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prettieinpink · 5 months

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NEW YEAR, NEW ME

( A collab with thee lovely lele @bloombabydoll )

If you want to reinvent and rebrand yourself, or just continue to make positive improvements in 2024, the first thing is to evaluate your current year.

EVALUATION

Reflect on how things went for you. Was there continuous growth? Were there many difficult times? Did you discover anything major about yourself and so on. Try to summarise your year in (a) paragraph(s) at least.

Oversee your goals. Which ones you didn’t, did achieve, difficult ones, easy ones and the impacts it had on your life.

Compare your dream girl then and now. Is your visualisation of your life currently different to the one you have now and why?

List any major losses or successes you’ve had in your life, and how they have helped you or why it matters to you.

This evaluation can be as detailed or simple as you like, but as long as you have a decent outline of your year.

PREPARING & PLANNING

To prepare for 2024, you want to know what you want life to be like in 2024. Something realistic to a point, but still is a growth journey.

Think of something that you can associate with 2024. This can be a word, a symbol, art, a song, a book, a movie, a place, or even just all of these things. When you think about your goals and your journey, this is your theme. This is something that should relate to your goals or your dream girl somehow.

For me, I chose a word and a song. My word is growth because, for me, 2023 was a year for just being able to shed my old self which I did achieve however I just felt there wasn’t much growth as an actual person and not just in my environment.

For my song, it is Mayflowers by Proleters and Taskrok. This song is the epitome of what I would imagine, is the most polished mindset. I would say perfect, but having a perfect mindset is near impossible. I want to have a mindset glow up because I’ve just been hard on myself lately which has caused my confidence to plummet.

Before we get into the fun part of the preparation stage, we have to do some organisation in our life. I want you to take a look at your daily lifestyle and your habits, and be completely unashamed about this.

Then categorise these habits into two sections; Leave and Leap. Leave habits are habits that you are leaving behind in 2023, leap habits are habits that are leaping into 2024 with you.

Any habits that are self-destructive, addictive or generally harmful are leave habits. Beneficial habits and self-building are leaping with you into the new year.

I want you to do the same for people in your life, all environments (school, work, online etc) and anything else you believe needs to be sorted out.

This works better if you can reason with yourself why it is a leaping or leaving habit, but don’t try to convince yourself a bad habit is good or vice versa.

Now, I want you to document an honest paragraph about who you are right now. List your bad and good habits, your strengths and weaknesses and your behaviours. This one requires a bit more detail.

Then, write a paragraph about who you will be in 2024, your dream girl. List her habits, lifestyle, behaviours, mindset, strengths and anything else extra. I’ll explain later but do not include materialistic desires in this your dream girl. Once again, this one also requires details.

Stemming from those paragraphs, I want you to create specific and achievable goals. SMART goals are best, but I want to introduce you to how I set goals.

I divide my year into quarters. For each 3 months, I have 3-5 goals for those months. Usually, it’s one from each area of my life. Then, I break down these goals.

Questions and How They Help

Why do I want to do this goal - For motivation and commitment.

How it’ll benefit me - For the sake of improvement.

How can I involve myself in this goal - To achieve your goal.

I prefer this method because it is a lot simpler for me, as I am just a young girl and my bigger goals are more in the future in which I’ll utilise SMART goals.

To create good goals; Make sure they align with your current values and life principles first. Try to avoid creating goals that you have just taken from the internet. Those goals just aren’t it and you most likely won’t follow through with it.

Be specific. Don’t say you want to eat more healthily, instead say you want to include (a certain group of veggies/fruits) in your diet and reduce the intake of ( food/drink).

E.g using eating healthy example

I want to eat healthy -> I want to start including foods that boost my immunity system and support my skin while reducing those that have the opposite effect.

Then break down those quarterly goals into monthly, weekly and daily goals. Make these habits that you can establish in your lifestyle and have a way in which you can refer back to your progress.

EXAMPLE GOAL BREAKDOWN

Quarterly Goal - Read 6 books.

Monthly Goal - Finish 2 books.

Weekly Goal - Be or near half way of one book.

Daily Goal - 20 minutes of reading per day.

AREAS TO SET GOALS IN YOUR LIFE

Academics

Spiritual

Fitness/sport

Health and wellbeing

Mental health

Personal life

Relationships

Hobbies and recreation

Now for the best part- vision boards! Collect all of your favourite images that embody your quarters or the whole year, then put them in one place where you can see them regularly!

Some ideas are a scrapbook, Pinterest boards, mood boards, playlists etc.

Choose your theme; It can be your healthy girl era, your academic come back or whatever you want. You can have more than two btw.

Use quotes! Then actually say them in your daily life as a way to shift your mindset to reflect said quote.

Include inspirational people. It doesn't even have to be a millionaire or a very well established person, it could be your friends or someone on the internet.

Be imaginative. Your vision board doesn't have to realistic in my opinion, as the whole point of it to me is that viewing it daily and considering it to be part of your life one day allows for you to open up to those opportunities.

Materialistic Wants

I feel obligated to make this a separate section. This section is practically tangible objects that you want.

However, when choosing this said object that you want, mindfully think about why you want that thing specifically.

It doesn’t have to be meaningful, but as long as each thing on that list has got a purpose to you, and will serve you, I think it’s all good!

Conclusion

If you want, you can definitely start implementing habits before January. However, I believe that as long as you go into 2024 at least knowing who you want to be and shedding away any limiting beliefs, you’ll be fine.

Make sure to incorporate some self care rituals into your daily life as well✨

To end this, I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas! And that 2024 they will achieve to close that gap with their current selves and their dream girl selves! 💖🙏

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ladymelisande · 9 months

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The reaction to this season could be summarised as:

Fandom decides to be deliberately obtuse about how stories and three-act-story structure works.

Guys, even YouTube videos explain how stories work, will tell you this magical phase:

The couples often break up in the second act.

Remember the homework Neil sent about watching P&P? Okay, think very hard and remember... What happened in the second act of that story?

It's not queerbaiting, you are just allergic to conflict, honestly.

I literally work teaching children and yet I think the kids are less obtuse about things than this fandom. And if I am talking to you are it's because I am repeating, many times, that you need to cool off and think before you go for your pitchforks to the writers for obeying basic rules of storytelling.

PS, but also warning because I'm tired of seeing the same thing: No offence, but I am the literal last person someone can come with the excuse of “We are behaving like appalling arseholes because we have been oh so burned before [insert tragic backstory]”. I don't give a shit how “burned” you were and how much you “suffered”. Back in the times of Sherlock or Doctor Who fandoms, I wasn't the kind of kid to side with the fandom acting like fucking shits because something in the didn't go the way they wanted. I was on the side that got harassed by the so called 'victims' because I said this behaviour was shit. So, honestly, spare me your tragic backstory about the Sherlock or DW or whatever “burned”. I am not gonna side with you because I never did. Period.

#good omens spoilers #good omens #last post about this I swear #I need to finish watching but the STUPIDITY is trying my nerves

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aestrayla · 5 months

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use me ft. gojo satoru & geto suguru

summary: after passing out, you wake up disoriented with a white haired man smiling down at you… how long have you been out for? what’s satoru doing to you?? and who’s that at the door?? ft. gojo + geto x f!reader

cw: 18+ SMUT and sexual themes. minors and ageless blogs DO NOT interact, unprotected sex, threesome, fwb, cum, oral (f! + m! receiving), cunnilingus, clitoral play, pet names (princess, angel, pretty, pretty girl, baby), mating press, praising

word count: 1.3k

a/n: bye idk how to summarise this silly fic. anyways, i wrote this at 2 am with my eyes half closed so it might be shitty idk lol.

your eyes shot open as you shakily gasped for air, the feeling of your aching legs and sweaty body snapping you back to reality as you reached out for the wrists of the man that was pounding deep inside of you. your pussy was completely soaked as his cock disappeared into you, gliding through your gummy walls.

“oh y’r back, princess. didn’t think you’d wake up yet,” he smugged.

how long had you’d been knocked out for? what time was it? your eyes flickered to the clock that rested on the wall, 5:43 PM.

you were out for almost an hour?! and even then, that was only after two whole hours of satoru making you climax after climax.

you didn’t mind helping satoru out like this— well usually. some days he wound get so pent up and needed something to ease his mind. it’s all nice and sweet to offer to take him to his favourite dessert cafe or the arcade, but nothing was better than being able to sink his throbbing cock inside of you. he insists your pussy was made for him after all.

you don’t quite remember when you had first agreed to do this for him, to be his own personal fleshlight that he could use for hours on end whenever he felt like it. though it’s not like it was a one-way street, if you were feeling lustful and needy you, by all means, had full access to him. although you didn’t quite take as much advantage of this than he did.

sometimes he’d have you to himself for what seemed like forever— times like today. i mean of course you knew how strong he was, especially because he was able to subconsciously use infinity 24/7, but you didn’t realise how much stamina and adrenaline he’d have to be able to go on round after round.

“please, ‘toru…” you whined. your body was aching all over with love bites blooming across your chest. his thrusts slowed as he leaned over to cage you under his body, warmth radiating off of him, while softly whispering into your ear, “‘m almost done princess, just hold on a while longer f’ me ‘kay?”

you whined in response as his hips began to snap faster once again. his soft pants beside your ear had almost muffled the sound of the soft click of the dorm door closing, and the tapping of footsteps on their way towards the living room.

a soft and playful hum in the corner of the room had you swerving your head back to see who it was.

“hmm? what’s going on here, satoru?” the dark-haired man queered as he slumped himself against the wall. satoru paid no mind to him, continuing to handle you and even pushing you further into the sofa.

“suguru…” you called out, “too— ‘s too much!”

he simpered at your little attempt to call for help before sighing, “satoru, give the poor girl a break. she’s not a rag doll.”

satoru chuckled, “she’s a big girl, she can handle it. besides, it’s not like it’s her first time takin’ me.”

“is she okay with that though? you sure you don’t need me to step in, angel?” geto purred with a lopsided smile.

“i can— mmn! take it!” you cried in between thrusts. your juices mixed with satoru’s cum made loud squelches as he rammed himself inside of you. small whimpers escaped your trembling lips as you pulled and tugged at his soft white hair.

the sight of the two of you moaning into each others ears while grasping onto one another, had suguru shifting against the wall as he started to groan under his breath, slightly annoyed at his growing erection.

he cursed under his breath before pushing himself off the wall, taking long strides towards you.

“mm… think you can take one more then, angel?”

your pretty eyes staring up at him while your mouth hung agape was enough to have him crumbling to his knees, though he had to keep his composure, smiling at you with an affectionate gaze.

“uh— huh!” you gasped as satoru rammed harder into you, pushing your thighs into your chest as your eyes rolled back into your skull. the sight of you had geto feeling dizzy as he let his pants drop to his ankles before shaking them off.

your eyes widened as his heavy cock sprung out, eying the pre-cum that glazed his blushed tip. he gave it few long strokes before asking, “can i?”

you nodded your head in approval before his fat tip had pushed past your lips, hitting the back of your throat, causing tears to sprout from your eyes, “good girl,” he hummed.

as suguru shoved his cock into your mouth again and again, your loud moans had turned into incoherent muffles. the feeling of being fully stuffed had your eyes rolling so far back, it felt like you were on cloud nine.

reaching out, you began to fondle with suguru’s balls, watching him knock his head back while groaning, “fuckk…”

in the midst of watching suguru drown in pleasure, you began to mewl uncontrollably as satoru began to rub his fingers roughly against your clit, “mmf—!“

“keep y’r— fuck… eyes on me, pretty. i’m the one who’s fuckin’ up this pretty pussy,” satoru groaned as he slapped your cunt, causing you to clench around him, “shit!”

you could feel satoru twitch inside of you, his thrusts becoming erratic, “god im gonna— hah… cum,” he groaned, “you’ll let me cum inside one last time, right pretty girl?”

you found it cute how after all this time, he still asks you for permission. you hummed a quick yes before he was moaning out your name, the warm, velvety liquid shooting ropes inside of you, your insides being painted a creamy white.

only a fraction of a second later, was geto plunging his cock far down your throat. your mewling turning into stupid little hums. he grabbed a fistful of your hair, pulling you towards him as he shoved himself deeper and deeper. the warmth of your mouth enveloping his full length.

“fuck.. that’s right, angel. feels so good.” you could barely keep your eyes open, tears spilling from the edges of your eyes, blurring your vision. with one hand suguru is swiping the tears away from your eyes, “doing so good f’ me… gonna cum soon.”

you reach out for his length, wrapping your hands around him. you could feel him jerk against your touch, as he released his heavy grip on your hair, fingers now just interlaced in them. he watched you carefully as you worked around him, glazing his cock with your saliva, which messily dripped past your lips.

a long stripe up your pussy had you whipping your legs closed, before they were pushed back open by a pair of strong arms.

“baby, lemme taste you,” satoru hummed. your squirming in satoru’s arms had you chasing your high, while your hands began to move faster along suguru’s length.

the twitching of his cock told you he was close, while satoru’s tongue began to prod and poke at your entrance while drawing circles along your clit.

“oh shit—“ suguru groaned as spurts of his cum began to rush out into your mouth. simultaneously, satoru had your legs quivering as you came onto his mouth. you could see a glimpse of his smirk behind your legs, as he licked up your arousal from his lips.

as geto pulled out, it left a pop sound leaving your mouth, “fuck that was good. really good” he exhaled.

“right? and you always wonder why im with her, ” satoru chuckled, as he wrapped your ankles around his neck, hugging your calves.

“so, mind if i use her sometime?”

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meraki-yao · 2 months

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Now I'm curious to know all the "candies" between Nick and Tay 👀 lol I don't ship them but I also find it interesting that some fans really ship real people together and gather evidence or proof of it. If its fine with you to share it pls do 🙏 but if not its also fine :)

Huh...

Actually, sure! I kinda wanted to share some of these at times but again I understand that rps is a complicated subject.

A couple of quick prefaces though:

1, If you’re uncomfortable with the subject, again, please don’t read under the post

2, I don’t have all the candies because I really just view them in passing, so I’m just gonna write/translate the ones I’ve seen, remember and find at least a logical speculation

3, I need to reiterate this in case my position in this gets misunderstood: Me writing about “candies” isn’t because these are MY opinion or things *I* found or *I* believe in them being evidence. I am just a translator and messenger.

4, (this one is gonna sound a little academic lol) Two things I realized when thinking about this “candy eating” culture is that Chinese people have a very difference understanding of platonic/romantic affection/relationships with the Western world, and that they look at the candies with rose-tinted glass. Chinese/Asian people are generally a lot less affectionate with their personal relationships, for example friends wouldn’t say “love you” to each other if they’re just friends, nor would they expand their friend group to the others easily or other stuff. And these people who look for candy go into their “investigation” already with the belief that “they are together”, everything remotely resembling a close relationship will automatically be interpreted as romantic. I thought about it a lot, and honestly among the “candies” I’ve seen, most of them are a matter of interpretation: yes those are things couples will do, but it wouldn’t be weird if friends did it too. So they’re not that seriously or up for further speculation. There is I think only one “candy” that I can’t quite say the same, which I will explain and elaborate on in this post.

5, Please remember that the people who do this do it in good nature: something I didn’t make clear in my post yesterday, which is on me, is that the fans do want them to be together, but they’re not like… yandere level or something. If they’re just friends the fans won’t be upset or betrayed or anything, they just prefer to see them as romantic. They don’t mean any harm, and they don’t cause any harm because China is physically and digitally too far away for them to actually fuck shit up, and they understand the lines of parasocial relationships: those who met with Taylor during his China trip in December know to, and didn’t bring up this in front of him. They know where to draw the line, and whoever doesn’t and starts becoming a problem gets kicked out of the community. This is meant for fun.

6, Ok Future Meraki here, turns out, there’s a lot to translate, a lot more than I anticipated Jesus Christ and I do want to get this post how within today and make it a reasonable length, so I’m just gonna do two events and the one that I mentioned in 4. If yall want a part 2 let me know.

Ok with that being said, the main event under the cut:

In December they made a whole article about “candies” from December, and to quickly summarise (again noted that all of this is speculation, I didn’t and can’t fact check them, and I’m just a translator) (also this ended up way longer than I anticipated so for photo reference if you can please go to the link of the original article):

Academy Gala:

Nick and Taylor both attended the gala: Since the strike ended up to that point, the two times Nick attends a public event, Taylor’s there too (GQ men of the year and Academy Gala), and for both times he’s wearing Cartier’s Tank Must Watch (remember this watch, I’m gonna elaborate on it later because it is the only candy that even I can’t say it’s a matter of interpretation)

In various pictures of the night’s party that other people took, the boys can be seen together in the background

How the photography worked that night was magazine photographers wandered around the venue and randomly found people to take some relatively candid photos: so people who were walking/sitting/in any way sticking together would be photographed together. So best friends and married couples would be photographed together, which is what happened to Meryl Streep, Greta Gerwig, Saoirse Ronan, and Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy and their wives. With that logic, Taylor and Nick were caught by the photographer together TWICE, in clearly different places. Later Korean fans (with the same “candy-searching” mindset) read the time on Taylor’s watch in the photos: one was 8:30, one was 9:50. The implication is that they were together for at least that period of time (nearly 1.5 hours)

In both photos of the boys together, Nick’s elbow is…straight up leaning into Taylor's chest. In a photo with Kaia, Nick’s friend and co-star from Bottoms (Brittany), there’s visible space between Nick and Kaia but none between Nick and Taylor (… okay I’m gonna pop in with my own opinion on the latter one real quick: I really think that one is just Nick being a gentleman)

During that night, Taylor re-posted an Instagram post from July onto Little Red Book: but the things is in the comment section of the original Instagram post, Taylor teasingly pretends to not know Nick; and according to the posting time and the time calculated in 3, Nick would have been watching him post that to Little Red Book.

Nick got a photo with Taylor’s friend Jay Ellis (Jay and Taylor follow each other on Instagram, and Taylor comments under Jay’s post), even though Nick and Jay don’t seem to have any direct connections. Kaia and Taylor started following each other on Instagram after the event.

While other people who got photos with Taylor posted them, in Taylor’s Instagram Post for the night: He only included his photo with Nick, the rest are all solo portraits of himself. Not only that: he edited the background of the photo so it’s just them, and proceeded to put the photo in the middle of the post.

a bunch of Taylor's good friends, including Taylor’s cousin went to like Nick’s post for the academy gala night. Taylor’s sister Ash shared Taylor’s post to her stories: 2 photos of Taylor himself, and the one photo of Taylor and Nick. Taylor mentioned in a past interview if he had any emotional or relationship (I don’t know which one is the right translation, the original wording is 感情) issues, he would talk to Ash. (please note that I didn’t not and don’t know how to fact-check any of the things mentioned above except for Ash’s Instagram)

Conclusion/ Speculation (okay the academy gala part alone took me 40 minutes what the fuck): I cannot reiterate this enough: THIS IS JUST SPECULATION DO NOT TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY but under the assumption that Taylor and Nick are a thing, the serious of shenanigans that happened that night, especially with the family and friends stuff in 6,7,8, was interpreted as they announcing it to their personal social circle. AGAIN THIS IS SPECUALTION DON’T TAKE THIS SERIOSULY

Taylor’s China Trip

On 7th December, Taylor had a photo shoot at the GQ gala venue, but spent the rest of the afternoon taking photos and signing things for fans. Among those, one was the photo of him and Nick from the academy gala just three days ago. He was visibly extra happy and showed off the photo to the crowd, unlike the other photos which he simply gets it, signs it, and then gives it back.

This day was also the start of “Taylor giving Nick/Henry a moustache”: throughout the trip, he drew on four photos of the two of them

(This one is a … really big stretch) among the four, one of them was the GQ magazine shoot, and he first drew the moustache on Nick’s face, giggling “I’ll sign on Nick’s face”, signed his own signature, then just when he was about to give the magazine back he suddenly changed his mind and said “wait wait I wanna do something on my face”, and then drew a crown on his head while muttering “crown prince”. And the thing is… historically, George Villers had a moustache. And then he drew a moustache on Nick and a crown on himself. Also, one of the most popular Chinese RWRB fic on AO3 is called “The King’s Palace”, and the premise is putting Henry in George place as the social climber and the Duke of Buckingham (it is literally George’s character with blonde hair and a different name), and Alex as the crown prince who ascended to the throne and is also utterly infatuated with Henry. So… yeah.

When he drew the fourth photo, which was the piano scene, the fan who asked said “Oh you’re so nice to Nick!” and according to their description (there’s no video), Taylor blushed a little and said “yeaahhhhh” with a big grin

While Taylor was in China people were stirring shit up on Twitter about him, and during the Twitter drama, Nick liked Taylor’s Academy Gala post.

The boys liked the same video on Instagram but from different accounts (a video about a pony in the snow)

During the trip, Taylor was seen wearing a white button-up with blue stripes. Nick has been seen wearing a shirt that looks identical before.

Cartier Watch (aka the one that makes me do a double take)

Taylor used to wear a lot of Cartier watches until he started wearing Tagheuer last July due to a commercial partnership

Nick likes wearing Omega watches. In fact, Henry’s watch in the movie is Nick’s own omega watch. He also has a commercial partnership with Omega.

But then starting last year, both of them were seen wearing matching Cartier’s Tank Must Watches (the silver on with a black surface and a sapphire crown): Taylor can be seen wearing it in the 5th photos of his September post, while Nick can be seen wearing it during the GQ gala, the Academy Gala, in Milan during fan interactions, and last weekend in his TIOY co-star’s Instagram story.

And the thing about this watch is (and here is where I need to reiterate that I’m just translating, I didn’t fact check this) 1, watch is a typical thing to give a lover, and you must be familiar with their wrist size 2, Cartier is a pretty romantic brand 3, the price of this watch is closer to what Taylor’s used to wearing but much cheaper than Omega 4, This specific watch is a popular watch to give a partner/lover, 5, David and Victoria Beckham’s relationship was discovered because paparazzi saw the Cartier watch he gave her and connected dots together

Jesus Christ at this point I should consider getting a part time job in translation

This was fun but this took me so much time, it’s ~2000 words long

Again, all of this was found and speculate for fun, and mean no ill will, and haven’t, and won’t harm the boys, please understand that and don’t take this took seriously. If you find this interesting and want a part two, let me know.

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb movie #taylor zakhar perez #nicholas galitzine #alex claremont diaz #henry hanover stuart fox #henry fox mountchristen windsor #firstprince #taynick #meraki essay #meraki translates #i genuinely like doing this but they tend to take so much energy out of me #it's fucking 1 30 AM i need to go to sleep #Anon ask #Answered

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steventhusiast · 8 months

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On a Platform With You

you can also read this on ao3

modern steddie meet-cute at the train station

Steve's had to get used to a lot of things, moving from the middle of nowhere to the outskirts of a city. But one thing he doesn't mind is replacing his morning drive to work with a public transport commute. There's something nice about being able to read a book and relax as the train takes him to the station nearest to his job.

The first time he gets the train, he's quite nervous about it. What if he gets on the wrong train? What if he ends up late to work? Hence, he's very much in his own head trying to remember which platform he needs to be on and at what time, and almost misses him.

The sound of someone cursing to themselves (quite loudly for 8:35 in the morning) along with the thud of something/one hitting the ground draws his attention to the other platform of the small above-ground station. He's initially worried someone had fallen down some steps or having a medical episode, but then his eyes find the person that had cursed. And there quite possibly the most beautiful man Steve's ever seen is stood with his hands on his hips as he looks at his guitar case on the ground, open where the latch had come open with the impact of him dropping it.

The mystery man has dark hair that's long and wavy, and Steve can't quite see his face completely, but he's pretty sure he has bangs. The man bends down to re-close his guitar case and Steve lets his eyes trail down the man's body to look at his outfit (and maybe admire his figure). It's not the kind of thing Steve would wear, that's for sure, but the ripped jeans and slightly tatty band t-shirt covered in a simple flannel shirt undeniably suit the man. Steve notices the abundance of rings on mystery man's fingers, and the beginnings of a tattoo peeking out from the bottom of his rolled up sleeves just before his train pulls into the station and obscures his view.

On the way to work, Steve can't help the way mystery man stays on his mind. He wonders what he was doing at the station so early in what didn't look like work clothes, wonders if he's good at guitar, and mostly wonders if he'll see him again.

He doubts it, but the idea of seeing the gorgeous man again makes him smile a little, so he hopes so.

Since then, the man is somehow at the station when Steve gets there for his commute to work. Without fail. Every day.

Sometimes he's sat on a bench with a book held open in one large hand, eyes focused and brows slightly furrowed. Sometimes he's got his phone pressed to his ear while he speaks animatedly into it, using his free hand to gesture wildly. Sometimes he's just leaning against the wall, eyes looking droopy and sleepy as he watches the departure board vacantly.

One day Steve and mystery man even make eye contact. Mystery man jumps a bit when he looks up and notices Steve’s eyes on him, and then his eyes scrunch up a little as he offers Steve a smile and a reserved wave. It's adorable.

At his next hang out with Robin after that occurrence, Steve brings up mystery man to Robin. He knows she's going to make so much fun of him for his crush based on nothing but watching the guy from afar, but when they settle on his couch with their takeout boxes and she asks him how things are going in his new place, he has to tell her.

"So- you're telling me you see him every morning, and you think he's hot or whatever, but you haven't talked to him?" She summarises with one eyebrow raised, looking decidedly unimpressed.

Steve nods with a shrug.

"If some random guy came up to me at 8:35 in the morning when I'm on my way to work and flirted with me I'd be really weirded out." He says to defend himself.

Robin rolls her eyes.

"I may be a failure at relationships, but you're Steve Harrington! Need I remind you how you had every girl at high school wrapped around your finger in maybe three minutes of talking to them? I hate to say it, but you're pretty smooth, Stevie. If you think he's hot, and you wanna talk to him, I say talk to him. What's the worst that could happen?" She pauses to scoop a mouthful of food into her mouth, and then holds one hand out to silence Steve when he goes to open his mouth, "Actually, don't answer that."

"I'm not king Steve anymore though. And I doubt my dumbass pickup lines that worked when I was fifteen will work now. I haven't been smooth at all that stuff since maybe when I managed to get Nance to date me." He says, letting himself be a little dramatic just for Robin's awkward attempt at a pep talk.

"Okay, well. Either you talk to him, or you're banned from mooning about him to me during our sacred takeout time." She says with a shrug. Steve deflates a little, because that definitely is not the pep talk he's looking for.

"Compromise time." He suggests, "If, and that's a big if, we somehow end up on the same train- hell, even the same platform -at the same time, I promise I'll talk to him."

He's looking at the ceiling as he says it, and when Robin doesn't respond immediately he looks over at her and sees her with an expectant pinkie held out. He shakes it with his.

"Deal." She says.

Admittedly, he doesn't expect it to ever happen. Mystery man is always on the other platform. A safe distance away for Steve to admire. That's why he makes the promise; he's pretty confident he'll never have to fulfill it.

But then, not even a week later, Steve has to pause after he walks onto his platform. Because mystery man isn't on the other platform. He's sad about it for a moment, before he looks around to see if any benches are free and sees mystery man sat on one, his guitar case leaning against the free seat next to him.

His breath catches, because, fuck, now he has to keep his promise to Robin. If he doesn't, she'll know. Somehow. They're psychically linked, he swears. She knows everything.

He steels himself where he's stood, takes a deep breath, and tries to work up the courage to go over to the guy. All he has to do is say hi, maybe make some small talk. He could ask about his guitar? Would that be annoying? He's staring at the other platform, trying to consider if it would be inappropriate to ask about the rings on the man's fingers, when someone clears their throat next to him.

He jolts a little where he's stood, and glances over to see mystery man himself stood there, looking slightly nervous but with a small, easy smile on his face. Steve's frozen for a second, eyes wide, but eventually he offers the man what he hopes is a friendly smile.

"Are you my appendix?" Mystery man blurts out.

Steve's eyebrows furrow, all of his nerves replaced with pure confusion.

"What?" He mutters.

"Because I have no idea what you do or how you work, but I feel like I should take you out."

There's silence for a good five seconds after mystery man finishes his incredibly lame attempt at a pickup line, and Steve keeps his eyes on him as his small smile slowly fades to a more anxious expression. And then Steve laughs, because what the fuck?

"What the fuck, that was awful." He giggles, and lifts one hand to cover his mouth as he does, because he should not be smiling so big at that awful flirting attempt. Definitely a worse one than what he was going to attempt.

Mystery man looks relieved, and then leans on the wall next to Steve and angles his whole body toward him. Having all of the man's attention is a little overwhelming, but good.

"Awful?" He scoffs, seeming affronted, "If it was awful, why're you smiling so big at it, hm? Yeah, I can still see it even though you tried to hide it, pretty boy."

Steve flushes at the words, and bites his lip.

"You calling me pretty boy is skipping at least four relationship steps." He retorts. It gets a laugh out of mystery man, before he leans even closer to Steve.

"Maybe I should start with asking for your name then?"

"Steve."

"Nice to meet you, Steve. I'm Eddie." Not-so-mystery man introduces himself, and then pauses briefly before smiling, "Now can I call you pretty boy?"

Steve rolls his eyes, but nods.

They continue talking until the train pulls up, and Steve is once again made aware of just how close they'd been standing when Eddie leaves his personal bubble to lean down and pick up his guitar case so they can board the train.

They sit together, knees touching, and Steve smiles as Eddie squints and tries to read the announcement screen on their carriage. It's turned off, so Eddie turns to Steve after a moment.

"This is really embarrassing, but where does this train actually go?" Eddie asks.

"What?" Steve asks, confused.

"So... I maybe only got on this train because I wanted a chance to talk to you? I normally get on the train that comes to platform 2 at this time..." Eddie confesses, and Steve laughs a little again.

"I know."

Eddie may have awful pickup lines, but he's definitely more bold than Steve. He thinks they'll mesh quite well. Hopefully for a while.

#steddie #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie drabble #steddie ficlet #been trying to write this for a solid month #finally like what i ended up with :D #mywriting

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symphonybracket · 5 months

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YouTube links: Mahler 2, Tchaikovsky 6

Comments:

Mahler 2

Have you ever wanted to feel like you're going to shake apart into a billion pieces if someone so much as looks at you. That's how I feel after listening to this beast. This symphony changed my life for real. It's famous for it's ending and for good reason!! It truly feels like your soul is getting blown up and steamrolled. Listening to it live was like getting peeled by god. It calls for 10 horns which is how you know it's going to fuck severely. It comes in 5 movements: good lord oh my god, hehe teehee, oh so that's why they call it the death shriek, crying on the floor for 5 minutes, and I Have Died. The part known as the "Death Shriek" is shown below! And if you're interested in learning more about the symphony, here's my favorite analysis website!

It's an everything in the universe piece and when I sang in the choir for it I think I actually ascended to a higher plane of existence for 15 minutes

I came across (imo) a good video giving a summarised background of Mahler 2, it’s called ‘Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 2: Explained in 3 Minutes’ by orchestra of the music makers on YouTube

There is also a piano arrangement!

Tchaikovsky 6

Everyone bangs on about the 4th movement but it's the 3rd movement that really hits

tchaik 6 is what i would listen to if i had an hour to live

the 5/4 movement of the tchaik lives rent free in my mind and i think about it every day

It’s beyond gorgeous. The melodies soar, the orchestra swells, and you just need to lie down for a while after listening to it. It’s Romanticism at its zenith. You want to weep and sigh, and it’s impossible to listen to it without literally feeling something.

Symphony No. 6, titled “Pathétique”, was Tchaikovsky’s final symphony. It is an intensely emotional piece, and to many scholars demonstrates the emotional turmoil that characterized much of Tchaikovsky’s life. He died about a week after its premiere, a fact which leads many scholars to debate about whether the content of the piece itself reflects the possibility that he may have committed suicide. The title itself is often translated to mean “impassioned suffering”, although this was most likely a later addition by Modest and not actually part of Tchaikovsky’s vision. Given these facts, many scholars interpret this piece to be about death and suffering. However, this piece can also be seen to represent life and all its contrasting moments. This interpretation is more holistic and inclusive of all of the moments captured in this piece, and also serves to break down the common narrative of Tchaikovsky as a tragic figure.

More comments about Tchaikovsky 6 below the cut (length warning):

Scholarship surrounding Tchaikovsky’s music tends to focus heavily on the ways his confliction over his homoerotic desires appears in his writing. However, his personal letters reveal a much more balanced understanding of himself that goes beyond the common narrative. In one letter written to Modest describing a new relationship with another man, he writes: “I awoke today with a feeling of unknown happiness and with a complete absence of that emotional sobriety that used to make me repent in the morning for having gone too far the day before.” Many of the letters he wrote regarding his relationships demonstrate no shame and no anguish beyond what can be expected of a man living in a homophobic society. It is important to take this information into account when listening to a piece such as this one that has been discussed so frequently, and to understand it beyond the turmoil and strife that it is seen to represent. Like many of Tchaikovsky’s works, this symphony displays a range of human emotions. It is not only representative of tragedy and “impassioned suffering”; it is a depiction of what it is like to live. It is also interesting to note that this piece is used as a signifier of queer desire in the novel "Maurice" by E.M. Forster, a novel also notable for its radical portrayal of a queer man who gets a happy ending. Much to think about there.

The first movement begins with a lone bassoon soloist playing a plaintive minor melody, which later comes back in the strings. As the movement progresses, it grows in intensity and texture. More instruments are added, and the music becomes more frantic, building and building towards the dramatic trumpet fanfare. Throughout this piece, Tchaikovsky continues to make significant use of contrasting dynamics and melodies, reflecting the emotions he hopes to convey through the music. Dramatic, tumultuous sections are interspersed with pastoral woodwind melodies, and the angry brass fanfares give way to a quiet ending.

The second movement is reminiscent of a waltz, and uses the strings and woodwinds more than the brass to achieve its floating melodies. The dynamics ebb and flow to build tension, but this movement never reaches the same levels of anguish that the previous movement does. Tchaikovsky makes use of pizzicato in the strings to convey a lighter, more cheerful mood, and features the upper woodwinds prominently. He also repeats themes frequently, giving the audience something familiar to listen out for as the movement progresses.

The third movement begins with frantic energy in the strings and woodwinds. As more instruments join the rush of music, the underlying eight note accompaniment does not let up, continuing the vivacious beginning through the whole movement. Instruments pass the melodies between each other and engage in conversations across the orchestra. Like the first movement, the brass play a prominent role in creating dramatic climaxes in the music, as well as supporting the march-like conclusion. Conductor Myung-Whun Chung describes the deceptively dramatic ending as, “one of the greatest, most thrilling, but most empty of victories in musical history,” observing that this movement has the energetic finality of a final movement. The reversal of having the true finale be a slower movement represents a shift away from the “Beethovian model of light over darkness” common in most other symphonies of this time period.

As mentioned before, ending on a movement with a slow tempo was a significant shift away from the standard of the time. This innovation inspired many other future composers to use the same technique, most notably Mahler in his Ninth Symphony. The quiet beginning builds up towards a chaotic rush of fast runs throughout the orchestra, only to stop abruptly and continue in halting, cautious bursts of melody. The movement continues with this cycle of rushing up to a climax and backing away as the movement progresses. Tchaikovsky highlights the horns in this movement, giving them both angry, blaring notes which cut through the string melodies and the flowing, lyrical lines that are passed throughout the orchestra. As the piece ends, the instruments fall away until all that is left are steady repeated notes in the basses, bringing this lament of a movement to an understated close.

#Spotify #mahler #tchaikovsky #round 4

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completeoveranalysis · 3 months

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[5]

Caught up in the moment I forgot to comment on Fai’s open affection in holding Lava Lamp’s face before, so here it is again. HEALING.

I'm obsessed actually that the response from both of them was PHYSICAL. Lava Lamp expected them to physically attack him, and he would have accepted that, and they DO respond physically but turn it around into an affectionate gesture instead.

Something about the fact that Lava Lamp, with his guilt and self blame, opens himself up to destruction, but Fai and Kurogane (the people he thinks deserves to kill him the most) use the language he's expecting to show him the opposite of his expectations. They don't hate him, they love him. They don't blame him, they're on his side.

Obsessed with this inversion.

Meanwhile Fai manages to reassure Lava Lamp, tease Kurogane, AND explain their thought processes all at once.

Because ONE of them needs to be able to communicate clearly with words, and it's certainly not the other two!

OOH YES HERE WE GO.

Fai summarised it much faster than I could ever.

Please add me to the list of people that Fai needs to save through his short and clear explanations.

Fai includes Lava Lamp’s guilt as something too much for him to be fairly assigning to himself. To assume that HE ALONE is responsible for every single bad thing that has ever happened IS far beyond the limits of logic, and to let yourself feel guilty for Everything Ever is an unfair price to put on himself as well. Fai’s kind smile goes miles towards showing that they personally know all the tragedy that has happened since the events Lava Lamp began, but if THEY don’t blame Lava Lamp, then he shouldn’t either.

AND THEN WE GET TO KUROGANE EVERYONE SIT DOWN

Kurogane admits that he would probably make the same choice.

BECAUSE HE DID.

Or at least he did a very nice parallel to it, if not quite on the same scale.

In Acid Tokyo, Kurogane was faced with the choice of following Fai’s wishes and letting him die or breaking the rules to save his life. I'm not sure if this is officially labelled a taboo by the text, but removing someone's say in the matter and turning them into a vampire against their will certainly feels like a taboo at the very least.

Either way, Kurogane chose to break the rules to save Fai. (And his wording here specifies that he had already decided to "protect" Fai BEFORE that moment as well, which I love endlessly yes please. Even before the Acid Tokyo climax Kurogane had already included Fai in the circle of people he loves)

Kurogane paid the negative consequences of his actions too. But he still did it, doesn’t regret it, and would do it again. So his choices are analogous to Lava Lamp’s.

Fai is the same. When Evil Wolverine offered him a deal that went against the laws of the universe (bringing someone back to life is certainly a taboo), Fai took the deal. He went along with Evil Wolverine’s evil plan in order to save his loved one - it just didn’t pan out all the way.

So, all three of these characters WOULD and HAVE made the same call on this exact topic. Break a taboo, save your loved one.

So if ANYONE was going to relate to Lava Lamp, it’s these two.

And it helps that they also love him.

#How interesting that they all have such similar choices #And all face such suffering as a result #And yet it ALL stemmed from One Stupid Man #Who did this all TO them #But without that they never would have found each other either #Liveblogging the reservoir chronicle #Tsubasa #Vol 203 #Kurogane #Fai #Lava Lamp Guy

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elvendorx · 9 months

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The Remus and Sirius height discourse has become so loaded. Today I saw a post claiming that viewing Sirius as taller than Remus means that one supports jkr? (What?)

Canonically, Sirius is taller than Remus. That's just a fact. And I understand that some people don't care about canon, and that's cool!! But even if you don't give a flying fig about canon, that does not make the view that Remus is taller than Sirius any more valid than the reverse, and you can't go around telling other people that they are wrong, or worse, bad people for not agreeing with a version of the character that exists in your head?

Look I get that it would be annoying to have people inject an "ahem actually..." on posts that are clearly based on headcanons. I get that. But that is the natural consequence of taking the names/tags of characters from popular fandoms and using them for your own OCs, and the fact that these fans jump to "they must be horrible people!" as opposed to "they might be confused about my relationship with canon" is... something.

As someone who is neurodivergent, I find that the fandom that claims to love diversity has very little tolerance for people who don't understand the unwritten rules about when canon is and isn't allowed to be used as a reference point. (Somehow, we still hate Snape because canon, but all other canon is garbage?) Sorry for the rant, I'm just tired and confused.

don't be sorry at all, i think this kind of thing needs to be talked about because at its worst, this rhetoric is an attempt at emotional manipulation and censorship. nobody is ever going to 100% agree even with the exact same words on a page - this is the entire literary criticism field, most of the time variation in readings are a good thing but this isn't even a "reading", because it has no bearing on the characters, they just are or aren't a certain height, so it becomes a tool for personal agendas - "if you think sirius was tall, you're a fascist". even though those two facts are not connected, because sirius' height is never anything more than a physical description of him. and it's glaringly obvious that the people who fixate on this aren't interested in sirius as a character, just as a vehicle for their own fantasies/validation.

this is the problem that comes from people trying to put dynamics & personalities that they want to see onto characters who don't fit those moulds. the height thing doesn't actually matter, it doesn't change anything in the narrative, but it summarises the attitude towards canon which for me summarises critical reading & reading comprehension as a whole within hp fandom. i don't think canon is perfect and i don't think it's sacred but i don't understand why you would engage with something that you have to twist out of recognition in order to enjoy it.

part of the fun of fandom, for me, is finding the limits and boundaries while maintaining recognition. at the very least, even if you change everything else, character has to be consistent. you have to recognise who you're working with otherwise what are you doing here? other authors are writing and have written exactly what you want, so why do you need this character with a history and motivations and a distinctive personality to be the ideal version of you/the partner you want (because lbr, that's it!). i'm not saying that people can't use their imaginations and bend things, i do it, and people can do that by bending characters out of recognition if they want. i don't get any enjoyment out of that or see the point in it but i'm not going to try and stop people. it's the flagrant dismissal of logic and evidence that i think is a more dangerous stance when applied more widely.

it's ALWAYS the people who want remus to be taller and sirius to be tiny who have 10 million personal reasons why they need it to be that way around despite it being clear that sirius is specifically tall, and remus is of such average and nondescript height that it's never mentioned. it's nobody else's responsibility to validate anyone's projections onto a fictional character, and your personal reasons for wanting a character to behave in a way that they wouldn't isn't anybody's responsibility. i don't think these kind of people see the irony in how they're trying to force their view on everyone else even though there's direct contradiction to it, yet are claiming that people who go with that feature from the text are violent fanaticists or something.

when you question why it makes such a difference to the "big strong remus and baby boi sirius" people, it comes down to "it's cuter" or "it allows me to simplify m/m relationships into tough and cute and use physical attributes as symbols rather than thinking complexly about personality traits and dynamics." the height thing is basically one step away from top/bottom discourse and just because someone identifies as queer or relates to a character doesn't make it unproblematic. if you need to see a character who represents your specific circumstances, find one or make an original one, imo. it's not an entire fandom's job to validate individuals and it's manipulative to suggest that someone else seeing a character according to the way that character is explicitly described is an act of hatred or violence or something.

apologies if this turned into a rant of its own - i don't CARE that sirius is tall but the attitude towards minor, basic facts is wild to me. it makes no difference to me but idk why you would take being taller than snape away from sirius bc he clearly enjoys being able to tower over him. if i did want to argue that sirius' height makes a difference in the text, i'd say that sirius is tall because padfoot is also a large creature and there seems to be some kind of reflection of the human in animagus forms, whereas the whole werewolf thing is something inflicted externally rather than something that comes from within the person so remus' human height isn't reflected by his lycanthropy. but that's a whole other question i would have to research more.

#txtpst #fandom discourse #sirius black #remus lupin #height discourse #idk i will thank short sirius/tall remus ppl to just leave this alone ty :)

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identitty-dickruption · 2 months

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I feel like tumblr's analysis of the social model of disability would be more coherent if the impairment–disability divide was more broadly understood so I'm going to do my best to briefly summarise that!

before I launch into this, I just want to make a few caveats:

the social model is not my preferred model of disability. I am way more into the political-relational model

I don't necessarily subscribe to the impairment–disability divide in full, and I have my own critiques of it

BUT nothing pains me more than seeing people critique a model I dislike whilst arguing that the model is saying something that it isn't actually saying. so here we go: the impairment–disability divide!

once upon a time, a feminist called Judith Butler (building on the work of Simone de Beauvoir) wrote a book claiming that "sex" and "gender" were separate categories, where sex is natural and gender is social (I, an intersex person, largely disagree with these definitions but that's a different story). she argued that, while the category of gender is usually based on the category of sex, separating the two categories from each other allows for more nuanced cultural analysis

in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a group of disability scholars in the UK read this work and thought that it could be roughly reworked in such a way that it could also apply to disability. HENCE the impairment–disability divide. to them, "impairment" refers to the natural state of having a disability (e.g. not being able to see/hear, not being able to walk, experiencing hallucinations, etc). "disability" refers to the social meanings given to those impairments (e.g. being Deaf)

this is the context that the social model was born into in 1983 by Mike Oliver. he never claimed that disability is 100% social in the way many people would conceive of "disability". he would not agree with claims that disabilities and impairments are completely socially constructed. instead, he was arguing that "disability" is only a coherent category because of various features of social and built environments. he thought that people wouldn't have as much of a need to identify as disabled if they were treated better by society

TLDR: the impairment–disability system breaks disability into two parts (the natural part and the social part). the social model of disability argues that having various impairments would be easier if society was more accessible and less discriminatory

#disability #disability theory #crip theory

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thequeenofsarcaasm · 7 months

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I think i’m so frustrated because at the end of the day I cannot even summarise Gojo’s character arc nor can I define him as a person.

Don’t get me wrong: I love that he’s a complexe character full of contradictions. That’s what makes him compelling but it all feels so incomplete.

The only thing I can say with Absolutely no doubt is that he loved Suguru more than life and death. It’s beautiful and poetic and romantic but It’s not enough for me.

The last chapter makes it seem IMO like he didn’t really care about his students but I know It’s much more complicated than that. I love morally grey characters but when their arc is concluded like this it just seems like they’ll forever be in Schrodinger’s box.

Half of the fanbase thinks it was completely in character for him to do like that, the other half doesn’t agree. And i’m part of the latter. How do you die peacefully when you couldn’t even bury Geto’s body. A body that was violated because of your own mistake????? Akutami, please.

I really need to rewatch the first season and analyse him better. Maybe i’m missing something important but he can’t be THAT selfish and detached. Selfish and detached yes but not to that extent.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk leaks #jjk spoilers #jjk 236 #gojo satoru #satosugu #i’m going crazy over here

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that-ari-blogger · 4 months

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The Episode That Needs No Introduction

This is a post about Promise. And I could end this introduction here and you would know what I'm talking about. Because Promise is the episode that made She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Before this episode, this is a war story, with an abusive parent figure and a femme fatale that the hero will have to overcome and befriend respectively.

Even two episodes prior, in the darkest episode up to that point, this was still a war story. The stakes were barely personal.

Promise is when that changes, and this series becomes psychological. Or rather, reveals just how psychological it has been the entire time.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Promise is one of the most well written episodes of television out there, to the point where several top ten lists for She Ra actively exclude it because it is too obvious of a choice. TheGamer.Com calls it "a masterstroke of emotional storytelling". Meanwhile, Five By Five Takes' video, She Ra's Internal Trilogy is a powerful analysis of Promise in the context of the whole series and is genuinely what inspired me to create this blog in the first place. Promise is good cinema.

I'm going to start with that opening sequence, because it summarises all three characters and their arcs masterfully. Light Hope responds to She-Ra but ignores Adora. Catra is desperate for Adora, but despises She-Ra. So, our protagonist is pulled in both directions, by others and by herself. You get all this from the emotionless dialogue from Light Hope, despite it not stating it directly, and from Catra's expressions.

I am aware that this robot specifically isn't technically Light Hope, but Light Hope is the entire system, so I consider this robot a part of that.

Even here, there is a dichotomy between the characters. Catra and Light Hope are opposites, where one says only kind things, but her actions betray a more Machiavellian nature, the other's words are hurtful, but despite herself, she cannot help but show a kindness. Exhibit A: The last time these two saw each other, Catra was giving Adora back the sword.

There is also the emotionless vs ball of anger in a vaguely humanoid shape parallel, but that is mainly superficial.

This training scene is cool because it gives us yet another look behind the curtain at Catra's psyche. Take a look at these two lines, back to back.

"Way to gang up on me!"

"No, I'm fine. You're just lucky I let you win."

Catra puts up a brave face to impress people and to cover up for herself. But look who she is saying that to. Catra wants desperately to show off to Adora. She has no interest in showing strength to Shadow Weaver at this point, her defiance isn't fueled by that.

The one person at this point in the story that Catra has been shown trying to impress is Adora. It gets mentioned that she does things to gain Hordack's favour, but we never actually see that, and her words are far from trustworthy.

It is also notable that the first thing Catra tries to do is scream for Adora when she's met with the spider. It's instinctual, and there's something to that.

Because... is it instinctual? I've talked about Catra's character design in the past, focusing on the symmetry, but I took care to not mention her stand out quality. Catra's animalistic physical appearance is a metaphor for one of her strongest themes, instinct vs choice.

It is possible to make a case on almost every single one of Catra's actions for either instinct or choice. Is she instinctively caring for Adora, but choosing not to? Or is she desperately trying to be kind, and instinctively rejecting that? I am partial to the second idea, but it could quite reasonably be either. The story doesn't at any point make the answer clear, which is a strength of the writing.

An instinct is a behaviour that you do not think about, not necessarily one you are born with. For example, flinching when something flies by your face is an instinctive behaviour, but so is lashing out when feeling threatened. Some compulsions and addictions function like this. And I think that Shadow Weaver's manipulation has caused Catra to develop these behaviours. Catra has been raised to instinctively push away affection, or to stay silent when feeling love of her own.

Shadow Weaver physically abuses a child in this scene. That is objectively what this is. The fact that this is magical is the only thing that let the writers get this through censorship. But I want to be clear here, this is not simply punishing misbehaviour, this is not tough love, this is not building strength. Shadow Weaver physically abuses a child in this scene.

And this is favouritism as well, Shadow Weaver could have cast her spell and frozen both Adora and Catra or reprimanded them both. But she chose to torture Catra exclusively.

However, favouritism and privilege are two different things. In this case, they are unrelated. Again, there are so many ways Shadow Weaver could have done this. She could have let Adora go, but she kept her, and made her watch.

"Adora, you must do a better job of keeping her under control. Do not let this happen again."

This is a statement. It says: "this is what affection gets you, pain".

Shadow Weaver is at her lowest in this scene. She isn't introduced as a terrifying threat like in episode one. This Shadow Weaver is frail and unmasked. She is breathing heavily, and exhausted. This is who Shadow Weaver is, truly.

Michaelangelo is attributed the following quote:

"All I did was chip away at everything that didn't look like David."

In truth, Michaelangelo probably never said this, and Quote Investigator references the line's evolution in this source, up to its current form, first published in 1974 in the Boston American Herald. In any case, you can apply this to characters in fiction. If you take away everything that isn't that character, what do you get. What is the element that stops this character from feeling out of character.

Redemption arcs often struggle with this, as the single essential element is usually their motivations, and in a shallow villain, switching sides can make them feel out of character. Spoilers for Avatar: The Last Airbender (Skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid those), but one big reason for why Zuko's redemption arc works so well is that his villainy isn't his essential element, that's his drive for honour.

So, what is Shadow Weaver's core attribute? When you take away her schemes and her power and her mask? Who is she? The answer to that is simple: Shadow Weaver is cruel.

Rise Of The Guardians presents the idea of a person's centre, and it fits this concept really well. Cinema therapy has a video dissecting the subject, and it comes down to this: Your centre is the thing that makes you who you are. In the Ship of Theseus question, your centre is the one plank of wood that makes it the same ship. You can change some important things about yourself, but if you keep this, you fundamentally remain yourself.

With that said, what is Catra's centre? This isn't a rhetorical question, I'm genuinely not sure. I think it's her empathy, for good or evil. But again, I'm not sure. Let me know.

There is actually a chance to find this centre in Promise. And it's here:

"Catra, wait. I'm sorry for leaving... You could come with me! You could join the rebellion! I know you're not a bad person, Catra. You don't belong with the Horde."

This is everything Catra wants, it's an apology. It's an affirmation of friendship and love. And you see her genuinely consider the chance. But unfortunately, Light Hope steps in to tear them apart.

Because Light Hope is also manipulative. She wants everything Shadow Weaver wants, specifically control. She tries to mould She-Ra into her weapon just like Shadow Weaver, and she tries to tear her away from Catra in the same way. That's why she chooses this specific memory, because she knows it will hurt the most. Because she knows it will tear them apart.

Both Shadow Weaver and Light Hope know that an isolated Adora is an easy She-Ra to manipulate. Because the one thing neither of them can possibly account for in their plans is love.

Light Hope is named to reassure, to give Adora some sense of trust there, and it works. Because She-Ra is a story about hope, and about finding it in others.

But here is an important distinction. Others don't give you hope, you do that to yourself. Others can inspire you, or connect with you, or kindle that flame. But at the end of the day, hope is something you give yourself. Someone claiming to be your only hope can just as easily be seeking to control you. A lighthouse might lead you to a shore, but a fake flame over dangerous waters could sink your ship.

Those final two conversations are infamous amongst the fandom, and for good reason. This is the worst parts of both characters being brought out. Adora and her hero complex, and Catra with her emotion. Both good features in certain circumstances, but in the wrong place, they can create a wedge. Light Hope has precision engineered the exact circumstances needed for that wedge to crack their relationship so she can take advantage of the wreckage.

Final Thoughts

This was a difficult post for me to write for two reasons.

First, what can you say about Promise that hasn't been said before a hundred times? This the quintessential episode of She Ra and almost everyone in the fandom has weighed in on the subject. So, finding something original to add was an interesting experience.

But second, this episode has a reputation for a reason. I've said before that the greatest strength of this series is its humanity, and that is made even more obvious by Promise. There are real people who have had conversations like the one in the corridor. There are real people who have experienced what Shadow Weaver's behaviours are an allegory for. If you stripped away the magic from these scenes, they would play out almost exactly the same.

The reason the series overall is so powerful, is that it tells you that things will be bad, behaviours have consequences, trauma hurts you and people around you. But it also tells you that there is always hope. There will always be someone willing to offer you a hand of genuine kindness, and over time, that can change you. She-Ra gives people hope.

I'm away next Friday. But I'll be back in the new year with some analysis of Light Hope

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#rants #literary analysis #literature analysis #character analysis #what's so special about...?#she ra and the princesses of power #she ra catra #she ra adora #she ra light hope #she ra pop #she ra shadow weaver #she ra princess of power #she ra #spop #adora #catra #catradora #she ra spop

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meraki-yao · 2 months

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I was watching an interview from a Chinese rom-com in 2020 and one of the questions was "What do you think is the sweetest romantic declaration?"

And then I started thinking about what are the most romantic lines of my top ships: Malec (Shadowhunters, both show and book), Wenzhou (Word of Honour), and Firstprince (RWRB both movie and book)

Honestly, if I had to pick one out of all of the lines of all ships, I'd say it's "Alec Lightwood loved one man so much he changed the world for him." from The Queen of Air and Darkness, the Shadowhunter Chronicles for Malec. Like, turning eros (romantic, passionate love) into fuel for agape (sacrificial love) and actually making the world a better place for his love? I can't imagine anything greater than that.

For Shadowhunters show, it's Malec's entire wedding vow, I think it summarises what a healthy loving relationship is perfectly. Especially "I will catch you when you fall, and when you soar, I will help you reach your greatest heights"

For Wenzhou from Word of Honour, it's the sunbathing scene from episode 12, just calling each other's name thrice. There's something beautifully simple about that.

And for Firstprince, for the movie, it's "I'll break the sound barrier for you." I don't really know how to explain this one, it 's just the one that touched me the most. Especially after Henry's pled after a week of isolation and agony, the way Alex sounds so sure about it even though truthfully they're both lost and scared as fuck, the way it's a callback to the moment Alex realized he was in love with Henry... it's just fucking beautiful.

For the book, it used to be An Incomplete List of Reasons why I love HRH Prince Henry of Wales, but there was one night in late September where long story short someone said I was selfish for being an emotionally sensitive person which really hurt, so I tried calming myself down by reading RWRB. Then I read bad metaphors about maps out loud and sobbed even harder.

I don't fucking know? there's just something so beautiful about the way Alex writes, which is ironic when earlier he said to Henry "I can't match you in prose" because what the fuck, all of the emails are beautiful but to me turns out bad metaphors is a whole other level. Henry is a writer, he's good with words, those are his dearest tools, but in front of this email, Henry is literally speechless. What the fuck, Alex. What the fuck.

i need to hear TZP read bad metaphors, but I also think that will end me.

Yeah. My favourite romantic declarations from my three favourite ships.

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gofancyninjaworld · 2 months

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Meta for the Ninja Arc (so far)

I thought about reviewing the chapters 195-202 (fan numbering), but summarising the action was annoying me, so let's just skip to the good stuff! This arc has been a grower: what it lacks in up-front showiness it makes up for in depth once you take the time to reread and think about it. I'm just going to pick up on a few things.

Recontextualisation

I have been thinking a lot about how much what we make of the information we receive depends on what we already understand [1]. I've written a bit about ONE's use of salience within the story. This arc though, I'm going to talk about recontextualisation and how important it is to be able to look back and understand events and even people anew in the light of new information.

This has been a huge thing for Flashy Flash. Many years ago, he and Sonic sneaked into a forbidden section of their village and saw many strange things that made no sense to them at the time. It's only very recently, after hearing about the enemy that is 'God' and Blast's efforts to counter him (chapter 173) that things started to make sense to him.

It's only after seeing Gale Wind and Hellfire Flame, not as monsters, but as the former security guards who had trounced them for trespassing that 'where' he'd seen the cube before came back to Flashy Flash, as did the significance of the sights they'd seen. And then it all started to fall into place, reinforced by his going back to the Village to find it destroyed in what he had now come to recognise as Blast's signature attack pattern.

Of course, Flashy Flash has terminal Main Character Syndrome, so he's tried to organise things so that he's the one who takes down Empty Void and reaps the accolades. It's kinda backfired but we'll come back to that in a bit.

There's another bit of recontextualisation that is not so explicit but I think is just as important. It's clear that the Tenninto were no match for Flash and that he could have killed them any time. It's also been established that Flash has never hesitated to kill anyone who came after him. It's been his policy after all. So what gives in his sudden rush to mercy?

As the chapters have gone on, it's become clear that Flashy Flash has come to see the Tenninto as fellow victims of Evil Void's dehumanising process intended to turn them into potential vessels for 'God'. Something else that Flashy Flash is probably responding to is that rehabilitating Village members was once Sonic's dream, and there's a part of him that would love nothing more than to help make it happen. Of course, if you point that out to him he'll tell you to stop being stupid.

It's amazing but Flash is outraged at the way he and his fellow victims are seen as things to be used, abused, and discarded as Void pleases, and he's looking to get justice for all of them.

Ah yes, Sonic. It's been clear that Sonic has been a much better friend to Flash than he has to Sonic, and yet, yet it would seem that Sonic is the one person he cares most deeply about: anything bad happening to Sonic would devastate him. He just has a funny way of showing it.

An irresistible vision. To think that in his heart, this is what Flashy Flash most wants.

We hope he comes to do better.

Insight

Let's talk about Sonic now. For many years now I have been hoping that something would happen to shock Sonic out of his futile rounds of attacking Saitama, being beaten by Saitama, training maniacally, attacking Saitama... his world has become very small and circular, like a round circle.

I had fantasised about maybe Genos grabbing him mid-attack and stuffing him into a narratively-convenient bin without so much as breaking stride. Something so outrageous that he could no longer ignore the need for him to change. The webcomic has sidestepped solving this problem by gifting Sonic some magic scrolls and a sword and just not having him cross paths with Saitama again. The manga is tackling the problem head-on.

Something I have loved, loved, loved about ONE is that he hasn't hesitated to give characters what they've earned. There's been enough morons bellyaching about the two not being neck-and-neck in skill like they were in the webcomic. Sonic's not weak in the manga -- Flashy Flash has experienced more battles and has had to struggle and learn more and so he's been able to progress to the point that he's left his friend in the dust.

Translation: The Back Of A Friend I Once Stood Shoulder-to-Shoulder With. There'd have been a lot less bellyaching if the translators had translated this bit.

That's the shock Sonic needed to open his eyes to the stupidity of his actions. More than that shock, seeing what Flashy Flash has been able to achieve has given Sonic the inspiration to strive for, achieve, and surpass what Flash has accomplished. His fire is back in a good way.

More than that though, the disrespectful way in which Sonic was offered more monster cells rather than a more interesting vision peaks to two things, external and internal.

Externally, it speaks to the way that we tend to think that people are only what they first show us while we understand ourselves to be complex creatures with many competing moods and wishes. Empty Void had heard that Sonic had once reached for a monster cell and assumed that he knew the sort of guy Sonic was: someone whose inferiority complex was such that he'd reach for any offer of power. But of course, that's not Sonic. Sonic has been the stubbornest person ever, who has been able to keep his sense of self despite the Village's best efforts. He reached for a monster cell because even the strongest person can despair, at least for a while.

Internally, man, the bleakness of Sonic's life is such that he doesn't have anyone to offer him a nice fresh monster cell and the monster cells must perforce cook themselves to offer themselves to him... he looks to no one and believes in none. That's painful to see.

When we think of how close he and Flash used to be, the bitterness of his mocking the prisoners for depending on each other grows sharper every time we learn a bit more about him. I don't know if he'll ever forgive Flash for betraying him.

Yes, there's a betrayal right on screen now: that of Blast by Empty Void. Blast thought they were in the business of putting God out of business but Void was using him to obtain cubes so as to raise an apostle of God.

Longer Blast: I'm not mad. I'm just very, very, very disappointed.

That said, I'm not going to let Blast off the hook entirely. He has some explaining to do!

Complicity

Blast has a lot of explaining to do. Sure, he's been refreshingly honest about what he's been doing with monster experiments, and his link to 'That Man'.

I have a feeling that Flash has been too quick to absolve Blast of blame.

We know that Blast and Empty Void went back at least 20 years. And yeah, we can just about buy that he didn't know his partner was fixing to betray him. However, given that we know that the Village takes young boys and that there were at least 43 graduating classes before Flashy Flash escaped years ago, that means that the Village had been a thing for at least 50 years. How long has Blast known about Empty Void's activities? Did he turn a blind eye to it? Or was it not a problem until it bit him in the ass? [2] What else is Blast permitting that shouldn't be?

We need answers.

I am very invested in seeing how this arc ends and what else it'll lead to.

Asides

[1] A very neat non-fictional example: this man escaping from his pursuers by lying down and thus changing their understanding of him to 'homeless guy'.

[2] A part of me notes that Blast falling out with Empty Void and beating the shit out of him coincides neatly with the time Blast's son was born. Maybe shit became a bit too real for him to ignore.

#OPM #meta #review #long #Blast #Flashy Flash #Speed o' Sound Sonic #ninjas #the ninja arc may have started slow but it's been building and it keeps giving

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theflyindutchwoman · 7 months

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I thought torturing you would be more fun, and getting your mind off of whatever's been bothering you. But I should know better than trying to get into your personal business. Good night. Ashley and I, uh, broke up. Well, I guess technically, she broke up with me. I'm sorry. Thanks. Look, and just so you know, I-I did appreciate your whole radio gag… a little. It took my mind off things. Well, good.

| ANATOMY OF A SCENE - CHENFORD EDITION 5.06 - The Reckoning

In some ways, this scene is a nice follow-up from the previous scene in the parking lot, after their 'first' kiss. Things are still a bit awkward between them but they're trying to push forward. Only, this time, Tim admits what's on his mind - or at least, parts of it - instead of pretending. This feels like a step forward, especially after Lucy stayed at Tim's bedside.

For all their progress, it's clear from the beginning that they're not quite back to their usual dynamic and bantering. Yet. Lucy is hesitant at first, almost shy, as she apologises to Tim for getting into his personal business, worried that she may have overstepped… Something she never really did before. And yet… They still crave that proximity, long for the other. When she gives him back his radio, he goes to grab it but doesn't take it either. They both hold onto it, trying to maintain that contact with the other. It's not quite like their (unnecessary long) handshake, but it does have a similar vibe. They remain a bit off-balance, not quite knowing where their boundaries are now. Even her little comment about torturing him not being as fun hints at this.

But that doesn't mean he didn't enjoy her little scavenger hunt. In the end, it worked exactly the way she envisaged. It's only when she goes to leave, that he actually opens up. He may have been reluctant at first, but he doesn't want to sever their connection at all. Most importantly, he doesn't want her to think she did anything wrong or upset him… He doesn't want her to stop trying. Because it shows how much she cares. She was simply trying to reach out to him and cheer him up, and deep down, he was touched by her attention and intention… In light of his breakup with Ashley, it matters even more. So he promptly confesses to make her stay, before correcting himself and admitting that Ash was the one who ended their relationship. And there's a bit of irony here : all this time, he didn't want to talk about this, only for him to practically treat the breakup as an afterthought. He quickly changes the topic and is more focused on making sure Lucy knows how much he appreciated her gesture. And it was a genuinely sweet gesture. With some romantic connotations. But mostly, it was everything Tim needed. Ashley broke up with him after showing one last time that she never truly knew the real him whereas Lucy orchestrated this treasure hunt to let him know how well she knows him. This just highlighted the difference between them even more… and the contrast in their message : Ashley couldn't accept who he was in the end while Lucy celebrated what makes him him. It was her way of saying that she sees him. All of him. She looks so pleased with herself when he concedes that he enjoyed the whole game… Before turning a bit smug, pursing her lips, glad that she succeeded. Her little 'good' is so sweet.

The way the camera actually stresses how far apart they're standing from one another, as if to symbolise the gap they still need to bridge is on point. Still… even that distance can't prevent them from having a moment. They can't tear their eyes off each other. The longing… The lingering looks… Judging by their body language, it seems like they were both about to say something more, trying to prolong this moment a bit longer. That is, until Chris comes within sight, as a reminder that he's still in the picture (since he tends to be forgotten). And that shot of him coming in between them summarise everything. Their last real hurdle.

Lucy inviting Tim to join them for dinner is both hilarious and awkward. And the thing is, she wasn't just being polite, she truly wanted him to come grab a bite with them. She's nowhere near as uncomfortable as the last time they were all in the same place. In her mind, she may not be able to be with Tim, but she still wants to be friends. And friends invite each other for dinner. While Tim is having more and more difficulty with this. Still, inviting the man you have feelings for and almost slept with to come eat with you and your boyfriend is bold… So Tim instantly declining the invitation, a big fake smile in place, is not surprising. Neither is Chris ushering Lucy away. No words needed : this shot depicts the whole story. Especially with Tim turning back to watch Lucy leave. He looks so defeated. The pining… And it definitely shows that the breakup was not the sole thing bothering him. He's not the only one turning back though. So does Lucy… Things are about to come to a head.

#the rookie #chenford #chenfordedit #lucy chen #tim bradford #5.06 #Anatomy of a scene - Chenford Edition

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thespianinthebackcorner · 8 months

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Fontaine is Mondstadt?

I've noticed something recently- that a lot about Fontaine parallels with Mondstadt. Of course I'm not just talking about the fact they're both based on Europe, I'm well aware of that, but it's the characters that I'm looking at. The Fontaine characters feel a little like they're redone Mondstadt characters- when simplified into dot points, I can often hardly tell who I'm talking about. Watch.

Pyro

Bow

One of the first people we meet in this nation

Shows us into the city

Has a sense of humour

Bubbly

Goes quiet when bad things happen

Sound familiar? You might think I'm talking about the famous Lyney, but in reality it's... Amber!

Similarly,

Anemo

Medium female

Rat tail hair

Animal features

ruffles on skirt sides

on the shy side

Hat

Throws something in their burst

4-star that shadows a 5-star

Said 5-star's assistant

guess what? It's not Lynette, it's our wholesome little girl Sucrose!

And if you really needed more evidence:

Geo

Tries to help people constantly

Claymore

Great at baking

Wears roses

Best Girl Candidate

Blonde hair in some form (this is debatable)

yes, I'm talking about Navia, but I'm also taking about... Noelle!

"but," you say, "you cannot use unreleased characters as evidence!" I can, and I will.

blue/purple-toned eyes

Man-tiddy window

Part of the law enforcement

Black fingerless gloves

Circle on the back of gloves

wears grey + primary colour

earring.

Accompanies a child sometimes

Cryo male

Everyone Says He's Hot. We Don't Know Shit About Him

Fur on the back of his coat

Who am I talking about? Kaeya, ofc, but also... Wriothsley!

Hah. And although I haven't quite found matches for Foçalors, Clorinde and Freminet, (although I'm pretty sure Foçalors is a direct parallel to Fischl) and we haven't seen shit from Siegwinne, have one more pairing to truly drive my point home.

Socially isolated- they're not great at talking

Never appears outside of work-related situations (this hurts to write but it's true)

Blue shirt

Coat

Doesn't need a Vision to have magic-like power

"Yeah, He's Not Human" -The community

One single fucker in game is aware of this but everyone outside the game knows

Quiet

Takes care of a childish little girl sometimes

Waits till they're alone and *then* has a mental breakdown

Unintentionally funny

could probably deck someone in a fight without trying

Blue, white and gold colour palette

Quite possibly the most professional person in their field

This interferes with their social life

^basically they're friendless

Shows up, fucks with the lore, and leaves

Dragon. Their lore has dragons in it

Yes, I think you know I'm talking about Neuvilette, but I'm also taking about our forgotten child Albedo!

^these two are the main reason I made this post tbh. Sue me I'm an Albedo main. (I have What Makes You Beautiful in my headphones rn and it's summarising my thoughts on these two 😂)

#genshin impact #fontaine #genshin fontaine #lyney #lynette #navia #wriothesley #neuvillette #amber genshin impact #sucrose genshin impact #genshin noelle #kaeya #genshin impact albedo

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thesherrinfordfacility · 9 months

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im losing my MIND bUT here you go have some thoughts on the second coming

so we start with the below screenshots from the trailer where we have a statue of gabriel close up holding the crucifix, and then the next shot with beelzebub where there is no cross and instead what looks to be a bundle in its arms (i don't think it's a shadow bc it looks too opaque, too human shaped (think voldemort in goblet of fire lmao) AND the lighting from above on the stone would be more illuminated???)

the clue to where this is in the storyline however is that gabriel looks to be dressed in his lighter coloured heaven clothes, so before he loses his memory/flashback?

so this is presumably where gabriel has arrived on earth to retrieve jesus, possibly tucks him into a pristine moving-day cardboard box (i feel like the 'this way up' is both literal in that one shouldnt hold christ upside down as well as being a direction to deliver it to heaven?)

and given that gabriel heralded the birth of jesus in the first place, its perhaps all hinged on gabriel himself that the second coming happens, ergo if they eradicate gabriel, then there's no second coming, and therefore there's no tilting of the scales to favour heaven in the eventual war that will follow

anyway i reckon there must be a tussle with beelzebub or demons in general in the graveyard because then it seems like beelzebub gets discorporated possibly in the graveyard (hence the marker in the opening sequence) and gets temporarily demoted back in hell for losing gabriel/jesus (leaving a power vacuum for shax???)

update: AYOO @goth-maudra had them eagle EYES and spotted this!!!!

WE SEE YOU SHAX 💅

update 18/07: ayo fucking called it???

but gabriel either gets possessed by jesus (see: funny as fuck) or something just generally happens to him in this fight that makes him lose his memory and possibly lose track of the box, so the whole thing gets all messed up and noone knows where jesus has gotten to... but god sends aziraphale a clue (✨✨A cLuE✨✨) to tracking it down, in the shape of the everyday record and the resurrectionist pub address (lmao is jesus in the JUKEBOX???) on a fucking post-it note

or maybe hell had something to do with gabriel losing his memory (shax? idk but that could be the motive for her getting chummy with crowley in the first place) (i promise I'm not hating on shax my beloved but she SCARES me) in an effort to stall the second coming and now they're trying to retrieve and kill goob to forestall it altogether

but what they didnt count on is a smart, fastidious, nosy lil angel boy sticking his oar in and getting there first, and being a good enough person to hide goob in the first place but i disgress

and beelzebub, knowing that there's a retired angel on earth and gabriel might naturally gravitate towards there, infiltrates the bookshop as a wee fly (funny af in the goob clip of him swatting them with books BUT also the fly is like centre placement in beelzebub's character poster... COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT) and feeds this back to shax, so shax gets chummy with the demon that she replaced 👀👀 and tries to get him to turn on aziraphale and pressure him to luring goob out of the shop so hell can get to him, pressing crowley's Jealousy and Possessiveness buttons to her advantage

now idk how i feel about goob getting lost/leaving the shop and aziraphale has to track him down by going to Edinburgh, ill need to ruminate on this more, but crowley saying 'ooooh hell won't like that' and infiltrating (see: strolling blithely into heaven cosplaying bill nighy in love actually) makes me HOPE that he is still fighting the good fight but something is niggling at me as to why he ends up on the throne in hell and NOT in the bookshop when the demon attack is taking place, that makes me think major angst will happen and crowley ends up inadvertently supporting hell in getting goob and preventing the second coming

sigh now i need to go update my episode timeline how the fUCK do i summarise this

#good omens #good omens season 2 #crowley #aziraphale #the second coming #good omens speculation #not a shitpost but its good omens babyyyy

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