#spy(ies) 2009

[sweetandglovelyart]

Knightfall in Dream Land - Page 4

Meta Knight shares what it was like to grow up being raised by Nightmare.

[doctor-octiddius]

Random sketch dump because (surprise, surprise) I like drawing Sid characters the most right now. Some good, some worse + having trouble figuring out a man's face, but I won't let that stop me <3

First 4 are Julian (I keep forgetting I like drawing the combadges as among us characters), then it's him in Doomsday, Peaky Blinders, and Spy(ies) twice because Malik is my everything for some wild reason

Woe, bonus goofy lil Kareem (Vertical Limit) doodle be upon ye

[jevilowo]

I love dates in the tf2 lore. I love knowing exactly when stuff happened. Which makes THIS THING I JUST FOUND a BEAUTIFUL MIRACLE

You've seen this image before, but have you noticed the dates on the prison card thingies? Presumably this is written the American Way (the writers are so american they make Scout and Sniper both call their mothers "mom" despite preferring "ma" and "mum" respectively, as shown previously SEVERal times), so Spy and Scout were arrested on

The 7th of September, 1972.

We can do a lot with this information.

Mann Co was taken over by Grey and Olivia half a month before this: roughly the 23rd of August

Contrary to popular belief, most of the comics have to take place in 1973! Seeing as 6 months after late August is late February.

This also means Scout had to have been born in 1946/7. Not sure about Sniper, I have yet to overanalyse the New Zealand timeline paragraph. I'll get to it eventually.

Medic implies in comic 6 that our mercs have worked together for "at least eight years", while talking about the lore breaking Demo eyeball halloween thing. Assuming the "at least" confusion is over the 1972 Halloween they missed while not working together, the Teufort Nine were hired in 1964.

(I've almost mentally rationalised the lore breaking eyeball as a thing they do at like 4am after regular Scream Fortress shenanigans. Almost.)

Scout claims he has known Ms Pauling for six years. During the War! update, Demoman is unfamiliar with Ms Pauling (he knows she works for the administrator, but thats it), so we can assume that is the point she started working more closely with the mercs, and also 1966/7

I really need to go back to actively working on my timeline instead of passively wondering at 11pm "hey what time of year is it in the comics" and going down a rabbit hole.

Uh if you want to build off this, feel free to, but tell society twas I, the great and nobel Jevil_Owo, who first conceptualised all this.

UPDATE! This post seems to be picking up reblog steam again, so now is a good time to say I was WRONG about the mercs being hired around 1964.

This blog post from 2009 claims the WAR update took place in 1962, meaning the mercs have to have been hired in early 1962 at the latest.

Seeing as Scout would have been 15/16 in 1962, and as that's kind of the youngest one can be hired for just about anything, I'd assume it actually is 1962 they were hired. Ok thats enough I just felt it was my duty as Person Timelining to update people on this Discovery.

SECOND UPDATE!!

Okay this is lowkey blowing up again and I just wanted to add that Valve themselves are not aware of the comics taking place in 1973. Idiots! This is why "7 years later" is 1979 instead of 1980 like it should be. Sigh.

I had already figured that out from a few other things (see the timeline in my pinned post, I point it out a couple of times), but this solidified it lmao.

[firenati0n]

2024 writing round up!

thank you for the tags @kiwiana-writes @cha-melodius @alasse9 :) <3

i posted 19 fics this year (whoa) ranging from 932 words to 54,284 words. wild! all were for RWRB! yay firstprince! :)

JANUARY

too scared to post shit after writing worm fic in december

FEBRUARY

An Amateur's Guide to Piping That Cream and Beating That Meat (T, 5k) henry needs to make something for alex's friendsgiving and comes across a thirst trapping headless food tiktoker. i wonder who it could be. deranged tiktok comments, friends to lovers

people ruin people, i don't wanna ruin you (M, WIP, 6.8k, 4/9 chapters) - this was posted anonymously until august) alex is a washed up singer, henry is his new pet project. and maybe something more. musician firstprince, v loose a star is born x greek mythology au, icarus!alex, collaborators to lovers

MARCH

each time we touch / i wanna take too much (M, 1.3k) alex puts his fingers in henry's mouth. mhm yep that's it.

keep me up all night / i wanna scratch your surface  (M, 1.4k) alex is so in love he could die. puts his mouth on other places. prose-y loverboy alex.

cause you're classic, and i'm reckless (T, 5.4k) alex and henry are costars, henry offers to help alex with intimacy research. actor au, kissing for practice leads to kissing for real, inspired by ryan gosling and rachel mcadams at the 2005 mtv movie awards, costars to lovers

who truly stuck the knife in first (M, 3.7k) alex and henry are spy partners. a mission goes sideways and they fight and fuck about it. sexually charged wrestling, partners to lovers

APRIL

and all i can taste is this moment, and all i can breathe is your life (T, 9999 words) angel!henry watches over lawyer!alex invisibly until one day alex sees him. now what? loose city of angels au, pining yearning longing galore, wee bit of angst with a happy ending, introspection

MAY

who would've thought that a guy like henry would double as a superstar?  (T, 6.4k) hannah montana au, crack treated seriously, henry is hannah montana and alex works at a ranch. a hot damn mess.

JUNE

busy writing and posting proposal au! :)

JULY

the full spectrum of human emotion (M, 54k) editor!henry gets assistant!alex to marry him to avoid deportation. but wait! alex hates henry! oops. the proposal (2009) au, marriage of convenience, fake dating, romantic comedy, banter and big feelings

AUGUST

you're the closest to heaven that i'll ever be (T, 7.7k) angel!henry sequel, henry learning what it means to be human, very tender and full of musings on humanity and love and the little things in life

the leaves of a silver maple (assorted, 13k) collection of short standalone prompt fics for my fic fest (some of my favorite fics ever exist in this collection and they're so buried jfalksjlf)

prompt one - wicked E | 2.6k | au, sims family, fluff laced with a little crack. as a treat. henry finds something rather...wicked on alex's laptop. prompt two - sweaters T | 1k | canon-verse, fluffy, sweet, sharing clothes alex steals henry's sweater, and henry gets back at him. prompt three -  magic T | 5.2k | kiki's delivery service (studio ghibli, 1989) au, magic au, high school au, warlock!henry, baker!alex, sweet, tender, emotional, found family a tender little exploration of love, purpose, healing, and a warlock!henry finding baker!alex.  prompt four -  comfort T | 2.6k | roommate au, sickfic, hurt/comfort, taking care of each other, mutual pining, fluff, domesticity, pride & prejudice (2005) refs, first kiss, getting together three times henry took care of alex and one time alex took care of henry. prompt five - wicked once more M | 500 words | au, sims family, cracky fluff, accidental sims mpreg alex is being a menace once again in The Sims. prompt six - apron M | 200 words | au, silly, apron shenanigans henry is wearing an apron. and nothing else.  prompt seven - goodbye T | 200 words | the good place au, bittersweet alex and henry say goodbye. prompt eight - father T | 300 words | post-canon, a tinge of grief, hope henry reflects on grief.

SEPTEMBER

i like the way you blush / i like the way you bite (M, 932) henry puts his fingers in alex's mouth

OCTOBER

flip the switch and let the cauldron bubble (T, 2.7k) kiki's delivery service au sequel, warlock!henry and baker!alex and the many potions that heal them

about to bust-elo (M, 2k) alex tries Café Bustelo Instant Espresso and has a hell of a day. inspired by my fuckass coffee habits.

feeling your heart beating, wondering what you're dreaming (M, 5.7k) five times childhood best friends alex and henry share a bed platonically, and the one time (of many) they do as something more, childhood friends to lovers, one bed, pining, fluffy and tender

from all the pain our brain has made, the game is not played alone (G, 1.4k) alex has a long day and a terrible headache, and henry comforts him

NOVEMBER

brain break

DECEMBER

london's so nice, back in your seamless rhymes (T, 7.4k) alex and henry fall in love—five days a week, four bus routes, three pseudo-dates, two holiday markets, and one red scarf of fate later. strangers to friends to lovers, meet-cute, london buses, fluffy and fun

if the city never sleeps, then that makes three (T, 1.4k) london bus meet-cute universe part 2. alex and henry have a movie night and learn some things about each other and the people they thirst over

i looked into your eyes, got such a great surprise (M, 1.6k) london bus meet-cute universe part 3. alex and henry go on a walk and do some reflecting on love and happiness. fluffy and funny and sweet.

-

and that's a wrap! what a year! so grateful for everyone who read and commented and subscribed and engaged...it means so much to me. i have really leaned on this community while navigating rough waters, and deeply love all the friends and connections i have made. sending everyone a lot of love!

xoxo roop

open tag and a few under the cut :)

@ninzied @myheartalivewrites @rmd-writes @tintagel-or-cockleshells @clottedcreamfudge

@anchoredarchangel @dumbpeachjuice @smc-27 @cricketnationrise @everwitch-magiks

@orchidscript @cheesecurdsgravyandfries @run-for-chamo-miles @onward--upward @eusuntgratie

@bigassbowlingballhead @leaves-of-laurelin @porcelainmortal @getmehighonmagic @blueeyedgrlwrites

@suseagull5914 @judasofsuburbia @seths-rogens @caterpills @violetbaudelaire-quagmire

@onthewaytosomewhere @indestructibleheart @sophie1973 @fairflowered @incalamity

@smugvillanelle @anincompletelist @wordsofhoneydew @itsmaybitheway @whimsymanaged

@miss-minnelli @zwiazdziarka @sherryvalli @msmarvelouswinchester @thesleepyskipper

@thedramasummer @priincebutt @14carrotghoul @kj-bee @welcometololaland

@miharaikko @hgejfmw-hgejhsf

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

a list of some spring movies/series 🌷

spring is here!! and so is your friendly neighbourhood little organisation freak of a goblin to give you a list of some spring movies and series. as always, just close your eyes and point somewhere on this little list, or even put the numbers in a generator and go with whatever the result is ♡

summer | autumn | winter

🐝 ‧₊˚ ⋅ movies ⋅˚₊‧

mary poppins (1964)

the sound of music (1965)

aristocats (1970)

alla vi barn i bullerbyn (1986)

my neighbour totoro (1988)

kiki's delivery service (1989)

a league of their own (1992)

the secret garden (1993)

pride and prejudice (1995/2005)

whisper of the heart (1995)

clueless (1995)

my best friend’s wedding (1997)

parent trap (1998)

10 things i hate about you (1999)

notting hill (1999)

she's all that (1999)

but i’m a cheerleader (1999)

bring it on (2000)

miss congeniality (2000)

spiritied away (2001)

the wedding planner (2001)

legally blonde (2001)

princess diaries (2001 + 2004)

spy kids (2001-2003)

maid in manhatten (2002)

bend it like beckham (2002)

tuck everlasting (2002)

school of rock (2003)

how to lose a guy in 10 days (2003)

something’s gotta give (2003)

13 going on 30 (2004)

finding neverland (2004)

howl’s moving castle (2004)

saving face (2004)

the notebook (2004)

imagine me and you (2005)

nanny mcphee (2005)

penelope (2006)

miss potter (2006)

step up (2006)

she’s the man (2006)

bridge to terabithia (2007)

enchanted (2007)

atonement (2007)

stardust (2007)

ps i love you (2007)

wild child (2008)

made of honour (2008)

ondine (2009)

bride wars (2009)

valentine’s day (2010)

leap year (2010)

easy a (2010)

from up on poppy hill (2011)

jane eyre (2011)

crazy, stupid, love (2011)

what to expect when you’re expecting (2012)

remember sunday (2013)

saving mr banks (2013)

about time (2013)

now you see me (2013 + 2016)

love, rosie (2014)

testament of youth (2014)

kingsman (2014-)

paddington (2014 + 2017)

far from the madding crowd (2015)

burnt (2015)

brooklyn (2015)

cinderella (2015)

the man from u.n.c.l.e. (2015)

lady chatterley's lover (2015/2022)

creed franchise (2015-2023)

me before you (2016)

mother’s day (2016)

this beautiful fantastic (2016)

the light between oceans (2016)

paterson (2016)

how to be single (2016)

hidden figures (2016)

gifted (2017)

dunkirk (2017)

ocean’s eight (2018)

life itself (2018)

peter rabbit (2018)

christopher robin (2018)

tomb raider (2018)

set it up (2018)

crazy rich asians (2018)

spider-verse movies (2018-)

1917 (2019)

the art of racing in the rain (2019)

can you keep a secret? (2019)

booksmart (2019)

someone great (2019)

endings, beginnings (2019)

emma (2020)

enola holms (2020-)

the last letter from your lover (2021)

the world to come (2021)

we live in time (2024)

🌼 ‧₊˚ ⋅ series ⋅˚₊‧

little house on the prairie (1974-1983)

moomin valley (1990-1992)

greys anatomy (2005-)

gossip girl (2007-2012)

skins (2007-2013)

the great british bake off (2010-)

new girl (2011-2018)

brooklyn nine-nine (2013-2021)

the fosters (2013-2018)

the 100 (2014-2020)

jane the virgin (2014-2019)

outlander (2014-)

grace and frankie (2015-2022)

poldark (2015-2019)

critical role (2015-)

howards end (2017)

girlboss (2017)

she's gotta have it (2017-2019)

the bold type (2017-2021)

mr. sunshine (2018)

queer eye (2018-)

crash landing into you (2019)

the witcher (2019-)

dickinson (2019-2021)

sex education (2019-2023)

bridgerton (2020-)

ted lasso (2020-2023)

nevertheless (2021)

abbott elementary (2021-)

flatshare (2022)

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

End of month update - July

Hello, all! This is the end-of-month update, where I post Tumblr’s current top four films that have received the highest percentage of “yes,” “no,” and “haven’t even heard of this movie” votes.

As of today, the top four films with the highest percentage of “yes” votes are:

Finding Nemo (2003) | Shrek (2001) | Monsters, Inc. (2001) | The Lion King (1994)

Next, the top four films with the highest percentage of “no” votes are:

Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) | Sausage Party (2016) | Pinocchio (2019) | Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014)

This top four changed through the new addition of Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), which replaced All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).

Finally, the top four films with the highest percentage of “haven’t even heard of this movie” votes are:

Faat Kiné (2001) | Now Add Honey (2015) | Like a Cat on a Highway (2017) | Dean Spanley (2008)

That’s it for July’s end-of-month update! Remember that you can view last month’s update by clicking here. Additionally, you can view the full ranked Letterboxd lists of movies that have come up on this blog by clicking the following links:

This list is ranked from highest-to-lowest percentage of “yes” votes.

This list is ranked from highest-to-lowest percentage of “no” votes.

This list is ranked from highest-to-lowest percentage of “haven’t even heard of this movie” votes.

Remember to vote on the polls that are currently running: Winter Light (1963) | Call Me By Your Name (2017) | Head (1968) | The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979) | Almost Famous (2000) | The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013) | Hotel Mumbai (2018) | The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019) | Liz and the Blue Bird (2018) | Phantom of the Paradise (1974) | Eureka (2000) | The Wolfman (2010) | The Hangover (2009) | Project X (2012) | Poison (1991) | Life, and Nothing More... (1992) | Edward II (1991) | The Crying Game (1992) | The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966) | Everything Is Illuminated (2005) | Samurai Rebellion (1967) | Spy (2015) | Clouds of Sils Maria (2014) | Hell is Empty (2021) | The Wizard of Speed and Time (1988) | Sorcerer (1977) | Running on Empty (1988) | Departures (2008) | My Fair Lady (1964) | The Great Mouse Detective (1986) | Solaris (1972) | Who Killed Captain Alex? (2010) | The Order (2003) | The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009) | The Mask (1994)

[onyourstageleft]

a love letter to my favorite YA lit:

I'm relistening to the Beka Cooper audio books again (a yearly tradition at this point) and every time I hear the opening line of Mastiff, "We buried Holborn today," it takes me back to opening the e-book on my Nook the day it was released in my freshman year of high school and reading that line while sitting on the bleachers waiting for PE to start. I remember flipping back to the previous page to make sure this was the first chapter, thinking I'd never even heard of Holborn. I opened the Bloodhound e-book to compare the dates of her entries and realized the time skip was nearly two years, and got so excited to see what happened to Beka while we weren't with her. We walked the track that overcast day of PE in 2011 and I barely looked up from my Nook, so engrossed was I in Beka's story

that was the first Tamora Pierce book release I waited on; I found her books in probably 2009 and had read most of them by the summer of 2011. I pre-ordered Mastiff so it would be on my Nook as soon as it came out, but I was a freshman in high school and wasn't supposed to stay up till midnight, so I had to wait until the day to read it. it was nearly 13 years (and half my life ago) but here I am, still re-reading and re-listening to the Tamora Pierce books that got me through being a teenager. I remember sitting in my high school's library rereading their copy of Wild Magic over my lunch break to pass the time; drunk crying on the floor of my friend's dorm at a character's death in Terrier my freshman year of college (even though I'd read it 3 or 4 times at that point I always forgot); waiting in the lobby of the technology building of my college campus for my class to start with Spy's Guide on my lap after its release; sitting in my advisor's office in grad school flipping through Mastiff and Page and Lioness Rampant for quotes to include in my thesis; rereading Briar's book at the height of the pandemic. I have a tattoo of Lighting on my arm and a (very rough and needs to be redone) tattoo of Pounce/Faithful on my calf and I genuinely don't think a day has gone by in over a decade where I haven't thought about Tamora Pierce books

the world of Tortall (and Emelan, to a lesser extent) has shaped me, and although this is an attempt to pin it down, I will never be able to explain how much these books mean to me. I know that I may love other series and worlds (I'm currently reading some Terry Pratchett, for example), but they will never make an impact on me in the same way that Tortall and all its various characters has, and that's fine by me

and yet, through all of it, I will never, ever be ready for The Thing We Don't Talk About in Mastiff, not now at a dozen rereads and not in another 13 years

[mortmere]

It's common knowledge that Paul Gross's wife Martha Burns plays the Russian spy Nadia in "Spy vs. Spy", but there's another married couple in that episode that at least I hadn't heard of before: Mort and Ruth! Here are some photos of Jan Rubeš (1920-2009) and Susan Douglas Rubeš (1925-2013).

The above pics are from the 1980s - here are a couple of much older photos: Jan perhaps in the 1950s/60s and Susan probably in the late 1940s or early 1950s. They got married in 1950.

Also, Jan Rubes was an opera singer, so no wonder Mort was singing all the time in the morgue - even when we first meet him in "Mountie and Soul", we hear his singing before we even see the guy!

I leave you with this photo of Jan from 1971 when he was directing a children's play, because, you know: "Fishing is ridiculous!" I so wish there had been more episodes with Mort, he's one of the absolute best recurring minor characters in the entire show.

[ionlypostmymeemocs]

Fandoms/Community that was I in before I joined TF2

Transformers (Live Actions)

Transformers Animated

TMNT 2012

9 (Movie 2009 Flim)

Spiderman

Courtney Crumrin

Ninjago

Rescue Bots

Transformers More Than Meets the Eye

Spy VS Spy

Then

There's Team Fortress 2.

[genuinelyshallow]

=Take this

- What's this ?

= The key to our house in Gaza. Every Palestinian who's displaced takes their key with them and carry it around with the hope to be able to go back one day, and...

- and if they die, they leave it to their children, or friends, or loved ones...I know

= I don't have anyone left. I wanted to take it with me to the grave, but here, take it with you, and when your mission is done, give it back to me, ok ?

- ok

A scene from the Egyptian movie 'The cousins 2009' which is about a woman and two children who are kidnapped from Egypt to Israel. Egypt sends a spy to get them back, and he meets a Palestinian woman who helps him

The story of the keys is something we all know.

[katy-133]

Merc Shipping Vs The Administrator (AKA, The Power of Love Vs The Power of Hate)

Something I keep thinking about is the Romeo and Juliet parallel between BLU Soldier and RED Demoman in the WAR! comic, and how you can apply it to every merc ship configuration.

Because I think the Romeo and Juliet parallel is definitely intentional on the part of the comic creators. Canonically, Soldier and Demoman's relationship is one of friendship (it's given that label by the Administrator), not romance. But the whole thing is purposely framed like a forbidden romance story. So it's not canonically a romance, but it's read like a forbidden romance. It feels like a forbidden romance. Because it uses the tropes familiar with a forbidden romance story. To elaborate...

The study of tropes is the study of patterns in storytelling. As you experience different media, you start recognising patterns and what different patterns are trying to communicate to the audience (you). By doing this, you are gaining media literacy by understanding the language of storytelling. And by "language," I don't mean "French/English," I mean colour theory, subtext, and tropes. Media has its own language beyond English.

So, breaking down parts of the WAR! arc, the Administrator gives the following in-game dialogue regarding Soldier and Demoman's relationship:

"Betrayal will not be tolerated." "You cannot hide anything from us, mercenaries. And now you will pay the price." "It's not too late to repent, kill your friend now and end this. Listen to your conscience!" "Friendships are in direct contravention of mercenary conduct as delineated in your contracts; and on a personal note: I am very, very, disappointed with you." "I won't single any one of you out. I will just say that some of you have betrayed the trust of your employers...and because of that you must die. The rest of you are *cough* satisfactory." - The Administrator

There's additional bark lines, but I'm highlighting these because they focus on the forbidden aspect of the friendship, and how the friendship is a thing to be punished for. Stick a pin in this.

To do a quick summary of what happened, the Administrator discovers a series of surveillance photos showing BLU Soldier and RED Demoman hanging out together in various places outside of work hours. The Administrator is now finding out about this because she is their boss (and has the authority to have access to this surveillance stuff) and because Soldier and Demoman didn't tell anyone about their friendship (read as: they knew it would be frowned upon and tried to keep it a secret).

This "person of authority discovers their wards are having a forbidden relationship in secret" moment is a trope as old as the hills. In Romeo and Juliet, it was their family finding out about their romance, and before that, the fear of being discovered is what hangs over them for the majority of the story. Like Soldier and Demoman, Romeo and Juliet are on opposite sides of a feud that has lasted longer than their own lifetimes. And it is expected of them to take part in this feud as enemies.

(Season 1 Good Omens spoiler in next paragraph, feel free to skip it.)

If you want a more recent and modern example, there's the fantasy romantic comedy Good Omens, wherein Aziraphale's boss, Archangel Gabriel, finds out through surveillance photos that the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley have been hanging out together in secret, while Aziraphale insisted to Gabriel that he and Crowley were enemies in the Heaven and Hell war. The scene beat for beat feels the same as the Administrator finding out about Soldier and Demoman, complete with a "photos splayed across the table" shot.

Even Team Fortress 2 has used this "photos across the table" trope before, and it was for the reveal of RED Spy's romance with Scout's mother. TF2 used it in association with forbidden romance before the WAR! comic. (Meet the Spy released May 2009, while WAR! released in December 2009.)

Some other romantic connotations I observed in WAR! were that the different photos illustrate a different romance trope.

In one of the photos, Soldier and Demoman go to Las Vegas together. Visiting Las Vegas is a trope in fiction where the main character goes there and spontaneously gets married during their stay. This is because Nevada, America does not require a waiting period between obtaining a marriage licence and the marriage, making it ideal for writers trying to justify a surprise marriage storyline. The trope was also popularised by the 2003 slogan, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," and has since been associated with the implication that characters who visited Las Vegas together secretly got married while there.

There's a joke in the series Gravity Falls that references this trope:

In the Las Vegas photo, Soldier and Demoman are with two women (so they are not just together by themselves), but the marriage association is still there.

Soldier and Demoman also went to a museum together, a sports game, a bus tour, and went on a fishing trip together. Bonding outings where they got to know each other. These can be read as going on dates together if you are using a queer reading to view the story.

So, there's two readings happening on top of each other. There's the canon reading (or text reading), and there's the subtext reading (specifically, a queer reading). And you can read both at the same time.

Canonically, this is a friendship where it's forbidden because Soldier and Demoman are on opposite sides of a war. The Administrator doesn't want this friendship to continue because it puts her plan (of secretly playing to both sides) in jeopardy.

A subtext reading is that this is a romance where it's still forbidden because Soldier and Demoman are on opposite sides, but it can also now be read as forbidden because gay relationships were criminalised at the time (Team Fortress 2 is set in 1968, which is exactly one year before Stonewall happens). Historically, gay relationships in fiction have this association with forbidden romance in particular because its criminalisation required secrecy and discreetness for the gay relationship to exist, and socially it wasn't accepted by the general public (it was stigmatised as a criminal act) and was thus seen as taboo. So in stories, it had (and still has) this association with forbidden-ness and secret-keeping.

There was also the Hays Code, which was created (in part) to stop films from including gay characters and gay relationships and that criminal acts should be punished by the end of the movie. Filmmakers got around these rules by queer coding villains (using queer signifiers to imply a character as queer without making it canon) and using subtext and metaphors. The Hays Code has since been removed, but it was used during almost the entirety of the Golden Age of Hollywood (read as: formative years that created many of the staples of filmmaking), so its effects can still be seen in today's media. Such as writers using secretive friendships as a metaphor for forbidden queer romance.

If you edit the plot to Soldier and Demoman having a secret romantic relationship rather than a friendship, the plot arguably stays the same and requires minimal changes to the plot beats.

And in addition to this relationship jeopardising her plan, the Administrator may not want the mercs to form romantic bonds between them that could stop them from fighting and killing each other and get them to question the point(lessness) of the Gravel War.

Basically, she doesn't want the Gravel War to end through some act of the Power of Love. Which, thinking about it, the Power of Love is the antithesis of the Administrator's way of getting what she wants. She runs on the Power of Hate. She uses it to keep the war going, by arranging things so that the Mann brothers never end their rivalry. She found a way to prolong both of their lives so that their feud would not end through death or forgiveness. She benefits from hatred and it's how she retains her power.

So, the Administrator uses her power to break up Soldier and Demoman. She tries to incentivise them with new weapons and items. That doesn't work. She lies and tells them that the other merc betrayed them, using fake evidence and the merc's trust in Miss Pauling. She uses her knowledge of what the mercs fear most to manipulate them into thinking the other betrayed them. It's only then that Soldier and Demoman agree to killing each other.

Using the romantic interpretation, the Administrator is using her power to end the forbidden relationship. Making Soldier and Demoman star-crossed lovers that were pulled apart by an authority that watches over them.

Alongside the WAR! comic, the game had an update where you played as Soldier or Demoman and got rewarded for specifically targeting and killing the other. These kills were tallied collectively and used to basically vote for which class got a particular new weapon/item reward, which changed the game's design and changed how Soldier and Demoman played.

Even if you missed the WAR! arc update that happened in-game, you still get to play out an aspect of it through completing this achievement for Soldier:

And this achievement for Demoman:

They killed each other 500 times.

Respawning, although not talked about in the comics, is mentioned enough that it appears to be canon or at least acknowledged in-universe by the mercs. It's not just a video game thing you're meant to forget about or pretend doesn't exist.

"See you in five minutes." - Sniper, upon killing a merc.

Medic's Reanimator device in Mann Vs Machine mode is also shown in The Sound of Medicine Valve animation and is used to bring Heavy back to life. So in-universe, death does not stop the mercs, and they therefore can die repeatedly as a punishment.

This is why merc shipping has such a strong element of danger and stakes to them, whether it's a cross-fraction or same team ship. If they are all aware of the Administrator's authority and how much she spies on them, they would all be fearful of being in a relationship with another merc because they'd be worried about the punishment they would receive if they got caught.

The Administrator didn't just go, "You're fired," or, "You're dead." I think this is very important to keep in mind. Those two options weren't good enough. The Administrator punishes people on the level that GLaDOS does because she has that same authority. She instead went, "You're going to kill each other 500 times over. Each. And you're going to enjoy it. I'm going to arrange things so that you hate each other by the end of this."

Can you imagine what she would do if she had so much as an inkling that the mercs have fallen in love?

Going back to canon, I still don't know how the TF2 comics will end, but if issue 7 ever comes out, I wonder if the Administrator's ultimate plan will get foiled through the merc's teamwork. Does teamwork defeat a century-old plan created by rivalry and greed?

Does the Power of Love defeat the Power of Hate?

[jevilowo]

Most of the time people aren't even like "they aren't related in my au owo", they'll actually tag it with "parent/child incest" and quite often go out of their ways to be even more gross by infantilising the fuck out of Scout, either by making him act a lot more naive/childish or by making him younger. I haven't even read any of these but the descriptions are really telling.

Put the ship name for Spyscout on the poll so people can block it. I think cloak and batter is one version of the ship name?

I never keep track of their ship names because ew but I remember "seduce me" was one of them. You're probably right about "cloak and batter" tho, and "scoutspy" would probably be another one.

[firthbetterorfirthworse]

Colin Firth

My first unhinged project involved watching all of Colin Firth's IMDB acting credits, to see how often he got wet.

Figured I'd make a master list of the posts I made. I didn't make a post on everything, so if there's one without a link you can always request to hear my thoughts hahaha

I also made a post about his hair choices, because he does a lot of period pieces and oh boy do I often have Thoughts

And here's a post about how his trend of getting wet changed our perception of Darcy forever

I ended up making a powerpoint presentation of my data (that I drunkenly presented to my friends, highly recommend) and put it in posts here: Intro Graphs and Data Influence

1917 (2019)

1919 (1984)

The Accidental Husband (2008)

The Advocate/Hour of the Pig (1993)

And When Did You Last See Your Father (2007)

Another Country (1984)

Apartment Zero (1988)

Arthur Newman (2012)

Before I Go To Sleep (2014)

Blackadder Back and Forth (1999)

Born Equal (2006)

Bridget Jones Diary (2001)

Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason (2004)

Bridget Jones' Baby (2016)

Camille (1984)

Celebration (2007)

A Christmas Carol (2009) Intro, Movie

Circle of Friends (1995)

Command (2018)

Conspiracy (2001)

Crown Court episode (1984)

Deep Blue Sea (1994)

Devil's Knot (2013)

Donovan Quick (2000)

Dorian Gray (2009)

Dutch Girls (1985)

Easy Virtue (2008)

Empire of Light (2022)

The English Patient (1996)

Femme Fatale (1991)

Fever Pitch (1997)

Fourplay/Londinium (2001)

Gambit (2012)

Genius (2016)

Girl With a Pearl Earring (2003)

The Happy Prince (2018)

Hope Springs (2003)

Hostages (1992)

Hour of the Pig/The Advocate (1993)

The Importance of Being Earnest (2002)

The King's Speech (2010)

Kingsman: Secret Service (2014)

Kingsman: Golden Circle (2017)

Last Legion (2007)

Londinium/Fourplay (2001)

Lost Empires (1986) Intro, Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt 4, Pt 5, Pt 6, Pt 7

Love Actually (2003)

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

Main Street (2010)

Mamma Mia! (2008)

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

Master of the Moor (1994) Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt 3 Finale

The Mercy (2017)

A Month in the Country (1987)

Mothering Sunday (2021)

My Life So Far (1999)

Nanny McPhee (2005)

Nostromo (1996)

Operation Mincemeat (2021)

Out of the Blue (1991)

Pat Hobby Teamed With Genius (1987)

Playmaker (1994)

Pride and Prejudice (1995) (I didn't make a single post, it got a bit away from me so you can find the collection of links on my Pride and Prejudice masterlist)

The Railway Man (2013)

Relative Values (2000)

The Secret Garden (1987)

The Secret Garden (2020)

The Secret Laughter of Women (1999)

Shakespeare in Love (1998)

A Single Man (2009)

St Trinians (2007)

St Trinians 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009)

The Staircase (2022)

Stars in Shorts (2012)

A Summer in Genoa (2008)

Supernova (2020)

Then She Found Me (2007)

A Thousand Acres (1997)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Trauma (2004)

Tumbledown (1988)

Turn of the Screw (1999)

Valmont (1989)

What A Girl Wants (2003)

Where the Truth Lies (2005)

The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd (1995)

Wings of Fame (1990)

[vintage1981]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLINE MUNRO! 

Caroline Munro (born 16 January 1949 in Windsor, Berkshire) is a British actress and model best known for her many appearances in science fiction and action films of the 1970s and 1980s. According to Munro, her career took off in 1966 when her mother and photographer friend entered some headshots of her to Britain’s The Evening News “Face of the Year” contest.

“I wanted to do art. Art was my love. I went to Art School in Brighton but I was not very good at it. I just did not know what to do. I had a friend at the college who was studying photography and he needed somebody to photograph and he asked me. Unbeknownst to me, he sent the photographs to a big newspaper in London. The famous fashion photographer, David Bailey, was conducting a photo contest and my picture won.” 

This led to modelling chores, her first job being for Vogue Magazine at the age of 17. She moved to London to pursue top modelling jobs and became a major cover girl for fashion and TV ads while there. Decorative bit parts came her way in such films as Casino Royale and Where’s Jack? (1969). One of her many photo ads got her a screen test and a one-year contract at Paramount where she won the role of Richard Widmark’s daughter in the comedy/western A Talent for Loving (1969). 

1969 proved to be a good year for Munro, because it was then that she began a lucrative 10 year relationship with Lamb’s Navy Rum. Her image was plastered all over the country, and this would eventually lead to her next big break.

Hammer Films CEO Sir James Carreras spotted Munro on a Lamb’s Navy Rum poster/billboard. He asked his right hand man, James Liggett, to find and screen test her. She was immediately signed to a one-year contract. Her first film for Hammer proved to be something of a turning point in her career. It was during the making of Dracula AD 1972 that she decided from this film onward she was a full-fledged actress. Up until then she was always considered a model who did some acting on the side.

A string of fantasy and horror roles followed, including starring turns in Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1973), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), At the Earth’s Core (1976),  The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), StarCrash (1978), Maniac (1980), The Last Horror Film (1982), Faceless (1988), and The Black Cat (1989).

By the 1990s Munro had decided to focus more on her family, daughters, Georgina and Iona, and husband George Dugdale. However, since 2003 Caroline has renewed her interest in acting and has appeared in a number of film and audio productions. Since 2021 Caroline has been presenting the hit television series The Cellar Club for Talking Pictures TV.

The title First Lady of Fantasy was given to Caroline by journalist Steve Swires, who wrote many Starlog and Fangoria (@FANGORIA) articles on the actress in the 1980s and 1990s. 

Happy Birthday Caroline!

Official Website:  http://www.CarolineMunro.org

Representation: Thomas Bowington/Bowington Management

Some of her credits include: Dracula AD 1972 (1972), Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1973), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974), At the Earth’s Core (1976), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), StarCrash (1978), Maniac (1980), The Last Horror Film (1982), Faceless (1988), The Black Cat (1989), Flesh for the Beast (2003), Turpin (2009), Midsomer Murders (2013), The Landlady (2013), Crying Wolf (2015), Vampyres (2015), Cute Little Buggers (2016), Frankula (2017), End User (2018), House of the Gorgon (2019), The Haunting of Margam Castle (2020), Ulalume - A Ballad (2023), The Pocket Film of Superstitions (2023), and the upcoming The Presence of Snowgood (2024).

[fluffypotatey]

Talk to us about peachbuds 🎤🎤🎤 (swk and mac’s 2009 version) idk how they end up just that they are also tragic

ok so first off you can watch Monkey King (2009) here where it’s been subtitled in English by the loveliest of fans (bc the show is only out in Mandarin). they have been in a hiatus for a couple years bc there was some issues on finding a beta-reader to help with the translations (HOWEVER IT LOOKS LIKE THEY UPDATED A LOT MORE EPISODES SINCE THEN SO CATCH ME WATCHING MORE OF THIS LATER LMAO)

anyway: Peachbuds 😍

so it’s the ship name between Shihou/Sun Wukong and Liu’Er who are the best of friends during Wukong’s origins. you will also notice that a lot of Macky’s designs in lmk fanart with his ears as well as the drawings of him with white fur, do take inspiration from this show. either bc people watched the show growing up or found it through their lmk pipeline

so Liu’Er was a macaque already in this monkey/simian troop of Flower Fruit Mountain. is also on the younger side of the troop (think adolescence) and is close with the then Monkey King. so that is him home. he was part of them long before Wukong/Shihou joined them.

he also likes to prove himself as being someone next in line for the Monkey King throne. something the Grandpa Monkey King encouraged but the monkey generals always denied. they tend to look down on Liu’Er because of his youth and feel that it should be one of them who takes over after the Monkey King (tho they squabble amongst each other too much)

that’s how he even met Shihou because he wanted to prove himself and show that the magic rock he found was real. he is also one of the only monkeys who doesn’t find Shihou off putting or creepy (sometimes annoyed since Shihou never learned any etiquette). the only other monkey who finds potential in Shihou is the old Monkey King

Shihou (which means stone monkey) really does want to fit in with the troop and finds himself in a very similar position Liu’Er was in with the generals. only, instead of them just not taking Liu’Er seriously, they find Shihou to be a bad omen or a spy (bc he hatched the same day the Monstrous King of Havoc decided to crash their party)

so now it’s Shihou trying to prove himself bc he wants to make friends and Liu’Er and the old Mobkey King are so kind and the jungle is not friendly to those on their own. however, unlike Liu’Er constantly trying to prove himself and going unheard, Shihou does get heard and people’s respect for him rises

which leads us to Liu’Er’s jealousy. all Liu’Er has wanted was to be respected and one of the ways he knew the generals would finally respect him was if he took the throne. he even has a vision (or heard??? idk magic ears you know the drill) of himself obtaining. but then literally the next day, the vision switches to him watching Wukong rush past him to the throne (the, uh, Monkey King got sick and Wukong found the cure before Liu’Er. it’s a whole thing where Shihou won’t say where the cure is bc he promised but Liu’Er thinks Shihou wants to take his glory)

anyway, uh the jealousy eventually leads to Liu’Er throwing away their friendship the second the Monkey King announces Shihou as his successor. he argues against it and tries to place doubts for him even being qualified (i am NOT over it) and woopsie-daisy! he got got in a evil plot and is slowly getting possessed yayyyyyyyyyyy 🫠

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

End of month update - June

Hello, all! This is the end-of-month update, where I post Tumblr’s current top four films that have received the highest percentage of “yes,” “no,” and “haven’t even heard of this movie” votes.

As of today, the top four films with the highest percentage of “yes” votes are:

Finding Nemo (2003) | Shrek (2001) | Monsters, Inc. (2001) | The Lion King (1994)

Next, the top four films with the highest percentage of “no” votes are:

Sausage Party (2016) | Pinocchio(2019) | Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014) | All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

Finally, the top four films with the highest percentage of “haven’t even heard of this movie” votes are:

Faat Kiné (2001) | Now Add Honey (2015) | Like a Cat on a Highway (2017) | Dean Spanley (2008)

This top four changed through the new additions of Faat Kiné (2001) and Now Add Honey (2015), which replaced Monica and Friends: Bonds (2019) and Monsturd (2003).

Currently, The Incredibles (2004) is the still the only film to receive absolutely zero “haven’t heard of this” votes.

That’s it for June’s end-of-month update! Remember that you can view last month’s update by clicking here. Additionally, you can view the full ranked Letterboxd lists of movies that have come up on this blog by clicking the following links:

This list is ranked from highest-to-lowest percentage of “yes” votes.

This list is ranked from highest-to-lowest percentage of “no” votes.

This list is ranked from highest-to-lowest percentage of “haven’t even heard of this movie” votes.

Remember to vote on the polls that are currently running: The Road Within (2014) | About a Boy (2002) | Spy Kids (2001) | Frozen II (2019) | High Noon (1952) | Horns (2013) | Im Himmel ist die Hölle los (1984) | In Bruges (2008) | Sideways (2004) | Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998) | Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie: Black Dream Hole (1995) | Mamma Mia! (2008) | Down with Love (2003) | Stonehenge Apocalypse (2010) | This is Spinal Tap (1984) | The Kids Are Alright (1979) | Lisztomania (1975) | A Little Chaos (2014) | Redline (2009) | The Stepford Wives (1975) | Blancanieves (2012) | Clerks (1994) | Promising Young Woman (2020) | What's Up, Doc? (1972) | The Apple (1980) | Broken (1993) | The Virgin Suicides (1999) | The Phantom of the Opera (2004) | The Wolf Man (1941) | The Boxtrolls (2014) | Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) | The Perfect Score (2004) | The Man from Earth (2007) | Shapeshifter (1999) | The Lighthouse (2019)

Also, remember that the ask box will open for requests some time before July 4th! There will be a post announcing when it's open, so keep an eye out for that if you'd like to request some movies!