#screencap analysis

[shadowspellchecker]

Sherlock Holmes Research Links

Because apparently I must bibliograph everything. Yes, bibliograph isn't a word. It is now.

[adh-d2]

Only Crosshair could have let her go in that moment. Crosshair, who's learned not only to trust Omega but to respect her autonomy. Who knows what it means to be the cause of your loved one's pain for reasons outside of your control. Who's willing to risk everything to honor her wishes.

And only Omega could have convinced him to do it. Omega, the one person who never gave up on him. Who taught him that people can change for the better, even himself. The person for whom his hand doesn't shake when the shot really matters.

-

I was devastated when he failed to hit them with the tracker. It's not often that Star Wars shocks me, but I needed to let the credits roll as it sank in that he really missed.

It would have been so easy for the writers to give them the win here. For this to be the culmination of all their character growth this season. Don't get me wrong, I'm not mad about it. This is fantastic. I have no idea what's going to happen next. The writers are making some brave choices this season, and I am so here for it.

[lesbianfakir]

Something that is an example of good character writing in Princess Tutu is how Fakir and Duck have little incompatibilities in their personalities (you know. Beyond the obvious). It makes it a little harder for them to get along and understand one another but you get the sense that they’re both putting the effort in. It’s sweet and it makes the relationship feel all the more real.

Fakir is serious, blunt, and he doesn’t sugarcoat things. His words often come across as harsh, even when there’s real care behind them. As a result, Duck—who reads his tone but not always the intentions behind it—doesn’t always pick up on when he’s doing something nice for her. For example, when Duck starts to tell Mytho she’s Princess Tutu, Fakir startles her to interrupt her, causing her to turn back into a duck. She takes offense and only later realizes he did it so she wouldn’t reveal her identity to mytho before she was ready (and even then I don’t think she picks up on the full extent of it). There’s another scene where he tells her point blank if she doesn’t want to fight the raven she needs to stop being princess tutu. It comes across as quite harsh and seems to visibly sadden Duck, though he cares about her deeply and is only trying to keep her safe.

The other “incompatibility” that comes to mind is how Fakir is sensitive and easily offended while Duck tends to blurt out whatever’s on her mind. While there are many scenes where he does get upset (take the scene in the Wandering Knight where he takes her request to stop getting in fights as an attack on his character), there are just as many where he doesn’t take the bait. Watch the show a few times and you’ll notice Fakir has a habit of going silent when Duck says something insensitive. He waits for her to finish speaking and he either ignores her or moves on. In those moments, you can feel the conscious effort he’s making to not lash out. Duck’s earnest naïveté is part of why draws him to her but at the same time it causes friction between then when she’s overly hopeful about something delicate to him, like his writing.

Anyways tldr; Fakir tends to hide what he’s feeling and thinking behind a deadpan demeanor, which sometimes obscures his true intentions from Duck. Meanwhile Duck tends to trample over the things Fakir is sensitive about in conversation, and he often has to stop himself from getting upset. In these moments you see how these characters may not completely understand each other but they care about each other a lot and actively work to smooth out their differences. Also it’s very cute when Duck realizes after the fact Fakir did something nice for her and her face lights up.

These little quirks make room for natural misunderstandings between the characters. Honestly, I like how Princess Tutu doesn’t smooth out compatibility issues or completely rewrite Fakir’s character when he and Duck become friends. The same flaws and tendencies are present, we just see the characters taking more active, conscious steps towards getting along.

[embracing-the-ineffable]

Ineffable discontinuity and the Bentley's roadtrip transformation: new back doors and other changes (after it was yellow), and Crowley... didn't notice?!*

*Also, as a side observation, did he leave the Bentley window open during the ball and everything that happened after? Why?

Have you been longing to be even more perplexed by the ineffable discontinuity of Good Omens season 2? Do you love endless data in the form of screencaps? If so, then please join me on this wild ride! Here are some highlights:

Top photos: Season 1, episode 6, after Adam reboots reality; S2e2, before Aziraphale's e3 road trip. The Bentley is a gray and black 2-tone car with 2 doors (only 1 handle is visible on each side).

And on the bottom is s2e5, while Crowley is driving, it's a solid black car with 4 doors and smaller silver hubcaps.

(edit: For those of you thinking about the different Bentley models used in s1 vs s2 (discussed in detail below), or the difference between the full car and half car set, just those three full car pictures above demonstrate that the new s2 Bentley model is NOT the reason for this mid-season shift. For more details about the half car set plus other ways to tell the Bentleys apart - without talking about color - see my newer post with handy diagrams, here.)

And the s2 interior?

Here's e1, after Crowley talks to Shax, and e3, as Aziraphale arrives in Edinburgh (which is also when the Bentley debuts as a 4-door). And look at this blocking - how both characters are posed so similarly with their backs to us in these shots!! It's so deliberate! :

And look at the seats! In e2, Crowley is talking to Shax again, and in e5, Crowley just parked the Bentley before the ball:

When Crowley, who is so tuned in that he senses the car is yellow and driving too slow even from a distance, sees the "new" Bentley in e4, he doesn't act as though anything has changed, he just happily and purposefully walks up and opens the back door that was never there to put his plants inside.

THE BACK DOOR THAT WAS NEVER THERE

For that matter, Crowley and Aziraphale both seem to be unaware of the changes! This feels like both a metaphor and a functional plot device for season 3. There's more discussion at the end of this post!

Thanks to comments and observations awhile back from @bbbitchvibbbez , I did some careful searching for s2 scenes featuring the Bentley, and this post is the labor of love and irrational obsession result!

If you want to see lots more Bentley screencaps and discussion, including Crowley nonchalantly using the new back door, and possibly also leaving the Bentley window open during the ball and everything that followed, please keep reading:

Some background and context:

Ok, so there was a different Bentley "actor" for s2. The s1 actor was a 2-door, the s2 actor is a 4-door. If you look carefully, you'll see that in s1 the backseat side windows are smaller than the front side windows. In s2, they're the same size. I talk more about the windows - with handy diagrams! - in my newer Bentley post, here.

There's also been some controversy about the interior color of the s2 Bentley, black vs brown, and how that could relate to the s2 body swap theory; here are details about that from @lonicera-caprifolium and @picturesque-about-it. I don't think my findings support (or disprove) that theory, but take a look at what I found and see what you think!

(*Please don't ask Neil about any of this, he's already given us the answers he wants to give, and he's not going to spoil the surprises in s3 now by telling us what's really going on!*)

Here's the episode/scene breakdown:

S2e1 on the street with Shax - gray, two toned, two doors (one visible door handle on a side), brown interior - both the seats and the inside panel of the door. Notice how the door is hinged at the back, and opens opposite the way most modern cars do (this is called a suicide door):

More s2e1 photos, the Bentley is in a lot of scenes this episode and as far as I can tell it stays the same gray 2-door for the whole episode, but it's frequently in dark lighting to make it harder to tell it isn't actually black (I've brightened most of these shots). It also has larger silver hubcaps, and I notice consistent brown seats (these interior pics are from three different scenes):

In s2e2, the Bentley is only in two scenes, and it's the same as s2e1. Now, you can see in the larger photo below that it's obviously not the SAME as s1 - the backseat side windows are too long - but the production team DID try to make the new Bentley "actor" look the same as in season 1. It's a gray 2-tone car with 2 doors (1 handle visible on each side) with larger silver hubcaps. As an aside, what's with the red lights on the car in this shot?? I mean, yes, it's a reflection of another car's brake lights, but why put that onscreen?

Also, in case it's relevant, Crowley is wearing his turtleneck throughout this episode, and still has the silver-sided glasses from e1:

Ok, now we have s2e3, and as Crowley meets Muriel and gives Aziraphale his car keys, we see he's no longer wearing the turtleneck, AND this is when his glasses change to black-sided ones:

Outside, we see the Bentley looks the same as the rest of s2 thus far, as Aziraphale sets off for Edinburgh. Gray 2-tone, brown interior (with window bullet hole decals very visible), with larger silver hubcaps. There's only one handle visible, so it's still meant to look like a 2-door:

Ok, here's where things start to change! Azi is driving and the Bentley is yellow. The seats might (?) be black, there's still only one door handle on the side, the silver hubcaps are still larger. But when he "changes it back", NOW it's black:

And by the time he pulls into Edinburgh, Transformation Complete. (Did Something Else Happen?? Or is this an effect of Aziraphale finally being welcome to take care of this extension of Crowley? More speculation at the end!) It's a black 4-door, two handles clearly visible on the side, with smaller silver hubcaps:

And the interior? The door panel, at least, is black now - and it has a texture that wasn't there when it was brown. Here's e1 next to e3 (and appreciate, again, this very intentional parallel blocking of the two actors!):

In s2e4, we see the Bentley in two scenes; at the beginning when Aziraphale meets Shax-as-hitchhiker, where we see the bullet holes and the black door lining, and at the end when the Bentley is reunited with Crowley:

When Aziraphale parks the Bentley back at the bookshop, we see the bullet hole decals and that it's still a black 4-door:

So he goes to meet Crowley, they come back with the plants. We can see that the camera is to the rear of the car, and the front of the car is to their left. They're standing on the left side of the car. If Crowley opens the door, we won't see the interior door panel, right? Because the Bentley doors are hinged on the back, instead of the front, so the door will open towards us:

WELL. Mx "I can feel when you drive below the speed limit" and "change it back!" Crowley very eagerly walks up to the BLACK car, greets it with some sweet baby talk, and then opens the suddenly-existing BACK door with a hinge on the front (so it opens away from us) as if this is All Perfectly Normal, and we can (barely) see the door lining and it's BLACK and textured:

A few more shots of Crowley, standing at the brand-new back door of the Bentley, still wearing those black-sided glasses:

And in case you're wondering, in s1e2 when Anathema gets a ride in the Bentley, she climbs into the backseat from the front driver door, and she climbs out through the front passenger door. There wasn't a back door on either side. Here she climbs into the Bentley, and you can see Crowley fold down the front seat, and there's clearly only one door on that side, and it's hinged at the back. (When she gets out on the passenger side, it's harder to see, but you can tell that door is also hinged at the back.) :

In s2e5, Crowley drives the Bentley to the bookshop, and then we only catch a few small glimpses of it while Aziraphale is recruiting shopkeepers to the meeting/ball. Here's Crowley driving the black 4-door Bentley with small silver hubcaps, and here he is getting out of the car with black seats. The front door is still hinged at the back, as it always has been. The window is open - his hand is reaching through to open the door - so we can't see the bullet hole decals:

The next time we see more than a hint of the Bentley, it's the end of s2e6 and Crowley is standing next to it, watching Azi leave with the Metatron. It's still black, with 4 doors and black seats and smaller hubcaps. We don't see the bullet hole decals, but perhaps the window is still open from when he parked it in e5? (And WHY would he leave the window open? Was someone supposed to come by after he parked it to deliver something to the Bentley, or take something out?) Emotional photos ahead:

I over exposed that last picture, to make the colors really easy to pick out. The seats are absolutely, definitely black.

So... what does it mean? Why did it happen, and why didn't Crowley notice or react?

I love the metaphor that Aziraphale subconsciously created a back door for - or into - Crowley, especially with all those references to the "back channels" of communication between heaven and hell. I'm thinking it could represent - or actually be - another way for them to communicate, or like another entrance to his heart; it's something that Aziraphale doesn't realize he changed or added and that Crowley hasn't noticed yet either, even if he's making use of those changes on some level. I'm sure other metaphors could also fit!

And I'm reminded of something @theeminentlyimpractical said, "Crowley, despite his whining, fully accepts the idea of "our car," which fundamentally transforms the Bentley". That post was liked by Neil, so there could definitely be something to this "our car" transformation line of thinking.

So, was the transformation a subconscious effect of Aziraphale finally being welcome by Crowley to drive the Bentley, and caring for and taking responsibility for this part of Crowley? Or did Aziraphale consciously do this, or did Crowley? Or maybe the Bentley is sentient, and it chose to be bigger/different now, to accommodate both of them. Or did the change happen in response to Something Else We Didn't See?

Is Crowley's (and Aziraphale's) apparent non-reaction another example of an unreliable narrator or some memory tampering? Is manipulation of the Book of Life involved? Are there multiple timelines? Is someone time traveling? Or is it just that Aziraphale and Crowley already discussed the changes off screen, before Aziraphale left Edinburgh?

If Crowley noticed the changes, I would have expected a comment about them. Either, "change it back!" or a reluctant, "those are changes I can live with", or... Something. But instead, the production team went to some trouble to make sure the hints are there, but hard to spot (you can review the similar, careful s1 hints about the appearance swap here, from @fuckyeahgoodomens); as opposed to, for one example, the way they very clearly pointed out Maggie's mysterious spelling mistake, both on screen and in the dialogue. So I feel reasonably certain the Bentley's transformation is a careful, subtle hint about a Secret Something Important That Will Be Revealed In Season 3. I think it's both a metaphor and a plot device*.

What are some of your favorite metaphors? Your most reasonable theories? What about some of your biggest, wildest, most improbable theories?

*And if you enjoy Good Omens metas, theories, clues, etc, I have a big pinned collection of those from the fandom, here!

[clfixationstation]

The dynamic is NOT Eren gets angry, Armin soothes him. It's Eren gets angry and Armin does damage control for him. Eren slips into despair and Armin gives him hope. Armin gets tangled in his own anxieties and hopelessness and Eren comforts him. Eren encourages him, puts his faith in him, gives Armin the confidence to flourish.

It goes both ways. They have such understanding of each other, such kindness and respect the reserve only for each other (& Mikasa of course).

[piqtescue]

ahHHHH🙏🏼😭

[leslie057]

rating things owned by nancy elizabeth wheeler

because she’s got a lot of little things. mostly they are very cute and strange little things.

starting off strong we have the prettiest tissue box in the world. 9/10, i think if i were sick it would make me feel better to have such a nice tissue box.

i’m fairly certain this is her diary beside it because her diary looks pink in the upside down version of her bedroom. so this is probably it? 11/10, i want to read it so bad. and very sweet pic with mom—7.5/10.

next up these pinstripe pants !! 10/10 i love them so much. oh and the index finger ring is there obviously, 8/10, such a consistent piece of her character.

a ribbon for being the bestest girl ever in the world. 10/10. also the card of cardinals: 6/10, probably just a christmas card or something rather than a symbol of her love for birds. but i still like it.

mr rabbit gets 11/10 for the name alone. and why does he look dead. i love him. he’s me.

descent from xanadu: QUITE LITERALLY 0/10. at first i was SO excited to cheer her on for reading a sex and drugs book at school but as it turns out? bizarre and gross. seems to go heavy on nonconsensual stuff. i snagged a free pdf and command f’d for whore and bitch. lots of results obviously (one use of c*ck crazy bitch…lovely). it seems men in this book say a lot of sexist stuff that the women pretend to hate but love which i can’t imagine is great for a teenage girl to consume. also just not sexy at all.

literally so bad, and this is not the worst of it.

sooo bad. the author was what 70 (??) writing that his female character got clinically DIAGNOSED with being a slut for every guy she comes in contact with. i know options for sexy literature were probably limited at this time but…please go check out something else. i wanna bonk her on the head with this book (paperback) and hug her. you don’t need to read this to be cool and sexually aware. moving on.

on the other side of that, the blondie calendar gives us a sense of the GOOD media she’s consuming!! a 10/10 no questions asked. we don't really get to see many of her hobbies or interests outside of investigation so this is a much appreciated detail.

of course like all good things in life the blondie calendar does get replaced. its replacement is what i will call Weird Antinaturalist Art Piece #1 seen in her room in s4. i give it a 4/10 because idk what’s going on really.

and here is a very crunchy screencap of Weird Antinaturalist Art Piece #2 from s4 which i will give a 5/10. note the boyfriend typical photography above it, for sure a 10/10.

there is also Weird Antinaturalist Art Piece #3 which gets an 8/10 because i like the composition and the piano player. where did she get this and why. interior decoration is her passion.

the sleeping bag and crochet pillow setup. 7/10. would take a cat nap here.

pluto!! 15/10, the best mickey mouse character i would say. i hope her cousin is taking good care of him.

bulletin board 10/10. i love how obvious it is that she has had this up for forever. probably a nice constant in her life.

and my favorite pic up there is this precious one. look at herrr. 5000/10.

her floral weekender bag. 6/10, i like it, but not as much as i like the speedwalk and the toss into the backseat. she was SO ready for her lab takedown road trip.

trapper keeper is a 9/10 because they probably put anything and everything on trapper keepers back in the day and yet still she chose this lovely understated hot air balloon. elegant.

tom cruise poster is 1000000/10 actually. she is so loyal to that man. actually though not a great pic of him all things considered so maybe i give it a 999999/10. (i love it so much because i know for a fact that jonathan byers works proactively to never acknowledge this poster, because he is more mature than that.) (he is not more mature than that, in fact he is a little pouty about mr cruise.)

KITTY FIGURINE. 10/10. i thought it was just in s4 but i found it on her other nightstand in s1. very very adorable. i imagine it is now one of the first things she sees in the morning (well that and her blue telephone: 8/10) which is bizarre and cute. the mixtape drawer gets a 10/10 for reasons that i don’t think i need to get into.

white fingerless gloves! 10/10. so chic for monster hunting.

black fingerless gloves from s4. hmmm 3/10, they're cool i guess but they don’t feel very nancy and the white ones are so much better. especially because you may get the splatter effect of monster blood on them in a battle scenario, which would be badass.

piggybank (with her name on the side). 2/10 unfortunately i don’t like him. he looks at me like i took out his whole pig village and i just need some quarters. also did she paint this herself? in that case, 3/10 for customization lol.

pastel underwear drawer: 10/10. her committment to the hollistic aesthetic and color palette of her room is impressive here. it was a good idea to use this drawer as a deterrence against her little brother and a money hiding place but clearly he has no manners and is a THIEF.

STRIPED SOCKS. 10/10. i realize it's hard to see because she's moving so fast (slow down he is not going anywhere) but they are indeed stripey even though i would have guessed solid white. and wow what good sleeping socks. stripes are just cozier. hope she got lots of sleep in those.

[kingsandbastardz]

So I may have become a little obsessed lately with comparing the stuff that made it into the drama vs what was cut - a lot of things in dramas get censored out but sometimes they will still get released or leaked either via promo materials or fan photography.

The footage above is a reuters of the scene where DFS confronts LLH immediately after being cleared of Asura grass and llh tries to run off. Below are images of the expressions that do make it into the drama which are fascinatingly... different? And far less animated. These expressions are what you get because they chose to have CY be far more frozen appearing vs what was in the reuters, where he's still able to move his head a bit. I just particularly like this clip because it's one of the only examples I've seen behind the scenes of the 'over affectionate eyes' that I heard the director kept telling them to dial back on. Also just where are you looking, llh?

Below is promo photo from Xiao Shunyao Studios' weibo that is also seen used by iQiyi. It's DSF tortured and in the hot bath and he's talking to LLH.

This expression....

This loving expression does not make it into the drama at all. LMAO

I can't even guess where it would fit into it with the lines we're given -- was dialog cut? I have no idea. The closest is his sort of mixed-emotion, exhausted expression he has when saying "You're saving me unconditionally" but the vibe there is not the same as the one above.

And this last bit with the snow and rose petals during one of the bts videos - Cheng Yi narrates, saying something about how A'Fei "is also good at setting a romantic atmosphere!"

Except this is the deleted footage of DFS searching for LLH during the 3 months of the special episode. Reportedly not included due to his eyes/gaze being, again, too... something.

As if the snow wasn't romantic enough (Something something that old saying about white snow representing growing old together with your loved one), there's also pink rose petals. Both would be a lot already when taken individually - but they have BOTH flying across the screen. While the bereaved widow dfs wanders the street mournfully in search.

(Now I have to see if there are similar things happening with other characters as I rewatch lmao)

[magicalmousey]

Prowl smiled when he gave up his spark to save everyone in the city.

Instead of his regrets, what if he thought about the good memories? The incredible sights he witnessed on Earth, the growth of his character, and the team he learned to call “family”?

He had no more regrets.

[apatheticlexicographer]

season 1: mike gets his love interest

season 2: lucas gets his love interest

season 3: dustin gets his love interest

season 4: will gets his love interest

season 5: mike gets his love interest...?

the pattern is so obvious, i'm not sure why i didn't consciously notice it before now

[syn0vial]

both wyll and astarion's tormenters dehumanize and humiliate them by comparing them to unruly dogs in need of a leash :`)

i don't have a conclusion here. i just think it's a compellingly tragic parallel and i hope people can explore it more in analysis/fic.

[shadowspellchecker]

Sherlock Holmes Research Links

Because apparently I must bibliograph everything. Yes, bibliograph isn't a word. It is now.

https://www.maproomblog.com/2016/08/an-online-map-of-every-british-rail-line-ever/

[coffincestuous]

something i noticed playing through burial again is that, no matter which trinkets you place on the pedestals, the image on the right is always labeled "THE END."

with the lovers route, the "end" is julia and andrew's relationship, but what exactly is coming to an "end" with the friendship route? their codependency? the potential for a different kind of relationship? ashley’s happiness?

ashley sees julia as a threat to her relationship with andrew. we see that here, we see that in the earlier part of the dream where she throws the julia bunny in the trash, we see that with her threatening julia over the phone, and we see ashley's behaviors stay consistent with how she acted about nina.

but!! but but but. in andrew's dream, we see that he doesn't really give a shit.

it's always neat to see the differences between ashley and andrew's points of view, subconscious or not, and to see the thought put into these characters in parts that are easy to accidentally look over

i wonder what andrew thinks of julia!! why did he start dating her? why julia of all people?? especially knowing how ashley feels about her “friends” and andrew!! a whole lot of assumptions can be made, but i wonder if andrew or ashley will ever say anything about it!!

(andrew’s always felt the need to keep up appearances, so of course, at 22 years old, he’d have a girlfriend. his mom probably encouraged him, or made some sort of comment about him and ashley like she did about them living in “separate places.” he is a very good liar, even to himself, and lying comes very easily to him, so i doubt that any affection we see from him to julia is sincere. there’s also the explanation that he starting dating to get his mind off of his feelings for ashley, and maybe julia has some resemblance to ashley in some ways)

[pinkiepiebones]

Bug bros Dracula's original plan is

I mean I get it but also EAT ALL OF NOVA SCOTIA

[embracing-the-ineffable]

The Ineffable Detective Agency Presents: The Main Bookshop Clock's Hands are BACKWARDS and Other Revelations!

(Good Omens Season 2, Episode 1)

We can't trust the way we've been reading the bookshop clock next to Aziraphale's desk, because the Hands are Reversed* for some (or all?) of the season!!

Plus a Time/Clock Disruption shortly before the double half miracle!

And possibly another Time/Clock Disruption when Gabriel first arrives at the bookshop! Did Gabriel (or whatever he had in the box) cause the hands to reverse?!

And more questions about Gabriel and what Other Thing might be going down in the up!

*Sound unbelievable? To us - @meatballlady and @embracing-the-ineffable at our new @ineffable-detective-agency - too, but let us share our proof:

Welcome to our Ineffable Detective Agency! We've been doing some digging the past few weeks; among our research has been recording each sighting of in-universe timestamps - Crowley's watch, Nina's phone, Maggie's watch, Aziraphale's clocks, and more! Our main findings are summarized here (if you're looking at a reblog, you can check for updates on the most recent version, here), with detailed screenshots below.

Main Findings - Episode 1:

Aziraphale's main bookshop clock next to his desk is frowning for Reasons! Maybe this is one: during most or all of episode 1, the minute hand is the one with the wider arrow, and the hour hand is the thin long one. (Proof is in the very next section, and it changes everything we think we know about reading that clock!)

Edit - New Finding! There may have been a time/clock disruption when Gabriel first arrived at the bookshop, which could have CAUSED the hands to reverse.

There's ALSO a big time/clock disruption when Gabriel appears at the top of the stairs, after the apology dance and before the double-half-miracle. Perhaps the clock's ability to show the time accurately is disrupted by something like a powerful 25-Lazarii miracle?

Shax and Crowley initially discuss something "going down in the up", far sooner than when Gabriel shows up in the bookshop. ("my arms were aching 'cause I had to carry that box for so long....")

Shax later tells Crowley that the previously-discussed trouble involves Gabriel, and even that conversation next to the Bentley (at 10:35 or 11:35) was well before Gabriel arrived at the bookshop (at 4:20, no matter how you read the clock's hands; screenshot below). Is there some OTHER trouble in heaven that started before Gabriel left?

Or, if Gabriel's arrival caused a time/clock disruption, perhaps Aziraphale forgave Maggie's rent at 11:23 and Gabriel arrived shortly after, which lines up more neatly with Crowley's 10:35 or 11:35 phone call/conversation with Shax.

This all might mean the time jump (or clock disruption) after The Kiss is different than we thought. (Yes, we know Neil is misdirecting everyone about there being a time jump at all by calling it a "continuity error"; he's performing magic for us, and we're still in the middle of his act! His misdirection is part of the trick!) The times are still weird in the last episode, whether you read them the typical way or the new, reversed way that we're suggesting, and we're still working on getting clearer images. Stay tuned - or help us research!

Quick sidenote: If anyone would like to verify our work or join in future sleuthing (ESPECIALLY IF YOU CAN VIEW/ SCREENCAP IN 4K), we would be very grateful!!

Now, let's talk about the clock hands.

Typically, in typical clocks all over the typical world, the hand with the big wide arrow is for the hours, and the thin long hand points to the minutes. But the main bookshop clock next to Aziraphale's desk is frowning, so who knows what it's doing? Here's the A-B-C sequence from episode 1 that convinced us to read the hands in reverse:

A) Jim shows up naked, knocks, and Azi stops his music with a dramatic groan. Both clock hands point to 4, so this should be 4:20 no matter what hand is for the minutes:

B) Jim tries hot chocolate when the wide arrow hand has traveled just past the 5. This is either 4:26 (reversed) or 5:20 (typical):

C) Aziraphale opens the box, and Gabriel says "I love you". It's now 4:30 (reversed) or a misaligned 6:20 (typical):

Ok, the sequence of A) Jim arrives, B) Jim drinks hot chocolate, C) Jim says "I love you", fills about 6 minutes of onscreen time. If we assume A-B-C makes more sense as 4:20-4:26-4:30 than 4:20-5:20-6:20, that means the wide arrow hand is sweeping across the minutes and NOT indicating hours!

Those three time points are also bookended by the moments Azi reads Maggie's note and forgives her rent, and later, Crowley's discovery of Jim in the bookshop:

As Azi reads Maggie's note, let's play "spot the clock":

Did you see it?! Yep, we catch a tiny glimpse of the clock through a space in the bookshelf, in what might be the most cleverly concealed but clearly deliberate bit of staging in the entire season (!!). If you've been thinking that we're looking too closely at little unimportant details that don't matter, the way the clock is so carefully made visible here - and in focus - strongly suggests to us that this is important:

It looks like 3:58 (reversed) or 11:20 (typical); given that Azi is interrupted while listening to his 21 minutes of Shostakovich at 4:20, it would make sense that he read the note at 3:58. That means the wide arrow hand is reversed, pointing at the minutes there, too.

[ Edit: BUT, there's also this moment, when Maggie's rent is forgiven; her watch shows 11:23 or possibly a reversed 4:57 (turn it the way Maggie would read it):

So one more possibility is that the bookshop clock hands were typical when the episode started, Azi read the note at 11:20, and forgave Maggie's rent at 11:23. Then when Gabriel showed up, the bookshop clock jumped ahead to 4:20 and its hands reversed!? ]

Later, Crowley meets Aziraphale at the coffeeshop, then they return to the bookshop. Right after "I. Am. Dusting." - there's the OTHER bookshop clock on the west side of the building. It's hard to see, possibly 5? That could fit with Azi and Crowley meeting at the coffeeshop sometime shortly after 4:30pm.

So, if we continue reading the main bookshop clock in reverse, let's see what else happens in episode 1:

Maggie and Nina, trapped in the coffee shop, are freed by Crowley. Just before Nina's phone starts receiving messages, it reads 21:02 (ie, 9:02pm):

During the apology dance, the clock behind Aziraphale says 9:06 (remember! read the hands in reverse!) This makes sense, if Nina's phone said 9:02 a few minutes earlier:

The clock behind Crowley (the one on the west side of the bookshop) says 9:02 or a misaligned 11:45; if its wider arrow hand points to hours like a typical clock, and not like the sad reversed clock next to the desk, then it could be reading 9:02, possibly a few minutes slower than the desk clock:

Then Jim appears at the top of the stairs and nothing makes sense; the sad clock next to the desk looks like it says 12:40 - a forward jump of 3 hours and 36 minutes!! (Alternatively, it says 8:02, which means it went backwards by an hour! Either way, it's weird, and we'd love a better picture if you can get one!):

And the clock still shows the same time after the miracle, just before the episode ends: 

As episode 1 ends, we certainly have even more questions. Did time jump when Gabriel first arrived?! And again, after the apology dance? Or were there whole scenes or conversations that we didn't see? Or did time actually jump forwards or backwards in that moment? Or was the main bookshop clock's ability to accurately show the time interrupted by something like Gabriel's arrival with the mysterious contents of his box, and again by a powerful 25-Lazarii miracle before the double-half-miracle??!

There are 5 episodes to go! Will our sad bookshop clock consistently tell time with reversed hands for the rest of the season? Maybe! Is it becoming untethered from Actual Time as it reacts to the Eldritch forces around it? Possibly!

And what about our other findings? What ELSE is going on in Heaven? Where did Gabriel go after he left, and how long did that take? How long does the elevator ride last? Why was his box heavy, and what was inside?

Stay tuned for the details as we collect them! We'll add links to new posts here, so check the latest version for any updates! And please get in touch with @meatballlady or @embracing-the-ineffable if you would like to help with sleuthing, including getting better resolution screencaps of clocks and all the tiny watches!

Be well, fellow ineffables! Solve Clues and share your findings!

PS: There's a huge list of Clues and metas, here!

[princeasimdiya12]

Something that always I think back to is how Marito orders his sister to leave just after she uses the "family only" card to get Arajin to leave them alone.

Like the subject of "family" is something of a sore subject that he doesn't enjoy very much and would rather separate himself from as much as possible. Not to mention how he turns so cold and serious when dismissing Mahoro compared to how lively and carefree he is with Arajin. A random schuck who he's only known for a few weeks.

It's just a small observation and there hasn't been many references to his family background, something tells me that he doesn't have the best relationship with his biological family. It's telling how he feels more comfortable and happy interacting with other teens he's known in less time compared to the brocon his own flesh and blood. Especially since we've never seen him act this way with Mahoro compared to Arajin/Siguma Squad/Minato Kai etc. And yes he does eat her disgusting meal when he's alone, but why didn't do that earlier if he could tolerate it? Why hide it in secret? He does "care" to a degree but it's not on the same level as how he treats his friends.

What do you guys think? If you have any other ideas on this, you're more than welcome to reblog this with your thoughts on the subject.