i think my oh shit moment, if you will, from my first time watching leviticus in theatres was when naim was in the car with arlene and she switched on that god awful contemporary christian music!!
i have like. vivid memories of sitting in the back seat listening to k-love radio lmfaooo
which is why i think the horror is so effective. it's been said by people much smarter than i am but the fact that it's not set in some sprawling high-ceiling cathedral only lends fear to the fact that their tiny little church resembles ones from small communities across the world.
I get what you and other people have been saying about Ryan and Naim not calling each other any pet names, or there being a mischaracterization problem... but isn't it weird to imply that two gay teenagers that have experienced violence suddenly aren't allowed to be kind to one another? It just seems like you're going in reverse. Just because they're men they can't be kind? Also, I agree that Naim can be a bitch, but he's also shown to have an incredibly soft side to him. Not trying to be hateful I just genuinely want to get someone's thoughts on this because it seems weird to me.
sorry this has been in my inbox all day i just got around to it
i think you're kinda misinterpreting what people are saying in bad faith?
i don't think the argument is that. no gay teenage boys anywhere can call each other pet names, i just think it doesn't feel right for these two specifically? as stacy himself as stated various times before, ryan puts up this big masculine front because that's what's expected of him, and that's how he protects himself. i don't think anyone is doubting that ryan is kind— he's just. also seventeen? and grew up in a hostile homophobic community? and naim's proved himself to have a bratty and mean streak to him, on top of being so afraid of his own sexuality i just really don't see him being characterized the way he is on twitter like. Feasible.
this continues to feel like a deliberate misinterpretation because. they are kind and soft with each other? at various points? the bus, the ending?? idk just because they aren't calling each other babe etc doesn't mean that they aren't experiencing moments of tenderness!! gah!!!
idk i think people on twitter are deliberately misinterpreting the movie to fit what they want it to be— which is fine, it's the internet, we can say what we want. but. pretending that ryan & naim aren't two repressed teenagers from a shithole town is kinda disingenuous and missing the point of the film ... like the ryan calling naim babe darling angel rather than dickhead is not #my ryan whelan but go off
hello! couldn’t really think of a better way to summarize this, so. it's what it says on the tin. i had a few lingering logistical questions with the ending of leviticus (how’d they get away without being returned home, what would their families have done, etc) so i figured i'd do a bit of research + embellishment with my own headcannons.
if that interests you, all 2k words of it are under the cut!
disclaimer!! i am not an aussie! i will never claim to understand any cultural nuances! i still find these topics and questions that i’m covering to be interesting, especially if there are procedures that may or may not differ from my own country. forgive me!
i conferred with my angel aussie friend who helped me understand some things i may have missed, as well as done my own research. yay! thank u to them!
** edit: someone had some really good points to make about the cultural side of things that i missed in the comments, i encourage you to read that!!
so. how'd they get away?
there are tooons of facets to this question that have really bothered me, maybe on an irrational level lmao. i'll try to cover my bases in a concise way, but if this turns ramble-y i apologize in advance.
so. my main issues. that have been plaguing my brain.
not a single person asks or notices their situation? two teenage boys traveling/living alone with obvious physical injuries? not a single one?
if reported missing— they obviously brought their phones. couldn't they be easily tracked and located via cell tower pings and whatnot?
lets say they have enough money for a couple of motels. i refuse to believe that ryan (name dropping him because he's the one that clearly intended to leave) has enough money to support the two of them financially. i refuse. so what then?
what would their families do in the aftermath?
okay. that's a lot of long winded questions, but i think i have some answers— first, i wanted to establish how old ryanaim are, down to like. a months range, because that really changes my answers for a whole host of questions down the line.
que quick age side tangent. my friend and i assumed the film takes place near the end of summer or early-mid autumn (friend says they're probably in year 11, i did not question their authority.) for simplicities sake, let's say the film takes place late march or early april, and they're both already 17 during the film.
navigating life, in general, is going to be incredibly difficult for them until they reach 18. which is why i'd place their birthdays somewhere from april-august, maybe september. that gives them 1-6ish months where they really can't risk getting caught, since they'd likely be treated as missing juveniles. just based on my opinion and vibes, i think naim is probably born late april, and ryan is maybe born in like. june. he does give me winter baby vibes.
age related tldr: ryanaim are 17 at the conclusion of the film, which ends in march or april. naim has a month-ish until he turns 18, meanwhile ryan has about 2 or 3-ish months. of course you can always adjust this for your headcannoning pleasure, but that's what i'm going to base pretty much everything off of. onto my questions!
1. not a single person asks about them?
we know that bandee is in regional victoria, and i think it's generally accepted within the fandom that they're probably going to melbourne. that makes sense! a city is good for a variety of reasons (more people in general, less chances for the entity to catch them, easier to fall into the crowd, more opportunities & resources for them in theory)
their trip would (depending on the distance from melbourne) give-or-take, be 2.5 hours to 6 hours. let's just hit the middle and say it takes them 4 ½ hours to make it there. (which is. a lot less than i had assumed it would take? damn!)
so anyways— they don't look. too disheveled at the end of the movie, so i highly doubt anyone is calling the police or anything! i definitely think they'd struggle with. this whole issue more when they're in the city! but this is where i really don't have a concrete answer which. sucks!!! but i think it really just comes down to the degree of injuries they get from the entity, how good they are at lying/staying chill, and luck.
tldr: it's pretty open to interpretation. i don't think anyone's immediately calling the police or anything, but them existing without question in the city is a bit iffier.
2. if reported missing, how much should they worry about their phones?
let's assume that they're reported missing. the number one thing i'm literally always thinking about is put that damn phone on airplane mode boy!!
so, i have done. a little research. having their phone is not as big of a liability as i had assumed it would be, especially while they're traveling through less populated areas. but in the end, it really depends on the extent of how much either of them use their phones.
cell tower pings wouldn't be enough to get them like, immediately. apprehended by police, but different things like using public wifi absolutely leaves more of a trace. they could remove their SIM cards, which wouldn't allow them to use cellular service or mobile data, but that's still not like. full proof. and do i think two recently traumatized teenagers are thinking enough to remove their SIM cards? especially ryan, who pushes back against the idea of leaving town like, the whole film. this is obviously a decision spurred by panic, his hand was forced, he didn't want to leave— so i really don't expect him to be thinking 100% logically and accounting for all avenues.
so it is unfortunately left up to interpretation yet again! it all really depends on how quickly their parents report them missing, and how serious the police end up taking the case.
judging from the public display of a violent ritual done to two teenage boys thing, i'm inclined to believe their community isn't too dead set on locating two almost adults (one of them an outsider) that have been effectively shunned and removed from their world entirely.
tldr: if they're smart and don't use their phones for a ton of extra shit, have them turned off most of the time, i think they'd be fine. ++ adding the fact that i don't think their community would take a missing persons case as seriously as they may have had they not been shunned by the town. moving on!
3. running away is presumably expensive?
as i stated before, i refuse to believe that ryan and naim have enough money collectively to support themselves until they turn 18. let's say they have, combined, $200 something dollars. i feel like i’m being generous here— both of them seem to be unemployed, so this has to be chore + misc money they've collected over the years + accounting for the fact that teenagers spend their money on stupid shit.
the bus fare won't be too bad— since most fares across victoria have a daily cap at $5.70 (until 2027 apparently, according to transport victoria) so that's $11.40 for the two of them give or take.
motel costs in melbourne seem to range from $80-$120, so i think they could definitely squeeze a night out comfortably— if they can find a place that's willing to check two minors without ID in. let's say they do. factoring in food (i think they'd just stuff like. chips under their jacket and run though lmao) and bus fares, they really only have one, maybe two motel stays in them. if you want to place their allowance near $400 combined that's still not even a week!
so what then? again. we are now in the realm of speculation and interpretation againnn!
i think their best shot would be a youth crisis accommodation? there are options for at-risk youths in melbourne escaping violent situations which may be able to help provide them with shelter and support. but there are a few problems with this, i think?
there's no guarantee they don't get sent back to their parents.
i can't speak to how actually helpful these services are, because. well i don't live in melbourne and i've never used them. i can really only go off of google and their websites.
would they even be willing to reach out for help? it's dangerous, and a huge admission of "weakness" on their part.
they could also crash at someone’s house, if either of them have trustworthy relatives or friends that’d be willing to take them in. that seems pretty likely too.
tldr: they'd have enough money for 1, maybe 2, maybe 3 nights at a motel. after that their options are pretty much sleep under a bridge, contact a youth service, or crash with a friend/relative. this is up to the headcannoner.
4. families?
we know much more about arlene than we do ryan's parents, so i'll start with her.
we know that despite everything, arlene still cares about naim. she's just unable to accept him as he his, and in that fear, tears the two of them apart. she seems genuinely distressed at the end of the film, frantically shouting naim's name in the parking lot.
do i think she'd immediately report him missing. i've thought about this for so long, but my answer is. probably not immediately.
i think that her inability to understand naim as a person— on a fundamental level, wouldn't allow her to grasp the severity of the situation, if that makes sense? however i do think she'd report him missing after 24 hours, i could be persuaded she'd wait until the 48 hour mark too. i absolutely think she'd be frantic at that point, and would push police to do whatever they can.
but also, in my little headcannoned universe here, naim is about to become 18. there's a lot less they can do to force him to return home then.
now onto ryan, who we get considerably less information about regarding his family life.
when ryan's taking entity naim on their first little ‘date’ he says “lucky they're fucking always hid away in their bedroom” which!! leads me to believe that they were never all that present to begin with, but certainly aren't going to be present once ryan rocks the foundation of where they stand in the community.
this may just me being unnecessarily emo but. i think his father has that pull yourself up by your bootstraps mentality, and takes ryan's disappearance at face value. ryan had already 'disappeared’ to him once they had to see him writhing on the church floor, idk. i think his mom would absolutely push though, since they're already looking for ryan at the end of the movie.
tldr: they are reported missing. do the police take it that seriously though?
so here's my (heavily headcannoned) theoretical timeline of events:
ryan and naim escape, end up crashing at a motel for two nights, have to sleep outside a bit, crash with someone they know, and maybe end up going to a youth shelter. not sure if they'd be willing to risk themselves and ask for help like that. really could not tell ya
anyways if u made it this far thank u for reading i had fun learning about fare caps and youth shelter services. this all seems very self explanatory and nothingburger now that i’ve written it all out but. y’know i had fun. again thank you to my angelic adelaide dweller that let me ask her pointless questions! if i missed anything that doesn't seem right for their situation please let me know and i’ll do my best to correct it. i am slightly hungover while writing this so sorry if it doesn't make sense. peace
as resident #1 fan of the simulation theory in regards to fanworks, i've spent a lot. Lot of time thinking about how everyone's life would go after the death game, ie: diagnoses, the trial that would follow, relationships and. mundane things. more explanation and needless rambling under the cut!!
this whole. thought vomit of mine brings me to the topic of employment? oddly enough? in this whole sprawling universe i've created in my mind, sara is able to escape, heal (somewhat, debatable), graduate highschool, and start her life afterwards. and like. you need to work to live!!! (which. in her case i do think she'd receive resitution payments. so she doesn't need to do that. but it's the principle of the matter. i don't think she'd want to feel like a deadbeat.)
i've thought about this for. ages!! so here's my little idea of sara's job history, higher education track, and what she eventually settles on!
i think once she's graduated highschool, sara occasionally tutors + helps with kendo instruction. i think she'd continue with this for a few years, maybe until she's 19-20, with the immediate mental strain and torture of the. Death Game. weighing too heavy on her for her to consider long-term employment or schooling. but sara is a learner! she is curious! she yearns to do stuff!! so i think she'd decide on actually attending university!
now— i think she'd roll around the idea of what she wants to do with her life a lot, as any 19-20something does, but i think the people around her (ryoko, joe, reko, nao) all have pretty firm ideas of who they are and what they want to do, which leaves her isolated. initially, i've always been set on sara doing something in the criminology field, as a kind of. stick it to the man type deal— but ive since changed my mind.
sara is smart. she likes a challenge. we know this— and not to say that the criminology field doesn't require that (it absolutely does), i think that she'd have a hard time separating work and her past. so recently, when writing fic that'll inevitably get scrapped, i see sara pursuing something in more of a medical field. which then got me thinking, what would she do! i rolled around a couple ideas in my head, from a general nurse to audiology to speech pathology— but i think an ultrasound technician really fits sara's vibe. if that makes sense.
i think she'd want to be doing something where she feels important, like a moving piece in someone's life! which is why i think she'd pursue a clinical laboratory technology degree. with this, i think sara would work at a health screening center (big thing in japan, basically a branch of preventative medicine culture) which would have her doing routine things like ECGs blood draws etc on healthy everyday citizens. i don't see her working in a fast paced environment like an emergency room (i think the possibility of her seeing shit that digs up old memories is too high), so she goes with a more relaxed approach. steady hours and a predictable pace, but still engaging and brain stimulating enough that she finds it fufillling. yay!
picture sara chidouin in scrubs. i am. i am so hard.
also considering actually posting my simulation theory. sprawling universe, how i think it'd work, how everyone would cope, what they'd be doing afterwards etc. i think im the last person alive to care about yttd right now but if anyone finds that interesting stay tuned i guess. lolol. if you made it this far thanks for listening to my rambling!
feels so absurd to be in an actually active fandom for once jfhdhcdhf im always into obscure games with dead fandoms that were already small in the first place !!
To the people who are writing Ryanaim calling each other "sweetheart" or "dear" or honestly even "babe": have you ever spoken to a teenage boy before. Two of my friends in high school dated for years and they called each other almost exclusively dude. I feel like there's a deeper problem with this within the characterization of the two (i.e. one of them always needing to be the 'soft one' in any given situation. Even if it switches off depending on the scenario it still seems like we're enforcing heterosexual norms) but I can't find the words to explain my thoughts on that right now. My main point is neither of them is emotionally intelligent to write poetry about the other and the only pet name Naim calls Ryan is "cunt".
sorry leviticus twitter has such a deep. deeply ingrained mischaracterization issue for naim its driving me Crazy !!!!!
absolutely nothing wrong w/ ryanaim being soft for each other— like, i'm down with that! but it gets to a point! have we forgotten that they're both repressed teenage boys. like. i've been noticing it get steadily worse and worse after june 19th. but oh my god.
maybe it's because a lot of the film duration has naim completely terrified, crying, etc— but are we forgetting that he's kinda a bitch sometimes? impulsively starting physical scuffles he knows he can't win with ryan, their second kiss in the mill? he has such a snappy and petty side to him that i wish more people not only explored but even noted in the first place sighhh
i'm sorry i do not think naim fucking reid is the wimp people are making him out to be!!!!!!
once again it’s a little bit of “ryan whelan is aussie in a way you will never understand” but ryan is not the soft hair-stroking “i love you so much baby” words of affirmation golden retriever that twitter seems to think he is. this kid is fighting for his life against 17 years of socialisation which tells aussie teen boys that asking for help or talking about their feelings or not taking a joke is the cardinal sin.
ryan who holds naim close in bed in the morning and kisses him tenderly and there’s worlds of love and affection in the gentle brush of their mouths and his heart feels full to bursting with the terrifying, perfect knowledge that this boy could do anything to him and it wouldn’t change a thing about the way he feels and says “cunt your breath fucking stinks”.
ryan who looks at naim across the table when they’re out with friends for drinks and his expression is so unbearably soft and fond that naim can’t even meet his eyes and ryan who nudges naim’s foot under the table just to make sure they’re still touching, always touching, and ryan who laughs like a lovesick fool at every one of naim’s lame jokes and ryan who slings an arm around his shoulder when they’re walking home from the tram stop and says “you’re so fucking annoying when you’re drunk”.
ryan who gets on his knees for naim at every opportunity, ryan whose singular focus and slavish worship makes naim feel like the only man in the world, ryan who runs his filthy mouth just for the pleasure of seeing naim blush, ryan who picks naim up from uni every afternoon and makes his coffee every morning and brushes kisses on naim’s neck whenever they pass in the kitchen, ryan who looks at naim and wonders if love feels like this for everyone else, like a sun inside him, like an ocean, like a flower blooming again and again, ryan who tries to say you’re so perfect, i’m made for you, i’m yours, i’d rather be dead than not be yours, but can only manage “you know i’d do anything for you, right?” and even that is so raw and revealing that he feels naked right down to his soul.
something so special to me about a post-cannon ryanaim in their shitty motel room getting absolutely shitfaced in front of eachother for the first time ever ... aughh
i think ryan probably knows his limits after getting terribly blackout drunk once or twice so he's generally pretty good about gauging how much farther he can go but. something so Healing about the two of them absolutely lost in the sauce lmaooo
++ to me, naim errs on sleepy when he's drunk but! i do think his filter drops! not that he really had one in the first place— i just think it's a lot harder for him to bite back any snarky remarks lol. i could see ryan swinging either way in that regard
+++ i think their only option is going to be cheap shitty beer for awhile, but i think naim could get down w/ a gin and lemonade cocktaaaaaail
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