#it's really hard to articulate

[billpottsismygf]

Good Omens Spoilers

Okay, wow. It's going to take me a while to fully process that, and I definitely won't until I've rewatched it at least once. It has a very different feel to series 1. There are fewer disparate characters, especially human characters, like Shadwell, Anathema, etc., which I did rather miss; the lack of a narrator weirdly changes the tone quite a lot in itself; and, perhaps most significantly, there’s a real mystery that the audience are not let in on, in contrast to us in series 1 watching Aziraphale and Crowley search for a boy we already know the identity of.

Maggie and Nina are nice, and I really enjoyed the obvious parallels to Aziraphale and Crowley (the line about sheltering under a downpour especially felt very relevant), but I’m also not sure they merited as much screentime as they got. I am really glad that their story didn’t end with them dramatically falling in love with each other, as I found the idea that Maggie was really in love with Nina a bit suspect - they’ve clearly barely talked before we meet them. The open ended question of their relationship obviously mirrors Aziraphale and Crowley too.

And now the elephant in the room: that ending was devastating. The end of series 1 is so effective and moving because we finally see Aziraphale and Crowley get to be together on their own terms. Here, it’s completely undone. I love the little subtleties of the Metatron’s look at Crowley as he leaves the bookshop with Aziraphale - he knew Crowley would never accept an offer to be an angel again.

On the one hand, I believe that Aziraphale would accept the offer, and that he would think Crowley would want to come with him, as he’s always been the one most hesitant to distance himself from the Heaven/Hell dichotomy, and to commit to his partnership with Crowley.

On the other hand, has he learnt nothing? I thought he understood by this point that Heaven did not always have the best of intentions. And he’s just seen what happened to Gabriel when he refused to toe the line, a punishment that the Metatron himself was involved with doling out. Does Aziraphale somehow think he’ll have more control? What will he do when he’s inevitably asked to do something that contradicts his own morals? He can’t think that won’t be a problem.

Like I say above, it’s not that it’s out of character for Aziraphale to accept the offer. It’s more that it’s a step backwards in character, and feels perhaps a little artificial. It’s the hand of the writer, putting in the equivalent of that beat in a romcom when the characters have a falling out. Our other mirrors for them, Gabriel and Beelzebub, get to run off happily together, so we can probably expect the stereotypical reunion too.

And we now of course have our context for The Spoiler. It’s a lot more devastating than I think anyone was expecting. I know there’s been a lot of Discourse around queerbaiting, and I have read perspectives on that that I can understand, but it’s never been queerbaiting in my opinion. I sometimes wish that things could be allowed (and I mean by the fandom crowd, not by the mainstream) to be subtle and achingly unspoken, to be queer in theme and context, and also perhaps to allow for non-normative manifestations of queer love (asexual/queerplatonic/etc.). 

However, the kiss changes none of that. I am glad that Aziraphale and Crowley are now queer in a way in which mainstream audiences can’t miss. I sort of wish it didn’t have to be that way but, after all, a kiss is not an inherent barrier to other queer readings, and it works so well in the context of the scene. It’s Crowley’s last-ditch attempt to demonstrate what they could be, without words, and it fails. It’s heart-breaking.

As to the future of the show and their relationship, we’ll have to wait and see. There’s a possibility that we won’t get a series 3 at all, in which case this is a dreadful place to end, and I really do hope that doesn’t happen. Ultimately, this series was a little unsatisfying, but Neil Gaiman always said that it was an intermediary, the lead up to the real next part of the story, and we’re just going to have to cope with that. Here’s hoping we don’t have to cope for too long!

Misc smaller things

I wasn’t sure about re-casting characters, but I actually loved the new actor for Beelzebub. Much as I adore Anna Maxwell Martin, I think she was perhaps slightly mis-cast originally. The visual effects and costuming around them were also much improved.

Miranda Richardson is amazing. Again, I wasn’t sure about her playing a totally different character, but she completely sells it. I love the clipped way she speaks, her mannerisms, all of it. She completely embodies Shax and not for a moment did she make me think of Madam Tracy.

I loved Muriel. Just very sweet and adorable and funny. No notes.

I also loved all the little references to things. The appearance of several Terry Pratchett books (The Colour of Magic and Good Omens specifically) and nods to his worlds - in particular, I got really excited about the seamstresses’ guild getting a wink. 

There were many, many Doctor Who references as well. I know they all had outrageous fun having Crowley referred to as “Doctor”, and that he got to use a Scottish accent (though a bit posher than David Tennant’s actual accent).

On that note, the extended flashbacks were wonderful. The Elspeth stuff was maybe a little on the nose, but I loved seeing them run around Georgian Edinburgh (which was so surreal, because it looks identical to modern Edinburgh). The stuff with Job was especially enjoyable, and I still can’t quite believe we got to see the aftermath of the church bombing.

[stardustdiiving]

HI… I MADE A GENSHIN QUIZ… You guys should take it and tell me what you got

[copepods]

i alwys get annoyed when i see fanon depictions of artificer being affectionate with five pebbles because in my mind artificer has complicated feelings towards him that lean towards dislike and they see him more as a weird alien creature-machine who carries a great deal of knowledge and talks to arti for lack of anything better to do, and artificer brings him pearls to stave off crushing hopelessness and loneliness but like i dont think artificer actually likes him. i think theyd find him off-putting and unpleasant. of course that's just headcanon in my mind though which is why its a little funny that alternate depictions annoy me so much. we are all making this shit up

[melonisopod]

Hon we need to get you some Adderall.

[devoutjunk]

“There have been real instances of antisemitism on campuses since the protests began; here and there we’ve seen real instances of malevolence and idiocy. But to believe, on the basis of anecdata, that hatred and ignorance have motivated the vast majority of students who’ve set up encampments and other pro-Palestinian protests over the last month ⁠– in their many thousands at well over 100 colleges and universities in all but four states ⁠– is to believe what can only be described as an extraordinary propaganda campaign, one pushed by critics in the press and in office who can’t seem to agree on what the protesters are like. These students, we’ve been told, are both popular and unpopular among their peers. They are both ugly and chic. They are fragile and cold-blooded, pathetically soft and remarkably violent. They hate Jews. They are Jews who hate themselves. They’ve exercised both too little message discipline and too much caution with the press at demonstrations that are both laughably chaotic and suspiciously organized. And whoever they are and whatever’s spurred them into action, the students are, clearly, in need of either a good sock to the mouth or a good lay ⁠– the better to focus their attention away from politics and on their studies, on political matters close to home rather than halfway across the world, or political matters halfway across the world more deserving of their attention, like the plight of the suffering in China, Cuba, Venezuela, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan, Iran or Azerbaijan.

No one with their eyes on Gaza denies that there are many bad things happening in the world at any given time. None of those who’ve troubled law- and opinion-makers so with their insistence that the Palestinians are people would argue that the Palestinians are the only suffering people on the globe. But they are suffering largely as a consequence of American foreign policy.”

—“US students, once again, have led the way. Now we must all stand up for Palestinians,” by Osita Nwanevu (The Guardian)

[oloreandil]

as a chronically ill person with asthenia and particular ways of speaking, i've always felt uncomfortable with how Frodo is treated as a weakling and a wimp by so many lotr fans. not only does it ignore how insanely heavy the weight of his burden is (regardless of how constantly the narrative and characters repeat it in like. extremely plain terms), but it often leads to ableist comments of "well other characters were in pain too and they dealt with it better, AND without whining all the time :/"

however, listening to the audiobook, i'm only now realising why i don't like the treatment of Sam's deference to Frodo and their interactions during their quest. yes, you can absolutely do a class analysis of their relationship (Frodo is his "master" in the aristocratic sense of the term, and the narrative treats is as a quality that he "knows his place" - subservience). yes, Frodo sometimes lashes out at Sam unjustly (which is treated as bad by the narrative, again very plainly)

but, and i cannot stress this enough, having a Sam by your side as a disabled person on any kind of adventure is literally the only way to stay alive. Sam notices his health fluctuations, is on the lookout for ring-symptoms that Frodo may not even have noticed yet, makes sure that Frodo has the accommodation he needs to be in as little pain as possible as they live through the great evils of their time... Frodo relies heavily on Sam's support. like any disabled person on a year-long march would need to. especially when your condition keeps worsening

it feels so incredibly loving and revolutionary that, in Rivendell, when he sees Frodo awake for the first time since Elrond healed him of the Morgul blade, Sam takes Frodo's left hand in his and shyly says he's glad it's warm again. i don't think Frodo knew how cold it'd gone, or thought anyone else had noticed, and indeed the narration moves on quickly. but those moments are constant and deeply touching. it's hard to articulate just how accurate Frodo's journey is to my own disabled journey, and how profound it is that Sam's care is foundational to saving the world

[theflyindutchwoman]

Omg bestie your tags on this post

SPOT ON

let’s discuss.

They really need to talk about it 😂 some reassurance would be good for both

They both really do! But at the present, I'm not even sure they know how to address this elephant in the room. It seems like they're currently stuck in this neverending loop because they don't know what the other wants.

Lucy said that she was afraid of ruining the most important relationship in her life… and I don't think that Tim fully comprehends how every time he walks away from her and the hard conversation, it's hurting her. How she is wondering if this time will be for good. Her face at the end was heartbreaking… If her own parents could walk away from her because she refused to conform to their idea of who she should be, then why not Tim? If he was shaped by his trauma with Isabel, Lucy also bears the scars from her parents teachings.

And that's the terrible irony here : he is trying to be supportive, not realising that what she wants from him is honesty about his feelings. And until she tells him that, I'm not sure he will get it. He usually walks away right before his mask can slip. Don't get me wrong, he is genuinely supportive of her and her career. He's not lying about that. I just mean that he is trying to hide his fears in the process. And she can see it. I wonder if part of the reason why Tim is still hiding his feelings has to do with what Isabel told him in 1.12 and how much he probably blames himself.

As for Tim's biggest fear, he basically admitted it in their fight in 5.21. I don't know if he thought that their discussion back then was enough to reassure her or if he was just caught completely off-guard by Lucy's accusations but it clearly struck a nerve. Understandably so. And I'm not sure Lucy realised that either. Not in the state of mind she was at the time.

That's why I'm hoping we'll see a bit more of that in the next episode. I don't expect a full resolution. Just something to show us that they've acknowledged the problem and that they're trying to work this through. Even a simple conversation where Tim asks her if she really believed he was undermining her would do. Or Lucy asking him to stop walking away (even though in that case, that was probably for the best).

[silverwhittlingknife]

"the fault, dear Brutus -" (Julius Caesar)

Quotes from A Critical History of English Literature by David Daiches. Panels from Death in the Family, Under the Red Hood, Lost Days, and Batman and Robin.

[turtledotjpeg]

This started out as just "hey I like both of these characters what if they interacted," but after seeing Melody crying about Kacho in chapter 400 I really wanted to draw her with someone who Gets It

if no one else will give them a hug... can they hug each other :'(

Oito & Melody both have a tendency to freak out a bit in stressful situations, so I wondered if they might amplify that in each other haha. But on the other hand I could see them empathizing with each other and maybe being able to comfort each other? (or maybe I'm just a bit delusional lol)

[opens-up-4-nobody]

:-P

[florida3exclamationpoints]

"You wanted me to be a better man, and you've done that. But if you want me to be a different man, I'm sorry. This is who I am." He's actually right about that and Belle should've accepted it way sooner. I wish they had spoken about this more when Rumple did get his redemption. "You weren't always" // "yes I was. Even when I was a coward I craved power." Number one I do not like calling him a coward bc its not true. But yes of course a man with no power or authority who had been beaten around by everyone in his life would crave power. That's normal. The difference isn't that now he has it, it's that he's addicted to it. And addiction does not make him a bad person. "I won't let it go. Not again." THATS the overkill addiction talking now. He didn't have to make himself the dark one again to have the kind of agency in his life that he needs. He needed magic to get the power he's addicted to. Saying he won't let it go, no one's asking him to be the village coward again, but he equates that to not having his magic which is what he needed to get over. "Falling in love with the man behind the beast isn't really what happened to you. You fell in love with me because there was a man and a beast. Neither exists without the other." BARS!!! absolutely correct. Because no one is all good or all bad. And the man was always fed by the beast with the craving power OVER others and needing to prove himself as Better. The beast was fed by the man by always convincing himself that everything he did was necessary. The truly Bad part of him is the part that enjoyed seeing other people in pain/suffering because of him, but again that comes from how he was always treated by other people. But he didn't admit to liking it all the time, he didn't always lean into it, and he NEVER killed someone just for fun. (Maybe if you strip the layers back, he did, but that's not how he thought about it.) He always rationalized. He kills people because they did X to deserve it, because it's necessary for the plan to get Bae back, etc. Just a few episodes before he said he didn't enjoy killing Milah (the second time) and he would never do anything like that again. He meant that.

He is both. He was always both. He always stayed both. Belle always loved both. His redemption didn't change him at his core. He had to reject his addiction to all consuming power and realize he couldn't have everything and he shouldn't expect to have everything or for everything to go his way. But he had the power he really needed, and he realized the difference. He doesn't have to hurt people to have power. He has the power to make his own choices to not be like his father and to work to deserve Belle's love and to accept her love without being told he wasn't good enough.

[jazzzzzzhands]

Ok FOR REAL Theory Time!!! Gonna be massive spoilers plus mention of bugs/fungus! So I'm calling this the Mold Theory And what is the Mold? It's the black stuff under Home! (Mold under a house is very suiting, right?) The Mold has contaminated Every single thing that the Restoration team has found! The team talks about the envelopes, the antiques, and the artwork found for Welcome Home and how it is alwasys Wet and covered in Grime. The stuff that is "Growing" all over the found items... Staff must wear gloves or they will get covered in it

You can see it all over the gloves, the Walls, and even the Website Itself! It's also been shown on the restored art prior to the update. But one unfortunate person seems to have touched it. and that is.. The Question Answerer! (The head person of the Restoration team is also most likely infected) Now what this Mold does is, It seems to have an effect of the person's mental state. Causing them to see and hear things, as well as having lucid nightmares and an overwhelming urge to draw spirals. From the very moment of contact, it seems to have effect "When I Unwrapped the first letter, I felt it. I heard it. Open Open Open. I want it out, I'm Going to get it Out" Instant Hallucinations and Obsession! Now I'm going to be Comparing this Mold to a Real fungus called Cordyceps, or the Zombie-Ant Fungus. It is a fungus that can control BUGS (familar themes right?) and take over their minds, forcing them to act unnaturally and wander far in order to spread itself! ~Similarily~ this Mold can take control of the Host's mind as well. The "Spores" that it is trying to spread are the drawings of the spirals/eyes. And the more eyes are Drawn, the more Wally can SEE. Wally has made it truly apparent that he can see us through any rendition of his eyes. "I've seen you every time you've looked into my eyes" "I have more eyes than I did before, you know how to draw eyes You draw mine, many times. I know it is thanks to you, Neighbor.. That I can see.. but it is still.. I can't see" He is giving us instructions.. "You have work to do" -Giving us instrustions on how to draw an eye... "Please Open, Let me In" Now I find this last instruction very funny He doesn't say "Let me Out" No... He says "Let me IN" Into What? What are we Opening? Our doors?Our EYES? our Mind? our Heart?? I think that could be exactly it!!! Letting him.... into You!!! (The collective You) Isn't that Funny? A Funny little thought?! The Puppet becoming the Puppeteer! ooh hee hee hoo hoo I think I'm very clever about that! But there are so many themes of Strings/Control/Scripts That I simply couldn't help myself! Now does that mean I think Wally is Evil? Absolutely NOT I LOVE Wally, and hey, what's a bit of mind control between Neighbors? <333 I'll borrow a cup of sugar and you can borrow my sanity! That's what Neighbors are for! <3 Jokes aside, No I Do NOT think Wally is Evil!! No, he might become a Puppeteer over the Real world... (and It might be for good reason, to save his friends and himself) but he is still very much a Puppet himself. Literally and Figuratively, And the Real Mastermind behind the strings is... Home!

Afterall? Isn't that where the Mold is coming from? From Down Below? Below Home?

This image gives me BIG TIME Obediance vibes Reporting/Worship/Subjugation I very much see Wally as the Lure of a very big Angler Fish.. The bait, the perfect little puppet that has captured our hearts and led us by the hand into Welcome Home. Isn't that very much how it has gone in real life? (Oh I KNOW I got the Mold BAD!!! ahahaha) (I can't stop drawing himmm!!! :3c ) But this is where my rambling stops, Until Next Time! I will just say that: The Relationship between Home and Wally (And by extension, YOU) Is a Strange one for sure! And I cant wait to see it further! And Just one more extra note on this whole Fungus thing.. Did you know that the BIGGEST Organism on the entire Earth.. Is a Mushroom? It is because they are connected through their Roots... (Down Below) and Houses kinda are shaped like musrooms... I will Leave it at That! Ahahahaha!

[simplepotatofarmer]

i knew it. 'until i end up dead' is going to be my new favorite song. the pain and fear when you lose someone, how real the end suddenly becomes. but you keep living because it will be alright. there's comfort in that. techno would be proud. i'm proud. thanks, dream and technodad.

[sapphorror]

oh

[ehssabelle]

Scott becoming a lich is really spooky and cool and all but I’m stuck thinking about how funny it is how one of if not the most powerful witch on the server is now weak to SALT. I almost wish he wasn’t able to break the circles so he’d have to call someone to get him out or at least have to make a deal. But imagine someone traps him in a salt circle and he has to decide if it’s more humiliating to accept his position until they leave or take damage by breaking it (he would probably break it because it doesn’t hurt him all that much but imagine with me)

I saw someone say he shouldn’t have become a lich and they’re totally right. However, it also proves how consumed he is by his progress because he probably didn’t have to become a lich. If being the supreme witch will give him the power to revive Milo, he already had very good chances. It’s like he’s scared of falling behind but he really doesn’t have to be which is interesting and fun yknow?

[sparky-is-spiders]

I can accept basically any trans/nb reading of Jon however my personal favorites are transmasc Jon who transitioned physically and socially as early as possible and just never mentioned it to anyone cause it wasn't any of their business OR Jon being the most repressed transfem/nb in existence. They'll be talking about gender or whatever and Jon will be like "it's normal to feel totally disconnected from your gender all the time and also vaguely want boobs. That's just a guy thing I think." only for whoever they're all talking to to go "wtf no?? It's not????"