#Gabriel makes excellent stuff

[aliensunflower-fics]

My Recommended Fic List

So, I got this ask awhile ago, and since I have been re-reading a bunch of my old favorite fics as a way to cheer up after work I figured why not. This list will be long... and varied but mostly its older fics cuz idk there my favs. Now lets go:

Fashion Upgrade - By @soap-lady : Straight up one of my favorite fics ever, its fun, its creative, it never fails to make me laugh when I need something warm and wholesome after a bad day. Also go check out the rest of her stuff there's so much good okay like shes just a writing queen. Shes on AO3 I don't want to spoil you on her other stuff just GO experience it for yourself.

Ode To Decoy pt 1 / 2 / 3 - By @a-marlene-s : Ive always liked this short sweet little fic about Lila getting caught. Its Lila + class salt though so avoid if that's not your flavor.

EVERYTHING - By @unmaskedagain : They have salt, they have sugar, they have funny, they have crossovers. Like honestly they are a just a great writer with so much variety so go check out the masterlist I linked and I guarantee there will be something there you like.

@ravennm84 Is a writer on the saltier side but they have a wonderful selection of weird wacky tales from the salty but oh so well written Damning Evidence that sees Lila get caught in the best way to the 3 part Horror inspired Serafina other great fics from them include Marinettes Family Court Circus pt 1 / 2 and Of Moldy Bread and Cockroaches / Be Kind to Servers honestly its worth giving there blog a look.

@mochinek0 Is another writer with several beloved fics. They write a lot of Maribat and we love them for it. Ones to check out would be Blind Date / Bruce vs Gabriel just go check out there tag list of daminette for more.

Accidental Crime Boss Marinette - By @lady-literature : This is a wonderful idea and a wonderful little fic and I just... I just like it okay. Sadly I haven't read a lot of there other stuff... But I might after finishing this list considering how much I enjoy this one.

@nobodyfamousposts I love a LOT of there fics. They are one of the best when it comes to striking that sweet spot of calling out the show for some of its garbage while not getting so salty that you cant have fun lighthearted goodness. I have been looking for a masterlist of there work but cant find one so just go stalk there tags. I do recommend there Chloe's Lament Series 1 / 2 exploring how certain 'wishes' would backfire. Guardian Assistant Kevin is also a good one Miracle Queen Aftermath pt 1 / 2 / The 8 parter Burn the Witch series / The Wisdom Teeth Reveal / Kagami Vs The Wall of Faces / Resigning With Grace & Spite / I tried to give a lot of links cuz they have a lot of stuff

Kill Them With Kindness - By @luki-fanfic : Well written, good salt without going overboard. Just good vibes. I havent stalked there other stuff but if its anything like this fic its probably excellent quality.

Stephen Vladislav pt 1 / 2 - By @stormiclown : Adrien centered salt on the idea of finally giving Adrien his own proper rival. I like the idea of Adrien having a rival because its usually Marinette and this was just the right length to get those creative ideas flowing. Also just well written what more can you ask for.

Power Trip - By @storygirl000 : This was the first fic that made me go... Wait would it be more fun if Lila was actually competent? And that set me on the path to writing my own fics where Lila is more villainous and more capable. Its short, well written. Good.

Your Wish is My Command - By DemiGoddess28 on AO3 : A great 11 chapter fic looking into Lila's life if she were to win and get a miraculous wish. Its got sugary goodness for our protagonists and the class and salt for our dearest friend Lila.

LadyBugOut AU - By Miraculous-Content on AO3 : A 50 chapter fic made up of snippets and ideas. I found it really inspiring in many ways. I also love how it redeems Marinettes classmates showing how and why they were tricked but holding them accountable anyway its just... Good.

Juleka vs The Forces of the Universe - By goldenlaurelleaves on AO3 : For those of us not yet ready to accept the death of luka/mari we have this wonderful fic showing Juleka being the biggest wingman as she helps these idiots find there way together.

ChaoticNeutral on AO3 has there own Chloe's Lament fic as well as a Gabriel's Lament fic for people who need sweet salty of those two characters.

BroadwayCutie16 was Inspired by the person above and DemiGoddesses your wish is my command fic to write Lila's Lament fic going over Lilas failed wish. Honestly I always love these fics because there just so interesting and the way wishes can be taken and twisted is always a fascinating idea to me.

#WayneAngel - By Tired-Writing-Teach on AO3 : For us Maribat lovers. Its fun and lighthearted with some good gags and some light fluff.

Damian in Paris - By Lilliesandliveries on AO3 : A sweet Maribat series showing what would happen if Damian ran away from home and found himself in Paris and getting therapy.

How a Demon Commissions an Angel - By AlixAnonymous : Damian blackmails Marinette into letting him be her client so he can get his bros the best gifts, they end up becoming penpal buddies.

Mythomania - By LadyEnna_50 on AO3 : Proof that I dont hate Adrien or Mari/Adrien. In this fic Adrien's spine gets titanium plating and he sees just how bad Lila is hurting Marinette and does something about it.

The Contingency - By AbyssalGuardian on AO3 : SALT. Also Tim/Mari but even still I love the way this was written, the style, and some of the ideas just ugh love it. Its not for those who dont like salt so just avoid at your own discretion. Its about a chaotic Marinette done with her life running away to Gotham where she meets her true black cat, and gets her life back on track.

The String That Binds Us - By FaithAndATypeWriter on AO3 : Okay so is there any Mari/Bat fan who hasnt already heard of this one? Who cares its good, its cute, I love it. May the author be blessed with snacks.

The Great IKEA Game - By @batsandbugs : Okay again... I think every Mari/Bat fan has probably heard of this one already because its just that good and that popular. But who cares I am recommending it anyway. Don't read if your allergic to fun I guess.

If this list still doesn't somehow have enough salt for you then try @goggles-mcgee fics here is a link to there Masterlist. They are in a way a professional at salt and angst and they make you want to adopt Marinette and pop her in a blanket fort.

Honestly I could keep going but this list already feels so long for other great recs though I can link you to @jayphoenic who has some great Daminette Fic Recs and some Lila Salt Fic Recs!

Feel free to reblog this and add some links to stuff you would think I or others might like! Also lets just acknowledge how many talented authors the community has like wow.

[vidavalor]

Hi! I loooove your blog. What's an underrated GO moment that you like?

Hi! Thank you. :) Nice to meet you. I have green tea and raspberry scones for snacks today as I just got back from the bakery. *sets up plates*

You know what little scene I love? I love the bit where Shax comes to the bookshop when Aziraphale is in Edinburgh and, in the middle of threatening Crowley, asks him how to fix the hot water boiler in the apartment. It's a little moment and funny in your first pass watching it but it plays even better on rewatch and once you think about it a little beyond just the initial laugh.

In the attack on the bookshop, we see that Shax is one of those demons that is like the angels in that she thinks of food as human and beneath her. She makes fun of Aziraphale for his human hungers-- for food, for Crowley (who isn't in the bookshop when she's saying this stuff.) So, she's not exactly teaching herself to become a gourmet chef in that apartment now that she's on Earth. She doesn't cook and she doesn't do dishes, really, but... she needs the hot water working badly enough that she's willing to swallow her pride and ask Crowley for help in fixing it, which means her human indulgences are hot showers and honestly? If I'd spent millennia in Hell and got to escape to Crowley's place in Mayfair, you couldn't drag me for a hundred years from whatever tropical rainforest paradise shower Crowley had in that place lol so I can't really blame her. Not to mention that there's not exactly a lot of privacy in Hell, if ya feel me? A lady demon who has finally escaped topside of the fiery pits of Hell might be reluctant to admit it but she might have found one or two things about having a human corporation are not completely horrible... maybe so not completely horrible enough that she's desperate enough to go to the being who has not taught her what Google is for his own amusement for assistance with getting that hot water boiler operational again as soon as is demonically possible lol. (Crowley's canonically excellent taste in showerheads is absolutely the most top of mind meta you're going to find today, I know lol.)

Anyway, this means that Shax interrupted Crowley's afternoon of Operation Lovebirds: Shop Lesbian Vavoom to ask him to make it rain for her in the apartment.

He really hasn't done this much weather in ages.

It's also funny to me that the hot water boiler has rebelled against Shax by giving her two yellow lights (Crowley's eyes) and the solution for it, according to black-clad, silver necklace Crowley, is to turn a black tab on a silver loop. Whether Crowley's apartment is just in revolt against Shax or whether we're poking fun at the fact that Shax appears to have a little thing for Crowley or both, it's amusing.

Not to mention that Crowley's little lesson in locating the "hot water boiler tab" involves finger movements the likes of which have never been used to fix a hot water boiler in all our days lol. Crowley's a free-thinking Cupid. You gotta vavoom with your own damn self sometimes-- he gets it, girl. He's all the flavors of Baskin Robbins, Shax, and he's been on Earth for ages. He knows what he's doing. Take notes lol. If you find the black tab on the silver loop, it'll turn the hot water back on and then if you follow his non-verbal instructions here...

Besides the humor, though, this little moment is also happening in the segment of the story in which Crowley and Gabriel have been puzzling out the origins of gravity together. The heaviness of watching Crowley unable to remember building the universe is balanced a bit here, when they remind us through this scene in which he appears to be explaining something he built to fix his problematic hot water boiler that his curiosity and his need to take things apart to see how they work are not things that can be taken from him and that he rebuilds by literally rebuilding things.

(Aziraphale, we all know you've been breaking things around the bookshop for the last two hundred years and then calling Crowley and telling him that you couldn't possibly use another frivolous miracle to fix it or Gabriel will send you another strongly-worded note and would he please come over... and yes, it is a pipe under the sink again, how did he know? lol)

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What do you think about Nathalie's original plotline of wanting to betray Gabriel after getting the Miraculous from the heroes so she can use the Wish herself in order to make Gabriel fall in love with her (according to the leaked Bible this used to be her motivation for helping Gabriel all along but it got scrapped from the show before it ever came up). Do you think this would've been a better plot for Nathalie than what we've got ?

I have extremely mixed feelings about that concept, so let's talk through them!

On the one hand, I am here for Nathalie having a motivation beyond, "I love Gabriel so much that I will do everything to make him happy, even if it means committing terrorism, supporting child abuse, and forfeiting my life!" While that kind of selfless motivation can make for an interesting character - or at least an interesting character arc - it requires a lot more character development than Nathalie was given. The way they did it in the show is just another entry in the show's troubling trend of making characters (and notably mainly female characters) do stupid stuff in the name of love.

Love making people do stupid things is a very real phenomena, so I'm not against that happening from time to time. But love can also make you do wonderful things and miraculous rarely shows us those moments. All the big, dramatic, love-based choices have been ones that lead to dire consequences and personal suffering even if the choice was framed as a loving and/or selfless act. Because of that, I'm okay with Nathalie's "sacrifice" being re-framed as a selfish act done because she thinks that she'll be able to get the miraculous and make herself healthy again.

This alternate motivation would pair well with Gabriel's motivation. I like that because they're co-conspirators, so having them share a theme of selfish love would allow for some interesting ideas. For example, what if we did something crazy and let the villains selfish love continually hurt them while the heroes' selfless love continually led to victory? I know, I'm crazy! Who would want that kind of nonsense in a show that's supposed to be all about love and friendship? (Btw, that was sarcasm)

At the same time, I'm really tired of characters being defined by their romantic interests and little else. It makes sense for Gabriel since he's our big bad who is doing everything out of love for his wife, but all of the other characters should be allowed to have more interesting, rich lives in which romance is just one of the many things that they have going on. It would make for a more interesting cast AND really highlight that Gabriel's love is unhealthy while the "true love" of our teens is healthy. A very important theme that has been painfully absent from the show even though it seemed like it was going to be a thing back in the early seasons!

Nino made movies. Marinette was super into fashion and helping her friends. Adrien liked video games and seemed to be into fencing, too. But as time has gone on, the story has become more and more focused on the romantic relationships, pushing aside plots that focus on other things and I'm not a fan.

I'm a big fan of the idea that the foundations of a good romance are a strong friendship and all members of the romantic relationship having personal lives separate from their romantic partner(s). As such, I want a show that gives friendship and romance equal billing. It can even be the friendship between the romantic leads! Episodes like Gamer and Horrificator were excellent in those regards as they allowed for some nice romantic tension while also developing the characters' interests and backstories.

In summary, if we fix canon so that the teen characters all have more healthy romantic relationships, then I'm pretty open to Nathalie keeping her original motivation as it certainly has potential. However, I'd only give it to her if Nathalie and Gabriel were going to get a lot more screen time and development as it adds a lot of complexity to their dynamic and - as I said in another recent post - you shouldn't add complexity to your story unless you're going to actually explore it.

Personally, I don't see myself ever adding this to Nathalie's character since I generally don't have much interest in developing her and Gabriel. Instead, I usually just switch Nathalie's motivation from love of Gabriel to love of Emilie and no, I don't mean romantic love. While I'm totally cool with lesbian Nathalie, I'm a massive fan of her being motivated out of platonic love simply because we don't see that often enough. It's always romance, romance, romance with a little familial love thrown in here and there for diversity and that's fine. Those are strong motivators. But platonic love can be just as powerful and Miraculous is supposed to be about romantic love AND friendship and I don't see why we need to limit the friendship angle to the teen characters. If Gabriel is our example of selfish romantic love, then let Nathalie be our example of selfish friendship.

Assuming that Emilie is some flavor of decent parent, do you really think that she's going to look at Gabriel and Nathalie's actions and be pleased by how they treated Adrien? No! She's going to be furious with both of them! Gabriel for hatching this crazy plot and Nathalie for going along with it. (Btw, this is yet another reason why I like good Emilie. Gabriel and Nathalie are so freaking selfish that I don't really see them caring if the law, the heroes, or the guardians find them guilty. They'd only care about Emilie's judgement and maybe Adrien's. I can see Gabriel going to jail unphased, but melting into a puddle when Emilie serves him with divorce papers while refusing to speak to him. I want him to get his wish - though ideally not via his own actions - but have it be a total monkey's paw!)

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

05/15/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Rhys Darby; The Cryptid Factor; Taika Waititi; Max News and Polite Menacing; June 3rd: Adopt Our Crew; Petition Status; Fan Spotlight; Mermay; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Today's Taika

Hey Lovelies, things got a little cut off cause my son decided to be awake all darn night so I didn't get to finish til this morning I know there's some stuff that wasn't included but I'll try to make sure it's in there tonight! <3

== Rhys Darby ==

Rhys and Dan are back on the mics doing more podcasts! There's a crossover podcast happening too!

Source: The Cryptid Factor Instagram

Also, new Cryptid Factor short Tiktok! If you've got Tiktok, please go over to The Cryptid Factor Tiktok page and send them some love! If you don't have tiktok, here's that video for you below:

Source: The Cryptid Factor Tiktok

== Taika Waititi ==

Pretty sure this picture has been out for a long while but it was recently reposted by Stephen Langdan on his Instagram so I thought I'd share it because it's a great photo of Taika.

Source: Stephen Langdan Photo

More Taika out and about with Rita <3

Source: VIP Magazine Albania

== Max "MakeItHappenHere" ==

In case you're unfamliar with what "Upfront" is (I certaintly was): "In TV advertising, the Upfront is the decades-old practice of buying and selling TV advertising time months in advance. Traditionally, these deals have taken place in the spring of each year, involving ad spots that would air in the coming television broadcast year." - Src: SimulMedia So yesterday Max was pushing for people to buy ads with them and as you can imagine, OFMD Twitter was not having it. I'm just including a few screenshots. Thank you to @neverleftpod and @singletureen on twitter for the polite menacing and capture of the WBD stocks not getting any better.

= June 3: Dont Stream On Max =

Adopt Our Crew is announcing June 3rd "An Excellent Day" to be another great day to push #DontStreamOnMax! (Just so happens to be that's the day that Stede plundered the infamous plant!) Thanks for continuing to fight the good fight @adoptourcrew!

Source: AdoptOurCrew Twitter

**More Under the Cut**

= Petition =

Hey all, we are getting surprisingly close to 89K on the petition... I know there are some newer folks to the fandom that have joined recently, would any of you be kind enough to sign it? I realize we're not sure how much it's helping at this point, but 89K would be a nice round number in case it does help David and the cast somehow :) Petition Link

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Cast Cards =

@melvisik I'm always impressed how you can track down all these cast members! I'm going to include your note since I realize it's less easy with Nancy Lantis below as it was a quick shot: "Tonight is a wealthy woman from the party boat, doomed for daring to insult the future husband of the Gentleman Pirate. I think she's the one giving Ed that devilish grin when Gabriel calls him 'Fascinating' and helps him to his feet"

Source: @melvisik's Twitter

== Because The Night FanZine ==

The new NSFW Gentlebeard Zine "Because the Night" opened preorders today! They'll be open until June 15th, and you can learn more on their post below!

== Mermay ==

More Mermay! We're half way through the month! I would love to bring some other artists in too, I've been trying to reach out on socials to see if anyone would like their submissions included but haven't heard back a whole lot-- if you're interested please shoot me a dm!

= erostheartist =

Day 9: Revenge / Day #12: Moonglow

= Hannah's Handmade Magic =

Day 12: Moonglow

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by hannahs_handmade_magic (@hannahs_handmade_magic)

Source: Hannah's Handmade Magic on Instagram

= Snejpowa =

Day 13: Roads To Moscow / Day 14: Orange / Day 15: Blind Man's Cove

= Blueberreads =

Day 14: Orange / Day 15: Blind Man's Cove

== Love Notes ==

Can I just say I love being weird? What is "normal" anyway? Normal can be weirdness, normal can be social norms, normal is based entirely on who's perspective you're talking about.

I have been "weird" my whole life and I love being weird! All it means is we're different than what people originally expected, and you know what?

That's fucking awesome!

It makes us unique and it's so nice to be a member of a community of other weirdos (said affectionately, I actually think it's a compliment).

Your weirdness is amazing, and I adore every inch of you for it!

Shine on weirdos! You got today and you're gonna kick it's ass!

Source: KatieAbey's Instagram

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

Just really feeling in the mood for some Hunt For the Wilder People today.

Gif's courtesy of the ever lovely @bizarrelittlemew and @transjudas!

[fuckyeahgoodomensfanfic]

Good Omens Fic Rec: Warp and Weft

After the failed Apocalypse, Aziraphale and Crowley slowly take their relationship to the next level, including the prospect of marriage and sharing a home. Along the way, they must learn how to open up to each other and reveal centuries-old secrets. Heaven and Hell remain a threat—but what does the Almighty have to say?

Length: 105,497 words

AO3 Rating: Explicit / Spice Level 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Best for: Mostly Safe in Public, Romance, Fluff, Pick-Me-Up

Triggers: Brief Violence

Read it here, fic by amaruuk

*Minor Spoilers* I devoured this story incredibly fast; I still can't believe it was 100K words. I finished it in under 4 hours, and it felt like no time had passed at all. Reading it was so effortless! The prose is descriptive and insightful, yet light. I never had to reread passages to understand what was being said.

This story will definitely put a smile on your face! It's pure romance and domesticity. We start with them trying to decipher Agnes' final prophecy. Then follow them as they move into their South Downs Cottage and plan their wedding. The romance depicted here is lovely. Having read hundreds by now, the simplicity here was refreshing. It's not desperation, it's a gentle, "I'm going to kiss you." Oh my heart. Yes, I teared up at their ceremony. The attention to little details, their interactions, historical reminiscing, and anticipation of each other's needs are phenomenal. It's not that they don't talk about their feelings, they actually do make it a point to learn to be honest and open with each other, but they know they are loved and nothing is going to change that. Neither of them are plagued with self deprecation/doubt over their relationship.

The Millhouse they move into becomes a character in its own right, described beautifully. Their process of settling in, despite seeming mundane—like buying furniture and making wedding arrangements—kept me entirely engaged. It was the happy narrative I needed.

Anathema, Newt, Adam, Gabriel, and Beelzebub show up to wrap things off. We get a clever use of Agnes' second book of prophecies, and a satisfying conclusion to the events. Definitely in that Pre-Season 2 bliss. This story has one of my favorite moments with Newt, and frankly I'm surprised I haven't seen that before. There's a couple human characters that I really enjoyed as well! And shout out to Crowley and his generous tipping. Like, sure they may use miracles so you don't notice all the weird stuff happening around you, but you will be paid for it.

Mostly safe in public, it does contain sex scenes, by they are brief and not very graphic. I really loved this story! I think it was excellently characterized, domestic, and warm. You could take your time with this one, but it makes for a great binge read too!

Read it here, fic by amaruuk

[mythicalgeek]

How is Ladybug and Catnoir, awakening better then the show?

So I just watched the miraculous movie.

I stopped watching the show around season 3 mostly because I was getting into another media and honestly I was just so tired of the bad writhing and continusly being disappointed by something that had the potential to be great. So when I heard the movie was actually good I had to see for myself and... WTF!

How is an hour and 40 minutes long movie better then a 5 season show that had 8 years of planning only to fail so badly!!!

Don't get me wrong the film wasn't perfect (I liked the songs but I think it would have been better if the film wasn't a muiscal, mostly so they could've flushed out the story more) but it did so many things better than the show and it improved the characters, themes and narrative. Even with it's flaws it's a beautiful movie with a wonderful message about love, courage and gave me everthing I wanted from this series since I was a teenager.

Like Ladybug and Cat noir being equals and makeing one another stronger

Marinette/Ladybug being a better written heroine, starting out as a shy and lonely girl who finds her courage and inner power, removing the creepy stalker element to her character and she's still the protagonist but doesn't take the spotlight of Adrien/Cat Noir the deuteragonist when it's his time to shine. Also Tiki is so sassy in this movie and I love it. 💞

Cat Noir/Adrien getting a chance to shine and being treated better as a character, having agency and not only a trophy or sidekick for Marinette/Ladybug, but a kid who's dealing with the lost of his mother and strained relationship with his father, then finding freedom through being a hero and opening his heart to connection again.

I do wish we got more sences with him and Gabriel and that they kept the deleted sence were he tells marinette about his mother when she finds his locket (we see it in the montage but I wish we got the full sence in the film).

And I really wish we got to see his and plagues first meeting (and that plague wasn't just a fart joke 🙄) but overall the movie handled him well and did his character some well deserved justice.

Finally giving us the confrontation with Adrien and his dad we've been waiting for and actually makeing Gabriel care about his son and not just being an abusive asshole!

Gabriel is also a better written character and his redemption work's more in the movie than the show.

A well developed romance without all the creepy problimatic stuff, with excellent chemistry between our two leads and a lot of truely sweet moment's that build a endearing love story about two young people looking for belonging.

Like I said I wish they kept the locket sence because it would have added more to the love story but the romance is still done so well and made me so happy.😊

AND FINALLY THE IDENTITY REVEAL!!!! Starting out there romantic relationship with them being who they truely are and no secrets between them.

Even though I stop watching the series I still check in on it ever once in awhile, but I feel that I can finely move on from Miraculous because the movie did everything the show failed to do.

I love this movie and I'm so glad that this story finally got the justice it deserves. 🐞🐾

[carlos-in-glasses]

hi!

5, 13, 21

Hello Kaitlyn! Thank you for making this lovely game!

5: Who is the better navigator?

I think they're both excellent navigators as they need to be for their jobs, but Carlos is the better one. As a kid, he was nerdy about maps and would have bonded with Gabriel over that sort of Boy Scout sensibility.

Carlos when he sees a cool map:

13: Who is super early to events? Who is late?

Carlos is somehow always early even if he leaves late (like me. I keep projecting onto them, but what can ya do?) and TK is usually late but not to an extreme. Nonetheless, lateness stresses Carlos out so TK finds himself leaving for stuff stupid-early just to make Carlos happy. He'll complain and roll his eyes. Carlos will tell him to shut up. They love each other SO MUCH. It's a good time.

Carlos arrived early to the honky-tonk and had a panic thst TK wouldn't show. But then he DID. And the rest is history:

21: Who is more likely to drag them to a haunted house?

TK. TK loves stuff like this and Carlos hates it. But again, Carlos will do it because he loves TK, and TK loves putting his arm around Carlos and getting to protect him from the scary boos.

Them hugging after the scary boos:

[frangipanilove]

Pilgrims Under The Field Of Stars

St. James, St. Christopher and Santiago de Compostela (part 1) (part 2)

This is piggybacking off of @bookqueenrules' excellent post about Daryl's pilgrimage. I mentioned Santiago de Compostela briefly in this post from the other day, where I promised that I would dig up my old notes and compile it into a post.

The symbolism around the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela was among the first things I started researching back when I became part of TD. I was trying to make heads or tails of the Sirius symbolism and all the astronomical references on the show, such as the Sirius and the Venus symbolism, the North Star symbolism and other things. The “Way of St. James”, or Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela, the world famous pilgrimage under "the field of stars" seemed to fit the symbolism perfectly.

It all really started with Morgan. Who can forget the coda after 5x8 Coda? The thing was, he gave me major pilgrim vibes. His whole demeanor, his chlothes, his backpack, his apparent “peace of mind”. His bow staff always reminded me of a pilgrim’s walking stick…

We watched him reach Father Gabriel’s church, and it was almost as though it had been the goal of his "pilgrimage" all along. He placed a series of mementos/trinkets on the alter (relics?), and as we all remember, he “resurrected” the cross that many of us interpreted as a representation of the "resurrection" of Beth. He had a moment of silent contemplation, before he smiled in contentment.

The rabbit’s foot was one of the items he “presented” on the alter. It was originally gifted to him by Eastman in 6x4 Here’s Not Here. I’ve talked about how Beth’s connected to the symbolism around rabbits here.

In those early days of analyzing the symbolism, Morgan always struck me as something of a St. Christopher figure. Back in those days, TD was very concerned about what role Morgan would play in Beth’s “resurrection”. He was the first thing we saw after Beth’s “death”. There was also the fact he had "resurrected" the cross. It seemed plausible that he would somehow be involved in “resurrecting” Beth as well. Back then, we all assumed this would happen within a few episodes. Obviously it didn’t happen that way, but regardless, many of our theories around that time involved Morgan in some way.

St. Cristopher was the patron saint of travelers, especially those driving motor vehicles, which again seemed particularly fitting because of all the car symbolism around Beth. There’s an enormous amount of car weirdness around Beth, I’ve written about it here, here and here, but also in a bunch of other posts.

After I had started to see Morgan as St. Christopher, I couldn’t unsee it:

St. Christopher’s claim to fame was that he had carried a helpless child across a river, not knowing the child in reality was Christ. Beth, much like Rick, was always surrounded by resurrection symbolism on TWD, making them both Christ figures. If Morgan, a possible St. Christopher figure, had found her after 5x8 Coda, helpless in a car, and carried her to safety, it would have been a great parallel to the story of St. Christopher and Christ.

Another thing that lined up extremely well with TD's theories around cars and Beth's resurrection was this:

Yes, St. Christopher is the patron saint of travelers, “including motorists”…

Being kidnapped and thrown into the trunk of a car qualifies as being a “motorist” in my world… Good thing there’s a saint that protects against that stuff...

St. Christopher medallions are normally kept hanging from the rear view mirror of cars:

Which is interesting, because in 5x16 we saw this:

Morgan, making sure to grab his rabbit’s foot that was hanging from the rear view mirror of his car. I was always inclined to interpret him as a St. Christopher figure, and with imagery like this, it seemed like it couldn’t be entirely coincidental.

There were also other things about St.Christopher that seemed to fit perfectly into the symbolism around Beth, such as the fact that St. Christopher is sometimes shown as a dog in iconography:

Obviously, any type of dog symbolism would immediately be in my radar. It was the Sirius symbolism that put me on the path to Santiago de Compostela, to the pilgrimage under the field of stars in the first place, as Sirius refers to Sirius the Dog Star:

There were other things as well. Pilgrims along the Camino de Santiago like to place their worn out pilgrim boots on trail markers along the way. I thought that this type of imagery was quite similar to all the boot/foot/shoe symbolism we see in TWD:

My theory on the foot/shoe/boot/dismembered limb symbolism we’ve seen on the show, is that it’s a reference to the British English word “boot’ which translates to “trunk” in American English. Basically, it’s trunk symbolism. But I wondered if the themes around “pilgrimage” could be a part of it as well. Symbolism in TWDU is always multi-layered, so it was definitely a possibility.

Also, keep in mind that Morgan's rabbit's foot is also part of the foot/shoe/boot/dismembered limb symbolism. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if all the other dismembered limbs were foreshadows and callbacks to Morgan's rabbit's foot.

We saw Beth get her foot trapped in an animal trap, and through the years, we’ve seen countless examples of this type of imagery:

We saw Jadis steal Rick’s boots in season 6, we saw Father Gabriel step on a nail and get a minor crucifixion and a stigmata wound in 5x8 Coda, we saw Daryl examine and bandage Beth’s ankle in 4x13 Alone…

Further, it’s interesting that the symbol of Camino de Santiago to Santiago de Compostela is a scallop shell. It’s the same kind of shell we see around the Venus symbolism and the "Birth of Venus" painting:

We saw Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus” (or a replica, I would assume, seeing as the original is at the Uffizi in Florence, Italy) in season 3, when Merle tortured Glenn at Woodbury:

But even though there were many interesting coincidences, they existed mostly in my own head, and there wasn’t really anything tangible or groundbreaking in terms of the symbolism pertaining to pilgrimage, Santiago de Compostela and St. Christopher anywhere in TWDU….

…until season 6 of FTWD rolled around:

Daniel Salazar, seen here perfectly healthy after having been shot in the head, pulling out a St. Christopher medallion in FTWD 6x2 Welcome To The Club. I had been theorizing about St. Christopher since right after Coda, and suddenly a St. Christopher medallion appears in FTWD...

Let me say that again: TPTB placed a St. Christopher medallion on a character who survived getting shot in the head:

Now why would TPTB ever do such a thing?

Well perhaps because…

…it protects people who wear it! Yup, that’s why. The symbolism is about protecting travelers, remember? Motorists in particular, including kidnapped girls in trunks of cars...

We saw the St. Christopher medallion regularly from season 6 and onwards, It changed owner quite a few times, before it finally was gifted to Alicia by Victor Strand, and became inextricably linked to her.

At one point, Alicia and Strand had a falling out. Her boyfriend Will brought the medallion to Victor Strand, and told him he had taken it from one of the dead, knowing that Strand would recognize it as the same medallion he had gifted to Alicia, tricking him into believing she was dead.

The medallion eventually gets returned to Alicia, and she’s wearing it through her months long fever after her bite, which I’ve discussed here.

Later, Troy (I miss him so much...) showed up as a one-eyed, newly “resurrected” Sirius figure, wearing Alicia’s St. Christopher medallion. This was meant to be "evidence" that he had actually killed her (spoiler alert; he hadn’t, because Alicia was still under protection of the medallion. He tried, but did not succeed at killing her. He did however manage to snatch her medallion, and used it to torment her mother, claiming to have killed her).

Going into the series finale of FTWD I knew the medallion would be part of a “resurrection” of sorts, and I was right. At one point, Tracy, Troy’s daughter gave the medallion back to Madison, who placed it in the empty magazine of a gun and put it in her pocket. Some time later, Tracy shot Madison in retaliation for killing her father Troy:

... but Madison survived, because...

The medallion in the empty magazine stopped the bullet...

Say what you will about resurrection symbolism, but that medallion literally stopped a bullet. And remember, it was introduced to TWDU by a man who survived a gunshot to the head. I'd say its protective powers are pretty substantial, maybe in particular against gunshots.

And, remember how I made a point out of St. Christopher being a protector of motorists and people in cars? Wait till you hear where Madison was when she survived getting shot...

You guessed it, she was in a car indeed, and not just any old car, she was in a Ford Mustang, which I've talked about a few times already. Remember that we saw the blue Ford Mustang in the teaser for TWDDD season 2. Mustangs are absolutely resurrection symbolism, and we can clearly see why here (we can thank eagle-eyed @wdway for discovering that this was another Ford Mustang).

Later, Madison sacrificed herself by burning down the fort with a walker horde inside, something which made Tracy forgive her for killing her father. Madison's lungs were already in rough shape after her first death fake-out a few seasons earlier, when she burned down the Dell Diamond Stadium in a similar fashion. Tracy believed she was now dying, and was actually sad about it. She placed the medallion next to Madison, who then subsequently "woke up” from the "dead":

So, yet another resurrection there.

The next thing that happens, is the "resurrrection" of Alicia, last seen in seasson 6 after miraculously recovering from a walker bite. She is the first person in TWDU to get bitten, develop the fever and then subsequently recover from the fever, and that in itself demonstrates the immense powers of the medallion:

And if that's not enough resurrection symbolism for one day, Alicia brought Skidmark, Daniel's cat. Remember the cat symbolism from TOWL 1x6, when Michonne found Jadis' dossier in a cat sculpture...cats are said to have nine lives, and are known to survive the strangest things…

So Alicia "resurrects", there's a reunion between mother and daughter, and there's even a reunion between Daniel and his cat.

That's one powerful medallion if you ask me, reunions and resurrections for miles...

Now, how does this tie into the rumors about Daryl possibly going to Spain for season 3 of TWDDD, and what does it have to do with Beth? Well, remember this all started with Morgan bearing a striking resemblance with a pilgrim, and it was Morgan, who through subtle hints introduced the symbolism around St. Christopher to TWDU. It was formalized in FTWD 6x2, but it started literally right after Beth had been shot in Coda. The St. Christopher symbolism was brought on to FTWD by a character who had survived getting shot in the head, so idk, those types of injuries aren’t necessarily fatal I guess??? Especially not when you're protected by the patron saint of travellers and motorists...? I wonder who else this possibly could apply to…?

The symbolism around St. Christopher deals specifically with protection of motorists and people who travel by car…or who have been kidnapped and thrown into the trunk of a car, and potentially also been put in the trunk of a car to be protected from an incoming walker horde or something to that effect…

And the symbolism comes from a man who once assisted a helpless child in crossing a river, not knowing the child in reality was Christ. It would be interesting if Morgan, our St. Christopher figure assisted Beth, our helpless Christ figure in getting to safety somehow after Coda, like our early theories suggested.

In TWDDD 1x6 Coming Home, we hear Losang, leader of The Nest, explain how he first ran into Laurent and the nuns while returning from a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. It was the references to the stars of the Milky Way under which the pilgrims traveled that put me on the track of Santiago de Compostela all those years ago, we’re talking after season 5 here. And now we finally have the first explicit reference to the Camino de Santiago and Santiago de Compostela in TWDDD 1x6.

Likewise, it was Morgan’s appearance, right after Beth had been “killed” in 5x8 Coda that put me on the track of St. Christopher, and while the clues seen around Morgan were subtle at first, we finally got the first explicit St. Christopher reference in FTWD 6x2 Welcome To The Club. And the medallion symbolizes reunion, resurrection and rebirth, that much is abundantly clear.

Then there’s the fact that St. Christopher in eastern iconography is depicted with a dog’s head, something which ties him even closer to the Sirius symbolism and the astronomical themes around Santiago de Compostela, the “field of stars”.

To me, it’s very reassuring when symbolism stays consistent over time, and this has been a symbolism slow burn unlike any other. It’s been subtle at times, but it’s definitely been there, and now it’s getting more and more explicit.

So, will we possibly discover that Beth is explicitly implemented in the symbolism around St. Christopher and Santiago in TWDDD season 3? Considering that the working title of TWDDD was “Pilgrim”, and pilgrims are most definitely travelers, therefore protected by St. Christopher, I think we can say that at the very least, there’s thematic entanglement. Add to that, the Camino de Santiago, or the “Way of St. James” as it translates into in English, is all about pilgrims. St. James, or simply “Jacob” (Santiago), is the patron saint of pilgrims. I know that others, such as @galadrieljones have studied the symbolism around “Jacob” extensively, and would probably have a lot of additional insight on that.

So, as @bookqueenrules suggested in her post, is Daryl on a pilgrimage in Europe, and will he find Beth?

The symbolism seems to suggest "yes", so sure, why not?

[thegiftofgabes]

The Gift of Dice - Intro Post

I am Gabriel Caetano (they/them), and I am a queer, Latine parent, TRPG creator, audio producer, and game facilitator (aka GM) from Brazil.

Roleplaying Games

I make tabletop Roleplaying Games, as well as TTRPG-adjacent experiences.

I like fantasy, science fantasy, and weird fantasy the most and I have been more and more invested in looking at games as enablers of social experimentation and questioning.

I like to say that every game I make is a product of excellent taste and developing skill.

You can find my games at https://thegiftofdice.itch.io/

Indie Games Facilitator for Hire

I run and facilitate (aka GM) roleplaying games as a gig.

I have over 100 session under my belt, and growing, and a large catalogue of indie, alternative games to facilitate for players anywhere out there in the world, including Masks, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Nibiru, Apocalypse Keys, Noctis Labyrinth, Troika!, Blades in the Dark, CBR+PNK, and many more.

You can browse through the dates I setup, or make a custom request.

Politics and Ethics

All TTRPG content has a price tag, except when I think it shouldn't, and all of them should have alternate methods of access for anyone who does not enjoy the privilege of earning dollars, euros, pounds, and other hegemon currencies.

Yet, non-white people, non-het, and non cis-male people anywhere who cannot afford to buy anything I make without putting their safety and well-being financially are welcome to get my stuff for free, one way or another.

I also offer seats for free or at a greatly reduced fee to people in the Global South, where the dollar exchange would make access to my game sessions absolutely crushing.

None of the content I create is compatible with Hasbro or Paizo products, or products by any company or individual that shares their ethics and predatory approach to industrializing an art form, on principle.

Additionally I do not use or rely on artificially generated content to create my games or run my sessions.

Game Design Principles

I've come across this game design manifesto and I've decided to adopt it for my own game design as best as I can and let it evolve as I grow as a game designer and writer.

against coercion: a game design manifesto by JPLeBreton

let players wonder about things and trust them to find answers;

connect players with patterns they find intrinsically fulfilling;

never treat a number going up as an inherently positive or meaningful even;

teach respect for the autonomy and boundaries of all things;

posit alternatives to fantasies of accumulation and extraction;

do not think of emotional responses as something you extract from players;

produce and distribute ethically;

aspire to more than escape.

Whether I'll succeed or fail at following these principles, or even how they will evolve over time, all I can say is let's play to find out.

Kindly, Gabriel Caetano

[thisbuildinghasfeelings]

Lone Star Season 4 Thoughts: I love Season 4...mostly

With the prospect of season 5 filming beginning so soon, I've been thinking a lot about season 4 lately. I felt like rambling out some of my thoughts on here.

First, perhaps an unpopular opinion (?) but I love season 4. Sure, it has its flaws, but to me, the good far outweighs the bad. For one thing, I personally don't mind Gabriel's death. It's not what I would have chosen myself if I were writing the finale, and I think it could have benefited from a 3-5 episode arc rather than being squeezed into two already very busy episodes, but I appreciate a lot of what came with it and the potential it provides for season 5. Rafa's acting in the finale was incredible and the aftermath of Gabriel dying resulted in one of my top 10 Tarlos scenes of all time (the scene of them deciding to postpone the wedding at the beginning of 4x18) and one of my top 10 non-Tarlos scenes of all time (the Owen and Carlos scene). Season 4 also gave us the incredible soulmates scene, Lou II, lots of other excellent Tarlos scenes/episodes (4x02, 4x04, 4x08, 4x12, 4x16-18), some new love interests I really liked (Asha, Joe, and Trevor...NOT Kendra), a true showcase of Rafa's talent as an actor along with (finally!) the screen time he deserves, a Marjan storyline that wasn't perfect but had a lot of good stuff to enjoy, and a mention of the Tarlos wedding in every single episode. I enjoyed watching every episode (with the possible exception of 4x03...but even there I can find things to enjoy).

As far as the whole Iris/secret marriage storyline goes, yeah, it's not great. But I can still find a lot to appreciate within it. I love Iris, I love her friendship with Carlos (Rafa and Lyndsy sold me on their friendship with a single hospital scene in 4x03!), and I think it added fascinating elements to Carlos' backstory...like the fact that he was so lost and upset after his family's reaction to his coming out that he married a woman to try to be the man he believed they wanted and needed him to be. For the parts I don't like as much and that--let's face it, don't make much sense--I'm able to look past them or make up head canons to explain them away. (And the talented fic writers of this fandom have done a great service to help that process along...there are many great ones, but particular shout out to Where All This Love Comes From @carlos-in-glasses, which managed to make better sense of Carlos' backstory than I ever imagined possible...if you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do so ASAP). I certainly don't blame anyone who can't do this...that storyline was a mess, I can't deny that! But for me, there's enough to appreciate that it doesn't mess with my enjoyment of the season.

Aside from the secret marriage thing, I think the worst storyline of the season was the Owen/FBI storyline. The sad thing is that this one could have been ok had it been executed better. The biggest issues here were (1) too much Owen off on his own time, which is never good--Owen is at his best when he's in storylines with the other main characters--and (2) they completely failed to stick the landing. BADLY. If you're going to do a white supremacist storyline, you need to commit! Instead, they tried to throw in so many twists that they ended up trying to make us feel sympathy for and see the white supremacist gang members as victims. Yeah, not going to work for me when, in a previous episode, you told us they were literal Nazis! But ultimately I don't really care all that much about a solo Owen storyline to begin with, so it didn't affect my enjoyment of the season as a whole.

All of that said, the thing that irritated me the most about season 4 was the 8 week deadline for the wedding. The ridiculous Lone Star timeline has always been a bit of a thorn in my side, but it really got out of hand in season 4. What bothers me most is the fact that the whole 8 weeks thing is both so completely ridiculous and so completely unnecessary! It is clearly there only to slightly raise the stakes for the first few episodes of the season. It's "Oh no, they have to get married in 8 weeks, which means Carlos has to hurry up and get divorced from Iris to make the deadline, only now Iris has gone missing and she hasn't signed the divorce papers yet so they won't be able to get married!" The exact same thing could have been accomplished with an even slightly more realistic deadline--say 4 months. A 4 month deadline would have still been an incredibly short amount of time to plan a wedding and it would have still required urgency in the divorce process. And yeah, 4 months would have still been a bit unbelievable, but it would have been the ordinary tv show timeline kind of unbelievable, and it would have fit far better with the other markers of time in season 4, like the fact that it's explicitly stated that it's January in the beginning of the season and May at the end.

To make matters worse, the urgency for Iris to sign the papers--once again, the whole reason for the 8 week deadline-- isn't really even addressed after 4x02 because once Iris goes missing, her safety is the main concern. Then, once they wrap that storyline up, it is literally never mentioned again. I spent the entire season waiting for it to become an issue, but it never does. The writers essentially forget about it and spend the entire rest of the season providing dates and stating that amounts of time have passed that add up to way more than 8 weeks. It's just so RIDICULOUS and it means NOTHING!

Ok, whew, got that out. Probably no one is still reading at this point, but if you are, thank you for reading my essay and I love you 💜

[lucky-rabbits]

The Answer Doesn't Matter - (2/2)

Summary: Rook finds Roland scheming, so the two of them talk about the future.

A/N: ARGHH it's done…… I've never finished a fic before but I'm happy I got to write one for Rookrol, and hopefully I'll be writing more stuff for Rook :D

Word Count: 2445

Rook felt as if they were being watched during their entire conversation with Lamia and lo and behold there was Roland; sulking on the stairwell that led up to the Ferris wheel while looking down at the beach, lost in thought.

"Trying to recruit that Camu guy again wasn't your main goal, I take it? Since you failed to do so, twice now. What schemes are you planning this time?" Rook leaned against the railing, waiting for his monologuing and misdirection to begin. It only took a few moments for his somber expression disappear and turn back to his usual, punchable self.

"Maybe I wouldn't have failed if you provided me with the proper information about your former eaglet teammates."

"Strike Hawk." Rook corrected quickly. "I told you everything already, stop playing."

Roland gave them a knowing look, amused by their discomfort. But there was also something more about his gaze, as if he were searching for something.

Rook found his slight change in behavior to be strange, but didn't push any further. He was already a weird guy to begin with.

"But I enjoy this game we keep playing, its very entertaining." He teased, letting out a fond laugh. He then paused and let out a sigh. "but this game has nothing to do with you. Not yet."

And that caught Rook's attention.

"Alright lets hear it then."

Roland studied their face for a few more moments before tilting his head, smiling lazily once again.

"Now, now. It's rude to ask personal questions without offering something in return" He leaned back against the opposite railing from Rook, taking his sweet time dragging out this conversation.

"Tell me, how many regrets do you have after today? Do you consider yourself the betrayed or the betrayer now, hm?"

"Uhg. You're so annoying." Rook groaned. Which caused Roland to grin wider.

"Oh come on, this is perfect material for a good story. The victim becomes the villain, betrays the heroes, and a destined reunion ensues at the worst possible moment." Roland speaks dramatically, like he's reciting lines from a Golden Age movie. But he soon pauses before speaking more softly "Seriously though, you seem out of it."

Rook lets out a tired sigh.

"Would you believe me if I told you I was doing just great? Or I was already planning my evil mastermind revenge plan?"

"Of course! I already said you'd make an excellent villain."

Rook turns to give him a look, as if to say 'stop being so insufferable'

From there Rook pauses. There's a slightly uncomfortable silence between the two of them but Rook needs to think carefully about what to say; they don't want their words to be used against them in the future. Rook turns to lean over the edge of the railing, looking down at the beach. They see Luna and Alpha still enjoying their time together and with Rook's specialized eye, they spot Lamia swimming along the shore.

Rook doesn't consider the others to be their friend, especially not Gabriel. Reluctant acquaintances to friendly co-works seems like the best way to describe Rook's relationship with the Ascension Network. They're used to keeping work strictly professional, but for some reason they find this arrangement to comforting.

From Kurono to Babylonia, Rook always felt on edge when working with others and preferred to do just do their job and keep their distance. Rook wasn't interested in making friends again, after what happened last time. But things never go the way they want and Rook quickly found themself roped into Strike Hawk's shenanigans; telling Kamui how to fix his video game console was a mistake which eventually led them to mentoring that timid girl Tahnri. And when their new captain, Chrome joined the team Rook found themself playing chess matches against him late into the night.

But good things don't last forever and Rook knew this well. The continuous waves of betrayal left Rook numb. The world has already ended so what's the point in struggling to survive? Why prolong a meaningless existence? Rook had asked themself these questions many times before, but could never decide on a concrete answer. Maybe it was because they fought for survival their whole life, doing whatever it took to continue their existence? But Rook, at this point, has given up trying to figure out the answer-- an answer wouldn't change the reality of this world anyway. The past means nothing anymore and there is no future for humanity on earth. The only thing that Rook could control was the present. To exist in this moment. Surviving for the sake of survival alone is pitiful but it is now Rook's reality and only they have the right to choose their destined end.

The Punishing Virus has turned Earth into a mindless wasteland of machinery and scrap metal, only the corrupted remain to aimless roam this planet.

So Rook can't let this situation with Babylonia bother them, there's no point to it. It's not like they were even friends to begin with, they were just co-workers that's all. Rook desperately tries to justify this mindset.

"It sucks." Rook finally responds, betraying their earlier thoughts. They don't know why they decided to answer so honestly, to Roland of all people. But for once he's silent and quietly waits for Rook to continue.

"But it doesn't matter if i have emotional stakes in this situation or not, the past can't be changed. There's no point in wasting energy agonizing over the mistakes I made. I'm a Babylonian traitor working with the enemy, that's just reality."

The two sit together in silence for a moment, then Rook glances at Roland who seems to be lost in thought, mulling over Rook's answer to his questions. He's been acting real bizarre this whole time.

"Say something" Rook blurts out, his silence was becoming uncomfortable.

"What the hell is going on in that brain of yours that's keeping you from your usual yapping. It's weirding me out."

"I just didn't expect you to be such a sentimental person, how touching." Roland teased, seemingly back to his usual self. But there was still a weird edge when he spoke and Rook found it to be strange. He's been acting like this nearly all day. It made Rook uneasy, not sure if he was just playing more mind games with them or something serious was happening.

Perhaps this was all about whatever "game" he mentioned before.

"I answered your question, now answer mine. What are you planning?" Rook demands, looking at him and refusing to break eye contact. They were growing more frustrated with stalling.

And Roland looked back, just as intensely before leaning back and giving Rook a lazy smile.

"What if I told you we had a traitor among us?"

Rook opened their mouth to ask more questions but instead their eyes narrowed, gripping the platform railing tightly.

"Gabriel…." Rook spoke bitterly. "I've always hated that guy."

"Yes, I am very aware of your beef with him" Roland let out a laugh, amused at Rook's distaste for their fellow comrade.

"I take it he's not working with anyone else? And just relying on his bogus research?" Rook crossed their arms, becoming lost in thought once again. Rook never got along with Gabriel, the two of them had very different areas of research and they considered him to be a power obsessed fraud with a god complex. He considered emotions to be a weakness and saw little value in Rook's methods because of their sentimental attachments.

Then Rook thinks of Luna and Alpha's relationship.

"It's Alpha. He thinks Luna is becoming too distracted because of her sister"

"Bingo. You caught on quick." Roland's response lacks his usual flair, he's being serious about something for once. Rook thought Roland was a bit of a creep towards Luna at first, but now understands deeply he cares for the girl. Rook doesn't know much about Roland, besides the fact he was an actor during the Golden Age-- an actor that they vaguely remember seeing before. But its obvious to see that Luna changed his life for the better.

And so Roland begins to tell Rook what he knows. That Gabriel believes that Luna does not have the best interest in mind for the future of Ascnet and is unfit to be an agent. From the nature of Gabriel's experiments: two advanced Hetero-creatures, the Polyphage and the 'Heterozygote Queen'. The Polyphage being a creature so large it could dissolve the entire planet into the Red Tide and the Heterozygote Queen being a pseudo-agent used as a power source for the larger creature. Gabriel plans to show off his creations to Luna and suggest for Alpha to be used as a sacrifice to complete the Heterozygote Queen, if Luna refuses then Gabriel would use her as the sacrifice.

The two stand in silence after Roland finished his explanation, leaving Rook to process the information just given to them before eventually speaking:

"Ok so what's our plan then? I won't let Gabriel hurt those girls."

"Our plan? I never said you'd be apart of my plan." Roland taunts, with a sly smile.

"You're obviously asking for my help if you're telling me about this." Rook snorted and continued on. "I can tell this isn't a trick, you would do anything for Luna and I already know about Gabriel's current displeasure about her leadership."

"Hm. Having a reliable partner-in-crime will be a new experience for me, but you are correct. I need at least one person on my side. Lamia isn't smart enough to keep a secret and Alpha would turn Gabriel into scrap metal as soon as she knew everything I know." Roland tried to act nonchalant in asking for help. His teasing was used to cover up the fact that he did need help and didn't know who he could trust. "And yes, i do have a plan in mind. This is your last chance to back out, though."

"I'm still standing here aren't I? Stop being so dramatic and tell me what I need to do." Rook huffed, their impatience getting the better of them.

"I'll need you to look into this for me." Roland pulls a small storage device out of his coat to show off, before tossing it in Rook's direction. "It's the research Shome was trying to keep from us, I found a way to retrieve it."

Rook frowned, looking at the flash drive in their hand. Why would Roland be so curious about this? They had even more questions now, but Roland quickly tried to interrupt their thoughts

"Ah, ah. No need to rush, we have plenty of time to talk tonight." Roland chastised them before he pushed himself from the stairwell railing and stretched out his arms, as if cracking his mechanical joints would relieve any discomfort. Perhaps he needed some repairs to his left arm again, that Camu guy does look like he could snap Roland in half if given the opportunity. Luckily Roland was one slippery rat to catch.

"Hellooooooooo? Rook are you listening to me? I can't be that annoying to be around right now…" Roland spoke suddenly, snapping his fingers in their face.

"Huh…" Rook was jolted away from their thoughts once again.

"I said come with me, there's a much better view up a few levels by the Ferris Wheel. A perfect scene for a lovers tryst." Roland spoke dramatically, guiding Rook up of the rest of the stairs. They slipped the flash drive into their pocket before letting themself be dragged along by Roland, too tired to fight against his antics.

"Please tell me you didn't make up this whole situation with Gabriel as an excuse to set up some lame date" Rook groaned, being forced to sit with him.

"You've decided to help my cause out of the goodness in your heart, shouldn't I help you in return? You had such a rough day, you deserve some time to relax!" Roland responds, not quiet condescending but it's still annoying enough.

"How the hell am I supposed to relax when I'm stuck up here with you?" Rook grumbled, trying half-heartedly to mask their amusement.

"Well obviously I'm your stress relief, you can do whatever you want with me~"

"So I can kick you off this platform and watch you fall into the ocean?" Rook finally cracks and lets out a quiet laugh. When they look over at him, Rook laughs louder after seeing Roland pout like a child.

"You're much more pleasant to be around when you aren't scowling all the time, you know?" Roland lets out a light laugh and looks at them with some form of fondness, his smile would seem genuine if Rook weren't already aware of his ability to hide his emotions at will.

"Stop trying to provoke me all the time then." Rook rolls their eyes, not realizing they had just walked into his trap.

"But if i bother you enough, perhaps you'll kiss me oh so passionately again?" Roland sounds way too proud setting that one up.

But instead of giving him the snippy response he was looking for, Rook turns to stare at him with a level-headed look.

"You can just ask if you want something, I'm not that much of an asshole. You're an actor so you should know how to use your big boy words." Rook responds with a neutral tone. They can see him falter for a brief moment before quickly catching himself.

"Ah! So I see you're also a fan of mind games--" Roland spluttered when Rook quickly grabbed his chin and forcefully pulled him into a kiss. They were both constructs so theoretically neither one of them needed to breathe, but before Roland could instinctively pull away for air Rook pushed him backwards.

Rook crawled into his lap and gripped the collar of his jacket with both hands, kissing him more aggressively. When Roland's arms wrapped around their waist to tug them closer, Rook felt their mechanical heart flutter. In this moment there was no Punishing Virus, no Babylonia and no Strike Hawk. Just the two of them in the ruins of this shitty beach resort. Rook knew this relationship would mean nothing sooner rather than later, they had been fucked over by the promise of companionship too many times before and with Roland it would be no different.

And yet…. Rook doesn't care, the world had already ended and there's no point in assuring their continued survival. Besides, Rook was looking forward to beating the shit out of Gabriel, so they might as well enjoy this ride before Roland eventually stabs them in the back.

[greentrickster]

a_real_nowhere_man: All of this is great. I love the idea that Chloe is smugly manipulating her team into having healthy schedules. Nino probably helps, he might not know what he's helping with but he knows it helps the team so by gosh he's gonna enable the fuck out of it.

greentrickster: ^U^ Thanks! And yeah, if Claw's the medic, Hesperia's the leader, Nino's the heart, and Alya's the data expert, then Chloe's somehow gone and turned herself into the team secretary. She's got everyone's schedules in her planner and also at least halfway memorized for the reoccurring stuff, sometimes better than they themselves do. It's kind of funny, because she's the sort of person who tends to aim for leadership and authority and that sort of thing, but I think this role actually suits her really well - she gets to be up in everyone's business, have a thumb on events and organization, and - probably most importantly for her - it means she's rarely left out of the loop. For a kid whose parents ignore and placate her on a good day and who doesn't actually have much power on her own besides the ability to 'call Daddy,' I think she'd really enjoy that. Pollen helps her figure out good organization techniques (bees are very structured, after all), and is openly approving of Chloe's efforts to keep the team functioning healthily as a whole, excellent bee behaviour.

And yes, Nino absolutely helps her with this. In fact, all of them do. Not even out of faith in Chloe or to support her, but for the simple reason... she's being really helpful. Seriously, she's in the perfect position to just be so incredibly helpful and useful with all this, since she's the only person who both knows everyone's identities and has strong reasons to interact with them in both her civilian and resistance member activities. She's in the same class as Alya, Nino, and Marinette, so it's natural for her to interact with them on a daily basis and plausible for her to decide she wants to start spending time with them, since they know Marinette, Marinette's interning for Gabriel, and Gabriel is Chloe's new boss, with Marinette having already made friends with Nino and Alya and thus being a pre-established friend group for Chloe to join. Likewise, since she's Gabriel's new top model and the face of his brand, it makes sense that he'd want to interact and spend time with her to test new potential looks and get a sense for what she's good at and what needs work, and being at his house (since his main studio is there) means it's natural for her to run into Adrien (and also Marinette) and thus start interacting with both of them as well, especially since Adrien's mentoring her in her new modeling career. She even coordinates with Nathalie, since Nathalie's the one organizing photo shoots and fashion shows. Girl's landed in the perfect position to just coordinate everything with almost no effort and she's taking advantage of it.

And this doesn't just mean in regards to coordinating schedules for resistance meetings. Chloe's whole life has been one big (and sadly ineffective) lesson in how to get and hold peoples' attention... which is a surprisingly useful skill when it comes to creating a distraction to cover another resistance member needing to leave a situation quickly or cover for them for whatever reason. Marinette didn't get enough sleep and forgot her homework? Good thing that (as far as Mari knows) being coworkers means any embarrassment that falls on her would reflect poorly on Chloe, and also that Chloe's bought the line that Marinette's 120% devoted to the Gabriel brand and image 24/7! "Of course she didn't do her homework, Ms. Bustier, we have an enormous show coming up at Gabriel, naturally she has to devote the majority of her time to planning how to make me and M. Agreste look good, it's her job. Are you implying that a literature assignment is more important than an internship that's going to open doors her poor, commoner little heart could only dream of without it? Maybe I should tell Daddy that this school doesn't support students pursuing formal careers-!"

Adrien's going to need a block of time to get through a task Chat promised to do or get in some extra studying? Schedule him to come watch over her for an upcoming photo shoot, have him there until five minutes into the shoot, then claim she's feeling super confident thanks to his brilliant teaching skills, and "Adrikins won't you please let me do the rest on my own so I can show you how well I can do without you here, I want to make you proud! <3" and boom, Adrien's got a free afternoon to get his stuff done.

Gabriel's schedule for the next month is in Alya's hands without the two of them having to do a thing because Chloe just already had it, Nino's able to actually plan the occasional group hang-out session with the whole resistance for moral and team-building exercises to help facilitate better teamwork and mental health, somehow scheduling changes and conflicts are being passed along and communicated more efficiently than ever before, and no one's pegged the changes as being a result of Chloe because she's managed to transition from 'entitled brat' to 'efficient yet overbearing secretary' with a smoothness hitherto unseen by man.

By a few months in she's reflecting that she should have made her vigilante name 'Busy Bee' instead of 'Lady Bee,' and she's going to be so incredibly smug when someone else finally catches on to what she's doing (aka, she's dominating, but for good instead of evil).

[fuckyeahgoodomensfanfic]

Good Omens Fic Rec: Old Vines

A.Z. Fell, one of the most respected names in wine and food blogging, has been sent on assignment with his assistant Warlock Dowling to spend six months in California Wine Country. Under direction (by his boss, Gabriel) to use this experience to double his blog followers and write a novel, Aziraphale is both excited and anxious about the opportunity. Anthony J. Crowley is the owner and viticulturalist of Ecdyses, a winery that unexpectedly fell into his lap eleven years ago when he hit rock bottom. He may be in debt, yeah, but he’s paying off his loans — and despite pressure from his lenders and their team of inspectors, Crowley has found a kind of contentment tending his little corner of terroir and producing extraordinary wine. Crowley’s old vines are the heart of his vineyard, and he’s never let anyone in. Crowley finds Aziraphale intriguing; Aziraphale finds Crowley enthralling. Turns out a famous wine expert and an experienced viticulturalist can still learn things from each other. The summer of 2019 unfolds.

Length: 189,706 words

AO3 Rating: Explicit / Spice Level 🔥🔥

Best for: Mostly Safe in Public, Human AU, Romance

Triggers: None

Read it here, fic by sevdrag (seventhe)

*Minor Spoilers* Now this is one well researched AU! This is wine blogger/winery owner human AU. As someone who knows absolutely nothing about wine (nor likes the taste sorry), I was blown away over the amount of detail in this story. The author clearly knows what they're talking about, and uses this knowledge to actually direct the plot not just as neat side info. This level of detail is a feature of this story and stands on it's own outside of the Good Omens backdrop. This story also has an excellent grasp on who Aziraphale and Crowley truly are, what makes them tick, what their insecurities and motivations are. It understands that what makes them so compatible is the way they push and surprise each other. They fall in love not just because they're surface level compatible, it's that they keep each other on their toes. This story also has a line that I booked marked for myself, describing Crowley as, "arrogant and yet somehow pleading for feedback," that's definitely Crowley to me.

Every 6 chapters we get a perspective flight tasting. It brings a small sampling of what everyone else in this story is thinking. I loved these chapters. There's only 3 of them so it never stops the plot, and doesn't take over the flow. It's just small interludes that are pleasant to read but also add a lot of context. We have Warlock, Adam and The Them, Anathema, Newt, and Gabriel as reoccurring main characters. I liked their inclusion a lot, particularly Adam and Warlock. Their plot line was very unexpected in a good way. It really takes a village to keep the winery running and they make a very believable sort of family.

Safe for public I'd say, there is sex in it but it's not very graphic and they're pretty short scenes. They are a part of the story, but not the highlight. This is something very casual to read, something where you want romance but nothing heavy. I highly recommend the pinterest board the author put together for this. It really helped me set the stage and understand the wine stuff better. It's a jargon heavy AU, and I found it fascinating. Who knows, maybe I'll give wine another shot after this!

Read it here, fic by sevdrag (seventhe)

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: June 2024

Halfway through the year! More daylight means less media consumption but I'm okay with that. Here's what I experienced in the month of June.

……….FILM……….

Back to the Future & Back to the Future Part II (1985 & 1989) It's been a while since I've watched these but I was immediately stricken by how much Avengers: Endgame owes to Part II. Both move at such a breezy clip that it makes total sense Part III would ditch most of the sci fi stuff for a western.

……….TELEVISION……….

Bridgerton (Episode 3.01 to 3.02) Having not watched seasons 1 or 2, I'm impressed by how well the first couple eps set the stage for newcomers. Plus it makes all the previous seasons feel like lore! So far I'm digging this gossip girl.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Episode 1.07 to 1.08) Really great season of television that ties so much up I was genuinely surprised by how complete it felt. I know season 2 is confirmed but I think this show got in, said what it wanted to say (wholly), and got it and hot dang do I respect that. Big fan.

Delicious in Dungeon (Episode 1.23 to 1.24) Great cap to the season and lovely to end not with a bombastic fight but a contemplative and hopeful discussion. Such an excellent adaptation.

……….YOUTUBE……….

The Death of Movie Theatres - Beyond the Black Void by Red Letter Media It's really interesting to think of the movie-going experience as something that could become more niche: something akin to listening to records or going to see a play. VIDEO

Simple Rules for Better Sandwiches | Techniquely with Lan Lam by America's Test Kitchen I really appreciate the culinary arts but have only ever felt confident in the kitchen when following a recipe. Videos like this have really opened up my mind to concepts and building blocks for making better food. VIDEO

……….READING……….

Witness for the Prosecution by Agatha Christie (Complete) I'm not usually one for short stories (tougher to connect and keep track of the characters, especially if reading a few in a night) but I'll admit I liked most of these. Varied with really only one or two that left me feeling confused. Heck I even solved a couple before the end!

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett (Complete) The previous book (reading in publication order) didn't click for me but this was a return to form. Maybe it's cause I love the witches, maybe it's cause I love vampires, but this was a joy. Some of the body humour felt dated, which is strange for the generally timeless humour of Pratchett's work, but fortunately it was only a small part. Big fan and excited to get back into Discworld.

The Vision by Tom King, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Mike Del Mundo, & Michael Walsh (Complete) The concept character writing is so good in this; the Visions really do read like androids attempting to be human. I really wanted a slower burn out of this and wish we got a little more "trying to fit in" before it all goes wrong. Maybe it'll sit better with me on a reread but it was still a fun time with a comic book.

I Hate This Place Volumes 1 & 2 by Kyle Starks, Artyom Topilin, and Lee Loughridge (Complete) Picked these up from the library on a whim and it's all oozing with so much style. Doesn't quite live up to expectations (I was imagining more serialized stories instead of one very fast-paced story) but the artwork is so gnarly. Really cool premise that I wish had more room to breathe.

……….AUDIO……….

No Hands by Joey Valence & Brae (2024) I want to like this album, but its 90's influences just don't grab me. They do a great job of capturing the spirit of the style, but I preferred when that style was more early Beastie Boys. Those are 80s/90s influences I can get behind.

……….GAMING……….

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Tuesday crew has defeated the elves and made a Liche ally! But their current quest is collecting all the pirate bones they scattered back during their very first Neverlandian session! Anyway you can read all about it here!

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 crew's magic item investigation has lead them to a wealthy family holding a private event and their plan is to get in through the power of wrestling fandom. I'm excited to see how that goes.

And that's it. See you in July!

[cursedwithwords]

Next Gen Headcanon Speedrun for the rest of the gang:

Victoire Gabrielle Delacour-Weasley | Gryffindor

Wand: rosewood and veela hair

Patronus: dragonfly

Profession: curse breaker

Bonus: inherited her mother's wand and is a huge mama's girl. The only sibling who doesn't have freckles. Initially, she did NOT want siblings as she was terrified of her parents forgetting about her, and she absolutely hated Dominique for the first few years. She warmed up to the idea of being a big sister when Louis was born though. Wicked smart, and she loves her work as a curse breaker. She also loves it because it's a great way for her to bond with Bill. She dated casually for a few years, her longest relationship being with Teddy, but found herself more invested in her work and decided to focus on that. Their breakup was cordial and mutual, and they're still close friends. She isn't extremely close to either of her siblings but does love them immensely.

————

Frederick Percy Weasley | Gryffindor

Wand: dogwood and billywig stinger

Patronus: basset hound

Professions: nightclub owner

Bonus: transmasc, named himself "Frederick Percy" after his godfather and late uncle. Used to fight with his father a lot as a teen and argued with Roxanne constantly, though his relationship with his younger sister improved greatly after graduating. Rox is the one who tattooed him after his top surgery scars healed. They're extremely close as adults. Dominique and Teddy were the ones who supported him the most through his transition. As a teenager he'd get into screaming matches with George and end them by leaving the house and going to Percy's until he'd calmed down. Percy was more than happy to accommodate him and be a safe space. Percy is the one who told him stories about Fred. Took a ton of odd jobs after school and saved up so he could buy his own property and open a club that catered to wizards and could be a safe space for socializing. It quickly becomes extremely popular.

————

Rose Minerva Granger-Weasley | Gryffindor

Wand: red oak and dragon heartstring

Patronus: spider

Profession: Ministry Worker - expert on human/animal spirits and non-human spiritous apparitions

Bonus: a daddy's girl, better wizards chess player than Ron. Doesn't approve of alternate magics like divination mostly because her mother doesn't like it. Once when Ron was drunk he told her how her mother had been tortured at Malfoy manor and how Draco once called her a mudblood, which is what began her seething resentment towards the Malfoys and Scorpius in particular. Does not approve of his friendship with Hugo or his relationship with Albus. Very stubborn and headstrong with excellent grades, though she isn't actually the biggest fan of studying. She desperately works for the best grades possible to make her parents proud. Has a somewhat strained relationship with her mother due to the fact she's always busy and working, and her father drinks liberally so it's difficult to talk to him. Unintentionally adopts her parents' traumas because she knows too much about them since drunk Ron talks a lot. It takes her a long time to shake out of it and come into her own person.

————

Hugo Arthur Granger-Weasley | Gryffindor

Wand: pear and dragon heartstring

Patronus: brown bear

Profession: herbologist

Bonus: gender fluid he/they, his grandfather Arthur's favorite grandson. Fred is his favorite cousin. Thinks Rose really needs to calm down. As an herbologist he often assists James and Scorpius in their individual work as both have careers that are heavily influenced by herbology. Straight up refuses to drink alcohol and will get angry if people try to peer pressure him into it. Consistently steals his sisters clothes, she puts up with it cuz that's her baby sibling, but she also tried to take him shopping for his own stuff. "I can just buy you a nice dress" "No I wanna wear yours :(" "so do i???".

————

Molly Audrey "MJ" Weasley | Gryffindor

Wand: aspen and dragon heartstring

Patronus: lioness

Profession: quidditch keeper in the league

Bonus: the most Gryffindor-like out of all the next gen. Confident, reliable and outrageously courageous to the point of insanity. She's the one who brings home strays asking if they can keep them. Strays can range from kittens, to snakes, to boar piglets, to random homeless folks (she's the reason for all Percy's gray hairs). Played as a keeper on the house team but was also a reserve beater for emergencies. Admires the hell out of her older cousin Lily. Loves to go practice flying with her step-father (oliver wood, because I believe in a perciver future where percy and audrey divorce soon after lucy is born and he gets full custody).

————

Lucy Olivia Weasley | Gryffindor

Wand: hazel and unicorn hair

Patronus: hummingbird

Profession: healer

Bonus: got her middle name from oliver. a hat stall because the sorting hat couldn't decide whether to put her in gryffindor or hufflepuff. Put her in gryffindor because "well you are a weasley and ive always known where to put you". Teddy gave her one of his old scarves to wear after she asked because she insists she can be both! She'd help MJ nurse all the strays back to full health. If one of her fathers or sister got sick, she'd be the first to make tea and sit by their bedside until they were better. Wakes up before dawn without needing to set an alarm. Makes friendship bracelets for everyone in her family. Oliver never takes his off.

[flightfoot]

You know, now that Kagami is almost certainly a sentimonster, I have to wonder: how will she react when she finds out? Her situation isn’t quite as bad as Adrien’s - at least Tomoe gave her her amok - but it’s pretty damn close. Honestly, she needs to be removed from Tomoe’s custody, like how Adrien needs to be removed from Gabriel’s. 

I imagine that she’ll be questioning how much of herself, her own interests, are her, and how much was stuff she’d been manufactured to have. Tomoe said that Gabriel had nearly destroyed her dream when he endangered Kagami, and I’m wondering whether Tomoe’s doing this whole “vicariously living through her daughter” thing. Tomoe and her father were world-class fencers, and while Tomoe is still very good, I’m guessing that if her blindness was acquired later in life, it probably helped end her career as a champion fencer, since while she’s compensated for losing her sight well, it’s gotta make fencing a lot harder. Maybe that’s why she wanted a Sentibaby in particular: so she could be sure that her child would be excellent at fencing, like her.

I think that Kagami’s interest and talent with art is gonna be important in reassuring her that she is still herself, even if she IS a sentimonster. Tomoe didn’t make her interested in art, after all. In fact, Tomoe doesn’t care about it at all, and actually would rather she stopped spending time on it. Drawing is something that KAGAMI chose to do, not something that was imbued in her.