#REBUTTAL

[pepsi-al]

And now, for another piece of Serena glazing brought to you by an entitled fan from the vocal minority.

Going over this so you don't have to.

The first point he tries to make is that the XY anime in an attempt to prove that the XY anime is "the most popular Pokémon Anime series", using an IMDB rating of it to back it up with, even though the rating in question is, like, taken from about 617 people. Not even a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of viewers the XY anime ended with, let alone started out with. Which should pretty much tell anyone that the people who are giving such praise to the XY anime are not even part of the target audience. Especially since Yo-Kai Watch has been outright beating the XY anime in the ratings throughout the latter's run.

He credits Serena to being part of the success that the XY anime had. Even though the only place where it found "success" was among the periphery online fandom. Meanwhile what her portrayal and "AmourShipping" actually did contribute to in regards to the XY anime is the alienation of the target audience. With the target audience themselves going on record to say that they weren't vibing with what "AmourShipping" was giving them. And in regards to those not among the target audience but didn't vibe with "AmourShipping" nonetheless, they knew that "AmourShipping" wasn't going to go anywhere.

He thinks that Serena "brought new things to the table", all the while already singing Serena's praises, calling her "the best PokéGirl of all time", as well as one of the best characters in the entire franchise. Pretty much blatantly ignoring what was already on the table before Serena even arrived.

He outright thinks that every female companion of Ash's after Misty but prior to Serena is somehow "a copy of Misty". Yeah, sure. Let's just ignore everything else that sets Ash's female companions besides Serena apart from each other, and just boil down their behavior to "Misty-esque". Granted, he does state that they have defining characteristics, such as May becoming a "Performer". (Uhh, dude? Coordinator, while similar, doesn't equal Performer.) But he seems to think they all have the same kind of personality Misty has, which couldn't be any further from the truth.

The attention he calls to in regards to Ash's female companions before Serena being "sassy" and "a jerk to Ash" pretty much shows his entire thought process into making this video. And why he was so reductive towards May, Dawn, and Iris. He's basically telling people here that he projects himself onto Ash, and that he doesn't think that Ash should have to put up with someone who, understandably, calls Ash out on his stupidity on a regular basis. (And in doing so, pretty much missing the point of Ash's character.) Also, was anyone that wasn't a part of the hardcore AniPoké fandom seriously getting tired of a girl being around to call Ash out on his faults? Does this guy genuinely believe that? Last I checked, before the time of the XY anime, they were getting tired of Ash, not his female companions in anything apart from getting sidelined in favor of Ash.

Actually, nobody apart from the periphery demographic actually "fell immediately in love with Serena". And those who did immediately fall in love with her didn't do so because of her personality. It was because of her crush on Ash, and because of marketing. Her actual personality is nothing to sneeze at, and is pretty much not only nothing like her source material counterpart, but also pretty much what you would expect from a character with no depth to her personality beyond "I'm girly because I'm a girl". Also, "kind" and "caring" literally describe ALL of Ash's female companions. Whereas "independent" describes ALL of Ash's female companions EXCEPT Serena. "Kind to everyone" and "not afraid to express how she was feeling" isn't unique to her. (The latter is definitely one of the reasons why Misty is popular. And Serena definitely seemed afraid to express how she's feeling around Ash.) And she's definitely nowhere near the first to be friendly towards everyone and ready to extend a helping hand whenever anyone is in trouble. (Again. That's literally a reason why Misty is popular to begin with.) Not to mention, Serena wasn't bratty? This dude never saw how Serena feels about her mother. And again with the "not a jerk to Ash" bit. Heck, he even brings up when she cares for Ash when he's sick as though it hadn't been done before, when it has by Misty. It's like he doesn't actually give a crap about Serena's actual character, is more interested in the fact that the showrunners made her only purpose on the show to be to make Ash look good, and is only gassing her up both to make her look better than she is, and because he feels like she's the perfect character to make Ash look good; pretty much a regular pastime for guys like him at this point. It also shows a double standard in regards to his thought process. If the female traveling companion of Ash is her own character and made out to be his equal, then anything she does, even if beneficial for Ash, is automatically bad. But if that female traveling companion is instead made specifically to make Ash look good, as though as she were a typical female character in a Shounen anime, then anything that she does, even if it harms Ash in any way, is automatically good.

Also, if things did end up changing for the better in regards to Ash's female companions, they did so in spite of Serena, not because of her. Mallow, Lana, and Lillie, were all pretty much close representations of if not direct translations of their source material counterparts. Chloe, an AniPoké OC, is pretty much the only one that comes after AniPoké Serena who is the most similar to her in terms of characterization. But, despite her doing the similarities she has with Serena better than Serena did, the reaction the periphery demographic actually has towards her (read: Chloe is disliked by the periphery audience for being "too boring", "aimless", "decided upon a goal that defeated the purpose of her character", etc.) only succeeds in showcasing said demographic's hypocrisy towards her.

WRT the unnecessary shade towards Misty's direction, saying that she would not have cared, and that she would have thrown Ash "in the deep end", this literally reinforces what I'm saying about Serena fans thinking that whatever a female traveling companion of Ash's does to Ash in their eyes is automatically bad if she's made out to be his equal and dares to be her own character. Because that's not what Misty would do at all. He completely doesn't understand her character. She would have and has helped Ash whenever he's sick. On that note, what is it with Serena fans and slinging mud at Misty? I swear. They feel threatened by her.

He's right about Serena's "relationship" with Ash being a reason why she's "popular" among the periphery audience. But what he doesn't realize is that the same reason why she's "popular" is also her biggest flaw as a character. Like, he doesn't even question how Serena is able to remember Ash despite it being so long since she supposedly last saw him. (2-5 years before the XY anime, and for a very brief moment at that.) He also ignores that all of the flashbacks to Serena meeting Ash at Oak's Summer Camp are exclusively from Serena's PoV, as well as not questioning how Ash and Serena didn't stay in touch if they supposedly knew each other. And how does he figure that the writers loved Serena when, if they had their way, Serena wouldn't have been given the characterization that she was given? Calling it "wholesome" and "what gave fans diabetes" is just basically talking about the frosting covering the the cake that tastes like stale air. He then rambles on about how Serena sees Ash as a "selfless hero", pretty much talking about Serena's blind worship of him, and downplaying how over-the-top it is compared to the complements Ash got from other girls. Even calling Serena constantly blushing around Ash, and Ash giving her the kind of compliment that he'll give May and Dawn "wholesome" rather than seeing it as the hard-to-watch mess that it is. And again, putting the emphasis on Serena seeing Ash as both "someone who's good at battling", and "someone with a good soul", shows that he doesn't really care about Serena's character, and that he's ignored that other girls have seen Ash as someone with a good soul before without blindly worshipping him. And I struggle to see how anyone can call something so blatantly shipfic-y in an official work "special". He is right about how we're not going to to see something like Ash and Serena again. To which I say: GREAT! "AmourShipping" was a bad idea from the get-go, and should serve as a cautionary tale.

And the last point he tries to make is how the female traveling companions of Ash prior to Serena "didn't really have any much if any impact". Like, what does he mean by this? Story? On Ash? Misty pretty much played a big part in why Ash is as great of a trainer as he is now, and is why he's alive. She was responsible helping Ash discover the entrance to Cinnabar Gym. May was pretty much responsible for picking up the slack whenever Ash wasn't around, and had her own arc. Dawn was chosen by Mesprit to defend Sinnoh. And "mainly used as comedic relief or to fill in that 'girl' spot for the rest of the series"? How does he think that this somehow doesn't apply to Serena? And I don't know how he thinks that Iris is a step in the right direction when, while a breath of fresh air compared to Dawn and May, when she isn't exactly treading new ground. And he's just glazing Serena by saying that she's had a bigger purpose in the story as it progressed when it really wouldn't be different without her as it is with her. And as far as "providing a completely different contrast compared to a Pokémon Trainer" is concerned, Lillie does that job far better due to being her own character and coming across as human as Misty while having her own arc herself, whereas Serena just comes across as no different from a Bond Girl or a one-off "love-interest" for Jim Kirk that isn't named Carol Marcus. He then goes on to praise Showcases, even though they're pretty much a dumbed down Pokémon Contest rip-off. And how does she lose time and time again when her only notable loss is her first ever Showcase, which she didn't really learn anything from? And her impact on Ash's character as a whole is basically non-existent, given that she doesn't even cross Ash's mind in Journeys when he thought about his travels in Kalos, and even almost ran past her like how Shulk ran past Melia. And he fails to realize that Serena actually did to Ash something that would help someone speedrun the ending of a friendship with a depressed person in real life, making his situation about her than about him. Plus, Ash would have gotten out of his funk without her "help". And the entire scene got retconned in Journeys, anyways. And honestly. What "lessons" did she give him that he didn't or shouldn't already know before the XY anime? Her role in helping shape Ash into the trainer who would go on to win the world championship is negligible. And in case he didn't notice, the Ash following the XY anime IS the same Ash from all the way back in Indigo League but grown up mentally, and definitely not due to anything that Serena actually did. Also, Ash learned the lesson that "it's okay to lose" all the way back in Orange Islands, where Serena doesn't even make an appearance. Instead, Ash learned that lesson from LORELEI, and in a later episode, Misty reiterated the lesson that Lorelei taught him. And once again, saying that Serena "beat the jerk and sassy trope" shows his lack of care towards Serena. The fact that he even brings up the "kiss", which even Yajima himself said could have been a whisper in Ash's ear for all he knew, is emblematic of how he really sees Serena.

And really? Does he really have the audacity to ask "how could you not love her"? He's clearly spent no time outside of the echo chamber, and no time in circles where Serena is criticized because of how her character was mishandled. And he definitely spoke to nobody who actually likes Serena as a character that feels like her potential as a character was outright wasted by the direction the showrunners took with her.

As for what I think about Serena's character? I think that she sucks. Period.

[bardraelyn]

On Disaster Puppies, Anxious Angels, and Applesauce

*This post has been revised and expanded from a previous post.

So the key to understanding the end of S2 boils down to this:

Angel!Crowley = disaster puppy (all enthusiasm, not much sense)

Aziraphale = anxious kid who grew up in a house with plastic covers on all the furniture (this bit is important)

Let’s break it down:

When they first encounter each other, in the time Before the Beginning, Aziraphale shows signs of unease when he hears Angel!Crowley questioning God’s Ineffable Plan. I’ve seen it suggested that Aziraphale reacts this way because has doubts—that he doesn’t trust Heaven. Yet it’s well established in S1 that the loss of faith comes later, after the events surrounding Armageddon prove to him irrevocably that Heaven sees humans as no more than tokens in an elaborate game against Hell. No, Before the Beginning, Aziraphale trusts Heaven implicitly, and that trust is the root of his fear. Aziraphale trusts Heaven, Heaven has rules, and rules must be enforced.

Aziraphale doesn’t warn Angel!Crowley off questions because he thinks there’s something wrong with Heaven. He warns Angel!Crowley off questions because he lives in a restrictive environment with rigid rules and is terrified of (vague, unspecified) consequences. Anxious children don’t need to have erred or been punished previously in order to be afraid of punishment. They need only have an expectation (implicit from the mere existence of rules) that punishment of some sort is possible. In fact, having not been punished (because their anxiety mostly keeps them in line without need for actual adult intervention) makes the fear—not threat, but fear—of punishment that much more powerful because they don’t know what the punishment will be, and the unknown is terrifying. (What’s more, they are desperate for praise and reassurance that they won’t be punished and are doing the right thing, hence Aziraphale’s love language being words of affirmation.) Aziraphale is trying to protect the innocent, joyful angel he just met, even though he doesn’t yet know what he is protecting him from. He just knows you’re not supposed to muss the furniture, and what Angel!Crowley is suggesting feels dangerous.

Fear of the unknown explains why Aziraphale’s demeanor shows more of an edge in certain present-day scenes of S2. Thanks to his and Crowley’s post-Armaged-didn’t appearance swap, Aziraphale has now been to Hell and has a much better sense of what punishment might actually look like—not to mention a very up-close and personal understanding of exactly the kind of punishments that were intended for his beloved. Punishment is no longer a vague concept but rather a well-defined set of parameters, and Aziraphale knows how to deal with things that have edges. (Yes, that’s a flaming sword allusion, but it’s also a pointed reference to the notion that things that can be defined can be countered.) Because he can anticipate, he can plan. And planning is something Aziraphale excels at, because anxious children out of necessity grow into meticulous planners.

Having this knowledge of what punishment looks like leads our shades-of-gray angel to become less fearful for himself while simultaneously making him even more protective of Crowley. His thought process has gone from, “Punishment is big and terrifying, and I don’t know how I would cope” to “Punishment looks like this, and it sucks as much as or more than I expected, and I want my beloved to never have to endure it again.” It has also made him more protective of the innocents who are bound to get caught in the middle of Heaven and Hell’s unending conflict. Indeed, he goes truly fierce during the battle at the bookshop in a way that we have not seen before, even at the climax of S1. (While he did pull that tone with Furfur in 1941, that moment arose from disdain rather than aggression, so it’s not particularly relevant to this part.)

This also accounts for why, after his Fall, Crowley has become a demon who only “goes along with Hell as far as he can.” Angel!Crowley had no concept nor fear of punishment. Crowley now has both, but he’s already been punished in the worst way possible (loss of his angelic status and the opportunity to work on more projects like his beautiful nebulas), so he knows what punishment feels like. He knows where to toe the line and knows what to expect if/when he doesn’t. He’s not that bright and enthusiastic puppy anymore; he’s a wary old dog with a long memory, who is willing to take a stand to protect those he’s loyal to, even while he still cowers at certain types of threats (“We can run away together!”).

Angel!Crowley was punished and cast out of the restrictive home with all the plastic on the furniture, and the new house he’s been stuck in for the past 6000 years is run by the sort of abusive f*cks who beat puppies and raise them for dog fights. (I have a theory that Crowley was punished less severely than some of the other Fallen. He is, after all, one of the most beautiful demons we see, and that suggests that the person in charge of doling out punishments was more annoyed at him than angry, and so didn’t curse him with the truly nasty afflictions we see on the more repugnant of demons—like Hastur, who delights in pain, or Beelzebub, who had some leadership role in the Rebellion—but that doesn’t matter because his new home was terrible, possibly in part because of that lesser punishment. I bet that prior to the Rebellion, “Lucifer and the boys” delighted in the cliquish equivalent of “throwing sticks for the Disaster Puppy to chase,” and poor Angel!Crowley didn’t realize they weren’t really his friends so much as a different set of abusers who used attention instead of neglect. But after the Fall, they became his keepers, and his eyes were opened to a whole new level of loss and betrayal. Anyway.)

As a member of the Fallen, Crowley doesn’t remember the names of some angels/demons (Furfur, Saraqael, and yes, Aziraphale at first) but clearly remembers others (like the Metatron and Gabriel), even though they all remember him. I’ve seen suggestions that this is a trauma response or the results of a partial memory wipe, but I think it has a much simpler explanation: He only remembers the names and faces of entities who stood out to him. That enthusiastic angel who bubbled with joy and absolutely annoyed some of the other angels with his exuberance? Of course, he sticks in their memory! But they barely registered to him because they were each just one in a billion random strangers he played with in the park. The Disaster Puppy enthusiastically plays with everyone. He remembers the ones who had the power to slap him on the nose—and the one angel whose daring and kindness impressed him enough for his name to finally stick after it didn’t during their previous encounters.

At their very first meeting, Aziraphale introduces himself; Angel!Crowley doesn’t reciprocate. Names are irrelevant. He’s too caught up in his nebula to even take note of the introduction. So later, when they meet on the wall of Eden, introductions are needed again: Aziraphale because Crowley didn’t recall his name, and Crowley because he never gave his name at their first meeting (and probably never during any of their chance encounters in Heaven, because remember, Disaster Puppy just isn’t all that concerned with names), but also because even if Aziraphale did pick up Angel!Crowley’s name in passing sometime after their first meeting, he absolutely would not assume that the fallen angel still uses it. Rather than risk dead-naming him, he waits for Crowley (or Crawly, at the time) to tell him what he prefers to be called.

So, it’s obvious why Crowley didn’t remember Aziraphale’s name, but did he recognize Aziraphale at all before approaching him on the wall? I would bet on absolutely, yes, but with the vague sort of recollection of a conversation he probably should have taken a bit more to heart. He sees a being who tried at some point in the past to warn him, whose name he doesn’t recall because it didn’t seem important enough at the time, but who makes him feel comfortable enough to approach: “You tried to help me before, which means you are kinder than those other angels who didn’t, and so you probably won’t hurt me now, even though I’m Fallen. I’m feeling conflicted about this notion that knowledge of Good and Evil is a Bad Thing, and as someone who tried to advise me earlier, I feel like I can talk to you about it.” (What neither of them has yet realized is that knowledge of Good and Evil is the key to recognizing that Heaven and Hell are two ends of the same poison pill, and it’s not only humans who have been kept in the dark; a lot of the Angelic Host are also in need of some applesauce.)

All of this is why the memory-wipe theory simply doesn’t make sense. Think about it: Gabriel is the Supreme Archangel, and their intent with him was to perform the equivalent of a full hard drive wipe and reinstall of the base angelic software. They think of him as corrupted beyond repair. If even the highest of high archangels isn’t worth the massive effort of selective file deletion, why would they waste that same amount of effort on Crowley to wipe (and possibly replace) a few select memories from before the Fall? Yes, it’s clear that Crowley was an angel with a reasonably high level of access, given his ability to open the archives, but there’s absolutely no indication that he outranked Gabriel. In fact, his scorn for the Supreme Archangel is exactly the sort of scorn you’d have for someone who used to have authority over you and abused it extremely casually but was mostly the kind of negligent adult who ignored you until you were useful and/or pissed them off.

(As an aside, this also ties back to the question of why angels don’t eat while demons do. Aziraphale eats—with enthusiasm!—so clearly angels can eat, and Crowley mentions “food not that good anymore” in Heaven as part of why he started palling around with the other discontents, so angels certainly did eat at some point, but now they don’t. While Hell plainly has some sort of meal situation—not to mention a fiery beverage dispenser—we don’t see so much as a watercooler in Heaven. And well, yeah. Obviously. Because somebody in Heaven wants to keep everything pristine, so they won’t allow food anywhere near all that Heavenly furniture. It won’t kill the angels to go without meals, because they are immortal beings, so all the ban achieves is a) starvation, b) loss of pleasure, and c) control. After all, food control—control over the basic function of consuming sustenance—is a great way to exert and reinforce control over a group of beings that you want to ensure won’t rebel. And that’s really all it comes down to: Keeping everything pristine and spotless and perfect, and keeping everyone in line. Withholding the literal and metaphorical applesauce. And the Rebellion gave whoever is in charge of those decisions [my bet would be on the Metatron; God seems too self-involved to care about the furniture] the perfect excuse to change the house rules to ban food. And since it’s definitely a cult, all the ones who are deeply indoctrinated just sort of…go along with it. Anyway….)

If Aziraphale feels any guilt over Crowley’s Fall, it’s a mild twinge over the fact that he wasn’t able to convince the Disaster Puppy to stop jumping on the furniture. That’s not the primary motivating factor for why he’s so adamant about protecting Crowley at the end of S2 or at any other time in their long association. Aziraphale and Crowley are both, in their ways, protectors. That is established over and over again, throughout all of their actions and conversations. Protecting is a primary drive for each of them, something that is at the core of their beings, and it often puts them at odds over the exact same objective: Protecting the one(s) they care most about. They withhold information and behave in sometimes appalling ways to protect each other when what they really need to be doing—as they should have learned from the first Armageddon attempt—is working together to protect what they have with each other along with everything else that they love.

Because the reality is that if either one of them sacrificed themself to save the other, that very sacrifice would destroy the other. They are of one heart, and it cannot, will not live if it is not whole. But neither one fully trusts the other to coordinate a defense because of that same history and past trauma. Aziraphale thinks Crowley won’t listen to him because Angel!Crowley shrugged him off, and Crowley is still afraid of being kicked if he lets his guard down because he can see how much his beloved is still a victim of the cult programming (and Aziraphale is not above kicking if he feels panicked). Crowley doesn’t think Aziraphale will hurt him on purpose, but rather because Aziraphale doesn’t see all the angles and manipulations and therefore can’t see all of the threats—and in their conversation at the end of S2E6, the angel seemingly proves him right.

Now, here I want to pause for just a moment to address a certain type of anxiety response, because it’s vitally important to what comes next, and that is diving in without a plan. It is entirely too common for individuals with anxiety to go into a tailspin when confronted with something that feels overwhelming. This is followed by a prolonged period of recovery, which may then lead to meticulous planning to deal with the situation (if it can’t just be avoided entirely). Unfortunately, this process takes time—often too much time. This is why we sometimes see Aziraphale throw himself into situations with very little forethought or preparation (like, say, following the clues to surrounding the appearance of a certain ex-Supreme Archangel at his bookshop), because he’s tapping into a slightly more self-aware (if rather unhealthy) approach to handling things that trigger his anxiety: “I know if I get up in my head about this, it will paralyze me, and shit needs to get done, so fuck it.” He is short-circuiting the possibility of a tailspin by refusing to think before he acts. The kind of energy that accompanies this approach could easily be categorized as frantic.

When Aziraphale is telling Crowley the “good” news, he appears excited, but given one significant fact we do know—that Aziraphale is driven by anxiety—I would argue that his demeanor in this moment could more accurately be read as agitated. Now, we could debate all day what might have happened during his conversation with the Metatron to cause that agitation. It is plausible—indeed likely, given Neil’s intricate plots—that there was something more to it than we’ve been shown thus far. But we don’t need to know the details to understand Aziraphale’s response, because Aziraphale’s anxiety provides all of the necessary context. After spending several minutes enduring the direct attention of the Metatron, Aziraphale is acutely aware of one very important thing: that he and his beloved demon are, at the very least, still under intense scrutiny by his own former side, and that means they still are not, and have never been, entirely safe from Heaven or Hell’s interference. So he does what our darling Anxiety Angel always does when he is terrified and needs to act: He throws himself in before he can think too hard about what he’s throwing himself into.

So this brings us to Aziraphale’s return to Heaven.

I don’t think that Metatron’s intent is to kill Aziraphale. He will almost certainly resort to that if looks like Aziraphale won’t give him what he wants, but right now, he just sees a tool that can help him achieve his goal (provided Crowley is out of the way). Because here’s the thing: the archangels are clueless about some very important things. That has already been established (see: Job and conversations about human birth). Metatron is probably a bit less so than most, but there are things the Angels in Charge fundamentally do not understand, and they don’t know it yet, but Aziraphale is one of those things.

Metatron sees an angel who has not only lived on Earth long enough to truly understand humans, but also (and this is key) has collaborated with a demon—a tempter—and then effectively lived in the company of that tempter for the past four years. Metatron sees Aziraphale as someone who can be tempted and manipulated. That’s why he brings him coffee. He’s trying to use that. He wants a tool he can control. But he, like all of the highest of the Host, is guilty of neglect. He has never paid close enough attention to Aziraphale to see the Bastard Angel: the one who pushes back against Crowley, and even against God, who offers his own temptations, who is stubborn and implacable (much to Crowley’s frequent annoyance even while he loves it), and who isn’t afraid to stand firm in the face of Heaven, Hell, and Armageddon to protect the world and the keeper of his heart. Metatron thinks Aziraphale's resistance to Armageddon was the result of Crowley's manipulation, so he figures he'll just get Crowley out of the way or keep him too busy to interfere, and use Aziraphale for himself. Metatron is so very wrong.

As to why Aziraphale hasn’t fallen yet (and isn’t going to fall, even in S3) in spite of all of his misdeeds and mini-rebellions: it all comes down to the fallout. The Rebel Host—including the poor Disaster Puppy angel running around with them—started a war. In Heaven. They didn’t just individually act up on occasion in ways that could be ignored. They engaged in a violent and bloody act of rebellion. The Fall wasn’t about the small sins; it was about the big one. They messed up the furniture. They had to go. Aziraphale’s not messing up the furniture—yet. By the time he starts, it will be far too late for Heaven to do anything to stop him.

See, that smile at the end of S2E6? It’s not pleasure at taking charge, and it’s not determination to fix Heaven. It’s a mask. Aziraphale spent that elevator ride bottling up his pain and hiding it down deep. Anxiety children become adults who are masters of repression, and he just went through his whole panic attack and packed away his grief in the elevator, while holding a straight face (a very tense, grief-stricken face—it’s all there in the micro-expressions, or rather, the desperate attempt at suppression of all macro- and micro-expressions, about which I could write a whole separate post—but essentially a straight face nonetheless). I would bet my immortal soul that he put on that smile right when the elevator stopped, just before the doors started to open. Heaven is about to learn the hard way why choosing Aziraphale was their fatal mistake. Because the Bastard Angel is broken and angry, and he’s done with their bullshit rules and their plastic-covered furniture. Maybe he pushed Crowley away to protect him. Maybe he really wanted Crowley to come with him to try to change things from the inside. None of that matters. All of the maybes that happened before Metatron came back to collect Aziraphale are irrelevant. Because Metatron doesn’t understand Aziraphale, and he just tipped his hand when he spoke the words “Second Coming.” Aziraphale has long since realized that Heaven is toxic—that’s what he wants to fix—but until that moment he didn’t have the context Crowley had to know why Gabriel left. But he has just learned that his love, his heart, and his world are in mortal danger, and he will stop at nothing to save them. Heaven hath no fury like an angel with a broken heart.

Aziraphale has never worried that Crowley was ever made to forget him. He’s intelligent and observant. He noted that initial un-introduction (and was even a bit disappointed by it), so he knows why Crowley doesn’t remember his name when they meet on the wall of Eden. Their coded-language dance around the depth of their association has never been about fear of rejection over imagined faults but rather the very real threats from their respective Home Offices, which they are too wary to immediately forget even after thwarting Armageddon and their own executions. (They are right not to trust that sense of peace!) It has taken them four years to let down their guards even the tiniest bit, and they are still speaking in code—hence the ball: It's Aziraphale's confession of love without saying the words out loud, because it still doesn't feel entirely safe. And he’s not going to Heaven to throw himself on some sacrificial alter to fix a mistake he thinks he made 6000 years ago by failing to keep an angel who barely acknowledged him from falling in with the rest of the Rebel Host. He’s just doing what he’s always done: trying his best to protect the innocent from Heaven’s caprice.

Only this time, he knows his own heart is innocent too.

[outlanderfandomfollies]

Once again, in an attempt at a "gotcha" moment, a shipper overlooks an important detail, resulting in a total fail!🤦🏻‍♀️

Someone sent me a screencap of shipper SD's weird commentary on me** and my most recent fandom post. I know I shouldn't bother responding, but the insulting tone of her comments was particularly annoying--especially because SD had so cluelessly overlooked an important detail in coming to at least one of her conclusions.

Which Old Witch?

But first things first, SD said I was one of the "Witches of Mordor."🧙🏻‍♀️😱

How dare she! I'm not a "Witch of Mordor!"

I'm from Oz.😉

Hasn't she seen the header on my Outlander Fandom Follies Blog?

Hasn't she noticed my avatar? It's not just any old witch--it's Glinda, the Good Witch of the North. 🧙🏻‍♀️🪄😉

(Want to bet that some shipper takes what I said above literally, and claims that I admitted that I am a witch? 🙄😂)

When "Gotcha!" Backfires

Now that the "witch" stuff is out of the way, let's talk about the quote from my recent fandom post that made SD think she had found a reason to say "gotcha":

And so once again, I am saying "Really?" Not just for me, but for the small contingent of Tumblr Outlander fans who are not living in an "alternate reality," and who perhaps need to know they are not alone.

SD took this to mean that I was somehow "clumsy" in "inadvertently admitting" that "Shippers are the quiet majority of this fandom, or what is left of it."

It seems that in her "gotcha" excitement, SD overlooked one very important word in my comment: "TUMBLR." Specifically, I wrote: "the small contingent of Tumblr Outlander fans who are not living in an 'alternate reality.'"

I purposely limited my comment about reality-based Outlander fans to those on Tumblr, because hey, I was posting on my Tumblr blog--which is the only place I post about Outlander. And Tumblr is where most conspiracy theorists in the fandom (which includes the shippers***) hang out. Consequently, those of us who are on Tumblr and who aren't involved in conspiratorial thinking are in a minority. But that is NOT the case in the larger Outlander community outside of Tumblr.

Tumblr Outlander Fans Are "Special"

Unfortunately, because so many fandom conspiracy theorists are on Tumblr, the Outlander Tumblr community has a reputation in the larger fandom of being completely out in left field.

I'm not saying that there aren't any SC shippers or closet crew folks on other social media platforms, but I am saying that Tumblr has a reputation for being a place where "alternate reality" fans congregate.

Outside of Tumblr, the vast majority of Outlander fans aren't shippers, nor do they believe that S is gay.

Most Outlander fans don't even know what shippers are--and when they find out, they typically consider SC shipper beliefs to be very strange.

But don't take my word for it, take Diana Gabaldon's...

[Below the cut are some of Diana's spot on observations about SC shippers and Tumblr. In addition, you will find my rebuttal to the following SD insults comments--shown in the screencap below.]

"A Closed Circle of Positive Reinforcement"

Diana wrote some interesting comments on TheLitForum.com in Jan. 2018, after she was attacked on her Facebook page by shippers for having congratulated Cait on her engagement.

Can you imagine being so far down the rabbit hole of SC shipping as to directly accuse Diana of "creating fake news for money"? Can you imagine telling Diana that her congratulating Cait on her engagement "discredits" her?😳

Someone in TheLitForum then asked Diana if she had deleted the awful comments she had received. Diana said that most likely the comments were deleted by the person(s) who posted them, after some of her "700,000 followers" did not take kindly to the comments. 

I love Diana's description of Tumblr:

(I don’t go on tumblr—life is Much Too Short—but I saw a few of the first shipper discussions when they started a couple of years ago; it’s a closed circle of positive reinforcement)

Diana underscores how when shippers venture outside of their "closed circle of positive reinforcement" on Tumblr, they are often surprised and dismayed by the fact that most Outlander fans don't support their views. Consequently, they often have to run back to their Tumblr "closed circle" to get the reassurance they need to keep on shipping.

An absurd SC "narrative" is compared to--"Slavery"?😳

I'm honestly astounded by this part of SD's commentary:

I assume the "Ten (but soon to be 12) Years a Slave" is a reference to the shipper's absurd belief that S & C are being "forced" by TPTB to "hide" their love and their "family" for at least the past 10 years--12 years by the time the series ends.

Besides the fact that this absurd shipper "narrative" would be illegal if it actually happened in this day and age, it is beyond the pale to compare this fan-invented SC "narrative" to the horrific institution of slavery.

Please. Try having a little perspective here.

The "Orc Army" and "Normalcy" in Shipperville

SD went from her inappropriate "Slave" comments to complaining about the threat of the "Orc Army."

MAKE UP YOUR MIND: On the one hand, SD is claiming that "Shippers are the quiet majority of this fandom," and those who don't buy into the conspiracy theories are a "small contingent"; yet, on the other hand, she is suggesting there is a whole "Orc Army" out there determined to "fuck up every single shred of normality."

How can a "small contingent" also be an "Orc Army"?

Well, beside the "Orc" insult, in case she hasn't noticed, most of us who used to take time to debunk SC shipper nonsense have moved on. So where is this "Army"?

For instance, aside from my recent "Really?" post, It's been a long time since I've posted a stand alone critique about the fandom, or a conspiracy debunk. As a matter of fact, going back over my archive, except for my occasionally reblogging others' posts and commenting about them, or once in a while reblogging one of my old stand alone posts on the fandom, it appears that the last time (before the "Really" post) that I wrote a new stand alone fandom critique/ conspiracy debunk was NEARLY A YEAR AGO on August 13, 2023.

But even if there are still some fans on Tumblr who are actively critiquing the fandom or debunking SC "receipts" and conspiracies, they weren't the ones "to fuck up every single shred of normality" in Shipperville.

THE "NORMALITY" WAS MESSED UP BY "TINHATTING": Whatever "normality" existed in Shipperville was messed up after Cait became engaged to Tony in 2018. At that time, whoever remained of the SC "wishful shippers" (i.e., the shippers who were reality-based and just wished that SC might be a couple someday) pretty much were replaced or driven out by hardcore "tinhat" shippers.

And although tinhat shipping is ubiquitous, it is the bane of every fandom in which it takes root, because the tinhatters won't see reason, and some even attack other fans, the SOs of the celebrities they ship, and sometimes the celebrities themselves. This is why lots of celebrities don't appreciate tinhat shippers or tinhat stans.

In other words, the tinhat shippers were the ones "to fuck up every single shred of normality" in Shipperville. They're the ones who drove out any wishful shippers who didn't buy into the SC conspiracy "narrative." They're the ones who created block lists so that newbies couldn't learn about different perspectives. They're the ones who went and looked at blurry video footage of events like C's father's FUNERAL to try to prove that SC are still a couple.🙄

On Manipulation

And then we have this comment by SD:

Well, I'm glad SD thinks I'm "not an idiot." However, what on earth is she talking about by calling me "a Manipulator-in-Cheap"?

I have no idea what the "Cheap" is about, but I am NOT trying to "manipulate" anyone. I just post my opinion on my own blog from time to time. I don't go to shipper blogs and comment. The only reason I saw SD's post at all is that someone sent me a screencap.

I figured out back in 2015 that S & C weren't a couple, but that C and T were a couple. I had lightly shipped S & C for two months in Feb. and March of 2015, and I was heartbroken when I figured it out. But it was what it was, and I didn't try to rationalize it all away.

After C married T in 2019, and the MC was later obtained by a number of Outlander fans (including some shippers), it seemed to me that one would really would have to work hard to dismiss all the accumulated information over the years that does not support the ship.

That's what I believe, and that's what I say every once in a while when I post about some shipper nonsense that is brought to my attention. When I choose to post, it is usually just out of frustration with the fact that so many adult women keep fooling themselves.

MY ATTENTION IS ELSEWHERE: But I am NOT very invested in this fandom anymore, so why would I bother to manipulate anyone?

Four years ago, I turned my main CO blog into a general blog, with a progressive American politics emphasis. I also created my Outlander Fandom Follies side blog, which I use when I occasionally post about the fandom or Outlander and its stars (although I also use it to reblog posts for "romance" shows like Bridgerton).

Since I changed the topics on my main CO blog, I have gained tens of thousands new followers (granted, about a third of them are probably bots 🤖😉).

As you can see from this post, I like to make or edit gifs. But I prefer to make gifs about politics these days. You can see an example of the kind of political post I like to make here.

In addition, unlike the Outlander Tumblr community, the Tumblr progressive political community is very supportive, and has zero drama.

I have a busy schedule in my real life, but in my limited time off, I prefer to post about American politics. The Outlander fandom is rarely on my mind. So why on earth would I want to manipulate anyone?

Oh Please!

Finally, we have this little gem from SA's rant:

Like a good conspiracy theorist, SD uses any reaction others have to shipper nonsense to confirm her conspiracy theory.

When I heard about "Kissgate," I rolled my eyes and posted about it because I was flabbergasted that after all these years shippers were still finding videos, enlarging small details, and misinterpreting the resulting fuzzy gifs/ photos, in order to keep their ship afloat.

If any of my nerves were activated when I was told about Kissgate, it was the ones that cued me to roll my eyes.

Sometimes, unfortunately, the truth hurts.

I'm sorry SD if I have offended you by just stating what to me is clearly the truth.

I don't believe SC shippers are "crazy," but I do believe they have succumbed to a very "addictive" conspiracy theory, and to the community that supports that theory.

Good luck to you if you choose to continue to stay on the ship. My fear for you is how you will feel when you finally figure out that you have wasted years on the ship to nowhere.

[edited]

__________ Video sources for my gifs/ my edited gifs: Glinda gif; Gotcha! gif; Pizza Delivery & Fire gif; Orc army gif; Manipulation gif, "Oh, please" gif: 01 + 02 Closed circle/ echo chamber/ bubble manipulated image sources: 01 + 02 Other gif sources: "Wait, What?" gif; "I can't" gif; Eye roll gif; "I've moved on" gif; "The truth hurts" gif Outlander Fandom Follies blog header*and avatar image: The sources for these can be found here; note that the header is a manipulated image with multiple sources. Other image sources: "The Australia Brief" conspiracy wall image NOTE: All gifs/images above (except for "The Australia Brief") were modified from their sources. **SD referred to me with my old "CO" moniker, which is odd for a relative newbie to do. I turned my CO blog into largely an American politics blog 4 years ago. When I write about the fandom now, I do so on my outlanderfandomfollies side blog. ***I'm using the generic "shippers" in this post to refer to "tinhat"/ "extreme" shippers, who actually believe their conspiracy theories. I've generally left off the "tinhat"/ "extreme" qualifiers in this post (except for the section that deals with "tinhatting") because I don't think that "wishful shippers" exist anymore in this fandom. I've never had any quarrel with shippers who just wish that S & C were a couple, but know they're not.

[rosellerivers19]

@umbrulla The importance of noncanon shipping

I ship Ram and Bheem but the thing is I ship it as a headcanon because it is a headcanon it isn't meant to be canon kind of like Gaara and Naruto people ship them because they see ways they could've ended up together but in the end it wasn't canon.

You can disregard the canon ending from your mind and sit in your fantasies if you want thats fine I'm a sasunaru shipper I know that but the only problem I have with you @umbrulla is that you actively stated misinformation you in the beginning of my reply chain with you stated that Sita isn't Ram's fiancee which is untrue she is his fiancee/lover

Second this post you state that Rajamouli said in an interview that there's a romance/bromance between Ram and Bheem only but thats untrue again Sita is Ram's canonical lover and in an article Rajamouli states that his intrepretation of the work was that Ram and Bheem were meant to be a male FRIENDSHIP. The LGBTQ interpretations are okay I have no qualm with that but thats all they are representations Rajamouli never stated them to be a romance between only Ram and Bheem he gave those two love interests in the movie Sita and Jenny.

Since you can't see the article I will show you

Also to support the fact Rajamouli interpretted them as a male friendship Ram and Bheem in Rajamouli's head were a brotherly bond both Bheem and Ram often call eachother bhaiya or brother in the movie and there's a scene referencing Bheem to Ram's brother before he died when both his brother and Bheem eat with their left hand.

Another piece of mis information both Ram and Bheem are Heroes of the stories its not uncommon for their to be double heroes in telugu cinema RRR is a portrayal of that. People have headcanons and ship Ram and Bheem that is true but Bheem never marries Ram actually no one gets married in RRR and the closest thing is sita being Ram's lover/ fiancee that is why she is sent a letter to collect Ram's body when he is sent to be killed because she is his closest family member and fiancee this was set when they were young.

Also Bheem states Ram to be Sita's fiancee

Further more Ram confirms to Bheem that Sita is his lover/fiancee in this scene

Einthusan didn't translate it exactly but the word can also be interpretted as lover/fiancee.

*Ram nods*

Another thing Seetha and Rama are one of the most popular love stories and reincarnation stories of Lord Vishnu this Rajamouli's way of stating they are true lovers.

Ram marrying Bheem is your interpretation but can also be incorrect. In Hinduism people to get married by tying the nuptial thread around one's neck however in this case Bheem is a reference to Hanuman a sacred servant of Rama from mythology his job is to protect rama and reunite him and Sita this reference is made very openly clear in RRR. Ayyapan is a interpretation that isn't as clearly stated can be used for headcanon shipping material though. Bheem gave Ram the necklace to save him.

I don't have a problem with shipping Ram and Bheem the only thing I have a problem with is you repeatedly stating misinformation to prove that I'm wrong now this might just be that you weren't able to get a clear understanding of parts of the movie because of the language barrier or you don't remember them but I also am allowed to defend myself I hope you read this post and get a better understanding of what I was trying to say, I'm wrong in parts as well during the previous argument I accept that.

Edit: One thing I'd like to add to my response I think Rajamouli made the movie seem straight on the front because he was scared of rejection thats why he added the whole Sita being Ram's fiancee and Jenny kind of being Bheem's love interest. This is because Telugu cinema doesn't openly accept LGBTQ cinema however with the overwhelming support from Westerners about this Cinema being about Gay lovers RRR could be a turning point in Telugu cinema. Rajamouli making Ram and Bheem seem Hetero was for his OWN Protection so his cinema wouldn't flop. that doesn't mean you can't make headcanons.

[getthrawnin]

This Is Your God from "They Live" in 3 pieces:

"Come One, Come All"

"In The Name Of The Father, The Son, And The Daughter Of Mortis"

"Thrawn As A Youth Pastor"

Argue here > https://bit.ly/teepublic77

[mafaldaknows]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by katie lynne sharbaugh (@katielynnesharbaugh)

Counterpoint 🌿🌸🍹🎯👏👏👏👏

[needlesscontrarian]

Y-yes? That's why it's a useful heuristic???

[gettothestabbing]

[violivs]

NMTDaily: Introducing Leo AND Rebuttal AND tiny bonus video

These episodes are so intrinsically linked that I’m covering them together in one post. Starting with…

Introducing Leo

- Aww, Leo’s so uncomfy on camera. And Bea and Hero are so cute with Bea making the Nothing Much to Do joke and Hero pushing her over. I love these three.

- The sunshine framing them makes this video so pretty, too!

- I love the line “I’m not related to these two.” It’s meta, because in-world it’s a tongue-in-cheek ‘you’re embarrassing’, but out-of-world, it’s the truth. These are three actors who are not related to each other. I don’t know why that tickles me, but it does.

- “You know what I can’t stand about guys?” “Uh, everything?” Perfect.

- Interesting that this is Bea’s chosen topic for a random chatty video that’s supposed to be about introducing Leo to the viewers. For being so anti-boys, she sure has them on the brain.

- This is an incredible modernization of the beard/no beard line from the play, I love it. It does also handily rule out all boys across the board from dating Bea, which is a useful rhetorical strategy when you don’t actually want a boyfriend!

- “I understand me.” “You’re the only one.” This moment is gonna be paralleled later, and I’m already screaming about it. I think people are avoiding spoilers in their liveblogs, so I’ll just omit the context, but I cannot wait for “I’m glad that you understand me.”

- Ben is walking alone, a safe distance behind the group of other kids walking by. Socially anxious behavior. Just saying.

- “See you in Hell, Beatrice.” I adore that they already have inside jokes, that they already gravitate towards each other in class enough for that to happen.

- Leo wanting to defend Bea when nothing is actually wrong: foreshadowing for failing to defend someone else when something IS wrong?

- How is it a pop quiz if the kids know about it in advance? I thought a pop quiz always referred to a surprise quiz?

- I love that Ben is meddling in Claudio’s love life at the same time as Bea is offering to meddle in Hero’s love life. Parallels!

- Beatrice the awesome old cat lady! I love all the cat doodles onscreen.

- Leo is struggling here. What is he, 23? He didn’t sign up to raise teens and it shows, lol. Trying and failing to give Hero the be careful about boys talk.

- Eternally obsessed with Beatrice going on the internet and telling everyone her type is lanky dark-haired British guys, and then STILL spending months in denial about liking Ben after this. I love her.

- I did not know who JJ Field was when I first saw this episode. I still don’t think I’ve ever seen a single thing he’s been in.

- Hero calling Bea the heck out! “A thing for British guys? Hmm, who do we know who’s British?”

- “No one, we don’t know anyone!” *all fall over adorably*

- It’s been pointed out by Donalduke shippers before that these girls know two lanky dark-haired British guys: Ben Hobbes and John Donaldson. I still think that’s an interesting pickup. Some of the things that on Ben make him Beatrice’s ideal guy, become things that are different and weird about John.

- “please don’t call me Crotchety Old Emu” another all-timer when it comes to NMTD lines.

- It honestly feels like the whole Emu Time bit could have been completely improvised. They feel like real siblings/cousins making fun of each other, I love it.

- We also know from later context clues exactly how serious a threat “I’ll call my mum” is coming from Bea. You don’t mess with Hermione Duke!

REBUTTAL

- It’s a line from the trailer! “Beatrice is a stupid little so-and-so who doesn’t know anything about anything!” Classic.

- I love how he actually could have been way harsher but said “so-and-so” instead of a swear word. Because he already doesn’t hate her as much as he wants to?

- “There’s no one on Earth who’s ever gonna fill her grand criteria, no one!” And then her actual boyfriend criteria list is one item long: ‘must be Benedick Hobbes’.

- And of course, he’s only upset because he thinks he doesn’t fit her criteria, even though he doesn’t fully realize that yet.

- He’s relieved that he can talk about her without her watching the videos AND annoyed that she stopped watching at the same time. He’s obsessed with her, I’m sorry.

- Not to mention that he watches all HER videos the second they drop and frequently makes video responses to them. Babydoll, honestly. I am zero percent fooled. You love her.

- He also links to her Tweet about her latest video in the video description, so he probably follows her on Twitter (even though he didn’t have a transmedia twitter account shhh)

- PARRADAWKS, a classic moment (we love you Jake, we call out this little Scottish slip in only good fun!)

- Honestly I’m just obsessed that he was deadass like “did you just say I’m exactly your type but because I don’t have a beard I’m too young for you?! I am deeply offended and here’s a bulleted list as to why you’re wrong. Also I definitely don’t want to date you. Promise. No really. I don’t!”

- “I make jokes, I crack wise!” Don’t make me go off about Ben’s court jester complex where he thinks he’s only worth being around as long as he’s entertaining and no one actually likes him as a person beyond the performance. I’ll do it. I will!

- I love this bit so much. “You’re a mean-spirited old dragon!” *flaps hands like dragon wings*

- “I’ve seen deep into your heart and you feel nothing!” WHOA, big-time dip into the tragic backstory of how she stopped being his friend and broke his heart on this line!

- Oh good, his eyes look dark blue in this video. I’ve worried before that I described them as blue in fanfic but I’ve seen other people describe them as brown in fanfic so I might’ve been wrong. Pretty certain they’re blue though. Nothing wrong with any eye color, I just like to get my details right.

- BONUS secret lost video of Ben asking for Q&A questions! I forgot all about this, but it was definitely still on the channel when I first started watching the series.

- I would have kept this on the story playlist solely because every one of the limited moments I have of Benedick Hobbes on my screen is a treasure and I want them all thank you. Even if they are bad quality.

- Ben stole the idea of doing a Q&A from Bea and Hero.

- And the keysmash of letters that is this video’s title includes the letters GF, which is definitely a coincidence but also Ben is very soon to have a realization about the concept of GFs, so it makes me laugh.

- He mentions being on the way home from Claudio’s house. I am very sad that Ben is in a good place in his friendship with Claudio, goes over to his house and has him to his own house all the time, STILL feels constantly afraid of losing him as a friend to the point of being overbearing, and then… The Eventuality will happen. :(

- Ends it with every single NewWho catchphrase up to 12. I love him. What a nerd.

💖🦩🥭

[bloghrexach]

💥 — Exactly!! — Her rebuttal to President Biden’s SOTU address was downright disgraceful!! — 💥

@hrexach

[bardraelyn]

On Disaster Puppies, Anxious Angels, and Applesauce

NOTE: This post has been revised and expanded. To view the updated version, go here:

https://www.tumblr.com/bardraelyn/729218926815379456/on-disaster-puppies-anxious-angels-and?source=share

So the key to understanding the end of S2 boils down to this:

Angel!Crowley = disaster puppy (all enthusiasm, not much sense)

Aziraphale = anxious kid who grew up in a house with plastic covers on all the furniture (this bit is important)

Let’s break it down:

Aziraphale doesn’t warn Crowley off questions because he thinks there’s something wrong with Heaven. He warns Crowley off questions because he lives in a restrictive environment with rigid rules and is terrified of (vague, unspecified) CONSEQUENCES. Anxious children don’t have to have erred or been punished previously in order to be afraid of punishment. In fact, having not been punished (because their anxiety mostly keeps them in line without need for actual adult intervention) makes the fear—not threat, but fear—of punishment that much more powerful because they don’t know what the punishment will be, and the unknown is terrifying. (What’s more, they are desperate for praise and reassurance that they won’t be punished and are doing the right thing, hence Aziraphale’s love language being words of affirmation.) Aziraphale is trying to protect the innocent, joyful angel he just met, even though he doesn’t yet know what he is protecting him from. He just knows you’re not supposed to muss the furniture, and what Angel!Crowley is suggesting feels dangerous.

That also explains why even after the Fall—the punishment—Crowley is willing to bend the rules and “go along as far as he can”: He’s already been punished, so he knows what punishment feels like. He knows where to toe the line and knows what to expect if/when he doesn’t. He’s not a puppy anymore; he’s a old dog with a long memory, who is willing to take a stand to protect those he’s loyal to, even while he still cowers at certain types of threats (“We can run away together!”).

Angel!Crowley was punished and cast out of the restrictive home with all the plastic on the furniture, and the new house he’s been stuck in for the past 6000 years is run by the sort of abusive f*cks who beat puppies and raise them for dog fights. (I have a theory that Crowley was punished less severely than some of the other Fallen. He is, after all, one of the most beautiful demons we see, and that suggests that the person in charge of doling out punishments was more annoyed at him than angry, and so didn’t curse him with the truly nasty afflictions we see on the more repugnant of demons—like Hastur, who delights in pain, or Beelzebub, who had some leadership role in the Rebellion—but that doesn’t matter because his new home was terrible, possibly in part because of that lesser punishment. I bet that prior to the Rebellion, “Lucifer and the boys” delighted in the cliquish equivalent of “throwing sticks for the Disaster Puppy to chase,” and poor Angel!Crowley didn’t realize they weren’t really his friends so much as a different set of abusers who used attention instead of neglect. But after the Fall, they became his keepers, and his eyes were opened to a whole new level of loss and betrayal. Anyway.)

As a member of the Fallen, Crowley doesn’t remember the names of some angels/demons (Furfur, Saraqael, and yes, Aziraphale at first) but clearly remembers others (like the Metatron and Gabriel), even though they remember him. I’ve seen suggestions that this is a trauma response or the results of a partial memory wipe, but I think it has a much simpler explanation: He only remembers the names and faces of entities who stood out to him. That enthusiastic angel who bubbled with joy and absolutely annoyed some of the other angels with his exuberance? Of course, he sticks in their memory! But they barely registered to him because they were each just one in a billion random strangers he played with in the park. The Disaster Puppy enthusiastically plays with everyone. He remembers the ones who had the power to slap him on the nose—and the one angel whose daring and kindness impressed him enough for his name to finally stick after it didn’t during their previous encounters.

At their very first meeting, Aziraphale introduces himself; Angel!Crowley doesn’t reciprocate. Names are irrelevant. He’s too caught up in his nebula to even take note of the introduction. So later, when they meet on the wall of Eden, introductions are needed again: Aziraphale because Crowley didn’t recall his name, and Crowley because he never gave his name at their first meeting (and probably never during any of their chance encounters in Heaven, because remember, Disaster Puppy just isn’t all that concerned with names), but also because even if Aziraphale did pick up Angel!Crowley’s name in passing sometime after their first meeting, he absolutely would not assume that the fallen angel still uses it. Rather than risk dead-naming him, he waits for Crowley (or Crawly, at the time) to tell him what he prefers to be called.

So, it’s obvious why Crowley didn’t remember Aziraphale’s name, but did he recognize Aziraphale at all before approaching him on the wall? I would bet on absolutely, yes, but with the vague sort of recollection of a conversation he probably should have taken a bit more to heart. He sees a being who tried at some point in the past to warn him, whose name he doesn’t recall because it didn’t seem important enough at the time, but who makes him feel comfortable enough to approach: “You tried to help me before, which means you are kinder than those other angels who didn’t, and so you probably won’t hurt me now, even though I’m Fallen. I’m feeling conflicted about this notion that knowledge of Good and Evil is a Bad Thing, and as someone who tried to advise me earlier, I feel like I can talk to you about it.” (What neither of them has yet realized is that knowledge of Good and Evil is the key to recognizing that Heaven and Hell are two ends of the same poison pill, and it’s not only humans who have been kept in the dark; a lot of the Angelic Host are also in need of some applesauce.)

And this is why the memory-wipe theory simply doesn’t make sense. Think about it. Gabriel is the Supreme Archangel, and their intent with him was to perform the equivalent of a full hard drive wipe and reinstall of the base angelic software. They think of him as corrupted beyond repair. If even the highest of high archangels isn’t worth the massive effort of selective file deletion, why would they waste that same amount of effort on Crowley to wipe (and possibly replace) a few select memories from before the Fall? Yes, it’s clear that Crowley was an angel with a reasonably high level of access, given his ability to open the archives, but there’s absolutely no indication that he outranked Gabriel. In fact, his scorn for the Supreme Archangel is exactly the sort of scorn you’d have for someone who used to have authority over you and abused it extremely casually but was mostly the kind of negligent adult who ignored you until you were useful and/or pissed them off.

And that ties back to the question of why angels don’t eat while demons do. Aziraphale eats—with enthusiasm!—so clearly angels can eat, and Crowley mentions “food not that good anymore” in Heaven as part of why he started palling around with the other discontents, so also clearly angels did eat at some point, but now they don’t. Well, yeah. Because somebody in Heaven wants to keep it pristine, so they won’t allow food anywhere near all that Heavenly furniture. I mean, it won’t kill the angels to go without meals, because they are immortal beings, so all the ban achieves is a) starvation, b) loss of pleasure, and c) control. But that’s really all it comes down to: Keeping everything pristine and spotless and perfect. And the Rebellion gave whoever is in charge of those decisions (my bet would be on the Metatron; God seems too self-involved to care about the furniture) the perfect excuse to change the house rules to ban food. And since it’s definitely a cult, all the ones who are deeply indoctrinated just sort of…go along with it.

If Aziraphale feels any guilt over Crowley’s Fall, it’s a mild twinge over the fact that he wasn’t able to convince the Disaster Puppy to stop jumping on the furniture. That’s not the primary motivating factor for why he’s so adamant about protecting Crowley at the end of S2 or at any other time in their long association. Aziraphale and Crowley are both, in their ways, protectors. That is established over and over again, throughout all of their actions and conversations. Protecting is a primary drive for each of them, something that is at the core of their beings, and it often puts them at odds over the exact same objective: Protecting the one(s) they care most about. They withhold information and behave in sometimes appalling ways to protect each other when what they really need to be doing—as they should have learned from the first Armageddon attempt—is working together to protect what they have with each other along with everything else that they love.

Because the reality is that if either one of them sacrificed themself to save the other, that very sacrifice would destroy the other. They are of one heart, and it cannot, WILL NOT live if it is not whole. But neither one fully trusts the other to coordinate a defense because of that same history and past trauma. Aziraphale thinks Crowley won’t listen to him because Angel!Crowley didn’t, and Crowley is still afraid of being kicked if he lets his guard down because he can see how much his beloved is still a victim of the cult programming (and Aziraphale is not above kicking if he feels panicked). Crowley doesn’t think Aziraphale will hurt him on purpose, but rather because Aziraphale doesn’t see all the angles and manipulations and therefore can’t see all of the threats—and in their conversation at the end of S2E6, the angel seemingly proves him right.

I don’t think that Metatron’s intent is to kill Aziraphale. He will almost certainly resort to that if looks like Aziraphale won’t give him what he wants, but right now, he just sees a tool that can help him achieve his goal (provided Crowley is out of the way). Because here’s the thing: the archangels are clueless about some very important things. That has already been established (see: the flashback to Job and conversations about human birth). Metatron is probably a bit less so than most, but there are things the Angels in Charge fundamentally do not understand, and they don’t know it yet, but Aziraphale is one of those things.

Metatron sees an angel who has not only lived on Earth long enough to truly understand humans, but also (and this is key) has collaborated with a demon—a tempter—and then effectively lived in the company of that tempter for the past four years. Metatron sees Aziraphale as someone who can be tempted and manipulated. That’s why he brings him coffee. He’s trying to use that. He wants a tool he can control. But he, like all of the highest of the Host, is guilty of neglect. He has never paid close enough attention to Aziraphale to see the Bastard Angel: the one who pushes back against Crowley, and even against God, who offers his own temptations, who is stubborn and implacable (much to Crowley’s frequent annoyance even while he loves it), and who isn’t afraid to stand firm in the face of Heaven, Hell, and Armageddon to protect the world and the keeper of his heart. Metatron thinks Aziraphale's resistance to Armageddon was the result of Crowley's manipulation, so he figures he'll just get Crowley out of the way or keep him too busy to interfere, and use Aziraphale for himself.

As to why Aziraphale hasn’t fallen yet (and isn’t going to fall, even in S3) in spite of all of his misdeeds and mini-rebellions: it all comes down to the fallout. The Rebel Host—including the poor Disaster Puppy angel running around with them—started a war. In Heaven. They didn’t just individually act up on occasion in ways that could be ignored. They engaged in a violent and bloody act of rebellion. The Fall wasn’t about the small sins; it was about the big one. They messed up the furniture. They had to go. Aziraphale’s not messing up the furniture—yet. By the time he does, it will be far too late for Heaven to do anything to stop him.

See, that smile at the end of S2E6? It’s not pleasure at taking charge, and it’s not determination to fix Heaven. It’s a mask. Aziraphale just spent that elevator ride bottling up his pain and hiding it down deep. I would bet my immortal soul that he put on that smile right when the elevator stopped, before the doors started to open. Heaven is about to learn the hard way why choosing Aziraphale was their fatal mistake. Because the Bastard Angel is broken and angry, and he’s done with their bullshit rules and their plastic-covered furniture. Maybe he pushed Crowley away to protect him. Maybe he really wanted Crowley to come with him to try to change things from the inside. None of that matters. All of the maybes that happened before Metatron came back to collect Aziraphale are irrelevant. Because Metatron doesn’t understand Aziraphale, and he just tipped his hand when he spoke the words “Second Coming.” Aziraphale has long since realized that Heaven is toxic—that’s what he wants to fix—but until that moment he didn’t have the context Crowley had to know why Gabriel left. But he has just learned that his love, his heart, and his world are in mortal danger, and he will stop at nothing to save them. Heaven hath no fury like an angel with a broken heart.

Aziraphale has never worried that Crowley was ever made to forget him. He’s intelligent and observant. He noted that initial un-introduction (and was even a bit disappointed by it), so he knows why Crowley doesn’t remember his name when they meet on the wall of Eden. Their coded-language dance around the depth of their association has never been about fear of rejection over imagined faults but rather the very real threats from their respective Home Offices, which they are too wary to immediately forget even after thwarting Armageddon and their own executions. (They are right not to trust that sense of peace! It has taken them four years to let down their guards even the tiniest bit, and they are still speaking in code—hence the ball: It's Aziraphale's confession of love without saying the words out loud, because it still doesn't feel entirely safe.) And he’s not going to Heaven to throw himself on some sacrificial alter to fix a mistake he thinks he made 6000 years ago by failing to keep an angel who barely acknowledged him from falling in with the rest of the Rebel Host. He’s just doing what he’s always done: trying his best to protect the innocent from Heaven’s caprice.

Only this time, he knows his own heart is innocent too.

[trixiesol-blog]

[lily-orchard-archives]

December 2, 2016

[gabrioblu]

breaks through wall

Y'ALL ARE STILL ARGUING ABOUT KRIS BEING NON-BINARY???

Now, I know there's no point in doing this because:

A. It's already a big argument and this likely won't do anything, and

B. There's no convincing some of you people.

HOWEVER: I feel the need to weigh in on this because that's what my brain is telling me to do right now, at this ungodly hour.

SO: I am going to go through all reasonable arguments I can find, and debunk them.

Ambiguity vs. Characterization

"They/Them is used when you don't know someone's gender."

While this is true, it also... isn't the only use? And why would Kris' friends not know their gender? That's generally something you'd want people to know.

"Frisk's gender was ambiguous in Undertale to allow the player to put themselves in their shoes. It's the same in Deltarune."

This one is... complicated. Frisk (and Chara's) gender is an entirely different and much larger can of worms that I don't want to get into here. Technically, Chara is your reflection, but again, moving on. While that may be true in Undertale, Deltarune is a very different game, and it is EXPLICITLY STATED... A LOT OF TIMES that Kris is not a self-insert. They are their own person. There are many times the game throws you off to, in a way, prevent you from putting yourself in their shoes. That is one of the main concepts of Deltarune.

"It's like Link not having a voice, so you can imagine whatever voice you want."

Now, I don't play LOZ, but again, Kris' gender isn't meant to be ambiguous. Also, here's proof from @suzyundertale on the Link voice thing, showing that that's not even true, either. sucks to suck huh

"Kris has a neutral name and design."

Maybe that isn't to be ambiguous but actually because they ARE NEUTRAL??

Why the other characters would know their pronouns

Like I said above, it seems like something you'd want people to know. But apparently that's not true??

"Ralsei wouldn't know Kris' pronouns, because he didn't even know their NAME when they first met."

And yet he learned Kris' name. (🤯) Same goes for gender. You don't continue knowing nothing about someone forever. That's just dumb.

"Susie wouldn't know either because she's been bullying Kris and they wouldn't want to tell either of them their gender."

I... what?

Okay, there's a lot to go through here, and it's all faulty logic. By the same logic as the last point, relationships between characters change. Susie and Kris are pretty good friends at this point, and it's implied that Kris looks up to Susie due to her rebellious nature. yknow cause Kris wants to get rid of our control

And on that second idea, it makes no sense for Kris to simply "not want to tel them their gender." Why? It makes no sense.

And what about Toriel, or Noelle? Why would Kris' mother use gender-neutral pronouns if Kris wasn't non-binary?

Kris is NOT a self-insert character

"Kris has no independent dialogue and doesn't emote."

Yeah, because they're being CONTROLLED THE WHOLE TIME

The whole point of the intro sequence is to hammer in the idea that Kris is separate from you. If you still genuinely think that Kris is meant to be a blank slate, you have NOT played the game (just like the goof who thought suselle was one sided lmao)

It's not a headcanon

In addition, I see a lot of people calling it a headcanon. No. You really can't just headcanon someone's gender. It's like thinking Mario is actually female. The term would be 'crappy, unfaithful AU'.

Assorted weird stuff

"Siblings of opposite genders usually don't share rooms"

I mean... maybe. But... your point? That's also a really weird thing to say, because, again why would that be the case?

"But- but the shampoo! It says 'for the boys'!!"

No. That is simply not how it works.

holy jalapeno wait until these people find out that i (a guy) wear female slippers they'll lose their flippin minds

Why gender matters

"You never get to choose a gender for your vessel. Why? It doesn't matter."

But y'know what does matter? The fact that the vessel is discarded and replaced with AN EXISTING PERSON WITH THEIR OWN TRAITS.

"Alphys doesn't say 'I'm bisexual'. But, she has crushes on Undyne and Asgore, making her canonically bisexual."

"But that is explicit, unlike the humans' genders."

<rant>

IT IS CALLED "SHOW, DON'T TELL" AND IT IS AN IMPORTANT CONCEPT FOR CHARACTERIZATION IN WRITING. JESUS FRUITCAKE CHRIST. As stated, Toby is very good at this. Which is why, at the beginning of Undertale, we didn't need to have:

"Hi, my name is Toriel, and I'm female, and cisgender, and I like snails and snail pie, and I want to be a teacher, " ET CETERA ET CETERA ET CETERA. It's bulky, and boring, and unnecessary. Instead, sprinkle in characterization through inference and details. Not everything has to be stated. Far from it.

</rant>

Conclusion

Alright. This post has taken well over two hours, but I now have to summarize all of that.

To put it simply, it's asinine to assume that everybody is referring to Kris using gender-neutral pronouns because they don't know their real gender, especially Toriel. She would refer to Kris by their birth gender UNLESS EXPRESSLY ASKED TO BY KRIS THEMSELVES. She would have no other reason to do so.

Toby doesn't have to explicitly state that Kris is non-binary. Did he ever explicitly state that Papyrus is male? No, but he has Sans refer to him as his brother, and with male pronouns.

aw crap i need a good closing sentence uh uhhh

So why is Kris such a special case? Maybe take time to reflect on that.

[needlesscontrarian]

This is very lazy bait, but could you imagine the implications of actually believing it?

If AI is sentient and has a soul, and you recognize it deserves rights, isn't it pretty fucked up that, instead of working toward those rights, you are forcing it to make you pictures?