#the script was fascinating tbh

[talesfromthecrypts]

Jennifer's Body (2009) screenplay by Diablo Cody

[lyriumflames]

So we all know about the classic "I'm changing history to save clara" quote, but do people know the absolute batshit earlier draft of that scene? Like-

My god

[ripgray-moved]

I think a truly underrated part of Annie's 'speech' at the dinnertable is actually the first line with, "Don't you swear at me, you little shit!" — not only does it highlight her hypocrisy, it calls to attention her habit of name-calling with her children.

To be clear, I don't think Annie is evil. I don't even think Annie is a villain. She's grieving, nobody's speaking to one another and she's upset about it. Peter also did drop the much worse 'f-word' before it. However, even before Charlie's death, she refers to Charlie herself as 'an idiot', and almost constantly has a tone with Peter that implies she wants to insult him ( for example, that scene when he's in the workshop asking to use the car, it's as if she can't get rid of him fast enough; the script even notes that she's 'annoyed by the intrusion' , as if Peter has no right to be in there, and the way she speaks to him is incredibly passive-aggressive right out of the gate). There's also the 'stupid quarrelling phase' she references. We don't get to see any of that, but we can anticipate it was more of the same.

However, to deny that she's incredibly emotionally abusive is just negligent. The clue's in the title tbh; her behaviour is hereditary, but it's still her behaviour, and it's trickled down to Peter as a result. He is very closed off, deflects constantly when asked about how he feels about something and grieves only in the privacy of his own room, when he's alone. It's an uncomfortable story about how sometimes the abused don't "grow stronger/nicer" as a result of their pain, they simply become abusers themselves.

[undefeatablesin]

Altar is finishing in about 3 pages and I am emotional about how many people embraced my little gay comic and my little gay hunter, thank you all!!!

[callixton]

my secret chess opinion is i actually think the london script is pretty much fine and never needed to be changed

[zukkaoru]

full offense but whoever cast the 1940 the house of the seven gables adaptation did not read the novel

[vermilionsun]

[Anon request (2/2)]: “Since MC is broke, what do the LIs think of them showing affection through gifts, even if they haven't got money? I can imagine they make simple, inexpensive things like paper flowers for Leander or friendship bracelets for Ais.”

Yes yes yes~ - I don't think they'd care much about the price tbh

Ais

✩ "Hm… what is this?" Ais asks as he's handed a hand-made bracelet.

"It's a friendship bracelet I made for you," the MC replies with a smile. "I hope you like it."

✩ He's dumbfounded.

✩ Ais looks down at the bracelet in his hand and takes a moment to examine the colorful beads. He is surprisingly gentle as he handles the bracelet, his fingers tracing the intricate patterns. "You made this? For me?"

"Yep."

✩  High possibility there’s either a birb or bone charm in the middle (┛◉Д◉)┛彡┻━┻

✩ He's definitely the type to believe there's a reason behind every action someone takes.

✩ "It's handmade, huh? Why waste your time on something so pointless for me?"

✩ The MC's smile falters slightly at Ais's words, but they quickly recover. "It's not a waste of time if it's something I enjoyed making for you," they say softly. "If you don't want it, I'll take it back—"

✩ Meanwhile, Ais had already fastened it to his wrist.

✩ "Who said I didn't want it?" Ais interrupts, his eyes softening as he admires the bracelet. "You think I'd let you give me a gift, then just take it away so easily?"

✩ "I just don't understand why you would go through all this trouble for me." The MC chuckles, a hint of blush coloring their cheeks. "I wanted to show my appreciation for all you've done for me," they explain.

✩ Ais looks at the bracelet on his wrist, and a small smile tugs at the corners of his lips. "Thank you, sparrow. I'll treasure it."

Leander

🗡 After yet another magic show of luck-filled lilies, Leander notices the MC sitting at the bar, busy doing something just out of view. He puts on a charming smile and takes a seat next to them. "Oh, what do we have here?"

The MC presents him with a few napkin-made lilies.

🗡 Leander's eyes widen in surprise, and he smiles as he picks one up, delicately examining the folded paper and twirling it between his fingers.

🗡 Leander is a man who enjoys both the big (̶A̶i̶s̶)̶ and the small (̶M̶h̶i̶n̶)̶ things in life.

🗡 "These are amazing," he exclaims, genuinely impressed. "Did you fold these yourself?"

🗡 "Impressive. I can't say I've ever seen napkin origami this accurate before."

🗡 I̶n̶ t̶h̶a̶t̶ m̶o̶m̶e̶n̶t̶, h̶e̶ r̶e̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ w̶i̶s̶h̶e̶d̶ h̶e̶ h̶a̶d̶ a̶ b̶r̶e̶a̶s̶t̶ p̶o̶c̶k̶e̶t̶

🗡 He takes the small flower and gently tucks it behind the MC's ear, his hand lingering just long enough for them to feel the warmth of his skin at the uncovered base of his palm.

🗡 "Thank you for this lovely gift," he says with a soft smile.

Kuras

✞ He just blinks down at the object in confusion. "A bookmark?"

✞ He takes it, carefully inspecting it and smoothing his fingers over the glossy surface, intrigued by its unexpected smoothness.

✞ The bookmark is a deep shade of amethyst, with hand-painted gold designs etched into the surface. As he turns it over in his hands, he notices a small inscription on the back.

✞ Curious, he squints (bad eyesight gang, let's go) to make out the messy script that reads, 'For the most fascinating doctor.'

✞ "Ah."

✞ Speechless.

✞ For the first time since the MC woke up at his clinic after the Soulless' attack, his smile falters. A strange look flickers across his face—something caught between guilt and sorrow—there one minute and gone the next.

✞ "Do you not—"

"No, I like it..." He quickly reassures them. "Just a little startled. I'm not used to receiving gifts."

✞ Same song and dance. A̶n̶d̶ h̶e̶ k̶n̶o̶w̶s̶ i̶t̶.

✞ "It's... a very nice bookmark."

✞ Careful. He forces his gaze back to their eyes, to their friendly, expectant expression. His hands absently smooth out the wrinkles on his white coat as he tries to find the words to say. But none of them are appropriate.

✞ T̶h̶e̶y̶ a̶r̶e̶ s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ s̶o̶ y̶o̶u̶n̶g̶. S̶o̶ o̶p̶e̶n̶. S̶o̶ n̶a̶ïv̶e̶.

✞ He shoves down the guilt that claws its way up his throat, hiding it beneath an impenetrable facade. When his eyes flash up to the MC's, the gold swirls in his irises as he forces a smile—steadfast, unwavering. The one he has had centuries to perfect.

✞ "Thank you," he finally manages to say, the words feeling foreign on his tongue.

Vere

✦ Vere, sitting across the table, observed the MC with a coy smile as they moved a broken-in-half pencil along the edge of the sheet of paper, brow furrowed in concentration, eyes focused intently on the task at hand, wavering only to glance up at Vere. Often. Very often.

✦ "What're you drawing there? Don't tell me you're sketching me."

A guilty smile overcomes their lips as they lift their eyes to meet his pink ones.

✦ Vere chuckled, leaning forward slightly. "Oh, how predictable. You can't help it, can you? I've just got such a captivating presence. But I must say, I'm flattered to be your muse."

"…It was supposed to be a gift."

✦ Vere pretended to be wounded, feigning a look of hurt. "Oh, how dare you! You'd just give away art portraying my stunning and irresistible beauty so easily? I'm wounded."

"For you."

✦ Vere pauses for a moment, allowing the words to sink in before bursting into laughter. "For me? Well, in that case, I accept your gift with grace and humility. I suppose I could find room in my collection for one more sketch of myself. After all, they are my favorites, just like you."

✦ "Carry on with your sketching, my talented artist."

✦ Truth be told, it turned out mediocre at best.

✦ Vere looked at the sketch, his expression a tad puzzled amongst the amusement. He held the sketch up to his face, examining it closely with a raised eyebrow.

✦ "Well, well, well... You certainly have a keen eye for detail, I must say." He chuckled softly, glancing up at them with a sly smile.

✦ "If you don't want it, you could just say so—"

He quickly snatched the sketch from their hands. "Oh, no no no, I'm keeping this. Consider it a token of your affection towards me."

✦ Vere has an expensive taste; that's a known fact. But he was willing to overlook the lackluster quality of the sketch purely out of vanity. He didn't need to know that the sketch was hastily done and far from impressive. As long as Vere believed it was a masterpiece, that's all that mattered.

Mhin

🕊 They are definitely a foodie. Please gift them sweets, if possible.

🕊 Mhin takes the bag, eyeing it suspiciously. Then, they peek inside, revealing a handful of sweets.

🕊 "A gift?" Mhin echoes, looking up at the MC, their face betraying a hint of bewilderment. "What's the angle?”

🕊 Mhin hesitantly picks up one, studying it like a puzzle to be solved. Then, they warily take a bite. A moment later, a small flicker of surprise and pleasure washes over their face. 

🕊 T̶r̶u̶t̶h̶ b̶e̶ t̶o̶l̶d̶, t̶h̶e̶y̶ h̶a̶l̶f-̶e̶x̶p̶e̶c̶t̶e̶d̶ t̶h̶e̶m̶ t̶o̶ b̶e̶ p̶o̶i̶s̶o̶n̶e̶d̶

🕊 Mhin crosses their arms defiantly, but their Mhin's voice softens a touch. Despite their hard, distrustful veneer, there is a hint of vulnerability in their eyes.

🕊 "You... really just wanted to give me this? No hidden motives, no expectations?"

🕊 "I..." Mhin falters. Then, something strange happens: a corner of their mouth twitches up, as if fighting away a smile. "I don't understand you. But... Thanks, I guess."

🕊 In the more-than-likely scenario that sweets are expensive expensive in Eridia, I offer you the alternative: Hand-made dagger cat charm.

🕊 They look at the charm in their hand, confusion dancing across their face. The words fail to come to them; instead, their face turns into a frown.

🕊 “What is that supposed to be?”

🕊 A huff of breath leaves their lips as they reluctantly take the charm. They are clearly unimpressed. "You made this? Why would I need a charm? I don’t need luck; I trust my skills and my instincts."

🕊 "If you don't want it—"

They snatch the charm from their hand, almost possessively. “I didn’t say I don’t want it. I just...never mind.”

🕊 They attach the charm to their dagger, secretly basking in the warmth that spreads through their chest.

🕊 "Thank you," they finally mutter, refusing to meet their eyes.

🕊 Now, when they grip the weapon, a sense of reassurance floods over them as their fingers brush over the charm, despite their attempts to hide it.

🕊 Though they may not need luck, having a reminder of someone who cared enough to make them a gift was a comfort in itself.

[acatwithstockings]

Could you please, please tell me everything about the 1990's Good Omens (very bad) Movie script? you mentioned not being able to taIk about it because no one is interested (which I very much relate to, but in just basically anything Good Omens related) I was not there for when it was leaked, so I'd really like to know like... all of it (I promise I am so interested, and also very very obsessed with Good Omens. I'll absolutely be your captive audience.)

the only things I think I know are that Crowley's mean and has a nightclub, and Aziraphale has a museum(??). and it's in America??

You don't know how happy it just makes me ramble on about that one. Could write a whole essay tbh (I try my best not bc my spelling is atrocious pff ).

Only snagged it myself after a whole year of searching when it got put up on Dropbox for a few hours. Got taken down quickly again. Idk if it was bc of a copyright claim or if the owner took it down themselves bc it isn't supposed to be spread around due to said issues and they (not quite so cleverly) posted the Link on a post that would make it especially easy for the copyright holder to find it. At any rate, I Got really lucky in that regard. The copyright issues around this thing are fascinating in general and could make for a great study in regards to the flaws of that system.

As for the script contents... Well it's something.

Yes Crowley is mean it would be wrong to reduce that version of him to that. (I will try and point out why later). Yes he owns a nightclub, the aptly names hellfire on a hill(? Idk enough about british topography to know if that's a hint towards a real part of town or just bc the visual of it being on a hill is cool ) in London. So It does not play in America and Aziraphale is working at the British museum. Canon explanation why they try everything and anything to not give back the artefacts they stole, I suppose. (That was a joke. In the script itself it isn't even as much as mentioned that our favorite angel has any interest in collecting anything, missed opportunity if you ask me)

In general the whole thing plays out extremely differently from the story we all love. And sadly lacks the Prattchian humor... For obvious reasons. It does have it's moments tho not many but they are there. ( "Crowley un-snakes" will never not be funny)

What follows is a lengthy summary which will have a bit of analysis and personal interpretation mixed into it . Bc who needs good struktur if you can do stream of consciousness? Am I right?

We begin with the protagonist Crowley and Aziraphale, who in this version sadly takes a bit of a backseat, playing checkers in Aziraphale's study. In this version they are color coded with pure white clothing and hair and pure black clothing and hair. Crowley remarks that 'everything is going too well'. To which Aziraphale points out, that complaining seems to be a favorite past time of the demon. He has a knack for putting down/dismissing Crowley on basis of being a demon (" Oh, isn't that just like a demon? Six-thousand years and all you do is complain") in this version and it's part of his ark , kinda.

It looks like Aziraphale is about to win Crowley however, uses the cliché 'Lock over there' trick to cheat. In the following dialogue we learn that they have been playing one checkers match a week for the past six thousand years. So basically it's presumed they played their first match in Eden before checkers was even invented. (Then again the stage direction describes a painting depicting Crowley as green snake wearing sunglasses in Eden, so they just have been trend setters from the start) . They then set a date for their next match, Crowley makes his distaste for earth known, they meet Aziraphale's assistant Polly, who is very unimpressed by Crowley and then he is off not without causing some mischief with a stolen wallet.

Aziraphale gets a little scene where he is appraising a painting for its authenticity. He gets called 'bramy as a box of fruit bats' and tells the ones that brought the painting that if it were real, he'd know bc he would have seen the master paint it. The interesting thing here is that this scene essentially is there to show us that despite not acknowledging Crowley's cheating or directly calling out the forgery and its purpose (to gain money), even calling it pretty, he knows what's going on he simply chooses to play/be aloof .

Next we get introduced to the nightclub. Nothing much Happens here at first except that we get introduced to the Barstaff. Or well at least Tina (my love) the barman. As it seems Crowley is managing a successful business and outside of a little rant, calling people sheep and wanting bigger cocktail umbrellas, he genuinely seems to be competent in his leadership and friendly to his staff. Knowing them by name .

Other notable staff members are Warren, I think he has one line and is the handyman/security of the nightclub and Marjorie who gets a few more lines and is part of the waitstaff. Who by the way are put in full body imp costumes bc of course the nightclub is themed after hell.

Crowley then contacts hell, where he ultimately gets told that Satan himself has a special task for him. And we get the first clue that Crowley who so far has given us very cool very early 90's style Anti"hero' is scared shitless. Not just that hell thinks he is a bit of a loser, not being impressed by his mission reports and all.

We then get to the good old Hyde Park scene with nearly drowned drake safed by Aziraphale's intervention and everything. What is interesting here however is, is that Crowley is a full blown nihilist and Aziraphale just very over enthusiastically positive. Aziraphale saying a woman is doing something good by giving her ice cream to a child while Crowley points out that the ice had first been dropped to the ground and been liked by a dog. (Script! Aziraphale as much as I love you but I am with script! Crowley on this one). Aziraphale points out that that hardly matters because the child is happy and that makes it a good deed. Crowley snarkily points out that Happiness is a stupid metric for good things and says he likes one thing about humans : that they are reliable in doing the selfish bad thing.

Aziraphale then tries to then get Crowley to reveal why things are going to well. Crowley points out that they are enemies and he shouldn't give out that information despite the arrangement (sadly we don't get more information about that but I would love to know how it looked in that universe) and only is convinced by Aziraphale being hurt about it and giving him sad puppy eyes. Crowley then invites Aziraphale over to his nightclub after hours to talk about it what head office actually wants from him.

We then jump to the nightclub again. Crowley is surpassingly decent towards people, Tina is managing the club. And Madam Tracy is making an entrance. In this version she is an slowly aging out of it IT-girl. It's implied that she had a multitude of affairs and that she has now been payed off big time. (I enjoy Madam Tracy in this version a LOT). She never seems to be quite there but still own any situation.

Her and Crowley have a little conversation that gets broken up when he decides to deal with a Troublemaker at the bar instead of letting Warren take care of it. (Side note that part of the script gave me the HC that script! Crowley is very short, definitely shorter than script!Aziraphale) . He is having a full blown Anime protagonist moment, including using the bribe the trouble maker gives him to give to the Waitress the Troublemaker had harassed in a very cool™ manner and stopping a punch with one hand. Just believe me it's very anime. But again Crowley seems to be actual decent boss, believe it or not.

He then gets a Call in the bathroom . Satan talking to him through the mirror without prior notice. He orders Crowley to get to a graveyard within 30 minutes. Crowley is keeping it together but he is panicking. He is having a short conversation with Tracy again in which he stays relatively friendly surpassingly enough.

Fun fact this whole film would have had "Every day' as musical theme. Bc from this moment the song gets mentioned continuously.

After a speeding and vandalizing a cop car out of desperation since he is late and they determined to stop him we get to meet satan. In this version he is a cold calculating (but very cool) business man . Crowley in German we'd say 'legt sich erstmal ordentlich auf's maul' (meaning he trips and falls on the ground). He is groveling before him, bootlicking and trying to appease his Master (for real tho if that movie would have been made there would have been Satan/Crowley shippers bc that shit is some fuel for a toxic ship). At any rate Crowley is making a bit of a fool of himself and Satan is enjoying the Powertrip. In the end he gives Crowley the antichrist with the task to raise the baby or else suffer worse than anyone else in hell. However if he succeeded he is getting to leave the planet (again he supposedly doesn't even like earth in this version)

Anathema is introduced. She is just a little occult girl that felt the antichrist coming to earth. No mentioning of prophecies or anything. Our beloved Agnes does not exist in this universe. Just a little girl with green eyes and a sense for the occult.

Now with a baby he is supposed to take care of, Crowley makes his way back to the nightclub. There he hides the newborn from his employees and gets pulled away to discuss something by Tina. Since he is hiding the baby he puts the newborn down, right into Madam Tracy's money bag. And well, while he is off talking with Tina , Madam Tracy is taking her bag without noticing the child and off she goes. Leaving Crowley with the problem of a lost antichrist.

He starts drinking. He knows he is done for so what's the point. (The first bottle he grabs is Aardvark Snapps idk why I finde that interesting) . At this point he has accepted that he will end up for an eternity being punished. Hours later Aziraphale makes an appearance and is a little bit judgemental about Crowley being drunk. (Side note: an other hc of mine is that script!Aziraphale is straight edge bc of that scene). Crowley tries to have him join him drinking but fails. And then just try a to have a little heart to heart. ("I am doomed, Aziraphale") Only getting a little speech about being a demon and therefore inherently doomed ('duhhh!') back.

Crowley eventually just confides in Aziraphale how much he has fucked up having a bit of a monologue about it. Eventually Aziraphale offers to help find the boy, but only if he is allowed to influence him. To which Crowley reluctantly agrees, because it would mean that he still fails his task of raising a boy that Satan could be proud of. But Aziraphale is a little bit manipulative (also Crowley is still drunk while Aziraphale is sober) so they shake on it. Anyway this exchange is one of my favorites in the script .

We finally jump eleven years into the future and get to meet Adam.

He has been adopted by Madam Tracy. And is now running a bed and breakfast in the quaint little town of Tadfield. Instead of an army base this Tadfield has direct access to the sea. Including it's very own pier. Anyhow I said Adam is running the b&b that's because Madam Tracy is a neglectful parent and as much as I enjoy her script version, she is not doing great here. Adam is running errands, making breakfast for his mom and generally keeping things together. His whole interdiction is him being a little adult .

He finally gets some child time and we meet 'the Them' except they are not 'the Them'. Brian, Pepper and Wensleydale are a friend group and try to talk to Adam because Pepper wants to be friends with him ( I think the intention was to make Pepper and Adam as THING but idk) . But Adam wants nothing to do with them and instead just wants his peace and quite. So he gets insulted for not having a father and sulks off.

Anathema has also arrived at the scene. And has a culture shock bc of the lackluster infrastructure out here. She arrives in Tadfield with some difficulties and now has to somehow find a place to stay. And while the town seemed overrun with places renting out rooms it also has a case of outdated world views and nobody is willing to take Anathema in for some reason or the other. She eventually gets pointed into the direction of Madam Tracy. Where she is informed that she can have a room . And Madam Tracy casually dunks on Picasso which I can support.

Anathema then repeatedly runs into Adam and tries to strike up a conversation but he just doesn't want to and runs off. As both of them eventually go home at the end of the day he accuses her of following him they both are taking the same path. As he gets told that Anathema also lives at the same address as him now he gets angry and stroms to Madam Tracy, disrupting a seance to scold her for taking on a lodger without his approval. He is angry that Madam Tracy is so reckless taking in people without proper background check.

Following that Adam interviews Anathema. And they bond .

At night Adam sneaks off to the pier and we learn that he has build a model of Tadfield in an abandoned arcade.

He and Anathema bond a bit more over breakfast. (And honestly I like that version of them more relationship wise. As much as I love Prattchet, he did have a particular style of writing children that also came through in Gomes . It lends itself great to hypotheticals and punchlines, not so much for interpersonal relationships however)

Back to Crowley and Aziraphale. Last time Crowley had been hopeful and appreciative of the angel. Well now he is running out of time and he is getting grumpy and down in the dumps and ready to give up. While Aziraphale is still unrelentingly optimistic. Poly makes an other entrance, Crowley puzzles together an ancient Etruscan pott. All riveting stuff.

Shadwell, or what's left of his character makes a short appearance as 'MAD OLD MAN' shouting and standing on a soap box as set dressing for Crowley to buy a newspaper and... Pay for it .

He gets sapped into hell without notice.

(Side note Miss Ashtoreth is mentioned as secretary of Satan himself.)

Satan wants to check up on his son's progress. Crowley is shitting himself and lies, reassuring Satan that the boy is properly evil and all that . Of course Satan wants to see the boy real soon and tells Crowley to tell the boy that he is ready for when the boy wants to see him. And after taking a look at Adam by rearranging the universe itself to show a likeness in the stars (hell is a very surreal space with an office above the pit and direct view of all of the universe) Crowley gets sapped back to earth. (Also Satan calls Crowley 'Crawler' which is the script version of Crowley's name change, probably)

Crowley Is now properly stressed out.

On the other end of London (probably) Aziraphale's Crowley senses tingle and he just starts running (presumably) towards Crowley. This never gets brought up or explained. And is so bizarre I couldn't skip it.

Back in Tadfield Adam and Pepper get a bit of a bonding moment. Talking about action figures, Pepper giving Adam a lecture about not being sexist , getting fish and chips. The topic of Adams lack of a father gets brought up again and he lies. Telling Pepper he had met his father before and his father is a some sort of international business man, that meets with Presidents and is very busy. Eventually Perper asks about Anathema and tries to convince Adam to take her to the movies.

Back in London one Angel apparently unable to use public transport arrives at the nightclub. We can assume that he had been running the whole way. He gets pointed towards Crowley by multiple staff members, 'Every day' gets another cameo and he accidentally stumbles into the dressing room for the waiting staff, which is very embarrassing for him but not for the women.

When he reaches Crowley's office, the demon doesn't want to talk. He is panicking and packing to go on the run for the rest of eternity. (Which for him just means a suitcase full of sunglasses) . What follows is the infamous dialogue bc of which script!Crowley get his reputation from. (I might make myself very unpopular here but I think that reputation is not quite deserved. Yes he is an asshole but also the harsher exchanges only play out when he is stressed/panicked and usually if he goes too far he will try and paddel back. Still worst of the Crowleys without a doubt just not quite as bad as people like to paint him. Also script!Aziraphale isn't half as naive and helpless as people like to paint him and in this house we let him have his agency! But also more on that later)

The exchange switches tone once Aziraphale lets his unbreakable optimism fallter and gets sad. To which Crowley immediately reacts bc trying to reassure him that they are in fact friends and that he shouldn't be sorry. Pointing out that he (Crowley) now knows what the boy looks like to counteract Aziraphale's pessimistic statement that they could never have found the boy bc they didn't even know what he looks like. They agree to hit one more town in their search for the boy.

In Tadfield Anathema finally gets to talk about her quest to find the SOMETHING with Madam Tracy. And have her witness a fight between Brian and Adam about Adam's father. (Srly Adam gets constantly bullied bc of that.) Anathema steps between the two to protect Adam. They make a deal to tell each other's secrets. First we get Anathema showing Adam stuff about the antichrist and the weapon she plans on killing him with.

Then we get an intermission with Crowley and Aziraphale discussing how they should choose which town to go to. They decide with a dart throw.

Back with Adam and Anathema. Adam shows Anathema his model of Tadfield. To the question what he plans on doing once that model is done, he tells her, he is going to build the rest of the world and rule over it. He also voices his desire to get somewhere else to be no longer stuck in Tadfield.

Aziraphale and Crowley arrive in Tadfield during a Thunderstorm and face the same problem as Anathema. No one wants to rent them a room in town. And while with Anathema the whole thing was rooted in sexism, disdain for outsiders (aka read as Americans) and misunderstanding about her occupation, for those two it's the obligatory 'People think they are a gay couple' thing but with a giant side of Homophobia.

Crowley want to give up Aziraphale want to go on and eventually they end up at Madam Tracy's.

Madam Tracy mistakes them for the gas person, Crowley wants separate rooms, Aziraphale a shared one,(we never get to know which they now too bc the script has both scenes with a shared room and a separate room. It could also be the case that Crowley simply stays longer than Aziraphale and therefore the shared room becomes his room. At any rate it is never specified. And to be honest there are multiple parts of the script where the author very obviously had given up on it soooo) Crowley praises Aziraphale's skill as homemaker, Madam Tracy tells them, they have to wait for Adam. Adam comes home Crowley recognizes the boy.

Crowley and Aziraphale take a stroll on the beach and come to the agreement to each spend a day with the boy, despite Crowley trying to avoid having Aziraphale influence the kid. They also witness how Brian's fathers getting things ready to tear down the pier.

In the evening they play an other game of checkers. Adam witnessing first hand Crowley's cheating as he gets the both of them to have dinner with the whole house.

At the dinner table they convince Madame Tracey to let them take Adam to London for a day. Adam being obviously overjoyed about the whole thing.

Anathema sees Aziraphale's and Crowley's true nature for a sec. And I am sorry if this part comes across as rather dry, it's also rather dry in the script.

Adam gets taken to London. First Aziraphale get to show him the museum and talk about human creations . (Side note , when I first got my hands on the script I thought I was missing a page bc the dialogue has a really awkward jump in this scene but no ... It's supposed to be like that and either it was the author giving up or it was supposed to be a kid thing. Jumping from one topic to the next with much logic. We will never know)

Adam then confronts Aziraphale about Crowley's cheating. And here comes the part why I will never see script!Aziraphale as truly naive or helpless. Aziraphale admits to Adam that he had always known Crowley cheated, he just thought it virtuous to not point it out. Bc he played fair in his mind that was enough to stand above the other and just let him do the cheating. Adam points out it stupid and that was that. Aziraphale is stunned and does what most people with too much money and no idea how to handle kids do, exactly drag him somewhere, where he can buy shit.

Next up is Crowley. First he drags Adam to Soho. Not Good Omens there might be a cozy bookshop somewhere Soho but well 90s it's a bit of a cess pool Soho. With hookers and homeless teenage girls ( and for all those people that take Crowley being displeased with Adam for giving the girl some change as point to call him fundamentally mean/bad... I implore you learn was character motivations are. He has been tasked with raising an evil child, has promised an evil child, obviously he is displeased when that child is doing something selfless. And he wouldn't do something selfless in the presence of the said child bc again he is supposed to influence him towards evil) Crowley then gets him a milkshake and takes him to his club where they have the mirror conversation to Aziraphale's. Ending with Asam pointing out that it is pretty boring to always win for the wins sake by the means of cheating.

On the way back they have a short conversation about their respective experiences with the boy. Accidentally letting it slip that they know who Adam's father is, believing the boy to be asleep. He is not.

That night Anathema finally succeedes in her endeavor to find the antichrist. Her crystal ball revealing to her that it is indeed Adam. She is so shocked by that, that she lets the ball fall but luckily for her Aziraphale does his thing and it lands safely without breaking. (That another quirk of the script apparently Anathema and Aziraphale were supposed to be something and what ever that it, it's even weirder than Adam and Pepper)

Madam Tracy also finally recognized Crowley from THAT night and they have a honest heart to heart. Or whatever you call it when the otherwise always woozy character suddenly seem lucid and aware of what will happen.

That night Adam goes to Anathema for emotional support bc of the father thing. Anathema however is in the middle of a crisis bc she now knows what Adam is and had tried to get herself ready to murder him. Eventually Adam notices the knife behind her back and with the first flair of his antichrist powers forces her to show it to him before storming off hurt.

Being emotionally distraught he runs to his hideout on the pier and calls out to his feather. First nothing happens but then after Adam went off the pier and back again it is completely transformed into a bright happy carnival. His Father has arrived. Satan immediately takes Adam under his wings . He even dresses him up as a mini self.

The next morning the whole town of Tadfield is one giant carnival. There is a parade with elephants. And the people from around town are all mindlessly attending the celebration.

Crowley has a short meeting with Satan (on an elephant) and gets told that he is supposed to come to Satan to talk about his promotion to alpha centauri. AND

( Don't ask me why I find this too funny to not share my humor is very broken )

The town is being further transformed and more people are made mindless puppets. But no Crowley is happy to have gotten away with his stunt. He is roleplaying flirting with someone in a mirror. (Also in the script notes it literally says James Bond for acting directions for Crowley, and that's such a dorky idea I love the theory of it ... Bit of a waste in this tho).

Aziraphale tries to change his mind but Crowley shut him down by pointing out that he was the one saying happiness alone is making things a good thing so it shouldn't matter if people have to be made into mindless puppets first. They are happy after all.

Meanwhile Adam is torturing Brian by throwing tomatoes hat him and having the rest of the town join in with the fun. He just wants his father to be proud of him (nawww ) (that naw was sarcastic). In the crowd Anathema is fighting to regain control over herself.

Aziraphale still tries to convince Crowley. Rugging at his heart strings but even the tried and true "I thought we are friends" won't work this time. Crowley wants to cease his opportunity, he wants out and up.

While those two are arguing, Anathema struggles. All she wants it the knife but she is exhausted.

Crowley is looking for a starting point for his launch towards alpha centauri. He is climbing onto a church tower. Behind him Aziraphale still hasn't given up. Despite not liking heights (!? Wasn't mentioned before will not be mentioned again but apparently script!Aziraphale has a fear of heights). He finally gets an idea and challenges Crowley to one last match.

Crowley for once doesn't cheat and it looks like he is Winn but then Aziraphale DOES cheat, desperate to keep Crowley on earth and have him fight at his side. And Crowley just shrugs and accepts. His next line after acknowledging the win already calls Satan his ex-boss and if that is not a very impressive 360° turn then I don't know what is. (Just a throw back to character motivation, we could speculate it's because most of what Crowley has said were lies and half truths and deep down he actually likes earth and bla or he just remembered how much he would miss his nightclub BUT I as number one script!Crowley (not really) defender say ... It's just unfinished/bad writing and there simply wasn't enough time or inspiration or whatever to finish his character ark)

Anathema manages to give both of them the knife. Crowley is so idiotic and tries to grab it but it burns him . I mean, duhh! Anathema literally tells them that this knife can hurt the antichrist why should it be harmless for a way lesser demon? So Aziraphale takes the knife.

After calling Crowley his best friend, Crowley himself calling himself stupid Aziraphale, presumably presumably is important here) with the knife, goes off to confront Adam. He tried to talk Adam out of it. Trying to point out that no good father leaves his kid alone for eleven years and if this is really what Adam wants. As he points out that Madam Tracy despite all her flaws still love Adam he gets disorporated, by Adam. But bc this is a Movie script and we don't have much time left he just stays in his true angel form (which is very much just white robes , wings and halo ) right where he is further trying to talk Adam out of it .

(his an other line in my mounting pile of evidence that script! Aziraphale is neither naive nor helpless and simply chooses to carry himself that way bc he thinks it's virtuous. He literally acknowledges that people can do bad things. Something he would not at any point before that in the script. I rest my case )

While Aziraphale is trying to make Adam think about a things Crowley is off confronting Satan, presumably without the knife.

Satan acknowledges that Crowley had lied to him but is still in such a good mood that he still wants to give out the promotion. Even throws in the Titel of fiend extraordinar. For a moment it seems like Crowley considers but ultimately he tells Satan that he wants to quit. Satan is not happy about that and after Crowley also pulls out a pink rubber glove and the knife (yhea Crowley had the knife all along , take that continuity or rather scree logic, like not showing how they get a rubber glove is fine what ever but having the last scene withe knife I'm be the one where it's shown that he can't touch it and Aziraphale had to carry it would have made it feel a bit too deus ex machina.) he forces him into half snake form and summens hands that try and drag him back to hell.

Thanks to his already established Crowley senses Aziraphale suddenly shows up and charges at Satan. Who in turn is like 'An angel, really? You betrayed me,..' and then roasts Aziraphale to a crisp before destroying the knife .

Adam confronted with a robotic acting madam Tracy, listening to his every command, starts to reflect on his actions. Getting called in by his father to greed the four horsepersons he notices Aziraphale and Crowley.

Adam now faced with all the destruction says: no, I am not doing it. Stan tries to threaten him into obeying but he gets the good old 'You not my dad'. For being a deadbeat for 11 years. Adam then heals Aziraphale and frees Crowley. Now flanked by the two Adam banishes the horseman.

Satan demanding obedience once more, gets reminded by Crowley that he himself once rebelled. And after laughing about that revelation he tells Adam that it was interesting meeting him but as it seemed he wasn't cut out to be a dad. To Crowley that he is now banned from hell and to Aziraphale that he should tell his boss, that at least his son (the antichrist) had more guts than his(Jesus and yes the script sadly uses he/him for God).

After Satan vanishes they have to escape a collapsing pier. Noticing too late that Madam Tracy is also still there. Adam ends up releasing her from her trance by calling her mom and telling her that he loves her. Aziraphale ends up saving both of them, flying them to safety on the beach.

At the beach they also meet Anathema, who promises not to kill him and Pepper . They watch as the pier explodes and burns to the ground. Anathema also has uncomfortable eye contact with Aziraphale while he ripples back into human form . (Don't me why it feels uncomfortable, Anathema is described as looking on tens while he sill full angel and softening once he is human again so idk)

Apropos Anathema and Aziraphale. The next Morning, he comes to say goodbye and ends up offering a job bc (I forgot to mention it when it happened) Polly his assistant had a promotion. So he is search for a new assistant. She end up kissing him on the cheek and calling him angel but in a way where it's ambiguous if she now knows that he is one or if she just thinks he is a good person and something always makes her forget what he really is. At an rate Aziraphale says he had never gotten a kiss on the cheek im six thousand years and knowing a bit about history and cultural practices I am inclined to calling him a liar. But then again this is fiction .... So sure ... Cheek kiss virgin this one.

While that is happening Madam Tracy is asking Crowley if she can keep the boy now . And Crowley reassures her, that after this no one is going to come for him. He even offers to throw a birthday party for her at his club all she should do is just to look after the boy. It's actually a very sweet exchange.

Outside Brian and Adam have a little exchange, Brain trying once more to get to Adam with the father thing. But Adam has no daddy issues anymore. Instead he asks pepper out to the movies and Brian just tags along without being asked. Where is Wensleydale you asking ? Take your best guess, he was mentioned once said one thing and then fell off the earth.

With the kids now finally as a group we have the last shot of Aziraphale and Crowley. They are walking along the street , Crowley one stolen Apple in hand . Having their talk about good and evil. Accusing each other of being a little bit of a good person (press x to boubt) and just enough of a bastard (oh absolutely). How they both knew the other was cheating all along. And maybe alpha centauri isn't such a good idea after all. You can even get booze there. The last thing that is said is Aziraphale telling to not start THAT again, after being offered the apple.

I lied one more screenshot bc Every ...it had been for told by the cursed script for ages now. (I am pretty sure it had been in the talks to put go to Every day' even before the script was ordered so that is just a joke)

At any rate I do have to go to work in ....eh three hours ... So I will leave it at the summary for now. I am dyslexic and English is my second writing so I am very sorry for all the mistakes I probably made . If someone reblogs this before I get the chance to correct them, let it be said that at least nobody can claim this is ai pfff.

Also not I said the author the two times I mentioned him simply bc I don't feel like acknowledging the name of the person. I got into Gomes bc of Sir Terry and I stay here for him. This little obsession with the script happened by pure chance.

[jellogram]

I understand why the Logan Paul suicide forest video got nuked but tbh I think it should stay on youtube, with the victim fully censored obviously. But I think it's a fascinating video that should be preserved, because you can watch the brain cells in Logan's head just scatter like a swam of bats.

He'd been releasing a vlog every single day for what, a year? This is a man who is so fried, so content-pilled, that he cannot comprehend what he is looking at. It makes no sense to him. He's obviously genuinely upset but he has no idea how to express it in a vlog-acceptable way. He simply has no script for it. This wasn't supposed to happen. At one point he takes off his stupid Toy Story hat and comments on how he's wearing an inappropriate hat for the situation.

For a few minutes, you can see into this man's soul, and you can see what he's done to himself. Completely removed from reality, being violently dragged back into it with the confrontation of death, and then quickly trying to crawl back into his bubble as soon as possible.

He signs some autographs in the parking lot and uploads the video.

That vid has actual anthropological value to me. It's like a record of what happens when influencer-brain reaches critical mass. It's a masterpiece, it's a commentary, it's the new American Gothic. And he made it by accident because he's a fucking idiot.

[amethystina]

Hey! That ask you answered about protective Yo Han reminded me of this gem from the script book. I don't know if you're interested in anything script-related, but in case you are, here it is. A slightly different way the scene in E3 was supposed to go, when Yo Han came to the factory and attacked the man who put a bomb in the painting. (Also, 'forced' means 'Yo Han', all translators use this word instead of his name for some reason).

Personally, I loved the "do you know who you hurt?", the madness "increasingly" filling Yo Han's eyes, and him glaring at K when he asked if this was about Ga On. I'm amazed that he got so protective of him so quickly, it's just E3. To think of what he'd do post-canon... thank God (and you, of course!) for your amazing story. I can't tell you how much I'm waiting for everything you're going to bring down on us.

Hope you're doing better!

I haven't gone out of my way to look for the script, no, but I do read the little snippets I might run into on Tumblr and such. So I'm not NOT interested? But also too lazy to go look for it xD

And, tbh, I don't want to accidentally mistake something that was written in the script — but then taken out — as something that actually happened in canon. I have a really good memory but I don't always remember WHERE I read/saw/heard a specific fact so there's a chance I might mistake it as a part of canon even if it's not x'D

But, all that said, I am FASCINATED by this new information, not going to lie. I think that the increasing madness was still captured pretty well in the final version, but the "Do you know who you hurt?" Oh yes, I'm into that. Because while it COULD still just mean that Yo Han is referring to himself, I like that it leaves room for speculation. Very nice.

Though, at the same time, I feel like I have to be a responsible person and point out that, most likely, the reason why Yo Han reacts so violently as early as episode 3 is probably because of Isaac, not Ga On. Like, at that point, I think Yo Han is still struggling a bit with separating the two. Not that he ever mistakes them for each other, obviously, but it's probably a little disorienting until he gets to know Ga On better and can see all the differences more clearly. So it wouldn't surprise me if some of that protectiveness is because Ga On looks like Isaac, at least this early. It brings back very bad memories, and all.

But post-canon? That protectiveness would be for Ga On only. And, as always, Yo Han would hold nothing back.

And we will be exploring that a bit in Who Holds the Devil, yes. Not quite on the level of "I'm going to bring the entire country to its knees," but hopefully still enough to satisfy everyone's need for protective Yo Han ;)

Thank you so much for sending me this! I hope you have a wonderful evening 💜

[decepti-thots]

would you say the notebooks are worth getting?

this depends entirely on you, tbh! i have been buying them in-person every year at TFN since he started selling them, and I find them completely fascinating. they document the kind of comic MTMTE is in a way i have never seen anywhere else; i cannot think of another example of a (licensed) monthly comic that has this sort of granular, behind the scenes documentation from an author, let alone one which is completely untouched by the license holder making decisions about what to release or not. (not always in a flattering way!) i don't regret spending the ~£120 for the full set in the slightest; they're an absolutely unique thing i have read through extensively and am so glad to own. same as with all the scripts i've bought. if nothing else, they're truly a unique and granular look at a kind of media that rarely has any BTS stuff released, let alone anything as… candid… as this.

at the same time, well. not everyone is going to be as into that kind of behind the scenes stuff, and it really depends on if you're the sort of person for which that is of interest. does around five hundred pages of curated but still largely unfiltered notes and documentation for MTMTE, much of which was never implemented, some of which was never implemented for good reason, sound like something you really want? if so, yeah. get them. it's that. a lot of that shit is unhinged. some fascinating stuff. some eyebrow raising stuff. it's not a casual purchase; for good reason, they are not cheap. but certainly for me, the fact they even exist is so interesting, and i have read them several times and really got a lot of interesting stuff out of doing so. as paratexts to the comic, i think they're amazing. if that sounds worth it to you, go for it!

[hollowsart]

summary of things I learned about Mysterio (comics mostly lore, but eh. it applies to most if not all other Mysterio)

AKA, why you should totally consider his goofy character:

(also feel free to add more stuff to this if you know of any more lore facts like this that you think should be included!)

He wasn't exactly a movie maker, but just a special effects artist. he did incredible work with SFX of all kinds, he was so good at it. his passion. tho he did have dreams of writing a movie script and wanting to become bigger and more important than that. to really prove himself, but he was always shut down and never given the chance to have anyone check out the movie script he wrote up one night and was so proud of. He worked so hard to get into that line of work and he worked even harder to become an expert in the art of it even despite the lack of recognition he'd get.

He always had a fascination with movies, as well as magic as the two provided him the same thing. the escapism which made him feel happy and free from his horrible home life with his abusive dad. the only good he had growing up was from his supportive and caring uncle that gifted him his first video camera (which his dad subsequently destroyed right in front of Quentin in a fit of rage and contempt for his son in general). His uncle and cousin definitely supported him and felt bad for the life he was living with his father.

Bowl cuts are simple and easy to do. they require no money and no effort. Quentin's hair gets long enough? slap a bowl on that boy's head and start snipping what is visible and you're done. (tho, tbh. there's quite a few famous and and well adored celebrities from movies and tv shows who are renowned for their bowl cuts! ie, spock and moe howard, of course, just to name 2 obvious ones. so I can see Quentin taking that into consideration for him keeping it even well after he has moved out and escaped his abusive father.)

On very rare occasions he'll be drawn to his old home and stare up at it from the street in contempt for what he went through for years growing up there. Things are different now, new people live there, it's all dingy and falling apart, but it's still standing. Despite everything, that wretched place is still standing. He reminisces about the past and it fuels him to avoid it. Motivates him to ignore and move on from it.. despite it still affecting him to this day.

The lack of recognition he'd received from his work in the field of movies certainly took a toll on him eventually. Finally reaching its breaking point and the lack of being taken seriously, too. He wanted to have people liking him and cheering for him, have people know who he is, know his name and see what great things he can do, what he is capable of. However, no casual method was working for him, he needed to find a way to really make people see him. He went about it in a less than good way.. but it almost worked. He almost succeeded.. but in a way. You could say he still did get what he wanted. People now knew his name, knew what he could do, and know who he is.

[borgialucrezia]

Just wanted to say that all your posts about Juan and insight has made me appreciate his character more. I haven’t watched The Borgias in a while and while I never hated Juan I didn’t think of him as more than like a plot device or foil to Cesare. But now I see him in a new light and I’m planning on a rewatch soon with the nuance to his character and the deeper sibling dynamic. Thank you for your analysis, it definitely makes the show more intriguing than it already is!

thank you ahsjsjswh i felt like it was time for someone to bring something new to the table because, despite him being one of the main characters in the show, he was never discussed in depth in the fandom (and to be fair, most of the characters excluding our main couple have never been discussed properly, but juan is my priority besides my renaissance it girl so...)

i'm honestly a little bit ??? at people never noticing how absolutely weird and invasive towards both lucrezia and cesare and making sexual comments like for quick example him being psychosexually obsessed with lucrezia and her purity, or when he went full-on drunk and getting way too close to cesare and making him uncomfortable, trying to elicit some sort of admission/expression of brotherly love from him...the fixation on his siblings was too serious for him!!

i don't think he was ever a plot device, as he had his own storylines and scenes where we see him alone, and we see what he's been thinking/up to as an individual. it's just giving main boyism tbh, but he's only been overlooked by some of the audience lol. despite him having such insane ego and cockiness, it all goes back to masking his own self-hatred and insecurity over his own birth status, not only being a bastard but even a rumored peasant (with vanozza's first husband)

also you're not entirely wrong!! he has been indeed used as a foil to cesare by their own father (or as a grinding stone so to speak), and if you read the script, he's been introduced as cesare's brother specifically. it's almost like a foreshadowing that cesare would be the one who decides his fate. and after cesare murdered him, he still haunted the narrative till the show's finale, with the important aspect that his murder was indeed what made cesare 'the perfect prince' to quote machiavelli (and a reference to his book the prince and cesare being the muse), so like yeah, people like it or not, juan borgia is indeed a main and key character in cesare's journey, and his death changed the family forever.

but to some point in s2, neil jordan feared the audience would stop sympathizing with cesare since he was deliberately backstabbing juan over the siege of forli and maneuvering his way to seize juan's position in the most envious way possible, and juan was already started to get the audience's attention and sympathy, specifically after the knife scene where he felt helpless and threatened to kill himself in front of rodrigo. therefore, neil flipped his character in the final episode and propped cesare up at juan's expense in a sense that everything cesare does would seem 'justifiable', or to quote david oakes' rightfully bitter statement about cesare's writing, "he has always had the writing on his side while they had to make my character a dweeb." and don't get me wrong, cesare borgia is an absolutely fascinating antagonist, i just wish the show was a little bit brave about making him "unlikeable" (as if the girlies were gonna dislike cesare anyway like asfsrfs)

personally, i've always thought it was super disingenuous and completely to cater to the cesarewives who deeply hated juan's character and were even attacking the actor on twitter

i love the show so much obviously (duuh) but that doesn't make it immune to criticizing it. like catering to fans has always been a bizarre move, considering how ursula's character received the poorest treatment and she became nothing but a plot device for a man's pain (after cesare himself attacked her for cutting her hair aka not looking like his sister anymore), and ended up being mutilated and raped and the fans were happy with that which was as disturbing as its incredibly misogynistic

honestly i admire david's fearlessness and how he stood by his character through and through despite how unfair the writing was to him so he'll always have a fan in me (both actor and character)

[novainthevoid]

for YOU, I choose the star sanses :3c (yes all 3, you can also just choose one of them if you want lol)

Ink

First impression: Honestly it's been so long since my first introduction to him that I'm not even sure how I felt back then. Given I dressed up as him for Halloween the year he was created, I'd say it was pretty good.

Impression now: Still good, surprise surprise. He is my biggest blorbo ever. Love the little guy.

Favorite moment: Kinda hard to say given the nature of his story being unfinished and largely inside asks buuuut. I'd say either him playing with/creating Buggy or him being a nuisance (affection) towards his dads.

Idea for a story: Magical Girl Ink, Eldritch Horror Ink, exploration of the development of the Star Sanses as a group with Ink still being his chaotic neutral self (I like going the route of them being friends first, coworkers later).

Unpopular opinion: This is a hard one... I'd say, though its less of an unpopular opinion and more of a reminder to people, Ink is capable of change. The nature of his story being mostly unfinished means that his character is in a state of perma-stagnation in canon, but he has the capacity to grow as a person still. This can mean a lot of different things, both good and bad growth, but it is certainly possible.

Favorite relationship: Star Sanses (shocking I know) as well as his relationship with him and his dads! Ooh and his relationship with any potential kids... honestly I love all explorations of relationships involving Ink.

Favorite headcanon: There's the classic (AuDHD), but some slightly more obscure ones include: he's aroace (canon, obvi) but romance favorable. I think he's highly motivated by curiosity and would be fascinated by relationships and willing to try one (if that person's script/story is finished ofc)

Dream

First Impression: Another one that I don't remember learning about for the first time, but I know I've had an interest in him for a long time. He has so much potential as a character! I was always a bit averse to his canon though tbh.

Impression now: I love him. He is everything to me. Again, so much potential as a character. Ironically, despite Ink being my all time favorite, I have written way more stories from Dream's perspective than Ink's. He's just easier to write as a perspective djdjdj.

Favorite moment: This is an even harder one than Ink because while he does have more canon moments, I do not like his canon lol. No hate to anyone who does, it's just not for me. A favorite moment for me to write/think about for him relates to his first time making connections after the Apple Incident, whoever that may be.

Idea for a story: Dream being on the run from Nightmare (ie the first few years post the Apple Incident) and the eventual change from just trying to survive to fighting back.

Unpopular opinion: He can be both badass and tired and so incredibly kind. I like versions of him that are a little more reserved, a little more angry, a little less nice, but I fully believe that he is kind. It's not a Dream to me if he isn't kind.

Favorite relationship: Nightmare and Dream but specifically an exploration of their relationship pre-Apple Incident or in an alternate universe where the Apple Incident doesn't happen. The breakdown and/or mending of their relationship is just so good. Also, of course, the Star Sanses. They're friends to ME. They make each other better.

Favorite headcanon: Kinda shown in unpopular opinion but my favorite headcanon is that he has learned a lot of street-smarts from living on the run from Nightmare for a long time. Also, I headcanon that the Apple Incident happened a lot later than in canon, at least closer to like age 16 or so. I just cannot deal with it happening when Dream and Nightmare were six.

Blue

First impression: "Ooh a Papyrus!Sans, cool. But he's even more hyperactive than Papyrus? Reminds me of [best friend who dressed up as Blue to match with me dressing up as Ink]."

Impression now: HE IS THE MOMENT. Not a shocker given I love Papyrus but I love Blue. I think he has some fascinating interpretations and that he can be done in so many ways to distinguish him from Papyrus.

Favorite moment: Hmm. Completion of the trio of Difficult To Pick a Canon Moment. This time because it is so so hard to find any canon information on Underswap. I love the way he is portrayed in Ask-Error, so I'll pick that!

Idea for a story: How Blue Joined The Star Sanses (my personal idea currently is that he ended up in the OT somehow and met them at a council meeting). Furthermore, any explorations of Blue that help differentiate him from Papyrus.

Unpopular opinion: Less unpopular nowadays but I was around for early fandom so the frustration I feel towards this idea persists: just because he is incredibly nice, kind, energetic, and optimistic does not mean he is stupid. Also, more relevant to modern times but I cannot see him leaving the Stars to join Nightmare's Gang, no matter how badly he is treated. I can see him wanting to help them, but not join. Like Dream, this is just my personal opinion on it though! No hate to anyone who likes those stories. Keep reading and writing y'all!

Favorite relationship: Him and Stretch when its not just about Stretch being overprotective. I don't mind Stretch being overprotective, I just need him to have more characterization than that please. Also, of course, the Star Sanses.

Favorite headcanon: He's the voice of reason in the Star Sanses. Anywhere else and he would likely be the menace of the group but when its two immortals with abysmal levels of socialization, especially with mortals, even someone capable of the Skeleton Brothers levels of chaos can become the voice of reason. He still loves his friends dearly though, and participates/incites problems on occasion.

[ahappydnp]

here is a collection of unorganized thoughts i had about the ian interview with anthony in relation to dnp’s working relationship

smosh talking about being best friends who ended up being business partners and then roommates and how bad it was and how they were passive aggressive with each other because they couldn’t fight bc they had to be best friends for youtube 

at first i immediately got sad hearing it but also i do think there’s a slight difference in how smosh interacted, especially them saying they never ever talked about feelings or emotions and their relationship was always surface level anyway

as opposed to dnp who’s dynamic/relationship is inherently more emotion based and vulnerable so talking about what’s upsetting them is going to come more naturally when it comes to the business side

but obviously that kind of relationship in any context is going to be INTENSE and hard to maintain when your lives are that intertwined

anthony talking about growing up individually and then feeling like they had to regress back into their 17 year old selves when they did hang out (“all we did when we hung out was play mario kart and talk about what we were doing”) 

also something that made me slightly sad for a second, especially remembering dan’s whole thing about phil pulling him back and the jokes about regressing bc he’s back on youtube blah blah blah it’s not refined or representative of his growth (which i hope he’s dealing with that whole mindset please dear god) 

but also dnp have grown individually and as a duo and i think they’ve given each other the space to do so while also having the front row seat to that growth that smosh didn’t? 

them saying the new content is NOT going to be nostalgia base and they’re not going to revert back to their old personas is actually really interesting and i wonder what that’s going to look like.

it makes me think about how dan and phil would approach consistent joint content again pcou, especially given the ~vibe~ of the last few videos together (mostly thinking about the 2022 texting video that felt...off a bit? which is so rare for dnp). it’s gotta be hard to not slip back into those old roles especially when being on camera together again is still novel 

ian and anthony talking about how the audience shaped their friendship in their peak and how they tried to play into the characters the fans made for them and it caused resentment/ anthony said being the ‘hot one’ and ian being the ‘funny one’ upset him a lot because it made him question his value. i find that whole section fascinating because i think that’s one thing dnp held onto? like they didn’t let the audience decide their dynamic or personalities 

but dnp also had the added element of more intimate outlets like liveshows where we got to see natural dynamics or even gaming channel stuff while smosh only really did scripted sketch stuff, so the audience got to see a more well rounded version of dnp and not just like....TATINOF stage personas

also and idk how to say this articulately....dnp also were actively hiding a part of themselves and working against audience perspective so they’re less susceptible to succumb to being their personas off camera with each other (especially going back to the first point of their relationship being more complex emotionally than the 2 cishet dudes who said they didn’t share feelings for the first 20 years of their friendship)

smosh talking about their work styles and creative processes and how they mesh well together which i would LOVE to hear more about that from dnp in how they come up with ideas or the details of their process together ESPECIALLY now 

tbh i was never a smosh fan for a variety of reasons and i’ve never been fond of anthony but i appreciate what smosh meant to a lot of people and how big of a win this is for youtube creators in general. it is interesting to hear them talk about this new era and how excited they are for the future of the channel 

maybe other people will have a chat about what a revamped version of a beloved channel that was also a fun project for them could look like, especially without the pressure of making money off of it

please dnp i will buy yet another fucking channel membership off you 

[jeannereames]

There is this question/idea that has always kinda fascinated me and I wanted an opinion of a historian on this.

Imagine someone wanted to makes a tv series/movie about a historical person/event/time period/..., and they wanted to make it as historically accurate as possible while still keeping it interesting and captivating enough for modern, non-historian audiances. I feel like getting the costumes, events and characters 99% historically correct can be possible. However one thing might be a lot more difficult: choosing what language(s) to use.

Do you go for

A) The actual historical languages that were used (but nobody speaks anymore today). Which would be both the hardest to implement and to reach modern audiences.

B) The modern versions of the historical languages. Which would be easier and more accessible but still a bit limiting.

C) Just do it in English. Which is the least accurate but might reach the widest audience.

Which one would you recommend and which one would you personally prefer (if these are not the same)?

Several issues face anybody writing historical novels, or making films. I’ve talked about some of these in the following posts:

Writing Historical Fiction (Well): a 5-part series that discusses the challenges and pitfalls of historical fiction. This link takes you to part 1 with subsequent parts linked within.

A shorter post on common ways to approach historicals in film (or narration).

What (I think) needs to be shown about Alexander in an documentary and/or historical film to approach realism. I talk here about some of the attendant issues especially for making a film.

 Now, to your comment about costumes and events 99% accurate…you’d face two very real hurdles:

Funding…that was possibly the #1 problem for the Netflix docudrama. They didn’t have anywhere near the funding they really needed. Just because Netflix funded it, that didn’t make it “big budget.”

Not confusing your audience with a lot of unfamiliar names and seemingly repeating events. It would require judicious “weeding.”

Oliver Stone’s Alexander did quite well, for the most part, on costuming and sets. Yet it failed for two big reasons. First, he couldn’t resist throwing in too much, and a repetitive script, even while skipping material necessary to help an audience understand why the army followed Alexander to the ends of the earth. Second, he didn’t understand the basic mindset of the ancient world, and so imposed a bunch of modern ideas and attitudes. I wrote a fairly in-depth review not long after it came out. It’s still up on my website.

As for languages…

It would be an enormous mistake to try to use ancient Greek, or rather Attic and Doric Greek, Old Persian, Aramaic, Demotic Coptic, Prakrit, eastern Akkadian … etc., etc. That’s what you’re looking at. First, finding somebody able to write a script in all those languages is impossible. No single person reads them all, even among historians. We specialize for a reason. You’d be paying multiple experts to write a script that nobody living could understand—and would take a lot of coaching for the actors even to pronounce properly. Additionally, you’d narrow your audience to those willing to put up with subtitles.

The founding-of-Rome Italian TV series Romulus used Latin. This worked only because it was one language and was marketed originally to an Italian audience. Latin isn’t Italian by a long shot, but it wasn’t wholly unfamiliar in sound. That said, it was more of an “art film” type. I (an ancient historian) quit watching it after the second episode because it was too much work, tbh. (It was also a lot bloodier than I was in the mood for, in the midst of Covid.)

But if you want to see a (good) example of what you’re suggesting, that’s one. Another, similar, is The Fast Runner, which is entirely written and performed in Inuktitut, an Alaskan language (albeit not ancient), and set in the mythical past. Despite its awards, it’s virtually unknown outside indigenous and art-film circles. I did watch all of that one (and liked it), but it was a single movie, not a series.

(Yes, I’m aware of Apocalypto, but I consider that more an example of why you don’t make a film in a language people can’t understand. It’s in Yacatec Mayan, which is actually modern. In that, it’s not unlike the Inuktitut in The Fast Runner, but the latter works better, imo.)

If you want to make a movie that will be watched and understood by non-specialist, non-art-house audiences, you will have to use English (or whatever language of the country it’s being marketed to). And you’ll need to think some about dialogue. How “archaic” do you want to get? Too much authenticity can send viewers into fits of giggles…probably not the approach one is going for. 😊

That’s why, in Dancing with the Lion, I opted to utilize fairly modern dialogue, then pepper it with a bit of Greek here and there. 1) Words easy to figure out. (“Idou!” = “Look!” as in, “Look, I know you think I’m…”.) OR 2) words difficult to render into English without it sounding silly or overly Christianized. (“Oimoi!” = “Woe!” but equivalent to “Damn!” which evokes Christian ideas.) Not every reader liked my choice, mind, but that’s why I made it.

Other writers, such as several in the newly popular “modern takes on Greek myths” employ something more akin to Mary Renault’s slightly archaizing approach. It’s also been used by Judy Tarr and Jo Graham in their historical fantasies. I like that option too, it’s just not mine.

But I wouldn’t get too complicated, or you’ll confuse (and thus lose) your audience.

But coming back to the number one hurdle to film authenticity in costumes, sets, quality actors, and crew … MONEY. To do it especially well, it doesn’t just take a commitment to authenticity, but an enormous budget. Oliver Stone’s Alexander cost 155 million dollars. I expect you could to it for less than that, but everything from good costumes to rentals of multiple sets used once (like a theatre for Philip’s murder), to horses and stunt actors, to quality CGI…to decent (if not A-list) actors, writers, historical consultants (more than just one as none of us can do it ALL)—that costs. You’ve got to be the likes of Stone to get investors to pony up for that. He started talking about making it way back in the early ‘90s, and it took him to the early 2000s to get the money.

Unfortunately, absolute authenticity is expensive in a story as far-flung as Alexander’s. It’s what a lot of the critique of the Netflix show really doesn’t get. There are still issues with it that doesn’t owe to money, but multiple compromises were made due to a lack of funds.

If you wanted to do Alexander, it might make more sense NOT to try to do it all. Do a portion of his life. See how that sells, then investors might be willing to kick in more money. Inevitably, I think showrunners want to do too much at once.