Tumgik
#obviously i have an opinion on this but i want to play ask-the-audience first
markrosewater · 1 day
Note
About the Phyrexian invasion thing, first, thanks for reading and responding to my novel of an ask. I appreciate that you go out of your way to address this kind of feedback.
Second, I recognize that it’s not clear how best to handle things like this when you don’t know how the audience will react, and I respect that you all did what you thought was best with the given information. I sent that ask more to explain how I and (I believe) others feel about how it was handled after the fact, not to try and convince you that it was wrong.
I also appreciate the narrative implications of Realmbreaker’s breeching the multiverse, creating the omenpaths, desparking most planeswalkers, and how that has shaped the upcoming arc. Actually I’m really interested in this arc because you’ve been able to do things that were never possible before. I also appreciate that there’s online story content for the vorthoses.
In other words, nothing you said is wrong, obviously. I was trying to articulate that there seems to be some kind of disconnect between the expectation that the audience had about how a Phyrexian invasion would play out and what your plans were. There seems to be some missing thing that really sells the idea of “yeah, the invasion was every bit as bad as you thought it would be, and then some.” Maybe it’s because stories like this generally have a “the bad guys won” moment before the good guys win (like Infinity War and Endgame), and March of the Machine seemed to have breezed through both.
Also, looking through the comments I see there are plenty of people who don’t want to dwell on the Phyrexians any longer than we have to.
Looking back, I do think we wanted to structure Phyrexia: All Will Be One and March of the Machine differently. I would have started the war in Phyrexia and had the bad guys are dominating moment be the stinger at the end of that set’s story. (Note: this is all my opinion.)
59 notes · View notes
shinelikethunder · 2 years
Text
so, having finished the first season of SPN this past weekend, i'm still finding it WAY more interesting as a cultural artifact (...and a pile of creative choices that i want to dissect like a misshapen pig fetus) than as any kind of candidate for the blorbo rotisserie...
but i do have ONE item of earnest, story-level curiosity so far: quick poll, what's everyone's nominee for the most genuinely disturbing episode in season 1?
156 notes · View notes
mishapocalyse · 2 years
Text
Random thoughts of the morning:
I really wish I could afford a black 1967 Chevy Impala SS. Yes I know it’s the model of the car from Supernatural. But before it’s been my dream car. I’ve looked and looked and looked. To no luck. Cannot find one that isn’t in a hole in the ground.
Let’s get back to hoping someone will get me one for my birthday so I can finally live my dream of AC/DC and sleeping in the backseat.
3 notes · View notes
ooctlt · 1 month
Note
I think the etiquette of ask blogs is a forgotten art. what I'm saying is (imo) it's not that people don't want to play, it is they don't know HOW, and more importantly they don't understand that the game exists to begin with. obviously you do not have to teach people the rules because your time and energy is finite but idk. it feels like from some of your OOC responses that you assume people know the rules and are playing badly, but I genuinely think people (me) just don't know what you are wanting them (us) to do. and also they (i) don't know how to tell if they (i) are playing the game correctly.
An example I am genuinely confused about is, is inciting a "shut up" answer a signal that the game is being played correctly, because we are inciting a reaction from the character? or is a "shut up" answer a signal that we are playing wrong and need to do something different? I'm sorry. I really love your art and seeing the story unfold but I'm confused and I want to play and I don't understand how.
yeah ive had a couple people tell me this has been the first active askblog in a while and the concept of askblog etiquette has been forgotten- @thatneoncrisis and i made a diagram:
Tumblr media
link to full-res image
a "shut up" reaction will hopefully show whether or not it's a closed path of exploration: if you have gideon sweating, going "pshhh its nothinggg" it means there is something worth exploring. if you have harrow slamming the door in your face, that is an advance that wont work on her
transcript under the readmore:
DEAD END QUESTION ANON: CAMILLA DO YOU THINK HARROW'S HOT?
"Please stop talking to me."
This question is BAD because it's BLUNT, INCREDIBLY PERSONAL and founded on INCOMPLETE KNOWLEDGE of their relationship.
NOTE that its not that shitty questions will NEVER be answered, its that 1) they have a LOWER chance of being answered and 2) they have a HIGHER chance of being made fun of in character
gideon: haha who thinks harrow is HOT
DECENT INCONSEQUENTIAL QUESTION ANON: CAMILLA DO YOU LIKE TO DO ANYTHING FUN WITH HARROW?
"Sure. We run a lot of errands together."
This kind of question may not advance the plot, as it is INCREDIBLY BROAD yet NONINVASIVE. They're good for quick 1-3 panel answers. May generally be met with a less EXCITING answer.
It might also be DIFFICULT TO ANSWER because a broad question could include MULTIPLE ANSWERS - asking "do you guys go out" could not be answered SUSTAINABLY, because i cannot draw all the places they visit
ANON: EVERYONE, WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CLOUD / WATER / MOLECULAR STRUCTURE / BONE / CAR / COFFEE BRAND/ BOOK CHARACTER?
me: "i have to do so much research"
NEAT QUESTION CAMILLA HAS HARROW EVER ASKED YOU TO DO SOMETHING WITH HER SHE WAS EXCITED ABOUT?
"Yes, actually. She once invited me to [REDACTED], I didn't know she liked that sort of thing."
This question is SICK AS FUCK because not only do you learn something SUBSTANTIAL about the characters, you have stumbled upon A NEW PLOT BRANCH, one that actively deepens character connections and their past within the world. It specifically remarks upon a MEMORY* rather than AN OPINION and will typically be LONGER.
Another good option is to PROMPT something following this:
ANON: CAMILLA, MAYBE YOU SHOULD TRY TAKING HARROW OUT TO DO [REDACTED] THAT SHE LIKES BEFORE XYZ?
and this can then spiral onward…
*DM, ONE TIME I ASKED ABOUT A MEMORY AND I GOT A RUDE ANSWER; WHAT DID I DO WRONG?
It's not that this topic can never be spoken about, it's about WHEN you asked it and HOW you said it, or even WHO you asked.
Some topics, like the nature of HARROW AND GIDEON'S UPBRINGING are too recent for them to talk about, it has only been TWO YEARS since they left and there are SPECIFICS about the situation that the AUDIENCE hasn't discovered yet. There are things like GIDEON'S PARENTS that she CANNOT answer because she DOESN'T KNOW and answering multiple asks with I DON'T KNOW becomes repetitive and dull for both the DM and PLAYER.
BUT! She can learn! Over time, when the time is appropriate and feels the most natural for STORY PROGESSION. Think of it like a BAD ENDING in a visual novel. You START OVER and ask a DIFFERENT QUESTION, or approach it from a DIFFERENT ANGLE. If Gideon reacts poorly to someone congratulating her leaving BAD CIRCUMSTANCES, consider talking to her about the FUTURE. Instead of trying to pry at Camilla to see if she had an INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP with Pyrrha, try to ask about other things in that period of her life, like how they met or what caused her to move out.
FINALLY, if you'd like an ask to be answered out of character, your best bet would be to goto @notedchampagne and send it there. If you'd like an ask to be answered SINCERELY or you don't want SNARK, you can specify this in the ask, but know this blog may not be your thing.
206 notes · View notes
Note
I read your post about not letting kudos and hits upset us. I try to think this way but I'm curious about something else. I've written many fanfics for my fandom and they're all "flop". I don't mind that honestly. But then some writers have written only one fic about the ship I do and and it gets hundreds of kudos. How do some writers achieve that when I'm doing the same and it doesn't get the same response. What else can I do?
I’m afraid I can’t give you a definite answer about what you should do or why this person’s work is more popular, but what I can give you are some advice and, from my experience, some reasons that might explain why other’s works receive more hits and kudos.
start with why other writers’ works are more popular when it’s the same characters, same ship, same fandom. there are various factors at play that might be it;
maybe the person already has large audience base prior to their posting about the fandom you’re in, I know a few authors who already have these sorts of loyal readers that would read any work the authors posted even if they (the readers) were not in that fandom.
maybe someone, anyone, decided share the link to this person’s work on Tumblr or Twitter (X) or any social media platform, and it kind of became viral, thus it drew in lots and lots of readers. it could take just one person, didn’t necessarily have to be the author themself, to share the link among the fandom as a recommendation, or maybe a screenshot of one sentence from the fic that they liked, what happened next is that the replies were filled with people asking for the link.
tags and summary are important factors when people are looking for a fic to read. so maybe this person’s work is tagged with the content people were looking for? maybe their summary grabbed people’s attention or curiosity?
these are just what I can think of over the top of my head.
as for what you can do to gain more readers, I’ve never seen your work so the advice I can give will be a general one; I believe the trick lies in summary, tags as well as the format of one’s work.
when it comes to AO3 (I assume it’s your platform?), tags and summary are the main things people use to determine whether or not they want to click on the fic.
tag your content properly, what characters or pairings it’s about, as well as what the readers will find upon reading your work (you don’t have to spoil it, only the general tags that will give your readers an idea of what they’re in for).
summaries are just as important. there are no “rules” obviously, and I’m not telling you or any writers what to do. though a little advice that I personally take is that you use this little summary section AO3 gives you to do anything to make sure it stands out and that people will see it and want to click on it. that means leave “author’s note” out of the summary section. folks, AO3 summary is the first glimpse into the fic itself that people will see prior to clicking on it, most of the time, people look at the summary to see the author’s writing style and if what’s written, plotwise, grabs their interest. personally, when I see an author use “summary” as a place to write “author’s note”, chances are, I will scroll past that fic as I am interested in what the fic is about, not what the author has to say about their opinion on said fic or their personal life or anything (there’s an author’s note section for that) and if I can’t get a glimpse of what the plot is about or what the author’s writing style is from the summary section, then I won’t click on it, and will look for other fic that can get me interested instead.
moving on to fic format, again, I am not telling anyone what to do here. this is only a suggestion, an advice I’ve learned and want to share: when you write your fic, make sure to use line and paragraph spacing. if your 10k word long fic is one long block of text with no paragraph break, chances are, people will back away from it entirely. also, if it’s two different characters talking with dialogues, don’t put all of their dialogues in one paragraph. for instance, a paragraph for character A’s dialogue, then another separate paragraph for character B’s dialogue and so on.
and I think that’s it for my advice? however, I’ll say this again that the secret to truly enjoying your role as a fanfic writer is that you only focus on yourself. write whatever you want for yourself. it doesn’t matter if this person’s work is more popular, because fanfics and fandoms aren’t a competition. you are your main audience. just have fun creating the stories you want to create for you.
79 notes · View notes
chirpsythismorning · 1 year
Text
Why I Don’t Experience Byler Doubt
It’s simple. One of the most essential techniques in storytelling: Show, don’t tell.
Show, don't tell is a technique that allows the audience to experience the story through actions, words, subtext, thoughts, senses, and feelings rather than exclusively through the creators' exposition, summarization, and description.
Even more importantly (assuming we want to enjoy ourselves bc this is supposed to be high quality entertainment), it adds drama. Rather than telling viewers what's happening, a filmmaker will use this technique to show drama unfold. 'Telling' is factual and avoids detail; while 'showing,' is detailed and places the human subject at the centre of the drama.
This technique is literally playing out in the narrative when it comes to Mike’s inability to tell El he loves her (or even simply write love Mike in his letters), which he never would have had to tell her (spell out) in the first place, if he had just shown her that he loved her.
It’s no fun having to spoon feed your audience. Instead, it's much more enjoyable for the storyteller to present the truth in the details, even sometimes contradicting very basic assumptions that are being outright told. Hence why, for example, when the Duffers were asked about the Vecna reveal, Ross used the opportunity to go on a mini tangent: 'the best twists are ones that you go, “Oh, I should have seen that coming.” As opposed to the twists that go, “Oh, well that just came out of nowhere.” So, “Oh, I missed these clues along the way.” But you get nervous when you’re writing it because you go, “Well, to me it seems obvious--'.
In fact, Show, don't tell is what largely allows surprise revelations to hide in plain sight. Because obviously, if a writer just tells their audience everything that's happening while it's happening, we would always see what's coming next.
And so the problem I have with downplaying or even completely refusing to acknowledge the importance of Show, don't tell, in the case of Stranger Things especially, is that, in order to comfortably subscribe to what is being told, I have to ignore what is being shown.
We see this play out all the time on Reddit in particular, which if I'm being honest is the only platform at this point that treats mere speculation about Will and Mike's relationship as if it is the end of the world. On the rare occasion the mods don't remove a byler related post, the post is either already negative towards byler or the comments are filled with fury over the poster simply thinking critically by speculating about byler. Even if you manage to get a fan over there in the comments to consider certain evidence pointing towards byler as incriminating, they'll still manage to end it by downplaying the Duffers and their abilities, because 'They're not that smart!'...
They'll ask for evidence, be presented with it, only to insist that it's all reaching because details mean nothing and everything about the show is actually just surface level, ie. it's not that deep.
Without even realizing it, they're low-key admitting that going the byler route would be smart, and yet here they are tirelessly defending a show that, according to them, has shit writers and no deeper purpose. All this does is prove that they are hoping this is the case. Because even despite being presented with strong evidence that the show might very well be epic, they would rather reject it altogether.
They would rather have one of their favorite shows suck and defend it religiously, then consider the possibility that it's good and gay...
Don't get me wrong, there are definitely fans on reddit that don't hate byler. I imagine out of the million in that sub, there's a silent majority that would be open to it. Keep in mind, most fans still active at this point in hiatus are hardcore fans, and so they're obviously opinionated, that goes for everyone on most platforms rn. And yet, I know there are very likely casual fans who are popping in there every now and then, the same people in the majority when after s4 dropped, saw that monologue and said What the actual fuck was that?
There’s a reason no other couple on the show has needed to hear the words I love you to believe it. Well, besides Steve and Nancy…
Because SHOW, DON'T TELL. That's why!
So, what do I mean when I say that Show, don't tell is why I no longer have byler doubt?
It's actually pretty ironic, but basically the moment Mike told El he loved her, that's the moment they showed us that he didn't.
I mean, for starters, how does one go about filming a romantic love confession? Because if we're being entirely serious right now, they made just about every artistic and creative choice possible to go against what a romantic love confession should look like to feel satisfying.
I mean, you'd probably want the atmosphere to be intimate, right? Make the audience feel like these two are the only two people in the room (world) for this moment?
Well, that's not the case for Mike and El, nor is it the case for literally any of their scenes in s4 (arguably a lot of their scenes in the series; Will the wise drawing in El's room, I'm looking at you). Almost all of the scenes with them together in s4 had Will in the background, often times in the literal frame between them. That is NOT how you film scenes for a romantic pairing that you want the audience to root for, from beginning to end.
You guys gotta understand, rewatch value is one of the most important aspects to this story for the Duffers. When talking about the prospects of s5, they mentioned that they rewatched all the Lord of the Rings, saying how important it was, despite what some fans might say about the ending being too long, or this or that, bc to them, it was necessary to watch it all, and to rewatch it and rewatch it, in order to appreciate the entire story as a whole, aka the way it was intended.
If you're a serious about Mike and El as a romantic pairing, but because of the way the show has set up their relationship over the seasons, you can't sit down and enjoy more than a quarter of each season bc they're either separated, broken up, or on the rare occasion they are together and happy, they're accompanied by a kicked puppy in every shot, maybe all of that's for a reason.
And that applies to the scene in Surfer Boy more than any other scene in the show, a scene that is supposed to be Mike's monologue to El... You mean a scene that directly parallels Mike's monologue to Will in s2?
When planning the end of s4, do we think the Duffers just decided they wanted this intimate moment between Mike and El to have Will in the frame behind Mike (visually piggybacking off of him, in an episode titled The Piggyback...) in almost every shot, including when he said I love you for the first time, for no reason at all? Or is it possible there was a reason for it? Just like there's been a greater reason for everything?
Like bro, I'm sorry, but even if what's being told in that scene is relevant, all of it still reads as either a lie, a partial lie, a lie of omission or a platonic truth hiding behind romantic phrasing: I don't know how to live without you = platonic (trauma bond), whereas I can't live without you/I don't want to live without you = romantic. The later is out of desire/want, the former is out of fear of the unknown.
The entire scene the lighting is blinking rapidly. And so the vibe they're going for here is uncertainty, which is quite odd for a love confession that's supposed to feel certain? Then we have El seeing all red the entire time. She's literally choking, hearing Mike struggle to muster up anything that could help her pull through, only to overhear Will calling Mike the heart, followed by Mike finally saying I love you????
And I guess according to the Duffers, nothing says true love like a love confession ending abruptly by a two day time jump...
Oh and how about, instead of them taking the time at the end of the season for El and Mike to have a private moment, where they could finally address their love for one another, let’s have them barely on speaking terms, and the one time they do talk, let’s have it be offscreen and mentioned in a private moment between Will and Mike, who in contrast to Mike and El, we're going to prioritize having a scene with them alone together at the end of this season...
In the last minutes, let’s have El look at Mike and Will, only to avoid them with visible annoyance. And THEN let’s show Mike visibly defeated by El's annoyance, instead prioritizing reassuring Will, aka his friend with whom he shares an I didn’t say it/ You didn’t have to bond...
I mean? Are we just not going to talk about it? The fact that I didn't say it/You didn't have to could pass off as a literal synonym for Show, don't tell...
It just kills me that even with all of that, the Duffers were like, You know what? Fuck it. Let's show them all the endgame couples lined up next to each other, with Will and Mike in the middle and El standing on her own in front of them. If by now they still refuse to consider it, after everything, this ending probably wont convince them anyways, but it makes for great rewatch value...
Seriously, if you're subscribing fully to the belief that what is being told is the whole truth and nothing but the truth (so help you god), then you're having to ignore all of that. And I can't ignore all of that, I just can't. Which makes it impossible for me to experience doubt anymore.
#byler#stranger things#byler doubt#not really#quite the opposite#but i'll tag in case#show don't tell allows you to acknowledge what is being shown AND told bc the truth of what's being told is hiding in the details#that's not the case for people only wanting to believe what's being told bc they're having to completely ignore the details to believe it#like i know for milkvans... byler scenes do NOT work in their favor#whereas for bylers... pretty much all milkvan scenes do work in our favor#and so genuinely i just can't experience doubt anymore#arguing with antis is fun to me#looking at reddit posts is peak entertainment#ppl praying to the gods that ST sucks bc they would rather have that be the case than it be an intricate story with deeper meaning#bc then that would mean all the queer-coding that's been hiding in the details all along was intentional...#there's nothing I can do for ya'll except sit here and watch you unpack that#reddit is going to be quite the spectacle over the next couple years#once byler happens there's probably going to be instant denial#then mourning#then acceptance#or whatever the 4(?) stages of grief are#then they'll eventually get to a point where they will allow themselves to look at the evidence instead of avoiding it out of fear#and that's when it's finally going to hit them#oh my god#it's me#i'm part of the reason they had to water it down#bc even upon being presented with evidence#they rejected it#and now they gotta give credit to tumblr bylers who discovered most of the evidence they've been shitting on for the last few years#honestly i'm looking forward to it
321 notes · View notes
savagewildnerness · 21 days
Text
Tumblr media
Let’s talk about the Theatre Des Vampires & its potential impact!?!
First Lestat: pretty sure Lestat is a vampire here: he has the eyes, the nails & Armand is watching him. (Why would Armand watch mortal-Lestat? Unless watching Magnus and I’m sure we won’t see Magnus this season.) And that back bend has all the vibes of Lestat describing how as a vampire he can do impossibly graceful dance movements if he so chooses! (To delight and beguile, or so inhuman as to disturb!)
BUT book-Lestat does not theatre once he is a vampire. There’s only that one time that goes horribly wrong. To me, this does not look like it’s going horribly wrong!?! It looks like Lestat is still being “the greatest actor to have ever graced the stage”…??
Book-Lestat is horrified by vampire theatre. Including himself on the stage! He used to love how theatre conveyed something human & true & real. He felt it was a truly *good* think he could do. Being unable to read, human Lestat did a lot of improvised theatre (& Nicki taught him lines for some plays later on) - I’d argue improvisation being the most spontaneous & human theatre can get… so he finds it even moreso repellent how false it is as a vampire.
Compelled to go out on stage, Lestat looks out & sees a grinning skull behind every face. He feels he cannot find the natural, human meaning in words that was so instinctive to him when mortal. In the theatre, Lestat’s love as a mortal, Lestat truly feels what he has lost & will now never be. He could beguile & trick, but instead he intentionally horrifies the audience & himself - I think he does it `s he is so personally horrified and yet as theatre always was, still it must remain a place of truth for him? In the moment, there on stage, he realises his inhumanity and sees himself almost from outside himself as a horrific (though perfectly natural) monster “the mortal world seemed some desperate dream of rationality that in this lush and fetid jungle had not the slightest chance.” He sees himself like a cat or a rat or the evil vampire he is - he is a creature, but he is not human.
Until this point, other than when killing, Lestat has passed himself off easily amongst mortals as one of them. Yet, here on the stage he feels the Monster he is & cannot bear the artifice and the difference to what he once was, what he had the potential to be and what he was on the cusp of becoming. The theatre is like a reminder to him that his human life is over. This is a quality he will later be unable to bear in Nicki’s virtuoso violin skill once he becomes a vampire too. Nicki leans right in to the parody & evil manipulation of skill as opposed to mortal expression of humanity & performing with the devil’s instrument. Nicki finds a purity and truth in that & it’s the antithesis of what Lestat adored from & felt in Nicki’s mortal violin playing. Just as mad-Vampire-Nicki is the antithesis of all Lestat loved & they immediately despise each other (albeit Lestat will never truly not love too.)
Anyway, back to just-turned Lestat: at the same time, it’s Lestat’s *need* to return to the theatre that is really Nicolas’ downfall. Nicki was always fragile, and moreso when Lestat was stolen away. And of course when Armand kidnaps Nicki he is completely mad & unsaveable by then. But he had a small chance at some life... until this visitation to the theatre by Lestat, where Nicolas truly sees for his own eyes that something awful has befallen Lestat & he doesn’t understand it & nobody but him will believe it as they just want to believe Lestat the wondrous benefactor who has gifted them so much money and the theatre and charms everyone still.
This is in my opinion the point of no return for Nicki. He is a mad thing who I don’t think has any way back to sanity and life from here on. Gabrielle recognises it already even where Lestat cannot admit it to himself when she asks Lestat if he'll turn Nicki. At that time Lestat says he is appalled by the idea... but obviously he would have thought on it. Once Lestat showed his vampire self to Nicki, Nicki’s mortal life was done for. He begins drinking to extreme excess & cannot cope with life at... and this is before Armand snatches him.
Now, if the show have Lestat at the theatre for longer & actually using his skills to trick audiences for a while, will the impact this has on (presumably still mortal) Nicki be even deeper? It surely would be given the scenario…? And so will Lestat feel even more guilt o we Nicki’s eventual downfall? I can almost see it in my mind playing out now. Lestat using his vampiric skill to beguile audiences for a time, Nicki grieving increasingly mad & all the other people at the theatre merely adoring Lestat & not wishing to see anything wrong. And maybe even Nicki wanting to believe in moments that all is well? But really, Nicki growing increasingly fragile until, as in the books Armand steals him away. I just feel like something like this might be in the TV show and I feel that it could be an interesting deepening of the emotion (although it would alter Lestat in the theatre a little and the impact of the theatre to Lestat's self… but then, that was Lestat’s thoughts and horror as a new vampire. He feels very differently by the time he becomes a rock star… so…?!)
And this ties in: the recent clips suggest Claudia loves the theatre & Louis hates it. Louis always hated the callousness of the theatre, but Claudia loved it mainly as a clever way to ensnare victims. In the theatre in the book she is immediately in danger. Will this be different feelings here. This older Claudia may initially love the idea of joining the theatre! It may appeal to her nature! But oh, what awaits her…
Anyway: just some train-of-thought ponderings….
Anyone have thoughts on this?
40 notes · View notes
beebopboom · 4 months
Text
Words of a Wise Angel
(Intro, part 1, part 2, part 3)
Finally made it to the end - four post later for a character that only has around 10 minutes of screen time - and there was going to be more
Originally this was going to be how the Metatron fashioned himself the king in God's game of chess and was going to relate it to Shakespearean Kings heck we were even going to go into Monty Python and the Holy Grail - but honestly I kind of just lost the motivation……maybe in the future I'll revisit.
However I still got shit to say.
(oh my god how did this get so long - I promise I’m a little sane over here)
So let's look into his actions in the show and maybe fill in some blanks
Disclaimer: just want to say I am focusing on The Metatron (obviously), his pov, and how he twist things - not what happened between Aziraphale and Crowley in the final 15, besides like one thing - just heavy emphasis on that
The Judge
Tumblr media
(Of a very weird courtroom)
The trial itself seems to mirror Hell's trial in the way there is no true defense - I’m sensing a pattern
In the trial of Gabriel he is centered in the middle - at this moment neither left or right
He doesn't cut in until Gabriel starts going on about what an angel just gotta do sometimes- and brings up a reminder of what happened to the last angel of his position that started with this way of thinking - it after all is a great story for controlling and best not be repeated because then it looks bad on Heaven's part
This establishes The Metatron as a character whose main concern is the reputation of Heaven - that even though this is an action that is casting out worthy he won’t can’t do it because then it would be an upheaval.
But he frames it as a kindness, as if he was doing a favor - it's manipulative, it keeps the "Heaven is all good, here look we are doing a special favor just for you” narrative going
After Gabriel leaves he moves to the side and brings up that it is taking him a while to come back but for the most part takes a backseat to the happenings around him until they start talking about ringing the alarm bells -
He tells them they are just going to have to find him and he is amused about it. Which tells me a few things
that he doesn't want this getting out yet- fewer that know the better
he didn't actually care about what happened to Gabriel - in fact this might even be a better outcome for him in the way he just doesn't have to deal with him any more
he doesn't actually think they will find him
this might just be a great story - let’s just let it play out
Now this is all happening right before episode 1 perhaps bleeding into the time where Crowley and Shax are talking (which begs the question of how does Shax know) - so it is days before we see him again, a very eventful few days
The First move
Tumblr media
When he does show back up he’s in a corporation and getting coffee - second in line behind Mrs. Sandwich.
And his eye is on Crowley - he watches Crowley converse with these two humans and bring Mr. Brown back
Now the coffee shop - I lied I do have something to add
So before even ordering what is he witnessing? Maggie and Nina having a moment - where Nina accepts Maggie's offer of help and asks her to go get milk for her and we as an audience can see this is a big moment for Nina.
Now imagine what it is to a staple of Whickber St. and someone who is not hesitant to tell her opinion about Nina's relationship and just so happens to be first in line, Mrs. Sandwich. I would not be surprised at all if she made a remark to Nina - a remark The Metatron overheard, so now he has the following information
they are friendly with Crowley
something is up with their relationship
But now it's his turn to order - and Maggie is back how long did your order take Sandwich!? - and asks for his oatmilk latte with almond syrup and his whole human picking coffee over death being predictable thing - and yet this isn't the end of their conversation
The next time we see Maggie and Nina they are getting ready to head back over to the bookshop but what got them on this conversation in the first place? That's right I'm suggesting the Metatron said or did something. Nothing to overt but something that got them thinking, talking, and maybe wanting to confront a certain duo about it
But back to the Metatron - he has entered the bookshop and interrupted Michael
Now the Metatron has always been a character that uses human expressions and his funny little words. But he comes right out the gate with balderdash and piffle so lets talk about them
They mean practically the same thing and yet he repeats it twice so why? I think it has something to do with their origins
Balderdash - although it is not certain it is said to originate during Shakespearean times, around this time though would have been used to describe a mixed drink
Piffle - started to appear 1860 - 1870ish
They are also both games and when you search them together it is a british show that goes into the origins of words - so yeah just keep those dates in mind
He uses Crowley to point out who he is - the demon who has a bad history with him, another subtle reminder of what going against Heaven gets you.
Then he starts up with the praise for Aziraphale who actually says his name, and we see a shift in tone from when he is addressing Aziraphale and then ordering the Archangels back to Heaven - which here is another one of the human phrases, spit spot
Spit spot - I don't know exactly when it was created but it is most commonly recognized as something Mary Poppins said, which the books where published between 1934 - 1988 with the movie coming out in 1964
But anyway (I promise there is a point to those) the Archangels reaction to him, Uriel's specifically. They are nervous, they are stuttering, they are praising him - they are groveling in front of him as if he were a king, and it reminds me of the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. But the Metatron has no time for them and dismisses them. (Lord I talk about this moment a lot)
Ah, just him and Aziraphale now (not really) and they need to have a chinwag
Chinwag - around the 1870s
In response to Aziraphale saying he has made his position quite clear he offers him the coffee - which we know is not something Aziraphale prefers to drink - he offers another option that Aziraphale would not normally take, foreshadowing much?
well I say offered but really it’s kinda shoved in his face.
He separates Aziraphale and Crowley - leaving Crowley behind with a glare and ominous music which really is the first blatant instance of us knowing that the something that is up - is bad
and guess who enters the bookshop - Maggie and Nina here to talk about relationships and interference - convenient timing almost like it was influenced by someone
We join back with the Metatron when he is telling Aziraphale he doesn’t have to make a decision yet and to go tell his friend the good news and then he blends back into the crowd to walk to Muriel at the coffee shop and encourages them to read books. He proceeds to stand up and look into the bookshop, watching
Now the bits of conversation we see from Aziraphale- I see this as a few possible different things
this is the actual conversation and Aziraphale is telling Crowley an edited version
this is the edited version that he is telling Crowley and something else happened
he didn’t edit it and this is actually what happened and what was told to Crowley
but all I know is we didn’t see this full conversation and it reminded me of the misunderstanding conversation between the Nuns last season - either way it's what we got to work with people
Before moving on there are a couple particular sentences I want to point out from this conversation - and I will get to these later
"It's why Gabriel came to you in the first place, I imagine. There are huge plans afoot, enormous projects, and I will need you to run them.”
"Yeah, I've been looking back over a number of your previous exploits, and I see that in quite a few of them you formed a de facto partnership with the demon, Crowley. Now, if you wanted to work with him again, that might be considered irregular, but it would certainly be within your jurisdiction to restore your friend, Crowley, to full angelic status”
The Aftermath
Tumblr media
Upon entering the bookshop and getting Aziraphale to say what they both already know happened out loud - he immediately chimes in with the rhetoric of “this is how Crowley always was, he chose this and his actions are his own doing - you Aziraphale are making the right choice here, you can’t change those who don’t want to, those who are damned”
congratulations Metatron you got what you wanted - pls this is sarcastic I’m still salty
Now that he has basically taken care of everything in his way of getting Aziraphale to come with him - he asks if he is ready to go (at no point yet has Aziraphale actually said yes) and asks if he needs to bring anything with him, a dig and a probe to see if there is anything else. He then just starts walking, not waiting for Aziraphale - a manipulation tactic to pull him along
and on the walk to the lift and in waiting keeps giving Aziraphale praise and then finally revealing The Second Coming as he gets in the lift which makes Aziraphale have to choose - it’s the final one and he still has to make it seem as though he actually had a choice.
But what does this all mean? What was the point of doing all this? Why does he need Aziraphale?? What’s with the word choices?
What’s with your funny words, Magic Man?
some of the dates might have rang a little familiar - Shakespeare? the 1860s? Mary Poppins? They are all around the times Aziraphale and Crowley were meeting up - well duh they’ve been meeting up since practically forever
Tumblr media
the Mary Poppins one you could look at two ways - the actual time period they were being released, which would have been the 1941 or 1967 dates, or the fact that Crowley inspired his Nanny look after her
Looking at past exploits indeed you were Metatron, or perhaps you were even there hmmmm…
EDIT
The Metatron just used words that are from some important times,
1601 - discussing their arrangement (them working together)
1862 - their holy water fight and then not talking to each other
1967 (or 1941) - they start working and meeting up again and the holy water disagreement is put to rest.
and then he eventually hits him with, "if you wanted to work with him again”
which interestingly enough seems to hit the insecurities that Aziraphale expressed in the coffee shop, on the head - that loss of structure and purpose.
Aziraphale and Crowley also just did some big moves on their own in the bookshop and heaven - ones they weren't working together on. “You came back” is starting to hit even harder
End Edit
But also The Metatron put emphasis on the word friend when referring to Crowley, for the most part he referred to him as “demon” until then, until he pulled his final card - such an interesting word that had such an impact on Aziraphale in 1941 - well played Metatron well played (I hate it)
Now this could have all been a coincidence - if Aziraphale hadn’t picked up on the same thing.
When he interrupts Crowley he says something along the lines, “what’s that lovely human expression, hold that thought”
Hold that thought - came into play around the 70s through 90s and gained popularity due to the rise of broadcast television, like the News. But there is one definition I want to point out as well - “Used to acknowledge that one's attention needs to be diverted from what a speaker was saying.”
or in other words, “remember all those human expressions the Metatron was saying, yeah those have meaning and so does the one I’m about to say - we are being watched don’t pay attention to my words” but well we aren’t gonna talk about it (pls I’m still coping)
The Metatron has certainly done his research - bringing up words and phrases from important times in their relationship - and The Metatron is certainly watching just like he was now
Why does he need Aziraphale?
Now if you remember back when I discussed who The Metatron was in scripture there is actually an interesting overlap between these two with Tree of Knowledge and The Tree of Life - The Beginning and The End. Aziraphale was always meant to have a special part in The Second Coming for the exact reasons The Metatron said - an angel of his talents, an angel who knows about humans - the angel that guards them
But even just ignoring all that - What literally just happened before he showed up
called for Heaven’s help in a time of trouble - the portal
discoporated a fuck ton of demons
declared War on Hell
took charge and was a mediator between Heaven and Hell
and he did this all on his own (I really doubt he counts Maggie and Nina)
Aziraphale did exactly what Heaven had planned - what Gabriel was meant to sign off on - he started back up the plan he put on pause with Crowley - he made that first move
but also the 25 Lazarii miracle - which set off alarms in Heaven - and the Halo - which also set off alarms in Heaven. That’s twice in one week. One would imagine The Metatron would take notice.
EDIT
Let's switch gears a little and talk about why The Metatron mentions Gabriel coming to Aziraphale in their little talk
Whatever other reason Gabriel may have had for going to Aziraphale, giving him something etc., it was all done under a baseline understanding.
That Aziraphale would get it, be a safe space with an understanding that they don't want everything to end for some similar reasons (their demon partners) - and Aziraphale did help him despite not knowing this exact baseline
He helped the Supreme Archangel hide from Heaven and escape punishment - who’s to say he wouldn't help other angels?
The reason The Metatron doesn't care about Gabriel and Beelzebub running off together is because they went off
Their relationship doesn't have the same level of connection to Earth and humans as Aziraphale and Crowley - they didn't want Armageddon to happen because they wanted to keep seeing each other, the Earth part was optional - a matter of circumstance as it was the easiest place to keep seeing each other. Now that they were gone and together - his reason for objecting is practically void.
That is not the same as Aziraphale and Crowley
But also it works in the Metatron favor - Beelzebub is out of Hell. The Grand Duke of Hell just up and left the same time Heaven is getting their replacement Supreme Archangel - it's now time for Hell to be in shambles.
All while The Metatron just came to snipped away the bud - that seed of safety on Earth if another Angel decided to go against Heaven’s plan.
If he gets the angel that put a stop to Armageddon- that chose the Earth over Heaven - that protected his executioner just at the hint he was on the run from Heaven. If he brought that angel back to Heaven he would not be able to be that anymore, do those things anymore - not with being closely monitored anyway. Keep your enemy close and all that.
And he pulled out all the stops to achieve this - the clothes, the words, the coffee
End Edit
But The Metatron also still needs the Bookshop for some reason - a bookshop he left in the care of an angel he just encouraged to read
So he gets the best of both worlds - The rogue angel back under his thumb and an angel that will listen to him going through the bookshop
What does this all mean? What’s the point?
Well he’s an angel in dark, an angel in reverse
When we went over the tarot cards he’s been linked to, but especially the King of Cups, he seems to represent the reverse side of them while trying to maintain the upright version- which is interesting
He’s an angel in trouble, an angel who needs a scapegoat
The Archangel Metatron is a controversial angel, his existence, his story, his position of power. He even has a story under his name where he is punished and demoted by God when someone assumes him to be another God in Heaven
The Metatron as a character that likes to be surrounded by fours, covered on all sides. And each and every one of those angels has done something to get them in trouble - meaning he has dirt.
After all every scribe needs their soldiers - however backhanded it is
and maybe he has something big he is hiding of his own - using the others faults to hide his - something concerning the Book of Life - either him not having it or at least not having all of it
But anyway he has set himself up to be protected from any fallout - he has not been seen, only heard for centuries probably. Sending angels in his place to do jobs (yes, I’m talking about the change to Gabriel being the one at the airbase - I’m giving it a reason)
Until now - until he walked into that bookshop and made himself known. He put himself in play thinking he knows the game, thinking he just brought in the perfect angel to blame things on if they all go wrong(which they will)
but really he just opened himself up to the start of his downfall. Double edged sword and all that
For the next season I imagine he is going to keep up the pleasantries, take up that backseat role, act as a guide, being subtle in his manipulations - he after all believes he got away with it - just all those things until it all comes crumbling down and he gets exposed, and at the center of it all is Aziraphale (and then Aziraphale gets offered his position which he turns down, saying no to Heaven and choosing to be with Crowley) what? I said nothing.
(I think that’d be funny and this is a comedy after all)
It’s the Punishment of an Angel, the Fall of a King
————————————————————————
and that’s all folks - that’s the end- for now. Hope you’ve enjoyed -I had to watch the final 15 so many times and I’m totally ok
37 notes · View notes
During Vaggie and Charlie's visit to Heaven, I don't think there was anything indicating that the city had a beach or anything like an ocean like where we saw Lilith at the end of S1. Granted, we didn't explore ALL of Heaven, obviously, but it still makes me wonder. Is Lilith really staying in Heaven? I wonder if maybe she's actually being housed on Earth, or specifically in Eden, Adam's former domain on Earth. 'Cuz Lute didn't say that Lilith was staying in Heaven as part of her deal with Adam. What do you think?
I love being asked about things Hazbin related. Thank you! Sorry it took a week for me to answer, I been legit sick for a a solid month now from a cold. The lingering coughing hasn't been dreadful but the pure exhaustion I feel (While working too) just left me completely drained. I wanted to answer you while Im feeling at least moderately alive.
Before the question I didn't really put too much thought about Lilith location. I took it as point blank, Lute approached Lilith is lounging in Heaven.
I do like the idea of it being Eden but I am force to lean on the end scene is Heaven for a number of reasons.
From the same universe, Helluvah Boss, it basically a big no-no to go on Earth. On certain beings are allowed (or meant to, it get bypassed) to travel on Earth. I sincerely doubt an exterminator Angel or ANY sinner would be able to free move between realms to Earth. Sinners, had their chance on Earth, there's no return. Exterminators have a very specific purpose, so I doubt they would be granted any access as well.
If we look pass that however, and Eden has some cloaking and impassable shield surrounded it in a way to preserve it from further intreation of humans, similar but not really to a pocket dimension .....maaaaybe. Maybe Lilith gets a pass as she was created and made to be there. I can low key seeing being a gilded cage to keep her in resulting in a deal that was made.
But I'm incline its an unexplored off screen Heaven the viewer didn't get to see. Heaven is meant to cater eternal happiness reward for the pure souls. Some souls really love the beach so there's got to be some beaches for those souls to find eternal peace in.
-I personally dislike the beach unless its at night. My Irish heritage fair skin cant handle the direct sunlight with no natural shade to retreat in.
The main evidence its Heaven in my opinion is the skyline. It's the same we see when meeting St. Peter. The same pastel coloring and mainly the beams of arching light that look structural-?
Granted, if the 'structural' beams of light are a way to cloak from human eyes or just Heavenly dimension, it isn't a stretch that they may surround Eden too. I really like the Eden idea....its like full circle thing, Everything started in Eden so it be fun that it gets more involvement. I don't think that's the case, but I hope it is despite that.
Now, the question is, was it Lilith that Lute was truly speaking to. That lies the question. I keep flip flopping if its Eve or if it is in fact Lilith. It isn't too far fetched that Eve would be near idental, taking over Lilith role as Adam wife. Eve would be very motivated to make a deal to be heaven when being tricked into performing the first sin, making her a sinner. Eve actually playing the role as Adam wife, I can see Adam took pity on her and plead her case. Or even hide her himself in what you you guess, Eden. It would be perfect. As Lute put it, "Adam dead, your deal is done." Which can be taken in multiple ways including that Lilith had a deal wanting Adam dead. But to fit in this scenario, it was Adams deal with her. Not Heavens. 'Lilith' didn't really react to Lute as she spoke, sitting still and listening. We we saw her face she was rather impassive. She only shown reaction-displeasure when Lute said the name Lilith. The way Lute said Lilith seemed a little too empshised. Which may be for the audience if they somehow missed all the Lilith portrayed to realized the new character is. OR its Lute putting emphasis to alert Eve on the upcoming role she needs to play to continue her deal with Lute.
I'm still undecided if its Lilith or Eve. The necklace in the end threw me off. I didn't know why by I way hyper focused on it on my first watch from some reason. I guess my subconscious realized Lilith is always shown to wear pearls (I need to rewatch it to see all the portraits have the pearls or the black diamond necklace. It seem the show purposely wouldn't let us see her hands to determine if there was a wedding ring or not.
The whole ending scene really threw things in the air.
I find Eve lack involvement in the universe so far very suspicious. I think she will be a very key figure coming up. I also think Adam will be revive as a sinner and still play a major role.
The whole lack of Lilith and Eve (and Roo which I believe is the big bad and Alastor contractor)whereabouts is suspicious and its going to hit us hard. Adam is involved in it. I fairly certain he the one that proposed the idea of exterminations. Like, why was Heaven so concern about an uprising? WHO brought that idea to their heads?Seriously, that been bothering me ALOT. I'm positive the first man was manipulated to mull on that idea and nudge to bring that proposal to Sera after something happening in Hell that was orchestrated to make it look like unrest and uprising in Heaven eyes.
The same group of people (Eve, Adam, Lilith, Alastor {Lucifer and Charlie, Heaven involved being puppeted}) is basically trying to puppeteer each other trying to pull the strings, as much as they try gain control, but in reality they are just playing right into Roo plan.
I am so rambling, because that's what I do. I need to rewatch the series to confirm some of these thoughts with clues. I'm sure there many plot holes what I rambled so far. I'm usually multitasking when I rewatch so I forget to look for my little clues.
If the ending scene is in fact Lilith, I am certain she didn't leave to willingly but is some type of hostage to an agreement. I think Lucifer knows whats up too. (His wife in Heaven! Ha!) He seem way to tentative and hesitant speaking to Charlie on the phone about meeting up with Heaven while looking at the family portrait. As in, He was backed into a corner and basically had to agree with Heaven in a newer deal that they kept Lilith hostage (but she be taken care of, promise! where Heaven!) but Charlie can remain with him. He to nervous to have another meeting that involved his daughter who kept in the dark about the deal that caused Lilith absence.
Never once we hear that Lilith is "Missing, gone, divorced" Especially from Lucifer. Just that Heaven took everything from him and Charlie all he had left.
Side note, I love how everything Lucifer said in episode 5 came true. He was right about Heaven not listening. In a smaller easier to miss part. In "More than Anything." he sange "In the end, I won't lose it all again, you are the only thing worth fighting for." He kept that promise by showing up to save Charlie in battle and fighting for her.
The only time Lilith absence is Charlie saying "She off doing something important I'm sure." (Fulfilling a corherced bargain to insure Charlie safety perhaps?)
She did mention that her dad and mom split. But that can be her assumption or something Lucifer said to explain things easier to a much younger Charlie and he already blamed himself for failing Lilith and having her absent in their lives. Or maybe Lucifer said and meant it literally"Your mother is separated from us." but young Charlie just took "separated" as in Lilith marriage with Lucifer. And Lucifer just rolled with it. But Lucifer still clearly love Lilith with still having that ring on his finger and I think Lilith is still in love with Lucifer. They are just literally separated by realms not in marriage.
I think I rambled way more then what you asked for. Ha! apologies I hope its somewhat coherent and not jumbled like they are in my brain and was at least found interesting.
27 notes · View notes
positivexcellence · 1 year
Text
Jensen Ackles Likes Where ‘Big Sky’ Season 3 Finale Left Beau & Jenny
I have to say how seamlessly Beau has fit into the world of Big Sky since his introduction last season.
Jensen Ackles: It’s never easy coming onto an established show and trying to find your footing. I came in [the] third season on The Boys; now I’m coming in third season on Big Sky. I’m just like, OK, here we go again. It’s like the new kid at school. But everybody was very welcoming. Everybody was very gracious, and yeah, they gave me a character I thought filled maybe a little bit of a void in what we were seeing in the show. I just tried to hit those notes and bring a little levity to what is essentially a pretty grim basis for a show, which is just murder mystery constantly. But it’s good to layer in some of the lighter moments. I think it just gives the show and the storyline some complexity that makes it makes it more entertaining.
At the beginning of the season, you joked with Elwood Reid about when you would go all Liam Neeson, and you certainly got to do that in these last two episodes with Avery (Henry Ian Cusick), Sunny, and Buck to save Emily.
Yeah, I feel like that might have been a little prophetic for me. [Laughs] I think I said it, and I willed it to happen, and Elwood was like, “look, man, it was your fault; you said it.” I was happy with the way it ended up. I kind of figured that that was where we were going, and I was looking forward to getting to show a different side of Beau and get to play that less happy-go-lucky, good ol’ boy and more of just a father in absolute misery and fury.
At the end of the season, Beau is kind of torn between moving back to Houston with Emily and Carla (Angelique Cabral) and facing his ghosts there and maybe staying and looking forward. Do you think he has any idea what he wants to do?
I don’t know. The show leaves Beau, I think, in a real contemplative state. I think that he has a strong desire to reconnect with his ex-wife. I think he still does love her. Obviously, he wants to be in as close proximity to his daughter as possible. That’s very enticing for reconnecting with his ex-wife as well. But then, at the same time, does that just lead to the same place that ended up breaking them up in the first place? And is this new role and a new place with new faces and new friends a fresh start for him that he needs to kind of move past what he was coming from in Houston? I think it sets up those questions in a great way. Whether or not we’ll answer them that’s not up to me.
How does Beau feel about Jenny? I kept expecting something to happen in that final scene…
Yeah. In my opinion, that’s just good TV. Leave the audience wanting more is something that I’ve heard many, many times, and I think it’s just a formula that works. And I think we gave just a little bit of what some of the audience was hoping for. There was a moment there, and there was a connection there, and there were clearly sparks. But do we need to play it out in a graphic sex scene? I don’t know. That’s for the streamers. We’re still doing broadcast TV here, still trying to keep it a little friendly.
Kisses do tend to happen in finales…
Let me ask you this, would it have been even worse had we started leaning towards the kiss and they cut the credits?
Probably.
Probably, right? [Laughs] Or would you have rather seen, like, boom, kiss, and the bedroom door flies open, and we’re just hungrily attacking each other, and we fall onto the bed, boom credits?
I was expecting to be left with the question of whether they would even go further than a kiss and cross that line.
Yeah, absolutely. I think that was that moment. A kiss wasn’t necessarily needed for the moment of, “OK, the walls have just come down. The lines are certainly being crossed, but let’s not jump across the line. Let’s tiptoe for now until we figure out what this is.” I thought that was a nice way of doing it in a way that wasn’t scratching that itch that everybody wanted to scratch so much, you know what I mean? I appreciated it, but I could also see why people were like, “Oh, come on, give us the goods.”
Is he ready to open up to Jenny about his ghosts? He says after a few more beers, but that’s different from being ready.
That was just like; I’m not ready yet. I’ve got to warm up to that. As I would know, a way for a Texas guy to say that is, “well, I’m gonna need a few more beers before I get into all that,” which is just, “I need to be a little bit more comfortable. I need to know how I’m gonna phrase it, how I’m gonna say it. Because you start to think about how you’re gonna react and how I’m gonna feel, and do I really want to open up that Pandora’s box with this person who I work with on a daily basis? I’m gonna have to see her on Monday. Is this something that now it’s gonna be awkward?” So there’s, I think, a lot of questions in that moment, which fired it up in a way that that made it not so sexual. It made it like two humans really, truly connecting. It wasn’t just like, oh, let’s rip each other’s clothes off. It’s like, oh, let’s strip away the walls that we’ve been hiding behind all season, and let’s maybe get to an emotional point here with each other that could certainly then lead to intimacy.
Katheryn and I talked about it. We talked about that a lot more than I think normal. She and I usually come in guns blazing, we’re ready to go, and we can hit those script notes and do our job. But this scene took a little bit more kind of ironing out just from the emotional standpoint where we wanted to land and how we wanted it to go from A to B and B to C. And I thought it was a deeper, richer way of going about it in the fact that it was less just, oh, here’s two adults that are attracted to each other, and so let’s start making out and head of the bedroom, and more about, this is a friend who clearly there’s chemistry there, and she wants to know about my backstory. Maybe it’s now time to drop those walls down and start opening up to this person — which we know when you do that, that just leads to more things. So I think had there been 15 more minutes of the episode, we probably would’ve seen Beau leaving the next morning.
Talk about filming the Beau-Buck fight.
Yeah. I kind of knew that was coming down [the] pipe, and Elwood had mentioned that this was gonna roll out. I was really excited because I’m just such a huge fan of Rex. And I told him that the first day. He showed up with Reba, and everybody was like, oh, Reba, Reba, Reba. And I just ran right up to Rex. I was like, “dude, I watched so many of your movies. I grew up watching you. I’m such a fan.”
He and I are both were both born and raised in Texas, and we just got along really well. And so, to get to work with him in that capacity, I was tickled. It was a lot of fun. He’s such a great performer and scene partner and just a good guy all around, not just working with him on camera. Just throw a football with him, just hang out with him, drink a beer with him. He’s that kind of guy. So to get to do that kind of work with somebody like that just made it all that much more fulfilling and fun and exciting.
I liked the nods to Supernatural this season, especially Beau giving Cassie salt for her new house, so she’s protected — “from demons,” as she remarks.
I can’t remember if that was in the script because it was so long ago. I think it was an ad lib — because I did a few different versions of that. That was one thing that they kind of encouraged me to do was do one scripted, and then if I’ve got some ideas, I can ad-lib some stuff. Not changing the script, but just changing a word here like that, for instance, I’ll just throw it in. It’s not gonna change the scene at all. It’s not gonna change the moment. It’s not gonna change anybody else’s dialogue, but it just kind of keeps it fresh. I got to do that quite a bit this season, which is a lot of fun. And I think that that was just an ad-lib that I think that I threw out there. [Laughs]
Tv insider
103 notes · View notes
zalrb · 5 months
Note
y'know I've been seeing the phrase 'chemistry' thrown around a lot lately. like it happened with rob and Zoe with the batman (2022) which you already talked about, it happened with the little mermaid live action (which you also commented on), and now with that new hunger games movie -> everyone is raving about the 'chemistry' between the leads (I haven't seen so I can't really comment). but it just makes me think: is it 'chemistry'? or is it just two hot people on screen breathing the same air?
I think that the word 'chemistry' is overused, do the general audience even know what 'chemsitry' really looks like anymore? I mean yes casting directors still have their actors do 'chemistry reads' but...? I say this because I think back to the posts you made about both rob and Zoe, Halle and Jonah, and now tom and Rachel (from the new hunger games movie, not sure if you will watch). all those actors performed chemistry reads with another for their respective movies, and you would think since the directors saw that chemistry then they must have it right, but after going through your blog, I've been more confused. do directors really look for chemistry, or do they just say "these two look good together, that should be enough to sell the movie"? cause they kinda have a point if that's the case.
I'm sorry I know this ask is like all over the place, but your blog really helped open my eyes, I guess I'm just tired of seeing the word 'chemistry' be thrown around at every 'hot ' couple that graces our screens. guess I would just like to know your thoughts on how the definition of 'chemistry' has changed since the early 2000s media?
sidenote: idk if you're going to watch the new hunger games but, I personally don't think the 2 leads have chemistry. I've only seen clips but from what I've seen they're just mostly 'longing' gazes between them and heavy breathing? I will say that the guy that plays snow is doing the more heavy lifting in scenes with Rachel. for Rachel, this probably just me but I feel like she was miscast for the role (according to sources she did not have to audition, it was just offered to her). in some scenes it does look like she was trying too hard, like she was struggling with some of the emotional beats. its almost as if she was 'insecure' in this role, and that her acting ability was not strong enough to handle the emotional weight of this film, if that makes sense? I would like to know your opinions/thoughts if see the film or watch some clips
OK. So.
First of all, I would like to see the actual chemistry tests and wish they were available because when I watch Sam and Cait's chemistry read, for instance, I'm like, it's obvious that they were going to be lightning in a bottle. LOOK at them.
youtube
This makes absolute sense.
So, I wanted to find another chemistry read soI literally just typed it in on youtube and saw TSITP and how they did it over Zoom and then before I watched it, to make sure that that actually happened, I looked it up and the author was like,
"It was the first chemistry read I had done over Zoom and I was like, 'I don't know if this is going to work?'" Han exclusively told E!. "Obviously, it's more enlightening to be in a room with people and see how they connect and see how they look together and what the energy is. But when Han saw Tung and Briney together for the first time, she knew she had found her Belly and Conrad. It really felt like it was popping off the screen right away," she raved, "honestly."
and then I watched it and was like, OK if you think these people are your characters then who am I to tell you they aren't, you wrote them, but were they popping onscreen, though? Were they really? And watching this and then watching the show had me like, no wonder why they frustrated the hell out of me, there's nothing here.
youtube
The most I can say is that Chris seems to be a marginally better actor when he's not actually physically interacting with Lola and it actually seems like what was popping onscreen was that they were both exactly who she thought her characters would be like as individuals, but alas, that's just my interpretation of what happened there.
And then there's the chemistry read for To All The Boys I've Loved Before and I watched it like, Noah is charming in it and he's natural and Lana is... keeping up, they're comfortable enough but I wouldn't say there's vibing, it's pretty forgettable, which is what I said about their chemistry in the movies
youtube
so I was like, yeah this chemistry read makes sense for what I saw onscreen because it was fine but i wasn't great, it still felt staged and I forgot about them and the movie(s) right after I finished watching it.
So, when directors talk about the chemistry reads I'm like, I want to know what they looked like. Are they Outlander or TSITP?
but it just makes me think: is it 'chemistry'? or is it just two hot people on screen breathing the same air?
And this has always been something I've posed to anons when I used to argue about chemistry.
Do you just like the dynamic?
Are they just attractive?
Does she just have big eyes?
Those seem to be the three questions I asked a lot and I'm inclined to believe that now, directors look for the people who they think look good together and will sell their show/movie based on that because the internet's going to do the rest. Like, initium kept sending me these tweets about the AMAZING. INTENSE. HOT. chemistry between the Bridgerton leads
Tumblr media
and I was like ... oh yeah, that fist bump screams sexual tension. Please be serious. Like, Tony and Kerry didn't have chemistry reads and they kind of just hoped for the best but when Shonda talks about how she literally had to leave the stage watching them film something
youtube
it's earned in what I'm actually watching onscreen.
I also feel like now, if one person has the intent, and if one person is carrying the dynamic, then that's considered chemistry and it's sufficient.
In terms of seeing the Hunger Games, I know my mom really wants to see it because Viola Davis is in it and I was like, you know she's probably going to be in it for like 3 minutes "I don't care!" so it's probably going to happen sooner or later. I can't find any clips of them just edits and I have a rule about edits.
11 notes · View notes
sevensoulmates · 2 months
Note
So I remember you saying that when tv studios are making their shows, nothing is left to chance and every decision they make is carefully put together, right? And when they first revealed the title for the fourth episode I didn't really knew it was the name of a song by Ella Fitzgerald, it's only recently that I read the lyrics of the song and it must mean something right? Because it's obviously a love/pining song.
Btw I was meaning to ask about your favorite Eddie/Buck moments that made you think "There's no way this is platonic" of course you don't have to explain in detail if you don't feel like it or don't have the time but it's always joy to read what you have to say about buddie 🙏😄
Hi there! Sorry for the delayed response! As typical of me, my opinion on episode titles is gonna be on the realistic side and this answer is kinda rambley. Obviously, episode titles reflect the content of what the episode will be about, but it isn't always exactly what it seems on the surface. And that's on purpose, we usually get episode titles in advance before the episode airs and they don't want it to spoil the entire thing (hence why I don't think "placeholder titles" like "henren begins" or "buddie begins" are real).
911 has been known to borrow some of their titles from well-known movies. Examples: "Love, Actually" -> "Buck, Actually", "Oceans 11" -> "Oceans 9-1-1". "Brawl in Cell Block 99" -> "Brawl in Cell Block 9-1-1".
They've also been known to copy super common phrases. Examples: "Careful What You Wish For", or "The One That Got Away".
They also use quite a lot of questions in the titles. Examples: "What's Next?" and "9-1-1, What's Your Grievance?" and of course a million 911 puns.
When it comes to song titles, that's a little harder to judge. Song titles often have common phrases like the ones mentioned above in them, so some titles could coincidentally overlap with song titles. One example is "Wrapped in Red" which is also a Christmas love song. Or they have episodes like "Love Is In the Air" where the song is also played in the episode ending montage. These are also just common phrases and don't necessarily have to be associated with a song.
"Buck, Bothered and Bewildered" is a bit of an odd case (as is "You Don't Know Me" but for a different reason), because it is undeniably the title of a very well-known song. But plenty of other shows have made use of the title and song in episodes before so it's not exactly unprecedented.
In my opinion, I don't think we should be taking the song lyrics themselves 100% at face value and expect them to translate point for point into the episode. That's just a bit unrealistic. BUT I do think the overall vibe of the song, and the general meaning of the phrase "bothered and bewildered" can be taken as a general idea of overall themes that will be explored in the episode, but not just for Buck, even though his name is titular this time. Episode titles almost always refer to the general themes that ALL prominent characters with arcs in this episode are feeling. So chances are it will apply to Athena, Chimney, and Eddie too. My speculation is likely that Chimney is also going to be confused by Buck's actions (and possibly something to do with Maddie) And Eddie will likely also be very very bothered and bewildered by Buck's actions and feelings in this episode. Maybe Tommy too?
I am fairly positive this episode will provide huge hints and steps in the right direction toward buddie canon. And I also want people to remember that characters DO NOT always have everything figured out. Just like normal humans, they can misunderstand their own feelings, not recognize the truth/gravity/context of their feelings, and even LIE (straight to the audience's face) about their feelings. Here is where learning how to (realistically) read subtext and not be afraid of it comes in.
As for "friends wouldn't do that" moments, well I think @useramor explained it best with their post here. ALL of buddie's moments could have a platonic reading to them, but it's the extra layers of desperation, hiding feelings unnecessarily, the lack of boundaries, the merging of entities, and the way they can never actually acknowledge or define their relationship in any true way, that makes almost all of their moments ALSO read as romantic. In my opinion, if writers want a moment to be read as entirely platonic with little to no room for romantic readings, there are ways to do so where at least most of your audience will understand. Instead, the 911 writers tend to place nearly all of buddie's interactions in a platonic-romantic limbo, and I personally think that's on purpose. Biding time, if you will.
13 notes · View notes
Text
(this is kind of a long post that somehow turned into lowkey a conspiracy theory but i don’t want to rewrite the start bc it was written pretty much stream of consciousness and that amuses me)
maybe this is an unpopular opinion but i don’t want byler to be spoiled lol
crumbs, sure, little things that keep us invested, but i want to go into s5 completely unawares of how it’s gonna play out. i don’t want the cast or the official socials or some random leaker to tell me what’s gonna happen beforehand.
honestly the fact that so many people involved with the show have acknowledged byler yet none of them have shot it down as a possibility is a big enough crumb for me. or the way official netflix accounts have posted promotional things with byler since s4 dropped. yeah, they don’t have any involvement with the production of the show, but if the ship is being used for marketing then it’s considered a possible sales point.
actually now that i think of it, does anybody remember the june advent calendar??? when, immediately after v1 dropped, the official netflix accounts started posting pro-byler stuff damn near every day, to the point where we made an event out of it???
at the time we all got super hyped over it and then figured it was queerbait when they didn’t get together in v2, but isn’t it mighty fuckin convenient that the netflix accounts just “coincidentally” happened to start posting pro-byler stuff as soon as v1 dropped??? because yeah, byler started picking up traction immediately after it aired, but it took a while to really get the ball rolling. they started cashing in on the byler hyper train when it was only just beginning to grow from its tiny pre-s4 presence. seeing official accounts mentioning byler probably helped to cement it in a lot of people’s radar in the gap between the volumes. and didn’t noah also start saying he shipped byler around then??? 
Tumblr media
POSTED ON JUNE THIRD??? only a week after v1 aired??? and ppl were so surprised by this tweet that when he was on a panel somebody asked him if he got hacked 😭😭
back then it really seemed like “oh the official accounts are queerbaiting during pride month” but A: we know noah wasn’t just saying this for nothing,he’s made it very clear that he believes it and B: why the hell would they be queerbaiting the tiny fledgling post-v1 byler audience when it was only just coming together??!?
hindsight says something was afoot here actually. they started releasing the pro-byler agenda from its tightly locked enclosure AFTER the volume where mike tells will hawkins isn’t the same without him and will brings the painting “for somebody he likes” when they go to pick mike up, IN PREPARATION for the volume where will gives said painting to mike along with an extremely emotional nameswapped love confession and mike turns around and gives a stilted and phony confession to his girlfriend. why the hell was attention being drawn to byler outside of the show itself in that interval if not to make people recontextualize what they just saw in v1??? and then when they see v2 have that recontextualization validated when will is confirmed to be both gay and in love with mike??? and to pick up on the fact that mike and el’s relationship is on more rocks than your average pile of gravel???
we know that they’ve had actors straight up lie to the audience before, too, because even if u just take noah as an example he said in a JUNE interview that will’s sexuality was up to interpretation, and then not that long at all after v2 dropped he did the iconic “will is gay and in love with mike” interview!!! and obviously he knew that will was confirmed gay when he did the first interview bc they had filmed that scene like a year earlier. so the fact that he never rlly mentioned byler, except for vaguely negatively when he was a kid, until v1 comes out and “SUDDENLY” he’s byler’s biggest warrior doesn’t mean he randomly changed his mind, it means he hadn’t been allowed to talk about it until after volume 1. after the first half of the season that made the majority of byler shippers see it as a genuine possibility and even the most likely outcome.
sorry i have no idea how much sense this makes and i’ve completely derailed whatever i was talking about at the top of this post. has anybody pointed this out??? have i pointed this out and i just forgot??? help?!!?!??
66 notes · View notes
gb-patch · 2 years
Note
Hi, the 'refund ask' person here. Please don't feel pressured to give an answer, I just want to clarify and apologize for a few things, for whoever is behind this acc, reading and taking their time to give detailed answers :)
First, I am sorry, truly, for coming across as a rude person who would scam a small business, and such valuable creators and artists. It was not my intention. I didn't think of it in the moment, I didn't even think that my question would be answered. (Which obviously changes nothing because you would still read it, and it apparently took me a while to realize, but you are a real person. A personal 'sorry' here.)
Like you said, it definitely was an 'it doesn't hurt to ask' mindset that I wrote the question with. Thank you for assuming I meant well, I really did. But I do see my fault now, so really, really thanks for taking your time to explain it in detail. In retrospect, no matter how 'well' I meant, I was in the wrong. To put it mildly, I was ignorant. It feels stupid to say it, but I guess I needed to hear from someone that I couldn't just give someone money, take what they're offering, and ask for my money back. It wasn't how I viewed my question then, but it definitely is now. Also, they might not see this, but a sincere thank-you to the other people who commented on my ask, for making me see how wrong my words sounded when they weren't just in my head. It was a lesson learned, to say the least.
Also, please understand that I didn't mean to say it wasn't worth $5 for 'just a moment', even though I did say it that way. I see how I could've worded that differently. Each and every moment of the story is super important to me, and believe me, I do think thay they all are worth way more than what you're charging, or mostly, not charging. However, it was silly and greedy to ask you to just give away even more of those beautifully made moments. Of course it is your right to charge for your hard work, and I am actually glad you're doing so.
I know it doesn't change anything, or take back what I previously said (no matter how much I wish it could) but I really wanted to make sure you didn't think there was someone in your audience who would be willing to scam you and even shamelessly ask for permission to see if they could. Again, not the intention at all.
Finally, it is actually so nice to see that a small company like yours has a lot of supporters willing to defend it. My question definitely wasn't a scam attempt, but if it were, I'm so glad to see that it wouldn't succeed or go unnoticed.
I will keep on supporting you, albeit silently for the time being, and playing your games for as long as I can. Our Life is an absolute delight of an experience, it inspired me a bunch, helped me through some tough moments in my own life, and is a game that is far more than just a game to me. I can't wait to see what you put out there next. You guys are some of the best out there in my opinion. Love what you do, love the way you communicate with your audience, and love how you handle crises like this. Hope you all have very nice lives where you can create to your heart's content :)
Sorry for the drama I caused, and sorry again, bc this ask is too long :) Thank you for reading.
It's alright. You don't need to apologize. I'm happy you were sympathetic to where I was coming from and that's all I would want. You didn't upset me or cause me any harm and I absolutely don't want you feel unwelcome over asking a question. It took years to make a game that could make people happy, but in only minutes I can sour the experience for people forever with what I post in these ask answers. I hope to avoid that as much as possible.
Not long before you sent your answer, there was another ask about this that was understanding of your situation.
"Im NOT that anon but I'm kind of sad how many other anons are judging them and seem to be a bit eurocentric? not everyone who plays these games have the same currency or similar currency conversiom rate as someone whos family is from venezuela, $5 is barely enough to buy flour, rice, and fish so what may seem like pocket change to you might be all someone else could live on. scummy would be to do so without ask. just disappointed bc i thought this community was more open-minded"
I agree that money is a difficult thing to get and people can't be blamed for not being able, or simply not wanting, to use it on visual novel content. Though, it is also a sore spot for artists who are very familiar with people who flat out devalue their time/effort and think there's no reason to pay for it. It can be hard to always take the question of 'can I get your hard work for free?' with no frustration. But that wasn't the intention of the original question.
If it the question had gotten a different type of response people wouldn't have felt the need to come to my defense over it. At the end of the day, I'm the one who could've avoided this and answered the question in a way that left the asker and the other readers satisfied/informed. It went too far this time.
It's always hard to know how to manage these situations. When a question comes along about a touchy topic but I think it's important to answer, I try to make it definitive and also to make clear that this doesn't open the gates for future asks about this. If I don't, then inevitably more asks come in and I either have to keep addressing/arguing a topic or ignoring them without explanation. It can make a development blog about posting previews a pretty unpleasant place. But if I use one ask to make an overall statement, it can come across unnecessarily strong against the single question the asker sent in.
To the OP, I'm sorry for making you feel like what you did was a huge mistake. It really wasn't. It was a just question over a policy that was intended as neutral and ended up with extra meaning put on it because of outside circumstances/other people's prior and potential actions. I hope you're able to feel reassured after all of this.
And the last thing I'll say is that future asks commentating about the situation won't be posted.
Thank you again for playing!
159 notes · View notes
tetsunabouquet · 1 year
Text
(Un)popular SK Opinion: Ren&Jeanne make no sense and Men's existence is the most questionable of all
Alright, let me first get this out of the way because I'm a known Ren fangirl- no I don't hate Jeanne. I kinda used to after watching the original anime, but the manga as well as growing up and realizing she was just a brainwashed little kid who should be playing with dolls made me a defender of Jeanne and I firmly believe Marco should be in jail for what he did to her. But that still doesn't mean Jeanne and Ren started making sense, not even after Red Crimson. The only thing they share is a similar pain from their pasts, and that's not enough to make a relationship work for the long-term. Ask my parents. A relationship is build on so much more then just having a similar backstory and regrets. What do these two have in common, except for perhaps a better-then-you mindset on top of the aforementioned similar background?! We see NO build-up at all. Even in Red Crimson, all we get is as much as a two page scene of them being a couple. Yet even during that one scene between Yoh and Ren about having a family, it was implied he might already have a crush on Jeanne
HOW?! In every scene they were in during the main series, he was pretty much annoyed with her and the X-LAWS. So HOW?! And then we get to their actual relationship, which seems messy AF. Like, Jeanne and Ren got engaged before she was pregnant, but she had short hair during their wedding. Ren said she cut her hair short after she had Men. So, did she get pregnant during their engagement and is Men being babysat by the Jiang Shi during the wedding or something? Also, the 'holy maiden', giving birth to a child out of wedlock?! Are you kidding me?! Am I seriously supposed to believe that considering Marco was so strict and religious, Jeanne grew up to be like, 'A baby before getting married? Okay, no problemo.' It's not unheard of for teen moms to be allowed to get married when they are above 16, so why the fuck didn't Jeanne and Ren get married first in order to legitimize Men as their child? And then we get to their actual married life. Iron Maiden Jeanne, THAT Jeanne, who would shoulder all the sins of the world on her shoulders through regular self-torture, would travel through war conflicts to aid the people in need and would sleep in camps having barely anything, who turnt the X-LAWS into the world's largest charity organization, THAT Jeanne became a STAY AT HOME HOUSEWIFE?! EXCUSE ME?! Where the fuck did her noble mission go?! She's an ambitious martyr, yet she gave everything up that she worked so hard for to mope the floors of her home? That's character assasination if you ask me. As parents, they make zero sense either. Ren's pain and hatred of his family came from them robbing him of his childhood. Yet he's perfectly fine to send his SEVEN year old son into a dangerous tournament where nobody can be revived from the dead for the SLIM chance of them getting back Jeanne. EXCUSE ME?! This doesn't fit Ren AT ALL. The more you actually think about Ren sending his son into the Flower of Maize and how it is in stark contrast with how he wants to be different from his family's ways and his established character, the more confusing it gets. And I didn't understood why until I watched a YT video about Ren's character the other day, in which they pointed out the Shonen trope of having a rival-friend that the audience could root for in case they didn't like the main character like Goku and Vegeta. That's what Ren and Yoh are in the series, and obviously, a lot of the people reading the sequal read the main series. The more I think about it, the more I feel like Takei created Men and the Jeanne storyline to keep the Ren fans invested in the sequel. Which is why, its definitely poor lazy writing, and not even the only problem of poor writing in the sequel (I am looking at you Miss Alumi, you're way too much like some fanfic's poorly written OC).
41 notes · View notes
My final thought on Vilnius rehearsal.. (might be a bit long 🌺)
My tumblr habit is to post a few things in the morning before i go to work, and then the rest after work in the evening. This morning i shared a few posts/asks i got about Richard at the Vilnius rehearsal. During the day i received several more asks on the subject, anon and non-anon, with possible explanations, support or comments on this morning's asks.
Normally i share all the asks i get, because i believe every opinion is valid. But i've decided to not do that in this case (apologies to everyone who took the time to send me an ask about it today) and only share one last thought on the Vilnius rehearsal.
I ❤️ Rammstein, I ❤️ their music, they make me happy (and sometimes sad, in a good way, if you're a Rammstein fan, you probably know what i mean).
I want the band to love playing for us, i want them to be happy that we're happy, i want them to have fun.
In general in bands i love watching guitarists at work, i love to watch the stuff that goes on in the background, and Rammstein is no exception, but i love each of the guys, for various reasons.
In the last few tours, the band visibly had fun on stage, all of them laughed a lot, there were little asides when one or other didn't follow the script 😊 little gettogethers, teases, little pranks.
I love that, it makes watching them live even more fun than just listening to their albums.
From the Vilnius rehearsals, the first clips i saw, during the show, what people filmed with their smartphones, were clips of everyone enjoying themselves, apart from one: Richard.
Richard seemed to me in his own bubble, looking at the audience, but hardly interacting with anyone on stage, constantly turning away to the people in his own corner. Some of the fun interactions we saw in the last tours, he completely skipped, didn't make eye contact, ignored what others were doing, especially Paul who is always easiest to interact with because of his playfulness.
That hurt. Physically hurt.
It shouldn't have, but it did.
To me it looked like he was ready to leave the band alltogether, right there and then, before the tour even started
Yes, i'm an even bigger dramaqueen than he is 😊 but that was what it felt like, just from watching these clips.
It took a long time, and several chats in support with others in the fandom (you know who you are, thank you for that 🌺), to come to terms with what i'd seen from the clips.
And then Richard resumed his weekly ig posting with an old pic of him smiling, relaxed with his cigaret 'on the road again'....and i breathed a sigh of relief...okay, he's not quitting.
Richard has no idea how his bubble came across to me, will never know. He was just doing his thing at rehearsal, going through the songs in the right order, making the costume changes work, fiddling with his sound. Didn't seem to have fun, but maybe wasn't even looking for it. Had i just seen the photos that have been posted later by various people, i probably wouldn't even have reacted this strongly...it was those earlier clips that did it.
Today on my way to work i realised that in the end: my fun should not be depending on whether *he* is having fun. I'm responsible for my own fun, like he is for his. I want to fly to Vilnius, shake him and tell him "Enjoy this damn thing", but they'd probably intercept me before i even got there 😊 I hope he's more open to it, able to leave his bubble.
I want the band to have fun on tour. All of them. And i would love to see fun interactions between them because they so obviously show the fun.
I really hope Richard joins in the fun, that he makes that choice.
Like my fun is my choice 🌺
I ❤️ Rammstein
31 notes · View notes