#there is a significance to their shot choices for those scenes

[chirpsythismorning]

Very normal about this

This shot ⬇️

Followed by

This shot ⬆️

TW: Shots from Hawkins Lab Massacre ⬇️

Note: Pretty much every version of the lab massacre focuses specifically on the tattoos for 007 and 005...

[howtofightwrite]

If a character can manipulate points of gravity (up becomes down, left is down, right is down for yhe duration of the scene) and essentially be a spiderman without the spider webs by getting to run up buildings, and essentially be fighting in a more 3-d space...anything worth commenting on? I think what I'm trying to ask is what should one take into account when it's possible to have fight scenes in three dimensional ways. I recall that you wrote a post about how sea battles would technically look nothing like land battles considering the environmental difference of enemies coming at *all* directions.

That's not, really, “all directions.” For one thing, they don't have to worry about your character phasing through solid objects. It's also not going to be as effective as the web shooters for avoiding fire.

One of the quirks of Spiderman is that he doesn't, and really can't, travel in a straight line. He travels in a series of arcs, and while those arcs are predictable, it's much harder to lead your shots when he can jerk away in a different direction with almost no warning.

This is in contrast to characters with gravity manipulation based flight, who tend to travel in straight lines.

The issue with a battle in the sea comes from this basic concept. If you're a mile underwater in the Pacific, it is quite likely that there is another four miles of water below you, with the nearest land thousands of miles away. There is no cover.

Somewhat obviously, an urban environment offers a lot more cover. Your character can come in around buildings, drop from above.

What's significantly more disturbing is the prospect of your character being able to alter gravity for others. Causing someone to “fall” away into traffic or the sky is probably far more horrifying than the idea that they could run up a wall. Though, I suppose it's important to never underestimate the sheer pants shitting terror one can inflict by crab-walking across the ceiling towards your preferred prey.

Of course if you're manipulating gravity, then it stands to reason you may be able to add or subtract the gravity. It's one thing to sneak up on a mobster and propel him into the sky at 9.8m/s2. It's another thing to casually create a small gravity well inside his brain and crush his skull. Or, an anti-gravity spike and explode him like a forgotten microwave burrito.

It should go without saying by this point, but this power set can get really messy.

It's also worth remembering, this is one of those power sets that are just as dangerous to the user as their foes. Hopping from one building to another while flicking gravity mid flight could very easily result in broken bones and a really unpleasant landing. Unless they also have some pretty significant kinetic resistances, this is probably not something they'd want to use as a travel power (unless they're carefully tuning it to create fight.) Otherwise, inertia is their greatest foe.

To be honest, wall climbing is a slightly strange choice for a primary travel power. Yes, it is a viable choice, but using those same powers to take flight is going to be much less risky.

-Starke

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[romchat]

The On1y One visual analysis (Ep. 5): Seeking an opening

Something I really enjoy about The On1y One's visual storytelling is how it uses framing to represent the tentative way Jiang Tian and Sheng Wang embed themselves into each other's lives. Through their interactions, we see Tian learning to let people in while Wang gives himself permission to trust those around him, and that fraught journey towards connection is beautifully captured by the show's cinematography choices.

From the first episode, we see the show using architectural framing to represent Tian’s aloofness, whether it’s the walls of his old neighborhood that tuck him away from his classmates or the closet that hides his always packed suitcase. So I find it really interesting how the architectural framing of his homeroom’s classroom window serves a completely different purpose: to showcase Tian’s ability to fight against his instincts for pushing people away and gradually open up to Wang.

As noted by @heretherebedork, that open window changes the (physical and emotional) wall between them. Ever since he acknowledged their relationship in Episode 3 through this window, it's here that Tian continues to signal the changing boundaries of their relationship.

Each episode he slowly transforms from a silent observer removed from the world around him to someone extending the care Wang so desperately craves, and the window, as a frame within a frame, directs our attention to the significance of these moments. Tian not only offers Wang physical relief but also emotional relief--he sees Wang despite the latter having experienced a lifetime of being ignored, and this all happens through the window.

Moreover, the camera language The On1y One uses to frame Wang's response reveals how heady that recognition feels.

One of my favorite examples of this is when Wang confronts Tian about helping capture the thugs who had attacked him. Tian denies having been involved but Wang refuses to believe him, playfully pushing him against the wall as he lists all the evidence to the contrary.

What makes this sequence of shots so compelling is how the framing changes as the two characters become more aware of the significance of Tian's actions.

The sequence is just a series of single shots (meaning each shot only features one person), but we can feel the tension between Wang and Tian because of the shift in balance and shot size. The shots start off-balanced and dirty, the characters' faces off to the edge of the frame and obscured by the other, but soon the framing closes in on their eyes gazing directly at each other. The extreme close-up is strangely honest and intimate, evoking a sense of wonder and nerves.

Being confined to such a tight frame proves to be too much for Tian, however, and the camera responds accordingly by shifting to a medium shot, as if to give him a breather. But from Wang's small smile, you can tell he feels pleasure at the idea of someone caring enough to protect him, and the camera language for the rest of the scene uses several techniques to visualize the emotional connection he allows himself to indulge in.

(See the lovely rack focus during Tian's "I was just thinking you must have been very scared" speech". Rather than editing together separate shots of Tian and Wang, the camera keeps both characters in frame and smoothly changes the focus between the two, visually linking them together. Their vulnerable conversation has fostered an irreversible shift in their relationship.)

So it's notable that when Tian tells Wang he is thinking of leaving Wang home to stay in the school dormitories, we get this absolutely devastating shot from outside their window, the closed frame now creating a stark line separating the two:

Tian: Why do you want to stay at the school? Wang: ...I wasn't familiar with you. Tian: How about now? Do you still want to stay at school? Wang: No, now that I'm more familiar with you, right? And you? Do you still want to stay at school? Tian: I think I will in the future.

Wang interprets Tian's decision as a rejection of him, and the shot is cold and isolating to reflect that. Their last few interactions were one step forward and two steps back.

What smart visual storytelling.

[whateverisbeautiful]

♥️ Ranking Richonne

#9: The Two Of Us (S7E12)

This is one of those scenes that dreams are made of. 🤩 It's perfect. Rick and Michonne happy makes me so happy, and that’s what we get in this super important proposal scene. It's the moment Rick and Michonne make it clear that they are Mr. and Mrs. Grimes until the end of time. 🎉 And this is my favorite scene from Say Yes. So one more time for Richonne’s tender, funny, sexy, heartfelt, and gorgeous love letter episode and this scene right here that embodies all of that 🥂...

First, I love the candlelight glow of this scene. They both look so beautiful and perfect together while enjoying a honeymoon date. I also like knowing that the staging was deliberately set up to channel the classic rom-com Sixteen Candles. Rick and Michonne's story is a romance through and through. 👌🏽

(and this ep was even giving rom-com with certain funny moments like the honorable mention "You can handle 8" scene where Michonne teases Rick about leaving her 8 walkers to kill as opposed to his one. 😋)

This Say Yes dinner date always makes me think about an honorable mention s4 finale scene when Rick and Michonne sat together after dinner with faces lit by a fire as they expressed forgetting "what this feels like." And now, here they are in s7 enjoying a candle-lit dinner and allowing themselves to feel the deepest love for each other. Won't He do it!

This is seriously one of their most romantic scenes and I’m smiling from the moment I first see them eating those MRE's with the cute dinner date setup to the very end when Rick surprises Michonne with another MRE. 🤗

I love that they’re all smiley when talking about the food at the top of the scene and then they have this leaders' conversation about what the plan is after they kill Negan. They communicate so tenderly and attentively even when talking "business."

And it is always the sweetest thing to hear Michonne express so much belief in her man when she tells Rick he should be the one in charge of the new world they’re creating. Rick has a lot of supporters, but no one believes in Rick more than Michonne. 😊

Michonne saying, "It should be you" just melts my heart, and I think it melts Rick's heart too cuz he reacts with this genuine smile and a little laugh. Rick says, "Not me" and Michonne again uplifts him, believing so strongly that he’d be good at it. She respects him so much and I love that Rick got to see that here.

And then it’s always great that she adds, "If it’s something that you wanted," giving him the choice. And Rick is honest that he doesn’t think he would want to be the sole guy in charge.

It’s refreshing seeing Rick have the space to express both what he does and doesn’t want for himself in this episode. Because he knows with Michonne he can be honest and human in every way.

So then Rick pauses as he prepares to tell Michonne what he most wants for his life and for the future. And I love that he gets specific with it, saying “The two of us, you and me, reordering things together...” 🥰

Then the shot stays on Michonne’s glowing gorgeous face as she realizes just what Rick is really saying by saying this. 🥹

And I love Rick's nervous breath before he gears up to express to Michonne just how much she is what he wants. After that breath, he looks into her eyes and says with conviction, "I want that. If it's something you wanted."

It’s a proposal, y’all. 🤩 What every proposal really equates to is someone telling the love of their life, 'I want it to be the two of us building a life and a world together' - and this is exactly that. And from his delivery, Rick knows this is a significant proposal.

It’s really sweet the vulnerable way Rick adds 'if it’s something you wanted.' He's always cared so much about Michonne's wants and at this moment this is him hoping that he is something she wants. Especially since she is so much of what he wants.

Michonne smiles and reassuringly says, "yeah" because the two of them together have always been what she wanted too. She knows they’re going to do life side by side from here on out, the way they have always done and the way magnets are meant to.😌

How these two respond after this exchange says they know what they’ve just expressed. This moment is so much more than just agreeing to lead together. They know they’ve agreed to spend the rest of their life as a married couple. Hallelu 🥳

And it’s so sweet how Rick and Michonne both smile here with this little twinkle in their eye because, in all the craziness of this world, they found their soulmate. They found a love supreme, and I appreciate that they took this moment to just openly celebrate that. 

Then of course I love that they seal this proposal with a very passionate kiss. And I swear the way Rick and Michonne look at each other after every kiss is always as passionate as the kiss itself. 😍

Also, I used to always think this was a sweet wedding-ceremony-like kiss - and it definitely is that commitment kiss...but then someone pointed out how Rick is kissing her, and I realized this is also an “if there wasn’t a makeshift table between us, it would go down right here and now” kiss. Lol I forgot just how passionate it was, but I'm all the way here for it. Richonne stays kissing like their life depends on it. 🔥

And I adore Michonne kissing his hand after and then her little bashful smile as she sees the adoring way Rick looks at her. 🥹

And the way Rick is just captivated by her and then looks away with a smile, practically dizzy from this blissful union - Their every look, line delivery, and move in this scene was just the exact perfect choice. I'll never get over it.👌🏽👩🏽‍🍳💋

Michonne makes Rick laugh by cutely saying she’s going to eat 5 more dinners, and Rick again pitches that they should stay out longer. And honestly, me and him were on the same page cuz Rick and Michonne really deserved more time to have just to themselves. So Rick...

I love how he’s adamant they can take their time and tries to subtly slip in extending the trip not just one more day but even "another after that." Rick can never get enough of her and I love it. 😊

Michonne watches her man, knowing there might be more to the story with how he's feeling. But also the way she’s looking at him, you know the pitch to stay out is enticing. And it's cute hearing Rick say, "we found the only way in..." as in - we fell through the roof. 😂

Even when Michonne says a hesitant "we should get back," Rick still is like...

He's still sticking to the fact that it’s all good if they stay out longer. To which I was like, this man is perfect and correct.

And then it is just maximum cuteness when he tries a new approach and says he’s been meaning to show her that one MRE. And his playful delivery of the "...together" part. It’s all just gold.🤗

I love that Rick's romantic heart is always thinking of how to gift Michonne and that moments like this show that they know each other well enough to know just what could put a smile on the other's face.

I mean, even later in this very episode, in a lovely honorable mention scene where Michonne runs into Rick's arms for the embrace of life after thinking walkers got to him, that whole predicament was spurred by Rick wanting to gift Michonne that deer.

And then, even when Michonne is simply relieved and grateful he's alive, Rick still whispers that he owes her one. Did I mention Rick Grimes is Man of the Year every year? 😋

(also y'all, looking at this 7.12 hug just reminds me how that TOWL reunion moment between Rick and Michonne is about to be pure passionate perfection🔥)

It's just a fact that the man loves finding ways to make her smile. And Michonne’s smitten smile when she takes the MRE shows Rick has fully won her over and stole her heart for the umpteenth time. 

How great is it that this pulsating love between them never ever waned throughout the series, it just kept increasing each season. 🙌🏾

I love that in an episode focused on Rick and Michonne, they knew to include a romantic candlelit dinner scene where the two express wanting their future to be spent together.

It's a big deal because even just thinking about the future wasn’t always something these characters could do since it had to be about just surviving to the next day.

And it’s great that now, having some time to even think about what the future looks like, Rick makes it clear that when he sees his future, he sees Michonne.

He wants Michonne by his side going forward, no matter what else the future holds. And Michonne wants the very same thing. That's marriage. That's love. 🥰

So yeah, the whole dang scene is just heartwarming times ten, and I love that we’ll always have this incredibly beautiful moment as part of Richonne's journey.

Like despite an apocalypse and despite Negan's reign, we still got a whole honeymoon episode that more than delivered. The Richonne ship is seriously an abundance of riches. 🤩

This proposal scene establishes that Rick and Michonne are lifelong partners in love, 🗣 they are husband and wife, and, in every way, they are each other's future.

After going canon in season 6, things really amped up with Negan and the Saviors being introduced and all that, and so this was really one of the first times we got to see Rick and Michonne just enjoy some alone time as an official couple. And, of course, the whole scene and whole episode was everything and further proof that Rick and Michonne loved each other, wanted each other, and belonged together.

And it also affirmed that Richonne would stay together, be it in person or in spirit, forever. 😌

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

This shot is going to haunt me for at LEAST the next couple months. Like. It's driving me insane. And it's all because of one stupid, tiny detail.

The blood drips on Vox's mouth

Now, there are 3 reasons this is bothering me so much. 1 is obviously the fact that THEY ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HIS MOUTH, 2 is that there's no real reason the blood drips would be appearing in this moment, and 3 is that this is part of a sequence where VAL AND ANGEL ALSO BOTH HAVE PINK LIQUID DRIPPING FROM THEIR MOUTHS.

Now, there are possible, very reasonable explanations for the blood drips(which I feel the need to clarify have been CONSISTENTLY on the left side of his mouth in every shot except for like one other): it could be an animation error, simple as that. It could also be that they just switched the sides so the blood drips would be more noticeable, but I'm not really sure why they would do that? Because A, I edited the screenshot so that the blood drips are in their normal position and it literally looks fine

And B, why would it be extra important for us to know the drips are THERE unless they have some kind of significance in the context of Poison? Every detail in an animated show is deliberate because each panel literally has to be drawn out. If they flipped Vox's blood drips to the other side in this scene in order to draw attention to it, then there's a REASON behind it, there is something important going on here.

I think it's also important to acknowledge the only OTHER time Vox's blood drips have been on the right, this shot in the finale:

Though in this shot there's also an extra drip on the left, and the two on the right are both different sizes, which. Isn't how they normally look. The drips in this frame just overall look a lot more natural then the usual ones? Which I haven't added a picture of yet but they look like this

Two, same sized red stripes on the left side of his mouth. Anyways those are the only two times they look different, and the two moments have literally nothing in common so I can't figure out why they would be different THERE. The best explanation I can think of for the one from the finale is that a story board artist made an artistic choice(hence the drips looking significantly more natural, mor like Alastor's at the end of Stayed Gone), and then it never got changed or corrected or whatever because the frame where his face is right up in the camera last for like a split second. But Idk. That explanation doesn't really apply to the Poison shot because they look EXACTLY the same aside from being on the wrong side and the Poison shot lasts a lot longer than the close up in the finale does.

I would also like to point out that the drips switching sides is NOT a Val make out session exclusive, because when they're making out in the finale, the drips are still on the left. Like you can see the right side of his mouth in this shot and it's completely drip free.

That was a LOT of text for just one section but ONTO REASON NUMBER 2!!!!!! There is no reason Vox would be doing the fucking mouth bleeding thing in that scene.

Those blood drips only appear on Vox's mouth when he's really, REALLY worked up. The times we see them he's typically REALLY angry or REALLY excited. Like, emotions that would typically cause an adrenaline rush. And there's no real reason he would be having an adrenaline rush in this scene? Like unless wanting to make out with someone real real bad gives you an adrenaline rush I wouldn't know I'm ace. But even if that IS the case, shouldn't the drips disappear after Angel interupts them?

There's no energy in his expression when he looks at Angel, no real evidence that he's feeling anything beyond "ugh this guy again". No reason he would still have the drips. And it's not even really an animation thing, because there was plenty of time to get the drips to subtly go away in this shot. But no. They stay for the whole time. Also, while looking through GIFs to find one of this scene, I noticed that Vox literally NEVER has the blood drips when he's frowning. There a couple shots where it would make sense for the drips to appear(like when he calls Adam a pussy for not killing Al), but they don't, and in all of those shots he's frowning. So for this to be the ONLY TIME the blood drips don't dissappear when he stops smiling? Idk seems kinda sus.

Now. The final, and possibly most concerning reason this scene won't leave me the fuck alone: Angel and Val are drooling to.

(IM SO SORRY FOR THE HORRIBLE QUALITY I HAD TO GET THE SCREENSHOT FROM A LOW QUALITY REPOST OF THE MUSIC VIDEO OFF OF YOUTUBE-)

It's really, really subtle, like to the point where I didn't actually notice it until I saw somebody else point it out, but in the scene where Angel is breaking down after all the SHIT Val put him through over the course of the Poison music video, he has a little bit of neon pink coming out of his mouth. He then wipes it away, looks at his hand, and turns to look at Vox & Val.

And Val has it to. All three of them have the same bright pink dripping from their mouths. And granted, Vox & Val are in a very limited color pallette, and the red in Vox's design got swapped for that same bright pink, and his drips are usually the same red as his eyes, but the fact that it's the same color as the spit(?) coming out of Angel & Val's mouths should at least be a little noteworthy, right?

ALSO!!!!!!! I literally just now put this together- the pink substance is coming off of the right side of Vox and Angel's mouths, but the left side of Val's. It's a small detail, but given that the main reason this scene is driving me up the goddamn walls is that Vox's drips are ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HIS MOUTH, there's gotta be something to it.

Anyways, these points have all been driven into the ground already. Everybody and their mother have been taking this scene and analyzing it, saying the same shit I just did in a bunch of different ways. I'm rehashing all of this because it's relevant to the conversation, but at this point it's kinda like just pointing out the obvious. BUT! I do want to try bringing something new to the table, something that might ALSO explain why Vox's drips are on the wrong side(again, same side as Angel's), so bear with me here:

I've pointed this out before, but Poison is a pseudo dream sequence. It's constantly cutting back and forth between Angel living it up vs him suffering extensively. This is the most obvious during the dance sequence with the giant blue screens(which I cannot provide a GIF of bcuz I have already reached the image limit for this post-). The very obvious dichotomy is meant to show us how Angel uses his mask to cope with the constant abuse, he literally says he's dissociating in the song, but it ALSO means that a lot of the stuff we're seeing in this sequence isn't literal. The scene with Vox and Val might be part of that.

Vox and Val are in a very different color pallette from everything surrounding them. They're both colored in dark blues and neon pink, purple & blue. The demon beside them, however, is not. That demon is colored more naturally. And while, from a technical stand point, I think it's mostly just to make sure Vox & Val pop and are the center of our attention, it could ALSO mean that this is specifically a part of Angel's dream sequence. It's how Angel sees them. And Vox's drips are on the wrong side.

Now, I don't wanna say that this means Angel feels that Vox is in a similar situation to him, because it feels. Weird. But then again, this shot is the only thing we have on Angel's view of Vox! We know plenty about how Vox views Angel, it's not like. Specific. It's just pretty obvious that Vox Does Not Like Him. But we have nothing concrete on Angel's view of Vox(or Velvette for that matter but that's not relevant rn). Which is interesting, because Angel DEFINITELY has oppinions on him. Vox is dating Valentino, Angel's abuser, and never does anything to stop the abuse. That's gotta lead to some built up resentment, y'know? But all we have right now to show us Angel's view of Vox is something that, if you look deep enough, seems to imply he feels more empathetic towards the guy then anything else? Again, Vox and Angel's pink drips are on the right. Valentino's pink drips are on the left. Vox's blood drips are almost always on the left. But they aren't here. They're on the same side as Angel's. You see what I'm getting at here? Wether Angel is RIGHT about Vox being "on the same side" as he is remains to be determined, but still.

Anyways, I could just be over thinking this. I have a long, storied history of taking small details that are probably just mistakes and blowing them completely out of proportion. Ask literally any of my friends abour Bird Teeth and they will confirm. Plus, I'm probably gonna end up over thinking this shit for all of May and completely change my mind on what the reversed blood drips mean, I have a tendency to do that. But for now this is my theory; the reason Vox's blood drips are on the wrong side of his mouth in Poison is because Angel views Vox as being in a similar situation with Valentino to the one he himself is in. Not the exact same, but similar enough to warrant sympathy at the very least.

[into-september]

Probably the most important thing that got lost somewhere in the MLB film trying to adress some three or four different themes and somehow not getting any of them across:

"Who saves a life, saves the world" is the one that is literally spelled out on screen in the scene where Marinette becomes Ladybug, immediately after she without hesitation risked her life to save Master Fu.

So she becomes Ladybug and spends the entirity of the first battle being literally dragged along when Cat Noir gets into trouble. Her only active part in the battle is at the very end, when she finally gets her yo-yo under control and saves Cat Noir from being hit by the train.

The film doesn't make much of a point out of it, but take note: this battle doesn't end by Ladybug and Cat Noir winning, but by the akuma leaving its victim seconds before lives are lost. It's not made clear why this happened; possibly this Gabriel, who has the ability to feel empathy, called it back last moment, but the only shot we get is of him passed out and de-transformed. An equally plausible explanation is that without his active will, the akuma simply left.

I think one change that'd help this story a lot would've been to make that reason explicit, because this un-won battle isn't important just because it introduces our two heroes and sets the love square in motion. The whole sorry story - from Cat Noir going solo and failing, to the battle ending not by the heroes' victory but by the akuma leaving its victim - is exactly what happens in the film's climax. Whether Gabriel's conscience made him hesitate at the beginning or if it finally won out only in the end, it'd strengthen his character to have that conflict made explicit, which would serve as a badly needed reminder to the audience that the first battle is significant for other reasons than Ladybug and Cat Noir's first meeting.

Because there is another thing that happens in both these battles, in fact the only thing Marintte contributes to both of them:

She saves Cat Noir's life.

It is absurdly underplayed and disappears beneath the memetic saxophone solo the first time it happens, but fact is: it happened, and it happened again when the story ended. And in the final battle, her saving him - however fleeting it was - gave Gabriel the chance to discover that it was his own son he nearly killed. Without Ladybug, Marinette couldn't do much, but she could save Cat Noir again. And by doing so, she stopped Hawk Moth. Not by being a kick-ass heroine, but by being just a normal girl who is extraordinarily brave even without superpowers, and who let him see the truth, and to make his hown choice to stop the madness.

In fact, this is the fulfillment of what I think was supposed to be Marinette's character arc: to realise that Ladybug was her all along; that it wasn't the earrings that made her stop being clumsy and get the confidence to talk back to Chloé, but that she had those powers all along. The first time, she only masters her powers when Cat Noir is in danger; the second time, she has to face her fears without the powers - and that is how she passes the test, and (probably) finds her true powers, and can fix all the things Gabriel destroyed.

Except for some reason Mr. Zagtoons didn't think to emphasise those things happening at all and so both Marinette's character arc and the film's climax come across as hella anticlimatic because it's not at all obvious that oh, yeah, those things were in fact established at the very beginning.

[girl4music]

Never really done any meta writing on Aphrodite before or posted anything on here with Alexandra’s commentary in it but just so you guys know,… she’s also one of my favourite characters in Xena too. Some standout statements from Alexandra about Aphrodite and her relationships with Xena, Gabrielle and Ares come from the Mythology vs Xena featurette that was on the 10th Anniversary Anchor Bay released DVD set. I think you guys will enjoy learning all about the great significance of Aphrodite’s character in the show directly expressed by the actress that portrays her.

“I think people will be watching this TV show for a long time. I think it’s one of those moments in television history that’s really important because of what I said earlier about it’s really the first time that I can think of where you have two women who are really strong women action heroes who aren’t answering to men in some way or other or being dictated to.”

“I don’t think Aphrodite is homophobic. If you want to interpret the show that Xena and Gabrielle were lovers, Aphrodite was a complete cheerleader of their relationship, I think. It’s a big deal. It’s the first time that I can remember that a television show has had such a place for the lesbian community. I think that’s a really big deal too. And so to have this pink fluffy blonde bimbo-y girl is a little bit incongruous but I think there’s a little bit of genius in that because what you don’t expect in a show that’s kind of becoming a feminist icon is sex and humour and that’s what Aphrodite was and everybody likes sex and humour. Including feminists and lesbians. It’s kind of an overlooked part of life sometimes when people get very serious. So I think that maybe that’s one of the reasons she worked so well on the show and people loved her so much.”

“Surprisingly in some ways, the most pivotal episode for Aphrodite’s evolution in the show was ‘Punch Lines’ - which was almost an afterthought. They had already shot the show. I was done filming another episode and they asked me at the last minute ‘can you stay for a few more days and shoot a few more scenes we’re gonna put into ‘Punch Lines’’? ‘Punch Lines’ was a bottle show. It was really about Gabrielle. A story about Gabrielle and Lachrymose. And then they decided they needed a little bit of funny in there so they put in Aphrodite. But, again, here’s an episode basically with me and Renee. And that’s when Aphrodite gets into the hot tub. That’s when Aphrodite psychoanalyzes Gabrielle and there’s that slightly famous line about… what was it? Some possible repressed impulses - or something like that that became such a famous sort of fun fan line. Again, you’re gonna have to ask the fans what my line was. But I think that’s sort of the moment when Aphrodite got in there with Gabrielle and they created their own connection and their own friendship and relationship and Aphrodite started to take a personal interest in Gabrielle specifically and the love between Gabrielle and Xena.”

“We talk about Aphrodite and Ares and the Gods as if they’re human beings but they’re not, actually. They’re Gods. I think of them as archetypal human impulses. So in some ways you can look at the episode ‘Motherhood’ - the Twilight of the Gods - as this family crisis were Aphrodite is going against her family. Making a choice to betray her family in order to stand up for her friend - who she thinks is innocent, who pretty much is - Gabrielle. In another way you can look at it as all these different forces playing against each other and - of course Aphrodite, she is love, she is the embodiment of love, all kinds of love but certainly also magnanimous love, generous love, redemptive love. So she kind of has no choice but to stick up for Gabrielle. She can’t really… Ares would of course go try to kill her because he’s the God of War, but Aphrodite is the God of Love. She can’t. I think even if she didn’t already have this relationship she would have stuck up for her … nnngh might not be right about that, but certainly since she already had this connection, she had no choice. She had to fight for her, I think.”

I will leave you guys with this Xena confessions that perfectly describes the way I personally interpret both Aphrodite and Ares and the profound influence they have on our beloved WLW ship in Xena and Gabrielle.

[humbledragon669]

Script to Screen comparison: Episode 6 – The Very Last Day of the Rest of Their Lives P1 – large changes and deletions

Standard Intro

Having followed the episodes through with the Script Book, I've tried to break the differences between the original script and the end result on screen into a couple of different categories:

Large changes (whole scenes/multiple lines of script.

Things that are in the original script but not in the finished episode (I'm calling these deletions). This blog post will cover these and large changes only (for brevity) – additions and amendments will be covered separately.

Things that aren't in the original script but are in the finished episode (I'm calling these additions).

Things that have been changed (I'm calling these ones amendments).

Not all of the changes fit neatly into one category or the other (there are shades of grey...). The first three of the differences will be presented within bullet lists, with a description. The last of the categories will be presented in a table. I'll make comments about anything I find particularly notable after each category.

Large changes

NB: whilst going through this episode, I noticed that there were three scenes where the differences between script and screen were quite significant. There is also one section of speech that fits into this category. I’ve treated those instances as a single large change (like I did for the episode 4 script to screen analysis). The detailed changes will be placed at the end of the blog post, so you can decide whether you want to read/scroll through them or not.

Finally, the beginning of scene #602 (where Crowley arrives at the airbase in the Bentley) is identical to the end of scene #585 from episode 5, which I have already covered, so I won’t repeat myself here. With those bits of housekeeping said, let’s get started.

The setting for scene #601 is quite different in the script to what we see in the finished episode. The script has this scene opening in a dark, empty room, which we see Hastur and Dagon enter into, before standing either side of a dais. Beelzebub was then to enter, sitting herself down in the only seat available. The stage directions also have the entrance to the lift being present in this room, albeit in darkness at the beginning of the scene. There is no mention of the audience of demons behind a screen at this point in the script.

A chunk of dialogue between Crowley and Aziraphale, where the former asks the latter to introduce him to the new body, is missing from the finished episode.

Scene #605 (Anathema and Newt approaching the communications bunker) has been repositioned from its original place immediately following God’s speech that’s said over the meeting of The Them and the Horsemen.

The end of scene #605 (Newt pulling Anathema into a hiding place before they both enter the communications bunker) has been cut.

A set of lines between Adam and Madame Tracy about why she has just fired a shot is missing from the finished episode.

A handful of lines between Anathema and Newt about him being a computer engineer have been cut.

A chunk of dialogue between Pepper and War (where Pepper asserts her right to make whatever choices she wants to) just prior to War’s demise is missing from the finished episode.

The two lines between Crowley and Aziraphale about War’s flaming sword belonging to the angel have been repositioned from their original place after Pepper tells the Horsemen that they’re a joke.

Dagon’s war speech changes (see end of post for details).

Scene #613 (a conversation between Newt and Anathema after he has broken/fixed the computers) has been cut.

A couple of lines from Adam and Wensleydale about them wanting to go home have been cut from the end of the confrontation with Gabriel and Beelzebub.

Scene #615 changes.

Scene #616 changes.

Scenes #617-620 have all been cut. These were one-shots of each of The Them sleeping in their respective beds.

A handful of lines between Crowley and Aziraphale about the Bentley’s demise (whilst they are sitting on the bench) are missing from the finished episode.

A chunk of dialogue about knowing God has been cut (spoken between Crowley and Aziraphale on the bench).

Scene #623 (“Crowley” leaving his apartment) has been repositioned from its original place before “Aziraphale” arriving at the bookshop.

Scene #626 and #628 (both of them stiff interactions between Mr. Young and R.P. Tyler about Adam) have been cut.

A chunk of dialogue between Newt and Anathema about how she feels to no longer be a professional descendant is missing from the finished episode.

Scene #630 changes.

A chunk of #631 (our first sight of “Aziraphale” in Heaven), from Gabriel’s confirmation of Aziraphale’s act of treason through to the end of his speech about what he thinks the greater good is, has been repositioned from its original position from immediately following Gabriel’s claim that Aziraphale’s kidnapping was “an extraordinary rendition”.

A chunk of Crowley’s trial is missing, where Hastur gives evidence and Crowley asks to speak in his own defence.

The opening of scene #640 (repositioned) has been cut. In it, Aziraphale’s captors build the stone circle that will contain the Hellfire and he asks them what it’s for (“Barbecue”).

A chunk of scene #640 (Eric arriving in Heaven with the pot of Hellfire) has been repositioned from its original place after the dinner table scene between Madame Tracy and Shadwell. In the finished episode it sits just after Michael starts pouring the holy water into the bathtub.

A couple of lines between Sandalphon and Eric (about the deal that has been made between Heaven and Hell regarding Crowley and Aziraphale) are missing from the finished episode. This includes a shot of Eric opening the container of Hellfire, which can be seen burning.

A second chunk of scene #640 (repositioned) has been cut. This one contained an exchange between Sandalphon and Eric where the demon asks if he can hit Aziraphale, but backs out.

Usher’s indignant speech as he’s dumped into the bathtub of holy water is very different in the finished episode, with a lot of extra dialogue. Script: “What? What did I do?2Screen: “(something indecipherable) What the hell do you think you’re doing? Oh! Ow! Ahh! Wha…? No. No, no, no. What have I done? No, no! Please!” There is another scream of “Please! No!”, before he screams as he dissolves, that is additional to the script.

The end of scene #632, containing another line from Hastur where he references his dislike of jokes and Crowley starting to undress for his bath, is missing from the finished episode.

Scene #633 (an establishing shot of the outside of Shadwell’s flat) has been cut.

Part of the dinner table scene between Madame Tracy and Shadwell is missing. In it, we see Shadwell actually wiping his mouth with a serviette and Madame Tracy pouring him a glass of Guinness, despite the fact that she thinks it’s “wicked”.

Scene #646, showing “Crowley” and “Aziraphale” leaving the building containing the entrance to Heaven and Hell together, has been cut.

The opening to scene #647 (Anathema and Newt burning the Agnes’s second manuscript) is completely different in the finished episode to what was scripted. The original saw Newt igniting a fire, seemingly alone. Anathema then joins him after he asks her if she’s sure.

A sequence of shots detailing the burning of the manuscript has been cut. They would have shown the title page of the manuscript being added to twice, before the rest of the pages are thrown onto the fire. This sequence finished with the image of a smiling Agnes made from the smoke rising from the fire.

There is another shot of a smoky Agnes that has been cut. This one would have been seen just before R.P. Tyler yells at Adam for stealing his apples. In it, she was to wink at Adam.

This being the last episode of the season, it was always going to have a lot of content, all of which needed to serve a purpose, whilst keeping us interested and engaged. I suspect that is likely the reason for the large number of components that have been repositioned, particularly with regard to the trial scenes in Heaven and Hell – I feel like the end result is very effective in conveying the idea that there are multiple storylines that all intertwine with one another but must ultimately find their own resolution, independently of, but relying entirely on, the events that have happened in all of the others. I think the post-production crew have done a brilliant job of stitching all of these elements together, cutting and repositioning parts of the original script to produce a flowing narrative that isn’t confusing or frustrating.

There is only one of the missing chunks that I miss, and it’s the exchange between Crowley and Aziraphale about being introduced to the angel’s “new body”. The only reason I miss it is for this line:

AZIRAPHALE: Oh. Yes. Right. Madame Tracy, this is Crowley. He’s… Well, we’re sort of business associates.

I feel like there was an opportunity for a LOT of sub-text to be had here. And maybe Crowley’s equivalent of Aziraphale’s eyebrow raise reaction Shax’s comment in the car in season 2 (you know the one). I also feel like we did actually get this line, albeit slightly rewritten in the first episode of season 2, so perhaps I’m not alone in seeing the potential it had.

On the other hand, the cut scene of Crowley and Aziraphale leaving the HQ building together after their trials have finished is one that I can completely understand the need to remove. I don’t think it really adds anything to the story, and I actually find the idea of them meeting up in one of their old rendezvous locations much more charming. There’s something about them emerging from their respective ex-workplaces at exactly the same moment that just doesn’t feel believable to me (yes, I know I’m talking about a show with a pretty fantastical premise, but you get the gist). Ask me to suspend disbelief that an angel and a demon could switch bodies and fool Heaven and Hell, I’m all in. Tell me that afterwards they manage to meet in the lobby as they’re leaving as some sort of coincidence? Get real I say! Don’t ask me how my brain works, because I just don’t know.

I’m also quite glad we lost the shot of Agnes in the sky overseeing Newt and Anathema burn her manuscript. I get the idea – she’s watching over her descendant making her very first choice, free from the burden of a 400-year-old ancestor, and she’s happy about it. And I do like that idea, in essence. My problem with it is two-fold – firstly, there has been no hint that Agnes has been watching over any of her descendants in the entire series. She’s been completely removed from the whole process, in anything other than the written word. Why would she suddenly appear to offer her approval now? Secondly, I just feel like the whole concept of her appearing in the smoke quite cartoon-ey. Harsh? Probably, but it’s just how I feel.

Deletions

Part of Usher’s court announcement speech where he announces Beelzebub as presiding over the proceedings.

Beelzebub inviting Hastur to open proceedings at the end of the opening scene of Crowley’s trial.

Crowley holding up his hand (in a “talk-to-the-hand type way) to Aziraphale when the angel tries to pull him away from the Bentley.

Shadwell shaking his head in disbelief at his own actions when he thinks he has caused the guard to disappear.

Newt and Anathema running past the collection of sleeping soldiers on their way to the communications bunker.

Anathema shielding her eyes from the sight of the auras from the Horsemen.

Anathema specifying it’s the auras of the Horsemen that are negative (script version: “Negative auras.”)

Death telling Adam he does not have to ask for Armageddon to begin.

Death telling Adam that the events taking place have been written.

Shadwell holding the thundergun in the jeep.

A second instance of the thundergun being pointed at Adam when Madame Tracy is wrestling Aziraphale for possession of her own body.

Aziraphale trying to convince Madame Tracy that Adam must die “for the greater good”.

A tartan cummerbund worn by Aziraphale after he and Madame Tracy separate.

Two sentences from Anathema where she states that the whole world is at war with one another.

War inching closer to Pepper after the girl calls the Horsemen a joke.

Pepper asking Adam what to do before he tells her to say what she believes.

A small voiceover speech from God about the dangers of swords when left unattended.

A small voiceover speech from God about Pollution’s demise.

A glance from Famine to Death, looking for help after Pollution disappears into the sword.

A desperate looking Famine backing away from Wensleydale after he picks up the sword.

A small voiceover speech from God about Famine’s demise.

Anathema grinning before she tells Newt to “fix” the computers.

A shot of the objects belonging to the Horsemen and Death smiling.

Fragments of the prophecy that Aziraphale catches (the script has the prophecy in full).

Shadwell beckoning Newt over to join him after Pepper Anathema calls him her boyfriend.

Gabriel transforming from a “FIGURE OF PURE LIGHT” into human form.

Beelzebub transforming from a “hellish, fly-like creature” into human form.

A shot of all the people on the tarmac waiting to hear Adam’s answer to Beelzebub about wanting to rule the world.

Adam responding to Gabriel when he calls him “young man”.

Dust blowing across the airbase after Gabriel and Beelzebub have left.

A shot of Aziraphale looking “humbled” that they have all survived after Madame Tracy declares Gabriel and Beelzebub as “odd”.

A shot of The Them joining hands as Satan starts to break through the earth.

Aziraphale wiping the bottle top and handing the wine bottle to Crowley after taking a swig whilst on the bench.

Lesley looking at his clipboard to check that all the items are accounted for in the box.

A shot of Lesley putting the box into the van and then climbing into the cab.

Aziraphale nodding after Crowley reminds him that the bookshop has burned down.

A shot of the empty bench after the bus leaves.

Adam hugging his mum after she tells him he can go out in the garden.

Newt saying good morning to Anathema after he has kissed her awake.

A shot of Beelzebub, Hastur and Dagon after “Crowley” asks them what his sentence is going to be.

A line from Hastur about Hell’s intention to delete Crowley “as painfully” as possible.

Dagon telling “Crowley” that co-operating with Heaven is an act of diplomacy that he should appreciate.

Eric looking around the Heavenly space he walks through.

Eric declaring that the Heavenly office has a “nice view”.

Baddicombe holding a notebook when he delivers the package to Jasmine Cottage.

Two names (Robey, Robey) from the start of the law firm name on Baddicombe’s business card.

Baddicombe telling Newt he doesn’t know the full story behind the package because he only joined the firm 15 years before.

God stipulating that the instructions left in Agnes’s package also provided the location it was to be delivered to.

A shrug from Baddicombe after the flashback to Robey’s house.

Anathema looking at Newt and biting her lip after she reads the title of the new manuscript.

Madame Tracy calling Shadwell “love” when she tells him he found her.

Two flaming swords being wielded by Sandalphon and Uriel when “Aziraphale” is released from the chair.

Gabriel telling “Aziraphale” he won’t be meeting them again because the pillar of fire is Hellfire and will destroy the angel completely.

“Crowley” waving at Beelzebub after asking for a rubber duck.

“Crowley” deliberately dripping holy water on the floor whilst in the bathtub, causing flames to flare up where it lands.

The glass screen in front of the demon audience turning opaque when Beelzebub declares there’s nothing to see.

Four actions relating to “Crowley” getting out of the bath:

Actually vacating the tub.

Towelling himself down.

Doing up his shirt.

Picking up the rest of his clothes.

A shot of Michael looking at Crowley’s persecutors after being asked to miracle him a towel.

A shot of Anathema picking up the title page of the manuscript to throw on the fire.

Adam shrugging when told that his mum told The Them they couldn’t speak to him.

A line from Pepper about The Them using their bikes to go to Norton.

Dog looking at Adam before running through the newly formed gap in the hedge.

Adam laughing as he runs after Dog.

A shrug from Crowley before saying it’s time for them to leave the “garden”.

A black screen that would lead into the credits after the second verse of “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square”.

What struck me as interesting when I was noting these down is that the majority of the deletions for this episode are not in the dialogue, but from the stage directions. So much so that I started to get irritated with the author for being almost dictatorial about the way the actors should play their parts, or that the editors should construct the finished scene. I am not a professional writer, and what I say here is just my own amateur opinion of course, so please forgive me if it comes across as ignorant. I just felt that the script was far too prescriptive about the reactions, movements, and specifics of scene setting – after all, there is little point in employing people to put a show together if you’re going to insist that they can only do it if they do it in a particular way. All of that said, somebody (or somebodies) somewhere along the way had the artistic integrity and talent to tweak, adjust, and ignore the original script where necessary. Some of the things of this list feel distinctly out of character to me (Crowley’s “talk-to-the-hand gesture for instance), others feel unnecessary (like having Sandalphon and Uriel brandish swords), and others just don’t seem to add anything (like Shadwell holding the thundergun in the jeep), so I’m glad that the majority of them never made it into the finished episode – I actually don’t think there’s a single one of them that I miss.

Dagon’s war speech

The easiest way to demonstrate this is to simply show the original scripted version followed by the version we see in the episode – the changes are just too fiddly to write out, and would be very tedious to read.

Script

Screen

Scene #615 changes

The stage directions describe Crowley’s wings if they are in fact just very dirty and tired, rather than being black.

The script has Crowley running his hand through his hair before he puts his sunglasses on.

The stage directions detail a shot of Adam where he is seen in the foreground with Crowley and Aziraphale in the background, as if they are perched on a shoulder each. This shot has been repositioned to the next scene, as Adam tells Satan that he’s not his dad.

Aziraphale’s original description of Adam: “But you aren’t either of those things. You’re better than that.” Episode version: “But you’re not either of those things. You’re much better.”

Crowley pulling the crank handle from his jacket has been repositioned from its original place at the end of the time freeze scene.

A line from Crowley, where he tells Adam he will need to act fast once he restarts time, has been cut.

Crowley and Aziraphale holding Adam’s hands is additional to the script.

The stage directions have Aziraphale’s sword bursting into flame after he tells Adam that they will beside him, whatever happens, rather than being alight from the start of the scene.

The script version of the scene ends with Crowley pulling a tyre iron from his pocket, rather than the shot of him winding the engine crank handle.

Scene #616 changes

The script has Crowley starting to explain that Satan’s about to appear. This is missing from the finished episode.

The stage directions state that a “BIG EXPLOSION” should announce Satan’s arrival, but this is not evident in the finished cut.

There are two mentions of how Satan should be represented on screen, both mention that he would be made our of smoke, and be hazy. The physical manifestation of the devil we see in the finished episode is not mentioned in the script.

The stage directions have Satan materialising on the grass.

The script has a second explosion that knocks everyone to the ground. This is missing from the finished episode.

The stage directions mention a red smoke that is everywhere, but this is not seen in the episode.

Crowley’s encouragement for Adam to “say it again” is additional to the script.

The stage directions specify a close up of Adam’s eyes that has been replaced by the shot of Crowley and Aziraphale appearing to be on his shoulders.

Mr. Young getting out of the car has been repositioned from its original place of after Crowley declaring that Adam has won the battle.

The structure of Mr. Young’s only line of dialogue is different. It was originally scripted to be delivered as a single line (after getting out of the car), rather than being split up across other dialogue.

A shot of The Them leaving on their bikes is missing from the finished episode.

Scene #630 changes

There are a few changes to the scene setting component of this scene – the stage directions have a child eating an ice cream that is missing, the family of tourists was supposed to consist of three children (not just one), and we were meant to see a “tall figure” feeding the ducks.

The shot of park keepers has been repositioned from its original place immediately before the conversation between the British and Russian agents (they can be seen in the background as “Crowley” and “Aziraphale” get their ice cream and lolly).

The British agent originally described the kraken as a beast (rather than a monster).

“Crowley” and “Aziraphale” were supposed to be in a queue. And the queue was supposed to be for an ice cream van, rather than a little cart.

“Crowley” originally ordered a “Mr Whippy” rather than a “vanilla” ice cream.

“Crowley” handing the ice cream to “Aziraphale” has been repositioned from its original place immediately after it had been ordered.

Original description of bookshop given by “Aziraphale”: “Everything is back just as it was. Have your people been in touch yet?” Episode version: “Everything back just the way it was. You heard from your people?”

The stage directions have Death nodding at “Crowley” and “Aziraphale” before turning and walking away.

The shot of Death vanishing is additional to the script.

A line from “Crowley” about his friend being kidnapped is missing from the finished episode.

Hastur hitting “Crowley” has been repositioned from its original place after he tells him “bad luck”.

“Crowley” was originally scripted to collapse differently, with a sway before we see the world going “swimmy”, when he then falls to his knees.

“Crowley’s scripted line after being hit: “It’s not a problem. Everything’s tickety-boo.” Episode version: “It’s not a problem. It’s tickety-boo.”

A shot of the van containing “Aziraphale” driving away from the park has been cut.

The scene was supposed to end with a black screen.

[intothewickedwood]

The Meaning of Martha's Dream Theory

I'm quite new to the fandom, so this might have been mentioned before, but I was thinking about Martha's dream in episode 1x07. After that I started thinking about the plane scene in the pilot and in 1x07, and after checking, I found out that Jeannette and Nora’s cakes were never actually shown! Right there, in that early scene, was a major clue that they were the two confederates, and it was probably one of a few things that convinced Nora that Jeannette was the other confederate.

I think Martha's subconscious was trying to tell her that something was off with Jeanette and that the cake was the reason they all lost consciousness. Nora sat right behind Martha, out of Martha's view, but Jeannette was a row behind Martha, to her left. There’s a chance that Martha might have turned back when Shelby went to the bathroom to clean her teeth and glimpsed Jeannette. Initially, I found the "cake by the ocean" song where Jeannette danced with cake and had something crucial to tell Martha specifically quite random. But, now those seem to have been very intentional choices. I think it hinted at what Martha could have seen (or not seen) if she looked back. With Shelby stepping away to the bathroom, Martha had a reason to glance back and, other than Nora and a distracted Shelby, Martha had the best view of Jeanette.

After Alex passed the cake around, the show made sure not to show Jeanette's or Nora's tables at all. Perhaps displaying empty tables could have given too much away. It’s also possible their cakes were left on each of their tables untouched. But it probably would have seemed less suspicious in the long run to refuse the cake in front of someone who possibly wasn't a fellow confederate, than to request cake and then inexplicably neglect it. You’d think Alex could have provided the two of them with cakes that weren’t drugged, but then I have to wonder why they seemed to have avoided eating any.

The reason I assume their cakes were neglected (if requested at all) is because, while the other girls in front chatted in pairs, in the background of every conversation, Jeanette could be seen wildly gesticulating and talking the whole time. Then when the camera focused on Nora, she seemed not to have moved at all while staring at her sister. The cakes were very noticeable and were drawn attention to in conversations with all the other pairs. But I have reason to believe Jeanette never requested cake.

Could the camera angle in the gif above have been a significant choice? Was the show trying to show viewers Martha's clear view of Jeanette's seat? She even looked back at Alex after she sat down.

There were no tables out in front of any of the seats in Martha's dream. Rachel and Shelby's tables were out in the pilot, at the very least. Was her dream trying to draw her attention to that detail, I wonder. Or maybe it was just the fact that no other passengers were there.

Here's Jeanette at her final seat on the plane with no table or remains of a cake in sight (the left side of her left leg is just the shadow on her chair), shown again from that same camera angle and the pov that Martha would have had from her seat:

Jeanette's seat somehow looks farther away in the image above but not as far away in this image from the pilot:

And for comparison, here's how close Rachel's table was to her:

Since Alex had no time to have collected their plates, and if Jeanette's table was never out in front of her (like the images seem to suggest), then when she spoke to Nora her cake was either on the floor or she had her elbow in it because it doesn't appear to have been on her lap or on the arm rest she wasn't using:

I also feel like Nora could have slammed her head here if her table was in front of her.

So, with all that in mind and to summarise I reckon Martha noticed Jeanette without cake or with a completely ignored cake (I lean towards the former given the subsequent shots of Jeanette's seat), and her subconscious mind began piecing things together, including the fact that it was what drugged them. And with Jeannette’s unexplained additional phone and missing body, she probably wondered why Jeanette didn’t eat any cake and what the significance of that was. If that’s correct then Marty's subconscious was really on the ball, giving Leah a run for her money xD! I have no idea if she remembered the dream, but it would have been intriguing if she shared it with the others or eventually connected the dots while awake.

I might be reaching with this theory, but I'm curious if her dream might have conveyed any other messages. I'm still wondering about the significance of all the Alexes (right now all I can think of is The Polar Express) and I’m unsure about what the goat eating the cake on the plane symbolised in that situation.

[tdciago]

Fargo: C and Ch

(Originally posted to Reddit on 1/20/24)

I want to point out a couple of significant things that Noah Hawley did with alphabet letters in the finale. You can reject my interpretation of their meaning, but we should at least acknowledge that they were done.

The first is the absence of the letter C, but its repeated use as a sound in a spoken phrase.

The episode title, Bisquik, leaves the letter c out of the brand name, even though we've seen the correct spelling on the box several times during season 5, and the product has been mentioned many times.

Lorraine, in her description of Roy's punishment, mentions that she's helping prisoners in cell blocks D, B, and A, but not C. Once again, the C is missing.

During the scene in Dot's house, the phrase "across the sea" is spoken three times. If we think of sea as c, this phrase becomes part of the motif that highlights the letter c in this episode. We've also had references to "seeing" throughout this season, including eye patches and complete blindness, or lack of seeing/c-ing.

One of the meanings of C is cancer, as in the big C. Roy has said, "Cancer can't survive outside of the body," and Jordan Seymore repeatedly emphasized that he had cancer, and that, "I need this cancer out of me!"

Cigarette smoking is a major cause of cancer, and Lorraine gives Roy a pack of cigarettes with the fictional brand name Original, as in "original sin."

This "gift" can be seen as paying off the Trojan horse idea that was depicted in the shot through the windmill blades, showing two buildings on the ranch configured like a Trojan horse. The blades of the windmill itself look like matches with red tips, and the windmill is a gravesite. We can associate this with the cancer-causing cigarettes accepted by Roy. They are presented as a gift (because he can theoretically use them to bargain away abuse), but they are actually something harmful, just like a Trojan horse.

Munch also mentions being approached by a man with a "wealthy horse" to be given food and two coins. This was also a Trojan horse, because the food was actually sin.

Munch's sins are like a cancer that he can't get out of him.

Now for the second unusual thing with letters in the finale.

In the space of a few minutes, we hear the words chili, cheddar, chopsticks, chocolate, chimpanzees, and choice. That's an odd assortment of words, particularly the decision to include chopsticks and chimpanzees. What's going on with all those ch words?

The letter combination ch is a digraph: "two letters used to represent one sound," from Greek di- "twice" (from PIE root *dwo- "two") + -graph "something written," from Greek graphe "writing," from graphein "to write, express by written characters," earlier "to draw, represent by lines drawn" (see -graphy)."

I've theorized that season 5 is a story being written by Gaear Grimsrud, the kidnapper and killer of Jean Lundegaard in the Fargo movie, and that he was representing himself in the narrative as two characters: Ole Munch and Roy Tillman.

Munch is the pancake lover who just wants some peace and quiet. Roy is the domineering Marlboro Man side of Gaear, who commits ruthless murders.

In the movie, another character says of Gaear, "You know, he looked like the Marlboro Man." She proposes that this may be a subconscious thing, "'cause he smoked a lot of Marlboros." And Noah Hawley described Roy's look as the Marlboro Man.

The purpose of writing this story would be to pay a debt to Jean in the only way possible now, and to gain her forgiveness and hopefully some measure of redemption.

Just as Dot (who represents Jean) gives Munch the biscuit and speaks of forgiveness, the movie theme music kicks in. The victim has forgiven the perpetrator. In the previous episode, the perpetrator literally pulled the victim from the grave, resurrecting her in the form of this fictional character, Dorothy Lyon.

The only thing left now is redemption. So Munch eats the biscuit and is apparently freed from the curse of sin. At the same time, Roy (his other half) is damned to eternal hell for the crimes he has committed.

So there is both acknowledgement of Gaear's crimes, and recognition that they deserve punishment, but also some measure of salvation in the fact that his victim forgives him.

This is my interpretation of the finale. I also believe these events are taking place, within the story, as a bardo in the afterlife, a liminal transition space in which earthly trauma and sins can be worked out before reincarnation, much like Camp Utopia was for the abused women in Linda. As Munch says, "This is the other side."

We've had various discussions before about reincarnation and cycles, and if we look back, there are a lot of hints along the way that could point to smoking and cancer. I think this is what the author is dying from.

However you interpret the finale, we should recognize that Noah Hawley was trying to convey something with his emphasis on C and Ch.

[blackautmedia]

Amber Wasn't Wrong - How Invincible Discusses power Differentials

Some Excerpts:

One of the big things the first episode focuses on is that superpowers or even just being non-human in the case of Omni-man isn't just challenging in navigating day to day life of the actual work of being a superhero, but drastically affects the balance in power between your friends and family.

First is this incorrect idea that Amber is angry at Mark for saving lives instead of spending time with her.  When people look at this episode for her angry outburst, they also leave out the part where Amber runs out to help others escape when she sees people trip and fall. She asks her friends to stay and help other people escape. The idea that this kind of person would also be opposed to Mark prioritizing saving people's lives is unthinkable.

She is in a public space and can't speak publicly about the situation that's actually upsetting to her nor can she necessarily safely share that she even knows. He's been hiding this and has no knowledge on what else he may be or how he'll necessarily react when he does.

He's working up the courage to tell her, but ultimately her doesn't answer her. I realize this isn't an easy or a light decision. As Eve points out once you tell, that's it. He has to know he's serious about this relationship and maybe they grow and change over the years, sure. But by making this choice, he's also continuing to keep her in the dark and continuing the power and information imbalance. "I'm going to do better" doesn't mean anything if he's also hiding very significant portions of his life from her and putting on the face of another person the whole time.

I don't even consider this a well written scene. It feels contrived and clunky still and I feel there were better context clues that could be used. Most people compare this with the fact that he left them, but it reads more like she can't publicly talk about it, and a clarification about that scene would have been helpful. There are plenty of scenes that take on a very different context when you rewatch because people have to be covert.

Amber has shown multiple times that she's very smart, and we've also seen that she's willing to show people grace, because in learning he's a superhero, she also can look back on those moments where she likely realized he was planning to tell her but didn't, and in doing so put her through that unnecessary grief and frustration for the longest time. This is about power, not about expecting him to stop saving lives.

This is the same thing Debbie and Cecil go through which is why the show draws this parallel by having Debbie's confrontation with Omni-Man run in tandem.

We see this shot of Nolan punching a hole in the wall, which Debbie looks at the next day. It's a reminder that that could have easily been her. That could have been her child. Nolan has the power. Nolan has the information.

Amber shuts the door on him and doesn't want to speak to him, so he flies into her room through the window and enters without consent to announce he's a superhero and asks to start over. I don't feel enough people are talking enough on how Mark inserts himself in her room without her consent, drops that he's a superhero on her after months, and expects her to show him all the endless patience and understanding in the world.

More than anything though, the amount of people constantly injecting their desire to see violence toward even a fictional Black girl in anything even vaguely Invincible related is so unsettling.

[cleradinel]

Genuine Q: how is the boys only sign a gay proof for Mike Wheeler and a sign that he isn’t bi? Isn’t he just saying “Boys Only” because they go into a men’s space? Like they weren’t gonna go into a women’s bathroom/locker room? And Lucas goes with them, so if that’s “gay Mike proof,” wouldn’t that make Lucas gay too? Saying “boys only” is not a gay thing either in general, lots of media has moments where straight male characters break off for “bro talk” or “just the guys” and it has nothing to do with their sexuality. Are guys not allowed to socialize with their gender without it being a queercoding clue? (Is it lesbian when girls go into the bathroom together?)

see i was debating the value of presenting my arguments because i truly don't know if you're up for civil discussing or not, but i'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here.

dear anon. your first mistake here is watching and thinking of the show as one dimentional : aka, you think of mike as a person with free will figuring out how to go about trapping a dangerous murderous cunt inside a sauna. in a non meta way, in their world, it is absolutely what's happening, it's just mike stating "i figured something out, will, lucas, follow me." but a tv show is two dimentional : there is a meta layer to the dialogues, to the set design, to the character blocking etc. there are a lot of thoughts put into those decisions, and writers have a lot of fun figuring out how stuff something that on surface level is innocent and devoid of importance with double meaning. i'll give you one example, when will is encouraging el when she's called to do a presentation for class, you can read the word "HENRY" above his neck. in THEIR world, this is just a random name that happens to have been written on a piece of paper and stuck to the wall after discussing whatever henry dude will and el's curiculum asked the teachers of california to talk about. in OUR world, as people watching a tv show, the set design decision to place it here, the director's decision to have the cameraman do this specific shot and to place noah in this specific way is foreshadowing. it's a hint. it's a meta detail. it SHOULD mean something to you. another example ! jason telling lucas "you first hangover feels like you're going to split in two" is not about jason knowing he was quite literally going to end up split in two, he is just recounting his experience with his first hangover to lucas. to US, in a meta way, it's significant, because it was foreshadowing, it was a hint, it was MEANINGFUL. it wasn't a random choice of words from the writers that coincidentally ended up lining up with jason's death down the line. it was INTENTIONAL. jason as a person was not saying anything more than just "man hungovers are a real bitch lol", jason as a tv show character was quite literally telling us how he was going to meet his demise. another one : max in the school's bathroom. there is a graffiti on the wall with "i see you" and a little doodle of two blue eyes. in their world, whoever wrote this was obviously not doing this in vecna's name. it's a random person who randomly decided oto have some fun and graffiti this particular thing. in a meta way, this is referencing vecna. it's not a coincidence. especially considering this is a max scene and her arc is very closely linked to vecna this season. do you see where i'm going with this ? mike in hawkins indiana 1985, saying "i have an idea, boys only." is just letting lucas and will know that he figured out how to stop billy and that this plan requires going somewhere max and el can't follow. in their world, that's it ! but in our world, in the double meaning way (which is a very real thing, if you insinuate the stranger things dialogue, or most of cinema dialogues are "not that deep" you are quite literally insulting writers everywhere, like. straight up), in the "this is a character who's words are chosen by someone else with purpose" way, this particular phrasing is meaningful. he didn't say "i have a plan, follow me to the men's locker room guys". the writers chose a specific phrasing. it's even more obvious recontextualized : mike JUST fought with will, who told him his obsession with growing up was ruining them and the party. mike, affected by those words tries to figure out what that whole argument and his own reaction to it means to and for him. he has an idea to figure it out, and it is to let himself wander into "what if... i was..." territory as we do see in the second half of S3. (i would include screencaps but i can't be bothered rn)

mike's reaction at the end of s3 aka the conclusion of his S3 arc (in 3 parts : pushing dnd and queerness away because it's not socially acceptable -> why am i even doing this ? why am i acting like this -> right. i'm actually gay and terrified to be.) goes something like this : a scene flirting with will, followed by a scene of el kissing him and not reciprocating, followed by a scene that is shot in the same way a scene in which a character realizes something shows us the conclusion that mike has come to about himself : yes, he is gay. his own theory about himself actually being into boys was the correct theory. i think that answers the second part of your ask. someone choosing for mike to lay out his plans with this choice of words at this particular moment in the story is heavy queercoding. had it been dustin (random choice, he wasn't even there), whose narrative is simply not mike's, it would have been meaningless. it wouldn't even have been worded like that. in the case of mike, because it is mike and because of the nature of his storyline, it isn't.

[lovecolibri]

The thing about the Big Q Word is that I get ~not giving future plot lines away~ and all that but I do think that when the powers behind a show or movie series become aware of a significant following for a ship that is either not-straight or interracial (or both), if they already know they’re not going to go there they have a moral responsibility to say that. In plain terms. If they’re worried about losing audience, well they can’t have it both ways. If it’s a big enough chunk to worry about, perhaps they should reconsider their plan. And if it’s not, just nip it in the bud and let people down easy. People can get very emotionally invested in media. In fact, that’s often what they want from us. And certain ships just are more sensitive than others! If, early on, the showrunners are made aware of a growing audience for X ship, and they just say “oh now that you point it out I can see what you’re seeing, but it wasn’t our intention and we won’t be pursuing it.” That would A: validate that part of the audience and not accuse them of making things up, and B: allow people to make an informed choice. I think probably most would keep watching. If they like the product and are treated with a bit of respect why not? Sure, there will always be an element who will keep believing in canon no matter how plainly you say it’s not happening (…look at what we’re seeing in the face of all evidence now. Though letting go of years of heavy shipping is harder than letting go of one season or so). But I think that could be reduced by early intervention of “hey, cool ship but just so you know it will be remaining in drydock.”

This is well said! I think part of the issue is, terminology takes awhile to catch up and that is a word that people have right now so they use it even though things don't always meet the textbook definition, because they don’t really HAVE another word to use for what a show is doing. 911 may steer clear of using Buddie in their promo material or teasing it on their social media (though they DO tend to drop scenes or pics of one or both of the guys whenever something comes out that had people talking negatively especially this season soooo), which worked to keep away the accusations on technicality, but they still used Buddie within the show itself to generate the buzz online and keep the show talked about while turning around and telling everyone fans were seeing things and that's fine but it's not what they intended to come across. 5 seasons in it's unintentional and they had no idea people would see it that way?! I call bullshit.

It's disingenuous to say people are seeing things when you’re making very specific and repeated parallels to other canon couples, and talking about how costumes ARE important and something that gets discussed, and the directors ARE watching to make sure certain facial expressions are in focus. OR how about something like telling people to pay attention to the couch, and that the couch is important, then putting Buck and Chris on the couch in shot-for-shot parallels, after Buck can’t sleep on the couch his mom gave him, and turning around and saying “oh no not THOSE couch scenes, that was "unintentional", you didn't need to pay attention to them, they never meant anything and we never said they did and you really just did this to yourself."

Like, YES they are not using Budding THEMSELVES as a marketing tool because they don't want people to call them out and right now they can say "but, but, WE didn't do it!", but it's almost more insidious how they put stuff in they absolutely cannot be unaware of how it will come across this many years in, and let the online fandom do the marketing FOR them and create all the buzz and keep their show popular, only to, when someone pushes them about it, throw those same fans under the bus with an "oh well everyone can see what they want! We certainly didn't intend that they would see THIS *insert incredibly romantically coded thing here* as anything but we won't tell them they're wrong."

@suavecitoeddie mentioned a great term today, "ship bait" which I think fits because it's not JUST about representation, as in the case of 911 there are other mlm/wlw relationships depicted AND lovingly crafted in the show. But that doesn't mean that the show ISN'T pulling some shady shit with Buddie. Hen and Karen were already established at the start but Bathena and Madney were established in season 2 and Michael met David in season 3. Aside from Athena, Michael and Chim in season 1, none of them have dated anyone else (we have seen past relationships but not active dating) and the show has given wonderful stories of growth for these couples and having each other's backs across several seasons. And Buck and Eddie have the same kind of story the only difference is, it gets told around the show throwing woman after woman after woman at them. We KNOW this show can tell well-crafted love stories, we SEE the parallels they CHOOSE to make with Buddie and the other couples. And while the GA may not be analyzing everything, it's also not fair to offhandedly label ALL of them as blind or dumb enough to NOT pick up on some of that stuff as well. We all saw the comments after Buck fell asleep on the couch, or after the cemetery scene of people saying "I thought you all were making stuff up but I'm rethinking everything now!" We have all seen the comments of people starting the show thinking fandom was blowing Buddie out of proportion (I certainly thought so and that was around season 3) only to watch and go "how did Tumbler of all places actually UNDERSELL how much these two are in love?"

We know TPTB are keeping an eye on social media because they know enough to avoid the common "traps" of baiting so people can't accuse them of it. Which means they can't say they don't know how things are going to come across. Yes, Ryan may have shocked everyone with that performance in 6x10, but he's running up the ladder in a wide shot when we hear him screaming for Buck. We don't see his face, they easily could have cut some of his reactions or the audio there or cut the scene differently and still had it be a very moving and emotional scene that showed Eddie going after his friend. We still would have seen it through a Buddie lens, but for KR to come out and act like she had no say in how that final product we saw came out, regardless of what Ryan did on the day? I don't buy it. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

And YES at this point they're in a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation no matter what they say but part of that is because they have kept up the "it's open for any interpretation" thing so long while making these blatant parallels, AND, the big thing for me personally, while making Buck and Eddie at every turn be the exact puzzle piece the other is missing! Not every fandom ship is something that makes sense for canon or is even something the shippers WANT for canon, it's just fun and that's okay! But 911 specifically has build Buck and Eddie as the perfect partners in every sense of the word for each other. On top of that, they have also given them just....some of the WORST people for them where we can SEE, blatantly, how incompatible they are, and then shown Buck or Eddie perfectly doing what the gf did not. You just...you cannot tell me it's not intentional, I won't believe you.

Also, on top of everything else it's just....SO cowardly to be so concerned with appealing to everyone all at once that you refuse to pick a side and commit to a story JUST so everyone can "see it how they want", until, when push comes to shove and the show is ending, suddenly you HAVE picked a side and then suddenly all those fans are just angry for no reason because of something some other show did to them because you were NEVER doing anything to lead them on. You checked the textbook definition and followed it to a T, so no one can be upset. 🙄🙄🙄

ANYWAY. It's okay to feel "ship baited" because it's pretty clear the show was trying to have things both ways until the show was supposed to end, and only at that point did they show their hand. It's also okay to call them out on it and to let ABC know what we want. Will it do anything? Maybe not! Who knows! But they won't be able to say they didn't see or hear the backlash, and the show is made for the fans! Yes a lot of people may casually watch, but ad revenue tied to demo isn't as important as it used to be, and online fandom is what keeps shows alive. So make noise! If nothing else, you'll probably feel a little better! (And ABC was already going to be facing an uphill battle to keep viewers with an already lackluster season with dropping viewers, a network switch after so many seasons, and now the strike pushing things back. I honestly don't think they can afford to entirely discredit the current buzz around the finale. Which is NOT just tied to Buddie as a ship but the character's individual journeys, and the disjointed writing for everyone and the pacing issues especially with the big emergency. We may not get everything or at least not all at once, but the more they know about what fans want, the more likely we are to see some changes to get us closer to those early season vibes.)

[superstarz9]

Alright I wanted to post my opinion about dislyte’s new story mode and what I think they could’ve done different

SPOILERS FOR DISLYTE’S NEW STORY

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So to start; having the player be a character. It very much caught be off guard and I very much disliked how the first few chapters were hinting at Dislyte becoming an isekai. While I’m glad I was proven wrong, the player character still felt very jarring. What also felt jarring was the immediate assumption that the player used he/him, which separated that connection between the character and I. I feel like if Dislyte added the ability to change and customize your pronouns that would already improve the story mode experience. Similarly, I feel like the player character could’ve been designed a bit differently. Maybe give the character gloves or utilize that rocky material that hints at the player’s origins. We’ll told that throughout the story the reason why the player needs to wear that stupid helmet is to hide the fact that he’s half-miramon, but we as the actual player don’t see that until the very end for a few seconds. Finally, I wish we had a few dialogue options instead of pre-written dialogue for the player character. For most of the story, the player character felt kind of static and robotic, but having a few different reaction dialogue could’ve fixed those problems immediately while also having the player interact with the story rather than view the story. And it’s not like they couldn’t do that, because we see Dislyte use the multi-choice feature during the introduction and Tevor’s draw and guess sections.

Now for the story itself, I actually didn’t mind it at all. I appreciated that it was a wide range of character rather than the same ten in the original story mode. While the past few event stories have been a bit lacking, I honestly feel like it was because the better half of the writers were tasked with the new story mode. There’s a significant improvement in the narrative and characters, which was refreshing especially after cellblock tango. The world-building was also done well, allowing the world of Dislyte to feel more like a whole world rather than separated locations. Things tied it pretty decently in my opinion. It was also really nice being able to interact with other characters like Triki, Xuan Pin, Raven, etc. While the shadow decree felt a bit sidelined, it was also nice to see character development and interactions from them. In the normal story, we mostly see Leon and Freddy, with a bit of Anesidora in the later chapters. The new story, however, fleshes out Freddy and Anesidora a lot more (they fucked Leon though like bro had NOTHING). Especially during that cave scene, which I can do a whole character analysis on if this post does decently or I just wanna talk about it. Having those quirky character moments also felt very nice, once again referring to the golden city chapters. While I wasn’t crazy about Sachiko’s writing, and especially her character dump before the ending, but I did grow to appreciate her.

Now compared to the original story mode? Ehhhhhhhhhh hard to say. Truth be told, I wasn’t super crazy about the original story mode, mainly for the character writing. While every character had their moments, everyone felt one-dimentional and bland. Felt like if you took a shot everytime Brynn asked where Sieg was you’d be passed out before chapter 7. The original story was much more closed-off compared to the new story, almost like an event story. While the original story showcased the effects of the miracle and the displacement it caused thanks so Bernice’s character, there really wasn’t much else that the main story affected. I think that was one of the main critiques the main story faced as event stories fleshed out the world of Dislyte but not the main plot, so having a story mode that ties most events together is a lot more fulfilling. However, I can’t imagine how new players would react to the story not knowing the world-building stories from previous events. While it’s alright on its own, there are a few moments that new players would probably be very confused by, such as the use of the withered miracle and the lion’s heart. I’ll be honest, I skip stories that I don’t care as much for, so I never read Abigale’s event stories, Javid’s story, or Mateo’s story. While that didn’t effect my experience, I still had to adjust to Yamato being a prominent character for the first half, the use of the lion’s heart gem, and other small event easter eggs that I missed out on. This is probably Dislyte’s was to get newer players to buy the older stories in order to understand these details, but it still doesn’t feel new-player friendly unlike the original story mode. If I could change anything about this, I would made the easy story mode be Brynn’s story and the harder difficulty be the player’s story.

Finally, the elephant in the room; Gaius. Don’t get me wrong, I hate Gaius being the twist villain and shadow councillor. However, I feel like there should’ve been more than “Gaius is the bad guy now.” Similarly to Freddy and Anesidora, I could go into a whole character deep-dive about Gaius’ character, but to put it simply: I think Gaius is trying to be the balance rather mastermind. While it still feels like a character assassination, I feel like Gaius is trying to keep the esper union and the shadow decree at bay to prevent either side from taking over. I’d like to believe Gaius is playing the devil’s advocate as we see him constantly making sure the shadow decree doesn’t directly involve themselves with the union. A lot of people suggested that Hyde should’ve been the shadow councillor and while I do believe Hyde is another councillor, Hyde didn’t create the shadow decree to be the union’s evil counterpart. While he follows an antagonistic role, Hyde isn’t a villain, much like a good portion of the shadow decree. In the end, I hope they fix Gaius and tie in his original writing for future events and make overall improvements with the direction of the story.

On a completely separate note might write a what if dislyte fic with the shadow decree

[dee-toraburu]

Captain Tsubasa S2 - Junior Youth: The Importance of Hyuga and Wakashimazu's Hospital and Car Scenes

While the Shin Captain Tsubasa OVAs were of high quality, in my humble opinion, they omitted several scenes probably due to time constraints. One particular scene that I eagerly wait to see animated, either in today's episode or the next two, is the one where Hyuga visits Wakashimazu in the Hamburg hospital and their subsequent conversation in the car. While not essential to the main storyline, this scene provides crucial insights into the bond between Hyuga and Wakashimazu.

1. The Enigmatic Relationship of Hyuga and Wakashimazu

When reading the manga or watching the anime, there are few scenes centered solely on Hyuga and Wakashimazu.

Most of their encounters happen on the football field, where words are scarce. The exceptions are few, with the third Nankatsu-Toho finals being a standout. But still, questions linger: What lies beyond the surface of their camaraderie? Do they share interests beyond football? Can their contrasting personalities coexist peacefully? The answers are found in two key scenes within the Junior Youth arc: the hospital and car moments, which offer a glimpse into their off-field interactions and shed light on their dynamic.

2. Context and Significance of the Hospital and Car Scenes

To truly grasp the significance of these scenes, let's revisit what led up to them. Wakashimazu injures his hand, defending against Schneider's powerful shot, requiring a trip to Hamburg Hospital.

Meanwhile, Japan faces a humiliating defeat against Schneider and Wakabayashi. After the match, a heated altercation erupts between Hyuga and Wakabayashi, resulting in a physical confrontation. Following these events, a disheartened Hyuga relinquishes his captaincy.

Wakashimazu, accompanied by Katagiri, leaves the hospital and finds his captain waiting for him, battered but smiling. Hyuga had gone out of his way to be by Wakashimazu's side.

The two young men share a car ride, during which, for the first time in Captain Tsubasa history, we witness a conversation between Toho's captain and his goalkeeper.

3. Unveiling the Relationship

The first question that arises from this scene is why Hyuga decided to visit Wakashimazu. The answer lies in his genuine concern for his goalkeeper and the emotional comfort Wakashimazu provides him. Normally, Hyuga is known for his fiery, arrogant demeanor and suspicion of others, but his attitude changes dramatically in Wakashimazu's presence. He exhibits a side of his personality reserved for those close to his heart—smiling, caring, relaxed, and even vulnerable.

In return, Wakashimazu reciprocates, displaying an even more surprising and blatant change in behavior. His expression is entirely relaxed and, dare I say, CUTE when he interacts with Hyuga. This departure from his usual stoic, composed demeanor, with furrowed brows, is very notable.

YO LOOK AT THIS ↑↑↑ who's that angry young man on the left and this young maiden in love on the right KEK

While we've seen him smile at Hyuga during the national middle school tournament final, this goes beyond that.

In addition to his gentle smile and soft demeanor, this manifests in his choice of words as he attempts to console a deeply disheartened Hyuga. However, these nuances often evade translation, underscoring the intricacies of the Japanese language.

4. Language Subtleties in Captain Tsubasa

Captain Tsubasa exemplifies the subtleties of the Japanese language perfectly.

For exemple, Hyuga addresses Wakashimazu informally, using his last name without honorifics or "omae/お前", a second-person singular pronoun considered familiar in this context.

In contrast, Wakashimazu uses "keigo/敬語", a polite language form, to address Hyuga due to his position as captain and out of immense respect. He primarily calls him "captain/キャプテン", occasionally using "anta/あんた" (a polite second-person singular pronoun in this context), and very rarely addressing him as "Hyuga-san/日向さん", using the last name with an honorific suffix.

Conclusion:

The hospital and car scenes between Hyuga and Wakashimazu offer invaluable insights into the characters' relationship, personalities, and the subtleties of their interactions.

While not central to the main storyline, these moments enrich the Captain Tsubasa experience and provide fans with a deeper appreciation of the intricate dynamics between Hyuga and Wakashimazu's unspoken camaraderie or more if you like to interpret their relationship this way.

PRAY FOR THE SCENES' ANIME ADAPTATION!!...🛐🛐🛐

[nofomogirl]

Metatron's manipulation step by step

Part 8: The offer (alternative versions)

Part 1 - where I discuss the significance of the coffee.

Part 2 - where I take a look back at season 1

Part 3 - from Metatron's arrival on Earth to sending the Archangels away

Part 4 - inside the bookshop after sending the Archangels away

Part 5 - at the table in the street

Part 6 - Inside the bookshop after the ineffable breakup (mostly)

Part 7 - the very last scenes

The breakdown of Metatron's manipulation I've written so far is based on the assumption that what we see is all that happened. I restrained myself completely from looking for any other reasons for Aziraphale's actions than what we were shown on screen. I hope I managed to prove that those reasons were more than enough.

As a side note/summary, I recommend this post. It covers pretty well how I feel about the ending and various interpretations of the ending.

But of course just because it all makes sense on its own doesn't mean I am 100% convinced there couldn't be anything else. Quite the opposite, I think it's very likely there was. That we haven't seen all the important bits.

So today I want to focus on all the oddities. All the little things that stand out to me as strange writing choices in that final sequence, and in some instances entire season.

The first thing that got me thinking, in that initial frenzy of rewatching bits and pieces right after the original watch, was the shot when Aziraphale walks away from Metatron and goes to the bookshop to talk with Crowley.

I'll just quote my own post from several weeks ago:

The news he got is supposed to be "incredibly good". And sure thing, when he talks to Crowley about the possibility of him being an angel again, he gets very emotional. But before that, does he look to you like someone who believes he has incredibly good news? We know excited and happy Aziraphale. It's really rather impossible to miss it when Aziraphale is excited and happy. You'd notice it even if you were in a different room. Aziraphale who gets up from Metatron's table and crosses the street is most decidedly not an excited and happy Aziraphale. Then he doesn't just blurt his incredibly good news out right on a doorstep, as one might expect. No, he starts babbling, and beating about a bush. It might be interpreted as him simply being overwhelmed. But from what we've seen so far, especially in Season 1, it looks more like anxiety to me.

Something was definitely bothering Aziraphale.

Of course, it's entirely possible he was simply conflicted about leaving Earth.

If Aziraphale had to choose between (A) Crowley becoming an angel and (B) Crowley remaining a demon, he would - obviously, because he did - pick A. (No, we will not dive into all of hispossible reasons now!). If Aziraphale had to choose between (A) staying on Earth and (B) going to Heaven, he would - and again, we know because we saw him face that choice - pick A.

It's possible that this complicated thing that Michael Sheen's face does when Aziraphale crosses the street is simply Aziraphale weighing his options. He knows he can't have AA, so he's trying to quickly decide between AB and BA.

(And of course, In a twist of dramatic irony, he ends up with BB in the end.)

But it's also very likely there was another factor besides angel/demon and Earth/Heaven, another choice to be made.

Technically, it could have been another offer, or it could have been a threat, but I think it's not surprising that the common consensus in the fandom is that IF there was something there, it was a threat. I, personally, cannot think of what offer could there be that wasn't actually a threat phrased differently. That of course doesn't mean that Neil Gaiman couldn't think of one, but for now, let's drop it as a dead end.

The first big question is what exactly might have been threatened.

What immediately comes to mind is Earth but I don't think that's very likely. If that was the case Aziraphale would surely bring it up in his argument with Crowley. Especially since Crowley explicitly talks about Heaven possibly destroying life on Earth. No, I don't think Aziraphale is conscious of any imminent danger to Earth and humanity until the very end when Metatron mentions the Second Coming.

That leaves either Aziraphale or Crowley. I can't think of anything else.

The second question is what could either of them be threatened with.

Theory #1: The Book of Life

It's probably the most popular theory, for the very simple and logical reason that the Book of Life is a danger that was explicitly mentioned this season and seems to be left hanging over our heroes' heads.

I'm not going to go into too many details since I've already written a whole separate post on the Book of Life. I'd also like to recommend another that's in a similar spirit by @the-meta-tron.

The gist of it is that The Book of Life very likely doesn't work the way we were led to believe so far and that it almost certainly cannot be used against demons. But the characters don't necessarily know it.

There's one thing I feel I need to share on the topic - for the life of me, I don't know what to make of the scene where Michael threatens Aziraphale to use the Book. This is Aziraphale's face in the short shot we get of him, and... well.

As far as we are aware, this is the first time Aziraphale has heard about the Book of Life this season. (When Archangels came to investigate the miracle in episode 2, they didn't use the threat on him. Michael only informed Beelzebub, who informed Crowley, who we haven't seen inform Aziraphale and it's probably safe to assume that he didn't.)

What is happening in his head at this moment?

Is it blank because of the shock of having something like this thrown at him? I mean, he's a pro at receiving extremely bad news from Heaven, but they were never about him and so openly hostile. Or are there gears turning at lightspeed behind that painfully neutral expression? Could be either and anything in between.

And then there's Crowley.

He's just... lounging. When Aziraphale is threatened with the thing that made Crowley rush to the bookshop in episode 1 to get himself involved in the whole mess he didn't otherwise care about. In fact, he's just there in the background and barely involved pretty much the entire scene.

At first, I overlooked it because there was so much going on otherwise. Then I dismissed it because okay, Crowley isn't really needed in that scene but it would be jarring for him to leave, so letting him wait for his cue outside of frames is a solution of sorts. But that's not really taking the writing team seriously, is it?

This is a conscious choice and there was a reason behind it.

Just like it's the case for Aziraphale, I find it impossible to tell at this point what is going on there. It's either a pose while in reality, Crowley's on high alert, or perhaps he has his reason to believe that there is no real danger right then.

Enters the theory that Crowley had already figured out something at this point, possibly where the Book of Life is and how to get to it, or perhaps he might have even stolen it already.

It's a theory I'm not particularly married to but I find it interesting and not at all unlikely. It would certainly be an interesting twist for Aziraphale to cave under the threat of the Book of Life, while the Book was no longer in Heaven.

Theory #2: Memory wipe

Another disturbing thing we learned about Heaven this season is that it can play with people's memories.

Of course, even before season 2 was confirmed, memory erasure was part of many popular headcanons. But now we know for sure it's possible and a done thing within the canonic universe. What's more, while we can't be sure of the exact range, we know it can be performed remotely.

Of course, now that the Pandora's box is open, the theories just keep multiplying. After all, the options are pretty much endless. What do Aziraphale and Crowley remember, and what have they been made to forget? Are Aziraphale's memories still edited somehow? Did Muriel use to be someone important? How many angels in Heaven have had their entire identities taken from them? Are there things that no angel was allowed to remember perhaps?

Book of Life remains a mystery to be solved, but I feel it would be hard to just drop it into conversation without being too obvious. I don't think Metatron would put all the effort into his manipulation if, in the end, he was going to just blackmail Aziraphale. Memory wipe would be far easier to use as a threat without breaking the carefully crafted illusion that Metatron is a good guy.

It also would make for an interesting parallel between Aziraphale and Gabriel. Both were terrified of forgetting their loved ones but ran from it in opposite directions - one away from Heaven, the other right into it.

Theory #3: Execution 2.0

Another thing that might make a good threat is some form of repetition of Aziraphale and Crowley's execution in season 1.

It didn't work the first time because they swapped bodies, leading Heaven and Hell to believe they'd somehow become immune to elements that should be their doom. They're kind of left alone by their former sides, but Crowley is not wrong in calling their existence fragile. Beelzebub makes it clear they could go after him any moment. Michael, Uriel, and Saraquel obviously feel that Aziraphale is still obligated to report to them, while at the same time, Shax points out he's an outcast with no protection.

If on top of all that it would somehow get out how they really survived their attempted executions, things could get pretty nasty.

If Metatron somehow hinted, no matter how subtly, that he's aware of what actually happened, that he knows there's no mysterious immunity, but of course secrets of Supreme Archangel would be safe... Well, that surely would be convincing.

And I'm not saying that Crowley's idiotic outburst in front of Gabriel might have been what tipped Metatron off but it definitely could have been.

Theory #4: Unspecified

Let me repeat - if Metatron threatened Aziraphale at all, I don't believe it was open. He put a lot of thought and effort into presenting himself as relatable and trustworthy. Yes, he probably needed an extra incentive for Aziraphale to take his offer but he had to avoid making it look like he himself is a threat.

That's why I think the most likely scenario was that Metatron just hinted at some general danger without being too specific about what it was exactly and let Aziraphale draw his own conclusions.

That brings us to another very big question - was the threat intentional at all? Did Metatron indeed subtly threaten Aziraphale into obedience or did he let something slip accidentally and Aziraphale picked it up?

I've seen quite a few meta suggesting Aziraphale knows exactly what's going on and has some elaborate plan for when he gets to Heaven. Some see Crowley bailing out as an obstacle, and some go as far as to suggest that was also part of the plan.

These theories are super fun to read, make some great points, and even greater fanfic material. But I won't lie, I'm mostly skeptical of them ever being canonized. I just really think it was mostly manipulation and Aziraphale got played.

But that doesn't mean he didn't pick up on anything.

Just like the fact he's simply confused and manipulated in the Final Fifteen doesn't mean he won't make a plan once he's in Heaven and calmed down. I think something already started hatching in the elevator.

Continued and concluded in: Part 9: Metatron's Goal