#car detailing Edinburgh

[rrcarvaleting]

When it comes to keeping your car in pristine condition, the key is in the details. From the gleaming exterior to the spotless interior, a well-maintained vehicle not only looks great but also maintains its value over time. In Edinburgh, auto wash and valet services are the go-to solution for car owners who demand the perfect shine every time.

[embracing-the-ineffable]

Ineffable discontinuity and the Bentley's roadtrip transformation: new back doors and other changes (after it was yellow), and Crowley... didn't notice?!*

*Also, as a side observation, did he leave the Bentley window open during the ball and everything that happened after? Why?

Have you been longing to be even more perplexed by the ineffable discontinuity of Good Omens season 2? Do you love endless data in the form of screencaps? If so, then please join me on this wild ride! Here are some highlights:

Top photos: Season 1, episode 6, after Adam reboots reality; S2e2, before Aziraphale's e3 road trip. The Bentley is a gray and black 2-tone car with 2 doors (only 1 handle is visible on each side).

And on the bottom is s2e5, while Crowley is driving, it's a solid black car with 4 doors and smaller silver hubcaps.

(edit: For those of you thinking about the different Bentley models used in s1 vs s2 (discussed in detail below), or the difference between the full car and half car set, just those three full car pictures above demonstrate that the new s2 Bentley model is NOT the reason for this mid-season shift. For more details about the half car set plus other ways to tell the Bentleys apart - without talking about color - see my newer post with handy diagrams, here.)

And the s2 interior?

Here's e1, after Crowley talks to Shax, and e3, as Aziraphale arrives in Edinburgh (which is also when the Bentley debuts as a 4-door). And look at this blocking - how both characters are posed so similarly with their backs to us in these shots!! It's so deliberate! :

And look at the seats! In e2, Crowley is talking to Shax again, and in e5, Crowley just parked the Bentley before the ball:

When Crowley, who is so tuned in that he senses the car is yellow and driving too slow even from a distance, sees the "new" Bentley in e4, he doesn't act as though anything has changed, he just happily and purposefully walks up and opens the back door that was never there to put his plants inside.

THE BACK DOOR THAT WAS NEVER THERE

For that matter, Crowley and Aziraphale both seem to be unaware of the changes! This feels like both a metaphor and a functional plot device for season 3. There's more discussion at the end of this post!

Thanks to comments and observations awhile back from @bbbitchvibbbez , I did some careful searching for s2 scenes featuring the Bentley, and this post is the labor of love and irrational obsession result!

If you want to see lots more Bentley screencaps and discussion, including Crowley nonchalantly using the new back door, and possibly also leaving the Bentley window open during the ball and everything that followed, please keep reading:

Some background and context:

Ok, so there was a different Bentley "actor" for s2. The s1 actor was a 2-door, the s2 actor is a 4-door. If you look carefully, you'll see that in s1 the backseat side windows are smaller than the front side windows. In s2, they're the same size. I talk more about the windows - with handy diagrams! - in my newer Bentley post, here.

There's also been some controversy about the interior color of the s2 Bentley, black vs brown, and how that could relate to the s2 body swap theory; here are details about that from @lonicera-caprifolium and @picturesque-about-it. I don't think my findings support (or disprove) that theory, but take a look at what I found and see what you think!

(*Please don't ask Neil about any of this, he's already given us the answers he wants to give, and he's not going to spoil the surprises in s3 now by telling us what's really going on!*)

Here's the episode/scene breakdown:

S2e1 on the street with Shax - gray, two toned, two doors (one visible door handle on a side), brown interior - both the seats and the inside panel of the door. Notice how the door is hinged at the back, and opens opposite the way most modern cars do (this is called a suicide door):

More s2e1 photos, the Bentley is in a lot of scenes this episode and as far as I can tell it stays the same gray 2-door for the whole episode, but it's frequently in dark lighting to make it harder to tell it isn't actually black (I've brightened most of these shots). It also has larger silver hubcaps, and I notice consistent brown seats (these interior pics are from three different scenes):

In s2e2, the Bentley is only in two scenes, and it's the same as s2e1. Now, you can see in the larger photo below that it's obviously not the SAME as s1 - the backseat side windows are too long - but the production team DID try to make the new Bentley "actor" look the same as in season 1. It's a gray 2-tone car with 2 doors (1 handle visible on each side) with larger silver hubcaps. As an aside, what's with the red lights on the car in this shot?? I mean, yes, it's a reflection of another car's brake lights, but why put that onscreen?

Also, in case it's relevant, Crowley is wearing his turtleneck throughout this episode, and still has the silver-sided glasses from e1:

Ok, now we have s2e3, and as Crowley meets Muriel and gives Aziraphale his car keys, we see he's no longer wearing the turtleneck, AND this is when his glasses change to black-sided ones:

Outside, we see the Bentley looks the same as the rest of s2 thus far, as Aziraphale sets off for Edinburgh. Gray 2-tone, brown interior (with window bullet hole decals very visible), with larger silver hubcaps. There's only one handle visible, so it's still meant to look like a 2-door:

Ok, here's where things start to change! Azi is driving and the Bentley is yellow. The seats might (?) be black, there's still only one door handle on the side, the silver hubcaps are still larger. But when he "changes it back", NOW it's black:

And by the time he pulls into Edinburgh, Transformation Complete. (Did Something Else Happen?? Or is this an effect of Aziraphale finally being welcome to take care of this extension of Crowley? More speculation at the end!) It's a black 4-door, two handles clearly visible on the side, with smaller silver hubcaps:

And the interior? The door panel, at least, is black now - and it has a texture that wasn't there when it was brown. Here's e1 next to e3 (and appreciate, again, this very intentional parallel blocking of the two actors!):

In s2e4, we see the Bentley in two scenes; at the beginning when Aziraphale meets Shax-as-hitchhiker, where we see the bullet holes and the black door lining, and at the end when the Bentley is reunited with Crowley:

When Aziraphale parks the Bentley back at the bookshop, we see the bullet hole decals and that it's still a black 4-door:

So he goes to meet Crowley, they come back with the plants. We can see that the camera is to the rear of the car, and the front of the car is to their left. They're standing on the left side of the car. If Crowley opens the door, we won't see the interior door panel, right? Because the Bentley doors are hinged on the back, instead of the front, so the door will open towards us:

WELL. Mx "I can feel when you drive below the speed limit" and "change it back!" Crowley very eagerly walks up to the BLACK car, greets it with some sweet baby talk, and then opens the suddenly-existing BACK door with a hinge on the front (so it opens away from us) as if this is All Perfectly Normal, and we can (barely) see the door lining and it's BLACK and textured:

A few more shots of Crowley, standing at the brand-new back door of the Bentley, still wearing those black-sided glasses:

And in case you're wondering, in s1e2 when Anathema gets a ride in the Bentley, she climbs into the backseat from the front driver door, and she climbs out through the front passenger door. There wasn't a back door on either side. Here she climbs into the Bentley, and you can see Crowley fold down the front seat, and there's clearly only one door on that side, and it's hinged at the back. (When she gets out on the passenger side, it's harder to see, but you can tell that door is also hinged at the back.) :

In s2e5, Crowley drives the Bentley to the bookshop, and then we only catch a few small glimpses of it while Aziraphale is recruiting shopkeepers to the meeting/ball. Here's Crowley driving the black 4-door Bentley with small silver hubcaps, and here he is getting out of the car with black seats. The front door is still hinged at the back, as it always has been. The window is open - his hand is reaching through to open the door - so we can't see the bullet hole decals:

The next time we see more than a hint of the Bentley, it's the end of s2e6 and Crowley is standing next to it, watching Azi leave with the Metatron. It's still black, with 4 doors and black seats and smaller hubcaps. We don't see the bullet hole decals, but perhaps the window is still open from when he parked it in e5? (And WHY would he leave the window open? Was someone supposed to come by after he parked it to deliver something to the Bentley, or take something out?) Emotional photos ahead:

I over exposed that last picture, to make the colors really easy to pick out. The seats are absolutely, definitely black.

So... what does it mean? Why did it happen, and why didn't Crowley notice or react?

I love the metaphor that Aziraphale subconsciously created a back door for - or into - Crowley, especially with all those references to the "back channels" of communication between heaven and hell. I'm thinking it could represent - or actually be - another way for them to communicate, or like another entrance to his heart; it's something that Aziraphale doesn't realize he changed or added and that Crowley hasn't noticed yet either, even if he's making use of those changes on some level. I'm sure other metaphors could also fit!

And I'm reminded of something @theeminentlyimpractical said, "Crowley, despite his whining, fully accepts the idea of "our car," which fundamentally transforms the Bentley". That post was liked by Neil, so there could definitely be something to this "our car" transformation line of thinking.

So, was the transformation a subconscious effect of Aziraphale finally being welcome by Crowley to drive the Bentley, and caring for and taking responsibility for this part of Crowley? Or did Aziraphale consciously do this, or did Crowley? Or maybe the Bentley is sentient, and it chose to be bigger/different now, to accommodate both of them. Or did the change happen in response to Something Else We Didn't See?

Is Crowley's (and Aziraphale's) apparent non-reaction another example of an unreliable narrator or some memory tampering? Is manipulation of the Book of Life involved? Are there multiple timelines? Is someone time traveling? Or is it just that Aziraphale and Crowley already discussed the changes off screen, before Aziraphale left Edinburgh?

If Crowley noticed the changes, I would have expected a comment about them. Either, "change it back!" or a reluctant, "those are changes I can live with", or... Something. But instead, the production team went to some trouble to make sure the hints are there, but hard to spot (you can review the similar, careful s1 hints about the appearance swap here, from @fuckyeahgoodomens); as opposed to, for one example, the way they very clearly pointed out Maggie's mysterious spelling mistake, both on screen and in the dialogue. So I feel reasonably certain the Bentley's transformation is a careful, subtle hint about a Secret Something Important That Will Be Revealed In Season 3. I think it's both a metaphor and a plot device*.

What are some of your favorite metaphors? Your most reasonable theories? What about some of your biggest, wildest, most improbable theories?

*And if you enjoy Good Omens metas, theories, clues, etc, I have a big pinned collection of those from the fandom, here!

[ineffable-endearments]

Crowley and His Plants in Season 2

I've got this complicated post about Aziraphale and the bookshop brewing, but I want to give Crowley and his plants their own post.

It's really important that Crowley hung onto his plants for juicy characterization and symbolic and thematic reasons. It's a major character development portrayed with relative subtlety, an excellent example of Showing, Not Telling, and I think it's a thrilling sign for Crowley's character development.

Before having a chance to think about it, I thought keeping the plants in his car was a funny and odd - but sweet - detail to include. In fact, it was so sweet that it was one of those "felt like fanfic" things!

In Season 1, and in the novel, the plants were very much there for trauma reenactment, for Crowley to vent his hurt and fear and anger and betrayal onto. In a sense, they seemed to be Crowley's way of roleplaying with himself, if we assume they were only sentient because Crowley thought of them that way. Through the dynamic of yelling at his plants, which he assumed could understand him, Crowley could emotionally act out both the terrified, powerless plant (subconsciously) and the big scary entity threatening it with destruction (consciously).

If we take everything at face value, we can also guess that Crowley disposed of plants that he no longer liked because of their imperfections, which would seem to imply he didn't have much of an attachment to them. Where they went doesn't matter that much to this particular line of theorizing. He could have given them to his elderly neighbor, he could have plunked them in a community garden, he could have left them on a doorstep, he could have shredded them in the garbage disposal. In any case, they were gone from his kingdom.

And after Season 1, I wondered if he would care to keep the plants if he wasn't using them to act out trauma anymore.

But in Season 2, the plants are in fact the ONLY thing from the flat that Crowley has hung onto as he moved into his car. Sure, it's possible that he has other possessions squirreled away somewhere and he just carries the plants around because they need sunlight, but most of the other possessions go unmentioned, so we have to guess that the plants are specifically important. They're also important enough to follow him into the bookshop and back to the car instead of just staying in the car for the trip to Edinburgh.

We also don't see a single instance of Crowley berating the plants in Season 2, but they do still express his emotions somewhat (shaking when he's afraid). He still has whatever subconscious connection to them he was experiencing before. Notably, there's at least one scene where a brown spot is visible on a plant, so whatever Crowley's doing, he's not getting rid of the plants like he used to.

This seems like an obvious example of Crowley's attachment to Earth condensed into a handy symbol. Crowley has started to admit to himself that he cares about these helpless living things, that he just likes them for their own sake. They're not a sign of a job well done for Hell. They're not a memory of Aziraphale. They're not a tool to make life easier or numb the pain. They're just Life On Earth and Crowley likes to have them.

Crowley has gone from using his plants as a tool for trauma reenactment to holding onto his plants because he has a genuine attachment to them. And, for a character whose arc I believe is going to involve forming more outward connections to others, that's a big deal.

Crowley's still got a ways to go. He's carrying these plants around, but the Bentley can't be an ideal environment for them. The whole process of driving them around, not to mention bringing them in and out of the bookshop, has to be kind of awkward for Crowley, too. It's very reminiscent of a character whose attachment to Earth is ambivalent, but who is moving in the right direction.

I wonder what'll happen next. His progress could be relatively linear, wherein he just goes off and forms more connections to humans on Earth after Aziraphale goes back to Heaven.

My suspicion, though, is that he will return to Hell with the specific goal in mind of thwarting the Second Coming and possibly trying to bring the entire system crashing down. In this way, Crowley experiences a massive setback in his position (he wants to be on Earth, not in Hell!) but is actually demonstrating a redoubled dedication to Earth and humans, so what he's doing is not backsliding. Compare it to Season 1, when Crowley is charged with delivering the Antichrist and complains, as late as the Antichrist's 11th birthday, that he didn't want to be involved, that Hell shouldn't have chosen him - when Hell choosing Crowley was the only reason he was ever in a position to try to thwart Armageddon.

But that's a lot of speculation. The point is, the plants are a meaningful connection to Earth and Crowley is taking care of them.

[1650-1793-1941]

Aziraphale had always been able to feel when a place was loved. As an angel, love was very much in his remit. Often it was just a sense of warmth in a local coffee shop, or the infusion of countless weddings into the stone walls of a church keeping damp at bay. Tadfield had been a special case, Adam’s love for the place multiplying the feeling to almost unfathomable levels, but every close-knit village across the country hummed with a similar, albeit it far subtler, joy.

It was therefore not particularly strange to settle into the Bentley, reading himself for the drive to Edinburgh, and feel a wave of love from the vehicle. Crowley had loved the car for ninety years. That kind of attachment couldn’t possibly not leave a mark. Usually when Aziraphale was in the Bentley, he was sitting beside Crowley, whose terrible emotion processing skills worked hard to suppress the feelings, but now Aziraphale was alone he could tell the car was so clearly cherished. He couldn’t help but smile, running his hands over the leather of the steering wheel to reassure the car that he’d take good care of it, because it clearly mattered to Crowley so deeply.

It was thirty miles out of London that Aziraphale started to become aware that there was something slightly different about the love infused into the Bentley. Usually it went one way, a place was loved but it couldn’t really love back. The car, however, seemed almost fond of him. It played classical musical when Aziraphale asked it nicely, the horn honked merrily rather than with the aggression Crowley usually forced from it on the rare occasions he thought it worth using at all. The travel sweets and the new yellow detailing, the comfortable and warm leather seats, the safe driving speed – Aziraphale could feel the Bentley desperate to please him.

It was only after Crowley checked in through the radio that Aziraphale realised what was going on. It seemed mad to even think it, but it was the only logical answer. Crowley’s love, not just for the Bentley but for Aziraphale specifically, was laced into the fabric of the car, so strongly it was echoing back. He would never have believed it, but the same feeling he got from the car was threaded under Crowley’s words. He might have complained about the yellow paint and the travel sweets, but really he was checking in to make sure Aziraphale was alright. After millennia of existing together, Aziraphale had learnt to read between the lines. So when Crowley asked him to drive faster, he knew that didn’t mean put yourself in danger to get my car back to me quicker, it meant get yourself back to me as fast as possible, because I feel better when I know you’re safe. Aziraphale knew better than to point it out, but he also wasn’t going to protest – he loved a good caper, but he knew he’d also feel better when he was back at the bookshop. Back with Crowley.

[mountttmase]

Am I Doing It Right?

Note - I hope you all enjoy this one 🙊 it a bit different to anything else I’ve done. There are big chucks of flashbacks and those will be in italics so it hope it’s not too annoying to read 😂 but please let me know what you think 🩷🩷🩷

Also a massive thank you to @carlottawllms who helped me so much with how to structure this and with some of the plot. I know she’s excited for this one so I hope it lives up to your expectations 😂🩷

Pairing - Mason Mount x Reader

Word count - 6.2k

Warnings - smut, fluff and angst

‘I’m sorry, how is it 3am? I swear it was only 11 like twenty minutes ago’ your best friend Mia giggled as you and a few of your friends stumbled out of the club and into a waiting taxi.

‘My legs are killing me’ you moaned as you all squished in together but thankfully it wasn’t a long trip back to to the hotel.

You were currently in Edinburgh for one of your girlfriends birthdays and as you watched the unfamiliar city roll passed the window in the back of the taxi, your mind wondered to Mason being tucked up in bed at home. Your heart thudding at the thought of his pouty lips as he breathed softly in his sleep.

You were sharing a room with Mia and as soon as you got inside, you plugged your phone into charge as it had died about an hour and a half ago. You sat waiting for it to turn on as Mia was messing about in the bathroom and as soon as the screen lit up you were straight in your messages.

Your heart lept at how thoughtful he was and you quickly text him back in your half drunken state.

‘What the hell are you smiling at?’ Mia slurred and she came out of the bathroom, flopping down on the bed next to yours as you put your phone down.

‘Nothing, was just saying night to Mason’ you shrugged and she rolled her eyes with a smile.

‘What? He’s still awake?’

‘Yeah he said he wanted check I got back alright’ you told her and she started laughing loudly.

‘What on earth did you do to that poor boy? After all these years and he’s still completely wrapped around your finger’

‘Well I did take his virginity, maybe it’s that’ you said without thinking, laughing lightly as you looked at her but her face was a picture as you settled on it. Mouth agape and eyes wide and a look of shock on her face as she sat up to stare down at you.

‘You what? You took his- what?!’

‘Shhh’ you giggled, pulling here back down to try and get her to be quiet as you both erupted into laughter.

‘I need details, now. Why have you never told me this?’

‘Cause it’s private. You’ve never told me when you lost yours’

‘Yeah but we’re not talking about us here. We’re talking about Mason and I need you to tell me now’

You rolled you eyes, laying back and thinking back to all those years ago when you and Mason had first started dating.

You’d just started a new job in a local cafe whilst you were studying and you were on the way home from a shift when you found a wallet on the floor.

Thankfully his ID was inside and you smiled at the cute picture before your eyes landed on his date of birth. You weren’t that far apart in age and you quickly googled the address listed on it to find he lived about a 15 minute walk away. Fortunately for you it was a nice sunny day and you didn’t have anywhere else to be so you thought you’d do your good deed for the day and return it to them.

You had no idea where you were going, not knowing this particular area of town that well and the houses seemed to get bigger and bigger the further you went until you were on what seemed to be a private road. You were unsure of what to do as it was gated and you had no idea how to get to the other side as no one was around but thankfully a car pulled up just at the right time and after a mini pep talk, you ushered yourself in just before the gate closed.

The house was beautiful from what you could see but you were met with another gate, however this time there was a buzzer and you nervously pressed it in hopes someone would answer. It didn’t take long and after the third ring you heard a confused hello blast from the speaker.

‘Oh h-hi. My names y/n, um I was just on the way home from work when I found your wallet on the floor. Well I think it’s yours anyway the address is for here’ you rambled and you mentally slapped yourself for how stupid you must of sounded. ‘Sorry, I’m just returning it’ you gulped and without another word the gate began to open slowly. You took this as your cue to enter and you nervously made your way up the path to his front door.

You were about halfway when the door swung open and you felt yourself blush immediately. He was gorgeous but it was his smile that caught your attention immediately. His wide toothy grin making your tummy flutter from the first second you saw it as he made his way over to meet you and all you could think of was how his picture didn’t do him any justice.

‘Hey, Mason right?’ You questioned and he nodded before you handed his wallet over to him.

‘Thank you so much, I had no idea I’d even lost it’ he laughed as he quickly flipped it open. ‘Where was it?’

‘Just in town, by the roundabout?’

‘It must of fallen out when I came out the shop’ he laughed, tucking it back into his pockets. ‘Thank you so much for bringing it here’

‘That’s alright, it’s a nice day so it was a nice walk’ you smiled and he looked at you with a shocked expression.

‘Wait, you walked here?’ He exclaimed and you nodded at him shyly. ‘Do you um, do you wanna come in for a minute? I feel like I owe you a drink or something’

‘No you’re fine honestly’

‘Please? It will make me feel a bit better about myself’

‘Won’t your parents mind’ you asked and you watched his face flush slightly.

‘Oh uh, this is my house. They don’t live with me so I think they’ll be fine with it’

‘Oh’ you breathed, swallowing hard before nodding. If anything you we’re more curious to see the inside and work out who he was.

As predicted, the house was just as immaculate on the inside as the out and after a quick coffee and a chat he offered to drop you home as another thank you. His car was sparkling and expensive and you assumed he must of come from money so you were a little embarrassed to have him drop you outside your building but he didn’t bat an eyelid.

Two days later you came home to a beautiful bunch of pink roses and you were unsure as to who they had come from until you read the note from Mason letting you know how thankful he was and wondering if he could take you to dinner sometime with his number at the bottom. You only deliberated for a few hours before texting him back and in a few days time you were sat opposite him in some swanky restaurant you’d never heard of. You couldn’t hold it in anymore and asked him what he did and when he replied a footballer suddenly it all clicked into place.

He was unbelievably charming and made the worst dad jokes but you couldn’t help but laugh at them and it didn’t help that was was easy on the eye to the point you couldn’t look at him for more than 5 second intervals. By the end of the night you were fully under his spell so when he asked to see you again you agreed.

He seemed so different from anyone you knew, wanting to get to know you before anything else to the point you thought he might not even fancy you at all since he kept everything so platonic but on your fourth date he’d kissed you on your doorstep and you finally felt all those feeling you were told about in books and films.

‘Yeah yeah I know all this’ Mia laughed as the pair of you got comfy in bed after getting changed. ‘I want the juicy stuff’

‘I’m getting to it, it was years ago I can’t remember everything’

‘We’ll try harder. You must remember when he first told you he’d never done it?’

She was right, you did.

You’d been dating for around three months and even though he was an absolute dream, things hadn’t progressed passed a steamy make out session on his sofa and you were beginning to doubt yourself again. You’d tried making subtle advances but he seemed to be none the wiser and you thought maybe he was being respectful so you’d had a word with yourself and when you were next alone with him at his house you were going to put the moves on him.

It was his day off and you had gone to his house after work for dinner. You were currently cuddled up to him on the sofa as you watched tv, halfway through some weird film he’d found and you were waiting for the moment he looked down at you to kiss you so you could take it a bit further.

It didn’t take long and when he looked at you with a shy smile, you connected your lips in a deep kiss. You could feel him holding back a little bit like usual but you pushed through it, kissing him even deeper and sitting yourself in his lap so you could hopefully make him see what you wanted.

Your hands were all over his neck and chest whilst he kept his on your waist but that’s not what you wanted. In the end you grabbed hold of his wrists and pushed them down so he would hopefully touch you somewhere else but he resisted, pulling away from you entirely and resting his forehead on your shoulder. You were both out of breath and when he eventually looked back up at you your tummy dropped.

He didn’t want you like that, you could tell from a mile off and you quickly scrambled off of him as not to embarrass yourself any further.

‘Y/n, wait please’ he panicked, running after you but you couldn’t look at him, struggling to put your shoes on as he tried to stop you. ‘Y/n’

‘What?’ you snapped and his hands fell to his sides instantly. ‘What, Mason? I get it alright. If you don’t wanna have sex with me then you can just tell me. I’m a big girl, I can take it’ you shouted and you watched him wince at your words.

‘It’s not that at all’ he told you quietly but you didn’t believe him and you’d given up trying to talk to him. ‘Just stop, please’ he told you, holding you by your forearms as you looked up at him with a teary expression. ‘It’s not you-‘

‘Oh piss off Mason. Don’t even insult me with that it’s not you it’s me crap.

‘But it’s true’

‘Unless you give me a good enough reason then I’m off’ you told him and if you hadn’t of been so caught up in yourself you might if seen how vulnerable he looked but his silence told you everything so you pulled yourself out of his grasp and went to grab your things. ‘Bye Mase’

‘I’m a virgin’ he said quietly but it was loud enough for you to hear. Your head spinning round to face him as his eyes dropped to the floor, a wave of guilt washing over you as his words sunk into your skin. You didn’t know what to say as he stood there scratching his chin awkwardly but he beat you to it this time. ‘If you still wanna go I get it’

‘No no, Mase I’m so sorry’ you told him, rushing over to him and cupping his jaw so he would look at you but his eyes stayed glued to the floor even when you stroked your thumbs across his cheeks and you were now panicking that you’d pushed everything too far. ‘God I’m such a bitch I shouldn’t of said all that, I’m sorry I didn’t mean it’

‘You’re not a bitch’ he huffed lightly, finally placing his hands on your waist which made your heart settle a little bit. ‘I just… it’s not easy to talk about you know?’ He told you and you could see how nervous and unsure of himself he was. ‘I know we need to though so please stay. I promise I’ll explain everything’

‘Go sit I’ll be in soon’ you told him and with a kiss on his nose he shuffled off back to the living room. You couldn’t help but feel awful as you took your shoes off again and gave yourself a talking to in the mirror. You knew how much it would of taken for him to tell you what he just had and you needed to be there for him so you gave him a reassuring smile as you walked back in. He looked petrified but when you held your arms open for him he melted into your neck as you held him to your chest. ‘I’m sorry for blowing up at you and not speaking to you properly. I should never of forced you to tell me that if you weren’t comfortable. You don’t need to explain anything to me, not if you don’t want to’

‘I’ve been meaning to tell you for a while, I’m just a bit embarrassed’ he told you, voice slightly muffled by your neck

‘You’ve got nothing to be embarrassed about’

‘I’m nearly 19 and I’ve never had sex, y/n’

‘So? I know people older than you who haven’t had sex yet’ you told him and you felt him sigh into your neck ‘can I ask why you haven’t?’

‘Too focused on football I guess, never had time for girls or a proper relationship. It’s not like I haven’t wanted to but I think the longer it’s gone on the more I’ve built it up in my head and I’ve freaked myself out’

‘What’s the furthest you’ve gone with someone?’ You asked and you saw his face flush a deep red shade. ‘You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to like feel free to tell me to mind my own business’

‘No I want to’ he breathed, nodding his head before taking your hands in his so he could play with your fingers as he spoke. ‘About six or seven months ago I started speaking to this girl and we had a little thing. I thought maybe I could just got for it and get it over with but it didn’t work out that way’

‘What happened?’ You asked gently and you smiled as he cringed a little bit.

‘We made out a few times, she um… she gave me head’ he laughed, hiding his face in his hands and you rubbed up and down his thigh gently to let him know he was fine and he eventually showed his face again. ‘I couldn’t cum though, and then she expected me to return the favour so I panicked and told her the truth and that I didn’t know what to do. She basically told me I was pathetic and left’

‘Oh Mase’ you whispered, linking your fingers through his as his eyes stayed in his lap.

‘I didn’t wanna mess up what we have so I didn’t say anything and I know you’ve wanted to do… stuff for a while but I was scared to loose you’

‘Come here’ you whispered, holding your arms out and he lent into you gently. ‘You’re not gonna loose me Mase. I get why you didn’t wanna say anything and I’m sorry for being so bratty earlier but I’m not going anywhere’

‘Are you sure?’ He murmured, holding you tighter as you nodded and stroked the back of his head.

‘Positive. Look I’m not exactly a master between the sheets myself. I only did it a handful of times with my ex so there’s still loads of stuff I don’t know and haven’t tried. If you want to do stuff we can but only when you’re ready. I don’t want to force you or anything’

‘You’re not forcing me’ he laughed against your chest and you held him even tighter. ‘It’s pretty much all I’ve thought about but I don’t want to disappoint you. I don’t wanna be shit at it you know? I wanna make you feel good’

‘Hey’ you huffed, pulling back so you could look at each other. ‘You could never disappoint me. It’s all a learning curve and we can work out what the other likes from the start. I know it seems scary but it’s fun when you know how’ you laughed and he finally smiled a real smile.

‘I wanna do thing’s properly with you, I think that’s why I held off saying anything cause you’re the first girl I’ve not wanted to just get it over with and be done. I want it to mean something’ he told you honestly and you lent in to give him a heavy kiss.

‘I really am sorry, I feel like a right cow. Having a big strop just because you won’t give me any’ you joked rolling your eyes. ‘I just thought maybe you didn’t like me in that way or something’

‘I like you in every way’ he told you sincerely and your heart fluttered as he brushed some hair behind your ear. ‘And this isn’t just about being physical, I like you for who you are and I want to spend time with you for as long as I can’

‘I want that too. I’d hate for you to think this is just sex for me’

‘I don’t think that’

‘Really?’

‘Of course. I love being with you and if we can take that next step then great but it might just take me a little bit of time to get there fully’

‘God you really are a cow’ she laughed and you hid your face out of embarrassment. ‘You practically outed the poor boy’

‘I didn’t mean to. I felt awful but can you blame me? Every time I look at him I wanna rip his clothes off and the fact it felt like he didn’t feel the same was making me feel like shit’ you laughed as she nodded in agreement. ‘I just presumed he’d done it already’

‘So how long did it take until you did it?’

‘A little while. I mean we did other stuff first’ you shrugged and you heard her let out an excited little squeal.

‘Spill. Now’

‘Mia, I’m not giving you a run down to the start of our sex life’

‘Yes you are. Now come on I haven’t got all night’

‘Fine’ you huffed with a laugh, actually enjoying thinking back to all those years ago.

You knew he was nervous about it all and wanted to let him know you were ready whenever he was, trying to reassure him over anything else but he seemed to want you just as much even if he was scared.

‘Well whenever you wanna start we can’ you winked and you watched him get all nervous again.

‘We could um- we could start now? If you wanted?’

‘If that what you want?’ You asked him quietly and he gave you a gentle nod. ‘Well, how about I look after you a little, make up for blowing up at you earlier’ you teased, running your hand up and down his thigh as he looked at you with blown out pupils. ‘We can start slow, like just kiss for a bit. Whatever you’re comfortable with and then if you want to try anything else we can. Does that sound okay?’

‘Yeah’ he told you quietly but you could tell he was on edge about the whole thing.

‘Just relax yeah? We can go as slow as you like and you can just tell me what feels good. And if it doesn’t then we can stop or try something else. Do you trust me?’

‘Yes’ he smiled, his shoulders finally relaxing as he repositioned the pair of you so you were slightly laid back. Your legs over his thighs as his arms circled your waist and you cupped his jaw to bring his lips to yours.

It all felt so different to before, he was finally relaxing into you properly and you hummed contently into his mouth as he slipped his tongue in after a while. You stayed like that for a bit until you were truly happy that he was relaxed before you started to move, sitting up so you could straddle him whilst not disconnecting your lips from his once. Moving your hands to his shoulders and across his chest where you could feel his heart beating just as rapidly as yours.

You could feel him underneath you and from the way his hands were now stroking lightly over the backs of your thighs you knew he was getting into things so you began to ever so gently rock your hips over him causing him to quietly moan into your mouth.

‘How’s that, Mase?’ You whispered against his lips but the way he was now gripping your hips told you everything you needed.

‘G-good. So fucking good’ he told you and you smiled, kissing his again and grinding down a little harder before you slid off his lap and sat next to him, lips still attached as you palmed him over his joggers and you moaned along with him at the feel of him in your hand.

‘Mase? Can I?’ You asked, your fingers dancing over his waist band and you felt him let out a shaky breath against you lips before he shimmied them down his hips along with his boxers until he had freed himself but you paid no attention to it at first pulling him back in for a kiss so he could relax again before you attempted to do anything. You couldn’t help but let your fingers wonder down to his length, griping him lightly before his head rolled back on the sofa.

You took the opportunity to see what you were working with and you felt your mouth water at the sight of him. You pumped him a few times before his lips were back on yours, hungrily kissing you as you worked on him until he was biting your bottom lip.

You moved down off the sofa to you could pop yourself in between his legs and pull his boxers down all the way but you didn’t want him feeling self conscious so you stripped yourself of your top to leave you in just your bra and the small growl he let out made you clench your thighs together.

You took him in your mouth gently, looking up at him through your lashes as he balled his fists as the side of him. You reached out to take his hands, threading his fingers through your hair so he could keep your hair out of your face while you made him feel as good as you could. And by the moans and whimpers coming from him you thought you were doing a pretty good job.

He was tense though, you could tell that much so you came of off him with a pop, taking him in your hand so you could pump him whilst looking back at him.

‘Relax, Mase’

‘I-I’m gonna cum’ he told you and you smiled up at him cheekily.

‘Good’ you breathed before taking him back in your mouth again, making sure you got him over the line and when he started bucking his hips up into you you knew he was close. ‘Don’t think about it yeah?’ You breathed ‘Just cum for me Mase’ you told him again and your words seem to hit this time as your name fell from his lips. You swallowed him down, pulling off of him and making sure you didn’t spill a drop as he looked down at you with wide and curious eyes.

‘Jesus Christ’ he laughed, his face flushed from embarrassment and you crawled back up into his lap so you could kiss his cheek.

‘How was it?’

‘You’re amazing’ he smiled, kissing you quickly before he cupped your jaw. ‘I can’t believe we just did that’ he giggled and you could tell he was feeling a little bit shy. ‘I promise I’ll pay you back when I’m ready’

‘Mase, it’s not about payback’ you laughed but he silenced you with a kiss.

‘I know but I want to’ he smiled before wrapping himself around you.

A week later you were back at Masons and after you’d cleared up from dinner he took you up to his room where he told you he wanted to be shown how to please you.

You stripped down to nothing with a little help from Mason who was eyeing you up like he never had before, confessing you were the first girl he’d ever seen fully naked and you felt yourself blush as he lead you over to his bed. Mason kept his boxers on for now and you laid next to him, guiding his hand and showing him where on your body you liked to be touched and kissed and even though he was technically learning, every touch of his fingers and lips made you shiver so when he took your nipple into his mouth unprompted you nearly lost your mind.

‘What you did to me, I wanna do that to you’ he told you quietly, looking up at you through his lashes as he moved to position himself in between your legs and you felt yourself melt at how vulnerable he was. ‘Tell me what to do’

You gave him a quick explanation, blushing and stuttering through it as he smiled up at you before dipping his head down suddenly. You could tell he was unsure but he was also listening to how you reacted to what he did and when you let out a loud moan he looked up at you with a small smile.

‘Am I doing it right?’ He asked and you nodded your head with a laugh before he was diving back in. You gave him a few more pointers but he surprised you again by dipping a finger inside you slowly, making you arch your back at the new sensation.

‘Mase, keep doing that’ you told him breathlessly and he did just that, find a rhythm the pair of you enjoyed and you sunk into the sheets, threading your fingers into his hair as you began to rock your hips against him. ‘Fucking hell, Mason. That’s so good’ you breathed and you felt him moan into your core, clearly loving hearing how good he was doing so you made a mental note to praise him when you could. You’d been waiting for this for a while so it didn’t take long until he was eventually riding you through it, feeling him move back to beside you with a cheeky grin. ‘What the fuck, Mase?’ You laughed, pulling him in for a kiss and you hummed as you tasted yourself. ‘You’re a natural’

‘I can’t take all the credit. After last week I did a bit of research’ he winked and you giggled as you pulled him closer.

‘So you watched porn?’

‘A shit tone, yes’ he confessed, kissing your forehead gently. ‘But don’t worry, I know most of it’s just for show I just needed a few pointers. Did I do good?’

‘Better than good’ you winked as your stroked his face, noticing the slight flush of his cheeks at your words. ‘What about you? did you enjoy it?’

‘Yeah, more than I thought I would. I like the idea of making you feel good and putting your pleasure above mine. Like knowing I can do that to you and make you feel that way’

‘And that’s the answer I was looking for’ you giggled as you pulled him in for a long kiss.

The pair of you had been experimenting for a few more weeks until he had a week off and once you’d taken a few days off yourself, he invited you over to stay for a few nights so you could spend some proper time together. You were in the bathroom taking your makeup up off when you felt him come up behind you, kissing your neck gently as he slowly stroked over your arms meaning you were covered in goosebumps.

‘Come with me?’ He asked softly as soon as you were done, and you took his hand and followed him back into his room.

He’d dimmed the lights and there was gentle music playing in the background but your eyes were focused on the bed where he’d sprinkled rose petals over the sheets and you felt your face flush as you took it all in.

‘What’s all this’ you laughed, turning to look at him but his shy smile told you everything.

‘I’ve been thinking about it and wondering what it feels like for days. If you talk me through it, I wanna try’

‘Yeah?’ You laughed, cupping his jaw so you could kiss him gently and you felt him smile onto your lips

‘Yeah. I’m not gonna lie I’m bricking it but I wanna do this’

‘It’s not that scary Mase, I promise. We can just do what we’ve been doing before so you can relax a bit and when you’re ready we can do whatever you want. But if you wanna stop just tell me yeah?’

‘I love you’ he breathed, looking right into your eyes in the most adoring way and you almost lost your breath. ‘I do, and I’m not just saying that cause we’re about to have sex and I feel like I should. You’ve been the best thing to happen to me in the longest time, like all this stuff you’ve been so calm and patient with me and there’s no one else I’d rather be doing this with’

‘I love you, too’ you giggled, pulling him into a kiss but the pair of you couldn’t stop smiling so you pulled away, playing with the hem of his top so you could subtly let him know you wanted it off and he didn’t stop you when you started tugging it up his body.

When the pair of you were undressed, he laid you down so he could kiss you again you you let your hands wonder all over him. Just as you told him, you fooled around a little first just to get each other going but it didn’t take long for him to look up at you with curious eyes.

‘What do I do? Where do I-‘

‘Shhh’ you cut him off when you could see he was panicking, kissing him again to relax him before speaking. ‘What way do you wanna do this? I can ride you, or I can lay down? Whatever you want’ you told him gently but you could tell he was overwhelmed so you stroked his cheek gently to soothe him. ‘Mase, we don’t have to rush this’

‘I’m just being stupid, I’m sorry’ he laughed

‘You’re not being stupid at all’ you reassured him before kissing him gently. ‘Why don’t you let me take control yeah? Just sit back there against the headboard and if you wanna try a different position after a while we can’

‘Okay’ he blushed, but did as you asked and sat himself back the headboard whilst you sat over him, rocking yourself along his length as you kissed him until he lifted you by your hips and you knew he was ready. You reached down to line him up with you as you held his eye contact as you sunk down onto him, his breath stuttering as you fully took him in. ‘Oh my god’

‘That feel good?’

‘Yes’ he whimpered as he gripped your thighs and you kissed his forehead to try and relax him.

‘I’m gonna start moving, yeah?’ You told him and with a gentle nod from Mason you began rocking your hips, keeping yourself steady with your hands on his shoulders. His eyes were wild, staring into your soul before he couldn’t take it anymore and shut them as his moans grew even louder.

‘You feel so fucking good. Why haven’t we don’t this before’ he gulped, starting to guide your hips and buck up into you slightly.

‘You’re so big Mase’ you moaned, getting lost in the feel of him and it wasn’t too long before he stilled your hips and you looked at him in confusion.

‘Can we try the other way?’ He asked shyly and you nodded with a smile before climbing off of him and swapping places so you were laying where he’d just sat. You could see he was a bit nervous still but you let him take his time and slowly push himself into you, moaning along with him as you watched his eyes roll back in his head.

‘That’s it, Mase’ you told him as he began to thrust into you ‘Don’t hold back, yeah? Don’t think about it just do what feels good. I want all of you, give me all you’ve got’ you told him quietly as your stared into his soul, watched his eyes roll to the back of his head again as he got into it before grabbing the backs of your thighs until you were even more spread out for him. You went hot all over at the way he was looking at your body before his eyes would flick down to where you connected, watching himself go in and out of you as his mouth hung open in a quiet disbelief. His thrusts became deeper as he pounded into you, his forehead coming to rest on yours as he held your eye contact and you knew he was close.

‘If need need to cum then you can’ you breathed but he shook in head in a mini protest.

‘I wanna make you cum’ he huffed, halting his hips and you thought his little scrunched up face was adorable.

‘We’ve got all night’ you told him, reaching up to cup his jaw and bring him down to kiss you. He started moving his hips soon after, breathing into each others mouths until you felt him shoot up and pull himself out of you, stroking over himself before releasing all over your chest and tummy.

You smiled at him as he blushed, dipping one of his fingers in and popping it into your mouth so you could taste him and the sight must of sent him feral as he was quick to lay down and start licking away at you. Making sure to make you cum as quickly as he could and after all the practice he’d had lately it didn’t take long.

He laid down next to you, linking your pinkies together as you you both got your breath back, eventually looking at each other shyly before erupting into giggles.

‘Congrats Mase, how was it?’ You chuckled and he looked down at you adoringly.

‘Well, all I can think about is cleaning you up and going again so I’d say pretty good’ he laughed. ‘I can’t believe I built it up for so long’

‘It’s okay, these things can be scary but we’ve crossed that line now. No going back’ you joked and he just smiled and shook his head it you in agreement.

‘Thank you. I really mean it. You could of walked away when I told you and I wouldn’t of blamed you’

‘Mase, I’m not going anywhere and I’m really glad we’ve got to do this together’

‘Me too, I feel way closer to you now. I still can’t believe you’re mine, I’m so lucky’ he told you, kissing you lovingly and you felt your chest fill with warmth as his fingers traced your skin. ‘I love you’ he breathed kissing your forehead as you felt yourself blush.

‘I love you too’

‘The pair of you make me sick I swear, of course it was perfect’ Mia laughed, rolling her eyes as you’d finished off your story.

‘Well in my mind it was perfect anyway’ you told her as you both let out a yawn.

‘So what you mean is you’ve trained him to do exactly what you like and basically ruined him for every other girl?’

‘Pretty much’ you winked

‘Wow, you really do have it all’ she laughed. ‘I still can’t believe it’

‘Just keep it to yourself. Mason would kill me if he found out you knew’

‘Set me up with one of his teammates and I’ll think about it’ she winked before shutting her eyes. You knew your secret was safe with her and with one final glance at your Lock Screen, a cute mirror selfie of you and Mason, you drifted off yourself.

[puffein]

WINGED HEART | late spring [vi.]

summary: the time has come for you to leave the land you once called home, but natasha wouldn't just let you go without giving her thoughts first. pairings: wanda maximoff x fem!reader, natasha romanoff x reader (platonic) warnings: angst word count: 1635 a/n: i was supposed to post this yesterday night but i fell asleep lol, enjoy!!

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Westview, New Jersey

Late-December 2023

"Did you pack everything? Clothes for each season? How about your documents, did you organize them nicely like I told you how?" Natasha's reverberating low timbre of voice resonates throughout your small apartment. You raise an eyebrow at her, a teasing glint shines lightly in your playful eyes. She saw that, letting out a huffing sound while she positioned herself directly in front of you.

You stop all your movements as you finally settle in Natasha's proximity, your fingers hovering at the zipper of your suitcase. You lean back, eyeing her with the corners of your mouth moving into a faint smile. 

She has been nagging for hours about how you pack, what you should pack, and what you should leave behind, if you have done the documents nicely. You know she is doing this because she's anxious and you understood her paranoia completely without a single judgment, it still amuses you though how these actions of hers are her way of saying how much she will miss you, and deep inside, you knew you will miss her too. 

"I will miss you, Nattie." you utter the words under your breath, eyes gazing steadily onto Natasha's sudden change of face. Her teary eyes stared rightfully at yours, her feet staying planted on the ground as she breathed in to compose herself. 

"Not as much as I will." her voice is firm like she's pushing herself to say those words. She didn't like how everything is gravitating to the reality that her very own best friend is moving far away from her and she hated the fact that she, herself is not a good enough reason for you to stay.

You bring out a wide smile, charging in suddenly at her body, your arms wrapping themselves tightly on her tensed form as you slowly feel it becoming limp. "I'm not gonna go to Scotland to die, you know." 

She barks out a teary laugh, "I'm gonna visit you." Natasha finally lets her arms tangle in your body, giving out a fast tight squeeze. 

Murmuring, "Sure." you push her body gently, giving you and her a few inches of distance just to look directly into her eyes. 

You memorize her face, trying to squeeze every single detail in your mind. This girl right here is someone who has been with you for years, friends of yours always joked about how you and her are morphing into one, how one of you will probably die if either of you live miles away, how everyone is jealous at how close you two are. 

In a very coincidental way, you will be trying out the rumors of your friends. Will one of you die after you start living in Edinburgh? Thinking about it gives you jitters, the mantra of saying you have like this plan whirling along the busy streets of your own thoughts but having doubts is the last thing you wanted to do. 

"You won't be able to stop me as I visit you frequently until you forget that I actually don't live in Edinburgh and am residing miles away."

It's your turn to let out a laugh at her words "Whatever you say, Nattie."

"I'm serious."

"I know you are." you pat her arm, turning slightly to continue the task of zipping your suitcase close. 

Silence surrounds the room, the distant howling of cars being muffled by the comforts of your walls, the dim-lit room seems to visualize something the both of you are feeling. 

Sadness. Anxiousness.

You like the stillness of this very moment despite the contradicting beats of your hearts and minds, you like how the soft ringing in your ears indicates how loud the silence is. You like it not until Natasha speaks up with the words you are dreading to hear, "Does Wanda know?"

You felt your entire body come to a halt. Not trusting the motions of your expression, you did not dare to turn around to face Natasha instead you just mumbled one word, "No."

"She deserves to know, she's also your best friend."

The slumped shoulders you have vibrates as your posture straightens with shoulders finally tensing at what she was saying, "I don't— I don't think it's a great idea to let her know." 

Natasha lets out a sigh, "What will I tell her when she comes barging into my home? Because Y/N, she will eventually know you took off somewhere three thousand miles away." 

"I don't know why you're doing this when just months ago you hated her, you said it yourself on her wedding night, when I sobbed myself to you just outside her reception." You deflected at her, you knew this was unfair. To spurt out words that never happened. 

Natasha's brows furrowed at hearing the harsh tone of your voice, "I never said I hated her. I did imply that I hated her actions, how she acted blind and maybe ignorant."

When Natasha saw how your eyes glanced away from her hard ones, she continued, "I know I had no knowledge about what happened between the two of you because you never dared to talk to me about it. I'm not forcing you by the way. I just want you to see through your decisions once again, to rethink if this is really what you wanted."

With dejected eyes and a tinge of guilt, "I talked to her, Nat. A week ago, I asked her for a coffee and we hang out." You uttered.

You stated those words like it will somehow pay the consequences of your actions. Like asking Wanda to hang out in a coffeehouse somehow made everything make sense, how it's gonna make Wanda come to an understanding even though she doesn't know a single thing about you living permanently in a different country, how this single hang-out will somehow make up to be a proper goodbye.

"That's not enough."

"I trust you, Nat. You can say anything you want to say to her when she comes at you. I trust you deeply that I know you're gonna say the right words about this." You know that Nat knows about those too. 

You clearly understand that she doesn't need to hear the verbalization of those words but what are you supposed to say? You are running out of words, of excuses for this action of yours.

"You know I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about you ghosting her, just leaving her here without a proper send-off. She doesn't even know." Natasha countered her voice firm and graveled. 

"That's not fair." your voice wavers, the beating of your heart matches the loud blaring of your mind. "You're my best friend, you are supposed to be on my side."

Surprise dawns on Natasha's face, her mouth snapped shut at your declaration, "I am not taking anyone's side, Y/N. I am taking the side where you will fully heal. I just think talking to her—"

"She ghosted me first! she left me hanging, Natasha. Why–" your face twisted in sorrow as you relieve the painful memory of yours and Wanda. "Why do I have to be the one chasing her?" 

"I didn't know, you never told me anything. I just knew you were sobbing and alone at our graduation. That's the only thing I knew." Natasha's exasperated voice echoes in your whole being, her expression dulling every time she raises her voice at you, wishing above the loudness of her voice is enough for you to come to an understanding.

"You'll know. When she comes barging in your door just like what you're scared of."

"Y/N, I am not–"

Agony clouded your features, eyes snapping right at Natasha's hardened form, "I am finally taking the courage to free myself from her. Despite what she has done, despite how she treated me a year ago, I still love her, Nat. And I am tired of loving someone who isn't part of my life anymore."

Dejection looms all over Natasha's face, her fist clenching so lightly, "This isn't —"

"It's draining the life out of me. I forgave her, Nat and I accepted the fact that I must have looked so desperate to still contact her despite not receiving a simple apology. She just vanished like thin air and then had the nerve to send me her wedding invitation after months of no contact."

The clenching of your fist tightens, the edges of your nails dug deeper into your palms, "She got tired of being in my life, why can't I do the same?"

"I just think you deserve to hear her–"

"I need to be in the airport an hour early, can we please not talk about this?" you begged her, eyes finally meeting the uncertainties lingering in Natasha's eyes. She stands her ground, her arms crossing in front of her chest, and the furrowing of her eyebrows is very clear for you to see. 

Natasha loves you very much but this, this is entirely different. Entirely unfair to a certain redhead and yours as well. She knows you're doing this for yourself but she also has that deep-driven perception of you not having closure will eventually lead to a much worse outcome. She also realizes that whatever words she sputters out in front of her best friend to push in senses, it was no use because you have already made up your mind. 

Natasha's eyes catch the immediate light in your phone, a single text popping up at the very center of your lock screen. Your brows frowned at Natasha's sudden change of attention, you follow her eyes, turning around to see your phone laying steadily at the top of your coffee table. A single text waiting to be read.

Wanda: I'm excited to see you again :)

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[rada-76]

Supplement one to Part 1. About "rings" and "a spring in a box"

This post is in Russian/Этот пост есть на русском, здесь.

Preface "Marvelous!" | Part 1

There's a lot more great stuff sewn into the scene where Aziraphale drops the items in the magic shop!

"Hats" 

When Aziraphale enters the shop, he politely removes his hat, but similar hats are hung behind him in the shot because it's a prominent detail of his trip to Edinburgh. 

"The Angel in the Bentley and the Four Rings"

In that Part 1 I convinced you: the authors know how to make perfect parallels. But what is more important, these parallels also coincide in terms of emotions.

Look, both in the scene of things falling and in the trip to Edinburgh, Aziraphale feels stupid and awkward deep down, and we sympathize with him, but also regret that he disappointed us so much. 

But when playing with the four rings, Aziraphale looks at Crowley with adoration, as if hinting at their conversation about Bentley Yellowness. By the way, these rings are gold. How beautiful! The angel is in a very good mood in both scenes.

"The Demon-Snake and the Curtain" 

Now this is an absolute gem! A compact example of a perfect parallel! We look at the background around Crowley at the moment when Azi plays with the rings. In the frame next to the demon, we can see a snake statue, which is framed by... A theater curtain! Bentley's number is actually NIATRUC. It's a curtain (a theater curtain), only from right to left. Moreover, the snake in the frame is located between the curtains, but still in the distance, that is, now we have Crowley not inside the Bentley. And what is this glass ball between the snake and the curtain? A coincidence, probably. And then it dawned on me! The ball is placed in front of the curtain so that both the snake and the audience are looking at the curtain as if through it. And the glass ball is a lens that turns objects over, changing top with bottom, and right with left! NIATRUC!

We will see this ball in "Part 2", but as a symbol of the Earth. Things here often carry a double load of meaning. 

The curtain is not black and not yellow, like the Bentley. But it is red, this is Crowley's color in the hint system. And the fringe is gold, like the rings. And the snake statue is red. 

What about emotions? Crowley himself looks pleased in this shot. I do not argue, he grumbled at Azi on the radio, but in general he likes talking to the angel. In the scene of the first season, he also reluctantly blows the stain off his shoulder, and he himself is glad that he was persuaded. 

I also thought that since Crowley calls Aziraphale in the car, they should have added some ringing object here. And there is one! The rings in Azi's hands are ringing! No, think about it, Aziraphale in this allegory hears Crowley's call not just anyhow, but through the Bentley.

"Trick Box with a Spring"

Crowley is very scared of the spring with tinsel that flew out of the box! And Az is scared along with him. And the seller laughs, repeating: "Very funny! You'll die laughing!" 

If you want, think that the spring that jumped out is Gabriel-Jim, whom Crowley was so scared of when he unexpectedly saw him in the bookstore. Or that the spring is a yellow duster. Then the seller acts as the audience of the series, who unanimously think that it was very funny when Crowley was scared of Jim. And for the collection of analogies: the spring and tinsel that flew out of the box up and beyond the edge of the frame were compared in the fandom with Azicrow's joint miracle that went beyond the bookstore. All three versions come down to Gabriel.

Yeah, Gabriel's arrival at the bookstore has put quite a bit of stress on our heroes. So, Gabriel is a symbol of false, vain fear, he's a joke, a dud. Here they hint at it, laugh, they say. And in the season finale, Gabriel's harmlessness was confirmed. So trust the emotions in the clues, they more truthfully communicate the true emotions of the characters and the meanings in symmetrical scenes.

"The call bell and just enough of a bastard"

After the scare, Crowley is shown laughing sincerely and good-naturedly for quite a while. We rarely see him so happy. Is he really that happy for Gabriel and Beelzebub? There are no hints of this couple in the frame. No flies, no yellow feathers. But there is a hint of another scene. 

Now we will talk about the apology dance, forgive me. Many people don’t like it because of the feeling of coercion and because the author reminds us that an angel is not always a sweetheart. But the formula of the apology dance has already come in handy once, as evidence, so don’t you dare brush it off. I can’t stand zombies, but it looks like I’ll have to dig around in the footage with them too. The detective’s work is not always pleasant, but it bears honest fruit. Many clues in the season are irritating, but they are capable of attracting the attention of the viewer-detective.

Before the scare, this trick box is persistently shoved into our eyes, pushed to the foreground. What does the box look like? Yes, it depicted the bookstore at the moment of the miracle. But now it is also a button-bell for visitors to the bookstore, which Crowley pressed in the scene of the apology dance. Just look at how the shots with "The Call Bell and Crowley Before the Dance" and "The Box and the Trick Seller" are arranged: a figure on the left, a button on the right, a diagonal strip of the carpet and a diagonal strip of the counter, a vertical strip of the column and a vertical strip of the golden curtain. I am attaching the picture. 

The bump on top of the box is made in the shape of Aziraphale's pocket watch, and the brown color of the box is Aziraphale's color. These signs also hint to me that the box is connected with an angel who, deep down, is enough of a bastard to be worth knowing. Accept that this bastard made the Serpent dance, because the demon likes the bastardry in the angel.

The way Crowley smiles long and well, and doesn't let go of the box for all this long time, personally clearly tells me that the apology dance stroked not only my kinks and fetishes. If this were not so, the authors, who carefully build every little detail in every frame, would have prompted Crowley to throw the box on the counter after the spring flew out, and as quickly as possible.

But if you don't like my idea, then you can consider that Crowley enjoyed doing their miracle together with Aziraphale. As with Gabriel, the authors here provided us with a range of interpretations. The last frame of the trip, where Bentley turns black again, contains tartan mountains and a snake-shaped monster splashing nearby. That is, the conversation about Bentley's color was not a quarrel, Aziraphale and Crowley finished it, emotionally feeling close to each other.

"Arrogance and ears"

I'll add about the dance, although it's not about tricks. Although, it's hard to say! 

Aziraphale's phrase "I can see that" right before the Serpent's dance and the subsequent arrogant "Very nice" rhymes in my head with how the angel arrogantly corrected Furfur when he misinterpreted his name while reading the angel reference book. And the reference book contains the absurd phrase "has suspicious ears." Yeah. He hears with them. And the trick on Furfur is nearby. I have other arguments that Aziraphale's ears are important, but for now I'll have to put this pulp aside. The size of posts and your attention (precious for me) is not endless.

***

About the trick seller's table at the moment when everything was falling and ringing. There, next to the snake statuette hugging the bell with its tail, are two goblin figures. And in Edinburgh, next to the angel ringing the Snake, are two goblin figures. (There is a false movie blooper connected with these goblin gangsters figures, I will describe it in the post about the cups. There is also a brilliant parallel in emotions there.)

And there is one statue. True, there is a snake statue on the table, and in Edinburgh there is a statue of Gabriel, but the word "statue" is played with.

Homework for the inquisitive: why is the "three ropes" trick called "The Professor's Nightmare"? I don't know.

Ah, I know! Emotions help. Professor Hoffman praised Aziraphale for his tricks. And Crowley praised Aziraphale for the trick with the caraway seed, and how he praised him! And the trick with three similar ropes refers to Crowley's nightmare from the first season, when our demon mixed up the babies.

I am especially pleased that the inscription that Professor Hoffman made in the book could have been written to the angel by Crowley himself: "To the wonderful student." After all, the angel in the two previous flashbacks (with Job and with the gravediggers) showed himself to be his excellent student!

***

The thing is, "Queen" was playing at Nina's cafe, and there was a board with the inscription "Honolulu Roast". This is a reference to the story of the Queen of Honolulu. (From the post https://www.tumblr.com/indigovigilance/730554435104915456/honolulu-roast) Nefertiti is also a queen. And the words Nefer-ti-ti and Hono-lu-lu are similar. And just a beautiful thing: when Nefertiti is mentioned, I think of Honolulu by the consonance. It was lucky that two queens are connected by such similar words in structure! But is there any meaning in this connection, or just beauty, I'm not sure.

Next part.

All my posts with analyses are here. Author @rada-76 Translator into English @kimberleyjean

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

Good Omens S2 – Dust in Soho – Part 1

– currently gathering information about dusty cars and corresponding weather

*singing "Another One Bites The Dust"

Part 1: Episodes 1 to 4 (updated Dec 26th, 2023) Part 2: Episodes 5 and 6

What has started with the thought "wow, that car needs a wash" is now an investigation of dry/wet streets – have a look here for details: @noneorother https://www.tumblr.com/noneorother/731851127022288896/wait-the-street-is-wet-almost-all-the-time-what?source=share – in combination with clean/dirty – dusty? Wait, is Jim dusting in the bookshop an actual hint here? I am loosing it... – cars throughout season 2.

I am currently going through the episodes, trying to gather as much information as possible, and will continue adding information. Feel free to add information, screenshots, thoughts, ...! :)

@embracing-the-ineffable @ineffable-detective-agency

Episode 1

First scene in Soho: street is drying, cars are dusty.

Actually extremely dirty:

The Bentley in their first scene looks rather clean!

When Crowley arrives at the bookshop: Bentley clean, other cars dusty.

On the way, the windshield is dusty:

(btw. the sign "Life begins after coffee" is there.)

What has happened to these cars???

After storming off from the bookshop, raining, Bently clean:

During the drive to the bookshop, it looks rather clean. Back in Soho, looks clean, streets wet from the rain:

Although here, looking at the windscreen, I am not 100% sure anymore...:

Episode 2

When Shax visits to threaten Crowley, the Bentley looks rather clean. But, whoever cleaned the windscreen should have used some detergent as it is completely smeared. Note: the street is wet:

As a note, when Crowley drives off to Soho, the street is dry:

In Soho, when the angels arrive, the cars are really dusty, the street is wet:

Then we have Jim, two books and a lot of dust. I do not know what to think about that yet... :

Back on the street, which is still wet, the cars are dusty, the Bentley is clean:

Episode 3

Wow, that car's front is completely covered. But have a look around: is EVERYTHING covered in dust? - the roof of the coffee shop - THE BOOKSHOP: it looks like heavy rain has washed down huge amounts of dust, see the traces on the wall? On the right pillar the dust/dirt has been cleaned a bit up to the writing "Book Sellers" – I hadn't noticed that before... (I quickly went back to the scenes so far, the bookshop always looks like that, so far...)

Cars extremely dusty, while Aziraphale drives a very clean Bentley to Edinburgh. BEFORE the sudden downpour I would say that the cars look rather clean. Street is dry. That is strange.

AFTER the downpour (caused by Crowley): street wet, cars clean:

Episode 4

When Aziraphale comes back from Edinburgh, around 6:45 am, the streets are still very wet, the Bentley is clean. There is only a bit of dust on the engine bonnet, but I would describe it as signs of wear from the drive. A note: there is a person cleaning shop windows in the back.

Also , the other cars are clean:

[catsteinbooks]

Another Bentley Thing

I know we're supposed to be looking for not-Bentley clues, but I noticed another thing about the Bentley while poking around, so I thought I'd share it.

We see the speedometer of the Bentley just a few times during the season. First, when Crowley is racing through London while "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy" is playing. It's only on screen for a moment, but I managed to grab a pic. Even blurry, we can make out the odometer at the top, reading 66666.

Of course it's all 6s. Demon car, right?

Then Aziraphale drives to Edinburgh.

That's definitely not all 6s anymore. Looks to me like it says 63332. Has the number of miles gone backwards? Could also be 68332, but in that case, where did all those extra miles come from? Crowley's always only 2 minutes away from the bookshop, and it's only 400ish miles to Edinburgh. Either way, it's weird.

We see it one more time when the Bentley speeds up after Crowley threatens to sell books.

The final 2 has ticked over to a 3. The odometer is actually tracking miles here, which it probably doesn't do when Crowley drives.

What does all this mean? Well, there's weirdness going on, like we already knew. I can't wait to learn all the secrets behind all the details we keep finding. But for now, keep on digging. I love to see what you all come up with!

[rrcarvaleting]

The streets of Edinburgh are vibrant and alive, telling tales of the city's rich history and its modern-day charm. Yet, the atmospheric conditions, the bustling traffic, and the unpredictable Scottish weather can take a toll on your prized vehicle. That's where the art of car detailing and protection in Edinburgh enters, ensuring your vehicle remains in pristine condition. Let's delve into the world of Edinburgh auto detailing and understand why it's the talk of the town.

[embracing-the-ineffable]

How to tell the "three" Good Omens Bentleys apart, without talking about color

There's some controversy about the s1/s2 Bentley "actors" in Good Omens, and the Bentley's mid-s2 transformation into "our car" during Aziraphale's trip to Edinburgh.

So, here's a handy guide to telling them all apart, and I'm NOT going to talk about the controversial color changes. (If you want the full details with a million screenshots, look at my earlier post here.)

*Please don't ask Neil about this! He's already said what he wants to say; like any good magician in the middle of their act, he's not going to spoil the mystery before the s3 magic unfolds*

Here's the s1 Bentley "Mary", after Adam reboots reality, next to the s2 initial look for the Bentley; underneath is the s2 new look for the Bentley after Edinburgh, aka "our car":

Keep in mind that the s1 Bentley is a different actor/model, a 2-door named Mary, and the s2 Bentley is actually a 4-door actor/model. In the first half of s2, it's cosplaying as Mary, and in the second half of s2, it looks like Our Car. How can we tell the difference?

Mary, and Our Car dressed as Mary, have the same hubcaps. They have one door handle on each side (as a 2-door car). Our Car as itself has different hubcaps and two door handles on each side (as a 4-door car).

Yes, I know about the half-car/cab-only set that was used to film some scenes in both seasons. It doesn't have hubcaps at all, so it really doesn't explain new hubcaps halfway through s2:

Can we tell the difference between Mary and Our Car cosplaying Mary? Yes:

Because Our Car is actually a 4-door, no matter how it's dressed, the backseat side windows are longer than actual Mary's backseat windows. Our Car's front and back side windows are the same size. Compare the orange lines I added above.

And, when Our Car dresses as Mary, there's an onscreen white line down the side near where the hinge would be if the car were a 2-door, but it's not underneath the frame between the two side windows. When Our Car looks like itself, the frame between the side windows is in line with the door hinge. The frame and hinge are also aligned on Mary in s1. Compare the vertical green lines I added above.

Oh, and remember the s1 cab-only set? Its backseat side window matched Mary and thus is shorter than the front seat window. I can't find ANY shot in s2, inside or outside the Bentley, with small backseat windows. Why? Because they must have updated the cab-only (physically, or with VFX) for s2 to match Our Car, despite rumors to the contrary. Again, compare the orange lines:

What about the Bentley in the s2 flashback to 1941? Take a look at 1941 on top of s1 when they literally run into Anathema:

Do you see it? Yep! It's the s2 actor/model in 1941, because the backseat side window is as long as the front seat side window. (That makes sense; as far as we know, GO weren't able to rent Mary again for any s2 filming.)

And - there's another difference! The side windows in s1 on Mary actually look "3-pane", with a small venting window at the front:

Closer, with my lines to highlight:

Our Car from s2 doesn't have those small venting windows at the front. And what about the windows from the inside? Here's s1e2 Mary above s2e4's Our Car in the flashback to 1941:

And with my lines for emphasis:

I hope this is helpful! I meant for it to be short, but, well, I had things to say.

PS - if you enjoy Good Omens metas, theories, clues, etc, I have a big pinned collection of those from the fandom, here!

[scotianostra]

The 9th January 2000 saw the death of the historical novelist Nigel Tranter.

Tranter was the most prolific Scottish writer of all time, writing mainly factual and fictional books related to Scottish history, if you haven't read any of his work I recommend you do, the attention to detail takes nothing away from enjoyable stories. In my opinion the only other Scottish writer to come close to the volume and quality of work in this field is Sir Walter Scott.

His grandfathers were church ministers, but a great-grandfather invented the Tranter pistol. He was descended also from James Watt, inventor of the steam engine. He himself wanted to become a restoring architect, but the early death of his father forced him to stop studying. Instead he trained as an accountant and worked in the Scottish National Insurance Company. He served in the Royal Artillery during World War II.

Tranter went to George Heriot’s School in Edinburgh, which may have inspired his love of castles. His earliest writing on these was at the age of 13. As a boy he spent hours cycling to castles and mansions, and drawing them in meticulous detail, before going on to write about them in his first published book, The Fortalices and Early Mansions of Southern Scotland, 1400-1650, at the age of 22. This was followed by the five volumes of The Fortified House in Scotland. In later life he loved to take visitors out to castles and assisted many castle restoration projects in Scotland such as Fa’side.

He married May Jean Campbell Grieve in Athelstaneford Church in July 1933 and they had two children. He and May worked together on The Queen’s Scotland series, giving a short history of parishes in four Scottish regions until her death in 1979, when the project stopped.

Their son Philip was a climber, who sadly died in a car crash in 1966 on his way home from an expedition in the Dolomites. Tranter wrote No Tigers in the Hindu Kush from Philip’s notes.

Tranter saw himself primarily as a storyteller rather than a historian, and his first novel, Trespass, was published in 1937. Although criticised by some academic historians for writing fiction, he developed a huge new audience, who loved his tales of Scottish historical events and people. He wrote his fiction with increasing knowledge of Scottish history, introducing the subject to millions of people worldwide. From 1947 he decided he could earn a living by writing, and produced several novels for children, as well as adults. The Bruce Trilogy sold over 1 million copies and he had fan clubs in many countries. He also wrote Westerns, using the pen name Nye Tredgold.

Nigel Tranter received many honours and awards during his life, and was also actively involved in several organisations, including the St Andrews Society of East Lothian, Scottish PEN, Athelstaneford Flag Fund and the Saltire Society. He believed Scots should ‘be responsible for our own decisions’, and as chairman of the East Lothian Liberal Association for 15 years, he was part of the Scottish Convention, a cross-party pressure group set up to push for devolution. ‘We Scots are different, not better, but long live the difference’.

He continued to write into his 90s, starting each day with a walk across the wooden bridge at Aberlady Bay which he called ‘The Footbridge to Enchantment’. He was a familiar sight walking on the coast, stopping to jot down neat notes for his books on cards or even shells picked up from the beach. Some of these can be seen in the Tranter Museum, which is currently in Athelstaneford Parish Church. His last novel was Envoy Extraordinary. On his death thousands mourned and many friends and residents in the county remember him with great fondness.

Tranter and his family are buried in Aberlady Churchyard. There is a memorial cairn to him at the carpark near the footbridge which leads over to the nature reserve at Aberlady. The Scottish Castles Association have an annual Nigel Tranter Memorial Award in his memory.

There is a lot more on Nigel Tranter at the following link [http://cunninghamh.tripod.com/2001/index.htm](http://cunninghamh.tripod.com/2001/index.htm)

[grey-and-green]

Magic Trick a la @ariaste

Since OP is overwhelmed with feedback and asks about the theory, I'm going to just continue theorising about it right here:

"Continuity Errors" that stink of....Meddling:

1: When Aziraphale returns from Edinburgh, they put the plants in the car...then next scene Crowley is driving back from somewhere, but we know it's the same day. Where did he go? Was it important? Was it deleted?

2: Equally where/what the f was Crowley after the battle? Post-battle in E6, when Michael is threatening Aziraphale with erasure, Crowley is just lounging in the background looking calm as anything. Excuse me? Dearest Angel is being threatened and Crowley just...does not care? Nonsense. I expect he was either not really there, or was doing something else, and this cardboard cutout version of him was placed back in the scene by Meddling.

3: Changes to the car. This might be more "the car has accepted them both as owners" or it could just be bad attention to detail by someone Meddling. The leather seats changed to black when the car turned yellow, and then the seat colour remained black for the rest of the season. But Aziraphale did NOT remove the bullet decals from the window when he was using the car. BUT they're gone in the credit scene. Like, conspicuously gone. For why?????

4: OP touched on the demon attack being Edited, so I'll just add to this that these are supposed to be 'bottom of the barrel' demons...and yet two of the three members of the Dark Council that FurFur went to in E4 are there (not Dagon, obv, but the other two apparently high-ranking demons are now also part of this attack?). THATS ODD?!?

5: 1650. We all spotted it. BUT in light of some Meddling, I would have to ask, is 1650 a Pledge? or a Clue? Is it just Neil being silly and just going to bring up 1650 later, or were we, the audience, 'shown' the 1650 scene, but then it was deleted from our memories? I DO NOT KNOW.

6: Lots of time lapses. It's been pointed out that the time of the bookshop battle could NOT have taken all night, and that the 1941 flashback SHOULD HAVE taken all night. But also: after Crowley (iconically) orders 6-shots-of-espresso, Maggie immediately walks in and Nina is already late for closing the cafe. Hmmmm. Also, Mr Brown carries the same newspaper all week. Again, very conspicuously. Is he real? Does time not pass for him? What's going on with the prop department here?

Exhibit B: (slightly different but in the realm of 'i see what you're doing)....overarching theme of resurrection. All three flashbacks heavily involve that idea. Job's children are "brought back" from the dead, Mr Dalrymple is literally a Resurrectionist and we try to bring Morag back, then literal zombies? And Mr Brown clearly dies, and Crowley brings him back almost as a second thought.

[kentuckycaverats]

last edinburgh by night session was a doozy!!

tl;dr the coterie wrecked mitra's sire and del's going to turbo hell for slapping a nun

session starts with the coterie waking up from a dream within a dream, having been freshly played by mitra's (ravnos) sire, gabriel

mitra wakes up from the dream within the dream to gabriel looming over him in a moving van and detailing how he's gonna strip away all of mitra's humanity. gabriel says he's going to make mitra watch while he: tortures and eats all his touchstones; decapitates delores (lasombra); stakes sami (brujah) and hands him over to the prince; and starves del until she hunger frenzies before feeding tara to her

mitra has presence 5/majesty now and gaslight gatekeep girlbosses his way into making gabriel think they're still dreaming while the rest of the coterie catches up

mitra's usually our designated driver but after him it's del, and she did not give a Fuck about the masquerade or mortal casualties or taking stains during this car chase. delores had to get up on the roof of the moving car and use her shadow arms to push mortals out of the way

during combat gabriel started to fear frenzy, but he has animalism 5/drawing out the beast and transferred it to del, who attacked the nearest person to her: delores

delores is tanky as hell and just scruffed del like a feral kitten. i got a messy crit on del's willpower roll so she stopped fighting BUT her beast was still sulking. st said as soon as the heat of the moment was over del needed to slap delores like she meant it

shoutout to delphine for being the only coterie member to frenzy and attack another coterie member!! twice!!

delores staked gabriel, mitra lied to the new sheriff's face when he showed up to investigate our numerous masquerade breaches, del got to break all of gabriel's bones

del slapped the shit out of delores and neither of them was happy about it. delores asked delphine if they were cool after 😭

and then del found out that her sabbat ghoul bio parents who she hasn't spoken to in 13 years spraypainted "JIHAO. ARROGANT, UNGRATEFUL BOY. WE ARE COMING FOR YOU" across the front of the bookshop where she lives

(jihao is her deadname)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Another red-letter moment for today - 10 Years Ago Today - on the NYC subway... October 31st, 2013 one for the I Love New York file... Not even sure this was a Halloween costume... but how fab is this dude? :: [Mary Elaine LeBey]

* * * *

"I’ll never forget the first time I went (well the details are a little blurry). It was back in 2006, I was working some bullshit part-time job in Mid-Town which to my surprise, involved spending all day in a factory putting price stickers on Christmas Cards. I befriended an Australian girl, one of those wandering couch-surfing types, who had just arrived from Edinburgh and was living in the projects in the LES. Let’s just say she had a lot of circus friends, if that paints any sort of picture. Anyways, I digress, she really wanted to see some DJ at Rubulad so we headed over there on Halloween night. For people who normally dress in costume on regular days, you can imagine the sort of glue-gun creations that showed up on Halloween. It made Paris is Burning look like a JC Penney catalog. There were multiple floors, crazy decorations hanging from everything and everyone in masks. I felt like I was inside David Bowie’s masquerade ball in the Labyrinth. Of course those are also the perfect conditions to lose people and find yourself sitting on a bench by yourself holding a mysterious cup of punch, wondering how you got there. The only thing I do remember was stepping over puke outside, jumping into a car I hoped was a car service, and thinking I had a really good time."

from "Rubulad - The Burning Man of Brooklyn"

[alive on all channels]

[liliandherblog]

Our First Producers Meeting!!! (RTWW)

Thomas J Coffee, Old Town. 11:30-12:30pm

Present: Joseph, Luca, Lili 

Agenda: Initial producer meeting to divide work

Today I met with Luca (Director) and Joseph (Co-producer) for our first producer’s meeting, before week one commences officially. Luca, having worked in close contact with the writer, Jack, over the past week, had eagerly prepared an extensive document of formulated ideas involving the locations, casting, production design, and production schedule of our project. 

We decided that the first thing we would need to pursue is our 5 different filming locations, as this will allow us to narrow down our risks, and provide a level of security in the project. From there, we can discuss with our team and cast the convenient shooting times and then submit a request to book equipment. To provide ample post-production time to our editors, we agreed on a loose plan to shoot before the Easter Break, for 3 days between the 11th-22nd of March. We were also able to semi-confirm 1 of 5 locations: Luca’s Living room in his flat in Old Town. 

We then discussed casting, and decided that while we will outsource actors to play the three lead roles, we will use friends and members from the course to play our extras.

We realised that we would need to come up with a budget plan soon, particularly, how much the crew would be willing to contribute initially. This led us to realise that our most costly factor will likely be transport, with 5 different locations and only one team member having a car.

Luca then went through his pre-production plan that he had created on Milanote, describing in detail the impression and style of each adverse character in the story. I raised questions regarding the age range and look he wanted for each actor so I could better envision for the the casting process.

Finally, Joseph and I as co-producers listed all the roles within producing and how we would delegate them between us, and which we would conduct together. Joseph offered to location scout, as he has more knowledge of the Edinburgh area than me, as I had just moved to the city. So I said I would manage casting.

Notes:

Possible locations:

Luca's Flat

Streets (maybe 2) 

Suggested shooting dates:

2-3 day shoot 

Go on break 25th March

Luca is away from 22nd March

Could shoot sometime in between the 11th-22nd