#which just is not the case with Claude

[butwhatifidothis]

🔥 Dimitri

Hmmm... I guess my hottest take for him is that I often wonder what it'd be like if Dimitri had like... an unendearing flaw? Like a consistently Not Perfect aspect about his character that visibly and noticeably makes other characters upset/annoyed with him that aren't a result of a staggering amount of untreated and exacerbated mental trauma.

Don't get me wrong, the arc he goes through makes it to where he doesn't necessarily need a flaw to still make mistakes (since the making of mistakes and the overcoming of them are often what makes a character arc impactful) and he's a fine enough character as is. It's just that, hm... I'll use Claude for an example of what I mean right? Outside of his arc of learning the truth and opening up to others, he's a guy that (using one flaw) tends to cross boundaries with people and has that be a trait of his that crops up in multiple areas. And it's something that does noticeably make others uncomfortable when he does this (Marianne's supports being the best example of this), so it's undeniable that this is meant to be a flaw in his character. It's also not a flaw that is meant to endear you to him the same way, for a classic example, being clumsy would be.

It lets me know that it's not just because Claude has to go through his character arc that he exhibits flaws in his character, which... kiiiinda isn't really the case with Dimitri? He only makes the mistakes he makes because the narrative decided to shit in his cereal - if they didn't have a driving narrative force causing them to go through growth through the making of mistakes (think those boring-ass No Powers Modern Day College AUs), Claude would still be nosy-to-a-fault and would still have to work on that outside of a grander narrative, because he as a character independent from a grander narrative has this flaw.

Dimitri on the other hand is never violent, dismissive of others, withdrawn, etc., until an outside force meant to forward the narrative pushes him to exhibit these flaws - which again! This is by no means a bad thing! Dimitri is still a pretty good character, in large part because of this role in the narrative he has! I just sometimes wonder what it'd look like if a character got annoyed/upset about a flaw of his - or if he otherwise just showed off a flaw of his - in a more... casual setting? Like it didn't have to do about death or vengeance or trauma, but just "Hey man I didn't like that you did that mind knocking it off?"

[randomnameless]

Replying to @fantasyinvader’s post mentionning how Linhardt and Hanneman are more interested in - especially if you don’t poach them - science than leading the people, or even, the people themselves, I wanted to make a post about Lin’s support with Catherine, which is played as a “for science!” support where Cat is amazed at his dedication to research stuff...

But it has those ominous lines :

But to continue my research without taking this chance to know the truth—what would be the point?

Besides ignorance can breed even greater dangers.

Linhardt wants to know “the Truth” and says ignorance breeds dangers... Which is a reasonable point to make, but this is immediately followed by this :

For example, do you know for whom Thunderbrand was originally crafted?

We’re talking about the “truth” hidden about the relics - which is more dangerous, ignorance or people who know “the truth”??

The goddess.

Catherine replies with an argument of authority, most likely the only Rhea thought would make most people stop thinking too much about the hows of Relics and drop the topic...

But not Linhardt!

Correct. And because of that, everyone just stops thinking about it.

Yes, that’s the point.

No one really knows what the Relic is made of, how it was crafted, or what its very structure may be.

Until we know those things and truly understand the power and the danger Relics hold...

We won't be able to...gain any new knowledge. I'm tired of talking.

^^^^ 

This, this is the reason why that secret was made, and the truth hidden! And while those are, say, reasonable questions to have about “magic weapons”, bear in mind Linhardt’s natural route - i.e. where he isn’t poached - with Catherine is SS, where we later learn Nemesis got “more power” from the corpses of the Nabateans...

(Which can be tied to the WoH and Willy’s war, as depicted in Houses, as he “crushed people who wanted more power”, are we talking about people who knew where and how Nemesis got his shinies and wanted more shinies?)

Linhardt will have this new “knowledge”, but what will he do with that knowledge? What are going to be the consequences? Should that truth be revealed? Would he try to kill a Nabatean to test a theory about Relic making?

This support touches one of the themes completely eluded by the game about Truth and if it should always be shared with the World, or if some truths should be hidden to protect some people -

SS!Linhardt is someone sensible (sort of, he also has this line against SS’s final boss “Well, that's something, isn't it? A shame we must kill her. Consider the research potential...“...) who wouldn’t skin Flayn alive to see if her bones can really be used to make a relic...

But unrecruited Linhardt or even CF!Linhardt doesn’t give a fuck about being sensible or not, fights alongside Baldo’n’Waldi, which raises an entire can of worms, can we really believe Linhardt, who’s passioned by Crests and their applications, would just roll with Baldo’n’Waldi popping up as Crests Beasts, heck, when some of the War Assets are artificially engineered by the Empire, who also makes artificial Crest Stones? Wouldn’t Linhardt try to, idk, know how those “things” are made, and oversee researches himself?

He has the common sense to spare Indech, by not rattling him to Supreme Leader and Hubert in CF, but is it because Indech has no interest for him in CF, so he doesn’t want the battlefield to become more “bothersome” since it’s useless to kill him, or for some reason, wanted to spare him because he’s still the same guy who’s afraid of blood and hates bloodshed, but when it came to Baldo’n’Waldi he cannot give any fucks?

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

Poked my head into some of @mysticdragon3md3′s thoughts regarding popularity with DimiClaude fanon and am happy to say I’m here to Talk (tee em).

I also saw the post from the user saying why they were falling out of love for the ship, and... yeah. The people they’re talking about, the generalized group of people who do certain things, definitely bother me as well.

I love that you pointed out Claude is not flirty and is just playful. It’s not the DimiClaude fandom alone unfortunately with that though - it’s the entire fanbase that views him as a flirt. And, according to Twitter, a slut. Yeah. Yeah. I know what they... “mean”... but it is still not him.

Them being annoyed with each other is also fanon and a very strange one. Never in Houses did Dimitri come across as being annoyed or bothered by him. In fact, they have friendly banter! Dimitri doesn’t get specifically exasperated at Claude, but that’s just more so how he is as a person and he sometimes doesn’t understand playfulness. That said, he does not berate Claude the way he berates others. There’s one instance I can think of where he berated Claude and that was in the DLC when they were talking to Aelfric for the first time.

In Hopes, same deal in AG. In fact, he’s quite fond of Claude in AG. GW itself was a well discussed mess in a lot of ways, and even then as a ship they didn’t have a lot of negativity. If nothing else it was an odd opposite, because even as enemies when Claude admitted he couldn’t defeat Dimitri alone, Dimitri just basically laughed, smirked and walked away. That’s like... the worst of their relationship in GW and it’s extremely mellow.

I think part of the problem some dmcl fans are facing are the fanon version of the ship rather than what they’re like in canon. It is definitely true that part of the dmcl fandom has absolutely warped the ship into being something it really isn’t and never was in canon. There’s also this whole thing about Dimitri being the dominant, feisty one with Claude being the uwu blushy one and it’s just... not them. Not as a pair canonically, and not individually. When Dimitri gets “dominant”, he’s, uh, not in a good mental state. It’s a mental illness that makes him like that and personally I’ve never appreciated seeing people use it for a kink for a ship. Normally I’d say people can like what they want, but I get the feeling a lot of dmcl fans have absolutely pushed their views onto others and driven fans away.

I will also say have absolutely, 150% come across those kinds of fans. The ones who refuse to listen to anyone else, but if your headcanons don't vibe with them then you’re just completely “wrong”. Not only do they portray the canon characterization poorly if portraying it at all, but they tend to also bring it down a racist route, which is... beyond ironic considering they should be the last ship that deals with that based on their characters and stories.

Engage kinda went wonky with a good few things regarding the previous lords, so I don’t see Dimitri being like that as some kind of definite canon. Actually, even in Heroes their interactions are friendly and calm. The “worst” banter they had was their swim alts, while on the opposite end we have the brave alts who apparently hang out together outside of the castlegrounds, and for so long that they can’t be of any help in a search for someone (which like lol how long you gotta be gone to have no idea and can’t help at all lmao).

I think people see outside-Houses canon scenes like those and just... decide it’s their actual canon. Dimitri is not, in any way, actually mean to Claude in canon. That is unfortunately a very popular fanon. In Houses especially, when Dimitri doesn’t know Claude well in the mock battle he’s more like ummm hey Claude your defenses are open what are you even doing, more than being like ugh Claude you’re so annoying. In the real version of that mock battle though, a good few months had passed and their battle quotes are significantly more approachable and they clearly have respect for each other. Dimitri knows Claude likes to fuck around and be goofy sometimes, and he picked up on that and played along with it in the JP version (in the English version he simply picks up on it, but there’s no anger whatsoever and it’s just more oh okay I get it).

As far as Engage goes, ultimately I just see it more as an extremely condensed version of their mannerisms, and yes, they for some reason, especially in the localized versions, try to keep up the whole rival shtick when Dimitri never even felt that way about Claude, and he never gets truly annoyed at Claude. Ffs, in canon Dimitri literally drops everything after retaking his home from the Empire/TWS, and runs to go save Claude. Literally. The next day. While Claude is a little tsun about it (!), Dimitri is just “come on let’s go hurry hurry no slowing down pick up the pace we are saving Claude”, and that’s basically him the entire chapter except with the Arundel specific stuff. When he talks to Claude one on one, there is literally not a single shred whatsoever in any plausible way or in any damn universe any tension from Dimitri to Claude. He just wants to know he’s okay and relaxes once he knows Claude isn’t hurt. I mean literally, no, like... that’s them, in canon, in their Natural Habitat together and I have no fucking clue how the portrayal of them in fanon got so insanely warped beyond recognition.

Also, Engage kinda dropped the ball with a lot of stuff with the other lords. Hell, they’ve been unable to keep Ike’s character consistent throughout all of his non-canon appearances (Awakening didn’t seem too bad, but Fates was pretty awful for example. They can’t seem to really understand the character they’re writing anymore, and idk if it’s just because the writers have changed and such/aren’t the same as Tellius’ games had, or they just don’t care to keep him consistent).

They also try to make Sigurd sound wise and super helpful in every single solitary iteration of him outside of FE4 which is honestly just obnoxious as fuck lmao. Sigurd was naive, foolish, overly trusting, and far too kind and gentle for his own good. It ultimately was what led to him following orders blindly, having blind faith that his king was righteous and would give him the right orders (without realizing the court was very much in disarray during his absence and with several other prominent court figures away because of the war). Sigurd was too quick to believe in the good in humanity and that things would work out, and it led to him not realizing how wrong he was until it was way too late and he had to take shelter in a foreign country to avoid having to fight the same people’s armies who had the court’s ear.

Basically Sigurd is nothing like they write him to be in every. single. solitary. iteration. outside of FE4. 

(SPOILER here just in case you care lol. Or anyone who is reading this. Or if you’re someone who somehow does not know about the biggest known spoiler in the whole game) He has one little section of potential dialogue (i.e. it’s triggered by a very specific condition) that shows somehow ghosty Sigurd has grown more wise and understanding ??? while being dead ??? and somehow learned while being dead that the world do be full of grief and Stuff. (END SPOILER)

So they pretty much took like, two lines of dialogue from FE4 and made it Sigurd’s entire fucking character forever in every single game he’s been in since. If nothing else, let that be your insight on never to trust content you see outside of a character’s original game. At that point it’s simply fanservice because they don’t even know their own characters. If they wanted to write even a semblance of Actual In Game Sigurd’s Personality And Not Two Lines Of Dialogue That Are Completely Optional And Quite Honestly HIDDEN, it would be very easy and reasonable to do so. They choose not to, and then we get what they did with Houses’ lords.

Another portrayal I see too often is that Dimitri and Claude... argue??? I won’t lie, their Heroes summer alts was the very first time they even seemed to “argue”, and it was mostly just goofy nonsense that means nothing because they’re literally alts in swimsuits, and it wasn’t really them being vicious at each other. Meanwhile in canon, they’re always very calm and able to talk through their problems - even in fucking Hopes in the GW route. Even in the worst possible circumstances for them to be in, that is, as enemies, they were still able to talk it through. Barring Claude’s written in idiocy so he could be a mouthpiece for Edelgard and do her bidding by invading the Kingdom (which was literally nothing but plot convenience because Actual Claude would’ve reasoned his way out of doing that), even in the worst possible situation, they still called a truce and still worked things out verbally, calmly and peacefully.

Point being, this whole cat fight dmcl portrayal isn’t even remotely close to their canon selves, and normally I’d say, you know, like what you want and enjoy your ships how you want... but it’s pretty much almost entirely the people who view the ship that way that uh, attack people who don’t agree with them or insult them/laugh at them for seeing the ship differently. These are the people who make you feel bad, for enjoying a fictional ship of two pixelated characters kissing, because you don’t like the concepts in their head more than the way you’ve interpreted the canonical characters.

To be totally frank, I have a visceral hatred for the fanon portrayal of dmcl because it makes Dimitri out to be terrible and makes Claude some kind of punching bag for Dimitri in various forms. There comes a point where it’s like, you ship something and then there’s the point where you ship two characters you made up in your head, who aren’t the same characters you first started to ship, because you’ve warped them so extensively that they became nothing but a person’s OCs with their faces and some similar backstory elements at best.

[coolfoxykitkat]

Woke up this morning at 3am to [INTENSE PAPER BAG SOUNDS] and went back into an unsettling half sleep bc yesterday at three am my cat woke me up via screaming so he could go in his Paper Bag Tunnel with me watching and be told he is a Good Boy at three in the morning for going in his Paper Bag Tunnel so I assumed he was doing that again, except [INTENSE PAPER BAG SOUNDS] intensified and I finally sat up to find that he had another paper bag which I had set out as additional enrivcement to the tunnel (hidey hole v tunnel) AROUND HIS NECK bc this one had like. Those stuff cardboard twine handles which I didn’t even THINK about before and anyway this fucking baby almost KILLED HIMSELF with a paper bag >:(

[tan1shere]

Bite It Lick It Spit It - where'd you put it (extra)

A/n: thought I'd add a lil smth smth since everyone's loving the previous story, enjoy you horny mfs MUAH 💋

Warnings - suggestiveness not really any smut. Still mdni just in case doe <3

The original - masterlist

After that blissed out night, you've been wearing that underwear. All. The. Time. And she loved it, it drove her mental. Whether you were just wearing a plain t-shirt with them around the house. You'd wear them with skirts in public. You were like an intoxicating drug in her eyes, mind and soul. She truly couldn't get enough.

So much so, you found them missing on occasion. Either they were in the wash, or Ms Eilish had them somewhere in her possession. Theyd tend to go missing when you take them off after a long day. Her fucking favorite. Once you eventually caught on it was her doing the abducting, you came to her. Justtt to ask. Even though you had all the idea on why she did.

"Bils." You say going over to her and patting her down. "Frisky much?" She replies. "Where on earth have you put them." She brings her finger up to her lips. " 's a secret." You roll your eyes. "Billieeee." "Fine fine, they're probably in my pants on the sofa in our room." Your eyebrow raises. "Probably?" She shrugs. "Orrr they could be in a few others- I can't remember which." You sigh at the response. "You're crazy." You say heading for the stairs. "For you? Fuck yeah baby!"

It had become a habit that she'd stick them in her Jean pants. She'd take it to work sometimes forgetting where she was, and the fact she still had them in there until Finneas embarrassed the shit out of her. Or more so herself.

"We could maybe do something like this-" He began to speak about the stuff they were working on, when he noticed something on the floor. He knew Clauds underwear and that was something she definitely didn't own. "What on earth." He bends slightly, picking it up. Billies eyes widen, so incredibly wide her eyes might've popped out. Her cheeks go so red, snatching them out of his hand. Fuck, you dumbass idiot. She swallows. There was an awkward silence wondering how he was going to react. When this dude, let's out the wheeziest laugh known to man.

Billies eyes rest, almost glearing at him. "That is not funny, I can't believe that just fucking happened." He tries to control his laughter. "You truly are a dumbass." She swats his arm but he just continues his giggles. "Back to work come on." She spits, having enough of the laughing. "I was like- hmm Claudia doesn't own anything this-" "FINNEAS." She groans. He just laughs some more, she was never living that down. But Billie being Billie she eventually joins in on the laughing, shaking her head at the silly situation.

Yet again you were on the search for them, looking through most of her pants. You gave up in the end, calling her.

"You have them as we speak don't you."

"Well damn, you caught me."

Even during she needed them. Just the fact such a tight slutty thing was on your body for the whole day drove her wild, she didn't care in the slightest how filthy any action may be. Sniffing them, so on and so on. One of her filthy fantasies was you having them in your mouth, as you rode her. Just dangling there between your teeth. You were a tad bit confused at why she requested that, but the way she'd moan under you. The way she'd say your name. The feeling of her fingertips on the skin of your thighs as you rode her. Mixed in with your tits bouncing in her face. It was foul, but she enjoyed every single bit of it.

She was so thankful you went into that shop that day. Blessing not only you with a pretty pair of new underwear. But her aswel, getting the pleasure of witnessing it first hand.

You're welcome

[francis-writes]

Could you do a NSFW Alphabet about Claude Frollo or any other Disney Villain you prefer?

Judge Claude Frollo NSFW Alphabet

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Perhaps you wouldn't expect this but he gets very soft and cuddly. He's too tired and high on serotonine so for some time you don't see him scowling. Instead he just nuzzles his head in your chest and pulls you closer to him.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Claude doesn't pay that much attention to his look, he rather brags about his wisdom, power and righteousness but if he had to choose something, it would probably be his figure in general. The fact that he's tall and slender, yet still strong despite his age.

In your case, it would be your thighs. He likes to squeeze them, lay his head on them, have his head squeezed by them

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

It isn't that important to him but if Frollo had to choose, he would decide to come inside of you. First, because he's catholic and it's one big breeding kink, second - because it makes him feel that he possesed you more.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

You are his dirty secret. Other people probably don't suspect that Frollo has a lover and even if he makes it official, he wants everybody to thing that your the most proper christian couple, sleeping together only to make kids, in complete darkness, without any light, missionary and God forbid any additions to spice things up. If any of you have any marks from heated session, you must cover them and play a virgin in front of Paris.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

I headcanon that before meeting you, Claude was a virgin or had maximum a few intercourses. In general, he was celibate in repressed, avoiding even thinking about carnal desires.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

He doesn't have one, it depends on his mood. Sometimes he prefers missionary so he can be maximally close to you, sometimes he likes to take you from behind to dominate and overpower you, sometimes he likes you on top. There's no rule.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

To quote Cabaret: "You know this funny thing about Frollo? Yeah... there's nothing funny about Frollo". Maybe once now and then he says something funny, but it's usually morbid/dark/threatening. You know, his kind of humour.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

He doesn't pay attention to it but he doesn't have much hair there anyway. They are small, delicate and gray.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

Well, he's very passionate, that's for certain. He always fuck you as if it was his last day alive and he uses every opportunity to savour your body.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Remember when I said that Claude avoided even thinking about carnal desires? Well, that's not completely true. Sometimes when he was laying sleepless in bed, he gave into his urges and jacked off, wondering how would it be to break his vows and feel someone's warm touch. But he always had a great remorse later.

Now when you're together, he still jacks off but usually when you're away and he has no choice but to take care of himself. Other things that changed is that now he thinks about you; and he doesn't feel any guilt later.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

A lot. I already wrote many posts about his kinks so now I will just give a quick summary: Frollo is a switch. He likes to torture and dominate you, perhaps roleplay, but he's also a big sub with mommy kink. And he has a foot fetish.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

He claims he's refined and picky, which is usually true but when it comes to sex, Frollo would take you wherever. Your bedroom, his office, dungeons of Palace of Justice, even his carriage. If he gets horny, he's not gonna wait until you come home.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

I know it sounds cliche, but everything. Once you get into his bed, it goes like avalanche of repressed desires. Everything in you turns him on, you don't even need to tease him. Your look, your joke, the delicate touch of your hand. Oh, and also murder and torturing people but that's by the way.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

Despite his tendecy to fuck in risky places, Frollo would rather avoid getting caught or let people know more details about your intimate life. He has reputation to uphold.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Claude loves it, no matter which way. He enjoys being waken up with a blow job but he also can spend hours just to give you pleasure.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Depends on the moment but he usually likes it rougher, no matter who is in control. Still, there are times when he just wants some sweet loving.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

He's all for quickies and nothing strange, considering how often he gets horny. No matter the place, he always can take you right here, right now.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

As I said, when you break that first "oh no, it's a sin", Frollo is pretty much open to experiments as long as they stay a secret.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

He isn't that young anymore but he still has some vitality in him. Anyway I would say that if he takes a little break after each round, he can last long.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

How many toys existed in middle ages? Anyway, when it comes to basics like ropes and whips etc he's all for it but you would have to convince him to use a dildo for example. (It takes a bit convincing but it's not very hard)

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

He doesn't tease you (he likes to keep his image of stoic cold judge) but enjoys when you do it. He can't stand it for long tho and he quickly pulls you to the nearest private place.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

He tries his best to stay quiet but he fails miserably. He only can hold back his moans a bit when you're in a more public place and Frollo has to avoid ruining his reputation (never stopped him from fucking you in the carriage tho)

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

It's a tough topic because it can as well be one of no's as one of the kinks. Perhaps both because forbidden fruit tastes better. In short: blasphemy kink and hierophilia. If you convince him to read scripture or wear a cassock during sex, he will be secretly really turned on.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

According to 1st law of dick, he's packin, but tbh i would adore his dick however it would look.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Bigger than you would thought in his age. He would probably like to fuck a few times everyday, start and end every day with your body (and enjoying it in breaks from his job).

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Rather fast. As much as he likes it, sex tires him, he isn't so young after all, so he needs a quick nap.

[maluuustrawberry]

Undesirable encounter

(Claude Frollo X Female reader)

Synopsis: You were the new seamstress in Paris and Frollo suspects that you were harboring Romani in your shop. It looks like your first start was more tense than you expected...

A/n: I confess that I am in love with the Hunchback of Notre-Dame and I especially love the book. I hope you readers like it, and if you want to give me tips I accept (you can correct me too) If you want other Disney characters, you can ask me💕.

(Guys, I don't know if you know, but the word "gypsy" is a slur and should not be used, the correct one is "Roma" Or "Romani people" I put "Gypsy" only in Frollo's lines since you know the type of person he is.)

It was just another ordinary day in Paris, you had arrived in the city a few months ago and worked as a dressmaker. You immediately became known for the beautiful dresses you produced for the girls and the beautiful clothes for the boys too. You had an excellent aesthetic sense.

But what you had in the way of talent, you also had in the way of kindness. When you heard about the persecution of the Romani people, you felt touched by the situation and decided to help them. It was very risky, but you weren't going to stand by and let it happen like the other citizens of Paris were doing, letting themselves be manipulated by Frollo and his hate speeches. There was a basement in your house that you used to store fabric and sewing materials. You took advantage of that room to help some Romani hide in case of emergency if they were being chased by the guards and if there was no time to run to the court of miracles.

And so it went on, you were extremely careful not to leave any traces, until one day or another these "rumors" ended up reaching the judge.

You were sewing up the sleeves of a client's dress, which had been placed in the moulage to make it easier for you to work, and your attention now turned to the bell that rang as soon as the door was opened. Immediately, the atmosphere of the place changed when you saw who had entered. You knew those clothes, the face worn by age and you couldn't forget that look of superiority and pride, because himself thought he was important and better than everyone because of his opposition and faith. Looking behind those glass windows, you could also see some of his men at the front of the store:

“Bonjour, madame.” Frollo said sternly, snapping you out of your thoughts. That thick, authoritative voice gave you the creeps. “I'd like to know who owns this establishment. Your husband is here?”

“A-Ah! Good morning...” You forced a smile and stuck the needle into the moulage so you wouldn't lose it. “Your Honor, I'm the owner, and no, I don't have a husband.”

As you said this, the judge looked you up and down with contempt. Of course, in the 16th century, a young woman like you not being married was a disgrace to society, and on top of that, being able to read and owning your own business was even worse. You weren't tense or nervous with him in your store, on the contrary, you were so calm... After all, you cleaned out the basement and removed any evidence as soon as a family of Romani's moved out recently:

“I've received information that you've been harboring gypsies in your house and I'm here to find out the facts, have you been harboring gypsies?” He got straight to the point.

“No, sir.” You pretended to be as honest as possible, fortunately you were good at lying.

“You know that if you lie, the sentence for insubordination is death...” He moved closer in an attempt to intimidate her.

“My conscience is clear. You have permission to investigate my store, since my words don't apply to you.”

“If I wasn't allowed to, seamstress, I'd still make a point of searching this place from top to bottom, whether you agree or not.”

The older man signaled for some of his men to enter the store before you could protest or complain. Since you were the only one who seemed to have enough courage to go against the judge's ideas when you were right. They went in and started rummaging around for clues, looking everywhere, even under the skirts of the dresses on the mannequins.

Frollo looked you up and down in an nothing unobtrusive way, you didn't notice the glances, but as soon as you did, it gave you the creeps and you avoided looking back at him. He had never noticed you in the city before and he noticed your accent, deducing that you might be a foreigner. The judge couldn't take his eyes off you, you were a very beautiful woman and seemed so delicate, and it seems that some feeling awakened in him when he saw that you were without gloves and your dress showed your shoulders. He came out of his thoughts when a guard approached:

"Sir, we've looked everywhere and found nothing..." Being a clever woman, an idea came to your mind: perhaps it would be better if they looked at everything to leave you alone.

"Have you looked in my basement, gentlemen?" you asked, kicking the rug that hid the small door in the wooden floor of your store.

Frollo was suspicious, but sent his men in to search every corner of the small cellar. Fortunately, they didn't find anything either, just sewing materials and expensive fabrics. After looking around in vain, the men left the store, leaving you and the judge alone:

“I apologize for this inconvenience.” He said as you went to the moulage to finish the dress.

“You shouldn't believe every rumor out there, Your Honor, not all of them can be true.” You said politely. “but apologies accepted, I know it was for the good of Paris and you care a lot about the city.”

Returning to work, you thought he would leave after all that had happened and notice you "busy" sewing, but no, he stayed in the store while walking slowly around analyzing his surroundings:

“This basement...” He pointed to the carpet above the small door. “Why was it hidden?”

“I don't see the need to show everyone that I have a basement here.” You replied nonchalantly. “and besides, I think that old door would spoil the pretty look of my store.”

Frollo didn't seem to believe in that very much, but you shrugged and continued sewing. There were a few seconds of silence, you could only hear his footsteps coming towards you and could feel that man's gaze on you all the time, causing you a certain nervousness or fear. What did he want anyway?

“Do you want anything else?” you asked in an attempt to break the silence and take your mind off the discomfort of feeling his gaze on you, stopping your sewing and looking at him now.

“I just want you to know.” He said, standing close and looking at her with disgust. “I'll keep an eye on you, I won't trust a literate, single woman so easily... I know women of your kind.”

“I don't think who I am or what I do has anything to do with helping... Ouch!” You interrupted yourself with pain when you felt the needle pierce your finger. It was normal for this to happen when were working with sewing, but it had never been this deep, Maybe it happened because of the anger you was feeling at that moment.

Immediately you dropped the needle out of sheer instinct, and in a quick and daring moment Frollo grabbed your hand with a certain amount of force, bringing it in front of his face, which had a small smile of satisfaction on it. The judge was a sadomasochist, he enjoyed seeing someone in pain, especially when it was someone he thought deserved such a punishment. You were shocked by his attitude, you weren't expecting it and didn't know how to react. What was he doing? Frollo continued to hold your hand, watching the small drop of blood ooze from your pricked finger, but his attention wasn't just there, it was on your fingers, your soft skin and the sensation it brought when you touched it with the contact of the warm hand and his, which was a little cold:

“What are you doing?” You asked, with a bit of hatred for such a vulgar and daring attitude, and he laughed a little.

“What would the church think of a woman exposing her bare hands in front of a high-ranking man like me?” You had no reaction for fear. Gradually his fingers entwined in yours and you saw that his eyes went to your small cleavage and your bare shoulders. “And it's not just your hands that are exposed...”

You quickly pulled your hand free and he looked at you incredulously:

“My hands are only exposed because I can't wear gloves when I sew, and you still don't have the right to do that. It's in the Bible; If your eye or your hand causes you to sin, throw it away!” A small smile came to Frollo's face when he heard that.

“So bold... It's typical of women like you to turn away from guilt in order to confuse men's minds with pagan thoughts, but that doesn't matter any more...”

He walked away, heading for the door to leave, but first his attention turned to you:

“It was a nice chat, seamstress... I want you to make me a cloak and sew me a pair of gloves, I'll be expecting you to deliver them tomorrow night.”

After saying that, he left, leaving you with no reaction to what had just happened. You were angry, but at the same time relieved that he hadn't found out. As soon as he left, you stared at your hand, which he touched and intertwined with his large, thin fingers. You'd have to be more careful now, he'd be stalking you and the reason wouldn't just be because he suspected you of helping the Romani people, it would be because of something else and you know exactly what it was and what his intentions were...

End...

[the-bitter-ocean]

Miscellaneous Childhood Mira doodles with Euphrasie + HCs of what her parents looked like (this isn’t canon this is just my take on it based on what little information adrienne gives and also the game itself gives on what Mirabelle was like precanon etc. Drawing of my hcs of Mirabelle parents designs as well as an insanely long character study/ theorizing on Mirabelle was like pre canon is under the cut:

“Ocean why do you assume she might not be on the best of terms / isn’t close with her biological parents” it’s like a combination of things tbh? Mirabelle mentions repeatedly how much the people of the House of Change, especially Euphrasie has done so much in helping her learn and grow into the person she is today. Throughout the game she talks about how much she cares about/ misses different people in the game and how they are all important to her. You’ve got the head Housemaiden Euphrasie, who did everything in her power to protect her at the cost of herself, was mirabelle’s mentor and even gave Mirabelle blessing of being immune to the King’s Time freezing powers. You’ve got Claude, Mirabelle’s roommate that she cares about despite sometimes getting on her nerves ( she knows how dedicated Claude is to helping others and stopping the king etc), her other fellow housemaidens, the people she knows in dormont and of course all her companions that chose to help her on the journey to stop the king in the first place (Isabeau Bonnie Odile and Siffrin) she loves very much. Initially before getting any information from the in character QnA or Twitter or the QnA on Reddit, I had assumed that her biological parents were dead or that she never met them or had them to begin with but it’s not the case here.

Mirabelle talks about that when she first arrived at the house / prior to getting there she didn’t know how to do a lot of things basic skills. Siffrin also mentioned that the journey itself really changed her since he first met ( because initially she was a lot more shy but now she’s more confident in herself as of canon events in the game). Mirabelle said that she was taught by Euphrasie and the other house maidens. It’s giving the vibes of someone who arrived at the house ( whether by personal conviction to run away and find people who will understand her / that she can hope to understand and connect to) or her parents dropped her off there because it would be easier for them to do at a young age.

M: {The Head Housemaiden...I have to save her...}

I: […]

M: {The Head Housemaiden...She's such a wonderful person." "She helped me out so much! I couldn't do anything before I came to the House, I could barely sew my own clothes, and she helped me, she taught me..." "I wouldn't be the person I am without her!"}

Despite all of this she doesn’t talk about her biological family at all not even in passing despite the whole “ everyone and everything as we know it in the country could be frozen in time for good if things don’t go well” ( which is noticeable in comparison to how easily she can talk about how much other people in her life has cared for her and how much she wants to save them all from the kings destruction). In a in character QnA session when the subject of families / parents was brought up she has a very stilted and awkward response. The tone she’s answering it in feels like she’s hesitating or at the very least isn’t a 100% sure on how she feels about her parents ( and in truth probably hasn’t or didn’t want to think about them). We see the kind of way Mirabelle talks when it’s about people she loves in game before! It’s passionate and confident and full of love/ conviction that she cares for them! So seeing that in comparison to this is well..this isn’t having that energy truth be told. (Screenshot for those that don’t use Twitter)

Also Adrienne a while back posted official character playlists for each of the characters on Spotify to give insight to everyone on what the characters vibes were like and the song choices were very striking to me. The song choice for Mirabelle in particular that made me go !!!! was seeing Elle me dit by MIKA . For those who are unaware of the song and what it’s about, it’s essentially a song about a mother telling her kid all her high expectations of him and how she’s disappointed in the way he’s living his life.

Given how Adrienne stated that mirabelles parents don’t understand her and she in turn doesn’t get them either, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s heard similar sentiments growing up / had that sort of pressure to Change or behave in a certain way. ( Even with her dedication the Change belief making her happy Mirabelle still will lament about how she’s afraid that she’s not doing enough as a house maiden or that her identity of being aroace somehow would upset others/ makes her feel alienated in comparison to how everyone else can change easily. ) This combined with the fact she canonically has anxiety and has moments where she isn’t very confident in herself is.. deeply worrying! Yes I’m aware that people can just have those types of thoughts even in a good supportive environment/ experiences but the combination of all those factors isn’t exactly aspiring confidence.

Anyway that’s my ramble I hope you all enjoyed my analysis/ headcanons yipeee ^_^

[indigovigilance]

Continuity Errors

Crowley can stop time. We’ve noticed buggy things about time. Let’s talk about it.

I’m going to start with an overview of every time he has definitely frozen time in order to establish the mechanics of Crowley’s time-stopping power in the GO universe. Then, I’m going to talk about other events where Crowley may have stopped time, and it wasn’t (directly) shown to the audience.

or read this 3,500 word beast of a meta on Ao3

edit: if you're deciding whether or not to read this, check out the reblog notes!

Opening obligatory "do not put anything about this in Neil Gaiman's askbox"

Crowley freezes time locally, selectively exempting individuals

S1E2

In S1E2, Crowley freezes time at the corporate training ground to interrogate Mary Hodges, formerly Sister Mary Loquacious (played by Nina Sosanya, actor for Nina in S2). It may seem like she’s just hypnotized and time is progressing normally around all of them, but that isn’t the case. Immediately before Crowley hypnotizes Hodges, we can hear gunfire in the background; a few seconds before Hodges is released from the trance, we hear shouting and sirens. But during the time that Hodges is entranced, all we hear is three things: the dialogue, music, and what sounds like the ticking of a kitchen timer. 

We could do a little bit of extrapolation from the fact that the beginnings of gunshots and siren sounds are temporally very close together, especially depending on how we measure time. Crowley turns the paintball guns into deadly weapons at 36:59. Crowley freezes Mary Hodges at 38:47. A ticking sound starts the same moment. We also hear what we will come to recognize as the “pause time” sound, a sort of wobbly sound. The ticking sound seems to stop around… 40:07? Right before the line about lovely little toesy woesies? It’s unclear with the overlapping tracks. At 40:11 Crowley says “let’s go” and we can hear sirens in the background start now. Aziraphale then snaps his fingers and unfreezes Hodges at 40:17.

So during 191 seconds of screentime, 84 seconds of it was spent with time frozen, if I accept the ticking sound to be the indicator. If time was only frozen locally, meaning just the paintball grounds and not the nearest police station and roads leading to it, then emergency services had just over three minutes from the time the first live round was fired to arrival. If time was actually frozen globally except for Crowley, Azirarphale, and Hodges, then emergency services got there in 85 seconds, or less than a minute and a half. Maybe Britain is doing something wildly different than here idk but I think the more likely explanation for the event timing is that Crowley is only freezing time in a local bubble. The shooters stop shooting but the police are still driving towards them while Crowley and Aziraphale are interrogating an entranced Mary Hodges.

The case with Hodges is kind of confusing because the audience is presented with a false dichotomy between “frozen in time” and “hypnotized.” It’s actually both. Crowley has frozen time around the three of them, but Hodges, like Aziraphale, was exempt. It just so happens that she was also entranced at the same time, which explains as well why Aziraphale can release her from the trance, since our best evidence indicates that he can’t control time.

S1E3 & S2E3

In S1E3, Crowley freezes Jean Claude, the executioner at the Bastille. Immediately before, we can hear the guillotine, screaming and jeering outside the cell. As soon as Jean Claude is frozen, however (13:29, complete with wobble sound), there is complete background silence, except for the dialogue between our ineffable aristocrats. When Crowley restarts time, background noise restarts as well. This evidence indicates that Crowley froze time for the surrounding area as well as inside the cell.

In S2E3, Crowley freezes Mr. Dalrymple. We don’t have definitive information about how much of the rest of the world is affected since the scene takes place indoors on a quiet night and there are no external cues of time starting or stopping.

S1E6: Freezing Out Satan

In S1E6, not only are Crowley, Aziraphale, and Adam pulled out of the normal flow of time: it seems that they are also pulled out of normal space. They appear to be in an ethereal desert where we can see their wings, but we don’t actually know where they are. The way we enter, inhabit, and then exit this time-stop is completely different from any of the other three explicit timestop scenes: Crowley must use his whole body to summon the power to cast the miracle, they travel elsewhere, then he must use his crankshaft to exit the time-stop.

I take this to indicate that freezing time when Satan is near takes a lot more power than freezing time around Mary Hodges, Jean Claude, or Mr. Dalrymple. Presumably, the power a being has, the more power it takes to lock them out of a bubble to stopped time.

Time Stop Mechanics

Here are my key takeaways from analyzing these four scenes:

Crowley isn’t so much freezing all of time as pulling himself and Aziraphale (and sometimes Adam) out of the flow of time. The effort this takes is dependent on the entities that they are “pulling away” from. It is easy to pull away from humans, so much so that they don’t have to pull away very far and can occupy the same space in a bubble of paused time. When he is “pulling away” from Satan, however, he must pull away much further, all the way to another plane.

Crowley’s ability is so powerful that he can use it to escape Satan. He could use it to lock out other powerful beings, if he wanted to, but it would take a lot of effort.

Aziraphale, a being with power somewhere on the spectrum between human and Satan, could be frozen by Crowley’s powers. The fact that Aziraphale is still present and active during all of these scenes, unaffected by the time stop is only indicative of Crowley’s choice to exempt him, just as he does with a hypnotized Mary Hodges and Adam.

Crowley has stopped time on Aziraphale

In a previous post I have addressed the possible symbolic meaning behind the Honolulu Roast sign that suddenly appears behind Crowley in the S2E1 coffee shop scene. This addresses the symbolic meaning of Honolulu with respect to Aziraphale, but fails to address the “roast” part, which I have the opportunity to do now. I begin by establishing two premises:

Crowley loves Aziraphale and after 6,000 years knows him very well.

Crowley is a dick.

Crowley sits down at the table across from Aziraphale and asks him what the problem is. At this point, there is no “Honolulu Roast” sign behind him. The camera flips to Aziraphale as he (badly) tries to deny that there is any problem. When the camera flips back to Crowley, a “today’s special: Honolulu Roast” sign has appeared behind him.

What does Crowley do next?

Crowley roasts Aziraphale.

Crowley proceeds to read Aziraphale to filth, rattling off all his tells and putting him in his place for even daring to think that he could mislead Crowley about his internal emotional state.

While we’ve seen a lot more of his soft side this season, we cannot forget that the demon Crowley, at the end of the day, is a prick. He really did pause time just so that he could go get a chalkboard, write a pun on it, and hang it on the wall behind him like a display card for open mic night. He’s still going to help Aziraphale, of course. But he’s going to make fun of him first.

Let me reiterate: Crowley literally paused time, got up from the table, put up this sign, then sat back down in (as close to) exactly the same position (as possible) to fool Aziraphale into not noticing the pause, because this joke is entirely for Crowley’s own amusement. We have some cinematographic evidence of this besides just the sign itself: the lamp behind him has moved slightly, and the camera angle focusing on Crowley has changed. Literally, the left hand side of the frame gets cut off due to the repositioning. From a production perspective, this scene would have been shot all at the same time, so should not have changed angles. That said, they did a by-hand follow-in of Crowley walking in and sitting down, then switched to a dolly, but… I have faith that they could have matched the shot line-up practically pixel for pixel if they wanted to. All to say: changing the camera position before and after, alongside the other conspicuous changes, seems like it was a deliberate framing choice used to indicate that Crowley tried his best to get back into exactly the same position, but was just a little off.

But Crowley’s prank is troubling from a perspective of honesty and agency. Based on the way the dialogue progresses, it seems pretty clear that Aziraphale doesn’t know that he was frozen. Whether or not Crowley could freeze Aziraphale was beside the point until this scene where we learn that Crowley would, even for a really dumb reason like making a joke at Aziraphale’s expense.

Before moving on, I want to note that the sudden appearance of this sign could be characterized as a continuity error, even though it was the result of a deliberate action by an in-world character. Jettison your traditional understanding of “continuity error” as “production made a mistake.” In this universe, we can have continuity errors by virtue that Aziraphale is experiencing time as if it is continuous, not noticing that he functionally blacked out for a few minutes and that things have changed around him. This is not a show-level continuity error. This is an Aziraphale-level continuity error.

Crowley can reverse time

Credit where credit is due: it was this comment on the Ao3 version of my meta, The Erasure of Human!Metatron, that became an earworm that got me thinking specifically about Crowley's abilities:

So thank you, LoveIsLove &lt;3

Let’s go back to the Mary Hodges scene, or actually a few minutes before. Our ineffable idiots get shot by paintballs.

“Look at the state of this coat. I've kept this in tip-top condition for over 180 years now. I'll never get this stain out.”

“You could miracle it away.”

“Hmm… Yes, but… well, I would always know the stain was there. Underneath, I mean.”

Aziraphale finagles himself a favor without ever actually asking for it. Full points, princess. But let’s examine the actual content of the dialogue. This cannot be a complete 100% bluff; Aziraphale is not going to tell a straight lie to Crowley that they both know is false about the respective nature of their powers. It must be the case that there is some truth to this statement. There is a fundamental difference between what Aziraphale can do about the paintball stain and what Crowley is actually going to do about it. Furthermore, what Crowley does is something different than a miracle.

Crowley then blows on the stain, it disappears, and Aziraphale looks quite pleased. Yes, yes, he cajoled Anthony J Acts of Service Crowley into doing his signature move, but also, he’s genuinely thankful that Crowley did something for him that he couldn’t do for himself, because miracles don’t work like that. Notably, Crowley doesn't snap his fingers or make any other gesture that we normally associate with miracles, and we don’t hear the miracle sound, which is further evidence that this is not a miracle, but something different.

If you haven’t already, please read my meta entitled Jimbriel, Satan, the Book of Life, and what it means for Crowley. It explains in depth and with evidentiary support my theory about how erasure works in the Good Omens universe. The Cliff’s notes version is that erasing something, whether it be a name from the Book of Life or a paintball from a coat, is akin to erasing a pencil mark on paper; it’s technically gone but you’ll always know it was there. Underneath.

What Crowley has done, then, is not erasing the paintball stain.

He’s reversed it.

When he blows on the paintball stain, he is reversing time in a microcosm of the universe, truly making it so that the paintball never hit the jacket. In a world full of rubber erasers, Crowley has the only Control-Z. When things are “erased” by the Book of Life, they are changed, but when Crowley reverses something, they never happened (making Beelzebub’s description of the Book of Life actually a more accurate description of Crowley’s power). It is something unique that Crowley can do that Aziraphale can’t, and we haven’t seen any evidence of any other celestial being pausing or reversing time. Please feel free to reblog with links to relevant meta if I’m wrong about that.

In true Neil Gaiman style, Crowley using this power to do something mundane like get rid of paintball paint was an incredibly benign and subtle way to indicate that Crowley has an immense, untapped power that we have not yet seen him use for any major purpose. 

I repeat: we didn’t see him use it. Because usually, like Aziraphale, we the audience are exempt from the time freeze, and we get to watch what happens. But this time, we were frozen out with Aziraphale.

Clock Theory revisited: a reinterpretation of “continuity error”

A summary of clock theory

Neil Gaiman’s ask and answer on clock theory

Neil Gaiman responded to an ask about the clock jumping forward from 9:25 to 9:40 before and after the kiss with a single sentence: “It’s a continuity error, I’m afraid.”

In the usual manner, Neil is not lying, but he is relying on you making an incorrect interpretation of his seemingly straightforward and innocuous but actually ambiguous and incredibly meaningful statement. As I stated with regards to the Honolulu Roast chalkboard sign, do not interpret “continuity error” as “production made a mistake.” Interpret “continuity error” as “Aziraphale believes that his experience of time is in lockstep with the actual flow of time and doesn’t realize that 11 minutes passed while he was frozen.”

Let’s consider the evidence:

Image at timestamp 41:04 “[Hold that thought!]” the clock reads 9:25

Image at 45:04 “If Gabriel and Beelzebub can go off together, then we can” the clock still reads 9:25

Image at 47:56 the clock now reads 9:40. 

Image at 48:14 the clock reads 9:40

There are two four-minute gaps, from the perspective of the viewer, and we have views of the clock face at both ends of each gap.

Gap 1, from 41:04 to 45:04, the clock hands do not move at all, nor do they in any of the intervening shots.

Gap 2, from 45:04 to 47:56 (or 48:14, as you prefer), the clock hands move 15 minutes.

The Occam’s razor, Doylian explanation for why the clock hands don't move from 41:04 to 45:04 is that the clock is a prop. It does not have any timekeeping mechanism, the hands don’t move unless some human being opens up the glass, reaches in there, and manually adjusts it. They weren’t going to interrupt filming this moving scene to move the clock hands minute by minute, so it seems pretty plausible that the fact that it doesn’t move is just an artifact of production limitations.

The Watsonian explanation, which I do not favor, is that Crowley has frozen time for just the two of them. They are in a microcosm all their own. If true, this would have an abundance of implications, such that they are actually free to speak to each other freely, which they don’t. So I feel like with that alone, we can set this aside, but I’m open to being convinced otherwise.

If we accept the “clock is a prop” explanation for Gap 1, it doesn’t really hold for Gap 2 that they moved it a full fifteen minutes. So much care and attention to detail was given for all other parts of this show; I don’t realistically believe that a production staff member moved the hands a random amount. The music carries us from Crowley’s exit to Metatron’s entrance seamlessly, yet more time seems to have passed in-world than on-screen. There are two possible explanations:

There was more material that was supposed to be filmed to account for 15 minutes that got cut

We are supposed to figure out that there’s some “Greek play” style shenaniganery afoot

I will debunk explanation #1 with simply this: David’s contact lenses would sometimes rotate so that the slit pupils were not vertical. This error was fixed by VFX in post.

You might assume, when watching Good Omens, that Crowley’s serpent-like eyes are created using contact lenses. Or perhaps you’d presume they’re CGI. Actually, they’re a mix of both.

“The CGI versions were usually because the contact lenses had swiveled in David’s eyes … and we had to fix it,” says Mackinnon.

If they could fix Crowley’s eyes in post, there is absolutely no reason to expect that they couldn’t or wouldn’t have fixed the clock hand positions in post, especially if it was someone’s job to reach in there and change the positions to try to maintain set continuity in the first place. Additionally, there is deliberate use of clocks to symbolize various themes across both seasons. A Doylian error like this is not something that would have been overlooked and survived into publication.

So we are left with explanation #2. Time has passed that we, the viewers, don’t observe. What was happening during that time that we missed? More importantly, who knows that this time has passed? Aziraphale doesn’t seem to, and it’s unclear what the Metatron does or doesn’t know.

Some fans have posited that the Metatron is doing the time manipulations, but canonically, the only entity we have observed manipulate time is Crowley. We assume the Metatron is powerful because the angels are all afraid of him, but we’ve never actually seen him do anything, and so have no primary evidence for this. All over, he’s got some big “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain” Wizard of Oz vibes happening; I’m not convinced he could miracle his way out of a wet paper bag, and there’s a chance that in Season 3 we’ll find out that he’s all bluff. Not so with Crowley.

My hypothesis is that Crowley froze Aziraphale and everybody else for a one block radius, including the Metatron, and did something important in the bookshop before it lost its protection. Please see my meta on Sovereignty, Citizenship, and the Bookshop for an evidence-based argument on why the bookshop was the only place in the universe that Crowley could have safely hidden something. Since Aziraphale is no longer the head of an independent embassy, whatever Crowley was keeping safe in there isn’t safe anymore, and needs to be moved. Universe time continued to pass and the clock reflects that, but Aziraphale and the Metatron aren’t aware that they were paused.

Which also gives us a new interpretation for the kiss.

The Kiss, revisited

Crowley didn’t want to send Aziraphale a message.

Crowley needed a plausible cover for the immense effort it was going to take him to freeze time against Aziraphale and the Metatron that he knew was standing outside.

How do I know he knew?

No nightingales.

Juliet. Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day:

It was the nightingale, and not the lark,

That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear;

Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate-tree:

Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.

Romeo. It was the lark, the herald of the morn,

No nightingale: look, love, what envious streaks

Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east:

Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day

Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.

I must be gone and live, or stay and die.

No nightingales could be the end of a romance. I argued as much in my inaugural meta just six weeks ago (and what a six weeks it has been, people!) But “no nightingales” could also be a secret signal to two people who have a unique bond through Shakespeare that Crowley has realized he is not safe, and he needs to leave, and he’s trying to tell Aziraphale that without letting their spectator in on the message.

Now he has to stop time to secure whatever item he’d been keeping safe in the bookshop. But keeping Satan at bay required him to lunge upwards, using his whole body to freeze time. He can’t get away with anything like that here in the bookshop, that would give up the ruse.

But what if he lunged at the person everyone knows he’s in love with and violently kisses them on the mouth, his entire body tense with the effort of freezing time in the presence of two ethereal beings? No one would notice the difference, or think anything nefarious of it; a Class A surreptitious time-stop.

One last crackpot theory.

Aziraphale knows what Crowley did. Well, he knows that he froze time, and for the first time realizes that Crowley has locked him out, and that he used the kiss as a cover. The violation of agency, trust, and their romantic bond are all breaking across him in the instant that time restarts, after Crowley has gone away for 11 minutes and returned to almost, but not quite, the same position inside Aziraphale’s arms. It is an intimate act that Aziraphale is fully tuned into, and for the first time, he’s noticing the continuity errors.

His horror-filled expression is one of broken trust. But his bond to Crowley is too strong for even this to break it. He knows that whatever reason Crowley had to pull this trick on him, it must have been a good one. It must have been to protect him.

“I forgive you.”

***

One more completely crackpot theory based on the Gavin Finney interview at The Ineffable Con last weekend.

The camera was supposed to circle them. Finney says that this was to show that they are the center of their universe, and their world is spinning.

Okay, okay. But could it not also have represented the spinning of clock hands? I’m just saying.

Closing obligatory "do not put anything about this in Neil Gaiman's askbox"

Find my entire collection of metas here

[lysatoru]

think of me once in a while, take care - Take Care

cw: drugs, black out, cuss words, vomit, alchohol, kidnapping

situationship with gojo, gojo x female reader

"Who are you going to see dressed like that, do you have a date?" Gojo laughs

"not really, I'm just going for a drink with some friends, do you think it's too much?"

"No, not at all! You look quite beautiful in that dress, in fact, I'm quite jealous of everyone who will see you there" he says seductively.

You start to put on your earrings and watch when Gojo asks you a question

"Tomorrow's my day off, so I'm likely to get called in anyway, but do you want to do something?"

You sigh, you wanted more than anything to go out with Gojo, you weren't really together but you liked him and he liked you, that was obvious. But you knew full well that if word got out in the world, people would take advantage of it to use you as prey and harm Gojo. You knew from dating Gojo a few months ago that you weren't going to have a relationship like the others, but that was fine with you, seeing each other at your apartment was fine too.

"You know it's dangerous, I'm not against it, but wanna…live ?" you say sarcastically.

"I never said I wanted to see you outside, we can just meet here and do something like a puzzle" he laughs.

"You know I love puzzles!" you look around at the puzzles hanging on your walls, puzzles representing paintings by your favorite artists, like Claude Monet or Alfred Sisley.

"I'm not making fun, I just think you're... patient?" He says, putting his hands on your shoulders and gently kissing your neck. You sigh with desire, this wasn't the time to get into his game, your friends were waiting for you. A few minutes later, you signal to Gojo that you're off to join your friends, it was the girls’ night of the month, at your usual bar, one of your favorite evenings.

"Call me if there's a problem, really," he says, hugging you and kissing your forehead gently. You kiss him furtively on the mouth before leaving your house.

Once you've arrived at the bar, you sit down with your girl friends at a table. The bar was quite full, a little more or even a lot more than usual, which intrigues you but you don't really care, you're there to enjoy yourself with your friends. A few hours later, you're dancing with your friends when a man comes up to you and offers each of you a drink. You gulp down the glass as quickly as it was offered, a thought coming to your mind "why did I drink it, there might be something in it", it was too late in any case.

The evening is in full swing, the girls seem to be doing well, a sign that there was nothing in the glasses, so much the better. A few minutes after this reflection, nausea hits you and the headaches get stronger and stronger, your vision blurs. If the girls are okay, it's got to be the alcohol.

"I'm going to the toilet, I've got to throw up", you simply say to your friends before getting up.

"Do you want me to come?" says one of them.

"Don't worry, I won't be long". You know yourself, you know you're going to throw up and go back to dancing as if nothing had happened.

Once in the bathroom, everything revolves around you, sweat running down your forehead and back, your breathing starting to race. "It's not the alcohol" , you think, before looking at your pupils in the mirror, so dilated that you can’t even see your irises, you know you're in deep shit at this point. You start writing to one of your friends, you can't even see what you're writing, your hands are shaking so much. Your phone falls to the floor, and you crouch down to retrieve it before fainting. You're alone, lying in a bar bathroom, probably surrounded by urine and vomit.

BLACK OUT

You wake up in bed, look around and don't recognize the place. You're not at Gojo's or one of your friends' houses. Crap. You reach for your phone, but to no avail. Someone knocks on the door, a man enters softly, not the one who bought you the drinks yesterday, which is certainly good news.

"My wife found you unconscious in the bar's bathroom yesterday, so we thought we'd bring you in. Your friends have already taken an uber home."

My friends? an uber to get home without knowing where I was? that doesn't sound like them at all.

"Where's your wife?" you ask confused and very worried.

"She's doing some shopping, she'll bring you back some medicine for vomiting and headaches" He says gently.

"Where's your toilet? I think I need to throw up again" you say with a laugh, you were obviously going to try and find a way out of here.

"Down there on the right, I'm going downstairs to start breakfast, do you want anything?"

Just the thought of food makes you want to vomit, "no, I'll be fine, thanks".

He leaves, you get out of bed and go to the back on the right, you look around to see if there's your phone somewhere, you look everywhere in the room where you had also slept but in vain, no phone. You looked in the bedside table drawer at random, it was there and it worked! But there was no network. So you look for a room where there's a signal, go inside and lock yourself in. You call Gojo directly, since he can teleport himself and he'll be there in no time, can't he?

You first look at all the missed calls and messages from your girlfriends and Gojo, twenty seven missed calls from Gojo, ah.

"Where the fuck are you? I've just been looking for you, I haven't slept all night, you haven't answered any of the messages and your girlfriends don't even know where you are!" he says through the phone, you can feel how upset he was but above all worried.

"A man and a woman found me in the bathroom yesterday — you look up, see if there's an indicator of where you might have been — and they brought me back but I-"

"But you? what's going on? are you okay?"

You don't answer, you just look around you, weapons and more weapons hanging on every wall of this room, being in a situationship with an exorcist you knew these were no ordinary weapons. You immediately recognize cursed objects, that's what they are. You start hyperventilating, sweating and shaking.

"Satoru, I'm surrounded by cursed objects —you whisper — it's all around me, nothing else."

You can feel through the phone Gojo's jaw and fists clenching.

"Listen sweetheart, you're going to have to find a way to hide until I get there, my sixth eye can't locate you and now I think I've figured out why." you walk around in circles until Gojo explains what to do, you start biting your nails. You turn around and see a huge corkboard, photos on it and exorbitant prices next to it, until you see a portrait of yourself taken without your knowledge, you get closer and see the sum of $2,000,000. You quickly realize that they know about you and Gojo, and that they've already put a price on your head. Bounty hunter, you're in a bounty hunter's house. Your phone drops to the floor.

"Hey! Are you there? Tell me what's going on? Y/N!" You hear Gojo starting to get impatient and mad through the phone, you crouch down to retrieve your phone. "They want my head!" — "What? What did you just say?", you start crying, putting a hand over your mouth to hide the sound of your crying.

"There's a bounty on me, Satoru, There's a bounty on my head, they want my head! They know everything!" you whisper with difficulty.

Satoru's eyes widen in shock, his biggest fear, his biggest fear has just happened in front of his eyes, endangering the woman he loves because of his place in the world. For the first time in his life, Gojo Satoru doesn't know what to do, and it's making him sick. He can't even locate her because of all the nuisances around the house she's in, "those bastards have planned everything" he thinks, Gojo, who was usually always one step ahead, finds himself completely helpless in the face of the situation.

"Oh, so you've found my office, you know why we brought you back to us then" says the man in a totally natural way.

"What?" you reply, tears streaming down your cheek, you're completely speechless and almost paralyzed.

He picks up your phone "Hello Gojo Satoru" — "You motherfucker, where are you?" — "I expected your sixth eye to be more useful, I'm disappointed" — is he really provoking Gojo here? you think — "I don't need a sixth eye or limitless technique to fuck your face you dirty bastard" Gojo is completely out of control on the other side of the phone.

"If you want to see her again, alive or not —he looks at you laughing — come to the Shibuya mall at 11pm tonight"

"She'd better be alive, believe me" replies gojo, before hanging up.

He tosses your phone at you before locking you in a room. You have just enough time to send Gojo one last message before you have to hand it back.

13h32

Think of me once in a while,

take care Satoru <3

Gojo read the message and didn't even bother to reply, he was going to get you back and alive.

The manhunt has started.

WE ARE SO BACKKK!! he’s back, i’m healing right now actually👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 tbh i think i like this one, i wrote it while listening to breezeblocks x take a slice remix, magnificent!

i’m sorry if there is any mistake, i’m not an english native speaker but i try my best while using… deepl? oopsie

feel free to send me request <3

[66sharkteeth]

Weekly thoughts! Episode 186. We're back!

And uh. Sorry if that panel is a spoiler to anyone bc I'm pretty sure like 70% of you aren't aware City of Blank came back this week so there's your incentive to go read the new ep.

I'll try to talk about the actual episode first before my ~feelings~. The panel above is definitely one of my fav in the entire series. Though a lot of people seem confused and even think that the gas made him...grow.. bones??? It's just dissolving his blank space.

Like it's been elaborated, the blank space will act like a scar. A lot of times it'll go away if the injury heals enough that it doesn't need it (like Rex's torso injuries), but in Jericho's case, his wounds were so extensive, it stays there permanently, since he has literal exposed bone and muscle from his injury. As for his injury, I think a lot of people have forgotten he got caught in an explosion. So uh... Ya know Gus from Breaking Bad or Two Face from the Dark Knight? Yeah, that happened. And the blank space has just been holding him together.

Anyway, for the rest of the episode... The mixed opinions on Claude are fun, but I am glad some people recognize he's not completely utterly evil and stupid. I saw one comment say he's on the side of what's best for Jericho, not what Jericho wants, and that's the best way to put it. You can still call him stupid and evil if you want, that opinion's still valid, but I do personally agree more with those sympathizing with him who recognize he's just trying to protect the first person he's ever cared about. Overall I'm happy with this episode which is kind of why I'm sad about it yet again lmao

It is always definitely a bummer to come back after a huge cliffhanger and still see the number of comments lower than ever. I'm trying really hard to not feel like it's a failure on my part. Unfortunately I did know this would happen, as comics always lose a chunk of their audience any time they go on a break but usually at least get some of it back with promotion and banners. But unfortunately my break wasn't long enough to get any of that (which I was aware of going in) but I just needed that break so bad. Here's to hoping it doesn't put too much more of a hole in my wallet.

[harmonysanreads]

Trivia - Jeux de Vagues

I suppose this is the somewhat ‘lore’ of the aforementioned fic. I recommend reading the fic first before diving into this as this contains spoilers :> I normally wouldn't do this but per the vote of @verridaiya I was encouraged to regardless. Something to note would be that even though this is what I had in mind while writing, readers' personal interpretations are equally valid!

“Jeux de Vagues”

I mentioned this in a reblog already but the title comes from the second movement of the symphony “La Mer” by Claude Debussy, a French composer. It literally translates to ‘Play of the waves', quite fitting for a leisurely tea-party with Neuvillette, no? I also highly recommend listening to the piece in general, it might take some patience but if you love daydreaming about watching the sea waves away from your struggles as well, this is the music for you!

“6 to 12 O'clock”

Before I tell you why I'm showing this particular line, I want you guys to take a guess on what I meant by the 'noon to evening and midnight to dawn' part :>

.

.

.

One of the rules of afternoon tea etiquette is that when you stir the tea, the appropriate motion to do is a 6 to 12 O'clock (so towards yourself and away from yourself) instead of going in circles. I thought just outright saying it wouldn't be fun so I instead used the four time indicators of 6 and 12 ! But of course, this could also symbolize the duration of Reader “scheming” since the beginning of the marriage.

“Fin de siècle”

Fin de siècle is a French term meaning “end of century,” a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom “turn of the century” and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. [Taken from Wikipedia]

I kept on thinking about how to incorporate the ‘Isolation’ theme for Yandere!Neuvillette while also respecting his ideal of fairness. In one of his voice lines, he encourages to speak-up against grave injustice. With that in mind, this idea of “Keeping Reader isolated but giving them a chance to gain freedom by debating against Neuvillette once every century” was born. If Reader can successfully prove that Neuvillette is a terrible husband or their marriage is unjust, they can leave. But obviously, that's just false hope.

“Mon trésor”

Mon trésor is a gender-neutral French term of endearment which means “My treasure” in English. Huge thank you to @/cerulean-castle and @/iceunhie for responding to my cry of help for this one as I was puzzled about French terms of endearment for a while. @/iceunhie gave me the link to a post of gender-neutral French terms of endearment which I found really helpful <3

As for why I chose Mon trésor as what Neuvillette calls Reader, it was due to the specific connotations between dragons and their treasures. Or in Neuvillette's case, Reader is his treasure. Hence, after sufficiently provoked, he doesn't flinch from referring to them as ‘abandoned property’.

“The words unspoken are the flower.”

Directly quoted from Neuvillette's [About : Wriothesley] voice line. According to him, it's an Inazuman proverb which means “Some words are better left unsaid.” which is Neuvillette's answer to his subconscious question of why he goes to such lengths for Reader.

Now, you can interpret this in a variety of ways and I'll say some of the “possible” ones. Perhaps he refuses to verbalize the causes because doing so would force him to face the hypocrisy and irrationality behind his actions. Perhaps he truly doesn't know, as there are many things he's on the path to understanding. Etcetera.

I might add onto this post if anyone has more questions from the fic itself. Writing Jeux de Vagues was quite difficult because I had a deadline of sorts but I was determined to finish it. Although there might be room for further improvement, I'm still happy that I pulled it of :') I hope that at least, my love for Neuvillette's character can be felt through the fic <3

[frollosversion]

Part 2 because fuck society.

"How much of a Father am I?"

If you haven't read the part 1 yet, do check it out.

To new readers, this is Frollo's fatherhood journey backstory into warding Quasimodo.

Part 1

Part 3

— con't —

If Frollo thinks nursing a baby is hard, babysitting a toddler is harder.

"Oh... oh-! oh!! Oh you're walking! You're walking, my dear boy!" Frollo exclaimed when Quasimodo took his first steps.

"Seems to me that you are starting to like the baby, Claude." The archdeacon steps in to check on the two. Frollo was sitting on the floor, Quasimodo was now standing on his own two feet, forwarding a little because of the hump on his back

"WHAT?!" Claude bitterly responded as he helps the baby stand up as he falls on his butt. his face fuming red after the archdeacon's statement.

"You heard me." The archdeacon simply answered.

"Silence you, old fool. I'm not enjoying this nor am i liking the baby." Claude defended. "I'm just teaching him how to walk to make him look more...human. This thing is one of the world's questionable creations. I'm just making it tolerable."

"Say what you want to say Claude.. But i say The Nile is a river in Egypt..." The archdeacon teased and left the bell tower to which Frollo sighed in annoyance.

"That wasn't even a funny joke..." Claude muttered sassily.

.

A year have already passed and the child grew more curious... and frollo hated that the most.

So he spends most of his time scolding and "disciplining" the little boy for his little games.

"Stop that!"

"Quasimodo, try that one more time or i won't feed you for a day."

"Enough that nonsense, you insolent trash."

"You're ugly that's why you're here."

"You are deformed and no people would look at you like they would a normal child. Be glad I took you in."

"Say you're a monster, you stubborn child."

Yep.

Claude still hates the boy to the core for everyone's knowledge. If anything, he still wants him gone. He missed his life. So much for being an instant parent.

He still works in the Palace of Justice during the morning, he teaches Quasimodo alphabet, monitors and cleans him during lunch, and works on case files as a judge during the night... at the bell tower. still staying with the baby.

Claude scribbles to his folders and sighs to the criminal cases that he's handling all day, muttering cusses, trying his best not to get too much stressed in front of the child.

Quasimodo coos softly, then stands up, assisting his little body on Claude's thigh, bouncing up and down as he sees him talking to himself.

"Don't you have anything else to do, gremlin?" He asks the baby who was still bouncing.

"You can stay here if you want, but help me with this murder case. If you're not going to, kindly go over there— on the corner, or I'll chuck you out the window." He said with a thick sarcasm.

Claude groans softly as the baby remained unbothered.

"Get out of here. I'll feed you later.."

"M-ma..."

Frollo's eyes widened and looked at the baby, it looks like he's going to say his first word.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK. SAY IT YOU UGLY GOBLIN. SAY "MASTER". " He thought excitedly but he's looking at the baby plainly to hide an ounce of anticipation.

"Ma.. mama.."

Claude blinked now looking with disgust, Quasimodo reached out with grabby hands.

"Ugh. You terrify me." He rolled his eyes as he looked on the child's face.

"But that was impressive. I now want youbto say "master" next time. I'll give it to you for now." He lifts the toddler in his arms and hugs him tightly, rocking him gently.

"Mama.." Quasimodo babbled.

"Yeah.. Mama's fine for now."

It was a tiring night of tablework and babysitting but he couldn't sleep as one thought bothers him so much. He looks at his ward sleeping soundly beside him.

'This thing is one of the world's questionable creations'

'Say what you want to say, Claude.. But i say The Nile is a river in Egypt...'

'The Nile is a river... in Egypt.'

'The Nile is a...'.

'The Nile...'

'Denial...'

"Screw it, I'm getting attached."

[blondeaxolotl]

Was it really shocking/odd/interesting when Mama Michalaelis got with Mr. Michaelis who wasn't another mantis demon? 🤔 Like did everyone just let it go BECAUSE she's the queen so whatever or were people a bit upset?

Well the mantis people were shocked at first but were not surprised since Mama Michaelis has shown zero interest in other mantis demons and has only dated other bug demons before Mr Michaelis, they just didn't expect her to break bug code "bug code" being if you are a bug demon, you're allowed to date other demons if they're also a species of bug, but not demons outside of the bugs because other demons like birds, reptiles, canine, (basically anyone that doesn't fall under a bug) have genes that are much stronger than bug demons. So if you're planning to start a family, the chances of your kid being a species of bug is very low and will be over powered by whatever species your partner is. (in this case, because Mr Michaelis is a crow demon, it was a higher chance for Sebastian to be born a crow instead of a mantis) This rule is specifically more strict to royalty because if you're a queen (especially a species that has one kid per birth instead of like multiple kids like spiders or wasps), you marry another demon that isn't a bug and have a kid with them, you basically just ruined your bloodline so congrats you're lucky the past generation of queens isn't there to disown you.

Back to people being upset: yes, the Mantis people were shocked, but grew to like both of them together because Mr Michaelis made Mrs Michaelis a much nicer queen (yes she was a mean queen before, Mr Michaelis literally pulled the "i can fix her" card and did in fact fix her). Mama Michaelis was unfortunately more judged by other bug royalties than her own people, they called her a poor excuse of a queen for falling for a whole different species and ruining her bloodline.. Claude's father was the most hostile to her (which is ironic since he also ends up falling for a different species other than his own, so it might've just been a jealousy thing). But it's okay the remarks didn't bother her since she was much happier marrying a crow and having a son with him

Long story short, Mantis people: happy with their queens relationship because happy queen = happy people. Other royalty demons? hated her for it (and some still do)

[blvcklizard]

I swear I was just making a haha funny meme, but my brain connected the dots of the Throné/Hikari parallels and now my heart is in pieces.

The baseline is obviously them both being D'arqest's offsprings and being forced to kill as a consequence; like, neither the shadow nor the blacksnakes would exist if it weren't for their heritage. So they are distantly related, and were also forced to live a life of violence despite their dislike for blood, for pretty much the same reason.

But also... both of them were used like weapons by the bad guys. Their entire journey was nothing but a tool for someone else to (successfully) achieve their own goals, which contradicts everything they wanted and drags them back into everything they were trying to leave behind. Oboro used Hikari's goals and path for his own interest, both Sebastian and Claude had Throné kill them like they always wanted (and that's not even dipping into the whole "pawn off your destiny to your children" thing Claude had going on). None of the other travelers was used to the very core the way Throné and Hikari were. Their liberation, their whole paths, the process of turning away from their bloody history (or, in Hikari's case, his kingdom's) to a life of peace, all that was just a weapon to someone else.

[wisteriasymphony]

Hiya! I’m a bit new to your blog, but I’ve seen a lot about “Claude,” and I’d love to know more about that! Is he from an AU of yours or just an OC?

You know, I could draw a lot of parallels for canon (or pre-canon, in quantic Claude's case) characters to try and set a baseline.

But maybe it's better to just forgo all of that. Claudia isn't truly an "anti-Marinette" (whose main story got published almost over a year before the Paris Special, funnily enough), nor is she an "alternate Lila", or even extremely related to the 'quantic kids' version of Claude Haprele.

She's just.... Claudia.

..full name Claudia Guadalupe Maria Josefa Lopez Cardoso Perreault. I have talked a bit about her starting concept and how she's grown from there, but to sum it up nicely, I was interested in how a much more pessimistic, apathetic character would function in the mlb world.

What if you were too bogged down by your own misery to even bother wanting to 'solve' your problems with an akuma?

What if your first instinct upon recieving a miraculous was to try and put yourself in danger?

In a world where feeling positively is survival and feeling negatively gets people hurt.... what if you feel nothing at all?

Claudia was meant to answer this by having a swarm of akumas that essentially functioned more as a mundane pest problem than anything else. She would just go about her day, largely unrelated to the bigger machinations of Paris, because that was not and never would be her issue,

.....until, uhm. well.

....So turns out she contrasts Adrien in a lot of interesting ways!

So, of course, I started to think about how they would work paired up together.

...A LOT.

whoops. Now, this is barely scratching the surface of Claudia as a character, I could get into her miraculous and how that works, the way tweos handles (or, really, gets around having to handle) its lovesquare (which I think would also be valuable for explaining claudia through her relationship with Adrien), and I could even talk about the changes to Adrien as a character! But I'll save those for other asks. :P