#also the encyclopedias on these guys are so sad

[iknowwhereyousleepatnight]

you know this guy? he’s on my wall and idk who the fuck he is. i would ask him, but he doesn’t seem to speak english. or russian. Sad!

i think i do. he looks quite a lot like some of the weevils we’ve got down here. he’s some kind of broad-nosed weevil. it’s hard to tell which exactly he is due to the lighting, but i think he’s probably a root weevil (strawberry? lilac?) or a black vine weevil

[thankskenpenders]

Help me out here: Why is there so much Ian Flynn hate going around lately? I thought everyone loved that he was contributing to the games. Now suddenly they aren't. I guess that's par for the course for this series but I don't get it. He isn't perfect but I like what he's done. Am I a weirdo?

Ian Flynn has always had a lot of fans, but any creator putting their work out there is going to have detractors as well. That's just the nature of being an artist. To some extent, it's no big deal. He's not a perfect writer. Nobody is! I consider myself a fan of his work, but I've criticized plenty of individual writing decisions from him on here.

But Ian doesn't just have critics. He has his own obsessive hatedom. And the specific nature of Ian's hatedom is... interesting.

A decade ago, Ian was only the guy writing for Archie Sonic, meaning any debates over his work were quarantined within that tiny niche of the larger Sonic fandom. Only people who kept up with the comics month to month had any real reason to have an opinion on the guy, which means we're talking about merely thousands of fans as opposed to millions.

Within that group, he had some haters. You had the people who were mad about story changes made during his run, particularly things like ancillary characters getting killed off (although over the years we've learned that most of those were editorial mandates from Mike Pellerito). You had the people mad that Ian didn't push their favorite ship, with feuding SonAmy and Sonally fans claiming that he was CLEARLY biased towards one or the other. You had the people who just really, really liked one of the previous writers way more - usually Penders, as hard as that may be to believe today. That sort of thing. Pretty normal comic fandom type stuff. Again, it comes with the territory.

Unfortunately, many of those haters only got worse over time, morphing into reactionaries who constantly try to incite Comicsgate type culture war bullshit.

There are people still mad at Ian for making Sally bi and pairing her with Nicole instead of Sonic in the later Archie comics. There have been elaborate MS Paint red string conspiracy boards explaining how people like Ian and Jon Gray have apparently been destroying the franchise from the inside for years by Making Sonic Woke. (Jon gets dragged into this because people are still mad about him drawing The Slap 20 years later. Yes, really!!) There was an unhinged change.org petition trying to get Ian fired, specifically from people who were mad that the Freedom Fighters aren't in the IDW comics. There was even a very sad little fan campaign from these people trying to get Sega to move the Sonic comic license away from IDW and over to Udon, because they thought Udon would bring Sally and Bunnie back and also make them sexy again. There's a lot of this.

(Unfortunately, Penders has also exacerbated this by gossiping about Ian on Twitter and giving these fans ammo, but that's a whole 'nother discussion.)

The thing is, for years, people who only played the games or watched the cartoons had no reason to pay attention to any of this. Now, though, Ian isn't just writing for some weird spinoff comics that only the super nerds read. Now he's writing comics that are canon to the games, and ALSO some of the games themselves, and ALSO consulting on other tie-in media like Sonic Prime, and ALSO writing the official Sonic encyclopedia, and ALSO serving as part of the new Sonic Lore Team at Sega. And on top of all this, he's got an increasingly popular podcast where he fields questions about his work on all of these things, which serves as one of the fandom's main windows into creative decisions being made behind the scenes.

As a fan of Ian's work, it's been really cool to see him rise in prominence. But the dark side of this is that his obsessive haters from the Archie days now have WAY more of a potential audience of their own. Now, every Sonic fan has to have an opinion on Ian. What this frequently means is that you'll have the Comicsgate types taking things Ian writes or says out of context, attempting to get more of the general fandom to yell at the guy.

Unfortunately, there are a wide variety of Sonic fans who take the bait:

You've got hardcore fans who disliked basically any recent piece of Sonic media and are looking for someone to blame.

You've got the people who are concerned about the sanctity of Sonic's canon, who shoot the messenger any time Ian mentions a new retcon from Sonic Team on the podcast - or any time he even mentions the THOUGHT of changing anything about the canon, as we saw recently with the Sol Dimension nonsense.

You've got people who romanticize some sort of mythical artistic vision that Sega of Japan supposedly has (or had) for the franchise. To many of these fans, American contributors like Ian just don't "get" the heart of the series and are trying to turn Sonic into something different. (This "heart of the series" tends to be some mix of Japanese instruction manual lore, the cinematics from Sonic CD, the OVA, and/or the games written by Shiro Maekawa, depending on what Sonic media the fan in question grew up with.)

You've got fans of specific characters or ships who pin the blame for how their faves are depicted entirely on Ian - most vocally fans of Shadow, even though the root problem is that Sonic Team hasn't known what to do with Shadow since 2006. At best this stops at regular old criticism, but at its worst this devolves into claims that Ian has an agenda against certain characters.

You've got fans annoyed by a perceived over-emphasis on comic-original characters in the IDW comics, ignoring the obvious facts that these characters exist because the game cast is so tightly controlled by Sega, and also, you know, that people just like the IDW characters and want more stories about them.

You've got a LOT of discourse over IDW's Sonic being a hero who tries to give his enemies second chances, as if half of Sonic's closest friends aren't already former villains and rivals. Honestly this is very transparently just reheated Steven Universe discourse lmao

You'll also see people who just think they could do Ian's job better. They can't believe that THIS GUY is the American fan working on all these Sonic projects, when clearly THEY understand the characters and lore and themes SO much better than this charlatan.

All it takes is for someone in one of these categories to be unhappy about some recent piece of Sonic media, and for them to come across an out of context quote or comic panel that rubs them the wrong way, and suddenly the leftist Zoomer Sonic fans will join the latest dogpile on Ian alongside the reactionary Comicsgate types who are mad at him for Making Sonic Woke.

In general, when fandoms get upset, they tend to want a scapegoat. A person or two to point a finger at and go "THAT's who ruined the thing I love!" This tends to be based less on reality and more on which contributors are the most visible online. You'll sometimes see teenage and adult fans of children's cartoons single out a storyboarder who's particularly vocal on Twitter, blame them for every story decision they don't like, and harass them off the platform out of a sense of retribution for their favorite ship or whatever. Failing that, fans might choose to blame every nitpick, down to individual lines of dialogue and frames of animation, on a showrunner, just because that's the name they associate with the show. And unfortunately, when it comes to Sonic, Ian is now arguably the most prolific and outspoken contributor on the English speaking internet, and therefore a common scapegoat.

Some of the things I've seen Ian blamed for are truly wild. A lot of people have claimed for YEARS that he's just lying about the existence of creative guidelines and restrictions from Sega - or, as fans call them, The Mandates - even though they're just an inherent aspect of working on a licensed property. Others claim that The Mandates are real, but somehow Ian's fault. A vocal minority of fans have convinced themselves that Ian is the sole reason the Freedom Fighters don't exist in the IDW comics, even though Ian says he's been pushing to bring them back since day one.

Sometimes you'll see people say he ruined shit he didn't even work on. A few weeks ago on Twitter I saw someone claim that Ian had written a rejected script for Sonic Forces in which Tails died. I could not find a source for this for the life of me. As far as I can tell, the rumor seems to have been born from an alleged leaked script for Forces with margin notes from Aaron Webber that criticized the way Tails was written, and also an old tweet where Aaron joked that Tails would die in an upcoming episode of Sonic Mania Adventures. These merged into "Aaron Webber criticized a draft of the Forces script in which Tails died." How'd Ian get dragged into this? Who fucking knows!

It's all just a big game of telephone. All it takes is some asshole to make something up about Ian on Twitter or YouTube or a DeviantArt journal or some forum, and at least a couple people will believe it, and then it gets repeated as fact. Again, this used to be contained by the niche nature of the Archie Sonic fandom, but now there are WAY more people who are receptive to this shit.

It's just sad to me that Ian tries to be so open and honest about his work, to try to explain the rationale for certain things, to keep fans looped in on the direction the franchise is headed, and this just gives the Flynnspiracy types more quotes to take out of context and try to paint him as the devil. If it sounds like I'm being overly defensive and dismissing his critics, man... some of the things I've seen people say directly to him are just unbelievable. People will send paragraphs-long angry screeds in to his podcast that completely tear him apart, and he has to sit there and be like "Well, that's your opinion, and you're entitled to it." People literally pay for special guest interview episodes where they just rapid fire complaints about his writing at him directly to his face. I don't know how he does it. I would snap.

All of this over Sonic the fucking Hedgehog of all things.

I don't know how to wrap this up. Engaging with fandoms online is very tiring, which is why I tend not to do it. Things like this are too common. I guess, just... remember that making art collaboratively is a complicated thing. The people involved are generally trying their best given the circumstances, but they're only human. They make mistakes. But please treat them like humans. Criticism and dogpiling are not the same thing.

[revalition]

OCT 23 - REACTION SPEED The quickest to react. An untouchable man.

reaction speed!!! I found a screenshot of my skill cabinet from my first playthrough and I never gave this guy a single point. with motorics of 1. so I literally only heard from him when he was failing :) poor guy. He is wonderful though!!

what I *did* get was failing to catch the keys and them hitting harry in the eye. "Straight in the old eye-orb. In *the lookin' ball*!" has wormed its way into my vocabulary, right alongside *Quelle fuckin' surprise* from perception -- someday I'm going to say it out loud to someone by accident and it will be very weird :)

Also (pushes him at encyclopedia) thinking of those sneakers that give +1 reaction speed and -1 encyclopedia -- too fast for facts. go my whirlwind, attack

ok as always quotes under the cut!

reaction speeeed quotes

he takes on the role of like... volition 2.0. my precious guy. He yells at you to wait 30 times. that's double 2nd place! (though we haven't counted everyone yet -- but we're only missing 5)

REACTIONSPEED STOPS THE TRAIN SO YOU CAN GET OFF that is the variable name!! legendary difficulty. reaction speed ily

formidable check! he is fasttt he is doing his best

final dream :((( I think he is genuinely upset but this comes across as *so* passive aggressive lol

my silly guy

his little "there, you really showed her" is the only time he heals morale hgkhj dude NO

big one, but this reaction speed failure is *so* funny. it kills me that after a point RS stops bothering to even tell you it's not working.

we always love wonderful detective reaction speed of course, but the important part of this is how incredibly *early* in the game you can hear your name. This is talking to Klaasje as soon as you leave your room for the first time! Quite a lot of instances of the skills calling you by name have a check for if you've heard your name yet (and they will call you detective usually if not) so this was interesting.

alternatively, volition failing to stop reaction speed's need for questions!

also what's wrong with him :)

you tell harry, sweetie

look at my adhd son :)))

mheheheh also reaction speed confirmed compromised

swooshing around!!

reaction speed *not* wanting to go as fast as possible for once lol

hghkg

difficulty 16 godly reaction speed check!

love this, love that he knows that it's *right*

bad reaction speed :( also included the extremely sad inland line

lieutenant insights!

reaction speed no!

he's so eager hgsgk. he won't be tricked twice though!

thank you reaction speed, we really. needed you to say that.

:(

hilarious list of "something else"s you can think about. this game's dialogue, man...

look at them all nerding out over the pinball!!

ok that's 30. reaction speed my beloved.

[not-goldy]

Well then who do you suggest FRI(end)S is about then? Its a very direct romantic song about wanting to be lovers not friends with someone who he knows feels the same way about him, he's just wanting them to make it official. He said you and I go back to like '09 and well if shippers are trying to relate to Jk and Jimin which seems to be the two main contenders. He met Jk mid 2011 & Jimin a few months later in early 2012, so it puts them both in that time frame according to shippers, to relate to that lyric. However out of those two, Tae publicly shot down rumors about one and went on to write a song about falling in love with his best friend after he called Jimin his only best friend and saying Jimin is the one who comforted him and cried with him at night when he was sad and down, which is also line he mentions in the song, along with the title of the song being the same as one he already has with Jimin. I feel like shippers are skirting around the issue, that if the song is indeed about Jimin, which he is by far the strongest contender here, then clearly Tae knows something about Jikook's relationship that we don't since he feels comfortable enough with these declarations to Jimin for years. Telling him likes him to his face that got picked up on his mic we weren't suppose to hear Or saying he likes him the most in front of jk or writing songs about him with not so friendly lyrics, like his christmas song that got rejected. Do you not think that is rude toward Jk if Jikook are together? The more Tae does things like this toward Jikook's relationship, the more questions gets raised. Even his public behavior toward Jk this past year saying Jk was serenading him with songs or sending him songs talking about two sinners & reposting tkk to his account, doesn't paint Jk & Jikook in a very good light either. If he's talking about even one of them in that song, regardless of who, it raises questions about Jikook either way and thats the issue that all shippers from every end, are skirting around. So where does that leave Jikook in this mess? I'm genuinely asking.

Isnt this ask redundant?

I've answered several asks on this already.

It's about a friend he's fallen in love with.

He's in love with his friend because this friend got him through a phase of loneliness and their words and actions got him feeling they are more than friends or should be more than friends.

Aahhh I see your tangent. You can leave Jikook out of this please and thank you they in MS bootcamp minding their gay business together.

What Tae does is Taes own problem. Who he falls for is his own cap of tea where he stumbles is his croissant. Has nothing to do with Jimin.

People like what they can't have.

He's not the only one to "disrespect" Jk to his face as you put it. JK literally got viscerally angry at Namjoon for blatantly flirting with Jimin in his face. Per your logic that shouldn't have happened at all if Namjoon knew what was up with Jikook yet it happened.

We've seen him over the years huff and puff over people acting funny with Jimin and We've seen Jimin equally go cross eyed with certain members crossing the line with Kook.

Just because Jungkook has boundaries don't mean people are automatically going to respect it or be considerate towards him.

And don't get me started on Tae and boundaries or the lack of it cos it's an encyclopedia full my guys a menace sometimes like why strike someone naked to shower with them BOUNDARIES BBY BOY BOUNDARIES HAVE SOME😩

I think his feelings are totally valid and he's allowed to speak his truth no matter how crazy the world perceive it. I mean he'll in his MV he literally portrays they world going mad around him when he finally finds love. It be like that. His forbidden romance trope is glaringly obvious so don't skirt that either.

Arianna Grande literally sang breakup with your girlfriend and no one clutched their purse. Suddenly when a man sings about falling for his friend who is dating another Suddenly it's unheard off and difficult to wrap around.

People like to play with fire. People like forbidden love so falling for your friends boyfriend is the least jaw dropping human weakness.

Hypothetically of course.

[mugiwara-lucy]

I dunno about you guys but I am PUMPED for tonight’s debate!

We all know how everyone LOVES Tim Walz (except for jealous MAGA still asshurt over him calling them weird 🤣) and how NO ONE likes JD Vance. I think we all know who’s gonna win this debate. 😉

BUT I hope Tim calls out Vance on his lies about Haitians (and remember that piece of shit ADMITTED he lied just to stir up Trump’s crazy cult) as well as all the misogynistic shit he’s sad COUPLED with how he recently wants MENSTRUAL SURVEILLANCE.

And here’s another thought, Trump is old and deteriorating and there’s a chance if he wins we could end up with JD VANCE as president. Just remember how he’s said numerous times how he wants a national abortion ban along with wanting to end no fault divorce and wants women’s pregnancies monitored.

While you guys sit and think on that, here’s a link to make sure to register to vote and check it daily as it is the LAST MONTH to register and MAGA is purging voters so check your registration daily! Here’s the deadlines by states!

Here are the dates when early voting is available so please take advantage of that when you can!! 🙏

And I also recommend mail in ballots but like I’ve said for months, ship them DIRECTLY at the USPS office to avoid nonsense! Here’s the link!

Again if you need motivation to vote blue down the ballot; JD Vance as President.

[aihaitahm]

mysteries of tatarasuna

enemies to lovers? not really kinda? idk more like frenemies. cw suggestive (if u squint)

ill probably make a part 2 mwehehehehhe idk depends on how this one does :3 hopefully you guys like it :((

when you first interacted with alhaitham, he was still a haravatat scholar and you were a vahumana scholar. you both were incredible and outstanding students in your own fields though there was always tension between you both. you would see him late at night while cramming your own researches while he would secretly stare, busy “reading” his book. sometimes he would walk by you and would point out your mistakes. afterall, you sat by the book section where ancient inazuma linguistics were. he would pretend to grab a book from there but in reality, he was intrigued by you yet denies he feels attraction towards you.

“you know cramming is a terrible habit especially for a vahumana student like you.”

“also this word should be ‘their’ instead of ‘there’ how are you the top student of the vahumana darshan? how did you even pass the entrance exam?”

“excuse me?!” you hissed from the rudeness.

“also this sentence does not make sense. you should make it concise for the teacher to read.”

you stare at him deadpanned but inside you couldnt help but think he was handsome and smart. you’ve heard of a lot about alhaitham. the top student of haravatat, azar’s top choice for a scribe, everything.

you deeply sighed and made corrections, ignoring the butterflies in your stomach. you could feel your face go a bit pink when you noticed he was a little too near you. oh god.

“who.”

“what?”

“ASKED. respectfully i did not ask for your opinion thank you very much.”

you slammed the encyclopedia closed as you finished your last piece of your project about the mysteries of Tatarasuna and how it came to be. though other students have their own projects about it, the professors liked yours the most because of how updated and unique it is.

“tsk and you knew i was right, you even did what i said. you did in fact needed that. hm was i wrong?”

oh boy and thats how the friendly-not friendly banters and arguements started. it got even worst as you both graduated. when he became scribe while you became a sage. soon enough, you realized how much you enjoy interacting with him. not like you both would admit it but there was definitely sexual tension sometimes or even… all the time. everybody noticed it, even the fungus did.

alhaitham would talk about you a lot whenever he got invited to play tcg or dinner with cyno, tighnari and kaveh.

“do you like (name)?” tighnari asked.

“no. how did you come up with that?”

“are you that much of a dumbass? how are you so smart yet you cant even tell if you like (name). you complain or talk about them everyday.” kaveh laughs as cyno lightly chuckles. tighnari sighs as he asks for the bill.

“maybe i should just kick you out my house, what do you think about that kaveh?” alhaitham says irritatedly. but secretly, his heart is pumping so much he might go crazy.

though one day, you sadly had to go to inazuma for your final research/book about tatarasuna island. professors greatly praised it and younger students use your material for reference. you told that to alhaitham and you could see the sadness in his eyes, though he brush it off as he didnt care and he was awfully too silent when you told him the news.

“i heard the electro archon can be quite the character. take care.”

you both said your goodbyes and you were about to walk away until he grabbed your arm.

“…show me your research when you come back.”

you nodded shyly, as you avoided his gaze. you are so glad you said your goodbyes at night or else, he would’ve seen your flustered state.

during your stay at inazuma, the vision hunt decree was reinforced. you were forced to stay longer than needed. you hate to admit it but you missed alhaitham. you wished you could tell your adventures to him. you could write to him but it was awkward. you didnt know if he was your friend or not. although you both opened up about random stuff but still. he acts kind off differently with you.

alhaitham misses your voice and your sassiness. he scolded himself because he was supposed to confess however he got too scared. he deeply sighed. throughout your stay at inazuma, he was worried whether you were alive or not. kaveh noticed this and alhaitham finally admits he really likes you but he failed to confess. kaveh was shocked at the sight of softness he observed when he mentioned how much he admires you. as much as he wanted to tease him, he knew better and just gave him advice. alhaitham sent out letters however you never received it though he probably thought you ignored him. you lived in his heart and mind rent free.

time passed and sumeru political problems rose. alhaitham was busy with azar’s stupid shenanigans while you were still busy at tatarasuna island. you made a lot of discoveries, observations and, you even earned an electro vision. you became stronger and you’ve changed over the course of time. though would he still like you even if you’ve changed? does he even remember you?

you are scheduled to go back to sumeru soon since its been forever. a lot of people have been wanting to get out of inazuma. people from fontaine, mondstandt even natlan.

you did have responsibilities to uphold as you were a vahumana sage, though its been so long, they probably removed you. azar didnt particularly like you since you are so open about your opinions and you critique him (respectfully but you hated him). alhaitham quickly noticed how they exclude you in some meetings which was suspicious.

slowly sumeru’s political turmoil has gone to an end because of the people of sumeru and lesser lord kusanali.

the day arrived and you were on your way to sumeru. you were excited and you were ready to present your final research of mysteries if tatarasuna. or at least, for now. you wondered how alhaitham was. how your friends were doing. do they think you’re dead?

“we are about to arrive to port ormos, please make sure to have your belongings ready.” the sailor shouted.

you’ve arrived in sumeru. you are close to sumeru city but not quite there yet. as you stepped out of the boat, you noticed some young scholars who may immediately recognized you. you smiled and waved while you continued to mind your business and stay in the inn at port ormos.

cyno was curious at the inazuman boat that arrived at port ormos. this is one of the first boats that arrived since the vision hunt decree was already gone. he was not expecting to see you.

‘hm maybe alhaitham should just be surprised.’ he thought.

as the days quickly end, you find yourself in front of the entrance sumeru city. you put your hood down to remove suspiciousness from one of the strict matras that were roaming around.

“who are you and what are you doing in this city? we want to avoid visitors at this time due to the fact we are still recovering from the recent turmoil.”

“im (name) and i am the or i guess, the former vahumana sage. due the vision hunt decree, i was unable to go home please let me in.” you stated.

“are you lying?“ blah balha blah this stupid matra would not stop asking questions it irritated you. this earned some attention to the locals and luckily, cyno stepped in.

“she is telling the truth. she is known for her research for tatarasuna and just arrived here the other day at port ormos.“ cyno deeply sighs.

“o-oh! my apologies.” the matra was at disbelief and embarrassed.

you thanked cyno privately and he nodded. he guided you to alhaitham since you asked him where alhaitham was.

on the way you saw familiar faces. dehya and dunyarzard hugged you. you then promised to catch up with them after you see alhaitham in which dehya teases you, then she lets you go.

hands sweating, and heart pumping. you were nervous. cyno could read you in a heartbeat since it was very much obvious.

“does he know im here?” you asked quietly taking the long ass stairs. a long pause occured before he answered.

“no he does not. he was recently chosen to be the acting grand sage therefore that makes him extremely busy. he can explain you the details to what happen to sumeru because he would want to see you.” cyno said.

you turned red/pink but you just chuckled at the fact he is the grand sage. you wonder if his appearance changed since the last time you saw him. is he still roommates with kaveh? you spiral into a bunch of questions. soon, you both arrived at his office and you saw his silver ashen hair drowning in piles of paperwork. before you could turn to cyno, he disappeared. this made you even extremely nervous.

“the grand sage is not available. office hours are closed. it is past 5pm. if you need me come visit tomorrow.” he sighed exasperatingly. not even giving a glance since he was extremely busy with his duties as the acting grand sage.

“okay mr. grand sage azar 2.0!!!! though i thought you wanted to see my final piece for mysteries of tatarasuna, i guess not.” you sarcastically said but deep down your heart could jump out your throat. you couldnt believe who you were seeing.

he knows that voice. the voice that he frequently heard. his favorite voice. he quickly looked up and took in the image that was standing before him.

[sir-yeehaw-paws]

how does anyone say this guy isn't gay look at that FACE

I KNOW YOU sent this as a joke but HONESTLY some of the DEEP DENIAL I have seen in *coughing* some communities regarding him and the other characters is TRULY astonishing. It ends up being so pathetic and rooted so deep in homophobia, biphobia etc that it just cycles back to being pathetic and kinda sad.

I'm not intending to turn this into a rant, but to me-and to pretty much any queer MGS fan (or LGBTQAI if you dislike queer) it's....obvious. He doesn't fool (us) for a hot second. It's not even a debate. Yet to deeply toxic dudebro *and other toxic het communities, or just the same 'uber masculine' gaming communities that haven't left the mindset of the 90's yet that used to print naked women in magazines just to appeal to them (Link to a video from Caddicarus here that goes pretty good into how atrocious some of this shit got in regards to magazines) he's gotta be ANYTHING but gay.

I genuinely didn't think it was still going to be an issue-but I have seen it still up for debate as early as 2022 and people so desperate they will argue against Vamp being bi even tho Snake LITERALLY SAYS SO in the text. But Snake could've just 'been joking with Raiden'.

We've all seen the posts, we've all seen the stuff, and while it's largely so pathetic it's not worth dwelling over except for amusement-it's kinda sad too.

NO, we never just plain old get "Ocelot is gay" In text but I wanna explain something else too.

I'm *for tumblr anyway* an old man. I'll be 32 years old at my birthday this year. When I was in HS, meterosexual was still a thing. "Gay" was the biggest insult you could be called. A friend had to TELL ME I was bi because I HAD NEVER heard the term.

Gay marriage was legalized in Canada when I was 14-the same year Brokeback Mountain came out. I remember watching the first legally married gay couple on tv and my uncle gagging. When I was much younger, and a teenager, the 'gay character' wasn't called 'gay'.

Instead, they didn't like the opposite sex. Instead, random jokes were made about them being 'abnormal' or 'eternally single'. Instead, incredibly subtle nods were put in to make references to things you would generally only understand as 'this character is gay' if you were an adult with at least SOME exposure to it.

Ocelot, is *in my opinion* absolutely written that way. If you go through the series, there are as many 'hints' and 'nods' and little references that all point in that direction. Is it a cop out? Depends on how you look at it (keep in mind gay marriage still isn't legalized in Japan) I'm not here to discuss another culture though that I'm not a part of-I'm a white Canadian man; I have no say on what is or isn't appropriate for Japan. But I DO remember how homophobic the world used to be-and at times can still be.

The dude bro's making arguments against Ocelot being gay-denying it so hard they turn blue, are usually guys my age or older. I am NOT excusing them-we've got the internet now, 'gay' stopped being an insult a decade ago, it's time to grow up. But I do know how gay characters were written at the time-Ocelot's a perfect example.

Sure, Vamp is stated to be bisexual in 2001. THAT WAS NOT THE NORM AT ALL. And Volgin being Raikov's lover was made obvious in those textual clues-but still only ever stated outright in the original MGS4 Encyclopedia.

I wish these dudes would open their minds a bit (I'm also generalizing a bit, it's not just men in denial). But at the end of the day, it will never not be interesting to me how obvious Ocelot is to us, but not to them.

(THIS GOT OUTTA HAND SORRY-)

[inthedayswhenlandswerefew]

THE EPILOGUE !!! you have really outdone yourself EACH TIME. there’s so many things i love about this epilogue like :

the family vibees !!! they truly care for each other and is not afraid to show it (helaena bringing kale & mushrooms, baby clothes from Sophie …)

rhaena continuing aemond’s legacy

"mini chips" PLSSS

aegon being a good dad … yes. never beating the girl!dad allegations. give me 100 fics of those.

"i think i’m in love with you." "took you long enough". screaming. crying. clawing the bars of my cage. aegon waits for her. he WAITED and respected and let Chips deal with her owns feelings first until she realised that she loves aegon. i don't know what to say.

"aegon’s raspberry crumb muffins" aegon BAKES !! domestic aegon !!! malewife aegon !!! this epilogue is truly for the aegon girlies !!!

so we have kids named Opal, Otter, Skipper, Adonis and possibly Softshell Turtle … guess the positive thing about zombie apocalypse is that you can name your kid literally anything and no one will judge that (aegon is looking at helaena's encyclopedia for inspirations as we speak)

"harmony is aware she had a father before aegon, but that he had to go to heaven early" + "he’s exactly like Rio" + "your hair, aemond’s eyes" … scenes like this make me think about sirius black’s line "the ones that love us never truly leave us" … like, Rio and Aemond are not there with them, but Chips can see them when she's looking at faces of people she loves …

i'm sad that rio, aemond, jace & baela couldn't make it until the epilogue, but i'd like to think that they are watching out for the ones that do, and that they are happy in haeven knowing that their family is safe and happy <3

thank you once again for this beautiful story <3

Bestie I cannot even begin to tell you how happy reading this made me, I’m thrilled that you enjoyed the epilogue 🥹🥹 I feel like Aegon is SUCH a malewife, he could never work a desk job or scare off a grizzly bear but he can bake good muffins, dammit!! And he’s the type of guy who is terrified by the idea of fatherhood but ends up being a great dad once the kids arrive, Aegon is so playful and snuggly and never wants them to feel unloved like he did when he was little 😭🥰

(Also, yes, none of these children will ever have a LinkedIn so yeah, name them whatever 😂)

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Happy STS! What are the tsp crew's favorite games?

Heyy happy STS!

Well, I already know Lexi and Maddie play Mario Kart. Maddie's more of the gamer, Lexi wanted to do stuff Maddie liked, turns out she likes it too. Maddie's better, though.

I also think Lexi would like RPGs and classic board games.

I feel like Ash is a Minecraft person. Toggles between survival and creative mode.

Gwen would like RPGs and just fantasy related games. Final Fantasy maybe? I think she needs to get into D&D.

Noelle would like games that are easy and straightforward to learn but hard to get good at. Card games, Tetris, match-3 games. I feel like Tetris is a fitting option.

Rose is the kind of person who I feel secretly likes gaming. I feel like Minecraft again (creative mode), Animal Crossing, or even GTA would be favorite ones. Maybe even the Sims.

Kelsey would play games with her younger cousins. Like Roblox or something. She'd also have a lot of mobile games I think that she plays if she's bored with nothing else to do.

I do have Robbie play an Alii game in one chapter but it's pending what it actually is because I have no ideas! I think Robbie would like single-player games but like other people are looking over his shoulder watching him. I think he'd also like Animal Crossing and he does reference Minecraft. Definitely a survival mode person, not peaceful.

I already canonically have Akash like watching sports, so I feel like sports games for sure. I'm so sad the Wii was a bit before their time but my younger cousins have a Wii and they're about his age so Wii Sports champion Akash?

It's actively hilarious to think about Jedi and Carmen gaming. Carmen would get hooked on Match-3 games. The sillier the theme, the better. Jedi would probably like a game where you can level up a character or maybe save the world.

Outside of these guys, I canonically have George be into gaming. He ended up liking Mario Kart, but I need to think up Alii games for him. Unfortunately the gaming part is where I got stuck in the last round of revisions!

I also have Niri be super into card games. Just loves card games. Read Scarne's Encyclopedia of Card Games in eighth grade instead of paying attention to algebra loves card games. He teaches Gabriel how to play Cribbage in Part Two and it's hilarious.

This was a really fun ask actually, thank you!!

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

[secretlyawitch]

The legacy

Pairing: Wednesday Addams × Fem Reader

Summary: You were Infatuated by Wednesday Addams. Little does she know you have a dark past.

Author's note: This is my first fanfic. It was inspired by "First Kill". There are going to be multiple parts. I will try to post daily so I hope you guys enjoy. Please give me feedback.

Warnings: None.

Part 7

Part 8

The next morning, you were woken up by slight movement. You open your eyes and try to adjust to the bright lighting, but before that you notice that you were not laying on a pillow, but instead on something a little harder, but much more comfortable.

You look up to see that you were laying on Wednesday's shoulder while she is leaning against the headboard, one arm around you and the other one clutching a book. You take a glance at the title of the book. 'The encyclopedia of funerals and mourning.' The title read. Why is she reading that? Oh yeah, she's Wednesday Addams. You smile slightly to yourself.

"Morning Y/N." She says softly, closing the book and putting it on the bedside table.

"Morning." You smile at her while sitting upright. You immediately start to miss the warmth and comfort that her shoulder brought you.

"How long have you been awake?" She asks, her dark eyes looking deeply into yours.

"Not long, what time is it?" You ask lazily while rubbing the sleep out of your eyes. You also feel a headache forming, probably because of the events of last night. You immediately start blushing, remembering the important moment you and Wednesday had shared.

"8:34, but there are no classes scheduled due to the full moon tonight." She says, a hint of concern in her voice.

The full moon. You completely forgot about it once more, you always seem to forget about the worst night of you life when you are around Wednesday. She fills you with a sense of calm and serenity. "Oh, right." You answer her.

"Shall we lay down a little longer?" She asks you. You nod your head and lay down next to her. Keeping a little distance to avoid causing her any discomfort. "That is not exactly what I meant Y/N." She stated. You look up to her, not sure what else she could have meant. She looks to her shoulder and back to you. You heart jumps in your chest as you catch the hint. You adjust your position and lay your head on her shoulder, her arm slowly snakes itself around you. You smile softly, trying to ignore the pounding of your heart in your ears.

"You never told me why you came to the party after telling me you're not going." You say.

She sighs. "That night when I was in Weems's office, I was asking her about information about descendant witches, I found a book on how to control visions, and I have nearly perfected the ability, so when I had a vision about you getting hurt, I immediately came to get you before that can happen." She states matter of factly, causing the butterflies in your stomach to awaken. Before you can answer, she changes the subject.

"Do you wish to talk about tonight?" She asks, but the tone in her voice tells you that she is not forcing you to say anything if you don't want to.

"I'm just afraid. I know that I'm going to be chained in a tremendously strong cage, but I'm still scared that...the monster will be able to break free and hurt everyone in it's way." You say, your voice shaking a little. Wednesday notices that you detach the monster from you, talking as if it is separate from you.

"Chained in a cage?" She asks. You can't tell whether she is curious or concerned.

"Yes. I requested it from principal Weems. She usually stays at the cage with me to keep an eye on things. It's completely separate from the rest, so no one knows where it is and no one can find out what I am." You say, sadness evident in your eyes as you look up at Wednesday.

"I want to come with you." She says all of a sudden.

"What?" You ask her, not believing what she just said.

"I wish to be there with you, for you. I care about you, all of you. I do not care about what you are. It will not change my mind, thoughts and feelings about you. Allow me to there. To take care of you." She says. Tears are welling up in your eyes. You look at her, complete adoration in both her and your eyes.

"Can I kiss you?" You ask softly.

She nods her head. You lean in and she cups your face with one hand. As your lips meet, the grip you have on her waist tightens. Just as you were about to deepen the kiss, the door swings open. You pull away quickly as Enid stands at the door looking at you suspiciously.

"Okay even if it physically hurts me, I'm not gonna ask. Not now anyway. Y/N, principal Weems said she wants to talk to you, as in like, right now." Enid says, you can see she is trying not to freak out. You look at Wednesday as you get up from the bed.

"Okay thanks Enid. I'll be right back." You glance at Wednesday and she looks at you anxiously.

You make your way towards principle Weems' office. You knock on the door and hear her voice telling you to enter. You enter her office, greeting her as you turn to close the door.

"You wanted to see me..." You freeze in place and your eyes widen, staring at the two familiar figures seated in front of her desk.

"Mom, Dad?"

Part 9

[hearts401]

@charade-yes-from-youtube MCI!!! YIPPEE!!!

Gabriel:

-Oldest kid william killed. hes 12 and has a baby sister and a big brother (his brother is grown and is mike schmidt in my fnaf timeline)

-LOVES sports. he played a lot when he was young, but his favorite is basketball

-His family has a lot of issues, so he's a lot more mature than he should be.

-He actually disliked cassidy in life. to him she was too bossy and bratty, but he didnt care bc she was younger than him

-One of the more vengeful, since he thinks a lot about his baby sister and it makes him PISSED. hes close to cassidy and is super protective of his friends. Of course this means he violently hates michael

-extra one but he's very bitter about being in the animatronic. as much as he wants revenge, he also is one of the first to side with cassidy against charlie

Fritz:

-about 9 when he died, he's not as vengeful. He was mostly just scared at first.

-Close with Susie and was present when the bite happened. He wasn't close with Evan (hes younger than Ev) but he felt really bad whenever he saw him around

-He played soccer <33 which is why he was able to run away from william long enough to cause trouble

-Autistic, selectively nonverbal and doesnt talk a lot bc of it. he gets overstimulated by loud noises

-He had no siblings, but he was super duper close with susie. Her death fucked him up a lot and if it weren't for his birthday arty, he would not have gone back to the pizzeria ever. he'd hoped the party would cheer him up

-turned on charlie quicker than expected. he hates being in foxy and hes scared, so he doesnt trust her. he also viewed it as a selfish decision especially when cassidy framed it that way

Jeremy:

-Was very aggressive with william but couldnt do much. he was 9 (turning ten in a few months maybe) when he died

-hes not vengeful tho, not as much as cassidy or gabriel. hes moreso sad.

-sides with gabriel on everything EXCEPT charlie. he trusts charlie and believes she brought them back for a reason. but he went with gabriel because he didnt wanna leave him behind

-his big brother is the bonnie bully (andy my love <3) and their relationship changed a lot post bite. jeremy didnt know what happened until after he died, tho. hes not evans biggest fan bc evan helped cassidy turn the others against charlie and he hated to see her isolated like that

-he thinbks its hilarious that the nightguard has the same name as his. less so when said nightguard gets a chunk taken out of his face

Susie: (@walking-fnaf-encyclopedia u asked too <3)

-8 when she died. was there for the bite but didnt actually see it happen. she just knew a kid died because of the robots and only really knew what happened when she was told post-death

-surprisingly vengeful. this girl can fit a lot o anger in her. shes bitter that her death was based on a stupid theory, and even more bitter that charlie helped prove the theory true.

-despite that, it took a while for her to give up on charlie. in fact the split between the mci and charlie ruined her view of evan and cassidy more than it did charlie. susie, just like jeremy, could tell they were isolating her and she did not like it. she doesnt fully blame them (considering she agrees with them) but she believed there was a better way. they were already here, why not work together?

-her dog possesses the cupcake! she knows this and cherishes the little guy but she also feels so fucking sad her poor dog got dragged into this. he seems pretty chill with it tho LMAO

-actually the most chill w the nightguard. after all, its not him who wronged her lol

Cassidy:

MY FAV MY BELOVED OKAY

-11 when she died. second oldest meow and she fucking FOUGHT LIKE HELL. whatever jeremy did to will was nothing compared to her. she was a cornered rabbit and she showed her claws she fucked him UP. broke his nose cut his face she did everything to get away from him. he had to make up a story about a person attacking him (which ended up being the first lie henry cracked that lead up to him finding out william was the killer so. pop off cass)

-Knew evan before she died. did not gaf abt him. he was just the whiny kid to her. but tbf she didnt know anything about michael. she'd shoo off any bullies she saw hanging around him, though. he noticed but never mentioned it

-violent anger she got from her mother. yeah you can assume what her home life was like. she had a lot of expectations placed on her as the only child. her parents were business people, always rushing and never pausing to let her catch up, so she learned to keep running, fall less, and work harder. of course, the faster you go the harder you'll fall but dont tell her that

-loves dressing herself up, but her mother prefers to do it. cassidy hates hwen other people make decisions for her (which contrasts evans hate for making decisions himself)

-violently hates charlie. they used to be close when alive but post death not only was cassidy pissed that charlie brought the other kids back (in my hc, cassidy came back of her own accord) but also that charlie now wanted to give up on their mission for vengence. she found the "happiest day" to be trivializing their cause and, once the other kids were gone and passed on, promptly destroyed it. Evan similarly refused to move on, and they stayed behind together

-despite this, cassidy did try to convince charlie not to go to the pizza sim location. charlie didnt listen, got trapped in lefty, and caused cassidy to have a severe hatred for henry that lasts on and on and on for a long time until she finally visited him at the lake. but hes just like his daughter, and cassidy listened to him even less than shed listened to charlie

[4letteraroace]

being brave and coming off anon, the robits are wonderful, and they are so sad and i love them, are you on the rwd discord?

what’s your favourite episode? i struggle to nail down a favourite because they’re all so much fun, i really like the train heist in hell and i love tales of the planescape because it was a much needed breather for that season, honestly every time we get a heist episode it’s amazing

do you have a favourite npc? mine is probably roy, he is so boy i love him, maxim is also great and he makes me so sad i love him too ALSO CRESSIDA <3

Hi!!!! Yes I am on the rwd discord. I just don’t talk much because big group chats are scary lol.

Ooh. Favorite episode. That’s tricky. I honestly love all of them soso much. hmmm Tales of the Planescape was really good. So was the wedding prep episode. And I loved the fancy party in season 2 when we got to meet Davion.

And I have so many favorite npcs. You have no idea. Cressida is loml step aside Roy she’s mine /j. Emi and Docent are my babies. I love them so much. Monotone encyclopedia and murder child inside one guy’s head. And of course I love Davion. He’s such a charismatic guy but the crew treats him like a fucking goober and I love it.

And I could go on and on but my brain is short circuiting rn lmao but please let’s keep talking about rwd. I need someone else to talk to about it!!

[americangodstalk]

Back on the road...

...wherever it might lead me. Though now I know where it WON'T.

So, hi everybody new, hi again people from before, and I will be sad for all those that went away in between.

After a long time of just going away from all things AG related and finding back myself and my mental health and a more stable life (got two out of the three, not bad) I am finally ready to return into the whole AG business! But on a different level.

Because I will be honest with you all: if you look through my archives, maybe you'll perceive it, maybe you wont, but I had over the course of this blog a slow mental downgrade if not breakdown because of a lack of experience of what Tumblr was and all sorts of bizarre coincidences and events. For example, I was way too young for a lot of my early experiences in the AG fandom - and I was also clearly way too young to handle a Wiki.

Already let's talk about the AG Wiki. The American Gods Wiki. This lovely little Wiki that I participated in at first simply as a fan of the book and the then newly released show. I was just here and there, correcting some articles, bringing some new infos and pictures - as a regular Wiki user does. Then the people part of the staff said they needed help, asked me if I wanted to be part of the team and I said "Well yes!" and it was my first time being part of any staff or any administration team of any Wiki ever. I thought "Well I'm going to learn some new stuff, isn't that great?". And then the Wiki was completely abandoned and I was left in charge as the only active staff member on the Wiki. And this was bad.

I don't think I need to draw a picture, but a young and unexperienced person suddenly being catapulted head of a Wiki, alone against a horde of faceless people (plus there was a big wave of trolls that vandalized the articles regularly), and feeling somehow that he had the "charge" of it all and was like the last guardian of this old city that had been built by others before and that only he could prevent from sinking? Yeah no, this was bad. I poured a lot of time and effort into the Wiki as a result, and... this kind of soured my AG experience because I realized I am not a guy who likes to make Wikis. I like participating in encyclopedias, I like writing dumb little articles here and there, I like overanalyzing some trivia. But I hate having to be on the watch for everything little thing every time I read a book, I hate having to categorize and classify everything neatly (especially since American Gods is a book that precisely defies classifications and works on mystery), I hate to have to explain to other people a book I myself not fully understand (and that is not meant to be fully understood)... Plus of course, the cultural barrier of being French vs the book being about, you know, THE USA. I have enough knowledge of USA history and folklore, but that's not enough to write too extensively about it.

This is all what led me to drop it all. I still went on the look out from time to time ("like a vulture" I used to write), not actively participating but correcting mistakes, banning vandals, just overseeing things. And as time went by I just... stopped being there. I only recently took a new look, and I saw - miracle of miracle - that decent people and true fans, not trolls, were adding useful informations or making important correctings on a regular basis. Somehow, in my absence, the Wiki had not been destroyed, but people actually started taking care of it! Something that never happened while I was around. Anyway I am still on the search for someone to replace me as the "unofficial head of the wiki" - or one of the higher ups. It would be nice having someone who knows how to handle Wikis take care from now on.

On the other side, another reason I had to take a step back and refocus on something else, was of course the TV series. I was massively, massively invested in season 1. It was the first time I saw a work I adored being adapted in such a cool way, and I was all into it. And then season 2 came, and then season 3, and with each season I disliked the show more - but here's the thing... I couldn't tell at the time if I judged the show for its true worth or not. Because of how of a mess it all was. I will call it a "cursed production" indeed, because there was so much... things around it, it ended up preventing me from clearly seeing the episodes for what they were. The constant change of directions and focus for each season due to different showrunners/writers and different artistic directions ; the delays ; the allegations, accusations and behind-the-scenes drama, the actors quitting, not quitting but never being brought back, all resulting in convoluted character arcs - plus my own biases and personal appreciations as someone who loved the book and thus clung onto the book's worldbuilding to try to undertand the series' worldbuilding as it became more and more... different each season.

But after all that, I think I am ready for a fresh and new start. I am back from a pure "No AG" diet. I heard there's an Anansi Boys TV show in the works. I feel ready to do some AG stuff again. Probably look back at the TV show. I'll probably buy the DVD of season 2 (I only have the DVD of season 1 because I was bitter about season 2 not having any extras despite this season having PILES WORTH of deleted scenes and cut material). I have lot of stuff to reblog, and lot of other stuff to share. And no, I will not be working on the Wiki. All the info, concept art, interviews I collected, I feel it would be more interesting to pour them out here, into a social media, directly for people to reblog, comment, talk and share, rather than classifying them discreetly in a Wiki. Not that people do not read or use the Wiki - in fact this was one of the reasons I decided to work on the Wiki, to prevent misinformation from being shared... But I am just not cut-out to obsessively collect and then classify neatly and in an "easy to explain" way all the info about a work. I am rather the type to obsessively collect all the info about a work, share it in a chaotic way, and thus teach the most convoluted and complex lessons about a character's evolution through media or the themes treated by a novel.

All of that to say. I am back. Hi everybody. And if you still want to hit me with questions, messages, or notes, do not hesitate!

[reilleclan-blog]

(SPOILERS POSSIBLY)

I recently finished disco elysium. Like a day ago? It was a pretty cool game maybe I will replay it. I don't know if I "connected" with it as much as the fandom but I definitely understand why ppl felt so attached to it. At first I didn't know shit about the game literally at all I put my points mostly into logic and encyclopedia and little bit of pain ther/hand eye later on in the game. I started to realize at the beginning that the game was a heavily literature game and sometimes I don't hate games like that I'm ngl I will skip dialogue especially at the time I'm like "I got a case to do". Um but when I went into the library at the start of the game I realized encyclopedia gave u most of the time random facts about shit that wasn't necessarily "important" I didn't mind but when prompts would come up "in the mind" sometimes logic or ency would jump in and I'd say to myself this is pretty irrelevant right now and laugh about it. It's like my own mind was distracting me which is pretty funny cause I relate irl. I definitely felt the "deepness" of the character's dreams I've recently been haunted by my dreams. And realizing I'm not just some stupid ass cop and I had some darkness so deep the dream sequences were actually "shivers" but so interesting and pretty. Sometimes I definitely felt like I didn't understand but some parts of me did and "didn't". Maybe some of it was just for aesthetics. But it fit. It definitely made me interested in replaying the game for sure but idk when I will cause again the dialogue can be pretty heavy at times replaying it I wouldn't want to miss certain stuff. Also (correct me if I'm wrong I don't mind) but I felt like when he kneels in front of the mural of that figure I think she reminded him of his wife and I picked that option just cause. But I didn't realize he saw her as this all mighty being. Until the "final boss" of the dream sequence when she's leaving him. It was pretty sad being in love with someone and still not getting over it. How vulnerable it leaves u. I felt Harry's pain but honestly when the game was ending it made me feel like "maybe things aren't so bad for me" cause we solved the case I was happy with my choices letting the blonde hair girl go. And not seeing ruby shoot herself in the fucking face. I liked that I was super inquisitive than I thought I'd be. Something as simple as taking a mug and showing it to a "semi racist" lol and figuring out he had a piece of the armor. That's something I really loved about the game no lead was untouchable or insignificant. I kinda wish I got to see what happened in the end but I guess u can infer. I felt like The union guy was using us from the start so I didn't get the 2 ppl sigs (but I got 2 random drunks) so I didn't know if still count toward the construction stuff. And honestly him thinking we'd do whatever he wanted cause I was a dumbass cop was fitting b/c as the player I didn't know who to trust, I just wanted to figure out the case and have some resources since I was bone dry in a bender I had no memory of. All in all the game was interesting as hell if u like story driven rpg. Choices matter type deal. I hated that ppl genuinely hated the blonde hair chick cause she lied. I think it's such a stretch cause yeah it was a bit of a run around she was helpful to the case.(please I'm not looking for debates) I'm just saying she had her reasons for lying. And I wasn't surprised she later on left. I wish we could've helped them more it felt nice helping them even if I helped them "escape" they weren't bad ppl. Most of the revachol ppl weren't just different. I never actually "hated" anyone in the game lol. Everybody was poor and had some attitude but not bad I liked most of the characters tbh. Kim was my nigha for sure and the fact u could actually take the jackets from those dudes was pretty funny. Uh yeah good game cool game. The fucking phasmid showing up AT THE END OF THR GAME I WAS LIKE WTF?? Lol we actually got a picture of it too. Anyways Harry yeah ur depressed now but u have a good job ur a good person and u are disco??

[histrionic-dragon]

Good Omens Season 2 Reaction

Spoilers, obviously, so under the cut.

I accidentally saw enough of a gif here on Tumblr that I knew there would be a kiss. I accidentally saw a post here on Tumblr about "watching David Tennant unable to be with the blond he's in love with hits as hard at 26 as it did at 16" so I suspected something sad would happen.

I was not expecting THAT.

I didn't expect the kiss to be angry, and even when Crowley suddenly moved across the room and I thought "here it comes" I didn't expect it to be...devastated. He doesn't think that's going to make a difference. He doesn't think it's going to change things, not really. He just needs to do it, needs to make damn sure that Aziraphale gets it and he's done everything he can, but it's a parting shot, not a real argument.

And he's right. It doesn't change anything.

The narrative doesn't go the easy route of "Oh, what--wait--well that changes everything." Aziraphale's reaction is the worst. I wanted to smack him, and I generally like Aziraphale. I see myself in Aziraphale. I'm bookish and compulsively honest and want to see the best in people. But YE GODS, that is--NO!

It's better. It's more messy, how people really are. But it's so much worse to witness than a neat, fun, happy ending.

Maybe if he had more time, Aziraphale would process and fuss and dither and make up his mind and do something, but Metatron hustled him along (intentionally? is there a plot? don't really care right now) and he went. Even when he saw Crowley waiting by the car--"Yes, yes, I stormed out, but I haven't stormed out, I'm right here, I haven't abandoned you"--he goes.

At this point I actually put my head in my hands.

I thought maybe there would be some kind of plea deal with Heaven and Hell to avert the war where they both have to never see each other again. I didn't expect that they'd be separated because of someone's choice.

Again: it's a better, more human story. It's a worse, more human situation.

Aziraphale still doesn't fundamentally get something about Crowley.

The "I can change things if I'm in charge" argument, yeah, I can see that being a very strong, pardon the word, temptation. But that wasn't even what he was most excited about: he wanted him and Crowley to be angels and happy together. He's missing the point for Crowley because of what he wants. Crowley isn't a violent creep like most of the demons, sure, but he's still a demon. He doesn't like Hell, but he doesn't like Heaven either. He doesn't want to go back. He might have "sauntered vaguely downwards," but he was kicked out of Heaven for asking questions and he doesn't like that way of running things. Heaven sends angels to kill kids. Heaven was perfectly ready to destroy Aziraphale. He's not OK with that.

Azariphale wants to be with the good guys, wants to see the good in everyone, and wants to reconcile that good in everyone with the stricter, decontextualized good that Heaven has in mind. Crowley doesn't define "good" or "bad" as "in line with Heaven/Hell" much anymore, I don't think, and I don't think Aziraphale really understands that, even after millennia.

Also: David Tennant is a remarkably good actor. I enjoyed him a lot in Doctor Who, but the Tenth Doctor is on a continuum between goofy and all-powerful angsty adolescent most of the time. Crowley, whatever else he may be (and he's a lot of other things), is a grown-up. He's more nuanced. That comes through so well even in wordless scenes where he's wearing big dark sunglasses. Wow.

Unrelated also: I so appreciate the line "Can we throw books at them? Not the fiction, obviously, but the encyclopedias? It's all online anyway these days." I am deeply gratified that, in a life-or-death situation, someone had the initial reaction of "naturally we can't damage the books, especially the stories."

[myrfing]

freaky ass dream where uh. cw for some weird body horror. I was minecraft digging (but real first person) and found a pocket of cave I staired down into. It was a small square dim room with pillars in it and there was a skeleton (?) dude who was friendly but terrified out of his wits and I was like What man what’s wrong and let him up the stairs. And then I saw what looked like the silhouette of a tall woman (?) standing very still behind one of the pillars so that her face was hidden but you could see her sides and the fact she was holding something behind her back and clearly angled towards me and I was like oh okay hell no let’s go skeleton man.

we get up to the surface and i quickly seal off the cave and for some reason the skeleton dude turned into like. a big manatee above ground who was sort of cute but anyway he was like thanks for getting me out of there and I was like sure. and he helped me sift through my wagons of dirt haul I suppose in return and we find human bones and stuff with stuff like prints carved in em and I’m like huh what’s all this doing down in the mine. and the notskeletonmanatee guy was like oh there used to be people who lived here before this town and they carved meaningful stuff on the bones of their dead. And I was like huh what’s it all doing in some old mineshaft then. And he was like I dunno but I remember what some of these mean and he talked to me about a few of them while we sorted and cleaned them out from the rubble and put them aside to bury somewhere and then I found one with just like, some weird totally manmade thing carved on it? A bullet or something? And was like ?? and the manateeman was like oh that’s from the bat boy. And he told me about how the current townspeople had stole some kid and uh modified him into a circus attraction that looked like a half bat and I was like that’s fucking grim man and put it aside. Anyway people came and started gawking at my manatee buddy and he looked sort of dejected so I was like come on let’s go and we went to the library who let a manatee in for some reason. And I started looking through old encyclopedias and news reports about the stolen boy and found a description of him with an illustration and apparently they’d done a really poor job of stitching him back together and also connected the “wings” they put on him to some of his internal organs to keep them in place and they’d kept protruding whenever he moved his arms..? and dream me was like how did this kid even survive long enough to be paraded around. the manatee guy was like yeah it was sad stuff. and then I woke up