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beebopboom · 10 months

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A Bookshop in Soho Eden

This is not a new idea and after reading these wonderful post by @the-apology-dance here and @queerfables here my brain just got hooked on it. I wanted to see though, if I could take this idea one step further and oh boy can you - so if you want to join me down this rabbit hole I went down strap in for this rollercoaster - I broke it down to three parts that I will post separately

This is technically season 3 speculation as I bring up some points connected to the Second Coming for further down the line

Also I'm just going to lay out the information then connect in all in the end so just stay with me - it will all connect

But without further ado

Aziraphale's Jobs over the years

Let's start at the beginning or just after - the Garden of Eden

Angel of the Eastern Gate and donned with a flaming sword - technically on apple tree duty according to him but we only see him after the whole eating the apple business. What we do see is him doing is opening his “gate” for them to leave, closing it, and then getting questioned by God - specifically about his flaming sword. The next time we see him he is back at his post on the wall - Adam and Eve are quite a bit away by now - and this is when Crowley comes up to him.

The thing I find interesting about this is that he is still there after the apple business is done and over with - and he is still in guarding position, looking out towards the humans

So let's take a look into the actual bible for maybe an answer as to why -

Genesis 3:24 - “He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turn every way to guard the way to the Tree of Life”

Now the Tree of Life is an interesting mention with it's connection to the Second Coming

So let’s take a quick look into what the Tree of life is

The Tree of Life is mentioned in two particular stories in the bible - Genesis and Revelations - or in other words the Beginning and the End

Adam and Eve had access to this tree and were only warned against the Tree of Knowledge because they couldn’t have both - eternal life or knowledge of good and evil

So once they had taken a bite from the apple God then revoked their access to the Tree of Life by banishing them from the garden and placing a guard - no humans were to have access anymore

Until the Second Coming comes around where all the humans who have passed judgement(all the names written down in the book of life) and get to live in Gods’s paradise again - with the Tree of Life in the center and fully accessible. People are able to consume the fruits from the tree once again

The point I'm trying to make is yes technically he was on apple tree duty then but now he is on Tree of Life duty - it’s the purpose of him remaining in Eden, and on Earth among humans. Protection for and against humans

Now Aziraphale had one more job that I wanted to bring up, courtesy of the Demon’s Guide to Angelic Beings who Walk the Earth, and that is Garden Designer. We don't know exactly when he did this so we can only guess - I’m going to out on a limb and say the 16th - 17th century French Gardens

Developed from Italian renaissance gardens, this style of gardening used symmetry, parterres, and geometrical shapes. I’m just going to touch on some key features but if you want to learn more here are some links (here and here)

These gardens tended to start at the house and were meant to be view from above on the terraces. There would be a main path way that would lead away from the house and would come to a circular center that was often just lawn or water sometimes surrounded by trees, it was from here that the garden was broken down into sections. Through the use of geometry they created perspective and optics with rows and designs of the plants placement. Closer to the house these designs were more complex with them getting less complex the further away. Symmetry and control over the plants was a big part as it was a way show a man's mastery over nature. Water was also a key feature mainly through the use of still water ponds that served as mirrors. On top of all these interesting designs the gardens were often decorated with statues. These gardens were meant to tell a story whether viewed from above or walking within - it would seem as though you were going through different rooms

Some of these these design elements might sound familiar and they should - it's only reflected in one of the most visited places in the show

The Bookshop - A.Z. Fell and Co.

Aziraphale opened up the bookshop in 1800, but had been working on it for years as we learn from Crowley in 1793, all due to his love of books. Not that the actually wants to sell his books and actively makes it unpleasant to a customer.

The bookshop also serves another purpose though - it's a safe place. I've theorized before in this post about how something happened before 1793 but after 1601 that made Crowley get in trouble with Hell due to their arrangement - a fear that Aziraphale has had from the start. So Aziraphale took this chance to combine the things he loved and the need for a safe place so he could hang out with the one he loved - all wrapped up in the explanation that he was just doing his job and was able to make it a Heaven’s embassy - unable to enter without permission and easy ways to sneak out. But I’m not here to really talk about the emotional connections -

So let’s look at the actual layout of the bookshop - the bare bones at least

As soon as you go through the door you are hit with a second circular doorway - pointed out to be the omega symbol. In this front little area there are three tables but then we lead into the center of the bookshop with a big circle rug lit up by the skylight and surrounded by four pillars. It is from here that the bookshop opens up into different pathways and sections all directed by the actual bookshelves. Towards the back of the shop is a staircase that leads up to the second floor where you can still look down and around the lower floor. There are statues placed all around the shop with extra tables and chairs throughout and quite a few rugs with some French influenced designs on them laying about.

(credit to whoever made this - you are a godsend)

Rings some bells doesn’t it?

Now you may be asking why these specific gardens instead something more like Eden to commemorate their first meeting on Earth. I mean this is Aziraphale we are talking about - the angel who got himself arrested because he wanted to go on a french date and who decided to learn french, or in other words one of the more romantic languages, the human way. For designing a bookshop that would be their safe space picking a french design is not too far out there.

But what if I told you there was more to his bookshop and the of Whickber Street as a whole.

If you remember the whole Tree of Life rant I went on earlier let me add one more piece of information - the geometry symbol

so is that bookshop is not only meant to represent their Eden but particularly the paradise that is the reward of the Second Coming? Is he actually really doing his job in protecting the Tree of Life from humans? Even if it was a subconscious choice on Aziraphale’s part - could it explain the concept art of the cut dream?

Technically on Tree of Life duty guarding his books/fruit of eternal life from humans in their modern day Eden.

Now I’ll admit it doesn’t line up perfectly but I wanted to include it because my next point can still stand either way - and I’m going to go more into this idea in the other parts.

Rivers of Time

In Eden there is one big river that when it reaches out of Eden it splits into four rivers that water the garden and reach to the ends of the Earth - Pishon(full flowing), Gihon(bursting forth), Hiddekel(swift or darting), and Euphrates(fruitful). The Tree of Life it is said to have a river on both sides.

Now I’m sure we have all noticed the some weird instances of time being messed with in the show - particularly in the streets of Soho. They are sped up, slowed down, and normal speed. Often these roads are also depicted as wet.

So let me throw in the idea of Timestreams

It’d probably be easier to go read that but basically it’s -

The concept that time is always flowing forward or backwards, and meeting in the middle - always on the move always connected - never quite knowing where you step in. Just like the flow of water.

And wouldn’t it be ironic that Crowley, our time stopping demon, and his car are now constantly in this stream of time darting around only to finally stop and slow down in the bookshop

So we can take the four streets of our little spot in Soho connect it to the four rivers and apply some time fuckery - you get a place that is full and bursting with life, people darting all around looking and buying things that make their life more fruitful. But time is a bit wibbly wobbly for the residents, always flowing and connected - past, present, and future - so we get characters that are parallel’s to the past, that may have existed in a different time or universe, and that repeat often.

So if the Bookshop is their version of Eden it would make these streets representative of the rest of the world - what with a street that lead to chinatown and have various French and Italian restaurants along another - this idea is not too far out there

But also if you take the Bookshop as a little more representative of the Tree of Life in particular with the two streets surrounding it - Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death can very easily be equated with the Tree of Knowledge. The whole of Whickber Street is their Eden.

This is what happens when you have an Angel and Demon with too much affect on the world around them living in one spot for hundreds of years

So to wrap this all up please remember this is just a theory and for fun - take it as you will

But if you have followed along this long and I’ve somehow managed to get you entertain this idea of the Bookshop being their slice of Eden - whether Eden itself or just a single part of Eden (Tree of Life) with the whole street being Eden - wait and see for the next part

After all the apple (coffee) did come from within the Garden and then they lost access to the Tree of Life (bookshop)

This was Part 1

In Part 1.5 it just a couple theories concerning the Book of Life and more, like an intermission

And finally Part 2 we discuss the second place the Tree of Life is mentioned, the Book of Revelations, and how we have already seen a version of the Second Coming

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens s3 #aziraphale #crowley #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #ineffable spouses #good omens meta #good omens analysis #good omens theory #A.Z. Fell and Co.#aziraphale’s bookshop #good ineffable omens

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winterstorm032802 · 5 months

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Yeah. I'm now a Huskerdust shipper. Fuck, episode 4 is making me so sad and these two are so cute together. Damn it. I'm done for. The show is really good and lovely animated. Every character is so cool and full of their own stories (Taking a break at episode 4)

Thoughts

Episode one: Whole twist on the Bible, I like it. Charlie is adorable, and I can't tell, but I'm certain that Charlie and Vaggie are dating (They haven't said any labels but the way they act feels like it) (Also, Adam is annoying)

The Angels pretty much suck, but I guess they have a way of doing things? I understand their fear, I suppose, on everything that happened.

Episode two: Vox is suffering cause Alastor is too creepy and cool. I love Alastor's voice effect! I don't like the way Val is texting Angel. He needs to stop it. The way the texts change and the way the voice-mails are, God, it's so toxic, and Angel Dust deserves better. Also, Sir Pentious is so adorable. He deserves better, considering Vox is an ass.

Episode three: Love how Vaggie throws them to battle, and it somehow worked. Alastor is terrifying, and I need to see more of it.

Episode four: It ruined me. The song. Poison. The voice acting. The details of it all. Ruined me inside and out, I had to keep replaying the song, and I will be listening to it constantly, I'm sure. Knowing the context for "You're A Loser Baby" is a hundred times better! Keith David is awesome (Husk is my favorite character)

Huskerdust, I will also sell my soul to you just like I have for many other ships.

I am going to watch more, of course, cause the acting, the story is drawing me in so quickly and I love it!

I'd say so far 8/10 (I heard Jeremy Jordan is in it, and I love him, so once I hear him, then it will become a higher rating).

#hazbin hotel #alastor #charlie #angel dust #husk #vaggie #nifty #sir pentious #huskerdust

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fallencrow3 · 8 months

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Why Aziraphale and Crowley are definitely normal Angel and demon

Azzy

Delivered fire to the humans allowing them to survive and evolve (Prometheus)

Got the fire sword which is actually canon in the Bible, gifted to an Angel (in this case azzy) to protect the tree of life (though is a tad different from the Bible in many ways buuuut we ain’t gonn get into that)

Watched over the east gate (East gate is gate of mercy, the main most important gate of Eden)

Watched over the first humans

Oh on a side note

In the Bible the East does not mean the compass East. East In the Bible means front, eternal, forward. This also follows withe how when Cain left god’s side he went to “the land of nod, on the east of eden.”

And when looking from the front of eden, (from the east gate), you would overlook the lesser world (earth). Oh and nod means homeless basically

The east of Eden is the border between the physical realm and the spiritual realm (heaven and earth, or in this case the garden of Eden and the rest of earth)

The east border is the border azzy looked over, he was the protector of the tree of life (not to be mistaken as the tree of knowledge of good and evil aka APPLES). As well as the entrance to the garden of Eden. He was actually supposed to be the Angel to ward off Adam and Eve. At least In the Bible it says that to protect the tree of life from man and to make sure mankind does not enter the garden, god placed an Angel withe a flaming sword at the entrance of the east gate (the gate from which Adam and Eve were discarded from the garden)

He overlooked the lesser world (earth) which at that time was nothing but vastness. So ya

The east is where earth is, it is the "unholy" lands

This could show that he was destined to connect two realms maybe

Oh and the east gate is the only one mentioned in the Bible specifically

Oh and just casually saying that the flaming sword is canon in the Bible the most powerful weapon ever (and was broken into three pieces after lucifers rebuking but I don’t think that corresponds withe good omens) (I also think it’s hilarious that azzy was technically supposed to use the flaming sword against Adam and Eve but instead gave it to them it’s just so azzy)

OH AND GUESS WHAT in the Bible it's canon that humans will merge around 6,000 years after the fall

Which is basically the apocalypse

You know what else happened 6,000 years after the world began in good omens? THE ANTICHRIST aka THE APOCALYPSE (or almost)

Anyways so there’s all that BUT ANYWAYS back to azzy

He was chosen to watch over the first peeps

He was also chosen to watch over the antichrist

He was there at the beginning

So he’s one of the oldest angels one of the first ones

He is the only Angel other then the archangels that god talks to directly

The name Aziraphale when broken down is seraph (which means the burning one) and el (which means of god, of power)

(Seraph also means serpent so do what you want to do withe that information)

So he is not only the one to handle the flaming sword, but in itself actually IS the flaming sword

In the Bible the quote “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way”

And he gave the sword to humanity, He gave himself to humanity. He has been withe humanity and protecting them since the beginning.

Ok now

Crow

So there’s the obvious thing of him being the famous serpent of temptation (deFiEnTlY just a small feat not as if it literally started everything insert eye roll)

(In many myths and religions there are many gods and symbols of the serpent so for this one the comparing is not only of the Bible. And even then most of the time snake is good, such as withe a snake being a sign to carry a message to John)

Ok so first let’s start withe the Bible

The Bible never actually states that the serpent is of satan, only that it is of temptation and sin. So there is no definite person or title I can compare crow to. (Well satan has been called serpent BUT NO WERE GETTING OFF SUBJECT THIS IS NOT A BIBLE STUDY)

(The only definite name the serpent was called other then words of titles was Nahash but that means serpent in Hebrew)

I do want to add that the serpent never actually lied to Eve or Adam it actually went on to say how “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” And that is what happened. They became aware and held wisdom aloft. (Crow is actually very proud of showing Adam and Eve the knowledge of good and evil because I bet he was reflecting himself on it thinking that he sure would’ve wanted to know some of that before he fell) I’m pretty sure there’s a quote from Neil gaiman about this.

Now serpents have never actually been seen as anything bad other than in the Bible. In most religions they are known to be symbols of life, death, and rebirth. As well as cleverness and slyness. In the Bible the serpent symbolizes evil powers, temptations, chaos, but also life, rebirth, and divination. (WE. ARE. NOT. GETTING. OFF. SUBJECT.)

ANYWAYS

So crow was the serpent, temptation, he could’ve also been a sort of Mestophillies (but I have nothing to back that up)

Honesty he kinda reminds me more of loki, chaotic but not in an evil sense. Sorta chaotic neutral.

Ok back to the list

Crow was famous serpent dude

Crow was also the watcher to the first humans (Adam and Eve)

He was chosen to not only watched the antichrist (death the everything, very high feat) but also deliver it.

He was there at the very beginning, and was one of the original fallen angels

Oh and I’m pretty sure he’s the only demon who can make holy miracles

So he’s one of the oldest (he even created nebulas for hells sake)

He himself was able to deter Lucifer himself by doing his stopping time in a different dimension thingy (I’m pretty sure this isn’t a normal power, it stopped satan for hells sake!)

He also was the dude who took Jesus on a road trip (in the Bible it was Jesus was tempted by satan for 40 days)

I've noticed that every other demon is rotting

But crow is as maculent as ever

He also seems to be the only one to have Angel wings, even if there black

He created original sin

Response for the whole corruption of gods creation

Honestly I can see why he is the serpent he’s very resourceful and clever (the switcheroo as one example you go azzy and crow)

While we are at this let’s talk about what type of Angel crow was when he fell.

We know that even though he has been corresponded to Lucifer due to the snake thingy, he isn't Lucifer

We know he is higher rank then Muriel

In season two they hinted he was a prince, saying only one other high ranked Angel fell (minus Lucifer)

AND crow had clearance to open the file folder even though Muriel specifically said only the highest ranked angels could open it

I think that crow was corresponded withe archangel Raphael maybe

The only archangel not mentioned in good omens is Raphael

Now let’s talk about Bible Raphael

So Raphael is the second in command of god

Or third

Ok wait so Lucifer used to be the first, then Michael, then Raphael

So we will say third

Raphael was the Angel of healing, but also the Angel of death and the protecter of the third heaven (third heaven is the heaven that god himself dwells in)

He was the closest archangel to humans

Also Gabriel and Raphael are the archangels who created the stars

Oh also Raphael is the one who conquered the demon asmodeus (and guesss what azzy thought Crowley changed his name to~)

Raephael is the "the Angel of spirits of men" and "heal the earth which the angels have defiled" so that could be why crow likes humans so much (as you can tell in the show I will not be elaborating)

Raphael symbol is a snake entwined withe a wooden staff

In other words Raphael is the guardian

Oh and Raphael is the one to call judgement day (the day of reckoning, dies Israel)

This corresponds to Raphael Islam name

in the islam raephal is also called Israfel which is the dude who trumpets the Qiyamah (did I spell that right I dunno) which is the day of judgement in Islam

So he tells the start of the apocalypse(ish)

His titles are

Angel of Song. The burning one. Herald of the dawning day.

And another connection that is a maybe this

So Azrael is the Angel of death

He is fallen Angel and is left shoulder Angel (left corresponds to evil)

(I wonder if crow is left handed??)

(Though Crowley from what I have seen has always been depicted on the left side)

Also in some depictions Raphael is the only Angel (other then I think ururial) that has black wings

So azrael is carrier of souls

He's also the Angel of passage

So yeah there’s that

Then there’s Gadriel

Wait imma need to add

So Gadriel and Azazel are from a group of fallen angels in the book of Enoch called the watchers. The watchers were angels who fell because they became involved withe women. The watchers fell before Lucifer (they fell willingly accourding to some accounts)

There are 200 watchers that fell (Gadriel was the third of five leaders)

Ok so Gadriel was the Angel who watched over the garden of Eden (in the book of Enoch)

The direct quote is “And the third was named Gâdreêl: he it is who showed the children of men all the blows of death, and he led astray Eve, and showed [the weapons of death to the sons of men] the shield and the coat of mail, and the sword for battle, and all the weapons of death to the children of men. And from his hand they have proceeded against those who dwell on the earth from that day and for evermore”

He was who taught mankind warfare, and was also the snake who tempted Eve, maybe. It’s hard to tell if he is the one to be the serpent or if he failed at keeping evil (Lucifer) out of Eden. Nevertheless it does add up withe Crowley being the snake but not being Lucifer.

Aaaand the last one is barachiel, who taught mankind astronomy and was the Angel of blessings before he fell (he is part of the watchers as well)

And then there’s this little fact

Aziraphale (in Hebrew depending on how it’s spelled) translates to either helper of the defiant one, heedless helper, helper of the fallen

In an interview it was said that azirahphale would be spelled like Aziraphael to keep withe the angels having el at the end (michael, Gabriel, Uriel, etc etc) and if that’s the case then it could translate to Raphael is my strength (because azir can be translate to helper)

Crowely name is קראו לי in Hebrew. Which means they called me, in past tense specifically. Crawley in Hebrew is קראלי (change in pronunciation and form). It means they call me, specifically present tense. His first name (maybe while he was still in denial of the fall) was crawley, which means call me. That is some real symbolism there…a tad sad

When he changed his name, he only added the letter ו (Vav). Adding this specific letter has a lot of significance to it. that ו is part of God’s Holy Name, which is י-ה-ו-ה (Yud, Hey, Vav, Hey). Adding a letter of god holy name is symbolic of a person’s essential connection to God. Each letter symbolizes a different thing. The ‘י’ in it’s shape is not grounded. It symbolizes not being grounded to earth, only heaven. The ה in its shape envelops a grounded marking. The grounded beings purpose is entirely, and solely, on Earth. What’s so special about the ו part is that it is a connector. It is the literal line connecting the top to the bottom. It channels earth to heaven and heaven to earth.

Crowley is a ו. By him being a fallen angel, he brought a piece of Heaven down to Earth. He is a channel of the two worlds. An example of this was when he and Aziraphale averted the Apocalypse.

He never knew where he belongs, doesn’t know what he was called for, he and azzy were made to connect the two worlds together. Hes not quite an Angel, but neither is he much of a Demon, and has the the imagination of a human. I guess he’s on his own side along withe azzy.

Oh and the fact that together they made a hugggeee miracle, and they were trying to be subtle. So imagine how huge and powerful one where they weren’t trying to be subtle would be.

#good omens #michael sheen #neil gaiman #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #david tennet #good omens theory #aziracrow

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azfellco · 1 year

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Hi! I had a question about angelology after reading your lovely post, and I thought maybe you would have an answer (or at the very least opinions), but also no pressure to answer :)

I always thought Gabriel was the highest ranking angel as an archangel, but according to the actual ranking of angels, archangels are pretty far down on the list! Also, Aziraphale was guardian of the Eastern Gate, but I know he’s a principality and not a cherubim. And then there’s Muriel being a 37th rank angel (or something along those lines) which I feel like adds a whole other ranking system? I admittedly know almost nothing about angelology outside your post, so I guess my question was what are your thoughts on the ranks of the other angels in the show that (at least to my knowledge, but I could be totally misinterpreting things) are contradictory to the three ranks??

I mostly find it interesting that the show mentions thrones and dominions being the higher-up angels but then Gabriel being an archangel really threw me off. Anyway, thanks for the post!

Hi! Thank you for your question! Highly appreciated.

First of all, I would like to clarify that the angelology I study is Christian Catholic Angelology, so I'm sorry in advance if someone's confused.

Gabriel and his ranking

With arcangels we might get a little bit confusing, because we have the arcangels and The Archangels.

The last one are the Messengers of God, They're the ones who receive the most important messages from God that need to be delivered to humans.

Ex. The Archangel Gabriel is the one who told Mary she'll be giving birth to Jesus (in the flashback of Job in ep 2 this hasn't happened yet so that why he doesn't say anything about it)

Catholic church recognizes 3 of the 7 Archangels: Gabriel, Michael and Raphael.

• Michael - Recognized by The Bible, the one who fought against Lucifer, chief of "The Army of Yahweh"

• Gabriel - The Celestial Messenger

• Raphael - Recognized by The Book of Tobit, The Healer of God

Another possible interpretation we have of The 7 Archangels is that these are the seven spirits of God who are before the throne described in the Book of Enoch and in the Book of Revelation (Rev 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, 5:6).

They are said to be the guardian angels of nations and countries, concerned with the issues and events surrounding them, including politics, military affairs, and commerce.

Ex. Archangel Michael is known for being the protector if Israel.

Examples of archangels are

• Raziel

• Camel

• Zadkiel

• Yahoel

• Cassiel

Aziraphale and his ranking

Neil just confirmed Aziraphale was a Cherub at the Garden of Eden. We can confirm this by the proximity to God and "upstairs" in ep 1.

"You know, the current word from upstairs is that we'll be shutting this all down again in about 6,000 years"

- Aziraphale (S2E1 03:05)

"Now that's [Earth] where people that we're currently designing are going to be. I've seen the plans".

- Aziraphale (S2E1 03:47)

Fun fact: Uriel (Fire of God) was the one with the flamming sword to avoid humans access to The Tree of Life (mention in The Book of Adam and Eve) and the one of warned Noah about the flood. I found very interesting that they chose Aziraphale in those parts.

In my previous post about Angelology, we see the ranks, a Cherub being in the 2nd chorus of the 1st rank and a Principality being in the 1st chorus of the 3rd rank.

So, in Christian Catholic Angelology, he got a demotion.

Muriel and their ranking

In season 2 we know that Muriel is 37th order scrivener.

Scriveners are actually in the bible, but they're not angels; basically, they copy manuscripts and other texts as well as secretarial and administrative duties, also they're the one whose occupation is to draw contracts or prepare writings, that's why we see Muriel doing the authenticity verification of the permit Crowley had in ep 2.

Ranking of angels

We have different ranking of angels depending on the religion, because each one might have the same name of the chorus (rank) but in different hierarchy (and also another type of ranks), it could be pretty confusing at some point. I personally follow the Christian Catholic Angelology.

I adore how they include Crowley and Aziraphale in biblical events, because based of their personalities it totally fit, which I think is pretty amazing.

I hope my answer helped!

#good omens #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #crowley #gos2 #good omens 2 #aziracrow #good omens season 2 #Angelology #Christian Catholic Angelology #season 2 #Gabriel #Muriel #Angels

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fallencrow333 · 1 year

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Reasons why Azzy and Crow are DeFEnInAlY typical Angel/Demon

Azzy

Delivered fire to the humans allowing them to survive and evolve (Prometheus)

Watched over the east gate (East gate is gate of mercy, the main most important gate of Eden)

Watched over the first humans

Oh on a side note

And when looking from the front of eden, (from the east gate), you would overlook the lesser world (earth). Oh and nod means homeless basically

The east of Eden is the border between the physical realm and the spiritual realm (heaven and earth, or in this case the garden of Eden and the rest of earth)

He overlooked the lesser world (earth) which at that time was nothing but vastness. So ya

The east is where earth is, it is the "unholy" lands

This could show that he was destined to connect two realms maybe

Oh and the east gate is the only one mentioned in the Bible specifically

OH AND GUESS WHAT in the Bible it's canon that humans will merge around 6,000 years after the fall

Which is basically the apocalypse

You know what else happened 6,000 years after the world began in good omens? THE ANTICHRIST aka THE APOCALYPSE (or almost)

Anyways so there’s all that BUT ANYWAYS back to azzy

He was chosen to watch over the first peeps

He was also chosen to watch over the antichrist

He was there at the beginning

So he’s one of the oldest angels one of the first ones

He is the only Angel other then the archangels that god talks to directly

The name Aziraphale when broken down is seraph (which means the burning one) and el (which means of god, of power)

(Seraph also means serpent so do what you want to do withe that information)

So he is not only the one to handle the flaming sword, but in itself actually IS the flaming sword

In the Bible the quote “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way”

And he gave the sword to humanity, He gave himself to humanity. He has been withe humanity and protecting them since the beginning.

Ok now

Crow

So there’s the obvious thing of him being the famous serpent of temptation (deFiEnTlY just a small feat not as if it literally started everything insert eye roll)

Ok so first let’s start withe the Bible

(The only definite name the serpent was called other then words of titles was Nahash but that means serpent in Hebrew)

ANYWAYS

So crow was the serpent, temptation, he could’ve also been a sort of Mestophillies (but I have nothing to back that up)

Honesty he kinda reminds me more of loki, chaotic but not in an evil sense. Sorta chaotic neutral.

Ok back to the list

Crow was famous serpent dude

Crow was also the watcher to the first humans (Adam and Eve)

He was chosen to not only watched the antichrist (death the everything, very high feat) but also deliver it.

He was there at the very beginning, and was one of the original fallen angels

Oh and I’m pretty sure he’s the only demon who can make holy miracles

So he’s one of the oldest (he even created nebulas for hells sake)

He himself was able to deter Lucifer himself by doing his stopping time in a different dimension thingy (I’m pretty sure this isn’t a normal power, it stopped satan for hells sake!)

He also was the dude who took Jesus on a road trip (in the Bible it was Jesus was tempted by satan for 40 days)

I've noticed that every other demon is rotting

But crow is as maculent as ever

He also seems to be the only one to have Angel wings, even if there black

He created original sin

Response for the whole corruption of gods creation

Honestly I can see why he is the serpent he’s very resourceful and clever (the switcheroo as one example you go azzy and crow)

While we are at this let’s talk about what type of Angel crow was when he fell.

We know that even though he has been corresponded to Lucifer due to the snake thingy, he isn't Lucifer

We know he is higher rank then Muriel

In season two they hinted he was a prince, saying only one other high ranked Angel fell (minus Lucifer)

AND crow had clearance to open the file folder even though Muriel specifically said only the highest ranked angels could open it

I think that crow was corresponded withe archangel Raphael maybe

The only archangel not mentioned in good omens is Raphael

Now let’s talk about Bible Raphael

So Raphael is the second in command of god

Or third

Ok wait so Lucifer used to be the first, then Michael, then Raphael

So we will say third

Raphael was the Angel of healing, but also the Angel of death and the protecter of the third heaven (third heaven is the heaven that god himself dwells in)

He was the closest archangel to humans

Also Gabriel and Raphael are the archangels who created the stars

Oh also Raphael is the one who conquered the demon asmodeus (and guesss what azzy thought Crowley changed his name to~)

Raephael is the "the Angel of spirits of men" and "heal the earth which the angels have defiled" so that could be why crow likes humans so much (as you can tell in the show I will not be elaborating)

Raphael symbol is a snake entwined withe a wooden staff

In other words Raphael is the guardian

Oh and Raphael is the one to call judgement day (the day of reckoning, dies Israel)

This corresponds to Raphael Islam name

in the islam raephal is also called Israfel which is the dude who trumpets the Qiyamah (did I spell that right I dunno) which is the day of judgement in Islam

So he tells the start of the apocalypse(ish)

His titles are

Angel of Song. The burning one. Herald of the dawning day.

And another connection that is a maybe this

So Azrael is the Angel of death

He is fallen Angel and is left shoulder Angel (left corresponds to evil)

(I wonder if crow is left handed??)

(Though Crowley from what I have seen has always been depicted on the left side)

Also in some depictions Raphael is the only Angel (other then I think ururial) that has black wings

So azrael is carrier of souls

He's also the Angel of passage

So yeah there’s that

Then there’s Gadriel

Wait imma need to add

There are 200 watchers that fell (Gadriel was the third of five leaders)

Ok so Gadriel was the Angel who watched over the garden of Eden (in the book of Enoch)

Aaaand the last one is barachiel, who taught mankind astronomy and was the Angel of blessings before he fell (he is part of the watchers as well) They are also associated withe children and plants.

And then there’s this little fact

Aziraphale (in Hebrew depending on how it’s spelled) translates to either helper of the defiant one, heedless helper, helper of the fallen

Crowley is a ו. By him being a fallen angel, he brought a piece of Heaven down to Earth. He is a channel of the two worlds. An example of this was when he and Aziraphale averted the Apocalypse.

Oh and the fact that together they made a hugggeee miracle, and they were trying to be subtle. So imagine how huge and powerful one where they weren’t trying to be subtle would be.

There’s a lot more, but I shall refrain

#good omens #good omens 2 #ineffable husbands #crowely #aziraphale #this took forever #it doesn’t have good grammer #I know this #will I fix it?#No.

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mostlymalena · 1 month

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August 20th 2024 12:33pm

I stopped writing on this blog for a bit to award some situations I was going through some privacy. I am retracting that and will never ever ever again mute myself for the sake of others.

I dont even know where to begin. I feel so angry which is a given.

Let write this all out so therapy can be easier and organized friday.

When grace and I broke up a month ago and she posted all that fucking slander - we did not stop talking. Hell we were still intimate. So while she was talking all her shit around town and telling a certain story we were fucking in her bed. Can you tell im over this lmao? There is no shame to be dealt here. We are two people who have the unfortunate fate to always feel a pull and a certain type of love for each other. Shaming any couple for trying to figure out themselves at this young age is fucking weird. I think everyone who has had SO MUCH to say about two people that are not them just prove they can only speak when it benefits themselves. Im saying this all now because I wanted to be respectful and give us the chance to try and work things out no matter the outcome. So I ignored all the fucked up shit. This of course fucked me up mentally and her as well. We tossed no contact back and forth to allow ourselves to heal and about two or three weeks ago I finally decided to uphold it and blocked her on everything. We still had ways to check in on each other indirectly but we did not speak or communicate directly at all. It started working.

About two weeks ago I started hanging out with someone who I met through a mutual friend a while back and recently (talking days lmao) we became lovers. I was RACKED WITH GUILT over it for a day or two. I felt dumb and I was afraid Grace would find out. Turns out it doesnt even matter because she took a lover herself mere days after no contact. Rebounds are just where it's at I guess. Its fun and goofy and silly and something nice I hold dear. I feel bad because I am so closed off. He reminds me a lot of Adam from the Bible because of a rib reference that we have. I am also leaving thank god in a couple months and at this point might not come back.

Grace and I took time apart and chilled the fuck out. Saturday we followed each other again on socials and we are 100% civil. WE STILL ARE. Saturday I have a movie night with Jo and we watch A Walk to Remember and I cried like 4 times lmao. Adam from the Bible goes out that night and I do not join but I do offer to pick him up when he done. Long story short I go to fetch him from bluepost and say hi to a couple of mutual friends we have and as we are getting ready to leave Grace shows up. I havent seen her in a couple weeks so I immediately feel sick to my stomach. My best friend Bay is with her and she sees me and we go to the bathroom. When I come out Grace asks to talk and we go smoke together and I am a nervous wreck. I am always nervous around Grace because I seem to be the only one who understand the power she holds over me. We smoke and small talk and it's fine. I go back in to fetch Adam from the Bible and as I am, Grace's best friend's wife, Alexis, rushes me while I am standing with my group and started yelling at me. I do not remember what she says but I say something like "I am not going to fight you girl" and some other person is pulling her back and she rushes me again and I shove her back and she tries to swing and then the bouncer drag her outta there. Grace comes to check on me a couple times - tells me she loves me and I get upset about that and leave with Adam from the Bible. My quick 10 minute pick up turned into a 20 minutes ordeal. But I mean, of course right.

Alexis is upset with me because I referenced her abuse and adultery on my blog a month ago. I did not name names but used her as an example of someone who cheats that our friend group tolerates. Now, I don't fucking care to keep that to myself. Is she wants to post things about me on her story then all is fair game now!! I personally think since such a large group knows and does nothing about it then why should I be the crypt keeper. All this info I have is from Myah and Grace so the reality of the situation of their marriage is none of my business and the only real opinion I have about it is that I hope Myah gets away from her. Myah has always been such good person in my eyes and I really just want her to get outta that. That stems from the information I was given and my interactions with them personally. Of course I don't know their inner workings. She has sent me some choice dm's which I will post now since she decided to publicly assault me lmao.

This was after her lovely exchanging of words and a sloshing of one drink on my jeans. Note the child reference which is where we get into the part where I become angry.

Monday I get a call mid work day. It's DSS. On Sunday someone reported me to CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES. They claimed I leave Olive home ALONE to go get drunk at the bars and that I make him run laps around my house as punishment.

Where to even fucking begin with this petty bullshit. Of course by law I cannot know who submitted the report. I am assuming it's Alexis because of the timeline of events and she has the information needed. It could also be Ava who has been attempting to make herself relevant again by posting things about me on her story and harassing my sister at the bars. I think she misses that the most attention she ever got was when I exposed her for LYING ABOUT BEING AN ORPHAN, GRADATING COLLEGE, AND BEING STALKED BY HER EXGIRLFRIEND LMAO. Ava you fat grotesque waste of space here is your acknowledgement, here is what you want. I am publicly acknowledging Ava!! If you ever see me out and try to fight me like you claim you will I will simply just run away because the image of you trying to move your fat beefy limbs at any speed above whatever it takes to feed your face so you have energy to continue lying will taste much sweeter than just pulling out your clip in extensions and beating the fuck out of you. Cheers to being relevant for another 3 days if even that. You telling Grace that you know who made the false report but you are not telling is so manipulative and just a lie. You just are ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A WAY IN. God you are so gross!! You only hate me because I caught you in your web of lies. You are a retched terrible person!

Here is to whoever did this:

I do not post Olive and I RARELY speak about him publicly. THIS IS WHY. It's been me and Olive since the beginning. His bio dad does not know our address or where we live. Because you decided to be a dumb petty jealous cunt and report me to CPS thinking it was some cute joke they have to attempt to contact him to let him know there was a report. We are AFRAID OF HIM. Were you trying to inconvenience me? or even worse if you are trying to ruin my life and out of what? Beef? You really truly in your heart of hearts think of yourself in such a high manner that you put me and Olive's safety in jeopardy? I hope to god you did not fully understand the consequences of your actions. My 5 year old having to speak to a CPS agent. I was a CPS kid. You never forget that shit.

You as a full grown adult are pulling a CHILD INTO YOUR OWN ONE SIDED DRAMA WITH ME??? Does it piss you off that I don't give a fuck about you? Is that what it is? That I do not respond to your dms or your shit talking. Being such a jealous vindictive person over the fact that I just live my life and don't give a fuck about what anyone says or thinks about me???

You wasted that poor agents time. The report is being dismissed you literal fucking idiot. She has actual real cases to worry about and you wasted her time.

Anyways. Not only did I and Jolie, Brooke, my therapist, not deserve this but OLIVE did not. After the breakup I stopped writing on this blog, I stopped posting on my story about personal stuff, I stopped reaching out to Grace, I stopped going out on the weekends. I kept to my fucking self and guess what. You fucking people do not care. Instead of celebrating someone who does not fit into the wilmy norm fucks you all just hate it. I might be locally hated but anyone who has ever come to me with their shit we have worked out on the spot. I'm not some evil sorceress who lives in a cave overlooking the town. I just do not fucking care about what you have to say or think about me. TRY IT.

I am so very fucking sorry that my normal ass existence bothers your equally normal and boring existence as well. God how absolutely fucking flattering it is to mean this much to basically strangers. A lot of people view me as some sort of entertainment which I get because I am vocal and I don't let people just get away with bashing.

Instead of being so fucking "scared" of me or whatever you cucks say trying joining me or just leaving me the fuck alone lmao.

Ive made all my social media private and have removed anyone I simply just don't fuck with. This blog will stay public and I will continue to write whatever the fuck I want and how I want to write it. Start your own fucking blog if you hate this one so much.

Noting that this is all so fresh and this is being written out of pure disgust and anger. Im usually all fun and games and gossip but you fucking freaks brought my FAMILY into your boring petty lives so congratulations.

#august 2024

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eschatologicalblank · 2 years

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Tongues

I have some Thoughts about languages and theology that have been just. rotating in my brain for ages, so I'm just going to vomit them up here.

the story of languages in the Bible begins in Genesis. God gives Adam and Eve - gives the whole of humanity - three pairs of gifts and responsibilities. the first - the gift of all the fruits of almost all the trees, and the responsibility to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - and the third - the gift of the world, and the responsibility to fill it and look after it - are talked about fairly often. but the second one does not, in my opinion, get anywhere near as much attention as it deserves.

Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

Genesis 2:19-20

the second gift is language, and the second responsibility is also language! doing word stuff isn’t just a thing that we do, it is a divinely given privilege and responsibility. there are plenty of good reasons to get angry about language deprivation - things like beating kids who speak in their native language in school, parents not teaching their D/deaf kids a signed language (or not learning it themselves so they have someone to talk to) - but I think this is another good one. language is a gift and a responsibility; where the heck do you get off, withholding a gift from their Maker, and preventing the fulfillment of a responsibility He has seen fit to bestow upon them?

the story then continues in Genesis, with Babel. God tells the people to spread out, they decide to stay together and build a giant memorial to themselves in the form of a tower reaching the heavens, God collapses the tower and makes them all speak different languages. pretty simple exegesis, the existence of multiple languages (and in particular the existence of language barriers and all the divisions and problems they cause) comes from sin and the fallenness of humanity and the world, etc etc. but like, what about Revelation 5:9 and 7:9, which specifically point out that the great multitudes of heaven are of every language? there’s a sermon in there somewhere about how even the consequences of sin will be sanctified, be made perfect in the new creation - and indeed, the new creation will be all the better for those things, it won’t just be Eden restored but Eden made better by its conspicuous repairs, like that thing where they stick pottery back together with little bits of gold (looked it up, it’s called kintsugi). idk, I’m not a vicar I just have Thoughts that I cannot figure out how to articulate.

and then there isn’t much (I guess the shibboleth thing? but eh) until Acts, and pentecost:

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Bryd hynny roedd Iddewon crefyddol o wahanol wledydd wedi dod i aros yn Jerwsalem. Clywon nhw'r sŵn hefyd, ac roedd tyrfa fawr wedi casglu at ei gilydd i weld beth oedd yn digwydd. Roedden nhw wedi drysu, am fod pob un ohonyn nhw yn clywed ei iaith ei hun yn cael ei siarad.

Acts 2:3-6

(yes, I do think I’m funny. thank you for asking!)

anyway, this passage is like. the entire theological justification for translating the Bible. and like, from a certain point of view it almost seems weird that you’d need a justification? but then, readings in synagogues are usually done in Hebrew (in addition to another language or on its own), and Muslims are generally expected to learn the specific dialect of Arabic the Quran is in in order to read it because they believe it was dictated word-for-word by God Himself. so I guess you kinda do need one.

and like, that’s had so many effects both on Christianity and language? there are a whole host of languages whose written forms were invented by Christian missionaries specifically so the people who spoke them could have a Bible translation in their language. heck, Cymraeg’s pre-existing alphabet was altered, k switched out for c, because the guy given the job of printing Welsh bibles didn’t have enough k’s to typeset an entire page of it, and it stuck because the efforts to get Welsh people reading the bible boosted them up to having one of the highest literacy rates in Europe at the time. some of the earliest Christians in Korea were converted not by a missionary, but by the pages of the bible which a missionary had brought with him and which a local official decided would make for nice wallpaper.

#mine #Christianity #theology #language #anyway in case you can't tell I really quite like languages #especially Welsh #dw i'n caru'r iaith Gymraeg

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moondove330 · 2 years

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so i've been thinking about this for like. thirty minutes now getting breakfast. that christmas Animaniacs ep i was talking about, Little Drummer Warners, ep 1-54, feels weird because Every Single other quote unquote bit of "educational" or "historical" content in this show has been the most over the top or sarcastic thing ever.

in this episode, the warner brothers, and their little sister Dot, meet baby Jesus. They sing all the Christmas songs associated with that, the three wise men show up, it kinda ends up being a jazz rock number at the end, that's it. Real straightforward and nice and cute. But like...xD

for some reason there was a mandate or law saying that kids cartoons need to have Educational Content. Apparently there wasnt anything on How the content should be done, so in this show they just went Ham. with gritted teeth. either they do an insanely waay too good musical number (like Wakko's Universe. it's the best song so far i love it so much) or the cast will meet some kind of historical figure, establish them as kinda a jerk, then the warners (or whoever) annoy them for seven minutes. it slaps. literally. sometimes it's just literature too. there's a musical segment about Les Miserables, of all things. and the plot is a chef wants to eat cats. zany to the max. love it.

the "educational" content is more a less just a setting for Shenanigans. you don't really learn anything other than names and places i guess? like paul buyan was a Dude in the 1700s i suppose. slappy the squirrel, a goddess, beats him up and he sounds like Pete from mickey mouse. (it's him, jim cummings. side note this is probably the oldest show i'll ever watch, besides looney tunes stuff i guess, and i'm still hearing people i recognize, it's wild. kowalski is in this show you guys!! and carl wheezer. and Father from knd. it's great.) [[i saw a tiiiny bit of pinky and the brain as a kid but there no way i wouldve realized, i barely watched kids wb. 'cept for pokemon. aka the thing that maaaay have killed animaniacs actually. my brain is going a thousand miles an hour. btw Pinky and the Brain is AMAZING ACTUALLY HOLY SH-]]

BUT LIKE. literally in the previous Christmas ep, Wakko says a rhyme about Santa's load. then Yakko says, Good night everybody! I lost my shit. i've been clear for days. What the Hell. in the previous bible story, slappy beats up the snake from adam and eve. (did the bible stories even fall under educational content? ehh kinda hope not. i dunno xP) they also did noah but it involves the hippos and i don't like the hippos. i could do a whole 'nother post about the shorts i Don't Like xD So it feels Weird, to see that baby jesus christmas ep, and it's just straightforward and cute.

#animaniacs #ramble #lol #i dont have a consistent Me Gibbering tag. whatever i barely do this

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estrel · 4 years

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Let Me Follow

15x18 coda (again.) dean’s pov, inspired by this post (by @iheardyourprayer) and this one, and also this song; wc: ~1.2k

For most of the time that Michael is there, Dean is barely paying attention.

He lets Sam do the talking, even though a small voice tells him that it’s selfish, that he should be listening, that it wasn’t fair.

He almost laughed.

A lot of things weren’t fair.

So their conversation had faded into the background. Low hums of voices, like they were being careful, like they were trying not to be too loud. Like they were trying to make the room feel empty.

It felt like that anyway.

A distant anger, far back in a corner of Dean’s mind, wanted to throw a fit because of it. He wanted to raise his voice, kick and throw and beat himself up until there was nothing left of him. But there were too many thoughts fogging up the urge, clouding over it and making it indecipherable amongst everything else that echoed in his mind.

You’re the most caring man on earth. I’m destructive, I’m angry, I’m broken. I know how you see yourself, Dean. I’m furious. For love. For you. The most selfless, loving human being. Why now? Why did you have to say it now? I cared about you. Then why did you leave? Something...I can’t have. That’s not true. It’s in just being. You have me. You changed me. You’ve got it backwards. I love you. You have me. Because of you. I’m saved. Goodbye, Dean. Don’t do this. I love you. Not yet. I love you. You have me. I—

“Dean,” Sam says.

He lifts his gaze.

And everyone who knows you sees it.

No one is looking at him. At least, not directly. Michael’s eyes are fixed somewhere around Dean’s knees. Sam tries, glances at his face every so often behind a bowed head and solemn expression. Jack is staring at the table with his eyebrows creased in thought.

“Uh,” Sam clears his throat. “Michael was saying—”

“Yeah,” Dean interrupts. He doesn’t want to hear about their next doomed-to-fail idea. Their next inevitable let down, their next predictable loss.

He looks at Michael, who surprisingly meets his gaze in return. Everything you have ever done...

“Can I talk to you?” Dean asks. He tries to keep his voice flat, tries to stomp down any semblance of feeling from seeping into his tone.

The three of them exchange looks, as if the idea strikes things off balance.

“Why—?” Sam starts.

“Alone.” Dean adds firmly.

Sam looks between him and Michael like it’ll answer his question. There’s silence as they wait for Michael’s call.

I left. Yeah…you did. You didn’t stop me.

“Yes,” Michael says eventually. He uncrosses his arms, and Dean stands from where he’s leaning against the table to lead them out of the map room.

They don’t go far, just a vacant room down the hall, but Dean makes sure the door is shut behind them before turning to face him.

“I’m sorry,” Michael says. Dean steels his face but nods in a gesture of thanks. He doesn’t really mean it.

“Well, Adam was right,” is his hollow response. Since when do we get what we deserve? We don’t. He didn’t.

“You’re going to ask me if there’s a way to get him back.”

Michael says it in a tone that Dean has never heard from him before. It’s careful, calculated, as if he was trying to ease his way into a let down. Dean’s small flicker of hope dies then and there.

“But let me guess,” Dean says, “You can’t.”

He forces himself to watch as Michael shakes his head. He needs to know for certain, he needs to know that he’s done everything he can. Dean turns to leave, a hand on the cold steel door handle.

“It’s not like Purgatory,” Michael explains. “But I…wish I could help you.”

“So do I.” I cared about the whole world because of you.

Dean swallows and closes his eyes. Cas wasn’t the only person they’d lost. There was still everyone else, there was still the rest of the world, even if Dean felt like he’d lost his.

He hadn’t been listening before. Maybe Michael could at least help them.

“Just…help us save the rest of them.”

Dean glances back up at him. Michael's nodding, brushing past him through the door that's now wide open, heading back to where Sam and Jack are.

Dean should follow.

Instead, he heads in the other direction. Down the hall, past the kitchen, intending to go to his room. Maybe...maybe he’ll be able to breathe better there. But honestly, the entire Bunker just fills him with dread. The air isn’t—isn’t the same anymore. Ever since we met...It’s not even oxygen. Ever since I pulled you out of hell...Or at least, Dean thinks that there’s less oxygen than there is carbon dioxide—Knowing you—and it’s—has changed me—getting harder to breathe.

Dean presses a hand against the wall to balance himself, seeing black shapes obscuring the space in front of him. Because you cared. He’s dizzy, mind swarming behind his eyes, so he feels for the nearest door handle with his other hand and pushes it open, stumbling inside an unknown room that he still can’t see yet.

I cared. I cared about you.

Dean shuts the door, some of the blots of black subsiding. He’s breathing heavily, gasping for air—air that there seems to be a shortage of. His chest feels tight, so he’s hunching forward, staring at his legs until he forces himself to stand upright again.

Dean looks around.

He stills.

The bed is made. Sheets folded meticulously, devoid of any wrinkles in the fabric. The pillows, those are smoothed down too. Dean finds himself being pulled towards it, holding his breath the entire time. He can’t breathe this air, he can’t disturb it.

He lets his fingers gently touch the sheets. Presses a palm on the pillow. His eyes trail over to the nightstand.

It’s seemingly empty, nothing on top except for a lamp that’s turned off. Dean pulls open the drawer, and he feels the tug on his heart with the gesture.

There’s a few things inside. A worn bible, one that you’d steal from a grimy motel, twenty dollar bills and all. A few papers, scattered, what looks like grocery receipts and thoughts jotted down on the yellow note paper they used on cases sometimes. Dean moves them around gently, sifting through them, fingertips searching for anything different. He pauses when he sees the corner of something, takes the edge of it and removes it from the rest.

His chest feels tight again. So tight that his body is sitting down on the bed before he can decide if it’s a good idea. He stares, brushes a finger carefully over the surface.

“You didn’t let me stop you,” he says. Breathlessly, with a tremor in his voice that’s straining to hold back what might be a sob.

“I told you—I told you not to. I was—I said I should have stopped you, Cas. So why...”

Cas isn’t looking at him. He’s staring off at something else, hair decorated with the hat Dean had made him wear when they were up in Dodge.

He didn’t know Cas had kept it. I love you. Of course he had.

“Why would you go where I can’t follow?”

tag list (ask to be added/removed):

@castiels-a-winchester ✧ @jellydeans ✧ @writtenmemxries ✧ @cestladean ✧ @randomblabbling ✧ @fluffiestlou ✧ @dreamnovak ✧ @weird-dorky-little-deana ✧ @bloodyhandprint ✧ @hunteriheroicii ✧ @friedchickenangelwings ✧ @galaxycastiel ✧ @destiel67 ✧ @destielle ✧ @dickspeightjrs ✧ @on-a-bender ✧ @organicpurplepants ✧ @casbelieves ✧ @boy-king ✧ @spacegirlstuff ✧ @seffersonjtarship ✧ @winchester-novak ✧ @professorerudite ✧ @squintingg ✧ @holmesemrys ✧ @imnotrevealingmyname ✧ @mishha ✧ @good-things-do-happen-dean ✧ @angxlsgrxce ✧ @casandeans ✧ @castielscrookedtrenchcoat ✧ @destiel-in-its-natural-habitat ✧ @gracelesschoice ✧ @superduckbatrebel

#i know i said i wouldnt write any more #but its haunting me #anyways sorry in advance lmao fuck #rambleoncas writing #spn spoilers #spn 15x18 #15x18 coda #destiel #deancas #supernatural #spn

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hecallsmehischild · 3 years

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Recent Media Consumed

Books

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. About ten or fifteen years ago, I tried to read this and was totally overwhelmed by it. I kept it around, hoping maybe someday I might be able to read it. I finally have, and here are my impressions: WHY SO MANY NAMES. WHY YOU HAVE TO NAME EVERYBODY, AND EVERY TRIBE OF PEOPLES, AND EVERY INANIMATE OBJECT, AND EVERY LANDSCAPE FEATURE. WHY. *ahem* So. I have a general comprehension of the events of The Silmarillion, but I dealt with it by doing what you do for an impressionist painting. I (mentally) stepped way back and let all the names flow by me, and if there were names that were repeated a lot, then I mentally attached appropriate plot points and character details to those names so I could track with who they were and what they were doing. And, actually, I found myself able to hang on and enjoy the book for the most part. This is going to lead into a re-reading of the Lord of the Rings books, since I haven’t read those in about as long…

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I haven’t read some of these books since pre-teen years, with one required re-read of The Two Towers in high school (i.e. it’s been many an age since I’ve read these and my memory of the stories has been far more heavily influenced by the movies). In re-reading the first book, I was struck by the extreme tone shift for the Elves and Dwarves. Elves seem much closer to happy, mischievous fairies than these ethereal, solemn pillars of elegance and grace the movies show them to be. And Dwarves are far more bumbling and craftsmanlike than the movies show. Aside from that, The Hobbit was a pretty solid adaptation from the book, and the book also reminded me that this story was the first time I experienced “NO, MAIN CHARACTERS DON’T DIE, HOW DARE YOU,” and probably was the first book to make me cry. I must have been 8 or 10 years old. I FORGOT HOW MUCH THIS STORY INFLUENCED ME.

A Conflict of Visions by Thomas Sowell. I have a longer-than-usual list of things to say about this book. First is that it was just that level of difficult that I was struggling to understand while reading it (on Audible), but I think I got it. Sowell has several base concepts that I see repeated throughout his books, though he does like to dedicate whole books to specific aspects of the same topic. He is pretty damn thorough that way. So, for example, I would put this book in the middle of a three-book spectrum of similar concepts: Intellectuals and Society (most concrete and easiest to read), A Conflict of Visions (next-level abstraction, a little difficult to read), Knowledge and Decisions (root abstract concept, very difficult, I have not been able to get past chapter 2). The second thing I have to say is about a couple interesting concepts it proposes. Its whole point is to help readers understand the roots of two ways of seeing the world that come into severe conflict politically, and he calls them by their root titles: the constrained and the unconstrained visions. He traces the path of each back through the intellectuals that most spoke of them (tending to contrast Adam Smith with William Godwin and Condorcet). Though he leans heavily toward the constrained vision (based on reading his other works) he does his best to make this book an academic study of both, with both of the visions' strengths and flaws and reasoning and internal consistencies fairly laid out. In doing so, he helped me understand a few things that make this situation really difficult for people on opposing sides to communicate. One of them is that root words and concepts literally mean different things to different people. I had some vague notion of this before, but he laid out three examples in detail: Equality, Power, and Justice. It was kind of astounding to see just how differently these three words can be defined. It makes me think that arguing about any specific issues rooted in these concepts is fruitless until first an understanding has been reached on terms, because otherwise two parties are endlessly talking past each other. Another really interesting idea he brought up is the existence of “hybrid visions” and he named both Marxism and Fascism as hybrid visions. This was especially fascinating to me because I have seen the accusation of “Nazi” flung around ad nauseam and I wondered how it was that both sides were able to fling it at each other so readily. Well, it’s because Fascism is actually a hybrid vision, so both sides have a grain of truth but miss the whole on that particular point. In any case, this was a little difficult to read but had some fascinating information. For people who are wondering what on earth this gap is between political visions, how on earth to bridge the gap, or why the gap even exists in the first place, this is a really informative piece.

Movies

The Hobbit & Fellowship trilogies (movies). I mean, it’s definitely not my first watch, not even my second. But I went through it with Sergey this time and that means the run-time is double because we pause to talk and discuss details. This watch came about partly due to Sergey’s contention that Gandalf’s reputation far outstrips his actual powers, so we ended up noting down every instance of Gandalf’s power to see if that was true. Conclusion: Gandalf is actually a decently powerful wizard, but tends to use the truly kickass powers in less-than-dire circumstances. That aside, this movie series was always a favorite for me. I rated The Hobbit trilogy lower the first time I saw it but, frankly, all together the six movies are fantastic and a great way to sink deep into lore-heavy fantasy for a while. And I’m catching way more easter-egg type details after having read the Silmarillion so it’s even more enjoyable. (finally, after about a week of binge-watching) I forgot how much this story impacted me. I forgot how wrenchingly bittersweet the ending is. I forgot how much of a mark that reading and watching this story left on my writing.

Upside-Down Magic. Effects were good. Actors were clearly having fun and enjoying everything. Story didn’t make enough sense for my taste, but it was a decent way to kill flight time.

Wish Dragon. So, yes, it’s basically an Aladdin rewrite, but it’s genuinely a cheesy good fluff fest that made me grin a whole lot.

Plays

Esther (Sight and Sound Theatres). < background info > This is my third time to this theatre. There are only two of these in existence and they only run productions of stories out of the Bible. The first time I went I saw a production of Noah, the second time I saw a production of Jesus. My middle sister has moved all the way out to Lancaster, PA in hopes of working at this theatre. My husband and I came out to visit her. < /background info > So. Esther. They really pulled out all the stops on the costumes and set. I mean, REALLY pulled out all the stops. And the three-quarters wrap-around stage is used to great effect. I tend to have a general problem of not understanding all the words in the songs, but I understood enough. I highly recommend sitting close to the front for immersive experiences. This theatre puts on incredible productions and if you ever, ever, EVER have the opportunity to go, take it. Even if you think it's nothing but a bunch of fairy tales, STILL GO. I doubt you'll ever see a fairy tale produced on another stage with equal dedication to immersion.

Shows

The Mandalorian (first two seasons). Well. This was pretty thoroughly enjoyable. It felt very Star-Wars, and I’d kind of given up after recent movies. Felt like it slipped into some preaching toward the end? Not sure, I could be overly sensitive about it, but I enjoyed this a lot (though I did need to turn to my housemate and ask where the flip in the timeline we were because I did NOT realize that the little green kid IS NOT ACTUALLY Yoda).

Games

Portal & Portal 2. Portal is probably the first video game I ever tried to play, back when I had no idea what I was doing. Back then, I attempted to play it on my not-for-gaming Mac laptop. Using my trackpad. Once the jumping-for-extra-velocity mechanic came into play, I just about lost my mind trying to do this with a trackpad and gave up. Later I returned to the game and played it with my then-boyfriend on a proper gaming computer. Now, after having played several games and gotten better at "reading the language" of video games, I decided I wanted to see if I could beat the Portal games by myself. Guess what. I BEAT 'EM. Yes, I remembered most of the puzzles in Portal so that's a little bit of a cheat, but I'd say a good 2/3 of Portal 2 was new puzzles to me. It is crazy how proud I feel of myself that I could beat Portal 2, especially. Learning how to play video games at this age has really knocked down the lie, "You can't learn anything." Though I still suck at platformers and games that require precision. Since I find those types frustrating, I probably won't be playing many. Games are about enjoyment, so I'll push myself a little, but not to the point where I can't stand what I'm playing.

The Observer. I like the concept and the art but I don't think I could keep trying to play this game. It's really depressing. My in-game family members all died of illness or accident or committed suicide. I also kept getting executed by the state. In order to keep us all alive I'd have to do pretty terrible things that I have a hard enough time contemplating even in a fictional setting.

Baba Is You. Fun and interesting concept, but I got stuck pretty early on. Don't think I want to push as hard on this one.

#recent media consumed #n00b gamer child #child loves books #child loves movies #child loves shows

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brbjustdying · 4 years

Text

Owen/Avery - 14/03/2021

You

15:47 - got a favor to ask

Dancer

15:50 - call me when u want love

He tapped the phone icon, hoping she would pick up the first time. she liked to let him wait.

“Hello Order. It’s been a while, I saw the news, how are you dealing with the loss of your nemesis?”

Of course everyone would know about it…

“Pretty well. It’s about that, the favor.”

“Oh, pretty boy switched sides because of you? Can’t say I’m surprised. He’s your type.”

“It’s absolutely not what happened, stop. Can you handle his file? And I’ll forget about the waterfall incident. No more debt. Just this one favor.”

“Sounds like I’m getting more than I’m giving. Why do you care?”

“Because there’s a lot of good in it for me. It’s always nice when someone switches sides and you get all their knowledge don’t you think?”

“I see. Give me some time for the pictures, and see for any name change, or family names or whatever. Have it by 3 AM, I’ll be done with the pictures by then. But I won’t make any kind of ID or anything, I sold all my equipment a few months ago.”

“No worries, I’ll talk to Demeter about it.”

He heard the woman laugh on the other end of the line.

“They’re out of business, you should know it.”

“Favors don’t disappear when you go out of business, you should know that. I’ll text you the details, bye.”

“Bye Order, don’t get used by Adam, he might be nice but you never know if it’s a ruse.”

He hung up, not wanting to hear more.

He wasn’t stupid, but he also knew he wasn’t important enough to be used in such a scheme.

His ties with the villain world weren’t the strongest, and he had very little influence there. He was mostly known for getting in the way, but always having people owe him for some reason. That’s what he got for being gifted with such a strong power he guessed.

“Are you sure? I don’t mind helping you know.”

“Stop it, I like cooking. Besides, I have something else for you to do.”

“Oh?”

He laid down the paper he’d printed at work.

“This is your current identity. Everything I could find in your public record. Now, I’ve asked a friend to help me change it. It’s something we do pretty often when someone switches sides, to protect them. This friend is going to change every record of you, altering your picture so it’s different but similar. People won’t notice the difference, but if they see the real you they will just think you look similar. It helps a whole lot trust me. If there’s anything you want to change, you can just cross it out and rewrite it. I got some colorful pens somewhere… Dancer hates purple so use it as much as you want.”

“Dancer?”

“My friend. She’s currently doing the pictures.”

Adam grabbed the pen, looking unsure at the idea.

“Is it really necessary?”

“You’ve been declared a criminal by the administration, and with a really high bounty. everyone will be trying to get you as soon as you step a foot outside.”

“Oh.”

Owen internally sighed. This was all new for the guy. Of course it would feel weird.

“What am I supposed to change? What’s the things that matter the most basically.”

Well, that was a quick change of attitude. Weird.

“Usually, place of birth, names of closest family, but also some people in the extended family. They didn’t have a file on your family so don’t worry about it, it’s not public knowledge. Things like height, weight, but just slightly. We can’t do anything about the power obviously, but you’re only supposed to use it when having a mask on so it’s usually not a problem. Most people also change their names and find an alias.”

That was the biggest one. People didn’t like changing their names, but he heard it happened very often in the academy, or even when they started as heroes. since they didn’t have aliases, they tried to have names that meant something relating to their powers or their values. Though it seemed to be marketing more than anything, it worked great and people loved to theorize around destiny and if giving your child a specific name could improve their chances at becoming a great hero one day. The number of articles made about the subject was astounding.

“You think I should change my name?”

He shrugged.

“It’s your choice. It’s very common, but it’s super personal so most people don’t want to do it. It means too much to them. You have a fairly common name, so you might be fine keeping it.”

“No I think I’d like to change it.”

“Okay, need ideas?”

He nodded.

Owen went to his office, giving Panda a scratch on the head on the way, and retrieved three books from the top shelf. They were super dusty.

When he came back, he dropped them on the table, smiling at the puff of dust that rose from them, and the disgusted expression on Adam’s face.

“Looks like the bible. Let’s see. Girls name, alphabetical order. Boy’s name, alphabetical order, Gender neutral names, alphabetical. Gender neutral?”

“Names you can give to a boy or a girl, usually a lot of non binary people like those more than heavily gendered names. It’s been changing in recent years, but it’s still difficult to be accepted if your name is closely tied to a specific gender so people often choose to change it. Have a look while I make dinner.”

He wanted to make something really nice, because he still hadn’t slept in ages, and he needed to have at least that. Then he’d have to get some sleep, because he’d had way too much coffee. Maybe one day he’d even manage to get a schedule for his sleep. Right now it couldn’t be called a schedule, it was all over the place, there was no pattern. And it made work even more intolerable.

As he was slicing a cucumber, Adam spoke again.

“I think I found one I like.”

“Hmm.”

“Avery. I really like it, or Wren. But I’m not sure, what do you think.”

“It’s your choice, you’ll be the one wearing it every day. Avery is closer to Adam so it might be easier to get used to but honestly I’m not sure.”

Chosen from the gender neutral book. Interesting.

“You think it needs to be close to the previous name?”

“Not really. I almost changed mine to Clarence so…”

“You did? Why? And why not really. If you don’t mind telling me.”

“Don’t worry. I really wanted to be called chaos, and the convention is to choose an alias with the same first letter as your name. It was really stupid though.”

“Chaos would fit you. What made you decide against it?”

“Uuuuh…”

“It’s fine.”

The truth was… A little shameful.

His mom found out about it, and told him that she’s almost named him Clyde, after the famous Bonnie and Clyde story. She also said Chaos was super corny, and didn’t suit him at all. “You’re an orderly boy Owen, and you should know yourself better. What you want is justice and peace, not chaos and destruction.”

“It’s because of my mom. God I still can’t believe you met her! I texted her and she only answered with an emoji, and now she won’t answer my calls.”

“She was really nice, don’t worry she didn’t tell anything weird about you or whatever.”

He grumbled and turned back to his cucumber. The betrayal of it all! No one was supposed to know where he lived or anything. But he’d rather have Adam know about where he lived than where his mom lived. Not that it really mattered now.

“Anything else you changed on the paperwork?”

“Made hero me a little taller, not sure how believable it is but I’m pretty small so… Also changed the date of birth by two days, and the place of birth to a city with a really similar name i found online. Do you think it’s enough?”

“Sure. Do you have allergies?”

“Not that I know of, why?”

“Just to be sure I don’t accidentally kill you, it would suck.”

Adam snickered.

“So, settled on a name?”

“I think I’m going to go with Avery. I really like the sound of it.”

Owen wished they had more time to think about this, he really did. It was a big thing, hopefully he wouldn’t change his mind in a few days or weeks.

“Alright, take pictures of the picture and send them to me, I’ll transfer them to Di- Dancer.”

Almost spilled the real name of one of his friends, great. He was getting a little too comfortable around the ex-hero.

His phone chimed, and he knew it was already done. He dressed the plate and put them on the table, Avery having moved the books out of the way to the coffee table.

“Can you take them back to my office? Last door, I think it’s open. Panda is probably sitting on the chair but you can move him if you want.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude.”

“I mean you’re probably going to stay here for a while so might as well get used to the place. Go, or I’ll eat your food!”

He dashed to the office, talking to Panda once he was there, and Owen smilled.

I really need to sleep. I can’t just be his friend so easily. God what even is happening.

Dinner went really well. They talked about a whole bunch of different things, but Owen couldn’t help but notice that Avery always avoided the subject of his family. He loved to tease Owen about his mom, but didn’t offer any information about his potential family. It could be from a desire to protect them, but seeing as the administration didn’t have any file on them, and they’d never been quoted in interviews, not even mentioned as refusing to comment for articles, he had another idea.

“Why did you call yourself order then?”

Owen looked up from his phone, trying to forget the text from Dancer that said “got the papers. fuck u for the purple, also avery is a really nice name for a really cute boy, give him my number”

“What?”

“Why order, why not something else, like… Offense? Omen? Omelet?”

“Oh I’d be a terrifying villain if I was named omelet, for sure. Told you, my mom.”

Panda walked into the room like he owned it, which he pretty much did, distracting Avery from the discussion.

The boy crouched down, smiling brightly when the cat purred and asked for more pets, meowing softly from time to time.

Damn friendly cat, already forgot me and everything I do for him.

“Well, looks like you just found your first kid. Good luck being a parent, he’s a brat.”

“How dare you! Panda has been nothing but an adorable gentleman since I met him.”

“Hmm, wait for the day where you need to take him to the vet because he knocked down an entire shelf and looks like he broke his bones but really he’s just being dramatic and messing with you.”

“Not cool Panda, not cool.”

Panda only looked smug, as usual, probably not seeing the problem in doing anything for attention.

Owen flopped on the couch, wanting nothing more than for his brain to just shut off, sleep for about a week, and not have a single thought. That never happened of course, but maybe today would be the day.

“So, what’s your villain name going to be?”

“You think I need one?”

“Unless you plan to sit on your ass while I use all the info you gave me do to something, yeah you need one.”

“True.”

He took Panda in his arms, and came to sit next to Owen.

Too close.

“Got any ideas? I don’t know how I can choose something like that… At the academy we could put suggestions, but I didn’t think they’d call me that.”

“Adam’s not your original name?”

“Nah. Don’t remember what it was though. I’ve been there for a long time.”

Weird.

“Okay. Strange.”

“They have this dude that can replace memories. He usually only uses his powers to change minimal memories from students, the name is one of them. He hates doing it, but if he’s not on the side of the administration I guess they’d hunt him down because it’s such a dangerous power.”

Huh.

“Probably yeah. Are you curious to know what the name before Adam was?”

“Kind of? I guess yeah. It might be able to tell me something about myself. Don’t know how I’d ever get that information.”

“Good thing that’s what I do then! Hang on, I’ll get my laptop so we can find you a cool villain name.”

He let Avery cuddle Panda to death, and quickly sent another text to Dancer, asking her to dig up anything she could about that.

Dancer

20:44 - this is really big Order, real big

20:45 - fuck imagine what they can do about it

20:46 - I’m getting Neon on it with me

He wouldn’t mention it to Avery unless they came up with something interesting. He didn’t need more things to worry about. He’d already offered to cover half of the rent despite staying only a day, and a bunch of unnecessary things. Where did he get his awesome morals?

“So! Most people have an idea because you don’t just decide to become a villain like that. But sometimes it happens, in that case you go online, and look up lists of words until you find one you resonate with. Here, have a loot. You can choose any letter, but I really recommend something that starts with an a.”

“Alright, let’s see.”

Panda moved to Owen, disappointed that he wasn’t the center of attention anymore. Sadly it wouldn’t be much better from his owner, who fell asleep without even knowing, only to wake up a few hours later, gently being shaken by his new friend.

“Hey Owen. It’s really late, I think you should go to sleep in your bed.”

He grumbled his answer, not sure himself what he intended to say. For once he’d actually fallen asleep, curse him for waking him up. He was comfortable too, something warm next to him.

He abruptly stood up when he realized that he’d been sleeping laying on Ad-Avery. Oh no. Oh my god no what an idiot.

The guy smiled softly, and then grabbed his hand to lead him to his room, thinking his foggy mind probably prevented him from finding his way.

Panda only moved a little, not wanting to leave the warm blanket that had ended up on both of them at some point.

When the warm hand that was holding his let go, pushing him gently towards his bed, he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep any more that night.

Owen was waiting for his coffee to brew, in a bigger french press than the previous day. He’d done his bets to be silent, but Avery still heard him.

He looked like death. Weird, considering he’d been sleeping so well the previous evening. Did he not go back to sleep after he went to his room? He didn’t make any noise, so Avery assumed he’d fallen asleep again. Did he have insomnia problems? Maybe he shouldn’t have woken him up…

He shook his head and closed the bathroom door, intending to take a short shower and then plan his next move.

It had been a weird few days.

When he stumbled here the other night, broken and lost, he didn’t expect Order to help him. Of all people, he probably should hate him the most, they had fought so much and he always got in his way.

But instead he was faced with an almost stranger. someone kind, calm, thoughtful and resourceful. Who had a pretty good fashion sense too!

He glanced at the simple cream shirt and grey sweatpants and underwear the other hand lent him, refusing his protests. He’d been so nice, Avery felt bad. What had he done that was so great to deserve such kindness? Because it seemed like his whole life had only been a lie.

Trained by the academy since he was a kid, through summer camps, special classes, coaches, everything, he’d grown up to become a powerful hero, with a lot of potential, or so everyone said. But it never really felt right. Then he moved on to the actual academy, taking as many classes as he could, always doing his best. It was a good education, and he needed as much of it as possible if he wanted to be a good hero, who did the right thing.

His dedication and drive started to become annoying traits of his, rather than what teachers and coaches praised. Hewanted to know too much, he realized now. It wasn’t like he ever suspected there was something so bad hiding behind.

And now, they had destroyed everything in just one night. Everyone thought he was an insane person who just wanted to believe in the conspiracy, and bring people down. The public opinion had swayed very easily, a couple false articles being enough to change people’s mind.

He couldn’t even be angry at them, he’d fallen for it too, when he’d seen other heroes switch sides and read about their reasons in the pres. he never questioned it. The press had always been fairly nice to him, he didn’t have many enemies in the journalists.

It was probably because the administration controlled them too.

He wiped his tears and rinsed his hair one last time, before turning off the water.

He had to at least pretend it was fine. Owen was nice enough to let him stay around even if he had no reason to, and he couldn’t be any kind of a burden. He was glad Panda was around, he was great at comfort. Even if he did bite his fingers a couple times. He wouldn’t tell that to Owen, it would make him right.

He got dressed and messed with his hair for a while, before giving up. It was a mess like it always was no point in trying now. Sometimes he really hated whoever gave him genes for such fluffy hair. It was impossible to handle. One of his friend had theorized it was because he was of east asian descent, and that he had to try different ways of taking care of it to find what was the best. But he hadn’t, because it felt too much like something his actual parent should have taught him, not something to look up online. and that made him really sad, for some reason.

“Whatever, let’s find Panda and get a hug,” he whispered to himself.

He had hoped the cat would be on the couch, here he’d last seen him, licking his butt after having his breakfast, but he wasn’t there anymore.

Owen was sitting at the kitchen island, writing furiously on his laptop, and barely sparred him a glance.

For some reason, Avery suddenly felt really heavy, an intense sadness filling him, and he wondered when this would end. It was probably just a bad time, things would get better after a while, but he could sense that something else was about to fall on him and destroy everything again, and he didn’t look forward to that.

Why does it never stop?

“Hey.”

Owen was standing in front of him, concern on his face, definitely awake despite his lack of sleep.

Avery didn’t say anything. He knew if he tried, he would start crying again, and he couldn’t have that. Not now. Not in front of him. It wasn’t -

Owen slowly wrapped his arms around him, giving him plenty of time to move or push him away. But he didn’t. It felt nice. He hugged him back, enjoying the warmth of his friend. He’d always been taller, something Avery hated when they had to fight a little too close, but right now it was really nice. He was whispering reassurances to him, telling him it would be alright, they’d find solutions and it wouldn’t always suck this much.

It felt really nice, and he hoped it would last forever. For once, his thoughts had stopped racing.

He had barely slept, and kept turning and tossing in his bed, wondering if he had fallen asleep so easily because he was so tired, or if it was because of the person next to him.

He already knew the answer, but didn’t want to think about it, much less go ask the other for a hug so he could sleep again.

God he really needed to talk to a new doctor about this. One who wouldn’t ask too many questions about what could possibly be stressing him out, or preventing him from going to bed at reasonable hours.

When a reasonable time came, he got up and made the biggest pot of coffee he could find. He thought he had a bigger pot, but couldn’t remember where it was, and didn’t want to make even more noise than he had. Avery had woken up anyway, so it wasn’t like it mattered. But he didn’t have the mental energy to dedicate to it all. So he just made his coffee, giving his guest some clothes and squashing his complaints. If he didn’t want him to stay around, he was very capable of kicking him out, regular person way or villain way. He’d like to keep his apartment clean and Panda calm though.

The first cup of coffee felt like drinking that water that was supposed to give eternal youth, the name of which he couldn’t remember or bother to look up. The second one was more for pleasure than out of necessity.

He’d gotten a text from his boss, saying the shop had been damaged in a fight last night, and he didn’t need to come in for work for at least two weeks. The administration would cover the wages of the employees as well as the cost of repairs.

A blessing truly, he just had to fill in a form with his information, as well as a formal declaration that he wasn’t present when the incident happened.

Easy peasy.

But then Avery walked out of the bathroom, eyes still red from crying, and looking really sad. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he didn’t mention it, but from the way his face fell, it was clearly not the right thing to do.

He looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulder. And maybe it was a little bit after all. His whole world had come crashing down just two days ago.

“Hey.”

He tried to keep his voice soft, and not cold as it apparently always was. According to his friends at least.

Avery looked like he needed a hug, so without overthinking it, Owen did just that. He gave him time to push back of course, he didn’t have to accept, but he did. He even clung to him like he was the last person on earth, relaxing visibly, and even smiling a little against his neck.

Oh this was bad, really bad. Owen would never be able to squash his feelings now, they’d refuse to go away, reminding him of this moment.

They stayed like this for a long time, Owen doing his best to make Avery feel better, giving him empty promises of making things better and finding solutions. It seemed to work, because he stopped breathing so fast and being so tense.

It was going well until Panda decided he wanted some of that attention for himself too, and literally jumped from the counter onto Avery’s shoulder, making him gasp in surprise.

“Is that…?”

“Yep. That’s Panda, jealous that he’s no longer the center of attention, despite being the king of this house. Come on Panda, that’s just rude now. Do you even have an ounce of manners in that fluffy body of yours?”

The cat meowed, making Avery laugh.

“I don’t think Panda has a lot of respect for you.”

He shifted a little, but didn’t seem ready to let go yet, so Owen just rubbed little circles on his back, considering his answer carefully.

“Panda don’t take it personally okay? You’re right, he has no manners. Honestly he’s super friendly, but also really bratty ? I don’t know where he got that. I tried to educate him but…”

“Aw, be nice to him. He’s sweet. He let me pet him so much! I really like him. I always wanted to have a pet but couldn’t. It’s so nice.”

He finally let go, quickly wiping his eyes, and then grabbing Panda from his shoulder, and carrying him like a baby instead.

“I’m going to be off of work for at least two weeks, so I will be around to see how much of a betrayal Panda is, and just how much cuddling he can accept from other people.”

“He doesn’t accept it from you?”

“Oh he does, but I think he found a new favorite person.”

Avery blushed, and OWen couldn’t help but notice just how cute that was.

Before they got the chance to say anything else, the landline started ringing.

The only person who called on this line was his mom. So she was done with ignoring him.

“Ah, the traitor finally stops ignoring me!”

“The traitor?”

He grabbed the phone, ready to give his mom a piece of his mind.

“Hi baby! Am I bothering you? I saw the place where you work got blown up, it was night and no hospital texted me, so I guess you’re doing fine.”

“Hi mom, or should I call you traitor?”

“Oh Owen that’s a bit strong, makes me reconsider my offer too, such an ungrateful son!”

Her voice contained no heat, only amusement. Clearly she didn’t care what he thought. He only raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate.

“You’re going to be off work right? I’m going to your uncle’s house, if you want to come with me and take some holidays!”

Oh. So that was what it was about.

“Can I bring someone?”

On the other end of the line, he heard his mother choke on her drink, cough it out for a solid minute before talking again. It made him smile. He was full of surprises.

“Yes, of course. do I know that person?”

“Yeah, it’s what I’ve been trying to call you about for two days now.”

“Oh, that nice boy I met once. Really sweet and polite, Adam I think? The press isn't kind to him lately.”

“His name is Avery now. I’ll take the ferry as usual. Get ready for Panda, he misses you.”

“Wonderful, I look forward to seeing you boys. Oh this promises to be interesting, you have to give me details alright? I know I’m your mom, but I wanna know.”

“Nope, definitely not. Bye mom, see you tomorrow, love you.”

She chuckled but said her goodbyes.

Why didn’t I tell her it’s not like that. Oh god she probably thinks we’re dating. Oh no she’s going to make this so awkward. I’m such an idiot.

He stopped his internal panic when he noticed Avery looking at him curiously.

“Wanna spend a week at a beach house?”

I will write them more, just maybe not tomorow (I’ve been procrastinating my homework a whole lot)

#writing #my writing #writing practice #superpowers #hero turned villain

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dahniwitchoflight · 5 years

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Homesquared Chapter 4

I cheated and some of my chapter 4 thoughts leaked into the chapter 3 post lol

Mostly about the pretty obvious Garden of Eden metaphor Dirk is for some reason setting up for himself and Rose as Adam and Eve

and I was about to say which begs the question of what the heck role Terezi is supposed to play as but then it’s very obviously as the Snake in the Garden

Terezi is very much just barely holding back some irritation towards how Dirk is treating Rose, but she’s also very intelligent and is aware of How much Dirk sees/knows and controls about their situation, so she’s probably leveraging her powers over Mind as much as possible in order to stay hidden in plain sight from Dirk’s narrative

and she does so in a way that is one of Dirk’s only blindspots - How Mind and other people have an effect in the determination of the Soul/Heart

By acting in a manner and doing things in a way that aligns with his expectations of her, he assumes and pigeonholes her into a type of character and bases his predictions of her behaviors off of that archtype, never expecting her to act outside it, and when he sees her actions and thoughts and desires all align within it, never questions that it might one day change or was different all along. Dirk’s never really been good at reading other people, can’t see without the lens of “how would I do it” blinding him to things he would never think to do, a trap that he keeps falling into with his friends and one he’s probably trying to overcome by becoming Ultimate God Person/combining all perspectives into his own and uncovering blindspots like that

But right now Mind is the darkest thing in is corner still and I think he sort of knows that as well

Terezi walks the crazy wiggled line boundary between their two Souls that defines who each of them is, as expertly as a person on a tightrope, never wavering until she reaches her destination, at which point she’ll leap off of that line and leave Dirk scrambling to try and calculate her next move/who exactly is she/what her goals are, since’s it won’t be following the clearly defined Heart boundary he’s used to drawing his plans by, so she’ll have to choose the perfect moment in order to entice Eve of the Apple of Revelation once more, heck, she might even do that so sneakily that she gets Adam to take a bite as well, since as soon as Rose bites it she’ll have an ally with her against Dirk.

For God created the Serpent originally as well, so thus why did he not imagine it’s betrayal and prevent it before it could have happened? Or else why did he create something he knew was going to betray? Eden was a paradise, so why intentionally create Evil in that paradise?

If Eve corrupted Adam and the Snake corrupted Eve, Who exactly corrupted the first Serpent? That’s something that the bible never goes into really, at least in Genesis, except to say that the Snake was punished for it’s action to forever crawl the earth eating the dust of man’s heel, punishing all snakes, as Adam and Eve’s punishment punished all humans

(Later I think the bible would try to say that the Snake was the Devil all along, but then why punish the Snake and all it’s progeny for it? If it was the Devil’s doing that undid Adam and Eve then why punish them for the Devil’s actions they would have no way of guarding against or now way of knowing it was a lie? Was it not God’s failure? The Walls of the Garden of Eden were supposed to protect his perfect creation afterall)

Gotta say though I really Rose’s design

I would call her Evil Rose, but she things she does she does in ignorance, not really out of evil, it would be like calling Eve evil for listening to the Snake when she was purposefully blinded to it’s intentions by her creation by God.

Once again we get this idea of Knowledge and Choice affecting eachother, Well I say again but really I’ve been watching RWBY a lot lately and the idea that you can’t make a real choice without real knowledge comes up a lot in it’s mythos and it is really applicable here

Terezi’s design as well is incorporating a lot more Red, she really dug those red shoes aesthetic but gave it her own twist, she’s got a red tie, her ever present red cane and glasses and even in that shot of her her horns look more red and solid as well, even though i know it’s just the lighting

So really digging the whole Terezi is the Apple/Snake in the Garden metaphor, she has also been having that tendency to just snack on random plants, intentionally for her own or Dirk’s unaware benefit or not, it’ll make it that much easier to her actions of later betrayal to be seen as “in character and therefore expected and not dangerous” instead of pre-meditated and actually dangerous, to him

And then they start waxing about their various philosophical babble, Dirk seems really determined to also use this to try and figure out that whole problem of how other’s affect the self, he’s trying at least, I think, in his own way. But not for a good reason, not so that he can have a real understanding of that, but because he wants to use it to guard his own self even further

He’s maybe not using Rose here as an equal player, but more like a wall to bounce his own ideas off of and test them, like using a neural learning AI to test ideas or an actual literal wall in a game of table tennis.

Heh, I got a chuckle out of the fact that Dirk’s answer to the Ship of Theseus problem is “why does we even have to remove and replace parts of it, why not keep the original pristine and eternal?”

because it’s funny how avoidant of the problem that answer is, man he really really is uncomfortable with the idea of changing the self in any way

“He's avoiding the question again. It's amazing how one can technically have the maximum amount of metaphysical personal awareness possible, and still not notice these sorts of things. “

SAYS LITERALLY YOU but honestly this is just more fuel to the idea that maybe he can make a genuine connection and understanding with a person if he can recognize how he and her are the same

“It's stuff like this that makes me wonder sometimes whether there's anything about myself that I'm missing. Then I throw that wonder in the garbage can and turn the incinerate setting on.”

but nah he’s still firmly denying that possibility, he’s almost actually equating his trauma of self erosion with the idea that making friends and understanding others changes the self in subtle ways as well

He can’t even stand the thought of his own close friends influencing him to be different in small subtle ways or adjusting his behavior for others because that STILL counts as a change of self that he didn’t authorize or choose.

Also can’t help but by be reminded of my wacky little fan made Gamma session I made forever ago by them using the name Delta-Detritus and basically be like alright, what if we do SBURB again but BETTER/worse this time?? Which is essentially the thread that most Homestuck fix it fanfiction tends to go towards

Though I am curious now

We got A/Alpha for Alternia which is based of off “Alternate” introducing the trolls as an alternate race to Human Earth

B/Beta for Beforus which is based of off “Before” introducing the planet of trolls that came before the first group

And then Earth C, now, there isn’t a letter C, the third in the greek alphabet is actually Γγ Gamma, (and the fourth is ΔδDelta)

So I wonder what “name” Earth C really has?

It feels like it should either start with C OR with GA, as Alternia starts with the AL of Alpha, Beforus starts with the BE of Beta and same with Deltritus and Delta

As as “Another for Earth” Gaia isn’t a terrible option all things considered, now you just have to make it sound like a word which describes it’s use to the narrative

It’s is a very split place, having the two timelimes Meat and Candy associated with it, as well it does feel extremely mercurial in nature, being a sort of crosswords between Homestuck and Homesquared proper, and really exists in a place between stories, an ephemeral epilogue of sorts

really a merger of Gaia and Gemini feels the most appropriate here, like Gamini, also the word mini stands out in there as well, knowing that this Planet is sort of on a lesser status compared to the other three since it’s not going to be the birthplace of a session, also has the word Game in it

But then people will wonder why it doesn’t begin with a C since it still is called Earth C so *shrug*

Honestly C K and G sounds are all very similar in the tongue, so maybe it’s both Camini and Gamini at the same time OH FUCK CA AND GA, ONE HAS CALLIOPE ONE HAS GAMZEE? SHIT IM ONTO SOMETHING (no im not)

I like Camini now better, it comes from a place of Gamma/Gamzee/Game/Gemini but ends up being more about the twinned Ca’s that were used to, Caliborn and Calliope and fits with the establish Earth C theme

So there you go, Earth C’s actual planet name should be Camini

which also works because:

Camini

home stove/furnace

smelting/foundry furnace, forge

vent (underground fires)

according to the latin language this word also has multiple meanings and many Irons in the Fire, I think the fandom will appreciate the name haha

Yeah both races are definitely going to both be playing one game of SBURB, despite what Dirk is intending, the pic does make it really clear

There’s something to say how Dirk seems to be represented by Purple and Rose by Orange in this here and then how all of the cave is a backdrop of that same purple.

Look at even the controllers on the machine having purple and orange knobs, even being solely on Dirk’s side of the image

I guess Dirk intends himself to be the force behind Derse, since that’s the force that always “wins” and Rose fitting in her place as the ultimate loser (since of course Dirk will want to win his own game) but also to be like Skaia the force of Prospit

So Dirk intends to be a whisperer like a horrorterror, choosing to manifest his influence that way, while Rose will give visions to her race like Skaia?

makes sense honestly

but again even with the themes of duality, the theme of the trio is bright and center in that piece of ultimately technology, the third influence hidden unseen in the furthest corner behind the curtain of snakelike tubes and wires that Dirk will not expect to interfere, or even have the capability to interfere, Terezi

heck it’s even in the buttons next to the controls being colored red blue and green

there’s so much duality in homestick with destructive red and creative green but then there’s also always been that mercurial breathy blue as the third

God, tell me that doesn’t look like a baby proto horrorterror

I can hear it raging it’s revenge against it’s cruel human creators even as I type

No wonder they become associated with destruction, they know theyre the pawns of two heartless cruel god children playing at life like it was a game

Rose you MUST KNOW how bad this is, it’s not a theoretical discussion anymore, that things exists and is alive and has feelings and you did it to that

and that thing is technically a Dirk too

Is this how Dirk get’s his revelation? Or downfall? As his Heart is unwittingly invaded by the horrified cacophanous screams of his grotesque tortured progeny crying out for his blood?

His end unintentionally ending up as the thing he feared most? Inner self destruction caused by his own sharp and bloody splinters turned and pointed inward, tearing himself apart with the pieces of his own Soul? Caused by his own Hubris?

I will say typing that all out is pretty good

I’m just sad the same will probably happen to Rose too though ): Maybe she’ll make careful more humane species? Something that has the potential to exist and be happy as it’s own creature while Dirk just creates monstrosities forever in conflict with Rose’s race?

They’ll each be the master of their own eventually destinies I suppose but Homestuck seems to have a good track record so far of the Ultimate Female Creator being out to protect the happiness of the children that exist in her creation while the Ultimate Male God just ends up destroying everything in his

#Homesquared #Homestuck^2 #Dirk Strider #Rose Lalonde #Terezi Pyrope #long post

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1358456 · 4 years

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Right/Wrong - 3

I really love this kind of discussion. A real shame that I can’t do this kind of thing more frequently. My family has the same view, so there’s no point in the discussion, and my friends don’t care and it’s always super weird to bring up very serious topics, so I never really get to do this.

There is a concrete answer. However, vast majority of the people don’t want to accept it. There’s a reason why vast majority of the scientists still cling on to the theory of evolution, even though all science points away from it. Because to accept the truth would mean that what they’ve been told before were all false, and that they have to change their lifestyle. How many people are going to do that? So they don’t.

The concrete answer has been found. Technically, humans started with it when Adam was created in 4001 (ish) BC. Then people forgot it, and got corrupted so much that in 2300 (ish) BC, everything was wiped out by water and reset. The geological evidence is everywhere. And even in culture. Why is the legend of a world-wide flood in every human civilization? And around 2000-1800 (ish) BC, the concrete answer was given to us once again in a more “concrete” fashion, in the form of actual books, aka, the bible. And fast forward, we forgot it again. And now we’re waiting in the last age, for the final judgment by fire. The last age began when Israel became a physical nation again, as written in Exodus.

... And if I don’t stop this particular train of thought now, it’ll go on and on, so... heh.

The book of Leviticus handles that. It’s... incredibly boring, to be honest, because it’s ALL about laws and rules, and most of them don’t apply to us anymore. Having roughly skimmed it the first time, I don’t know the exact specifics. But I do believe that if someone owns a land (ignoring HOW they came to own it in the first place), and lets other people farm on it, there has to be an agreement that was reached. Anything that does not match the initial agreement would be wrong.

But usually, human greed tends to take over. So those who already have a lot try to get more by f*cking over the weaker ones. But just because someone stole from you, it doesn’t mean that you have to steal from them. Responding to wrongness with wrongness doesn’t make anything right. It just makes you as wrong as them.

The bible is very clear on the matter of revenge. Simply put, don’t do it. It’s not your job. Just forgive. The reason for that is because you yourself is begging for forgiveness. Roughly paraphrased and using modern currency, it’s as if you owe your boss $5 billion, and you’re begging for forgiveness and leniency. And so the boss thinks for a while and decides to absolve your debt. And then you immediately grab your coworker, who owes you $1000, and start beating him, demanding that he pays you back. What do you think the boss is going to do, seeing all that?

It’s a biblical worldview. Anyone who claims to be a Christian should have the identical view. You can’t claim to be a Christian while claiming that the bible is incorrect. It’s like trying to plant a tree after you cut off its roots and base. You also can’t claim to be a Christian while accepting other worldviews. You can’t accept the truth and falseness at the same time. There is a solid, concrete correctness. Choosing anything else or anything in between is automatically wrong. That’s how logic works. Science and logic do NOT ever conflict with the bible. Because... who made science and logic?

The scripture is a flawless, unshakable foundation in which everything must be built. All philosophy has to have the basis in that scripture, because human knowledge doesn’t come from inside YOU. It comes from the outside. People don’t learn the truth by themselves. It has to be taught. So any philosophy made by a person who just sat in his room for a while, thinking about it, is not going to be an absolute truth.

So, morality. Where did it come from. Dig deep enough, and the only possible foundation is the bible. What about other religions, you could ask. Did you know? Christianity (and Judaism) doesn’t have a starting point. It started alongside the first human. Other religions have a starting point. Like... Buddhism. Starts with Buddha in around 500 BC. What was China’s religion BEFORE that point? It’s pretty hard to trace, given how a certain emperor burned all the books and buried alive all the scholars. But then you look at the ONE thing that was retained from before that point, the Chinese letters. Analyze those, and you realize that the ancient Chinese root religion is the same as Christianity and Judaism.

Everything has a source foundation. People forget about it all the time, but it has to be there. You can’t build anything on top of just dirt. You need a solid foundation. Religion, morality, science, philosophy... they all have the same base.

That said, all this might be a lot easier to understand if you were more... math oriented? Having been a “mathie” ever since grade 2, the mathematical approach to thinking has always been easier for me. So, for mathematical viewpoint... imagine if there was no point of origin. The entire cartesian plane falls apart and the coordinate system no longer exists. A coordinate (1, 3, 5) in 3D space, just lists the distance of that point from the origin. 1 unit in the x-axis direction, 3 in y, 5 in z. So if the point of origin is not (0, 0, 0), then everything is meaningless, and nothing makes sense.

I think this is incredibly important, because most people would have the same view. But at the end of the day, empathy is irrelevant to right or wrong. Also, this might not be super obvious, but... when people lost sight of God, the amount of misery that happens... can NOT be understated. Once the theory of evolution entered the education system in the US, and so the kids lost sight of God... divorce rates skyrocketed, abortion rates skyrocketed, suicide rates skyrocketed, SAT scores plummeted, gun/knife violence in schools skyrocketed, etc.

What does the theory of evolution teach you? That humans came to existence after billions of years of killing and extinction of other species, that the “stronger race” wipes out the weaker ones, and that you, as a person, is just a random one of these humans in a random planet around a random star, in a random galaxy. Physically, your size is nothing compared to the planet, which is nothing compared to the solar system, etc. So you are less than nothing. You live around 100 years max, in a planet that’s been around for billions of years. You are less than nothing. Who cares what happens to you? Your neighbors are your competition. If you don’t beat them, they will beat you. You are only alive because you survived. And for you to survive, it’s okay to do ANYTHING.

Compared to that, what does the bible teach you? This planet was created on day 1, and was refined over 6 days total. The entirety of space was made in the 4th day at once. This planet is infinitely more significant and important than any others, because this planet is where God created life. The first man was hand-crafted and was the only creation to be made in the image of God, and was the only one ordered to have dominion over the other creatures. Adam was meant to live forever, but he kind of f*cked that up. He still lived 930 years on a planet that’s been around for 6000 years. 930/6000 is a pretty decent percentage. Even nowadays, 120 (max) out of 6000 is a significant percentage. You are, as a human, VERY important and incomparably significant to any other creature, being specially crafted on a specially crafted world. Your neighbors are those who will work with you, cooperating.

And yet, what are you taught in school?

... Man, these posts are getting long. Haha. I pretty much wrote like a Legacy chapter’s worth of text in these three posts. But there’s so much more to cover. Hahaha...

I guess if people find these boring or “offensive” (somehow) or simply don’t care, I’ll stop.

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florrickandassociates · 4 years

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TGF Thoughts: 4x06-- The Gang Offends Everyone

Thoughts under the cut.

Another long episode, yay! But it’s a minute shorter than 3x04, so I feel slightly better about it.

Lucca bought herself a Birkin bag with a portion of her poker winnings. Clearly she knows it’s a status symbol, but the second she realizes people are noticing it, she’s slightly embarrassed. Or maybe I’m reading this wrong. I think she wanted to impress everyone and show off and then started feeling uncomfortable. I am a little shocked she decided to take it to work.

Tbh I don’t think I would notice if someone carried a Birkin bag into my office.

Marissa knows a lot about Birkins, which tracks. As she says, she was raised around rich people. I would bet ELI knows about Birkins and the types of stitching too.

Landau is back with an absolutely ridiculous idea: Running Adrian for President in 2024. Landau mentions that this year we started with a diverse field of candidates but “no candidate of color went the distance.” I know what he means but could he maybe phrase it in a way that doesn’t make it sound like it’s the candidate's fault? Also, question, what is running Adrian as a candidate early on going to do other than create more noise in the field and prevent people from unifying behind one candidate?

(And, surely, there are more qualified people to run than Adrian Boseman, but this is TV and I will be quiet about this.)

As far as I can tell, this plot is about forcing Adrian into a new realm where optics matter more than money, thus forcing Adrian/the audience to confront a lot of the choices Adrian tends to make.

They want him to stay on the stage until Iowa so black voters can “see themselves up there.” So it’s almost like their plan is to pick a moderately convincing candidate they know will lose in order to appease black voters??? What’s the point, to say they care but not enough to find a candidate who could actually win? Maybe I’m being too cynical. Or maybe it’s because it involves a fictional character that I’m so critical.

That said, the way Landau/the DNC have been written on this show? They CLEARLY are not supposed to actually understand black voters.

Just… don’t turn into season 7 of TGW, show. Peter running for president was such a poorly executed idea.

I can’t tell if this plan would be to run someone in 2024 no matter what (meaning if Biden doesn’t seek a second term or if we have to deal with 4 more years of 45) or if it’s contingent upon 45 being reelected. If the latter, then that means that Adrian, in his own self-interest, would.... Want 45 to get reelected? Odd thought.

Adrian promises he won’t tell anyone and shakes on it. He immediately tells Liz.

I love how Diane’s name is on the letterhead but she is almost never looped into conversations like this. This is more personal than professional so it obviously makes sense that Liz would be the one he confides in, but it happens more generally too.

Liz kind of mocks the idea of Adrian being the future of the party, and Adrian accuses her of being jealous. “What are your positions?” Liz wants to know. Good question. Adrian jokes that Liz could be his policy adviser, and Liz reminds him she brought the DNC in to begin with, used to work in government, and knows how to pronounce Kamala Harris’ name. All fair points. Adrian is definitely the more charismatic of the two (and he’s been on Cable News-- he went viral in the universe of the show AND in the real world for it!) but charisma is the kind of thing that matters far more than it should in politics.

“Are you saying former prosecutors are unelectable, or just black female former prosecutors?” Liz attacks. IMO Adrian hasn’t really thought about it and is just parroting what the DNC said. And this is why Liz would be better at the job than Adrian, but it will never matter because no one is ever going to ask someone like Liz when they could ask someone like Adrian. Which is, I think, Liz’s point: she’s not jealous so much as she is incredulous at how this opportunity just appeared out of nowhere for Adrian when he has no experience, no policies, and no stances. Liz has all three (maybe not policies, but I bet she knows where she would stand if she needed to make policies) but no one is asking her to run.

“Would it kill them to recruit a woman every once in a while?” Liz wonders after Adrian’s gone. Precisely. I don’t think Liz wants this for herself-- but when she sees it go to Adrian, she sees how it’s not going to any of the other qualified black women who want it more than Adrian.

Adrian goes to see his client, a swimmer, and says they’re changing strategies because of the politics. This may very well have been his plan for a while, but putting this scene right after the other two definitely makes it feel like Adrian is doing this for his own image.

I feel like most TGF characters are motivated by some combination of power and stability. Diane and Adrian want to have power, so they compromise on their principles to get ahead or make their position as prestigious as possible. Liz (who is actually a bit like her former rival Alicia in this!) compromises on her principles when it means not getting into fights that aren’t worth it or jeopardizing job security; Lucca is usually the same way and doesn’t wade into controversies. I have lots of thoughts on this I will probably come back to as the episode goes on and we see more from Liz.

This is one of the more case heavy TGF episodes, and it’s one of the more interesting, layered cases they’ve done. An aspiring Olympic swimmer has just missed the mark for going to the Olympics. As far as I can tell the underlying issue is that the meet was rescheduled from 2019 (normal timeline) to 2020 to let another swimmer have more time to prepare. I can’t tell if the timing ceases to matter once they switch strategies (right now they’re arguing it’s racial descrimination) or if it’s just forgotten as the episode progresses. Seems to me like that’s where their case is the best-- if they moved the date to advantage one swimmer, for any reason, that’s a pretty bad look.

How is it possible that this dude who played Bree’s sex addict boyfriend on Desperate Housewives and was on The Americans and a few other NYC filmed shows is only just now showing up on TGW/F!?!?

Memo 618 leads Diane and Julius to compare what they know. Julius explains what spooked him; Diane explains the Visitor. In the middle of all this, Marissa interrupts to share the news of Lucca’s new bag-- heh.

I assume the middle 3 numbers of Visitor’s phone number are blank because the writers wanted to use the fact they couldn’t print an actual number to add MYSTERY! Citing the bible, Julius decides to call Visitor to get more information.

Marissa brings Liz around to see the Birkin. Something weird about the name partner coming in to admire something one of her employees owns, no? Lucca’s hidden the bag but shows it off. Liz is mesmerized by the bag (my guess is even if she had the money she’d never consider buying one-- she says it’s a good investment but idk how much she means that) and Lucca’s really embarrassed to keep explaining why she spent 20k on a bag.

Marissa wonders if Bianca bought it for Lucca. “Jesus, you are a one woman surveillance state,” Lucca says to Marissa after Marissa confesses she’s looked up the price of the bag. She is a natural investigator, yes.

Lucca explains she bought it with the poker winnings, and Marissa calculates that Lucca must have won a lot if she was willing to spend 20k on something inessential. Marissa starts her guess low-- 200k. She finally gets the number out of Lucca (or at least the range it’s in) and tells Lucca she needs to talk to David Lee about taxes and accounting.

On the one hand, very glad to see Marissa is knowledgeable about this. On the other hand, Lucca and David Lee are both family law department heads, so the implication that David Lee knows the ins and outs of gambling laws as pertain to St. Lucia while Lucca doesn’t know that winnings are taxable. I’m fine with David Lee being better at this than Lucca-- he’s a slimeball and has more experience-- but Lucca shouldn’t have to be told this. And this is the second time this season we’ve seen something similar happen.

(Another reason I’m fine with David Lee being better at the job than Lucca in general: we have seen time and time again that DLee isn’t just good, he is worth compromising the mission of your firm to have on board. So as great as Lucca is, not sure we’ve seen any evidence she is THAT good at this point in her career!)

The racism angle doesn’t work in court because the opposition brings in the argument Adrian was going to go with originally: the swimmer who beat Adrian’s client’s time is trans. Now if he wants to represent his client, Adrian has to be on record saying someone trans shouldn’t be able to compete as the gender they identify with.

This is one of the more interesting approaches TGF could’ve taken to deal with trans rights, so it’s also one of the more interesting cases they’ve done in a while. This is one of very very few places where there could be a compelling case to look at sex assigned at birth instead of identity. So the writers focus on that, all the while acknowledging that even raising this question is pretty fraught.

“Okay. From race to trans. Let’s go,” the judge says as we head into the credits. P sure that is not the right language to use but also VERY certain this judge has not fully wrapped his head around the concept of people being trans yet.

Awww, using a Fountains of Wayne song over the credits is a really nice Adam Schlesinger tribute.The song doesn’t go super well with the credits but this is such a nice gesture I don’t care.

Something else I like about this tribute is that it dates this episode. The reference might not be as easy to get in a few years, but since the characters can’t address COVID-19 (since all this was filmed pre-pandemic), this is going to be one of the only in-show ways to contextualize these episodes. (I would not be surprised if there is some sort of reference next week, and I am holding out hope for some sort of animated video or epilogue song (like the end of BrainDead))

This episode was written and directed by women!

Adrian for some reason demands Liz-- and not any of the other black female lawyers at his firm-- join his case. This makes sense if we assume that the default state of RBL name partners is “doing what they please when they please because actual work is for associates and bigger cases are for STRL”. Otherwise it seems like a huge waste of resources.

Liz immediately understands the optics are important in the case but also to the DNC.

Adrian goes to talk to Charlotte about the DNC, and his timing is awkward… she wants to move in with him! (I didn’t realize his secret gf was that serious!) But Adrian is worried that since Charlotte is corrupt, she’ll be an issue for his campaign. Here is a thought: don’t take an opportunity that will invite scrutiny into your life but ultimately not lead to any type of lasting success unless literally all you care about is power? Adrian can say no! Of course, if he doesn’t want to say no… there’s his answer to all the dilemmas.

Charlotte understands this better than Adrian does. He promises her “issues” won’t impact his campaign, but he’s gotta know that’s complete bullshit, right? Her issues would absolutely disqualify him. He swears there will be no impact but… LOL. I don’t think he gets to be the one to swear there will be no impact.

Lucca and David Lee’s meeting, in which David Lee is the right mix of professional and scheming, reminds me so heavily of the great scenes where he handles Alicia’s inquiries about divorce. David Lee was overused in late season TGW but this is reminiscent of him at his best. I’m glad that TGF is using him appropriately.

Here’s something stupid: Lucca spent $20k of the money BEFORE SHE HAD THE MONEY IN HER POSESSION. David Lee realizes the problem immediately. Lucca, astonishingly, doesn’t. Lucca is not an idiot.

Adrian successfully gets Liz to join him on the case. Case stuff happens.

Julius and Visitor have lunch. Visitor tries to get Julius to play along. Julius continues to resist, then Diane appears. Visitor isn’t scared and threatens Julius and Diane. How else was this going to go?

Marissa and Jay tail Visitor (this is slightly less ridiculous than the 5x10 Kalinda car chase, but only slightly) and lose him… but find Rachel Dratch, who was also trailing Visitor! Interesting.

Adrian asks Landau about his relationship with Charlotte, without any specifics. Landau gives the obvious response: “Get rid of her. Do it now.” Adrian is like, why? And Landau says “You said there was corruption there.” Yes. This is pretty damn obvious. Also this ends one of two ways: Adrian dumps her and the DNC thing proceeds, or he doesn’t dump her and then the DNC dumps him the second they do some investigative research.

Alicia is in Lucca’s phone contacts!!!!!! (Maia’s ex, Amy, and Barbara Kolstad are too BUT LET ME HAVE THIS AND PRETEND IT’S SPECIAL.).

Bianca calls, or maybe Lucca calls (this makes no sense because Lucca says hello first and it says incoming call from Bianca, but we see Lucca scroll through her contacts and Bianca asks what’s up). Bianca wants to do a celebration dinner, on Lucca. Lucca, knowing the power differential, can’t say no.

Case stuff happens! Liz hates being on the wrong side and refuses to do a redirect!

Ugh the judge misgenders the swimmer. Ugh.

A bunch of associates present Adrian and Liz with a petition to drop the case because they are on the wrong side. Good for them!

Adrian says they’re not being hateful, it’s just a strategy. Sure. A strategy that, if successful, will set dangerous precedents.

Adrian explains he’s actually just defending their client. As always, I don’t find this excuse satisfactory. Do you really need the business of this one swimmer? Is it worth being the one to essentially fight against trans rights? I feel like the answer to that is pretty clear.

This case may be one of the more interesting ways to discuss if/when sex assigned at birth matters, but when it comes to whether or not Adrian/Liz have to be the ones fighting to count a trans woman as a man… that answer is way, way more clear cut. They absolutely do not need to take part in this.

I appreciate that Liz is unhappy with this strategy and wants no part of it and admits that the associates/assistants are right. Liz also understands that this is generational and Adrian is like “Liz, I’ve won awards from covering every one of the letters LGBT” in his condescending tone. Liz, correctly, calls him out on basically trotting out the equivalent of “I have a black friend”.

Liz suggests reframing the case and leaving out the “anti-trans tone”. Adrian says “Not if we lose, Liz. Now this is not about politics. This is about rules. Are the Olympic rules fair, or are they not? That’s all.” Man, his tone is so insufferable sometimes. He always seems like he’s belittling whoever he’s talking to. He is also completely wrong here. And, as Liz points out, that’s never all.

Lucca and Bianca have dinner and Lucca still says nothing and still gets stuck with the $3,000 bill. I feel like the firm could probably pay for that as client maintenance?

Charlotte lists out all the things she’s received as payouts. Some are small-- tickets to the bulls after an endorsement, a friends and family discount at Neiman Marcus after a zoning issue (seems pretty illegal), a speaking engagement for a judge after a favorable ruling… got a Mercedes with no money down… and she fucking bought shares in a tech stock before the IPO was announced. Well those last two seem like trouble. Any of these are potential problems, something involving stock and tech and IPOs? ANYTHING involving her getting nice things like Neiman Marcus discounts and a Mercedes? Those may be smaller scale but people would LOVE to hate on that. So she’s corrupt as fuck. No way out of this. OH ALSO SHE WAS TIPPED OFF ON WHEN TO SELL THE STOCK. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. And this is just what she admits to Adrian.

I wonder if this would trouble Adrian if he weren’t in the running for the presidency.

Adrian asks about 618. Charlotte says it won’t be a problem “because it’s the solution”. ??????

I have never understood this relationship and I continue to not understand this relationship.

Case stuff happens.

I’m not sure how Liz’s new strategy is any less anti-trans. She isn’t either, so she gives up mid sentence and sits down, telling Adrian “You want this, you do it.” That’s kind of like taking a stand? I know Liz isn’t going to rock the boat that much, not in the middle of court, but like, how much does standing up for what you believe in matter if all you’re doing is saying you won’t personally do something without fighting further? Liz gets as much of a say here as Adrian and the third person who would get a say is Diane (well, and STRL but shhh) and Diane would 100% take Liz’s side. So how much credit can I really give Liz?

Does anyone really think someone would just decide to be trans to get a competitive advantage?!?!?! Jesus. That’s wild.

Diane goes to talk to Rachel Dratch (Linda, here). Even though Jay and Marissa found Linda’s address they didn’t bother to look at her occupation?? She’s a court stenographer and she recognizes Diane.

She knows all about Memo 618 and shares her knowledge with Diane.

Who is behind it? The Office of Legal Counsel.

How does she know this? Well, there’s a handy TGF short (YAY!!!!!!) to explain.

I love the little joke about how they won’t ever mention censorship in China in the song. Haaaaah.

The Secret Law in the song is so friggin’ cute. I love it.

The explainer songs that explain largely unfamiliar, complicated topics are the best. And it’s perfect to deploy one here, since this is one of the most crucial concepts of the season and something that most viewers are going to WANT an explanation of. Like, I don’t need an explanation of Downton Abbey or whatever some of the lesser songs of last year were-- but I do want answers about Memo 618.

Is there a good article about some of the real cases of this happening? I assume in most cases Memo 618 is just a stand-in for whatever legal-sounding bullshit was in real memos that secretly shaped the US, but I’d be curious to read more about how this works.

Linda gives Diane a few examples, like one about FDR and the Japanese internment camps (I did find an article from The Atlantic about an OLC memo from the same time, but not sure if it’s the one being referenced.) I am just going to assume that “M. 618” close up they show is faked. As I said, Memo 618 is more about putting a name to the idea that powerful people can author documents that shape the world but go unquestioned. I don’t think the point is that it was literally this same memo… just the same sort of bullshit.

The “Torture Memos” are another example. I appreciate the show telling me where to look for more information. There’s a ton of info around this.

I don’t believe this lip reader stuff but also don’t care.

And finally this circles back to the claim in 2019 that a president can’t be indicted. Is it a law? Nope, a memo from 1973. This is real and fascinating.

I think the show’s approach is REALLY working here. It trusts that I can separate fiction (the lip reading, Memo 618) from fact (the spirit of Memo 618, what it means to have an entity that can make its own rules without oversight) and gives me the reference points I need if I want to dig further. It’s a satisfying way to pay off their mystery, and very much in keeping with the spirit of the show.

Linda basically explains Memo 618 as a placeholder for a law. Justify now, create the law later. Yikes.

Case stuff happens! There is a very odd last minute twist here in which the RBL client loses (yay!) but then another teammate is intersex so they try to disqualify her instead??? Wtf? Did we need this?

David Lee has sushi with Bianca and pushes Bianca to get Lucca her money. Bianca had no idea her friends never paid up (did Bianca not pay her share?) and Bianca, who CAN hassle her friends about this, gets on the phone immediately. There’s a funny montage of David Lee being confused by sushi while Bianca gets Lucca her money.

Bianca asks Lucca why she didn’t tell her she hadn’t been paid! I’m glad to see Bianca cares, but I totally get Lucca’s hesitation. She explains she’s uncomfortable talking about her own money because it feels wrong. Huh, wasn’t she literally always talking about money on TGW?

Lucca says she’s not sure she can get over this and be friends with Bianca. Because it’s not just money to people who don’t have it. I fully understand this discomfort. I haven’t ever befriended a billionaire, but I get it. I do want Lucca to have a friend though! I think if they’re just candid about this and don’t always do expensive things (and they sever the fact that Lucca is an employee…) they could still be friends!

OOOH this Piper Vega looks familiar bc her sister is Alexandra Daddario. They have the same eyes.

The RBL client gets to go to the Olympics. Yay? Why did we get this instead of follow-up on the associates’ petition.

Lucca thanks David Lee and he reminds her that he gets money for managing her money. Fair point. But I think he’s got more of a soft spot for her than he cares to admit. Is managing a million and a half really going to help him that much? I imagine he deals with far bigger fortunes on a daily basis.

Adrian says he took care of his issue, which hopefully means he broke up with Charlotte? He’s all in on the DNC.

Like, I want Adrian to be happy but Charlotte has seemed like a corrupt sexy plot device in every episode??? She makes me actively uncomfortable bc she comes across as a sex object AND ALSO a bad person?? So if they break up… good?

Lucca arrives home to find a gift on her bed… lots of money. Is this how this arc ends or is there more (/was there going to be more without a pandemic?)

I do NOT like the zoomed out shot of Lucca that ends the episode. She is in such an awkward position on the bed???? It looks like a crime scene???

Season finale is up next. I’m sure it’s gonna be weird. And what a title it has.

#the good fight #tgfthoughts

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gayshowerthoughts0 · 4 years

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I genuinely think that either my mom is a literal facist or theocratic bitch, either that or she just doesnt understand thw truth of the matter. But either way, i told her that with the mail in ballots it might take them a while to count them and she said that "if they couldnt count them in time then why did they go through with it" and other classics such as "it should be illegal for them to do that, if we (me and her specifically and other commoners i guess) wanted to do that we wouldnt be able to, I dont know if shes under the impression that mail in ballots them selves are just bad, or if they are holding open the door for people who missed the actual election day by still allowing mail in ballots to be turned in after the fact, or if she thinks that counting all of the ballots is bad, or something. I know that last one is true, she's like "it should be illegal for them to still be counting votes after election day has ended" and im like trying to explain but its just sinking in, I'm convinced she thinks that them counting ballots that came in before election day ends after election day and has it confused with them still letting ballots come in.

She also thinks that "stupid people shouldnt vote" but because i was in there spitting facts to the best of my abilities, she also added on "but also smarty pants who think theyre smart but their not smart spiritually"

She said i should vote with my soul and that Kamala Harris was a demon and that joe Biden is a puppet, and I'm sat here like, did this bitch really just say all of that mess, like what does she think a representational democracy should be? I think people like that believe that people should be voted in and perform their duties as they want them to, but only some, like i dont know if they think that Christians are still 99% of the country, but they are fully convinced that if the people want them to do something they should(asterisk) except when its something they particullarly dont like because of "a vocal minority" idk girl.

I wish i would have though of this description back when i was talking with her about it because i fully think she doesnt under stand the whole, "counting votes != letting people cast votes" != means "not equal to" in c# because i couldn't find the right one.

Anyways yeah thats the bullshit trump and his followers are going into this election thinking and going to the supreme court with because hes a joke and an opportunistic monster.

Like if someone hands him a gun, hes gonna shoot it, if someone hands him way more power than a president should have, hes gonna use it, if they give him this election and he wasnt the actual winner, by both the popular vote and the electoral vote, then yeah, hes gonna take it, and presumably keep taking for as long as hes alive.

Alex Jones: hey mr. President i just wanna say big fan,

Trump, now fully focused on the con man before him: thank you, you seem very nice.

Alex Jones: aw thanks mr. President sir, i just thinking, gays got too many rights these days, i dont think they should be getting married, and the bible says it so my hands are tied even if I didnt want to because my agents told me not to say it but I'm being brave and speaking my truth while being legally vague enough to not illicit any cancellations, but anyways Mr president ive been thinking, we should put em in a camp somewhere, just go through the streets and gather em up, and take them to this camp, maybe we try to make them the gay intended and make em straight, if they cannot be cured of this sin, then lets just oh idk, maybe shoot em or, put em in some kind a rooms and full those rooms with poison, or maybe just work them till they stop being gay, and if they cant stop being gay well theyre gonna keep on working.

Trump: you know what, you called me Mr. President which a lot of people dont do but they all do because I'm the president they have to love me, and I have no idea who you are but i gotta say im already a huge fan and since you like me you must know what your talking about, lets do it. "AMY, GORSICH, KAVANAUGH"

All three: yes sir Mr. President sir.

Trump: is it illegal to do what ever the heck that guy just said?

Amy: well i certainly dont think they should be married, its just not right for my actual marriage to be compared with some kinda tax fraud scam because gay people arent real they just do it for tax benefits.

Gosich: yeah i was hit in by one of those things, then i turned around cause I was scared he was gonna diddle me, and screamed and ran away, it's disgusting, and wrong, and dont get me wrong, i have gay friends, i just dont think they should be allowed to exist, and I'm only saying that because the bible says and so i cant not agree with it, even though i already agreed with it, but the bible says so I couldnt even if i wanted to which i dont, but I'm not a bad person i promise.

Kavanaugh: ADAM AND EVE NOT ADAM AND STEVE, HASTHAG THINGS DONT GO UP YOUR BUT IT HAS THE CONSITENCY OF TOILET PAPER AND WILL BE RUINED BY ANTHING GOING UP THERE, I HATE THAT THEY GET TO BE TOGETHER AND BE IN A HAPPY LOVING RELATIONSHIP AND CALL IT MARRIAGE, MARRIAGE IS SUPPOSED TO BE BETWEEN A MAN AND THE WOMAN HE GOT PREGNANT IN HIGHSCHOOL AND HATE EACHOTHER, AND NEVER MIND ABORTION, DID YOU KNOW THAT GAY GUYS DO GET PREGNANT BUT THEY ABORT IT BEFORE IT CAN BE BORN, HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A BUTT BABY BEFORE? EXACTLY!

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