#should probably do something about that

[thesherrinfordfacility]

Hiiiii, this is an anon (not long winded anon though they’re amazing) here that doesn’t really have anyone else to scream about GO with (as of right now) and all your meta and analysis has OPENED MY EYES . They’re incredible!! . Truly, one of the things that drew me to Good Omens in the first place is the little details and how in depth the characters, sets, props, relationships, everything goes. And your analysis just made me realize things that, the thing is, I think I subconsciously knew in the moment but didn’t fully appreciate until someone spelled it all out for me? I love it. So much. Thank you for contributing your thoughts to the discussion of this complex piece of media!

And. Well. I’m not as astute or able to formulate my thoughts in a clear manner as you, so, erm. Prepare for walls and walls of text!

Most of this is just the dissertation of what I wrote after formulating stewing my thoughts on S2 for a couple days after I watched it. (well. Mostly about the ending. But I thought all the episodes and every single second was really good as well and charming and they do well to plant the seeds that harken the Final 15 Minutes, or explore + add context to all of Season 1, or hint at what’s coming next in season 3 (I’m pretty hopeful that the show is doing well enough… but I’ll rerun in it in the background just in case…)

So it probably doesn’t make sense, and there are probably things I interpreted wrong, but i thought it could be cool to send . Hope you don’t mind!

(—> I do think Metatron manipulated the heck out of Aziraphale though. And I do think there’s a possibility he put something into the coffee. Maybe some extra purifying substance, to make the option of heaven more tantalizing. BUT. okay now this next part is a little more speculation and hopes on my part but even if something was tampered with, I think Aziraphale would NOTICE a miracle effect on the coffee, or NOTICE Metatron’s choice of words and language, or RECOGNIZE the manipulation in some way.)

PERSONALLY, even though I partly agree that going back to Heaven is a bad move and likely Aziraphale won’t have as much power as he thinks, I think it was the tough but right decision. Like, Aziraphale is made for doing good and trying to make change. Though people mentioned they they thought he reverted back to his s1 self, THAT self thought Heaven was good. This self thinks that Heaven is bad as it is now, but he thinks he and Crowley can improve it.

IDK. IDK, to me, it seems that the happy ending that a lot of of the fan base was wanting if it were to cut off at season two would feel rushed and brush past a lot of things that needed to be addressed in the relationship. Like, Aziraphale accepts crowley’s offer and confession, Crowley moves his plants in, then what? Shax is (I think?) the Duke of hell and is going to pester them still, as well as Uriel, Micheal, and Salaquel (I’m so sorry for the name misspelling probably they were super cool though…). Like. Again! Book of Life hanging over their heads!

So, yeah! They’re together! They’re not broken up and depressed, woo! but. Is that it? And then they just ignore everything else? Let the Heaven and Hell system stay as it is, and as Metatron said he was planning, let the Second Coming into fruition.

But, like, Muriel! And all the other angels and demons living within the system and suffering for it! We saw firsthand Season 1 especially at the execution scenes where Aziraphale is meant to be burned in hellfire and Crowley is meant to be put in holy water and die a painful death. Like they collaborate just to cause suffering. (Furfur and Shax, for example, as well, who resent Crowley. Shax really wanted to kill and maim, yes, but also she just really wanted recognition and power. It’s easy to disregard them because they’re “just evil demons” but that’s also what people condemn Aziraphale for doing to Crowley so like. ) They’re so lonely, in the 37th Ballister, in that sterile office and kinda like Aziraphale once upon a time, not really considered as an equal or heard even though they’re so sweet. Sent to earth without the slightest training and looked down upon when Muriel just follows her innate Goodness instead of sneaking and spying for the higher ups.

Crowley is right in that it’s not supposed to be their responsibility to fix it and he wants to just go off, but Aziraphale would take on that responsibility for himself just like he promised to protect Gabriel even though he had caused him so much suffering when he was his boss

So just like we saw with Gabriel and Beezelbub, who were high enough ranking to like do their thing discreetly (and well. Didn’t turn out well for them either, Gabriel was literally memory wiped and it took a sneaky matchbox and a gift fly and Aziraphale’s shelter and everything for things to turn out well for them), there are probably other Aziraphale’s and Crowleys within hell and heaven. Either angels who genuinely want to do good and would object to things like killing Job’s children but can’t because of the system/what Heaven propaganda has instilled into their heads, like Aziraphale. Or Demons who don’t really have their FULL heart into pain and suffering (AGAIN. Shax was even surprised herself when she mentioned that humans came up with such horrible things on their own that she hadn’t ever thought of.) like Crowley. And angels and demons who want to be friends and lovers or whatever, or WOULD BE if they were allowed to meet on earth and have normal conversations instead of constantly being like “THE ENEMY” but can’t. All the demons were former angels, fallen, right?!! They were probably friends, lovers, acquaintances, all of that, before the war and the split! We just saw what happened with C and A because they were the earth ambassadors for their sides.

RIP I LOST SOME OF MY THOUGHTS when copy pasting so the next lines might not be as complete but trying to recoup them and continuing on

And the humans!!! They suffer under the current system too! Crowley and Aziraphale teamed up in the first place, even though A knew C before the beginning, in order to protect the humans from both Heaven and Hell. From God’s bets (Job and his children), to the Flood, to things like the end of the world Armageddon and now the Second Coming.

(Maybe I was giving Aziraphale too much credit in my above psychoanalyzing/speculating on Aziraphale’s thought processes and motives and understanding of the whole situation, I admit some of it was copium for hoping he saw through the whole manipulation thing, but either way the moment Metatron mentioned Second Coming would have sealed the coffin and not allowed him to step out of that elevator and back to Crowley because there’s something terrible, just like Armageddon, he has to prevent at all costs. Even if it means this much heartache. Because he cares for earth’s people, for Nina and Maggie, for everyone they met in Season 1.)

Also, everyone, even the ones who understand Aziraphale’s reasoning, seem to assume that his choice is a Total Dead End and there is absolutely No Good to Be Had. Of course, he’ll probably regret it (he obviously wishes to be with Crowley and earth and his bookshop, he obviously still has a favorable optimistic view of Heaven that will get weathered and shattered (but also I think it ALREADY HAS at least a little bit as seen with the Job mínisode and the grave digging thing), and eventually when Metatron is revealed to be conniving and manipulative instead of also a good guy, he’ll regret trusting him then, too.) Of course.

I really understand the ultimate romantic declaration of “I don’t care about anything but you and me, I would burn the world for you, I would do ANYTHING for you” that people see from Crowley and that’s why it hurts so much more when Aziraphale rejects that but the thing is Aziraphale wants both, he wants to love Crowley especially and also care about everyone else? And like. Normal healthy relationships are like that. Even though it’s romantic, it’s wonderful, the first thing toes the line of unhealthy codependency yeah? It’s devastating and shows how much Crowley cares that Aziraphale is his “only friend” and he’s obviously going to be major depressed after the end of S2. Of course. But like, it’s not good to put EVERYTHING on the line for someone else. In a different world, obviously not this one because Aziraphale loves Crowley that’s. So Obvious. But like in a different world where Aziraphale genuinely had no romantic interest in him, not in the “you are a demon and therefore innately disgusting way” but in the “I genuinely just see you as a good friend way” (aromantic) like. Same rejection.

I like watching it this way of course, where Aziraphale feels the same way, and it’s well supported by the text. But like. Idk. Food for thought?? Are my ramblings going off the rails?? Idk! I love good omens because it extracts think pieces like this out of my psyche LOL. So much to talk about, so many scenes can just be picked apart and there’s so much INTENTION BEHIND IT IT’S… AUGHUHGIFN GENIUNELY PEAK MEDIA I UNDERSTAND how people have so much love, and kept so much love for the series for all the 4 years between season 1 and 2 and even before with the book series though obviously the series at this point is pretty much a different piece of media still inspired and adapted by but pretty much doing it’s own thing yknow

ANYWAYS. GOT OFF THE RAILS. BACK TO my previous Point. I think instead of suppressing and oppressing him right away, Metatron would allow Aziraphale to make the changes he wishes to, even if they are small and hard-earned. And I believe Aziraphale is smart enough and loophole enough and rules bending enough and determined enough (he literally lied while swearing on his word as an Angel and truly thought he was going to fall about Job’s children, he realized and used of the idea of Divine Plan vs Ineffable Plan to his advantage to stop the world from ending) there had to be a lot of these small rebellions to keep existing in his partnership with Crowley and everything. He obviously didn’t know everything before, but as we see with the grave digging scenes he is willing to learn and change his views and through it all he has empathy for everyone.

To me, I think it is realistic that Aziraphale actually gets to make some changes, even if it’s not all of them. He gets to put a suggestion box there, you know? He gets to help more people like Muriel, he won’t put down anyone, he won’t bully anyone, and he would discourage that from his peers and HEY, supreme archangel status, maybe micheal and Uriel and the others won’t listen but maybe some will because the Metatron instated him there or maybe because he learns how to be geniunely a bit of a leader yknow? Though I agree he is a bit of a disaster but. It would be so cool.

And it’ll muddle the apology and forgiveness and everything even more, because while Aziraphale of course loves Crowley, saw so many good takes flying around that informed this behemoth but also i wanted to credit this one for what I’m going to talk about next: https://www.tumblr.com/irispurpurea/724196690802950144 (tl;dr: Gabriel and Beelzebub are able to run away because they didn’t care about jobs or humans in the first place, unlike Aziraphale and Crowley who actually love the humans and Earth. Also the same point I made earlier about how running away like they did to Alpha Centauri was as much as an idealistic “solution” to their woes as both of them joining heaven is)

( I love complicated so much muhauahuaha)

Some of the fix its I see, some of the hopes I see about yknow the Coffee theory or Aziraphale not going into the elevator at the last second or the apology dance/Aziraphale literally groveling at Crowley’s feet after regretting everything and everything like a few months into serving heaven (though I would love if the apology dance got brought back AND Crowley does deserve an apology after so much heartache, even if Aziraphale didn’t mean it and only had good intentions he still hurt him)

and by no means are these fix its or theories wrong or bad for what I’m about to say, they just.. I understand people are very reactionary, they waited years for this, they have to wait more, and it ended on such a fraught note. Emotionally devastating like it was meant to be. It’s tough to see characters one loves not have a happy ending (yet). Mentally exhausting/draining. I understand. And also some of the fix-its are being written in the span of a day after the release which is so incredibly impressive? Like wow! Of course they’re Not going to branch into the complexity I PERSONALLY prefer and crave. I understand.

But wouldn’t it be so great if instead of a simple solution, Aziraphale wants his old life back so much but now he’s making a DIFFERENCE (in some ways actual, in some ways manipulated by Metatron to make him feel like he’s making a difference, either way he’s DOING SOMETJING. he’s not gonna be like. Doing Nothing. I feel like having heaven try to trap him in a box right away would only drive him away sooner because at this point I believe that he has a little more self respect than he did before yknow. And also like. The best way to trap Aziraphale would be to bring people who actually needed help into it. Tied down by the obligation to help the innocent and the good.) and now people DEPEND on him and rely on him which makes it so much harder for him to walk away like Crowley wanted him to do yknow.

Basically, instead of “proving Crowley right the entire season” I want him to prove Crowley wrong and actually impress him with the improvements he’s been able to make from inside, BUT OF COURSE. THE INSTITUTION ITSELF IS ROTTEN, must be torn down and rebuilt in order to actually make real what Aziraphale wants in his idealism and I think that’s what season 3 is going to work towards right? And them working together not as two angels in heaven, but as the team they were always meant to be to make things better not Just in their own relationship but also the whole world they live in for like the True True happy ending yknow?? Then they get to settle down in the South Downs cottage.

(maximum copium ahead)

Yea you know what! I want him to also prove all of Heaven wrong. Like they give him the bare bones, the absolutely nothing material and power to make things better and he still makes SOMETHING of it because of his enduring patient strength and empathy and charming press and cleverness. Idk! Aziraphale, I believe, is very competent and capable!! (not at communication. But at helping people that’s what he’s good at yknow) and if even he’s not competent and capable, if he’s suffering and grasping for scraps and straws under this oppressive system, then you know either way he’s giving EVERYTHING he has to make it work. Determination!!! He’s going to do good even if it kills him and even if he wants nothing more than to go back to Crowley and be truly happy again.

And I want him to prove Heaven wrong so much that THAT’S what breaks the camel’s back, they realize he is actually changing things and that spurs them on to have them try to exert more control over him, and then that’s how he and Crowley meet and work together again to stop the Second Coming? Maybe?

The bigger copium I have is that secretly Aziraphale is a mastermind who sees through Metatron’s ploy and has to play along to later outsmart him, like a clever fox caught in a trap and laying the seeds of future escape. Like maybe the coffee theory is real but instead of being drugged Aziraphale keenly notices what was slipped in and is able to keep his wits about him. Or maybe Metatron threatened the book of life punishment or alluded to it so he knows he has to tread carefully.

The only problem I have with this plan is that usually Aziraphale isn’t the type to hurt others for the greater good, especially Crowley (as I type that out. Erm. Well maybe he would) but idk that devastation after the failed confession was definitely not acting.

The nightingale song message theory through the Bentley and the fake smile he gives at the end when he walks into heaven are literally my only basis of evidence for this lol lmao omegalul. And someone saying that the record he listened to had historical meaning about someone rebelling subtly and quietly.

I like to believe the truth is a nice middle ground between all the ideas presented here. Aziraphale is not helpless, but he’s not totally omniscient. He’s a victim of heavy manipulation by Metatron and Heaven, but he means to manipulate whatever power he can leverage from this arrangement to do as much good as he can. And through it all he was thinking of Crowley and his well-being the whole time even though erm. Yeah. That must’ve been crushing.

Idk sometimes I wonder if what I say is decipherable lol like yes obviously heaven is toxic it’s wrong, a lot of the good Aziraphale saw in it was willful ignorance, there is a lack of care, there is a lack of empathy… but like. He can instill some of that goodness in it again, right?

Also nobody’s talking about fixing hell or improving it at all, understandably, because Hell is supposed to be a Bad Place and nobody questions it (but our characters are MADE for questioning things!!!) course the absolutely terrible, irredeemable people (Nazis) got there shouldn’t be saved or given lighter fates than the spider digestion thing.

But maybe the demons themselves can have a bit of a better go of it, since the line between devil and Angel isn’t so different as the show has proved time and time again (also another thing I see floating around and totally agree with. Aziraphale obviously is told that demons are wrong and bad and evil and believes it, and of course the discussion of him thinking of Crowley as an Angel who was unfairly cast down and now fights against his Demon Nature to be nice and do good instead of that just being his authentic self is very thoughtful and true.)

Okay. That’s like 100 of the thoughts rattling around my head and there’s obviously more to come as people slow down and get to pick out every single detail in all the scenes during our anxious wait for the season 3 announcement (hopefully) (Amazon please pay your workers agree to the writer’s demands and renew this) (capitalism….. man…. Another complicated problem…)

I have lots of hope! Maybe too much hope! (As said before, I am probably extremely biased towards Aziraphale because of this) But! I don’t know exactly how it’s going to happen, but I have full faith they’ll get their happy ending 👍👍👍👍

Wonderful season : ) loved it!

I do hope that tumblr adds an automatic read more on this bc it’s so long otherwise it might get hard to scroll past erm. Sorry in advance.

hi nonnie✨ ive taken a bit of time to answer your ask because frankly, i could barely get past the first paragraph without tearing up slightly. this is so kind and lovely for you to say; i think it can be quite easy to feel major amounts of imposter syndrome when you're putting out interpretations into the ether, but actually the fandom is so diverse in perspectives and experiences that everyone's opinion is valid, make interesting arguments, and ultimately create excellent reading if nothing else! so for you to consider my ramblings among those is really appreciated, thank you💓

phooey, though - this is a long post!!! no matter, we shall do what we can✨ *cracks knuckles rolls neck* let's 'ave it!!!

✨p.s. excellent appreciation for the LWA too, couldn't agree more!!!✨

i too thought, come the end of s2, that it was a genuinely stunning bit of television. ill be honest and say that when i went to the screening, i left the cinema feeling... less than impressed. and was convinced that people were loving it just for the sake of it. but two revelations during the full release hit me like a freight train;

a) that this show is built for tv. it's a cosy and intimate and intelligent show - not to say that other big-screen isn't - and this show did not belong (imo) in a cinema. it belonged in its rightful place; on our tv screens. i found myself dreading rewatching ep1 and 2 at home, and dreading the rest of the season as a result, but having the space to fully appreciate it in my own screen made all the difference, and abruptly changed my opinion

b) whilst initially i felt that there were a lot of things wrong with ep1 and 2 (i initially felt the writing was weaker, it was over-comedic and relatively empty of any substance, acting was similarly weaker at points, the pacing was choppy, and the cinematography direction was a lot), as soon as i got to around mid-ep3, it all made sense. by the time id finished the season and immediately cycled back round to ep1, all of it immediately felt more cohesive, deliberate, thoughtful, and frankly a stunning piece of telly.

and maybe it was deliberate, that ep1 and 2 give off that first impression, maybe not - but either way i sincerely hope, in a way, they don't do wider screenings for s3. it was fun as a concept and there was a lovely sense of community and camaraderie in doing so, but it's built for tv (imo), so let people enjoy it on tv.

the thematic writing, the motifs, that ran through the season were amazing. im on my fourth rewatch and still noticing things, seeing parallels that were woven in so subtly that you'd blink and miss them. the music score was beautiful (if sometimes a little intrusive but hey, we move), the acting was phenomenal, the dialogue was delicate and yet brassy and bold simultaneously... all of it really was the masterpiece we needed to follow up s1. s1 had a completely different tone, and initially i wanted that in s2, but now - no, it was perfect. it was whimsical and airy and fun, jazzy, and then packed a whollop in the last half hour. brilliant, utterly brilliant.

i get that its technically a question mark at the moment, and that has people concerned especially in the wake of the avalanche of emotion s2 crashed upon us, but i genuinely think that we will get s3, and get it sooner than people think. we (fingers crossed, i don't want to manifest this) hopefully won't get another global pandemic, hypothetically cutting down the wait time significantly; the only thing at the moment that i think hinders s3 is the strike, but there are far more important things than s3 right now, and the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike and fighting for writer and actor equality is absolutely one of them. but trust - im confident it will be here before we know it.

but in any case let's get discussing meta!!!

metatron absolutely manipulated aziraphale. it might have been a huge manipulation, or a small suggestion, but metatron is definitely the Baddie here. im not sure if there is anything in the coffee; on one hand, it was posed as being key to the interaction between aziraphale and metatron, but similarly i think it could potentially be quite cheap for aziraphale to have been drugged. i much prefer the very simple, personal reason of him returning to heaven being because it made sense for his character, and so he could complete his character arc. that being said, i won't be disappointed either way (s2 has humbled me and taught me to simply trust in neil's writing - ive learnt my lesson!)

as im guessing you've seen from my other ramblings, there is indeed a lot of Unresolved Shit that goes down in s1 and s2, and in all the in-between we haven't seen. plus, this is the middle of the story; in fairly basic storywriting principle, to me it made complete sense for there to be a major rift to happen between aziraphale and crowley. i hoped it wouldn't happen, but similarly knew it was coming well before the release. it just simply made logical sense.

and that aside, i couldn't shake adam's narrative from s1 from my mind when watching the last episode; the whole point is to not sit and watch the world burn in the hope that that means a reset and everything will be better again. destruction is destruction. so again, it made complete character- and story-sense for aziraphale to choose to want to rebuild heaven for the better. he and crowley have been hounded and pestered and spied on for their whole existence on earth; i can't imagine that either of them, even crowley, would ever want anyone to go through the same thing. but crowley's fear and rage is paralysing, quite understandably, so i completely understand why he was trying to get aziraphale to stay. that being said, if i were in aziraphale's position, id have chosen what he did.

essentially, nonnie, everything you have said in respect of aziraphale's choice and why he chose it? completely agree with you. you've highlighted some brilliant 'what ifs' that, dare i say it, i think sometimes the fandom is missing when they consider the Feral Domestic™ scene; that there is a wider picture to be seen and considered, and just because this season has put a microscope on aziraphale and crowley, and their relationship such as it is, doesn't mean that that wider picture has disappeared, or has lost any significance to aziraphale especially. once again, his choice to me makes complete sense, and was required to effectively continue the story.

the only thing i will say is that i don't think it's a matter of proving crowley right or wrong. i think it's a matter of aziraphale proving something to himself; and yes, that's where i agree that there does need to be, in s3, some show that aziraphale is successful in revolutionising heaven for the better. perhaps even a timeskip, where he's been ensconced in heaven, being a benevolent, kind, and conscientious boss, and actually making change that on earth (or wherever crowley goes) crowley will benefit from. and hear about, and maybe start to question the concept of change; he was right to fear and detest heaven as it was, and it was understandable that he had the reaction that he did, but nothing lasts forever; including the stuff that he'd been sure would never change, and would only continue to remind him of pain, sacrifice, and anger. but crowley has to come to that conclusion for himself; aziraphale cannot and should not do it for him.

there will ultimately be an undercurrent of peril in s3, of course (hardly be a story without it!), but the main thing for me will be crowley learning that he cannot always be aziraphale's saviour, and aziraphale learning that crowley must seek his own salvation, whatever that may look like. the answer, for me, does not lie in heaven or hell, not even with each other, but within themselves. and then bring themselves together, as two wholes with edges that fit together but are valid and existent on their own.

thank you for dropping into my asks, nonnie. this was really nice reading and insight, and i thoroughly enjoyed it. make sure to get your thoughts out into the ether though, other people ought to get to enjoy them too!!!✨💓

[ladyofvoss]

might be time to look into therapy

[inkskinned]

probably time for this story i guess but when i was a kid there was a summer that my brother was really into making smoothies and milkshakes. part of this was that we didn't have AC and couldn't afford to run fans all day so it was kind of important to get good at making Cool Down Concoctions.

we also had a patch of mint, and he had two impressionable little sisters who had the attitude of "fuck it, might as well."

at one point, for fun, this 16 year old boy with a dream in his eye and scientific fervor in heart just wanted to see how far one could push the idea of "vanilla mint smoothie". how much vanilla extract and how much mint can go into a blender before it truly is inedible.

the answer is 3 cups of vanilla extract, 1/2 cup milk alternative, and about 50 sprigs (not leaves, whole spring) of mint. add ice and the courage of a child. idk, it was summer and we were bored.

the word i would use to describe the feeling of drinking it would maybe be "violent" or perhaps, like. "triangular." my nose felt pristine. inhaling following the first sip was like trying to sculpt a new face. i was ensconced in a mesh of horror. it was something beyond taste. for years after, i assumed those commercials that said "this is how it feels to chew five gum" were referencing the exact experience of this singular viscous smoothie.

what's worse is that we knew our mother would hate that we wasted so much vanilla extract. so we had to make it worth it. we had to actually finish the drink. it wasn't "wasting" it if we actually drank it, right? we huddled around outside in the blistering sun, gagging and passing around a single green potion, shivering with disgust. each sip was transcendent, but in a sort of non-euclidean way. i think this is where i lost my binary gender. it eroded certain parts of me in an acidic gut ecology collapse.

here's the thing about love and trust: the next day my brother made a different shake, and i drank it without complaint. it's been like 15 years. he's now a genuinely skilled cook. sometimes one of the three of us will fuck up in the kitchen or find something horrible or make a terrible smoothie mistake and then we pass it to each other, single potion bottle, and we say try it it's delicious. it always smells disgusting. and then, cerimonious, we drink it together. because that's what family does.

[finefeatheredfriend]

been crying all night (well, until i fell asleep and since i woke up a few minutes ago) and the area around my eyes is super sore, more than it usually is after crying so much... i wonder if it's because i've got more salt in my body because of the lithium so that my tears are more salty..?

[captainjonnitkessler]

"Obviously Americans don't have a real culture, so in order to heal yourself spiritually you have to find another more exotic culture to become a part of. But ONLY!!! if you have a genetic connection to that culture!!!! Whether you are being respectful or appropriative depends not on your actions but only on whether you have the mystical Blood Connection or not. Again, you HAVE to heal yourself spiritually, because I know for a fact that you are spiritually damaged by not caring about your heritage as much as I do, and specifically you have to return to your ancestor's traditions and reject any culture other than your own. This is progressive."

Bestie this is starting to sound a lot like blood and soil nationalism with extra steps

[aestheticallynotdeerlightful]

Style swap- Invader Zim and Psychonauts

Cause I thought it would be fun and practice

.

(Please do not use or repost my works anywhere without explicit permission from me first thank you <3)

[lucabyte]

Hmmm just gonna spit this headcanon out in text post form since A. I don't think I could exposit it well enough in image form and B. It's not actually textually/thematically substantiated and I don't like actually staking my stuff on just vibes alone*

But anyway. I'd say it's pretty evident that all the islanders forgot their names, right? King obviously. Because why the hell else would he do that, but also Siffrin No Middle Names No Last Name.

They're 'pretty sure' they've 'always' been 'Just Siffrin' 'as long as they can remember'. It's a pretty cruel twist of the knife to say that they don't even get to keep their birth name as a memento, which is why I'm saying as such.

My utterly unsubstantiated claim is I think it'd be cute to say that Sisyphus *is* the name Siffrin initially picked, assuming the myth of King Sisyphus is recontextualised as idk, just a play or something in the setting. But I like the idea of Siffrin going 'oh shit 🫵 he's just like me fr' at a tortured fictional character long before the irony kicks in.

As for how Sisyphus -> Siffrin. I think that chronic mumbler and emotional doormat Sif just did not correct people who misheard the name during their time travelling, and went through enough places with incompatible phonologies (pronounceable sounds in the language) without ever really writing it down that it just got kinda. Changed until it was unrecognisable, and Siffrin just went with it until the earlier pronunciations slipped out of their swiss-cheese brain. And they just kinda don't remember any of that.

Also, something something the horrid realisation that Siffrin also named themselves after a King. Just not as blatantly.

*(though I think there's something here about Siffrin, a guy from a belief system that seems to thoroughly disincentivise autonomy and self-motivated choice continuously having their hand forced to make changes/choices they don't want but have no choice but to... It's not solid enough to really back this up tbh, but it informs it.)

Anyway.

[fexalted]

good omens + text posts (part 9)

an assortment i made last year with some season 2 mixed in for variety :3c

[caffeiiine]

kunikidas ideals have the potential to be self destructive and kunikida can be considered passively suicidal, he is also not the polite and respectful man fanon makes him out to be- *gets shot*

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

not enough discussion about the gavins' complicated relationship with feminine-coded/beauty products, i don't think.

[triangular-static]

look i understand if people just don't like the idea of billford, i think we have a different internal concept of what shipping means (they're not good for each other at all but i need to dissect their dynamic like a bug. you understand. it's fun) but it's fine to avoid things you don't like, good for you genuinely

however people saying they like. don't see it. like. i'm not saying there's no platonic way to read it, i'm aroace spec myself i'm all for reading things in different ways. but i do think saying they weren't partners in any queer sense at all is trying too hard to go against what the narrative is trying to say, or missing it. somehow

anyway media literacy time if a character makes a joke like this

and the previous context of that joke within the show is that it's about an ex wife. what connection do you think the text is trying to get you to make.

and that's just from a writing point of view. not even noting that from an in universe perspective ford likely knows the joke from the same source as stan. and is therefore. placing himself in that role of the joke are you seeing where i'm coming from

(not to mention bill's side of this text which is. extremely manipulative but also does not read very platonic. again, it can technically be read as platonic! bill literally can manipulate ford's feelings. but the specific wording used is very much meant to look like possessive ex partner wording whether the character means it that way or not. it's coding. look again i'm not saying it was good for them i'm just saying there was something there.)

and then there's also the divorce/break up/rock bottom input on the website. like. how else is that supposed to be read. and the corresponding page in the book itself.

the language being used here. like yes he's saying it in a joking way but then there's the other side that isn't joking which is him crying at the bar. it's the both sides (the very coded language on top of the very genuine emotions and dynamic beneath)

i know most of us are on the same page with this i've just seen a couple people saying they don't see it when this is some of the most clear cut coding i've ever seen. and these are just the things that explicitly reference a relationship off the top of my head i'm not even including the general vibes of Everything

tl;dr it's barely even subtext anymore it's all but straight up text. what's not clicking have we forgotten what coding is (lighthearted i just enjoy the phrase what's not clicking. what's not clicking)

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Peeped the horrors

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[azure-clockwork]

I love three houses discourse because I'm pretty sure everyone just picks their route based on which house leader they're the most gay for and then tries to defend their pick by pointing out the other sides's war crimes via twitter memes. Reader, all four of them do substantial quantities of war crimes. So many. We're just here because the woman with Issues and a big fuck-off axe said so, and then we gotta justify everything she did in the name of dismantling the class system. I mean, I'm here for that, but you could also try justifying Charm Man uses poison and perfidy to try to stop racism, A Sad Little Meow Meow gives no quarter instead of doing therapy, or the Thicc Pope tries to bring back her mom via human experimentation, depending on your tastes

[elodieunderglass]

Do you have more Moby Dick: Modern Translation chapters anywhere that certain interested parties (me and everyone with taste) could read?

In reference to this translation of Moby Dick into insufferable modern idiom, in which Ishmael is suddenly shown up in a startling light as a person we’ve actually met and knew well but didn’t really like:

I’m sorry, I haven’t written any more of that! After chapter 1’s mad rush of energy, the book tackles more tricky, boring and unfunny content, including passages that are just uncomfortably problematic in any time; and, like, entire chapters about listening to a church sermon.

A line translation (and that is mostly a very faithful line translation! The only thing I regret not doing was perfectly capturing the fart joke!) apparently has a lot of educational value, and helps to reframe the whole novel. That’s worthy work! But i simply wouldn’t want to do a line translation on the next few chapters. My brain is picking daisies instead, already. I would say: “sorry, I’m abridging this for my own mental health. You’re eligible for a free refund.” In which case the educational value is negligible (you can just read the plot summary online. There’s a really big whale in it.)

Anyone else who wants to take a stab at it (FROM HELL’S HEART) would be welcome and I’ll gladly promote your efforts. It’s just. I am going

🌼-🌼-🌼-🌼-🌼-🌼-🌼

- come here let me measure your head

[skitskatdacat63]

2023 Brazilian Grand Prix - Sprint - Fernando Alonso

[felsicveins]

Opening the asks again huh? Alright I’ll bite.

What’s your decision on Otto’s missing heart situation? Where is it? Does it exist? I want answers!

Not gone, just faded