#Backchannel

[agentfascinateur]

Canada is a backchannel for Israeli illegal settlements:

Mizrachi Canada has been listed as a charity organisation since 1979. But it was only in 2022, after activists exerted pressure for more information, that it disclosed that some of the recipients of its funds in Israel were organisations like Regavim, a radical pro-settler group that is forcibly taking over Palestinian lands. The CRA has yet to take any action against Mizrachi Canada, which faces multiple allegations including violation of the Income Tax Act, the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, and going against official Canadian policy.

[shynrinn]

where was this? how did Aziraphale get this shot? I don't know, the Supreme Archangel doesn't wanna spill it either.

[yellbug]

today at work i talked to an old old old man who i couldn't hear AT all for like fully 5 minutes bc he was talking into my bad ear. i thought he might be evil based on his demeanor so i just let it happen and stared at him in beautiful wide eyed uncomprehending bafflement, playing a game with myself to see how much i could catch with my good ear. anyway one of the only things i heard him say was "politically correct"

[lalalunamoth]

So demons can communicate through radios and other electronics. Maybe angels can, too.

Once Aziraphale has collected enough intel to start planning something with Crowley he needs to get in touch undercover. Maybe Aziraphale is going to talk to Crowley through the Bentley's radio like demons have in the past?

(I mean even if that's not something that angels can technically do, the Bentley would figure out how to let her other dad do it anyway, she misses him.)

[sevdrag]

Ineffable Backchannels getting drunk together. They’re all very affectionate drunks. Hastur and Ligur won’t stop petting Michael’s wings and hair, and telling her how beautiful she is. Michael won’t stop covering their faces in kisses. They eventually fall asleep together in a tangle of limbs and feathers.

okay but i need this

[winterbirb]

Also not to brag but my IMMEDIATE hunch was that Ukraine was the one who blew up Nordstream (and I was honestly kind of baffled why most people just wrote off the idea) and also that it wasn't the US (especially not the CIA bc ykw? Bill Burns wouldn't do that.)

And whatdya know, the CIA warned Ukraine not to attack Nordstream, and yet Ukraine attacked it. Whatdya fucking know.

[halechief]

i love using crimes that claire has committed as points of time measurement <3

[absolxguardian]

I'm Californian and if someone said "no kidding" while I was telling the story, I'd assume it was sarcastic and that they were challenging the veracity of the story.

[nerice]

is it bad that im more excited for jigokuraku 2026 than reze animation.....

[ardentperfidy]

.

[minervas-hand]

So now to realty bake your noodle, we ask: who did Lucifer love?

Does anyone have a weird feeling about how angels and demons are falling in love more and more and how that connects to the miracle Crowley and Aziraphale performed.

About how the only celestial pairs we see are between an angel and a demon.

About how angels and demons together are insanely fucking powerful. And about how someone doesn't want that power to be known.

Something about separating angels that love each other.

Something about the real reason for the Fall.

[prolix-principality]

A Button to Lurk - Reidluver

Ouch, :(

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19777594

Good Omens: Michael, Ligur (deceased), Hastur, misc characters (mentioned) Single chapter; 1,830 words. ~ Michael wasn't upset to learn about Ligur's death. She wasn't. ~ Warning: grief/canon character death/murder, (brief!) trichotillomania warning

[sevdrag]

I don’t care if it’s a cliché, I want, I need, Michael wearing one of Hastur’s or Ligur’s shirts as a nightgown.

YES TO THIS

[sayruq]

An Iranian military security official has revealed exclusively to The Cradle that the US contacted the Islamic Republic, asking the nation to allow Israel "a symbolic strike to save face” following Iran's retaliatory drone and missile barrage this weekend. “Iran has received messages from mediators to let the regime do a symbolic strike to save face and asked Iran not to retaliate,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed to The Cradle. He added that Tehran “outright rejected” the proposal, delivered by mediators, and reiterated warnings that any Israeli attack on Iranian soil would be met with a decisive and immediate response.

The revelations come as US defense officials have told western media that they expect a “limited response” from Israel against Iran, which will reportedly focus on targets outside of Iranian territory. Nevertheless, US officials stressed that Tel Aviv had not briefed the Pentagon on a “final decision” as discussions within Israel's fractured war cabinet continued. “The US does not intend to take part in the military response,” they confirmed. However, they expect Israel to inform Washington about response plans in advance.

[fun-with-colors]

Oh, wow, yeah! I’ve never thought about this, but it’s so true. Reactions like that (or things like thumbs-ups on apple messages) usually don’t warrant an acknowledgement or response, as they don’t add any content to the conversation (of course there are exceptions to this but usually this is how it works), and so they absolutely work like backchanneling does in spoken/signed conversation!

Though it is cool that you’re able to go back and react to older messages in a way that is impossible in spoken/signed language. I wonder how often people typically respond to older messages in a standard conversational context in discord… that might be interesting to look at!

Thanks so much for tagging me on this, this is fascinating! I also sometimes do this when I’m low on spoons :3

ok hear me out reacting to discord messages with emojis essentially serves the same purpose as aizuchi (interjections that show the listener is paying attention or understands the speaker). if a friend is going on a spiel in discord DMs, reacting with emojis to successive messages can be a more efficient way of showing you're listening without interrupting the flow of messages by responding with "yeah" or "yep."

and then you have custom emojis that vary across servers which allow individual servers to develop their own emoji dialect. joining a new server and looking at its custom emojis scratches my linguist brain because immediately i think about when/where/how said custom emojis are used.

i also think about nitro discord users being able to spread server emoji dialects (but only to a limited extent because regular discord users can't save and use custom emojis outside of their original server). i've now been in a handful of interactions where i've had to ask about the etymology of certain custom emojis and the explanations i've received are always fascinating.

[vidavalor]

Michael

Michael's little look of revulsion at Uriel calling Aziraphale a traitor in the scene below is so interesting...

In S1, Michael is just the worst sort of hypocrite, right? They have relationships with demons but turned Aziraphale into Gabriel for being involved with Crowley. They try to screw over Gabriel, even though they know that Gabriel was protecting them from The Metatron finding out about their own "backchanneling."

They trip over themselves to look like they're The Metatron's golden child-- leading thugs to jump Aziraphale in the street and trying to kill Crowley with holy water in the process-- but we know from their relationship with Ligur that they're not really as much of a rule-follower as they seem to be. They get away with all of it because Gabriel, like he was doing for Crowley and Aziraphale, covers for them.

In S2, though? Gabriel is gone.

Michael, in their reaction to Uriel referring to Aziraphale as "the traitor," doesn't actually seem to approve of the idea of, well, literally demonizing the demons. This suggests that their relationship with Ligur wasn't just strategic on their part-- Michael actually agrees with Gabriel and Aziraphale on the demons.

In other scenes in S2, we saw suggestion that Uriel doesn't think this is right, either. It's as if Uriel and Michael not trusting one another means that they're both putting on a show of trying to look like they're following what The Metatron says is the way but they're both in disagreement with it.

Does Michael feel vulnerable there without Gabriel?

They know that he was fundamentally decent in a way that many of these other angels are not and that, without him, The Metatron and the angels that The Metatron has in his corner are that much more powerful. Michael and Uriel might both feel isolated without Gabriel and, because they don't trust one another enough to express that, not realize that they're maybe in the same boat.

It's sort of enough to wonder if maybe one of the reasons why Michael is just so awful in S2 is that they're trying to keep themselves alive to pick up the torch from Gabriel, in a way. Do they see themselves not just as successor in terms of job title but in terms of being the one that can be trying to look after the other angels in secret-- but only if they can manage to have enough power to do it by first getting their hands on Gabriel's job?

Is there more to Michael's power grab than might meet the eye?

Is she kind of like how Gabriel was in S1-- unhappy about it but willing to sacrifice Aziraphale because he was one against the many they were tasked with keeping safe-- but not really actually against Aziraphale or any of the things he stands for?

Is Michael going to wind up joining the revolution, too?

After all, in a season with a theme of recognition? The only person who even came remotely close to recognizing Gabriel?

Michael.