preternaturalrose

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It's Digi-on! I miss those days with a passion.

alright my good Digi-pals, tonight I'm gonna party like it's August 1st, 1999!!

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you guys, what does it mean if there’s rust all over my door that i swear wasn’t there yesterday and the air smells alarmingly salty? have i never needed anything more, or should i be concerned?

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Looking for Alaska is 20 years old. It reads like historical fiction now. I mean, the plot turns on a PAY PHONE. Kids don't even know what pay phones are.

Hundreds of school districts have banned the book from libraries and classrooms, so much so that it's rarely taught in English classes the way that it used to be.

And yet somehow, improbably enough, it continues to find readers. Over a thousand every week. Incredible. I am so grateful that little book has stayed alive for so long.

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Meet me behind the mall 💚

almost time to get lost in the memories 🧂💨

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Finally watching the Interview with the Vampire TV series, and I'm really into it! I'm so glad that they have audio description now. The changes from the books are really interesting and seem to match the spirit of the books while adding new dynamics.

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Destroy the myth that libraries are no longer relevant. If you use your library, please reblog.

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Yes, all of this!

my most self indulgent s3 wish that i still think is completely necessary and non negotiable is for aziraphale to list crowleys little demonic qualities (wily and temptuous and mischeivous and frustrating and exciting and rebellious and oh...) and say that if he wasnt like that then aziraphale wouldnt be very smitten with him at all

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I love this analysis!

Ok ok ok but the THING the thing that GETS ME about Aziraphale and I feel like I don't see as much about it written on here is that yes we all know that Crowley pretends to be cynical and dark because he wants so badly to be joyful and optimistic but he's been hurt & let down too many times so he puts up the cynicism as a facade.

But Aziraphale is ALSO DOING THIS, just using the opposite tactic.

Crowley assumes everything will go badly because he's protected from disappointment when it does, and gets to be pleasantly surprised when it doesn't.

Aziraphale assumes everything will go well because he's unBELIEVABLY anxiety-ridden ALL THE TIME and cannot deal emotionally with even the prospect of things going wrong. So not only does he optimism his way out of seeing issues that are right in front of him until he absolutely can't avoid them any longer (see: dancing in his bookshop surrounded by demons), but he also actively gaslights himself into thinking that the bad things that happened to him or that he was involved in weren't that bad, and pretends that he doesn't have negative emotions and is just fine and happy all the time because he doesn't know what to DO with those feelings-- he's an angel! He's supposed to be placidly happy forever! What do you mean he's angry or sad or disappointed or disgusted or lonely? Angels don't feel those things!

Season 2 showed us Crowley getting in touch with his feelings of love and care, and I think season 3 is going to show us Aziraphale getting in touch with his feelings of anger and disappointment, and I for one CANNOT WAIT.

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Another reason why Aziraphale would want to go to heaven is the Book of Life

During all the season we were told about the Book of Life. All the season Aziraphale and Crowley were threatened with it and it scared the shit out of Crowley.

And you know what would eliminate that threat? Getting hold of that book.

And you know who has the power over that book? The ruler of heaven, exactly the place Aziraphale was offered.

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Here's a summary:

MILIEU: A milieu story concerns the world surrounding the characters you create.

IDEA: An idea story concerns the information you intend the reader to uncover or learn as they read your story.

CHARACTER: A character story concerns the nature of at least one of the characters in your story. Specifically, what this character does and why they do it.

EVENT: An event story concerns what happens and why it happens.

Let's examine each of these in turn.

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i love taking jabs at The Ineffables' horrific communication skills as much as the next guy but i hope you all understand that their piss-poor communication is built upon centuries of having to deny the truth of their relationship and having to take orders from Mega Powerful Organizations that they don't necessarily agree with but could kill them if opposed

all of their interactions until the end of Armageddon't had to be hidden under layers of deception, excuses, and plausible deniability — clandestine meetings at St. James' Park, risking discorporation via guillotine for a lunch date in Paris, "go back to my place" "my side won't like that", not accepting each other's gratitude. the same could be said for anything they did that their head offices don't agree with — doing good deeds because laudanum might not make him accountable for his actions, saving the Earth against heaven's wishes under the guise of thwarting a demon, having sushi to "live like the locals" when really he just likes sushi and interesting restaurants where they know his name. they never learned to be completely honest with each other, or with anyone (including themselves) for that matter.

it's honestly a testament to how strong their connection is that they've grown to trust each other so deeply ("i knew you'd come through for me, you always do" / "i can rely on you and you can rely on me"), given the circumstances. how do you place all your faith in someone despite the fact that you two could only ever whisper half-truths and read between the lines? god i love them

now that the walls are down, they're learning how to voice everything they never could out loud. it's clumsy, and painstaking, and they might cause each other grief along the way, but they'll get the hang of it, little by little

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Actually pretty good--which is great because last year was pretty rough. I hope to remember this summer as the summer of the Barbie movie, Good Omens season 2, The Little Mermaid live action, and Speak now Taylor's Version.

Tonight I was at a fundraiser thing and an old friend said, "How was your summer?"

And I said, "Good," before thinking about it and then after a while I was like, "Except my brother got cancer; I became the reluctant CEO of two companies; my books were banned from hundreds of schools around the country; I ruptured a disc in my back; and I couldn't get any writing done."

But the thing is it was kind of a good summer. Got to see a lot of Hank and my kids. Made some good memories. Broke bread with people I love.

Anyway, how was your summer? Good, I hope. Or at least multitudinous.

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If only God were in charge of the audio descriptions!

Hello Mr Gaiman! This may have been asked before but does Pollution use any specific pronouns? I’ve been using they/them for Pollution but I accidentally turned on audio description during my rewatch of season 1 and the audio description referred to them as “her” right after the narrator used “they”. I was caught off guard since I’d never seen anyone use she/her for pollution and I can’t find anybody using feminine pronouns for Pollution online. Is this a mistake or does Pollution go by any pronouns?

They/them, just as the voice of God says. God outranks the audio description people.

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This is a beautiful thought!

catatonic thinking about how in every love song there's a little bit of aziraphale and crowley because they've loved for so long they've encompassed all the love humanity has ever experienced and it's bled everywhere

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uh so i never do this but maui is quite literally on fire and there isn't nearly enough care or consideration for. you know. Native Hawaiians who live here being displaced and the land (and cultural relevance) that's being eaten up by the fire. so if ya'll wanna help, here's some links:

maui food bank: https://mauifoodbank.org/

maui humane society: https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/

center for native hawaiian advancement: https://www.memberplanet.com/campaign/cnhamembers/kakoomaui

hawai'i red cross: https://www.redcross.org/local/hawaii/ways-to-donate.html

please reblog and spread the word if you can't donate.

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I love this about him.

Rewatching bits of S1 is a revelation for the stuff in S2.

In the ark sequence, we see Aziraphale standing by and watching the preparation for the Great Flood, clearly in some state of anxiety about it. When Crawley questions him about it and says “not the kids, you can’t kill kids”, Aziraphale straight-up tells him “you can’t judge the Almighty, Crawley.”

Fast-forward to 2500BC, the first time they see each other after the flood and, once again, the lives of children are on the line. This time, Aziraphale is immediately horrified when he finds out.

This time, he doesn’t just stand there and watch. He goes and actively puts himself between Crawley and the children. When Crawley turns up, Aziraphale is still wary of him and almost falls for him saying “I want to destroy the blameless children of blameless Job”. But the second he realises the goat-kids were saved, he knows Crawley still believes “you can’t kill kids”.

That’s why he’s so convinced that Crawley absolutely won’t kill Job’s children, even when Crawley miracles up a flaming inferno to engulf the house. “Are you sure, angel?” Crawley taunts him and Aziraphale - unafraid and absolutely certain that this demon will thwart Heaven’s will - says yes.

And when those very children are in danger of being killed off by Heaven directly, to fulfil God’s will for Job to lose all his old possessions, Aziraphale lies to protect them. He’s terrified after, afraid he’s destined to fall, but he did it anyway because he wanted to protect them, just as he gave away his weapon to protect Adam and Eve outside the garden.

And I feel like this is the big turning point for him. Giving his sword away wasn’t necessarily defying orders, but because of Crawley and the Job situation, Aziraphale makes the active choice to make a stand against Heaven’s plans. He’s terrified, but he does it, and then he keeps on doing it.

Every single action he takes against Heaven is in the name of protecting people: giving Adam & Eve the sword, shielding Job’s children, trying to teach the Antichrist to be good, swan-diving out of heaven to protect earth, hiding Gabriel to keep him safe, shouting at the Archangels and Demons like naughty children when they threaten to bring a war on and now, walking back into Heaven in the hopes of beginning a revolution for the whole system.

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Mary's Song is a classic! It's one of the songs that helped me fall in love with her debut. my tears ricochet and cowboy like me are also great.