#IN HONOUR OF S2 LIKE ACTUALLY

[baeshijima]

and if i said i have yet another wip which is a various blue lock x reader fic series what then 🧍‍♀️

[libakarm]

we popping the BIGGEST bottles on saturday when roberto comes back as some healing drug enhanced hybrid

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Peter Anderson: Hi, my name is Peter Anderson. I'm from Peter Anderson Studio and we created the title sequence to Good Omens Season Two. So this scene is quite literally a continuation from Season One.

An interesting detail with this scene is the fly. The fly is significant because it stores Gabriel's memory.

Gabriel is hidden in every scene. This is the first time we see it.

This goat is half bird, half goat, representing a mistake in a moment of transformation.

In the pickled herring barrel, we have literally red herrings sticking out.

A lot of the gravestones have hidden engravings, easter eggs, all written by Neil.

[This one says: HERE LIES THE FORMER SHELL OF BEELZEBUB referncing Beelzebub having a new face in S2 :), another ones are: EVERYDAY, JANE AUSTEN, Here lies ADAM (the Adam from Adam and Eve is meant)]

Another hidden Gabriel.

Our same character that was trying to escape Hell in Season One titles is also trying to escape here, moving in the opposite direction to the rest of the procession. Except this time he's apprehended and dragged back into the procession.

Our Hell spider from episode four makes a little appearance in the background here.

Can you tell where the bus is going? Director Douglas McKinnon selected Powell and Pressburger's Stairway to Heaven to put on the billboard.

Another thing to note here is the type is all handmade specifically for Good Omens. The Alphabet only exists within the show.

The big floating turnip is a nod to Azirafel's magic tricks.

The Ladies of Camelot poster we pulled from the show.

We added plaques to the back of the chairs and Neil chose who to honour.

[There are: A TALE OF TWO CITIES by CHARLES DICKENS, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by JANE AUSTEN, THE CROW ROAD by IAIN BANKS (twice!) and GOOD OMENS by TERRY PRATCHETT (Neil missing for some reason :) <3)]

Saraqael made an appearance from Heaven.

Our Space is back from Season One. Aziraphale and Crowley are having a little dance here. A moment of flirtation. There's a tiny planet in the middle that comes into existence at this moment.

Our Scottish tartan hills make an appearance here.

The aeroplane and the airline is a little bit of a clue here.

[THY KINGDOM AIRWAYS 👀]

It's raining love hearts in reference to Aziraphale's attempt at making Maggie and Nina fall in love.

Here are elevators to Heaven and Hell. A wee thing to spot. Here is Gabriel in the lift arriving from Heaven.

We've updated our flags to reference some of the plotlines in Season Two. For example, The Second Coming.

The movie poster artwork changes every week, representing the episode plotlines and the minisodes. We made the posters to look like the time period and in this case we've got a Good Omens version of Buddy Holly.

[The posters are:]

In the snack bar some of our popcorn is actually communion wafers.

There are specific characters from Season One in the boxes watching the movie as the procession goes by. This includes some of our original concept art from Season One.

The duck playing the accordion is from a newspaper headline that someone is reading in The Dirty Donkey from one of the episodes.

[this is also from the Good Omens book :): "Daily Mail. 'Letter From America.' Um, August the third," said Newt. "Just after the story about the woman in Worms, Nebraska, who taught her duck to play the accordion."]

Each episode is showing a new movie on the screen, each one selected by Douglas, and has clues about what's to come.

The season one phone box tumbles in the background.

The big mountain is made of all the ingredients from Season Two and a couple of remnants from Season One. We are heading towards the biggest Easter Egg, which is the lift. We're heading towards the Second Coming..

[variousqueerthings]

okay I watched good omens s2 yesterday with my partner, and I was genuinely very surprised -- I think if you've grown up through superwholock/merlin/the 100/teen wolf type shows where (with the exception periodically of doctor who) you kind of had to make up the good show that something could have been in your head, that colours a lot of your viewing, and to be honest I thought season 1 of good omens was a fine little piece, honoured the book while modernising it somewhat, it was a nice, fun, low stakes time, with a couple of things I might have wanted a tad different but nothing overall awful.

so I was seeing all this meta and gifsets and discussion, while I was waiting to give s2 a watch with my partner and thought "ah, people have made up the good show in their heads again" not that I assumed s2 was going to be a bad show, but that people were taking extra deep plunges into possibilities, the way fandom does, and that was fine. I knew there was a big ol kiss, I had a sense of some kind of argument at the end, and that it was setting up a s3

I also knew that mainstream reviews were calling it (politely) self-indulgent and dependent on whether or not you enjoy david tennant and michael sheen having a good time for just under 6 hours

all in all, expectations of a somewhat mainstream show without too much to think about, a nice, fun low stakes time, moving on...

(EDIT: AND THEN I WROTE A LOT OF WORDS SO YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT MY REACTION WAS QUITE DIFFERENT)

as it turns out it seems these things that were being written on tumblr were discussing the actual text of the show and not things you could extrapolate if you squinted and tilted your head a little to the left as I'm so used to doing, so in fact there is much to think about!

and my first thought was "this is like when you read early discworld books that ask a question like a joke, only to find that over time the answer to that question becomes very serious (and also can be funny at times of course)." how terry pratchett would pick and pick at tropes and notions and social ideas and go "oh now hold on, this seems strange..." starting way back when he thought it was odd that women warriors always seemed to be dressed in metal bikinis and then realising he hadn't done a good enough job of subverting the trope, simply by depicting it and calling it a bit silly

why do goblins always get treated as the villains? what's with this divine succession of kings business? where are the female dwarfs? who do we treat as disposable?

good omens season one went: "haha what if heaven and hell were intensely incapable, bureaucratic, corrupt, and uncaring of the work they did, and we took an angel and a demon and had them actually care? wouldn't that be... a bit silly?" (and it was)

good omens season two went: "what are the consequences for caring when the people who have power over you are incapable, bureaucratic, corrupt, and uncaring? what are the forces that supersede systems built on fear, ignorance, and violent conformity? can people change and break out of/challenge/break down these structures by caring?"

and this was set up with a neat little sleight of hand (to reference aziraphale's switch-and-bait in the episode with the nazi zombies), because the majority of season 2 does feel a bit indulgent: hey, remember those two wacky angel-and-demon characters? watch some more wacky things they did through the ages, watch them take a sojourn through 1827 Edinburgh and do a magic show during the Blitz, and... stop the death of Job's and Sitis' children (actually maybe that whole segment ought to have been what they call "A Clue")

see them try to figure out a kooky mystery, all the while setting up a cute little same-gender romance on their street. watch as everything points towards a happy ending that's all about the two of them realising what they've been to one another all these thousands and thousands (and thousands and thousands) of years- but hold on. lest we forget - and the show has made this point over and over - there are powerful people who control them, who hurt them, and who plan on hurting others, throughout the whole season, and as it turns out they know what they've been to one another for far far longer, and know how to pull their strings...

season 2 then, has to show us these things, not because they're indulgent (well, maybe occasionally, but the apology dance is still important), but because in order to make the ending a tragedy, we first need to understand, properly, the impact that they have had on each other. we need to understand that Aziraphale relied heavily on Crowley to be his moral compass and leaned on black-and-white thinking in order to deal with things, because if it's all grey then where does he fit and what has it all meant and heaven has to be the good guys, even as Job's and Sitis' children are ordered to be killed, it's all he ever had...

and Crowley was always an anchor, needed to trust that Aziraphale was different, needed to bend to every whim that Aziraphale has, because otherwise what's his worth in all this? After having been already deemed worthless by the heaven that Aziraphale needs to believe in?

and that, simplistically described, is the narrative that we're seeing in s2, and alongside that the ways that the changes they have upon each other are noticed, and monitored, and placed under suspicion, and finally... broken up, not by the clumsy, brute force that's been attempted over and over again, but by a promise to return into a violent, controlling system and to "make it better from within"

and all of this is wrapped up in two queer relationships + a third queered-within-the-text relationship that creates the inverse of how it ends for Aziraphale and Crowley (so far). queer love -- whatever shape that has -- is explicitly the shape of non-conformity within this narrative, including within the symbolism of angel-and-demon love of Gabriel and Beelzebub, which in the context of the systems created is considered queer (and one can argue till the cats come home about casting cis actors, about angel-and-demon notions of gender/romance/sexuality, but the "queerness" comes from building something non-conforming to the systems they exist in), and enforced by the explicitly our-world-definition-of queer romance that Nina and Maggie have going on (which, while less high stakes, still contains the background controlling relationship that Nina initially is in)

all of this to say, that I disagree that s2 meanders, or that plotlines happen for the sake of showcasing Aziraphale and Crowley without purpose, or that characters get sidelined (I'd say it sets up a whole host of interesting characters to further get into actually), or that it's strictly mainstream easy-access narrative that's just an excuse for the main creators and actors to get back together.

the love is the point, and this show takes its time to show the love (and the unequal boundary-setting, and the fact that one of them has an undiscussed tragic backstory, and the desperation to belong again, and the fear instilled by oppressive systems, and and and), so that we understand why those last 15 minutes happen the way that they do

it's sleight of hand, and like all good magic, you don't notice until it's happened

[late-draft]

Hello, Dema here!

First off—I have fallen desperately in love with your artworks. You have a very particular style, strong and fluid all the same, and I can't help but admire the way you draw and how you approach character design.

And talking about character design...

I saw your post about Zuko's bold design in S1 when compared to what we got in S3 and—as much as I love S3-Zuko—I completely agree with you. Something I've always loved about Zuko in S1 is just how striking he was, how much of a presence he had, even when he was being tossed around by a twelve-year-old. That being said, I love Zuko, I love him in armor and pointy shoes and with a ponytail, and I loved your alternative design for him.

What do you think about his S2 character design? How does it flow with the story beats and his overall character arc? Much has been said about the Hair-Growth-Means-Character-Growth (and I find it interesting, also, that he cut his hair again before joining the Gaang), but I'd like to know your opinion on how that translates to character design and how the decisions made in the show could be either good or bad in that regard.

Sorry about the long ask! I've just been thinking about this a lot, lately, and would like to know what you think. Hope you have a good day ❤️

AAAA Dema hii!!! I'm so happy I got a message from you, I didn't expect it!!

I'm super glad to hear, I'll wear it as a badge of honour and I must tell you that I also love your art, you wonderfully do volume and the shading done through a contrast of sharp and soft areas! Super solid anatomy too and I'd be lying if I said I didn't look up to your art!

Yess the character designs in the show actually are rather strong, I like a good balance between memorable and functional. Zuko is just *chef kiss* but, considering just how many appearance changes he goes through, some are bound to be weaker than the starting one. That said, I'm gonna go through a few of his S2 looks and make this reply long, ha!

The starting one when he ends up huddling with uncle Iroh with other poor refugees, fits extremely well for the narrative at the moment. It's actually one of my least liked looks for him, and that's great!! It's precisely how it should be, because he's also arguably at one of his two lowest moral points in the story - he basically lost almost all hope, no clear goal, nothing to fight for, he's desperate precisely because of the lack of orientation and thus his morals degrade and sink veeery low. He gets on my nerves so goddamn much in this period LMAO I want to beat him up, he looks like a recovering drug addict... annoying, entitled whiny jerk stealing food and anything shiny for his uncle, but even then he just does not cross the moral event horizon. Excellent characterization. He just looks atrocious and it's great because it fits this low point.

Next he gets the standard boyish square of a hair, no notes here...

But theeeen, he arrives at one of my favourite looks of his, and it's not just because the clothes fit him very nicely (I've seen fandom say they look too big for him which, maybe?? But it doesn't look like he's swimming in them to me) And a thing I've noticed which, maybe it was just an accident on design part but I'm not sure considering they colour coded the entire cave scene; in this part his clothes match the shape of Katara's, first one in bottom then the one in top. The collar is the same haf-circle design but I don't know, maybe there was a limited pool of clothes designs guide which they cycled through. Or, he really is meant to come close but miss Katara by a beat, like sine and cosine chasing each other.

But besides this outfit fitting the inconspicuous Earth Kingdom customer service persona, it also (perhaps inadvertently) does this VERY cool thing:

It makes his shape look closed off and guarded, supposedly non-threatening. It's most visible in his fight against Jet, whose shape is open and goes in many directions like an aggressive star. But then look at what Zuko's shape does:

When he attacks, it opens up to reveal the hidden aspect, again the aggressive star shape shows up! The same thing happens in "Zuko alone" episode but I think it's most clearly visible in this fight against Jet because here he has a direct contrast and comparing with Jet. I think this is an example where the outfit, whose similar design exists irl, overlaps with a great visual metaphor and enhances the narrative at that moment in story. He's still that combative firebender but he has to keep that aspect concealed most of the time. Plus it just looks badass as hell!!

Animators really knocked it out of the park with many frames. I think Jun was too early and missed his better hairstyle, but Katara was just in time.

I agree it's super funny how his hair in the Beach is awfully long, covers his face to an uncomfortable degree and then he apparently shortens it before joining the Gaang, insane behaviour Truly an "I'm so angry and depressed I won't show my face nor be capable of seeing anything because there's nothing nice to see in my life" look...

I guess all his appearances in S2 cover his mental states, but only one of them is extremely Extra (the tea server, doesn't even take the apron off and goes to fight) and I don't see any spot where a similar tier design could be shoved in, narratively speaking. So all in all, S2 did as much as S2 could have. More tea server arc please though, the Guru episode really feels like it skipped 800 km of plot and everything that happened in it is so crammed and pretty sus in terms of character behaviour.

[beaniegaebie]

i don't really have any solid conclusions about this yet but i noticed A Thing in a rewatch and i haven't found it mentioned elsewhere yet so here we go

(apologies for the appalling image quality you're about to see, i can't screenshot easily rn pls bear with)

OKAY so in the scene where crowley confronts gabriel about "shut up and die", something about the arrangement of book stacks caught my eye a little

the majority of the books are angled so that we mostly just see the page edges and not the spines clearly, EXCEPT for a particularly shiny and familiar colour combo right here-

but nothing too weird going on there, i thought, crowley coloured books in a bookshop so what? right up until i registered crowley's line when we get a closer look-

hhhhmmmmMMmmmm yes yes "everything just the way you wanted" huh, very interesting considering that we know how much thought goes into props huh

and for most of the shots we get of crowley in this position those freaking books are just quietly nestled right there in the corner-

look at that god damn framing i fuckin see you, you glorious bastards

so i paused to see if i could figure out what the hell was up with those fuckers and this is when i absolutely lost my mind, your honour

A and C you say?? in crowley colours???? framed like this?????? localised entirely within your kitchen???

anyway long story short they're two books from an Agatha Christie Crime Collection set (24 volumes, three stories per volume) and guess whats on the mfing front covers I'm-

(its a rant for another post but when paired with this other set of initials spotted in s2 i want to scream actually)

ANYWAY back to the books, through an absolutely unhinged comparison of the formatting of gold text blobs i reckon the two we have here are:

(on top) The Pale Horse; The Big Four, The Secret Adversary

(on bottom) 4:50 From Paddington, Lord Edgeware Dies, Murder in Mesopotamia

(I'm fairly confident but if anyone has a better image to confirm/correct this pls do)

now here is where I'll need a bunch of help from some Christie-heads out there bc I haven't read any of these and I've only seen the tv adaptation of one of them, so i dont know for sure if these are like A Clue, or A Cool Thing, or if I've just fully brainrotted myself into a fun lil corner here? wa-hoo

but here's some initial stuff that jumped out at me after skimming the basics:

(some of) the titles: Pale Horse/Big Four - death's horse ofc, the four horsemen mayb? the them+adam?? ; Mesopotamia is a very biblical choice bbz ; 4:50 From Paddington- azi likes trains i guess? idk that one's tenuous lmao ; honestly no idea with the other two but Secret Adversary feels a tad ominous

iirc Big Four just has kind of an unusual history, it was initially twelve short stories that she later compiled into one, and it was published fairly soon after christie's mysterious disappearance/reappearance

in Big Four, poirot fakes his death at one point and doesnt even let hastings in on it and I'm hoping sure its totally irrelevant to the ineffable bois

part of the Pale Horse story is a group of assassins that basically try to pass off all their murders as being actually caused by like ✨satanic powers✨ which is interesting

christie knew a fUCkton about poisonings thats why she wrote so many into her work and, while i don't believe the poison coffee theory myself, it sure is an interesting link with how cyanide is associated with almond smell/flavour and that metatron chooses almond syrup in particular

(ALSO random side note that is mostly meaningless but I've worked in a good few uk coffee shops and have never worked anywhere that stocks almond syrup; almond milk yes, hazelnut syrup yes, but never almond syrup...? prob just the places i worked though lmao)

EDIT forgotten point: I've seen some speculation that the bently's plate reading "CURTAIN" could be a reference to poirot's last story, along side that alternate scene of crowley ordering the sherry for "miss marple", its just one too many agatha christie references for my melted brain to handle and I'm SUS

so this is where i run out of idea steam and hand it over to you lot because i have no clue what this could mean, if it even means anything other than a cool set feature

is there something here actually or am i yelling into the void just for fun?

who knows, who cares!

[borninwinter81]

Library tour - Pratchett and Gaiman focused with some honourable mentions

Of course I've constantly had full bookshelves since I was a child, but I'd always wanted a room I could properly call a library. The house my husband and I now live in has 3 bedrooms, so as we're child free we've each taken one of the spare rooms to do with as we wish.

The majority of the furniture you see is thrifted (aside from the bookcases) and it was self decorated with a lot of cut corners-for example I decided instead of proper flooring it would be cheaper just to pull up the carpet and varnish the actual boards.

I spend more time in here than I do in our living room 😁

Gaiman stuff. Sandman alongside some Alan Moore, Preacher, Hellblazer, my signed copy of The Crow and one volume of Sin City. Two copies each of Ocean (one illustrated), and American Gods (original and authors preferred text). And of course one of my copies of Good Omens. Plus you can see the novelisation of Pan's Labyrinth sitting next to Neverwhere. Del Toro is another favourite fantasist of mine.

Pratchett stuff. Complete Discworld of course, and I'm slowly increasing my non Discworld Pratchett collection, my second copy of GO, the Paul Kidby illustrated edition (makes sense to have one living with the Gaiman books and the other with Pratchett). Soul Music and Hogfather are both signed, I met Pterry when I was 14 on the Hogfather signing tour.

The crocheted toy was actually from a pattern for a mimic I made (pattern by Complicated Knots on YouTube), but it's luggage-y enough that I put it with the Discworld books, Rob Wilkins' biography of Pterry, and a Librarian to look after everything, make sure the books don't get rowdy and take care of the L-space. I've had him since I was 18.

Specifically Good Omens stuff: a pair of felt plushies a friend made for me after S1 was released (@diedarlingsuk on Instagram), a pair of drawings I bought from a very talented 15 year old artist at a tiny comic con also after S1, (I'd credit her but I've no idea of her name or if she has an online presence), the script book, the TV companion, and an art book by the wonderful @mistysblueboxstuff, who I'm sure most of the fandom know and love. This contains all her GO art from S1 and S2.

Honourable mention stuff - I put above that I love Del Toro, so I've got to share the Angel of Death from Hellboy 2 as its one of my favourite things in this room. And its an angel, so that's kinda linked.

Made for me by another friend from clay on a doll's body and the wings on wire frames (@sids_workshop on Instagram).

Finally the Complete William Blake illuminated works, a guidebook to a Blake exhibition I went to, and Gustav Dore illustrated copies of Dante, Milton, Coleridge, Tennyson and Poe. I am a huge poetry nerd, and I think many GO fans would find a lot to interest them in some of these, particularly Blake and Milton.

I could go on, there's tons of other stuff I'd like to include but this post is fairly massive already and I wanted to try and stick to my theme.

[happylikeasadsong]

syd x carmy in season three

i’m back here cause i have way too much to say than it can fit on thread on twt

this is just what i could come up after sitting on s3 for the past few days, i was spiralling, it was bad.

this will be a long one, so settle in!

for me, regardless if this season was supposed to be a two parter or not, one thing that’s clear to me is that we were meant to watch this rupture in their relationship develop throughout the season.

listen, he was locked in that freezer for hours, and in those hours he spiraled beyond control. we can’t expect sydcarmy to have the same dynamic as the past seasons cause they’re not in the same place they were before. Carmy locked in the walk-in changed him and therefore, changed their dynamic too.

he promised syd in the first episode that he was never gonna leave her alone again, but in his fucked up mind, this means never let her make a solo decision when is comes to the menu, is having him make all the decisions himself and have the last say and change her every input. For him, this is how he honours his promise and for syd is how he makes her feel under appreciated and undermined.

he makes it look like it doesn’t matter what she does, as great as it is, he’ll always change it and make it about him. the decision of having her as a partner takes her by surprise cause they have never discussed it, he dumps all of these things on her, first thing in the morning, she can wrap her mind around the fact that’s that same guy she left a few hours before. He’s completely changed.

And though she tries to at least get on board and support his non-negotiables list and the menu changing every day and all the bullshit with richie, by “doors” she’s already exhausted of trying to keep up with him, tired of being his babysitter.

so when that new opportunity is presented to her, she actually considers it because it’s a way out of working in a stress free environment where she has full creative control to shape the new place as she sees fit (also the pay and benefits?? I’d be signing that shit right there lmao). It really is an incredible opportunity.

so yeah, i feel like we were meant to see how they crack under pressure and this was something chris storer had said in interviews before when talking about s2 on how hard it is to open a restaurant and keep it running once you do. he always wanted to explore the gritty stuff and I felt like he accomplished that in this season.

from a narrative standpoint, at some point we had to see syd and carmy’s partnership is put to test, we need to see what falling out to the point of almost no return looks for them in order to see how they are gonna find their way back to each other. and i can’t see a better time to do it than now.

it can feel hopeless, yes, and feel like they’re not gonna make it to the finish line, but let’s remember this is a story about finding new ways to reconnect to the things/ people you love, found family and generational trauma.

we see carmy is at his lowest, sydney is at her lowest, so logically the only way we can get to is up.

i believe that after carmy confronted his abusive boss, he had some sort of breakthrough from the way he sighed after their talk. i took it as his way of beginning to process his trauma.

as for sydney, we saw how deeply the idea of leaving has affected her, even though she knows is for a better place where her ideas will be respected and appreciated they way she knows it deserves. hopefully her panic attack will be enough to make her realize she needs help making the decision (if she can’t have her best friend and partner for this, then she’ll have her dad).

all of this to say that i am hopeful and excited to see what’s coming next year, and i truly believe sydcarmy is on the right path (this is a slow burn doing slow burn things ffs). We can’t let go just when things gets interesting. im dying to see their big fight, it’s something I’ve been needing since s2.

they’re still soulmates (after we saw the invisible string scene, there’s no going back) and they had significant scenes this season too, just not the way ppl thought it would be.

let’s have them work it out on the remix

[heartbreakprincewille]

Masculinity In Young Royals

So, in honour of Ke Huy Quan and the team of Everything Everywhere All At Once sweeping the Oscars(been crying about it since morning), I was watching this BRILLIANT video essay(check it out it's so well thought out!) about Waymond(Ke's character) and this gave me thoughts about Young Royals as well, because hyperfixations go hand-in-hand, right? :)

Masculinity, and especially different portrayals and aspects of its prevalent notions is a theme brilliantly explored in the two seasons of Young Royals. I wanted to talk about some characters, and this list will progress from worse to better(not using the word perfect because nuance > perfection).

Note: The traits I will discuss further are not restricted to just a cis or male perspective, anyone can exhibit these traits, but since assertion of masculinity is a constant spectacle in Young Royals, I will associate some traits with it.

1. Vincent

Vincent, especially in S2, embodies the worst traits on the masculinity spectrum, and since his character is understandably not offered the privilege of nuance, he comes off as this typical, toxic, sort of "alpha-male" character, especially after he's elected as the prefect and Rowing Captain. He constantly bullies others, especially Simon, tries to enforce the hierarchy of privilege and class firstly through August and then by himself. As soon as he sees an opportunity shown by Wilhelm to take control in his hands, he doesn't take much time to betray his "friend", August(although August of all people getting betrayed is certainly irony at its best). He kinda reminds me of the Royal Court in some ways- their presence furthering the divide of tradition and social systems in their respective environments.

2. August

The only reason August is not placed higher than Vincent in this list is the privilege of nuance August is provided with throughout the story. This nuance is what sets him apart in the narrative, but is also the thing which dooms him as a character.

August is misogynistic, sexist, classist, obsessed with power and privilege and feels entitled to both of them, set to further the class divide just like Vincent. He stokes his ego like fire, and if someone tries to cross him, he does not hesitate to burn them with the flames, like Wilhelm exposing his money issues and August violating Wilhelm and Simon's privacy in return. He's manipulative, he's calculative, he knows how to scheme things in his favour(failed attempts, though) and he's just a walking red flag of a person. He also falls around the worse side of the spectrum of masculinity.

But, he is offered nuance by the narrative. In S1, it's in the form of familial and personal issues: his dad killing himself, financial problems, addiction issues and possible issues of body dysmorphia. In S2, through his relationship with Sara, we are shown a different side of him- a side that is capable of being vulnerable, capable of being soft, and this almost sparks this hope within the audience that maybe August can change a little, for the better.

But then he's offered a chance of power and his hamartia is revealed to the audience: his inability to change. The greatest tragedy (which is also its brilliance) with August's character is he cannot change for the better. Even if he tries to. He can have opprtunities to grow, but it will be a Herculean labour for him to take advantage of those opportunities and actually change. He is so deeply entrenched in his perceptions of toxic masculinity and power and lost in his conceited, privileged worldview that it's quite hard for him to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And it's what sets him apart in the narrative- despite all his nuance, he is still a terrible person at his core. The nuance is just what separates him from all his shallow and one-dimensional preceding antagonists of the past.

3. Nils

Nils brings a neutral perspective to the extreme hyper-masculine and cishet dynamics upheld by August and Vincent. He's revealed to be queer in S2, but chooses to be discreet about it- which gives him a chance to build solidarity with both his cishet peers(Vincent and August) as well as a fellow queer person (Wille). He's not dismissive of Wilhelm's queerness, but he believes it to be something "better behind close doors". He's one of the few people who actually acknowledges Wilhelm and Simon's relationship, but is also dismissive of it, mainly because of the difference in their social standings. He's devoid of the typical "heteronormative" traits associated with masculinity, especially in S2, but he still uphelds the toxic class hierarchy and privilege.

4. Simon

Simon is a quite interesting character to me on this list because he subverts these traits in a very unique way.

Usually canonically gay characters in media are often stereotyped to possess "feminine" traits, which is NOT a bad thing at all, BUT mostly the portrayal of such characters usually leans more towards the mockery of the "feminine" traits, rather than something which strengthens the queerness of that character.

Simon is actually very different from this famous rendition of gay characters- he's actually very masculine in his behaviour. He exhibits two typical masculine behaviours in general:

1. "Man Of The House", or taking the mantle of emotional(and sometimes financial) stability in a house in one's own hands. He often takes matters in his own hand, especially when Sara says or does something that disrupts the peace of their little family. It's interesting because despite being the youngest person in the family, Linda subconsciously lets him take the mantle on his shoulders, without realizing how heavy it can be. And consequenty, it brings us down to the second trait:

2. "Suppressing emotions", or avoiding being vulnerable in public spaces or with people one loves and trusts. Simon constantly shoves what he's feeling deep in his heart, he refuses to break open in front of people, in front of Wille(S2 E6 gun scene) and would go to lengths to maintain a facade of "everything's fine!" even if he's breaking inside. It makes sense because his backstory alludes to hesitation to open up to people and it can be possibly related to his familial trauma, but it's still interesting nevertheless because he shows incredible emotional maturity throughout the story, much more than his predecessors on this list. He's devoid of both the toxic traits of heteronormativity and elitist behaviour associated with "masculinity" in Young Royals, but he still possesses a different set of problems associated with orthodox masculinity.

5. Wilhelm

Wilhelm is, in my opinion, the closest example to what is emerging as the new definition of "masculinity" in the current media. Wilhelm, through his immense emotional journey and growth in the two seasons, subverts all the traits of masculinity displayed by his predecessors in the list with grace and humility.

He's not obsessed with upholding traditions and asserting heteronormativity like Vincent and August, he is quite indifferent to it in S1, the only "compulsion" he feels to do so is immediately after Erik's death in S1, which he quickly overcomes as well. His "revenge" attempts on August by pulling rank and exercising his privilege stems from a feeling of injustice and anger rather than something he enjoys or feels the need to practice at all.

August's hamartia is Wilhelm's strength. Wilhelm, unlike August, displays great capacity to change for the better, which he constantly does throughout the story. Love knocks on both of their doors as an opportunity to grow, to change for the better, and while Wilhelm embraces it, August slaps the door shut on its face.

Unlike Nils, neither Wilhelm's queerness was never given a chance to be discreet in the first place, nor he ever felt the need to do so. The idea of keeping his and Simon's relationship a secret was more of an idea subconsciously conceived by Kristina in Wilhelm's head rather than his own desire to be secretive.

Wilhelm even subverts the traits displayed by Simon in this regard- the position of the "Man Of The House" falls on him in the form of "Crown Prince of Sweden", and although he understandably struggles with the role initially, by the end of S2, he consciously embraces the role with grace and humility. Compared to Simon, Wilhelm wears his heart on his sleeve, he is not afraid to express his true emotions to the people he love and trusts, and even to strangers.

[thesherrinfordfacility]

the thing that is actually making me giddy with the possible angst is that i really think that we are about to see the most monumental shift in not only how we saw these characters but also how they previously saw each other.

the fact that we literally now have confirmation that a) they knew each other before the fall, b) aziraphale has had heart eyes since before time began, and c) crowley... possibly not so much, completely changes the context on not just the eden scene but also all the historic scenes that followed.

aziraphale knew crowley as an angel, and knew even then when crowley was meant to be 'perfect' that crowley was maybe a bit different, always asking questions and toeing the line. maybe out of a bit of bastardy himself, or out of begrudging awe of his ability but also his audacity, or just plain attraction, aziraphale immediate takes to him. but this has meant that aziraphale has placed crowley, perhaps unconsciously, upon a pedestal. and the pedestal that aziraphale puts crowley on from that moment may have wobbled throughout their history together, but it's stayed relatively intact.

this worries me, that aziraphale may not have quite let go of the fact that crowley just isn't that person any more, maybe never was to begin with, and continues in some measure to idolise him. my interpretation of this is that yes, crowley can be a bit of a dick (because, well, obviously) and aziraphale knows this, has done since the beginning, but aziraphale continues to hold crowley to an overall moral ideal that is so firmly ensconced in aziraphale's first perception of him as an angel that crowley will never be able to live up to it. not because he isn't a nice person, or because he can't live up to it, but maybe... he just simply doesn't want to.

but the issue is that throughout the ages (including the job minisode which ive had corrected for me, so Crowley Anger is now simply simmering), crowley's actions have only reinforced to aziraphale that despite being technically a demon, he has a huge heart and is not a horrible person. bit of a bastard, but not cruel. all of this just feeds and feeds into this image of crowley that aziraphale has built of him, and when crowley has his flashes of, in fact, not being honourable or kind, this threatens to upset the pedestal altogether.

these wobbly moments - when he thinks crowley is going to kill the children, when crowley snaps at him in rome, when crowley first proposes the arrangement, the prospect that he came up with the french revolt, the holy water request, the bandstand, "how can someone as clever as you be so stupid?"... moments where just for a second, in a small or huge measure, aziraphale's faith in crowley... flickers.

and of course aziraphale has been here before, right? he's had his faith, his devotion, his loyalty tested to the absolute limit of angelic endurance. so when his faith in heaven (never lost it in god) was obliterated, well - it had to cling to something. something that wouldnt mean that aziraphale has to lose the concept of faith altogether. so we're back to the old standby of idolatry, that aziraphale's heavenly faith is replaced by his faith in crowley, this angel that despite never originally giving aziraphale the time of day, aziraphale cannot see - for all of crowley's faults and bastardy and the frustration he poses - crowley as anything less than something to be worshipped.

this is exactly why i think that one of the main points of s2 is going to be a rift between them both. obviously i haven't talked about crowley's perspective of this and maybe i will in another post, but i do think that crowley is going to do something, a bad thing for the right reasons, but aziraphale isn't going to see it like that. that crowley will do something awful to protect aziraphale, but all aziraphale will be able to see is the betrayal or the cruelty or the despair, he can't see wood for the trees, and just lose that last vestige of faith he had altogether.

i feel like once all the disillusion and disenchantment has been swept away, and they're both laid bare at each other's feet... that they may not quite like what they find. from aziraphale's perspective, that whatever crowley does in s2 might be crossing aziraphale's line in the sand, and now aziraphale is starting to see crowley as someone that is truly grey, fluctuating between doing things that are Good, and things that are Good for Crowley.

and it's not as if aziraphale was blind to this before, but instead now... he kind of finally sees who crowley is? who he has been all along? the film has lifted from his eyes. realises that love and worship are not the same thing. what he loves, who he loves, doesn't equate to worshipping it/them, idolising them. there's a very big difference that echoes down to the very core tenet of who aziraphale is and his experiences with having and losing faith, but love having remained.

so stripped of the pedestal, crowley is now just simply... crowley. a person, not an angel, not a demon. and there is the distinct possibility that aziraphale might be completely blindsided by what he finds.

[knightofthesevenfandoms]

Now that you've watched s2, I'm very curious to hear your opinion about it as an honourable IB shipper

My feelings are very mixed, while their flashbacks were pretty cute, the "confession" scene felt TERRIBLE to me. Why would these two old bureaucrats sing a cheesy song at each other in front of their respective courts 😭 Why were they speaking like 13 year olds. The ending just ruined the relationship becoming canon :(

Really long answer incoming lol.

Okay so. Essentially, yes. It was jarring/cringe because it was so VASTLY different than the vibe of their relationship that I had built in my head the last four years. I've always thought of them quite a bit more mature, sometimes combative, and really fucking kinky. But I wouldn't say it ruined it for me, and I'll explain why.

Initially it seemed SO out of character, the lovey-dovey, almost childlike affection they had for each other. But it's exciting for me to consider what if this WAS in their characters all along, they were just never given the opportunity/felt safe enough to let that side of their personalities be seen. Which is HEARTBREAKING but there's some subtle evidence to back this up.

We all know Bee is an angry, annoyed, high ranking demon with a lot on their plate. Even Crowley said "because they're always such a ray of sunshine" to Shax because it seems common knowledge to all of Hell that Bee is, well... an angry little shit. But they ARE a ray of sunshine when they're with Gabe, away from hell, away from their daily stresses, away from the expectations of running Hell. LOOK AT THEM.

We saw a hint of this in S1, when they showed a moment of vulnerability. When? In front of Gabe, at the airbase. They can't show weakness in Hell because they can't weaken their position as Prince (Grand Duke?), but Gabriel is the only other being in the entire cosmos they feel is an equal, and they can therefore let their guard down like they did at the airbase, and like they do a little bit more at every meeting with Gabe following Armageddon. Until they were actually showing the real Bee- who is a little unsure, kind of quiet, and a worrier. I always headcanoned that Bee absolutely WAS soft, underneath all their posturing, but only ever in private and only ever with Gabe. AND THEN I WAS GIVEN THAT HOLY SHIT.

Okay now on to Gabe. I always headcanoned that after Armageddon, he fucking broke. He snapped. He was SO TIRED of working toward goals, leading the host of Heaven toward said goals, and then the biggest one of all ended up a failure and essentially it fell on his shoulders. And that's basically what did happen in canon! It started, just like it did for Bee, at the airbase, when it was all falling apart, he turned to the only being he could that would understand his frustration.

He was always the hard-ass boss, albeit an idiot and a dick, but the memory wipe proved there was a sweetheart in there somewhere. Before the season aired, I assumed the memory wipe was what would show Gabe the error of his ways, and he would learn to be gentle and generous and loving through that trial. But it turns out HE ALREADY LEARNED IT BY THE TIME OF THE MEMORY WIPE.

Heaven seems so cold and lonely, and my god the scene where he says no one had ever given him anything. My heart ached for him. Heaven didn't even give him a desk. MURIEL, a 37th order, was given a desk but he wasn't. Away from the cold sterility of Heaven and his obligations, he heard Bee say they liked something, and he realized how happy their enjoyment made him. So he decided he liked it too. He never got to enjoy things (other than clothes), or his time around others, and Bee provided him that escape, simply by saying "I like this song." And then he miracled the song to play because he wanted to make someone, other than himself, happy. And he was ready to swan dive into Hell, give up the clothes he loved, because he knew he'd be okay, he and Bee would be okay if they were together.

Yes, their relationship is way different than I pictured it would be. But I'm framing it instead of being ooc, maybe we weren't seeing the real Gabe and Bee in S1. We were just seeing them as the result of their respective situations.

And the confession, to me, was used as a juxtaposition for the husbands confession, which uh. Did not go nearly as well.

So yeah, the singing to each other and their soft, innocent affection was cringe. But Bureaucracy has always been cringe, Bee is a gremlin and Gabe is an idiot. I'm looking forward to exploring their new dynamic in fic, and maybe filling some of the gaps that took them from where they were to where they are now.

[jjxkiaraxpopexcleoxjohnbxsarah]

Every detail of JB and JJ's friendship(not in order):

JB being the one to follow JJ in Barry's house in s1-the way after Kiara said someone should go and John B was like I know

JJ got the gun out to save JB from stupid topper-he did not hesitate and he had NO REGRETS 😭😭

THE WAY BOTH OF THEM WERE HOLDING IN THEIR SMILES WHEN JJ WENT TO VISIT JB IN JAIL AHDKFLGL BEFORE JUST LOSING IT

JJ reacted first when Shoupe said they lost JB and Sarah-Poor jjs life practically ended that night😭😭

JJ just walking up and hugging jb in midsummers-JB's little "fire, there's a fire" abdkfkf

JJ saying love you to John B before he leaves-THE CASUALNESS OF IT😭😭😭 it kills me

Them sitting near each other in class-they know the teacher hates it but they did it every time

John B texts the GC that he's alive and he says is JJ there-AHDJFKGLLGLGLGLG HIM ASKING FOR JJ!!! BC HE JUST KNOWS😭😭😭

JJ walking over to the tree when he sees jb looking at it, and trying to crack a joke before just hugging him so tight🥺🥺🥺

John B wrapping jjs arm over his shoulders in Poguelandia

JB and JJ saying the same exact thing about their fathers to each others face, the one about "you're gonna end up just like your father" -Those two scenes were sad but I feel like it hurt more for JJ because JJ always wants to believe that he's not like Luke and cos he trusts JB + when he said that I'm pretty sure it hurt

Okay S3 when the pogues have to leave JB behind and JJ says to Pope they can't split up again and they won't leave JB

Them hiding under the table like they're still kids😂😂

Their childish fight before Shoupe came-I strongly believe they both made a pact to never swing with the intention to actually hurt each other, especially JB since he knows what JJ goes through😔

JB casually pulling JJ in for a side hug in s2 when they were exchanging the key with limbrey-and jj does that nose scrunch

JJ says that he and John B have nothing to lose but Kie and Pope do-they are so intricately woven into each other's lives and their understanding of each other is insane

JJ slapping the step for jb to come and sit, and reassuring him they'll figure it out, and pulling him into his side😭😭-AND then JB rests his head on JJ's shoulder

The chateau burnt down and JJ places a hand on John Bs shoulder-The Chateau was JJ's home too

Jb being grossed out by the food in his fridge and then watching jj snack away ajfkfk

JJ and JB were with professor sowell I think that's the dudes name and John B pushes JJ down to protect him from the bullets/darts-Love a protective JB

JJ protecting jb from the cops in s1, lying to peterkin about them finding the boat

John B touching JJ's cheek and saying it's okay to stop JJ from making a stand

JJ being hellbent on getting JB outta jail, arguing with kie and pope on the porch before going off on his own to see JB and tell him his plan😭

JJ telling John B in court that he'll save him and being the first to say your honour he's seventeen

JJ listening to JB talk about stupid Topper as JB angstily rides his skateboard across the porch

JJ helping JB in midsummers it was so cute how John B was helping JJ wear his waiter uniform🥰🥰

JJ is the first to say to John B after they finish making the headstone on the tree-I would bet money the headstone was jjs idea😭😭😭

John B going to JJ first at the end of S2 to ask about surfing the waves in POGUELANDIA- And then he helps JJ walk

I'm sure there are even more out there but for now this is all I got.

Do comment what you think or if there's anything to add on

[ohmyeyesmyeyes]

trevor zegras - speculation

trevor zegras social media au x f!reader: childhood sweethearts/ secret relationship trope

(because i've spent the past three days watching might ducks and s2 of gc took me by surprise)

liked by ross_lynch and 1,863 others

ynofficial: x told me the girlies on tiktok are going crazy for zegras so i took the liberty of fuelling the fire. season tickets with good views really come in handy

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fan1: we thank you for your service

fan2: still don't know who x is but he's very right about the trevor mania

fan3: GET YOURSELF ON TIKTOK RN

ynofficial: but i've got to protect my peace!

friend1: devils reign supreme

ynofficial: no

liked by jackhughes, jaime.drysdale and 72,927 others

trevorzegras: calm last couple of days

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fan4: z got a girl or smth??

fan5: whoever owns that room in the second photo i want to marry u

fan6: THE TAYLOR CARDIGAN UGSHF

fan7: slayyy

fan8: we have the same mode of transport my dude

fan9: does this count as a soft launch?

liked by jamie.drysdale and 1,273 others

ynofficial: i'm gonna need approx. 11-46 working days to recover from the baby fever

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fan10: day 3 of asking y/n who her favourite hockey player is

ynofficial: for personal reasons imma have to say jamie drysdale

jamie.drysdale: i'm honoured

ynofficial: you should be

jamie.drysdale: yk i feel like i know you

ynofficial: so weird because i was just thinking the same thing

fan11: um

fan12: jamie as x?

fan13: IS X A HOCKEY PLAYER????????

liked by ynofficial, quinnhughes and 63,826 others

trevorzegras: i told jamie i now have beef with him and he sent me these

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jamie.drysdale: is it me? am i the drama?

fan14: i don't want to know but i need to know the context behind this

bot1: check out my story if you're single

trevorzegras: i'm very much not single

fan15: TREVOR?? explain honey

liked by quinnhughes, ynofficial and 103,183 others

trevorzegras: LMAO IS TWITTER OKAY RN

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jackhughes: is this meant to be posted on this account???????

jamie.drysdale: WRONG ACCOUNT ynofficial

fan16: OH MY GOD

fan17: not the reaction pic

fan18: bro she's actually really pretty

ynofficial: NO TREVOR THIS IS THE WRONG ACCOUNT

trevorzegras: oops

fan19: i don't think twitter is okay rn no it's very broken

fan20: yeah there are a lot of girls crying

fan21: AND SHE ISN'T BLONDE z you're my favourite

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liked by trevorzegras and 2,001 others

ynofficial: i will always love your drunk mistakes t (+ you)

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[importantchaosgiver]

Update and Sneak Peek

Yes, I am here! I am sorry for not posting 'Where Loyalties Lie' recently, but I will soon, I promise. Now, in honour of HOTD S2, I shall give you a little insight as to what that may look like in later chapters. Got any theories? Feel free to share.

~~~

It was uncalled for. It was horrific. Daemon felt those words reverberate to his bones, Baela and Rhaena looked to their father. They heard stories about this woman and even briefly encountered her. But, this clearly affected everyone, not just Daemon. But Rhaenyra too. Her eyes widened and grew glassy. Even Corlys' jaw dropped, Jacaerys looking shook. First Lucerys... now this? Do the Greens truly have no conscious!

~~~

The dragons cooed softly. Dreamfyre , Sunfyre and Vhagar. Although, Vhagar was the only one who approached. Despite her size and age, she never forgot a face. And this face? Oh, she remembered even as the woman grew older. Vhagar would never forget her courage when saving the young prince all those years ago, or even riding alongside the man titled The Brave when she was only just becoming a woman. To see her like this? It actually hurt. The sword she held with pride, dignity and wisdom, stained and discarded as if it were nothing. Her hand laid on the stone ground, as cold as the Northern winters and as still as the sturdiest tree...

~~~

Dawn arose the next day, and she was still untouched. Not only had she touched the hearts of the people, but of animals and beasts. But one thing the dragons all noted... was a new addition. A necklace of silver and diamond sat upon her chest. A pendant with ancient runes one could only associate with the Old Gods and New. Then... a twitch of the fingers, the rising and falling of her chest and the flutter of her eyelashes as her eyes opened to see the vast ceiling of the Dragonpit. The metal of her sword sung as it was dragged up from the ground, the dried blood flaking off it. She looked at her reflection in the blade and let out a breath. "Beware, Otto Hightower... for you no longer realise what you have doomed yourself to," she muttered hoarsely, her scars shining in the early morning rays...

~~~

I hope you like it. Oh, and I made some moodboards for potential oneshots I may do like (Y/N) takes a different path or just a completely separate story with similar plot.

[a-darling-thing]

Any of y'all watching Kaos on Netflix. It's actually quite good.

I can have middling opinions on modern adaptations of Greek Mythology, and it certainly doesn't follow stuff to the letter (like at all!). This is definitely a modern reinvention/reframing rather than a direct adaptation. But that being said, I think that makes it feel fresh, and I had a great time watching it, and am praying to all the Gods that it gets a second season.

It's unhinged, and well 'chaotic' enough to make the whole thing believable. Like is it even Greek mythology if it isn't unhinged? Also, great British ensemble cast, and whoever thought of casting Jeff Goldblum as Zeus--genius! Goldblum as Zeus and Janet McTeer as Hera are the standouts for me, with Aurora Perrineau as Eurydice, Nabhaan Rizwan as Dionysis and Misia Butler as Caeneus coming in close seconds.

Also, and as a total aside, honourable mention to David Thewlis as Hades and Rakie Ayola as Persephone. Hades and Persephone are pretty important to me personally and I wasn't sure about these two at first, but by the end of the first season I was all in on them. Like they're not 'my' Hades and Persephone, but they sold me on their take on it, and the core I love about both of them was there.

Persephone's role as queen and co-ruler was evident. Their love, commitment to, and respect for one another was clear, and there was a quiet, weary, stoicism to Thewlis' Hades that I could appreciate. He starts out looking quite burnt out and impotent, but you get to see his strength, courage and determination by the end, and I'm eager to see where they take that in S2 (Netflix, please give us a season 2, this story is soooo far from done).

[buckera]

K but I'm lowkey curious if we'd ever see Buck in a fight/what he'd be like? I mean yes, there was that brilliant tackle to the ground s7, but what baout an actual fight? We obvs know Eddie can handle himself but I can't even pictur Buck in a fight?

Like yes he's muscles and he tall and he did part of SEAL training so prob knows how? But he's the definition of Gentle Giant that I don't think I picture him actually physically fighting someone, or even throw a punch

tbh also gives more reason for other muscly men to defend his honour lol

i mean he literally body clocked Eddie onto the ground this season... he seems like a full body fighter to me.

also let's not forget all that rage in Buck Begins... gentle giant and sweet puppy can only go so far, if he's got someone to protect, i'm pretty sure he would step up

but we also saw Bobby push him up against the wall in s1 and Chim punching him in s5 — he technically provoked both of those instances, but he didn't even try to square up against either so idk, there was also the time he was training with Maddie in s2. he just seems to be on the defense mostly i guess, which makes sense to his character tbh

i'd love to see Oliver stretch his fight muscles, but i think the closest we'll get is a 20secons muay thai lesson with Tommy in s8 if that... and that'd definitely be a very different vibe lmao