#this is actually 1941 part 3 spoilers

[eefaevie]

Crowley: would you still love me if I was a worm

(animation by Peter Anderson Studio)

[mariikado]

Good Omens 2 and mistaken identity.

And don't show this to Neil! And don't ask him about it!

Carefully! There may be spoilers here.

We know from the first season that if the characters switch bodies, a secret sign can be found somewhere. This sign will indicate who we are actually seeing.

The collar on Crowley's jacket indicates that it is in fact Aziraphale.

And now the big mystery of the second season. This is a real "The Clue". Who is who really?

1. I'll start with Shax and her adorable glasses that don't belong to her at all.

2. In the next episode, Aziraphale is in a Bentley listening to «Moonlight Serenade» by Glen Miller & his orchestra, "a very modern tune from 1939." It was this tune that was playing in Doctor Who when the Doctor and Rose found themselves in 1941. Shax gets into the car and says:

Is Shax replacing him now or is she replacing him in some other story? Maybe in 1941. The melody in the Bentley seems to smoothly mix up time. And 1941 may turn out to be part of the future, but placed in the past.

3. Next we are shown 1941. We are transported to Hell and see Shax with an adorable snake on his belt. Who is this Shax?

Read about the demon Shax. A very interesting demon: he knows how to drive you crazy, steals things, maybe even jewelry, maybe even royal ones.

Come to think of it, we learned some very interesting things about Jane Austen earlier: she transported alcohol (like Crowley in 1941), planned a diamond heist (Shax's specialty). So where exactly is Shax in episode four and where is Crowley? What if someone had swapped Shax and Crowley in this part of the story? Remember that the episode is called "The Hitchhiker" (And watch a movie with that title). And Shax was that hitchhiker, so she should be the main character in episode four.

4. Let's move on. Someone very similar to Shax is negotiating something with Furfur and then we see Furfur with a snake tongue. The same question to Furfur: who are you really and what do you really look like?

Read about the demon Furfur. His ability to create storms and bring lovers together is enchanting. So who's really making it rain for Nina and Maggie? So, the deer is the symbol of Furfur. Neil had one fun special spoiler involving the deer and Crowley. Find him, it's very funny.

5. Next we will have a deadly trick with catching a bullet. Aziraphale wears an adorable snake print vest. So what does Aziraphale actually look like or who is Aziraphale in this scene?

Could there be another change of faces before the focus? What if Aziraphale was actually sitting in the audience?

By the way, up to this point in history, faces could also change more than once. Shax's mirror haunted me. There is one angel depicted with a mirror. What's his name? Oh yeah. Gabriel.

6. And after the trick, the guys sit, drink wine and Crowley pronounces his words as if he had already said them before. So who is Crowley?

What happens in the dressing room behind the scenes while we see Aziraphale, and the wall behind him slowly floats (episode 4, 35:03, see for yourself). And could there be another change of faces at this stage?

Let me summarize a bit. My personal view on the situation. Just imagine that Shax is actually Gabriel (we don't know what happened to him after Aziraphale's failed execution). Perhaps he is the same supreme archangel who was sent to hell (Metatron talks about this). Gabriel switches places with Crowley (I doubt that this happened by mutual desire). So Aziraphale goes to the theater with Gabriel and Crowley talks with Furfur in Hell. Then, it seems to me, Furfur becomes Crowley (and not vice versa) and comes to the theater in the image of Crowley. By this time, on the theater stage, Gabriel is already wearing a snake vest, and Aziraphale looks like Crowley and is sitting in the audience. Then in the dressing room, Furfur, who looks like Crowley, switches places with a character who looks like Crowley, but is actually Aziraphale.

The biggest question is: did Furfur know who he was switching places with? Whose team does Furfur play for? And who really is Furfur himself? Have you read about Azazel yet? Furfur says he never met Job (I'm a demon, I lied...) Think about that too.

In fact, Aziraphale and Furfur may be similar to Gabriel. Perhaps in Season 3 the outer shell of the characters will play a role, but at this stage I would like to just understand the souls. And all this works well only on the condition that Aziraphale and Crowley have not swapped places. And if at some point they do change for some reason, then everything becomes even more confusing. Because if Crowley and Aziraphale swapped places even earlier, before the events of the focus (ignore the fact that this is 1941, it may not be him, just as 1827 may be a different time), then Shax in Hell is Aziraphale, and Aziraphale in 1941 - Crowley. It's all very confusing, but that's how it should be. The story was deliberately confused so that no one could get to the bottom of the truth.

To be continued. Part 2.

[humbledragon669]

S1E3 – Hard Times Write Up P2 – The Globe Theatre London (1601) and the Burbage Meta

This part of the write up for episode 3 is going to take on a slightly different format, in that it will only be covering a very short (approx. 4 minutes) section of the episode. It will also contain the details of a meta-theory I have based on the short conversation that takes place in this scene, and I’ll be analysing the comings and goings of the scene in greater detail to try and demonstrate how the theory came to fruition. I’m not going to lie – this theory is likely to be HUGELY unpopular. I am not a fan of it myself but it’s where my head canon is at, and if it were true might explain one other unknown piece of canon. So, with all that said, let’s get started.

Before we get into the weeds, I’d just like to take a moment to appreciate the soundtrack for this scene. I’ve spoken before about David Arnold’s ability to compose incidental music of all manner of styles to assist with scene setting and the piece playing in the background here is no exception. The use of period instruments, simple orchestration and playful melody do an excellent job in establishing our place in the timeline. Chapeau, sir.

Alright, let’s get the ball rolling with some familiar ground, specifically the obvious joy on Aziraphale’s face when Crowley arrives.

Look at that happy little face! It looks like pure reflex too, he just can’t help himself. Did you appreciate that little suggestion that this is a happy couple on a pre-arranged date? Well hold on to it, because things are about to get rocky.

I’m going to skip ahead a little bit, but I will be coming back to look at some of the other interactions that take place here later on. I’ll mention (briefly) that this scene is the first we learn of the “Arrangement” actually being in place and that they have invoked it “dozens of times” (the book confirms it was originally enacted in 1020). It took me a little while to twig, but the fact that they do work on behalf of the other doesn’t just mean that Crowley is capable of blessing things and using his miracles for good (the latter isn’t so dubious – they both seem to use their miracles more like magic tricks anyway), but that Aziraphale is capable of tempting people into (bad) things. Food for thought.

When I first started looking at this episode with a mind to doing a write up for it, there was one of Aziraphale’s lines that stood out to me:

The reason it stood it is because it feels almost… lustful. And it shouldn’t because he’s not talking about Crowley here, but the actor on the stage – Richard Burbage. I dismissed it because I did not care for what that might mean for our precious darlings. That’s ridiculous, right? Aziraphale desiring someone other than the tall dark prince. Absolutely.

Time for a tangent.

After I finished writing Dangerous Liaisons (a 5+1 fix-it fic I wrote based on the theory that the entire Final 15 is all just an act), I found myself wanting to fill in some of the gaps that I had touched upon in the fic. There is mention of certain events, and of declarations of love on both sides, at particular points in their history, and my brain was already whirring about if I was to write them (spoiler alert: I am 100% going to write them), what the details were. One of those events takes place in 1941, which got me thinking about Aziraphale spitting out that he did the “I Was Wrong” dance that year. Which in turn got me wondering about what that dance would have been for. Which in turn got me thinking about what the other instances of the “I Was Wrong” dance in 1650 and 1793 could have been for, and eventually I was at the point where I wasn’t just planning to write more fics about the events mentioned in Dangerous Liaisons, but my versions of how those apology dances came about as well.

At the time, I had a notion that perhaps the 1941 dance had been done as an apology for Aziraphale’s outburst in 1862 about the holy water. Similarly, I had an idea that the 1793 dance could potentially have been about the fact that Aziraphale had (very stupidly) gone to France during a war against aristocracy, dressed in finery, for nothing more than crèpes. But the 1650 dance? I had no clue.

Until I went back to this scene.

What if. What if that lustful undertone I thought I had detected when Aziraphale speaks about Richard Burbage wasn’t nothing at all? Honestly, when my brain offered me that idea, it felt like fireworks had gone off in my head. Did I like it? FUCK NO. Did it make a weird sort of sense? Urgh, so help me, it kind of did. So hold on people, I’m going to say it quickly, because I am not enjoying writing it about as much as you aren’t going to enjoy reading it.

I think Aziraphale had an emotional affair with Richard Burbage.

I think not only did Crowley know about it, but that initially he gave it his blessing. I think Crowley changed his mind when he realised how much he was hurting as a result of it. I think Crowley tried to talk Aziraphale out of it under the pretence of not wanting him to feel the pain of heartbreak when Burbage inevitably died. I think they had a huge row about it. And I think the 1650 “I Was Wrong” dance was Aziraphale apologising for it all.

Hate me now? It’s OK if you do, I kinda hate myself for thinking it in the first place to be honest.

I know you’re probably thinking “well, what on earth were the 1793 and 1941 apology dances for then? If the original dance was for something as awful as an “affair”, what could he possibly have done in later years that would have been bad enough that the dance needed to be repeated?”. I know you’re thinking it because it’s exactly what I thought when my brain force fed me this theory in the first place. So here’s the thing.

I don’t think the dances in 1793 and 1941 were for anything different.

I think all three of the instances of the apology dances were for the same thing – Aziraphale’s emotional affair with Richard Burbage. Because it’s the one thing Crowley can secretly never forgive him for, even though he gave him permission to do it in the first place.

I suppose I had better start talking to explain myself here, shouldn’t I? Well, alright then, I will, but only about my reasoning for the theory – the playing out of the dances I will be writing about in my fics.

Let’s start with the little glance at Burbage we see from Aziraphale when Crowley says he hates the ”gloomy” Shakespeare plays:

I’ve slowed it down so that you can see it, but Aziraphale’s primary concern about Crowley’s criticism is whether or not Burbage has heard it – that’s where his gaze initially goes to before being distracted by an approaching Shakespeare.

OK, OK, a single glance and a single line of script. That’s hardly a confession, is it? Well, I’m not done yet. Let’s have a look at Aziraphale falling over himself to reassure Burbage of his talents.

This sort of gushing simper is something you might usually see from a teenage girl trying to bolster the older boy she has a desperate (and inappropriate) crush on, often when responding to an attempt by him to fish for compliments or show the younger girl up. It makes me a little sick at just how desperately Aziraphale offers his support here to be honest. My feelings aside, his babbling flattery wins him Burbage’s attention, which clearly delights the angel.

I’m sure most people would be happy to believe that the reason Aziraphale denies his friendship with Crowley is because that is the standard for them both, but I think there’s more to it than that. I’m of the mind that Burbage and Aziraphale already know each other at this point, and that they’ve already begun to develop feelings for one another. Burbage asking Aziraphale about his “friend” isn’t just a general question - it’s tinged with jealousy. He wants to know who this man is, not in an attempt to garner more compliments, but because he’s feeling threatened by his presence. As well he should. Let’s also take a look at Aziraphale’s face after Crowley’s presence has been pointed out:

Does it look familiar to you? It does to me. It’s the face he pulls when he’s in trouble for doing something he knows he should be in trouble for. Just like when Nina drops him in the shit with Crowley for having a naked man in his shop:

We can also see Crowley starting to cotton on to things in this little exchange. He sees Aziraphale’s desperation and flustering, sees the human’s jealousy and possessiveness. So what does he do? He does what any self-respecting mischief-loving demon would do. He decides to join the pissing contest. You can see his decision in his expression here:

If that expression wasn’t enough to let you know that he’s entering the ring at this point, his dismissive response to Burbage’s challenge should be enough to tell you he now considers this man fair game.

I think you should get on with the play.

Ouch. Saucer of milk, Crowley? Or maybe just turn your disdain to the person you’re actually upset with? Ah, he’s got that covered, showering Aziraphale with sass when he heckles Burbage. You can see a little train of emotions going through his expression here – amusement morphs into shock and disbelief, finally indicating his incredulity with a head shake so subtle you can only just catch it in the movement of his hair.

Quick side note: in the script, Burbage gives Aziraphale a “grateful thumbs up” at the heckle. Very friendly, don’t you think?

And so we come to the hateful fateful line that got us into this mess in the first place.

He’s very good, isn’t he?

And now it takes on a whole different level of meaning, doesn’t it? This is him asserting his pride at Burbage’s talents, justifying his feelings in a thinly veiled confession, and subtextually seeking approval from the one person in the world that he would ever want it from.

Let me be clear: I do not believe that Aziraphale is sexually attracted to Burbage, or that he’s in love with him. I think he feels a deep emotional attraction to him and there isn’t a doubt in my mind that Burbage’s talent is what’s really driving it. It’s worth remembering that Richard Burbage was a real historical person, who was the resident actor at the Globe Theatre. He played virtually every major role in the company, and it is generally thought that the role of Hamlet was written for and based on him. He was possibly considered the greatest actor of his time.

Crowley’s response, which comes after a tiny pause, seems oddly out of character.

Age does not wither nor custom stale his infinite variety.

For those who don’t know, this line is an almost direct quote from Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra” (written after 1601, hence why Shakespeare makes a note of it when Crowley speaks). It’s spoken by Enobarbus, Antony’s best friend, who acts as a reasoned counsellor to Antony, offering advice unbiased by an all-consuming infatuation with Cleopatra. The pronouns have been changed in Crowley’s rendition (the resulting line in the play is about Cleopatra, so “his” becomes “her”). I have no doubt that Crowley’s subtext is pretty thickly layered here, so I’m going to try and break it down a bit:

We have a reference to age not having an effect on appearance. This is pretty obviously a characteristic of both himself and Aziraphale, immortal beings as they are.

The second half of the line he delivers is a reference to the subject having a range of moods that are unpredictable in their application.

The line as a whole takes these two ideas and wraps them in the suggestion that the subject is overwhelmingly attractive to many.

So taking all of that into consideration, I believe that the subject of Crowley’s line here is Aziraphale. He’s the one who doesn’t age, who is unpredictable and has fickle moods. It’s a reminder to himself of the things he finds attractive in Aziraphale and why others might also be drawn to him. It’s his admission that in this situation, he must be Enobarbus, the advisor, but that one day he can resume his role as Antony to Aziraphale’s Cleopatra. I mean, where else do we think he gets his 20th century first name from anyway?

That was a lot of analysis for a tiny handful of words. Aziraphale is less impressed with them, presumably because his little crush’s talent has not been recognised and he didn’t get the approval he was looking for.

The conversation that follows lets us know that Crowley has called this meeting. What’s interesting though is that according to Crowley’s opening line of the scene, it would appear that the location choice was Aziraphale’s.

I thought you said we’d be inconspicuous here.

This would suggest that Aziraphale knew that Burbage was going to be displaying his talents and that it would give him ample opportunity to show him off. Poor Crowley has been completely ambushed.

The majority of the conversation after this point is largely business-related, but it doesn’t stop Aziraphale from returning his eyes to Burbage at every opportunity, who is relentlessly charging through his lines in the background. Interestingly, the only line we focus on him for is this “the pangs of despised love”, which refers to the heartache caused by love that ends badly. And what other way is there for the affair between him and Aziraphale to end but badly? He’s human. He’s going to die. Leaving Aziraphale heartbroken. The frame just before these words are delivered would suggest that Aziraphale isn’t actually paying attention to him when he says them (shocking), so he’s probably missed that particular point entirely.

It's touching to see that Aziraphale does still care for Crowley, despite whatever else might be going on in his brain – his main concern, at least on the surface, is that it could put Crowley in danger if they invoke the Arrangement. In truth, I think he’s also considering the possibility that he might get to stay in London to spend more time with Burbage if he doesn’t have to go to Edinburgh; it’s written all over the lingering gaze he shoots the actor’s way when he’s offered the change to “toss for Edinburgh” (*smirk*)

And just look how disappointed he is when he loses:

And as if Aziraphale had not asked enough of his demon already, he overhears a conversation between Shakespeare and the oyster vendor (named Juliet, wonder if old Bill stole her name for anything he’d written previously…), prompting him to ask Crowley for a favour. I don’t think this could be interpreted as anything other than a secret gift from Aziraphale to Burbage. He obviously thinks it’s a marvellous idea and has set his heart on having it – just look at his silent ask of Crowley:

If that little eyebrow raise looks familiar, it’s because exactly the same micro-expression we see when he silently asks Crowley to clean his jacket in episode 2:

Let’s just for a moment say that my theory about all of this is complete guff. Why would Aziraphale be so desperate for Hamlet to succeed? Why this particular play? I’m prepared to settle and say the reason he doesn’t do the miracle himself is because he’s just lost the toss and is about to go and do Crowley’s job for him, but I can’t work out why he would be so keen for this play to succeed if there wasn’t some sort of emotional attachment involved with its lead actor and inspiration. So, I’m sticking to my guns on this one. Note: I’m not going into any metafiction stuff about both David and Michael having played Hamlet to high acclaim – everything here stays strictly within the GO universe.

And, like the lovesick little puppy that Crowley is, he gives his heart’s desire what it desires, even though it isn’t him. He even calls it a “treat”, and it earns him a pretty sweet smile of gratitude.

I don’t believe that Crowley’s gesture here is without subtext. I think this is him giving Aziraphale the approval he was fishing for earlier. And Aziraphale knows it – his secondary response (after that big soppy grim) is one of delighted relief. I have no doubt that Crowley is smarting a little by this point, and that’s borne out by the fact that he now leaves the theatre alone. If we look at the ends of each of the historical scenes, there are three where one of our hero couple leaves without the other (I’m not counting the departure in 537 AD where they both leave simultaneously). One is in 1862 (where Aziraphale refuses to supply Crowley with holy water) and another in 1967 (which I obviously haven’t covered yet) where Aziraphale leaves after delivering his soul-destroying “you go too fast” revelation. The other is this one. It’s seems very fitting that the only scenes where we see one of them leaving without the other are scenes where there is emotional tension between them. More importantly for this scene though is not so much that Crowley leaves, but that Aziraphale stays, his gaze instantly returning to Burbage on the stage. Not only is his face still fixed with a soppy smile, but he resumes eating – something we will see him using as a flirting device with Crowley in future years.

There’s one last thing I want to talk about from the beginning of this scene that I think bears mentioning:

Setting aside the fact that he miracles a coin out of thin air right in front of a human’s face here, there’s something else that draws my attention. The vendor in this micro-scene gives a customer two choices: oysters or oranges. Aziraphale chooses a third option, that we as the audience are not aware is available: grapes. Is it too extreme to consider this to be foreshadowing the choice that Aziraphale will make in this scene? As an entity, we have seen him try to choose between Heaven and Crowley for centuries, but here he will instead choose a third, previously unknown, option – Richard Burbage.

So there we have it. If you’ve stuck with me this far, I really do congratulate you. And I’m sorry. I’m not exaggerating when I say that writing this all down was actually really hard to do. I don’t want any of what I’ve theorised here to be true as much as most of the GO fandom, but once the idea planted its seed I could see how much sense it made.

If you’re still reading, and don’t hate me too much, I’ve written the prologue and first chapter of the fic that goes with this meta (you can find it here). I’ll be writing the second and third chapters covering the other “I Was Wrong” dances once I’ve completed the analysis for their relevant scenes, though that does mean the 1941 chapter will be a little while in the making.

Not sure I really want to include my usual sign off here, but… questions, comments, discussion always welcome. (Please don’t throw too much abuse at me!)

[amarshmallownamedo]

SPOILERS FOR GOOD OMENS SEASON 2

Things we got in season 2 that I've definitely read in fanfics, pt 4/6

Someone (or some demon) assuming crowley and aziraphale are together

A continuation of the 1941 scene

Hell having an admissions desk

Aziraphale being absolutely smitten in the car after the church scene

Spider-themed hell torture

Zombies, somehow

Aziraphale calling crowley his friend (before the nopocalypse)

The Amazing Mr. Fell's Magic Act

Crowley being Aziraphle's magic act assistant

Aziraphale assuming crowley "must have fired hundreds of firearms"

Crowley never having actually fired a gun before

Crowley and aziraphale drinking wine at the bookshop after the church scene

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 5 | Part 6

[thingsisayinmyhead]

Thoughts about Good Omens 2 Episode 4

I've made an effort to tag the spoilers every way I could think of, but just in case, once again, details under cut.

1941 - there has been so much fanfic written about the post-church bombing scene and we finally found out what canonically happened- and it was better that I could have possibly hoped!

First of all - we get Crowley with his hat and Aziraphale as the Amazing Mr. Fell - can't top that. And we got zombie Nazis! Can't go wrong with zombie Nazis.

My wifi decided to give me extra drama and kept cutting out right as Crowley is aiming the gun at Aziraphale's head. I had to reset it like five times to finally get through the scene. Everything about it was perfect: Crowley finally admitting he'd never fired a gun, the panic on his face as he has to aim at Aziraphale, Aziraphale's bumbling attempts at magic. The funniest part is that it never occurs to these two idiots that they could just walk away - just NOT do the trick when they found their miracles weren't working. Way to commit to the bit, Amazing Mr. Fell!

Now I want to talk about that photo swap. It seems Aziraphale is actually good a prestidigitation when it counts. There's a popular fanfic trope where Aziraphale turns into this super-strong badass angel, but only when Crowley is threatened. Maybe the canonical version of that is he can only do magic when it helps Crowley.

The "shades of grey" conversation was an important character development point for Aziraphale. In the episode 3 flashback, he struggled with the concept of what was good and what was evil. This time he finally realizes that maybe there are things that aren't 100% good or evil.

I wonder if we'll see the zombie Nazi's again in the present day storyline.

Aziraphale maybe smarter than all of the Angels and most of the demons, but he's not smarter than Shax. That's the first time I've seen anyone other than Sgt. Shadwell get the better of him. We also get a window into Shax's motivation here - she's been angling for Crowley's job for centuries. She finally gets it and finds out it ridiculously easy so how is the ambitious demon to make a name for herself - find the missing archangel.

I liked the beat when Crowley tells Aziraphale "I was worried something happened to you. " Awww. But then Crowley seems even happier to see his Bentley. Poor Aziraphale! You know, season 1 seemed to paint a picture of Crowley pining for an oblivious Aziraphale for 6000 years. This season we see a pining angle - delighting in every scrap of affection Crowley gives him - an an oblivious demon. Love it the contrast!

[adobe-outdesign]

TIOL LIVEBLOG: PART 5–7

Note: I will do a final review tomorrow to summarize my thoughts.

Spoilers under the cut:

Part 5, Chapter 1

in true New Jersey fashion, Joey never wants to go back to it

mud is only a few steps removed from ink when you think about it

Nathan pointing out that Joey misjudged him really points even more towards him being the Unknown, as he says he hopes to prove it soon. If he isn’t the Unknown at this point I’ll be legit shocked

Joey legit just outright calling himself a God is really hammering in those Joey/Ink Demon parallels again

Part 5, Chapter 2

yes but did Joey see the baby incubators

Part 5, Chapter 3

I could never decide if I liked the idea of Disney existing in the BATIM universe or not but it does support my favorite crack headcanon, which is that Henry went to work there after leaving JDS

I’m not sure if it was the intended implication but I think Grant comes in late and leaves late for the sole purpose of avoiding Joey as much as possible

love that Joey respects Wally. good boy deserves that much

“again, it is why I avoid the past as much as possible” [makes Henry go through the studio on loop like 500 times]

I’ve mentioned before that the Whipper-Will-O is likely the ride Bertrum is fused to. It’s mentioned here but without enough context to confirm (it is mentioned later that it would be the biggest one which does match)

Part 5, Chapter 4

Joey’s secretary has a name now, don’t think she did previously

Makes sense that Bertrum was retired, he’s like canonically 60

Grant probably hates Bertrum for no reason other than the sheer expense of his restaurant bills

Joey: “ultimately Bert knows I’m the boss :)” Bertrum: I Am Going To Smite You Off The Face Of This Earth

I wonder if Bertrum hates being called Bert as much as he does Bertie. probably (side note: “Bertie” is misspelled with a y here; if I’m not mistaken it was “ie” in the game transcript)

I know some people have said the “I’m not that kind of date” line is homophobic (which was probably the intention), but all he says is that he’s not the kind of guy to play hard to get, not that he isn’t a date

In things that only interest me, Bertrum is confirmed to be a heavyweight (or at least more so than Joey)

I love these two trying to out-ego each other. I didn’t think it was possible but Joey’s winning

nice to finally have explanations for the different lands, was wondering what the hell that was about

also the battleship stuff was for the Butcher Gang’s area, that makes sense

if anyone walked up to me and told me they “had a Whipper” I’d slap them

man this is the best episode of Defunctland ever

Side note: Bertrum is much more in-character here than in DCTL. While he’s still friendly towards Joey, that’s because they just met, so it makes sense in this situation (unlike in DCTL). He also corrects Joey on his name, something he never did in DCTL

Actually this kind of botches the timeline as DCTL has Bendyland just being developed and announced in 1946, while here that happened in 1941-1942. 1940 was the date on Bertrum’s BATDR teaser tape, so the later is closer to being right (still off by a year though). I’ll chalk DCTL up to Buddy’s bad memory.

Part 5, Chapter 5

“I like me just fine” is really amusing and I’m not sure why

I LOVE how much Joey keeps hammering in how great Henry leaving is. cashing in my final “Joey is gay”

Part 6, Chapter 1

Neat to have an explanation for the Sillyvision thing. I didn’t get the impression from the Handbook that it was a process of sorts, but then again I might be misremembering

Part 7, Chapter 1

(Counting these as chapters even though they’re more of an afterwords thing)

figures Joey is a morning person

Nathan just wakes up and chugs a single cup of black coffee while not breaking eye contact

Joey enjoying Cheerios amuses me more than it should

Joey: “hey what’s today looking like Sammy” Sammy: I Am Going To Kill Something Jack: I am also here

I was pointing out that it was weird that Abby was a temporary art director but is still at it in DCTL, but I think the implication is that Joey fired Morris and replaced him with her when he got back. He seems to much favor her work

the “that others were lying to him instead of him lying to himself” amuses me as Grant has a log in the Handbook that is literally just “Joey we’re fucking bankrupt holy fucking shit please respond to this for once”

are the people in the music department like. okay

I like how Joey speaks positively about his employees but every single one of them hate his guts and I’m pretty sure he hates most of theirs too

Joey’s famous 2 hour lunch break has been pared down to an hour and a half, which is slightly better but not by much

Joey: [holds still for five minutes] Joey: [starts vibrating] nevermind

Part 7, Chapter 2

hey they kept this consistent with the excerpt from the Handbook, that’s nice

well, kind of. They kept the same copy but added stuff to tie it back into the previous plot. kind of makes sense though, as they wouldn’t include that stuff without the context in a reprint

Part 7, Chapter 3

that was a bit of an oversimplification of plot structure but okay

Part 7, Chapter 4

Joey does outright say here that he doesn’t intend to die, could point to him being BATDR Bendy

[lazywriter7]

Cap-Ironman Rec Week - What-If Wednesday

It’s time to rec some Steve/Tony AUs for @cap-ironman​‘s What If Wednesday! If you loved these stories half as much as I did, please shower the authors with kudos and comments <3 

Underground by Margo_Kim:

Five years ago, Thor's Chitauri army decimated the Earth. Now what's left of humanity lives in bases under the Earth's surface, safe from the toxic atmosphere. Tony likes to think that humanity's adapted pretty well. After all, they have movie nights and dances; they're doing better than could be expected. But when he learns that the little world of safety and stability they've carved out is about to be slowly but surely destroyed, the New York Underground is left with only two options--fight or flight. Tony knows which one he wants. If only Steve weren't on the exact opposite side. Meanwhile, Natasha wants whatever option will save Clint, Pepper wants whatever option will save the base, Maria Hill wants whatever option will save everybody, and nobody's exactly sure who Loki's trying to save, but everyone's hoping it's more than just himself.

~ Apocalypse!AU. This fic reads like a movie, with all of the dramatic tension, an excellent ensemble cast, beautiful Steve/Tony moments and a breathtaking climax that’s everything you could ever want from a story like this. (With bonus phenomenal Loki moments, if that’s your kind of thing ;) )

ceaselessly into the past by shepherd:

Edge of Tomorrow/Live.Die.Repeat AU, following the movie. After earth is invaded by the Chitauri, Tony Stark is forcefully drafted into the military for a suicide mission. It ends up with him being inexplicably caught in a time loop that always seems to end with him dying horrifically. And, of course, the day was a Thursday- he had never gotten the hang of Thursdays.

~ Movie AUs/fusions are the Best Thing, especially if they’re half as well written as this one! I hadn’t watched the movie before reading the fic, and goddamn if it didn’t stun me with it’s excellent character-driven writing. Even after watching the movie, I can attest that none of it feels forced, but like Steve and Tony were meant to live, die and fall in love in this manner <3

Pulse and Beat series by sineala:

Cassino, Italy, December 1943. Special Agent Tony Stark, former Marvels adventurer, is sent to investigate a Cosmic Cube found by the Invaders -- and it's the perfect opportunity for him to rekindle his secret romance with Steve Rogers. But when Hydra attempts to steal the Cube, an inadvertent wish for help leads to the appearance of a Tony from the future of another world: Director Stark of SHIELD. This Tony is a man with a lot on his mind. He refuses to tell them anything about the future, but he seems to know much more than he should about Captain America. And something's happened that's clearly killing him inside, but he's not talking. When Director Stark's failed attempt to return home leads to the unexpected appearance of another visitor from his universe, all the lies come undone. Now there are two wars to fight, and the second one could ruin all of them.

~ If you’re thinking that no one needs to be told to read Sineala’s fics - well let me just say that this is one of my absolute favourite of their works and it hasn’t gotten nearly as much acclaim as it deserves! A fantastic canon-divergence Noir/616 crossover AU for the ages, with a sprinkling of 616 Civil War fix-it to really get you going.

strays by theappleppielifestyle:

Tony will take whatever he can get from Steve, which is pathetic, because he’s not even really friends with him.

Or, the highschool!AU where Pepper is Tony's much-needed therapist, Darcy is his parter in crime, Bruce needs to go through puberty, Clint shows up to school with bruises and Steve just wants everyone to get through this intact.

~ Highschool AUs are my secret Kryptonite - there’s just something about the emotional vulnerability of characters that age that get me sniffling. Again, no one needs to be told to read theappleppielifestyle‘s fics, but this is another one of those soft, sweet, poignant reads that deserves all of the attention in the world.

The Idiot Box by Margo_Kim:

Stephanie Rogers isn't happy to be in the 21st century, but she's even less thrilled to be on a team with Antonia Stark who seems as spoiled and self-centered as people come. She and Tony do their best to ignore each other, until their mutual insomnia causes them to bond over the new American pastime: late night television watching.

~ this author’s AU’s are just *chef’s kiss*. Featuring cis!female Steph and Tony, with some touching dynamics and laugh-out-loud moments, this is an MCU fic written pre-Avengers, which is a bit of a lovely rarity all by itself.

I’ve got you under my skin by sirona:

Five times Beijing 2008 Olympics Gold Medalist Tony Stark thinks it's going to be no more difficult a job to get ready for London 2012, than what he has just achieved. That is, of course, before Coach Fury comes to visit, and offers him a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be a part of something much bigger than himself. Swimming AU. 

~ No AU reclist is complete without a Sports!AU :D The characters here read as authentic to their canon selves, even as they’re participating in competitive sports rather than beating up bad guys - Tony’s arc in particular is really heartwarming <3

Look here, look back, look ahead by marinarusalka:

September, 1941: Returning from a mission as Iron Man, Tony Stark crash-lands in the Carpathian Mountains and is rescued by Captain America. The two heroes team up to investigate Nazi activity at a mysterious castle. But Captain America is keeping secrets that could destroy their new partnership before it has a chance to begin.

~ Some lovely, lovely IM Noir canon divergence AU <3 It also comes bundled with identity porn, and Noir verse is just such a delightful verse to soak in that you all should really go read this at once.

And finally a self-rec or two-

Even Though We Know Love’s Landscape:

But at the core, he’s the same brand of poor little rich guy that dot the shadowed corners of every charity gala, every award function. Sure, maybe it comes in a ‘genius billionaire playboy philanthropist’ package… but his mettle is common iron. A drop of sea water, a dash of air, and he’d rust right through.

She, on the other hand, is made of better stuff.

In which Tony compares people to weird things, Steph recites poetry and two dorks fall in love.

~ AU with cis!female Steve, with all the team living in the Tower and a bunch of feels, fluff and poetry thrown in for good measure :D 

Swing City:

“Of all the places you could go to on holiday, you had to pick the one where everything can possibly kill you.”

“I’m here on exchange, actually.” Steve returned primly. "And I’m pretty sure nothing can kill me in a gallery.”

“That’s the tragic bit. You’re in a gallery.” Sam’s tone was impressively flat, even for him. “You’re in Australia. Go hiking in the bush with the poisonous snakes. Surfing with the murderous jellyfish.”

Spoiler alert: Tony's in Australia too. And he's a swing dancer.

~ Is this a kind-of college!AU+Dancer!AU set in Australia, with Steve still as Cap? Yes, yes it is. I had a rollicking good time writing it, plus all of Steve’s Man Out of Time feels, so you’ll get no apologies from this quarter :D

[sanoiro]

Lucifer 5x04 - It Never Ends Well for the Chicken - Spoilers And Speculation

Warning! There is always a possibility that certain scenes might have been mixed up under their non-respective episodes.

I would appreciate if no media from my S&S posts were taken (again!). I post bts directly from the OPs never from second sources. I spend hours on this as a fan but I’m not a news site nor a source for anyone, therefore, do not take anything from this post. If you want to post some of the photos or videos you see here find the OPs do not take advantage of the hours I’ve spent on this! 

Written By: Aiyana White

Directed By: Viet Nguyen

Aiyana White has written/co-written the episodes:

4x05 - Orgy Pants At Work

5x04 - It Never Ends Well for the Chicken

5x10 - Resting Devil Face (Teleplay)

Cast: Tom Ellis as Lucifer, Lauren German as Chloe, DB Woodside as Amenadiel, Lesley-Ann Brandt as Maze, Kevin Alejandro as Dan, Scarlett Estevez as Trixie, Rachael Harris as Linda Martin and Aimee Garcia as Ella.

Season 4 Recurring Characters: None Officially Announced Guest Cast:

Emil Beheshti...Abe Gantz

Iris Braydon...Portraitist

Patrick Daniel...Paddy

Christopher Gerse...Benny

Joe Sobalo Jr....Vincenzo

Behind The Scenes

(Including the ET intwerviews)

Locations

This episode was shot in two locations the WB lot and at a mansion at Beverly Hills.

- Penthouse?

- New York Street WB Lot

-New York Street WB Lot - The ‘Garden’ Club

-Beverly Hills Mansion (Ellis + German and a lot of background actors)

This S&S is different than the rest mainly because on some level I know certain parts of the plot so here I had to decide what to do. The writers are obviously really proud about this episode and they should be as it is based on an amazing concept. At the same time do I really need to spoil a magnificent episode by writing accurately around 1/3 or 1/2 of the episode? To prove what? To achieve what? After the Part has dropped I’ll share that script page.

So early on I talked to some friends and it was decided that the verified by a script page and crew call page spoilers would not make it in the S&S. At least not the actual core of the episode. Some minor details here and there will still be here yet that is met with another problem as 5x04 sets in motion the rest of the season and if I’m correct also affects 5x09. Therefore, I do hope you do not mind if I’m vague on some parts. Finally don’t you worry when I speculate about things I will tell you upfront like I have done in the previous episodes.

As you can imagine I struggled a lot on how to explain this episode and write the S&S by what has already been spoiled from the cast, mainly in their ET interview at that time from Lauren, Ellis, DB and Aimee.

What I have to tell you first is that 5x04 moves on 3 levels. The first level is the present as a story is being told, it does not begin at random. If you remember 5x03 left us with a temporary solution and two amethyst bracelets on Dan and Lucifer. At the same time 5x05 features the title Detective Amenadiel. Lets speculate here that Lucifer is not that well so the clarity he gained in 5x03 with the show Diablo allowed him to recall of a different time that’s the second level, his past. The third level is how the episode is dressed meaning as a Noir episode that is set in the 1940s.

First, let’s explore the first level. Lucifer for some reason he feels the need to take the audience back to his past, and in order to do that there must be a present audience in his story. Someone that will make him go back and forth. I remind you that the shootings of the noir episode didn’t give any space for a lot of present time shootings so I would guess that Lucifer is at a place he feels safe perhaps his penthouse or Chloe’s house. I do not think that must be happening during therapy as we need a place that comforts him and this is a story not a therapy session the whole structure of it does not support Lucifer talking during a therapy session but to someone he trusts.

Now as you know when you tell a story you need to put everything in a perspective that your audience will understand. Us yes but also the person/s Lucifer has in front of him so the story changes and is manipulated according to us the viewers but also Lucifer’s audience.

w let’s go to the third level before the second for a very simple reason. We would expect for Lucifer to remember his past that this story to be set in Heaven, the Silver City to have angels and a pearly gate, clouds and harps but our genius writers take us somewhere else. They take us in 1940 before the US joined the Second World War. The US joined WII on December 7, 1941. The clothes the actors wear carry this late 1930s, early 1940s style where everything is bigger, there is colourful patterned fabric, no shortage of metal, there is no reason for grimness and of course, there is no war. So here is the thing as the audience you can hear the war drums echoing in the distance but this episode for its main part carries this innocence before WW2. WW2 is also relatable to the humans in Lucifer’s life, they get that people never expect a grand war and that certain behaviours are understandable.

In addition to that film noir concept for 5x04, before WW2 that genre was popular but skyrocketed in the 1940s when we had two of the most amazing Hollywood noir films of all time. By the way, do remember that Hollywood thrived due to the war as the rest of the world either had to halt filming big productions or the technology was simply not affordable yet you will find some good foreign movies but without the same exposure Hollywood gave for the simple reason that it had not been affected directly by the war, meaning the bombs and the poverty.

Now the Noir films I was talking about are The Maltese Falcon that was released in October of 1941 just two months before Pearl Harbor and Citizen Cain in May of 1941 that inspired so many great film noirs we can also mention of course High Sierra in January of 1941. All these movies are important to remember as Lucifer’s past is narrated in a very similar way but with a twist which I’ll let you know what it is when I start explaining the second level. Until I get there do remember that Lauren was watching the movie ‘Only Angels Have Wings’ (1939) which although it is not a film noir it is relatable to this episode and I wouldn’t be surprised if the writers recommended to the actors to watch it. So we gather that the film noir is not a random choice or an attempt to make this episode artistic as other shows have done but it actually deals with that atmosphere the misdealings and the unfortunate choices but also heartbreak. Well, for some that is.

The second level of this episode is that Lucifer talks about his past. If level two and level three correspond then we can claim that it was before Lucifer Fell. I do believe and support this theory as on a level it follows the Comic’s concept that Lucifer Fell around the time he met Lilith. Lilith has been confirmed for 5x04.

Now if we are in a time when Lucifer didn’t Fell what does that mean for the episode itself? Who will. appear there? Why do we have Chloe dressed as a man? Why Lauren called her character Jack? What is going on? Unfortunately for all of us I know that part so I’ll have to skip it but at the same time I’ll not disappoint you.

First of all the second and the third level are connected so they are one thing and the whole story is on some level an allegory in some places and true on others. In order to understand this better you need to be familiar with the book/movie “The Life of Pi”. For the ones who have not read/watched it it’s basically a story of a boy stranded at sea with a Tiger, a Zebra, A Hyena and a Chimpanzee only in the end to realize that none of the zoo animals the ship carried had made it to the raft but the actual story involved humans, murder, cannibalism and the madness that led to boy’s survival through a long quest of keeping up faith to nothing yet everything. The same happens in this episode more or less.

Our characters are changing and as Aimee said even her character in that episode is different. You see the only constant in this story is mainly Lucifer, most of the rest are ‘shifting’ and that’s the appropriate word to explain it. You should also go to all the leads social media and discover some more clues here and there because our leads do not do post in random. Like with my speculation with Inbar for 5x03 I support the same speculation here but from a different person.

So let’s get to the story that Lucifer attempts to narrate. We are back in a time before the big war and we see a Lucifer with lighter colours, curious and of course young. We do not know if he has Fallen but as I speculate over and over in this S&S let’s say that he has not so perhaps we will see the process of that Fall of what or who helped him think for himself.

In the comics, Lucifer after Ibrael slept with Lilith and she bore him a Nephelim son called Briadach, Lucifer and Lilith started having long conversations over why she lays with demons, why she left Adam and the matter of will comes up something that Lucifer contemplates a lot after that. As the years pass in the comics the time comes when Briadach and Maze kill Ibrael because not only he refused his son but also wanted to exile all the Lilim from the Silver City which they have built. You see Lilith was so in love with Ibrael that she gave him her children as builders for the City of Heaven.

Long story short the Angels wanted to kill Maze and Briadach to atone the sin of Ibrael’s murder but Lucifer refuses to take a side which angers Gabriel. Samuel then takes the name Lucifer and leaves the Silver City,

The chances of all that happening are slim to none of course but the concept that Lucifer and Lilith talk at some point in that episode about will and freedom means a lot. There are a lot of firsts in this episode actually that the viewers will certainly love. Also, I do not think we should approach their meeting as a romance more like a platonic romance of similar ideas and a start of how Lucifer made a stand towards divine plans.

Talking of firsts as some of fans noticed Lucifer in that episode didn’t wear his ring. The writers' room had two backstories (not from the start of the series!) for that according to Idly and apparently, they have decided which one to use so in 5x04 we will see how Lucifer got his ring but not everything is that simple or innocent. And talking about lack of innocence that is one of the reasons why the Garden is transformed to a club that bears the same name in the episode. Also perhaps that duet is actually Lucifer’s first introduction to a piano and he is a natural? Honestly no idea.

^Video Here

There is also always an alias... I told you this story is moving on 3 levels all the time. 

It was first assumed that it was Lauren but as White was the writer of 5x04, in reality, we see Ellis and Lesley Ann before their duet if that tux is anything to go about. 

From the bts we have seen that there is a case, there is always a case and there is even a police car so if I were you I would expect a body somewhere (you will probably be shocked when you see the victim) and so things will need to be investigated and unveiled. Meaning the culprit.

We have seen Lauren with a black eye as well as a cut lip and that is again normal as the story progresses yet you will not get much of the story’s zest aside from the fact that Lucifer is working with Lauren’s ‘Jake’ and that in the Garden he meets Lesley-Ann with which he has a duet. Perhaps some mommy issues from Maze can finally be addressed when Lilith makes her entrance.

^Lucifer getting in the Garden Club^

^Remember there is always a trap... There is always a chase for riches and... power. 

Now you may ask and what of the Proprietor? Well, he might be our villain and he might be someone totally unexpected. Do not get fooled by titles and do expect the unexpected.

As a final note, I’ll have to remind you this. Season 5 is a heavily supernatural based season like S4 was and before that S2. It’s basically what the Writers Room can do without being controlled by a Network and when they have the freedom to create the path they want for the characters. Season 1 was supposed to be a filler for FOX and to get a second season it was unexpected, to say the least and then in December of 2017 the news came that it had been renewed for a 3rd season at that point, the network wanted a full S2 meaning 22 episodes, 4 of which as you know were moved in S3. So S2, S4 and S5 are in the same tune and 5x04 will set the tune to synchronize with the supernatural elements of the past seasons.

Plot-wise you will notice that most of the shooting was done at night also Lucifer’s clothing lighten up here and there while the story becomes bleaker. 

^Some bts suggest that Maze is present in Lucifer’s story or at least in the present aka the first level of that episode even if she is not around that story from the beginning. 

Now early in this S&S I told you that this episode might affect Season 5 Part 1 as a whole and even 5x09 but I didn’t tell you why. The solution of 5x03 is temporary and Lucifer in 5x04 realizes that he can find a permanent one by recalling events of his past. Perhaps his audience comes to the conclusion that a solution may lie on a detail of 5x04. That leads to a quest but what frees Dan and Lucifer has other consequences and do not be surprised if in Part 2 you will see the younger version of Lucifer again that you met in 5x04. Confusing? Yes, but better than nothing I suppose at least we know that the season is well crafted.  

Unfortunately due to the circumstances under this S&S is written I’ll not answer any questions that will ask from me to clarify or further speculate details and in general what I have mentioned above. Thank you for your understanding.

PS As far as I know up to that point the Hell set was still up in the stage so we might see it again in 5x04. Only time will tell.

PS2 There are hints everywhere in every single bts above. Things that are obvious and others that you simply cannot spot until you watch the episode but trust me this will be an unforgettable experience for all Lucifans!

Although some photos seem to be the same like the ones in 5x03, which is true, it is why sometimes we do not know which episode she shoots as multiple scenes from 2-3 episodes sometimes are shot in one day due to Scarlet’s other responsibilities and under the Child Actor Act that does not allow a child to work for more than a certain number of days and hours per week. 

Bonding time I guess... 

^The same t-shirt so we shall see :P 

[introvertguide]

Casablanca (1942); AFI #3

I am very proud to present the next film on the AFI list, Casablanca (1942). It is truly one of the best examples of fine film from Hollywood's Golden Age. I was surprised to find out that the film only received 3 Oscars and none for the acting. Lead actress Ingrid Bergman was actually nominated for another film that she had made that year (For Whom the Bell Tolls), but it is was highway robbery to think that Humphrey Bogart did not get a Best Actor award for this film. On the bright side, the 3 Oscars were for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. But maybe it really isn’t a good idea to try and compare older films, but instead recognize a masterpiece for what it is. I would love to continue complimenting the movie, but first let me relay the story to you. Oh yeah. One other thing as well:

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!! WE GOT ONE OF THE GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME HERE!!! GO AND WATCH IT!!! DON’T LET ME SPOIL IT FOR YOU!!! SERIOUSLY!!!

The film starts out with stock footage and a map showing the plight of many Europeans and how they were being herded to Casablanca and looking for a way out to Lisbon and eventually to America. It is December 1941 and it is the height of the exodus in an attempt to escape Nazi invasion of France and any French colonies. In Casablanca, Morocco, there is an expatriate American that owns a bar in the city that serves both refugees and locals, French and German soldiers. Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is the American and he is known for taking no sides and only looking out for his own best interest.

It is stated on the radio that two German couriers have been killed for their letters of transit and that people in Casablanca will pay top dollar (and by that I mean anything and everything) to get those papers so that they can leave the country. A conniving thief named Ugarte (played by the great Peter Lorre) entrusts Rick to hold on to the letters. Rick allows the local corrupt police captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) to arrest the thief and Ugarte dies in jail before revealing who has the papers. Things are getting a little hot and Rick is considering leaving the country so he is very happy to have the letters. It would take a lot for him to even consider selling the letters...that is until...

The reason that Rick is so cold and cynical walks in the door and asks the piano player to play “As Time Goes By” and it becomes apparent that this women has hurt Rick and is his kryptonite. A flashback shows that the two had met and fallen in love in Paris. When the city was raided and Rick and Ilsa were supposed to leave together on a train, he only found a letter that said she could never see him again. Even worse, it turns out that the woman, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), is with her husband, the notorious Czech Resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) who is attempting to escape to Lisbon. A German major name Strasser has also arrived in Casablanca to make sure that Laszlo does not leave and ideally can be arrested or killed without making him into a martyr. 

To really exemplify how bad the situation has gotten, a couple of very short side stories show a young wife that is willing to sleep with the French captain in order to get a plane ticket for herself and her husband. At the bar, a proud French woman is drinking with a German soldier because she feels that some promiscuities might keep her safe and even get her out of Africa. Rick allows the young husband to cheat at roulette so that the wife can keep her honor and the two will have enough money to purchase a passport. Famously, the German that the promiscuous French woman is drinking with starts singing Die Wacht am Rhein and Laszlo asks the band to play La Marseillaise to drown out the German singing. Rick gives the OK, and the band plays the French nationalist song and causes a patriotic fervor, including the French woman who leaves her German partner and sings along with tears in her eyes. The German captain does not like this and tells Renault to close down the club, which he does.

Ilsa and Laszlo hear that Rick has the letters and she goes to try and get them. Rick does not want to give them up and she actually threatens to shoot him. She cannot follow through and she admits that she is still in love with Rick. It turns out that she was married before she met Rick and was under the impression that Laszlo had been killed when she was with Rick in Paris. She suddenly disappeared because she found out that he husband was alive and telling anyone where she was going would be a risk to both her and Rick. The bar owner finally melts off that icy crust. He is willing to give a letter to Laszlo and have Ilsa stay. However, Laszlo has been at a meeting that was broken up and he wants Rick to go with Ilsa to Lisbon to make sure she is safe.

Renault tries to arrest Laszlo on some fake charge that will only hold him the night, but Rick promises to set him up for a more serious crime. Rick pretends to turn on Laszlo, but he actually has used the time to arrange for Laszlo to leave on a plane that night. The German commander is informed and races over to the airport to stop everything and Renault is being held at gunpoint by Rick until Ilsa and Laszlo can leave. A final showdown occurs at the airport hanger where Rick is holding the two officers at bay while Laszlo and Ilsa leave. She is hesitant and that is when we get the famous “maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow” speech. It is beautiful and poignant, making for maybe the best couple of sentences of dialogue in American cinema. Strasser tries to warn the tower but Rick shoots and kills him. The French Captain tells his men to round up the usual subjects, not revealing who actually killed the German officer. Rick and the French captain walk away discussing what they will do next, ending the film with the famous line, “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

I am so happy to have watched this film again because it puts me in a great mood every time that I see it. Not surprisingly, the AFI has a strong affinity for this film and gave it accolades whenever possible. The film was #37 on the top 100 thrills, #1 on the top 100 passions, #4 greatest film hero for Rick Blaine, #2 song for “As Time Goes By,” 6 different lines on the top 100 movie quotes, and #32 on the top 100 cheer films. I have to be a little careful when I watch this films because it has a carryover effect and can make the films I see immediately before and after seem like garbage. Speaking of which...

I was surprised watching All the President’s Men with how close to the actual event that the movie was produced, yet Casablanca did it even closer in time and did a much better job. There are stories of soldiers that joined the military after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and saw the film before leaving to take part in Project Torch, which was the Allied mission to retake North Africa including Casablanca. The IMDB trivia mentions that some of the actors that played the extra Nazi officers were German Jews that escaped to America. The actress that played the French woman who was cavorting with the German officers is shown crying during the famous French National Anthem scene...that wasn’t scripted. She was a French citizen who had family fighting against the Germans back home and she was upset. The German singing was supposed to be a Nazi rally song, but the film producers could not acquire the rights without having to deal directly with Nazi representatives and possibly pay royalties to the group. That sure as hell wasn’t happening so they picked a royalty free German song.

There were a lot of Americans in the US at the time that did not think that the Nazis were all that bad and were more focused on the clear and present danger of Japan. There were many people that were confused why the US was fighting in Africa when Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan. At some level, this film served as a form of propaganda to help drum up support for the war in Europe and Africa. It worked well. The beginning intro to the film that explained the volatile situation in North Africa was news to many moviegoers at the time (it kind of was for me as well). 

I have spent the week praising this film, but I do have to point out a couple of egregious flaws with the special effects. There is a scene of Rick and Ilsa back in Paris and, since the country was occupied, there was no way lo film on location or even get any up-to-date establishing shots. Therefore, all they had was old background roll for driving and at a café, so that is what they two characters did in France: took a terrible looking car ride and sat at a café. It looks pretty terrible, but luckily it does not last and accounts for a very short portion of the film. They also couldn’t get permission to fly planes so low over Hollywood lots so they just paper used cutouts layered over the film to show the planes taking off and landing at the airstrip in Casablanca. It is blatant, but the movie is so old and is otherwise so perfect that it is more charming to me than anything else. 

So does this movie belong on the AFI top 100 as #3? Sure does. This is one of the quintessential American movies that should be seen. There was some discussion amongst my group of whether the film was too high because of films like Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz being lower, but there was no argument that it is Top 5 as far as greatest American films. Do I recommend it? Of course! It is a time capsule of the 40s, it is an excellent story, it has quotes that are excepted as part of American English vernacular, and it stars two of the biggest actors in all of Hollywood cinema history. Please go and watch it. And tell me what you thought, because I have not had anybody who was sorry that they took the time for a viewing. You will thank me later.

[yayoitree-blog]

Have we been fooled by what we saw? A.K.A. An interpretation of the Cap's Ending in Endgame

Warning: I am a stucky/ironspider fan so my point of view may not be completely unbiased. If you don't like it, don't read it. I will try my best to keep this article free from any slash context but you have been warned. Oh and yes English is not my first language so I could be wrong with some terms.

Also since the Endgame DVD isn't out yet, all the scripts of Endgame contained herein are based on my memory only.

AND

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 1. Introduction

Cap’s ending hinted that he went back to the past to stay there with Peggy there (and apparently not caring about the life or death of his other friends like Bucky and Howard). This is what many Cap fans have problems with. Fans argue that the ending destroyed the arc of Cap’s entire character.

I physically hate this ending, trust me, I really do. At first, I cried and cursed and wished to hurt someone (by someone I mean any person who works for Marvel or Disney). Cap’s ending, at least apparently, is ridiculous, nonsense, illogical, awkward, extremely OOC and plainly inconsistent with the time traveling principal applied to the entire movie. However, the more angry I was with the ending, the more it makes me think: how could it be possible for Marvel to make an ending which contained multiple, ridiculous plot holes and intentionally butcher the character, i.e. Captain America, which they have worked to build up since 1941? Other than the reason that the makers of the film are unbelievably retarded (please don't disappoint me for having some faith in your intelligence), I realize that maybe the plot holes and OOC in the ending are left there intentionally or because every Disney movie must end up with a man and a woman kissing and dancing together, so the real Marvel fans will have the fun to dig out the true ending hidden behind (especially when the Russo brothers are known for teasing fans by giving misleading scenes).

When this hit me, I stop to look at the entire time traveling theory and details in the movie, then I come to a conclusion that, there is NO fxxking way that Cap had gone back in time and married Peggy.

 2. Going back in time and its impact on the present

There are so many movies about time traveling and what the impact of going back in time and changing things in the past has on the present (or future) may be. Three theories are mainly used in the movie industry:

(a) Time Paradox/Final Destination: under this theory, you cannot change the present by changing the past no matter what you do. Even if someone goes back in time and tries to make a change, they are going to fail, no matter what. This is also the argument of Grandfather paradox, which states that you cannot go back in time and kill your own ancestor, no matter what. So when this theory is applied to a movie, it's always like this, someone goes back to the past and try to change something, however, he keeps on failing to complete the act or even if he completes the act, some new events occur and so the outcome remains unchanged (like a force of time that can fix itself. I will refer it as the "Time Band-aid"). 

We can see this theory apply in the movies like Terminator (Skynet tries to kill Sarah and John Connor in the past, but failed no matter what. Sarah and John tried to prevent the creation of Skynet, they even destroyed the chips but turned out the Skynet was still developed by other means). I also want to mention Final Destination although the movies are not related to time travel. However, it demonstrates a good example of how the time (or destiny) will create new events to make sure that the outcome remains unchanged. So basically, under this theory, you may go back in time and make small and minor changes, but you cannot change the final outcome no matter what. It's either you will fail miserably or the Time Band-aid will create new events to lead to the final outcome.

(b) Butterfly Effect: under this theory, you can go back in time and change the past but even if you unintentionally makes tiny little change, it will eventually cause the entire present to change. Most importantly, the effect of any change in the past is totally unpredictable. You cannot guarantee you will get the outcome you want even if you change specific events in the past. This theory can be easily observed in the movie Butterfly Effect, so I don't think I need to explain it as much.

(c) Parallel Universe: some people think this theory is also part of the butterfly effect theory, but I distinguish these two here. So under this theory, you may change the present by changing the past (or fulfilling a specific condition in the past), however, when you make said change (or fulfill a specific condition), a parallel universe will be created. From then on, all the subsequent events after the change or the fulfillment of a condition will occur in the alternative universe. The time and events in the original universe and in the parallel universe will be independent and unaffected from each other. However, all the events are still to come in the original universe will remain unchanged (changes will only occur in the new parallel universe).

 3. The theory used in Endgame

Dr. Banner had stated in the movie that “ ...time doesn’t work that way. Change in the past doesn’t change the future... I don’t know why everyone believes that but that isn’t the truth. Think about it. If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future. And your former present, becomes the past! Which can not be change by your new future!”

 And there is this conversation between Dr. Banner and Ancient One:

Ancient One: If I give up the time stone to help your reality, I’m dooming my own.

Bruce: With all due respect, uh, I’m not sure the science really supports that.

Ancient One: The infinity stones create what you experience as the flow of time. Remove one of the stones, and that flow splits. Now this may benefit your reality, but my new one, not so much. In this new branch reality, without our chief weapon against the force of darkness, our world will be overrun. Millions will suffer.

So one thing is clear from Dr. Banner’s speech which is you cannot change the past to change your present or future. This is consistent with the multiple journeys through time that are done in the movie: they went to the past and made some changes, but nothing had been altered in the present. So we can pretty much rule out the butterfly effect theory in this movie. Now we only have the Time Paradox Theory and Parallel Universe Theory.

It was also shown in the movie that, if you remove the infinity stones from the current timeline, it will create a parallel universe. However, the movie does not show that if you change the past, there will be a parallel universe. This is a very important point to note because if removing the infinity stones is the only condition needed in order to create a parallel universe, that means even the movie has some scenes that take place in a parallel universe (which was created after the removal of the infinity stones,) it doesn’t necessarily mean the Time Paradox Theory doesn’t apply. It also doesn’t mean that if Cap goes back to the past and does certain things (except for removing the infinity stones,) he will create a parallel universe.

From the movie, we never get the hint or scene that changing the past (other than removing the infinity stones) will create a parallel universe. In fact, all the scenes related to the concept of parallel universe, including Nebula killing her past self and killing Thanos of 2014, all occurred after the removal of the infinity stones. So it is still uncertain as to whether or not changing something in the past will create a parallel universe.

 (A) Time Paradox Theory

If Endgame in fact uses this theory, that means one thing, nobody can change the past no matter what. Think about The Terminator and Final Destination, you either cannot possibly complete the act, resulting a change, or you may succeed once (or even twice) but eventually the result will be the same. This theory is consistent with the part when Tony and Thor cannot save their respective parents. I don’t want to go into details as how much these events affect the two superheroes, but if you are a Marvel fans you should know that if there is even the slightest chance to save their parents’ lives, those two will not hesitate for a second to do so and they don’t mind giving up everything they have to get their parents back. However, because the past cannot be changed no matter what, Tony and Thor had to say goodbye to their parents, and that basically meant to let and watch their parents die again respectively. So this goes to our conclusion, if the Time Paradox Theory does apply here, how the hell could Cap go back to the past and get married to Peggy Carter? There is absolutely no fxxking way! It’s physically logically and realistically impossible. If this theory is in fact true, that means Cap went back to the past, had a dance with Peggy, then he left and let Peggy live her life. He couldn’t save Bucky and Howard because the past cannot be changed, not because he deliberately chose not to save them. He then lived an ordinary life until 2024 and at the end he met Sam to pass the shield (consistent with what he told Sam that he wanted to try some of that life Tony was telling him to get). I also heard about a popular theory that Cap is actually the husband of Peggy who never named or showed up in the movie. Cap just started live incognito and nobody actually found out that Peggy’s husband was Captain America, this way Steggy will be possible without changing the past. I don’t know how they get this idea from but this is straight up impossible too. I don’t even want to get into Cap’s personality which would prevent him from doing something like this. In fact, Peggy’s husband actually passed away before Captain America 2 which took place in 2012. So if Steve was Peggy’s husband, he wouldn’t live until 2024 to pass the shield to Sam. And are they just going to pretend Agent Carter (which, btw also took place in earth 199999) doesn’t exist?? Most importantly, I don’t think Peggy would even go along with this plan (shrug.) 

 (B) Parallel Universe Theory

As discussed above, under this theory, a parallel universe will be created after you made a change in the past. This is by far the most convenient explanation to.... almost everything in the Marvel universe. See, every time Marvel gets plot holes or something they cannot explain by logic or reasoning, they will simply say it is a parallel universe, so it’s not necessarily consistent with the earlier plots.

If this theory is true, that means Cap went back to the past, had a dance with Peggy (and maybe even got married because now he can change anything he wants), then he may also go to save Bucky as well as other people. He then lived an ordinary life until he got his hand on the time-machine then he traveled back to his original universe at the year of 2023 to give the shield to Sam. I personally think this theory, although convenient, doesn’t seem to apply to Cap’s time traveling experience at the end of the movie. There are a lot of bugs and logical errors in this theory if we think closely: (1) If the old Cap was indeed from another parallel universe, that means he was teleported here by using one of the Ant-man’s machines. Is this is the case then why is he wearing his ordinary clothes??

(2) From the movie, we can only perceive that the time machine only allows you to go back to a time in your own universe. As a matter of fact, during the multiple time-travelling occurrences earlier in the movie, they all went back to the past of their original timeline instead of some random parallel universe. So how the hell did the old Cap travel back to the timeline of his original universe instead of the 2023 in his new parallel universe??

(3) Why wouldn’t Tony and Thor saved their parents then? If saving their parents means to create a parallel universe where their parents can live their happily, I don’t see there’s anything holding them back.

(4) Don’t forget that the Avengers fought Thanos against the odd of 1 out 14,000,605 (0.00000714%). It could even be said that the final victory was in fact a miracle. If Cap indeed started a new live in a parallel universe, how could he make sure that the Avengers will win against Thanos in this universe?? He had changed so many things in this universe. He can’t even guarantee that the same avengers will appear when Thanos come! Is he just going to not care about half of lives in the universe being wiped out by Thanos in this universe??

So I don’t really buy the Parallel Universe Theory unless Marvel can explain the above bugs with reasons. I don’t think they will or can, but I am gonna give them the benefit of doubt. Let’s say they actually explain how the Parallel Universe Theory applies to Cap’s ending perfectly, it still doesn’t avoid the butchering of Cap’s character:

(1) Peggy moved on after Cap’s death. She got married and had two kids. Her life without Cap was good. When she first met Cap in Captain America 2, she actually told Cap that she had lived a life and her only regret was that Cap didn’t get to live in his. So Cap knows that this woman was happy with her life and she got no other regret in her life (she didn’t even regret not marrying him for crying out loud!). So why would he step in and ruin everything for Peggy? How is he so confident that he will do better than Danielle? I have only heard about people going back to the past to mend a mistake or to save a life, I have never heard about a person gong back to time to wreck a home, let along that person being the symbol of righteous and justice.

(2) So Cap actually made out with his own niece?

(3) If this is indeed a parallel universe, there will be another Cap in this universe. How are they going to solve this problem other than studying Kama Sutra? Is he just gonna let his alternative self freeze in the ice so he can get Peggy all by himself?? Wow, Cap, I  thought you were selfish, but I didn’t know you would go so far as let your alternative self suffer. See? Marrying Peggy, even in the parallel universe, is illogical, awkward and ridiculous. I am not even going to argue about whether Cap deserves to retire, whether he deserves to be with the woman he loves. This is just plainly wrong if anyone look at this situation with sense!

 4. The real ending of Cap

I just spent three hours typing the above context and I am not trying to tell you why I have problem with the Cap’s ending, rather I am trying to tell you that the Cap’s ending, hinting Cap marrying Peggy could indeed be a fake ending. It could be a fake ending not because I don’t like it, but because it is just impossible and unachievable (if we are using the Time Paradox Theory) or illogical and immoral (if we are using the Parallel Universe Theory and if Marvel can actually explains the bugs therein). Marvel cannot possibly make Cap marry Peggy without creating a huge logical plot hole in the movie or without butchering Cap’s character entirely.

There is also another hint in the movie that Cap didn’t get married to Peggy. During the end, Sam asked Cap if he wanted to talk about the lady. Cap actually replied “I don’t think I will”. Cap’s response is indeed very strange if he married Peggy. I think everyone in America knows the history between him and Peggy. What’s there to hide? Especially Sam is the first and best friend of Cap he met in the modern time. Sam always always went all the way Cap. Why would Cap try to hide the name of his wife in front of Sam? It is very possible that Cap wears the ring to remember Peggy, the lost love he couldn’t have. So he didn’t refuse to answer Sam’s question, rather, because he didn’t get anyone to talk about. Also, I have been following the interviews of the directors and writers of Endgame after it was on theatre. From what I learned so far, none of the director or writer of Endgame ever confirmed that Cap and Peggy were married. They did however, confirm the dance they had. So at least I am quite satisfied with my theory that Cap’s ending is not him marrying Peggy and staying in the past for good.

The movie didn’t actually show what Cap did in the past so we might never know. There are too many possibilities. However, none of the possibilities could involve marrying Peggy for all the reasons I just explained above. I am totally down with the idea that Cap went back to the past and just stayed there to live an ordinary life. Why? Because it is the idea consistent with the previous Captain America movies!  

Cap is always a person out of his time. He didn’t fit in to the modern time and he always misses the time in the past. We can see these in all the previous movies: he plays music in the old days, Peggy told him that her only regret was he didn’t get to live his own life, the world has changed to much for him to cope with, he never liked the politics the authority they made him go through, etc. So he wanted to go back to the past and actually live his life as an ordinary person.

I don’t think this is a perfect ending for Cap either but at least this has been built up through the entire Captain America series (and Chris Evans is leaving the franchise so you have to find a way out for Cap without killing him off because if you killed him too it will make Ironman’s death less impressive). Further, even if he chose this path, it does not butcher the arc of his character: he didn’t save others because he either cannot possibly do so (Time Paradox Theory again) or he didn’t want to risk anything to affect the victory they fought so hard against Thanos.

 5. Conclusion

I think I have gotten down all my arguments of what I think the Cap’s ending is. Thank you very much for taking your time to read this. Even if you don’t agree with me, I am still thankful.

Please feel free to re-tweet, re-post, or quote this article or any part of it, wherever you like, as long as you credit me as the author.

Special thanks to Becca (AO3 ID: A_R_Alistair) who beta this article for me, Shililiuguang (lofter ID: 十里流光) who helped me to recite the scripts of Endgame and Pipipipidan (lofter ID: 皮皮皮皮蛋) who helped me to make the pictures (they are amazing!). If you would like to re-tweet, re-post or reuse the pictures, please credit her as well.

Please feel free to leave me a message if you would like to discuss the Cap's ending or want to correct me for anything. I am opened to suggestion and would be grateful if you could tell me what you think about this article as well.

So until next time.

xoxo

[mariikado]

Good Omens 2 and mistaken identity. Part 2.

And don't show this to Neil! And don't ask him about it!

Carefully! There may be spoilers here.

Part 1.

If you've mastered the first part, here's the second.

Aziraphale returns from Edinburgh, and the same Crowley who caused the downpour carries his wilted flowers out of the bookshop. I still dare to suggest that Crowley here is actually Furfur. I also have questions for Aziraphale himself. The history of 1941 set the heroes in their own way, and this is how they look today. So who exactly is holding a meeting where everyone is acting a little strange?

Before the ball, in Nina's coffee shop, you can hear Queen "I'm Going Slightly Mad", and Nina herself notices that she is going crazy. And judging by the photo, the script for this series was written by Jane Austen.

I have already ventured to suggest that Shax is Jane Austen. But I also dared to guess that Shax is Gabriel. What kind of meeting is this and what is really going on there?

We will find out this in season 3, now we can only guess. Either way, Jim looks divine, as divine as can be. Could this be a messianic holiday? War between heaven and hell? Maybe Shax's arrival is an attempt to return the bookstore to its real owner? I have many options, this is “The Ball”.

And before the ball there was also an interesting dialogue.

This is a game with the meaning of a word. If this Crowley is actually Furfur, Furfur could also be Azazel, then who is Gabriel/Jim?

Crowley is in love with him and at the same time afraid of his punishment. Could this be a clue for us? If he is afraid of punishment, then Gabriel/Jim is Raphael who punished Azazel. But when it comes to falling in love, it's a question. It all depends on who conquered Furfur: Crowley or Aziraphale? And this could be another case of mistaken identity. We don't know what Jim really looks like, and we don't know what kind of soul sits inside this character.

I want to start with the secret celestial files. Watch Metatron move from one place to another. But what if Metatron was always in the same place? Or rather, what if Gabriel had stayed where he was? Perhaps Metatron was not present during this conversation?

There is no God in the second season either. Where is God? Where is Jesus? Did you find them? I think I've found them. Watch attentively. They seem to exist, but they don't seem to exist.

So, I come to the conclusion that it was not Metatron who brought the coffee in episode 6. I don't know where Metatron is, but the one who came with the coffee is the shadowy figure in this story.

What if Gabriel really was sent to Hell and then came back to take revenge and take over Heaven? But here’s another question: who instead of Gabriel himself? After all, someone left heaven with a box and headed straight to the bookstore. Look here.

Hell of a poster with Gabriel. There, at the very bottom, in small print, there are distinctive features that you need to pay attention to. Bee wear, huh? So who is actually depicted on the poster? And I won't even talk about the fact that he has the strength of God.

Who actually walked into a bookstore with a box of something that could help them avoid a terrible fate (Queen "You're My Best Friend" was playing in the coffee shop)? Who came to the bookstore because it was necessary? Who confessed their love to Aziraphale right in the first episode?

But here another question arises: to whom did Jim confess his love?

Look how he stretches out his arms. He thinks he's doing everything right, he doesn't understand what's wrong. Apparently he was also a little mistaken in defining the character. Who did you confess your love to, Jim? This is also an interesting question.

Think about Jim reading the first line of Good Omens, saying he likes it, and getting very thoughtful, as if he's remembering something. It’s as if he remembers this very beginning, that very nice day.

And I really think it's Crowley, but there's a problem there too. What if in the scene with Job it was not Crowley, but Furfur. As a result, the characters change again. How many times can this happen? Three? And the last time will be without galoshes (read special spoilers).

Also pay attention to this. Gabriel gains memories, looks at everyone around him, recognizes everyone, but Gabriel does not notice Crowley at all. Would it be a big paradox if Gabriel noticed Crowley? Either way, whoever Crowley and Gabriel actually are at the end of episode six, I think they're the same character.

I also have Nina listening to Queen in her coffee shop, Maggie crying at the mention of "Everyday", Beelzebub having a crush on Gabriel/Jim, and Muriel acting like Aziraphale (Both are great at drawing).

And also these lamps.

Please note that in the second season, time may have been mixed up and the same characters, collected from different points in time, may have ended up in the same place at the same time. Play with them, it's very exciting. And with all this, if Aziraphale and Crowley were not themselves to begin with (as, for example, at the end of the first season), then the matter becomes even more interesting.

Look for evidence in Neil's special spoilers and Prime posts. I'm sure they are there. Collect them all and analyze them. And also think about the fact that all the parallels may not be parallels, but one straight line.

[toastmaster20-blog]

Essay 3: Jeepers Creepers

I must admit, that finding the right horror film to dive deeper into was a challenge. Just what type of horror film would I choose? Slasher, monster, physiological, and demonic were only some of the many options that we were given, yet I had to choose something that stood out and most likely wasn’t taken by others in the class. I’m sure some people chose or even thought about choosing Stephen King’s IT since the remake just recently hit the big screen again. I was unaffected by this film since I did not see the original IT until I was in my twenties. Others might have chosen the standard horror films like Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Hellraiser so it was obvious that I choose something not very popular these days. However, due to the advancement in technology and the ability to watch and read about their favorite horror story or villain with the click of a button, I decided to revisit the horrifying and menacing film by Victor Slava’s 2001 film, Jeepers Creepers.

           Technically, the film is labeled as a Mystery/Thriller movie, but I can’t deny that it scared the bejesus out of me as an eleven-year-old kid being introduced to the horror genre. It was at this time in my life where I was finally given permission to watch rated “R” horror flicks by my parents. Being the first child, my parents were extremely over-protective of what the outside world had to show me in terms of horror. I can recall a moment when I was about four and dared to sneak under my parents’ bed just to watch the movie Jurassic Park (1993). This was also not a pure horror film, yet it scared me just the same. They eventually caught me when I gasped at the site of a Tyrannosaurus-Rex munching on a completely surprised character during the film. This would lead to them greatly restricting what I would watch, especially when it came to gore and scary movies. Aside from that tangent, the year 2001 would be the year I was finally able to watch horror films and Jeepers Creepers (2001) just happened to be the first one. Since then, I have seen the sequel and will watch the third installment once finals are finished. But what exactly drew me to these films in the first place and what anxieties could be lurking within this terrifying flick? I’ll be examining the first two films since they both contain minute details about the origins of the creature and what makes him so hideously unsettling.

           In the first installment of the series, the “Creeper” as he is called, makes his first appearance behind the wheel of an old rusty 1941 Chevy COE used to haul barrels of hay. Instead, the Creeper used it to haul the bodies of his victims. The Creeper eventually becomes aggressive while driving behind siblings Trish and Darry Jenner played by Gina Phillips and Justin Long. Thinking it’s just an aggressive driver, Darry waves the truck to pass him, but not until the truck driver toys with them a little before passing them. This is when Darry notices the license plate on the truck reading, “BEATNGU.” He reads it out loud as “beating you,” however the plates would later be examined into other words which we’ll get to later. We never actually get to see him until he is seen dumping a body bag (with body inside) down a large drain pipe under an abandoned church on the side of the road. He’s not clearly made out but is shown to have a large wide-brimmed Stetson, and tattered trousers to pass for human. Key phrase there, “pass for human.” Later at a gas station, Trish and Darry see the truck drive by away from the church. This gives the siblings a chance to head back to the church and look deeper into what they just witnessed. They eventually reached the abandoned church and while Trish stayed topside to be lookout, Darry made his way through the pipe which lead to a basement with the body bag laying in the middle of the room. Darry later realizes the walls are made from the skin of hundreds of human victims and both him and Trish frantically drive away.

           Eventually the Creeper makes his way back to his basement and realizes it had been tampered with by someone. This is where the chase for the siblings begins with several other people becoming eventual victims for the Creeper. During one scene as Trish and Darry are escorted by police back to the church, the Creeper manages to wind up on top of the police car and decapitates the driver with a medieval axe after throwing the other officer out the window. As Darry and Trish watch in horror, the Creeper begins whistling the song Jeepers Creepers as he finds the decapitated officers head and rips out the officer’s tongue with his teeth. Up until this point, the audience only knows that this guy is seriously messed up after killing both officers, having dead bodies decorate his walls, and having some major road rage issues. However, we finally realize what type of creature this thing is. Like the IT (1990,2017) movie’s the Creeper feeds on those who wreak of fear. He smells your fear through a third nostril located on the center of the nose. In addition to this freakish abnormality, the Creeper also carries a set of needle-like teeth, long, curly white hair and spawns two gigantic bat-looking wings which explains how he ended up on top of the police car. His body, though covered up mostly throughout the first film is covered in dark green/gray scales. His most shocking trait is when his time to feast has ended and he sprouts webbed, insect-like appendages from the back of his neck as a threat display. 

My first thought towards what he could be was that of a gargoyle, but a more analysis throughout the years determined that he is some sort of demonic entity. This entity has provided some sort of background into his origin. Every film states that “every 23rd Spring for 23 days it eats,” signifying the Creeper awakens from his slumber to feed and replenish his body every 23 years, like the new origins of Pennywise the Clown in IT (2017). Wait…how does he replenish his body you might ask. In the first two films, we know that the Creeper needs to feed on humans, but a frightening twist is revealed at the end of the first film and throughout the second. In order to replenish his body in case of decay or injury, the Creeper first eats/swallows the selected body part, removes the old one and somehow allows the new one to become a part of him. We see this at the end of the first film as we hear Justin Long’s character scream in agony then (SPOILER ALERT), he is seen with two holes in his head where his eyes used to be only to see the Creeper peeping through one of the holes with the eyes of Long’s as his own. I believe this is what frightened me the most. It’s not just that he’s killing you or eating you, but that he eats then absorbs whatever body part he needs from you. This creates a new outlook on that license plate discussed earlier. The plates were not presenting the words, “beating you,” but instead, “be eating you.” Nope, nope, nope! I give this creature a big middle finger in every sense of the gesture.

My first conclusion as to why this would strike fear into me and how it parallels our own world was that of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, but the movie was released only ten days before the attacks. This lead me to believe that the public had not seen this kind of horror since the novel of Stephen King’s IT (1986) with some different aspects and new ideas. We were so used to slasher films in the 90’s that the thought of a demonic humanoid eating you was kind of a relief or terror depending on how you viewed the film. At first the Creeper toys with you, maybe he’ll kill you or just wave you off since you don’t have something he wants. If you do, then there’s no stopping the Creeper’s hunger for you. In the second film, we see the creature picking and choosing who he likes out of a group of high school kids on the bus. The scene is both enticing and beyond terrifying at the same time as the Creeper creates a “move out of the way” gesture to the kids he doesn’t like, but when he does like someone, he winks, smells, licks the window, and even has his eyes roll to the back of his head signifying that the person he’s focused on is undoubtedly subject for consuming. The real terror of this creature comes from the fact that he doesn’t just immediately kill you or devour you, but that he creates stressful situations and brings out the fear in you so that it makes the meal that much sweeter. He observes what you will do and if you are someone who can push through and fight back or if your fear will get the better of you so that he can focus on you over others who are just as scared as you. If that doesn’t make you want to get up out of the theater or leave the room, then you might just be as twisted as this thing. Another factor that I believe was necessary in describing how this thing is so unsettling, is how in the first two films, there is at least one scene where there is a light behind the Creeper as his menacing dark figure blocks the light and prevents you from seeing what he is. The fear of being consumed for your fear is what makes this demonic creature truly frightening and remains the scariest film I have ever seen. While it may not have the same affect as it used to, no other film has created that same level of fear that I had nearly two decades earlier.  

     “Creeper.” Jeepers Creepers Wiki, jeeperscreepers.wikia.com/wiki/Creeper.

 Millican, Joashua. “Here's What We Know So Far about the Origins of ‘The Creeper.’” Horror Freak News, 17 June 2017, horrorfreaknews.com/heres-know-far-origins-creeper.

[itsworn]

Is This The Most Powerful 1967 Chevy C10?

The final months of any classic truck project can feel like forever. The work is practically done, but not completely done. Rod Parsons was especially eager to get his truck finished. His girlfriend, Laura Donat, was having a blast with her deep blue 1941 Willys pickup, making the rounds of the 2016 show circuit and bringing home some nice awards, including a Street Rodder Top 100 win and a finalist pick for Goodguys Truck of the Year-Early. Meanwhile, Rod’s 1967 Chevy C10—two years in the works—was still in the shop, inches away from completion.

Rod has built and owned classic cars and trucks his whole life, from street rods to muscle cars and custom trucks. From Laura’s Willys to his very rare 1969 Z/28 Camaro that got some local notice when Reggie Jackson came to Ripley, West Virginia, to buy it. For all the impressive rides he’s owned, he says he always wanted to build “the right one.”

The “right one” turned up at The Project Shop owned by Greg Killen. Rod had taken his 1967 Corvette to Greg for paint when he noticed a 1967 C10 there. He ended up buying the neglected Chevy and teamed up with Greg to build it into the show truck you see here.

The truck was just a cab and a chassis when Rod bought it. The truck will not always be a show vehicle; Rod plans to go autocross racing eventually, so the stock chassis was discarded for a brand-new setup from No Limit Engineering. In addition to an upgraded performance frame, the chassis includes front and rear Speedway NASCAR-style anti-sway bars and RideTech coilover shocks. The Moser 9-inch rearend features 3.70:1 gears and a Wavetrac torque biasing differential, located by a four-link and Panhard bar setup. Steering the C10 is handled by a Flaming River Road Race power rack-and-pinion.

The brakes are Wilwood 14-inch drilled and slotted discs with six-piston calipers for the front pair and four-pistons grabbing the rear rotors. Those fat Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, sized 295/40-20 in front and 335/40-20 in the rear, leave a sizable footprint. The rubber rolls on 20-inch B-Forged wheels, with customized center caps bearing the ZL1 C10 logo.

That logo is a symbol of Rod’s overall theme for the truck. In 2014, he ordered an LSA crate engine from GM—the same engine Chevy was packing into the Camaro ZL1. That was the spark that got the gears turning in his imagination. What if his hot rod pickup blended everything cool about a 1967 Chevy C10 with everything cool about a Camaro ZL1? That would be a lot of cool. Greg Killen was onboard with the concept, and the ZL1 C10 was in progress.

From the front, the most attention-getting performance modification has to be the ZL1 hood—actually an original C10 steel hood with a functional carbon-fiber 2014 ZL1 scoop grafted into the center. Below that, a honeycomb grille matches the fresh air intake in the bumper above a chin spoiler for increased downforce. The mirrors were borrowed from a 2014 Mustang GT, and the door handles from a 2014 Chevy Equinox. Emblems and other trim pieces were provided by RMI. At the back, a diffuser (another downforce component) was built into the custom roll pan. Rebuilt taillights were equipped with oversized LED lenses. Greg Killen and Ralph Whiselhunt, now part of the build team, raised the bed floor 4 inches. Wheeltubs were widened 2 1/2 inches for the fat rear tires, and an adjustable spoiler built by RMI was added to the tailgate.

When it was time for paint, Greg Killen sprayed the ZL1 C10 with PPG products. “What color?” is the question Rod gets asked the most. It’s Desert Khaki, which was exclusive to Subaru Crosstreks until now.

Chevy’s supercharged 6.2L LSA engine made the fifth-generation Camaro ZL1 the most powerful production Camaro ever built to that time—and puts Rod’s pickup on the short list of most powerful C10s. Chevrolet’s horsepower rating for the crate engine is 556 hp. Rod and Greg designed some dressup items to distinguish the engine, and commissioned C. Cook Enterprises to build the custom coil covers that top the high-flow heads and the blower hat atop the 1.9L supercharger. Fresh air from the ZL1 scoop moves through a K&N filter system on its way to the blower. Exhaust passes through Hedman headers into 3-inch pipes and through MagnaFlow mufflers before exiting via a custom exhaust bezel built by RMI. A C&R Racing radiator and dual SPAL fans make sure things stay cool inside the LSA. W.D. Moore took care of the wiring, making sure the juice goes where it needs to, efficiently and invisibly. A GM crate 4L85-E transmission sends torque to the Moser 9-inch by way of a Dynotech Engineering Services aluminum driveshaft.

Inside the cab, the subdued Desert Khaki paint hits a blast of bright red leather, installed by Steve Holcomb at Pro Auto Custom Interiors. The modern bucket seats are from a 2009 Pontiac G8 and feature gray perforated leather inserts with grommets.

Greg Killen re-angled the stock dash, bringing the bottom forward 2 inches for a better view of the Classic Instruments Auto Cross gauges. Billet dash panels are from Summit Racing. The Flaming River Keyless Ignition System fires the engine at the push of a dash-mounted billet button. The center of the dash houses controls for the Vintage Air A/C along with the Kenwood LCD screen for the XM radio, GPS, and backup camera. Lokar Performance Products supplied the pedals and shifter handle. The Billet Specialties Draft steering wheel combines an anodized finish and red leather, with a horn button from RMI featuring another sample of the ZL1/C10 logo.

When the ZL1 C10 was finished in October, the 2016 show season was almost over, but not entirely. At the truck’s first outing at the Lone Star Nationals, Rod won two prizes, including Finalist for Goodguys Truck of the Year-Late. Before the end of the year, he’d collected several more wins, notably a Chevy SEMA Design Award at the SEMA Show. This year, he is showing the truck at ISCA shows, but the best contests lie ahead, when Rod’s 1967 C10 with the heart of a ZL1 competes against the cones and the clock in Autocross competition.

1967 Chevy C10 Rod Parsons

CHASSIS Frame: No Limit Engineering Rearend / Ratio: Moser 9-inch with Wavetrac torque biasing differential / 3.70:1 Rear Suspension: No Limit Engineering four-link, RideTech coilovers, Speedway NASCAR-style adjustable antisway bars, Panhard bar Rear Brakes: Wilwood 14-inch disc brakes and four-piston calipers Front Suspension: No Limit Engineering tubular control arms, RideTech coilovers, Speedway NASCAR-style adjustable antisway bars Front Brakes: Wilwood 14-inch disc brakes and six-piston calipers Steering: Flaming River Road Race rack-and-pinion Front Wheels: B-Forged 530 three-piece wheels with customized center caps 20×10 Rear Wheels: B-Forged 530 three-piece wheels with customized center caps 20×12 Front Tires: Michelin Pilot Super Sport 295/40R20 Rear Tires: Michelin Pilot Super Sport 335/40R20

DRIVETRAIN Engine: Chevrolet Performance 6.2L LSA crate engine, relocated 4 inches back Heads: stock Supercharger: 1.9-liter Blower Hat: C. Cook Enterprises Coil Covers: C. Cook Enterprises Air Cleaner: K&N Headers: Hedman Hedders Exhaust / Mufflers: custom stainless 3-inch exhaust / MagnaFlow Radiator: C&R Racing Fans: SPAL dual electric fans Ignition: Flaming River keyless ignition Estimated horsepower: 556 Transmission: Chevrolet Performance 4L85-E Driveshaft: Dynotech Engineering Services

BODY Style: 1967 Chevrolet C10 shortbed Modifications: Reshaped firewall, filled cowl, raised bed floor, widened wheeltubs, bed floor fasteners replaced by welds, relocated tailgate handle, bear claw tailgate latches, tailgate adjustable spoiler Hood: Stock with 2014 ZL1functional carbon-fiber scoop, Summit Racing Equipment latches Grille: Honeycomb insert Headlights / Taillights: Truck-Lite / Custom-built taillights with oversized LED lenses Front Bumper: Narrowed, fresh air intake, chin spoiler Rear Bumper: Custom roll pan with diffuser Mirrors: 2014 Mustang GT Door Handles: 2014 Chevy Equinox Glass: Flush-mounted windshield and rear window, one-piece side glass Fasteners: Totally Stainless 12-point aerospace-type Body Prep and Paint: Greg Killen Paint: Subaru Desert Khaki, PPG Machined Parts: Emblems and trim pieces by RMI

INTERIOR Dashboard: Modified by Greg Killen, Summit Racing billet panels Gauges: Classic Instruments Auto Cross series Steering Wheel: Billet Specialties Draft, custom-machined horn button from RMI Steering Column: ididit tilt Seats: 2009 Pontiac G8, reupholstered Upholstery: Steve Holcomb, Pro Auto Custom Interiors Material / Color: Leather / Red with gray inserts Carpet / Color: Daytona weave / Red Pedals: Lokar Performance Products Shifter: Lokar handle, RMI machined plate Sound System / Accessories: Kenwood, XM radio / GPS, backup camera Air Conditioning: Vintage Air Power Windows: Brothers Trucks Wiring: American Autowire installed by W.D. Moore

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Secret Origins #26

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

I referenced Secret Origins #26 in my review of All-Star Squadron #1 – 3:  the All-Star issues explain why the heroes weren’t available to stop the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Secret Origins #26 spotlights the heroes who attempted to prevent the assault.

Up first – the origin of Black Lightning by Tony Isabella and Greg Brooks.  The story is adapted from “Black Lightning #1” (1977).

The story begins with Jefferson Pierce (Black Lightning) conversing with Lynn over the phone. Jefferson, a teacher, has recently transferred to a new school.  This story takes place shortly after the horrible “Millenium” event decimated the Outsiders.

We flashback to Metropolis: “Several years ago…”

A young Jefferson Pierce returns to Garfield High, his former high school, as a teacher.  Jefferson beats up a drug dealer on the school grounds. The drug dealer belongs to the 100 – a bad guy group that was used more often in the 1980s.  Tobias Whale, a higher-up member of the 100, is not happy about Jefferson’s interference.  Tobias orders his henchmen to murder one of Jefferson’s students in retaliation.

Peter, Jefferson’s childhood mentor, offers him a uniform that grants Jefferson electrical powers. Cue the Black Lightning vs the 100 war. Black Lightning ultimately triumphs over Tobias Whale and the 100.  Sadly, Peter becomes a casualty before the feud ends.

The story ends with Jefferson ready to begin his war on drug dealers in a new city.  Jefferson also thanks Lynn for “checking on Sapphire and Halo for me”.    If I remember correctly, Halo was left comatose and Metamorpho destroyed in the aftermath of Dr. Jace’s betrayal.

A brief story that quickly establishes Jefferson’s background and motivations.  Extra credit to Tony Isabella for the “checking on Sapphire and Halo” line.  I really appreciate writers that can incorporate continuity in their stories as opposed to the “I’m too lazy or I don’t care” approach.

The Secret Origin of Miss America by Roy Thomas and Grant Miehm.

The editor’s note states that the story is “adapted in part from stories by Elmer Wexel, et al, in Military Comics #1-7, 1941-1942”.

Miss America received a small boost in the immediate Post-Crisis on Infinite Earths era for one simple reason:  The Golden Age/Earth-2 Wonder Woman was essentially erased from continuity.  Technically, Diana and Steve Trevor were summoned to Olympus but no one actually remembers their existence.  Slight problem:  Fury (Lyta Trevor), Diana and Steve’s daughter, is a member of Infinity Inc. If Lyta isn’t an amazon – who is she? How did she get her powers?  Roy Thomas solved the problem by introducing a Fury, powered by the mythological Furies, who became a member of the Young All-Stars.  Helena, the original Fury, became pregnant.  Iron Munro was rumored to be the father.  The combination of Fury and Munro would nicely explain Lyta’s powers. I’m not sure why but Helena wasn’t able to raise Lyta and gave her over to Joan Dale and Admiral Derek Trevor (Joan’s husband).

Back to the origin story…

May 1941, Bedloe’s Island – Joan Dale, a reporter arrives to meet with a source who promises to “give you a real scoop on a top-secret experiment that’ll curl your hair!”  Joan sits down and quickly falls asleep.  Joan dreams that the Statue of Liberty tells her that “I have chosen you to receive the greatest gift I have to give – the power to preserve your nation’s freedom by altering the very essence of things – transmuting one substance to another!  Swear to use this power for America, for it will not be yours forever!”

A startled Joan awakens and turns a tree into air.  Joan decides to return home and stops an assault on an elderly men by turning his assailants into pigeons.  The man she rescues refers to her as the “real Miss America”.

Joan Dale joins the FBI. She hopes to become an agent but instead becomes a secretary.  Joan and Diana need to get together and discuss this secretary nonsense.  

Joan whips up the “Miss America” costume while dealing with Ramon and his fellow saboteurs.

Uncle Sam approaches Miss America to help his group with the imminent attack on Pearl Harbor.  Uncle Sam’s group includes Hourman, Neon the Unknown, Magno, the Invisible Hood, and the Red Torpedo.  The group travel – via the Red Torpedo’s submarine – to a hundred miles north of Hawaii.

The editor’s note tells us the story combines events of All-Star Squadron #1 & 32.  Also of note is that Hourman’s leave of absence from the Justice Society began in the summer of 1941.

The attack begins an hour after the heroes arrive.  The heroes assault the Japanese aerial fleet using “Red Torpedo’s aerial namesakes…Neon’s sonic blasts…Magno’s magnetic bursts…Joan’s own atom-bending…Rex Tyler’s hour of power…even the Hood’s invisibility…” The heroes have the fleet on the run until a burning plane kamikazes into them.

A Japanese submarine emerges to snatch Hourman and take him back to Japan as “the folks back home would love to get a closer acquaintance of even water-logged Hourman.” Poor Rex, he’s in for a bad time!

Hours later, an American submarine surfaces.  The crew retrieves Miss America and Uncle Sam.  Neon the Unknown, Magno, the Invisible Hood, and the Red Torpedo are presumed dead.  A mysterious man in a trench coat reminds the sailors that “You and your crew are sworn to secrecy, on grounds of national security”.  The trench coat man orders Uncle Sam to be locked away, “try to learn just who he really is”.  

Miss America is taken to a laboratory beneath Bedloe’s Island.  Joan is comatose.  Trench coat man, aka Agent X, reveals that he kidnapped Joan last May to be used as a subject in Professor Mazursky’s experiments.  The duo experimented on Joan, believed they (accidently) lobotomized her, and put her back on the bench.  The duo reveal they are working for “Project M”, a government organization attempting to create super-soldiers.  Professor Mazursky vows that he will find a way to replicate Joan’s powers.

The editor’s note refers us to Young All-Stars #12 “Project M – For Monster” for the aftermath of Miss America’s origin.

Another fun story. Roy Thomas shines with the Golden Age characters.  I’m not familiar with Grant Miehm but I enjoyed his artwork.  

The “Secret Admirerers” column details more of the “Lyta Trevor” conundrum.

Secret Origins #12 introduced the (newly created) Golden Age Fury.

Roy also notes another factor in choosing Lyta’s foster mother: “Who, if anyone, was a member of the legendary Justice Society of America from 1942 till at least 1951, in place of Wonder Woman?”

Liberty Belle was their first thought.  Libby dated Captain Rick Cannon in her 1940s feature. It was felt that Cannon would be a good analogue for Steve Trevor.

Joan was the second choice. Joan debuted six months before Wonder Woman and wears a patriotic outfit so…Miss America for the win!  A small problem was Miss America’s apparent death at Pearl Harbor in All-Star Squadron #32.  A retcon here, a hand wave there … problem solved!  We’re told to check out Young All-Stars #12 – 13 and Infinity, Inc #48 – 50 for the full Joan – Lyta story.  

I’m glad they decided against Liberty Belle.  We would have lost Jesse Quick if Libby raised Lyta.

Poor Admiral Derek Trevor – he was created simply so Lyta could keep her last name.  Joan and Derek’s relationship goes down as one of the worst in comics as it’s nonexistent.  

Does this mean Joan was retconned into the Justice Society?  Lucky Joan – she gets to be a secretary in both of her identities!  Or was she un-retconned when DC made Hippolyta the “Wonder Woman” of World War II?

Still not sure why the straight-forward route of Helena (Fury I): JSA member and actively involved mother of Lyta wasn’t taken.  It seems that Roy Thomas had to zig and zag a lot to get his ducks in a row.  All this effort and not much was done with it.