#now i know random snippets of knowledge of them

[sparklykat-hideoutenthusiast]

Greek gods or something???

[rcmclachlan]

tidbit tuesday wip wednesday thursday fuck it friday

Between being on vacation and then going right back to work, this week has been a total gong show. Thanks to @setmeatopthepyre for tagging me on Tuesday, @ambernotember on Wednesday, and @firehose118 today yesterday. And now it's somehow almost 1am, so happy Friday, y'all!

Here's a snippet from a thing I started writing yesterday in which Buck meets Tommy (and the rest of my usual Harbor gang) during the S3 lawsuit arc.

+

It's so easy. Maybe it's because, to them, he's not the sum of his mistakes. Not one of them has ever heard the phrase "Buck it up" or "The Full Buck." They don't look at him with pity, or annoyance, or anger. They haven't been deposed by his lawyer. They haven't iced him out. Instead, they want to hear about his best saves, the lessons he's learned, how he went from east coast snow to west coast sun, how he can possibly know who Hypatia is but not some guy named Aragorn. They're gratifyingly impressed by the random knowledge he's got logged away, and they let him ramble about invasive worm species longer than they probably should.

"No, no, these aren't like the worms you're thinking about. They're planarians. They actually eat earthworms."

Nico leans forward, eyes wide. "But they look like hammerhead sharks? This is important, Buckley."

"It's really not," Dana says mildly. "He can't do anything meaningful with this information, mostly because he's been banned from every aquarium within a six-state radius."

"Uh." Buck's not touching that one, so instead he pulls up a picture on Google and hands his phone over. "They move like snakes. They've got these tiny hairs on their bellies that help them sort of, I don't know, crawl."

Jacinda crowds in to see the picture, then skeeves a face at it. "Hard pass."

"You sure you're not an entomologist?" Tommy asks dubiously, then laughs when Buck elbows him in the side like they've known each other for years, not an hour and a half. "If firefighting doesn't pan out for you, you've definitely got a bright future with the Weird Insect Appreciation Club."

"I'm not just club president," Buck says with his cheekiest grin. "I'm also a member."

+

No pressure tags: @beanarie, @liminalmemories21, @station18908, @geddyqueer, @apollabarnes, @screamlet, and @peppermintquartz

[luciddaydreamingworlds]

My au versions of Brainy (she/her), Jokey (he/him), and Tuffy (he/him).

I was planning on waiting till I got more official refs done of them, but I figured I might as well post these anyways.

In my AU, they are triplets (meaning they were delivered in the same basket)! As well as the shortest of the canon adult Smurfs.

More thoughts about their dynamic + lore under the cut:

Sorry for how disjointed this stuff is gonna sound, I'm just writing down random thoughts I have about them.

So, basically, what I have in mind is siblings that tease/bully the fuck out of eachother, but would also fight to the death to protect eachother. Classic "I'm gonna make my siblings' lives a living hell, but god help anyone else that tries to harm them" dynamic. They each know how to fight because of the others.

They all share the traits of being clever, mischievous, and hot-headed, and they're each pretty dang strong in their own right. Not Hefty strong, mind you, but strong enough.

Jokey and Tuffy know how to dodge stuff pretty damn well because Brainy often throws what's in her arms' reach at them when she's upset at them. On the flipside, Brainy's got a strong arm and an accurate aim because of how often she's thrown stuff at the other two.

Brainy, Jokey, and Tuffy share conjoined shrooms (like those townhouses that are connected by a hallway that can be locked on both sides). Jokey and Tuffy live on the shrooms at the ends, and Brainy lives in the middle shroom. Which does mean that whenever something explodes, Tuffy doesn't know which of his siblings did it until further notice.

Brainy does end up bearing the brunt of the teasing due to her being more book-inclined and rule-bound. Plus, her consistently and stubbornly talking herself out of her gendered feelings since she was a small Smurfling up until the Grove Smurfs were found gives her brothers another avenue to (lightly) tease her with. Regardless, her brothers try not to give her too hard of a time. She has a very fun and experimental side to her that does often get her in trouble with the other Smurfs, but Tuffy and Jokey find it rather delightful. They'll often encourage her as much as possible to keep this side flourishing.

Jokey is, obviously, the most mischievous of the three. Besides all the time he spends making and pranking people with his explosive surprises, he also has quite the penchant for rule-breaking. He enjoys sneaking around, in and out of the Village when he's not supposed to, and can be quite the klepto at times. Jokey also has several books on all the dirty little secrets each person he's ever come across has, just in case he needs to.. coerce something out of them. He also just has a lot of books filled with snippets of knowledge in general. Jokey doesn't have great memory recall skills due to all the head-damaging accidents he's been in, so he's had to start writing in journals and meticulously keeping track of time so he doesn't forget and miss out on anything. It's not a perfect system, but at least he's also got Brainy and Tuffy to help him remember things when he's struggling particularly hard.

And now, Tuffy, the hot-headed, self-declared strongman of the triplets. He goes out of his way to find people to fight, regardless of whether or not he's got a good chance of winning. The main subject of his angst-fueled ire is Hefty, and it's Tuffy's dream to be able to beat him in a fight. Hefty doesn't really know why Tuffy has it out for him, but, surprisingly, he is up for helping Tuffy train and get stronger. Which, honestly, kinda irks Tuffy even more because it feels like preferential treatment in his eyes. So, what, Brainy and Jokey aren't spending their time exercising and roughing others up, so they're not worth Hefty's oh-so-precious time? Needless to say, Tuffy is the most protective of his siblings, and he finds the treatment they endure from the other Smurfs to be unfair and unnecessary. Like, sure, Tuffy bullies them sometimes for fun, but he's never been malicious about it (to his knowledge, at least).

I think I'll cut my thoughts off here. I have plenty more, but I want to draw at least a few pictures of them interacting with each other and with other Smurfs before I hit my dopamine limit and completely run out of motivation /lh

Hope yall enjoy!

[twainxavier]

JOHN CONSTANTINE MEETS DBD TELL ME ABOUT IT BESTIE

Hey bestie!

Okay, so basically it's just this funny little thing of John spotting the boys whilst they're on a case and tailing them confused why two ghosts from different decades are hanging out together doing magic stuff like he does. I haven't worked out how it's going to end yet but it's basically just like a funny "Well I guess these are my ghost kids now" vibe basically XD

Okay, as for a snippet, here's one of my favourite moments so far:

After a few more random loops, it would seem that the two ghosts found what they were looking for, as they sped up their pace and started practically running. It was getting far more difficult to tail them, certainly without getting noticed. Thankfully, John wasn't an amature. He went a different route to the two ghosts that would still end up in the same area they were headed to, and once again thanked his knowledge of London when the two ghosts appeared again. Clearly they'd found what they were looking for as they began frantically searching around the little alleyway. John watched from a safe distance down a connected alleyway, thankfully hidden by the shit lighting. The 80s ghost was pulling a bunch of random stuff out of a backpack that probably shouldn't have been able to fit that much crap in it. So the ghosts had a pocket universe, interesting. The smartly dressed ghost started skimming through a book the other ghost had handed to him, which John recognised as arcane of some variety. They were still searching around, tapping bricks and listening to walls, when suddenly the 80s ghost yells out to the other. “I've got it, mate!” He then pulled a brick out of the wall and reached into the cavity. John frowned and leaned a little closer, curious to get a better look at whatever it was the two of them had been looking for. He watched as the ghost pulled a small baby doll out of the wall, small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. It reeked of evil. Even at this distance John could sense it, so strong it almost made him back off. The well dressed ghost flinched a little but then held out his gloved palm to take the cursed thing. “Right, let us put a stop to this, Charles.” The moment the object was in his hand, the ghost began reciting a spell that John was pretty sure he recognised. In fact, on closer inspection, he was pretty sure he had a copy of that book the ghost was reading from. The creepy little doll burned up in the ghost's hand, and he dropped it to the floor, watching it burn. “Well there we go, mate. Another case closed.” The 80s ghost grinned as he spoke, and then went over to pat his friend on the shoulder. “Indeed,” the other ghost responded. “And one less creepy baby doll in the world.” The 80s ghost laughed at that, and they turned and left the way they arrived. John followed again, even more curious about what exactly these two ghosts were up to. They were doing good, no doubt about that, but it didn't make John any less curious. Usually he was very in the know about these sorts of things, he wasn't sure how these two managed to slip past his radar. He continued to follow, until eventually the pair turned down an alleyway and walked straight through a wall. “Bugger.”

Okay so maybe it's more than just a moment but I love this whole scene sooooo yeah XD Thank you for letting me talk about this fic! I really need to get back in the saddle and keep writing <3

[subtle-as-an-earthquake]

i am finally home and i'm pretty knackered but aaaahhh what a weekend!! ✨✨ so much happened in such a short amount of time, i'm still processing i think (also some personal stuff, that i won't bore you with). but yeah, the shows were absolutely epic, they were such good crowds for london standards. very rowdy but overall the atmosphere was amazing, and tbh that's probably in part because miles just exudes such incredible energy himself, if you ask me

just a little snippet of don't forget who you are from yesterday (night two) to illustrate:

also, a few random things i'm remembering now (which i'll put under the cut because i apparently remembered more than i thought):

miles seemed really really into it both nights, and really centered somehow? he was clearly having a blast and had everyone eating out of the palm of his hand, he's just SUCH an incredible showman. that's nothing new of course, but I was once again struck by just how very special and awe inspiring and just incredibly fun it is to watch him do his thing on stage. no one does it like miles fucking kane, baby

also, there were so many men in the audience who were just really letting go during the show, hugging their mates and singing the lyrics at each other, even full on crying when miles played colour of the trap (not even kidding, actual tears streaming down their faces). i don't think i've ever seen that at another gig to that extent, really. miles and his music seem to have - for want of a better phrase - a sort of liberating effect on a lot of men that's really nice to witness

on night one miles slipped on a spilled drink on stage and took a little tumble, but he recovered like a king and honestly it just made him look even cooler somehow lol

his arms and shoulders......... are sooooooo...... 🔥🔥🔥 dear fucking lord. his shoulders are broader than ever and honestly it was very hard to concentrate on anything else 🫠

after the show, we were chatting to ben for a bit who was just the sweetest and again talked about how he was a fan first (of arctic monkeys and tlsp and miles) and then sort of organically came to be a part of the band, and has just been having the time of his life so far! we were still chatting to him when miles came out after night 1, and when everyone started whooping, ben started screaming 'aaaaaahhh miles!!!' really loudly as a joke, before starting an impromptu chorus of the don't forget who you are 'la la la' that everyone joined in on. it was pretty hilarious

liam was super sweet too, and when he learned that i was dutch he was like 'oh we're playing a show in holland next week!' so i was like 'i know, i'm going!' and then he offered to put me on the guestlist, which was very kind of him even though i already have tickets lmao. he and ben both were very excited for that show for some reason, which made me even more excited as well!!

after night two ben and liam shared a massive hug outside and they both seemed really emotional, which was very sweet to see 🥺

nathan is the loveliest man alive. he said this tour was definitely the best one yet because the energy's just been amazing! he also asked us what are favourite album and song of the night was (his own fave was never taking me alive) and when I mentioned i just loved the bassline in coup de grace so much, he said it was as fun to play as it sounds, and that on the album it was actually miles who played it (that's probably common knowledge, but i didn't know!)

he also said that the band really is very close and they're all equals, and miles always says "we", and that he really is as kind and lovely as he seems 🥺 i mean, we knew that, but it was still really lovely to hear!

and of course, miles was once again just the most wonderful, gracious man ever with his fans, chatting to as many people as he could and taking pics with them and cooing at turtle paraphernalia, all while looking and smelling absolutely diviiiiine. he did seemed pretty knackered though, especially after night two, but that makes sense i think. and yet he still came out! truly a hero

as for my own chat with him, i for some reason went up to him like 'hiiiiiiiiiiiii' with my hands held out to him (idk man), and he just reciprocated my enthusiasm and took my hands and then held them and looked me in the eye while i rambled at him about how incredible i thought the show and he himself were, and he was just completely lovely, as always 🥺 such an angel

oh and finally, maxie is apparently staying with miles's mum while miles is on tour 🥺

i'm sure i'm forgetting things but this is already long enough 🙈 going to catch some zzz's now, i need them after this weekend

[marblemoovt]

hiii! How is the yuushi fic going? :) have a good day/night, take care! >.<

Between school and commissions, I haven't touched it lately 💀

I keep running into that problem where I'm almost done but I add more scenes. It's me. I'm the problem 🤡

It's now at 21k words, more than double the length of my last Yuushi and K fic and an absolute nightmare for me to proofread. But I think I just have to wrap up the ending, make sure I didn't leave any scenes unfinished, and then it's ready for editing!

I feel kind of bad for the people who have been waiting over a year to read this fic, but I hope it's worth it when it's finally uploaded. 😭

Slight nsfw snippet below:

Yuushi carries you to the stool by the shower head, and he turns you around to sit on his lap. He adjusts the temperature before washing your body. His touch is gentle, almost reverent. As his hands glide along your skin, sometimes he’ll plant a kiss. On the back of your neck, along your shoulders, on the pulse point behind your ear. 

You lean into his chest, melting into him. Yuushi’s hands reach around to cup your breasts, gently pinching your nipples between his thumb and forefingers. Your back buzzes after you let out a whine, and Yuushi nibbles your ear affectionately, whispering low apologies. 

He lets go and massages your tender peaks, murmuring praises into the nape of your neck that send a rush of warmth throughout your body. 

“I know,” his hands skirt down your stomach, “I’m sorry.” Yuushi cleans up between your thighs, rinsing the stickiness off of them. You shudder as the water sprays the rest of your skin. “Just a little longer, Angel,” he speaks softly. 

You sigh, blinking at the fuzzy lights in the ceiling, grounded by the random song Yuushi hums under his breath. He works quickly, showing off his intimate knowledge of every curve of your figure.

[atisenia]

WIP game ask!

Fake relationship baggensheild

And

Hibernating hobbits(this is an actually really neat title imo)

No pressure though!

Hi! Thank you for asking! 😊

The thing about fake relationship bagginshield is that it mostly still exists only as a concept. Which is basically that Bilbo gets fed up with his coworkers' (Lobelia's) homophobic comments one day and blurts out that he has a boyfriend, so they (Lobelia) stop talking shit at least where he can hear it (it only half-works). Whenever they ask about it, Bilbo describes Thorin. And then the workplace organizes some event, and everyone is supposed to bring their significant other, and the coworkers (Lobelia) are already doubting the existence of this boyfriend, so if he doesn't bring him to the event, they'll know he's full of shit and probably make work hell, so in his desperation he does ask Thorin (who he may or may not have a crush on) to be his date, fully expecting to be rejected, but Thorin agrees immediately.

And apparently I started this story two separate times in different settings, but didn't even go far enough for Bilbo to actually ask Thorin in either of them. 😅

Anyway, here's a snippet from version 1:

The phone vibrated in Bilbo’s hand and he almost dropped it. His fingers shook as he turned it to see who was calling him, then his shoulders sagged with relief. Just Ori. “This isn’t a good time,” he said after picking up. “Have you done it yet?” Bilbo closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. “No,” he muttered. Ori sighed. Bilbo could almost see him shake his head with disapproval. “Just call him, Bilbo, he’ll understand.” Bilbo clenched his jaw. “Really, Ori? Really?” he asked. “Would you be okay if some random person presented you as their boyfriend to his coworkers without your knowledge and then agreed to bring you to this stupid office party?” “It’s just bowling,” Ori said patiently. “No one will expect you to have sex on the lane.”

Then there's version 2:

Bilbo closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath, the napkin in his hand beyond salvation. This was a terrible idea. He should leave when he still had the chance, and then maybe text, or even call to apologize--- “Hello,” a familiar deep voice said next to him and Bilbo jumped with a yelp. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Thorin said with an apologetic smile as he sat at the table opposite Bilbo. His eyes fell on the remains of napkins and he frowned, smile dimming. “Is something wrong?” “Ah. Um.” Bilbo gathered all the torn paper napkins and squished them into a ball. He looked around for a place to throw it away, but in the end he just left it beside his plate. “Yes. I mean, no. Nothing is wrong, I’m fine really, just... uh---” Bilbo threw a glance at Thorin, whose frown seemed to deepen with his every word. “I’ll take this.” Bofur appeared by their table and snatched the napkin ball, his eyes full of glee. “What can I get you, gentlemen?”

As for hibernating hobbits, well, it's not really the title. It doesn't have a title yet. But I do have it fully drafted, it just needs a rewrite and some edits. I've seen several fics with this concept, but was mostly inspired by Winter's Call by @teaxdragon, with a bit of a spin. Here's a fragment:

“What happened to you?” he asks before he can stop himself, and his heart aches. Bilbo looks terrible. He should have gained back the weight he’d lost on their quest, but he’s even thinner now, barely more than skin and bones. His clothes look baggy on him, especially around the middle where there’s little left to fill them. There are dark shadows under Bilbo’s eyes, stark against the sickly pallor of his skin. “You did,” Bilbo says, and his words pierce Thorin’s chest more viciously than Azog’s blade. It’s the least he deserves. “You showed up in my smial with tales of a lost home and a promise of an adventure, and-and now I can’t sleep in my own dratted house!” Thorin can only stare at Bilbo in puzzlement. He feels like he’s missed a turn on a familiar road and can’t figure out how to find it again. “You can’t… sleep?” Thorin says after a moment of stunned silence, hoping it would steer the conversation back into more familiar territory. “Exactly!”

Cue Thorin being a giant ball of angst, as always.

[rpking99]

NERD TALK PROMPT INCOMING!!!

Phoenix Ranger Featherman R. The Tokusatsu program within Persona 5.

I HAVE TAKEN THE RED PILL AND HAVE WOKEN UP IN WONDERLAND!

Show me how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Okay so first off, Featherman is an in universe Sentai series for Persona as a whole and is a homage to Choujin Sentai Jetman (the Sentai series just before Zyuranger, the show that became MMPR) as well as Science Ninja Team Gachaman. However, it appears as though Featherman is the in universe Sentai equiviliant instead of a singular team

It's a Saturday morning show, and a tokusatsu. Meaning live action with special effects being a big part of the film making process. Spercifically it is part of the Henshin Hero genre, meaning they are normal people who transform into super heroes.

We know of five distinct itterations of the franchise. Like Sentai, the team changing every year with new suit designs and weapons and mecha and stories with all you'd expect

Featherman , Featherman R, Neo Featherman, Featherman V, Neo Featherman Again

Featherman is the one most connected to the plot of the game, this being part of Persona 2 Innocent Sin where it is what the main characters bonded over as kids. You see at festivals, kids tend to buy and wear these little plastic masks. Those who played the Teal Mask DLC of Pokemon probably know what I am talking about. Well, Sentai and Kamen Rider masks are fairly common at those stands since popular characters and heroes that kids know

These be the masks I am talking about. Just super simple

We then get to Persona 3, a lot of peoples first Persona games and also the first one of the Modern Persona games. Plus, the first one where Featherman was featured (P2IS was not imported, but its sequel PErsona 2 Eternal Punishment was. Until the upgraded PSP versions which had the inverse treatment)

In Persona 3... one of the characters, who is a kid, loves the show and you can get snippets of random episodes on the TV on Saturdays

Now we have Persona 4 with Neo Featherman, the series that made more of the western fanbase knowledgeable about it because it's more in your face. Kanji and Naoto are both fans of it and in Golden, you get costumes for the characters so they dress as the Neo Featherman.

Also, Naoto's entire dungeon.

As Naoto's entire character arc is about being dismissed because of her gender and age, and having to throw away her own childhood and identity, her True Self/Hidden selfs dungeon was based off old Tokusatsu henshin hero villain bases.

Now on to Persona 4 Arena Ultimatimax. Or as it's known in Japan: Persona 4: the Ultimax Ultra Suplex Hold

As this is a crossover between Persona 3 and Persona 4, we get to see the P3 cast older. And in this case.... Yukari is an actress for Featherman V acting as PinkArgus, and following the trend of a few Sentai such as Kakuranger and TimeRanger and DekaRanger she is the leader of the team

And she is kidnapped for the plot of the game in the middle of filming an episode. Also it's revealed that Mitsuru watches this show to watch her friend

And then we get to Persona 5 with Neo Featherman Again. where in Royal you can play a video game based on them and you once again

And that's the basic plot and info about Featherman as an in universe thing

Also they take great thought into which character wears what colour of Featherman suit for their costumes.

[elejah-verse]

_elejah

_time travel_au

a/n: Elena is sent to 1988 to get Elijah's blood for a spell. She was not supposed to talk to him...but one thing lead to another and she fell in love. As she returned to 2035, her real time, she is heartbroken. Elijah died together with Klaus in 2026.

*

_a random snippet

*

*

New York, 2035

No matter how much she tried to move on and forget about Elijah, she could not.

"I know that I shouldn't have got involved. I know that. And the way things were left - everything just made it worse."

"This is why time travels were a big NO." Bonnie said citing her Gram's Grimoire froma case before.

"But ours was for a good cause." Elena reminded her friend.

"Yeah - but left you miserable."

"I will get over it - eventually. I guess I need to grieve. There's nothing else I can do." the brunette looked at the polaroid of Elijah she had taken.

Flashback

"Always and Forever" Elena thought. "But it's not going to be. There will be dreams to come for you, sunshine on rainy days, laughter and silliness, just not together. Just not together. You would never forgive me lying to you again. Taking away the memories of you and me. The love we shared. But deep down in my heart I pledge the always and forever. I do."

*

Meanwhile

In New Orleans, Freya found a box at the back of an old wardrobe. Opening it, she found a notebook with Elijah's handwriting on, saying simply - notes. As she opened it, she found a paper wedged in. Curious to see what it entailed, she unfolded it.

Dear Elena,

I wanted to tell you before I left how completely abjectly sorry I am for all the pain I have caused you. The reason for this letter now is - I die tomorrow, I wanted you  to know that you sparked something inside me I thought was dead and buried.

By the time you read this I will be gone but please know I am still always at your side. Every moment spent with you was like walking through paradise. You had my heart spellbound the moment I have set my eyes on you. I have not known the intensity of my feelings for you until one morning as I woke up. It was like a dance of rich adventure, tenderness, dreams that were most real, even though I've never told you so. 

I'm taking my leave now. As Khalil Gibran had said 'The resting place of my soul is a beautiful grove where my knowledge of you lives'

Faithfully Yours, Always and Forever,

Elijah'

Freya looked at it, slightly shook by the content of the letter.

"Hey," Keelin said as she stepped in the attic, "have you found the pin amulet?"

"No - but - Elijah's writings and - a letter" Freya said.

"What letter? Are you ok? What does it say?" Keelin knelt down next to her wife.

"A letter to Elena - he never posted. Dated the day after our wedding." Freya said.

"We can post it to her now. Or give it to her when we visit Hope. What does it say?"

"He apologizes to her...uhm - it's really strange. It seems like he was in love with her. I know it's private - but here - read it." Freya handed the letter to Keelin.

"It's private, like you said. Let's post it to her."

"I thought he was in love with Hayley - but it seems it wasn't so" Freya said picking up the box.

"Well, look at Klaus - it was Caroline he was actually the one." Keelin said.

Freya inhaled sharply. "I didn't really know my brothers after all."

"You didn't really spend that much time with them." Keelin concluded.

Freya couldn't disagree.

*

Mystic Falls, a few days later

Salvatore School

"No - you're kidding me, right?" Caroline's eyes widened, blazing surprised at Bonnie.

"I'm resurrecting Elijah - yes." Bonnie said.

"What? Bonnie?" Caroline shook her head in disbelief.

"I'm happy with Damon. You got your happy with Enzo. Elena deserves her happy, too. I am doing it. And that's that.

_to be continued

[fuyyu]

so, i have this little piece of analysis on the world building of winx club's original run. it was meant to be part of kind of a rewrite based on fate's tv show fumbles and i have contemplated the idea of making a video essay on it but since it will most likely never happen, i am posting here a snippet of the perspective i was the most salty about.

✨ technical spells ✨

(or whatever the english adaptation used to call them)

there are many aspects of the workings behind magic that are never explicitly stated in the series, but through the shows events we can deduce them. for example, witches use magic thanks to negative energy or something akin to "waves", elements that aren't necessarily spiritual. all witches seem to focus on mind control or natural phenomena and they don't have access to transformations (or they can access transformation-like powers without it); on the opposite side we see fairies who use positive energy or spiritual/conceptual powers (that's why we can have some kinda bs-y powers like "technology"): they are the most powerful when they transform. we know also that witches, if they so wish, can become fairies (just like mirta did) so it's really more of a choice than anything else.

what they all have in common is, evidently and weirdly, that they are female magic users. considering the context in which winx club was first released, i won't tap (too much) into gender identity matters for this post, so every time i talk about women in this post i am (unless specified otherwise) refering to cis gender women, as i could expand on trans perspectives but i prefer to refer to the canon for now.

in the second season, this phenomenon is tangentially but subtly explored. how, might you ask? this the season to be jolly, because an interesting character is introduced to do so: professor avalon. he is an expert of ancient magic, assuming the teaching role for a brand new class in charmix, which focuses on "technical spells".

what are they? avalon states that there is a significant difference between magic that fairies use in combat when they shout out random names and recited enchantments. so, technical spells seem to access a different magical source which can be taken advantage of through these very specific formulas and rituals engineered over the centuries by knowledgeable fairies, witches, enchantresses, wizards and so on and so forth.

this is extremely relevant.

not only it appears most of the witches magic is perpetrated through rituals of sorts, making them probably the primary technical spells user-base, but in this instance avalon says that the magic fairies usually use when transformed is somehow invoked from their within, and it's spontaneous. this is proven true in many episodes when the fatigue in battle derives from depletion of one's magical energy. and we know witches can achieve this ability, too. there is an internal and an external energy source. what is the origin of this internal magical capability?

we can point at various possibilities. but before we do that, i would like to explain why i think these may be the options.

up until the 3rd season, which is the original run, we never see (human) men using magic without any kind of aid. men (or men presenting, in some cases) who use magic are:

valtor, a demon made by trixies' foremothers

nabu, who needs a sceptre to use magic

dark circle's wizards (s4), who are implied to use in some measure earth's fairies magic, captured through millenia

saladin, a light's company/alliance member, uses a sceptre like nabu

wizgiz is a leprechaun

palladium is an elf

avalon too is heavily implied not to be (totally) human, because of his paladin form

men, in this status quo, have to either spend a great amount of effort, time and resources to master magic (but basically never master it like fairies do) or become a specialist. and here is the catch. in season 1 we learn something that basically confirms (or at least, so i see it) magix a women's world, as opposed to the world bloom comes from: specialists can be women as well.

while there are no male fairies, no male witches, and all male magic users are non-human or aided by external sources (magical objects and technical spells), it's implied there are, indeed, female specialists when darcy enters a specialists' bike contest and the announcer immediately identifies her as a woman. this alone doesn't confirm that female specialists are a thing and if they are they are probably very scarce, but the announcer let us deduce it by being taken aback but not commenting on how that shouldn't be possible in the first place. somehow, it's let to be understood that a female uniform exists as well. this may vary from adaptation to adaptation, but in italian there isn't much of an objection to her participation on the spot.

so, we can safely assume that there are no gender policies on academy enrollment in any of the schools. it's just not possible for men at the current state of affairs to enroll in alfea or torre nuvola. but women can enroll in insititutions like fonterossa.

❤️‍🩹 why is that? ❤️‍🩹

(or better put, why could that be?)

here the rewrite is heavy handed, but this can be a very fun and interesting thought. maybe magic is, at it's core, creation. magic is the ability to not change reality, but to make thing exist in reality. let me explain.

when flora makes dying plants vigorous, she isn't changing the plant's structure, she is creating the nutrients ex novo and providing essentials (such as sunlight previously absent) and making it so that the plants feels the benefits of those new things.

traditionally, and in the winx club world view, women hold this power. women have the miracle of birth on their side. and the power to make a new life has to, somehow, be the same that allow magic to flow. it could be whatever, you can call it life force or whatever.

so, magic could be inherently tied to one's fertility (and here various conversations could be started, as to "would a transmasc still be a fairy?" and "are sterile women capable of magic?") or the potential of it. faragonda is a great fairy, but she doesn't transform anymore and that might be why. she can still use powerful magic, though. most of it is relatable to technical spells, if we want to force this point of view, but i will let that to you.

another option is chance. at some point magic just happened and women are the one who got it for cosmical possibility and their appearance, as well as other invisible characteristics, are results of that magic and not viceversa as previously theorized.

or again, it's hormonal. maybe progesteron and other typically female hormones are tied to magic. or a fictional hormone is. this would allow men to use it too, in limited quantities and enhance it through external sources (accessible through previously stated magical tools).

this was, in my humble opinion, a great starting point for a hypothetical winx tv show. it could elaborate on a complicated world building while tapping into social aspects that, being the kids' cartoon it is, the original show couldn't. it could give a definite structure to the magic world and open up infinite possibilities for the earth's narrative that apparently lost all of his magic (but we know it didn't really), investigate new storylines and give some fairies god-like status (thinking about dafne and bloom rn). also it could be a great trampoline for so many environmental details, like people in the background using casually magic only being women and men rarely doing so.

it could also be an amazing way to explore complicated gendered issues of the real world, through a meticulous deconstruction operated in these new lenses.

why am i salty about this? 2 reasons. the live action didn't pick this up and THE ORIGINAL CARTOON FORGOT ABOUT TECHNICAL SPELLS AS WELL!! they are never brough up again. damn you, winx club.

(finally letting this thought go and if you want to expand on this please do)

[k2ntwo]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

A bunch of writers that I follow have already been tagged and responded @helloliriels @khorazir @7-percent @discordantwords @totallysilvergirl to name just a few. Now I have a few new things to read that I somehow missed the first time around as well as a bunch of old favorites to go and re-read. So much good fic is out there by so many talented writers!

In the spirit of adding to folk’s ever growing MFL list I’ll just pile onto the bandwagon with my answers as well.

 1.  How many works to you have on AO3?

56 although there are several collections of snippets that technically could be counted separately. On AO3 I'm KtwoNtwo.

2.  What’s your total AO3 word count?

496,860

3.  What fandoms do you write for?

Primarily Sherlock Holmes (most all iterations from ACD to Sherlock) and James Bond.  However, I dabble in a good number of other fandoms upon occasion.

4.  What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Metamorphosis

Conversations from Q-Branch

50 Reasons (The Q-Branch Edition)

A Rare Breed

Brothers Three

5.  Do you respond to comments?

Yes, even if its just a “I’m glad you liked it.”  The only ones I don’t respond to are the generic solicitations to join some random contest or fic publishing website.  Those get blocked and reported.

6.  What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Well, I don’t really write major angst but The Four Riders has got a bit as does the poem Gun in the Drawer though they both end on a hopeful note.

7.  What’s the Fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics have happy endings but probably A Toast to the Science of Deduction resolves the happiest of the lot.

8.  Do you get hate on fics.

Nope.  Only got one anonymous troll alleging trademark infringement due to a title.  I fired back a factual rebuttal: basically "there is no book by that name by that author, there is no lawyer by that name, you didn’t provide contact information and btw trademark doesn’t work the way you allege" then added a set of quotation marks to the title.  Never heard anything more about it.

9.  Do you write smut?

I have but I’m not terribly good at it.  Most of the time the characters look at me then politely, or not so politely, shut the bedroom door in my face.

10.  Do you write crossovers?

Oh God Yes!  Technically I think I write fusions, where both fandoms end up in the same universe, as opposed to crossovers but I’m rather unclear on the difference between same so I tend to just call 'em crossovers and leave it at that. 

11.  Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I could find or prove.  I did have a couple of strange search results pop up with my use name and some fic titles attached but the websites all seem to be defunct now.

12.  Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge.

13.  Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No.

14.  What’s your favorite ship?

Sherlock Holmes/John Watson

15.  What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

There’s a fic based on a song by Abney Park that I’ve got an outline for but it never seems to go anywhere.

16.  What are your writing strengths?

I can merge and/or crossover all sorts of different fandoms. 

17.  What are your writing weaknesses?

Typos and punctuation.  Being slightly dyslexic I can’t spot the former and I never know if I’m using commas correctly or not.

18.  Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I actively avoid doing so because I’d butcher it badly.

19.  First fandom you wrote for?

Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker.  I will admit that I wrote in my head, but never got around to put on paper, a number of Star Trek stories when I was significantly younger.

20.  Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

I like all of them for different reasons.  The one I’m most proud of however is The Emerald Falls my Study in Emerald inspired ACD Fic.

I'd love to have some of the artists/podcasters respond to this with whatever modifications are necessary to fit the medium involved. Hours of podcast or number of artworks as opposed to number of words for example. @podfixx @bluebellofbakerstreet if you haven't responded to this thing already and I just missed it.

[elvenbeard]

WIP WEDNESDAY

Yes I'm actually doing this on a Wednesday wooo :D

I just went back through all my tags of the last month and man, you guys ;__; <3 I'm not good at keeping up with tumblr atm and I don't have something to share every week, so I think once a month a WIP Wednesday might be a good compromise XD Thank you for all the tags!!

@theviridianbunny @dreamskug @ouroboros-hideout @lokiina @therealnightcity @chevvy-yates tagging you all right back!

So, with that off of my list of works in progress, as is answering all the tag games and quizzes, some projects I'm working on atm:

Writing: Love is stored in the olive jar (WT) - Chapter 13

It's done, but still needs a lot of editing, as it got very heavy on dialogue in the end and I want it all to flow more nicely and make it a bit more scenic XD Too many instances of "she looked up again" or "he paused for a moment/second" xD But I'm getting there! Here's a snippet from the already somewhat polished beginning:

“Alright,” Fuentes said as she finally caught her breath again, “I suggest we cut straight to the chase.” “Yes,” V nodded, “Thank you again for taking the time.” “Of course,” Fuentes nodded, “I have to admit, I have been thinking about you and your case a lot these past days. Even with the limited knowledge I have so far, I still believe I may be able to help. If you are willing now to tell me more about your condition now, of course.” ‘Willing’ wasn’t the word V would use, it was more a necessity at this point. “I will,” he said, “But only if you can provide me with a certain level of security.” Fuentes shifted in her chair slightly and frowned, then she opened one of the drawers of her desk and pulled out a tablet. She turned it on and began to search for something on it while maintaining eye contact with V as best as she managed. “You’ve come here today as my patient. As far as I’m concerned, everything, anything that we discuss, falls under the doctor-patient confidentiality. My contract with the Little China MedCenter binds me to treat your data and information with utmost care and discretion. All data we store is locked away securely, all in accordance with your Trauma Team policy. I can resend you the patient information papers and contracts, although I think most of them you should already have…” “I care less about the MedCenter than about what you personally do with the information I’m going to give you,” V said, and Fuentes stopped her search, narrowing her eyes slightly. “I’m not sure what you’re alluding to,” she said, still polite, but significantly more tense than before. “Nothing,” V shook his head carefully, “This is just not something I tell random strangers on the street… no offense, of course. If I have to play with open cards, I need you to as well.”

In which Vince hates doctors but has to trust one now, boo XD

Writing: Some drabbles :3

Inbetween the longfic I still have some ask prompt drabbles to fill that I'm looking forward to tackling soon! And in a sudden burst of inspiration I wrote out a long although not very serious convo between Vince and Johnny the other day xD I'd love to turn it into a (VP) comic maybe, but I'm not sure yet XD

Art: Nothing new since last time, slowly chipping away at some bigger projects inbetween

VP: Currently no concrete plans for a bigger project

Although I wanna do more "days in the life" for Vince!! And I wanna play around more with some poses though and have a very soft set to share that I gotta edit a bit still ;_; Tomorrow probably!

Also, I'd like to turn the interface thingies from my recent "V as NPC" projects into shareable templates, that is also on my wip/ to-do list! Just wanna gather some in-game reference shots first :D

Modding: 👀👀👀

I'm working on a little something maybe, and I'm so excited :DDD Just gotta relearn how to do Archive XL, it's been half a year xD And I fought MLSetup Builder so fucking hard, but now I know how to edit MLMask Setups, so that's a victory at least XD And I have a base for a very kitschy coat :3

But yes, so much to that so far! See you again in a month or so probably with an ever-growing pile of wips xD But maybe some more writing, maybe some more art, and maybe a finished mod after too long 👀

[stepswowdsen]

【KagePro】 KuroEne AU: Kuroha/Saeru flirts with Ene 🖤💙

(CW: Suggestive dialogue)

Summary:

Kuroha/Saeru flirts with Ene and gently takes her sleeves away from her face when she gets embarrassed

Maid Kuroha and Ene roleplay game: Ene tries to tease Saeru but he just takes the opportunity to tease her back

Me: The thought just came to me.

KuroEne is Yapper (Ene) meets Mega Yapper (Kuroha)

He'll take turns being the Yapper or Listener to his Yapper GF

Usually Ene's the yapper, but in the KuroEne ship, Kuroha/Saeru becomes the new yapper.

F: People with too much knowledge will randomly spew out something out of pocket that can go on for literal minutes

Me: Reminds of when you were like "I bet Kuroha/Saeru's the type of guy that would give Fun Facts ™️ to Ene, but it's all about snake mating"

He'd do it just to see her embarrassed/flustered reactions

Putting his encyclopedia brain to use 👍

Ene: I DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!!! (//>~<//)

F: God damn it, I knew it. This guy is nothing but a troublemaker

Me: Kuroha would bring up random fun facts to tease Ene. They'd be "Did you know" level fun facts about snake mating/biology. And he'd tease her including with dirty comments JUST to embarrass/fluster Ene and see her blush.

F: Imagine just dead silence at first, and then he randomly just goes, "Hey, did you know that…"

Me: The fact that Ene's already this embarrassed around KONOHA who is super dense…

Lord have mercy when it's Kuroha/Saeru teasing her... Because he's someone who's actually good at seeing through her and reading her feelings, too.

Ene covering her face with her sleeves is sooo cute. Ily wifey 💙

F: IMAGINE HER REACTING LIKE THIS

Me: OOOGH SO CUTE MY WIFEY!!! God he'd just want to tease her more

F: Girl, get yourself up and tease him back with human sex ed /j

Me: He would laugh and then gently take hold of her wrists and pull them away from her face

Me: Bold of you to assume he wouldn't know about human sex ed. You just know he'd be excited by that.

He likes getting teased, so Ene teasing him wouldn't have the intended effect she was going for. Basically she wouldn't really fluster him as she would've hoped.

Embodiment of knowledge, everybody.

F: OKAY IT WILL NOT WORK 😭

Me: When Ene covers her face with her sleeves after Kuroha teases her, he would laugh, and then gently take hold of her wrists and pull them away from her face

F: And if he's in the mood enough, might as well pin her down as he does it

Me: Ok that's hot.

Me: Small dialogue snippet for now

Kuroha: Wahhh~ Is the little bunny hiding behind her sleeves~? So cute~ I wonder... What should the big bad snake do about this......? (¬ᴗ¬)

Kuroha: ...Should I just devour you whole?

Kuroha: Come on~ Don't hide from me, Ene. But I suppose that's a cute trait of yours. (^-^)

Ene: C-c-c-c-cute!?!?!?

Ene: (Well, of course I'm the cutest, but hearing it from him is just...! Why's my face turning all red!?!?)

F: It's so cute yet so scary to imagine ngl

Me: Ene thinks she can tease Kuroha and actually fluster him...

And then the Expectations vs. Reality hits in fast for her.

Saeru can get caught off guard and surprised (or in some cases, mad), but not embarrassed.

Me:

(Ene in her dreams/imagination)

Ene: Yeah yeah yeah!!! I'm gonna be the one to tease him this time!!! I'm gonna make him WHIMPER!!!

Kuroha: (→ Amused by her antics)

Kuroha: Oh, you never change, little rabbit... You look like you're having fun at least.

Kuroha: Oh, how I envy your baseless confidence… So much I want to taste it on my lips. I wonder if you can still say the same, then?

F: What if Kuroha decided to act out her dream lmao, it'd be funny

Me: Oh yeah I feel like there would definitely be times where he acts submissive on purpose for their intimacy.

And Ene would just be thinking to herself, "This is kinda pissing me off, I know he's just doing it on purpose!" (//>3<//)

F: YEAHH WKSHSK

Maid Kuroha and Ene

Me: I remember I had this one scenario with KuroEne's intimacy but it's maid Kuroha dressing up for Ene and he still teases her and such.

Basically he acts like Ene's loyal faithful servant, while getting a leg up on her, teasing her every chance he can get.

Ene was hoping she'd finally get the chance to tease him, but nah this guy is just doing whatever tf he wants, only acting submissive cuz he thinks it makes their game interesting.

Kuroha is aware of Ene's antics with Shintaro and how she calls him "Master" (ご主人, Goshujin) and such.

Maid Kuroha copies Ene's "Master~" (ご主人, Goshujin) shtick with Shintaro, and calls her Goshujin-sama (ご主人様) and plays up to all her whims.

I should post this set of dialogue scripts sometime... It has really fun dialogue

F: YEAHH WKSHSK

Me:

Maid Kuroha and Ene scenario:

Kuroha: I'll serve you faithfully, Master~ 💞🫶

Kuroha: (→ Blows a kiss) 😘💘

Ene: You're just copying me!!! 💢

F: EEEKKK

This is kind of silly but funny to think about.

(God I wish Ene's b-day was revealed)

Like imagine him acting like this on her birthday as an act of service for her www

Me: UWAHHHH THIS WOULD BE SO CUTE

Also GOD same.

I wanna have a day to celebrate my wifey's birthday!!!

Jin, release Takane/Ene's birthday!!! Why tf is she the only one whose birthday is being kept secret...

[danishdeity]

Back in like 2012 i was 1) trying to broaden my musical horizons, 2) roleplayong, and 3) doing these activities on tumblr, and back then you could put any audio file on tumblr super easily and also download any tumblr audio file super easily, so I listened to a bunch on random audio files here and mass-downloaded those i liked without noticing song or band name, which was fine bc I could easily get itunes to identy most of them for me. Computing was easy back then.

Anyway, now, 13 years later i still occasionally get a tune stuck in my head that i found this way (and since deleted), and ive never been able to find since, but it was really besutiful and calming. I know the lyrics by heart, bc it was just a short little snippet:

You got your fine lines, your

Expensive red wines, your

Semtex rosaries, and

Me on bended knees, and

Id do anything, just to stay with you

Anyway, to the best of my knowledge, some random bbc sherlock moriarty roleplaying blog wrote this and recorded it for the specific roleplay, and i just stole it. If the person who wrote it happens to find this, just know that ive kept it in my heart ever since and i still feel kinda sad i deleted the file.

[nebulousfishgills]

🌵

You know what, let's shake it up a little, snippet from my Baldur's Gate 3 playthrough fic since that's currently the only major thing I have going on that I've worked on recently (school, work, and getting on antidepressants saps you, aight?)

It was dark. The area around her rumbled and shook, although she couldn't pinpoint precicely where she was. There was a distinct smell, something putrid and... vaguely garlic-ish. She was aware of her body, standing somewhat upright in... something cylindrical. She flexed her fingers, her eyelids fluttering. It was disorienting, a distinct feeling of almost... emptiness.

She heard a hiss and the walls around her shifted. With a groan, she slightly sat up, her eyes opening. Her vision was blurry, but the world around her was dark save for the spots of fire in the corners. Purple light streamed from various places, lanterns of sorts. She studied the casing she'd been in, the texture something akin to a wet undersea creature. She recognized the structure of the pod, matching the architecture of the room beyond.

Il... Illithid... That's the term, right?

She pushed herself out of the pod and landed on her feet to the floor below. That's when the headache hit her, pounding and humming. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish the feeling. All that did was aggrivate the pounding. Though, when she tried to think past the headache, she found there was almost a fog. A void where a large part of her memory should be. It was strange, having no recollection of how she ended up in this place or... really much of anything beyond random bits of irrelevant information. She was able to pull Illithids out of the void, but how she knew such information was lost on her.

As for things about herself, only a few things sprung to mind. She felt magic thrumming beneath her fingertips, an inherent understanding of the... the Weave, that's what it was called. The fabric of magic. She was a sorcerer of sorts, and having rested her hand against her forehead in a futile attempt at banishing the headache, she felt scales. Her magic must have come from a draconic ancestor. The burn in her fingertips told her it was a fire dragon. Though, from the void all she could recall were a few spells. Basic ones as if she were some beginner. How old was she? Twenty-six? Twenty-seven? She shouldn't be a novice spell caster. Yet, all she could recall were five or six basic spells. Children had better knowledge than she did.

Lucky for her, her name didn't seem lost on her. Airetos. At least she had that piece of herself. It didn't come close to answering any of her questions, though. Who was she, how did she end up aboard an Illithid ship? Did someone do this to her? Who?

She felt the blood pulse in her head, somehow both sating and aggrivating her headache. Her limbs twitched, her sharp teeth ground against each other. If someone had done this to her, she would find them and ensure their suffering was long and painful. Airetos indulged herself in at least eight different methods of torture for her faceless attacker. Whipping them into a bloody pulp with their own spine stuck out as a favorite, leaving them to die slowly.

Killing. Now, that sounded like a good idea.

She pondered the beautiful image in her mind for a minute before her lips pursed. Now, while she had very little recollection of much of anything, she knew normal people didn't often indulge in such barbaric fantasies. Then again, maybe she wasn't normal. Something felt very... correct, almost gratifying imagining such things. As natural as breathing.

For the moment, though, such fantasies could only remain fantasies as long as she stood around like an idiot instead of getting her bearing and, perhaps more importantly, escaping. Though she knew little, she did know that nobody that ended up captured by Illithids by choice. It was best to escape as soon as possible, lest something far worse happen.

Whatever the slimy, tentacled freaks wanted with her, she wouldn't let them indulge. Of course, that raised the question of what they did want with her. Was she just another captive or was there something unique about her?

She pondered the question as she approached a brine pool nearby, glowing yellow.

[aziraphalalala]

She stepped closer, understanding in her eyes.

“So, he left you… for a job opportunity?”

“Nngggghhhyyeeaaaah, you could say that.”

“Well, good riddance. If he didn’t choose you, he doesn’t deserve you.”

“He kind of does, you know.”

This snippet comes from my first ever fic, "In the bookshop, after". I promised I'd answer any asks with 500 words from anywhere on any fic I've written here, so, here we are. Author rambling meta, served piping hot, coming up!

Why did I write this fic?

This fic, albeit a short one-shot, was written in the emotional aftershock of *points finger at the last 15 minutes of Good Omens S2E6*.

The second season finally unleashed a burst of creativity and a desire to write in me that had been lying in wait for quite some time. Suddenly, I had so many ideas, and I needed to let it all out somehow. I drew. I sang. I wrote shitty poetry. I returned to tumblr to scream about Good Omens with everyone else.

Once I wrote this fic, it was like opening a Pandora's Box. I can no longer stop, nor do I want to. Writing gives me life. I enjoy it so much I am now writing a multi-chapter human AU fic which will end up being around 30,000 words. In less than 2 months.

It's crazy, and glorious.

Anyway, back to this snippet.

The characters, the dialogue, the context

This unnamed lady, who steps in to the bookshop as Crowley is slowly but steadily consuming quite extraordinary amounts of alcohol, has an uncanny way of picking up things she shouldn't be able to.

Crowley and the lady have a conversation which happens on multiple levels, especially for Crowley. He ends up being painfully honest, secure in his knowledge that most of it goes over the head of this random person.

We, the readers, are not sure whether that's truly the case. She appears rather unusually perceptive.

I have plans for that random person, and a whole backstory for her. I might write it one day. That fic would go a long way explaining her side of this conversation.

But for now, we don't really know her, and we leave it at that.

What was I thinking as I wrote this?

This moment, these lines, draw heavily from my own life. I, too, once imagined that love is an emotion that in itself can be enough for a relationship. Experience, sometimes harshly, has taught me that in the end, our actions and choices are more important than our intentions and emotions.

Does this person choose me? Do they prioritize my needs? Do they make an effort, day in day out, to make our relationship work?

This is the lesson the lady wishes to drill into Crowley. And if it were any other person in the world, a friend of mine for example, I'd tell them to move on. Good riddance. They don't choose you, they don't deserve you.

But. Aziraphale and Crowley have been friends, enemies and co-conspirators for six millennia. How does one even begin to define the complexities of their relationship?

Have they not, consistently, worked to keep each other safe, to find short moments together that they can share in secret?

Their relationship is a relationship that thrives despite being forbidden. Despite the fear that's ever present in their lives.

Some word choice trivia.

"Job opportunity" is a very purposeful choice, because it's a slightly revolting business jargon term. It's jarring, seeing it in the context of Good Omens and our two supernatural beings. It implies, heavily, that it's a bullshit opportunity, meaning it's not what it seems to be. It implies that the lady thinks Aziraphale made the stupidest choice on the planet for something that isn't worth it.

Crowley kinda agrees, but not whole-heartedly, because I believe he knows Aziraphale had very little choice in the end.

And, let's face it. Being an angel of Heaven is basically a shitty corporate job that sucks the life and soul out of you.

"He kind of does, you know." This is where the conversation really happens on a few different levels. Since Crowley understands why Aziraphale did what he did (at least in my head), he still has hope that they can be together, in the end. That they are, in fact, fighting the same fight, on the same side.

Finally.

I'll leave it to all of you to decide whether the lady truly knows what's up when we say "She stepped closer, understanding in her eyes."

Does she understand, think she understands, or do we misinterpret her expression? Again, how is she there? How can she just pick up the conversation, and so many details without being told?

One day I hope we'll find out.

Thanks for the ask, anon! This was fun. 😊