#trust the process 2.0

[inklessletter]

Hey babe, remember this? Well-

Is this shit recording yet?

[aroacettorney]

we talked a lot about how the incidents in delica absolutely broke ludger, but tbh, casey didnt come out of it unscathed either.

imagine how lonely you must have been to willingly travel to such a distant land just to see someone who was potentially like/similar to you. and when you thought you finally got a best friend who could understand you in a way that no one else could, they turned out to be something you would absolutely abhor with your entire existence. they gave no explanations. they bothered not with excuses. there wasnt even enough time for you to grieve what you just lost because they forced your hands to fight them in a death battle. without a word, they just simply vanished as if your friendship in the past few months meant absolutely nothing to them and you were left alone again, trying to navigate when and what went wrong all by yourself. there was a mix of burning hatred, betrayal, and sadness inside you, but there was no longer anyone for you to talk about it — no one that could understand it. you endured all those feelings for three years with no one to share while chasing after your old-best-friend-now-turned-archenemy for answers because they never gave you the closure you deserved.

even when you finally learned the truth, you realised that they had never trusted you nor your abilities enough to even consider working together. rather, they took on the most extreme measure and didnt hesitate to make you their biggest enemy all the while keeping all their troubles and pains to themselves. best friends, friends, friendly acquaintances, private detective and their client — it turned out that your relationship was neither of them. was it truly your one-sided assumption after all? or perhaps, was it because you failed them when you could have known better and done better? still wanting to keep believing that your companionship was once real, your guilt started gnawing on your conscience. not only you couldnt save them, but your inadequateness also doomed them to their worst fate possible.

then, the opportunity came. you finally mustered up all the courage to utter an apology. even though they acknowledged it, they made no intention to accept your peace offerings. they reminded, "our alliance is temporary". they stressed, "enemies are what we are destined to be". what a fool you were, trying to save a relationship that never existed. either that, or you had never truly been forgiven. they wanted nothing to do with you. they needed not saving by you. it wasnt a closure you wanted but its still a closure you got. in the end, you were left alone once more, with the knowledge of a possibility that you also might not be able to save them again this time.

[piiperpaints]

u ever just have that one idea n finally do it

this is that

[howlingdemon13]

It’s “distress fabric, get covered in paint, and add pockets to a dress” day!

[copperbadge]

Amateur Translation Programs

So I had a lot of imaginative and informative responses to my post about looking for an amateur translation program -- something where I could load in a foreign language and it would insert a box where I could add a translation every-other-line. The idea was that this way I could practice translation with more advanced texts, and texts I chose, and thus move away from Duolingo, which at this point is good for drilling and daily practice but not for more advanced learning.

I didn't find precisely what was needed but I did get some inspiration for further explanation, and I also learned that adding the term "glossing" (thank you @thewalrus-said) into my searches helped a great deal in terms of weeding out programs that were either "Let this AI translate for you" or just endless promotional links for Babbel and Duolingo and such. I thought I'd collect up the suggestions and post them here; at the end I'm including my best swing at designing what I wanted, and why it doesn't work yet.

Suggestion one, from many people, was various ways to generate a page that is simply fixed Italian text with space underneath each line to add in a translation. This is pretty simple as a process and there are sites that will do it for you, such as this one that @ame-kage suggested. However, most of these don't allow for movement in the Italian text, and many produce a PDF which you would need to print out in order to write on unless you're willing to open it in Acrobat (and deal with Acrobat). A good solution for some but not what I'm looking for purely because I'm trying to make this super frictionless so that (knowing myself as I do) I will actually do it.

I did find this version interesting, suggested by @drivemetogeek: Have one word doc saved as your "template" doc and set the line spacing as 2.0 or higher. Select your text from source and paste it into the template doc as text-only. Ctrl a, ctrl c to select all and copy, then open a new document and "paste special" as picture. Right click and set the "wrap text" as behind text. Now you have a document where you can, basically, type over the existing text because it's the background of the page. This seems like the most frictionless version, because you could set up a bunch of them ahead of time. If you wanted to move between desktop and mobile, however, you'd need to ensure that the pasted image was fairly narrow so that you don't have to sideways-scroll.

Relatedly, people suggested generating a document that is simply the Italian text with empty space beneath it for typing in of the translation. This can be done either semi-automated, using a macro or a language like Python, or find-and-replace on, say, the stops at the ends of sentences. It basically outputs the same as above but with a more digitally accessible format, without any more effort than above. If you were to do this in Google Sheets you could also fix the column width so that it didn't do anything weird when you opened it on your phone. But it is still very friction-y, and does not allow for easy shifting of the Italian as needed. There's high probability of the translation breaking weirdly across the page. Still a top option in terms of simplicity and access.

@smokeandholograms suggested another variation illustrated here where essentially you're converting the text to a series of tables, with each paragraph a row, and an empty cell next to it for the translation. I might play around more with this one eventually, since I think I could possibly make it a three-column and put the Italian in one, the translation in the next, and the auto-translate to let me know where I might be slipping in the third. (Not that I trust auto-translate but comparing a hand translation to an auto translation can be useful in terms of working out when I've messed up the way a tense or mood is read. I tend to read indirect verbs as automatically imperative because I'm a weirdo.)

@wynjara linked to an add-in for Word specifically designed for translators, known as TransTools; this appears to employ a macro to do the same thing, though it does have a format where you can place the translation next to each sentence directly rather than in a separate cell. The full suite of tools is only $45 which is reasonable for my budget, but for what I need I think I could also just create the macro.

Using LaTeX as a tool specially designed for glossing was an option on offer, but I don't know enough about LaTeX to figure out the pros of this one, which is in itself the major con -- there's a learning curve that I think varies widely by person but for me is unfortunately a wall. It came out of a discussion on Reddit about trying to find something like what I want; also in that discussion is a link to a code generator that allows you to…do something…to the initial language, but it's not entirely clear to me (I'm sure it's clear to people who understand coding) what you would then do with it that would allow it to be output in the way I'm hoping for. Like, I could turn a paragraph of text into HTML, I understand that far, but any Italian I find is already on a website.

Moving more into apps that might work, Redditors on the LaTeX discussion suggested SIL Fieldworks, which is a professional language tech tool. Fieldworks isn't a program I'd previously encountered but much as with the ones I had, it looks like the learning curve is fairly steep and it is definitely overkill generally for what I need, though it might also harbor within it the thing I want. It is free, so I may download and play around with it.

@brightwanderer suggested using note-taking or "whiteboard" apps such as Freeform or Nebo; these are generally a kind of "infinite canvas" in which you can drop objects, text boxes, or handwriting. I don't know that Freeform would be measurably different to just using Word and a macro, since I'd still have to input/format all the text and then be stuck with the same "fixed text" setup -- and it's also iOS only -- but for some folks it might be more helpful. Nebo is a similar infinite-canvas with unfortunately the same issues, though on the plus it's available for Android, which is where most of my mobile property resides.

@bloodbright suggested that I was looking for a CAT tool, a professional translation tool mainly used by translators working in the field. This was a concept I'd encountered, but I hadn't found a good starting place. They suggested Smartcat and OmegaT. Smartcat bills itself as an AI translation platform and is HARD pushing the "don't translate it yourself, hire a translator or let AI do it" angle, so it's difficult to tell what it offers in terms of actual tools for translators, and it's also cagey about pricing, so I can't really evaluate it. OmegaT is free and gives off big "some weirdo homebrewed this in their basement" vibe (which I am here for) but I also recognized it from screengrabs that were the reason I veered away from professional-grade software: it looked too complex. Realistically, the major downside of OmegaT is that I don't think I can put it on my phone. One thing I did find interesting is that once you translate a portion of the text, the original language goes away, though I assume you can turn that off if needed. I do kind of like that because it means my distractable brain is looking at Less Stuff.

So where did I end up?

Well, it looked like I was going to have to try a homebrew myself. I had the idea of trying some of the initial suggestions but in reverse -- designing a document where every other line was a single-cell table fixed to the page. You could paste in the Italian, which would wrap around the cells, and then enter the English in the cells.

You can fix a table in place in Google Docs -- you click on the table, then under Table > Style select Wrap Text, Both Sides, and Fix On Page. Getting the whole page set up is a little labor intensive but once you did that, you could just save it as a template and make a duplicate of it each time. And this actually works….on desktop.

Unfortunately, if you open it in the mobile Docs app, the app can't handle the fixed tables and automatically moves them all to after the text that's been pasted in. I tried redesigning it so that it's a table within a table -- one for the Italian, then within that a series of them for the English -- but when you nest a table in Google Docs, it doesn't let you fix the second table in place. And you are also still dealing with the wrap issue, although you can resize the page and add a large right-hand margin as a kludge of a fix for that.

You can build this same kind of document in Word, so I tried building one in Word and then uploading it to Drive, but when you open the Word file in Docs (or in Microsoft Word for Android), it still strips the fixed positioning -- there's just some functionality missing from both apps that doesn't allow them to handle fixed-position tables.

So, the design is sound, just not the final execution. If I could program an app, I could probably remedy the issues with it -- it's simply a series of text boxes nested inside one another with different formatting. I would imagine that's relatively basic to set up, although given that neither Docs nor Word can handle fixed tables in mobile, perhaps I've stumbled on a much bigger problem that everyone is ignoring because nobody actually needs or wants fixed tables in mobile. :D

Experimentation is ongoing, anyway. I might simply have to resign myself to the fact that my translation study is going to have to be in front of a computer, which might be for the best anyway when I inevitably want to compare my translation to an auto-translate to see where I might have read something wrong.

[baldursyourgate]

honestly the frequency in which Minthara talks about her mother is... a lot, all things considered. Which is quite interesting.

I don't think I've come across any other drow character that mentions their mother that much. Sure, when you've just left your birth place where you've lived your entire life up to that point, it's normal to talk about your former place of resident and the culture, which also comes with the people but... mommy dearest?

no one:

minthara every 2 seconds: "In menzoberranzan-", "my mother-"

In game, we've seen her mention that her mother taught her how to survive the perils of drow society, how to "guard her heart from those who cannot be trusted", even going as far as attempting to kill Minthara to really drill the lesson deep in: even the one who once nearly died to save her from an assassin attempt could one day turn against her. There's no true trust nor unselfish love in Menzoberranzan.

And then in that same interaction, her mother gained new scars to heal from, courtesy of her daughter. It's definitely not wise to try and attack someone who was trained to be a Baenre soldier (insert navy seal copypasta here), but perhaps that one lesson is too important for Minthara's mother to not teach her child. Even if it means she'd be harmed in the process.

Love is making sure your beloved survives. Makes sure that they're tough enough and understands the treachery, the "drow way" of living.

Reminds me a lot of Zak and Drizzt's fight in Homeland. Only that the ending was different. Drow familiar love is fucked up lmao.

I haven't really seen drow mothers investing this much effort into grooming/training one of their daughter (they just get sent to school when of age or raised by their sibling when young, if they have an older one?)... unless the daughter is either A. the first born (see: the relationship between former Matron Mother Quenthel Baenre and her first daughter Myrineyl) or B. divinely blessed chosen or talented (like Yvonnel 2.0, or Liriel and Gromph Baenre) or C. genuinely emotionally invested in their child (like Zak and Drizzt - he thinks the only way his son could've survived is to know of the brutal "way things are" out there, even if it means he has to demonstrate it himself).

Makes me wonder what is the case with Minthara.

[ineffablelunatics]

The Good Place and Crowley

A while ago, someone sent an ask to Gaiman. It went as follows, “In the book, ‘Golden Girls’ was Crowley’s favorite TV show. Is that slo TV Crowley’s favorite or does he have a current TV show that he prefers?” He answered, “I think he’d love the ‘The Good Place.’”

The Good Place is one of my favorite shows. I completely understand why Crowley would like it. It has some of the best debates of the philosophy and ethics of modern day society including the afterlife. It argues that people should not be defined as good and bad. It shows that people can improve. It tells us why and how they improve.

There’s two things about Crowley that really connect him to these thoughts. 1. Crowley does not like to be defined as good(or nice). Though we haven’t really seen that include bad, I would assume that it would be the similar thought. It also might have something to do with Aziraphale saying those things specifically, but that’s another post. 2. That people are not defined by what happened to them, and that means that anyone can improve.

Crowley fell from Heaven. He fell from grace which made him demon which means that for all intents and purposes, he should be evil. But he isn’t. Crowley doesn’t ever really commit truly evil acts. Any truly evil act that Hell thinks Crowley committed, humans committed. Crowley just took the credit. Crowley likes the thought that people can change. In Hell, he sees tons of people who are awful, but he also sees people who just made some mistakes. He sees demons who are like him who don’t find joy in treating people terribly. He’s seen angels causing harm happily, but others giving away joy like lollipops.

Those two things are fundamental in the show, The Good Place. I would argue Good Omens as well. If Adam had always been treated like he was evil, he probably would have never had friends who he genuinely cared about so much so that their fear pulled him out of his power drunken state. If Aziraphale had assumed the snake was evil(if he even saw him lol), then smited him, where would Crowley and humanity be? The demon with the imagination burned to ash and humanity living with almost decision-less whilst tucked neatly within Eden’s walls. If people couldn’t improve then Shadwell would have never been able to put aside his fears and foolishness so that he could love Madame Tracy and show it. Gabriel and Beelzebub would still be planning Armageddon 2.0 if they hadn’t moved on and fell in love instead.

The Good Place reminds us of the things time and time again. Each of the four main characters get reset, and every time, in the right circumstances, they always become better people. They are also never really defined as good and bad either. At times, others try to define Eleanor as a bad person, but every time, she reminds them that, yes, maybe, she shouldn’t be in the Good Place, but at the very least, she should be in her very own Middle Place. Every time, Chidi teaches her how to become a better person(which only works, because she wants to be one) and in the process, he becomes one too. Just like Gabriel and Beelzebub.

This was way longer than I expected it to be, but here are some quotes from The Good Place and where I think they would fit into Good Omens whether that be place and time or people and relationships.

“Sometimes, when you’re feeling helpless, the secret is to help someone else. Get out of your own head. Trust me. The next time someone asks for help, say yes.” This feels like the whole of S2, specially Aziraphale with Jim and then Maggie

“If you have bills to pay and shit to deal with you don;t have time or energy to become a better person.”  The Resurrectionists in 1827 with Elspeth and Wee Morag

“If there were an answer I could give you to how the universe works, it wouldn’t;t be special. It would just be machinery fulfilling its cosmic design. It would just be a big, dumb food processor. But since nothing seems to make sense, when find something or someone that does, it’s euphoria.” All the couples in GO, but that quote right there seems to be how Crowley and Aziraphale has been holding on for so long

“I guess all I can do is embrace the pandemonium find happiness in the unique insanity of being here, now.” Nina specially during The Ball

“People improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don’t?” Beelzebub and Gabriel

“We have no plan. No one’s coming to save us. So... I’m going to do it.” Aziraphale(specifically him at the end of S2 in my opinion)but also just everybody in S1 with Anathema, Agnus, the Them, Aziraphale and Crowley, just all trying their best

“If soulmates do exist, they’re not found. They’re made. People meet. They get a good feeling, and they get to work building a relationship.” All the couples, but especially Aziraphale and Crowley with the Agreement, they were working on their relationship before they knew they were even working on their relationship

“What matters isn’t if people are good or bad. What matters is if people are trying to be better today than they were yesterday. You asked me where my hope comes from? That’s my answer.” Crowley, because deep down, at the end of the line, we know that he’s an optimist

*reminder that all of this is my opinion, if there’s anymore quotes you would like to add, please do, some of the information might be incorrect

[pstelwitchcraft]

I see some of ya'll failing so horribly to understand C3 and it's driving me INSANE. This isn't about Gods Good/Predathos Bad, it is entirely not the intention of this narrative to say that the Gods are perfect, and while we can all agree whatever is locked up in the moon is most likely evil as fuck, it doesn't mean the Gods themselves and those who align with them haven't caused a shit ton of suffering.

It's not black and white, the story Matt has been weaving since episode one is a lot more complicated than that, and while seeing the characters grapple with making the right decisions amongst all the chaos can be taxing to some, it's incredibly realistic. Because at the end of the day, they are fighting for the world, they're fighting to save Exandria, and if that happens to mean they're also saving the Gods, then so be it, but that is not and has never been their goal.

Being upset at the characters or saying they are going Ruidus or that they're on the bad side now because they decided to help take down the temple that they know is literally oppressing a town into some weird catholization experiment is a terrible take. Because guess what?! Religion and the Gods in Exandria aren't perfect. They literally oppress and kill people.

Of course these characters are questioning whether or not they should be loyal to the Gods. Of course they're gonna try to grapple with what to do, literally over and over, as they're shown different facets of the relationship between mankind and the divine when the Gods lives literally lays in their hands. Because they aren't loyal to the Gods, they are honestly not even that knowledgeable about them, so we're watching them try to figure out what is right, what is moral, literally every step of the way. Like every goddamned adventure party does. But because their narrative is about so many important things, like religion, power, politics and quite literally what could be Calamity 2.0, people take every single thing they do as stance one way or another when it simply isn't.

They will always choose Exandria, the people, their friends, in the end, because that is the only unwavering truth about them. As Ashton puts it, they don't leave people the fuck behind. That doesn't mean the decisions they make or saving the world is going to be easy or simple at all. And it absolutely does not mean they have to like or support the Gods.

I wish more people would trust the process and remind themselves that this is an 100+ episode series, it's not supposed to go at Netflix mini-series pace.

[irradiated-imp]

The Toa Sinis

The former toa Protectors of Metru Nuva, a massive metropolitan city built on Spherus Magna.

The Toa Sinis were infamouns amongst Toa for the ruthless efficiency they operated on thanks to their leader, Toa Ohtto. EVentually, the city turned on the Toa after they broke the Toa Code and the team never got over this and themselves have turned on the city they used to protect.

Toa Sinis of Ice, Ohtto

Ohtto was the leader of the Toa Sinis. He is incredibly intelligent and used to work as a Scholar in the city's knowledge towers before he became a Toa. His inteligence however gave him a massive ego, which only got worse upon becoming a Toa.

His Toa tool is the mechanical arms her wirlds.. They were oroginally a device he attached to himself to help with his work as a matoran, but the process of becoming a Toa fused them to him. They have numerous alternative weapons the claws on them can become.

Toa Sinis of Stone, Lehks

A powerful brute of a Toa, towering over his team mates, and with unparalleled strength. Lehks is absolutely the muscle of the team. He's well known for his incredibly short temper, something that was only really kept in check by Ohtto and the rest of his team.

As a Matoran he worked as a City Guard. Like many Guardsmen, when the Vahki 2.0 were created and introduced to boost law enforcement, he despised them. He didn't trust them, nor did he like the threat they posed to law enforcement jobs. To try and show the Vahki as redundant, Lehks agreed to test out a prototype set of power armor. He loved it, and was always seen with it. Upon becoming a Toa, however, the proto type armor was melded to his body.

Toa Sinis of Air, Tuum

Tuum was an inventor as a Matoran and created numerous useful gadgets that are often still used in Metru Nuva today. His final invention, before becoming a Toa anyways, was a wing pack that allowed Matoran to fly. It never got past the prototype. The prototype functioned, but manufacturers saw no reason to make it with the numerous other air born vehicles Matoran had access to. Tuum spitefully kept the Prototype and used it on a regular basis. The Wing pack even became his Toa Tool upon his transformation.

After becoming a Toa, Tuum found more comfort in the air with his now much more advanced wings.

He was known for his spiteful nature, and tendency to hold grudges. Even before the team went bad, Tuum often went out of his way to inconvenience or bully those who'd wronged him as a Matoran.

Toa Sinis of Fire, Ghob

Ghob was always a little cross wired. Though he kept it in check, he had a destructive nature, and greatly enjoyed breaking stuff which played into his chosen career path in demolitions.

Upon becoming a Toa, Ghob's sky board changed into the new, current shape as a sort of powered glider. It holds within it empty canisters that Ghob is able to transfer fire energy into to turn into bombs.

Ghob was easily amongst hte most destructive of the Toa Sinis, rivaled only by Lehks and even then, Lehks had more self control than Ghob did. This often left Ghob at odds with his team, and the Matoran of Metru Nuva.

Toa Sinis of Sonics, Shuul

Shuul is one of the most pragmatic of the Toa Sinis. When he was on a mission his primary goal was to get in, and get it done as quickly as possible as effectively as possible. Thanks to his sensitive hearing, he had difficulty using his element, until Tuum and Ohtto modified his gauntlets. The new modifications they made allowed him to channel elemental powers into silent shockwaves.

As a Matoran he worked in tectonics, helping monitor for seismic activity.

Toa Sinis of Lightning, Illhon

Illhon is effectively the only member of the Toa Sinis who lacks a Toa tool, channeling electricity through body alone. Initially he had difficulty controlling his element, but he got the of it quickly. He quickly became obsessed with the new found power his element gave him, and the further boost to that his Kanohi Voriki gave him. It wasn't uncommon to see him draining buildings or other powered structures of their energy.

Something no one on his team let's him forget is that in his Matoran days he was an electrician.

The Toa Sinis as Matoran

Been on a Spider-Man hyperfixation lately, and had the idea for a bionicle Spider-man cross over. I'll have a team of Spider-men made later on, once I've settled on the team comp and their elements. Got it, mostly, figured out but still figuring it out.

[trigun-manga-overhaul]

TRIGUN ULTIMATE OVERHAUL AUGUST UPDATE

OVERHAUL UPDATE 08/04/23 - The Japanese Scans, again.

Hey there, everyone, and welcome back to another monthly Overhaul update!

We firstly want to say that we've noticed an increase in people asking about the technicalities of our translation, and how it appears in the Japanese version.

I, as in the project lead and translator, have absolutely been enjoying these asks. It's hard to just write a big post about all the little things that we've written, decided upon or localized. So, for people to ask about specific lines that interests them, it really helps us show some of the work and consideration going into our translation, and helping us perhaps make a people feel more trusting of our translation.

We always encourage people to take all translation with a grain of salt, as you never know what the person behind translations might've gotten wrong, missed or even changed for some selfish goal. It doesn't mean you should treat all translators with distrust, but a healthy bit of reminding yourself that you'll never truly know the Japanese text's words and intentions without reading it yourself is good.

That's why we take what we're doing very seriously and hope that we can earn, or keep, your trust as a reader, and not break that trust. We love having the chance to make you feel more comfortable by explaining our process and our choices, so never hesitate to ask if there's anything you're interested in hearing about.

We also fully embrace legitimate peer review, no matter how humbling, as there will always be mistakes and oversights. It helps us constantly improve and ensure that we give all of you the best translation, and scans, that we can muster.

~~

Anyway, to today's main topic.

As the topic title says, we'll be talking about the Japanese scans again, however there are also other good news in connection with that. Work energy has returned for me, the project lead, and I'm cleaning pages at a quick pace again. As mentioned in this post, we changed some of the tasks each member were doing, so I picked up cleaning Trigun Vol 1 and 2.

It also seems that the result of the poll on the previously mentioned poll will be to post a chapter a week later this year. We decided to leave the choice up to everyone, and so the conclusion is that we'll eventually be running a two posts a week schedule whenever the English release is ready. The entire Japanese version posting run will take about two years and three months with a chapter a week, so will the English release posting run as well.

We'll also be making entirely new chapter upload banners with the new 2.0 scans, all in the same size and format, as to keep them clean and consistent. We'll likely be using the same banner for both Japanese and English release. We'll share more info on the exact dates for releases in the future when we feasibly can make a posting plan.

Trigun Vol 1 is already fully cleaned, and work has already begun on Vol 2. I am typesetting Vol 1 as we speak, and it will be done soon. That means that I have new scans from the early manga to show everyone.

~~

Check below for cool new scans and a few details!

Removing the middle seam and paper damage is always a lot of work, but getting a seamless two-page spread is always worth it. Vulpana did an amazing job on this chapter, however, after this chapter they were struck was a lot of life's bullshit and was forced to a complete halt.

This chapter page is also an example of our new combo font usage, the old font for chapter number and the new font for Japanese lettering.

And here it is with the classic font, as some titles are entirely in English.

The only typesetting we've done for the Japanese versions are the chapter pages, chapter ends, and page indicator. As mentioned in the post about the Japanese scans earlier this week, we've done so to have the chapter and page numbering match with single volume releases, as the scans are from the Japanese Omnibuses.

We're still moving the chapter titles to new spots to try and disturb the art as little as possible, but sometimes there's no way to avoid it.

Other times we completely remove the chapter title from the original page, like above, and move it to another page where it fits. Like always, this includes redrawing whatever was behind the text.

The same cleaned scans will be used for the English version, where we remove all the Japanese text from the scans as well. In the end, we'll have four different versions of the 2.0 scans in storage: Japanese version in original and resized scale, and the English version in original and resized, as well.

Sometimes removing the middle seam can be really difficult, especially when it includes a lot of straight lines that are just slightly not lining up. In the above example I spent three hours just lining every straight line up, as to not ruin the effect.

And sometimes the middle seam is very easy, only needing a few lines to be complete. One thing we can never truly hide is the change in the gradient, as all scans are different and the lighting can really change how dark or light the gradients are. We're still looking into a good way to minimize that effect, but I have some theories.

~~

If there are any topics that you want to see for future updates, don't hesitate to let us know!

SEE YOU GUYS NEXT MONTH!

[inklessletter]

Harder, Munson.

Thank you very much for trusting the process again with me 💚

Go check the version 2.0 of this fanart! You won't regret it 📼🎬

[janetjacksonseo]

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[inevitably-ineffable-husbands]

Hey Steph,

Ive been thinking about this and I need your opinion. (Reaaally enjoyed the liveblog btw <3) I was thinking what to tell Aziraphale at the end why he shouldn't go to heaven and basically: a) as the main Archangel, he'd totally put himself in harms way (they don't have a great track record of dealing with them...). If a second runaway is seen as an institutional failure, what would they do to avoid a third? Totally erase his existence out of the book of life if he effs up, right? To cover their tracks. And he's right there, surrounded by them. b) It's not like he has any real power. See Gabriel; the minute he vetoed deatroying earth, they wanted to demote him and erase his memory. Without hesitation. So he's just a puppet king, so to say. And c) I don't /trust/ Metatron. Are you really trying to tell me they just randomly decided they like Aziraphale? After the way they talked to him in s1? I don't think so. I think Metatron's just trying to split them up, because together they actually hqve a chance if stopping the 2nd coming. So now they're separated, there's an emotional wedge between them and Aziraphale is right under their thumb. In short, and I'm gonna quote what I said when I watched it, "Nooooo! Aziraphale, nononononono. nonono.... no.."

(Also I feel do bad for Crowley. It looks like he's gonna have to save him again and their relationship already seems kind of emotionally one-sided? Like, Crowley listens to him, supports his passions. But their both trash communicators, I guess. Even when they talk, they don't talk...)

Hey Nonny!!

AHHH I'm so happy you enjoyed my liveblogging!! I hope I wasn't TOO annoying, but I had no livestream to scream at about it so my blog it was, LOL.

OOOF okay I'm kind of still trying to process the end myself, and as someone who REALLY sees herself in Aziraphale, I can totally understand why he did what he did. I was going to expand upon it more in the "season meta" I'm currently writing, but answering this question will also cover a large section I'm writing about the ending, so I'll just answer your questions here and link back to this post, hahaha.

Let's touch upon each of your points, and then I'll give you my general all-around thoughts:

A. I was thinking what to tell Aziraphale at the end why he shouldn't go to heaven and basically: a) as the main Archangel, he'd totally put himself in harm's way (they don't have a great track record of dealing with them...). If a second runaway is seen as an institutional failure, what would they do to avoid a third? Totally erase his existence out of the book of life if he effs up, right? To cover their tracks. And he's right there, surrounded by them.

I had this thought too, Nonny, and that's why I think Azzie is being REALLY naïve in this scene, but ultimately... I think it's all about saving Crowley. I will go more into this in my meta, but the gist of my suspicions hangs on that I believe Aziraphale feels he's responsible for Crowley's Fall, and Aziraphale thinks that if HE'S the one in Gabriel's position, he has the power to do whatever's necessary to bring that joy back to Crowley's life.

We have to remember: Aziraphale DOESN'T KNOW what Crowley knows, but we as an audience do, and because we DO know, it's that choice that makes us scream at the TV in frustration because good-hearted Aziraphale, who wants only what is best for his crush best friend, DOESN'T KNOW that this system is why Gabriel got ousted. Azzie doesn't KNOW about Armageddon 2.0. WE know because Crowley knows, and Crowley never got the chance to tell him (and judging by the dialogue in S2, Azzie ALSO doesn't know about the cruelty that was displayed in their exterminations in S1E6). He doesn't KNOW that Heaven despises him as opposed to "puts up with him". Aziraphale IS a good person and he genuinely believes that him being in charge WILL change things. He doesn't know.

HE DOESN'T KNOW.

I REALLY have a sneaking suspicion that Crowley will actually be the bargaining chip for Heaven to persuade Aziraphale to go along with whatever they want, once Aziraphale realizes he has no power. He showed his hand to the Metatron and the other Angels when he perked up about Crowley coming with him. Crowley might be outwardly and publicly protective of Azzie, but Azzie is INWARDLY and privately protective of Crowley, and tends to try to fix a situation on his own which usually goes pear-shaped for him in the end. So, I don't think it will be Aziraphale removed from the Book of Life to get what they want... It will be the threat of Crowley being exterminated for good.

So yeah, we as an audience know that Aziraphale's walking right into a death slash no-win trap, and despite what happened in E6, I think in S3, we will see Crowley come to rescue him. Big Chekov's gun moment when Aziraphale said in this SAME episode "He does so love coming to rescue me". We're going to get rewarded for a lot of Chekov's guns that are in play this season, methinks.

b) It's not like he has any real power. See Gabriel; the minute he vetoed destroying earth, they wanted to demote him and erase his memory. Without hesitation. So he's just a puppet king, so to say.

Exactly, Nonny. As I mentioned, Aziraphale showed his hand to the Metatron. They WILL use Crowley as leverage, and I think Aziraphale will FINALLY see Heaven for what it truly is: just another side of the same coin that Hell is on. Aziraphale is NOT a stupid person, he just truly does see the good in people (Crowley himself said he's too pure-hearted) but unfortunately that good heart tends to get Azzie into heaps of trouble. Like I said above, Azzie doesn't KNOW what Heaven is capable of, truly, because he hasn't seen it. I think once he sees it, and has his whole view about it shattered, when he realizes that, actually, he CAN'T do whatever he wants to make things better, he will be swayed, finally, to go back to Crowley and tell Heaven to fuck off... and only then will he realize he can't leave because of the stranglehold and leverage Heaven will have on him. The other angels weren't candidates in Metatron's eyes because they can't be manipulated. Azzie CAN because he has something more valuable to him than himself: Crowley's wellbeing. And I think it's here where we will get our trope of Azzie thinking "well, I fucked it up with Us, he's not going to come and save me this time".

BUT HAHAHAH Nope, Crowley will hear about this and come in like the vengeful angel he is. Because let's be real, I think even though he's had his heart shattered, he will always go back to Aziraphale to save him; Aziraphale has pretty much become Crowley's life's purpose.

This, then, actually plays into my theory that Crowley IS a very powerful fallen Angel. Archangels actually rank pretty low on the hierarchy (they're actually BELOW Aziraphale's Principality status, so that's an interesting little detail to file away for later). Since this season was primarily from Azzie's POV, I think next season will be Crowley's, and we'll finally get the answer as to who he really is and why he Fell. Because of his former ranking, I think he will be the catalyst that gets Aziraphale OUT of the situation he's going to be in. I really REALLY am confident that the nuggets of clues they're putting into the show about Crowley's true self will pay off in a big way.

And c) I don't /trust/ Metatron. Are you really trying to tell me they just randomly decided they like Aziraphale? After the way they talked to him in s1? I don't think so. I think Metatron's just trying to split them up, because together they actually have a chance if stopping the 2nd coming. So now they're separated, there's an emotional wedge between them and Aziraphale is right under their thumb.

ABSOLUTELY I don't trust the Metatron either, and as I said above, he is manipulating Aziraphale. He knew 100% Crowley would not join Aziraphale in Heaven. He KNOWS that Aziraphale feels lost being "retired" from Heaven, feels like he's not able to do the Good that he wants to do. Metatron's using Aziraphale's desire to Do Good and Make Things Better for Everyone against him, and it's so deliciously cruel and I can't wait for the payoff.

AND. Okay, a VERY PROMINENT PLOT POINT in the season was just how powerful a TINY, SMALL miracle performed by them BOTH COMBINING THEIR POWER is. It SET OFF ALARMS IN HEAVEN, it was so powerful. Crowley unfortunately, in a "blink and you miss it" line, let it be known nonchalantly that they just were able to hide Gabriel so easily from everyone. Heaven now knows that the two of them together would thwart Armageddon 2.0 if they got involved (which they would to protect Humanity). Now, they know to split them up and puppet "the soft one", the one who they still have a grip on, and they have a better chance of initiating their plan with, as I said, the leverage they have against him.

Because imagine what Crowley and Aziraphale could do together if they let their FULL powers combine. Heaven suspects, and they can't let that happen. I think we will get a payoff to THAT Chekov's gun as well. Or, I hope so anyway. I feel it will be a climax plot point and will possibly also be used to shield themselves from Heaven and Hell for good.

(Also I feel do bad for Crowley. It looks like he's gonna have to save him again and their relationship already seems kind of emotionally one-sided? Like, Crowley listens to him, supports his passions. But their both trash communicators, I guess. Even when they talk, they don't talk...)

For SURE Nonny, and that's the point Nina and Maggie were trying to make to Crowley. They have been at a standstill since Armageddon in their relationship, and it's because both are terrible at ACTUAL COMMUNICATION with each other. We SEE how much they care about each other. The foundations are there. Both are in a sort of limbo because they really don't know "what's next". Remember: Crowley slept through about half of the 4 years (from the Lockdown minisode) so really they've not seen much of each other since Armageddon.

That said, I think their relationship only seems emotionally one-sided, because Crowley is REALLY BAD at hiding his REALLY BIG FEELINGS™ to the point that it's noticeable to LITERALLY everyone else EXCEPT the one person that matters. I think I saw a post describe it best: Aziraphale fell FIRST, but Crowley fell HARDER, which is so true. This doesn't mean that Aziraphale loves Crowley less, it's just that Aziraphale has a lot of trauma and hangups that he won't be able to get over until he's finally free of Heaven's claws; he needs to get over the hump that has him believing that he is undeserving of Crowley's affections because they are angel-and-demon. Crowley, on the other hand, has Big Feelings that evolved into endless surface-level pining.

Crowley's love language is acts of service, so it's WAY more prominent in the series and easier to spot. I think Aziraphale's love language is quality time, but in S2 we see it develop more into physical touch as well, which must be driving Crowley INSANE with lust for him. Seriously, on rewatch, I could NOT get over HOW MUCH Azzie actually touches or reaches for Crowley. Even during the Kiss, he can't help but rub his hands along Crowley's shoulders and back. Aziraphale, unfortunately, is one of those people (like me *cough*) that tend to realize Big Things™ Too Late™, and then think it's now Fucked Up Forever, so back into the bottle those Big Feelings™ go. I GENUINELY believe that Aziraphale didn't realize Crowley loved him until That Moment™, that everything Crowley did was because of a crush, not because they were best friends who would die for each other. Trust me, it's REALLY confusing for people like Aziraphale to process a mutual love, to the point that it's scary and better off bottled up for fear of losing that person.

The time wasn't right For Them at that moment. Not enough was said and both have been stuck in a limbo since Armageddon. Both have some character building to do. And when A Moment happens again (and I believe in my heart that it will), it WILL be the right time, because they've finally found each other and are both on the same page.

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In conclusion, I feel S3 will be about Them Saving Each Other from Themselves. It will be about them finally talking TO each other. It will be about the big emotional payoff for all the angst we went through in Season 2. It will be big and emotional and I am ALL here for it.

Aziraphale and Crowley will get their happily ever after. But we HAD to have THIS angst and setback for it to work.

Thank you so much for this ask!! It's really helped me gather my thoughts about sections of S2 :) I have a LOT to say and this is just a small snippet of it! <3

[pinkandpurple360]

I’m on a “recently turned bachelor Fizz fosters recently turned heiress without fit parents, Octavia”

hit right now I just feel like their opposite personalities are too too funny—she needs a new updated Gay Dad 2.0 built without emotional torment, self pity, constant lying and bullshit

I had the idea that somehow some way Stolas had become petrified to stone, as did Stella and Andrealphus. The de-petrification process takes roughly 100 years but Via thinks with enough practice she can reverse its effects. For now he is kept safe in the family garden amongst the plants he adores. Oz has kept Stella and Andre in storage in the freezer room. Asmodeus as leader to the Goetia has given permission for Octavia to be relieved of her duties until her studies are fully complete, while his scorned ex Fizzarolli (according to public image they are married and their ‘fizzarozzie’ ship is extremely profitable and marketable) is trying to see how the other half lives and to find himself and the truth about what happened after the fire, before he can decide whether to accept Ozzies offer of becoming the immortal queen of lust. (He won’t, but he’s keeping the ring. It’s 20 carat gold and the crystal is too handy for quick and on the go outfit changes)

Harvest Moon Festival where Fizz presents to the audience while Via hides behind him and tries to use the magic and every time it fails he has to find a way to stall with jokes

Fizz letting Via hold Precious when she feels anxious, eventually letting her keep Precious. Just. Fizz using his gentle nature and his grounding techniques to help someone else with anxiety is important to me. He also subtly recognises she’s autistic and gifts her noise cancelling headphones which she rudely uses to ignore him when he has very important things to say about vitamins and the value of getting in the sunlight

They both have plans to overthrow the Goetia monarchy and Mammons empire but Fizz keeps breaking into song can he stay on topic for five seconds.

Most people think he protects her from danger and in some ways he does but she’s usually protecting him from danger like muggers, falling anvils, or the fucking microwave oven

He asks if she’d like him to braid her hair and she says “my hair is feathers.” “Ah.”

She clung to him because he’s the only face left that she associates with being happy, with having the dad she used to know back, and her mom. He can’t say no to someone so small and so in need of help but is also scared he’ll end up like a mammon to her, so insists she knows he’s not her hero she can be her own hero.

Octavia, hugging him: Can I…stay with you? My parents are (sobs) I…don’t have anyone I can trust…no grown ups will be honest with me, you were the only person who made me feel happy and at home all my life.

Fizz, shaking like a cat, existential crisis, hands in air not wanting to make physical contact: I er uh um there there small child woman um?? Parenthood uh??? (He looks at Blitz for help) Listen sweetie you can’t just expect me to-

Via, tensing up and terrified when Blitz comes closer: NO!! Go away!! Keep that guy far away from me! He ruined my life!

Fizz now cradles her close to him and glares at B: OH so it looks like you’ve traumatised yet another child? What did you do now. Disgrace!! Don’t ever talk to me or my daughter ever again…uh what did you say your name was kid?

Octavia, happily smiling now she knows Fizz hates him too: Via

Fizz: My daughter Olivia!!

Octavia: Uh it’s Oct—never mind

Blitzo: YOUR WHAT? Fizz! You can’t just adopt this kid off the street like some kind of hero, she’s a royal demon, she’s practically an adult! she’s 17

Loona:

Blitz:

Blitz: That’s different.

Fizz, helping her leave: Cmon kid, I’ll rent an apartment for you. Hell even the entire building. And I’ll stay right down the hall. Not too close not too far. We can even stay in the pride ring if you want.

[pansy-picnics]

how did unknighted dream react to varian coming out/bringing home hugo lol

LMAOOO OK so this is one of my favorite things ever solely bc theres SO MANY different ways it can go and literally all of them are fucking gold

i feel like they always knew varian was Not Straight. im a big fan of the idea that varian transitions after qfad and has a big mental breakdown haircut when his dad gets trapped and considering his feelings towards both eugene and cass i think it was always this unspoken thing all of them knew about. rapunzel and eugene however were obviously Not expecting him to bring home a whole ass boyfriend

of course varian wrote tons of letters home so they both heard everything about the new friends he was making, but varian was insistent on not telling them ANYTHING about his crush because god knows how rapunzel would react if she found out about That. she was suspicious when he came back for the light trial but decided to keep her mouth shut until they were all finished with their work there

i love rapunzel and eugene being super supportive but also a Little protective. and its not really anything to do with anything hugo’s done, they’re all about second chances after all but they’re obviously not ready to see their baby brother grow up so fast. ive seen a lot of fics where one or both of them are very defensive and suspicious towards hugo and it ends with a VERY yummy confrontation from varian where he tells them they need to learn that he’s an adult now and is able to make his own choices and they have to be okay with that. but the route of them being so excited and supportive that it ends up being overbearing is also super funny and in character

i think rapunzel at first would be super excited varian is finding love, and very welcoming towards hugo on a surface level- but as time goes on the tiniest things start to make her paranoid, and she worries a lot about varian getting hurt in some way. cue her snooping around a lot just to make sure he’s okay, varian eventually confronting her about it and her apologizing and promising to recognize varian’s maturity and be more accepting of his choices.

when rapunzel actually starts to see hugo on a deeper level she starts to recognize a lot of his similarities to varian, eugene, and especially herself, and she’s now basically like “oh ok!!! new baby brother!! :)”

she then tries to be a lot more welcoming towards hugo, trying to help him settle into the castle without being too overbearing. of course from hugo’s perspective her seemingly constant mood swings make him very hesitant to trust her, but eventually through varian the two are able to bond and find a lot of common ground

eugene on the other hand is fun bc he’s way more versatile and it can go a LOT of different ways depending on how they’re introduced or how their past together is established. i love the idea of him basically becoming Cass 2.0 and being super overprotective of varian but i also like to imagine he’s mostly just so hostile towards hugo bc he recognizes so much of his younger self and is Cringing about it (he would literally NEVER admit it though). like he’s like “i cannot STAND that kid he always acts so cocky and like he’s sooo much better than me” and cass is like “lmao yeah right? he’s exactly like you when you first came here” and eugene’s just “😐”

anyways they’re best friends (they literally cant stand each other)

no they do start to get along eventually though and i have so many thoughts about the potential friendship between the former thieves, lance hugo and eugene would be SUCH a dynamic and this fandom is sleeping on it fr

and then theres cass. GOD cass is my favorite in this situation by far bc shes way more logical and is like the only grounding force between rapunzel and eugene. new dream are the overemotional parents/older siblings in this situation and cass is like. the wine aunt.

bc see cass already ran into varian at some point during his journey and has already processed most of these changes ahead of time. she already recognized how much varian had matured and how much this trip had changed him. and most importantly she recognized what was going on between him and hugo a Long time ago and literally Did Not Care

in fact cass’s main concern is literally just that she thinks hugo is annoying. its not like she’s suspicious of him at all bc she fully trusts varians judgement and also knows varian is capable of handling himself. she’s aware that varian clearly saw something in hugo and chose him for a reason. she just doesn’t like him solely out of personal bias

cass doesn’t straight up tell raps and eugene what the problem is because she knows they need to hear it from varian more than anything but she does try to kind of push them in that direction. she reminds them like “hey maybe you should try to give the kid more credit. i think he knows what he’s doing” yk that kind of thing.

ironically enough though hugo is WAY more scared of her than he is of anyone else. shes like on the same level as quirin on his list of threats which is hilarious because they are the main 2 people who have like, basically nothing against him

hugo: so is this the part where you tell me you’ll kill me if i hurt varian

cass: ? what?? oh no that bitch is fully capable of killing you himself if he wanted to

hugo: …….yeah thats fair actually.

[thiswomanshouldbewriting]

Back in 2019, I approached the first season of Good Omens without knowing anything about it except what I had seen in the trailer. I had wrongly assumed that Crowley and Aziraphale were two beings who accidentally found themselves working together to stop the apocalypse and actually started liking each other in the process. Like, I expected an enemies - reluctant buddies - friends progression. Of course, that wasn't the case.

It could, however, sort of be the case in S3. Crowley and Aziraphale forced to work together to stop Armageddon 2.0 even if looking at each other is painful now. They're both hurt, both feel rejected, and yet somehow they also both feel guilty. And they would love to keep away from each other to try and ignore the raging pain in their chests, but they can't. So they keep working together. They argue, they snap at each other, but they also help each other, and they start to trust each other again.

And, in the end, they both choose their side, with each other and humanity, and when everything is over and they're alone again they finally talk, and kiss, and move to their new cottage together.