#anyways there are A LOT more but those are the first three musicals i've come up with so if u wanna know more hit me up with an ask jfjxjs | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

ambrossart · 2 years

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DANCING WITH MYSELF

— PART ONE

summary: eddie crashes senior prom hoping to steal a dance with his dream girl, chrissy cunningham. instead, he spends the night stuck in the women’s restroom with you—her snarky, insecure best friend. ❖ pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader ❖ word count: 2,489 ❖ genre: fluff with some angst ❖ series status: complete ❖ warnings: no season 4 spoilers, some coarse language, body image issues, allusions to eating disorders, typical teenage insecurities, angst, jealousy, anxiety, secret crushes, childhood memories, happy ending, lots of 80s music one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight | nine | ten

You were more than a little caught off guard when Chance Gallagher asked you to the senior prom.

Chance was popular, Chance was on the basketball team, and you were just Chrissy Cunningham's snarky best friend. The "bitchy" one—yeah, that was your identifier (so that you wouldn't be confused with her other, much perkier friends). You were confident that ninety percent of the student body had no idea what your actual name was. To them, you were simply Chrissy Cunningham's Bitchy Best Friend. Depressing as that was, it was an enormous step up from constantly being referred to as her "chubby" best friend. All that dieting must have finally paid off.

Needless to say, you were a little skeptical when Chance Gallagher, dressed in his green letterman jacket, showed up at your locker six weeks before the big night.

He swung by and said, "Hey, you..."

In hindsight, that should have been your first clue that this was going to end in disaster. Hey, you? Come on, the boy clearly didn't know your name. But at the time, you weren't thinking about that. No, you were too busy admiring his long dark hair, those deep-set brown eyes, and that shy, crooked smile that slowly crept up the side of his face...

"Hi," you said back, and you thought your voice sounded oddly high-pitched for some reason, like Minnie Mouse. You had to clear your throat and try again. "Hey, uhh, what's up?"

"Nothin' much." Chance paused and ran his hand through his hair. Shamelessly, you watched him do it, and you caught yourself wondering if his hair was as soft as it looked. It probably was.

"I was just thinking," he went on, "you know, about prom coming up..."

You retreated into sarcasm. "Oh, is prom coming up?"

"Uh... yes?" Chance cocked his head, looking so confused.

You winced. "Sorry, just ignore me. So, what about prom?"

"Well, I was wondering if anyone asked you yet."

You squinted at him for a second, thinking, Seriously? "Uhh, no, no one's asked me yet."

"Good," said Chance, nodding and smiling, and you stood there, thinking, Wow, those are some white teeth.

Then, while you were distracted by those white teeth, he snuck in a quick: "So you wanna go, then?"

You blinked slowly. Once. Twice. "I'm sorry... what?"

"I'm asking if—"

"You're asking me to prom?"

"Well, I'm trying to, but you're making it kinda difficult."

"Well, I'm a difficult person," you said under your breath. Then: "Wait a minute, is this like a Taming of the Shrew scenario? Is there a Bianca somewhere in this?"

Chance's brow furrowed. "Taming of the what?"

"The shrew."

"What's a shrew?"

"Well, it's actually a small, mouse-like animal, but it's also the word for an ill-tempered woman, which is the definition I'm referring to—not the mouse, obviously; although I could see the mouse making sense too, you know, within a different context... Anyway, The Taming of the Shrew is a Shakespearean comedy. We read it in English last week. We took turns playing the parts... well, not me, I mostly just read the stage directions. See, I've got a thing about public speaking and, you know, speaking in general..."

"Really? 'Cause you seem pretty good at it." Chance was smiling at you.

And now you were smiling back... and laughing, too. It was a colorful laugh that burst out of your chest like confetti out of a New Year's Eve popper.

"That was a good joke," you said. "I liked that."

Silence. Heavy and awkward.

Chance broke it. "So... is that a yes to prom? Or do I need to leave, come back, and start this process all over again?"

You laughed again, but this one made your chest hurt a little.

Your gut reaction was to say, Yes, absolutely! but you never listened to your gut. You listened to the small voice in your head, the one currently showing you all the possible worst-case scenarios on a teeny tiny projector: frame after frame after frame. This is a bad idea. This is a terrible idea. You should just say no right now and save yourself the embarrassment.

But then you heard Chrissy's voice in your head, that sweet Disney princess voice. You know you're the only one getting in your way, right? Stop sabotaging yourself. You would be so much happier if you would stop shutting everyone out. Just open up a little, let people in, and I promise they'll think you're amazing, just like I do... and then I'm gonna have to tell them all to back off because you're my best friend. I found you first.

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay, look, at the risk of making this all blow up in my face, can just I ask why? Why do you wanna go to prom with me, Chance? I mean, sure, we sit at the same lunch table, and yeah, you're friends with Jason and I'm friends with Chrissy, but we've never spoken a word to each other... so why?"

Chance shrugged. "Because I want to? Because I think we'd have a good time? Do I need another reason?"

You bit down on your lip. That wasn't the answer you were hoping for, but then again, maybe that was just your anxiety talking. You shook all those ugly thoughts away and said, "Okay."

Chance took a step back, seeming delightfully surprised. "Okay?"

"Okay... yes, I'll go to prom with you." And you felt a little like Sissy Spacek in the movie Carrie.

Was this your Tommy Ross?

Oh, hopefully he doesn't die...

Chance pumped his fist. "Well, all right!" And for a second, you thought he was going to give you a high five or a slap on the back. Instead, he backed away slowly, heading toward his own locker. "This will be great. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to this."

"Me too," you said.

And that was the problem. You started looking forward to it. You started getting excited about it. Daydreaming about it. Flipping through magazines and dog-earing your favorite pages, because suddenly you had favorite pages. And that's why you were absolutely gutted when Chance called you up six hours before prom and said he couldn't make it.

With just five words, all your prom plans went up in flames.

"Food poisoning? Are you kidding me right now?" You were sitting on your bed with the phone pressed against your ear. It almost slipped out of your grasp when you first heard the news. "Can't you, like, take some Pepto-Bismol or something?"

"Seriously?"

"No, not seriously, Chance. I'm not a monster." You let out an angry huff and switched the phone to your opposite ear. "What am I supposed to do now? I bought tickets and a dress and some really, really painful heels." You had even practiced walking in those painful heels so that you wouldn't look stupid—or worse, trip and fall on your face in front of everyone. "There's gonna be pictures and dinner and a frickin' limo... Oh my god, I'm gonna be the only one there without a date!"

"I know... I'm so sorry."

"Well, great, can I bring your 'sorry' with me to prom? Can I pose next to it during pictures?" You swallowed hard, feeling the sharp sting of oncoming tears. You lowered the phone to your shoulder (while Chance continued to utter apology after apology) and squeezed your eyes shut before a single one could escape.

After a minute, you heard Chance say, "You still there?"

You brought the phone back to your ear. "Yeah," you said, and wiped your runny nose on your wrist. "Look, don't worry about me, okay? I'll, uhh, I'll figure something out."

"Yeah, okay... And, hey, I'm really, really sorry."

"Yeah, I know," you said, numbing yourself to it. "Anyway, I'm gonna go. Uhh, feel better, okay?"

You slammed the phone down before he could say goodbye. Then you saw the stack of magazines on your nightstand. And the pink shoebox on the floor. You buried your face in your hands and had yourself a good five-minute cry before picking the phone back up and frantically dialing Chrissy's number.

She answered in a chirpy voice: "Hello, hello... Cunningham residence."

"He's not coming!" you blurted out in a stuffy, near-to-tears voice.

"What? What do you mean, he's not coming?"

"Food poisoning! He got food poisoning!"

"He got food poisoning? Oh, no..."

"Yeah. That's just my luck, right? I just spent three hundred dollars for nothing."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, obviously I can't go now..."

"What? But you have to go!"

"Chris, I can't—"

"No, Y/N, you have to go! This is the senior prom. This is supposed to be our special night."

You rolled your eyes. "Pretty sure Jason thinks it's his special night."

"Well, he's wrong," Chrissy said, and stifled a laugh. "Come on, you didn't go to junior prom, and that was fine, but this is the senior prom, our last prom, and I wanna spend it with my best friend. I want us to go get our hair and makeup done, and put on these outrageous, obnoxious dresses, and go make asses of ourselves on that dance floor. That way, when I'm old and wrinkly, I can look back on this moment and think, Wow... I so peaked in high school."

You both laughed. Despite the tears, you laughed.

"Yeah," you said, "I want that, too... but I don't have a date, Chris."

"So what? You can come with me and Jason."

"Oh, the third wheel. Yeah, I bet your boyfriend would love that."

"He won't mind. And if he does, screw him. We'll leave his ass at home and go to prom together. Deal?"

You smiled and dabbed your eyes dry with your sleeve. "Deal."

Overjoyed, Chrissy squealed so loud you had to pull the phone away from your ear. "Now, hurry up and get your butt over here, pretty lady! Our appointment's in an hour."

"Fine, fine..."

You said your goodbyes and hung up. That's when the dread finally set in, twisting your stomach into one giant pretzel. "Food poisoning, huh? Boy, is he lucky." You rolled onto your back and stared at the ceiling for what felt like forever.

"I'm calling it now: this is gonna be the worst night of my life."

Three streets down, Gareth Lozinski’s garage was exploding with the thrashing chords of heavy metal.

Corroded Coffin was currently six songs deep into their ten-song set list (a tribute to all their favorite metal bands), which would eventually get whittled down to just five songs. Any more than that and the manager of The Hideout would pull the plug on them. That happened last Tuesday, after Eddie Munson tried to sneak in a second Iron Maiden song when he thought the manager had stepped outside for a smoke break. They were only six bars in when their mics and amps suddenly died. Eddie, lost in the music, played another eight bars before he realized what had happened.

“Boo,” he said into the dead mic; then he strummed an angry riff and walked off the stage.

The band took a short break after Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” so that Gareth could help his mother carry in the groceries. Mrs. Lozinski made a comment about their playing, said they were “really coming along” because she didn’t know what else to say. Gareth’s little sister was more succinct with her feedback. She skipped past the open garage with a paper bag full of fruit and said, “No, you guys still suck.”

Five minutes later, Gareth returned with half a turkey sandwich, sat down behind his drum set, and played the majority of Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades” with the sandwich hanging out of his mouth. He wolfed the rest down during Eddie’s excessively long guitar solo.

Just when you thought he was done, the guy kept on going…

These rehearsals usually carried on well into the evening. Gareth’s family sat down to dinner at around six-thirty, and they didn’t appreciate the unique ambiance of Eddie Munson’s screaming guitar, so that’s when the band typically called it quits.

Today, however, was no typical day. Today was the senior prom.

Jeff was the first one to unstrap his guitar. “All right, guys, I’m outta here.”

Gareth, a junior who had yet to experience prom, said, “Dude, it’s only three. Prom doesn’t start for another four hours.”

“Yeah, but Tara’s parents wanna take pictures, and my parents wanna take pictures, and then we gotta go to dinner… It’s a whole event.”

Grant heard that and unstrapped as well. “Yeah, shit, I better get going, too.”

Meanwhile, Eddie Munson was staring off into space and silently strumming his guitar, trying to work out some of Motörhead’s trickier chord progressions in his head. He stopped momentarily when he felt Jeff’s hand on his shoulder.

Jeff said, “Hey, good luck tonight, man.”

The corner of Eddie’s mouth raised into a lazy smile. “Thanks, man. See ya.” Then he bent his head and went back to strumming, his left hand fingering the beginning chords of Dio’s “The Last in Line.”

Gareth put down his drumsticks and stood up. “You’re really going through with this, huh?”

“Mhm,” said Eddie, only half listening.

Gareth shook his head, utterly dumbfounded by his friend’s reckless determination. “You’re crazy, man. What makes you think Chrissy Cunningham’s gonna wanna dance with you?”

Eddie’s fingers slowed and eventually stopped, those final chords lingering for a moment… then drifting away.

“Because this is my year, man.” Eddie was confident, but not arrogantly so. He simply believed his words to be true. “I’m telling you, all the stars are aligning for me. As long as I don’t blow Ms. O’Donall’s English final, and I don’t plan on blowing her English final, I’m gonna be out those doors and onto better things. Now all that’s left to do is steal a dance with my dream girl.”

“Yeah… that sounds great and all, man, but this is Chrissy Cunningham we’re talking about. There’s no way she’s gonna dance with someone like you, especially not at prom.”

“Really? I think she will, and especially because it’s prom.”

Because Chrissy Cunningham wasn’t like the other popular girls. She wasn’t vain or pretentious. She didn’t strut around school like a princess amongst peasants. No, Chrissy Cunningham was something special, a very rare diamond in a pit of precious stones.

And tonight, for at least one song, she was going to be his.

Eddie unstrapped his guitar and carried it over to its case. “Gareth my good man… Gareth the Good, Gareth the Great… I think tonight might be the best night of my life.” He smiled on his way out. “Wish me luck, buddy.”

“Good luck,” Gareth said, and watched him go. “Boy, he’s gonna need it.”

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CURRENT // NEXT

#stranger things #stranger things 4 #eddie munson #fanfic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson imagine #chrissy cunningham #jason carver #chrissy x jason #chrissy x eddie #hellfire club #st4 #ambrossart #just me using fanfiction as therapy for all my high school trauma #dancing with myself #dwm #fanfiction

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nonsensical-ramblings · 1 year

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The Stranger Things OST is something we haven't been paying nearly enough attention to, because I think I've just found something monumental.

We all know these two scenes feature the same music:

But what we haven't been talking about is how the tracks in these four scenes all share the exact same melody-

Or that the tracks from these two scenes sync up perfectly to create an entirely new piece of music

But what if I told you this is only the very tip of the iceberg, because I've been sifting through evidence for quite a while now, and we are far past the point of this all just being a coincidence?

ahem.

Welcome to Soundtrackgate.

(AKA: The wild, wacky world where connections go way, way deeper than you could've possibly imagined, and it all still manages to lead back to byler in the end)

So, just by themselves, those three instances of matching soundtracks creating parallels between different scenes are pretty cool, and worthy of analysis. That's all well and good. But it gets a whole lot more complicated when I tell you that across those three examples, all the songs from those eight scenes I've pointed out match with each other too. The music playing during the J/ancy kiss syncs with the music from the R/ockie scene at the gun shop. The M/ileven kiss has music that syncs with the "It was a seven" scene. R/ockie making sandwiches has music in the background that syncs with the Byler van scene. They're all in the same key, B flat major.

I can prove that I'm not making this up in the form of some amazing mashups between four important OST songs. But before I show you those, let me take a step back and introduce you to the songs individually: Being Different, The First Lie, The First I love You, and Kids.

(I slowed them down so they're all the same speed). And I thought to myself, golly, these all sound pretty similar, they all have a pretty consistent pattern of eight quarter notes that get repeated over and over. (Listen closely, can you hear it?) I sure bet it would sound nice if someone combined them. So. I figured out how to edit audio and I did it myself XD

When I said they synced, I wasn't kidding. When I did my initial little experiment, I was not expecting the songs to, in no uncertain terms, match up perfectly, as if they were all variations of the same track, because the only thing I'd done was change the tempo a little bit between each of them. No splicing, no extra editing, no looping, no nothing. And they sound beautiful together!!! Here are my three favorites:

Putting all four together pushes my limits a bit and it comes out a tad messy, but I love it anyways. It's overwhelmingly clear that these four songs are meant to fit together.

So... what does this mean? The tracks are undeniably connected, and some of the scenes in which they occur are clearly parallels too. I mean, we've been ENDLESSLY analyzing parallels between R/ockie, Byler, and J/ancy, and this discovery lends more credit to the theory that those aren't just coincidences. But especially for major motifs like Kids, there are a lot more scenes where these songs play!! It's not just the few I mentioned at the beginning of the post that are pretty obvious in how they're similar to one another. Haha, but wouldn't it be crazy if ALL the scenes that these songs (and their variations) appear in followed the exact same narrative pattern; a pattern which would just so happen to offer extremely compelling evidence to the fact that Byler has been endgame since season 1?

Ha ha... ha... um.

They do.

All of them.

I'm not fucking joking. Out of the 22 scenes I've been able to track down which feature any of these four songs or variations of them, I've identified a pattern which every single one follows. Some definitely better than others... but it is un-fucking-deniable that this pattern exists and it has to be deliberate, because all of this being a coincidence must be some sort of statistical impossibility with the sheer amount of evidence I've amassed.

The pattern I'm referring to is a collection of four themes:

A misassumption / some form of dishonesty

Love. Often romantic, but sometimes platonic or familial

A subversion of expectations

An atypical relationship between two people

Often in that order.

So basically, we have a collection of scenes throughout all four seasons that are very strongly linked to each other, through both the music that plays during them, and the narrative pattern they follow. And theoretically, if we now know for a fact that each of these scenes follows the same pattern, we can use it to support our interpretations of moments like the van scene or "It was a seven"! (A pattern which, I'll remind you, will fall perfectly in line with Byler endgame)

Okay. So here, we get to the main chunk of the analysis. The hard data. I've gone through every relevant scene and listed how each of them fit the pattern, to prove that it's legit, and to use it to demonstrate how this discovery supports our theories! I've also added whether I think the scene matches well (✅), moderately well (🤔) , or poorly (❌) with the interpretation. (Keep in mind that even the ones that match poorly still relate to the themes in some way!) I sorted everything by motif, then into individual music pieces, then into scenes that feature that music. So scenes that have the same track playing in the background are grouped together.

Obviously, it's pretty long. I did my best to organize it well and make it as concise as possible. But that's why I'm adding a star (⭐️) next to all the scenes that explicitly support the Byler agenda, in case you want to scroll past the rest and only focus on what you came here for!

Without further ado, let's start out with...

The First Lie motif

The dominating melody in these tracks is: D D# D A# C F A# C

Track 1: The First Lie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S5-J7BLoIY)

Scene A: Jonathan And Nancy get together (S2E6) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/Dishonesty: Both of them are denying their feelings for each other • Love: And those feelings are romantic in nature • Subversion of expectations: They discover that their feelings are requited! • Atypical Relationship: Nancy, a popular and conventionally attractive character, ends up with Jonathan, the outcast

Track 2: The First I love You (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y68LnSZ_j3M)

Scene A: Robin and Steve talk in the Bathroom (S4E7) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/Dishonesty: Steve believes he has a chance with Robin, Robin hasn’t told him the whole truth about her sexuality • Love: Steve has feelings for her, she has feelings for Tammy, the two of them love each other as best friends • Subversion of expectations: Robin wants to kiss girls!!! And Steve is surprised, but wholly accepts her, even as a straight guy in the 80s • Atypical Relationship: Platonic soulmates <3

⭐️ Scene B: El Tells Mike she loves him and says goodbye (S4E8) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/Dishonesty: Their relationship had been damaged by the fact that Mike lied in order to avoid seeing her / getting into trouble with Hopper • Love: El forgives Mike, says that she loves him, and tries to repair their relationship • Subversion of expectations: El admits to having heard Mike when he said that he loved her, back in episode 6 • Atypical Relationship: It wouldn’t be very atypical for a straight guy to get back with his straight girlfriend after a brief break-up, would it? So maybe this relationship isn't as hetero as it- [gunshots]

Scene C: Joyce and Hopper Kiss (S4E9) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/Dishonesty: Up until this moment they’ve been dancing around each other since season 1, not quite being honest or upfront about how they feel • Love: But now they finally have their moment and make it official! • Subversion of expectations: We’ve seen it coming for years, sure, but considering where they started, their relationship was an unlikely one • Atypical Relationship: Joyce, the high-strung, divorced, single mom, and Hopper, the troubled, divorced, adoptive dad, certainly make a unique pair together

Kids motif

The dominating melody in these tracks is: G A# F A# G A# F A#, and/or F G F D C A# C A#

Track 1: Kids (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha2OcL_0gtM)

⭐️ Scene A: The party finishes up their D&D game, “It was a seven” (S1E1) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/dishonesty: Lucas urges Will to lie to Mike about his roll • Love: Little Will cares about his friendship with Mike too much to lie to him • Subversion of expectations: He’s honest, and admits that he only rolled a seven, even if it means he lost the campaign • Atypical relationship: Oh, you know. :)

Scene B: The kids disguise El so she can go out in public (S1E5) This scene doesn’t match very well ❌ • Misassumption/dishonesty: The kids are disguising El’s true identity so they can bring her to their school • Love: The four of them are beginning to trust one another; the boys trust El to help them find Will, they're bonding as friends • Subversion of expectations: The boys (but Mike specifically) are surprised with the degree of El's glowup • Atypical relationship: Mike thinks El is pretty, even though the rest of the party is still a little apprehensive towards her

Scene C: Mike, Lucas, and El make up after their fight in the previous episode (S1E7) This scene matches moderately well 🤔 • Misassumption/dishonesty: El had been misleading the boys to keep them away from the lab • Love: The friends are all sorry for what they did, and care too much about each other to stay mad • Subversion of expectations: They’re able to reconcile • Atypical relationship: Even after a pretty serious fight, the friends are back together again, stronger than ever

Scene D: The party finally gets to play D&D again at the end of season 1 (S1E8) This scene doesn’t match very well ❌ (But, it’s excusable because the main purpose it serves here is to parallel the first scene from episode 1- matching this narrative pattern is probably a secondary concern) • Misassumption/dishonesty: The campaign is over too soon, the kids feel like it’s not a truthful finale; there are loose ends left to be resolved in the story • Love: The friends are finally back together again, having fun, enjoying each others’ company, healing • Subversion of expectations: Will is able to defeat the monster this time • Atypical relationship: Even after everything they went through, they made it out OK and are still the best of friends

Scene E: Dustin reminds Mike to look for some change before going to the arcade (S2E1) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/dishonesty: Mike avoids Dustin’s questions of why he’s on an unusual channel on the walkie talkie, and why he hasn’t been looking for quarters to bring to the arcade • Love: Mike is still grieving El • Subversion of expectations: He hadn’t been looking for quarters because he was busy trying to contact her • Atypical relationship: He still feels guilty for having lost her, more so than the rest of his friends. He believes she’s out there, even after a year has passed

Scene F: The kids work together to assemble Cerebro (S3E1) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/dishonesty: The kids don’t quite believe Dustin is being honest about actually having a girlfriend • Love: But he does! He actually is in a relationship • Subversion of expectations: Suzie doesn’t answer • Atypical relationship: A nerdy mormon and an agnostic with no collarbone; an unlikely pair!

Track 2: Kids Two (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PydvdEdGwE)

Scene A: El and Max spy on the boys (S3E3) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/dishonesty: The girls are secretly spying on the guys • Love: They’re talking about their relationship troubles • Subversion of expectations: They’re doing a terrible job of trying to win El and Max back; putting all the blame on the girls, talking about how they're a "different species", all while eating chips and generally being gross • Atypical relationship: Elmax bonds over having dumb ex-boyfriends, even after their friendship's rocky start in the previous season :3

Scene B: Robin sees Vickie at Warzone (S1E8) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/dishonesty: Robin thinks she has a chance with Vickie • Love: She’s about to make a move and talk to her crush… • Subversion of expectations: …but Vickie has a boyfriend. • Atypical relationship: Queerness!! And the fact that Vickie gets distracted by Robin, probably has a bit of a crush on her too, even though she's currently in a relationship

Scene C: Robin & Vickie make sandwiches (S4E9) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/dishonesty: Robin is initially fairly certain now that she DOESN’T have a chance with Vickie • Love: But unbeknownst to her, they're almost definitely endgame • Subversion of expectations: Vickie admits that she ended things with her boyfriend • Atypical relationship: Imminent 80s Lesbians!!!!!!!!

Track 3: Teens (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3JICAZAEBs)

Scene A: Suzie changes Dustin’s Latin grade (S4E1) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/dishonesty: Suzie and Dustin are cheating his Latin grade by hacking into the school’s computer system • Love: The two of them are still together :3 • Subversion of expectations: Suzie decides that her relationship with Dustin is worth more than being entirely morally virtuous, so she changes the grade for him • Atypical relationship: The unlikely pair of the mormon and the agnostic strike again!

Track 4: In The Closet (At Rink O Mania) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwl-HPNQFLc)

⭐️ Scene A: Mike and Will argue at the roller rink (S4E1) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/dishonesty: Mike’s upset that Will and El haven’t been honest about the bullying • Love: Will just misses his best friend and is upset that their relationship / communication over the past year has been strained. And he’s in love. • Subversion of expectations: “We’re friends! We’re friends.”(AKA, Mike has been struggling with his feelings just as much as Will has) • Atypical relationship: Queerness!! We can be fairly certain now that they totally feel the same way about each other, even if neither will admit it.

Scene B: …but also El hides in the closet at the roller rink (S4E1) This scene matches moderately well 🤔 • Misassumption/dishonesty: El had been hiding the fact that she was being bullied • Love: This lie has has driven a wedge even deeper between her and her boyfriend • Subversion of expectations: She decides to go confront Angela • Atypical relationship: El, the humiliated victim, decides to stand up to her bully, Angela, instead of letting her get the final word

Track 5: Home (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdcV1u6RUh4)

Scene A: Hopper takes El in (S2E3) This scene matches moderately well 🤔 • Misassumption/dishonesty: Hopper wants to give El a place to stay where she can hide from the people looking for her / Hopper discreetly puts away a box labeled “Sarah”, hinting at a more personal reason for taking her in than he lets on • Love: He cares about El like he’d care for his own daughter • Subversion of expectations: Even though he's a supposedly hardened and lazy police chief, he cares about El enough to go through the effort of fixing up the cabin to give her a place to stay • Atypical relationship: Found family :’)

Scene B: This song also plays during the scene where Robin sees Vickie at Warzone (S4E8) This scene matches well! ✅ • [See Kids Two, scene B]

Track 6: What’s The Internet? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqx4idF4ObE)

Scene A: The Hellfire Club and Lucas’ team celebrate their victories (S4E1) This scene matches moderately well 🤔 • Misassumption/dishonesty: The basketball team and the Hellfire club both thought they were screwed • Love: Despite the looming potential for failure, everyone’s having fun and feeling included within their groups, they love their hobbies and their friends • Subversion of expectations: Both teams won their respective games despite the odds! • Atypical relationship: Lucas still hangs in the balance between the two teams, feeling unsure about which of his friend groups he should prioritize

Track 7: [Unreleased song, but the Kids motif is faintly audible towards the end]

⭐️ Scene A: El and Mike argue over Mike not being able to say “I love you” (S4E2) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/dishonesty: Mike’s refusing to acknowledge that he can’t say the words, he’s lying about how he really feels • Love: Their relationship as boyfriend/girlfriend is finally starting to show cracks, as its fundamental flaws are presented front and center • Subversion of expectations: Their relationship isn’t as perfect as we’d been led to believe • Atypical relationship: They’re on the verge of a breakup, but that's really what's best for the two of them

and finally...

Being Different Motif

The dominating melody in these tracks is: A# D F D A# D D# D, and/or A# D F A# D F A F

Track 1: Being Different (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_o29YLtS_NA)

⭐️ Scene A: Mike and Will talk in the van (S4E8) This scene matches well! ✅ • Misassumption/Dishonesty: Will lies, using El’s name to hide his own feelings • Love: And those feelings are his love for Mike :’( • Subversion of expectations: It’s now overwhelmingly clear that Will is canonically gay and in love with Mike • Atypical Relationship: Well, it doesn’t sound all that atypical for the sad gay boy to have fallen for his straight best friend (who is obviously straight because he’s in a relationship with a girl), so what if Mike- [gunshots]

Track 2: I Like Presents Too (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trSjkqM0VT4) (I’m not positive about this one, but I swear I hear similarities between Being Different and this song? Especially between 1:52 - 2:05 in Being Different, and 0:38 - 1:00 in this song)

⭐️Scene A: This song also plays during the scene where El Tells Mike she loves him and says goodbye (S4E8) This scene matches well! ✅ • [See The First I love You, scene B]

Okay. And that's all of them! I hope I've made my point. The fact that every single one of these 11 songs and the 22 scenes they appear in are connected both musically and thematically cannot be a coincidence. And by simply tracing the pattern, it's pretty easy to see that these connections hint at the fact that there's something more that we're not explicitly seeing between Mike, El, and Will's relationships, which has no other explanation besides Byler endgame. Let's review- by applying what we know about the pattern to Byler and M/ileven scenes, we can infer that:

When El kisses Mike at the end of season 3, it isn't meant to be taken at face-value. There's something atypical about their relationship, and it's the fact that despite saying the words, it doesn't change the fact that neither of them are in love with each other, not romantically, even if they think they should be.

When Will tells Mike he rolled a seven and lost the battle in the first episode of season 1, it's more than just Will being a good friend. There's a deeper connection- something atypical compared to Will's relationships with his other friends, because this is Will being in love with Mike before he even understood what those feelings meant.

During their fight at Rink O Mania in season 4, they're not just arguing about Will being dishonest or Mike not staying in touch. There's something deeper under the surface that they're dancing around, unaddressed feelings on both ends, something more atypical than just two friends who drifted apart. At the root of their frustration is the fact that they both believe the other doesn't feel the same.

Mike said it himself- when he and El argue over the fact that he can't say "I love you" to her, this was a fight they can't come back from. Because it's been made clear to them that their relationship isn't romantic anymore, it's atypical in the sense that they realize this whole thing between them has just been a heteronormative charade they were pressured into, rather than something they really wanted or needed.

When Will delivers his veiled love confession in the back of the van in season 4, we're led to believe that this is him ripping off the bandaid, because Mike is supposedly happiest with El and he'll never see Will the way Will sees him. But this interpretation is incorrect, because there's something very very atypical about the way Mike stares longingly into Will's eyes, completely mesmerized, in a way that he's never looked at his own girlfriend despite allegedly being so in love with her. Mike is in love, but there's no denying anymore that the love he feels is for Will, not El.

Of course, none of these interpretations of these scenes are new or anything. But the fact that we now have solid proof that all of them are actually intentionally connected? They all share linked music and follow the same pattern?? That, I think, is revolutionary.

But of course we're not done yet.

Because as lengthy as it is, this isn't a finished analysis. Now, if you've made it this far into my mad and delusional (yet strongly supported by evidence) rantings and ravings, you're probably just as excited about this breakthrough as I am. So if you're thinking about exploring the theory yourself, I have a few suggestions on where to start, because there's a good number of things that I haven't fully looked into yet! Most notably, there are several tracks that sound like they almost fit with the ones I already identified as being part of soundtrackgate, or they have similar vibes, but just aren't similar enough to make it into the list. Some of them I've tried to mix with The First Lie, Kids, etc, but came up empty-handed. There songs are:

Journalistic Instinct

Boys and Girls

Feel Safe

First Kiss

Presumptuous

My BOOBS Hurt

A Kiss

I wouldn't remember me either

Eight Fifteen

Walkin in Hawkins (i really really really hate this song for no justifiable reason please don't make me listen to it any more than I had to this is my one exception)

This Isn't You

Blank Makes You Crazy

Weirdly enough, out of these twelve, there are exactly three tracks from each season. Does that mean anything? No clue. Odd, though.

For all you eightfifteengate truthers, I tried really, really hard to mix the track Eight Fifteen with any of the established songs... but all I got was a pretty resounding muddy mess of a failure. Which sucks, because it sounds like it should work! Unfortunately, I don't think Eight Fifteen is part of soundtrackgate. However! I did notice that it sounds very very similar to the track Presumptuous, which is interesting. Here's the best I got, for what it's worth:

If you want to take another look at these songs and try to prove me wrong, please do!! Maybe there's a pattern within them that I didn't catch. And if you ask, I'll be happy to try my hand at combining any tracks you think would work together!

Other than that, there are a few interesting little details I noticed while perusing the OST. Maybe they mean something, maybe they don't, but I thought they were worth mentioning! Feel free to investigate if any of these pique your interest:

Like I mentioned earlier, Eight Fifteen and Presumptuous both contain the same melody

Blank Makes You Crazy and I Need You to Trust Me are both songs tied to scenes where we see evidence of the stained relationship between Mike and El, and they’re both in the same key; F Major

Not Kids Anymore plays during the Byler rain fight in s3, AND when Dustin and Mike refuse to go to Lucas’ game in s4

As far as I can tell, the song Destroying The Castle only plays one time other than when Will takes a bat to Castle Byers- it also plays in S4E9 when Hopper is about to use himself as bait for the demodogs, but assures Joyce that he’ll be alright

On The Bus almost definitely does not match with any of the other songs, but I feel like this particular track is important and worth looking into regardless, so I’m mentioning it here.

You’re The Heart does not sound similar, mix well with, or parallel Being Different, let alone ANY of the established soundtrackgate songs. I just don’t hear it, sorry.

Eulogy and Letter to Willy sound very very similar

Journalistic Instinct and Boys and Girls sound very very similar

Still Pretty, the song that plays in season 1 when Mike reassures El that she looks pretty without the wig, also plays in season 4 while they talk in the pizza shop, right before they get interrupted by Argyle.

Okay. I think that covers it, for now. Thank you so much for reading, seriously, I poured my soul into this so it means a lot!!! I hope it all made enough sense. MASSIVE shoutout to what-song.com for its list of all the songs that appear in each ST episode, in order, complete with listing what minute each song appears in, providing a 30-second sample of each song, and a description of the scene that occurs during it. It SAVED MY LIFE no joke. Also big shoutout to bilibili.tv, my platform of choice for sailing the seven seas of content of questionable legality; I used it liberally to pull up all the scenes I had to analyze lol

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freddiemercurylegendabovelegends · 3 months

Text

Today, on 19th January, 1978

Group Interviews - Circus Magazine

Queen Deserve Rock's Royal Crown?

by Rosy Horide

Freddie Mercury and Brian May Hawk their 'News Of The World'

Freddie Mercury is no longer the leader of Queen. Has he been fired, you ask, or is he off to pursue a solo career? No it's simply, with the advent of News Of The World LP (Asylum) the personality of the music and of Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon have come across more strongly than ever before.

Those who have seen them on the recent US tour notice more than ever before that they're a group comprised of four separate identities, not just a lead singer and background band. Freddie Mercury is delighted to hear it.

'I've never considered myself the leader anyway,' says irrepressible Freddie. 'The most important person, perhaps.' And guitarist May agrees.

'Our separate identities do come to the fore on this album, on which every cut is completely different from the one before it and there's no concept at all. Apart from each having contributed two tracks to the album, Roger and John have been much more involved in the playing. Roger plays rhythm guitar on some of his cuts ('Sheer Heart Attack' and 'Fight From The Inside') which makes sense, because he had a better idea of how he wanted it to go. John plays acoustic guitar on one of his as well ('Who Needs You'). I played maracas on it. While we may not do it that way on stage, in the studio that makes more sense.'

Brian also does a lot more singing of his own songs on News, but he's content to let Freddie do the singing on stage.

'He's a natural performer,' asserts Brian. 'He acts on stage as if he was born doing it. That's great for us. We wouldn't want it any other way.'

As May and Mercury emphasize, it's not just musically that shifts occur in the group.

'John keeps a very close eye on our business affairs,' says Freddie. 'He knows everything that's going on and shouldn't be going on. If God forsakes us now the rest of the group won't do anything unless John says it's all right.

'Roger is very important to us in a different way. He's always been an out-and-out rock & roll fan with no time to stop and think about music and that's very good for us. Instinct. He's also the one who is most aware of facets in music, and that's essential in the band. If you listen to 'Sheer Heart Attack' on the new album you'll see what we mean. It sounds like a punk, or 'new wave' song, but it was written at the same time of the Sheer Heart Attack LP. He played it to us then but it wasn't quite finished and he didn't have time to complete it before we started recording. That was three years ago and now. . .almost all these records you hear are like that period.' And Roger now? 'He was into punk for a long time, but he's tired of it.' More about the album later.

But if you still don't believe no crown of leadership rests on the mercurial head of Freddie, it's worth repeating his comment about the composition of the group.

'If anyone left Queen, anyone of the four, that would be the end of Queen. We are four equal, interwoven parts. And the others just couldn't function the same without each quarter.'

Queen have just finished a special tour of the states. Not the longest they've ever undertaken, by any means, but special nevertheless.

'It was the first tour we've ever done without the support band,' Freddie explained. 'There was so much going on on stage that I doubt there would have been room for another band anyway. We have so much material we want to play for people now that it would have been far too long a concert. It's hard enough anyway to know what to leave out: we'd like to play all the new material, but there are some things we just would not dare leave out or I think the fans would lynch us.'

It was the sort of tour most rock bands dream of doing. Brian agrees: 'We've managed to get some of the most sought after halls there are, even though the tour was short. Most of them are places we've played before. In some cities we had to settle for second, alternative choice auditoriums - the thing was set up so fast. It was also a very compressed tour - 35 dates in six weeks. We did very large halls because we wanted to do a fuller show and our rig was about twice as big as ever we used before.

'It provided a complete stage environment, with an extension stage, three trailers and enormous lighting gimmick not just for New York and Los Angeles. That's why we booked big halls, so that we could give everybody the complete show. We first used our crown centerpiece at London's Earl's Court concert over the Jubilee. At the time, we didn't envisage being able to take the crown on tour with us, but we managed to have it demounted into a portable object. And so we had it for all the gigs. It made the most ambitious backdrop we've ever attempted, but it was worth it. The fans seemed to enjoy it and they are what matter.'

That last remark of Brian's is typical of the group's attitude towards their fans, for they have one of the closest rapports with the fans of any in the business. The same cannot be said for their relationship to the music press, however, especially in Britain. In fact, many people thought the chart-popping single 'We Are The Champions,' was Queen's way of telling the press in no uncertain terms that they've made it without them. Others thought it an arrogant statement about their rock supremacy. But how do they feel? First Freddie, who wrote the song:

'Certainly it's a relationship that could be, but I was thinking about football when I wrote it. I wanted a participation song, something that the fans could latch on to. It was aimed at the masses; I thought we'd see how they took it. It worked a treat. When we performed it at a private concert in London, the fans actually broke into a football chant between numbers. Of course, I've given it more theatrical subtlety than an ordinary football chant. You know me.

'I certainly wasn't thinking about the press when I wrote it. I never think about the British music press these days. It was really meant to be offered the musicians the same as the fans.

'I suppose it could also be construed as my version of 'I Did It My Way.' We have made it, and it certainly wasn't easy. No bed of roses as the song says. And it's still not easy.'

Brian concurs, 'You know, songs aren't always about what the words say. Messages in songs can appear different. I always see that as the difference between prose and poetry. Prose can mean exactly what it says, while poetry can mean the opposite. That goes for this song. Freddie's stuff is often tongue-in-cheek anyway, as you know. This song is very theatrical. Freddie is very close to his art. You could say, he's married to his music, whether it's 'I Did It My Way' or his 'There's No Business Like Show Business.' I must say, when he first played it for us in the studio we all fell on the floor with laughter. So many people in the press hate us because we've side-stepped them and got where we have without them.

'But there's no way the song says anything against our audiences. When the song says 'we,' it means 'us and the fans.' When we did that special concert, the fans were wonderful. They understood it so well. I know it sounds corny, but it brought tears to our eyes.'

Freddie and Brian are unanimous on that: the spontaneous responses to 'We Are The Champions' really move them. But that is the kind of general response News Of The World has received because, as Brian may says, 'It's a spontaneous album. I think we've managed to cut through to the spontaneity lacking in our other albums. I have no apologies to make for any of our previous albums. We're proud of them and wouldn't have let them out if we weren't. But I now feel some may have been over-produced, so we wanted to go with a more spontaneous rock & roll based album. It was nice to do something that didn't need such intensity. For example, with 'Sleeping On The Sidewalk' we did it in one take because it just seemed right the first time. We like to think of the album as a window on an unguarded moment, not a set piece. Each cut seems to do that, from the participation songs to Freddie's mood pieces. Even his numbers on the album are different, from his heavy 'Get Down, Make Love' to 'My Melancholy Blues,' which is just what it says.'

Brian admits that his own material is different too. But he still tries to keep his private life separate and out of his songs as much as possible.

'If you don't keep something back, it can be very bad for you.'

But for the band both the album and the tour are in the past and they have to look at the future. They got back to England on Christmas Eve.

'My mother would have killed me if I wasn't home for Christmas. I haven't missed one yet,' says Freddie. And the others felt the same.

It's time for some stock-taking. We've all become businessmen,' admits Freddie, 'even though it's against our better judgment. It's something that always happens if you get successful. Being a musician is not just cutting discs, unfortunately. I wish it was. We've all got companies now, some connected to music, others not. I'm producing Peter Straker, I have my car company. . . and lots of other fingers in other pies. We must take some time off to get things in perspective, or things will start to go wrong.

'Then there's been talk of doing a big world tour - Britain, South America, Japan, and of course the States as well as lots of other places. But that won't be until later in the year.'

So, American fans will have a chance to see Queen in 1978.

'You must tell them not to be too greedy, thought,' warns Freddie. They've already seen more of us than any other country.'

And what about a message for the American fans, Freddie?

'They know we love them. Apart from that, oh, say something outrageous for me.'

#1978 #circus magazine #freddie mercury #queen band #london #zanzibar #legend #queen #brian may #john deacon #freddiebulsara #roger taylor #1978 interview #interview

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tezzbot · 1 month

Note

congrats on finishing your essay! :))

Love your Sonic Underground au, btw! I need some lore drops on my boy, Manic, tho. It doesn't even have to be a long explanation. Something goofy like, how many times has he been arrested?

Also! Do the triplets eventually form a band? [side-eye]

Oh my goodness, hello!! I love your art so much it's all so cool!!!! Thank you lol!

Some stuff about Manic in the au lets see...

He was kidnapped as a baby after the triplets had been sent halfway across the continent for their own safety, whoops lol, he's quite charismatic, must always have been since he managed to endear himself to Ferral pretty much immediately lol, he grew up pretty much similarly to the canon of underground, getting by stealing where he has to bartering and stuff, he's part of his own found family within the city and they're all very close, a tight-knit little community of thiefs sfgdhj, though every so often one or two of them decide to spread out (though they stay in touch), which is actually the reason for Manic's being on the train alongside the others, he has family he misses! And he has some things to get to them! (little does he know he'll be meeting more family than he anticipated lol) Though he's never actually been out of the city he grew up in himself (despite what he may claim lol), uhh he is very technically minded he loves to tinker and making little thingamajigs and doohickeys that look like they wouldn't have any practical use but he usually finds a way lol, nothing, like, robotic like Tails does, he's more a manual guy fdsgfgdf, aaand just a random headcanon he's fairly dyslexic n has some trouble reading, he usually has someone help him. There's also gender happening to him :thumbsup:

As for how many times he's been arrested lol uhhhh I think that early on he was pulled up a few times, probably spent some time in juvie, but he hasn't actually been caught in quite a while, I don't imagine Manic gets caught all that often lol you know those videos of kids running from cops and the police just making absolute clowns of themselves trying to catch them? That's Manic JHGJFG

So wrt the band, I'm sort of playing around with ideas right now? The main idea that I'm running with is that, the medallions only react to them when the triplets are getting along, when there is harmony between them (eehh? geddit? lol) that's the only time that they are able to be activated. Which, given the rocky start that they all have with one another obviously takes time, with Sonic being reluctant to share pretty important info with them and generally keeping his distance from them, Sonia's frustration with him and her being Very mad at Manic for scamming her, not much harmony going on for a fair bit of the journey. Eventually the three of them do get along and discover the powers of the medallions and they do perform a few times throughout. Eventually Sonic does spill that they're family and after the reactions they come up with the idea to use their music to get their mothers attention, Sonic is hesitant etcetc. I DUNNO! I'm still futzing with it lol I'll decide on stuff eventually fdghfg

Oh and I do want Sonia and Manic to have their own powers like a lesser version of Sonic's speed but, again, still deciding LOL

Anyway! Sorry this got so long lol, I've thought a lot about this AU! Thank you for the qs!!

OH ALSO Manic uses "bro" and "brother" on Sonic just as a casual thing but the first few times Sonic is like .Does He Know... GJFHG OKAY I'M DONE

#sonic underground au #I love it when and artist I really like and respect very suddenly pops up in my notifs this is crazy<3 #thank you for taking an interest in my silly little au lol

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sonkitty · 3 months

Text

Earthly Objects Study: The Pocket Trick (Good Omens 2)

NEWEST VERSION HERE:

>>>> https://www.tumblr.com/sonkitty/740091087358656512/the-pocket-trick-basics?source=share <<<<<<

SEE THE LINK ABOVE

The below is saved for posterity. This Trick is so complex, I ended up making multiple posts because my draft became so long. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's best to either just take my word for it or read these three things.

The Earthly Objects Game

Earthly Objects Study - Crowley's Sunglasses

Earthly Objects Study - Multiplicative Threshold Tricks

This post was last updated 01/18/2024.

Edit-I truly thought I had given up. I've made progress. It's not fantastical, but it's something. More on the way when I can. For now, know that the left pocket is shown much earlier than I said in the description for Action #1. Oops. -01/19/2024.

Introduction

Alright.

Here it is.

This Trick is the missing Multiplicative Threshold Trick.

I found a Triple, a Double, and a Single.

I also admit defeat.

I don't get it. This pocket thing is a puzzle, and it is a very, very difficult puzzle that I do not expect to solve. I see a process, but this process decided that if we're going to allow pockets to be little doors that can have threshold-only touches, let's get everything, or at least a lot of other things, involved.

It's not just what the hands are doing and especially the thumbs. Those are of great importance.

It's matters how the strands of the tie move in alignment with the thumbs and a given hand.

It matters how those tie strands strike or rest on the vest when they do.

It matters what the tassels at the end of those tie strands are doing.

It matters how things are managed around the belt.

It matters how the jacket is positioned and what that is showing.

It matters what the clasps of the strands on the tie are doing.

It matters what the watch is doing.

It matters if the shirt decides to get involved.

Shadows and lights hitting the right way at the right time? Those things matter.

Windows nearby? Those things matter.

Crowley's reflection? It matters.

How Crowley's head or body is framed during the touch? That matters.

In addition to usual hand things to look for, now it matters what the thumb joint is doing. It matters so much what the thumb joint is doing,

Everything matters when it comes to the pockets.

Everything matters.

I made a ton of progress on so many aspects only to realize that after so much of it, I had not been minding the windows of each scene. Then I go look up "pocket windows" and find out they are for new windows installed within an existing window frame. Windows were hard enough just for looks the first two times. I cannot keep up with something of this scale. I simply cannot.

Summary

So, get ready for a long haul that amounts to "I don't know what's really happening here" or just take this summary at face value. There were threshold-only touches on pockets or using pockets by Crowley in Good Omens 2. Yes, really.

Action #1 (Episode 2; Triple Part 1)

Crowley walking alone before encountering Nina.

Action #2 (Episode 2; Triple Part 2)

Crowley walking alone after encountering Nina and encountering Aziraphale. "Do you need a lift somewhere?"

Action #3 (Episode 5; Double)

Crowley standing against the door of the music shop.

Action #4 (Episode 5; Triple Part 3 that has its own two parts)

Crowley standing and watching Aziraphale invite Justine.

Action #5 (Episode 6; Single)

Crowley walking into the bookshop after escorting Maggie and Nina out. He has a potential two Triple multipliers on the door panel for shifting the fingers and whatever else was necessary at the right times.

Definitely Not a Summary

Are you still here?

Alright, fine.

This Trick is part of a game, and this part of this game is too hard for me.

I'm not going to throw away all my progress by deleting my save, so I'm still making this post anyway.

I am going to miss things because it is really hard to pay attention to everything when you don't really know what's going on but know enough to sense something's going on. It just is.

Once the window thing for this Trick hit me, I knew it was over. Some of this thing will be more detailed than the rest, but I refuse to take this challenge any further. Sort of. I'll probably still think about it in the background. If I'm lucky, as I have been with eventually realizing The Sunglasses Trick was a thing, I'll update this post.

Crowley's dark clothes, the show's lighting, and my own PC monitor not being really optimized for getting the visuals I would like also make this difficult. I have tried to compensate with some editing, but sometimes that's still not really good enough. My TV and iPad are better, but I can't check frame-by-frame on those devices as I can from my PC. The app I used to use for my iPad to do things frame-by-frame is no longer any good, and I haven't been able to find a replacement.

I'm going to say "strand" because I understand it better even if "strand" might often mean something thinner. The word "cord" seems the best alternative, and it doesn't feel right.

The Door Trick

The Door Trick gets a special mention here because it is not part of the Pocket Trick but is clearly using some form of the mechanics involved just differently to enough to get what it wants. While the touches in this Trick require the fingertips to be definitively shown on screen at some point, The Door Trick does not. It has one curled pinky with a tip touching that pinky. The pinky is touching the ring finger, which is touching the middle finger. That version is still allowed for a Triple multiplier within The Door Trick as part of the skin contact touch.

Presumably, that's because those fingers are handled the way they are in an acceptable manner.. The Door Trick handling the tie, the belt, the shirt sleeve, the watch, and jacket somehow helps lead to the left index finger and right thumb to touch the pants where the legs are touching each other and earning a Double multiplier. Or some variation of that. That's also while making sure Crowley's entire body is positioned exactly the way it is with regards to the what he is wearing, the car threshold he is touching, the humans behind him, and so on.

Core Concept

Every Multiplicative Threshold Trick has a core concept. Despite their complexities, they start with a simple idea.

The Perfect Entrance is a basic introduction to the Tricks. Crowley, or even just this idea, makes an entrance by making an entrance. It's perfect because 1 + 2 + 3 = 6, which is how many points he could theoretically get with a Single, Double, and Triple being done.

The Door Trick is touching the door while touching the door.

The Window Trick is looking through a window while looking through a window.

The Bigger Thresholds trick is Crowley managing thresholds that are bigger than him.

The Sunglasses Trick is Crowley's sunglasses are the door to himself. He touches the thresholds of his own threshold. It begins with him opening the door, and it ends with him closing the door. Still, the Trick boils down to that initial, simple idea.

What is the core concept of The Pocket Trick? I don't know. I know my own goal is finding out how the touches on these special little doors get their threshold-only touches, and that the answer is a complex mess of other thresholds, other edges, framing, windows, and so on. I know that Crowley himself or parts of him end up framed in certain noticeable ways once I sense to look for it. I know certain things need to move certain ways for the touch to be done the way it is. Where's the concept that leads me to saying a pocket touch means Crowley or some of him is put in a frame? Is it a Crowley pocket of its own? Where's the core concept that leads me to say that his clothes need to touch the hands when and where they do? The pockets are smaller than him, but they are not just smaller. They are a specific thing on clothes with touches that keep involving other clothes. There is no touch in this Trick that does not involve touching his clothes or being touched by his clothes and the hands partly in the pockets. It's the latter more often than the former. The pocketed hand gets touched by the clothes if it's already in. The hands touch clothes if they are entering the pockets.

There is some basic idea, some basic reasoning for those requirements.

This is The Pocket Trick. It's not The Frame Trick. It's not The Pocket Frame Trick. It's not The Pocket Window Trick. It is The Pocket Trick. So, whatever is going on, somehow, it should amount to a basic idea about touching pockets. If they are not literally touched, there needs to be an Earth-based reasoning behind it. Windows are touched by looks because people look through windows to see things on Earth. As such, the concept should be like pockets are touched by something because people do something with pockets on Earth.

Even if I eventually get the concept, I'll still struggle because this thing is so intricate.

Hands

For most humans, we have two hands with 10 digits total. Of our digits, we have 4 fingers and 1 thumb on each hand. That's 8 fingers and 2 thumbs.

To use more than half the digits of one hand requires 3 digits.

To use more than half the digits of two hands requires 6 digits.

We use our thumbs for a lot of things differently than how we use our fingers, and that's important.

Crowley may not be human, but he chooses the shape of a human with two hands, much like most humans.

As a snake-eyed demon, he actually has a very special touch to his own sunglasses that involve thumbs. If he wants to switch them from an accessory to a door or a demonic tool as he removes them from his face, he has to have a thumb tip visible in the motion, even if the motion is blurred. That thumb tip is a requirement.

All of these pocket touches involve at least the right pants pocket and one of them adds in the left pants pocket.

They all involve both hands.

This link is probably a good point of reference:

https://www.neuro-spine-ortho.com/health-services/neuroscience-spine-orthopedic-institute/orthopedics/hand-wrist-care/hand-anatomy/

Since links go down sometimes, here are some notes that are very much copied and based on the above:

Working our way from the top down if you raise your hand with all digits extended as if counting to ten, the digit tip bones are the distal phalanges. For the fingers, below those are the middle phalanges. Thumbs do not have middle phalanges. Below the middle phalanges for the finger bones and below the distal phalanx for the thumb are the proximal phalanges. The singular form of "phalanges" is "phalanx."

The bones in the hand are called metacarpals. The thumb metacarpal makes a joint with something called the trapezium that "allows much of the thumb motion."

Now using this reference (https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/thumb-fractures/), that joint is is called the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint. I will simply be saying "thumb joints".

Thumb Joints

For these special pocket touches, the thumb joints act like catalysts for things to happen and what clothing item is linked to a given tie strand, even if that link seems to happen earlier. There's still something significant about these joints in getting things connected or managing the connections. Sometimes accessories are involved, but it's almost like the accessory is more of an assist with the clothes. The thumb joints could be something like metaphorical hinges.

Tied Hands

The header is an intentional pun, and I do believe it is something meant to be communicated by this story with this game.

Each tie strand below the knot of Crowley's tie ends up connected to a hand in some way, but it's not as simple as a joint from one strand to the other because a thumb joint might actually be avoided instead of overtly displaying a link to something. The tied strand still has to behave in correspondence with the hand of the avoided thumb joint, such as suddenly seeming to have its entire tassel missing or the lighting makes it look that way.

The strands can swap what hand they are tied to because of the thumb joint.

Speaking of the tassels, those seem to be most closely linked with the thumbs.

The tips of the tassels are like thumb tips.

The clasps above those tassels are like thumb joints.

I think the tie strands don't have fingers, but I can't really tell. For all I know, the fingers are the part above the knot.

Threshold

The threshold seems to be the front outside area of the pockets and requires extra care in fully qualifying itself to be touched in a threshold-only form.

This care is concerned with things like visual touches that show the fingers touching a threshold and the edge of that threshold, because after all, edges can be thresholds of thresholds. The Perfect Entrance Trick's first move was to communicate that the edge of a sidewalk is a threshold. The final move in The Sunglasses Trick is to touch the areas around the thresholds, so thresholds of thresholds is a thing this game allows.

The first touch in this trick should have its own special name of Edges Everywhere.

Action #1 (Episode 2; Triple Part 1)

The first of these pocket touches appears in episode 2 as Crowley is walking by himself and before Nina will notice him.

When the scene initially starts, the right thumb is visible, and it's not clear just yet that the other four fingers are in the pocket. The left hand is partly visible but not showing its fingers yet.

The part of his thumb that is visible is touching over the snake belt while being touched under the vest.

Even still, the inner part of the front of his jacket's hanging out along the side edge of all of that, making sure it is not touching the pants.

One tie strand is attached to the right side of the jacket, and it's the one that will be more obviously following along with the left hand soon. If the clasp is indeed the thumb joint, it is conveniently hidden at that exact moment. This tie strand will act as if linked to the jacket as well.

The other strand is down and looks strongly aligned to the left lapel of Crowley's jacket. The top clasp before the tassel tip even seems to start at about that point. Despite that, it's also generally over the edge of the vest. The vest is what this tie strand will act is if it is linked to.

Crowley moves in a way that eventually his left hand becomes more clear and on screen.

With that one little movement, a few things happened.

The tassel tip on the right side of the jacket disappeared behind that part of the jacket. The left thumb tip did not become visible and is more understood to be behind the left hand. The right thumb disappeared behind the watch. Quite early in the overall movement, the snake disappeared behind the left front of Crowley's jacket.

I'm telling you this thing is confusing.

All four "thumbs" are off screen so that we can look at four fingers that aren't showing their fingertips yet. Those fingers just so happen to be in the area the jacket was avoiding with the area between the ring finger and pinky finger visually over the edge of the pants.

It is probably not a coincidence that there's some sunlight hitting the edge of the hand and pinky along with the edge of the ring finger, the two fingers at that edge.

It's like we're passing along threshold touches here.

The sunglasses are looking ahead, and the sunlight is hitting the back of the right side of the jacket, in case we later find those things are important too. Oh, and the strands above the knot of the tie are visible.

Time to move again.

Crowley moves some more such that the left hand is not clear, but we should certainly stop at this point because something important is clear anyway.

The thumb became visible even if blurry.

The blurry thumb joint is now by the edge of the jacket. In fact, it's by where the lower edge of the bottom jacket meets the edge of the back that's receiving the sunlight. What's it called when two edges meet each other? I had to look it up. It's called a vertex!

Both the actual hand thumbs are on screen and now so are the tie tassel tips. The strand that was on the right side of the jacket, that's going to follow along with the left hand, is still on that part of the jacket. Its tassel clasp is at the edge of where the sleeve meets the jacket. Yes, we found another edge, which makes sense because its parallel hand has the thumb joint on an edge. Indeed, we are officially joined, if we weren't already.

Meanwhile, for the right hand, it's doing edgy stuff as well. That thumb joint is now touching the edge of the vest, which is touching the edge of the snake head of the belt. The tip of that vest is positioned between the right thumb joint and the snake belt to give us yet another vertex.

The part of the jacket that was along the side edge of so much happening is now showing its outer part, and it too is at the edge of something. Visually, it is at the edge of a nearby garbage bin, or something like that.

Edges! Edges everywhere! Now with vertices!

Should we keep moving?

No, not yet. I almost forgot about the tie strand linked with the right hand.

That tie strand is hanging out over on the right side of the vest, and its tip just so happens to be along the edge of the vest and the shadowed area in the jacket. Shadows are totally a thing in the last part of this Trick, so this shadow must be doing its job of keeping that tip at an edge when it needs to be.

Are there any other edges that we missed? Probably. For instance, the left front outer edge of the jacket is covering the left pocket, probably at its edge. The left side of the vest has its tip slightly past the bottom edge of the snake belt.

The top tips of Crowley's lapels of his jacket are just past the edges of that part of the jacket., Fascinating.

I'm all out of energy looking for edges so instead am going to bring up that it is now more clear that the right hand fingers are in the pocket.

As for lighting, the right hand has lighting up until the index finger, and yeah, there's going to be something with the index finger soon. The left sleeve and left back area of the jacket are also receiving light.

Okay, fine.

I give up.

Let's move on.

That was just the one frame where we could see the left thumb joint touch a vertex of the jacket.

In the next more clear shot of movement, part of the left hand is off-screen. It seems to cut off at where the middle phalanges would be visible for the fingers and keeping the proximal phalanges visible. The thumb does not have a middle phalanx so is basically cut off from showing a thumb tip. As such, the left hand corresponding strand has decided that its tassel tip should shift its tip off the jacket to be partly over the vest since the left thumb tip is indeed part of what has become off-screen.

The tie strand linked with the right hand is on the right side of the vest and just along the inner middle border of that vest. A tiny bit of its tip has ventured over to the left side. The tips of both sides of the vest seem to be content along the lower edge of the snake belt. The right tip that was at the snake belt's edge has shifted a little more to Crowley's left, so it's not directly on the edge anymore. It also has more shadow over its own right side.

Indeed, everything probably still matters, but a lot of edge-concerned items are no longer at their concerned edges.

Onward.

Crowley moves some more, and we're going to stop when the left hand becomes clear again, including those pivotal fingertips.

They have at last revealed themselves perhaps thanks to the blurred thumb from earlier.

Since so much happened before, let's take a look.

The left thumb is not visible at all. The right thumb is only is partly visible, but its thumb tip is obscured by the left hand. In fact, the part of the hand obscuring it is where the left thumb joint should be, if we could actually see it. With both thumb tips and both thumb joints not visible, the tassels and the clasps have hidden themselves too. The belt is not visible.

Is there an edge we should concern ourselves with?

Yes, indeed. We have some lighting to help remind us of where to look. Three fingers are visually over the right pant leg. They are the middle finger, ring finger, and pinky finger. The index finger just so happens to be not over the pants with them. Instead it's visually over the edge of some edge of the building behind Crowley. And worry not, the lighting is doing just a little more than that for our alert. Now we have to look at the index fingertip and the middle fingertip because do you know what is visually in between those? The right edge of the front of Crowley's pants!

I want to move on again, so we will.

This time we're stopping when the left hand is blurry again because of a thumb joint thing again.

Crowley has turned his head. Things have changed.

Something that is not evident until drafting a post like this one is that the tie strands have swapped which hands they are corresponding to.

A lot of things actually look familiar from the first time the thumb joint was by this part of the jacket with subtle differences in being near the edges. The left thumb joint is ever so slightly over the edge of the jacket it was at the edge of before. The same goes for where the left sleeve meets the jacket visually. Our vertex is gone. The tie tassels still seem concerned about edges in their same areas as before or are just slightly off like everything else, and I simply can't tell. The vest tips are ever so slightly past the snake belt. The right outer front of the jacket is decidedly not at the edge of anything.

Let's move on.

These frames are more clear, so I'm using my best judgment on the next place to stop.

I've chosen the frame where the line between the left thumb and the rest of the hand is no longer visible.

The tie strand on the right part of the jacket is still on the right part of the jacket, mostly. The clasp is at the edge of a lower part of the right lapel of Crowley's jacket. The tassel has swung enough so that its tip is over the right side of the vest. The right thumb tip is still visible, even if only slightly.

The tie strand on the vest has also shifted over, now finding itself on the left part of the vest instead of the right. Its clasp and some of its tip is still visible, but it takes only 1 more frame for that to change. That clasp meets the edge of the bottom of the left lapel. Given what's happening with what is and is not visible of the left thumb, this makes sense, only if you catch that the strands swapped with the joint movement.

Crowley's right front of his jacket is covering up a good amount of space over the right thumb, leaving at least its thumb tip visible. That jacket's shadow also seems to be over the snake belt head some. The belt itself is visible, especially more of what's between the back of the snake head up until the left bottom tip of the vest.

The lighting is suggesting we pay attention Crowley's left side in general, so we will.

Moving on.

After some more movement, I've decided the next clear shot where we should stop is after Crowley's head has moved even more, and the left hand itself has hit stronger clarity.

The edge of the left thumb is quite likely behind the index finger. The tassels are really sneaky here. They switch so that the strand tied to the right hand gets hidden, and the strand tied to the left hand comes out again. It's easy to miss if you're just looking for the more key frames and not watching them do that. I speak from experience. So, is our visible tie strand at an edge? Yeah, go find the shadow of the jacket by the vest, and the tip of that tassel is probably at the edge of the right side of the vest and the jacket, which is positioned in just the right way to allow it.

The index finger is not showing its tip. Both it and the middle finger are showing part of their middle phalanges with the index finger showing more. The ring and pinky fingers are not showing their middle phalanges.

Some of the snake head on the belt is visible with a little hidden on each side of that head but not much.

Now let's look for more edges.

The left jacket sleeve is layered over the more general left side of the jacket itself. At the exact point where their edges meet is that same garbage can from earlier, just its other edge from a front view of it. We have found another vertex.

There's also a little stand of some sign that's near the elbow. I can't figure out why that's important are going to be important, but it likely is. If I go back a few frames, there was a tiny gap, presumably thanks to lighting, between the jacket and the sleeve where they meet. Going over that bit again and again, it looks like the right thumb joint is at the vertex of the vest and the jacket. However, the edge of that vest is ever so slightly over the edge of that right thumb. So, there's still more left to happen.

The right pants pocket just passed the edge of some visual thing on the building behind it.

We are so, so close to being done.

Okay, Crowley has moved, and things happened.

What happened?

So much happened.

The thumb and fingers of the left hand have collectively moved themselves out of the way and are no longer on screen. In the process, that left thumb joint hit that same vertex area it had before, or was very close to doing so.

By the end of the movement, the left thumb joint is close to that jacket edge area but just far enough away for this touch to be over. It's done. We just need to look at what else changed.

Early in the movement both tassels revealed themselves together, swapping their tips back to what they were before the tip tied to the right hand was hidden. Soon after, there was a frame of both on the vest. The left tie strand was more closely aligned with the left part of the jacket though, from the clasp down, not touching the edge. Above the clasp, it does look aligned with the edge of the lapel. The right tie strand, meanwhile, was more close to the inner part of the right side of the jacket and the vest. The actual left hand was mostly off-screen.

Only one frame after those tassels were on the vest, the watch met with the edge of the light of the side of Crowley's jacket that was just behind that hand.

At that same time, both tassel tips started to leave the vest and swung so that their tips moved over to an area of the right front of the jacket, not quite reaching any edges.

Generally, the actions by the tie strands might be indicating those hands were being untied.

That right bottom vest edge moved itself even further onto the thumb while making sure to not touch the thumb tip. It landed about the center of that thumb before deciding to go back up and then touch the edge of the thumb. When it was centered along the thumb, the tie strands were centered along the vest itself. The tie strand for the left hand on the left was a little further down than the right. Interestingly, that matches the camera positions of the visible hand parts. The left actual hand is further down than the right actual hand.

Once that vest edge finally touched that right thumb edge, the empty left pocket was revealed. There is one or two last frames to get that vest edge off the edge of the thumb.

In that final frame, there is yet another thing of significance that happens and was happening while looking at all those edges.

The cut stops just after a little bit of Crowley shifts past the window frame and overlaying onto a window pane of a nearby window. That rack is partly acting as a border as a little sticker near the bottom of the window pane. Remember the sign and the garbage bin from earlier? They allow the visuals so that Crowley himself is still in some type of special frame for the building behind him because the building's structure would cut him from within the frame otherwise.

Not to mention the car with a window in the reflection of the window!

Or how about Crowley's fingertips becoming clear just after his reflection passed some of a rack in the window so that Crowley himself became more clear.

Or that his reflection and the reflection of the car nearby get obscured by humans and whatever else is behind the window at the just right time at the end.

ALL of that was what this first threshold-only touch of The Pocket Trick needed to be complete.

Based on the first frame of the scene, each tie strand was already linked with a hand despite what any thumb joint had done yet. These metaphorical extra hands were already tied by the pocket touch. They then behaved accordingly until they could get untied for the threshold-only touch through a lot of edge touches passed along or shared.

The thumb placing itself between the snake belt, and the vest seemed to allow those passes to go where necessary until both the thumb and vest edge were truly ready together.

Why? Why did these things have to happen the way they did?

What is the actual pass from one place to the next? What is all this trickery really doing?

Visually, without considering all these edge passes, the tie strands, and the clothing touches, the windows, the car, and the reflections, I could at least see the six digits that amounted to not physically touching anything except the right thumb in the pocket. The left fingers and left thumb had their separate moments, but they all added up to those six digits touching only a pocket or nothing (physically).

If you add in the visual touch to the pants with the index finger at the edge, and the known thumb or whatever the tassels are doing, then the next question is, why does everything else have to keep going until the tie strands do the more they do and the left pocket is revealed? Why did everything before it happen? The touch isn't really considered done until that left pocket is seen and an extra frame. The next touches are not quite the same way, but there is a similar premise. If the digits are on screen, they are touching a threshold, which can be an edge of something or the front of the pocket itself, instead of nothing. If they are not on screen, they had to get off screen to finish. That could be them being figuratively pocketed away, but a lot of things have to happen before they are allowed to reach that point.

A window of some kind is involved every time. There is not always a reflection or a car, but they happen often enough. There were two doors passed just in this touch that I never mentioned, so those are probably a thing too.

It does not get any easier.

Action #2 (Episode 2; Triple Part 2)

Not long after Crowley encounters Nina, he encounters Aziraphale. A sidewalk is behind him, suggesting a threshold should have been passed before trying this next part of the Trick.

It's even far enough away that any edge touches will not be happening there.

Much like before, Crowley has his four right fingers in the pocket with the thumb not in the pocket. The left hand is positioned downward as if it's grabbing nothingness. It has its thumb straight down, hiding the fingertips of the pinky and index fingers. The middle and ring fingers peek out behind it. The left thumb joint conveniently aligns itself almost with a presumably more wet spot of the road.

The left front of the jacket is aligned vertically with the pants.

This clip is quite strange. The humans are moving in a way that syncs with Crowley himself. It's not direct in steps, but it's enough to be noticed. One of them is quite close to him and likely to be noticed. He's some kind of representation of something because of how he's going to note quite match the movement of Crowley's own reflection. That human has no visible shadow in front of him, but he's in a place where I would hesitate and then say yes, actually there should probably be something in front of his left foot and next to his right because of where he is. His hands are weird too. Nonetheless, humans behind Crowley do have shadows, as does a car. There are even more humans across the street who also look to be missing shadows.

Well, anyway, we're here for the touch in this Trick. We're not going to solve all the greater mysteries of Good Omens 2 in this post. I can't even figure out what's really going on here anyway.

The shadows behind Crowley are still a hint since they are all moving. Indirectly, that informs us the wet spot is a wet spot since it is not moving. The car mentioned earlier has light reflecting off it that feels like more of a bother than a hint for this touch.

For the right thumb, the shading and lighting make it impossible for me to see if it's touching the edge of anything. At a guess of just where things are on Crowley's clothes in general, the right thumb joint is probably touching somewhere on the snake belt but not an edge. The thumb tip is touching the pants. Due to how this scene goes, it seems to transfer or share a link with the vest.

Instead of having so much of the right hand hidden, the jacket is actually behind the right hand. Since things in this Trick can never be simple, that part of the jacket is also folded, or something like that, such that a tiny bit of the back of the jacket is there, in addition to the front that is touching behind the hand. This front is touching behind the metacarpal for the pinky finger, so it's like the opposite end of where the thumb joint is.

Both tie strands are on the right side of the jacket, and one of them is going to swing more than the other. The one further to Crowley's right is the one that is going to do that. It's going to be linked with the left hand for most or all of the sequence. The one further to the left might indeed align with an edge of the jacket, but there is no way for me to tell with the lighting and dark clothes. If there is any such edge touch, it's quite likely involving the tassel tip or about to be.

Only one frame in, and things have changed. That thumb is no longer hiding the pinky fingertip or the index fingertip. The tie strands have slightly moved, and the clasps are not as shiny.

Crowley starts to talk. His line is "Do you need a lift somewhere?"

This touch is the only one in the Trick with dialogue, so that might be a clue. If it is, I don't get it. I just know a bunch of things are going to move to credit him for the touch eventually.

It might be a hint to watch his head because it's going to finish framed within the bookshop. That's so funny. It's like foreshadowing since Aziraphale's going to bring up, indirectly, that Aziraphale borrow the car while Crowley borrows the bookshop. I digress.

Starting from here on out, much of this post is simplified because I truly cannot keep up with the details. It is overwhelming.

As soon as the left thumb hides itself behind the jacket, the strand closer to the vest moves to then reach the vest.

Meanwhile, the other strand soon follows but swings more strongly such that it's off the vest and over the other side of the jacket (the left side) the next time the left thumb becomes visible. It swung so far as to be visually over the left arm.

Additionally, now the thumb is not obscuring the parts of the fingers like it did before. A tip of the pinky is shown before the other fingers are shown touching each other and with their tips visible.

This strand that swung more strongly to the left side continues following along with the left thumb.

It starts to swing back toward the right. After being over the sleeve and reaching the border of the left torso of the jacket, a tiny white dot appears over the belt that be an intentional light reflection added into the mix.

As soon as that left thumb tip is not on screen, that strand tip that swung back is on the border of where the jacket meets the vest area. The joint of the left thumb is touching the front of the jacket. The back of the jacket behind that front can also be seen.

The tie strand then keeps swinging back toward the right side of the jacket. At that point is where the left thumb joint is doing another vertex thing with the jacket, akin to the first touch, but it's still not really the same due to the front angle and part of that front visibly in front of the back behind it.

That strand still generally syncs with the left hand too because it doesn't really settle into the vest area with the other strand until the cut is nearly over when the left hand is no longer on screen. Then it still moves just a little bit more to make sure it's on the left side where the bottom of the left lapel is for the jacket.

The strand that did not swing as strongly looks to be somewhere in the middle of the vest. It's hard to tell with Crowley's clothes being as dark as they are, even when a video clip is brightened.

The touch on the belt itself may have changed in subtle ways too, but even brightened, I can't really tell what's going on, let alone describe it.

During all of this swinging and digits showing and hiding accordingly, Crowley ended up being partly reflected in his own car window and stops at the edge of it. He is otherwise framed on his back, starting from the neck down, thanks to a vehicle, walking human, and that human's shadow behind him.

Action #3 (Episode 5; Double)

This action takes place in the music shop which has its own set of other touches needing to happen for other things besides this Pocket Trick. Crowley is handling a touch for The Bigger Thresholds Trick and three different touches for the ball invitations. He is multi-tasking all over the place here.

He at least gets to use the pockets for both The Pocket Trick and the self-skin-contact part of the ball invitations mini-game, so long as he does it right, which I assume he does.

For positioning himself, he has four fingers visibly over the right pocket. While one cannot see the right thumb, one can sense that he is placing that thumb in the pocket. In the process, that unseen thumb is touching the front of the front right side of his jacket. That might be a required clothing link for that thumb.

Over on the left, that thumb visibly enters the pocket and touches the inner edge of the front of the jacket. As such, that must be the clothing link for that thumb, helped along by that ever important left thumb joint.

Instead of swinging as necessary this time, the tie strands actually rest over his vest, but they make sure to do so on the right side of the vest, where the thumb was not visibly shown as going into the pocket.

The left strand extends further than the right, and it seems the tips cross themselves at just the right place to touch each other.

If the strand tips are representations of thumb tips, this touch might be an intended visual representation of the thumbs touching each other since they cannot be seen while inside the pockets.

The act of showing one of the thumbs going into the pocket might be a way of turning the pocket into a door, as Crowley does with his sunglasses. Conceivably, that allows the other pocket to become a door as well, still allowing the thumbs to do their thing, likely helped along by those tie strand tips and other requirements that end up with him touching his own clothes.

The framing of this touch is different from the first two. The pockets are assuredly outside of the window frame. Due to the length of this scene, I mainly focused on when the pocket touch is happening, but something important happened before the left hand went into the pocket that's probably related. Those fingers touched the frame of a panel for the door. They touched different edges of the same frame.

If the head shots of Crowley are for The Pocket Trick, that's just too bad. It's too hard. I'm ignoring them and focused on the hands and pockets.

Anyway, that frame for that panel seems to be where Crowley is trying to keep his legs to keep that part of him framed. The rest of him is generally framed by the door. His shadow extends to the door frame, but I can't be sure it extends past it. Aziraphale's arm is probably obscuring things at the right moments during the scene as well.

The right pinky tip is not as clear or evident due to shadows in the scene, so there's probably a reason for that. If it gets a special required exclusion, we end up with three fingertips on the threshold of the right pants pocket, four fingertips on the left threshold of the left pants pocket for a total of seven fingertips.

We shall take a moment to remember how Michael said, "You know how God likes sevens," earlier in the season.

The left vest tip put some of itself over the snake belt, and there was an actual visible belt loop near it too.

Anyway, some more complex and detailed combination of all of the above got the touch done. I never saw Crowley's reflection or a car, for whatever that's worth. The shade at the top of the window and the brick walls behind it are probably important too.

Action #4 (Episode 5; Triple Part 3)

This scene was one I had to look for to figure out a Triple existed for this overall Trick.

The action takes place in an area between the coffee shop and the restaurant in front of the music shop. Aziraphale is inviting Justine. Crowley will eventually sit on the bench to handle his touches for the ball invitations.

It has two parts.

Crowley is first shown from the back with his left thumb, ring finger, and pinky finger. visible. He looks positioned to have his pocket touch in place, which will be confirmed soon. For the ring finger and pinky finger, their tips can be shown. The thumb tip itself seems to be there.

Crowley's shadow is encompassed by shadows around him.

Additionally, the camera zooms until it looks like the shadow or edges of the thumb and pinky meet each other. The ring finger is more aligned with the edge of a bicycle wheel, near the edge of Crowley's pants. I don't think it's quite there yet.

The window from the music shop and the hole in the wall threshold for the music shop probably matter somehow and can be seen ahead of Crowley.

The joint of the left thumb is touching the bottom outer right edge of the jacket.

The camera gives Crowley a little break with a blur to show the front and confirm he is indeed standing with that pocket touch that will become clear so on enough. There might be more that blur, but I'm not going to waste my time with it.

Once ready for the front view, Crowley can be seen with his shirt sleeve partly extended over the joint of his right thumb.

With no visible right thumb joint, the tassel of the tie strand on Crowley's right is conveniently not even there. If it is there, the lighting has done an excellent job to the point I simply cannot see it, and that too is probably intentional.

This time, despite its position and the missing other tassel, the strand closer to the left hand looks like it is actually the strand meant to link with the right hand. It goes down the middle of his vest such that the tip just barely reaches the shirt under his vest. The shirt is what is touching his right hand.

Meanwhile, the other strand that is presumably linked with the jacket looks to just be trying to stay out of the way on the right and not as extended while being over the vest, thanks to its missing or very difficult to see tassel. This change might be related to how the left thumb joint is actually over the jacket instead of at the edge of it, when viewed from the front. It did its own separate thing from the earlier back view.

The index finger and middle finger tips are visible at the border of one of the lights from the restaurant. The visual from the front even makes it look like his hand is clasping the side edge of a sidewalk behind him. That way, all visible digits still on screen are touching thresholds and making sure they are different thresholds too.

Unlike the touches from before, Crowley is mostly standing still but not completely still. He makes a subtle head movement in feigned annoyance.

I can't tell you much about frames and windows. By my best estimates his reflection cannot be seen thanks to a window frame from the coffee shop. It's a smaller frame above the middle of the bench that I could only find by closely watching the human who partly obscures his body by the end of the shot.

Speaking of that human, by the last frame, they conveniently cover Crowley's tie and left arm, including that right thumb in the pocket.

Crowley being partly in front of his own car and yet another passing vehicle is probably important too.

As an overall frame of Crowley himself, it changes due to the human who eventually obscures him, but it's generally concentrated below his shoulders to about where those fingertips are at the edge of the lights. I'm not going to name everything, sorry.

Action #5 (Episode 6; Single)

This part is beyond me. It is so, so beyond me.

In episode 6, Crowley is returning from escorting Maggie and Nina out.

It probably starts before one might think when searching for this touch.

After Crowley looked in from the window and smiled while looking at Aziraphale, he can be seen as mostly having already passed by the open broken window.

However, his right arm aligns nicely with the window frame, to the point that it is probably intentional for this touch. There is a car behind him that is following along with his movement. That car also has windows. Part of his jacket is indeed layered over the window frame, which is going to be important for the last frame of the touch.

His arms are positioned such that both hands could be in pockets or maybe his left hand is in his left pocket, and he's putting his right hand in his right pocket. You can only guess since you can't see his hands or his pants.

This sequence is specific, so I am going to have a hard time breaking it down, because a lot of the below was written trying to be detailed while still missing details like the tie strands linking to the hands, not that you can see it much in this one.

As Crowley starts to open the door, his vest can actually already be seen as partially touching his right hand that is not showing its pocket touch yet. One or both of the strands is visibly out. If it's both, they've merged to the point I can't really tell. There is no visible thumb yet, but the tie is is still visible. The strands are going to be incredibly difficult to track because they will be resting for most of the touch and have a left arm and a door in the way when they do more.

When looking for a thumb joint, it's possible the left thumb joint links with the watch quite early as the door is being opened by barely being visible.

Crowley's own jacket has its own specific alignment by the other door that's assuredly important and doing something resembling a vertex touch and probably reaching such a thing at a key point.

The left hand starts to open the door. In doing so, four fingers are together on the door with the index finger tip being on the edge of the push plate while the middle, ring, and pinky fingers tips are on the panel. Meanwhile, the proximal phalanges of these fingers are touching the astragal. The tie has been successfully blocked from being fully in view.

The thumb is touching the astragal, and its shadow is extending to the end of that astragal. That makes it look like the actual thumb tip is not committed to the touch yet, but the shadow is doing something important.

I'm not sure if the current point in the touch means we are at threshold-only yet or not for the door. If it weren't for the astragal and the pocket, we assuredly would be with three out of five digits. It might be a Triple multiplier for the touch, but that's to consider more deeply later.

Nonetheless, Crowley keeps moving.

The thumb tip of the right hand is not visible yet.

As Crowley keeps opening the door, it looks like the left thumb is either getting closer or is indeed touching the astragal. It is hard to tell, but the shadow is doing its part for whatever is necessary here.

Meanwhile, the four fingers on the door are shifting down to get that index finger closer to being off that push plate edge, but they still haven't managed it yet.

The right thumb tip just outside the pocket finally becomes visible. The vest is touching the thumb while making sure to not touch the tip of the thumb.

While these finger things are happening, the tie strand clasps are hidden with their tips peeking out at presumably proper places. Since the arms are crossed, and they are obscured, it's hard to tell which strand is even tied to which hand. Eventually, I can gather the tie strand on Crowley's left hiding more in the jacket is the one linked with the left hand by watching its reaction to what the left thumb is doing.

Back to the digits.

There are still three left fingers on the door panel, a left thumb with a shadow over the astragal, and a left index finger barely touching a push plate edge.

He keeps moving.

The right hand grows increasingly visible while the left hand's digits haven't fully progressed to what they are ultimately going to do. It becomes evident that the sleeve is partly out of the jacket so touching the top end of the hand. I'm not sure what the right thumb joint is being touched by, if anything. It's all dark because of the clothes. Logic suggests it should be the shirt because of how the jacket, vest, and belt are positioned around the general blackness behind that thumb joint. Also, as noted, his shirt sleeve is partly out of the jacket touching another part of the hand.

The left thumb moves and eventually manages to visibly pull itself away or off the bookshop door astragal so that it is clearly not touching anything. It's also starting to hide itself.

The index finger acts like it isn't pulling away exactly, but it is effectively pulling itself into a position where it can then shift downward to the door panel. It's not just shifting down. It's like the index finger is trying to pinch the door by itself, which it can't. It made sure to change the nature of its own touch with the move. At about this time, there is a visually evident crease near the pinky area of the right hand. We cannot see the pinky, but it looks like a cue because the left pinky finger is going to start doing things. Nonetheless, the left index finger smooths its own touch to more closely match the other fingers.

When the left index finger successfully reaches that point, four fingers are on the door panel. Aside from the pocket, that on its own would be a threshold-only touch on the door.

The right hand is there with its pocket touch, but Crowley isn't finished.

Again, he keeps moving.

The left pinky has joined the thumb in pulling itself off and away from the bookshop door touch.

At two particular frames, it is clear that the pinky tip is not touching the astragal because its shadow does not meet the pinky tip on the bookshop door astragal. In those two frames, the thumb is not touching anything. There are three fingers with their fingertips touching a door panel. The six visible digits are accounted for as touching either a threshold or nothing.

The next three frames have a heavier shadow around that area of the door, so that it is then not as clear if the tip of the pinky finger's shadow is meeting itself or not. With increased brightness as best I can manage, either that shadow is supposed to obscure things enough, or that pinky is intentionally meeting the edge of its own shadow to qualify things for this last touch.

At some point a red light from the car following along with Crowley probably did something.

Once all is truly said and done, the tiny bit of the left thumb that is visible aligns itself visually with a window frame edge of the car behind Crowley. Crowley's own head on his left is framed in a specific way in front of the door panel to avoid the windows and shades of that door.

There is no doubt a ton I'm missing like the snake belt and the watch and the nearby light fixture from the ball and the door itself still being partly open.

As for the Triple multiplier, I would guess he got at least one, maybe two, depending on what that index finger was truly trying to accomplish.

Help

If you enjoyed this post, or just found any value in it, and are wondering if I want any help in solving the puzzle, the answer is yes, absolutely. I would be grateful. Even if not grateful, I would be so glad if my own analysis was enough for someone to figure out what I could not. I found a lot, even if I can't quite piece it together for a proper fit.

The End.

I have a tendency to update my posts, FYI. While I have admitted defeat, I doubt my own mind can truly let this one go. If I ever am so fortunate as to find that missing core concept, I will definitely be updating this post.

#crowley #good omens 2 #good omens s2 #good omens #david tennant #good omens season 2 #good omens analysis #good omens meta #crowley and pockets

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tarisilmarwen · 9 months

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Rebels Rewatch: "Flight Of The Defender"

We go for a fly and a ride, and the ancient guardians of Lothal awaken.

Live reaction version.

KITTIES! :DDDDDD

We're revisiting allll the familiar locations this season aren't we?

The bright bouncy tones of the opening cue and this particular area of Lothal still looking relatively pristine and untouched are bit of a mood whiplash from last episode. (But then of course the Empire can't have mining crawlers getting too close to its landing strips, the smoke would interfere with pilots' visuals.)

It's vaguely implied that Ezra connects with these Loth-cats, possibly even calls them? They're immediately eager to help when the Rebels need a distraction and it's definitely possible they read Ezra's intentions and were like, "HELP FRIEND."

"The Empire has been fortifying their anti-aircraft defenses." Ha ha yeah you run afoul of those later don't you?

"And there are some new fuel tanks near the factory." *SOBS ENDLESSLY*

Also:

This contrast is immediately horrible. "Zero Hour" was three weeks from the start of this season. "In The Name Of The Rebellion" a couple days out from their victory at Mandalore. It's not clear how much time elapsed between then and "The Occupation" but it can't have been too long, Ezra was already agitated about Lothal after parting with Saw and his words still seem fresh on his mind in "The Occupation". (And as a side comment, I love how deeply connected to Lothal Ezra is, that he could sense the danger Ryder's group was in across that distance.)

This complete burnishing of the grasslands happened within a few weeks to a couple months.

I noted in my original liveblog that Ezra uses "Phoenix 6" randomly here, instead of the usual "Spectre 6", that Hera also calls him. I'm still confused about if that was a mistake or not or if they use the callsigns interchangeably.

I cannot emphasize enough how well they portray the TIE Defender Elite here. It is so fast, so maneuverable, they manage to make it move like a fighter jet. It never looks clunky or unwieldy, just sleek and quick and able to turn seamlessly on a dime.

And predictably my ship will be spending a lot of quality time together this episode, as Ezra immediately assigns himself to come with Sabine onto the dangerous Imperial-filled airstrip. <3

Yeah no I think Ezra definitely connected with the Loth-cats prior to this and they decided they liked him enough to volunteer. He didn't specifically call them or influence them but I like the idea that he's just... open enough in the Force to them right now, so connected to Lothal itself, that they became his allies anyway.

Possibly it was this general openness that called the Loth-wolf to him too.

Anyway, let this be a lesson to never antagonize the cats. Or any of the local wildlife for that matter.

Snippets of the Imperial March as the shuttle sets down, and then a couple blaring notes recalling "Thrawn's Web". Something interesting musically I've touched upon in my commentary but I'm reminded of again hearing this: Thrawn is nearly always musically represented in the score with organs. The organ is an instrument we basically never hear in the Rebels score until Thrawn enters the picture, so any time you hear the hint of an organ note, you can immediately recognize Thrawn's presence.

Aaaaaand there's "Thrawn's Web" playing out more fully.

There's an interesting chime here that plays when the wolf first catches Ezra's eye, it's overlaid by strings and synths and the little vertigo effect the camera uses on Ezra and the way the music abruptly cuts out when Ezra's discovered almost makes it seem like the wolf drew him into some kind of brief trance.

My son just rolls with it, decides to absolutely embrace the chaos he's capable of generating, love it.

"Well Ezra, you certainly got their attention." "I'M GLAD THIS IS WORKING FOR YOU!" I laugh every time I swear, lololol.

I remarked on it before but this is a lovely use of the environment. I love when action setpieces do that. This whole sequence is just such a lovely demonstration of Ezra's skill and competence. <3

And the little shit has the audacity to casually "Hey!" Thrawn, I love him so much.

Ooof with how Ezra ordered Zeb and Ryder to leave with the info and how he told Sabine to get out I think he may have possibly been planning some kind of Jedi self-sacrifice? In which case ow my heart.

This bit here where Thrawn stands unflinchingly in front of the oncoming TIE Defender is a visual reference to a shot from the movie Patton I'm pretty sure. Fitting, as it's German general Erwin Rommel, who clashed with the titular General Patton in the WWII theater, that was one of the inspirations behind Thrawn.

Aaaaaand there's Thrawn sacrificing pilots to prove a point again. Ngl, he's one of the better Imperial commanders to work under but you still get a raw deal if you're too low-ranking, the man will throw you like a meat shield at his enemy to test their mettle and be completely unconcerned when you die.

Ezra: *tells Sabine to hang on*

Sabine: *literally clings to the back of his chair*

Also, do note the sonic boom. The Defender Elite is supersonic.

Oh, this shot where the Defender just threads the gap between two stone pillars? *chef's kiss*

Even Ezra looks a little stunned by how maneuverable the thing is.

Think I noted it before but Sabine sounds really stressed about the kill switch. 'course she experienced it firsthand.

Their banter this episode is amazing I love it.

Hera looks really worried here. Given that her two youngest Spectres were (essentially) kidnapped and taken off into the unknown by Saw just recently maybe it's warranted.

Yeah uh, y'all were never going to make it far enough away from the crash site lugging that thing. Hiding it was a way better plan.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The mist drifting over the ground here.

Sabine not seeing the Loth-cat we can maybe chalk up to her just not seeing it, because unlike the wolf the cat is definitely an animal that normies can see. (Ryder in "Legacy", for example.)

Another semi-random musical score note: Snare drums are used primarily for the Empire, probably owing to their usage in militaries and marching bands. Hear a snare drum in the score? Audio shorthand for the Empire.

"Ezra and Sabine have each other. They'll find their way home." Kanan says, to comfort a worrying Hera, and I awwww.

Ezra continually getting distracted by the Loth-wolf reminds me of how his attention kept drifting with the purrgil.

Sabine's barely able to help him keep focused lol.

Of course Sabine remembers the wolves from the artwork of them, ha ha.

YEAH NO THAT'S NOT A SIGHT I'D BE COMPLETELY COMFORTABLE WITH EITHER.

The Loth-wolves as a concept are pretty basic but also not quite fully explained. We know they're guardians over Lothal and strongly connected to the Force, motivated to protect it from the Empire in general and Palpatine's machinations with the WBW in particular. But the show also kind of just lets them... do things and doesn't explain them.

Like I'm still not entirely clear on why this wolf had to knock Sabine out with a sleep suggestion. Is it that they're not quite ready to reveal themselves to the mortals yet?

Despite doing so literally the next day?

IDK whatever the motivation it did provide me with these lovely bits:

The fearful warble in his voice when he asks, "What did you do to her?!" How he reaches for his lightsaber and doesn't let go of it until the cat appears and the wolf clearly shows it's aligned with it through the little ear wiggles.

How even though the wolf has tentatively gained his trust he's still all *anxious noises* about it handling her. (Watch how many times he looks back and forth from the wolf to Sabine.)

And they way he is so gentle and careful with Sabine, handling her so tenderly this whole ride.

There's something kind of Miyezakian about this cue in the score, it sounds reminiscent of the theme from Princess Mononoke. (Which I'm pretty sure must have imprinted on Filoni as a wee mini young'un to inspire his lifelong wolf obsession.)

*side eyes the writers*

*whispers* If no supposed to ship... *gestures inarticulately*

Kanan believes Ezra about the wolf though, even if he gets all weird and cryptic about it. Frankly I think the "All paths are coming together now." line maaaaay have just been inserted in this scene for trailer purposes lol. It does seem a little out of place.

Another solid entry. The animation is beautiful, the fur on the Loth-wolf is a vast technical improvement from the wookies all the way back in the pilot, with several individual tufts and segments operating independently to move more naturally around the animal's body. The design is basic, just a normal wolf shape with the tooka chicken feet and scaley foreheads, but solid.

Thrawn remains unflappably intimidating. Pryce continues to prove the more hotheaded of the two, which will come back to bite her hard this season.

Aaaaaaaand of course Ezra and Sabine have the most adorable interactions this episode. From the sharply-written banter to their genuine concern for each other, to Ezra's absolutely tender cradling her for the duration of the midnight wolf ride. I was spoiled and I enjoyed it, sue me.

I do maybe wish we could have had a bit more explanation behind the Loth-wolves instead of having them be mysterious for the sake mystery but that's about it.

#star wars #star wars rebels #ezra bridger #grand admiral thrawn #sabezra #rebels rewatch #liveblog

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mooremars · 8 months

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Camelot 2023 Act 2 ramblings about the music and book and also the visuals again because turns out one post wasn't enough.

I still cannot possibly recommend anyone actually read this because it is so absurdly, comically long but I still needed to get even more feelings out.

Act 2, Scene 1: The castle courtyard one year later:

• "We shouldn't be alone together" like girl

• I love how she's almost exasperated by it

• When she fantasized about this all-consuming high-stakes love she probably didn't think about how exhausting it would be to actually live with it all the time

• Like having this conversation every single month does sound exhausting

• The way she's actively trying to drive him out of Camelot, Genny is so much and I respect it

• She's really doing her best in a way that involves truly torturing Lance, he should really do some soul searching about why he loves someone who treats him this way

• "I've trained dogs to chase you"/"And those dogs were fast.. the expression his bark is worse than his bite that wasn't my experience"

• Sorkin slightly breaking the tension of this scene which is so needed

• "You're not English"/"Neither are you"/"I think that changed when I became queen of England"

• I also feel like there is a lot to unpack in this exchange

• "And when would I do that Genny?"

• The angst in that delivery

• If Ever I Should Leave You is so gorgeous

• I think it was Sorkin who basically said that the show doesn't need magic because the songs provide enough magic on their own and this is the perfect example

• Jordan Donica is tremendous

• I knew him from Charmed and it took me a bit to place him but holy shit

• I may have actually seen him before, I'd have to check but regardless I need to be paying attention to literally any theater he does because I want to go

• This applies to all of them, who am I kidding

• Anyway, he's amazing here and I am probably underselling him in this post because I only saw him half the times and so my memories are much less clear

• And my reference is closing which was not him by this point

• And the outro music (? sorry I know nothing about music) is absolutely stunning

• This song is so romantic but also very shallow

• They're fulfilling a version of love that is all big gestures and big feelings but not necessarily substance

• Because they're trying to fill a void in themselves using the other and when you do that, you can't see the person as an actual person

• Just an extension of your unmet need

• Which is too bad because I think if they weren't, they might actually like each other

• But fuck is this song so romantic

• Every lyric is good, the way they're sung, I think I may for the first time have use of the phrase swoon worthy

• Specifically the end

• "I have a thrilling engagement. I'm giving prizes at the potato show. I'm eager to find out what the qualities of a prize winning potato are"/"I'll be at your side Ma'am"/"Thank goodness for that, those potatoes can be dangerous"

• The lines are so funny and her delivery is so heartbreaking, I am suffering

• I do just love Genny so much and she deserves happiness dammit

• "So the rumors are true, the chain of wedlock is so heavy in Camelot it takes three to carry it"

• Mordred coming out with the one liners immediately

• "He's willing to make any old man a knight I see"

• Pelli immediately threatening violence, beautiful

• The whininess of "I shall be busy tomorrow afternoon" and slapping the bench

• Fourteen year old edgelord Mordred

• Very interesting to have him be a year younger than Arthur was when he became king, really underscoring how young he was

• "I was raising by a mother with a fatally broken heart. Makes for a dark childhood"

• Like do we think Mordred is just trying to drum up Arthur's sympathies or is this actually true?

• "And when you speak to the king, you should remember you're speaking to the king"

• Arthur literally never insists on any manner of kingly respect but his son is a little shit that he hates, so he will

• Love that

• "Dispatch to the court, the king has a child he fathered out of wedlock. Problem solved."

• The blackmail just instantly failing is very funny

• Also would love to know how the conversation about this between Genny and Arthur went

• "I'm not ashamed of you. You don't embarass me though it's not for lack of trying."

• That's too generous, Mordred is embarrassing

• "It's always been my wish that you and your mother stay here where I can take care of you both"/"Stay where, in the servants' quarters?"/"In any quarters you like"/"Except the queen's"

• I wonder if Mordred is the one who feels this way or if he's just parroting back what Morgan has said

• "I was a boy when I met your mother"/"And my mother turned you into a man"/"A man named Merlyn turned me into a man"/"That's a new bit of palace gossip"/"No you idiot, he was my teacher"

• Obviously sarcastic Arthur is always a treat and specifically the facial expression and tone of no you idiot

• But just so curious about Morgan and Arthur because Arthur gets pissed at that whole turned into a man bit

• And he has been pretty chill with Mordred being terrible for this whole scene

• He's very much not comfortable with what Mordred is saying and this is the only moment where Mordred gets under his skin and like that is very interesting

• "In this place the law applies equally to everyone"/"Even the king and queen?"/"Especially the king and queen"

• You are literally watching the light bulb pop over Mordred's head and it's played perfectly

• Everyone in this cast is perfect

• The Seven Deadly Virtues has no right to be this funny

• "Making my Beelzebubble burst" is my favorite but really this entire song is great

• It's such a petulant performance and it's perfect

Act 2, Scene 2: The King's study

• Another amazing bit of scene change music

• The intimacy of them spending their evening playing chess together and talking

• Presumably this is just what they do on a lot of nights and I love it

• I feel like there's definitely potential in a their relationship through chess fic

• Someone please

• I firmly believe they are at like a full 50-50 split in terms of who wins

• "Are you really reading while you're chasing me around the board?"/"Sorry I didn't hear you, I was reading and chasing you around the board"

• And his okay in the middle like he knows he set himself up to get mocked

• Making fun of each other is one of my favorite love languages

• Also same structure as Arthur telling her it will seem that she's rooting for Lancelot to lose and she says that's because she is rooting for Lancelot to lose

• It's just a fun little dialouge thing that I enjoy Genny doing

• Makes her lines feel hers

• I love that Arthur has Merlyn's final warning on his mind so naturally he consults Genny

• And then it devolving into a philosophical discussion about what is and is not possible

• "I was 10,000th person to try, how do you explain that?"/"9,999 people loosened it"

• A perfect and funny line that becomes sweet and profound later on, I will never not love that

• "We have greatness in our grasp, humanity does, but for some reason every time we see it we assign the responsibility to some supernatural force. Or to god."

• You would think given the structure of the love triangle that Arthur would be set up to scoff at the idea that god has responsibility for human greatness in contrast to Lance being extremely devout

• And like I do think Arthur and Genny are actually on the same page but I enjoy that she gets to voice that thought

• This is the woman who first ran away and then threw prayer on top after as a little afterthought so yeah perhaps Genny is not the best catholic

• "Perhaps when he died, his soul transmogrified-"/"What did I just say?"

• Arthur immediately needling her and doing that stupid little hand motion on transmogrified

• They're adorable

• "I enjoy seeing you get riled up"

• This is what you say to a woman you're about to call your business partner? In that way?

• I don't know who to blame because I can't tell if the line or delivery is more of the culprit

• No it's the delivery, I have literally put in the audio as proof

• The audacity, I'm obsessed

• He's got it so bad

• Could've had this Genny

• Like Mr. Purity of Soul who thinks women can't possibly understand politics has absolutely never considered the concept of female pleasure, for sure has never heard of foreplay, and definitely believes the clit and g-spot are both myths

• I love Lance but proposition: there's no way that man is good in bed

• Everything else mean I've said about Lance has been out of love but I love Genny and she doesn't deserve mediocre dick

• And yet he's playing by Jordan Donica so it is also valid and understandable

• Sorry, I digress but gotta find the humor in the whole none of them get to be happy business

• But actually I really appreciate that even in this tragic narrative with big ideas and a lot of angst, they get to have fun and be fun

• Even as their relationship is about to hit its breaking point, you can still tell they're not just torturedly in love but they actually like each other so much

• "And while you're enjoying it, let me ask you this... how often do you write to her?"

• Genny is attempting to play it cool but boy is she not

• The little pause between often and write and then to her, oof

• It's so soft but like the hint is there

• The silence while Arthur makes his move on the board, ugh

• "I send a letter a week"/"Every week?"/"Yes"/"For how long?"/"Mordred's fourteen, he came to me when he was ten so four years"/"That's 208 letters"/"I have a responsibility there, I'm trying to do-"/"Do the chivalrous thing"/"Yes"

• It's so painful to hear their deliveries and realize they're having two separate conversations where they're both upset and they don't understand the other person is feeling the same

• Like Genny getting alarmed at 208 letters, Arthur getting frustrated and defensive about it and cutting Genny's last line off, and then Genny delivery of do the chivalrous thing like she's so tired

• It is so besides the point but how exactly was Arthur expecting the fucking soap opera and/or sitcom situation he's trying to create going

• Like his piece of shit kid, his ex who hates him, his wife that he loves whose feelings for him he doesn't have a handle on, and his bestie whose feelings for his wife Arthur definitely does know

• I know castles are very big but I don't think they're big enough to make that situation good for anyone

• "You've never asked me her name"/"Is it Morgan Le Fay?"/"How did you know that?"/"And she's a scientist"

• Genny has been holding this in for a whole year and she's finally ready to use it

• She says it like she's caught Arthur in some kind of lie which obviously she hasn't but I do wonder if she's had this conversation in her head enough times that she's already thinking the worst

• "He blames me for her condition. All the more reason why I want them both to be here at the castle. She needs care."

• That long pause before condition and the way he says it like maybe Arthur also blames himself

• And they're still playing chess throughout this whole thing as if they can pretend that this conversation isn't causing them both pain

• The sound of the pieces getting moved on the board while during the tense silences, yes

• And now we get to me being emotionally destroyed

• This scene is a roller coaster and the writing and acting of it is perfect in every way

• "We're more than king and queen, you and I. Don't you think?"

• He's so unsure, he's always so unsure it is torture

• The emphasis on you

• But also he does in some way recognize that she's upset about Morgan and he gets so close but spectacularly fails

• Genny is so hopeful on the "Yes, yes I do"

• Him stammering out and Genny trying one more yes to get him to come up with something

• And then that something is business partners

• In my brain I am screaming

• I have done nothing but make fun of Arthur for business partners (and friends) since I first saw this show and I will continue to do it now

• However I do think that for him, in the context of his experience being thrust into royalty, he is actually expressing a very romantic sentiment

• He meets Genny and tells her about Camelot and she doesn't think she's worthy of that

• But here he's affirming that she is, that she's his partner in this and he recognizes her worth

• They talk in the second scene and she mentions that as a princess she doesn't have friends

• And here he's telling her that they are friends, that she isn't alone

• And we see how uncomfortable Arthur is being treated as the king

• And he's trying to tell Genny that he cares for her as a person and not just the queen he traded for in a treaty

• He wants her to see him that way because if she sees him as just Arthur and not the king, then maybe he can tell her how he feels

• But also maybe it you are a man and your confession of love to a woman contains the words "I know this is an unusual thing for a man to say about a woman but" you have turned down the wrong path

• "Yes. Friends. And business partners"

• Her delivery is so ice cold, it's perfect

• The fact that she says this and even Arthur picks up on her tone and knows he fucked up

• Arthur trying to fix things and being interrupted

• His frustration with himself is so heartbreaking

• I am still screaming in my brain just louder now

• Pelli is great but also he is the cause of so many of Arthur and Genny's resentments and miscommunications, the man's a magnet for drama

• He's so funny in this scene trying to complain to Arthur and Arthur already knowing all of Mordred's bullshit

• And yelling dammit so many times in the most perfect way like me with every person who has ever annoyed me

• "Because England doesn't have a law against limericks"

• The fact that even though they're in the middle of this weird emotional mess, Arthur looks to Genny when he's talking about how Pelli's question is complicated

• His thinking buddy

• And business partner

• Also the idea that Arthur is so chill with the fact that he doesn't have the answer, that he's laying groundwork for future progress instead of assuming it will be accomplished by him

• Which is just inherently a concept I think I struggle with, that the world will not change in all the ways it should in my lifetime but the work now still has to be done

• So I like to see it

• Not going to write out another good Sorkin speech about ideas but I love this one too rest assured

• And we've had a nice little break, now we're back to chess and Arthur trying to force out something coherent and me screaming in my brain again

• I still can't get over the way they're still playing chess I'm sorry

• Genny saying "you're in check" with a different delivery every time to convey her emotional state

• The range

• Arthur just trying so hard to come up with anything again, I am personally suffering

• "What I feel-"/"I thought it was right on the money"/"Oh you do?"

• Then I think he says "oh okay" but I don't even know

• They were so close this is the worst

• Still chess

• "Do you regret being born a princess?"/"I'm confident that most people would gladly trade their problems for mine"/"But you're not talking to them right now"

• Firstly the show does an amazing job recontexualizing What Do the Simple Folk Do and everything around it so A+ for that

• But also Arthur is so empathetic in this moment

• "I know you're sad sometimes. That you miss whatever life you were searching for the night you ran from the carriage. The simple joys of maidenhood you called it. You do a good job of hiding it from the court but when you feel sad you-"/"can talk to my business partner?"/"Well I think I might be good at cheering you up"

• The delivery is so sincere

• He sees her pain and he cares so much

• He feels responsible for the life that she missed out on by marrying him

• And he wants to help

• In many ways, he is terrible at expressing his feelings but again in some small respects, he does absolutely knock it out of the park

• Even if Genny can't see it

• "If there was a tournament for cheering you up, I think I'd win"/"Oh as long as there wasn't a bird nearby"/"It wasn't just any bird, it was a white tailed eagle both times"

• The way they move from emotional conversations and annoyed miscommunications back to humor with such ease

• Arthur's bird obsession continues to be one of the best bits of characterization ever

• Genny making fun of Arthur's various words for peasants

• I love What Do the Simple Folk Do so much

• It's just perfectly constructed and the rhymes are pretty genius

• I love every single lyric

• And I love that this song gives Arthur and Genny a chance to be charming and reconnect after the second half of act 1 and the beginning of act 2 were so focused on Genny and Lance

• And then this scene has so much going on that it reminds you why they're the couple of the show

• I didn't need reminding because I'm trash for them but other people might

• All of the little jokes between the lyrics are so funny

• The delivery of "the very last thing you should have is encouragement" is so much funnier than on the cast recording

• Like what is this? So charming

• "My father used to say I sang like an angel who'd been blessed with a particularly pretty singing voice"

• I'm so glad this is at least on the cast recording

• She plays it so straight, it's so good

• This may be my favorite of the songs

• And the dance, they're so cute, the squeeling kills me

• I can't adequately express how much I need to find a bootleg so I can witness this again, the whole scene really but mostly this

• I cannot handle the way they say "Genny"/"Your Majesty"

• Fuuuuck

• The groan in the audience at "a letter from my mother", the pure expression of fuck Mordred

• "He's been waiting a long time."/"Yes"/"My mother was his first, you know"/"I had that sense, yes"/"They say you never fully get over your first love"

• Genny hates Mordred so much and she's right

• He's hitting her exactly where it hurts but Arthur can't even tell

• Also fascinating that Mordred can actually see the dynamic between Genny and Arthur and Lance so much more clearly than the people involved

• "You think you might possibly be spending the night?"

• Like her deliveries were getting more panicked but then this one

• Like she can't even believe what she's hearing and he doesn't even get it

• The long silence after Mordred says Lance has the queen's protection detail

• As people make mmms in the audience

• And then their last little exchange

• Ouch

• Genny telling Arthur what she herself actually needs to be told and Arthur having no clue

• "His queen's in danger"

• Mordred is the absolute worst and it's perfect

• The reprise of the Simple Joys of Maidenhood, so sad and I can't handle it

• I think this is her moment of just fully sitting in the idea that her husband doesn't love her and sees her so completely separate from that that he doesn't even understand why she's so upset to see him dash away overnight to see another woman

• And that he therefore doesn't and won't love her in the way she's singing about

• And thinking that she has the knight pining for her but it isn't enough and sets up her trying to make it enough

• She's grown so much since she first sang the song but she still can't fill the void of wanting this kind of love

• But also knowing that kind of love isn't enough

• I love her

Act 2, Scene 3: The home of Morgan Le Fey/Guenevere's Chamber/ Castle corridor - on that evening

• The into music to Morgan is gorgeous, perhaps my favorite

• It's hard to introduce an important character this late into the show and make them so memorable, even if they've been hanging over the narrative for a while now

• And still have them knock it out of the park but once again, this show is perfectly cast

• The tension of this whole scene is everything

• Morgan's laugh and then "Jesus christ it's the king of England"

• Immediately sets her up perfectly

• And we get something totally different out of Arthur

• I love their dialouge which I am once again trying not to just fully write out, I love their chemistry, I love how quickly their friendliness breaks down

• He does sound genuinely happy to see her at the beginning but as soon as he asks if she's feeling well, they start to cool

• I can't even pick specific lines because everything is such a vibe

• You feel the history and complication and the years apart where everything has changed for both of them and the way that she's the one person who knew him as just Arthur

• "I know exactly who you are"

• Like of course this one was gonna have a line reading that lends itself to multiple things but that's always good and I like it

• Genny ranting to Lance about the number of letters Arthur wrote to Morgan

• She finally gets to be pissed and Phillipa Soo plays it so well

• "Don't review my arithmetic in your head, it's 208"

• Even at her most angry, she still must make sure Lance knows she's right, very relatable

• "I questioned the king, we've all questioned the king"

• This adaptation has built in the knights discontent so well that it's believable that they've just been growing more resentful over time

• "Because one cannot legislate goodness Pellinore, which at the end of the day, is the mission of the round table"/"And what say you Sagramore?"/"Well tell me, when we're all equal will peasants live like knights or will knights live like peasants?"

• Their entire speech is amazing

• The knights growing angrier as they realize they're all on the same page

• The way that it all fits seamlessly into the story we see on the stage but there's also no denying it's about the time we're living in right now

• But again, not in a way where it feels out of nowhere or too heavy handed

• "I throw away the letters, I give away the money"

• I love the way she delivers her lines so dismissively

• I wonder how much of it is her feelings and how much of it is trying to hurt Arthur as much as he's hurt her

• "That part gets left out of the legend" I think is the first moment where Arthur gets under Morgan's skin just a bit

• Like I'm not sure what she wants/wanted from Arthur but maybe it was just that she doesn't like being erased from the story

• "What wife could possibly object?"

• I love her bitterness mounting leading up to this line and actually hearing her call herself Arthur's wife which is I don't think is something she does before

• "I admire the king's commitment to doing the right thing no matter what. That's what a man does, and god knows it should be what a king does."

• I love watching Genny justify her anger because on one level she knows it isn't fair to be angry

• That she really does admire Arthur's goodness and believes he's doing the right thing

• That it's not that he's going to see Morgan, that he wants to bring her to the castle, it's about his actions with Genny

• Or I suppose the lack of consideration of her feelings in maybe the most hurtful way where there was nothing deliberate, it just didn't even occur to him

• She's so hurt

• Everyone in this scene gets to be extremely mad and I love it

• "When he ran out of here, he didn't think it would trouble me at all. He didn't think the letters would mean anything to me. Or staying overnight. Mordred said his mother was his first true love. Business partner. He said it right in front of me as if I wouldn't mind"/"Do you?"/"No, of course not. It's just that it was the first time that it's been demonstrated to me that-"/"Your husband doesn't think of you as his wife"/"Yes"

• Everything is on her face and in her voice

• She's so hurt, so angry, so tired of not being loved

• And when she says of course it doesn't bother her, when she pulls back her feelings in front of Lance

• And her delivery of yes like something clicks in her brain, probably their entire relationship is flashing in her brain and she's building up evidence that it's true

• Lance has articulated exactly what she didn't know she was feeling

• And the music under it underscores each emotion perfectly

• Again Phillipa Soo is just emotionally devastating in this scene

• But also gotta go back to "Your husband doesn't think of you as his wife"

• Like right now I'm just thinking back to Arthur referring to Genny as French to Lance when they first meet and again when he asks her to tell Lance he's being invested

• While Genny in that scene and in the first scene of act 2 keeps referring to her country as England while Lance claims her as French like him

• I wonder if that distinction is one of the things that feeds into her (and Lance?) feeling like Arthur doesn't think of her as his wife

• That she's trying to keep proclaiming her loyalty and he keeps putting a border between them

• At least in her point of view

• While he's as always trying to show her that he sees and respects her as an autonomous individual and not a thing he owns

• Am I reading too far into this? Probably

• (You're not my homeland anymore, so what am I defending now - honestly that it took me this long to make a Taylor Swift reference is a marvel)

• Anyway back to this tremendous scene

• Part of me does wonder if Lance really doesn't know how Arthur feels or if he's in denial because it's easier for him if Arthur doesn't think of Genny as his wife

• Like he does make a point to tell Arthur in the last scene that he and Genny aren't together

• He's gotta realize in this scene how Genny feels about Arthur but curious about the other way around

• Or ya know, maybe he doesn't, maybe he's just as emotionally inept as everyone else in this show

• Don't really have a point, it's just an interesting thought

• How do so many versions cut Fie on Goodness?

• Like not only is it an amazing song but also it's sort of the whole damn point

• If you cut it, the ideals of Camelot are barely even a plot, it's all love triangle

• Also just want to take a moment to appreciate how gross the lyrics to this one are

• This is for sure my favorite sequence

• The intro speech to the song is perfect

• Them just getting worked up about how England is special, it is better, that they're the ones who should be listened to

• "Don't dare question our loyalty to the king"/"A king who encourages debate"

• Again I just love the knights' conflicted feelings about Arthur

• So it's easiest to shift all the blame to Genny and Lance

• This song is so good, this cast is so good

• "That day that I became king, my cousin gave me his tutor, a man named Merlyn. And Merlyn spoke to me of a great cause that I could lead. But I would have to stay unmarried until a young princess in France came of age"/"And you left me unmarriable, a woman with a child"/"I didn't know about the child until he came and introduced himself"/"You raise your voice to me? Have I displeased you your majesty?"/"Stop calling me that"/"I know all about the French princess-"/"The queen"/"and the grand cause-"/"great cause"/"I don't give a damn"

• This is a stupid amount of text that I've typed out but I love their back and forth here

• Arthur trying to justify himself and not wanting to take responsibility and them both getting angry at each other

• Morgan and her relationship with Arthur have been changed pretty drastically to the point that she's not even the same character and I like it and her so much

• I do wonder what the intent was here because I feel like you could read a lot of different things into their dynamic

• And to what that means about Arthur

• I mean I get the sense that she's maybe always been maybe a bit of an outsider, maybe always was a little more world-weary (or maybe not, maybe getting left pregnant while he became king hardened her)

• And maybe their power dynamic has been completely flipped but also maybe Arthur still has a hard time not letting it flip back

• Because like there's no doubt for me that for whatever reason, she was the one holding the cards originally and he doesn't know how to deal with her now

• Like I don't know if she's older or Arthur was always bad at love so she would have just been the more confident person but there's something there

• She obviously has a completely different point of view than anyone else in the show which I love

• And she gets under Arthur's skin so easily

• I guess because she's the one casuality of his great cause, the one wrong he can't right

• Also "stop calling me that" is so petulant teen

• And he was that when he knew her so of course it comes out

• "You seem quick to betray the king"/"I would die before I betrayed King Arthur"/"Yet here you are"/"I can't rise above being a man, a human man. I can't transcend it no matter how hard I try"

• My favorite Lance line

• Ugh it's perfect

• He's so tortured and so good at conveying that in his delivery

• He's getting some character growth

• Genny being both not wrong but also putting it on him so she doesn't have to think about her own behavior

• "My duty is to god, King Arthur, and the round table. I can best serve all three with my absence. It's a small price for one person to pay for a greater good"

• Ooh the self-loathing hits so good

• And Genny panicking because she's about to get left for the second time tonight

• The playing of If Ever I Would Leave You

• Because he is, or he's at least trying to

• To do the right thing

• Genny and Lance speaking French together, always good even thought I can't understand shit

• "No more talking"

• And the bed just being pulled out of the scene

• I just love how the song is interspersed with these scenes, this sequence is truly brilliant and the energy of it in the theater is truly unmatched

• "All the letters that followed-"/"All the letters that followed offered me room and board along with the cash. Imagine how moved I was by the chivalry"

• Ah mocking chivalry, a family pastime

• Again, I just love the way she goes in on Arthur's attempts to do the right thing over and over

• And again I don't know if it's because he wouldn't give her what she actually wanted or pure vengence

• "Guilty and alive once more" is probably my favorite line from the song

• "Let me ask you this question and I'm entitled to the truth. If there hadn't been a cause, a great case, would you have married me? No."/"I was fifteen years old that night and the next day I was king. I was anointed by the archbishop of Canterbury in York and those men think they put me in direct contact with the divine. There was a cause."

• Clearly in her mind he was never going to marry her but we know from Pelli that when he met Arthur when he was already king, he was still very much in love with Morgan

• More than 10 years (plus then a year that's passed in story) before this could be lots of different amounts of time but it could have been up to a few years into Arthur being king which is a long while

• So the answer was probably yes

• But he doesn't say any of that because his feelings don't matter, he's too focused on justifying his cause, that it was important enough to make up for her life

• And ya know Camelot is what's important now, Camelot is what he and Genny have devoted their lives to, he can't fail

• This is the scene where I just conspiracy board Genny and Arthur's relationship

• This is fine, I'm normal about this show, that's why I wrote all of this

• Either way I think it must really bother Athur that Morgan might think he's not a good man

• We saw it with Genny and the courtesans thing too

• Like obviously part of that was being in love with her but also I think it fucks with his self-image as a person who does the right thing which is his entire life

• And Morgan's the biggest crack in that in his mind which is why he gets angry pretty much constantly in this scene

• At least that's my theory

• I love that we get see him cracking a bit under the strain of being good and trying to rise above being a human being just like everyone else in this scene

• He's got a lot more moral fortitude than the rest of the characters so it just manifests as him getting to be angry and express it to another person for once but still

• He makes excuses, he gets mad, he won't accept that Morgan's version of events is also true and he can't force her to be okay with it

• I don't know, there's something nice about narrative not saying that making the choices of the knights or Genny and Lance is inevitable, Arthur does make the right choices but he still isn't perfect here

• "And I won't live in a spare room in a castle and be the used and discarded former mistress of a king... but I will be the mother of one"

• So like how much of Mordred's plans are Mordred and how much is Morgan?

• And you know used and discarded former mistress of a king is killing Arthur

• "And he didn't"/"What?"/"Put you in direct contact with the divine"/"That is made clear to me every day"

• Morgan did a good job of pretending indifference at the beginning but the more she lays into Arthur, the more hostile things get between them, it's so clear that if the opposite of love is indifference then they haven't managed to get over loving each other

• It's just soured and rotted but won't die

• More so for Morgan because she paid the price, she couldn't move on in the way he could

• "And I wouldn't want to see your face when you realize it didn't make a difference. There'll be greed and injustice and hate and horror. You can change the stuff but people stay exactly the same. No one whose opponent was human nature has ever won a fight. Human nature responds to-"/"Inspiration"/"Fear. And that's it"

• It's so cruel but also a great illustration of the ways that they're fundamental opposites

• "I don't forget anything"

• Another extremely loaded line delivery

• (Don't make an All Too Well reference, don't make an All Too Well reference, don't)

• The panic and realization of "he's not stupid" and the music that builds to it and Morgan's laugh ugh perfect

• The intro music to I Loved You Once in Silence is gorgeous

• Lance and Genny in white feeling guilty as hell is a good visual

• So much regret

• Just instantly

• I feel like the moment they've actually acted on their feelings, they know that it's not only a mistake but also that their feelings aren't actually what they thought

• Well maybe Lance doesn't quite have it yet in this scene but he gets there

• Not to repeat what I said about the first scene in act 2 but

• My take is that they intentionally deepened Arthur and Genny's relationship and Lance's character but not Lance and Genny's relationship

• They intentionally left it shallow

• That these are two people who are missing something and the easiest way for them to get that is to frame what they have as love

• I mean for Genny it's sort of obvious, she's married to a man she's in love with but that she thinks doesn't love her

• Lance makes her feel certain about his feelings for her and that's validating

• But Lance, I feel like I have thoughts but I'm not sure

• Lance has never been forced to reckon with temptation before

• And instead of facing that in himself

• He just makes Genny part of the list of things that define him

• A goddess on earth and a god above

• Along with the table

• And he can worship them all to avoid having to figure out who he actually is

• It's not him admitting he has a human weakness, it's a grand tragic love story that he can suffer for

• And suffering, well that's what lets him cope with whatever about himself he feels is so terrible that he needs to punish himself for it

• He's so terrified to look inward, so afraid of something in himself that he just finds his identity in other people and institutions

• And he can't hide behind that anymore because he's betrayed it all, every single thing

• I feel like this makes it sound like I don't like Lance and I very much do

• He's just particularly flawed because he's the only one who doesn't start the show knowing that about himself

• They all make choices out of self-loathing and fear of unworthiness but I do think Lance thinks consciously he's above that for most of the show even if subconsciously he knows he isn't

• He's the only one of the main three to not really finish his character journey within the confines of this narrative

• Arguably he only starts right now and finally realizes he's not the man he thought he was

• Again fic potential somone???

• Well that was a tangent

• Jordan Donica's performance of I Loved You Once in Silence is so heartbreaking

• "Lance I made a mistake. I'm sorry but you're a good man and I should have been nicer to you."

• I love that, I love that she takes her responsibility (even if she's already trying to cover up what happened)

• But also it's just the clearst indication that acting on her feelings killed them

• She doesn't need to push Lance away anymore to stop herself from doing anything

• I love that Lance tries to surrender peacefully

• He's willing to take responsibility not for his noble suffering anymore but because he is a good man and he knows he's done what he's been accused of

• And he only attacks because he has to

• Mordred's evil laugh

• Lance being slightly disheveled and grabbing Mordred's sword to fight off the guards and escape

• I don't have any kind of intellectual take, this is just a personal problem for me

• My jaw was on the floor when Lance started yelling back about coming for her if he survives

• Such a tense ramp up into Guenevere

Act 2, Scene 4: The trial/The Battle

• Guenevere has such amazing lyrics

• The entire "more than love met its doom"/"came the sundown of a dream" verse destroys me

• And I love every word of added dialouge, so correct to put it on the cast recording

• I feel I must explain my love for the staging of this song some more because it is so simple and I understand that some people are not into it but I so much am

• I love the way they close off the back of the stage for I think the only time in the whole show and it becomes claustrophobic all of the sudden

• Now Arthur is stuck in this little box in front of the audience while everything falls apart for him and that's what you have to look at so there's no getting away from how devastating it is

• We just get some full force Andrew Burnap acting and I love it, I think by now it should be clear that I would

• In other versions that I've seen, there's a lot more happening and we see Genny

• And we see Arthur see her tied to the stake and Lancelot show up to rescue her

• Which I do like in theory

• But we don't really see Genny have any actual role or even seeming to have any particular feelings about what she's done or what's about to happen

• Like she's about to die and I've yet to see a version where I have any idea if she's got a single emotion about that

• Despite the name of the song, I think this show decided this scene isn't about Genny, it's about Arthur

• It's about the consequences of his laws

• It's about the beginning of his new war

• Arthur screaming "Pelli I know" like we see him start to crack

• Oh to know who told Arthur and how he took it

• "Well do something"/"She's under arrest. She's been accused of treason"/"Arthur I understand that you're angry but"/"She's been accused of breaking the law. She has to be judged"

• The delivery of that last line, ugh

• He keeps it impersonal, it isn't about what she did to him or his pain, it's about the law

• The law they lovingly crafted together

• "What a magnificent dilemma: let her die and you're a monster, let her live and you're a fraud. Which will it be? Do you kill the queen or the law?"

• Fuck

• The delivery is so good

• Mordred is having the time of his life shrieking about Arthur's pain

• The killing the queen or the law bit seems to be mostly unchanged and it's maybe the best single line from the original book

• Although it went from kill the queen and your life is over to you're a monster

• Mordred has to know Arthur is in love with Genny, right?

• Maybe he just can't imagine Arthur could love a person more than he loves his ideals which I guess would make sense given Morgan and Arthur's relationship

• Arthur drawing his sword on Mordred!!!

• "Ooh careful your majesty, you wouldn't want to be barbaric"

• The fact that Mordred thinks that's going to work, that he can continue to poke at Arthur and he won't respond, he really does believe in Arthur's goodness doesn't he?

• "You are exiled from this court. Return and I will show you what barbaric looks like"

• Arthur screaming at Mordred with his hand around his throat is so intense

• It's so good

• Another gasp out loud in the theater moment

• Arthur is fully unraveling and I'm obsessed

• "I know my way out"

• It's such a teenage delivery and like Mordred is just a kid who feels abandoned by his father

• And as much as this is a tragedy for the three main characters, it's no less a tragedy for Mordred

• Aging down Mordred, also a great choice

• And again, just another stellar performance

• Every single person in this cast just knocked it out of the park in a way I never could have anticipated

• "Arthur please, I'm an old man and I know I'm ridiculous but for the love of god, it's Genny. She made a mistake, she knows that."

• I love that Pelli loves her too

• That he isn't judging her

• "She broke the law Pellinore. A law signed by the king. So say the people"

• He starts trying to be calm but then the fact that it's his law brings up the anger and then he breaks on so say the people

• He's written his own destruction

• And empowered others to take the decision out of his hands

• I love the dialouge in this scene so damn much

• "Neither you nor I nor god himself can stop this terrible thing that's been put in motion"/"What are you waiting for?"/"I'm waiting for what's inevitably coming next"

• The delivery of coming next...

• Like obviously he wants Lance to save Genny but he knows that no matter what

• No matter if she lives or dies, peace is over and the round table has been destroyed

• And he needs to prepare

• Also the way he frames what's happening

• It's not what Genny and Lance or even Mordred caused

• It's just what's been set into motion by all these tiny and giant choices throughout the show that have bubbled over into the death of Camelot

• "That's Lancelot du Lac out there and he's brought a battalion. Double the guard, triple the guard, those guards are going to die tonight"

• How many times can I just copy a bunch of text and write the delivery

• Because yup

• The lack of hope from Arthur is chilling

• Arthur getting dragged back into the war he worked so hard to end

• Just every line delivery in this scene is perfect

• Every lyric of the song

• Every acting choice

• And I love to see it visually

• Preparing for war isn't an exciting spectacle, it's tragic

Act 2, Scene 5: Outside Joyous Gard - on the eve of war

• The way they fade in on the eve of war just broke my heart every time

• I would love to know how much communication there was between Arthur and Lance and how

• Like how much of a role did Arthur play in the whole Genny not getting burned business?

• And the fact that his first question is whether they've been injured

• Even after everything, he's a good man who cares

• And Genny and Lance too, being willing to come back and die

• They're all good people who made mistakes but still good people

• "I assure you, if I thought it would end all this, I would light the fire myself"

• Absolutely brutal but like after he lays out all the death and rebellion that have already happened I guess brutal is fair

• Ya know, if I thought he meant it even a little

• "Lance, come morning some of your countrymen are going to be at the end of my sword. It's not personal, it's just my job. Stay safe Lance."/"I can't do that. And neither can you. Godspeed your majesty."

• I just love the idea of Lance and Arthur as these two people who love each other spearheading this war neither of them believe in

• It's so tragic

• Their goodbye is so understated which for Lance is like truly a great bit of contrast

• They've had enough big declarations, these few sentences just distill everything perfectly

• And then we come to Genny and Arthur, fuck fuck fuck

• The first time I saw this I spent like all of intermission and act 2 with a loop in my brain of but they love each other, right?

• I am unrepentant trash for them in this version as though that wasn't abundantly clear

• And Aaron Sorkin delivered for me so hard in this scene

• "Please let me die, Arthur"

• The pause before his name

• And now we get to the part where I start to get like teary-eyed in the theater

• "Two very powerful men did this to you... not Mordred and Lance, your father and me"

• That long pause before and me

• I love his whole speech, I almost typed it all out

• And they allow so much silence during it

• And the way he's like trying to hold it together but he can't by the end

• "You were treated like a queen but you were my hostage Genny, what the hell did we think was going to happen?"

• That he recognizes and actually admits the ways that his choices have harmed Genny, the unfairness in the entire situation he's put her through

• That he can see even through his own hurt and the enormity of what has been set into motion, his own responsibility for what's happened

• Like he's not right but he's also not wrong

• "And for it's worth, I've been in love with you this whole time"

• Not even looking at her so we have to see it instead ugh

• And then watch that long silence while Genny just like rearranges her entire view of their relationship

• "For what it's worth? Did you just say for what it's worth?"/"Well I thought maybe you'd like to know that. But I wasn't sure."

• Just smashing my heart into tiny little pieces

• After everything they've been to each other, after all they built together, he still doesn't even know if his feelings will matter to her

• While Genny is getting ready to lose her mind after for what it's worth

• They're so absolutely emotionally inept

• "You weren't sure? Why didn't you ever tell me before?"/"It doesn't matter"/"Why?"/"How could I? I'm the king of England. You'd have been forced to pretend you felt the same way"

• Again they are delivering lines in a way that is continuing to smash the little pieces of my heart into complete dust

• Like Arthur is again not wrong but not right

• His life is so lonely because of this crown he didn't want and his desire to actually be responsible with that power

• And even now he tries to get out of explaining that to her

• I love him so much is the problem

• And then her mmm like all the pieces are coming together in her brain that they've both been suffering for nothing and she is pissed

• I love her so much which is also the problem

• Incidentally, both of these things are also their problem so very relatable

• "Out of curiousity, if I had told you, what would you have said?"/"That I loved you from the moment I saw you, from the moment you spoke, from the moment you sang me that stupid song about the weather"/"It's not about the weather it's a metaphor"/"I know it's a metaphor"

• The way Genny overlaps him asking, she can't even wait for him to finish

• The way she says stupid song

• The way that she's like, I did fall in love with you over that song but also I still hate it and think it's dumb

• She says it with such contempt

• Icon

• Even standing before the wreckage of their lives, they still can't stop bickering about the song, I'm obsessed

• "I prayed every night that one day you would see me the way I saw you. And then you told me I was your business partner. Yes I was and I am in love with you"/"Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse"

• She prayed every night???

• For two years???

• That he would return her feelings???

• Fuck

• Like I don't know if I can convey how much them being in love with each other and thinking it's unrequited for two whole years ping pongs around my brain and just lights up all the synapses

• "Do you really think 10,000 people loosened that sword for me?"/"I do"/"So do I. That's a nice thought isn't it?"

• It is a nice thought

• I love the philosophy of this show, I love that there's no convoluted Arthur is actually the son of the last king so he was destined to be special

• These are just two people who though birth or circumstance ended up in this position of power and chose to do good with it

• Genny begging for just a little more time like the only reason I kept anything together was being in a theater but if feel confident that if I ever get my hands on footage of this show, I would have already been sobbing by this point

• "They won't let me let Lance save you twice so you have to go Princess Guenevere"

• Hearing him call her by her name is so deeply distressing

• Literally not once before in the show does it happen and it hurts

• And then they're playing Before I Gaze at You Again what an amazing choice

• Turning a love song she sang about Lance into this romantic moment for her and Arthur because theirs was the love story the whole time like brilliant

• That they chose the show's first love song and brought it back for Genny and Arthur being unable to leave each other without that hug and that kiss

• Like this song that is originally about the pain of unfulfilled love for the wrong person and then flipping it to the pain of fulfilled love with the right one

• I am so not okay

• Also people did very loudly applaud at closing when they kissed and I was so glad because truly in my head I was doing it every time

• "I love you"/"I love you too"/"God save the king"

• I mean these are some good last words to say to each other, I'll give them that

• The thing about the original version of the musical is that the ending was already a perfect concept

• Here it just feels more meaningful because they lay that groundwork about inspiring the next generation throughout

• Tom trying to con Arthur about his age is very funny

• This kid is so good and adorable

• "You're speaking to a king"/"I'm twelve years old"

• Like his comedic delivery, very impressive

• "And when did you decide upon this nonexistent career?"

• We get a solid 60 seconds of cynical Arthur and that's about it

• The entire concept of this kid being inspired by the stories of Camelot is just deeply moving and beautiful

• And just the entirety of Andrew Burnap's performance of that realization hitting Arthur

• I love a story that's about the power of stories

• People also applauded at the last show when Arthur says the stories were all true which I also just deeply love

• Arthur's I know exactly how you feel when Tom says he's not ready to be a knight and putting his arm around him, so cute

• "And you will return to your home alive"

• The way he says alive

• Like I think Arthur knows that he's not making it out of this

• Even if he would manage to survive the battle and Mordred, he knows his time is done

• But the the future is still there

• And there is about to be so much death

• Some of it from his sword or his orders

• And the rest of it of his men

• But at least this kid, he's going to live

• The reprise of Camelot... I just love it so much

• "I've won my battle, here's my victory"

• Not a new line but just such a gorgeous one

• The entire idea of the story of Camelot as a tragedy but a hopeful one just gets me

• It's such a beautiful conclusion that this version sets up so so well

• I love that we end on a speech again, just like act 1

• Also that last bit of music as they walk off, stunning

• I have attempted to track down as many older productions of this show as I can including the movie which was good but I am biased and I do sort of think Sorkin and Bartlett Sher and the actors and everyone else involved had the more interesting take on the themes and characters

• A Broadway musical is best when it has simple but impactful themes and big emotions

• And that's exactly what this version gave us

• The highest compliment I can give this show is that not only have I not stopped thinking about it, not only did I tell everyone I know to see it, not only did I want to see the show again (and again and...), but it also just made me feel inspired to see more theater in a way I haven't in a serious while

• I just love this show so much and I'm so glad there are some people here who can't get over it either

• This is what I have to offer, the longest possible unhinged rant and bad quality closing audio, that is all

#it is bad that i wrote all of this #but it's worse that I had to learn I vomited out more words than tumblr even allows #this is what Camelot has done to me #this and made me see just so much more theater than I have ever #still riding the high of watching this cast live apparently #This Barbie can't shut up about Camelot #maybe three is enough unhinged long rants about this show #I wouldn't put money on it but we can all hope #I think the only thing that can sate my soul is a proshot #or sate my soul like 50% with a bootleg #and 50% by casting everyone in this show in good new stuff #preferably produced by my friend's boss so I can maybe get a free ticket #I'm waiting for the most crucial moment to be that annoying friend who asks for a perk #Camelot Musical #the freedom I feel having this note off my phone though

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celestialcrownsvn · 3 months

Text

Update 1/12

Hello all! I have been working on giving the first three chapters of Celestial Crowns those final touches that will make it a game you want to play over and over! Here is my changelog for the tweaks I made yesterday:

added 15 new SFX

added existing SFX in places where it made sense to

added additional art assets to ballroom scene

added camera animations throughout first 3 chapters

created chapter cards for first 3 chapters

implemented new skin tones in Sahi CG

added voice lines where needed

fixed bug where camera was not working properly when skipping

updated textbox updated popup for increased stats

updated save/load screen bg

updated preferences screen bg

added additional text effects in some places

added new theme song added new sad song

added new romance song

changed music on character select screen

adjusted button size for title buttons to ensure the hitbox was working properly

adjusted text size of save file names so they fit under the screenshots

Here are a few screenshots!

Anyway, that's just what I've been up to! Check out the updates from the rest of the team:

Backgrounds

Stef has been hard at work on new backgrounds! Check out this field bg:

This is the next background I need for programming the rest of the game, so it allows me to move forward with polishing the routes while I wait for tester feedback!

Music

The OST is just about complete! I am just waiting on one more song from the composers. The music in-game will be fleshed out with additional free and purchased songs.

Voice Acting

I am sending out the new scripts for the VAs! This will include a few more voice barks, as well as about 20 full lines from their route. I made it so there's just about one fully voiced line per scene.

Conclusion and Coming Next

I'm really happy with how everything's gone so far! I've had a lot of fun adding polish to the game and I can't wait to start on the routes. It really looks and feels more like a completed game now!

I will be traveling from 1/18 through the end of February, so posting will be on hold. However, the artists will still be working on their stuff, and the voice actors will be recording! Looking forward to updating you guys again!

#visual novel #vndev #celestial crowns #english otome #celestialcrownsvn #game development #character customization #english visual novel #kickstarter #lgbtq

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ebiemidnightlibrarian · 7 months

Text

Oh, it's already that time of the year.

Hello, there!

Yeah, it's been a while since I posted something, but the thing is, I was just crawling out of the shitty pit I'm in when very suddenly my father fell seriously ill. Now I'm once again spiralling into my anxious pit.

But I'm a bit cheered up by the spooky season (even tho we don't have those around here). So, I decided to share some playlists, (a couple of creepy characters playlists and MORE), I've collected over the years and I hope they make your spooky season a bit more spooky.

Well, let's get started!

♱

First of all, we have the playlist I made for my darling Jerry Dandridge, I shared it a while ago, but tbh it's one of my all-time favourites. It has the vibes of the film and fits the vibes of the character, I just love it.

I'm still mad that Spotify doesn't have the Fright Night music theme by 'the J. geils band' nor the INCREDIBLE theme 'come to me' (both the singing and instrumental version) by brad fiedel. So if I had to say something is missing in this one, I would say these three songs.

Now, this man has taken over my life for almost THREE WHOLE YEARS, and I gotta thank Mike Flanagan for this. I know you already know of whom I'm talking about. Our beloved poor lil meow meow and vampire priest Father Paul.

He lives in my head rent-free ever since he screamed “HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL?!” into Riley's face. I honestly think I could fix him, or at least fuck him ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The next is a trash can of a man and has made me question my sanity and my moral compass, and I think that's full Hamish acting skills fault. Well, our favourite unhinged wolf man, John Tyler.

You know, I had two stalkers during my school years, and I think that definitely affected me, anyway I like to believe it's the look of those puppy eyes that had me.

Talking about stalking psychopaths, I think I have a historic, bc David Dastmachian's performance as MacGyver nemesis on the remake of the series changed me on a molecular level. That's right, I'm talking about everybody's favourite hitman, Murdoc!

Yeah, that leather trench coat and black high neck has me on my knees. Also, unironically, mama bear Murdoc it's actually very sexy.

Now my dearest, we get to the new stuff, this I haven't posted yet for some unknown reason, but it's time to let them see the moonlight!

Ngl, Lily Rabe has so may Iconic roles on AHS that I HAD to make her something. So, to my AHS lovers, we have a playlist full of eerie and sacrilegious songs to our favourite possessed nun!

Nobody can convince me that AHS: Asylum isn't the best season from the series, honestly, I always re-watch during the spooky season and always slays.

I'm a fan of themed/pov playlists, I find them very immersive, so I'm always doing them when I have the chance, so, in one of these opportunities, I did a 80s slasher pov playlist, that has such a cool vibe! I hope you guys feel the same!

This one is dedicated to the nostalgia boost that the 80s slashers are to me.

And for the last, but not leat, my Ultimate Halloween Playlist™, it has some of my favourite songs from each one of those playlists, and I'm always adding more. Which are your ultimate spooky season playlist? I'll love to know!

Well, I think that's all for now, have fun everyone and be safe!! Lots of love!!

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inkher0 · 8 months

Note

I’ve pretty much been here since day one, but I’m always feeling so lost when I see what you guys are talking about, like Toby having godlike powers. I even go and check if there’s an update, I’m just so confused! 😳 I mean, I know the thing with Brian, but still.

For you anon, I'll walk you through Toby's journey so far. I think some other people are confused as well, as most of Toby's story goes right over Tim's head (for a reason). I also need to add more, because I am just kind of bad about certain details...

Thinking about it, this is exactly why I didn't want to refer to Slenderman as a God. He isn't really, and Toby doesn't actually have godlike powers.

Anyways! Possible Spoilers below. I've spent three hours making sure I'm not spoiling anything you don't already know from existing text, so whatever you're still confused about, you're probably supposed to be.

Ticci Toby's story so far in Origin: The Man Who Wasn't There:

Kills his dad and set his house on fire (See his og story). As he's setting his house on fire, he comes across a mask. Not knowing what it was, he left it to burn.

Has what he believes is a dream where he's invited to join some sort of creature with great power. He agrees, half-believing it's God and half-believing it's the Devil.

Joins Slenderman's cult without realizing they were very serious about the Religion Part. As an atheist, he cannot abide

Repeatedly criticizes Slenderman to the one person who is literally Possessed By Slenderman. He knows this, and does it seemingly for that reason. This creates a contemptuous relationship between Tim and Toby that is only civil when they're allowed to hurt someone else.

Shortly after meeting, Toby and Tim are kidnapped and tortured by Jeff The Killer in order to harvest their blood, which is revealed to be where The Operator's spores are residing. The two boys grow closer due to their trauma, as Toby realizes Tim is similar to him in a lot of ways (like that he's into dudes).

After being rescued by Clockwork, Kate the Chaser, and Ben Drowned, Toby is taken to The Ark to mentally and physically recover. There, he finally experiences a sense of stability. There's always food, and nobody beats him for trying to take it. He's allowed to play games, make friends, and play music. For the first time ever, he is allowed to exist.

At the same time, Toby is denied access to about 95% of The Ark's perks because he burned his mask and "rejected" The Operator. He doesn't just not have a Gift, he's demoted to being the lowest ranked Proxy. He isn't allowed to learn certain things, and every mistake he makes is used as an example to others. He is, quite literally, turned into the Scapegoat. This is the source of his first name, "The Hangman". While he's cared for more than on Earth, he is still abused by those around him for the benefit of the group.

This is despite the fact that Toby, objectively, is a model Proxy. He has an IQ equal to Eyeless Jack's; where he's allowed to succeed, he does so with flying colors. He is so talented that the other Proxies clamor to be near him out of sheer awe of his raw power, quick thinking, and merciless brutality.

His only perk on The Ark is what he asked The Operator for in exchange for his initial servitude- his a mom and his a sister. With Rogue being the main caretaker for the Proxies, he was basically doted on as much as he wanted.

He forms a kindred spirits friendship with Clockwork, entrusting her with his every true, honest emotion after she helped him recover from Jeff's abuse. Otherwise, however, Toby is withdrawn from everyone but his Collective. Every attempt to make friends outside his circle is met with frustration and disaster, and he chooses to intentionally isolate himself rather than deal with it. He deliberately misleads his Collective into thinking he has other friends and partners, but only Clockwork knows that he's lying.

Naturally, Toby rejects the title of Hangman. Under the noses of his superiors, he gains access to the Underrealm through Runes taught by Tim and Ben Drowned. He becomes particularly fond of using Severance, as it gives him the ability to unlock doors and find secret rooms.

(Gifts and Runes are the "Godlike Powers" everyone is talking about. Someone who is from two different realities can manipulate the chaos between them to their benefit, which is where Gifts come from. It's things Slenderman can do, and because of the Spore, Proxies can too.

Runes are needed to summon The Operator's power directly to them, giving them access to abilities they normally don't have. When Tim draws The Operator's Rune, for example, he's using the ability Manifest to invite his Master into a space. Severance is another, which can do basically anything if you're creative enough- it's considered both a Lock and a Key, if that makes sense. A third example would be Clockwork, who uses several Runes etched into her hand to perform her time manipulation.)

Toby should NOT be able to learn Severance, as that's in direct defiance of his punishment. Plus, there's an actual "equation" that has to be solved in order to perform a Rune's action correctly. Normally, The Operator does that math for them, as it's far too complicated for a human mind to understand. The Operator won't do it for Toby, as punishment for, y'know, thinking he's an asshole.

In the span of 200 years, Toby was able to learn that math and solve it himself.

In his efforts to learn how to do this, he uncovers many Secrets The Operator was hiding, both in plain sight and far in the dark: namely, a lot of plans that seem to be based around an unnamed End-Of-The-World catastrophe, and a lot of them revolving around Tim specifically. Investigation of any of these secrets only leads to more secrets, and those secrets lead to terrible implications. Then, Toby realizes everything is feeding into one, central conspiracy to do... something. It's yet another secret.

The boy wants answers. Against the strict rules of his superiors, Toby approaches The Shadow People, who are all from different points in time- past, present, and future. In exchange for information about The Kaninchenbau, Tim, and The Operator, The Observer (Tribetwelve) tells Toby that there is a certain point in the future where he can't see anything. Not that there's nothing there- there is. However, he can't see it. The Observer then tells him that Tim is lying and hiding things from him, just like The Operator is. He also reminds Toby that the two are symbiotic- meaning that, if he wants to win favor with one, he has to win it with the other.

Toby is discovered to be fraternizing with The Shadow People and trying to snoop. However, that time, he pleads to Tim to spare him, claiming that he wants to recommit to their cause. Tim's affection for him causes The Operator to give him a second chance to prove himself.

Together, Toby and Tim return to Jeff's house and dig up the corpses of their siblings that they left behind. While there, Korbyn, one of Eyeless Jack's servants, gives them a dire warning about the future, confirming everything Toby had been secretly researching.

Once Korbyn leaves and Tim and Toby retrieve the corpses, they perform a Conversion- one of the most, if not the most powerful formulas in The Underrealm. This act requires three things- Minds, Bodies, and Souls. With it, a piece of The Operator's soul is translated into physical form to exist in the human world.

(Keep in mind, the tall, lanky apparition we see is only a chosen projection- it's the form The Operator wants to take, if he were able to exist in the human world in the same way we do. His real form is so incomprehensibly massive that only tiny pieces of him are able to exist at a time. He's constantly looking for ways to get more of his soul into our world, as the more of him exists, the more immortal and powerful he is.)

In Toby's instance, The Conversion was done using the spore-filled bodies of his fallen siblings, The minds of The Operator's worst victims, and- most importantly- a piece of The Operator's own soul. This piece is named HABIT, and it's the collection of every negative, vile emotion that exists within The Operator. All of his hatred for humanity, all his roiling desire to consume everything- including, at times, his own children. It's all condensed into a literal Seed of Evil, and Toby swallows it to become a Vessel Proxy, which is the same kind of Proxy that Tim is.

The first Gift Habit teaches is how to convert humans into Beasts, transforming them in monsters that obey The Operator and, by consequence, Toby. So far, Toby is the only Proxy that is capable of doing this.

Toby gains access to everything Tim has in terms of abilities, privilege, and prestige. As far as the rankings go, he took Kate's #2 spot. He's no longer regarded as a scapegoat, and he's now involved as much as Tim is in official business.

Toby realizes that, somehow, HABIT has a mind of its own independent from The Operator- perhaps as a consequence of the minds that birthed it. It talks to Toby, encouraging him to commit horrible acts. He gives into it, initially, but once he realizes it doesn't care about his relationships, he fights against its influence.

The final consequence of his insubordination, however, is that Toby has to share the answers he learned with his friends. He knows everything: he knows what The Operator and the other creatures like him are so afraid of, why they're afraid of it, what they want to do about it, and how Tim plays into all of it. He knows what his role is going to be, and he knows both the "winning" scenario and the "losing" scenario.

While he's allowed to show them both winning and losing, he's only required to show them what happens when they lose.

He does not want to show them the vision of when they win.

#creepypasta #origin: the man who wasn't there #slenderverse #ticci toby #au #heroart #lore #long post #spoiler warning

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pasiveagressive · 2 years

Text

Broken Bones VII // H.S.

Harry could hear the music before he saw the house. It was a good thing Sarah and Mitch lived a mile away from anyone. Something that made their parties that much better.

He parked his car and walked to the house. It was sad, how long of a walk it was. And the party only started twenty minutes ago.

"Harry!" He was pulled into a hug by Sarah. "Glad you could make it."

Harry hugged her back, smelling the alcohol on her breath.

"Is Y/N here?" Harry asked instead of commenting.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, her and Jasper are out back."

Harry nodded, fighting through the crowd to the back. He grabbed a beer in his way. He didn't really plan on drinking it but he figured it couldn't hurt.

"Baby!" Y/N shot up when she saw him and threw herself in his arms.

He laughed, kissing her head. "Are you drunk?"

"No, I just missed you." She pulled back and he could see it in her eyes that she was one hundred percent here.

"I love you." He kissed her lips, no alcohol taste on them.

"Love you too." She nudged his nose with hers and then pulled away almost completely, only holding on to his hand.

"Hey." He nodded to Jasper.

Jasper nodded back, not saying anything. Not a crack of a smile or any other type of friendly acknowledgement.

They had met a week ago at Y/N's house when he made another spontaneous visit. Jasper had been rather peeved when he had seen Harry and Harry couldn't help but feel the same way. It was Tuesday. That was his day with her.

But he had made an effort for Y/N. He wasn't dumb. A four month old relationship or a lifetime friendship.

"How was work?" He asked her instead.

"Long." She fell back down beside Jasper, pulling him with her.

"When do you go in next?"

"Sunday at one." She looked at him over her shoulder. "You?"

"I leave Wednesday for London and I'll be back Saturday."

"So you're mine until then?"

"Yeah." He grinned. "I have lunch with Jeff on Sunday but you won't be able to hang anyway."

She smiled at him before turning back to Jasper.

"You're coming up for Thanksgiving, right?"

Jasper nodded. "Is Mike coming?"

Y/N shook her head. "No, but we're going to Harry's house. His sister will be there too. And so will his bandmates/best friends."

Jasper nodded, his lips pressed together. "We're still cooking together, right?"

Y/N looked at him like he was stupid. "Duh. We'll just meet them there." Jasper looked like he wanted to say more but kept his mouth shut. He nodded. Y/N rolled her eyes. Harry leaned back on his hands, wishing he was alone with Y/N.

"Are you going to stop acting like such a bitch?"

Harry had to bite back his laugh as Y/N turned to Jasper.

"I'm not." Jasper protested. "I just met the kid, you can't expect me to spill everything in the first week I've known him like you."

"Hey." Harry warned.

"Oh, shut up." Jasper rolled his eyes. "You've known her for like four months, don't act like you know everything."

"I see him more in one week than I've seen you in the last year, don't act all high and noble."

"Maybe if you invited me around more I would be."

"Piss off." Y/N interjected. "I told you anytime you wanted to come over you could. That's how it's always been, I didn't think anything's changed."

"You haven't come to my place in months."

"I'm a doctor Jasper!" Y/N turned to him angrily. "My days off aren't real days off. I'm almost always on call. Don't blame that on Harry, he's even closer to the hospital than I am, it's not an inconvenient trip."

"I wasn't." Jasper protested, rather weakly.

"Please." Y/N rolled her eyes again. "We've never had an argument about this and we haven't lived within three hours of each other in like 5 years."

"You've never had a boyfriend in those five years."

Y/N threw her hands in the air. "What does that even mean?"

Jasper clenched his fists. "Y/N," Harry grabbed her hand. "Just let it go."

"What?" She turned to him. " I just want to-"

"Because I've been in love with you since we were kids." Jasper started quietly. "And it was a lot easier to believe I had a chance when you didn't have anyone either."

Y/N's jaw dropped. If Harry hadn't figured it out last time Jasper had been in town his probably would have too.

"I'll go get us some drinks." Harry gripped Y/N's thigh before getting to his feet.

It wasn't exactly easy, leaving someone he loved with another guy confessing his love for her but he knew it had to be done. And he trusted her and her feelings towards him. He didn't want to make it anymore awkward than it already was.

Harry walked through the mass of people back inside and upstairs to the master bedroom. He knew Mitch would be there, watching Netflix by himself.

"Harry?" Mitch questioned as Harry entered the room. "Why are you not with Y/N?"

" Jasper just told her he loves her, figured that's a conversation they need to have by themselves. "

Mitch raised an eyebrow. "How mature of you."

Harry grinned a little before flopping down next to him. "I wish I could have stayed but this is between them and I trust her."

Mitch nodded , turning back to the tv. "Want to watch some Criminal Minds."

Harry nodded, shooting Y/N a quick text of where he was for when she was finished. "How long did you make it down there this time?"

"About an hour." Mitch grinned. "It's a lot harder when you're not wasted."

Harry laughed, trying to focus on the t.v. and failing. He was just waiting for Y/N to be done so he could see how she was doing and make sure she was okay.

The episode was almost over when the door finally opened and she walked in. He sat up and caught her in his arms when she reached him. There were no tears or shaking but he could feel the emotion radiating off of her.

"I'll just go." Mitch made to get off the bed.

" No. " Y/N's hand shot out to grab his sleeve. "You can stay."

He nodded and somewhat awkwardly leaned back on the bed.

"You like Criminal Minds?" Mitch asked her.

She nodded, settling in between them on the bed. Her hand was still in his but other than that they weren't touching.

When the episode finished Mitch excused himself and left them to talk.

"You okay?" He held her face in his hand.

Her bottom lip wobbled. "I'm the worst best friend ever."

"No you're not." He kissed her head and pulled her on top of him, hugging her.

"Yes I am." She fisted his shirt with her hand. "He's hurting so bad right now and there's nothing I can do. I never even knew that he ever liked me as more than a friend. He's my family." She paused. "I don't have a big family, I can't lose anyone else."

His heart ached a little for her. "You haven't lost him. You're family and family doesn't turn their back on family."

She nodded. "I want to call Mikey, can we go home?"

"Of course." He kissed her forehead before releasing her. She rolled off of him and stood next to the bed, just holding his hand for a second.

Her face was still dry but he could see the restraint crumbling in her eyes. And he could also see the composure she was trying to hold onto. Her eyes locked up and her body tensed. He couldn't tell if that was something she learned as a child or because she was a doctor. Either way he wished she wouldn't have to do it.

"Come on." He tugged at her hand. "It'll all be okay."

She gave him a small, tight lipped smile.

"Jasper drove me here, can you take me home?"

"I was planning on it." He led her to his car.

"He told me he didn't want to see me for a while." She gripped his hand tighter as they walked. "And I told him that would probably be best but Thanksgiving is in a month and I don't even remember a Thanksgiving I've spent away from him."

"Too much space and you'd never be able to repair anything. Send him a text in three weeks, let him know you're still counting on him to come up. Those feelings have always been there, it's weird to think about, but the only thing that's changed is that you know now."

"But that's a big change." He opened the door for her before getting in on his side.

"Only if you make it." He pulled out. "I know it's hard to look past but you love him too and you don't see that as weird just like he doesn't see the way he loves you as weird."

"You sound like you're speaking from experience."

"I am." He nodded. "Louis thought he was in love with me when we were kids. And I knew all along and was too afraid to ever say anything. It would have been easier if I just had. I love him like a brother and he loves me like a brother, it was just a little unclear for him at the beginning."

"And it wasn't weird?"

"It was, but only as much as we allowed it. We worked through it and now neither of us hardly remembers."

"He told me he's loved me since we were 11, that's 14 years now, how do you just forget that."

"Time heals all wounds. Do you think of your dad often?"

" I guess not. "

He grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Living in the present is hard enough, don't make it even harder by living in the past."

" I'm not, I'm worrying about the future. "

"If you live well in the present there is nothing to worry about in the future."

" Easier said than done. "

"Such is life." He pulled into a parking spot. "I love you, that's a constant. Your whole world didn't just suddenly change. You're still the best doctor ever. The most beautiful woman to ever grace the planet. Your brother still works for the FBI. And you're still best friends with Jasper."

Her eyes started watering. "Are you sure you have no experience as a real boyfriend?"

He grinned. "Positive, it's just really easy to love you."

She put her hands on her face. "Stop, I feel like I'm going to explode with warmth right now."

" Good. " He leaned across the consul to kiss her. "That's my job."

She kissed him back. "I'll talk to Mike tomorrow, I just want to go to sleep."

"Next to me?"

"No place I'd rather be."

She ran out of the car as he chased her, laughing freely. God he was in love. And as his arms wrapped around her he thought he could die a happy man.

Harry had never got out of the airport as quickly as he did today. It had been a few days since he had seen Y/N and he honestly thought he was going to go crazy if he didn't see her soon.

The only problem was she was in the middle of a 12 hour shift at the hospital. He figured it was as good enough time for coffee as any. It was almost ten at night so he figured it wouldn't be too busy.

One quick stop at Starbucks and then he was at the hospital. He called Y/N as he walked to the

"Hey babe! Did you land?"

"Yeah and I really want to see you."

"I'll be off in a couple of hours."

" Or you could just let me in. "

"Oh, thank God." She gave a little laugh. "I'm on my way down."

He grinned. "Good, I forgot my cigarettes, I wouldn't know what to do while I waited for your shift to finish."

"You would have gone home and gone to bed, I would have met you there and you would have woken up to me probably laying on top of you."

"You can still do that after I leave."

He heard her laugh before she hung up. The door opened and than he was hugging her to his body.

"I missed you." She mumbled into his shoulder.

" I missed you too. " he pulled back. "and I brought you coffee."

She kissed him. "I love you."

He smiled. "Love you too."

"Now come on." She pulled him inside and up to the Emergency Room floor. "How was your meeting?"

"Alright," He shrugged. "I spend too much time missing you to enjoy myself."

"Maybe I can go with you one time." She gave him a smile. "And I talked to Mike about Christmas, he's actually off for the week and I was wondering if you'd be opposed to him coming."

Harry shook his head. " Of course not."

She let out a breath of relief. "Good, cause I already told him he was invited.

" What would you have said if I told you no? " He laughed.

"I'd make you change your mind." There was a glint in her eyes that made Harry's insides tingle.

"Now I wish I would have said no."

"Or we could just celebrate."

Harry groaned. "How much longer is your shift?"

"Four hours." She held up four fingers. " And then I'm all yours. "

"Good." They reached the door to the staff room.

He followed her in to find it not empty for once. There were two girls sitting at a table next to an empty chair he assumed Y/N had just vacated. A guy was passed out on one of the beds and there was a couple in the corner exchanging kisses and laughs.

Y/N led him to the table and took her seat, motioning for him to take the one next to her.

"So this is the famous Harry." One of the girls gave him a knowing smirk.

"I hope I'm the only one."

"Please." The other girl snorted. "We're almost too busy to have one guy in our lives, let alone a secret one."

Both Y/N and the other girl hummed in agreement. Harry didn't know if he was pleased by that information or not.

"So I do have to admit I am quite the fan."

"IWell it’s always nic to meet a fan, you guys are the reason I am who I am."

"I have always been a Harry girl from the very beginning."

"Thanks."

He felt a little uncomfortable, he hadn't been flirted with, even fake flirting, in a long time. Normally he just told everyone he had a girlfriend and they backed off. And it was extra weird that he was sitting next to Y/N who he wished was flirting with him instead.

"Granted Y/N been too." One of them winked at her.

"Oh, shut up." Y/N rolled her eyes.

"Oh really?." Harry could see the color rising to her face "That's news to me."

“Yeah whatever.” Y/N nodded and took a sip out of her coffee. "The more I hang out with Harry the more I come to know what an asshole he is, he's just not one with me. It was all just a teenage fantasy"

Harry laughed. "What can I say, you make me crazy."

She rolled her eyes. "I just keep you around cause you bring me coffee and make sure I shower before I get to bed."

Harry shrugged, "I'm cool with that."

Y/N smiled over her coffee at him and her leg found his leg under the table.

"You don't seem like an asshole." One of the girls commented.

Harry shrugged. "It's hard to be one around Y/N, she makes me happy."

"Alright, that's enough sap for one day." Y/N stood up. "I'll walk you back."

Harry whined but got up anyway. He followed her into the hallway.

"But babe! I'm going to have to wait another three hours before I see you again."

She rolled her eyes. "You'll live."

He pulled her into him, stopping in the hallway. "I don't think I will."

"If I can do it, you can do it."

"But you're so much stronger than me." He kissed her. "I can't sleep when I'm not next to you. I can't breathe properly when you're not around. I worry about you constantly, whether you're doing okay or if your job is stressing you and I'm not there to comfort you."

"I miss you when you're gone, too. I like working long shifts so I can't spend as much time missing you."

"I love you." he kissed her forehead. "I'll be at my place waiting for you to get off."

"Okay, I'll see if I can leave a little early." She let go of him. "I love you too."

"Bye." He leaned in for one last kiss. "Save lives."

She smiled up at him. "As long as you keep saving mine."

"Always will babe." He watched as she walked back to the room, stopping to send him a kiss when she got to the door. He caught it and then left himself, happy now that he had seen her.

__________________________________________________

Harry ran to the door when he heard the knock. Y/N and Jasper were here. With the turkey.

"Babe." He greeted her, reaching out to grab the stuff in her hands and give her a quick peck on the lips. "Hey Jasper." He nodded over to him.

They had made up over the last week. They both apologized and things were still a little strained but Y/N didn't want to let too much time go between them.

Jasper gave Harry a nod in acknowledgement before following Y/N inside. Harry shut the door behind them before making his way to the kitchen and dropping everything off. Drake and Gemma were on the couch in the living room. Sarah was passed out on the chair, tired from the baby, and Mitch was working on some music at the coffee table.

Gemma got up to hug Y/N and introduce herself to Jasper. Harry watched from the doorway, a happiness in his heart that had not been there last year. Even if Drake still stunk up the room with his presence.

Mitch tucked his papers away, hugging Y/N and shaking Jasper's hand. They let Sarah sleep as they all introduced themselves and got to know one another. Harry set the table and finished cooking the ham. Y/N had already cut the turkey, separated the meat, and put it on plates. He cut the ham and warmed the mashed potatoes up. He honestly liked Bob Evans mashed potatoes better than homemade ones.

"Need help?" Jasper asked from the doorway.

Harry shrugged. "I was just about done, you can set the table if you want."

"Thanks for doing this for Y/N." Jasper told him quietly. "She'll never admit it but she really misses her big family togethers for the holidays."

Harry nodded. "Thanks for coming, she would have hated this if you weren't here."

" I'm sorry for being so immature about this. " he sighed as he set the table. "We don't spend nearly as much time together anymore, my feelings faded a long time ago. It was just seeing you, being your perfect self, with something that I had always thought I wanted but could never have, which made me so angry."

Harry nodded. "I didn't mean to make things uncomfortable for you. I know you've known her whole life and I've only recently come into her life but I don't plan on leaving anytime soon, hopefully ever, and I'd like us to get along."

Jasper didn't say anything. Just looked at him. And then he nodded and stuck his hand out. "Okay."

Harry shook it, nodding his own head.

"You guys okay in here?" Y/N walked through the door frame, pausing as she saw the two of them shaking hands.

"Perfect." Harry crossed over to her and kissed her forehead. "Now let's eat."

She laughed, her hand finding his and she dragged him to the living room.

"Food's ready." She announced it to them.

Mitch nodded, waking Sarah up. Drake and Gemma followed them to the kitchen where Jasper was waiting. Mitch came in with Sarah trailing him, looking tired but still happy.

"Jasper and I normally say what were thankful for, is that okay with you guys?" Y/N asked. They nodded and she grabbed Jasper's hand who grabbed Gemma's. Mitch and Drake reluctantly grabbed each other's hands. Sarah took Harry's.

"For friends, old ones and new." Y/N started.

"For another great year." Jasper continued.

"For getting my brother back." Gemma looked down.

"For forgiveness." Drake squeezed Gemma's hand.

"For my family." Mitch gave Harry a small smile.

"For our health." Sarah winked at Y/N.

"For Y/N, who brought us all together." Harry leaned over to kiss her temple.

She laughed. "Alright, let's dig in."

They all let go of each other's hands and grabbed plates instead. When they all finished loading their plates they made their way to the table.

"Are you coming to the cabin with us for Christmas?" Gemma asked Y/N when they were all seated.

She nodded. "So is my brother."

Gemma smiled. "Good, Harry would be miserable without you."

She laughed. "So would I."

"See, I'm not the only love sick fool here." He leaned over to place a sloppy kiss on her cheek.

"Stop it." She pushed his face away from her. "I just wish Jasper could come, he's going to his mom's house though."

They continued chatting until Gemma finished her turkey. "Do we have pie?"

Harry nodded. "Patience, we're not all as fast of eaters as you."

She glared at him. "You've got to eat fast so it doesn't catch up to your stomach."

Drake rolled his eyes. "Maybe that's why you should eat slowly."

"Are you calling me fat?" She turned to him, her hair hitting Jasper next to her.

"What?" His mouth opened. "No, I just meant you're going to feel so sick later.

" Sure. " she pursed her lips.

Harry had to hide his laugh in his napkin. For once Drake wasn't being a piece of shit and for once Gemma was calling him out.

"I wasn't." He protested. " you're the furthest thing from being fat. "

"Oh, so now I'm too skinny."

Y/N pushed her laugh into his shoulder.

"Oh my God, we are not doing this right now." Drake went back to his ham.

Mitch was trying to hide his grin by eating another piece of Turkey and Sarah started coughing in her napkin. Jasper looked thoroughly confused.

"I'll go cut the pie." Gemma stormed into the kitchen, a frustrated Drake following her.

Harry hesitated a second before joining them. They hated leaving her alone with him.

"What just happened?" Jasper asked.

"Drake is a bastard, normally she just accepts it. For once he wasn't being an asshole and she flew off the handle." Mitch explained.

" Yeah, I don't like the vibe I get from him. "

"That's because he's a piece of shit." Sarah raised her glass to Y/N's words.

"Amen."

"I'm ready for my pie." Y/N leaned back and rubbed her stomach.

Harry laughed. Walking back out to them" You look like it. "

She turned to him, her face in mock indignation. "Are you calling me fat?"

"Yep." He rubbed her non-existent belly. "All 115 pounds of you."

She laughed, smacking his arm. "Shut up, I'm short."

"I know Angel."

Gemma walked back in with new plates, a frustrated Drake following her, no pie in sight.

"Where's the pie?" Y/N teased.

"Shit." Gemma ran back to the kitchen.

"Was she in charge of the pie?" Sarah asked. Mitch nodded. "Please tell me it was store bought."

Drake answered before Mitch could. "I made sure it was."

"Why?" Jasper asked.

" Gemma's a shit cook. Drake answered, unaware of Gemma's reappearance.

"Oh, tell us how you really feel." She hissed.

" Shit, sorry. " Drake cringed. "I just meant that your talents lie elsewhere."

She pursed her lips. "Oh yeah, and where would those be?"

Mitch cut through them. "Argue on your own time, we all know Gemma's a shot cook and that Drake's a piece of shit, I want my pie."

"Amen." Sarah answered.

Y/N snorted into her napkin while Jasper looked down to hide his smile. Harry was too late. His stomach hurt from how much laughter he unleashed. And then everyone else joined in, except for Drake who looked really out of place.

"Happy Thanksgiving everyone." Harry eventually choked out, hoping it would be the same next year too.

#harry styles #x reader #one direction #harry styles x reader #fanfic #harry styles x y/n #harry #x y/n #fluff #harry edward styles

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