#i do GET both but ive always assumed major to the franchise

[appleschloss]

This probably won't get much reach but I'm curious!

If you see MCD on a fic- how do you interpret it?

[elenatria]

hello! ive gone through your hiddlesworth headcanons tag and i absolutely love every single one of them

Awww thanks for loving my Hiddlesworth headcanons, that means a lot! ^__^

As for where the Tom vs Taika theory came from… Shall I tell you?… :-P

There’s no evidence or hints of Tom not liking Taika’s style whatsoever. I’ve asked the people making those claims time and time again and I got no answers, to the point I thought they had inside info or something and they wouldn’t tell us lol.

So, as a disclaimer, this is my SPECULATION, my HEADCANON. I do believe some people will get offended anyways by my assuming things about fans and celebrities I do not know personally so beware of… imminent butthurtness. *puts helmet on and opens an umbrella*

There’s a simple explanation to the Tom vs Taika dispute: it’s called… Loki/Tom stanning. Not in the sense that the majority of Loki/Tom stans are not nice people who support him and his work. In the sense that some Loki/Tom stans cannot love Loki or Tom without hating on Thor, Chris or Taika. 

Why? Because to them everything is a pissing contest and their baby is not loved enough if another baby in the same film gets… equal, or bigger amounts of love. The logic of it all makes my brain trickle out of my ears. 

Get  this: if a THOR  movie called “THOR” isn’t all about… Loki/Tom, if co-stars and directors are not sucking up to him 24/7, if Loki isn’t the badassest badass who badasses the shit out of Thor, then there must be something wrong with the movie, with the protagonist who’s “the new flavour” (Chris) or with the director who “doesn’t care enough about Loki’s character/arc” (Taika) because he has his own headcanon about Thor and Loki and “loves Thor/Chris more”. 

There are many many people disappointed in “Ragnarok” (and Taika) because this time it was Loki who got his ass kicked, Loki who got tricked, Loki who got pushed around for shits and giggles. Oh my GAWD the horror, the poor poor innocent baby who is allowed to blast a whole city, throw his brother out of a hellicarrier, lie to him on several occasions because “he was adopted and lied to” and get away with it all, while some stans bawl their eyes out just because he got… electrocuted and because Thor didn’t suck his metaphorical dick in the elevator scene proclaiming his undying love to him (as if Thor DIDN’T try to do that on several occasions in the past - and failed). So, to them, Loki being on his brother’s side, helping him, meant he was back again in Thor’s shadow, and Loki is not supposed to do that, in any film. He’s supposed to be a king and rule the universe and be the coolest shit in all Thor films, as if his mere existence in the comics isn’t permanently linked with his brother’s fate. There would be no Loki without Thor but… whatever, don’t try telling them that. They talk about “balance” and “equality” but in reality all they want is Loki to take center stage again. Talking about insecurities. 

Then there’s the Tom stanning. Again, if a “Thor” promo tour is not all about Tom (and people forget that this happened mostly during “The Dark World”, when Marvel caught up to Loki’s popularity - and NOT so much during the two previous films) then there must be something wrong with the director, right? Let’s face it, Taika is the “fresh prince of Marvel” these days, promoting himself and his work, leaving his fingerprints all over the film, filling the promo tour and the gag reels with his exhuberant persona. He likes to act like a total diva who loves himself and never misses a chance to show off (watch him photo-bombing Vin Diesel’s selfie vid during the 10 Years of Marvel photo shoot), and why not dammit, he’s gorgeous and funny and a genius, the fucking absolute role-model. Apparently Marvel sensed he can work miracles with the franchise and gave him free rein.

Can you see the coincidence here? Tom was all about promoting his work (and Ragnarok) at Wizard World and Nerd HQ up until summer 2016. Then, when it was time to do the Ragnarok promo tour a year later, Tom’s withdrawal, exhaustion and absence from most Ragnarok premieres (and interviews) combined with Taika’s popularity and self-promotion led people to believe Taika had stolen his thunder.

Less Tom + More Taika = They don’t like each other/don’t work well together, geddit?

The thing is, Tom and Taika have many things in common, but they’re also very very different. 

So after talking to my friend @dinamicus we came to the conclusion that might even… confirm what Tom stans say!… I mean yeah, they might be right!… But I assure you, from my part, it’s a TOTAL HEADCANON based on Tom’s studies and public appearances that suits my Tom=Cinderella, Taika=Wicked Fairy Godmother of the West theory. Plus it DOESN’T mean they don’t get along in reality, or that Tom has probs working with Taika. It’s a theory, one which I don’t totally believe anyway.

Tom/Taika differences:

Taika loves improvisation but it doesn’t seem to be Tom’s forte. Tom came from RADA, remembers everything and recites Shakespeare in his sleep while Taika has a more loose directorial style not based on “classical training” and learning things by heart. Also notice Tom’s speeches at the Bafta awards (with Mark Strong) and the Golden Globes (the one he got so much unfair criticism for). Maybe maybe he’s not at his best when he doesn’t have a solid script to work on, that’s why those speeches came out so awkward, and maybe that’s why he got so much bashing after the Globes. Poor man, he couldn’t catch a break just because he made the mistake to “talk too much”. I assure you, to me it wasn’t about “self-promotion” and “self-indulgence” as most people accused him of, it was about him wanting to connect his award with his work for Unicef, and he was talking and talking and, unavoidably, some of it sounded as if he was bragging. Also, from most of the Ragnarok interviews I’ve seen, he didn’t mention improvising as much as Chris and Mark did.

Taika loves self-mockery, Tom doesn’t. They’re both funny af but they have a different type of humour. Tom always blushes when he receives compliments BUT you’ll never see him use self-sarcasm, like, ever. As if he’s too self-conscious (or just a bit insecure…?) to let himself loose and, like Chris or Taika, to make fun of himself, his image. Maybe he’s not as confident as those two, maybe he cares too much about people’s opinions, maybe he’s too uptight, maybe he’s not into that type of humour. Who knows.

Tom/Taika similarities:

They both love their fans, and love being adored by them. So imagine these two  enfants gâtés being in the same room. Who will get more attention, hugs and kisses? It’s a contest!

They both missed their dads while growing up (Tom’s parents were divorced when he was 13, Taika has said more than once that his parents weren’t together as he grew up and he missed being cuddled by both of them - btw could someone enlighten us on this? I don’t know much). So, two big kids who apparently need all the love and the attention in the world collide because they want the same things. 

But honestly, I don’t need any kind of “proof” to know that Tom and Taika got along. 

I just take Tom’s word for it.

Oh. And Taika’s.

Who apparently liked Tom enough to miss him after the filming ended...

... and 

TO BE THE HAM IN THE GODDAMN HIDDLESWORTH SANDWICH.

Still, “Taika doesn’t like Tom”.

Whatever.

[cabinboy100]

12 MONKEYS SEASON 3 TRAILER

* UPDATE *

I’ve posted a v.2 of this, now with screenshot visual aids *and* more rambling! I know—how’s *that* possible, right?

So…Syfy’s posted a new trailer for season 3 of 12 MONKEYS. Usually, I would do my best to dodge promos before a show or movie is actually released. I like to get hit w/the text without as few hints as possible. Go in with as little pre-text as possible. But, given the paradigm-shifting “linear-binge” release of this season—leave it to 12 MONKEYS to Splinter an entire season (encompassing centuries =) into a single weekend, with all 10 episodes beamed in order over May 19, 20, and 21—I’m thinking I’ll need to get my wheels-spinning crazy talk wherever I can. And thusly, I tumbl…

The first new shot of Cole, from the front and then from behind, has him holding a tech-festooned staff. The design calls to mind a computerized tuning fork, *just* the thing for time/dimension/reality-hopping, or tuning/dialing. Perhaps one of its components is a tank of red tea, reloadable via Keurig-like cartridges? With a regulated IV feed or retractable needles in the handle? Maybe this device enhances or adapts Cole’s mental time travel abilities, allowing him to view specific points in time or even what-if?s. Could it be a way to enable him to physically travel? A staff version of the vests? =)

Titan appears as a complex/city in the distance with a sea with rocks or wreckage or maybe ice floes in the foreground. Does Titan only move in Time and not space (relative to the Earth)? Is it always in Colorado? Climate change is real, people!

We see someone with great posture ascend the steps within Titan to meet w/Tall Man, or perhaps his father, both surrounded by robed figures. RE: that posture…It reminds me of Ethan Seki, but knowing that he’s in this season, I’m thinking Gaius Baltar.

That first shot of the four hat-and-coated figures, silhouetted in the fog or smoke in the dark…The three lights on each of their vests powering on…Gorgeous! Evokes DARK CITY for me (a good thing =), and some kind of clockwork men. I want the tech to be embedded in these people, but a later shot shows us that this is likely tech mounted on a vest. Portable Splinter/Titan units, a la Doctor Who’s Vortex Manipulators? In a future world (like, the future of the future, post-2044) of 12 MONKEYS, that’s where my head immediately goes. Although, honestly, that seems very unfair, no?

Still, if that IS what they are, I'd associate them with some very interesting story/logic that necessitates their not being usable before some year. After all, if the Witness's forces *ever* had this tech, they could have used it in the times Team Splinter has visited, right? Maybe the use of these vests shreds spacetime, and jumping back beyond a certain point would undo their invention in the first place? Or, y'know, something like that. =)

I’m *really* hoping that these figures are Something Else, tho. At the bottom of the season 3 poster, we see them standing in front of a console with the Witness’s/Titan symbol, and so, we want to associate them, right? But what if that’s just a couple of these…Time Shadows entering the Titan city limits? What if these guys are representatives of another player in the war across/for time? Perhaps descendants of the Witness and the Titanians, who know more than W does…Or are using W as their agent in their relative past?

Or maybe they serve a Time Variance Authority. Some organization—who knows under what authority/morality?—that watches over and polices Time and History, countering and punishing anyone who seeks to change too much. Maybe to preserve their own existence, Time’s existence (assuming damage is done by reckless splintering), or their own ideal mission outcome.

Cuz, how great would it be to have everyone we know, set up as enemies and rivals in so many permutations, ultimately be on the same side versus some (apparently) greater Time fascist?

Or greater threat to Time itself? If we take the Red Forest being an End-of-Time paradise as a feint, constructed to get all the splinter chess pieces into the right places to bring about the birth of the Witness, then the Witness was never really about that, right? Maybe he didn’t come up w/that threat himself, tho. What if he adapted it from a greater threat to Time? So…Casserole & Son (*and* Jones, Jennifer, Ramse & Son, Olivia, the Daughters, the X-Monkeys, & Agent Gale, Primaries, Monkeys, Druze et al) are destined to fight someone who truly does want to destroy all of Time and replace it with… Well, nothingness seems like a good ultimate goal, let’s go with that for now.

What if the super-future is amazing, but in a universe in which time travel is ever invented, history must be choreographed in order for it to be realized and persist. So, this paradise future has a black ops arm that manipulates events in the past to keep it safe. The paradise is a wonderful destiny for humanity, but it robs humans in the past and present of free will. Which side would you fight for in that scenario?

Hrm…Looking a little harder at the season 3 poster again…Are there four Time Shadows (that works, right?) holding, like, an Ark of the Witness between them? I thought it was some kind of console/control panel, but now I’m seeing it differently. Interrrresting…

A funeral for Time? For the Witness? 

A Time bomb? 

If the vests aren’t vortex manipulator-y, maybe their portable splinter device? 

A Witness trap or cage? 

Time picnic dinner?

The Word of the Witness is shown preserved in plastic panes or lucite, hanging in a candelabra-lit room, a red-vine patterned banner (or glass pane?) behind it. Its Ramse-torn corner is still absent. Does Ramse still have that swatch tucked in a coat pocket somewhere?

COLE: The man behind the apocalypse is my son?

A clip of some creepy Edgar Allen Poe-y Masque(rade) of the Red Death…Cole and Cassie apparently in attendance. Hrm…Red Death…I had a theory back in season 1 that the Army might be an influence throughout history responsible for all major epidemics/plagues, as a way to thin the herd, perhaps disable or control meddling Primaries, and keep a population manageable via their resources and manipulations.

Cross fade to Cass and Cole going Nicholas Nickleby/Christmas Carol on some cobblestoned street…

KATARINA: It's been about them…

That's Jones apparently referring to Cass and Cole.

<aside> What would Cassandra name her child? I’m guessing, sadly, that Cole won’t be present for the birth. Assuming it’s a boy, maybe she’d go with her father, whom we haven’t met yet. Has Cassie mentioned him by name on the show? If not that grandpa, then how about Cole’s father, Matthew? (I don’t think we have confirmation that he’s James’s bio dad, but we never saw anyone question it.) Or—How about someone important to *both* of them? The person responsible for bringing them together? Katarina Werner Jones! Boy, *that’s* gotta sit well with Katarina, eh? (see/watch above line of dialogue =)

So, how about Jones? Like the space cat in ALIEN! Or Jonas? Jonas Cole. Jonas Railly? Or…Werner? Not so cute, but somehow fitting for a Witness-to-be, eh? Werner Cole, The Witness. Yeah. That’ll look good on his business card. =) </aside>

RAMSE: About time we set things straight…

If that is actual dialogue between Jones and Ramse, it signifies the formation of an alliance, between Ramse (and Olivia and her X-Mon/Orphans of Time) and Jones and Project Splinter. Their goal? To undo and/or destroy the Witness, which would likely pit them against one or both of his parentals. Ramse *does* like to boast about how he eats blondes for breakfast…~

Next we see an eyes-burning return to the Emerson Hotel, sometime in the mid to late 80s.

Will we ever see the lightning storm/strike that freezes the lobby’s clock? =)

Cole is dressed as Marty McFly. O, man! Are we gonna get an in-universe origin/inspiration encounter for BACK TO THE FUTURE? Whoa…

So, how about this? Agent Gale’s granddaughter, Roberta, has somehow inherited his dossier on his wacky misadventures with Cole & the Gang, and is staking out the Emerson in the 80s, perhaps at her grandpa’s direction, but maybe on her own. She meets them, maybe joins them in splintering, if the tech allows (Deacon as Time…ummm…Peter? Paul? Judas doesn’t seem right, right? =) helps them out, but of course, is sworn to secrecy—who’d believe her, anyway?—but hey, disinformation as a 3-movie franchise wasn’t disallowed, right? Story credit: Bob Gale. =)

CASS: Help me save him.

It’s just a pronoun, people. "Him" could be anyone…Junior/Witness, Cole, Deacon, Witness the Time Puppy… =)

Christopher Lloyd, wearing the Titan pendant, apparently standing in an event-y tent illuminated by standing and hanging lamps…a remote location? An excavation site? A wedding reception? A pop-up portrait studio?

The pendant and wardrobe sells the Tall Man's father identity pretty hard. As far as we know, he wouldn’t have any Messenger blood. So, if he’s not enhancedly long-lived, what era/s would he have been operating in? Given the garb, perhaps from within the clergy? Maybe late 19th century into the first half of the 20th, to find/meet Vivian in the 40s. There’s gotta be a story there about why/how Vivian returns to the Army after rejecting the Witness. I still would really love for Tall Man to be playing a long con within the Army, a sleeper agent of revenge upon the Witness for doing his mother wrong.

Maybe Christopher Lloyd's playing TM’s adopted father or Army mentor? Cuz I still *really* want his biodad to be Agent Gale! =)

COLE: If there's something wrong with him, he got it from me…

We see some drawings of gun-pointing Cole, surrounded by arcane, rune-ish characters… There’s also a shot somewhere earlier in the teaser, looking down on a figure in the center of a spiral of similar marks on a floor, suggesting that the figure has drawn them. Jennifer? Young W?

The drawings are followed by a matching image of Cole pointing the gun in reality, the exact some POV. If this were season 2, I’d say the drawings were done by a Primary who’d been targeted by Cole. His mission would have been to kill the Primary before a Messenger could paradox him or her. Could that strategy still be in play by the Witness or another party?

Or are these drawings by the Witness, who has seen that Cole would come for him as a child? Does Cole know at this gun-pointing time that W is actually Jimmy, Jr.? I’m guessing not. Hrm…

We see Katarina approaching the mothballed/covered up Splinter device. When is this? In history and in her personal timeline? Could this be a flashback to when she first arrives at Raritan National Labs from Spearhead? Or a visit that calendar-year predates that (maybe in Kat’s past, maybe her future), after the Army shut down Mr. Dr. Jones when Cole and Ramse went off-Word. Or her return to the lab, in a future (splintered-forward?) visit, post-2044.

OLIVIA: …the very edge of time…an inch from falling over…

I *think* that’s what she says. Is there an End of Time? Following thru on the idea that Time is a living thing, given life by Humanity, the End of Time would be coincident with the end of Humanity. Maybe Titan’s “home” setting is that era? If only Titanians live then, then they (and their one or few Primaries) basically ARE Time, no? Whoever lives then, would essentially *be* Time.

We see Cass approach a pedestal with a Witness plague doctor mask mounted on it…The mask is lit from above, but the space is lit by candles. This may be the same space in which the WotW is hanging.

JENN: Stop talking like a super villain.

Jennifer continues to rock! Olivia and Jennifer seem to be speaking to each other through a chain link fence. Olivia’s lucky there’s something separating them, cuz *that* is going to be an interesting reunion. I wonder how close the nearest stabby item is when that happens. =)

THE COMPLETE NEW SEASON

KATARINA (or the new girl?): Don't make me put you down…

As Jones pushes thru double doors (at Project Splinter?)…Daughters behind her?

JENN: They're coming—they're coming!

This may be Jennifer the Titan-zapped girl-out-of-time dropped into WW1 (or later, 2?), exercising her Primary abilities to warn her unwitting captors or guards of imminent Monkeys Army meddling.

DEACON: Go!

This looks like a shot from the season 2 finale, caught between a rock and robed-and-masked place, facing Witness acolytes in Titan, holding the pass so that Jennifer can escape get coin-tossed into Time. Maybe just cuz that footage is available, but maybe cuz we’ll see it again when we learn how he survived.

Ramse, leading with a gun and firing…Nothing new there, right? =)

IN ONE WEEKEND EVENT

CASS: He's mine…

Cut to Cass apparently giving birth…a new age-y red leaf infused water birth?

Tall Man looking true-believer-ecstatically pleased…Maybe a shot we’ve already seen?

EVIL ANNIE LENNOX: You can't have him…

She's sporting a 3-lights vest vortex manipulator over her MIB/Stranger/Observer/Chosen One/Time Shadow coat…

Jenn and Cole stomping thru a complex (looks like Project Splinter), Cole loading his gun, Jenn following…

A chapel or small-ish cathedral(?), the sanctuary heavily candlelit…Are the walls decorated with gilded red vines? A figure before a table before the altar with his back to the pews…It seems the voice we hear should belong to that figure…

W: Mother…Father…After all this time…

Two people walk down the aisle, approaching the figure at the front of the chapel… Seems like Cass on the left, Cole on the right, possibly in those black coats—in disguise?—maybe wearing Time Vests.

Cut to a figure raising a mask to reveal his face during "After all this time…"

Knowing that James “Gaius Baltar” Callis is in this season, I think it's him and his Brit-ish/aristocratic accented voice. Not sure that the unmasking happens in that same chapel space or as part of that same scene.

Based on W’s choice of words, seems like Cass will be separated from her son at some point in his infancy. Sad. =(

Then again, if that’s the case, who’s to say that this person confronting them *is* actually Jimmy, Jr., huh? =)

12 MONKEYS NEW SEASON MAY 19

It’s later than you think =)

Keep on keepin’ on~