years to realise that being Good isn’t just about following orders, especially when you consider that instruction is tied to his very existence. That whole thing is a big concept, and I struggled to put it into any words that made sense, so I hope I’ve at least been kind of clear. Basically, what I wanted to say was that I love that the historical scenes are being used as a way to remind us of the character development that Aziraphale has gone through over the millennia – they show us where he came from. And it’s not just the angel that gets this treatment:

We haven’t seen this version of Crawley/Crowley for quite a while, have we? The one that takes such delight in his mischief. And in case you missed it, we really should have known what he was up to – you can see two birds taking flight in the background behind his head, with an accompanying “caw” to draw attention to their presence.

I’m including that gif for no other reason that I find it Muriel’s impersonation of a goose adorable. I do wonder what exactly would have been deemed important though, if Job’s farm, camels, goat, oxen, children, and geese are all disposable. I’m not going to go into the underlying subtext of the bet that has been made between God and Satan here – the story itself is little changed from its original biblical source so I feel like it’s a bit out of scope for an episode write up. What is interesting to see is that the item on the list that Aziraphale balks at is the same as the one that Crowley has previously demonstrated (on more than one occasion) is his “line in the sand” for unacceptable acts – killing children. This will also be the first time, chronologically, that we see Aziraphale take his doubts to other angelic beings (some of whom are his superiors). I’m assuming his way of doing things is a little more diplomatic than Crowley’s was when he was in his angelic state, even if it is just as (un)fruitful.

This attitude towards Sitis and Job keeping their existing children rather than having them replaced with new ones says a lot about the Heavenly standard when it comes to understanding humanity and its eccentricities; his reasoning here being that it shouldn’t matter if Job’s existing children are murdered senselessly, as long as they’re replaced with an equal (or greater) number of different children. There is no appreciation of the complexities behind human relationships, desires, or emotions. I feel like it makes the fact that both Gabriel and Michael claim to understand the difference between the subtle technical differences between “killing someone” and “not stopping someone from killing someone” pretty ironic, particularly when they are taking advantage of this technicality to maintain their stance of being the good guys. And all said in such a convincing (and convinced) tone. Gabriel’s stance really only makes sense when you take it out of humanity’s context, which I think is why it’s just not something Aziraphale would ever be comfortable with.

Alright, we’ve jumped back into the present day to find Aziraphale apparently deep in thought about something. My take on it, and I think it’s a fairly common one, is that the whole Job sequence up to this point is a flashback as seen through Aziraphale’s eyes. (Side note: a cash register ringing noise is an interesting sound effect to employ to highlight the placards here, seeing as we all know the angel never willingly sells a book) There are a couple of things I picked up on during this delightful little scene, the first of which is this line:

AZIRAPHALE: I just didn’t see you coming.

I don’t think it would be a huge leap of faith to say that this line is probably not meant to be limited to this scene, but to Gabriel’s appearance on the whole. I don’t think it’s a huge revelation, I just love that it’s dropped in there so casually. And just as a quick note, I had previously wondered where Gabriel had been that he was able to sneak up on Aziraphale so easily, but it turns out that he would have been in plain sight as he approached the desk:

I love the way Aziraphale is bothered that somebody is bringing order to his chaos. It’s my belief that those books are likely arranged in such a way that only he knows how to find anything. After all, customers can’t buy books if they can’t find them, can they? The idea that somebody might actually be bringing some order to that must be distressing. It’s alright though, seeing as nobody will ever find anything they’re looking for using Gabriel’s sorting system anyway.

We also have the first reference to the Buddy Holly song “Everyday” in this scene. I’m really pleased that it was included in the second season – apparently it was something Terry was really keen to use as a device in the first season. The script book even includes stage directions that the soundtrack for most of the end credits should be stylised versions of the song. The story goes that when David Arnold presented his version of the theme tune for the first season, it was deemed to be so appropriate that the “Everyday” theme was dropped. I do absolutely love the theme tune we got. I also love that “Everyday” was brought back in for the second season. Both things can be true 😊

Last point of interest for this scene. The book that Jim reads from is “A Tale of Two Cities”. I will confess I haven’t read it, and used Wikipedia to summarise the plot, which as I understand it revolves around a central character who is compelled to disassociate himself from the wrongdoings of his family. There’s a drunken man that testifies on behalf of the main character and helps to get him acquitted of a crime. There’s a trip to Paris in 1792 that sees the main character imprisoned in the Bastille and the same man that helped acquit the main character travels to Paris in 1793 in an attempt to rescue him. There’s also a character called Gabelle, whose request for assistance in a prison escape leads to the capture of the main character.

It’s vague I’ll grant you, and I am sure I have missed a lot of the finer plot points. With that said, I don’t think I’d be alone in feeling like there are more than a few similarities to the 1793 Paris scene from Hard Times. Paris, the year, a prison rescue, and that name that’s awfully similar to Gabriel… It makes me wonder if this might be a Clue as to Aziraphale’s true purpose in Paris, and I suspect there might be a nice little project here to look at parallels between the novel and the 1793 storyline, but that would probably involve reading the original novel. In case you had missed it, time is not something I have a lot of right now, and classics bore the living shit out of me so it’s not something I can commit to so if anybody wants to take up that mantel, please feel free.

Don’t you just love that this is the first time we actually see Crowley sleeping in the show at all? There was a scene that didn’t make it to the final cut in the first season that saw him sleeping (in a bed/against a wall/on the ceiling), and one from just after he got out of bed. There is also explicit mention of his love of sleep in the book and we as a fandom have taken that cannon well and truly to heart. Yet this is the first confirmation we have in the show that he does in fact sleep. It’s a nice little touch for us to have – there really is no denying that this demon sleeps from this point on.

I made a note of Michael referring to Aziraphale as a “former angel” at the end of the first episode, and commented on how this feels like an inaccuracy. Interestingly Crowley makes an identical inaccuracy here in referring to himself as a “former demon”. To recap:

I feel the same way about Crowley and his status. I also note that Shax doesn’t correct his use of the past tense, but perhaps that’s because she’s confused at his use of sarcasm. What’s also of note is that she appears not to have any knowledge that Beelzebub and Crowley have already discussed the matter of Gabriel, likely because the former is trying to keep that under wraps. It makes me wonder if Crowley might have noticed that discrepancy had the discussion not turned to talk about the miracle that was performed in the bookshop the night before. And now we can briefly turn to the controversy that I raised from the last episode about whether Crowley actually had anything to do with said miracle:

SHAX: A miracle of enormous power happened last night. The kind of miracle only the mightiest of archangels could have performed.

So from her perspective, it looks like she believes Gabriel (as Supreme Archangel) performed the miracle himself. My theory about Crowley not playing his part in it gets pretty shaky at this point, because Aziraphale supposedly wouldn’t have been able to perform a miracle of that strength on his own. There is a “but” here. Or rather, an “unless”. What if Gabriel contributed to the miracle that was performed, but unknowingly? Possibly even unwillingly? His power, either alone or being added to that of another, might explain the colouration of the plume we see originating from the bookshop on the globe at the end of the episode. Yeah, that’s right, I’m not dropping this theory yet! It’s such a shame we don’t see any other example of plumes, because that would really either lend weight to it or completely discredit it. Shax clearly doesn’t think much of Crowley’s claim to the miracle regardless – she doesn’t even respond to him when he offers the possibility that it was him that did it.

It's also notable that Crowley makes no protestations about Shax’s label of “friend” when referring to Aziraphale. Unfortunately, we don’t get to see his face when she says it, but we do see that it’s unchanged when the close up returns to him. I’m not saying this is a denial of his true feelings, merely pointing out that this would have been hotly refuted prior to the body switch incident. Whether Crowley doesn’t care that Hell knows about his “friendship” or just can’t be bothered to argue isn’t clear at this point. What is clear, is that Shax’s threats are convincing enough that the plants are frightened – you can see (and hear) them shaking in the background:

I’m sure Crowley probably starts the car in a pass-agg response to his being threatened, but there’s a big part of me that believes he really does it because Shax has had the audacity to frighten his beloved plants. I don’t have any evidence to suggest that’s the case, but I won’t be swayed on that regardless. As a final point of note: this will be the second time Crowley has been offered the “opportunity” to help Hell and refused. He clearly has no interest in helping them – his bridges are well and truly burned as far as he’s concerned.

And with that, we’ve arrived at the credits, which feels like an excellent place to wrap this part up. I don’t think this instalment has been quite as controversial as the last one but as ever: questions, comments, discussion, always welcome. See you for the next one! 😊

#good omens #episode analysis #good omens season 2 #aziracrow #aziraphale #crowley #head canon #good omens gabriel #good omens shax #crowley's plants

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etaindelaserna · 5 months ago

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Can I ask from this ask game : https://www.tumblr.com/toomanyfandomsthings/749729499738996736/send-me-a-ship-and-a-number-and-ill-tell-you?source=share

No. 2, 10, 11, 12, 15 for Dramione, KakaSaku and SukuIta....Thanks 🌻

Dramione

No 2. Draco's love letters are written on the best pergament one can buy with gold. In addition he has made an effort to charm them to smell like freshly mown grass, because he knows how much Hermione adores the smell. His impeccable handwriting and phrasing are meant to turn these letters into literary pieces of grandeur about the nature of love and how obessed he his with Hermione and when she is finally going to marry him BUT in reality they are discussions about charm and potion theories, books they think the other should read and A LOT OF arguing about the practical application of said theories. There is still a lot of flirting and teasing on Draco's part, which never fails to either make Hermione almost explode or smile with the hint of a blush on her face. Hermione takes her responses very seriously and thus they are always too long, which in return causes Draco to point out, that she had made her point already 3 pages earlier. Since Hermione doesn't really get the hint that Draco is indulging her with these discussions, he at one point had started to include book pressed flowers with his letters. He even extended that to her most read books in the library.

No. 10. They are united by their love for adventure and fantasy shows that have either a certain storytelling or entertainment quality to them. They watched Game of Thrones, Vampire Diaries (of course comparing these vampires and werewolves to the real deal), Westworld, The Walking Dead (but only till season 5), Once Upon a Time (they're both intrigued by how mystical magic is portrayed), Stranger Things, Charmed, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, True Blood, Xena, The Witcher and American Gods. They tried to watch Outlander but Draco was annoyed that Hermione seems to get awefully quiet every time Jamie smiled or smirked or was shirtless, so Hermione watched Outlander, Spartacus and Rome on her own. Draco on the other hand was hiding from her Band of Brothers, Homeland, House of Cards and The Pacific.

No. 11. Draco's first impression of Hermione was, that she seems to be just as snotty and aristocratic in the way she carries herself as he was but without the name or reputation to back it up. She thought too highly of herself, her opinions and seemed to think she was better than anyone else. She seemed to only help others if it benefited her. Hermione thought Draco to be just another rich brat, who thinks Daddy's money is going to solve all of his problems instead of working hard.

No. 12. They don't talk about it, athough Draco is dropping hints and he wants to negotiate what they are going to do for their anniversary, but Hermione says, she's too busy and whatnot. In the end Draco kidnaps her. They are visiting Versailles and the Louvre and he schedules an interview with one of Hermiones favourite authors. Hermione feels guilty for not realizing how much this day means to him and allwos him to take her to a fancy restaurant. Afterwards they take a walk along the Seine and they dance and laugh and drink a bottle of wine. She tells him, she loves him and kisses him and in response he asks her if they now can start working on "Project Baby".

No. 15. Sometimes Hermione whised Draco wasn't so high and mighty but then he wouldn't be Draco and she wouldn't be able to tease him about it. Draco sometimes whished Hermione wasn't so god damn selfless all the time, he whished she would take more care of herself instead of sacrificing everything for everyone.

KakaSaku

No. 2. Kakashi's love letters are basically just post-its or random torn-off pieces of paper which Sakura finds EVERYWHERE: on her desk, her drawer, the fridge, among her medical supplies, sailing out of her clothes or stuck to her backpack. They mostly contain one or two sentences, sometimes just a word or a doodle. But the most emportant thing: they always make her smile. Sakura's love letters are at least two pages long and contain detailed reports about a new medical jutsu she has mastered, a new food item she has tried or the complete mystery of why all of her plants keep on dying. In between she slips sentences about what he would have said or done in these situations. One of Kakashi's ninken has been put on mail duty and is to stay with her until Sakura has finished her reply.

No. 10. Sakura would never admit it but she actually enjoys watching rom coms, period drama or soap operas with Kakashi. Not because she wants to use them as ammo to tease him about it but because they are lighthearted entertainment with some analysis or commentary about the hardships of relationships sprinkled in every now and then. They ease her mind and she adores how invested Kakashi is. It's kinda cute. They watched Bridgerton, How I met your Mother, Ugly Betty, My Secret Romance, True Beauty, Downton Abbey, Poldark, Tudors and Outlander. The more teenage-targeted shows like Vampire Diaries, Never Have I Ever, Reign, Riverdale, Smallville and One Tree Hill she keeps to herself. Kakashi doesn't watch anything if it's not with Sakura.

No 11. Kakashi's first impression of Sakura was that she is just another kid who hasn't figured out life yet and who is still too focused on herself and on superficial things that won't matter in the long run. He tries not to judge her too harshly for her perspective because just like all genin, she'll have to grow up faster then she thinks. Sakura had a hard time believing that this man really was an elite shinobi with a widespread reputation that makes him known, respected and even feared by s-class criminals. He seemed too goofy, yet bored to be their teacher and not really interested in teaching, which enraged her.

No. 12. Sakura debated with herself for a long time whether she should bring up the "anniverseries" topic at all with Kakashi. Not because she thought he was indifferent to it. The contrary: she knew him to be a hopeless romantic. So she felt a lot of pressure to deliver something profound. Kakashi noticed within a week what it was that put Sakura under this much stress and decided to plan little things for them before the actual date: they tried the new ice cream flavor in Konoha's one and only gelato shop, he bought a new board game for Saturday nights, they went to take pictures of them with silly little hats and mustaches, they took a dance class together and tried to paint a portray of each other, which caused Sakura to laugh so hard, she almost peed herself. It made Sakura realise that they didn't have to do anything super extraordinary. So when their anniversary came around, they spent the better part of it assembling a new kitchen cupboard. Sakura cooked Kakashi's favourite dish and in the afternoon they went to the book shop and challenged each other to find the funniest romcom title books. They read them out aloud and whoever laughed first, lost. Sakura lost and Kakashi decided to drag her to a karaoke bar. Afterwards they sat down in the park and watched the stars together.

No. 15. There are times when Kakashi wished Sakura had abandoned Sasuke earlier. Not from her life but from her heart. A lot of her training and strength was a result of not wanting to put the burden of dealing with Sasuke on Naruto alone. Some of her heart was broken and it took a long time to fix the damage. Sakura wished Kakashi wouldn’t try to handle everything by himself all the time.

SukuIta

No 2. Yuuji loves to write love letters. He spends hours deciding on the perfect paper and what kind of colours Sukuna likes or doesn't like. When it comes down to the actual writing, Yuuji isn't a man of huge or many words. He likes to ask Sukuna silly questions such as "Would you still love me if I was a worm?" or "Do you want to be my boyfriend? Yes, No, Please don't check both". Yuuji decorates the letters with little hearts or flowers, sometimes slipping in one of the fotos he's taken of Sukuna while eating or napping with a commentary on the back of it. Sukuna would rather die than admitting that he kind of adores Yuuji's innocent, silly displays of attachment. He still thinks they're a waste of time. If he didn't like the brat, the brat would know. But he doesn't want to be an asshole so he either writes Yuuji beautiful poems or paints something in return. But he never answers Yuuji's letters, which bothered Yuuji at first, but then he read the first poem and still tries to recover from that.

No. 10. Yuuji always thought it would be such a headache to persuade Sukuna to watch ANYTHING with him, let alone comedy horror, body horror or horror with some romance or strong friendships sprinkled in it, but no. Sukuna does complain a lot about the nonsensical plotlines or the lack of gore at times but for the most part he was down to watch What We Do In The Shadwos, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Last of Us and The Walking Dead. Since Sukuna wanted a little bit more suspense and psychological horror he blackmailed Yuuji into watching American Horror Stories, The Hounting of Hill House and Hannibal. Ulterior motive here being to make Yuuji snuggle up to him. Sukuna doesn't bother watching anything without Yuuji but Yuuji tries to hide the fact that he likes to watch Jane The Virgin, Sex Education and Young Royals when he feels down.

No 11. Sukuna's first impression of Yuuji was that he thought him to be weak and overly concerned with the safety of others to the point of it being not entertaining anymore. Just an annoying brat who lets himself be easily manipulated and who would break under the slightest pressure. And yet said brat was able to control him, which angered Sukuna beyond measure. At least his vessel had a great physique if nothing else. Yuuji on the other hand felt indifferent about Sukuna at first. He didn't know who or what he was only that he wasn't about to surrender his body to him.

No 12. Yuuji thinks anniversaries are important because it’s important to make new memories and also to remember the old ones. Sukuna couldn’t care less but let’s the brat do whatever he likes to do for an anniversary. So they end up in the ice cream shop from where they kissed for the first time and eat ice cream until they feel ill. Afterwards Yuuji drags Sukuna into a nearby park to watch the clouds together. Sukuna thinks it’s silly but he is indulging Yuuji and at least he gets to cuddle with him.

No 15. Yuuji wished Sukuna would stop thinking that Yuuji only likes him for his power. This and that he has zero empathy for everybody else. Sukuna wished Yuuji would finally use his power for selfish reasons and unleash his full potential. That’s something he wouldn’t be able to forgive him.

#dramione #sukuita #kakasaku #ask me

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wolfepirat3 · 1 month ago

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Hey guys, cooking up something good in the kitchen so as i make you wait i decided to share a comprehensive list of all the dvds i own (excluding westerns because i already have that list)

This is mostly because i like cataloguing things, but also because some of this stuff is niche and i want to find other people who like these things like i do 😄

Per usual, favorites are noted with an asterisk: *

Here goes... (below the line)

Movies

The Crow

1917

Constantine

The Warriors (3 on DVD 1 on Blu-Ray)***

Queen of the Damned

Donnie Darko

The Losers*

Stargate*

Scott Pilgrim vs the World

Dogma*

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back*

Mallrats

American Psycho

Watchmen

A Monster in Paris*

Pacific Rim

The Wanderers

Midnight Cowboy*

Evil Dead II*

Army of Darkness

The Rocky Horror Picture Show*

Newsies

Transformers Beginnings

Transformers

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen

Transformers Dark of the Moon

Austin Powers International Man of Mystery

Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me

Austin Powers Goldmember

The Breakfast Club

The Outsiders

Saw

Cats

TMNT

Amores Possíveis*

Sneakers

Streets of Fire

Eddie and the Cruisers

Proof*

Apocalypse Now*

Chicago

A Knight's Tale

Hairspray

Fight Club

The Doors

TV Shows

The Wall

The Boondock Saints

Andromeda (Season 1)*

Sports Night

Ash vs Evil Dead (Season 1)

CSI (Seasons 1-3, 5)*

CSI Miami (Season 1)

CSI NY (Season 1)

Route 66 (Season 1)

Hannibal (Seasons 1-2)

Due South (Season 1-4)**

Endeavor (Series 1)*

The Rat Patrol (Seasons 1-2)

Merlin (Season 1)

Transformers G1 (Seasons 1-4)

The Mighty Boosh (Seasons 1-3)*

Horatio Hornblower (1-4)

Stargate Atlantis (Seasons 1-2)*

Twin Peaks (Season 1)

Emergency! (Season 1)*

Oz (Seasons 1-6)**

Breaking Bad (Seasons 1-5)

The X-Files (Season 1)

Better Call Saul (Season 1)

CHiPs (Season 1)

Cowboy Bebop

Spartacus (Seasons 1-4)

Trigun (Episodes 1-4)

Clerks the Animated Series

Red Dwarf (Series 1-8)***

Okay thats everything (for now) and as a fair warning, i havent completely finished everything but damn do i love them all

Will update upon getting new things 😍

#dvd collection #dvd collector #tv shows #tv #movies #movie collection #okay now tagging specific ones i like a lot #the mighty boosh #the wanderers #the warriors #red dwarf #dogma #due south #stargate atlantis #stargate #stargate sg1

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ncisfranchise-source · 2 months ago

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The hybrid NCIS: Sydney team is once again offering “two for the price of one” in TVLine’s exclusive peek at the returning CBS drama’s Season 2 trailer.

TVLine’s month-long #2025FirstLook series kicks off today with the NCIS: Sydney Season 2 teaser above, which features cast members Olivia Swann, Todd Lasance, Sean Sagar and Tuuli Narkle, some explodey stuff, and more.

The NCIS: Sydney team was formed in the series’ November 2023 premiere, when a seaman on a U.S. sub parked in Sydney Harbour collapsed and tumbled into the water, dead. The specific circumstances of the mysterious death led to a jurisdictional battle between arriving NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey (played by Legends of Tomorrow vet Swann) and AFP (Australian Federal Police) Sergeant Jim “JD” Dempsey (played by Spartacus: War of the Damned‘s Lasance).

In short order we then met cool-as-ice Mackey’s comparatively genial colleague, NCIS Special Agent DeShawn Jackson (Fate: The Winx Saga‘s Sagar), plus JD’s team: AFP Liaison Officer Constable Evie Cooper (Bad Behaviour‘s Narkle), Forensic Pathologist Dr. Roy Penrose (Blue Heelers‘ William McInnes) and interim Forensic Scientist Bluebird “Blue” Gleeson (Neighbours‘ Mavournee Hazel) — all of whom are back for Season 2.

Averaging 6.6 million viewers (with Live+7 playback), NCIS: Sydney was CBS’ second most-watched program of the strikes-delayed Fall 2023 season, trailing only 60 Minutes and tying Survivor. It also emerged as the most-watched freshman show on any network that fall.

All told, NCIS: Sydney was the 2023-24 TV season’s No. 3 most-watched new drama, trailing CBS’ own Tracker (which averaged a Super Bowl-boosted 10.8 million) and Elsbeth (7.4 million).

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN SEASON 2?

In Season 2 of NCIS: Sydney, Mackey and JD’s team, having only just found their feet, will square off against a much more powerful adversary. As teased at the very end of the Season 1 finale — 10-MONTH OLD SPOILER ALERT! — the investigation into Colonel Rankin (played by Hunters‘ Lewis Fitz-Gerald) will reveal a looming destructive chaos that threatens the stability of the region.

In the Season 2 premiere, titled “Heart Starter” and airing Friday, Jan. 31 at 8/7c (leading into Fire Country and a relocated S.W.A.T.), a rogue assassin is on the run, and the NCIS/AFP team will do whatever it takes to crack the case, “even if that means waking the dead….”

#ncis sydney

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balletomaneblog · 3 months ago

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The Top Ten Female Vaganova Graduates of the Past Ten Years: Then and Now (Part II)

2020 - Anastasia Smirnova (First Soloist at Stanislavksy):

Another total no-brainer, she was the clear star of her graduating year, even though there were so many other strong graduates that year and there was no graduation performance due to COVID. At only fourteen she won the Diana Vishneva Prize at the Vaganova Prix and danced several roles with Mikhailovsky while still a student. After graduating, she joined the Mikhailovksy as a soloist, left to dance in the corps de ballet for six months at the Mariinsky, before returning and shortly afterwards was promoted to First Soloist. At the start of this season she left the Mikhailovsky again to join the Stanislavsky as a First Soloist. She also won 2nd prize at IBC Moscow in 2022.

Role I'd love to see her début: Esmeralda

Special Mentions: Lizi Avzanishvili, Valeria Bespalova, Anastasia Plotnikova

2020 (Masha Variation):

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2023 (Grand Pas Classique Adagio):

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2021 - Maria Chernyvskaya (Mariinsky Coryphée):

The 2021 graduating class was a more low-key class than in the preceding few years, but it still had quite a few strong graduates. Chernyvskaya finished at the top of her class and performed the lead role of Swanhilda in Act 3 of Coppélia at her graduation. She was promoted to coryphée after only a year and a half as the Mariinsky. Her biggest roles at the Mariinsky currently include Carmen, Rubies Soloist, Etruscans in Spartacus, and Queen of the Snowflakes. Chernyvskaya possesses sharp and fiery qualities that are rarer in the Mariinsky ranks, similar to dancers like Bulanova and Tkachenko.

Role I'd love to see her début: Myrtha

Special Mentions: Viktoria Mokrousova, Elena Lyskova

2019 (Napoli Pas de Six at 2019 graduation)

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2023 (Guadalquivir in La Fille du Pharaon):

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2022 - Maria Shevela (Mariinsky Corps de Ballet):

The 2022 class was largely overshadowed by the 2023 class in their graduation performances and Shevela was one of the few students of her class to be given a soloist role, where she performed Part 3 of Classical Symphony. She also danced numerous solo roles in smaller concerts and joined the Mariinsky after her graduation. She predominantly dances in the corps de ballet, but she also often performs in coryphée and smaller soloist roles. I personally really have a soft spot for Shevela, I think she's a lovely dancer and shows great technical ability. I particularly enjoy when she dances in trios with Ustyuzhanina and Lyskova as seen in the clip below.

Role I'd love to see her début: 11th Waltz in Chopiniana

Special Mentions: Anastasia Zinchenko

2021 (Variation in Spring Concert during 7th year):

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2023 (Shyrin's Friends début in Legend of Love with Lyskova and Ustyuzhanina):

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2023 - Maria Koshkareva (Bolshoi Soloist):

The 2023 graduating class reminded me a lot of the 2018 and 2015 graduating classes, with so much talent that many dancers who would have been clear stars of their class in other years were one of many in 2023. Koshkareva's had the most hype even among such a strong class since her performance in Conservatory in the 2021 graduation, and afterwards performed leading roles in the Nutcracker, Gioconda, Classical Symphony, and The Garden Scene of Le Corsaire during her last two years at Vaganova. She also won first prize in the junior category of IBC Moscow and was, along with Kuprina and Zinchenko, given a trainee position at the Mariinsky during her final year of schooling. After graduation, she joined the Bolshoi directly as a soloist. In my opinion, she had a slightly rocky first season due to how much was piled on her straight away by management, but now has really gained her footing with strong Kitri and Angela débuts this season. She also has greatly improved her Gamzatti and had a beautiful Masha debut last year. In all, I wouldn't be surprised if she received a promotion to First Soloist soon.

Role I'd love to see her début: Aurora

Special Mentions: Yaroslavna Kuprina, Sofia Valiullina, Daria Kulikova, Angelina Karamysheva

2023 (Medora variation at graduation):

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2024 (Variation from Markitenka):

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2024 - Alisa Barinova (Mariinsky Corps de Ballet):

Alisa Barinova performed as a beautiful Gulnare in Vaganova's 2023 graduation where she was one of the few younger dancers who was featured alongside such a dominant graduating class. She then had a strong final year at Vaganova, which she ended by performing as Aurora in Act 3 of the Sleeping Beauty in the 2024 show. I found that she showed great technical strength in a very challenging role. She has only been at the Mariinsky for a few months ago but she has already debuted several important soloist roles there, such as Prince's Friends in Swan Lake and Flower-sellers in Don Quixote.

Role I'd love to see her début: Almehs in La Fille du Pharaon

Special Mentions: Elisabetta Nalin

2024 (Aurora in Sleeping Beauty Act 3 during graduation):

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#ballet #anastasia smirnova #maria chernyvskaya #maria shevela #maria koshkareva #alisa barinova #mariinsky #vaganova #Youtube

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stcalixte · 5 months ago

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Last night's session with my little sunflower was so much fun! ☺️ It's become our new standard. I thought it'd be interesting to share:

We met up at 9pm on Discord and I'd instructed him to be plugged, collared, and wearing a tee that matched his cute leaf collar 🌿

I was so excited to finally see him. We hadn't played in 2 days and there he was in a colourful tee, leaf collar around his pretty throat, and beautiful brown eyes all eager 🥹 So cute

Knowing his balls were so full didn't help 😂 I was in a hurry to play with my little toy

We've been watching Spartacus during our sessions and we were finally starting Season 3. So he put on his cute pink cage then we synced up and I instructed him to sit on his wand on my favourite setting so he could feel it through the plug 😂 His reactions are always the best. Watching him groan and his slender body jolt in surprise hehehe All the little *oh, fucks* that escaped

By the first 20 mins of giggling and not even paying attention to the episode 😂 we both knew our original plans for the night were fucked. He was way too pent up to last the full 3 hours we'd agreed on

I tortured him with different settings, forcing him to watch the sex scenes in the show, and giggling the whole time. Talking filth in his ear while his eyes were closed and he was holding on for dear life. The episode finally ended and I set him free. Watching him pry that cage off with shaky hands was amazing 😂 I kept torturing him with my words. He writhed and squirmed so much that his poor temporary collar kept spinning around his neck; it was hilarious! He came so hard and collapsed in his chair sideways hehe He's definitely gonna have to rewatch the episodes today!

I gave him a short break to catch his breath and clean up. We laughed and cracked jokes while I watched him move around on wobbly legs. My little baby giraffe 🦒 then it was time for round 2 muahahahaha

For the second episode, I made him stroke his pretty cock. He sat on the small couch so I could admire all of him. I instructed him to play with various parts of himself and he got into it so readily. I made him fuck his fist; that was a costly mistake 💀 Watching him pump those hips and his heavy balls bouncing just for me. I wanted to crawl through the screen and ride the fuck out of him. Ngl I got the urge to watch him cum so I ordered him to explode before the end of the episode. I'm only human 😔

He was so exhausted and high on that orgasm bliss. And that, ladies and gentlemen, and everyone else in-between, is when he quickly reached out for the chocolate chip cookies. I watched him eat till his face suddenly scrunched up in confusion on that salty last bite 😂 I thought he hadn't cleaned up, but I didn't say anything to see if he'd ever notice. I was rewarded when he burst out laughing 🤣 I'm pretty sure we gasped for air like idiots for at least 15 mins. Then we talked about how little he remembered of the show haha

We ended the night with memes, gifs, and TikToks while he recovered then wished each other goodnight 💕

#gentledomme #gentle domination #gentlefemdom #submissivemen #pleasure domme #subby boys #edging kink

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botanicallyinclinednerd · 6 months ago

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The Umbrella Academy season 2 episode 6

Oh Allison honey :(

Fascinating

Yes Vanya he really is that bad

If Luther loses all this father related character development going into season 3 due to alternate universe shenanigans I'm going to be upset

Awww Diego

Ben is right but also wrong I feel

Oh Ben. Honey

Damn, these people really have selective listening

Guyyyys this isn't supposed to be an "I am Spartacus!" Moment!

He did in fact try

They are their own pop up apocalypse. Everywhere these seven six sibilings go, the apocalypse will follow.

Oh. Wait, actually, didn't Five say something in season one about being one of the four horsemen? He wasn't being literal, but what if it IS literal? Idk man

Because, RAY, there's *consequences*

Oh the consequences from this is gonna be a with hunt or something, isn't it

Oh. This isn't gonna end well

👀👀👀👀

Possession?👀

Oh Klaus

Ah, they were brothers, okay

Fuckin- fuck you Handler

Lmao

Oh she definitely did that to him when they were kids

:(((((((((

Okay but Luther did say that this was going to happen

Okay so possession doesn't go well for either party jfc. He was *really* desperate for them to know he's there

Oh Diego :(

Luther, you didn't HAVE to drag him by the foot

No, you should still give him a hard time Five

Rip Elliot methinks

Carl is gonna catch them isn't he

Carl already knows dears

Rip Elliot

#the umbrella academy #tua #liv watches tua

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remythologise · 7 months ago

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You win as always I just started watching IWTV hope it won’t disappoint but I trust you completely after Black Sails.

Do you have the list of the things you would force people to watch if you could?

This is such a delightful ask thank you so much!! I look forward to hearing your thoughts when you finish season 2!!!

It’s definitely a harder question because I do force people to watch it based on their tastes (i.e. I have forced my Tumblr besties to watch at least three different movies released in 2011 for gay subtext as the main recommendation factor but would not do this to my work colleagues)… HOWEVER!!! Based on broad factors of what I HAVE in the past forced my friends/loved ones to watch these are the winners…

ROMANCE/ROM-COM Crash Landing on You This is the best rom com ever made.* Nothing has ever brought my mom AND dad to laughter, tears, and had them BOTH proclaim ‘5 stars’. I cannot recommend this show strongly enough to anyone who has remotely liked a single rom com, ever.**

COMEDY Galavant Niche audience of people who love fantasy and musicals includes ME motherfucker!

Honourable mention: Deadloch, Utopia (AU), Derry Girls This is really just a series of non-American comedies I would recommend to people if they hadn’t seen it. Deadloch specifically I am SHOCKED and APPALLED more people on Tumblr are not on top of and AM continually threatening my friends with a gun to watch it, or else!!

HORROR Hannibal and IWTV Both absolutely all-time must watches but only for people that would be into that sort of thing (sickos with taste) and not look at me weirdly afterwards for recommending it.

CRIME/THRILLERS The Devil Judge and Beyond Evil Crazy how these two shows came out at like, the same time, were both so similar in terms of the Wildly Gay Subtextual Leads Dynamic and so good. And they (were) both on Netflix!! Beyond Evil is definitely more refined BUT The Devil Judge is also so good and wild and such camp fun… you couldn’t go wrong with either if you enjoy having a fun gay time, particularly not if you like shows just to the left of Hannibal/IWTV.

FANTASY Word of Honour and The Untamed These are not all-timers because they are ‘objectively well-made’ they are all timers because I shake my friends by the shoulders and yell "I had the absolute most fun gay fantasy romance time watching them and you will too!"

HISTORICAL Spartacus and Black Sails Everyone talks about Black Sails on this website but not enough people talk about how Spartacus walked so Black Sails could run. Much more extreme R-rated and/or triggering content in Spartacus though so I do understand. Nevertheless something I do end up recommending to my male friends a lot (and they love it!!).

SCI-FI Dark REALLY tough category and I didn’t love the ending of this show but decided to pick based on what I'd recommend to the most people on balance. Don't look up spoilers!

For All Mankind Ok I haven’t even finished season 3 of this show so I can’t properly endorse it in full confidence and I’m also biased because I’m currently watching it, but. I simply love to see the BSG showrunner do what he does best: make television. About People, Politics and Situations In Space!

Honourable mention: The OA, In the Flesh and Sense8 These are my ‘wish they weren’t cancelled’*** and I don’t know if I would inflict on people while incomplete. However I just think what they were aiming for was so so unique and good that maybe they’re worth watching anyway!! (***I know Sense8 had the consolation prize movie but it was so rushed and nothing that like. To Me. It doesn't count.)

ANIME Shin Sekai Yori This is definitely the all-time anime I recommend to absolutely everyone. Ignore the middling animation and don’t look up spoilers, the end has one of the most existential ‘reframes the narrative’ plot twists of all time.

Yuri on Ice Speaking of plot twists that reframe the narrative… YOI is an obvious answer but it’s also correct!!! IT WAS BORN TO MAKE HISTORY!!!

FILMS The Handmaiden Limiting myself to ONE film to keep things a little briefer (sorry about the long post!) it was still an easy choice and literally do force my friends to watch it the second I know they haven’t seen it. No spoilers but it’s the IWTV of cinema to me.

*When Harry Met Sally Is of course also the best rom com ever made for its medium and I would be remiss not to include that here as well!

#ask #lemurchick #amazing question also I simply love to have Opinions On Television Shows. thank you for this opportunity to declare them #I don't think a lot of these are surprising but maybe this will make someone watch CLOY/SSY/Apple TV shows that need more fandom reach #**so everyone but Sadie #kira for ts #long post for ts #obviously this was a hard and painful list to make as there are many more shows that I am very happy to recommend at all times! but I tried #to keep it. relatively. short.

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