#neil x the protagonist

[took-hold-of-nothing]

#tenet #protagonist #protagoneil #neiltagonist #the protagonist #inverted husbands #backwards boyfriends #the protagonist x neil #neil x the protagonist #billie eilish #christopher nolan #robert pattinson #john david washington #Neil tenet #edit #Thonfave

[nrtrnwnd]

I MAY NOT UNDERSTAND TENET BUT I KNOW ONE THING THE WORLD DIDN’T END BECAUSE NEIL LOVED THE PROTAGONIST

#protagoneil #tenet #tenet 2020 #neil x the protagonist #the protagonist x neil

[leahmarilla]

christopher nolan saw the last five years and said i can do better than that

Tenet x The Last Five Years

#this dwindling very silly thread is one of the things I'm proudest of and it probably should have been here all along #tenet #backwards boyfriends #neil x the protagonist #christopher nolan #the last five years #the savior of writing #jason robert brown

[weclassybouquetfun]

Some poor freelancer for British GQ had to cobble together a piece ahead of Christopher Nolan's OPPENHEIMER and since all the Barbenheimer jokes have been made, they decided to dream a little bigger (darling) and present to the readership the reachiest of reaches about the homoreoticism of Christopher Nolan films. A stretch worthy of Mister Fantastic, Elongated Man and Plastic Man.

I'm not mad at it. Especially since they, at least, got the #1 and #2 picks correct.

Because just what things do you get up to with the Protagonist, Neil???

#inception #dream husbands #eames x arthur #arthur x eames #joseph gordon levitt #tom hardy #tenet #john david washington #robert pattinson #neil x protagonist #protagonist x neil #shipping #rare pair #protagoneil #bants #chris nolan #christopher nolan

[beauspot]

ok so years after it came out I finally watched Tenet. and i’m confused…but it was good.

i had no idea what to expect from this movie except “ooh movie go forward and in reverse oooooo” i also knew people shitted on it a lot because the plot wasn’t super clear. through all of this I never heard the meaning of this movie. or what it was about.

Tenet (i’m assuming everyone who’s seeing this post has seen the movie but just in case) is a science fiction story about reverse entropy and a dying man who can’t let go of his control to the point he is willing to take the world out if he can’t be there. A story about destiny and fate and choice and meaning. All of that is what Tenet is about. But at its center

Tenet is a love story

Not between The Protagonist and Kat.

Between The Protagonist and Neil

Now THREE THINGS WE NEED TO ACKNOWLEDGE FIRST:

1. I am still not entirely certain of the plot but I will be rewatching this movie because I think it was fun and the people were hot.

2. Neil is not Max. I know this is a popular theory and at first I thought it made sense since Rob dyed his hair for the role specifically and we don’t learn his past, only The Protagonist’s, but Nolan said they dropped that plotline because the timeline didn’t make sense.

3. You can view The Protagonist and Neil’s relationship as a platonic one or a romantic one my point still stands.

The surface level viewing of this movie gives you the impression that nothing matters and choice is a fallacy, what’s happened happened and there’s nothing you can do about it. But looking even a fraction deeper you realize the choices of the characters directly cause the events of the movie.

Sator is forced to live around radioactive materials in Kiev because of a neglectful government, that causes his cancer. His cancer leads him to begin communicating with the future and allows the past to invert which leads him to choosing omnicide but also directly leads to Tenet being able to stop him. His abuse leads to his death. Most importantly Neil’s death leads to The Protagonist’s life being saved which leads to The Protagonist finding Neil which cultivates the greatest relationship of either of their lives.

The most tragic part about all of this is that only in the final moments of their time together do they truly have all the pieces of their relationship laid out in front of them. The majority of the time spent with one another is with one of them not knowing their history and they’re stuck in this loop.

Our Neil dies at the end of the movie but we’re following The Protagonist. He will end up in the past, Neil’s past and at the end of their story Neil will be sent back to meet The Protagonist and so on and so on forever. And you can see the exact moment The Protagonist realizes this. That he’ll know Neil but Neil won’t know him, not really. Not for years.

We can see how immediately drawn to Neil The Protagonist is. He’s an undercover agent who very likely doesn’t trust anyone he hasn’t known for a long time but this is his face during his first meeting with Neil.

WE know why Neil is being friendly and why he stares at The Protagonist the way he does but he doesn’t. Why is he so immediately comfortable with Neil?

From the moment they meet to the final battle The Protagonist is so emotionally affected by Neil’s impending death that he considers putting the world in danger to try and save his life. He doesn’t see the point in Neil dying, and when Neil tells him that it’s just “what happened” The Protagonist doesn’t see why he should care about anything at all if every decision has already been made.

Until Neil explains to him that just because their future self has already made the decision for them, just because the path is laid out, doesn’t mean what they do doesn’t matter. Neil’s life saved everything, that matters (this one lesson goes on to affect how The Protagonist forms and runs Tenet). The Protagonist understands that yet he still wants to save Neil.

But at the end, all he can do is let Neil go. Continue moving forward.

Because there is a past for Neil. And a future for them.

*just a cute gif i wanted to include of The Protagonist staring at Neil like a day after they met.(idk how long a timeframe the movie takes place over)*

#tenet #the protagonist #neil tenet #protagoneil #inverted husbands #the protagonist x neil #sator tenet #kat tenet #infodump #love story #what’s happened happened #scifi #science fiction #time travel #except not really

[nooowestayandgetcaught]

for @glove23′s birthday week 2023 — PROTAGONEIL from TENET (2020)

#tenet #tenet 2020 #protagoneil #neil tenet #protagonist #* #movieedit #filmedit #neil x protagonist #protagonist x neil #tenet movie

[call-sign-bob]

The end of Tenet with Inception music

...

Every time I hear this track it's not the end of Inception that I see it's this part right here. Thought I'd share the pain.

#in case this scene didn't make you cry the first time #nolan why do you hurt me in this way #neil tenet #the protagonist #tenet #tenet movie #protagoneil #neil x protagonist #inception #hans zimmer #christopher nolan #robert pattinson #john david washington

[bazar-mademoiselle-libellule]

SCURRY

#inktober2022 #inktober #inktoberchallenge #scurry #my art #fanart #digital art #illustration #tenet #tenet fanart #protagoneil #neiltagonist #neil x protagonist #robert pattinson #john david washington

[german-garbage]

The Protagonist and Neil: *staring into each other's eyes*

Mahir: *opens a soda can*

The Protagonist: We're having a moment.

Mahir: And I'm having a cola.

#tenet #protagoneil #the protagonist #the protagonist x neil #neil #mahir #tenet movie #incorrect tenet quotes

[crossthread]

I'm rewatching Tenet again after a while, I'm at the scene where the Protagonist meets Neil for the first time and. Neil just seems like he's trying not to fall apart. Just. He cant seem to take his eyes off the Protagonist. His breath is hitched a little. He's sweaty. He's trying to not give it all away and blabbering about time.

You can't convince me that this man wasn't even a little bit in love with the Protagonist.

#tenet #tenet movie #tenet 2020 #the protagonist #robert pattinson #neil #neil tenet #protagonist tenet #neil x protagonist #what is this ship name even called #movie

[f4llingstrr]

so yesterday I finally watched tenet and like most Nolan movies at first I hated it but by the end I was in love with it

also and foremost I will never be over the tragic love story between the protagonist and neil, I've read dozens of fics in the last 24 hours

#neil x protagonist #protagonist x neil #protagoneil #tenet #christopher nolan #theyre so devastating

[mariailoveyou-guerin]

Just hit me that captain and havers are so protagoneil coded because they too have right person wrong time

Their goodbye it’s literally the same I’m gonna d word!

#ghosts bbc #captain x havers #protagonist x neil #protagoneil #neiltagonist #tenet movie #tenet 2020 #tenet #neil tenet #the protagonist #bbc ghosts

[ithappensoffstage]

if you ever want to write something for Protagoneil again I would love to request something where it's the Protagonist who takes care of Neil for the first time. Neil was always the one to save his ass and now it's time for John to do the same. Perhaps Neil got drugged on a mission and he's really out of it so John takes care of him while drugged Neil looks at him all lovingly.

I'm so sorry that this got buried in my ask box for 3 years, but thank you for your prompt and here's the finished fic! You can read it here or on AO3.

To Think That We Could Stay the Same

Earlier—later—in Neil’s other life, he was a little bit dramatic. A little bit cocky, a little bit of a risk-taker. But he was also careful and rational.

This later—earlier—Neil is reckless. Bold, bordering on stupid.

John blames it on Neil’s youth. Of course a fresher-faced Tenet has something to prove. He wants to be valuable, worthy of John’s praise, and first in line for promotions. John wishes he could tell him he’s already proved himself—will prove himself. That John already trusts him with everything he has.

He can’t, though. And it’s like Neil knows there’s some secret between them. Neil, before, he was so good at lying. Pretending at ignorance, feigning that he didn’t feel … whatever it was—hopefully is—that he felt, feels, for John.

Lying is standard operating procedure, and the policy is to suppress. Fine. John’s good at restraining his feelings, but not at burying or concealing them completely. It causes Neil to be desperate to be deserving of those secrets.

He recalls Neil in Mumbai. That’s not possible, he had said. But to this Neil, everything is possible. It scares the hell out of John.

They’re in Tokyo. John’s there to supervise the retrieval of a large inverted munitions shipment. Ives is there to run security. Dark suit, concealed weapons, beard shorter than it’s ever been, and hair longer than it’s ever been. John wonders when he’s going to shave it off.

Neil, of course, is bouncing between Ives’ and John’s teams. Ives has been teaching him the militaristic ropes. John has been preparing him for his inevitable leadership role. Between Ives and John, they should be able to keep track of one overly ambitious rookie.

As it turns out, they’re wrong.

“What the hell happened, huh? You were supposed to be watching him!” John shouts.

He bursts into the med room of their Tokyo base like a man possessed. It’s clean and white, bright and sterile. John hates it. He wants it to be as ugly as his mind right now. Uglier, actually—as awful as what he wants to do to the men who hurt Neil.

“He said he was on his way to you,” Ives replies calmly.

“And you believed him?”

Ives raises an eyebrow, and John knows he’s being unfair. He’s angrier than he ever has been with Ives. Even counting the time Ives let Neil invert himself and die for them.

John closes his eyes. Exhales. What’s happened, happened. Neil was going to, will always, die for him. And Neil was always going to wander off and get himself drugged by an idealistic bunch of thieves.

They’re Yakuza. And after the guns, nothing more, nothing less. Still, Ives has them all rounded up and is on his way to question them. He’s lost patience with John already, but he’s waiting, stiff and at attention, anyway.

Then there’s Neil, opposite at every angle.

The medical team told John that Neil’s been injected with a benzodiazepine cocktail, but John thinks Neil looks half-okay, considering the circumstances. He’s sitting in the corner of the room, wearing a light blue button-down, open a bit at the chest with the sleeves rolled up, and light gray pants. No shoes. One gray sock. His bare skin shines with sweat. There’s red high on his cheekbones and an uncharacteristic glassiness to his eyes. His head lolls as he tries to listen to John and Ives’ argument.

“I found them, y’know,” Neil interrupts. “Before I… Iv…” He gestures to his commanding officer. “He did. I wanna… wanted you to… know…” He trails over, looking confused. “Who put me on the floor?”

“Tell ya what, we’ll flip a coin,” Ives says. “For him or the Yakuza.”

John sighs. “That’s not really your call. I’ll take care of him. You’re dismissed.”

“Yes, sir.”

Then, John and Neil are alone together. John feels it in his blood, like a cord tied around his veins. It tugs at his heart until he can’t breathe. He thinks of the freeport, and inhales sharply.

“There you go, hiding things again,” Neil says. With his inhibitions gone, his accent is a little less refined. Posh but kind of sloppy, like how he dresses.

“I’m not hiding anything. Don’t get up.”

Although he’s tried several times by now, Neil never made it off the floor. Instead he’s now fully on his back, hair askew, shirt completely open. The fabric hangs by his sides and his hands slide from his ribs to that soft linen.

John envies those hands. He tells Neil, “You compromised the mission.”

“I saw something suspicious,” Neil protests, sputtering through the last difficult word. “I, I saved the mission.”

“You made a move on your own because you were trying to be a hero,” John hisses. “Look at yourself, Neil.”

John walks forward. He crouches, trying to meet Neil’s eyes. It’s difficult when they’re fluttering closed every second or so, but eventually John manages.

“How did a trained agent get jumped by a bunch of gangsters? Hm?” He doesn’t want to be cruel. He can’t favor Neil, though. Telling himself any other soldier would get the same treatment, John continues, “What if Wheeler didn’t find you?” Or.” John clears his throat, bombarded with memories of Stalsk-12.

Neil is beaming. His smile is beautiful, and it blindsides John like it always has.

“You were worried about me!” Neil yells. His joy ricochets around the room in cascades of laughter. “You care!”

John looks away. “You’re not sober enough to have this conversation.”

He attempts to stand, but suddenly there’s a palm pressing down on his knee. Reckless.

“Neil.”

“Wait.”

Against his better judgment, John does. He pushes Neil’s hand away, but he also sits on the floor next to Neil’s prone body. More than anything, he wants to draw Neil’s head into his lap. To brush that damp blond hair out of his face, check for a fever. To kiss it better.

John clasps his hands tightly in his lap. “Of course I care. Everyone on this team is vital to this operation.”

Neil shakes his head. After some flailing about, he manages to right himself, sitting with his legs crossed to match John. “No,” he says.

“No I don’t care? You just said I did, so make up your mind.”

“You… about me… differently,” Neil explains. “More…ly.”

“Wow.”

“S’not a word, is it?”

“No it is not. I’m not sure you’re capable of coherent sentences at the moment, actually.”

Despite the curt comment, Neil is looking at John with such adoration. Puppy love, that’s the term John’s heard. Utter devotion. As if John is Neil’s entire world. But when John insists that he’s leaving, Neil’s eyes brim with tears.

He lunges forward, wrapping his arms around John. Now he’s really putting some weight into it, holding John here. It’s John’s turn to be amused. Chuckling, he extracts himself—easily, with Neil’s drug-addled, pliable limbs and lean frame—enough to speak face-to-face.

“Let me go.”

“Okay,” Neil replies. Yet his grip doesn’t loosen.

“That’s an order, Neil.”

“Right.”

When John returns a few minutes later with food and water, Neil is slumped over on his side, asleep on the floor, an unhappy expression on his handsome face. John sets the plate and cup down on the nearest surface before walking gently over. He slides his hands underneath Neil’s knees and back, picks him up.

After putting Neil in the med room’s small bed—still on his side, facing the door like he’s always preferred to sleep—John pulls up a chair. He washes Neil’s face with a cool, damp cloth. He tends to the few cuts and scrapes Neil got fighting off his assailants. He brushes Neil’s hair, and buttons his shirt. Finally, John tucks a blanket around Neil’s shoulders.

“‘More-ly’ still isn’t a word,” John murmurs, thumb brushing Neil’s jaw, “but you’re right. I do.”

And then he leaves again, exactly the way he arrived: with a guilty conscience, carrying a love confession in his hands.

#tenet #protagoneil #instinct series #the protagonist x neil #my fic #movies #ask #anon

[ponderosa121]

Tenet. Neil/Protagonist.

Cared more about getting the foreground seamless than the background, so please forgive the sloppiness there, but I am very pleased to have finally gotten this idea out of my brain. (Better quality video version up on my instagram.)

#tenet #tenet fanart #tenet movie #neiltagonist #neil tenet #neil x protagonist

[weclassybouquetfun]

Wake up, wake up, wake up! The Protagonist and Neil got up to some stuff.

I hope Pattinson told John David how excellent THE CREATOR is, because it is despite what critics say.

#john david washington #robert pattinson #rpattz #tenet #the creator #neil x protagonist #protagonist x neil #protagoneil

[quolant]

ships: the protagonist/neil

I’ll see you at the beginning, friend.

— tenet (2020)

#the protagonist x neil #protagoneil #neiltagonist #ships #moodboards by bee