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fuckyeahgoodomens · 4 years ago

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Ineffable Con 2020 Fun Facts

Fun facts from the Ineffable Con 2 (2020) guest panels :):

Neil Gaiman, Douglas Mackinnon and Rob Wilkins

David G. Arnold (the music composer)

Claire Anderson (the costume designer)

Peter Anderson (Peter Anderson Studio created the opening title animation and in-show graphics)

Paul Adeyefa (Disposable Demon)

Jeremy Marshall-Roberts (the owner of Mary the Bentley)

1. Neil Gaiman, Douglas Mackinnon and Rob Wilkins

What do they have from Good Omens:

Rob has the statue from St. Beryls, all four motorbikes from the four horsemen, Crowley’s Devon watch, box signed by David Tennant with Crowley’s sunglasses and Aziraphale’s cocoa mug with Michael Sheen’s DNA :).

Douglas has the playing cards from Episode 1 and heavily annotated Good Omens book they used for filming with inscription by Neil: ‘For Douglas, make us love, make us cry, 3rd August 2017’.

Neil has Aziraphale’s chair from the bookshop that he bought from the BBC and he uses it for Zoom meetings.

What is their favourite thing that was not in the book and was added to the TV show:

Neil: all of the first half of Episode 3 - an absolute joy.

Rob: also the beginning of Episode 3.

Douglas: David Arnold’s music and Peter Anderson’s front titles.

Could Aziraphale get out of the Bastille easily if he wanted to?

Neil: if he could: absolutely. Did he have any conception of the mess he was in: probably not. It’s one of Neil’s favourite pieces of acting - the absolute delight on Aziraphale’s face when he realizes that Crowley’s there and then he turns around and rather petulantly, grumpily goes oh it’s you - that moment of joy on Aziraphale’s face when he realizes that he’s been rescued is one of Neil’s favourite things.

Neil and yoghurt starter: I had this slightly mad thing where I would explain to everybody that fans were yoghurt starter. And I said, ‘Basically you start out with yoghurt starter and you put it into your warm milk and you leave it, and the yoghurt starter goes off and turns the entire thing into yoghurt.

Neil realized that there was a cat in his house (Neil doesn’t have a cat :)). After the panel Neil said that he was going to look for the cat with a can of sardines and Douglas joked that he would find Michael Sheen in a cat costume.

What was the best and worst about making the series:

Douglas: the best - the camaraderie, getting to know the people, the cast and crew.

Rob: the best - realizing that the book could be translated to the screen and watching it happen. The worst - coming to the end of the shoot and saying goodbye to everybody.

Neil: the best - the amount of love from everybody, the worst - fighting budget battles (producers wanted gone all of the cold opening and the death of Agnes Nutter).

Did they expect that Good Omens would attract so many LBGTQ+ people and how they feel about that:

Neil: Yes, absolutely. There are definitely people out there who seem to think that I accidentally wrote a love story with all of the beats of a love story including a break-up halfway through, without somehow noticing that I’d written a love story. And I may not be the brightest candle on the candelabra, but as an author who’s been doing it for a long time, I’m very well aware of when I’m writing a love story, thank you very much. And so from my perspective I knew that the love story would be one of the driving things that would get us from the beginning to the end. And I also made a bunch of decisions about our angels and our demons in terms of casting, in terms of gender that everybody backed me up on, which I loved. You know, the idea that the archangel Michael is played by Doon [Mackichan] is something that is... or Beelzebub is Anna Maxwell Martin, whatever, there’s... it’s not like we are going: these are women, there are men, we are going: these are demons, these are angels. They... this is not a thing. And also doing something like Pollution, where you go in and go: okay well if we were doing this in... if 1989 was now, if there were they pronouns, we probably would have done that. We didn’t think of it at the time but that’s no reason why we can’t do it now. And we did and I remember having a... not exactly a battle, but a... my very tiny skirmish with one of our execs who was very nice and very bright and was like: ‘Why are you saying they?’, and I’m like... and I... explaining, and he’s like: ‘Well I’ve never heard of that before.’, and I’m like: ‘Oh, okay, but trust me, just trust me, it’s all fine, just trust me.’

Douglas: And you know I have to say, just following on what Neil’s saying, I’ve been directing for quite a while, and I tend to notice if characters are falling in love, I tend to notice a love story happening in front of me, and I think it’s there, and everything is meant, guys, everything is meant.

Neil added: I would just say, there are some things that you do while you’re writing a script intentionally. The fact that... I wanted to do this, well, it was a thing I did that I really enjoyed doing... where whenever people accuse them of being a couple: they don’t deny it, they don’t argue, there’s no flustering on their part. They absolutely… you know, everybody… what I’m trying to say is: yes, other people in the story are perceiving them as a couple too. And here is Uriel perceiving them as a couple, here is wonderful Dan [Starkey, playing the passerby] …and you know, you do scenes like that because that’s... you are trying to make a point here and you’re trying to make a point on how people are perceived.

Season 2, yes or no [fiends, all three of them!]:

Douglas: What’s that?

Neil: Of what?

Rob: Is it muted for me as is for everyone else?

Neil confirmed that they are going to be Funko Pops. [yay!]

2. David G. Arnold (the music composer)

He didn’t read the book before he was approached to do the music. He was asked to do it by Douglas Mackinnon he knew from the Victorian episode of Sherlock and he said yes before even knowing what it was about because he wanted to work with Douglas again.

The first piece of music he wrote for the show was the brass band doing the Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon [Episode 6, in the park before the kidnapping].

The second piece of music he wrote was the lullaby that Crowley sings to Warlock. He always liked the lullabies like in Mary Poppins so he said to Neil: Why don’t we do it like Walt Disney, but if Walt Disney was possessed by Satan? That was about 7 months before he needed to write anything again while they were shooting and it kept going round his head the whole time - the melody stuck with him and when it came to the Opening Title of the show, this became the middle bit.

The original opening title was Everyday by Buddy Holly and each episode was supposed to be closed with a different version of it: a death metal version, an angelic choir version, a carmina burana version... and he actually made all those. But he likes to find the musical identity of the show and put it in the opening titles because it’s important and it tells you: ‘This is the word you’re going to experience’, so he wrote his own opening title with the lullaby in the middle and played it to them [probably Neil and Douglas] with Buddy Holly as the backup and: Neil just turned around in his chair and said, ‘That’s Good Omens.’. From that point the instructions were with no rules, just to create whatever he wanted: the further you can go the better, the weirder and the stranger you can think the better. It’s a rare thing to be shown a world like Good Omens and be let free to run around in it.

His favourite ending title is the Queen one in Episode 1.

One of the reasons he didn’t do a theme for Crowley and a theme for Aziraphale is that the theme of the show is theirs - it’s theirs and they share it and it’s both of theirs and there is no separating in that regard.

About Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship reflected in the music score: It’s interesting isn’t it, because the relationship changed in a way slightly frequently and majorly infrequently. It seemed right from the start that their relationship was somehow seeded and planted and had begun by the time we saw them even though they may not have realised it themselves, you know, with the pair of them on the wall, considering one is a demon in the Garden of Eden and one is an angel. They act very charitably towards each other and they act with a lot of things you might not expect. And underneath that there is a sort of sense of togetherness and support even though they both know that their paths are going to diverge and they have different responsibilities. So I always felt like, right from that moment, when the wing came up on the wall, that there was something special about their relationship. Three moments that stuck with him: in Episode 3 saving the books in the church when they completely rely on the other for survival in the way that they were very open about, one in the car outside the nightclub in 60s Soho - the Holy Water, you go too fast for me, that genuinely tearing, that there was reluctance in those words that he spoke and that sort of things as a composer is gold, it’s about making those moments more, and in the last episode in a scene they’re not event in when we see Adam and Dog in the fields and Anathema that music there which celebrates Crowley and Aziraphale’s music which is the theme of the show - their shadow has passed over everyone’s emotional journey, and everyone’s emotional journey is theirs as well. The argument in the bandstand was important as well.

His favourite leitmotif from the series is the lullaby.

About the scene in the car in episode 2 when Thomas Tallis changes into Queen: Terry’s favourite piece of classical music was the Thomas Tallis piece [Spem in Alium] so Neil asked if they can go from Thomas Tallis - a choral piece from 16th century - to We Will Rock You, and: ‘You never say no. You don’t say that you can’t do it. What you have to do is to be the first person who solves the problem.’ In the end it was a two-days work just for this little bit and he mentioned that he never had these sorts of challenges anywhere else before.

His favourite non-musical detail in the show - the crucifixion, how the scene was shot, how it was upsetting, and how it was made more effective by Aziraphale and Crowley’s inability to stop it, that they had to observe and watch it, that it had to happen. I remember seeing that at the time and thinking, I wasn’t expecting that level of brutal honesty, in terms of the pictures that I was looking at and what they chose to show. And I think all the more effective for it.

3. Claire Anderson (the costume designer)

When creating the costumes for the characters she started with mood boards.

Aziraphale - she knew that he needed to have something winglike in his collar so that’s why there are sweeping lapels very often. Using velvet [for the waistcoat] because that was nice and soft and had all the appropriate qualities. His watch and fob that has little gold wings hanging from it and other tiny bits of symbolism. Tartan bow tie. Beautiful cashmere checkered trousers - not quite tartan but a nod to it. A mid to late Victorian coat, Michael only made his decision on the coat a couple of days before the filming. Aziraphale in the present settled on a ring with angelic symbol and harp cufflinks, earlier his ring in ancient times has got a much more roughly hewn set of wings on it, so before jewellery making became sophisticated he modernised slightly - he magicked it up to be a bit more modern, more gentleman signet type of ring, but he never modernises entirely. His heart is much more in the past.

After they began to define Aziraphale they started to look at how the Heaven army of angels might look - the element of tartan came sort of from Aziraphale and the angels have a not-tartan kilt with a semi military type jacket and a military band across that might hold arms or not, because they are not really violent. She used spats to make them look quite neutral and genderless so hiding fastenings and concealing little details like that seemed a way to do that.

Gabriel doesn’t wear spats because he’s on Earth such a lot. His shoe has a cover with two buckles on the side giving the same neutral element. He wears a cashmere light-as-air suit.

The other angels are all in bastardized versions of what era they may have died in, so they could have died in the 1930s or the 1800s and the costume would have an element of that era about it - though of course as an angel you can change things.

The Quartermaster Angel - the costume is a combination of slightly Indian type military, maharaja pants, longer spats from another era, all combined pieces of military tailored to be magical and slightly nonsensical, as Heaven might be.

Crowley - she felt that he wrapped around like a snake sheds its skin so she wanted something double breasted because that seemed to envelope his snakey charm. David wanted to be more casual than wearing a suit. Under his collar he always has a flash of red like the snake that he comes from - the red belly. They put a red seam into the sole of his boots so always there is a hint of where he came from. The red tie in the blitz. He was more rock and roll than Aziraphale and modernised more to a snakehipped rock and roll star really. His present jacket - the fabric there is quilted, they found an 80s jacket that had elements of things they enjoyed - part of that was that it had a slightly quilted quality to the fabric which was like a textured snakeskin. It took quite a long time to create the fabric and then to make the jacket from that - they quilted some fabric and washed and whooshed it repeatedly to create a bit of puckering in it. He has a snakey scarf around his neck like a chain mail linked scales of skin scarf that he wore that complemented his neck chain. The trousers he wore in Victorian times are the same he wore in the 60s when he meets young Shadwell. His present trousers - slightly waxy denim - we just were looking for a slithery finish. Crowley’s neck chain - there is only one in the world - her tailor has a Gothic church full of interesting stuff like busts and drapes with old things, this chain mail scarf was there and David was looking for something to complete his costume and liked it.

Hastur and Ligur are her favourite characters - they were so enjoyable to create. She had an amazing book of 1920s and 30s criminals and they used that as a starting point, because they were all quite worn out and bedraggled and poverty stricken and like hell might be ideally. They burnt and decayed the bottom of them as if they were rotting from the Earth and rotting back into the ground - all demons have sort of gators as if they were rotting from the ground up.

One of the most difficult things was the demons - when they realized they had a few days to create hundreds of demons in South Africa (4-5 days for almost 200 demons). It was as if I had been dissolved in holy water when they asked me for another 150 costumes.

The sleeves of Anathema’s coat have been inspired by a Victorian cycling coat.

The historical costume that Newt’s ancestor wore influenced his and Shadwell’s costumes - they used elements of the historical costume to put a little cape on Newt and Shadwell and their wax coats to give them the quality of that look. Newt's costume has a lot of mustard to make him feel a bit awkward and uncomfortable - it's not the most flattering colour on a northern European complexion.

The nuns’ headdress needed to look a little bit demonic - she bought a whole book on nuns’ headdresses for research. They also used the V in the nurse's apron because that was nicely demonic. The nurses' watch has got this Satanic symbol at the top - a little take on the medical since old nurses’ uniforms used to have watches.

For Madame Tracy she went back into the 70s, slightly Biba-esque makeup and a cape. They had only one pair of her goggles so it was always a nightmare to find them.

Which part of the cold opening is her favourite: I love ancient Rome because there is at least 6 to 12 metre of fabric in a toga and that was quite fun wrapping that around the boys and creating those., and her favourite was the Globe.

The lapels represent wings in every way and every shape and every form. Wings are very important.

4. Peter Anderson (Peter Anderson Studio created the opening title animation and in-show graphics)

The first thing that the director Douglas Mackinnon (with whom he worked on Doctor Who and Sherlock) said to him was: for all the graphics, for all the title sequence, for everything, I want you to promise me one thing, and that is very, very simple, promise that you send me emails that say: ‘this might be absolutely nuts, but my idea is...’.

The opening title it’s full of easter eggs - it’s a type of sequence that’s been designed to watch a thousand times, for example: on the escalator down to Hell there is one character running up deciding that he doesn’t want to go to Hell or the sea is full of plastic bags because we don’t look after the planet.

Every single face in the title sequence is either Crowley’s or Azriphale’s, they are repeated all the way through - inspired by Neil saying that there’s good and evil in all of us, so there is a grand procession of people of all the characters from the story - marching towards Armageddon - but all the characters have been taken over by good or evil. And along the way our two heroes are kind of playing tricks on each other, doing good, doing evil

The opening title combines multiple elements - two dimensional animation elements, three dimensional animation elements, CGI and live action (the people in the procession were created by live action on a travelator). So the result is a kind of strangeness - such as 3D figures with 2D animated tracked heads - which makes it unique.

Their first idea and version of the opening title was based on tapestries of old, subverting them, but then they wanted something more new and fresh.

Both Douglas and Neil were an important part of the opening title creation process.

The opening title sequence took about a year to make from the creative start with four intensive months towards the end.

One of things that inspired him was a Bauhaus theatre image from 1930s.

Question if the hand-drawn font for the graphics will be a purchasable font: no, because it was original and it’s unique and it was created just for this - it was for the love of the show and the story and it will be kept there.

In the scene where there are three photos of witchfinders - Neil and Douglas revealed in the DVD commentaries that two of them are their grandfathers - the third one is Peter’s great uncle.

Originally the signs telling us things like ‘Thursday’ or ‘Mesopotamia’ - were done as if somebody (who was living inside the television screen) ran up close to the screen and showed us the sign. In the end they simplified it, only showing the signs. The one time that it was sort of left in the show was when in Episode 5 a little demon in the video game shows a sign ‘GAME OVER’.

Outside of his work on it, what was his favourite thing on Good Omens: spending time with Douglas and Neil, and also working with Milk VFX - I think I can honestly say it's the best job I've ever worked on with the nicest people.

5. Paul Adeyefa (Disposable Demon)

He first read the book when preparing for the audition - the character wasn’t in the book but he got into it, loved it and couldn’t put it down.

He didn’t know about the name Eric until the script was published and people started calling the demon that, he really likes the name and thinks it fits.

There was a version of the script where the demon was going to be dressed in different costumes each time he was discorporated (for example one in long hair wearing a dress) - they would be all the same but different incarnations, in one version they had different accents.

The first scene he shot was the one where the demon goes to Heaven to deliver the Hellfire (and also wants to hit ‘Aziraphale’ which was cut). That first day was also his favourite moment of shooting because there was an immediate welcoming atmosphere and everyone was lovely and in love with the production.

Disposable Demon is like a permanent intern, running errands for the higher ups in Hell.

His favourite part of the costume were the eyelashes (though he loved the whole costume).

If he could change anything about the costume he would also want cool contact lenses - some brightly coloured ones.

Question what animal (like other demons have on their heads) comes to mind when we see the Disposable Demon: he didn’t think about it at the time, but later he saw people talking about his horns as bunny ears and found it interesting, and also the facts that there are so many of him and that he is quite happy and friendly for a demon so the bunny makes sense, so he might be a sort of a rabbit. Or perhaps something goat type because of the horns.

Question if there is another role in Good Omens he would have liked to have played: he always thought that the four horsemen were very cool and Pollution was his favourite so probably Pollution (also was the most jealous of Pollution’s contact lenses).

If there were a season 2, he would be there in a heartbeat.

Question about Eric’s feelings on Crowley, if he’s a bit of a Crowley fan: I think he might be. There is something about Crowley and how he is somehow a little bit different from the rest of the demons. - and the Disposable Demon has, much like Crowley, interest in the human world. He could well be 6,000 how many years old, the same as everyone else, but he seems to have this younger vibe and I think he thinks that Crowley is quite cool.

Good Omens fandom is his first experience with a fandom of this scale. It speaks a lot, the fact that this kind of very, this minor character, a character who is only on screen for a very short amount of time gets any kind of attention at all, it's quite amazing really, it goes to show how big and enthusiastic the fans are. I never experienced anything like that.

6. Jeremy Marshall-Roberts (the owner of Mary the Bentley)

When Crowley used a miracle to switch off the Bentley lights in Episode 1 at nuns manor it was done by: there was actually a very small guy called Louis turning on and off the switches quickly.

David Tennant was allowed to wear the snake eye contacts for only 3 hours a day otherwise they could damage his eyesight.

For Mary, the Bentley, it was the second time she was ‘blown up’ on film - first being in the Endeavour with Inspector Morse about three years earlier.

He was a bit nervous during filming the bookshop fire scene because the Bentley was so close to a real fire - not wanting the paint to blister. The car was moved off after a few minutes of filming but still.

About the damage to Mary: Unfortunately, we overran, and Rob my stunt driver had already booked a holiday and off he went and so when he returned in January, on the 10th of January, I had this new driver who really had no clue how to drive old cars, so I showed him around, I showed him to go around corners. He came around the corner, the door was not closed properly for some reason and the door flew open as he went around. And instead of slamming on the brakes which is extremely efficient and would stop him straight away he kept on going, hit another car and really smashed the door quite badly. It did take the car off the roads for 10 months. The door was completely remade because of this accident and it cost the total of £24 000 to rebuild the car to get it back to running as it is today.

The Bentley’s part most difficult to maintain and service is the engine.

Would Mary be available for a potential season 2: definitely!

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castthy-nightedcolour · 3 years ago

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One- Shot: A Different Side (written as part of my series ‘don’t worry about a thing’ on AO3, link can be found at the bottom of the post as it won’t let me embed it)

Fandom: Good Omens

Characters: GN Reader, Crowley, a very annoying mouse

Warnings and Tags: snakes, animal death/ harm, swearing, uh oh we have a pest control problem, snake crowley, comfort , are they aren’t they

Summary: mouse traps, a skip full of rubbish and a broken down bus. not exactly your dream day, but your favourite demonic entity has a trick up his sleeve and behind his glasses to help you.

Word Count: 2778

Link to original: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31055930/chapters/81050182

If there was one word to describe your mood, that word would be vile. Tiny little irritants throughout the day had built to a simmering anger:

-Firstly, your bus into town had broken down about ten minutes away from your stop, meaning that you were forced to trek your way to the shops.

-Secondly, your trip to said shops wasn’t for any kind of retail therapy, but was instead to buy mouse traps. Your usually serene flat had been taken over by a little grey rodent who despite any humane efforts, was refusing to leave. You weren’t usually one for violence towards any living thing, but the little shit was out staying its welcome and had most recently been seen taking a bite out of a loaf of bread.

-When you did eventually get into town, it seemed to be the day for the world’s slowest walkers to take to the streets. Everyone was moving at about two steps per minute and you, being naturally speedy, were constantly waiting for gaps on the pavement to overtake. When you did manage to do this, there would be a whole new couple walking side by side, plodding along at a snail’s pace. You weren’t getting anywhere quick.

All in all, not your finest hour. This all came to a head on Oxford Street, or as you liked to call it, hell.

Your brain felt as though it were made of jelly, your temperature was rising, and someone stopped right in the middle of the street to check their phone. Slamming right into the back of them, you immediately let out something resembling a howl before running to your side off down Old Cavendish Street, somewhere slightly quieter. You leaned against the nearest wall, hot anger bubbling within you for what at the time, seemed like a life or death scenario of you getting out of town with the mousetraps, but in retrospect was just the culmination of various shitty things.

The last thing which you wanted to hear was any sign that you were being perceived, but a teenage boy riding past you on a bike shouting an obnoxious ‘WAHEYYYY’ at you was enough to tip you over the edge. You bashed your head back on the wall, feeling acid tears of anger falling, pedalled down your face by your short temper. Then, another shout came towards you from across the street.

‘Y/N? Is that you?’

You were ready to push yourself off the wall to lunge at this person until your brain caught up with recognition. Tilting your head forwards, your suspicions were confirmed when you saw floppy, ginger hair bouncing over the street atop a leather-clad frame. The sunglasses perched on his nose brought you a feeling somewhere between relief and fear.

You and Crowley had a relationship which can only be described as ‘are they? Aren’t they?’

You sure as hell couldn’t tell if he had any romantic feelings for you, and he gave off vibes so mixed that they were jumbled by this point. People always commented on the electricity between the two of you whenever you were together, but you tried not to get your hopes up and usually just put this down to his magnetising nature.

He’d told you about himself, and you thought that he must have trusted you somewhat to be able to disclose that he was a demon to you.

Then again, maybe he was just overly confident.

In the state you were currently in, you couldn’t decide whether to run into his arms to scream, or run as quickly away from him as was physically possible.

Your body chose neither and just stood there, open mouthed and gawking as the tears continued to fall with no effort from your eyelids. Crowley examined you, peering over the top of his sunglasses to try and decipher the scene before him.

‘Don’t tell me someone’s upset you, because I will find them for you, Y/N’ he started, rearing himself up as he spoke. You jumped in.

‘No, no. Not upset. I swear. Just… pissed off. Massively, massively pissed off. Short fuse today, y’see.’

‘Oh. Well, I know all about that. I’m quick to anger at any given moment but then again, ‘s in my nature. What exactly are you doing down here?’

You looked to your side at the gigantic skip full of building waste, then down to your feet where someone’s puke sat. You looked back up to the demon.

‘It was a quick escape, one that was made before I slapped someone in the face.’

Crowley looked slightly taken aback, not expecting any expression of violence from you considering your usually placid nature.

‘Ooookay. Well, I won’t ask for details but, here.’ He leaned over slightly and brushed away some of the tears which were still running down your face. You could swear that you both stopped breathing for a moment as he touched you but then again, you weren’t in a fit state for rational thinking.

‘Thank you,’ you breathed out. ‘I’m all good, I promise. Just need to breathe.’ You gave a reassuring smile to the demon and noticed him looking down to your hand, holding a flimsy plastic bag containing the mouse traps.

‘What you got there? Looks interesting.’ He said, tilting his head to try and get a closer look. You brought the bag up to your chest.

‘Oh, mouse traps. There’s a little shit thinking that he owns my flat who’s probably currently in my bread bin. Thought I’d stop the problem while I could, considering there’s that saying about seeing mice. Y’know, for every mouse you see, there’s always another one somewhere. Can’t wait to clean that up!’ Your words had somewhat of a bite, being spat like venom.

‘Woah. You really are pissed, aren’t you?’ Crowley responded, half smirking. For some reason, this set you off again.

‘Yes. Yes, actually I am. Because y’know what? This day has been fucking horrific! I genuinely don’t think that I’ve had two consecutive minutes of peace since the second I woke up. I can’t relax because of the mouse, then there was the bus, and the walking, and the pain in my feet, and the twat who decided to check his phone in the middle of Oxford Street. Sorry, who the hell does that? I just feel like I’ve been left out of any plans that the universe had to let people go about their day without a care in the world. So yes, I’m fuming.’ You gave a huff before realising that you were now crying again. Crowley stood slightly dumbstruck, shifting his weight between his feet. You glanced off to the side, watching the shoppers propel themselves down Oxford Street.

The demon then spoke, his voice low and sincere.

‘Can I give you a lift?’

—

After what felt like a windswept journey in the Bentley, Crowley screeched to a halt outside your flat. Jolting forwards slightly, the plastic bag containing the mouse traps crinkled between your legs.

You’d calmed down quite significantly, but now felt a combination of complete embarrassment that you’d had such an outburst in front of the being that you completely adored, and absolute excitement that he’d even offered you a lift. This wasn’t helped when you heard him say,

‘Let me walk you upstairs. Check that you’re okay.’

You felt fizzy, and as the two of you trudged up to your flat, you felt as though you could lift off any second. As you unlocked your front door, Crowley leaned on the doorframe, peering in to the hallway as you threw your bag on the floor. You suddenly regretted this as when the bag hit the floor, there was a scuttle from under your bedroom door, and the little mouse took one giant sprint off towards the kitchen. You screamed in shock as the little bastard took itself away, and Crowley grabbed onto your arm. This made you jump for a second time.

‘Woah woah there, calm down. It’s just a little mouse, we’ll sort this,’ Crowley sweetly spoke, lulling your heart back to a slightly normal rate. You looked down to his arm resting on yours and couldn’t help but smile slightly.

Crowley had a look on his face which would have read from ten miles away as one with a scheme brewing.

‘Look Y/N, I’m going to do something here which I don’t do very often, and all I’m asking is that you don’t freak out,’ the demon announced.

You couldn’t help but make a sarcastic joke.

‘What’s that then, the housework?’ Smirking, you looked up at Crowley who glared at you through his sunglasses.

‘Fine, you don’t need my help!’ He huffed, obviously taking the piss but you couldn’t help but tease him back into good spirits.

‘No no, sorry Crowley. What have you got for me?’

‘Snake.’

You stood there for a second, trying to make any sense of what he just said and burning up slightly as you wondered if this was perhaps his way of flirting.

‘A… a snake? You have a snake?’

‘Yes. Well, no. Well… yes. Look it’s complicated, can I just show you?’

Uh oh. Maybe this was him flirting.

You thought for a second before hearing an almighty crash from the kitchen, and from down the hallway you saw an entire loaf of bread fall to the ground, followed by a small army of mice. Again, you let out a scream as Crowley slammed the door shut behind the both of you.

‘How fucking many are there now?!’ You exclaimed, turning to face Crowley who was now quickly shifting between his feet. He suddenly grabbed your shoulders.

‘Look Y/N, tell me quick, do you have a phobia?’

‘Of mice? I think that’s pretty evident Crow-‘

‘No, of snakes. Are you scared of snakes?’

‘What is it with you and these snakes?’ You laughed. The demon then stood dead still and stared right at you.

‘Stay still. Don’t freak out please. I promise this will help.’

Before you knew it, Crowley’s hands had disappeared off your shoulders and he seemed to disappear entirely from before you. Confused, you looked down at the floor.

What you saw took your breath away for what felt like forever.

Rows and rows of black scales suddenly lined your hallway, flowing from side to side as the form made its way towards the kitchen. This didn’t take long, considering the snake’s body seemed to run on forever, there must have been at least 10 metres of the creature occupying your apartment.

You’d never really considered Crowley’s powers before. While you were aware that he was a demon, this thought didn’t control your every interaction with him. He was just Crowley- your friend Crowley- your possibly more than a friend Crowley- your Crowley. Shapeshifting had never been part of the picture.

But it was so, so beautiful.

Moving.

And snakes were never your favourite but this was just something else.

Squeals of mouse terror came from the kitchen as a massive shadow rose up throughout the whole apartment. Crowley was sitting up on his body, his head pointed towards any mouse that he could detect and a razor sharp stare in his luminescent eyes.

Your favourite part of this whole scenario was laying on the floor in front of you- Crowley’s sunglasses, sans Crowley for the first time ever. You smiled as you bent down to pick them up, your feet planted to the spot due to the inherently overwhelming nature of what was happening. You ran your fingers over the frames feeling the heat that was stored in them.

There was something so human about the lingering warmth to the metal, but that thing that made it so distinctively Crowley was the fact that the heat never seemed to fade.

The floor seemed to move as the scales once again shifted, with Crowley turning round to come back towards you. Cold fear seized your entire body, despite the oddly comforting and protective energy of this gigantic creature. His yellow eyes were right in front of your face before you’d even managed to properly react to him moving towards you.

You blinked and the Crowley that you knew and … ahem… was standing in front you, a live mouse swinging from his hand by the tail.

‘Consider those rodents dispatched.’

The mouse in his hand was thrashing wildly from side to side and while you hated the little shits, you couldn’t help but feel sorry for it. You went to protest but no words came out of your mouth.

You’d just witnessed something- something that couldn’t exactly be described as a miracle but to you- maybe?

Crowley noticed the panic in your eyes directed towards the mouse and realised what he needed to do. The mouse disappeared in another of your blinks.

There were so many pressing questions on your mind, but you only managed to actually articulate one of them.

‘Please tell me you didn’t eat those mice, Crowley?’ Your tone was somewhere between intrigue and massive concern.

The demon scoffed, ‘I prefer oysters normally, Y/N. No, I didn’t eat them. I can assure you though, they won’t be back any time soon.’

Palpable silence hung between the two of you. You naturally seemed to hold out Crowley’s sunglasses to him, staring directly into the eyes which served as a reminder of his other form as you did so.

Crowley went to slowly take the glasses off you, but in a snap decision, you snatched them back. Crowley wasn’t exactly thrilled by this.

‘Hey, don’t play games with those. They’re my-‘

He didn’t stand a chance of finishing his sentence before you jumped in, with your subconscious mind taking a grasp on your mouth. Maybe this was a trick of Crowley’s, but at least some of it came from your heart.

‘Do it again. Turn back.’

The two of you stared at each other as a smirk took over the demon’s face.

‘Really? It seemed to terrify you, dearest.’

The cockiness in his voice only persuaded you to carry on pushing.

‘Not at all! No no, it was just... well it was a shock at first. Obviously. Like who the hell else can do that? But no, not terror. It’s intrigue. I swear.’

You made sure to assert yourself in your voice as your brain convinced you that you would never rest again unless Crowley turned back into a snake. It was almost like the sheer shock had morphed into utter obsession in a matter of seconds.

And maybe you just adored every part of Crowley and him being vulnerable in showing a new side to you? Well...

Again, you blinked and he was gone for a moment, before the black reptile rose up to meet your gaze. He hadn’t continued to question you.

The presence was unexplainable, physically so big in the space but even just the idea of him just seemed to fill up every corner of the place. Moving the sunglasses into your right hand, you tentatively raised up your left.

‘Can... may I? Can I touch?’ You softly asked, mimicking a petting action in the air. Somehow, Crowley let you know that it was okay, pulling your hand towards him with some kind of magnetising energy.

Your fingers lightly brushed the scales on his head and you took a breath so deep you almost triggered hiccups. The texture was confusing, it almost seemed like it was shifting forms by the second- smooth then rough, hard then feather soft, but still always cool as marble. You fully rested your hand down as you glanced along the entire body, once again filling up the entire hallway.

‘Crowley, this is beautiful. I mean that.’ You whispered, transfixed on what you were seeing.

Then, the unimaginable happened. Your hand which had ended up resting on the snake’s head suddenly felt warm.

Was... was he blushing? You decided to test the water slightly more.

‘I didn’t even imagine that anything could be so magnificent but, well. Here you are. So gorgeous.’

Sure enough, another flush felt through your hand.

‘Crowley, are you blushing?’ You giggled. The heat on his face then took another rise, this time enough to hurt you slightly. You drew your hand away instinctually, but with a smile still on your face.

This was now a day worth noting. The day that started with a mouse in a bread bin and some unfortunately placed anger, and ended as the day that you made a snake blush.

And of course, he made you blush too.

A new side of Crowley. One that you couldn’t help but adore.

#good omens one shot #good omens #good omens x reader #crowley x reader #snake crowley #good omens fanfic #reader insert

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queerfables · 4 years ago

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A lot has been said about the That Cold Open in Good Omens, and yet here I am, a year on and still SUPER FUCKING EMOTIONAL about it. Because here’s the thing: from a storytelling perspective, it was a fucking STUPID way to structure the narrative. You don't just create an elaborate fantasy world with a two page character list and stakes as high as the end of the world and then come to the middle of the narrative, the very core of your story, and say, "Okay, for the next half an hour, we're taking just these two characters and we’re going to watch a slow interpersonal drama play out over a timespan of six. thousand. years." It makes no fucking sense.

And it's riveting.

The first time I watched it, "You go to fast for me" left me absolutely reeling. Here's the meta that got me thinking about this, and I agree with it entirely. In the book, Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship was nominally a matter of convenience. The tv series ups the stakes on that relationship by showing it as just about the most inconvenient choice they could make - it’s dangerous, they can’t name it, and it could ruin them both, but they choose it over and over again anyway.

What I'd add to that meta is that the script's stupid fucking choice to spend a full half of it's central episode on introspective character driven backstory exposition, without breaking that up with other characters or plot threads, without snapping forward to the present timeline, means that by the time you reach the end of that sprawling flashback, you are so acutely immersed in this relationship that you feel every second of their history like you lived it.

The flashback is a terrible structural decision, but here are some things it captured really well:

An immersive sense of time and place, and a devastatingly slow forward momentum

The tenderness, warmth and humour between these two characters. Their shared values, against a landscape of hostility and rejection of those values.

The risks and the stakes - the weight of the consequences Crowley and Aziraphale would face for their relationship.

The gap between what they're saying and what they're doing. "This is for my job," they say, as they defy the most basic tenant of that job.

One of my very favourite narrative structuring devices is Dan Harmon's Story Circle. You can read about it here if you're not familiar with it. It pulls from a lot of related analyses of myths and storytelling. Anyway, if Good Omens is analysed against this structure, the last scene of That Cold Open Flashback, the one where Aziraphale gives Crowley holy water and tells him, you go to fast for me, falls right at the bottom of the circle. One name for this point is Meeting With the Goddess, and that’s such a poetic and utterly appropriate way to describe this moment between Aziraphale and Crowley that it kills me a bit.

According to the story circle, what happens at this point of the narrative is that the protagonist finds what they've been searching and fighting for - and then they have to figure out what to do with it. And if you're doing your job as a storyteller right, the moment should feel weightless. Harmon says this point can be good or bad, and a lot of times is both. Actually, I'm just going to quote a bunch of what Harmon says this moment can be, because it's all so beautiful and relevant:

This is a great time for sex or making out with the hot chick, especially if your protagonist has been kung-fuing everybody he meets for the past half hour. But the goddess doesn't have to be a femme fatale or an angelic damsel ... the "goddess" could be a character's confession that they lost their job. The goddess can be a gesture, an idea, a gun, a diamond, a destination, or just a moment's freedom from that monster that won't stop chasing you.

If sitting together in the Bentley that night is Crowley and Aziraphale’s Meeting With the Goddess, the point where they both get what they’re searching for, then what they’re searching for is each other. This moment between them becomes almost every single thing a Meeting With the Goddess could be: intimacy, a confession, a weapon, a reward, and safety, just for a moment. That weightless, breathless moment where they can say what they mean without fear. A half hour long flashback in the very middle of your story makes no fucking sense, and yet it’s also the perfect way - the only way - to tell this story that’s about love and humanity and the end of the world, and two immortals who’d risk everything for a few more nights getting wine drunk on a couch together.

Look, it's fucking 5am and I can't keep waxing lyrical about this but the point is that Good Omens basically stopped the entire fucking show in a way that contravenes all rules of storytelling to say "Look at this, this is important, feel this. Live it with them, the way that they lived it. That feeling, that culmination of 6000 years worth of unspoken and unspeakable truths, that moment when everything else fell away and it was just the two of them coming as close to the edge as they've ever been? That's the heart of the story. It lives here, at the centre, because it's everything they want and it's what's going to drive the rest of the story forward. Everything they've been working for, and everything they do from here on out is because of this."

And ps, it does it so fucking effortlessly that you don't even know it's happening until it's over, and then you're left reeling with the revelation.

#good omens #qftxt #fable talks good omens

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punkpal · 4 years ago

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Get To Know Me Better! (tag game)

@tidal-wav3s thanks for tagging me dude!!

Fav color: Lots of people get surprised when i say this but pink has and always will be my favourite colour.

Last song I listened to: Four Walls - While She Sleeps

Fav musicians/bands: God i have so many but the first few that come to mind are Parkway Drive, My Chemical Romance, Five Finger Death Punch, Green Day, Architects, All Time Low, A Day to Remember, Hellions, Slipknot, Secrets, Ocean Grove, Korn, In Hearts Wake, Awaken I Am, Whilst She Sleeps, Slowly Slowly, Young Lions, Trophy Eyes, The Plot In You, Queen, The Maine, Linkin Park, Hands Like House, AD/DC, Evanescence, Dream On Dreamer, Asking Alexandria, Crown The Empire, Camp Cope, Bring Me the Horizon, System of a Down, Disturbed, The Used, Brand New, Blink-182, Bad Omens, Tonight Alive, Stick To Your Guns and lots lots more. When i was putting together this list i was gonna make it a max of 10 bands but then i kept thinking of more and more and eventually i just had to stop otherwise this list would become novel length. Basically the consensus is i like lots of music and any of the band i reblog shit from are favs.

Last film I watched: Sicario and it was shit so take my word and don’t fucking bother.

Last tv show I watched: I just finished rewatching The Umbrella Academy season 1 to get myself psyched for season 2. I also just finished watching the netflix mini series documentary ‘Unabomber: In his own words’ which was pretty good. And I am also currently binging The Office (US) and am just starting season 8.

Fav original character: So i am writing (admittedly mostly just in my head although a little less then a quarter has been written as a rough draft on a word doc) a rather length fantasy/vampire novel. Its part romance, part drama, part revenge fantasy, part anarchist vigilante revolution au and tbh part me just self projecting my trauma and dysfunctional life onto my characters... And whilst it likely will never see the light of day because of my lack of motivation to write the entire thing down and instead just reference it when i am day dreaming. I really vibe with the alternative universe as an escape from the real one i am living in and i have a vested interest in the characters i have created in it. And whilst there are numerous ocs from this that i have put an alarmingly long amount of time (literally years) into developing all of which i love and adore i do have two favourites. One named Taylor who is a gay 2946 year old idiot/himbo (vampire obviously). He is hot, sweet, kind, caring, funny, understanding, stubborn, the mum™️ friend, a romantic fool with a a hint of mummy issues and anger problems and a complete fucking allergy to guilt. And the other is his prodigy/person he turned vampire named Meredith. She is 354 year old hot mess and is kinda the opposite of him in that she is homicidal, manipulative, cunning, devious, fearless (almost to a fault), strong willed women. Who is very smart, has a strong/forward and somewhat off putting personality, low key a bit of a bitch but is very protective of those she loves and has good morals and the desire to right all wrongs even if through violent revenge if she sees fit. She is the leader of a criminal underworld revolution seeking to bring revenge and justice to the powerful and untouchable evils of the world. And he is her loyal side kick that lets her run the show as she is a natural born leader, but also works as a the voice of reason and logic to her. All the while having his own sub plot of being torn between chasing his love interest despite the danger it possesses. Or sacrificing his own desire for connection and love for fear of the consequences despite it meaning living a sad and eternally lonely life. Thats just a very brief summery of those two. They have a very close but complicated relationship with each other, like annoying siblings but imagine if you had to live with your siblings for centuries. And they all have there flaws (some more obvious then others) as well as dark, morbid and tragic histories but it makes them what the are today both the good, the bad and the downright problematic. And yeah i’d like to think one day i will write this out properly and others will read it and connect to or relate to these characters. Maybe love them, maybe hate them, maybe initially hate them, like is designed with Meredith, but come to truly love her once they begin to understand her and see her potential thats hidden under layers of ‘don’t fuck with me’. But until then they are my characters to play around with and build upon and thats exactly what i intend to do.

Sweet, spicy, or savory: Sweet!

Sparkling water, tea, or coffee: Can i say hot chocolate or juice?

Pets: Living with me is my son and best friend Gideon (he is a adult black male cat i adopted a year ago and he is the best thing that has ever happened to me.) Living with my sister is my family cat i grew up with named Maisey (she is a snobby fat cat with a beautiful coat and i love her although i don’t think she loves me/or anyone.) And then at my mums is her puppy Newfoundland Bentley (basically god combined a dumbass and a dog and made him) as well as my brothers turtle Pedro and my axolotl Voldemort (can’t fit his huge tank in my apartment so he stays with mum.)

I’m tagging: @bilvy @revradio @cxmeterydrxve @angryqueercrypted @prettyyy-boyyy @disenchanted-mona-lisa @burymeinpink @thotfrnk @r1ghtbackatitaga1n @solelll @gothbtchz @highhighhopless @re-imagine @x-give-em-hell-kid-x @greendayer @dramaticallydepressed @lyricsinmyblood-bloodinmylyrics & @imsopunkrxck obviously this isn’t a obligation, do this tag game only if you want. And if you weren’t tagged but wanna take part then do tag me in your own and i will read and like it as i love learning about my followers passions and interests!

#also this is the first time i have talked online about my alternate universe story and original characters #if you like what you hear and wanna know more as what i wrote was only the tip of the iceberg in regards to what there is to know about them #then hmu and ask any questions you have because i'd love to talk more about them because obviously they are both old as fuck #and therefor have a lot of back story and theres so many different aliments to the plot with a whole lot of side/sub plots #and other characters and i have done a load of research so as to have all of the stuff that i wrote based in the past to be historically #accurate and just yeah i know no one cares but if you do then please ask me about it because i have so much more to say!#also don't judge me even though i deserve it lol

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grelbin · 6 years ago

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Ooh for the ask game! Australia, Dmitri's Nightclub, Haiti, and/or the Contessa's Prison! :D

Australia: What’s your favourite Episode?

I’ll do one from each OG game!

Sly 1: Fire In The Sky! I love pretty much every level in this episode, and Panda King is one of my favorite boss fights in the entire series :D I’m also a huge sucker for snow levels, and I love the fire/ice theme going on!

Sly 2: This one is really hard, but I think I’ll settle with Jailbreak. We get our first ever non-Sly perspective for an episode intro/outro, Bentley gets some massive character development, and the missions are a lot of fun.

Sly 3: An Opera of Fear! Another hard choice :’D I’m a huge fan of the music and visuals of Venice, and Octavio is a really fun boss! But one of my favorite parts of the level is Murray’s character arc of blaming himself, leaving the Gang, and then coming back stronger than ever.

Plus it’s hard to beat the line, “That’s it! I’ll floss my teeth with your SPINE!!”

Dimitri’s Nightclub: What’s your favourite piece of music?

I can’t choose again so... THREE from each OG game??

Sly 1: Police Headquarters/Hideout Theme, Flame Fu, Bentley Comes Through

Sly 2: Neyla’s Theme, Canadian Wilderness, Jean Bison Fight

Sly 3: Menu Theme, Venice, Sly the Pirate Insults Pete

Haiti: What does Mz. Ruby say during the rhythm game portion of her boss fight?

I THINK she’s saying “DIG DAT VOO DOO”?? Maybe?!

Contessa’s Prison: What do you think about Bentley’s character development over the series?

Yes. VERY YES.

Bentley is my favorite character in the series and a major reason why is his character arc. He starts off as this anxious, kinda uptight little turtle, and grows up into such a strong-willed leader. Not to mention how he’s seriously amazing representation. I don’t want to make this too long askdgjs

Like. At the beginning of Sly 2, there’s a mission where you have to bomb support pillars in Dimitri’s nightclub. Sly calls Bentley to check up on him, but Bentley cuts him off as quickly as he can because he’s terrified and wants to stay safe.

But then he’s separated from the rest of the Gang, and even though it takes a lot of bravery, he comes out of his shell! He frees his brothers, he fights Jean Bison head-on... and when the Gang needs him back after the events of Sly 2, boy straps ROCKETS to his wheelchair and heads straight back out onto the field.

I appreciate him so much. Good turtle boy.

#thank you so much for sending these!#long post #sly cooper #secretmellowblog

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extraneousdominomask · 7 years ago

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Fashionably late, but here at last! It's time to meet finally face our favourite fox inspector in

Chapter Four: Synergetic Aesthetic

which, of course, is a nod to Dimitri's Kinetic Aesthetic (and one of my favourite chapter title puns). Dimitri may be absent, but his presence lingers in the background, like the wisp of a cookery fire.

After a bit of (rightful, if ineffectual) self-reflection from Judy regarding her Cowboy Cop tendencies, we open on her and Nick taking in some of the #zany characters running for election. This story is definitely a product of early 2016. Said candidates are, in order: -Frederick F. Fazbear Junior - the eponymous bear from Five Nights At Freddy's, although with that 'Junior' it's hard to say which version. Nick's crack about "a minimum of child deaths" is intentionally ambiguous. It's... probably fine. -Tortimor Sonchou - the previous mayor from Animal Crossing, before he retires in New Leaf. Suited my purposes nicely. Not a mammal, so strictly speaking he shouldn't be here, but if I gave Bentley a pass I can stretch it a bit. -Toriel Dreemurr - Goat Mom! From Undertale, of course. I needed a character who could conceivably be an actually decent mayor, and Tori was a great choice. Regal but grounded, and motherly through and through. Giving her the Special Power of motherhood was a lot of fun. -G. Bufufftlefumpter - an amalgam of two Gravity Falls characters, Mayor Euctace Huckabone Bufufftlefumpter and Gompers the (non-sentient) goat. -Taka "Scar" Kifalme, amoral fop. Wealthy, educated, and criminally lazy - sounds about right, wouldn’t you say? 'Taka' is from a dubiously canon book series, and is the best and only answer for what his parents actually named him. 'Kifalme' is just the Swahili for 'royalty', in grand Lion King tradition.

Blake Belladonna was also going to be a mayoral candidate, with the joke being she was unreasonably young ("How old is she? Like, seventeen?!"). A better idea solidified, so we'll be seeing her again soon. She was replaced here by Gompers, the candidate with least plot significance. There was going to be a joke where he'd be depicted eating a napkin or something at the fancy party near the end, but it can be hard to slip in quick jokes like that in a non-visual medium so it was scrapped.

Sly's ""disguise"" - blue parka with hands resting in the pockets - is a visual nod to Toriel's joking buddy, sans. No word on whether Sly's also wearing slippers. And, as ever, the pants situation continues to be ambiguous. "But as... eager as I am to get to know you personally," ten seconds in and already flirting. that's our boy.

I open Nick's scene with a quick moment of weakness before he slides his careful nonchalance back into place. That's something I always bear in mind when writing him; that cool exterior is masking a lot of stress. I probably overdo it, but hey.

"She was tall for a fox – taller than Nick, at any rate." yeah she's fuckin six foot, that's one and a half nicks While I'm thankful Zootopia mostly does away with the (very stupid) trope of Girl Furries Have Hair, I'm also thankful it doesn't remove it entirely - characters like Gazelle and Fru-Fru demonstrate it's still on the table. Carmelita's hair is a major part of her (great) design, so that would've potentially been awkward. moved 'Lita's badge from her necklace to her jacket, as per Sly 4's design, because I couldn't find a way of phrasing "her badge hung from a collar she was wearing" without it sounding incredibly kinky (and it ain't that kinda fanfic, bud) "There was something red and boxy on her belt – Nick assumed it was some kind of red box." #foreshadowing "She spoke with a noticeable accent." #world-building

“Oh, please. I'm not nearly as accomplished as the fox combat pilot.” This throwaway nod to StarFox predates the actual inclusion of said pilot's boyfriend rival in the story. Writing novel-length fanfictions as you go is a hoot.

I think Nick's knowledge of the city works as a pretty good excuse for justifying why Carmelita would partner with such a rookie. Don't want to prioritize him just because he's A Protagonist, y'know?

In retrospect, Judy's "vacation" is a little dubious. I spent a long time working out how to give her the freedom I wanted her to have; a concession of plot in what I think is otherwise a mostly character-driven story. I don't know if this deal is all that in-character for Bogo, and if accepting it so blandly is in-character for Carmelita (even when she's older and less strict). But here we are.

She gave him a wry smile. “I look forward to working with you, Nick.” she likes youuuuuuu

And here we see a good example of the angle I take when writing Nick. "Negative" isn't quite the word I'm looking for, but... compared to reveling in his undeniable strengths, I find his weaknesses and foibles a lot more interesting. Take it as a compliment, Nick. A character is only as interesting as his flaws. Case in point: Nick's here because of Judy. Entirely because of Judy. There's no indication he ever wanted to be a cop, more than a tailor or an actor or an underwear model. Judy's the one who thought (correctly) he'd have a good future in law enforcement. And if your personal and professional life did a total 180 due to the actions of just one person, I think it's fair to assume that you'd kind of cling to that person. But that's not healthy - not for anyone, and certainly not for a cop. Nick and Judy are a dream team, but it's Bogo's job to inject some reality. So Nick's arc is self-reliance; solidifying his aptitude as an officer without Judy, either alongside Carmelita or entirely by himself. This story has arcs. That still kinda surprises me.

“She could get transferred, or worse – something could...” “... Something could happen to her,” said Nick softly. and there's Judy’s arc. Death.

“Is there really a fox combat pilot?” ### “Yes, there is,” said Judy firmly. After using them so much last chapter, I couldn't resist throwing in one last Answer Cut. also it's literally true

When Sly claims he doesn't know what cops do when they actually catch someone, that's a) a subtle but powerful boast that he's never been arrested and b) a straight-up lie, because he's been a cop. Don't trust charming strangers you meet on park benches.

“Are you... still wearing your domino mask?” “Maybe.” he didn't take it off while in disguise in front of Carmelita, so when I write Sly, it never comes off. (He removed it between Sly 3 and 4 because he was No Longer A Thief. That's it.). One running gag I refuse to let go.

Speaking of, the theme of zeppelins (which I adore) also started here as a simple one-off joke. Like I said, writing these stories one chapter at a time is its own fun.

#of heists and hustles #h&h retrospective

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shadowsmystic-blog · 7 years ago

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Blue Bolt and the Birth of The Warlock Chapter 1: The Beginning

(Also Available to read on Ao3)

Superhero AU

Shadowhunters

Relationships~ Malec ~others to be added

The city of Idris is corrupted by gangs and power hungry tyrants.

After ten years of absence Alec Lightwood has returned to fulfil his destiny.

By day he's stinking rich and running the family business. Trying to juggle competitors and a meddling Journalist.

By night he's The Blue Bolt. A crime fighter armed with ancient gifts and the heart of a warrior.

This will be a multi-chapter, multi-part series!

Heros/Villains both positively psychotic and downright ridiculous!

(Loosely based on existing Superhero characters with plenty of references!)

“It’s been a difficult road. This victory has been for my Mother and Father who put their heart and soul into this company. Thank you everyone for your trust in me, your support in the future of Idris and believing that I can help light the way for future generations…I will work now with Mr Starkweather to make this company great once more...Thank you”

“Mr Lightwood!”

Dressed to the nines in his designer suit, jacket slung over his shoulder as he hurried down the steps of the courthouse, Alec was ecstatic with the results of the court ruling, but he had a lot of work do to both within his company and outside on the streets.

“Lightwood! Over here!”

Reporters surrounded him, microphones thrust in his direction, security covering all angles to ensure none of them could touch or get too close.

“Alec! What do you thing of th-”

Holding a hand up to wave to his adoring public he offered the perfect PR smile before slipping into the black bentley waiting for him, door slamming shut on the noise outside, tinted windows shielding him. Slipping the sunglasses from his face, tossing them onto the leather seat beside him, the screeching of tires and jolt of the car told him he was clear.

“Where to now sir?”

“Straight home please Sebastian… I’ve had enough for one day”

“Very well sir” The young driver gave a thumbs up, straightening his hat.

---

“-ink about the rumours about your partner?!” Magnus tried to grab the man’s attention as he got in his waiting car, groaning and flicking on his dictaphone, rewinding it, popping in his earphones and stepping back from the dispersing crowds.

“Well that was one big fail” He mumbled into the holes for the microphone. “Ten years since he left to stay with distant cousins...two months since he came home” Magnus hoisted his backpack up, pressing his glasses up his nose and getting to the steps of the courthouse.

“Alec Lightwood has taken back control from Starkweather...It seemed all too easy...” Magnus opened his phone running over the address from an anonymous tipster. “What are you up to Starkweather…” He frowned and put the phone away, heading home.

----

Alec tossed his jacket over the back of a leather armchair, collapsing onto it and picking up the paperweight from the side of it. Rolling it around in between his hands watching the room reflected in its warped image.

The Lightwood mansion was almost derelict. Up until a year ago his sister lived here. She’d moved out now to be closer to the city, but when Alec returned a couple of months ago he decided this was where he’d rebuild his parent’s legacy. From the ground up if he had to where it all began. Mr Starkweather had done his best, for that Alec was forever in his debt for stepping in.

Whistling out into the empty halls he put the paperweight back down, springing to his feet and heading upstairs, skipping the steps themselves to scale the wall, clutching the wooden panels and pushing off his feet to twist round and up over the railing.

“Sir” Alec was now perched on the bannister, arm outstretched to the light fitting. “Please be careful”

Alec smirked as Sebastian was removing his driving gloves, coat and hat.

“Aren’t I always?” He pushed off and swung across, hanging for a moment before throwing himself off to the second floor window sill, sitting down in front of the grand window above the entranceway. One of his favourite spots to look out on the skyline from the hills of the Lightwood land around his home.

“Will you be out tonight? Or shall I prepare I prepare supper?”

“I’ll be out...there’s far too much to do” He breathed out and pressed a hand to the glass.

“Far too much that isn’t your responsibility Sir”

“Maybe not...but someone needs to do what the police can’t”

“Still not your responsibility Sir..but enjoy the hunt nonetheless...I’ll prepare your gear”

“Yeah yeah..thanks” Alec waved his hand and lay on his back looking to the ceiling. Sebastian was wise beyond his years. Only a couple of years younger than Alec he took it upon himself to act as his guardian on his return. His father was one of the casualties alongside his parents all those years ago. Alec felt it was his duty to keep an eye on him in return.

---

Magnus squinted at the address on his phone, taking his glasses off to clean them before checking again. He was definitely in the right place. Looking up at the large factory he reached a door already slightly ajar. Using his small frame to slip inside, tugging his vest as it caught on a large nail.

“Urgh” He groaned and got free examining the hole. His Mother was going to kill him. Walking further in he lit up the torch on his phone. “Hello?” He called out, the echo was unnerving. Following the steps up to the second floor he took a glance over the edge or the walkway. Large tankards and barrels of a slightly sparkling water, pulling his tie off and lying on his front he lowered it down dipping it in and pulling it back up, sniffing the liquid. Smelt metallic. Coughing on the fumes from it he ran his fingers over it, running the gloopy consistency between his fingers. Gold flecks shone through. Eyes widening. What was this?

Magnus has spent the last two years of his career investigating Starkweather and the corruption he brought to Lightwood Inc.

“Is this the answer you wanted Journalist?”

Magnus jumped banging the back of his head on the bar and hissing holding it as he stood up, shining his light out into the darkness.

“Who-Who’s there” He used his other hand to grip onto his car keys between his fingers. “Are y-you the one wh-who sent me t-this a-a-address?” He stuttered out shifting round to try and get a glimpse of the man who spoke.

“Yes”

“S-so you w-want to help?”

“No...What I want...is for your meddling to end...you were just an annoyance at first...but now people are talking a little too loud these days” a dark figure stepped forward, he was much taller than Magnus who was shaking on his legs, gripping the keys tighter behind him.

“The public deserves to k-know the truth” Magnus tried to stand his ground against the bully in front of him. He’d come this far in his investigation. He couldn’t back down now.

“I was hoping you’d be more reasonable Bane” Before Magnus could speak he was shoved hard, throwing his arm out and catching the man’s hand with his keys on the way down, tumbling down and straight into the vat, sinking to the bottom with a thick splash.

Clawing up and grabbing at the edge he gasped for a breath, he couldn’t see, his eyes burning as he coughed up whatever the substance was.

The man gripped his bleeding hand and growled, grabbing a cable and ripping it straight from the wall, sparks flying out angrily from the torn end. Magnus used his fingers to try and pull the mix from his eyes, his vision blurred and he tried to make out the glowing above him, getting closer and closer, until the pain shot through his entire being, his screams drowned out as he slipped back from the edge back into the shining mass.

Wiping his hands the man looked down as the sparks flew in the water, the journalist was a necessary casualty. Unfortunate. But necessary. As he left into the night, the vat began to bubble and hiss, steam rising as a golden crusted hand thrust out and gripped the edge.

#malec fanfiction #shadowhunters fanfiction #superhero au

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any-dream-will-do · 8 years ago

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ALL THE SP ASKS

Okay, lmao. Here goes:

1. What would your form of magic be? Necromancy. Love me some emo, death shit. If I could be like Skul and do both that and Elemental magic that would be ideal though.

2. What is your taken name? Mercury Wells, haha.

3. Who's your favourite character? Skulduggery, definitely. He’s such a dick

4. Who's your favourite villain? Darquesse if she counts, Serpine if she doesn’t. So much #angst with both of them.

5. Would you rather be a zombie or a vampire? Vampire?? Who would want to have bits rot off them? Though I guess Nye could give me a new body . . .

6. How did you end up reading SP? I have this annoying friend who talked about the series a lot, so I was like “what the heck, I’ll try it.” No regrets.

7. What's your ultimate OTP? Tanith Low/Ghastly Bespoke. Rip my heart.

8. What's your favourite platonic relationship? Skul and Val, definitely.

9. Favourite book? The Last Stand of Dead Men. Good mix of angst and fluff, plus the battle scenes were so cool.

10. Who's death do you mourn the most? GHASTLY. HE WAS SO PURE.

11. Should there ever be a film? Netflix original series would be better.

12. Headcanons about Valkyrie? She likes to watch procedural cop shows as “practice” for her detective work. She gets Skulduggery to watch them with her sometimes and he spends the entire show pointing out evidence the TV cops miss.

13. Headcanons about Skulduggery? He really likes to sing, since he’s got such an amazing voice. Valkyrie makes him sing while they go on really long drives sometimes and he secretly loves it even though he complains.

14. Headcanons about the Dead Men? Every couple decades they meet up and have a boys’ night out. Many bars have been destroyed as a result of this. Skulduggery can’t drink so he’s always the sober friend, but he takes lots of pictures.

15. Headcanons about any character of your choice? China watches Gossip Girl, but only under the cover of darkness. Only one person ever found out and they were never heard from again.

16. Tell something about your OC, if you have one. Instead of having an object as the source of her Necromancy it would be Mercury’s ribcage.

17. What would your profession in the magical world be? Ideally? Sanctuary Detective, just so I could hang out with the skeleton man. Realistically? Probably like an Administrator or something who dies very early on.

18. Would you have any other weapons than magic? Swords are cool, or maybe a repossessed Reaper scythe.

19. One thing you would change in the books? Ravel being evil (or w/e he is). I don’t like that the Dead Men are betrayed by one of their own after everything they went through together . . . it feels kind of unrealistic. Also I hate it.

20. Is Derek your Golden God? He is the Devil himself.

21. Favourite SP blog here in Tumblr? @dexterandsaracen of course.

22. Bentley or Oompa-Loompa? What kind of question is this?? The Bentley obviously.

23. Favourite quote? There are so many good quotes in this series honestly. I love “The sparrow flies south for winter,” but my fav would have to be this exchange between Skul and Val:

“Now, if I fail, the odds are that you’ll fail too. And if they can kill me, they can most certainly kill you, in an undoubtedly horrible manner. But by then I’ll be past caring.”

“So . . . you really aren’t trying to protect me.”

“Not even remotely.”

24. If you'd be a teleporter or basically anyone with magic, would you do crimes in mortal world? I guess it would depend on my living situation. I’d def steal money from banks and stuff if I was poor and a teleporter.

25. Could you fool you family with a reflection? Definitely.

Thanks for the ask, yo. Now I have to get back to reading!

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dirkgentlyrus-blog · 8 years ago

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The interview with Arvind Ethan David.

Hello, it is the interview with Arvind Ethan David. Arvind is the producer of BBC America’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency & writer of IDW’s A Spoon Too Short and The Salmon of Doubt.

Hello, Arvind, at the beginning I want to ask you, how Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency has become TV series?

25 years ago, I read this book and loved it so much, I – with my friend, James Goss, adapted it as my school play. Then, at university, we did it again, and this time, amazingly, Douglas Adams himself came to see it!

That resulted in a many year friendship and launching my and James careers as writers and producers. Then, 3 years ago, the TV rights to the books finally reverted to the Adams Estate, and they asked me if I would be interested in relaunching the franchise. I said a big YES, and called my friend Max Landis and he said a big YES, and then the rest happened…

Can Dirk Gently become character-for-multiple-actors? Like James Bond or the Doctor?

He already has been! Many different actors have played him in my stage version — including the now famous Rory Kinnear, Stephen Mangan played him in a 3 episode series in 2010, and now of course, Sam Barnett is our perfect Dirk Gently.

The thing is, Dirk is such a unique and memorable creation, and so crazily specific in his character, that very different actors, as long as they are talented, and adhere to the basic truths about Dirk: his motor-mouth, his mixture of arrogance and innocence, and his belief in the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. Sam nails all of that and brings his own very special vulnerability and funny bones to it. He is the perfect dirk for the Millennial generation.

How many seasons you wish to release in? I mean the situation when you have carte blanche, green light and all this sort of things.

We are now deep into the writing and planning of season 2, which will be a glorious 10 episodes. We’ll keep going as long as audiences want us to. There is no shortage of impossible crimes for Dirk to solve… or at least try to solve.

The main theme of first season is time travelling. What will we see in season two? Conspiracies, parallel worlds, gods, aliens or, maybe, conspiracies of alien gods, who come from another dimension?

Sorry, no spoilers! But you are right to notice that each season is going to take one big sci-fi or fantasy trope and run with it. Or dance with it, as likely.

As we see, Dirk from the TV series loves pizza like his book counterpart. And what about his smoking habit?

Unlike too many Russias, Dirk has figured out that smoking is a filthy habit which will kill you even faster than time-traveling cultists.

What do you think about crossover with Doctor Who? Is it possible? I think, it will be symbolic: Dirk Gently came into the world from Doctor Who’s Shada & City of Death, and finally, after 30 years of the character’s life, Dirk finally meets the Doctor. (Yes, it is very important question, as most Dirk Gently’s fans from Russia are also big fans of Doctor Who)

You are completely right about the history here. Douglas Adams was the lead writer on Doctor Who in the 80s, and after he left the show, he took the ideas from some unproduced scripts and reworked them as the first Dirk Gently novel, with Dirk taking the Doctor’s place and Professor Regius Chronotis being a retired Time-Lord. You are also right that a cross-over would be wonderful… not entirely in my gift, but something I’d love to see as much as you would!

Several days ago I read an article on the Digital Spy site about possible Stephen Mangan’s cameo in the first season. Can you tell us more about it? Is it possible that we will see Mangan in season two?

No promises, and no spoilers. But I’d love for Stephen to come play with us.

Who is your favourite character from the TV series & books?

Dirk, of course! With Bart a close second.

Will we see another characters from books in the following seasons of the TV series? Maybe. Like I say, no spoilers and no promises.

Do you have any plans on publishing of novelization of 1st season?

We’re talking about it but for the moment, the comics are the only new print versions, and serve to tie together the TV series and the books.

About Bentley the Corgi: was he a disciplined actor? Any funny moments with him? - That dog is fan favourite!

Bentley, the Gently dog…! He’s a sweet heart and became a better actor with each passing day. I actually gave a whole interview about him, you can find it here

Arvind Ethan David’s Twitter page

#arvind ethan david #interview #Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

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thecosydragon · 7 years ago

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My latest blog post from the cosy dragon: Interview with Sue Bentley

An Interview with Sue Bently, author of We Other

Tell me a bit about your writing history so far.

A personal favourite from my other published works – it’s difficult to choose a favourite as I also write sparkly books about magic animals for kids. Very different, to We Other! But if I had to choose a title – it would be A Summer Spell, the first title of this series of books for ages 5-9 years, also written as Sue Bentley.

My first novel – well there were a few turkeys! But I learned a lot from the mistakes made when writing them. I had high hopes for Mooncaste, an historical novel inspired by an iron-age, hill-fort close to where I live. I hand wrote it in three notebook. It was never published, but I did get an agent on the back of that book.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

I work best when writing to commission. A dead-line is wonderfully motivating. My children’s series were written in concentrated bursts of energy, but each book was quite short. I haven’t been commissioned by a publisher for a while. The publishing world has changed a lot. We Other was a much bigger undertaking. It’s a complex novel, aimed at an older readership. I did a lot of research before beginning to write, made notes about the main characters, and wrote a detailed plot outline. I find it works for me to live with characters for a while before diving in – maybe for a few months. But when the urge to write is too strong, I’ll begin. It would be easy to be seduced by doing research, which I love, but I have to force myself to call a halt. We Other probably took around 3 years to write, all told.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

I’m lucky enough to have a room of my own, where most of the writing is done. I write directly onto my desktop. I scribble notes on bits of paper, which pile up on my desk. I also take notebooks and research books with me to cafes and sit writing in longhand, which I type up later. I like writing with a pencil. There’s something about the way ideas flow, but I couldn’t write entirely in long-hand. I’m a perfectionist and do a lot of re-writing as I go along, so any piece of paper would soon be unreadable with all the crossings-out and notes in the margins.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I have close writing friends who will read and comment on work in progress. I do the same for them. Over time I’ve developed a good instinct for when a passage is working. I also know when it isn’t right and will re-write as many times as I need to, before finishing a first draft. There are usually cuts and more edits to make before I finally show it to my agent or publisher. And then more to do when working with an editor.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I’ve always loved everything about books, their smell and feel. Opening a new book is such a pleasure – better than a box of chocolates. I enjoy browsing bookshops – especially small independents. Haye-on-Wye, a small town in Herefordshire, is my favourite place to go as it’s full of bookshops, cafes, and vintage shops. But I also enjoy browsing larger bookshops like Waterstones and Foyles. I buy books online too, and can’t resist looking at the shelves in charity shops. I’m also a regular user of my local public library. I’m never without a book in my bag.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and do you have a favourite author who sticks in your mind from your different life stages?

Historical. I started with these, as I enjoy being lifted out of the every day. But I also like fantasy, magic-realism, gritty dark fairy fiction, gothic and dystopian fiction. I enjoy crime now and then. A good psychological thriller with a fantasy or historical setting can be good. From childhood, I enjoyed traditional fairy tales, some sword and sorcery stuff, anything unusual. The works of BB. A local author who wrote some fabulous books about the last gnomes left in England, rich with details of the natural world, made a huge impression on me as a child. As did Jane Gaskell and Michael Moorcock, when I was growing up. I’ve been inspired by Diana Norman, Tanith Lee and latterly Teri Windling, Holly Black, Stef Penney, Carol Birch, and so many others.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

Social Media is a mixed blessing. For authors it’s a great way of bringing your work to the attention of readers and it’s great to keep in touch with other writers and friends. Writing is a solitary craft, which is fine most of the time as I’m comfortable in my own company. I sometimes use social media for research, but it’s easy to become distracted, when you ought to be working. At the moment I manage my own profile, which can be very time consuming. I try to limit posting on FB, Twitter and Goodreads to the evenings, but don’t always succeed. Two or Three hours can go by without me noticing. I’m presently about to have a major overhaul of my website and I’ll then write a regular blog. I’m constantly learning how to make the best use of social media.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! I try to make my questions as interesting as possible, is there anything else you wished I had asked? And tell me honestly… Are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

This Q and A session – the questions were interesting and stimulating – thanks Rosemarie! Yes it takes a while to answer all of them. Makes you think hard – which is no bad thing. Was I tempted to recycle my answers from one interview to the next? Yes and no. Yes – because it would have been less work and some of my answers may have been of interest to readers. No – because it’s a privilege to be asked to contribute to a blog and I’m grateful for the opportunity and the time you’ve taken with this. The least I can do is try to be honest and provide full answers. I hope your readers will enjoy reading this interview. It’s been a pleasure.

from http://ift.tt/2hMDfi8

#book bookreviews authorinterviews lovereading bookworm

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fuckyeahgoodomens · 4 years ago

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The link.

With the (virtual) BAFTA Television Craft Awards this Friday evening and Milk’s work on Good Omens up for an award in the special, graphic and visual effects category, our Emmy Award-winning VFX Supervisor Jean-Claude Deguara (AKA ‘JC’) revisits his best moments from the project.

“Making the VFX for Good Omens was one of the most enjoyable projects I’ve ever been part of. It’s not often you get to create VFX in a comedy context and we absolutely loved the opportunity to help bring to life (author and showrunner) Neil Gaiman and (director) Douglas Mackinnon’s vision for Good Omens and to honour the wonderful imagination of Terry Pratchett. (Good Omens was adapted for the screen by Neil, from his comedy novel co-written with Terry in 1990).

It’s tricky to say which was the most memorable from our list of creative briefs….to create a 400 foot giant Satan that has to burst out of the tarmac on an airfield; to recreate an alien spaceship with lolly sticks for legs, based on the drawings of Douglas’ 10 year old daughter; to work out how to visually show David Tennant’s demonic character Crowley travelling through the internet in pursuit of another demon or to fill a call centre with maggots!?!

As we broke down the scripts with Neil and Douglas in the early days of the project, it was clear the challenge was going to be the sheer variety and volume of the VFX work – 650 shots across six episodes – added to a fast 5 month post production turnaround with a VFX crew of 60!

Many of our bigger VFX features like Satan and the Kraken, only appear once in the entire series, as the story moves swiftly towards the Apocalypse (which has to be stopped by tea time!); so we had to strike a really careful balance between delivering impact, yet ensuring they were grounded in reality and so immediately recognisable.

Having continuous access to Neil throughout production and post was brilliant – he would often quote directly from the book to guide us creatively as we developed concepts. There was no question that couldn’t be answered! You don’t often get that level of detail when you’re developing VFX.

We created everything from creatures (a Hellhound; a demon and a snake as well as Satan and the Kraken) to environments (Heaven – which was a penthouse with views of major world landmarks and a busy Soho street); to feathered wings and a whole range of effects work including setting the M25 on fire!

But my favourite part of all the work we created was the beautiful digital Bentley that you see the demon Crowley speeding around London in. Crowley had to drive it through ‘hell fire’ on the M25 when it car catches fire and burns continuously as he heads towards the site of Armageddon for the climax of the story.

The production located a real Bentley 3.5 Derby Coupe Thrupp & Maberly 1934 and we modelled it in intricate detail to create a CG asset that would hold up in a range of full screen shots. One of the most brilliant moments for me and my crew was when the production brought the Bentley to our studio in Fitzrovia one day, so that they could see it in close up detail, to touch and feel it for the ultimate reference.

We’re really excited to have received a BAFTA TV Craft nomination for Good Omens and I’m incredibly proud of every member of our talented team and all the hard work they put in.

Congratulations too, to our partners in crime Real SFX and Molinare’s colourist Gareth Spensley – who we share the nomination with.

Watch our VFX reel here…

#good omens #jc deguara #visual effects #interview

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extraneousdominomask · 7 years ago

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So, uh... in light of recent events, I have something of an announcement.

I think Neyla is definitively my favourite character.

I’ve said before that I loathe Le Paradox not just for what he is, but what he represents. As a character, I don’t enjoy watching him, but even worse, he reminds me of all I dislike about Sly 4. Most of my major problems can be linked back to him, if only tangentially. And that’s a deadly combination. I could forgive one of those things, but believe me, it’s very, very hard to forgive both.

Neyla’s the opposite. I love her as a character, yeah. I love her mannerisms and her M.O. and her stupid fucking accent. But more than that, when I think of what makes Sly 2 my favourite game - the reasons it’s claimed that spot for over a decade - the first thing I see is always her. Neyla, arms folded, smirking.

Neyla, moreso than any other character, represents one thing I love to see out of the series, and the one thing I’ll always want to see more of: arcs. Weaving a story through the entire game instead of cutting it into pieces.

Yeah, I know. It’s styled on a Saturday morning cartoon. The episodic narrative is intentional, and very much part of the charm. But there’s more potential here! Potential I think only Sly 2 properly explores. At the end of the day, it’s not a cartoon, it’s a series of video games. A medium that inherently withholds content from you unless you pass through earlier stuff. It lends itself perfectly to longer narratives. Sly Cooper could’ve been built like a “Netflix show” long before that was ever even a phrase.

That’s what makes Sly 2 my favourite. The others have plenty to love, but out of the entire series, Band of Thieves is the one with the most unbroken narrative. The one that builds most organically. Every time Neyla shows up - especially when you don’t expect her! - it adds to the experience. It’s a reminder that this isn’t just a series of supervillain lairs, it’s an entire world, full of different people seeking different things. Many of them willing to kill you.

And! On top of that! Out of all the characters, Neyla is the possibly the clearest showcase of the central moral: friendship makes you strong. And, conversely, selfishness leaves you weak.

Every major villain is a cool representation of selfishness, and that’s it’s own (rad) post. So because this is already long, I’ll point out what’s unique about Neyla: she’s the only one who forges alliances purposefully to break them.

Neyla works alongside every other faction in the game: Interpol, the Cooper Gang, the Klaww Gang, Arpeggio. She’s able to cozy up to all of them easily, giving her a vast amount of power. And what does she do with that power? Those huge seams of Friendship, the most powerful force in the known universe? Casually discard it when it suits her, in a string of remorseless betrayals.

When an ally of the Cooper Gang falls, they stop to help them back up. When an ally of another villain falls, they leave them and keep going. When an ally of Neyla’s falls, it’s because she pushed them.

And yeah, it works. She successfully twists everyone else to her own ends, hijacks Arpeggio’s plan at the exact moment where she gets maximum return for minimum effort. She achieves her goal of immortality!

For a solid three hours.

Then, everyone left standing gangs up on her and tears down everything she’s built. Carmelita hates Neyla so much, and has been left so desperate from how Neyla left her, that she joins with the Cooper Gang to successfully fight back. And if any of the Klaww Gang were still in the game, they sure as hell wouldn’t have helped Neyla. Man, a villainous team-up against her would’ve kicked ass...

So, yeah. You want to portray your message in positive terms, of course - seeing Bentley break his friends out of prison is another high point of the entire series. But it’s all the more effective to contrast What To Do against What Not To Do. Neyla demonstrates that burning bridges and stabbing backs can be effective in the short term... but eventually you will find yourself with nowhere to turn, no more trust to betray. No more friends. Only those you’ve wronged, surrounding you from all sides. And instead of immortality, a swift, ignominious death.

Finally, on a more subjective note... she’s an evil, purple kittycat with an unusual weapon and a love of lying. That’s my exact aesthetic. I’d say Neyla’s the reason those things are my aesthetic, except I’ve loved cats and the colour purple for as long as I have been an entity with consciousness. But she’s probably to blame for the lying thing.

#sly cooper #neyla #constable neyla #long post #HISTORY'S GREATEST MONSTER #my girl #my horrendous backstabbing blackhearted girl #death mention

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extraneousdominomask · 7 years ago

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I don't understand the hate for Sly 4. Can you explain why you think the game sucked?

Alright. I’ll give you a summary of the major issues I have with Sly 4, and try to keep it brief. Here’s an itemized list of 30 years of disagreements (Sweet Jesus):

-First off, the first half of the game is fucking incredible. (If that sounds like a weird place to start, that’s only because it is.) The opening recaptures the spirit of the games wonderfully - and given I was a returning fan, fresh off an eight-year hiatus, that was amazing - Japan is beautiful and builds well, and Cotton Mouth Bluff is probably my favourite level in the entire damn franchise.Even leaving aside how I can’t pretend bad installments of my favourite things didn’t happen - that’s just not how my brain works - part of the reason Sly 4 irks me is because it had so much goddamn potential. It’s an updated Sly Cooper game where he and the Gang go on time-adventures. We were so close to something incredible. This should, by rights, be my favourite game in the series, and also of all time.I’m angry because I care.

-Carmelita’s redesign. She was already a very sexualized character, but she used to have sensible jeans and a sense of vaguely realistic athleticism. Sanzaru insisted on pushing the sexualization further, and since we started at a pretty advanced point, it got taken to frankly disgusting levels. Her waist terrifies me. You can see her ribs. The badass Interpol inspector is now worryingly underweight. It legitimately creeps me out.

-I don’t like the caveman level. This is the least analytical gripe, I admit that. I just… don’t like the caveman aesthetic. Never liked the Flintstones or anything similar. That’s just subjective.What’s not subjective is how the Gang ending up in just the right place and time to stumble across another of Le Paradox’s lieutenants is a strong contender for the least likely coincidence in all of fiction. But whatevs. Them improvising an escape while falling down a cliff was cool.

-Likewise, as Cooper ancestors go, Bob is very underwhelming. He’s a big ugly block who reuses the Guru’s joke. Instead of Henriette or Slaigh or anybody else in the Vault or Henriette, we got this guy. Great.

-The Grizz. Unfunny character with an awful boss fight. Complete bungling of what a graffiti is or does or sounds like. Unnervingly racist.

-The Penelope twist. Good god in heaven, what even was that? I mean, I was interested. I gave the game the benefit of the doubt, all ears for what the explanation was. Unfortunately, that explanation never came. We’re still not sure what the hell was going through Penelope’s head. She’s just evil now. A lovable character, funny and endearing and not overly sexualized (which in this series is rare), just… twisted. For no real reason.There’s zero textual information justifying her decisions. Especially because the focus is entirely on Bentley, giving her no room to explain herself. And sure! Bentley’s great, I love him, but I also love Penelope and I also love(d) their in-practice painfully brief relationship. I want Geeks in Love doing Crimes Together, not a half-assed betrayal twist.

-Ms Decibel. Irritating to watch. Retread of both Octavio and the Contessa. Has no reason for having mind control powers. The fact it’s just “ha ha there is a trumpet in her nose” genuinely irritates me. This isn’t hard sci-fi, but it ain’t Looney Tunes either. Try harder.The Joke Is That She Is Fat And Ugly. Ha Ha Ha.

-The Carmelita belly dance. Sweet CHRIST. If I keep coming back to this, it’s because it’s gotten me progressively angrier ever since the first time I played it and felt an uncomfortable churn in my gut.This shit is genuinely disturbing. She is coerced. Why did Sanzaru think this was a good idea? Everybody in the writer’s room signed off on this; anyone who may have wanted to stop it didn’t manage to. Then it got animated and designed and Grey DeLisle was called into the booth to voice how beloved strong-willed icon of my childhood Inspector Carmelita Fox was deeply uncomfortable with this sexual act three men she was close to were forcing her to perform. I don’t find this shit amusing. Kids play these fucking games, man.

-Carmelita’s (lack of) use in general. She gets some good moments when she’s first dragged along, again making Tennessee’s level the best. Then she storms off during Bob’s. Then, after wandering back and calming down? Next to nothing. She’s barely there.Bentley shutting down over Penelope’s betrayal was a perfect opportunity for her to take charge and show off her tactical prowess as an officer. What did we get? “Uh… let’s go with Galleth’s plan, then walk forward through Penelope’s front gate. idk guys” Outside of objectifying her, Sanzaru had no idea what to do with her, and it shows.

-The underwhelming climax. The finale of Sly 2 felt earned. The original three all had great final acts, but I bring up the second because it resembles the fourth. In both, there’s a last-minute upset where everything the Gang has accomplished so far is suddenly snatched away.But Sly 2 built that feeling. From the moment Jean Bison sees through the Gang’s disguises, things get worse and worse. The time they spend in stony silence, hiding in that battery, really creates a sense of encroaching dread. Things are going wrong, but they’re going wrong slowly. And that’s worse.Sly 4 - perhaps due to a dwindling budget - rockets through where that suspense should be. “Le Paradox showed up and stole Carmelita and then his plan worked and he was king of everything and we were sad but we went to fight him anyway.” wow. my emotions. i’m so invested.One of the lines I can particularly remember is “I don’t ever remember feeling so defeated.” Oh, you don’t, Sly? Not when you lost every Clockwerk Part at once? Not when Clockwerk was reassembled and Neyla merged with him? Not when you watched your parents be murdered in front of you?It’s 100% Tell, 0% Show. That’s not how you do a finale.

-Le Paradox. God. Just… god. Obnoxious in a way that isn’t entertaining. An awful, nasty character who does not receive an adequate level of comeuppance for his overblown, overwrought crimes. Rapey. He hates Sly for something Conner did; Sly has no agency here, he’s just a victim, pulled into the story because he’s directly threatened over something he had no part in. That’s bad writing. Bad writing which retreads other, more interesting antagonists.Doesn’t hold a candle to Clockwerk, Arpeggio, Neyla or Dr M. Unlike them, Le Paradox survives his game, which a) feels like too light a punishment if everybody else got a dramatic death and b) creates the worrying prospect they intend to bring him back. Ugh. Would work fine as an insignificant filler villain; instead, has means, power level, and (intended) gravitas outstripping Clockwerk. Total disconnect between his persona and his stupid, childishly powerful plan.Bigger =/= better.Skunks don’t come from France.

And, of course, the grand finale. The last thing to happen to Sly Prime. To this day, four and a half years later, the current state of the original series, and what may well be the overall ending at this point no matter what Sanzaru originally intended long-term. Everybody sing along at home~!

-A terrible cliffhanger ending with no sequel greenlit!

There. That about covers it. For me, anyway. Everybody has their own take.For the record, every box in that brain meme is a genuine opinion of mine. Sly 4 is most certainly a Sly game. It has amazing art and great moments. It brought in a ton of new fans, and kept the franchise going. That can’t be undervalued.But it’s the most flawed installment by a wide, wide margin. Sly 1 was rough, but a lot of that feels like beginner’s jitters. 4′s flaws feel more like huge, enthusiastic strides in the wrong goddamn direction, made by well-meaning people who are super excited to bring the franchise to places I do not want it to go. Like Sexual Objectification Town.

I don’t hate it blindly, but I can’t pretend I love it. I’m not gonna repress my negativity. This is my blog where I talk about Sly Cooper. And when I talk about Sly 4, I won’t skip over its flaws. In the vague hope that maybe, if I explain how and why these things don’t work, there’ll be less of these mistakes in the world. For my own writing, if nothing else. Straightening out my emotions into coherent, rational analysis. Looking toward the future.

…that and because it’s cathartic.

#iamkel14 #sly 4 #long post #Skunks don't come from France #I will not equivocate on my opinion #I have always worn it on my sleeve #rant

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