#but I decided to add some s2

[linipik]

6000+ years, together

[mikesbasementbeets]

the storm (part 1)

s2:

[rock you like a hurricane playing]

[teeny-tiny-revenge]

Came across this in a fic again and I have to vent for a moment here: Ed's hair isn't unclean or not taken care of. Ever. Even at his lowest, in the first two episodes of season two, his hair is light and blows with the wind, it's got perfect waves, there is zero grime in it. Impossible Birds Ed hair has clearly been fairly recently washed, combed out and conditioned. Ed canonically loves soap, and you don't get that hair without owning a comb or brush and frequently working oil into it. He's at sea! The air is salty! It'll dry out your hair, but Ed's hair doesn't ever look dried out. The day he decides to commit suicide he puts his hair up into a lovely bun, with whispy stands framing his face. I have no idea what some people are watching, because Ed taking meticulous care (and most likely also putting pride and love) into his hair is clear, on-screen canon.

Like, if you want to write about how he was neglecting himself in his depression Kraken era? There's plenty there for you on screen as well! He sobs all night, probably sleeps on the floor if he sleeps at all. He doesn't wear his knee brace. He drinks and does drugs (and admits to that being poison to Frenchie!). He's pushing everyone away, he's pushing himself hard into a role that made him passively suicidal even before the breakup depression. He doesn't watch his back during raids At All. There's so much self harm there to address. If you want to, it would probably be plausible to add him not bothering to properly care for any wounds he might obtain during a raid. But he clearly doesn't neglect bathing and hair care. They're probably the only elements of self-care he actually still does during this dark time!

Even rock bottom Ed doesn't neglect his hair. And that says things about him! It's also something I'd love to see actually addressed in fic (will probably write it myself one of these days...): Taking good care of his hair, putting on jewelry, doing his makeup, these are things that seem to bring Ed joy or relief in his darkest moments. Where's my fic about these quiet moments of self-care being a straw he clutches to when everything else is terrible?

I love a good bathing together/doing each other's hair fic. It's intimate and loving! And Stede and Ed are prime material to write a mutual caretaking and bonding over it couple! Ed canonically loves soap and taking care of his hair! And Stede brought an entire fucking bathtub on a ship, the wonderful madman. S1 Stede's hair is always carefully curled, and we know that's not its natural state (it's wavy but not in this manner) from seeing him in S2, away from his certainly plentiful bath and grooming equipment. Stede probably has an hour of daily hair routine! We know he has nice smelling, probably expensive soaps. Where's the fic where they share in this?

There's so much potential! They can show each other their favourite care products! Sometimes they'll work on each other and sometimes not at all! Ed's rich hair oils will make Stede's hair all sticky and weird! Ed will think it's hilarious and adorable, he'll try to ruffle his hair and make it stick up worse and Stede will pout! 🥺 He'll look like this, just with weird spiky hair! One ill-advised day they try putting Stede's curlers in Ed's hair and then they almost can't get them back out because Ed's hair is so long and has lots of natural wave and it'll cling to the curlers and it's awful (they laugh about it afterwards, once Ed has very carefully brushed his hair out again and it no longer pulls at his scalp).

Makeup was a thing done by men and women at the time, especially for aristocrats (as seen in Episode 5), so Stede will know his way around hoity toity makeup, meaning rouges and whites (contained lots of lead, yuck!). Meanwhile Ed does pirate costume makeup for Blackbeard endeavours, that's a whole different thing. And both of these are makeups they don't actually enjoy doing (Stede avoids heavy makeup for the party, and Ed's Kraken makeup is part of his whole Everything Is Awful And I'm Making Myself Feel That look). But we see Ed do nice makeup that seems to be him! On his supposed to be final day on Earth, he cleans away all the Kraken coal, he cleans up his cabin, he gets rid of drugs, booze, Izzy (everything that was harming him), he does up his hair really nice and in a style that's very much Not Blackbeard, and he puts on a gorgeous bit of eyeliner that really brings out his eyes. And now that they're safe and happy together, when Ed decides he wants to look pretty today, not only can Stede lose his marbles over the look, Ed can also show him how to make his own eyes pop like that. They can stand in front of their mirror together, giggling and trying not to poke anyone in the eye.

Like. This is a fancy bathroom items for fancy bathroom items couple. They will bond over their love of bubble baths and nice smelling soaps and soft oils for hair and skin! They will learn each other's routines and how to do them just right for them. Let Stede learn that Ed loves his baths scalding hot (Stede has to wait a while for it to cool before he joins him in the tub because he'll get all pink and lightheaded). Let Ed learn how to put in Stede's curlers for him if Stede wants his hair to look extra fluffy the next day. Let Ed learn to massage Stede's back and Stede learn to massage Ed's knee. There's so much potential for loving caretaking with this ship. The trope doesn't at all require Ed to not know or not want to take care of his hair and hygiene. Fuck's sake.

[carigm]

MORE INSANE THINGS ABOUT THE VR GAME

Vecna tries to get into all of the boys’ minds but he’s unsuccessful except with Will.

He tries to taunt Mike by saying to him that it’s his fault that El is gone but this gets blocked out by Mike’s happy place/memory and it’s of him playing D&D. There’s a rainbow dice basically wiping Vecna away in that sequence lmao…and you also hear Will’s voice. (Some people have already posted about it in the tag so I won’t add pics).

The part about the happy place/memory thing is super interesting because the writers decided to make Lucas’ happy place a memory of him and Max at the movies, even tho atp in the story they have not met. It’s set pre S2….which makes you wonder why they couldn’t make Mike’s happiest memory be one with El…

Another insane sequence is the moment where Will breaks out of Vecna’s vision…Will got a nosebleed in the real world and Mike is wiping the blood off his nose, and Will focuses on this to get out of Vecna’s hold and walk into that moment, just like Max did in S4. There’s a few interesting moments of dialogue from that sequence because as this is happening Vecna keeps taunting Will in the background. Lemme share some interesting screenshots.

The first is this quote from Vecna saying that through Will he will get into his friends’ minds…with Mike being heavily focused on….

This one is just crazy…Vecna saying “you’ll finally matter to someone, Will” and Mike’s all up on the screen lol

And this one is the most insane one imo. It’s the end of the sequence with Will coming back to himself, and Vecna is bothered that his friends (cough Mike) brought him back. At the same time he says “you are alone” Mike is asking him if he’s okay, basically proving Vecna wrong.

And that’s what he’s always been for Will, he’s always pulling him out of all his episodes, has always been his light.

I really don’t think Vecna is anticipating queer love to save the day but….lol

One last thing I want to mention if that even tho the game takes place pre S2, the characters are wearing clothes from all seasons, Lucas is able to see Max in a memory before he’s even met her, and Mike literally says to Will at one point “you look like a time traveller”

So I think time fuckery is basically a given in S5, be it inter dimensional time travel or whatever people wanna call it lol.

As for the canonicity of the game, they consulted Paul Dichter, who was a co-writer on a few episodes, including Will the Wise and Dear Billy. Make of that what you will.

[omaano]

SW Hades AU June Update

Other monthly updates: May - June - July - August

This month I’ve had some time to organize my notes and plans for my Star Wars meets Hades AU - I have a massive table for all of the characters, which original Hades game character they had been modeled after, and whether they need portraits/tokens/keepsakes/crests/etc. it’s colour coded and everything. (Fennec had to be cut out from the lineup and I’m hopelessly heartbroken about the whole thing* 😭)

Everyone has an icon who needs one (I’m sorry about the Echo and Fives one, okay? But they come as a package deal, and I also wanted to make sure that Echo is easily distinguishable from all the other clone characters and not just the average looking clone guy next to Fives who - by order of elimination - must be Echo), and everyone has a crest who needs one (except for maybe Barriss… I feel like that the Jedi order symbol doesn’t fully fit her, but for now I will keep it as a place holder. I can't come up with anything better for her at the moment T^T. The froggie returned to the “chtonic companions” line (it is exactly the plushie that Echo and Fives would give Grogu), and now there is Batcher too! If you notice any similarities between Batcher and Boba’s old rancor rag doll, it’s mostly because I took that one and modified it to fit the lurca hound, since they have a similar back ridge pattern.

I also think that it could be a cute in-universe thing if the Batcher doll had been modified from the rancor. Timelines are very flexible in this AU anyway, so it could be totally plausible.

Speaking of! I have a character sketch for Omega and Batcher!

It took me a while to settle on which version of Omega I wanted to put into this AU, but I am very happy with what I could come up with in the end. I had some trouble with what to do with her face, since Hades is really lacking in young teenage characters, and even Melinoe and Eris from Hades2 didn’t prove to be of much help, so I allowed a bit more of my own style to slip back in. With everything else I think it hit a nice enough balance. I mixed her s2 and s3 appearance into one outfit and gave her back her hat and old crossbow (I know she got a new one from Echo, but I prefer how this one sticks out over her shoulder).

This seems to be a girls’ update, since the next sketch I want to share concepts Bo-Katan and her Nite Owls! I’ve wanted to add them to this AU for ages, but all that armor and posing had just seemed too much of a hassle up until I had to seriously distract myself from some irl stress. So now I’ve got the trio to stand in for the fury sisters as first bosses. (I'll need to adjust Koska a little, I see it now)

God bless whoever’s decided to make one of those 30 cm action dolls of these guys, they had been so helpful when it came to looking up reference details! (While we are at details: I made Koska left handed (I think? Or opposite handed at the very least) because I had been coming up with their composition under the impression that she had her flame thrower in her right vambrace like Din and Boba do, which, upon further inspection, she does not ^^;)

Some in-universe thoughts regarding them: 1) Din can very much lose the Darksaber to whoever kicks his ass if he runs with is as his weapon of choice, and then has to return to reclaim it from that enemy (he doesn’t want to but they are in his way), and if he loses it either to her or another enemy Bo-Katan will most definitely have an opinion on the matter. 2) Boba is more than happy to swoop in as a “godly call” against Koska. If he has the option to claim the Call boon from Boba, it's a pretty good indicator that it will be Koska waiting for him at the end of the level. 3) After a while and enough encounters Axe starts showing up around and in the arena on this AU’s equivalent of the Elysium level. Paz would do anything not to have to talk about that minor detail. (Din: "Why does Axe Woves keep calling you baby girl?" Paz *steam escaping from the edge of his helmet* "how about we stop talking for a while." <- This meme has been on my mind for months, now you have to suffer it with me XD) After that it’s a boss fight of Din vs Paz and Axe.

This post is getting a bit long, so I will leave my progress with Obi-wan’s background to the next update. I will also make a separate post on the new little portrait icons, but I really liked how cute Rex and Omega looked next to each other in the big lineup Q^Q

*the only thing that made me dedicate myself to this decision with a heavy heart is that Fennec had been in the Bad Batch, and that would give me the ideal excuse to imagine her in a Hades2 inspired AU where she is helping Omega (as a stand in for Melinoe). I’ve thought a lot about this even before the test version of the game came out, and a lot of it would track now that I’ve seen some game play and story and characters but. Let’s not be delusional, I can barely keep up with this project, and the Hades2 art style, while super pretty, has a twist on the first game's art style that makes me want to cry when I think about replicating it ^^; so that just remains a nice little thought experiment.

Ventress went through the same thing, mostly because I think that in a strange way she would fit very well with Hecate's role. Especially after that s3 episode where she had her cameo with her new fancy haircut.

[queermediaanysis]

I’ve seen a few takes on the whole “Is the writing actually bad or are you trying to order a milkshake from the hardware store?” genre expectations thing for OFMD s2 and I’m gonna add my own.

Yes, I know it’s billed as a lighthearted pirate romcom. And s1 was just that. But s1 also had some incredibly solid character arcs and thematic elements and layers and so much depth that were shaped by some more serious dramatic bits here and there.

I wasn’t expecting that going into it. In s1, I was expecting to go into the hardware store for hardware, as anyone would, because it’s advertised as a hardware store. But then I got there and discovered that this particular hardware store also happened to sell milkshakes. I didn’t expect milkshakes from a hardware store, especially not really good milkshakes since that seems like it might be a tough thing to sell together, but they were able to keep the hardware out of the milkshakes and vice versa, so it was great. You didn’t have to order a milkshake if milkshakes weren’t your thing and you never planned on ordering one since it’s ultimately a hardware store. You could just come for hardware. You could also really just come for the milkshakes if you wanted to, but it was still really clear that we were getting that milkshake from a hardware store.

And then s2 started and the hardware store spent three episodes really expanding on the milkshake sales. To the point it was like wow, if I hadn’t been told this was a hardware store, I’d almost think it was a milkshake shop. And since it was ultimately meant to be a hardware store, they clearly had to try and sell some hardware, but that seemed like it ended up being a little hard to make room for with how much of the store had been filled with milkshakes, so suddenly there are some milkshakes made with nails and screws, and there are toolboxes and lumber with milkshakes spilled on them. And idk maybe they should’ve served fewer milkshakes if they still were gonna try and sell that much hardware, because these things really don’t always mix and now we can’t really use either of them like that. But still, they just kept making more and more and more milkshakes until the blenders just exploded and there’s just this gigantic milkshake mess everywhere.

So at the onset of e4 it’s like okay, yeah, I have faith that this hardware store will definitely clean up the milkshakes because they’re clearly all over this place; it can hardly even be a hardware store til the milkshakes are cleaned up. But then besides a handful of paper towels that are used to clean up a little tiny puddle of milkshake, everyone just… resumes work selling hardware? Despite the fact that they’re still just walking around in the gigantic milkshake mess??

And that just keeps going til there’s only one episode left and it’s like geez idk why they still haven’t cleaned up the milkshakes I hope they can somehow. That seems tough with so little time left, but this place started as really great hardware store that sold quality milkshakes, so maybe they can pull it off.

But then instead, the CEO of the hardware store decides to unexpectedly murder one of the hardware store employees and says it was a kindness because said employee was just so sticky from the milkshakes that never got cleaned up. Which doesn’t seem like a valid reason AT ALL? and even in a messy, milkshake-covered hardware store, that WASN’T something anyone would typically expect to see?? Plus it still did NOTHING to clean up the milkshakes??

And a lot of us are left just asking “i don’t understand, why did no one clean up the milkshakes???” and for some reason, the response to that often seems to be “hardware stores don’t sell milkshakes”. No, they usually don’t, but this one did. None of us would have ever tried to order a milkshake if it hadn’t been established that this specific hardware store has always sold them, and we’re a little concerned that it’s still just covered in them.

It was also super confusing that the hardware store locked its doors and stuck an “out of business forever” sign up while also still planning to open again like usual but said that if they don’t, at least everyone got a happy ending.

Like… um I really don’t think they did and either way I’m a little wary about shopping at this hardware store again.

[captainfantasticalright]

An Ineffable Timeline of costumes:

I had done this previously in separate posts, but I did want to keep the timeline in order (the mess was bugging my brain). Well mostly in order, I had to switch up Golgotha and Land of Uz so that they could fit better.

So, hello again! (or for the first time). I gathered every official source detailing the costumes for s1 and s2. From interviews with Claire Anderson, lead costume designer for season 1 to Kate Carin, lead for season 2.

Some things of course I was not able to put here because there was nothing official confirming or describing the costume choices.

Some extra bits:

Something I did not add here from the X-ray section of GO2, was that Kate Carin mentioned that Aziraphale’s detective look in episode 3 was a sort of “Noir Detective”. But not much else was said about how it came to be, except for the obvious raincoat and hat and case he is carrying. She also talked about rhinestones being glued to Aziraphale’s magician cape in his act in 1941. But that is a fairly noticeable detail as well (I believe) so I did not add it here.

Some very important things to keep in mind:

Nanny Ashtoreth in the book is never directly alluded to be Crowley. There have been debates about this, and that is why I included in the slide of “Brother Francis” the reply Neil gave addressing exactly that. For the TV show, it was decided that both Nanny/ Brother Francis were going to be Crowley and Aziraphale (radio omens too). For the book, well you can read it/ see by yourself that even though one nanny showed up, it is never said to be Crowley.

I had read some tags previously saying “this is not accurate” “this is not this” etc. so just a gentle reminder that the costume department is not here to make things 100000% accurate. Claire Anderson and Kate Carin both had the creative freedom to craft attires and make them believable for the time period. I collected all the sources (below) if you want to read them yourself. This is about experimenting and giving it credibility without it being down to a T.

Some arrows are not specifically pointing to a specific thing. They are there to guide you find what is in the text.

The Sources:

Ineffable Con

SYFY Claire Anderson

SYFY 2

Claire Anderson Costume Designer

Film School Rejects Claire Anderson

RadioTimes- Hair

YouTube Kate Carin interview

Youtube Wrap Party Podcast

Including the behind the scenes videos from Prime “Biblically Good” and “Grave Danger”.

[curlyhairedbooklover]

How many times do Will and Hannibal say each other's names?

I have had this data sitting around finished for over a year (and started collecting it three years ago) and have finally decided to just share it! I’m splitting it up into three posts, this one is about how many times Will and Hannibal say each other’s names, the next adds in Jack and Alana, and the third is a bit of a departure as it’s about the gender split of the murder victims in the show!! 

Very quickly I’ll go over the format! I was particularly interested in what form of name people used so it’s split into first name, title, and full name (slightly varying depending on the needs of each table) as well as whether the character is speaking directly to the person whose name they are saying or if it’s to someone else!

Adding a disclaimer that I did this for fun so I haven’t double checked it meaning there may be some mistakes, but I tried my best! 😌

Getting into the data itself: first of all, Will says Hannibal’s name 109 times throughout the entire series, 29 of them are while talking to Hannibal himself and 80 are while talking to others. Will only uses Hannibal’s first name 48 times with none of them occurring in s1 and only 6 being while talking TO Hannibal himself… (Though the s2 one is in conversation with both Jack and Hannibal being more directed towards the former but Hannibal is present so it counts babeyy!!) He likes calling him just “Dr.” doing so 5 times but the majority of the time he uses “Dr. Lecter” when speaking to Hannibal making up the remaining 17 times! When talking about Hannibal he uses his name the most in s2 at 42 times but only 14 of those are his first name. He prefers to use a more impersonal form in s2 as opposed to s3 where he uses Hannibal’s name 34 times in conversation but a whole 28 of them are his first name!! He really said I’m on intimate terms with Hannibal now 😌. (Especially if we remember this is the season where he addressed Hannibal by his first name 5 times too….) 

Hannibal on the other hand uses Will’s name almost double the amount of times that Will uses his! Hannibal’s total comes to 204! Most of them are in s1&2 at 88 and 75 respectively, before dropping down to 41 times in s3 (2 times less than Will that season!) He also uses Will’s first name Significantly More at 184 times, in fact he only full names him 20 times! The only two times he uses Will’s full name while talking to him are in 1.11 when Will has a seizure in his living room and he’s doing the “It is [time], I am in [place] and my name is Will Graham” routine. Interestingly he uses Will’s full name 9 times while talking to others in s2 but they are exclusively in s2a, once Will got out of prison he went all in on ‘Will is my best friend’. Although I want to note that in 2.1 he uses Will’s first name while talking to others 10 times during the episode…… There are only three episodes in the entire show where he doesn’t use Will’s name and they are all in s3 (3.3, 3.4, and 3.7) he really tried to have his Hot Girl Summer and forget about his ex though luckily (for him and us) it did not last. And in 3.9 he uses Will’s name 15 times that episode and all of them were his first name, he’s down bad!! He simply can’t help it!! Across s3b he uses Will's name 32 times which is 78% of all the uses in s3, turns out going to prison for a man just makes you talk about him More!

This table also includes a side table of every time they talk to or about each other! Not much to note there except that they talk the most in s1&2 resting at 39 and 43 respectively before dropping to only 25 conversations in s3 but they are separated for 5 episodes so I think we can forgive them for that 🤷‍♀️ although they do have a few flashback or hallucination conversations (on that topic the two conversations in 2.4 are hallucinations from Will and the single conversation in 3.8 is technically the letter Hannibal sent Will but I felt like they deserved to be counted!!) When talking about each other Hannibal initially does so more, having 24 conversations in s1 as opposed to Will's 7 about him. Whereas they are more evenly matched in s2 with Will at 33 and Hannibal at 27. In s3 Will completely overtakes Hannibal talking about him 36 times to Hannibal's 13! It’s interesting that despite Will talking so little about Hannibal in s1 he ends up the ultimate winner at a total count of 76 conversations to Hannibal’s 64! But it's safe to say that with those totals they are both completely obsessed with the other 😌

To f i n a l l y let my English degree in for a minute it’s very telling that Will uses Hannibal’s first name sparingly, indicating that it took time for him to build intimacy and trust with him. If we look at the occasions in which he deploys it when talking to Hannibal he uses it as a weapon to induce Hannibal into doing things BY referencing their intimacy this way and letting it bleed into his words. This convinces Hannibal that he needs to go to prison so Will could always find him and later to go along with Will's plan to break him out. Hannibal on the other hand readily uses Will’s first name from the beginning and in fact does so More at this point than later on. This shows how he was fostering dependence and creating trust that he could then use to break Will and watching him break would in turn feed his curiosities about Will. There is also a notable jump in 3.8 in his use of Will's name since the beginning of the season, it marks the first time they have seen each other in 3 years. Now Hannibal is trying to re-ingratiate himself to Will while simultaneously throwing barbs at him to try to inflict some of the pain he felt in their separation and to test if Will felt the same anguish (which we know he of course did however much he denies it..)

I hope that this data has been interesting and most importantly has illuminated how insane they are about each other!! I would love to hear any other thoughts people have in the tags or comments!

(part 1) (part 2) (part 3)

Shoutout to @will-gayham for going insane about this with me for the past two years and being as enthusiastic about ✨data✨ as I am, love you! 🫶

[tehloserprince]

Some folks asked me to post/share this here because they found it useful, so ...

I was a little surprised by the amount of people who thought Gabriel and Beelzebub literally met only three times before deciding they were in love and running off together. It's true that we see three pivotal moments in Gabriel's memories, and I think @neil-gaiman and co. showed the audience these specific moments for a reason, but the writing and visual cues in each of the scenes seemed to be done in a way that would emphasize the passage of time between meetings and the development of the relationship between Gabriel and Beelzebub to the audience.

First Meeting: I believe this one happened not too long after Armageddon failed to materialize. We're given an immediate visual cue from Gabriel, whose outfit is closer to what he wore in S1; he's wearing the same scarf and jacket that he wore throughout that season, and also when he met Beelzebub on the Tadfield airbase. Could be appropriate attire for the season, since we do see Gabriel wearing the coat again a bit later (sans scarf).

At their meeting, Gabriel is seated on the left and Beelzebub is on the right. Their meeting place seems to be somewhere in Russia (away from their home territories). The table is rather large, creating some distance between the two of them. Their body language is also a lot more guarded: legs and arms crossed at times, and they tend to lean away from each other more throughout the conversation. This meeting is short, but there are some sparks between the two of them: the gentle teasing ("well, you lost"/"so did you"), Beelzebub crossing their arms and trying not to smile at Gabriel's "Arma-bloody-geddon" moment, and the shared understanding over the burdens of being the respective Commanders-in-Chief of Heaven and Hell.

It ends with Gabriel leaving quickly after saying it's a pity they'll never speak again, but ...

Second Meeting: ... obviously, they do end up speaking again. When Gabriel enters this particular meeting, he's wearing an outfit closer to what we see him wearing in S2 prior to him losing his memory. Again, possibly a seasonal cue as well. At the beginning of the Second Meeting, Gabriel sits down across from Beelzebub and immediately proposes the idea of "no Armageddon." He would have no reason to do that unless there had been other meetings that deepened their initial connection and made him realize that hey, a victory for Heaven would mean NO Beelzebub, which would kind of suck because he's grown to enjoy their company and their little "work meetings."

While they've built a sort of rapport over their work lives, there seems to be something else simmering beneath the surface. This is reflected in more visual cues: their body language seems more comfortable/relaxed - they lean towards one another as opposed to leaning back and maintaining distance; the table itself is much smaller (meaning they're seated closer together/with less distance between them); and they've also switched sides - Beelzebub is now seated on the left and Gabriel is on the right. Their meeting place seems to be a bar in America, which might mean they've still been avoiding any meetings in their home territories.

Beelzebub is open to Gabriel's suggestion and agrees to it almost immediately. Instead of rushing off like he did after their first meeting, Gabriel remains seated and Beelzebub seems to get a bit flustered by his gaze. They discuss the music playing on the jukebox, and Beelzebub is so much more patient with Gabriel's lack of knowledge than they would have been with anyone else. There are multiple layers to Gabriel's line, "Then ... I also like it." The little subtleties from Jon Hamm and Shelley Conn add a wonderful depth to these short scenes tbh.

At the end of the meeting, Beelzebub straightens up, fixes their gaze on Gabriel, and very pointedly states that there's "no NEED for them to ever meet again," smiling slightly as they wait for his response ("none whatsoever"). The wording there is important because ...

Third Meeting: ... there IS no "need" for them to ever meet again. From here on out, they're meeting solely because they WANT to be in each other's company. They're no longer pretending that their meetings are strictly business, and they're also not limiting themselves to locations outside their home territories. I get the feeling that the Third Meeting the audience gets to see was more like their "first date." Instead of meeting directly at a public location to discuss "business," Gabriel takes Beelzebub to see something important to him. Of course, this is Gabriel we're talking about, and he's taken Beelzebub to see the statue of him in a local cemetery in Edinburgh. But still! The statue is meaningful to him, and he wanted to share that with Beelzebub. They're even standing right next to each other as the scene begins, with Beelzebub's head cocked to listen as Gabriel speaks. Shelley Conn gives us this awesome moment of Beelzebub looking at Gabriel almost wistfully, and mmm do I have Some Thoughts about that entire scene. I've shared them elsewhere, maybe I'll eventually post them over here, but the TLDR is that yeah, I feel like they're wishing Gabriel would look at them Like That. I also think maybe there was some larger doubt re: whether or not the Archangel Fucking Gabriel, God's Messenger, would ever love a demon over their heavenly duty/station. But I digress.

Following their excursion to see the statue, Beelzebub and Gabriel wind up at The Resurrectionist. Gabriel's been wearing that coat again, which could show another shift in the seasons. Instead of sitting across from each other, Gabriel and Beelzebub are now seated next to each other in a cozy booth. The candles and dim lighting give it a romantic feel. Adding to that clumsy sort of romantic feeling, we see Gabriel and Beelzebub each doing something nice for the other just to see them happy. Gabriel performs a small miracle on the jukebox to have it play what has essentially become "their" song, and Beelzebub gifts a fly in return - essentially, a small piece of themselves, as they are the Lord of the Flies after all. It also happens to be the first thing anyone's ever given to Gabriel, a fact that has quite an impact on Beelzebub.

When Aziraphale is talking to the owner of The Resurrectionist, he learns that the jukebox miracle occurred "last year." So we can deduce (detective word!) that Gabriel and Beelzebub had been "dating" for about a year prior to his "disappearance." A year is a long time for them to develop much deeper feelings and intimacy. Not necessarily talking about sex there either, because folks can imagine whatever they want to in that regard. I mean intimacy in the sense of knowing and feeling comfortable with each other. The way they hold hands and have their arms around each other in the S2 finale indicates that they'd gotten pretty cozy with all of that. I mean, come on, look at how happy Gabriel was to see them once his memories were returned and how immediately his entire demeanor changed.

In the brief moments we see Gabriel prior to his memory loss, he's behaving differently from his S1 counterpart, who was a lot more rigid and laser-focused on Armageddon. Even Beelzebub seems a bit changed; that scene with Demon Josh is a great example. Granted, Beelzebub was more subdued/worried about Gabriel in that moment, but it seems like they'd grown a longer fuse and/or were less quick to anger/annoyance. Daydreaming can do that to a demon, I suppose.

I love this pairing; they're such a great example of how loving someone and being loved in return can bring out the "real"/best version of yourself. I'd totally read an entire novel about them. And can I just add once again that the visual cues were so well done? Not just the acting from Shelley Conn and Jon Hamm, who really brought a lot to the table (see what I did there) with their facial expressions and mannerisms, but the actual visual cues in each of these scenes: the way the two of them were gradually seen to be sitting closer until they were seated right next to each other; the shift in body language between meetings; the way they switched sides during each of the meetings we got to see, as opposed to Aziraphale and Crowley having dominant "sides" that we tend to see them on; etc. I could write an essay on this (more than I already have) so I'll have to stop myself now.

Anyway. Screenplays are neat, and it's fun to see how words and imagery combine to tell a much larger story. Of course, you need great actors to really bring it all home, and thankfully we've been blessed with many in Good Omens. Much love to Jon Hamm and Shelley Conn for their work here.

[vidavalor]

👋 Hello! I love your metas and I was hoping you could help me out with something that still confuses me. All the evidence points to Crowley having had his memories taken by Heaven when he Fell, but why? Falling already punishes him and removes him as a threat, the two things which seem to be the purpose in Gabe's case, so what would the point be?

(Did I send this twice? I'm sorry if I sent it twice.)

Hello! :) Hope you're having a great night. I was making stuffing for Thanksgiving earlier so there are apples and hot apple cider for snacks tonight. (Problematic holiday, I know, but I do like the food.)

TWs for memory loss, trauma, PTSD.

I don't actually think that Crowley lost his memories when he Fell to Hell. Like you pointed out in your question when you referenced what The Metatron tried to do to Gabriel before Gabriel outsmarted them, taking memories from angels as punishment for subversion is a way of trying to keep fascist control. It's an attempt at eliminating threats to the social order of Heaven. (So are things like telling angels that they're superior to humanity and that to indulge in any human desires is beneath them, which serves a purpose of keeping them all from going to Earth and realizing how enjoyable being human is and defecting.) I don't actually see any evidence that memory loss is part of the actual Fall to Hell. If that were the case, then the memories of all the demons we've met should be suspect but the only demon we've actually met whose memory is shown to be unreliable is Crowley. We've gotten to know a half-dozen other demons over two seasons fairly well and none of them have problems remembering their times as angels that we've been shown so far. Add in the fact that S2 shows us that angels can lose their memories without being sent to Hell-- like what The Metatron tried to do to Gabriel, as well as what I think is implied happened to Muriel-- and now we have more evidence that a being can lose their memory in Heaven than we do that they lose it when they're sent to Hell.

That suggests to me that Crowley actually had his memories taken from him-- likely more than once-- while he was an angel, prior to his eventual Fall to Hell. It also makes this line make more sense:

Neil Gaiman has called Crowley "an unreliable narrator" regarding his Fall and that's a clever way of putting it, imo, because Crowley, we've come to learn, is an unreliable narrator about his entire existence pre-Fall, in the sense that he can't really remember it. He is unreliable about his Fall because he can't remember what led to it. He knows he asked a lot of questions but he doesn't remember what they were. His Fall was just what they did after they decided his inquisitiveness was irrepressible. I take the "sauntered vaguely downwards" as hinting that he lost his memories more than once and that he knows it. Crowley knows about his past more than he remembers his past, from what we've seen.

He knows he used to make stars and that he helped create gravity and build the universe. He knows some of the nebulae he made. He knows he knew Aziraphale. Knowing isn't the same as remembering, though. We know from his conversation with Gabriel that he's tried to force himself to remember things before and that it's been a very painful-- and not terribly successful-- process. I'd wager he's nearly discorporated himself more than once trying to remember Aziraphale. Most of what he knows about his past is probably what Aziraphale has told him. The rest is a blur of what he calls "looking at where the furniture isn't"-- bits and pieces without the context needed to understand them. If his memory is a room, then his experience with his memories of Heaven are basically I know that chair but... I don't know where I saw it before, if I've really seen it before, what happened the last time I saw it if I did, where it came from, who else knows about the chair, what room the chair is in, where the room is, what is in the empty spaces between the pieces of furniture, what the purpose of the room is, whether or not the chair is really a threat to me and if I can trust it, why the thought of this chair makes me feel the things I feel about it...

That's terrifying, right? That would be terrifying once and I think the fact that he's referred to as persistently asking questions and that he Fell "in the old days" where asking questions "was all you had to do to become a demon" indicates that he was damned to Hell once there eventually was one but, prior to that, he was punished with his memories taken and probably more than once.

Crowley has known nothing before but for the certainty that if he's just around that one, particular angel with the beautiful eyes that everything will be better.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

02/05/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Cast & Crew; Rhys Cameos; Samba BTS; Samba & Rhys Goofyness; Wee John Wednesday + surprise Leslie; UK Launch; Watch Party Reminders; What We Do In The Shadows; New Watch parties: Love Birds; Articles; Fundraisers; Schadenfreude; Trends; Morale/LoveNotes/MORE RHYS CAMEOS; Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika;

Jeez Louise fam today was a seriously jam packed day! Once again Im worried I'm gonna miss something because there was just so much so please feel free to let me know!

== Cast & Crew ==

The Crew section is a hefty one today, so buckle up buttercup it's gonna be a chaotic and heartwarming ride.

Okay so, yesterday we had that lovely message that was edited from our beloved captain. But then our dear friend @meowzawowaza_ over on twitter released yet another part of the video that specifically went over Rhys' frustrations with the cancellation. Now it's less positive, but as she says, it adds another layer that is helping rally the troops to keep fighting. Here's the thread with the videos. Apologies if you don't have twitter... I don't have a link outside of there at the moment. If I find one, I'll update it here.

THEN because she's awesome, our lovely @lucyrosebutler decided to share the cameo she had gotten previously. Which he ended with, "Yeah, you be you, keep rock'n, and yeah, you be you, and do it loudly."

Before continuing with the cast & crew...

== Kudosboard! ==

Wanna send our lovely captain, Rhys, some kudos and love after all he's given us, especially the last two days? You can do so over on kudoboard.com! Thank you @madzilla84 for making this happen! Get on over there and send our sunshine man some love!

Alright! On to more Cast & Crew.

= Samba =

Samba, our favorite BTS buddy posted a new BTS picture + was making sure to shout out the new S2 out on BBCIplayer today!

= Samba & Rhys =

Then because our entire cast and crew is a pile of goofballs, Rhys and Samba shared this little exchange on twitter:

= Wee John Wednesday Monday! =

And well, then there was Wee John Wednesdays Monday! Where we not only got to see the expected three cast members: Kristian Nairn, Vico Ortiz, and Madeleine Sami, but a SURPRISE guest, Leslie Jones who crashed the Instagram live party.

You can watch the whole thing on Kristian Nairn's IG Here. WHICH I highly recommend because it was an absolute blast and got so many of us pumped and ready for more. Some highlights that absolutely cannot describe the pure and wonderful chaos were:

Rocket Jousting

Leslie fucking every alien in space

Leslie wants to come to a convention

Horny pickle ball

Jenkins is on board for s3 if it happens

They see how hard we're working on SaveOFMD and they said "they deserve it" (s3) and "so do we!"

Mads just randomly runs into Taika on the beach

Gypsy made a chest binder for all Vico's outfits @edscuntyeyeshadow ty for the screenshots here on tumblr

Oh and David Fane popped in because he's a gem of a human being. Thanks @madzilla84 for catching that!

= Leslie Jones + Convention =

PSSSST: Wanna help get Leslie to a con? Go request her on the Galaxy Con Websites! Thanks @insane_foliage on twitter for the suggestions!

= Vico Ortiz =

Upcoming cast events! Sunday Feb 11, 4PM PST, Vico will be interviewing with the lovely Samantha Rei on Instagram Live

= Erroll Shand =

I just, can't get over how amazing Erroll's IG Stories are, and how much he interacts with the goofy fan memes. I love this guy.

== Uk Launch ==

So many people logged in for the UK Launch of S2!!! Thank you everyone! The data teams over at @saveofmdcrewmates are still crunching numbers to show how things went the first day, but we can definitely see #OurFlagBBC trending for a bit!

Also Pink News was tweeting about the launch, and Wee John Wednesday!

Great job everyone-- please keep it up if you have the spoons! Wanna watch OFMD again? You can help support the UK Launch by watching it on BBCIplayer! Once again, if you are outside the US you can get instructions on how to here on @reallygoodplants page, or from this article.

== Watch Party Reminders! ==

= What We Do In The Shadows Watch Party! =

Tuesday February 6th, 9PM GMT, 1 PM PST, 4PM EST

Watch Party Hashtags:

#VamPirates

#SaveOFMD

#AdoptOurCrew

== New Watch Parties! ==

FINALLYYYYY we have a Love Birds Watch Party! Feb 9th - 9 pm GMT, 4 pm EST, 1pm PST.

Watch Party Hashtags:

#AdoptOurLoveBirds

#AdoptOurCrew

#SaveOFMD

==Articles==

So many articles today with the UK launch, including the Guardian again!

What’s On TV This Week: 5th February – 11th February

TV Tonight: It's the Final Series of Curb Your Enthusiasm

Our Flags Means Death fans get TV licence just to watch pirate show

The Best Romantic TV Series to Get into the Valentine’s Day Spirit

8 TV Shows Were Canceled in January 2024, Including 4 From HBO

Why won’t there be a Our Flag Means Death season 3?

= Fundraiser Status =

eSIMs and Sanitary Products for Gaza by Our Flag Makes A Difference is currently at 27% of their goal. If you're looking for a good cause to donate to, these folks have been incredibly transparent about all funds.

@One of the crew, @mcstuffiesphd is selling Jeff stickers as well as other SaveOFMD merch and donating 50% to the Our Flag Makes A Difference group for the above fundraiser.

== SchadenFreude / Trends Time ==

Thank you @btweenhisteeth on twitter for capturing this metric! Looks like WB Discovery is still having a bit of trouble with their stocks. Wonder why that could be?

Other fun trends that popped up today: Thank you @merryfinches catching a shot of the pile of royalty below.

== Morale / Love Notes ==

So normally I just want to say all the things about how lovely you all are, but Rhys posted YET ANOTHER video on cameo tonight, and I feel like his voice is the sunshine we all need. The longer one up, is dedicated to LGBTQIA+ folks with some anecdotes from Rhys' childhood, and another specific to the crew for this show (it's about 3 mins 10 seconds long). Please take a few minutes to go watch them, you don't need a log in or anything for them. It's just worth it to hear our lovely captain say nice things.

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

And to end the night, just some silly gifs that maybe sort of but don't quite go together for tonight. Goodnight lovelies, it was a LOOONG day today, please go get some rest. Love you.

[ofmdrecaps]

08/14-15/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Con O'Neill; David Jenkins; Rhys Darby; Madeleine Sami; Rachel House; Kristian Nairn; Samba Schutte; Vico Ortiz; Ruibo Qian; Dominic Burgess; Fan Spotlight: Our Flag Means Fanfiction; BearNecessities OFMD Affirmation Cards; Love Notes;

== Con O'Neill ==

It's Con's birthday! He's on his way to San Jose for the next GalaxyCon and sending some thank yous for all the birthday wishes! Happy birthday sir!

There's also a birthday video, but I ran out of video space! Thank you to @thedowneyheart for uploading it to tumblr! Visit them here!

Also Samba sent some love Con's way!

Img Sources: Con's Instagram / Samba's Instagram Stories

== David Jenkins ==

I forgot to include this last time! Our buddy Jemaine is asking everyone to watch the new episode of Time Bandits that he wrote that came out on Apple TV on the 14th! Chaos dad's on it! Are you? (I'm late watching them).

And today he reposted one of our favorite messages:

Source: David Jenkins' Twitter

== Rhys Darby ==

Rosie posted some super cute family pictures! Apparently Theo's been making donuts!

They were also out at the new Rhett & Link' premier of Wonderhole! Is that a Spanish Jackie's shirt we see? 👀

Source: Rosie CD's Instagram Stories / Getty Images

= The Cryptid Factor Live =

One of our beyond amazing and kind crewmates @sconesfortea was so sweet to allow me to share their many photos and videos of Rhys and the Cryptid Boys! Please check out their tumble posts below for pure Cryptid Chaos! Yes that is Buttons doing the worm!

Part 1

Part 2

Source: @sconesfortea's Tumblr

== Madeleine Sami ==

Mads is sharing some love for some fam and a new video on Deadloch!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Prime Video AU & NZ (@primevideoaunz)

Source: Madeleine Sami's Instagram

== Rachel House ==

More BTS from Time Bandits and Rachel's episodes!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Rachel House (@rachelteaomarama)

Source: Rachel House's Instagram

== Kristian Nairn ==

Kristian's on his way to Galaxy Con San Jose as well!

Source: Kristian Nairn's Instagram

== Vico Ortiz ==

More OFMD S2 BTS from Vico on their patreon!!

Source: Vico's Patreon

== Samba Schutte ==

Woohoo! Samba's new romantic comedy Advanced Chemistry has been acquired by Good Deed Entertainment and will be released in theatres on Sept 3! Congrats Samba! Lots of love from the OFMD cast too! Deadline Article

Source: Samba's Instagram

== Nathan Foad ==

You guessed it-- Nathan's also on his way to GalaxyCon San Jose!

AND he found some old bts that he decided to share on his instagram stories.

Source: Nathan Foad's Instagram Stories

== Ruibo Qian ==

Our Pirate Queen apparently had some photos done-- but has laryngitis right now! Wishing you a swift recovery queen!

Source: Ruibo Qian's Instagram

== Dominic Burgess ==

Dominic is out with the Palm Royale crew, celebrating Jeff Toyne, a music nominee for the Television Academy!

Source: Dominic Burgess' Twitter

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Our Flag Means Fanfiction =

Another episode of Our Flag Means Fanfiction this week in honor of Con's birthday! Several of our magnificent crewmates, hosted by @ringasunn! Check them out on their Linktree!

Source: Our Flag Means Fanfiction Instagram

== Bair Necessities Affirmation Cards ==

Tonight I'd like to add a new fan spotlight to the mix - OFMD Affirmation Cards by our lovely crewmate, Mik aka bairnecessities! She has been making OFMD and other fandom affirmation cards for a long time-- some of you may even own some of them or recognize them from David Jenkin's Instagram shares! Mik makes such gorgeous and uplifting artwork, and she was kind enough to allow me to share some of them and link to her work over the next few recaps. Please absolutely check her out on the various socials, there's such lovely, kind messages in all her spaces <3 Instagram / Twitter / Linktr.ee / Etsy

A couple selections from the Season 2 Deck:

She's also got a beautiful expansion deck that's just come out, featuring a lot of our favorite secondary characters from Season 2!

OH! And did I mention, she's going to be at GalaxyCon SanJose this weekend? You can actually pick up some of her new expansion decks there!

Source: BairNecessities Linktree

== Love Notes ==

Hey there lovelies! Well here we are, going into Friday again! (Some of you are already there, hello folks from the future!) I truly hope this week has been kind to you. It's certainly been a busy one, and apparently full of birthdays! Con on the 15th, Taika on the 16th - and the weekend is looking even busier with GalaxyCon San Jose coming up! With David being so active as well, it's been nice to see so many people having a great time in the fandom again.

Whether it's jokingly mourning the loss of poor Doug LastName, or adding goofy ass horses to our favorite ofmd pictures-- it's been really heartwarming to see everyone having such a good time. This is what fandoms are for! To joke, and laugh, and have fun. Sometimes to be serious and talk meta too, and part of that is just getting to interact with each other, and play off each others strength and goofiness. I really am so fortunate to be a part of this fandom, it's nothing like I've ever experienced before, and it brings me a lot of hope and joy on dark days. You all play off each other in the best ways, and make this fandom so unique and fun, and even when things seem down, you find new ways to heal and rise again. I know I haven't been around as much lately, but I want you to know I'm still keeping an eye out, and you all are still some of the kindest, most brilliant, and fun people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Keep shining lovelies, you're doing great out there with whatever you're dealing with.

[chronicsyd]

so I WAS going to post another long winded rant about Disney's Wish (I'll post that later) but Arcane decided to post another 30 second Teaser for us; and announcing the Trailer (yes, FULL Trailer AHHH! *ahem* sorry) is going to be releasing on September 5th! But let's get into what they showed us in this little teaser shall we? (go check out the teaser first it's only like 30 seconds and as usual, leaks will be blocked and deleted)

With this one frame they've already showed us several things. they've confirmed everything that was talked about Vi at the Annecy festival (some people were kinda skeptical if this was something that was legitimate for a while, myself included), and they've confirmed for me that Vi and Caitlyn are going their own ways at the beginning of the season (for a little while, at least). Vi tries to figure herself out in Zaun while Caitlyn's still an Enforcer up in Piltover. They also seem to be confirming the idea that there's some kind of time skip happening in s2 (not as large as s1 but there's something). And why I believe this is because Jinx is being painted in the same light as Vander, as someone that's respected in Zaun. People have already started rallying behind her at this point in the story.

Now, the bigger meat of the teaser:

I put Caitlyn and Jinx side by side for a couple reasons. Not only are these two taking on more of a leadership role this season, they're enforcing the idea that these two are the two sides of the same coin they hinted at in season 1 (they just both seem to be heading in the opposite direction the other was in season 1, if that makes sense), but they both have a figure explaining to them what they need to do for the better of Zaun/Piltover: Ambessa and Sevika. However, each of these characters are being told different things. Ambessa is a War general, she believes that in restoring peace Caitlyn needs to declare Martial Law aka military government and it seems that Caitlyn not only does this but she allies herself with Ambessa and Noxus in order to do this. On the other hand, Sevika's explaining to Jinx that she's the one that can rally Zaun together (and it seems that Ekko might actually be joining her on this). Because under both Vander and Silco there were still people opposed to how the Undercity was run (Under Vander, he was playing it safe with Piltover but Piltover was treating the Undercity badly but under Silco he was a kingpin and several people were still suffering under the effects of Shimmer and the only reason the Enforcers weren't as hostile because of Silco's allyship with Marcus, until Jinx steals the gemstone and Piltover retaliates). But with Zaun actually being at war with Piltover now, Jinx needs to be seen as a symbol for Zaun for people to rally behind, because to them Topside is the bigger enemy.

(I just had to add this pic of Sevika because like God Damn she looks so attractive here like step on me! *ahem* sorry, had a bit of gay panic there...moving on...)

Now, I'm going to hold off on giving my overall thoughts until the full trailer drops in a couple of days. just so that I can gather some more thoughts about where season 2 is going as a whole and when I'm given some more information to glean from, granted I'm SURE that the trailer won't give us any clear cut information because Arcane is great at that.

Oh one last thing:

Jinx's poster in for S2 has her being strangled by Vi's gauntlet, and Jinx is faced upsidown (with the caption "Time to turn things upsidedown") which i presume is just how different everyone/everything is going to be different compared to the last season. but i do wonder What Happens between Vi and Jinx that gets them like this? Because there Has to be a scene between the two that ends badly (probably before we see Vi with her black hair and leather, because in the earlier pic i showed Vi's already seeing Jinx pained alongside Vander)

ok NOW I'm done.

Anyways, I'll post again in the next couple of days when the trailer comes out. Bye!

[soshadysoquiet]

More thoughts

So there's a lot of hate for the characters going on, especially Five and Lila.

Now do I hate the choices the show made for them, yes - I do not think they were truly thinking about the characters and I think they were unnecessary choices for the plot. I do not approve of several choices for the characters, but I could never hate any of the Tua characters.

This is long so rest is under the cut!

Luther: His life is a complete shambles - living in a condemned building. Luther has been seen to be savvy enough to land on his feet when thrust into the real world. His living there suggests he's lacking an ability to find somewhere to live / a support network, yet none of the siblings were worried about him or reached out to help. I thought it was odd that this was never addressed and instead he just gets mocked by Ben.

I DID like: that they brought back some of Luther's intelligence - working out the CIA was fishy. And I love that they kept up the kindness he had developed over the past few seasons and made him be so supportive. His reactions in the Five Lila reveal were hilarious.

Diego: Again, I didn't like that they made him so anti his own life an marriage, and I see a lot of people giving Lila a lot of heat and solely blaming her for the state of their relationship, whilst there are clear problems left over from S3, I do not believe that Diego's attitude would be easy to live with - not debating whether his attitude was fair or not, but to me he did not come across as supportive and doing his best until they got to go on a mission. I thought this was a pretty big disservice to his S1 character also, because Diego is clearly capable of surviving in the real world and used to it's restrictions, so for him to be the one reacting this strongly is bizarre to me. Plus I do feel that the family situation he has is one that previous-season Diego would have wanted and cherished, especially if he'd been able to have an 'out' - work or hobby - that could be where he then gets to feel a different sense of accomplishment. I would have made their season be about communicating that and them deciding where they were going to support each other (i.e. dif job for Diego, time for herself for Lila also). Also, I feel they really made him 'dumber'? Diego is insightful, open to points of view if given time, quite observant, smart at putting things together to solve a puzzle. Whilst I loved that he had his fam groaning when he put on his old outfit, the body-humour was unnecessary and irrelevant when you show a ripped man in 4 eps after that.

I DID like: Him throwing packages into windows. Him sticking his hand out to protect the passenger seat in the car like a true parent. Him winning reindeers for his kids. His enthusiasm. His love for his car, and that he still had a stubborn streak and wanted to always be in the thick of the action.

Allison: She was pretty good this season I thought, I think her and Klaus' relationship with saving him was a little bigger up this season, but we did at least see him keep returning to her in S2 and have background knowledge that they were close, so it wasn't toooo OOC for me, just a bit clumsily bigged up - make it more about her personal redemption arcs revolving around saving Whoever is closest rather than Klaus and you've got a winner that script was already written. I thought that the ending was particularly cruel on Allison, and I did not like the lazy way they retconned Ray. I also didn't love that they gave her (the only female in the siblings, I hasten to add) another damsel in distress bit at the end that took her out of play for the fight when the ceiling fell on her. Why does this always happen to Allison when if the guys get bricked on (Five) they're up and swinging. I've had thoughts about some mysogyny in the show from S3 and others, but this reminded me about it.

I DID like: Her and Claire having time together. her and Klaus. She was so funny in the horrific Five and Lila reveal moment. Love her assertive attitude in the face of their Dad. Her being the face of the cleaning brand was hilarious, and I love her defending the role to others, so funny. Her guilt over having to marigold Klaus under peer pressure too felt so very S1 Allison.

Klaus: I think the main issue I had here was that they didn't portray his powers returning very well, and it took someone else pointing it out to make me see that he got the mothers of agony dude to shoot him so he could get out of paying his debt - did not get it the first time. Also there's no explanation for how biker dude knows that because he's immortal he can summon ghosts and have them possess him for sex? Maybe he didn't and that's what the wind etc was for - a fake. But biker dude calls him a medium so IDK. Also they just piled Way too much trauma on him too quickly it felt so gratuitous, he's always been a bit of a punching bag but being tortured in S1 affected him more than all of this on top of getting his powers back for the first time in years. That we don't see if he knows how Ben died now?

I DID like: His obvious caution and desire to be reliable for Claire and himself. That we saw the negative sides of his addiction. His need for a little brown bag. His desire to be reliable for his siblings. His reactions in the Five Lila reveal were hilarious. That he floats now.

Five: Now I despised what they chose to do with the character - lazy, unnecessary, playing to fantasies and not the character's in my opinion. Would have loved to see them make Five find happiness another way, any other way - and there's a lot in the comics they could use - like him trying to set up an orphanage - how awesome would that have been to see? Do I BLAME the characters for ending up in the relationship? No, I don't think they would or should have, I don't think they were romantic and being alone with my sister for 7 years would not make me want to jump her bones. Ew, no offence to her! Now, I think that Five saw Lila as family - he even calls her that in S3E2(?) that she's family now. The writers / producers obv saw different (which is ew from Lila's end in particular given his 13yr old body when they met). I think it was a wrong choice. I can't hate the two of them for it, because I feel that there is literally some power from above that forced it - I'm going to call it insanity, but I keep being brought round to how I still wouldn't jump my sister's bones after 7 years in the apocalypse. The writers / producers basically decided 'if you're stuck alone with Anyone for 7 years, you'll sleep with them eventually!' poor, poor choice. Lord knows I pity anyone trapped with Them for 7 years now. Aside from the above, the lack of reaction to the apocalypse, the fact that we never see where he Lives, the lack of showing us how he got to where he is in the last Five years when he's an 18yr old with clearance to work solo in the CIA? I need to know How that happened. The fact that we didn't get to see him working out the subway map when he's clearly capable of it and let's be honest; the 7 years spent in the subway had to be a Doss compared to the Apocalypse - they knew stops where they could get food, they're safe below ground, he's with someone - I don't think it would have broken him half as much OR taken these two brilliant minds too long to figure it out, honestly the tube map did not look 7 years long. Plus, they would blatantly have run into the other Fives sooner - and that would have been funny. And they could have worked together. It's Bananas that they were there that long, and the time was poorly shown too. Also we never see him interact with Claire Gracie or the twins. Sadness. Anyway everything from Ep5 onwards was such a butchery that it was too poisoned to take seriously, though that's not to say the acting was bad when he faced off against Diego - he truly looked murderous.

I DID like: him gatekeeping his job from Diego - dick move, but That is a move on point for a Five who got pissed when Diego went to The Commission. Him still decisively taking action with danger / plans. That he's clearly kept close tabs on his family and spends regular time with them. His relationship Supporting Diego and Lila's marriage until The Episode. The diner full of Fives was excellent and I wish we could have spent more time with them / worked with them to realise more of their differing personalities.

Ben: I know that it was kinda amusing for Sparrow Ben to be such a dick, but for me he had no redeeming qualities, barely stepped in to save his last remaining sibling's life. I get that being in prison could make you a dick too - but he was like that before. Prison affected him Zero percent. He then drugged everyone against their will. Continued to be nothing but awful to everyone (with the Briefest pause when Klaus was actively dying) but I started and ended S4 wondering why they would treat him much differently than their abusive father. He was funny, objectively, but so awful to them and they all just took it. It would have been great to see 1% more softness towards them even, he doesn't have to become Old Ben, but there was nothing to like, though I might have forgotten bits. I would have liked to see some character development in 5 yrs, or something to justify why I should care that he gets Bennifered. Plus the Jennifer storyline was trite to me. Ben is the closest I come to 'hating' a character this season, but I don't hate him, I think the writers didn't bother considering what 5 yrs might do (if it's enough to make 2 siblings have an affair, it's enough to drastically change anyone's personality, team!), and they ended S3 showing A Ben looking so peaceful, I hoped he might get at least a little of that in S4. You can still make him a sourpuss but have Some less cruel moments.

I DID like: That he had some funny lines? Idk, he was difficult to engage with for me. No hate if you loved him though, that's just me. If I manage to rewatch ever I'll try to find more good.

Viktor: I just thought they cheaped out on his backstory a little, and I hoped he would come to realise he didn't need Reggie's approval like he thought he would - or that it was so cheaply won by saving his life, an act people do all the time, not because of Viktor's personality. I thought it was a real shame we didn't get to see him happy at all. seeing him light up in S2 was such a delight and he doesn't deserve to always look like he's suffering. He should have gotten a little bit of happiness - from his bar maybe? Something. Also another point for someone getting shot and not being shown to seek any medical care but being fiiiiiiiiiiiine...... ffs. Again, not Viktor's fault, that's the Show. Sad that he barely got to interact with Five at all.

I DID Like: Him blowing the windows in the car. Him staying on-point of the mission most of the time, well done Viktor! Good hero-ing! He had funny lines. Was nice to see him become an essential part of the team as he deserves.

Lila: Again as with Five, I can't hate her, because it's all so ludicrous. He killed her parents, her MOTHER full on says they 'had a history', that would give most people the NO for sure. Lila has also spent the last 5years watching this 13yr old grow into a 18yr old - and has kids, and I strongly believe her desire to have a family would also outweigh her desire to jump her brother's bones. Ew. I thought it was a real disservice to her character development to say that things had to go this way. I would buy her and Five 'cheating' / falling in love with someone they were stuck with for 7 years with if it was anyone outside their family. What TUA certainly Didn't need, was more psuedo-incest. I'm a bit sad that people are taking the line with Lila that as she's married and has kids then she should still be 100% faithful after 7 years no matter what. She's clearly shown to be unhappy, to her, it looks like Diego is too. How many years without someone Would it have been okay for her to hookup with? I don't think we can put a number on it. My problem is that: They decided a relationship to survive 7 years has to be romantic, and that they chose Lila and Five to do it with. For me Five is more the problem here than Lila, (in terms of characterisation) because we rightly (he's been a child in prev. seasons actor-wise whatever the POV is on character age) never see him want to engage in sexual activities, other than maybe (maybe) flirting with a waitress one time at Luther's bar? I think also telling is that Diego's actor refers to Five in an interview as Diego's "younger brother", which tells you Exactly what at least this cast member, and ergo his character from the wording considered Five to be. They see him as younger too, which makes me even more uncomfortable about it.

I DID like: that she wanted to do her own thing and still loved her kids - I think that's very valid, both her and Diego should get to have something they value outside of family. That she got her family back (though interesting how they fell in together? Would have been interesting to see That reunion) Her undercover work - very on point for her character. The moments with her and Five prior to Ep 5, which I will always choose to see as platonic, personally, for my sanity.

I just don't like hate on the characters or that X is irredeemable over Y. It personally gets me down when I see it, especially as is seems to be that some people bash one character while absolving any faults from another one.

I've been Very negative about S4, but did want to highlight some good bits in each of the characters, because I could never hate these guys, they just deserved so much better, all of them.

[maggiehoneybite]

There were a few moments in s2 that made me gasp or tear up. All of them involved Crowley. ❤️

'LET THERE BE LIGHT' and the delight on Crowley's face when he looked on his creation. The sheer excitement and joy and curiosity he exudes, and his well intentioned decision to ask some questions of 'upstairs.' Just the pure heartedness of him. Not a cynical bone in his body, not even the self-preservation instinct that Aziraphale has (when he counsels him to leave well enough alone). To think that he went from this to the jaded demon he is later, it just breaks my heart.

When he saves Job's children. Oh my heart.

The bit where he prevents wee Morag from committing suicide and then assumes hell hasn't noticed because, if they had, he'd be down there already -- and then HE GETS SUCKED DOWN AND PUNISHED. And all we know is that Aziraphale didn't see him for a long time. WHAT DID THEY DO TO HIM? My poor baby.

The bit where he's in Heaven with Muriel, wearing his awful outfit, and Muriel can't open the file on Gabriel because it's above their pay grade, but he can, and he just says - 'I wasn't always a demon.' The power and competence he still has at his fingertips despite all he's lost. Oh Crowley. Oh my. *Fans self.* #competence kink

The Regency dancing. Fuck me, they actually danced.

His protesting that Aziraphale could never be anyone's 'bit on the side' because he's too pure of heart. Meanwhile HE'S the one who's pure of heart, defending his angel's honour. Crowley, my hero.

The part where the angels don't recognize the Metatron but Crowley does because, despite his demon status, he's the most in tune with the divine, the purest of heart, not blinded by the bureaucracy or politics of it. This, regardless of what you may think of the Metatron.

Pretty much the last quarter of episode 6. His TIDYING UP THE BOOKSHOP and then anxiously waiting. Planning for 'us time' afterwards. His courage in deciding to lay his feelings bare. The SPEECH. The desperate kiss. Putting on his glasses to hide his eyes again. And then waiting and watching by the Bentley until Aziraphale takes the final step into the elevator.

I am dying here. That said, I think this was the right way for Neil to go in terms of narrative arc if we are to have a season 3. You need the angst and the tension to create momentum, which adds depth to the story. If they had tied everything up in a happy little bow, the story would have been diminished. There just had better be a season 3.

[niftukkun]

New from RECAP Weekly!!! An Exclusive Interview from Hermitopia's Emperor?!?

for the third week of @shepscapades ’s hermitcraft character design event, i offer grian as an empires smp member!

ok so first off, that head. thats just p03 from inscryption. but grian. it fits! but also! go play inscryption go go its on sale Right Now (until june 30) go play it its so good then go watch this video afterwards join my fandom please please please join us

ok back to hermpires! so i originally was gonna take an empire from s2 and just insert grian into it, but while browsing through the esmp s2 wiki i came across/remembered hermitopia and my brain went yep! this one. so i thought a bit about what grian would do if he was an empires smp member and how hermitopia would happen, and i think grian would crash the economy on purpose. i mean it almost already happened when the hermitpires crossover happened so i dont think im too far off. i think grian originally exported something simple, like maybe sugarcanes or mud, something easy to farm yknow, but then i dunno got bored or something so he made a couple more farms. then kept making more farms. then the hermitopia we all know and love happened!

actually maybe hermitopia isnt grians first empire. i think grian has a separate empire but decided to invite his friends to help him make some farms and then it just kept going. then hermitopia happened. i like the collaboration aspect of hermitopia so i think thats how that happens. hermitopia isnt necessarily grian's but its under his command so it gets called his. (isnt there a word for this? was it vassalage? i think its vassalage)

with that in mind i went with a robot-y grian because grumbot and a snazzy cool suit because business man (sidenote im looking over my pre art notes and one of them is just capitalism man and. yeah! not wrong). i gave him more steampunk-y wings than the usual feathery ones cause that fit better. i gave him a crown not really sure why but it fits since without it the design was more Just A Guy but with it he's more Emperor yknow. the buttons have a g on it because he would and an (attempted) gold trim cause that looked nice and fancy. originally he was gonna have four wings cause fun fact four wings is part of my base grian design but four wings kind of crowded the drawing so i didnt include them (sad) and i also didnt include the tail hes supposed to have because i couldnt find a good way to add it in with the pose. but in my heart he has both four wings and a tail

now why magazine style artwork? i 'unno. i thought itd look cool. and it does!! it looks SO cool!!! im so proud of it. recap magazine!! because of course im gonna make a hermitcraft recap reference are you kidding me recap is practically already a magazine reporting what gossip is happening on the hermitcraft server on any given week. its very specifically volume 9 issue 34 because thats when the crossover happened season 9 week 34 babey we love little esoteric details hell yeah!! i looked up how magazine covers work and its supposed to be like, main article big and smaller supporting side articles just kinda floating around so i did that!! and i made them funney references because of course i did! local bard catches scurvy because you cannot convince me that oli orionsound would not catch scurvy he would. does god is gay is a reference to that does bruno mars is gay nonsense article that makes me laugh everytime specifically in reference about mr smallish bean because he. has so many children. and none of them as far as i know from the lady server members theyre all lovechilds from gay lovers its hysterical and hilarious. quit your job join our sun cult is about the dawn empire because thatse the vibe that empire gives me and i think its funny. also!! thats hermitopia!! in the background!! i got the image off of the empires smp wiki and just Biggen'd it and it makes a bomb ass background hell yeah ^-^!!

also version with no text here lookit it!!