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most-normal-eccles-cake-ignorer · 8 months

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Good Omens: Lockdown, Aziraphale’s SAD-ASS desk, and how they get to 'Our bookshop' in S2

Welcome to part 2 of me reading reeaally far into the Good Omens: Lockdown video! (part 1 from Crowley's POV here) This post assumes the item choices in the Lockdown visuals are intentional. What follows is going to be my headcanon regardless, but if you're into the Word of God, Lockdown is canon 'If you want it to be.' and I want it to be, sooo checkmate! >;D

Also this is something of a long boi (~13 minute read without following the links >.>), so if you're into unhinged analysis of details and literary references that indicate Aziraphale is in his longing era and want to learn more about author and fave-of-Gaiman, G.K. Chesterton, either get comfy or mark this to read later when you have time!

C: What? A: *somehow surprised even though HE CALLED* A-ah, hello. It's me! C: I know it's you, Aziraphale. A: *regaining composure* Yes, well, just calling to see how you were doing in lockdown.

The video starts with shots of Aziraphale and Crowley's da Vinci sketches (and some sushi remnants)... Babygirl is flipping through the time-goes-too-fast-for-me version of a facebook album, thinking about his crush. vERY chill of him. (also the paper looks new and he's eating on top of them, suggesting these are prints and he has multiple copies of them... sooo normal)

If we look closer at the still of Crowley's portrait, we can see part of the spine of a book that reads Kei- Chesterto-. This is, of course, author Gilbert Keith Chesterton, to whom Neil and Terry (and Crowley) dedicated Good Omens:

The authors would like to join the demon Crowley in dedicating this book to the memory of G. K. Chesterton A man who knew what was going on.

In this post by @azfellandco about Chesterton, you can see a photo of the dedication page and also read the book excerpt where Crowley describes Chesterton as 'the only poet in the twentieth century to even come close to the Truth'.

C: I'm bored. I'm so very very bored - transcendentally bored. There's nothing to do here!

As Crowley is explaining his nap contingency plan, we get a shot of Aziraphale picking up his mug of hot chocolate, then the image below of the 2/3rds gone bottle of Courvoisier cognac (i mean maybe he is baking with it let's not jump to conclusions), and then the stack of books beside a framed woodcut print of witches dancing with devils...

...that I used reverse image search to trace back to page 17 of a book from 1720 called The history of witches and wizards: giving a true account of all their tryals in England, Scotland, Swedeland, France, and New England; with their confession and condemnation.

Interestingly, the text above and below the picture reads:

At their Meeting they have usually Wine, or good Beer, Cakes, Meat, or the like; they Eat and Drink really: When they meet in their Bodies, Dance also, and have Musick...

Beside the framed print of Aziraphale's idea of a really great night out is a stack of books that includes (going from top to bottom):

Homer's The Iliad, Book 2

Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton

Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer's Manual of the Fifteenth Century by Richard Kieckhefer

a book by Hilaire Belloc with no visible title

The Club of Queer Trades by G.K. Chesterton

The Iliad (according to sparknotes) has the following major themes:

....Interesting, ok. Book 2 in particular starts with a god (Zeus) messing with someone (Agamemnon) via a dream that says he will be successful in taking Troy if he launches a full assault, balls to the (city) wall. Agamemnon, who is supposed to be leading the Achaean army to conquer Troy, believes the dream but then in a weird twist decides to test his army and be like 'jk actually I'm giving up and going home' and then is mad when the soldiers are like 'sick, to the boats!' Then Odysseus, who sparknotes tells me is the most eloquent of the Achaeans, gives an impressive speech to inspire the troops and reminds them that they vowed 'that they would not abandon their struggle until the city fell.' ...No way that could worsen Aziraphale's internal conflict about being a bad Angel who thwarted the Great Plan. >.>; Orthodoxy we'll get to in a second.

Then there's Forbidden Rites which is a medieval necromancy guide translated from Latin with added commentary - Aziraphale is perhaps studying occult topics in an attempt to understand Crowley better? And then there's the Hilaire Belloc book on top of the second Chesterton book, a collection of related stories/episodes?, The Club of Queer Trades. The book's Wikipedia page says:

Each story in the collection is centered on a person who is making his living by some novel and extraordinary means. To gain admittance [to the Club of Queer Trades] one must have invented a unique means of earning a living and the subsequent trade being the main source of income.

Aziraphale and Crowley have rather novel/extraordinary jobs and they're both peculiar-queer and gay-queer. Neat. The narrator in the book is named Charlie "Cherub" Swinburne - also neat. >.> He goes on an adventure with his friend, a retired judge and president of the Club of Queer Trades, Basil Grant, (who Oct 2021 GoodReads reviewer Cecily said is "described as mad, mystical, and a poet, with almost no friends, but who “would talk to any one anywhere”) and Basil's younger brother, a private detective named Inspector Constable Rupert Grant. The last line of the book is:

Thus our epic ended where it had begun, like a true cycle. (something something "It starts, as it will end, with a garden.")

Anyway, the Belloc book and The Club of Queer Trades are placed back to back in such a way that they almost look like they could be one book with two different aesthetics, or... two halves of a pantomime beast?! (stay with me I needed a segue)

Belloc and Chesterton have what is essentially a ship name:

It was coined by George Bernard Shaw (if you are like me and didn't know why you've heard of him: he wrote, among other things, Pygmalion, which was adapted into My Fair Lady). Shaw apparently liked to gossip about Belloc and Chesterton with H.G. Wells (again if you're uncultured like me: he wrote, among other science fiction-y things, The War of the Worlds).

In the Feb 15, 1908 issue of The New Age newspaper, Shaw said:

He continued:

"Chesterton and Belloc are so unlike that they get frightfully into one another’s way. ... They are unlike in everything except the specific literary genius and delight in play-acting that is common to them, and that threw them into one another’s arms.”

Shaw says Belloc is 'a bit of a rowdy', and 'cannot bear isolation'. Hmm. Then he says Chesterton is 'friendly, easy-going, unaffected, gentle, magnanimous, and genuinely democratic'. HMM.

“They share one failing—almost the only specific trait they have in common except their literary talent. That failing is, I grieve to say, addiction to the pleasures of the table.”

Ok ok I think we can see where this is going.

(^ from Staged S3E6)

Now, someone did ask Neil Gaiman about this similarity, and he said the Lockdown video was filmed by Rob Wilkins in Terry Pratchett's library, and that he suspects 'Belloc is there because he was on Terry's shelves beside Chesterton.' And it MAY VERY WELL BE that NONE (0) of the book titles are meant in any way other than 'these are books from Sir Pratchett's library that looked nice on camera and ofc we wanted some Chesterton refs and maybe some demon-y stuff for Crowley' but that is WAY less fun so I am choosing to take them as intentional: these are books Aziraphale is actually reading (along with the sushi and many cakes he is actually eating). Let's put ourselves in Aziraphale's shoes and try to imagine how it would be to read this stuff during lockdown while you pine for a demon with slinky hips after you got in big trouble at work for Armageddoff (and work happens to have defined your worldview and general purpose in life).

C: welll... ngk then people might follow my bad example and get ill. Or even die—

As Crowley acknowledges that he ought to be out making peoples' lives worse, we see Orthodoxy by Chesterton open on the desk.

Orthodoxy is described as a ‘spiritual autobiography’ and is considered a classic of Christian apologetics, i.e. the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines (in this case, Catholic) through systematic argumentation and discourse. Wikipedia also says Chesterton's The Everlasting Man contributed to C.S. Lewis' conversion to Christianity, so overall it sounds like he must've been fairly convincing. (and so maybe reading it also poked at that work-related-but-religious-trauma-adjacent stuff Aziraphale has going on?)

You can read Orthodoxy (and probably any of the books I mention bc theyre all old) on project gutenberg but I will include this part of what is shown on the righthand page bc it just reminds me (and so probably Azirapalala as well) of a certain angel squeaking happily at a nebula:

"I felt economical about the stars as if they were sapphires (they are called so in Milton's Eden): I hoarded the hills. For the universe is a single jewel, and while it is a natural cant to talk of a jewel as peerless and priceless, of this jewel it is literally true. This cosmos is indeed without peer and without price: for there cannot be another one."

Ok great, so Aziraphale is diving into the works of one of Crowley's favorite authors bc he misses him, that's cute. What else? Oh he already wrote him a letter right before calling - THE WICK ON THE WAX STICK FOR THE SEAL IS STILL SMOKING. sO CASUAL asdashgfjds

something something 'either call on the phone and talk, or appear mysteriously; don't do both'

When Aziraphale gets to 'I've never had so few customers, not in two hundred years!' We get a close up of this glass of cognac with droplets still on the side — I take back what I said about baking, Aziraphale is drinking it~

He's not drinking a wine, eg Châteauneuf-du-pape, which would be ~14% alcohol by volume (ABV), or a sherry (15-20% ABV); he is drinking Courvoisier cognac, a hard liquor (40% ABV). Crowley's Talisker whisky is 48.5% while we are on the topic. This is stronger than what Aziraphale usually drinks which means... he could be a bit tipsy.

As Aziraphale starts talking about the would-be cash-box burglary, we get this wide shot of the desk:

In the top left hand corner, we see two stacks of books, most (all?) of which appear to be Chesterton when I zoom in. Some of them have Chesterton's name visible on them, others have the publisher name 'Darwen Finlayson' on them, which according to my googling is a house that published several of Chesterton's works. If Chesterton was truly 'a man who knew what was going on', then perhaps this is Aziraphale seeking not just to feel closer to Crowley, but also to make sense of the warring ideas in his mind. Interestingly, Chesterton has also been described as 'The Eccentric Prince of Paradox'.

C: *clearly amused* Did you smite them with your wroth?

The screen then shows two occult-y books and a flickering candle (lower left image). Then Aziraphale explains about his cake~, and as Crowley cuts him off because he's about to nervously ask to come over bc he is so so lonely & down bad for a certain angelic bookworm, we see a map of Oxfordshire on top of Pilgrim's Progress (lower right image).

The two books beside the candle are Satanism and Witchcraft (presumably the 1862 book by Jules Michelet that comes up when I search the title), and another called Magic: An Occult Primer.

Satanism and Witchcraft is described on Wikipedia as 'notable for being one of the first sympathetic histories of witchcraft' and says 'Michelet was one of the first few people to attempt to show the sociological explanation of the Witch Trials.’ Sympathy for people who like to eat/drink/dance with demons, if you will?

Magic: An Occult Primer is a 1972 book by David Conway, a Welsh (CACHU HWCH!) magus and is described as 'a seminal work that brought magical training to the every-magician'. It also includes an appendix called The Occult Who's Who, which is somewhat reminiscent of Hastur's Furfur's book about angels. In Chapter 11: A Word About Demons, it says in regard to summoning them:

"Assuming that the form has turned up in the right place, it will soon begin to act and talk in a very friendly manner; do not forget, however, that its winning ways conceal a sinister intention-- namely, to get the adept out of the circle, and into its clutches.”

...okay?? Aziraphale's desk has a flickering candle on it throughout the video, and we get a close up of the flame when Crowley offers to slither over:

and just like that, Aziraphale has summoned a demon~~

Naturally, he freaks out:

A: *panicking*Oh I— I— I— I— I'm afraid that would be Breaking All The Rules! *nervous breathing* Out of the question! I'll see you… when this is over.

But why? Isn't this what he wanted? Let's go back to the Pilgrim's Progress shot from right before the successful demon summoning and zoom in:

In a similar vein to Orthodoxy, Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan, is an allegorical Puritan conversion narrative. Christian is the main character / stand in for anyone who wants to be in the allegory and Hopeful is well, hopeful, from what I gather. A slightly larger continuous excerpt is here for the curious, but here are some bits I thought were especially interesting in the part of the book shown above:

Christian: Why, what was it that brought your sins to mind again? Hopeful: Many things; as, If I did but meet a good man in the streets; or, If I have heard any read in the Bible; or, If mine head did begin to ache; or, If I were told that some of my neighbors were sick; or, If I heard the bell toll for some that were dead; or, If I thought of dying myself; or, If I heard that sudden death happened to others; But especially when I thought of myself that I must quickly come to judgment.

Perhaps the pandemic is bringing Aziraphale's "sins" to mind again, on top of the whole choosing faces thing to avoid 'quickly coming to judgment'. And then:

Hopeful: I thought I must endeavor to mend my life; for else, thought I, I am sure to be lost forever. Christian: And did you endeavor to mend? Hopeful: Yes, and fled from not only my sins, but sinful company too, and betook me to religious duties, as praying, reading, weeping for sin, speaking truth to my neighbors, etc.

UM??? While I can't say about the praying or weeping for sin, he has definitely been reading and the whole 'giving a good talking to' the burglars could be 'speaking truth to [the] neighbors'...?

Anyway to recap:

Aziraphale has been poring over books about dark magic and demons as well as a ton of books by an author that Crowley loves and who formed a partnership w a very different person in a sort of yin-yang, pantomime beast situation

He has been looking at pictures that remind him of their fun times w Leo in Florence and eating sushi and cake cake cake (and forgiving sinners) and drinking hot chocolate and cognac trying to fill a void but now he's tipsy so he wrote Crowley a letter, stamped it with a wax seal and then thought 'I should call her' BUT

His recent brush with attempted death penalties, the death toll of the pandemic, and some of the religious books he was reading have also filled him with guilt/fear over disobeying Heaven, who he knows could still be watching him and Crowley, so he feels much more conflicted than usual AND

He probably has some inkling that he wants to go ape shit on that ox rib if it comes over to hang out (lol editing to add bc i remembered ox rib discourse: ape shit in an emotional way! whether you hc them as ace or not I just think he really likes him and I’m using ox ribs as a stand in for general forbidden joy/love, not specifically sexy stuff)

So he has to say no.

Anything else might cause him to spontaneously discorporate into a plume of pining and cognitively dissonant gay smoke, which may be all well and good if you only think there's a God, but if you KNOW it and the angels are absolutely recording you and Heaven just tried to kill you and your wife colleague, it's... kind of a big deal.

C: Right. gnnehh. I'm setting the alarm clock for July. Good night, angel. *dial tone*

We don't get to hear Aziraphale's response, but besties you and I both know he is not feeling tickety-boo. He spent like a month putting off calling Crowley (UK lockdowns started end of March, the call is at the beginning of May), finally got drunk and said what the Hell, it'll just be a fun flirty chat in between his temptations, and then it turned out Crowley was depressed and not going anywhere and Aziraphale made him even sadder. And then it got worse because it wasn't all over in July, or in October, even.

I think Aziraphale ends up with a lot of time and brain space in which to think about how Orthodoxy and Pilgrim's Progress were only written to guide *mortals* and how it really wouldn't be so bad if he spent more time with Crowley, would it? Heaven hasn't reached out in actual years again, things feel safer. Crowley is essentially Good and spending time with him would be sort of ministering to the downtrodden and afflicted, and Aziraphale does miss reporting his good deeds (lol you know, whatever rationalizations you need to get you there).

More than anything, he thinks about how hollow everything feels without Crowley; how no mouthful of food or drink tastes as satisfying in his absence because it wasn't ever just about the 'gross matter'...

So when lockdowns end, Aziraphale begins to summon his demon again, but this time with much less inner struggling. It all comes so naturally, when you let it. By the beginning of Season 2 in 2023, they seem delightfully comfortable with their shared routines and places (see also this lovely post by @nightgoodomens). Our car. Our bookshop.

Aziraphale might take longer to catch up, but he does get there.

(SHHH DON'T THINK ABOUT EPISODE 6! STOP! I'M HANGING UP!)

“The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.” ― G.K. Chesterton

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teeth--thief · 7 months

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Google Drive full of book PDFs about Chernobyl

Link to the Google Drive if you don't want to click the title: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kscKFciW6almJA8p-0sUQPO3c0A4AQYe

Note: It will be updated regularly - for as long as I'll be able to find/get new things =) So far I've compiled 41 books in three languages.

Just to repeat what I said in the first post: I'm open to any requests or suggestions or even PDFs themselves, if someone wants to share theirs from their collection. Message me, send me an ask, throw a rock through my window - whatever you prefer, just please, do it yourself because I'm too scared to message anyone, thanks. No fiction - that's the only rule. Any language is welcome - if you want me to look for a certain book in the language of your choice, I'll do that. If you have a book in language other than English, I'd love to add it to the Drive! If you have a better version of whatever PDF I've already got, then I'd be more than happy to do a swap.

Now, some of my reasoning, if anyone's interested: first of all, I think it's important for everyone to be able to access stuff like this. Think of it as a library, minus the "give these back" part. Secondly, I get soooo mad when people are like haha, found this super rare, basically impossible to find, very expensive book! ...I shall now keep it exclusively to myself. Ma'am, you're ruining the vibe and stalling everyone's hobby research but I guess you do you...

List of all the books (under the cut):

In English:

Voices from Chernobyl - Alexievich S.

Chernobyl Reactor Accident - Source Term

Chernobyl - Insight from the Inside - Dr. Chernousenko V.M.

How It Was - Dyatlov A.S.

(ENG+RUS) Chernobyl Booklet

Chernobyl: The Devastation, Destruction and Consequences of the World’s Worst Radiation Accident - Fitzgerald I.

Final Warning. The Legacy of Chernobyl - Gale R.P.

Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster - Higginbotham A.

INSAG-1

INSAG-7

Interesting Chernobyl - 100 Symbols

From Chernobyl To Fukushima - Karpan N.

Manual for Survival. A Chernobyl Guide to the Future - Kate Brown

Chernobyl. Confessions of a Reporter - Kostin I.

The Politics of Invisibility. Public Knowledge about Radiation Health Effects after Chernobyl - Kuchinskaya O.

Memories - Kupnyi A.

Chernobyl 01:23:40 - The Incredible True Story of the World’s Worst Nuclear Disaster - Leatherbarrow A.

Chernobyl Notebook - Medvedev G.

No Breathing Room - Medvedev G.

Chernobyl Record - The Definitive History of the Chernobyl Catastrophe - Mould R. F.

Wormwood Forest - A Natural History of Chernobyl - Mycio M.

Life Exposed: Biological Citizens After Chernobyl - Petryna A.

Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy - Plokhy S.

Ablaze - Story of Chernobyl - Read P.P.

Producing Power: The Pre-Chernobyl History of the Soviet Nuclear Industry - Schmid S. D.

Chernobyl: A Documentary Story - Shcherbak I.

The Vienna Report

Chernobyl - Crime Without Punishment - Yaroshinskaya A.A.

In Russian:

Chernobyl: Kak eto bylo. Preduprezhdeni - Kopchinsky, Steinberg

Chernobyl. Tak eto bylo. Vzglyad Iznutri - Voznyak Ya. Troitskiy N.

Лучевая болезнь человека (очерки) - Гуськова А.К., Байсоголов Г.Д.

Чернобыль. Как это было - Дятлов А.С.

Чернобыль: 30 лет спустя - Кравчук Н.В.

Живы - Купный А.

Чернобыль - Щербак Ю.

(ONLY Pages 367-383) Чернобыль, 10 лет спустя. Неизбежность или случ��йность?

KGB files - pre and post accident (includes additional information in Ukrainian)

In Polish:

Jak to było - Diatłov A.S.

Czarnobyl - Plokhy S.

Czarnobyl - Sekuła P.

Katastrofa w Czarnobylu - Sekuła P.

Czarnobyl. Od katastrofy do procesu - Siwiński W.

#chernobyl #26th april 1986 #nuclear power plant #chornobyl #nuclear disaster #chernobyl hbo #you wouldn't download a car #file: special interest: chernobyl #Чернобыль #pripyat #rbmk 1000 #radiation #free resources #free books

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theoraclej · 7 months

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THAT SEASON FINALE!

light, where to begin, a disjointed ramble of things I observed:

Dovie’andi se tovya sagain! - Mat said the words, he said the words!

And he made his own ashandarei! I hope he gets the raven-inlaid one though because I’m sure no one wants him running around with that dagger

And I know he’s going to get a massive S3 glow-up because he sees himself as MORE, now. Yay Mat!

RAND exploding the shit out of the Seanchan including Turak; nice way around his general lack of swordtraining which I’m sure will be remedied

Once the Heron, to set his path!

The interplay between Rand (and Lews Therin before him), Lanfear, Ishamael - they were besties in the Age of Legends, lmao!

I had expected the intro to be a high society polyam party they were attending, not the Sealing of Ishamael, 🤭

The Warder bond was beautiful, flowing, intimate, just what I imagined when reading these books some 25 years ago

I knew Moiraine was gonna say Lan was her better!

I’m so glad they’re back together though, legendary qpp

Nice to see the S1 intro sequence with the gorgeously woven Aes Sedai tapestry

I was a bit sad Nynaeve didn’t heal Elayne OR Rand but she DID swear to make Seta’s mother curse the first kiss her father ever gave her and THAT was cool

Hopper, my beloved! 😩 I would be chopping Whitecloaks too!

It was so satisfying to see Perrin obey his wolfly instincts already!

Elayne being the one to heal Rand’s wound was an interesting choice, and you can tell he was dazzled by her!

Book lines, book lines, book lines making me have conniptions every time one was uttered

“From birth to death I serve the Blood.”

UNO I KNEW YOU WERE COMING YA SHEEP-GUTTED MILK DRINKER

“For the Light, and Shinowa!” still gave me chills even without an expanded story behind it for Ingtar

Egwene al’Vere. I hope she earns a title of “the Unbroken” someday. Remember, Nynaeve even said that about her when Egwene was captured by Whitecloaks in S1!

Egwene, spitting out the damane gag and refusing to rain down fire on innocents, ah my girl, that’s that Two Rivers steel

Egwene, collaring Renna and choking her to death, being stronger than Renna, being able to withstand the pain of that because that’s exactly what Renna taught her

Egwene later, with that amazing shield against Ishamael to protect her friends!

Lanfear pushing Lan and Moiraine out of the ocean Waygate was very unexpected but totally within Lanfear’s lane, just to keep Moiraine away from Rand

Lanfear working to sell the Seals to Bayle Domon, which was so lmao also, and it really enhanced her utter shock when she entered the room later with the Seals all broken.

M O G H E D I E N 🕷️

She is perfectly creepy, perfect in every way. I can’t wait to see her tear shit up, or to see how she will be used in S3 and beyond

Never expected her to cage Lanfear in her webs, either, dang. Lillen Moiral wasn’t near so strong as Mierin. But we know some things are just Talents, and Moghedien is better in Tel’aran’rhiod than Lanfear

Did you notice Rand’s wound swirling with evil bits throughout the healed part? Really cool effect if you catch it

Aviendha, Bain, and Chiad showing they can fight just as well in close quarters in a city as in the Three-Fold Land; and then later acknowledging Rand as Car’a’carn

Though I’d hoped we’d get some good old He Who Comes With The Dawn in here too

Moiraine’s outstanding torpedo weaves that fucked up the Seanchan boats! And she understands the stakes - if the Dragon is gentled, or harmed, or captured, everyone’s life is in danger and that includes her and Lan

Anyhow fuck the Seanchan

Did it look like Suroth got blown up too? Does that mean she’s dead? I guess we’ll see who gathers in the scattered remnants of the Hailene!

The first “I’m not Lews Therin” from Rand

Mat taking a moment to mention Rand’s “shit hair” to Perrin while they were in the mix, lmao

That shadow ashandarei is really scary, it is a laser knife (lightsaber?) on a stick

I can’t wait for Perrin and Hopper to meet again in the Wolfdream

Speaking of which, I think Perrin’s eyes are permanently golden now

I cried at the coming of the Heroes of the Horn, I’m sure many of you did too 😭

Cool Hero fighting effects, I liked those

BIRGITTE SILVERBOW MY LOVELY

I figured Min’s vision of Mat “killing” Rand would be something like this, an accident, not an intentional thing

His blood on the rocks of Shayol Ghul…

AL’LAN MANDRAGORAN, the Uncrowned King, Sworn to the Flame, bonded again, fighting as he was meant to, just slicing through armies, snatching arrows out of the air and stabbing people with them, chef’s kiss

I wonder if Nynaeve’s “failures” and inability to channel at these vital moments will give her the drive to break her block

Ishamael’s channeling at the end was really impressive, a testament to how much more he knows than Rand

I hope that’s not the last we see of Fares Fares, he was remarkable as Ishamael and a truly enjoyable villain

And since they didn’t have the Dragon banner of Lews Therin Telamon found with the Horn like in the books, Moiraine saw to it that he was heralded with literal fire

This I can imagine many people seeing from far away, and of course rumor travels further

The Falmen sure seem to appreciate it and of course the Seanchan are gone for now

Lanfear asking the LIGHT to protect Rand at the end is something interesting and NOT LOST ON ME

I REALLY ENJOYED IT and am looking forward to a full rewatch of S1 and S2!

Proclaimed across the sky in fire 🔥🐲

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hangeslefteye · 1 year

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Aot boys doing your makeup HCS (REALİSTİC)

I did like one proper HC with girls now I must shitpost because balance ;) HCS for EREN,JEAN,REİNER,PORCO,ZEKE AND LEVİ doing your makeup <3

Eren:

He thinks he's good at makeup just because he sometimes wears eyeliner and acts bold,very bold.But suprise he's clueless,you should have seen it coming when he mistakes your contour stick for a lipstick D: Also very interested in brushes and uses like 6-7 brushes just to 'blend' eyeshadow.Final look will be something like:

Panda but make it goth D: You better suck it up and go out like this or else he'll be petty af the entire week.

Jean:

I hate to headcanon this but Jean is to type to criticise your fashion/makeup choices even if it's subtly.Thinking he knows it all he'll act overly brave with it but kinda convincing because he can actually name some makeup products other than eyeliner.Eren could never.He will raise your expectations sky high when on it but it wil turn out like:

He claims this is a sophisticated look for the fashion magazines D: İf you wipe it you are tasteless, periodt.

Reiner:

He doesn't trust himself AT ALL with it.Like get some product on the brush first but no he'll literally brush your face with 0 product on it for minutes xDD Also he's the type to pick nudes and pastels to not to make it too obvious.He isn't knowledgeable at all but since he loves watching you doing your own makeup he picked up one or two things.Tho not much so you got:

His baking game is no good but he had like 96789565 existential crises while on it and he says you can wipe it but he'll feel horrible if you do :/

Porco:

He thinks makeup is face paint for adult women,can't even name a SİNGLE product D: But willing to do anything for his 'baby' including 'makeup'.He picks the weirdest color combinations possible so, you are lucky if you look like a clown but odds are you will look like you got beaten up in a pride parade D: Also cleans mascara/eyeliner with YOUR spit D: İt's more hygienic this way because D:

He too would admit that he used his creativity a little too much D: Society's beauty standarts are not ready for this.

Zeke:

During the entire process he acts like a know it all youtube beauty guru and you might think he is acting goofy but suprise he is actually a pro at this??Like which ex taught you???But no this is one of his many weird hobbies and he's just that great.

Ofc he'll go for a classy doe eyes look xD Just make sure to thank him properly for the masterpiece he created.

Levi:

Another one for the clueless gang but he's the only smart enough person to ask what any product is used for and how he should do it.Considering he's quite handy in anything he does he picks it up fast and with you guiding a little he can pull of a wearable yet simple look such as:

Afterwards he wants to clean your brushes with bleach,better keep an eye on him.Also Levi is the type to show his love through actions so if he senses you liked what he did, later on he can ask you himself to do your makeup.Of course he gets better and better each time <3

Afternotes:Could you tolerate your fave painting your face?

#eren yeager #eren jeager #zeke yeager #zeke jaeger #levi ackerman #levi x reader #porco galliard #reiner braun #reiner brainrot #jean kirstein #jean x reader #eren x reader #zeke x reader #reiner x reader #porco x reader #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #aot #snk

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sevensoulmates · 1 month

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Buddie 7x04 Meta Part 4 (of 4)

Click here for part 1, part 2, and part 3.

This is the last part so it probably won't be as long (hopefully).

This entire conversation with Tommy includes a lot of references to Eddie. Whether Eddie's mad, how Eddie feels, why Eddie would like Tommy, how Eddie/Chris feel about Buck, how Eddie is such a great person and everyone would want to be friends with him, etc. Even when they're not talking about Eddie, they're talking about Eddie. And I love the idea of Tommy and Eddie being friends. Because honestly at the end of the day, it was Buck who was projecting more than friendship onto Tommy and Eddie's relationship. Queer men can have platonic friends that they like without wanting to be with them, and it genuinely does seem like that's what Tommy and Eddie are to each other. Their chemistry wasn't all in Buck's head, but how the two of them together made Buck feel? That was so real and super super telling.

Here's callback number ∞ to the streetfighting arc. This line in particular borrows a very particular...word...from a very particular grocery store fight. In 3x05, Eddie is the maddest he's ever been at Buck because Buck starting the lawsuit meant "I couldn't even talk to you", "Do you know how much Christopher misses you? How could you you weren't around?", "because you're exhausting!" Exhausting has been a buzzword in the Buddie fandom for many years and most people use it as an excuse for overdone and unnecessary Buck whump, but it's an interesting choice here. Especially in conjunction with Buck's acknowledgment of "making everything about him" which is another thing that is mentioned in the same episode 3x05 AS WELL AS in 3x09. But now, it's being used in a different context. Buck is falsely ascribing all of his attempts to get Eddie's attention over the last however many days to trying to get Tommy's attention. Even Tommy's like huh? "My attention?"

Lou places emphasis on "my". "My attention?" So even Tommy knows that this whole time Buck has been trying to get Eddie's attention. He's surprised that Buck is suddenly saying it's been about Tommy the whole time when quite obviously, it has not been.

Even Buck himself is not so certain about that. He "guesses so" because in this moment he's feeling infatuation, a connection with Tommy, a warm feeling that maybe reminds him of how he felt in the early days getting to know Eddie. He "guesses so" because that's the easy explanation to a question that's been circling his mind non-stop the past few days. It's an answer, and as we know Buck is always seeking an answer. It's a "for now readily available easy explanation" that Buck can take at face value because it means he can sleep easy at night knowing that his place with Eddie is safe again for the time being.

Even just a couple of seconds before the kiss happens, Buck brings up Eddie one last time in case you forget who's always on Buck's mind. He then mentions Maddie's words "There are better ways to get someone's attention", before he's interrupted. But before I dive into the kiss, I want to mention the implications that Tommy believes the best way to get someone's attention when you like them, instead of getting jealous, is to kiss them. It's an interesting suggestion, that all of this time, instead of all Buck's stupid peacocking attempts to try and get Eddie's attention this episode...he could've just kissed him. Foreshadowing? Only time will tell.

And boom. There we have it folks. Tommy kisses Buck, and the lightbulb goes off. Buck is attracted to men, he likes men AND women. This is 911's definitive statement that yes, we were right, Buck is bisexual, has been this whole time, and will always be in the future. And no, it's not just in relation to Eddie (which by the way is an IMPORTANT distinction). Buck is attracted to men in general, he's a bisexual man, and the show is not doing a "gay for you" trope here. They're committing to Buck being a queer man and this opens a world of new doors for him.

And again, I've said it once and I'll say it again: finally letting Buck realize his bisexuality, and act on it ON SCREEN (not just a throw-away mention) is REVOLUTIONARY. This representation is incredibly important and Buck's bisexuality on its own, separate from any love interest, will always be a part of him. Whether you like Tommy or not, that's not what matters. What matters is that Buck is realizing he can find happiness with a man. And more than likely, he will end up with a man, not because he has to, but because his perfect partner in the show has already been proven to be a man.

Eddie Diaz.

With this kiss, we are officially on the path towards Buddie. Buck kissing Tommy, or having a temporary relationship with him does not negate that. Just like Buck was always going to end up with Eddie even through his relationships with Abby, Ali, Taylor, and Natalia. Tommy is no different. And if after four long essays explaining point by point why that is true isn't enough to open your eyes, then I simply can't help you anymore.

Some last tidbits:

This reminded me of the Lonestar crossover where Eddie begs Marjan to "for the love of God, please follow Buck back on Insta." Just interesting since Eddie x Marjan was another fake-out love interest coupling.

And finally, the last 3x09 callback. This reminded me of the line when Buck says Eddie wanted to throw punches at him, Eddie says "I wouldn't do that", gives him a seductive look, and then says "You're on blood thinners". To which Buck says his famous "I could still take you". Yet another verbal comparison of Tommy to Eddie.

Final thoughts: This episode was fucking amazing (I really liked Athena's story too). This episode was more than enough proof for me that Buck and Eddie are going to get together. Buck is bisexual and FREE!!!!!!!

We were right about that, we're gonna be right about Eddie, and we're gonna be right about Buddie. Just unclench and enjoy the ride.

And for my fellow warriors who've been in the trenches for years telling everyone that the story will get there eventually, I salute us all! I hope yesterday's episode was vindication for you all as much as it was for me. I had a blast working with you all. See you all again for our celebrations when Eddie comes out and Buddie becomes canon. For now, I hope everyone had a Happy Bi Buck day!!

Full meta: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

#911 abc #buddie #buddie meta #911 meta #911 speculation #bucktommy #buddie speculation #buck x eddie #evan buckley x eddie diaz #this took me literally an entire work shift (8 hours)

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shorthaltsjester · 1 year

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if i ever have to see another thought piece on the description of the white picket fence outside of fjord and jester’s place in mighty nein reunited indicating jester’s unhappiness in the relationship i will burn the world to the ground.

a) heteronormativity doesn’t exist in exandria !

b) fjord isn’t your Typical Male Love Interest Guy. if i ever have to read someone say that shit again i’m gonna (correctly) assume they haven’t paid attention at all to campaign 2 and any of fjord’s character arc.

c) perhaps, jester lavorre, woman who was raised on the ideology of romance novels and sexuality as exchange, might just find it uh… not a terrible thing that the white picket fence is falling apart outside since… fjord explicitly does Not feel like those romance novels to her, instead he feels comfortable. the way that a brightly painted but rarely used house might, especially when the couple in question spends most of their time adventuring together… which is an essential part of jester’s motivations throughout the campaign.

d) the reason fjord and jester seem unhappy in the reunion might be because, well, uh, whereas everyone else was getting a “vacation”, jester and fjord’s life together (specifically the fact that Fjord Loves Jester Enough To Risk The World (Momentarily) To Save Her) was the inciting action for an apocalyptic demigod being released - they Were unhappy. who wouldn’t be given those circumstances. jester nearly died, and fjord felt like the god that once saved him had now abandoned him, i am so truly sorry that their romance was not satisfactory for your vision of atypical romance (which, by the way, is literally reinforcing the restrictive romantic tropes you think you’re criticizing, so good job i guess). i would be much, much more concerned if jester and fjord Weren’t clearly dismayed.

e) both fjord and jester are individuals whose entire lives and character are defined by the expectation (both external and internal) that they behave and emote a certain way. that they’re in a relationship with someone who they feel that they can show that they are frustrated with or disagree on the layout of their house with or have different ideas on how to deal with the looming threat of a demigod is incredible. jester and fjord are emblematic of a relationship in which the characters Aren’t meant to be, but they Want to be together and they want to understand and support the other person so they work at it. we wouldn’t have conversations like “you seem disheartened..” “i am very disheartened! you almost died!” if they didn’t take the time and care to communicate with one another.

f) if you want a honeymoon era joyful queer romance, yasha and beau are right there! they are explicitly horny and in love and bright about it! if queerness is your measure of “trope breaking” i am very sorry to tell you that queer people partake in white picket fences, and i’d actually argue that in terms of Lifestyle Metaphor, beauyasha are more adherent to the whitepicket fence, nuclear familyism. this isn’t a detriment to them, just, very literally, beau works a 9-5 where she comes back to her housewife who gardens and cooks dinner and their future includes explicit reference to children. comparatively, fjord wants to address some issues in his past, jester is an artist, and both of them are interested in adventure for the foreseeable future.

g) if you truly think that a single part of laura’s description of the part-time abode of fjord and jester overrides every interaction and choice that both laura and travis make towards fjord and jester caring for each other in a deep and meaningful way that goes beyond the weird fandom constructed Man/Woman characters being portrayed by a married couple i truly, Truly have no idea why you even watch the many hours of content that cr is when you could… play/write your own shit.

#usually i would simply block and ignore but! i got one of those weird twitter recommended tweet notifs #and there were far too many likes #also like. ppl talk about that home as if it is where fjord and jester are living their everyday life #they are on the ship most of the time. of course it’s downtrodden and illlooked after. they are adventuring. they’re writing their own story #fjord #fjord stone #jester lavorre #fjord + jester #fjorester #critical role #cr2 #mighty nein #cr meta #kinda #i’m not tagging this discourse because it’s stupid and against my principles if u don’t like this block me :)#the mighty nein

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kookslastbutton · 2 years

Text

Welcome to my library!

To check out a book, you must be 18+ as my work includes nsfw themes and are not suitable for minors. Secondly, please keep in mind that I write for a diverse audience. OCs within my fics will have minimal physical descriptors. I personally see my OCs as being about 24+ as well, but they are all most definitely 18+.

That said, thank you for stopping by. Please enjoy! 🥰

If you'd like to see older works head over to the archive.

Guide ✒

fluff (🌹) | smut (🔥) | angst (⚡) | favorites (♕)

coming soon...

Drabbles — ✨

End of the Line (M) 🌹🔥⚡//established relationship [1.3k]

"Your relationship with Seokjin hits a bumpy path when he notices you've been spending more time with his friends than him. It's an understatement to say your boyfriend has had enough of it."

Series — 🌙

Those Eyes Chico (M) 🌹🔥⚡♕// slow-burn, coworkers2friends2lovers

"As the new marketing director for Min Yoongi’s upcoming D-Day album & tour, you’re expected to bring your expertise to the table. This shouldn’t be a problem—you’re the best in the business and you’re used to drawing a strict line between your professional and personal life. But what happens when the lines you’ve fought to keep as separate blur for the first time?"

series masterlist

enamored (M)🌹🔥⚡♕//strangers2lovers, independent artist au

"Min Yoongi is nothing who you imagined him to be when you saw him preform at the local cafe in town. Yet little by little he surprises you with his true self, until somehow you find yourself completely enamored with him."

one [4.6k] | two | three

Oneshots — ☁

what love feels like (M) 🔥🌹⚡♕//marriage au, parenting [6.7k]

"Being a mother to a beautiful baby girl and wife to an adoring husband is the most rewarding feeling in the world. But you also work a full-time job, are overtired most of the time, stressed, don't have any alone time, look very different than eight years ago, and sex? Well, that hasn’t happened in weeks. The gravity of the situation weighs on you until one day, all of your deepest insecurities rear their ugly head–that your husband might not love you as much anymore and someone could take him away from you."

take care of you (M) 🔥🌹⚡♕//established relationship, vacation au [7.5k]

"To keep your fiance' from burning out you suggest a weekend getaway to Gapyeong, a charming town about an hour outside Seoul. You've specifically asked him to leave his work equipment at home but like a deep-rooted habit, he still brings it with him. You're left with no choice but to find a way to get his attention back."

Best Intentions (M) ⚡🔥 //s2l, slight thriller, mafia au [3.4k]

"As vice president, you are obligated to attend your boss's wedding–you're also his friend. But while you should be focused on the newlyweds, you find yourself far too interested in the attractive best man and the woman who happens to be his plus one."

Sidelines (M) ⚡🌹🔥♕// friends2lovers, unrequited love [3.6k]

"Best friends since university, Yoongi has always been the first one rushing to your side. But when you fall into his arms after, yet again, another heartbreak, Yoongi reaches his breaking point."

Still got it (M) 🔥🌹⚡♕ //marriage au, pwp [2.3k] (my first bts fic )

"On your 10th wedding anniversary you decide to voice out some slight marital concerns to your husband Yoongi. You also slip out that you don't think he can get you off given the fact that the last time the two of you got it on was months ago. Yoongi makes you eat your words."

coming soon...

Series — 🌙

Guilty Pleasures (M) ⚡🔥🌹♕//loverstoexesto ?, colleagues2?, unrequited love (not poly)

"Three years of being Seoul's power couple earns you nothing but a big fat divorce settlement and your face plaster on every gossip column around town. You're angry, hurt, and desperately want to move on, but worst of all? You're still in love with the man who started the whole mess, even though the most he can ever see you as is a friend. The renowned actor you've hired to be your company's new endorser seems to have a soft spot for you though. He's easy on the eyes, you'll admit, but who actually wants a divorcee like yourself? It's unrealistic really."

series masterlist

Reflections (M) 🌹⚡🔥♕// photography au, modeling au, strangers2lovers [11.3k]

"As a new hire at one of the most prestigious jewelry brands in the world; Adrien & Rosamel in Paris, you've been trying to build your professional portfolio for months. So when global brand ambassador Kim Taehyung comes in for a photoshoot but his personal photographer is unavailable, the company offers the gig to you. Oh of course you take it in a heartbeat—it's a given."

Oneshots — ☁

Loverboy 🌹🔥⚡♕//established relationship [7.1k]

"After a startling conversation with your coworkers, you start feeling insecure about your sexual prowess. You don't initiate as much, you haven't worn lingerie yet, and you're still timid about doing much seducing with your body–are you giving your boyfriend boring sex? Taehyung reassures you that you are perfect and have nothing to worry about."

Baby Maker (M) 🔥🌹♕// pwp, marriage au [2.4k]

" You're pissed at your husband for being late to your weekly baby-making sessions."

Til Death Do Us Part (M) 🔥🌹⚡♕ //marriage au, pwp [2.3k]

"Thinking it be a romantic gesture, Taehyung tosses your GPS out the car window while honeymooning in Italy. Too bad it gets you both stranded in the middle of nowhere though. What the hell are you gonna do now?"

high tide (M) 🔥🌹⚡//established relationship, pwp [2k]

"Due to Taehyung's job as a cruise ship Captain, you are constantly miles away from each other. Weekly phone calls help and this one gets a little nasty and a lot sweet."

Series — 🌙

Guilty Pleasures (M) ⚡🔥🌹♕//loverstoexesto ?, colleagues2?, unrequited love (not poly)

series masterlist

Too Late To Dream (M) ⚡🌹 🔥 ♕//marriage au, age gap

"You did it. You married your college professor. You even bought a house together. Against all odds, everything had fallen into place. But after two years of marriage, you begin feeling something was missing. You want a baby but your husband can’t say the same."

series masterlist (completed)

Love's Remedy, On Fire 🌹🔥//college au, strangers2lovers

"Jungkook is a romantic. He comes from a highly intelligent family who wants him to carry out the lineage. Being this way, he goes to college to be a pharmacist but his friends say college isn't just about studying! With a little persuasion, he goes to his first frat party thinking his hat will help him pick up a girl-or woman he means."

series masterlist (3/4 complete; #4 on hold)

Oneshots — ☁

Can’t Help It, I Love You (M) 🌹🔥♕//established relationship [3k]

"Finally getting a day off, your boyfriend takes you out on a date. Everything is sickeningly sweet until you visit a cute little lingerie store. All he wants to do now is get busy in the dressing room."

prove it to me (M) 🌹🔥♕//one sided enemies2lovers, friend of friend [5.3k]

"I'm not your baby Jungkook. Remember that." Those are the words you say right before jumping into a one night stand with Jeon Jungkook, the man who's constantly annoying you with his college fling stories. You decide maybe just this once, you'll play into his game and prove to everyone that he's no more average than the rest."

in your arms 🌹🔥♕//established relationship, comfort, pwp [1.6k]

"You wake up next to your boyfriend for the first time since moving in with him."

When I Say Forever (M) *requested* 🌹🔥♕// wedding au [4.6k]

"It's your wedding day and the slightly shy yet handsome, doe-eyed stranger who chased after you when you dropped your wallet on the street three years ago just happens to be the man standing before you today." *requested*

Returning the Favor (M) *requested* 🌹🔥⚡//e2l, brothers best friend au [3.9k]

"Your brother's best friend crashes with you for the weekend because he doesn't have room at his place. How delightful for you...especially when you overhear Jungkook telling his buddy over the phone that you couldn't turn him on even if you wanted to—fucking prick. You will not be an object of embarrassment, he will."

Lovin' You Right 🌹🔥♕//neighbors au, inspired by jjk seven, enemies2lovers [2k]

"Your new badass neighbor won't leave you alone. You know the type, the guy your mama wouldn't want you bringing home. He'd break your heart as quick as he'd take it."

#bts #bts smut #bts imagines #bts x reader #bts fanfic #jungkook smut #taehyung smut #jimin smut #hoseok smut #yoongi smut #seokjin smut #namjoon smut #bts au #masterlist #btswritersclub #kookslastbutton

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copperbadge · 5 months

Note

Hey Sam, it looks like I'll be in Chicago for a few days next May. I'm going through all the typical sight seeing websites, but do you have any recommendations for a first time visitor? I'm not huge on architecture, parks or crowds. History, art and music are a big yes. I'm considering the Big Bus hop on/off tour for practicality. Any tips would be appreciated!

I used to have a "guide to Chicago" that I would link people to, but I think it probably badly needs updating, since a lot of what it talks about is pre-pandemic, and some places don't exist anymore (which is not necessarily down to the pandemic, Chicago is an ever-changing place). RIP Apocalypse McDonalds. Definitely before you follow anyone's advice including mine, look up what you're going to go see to make sure it's still there.

So, couple of quick recommendations; thanks for telling me some of what you're into, that always helps :) I'm going to assume you're either staying somewhere close to downtown or willing to trek into the city from outside it. A lot of people who tell me they're visiting Chicago are actually visiting Rosemont, which is a nice place but not Chicago and not super close to most of what I'll be talking about. Chicago is extremely large, and if you are staying around the O'Hare airport area (Rosemont) it will be an hour by public transit or at least $50 by rideshare/cab to get downtown.

I will say whenever I'm visiting somewhere, my first stop is always Atlas Obscura, which usually lists the really weird shit to do. :D

I've never done the Big Bus tour, but it's much nicer to do it in May than, say, December, and the people I know who've done it found it a convenient and inexpensive way to get around the city without having to deal with public transit, so while I can't personally recommend, I've only heard good things.

I know you said you weren't into architecture, but if you want to see a lot of Chicago in a very relaxed fashion, while incidentally getting some architecture knowledge, it's tough to beat the Chicago Architecture Center's boat tour. You just get on the boat, buy a drink if you want one, sit back, and drift down the river and back while someone narrates the history of Chicago architecture to you. You'll also, in May, see lots of other folks out on the river and get a real taste of Chicago's downtown scene. If you'd like to see the river without the cost of the architecture tour, I'd check out the water taxis and see if there's an opportunity to take one when going between other places you're visiting. They do a lot of tourist-destination stops.

For history, the Chicago History Museum is a natural fit and a lot of walking tours leave from the museum, although most of them are architecture :D I would also HIGHLY recommend Adam Selzer's Mysterious Chicago tours; Selzer is a very smart local historian and if you'd like to do reading ahead of time I also highly recommend his book Ghosts of Chicago. If he's offering a tour of Rose Hill or Graceland cemeteries, I'd jump on that; Graceland was my old "home" cemetery (it was literally my backyard for about a decade) and I think it's extremely interesting and beautiful. If you do go to Graceland, I can recommend Byron's nearby as a great place to get a burger, fries, Italian Beef, or a hot dog. But pretty much any tour he offers I would recommend whether I've been on it or not, he's great.

For art, again, the natural choice is the Art Institute Museum; to avoid lines, I'd recommend buying your museum ticket ahead of time and entering through the Modern Wing on Monroe Street, which is less attractive but also way less crowded than the "Lions" entrance on Michigan Avenue. I always recommend people make sure not to miss the Thorne Miniatures (they're in the basement so easy to miss, but any docent can direct you there) and the Ugliest Vase in the World. They move the vase around quite a bit, but if you check the website for the Londonderry Vase before you go, it'll tell you where to find it. Its hideousness must be seen in person. Also make sure not to miss the Chagall windows, they're off in a corner by the entrance to the cafe.

I'm not really much on music so my reccs are weaker there, but if you'd like some Chicago blues in a tourist-friendly environment, Kingston Mines is good, as is Buddy Guy's (which also has great food and is closer to downtown). If you like fried chicken, Harold's Chicken Shack is near Buddy Guy's (it's all over, it's a small chain, but that's usually the easiest one for people to find). The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is pretty great for classical music, and in the summer they often have special guests. If you like the NPR show "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me", they record live in downtown Chicago at the Fine Arts building; you usually have to buy pretty far in advance, keep an eye on tickets here.

More general recommendations: the Museum of Science and Industry is really fun, especially with kids but even without, but it's also the furthest out from downtown and can take some work to get to. Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium are both fun times, although the Shedd is kinda pricey I think. They're right next to each other though so a day doing both is convenient. If you are doing any of the museums, keep your eyes peeled for the "Mold A Rama" machines, where for $5 you can watch the machine injection-mold you a souvenir. Often the museums have custom machines for various exhibits (the Death exhibit at the Field had a skull one, for instance).

There are two train systems in Chicago: the "El" (the color-coded trains you see in movies all the time) and the Metra. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TAKE THE METRA TRAIN ANYWHERE. The Metra is a commuter rail designed for people who know how to use it, and they don't announce stops or even sometimes have signage; often the train won't stop at a platform unless it's told to during certain times of day. It is extremely easy to get extremely lost on the Metra and end up somewhere you do not want to be. If you are taking public transit, even if it seems less convenient, stick to buses and the El trains. The El and Metra run on different tracks so it's easy to avoid the Metra, but I always like to warn folks.

Okay, I think that's the highlights, minus some parks and such; I hope you have a great time! Feel free to hit me if you have questions.

#chicago #tourism

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aziraphales-library · 1 month

Note

hello library team!! i have a somewhat strange search going on that i'm having trouble parsing through:

i'm looking for specifically sfw omegaverse fics, any characters, any ships, it doesn't matter. yes, strange, but i love potential for worldbuilding. unfortunately, i can only ever find nsfw. i know mod d answered a similar ask a few years back, but i wanted to see if there was any hidden gems you could find.

i would greatly appreciate some help in this, much love being sent <3

Hi! Yes, we have some specifically sex/heat/mating-free a/b/o fics here. The fics I have here do include them as themes, but are non-explicit with no sex scenes. Enjoy!...

Till The Stars Go Out by WildestHeart (T)

Takes place roughly a year before Preparations. An attempt is made to woo Aziraphale into being Crowley's mate. Aziraphale has a different idea of courtship.

That Lavender Haze by KiaraMGrey (T)

Crowley has no interest in attending the party of some rich Lord. But with his title and inheritance on the line, he needs to find an alpha husband, and fast. But Crowley isn't like the other omegas. He's snappy and impatient and unwilling to be treated like some pet to an alpha. When the party goes south, he's sure that he'll never find someone compatible with him. But maybe he just needs to meet an angel.

Finding Home by Vagabond (M)

Aziraphale protects, as it is his nature. Whether it is giving away his flaming sword to defenseless humans, or coming to Crowley in his time of need, he sees it as his duty. If there's a little bit of love simmering beneath it all, especially when a certain demon's wings are laid out before him shivering with need, well. He'll do his duty first, and figure out the rest later. Or: an alpha angel and an omega demon eventually overcome the end of the world, their insecurities, and manage to find a home together.

Twice Bitten, Once Shy by JoseyxNeko (M)

Crowley is the new Alpha in Tadfield and on the opening day of his new shop a very angelic Omega walks in. They hit it off right away, and- what a coincidence! They both have seventeen year old sons. Their mateship is guaranteed, so long as their sons can get along. What could possibly go wrong? Warlock is the new kid in Tadfield, and on the first day of school a boy with a mop of dirty blond hair makes fun of his name. They butt heads right away, but what a coincidence! Their dads both want them to meet their new love interests. Their rivalry is guaranteed, so long as they don't get along. What could possibly go right?

Duty and Desire by Purple_Rose_Writes (M)

A Regency-Era GO Omegaverse Human AU Aziraphale Heavens has resisted taking a mate, but when the family hits hard times, he has no choice. His fears about being mated to an alpha he's never met are only heightened when Alpha Anthony Crowley is rather non-traditional. Is he doomed to a life of abuse and mistreatment? Or is there more to Crowley than meets the eye?

Stubborn Love by Get_Wrexed (M)

Lord Aziraphale Fell, the Viscount of Whitefeather Manor and heir for the title of Earl of Sussex is a reserved, persnickety fellow much more fond of literature than the tedious song and dance of noble society. Although he is in need of a mate, he is plagued with the residual fear of a heartbreak several years past. Lord Anthony Crowley, the youngest and only Omega child of the Earl and Countess of Sutherland, is a wild, untamable thing with a propensity for outspokenness and mischief, underscored by an intriguing disregard for etiquette despite the good breeding and education to know far better. Both are faced with the newfound knowledge that a True Mate awaits them out in the world, and are faced with the question: shall they remain in search for their destined partner, the other half of their soul? Or shall they forge ahead and write their own destiny? *** The turn-of-the-century nobility True Mates Omegaverse AU literally nobody asked for ***

- Mod D

#good omens #ineffable husbands #a/b/o #a/b/o dynamics #omegaverse #mod d

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ozzgin · 4 months

Note

Dear Ozzgin,

Is your new addition to the repertoire, the yandere android, a Mixture of Experts like GPT-4.5, or something else entirely? Would his performance / 'humanness' degrade if he were talking to another machine (an inhuman one, not designed to be Spacer-ly human) for a long time?

Any random lorebits on Spacers you did not include but would have had you felt less constrained?

Hah, okay, I see you've gotten into the technical aspects. I'm about to go on a ramble so I'll do a cut here for everyone else to not clog your feeds. Feel free to read if you're into this kind of stuff. :D

First, I just wanted to point this out because I've read your hashtags and comment: the CCD sensors were a bit of an asspull because it's one thing I'm more knowledgeable about, but I don't feel like it'd be a realistic choice, if I am to be nitpicky. They're expensive to produce and are mostly used for really high performance work (telescopes), but a humanoid robot wouldn't need such advanced digital imaging for daily life use. So, you know, it's arguable whether or not there are better alternatives when it comes to a mass-produced agent processing the immediate environment.

Now to your actual question: I've used the machine learning approach because this is currently our most advanced way of developing AI, but it would not be enough to explain the Android's perfect understanding of human speech. ChatGPT analyzes sentences and their meaning purely based on grammar and associations, but there's many examples of it struggling against anything more intricate than literal context. So yeah, that kind of sarcastic dialogue and implied meaning is wishful thinking of times far away sadly. I'm only wildly guessing he wouldn't struggle with today's impediments. There's a black box somewhere in there that fills the gaps and variables we don't have.

If at some point you find yourself with time to spare, I'd recommend reading the book directly. It's very interesting to see how people viewed the "future" back then, and you will detect a lot of optimism regarding computers - such as Daneel (the original Android) being a flawless human. Funnily enough, the book was published shortly before the Dartmouth Conference, so Asimov was this close to discover that language recognition is, in fact, a terribly tangled business and not as simple as they had originally expected.

I think I covered the basics when it comes to Spacers, but then again I cannot tell how easy it is to follow for someone that isn't familiar with the original work. I also didn't want to reproduce every fact, mot a mot, from Caves of Steel, especially since this is less about politics and more about romance. I'd suspect the people reading the story are not too bothered by the only briefly mentioned murder. Cause is less important when the effect is a tall robot boy with a crush on you 👀 if you feel me.

Anyways, I'm very glad you like the story, every now and then I'll insert little facts and technical details - as it usually is when you study Physics and CS but have no friends in the field - so it's definitely nice to have someone recognize the stuff! :)

#yandere android

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kikohao · 2 months

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ᅠᅠᅠᅠヽ｀ . 100 WITH KIKOHAO ( •͈ ꒡ •͈ )

i am extremely happy to note that i've reached 100 follows on here! its an incredible milestone for me to reach so many followers in just less than a month after restarting my dead account <3

i am genuinely really happy that i've decided to write again, and, especially for my ults, seventeen. i may start writing for other groups but seventeen will always, and forever, be my top priority in both writing, and just in general <3

so, now, after all the sentimental-ness, i'll be having 2 mini events :)

event 1; closed!!

send an ask mentioning an intro about yourself (it can be very short, or very detailed!) where you can mention your interests/hobbies and anything else that comes to mind!

after, i'll be shipping you with a member from the group (i'll include why i ship you with them, how they'll be, etc etc)

you can send the asks on/off anon :)

event 2; closed!!

send an ask with a member of choice and any quote of choice (no smut) and i'll write a fic/drabble having about 200-1k words depending on the quote and inspiration. [some quote references if you want 🐬 🎀 💐 🐸 💌 💥 🌱 🧸 these are just examples, feel free to send me your own <3 ]

feel free to add some thoughts/ideas/pictures/songs along with it :)

if you would like to spread the word about this event, feel free to reblog <3

i haven't yet thought about how long this event will be but let's see how it'll go !! :D

taglist; @nonononranghaee @abodyhasbeenfound @staranghae send an ask to be added to my taglist!

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justanotherfanartist · 2 months

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heeey guys little social help here? (poll at the end)

get ready for a rare real life lore dump (yippee) because I have a social scenario I’m not sure how to handle. this is your chance to have input on my life like some sort of rpg (if you’re into that kind of thing lmfao)

(I really really hate outing my age range like this but I feel like it might impact peoples choices so. just know I’m on the older end alright)

So, I went to this nearby jazz festival on Saturday. Basically, it’s an event that pulls a bunch of local highschools and their upper and lower level jazz bands together (I’m in my schools lower level group) to compete for awards and finalist placements and stuff like that (very fun very cool experience every time) and something that’s become a habit of mine is scanning each group for anyone interesting and it just happened that there was this guy from another school’s upper band that really stood out to me.

He is genuinely one of the prettiest guys I’ve ever laid eyes on, bro is GORGEOUS and also an amazing trombone player with super clean tone (and was part of a killer trombone soli) so naturally I’m pretty smitten. For real as soon as you start playing an instrument yourself “being good at an instrument” is immediately something added to your type which makes going to these things an interesting experience.

Anyways, I thought he was attractive enough to try and shoot my shot (I do this kinda thing every so often especially if I think I’ll get rejected just as a confidence booster. works like a charm btw) so I made up my mind that hey, we all stash our instruments in the same place, so after the finalists concert when everybody goes to grab their gear and pack up I’ll go up to him and ask him if he wants my number before we all have to leave for the night. Pretty non instrusive introduction that guarantees a short conversation and an excuse for him to leave if I happen to make him uncomfortable, that sort of thing. (I love planning out social interactions in my head before I have them)

(also this is fr the strat bc a) “hey do you want my number?” gives the person a choice and b) if they do say yes awkwardly in the moment but regret it they can always just decide not to text you; it puts the ball more in their court rather than you getting their number and texting them first, that sort of thing)

so that’s exactly what I did. I tapped him on the shoulder, he turned around, and the interaction went like this:

“Hey, you’re one of the trombone players from (insert local highschool’s upper band) right?”

“Yeah?”

“I was just wondering, would you want my phone number? :D”

“Oh, I’m actually not looking for anything right now.”

“Hey, no problem.”

“Thanks though. :)”

“Yeah ‘course!”

and then we split ways.

As of today I found their jazz group’s page on instagram (basically, I’m going around and following all the ones that I thought were really good, including his who placed first just ahead of my school’s upper band in second)(we were psyched btw cus their group is known for crushing everyone so being up there second only to them felt pretty good) and I realized he’s probably following them and I actually did manage to find his page, which is privated (oddly enough he happens to be followed by someone who I very loosely know) so it’s request to follow only.

My question is would it be weird to request to follow him? Based on my instagram page and what I have up he might not be able to recognize me but I’m guessing he’ll know it’s me just because of our interaction and the follow request, but I’m not sure if I’d be breaking a social boundary if I did that.

I don’t intend to hit on him or push him for romance or anything like that— I got a clear and polite “no thanks” and I’m not going to infringe on that full stop (boundaries are to be respected always). Blanket statement I think this guy is cool and an impressively good player, I’d legitimately want to see him perform again or possibly be friends (I’m starved for jazz friends) but I’m just reallllyyy worried it’s gonna come off as creepy or boundary breaking to request a follow so I’m not sure if I should or not.

(my logic is that he already rejected a request for communication so requesting to follow him is essentially doing the same thing again and might come off as creepy or pushing it and the last thing I want is to make this guy uncomfortable. on the other hand it could be seen as completely harmless or even flattering depending on the person but I’m really not sure.)

mutuals give me opinions bc I’m curious what you think (also I’d really appreciate it if you picked something other than maybe lmao or left me a comment of your thoughts or smthn like that. I may be overthinking this)

(asterisk is for extra info for the first poll option)

*regardless of your intentions, which he is unable to truly discern, but will probably assume is still romantic pursuit

#I love being unsure of social rules or boundaries

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finestcigar · 10 months

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My personal favorite lines from every DRDT character + explanations

Most of these are my favorites because they carry deeper implications about the characters or are thematically interesting. A few of them are just here because they're funny.

Fair warning that this is at least half just an excuse to talk about my subjective character interpretations and various cool shit I've noticed.

Spoilers up to CH2-11. Content warnings for DRDT-typical stuff.

It's a kind of funny part of J's character how genuinely vindictive she gets over her secret despite it seemingly being minor and almost completely meaningless. To be fair, I guess spending four straight days hanging out with Arturo does that to a person.

Xander:

This is very interesting to me because a lot of the cast feel trapped by "fate" or unfortunate circumstances they're unable to escape (well, besides the killing game...). Teruko is the obvious example, but so are David, Arei (at first), Rose, Ace... It's common enough among the characters that I'd argue it as a central theme of the series, and I'm excited to see how it gets explored. This line being coupled with Xander immediately trying to kill Teruko despite the fact he doesn't want to seems like a contradiction, so I'm curious about that, too.

Veronika:

A big part of her character is just parodying Danganronpa fans (think Shirogane but less insulting) and I think this sums it up well. David was my least favorite character pre-CH2 and I break out in hives whenever I hear people saying he was better before, so I unfortunately can't deny how accurate this is :p A healthy appreciation for morally bankrupt characters is a keystone of maximum Danganronpa enjoyment!

Nico:

Everyone knows this one, but still. I like how Nico's shyness feels more like a character choice to make them seem unstable rather than non-threatening. This is accurate to reality since it's mostly shy people who send death threats on Tumblr dot com. (just kidding)

Eden:

Sums up her entire speech to Teruko in 2-3. What she says here cements her as the only person to stand in clear-cut opposition to the cynical worldviews of people like Teruko and David, which is important, since they're clearly supposed to be in the wrong but would otherwise lack a clear source of pushback. Disturbingly convincing theories about her being the CH2 killer aside, I think she's the only character more likely than David to die in CH5, since she seems to be taking on a role similar to Nanami and Momota in the mainline games.

Charles:

I'm getting a degree in computer science. Gonna start randomly dropping this one into conversations with people. (not really)

Rose:

This along with the rest of her backstory is symbolic for how corporations take the autonomy from artists and suck the soul out of their work. (Can you even call it symbolic if it's practically word for word?) All I can say about it is that it's a creative's horror story and this is exactly how I would feel if I were in her shoes.

Ace:

There's very obviously a lot more going on with Ace than what meets the eye. This line is a particularly clear example and I'm curious exactly what he's referring to when he says "this".

Whit:

This guy has problems.

Teruko:

Teruko being a doomer who thinks everyone besides her is fated to die. Should be obvious by this point, but this is actually why she's refusing to get close to people more than physical self-preservation: she doesn't want to deal with the grief of watching everyone else in the cast die one by one. Also ties in nicely with the next one:

David:

Similarly to Teruko, on the inside he's in complete fatalist despair thinking everyone (including himself) is gonna die. This is very telling of why he gives up on surviving and tries to get everyone to vote for him in 2-11.

Hu:

The motive secret she got is "You only took on your talent to distract from your incessant need to harm yourself for fun." This is a pretty morbid secret, but she doesn't think it's odd because the secret doesn't apply to her; she only thinks it's odd because it doesn't have her name on it. Interesting tie-in to her actual secret being the "hopeless child" one.

Min:

As someone who is an exceptional student but mid in every other area of life, I feel this hard. Min's entire bonus story speaks to me.

Levi:

Pretty funny, I laughed. Levi hasn't had his development yet so he's really leaving me with a shortage of things to say about him.

Arturo:

Again, can't explain why, I just think this is a very funny thing to say for some reason.

Arei:

I love the way this kind of cynicism is portrayed in DRDT. If Teruko and David are super negative and pessimistic about other people, Arei is a visceral demonstration of just how miserable and wet-cat-pathetic it is to hold views like those. As Eden says, "Not caring about others is the worst way to live." Although the aforementioned two were the only witnesses to this scene for a reason, I think the point was lost on both of them. Very sad!

Honorable mentions:

Self explanatory. Teruko really wants to be loved; she just believes any meaningful relationships she makes are figuratively and literally doomed.

Also self explanatory. Another indication that there's a lot more going on with Ace than meets the eye.

I always forget he said this so I get jumpscared by it every time I rewatch the prologue. Like whoa man, you're in America, you can't say that word here.

Anyway, thanks for reading this far. Feel free to ask me to elaborate on any of this if you want to, though be aware I might write an entire essay if prompted. See you next time! 🚬

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