#with something this longwinded?

[catastrxblues]

soo disappointed that they removed arachne’s funeral. i get that they had to cut many things to fit the film’s run time, but i was so surprised when they didn’t put it. because i took it as a pretty bold event, displayed to highlight how far the capitol would go to remind the district of their control and power. so urgent for them, that they would even surrender to blowing the what should’ve been a respectable funeral of one of their own out of proportion for propaganda use.

even snow saw it as such, that so many soldiers have died in the war, and yet they passed with such little recognition and honor compared to the girl who died stupidly as a “casualty of cheap laughs.” there was a speech from the president and dr. gaul, overstated praises and exaggerated claims, fabricated statements inching to lies, battalion of peacekeepers, quartet of horses, pulling the tributes in the cage for a show. how the gore of brandy’s body displayed hung in the air, dangling from its hook, causing more horror than the respect one would’ve expected for a funeral.

what grated me the most when i was reading this was that, from what i got, the capitol was still on shaky ground with the economy, especially with the ruins of the war still evident in every corner, so many things to fix. and yet they still spent what they had on this, just to show the people in the districts things they had already known from their starving stomachs and overworked hands—that they lost, and the capitol won.

and they did this twice, again for didi and pollo’s funeral. with what was left of the fallen tributes sickly paraded behind them.

i just keep thinking how these carefully put together events only show how the capitol truly had no genuine respect even for children of their own. their sympathy was only used when they had a political goal of their own, if there was something to make a propaganda out of. to sway the masses’ views and their perspective and will the spotlight on them to bring on their crocodile tears.

how, when it comes to medias and gaining sympathy and feeding fear and terror to the opposition, the capitol spares no expense, showed both in the hunger games, and even their own students’ funerals.

this just emphasizes the main theme of this entire series, how children were always the ones at the most disadvantage when it comes to war, and are so often used and exploited by the reigning governments, no matter what side are they on. really really wish they could’ve kept this one in honestly.

#yeah sorry another longwinded rant 😔 it has been rotting my brain for far too long #but anyways doesn’t the essence of this reminds you of something right now #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas #coriolanus snow #arachne crane #tbosas spoilers #btw #the hunger games #thg #suzanne collins #nadirants #it’s not over until q sings #long post

[thesherrinfordfacility]

Crowley's flaws: I think Gaiman accidentally wrote himself into a hole that he either doesn't see or doesn't know how to escape, and he fell into the hole when he decided to turn what was a political allegory into a psychologized relationship issue. Pratchett's understanding of evil is rooted in post-WWII thinking about totalitarianism, in which unthinkable acts are perpetrated by bureaucracies staffed by "normal" people, and resistance comes from individuals who become aware of what this routinization really conceals. This is consistent across the Discworld novels, not just GO. What GO does is take this point and filter it through C. S. Lewis' THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS (the hell-as-bureaucracy model, which NG and TP then extend to Heaven). In the novel, there's a direct line from Crowley's "hung out with the wrong people" to the moment at the airfield when he tries to reject Aziraphale's claim that they're both responsible for the mess the humans are in because they were "only doing our jobs." That's a textbook example of what we now call the Nuremberg defense ("just following orders/just doing my job"). The fandom loves romanticizing this aspect of Crowley's character--he has trauma! he's a proto-Marxist with demonic class consciousness!--but when Crowley busts out this kind of reasoning, he gives way to /evil/, just as Aziraphale does when he tries to justify the ways of Heaven to himself. Any fan who wants to be uncomfortable ought to read Hannah Arendt's EICHMANN IN JERUSALEM and then go back and look at Crowley's dialogue again, because boy howdy. But when it comes to their relationship, the transgression is not /personal/.

In the series, the political allegory has vanished, and the direct line runs from Crowley's "it's not my fault" to manipulating Aziraphale into killing the Antichrist. So far, so good, sort of? Gaiman had to remind the fandom that we aren't supposed to buy Crowley's excuses, all of which are bad. He's called out on the "why me" bit three times in the first episode alone. But by the end, there is no sign that Aziraphale understands that he has been manipulated, and no sign that Crowley understands that he did something wrong! The moral epiphany Crowley had in the novel vanishes, so we are left with a nasty /personal/ transgression that neither character understands as such. Aziraphale, by contrast, keeps owning up to his mistakes (at the bar, to Adam during the timestop, on the park bench). Part of this has to do with comedy and its lack of object permanence, so to speak. However, instead of facing up to the conflict it's created for itself, the series drops the whole thing like a Hellfire-hot potato, and so appears to conclude that there's nothing wrong when one character repeatedly takes advantage of another one's gullibility, sometimes in destructive ways. The question is to what extent the new writer has any opinions about this, or even notices.

i have no words........ 👀 a very interesting and thought-provoking take. i dig it. i never thought to look at the tonal comparison of the book vs. the show but this is... eye-opening. yes. YES. (and this doesn't mean that the characters nor the story are unlikeable. it means they have depth but that depth sinks into murky, terrifying, bottomless oceans just as much as clear, shiny, crystal-like reefs). YES.

also anon if you are comfortable pls message me direct i just wanna give u a lil virtual kiss a lil smooch✨

#good omens #good omens season 2 #good omens spoilers #good omens 2 spoilers #i know a fair bit about ww2 socio-politics so im actually going to screenshot this and study it later but #oh man #this is a Something Else post #nonnie you have an acute and sharp mind god bless you #i love this i live for it #YUMMY. FUCKING. SOUP🍲 #also my analogy is SHITE but mea culpa i am trying to work at the same time as this #not a shitpost but its good omens babyyyy #ask #the legend of the longwinded anon✨

[storytellering]

the moment I see someone unironically make a "deadweight" nero joke or seriously refer to him as "deadweight" i know i can't trust them

#its the like king of the unfunny dmc dudebro jokes #like I hate to be the 'UMMMM ACTUALLY' guy but tell me you were playing with your eyes closed without telling me #the POINT is that he was never a deadweight not even to Dante #he just took it to heart because he was so desperate for Dante to acknowledge him and to feel up to task and his own inferiority complex #but the POINT was that dante blurted out something he didn't mean in the heat of the moment just to get nero out of there and #as words you dont think about in the heat of the moment often do #it stuck and cut him deeply #do you ever hear anyone refer to him as a dead weight besides the one dante line? #no!!! #the word is said exactly four times in game and three of those are nero talking back at dante since the one time hurt that badly #anyway yada yada i know its a funny haha #but it always communicates such a lack of care and respect for the source material and nero as a character to me #you can make deprecating jokes about the characters you like! #hell i insult vergil all the time #(he deserves it) #but its one thing to make actually funny and accurate insult-jokes about a character out of fondness #and another to just blindly parrot back a line that meant something completely else in context clearly without understanding what it meant #lol sorry rant over this got a bit longwinded #but the type of fan to unironically do that just bothers me #lo and behold its always the gen nonship and anti people wonder why /s

[tweeks]

its so funny how much stan lets attention go to his head people really want kyle to be the one that needs to be accepted and liked because of his morality but stan truly is so desperate for not just approval but outright PRAISE for no real god damn reason its so funny god stan you’re so dumb

#though kyle is way more self righteous it is definitely more genuine when he seeks approval stan thinks the world should revolve around him #everytime i post something like this im scared some 32 year old who thinks i dont understand the show will try to own me #using some very longwinded and patronizing language to make a meta post about why i in particular am so goddamn stupid to have thought this #tweeksposts

[doggirlhen]

Hi ^w^ I don't have much to say but I think you should check out some gameplay footage of panzer dragoon zwei on sega saturn because I played it tonight and that game look SO stupid good and is also fun as hell. also what's your opinion on maces and how they rank for you as melee weapons

everyday we're friends it becomes increasingly obvious its all a ploy to extract wealth from my vast pools of coins and jewels and ingots to exchange for cash to buy every sega saturn on this little blue planet so you can build a house and wife out of and have gay sex with that black or sometimes white box of a console and while i dont approve of your methods i cannot deny that my brief skipping around of the timeline on an hour long video of someone playing panzer dragoon zwei on sega saturn that it does look badass

also maces are badass but definately not a first choice. a sword of some veriety will always be a winner but i think some maces look cool, especially any that break from the "big spiky ball on stick" route like the boston basher from tf2

#ask me shit #neowatt #hi nova i really wanted to write something stupid and longwinded so thats why the first half is like that

[atdutiesend]

v; the husband

He was sent to Sharlayan with Alphinaud and Alisaie with information on Black Rose and the threat it posed. The majority of the Scions considered him a security risk and wanted him out of the way. (Dove didn't.) Sharlayan went into lock down, recalling all researchers and gleaners as a precaution.

When they got word the Scions had been slaughtered, Grim suggested an emergency plan to get everyone to Labyrinthos in the case of an attack. This was ignored, because Sharlayan was neutral so surely they wouldn't be attacked, right? Right.

A warairship containing Black Rose is sent to the city. The Lopporits could only give them an hour's warning. They attempt to get everyone into Labyrinthos, but without a plan, not everyone makes it.

Fourchenalt, aware of Grim's strongly earth-aligned aether puts him in charge of the cavern, with orders to seal it five minutes before impact.

someone overhears.

a stampede starts outside the building.

Grim and Fourchenalt out up wards to prevent the lift being hijacked, sabotaging the seal.

Forchenault is the second-to last down, taking a full elevator full of children they'd taken last-minute.

Grim's the last one down.

The too-still aether is seeping into the land, so he draws on the plant life of Labyrinthos to create a power loop to seal Labyrinthos against the poison.

this triggers significant plant growth, as he's feeding into the plants, which reciprocate with interest.

he has to go deeper, ever deeper to draw enough power. He connects with a ley line that leads directly to the remains of Thesprotia.

the various Viera start muttering amongst themselves with the sudden surge. This is where his title comes from; "he might as well be the green mother's husband!"

it turns out that Grim is absolutely thriving here, where he's trusted and even beloved as their protector, his guidance valued. Not quite a leader, but a shepherd.

and so it goes for the next century, until an old friend visits for the last time, crumbling an old memory block out of mercy, as this is the last time he might remember to do so.

Ophiuchus fades, Elidibus fades, and only Zodiark remains.

The surviors hold a vote and elects Grim as Overseer for the future forum, as he's like to outlive the longest lived of the current seats, he's best suited to the long term oversight.

They're down there for 600 years before the air is breathable on the surface again.

Grim - by then known only as "The Husband" goes up alone on his own insistence, since he should be able to survive for a few minutes even if the air is still contaminated

Has a good cry in the ruins of the Leveilleur estate before picking himself up and giving the order that it's now safe to surface.

They start broadcasting on every frequency looking for other civilized survivors.

Oh, look at that. A group calling themselves the Ironworks turned up with a catboy the Husband never met but certainly knew about. They want help from the Sharlayan survivors.

The Ragnarok is put forth. Much negotiation and study later, it's decided the Ragnarok will be sent ahead to prepare a landing space for the Tower.

The Husband insists on going personally. Given his advanced age and how little help he can be for this mission, everyone is forced to concede and allow it.

He may or may not end up on the First, too far in the past or right on schedule. :)

#v; the husband #out of cryptids #about grim #long post #lordy loo this is longwinded and stream of consciousness #i will eventually turn this into something that's not just notes

[tvrningout-archived]

so here's what i'm thinking -- i'm gonna remake this blog. i've wondered for a while if i shouldn't just remake and start over ( with some exceptions ofc ) bc i've felt overwhelmed whenever i try to be here. it's my fault bc i let things pile up too much, and that happened bc i think i've just been biting off more than i can chew at a time.

that's why i'm going to attempt to make my blog a lil more private/selective this time around. i probably won't follow everyone on my new blog who i follow currently simply bc i want to focus more on my mutuals than i have been, and there's just no way i can do that if i'm following 100+ people. obviously if we're long time mutuals or we've interacted ic or ooc, you're stuck with me <3 but otherwise, pls know there's absolutely no hard feelings if i don't follow you!! i just want to be sure i'm surrounding myself with people i'm comfy with, especially when my social battery is low all the time lately. i promise if i could write and talk to everyone, i would ;n;

honestly!! it's gonna take me a while to remake bc it's gonna be a lot. it's gonna be a slow process bc i gotta set up the blog, the muse pages, reblog headcanons and whatnot, so it'll be a minute before i start all of this thanks to school. i just wanted to go ahead and get this post out and circulating so y'all know why i might be kinda silent aside from being busy.

#me making a longwinded post just to say i'm eventually remaking? yes ofc it's my brand #asdfg #but thank you all for being patient with me and i'm sorry if i disappoint anyone! #i just want to get back to writing more consistently like i used to #and maintaining conversations with my mutuals without making them wait a whole week for me to muster the spoons to talk #i want rp to be something i look forward to again rather than feeling bad bc i have a million things i owe #and mutuals who don't hear from me bc good gosh i just feel bogged down #yeah i just need to do this ;v; #get ready to ramble | ooc #weeps i need to go study now but i'm so sleepy y'all i don't wanna

[cadriona]

DONE WITH THE WRITING PART OF THESIS

now its editing. Or rather, continued editing. by the gods i hate editing so much ahhhhhhhhhhh

#master's thesis should be 70 pages therabouts! google says #my longwinded ass has ended up with something ~120 pg in length before the bibliography #my poor supervisors who are reading through this utter monstrosity;;; #but iTS ALMOST OVER I CAN ALMOST TASTE FREEDOM #wait fuck i need to email epoelp

[new-eyes-extra-colors]

Is Shaun Nora's child? If so, does she view X6 as family due to his closeness to Father, or just as a friend?

shaun is nora's biological child, yep, and post-institute when asked she says she has two sons (referring to shaun and synth!shaun--but a minor plot point in my fic is that she doesn't tell anyone about synth!shaun being a synth. if pressed for details, she just says her eldest passed away recently and that typically shuts down any further questions).

oh, edited to add bc i don't think i was clear: she treats synth!shaun as a son too. she takes to him straightaway. he's still a child who views her as his mother, and she still wants to be a parent. they have a good relationship.

she does view x6 as family, but in a found-family sort of way that doesn't have anything to do with them sharing dna. she thinks shaun calling himself "father" is extremely--i think paternalistic is the right word, and she emphatically does not approve. she feels family is a lot more than genetic material, and so is parenthood, which relates back to her family situation mentioned here.

she and x6 grow close as they work together and kind of outside the bounds of father's knowledge. x6 is a smart guy and figures out nora's still working for the railroad, and for his own reasons keeps it to himself, and nora's aware that if she actually reported how snarky and independent x6 is, he'd be sent to reconditioning. so their relationship is tense for a while, but eventually grows genuine and very close.

i think outside of nick, x6 is the companion she's closest with by the end of things.

#okay if it is not clear who i am talking about please please let me know #the curse of having two characters with the same name. augh #...you might have been asking about synth shaun as the shaun in your ask?? oh boy. #anyway i have so many thoughts about x6. he's the best courser because he's good at what he does and he believes in the institute #which makes him the worst courser because the fact that he CAN believe in them tears down everything they say about synths being people #like. if even your most elite agents work for you ONLY because you've brainwashed them into doing so #are your takes REALLY valid? nah #<- that's the extremely simple version but i think i could write an essay on how x6 is proof the institute is wrong and they can't see it #...or a longwinded fanfic. or a tag novel dear god #tysm for the ask!! i will talk about my synth and x6 and shaun and father headcanons ALL DAY i swear #the relationship between sole and their son is another reason i'm writing this honestly. like. loving someone who is objectively a horrible #person is something that... well #it's something. #it's tough. #autumn.fic #fic: until dawn #autumn.oc #oc: nora navarre

[kulemii]

mkay, i usually dont do this. i usually mind my own business and shit talk in my head but i'm not going to lie i'm so annoyed, i really need to get it off my chest before i go about this the wrong way.

hating female characters because they dared to be your fave's CANON RI IS NOT CUTE! and at alot of yalls big age, it's kind of embarrassing and pathetic.

i'm 25 and i am into a character that has at least two canon love interests and one that pined after someone. i'm not going to lie and say that that doesn't bother me on a mild jealousy level- i am saying this to put out there that i am NOT shaming any adult for having crushes on their faves and getting a little put off by them having CANON RIs.

I'm not and anyone that knows me would know that. (just wanted to say so in case this reaches anyone that doesn't)

what i AM shaming though is when yall are childish about it and go after these CANON RIs and rip them to shreds because let's face it, it's not you. at this point it has nothing to do with the characters not having enough character development, not having enough time with the character to make it make sense, not having a likeable personality or whatever bullshit yall have used as excuses to rip these typically female characters apart for having a CANON relationship with your faves and i'm tired of being nice about it.

yall sat there and HYPED YUKI UP when she was just an awkward girl that might or might not have had a lil crush on someone- which so many people decided to ignore and box her into the sibling category, just like the rest of the hostesses when it's obvious they all fell for him. and yall like to go 'oh lol those things aren't canon' because it's not in the main story- BITCH IF THE ORIGINAL WRITERS WROTE IT IT'S MOTHERFUCKING CANON! but let a substory or something come up that feeds into whatever fucking idea you've been feeding yourself yall will shout from the roof tops how it's canon and no one can take it from you.. i'm not gonna take it from you, but at some point, i hope you realize how hypocritical you sound.

yall sat there and hyped yuki up FOR YEAAAAAARS and the second she gets casted as kiryu's love interest you wanna bring out the torches and burn her at the stake??? it was never about the character, it's always been about you. and your jealousy that you're too emotionally immature to realize is JUST jealousy and you make it every fucking female character with romantic ties to every fave you've ever had's problem. i mean think about it, if you can sit here and smash characters together that have never so much as stood in the same room as the other, is it really about canon chemistry? it's not and you know it's not and you should learn how to reevaluate your relationship with these characters before you CONTINUE to make a fool of yourself because it's pathetic and i no longer have the patience to rationalize what you 'really mean' anymore.

something i want yall to remember when yall get mad at these girls for being there instead your selfship oc or another character you are clearly attracted to, at the end of the day, that's HER man. and YOU are stepping in where you dont belong. not her.

grow the fuck up.

and where i stand on this personally? oryo and ryouma are a cute ass couple and it's the ONE time we get to see kiryu end up with someone and be HAPPY about it! oryo and ryouma had a whole year of history together before you even saw them and when you did see them, they had something!! they had plot! you even got to spend time with her unlike other LIs. WHY NOT BE HAPPY FOR YOUR FAVE???? and if oryo existing bothers you soooo much, dont make it her fucking problem. write an oc and ship him with them but dont spend 12 pages bitching about why oryo wasn't good enough for him as a RI.

#might lose friends with this one that sucks but whatever man im tired #i have no problem with not wanting to acknowledge canon if you're looking to ship your own self or ocs with characters that have canon RIs #this isn't about shipping at all #it's about yall losing your breath at the keyboard typing up these bullshit longwinded ass assaults #on why every female character ever isn't good enough for your fave #it's sad and pathetic and i'm tired of it for real #imma start blocking people over this because i dont wanna see it anymore #delete later #i'm not saying you have to be a fan of a canon romantic or seemingly relationship #because you dont you can deadass pretend they dont even exist so long as your not being a fucking moron about it #hell i've written an entire love story for y0majima with my own oc because he was my fave and did i go and rip makoto to shreds? #or even acknowledge their relationship? NO! but i did mind my own business and leave that girl alone because it has nothing to do with her #when i see canon romance but i have no intention of acknowledging it in my work i get happy that i have something canon to work from #great the writers gave me the tools to create a romance that is believable for this character #and i say 'thanks for letting me copy your homework g' and then i mind my own business afterwards'

[shandian-go]

Shandian GO - 2nd Anniversary Celebration!

I can’t believe it’s been two whole years since this group order was created and to celebrate this milestone, I’ve put together some events to thank all the joiners that made this GO possible :D

1) Giveaway

The lovely yuka_cchii has designed some adorable USB cards to commemorate the second anniversary of the GO! There are 5 options available (MDZS, TGCF, SVSSS, SHL and 2ha) and they’re free to order!

The giveaway is open to all registered Shandian GO joiners (past and present). Maximum 1 USB card per joiner, first come first served! 

➥ Link to listing

2) Mid Year Survey

I’m always thinking of ways to improve the GO experience for joiners and would love to get your input about the GO process through the survey. There’s been a number of changes since the last survey and I’d love to hear what worked for you and what didn’t, and also get a sense of what you’d like to see from the GO going forward :)

The survey can be submitted anonymously but if you do want to leave your contact details, I’ll be doing a prize draw for survey participants as a thank you! There will be 6 winners and each winner will receive a $10.00 CAD gift voucher for the GO~

➥ Link to survey (ends July 31, 2022)

3) New Feedback Gifts

The monthly feedback prize draw has been replaced by a new process that will allow all joiners to claim some goodies for posting feedback for their packages :D 

All feedback posts posted after May 31, 2022 are eligible for this new process. 

Joiners who posted feedback before May 31, 2022 and have never won a feedback draw prize will also get a maximum of one (1) roll-forward entry for the new process. This means that when you claim your feedback gift for the first time, you’ll be able to submit one (1) URL link for a post dated before May 31, 2022.

If you have any questions about the new process, feel free to use the Tumblr Askbox :) 

➥ Link to feedback gifts page

Lastly, thank you all so much for your ongoing support for this GO and sticking around through all the ups and downs over these past two years. I'm grateful and humbled by all the trust you've placed in me and will keep working hard to be deserving of that trust. 

I hope the goodies you receive from me continue to bring you joy and if fate allows it, I also hope we’ll be able to celebrate again together a year from now~

- Mel

#shandian go #announcements #i was going to post another longwinded reflections post but #there hasn't been much time with all the cupsleeve event planning and shipping issues and catching up on admin #but my sentiments from the last reflections posts haven't really changed and i'm still incredibly thankful to you guys #for giving me this amazing opportunity to build all this from something i love #and for being patient and supportive when i have to figure things out #i had a vague notion of closing the GO within 2 years because that's usually the time limit of my stay in each fandom #but it's because of you guys that i still want to keep it going <3 #so thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart #<3<3<3<3<3

[ashtraysystem]

I have the same thought floating around in my head but don't know how to put it into proper words.

I think, basically; I have the right to judge someone's character of my own free will. Even if you proclaim them to be devil incarnate, I have the right to give them an unsullied chance at winning my favor should I see it fit. Any attempts to spoil that chance shall only sully your own favor in my mind.

#vent #xavier🖋 #*sigh* #words are difficult at times #how to express something but not lose sight of the goal? #I've written this out in 3 different drafts #each one much too longwinded and rambley

[thesherrinfordfacility]

LWA: I'm procrastinating again from professional writing, so I'll take the opportunity of you being uncomfortable with "God Ships It" to do my rant. When I started attempting to read GO fanfic, I was startled by how...panicked?...it is about the source material. The panic is most obvious when it comes to dealing with any of Crowley's character flaws--this is a fandom that gets very sentimental about how cruel Crowley might be to his plants, but then does a Bentley-sized swerve when it comes to how cruel Crowley is to /Aziraphale/ when he /successfully/ manipulates him into trying to kill the Antichrist for him--but it also comes out in its treatment of religion.

The irony of post-S2 fanfic is that pre-S2 fanfic overwhelmingly endorses Aziraphale's attitude to Heaven (without realizing it). That is, it implicitly or explicitly assumes that Heaven has become warped in the absence of God, and that the presence of God Herself (or Himself, in the novel) would provide the "good" alternative. Heaven, that is, can be reformed if the real authority would just stand up. Moreover, there are multiple fics that really do assume that being an angel is better than being a demon because angelic grace means they are still in touch with the divine, and there are even fics that posit how great it would be if Crowley were reinstated to angelic status. "God ships it" rests on the assumption that the GO God is "good," that His/Her "shipping" is beneficent and rooted in care specifically for the protagonists (particularly if it proves to be part of the ineffable plan), and that His/Her imprimatur is desirable and necessary.

None of these assumptions are supported by the novel or series. (I keep wanting to write "Source for this claim?" in the margins.) Gaiman inadvertently sets the stage for "God ships it" by making God the narrator in S1, but "God reports it" is not the same as "God ships it." More to the point, both the novel and the series reject the terms of Pascal's Wager: if we cannot be assured of the existence of God or the nature of God's will, GO responds, then the correct course of action is to locate moral authority "on the ground," as it were, in human communities, and to proceed as if /God does not exist./ (Anathema burning the second book of prophecies is a case in point.) Moreover, in the series we are shown repeatedly that God's actions violate human (and angelic and demonic) moral norms, particularly in repeated sacrifices of children, and viewers are not invited to side with God! There is no evidence that the GO God is good, or loving, or even fundamentally decent in a way that can be articulated in terms of earthly morality. God's ways are incomprehensible, which is why, as I said before, attempts to do theology in GO-verse don't arrive at anything coherent. There is certainly no sign that God thinking you're a great person is going to do wonders for you (see: Job). And after seeing what God either causes to happen directly or allows to happen by withdrawing, there are no circumstances under which centering the protagonists' love lives makes God look any better. ("Isn't it amazing that all the horrors of the past several millennia had to happen just so Aziraphale and Crowley could be in love?") Finally, the "shipping" suggests that it is /desirable/ that the characters' love be divinely authorized or that they should be outright directed into a relationship by providential means, even though GO is all about the centrality of free will and the necessity of learning how to choose. So...no.

hey, look LWA; far be it for me to tell you how to spend your breaks in between work but i do have to question your decision that any part of that break is spent delivering Hot Tea to my inbox - but im never going to complain about it, rant away!!!✨ (also - hope the writing is going well, procrastination or no!!!)

it does make me uncomfortable for this one simple reason:

"god does not play dice with the universe. i play an ineffable game of my own devising."

so look - i know it's literally god speaking. she can do as she pleases, whatever. but to think that she tampers with her best and yet most ironic invention truly unnerves me - that she takes free will, and manipulates it to her design - and even more alarming is that that design is completely unknown and unknowable to anyone other than her. honestly, it's this kind of thought that makes me steer well clear of any religious leanings personally; people will make decisions and will mess them up and will succeed with them, but the thought that those occurrences were "god's will", or down to a higher power... well, it's not a good feeling, in my opinion. extrapolate that thought to any real life scenario as you will.

but in any case, to apply this to GO gives me the same sense of unease. i have still the thought that there is going to be a clear, definitive line between the great plan and the ineffable plan in the narrative. that seems to have been set up very firmly in s1, and arguably becomes way more understated yet elaborated on in s2 (job and resurrectionist minisodes) until the end when metatron mentions the second coming. id absolutely love for it to be a huge narrative point in s3 again; the ultimate long-con chekhovs gun metaphorically jamming, backfiring, and spraying shrapnel all over the place.

but which is worse? a great plan that at the very least almost everyone of influence in heaven, including aziraphale if you hypothesise based on his knowing of the plans for the humans/earth in the pre-fall scene, has seen or at least seen bits of, and now presumably will work to ensure will come to pass because they know better than to question something metaphorically written in stone? an awful concept at face value, fulfilling prophecy, but at least you'd know what you're getting - you're buying what's advertised. i got rather ensconced in looking up some biblical stuff the other night, thinking about something similar to this, and:

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. (Matthew 24:6 - KJV)

that is terrifying, even if you take into account "the end is not yet", because that is ominous as all hell. but is it more terrifying that the ineffable plan, that is controlled and shaped and enacted by only one entity, cannot be questioned or challenged until it has already come to pass? that it is not of even questionable morality, but unknowable morality? god does not play dice, because that would be fairer - that would leave things up to chance... free will. instead she is playing by something only she knows, only she can control. so in that first quote, i interpret that she is either directly or indirectly telling the audience not to trust her and her actions. maybe god is self-aware, maybe not. she's ineffable.

so, even if the great plan is awful and inevitable, is it better to anticipate exactly what's coming? better the devil you know? either way, between the two, you're actually caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. that's the whole dilemma, the whole point, i know. but this is where i come to the "god ships it" trope: i originally thought that aziraphale and crowley being a part (and possibly inadvertently cocking up) the ineffable plan by way of their love story would be a great plot device - until i realised that, to be honest, that would a) feel like lazy writing with very little nuance to be had, and b) directly contradict my whole thought process on free will.

i do think they're involved in the ineffable plan, have a stake and place in it. i don't think, in some way, that there's any way they can't be. but it would have to be for god's benefit (ie whatever conclusion for the world she's currently got running on standby mode), and i don't think god, being what/who she is, would be able to understand love like that. she might foresee it, being omniscient and all, but what would she know about it? love is something to be felt, and that kind of love (unless GO is going to take a very weird turn) is not something she could ever experience. she sees it, sure, in her creations, but that's not knowing it.

so no, i don't think god has any place in the relationship between aziraphale and crowley. if anything, her mere existence is the ultimate barrier to it, through crowley's resentment, hurt, and anger, and in aziraphale's naivety, blind faith, and own brand of god complex. to give her seal of approval to any of it would be redundant anyway; it wouldn't change anything, it doesn't prove anything, and it immediately questions whether the characters choosing to have a relationship of any kind is of their own free will or was predetermined and inevitable. so, no, thank you.

i would like to think god is good - because if there is a higher power, you just have to hope that they don't have it out for you, right? - but logically she just... is. arguably, she is beyond morality, and arguably she is both good and bad. she makes bets with satan to test the faith in her most loyal faithful - which again, it might have been the great plan to make job suffer, but equally it might have been the ineffable plan for aziraphale and crowley to thwart it at great risk, sacrifice, and pain to their psyches... frankly, it's fucked either way you slice it.

(and it does make me wonder about why this appears to be the last that we actually see of god's 'physical' presence in heaven so far...)

furthermore, the issue in the resurrectionists; not even just aziraphale's alarming speech completely disregarding inequality as a means of arriving at a ridiculous point about morality, but - did god have a hand in having aziraphale and crowley come across elspeth and morag, leading to aziraphale starting to question what right and wrong is (rather unsuccessfully, he swings between redefining the two like a sodding metronome)? and equally have a hand in morag's death, that made aziraphale potentially retreat back to his usual standby of exalting in god's power and mercy? but leads to elspeth being able to live a better life? unknown, but this possibility does indicate that no, she isn't good, and she isn't bad, she's just playing a game that has an equal chance for the rest of us as being a good or bad move (insomuch that only she knows what game and rules she's playing - schrödingers chess move, really).

that's why aziraphale's decision at the end of s2 is so important to me. he spent the previous episode playing at being god, moving pieces around the board in a series of patterns as he pleased in order to reach the check, but having little regard for them in doing so - removing their free will and ability to think or feel or act independently, but equally whilst never at any intention of causing harm. does that make it okay? of course not - it's playing a game only he knows how to play.

so to then look at heaven as being something that he could change, should change - because he's being handed the opportunity - is meritable; he's not leaving it up to someone else, not following blind faith that "the almighty will fix it", he's choosing to be the change himself. and there's no confirmation at all that he's doing it to return it to what he considers to be god's original intention; as it stands, we have to assume that he's just going to fix/change/improve it for the wider benefit of everyone. but then again - is this fair? that at the top of heaven there will essentially only be aziraphale (not counting the metatron), and his vision, his decisions? perhaps that's why it was also so important to see that conference meeting in ep6 - it's not just the supreme archangel in charge; there is a precedent, however questionable the board of directors, of democracy in heaven.

lastly, just to touch on it: i think it would have been an interesting conundrum if crowley had accepted the restoration; whether it would have changed him, erased parts of him involuntarily, or if he would have remained as just crowley and used the opportunity to bring down the second coming and heaven's corruption from the inside. as it stands, we'll never know - but there never was any true characterisation reward to be had from making him an angel again, and it would have been a weird choice for him to make. the way it went down was exactly as their characters are and believe.

(putting this into a separate section because my mind just got a factory-reset by this point and my having a philosophy-realignment moment didn't really fit in any of the above very well):

it's really interesting to bring in pascal here, because i wouldn't have seen GO as rejecting it altogether on first glance (ie not contradicting you, just realigning my thought process). so... my initial thought is that GO eradicates at least half of the wager by confirmation that god exists, full stop (aaaand immediately going off on a long tangential thought of how different the story could be if we didn't have god as the narrator/no confirmation of god in the book other than in abstract, and therefore the pascal wager could theoretically apply - big yikes). removal of the dead-end outcomes leaves you with receiving either damnation, or eternal peace. but add in the element of ineffability, as you say, and the entire argument is rejected altogether... it makes sense to have GO reject such a binary argument, and the whole representation of agnes as being a stand-in personification (?) for god, in that respect, and anathema essentially rejecting her, carries so much more weight for me now... thats so cool to think about, thank you!!!✨

#good omens #quite a few new followers so let me explain #if you're new here: this happens once or twice a week at most #LWA pops in for a cuppa and a GO/philosophy chat (very one sided they are v smart) and then goes on their merry way again #i dont know why they do it in my ask box but im not examining that too closely #there's evidently something here that draws them in and fuck knows if i know what it is #but yes they are a legend in these halls (i sometimes get random messages asking if theyve appeared in my inbox again) #just dont expect any particularly insightful responses from me but i try my best #the legend of the longwinded anon✨ #not a shitpost but its good omens babyyyy #ask

[vultureworth]

hey!!! so you know your piece "A Tutorial." from november 1st?? i saw it on november 22nd and have been thinking about it ever since. it won't leave my head. the composition is so incredibly striking, with the bright red of the figures at the bottom. i love their contrasting symettry, with their locking arms, one of their eyes closed, the other open. the one on the left almost looks...petrified? horrified? and it makes sense, because the line on their side is "accept that you cannot live with yourself" and the figure on the right looks...quieter, almost sorrowful but not quite. they understand that they must. god im sorry this isn't even coherent really i'm trying to do visual analysis. the visual metaphor with the shovel in combination with "do not return to the crime scene" is so good. and it melds well with "take up a hobby" being visually represented by gardening. but really the composition supports the words, to me. those lines have stuck in my head for MONTHS. "ACCEPT THAT YOU CANNOT LIVE WITH YOURSELF / UNDERSTAND THAT YOU MUST" it meant something to me back then and it means that and more, now, after i've been pondering the ramifications of having a progressive disorder. sorry sorry i just want you to know you created something really, incredibly beautiful. thank you

I havent been around on the internet as much recently, so I hope I'm not too late too responding to this. It's my turn to be dubiously coherent. I made that comic in a single afternoon for a class I had the next day, if I'm remembering correctly. I'm not mentioning these circumstances to play this off like "oh this old thing? just a little doodle I did, no big deal", and if anything I think it is because of these circumstances that the comic is the way it is. But I mention this here because I want you to know truly how much its words like yours mean to me, because they're not just words, are they? Just as the words of my comic have become "not just words" for you and others.

It seems cliche typing the sentence "I never expected anyone would pay attention to my art" for the same reason I hesitated with talking about the comic's rushed deadline, because while these facts are both true and parts of how the art exists to me, I also know how these statements can come off as downplaying something that people have told me is quite important to them. This comic is important to me too. It always has been. But it's also something else now too, and I have to accept that. I have to accept that I created something beautiful and meaningful (and I understand that I must). I have to accept that my art and words live in the brains of others (and I understand that I must). It's all a bit terrifying, isn't it? But there's nothing to be done about that other than to live with it, and for me to next time figure out better, shorter ways to communicate how deeply and genuinely it means to me that this means something to you. Thank you.

#something something the mortifying ordeal of being known #for real though theres too many words in my brain about all of this and i dont know how to say any of it without being very longwinded #and also very corny or pretentious or whatever else im afraid it could read as

[lesbian-kyoru]

i think the problem (read: gift) with all of my suotai fics is that when i outline them i’m always aiming for a nice little 1k piece, and then a few weeks later i’m 4,000 words in and still not done

#do i need to learn brevity! absolutely #but there's just something uniquely longwinded about suotai #it's like what if everything was agonizing both internally and pacing wise #zoe.txt

[byanyan]

squints it's so hard to dip your toes back into writing after so many days of low energy when almost all ur drafts are lengthy paras

#it's just so daunting to open drafts & be met with huge paragraphs when all i want is something bite-sized to get my brain going again lmao #i'm saying this like it's not my own fault for being incapable of writing anything that isn't longwinded. i literally do this to myself lmf #hhHHH i have like 43 drafts rn and i don't know where to start #watch me inevitably do a one-liner call or reblog a meme that just results in adding more onto my plate lbr #━━ ˟ ⊰ ✰ OOC ⋮ DON’T @ ME.