#Doesn't have to be all of them or a big part but S3 needs human faces anyway and it'd be nice to get updates

[snek-eyes]

Omg I LOATHE the coffee theory with all my heart.

About Maggie, I did a little deep dive into existing fan theories (the most "popular" one being that she might be demon offspring) and I'd like to reiterate. I don't think there's anything supernatural going on here. A while ago Neil confirmed that Maggie was immune to Azi's attempt at hypotizing her in the final episode to forget what was happening because he had done so much hypnotizing already and didn't have the spoons to put in the effort it would have taken to actually put her under a spell since she'd already witnessed so much that it would have been harder to change her perception, and that's not only what I initially thought, too, but what feels like the most logical thing. The spelling mistake might be just her being upset because she thinks she'll lose the shop she loves so much. Or it might be a red herring there to make us think there's something more going on but there actually isn't. Or, in addition to my first point, since Maggie is supposed to mirror Crowley, the spelling mistake might be part of that (Crowley himself isn't bad at spelling but the other demons are associated with it so it makes sense, just like Maggie living in her shop because she can't afford a flat mirrors Crowley living in the Bentley). Plus, I don't think Maggie is an important character. She was a main character in the season, much like Madame Tracy and Shadwell and Adam in the first season, but the story is centered solely around Crowley and Aziraphale and their love story and I feel big reveals like "Maggie is a demon/is offspring of supernatural beings" doesn't really fit the story. All of which to say yes I think you're right 🤣❤

-💫 (btw I love being halo anon! feels very sophisticated and ethereal 🤣)

Seeing everyone play around with theories and ideas is overall fun. That's what fandom is for! So most of the time, I don't like being like "It's Not That Deep bro." But then there are times where I'm like, welllll we might wanna just pull out Occam's razor here, the simplest explanation is probably the best one. Especially when it comes to theories that feel like they do the characters a disservice, because character motivations and flaws are what I find interesting. Most of the time, I'd rather spend time thinking about what it says about a character that they chose to do X, than there being external factors that Made Them Do It. Maggie being a demon right now is just "well of course she did that, she's a demon," I don't know anything about her as a person who would choose to do this. If S3 introduces me to her, I'm open to it! But until then, I agree with you that I just don't think she's much bigger of a character than what we saw.

[mdhwrites]

Do you think the show rewards Luz’s Selfishness too much?

So I normally frame Luz's decision to self martyr herself and stay in her own world as not wanting to bother with the effort to fix her mistake. Let's shift that a bit so we can talk about why the show couldn't have Luz tell ANYONE this deeply selfish choice. A choice that by all means, Camila seems to think is just a bad choice for Luz and for no one else.

But... Luz chooses that her pain and angst is so bad that she doesn't want to help Amity reunite with her siblings. Or to make sure they can live in a world where they're safe. Gus' dad, Willow's parents, Darius, etc. All of them can rot as far as Luz is concerned. She even explicitly states this in For the Future. "Once Eda and King are safe, I'm going home."

No one else matters. LITERALLY no one else matters to her but the people she has chosen to care about and there aren't many of those. This is framed even worse by the fact that by the end of this episode, Camila will effectively say that Luz has NEVER done anything wrong. That trying to critique her at all, to try and give her life skills and friends with the camp after she put people's lives potentially in danger (snakes and fireworks are not meant for school for a reason), was wrong. That Luz just needs to be 'understood'. Part of understanding Luz, especially in S3, means that unless someone attacks her about it, like the dream sequence, WHICH ISN'T HER OWN MIND BUT A FABRICATION AND LIE, she isn't going to think about others. Just her adopted family and herself. And even then, maybe not even her adopted family since they sure as shit didn't matter in Thanks to Them.

BUT. we are supposed to sympathize with her and believe she did nothing wrong, just like Camila. Do not question her motivations, or her efforts, just believe her words.

This is emblematic of the show as well. The first two episodes talk a big game about fantasy vs reality and like Luz's selfish motivations, warped way of looking at things and her learning to be a human being, not a walking, wanna be protagonist will be interrogated. But... Not really. She repeatedly does things that are mirrored in her favorite series. Her final battle line will be a reference to that series and her delusions with that series. People might get briefly upset about her actions but most of the time she either doesn't have to do anything, like Reaching Out or Adventure in the Elements (where she gets a glyph BEFORE making up the fuck up she did) or show how special she is like in Lost in Language and Covention. I can only really think of like one episode after the first two where Luz fucks up and genuinely has to take the brunt of punishment for it, Winging it Like Witches, and even in that one, she is saved before anything bad happens to her before winning with the same trick that hurt her friends, just... Now it's okay because they're all on the same page about it I guess. Couldn't have had Willow come up with something herself because Luz actually was willing to listen to Willow and not force something onto her. That'd be too much work.

It's part of why the more you interrogate Luz's intentions and motivations, it gets BAD. So much of what she does could be easily grafted onto a kid trying to play hero or not learning anything from past mistakes. Don't ever forget that Teenage Abomination says "Listen to your mentor about their specialty," then The Intruder says "Don't take shortcuts to magic" before then in Adventure in the Elements, Luz takes a shortcut for magic while also not listening to Eda and almost gets people killed for it. GREAT JOB LUZ! Much development, such depth.

And yes, lots of shows will have characters yoyo and the like but these are within HALF A SEASON of each other. It usually takes a little longer for most animated shows to straight up start repeating lessons. Hell, yes, it is theoretically a problem for Amphibia too with stuff like Bessie and the hibernation episode both featuring Anne's impatience but also S1 is genuinely about how Anne is fighting between the lessons she's learning and her growing empathy versus how she used to be with her selfishness and laziness. Also, both episodes might be about her impatience but they genuinely tackle it in different ways, with one being about disregarding the rules because of overconfidence and the other one is out of boredom. For TOH... It's just that Luz wants the magic she thinks she should have, as easily and as fun as she thinks it should be instead of weird and actually taking work, and fucks it up because of that same motivation.

That same motivation that doesn't treat reality like reality. According to the show though, that's just the best way to be. Follow your own version, fuck everything else. That's what Luz gets to do in the end after all and she's the one literally blessed by God to be correct.

So yeah, I think her selfishness might be a touch rewarded.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[still-a-morosexual-help]

Since you’re like the Mammon expert I just need to ask, do you know where people are getting the idea that Mammon has pacts with witches? Cause he has canonically said that he wouldn’t make pacts with anyone else, ESPECIALLY witches

Like why would he make such a big deal about being mc’s “first” if he already has a bunch of other pacts

Love your blog btw <3

I had no idea people thought this tbh

But yeah Mammon doesn't have pacts with the three witches - he explicitly says so in s3 because MC, who it turns out is just as possessive as Mammon but much better at hiding it, gets jealous when they think he does.

To clear it up further:

(Season 3 spoilers ahead)

1.) Mammon's Deal with the Three Witches

• The Guardian Demon Devilgram goes into detail about this

• Basically, when in the human world (on an errand for Lucifer I believe) Mammon saves a 9 year old, orphaned, homeless girl from a mugger (in s1 it's said she's sickly as well)

• She imprints on him (like a little duckling) and starts following him around, despite him initially trying to scare her off

• Deciding he can't leave her alone in the human world but also knowing he can't bring a human child to the Devildom, he calls Lucifer and asks for help

• Lucifer puts him in touch with the three witches

• The three witches now look after the kid as long as Mammon pays them and pays for all her needs (which he plans to do till she's an adult/capable of providing for herself) - the witches, however, are overcharging him for everything and it's one of the main reasons he's always in depth and scared of them (to the point that he has nightmares about the witches)

• He visits the girl frequently and she always clings to him and begs him not to leave. He becomes really happy when MC calls him a good dad

• He has no pacts with any of the witches and in S3 firmly states that he doesn't plan to make any

2.) Mammon's Pact with MC

• Mammon, in S3, says he wouldn't make a pact with just any random human

• However, when Mammon makes a pact with MC they are just a random human

• BUT Mammon could also have easily avoided making a pact with MC. Just a few chapters before they make a pact, it's made canon that:

a.) Levi can't even come close to beating Mammon in an actual fight and that, even while half asleep and not in his demon form, Mammon can easily overpower Levi

b.) Mammon is the fastest of his brothers

• Meaning that, in S1, instead of making a pact to get Goldie back Mammon could have;

a.) Overpowered Levi, without having to resort to an actual fight or transform to his demon form

b.) Gotten the card from MC/Levi because he would have been more than fast enough

• Meaning there was an actual conscious decision on Mammon's part that made him decide to make a pact with MC instead. Made him, as far as he knew, sign away his free will to a stranger he just met when he didn't have to do that. Something that, by Mammon's own admission, made MC stand out to him when really they should have been just another random human

• In S3 MC time travels, all the way back to when the brothers were still angels. Here they actively encourage the brothers' sins & for Lucifer to give Diavolo a chance. Before they get kicked out to their own timeline, Michael(??) tells them that though the brothers won't remember them, their actions will have an effect

• As it turns out, Michael(??) wasn't wholly correct as, in their dreams, the brothers (I believe it was Asmo & Lucifer who explicitly spoke about it) do remember there being someone else with them, though they can't place who it is

• In this past timeline, MC & Mammon have an instant connection unlike the initial animosity from their first meeting in S1 - probably because this MC is familiar with Mammon and is looking at their closest friend, while Angel! Mammon is much more confident than Demon! Mammon

• MC stares at Mammon in a way that makes him blush & stutter, enough that he calls them out on it twice. They can find his pranks funny and encourage his dreams when no one else does - enough that he instantly starts liking them (not in a crush way mind you) and by the time they find Levi Mammon's casually teasing MC like they actually have been friends for years instead of just meeting that day.

• MC had an effect on Angel! Mammon - and if Angel! Asmo could still remember them even if couldn't remember them - then Mammon definitely did

• So when he made a pact with MC there's a huge chance that at least subconsciously he didn't see them as just another random human

Because I need validation and I live for shameless self promotion;

1.) Fic between unnamed GN! MC & Angel! Mammon from S3

Familiar Strangers

Mammon gets a little more time with the strange angel his little brothers picked up and picks up a few things of his own.

2.) Mini fic about GN! MC & Mammon making a pact

Physical Contact

Physical Contact made during the Pact formation for all 7 brothers

.

thanks🥺<3

[chlorine-and-daisies]

ok but the more i think about it the more i believe that the deck is stacked against good omens s3, plot-wise, and a LOT of it is s2's fault...assuming that the show will come out of the pause with a new showrunner, i'm wishing them the best of luck...bc they're DEFINITELY gonna need it...

the big one that hangs over everything else for me is that *s2 e4 confirms that human souls get tortured in hell for eternity, rather than just milling around or slowly dissipating or whatever.* and it gets glossed over in the show, the people who we see get threatened with this are legitimately evil and before long we're back to watching aziraphale and crowley flirt over wine, so it's easy to not think seriously about it...however i for one will *always* believe that infinite punishment for a finite life is horrifying and that the writers absolutely did not think through the implications of this. aziraphale is hanging onto a shop full of stories written by people who died and are now in neverending pain (which could be an interesting concept if they actually addressed that part of his guilt, i assume he just barely manages to convince himself that anyone who deserves it will be saved in the rapture, but they Didn't Really Address It)....crowley is now directly implicated in sending people to that pain (i assume that's part of what he's drinking to forget but they Didn't Really Address That either). i don't know how they are supposed to fix this...but if they don't COMPLETELY address and overhaul this system in s3 it will overshadow ANY possible happy ending in my mind. WHAT IS THE POINT OF STOPPING THE SECOND COMING IF SO MANY HUMAN SOULS ARE STUCK IN HELL AND THE REST ARE IN WHATEVER BORING RESTRICTIVE THING HEAVEN'S COME UP WITH?!?! hot take but maybe we Would be better off just destroying the world at that point, so no new humans can be born and doomed to suffer eternally? and that is DEFINITELY NOT SOMETHING YOU WANT YOUR AUDIENCE TO BE THINKING IN A COMEDY WHERE THERE'S VERY LITTLE CHANCE OF ACTUALLY DESTROYING THE WORLD!!! if you want me to laugh and happily watch you save the world, then saving the world needs to be a good thing...

also, s2 shows god talking directly to job, and it's...really scary, even though it's played for laughs? it's much easier to tell a story where the world is under an absent god who just reads the footnotes and laughs ineffably out of anyone's earshot, as She is in s1, than a god who is outright mocking and unable to be reasoned with....it's gonna be Really Hard to write a happy ending with This version of god. either She just has to not show up at all anymore, or She will need to be reasoned with (which seems hard to do, given Job), or She will need to be fought....do any of our protagonists have the power to kill God? Would that even make for good tv or a satisfying ending?

the more i think about it the more immature "they're not talking" seems...when the whole world is at stake and they love each other so much...

finally, s2 gives all these hints about crowley having been very powerful as an angel...possibly even an archangel...feel free to disagree with me on this, but I *personally* could not care less about who he used to be. it doesn't impress me at all, i'd prefer to keep it a mystery, and if anything crowley having lots of power (and aziraphale being promoted) takes away from their characters bc he and aziraphale were always supposed to be just middle managers who have more in common with each other than their bosses, a la cold war spies...I don't think Pratchett believed that might makes right and I don't want crowley and aziraphale to just wave their hands and stop armageddon pt 2 with an 8 billion lazarii miracle, even if it is a mIrAcLe oF LoVe........But s2 just Kept On Prodding with those incredibly obvious hints, so now it'll be weird if Crowley's past and power *doesn't* become central to the resolution of s3...the best I can hope for is some sort of schrodinger's archangel...i'm predicting that we'll get the confirmation that crowley Was an archangel but hoping that it won't affect the plot in any real way...

please note that i am NOT saying this with any bad intentions. despite the gaping plotholes i am a huge fan of the show and characters, and i really hope that s3 will come back with someone kind and capable and thoughtful! it's just like...how will they get out of this one, yknow?

[canarybell]

About The Metatron's motivation to promote Aziraphale...

...why people usually dismiss this part?

Unlike other The Metatron’s ��compliments’ made as an ‘argument’ to why Aziraphale should be a new Supreme Archangel, this one is made in later part of the conversation (not in the French restaurant, but right before the elevator, and right before ‘we call it the Second Coming’ bombshell). Unlike those ‘compliments’ this one isn’t a blatant lie – Aziraphale is familiar with ‘Earth ways’, not perfectly, but better than most angels.

And, unlike The Metatron’s earlier reasoning, this one can be true (or at least part of the truth).

Heaven are preparing a new Armageddon. The last one attempt was prevented mostly by humans, with aziracrow acting as a support at best. If The Metatron researched it properly to avoid mistakes of Hell, he should know about that. So humans of Earth might be considered as a significant threat to a Great Plan* - probably more significant than two defectors, even if these two are somehow powerful (if The Metatron is even aware about their 25 Lazarii miracle).

 (*also, remember: The Big One would be All of Us against all of Them, with Them meaning Humanity)

There might be a reason for The Metatron to start to go on Earth and “blend in”, to the point of understanding how to order coffee and have a small talk with a barista: to understand the enemy in general.

And tell me, isn’t Aziraphale an angel who spent more time on Earth than any other angel - literally all of its 6000 years? Doesn't he have the most experience with humans and their antics? Wasn’t he there when humans ruined Hell’s plans of Armageddon, meaning he should (at least in theory) understand how they did it and for what would a half-human Messiah reject their purpose?

And he is smart. Wouldn’t it be a waste to not use this source of knowledge for the benefit of Heaven? Of course, this one angel won’t just agree to work with Heaven again (we heard him refusing a few times in S2E6), so there must be something that will convince him – this part, how he was convinced, was discussed a lot of times and isn’t the point of this post, though.

I think, it also can lead to Aziraphale’s memories not being wiped in S3 and him having some (if very limited) capacity to act on his own. If The Metatron’s main purpose is just divide aziracrow or something like that, then wiping angel’s memories looks like the most logical action of his part. But if his main purpose is using Aziraphale's knowledge and experience, if angel’s memories are the main reason of why he is needed on Heaven – then memory wiping doesn’t look like a very good idea anymore.  

[whatsyourcolor]

I hate to info dump but here we go:

1.Kougami picked Akane up ALL ON HIS OWN..Not because someone ordered him to.Remember Garcia told him how he can’t imagine Kougami being responsible for another person?Coming to pick her up was Kougami’s way of mending things.Apologising to the only person he thinks deserves his apology and taking responsibility for his past behaviour by saying sorry.It’s a massive step for him.This is why Akane brushed off his apology.They caught up on the car as well.

2.The reason Akane wasn’t expecting him is most certainly because he works for foreign affairs.Akane was still an MWPSB employee so she probably thought it’d be Mika or the new inspectors.Also that should tell you something that despite being from a competing ministry he’s able to pick her up.He had to have pulled a lot of strings,request and beg tons of people.

3.Kougami made MULTIPLE requests to visit Akane.They were denied except that one time when he managed to get an approval.He didn’t back out of visiting her because it would be a waste of time.Again that’s a big deal because only Mika who’s the chief inspector had online access to Akane.

4.During the visit he put his back on the door because stooping down to her level would be awkward which makes sense?She’s 5’4” and he’s 6” so it would be uncomfortable to stare through a small window in that height for him so idk what’s wrong with that.He said Frederica/Ginoza thought it would be better for him not to visit her also he didn’t bring any souvenirs because he didn’t know what she liked.There wasn’t a lot of time I am sure.Solitary confinement is solitary for a reason.

5.I am not sure if Frederica is keeping in contact with Tenzing.I should hope so.She better make Kougami call her as well.I am not sure why Kougami would be thinking about Akane while he’s fighting MWPSB enforcers either.

Here’s the thing I think a few people are disappointed that their headcanon doesn’t match the Kougami in canon anymore (which I am sure is sad).But spreading misinformation to make people see Kougami the negative way is turning other people off.My advise is take everything people say with a grain of salt.Some people are helbent on spreading negativity because things didn’t go the way they wanted.

if you are up for it buy the books and run them through a translation or pay a translator to translate.Make up your own mind.

Hi,

Since I haven't read the novels about S3 because I don't speak Japanese, I can't answer to any of those points. Not since @cleverwolfpoetry used to translate the novels, do I know anything of the novels. The only think I know is that the writers said shinkane is platonic and what I got from Providence and Sinners of the System. Other people have read the novels and give their opinion about them. Maybe they're spreading misinformation; I have no idea. But you're right, a grain of salt doesn't hurt.

I don't know if there's a current hate campaign against Kogami (there's always been, though. I remember people crapping on him when he told Akane to kill Makishima), but people are going to hate who they're going to hate. One thing I'll never do is ship Homura and Akane. Or Kogami and Frederica. For me it'll always be Akane and Kogami and I don't care what the writers say. Cleverwolf's translations gave me enough material to deduce that this attempt to bring down shinkane (or to take it out of its ambiguity) is part of the "remodeling" of Psycho-Pass from a philosophical and psychological anime to a more action and plot driven franchise for a different target audience.

Heck, it's all in Makishima's last monologue: "Everyone is alone. Everyone is empty. People no longer have need of others. You can always find a spare for any replacement. Any relationship can be replaced."

Psycho-Pass is about the most human of things: relationships. (And yes, human nature, violence, free will, rationality vs animality, etc). So the writers can say whatever the hell they want, but Akane is not replaceable for Kogami and neither is Kogami for her (remember the All Star novel where holos of all the dead people are tormenting Akane and telling her Ko is dead and she's like "No, that person can't be dead"? I love how Sibyl, Kamui and Togane know Akane is deeply in love with Kogami and they try to use that against her all the time.

At the end of the day, despite the castes the system creates, the human bond will break those chains. The purest-hued young woman falling for a heartbroken criminal is just too delicious a dynamic to ignore.

Also, where the heck are all of you reading the novels? Is anyone sharing the translations somewhere?

[sparks-olivarpente]

Why I liked the Mindflayer better

This starts with "I prefer the Mindflayer over Vecna and that bothers me because I need to be impressed by the bad guy" and ends… It doesn't go anywhere actually. I tried to put my thoughts on paper and they ended up all over the place. Please don't read (thanks if you do!)

The Mindflayer works well as a metaphor of the unknown within us. Little Will can't yet face some stuff within himself, it appears to him as that huge unknowable shadow and Will doesn't know if he himself is the monster or what. This, I can relate to (I litterally used to believe there was an eldritch monster inside of me when I was 13)

But now that the monster has taken shape (S3) and became a person (S4)? He can't work as a metaphor anymore (to me, maybe that works for others. Let me know if it does <3). Now he's just some guy! Who talks too much. There's nothing hidden about him anymore (or maybe there is and that's the whole point. I know there are theories out there about things not being what they seem about Henry's story. Maybe he wasn't truthfull. A lot of S4 was about lying after all, it would make sense. He wants us/the Party to believe he's the bad guy and he's really still hidding behind that)

So, Henry. I understand little Henry up to a point (his view of time, feeling stuck, his loneliness, his disconnection, wanting to take control) but I don't see how that leads to wanting to destroy everything? in his place I'd just end up badly depressed. and wanting to escape. Maybe… if this is about what happens when a disconnected person meets an horror from another dimension, we still miss part of the story? or I just need to watch S4 again.

Our own personal dragons… they're only big scary monsters when we can't face them. Once we do, they become little lost puppies, or screaming toddlers. Not really scary. Where am I going with that… I guess, I can't find another human scary anymore (I mean, after spending most of my life meeting my own dragons) We're all just afraid and we need a hug or something. Henry looks like he has fallen into some deep internal black hole and a hug won't be enough but still. I can't be afraid of him. Annoyed, angry, but not impressed.

Although… being stuck forever in Henry's mindspace is pretty scary. Someone gets Max out of here ;_; It's like Henry created his own hell that's ended up worse than what he was afraid of (time, routine, lie) Time IS scary but… the UD or Henry's mindspace, that seems kind of stuck forever at ONE moment in time? It is worse. It can't evolve, it can't get better (I used to be afraid and angry about time and… just, reality as it is, until I ended up with the curious discovery that time can be seen as a gift of love but getting off topic) (just… I can see Henry being stuck in one of those dark places I was stuck in, only worse)

Having written that I think what I need is, maybe, a deeper understanding of Henry's fears? Now that the monster is a person, I need to see where he is stuck (I'm not sure about that part, I feel I'm contradicting myself, because I find people I can't understand at all, such as Lonnie or Angela, scarier. I really need to watch S4 again and see what really bother me with that guy) (maybe I just don't like Vecna because he looks ridiculous) If he's just the bad bad guy our team needs to kill to put the world back in order… what's the point? (I don't really think that will happen in S5. I don't have a clue what will happen in S5)

This… did not really go anywhere but then I warned you ^^

<3

[thesherrinfordfacility]

Because of my heart break over Good Omens season 2, I have been trying to predict what might happen in season 3. Here's what I've got: I think Aziraphale takes on the forces of Heaven. I think Aziraphale is going to realize, the hard way, how toxic Heaven is and is going to fight Heaven to save humanity. And, I think he will start this fight alone.

Aziraphale has constantly shown that he values humanity above Heaven, but he has never really been given the chance to understand that Heaven doesn't have the same values. I mean he's seen it, but he has been told for centuries that Heaven is good - when you're told something so often it makes it hard to unlearn. He will not be able to stand by as Heaven does something to hurt humanity. He also will not be willing to see humanity last only 6000 years. I think there was a bit of foreshadowing that he will fight for Crowley's nebula to get a chance to really grow. I think having him start this battle on his own allows him to get his personal growth, and show Crowley that he is ready to fight for the things he loves (including Crowley). From there everyone will come together. I would also bet that we will get to see a lot more from God in the next season.

Any ways here's to feeding my delusions of everything being fine and Aziraphale and Crowley living happily in love forever.

hi lovely, i know your ask came in a while ago but I've needed to really take a minute to think about it properly!!!✨ I feel like ive been burned by fire as far as prediction goes (ie i got NUFFINK right haha), and think i ought to just stick to analysis lmao💀

however, possible thoughts on s3:

- second coming = greasy johnson, first up

- in terms of aziraphale, i think he's going to get a taste of actually how difficult it truly is to run heaven. i don't think we're suddenly gonna have him self righteous and be pitting himself against all of heaven's bureaucracy, because i think we need to see actually how difficult it is (as much as id hate to feel ANY empathy with any of the archangels). there's going to be red tape, stupid rules that must be followed for the greater good, moral dilemmas that as a lower angel he didnt appreciate had to be made... being a boss is hard. it's not fun, you have to please a lot of people, and make everything fair whilst essentially keeping a business afloat. i think, as it stands, it's pretty obvious that aziraphale is Not Suited for it, but is too much of a good person to not take his opportunity to make things Better

- the motives behind the metatron are going to be interesting to uncover. something tells me sTILL that aziraphale and crowley, together as a unit, are part of the ineffable plan, and this was a plan to separate them in order to prevent certain things coming to fruition (eg metatron references the second coming, but what if he's trying to prevent it???)

- the BoL has to come in again somewhere (the phrase chekovs gun now gives me a Twitch), but again i think that heaven has misunderstood what it actually is. i wonder, as the link says, if it's actually the deciding journal, or at least has a chapter in it, that chooses which angels fall and which don't... which, if aziraphale was meant to fall originally (and crowley took his place - TOTAL headcanon at this point), that could explain a lot about some motives crowley to keep aziraphale from returning to heaven's clutches, a last big secret that could make or break them... anyway i disgress

- idk about god. what really strikes me is the golden glow from heaven in s2e2, vs the sterile white we see now. plus, metatron essentially being de-facto sovereign over heaven? i think god fucked off a long while ago... i suspect she will come back, but maybe not as prominently as we'd like

- idk about crowley's s3 arc, im still thinking about that, he's probably gravitated towards tadfield or the south downs or st... but we're less than 12 hours post s2 release so all a little premature to be thinking about really!!!✨

[daisies-on-a-cup]

ive been trying to think through this in my head but i think i just need to write it out, but ive been thinking about hannibal and his concept of change and/or forgiveness. i dont think he really believes that change or forgiveness is a thing that can happen. and i know the big thing in s2 and s3 was all about will and hannibal forgiving each other for their transgressions against one another, but i cant really remember an instance where hannibal forgave someone that wasn't will. when hannibal eats the rude, i dont think its meant to be as an act of forgiveness. he's not forgiving the pig he slaughtered for tracking mud in his mind palace, he's simply getting rid of them/punishing them for their perceived slight against him. it's more complex than just him punishing them or him perceiving people as comparable to livestock, but, ultimately, he is ending their lives because he cannot forgive what they did to him

i see a lot of cool metas about how hannibal's cannibalism is an act of dominance as well as self preservation, an "eat them before they can eat you" mentality, and though i agree with some points, i dont exactly agree with others. i dont think hannibal ever really feels threatened by the people he eats and kills. hes not doing it out of some instinct to lessen threats in his territory and make himself feel safer by removing their presence. he eats/kills the rude and those he finds unpleasant because they are a nuisance in his otherwise perfectly comfortable life. i would compare it to swatting a fly or mosquito- they aren't a real, dangerous threat, but they are annoying and anytime you see one near you, your first reaction is to swat at it to try and kill it so it doesnt bother you anymore. again, not the best metaphor for how hannibal engages with people and those he decides to eat/kill, but i think it's somewhat comparable

which brings me back to hannibal's idea of what change and forgiveness mean to him. i think, because of his early trauma and exposure to cannibalism, hannibal has a hard time reconciling permanent change in others that is not brought on by a permanent figure conducting that change- consistently. his whole "nothing happened to me, i happened" line implies his perception of change being something that doesn't happen- not even to him

in order to forgive someone, change is needed- be it from yourself or the other person. i dont think hannibal believes change is capable of anyone he decides to eat/kill. a part of him believes that without complete influence, his victims or those who have slighted him are incapable of changing themselves for hannibal to forgive. you wouldnt approach a mosquito for biting you and assume they are capable of change- it is what they are, they bite and they buzz and they annoy you- much like how, to hannibal, some people are just irrecoverably rude and unpleasant to interact with, and that is just who they are and they cant change their nature. and, i think, for hannibal, if something cannot be changed, it cannot be forgiven because humans are meant to change, and if they can't, then they are not on the same level as he is. you can only truly forgive something you perceive as capable of forgiving, and i believe hannibal thinks so highly of himself and those he has deemed worthy (like will), that everyone else is just incapable of not being the banal creatures that they are, so it's no matter to kill them and eat them

even though there is care and preparation in everything hannibal does and consumes, there is no love. the last person he loved, he also ate, and that destroyed him. he was changed forever by that act, by the traumas he experienced, and the ptsd/memories he has so carefully stowed in his mind palace are the permanent figures that consistently force him to change and evolve into the being he presents himself as throughout s1-s3. the metamorphosis that hannibal went through was brought on by something catastrophic and timeless, and he had become something unrecognizable to everyone else. his desire for connection grew so strong that just an inkling of understanding from another was enough to force him to change again and become that permanent figure that would enact the permanent change in will. his transformation of will, and will's own evolution into his becoming, made will into a being he could forgive. hannibal saw the cracks in will's mask and forced a change, and that change cultivated into an ability to forgive, and i believe the last person he was ever able to really forgive was the first person he ever ate. mischa was also the last person hannibal really loved, and i think this act of seeing will change and forgiving him, and being forgiven in return, also opened hannibal up to the possibility of love again. will is the only person hannibal has ever put true effort, time, and trust into to change, forgive, and love. everyone else is just simple fodder to him. he can enjoy his time with them, surrounded by beautiful, artful things, but the second someone interrupts his placid world, then that is when change and forgiveness cease to exist again

[yowlthinks]

Good Omens s2 thoughts and impressions

Below is sort of a dumping ground of my thoughts and impressions of S2 after the first watch. Hiding under more in case tags didn't work

SPOILERS FOR GOS2 BELOW!

OK, so I'll try to go by theme...

I really liked Gabriel's story arch and the probing into how past actions and experiences form who we are and what we do next. Removing his memories and making him this big, naive child, slightly irritating but also sort of noble at heart was a nice exploration of this theme. Him very readily offering himself to the demons shows that there was some good in him, it just got lost through years of bureaucracy. And his chat with Crowley was absolutely genius because then we can see Crowley really forgive him, make peace with this new version of Gabriel, give him a second chance, and I think that is very valuable. Also, on Gabriel, we see Aziraphale do that too: tell him that he previously was not a good person, and when Gabriel asks about now, Aziraphale honestly replies that he doesn't know. That is a very honest way to treat it.

Job and other historic excursions: I also really liked these, even though some parts felt very chaotic.

Crowley's love of kids (goat and human) is so heartwarming, and his performance of the "birth" was on par with that cut bookshop opening scene (in terms of comedic effect and how earnest he takes to saving what is believes to be good).

The overall Job storyline also leading to the scene on the rock, with Aziraphale having a good cry and being ready to go into hell over lying, and Crowley comforting him... that was really touching.

The pre-fall interaction and Crowley being the first one to shield Aziraphale with his wing... well, I am already in love with Crowley, now I love him even more.

"Our side" - there are lots of things I am sure I missed and will notice on re-watch and also want to think through, but so far I of course loved them both highlighting "our side", that whole "our car, our bookshop " interaction was lovely.

I am a but upset Aziraphale does nothing to acknowledge that Crowley lives in his car, doesn't offer him to officially move into the bookshop. That felt like he would only be generous and kind to Crowley when pressed, while Crowley is there for Aziraphale unconditionally. You can also see that when Crowley says "you only call me when you're bored, when you've done something you're proud of or when you're in trouble". And we again only see Crowley rescuing Aziraphale, not the other way round. And wtf was that after the graveyard scene, when he perfectly understands that Crowley was punished by hell, but offers no reflection, acknowledgement or commiseration. I hope in S3 we are going to see him come to the realisation that he needs to step up and win Crowley back!

Overall, this season was very much about Aziraphale having fun, while Crowley is going through an existential crisis.

Also this whole message of high stakes with erasure from the book of life and them protecting each other got kinda lost. Perhaps it serves to illustrate that they do indeed not talk about how each one would die for the other, so again, high hopes for S3!

Also, what was cool is that moment when Crowley wants to watch Aziraphale get people to come to the ball: he is basically delighted because he gets to watch Aziraphale TEMPT people. He is really having fun with that, until, of course, Nina starts asking questions and triggers yet another crisis.

So speaking about their relationship, I think while this season they are both all about "our side", Nina's questions for the first time ever make Crowley realise that they are de facto a couple. And perhaps gets him thinking of how they can take this forward. And then Nina and Maggie's little chat with him afterwards seals that thought that he wants their togetherness be recognised, in the open, official, as it were.

I wish, I really wish Nina and Maggie caught them both, and had that talk with both of them. Things would have probably gone very differently...

I also think Metatron is playing his own game and he certainly is manipulative. Who is thwarting all Heaven's plans? It's these two, so dividing and conquering is the way to go. If Aziraphale is directly involved in bringing the big plan about, he won't have the chance to sabotage, and they can press his knowledge of the Earth. Also, notice how Aziraphale does not give an answer to Metatron straightaway. He says no first, gives excuses and then noncommittally goes to discuss it with Crowley. Only Crowley gets all emotional, asks if Aziraphale has told them to bugger off and Aziraphale who under Metatron's influence imagined them two working together to reform Heaven gets defensive... It still does not excuse his behaviour, and I am still angry at how ge treated Crowley, but I hope (seriously hope!!!) There will be a huge reconing for him in S3. A little apology dance would not do it, it'll have to be a full-on apology musical, tears and genuinely saying how stupid he was and how sorry he is and that he wants nothing more but just be with Crowley.

Also, it is curious that we see Aziraphale say no to authority a little more.. not that it helped at the end, but some growth, I guess. I will probably think more about that, with notes. And note the years that Aziraphale did the apology dance (we need to see it next season we must!

[buffyandwillow]

Just saw your post, hope you survived yesterday. Can’t stop recommending Ted Lasso to everyone, it makes me feel good. Also this is less of a hot take and more of a general wondering, but i always find myself thinking about Anya in the pockets of time she’s not part of the scoobies. Like right after she looses her powers and she’s stuck as a teenager: how does she get money, an apartment, a car, who are her friends… logistically i have so many questions but also emotionally we never see her cope with that enormous transition. I think i’ve brought this up before but the possibilities are always running around my head.

thanks dali <33 i have survived (mostly)... i really enjoyed the first 2 seasons of ted lasso!! gonna watch the news eps soon :') anya ramblings:

i was wondering recently about how anya afforded an apartment before working at the magic box. i have thought long and hard and so far, here's where i'm at:

she seems sort of lonely/alone at first, and d'hoffryn definitely didn't check in on her to see if she was ok, but i wonder if hallie did. i know they didn't keep in super close contact, since in older and far away hallie had been invited to the wedding but she didn't seem to know xander at all. i suddenly like the idea, though, that she visited anya at least a couple times in s3-4, starting immediately after she hears from the other vengeance demons that anyanka isn't one of them anymore.

maybe hallie helped settle some debts to get anya some money. i bet a ton of demons owe anya favours. she's been around such a long time! and hallie's teleportation skills would be helpful for reaching contacts in other countries/dimensions. also, despite the humour of anya's "and i'm flunking math" comment, she proves to be good at practical math and accounting in s5 - i am sure she remembers exactly how much various people owe her, down to the cent.

while anya doesn't have any type of traditional job before working at the magic box, she clearly pays for goods and services (she acquires an entire human wardrobe, she goes to get her hair done, she eats and drinks, etc). for some reason, i can imagine anya actually being somewhat rich, which could be why she never seems concerned about money, and treats getting a job as kind of a fun new experience. while the job does enrich her life, and she loves money, it never seems to be about earning money so that she can afford things she needs. she already could afford things. she just liked being part of a larger system (which i find very interesting about her, but which feels like another topic).

i can't see her stealing the money (although... she does pull off that bank robbery in him dkhjgh), can't see her buying lottery tickets /winning the lottery, can't see her having a demon uh. sugar daddy., can't see her ever having opened a bank account in her demon days that's just grown a ton of interest (although... interesting... actually, not fully against that), really the question is fascinating and i can't believe it was never addressed!

anyway - say she and/or hallie dig up some funds for her to live comfortably on her own. that would secure physical things like shelter/clothes/food. but emotionally... i actually can't see her having much of an emotional support system for this big transition (hallie wouldn't get it, not really), and that makes me sad. she latches on to xander, but he's only somewhat helpful... (i am guessing maybe xander and giles--idk, he has adulting knowledge--helped her get some ID.) she has a lot of friends and acquantainces in hell's bells, from her demon days - but how many of them ever came to see if she was doing OK after the wish? impossible to say - we do know she wasn't close enough to any of them to invite them to be in her wedding party, though.

there are characters i wish she'd gotten to interact more with, truly, because i think that they could have helped or understood her situation. spike, for one, seems to Get her to some extent. we get a couple moments where they commiserate about having once been feared - but there's nothing to imply they ever hung out outside of the scoobies, and i sadly doubt they did. and tara! tara and anya, the scooby outsiders, supporting their partners but always feeling a little left to the side.

the questions still remain, though. i'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts on this! feel free to send meta recs etc. i love theorizing about anya!

[mdhwrites]

I've seen a fair share of posts speculating about what Amphibia would be like if, instead of having strictly Anne as the main character, it made Anne, Sasha and Marcy all main characters. Specifically, the Calamity Trio being given equal screentime.

I've loved pondering over this myself, and I was wondering what you think would change if Amphibia was written this way. I know you said more screentime for Marcy in season one would be pointless, given her lack of a supporting cast or growth as a person, but what if the writers could make it work? e.g. Marcy making actual bonds with the newts in Newtopia and getting over some of her issues (while of course not getting over her biggest issue, that being her fear of losing her friends, until season three)

Do you think Amphibia would be better or worse for being the story of the Calamity Trio rather than the story of Anne? How much of what was set in stone in the original canon would have to be changed to make a more purposeful story? Sorry, this is kind of a handful of questions, I just get carried away thinking about this stuff.

In short, what kind of story would Amphibia be if the Calamity Trio were all main characters? And if it could be just as good or better than canon, how do you think that could work?

So this kind of like anytime someone asks for a major change to TOH's plot and why I assume the S3 we got is at least structurally the same to any sort of S3 we would have gotten for TOH (and why it's BS that a full S3 would have fixed the show). Writers, at least good ones, don't make decisions randomly. Who they decide to focus on, how they focus on them, the roles certain characters take, etc. like that is all important to how a story functions at a basic level. That doesn't mean we can't make unintentional mistakes or have unintended choices by how we frame things but that any truly major shift like this presents a very, VERY real problem.

Is this still recognizably the story that was being told in the first place?

This is why people have asked me how I might rewrite TOH to try and fix its split identity issue but I can't. Not in good faith at least. The split identity is still part of the story's identity and that combination of elements is still part of what people enjoy about the work. It was still a choice that makes the foundation of the work. Deciding to spread the focus is a lot like this for Amphibia.

The story is of a big city girl not just getting teleported to a different world but as different as is potentially possible. Not only are these not humans but they're farm folk. There is no way for Anne to properly have a foothold amongst them to begin with and that's part of why she has so much to learn from them and why it takes so much for her to connect with them properly. The contrast, both in magical and grounded ways, is part of what makes Wartwood work so much better as a setting than Newtopia where it's a little too close to what Anne is used to and you can feel that in the tales being told. Some of the wonder and friction is missing, especially as Anne treats it more as a comfortable place to be.

And comfort is a major driving force behind both Sasha and Marcy's places in the narrative. Marcy is still in the big city and actually gets a level of prestige and respect that she's never had before. She is quite literally friends with the most powerful man in Amphibia. Meanwhile, Sasha spends a while in a cell but she can roll out the red carpet for Anne because the toads ADORE HER. They may be less refined than the plebeians she's used to manipulating but they're still dumb and give into base desires, both traits she can exploit, just like she did with Anne.

These are stories that can be told mind you... But they're also the stories we got already. Marcy's flashbacks still give a good grasp on how easy of a time she had it in Newtopia. Sasha's two episodes in S1 are quite literally all we need to understand who she is, why she was able to take power so effectively and sell us on her being someone who's really good at manipulating others, especially the lazy and hedonistic. They could be expanded but...

With Sasha, anyone giving her friction actually starts harming Anne's character. The more unstoppable we think she is as a manipulator, the more we are allowed to fill in the minor gaps in our knowledge with Anne's beliefs, the more she comes across as a genuinely dangerous antagonist. The more we believe that she can control an army of toads, change things with their regime and be the one who knows how to potentially pull Anne back into her worst habits. That she could take what was earned and with one hard yank make it all come tumbling down. More time with her would very easily become detrimental. As a note: This is why big bads don't often get a lot of episodes where they're doing things, instead of their cronies, because the more they're challenged, the weaker they look.

So that's one character who's story being expanded can very easily damage the very foundation of the MC's character arc while also cheapening that character's skill set, what about Marcy? She is a bit more complicated. See, she is actually far less harmed by more time with her as she has plenty that she can learn and the like as a person... But Newtopia doesn't want a person. They want a mind. And not just the Core. Even Olivia makes it clear that she only treasures Marcy for her mind. The other advisors are friendly with her but not friends. They just... don't care about her.

Worse yet is that from the perspective of Marcy as a main character, Newtopia is a TERRIBLE setting for the sort of stories that Amphibia excels at or tries to tell. She is literally friends with the King. She is smarter than almost anyone else in the city and not pushed to really interact with its populace, just the city itself. She also shouldn't be actively seeking its populace because Marcy is not a people person. She wants Wartwood to like her because they like Anne and she doesn't want to be a weird outside compared to Anne there. She is still liked in Wartwood though so without someone ushering her out the door... What is Marcy doing?

And I can come up with things. I could tell you that the way to make Sasha's story work with more time is show different forms of her manipulation as she gains a band of loyal toads. You can give Marcy a non-royal friend who's interested in the oddity and come on, don't you want to see the non-shiny parts of Newtopia and Amphibia? But that's adding more and more to their stories while taking away from the core.

Because suddenly, you have one girl in their element just flexing on everyone around her while another big city girl is... In another big city. You are now spending much less time on the big city girl coming appreciate different, substantially different viewpoints, realize their way of life is just as valid as her lazy way of life, growing and changing into a better person who genuinely values those around her instead of just wanting someone who lets her have fun and do as little else as possible, etc. like that.

For the sake of the trio... You're losing Amphibia.

That is a big sticking point for me and why I still refuse to call Sasha and Marcy main characters. They're important supporting characters, don't get me wrong, but the story is about Anne and Amphibia. Anne and Wartwood. The choices to spend the VAST majority of our time with her and these settings is not an accident. It's not like Matt chose to just devalue the other two main characters. They were used incredibly effectively, they do a lot to help highlight Anne and her growth and act as milestones for it effectively, and Sasha has a LARGE impact on who Anne is at the beginning of the story.

But it doesn't make them main characters because this isn't their story and there is no way to tell the story of Amphibia with them as the main characters. Focusing purely on the friendship and needing to repair it, or destroy it, is likely going to reinforce different themes, or at least different elements of the themes. After all, you can still talk about change but paradoxically, focusing in on the trio like this, even if it means spending more time in different parts of Amphibia, excludes the community element that is so important to Amphibia. After all, now you're splitting focus between three communities and focusing the story on the arcs of these three human girls. That's going to require a lot less time fleshing out these side characters. Diminishes the impact any of them can have on any character. The Plantars do a lot for Anne after all but we understand that it is WARTWOOD that changes her, not just the Plantars. Would we get that if you now had to split the focus this much?

Also, we lose Reunion in any way it is right now because with Marcy taking a more prevalent role, S1 HAS to end with a confrontation of all three. The first time they meet together. To leave any one out would be to diminish their role. Marcy isn't as important, especially to Anne's character, as Sasha is in the version we got so it's fine for her not to be present for Reunion. But... How do you handle Sasha's arc if all three have to come back together at once?

And to justify having brought up TOH earlier, how likely does all of this start a split personality problem for Amphibia? With Anne as the focus, you only get a handful of episodes that aren't genuinely Amphibia. Capital letter Amphibia. You know know what to expect and you know what sort of story is going to happen and that creates a nice, fun, comfortable status quote you can enjoy from week to week. Now imagine if Marcy's writing is still weaker like it was in the show, or the toads fail to be compelling because in order to keep Sasha as the antagonist of the group, they keep just setting themselves up to be knocked over by her and by the third time, it's getting kind of boring? Suddenly, one third of the show is causing friction with someone, especially since all three, due to DRASTICALLY different settings, would cause inherently very different storytelling just because the sorts of issues are so different. This is part of why the vibe of S3B is so different because finally we are not at peace, we are at war. Even the shifts from a guard tower that exploits people, a big city where the MC is treated as effective royalty, and a small farm town is enough to cause some amount of friction to happen between settings.

I'm not saying that this story is literally impossible to tell well but... Man, it'd be INCREDIBLY hard. And, of course, it still wouldn't be Amphibia. It would look like Amphibia, some of the notes would sound like Amphibia, but it would just be a very, VERY different story.

Because like TOH found out after Yesterday's Lie, you can't just change who your character fundamentally is without MAJOR consequences to your storytelling. Splitting your main character three ways is going to yield similarly discordant results without writing the entire thing from the ground up.

But it's not the same story and as I LOVE the story we got, I would say trying to force Amphibia into this mold would only make it worse, if I could compare it at all.

======+++++======

This is by no means a comprehensive list btw of all that would potentially be lost, need to be changed, etc. like that so as to even make this sort of shift for Amphibia work. Like someone in my Discord when I mentioned this ask brought up how the impact of Sasha coming into Anne's life and the tension of Reunion would kind of be lost if we already know Sasha fairly well. It is... Complicated to put it mildly.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past.

I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead.

If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[variousqueerthings]

I mean, you never like Frank true but damn that last scene at the end of season five really is something. Like for a singular moment I existed in a place where I just kinda felt bad for the guy. Love to hate all the rest of his crap though.

oh yeah totally -- I have a post I queued up which goes a little bit into this idea of him as someone who didn't need to stay like this, but when offered opportunities to examine himself, or to even just not do the lazy or racist or uncaring thing in a given situation, he just... doesn't.

and of course he wants to feel persecuted, he likes whining about how he's the victim in all this, and idk what that says in terms of inviting hawkeye (and trapper or bj) to continue messing with him, and the kind of dynamic this builds in which maybe they're all getting what they want out of it (and also the fantasy in his head that one day hawkeye will tell him that actually he was right all along, look I'm not saying that hawkeye's "you're so big and strong frank" is actually something frank wishes he'd say to him in full earnest, but... I mean.... I'm not NOT saying that, and a friendly reminder that in an earlier draft of george, frank was actually going to admit he'd been into a man when he was younger and there are definitely little smatterings of this concept still hanging about in the show)

anyway, his stagnancy and cowardice being the things that lose him what he really wanted is very very good. the later framing of his and margaret's relationship as two messed up people who gravitate towards each other, only for margaret to realise that she can be more than she's been forced to be by others, and especially, mainly, men who have power over her in some way (to the point that she seems to expect herself to be powerless, even though you can tell she's constantly carrying that tension of actually wishing she was in charge/had agency over her choices -- all coming to ahead in s8 of course) -- and honestly, margaret was always smarter and more emotionally aware than frank, she understood a lot better what she was trying to get out of that relationship and then she gradually realised that she would never get those things, and so when she had the chance to leave, she did

(here the obligatory addition that some of the things hawkeye and trapper pull on margaret are just sexist, and I like that -- while we do see them becoming more friendly esp starting in s3 -- there's some changing on their part that they have to do as well, and that that change goes on right through the show for hawkeye. but yeah, no wonder she's lonely)

and then frank's last shot in season 5. he is a victim, of precisely the belief-systems he's taken in to get ahead and used to hurt others (systems that easily turn around on him too, because after all, as much as he likes to pretend he doesn't know this, he is not the example of shining American Masculinity he worships, and you get the feeling he was probably the kid who picked on others so he wouldn't get picked on first), because they have made him a small, petty human being, who wasn't ever going to be good enough for a woman he genuinely loved... he is -- as dr freedman says about flagg one time -- just such a pile of fertilizer that it's hard to care 😂

and I really do want to write a reunion fic in which he gets invited by margaret and he thinks she's going to pick up where they left off, and louise discovers the invite and of course wants to come along -- and it turns out that margaret just wanted to be the bigger person and invited the whole of the 4077th (the ones who weren't rotated out after a couple of weeks/months or so), and louise puts together that margaret is the "houlihan" that frank once described as an old work horse and so couldn't possibly be having an affair with (but she always kind of knew -- not unlike margaret, louise hasn't been given many opportunities to spread her wings, but of course we hear from frank that while he's away she starts going on trips with her friends, getting into politics, wearing slacks...) and reveals that she's been cheating on frank since the war/around the time she was asking for a divorce that he talked her out of

I think public humiliation would be good for him, you know, I think hawkeye et al should definitely be there to see the whole thing going down, because louise makes it a public announcement while everyone is making toasts, I think it's free therapy for the whole rest of the 4077th gang -- life could be worse, at least none of us are this guy

(I think hawkeye might buy frank a couple of drinks even, can't kick the guy while he's down... in the morning though, wake him up with a trumpet close to his head)

and as always, all the kudos goes to larry linville for doing The Most and for having a truly unhinged giggle

[castle-dominion]

don't tell my family but I want to try out liveblogging an ep I haven't seen before. Maybe it will make me finally Shut Up during the family watch

4x17 I think, once upon a crime.

little red riding hood lol I recognize that bridge from the spy episode I think Sexy big billowy red cape btw, oh & falls like a dame

It's like TUA I'd believe that. This a biography? Also as a mentally ill person heck yeah I love a good scribe! martha just taking over his office lol "I'd like to write another one"

RC: First Alexis is interning for Lanie, now my mother is taking over my office. (again, don't u remember life coaching in I think s1?) I feel like my whole life is being invaded. KB: You'll get used to it. I did.

Oh she's barefoot! & those are deep facial gashes LP: they're shallow Me: ?????? Castle obv it's little red riding hood, but the story was not a prophesy. KB: Great, Castle. I'll call in an APB for the Big Bad Wolf. RC: Do you have a better theory? [Beckett chews on her lip. She keeps walking.] KB: Hey, Ryan? [Ryan walks over. normal jacket, not a coat & not rly fancy, def not a dress coat, he has a scarf, no tie but pinkish shirt with white stripes.] KB: Do you think you could call dispatch, see if there are any reports of a violent animal running around the park? KR, castle jr: Like a wolf? A Big Bad one? KB: Really? KR: *points* That is exactly how I pictured her. It's freaky. My older sister used to read me that story.

RC: "…when he leaped up and gobbled down poor Little Red Riding Hood." Well, the good news is the Wolf can talk. So, if we can find him, we might be able to get a confession.

I love love love love love folktale, it is such an important part of folklore & culture. I want a Métis story at some point but we are such a small community that nobody is going to do it except us. But hey that's what fanfiction is for!

Ok why does esposito's hair keep growing? I prefer this to the hair in s3 but s1+2 hair was nice. I like how he has opinions on fairy tales at least. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would share that.

KB: Are you drinking Castle's Kool-Aid now? Oh btw espt's outfit: nice grey suit jacket with a square pattern on it, nice dark blue (but obv blue) shirt, dark desaturated blue tie with thin white stripes & thick grey stripes. Sometimes he comes to work looking like this, other times he is wearing what I'd wear as pyjamas.

Oh it's always the person the family member brings in with them. It's going to be this man. Also dang she needs to join a union or smth bc no human should be working 100h/week, no human should be working 80 hours a week, heck no human should be working 40 hours a week! We have machines & automation now, we have more PEOPLE now, why are we working MORE? We should all be living our lives singing & dancing & making music & drawing & painting & writing & conversing & sleeping & petting animals & cooking & eating & smiling. Besides, every job out there? Someone wants to do it. The world is a wonderful beautiful place (I say as a person with a severe case of major depressive disorder) full of love & fulfillment & community. It should not be a place where people work 100 hour work weeks.

Holy crap I'm not even at the titlecard! Capes are coming back into fashion! People have been talking about it lately! (beckett looks so... boring, so normal. I want her to look cool again, her pixie cut was good

Long hours high pressure? She's probably really into kink or smth. Or that steampunk bar. RC: There’s this whole adult role-playing subculture obsessed with fairytales. (castle...?) KB: RC: No-- not that kind of adult role play. Although, there’s that one, too. KB: And you know this how? RC: Did a little research. KB: 🤢 RC: (chuckle) Bo Peep. KB: ._. RC: Anyway, these people get dressed in the outfits, they play the characters, they even reenact the stories. Maybe that’s what Amy was doing when everything went horribly and tragically wrong. KB: Castle, that is a surprisingly reasonable and grounded theory. RC: Yeah. *JE enters* Frankly, I’m a little disappointed in myself. JE: We all are, bro. KB: : ) (I'm assuming that's disappointed in castle not "we all" as in disappointed in ourselves)

KB closeup: Contact her bank. See if they know why she made that withdrawal. JE heading out: As you wish. jafsdhajsdkfhas Apparently huertas & katic are both fans of the princess bride & so when they have beckett closeups huertas will respond with "as you wish" to make her laugh but this time they kept it in or scripted it in bc it's a fairy tale episode & I think that was cute af. yk I would actually think it would be great if espt was a princess bride fan. It's a story full of torture & sword fighting & politics & giants & war & pirates & revenge & poison & miracles & mountains & oceans & bloodthirsty eels & he gets the sexy lady in the end.

reminds me of that episode in murdoch mysteries. The guy spoke ojibwe & said ma'iingan but I, knowing some cree (& having context), figured out that it meant wolf since the cree word is mahikan. So proud of myself.

Ok I understand trying to blame a wolf but dressing her up as red riding hood? This was NOT for the purpose of pretending the killer is a wolf & getting away with it. Or maybe he drugged her with K & brought her to the park, maybe so he could hunt her & roleplay, maybe it was consensual nonconsent or smth, but then why would he drug her?

hOLY CRAP that is One Nice Vest! Look at that! Ryan has a beautiful vest with a blue back panel & omg is it nice, with that light pink shirt? (& those fkn eyes) Oof I think it suits him SO well. Who is the costume designer? Who dressed ryan? I need to speak with you & bake you a pie.

*casually uses a sexily tanned gal instead of idk like an anemic or smth* but then again black hair doesn't really occur in white ppl (except my gramma but she's technically Métis)

OH SO ONLY NOW IS THE INTRO? I FEEL LIKE I'M ALREADY A THIRD OF THE WAY THROUGH THE EPISODE

ok also what's going on with ryan's hair? he looks like me rn, we both need to cut our hair, I have a mohawk but I'm brushing it back instead of up bc it's too long (I have thin hair, product sometimes just weighs it down)

I might actually call them a spree killer bc of the closer proximity in time & location Ok I always thought that it was just esposito furrowing his eyebrows but I think that's actually a scar that jon huertas has & now I feel bad lol Lunch at what time? (thanks ryan) wait I just had a thought: don't look into the victim, look into the killer. Evil stepmother & big bad wolf? What is in common with them?

at least ryan says "excuse me" before taking his call, unlike OTHER people That's a palindrome number. 50 605? Ryan *just standing there with his head in the door*

AC: about you too *taps her dad's nose* WAIT SHE DID MAKE EXAGGERATIONS RIGHT? BUT DID MARTHA REALLY SLEEP WITH HIS FIRST PUBLISHER? OH PLEASE LET THAT BE TRUE Oh well at least it was after the book was out......... StiLL, WhAT Castle *pours himself a finger of scotch after seeing his mom flirt with the playwrite younger than him* Martha: Oh, darling, I invited Beckett to the reading tomorrow night, so you two might want to make a date of it. Rick: *pours more booze*

Remember when rick said "if I ever choose to write a biography remind me to Not"? Yeah Martha is doing it now KB: Oh, so you don’t like it when someone writes their own version of your life? Interesting. RC: Okay, are you referring to the Nikki Heat books? Because this is completely different.

oh fu heck yes ryan in that pink shirt that's so good. Maybe the costume design is putting him in so much pink lately bc he just got married. & then esposito with his layers upon layers? He's breaking down the homo headcanon/au in favour of a bi one with all them those layers. it's going to be martha's acting studio

Woah ok this is interesting camera work, I'm on my period & I have a headache & I'm in pain & I'm overheating & so I feel nauseous, this camera work is not the best for me rn. But hey espt & ryan have p big guns & their vests are black & called nypd not blue & police. But the other ppl (who are actually wearing helmets) do say police. Yay ryan gets to break the door this time

Oof I Looooove a creepy doll, I love haunted dolls I love creepy collections of things I love my auntie doris's house with all her creepy dolls i love my bone collection, also poor ryan with a fear of dolls ever since he watched that movie as a kid lmao

she's so right tho. She was coming to the door she was just slow! Tho she could have said "coming" ig. Maybe she was waiting to hear another knock on the door. Ooh yk I'd like to have a teenager in their room not notice breaking down the door bc they are listening to loud music. or a deaf person. I'd love that. having been an emo teen & also being deaf. I love when they break down old ladies' doors & they offer them candy or tea & cats Ji: No, dearie, nobody else lives here, just me and my friends. KR: *looks up at all the dolls, then looks down again in deep discomfort* (ngl I love seeing him uncomfy like this. this is why i read fanfiction. i get to put characters in pain or i get to put them in comfort, either way it is cathartic.) "Yes they are" "I can't imagine" Ji: Do I look like someone who has a habit of wasting money? I—I’m on a fixed income. the dolls: *sitting on every available surface* *slowly removes a doll from behind his back* Yep, keep it in your bra babes.

I was totally expecting her to send EACH of the cops home (or at least each of the detectives home) with a doll or a small figurine

JE+KR: On it *look at each other in jinx*

castle writer moments yeah of course she would have withdrawn the-- WAIT THAT'S HOW YOU FIND & PROTECT HER

Jessie: I’ve never been questioned by cops before. You mind if I tweet about this? KR: ??? Uh, yeah, yes, we—we do mind.

I thought maybe the third woman killed them like the table of last supper electroplating sex worker story from murdoch mysteries. Maybe this third friend just woke up from a coma & used to actually be friends with them but these two friends stabbed her in the back while she was coma'd.

that was NOT typing was it? Who types like that? Is castle on the phone at the same time ?? Oh wait i'm dumb, I THOUGHT he was calling someone else but I doubted myself

Charlotte's already dead Nice angel wing Yep she be dead. NOPE SHE'S ALIVE what if it was suicide?

KB: So, what, you’re Prince Charming now? RC: Well, if the shoe fits obv the 4th is the killer but who are they? SEE I TOLD YOU 50605 the killer really does have a psychological motivation

Ooh I love photograph nerds oof welp he def can't be the killer but-- hold on, 6th of may 2005? in USA speak that's 05/06/05! (in normal speak it's 6/05/'05). I'm guessing the police report is about his death? Those three did smth to get him killed? I didn't know ikwydls was from 97, I got ads for it on youtube, must have been a remake. I was actually thinking of that.

I still think she did it, it was a spree-murder-suicide. Where are her injection marks? Girl don't mix drugs if u don't know what u'r doing Yeah b'y they were kids with a lot to lose Maybe he never intended for you to live & just thought he could get money out of it at the same time

You know I want an adhd killer/victim who can't be tracked bc they keep forgetting to put the money in the bank, or castle thinks the victim is a spy bc they keep losing their toothbrush & buying new ones, I want them to say "it wasnt [adhd killer] because look at how they acted in the interview" but it's just emotional dysregulation, I want them to think "[adhd killer] never would have been able to do xyz bc they're not smart enough, they didn't even finish high school" but [adhd killer] had a hyperfixation on that thing & is really skilled at that thing, I want the ME to say "there is a bunch of drug residue on them" & then beckett assumes they were on or selling drugs but when ME runs tox "they were on a prescription dosage" Or maybe I want a busker who gets paid in cash so they think it's money laundering or smth when they're actually a fiddler.

Called it. husband that the sister brought in.

(ryan always gets played off as the feminine one but he is not necessarily, his voice gets so deep sometimes but in such a way it gives me gender envy, his voice seems to have a wider range of speaking voice than esposito but because of this sometimes I can't tell which one is talking)

Ok he's lying? Yeah he did it wait... he only blackmailed & didn't killl...

yo always get a lawyer y'all, don't ever talk to cops. I THOUGHT IT COULD HAVE BEEN THE SISTER, I KNEW IT. Or no, the way she's scting, it's too much to be an act. (I say knowing this is fiction.) why is nobody breaking up this fight? Maybe bc they hate him maybe bc she's a girl (& apparently teachers are told to break up fights between boys but not get between girls)

KB: Don’t underestimate him. I mean, the only reason that he copped to the blackmail was to avoid murder charges. And like any psychopath, he’s a great actor. Oh, speaking of… RC: Psychopaths or actors? KB: I was thinking about your mom. RC: Oh, so a little of both. KB: I think we can make the play. RC: Really? So you want to venture into the dark, scary woods? KB: Don’t worry, Castle. I got a gun. I’ll protect you from the Big Bad Wolf. RC: You’d use your gun on my mother? KB: RC: I’m touched. Thank you. KB:

Slip-on shoes are the way to go

What bow? Whose bow?

Was it her? Can't be her I already ruled that out. Where was she injected? Unless it wasn't a suicide attempt but just an overdose to get the cops' eyes off her She is getting teary but not crying bc she's faking & she just Can't Quite Cry whut that makes very little sense tbh Why would you kill two more ppl if you're trying to save your life? I mean unless u got away with it by successfully playing the victim She's literally in the hospital

What the fudge I love the way ryan is walking backwards, point for the adhd headcanon (gosh has roofing taught me nothing? Even in the kitchen I walk backwards) Wow sappy af. (I love the way rysposito look at each other) what's castle got there? a recording device to prove beckett is actually a softie? Little peace sign up there

"Hey I'm right here" The role of a mother <3 *living in his house* *holds his hand*

Ok so I think I like watching it first bc I can write my theories without forgetting them but it might be shorter if I watch it first & then I always notice stuff more the second time through & I can make note of that stuff for future reference when I know it doesn't make sense

I also realize that I probably should have skipped a few episodes so I'm not watching the same one twice in one day but rather have some time in between. idk when mum is coming home so maybe I can watch another one but from way later in the season. Probably not tho since it will take MORE than half an hour.

I do think that maybe it will let me SHUT UP during the show or it will make me overly talkative once I know how it works. Maybe I'll just keep my mouth shut bc I don't feel the need to share my theories or I'll be afraid of spoiling so I'll actually be quiet for once

[besidesitstoowarm]

"Doomsday" thoughts

i'm realizing i forgot to mention my WIFE freema agyeman in last episode. i'm so sorry baby. i can't wait for s3

anyway this episode fucks severely and kind of reminds me that a lot of diehard ten/rose shippers don't like. GET what makes them work, bc they don't get what makes rose work. i think i've said it before that not only do moffat haters not understand his era, but davies lovers often don't even really like it for the right reasons. or like, reasons that are based on the text instead of the tumblr interpretation of the text. this isn't to disparage davies likers or ten/rose shippers or whatever, just make sure you're remembering the episodes as they happened and not as 1080p gifsets you reblogged 8y ago

anyway! this was a great finale to s2 and to the rose era in general (i'll make a season retrospective w more detail). it's just some goddamn great doctor who, davies is masterful at weaving deep and impactful character work into the classic balls-to-the-wall insane doctor who shenanigans. let's explore, shall we

i love the idea behind the "genesis ark" like tell me that doesn't sound like something that already exists in dw canon. calling back to needing rose's touch bc humanity– the human ability/desire/habit of crossing boundaries, inherently filling every space, colonizing to be less generous– has a power to it. the bit as well about "cybermen will remove sex and class and race and creed" is a critique of centrism bc our differences make us human! they're beautiful! the great equalizer is horrific, imposed violence

i'm sorry if this seems homophobic but i don't think a straight person could have possibly written the dalek-cybermen interactions in this episode. "the daleks have no concept of elegance" "this is obvious" sorry it's just pure cuntiness on a level i have never seen a cishet achieve. i'm not stereotyping davies as just "sassy" or whatever he's deeply talented in all facets but bitchiness is indeed one of those facets

continuing the anti-establishment theme, yvonne walking into the cybermen hell saying "oh god, i did my duty" is deeply telling. the cyberman she becomes crying an oil-slick tear and fighting back saying "i did it for queen and country" is kind of sad and kind of horrifying. it's about the layers

rose gets to flex w the daleks by telling them what she did as bad wolf. "i met the emperor....and turned him into dust" yes!! yes!! get their asses baby!! "both sides had secrets" all the time war seeding is so tasteful and delicious. it works as both bread-crumbing info that will be revealed eventually and as background worldbuilding should they decide to never get into the nitty-gritty. they obviously do in "the end of time" for one and then eventually the 50th but davies plays it just subtle enough that if they never did get deeper into it, i don't think it would have felt like a cocktease

i love the pete-jackie stuff sorry. i love stories about people finding/refinding/etc love in their 40s. they're not the version of each other that they each know but they're close enough and they do love each other. their big hug made me emotional

and of course. the ending. what is there to say about the ending that hasn't been said a hundred million times already. murray gold is a fantastic composer and he CRUSHES it. the fact that ten was ready to sacrifice rose without her consent (which he will later do to donna! themes!), the fact that she fought the narrative and refused until tragedy took over, as it inevitably must. bad wolf bay. "i love you" "rose tyler, –" as tears drip down his face. oh i am just so sick. they were codependent and unhealthy but you really can't deny how much they cared for each other, and even tho i KNOW they meet up again and get their "happy" endings i just. oh it hit. phenomenal acting on both parts, incredible score, oh it just destroys me. a beautiful end for the season and for rose

side note, i did not recall that "runaway bride" was the next story. i totally forgot that we get the season-long gap before seeing donna again. i can't wait to get back to donna, she brings out the best in ten (being divorced and a pathetic wet beast)

season retrospective up soon!

[shinygoku]

Gonna ask for the one Thunderbirds character I can remember - Gordon ;)

The most memorable, and The Best!! That's Gordon forja~ ;3

As before, 🧡 is for TOS and 💛 is for TAG whenever a difference comes up

Underused Character / Not Enough Screen Time / Who needs more Love? 🧡

Holy smokes is TOS Gordon ever slept on! They dutifully bring him out for the Customary Water Mission, but it's truly a rare day that he makes an appearance without some moisture. The only one that comes to mind is when they need him to shoot a bunch of guys in the Perils of Penelope, which is cool and all, but there's more eps when he's just like, chillin' in the background or asking to be involved before being shot down (especially the Are Go movie, his token role in that is such a limp consolation prize it makes me feral!)

Who needs more Love? / The Show got it WRONG! / Everyone but Me is Wrong about it! 💛

When it comes to TAG Gordon also being underappreciated, it's a slightly different flavour. Like, he's much more active in TAG than TOS, and it's fairer that there are episodes without ANY of him at all, 'cause it's like a rota and everyone gets a turn (in theory). Though there was a rash of Gordon-free eps in S2 that I remember angering me back when the show was airing. But no, it's not as much the screen time that was an issue, but them not properly using him. For instance, an early episode was sooo delish and beautifully crafted... but then, oopsie! They go and forget to use cues from that to inform his character in the later seasons! (It varies, it's not like it completely gets sucked into a black hole, but for the most part...)

This is where I get into the The Show Got It Wrong [my note says SOMETIMES lmao] -- As he's the Jokey Character, they sometimes lean too hard on him not taking things seriously, examples including filling his on 'Bird with food wrappers (this one drives me mad!!) or spraying canned cheese into floating orbs inside TB3. Like, Come On! He's still a professional rescue worker and would know better than to clutter up the billion dollar machines up with food debris! RAAAAGHHH ...and another dumb thing with the bad s3 ep with Garbage Collecting for fun and profit being something he knows of but doesn't try to dissaude others from doing it when there's life and limb risk, maaaaaan. RESCUE. WORKER!!! IT'S HIS JOOOOOB and PASSION. (Overlaps with Everyone but Me is wrong lmao)

I WANT MORE! 💛

But what I love, I love so much! The excellent ep I reference has him instantly connect with a trapped kid [with injured father] and help walk him through little things they can do while they wait for him to reach them. Another ep near the finale where a nonverbal boy latches onto him and Gordon sets up part of TB4 to show him the holoprojection stuff. Basically Gordon + Children = Fantabulous Times lol

Headcanons I Love / I WANT MORE! 🧡

As for TOS, it's similar in that I love him being The Funny One, the crack shot and also the most fashionable of the Bros. I enjoy the (Supplementary material only, lol) extra backstory of WASP and the notorious Hydrofoil Crash a lot even though I ain't so big on WASP itself lol. I've found myself liking the notion that he's actually more in love with The Sea than any other romantic interest in this continuity (though he'd totally be Bi if humans were his type!).

=-=-=

Gosh, that's a bit of a rambly mess, innit? I have a little more to say but I also have a couple more asks, so to avoid bogging this on down I'll save 'em for laters <3

tl;dr - I love Gordon so much and even when my brain refuses to remember most of one of the shows and a fair size of the other, I'm largely sure everything I've said here is The Truth, baybee~ 😇🧡💛