#for all mankind deleted scene

[gordopickett]

WIP Wednesday!

I was tagged by @benwvatt last week, and I'm just getting around to this on Monday, so… 🤷‍♀️ lol.

Tagging @allatariel @onekisstotakewithme @lacontroller1991

@violetmuses @tiltedsyllogism @castalyne & anyone else who wants to play! 😁

Here's a snippet from one of my For All Mankind fics called "Confined" which is basically one big missing scene in the 3 weeks that Gordo is confined to the Jamestown base. This is from Chapter 1 (which is the only chapter I've written so far lol).

Gordo looked at Ed who was still working nearby. He had the toolbox out and was tightening screws in the partition that he had thrown Gordo against the night before. Gordo wondered if the screws were actually in need of tightening or if Ed was simply trying to busy himself so he wouldn’t have to interact with Gordo. Dani handed Gordo a fork. He took it and looked down at the yellowish-white patty of gelatinous goo that was meant to pass for scrambled eggs. He took a deep breath and stuck his fork in it. He brought the bite up, feeling a small gag in his throat. He swallowed away the sensation and put the fork in his mouth. Once he had gotten the bite down, he said, “I can’t wait to have a big, juicy cheeseburger at The Outpost again.” “Yeah.” Dani smiled. “And some cheese fries.” “Apple pie,” Gordo added. “Pizza.” “Oh, yes,” Gordo said, his mouth watering at the thought. “Pizza.” “What are you looking forward to, Ed?” Dani asked. “Getting the rest of our work done today,” Ed said dutifully. Gordo took another bite of his scramble as Dani smiled and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “And Karen’s homemade spaghetti,” Ed added after a beat, his tone softening a little. Dani chuckled. “There you go.”

[bookishdaze]

Greek Mythology in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

How will Noa's story be remembered by future generations of apes?

Caesar is remembered by the apes as a sort of mythic, god-like figure. An ape whose story has been passed down for generations to the point where many apes are familiar with the legend of Caesar, even if the true story has been distorted throughout time.

The movies utilize famous myths, legends, and stories that we are all familiar with, or have at least heard of, to create the legend of Caesar, and now Noa.

In the Caesar trilogy, Caesar is a Moses figure for the apes, who we know freed his people, taking them to the promised lands. We should all at least recognize the name Hamlet, one of Shakespeare's plays, that Dawn is loosely based on. In some versions, the angel Lucifer rebelled against God because he refused to bow down to mankind. In Dawn, Koba rebelled against Caesar because he refused to help humans, or mankind. And we all know what happened to Lucifer after betraying God.

We know these stories. They're familiar, even now that they're hundreds or thousands of years old.

So what famous stories will the writers use so that Noa's story is remembered by apes centuries later?

Well, Kingdom had an ape named Noa, who saved his people from a flood, and there was even a giant boat in the background. Okay, Noah and the Flood. That one's obvious.

What about some Greek mythology?

The Myth of Icarus and Daedalus

If you don't know how the myth of Icarus and Daedalus goes, there's still a very good chance you've heard of the saying, "He flew too close to the sun."

In a very brief nutshell, Daedalus, an inventor, built some wings for him and his son, Icarus. They put on these wings to fly away and escape King Minos, who is holding them prisoner. Daedalus warns his son not to fly too close to the sun because the wax will melt, but Icarus doesn't listen, and he falls to his death.

I found some similarities to the myth of Icarus and Daedalus in Kingdom. Whether this is what the writers actually intended or not, I don't know for sure, but this is mainly for fun, and I wanted to share!

Before I get started, I want to thank @iamtotallycool because she pointed out similarities to other Greek myths after I shared with her my initial thoughts, and I will later point out which ones she came up with. Thank you for listening to my ramblings on discord, lol.

Noa as Icarus

Noa reminds me of Icarus, the man who flew too high and fell to his death. Noa is the first to climb above Top Nest, so this means he went higher than any of the other apes in his clan. He is soaring above the others, reaching new and dangerous heights.

Noa decides to go higher, wonderfully displaying his ingenuity by using some old rebar to swing himself up a wall that should've been impossible to climb. This reminds me of Daedalus using his inventions to help him fly, something considered impossible.

But after Noa reaches the nest, higher than any ape before him, what happens right after? He falls.

In a deleted scene after the egg climb, Soona tells Noa that since he is the first above Top Nest, that makes him special, and maybe his eagle will be sun-colored, like his father's eagle, Sun.

And right after Noa literally falls into Raka's home, the wise orangutan says to himself in amusement:

"Apes falling from the sky."

Here's a fun detail. Remember that mural Noa looks at? On the far left side, if you squint, you can see a person with wings.

I actually have a theory as to how Noa could fly in future movies that I'll link at the end!

Noa as Daedalus

Not only does Noa remind me of Icarus, but he also reminds me of Daedalus. Daedalus was a skillful architect and inventor, who built the Labyrinth for King Minos, where the legendary Minotaur lived.

We see the beginnings of Noa's architect side. He stays up late at night to fix both the fish rack and the electric staff. When Proximus (King Minos) learns of how Noa (Daedalus) fixed the staff, he tells Noa that he has use for clever apes like him, as if he wanted to use Noa's intelligence to help him achieve instant eeevolution. This reminds me of how King Minos uses Daedalus' intelligence to build him the Labyrinth.

And just like Daedalus who built the wings to escape King Minos, Noa devises a plan to flood the vault for him and Eagle Clan to escape Proximus.

Trevathan is also like Daedalus in this story, who is trapped by the king, building and creating for him. Daedalus built the Labyrinth for King Minos, and Trevathan built the electric staffs for Proximus.

Fathers and Sons

Daedalus warns his son to be careful. To not fly too low, for the water will get his wings wet, and to not fly too high, for the sun will melt the wax from his wings. But Icarus doesn't listen, rushing to surpass the father.

This reminds me of how Noa feels a lot of pressure from his father Koro, wanting to make his father proud by telling him that he was the only one of his friends who climbed above Top Nest. Instead of praise, however, Koro reprimands him for breaking some other rule, telling him to stay away from where he is forbidden to go.

Theseus and the Labyrinth

@iamtotallycool pointed out how Kingdom also has similarities to the myth of Theseus, the Labyrinth, and the Minotaur.

The Labyrinth is an underground maze on the island of Crete where the monstrous Minotaur lives. Every year, King Minos requires sacrifices from other kingdoms for the Minotaur to eat. Theseus, son of King Aegeus, sets out to kill the Minotaur. Princess Ariadne, King Minos' daughter, helps Theseus to navigate the Labyrinth, and gives him a ball of yarn to help him make his way back so he doesn't get lost.

This reminds me of how Proximus (King Minos) steals clans (the sacrifices) for the expansion of his kingdom and to get the vault open, so Noa (Theseus) uses the help of Mae (Ariadne) to navigate the vault (Labyrinth) in order to destroy what is inside (Minotaur).

During the scene where Noa and Sylva have their final battle, Noa has to run through the twists and turns of the vault, similar to a maze, while he is being chased by Sylva, similar to how the Minotaur battled Theseus. Sylva is even big and burly like the Minotaur!

Ok, So What Does This Mean?

Alright, so now that we pointed out some of the similarities, what could this all mean? It's one thing to point out the similarities, but why these stories in particular? What is the message? What could this mean for Noa? Assuming this is even what the writers intended, we can only speculate, so this final bit is mainly fun theorizing.

Due to his hubris, Icarus flies too close to the sun, leading to his death. Could Noa develop his own hubris that leads him to his downfall, or takes him down a darker path?

The myth of Icarus can also be seen as a cautionary tale of the dangers of technology if not used carefully. Technology can be useful and improve lives, but what if it falls into the wrong hands? What if one is too overconfident with it, not realizing the bad it can do before it's too late?

Proximus couldn't get his hands on human technology, for he would've used it to hurt other apes. What about Noa, though? Now that Noa starts to learn how human tech like electricity works, what if he starts to bring forth technological innovations for the apes? What if he starts out trying to use it to improve the lives of apes, but he ends up using it for bad? Or what if other apes take his ideas and use it for their own advantage? The path to hell is paved with good intentions, as they say.

And this one's more for fun, but what if Noa were to actually fly? If you wanna read more of my ramblings, here is my theory on Noa taking flight. (Hint: It involves airplanes).

In Conclusion

If you made it all the way to the end, thank you for reading! I had a lot of fun coming up with these ideas and speculating, and I hope you had fun reading this as well. If you have any thoughts or ideas, feel free to share!

[brokehorrorfan]

Stigmata will be released on Blu-ray + DVD in Mediabook packaging on April 2 via Dark Sky Films. The 1999 supernatural horror film is packaged with a 24-page booklet.

Rupert Wainwright (The Fog remake) directs from a script by Tom Lazarus and Rick Ramage. Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne, Jonathan Pryce, Nia Long, Portia de Rossi, and Rade Šerbedžija star.

Special features are listed below.

Special features:

Audio commentary by director Rupert Wainwright

Holy Rites: Making of Stigmata

Alternate ending

Deleted scenes

Theatrical trailer

A lost soul has just received the wounds of Christ…and a shocking message that will alter history. Frankie Paige (Patricia Arquette) has absolutely no faith in God. All of that changes when she suddenly begins to suffer the Stigmata – the living wounds of the crucified Christ. Frankie’s miraculous bleeding comes to the attention of the Vatican’s top investigator, Father Kiernan (Gabriel Byrne). But when Cardinal Houseman (Jonathan Pryce), discovers that Frankie is actually channeling an extraordinary and provocative message that could destroy the Church, he's convinced that she – and the force possessing her – must be forever silenced. Determined to stop this deadly conspiracy, Kiernan risks his faith – and his life – to save her and the message that will change the destiny of mankind forever.

Pre-order Stigmata.

[thebibliomancer]

Earth X #8

May, stop being in space! You need your oxygens!

Earth X: it’s a Bad Future and it is a mess.

Uatu the Watcher has been blinded and he kidnapped Aaron to be his seeing eye robot. Uatu has bullied and dehumanized Aaron into deleting his own personality.

There’s been a mass empowering event which mutated all of humanity. At first it seemed like it was Reed Richard’s fault but doubt has been raised.

A psychic brat called the Skull has arrived in New New York with an army of thousands of mind controlled people.

Bruce Banner came to Sorcerer Supreme Clea for help contacting dead Mar-Vell. But Clea turns out to be in league with Loki and traps Thor and Hulk in in the Realm of Death.

Everything is apparently the Celestials’ mysterious plan for Earth or alternatively events are off the rails and happening 200 years sooner than they’re supposed to.

Earth X has so much stuff going on. So many subplots. And yet if it was a conspiracy board, all the yarn would connect to the Celestials.

I’ve commented before that Earth X takes the chaotic, kitchen sink Marvel universe and tries to tie it all into the Celestials.

A few issues back, Uatu explained that the Asgardians weren’t gods, they were shapeshifting empathic aliens who looked like Norse mythology because people expected them too.

It wasn’t an explanation I particularly liked.

Then, last issue, it was explained that the Hulk’s various personas were only a result of the Celestial seed in Bruce absorbing more and more gamma and had nothing to do with Bruce’s mental health.

This also I didn’t particularly like.

Now Earth X goes in a similarly weird direction by claiming that Peter Parker’s trademark crushing guilt and responsibility complex are also part of the Celestial plan.

Uatu doesn’t finish explaining how the hell this makes sense because he notices Aaron ask a follow-up question… which means Aaron didn’t erase his own personality!

Yay, Aaron! It would have been a bummer for him to undergo identity death for Uatu’s jerk ass.

In fact, Aaron was pretending to be an emotionless robot because he suspected that Uatu wouldn’t reveal the true secrets behind everything as long as he could still second guess them.

So now he knows (almost) everything. And he is furious.

Aaron Stack: “Who knows, maybe man’s every vice and every hunger can be traced to the Celestials. Maybe the Celestials’ manipulation of mankind’s evolution was in actuality a step down. The fall of man. You’ve damned them, Uatu. You and your Celestial Host. I guess this doesn’t surprise me. You’ve set yourself up as God. So you have the power to damn. But do you have the power to save? Could you redeem what you’ve set out to curse? You could. I know it. But you just don’t want to bother with it. You’d rather sit. And watch.”

John Jameson, moon werewolf astronaut, wanders into the Watcher’s home and right into an argument between Uatu and Aaron.

Which is good because it gives Aaron someone else to talk to when Uatu goes to sulk.

Also, somebody to narrate to. John wants to warn Earth about a scary something approaching from space but Aaron runs through the subplot list to show how everything is a mess and nobody is really available to deal with space invaders.

Captain America uses the Lockjaw teleporter (which I guess he borrowed from Reed) to warp right into Tony’s self-quarantine. Freaking Tony the hell out with fears of contamination.

Cap tries to warn Tony about the Skull’s huge army reaching New New York but Tony is sure the Iron Avengers have it handled.

(They don’t. They’ve been destroyed by the Skull’s army)

The Skull also has his forces wipe out the Hyda. Hmm, I really thought the mind control squid would be more important to the plot. I included it in every recap.

The Skull is confronted by Cop Luke Cage (who I also thought would be more important to the plot after he had that scene with Peter Parker in issue 1) and is irreverent and horrible as ever.

He’s the worst. I love him as a villain.

Meanwhile, Reed and Ben walk the streets. Ben has an emotional breakthrough all by himself while Reed is completely engrossed in his own subplot and doesn’t notice Ben is talking to him.

He altered Cerebro to find Inhumans instead of mutants so he could find the missing Inhuman Prince but everyone on the streets is pinging as Inhuman.

At the same time, in Latveria, Luna starts spontaneously undergoing terrigenesis, the Inhuman transformation process. Which should only happen in the presence of the terrigen mist.

Which finally solves the mystery of the mass empowering event. It wasn’t an explosion at the vibranium radio tower. The entire world has been exposed to terrigen mist!

Somehow. We don’t know how. And the Inhumans seem surprised to realize that this is the case.

Over in the Sanctum Sanctorum, Clea gloats to a captive blind child Bruce but is surprised by Hulk and Thor escaping the Realm of Death with the help of ghost Strange.

She asks for Loki’s help but he’s bailed on her. Obviously.

So Clea decides to explode New New York out of spite but Thor transports her and him to Asgard, knowing Loki will prevent him from coming back.

With the Sorcerer Supreme and Thor out of his way, Loki gloats Earth is his.

Still not sure how this fits into everything else going on.

I’m not sure if Cap found any help from Tony but he moves onto Russia.

Currently ruled by Colossus.

There was a bit in an earlier appendix about how due to the mass empowering event, former superheroes were asked to take leadership positions since they were used to leading those with powers.

It hasn’t come up so I forgot about it but here we are with President? King? Secretary? Colossus.

Colossus doesn’t want to get involved because Russia is the breadbasket of the world and he needs to protect it. But Cap points out that the Skull won’t stop at the ocean. He’ll make his way to Russia eventually and he’s a dumb kid who treats this like a game. He won’t think about controlling people to do agriculture.

(If that’s the case, the Celestial plan for Earth must come about really soon after the Skull. Or at least depending on whether that’s been derailed or not by the terrigen jumping the gun by two hundred years. But my thought is, if the Skull is part of the plan, you can’t have much time between him taking over the world and whatever the Celestials need Earth for. Because the kid isn’t going to bother keeping civilization going.)

Back in New New York, Peter continues to try to convince May not to do anything. She just tells him to grow up and jumps into action against the Skull’s army without a plan.

The Skull sends Iron Maiden to confront May Venom. Iron Maiden begs May to withdraw before the Skull takes control of her but May doesn’t listen.

May beats Iron Maiden with a little asphyxiation and then immediately falls under the Skull’s control.

His creepy, creepy control.

Away from the action, Peter is at a loss for what to do now. He contemplates a Peter Parker Spider-Man costume he sees in a shop window but walks away very “Spider-Man No More” ish.

I guess Peter’s identity is out.

The appendix has a bit where John Jameson asks after his father. Aaron tells him that Jonah has himself locked up in the Daily Bugle building, the paper having gone out of business when it was revealed Spider-Man had been taking Spider-Man pictures all along. Jonah also keeps Jack Russell Werewolf By Night locked up with him, under the belief he’s werewolf astronaut John, since NASA lied to John and didn’t tell Jonah his son was going to the Moon.

Phew.

And the issue ends with the Skull and his top peeps cornering President Norman Osborn in his office.

Unless this goes in a completely unexpected direction, I also thought President Osborn would be more important to the plot than he was.

Was he just a Bad Future signifier? Things are so bad, Norman Osborn is president, but also he’s not really important?

Odd.

[mimiwrites2000]

Attack On… Podcast!

Archive of Our Own

As the Attack on Titan series comes to an end after ten years, the cast is reunited in hosting a podcast, talking about their times on the set of the filming, their friendships, and all in-between.

And well, shenanigans are inevitable.

Attack on Titan acting AU, as the cast host a podcast, and interview the rest of the cast.

Episode 03

Armin: On that day, mankind–

Jean: No–

Connie: Nope!

Eren dying of laughter: it's not me this time! 

Armin: I fucking hate all of you.

Connie: you speak french? 

Jean: I already regret this.

Armin: welcome to the third episode of our production company forcing this onto us! 

Eren: can I just say these are one of the few situations where I'm glad we are actually done shooting? Otherwise they would've fire our asses–

Jean: not my ass though have you seen it–

Armin: I am already done, how did I even think it was a good idea to have all of you in one room–

Connie: I literally didn't say anything.

Eren: you interupted his speech–

Armin: first question! Jean, you may read it.

Connie: A little but too eager aren’t we–

Jean: alrighty so here, from X–

Armin: it's Twitter–

Jean: –they are saying are you guys friends in real life? No I fucking hate them.

Eren: like wise, can't stand you.

Connie: yeah we hate each other, we're not even invited to Eren's wedding.

Armin: yeah I'm totally not his best man, anyway next question, who is the most emotional of all the group? And who got more emotional at the wrap of the finale?

Jean: well… hate to break it to you guys, but I think the most one who cried is Reiner.

Connie: bullshit, it was you.

Eren: yeah it definitely was Jean, but the most emotional, as if in, caring, it was Levi.

Armin: Levi assigned himself the role of being a father to everyone, he was so nice to everyone, he even got us cookies.

Jean: cookies with some protein powder and very healthy components.

Eren: Those cookies were really good.

Armin: Annie was also pretty emotional.

Jean: hmmm was she?

Armin: yeah, she cried.

Connie: I don't recall it, like sure we all hugged and teared up and all that but I didn't see her crying.

Eren: you guys didn't see her, because she cried in the green rooms.

Jean: How do you even know this?

Eren: A lil birdy told me.

Connie: Is this birdy's name Armin–

Eren: which happily brings us to our next question, again from X. So, Armin.

Armin: yes sir.

Eren: people can't sleep.

Armin: oh?

Eren: because they now know you have a shirtless deleted scene–

Armin: oh God not this again–

Jean slapping the table: I was waiting for this! Who wants to start?

Armin: No, no! We have many questions left.

Eren: oh Armin come on!

Armin: Connie, this one's for you.

Connie: shoot.

Armin: It's about the scene with Falco.

Connie: I know exactly what you’re talking about.

Armin: Yes, so, this person, from Twitter, is asking what was your reaction to that plot point and how was your approach to it?

Connie: oh well that sounds like a deep question, hmmmm well, I don’t know?

Armin laughing: Can’t you come up with anything?

Connie: well… Falco got kind of worried about the scene, so– oh actually I met his parents to reassure them that all would be good.

Jean: They were worried about him?

Connie: They were worried for him, because he was so worried about doing a good job, his mother told me he was reciting his lines in his sleep at one point.

Eren: aww poor little guy.

Armin: Eren actually used to do this.

Eren: oh yeah, I almost gave my mother a heart attack.

Jean laughing: imagine your ten years old screaming at the top of his lungs about I will kill them all! 

Eren buffing his chest: I will kill them all!

Jean: He will kill them all!

Armin shaking his head: Oh my God.

Connie: No but Falco did such a good job.

Armin: Yeah he really did, but Connie, what did you think about your character’s actions?

Connie: Well, what other choices did he have? I would do the same in real life!

Eren: I mean… reasonable, I guess?

Jean: With your character in mind, you don’t really have a say in this–

Eren: Hey my character–

Armin: Ooookk! So, Jean this question’s for you.

Jean: Yes. 

Armin: Sooo, the question says, Jean’s character had a unique growth out of all the characters, he changed his whole personality, and he had a very clear goal in his mind, what do you wish he had in his arc?

Jean: I would love to act as if I’m wondering about the answer, but I have a very clear answer to this, I wish he had a lover at the end of the story.

Connie: But don’t all the characters wish that?

Jean: Yes, but for Jean, he gave away all that life to become a scout, and then his life spiraled out of control, and all he wanted was a relaxed life with his wife and children.

Armin: I like to think that all the characters found a partner by the end of the series.

Jean: Yeah I agree, and I know a lot of… theories, but, here we are I guess.

Eren: Speaking of theories, hey Armin.

Armin: what is it this time?

Jean: We’re finally getting to this?

Connie: so, as everyone knows, there are always deleted scenes, everyone knows that, of course.

Armin: What is wrong with you guys–

Jean: ssshhh let Connie speak.

Armin: I really hate all of you.

Connie: so there was that one scene.

Armin: it was added very last minute, it wasn't even planned–

Jean: which!!! Makes it more interesting.

Eren: so basically, the scene we are talking about–

Armin: you are actually, legally, not allowed to talk about it

Eren: and I knew you would say that and so I got a signed paper from the producer and the streaming platform allowing us to talk about this exact scene.

Armin: Eren you piece of sh–

Jean: so in this scene, it was the only scene in the whole of the series where an actual make out happens.

Armin groans: I really hate you.

Connie: Pretty sure it was a full on hook up scene.

Eren: It was written as a make out scene, but the director saw the potential, so he decided to make it to a hook up.

Jean: so anyway, as many of you have wished, Armin and Annie's characters are, in fact, the characters in question.

Armin: it was just a scene–

Jean: and so, on that boat, there was this whole make out thingie.

Eren: yeah it was actually fun to watch them filming it, like they did this whole sequence of sneaking into a room, and this whole act of being quiet and sneaky and–

Connie: it basically turned everyone on–

Armin: Connie! 

Jean: the whole build up to the scene was really great, and then we have the scene

Eren laughing: the director at one pointed suggested leaving the camera rolling and leaving the set.

Jean laughing as well: yeah I remember that! The scene was too passionate and sensual that we had to look away.

Eren: at one point Mikasa had to leave, she just couldn't look anymore, and by the way I knew this recently, they actually hired an intimate scenes coordinator, but after she saw them, she literally said there was nothing to be done.

Connie: guys! You are missing the most important part.

Eren: oh yes! So a shirtless Armin at one point happens, and, it feels almost illegal to say this, but damn dude you are hiding wonders under that shirt!

Armin literally leaning back in his chair with a hand over his mouth and looking down

Jean: you don't just kiss your coworker like that and walk off of the set, like, if I had a scene like that, I'd walk off the set and ask what are we.

Connie: they had to delete the scene to maintain the rating of the finale, because apparently people are more sensitive to sex scenes rather than actual rumbling–

Armin: it was not a sex scene.

Eren: which is exactly the issue, it was not a sex scene, and then suddenly you almost–

Armin: Eren stop! That didn't happen!

Jean: sure.

Connie: didn't happen at all.

Eren: not a chance in the world.

Armin: anyway, so, um, that's the end of this episode.

Jean: we didn't finish reading our questions –

Armin: we'll talk to you guys next episode, bye bye!

Note: that episode never saw the light of day,

Because Armins sweared to burn the building down on their heads if they published that episode. But, in the end, the producers leaked it.

[thepickupartist]

Loki is MCU Jesus and was by himself during all season 2

1 theory: HWR created his tempad from Loki's crown, i.e. he rulled everything not only with his technology, but with stolen piece of magic. However, being human, HWR could not really live in the world beyond time. He didn't remember the repetitive dialogues with Loki while Loki did. And he needed Loki to create a crown and sit on the throne so that this time loop would lead HWR to moment, when he steals a piece of Loki's crown again and become HWR. But his plan was doomed to failure, because Loki is the true owner of this magic. HWR didn't create time slipping of Loki, he lied. If HWR could create time slipping for someone, he would do it for himself. However, he couldn't. This was Loki's natural inner power. Loki is kind of Jesus who makes a redemptive sacrifice for the sake of all mankind. He grew up without fully realizing his essence and purpose, so his powers were not revealed untill the right time. And when he understood what kind of god he needs to be, he was able to do what only God with a capital letter can do. All questions about Loki paradox are now identical to questions about paradox of Jesus. And answers are the same. By the way, some believe that Loki's name came from λόγος ( lógos, "word", a name or title of Jesus, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"), and his very image was inspired by Jesus, who was alien to Scandinavian paganism at that time, so they interpreted this image their own way. I'm talking about this from literature and mythological perspective, so don't be mad, if you religious. I'm just talking about inspiration for this Loki. We know that Loki is Jötunn, frost giant (the first inhabitants of the world, in time preceding the gods and people). Ymir was the first living being, a frost giant, from which the world was created (from meat — dry land, from blood — water, from bones — mountains, from teeth — rocks, from hair — forest, from brain — clouds, from skull — the vault of heaven. Each of the four corners of the firmament of the new gods rolled in the shape of a horn. Auðumbla — is a primeval cow, that appeared from the melting ice at the beginning of time together with the first giant Ymir (who fed from her milk), and over the course of three days she licked away the salty rime rocks and revealed Búri, grandfather of the gods. In deleted scene form 2011 movie Thor calls Loki cow. So now we have that Loki is frost giant and god at the same time and his crown is symbol of life and creaton of the world.

On this screen you can see that after dialog with Mobius Loki was already surrounded by dead timelines (not just when he destroyed the loom) and it seems Loki vanished Mobius by his will at that particular moment. I think he was there the whole season 2, just didn't realise it. When Sylvie killed HWR in season 1, all timelines died too, but not this Loki, because he has glorious purpose (Atoning sacrifice, payment for the mankind, power to provide hope).

2 theory: timelines began to die for the reason that HWR warned Loki (multiverse war would begin in which no one would survive). Seeing confirmation of this prediction after destruction of the loom, Loki begins to feed timelines with his magic (which, unlike the loom's rings, is infinite), thereby serving as a multiverse artificial ventilation of the lungs. Loki keeps multiverse alive, giving TVA and everyone else a chance to win instead of die trying to fight for free will. The branches of the Yggdrasil are purple (the color of Kang, there is a war in the "future"), and the trunk is green (the color of Loki, which provides artificial ventilation). Thus, Loki needs to keep the multiverse alive until TVA and Avengers defeat Kangs at the top of the purple branches before timelines finish mutual destruction. When Avengers succeed, Loki will retire because multiverse will be able to breathe on its own.

[yesterdanereviews]

Evolution (2001)

Film review #608

Director: Ivan Reitman

SYNOPSIS: When a meteor falls from outer space into the Arizona desert, two local college professors make an amazing discovery: the meteor contains microscopic alien life. While the two think they'll be rich and famous for their discovery, the microbes begin to evolve at an accelerated rate, and soon become full-sized creatures who threaten all like on Earth...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Evolution is a 2001 sci-fi film. The film opens with a meteor crashing into Earth somewhere in the Arizona desert, with signs of microscopic alien life. Two college professors make the discovery and keep it to themselves, thinking it will net them the Nobel prize and other such fame and riches. They learn upon examination that the microscopic life forms are evolving at an exponentially accelerated rate, and will quickly develop to be a threat to mankind. Teaming up with a trainee firefighter and a government scientist, they go about trying to stop the evolution before it is too late. One of the most notable things about this film is it obviously wants to be the new millennium's Ghostbusters: from the director of Ghostbusters, who rewrote the originally more horror/thriller based script to turn it into a comedy, the main characters working at a college/university, and even Dan Akroyd having a minor role. I don't think it's up for debate that this ambition went largely unmet. The film isn't totally terrible, but fails to achieve it's objectives in a number of ways. The story is very predictable, and offers very little surprises, with the usual thing of the military taking over and cutting the main characters out of the loop, forcing them to save the world on their own. There's also not enough battling with the creatures too, which somewhat makes sense given they are microscopic for a chunk of the film, but when they are combating the monsters, there's nothing special or exciting about it, whereas in Ghostbusters had the super cool proton packs and gadgets. It might be unfair to keep comparing a film to another one, but in Evolution's case, I think it is completely fair to do so, considering that it clearly wants to be a new Ghostbusters.

While the leads David Duchovny and Orlando Jones turn in good performances (Duchovny wanting to take this role to move away from his role in the X-files by taking a film about aliens is a bit humourous), they don't really have the chemistry to carry a lot of the scenes. Duchovny is obviously playing the Bill Murray/Peter Venkman role of the dry humoured personality, while comedian Orlando Jones does the more expressive stuff. This overlaps with Seann William Scott's role as the trainee firefighter Wayne Grey a little, but he has a more youthful edge to appeal to a different demographic. Julianne Moore as Dr. Allison Reed is introduced as an attempted serious, but clumsy character, but that clumsiness never shows up again, which is odd. There's some deleted scenes which show it again, but it's odd that's left in there at all. The biggest drag in the film is probably the crude humour. While it starts out building up different kinds of humour, it quickly devolves into crude and cheap jokes that offer nothing new. Again, while Ghostbusters blended in the adult humour perfectly with it's supernatural theme, Evolution tries the same, but comes across a bit of a child's attempt at adult humour. The film very rarely recovers it's footing in this regard, and feels like it's run out of humour fairly quickly.

The well known actors, as mentioned, do turn in good performances, but there's often not much to work with in terms of story or unique things for them to do. The creatures are sometimes creative in their designs, but there's not nearly enough variety in them, and neither do they look "alien" enough to stimulate the imagination. The climax is a bit boring too, with the cast attempting to stop a giant blob by spraying some anti-dandruff shampoo up one of it's orifices. Overall, Evolution has some entertainment value to it, but it is always going to draw comparisons to Ghostbusters, which it can never meet, thanks to it's humour constantly misfiring, and a plot that fails to evolve itself beyond it's very typical cornerstones.

[tremendouskoalachild]

Star Wars (1977) #05: Lo, The Moons of Yavin!

Roy Thomas, Aug 10 1977

I have to say I love that title already.

The cover is, of course, amazing. "Luke Skywalker strikes again!" that boy just can't stop striking. Han's defeatism. The Death Star in action, and shooting from two places at once! (And on the equator instead of the dish as we've seen in the movie.)

Luke has to shake off his grief over Ben and get shooting. We get the first instance of thought bubbles in these comics:

Gotta love the awkward recaps. Leia joins in:

... and so does Luke, reminding himself what the Force is:

The narration itself helps out, too!

"Mankind", huh?

I'm not sure how this would work with how the ship's layout is presented in the film but whatever.

Our heroes get away and Leia expresses her theory that they are being tracked. This is immediately confirmed, similarly to the film:

Of course, Tarkin's movie convo with Vader actually happens before Leia tells Han how easy their escape was, and Vader's response gets weirdly cut off; "this will be a day long remembered" and so on is moved to when the Death Star is approaching Yavin. In my opinion the original scene adapted by the comic flows better - and I have to compliment the composition here, too. The movie scene looks kind of claustrophobic with Vader and Tarkin standing right next to each other in a small space, while the comic takes advantage of its medium and puts them in the middle of a huge observation room. (I also like the odd halos and Vader's pose in panel 2, he's so excited.)

Meanwhile, Luke has a crush:

Comic Luke is really into her, huh? Well, it works with what the movie gives us.

Where did the table in panel 2 appear from? Never mind. Han sees Luke as a friend. ❤

They arrive on Yavin IV. I'm glad the comic is acknowledging that the Rebels set themselves up in a once sacred place.

I understand Aphra senior's (is he a doctor? idk) frustration with them. Here, have an excerpt from Doctor Aphra's 2016 run:

... anyway. Back to the comic we are actually discussing.

Leia is bordering on abusing her iconic line (she does actually say it in the film as well; it's really easy to miss though):

Dodonna is all casual while delivering the briefing, what an icon:

But he can do dramatic as well!

After seeing Han off, Luke and Leia say their goodbyes and. Um. That's not a little peck on the cheek, with the handholding and romantic pink background, is it.

The transition to the next panel is really funny though. It totally looks like Biggs is dragging Luke away from more kisses with Leia - where are my lukebiggs shippers at?

"Blue Leader" shows up (and changes hair color between panels but hey, styslistic choice). He's Red in the film and for fun I decided that Luke knows this. The Biggs reunion is a deleted and 20 years later undeleted scene - I am not a fan of reinserting it into the film without the set-up of Biggs' previous scenes but it is what it is.

The leader talking about knowing Luke's father remains deleted though. Both versions are kinda odd to be honest - in canon he just takes Biggs' word for it (although without the previous deleted scenes we can assume that Biggs has been with the rebellion longer that the maybe several days it looks like originally). In the version shot he comes off as annoyed and doubtful, warms up after Biggs' line, and then tells Luke about having known his father - but without the realization shown in the comic. The leader's last line is also strange, even without the context added in the 2000s about Jedi not having children and relationships. What do you mean "original Jedi Knights"? Does he assume that many of the Jedi killed at the beginning of the Empire (which I don't believe was established lore either) had surviving infants? I don't get it.

Anyway, Biggs and Luke have their romantic goodbyes with several heartbreaking lines:

(Seriously, what is more of a tragic romance than two childhood friends unexpectedly reuniting before flying off to battle for their cause and promising to catch up after? And Luke is only there because Biggs vouched for him? "We're a couple of shooting stars that'll never be stopped!" My heart...)

Threepio is unwilling to be upstaged when it comes to dramatically saying last goodbyes to your love:

The lines "skyboy" and "let's get cracking" seem to be comic inventions and I love them dearly.

Love the sassy narration. Perhaps both, indeed.

[maximuswolf]

Most Disturbing Albums

Most Disturbing Albums Fair warning, most of these are extreme metal.1. Anhedonia by Lifeless2. Buyer’s Markey by Peter Sotos3. Projekt Misanthropia by Stalaggh4. All the Dread Magnificence of Perversity by Gnaw Their Tongues 5. Hatred For Mankind by Dragged Into Sunlight6. Not Dark Yet by Fluids 7. Deleted Scenes From The Transition Hospital by The Axis Of Perdition8. Everywhere at the End of Time by The Caretaker 9. Vexovoid by Portal10. Crawling Altars by Utarm Submitted June 01, 2024 at 11:58AM by Zealousideal-Fuel479 https://ift.tt/BpgNhQw via /r/Music

[doctorbrown]

7, 8, 18, and 21? :)

7. What's the best thing about the canon you're writing?

The possibility. BTTF as a franchise lends itself to endless crossovers and alternate timelines and potential scenarios that there's no shortage of material to work with. Who's to say a malfunction with the flux capacitor, something like one of the prongs no longer working, doesn't result in the ability to unknowingly dimension hop? Almost like Steins;Gate hopping between worldlines.

Like, I've got an AU idea that needs some severe fleshing out that involves the brainwave analyser tech, the flux capacitor, and an accident either in the lab or in the time machine that results in these two technologies fusing in a way and producing very unexpected (and for a while unknown/confusing) effects on our main heroes.

But yeah, honestly, the fact that everything can be canon and absolutely nothing at all can be canon is one of the best things. There's no shortage of creativity that comes with a franchise like this and as someone who used to write all the time and who loves weaving complex stories, there's a lot to play around with here.

Also another one of the best things is that there's always something new to see or think about. Some new fan theory, some new small little detail in the film somebody has spotted that nobody thought of before...

Yeah.

8. What's the worst thing about the canon you are writing?

Hmmmmmm. Difficult question. That the animated series fell very flat? That some of the deleted scenes across the films should've been left in to some capacity? That sometimes they don't quite stick to their own time travel rules in the film? Though honestly I don't really care about that because all the films are so great.

I think I'm going to once again say how shafted Jennifer gets in the official canon tbh. I'm glad that the fandom at least loves Jen and gives her better and gives her what she deserves because I love her and she will always be a part of the Time Family as far as I'm concerned.

18. How long have you been writing the character?

Started 10 August 2023 so...about three months 'properly' writing him.

21. Which song do you feel describes your character the most and why?

I'm just choosing songs that describe Doc in some way rather than trying to hunt down the song that describes him the most right now since I'm very bad with music-based asks haha.

I picked Strange Machines by The Gathering before, but another good option I'd have to say might be Traveller in Time by Uriah Heep, and this one has a lot of vibes of him being stuck in the nineteenth century.

Every day I have to look at the sun to see where it was that I've come from. I have a feeling there must be a time when I'll get a chance to go home.

coughs the line about trying so hard to pay for my crime nails it if you think about how guilty Doc felt for the situation, even though it wasn't his fault, and leaving Marty seemingly stranded back in '55 and himself in 1885.

If I could go back the same way I got here and see the people that I once held so near, I'd do my best to find an answer for you, but first I must wait until I'm set free and I don't know how long that's gonna be.

Then there's just the I'm a man with a whole lot on his mind just out there somewhere travelling in time.

Also, the line I've tried for so long to find some way of helping mankind REALLY hits because Doc has definitely wanted to do that with his inventions; believed he could help make the world a better place.

canon questionnaire.

[13thgoat]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: DVD STIGMATA (1999) RATED R SCORE BY BILLY CORGAN SMASHING PUMPKINS.

[gordopickett]

El Gordo Just Might (For All Mankind 2.4 "Pathfinder" missing scene)

The first part is the entire hangar scene from ep 2.4 "Pathfinder," and then I've written a "missing scene" where Gordo & Ed take out their frustrations with each other on the Ellington Field apron.

El Gordo Just Might (3116 words) by GordoPickett Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: For All Mankind (TV 2019) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Gordo Stevens, Ed Baldwin Additional Tags: for all mankind, Episode: s02e04 Pathfinder (For All Mankind, For All Mankind Pathfinder, For All Mankind missing scene, For All Mankind deleted scene, Missing Scene, Deleted Scene, Pathfinder - Freeform, hangar, T-38, El Gordo, El Gordo Just Might, Male Friendship, Dogfighting, NASA, Ellington Field, Fighting, Fear, Anxiety, Tough Love, turning point Series: Part 3 of For All Mankind Summary: The first part is the entire hangar scene from ep 2.4 "Pathfinder," and then I've written a "missing scene" where Gordo & Ed take out their frustrations with each other on the Ellington Field apron.

[brokehorrorfan]

The Event: The Complete Series will be released on Blu-ray on June 6 via Mill Creek Entertainment. The sci-fi conspiracy thriller series ran for one season on ABC between 2010 and 2011.

Created by Nick Wauters, the show stars Jason Ritter, Sarah Roemer, Laura Innes, Ian Anthony Dale, Scott Patterson, Taylor Cole, Lisa Vidal, Bill Smitrovich, Clifton Collins, Jr., Željko Ivanek, and Blair Underwood.

Special features for the five-disc set are listed below.

Special features:

Select episode audio commentaries with directors, cast, and crew

Making of The Event featurettes

Dr. Dempsey alternate story

Deleted scenes

And more

Jump aboard the high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker as he investigates the disappearance of his would-be fiancée Leila, unwittingly exposing a cover-up so big it could change the fate of all mankind.

Pre-order The Event: The Complete Series.

[homonecans]

Godzilla (1954) vs Godzilla King of the Monsters (1956)

The Godzilla King of the Monsters was a significantly less enjoyable film. The characters lacked depth and motivation, especially Serizawa. All the characters in general were glossed over and their important lines were taken from them in favor of giving Steve the spotlight, which contributed to make the film one-dimensional. The characters were only occasionally dubbed, just to give vital information or talk to Steve. Steve’s character in general was genuinely unneeded. His inclusion took away from the other characters and made the film as more of a chronicle of a reporter relaying the story of a lifetime instead of the original Godzilla which focused on with who have to live through the catastrophe, losing everything, tired of fleeing from mass destruction. In fact, I noticed the film cut a significant portion of lines specifically talking about the United States’ involvement in the war, specifically the conversation the ferry riders (?) have on the train where they talk about their fatigue with evacuation and barely fleeing from the bombing of Nagasaki. The film referenced bomb testing infrequently, only speaking of it when they tell of Godzilla’s origins, and discarded the most important conversations and lines about the importance of preventing future beasts like Godzilla by stopping the development of these weapons.

My biggest gripe with the film was definitely how they characterized Serizawa. The film took away the conflict Serizawa faces with either allowing Godzilla to roam free or making his invention known to man and having it inevitably used as a weapon. This exclusion made his suicide feel worthless and reduced it to being about Ogata and Emiko’s relationship, since his relationship is the only other thing we know about him and they don’t provide a motivation for his suicide that’s actually related to the Oxygen Destroyer. These adjustments change the fundamental message of the movie significantly, erasing the implications of what Godzilla’s existence means to mankind. By deleting the scenes where the characters directly discuss the fallout of the war, there’s an absolution of the United States’ involvement in the creation of Godzilla and thus excludes them from preventing the creation of another Godzilla-esque beast by halting nuclear weapons development.

Overall, it was an okay film.

[gesternchen]

Just randomly reviewing scenes from the movies no one remembers now. This week: Avatar (2009).

It’s not like everyone forgot James Cameron’s Avatar. Since we’re still getting some footage from behind the scenes of the sequel and news about the cast, at least someone takes pains to remind themselves of this cinematic experience from the year of 2009. It’s already been 84 (just kidding, 11) years and I’m still looking forward to at least watching the teaser (fun fact: I was 11 when Avatar came out, I’m 22 now). I even bought the Darkhorse comic book on Tsu’Tey’s backstory to, you know, investigate one of my favorite characters a little bit better (spoiler: the backstory wasn’t very much eventful but I noticed a nice detail there which I may talk about briefly a bit later).

Throughout the years Avatar has received a lot of backlash and more or less justified criticism, mainly for the plot and its problematic packaging. I believe, it depends on the perspective one watches a movie from. Of course, I wouldn’t call it an absolute gem of exciting storytelling, even though I truly enjoy it, as in majority its twists are undeniably predictable. However, I always disagreed with people saying relations in Avatar aren’t deep at all. Well, romance between Jake and Neytiri, which, let’s be honest, except for the scene of telling the truth, went too smoothly, and this is why I strongly believe clash of interests is inevitable in sequels. Their interaction remained the key one for the whole movie, and nothing is bad about that, people enjoy a nice lovestory, so do I. But 11 years after I’d like to focus on the disturbing conflict everyone prefers to ignore for some reason when recalling Avatar. For me it’s always been Jake versus Colonel Quaritch.

You guys may have already guessed which scenes I wanna talk about. Those really important ones that I consider climactic to the pace of narration. And what is more about them, they give us crucial details in character development and actors’ play to think through. The main message: Quaritch knew it was coming.

Let me firstly touch upon the scene of short conversation between Jake and Quaritch prior to Sully presumably leaving Pandora. While Jake is awating Quaritch in a large empty hall, he hardly seems to be calm about the talk, every nerve in his body is trembling, but why?

The way Jake’s drumming his fingers on the table makes me wonder if he’s okay.

Then Colonel enters the hall, grabs a chair and reminds that it had been more than two weeks since he got the latest report on how the misson was going. He knows, Sully is questioning reality, and no, he’s not ‘doubting his resolve’. He knows, the right moment to ‘terminate the mission’ is missed. He knows, he lost Jake. He knows, he’s talking to the deserter. Yet Quaritch speaks indifferent. He praises Jake’s effort and rewards him for that. With real legs he promised to him when they first talked. Quaritch hoped they’d trigger the realization in Jake. Which doesn’t happen. How sad he looks when Jake openly refuses to accept the reward.

In just one sequence Stephen’s face demonstrates the shift of all four feelings Quaritch goes through: dissatisfaction, melancholy, shame, disgust.

Quaritch sensed the moment when Jake expressed superiority to the mankind. Jake grasped that Quaritch knew everything, he played with fire, and that’s why he felt anxiety. And it lasted all the way until Quaritch stepped back for leaving the hall. But did Colonel really surrender? I doubt that.

The tension between them both feels electric, so it’s explainable why Jake’s transient smile is so awkward. Sam then heavily staring straight at Colonel's back suggests that up until now Jake regarded Quaritch as his enemy. The enemy he knew he would not be able to defeat.

I remember when watching this scene, I couldn’t get myself the answer to one question. The question was: which report did Quaritch refer to? ‘That report from two weeks ago’, but such information wasn’t satisfactory for me. To be honest, this small discovery became the actual reason why I decided to type this study. Let’s assume that this particular report which Quaritch mentioned was the videolog where Jake confessed that Omaticaya wouldn’t leave the Hometree. Here’s why.

The general audience is used to perceiving Quaritch as a cruel short-tempered military man who just waits for the starting pistol’s shot to destroy everything in sight. Again, nothing is wrong about this, the fact that his character was simply meant to be a generic personification of such type doesn’t leave us with any alternative impression of him. Let’s say, if he was given the order to ignite the operation of the Hometree’s destruction to screw the tribe out of the site, he would absolutely go for it (and so he does). He’s a man of his word after all. Let’s also say, if he was pissed off by Jake’s betrayal, he would transport himself to the mountain site in a blink of an eye, turn off the link and put Jake in jail right after the talk in the hall. Instead, Quaritch decided to wait and give Jake the last chance. Jake preffered unearthly wings to those more tangible, so Quaritch chose not to cut them so abruptly.

We’re moving to the next scene, taking place right before a toned down fight between Tsu’Tey and Jake (I’m saying so, because it’s actually one of the deleted scenes that got edited out of the final cut, and believe me, the pressure between two rivals there is way too intense). Quaritch is watching the record of Jake destroying bulldozer’s lenses with a stone. After that Jake’s face is zoomed and we watch Selfridge get frustrated, Quaritch looks pretty annoyed as well but doesn’t seem to be much surprised. What he’s feeling, is bitter disappointment in himself and knowing that he totally failed to persuade Jake to change his mind.

Just observe Stephen Lang’s performance here. He absolutely nails cold-eyed look, the fire burning slow inside of him is so palpable, and guess what, in a flash he flies off the handle.

Now, shall we check the ultimate scene, preceding the destruction of the Hometree. Though Grace versus Parker juxtaposition is central to this scene, the last time Quaritch confronting Jake face to face in his human body is essential to consider for making things clear.

When it comes to revealing to Selfridge the vainness of further negotiations with Omaticaya, isn’t it just interesting how fast Quaritch manages to find the correct videolog? It literally takes him not more than a couple of swipes to produce the proof. Here is why: he’s already watched the record and is completely aware of the Jake’s values having deteriorated.

You can tell, Jake knew he was under control, but he would rather like to ingnore this fact. His pathetic glance at Quaritch, who’s almost impending above his head, causes to think Jake would guess that Colonel could have watched this videolog. Rather, it was a mutual secret between the two of them until a turning point. But the moment of truth came, and Jake didn’t change his mind. Quaritch made sure of that and finally it was his time to triumph.

So how was it even possible to assume Quaritch may have watched the videolog I’ve been talking about for so long? Well, my explanation may be too easy to believe, but still: we can tell by Jake’s appearance and the date of the record that it is the vlog we need.

This telltale videolog was recorded 16 minutes after the another one, when Jake says that he’s uncertain, who he is anymore (LST abbreviation stands for Local Standard Time). Jake might have suddenly felt depressed and hopeless and got back to the camera while being too emotionally instable, and so must have forgotten to delete the final record.

I have one more note for you. If you check the videolog library Quaritch is swiping through, you’ll see that the latest important record, which he actually needs, is made in the interior of the mountain site block and dates back to August, 13. Other recent vlogs’ covers look nothing like Site 26 sequence. Jake may not have done any of these records at the mountain site. I still wonder though where those three or four ensuing videologs were recorded, the location seems to be red lighted, which means it isn’t blue lighting at Site 26. I may even assume he recorded some pieces at Hell’s Gate. Why would I think so? Probably because in those two scenes (dialog with Quaritch and confession at Parker’s office) Jake looks ten times better than before, he gained some weight at least and doesn’t resemble a living sceleton.

Selfridge gave Jake an hour to relocate the tribe, while gunships led by Colonel’s Dragon were already on full alert. Quaritch had no doubt that Jake’s peacekeeping mission would fail. He knew it from the beginning. Hence he sounds so sarcastic seeing Sully’s avatar tied.

Now Quaritch sipping his villain’s morning coffee tasting like fresh genocide doesn’t feel so cringy: he’s celebrating his victory over Jake (still I should agree with critisism on this point, it really is a stupid cliche and wasn’t intended to carry a deep meaning).

Now I should admit, it’s been a long journey to run this investigation and bring it to light by finally posting it. It took me around a day to collect my thoughts and express them by means of more or less readable English. Just would like to make a little side note: English is not my native, so I promise I did my best! Thanks to James Cameron for making a movie, which woke me up in the middle of the night to start reflecting, and to all the fans out there who still exist and remember this movie and so can read this essay. @avatarmovies I found your blog not so long ago and you guys say you enjoy headcanons (and movie reviews probably?..), so it would be nice if you reblogged this but I’m not insisting!!

[cosmic-navel-gazin]

In which I chronicle my Legacy of Kain journey and bridge it with your boy Adam Warlock! (Part 5 of many, and MASSIVE, I MEAN, HUMOUNGOUS SPOILERS for Soul Reaver 2 and the 1970’s Warlock)

Awwwwwwwww yeah we are going there, these compositions are most definitely on purpose.

This is where I realize that my true purpose in this world is to draw and talk about obscure or forgotten works of fiction, and I embrace this destiny. 

Ladies and gents, laughing times are over (not really though), sh*t gets very real again.

I guess it’s a bit late for this but if you have even the slightest interest in checking any of these properties out, do yourself a favor and go experience them first hand. If you just want to see me lose my mind and don’t really care about spoilers then please, proceed.

You know, when I started this little crossover of sorts, I was just having a laugh you know? It was just a cute little thing, I’ll write this one post and maybe I’ll get enough material for a second one and that’s it. THIS IS THE SEVENTH POST (even though it says Part 5). 

Never, and I do mean never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be here one day, talking about having your past and your time-travelling-future selves meet and clash, of seeing your sanctimonious attitude and overall the worst about yourself personified and given free reign to go on bloodthirsty crusades showing off how much of a hypocrite you’ve bee- but wait, I am getting a bit ahead of myself. 

I’ll get there I promise, let’s go back a bit.

Where we last left off, we managed to travel back to an even more distant past than we’ve been before. To the time of the great Vampire Purge, so that Raziel can meet this infamous ancient vampire who knows all the lore and might have the answers we seek on what exactly is causing the corruption of our world.

As we step out into this era of History we notice the fields covered with the Sarafan Order banners, and the impaled corpses and chopped-off heads of vampires. No different no doubt from the kindness vampires showed mankind later when they gained the upper hand during Kain’s 1.000 year old reign. Raziel seems a bit distraught by the sight since he assumed the Sarafan to be virtuous and heroic:

“For all the butchery of Moebius’s crusade, this massacre was somehow more chilling. The killing fields of the Sarafan betrayed a kind of orderly ruthlessness, the cold-blooded righteousness of the true believer.”

“Here at last in the flesh, I beheld my former brothers-in-arms, the warrior-priests of the Sarafan order; their lives devoted solely to the annihilation of the vampire plague. And while I confess I felt a twinge of longing, a pang of grief for what I had believed was my lost virtue, I regarded them now with none of the reverence I formally felt. For I had seen the human face of the vampires, and now I beheld the monstrousness of these men.”

While on the topic of genocidal holy wars, my boy Adam here had a bit of a run with a similar pious little group that goes by the name of Universal Church of Truth, who were going about doing a bit of cleaning throughout the galaxy:

Things don’t go so well:

Interestingly enough, I’ve learned of a deleted cutscene for Soul Reaver 2 that plays out very similarly to Adam’s first encounter with this “holy” order. There was this minor female vampire character that was being hunted down and would be executed by vampire hunters right in front of Raziel.

This scene was probably removed because they knew that almost 20 years later there would be some asshole on the internet trying to compare their games to obscure marvel comics of the 70’s.

But yeah bummer for Adam here, we’re a couple of pages in and he’s already failed to save someone. However, through the power of the Soul Gem, he’s able to retain her soul for a brief moment, letting us know more about these holy inquisitors:

Some of these methods don’t seem that far off from the Sarafan, especially on the twisting of good intentions part, but on a galactic scale:

Aye, a great bunch o’ fellas all around, if you submit and “fit in”:

Damn.

Hush Adam, I’ll get back to your predicament give me a moment. I just want the good people at home to keep both this church and the Magus, the god they worship in mind for later.

Now, back to the game. In the Sarafan Stronghold during the first hour of gameplay, Raziel made comments on the vampire he’s currently seeking while looking at some stained glass depictions:

“So this was the legendary Janos Audron - reputed to have been the most ancient and diabolical vampire to have ever existed. According to folklore, he lived high in the cliffs of Nosgoth’s northern mountains, and preyed mercilessly on the defenseless villagers below. His reign of terror ended when the Sarafan finally hunted him down and tore his throbbing heart from his still-living body. (…) But I wondered - could Janos Audron truly have been as monstrous as depicted here? Or was this merely artistic licence by the Sarafan, who sought to lionize themselves by demonizing their darkest enemy?

Keep these stained glass images in mind, they’ll also be important shortly. Neetheless to say, the hype was very real to meet this Janos Audron.

And as I kept hearing about this gentleman, I thought: “I really love this cast of pricks, where everyone speaks in half truths and is hiding something and has some hidden agenda, but you know, I kind of wish there was some slim ray of hope, of goodness and honor, just some good old plain chivalry and honesty. Maybe this Janos lad won’t be as bad as he was depicted back in the Sarafan Stronghold.” 

It took us a while but we’re finally make it to his retreat.

I really love the entire segment, the hopelessness and feeling of dread while making your way through this place, probably my favourite puzzle area of the game.  I also really love the music and architecture here.

When we do make it to the top, BOY OH BOY were my prayers answered!

Lo and behold, enter Raziel’s new daddy/mentor figure, my man JANOS AUDRON! Proabably the one decent and kind creature I’ve seen yet in these games (if you don’t count helpless human npcs who are just trying to live their lives but are caught in all these wars, slaughter and destruction).

FINALLY an understanding, moderate, compassionate man in the midst of all the lies and deception. I love him! Oh and he has what seems to be a Romanian accent. Maybe a nod to the granddaddy of all vampires: Dracula? I think his design is cool as well, so that helps.

Before we go into huge lore dumps and while on the topic of having a brief father/mentor figure for your protagonist when he’s utterly lost, alone and confused, I thought I’d bridge it with Adam’s own once foster parent, the High Evolutionary:

From the few minutes you get to know these dads they’re very different characters with different backstories and motivations. Janos is this sad lonely old man, the last of the ancient vampires and one who has been keeping himself alive solely for his sense of duty. 

While the High Evolutionary was once a man called Herbert Wyndham who performed an experiment that evolved him into a godlike being. This experience proved to be such an assault on his senses and perceptions that he chose to encase himself in this armour. Like the name suggests he is obsessed with genetic manipulation and tampering of various kinds, it is his life’s ambition. 

Despite his somewhat villainous appearance, he’s never portrayed as such from what little I’ve read, he’s just…a bit creepy. Like, he takes Adam in and is super stoked about adopting him, but he also values him not so much as a person per se as you and me would, but more as one would value an impressivly carved piece of work:

I don’t know, maybe it’s his metal face that doesn’t emote much; his sometimes questionable morality; maybe it’s the fact that Adam was 5 years old at this point, a baby boy, and this pink armoured deity is super hyped about him; there’s something a bit unsettling about this guy. Have some more dubious quotes I’ve stumbled upon:

All in all, I think he did care about him, in his own strange way:

Anyway, what’s important is that these adoptive dads serve a somewhat similar purpose, and that is to push/urge our ”“”“"heroes”“”“” (I say with many quotation marks) into a more benevolant role: to guide them in their messianic mission and save a corrupted world. Basically there to provide a chance for them to be good boys. Up until now their track record leaves much to be desired, and they’ve been quite lost on what they’re supposed to be and do.

Raziel:

“So it’s all true, then - what Kain and Vorador have told me - I really am some kind of unholy vampire messiah…”

Janos:

“Unholy? -no. Messiah… perhaps.”

Raziel:

“I don’t like that word - it smells of martyrdom.”

Janos:

“Raziel, your role in this world’s destiny is more crucial - and more benevolent - than you’ve allowed yourself to believe. Your journey will not be easy - dark powers are allied against you.”

Oh and both dads give their sons their toys (Soul Reaver and Soul Gem):

Back to the meeting with Janos, we finally learn tons of things, both new and others that have been hinted at throughout, namely:

Janos has been living a life of a recluse, alone, on top of the Aerie;

Janos knows of Raziel (some old legend I think) and has been waiting for him to hand him over the Soul Reaver, saying it is the key to save Nosgoth;

The Pillars of Nosgoth were erected by the ancient vampires and they were the rightful guardians. Janos was called to be th 10th guardian, the Keeper of the Reaver;

Over time this ancient race started to die out, with their history slowly being forgotten;

Humanity prospered and since the Pillars choose their guardians from birth and vampires were no longer born, humans were called to be their guardians but were “wholly ignorant of their true purpose.”

The Circle of human guardians is led to believe (by whom we do not yet know) that vampires are a cancer in the world. Janos warns that “with their vampire purge, the members of the Circle have assaulted the very architects of the Pillars they are sworn to protect (…) With every vampire they kill, the humans are slitting their own throats.”

Janos being a cool level-headed guy here when Raziel says he must hate mankind for all the suffering they’ve brought to him:

“They fear what they don’t understand; and they despise what they fear. But no - I do not hate them.”

I find it funny how Raziel asks if humanity should be forgiven for trying to exterminate the vampire kind and doesn’t realize that: one, he himself was exterminating vampires just a couple of moments ago back in SR1; and two, how he is just like how Janos describes humanity to be:

“They don’t understand what they’re doing. They are simply unenlightened… and vulnerable to manipulation.”

Again, this last line, completely unlike a certain blue shambling corpse I know. Not like him AT ALL.

Then, as they head inside, we learn something odd as Janos presents Raziel with the Reaver. You see, the two times Raziel has been close to the Soul Reaver still in its physical form, reality started to bend and distort (I show it off in this previous post). 

When we met Kain and decided not to kill him, he explained that when: “two incarnations of the blade meet in time and space, a paradox is  created, a temporal distortion powerful enough to derail history”

This distortion, or sense of displacement however, is nowhere to be found now when Janos presents the blade to him. Raziel feels nothing and says that “this nothingness is somehow worse…” and to get it away from him.

We learn the Reaver was forged by the same ancient vampire race that erected the Pillars (which we’ve seen hinted at when we explored the land and came accross all sorts of old murals).

But now THIS is when the game first impales me through the heart.

Me and Janos are interrupted by the Sarafan warriors who arrive carrying Moebius’ Staff (which disables vampires to the point of being barely able to move at all).

And of course! OF COURSE! Of course the moment my boy Raziel finds a truly positive influence in his life to guide and enlinghten him, and that was willing to put himself in danger in order to save him… he is axed! HEART RIPPED FROM HIS CHEST!

And by whom you ask? Who would do such a deed and kill my last ray of hope?

WHY, ME! 

TWICE!

“Me” because I was the one to open an entrance to Janos’ up until then impenetrable retreat, and literally me: human Raziel of the Sarafan that lived during this time period and was head inquisitor!

A bit different from what was depicted back at the Sarafan Stronghold, we found several centuries later (putting the same image here again so you don’t have to scroll up to compare, am I swell or what?):

The Sarafan escape with Janos’ heart and the Reaver, while wraith Raziel has a final moment with Janos. 

This part destroys me:

Raziel:

“Forgive me; I’m sorry… I failed you.”

Janos: (gently)

“No, Raziel. Perhaps this was my true purpose - simply to save your life this once.”

Raziel: (distraught)

“While I have taken yours…”

That last bit is probably my favourite line-read in the entire series so far (which is the most impossible thing to choose since there are so many great ones). But I think it’s the overwhelming sadness in Raziel’s voice that makes it memorable, you’ve never seen him feel like this for another creature.

Breaks my stone hardened heart every time I listen to it. And here’s why I think it’s an effective emotional scene, even though we only get a few minutes with Janos before he is murdered - it is because of contrast. Up until now everyone you meet is some degree of a bad or manipulative person, and you don’t really have a true friend or someone to confide in, there’s no one that really brings out the best in Raziel and it sucks because there is potential there.  So when you introduce the apparently only decent and noble person in this god forsaken land and you’re so used to by now suspect and mistrust everyone, it is impactful because he was truth and honesty in a sea of deception and moral relativism. He was my light in the midst of the fog and the one who saw good in me. And right when you’re finally relaxing and getting confortable the game pulls the rug from under you.

Now, while on the topic of having your past and future meet, there was a little something about the meeting between Adam and the Universal Church of Truth that I’ve been saving up until now. If you remember, Adam was interrogating the young woman who was killed by the inquisitors about the church and the god they worship. When suddenly:

Good news is, Adam must’ve taken a left turn somewhere and ended up on the set for “Monty Python’s Life of Brian”, where he learned some latin:

This helped him quickly figure out the Magus’ identity:

Learn your dead tongues kids, you never know when it might come in handy when meeting your time travelling, thousands of years old future-self:

So as you can se, we have a similar self-discovery journey going on but reversed in a way. In Raziel’s case you play as his future self, who time travels back in time, meets his past self and sees what a hypocrite he’s been his entire life. In Adam’s case you follow his present self, who meets the Magus (his future self), who has travelled back in time 5.000 years, in which time he has built his empire. Meeting and confronting said empire/future self, leads Adam to see what a hypocrite he’s been his entire life. You see, both Adam and Raziel have always been their own worst enemy (their own shortcomings and character flaws). So it would be only natural that we get embodiments of the worst in them: Raziel, the human Sarafan Warrior and the Magus, their past and future selves respectively.

Oof, this was a long one, and I’ve reach the character limit. In the next post I’ll elaborate more on their characters and different selves; and we go through the roller-coaster of emotions that is the endgame for both these stories.

Look foward to me losing my mind even further while I go into time travelling, paradox shenanigans… oh, and look foward to happier times with COSMIC SUICIDE! See you in the near future.