#also i didn't want the description to be too long but the other quote if it's illegible is the 'it was boris i missed..' one

[squish--squash]

I'm rewatching Good Omens, and noticed something in the first episode that has left me spiraling into a theory.

It's in the scene when Hastur and Ligur are handing Adam over to Crowley. Hastur asks Crowley to sign something beforehand, and:

I thought it was a scribble the first time I watched it bc I was trying to figure out what was going on. But it's not a scribble.

It's not a 'C' either, for 'Crowley' It's not a 'A' or 'J' either, for the rest of his name.

It's an 'L'. It gets hard to see as he's finishing it, but it's the letter 'L'

This is how you write a capital 'L' in cursive:

you swoop up and to the right, drop down, swoop left, and finish on the right.

and Crowley does this with his signature:

here's him beginning the letter, swooping up and to the right

Then he moves down,

loops to the left,

And finishes it as he moves back towards the right (and at this point, the complete letter is hard to make out. It's why I thought it was a scribble the first time I watched this episode)

Crowley's signature on the document Hastur makes him sign before delivering the Antichrist to start Armageddon, something that is arguably one of the most important things hell wants to document, is an 'L'.

WHY?

Why not a 'C', for Crowley, the name he currently goes by? Hastur and Ligur confirm the name itself earlier in the same scene ("What's he calling himself up here these days?"/"Crowley.")

Well, if going by what he claims in a later s1 episode that "Crowley" is his last name (Anthony J. Crowley), it would make sense for one of his initials to be put there.

Except it doesn't, because "Crowley" is not his real name. it's not the name he began with, the one he had as an angel.

So then, what would this name be? What would be a name for an angel, who is now a demon? A demon who was there to tempt eve, as a snake, into eating the forbidden fruit. Someone that brought the stars, and light, to the universe. A name that begins with the letter 'L'.

There's one I can think of that matches, and that name is Lucifer.

"But Squish!" I know some of y'all will comment, "What about that line Crowley said in episode 5? He mentions Lucifer, so it can't be him!"

In episode 5, Crowley says the following: "I never asked to be a demon. I was just minding my own business one day and then...oh, lookie here, it's Lucifer and the guys! Oh, hey, the food hadn't been that good lately. I didn't have anything on for the rest of that afternoon. Next thing, I'm doing a million-light-year dive into a pool of boiling sulphur."

Crowley also says in the second episode: "I didn't mean to fall. I just hung out with the wrong people."

A lot of people believe that it's implied that when Crowley said this, it meant he met Lucifer and hung out with him. But when he says it, it sounds like he's mockingly quoting someone else, talking to him.

The "Lucifer and the guys!" might've been directed to Crowley, using his name. This would match that line from a previous episode, "hung out with the wrong people."

"But Squish!" I know some of y'all will comment after reading that, "What about Satan? Lucifer is Satan, and Crowley isn't Satan!"

And neither is Beelzebub. Fun fact, by the way: One of the many names for The Devil, Satan himself, is Beelzebub. But Beelzebub is a whole different character. So why can't Lucifer be a whole different character too? After all, many people still argue to this day that Lucifer and Satan aren't one and the same...

Also, here's something interesting:

Crowley is the only character in the tv series that has mentioned Lucifer, and it was in that line I mentioned earlier. Lucifer is also mentioned once, in the book, but by Shadwell, mishearing Newt's last name as "Lucifer" instead of "Pulsifer". And Satan? In both the book and the tv show, he is never called another name other than "Satan", usually followed by his fancy and long title. His description in the book's "DRAMATIS PERSONAE" is literally "fallen angel; the adversary". No Lucifer.

And how about this:

Crowley was the one who started the universe, we see that at the beginning of season 2. He was the first one, to our knowledge, to say "let there be light." "Lucifer" means "light-bringer" Crowley was the snake that tempted eve into eating the apple in the garden of eve. We see this in the beginning of episode one. Many claim Lucifer was the one who did that. Crowley fell because he asked questions about how the universe should be run, after seeing its creation and being so proud of it. Many claim Lucifer's big sin that sent him falling was his pride stemming from his beauty causing him to revolt; eerily similar to Crowley asking questions after watching the beautiful universe he helped plan be born and growing protective after learning it was going to get shut down so early in its lifetime, isn't it? Crowley was a powerful angel. This is heavily implied in season 2, with the tiny joint-miracle he and Aziraphale made being as powerful as an archangel's. He has the ability to mask his presence powerful enough to fool Uriel, Michael, and Gabriel (the only other character we've seen have that kind of masking power was the Metatron, who Crowley was also the first to recognize). When going through records with Muriel, they claim only very high-ranking angels have clearance to look through the records of Gabriel, an archangel so powerful he single-handedly had the power to stop "Armageddon 2" from being put into plan; Crowley is able to access them. And Lucifer? Often described as having been a very powerful angel.

Lucifer is such an important name, such an important character, in the theologies surrounding Good Omens. So, where is he? Why has he only been mentioned seriously once, by Crowley?

The answer could be this, simple and short: Because he is Crowley.

EDIT:

I dug up the book. It's been a while since I read it (I honestly don't remember much from the book) and here's what it has to say about Crowley's signature...

"Your real name."

.........

HELLO?

EDIT 2:

I found this post from Neil Gaiman's blog. The wording is confusing me, and I can't tell if this debunks or supports the theory..

What Neil Gaiman says is "That was the angel Lucifer. He doesn't exist any more. Now there's just Satan, the adversary." which might throw this entire thing out of the window, but the thing is: he never said Satan used to be Lucifer. He just said Lucifer doesn't exist anymore, but Satan does.

Furthermore, the person who first asked a question asks more questions, two of them: 1. Is Satan what's left of Lucifer after he fell and stopped existing, and 2. If so, does that mean there was an angel that existed that then fell and turned into crowley?

Neil Gaiman's answer is "As far as Crowley is concerned, the Angel that he was no longer exists. (And his name as an Angel wasn’t Crawley or Crowley.)"

He doesn't confirm or deny anything about Satan in that. All he said was "the Angel that he was no longer exists" and that Crowley's angel name wasn't his demon name.

Huh. Funny. He's saying angel!crowley no longer exists, when he just revealed that Lucifer "doesn't exist any more." Either there's a connection here, or I'm going insane.

[thatfandomslut]

I Want To Marry You

Regina George x Reader

Word Count: 1k

Trigger Warnings: description of making out, extra fluffy

Request:

Valentine's / Followers Celebration; Regina George w/ quote 57 with chocolate number 7. Or: "You don't marry someone you can live with, you marry the person you cannot live without." w/ falling in love

Valentine's / Followers Celebration requests are closed.

(Y/n)'s chest heaved, some hair from her bun slipping out and in front of her eyes. She and Regina had just pushed their beds together and they were now admiring their work. This was their second semester as college roommates, and they were rarely apart from each other. Even during their breaks, they called on FaceTime every day at some point. Everyone on campus knew they were together, except (Y/n) and Regina. Their tight-knit friend group deemed it to be a tragedy that it was taking them this long to realize their feelings for each other. They were beginning to wonder if they needed to help them or not. Instead, they just waited for the girls to finally realize their feelings themselves.

"Now we just have to put the full mattress on the bed." (Y/n) wiped the sweat from their brow. They went halfsies on a storage unit for the two twin mattresses that the college gave them. They knew they would have to return it to bed at the end of the semester, but that wasn't for months. For now, they stood together, wondering why they felt like this was the best idea given how much work it was becoming. They still needed to move their desks to the opposite side of the room and then pile the mattresses in the U-Haul they had gotten. "Are you ready, babe?"

The 'babe' would've thrown Regina off if (Y/n) didn't call everyone babe. It still did cause a tingle to shoot through her spine as she held the mattress onto the bed. "Perfect," Regina commented as she pulled out the sheets they had picked out together. "You know, we should get married," Regina said absentmindedly as she tossed (Y/n) her corners for the fitted sheet. The words caused (Y/n) to freeze for a moment as she thought about the right words to say. Regina, on the other hand, did not realize the depth in her words.

(Y/n) bit back a smile before she looked over at Regina, fixing the sheet to where there were no creases. "Why is that? Are you just that in love with me?" (Y/n) asked cheekily. As cheeky as she was, she was genuinely curious about what Regina had to say about how felt about her. She was hoping that this was the moment that she would hear the words that she had always wanted to hear come from Regina. Her fingers twitched as she reached for her pillow to put on the bed before they put on the final cover, staring at Regina expectantly.

Regina was now beginning to realize how deep her words had met when she had also frozen momentarily over (Y/n)'s initial question. "Well, I think the way we live together is amazing, nothing would have to change. We already have each other's schedules memorized. We have the U-Haul and the storage unit. Why not also just get married?" Regina teased lightly, trying to stop her heart from beating as quickly as it was.

(Y/n) turned on the fan she had over on her side of the bed before she laid down in thought. The other side of the mattress dipped, letting her know that Regina had joined her side. Their hands grazed together before they turned to look at each other. "You don't marry someone you can live with, you marry the person you cannot live without." (Y/n) told her softly. She had been falling in love with Regina since last semester, but the idea of Regina only wanting to marry her because they lived together well didn't sit right with her. Then again, why was she overthinking this? They weren't even dating.

Regina's eyes flickered to (Y/n)'s lips for a moment as she pursed her own. "I know, but… I want to marry you." She whispered, now making sure she put the depth in her sentence. "Obviously, we'd have to date first, but I want to do that, too. What you said is right because I can't live without you. I have loved you since Christmas, right before last semester." Regina told her, causing (Y/n)'s lips to part slightly in shock. She wasn't expecting any of those words to come out of Regina.

"I feel the same way, Regina." She said softly. They weren't sure who initiated the kiss, just that their lips were now crashing together as they ruined the sheets they had just made. But neither of them cared about that as their hands tried to find a place on each other's bodies. As they pulled away, they both adorned swollen lips and giant smiles. "I have been falling for you since last semester. I just never could imagine that you felt the same way. You're just… You're perfect, Regina."

"What's going on in here?" Their friend's voice could be heard as they entered the dorm. The door had been opened, so they couldn't exactly fault Sasha for ruining their moment. Instead, they watched Sasha's eyes widen. Regina laughed a bit, covering her mouth as (Y/n)'s face turned a deep shade of red. "I did not mean to interrupt. I'm very sorry, I should've knocked on the wall. We were just wondering if you two wanted to join us for dinner. Do you want me to tell the others that you two are busy?"

Regina stood up as she fixed herself. Looking over at (Y/n), she nodded softly. "Yeah, we have a date we need to get to. It's long overdue. But thank you for the invite, Sash." She said softly, watching Sasha leave with a wink. "What do you say for going somewhere special after we drop off the mattresses?" She questioned softly, glancing over at (Y/n) with a sly smirk on her pink lips.

(Y/n) grinned widely, standing up to kiss Regina another quick kiss. "Let me shower first, and then for sure." Regina watched (Y/n) leave the room with a giant grin, happy that she and (Y/n) finally got together. All it took was them putting a bed together to realize that they liked each other.

[demolitonlcvers]

what happened to the ten billion?

I just finished another reread of Nona and there were a few lines that I missed the first two times that I picked up on this time– namely, about the rest of the ten billion people John killed during the Resurrection. The simplified version of the theory is: I think the rest of the ten billion went through the stoma into hell, and I think the thing that possessed Colum Asht at the end of Gideon, as well as the things that were in Drearburh at the end of Nona and that Kiriona talks about fighting on Antioch are the ten billion. I also think that the first act of Alecto, which is titled “Harrow in Hell,” is going to be Harrow descending into hell and setting all of those souls free. I also think they have something to do with the Tower, but since we know so little about the Tower my evidence on that is shaky at best, and the Tower could also be something of John’s. If you want my full in-depth explanation with quotes and everything, it’ll be below the cut: 

Someone has probably already figured out that whatever took control of Colum Asht’s body in Gideon (+ the things that were in Drearburh + the things the Cohort are fighting on Antioch) comes from the stoma, but it was something I just put together myself today and I’m very excited about it. The first piece of evidence is the fact that they have a similar appearance– the bodies possessed by these revenants’ eyes turn into mouths, with teeth and tongues, and the tongue they’re supposed to have in their regular mouth gets bigger. The stoma described at the end of Harrow has teeth and a bunch of tongues (also this is off-topic but the appearance of the stoma resembles the sea monster Charybdis from Greek mythology to me, I wonder if that’s intentional). All of this I’m like 95% sure I’ve seen in a post on here before, but I also found this quote in Harrow, spoken by Augustine to Mercymorn– “You never did take the stoma seriously, which is why your whole damned house sucks at it like a grotesque teat…” (htn 340). Weird gross description aside, this is what cemented this theory for me– the Eighth clearly worships the stoma in some way, probably because of their soul siphoning practices, which can let something from the stoma into the body of the cavalier if they are siphoned too much. Also, close to the end of ntn, Kiriona is explaining these things to Paul and says John calls them “devils:” “They shouldn’t be here. We would have gotten word if they were back in the home system. they’re confined to Antioch— he said they’d only be on Antioch… (Paul asks where they’ve seen this before) Silas Octakiseron’s poor bastard cavalier… I didn't understand then… we call them devils. I mean, Dad calls them devils… they can't be here. He said they couldn’t travel” (ntn 448). Devils = from hell, et cetera et cetera. More on the fact that the devils “shouldn’t be in the home system” later.

But what do the revenants from the stoma have to do with the ten billion? I have a few pieces of evidence for this, but two of them are from Varun possessing Judith to speak to Nona, so they don’t make a lot of sense. The first quote is from the scene where Nona and Varun-in-Judith are talking on top of the trucks: “They are coming out of their tower, salt thing. There is a hole at the bottom of their tower. I will pull their teeth. I will make it blank for you” (ntn 393). I’m not even going to try to figure out what “I will pull their teeth, I will make it blank for you” means, other than the fact that the stoma has teeth so maybe that has something to do with it? I was very confused over what “they” were until I got to the second quote, from the scene when they’re driving in the River and see the Tower for the first time: “He left them too long— you left them too long, my salt thing” (ntn 440). The ten billion, if they are in hell, have certainly been there for too long, long enough for them to turn into the revenants they are now. What complicates this is the fact that Kiriona and Ianthe are called the “Tower Princes–” why would John name them after the Tower if it has something to do with the ten billion people he killed, who he’s now presumably losing a war against on Antioch? Unfortunately, I don’t really have an answer for that other than “this whole theory could be totally wrong and Tamsyn Muir will completely contradict everything I’ve said up to this point in Alecto.”

The last piece of evidence that pulls it all together for me, though, is Harrow. In the last John chapter in Nona, she says to him– ““I want to understand the mathematics, now that I have seen them for myself. I want to know how many of the Resurrection are left, and how many you began with, and what the discrepancies are. I want to know where you put them. They didn’t go in the River” (ntn 435). Right after this, she walks into the River towards the Tower. To add to this, it’s confirmed that the first act of Alecto will be titled “Harrow in Hell,” and Tamsyn has said before that Harrow’s name is specifically a reference to the Harrowing of Hell. The Harrowing of Hell is the period of time between Christ’s death and his resurrection, during which he descended into hell and freed all of the souls who had been trapped there since the beginning of time. I think what’s going to happen in the first act of Alecto, presumably in between when Harrow walks into the River in Nona and when she comes back to her body in the epilogue (it’s been established that time works differently in the River, and probably underneath the River, too), is she’s going to go into hell and set the ten billion free (and also maybe Augustine and Ulysses, both Lyctors who were trapped down there, but I could be being too hopeful). Also, as an extra note, the harrowing of hell has a name as a subject in Christian art: Anastasis, which is Greek for “resurrection.” And another note that I don’t know where else to put: Anastasia’s cavalier being named Samael may end up being important, what with all this discussion of hell and devils. 

My last point has to do with how the devils ended up in Drearburh. This part of the theory is very tentative, but I don’t really see any other way it would be possible from the information we have now: at the beginning of Harrow, in a scene I forgot about the first two times I read it, John sends some of the ancient dead to the Ninth House:

“Oh my God,” you said, forgetting that the deity in question was right there. “The ancient dead. You’ve committed resurrection.” 

He said, “No. I haven't truly resurrected anyone in ten thousand years. But all that time… I set many aside, for safety… and I've often felt bad about just keeping them as insurance. They’ve been asleep all this myriad, Harrow, and it’s frankly a relief to my mind to wake them up.” (htn pg 36)

I think this is, somehow, how the devils ended up on the Ninth. However, it clearly isn’t something that happened to every single resurrected person sent to the Ninth– at the end of Nona, she mentions seeing people of all ages in Drearburh, something they definitely didn’t have at the beginning of the series. I also want to point out how insane and fucked up it is that John’s been keeping a bunch of resurrected people from ten thousand years ago in his basement “for insurance.”

Again, all of this is very very tentative and I'm sure when Alecto comes out I will have predicted maybe 2 things correctly

[bingsucks]

STRAP IN JEFFANNIE LOVERS, IT'S ABOUT TO GET YUCKY AND YOU'RE IN THE SPLASHZONE

thought I'd give a comprehensive list on why I personally dislike JeffAnnie because I got called idiotic for it and I see that as a top tier compliment. I go more in depth at the end, but if you just want the quick stuff (since I know y'all like the quotes!!) here you go, but please read the rest of it!! this is an open discussion.

also I get pretty gross in my descriptions of Annie, be warned

season 2 episode 1: "since you have clearly failed to grasp the central insipid metaphor of those twilight books you devour, let me explain it to you. men are monsters who crave young flesh, the end."

season 3 episode 1: "we can't keep doing this forever, kiddo." "Can't we?" "no, that's gross. I feel gross."

season 4 episode 3: "I was just daydreaming. I mean, I've married you at least a half a dozen times. and Troy. and Zac Efron. Mostly Zac Efron."

season 3 episode 16: "but, we love Jeff." "no, we don't. we're just in love with the idea of being loved. and if we can teach a guy like Jeff to do it, we'll never be unloved. so we keep running the same scenario over and over hoping for a different result."

season 6 episode 13: "are you okay?" "is this really what you want?" "of course. I mean, I'd be fine with a dog too, but whatever you want." "do you have any idea what I want?" "yes?"

season 2 episode 20: "the general atmosphere of 'would they?' 'might they?'" "Annie, I think you're reading into some things." "oh really?" "oh, give me a break. I mean, you could do the same thing with Pierce and Abed!" "yeah, let's be honest, there's more between you and Annie than between me and Pierce." "Abed, it's called chemistry, I have it with everybody."

season 5 episode 11: "I'm 40."

I'd like to actually argue with a personal opinion based on a fact, and some anecdotal hypotheticals

first of all, I'm 17, a year younger than Annie in season one. I know people who are 19, 20 even. the concept of them or myself dating someone who is (not only fully developed in the brain, but) at least ten years older than ourselves-

-is gross, no? if Annie got held back at all, if she didn't drop out, if she and Jeff met in a different way, same age difference and her still in high school, one might say that is a little uncouth, one might even go so far as to say it's gross.

but, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt; make them closer in age, say Jeff is in his 20s instead of his thirties, say 25 (the lowest we can go for him to still be a lawyer). still, Annie's brain wont fully develop until she is 25, meaning Jeff will already be in his thirties by that point, if he dates her any sooner he will be dating what is medically considered an adolescent (10-24) while himself above 30. "but chrissy, chimbo, my love, you're legally an adult at age 18!" if we start bringing the law into this, the post will double in size, to make it simple, just think for a moment why that makes you legally an adult. why is a legal adult not allowed to drink? why would the United States want people who are not fully developed making decisions, and how does that affect their country? food for thought.

another benefit of the doubt! take age out of the question, just look at them as people and their experiences, not by a number! age ain't nothing number, right? like Aaliyah, right? Yeah, did you know R Kelly, the convicted sex offender, wrote that song? Crazy, right? sorry, off topic. Silly me, silly little baby brain. haha. let's look at their dynamic:

Jeff is a man who values the women he dates - rather, sleeps with - very little. "I'm Jeff Winger, and I would rather look at myself naked than the women I sleep with!" he states, so confident and proud of himself. "I asked this woman out 30 seconds ago to prove a point!" he shouts. "I'll be back with booty!" he sneers. does this seem like the kind of person that would think of women in the long-term? that is Jeff.

Annie on the other hand, as the boy-crazy girlish urchin she is, sees every man that comes her way as Christ incarnate. Annie is obsessive, she enrolled in nearly all of Troy's classes to get some sense that someone, anyone, no matter how bad they treat her, has to rely on her for something she knows. Annie is fresh and inexperienced, she can't say the word 'penis' because it makes her uncomfortable and squirmy. pure, untouched porcelain. so impressionable, don't you think? so untainted, virginal. looking for a father.

describing her like that makes you a bit uncomfortable, doesn't it? feels a little yucky in your tum tum?

that's because if you take away their ages, their experiences speak for themselves. Annie is young, obsessive. Jeff has more experience than her and will discard her quickly in favor of someone younger or better looking. if you're into the 'born sexy yesterday' trope, go ahead. I'm not one to stop you from doing what makes you feel good! We all know what you really want, you don't have to hide it, Humbert- sorry, Jeff. slip of the tongue. scream it loud! scream it on the rooftops, or on the streets: "I want to fuck a teenager!!" see how people look at you!

Oh, they're not smiling, are they? yikes.

i'd just like to leave you with a personal opinion.

is the pairing of Jeff and Annie iffy and pretty gross? yes, scroll up, read this post again if you aren't convinced. at the same time, should it be removed from the show entirely because it's problematic and horrible and everyone who supports JeffAnnie is a meth-addicted pedophile who eats babies and fucks sticky flashlights with the mouthless faces of their classmates taped to the rim? while I would prefer that JeffAnnie didn't happen, yes, I just think those of you who are into this are just uneducated and stubborn. some of you, one of you in particular, i'm sure is a sweaty neckbeard with a fedora and a 4chan tripcode. but not all of you, and for that I have hope.

JeffAnnie is legal, yes. JeffAnnie is by far not the worst, too. and we, as mature half-adults, can admit that. I for one believe that you should be able to ship anything that is both legal and non-blood-related. that's the magic of fandom! enemies to lovers is one of the most popular genres! the toxicity of the relationship is not the problem, it is the predatory nature and unsavory implications that are the problem. I think the relationship as a whole is not something to be looked at with positive emotions, but I also don't believe that this type of screen representation is bad. just because something is put to screen does not mean it is acceptable. I think that's something we all learned in second grade, yes? good. glad we're all on the same page. you're looking wonderful. I hope you have a great day.

also, just to cover all my bases, it's just a matter of preference. it makes a lot of us uncomfortable to see relationships like that, especially those of us who are around Annie's age. like, imagine being her: you're fresh out of rehab and ready to start your life. this guy who is more than ten years older than you, who you think is kind of cute maybe, starts to look at you the same way. imagine having the knowledge that every time he looks at a woman he just sees a pair of tits and a vag on legs. imagine what he sees when he looks at you. imagine that guy having a conversation with your dad, they might even be closer in age than you and him. that's uncomfortable, to me at least.

plus, Britta and Jeff are a better couple.

and if anyone responds with that whole "Dan Harmon DVD season 6" copy paste I hope you all know it makes me kick my feet and giggle. papa needs an ego boost, go ahead *bats eyes* *gets hit by a car*

[lenaellsi]

On archangels and Crowley's former rank in good omens 2:

Thought I'd do a brief post putting together my updated view on Heaven's archangel hierarchy, based on both this post by Neil and the lore drops in season 2.

"I wasn't the original concept designer, but I worked very closely with upstairs." "You know how God likes sevens." "The kind of miracle only the mightiest of archangels could have performed." "How do you know I didn't do it?" "That arch traitor Crowley--" "I am the only first order archangel in the room--or, you know, the universe--" (extended cut to Crowley) "You'd have to be a Throne, a Dominion, or above." "He always did want to go his own way. Always asking damn fool questions." "Let there be light."

Proposed hierarchy of good omens archangels:

First Order: Gabriel (former); Lucifer, now Satan (former); [REDACTED], now Crowley (former); Aziraphale (current, replacement)

Second Order: Michael; Uriel (higher than the others, but beneath the first order archangels)

Third Order: Saraqael (she defers to Michael and Uriel in her first scene, but is important enough to be present at Gabriel's trial); Sandalphon (Neil has referred to him as a 'lesser archangel')

Points of confusion:

"For one prince of Heaven to be cast into the outer darkness makes a good story. For it to happen twice makes it look like there is some kind of institutional problem."

This quote is almost certainly referring to Lucifer. Obviously this cuts against the theory that Crowley was a first order archangel, though idk what was up with the editing in that scene if that's the case. They cut to him immediately after Gabriel says the line.

Baraqiel. Dominion. Angel of the Sky. Appearance: Hair an eye-burning jinnjer. Eyebrows with the appearance of a grisly slug. Often draped in red. Occashunly damp, most likely singed.

Lots of people have been talking about this page from Furfur's angel spotting guide:

I'm of the opinion that this probably (though it's possible) wouldn't be in the prop book and shown for so long on screen if it wasn't A Clue. The page would've looked fine with just Aziraphale's information. Entirely possible that it's just hinting at a new character for season 3, but the description sounds enough like Crowley that I'm suspicious. (Eye-burning ginger.)

Of course, this cuts against the archangel Crowley theory, but all we know for sure is that he was a Throne or Dominion or above. It's possible that I'm just reading too much into all the other hints that seem to point to him being an archangel. (Though for what it's worth, Baraqiel is known as an archangel outside of Good Omens canon, and is also known as "lightning of God," which is very interesting in a season where Crowley summons both a tempest and a bolt of lightning.)

Would love to hear what people think! I know a million people have been talking about this, I just wanted to organize my own thoughts.

[dr-catherine-sherman-owens]

Hey Cathy! I’ve got an update on Assistant, looks like the foundation updated their file, and it’s not looking all too good…

-🍓

Object Class:

Keter.

Special Containment Procedures:

SCP - [REDACTED], Otherwise known as “Chameleon” is to be contained in a large, empty room consisting of padded floors and walls, fluorescent lights seem to be disliked heavily by Chameleon. It has been observed to squint often, the lights seemingly harming its eyes. If the lights in its cell are off seem to glow a lime green from the slanted iris.

Chameleon is under no circumstances allowed to communicate with on-site personnel, it has been observed to be highly manipulative, saying whatever it takes to get what it wants. This has resulted in New MTF Agent Windsor being contained in the same cell as Chameleon because it successfully manipulated Windsor into being its ally, Windsor being hesitant to contain it as a result of this.

Description:

Subject appears to be a middle-aged humanoid with pale, grayish skin, pointed downward-facing ears, long, black, type 4a hair. with almond-shaped eyes with a black sclera and a neon green iris, a long and fluffy tail with the same kind of fur-like hair on its head. And most prominent and recognizable, many scars, the largest being a burn scar surrounding it's left half of the face, small bumps spread across the darkest parts.

Chameleon typically wears casual clothing with smears of oil from frequent machinery projects, few have been finished according to observations.Chameleon has been observed to have what appear to be shapeshifting abilities, subject at first observation seemed to be human, with near direct opposite traits to its true form. Caucasian facial features with warm, tan skin; short, gray type 2b hair, normal human eyes with a green iris. Along with normal ears and a lack of tail. This ability could have been proven useful if Chameleon did not have a highly manipulative personality.

TL:DR

Prominent features include: Sickly, gray skin; Long, black, 4a texture hair, Almond shaped eyes with neon green Iris and black sclera; downward facing ears, Long and cat-like tail with the same attributes as hair, Many scars

Frequent clothing it typically wears is a worn, red sweater; colorful hairpins, brown cargo pants; and gray Doc Martin’s modified with blue flower details

Addendum:

First contact came in the form of Staff searching for The Star, mistakenly breaking into Chameleons apartment, it attempted to stay hidden but was unknowingly unsuccessful, a new intern who wished to stay anonymous nonverbally gesturing to the subject, who carefully snuck to where was presumably its bedroom, where it later escaped and was never seen again, that is until The Stars punishment, where the subject was seen fleeing a large gothic tower with a kid in tow. Nearby MTF agents reported hearing the subject say in a hushed voice, in its normal form with a paper bag on its head; "Cmon kid, we gotta go ASAP, these people wanna hurt Sage and she's making sure we're all safe, we gotta let her focus, ok?" The kids nodded, one saying "wish auntie Sage didn't hafta deal with meanies., the Subject nodded in agreement before rushing out of the scene.

The subject has also been reported to go by the name "Assistant" despite legal documents saying otherwise, it's legal name being "Connie [REDACTED)". MTF agents that have interacted with Chameleon have reported it being outwardly friendly, though secretly manipulative in nature, with a gap in its two front teeth when it smiles. Chameleon appeared to be in a relationship with The Stars stage magic assistant, who has yet to be named, much to the dismay of newer researchers who stated and we quote "I can fix it" when given a photo of Chameleon. Said researchers were given Keter duty by Dr. Sherman in response.

Chameleon has also been reported to be close with The Star, observations will continue to restrict this universes access to other worlds, hopefully limiting The Stars power.

Chameleon is not allowed to be let out of its cell, not unlike other contained entities. It’s manipulative nature has led to the O-5 council to conclude that Chameleon is a danger to all known universes, including its own. Despite junior researcher Windsor’s speech that Chameleon was normal for its world, he will soon be demoted to D-Class as punishment

Dear Sage, this is bad... We have got to get there and quick.... S.V. knows how to make a portal to get there, and since Theron was mentioned, we can likely assume it's the universe branch I'm originally from. My necklace could be used as the connection between the universes if it's the universe I'm from. Then we need to get everyone we can to help. We're storming the Foundation to get our friend back, no matter how hard it is...

[neyswxrld]

fulfilling clichés

Echo x reader (gn)

summary: Date night with Echo!

warnings: some kisses at the end, fluff

word count: ~700

advent calendar masterlist

a/n: this is the eighteenth fic for my advent calendar for my special boy echo!

Echo and you walk through the streets, laughing and smiling. He had his cybernetic arm around your shoulder, pulling you close to his side and spending you some of his warmth.

You decided to make another date evening today.

First, you had dinner in a fancy but luckily relative cheap restaurant, and now you're making your way to the local movie theater. They have a special offer today. It's close to Christmas, so they're showing some fitting movies.

"We haven't decided yet, which one we want to see," Echo says after some time, looking over at you.

"Hmmm, I read that there are a few good ones on today. Have you seen some of them?" you ask and start to list the ones you remember.

Echo just shakes his head, already knowing there wasn't any Christmas film he'd ever seen. "It's actually the first time for me to celebrate Christmas at all."

Immediately, a sour feeling spreads in your gut. You already knew that. A few weeks ago, Echo was a little bit confused about all the new sweet things in the store. When he asked you about it, you realized that he didn't even know what Christmas really was at this point.

You tried to explain it, and even though he was confused about all of it at first, too, he happily decided to (quote:) "try the Christmas" this year.

So you've decided that it'll be the best Christmas ever. For him, and for you. You started to show him everything. Christmas cookies, markets, trees, decorations and a bunch of other stuff. Today was the turn for the movies. Or, at least one movie.

"Oh? I've seen some. If you want, I can sum up some of the plot," you suggest and as he nods with a sweet smile on his face, you start to explain the different movies to him, without spoiling too much.

Echo nods along. Sometimes, he crinkles his eyebrows in a cute way, unsure of what you're telling him isn't rather a fever dream than an actual movie, but in the end, he all in all looks very neutral.

"So?" you ask, "If you didn't like one of those, we also can look at the descriptions of the other movies I don't know."

"Hm... Well, I sure wanna know what the others are about, but there are some you already watched that sound good, too," he says, and you agree.

You do as you said and in the end, you decide to watch a film you already know, and you're more than satisfied with that.

You buy the tickets and stop at the small snack counter. Today is also a snack-spacial. Next to the usual stuff, you can also buy hot chocolate, punch and cookies.

For a short moment, you think you're in heaven.

Both of you decide on the punch and the cookies, relatively fast.

Together, you make your way to the small movie hall, looking for your row and sitting down together on your pair seat.

Fulfilling the cliché, Echo lays an arm around you. You lean onto him and place your hand on his stomach. The cookies stand on a small table that was attached to the seat in front of you, and you reach for them now and then.

When the advertisements start, you two are making fun of them and laugh quietly. As soon as the movie starts, you try to be quiet and watch it.

Occasionally, Echo asks some small questions about it, or you two comment some of the things in a whispering tone. You don't want to disturb anyone of the others.

Sometimes, you also share some small kisses or light touches, like your thumb drawing circles on his tummy or his hand slightly moving up and down your shoulder. Everything is sweet and cozy and with every minute you are close to Echo, the evening is getting better and better.

You don't mind if you're the cringy couple, as long as you feel so loved and warm with him and as long as your heart beats in your chest and the butterflies fly in your stomach in that special way.

TAGLIST:

@isthereanechoinhere96 @trixie2023 @freesia-writes

[mayone]

なんとかしてRogue Protocol : chapter1の ”I really missed ART.”を見たときに私がどんなにびっくりしたかを説明したい…うまくいかないかもしれないが…

Somehow I want to explain how surprised I was when I saw "I really missed ART." in Rogue Protocol : chapter1 ... it may not work ...

原語版のRogue Protocolを読むきっかけになった一節でもあります。

It is also the passage that inspired me to read the original version of the Rogue Protocol.

ある日私はやらなきゃいけないことをサボってfandom wikiを見ていました。

One day I was skipping what I had to do and looking at the fandom wiki.

wikiでは各キャラクターの個別記事の冒頭で作中の文章が引用されているじゃないですか。

In the wiki, the text of the work is quoted at the beginning of each character's individual article, right?

そこで"I really missed ART."を見て椅子ごとひっくり返ったんですよ。そのままkindleでRogue Protocolを買って確かめました。(当然)そのように書かれています。

Then I saw "I really missed ART." and I flipped over with my chair. I went straight to my kindle and bought Rogue Protocol（English） to check it out.(Naturally) it is written that way.

"miss"が合いたいと思う気持ち/懐かしむ気持ち/後ろを振り返って惹かれるような気持ちを表すものだとは知っているんですけど、"I really missed ART."を翻訳機にかけると"ARTが本当に恋しいです"になるんですね。

I know that "miss" expresses a feeling of wanting to be together, a feeling of nostalgia, a feeling of looking back and being attracted to someone, but when I put "I really missed ART." through a translator, it becomes "ARTが本当に恋しいです".

また説明が難しいんですけど……

It's hard to explain again. ......

日本語の｢恋しい｣は、a long for.../miss...の意味と、dear/dearest/sweet/darling/belovedの意味、両方を持ちます。

The Japanese word "恋しい" is a long for... /miss... and also has the meanings of dear/dearest/sweet/darling/beloved.

つまり、めちゃくちゃmurderbotがARTのことだいすきじゃん！？どうした！？？とすごいビックリしたんですね。

「だいすき」にも色々あるのでDeepLの前で唸っているのですが。love,like,favor,intimate,affection,care about...

In other words, murderbot is だいすき ART so much! What's wrong? I was so surprised.

I'm groaning in front of DeepL because there's a lot to be said for "だいすき".

love,like,favor,intimate,affection,care about...

もちろん単語の意味を把握しきれていなくて辞書通り訳したまま実状より甘ったるく読んでしまっているのですが。日本語版でそのような描写を見た覚えがなかったんです。

Of course, I am not fully grasping the meaning of the words, so I am reading them sweeter than they really are, as I translated them according to the dictionary. I didn't recall seeing such a description in the Japanese version.

またも慌てて日本語版を開くと、「いい思い出です。」と書いてあるんですよ。

Again I rush to open the Japanese version and it says, "いい思い出です。".

これまた説明が難しいんですけど単語のままひとつひとつ翻訳するなら”Those are good memories.”になります。だいぶ意味が違いますよね。

This is again difficult to explain, but if we were to translate the words one by one, it would be "Those are good memories". The meaning is quite different, isn't it?

でも私は原語でのニュアンスから甘くなりすぎず、いっときの友情をなつかしむ気持ちをそのまま伝え��いるたいへんな名訳だと思うんですね。

However, I think it is a very good translation that conveys the nostalgic feeling of a temporary friendship without being too sweet based on the nuances of the original language.

ここをそのまま「弊機はARTが恋しいです」にしたら全員腰を抜かしますからね。そのまま貰った発信器を辿ってARTに会いに行きかねない。Network Effectを経てない彼らにしてはなかよしすぎる。

If this were left as it is, "弊機はARTが恋しいです", we would all collapse with foam coming out of our mouths. It might follow the transmitter it got and go to meet ART again. They are too friendly for those who did not go through the Network Effect.

その後、あれらの関係性について気になり、fandom wikiを見ながらFeelings REDACTED:を読んでPodcastのインタビューを聴き、無事めちゃくちゃになってしまいました。

Then I was curious about the relationship between those things, so I looked at the fandom wiki, read Feelings REDACTED: and listened to the podcast interview, and my organic tissue brain went into chaos.

Loveらしいですね、なんか。LOVEって愛と訳せるあれで合ってますか？

Their relationship seems to be 𝓛𝓞𝓥𝓔.

Is that 𝓛𝓞𝓥𝓔 correct, that 𝓛𝓞𝓥𝓔 which can be translated as 愛?

LOVEにもいろんなのがあるんですけど…(Wキーを押す：Wikipediaを開く)

There are many different 𝓛𝓞𝓥𝓔...(Press W: open Wikipedia)

週にn時間、あんまりまじめな生徒ではなかったけど学校で英語を習っていてよかったです。

朝の単語テストはクソです。ありがとうクソ単語テスト。

I wasn't a very serious student, but I was happy to learn English at school.

The morning word test sucks. Thanks for the shitty word test.

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Useful free tools for writing.

More of the incidental tools that I find useful, regardless of how one usually writes that are often known in the writing community, but you might not know?

One Look dictionary

Reverse word look up. You know when you're getting stumped on a word you kinda know, but only can get the definition of, or you want to make sure your 3-word phrase can't be said more succinctly? Yeah, this resource should help. (The underline is a link)

Google Docs

I should note that after about 100K words, it starts to struggle. But it's good for editing, collab work, spreadsheets, and also keeping track of your previous drafts so if someone says, "But, but you plagiarized from me," you have a log saying you didn't, so you can say, "you likely took from me."

And so on.

Libre Office–because not everyone wants to deal with Google Docs or can afford Microsoft office. It also has a recovery function, so if it crashes, you can get your words back. (Microsoft Office often doesn't?)

Use it for formatting your manuscripts. For the editors out there, accept ODT format. This is absolutely free and sometimes it doesn't port well.

Rhyming dictionaries–yes, they exist. The slant rhyming is also useful. There are slant rhyming dictionaries too.

The almighty square bracket. []

To all of you discovery writers out there that can't afford Scrivener. This is the tool for you. You've written and dumped all this information into the text that shouldn't belong there, but you want to keep it. What do you do? You square bracket it.

If not that, there is also the curly bracket if you need a sub category. {

It's great for:

Editing notes.

Please expand this note to yourself.

Examine this phrase later because you moved on, but it doesn't sound right.

Cataloging important information you might need at a later date.

Info dumping that you want to break up.

Storing long descriptions you want to use elsewhere.

You're too lazy to catalog in your world building notes great information.

You have ADHD and some other idea has occurred to you, but it's totally off topic. Square bracket.

To avoid plagiarism 'cause you forgot you pulled a source.

If you're one of those super detailed people, you can also color code it. The reason is that both curly and square brackets almost never show up in manuscripts. <> sometimes does, but also often doesn't.

The best part is no matter your program, format, or keyboard, you have it.

Note that this doesn't work for Japanese as well, but Japanese also have access to {} which is why I noted it here.

Spreadsheets

You need to make a calendar for your planet and need the quick calculations.

You need to make a morpheme list for your mythical language.

You want to delineate gender quickly.

This usually comes with Google Spreadsheets, Microsoft Office and Libre Office. But writers often (me included) forget they exist.

But they are useful for more than number crunching. And some writers use them for plotting too.

For Fantasy/SF writers: Donjon:

The whole website, but particularly the Fantasy Calendar maker is useful.

Google Search: Quotes.

You want to fact check a quote. Or you got distracted and forgot to put in the citation information.

To be or not to be

is horrible search for. So what you do is this: "To be or not to be."

And you might get Will Shakespeare.

BTW, Goodreads is a horrible horrible source for finding out where quotes came from. Make sure you have the actual page number/place it was said with the surrounding quotes.

Equally, the -[item] is also often useful when you're searching.

You're looking up say... Kimchi, and you want search results that don't have napa in it You would type "kimchi -napa"

You are researching... I hope, I hope.

Public domain books: Project Gutenberg

You need a back issues of Gustav Freytag's Dies Techniks des dramas.

You need the quote from Anne of Green Gables.

You want to check if this Winnie the Pooh quote is in the earlier or later works because of public domain issues.

You need to read The Art of War for the tenth time.

You need to read Machiavelli's The Prince, because you are writing politics and war.

This is the place to find it. Sometimes, sometimes it is public domain, but it's not in there.

Library

Libby (app), for example. Sign up for it. Get a library card and you'll save yourself money. Some countries don't have one, but for the ones that do, you can read print books and consume audiobooks at home.

Often self-pubbed books are on there too. If you have an amazon account then you can use the kindle app with it.

Sometimes you can also go to university libraries and though you can't check anything out, you can use their catalogs to look up things. You sometimes have to be there, but often they give links to free resources in their catalogs and might be easier to use than JSTOR. You don't have to be a student. Just be respectful of the people there, and try to put the books back where you found them. (usual library stuff).

This will save you going to Hawaii for the University of Hawaii, for example, because you know they have some awesome East Asian resources.

[bomberqueen17]

the far side of the world

i've made it via audiobook to book 10 of Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey / Stephen Maturin series and I initially read these books so long ago that time and again I'm like oh i definitely didn't read this one i don't remember it at all and then I stumble across something that I'm like ... oh, no i definitely read this one so like. well. i just can't tell. But i really do think I'd read these before, and I just was too young to fully understand some of the bits.

I'm making myself not look up spoilers for things so I can be surprised by them as they happen. But some of the things are just. Well. Anyway. I'll cut, so as not to discuss spoilers with anyone else who wanted not to be spoiled.

I was sort of sad, for this book, because Pullings had been promoted and thus wouldn't be in the ship anymore, more's the pity, but oh joy, he has come along as a volunteer! Won't Mowett, who is now first lieutenant after his departure, be jealous or feel slighted, Stephen asked, and Jack says why, anyone else would, but those two get along so well and have already worked it out between them, there will be no trouble among them. Stephen muses that they are polyandrous husbands, to be sure, married to the ship, and Jack needs the word defined and then is sort of gently skeeved-out at the entire notion of polyandry, despite his own imperfect command of monogamy.

This finally drove me to look at AO3 to see if there were any fanfiction specifically of this pairing, because I would completely read Mowett/Pullings/HMS Surprise, treated with any kind of gravity (and crack would also suit). Alas I found none, and distressingly little Pullings/Mowett either. In my mind I have dubbed them the Tubular Husbands, as Mowett is initially described as a "perfectly tubular young man" (I think the description is meant to hint that he is still slender with youth and has not really filled out into full adulthood yet, as I believe he is meant to be a teenager in that first book), and later Pullings is also described as somewhat tubular in form, I think in a musing by one of our principal characters that he has recently filled out and thus is no longer quite so caterpillar-like. Anyway I think Tubular Husbands is a perfect ship name for them and if I were in a fic-writing way at all currently, and not so taken up with my various ongoing shit, I would totally write it. High, excellent potential there.

But I digress. Well, not really, that's about all I had to talk about.

It's hard to quote snippets from an audiobook but the other night I was enamored enough of this passage to transcribe it. Stephen is speaking of Jack's wife, Sophie, who is a dear friend of Stephen's, he and she never having had the slightest romantic chemistry but understanding one another perfectly on a human level for many years.

"I desire you will not top it the Othello, brother, for shame? Stuff on you. If any man so far forgot himself as to make a licentious suggestion to Sophie, she would not understand him for a week. And then she would instantly lay him dead with your double-barreled fowling piece."

Everyone in these books is slightly autistic, to be sure.

Simon Vance is a great narrator, but any accent he does that is not English is just awful. His American accents are painful, and for an Italian woman he did the same bad French accent he does for every Frenchman. it is a shame, otherwise I do like his performance a great deal. Well, on 1.25x speed, otherwise the pauses for effect drag on too much. I do not need a languid cadence for a thirteen-hour piece, thanks much. But it's a delightful performance on 1.25x speed and I am enjoying it greatly, I just wish he had listened to like one Italian person speaking English before doing all the bits with Laura Fielding. Do you really think an Italian would pronounce it Lauxhra with that guttural French R? Meestehr Matuxhrîn! Non, I seenk not.

Anyhow I'm as far as the pacific ocean in book ten don't tell me what happens but do tell me your headcanons about the tubular husbands and just how dedicated they are to this undersized but sweet-sailing frigate.

[jjmaiam]

for anybody that needed this I translated this video of Chuck's voice actor in English.

https://youtu.be/QmsFazwIViA?si=TH7nKvGCdXYMY-Nt

i didn't write everything they said and i didn't translate it literally! I'm not English so it's not gonna be perfect!

it was summarized a bit to not make it too long.

@itsmalachitenow

Ferre (the youtuber): welcome guys to the video, today we're back with brawl stars. We're here with someone you would never expect. First of all, can I ask your name? Nicola(Chuck's voice actor): Nicola F: Nicola, can you make us understand why you're here with a quote? Nicola: Eccomi, il maestro! (here I am, the maestro) F: I'm really excited Nicola: me too, me too F: it's the first time I ever talked with a brawler's voice actor! Nicola Because it's the first brawler to be Italian, so they chose a native Italian and here I am! F: You also did some English voice lines. N: exactly. Some of the members of the brawl stars production love Italy so they've wanted for a long time to add a Italian character. Our national pride! It's the first time this has happened! F: you basically explained to me that you had a friend that played brawl? N: I have a friend that plays a lot of brawl stars, not like me that I had it installed on my phone for some years but… F: so you know brawl stars N: yes, I know some things, sometimes I played it some years ago. But I didn't know what I dubbed! F: I'll leave you some time to introduce yourself N: Well, I've been a professional voice actor for five years now, in home studio. I tried to, let's say "knock on doors" to get into this job. But then Covid started and all of those "doors" closed. 30yo, with a little kid, I had to start with home studio. Obviously you can't do everything because you need people physically and on the studio at home you do everything and it becomes more difficult. Soon I'm gonna be 36 and I started at 30 to continue this passion that I had since I was a kid. When I was little I always played with the recorders or sometimes I took apart pc's, and thanks to that I have some manual skill. In chuck's case it was my first experience with a live direction with a person that was kilometers away from me. F: I'll leave everything Nicola does in the description! N: I particularly remember chuck's dubbing experience because I did that the 15 of august in the morning. F: other than having an iconic voice, you also need a crazy voice control to do all those different tones! N: and I have a cold! well, when you have to do certain things you need to be able to do them in any physical conditions. I also did for many years theater, when I was 20 I started voice acting thanks to a man that did documentaries. He made me record this and I remember he payed me so I understood that this was a job, what I did as a game, for passion, was actually a job! Well one day one of my friends told me that I was in your video and made me watch. there I understood what I actually dubbed! most of the times I don't know what I'm dubbing! F: if any of you guys recognize his voice in a game or anything tell us N: yes! it would also help me making a more public portfolio. F: your voice changes from character to character, it wouldn't be easy to recognize you N: oh it wouldn't be easy, they're all different. In chuck's case there was a mass selection of speaker and Italian voice actors, 70 people answered. there was a mini description of who was chuck, basically there was written that he is an Italian train conductor and ex orchestra "maestro" and there was this project called" voice character Chuck" I didn't have any other information, the only other information other than the script and the name was a YouTube video of Alex Brightman, he's an American actor that also did the musical of Beetlejuice, and he explained how he did his vocal characterization. doing chuck was pretty fast and the director told me how much he liked Italy

i just realized that half of it is gone.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Basically at the end of the video he makes some voice lines and takes lines of other brawlers (Bull Carl and Mortis) so if you want to hear him go at the minute 17:25 of the video.

he also makes a joke that trains in italy are slow.

[right-hand-of-the-black-sand]

Can we see the top of your best quotes?

I'm assuming that you mean my favorite Mozenrath quotes, so I'll go with that.

I decided to go with top five, as well as put a limit as to one per episode (though I'll allow myself one cheat, as shown below), as otherwise the list may be filled with lines from Two To Tangle. Everything will still make it into the honorable mentions, which themselves will be in the explanations I put after each line.

Let me tell you, this was way harder than I thought it would be.

~~~~~~~~~

5. "Collar the beast. Oh, and do it before snack time, if you want your genie to... heh, well, you know... live." ~ The Citadel

Starting off, I think this quote represents a bit of a tonal shift for Mozenrath. He had a few lines before this that definitely depict him as a villainous figure, and he's already teased Aladdin quite a bit ("Which is more your problem than mine, I think," and 🎶"Rise and shine~"🎶 being among my favorites), but the way his voice drops at the first word and him drawing out the second line... It's creepy, demeaning, and quite threatening. I love it so much.

4. “Now, I could go into a long involved description about how the Crystal of Ix works, but in a nutshell—” [“Crystal take Genie’s power! Ehehehehe!”] “...I could’ve said it better myself, but... why bother?” ~ The Hunted

This line wins the “Line that Gabbie Found the Funniest for Some Odd Reason” Award. Mozenrath so often punishes Xerxes for interrupting him or speaking his mind too often, but here he's just like “...Yeah, that explanation sucked, but nah...” That pause before he says the line is golden to me, whether it was deliberate or not.

3. "Expiring minds want to know: What's in the crate?" ~ The Wind Jackals of Mozenrath

I'm cheating a bit with this entry because I'm using it to represent a theme I really like in Mozenrath's lines, which is that he seems to be fond of morbid puns, wordplay or play-on-words, whatever you would call it. “Expiring minds” instead of “Inquiring minds” is the one that I find the most clever, but I'm also really fond of “If only life were so cut and dry” from the same episode and “Now let's cut to the bone” from The Secret of Dagger Rock. There's definitely more that I'm not remembering, but it's a character trait that I'm very fond of.

2. "Aladdin, you were in my kingdom and you didn't look me up? I'm hurt." ~ The Wind Jackals of Mozenrath

Beautiful. Iconic. No other words needed.

1. "Calm down, Aladdin. I have no intention of harming you. In fact... I intend to take very good care of you." ~ Two To Tangle

Ohohohohohohhhhh... This line did things to my pubescent teenage brain, not to mention the proceeding “Ahahahaha~laddin, you're so gullible” from a few moments before. Horniness aside, it is still one of my favorite villain quotes of all time, if not one of my general favorite quotes. Everything I love about Mozenrath is apparent in it. The creepy faux-caring tone that's drawn out a bit suggestively, the threat that isn't spelled out but is very much implied, the context and the intentions behind it… Not to mention the line that came soon after, “Don't fight it, Aladdin… It will all all be over soon.” Brrrr~ I think this is a more frightening line to hear from a villain than an outright threat, and I love it so much.

~~~~~~~~~

There's definitely more that I could put up, but this already took me too long to make. I'll have to put them in another post.

Thanks for the ask! This was fun!

[darrisgrove]

Wildwood by Colin Meloy REVIEW

3/5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐

I got this book as a gift, as part of the series set box. I had asked for it. I had also set a goal to read at least one book cover to cover that had more than 300 pages, because I had noticed I mostly stick to short books. Well, I certain met that goal.

Did I like it? It was okay. Some parts had me gripped while others left me so bored I noticed I was zoning off and daydreaming. The plot fluidity moved along at a decent pace and I did enjoy the flip flopping between Prue and Curtis, the main protagonists of the story. The characters were incredibly fleshed out and the author could put personality into the many characters included throughout the story. Each character had something that set them apart from the others, including the various coyote characters you meet as you read through. The main villain was not a force to be reckoned with, the author did a great job in making her fearsome and having you genuinely worry for some of the characters lives. However, with how the story ended, I am surprised she did not kill one of the characters when she had the chance.

I would recommend this book to people who do enjoy the deep details and long stories. I am glad that this was my first choice in expanding my pages read goal. I would not recommend this book to people who like fast paced stories and do not like so much action.

Here are my notes during the reading, including some quotes that stood out to me. WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW

-Curtis is so autism coded -Prue randomly trusting a man she doesn't know and getting into his van -Curtis is 12. He also is eating and drinking a strangers food. -That boy is drunk. -Poppycock! -Roger is shady -Did Curtis kill some people are did I interpret that wrong? -I thought the child possibly killing some people was a dark turn, but the owl's story with the puppet child was even worse. Eesh. -Curtis is being groomed. -Honestly, I'm finding this book hard to follow. As in, it is a little too detailed in its descriptions which feel like they draw on forever. I also feel as though I don't know anything about the main characters and more about the main villain, which can make it hard for someone to want to root for the protagonists. The world building is also confusing, even though there are three detailed maps included throughout the book, which also poorly describe where places are located. However, the story line has me hooked enough to keep reading. I'm also wanting to hurry up and get this book finished so I can meet a goal.

PART TWO

-The egret could possibly be my breaking point. Not the egret! -"Fear," the sparrow responded quietly. "Fear rules the day. The powerful, for fear of losing that power, have become blinded. Everyone is an enemy. Someone has to bear the brunt." -She can go in because she was made by magical means. Curtis went in because he was with Prue.

PART THREE

-Curtis just made a blood pact and didn't realize it until after the fact. -"You needn't wear it all on your shoulders. Bigger events are in play, my dear, far bigger than you. You had as much control over your own involvement in these events as a leaf does in the time of its falling. We must only follow, we must only follow" Iphigenia, page 475 -"There's as much benefit to wishing the world away as there is in demanding a bud to bloom. It's better to live presently. By living thus, perhaps we can learn to understand the nature of this fragile coexistence we share with the world around us." Iphigenia, page 475-476

[residences-of-the-darkforest]

Jackdawfoot's Father

Ok my brain is growing thinking about the tragedy that could be Jackdawfoot's parents.

One of them was abandoned in the woods by their kittypet mother. Whatever the reason, they don't know it (or that she was a kittypet). The only thing that they do know is that they were left to die in a storm that washed away all scent of where they came from, and they have no idea why.

The other was never meant to grow up in the Clan, only stayed because their mother died in childbirth. She had planned to stay long enough to give birth and have them walk, then move on. Now they have to stay. It's the only life they know, but they were never meant to know it. That has to create some internal conflict, doesn't it?

(Using non-gendering descriptions because I don't yet know who was who)

Not every serial killer has an abusive parent, but great number do, and Jackdawfoot was written like a classic serial killer, so why not sprinkle in some classic serial killer backstory?

His mother, we know, was good. He did name one of his daughters after her, so she has to be. But his father, Nightspot? We have no shred of info on him.

Maybe Nightspot wanted to be perfect. He felt like he was constantly being judged for his outsider roots and unusual face, height, and fur. Then Jackdaw came out, the biggest of the kits, and the features that Nightspot was insecure about plain as day on his son, as if mocking him. Too, the son had a weird shut eye, and without knowing it, he piled all those insecurities onto his unusual son (also probably because Jackdaw was the only son, making Nightspot see himself and wanting "himself" to be perfect, like Jackdaw was a doll to shape to his liking).

Some things he would do (possible trigger warning, as some quotes may be familiar to verbal abuse victims):

--Shame Jackdaw. "Loyal warriors would never say that."

--Invalidate Jackdaw's feelings / tell him how he should feel. "Be grateful you were given food at all with the way you missed everything today. You should thank the whole Clan for bothering with you."

--Favour the other kits, and make it especially noticeable when Jackdaw was falling behind to "encourage" him. "Why can't you be more like your sister?" OR say "I'm so proud of you!" to them then ignore Jackdaw.

--Humiliate Jackdaw. He does this both as a way of punishing Jackdaw and to show everyone (who he's so worried of judging him) that he does not agree with what Jackdaw did, and that he's not part of that. (Loudly): "Why don't you announce to everyone what you did? Go on, own up to it like a warrior."

--Make Jackdaw "earn" his love.

Nightspot wasn't like this 24/7. He gave Jackdaw rare moments of being a proud, loving father (when he earned his love). And those rare moments were addicting. Jackdaw craved them, craved his father being proud, craved his father acting like he actually loved him. But it was never enough.

Jackdawfoot felt powerless. Nothing he did was ever right, no matter how hard he tried or how long he worked. He didn't realize he was thirsting for power until he found it while fighting a kittypet while on a patrol.

[teecupangel]

Imma rant a bit about the Altaïr Armor in Destiny because I'm seeing some comments asking why they picked Warlock when Hunter has a hood and gadgets like throwing knives and smokes.

Anyway, here's the Altaïr Armor (with his toxic bff the Apple of Eden):

Cool, right? They look like they really tried to capture Altaïr's Master Assassin robes using red and white with dark gray color scheme, the asymmetric gloves/bracers showing he only has one hidden blade. throwing knives strapped to his belt...

But there are comments saying that it's not accurate because there's no hood. That they didn't get the Assassin aesthetic right.

But here's the thing.

I don't think Ubisoft and Bungie was going for the Assassin aesthetic, not really.

They were going for a semi-accurate Destiny-version of Altaïr.

(oh god, i'm actually going to defend ubisoft... fuck)

Here are 2 descriptions of the Warlock Class:

Highlights:

... long studied the Traveler, mastering some of its arcane energy

Discovering truth has always driven you into the unknown

Warrior-scholars

If we replace the Traveler with Isu or Apple of Eden, we would actually get an accurate description of Altaïr. He is known as the one who was closest to mastering the Apple (Desmond would have probably mastered it more than him because he has "Bleeding Effect" and "Isu Chosen One" cheat codes on) and his robes are supposed to mimic a traveling scholar so he could blend in. Not only that but he is a true scholar with a passion for knowledge.

He even studied philosophy and quoted Empedocles to Maria in AC Bloodline.

His Codex is a testament to his 'warrior-scholar' title, having both writings of his studies of the Apple and manuscripts that Leonardo Da Vinci would later use to create Ezio dual hidden blades, a hidden gun and poison as well as show Ezio how to perform other assassination techniques. His library was said to have been filled with countless pieces of knowledge, searched by both the Assassin Brotherhood and the Templar Order. He's known as the father of the Modern Brotherhood.

And because I love this line so much, here's a quote of how eloquent Altaïr could be if he's trying to impress someone (Maria)

(This man is a nerd and a jock. I call him an overachiever for a reason.)

This means that, yes, while the Hunter class does have a hood and would have been an easy way for Bungie to create an Assassin robe-inspired armor, I think they made the right call making the Warlock the Altaïr armor.

My opinion is, if Altaïr was in Destiny and given a choice, he would have picked the Warlock class as well.

Not to mention...

"Keep relics related to the Darkness to prevent others from being..." sounds like the Brotherhood's unofficial tenet of "is it a POE? hide it. preferably underground."

(sidenote) If you want to build a Warlock Altaïr in Destiny, my suggestion would be the Sunsinger subclass because:

The sun theme will be funny and ironic considering his descendant died to save the world from a solar flare

It has an AOE damage over time grenade that mimics the Apple of Eden's ability to slowly kill humans

The overall gold color scheme can be compared to the Apple of Eden

Use Radiance only for yourself for pre to mid-AC1 Altaïr, use it for your allies for a late-AC1 to AC: Revelations Altaïr (aka: you can play as "arrogant self-centered Altaïr" or as a "still a bit arrogant but trying to be a team player Altaïr")

Phoenix imagery = bird motif

TL;DR: Ubisoft and Bungie weren't going for an Assassin motif for the Altaïr armor in Destiny. They were trying to recreate Altaïr as a character.

===============

You know who should have had the Hunter armor? OUR BEST BOY! Ratonhnhaké:ton!

(I also think Ezio would have been a good match for the Warlock but, come on, Altaïr deserves some love. Ezio has already been in Fall Guys, Brawlhalla and freaking FORTNITE. CONNOR DESERVES MORE LOVE TOO!)

Ref

2 Destiny wikis:

Destiny Wiki

Warlock

AC wiki:

Assassin's Creed Wiki

[cursedalthoughts]

PR6 - Flandre

MNF Flandre, the steal and steam version.

I've been thinking on how to word this to not seem annoying or like I'm dismissing people's complains are not real complains or whatever, because I've seen some very vocal hatred of Flandre's design.

And, like. Yeah! I wanted her to be intimidating and fierce, just like she is in WoWs. A Flandre rushing you if you're lower tier and you are alone without support is Scary. She's fast, she hits hard and has very fast-shooting secondaries that might not penetrate your armor, but will burn you alive. Playing Flandre in Operations (WoWs' best PvE mode) is super fun. I just did a game where I sunk 9 enemy ships all by myself and did more than 220k damage.

This is insane even for Operation standards.

My point is, I understand the complaints a lot because I do not really like Flandre's visual design.

But also, it's not the end of the world.

First of all: The game has more than 500 ships. That's more characters than in some entire mythologies of huge cultures with thousands of years of history (although don't quote me on this). Some should be hits and some should be misses. Optimistically, from a capitalistic point of view, they should all be massive hits so every girl gets a lot of hype, but y'all know that's not how the real world works.

Second of all: I think people expect that when a faction like the Iris goes a long time without major attention (even if that's not entirely true for them, Implacable may have had a RN event but the Iris played a MAJOR role in that event) they expect their eventual re-introduction to be bombastic, huge, epic, extremely memorable, etc. But without looking it up, I struggle to remember which shipgirls were in Vanguard's event. Indomitable and? idk, others. And people also cried rivers of salt when Vanguard was announced, she "didn't look UR worthy". Implacable looked "too Iris" to some; and we all know the HMS simps were extremely vocal about how their beloved faction had gone around 2 years without an event.

My major point is: if you expect wholeheartedly that the first new Iris ships are going to be massive hits, you're gonna be disappointed.

I have a very definitive headcannon for how Kearsarge might look (pic related, a description of that look I gave to a friend)

she has 4 turrets. her rigging would be split in two, with 2 turrets in each side. she would wear a blue uniform kinda resembling Union generals from the american civil war, with a naval officer cap (also blue). on top of her 2 sides of the rigging there would be a mini runway with 3 planes in one and 2 in the other. she is holding a flag, planting it in the ground, it's the flag of the eagle unionshe's looking to the right, her right leg in a higer elevation because she's standing in some rocks. she has striking blue eyes, a serious yet beautiful face, and long, brown hairand is thicc too. not taihou thicc, but thicc nonetheless

And I am 100% ready to be disappointed if Kearsarge is in PR6, because I know for certain she will NOT look anything like this. But HEY. AT LEAST I'LL HAVE KEARSARGE.

y'know?