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vidavalor · 2 months ago

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Just on the back of your last post about how Aziraphale and Crowley have been a couple for (literal) ages, of which you have me thoroughly convinced, there's one thing I've never been able to figure out.

In 1941, when Crowley saves the books, what are we seeing from Aziraphale? By this point he knows damned 😉 well that Crowley adores him, so I very much doubt the 'this is when Aziraphale realised his love was returned' theory. Is it to do with their holy water fight?

Apologies if you've covered this already but I've read through your master post and most of your previous posts and couldn't find anything. I keep musing on it and thinking 'oh Vidavalor will know but I shouldn't bother them'!

Ground Control to Mr. Tom! 😊 Hi there. 💕 You are correct that I haven't done a post about this, which feels very much like my all-over-the-place blog, because this is one of the most-discussed scenes in the show. 😂 You are absolutely not a bother! Do not speak such silliness. I'm going to explain my take on that scene with some help from The Archangel Fucking Gabriel. Therefore, there is hot chocolate, should you want a mug.😊

This is also going to be my contribution to the Azirafeast celebrations so I wish any of you reading this many scrumptious returns!

Below the cut is the one in which someone who thinks Crowley and Aziraphale have been lovers since ancient Rome offers an opinion on what's going on with Aziraphale and the books in 1941... by way of a look at what we might be able to learn about this moment from its sister moment in Gabriel & Beez's flashback.

Be them real people or fictional ones, angels-- especially our two, main ones on Good Omens-- are not accustomed to feeling seen.

This is largely because they believe they exist to sacrifice themselves for the protection and betterment of others... that this is literally what they were made by God to do... or at least what they've been told God wants them to do... and, as we know, they've got plenty of questions over all of that.

They can often feel guilty about their consumption of resources-- or their curiosity about doing so in different ways-- when they've been told that those resources and the experiences that come with them are not for them, even if all evidence seems to suggest that might not really be the case.

They are told they are supposed to live small lives of sacrifice and are, as a result, full of conflicts about their hungers, their needs, their desires... about their love, and the want of a free life of their own.

They exhibit perfectionist behaviors, are full of self-criticism, and are excessively self-sacrificing.

Intellectually, they know they are a person with wants and needs like everyone else but they've been taught that they are supposed to be above all of that and breaking free of that abuse comes with negative self-thoughts, anxiety, depression, and a whole slew of other fun struggles.

That attempted thought control and oppression of people that is responsible for these angels' inner torment, though? As The Supreme Archangel aptly puts it while having a total breakdown shown by chasing his metaphorical self (The Fly) around the bookshop and trying to kill it with a Bible...

...it never works.

It might, unfortunately, get some people but it never, ultimately, works in society as a whole for very long because people want to live. People are made to live. They will seek out coffee over death and rebel against any society that seeks to oppress them in whatever way that they can. Eventually, angels who want to break free will find different ways of letting themselves be individuals on their own terms, even as they are still full of conflict about it, as we've seen Aziraphale and Gabriel do throughout the story.

They'll express themselves in different ways but with the same sense of desperation to have something of their own as a way of admitting that they are a person, too.

Maybe, one night, an angel will, say, allow himself to indulge his hungers by eating an entire ox... maybe in front of the demon he'd like to consume with just as much enthusiasm. Maybe those hungers become ones that, despite his inner conflicts that lead to periodic episodes of depression and fasting, this angel will allow himself to otherwise regularly satiate, and in which he finds enjoyment, nourishment, connection and peace, that he would not have otherwise found.

Maybe, on another night, a different angel will let himself slip away from Heaven and return having consumed resources for himself, in the form of a tailor-made suit that serves as proof to himself that he isn't just a symbol but an individual person in his own right. Maybe it gives him a connection to his body that also leads to him jogging and exploring more of the world. Maybe he allows himself the freedom of owning what he can of his own body and own appearance because control over these things have otherwise been taken from him in the process of denying his personhood and making him more of a symbol to be venerated.

While these are good examples of these two angels finding different but similar, healthy paths to recognizing themselves as people, it's one thing to recognize yourself but another thing for someone else to recognize you.

Angels are wonderful at taking care of everyone else but they sometimes have a blind spot when it comes to their own needs and safety. They are so busy taking care of everyone else that they are prone to making mistakes with their own care.

Such as this angel below being so pleased with an opportunity to contribute to the war effort that he missed that he'd accidentally let himself be recruited by the wrong side...

...and needing his partner to identify some Nazis and redirect some bombs to keep him from being discorporated...

...and such as this other angel below being pleased with his ability to show care towards his new partner...

...but also, as we can see by the expression in his reaction to Beez's suggestion above, so unused to being cared for that, even if he was intellectually aware of it, the aspect of partnership involving mutual care was so foreign to him that it threw him for a bit of a loop.

Sometimes, an angel will be going through a period of struggle when it comes to their interactions with the world. It's often times not even just the feeling that they should just be advisors more than active participants and that the world is not for them. They are, in these moments, just imposter syndrome run amok, and that robs them of pursuing that which makes them feel happy and fulfilled.

Loving an angel in this mode requires gentle, genuine, affirming care:

The imposter syndrome modes can strike at any time for angels but tend to do so especially when they've very recently tried to engage with the world in a big way and saw it backfire.

Like when they spend a lot of time trying to sort out their place in the world and regularly go back and forth between being so influential that they personally own and have developed an entire city neighborhood but also then have days when they don't want to open their own bookshop to the world.

Like when they are supposed to be an angel and nothing else but, if they could choose a vocation, they'd be doing card tricks and pulling rabbits out of hats at birthday parties for all of eternity, and they feel so massively guilty about it that they tell themselves that the magic shop is not a place for them.

But maybe never more than like when there is a war on... an absolutely massive, global war... the first atomic war, the war that could bring about Armageddon, for all the angel knows... and everyone in the human world is trying to do their bit as best they can and, one day, a young woman claiming to be British intelligence knocks on the door and says that they need the angel-- this particular angel and only him... this angel who sometimes feels like he doesn't always know how best to help but wants nothing more than to be good and do good and help others.

The Allied Forces needs Mr. Fell for an intelligence mission to help thwart the Nazis and work towards stopping the war. And what do they need from this angel, in particular?

They need his books.

Aziraphale collects books of all kinds but he has two major personal collections that are highlighted in the story. One is humorous and self-aware-- a collection of misprinted Bibles. Those are living proof of the fallacy of language and gospel-- of the bullshit of people. They are comforting to him in their existence, as they reinforce his sense that following what others say is the word of God is not really a better path than following his own moral compass. The Allied Forces don't need these books, though.

They need the other ones that Aziraphale has been collecting forever:

His books of prophecy.

This angel collects written works by humans that profess to be prophetic. He has original works of Nostradamus and Mother Shipton and many others. He has preserved them throughout centuries, keeping them safe in his care, even if the works are, largely, complete and utter balderdash. He has kept these books, nutty as they are, safe from damage and in existence, for years, just in the event that maybe these humans, in some way, really did have answers as to the future of the world in which the angel lives, too.

The one that he knows has been slated to be destroyed around 6,000 years from its inception-- a date that was approaching closer with each breath in 1941.

Was it really going to happen? Was there a way to stop it? Aziraphale has been trying to see if maybe the humans have found a way, studying their prophetic works for centuries upon centuries, anxiously looking for clues on how to stop Armageddon and save the world he loves...

...and also therefore be able, as a result, to stay on Earth with the person he loves and not be separated from him for eternity.

It's these books of this angel-- these beloved, material possessions; these perfect examples of everything that he's been told that he's not supposed to have-- that Captain Rose Montgomery of British Intelligence says that he can provide to entrap some Nazis and help save the world for his fellow humans and his partner.

An angel's biggest blind spot is always wanting to help and never feeling like they're doing enough. They're vulnerable to trusting the wrong people for the right reasons. Their desperation to do good and be good in the face of feeling like they're not a good person at all can cause them to have the best of intentions but be open to manipulation by those with the worst of ones.

Sometimes, it's a human Nazi. Sometimes, it's a supernatural one...

...same difference. Both dangerous. Both examples of an area where an angel might not survive if they don't let in a trusted person who can give to them the same love and care they give to everyone else.

The fallout from making a mistake can be devastating to an angel.

They feel embarrassed and snappish-- the anger and frustration related to the miscalculated situation triggering (and masking) the anxiety and depression to which angels are hardly strangers.

They can retreat into self-doubt. Moments of bravery when it comes to trying again are sometimes just as quickly diluted by their compounding insecurity and the fear that they are just jiggery-pokery and do not belong in the world.

This is when they need their demons the most.

Demons? They are fallen angels.

They know all this about angels because they're not much different themselves.

They have had the experience of having to redefine themselves in the face of being told by their societies that they were no longer angels and, in some ways, that has freed the more introspective demons to have enough perspective to offer counsel to willing angels as to how to manage those conflicts.

These demons, like Crowley and Beez, are uniquely well-suited to loving angels because they have also been through these same conflicts-- and still struggle with many of them.

These demons have experienced violence and violation as a result their angelic conflicts. They are drawn towards the inherent goodness of their angels, who approach them with kindness, respect, and a sense of equality to which the demons are not accustomed but which helps to build trust.

Just as these demons seek to protect these angels from harm that might befall them in the future, the angels we're discussing are both mindful of their partners' pasts and take care to help them feel safe. They are emphatic about their partners' comfort, reinforce their expectations of a partnership involving free choice and equality, and continually make clear that they consider-- and will always consider-- explicit, enthusiastic consent essential.

Their demons' knowledge of the darker aspects of the world also make them uniquely aware of the risks to their angels and they seek to protect them from experiencing the same pain they have felt from trusting the wrong faces. They do everything they can to keep their angels from falling-- literally, as in from Heaven, or more figuratively, as into despair.

They give them music and food and companionship... they open up the world for the angels and help them live life with the other people in the pub, literally and metaphorically. They explore the human world with them and make them feel less alone, letting the angels do the same for them.

Loving an angel is first seeing that angel there and acknowledging their humanity. It's affirming their imperfection as being just part of personhood and holding up that personhood as being worthy of love. It is reflecting back to the angels the same empathy, openness, and lack of judgement as what the angels give to them.

It's seeing that the angel who wrestles with living up to the expectations of the statues in his honor and the titles for which he never asked is, really, an imperfect, good-hearted, kind person beneath his snarky, sharp-edged exterior. It's seeing the depression that clouds his eyes and the fine edges he's walking in Heaven and knowing what comes next more than maybe can see in the moment and protecting him, as best as someone can, from the fallout of those actions.

Beez knows what it is to fall. They see Gabriel already in a downward motion in every way there is and knows that it comes with risk of losing himself, the way that they once did themselves. They dump out the matchsticks because the good kind of fire is already lit between them and the fire of Hell is not for their angel. They gift him a fly-- that which is made from their body. They are Gabriel's container. He is safe by putting all of himself, literally and figuratively, into Beez.

While this is a big moment in the Ineffable Bureaucracy parallel and one that also parallels the holy water, Gabriel's response to it is a mirror to Aziraphale's response to Crowley saving the books in 1941. What can Gabriel maybe tell us about what Aziraphale was feeling then, through what is similar and what is different about these two moments?

For starters, Gabriel and Beez knew how they felt about one another before The Fly. They already had shared that through "Everyday". The Fly is not an "oh" moment for Gabriel, in the sense that it wasn't a sudden revelation of either Beez's love or of his own. If anything, he and Beez never really had an "oh" moment in that sense of one because elements of how they both felt were always just understood and present in their interactions.

This is honestly true of a lot of relationships. A lot of "oh" moments are not so much becoming aware of having feelings for someone but are just being hit with a new aspect of love that both/all parties is/are already aware is in existence, even if it hasn't always yet been fully spoken.

In S1, we see that Gabriel and Beez only let their guard down around one another. They have always been as close to friends as they could be in their positions. They already care about one another when we first see them together and then, in S2, Gabriel is completely unsurprised at Beez's flirting with him moments into the first date-- and Beez had no hesitation in doing so, suggesting that they likely have before.

Their attraction to one another is presented as an existing given between them from the very start of their flashback sequence. There's no "oh" over The Fly or anything else because they just know. They start to give words and actions to it as they fall deeper in love throughout the scenes but there's never any doubt that they both have been long-aware of what exists between them.

If anything, Ineffable Bureaucracy is probably the real, millennia-long pining relationship in Good Omens, as while they had all these very good foundations for a romantic relationship, they didn't really begin to pursue one until between S1 and S2.

Gabriel's response to The Fly parallels Aziraphale's response to Crowley saving the books in 1941, even if the contrasting part of the parallel is that both are responses to gestures made by these demons for their angels in very different stages of these relationships.

For Gabriel, The Fly is an "oh" moment-- but not one that is about a new revelation related to love existing. It's about what is, for him, a heartbreakingly new experience:

It's not that Gabriel doesn't already know how he and Beez both feel about one another because already he does by this point. Gabriel isn't having a realization of the existence of his love or of Beez's love when Beez gives him The Fly; he's having a realization that this is what it feels like to be loved.

And what is feeling loved, to an angel?

It's being and feeling truly seen.

It's someone noticing them and coming along to care for them while they're out there, trying to save the world when they're sometimes not sure they can even save themselves. It's someone seeing that in them and not seeing anything worth berating them about the way that they berate themselves but, instead, seeing a person worthy of their love and protection.

Loving an angel is giving them the same kindness and care that they give to the world but that they often deny themselves.

For Gabriel, that night in The Resurrectionist was the first time that anyone had ever done something like that for him. It wasn't an "oh" of I'm in love because he already knew that and that Beez felt the same way. It was an "oh", though, of falling deeper in love. It was an "oh" of feeling love.

Beez had already done kind things for him before they gave him The Fly but The Fly and its matchbox are the first ever physical things Gabriel has been given by someone. He has never had any possessions besides his clothes before. He's never been given a gift.

He and Beez go to bars and pubs on their dates; they're surrounded by humans with songs and birthdays and Christmases and going on dates and living a life that involves tangible, physical things that Gabriel is supposed to be above but to which he is drawn.

On the first two dates we see, he and Beez meet up in places but they do not order anything. They do consume the music together and, by the night at The Resurrectionist, they take another step towards engaging more in the human world that they've largely been absorbing and observing together to date. They do so through allowing themselves to be a part of the space, too-- Gabriel miracling the song on the jukebox for Beez-- but also through material objects.

They start ordering stuff. Gabriel is happy to bring Beez something-- buying them beer and a bag of chips/packet of crisps, even if they're undecided on actually consuming them. He makes it clear that he doesn't have any expectations that Beez actually eat or drink anything if they don't want to but the idea is that they have moved to a place where they can see what the humans see in bringing one another things as they move through the world together.

Gabriel has gone from a being who barely knows why he's meeting Beez in this bar to being excited to see them again and happy to buy them a drink and their preferred snack to stare at. Beez is having a ball getting the food-judgy-if-also-food-curious Gabriel to buy them what they've clearly told him he had best call a packet of crisps if he plans on seeing them again. 😂 They have begun to let themselves claim resources for each other and themselves and to start to get less intense about consumption, which are features of recognizing the humanity in one another and themselves.

Gabriel's "oh" moment when he is given The Fly is that this is the first time he knows what it's like to experience the world as a person who has a person who cares about them and has brought them something.

What he means when he says "no one's ever given me anything before" is really "no one's ever thought about me before."

He means no one has ever seen him there-- until Beez did.

The gift of The Fly reminds Gabriel of that and shows him getting used to the new feeling of not being invisible and alone. He falls deeper in love with Beez and sees them more fully in return as well as a result of their gift and that, it could be argued, is what love is.

Love, if it's good, is a lot of "oh" moments-- because you don't fall in love once. You fall over and over again, deeper each time.

The difference between this moment with Gabriel and Beez versus the paralleling one between Crowley and Aziraphale is that, by 1941, our angel, Aziraphale, has known years upon years upon years of being seen by his demon.

(Amusingly, considering the theme of love as recognition, The Serpent is also literally, ya know, um, rather watchful at times. 😂)

Aziraphale is no stranger to Crowley being kind to him or rescuing him from the times he might have blundered, like we all do at times, in trying to do good.

Crowley saving the books in 1941 is absolutely not the first time that he's ever done something as Beez-and-The-Fly-level romantic as this for Aziraphale. In many ways, that's likely the point.

While The Fly was the first time of what will be many that Gabriel experienced what it was to feel loved by feeling seen, Crowley saving Aziraphale's books is a gesture that could not have happened at all without Crowley's long-held, intimate knowledge of Aziraphale as a person.

What makes Crowley saving Aziraphale's books so romantic isn't even just that he knows how important the books are to Aziraphale but that he knows Aziraphale so well that he could predict that the books would need rescuing.

Crowley knew that his angel would only focus on getting the two of them out of the church alive and unharmed and absolutely was going to forget about those beloved books of his while trying to protect them both and then be completely and utterly crushed when he did.

In this way, it's a contrasting parallel to Gabriel and Beez because, while that was the first time Gabriel had ever felt seen, 1941 is time number six trillion and five that Crowley had made Aziraphale feel seen like this and he's now so well-practiced at it that it's old hat at this point.

There is no judgement from Crowley about what happened with the Nazis in any of this. Aziraphale is horrible to himself over things like mistakes like he made in this church and being forgetful about these books but Crowley sees no such need for any of that. He protects Aziraphale from the fallout but in such a way that says he admires Aziraphale for trying to take the actions that he did. He sees Aziraphale as brave and his actions quietly affirm, much in the way that Beez does for Gabriel, that just because they are an angel who is used to doing for others doesn't mean they're not also a person who needs someone to do for them, too, and that Crowley is happy to be that person.

Aziraphale is reminded by Crowley knowing him well enough to anticipate that the books will need to be saved and taking care of that for him that they are a team. That Aziraphale doesn't have to worry about managing everything on his own because he and Crowley help each other manage life. They know each other well and have been together so long that they just know how to take care of one another.

It's not an "oh" of a realization of I'm in love for the first time. It is, as Michael Sheen says, a moment of falling in love. It's an "oh" of having been in love for a very long time and that love still finding new ways to surprise in its ability to keep causing Aziraphale to happily fall deeper and deeper...

This isn't realizing love and it's not the first time that Crowley has done something sweet and romantic like this for him-- it's the power of it being the nine billionth time Crowley has. It's the feeling of "oh" for Aziraphale that is a reminder that he is safe in the knowledge that Crowley knows him, through and through, and when confronted with the most real Aziraphale there is... the one that can be prone to making mistakes out of insecurities and self-doubt... the one that struggles sometimes with self-worth and brutal perfectionism... Crowley knows, sees him there, and is still madly in love with him.

Crowley never sees Aziraphale as weak or lesser for feeling any of it. He loves those sides of Aziraphale because he loves all of Aziraphale. He won't let Aziraphale be embarrassed because he likes and admires him as he is. He's gentle and kind and understanding about Aziraphale's insecurities, treating Aziraphale with the same care that Aziraphale shows him.

Crowley, better than anyone else ever has or will, sees Aziraphale for who Aziraphale truly is.

He loves that angel and his love helps Aziraphale to quiet some of his self-doubts and be a little kinder to himself-- much in the same way that Aziraphale's love does for Crowley. Crowley loving him makes Aziraphale feel like maybe there's a chance that he might be worth loving.

Loving an angel is making them feel seen and Aziraphale, holding those books Crowley rescued for him?

He felt very loved indeed.

The "oh" moment of 1941 is one moment where we see that Aziraphale has just been reminded of just how much Crowley truly sees him there-- and of just how much Crowley loves him. What we are watching, imho, is not the first realization of love but just one of a million different moments throughout history of Aziraphale continuing to fall deeper and deeper in love with Crowley.

#good omens #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow #good omens meta #ineffable bureaucracy #the archangel fucking gabriel #lord beezlebub #good omens 1941 #azirafeast2024 #feast of aziraphale #azirafeast

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gemchomper2 · 1 month ago

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★ rambles of harvey's theme: grapefruit sky

as a preface, this isn't coming from someone that has any genuine, formal education within the arts; especially concerning music theory. moreso, this is about my personal analysis, and further headcanons, that spring from concernedape's theme for the lovable local town doctor: "grapefruit sky".

to start this off, what do i believe is so interesting about this piece?

undeniably, both the words "grapefruit" and "sky" made me want to overanalyze this, to begin with. i may not be able to talk a ton about the instrumentation, but those two aforementioned keywords alone help build harvey's character so artistically.

to begin with the naming choice of the music, i do have some theories in mind:

even though grapefruits are not even present within stardew valley, they are referenced as the title of harvey's theme. that being said, there's no mention of him (to my recollection) that states he has any sort of connection to them (although characters may talk about in-accessible items, such as haley's peppermint coffee, harvey appears to not have any dialogue revolving that fruit). is there a possible reason?

there have been tons of symbolic talk about grapefruit; either it be the forbidden fruit spoke of in the biblical garden of eden, or simply just love. however, the depiction of seeing the citrus as a means of conveying duality interest me the most.

to apply this to something that is a quality of harvey's, let's take a look at his official description:

grapefruits are often described for being bittersweet. harvey's eight-heart event has him discuss how, due to his fear of heights + his horrible eyesight, he wasn't able to accomplish his initial dreams of being a pilot. he is often quoted with saying that he finds his work as "rewarding" as a doctor, though, you could obviously tell that the tangy feeling of those aspirations he saw fade may still affect him.

there can also be another point of duality: that being, he has a "kind heart" and has a "respected position" within the community, but as you grow closer with the man, he confides—finally expressing his inner loneliness he feels. this can also go another way, for he holds such a position as a well-trained practitioner, yet suffers from a very obviously-coded anxiety. these contrasts can further be accented, due to the fact harvey is a doctor, encouraging others to promote healthy habits, yet his microwave is being described as "well-used".

with that, the term grapefruit can be described as a particular colour; specifically the flesh of the citrus. here are some images that i have sourced below:

#1 creds / #2 creds / #3 creds

there are many shades of "grapefruit", however, i simply found it to be more reliable to take actual images of them to observe. in my opinion, they appear very vermillion to me. due to it being close to a red, people may call it a very passionate hue—maybe in reference to how harvey is so passionate about his aviation fixation? how he is so passionate about bettering the lives of others? how he is so passionate, in secret, about yearning, and longing for the things that could make him feel complete, such as partnership, or another case of fulfillment?

however, i like to believe that the colour is in reference to harvey's skies.

i'm taking the word "sky" to be the literal meaning of it. considering harvey's interest in airplanes, and other aeronautical fields, it would make sense to reference the very thing that such vessels were made for: soaring the winds. though, with the "grapefruit" in front of it, i took it as more of an adjective—describing the colours of the horizon. to me, it seemed to be a sunset.

sunsets are towards the end of the day; the time to where you could pack up your things, rest your head, and finally get settled down after the morning and noon hours. i believe, in term's of harvey's disposition, this can be taken in a way to where harvey may be seen as "settled" already. given him being canonically one of the older bachelors of the game, a person may expect him to have everything figured out already—to not be so lost and anxious about the world around him, and to not feel those nervous spouts of his, when he is a professional within medicine. i like to also believe he has insecurities, regarding his age and bachelor status, and alongside with the tangy goodness of a grapefruit, the sunset represents both sides of the same coin of the man.

with the skies bleeding into reds and oranges, and eventually reaching a pitch black, this could also be a reference to how he believes that he should simply accept his crushed dreams, for not everything in the world may work out for him. i believe that he might have been the one to talk himself into not being able to become a pilot. that he should already land the plane, for he shouldn't have gone off the runway this late already.

to add any finishing notes, i will attempt to discuss the actual music portion of harvey's theme. i'm moreso speaking from the heart here, in comparison to actually understanding the different chord structures and keys that may allude to something greater than i could explain.

for the first ten seconds, it starts as a solo. after that, it branches to some accompaniment; before switching from that aforementioned solo and to the accompaniment again throughout the rest of its runtime. there's a reverb/echo that i hear from the leading woodwind(?) sound, with how it holds it would such yearning tenuto notes, before hitting a climax of some sorts at around the ~0:43 mark? it sounds more lively, before returning to the solo, ending it off in a more wistful note. like, adding an afterthought to your day; the piece representing a quiet morning, an eventful afternoon, and yet another quiet time to enjoy the sunset.

i believe that this may try to represent his loneliness, or just simply a musical glimpse into harvey's life, in essence? or, his feelings. how he feels isolated, and alone in a crowd in a sense—being well-respected, yet never exactly building strong relationships in-game within the valley—even during the peak of the accompaniment. the echo/reverb that i hear could be like how his life could be seen as being inside of a hollow tunnel, though there may be a light at the end of it—given by the outro?

i am most likely spitting complete gobbledygook, but that's what i infer from it, personally.

#🌱soilwrites #🪻soilposting #grapefuit sky #sdv #stardew valley #stardew valley ost #harvey #harvey stardew #harvey stardew valley #stardew valley analysis #harvey sdv #harvey hc #stardew valley hc #stardew valley hcs #hcs #i hope i made sense...

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phantomram-b00 · 1 year ago

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So I saw this meme and it perfectly capsulate how I feel with what I gotta talk about because my love language is talking about my special interest and this brainrot is still strong even if we’re in 2024.

So I know I haven’t done a meta-analysis in a hot minute. I think the last I did was the Coffee theory. And imma be for real, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep going (more on that later) but then I saw this and I said “oh yeah, this is for me to talk about”. As it about Aziraphale. More specifically about people claiming he’s a villain or wrong. Which is hilariously wrong in so many ways.

Mostly because, name one thing about that that automatically made him a villain? Especially with after everything he have done. But also do people not remember the fact that he did deny it at first. After what happen technically five years ago, he want zero parts with Heaven. The last thing he ever wants to do is go back to his former side that tried to kill him just because he saved earth, God’s creation. The only reason he wanted to join was 1) Metatron said he can appoint Crowley. 2) Aziraphale believe if he an archangel he can fix the broken system if it means sacrificing his own happiness. And this is just me personally, 3) Metatron threaten him and even after as he walk with Aziraphale gave him no choice at all. Then again he never really did but I’ll get to that later. None of those reason scream villainous, did he choice heaven? Yeah, but that shouldn’t automatically deem him as a villain. If that was the case, he could’ve been considered “villain” in season 1 when he tried to back out from trying to save the world; but even if he was considered that back in season 1, that still doesn’t doesn’t make sense.

The reason he tried to back out at first is because he was stressed and was scared. Imagine being in his shoes, your whole life you were taught and molded to obey without questioning the righteousness of God/Archangels with a chance that if you do to either fall or get destroyed. So you’re made to believe you are on the “good side” and expected to do “the right thing” in their eyes because it “what God wanted” so you do the right thing so you can get approval and not get ridiculed or worse punished. That’s how Aziraphale was raised to believe, regardless that he heavily disagrees with armageddon as much as Crowley does he scared to revert the apocalypse not to mention stressed given how many days they have left on this earth. But one thing also about Aziraphale is that he’s trying to hold onto hope that maybe he can try stopping it by talking with God, and when that doesn’t work he did try to reach out to Crowley before being inconveniently discorporated and even so he still try to go back to earth to revert it. Was there thing Azirapahle could’ve done better? Ofc, I don’t think he should’ve said “I don’t even like you” to Crowley or said “I forgive you” the first time and many others but that still doesn’t make him a villain. He’s just a flawed grey character, even in the blitz episode in season 2, they talk about how they’re a shade of grey.

As for if he’s wrong for the choices? Ahhhh see this is where it’s tricky because many people have commented their beliefs. So it truly up to your opinion regardless. But since I’m making this post, I’ll say, no. He’s not wrong. Going back to what I said, he wants to make Heaven a better place. You can’t blame him for wanting to fix something. Crowley is absolutely right that Heaven and Hell for that matter is toxic but Aziraphale wanting to make it better isn’t inherently wrong. It just Aziraphale gonna have to see that Heaven is beyond repair and it isn’t his responsibility to fix the system that been damaged but to Aziraphale he wants to. He wants to make it better even if it means leaving everything he loves and care about. Even if it hurts to leave Crowley, his bookshop, or everything but if he wants to fix it, I don’t think you can blame him.

And I said this in past post but I think regarding him wanting to appoint Crowley, I think he just want Crowley along his side because he want him to fix it with him. But Aziraphale I’ll admit should’ve considered how Crowley already feels about heaven. He was casted out and wants no part with Heaven at all. So even if there a chance to fix it in his eyes, Heaven is damaged. Far too damage to repair but also that the source of his trauma. So why should he come back? So I’ll give it that, and I think deep down Aziraphale knew this outcome might’ve played out but I think Aziraphale thought if he suggested maybe fixing it might spark something. How Azirpahale is thinking is that, just because something is damaged doesn’t mean it unfixable and there’s hope for salvaging it. However, Crowley’s thinking is that there no fixing that’s dead in the water. In this case neither are wrong.

And look I’ll say this, Crowley’s plan to running away, even though it sounds good. I mean, if Beelzebub and Gabriel can do it (which they deserve their flowers like say what you will about this couple I love it.) why couldn’t they? But the thing is that even back in Episode 1 of season 2, Aziraphale told Crowley when he was an angel that everything was going to be shut down. Which would also include Alpha Centauri or any other dimensions he wants to runaway with Aziraphale. Granted it not guarantee that maybe Alpha Centauri or any other galaxy aren’t save maybe they will and I’m reading it wrong. However if Earth is to be destroyed because of this Great War that going to happen, who to say the other galaxies would be safe too? It too risky to just run away I mean granted it not safe to stay neither if the world might end but running away won’t solve anything.

And now with the season coming happening, I think even though yes, Aziraphale did chose Heaven over Crowley which yes that fucking hurts. I’m not going to deny that. It hurts on both sides with Crowley being rejected and losing the one thing that made sense in the world and Aziraphale having to give up everything and realizing he made a mistake. It a tear jerking mess. But at the same time, with season 3 coming and confirmed, now he has to save the world and Crowley on his end without talking to Crowley. Which is gonna hurt like hell (or heaven who knows they’re both toxic atp) but Aziraphale will do anything to save and protect Crowley and Earth. And I’m pretty sure he would do anything to get Crowley back or the bookshop back

Now just a disclaimer, as much as I relate to this character and he’s my favorite and my comfort character, I’m not going to say Aziraphale perfect. He’s a bastard worth knowing for a reason right? But all I’m just saying is that villainizing him is throwing away all his characteristic and progress he making or made out the window just this one decision, we can’t villainized him for this one instant especially as it really out of character for him to ever be a villain to begin with. I’m not saying you have to like him but again don’t villainize him for this one choice where there more nuance into it.

But that’s really my two since, I just don’t see why people would think Aziraphale’s a villain or wrong imo. Might be controversial but hey, it was fun to talk about it. If you guys have any opinions are this, that cool let me know, if you agree or disagree hey valid but plz be respectful and don’t call Aziraphale the villain. Honestly how do you feel about people calling aziraphale a villain or wrong for what he did?

Now onto what I was talking about before (you don’t have to read if you don’t have to, this is just me explaining it. If you wanna read, that’s cool too. ^v^)

So, before anything, uh I’m not leaving tumblr or good omens fandom. No, I love the fandom and tumblr enough to leave. Good omens fandom have been very lovely and I met people on here so I like to shoutout to that but also Good omens is my comfort and I don’t wanna leave that.

But what I’m getting that is that, without getting too personal, I’ve been having posting anxiety. What I mean is that I’ve been having low confidence over what to post and if this post will be good enough. And it doesn’t help that I haven’t been feeling the best for the past couple of months or so. I thought 2024 would be different and I mean I have faith that it is, just things haven’t been easy I’ll just say. And haven’t been feeling or doing the best. No I’m not going on a hiatus, i hope not, i just need to think things over.

However, I think I have some thoughts, like I do wanna post more art but I do also wanna continue talking about stuff. Maybe both too? I mean there many drawing idea I have so much idea off, I just need to not have this anxiety weighting over me. Or not overthink things.

If you have read this far, thanks for listening ghost pal! I guess TLDR: I’m not going anywhere; I just want to improve and post stuff I like. Again good omens is my favorite show and I love it to bits and I have so much to say and/or draw. Just ahh, gotta work on it. But thanks for listening and hope you enjoy this ghostly rambles on their favorite character. And stay tune for another post I’ll do. And uh, boo!

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wigglesdtuff · 2 years ago

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I still can't believe people don't think she's vital to the endgame. She is SO important in finding the one piece and figuring out whats up with the void century. They seriously could not do it without her, or at least it would be a whole lot harder. And even then, she's a valued member of the crew regardless. They love her and she loves them and that's all that matters.

"Also ask me about how i'm convinced robin and luffy are half siblings" oh my god i'm so curious about this, please do give me the run down

I don't know how to answer two asks at once, forgive me but this is also for @tomorrowcomest0day

OKAY Thank you for waiting, I had to run an errand and then bought a coffee SO HERE WE GO!

I actually have so many thoughts about this you have no idea. I'm very normal about Nico Robin.

PREFACE: Okay so this is a very silly theory that is almost entirely opinion based/gut feeling related. I'm not an expert at anything and this is not at all in-depth. It does not change the core of the story in any way with regards to Luffy and Robin’s relationship. To me, it already reads as a sibling relationship, and I find it incredibly endearing and sweet - the found family aspect being super important. I just also think it would be very sweet if Robin had a little actual family left after the events of Ohara, especially someone who she already very much cares about. SPOILER WARNING. THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR EGGHEAD, SO AS A PRECAUTION I SUGGEST BEING CAUGHT UP!

At a glance, Luffy and Robin are polar opposites. Luffy is loud, boisterous and impetuous. Robin is quiet, reserved and calculated. HOWEVER, these are two sides of the same coin. They are both very intelligent, but where Robin is incredibly book smart, Luffy has intuition that could rival the gods. There is an overlap where, inexplicably, they understand each other without really having to say anything - moreso than some of the other Straw Hats. The most common example being in Zou when Luffy was trying to recall the name of Marco from the Whitebeard pirates.

They share a wavelength, and it’s not just this. Luffy has always been particularly blunt - so has Robin. Even as far back as Ohara.

I can dig up examples of Robin and Luffy both being blunt/grim, but I think if you’ve watched the series/read up until this point you’ve seen it. Luffy tells Coby in the first episode that he hates him. He tells Shirahoshi he doesn’t like her because she cries. Robin’s entire schtick is that she says something out of pocket.

Coming back to the notion that they're polar opposites and yet two sides of the same coin: The potential Sun and Moon symbolism. This one I won't go too much into, because it's entirely conjecture, but we know Luffy is the Sun God, but what in the world is up with Robin's DF and why does it seem like it's in the moon carvings?

Nothing is really confirmed because I don't think they've really discussed Demonio, but if we get a reveal later that the Hana Hana no Mi is ALSO more than just a paramecia, I would just not be surprised. In any case, the potential for the Sun and Moon siblings is just fun to me, so take that with a grain of salt (like this entire post).

Monkey D Dragon - The deadbeat dad himself. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was two for two. So we know a fun little tidbit from one of the more recent chapters, and that's the fact that not only did he know of Ohara's existence (and subsequent nonexistence), he visited to pay his respects and promptly started the Revolutionary Army as a direct result of the Buster Call on Ohara. It's not evidence of any familial connection, but it's also not not evidence, you know? He is of age, and the only mention of Nico Olvia’s husband is vague and alludes to him possibly being dead, but we have no confirmation on that yet. Olvia has white hair, which Robin very clearly does not. She, Luffy and Dragon all have the same hair color. It’s a common hair color, so again. Not evidence. But also not not evidence. We know he was looking for her since she was the survivor of Ohara, but that could always be a cover. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he started the revolutionary army because of Ohara and sought the one survivor for 20 years, that’s all I’m saying here. It very well could be, but a girl can dream.

I HIT ENTER TOO SOON I CAN'T USE TUMBLR

IN SHORT: They are the Sun and the Moon to me, and I think that it's an entirely possible reveal, but it also means nothing to the overall story. She is already his sister tbh. Robin deserves all the family and love in the world, and Luffy also does. I WISH I was better at putting things together, but here are some thoughts LOL. Thank you for coming to my poorly written out Ted Talk, Tumblr really messed up my train of thought.

#nico robin #one piece #silly goofy theory #one piece spoilers #wtt asks #okay I can probably come up with more I was gonna organize this better but I accidentally clicked Ctrl + enter instead of shift + enter #I feel like a dingus #embarrassing!#but I love them both #I think luffy deserves a sibling who is present in his life LOL and not dead or thought to be dead #and robin deserves love #full stop

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the-s1lly-corner · 7 months ago

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Pocky game with the knd villains

I am going insane with these repeating prompt group posts I'm sorry everypony

Characters: father, spankulot, stickybeard, knightbrace, cuppa joe, toiletnator, mr fizz

Notes: reader is GN, bonus hcs of who's favorite flavor is what, admin has only tried the og and cookies n cream though <\3

CWs: none

FATHER

this man has never heard of a pocky or the game so youre going to need to brief him on whats going on

open to playing the game with you! probably only thinks its just the one flavor but i think if he were opened up to all of them... i think he would still be a fan of the original flavor!

too hot... he kind of melts the chocolate after a minute.. :( it leads to both of you needing to go faster before theres a mess on your hands

likes the concept doesnt like the reality given the above... :(

hes also a little competitive so hes likely going to make it a goal to beat you to the middle- briefly forgets that the game tends to end with a kiss

not that that hes complaining, though

SPANKULOT

loves when you put two sticks in your mouth and pretend theyre fangs, he thinks its really cute!! especially if you try to mimic his accent and general speaking habits!

i can see him being a fan of the original flavor!

very slow eater, you might beat him to the middle before hes even halfway done with his side of the stick

hes just not that fast of an eater is all!

but with some encouragement he might be able to make himself go faster! definitely the one whos more likely to get flustered from the game

hes confident enough, but there is some obvious shake as he meets you... hes buzzing with excitement is all!

KNIGHTBRACE

not at all interested in the game once you explain what a pocky stick is :(

the only one who actually turns you down because of his whole anti candy thing

i mean he literally participates in a dangerous and intense scavenger hunt game JUST to destroy some cupcakes, and the only sugary thing we know he folds for is taffy

turns you down and most likely makes a comment on how bad the treat is for your teeth

no favorite flavor, either, for obvious reasons

CUPPA JOE

loooooooves the original but i can see him being a fan of the almond one! maybe matcha as well! can see him dunking the sticks into coffee! sounds good in theory... might try that next time i get some pocky..

doesnt know about the game but hes on board the second you explain what it is and what to expect

knowing him he might just go straight to kissing the second the pocky is in your mouths.. too bad the stick hitting the back of your throats is far from a pleasant feeling...

it... might be better to split the box with him and give him some regular kisses- hes a little too hyped up on caffeine to not just... go bonkers

STICKYBEARD

oh he definitely knows what pocky are as well as the game, hes been in the sugar business for a while hes seen some people make games with treats before... doesnt have a favorite flavor by the way, he thinks theyre all solid!

down with playing the game with you, if youre both already together or aware of each others feelings hes going to be teasing you and making side comments about the whole thing

as long as you dont pay much mind to his beard tickling your face, the game goes smoothly!

i dont think he would steal your half of the stick or demolish his side, the man can practice self control! besides, theres more sticks in the box! no need to rush things!

TOILETNATOR

ooooooooooh the second you offer to play the game with him hes all over it! when? how many rounds? right here right now? its actually really sweet with how excited he is!

looks like a banana flavor enjoyer but i can see him also liking the strawberry!

gets a little too excited so the round doesnt last that long

but i can also see him freezing in the moment because wooooooow he cant believe this is really happening!

if he could hed have a bunch of hearts popping in the air around him after you meet in the middle

basically begs to do it again and he gets super excited when you bring some pocky home

MR FIZZ

doesnt know about the game but he knows about the treat! has tried some of them! he looks like a cookies n creme enjoyer but i can also see him being a fan of the almond!

slow and steady, hes competitive but hes not going to slam the stick down his throat just to win or to get the kiss

its not his first choice for a cute couples game but hes not going to shoot you down

thinks its amusing that you get flustered from the game, if you do

especially since youre the one who brought it up in the first place

generally a positive interaction, as an aside unrelated to the prompt/post i can definitely see him sharing a drink with you- same cup two straws kind of deal

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0owhatsamsays · 1 year ago

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I think I am the only one who doesn't see what others see in Aziraphale's expressions in the elevator. We've seen him through a lot of emotions. He was in love, angry, determined, confused, happy, sad, excited, hurt, etc. But none of his previous facial expressions were similar to the ones in the elevator. This, for me, is not Aziraphale. I am sorry, don't come at me. I am not underestimating him. I know he is intelligent and perfectly capable of plotting a master plan to bring them all down. Unfortunately, I don't believe this is the case.

No matter how many times I watch this scene, I don't see it. What I see is Aziraphale going from Aziraphale to something else. And I often find myself not seeing what others see in Good Omens and what might happen next, so I am going to lay out how I see it because I feel the need to do it (because I can't stop thinking about GO... HELP), even when I know, that many won't agree with me, mostly because it includes theories, which many people dismiss. Also, some theories of my own, that I haven't seen anyone talk about.

I am going to start with the thing that I feel like we intentionally ignore, because it hurts thinking what impact it can have, or it had. The erased memories and Book of Life. They aren't just thrown out there to build S2 and then dropped. Especially knowing that S2 is a bridge between S1 and S3. I would even call it an outline. Cut here, so I don't spam, continuing below the cut

How I see it: This is something Heaven has done for ages. After the fall, there were others, for sure. You can't convince me it was only these angels and then no other angel ever rebelled. But as Metatron said, it will look like an institutional problem if they send them all to hell, especially after the fall. But they found a way to solve this problem. Erase their memory, demote them, and start over. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.

They were going to demote Gabriel to 38th scrivener!! Gabriel, the supreme archangel. If they can do this to him, nothing can stop them from doing it to others. And not only that. They have the power to erase you completely, but this will be noticed. They call it "extreme sanctions". It's extreme, and therefore - noticeable, so they just overwrite them.

I don't believe the coffee theory. I think it's just symbolic. The almond tree is part of a psalm where God shows the almond tree and says "if you see it, you know I watch", which is explained as: he also judges if you follow him and I think the almond is something like a test - if Aziraphale likes it, then he is still on God's side. And here comes my... I wouldn't even call it a theory, but rather fan fiction (it's my fan fiction, which I am writing right now, but it's possible to have been just like this) Crowley and Aziraphale knew each other before the fall. Aziraphale was Jophiel. She was blond with blue eyes, one of the most beautiful angels, she disliked confrontation, but she had a flaming sword, and she was the companion of Metatron.

She and Crowley (then Barachiel /don't hate me/) were really close, but Metatron, the companion of Jophiel, didn't like that, because Barachiel was a "bad influence". Jophiel started to question Metatron's actions. Metatron erases Jophiel's and Barachiel's memories. Jophiel becomes Aziraphale.

But something draws Aziraphale to one particular angel - Barachiel. Somehow they always seem to find each other. They start getting close again, but then the fall happens and Barachiel falls with the rest. When he falls, any erased memories are restored, but not without an effort.

What he said to Gabriel about "looking at where furniture isn't" - when he fell, he probably had flashbacks of things he didn't remember doing, but he knew it was important to remember. Someone up there was worth remembering. He made an effort to remember and eventually, he did. He remembered Jophiel, and he realized what Heaven did.

After that, he wants to disconnect as much as possible from Heaven and he changes his name. Later, when he adds the "Anthony J.", he adds the J to honor Jophiel. This is the reason why he doesn't explain to Aziraphale what the "J" stands for. He doesn't want Aziraphale to know how they do things in heaven. If he tells him, Aziraphale will rebel and probably will be erased again, and Crowley cannot let this happen. This is also why he said to Aziraphale that he understands better than Aziraphale does. He knows, he remembers.

However, it's too late. As always. Aziraphale is in Heaven and I think they are erasing his memories in the elevator. These expressions were not Aziraphale’s. BUT, now Aziraphale is more human than ever. He felt the strongest human feeling – love. And this love is so deep and long-lasting, that it cannot be erased. It’s coded into his being. You can’t just erase thousands of years. Metatron, you are not God. Don’t try to play God.

Aziraphale will constantly feel something is wrong with him. He will feel that he must be somewhere, he will feel that there is something wrong, he will feel like he must remember something very important. And in the meantime, Metatron will try to distract him with the Second Coming. It has to be started. Then there will be prophets and so on, I won’t go into details. But what about Crowley? Muriel?

Crowley will suffer, then suffer more, and then he will get angry. Really angry. We will see Crowley really bad. It will be sexy, I cannot wait. Bad and hurt. <3 I got distracted, sorry. So he will be angry and it won’t be towards Aziraphale. It will be towards Heaven, Hell, well, everybody. This will be his greatest mission. Nothing more important had happened to him, ever. He is alone, Aziraphale is in danger, the world is in danger and he is the one to save the day. Also, Muriel and the fact that it is said her other name is Abaddon cannot be irrelevant to the story, too. No way.

I have 2 or 3 theories on how it will go on from here, but I am not sure which one to pick. It became a really long post anyway, so I will leave the rest for either the fan fiction I am writing, or for a second large post.

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stargatebarbie · 7 months ago

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Getting to Know You Meme

Tagged by @spurious 😊

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship? Yes! 7 years this November

02) What was your dream growing up? I wanted to be a psychologist for a long time but tbh glad I didn't end up doing that I am not suited to it

03) What talent do you wish you had? It'd be cool to have an idetic memory. Or even just like, a good one. My memory is shot lol

04) If someone bought you a drink what would it be? I could really use a proper coffee rn

05) Favorite vegetable? like good cherry tomatoes. the home grown kind. Or maybe potatoes

06) What was the last book you read? I'm currently reading Dungeon Meshi! I'm really enjoying the anime and decided to pick up the manga, just finished the first volume

07) What zodiac sign are you? Cancer 🦀

08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Yeah ears stretched a little, I think they're only 1cm & septum piercing. I haven't gotten around to getting any tattoos atp, shit's expensive, but I absolutely want them

09) Worst Habit? stealing all the cups and forks in the house

10) What is your favorite sport? not to be a stereotype but I don't really do sport. ig hockey?

11) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude? naturally pessimistic but i really try to like. practice optimism

12) Tell me one weird fact about you. one time I was locked in a bathroom with a goat

13) Do you have any pets? Yes! A cat named Moon :)

14) Do you think clowns are cute or scary? Scary for sure. I blame my mum she hung a clown puppet in my room as a baby

15) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? boy howdy would I love a breast reduction

16) What color eyes do you have? grey/blue

17) Ever been arrested? No but I have been detained for like. safety reasons oop

18) Bottle or can soda? Bottle i suppose? I don't really drink a lot of soft drink though

19) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it? probably fund my move out of state

20) What's your favorite place to hang out at? home tbh. or the beach when it's not too crowded or cold

21) Do you believe in ghosts? No, to almost a cartoonish degree. I saw a ghost as a child & I still don't believe in them

22) Favorite thing to do in your spare time? any of my 8 million art/crafts/creative hobbies (currently mostly crochet, tatting, & drawing) & binge watching tv

23) Do you swear a lot? Ohhhh yeah. not only am I Australian, I'm from mining country

24) Biggest pet peeve? People being willfully inconsiderate of others in public spaces. trolley parked across the isle, tiktoks with no headphones on the bus, talking on the phone at the cash register, that sort of garbage

25) In one word, how would you describe yourself? um. weird?

26) Do you believe/appreciate romance? Yeah but like. I suck at it lol

27) Favourite and least favourite food? fave: potato bake & least: sausages

28) Do you believe in God? Nope lifelong athiest

29) What makes you happy: hanging out with my cat, rotating the blorbos in the brain microwave, finishing a project (in theory), and uhhh I'm replaying totk with my gf right now that's pretty great

30) Currently listening/the last thing you listened to: listening to a country & folk playlist, folsom prison blues just came on shuffle

31) Favourite place to spend time: uh yeah home

32) Favourite lyric: truly i hate to choose favourites there are so many um. okay

I'll be the jester as long as you are my queen Make a fool out of me I wanna be the source of your laughter

33) Recommend a film: I almost never watch movies uhhh. I recently forced my gf to watch the Birdcage with me bc she'd never seen it, it's so good

34) Recommend a book: Peter Darling by Austin Chant my beloved. Also I'm reading Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke rn and I'm really enjoying it if you work in an office and have slack or similar then I highly recommend especially

35) Recommend a band, a song, or album: Stick Season by Noah Kahan is just SUCH a good album

36) Recommend a TV show: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - great for lovers of musical theatre and/or the mentally ill 😌

37) Where are you from, and do you still live there? Where have you lived? I'm from Queensland and currently live in Tasmania. I've moved back and forth between QLD and TAS a few times, and plan on moving to Melbourne eventually

38) Do you have any pets or animals in your life? How did you find/get them? The aforementioned cat, I got him from a shelter & they got him from a dumpster <333

39) What's the most unusual thing you've ever eaten? during a drinking game I once took a shot that included; soy sauce, fish sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vodka, a warhead (sour lolly), fanta, and probably some other stuff I'm not sure I was very drunk and 18 year olds should not be unsupervised with that much alcohol bc they'll invent the world's worst drinking games

40) How did you 'find' fandom? A friend of mine sat me down in front of her family computer in their bible library (not a joke, whole library of bibles & Christian religious texts) & said hey. have you heard there are people on the internet who write stories about these two guys from this one series kissing? and I was immediately hooked lol

41) Make a list of 5 things that you see without getting up. work laptop (bc I am on the clock oops), personal PC, crochet project, calcifer plush, & my cat glaring at me from my computer tower bc I wouldn't let him sit on my keyboard

42) How do you style your hair? Well it was a mullet but it's super grown out now so it's more of a shag & I mostly just chuck it in a bun or something. I desperately want to shave it but it's so cold, idk maybe I'll just make a few beanies & buzz it anyway

If you want to join in please consider yourself tagged! 💖

#juno.txt #tag games

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bliphany · 1 year ago

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The Coffee was not drugged. The Coffee reflected how we related to our own and other people's free will (of making one’s own choice)

So I read this post and agreed with it so much I felt myself vibrating. After a few hours of thinking about it, I wanted to ramble more under op’s post, initially, but found that it grew way too long. So, I decided to make a separate post.

After two months since Good Omens season 2 finale, my view of various theories/metas concerning the final fifteen minutes is that, I am okay with most of them as long as they don't erase Aziraphale’s agency.

Did Aziraphale genuinely want to fix Heaven with Crowley but with Crowley’s strong refusal he took the second best thing he thought he could get? I’m fine with that.

Did Aziraphale tried to fix Heaven to make it worthy of Crowley, the world he loved, and his idea of real goodness (he wouldn’t see the world suffer if he could help it) and with the newly-gained information of Second Coming he made his choice even though it broke his heart? I liked this a lot. It was my initial thought right after the finale and I’m still about 65-70% standing by this take.

Did Aziraphale lie to gain more wiggle room in an urgent, intense, and limited-resource situation while due to his own and Crowley’s backgrounds and characteristics they also hurt each other in the process? YES YES YES. Right now this is my favorite interpretation because it’s a realistic and complex bag of limitation/repression from the system, individual’s agency despite of it, free will and choices (never means we won’t make mistakes but always means we can still choose to do something), and their mutual (mis)understandings and relationship dynamics. It’s SO GOOD. It can lead to so many possibilities. It has its depth and enough twist for both characters and the audience. It well-reflected our world and can bring valuable discussions.

Was there something we weren’t shown and actually Aziraphale and Crowley had come up with some plan? I’m okay with that it might be fun.

What I personally don’t want (aside from “oh it’s all God’s plan God wanted them to love each other God is one of us”… but that’s another post I guess…) is to erase the weight of Aziraphale’s choice at the end of Season 2, along with all the good and bad and everything in between it could bring to the table and all the valuable exploration of “how could we thrive to make hard choices even (especially) under limited circumstances, with "a cup of coffee."

I believe that coffee did mean something though...

"Give me Coffee/Freedom or give me death."

Coffee means freedom to choose and free will. Coffee/freedom which Aziraphale was half-forced to take, meaning the “free” choice pushed upon you weren’t as “free” as it seemed after all. Especially true under our current capitalism world, wasn't it? But it was not completely drunk without Aziraphale's agency, either. Coffee/freedom which Crowley asked six shots of. Coffee/freedom which Nina served every day but still on her way to break free from a previous not-free situation. Coffee/freedom which Ms. Sandwich claimed tasted better when Nina was happy.

I think it's also worth mentioning that, Aziraphale served Muriel tea and demonstrated how to drink it but respected their choice not to drink just yet. Aziraphale invited Jim/Gabriel to have a cup of cocoa which Jim/Gabriel described as the best thing ever.

The coffee was not drugged. The coffee was a metaphor of many different ways people could relate to their free will and ability/responsibility to choose.

The most interesting part was, theoretically, we people praise free will, we value choices, and we love love characters to have their agency...

Until they made a choice that we personally don't like, against our point of view, or hurt us.**

**This is also why I never truly believed Crowley would Refuse Aziraphale with capital R in canon... Crowley was definitely heartbroken, but between the two of them, he was also the one who valued and respected people making their own choices more. We saw he did that again and again even when he didn't personally agree. The only once he "took" away others choice in canon was to prevent a suicide.**

Then, that was free will no more. We'd framed it as if said individual was nonconsensual. Or the relationship must be bad or unhealthy. Which was understandable, emotionally, but that was also exactly the point of people having free will, wasn't it?

Giving people agency means acknowledging that they are different individuals from us. There's connection. There's love. There's devotion. They're still their own person just like we are our own. Giving people freedom to choose means they might, will, and should be allowed to choose differently. If their choices break our hearts. Well, they break our hearts. That happens because people are people.

People can't truly choose/love us freely if they aren't also given the freedom to not choose/love us. (Not saying Aziraphale and Crowley didn’t love each other because they definitely do. I’m just saying, they’ve been co-shaping humanity from the start of course they would act more and more like people, and to paraphrase what Adam once said, it made no sense to make people people and then be mad at them when they acted like, well, people)

Ursula Le. Guin wrote this short story called "Nine Lives" and it was about real, meaningful connections were created by reaching out a hand in the dark, without knowing for sure whether there would be other people to reach back.

It’s a practice. To love and to love under the blessing and curse of free will choice.

Idk I’m just… the “coffee was drugged theory” especially didn’t make sense to me personally, because Good Omens has always been a story about human free will.

#good omens #good omens meta #aziraphale #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #Aziraphale’s choice #my good omens meta

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pbaintthetb · 10 months ago

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Lol watched Book of Mormon (and hoo boy possibly actually one of my faves I've watched on stage. Plot is average at best but the goddamn choreo and the lights- the act 1 finale? I digress) thoughts

You can never go home again, or more accurately, You can never go to Orlando again. Anyway Price probably needs a few years to resort his head and life before he can go to Orlando and appreciate it because currently I don't think he can seperate what he wants (needs) Orlando to be from what Orlando actually is...

Orlando and Salt Lake City are the same in the sense that neither of them actually exist and they're metaphors (ignoring the fact that they do, both exist). Both Nabalungi and Price songs about their favourite fictional (real) real (fictional) place are kinda tragic because it reveals the things they view about the world as fact. Hence why this place is so special. Yes comparing Price's pretty first world problems with Nabalung's concerns is a bit of a stretch but also it kind is the same thematically.

I do hope Nabalungi can get what she wants from Salt Lake City though, although not necessarily in Salt Lake city idc.

The vibe I had in the interval was that it was possible out of district 9 Price is the only one to have actually read the Book of Mormon, cover to cover. Cunningham explictly hasn't, the conversation about "latter days" made me wonder if the other mormons only kinda read it which-

leads onto my thinking that like Price's relationship with Mormonism is, in many ways, more academic/clinical. Like he's got that kind of obsession with religion that I personally associate with people who don't actually believe but either A. really want to or B. really want to disprove it. Price is firmly in A, but yeah like I feel like Price needs Mormonism to be real where he is in the plot (Orlando. If mormonism is real he can go back to Orlando. And it's worth it.) But he doesn't necessarily actually have that spark of genuine belief the other District 9 elders have ya get me? Like he knows it back to front he knows the logic, adn in the coffee scene talks about how a lot of it has always seemed nonsensical and incoherent to him. It's a set of rules and guidelines but idk if Price actually has like core real belief/faith.

When those extra rows of lights came down for Man Up near the end of act 1? Oh yeah you bet we were all in for a fantastic time then, you know good stuff is gonna happen

The lighting in Sal Tlay Ka Siti was beautiful, like I mean the actress's performance and voice were great too, but the lighting really sold the like kinda hopeful tragic nature of the song. She's so happy most of the time but that song, ugh, the tree branch gobos, the visible beams, the colour KSJDFJS:LKDF

Lol disco ball.

The set? It's so detailed? And they get it up so fast? LIke I know they drop blacks in "You and me (but Mostly me)" so it's more than the black out, but STILL?

Again, how do they get the waistcoats on so bloody fast in "Turn it off"??? (I do actually have theories about this but that's not the point, it's stilll so cool)

Maybe this is just the run i watched, but like the Mormons, other than being dressed the same are all roughly the same height (except Cunningham) so their numbers are so extra cool because they really do kinda blend and move as one unit and it's so cool to watch. Especially Hello and Two by Two where they all have black ties.

Did they just start a new cult at the end? Curious what most of the mormons are gonna do when they leave Uganda. Also curious if their parents got an angry phone call from the mission president and are just like.... why aren't they home yet???

BFN is an elder now? Okay... not gonna touch that and how that happened

Nabalungi's dad is fucking hilarious omg his delivery this guy

The only song I'd heard was "You and me (But mostly me)" but I had been told of the spooky mormon hell song. The latter slapped. Did not have Atilla the Hun playing flute on my bingo card that day.

^I loved the blacks coming in from all sides to trap Cunningham out of "You and Me (But mostly Me)" and leave Price as the star also like I knew the song but teh first "but mostly me" cracked me up

One of the incorrect names Cunningham called Nabalungi was "Nigel Farage" lol. Couldn't hear much of the dialogue after that.

About the incorrect name, Nabalungi has the patience of a saint for sure.

Oh during teh play i couldn't watch half of it because I was too busy watching the district 9 elders, but mostly Price reacting to it. It was hilarious. Price looked so fucking happy but like he was trying to hide it and was clapping Cunningham on the shoulder at one point.

As a musical, it's incredible, and it properly contextualises a few things people have said about it and how long it's been running. By "as a musical" I mean the general production of it n shit. The plot is pretty average, the songs have funny lyrics but a lot of the numbers probably won't hold up so well on sound track for me personally- but when you're watching it??? oh yeah. Oh yeahhh.

Oh, the pipes on the guy playing Cunningham, man. MAN.

You can never go to Orlando again.

#Book of Mormon #this is more for my personal reasons so I can recall my thoughts on it in the future #you can never go to orlando again #I don't think price lost his conviction or faith in mormonism but rather his conviction that mormonism was worth having faith in

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beautifulpersonpeach · 1 year ago

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LMAO BPP All the PJM and JJK pages are obsessed with Tae's collaboration with Min Heejin. The theories I've seen just today??? 🤣🤣😭 You're so right on how you said the fandom implosion will go. The maknae line debuts will break all the pretenses open for the fandom to implode like you said. It's hilarious to see most people in Army fandom showing their asses.

Ask 2:

Hi BPP, Tae is working on his album under the production and creative fdirection of Ador´s CEO Min Heejin. I must confess that I dont know anything about her. Do you have any insights or opinions on why would Tea seek out her in particular. Also there were some controversies with this lady, if I am not mistaken, but I dont know the details. Would you please share your opinions with us if you have any?

thanks and have a nice day

Ask 3:

BPP!!! So apparently Min Heejin worked with Tae on his album!!! What I know of her is just basically her work with New Jeans so I have no idea what to expect about Tae’s solo debut now 😭

***

Hi Anon(s),

Chapter 2 is such a wonderful time, isn't it? It's lovely seeing the members flex their wings and influence a little bit, to see more of the colours and shadows of themselves they've been showing fans for the last 10 years. It's also been amusing to see all the people who were not paying attention, start to wake up. I've seen various posts about how some people feel this member changed or that member now looks different to them because of this/that interview, and I chuckle not even gonna lie.

The boys were always this competitive, always this ambitious, always this arrogant with a strong sense of pride, and all with massive egos swinging between the seven of them. Like, do people actually forget BTS are Korean men? They tone it down every now and then, and some members are more subtle about it than others, but they've always been like this, and if you believed otherwise then good morning. How would you like your coffee?

Of course it doesn't mean they don't highly value the team and fans, it's never meant that, but the love for their team (which I think is mostly genuine and pragmatically still very useful to them) is impressive to me when you remember the sort of partnership they have with each other in BTS is unnatural. We all know that. There's a reason there's no other group that has had their trajectory before, it's why there's no group like them - then and now, because many things about BTS as a group is frankly unnatural and go against every conventional thought of how a band should evolve. And everybody knows that, especially BTS themselves, which is why I strongly respect their aim to balance their very palpable ambitions and potential, with that of the team. However they choose to do that is their business, in my opinion. The company has its own agenda possibly, but they're all grown men more aware of the options at their disposal for their unique situations than anyone this side of the internet. It's bizarre for me to open my jikook Tumblr and see fans treat the people I consider to be the most intelligent in the group, as the most helpless in their situations within the company.

Anyway, hopefully anybody previously stuck under a false impression of the members, now that we're finally getting to Tae in the release schedule, I hope everyone is now well and fully aware of who the men in BTS are, and what the group as a whole represents. Like I've said before, nearly everything about them is directly up my alley so I'm a fan. Please be honest with yourself on if it's not, and if not, it's very okay to stop keeping up with BTS. In fact I strongly suggest you try out other groups that could be more to your liking, or take a tolerance break from everything k-pop altogether. That would be for the best.

The only way this implosion will actually be helpful for the group and fandom, is if all the people grumbling and hating the members now actually left the fandom. If all the apparently 'disillusioned' fans actually left, we'd be in much better shape by 2025. But because this is k-pop, they won't. And that is precisely what makes this implosion feel so messy.

About Min Heejin working with Tae, I'm excited!

Until that announcement, I didn't care one way or the other about Tae's solo debut. I mean, I was curious, but my taste in music is more the rapline and jikook to some degree. Tae and Jin for me are sometimes a hit but more of a miss usually, so I was prepared to support but only the baseline I typically do. Hearing that Min Heejin is involved however, makes me actually look forward to his album.

I won't rehash what I've said about Min Heejin before, Anons. You can read my previous posts on her by searching her name or 'NewJeans' on my blog. Personally, I don't care about the allegations against her just as I don't care about the allegations for all the Big3 CEOs/producers, and because if one actually cares to dig into the meat of the allegations against MHJ, many of them don't hold up under any scrutiny.

Anyway, reports say Tae reached out to Min Heejin in late 2022 to help with his solo debut project. That was really smart of Tae to do because Min Heejin is a brilliant artist. I'd say she's a couple of years ahead of an artist like Cho Gi-Seok, another brilliant Korean creative and the mind behind XG's latest concept execution and MVs along with Simon. If she works with Shin Woo-seok for Tae's MVs - the award-winning director she's worked with on many of NewJeans' MVs - then I expect nothing short of excellence.

In terms of music compatibility, Min Heejin has a good feel for descending microtonal music. The sort of music most people associate with jazz chords and R&B. So given Tae's music tastes, I'm very curious to see the direction his album will take under her supervision. I honestly have no idea how it's going to sound.

On promotions, like I've said before, unless Tae does a full English release like JK, he likely won't be getting the same toolbox, but he should see more support than previous releases. If Ador solely handles his promotions, then I can expect to see Tae have similar promotions to NewJeans. Which would be fantastic!

Tae has very interesting taste in music. He seems to like a lot of classic pop, contemporary pop, and hiphop. His voice and range allows him to excel in any of these genres, and despite how it seems online most people are fine with how he enunciates words in Korean. But I do hope he sticks to Korean or at least that there's dramatic improvement in his English pronunciations if there's a lot of English tracks.

We'll see.

Besides Tae though, I'm nearly desperate for new music from Namjoon and Jimin. I need it. Even my assistant at work (who I've somehow turned into a Jimin bias from streaming Serendipity, Alone, and Like Crazy-centered playlists at the office), asked me if Jimin has any new music out, as recently as last Wednesday. The people want more music. So, as excited as I am for Tae, I hope we get something minimoni before long as well.

#kim taehyung #taehyung #jimin #park jimin #jungkook #jeon jungkook #bangtan #bts #newjeans #min heejin #fandom discourse #bts chapter 2 #bts army #fandom behaviour #bts fandom #kth1

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fangirlwriting-stories · 1 year ago

Text

Protector

Chapter One

Author's Note: *peeks my head out* hi

You guys over here on tumblr can't see the chapter count, but this is the last chapter! This story has been… shit, at least three years in the making? From the first brainstorm to today it has gone through a fuck ton of changes and updates and fights between me and my own characters when they wouldn't do what I wanted them to. But I really honestly love where it ended up and how things worked out. I hope you did too, and thank you so much for reading! I've really loved seeing everyone's comments and theories as the story goes on, and sometimes I honestly can't believe how many people read it, it's easily my most popular story for this fandom xD

But anyways, thank you so much for reading it! This story means a lot to me, and I hope you enjoy the ending and that you enjoyed the whole thing overall!

Chapter Forty-Three:

Most days, Virgil woke up alone now. Logan said it was a good sign that he no longer worried enough about Remus’ safety to have to sleep in the same bed with him every night. If Virgil had a bad night, he’d end up there. If it was a really bad night, sometimes Roman would already be there. But those were becoming few and far between, and more likely, Virgil would wake up, get dressed, and head downstairs to find Remus making some kind of monstrosity in the kitchen with Patton.

That was precisely what happened this morning, as Virgil walked downstairs and found Patton had made a horrible mistake in apparently thinking Remus was ready to learn how to make pancakes.

Spilled batter was covering everything in the kitchen, including Patton and Remus themselves. Currently, Remus was pouring batter onto the griddle, and Virgil cringed and stepped back lest Remus somehow find a way to launch it several feet.

But some of the practice must have paid off, because Remus pulled the bowl up in time to make a pancake that actually looked more or less okay.

“Alright!” Remus called happily, setting the bowl down on the counter and spilling more as he did so. “Now when do we add the bacon?”

“Bacon is normally a side that comes with the pancakes,” Patton said. “But we might be able to add some to yours after we flip it.”

“Hell yeah!”

“Language!”

“Good morning,” Virgil called, startling Patton into spinning around. Remus simply glanced over his shoulder and called “Hi Virgil!”

“Oh, good morning kiddo,” Patton said with a smile. “We’re attempting to make pancakes. I’ll admit you were a much less messy student.”

“Thank you!” Remus called, beaming at Patton.

“It may be a while before breakfast, but I think Logan was actually looking for you,” Patton said. “He went back up to his room, but he should be down any—”

“Ah, Virgil, you are just the side I was looking for.”

“Minute,” Patton finished with a smile and nod behind Virgil.

Virgil turned around as Patton turned to try and explain flipping pancakes to Remus.

“What’s up teach?” he asked, following Logan into the living room.

“I wanted to invite you to the editing session today,” Logan said, setting his notes and his copy of the script for the upcoming video down on the coffee table.

“For the video?” Virgil asked in confusion. “I don’t normally have much of a part in that process.”

“I am aware. However, Remus mentioned the other day that you used to do quite a bit of editing for his ideas, back when there wasn’t anyone else around to do so,” Logan said. “And as someone more familiar with his contributions as I am more familiar with Roman’s, I thought it was only fair to see if you wanted to join. I think it is an especially good idea considering this latest video will be heavily focused on you and Remus.”

Virgil smiled a little. “Well, that’s… not a terrible idea, I guess.”

The corners of Logan’s lips turned up slightly, and he nodded. “Excellent, I look forward to seeing you there.”

“Oh, are you talking about the editing session later?” Remus called from the kitchen, turning and flinging a pancake up as he did so which promptly landed on Patton’s head. “Virgey, are you going to come?”

“I’ll be there, Re, pay attention!” Virgil called, though Patton was laughing and didn’t seem at all upset.

“Awesome!” Remus called, turning to pour more batter now that the pancake was ruined.

Virgil picked up on Roman’s footsteps just before they started down the stairs, and had just enough time to realize that he was going to be disappointed before he called, “I smell pancakes!”

“Remus is making them,” Virgil called as his head came into view. “I’d stick with frozen waffles unless you want to wait a while.”

“…That’s probably best,” Roman sighed.

“Hey, I didn’t even add anything poisonous this time!” Remus called from the kitchen.

Virgil leaned back on the couch with a chuckle as Roman headed into the kitchen to make waffles. Remus made sure to flip a pancake onto his head anyway.

The volume in the kitchen started to raise as Roman and Remus started exchanging banter, and Virgil used the cover to turn and face Logan. “Do you know how Janus is doing?”

“A little better, I think,” Logan said with a smile. “He did some acting with Roman yesterday, and didn’t seem to even have a motive beyond having fun with him. At least, that’s what Roman said he thought was going on.”

“That’s good,” Virgil said. He shifted so he could push himself up to sit on the top of the couch.

“He’s also started forcing people to take breaks again,” Logan said. “And if he’s confident enough to do that, I think that’s a good sign.”

“People?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow at Logan.

“I did not do anything work-related after dinner yesterday, like we all agreed on,” Logan said, adjusting his glasses. “I was researching purely for the sake of enjoyment.”

“Yeah? What’d you find out?”

Logan’s eyes lit up, and he launched into a rant about astronomy that Virgil could mostly keep up with.

They were both there until Remus and Patton managed to finish one pancake for each of them, and Patton headed upstairs to take a shower with a remark that he’d grab Janus on the way back down. Remus, on the other hand, was attempting to lick the batter off to clean himself, which would be more efficient according to him.

Patton’s showers didn’t take long, meaning about fifteen minutes later he and Janus started down the steps and over towards the kitchen. Janus sat next to Logan on the opposite side of the table from where Virgil and Remus had picked, but the dark circles under his eyes were less heavy today, which was progress.

“So!” Roman called happily, and everyone turned their gazes to him. “The video is making good progress, and Logan said he was going to ask Virgil to start helping with the editing…?” he gave Virgil a hopeful look.

Virgil gave a thumbs up around a mouthful of pancake.

“Excellent! In that case, I believe we’ll be ready to start filming by the end of the week!”

“That’s wonderful, kiddo!” Patton said happily.

“Indeed, I believe we are all eager to get started,” Logan said. “Not because it is unreasonable that this video is taking longer, but because I think we are all happy to be working on something again. And I very much look forward to having the figurative record set straight with Virgil and Remus.”

“Good luck with that!” Patton, Remus, and Roman all called at the same time.

Logan looked up at the ceiling, seeming to be contemplating his life choices.

Virgil caught Logan’s gaze and gave a roll of his eyes that Logan returned a grateful smile to. He was pretty sure they were both glad there was at least one other side to be annoyed at antics with, especially since Janus was obviously hiding a smile behind his hand at the other end of the table.

“When does the editing session start?” Janus asked a second later. “Do we have anything else to do today?”

“The plan was to begin after lunch, and I don’t believe there’s anything else on the schedule, why?” Logan asked.

“Because I am in dire need of a movie night with Thomas,” Janus said. “And I was hoping we could fit one in.”

“We’re all eating breakfast,” Logan pointed out. “It would hardly be considered—”

“Movie night!” Roman called with a happy clap of his hands. “I’m down as long as I get to use your hat for voting!”

Janus hissed and put his hands protectively over his hat.

“I think that’s a great idea kiddo,” Patton said with a smile. “I’ll ask Thomas after I finish eating.”

“I’m done,” Virgil called, standing up with his empty plate. “I’ll do it in just a sec.”

He headed over to the sink to wash the dish as the conversation continued behind him. He washed the dish and set it over on the drying rack, and sank out to Thomas afterwards with a wave at the others and a call that he’d see them soon.

Thomas was already sitting in front of the TV flipping through Netflix, so clearly some of the idea had bled over already.

He did pause and give Virgil a smile once he noticed him, though.

“Hi Virgil! It’s not game night already, is it?”

“Nope. Janus suggested an impromptu movie night before the editing session later. I came to ask if you were alright with it.”

“We’re going to try and settle on movie all seven of us agree on?” Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course not, that’s why I got here early,” with a mischievous smile. “I say we watch The Nightmare Before Christmas.”

“That doesn’t sound half bad,” Thomas said.

“Well, look at that, the vote is unanimous,” Virgil said, moving to his spot on top of the couch. “Let’s get it set up so it can be ready when everyone else gets here.”

Thomas huffed a laugh and shook his head. “You know sometimes I remember why you were originally a villain.”

“Oh you’re right, it doesn’t get any more devious than rigging movie votes,” Virgil said. “Clearly I’m the worst side you’ve got.”

Thomas winced, and Virgil paused.

“Too soon?”

“Maybe a bit,” Thomas said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sorry. Joke rescinded.”

“It’s okay,” Thomas said with a small smile. “So do we want popcorn for this movie night?”

“At 9 in the morning?”

“We’re adults, who’s going to stop us?”

“The debilitating social anxiety and shame,” Virgil said.

Thomas gave him a deadpan look, and Virgil laughed.

“No but you make an excellent point,” he said. “Let’s make the rest of your popcorn all right now.”

“All of it?”

“There are seven of us.”

Thomas laughed, and they both headed to the kitchen to do just that.

Virgil expected it to be a little longer before anyone else showed up, but he was proven wrong when a second after he got out the popcorn he heard someone appear behind him and turned to see Remus.

He was holding something and looking uncharacteristically nervous, which set Virgil’s alarm bells off.

“Re?” he asked, setting the bag of popcorn down.

“I uh, made you a thing,” Remus said, shoving the thing he was holding at him, which looked like a wrapped gift. “The thing that I was gonna make you before Janus was an idiot and ran off to the subconscious.”

Virgil took in it in surprise, looking down at it.

“If you want to go open that in private I can finish here,” Thomas said to Virgil.

Virgil gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks,” he said, and he and Remus both sank out to Virgil’s room.

“I hope you don’t hate it,” Remus said instantly, with a casual tone Virgil could read through immediately.

“I’m not gonna hate it, dummy,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes with a fond smile. “Hang on, let me just…”

He let his sentence fade off and pulled the wrapping paper off the gift, then set it to the side on his desk, and was met with a hoodie.

It was still black, but unlike his current one, this had bright purple patches and was the kind of brand-new fuzzy that hoodies had before you sent them through the wash.

“I figured, you kind of don’t have a color,” Remus said, still sounding very forcibly casual. “And the rest of us do. So. You know, I made you it, and whatever and stuff.”

Virgil looked up at Remus with a smile, and then stepped forward and pulled him into his arms. “You’re amazing,” he said. “You know that, right?”

“Obviously,” Remus said, with a slightly choked up tone of voice.

“I love it,” Virgil said. “Thank you.”

Remus made a small noise but didn’t say anything else, just pulled Virgil closer and squished him.

Virgil squished him back, and they both stood there for a moment being squished, which was as wonderful as always.

Eventually, they pulled apart, and Virgil took off his current hoodie and put on his new-and-obviously-improved version.

“You want to head out to Thomas and watch movies now?” he asked with a smile at Remus.

“Yes I do,” Remus said, starting to grin. “You have to show off your amazing new outfit.”

“Naturally,” Virgil said with a smile, and he wrapped his arm around Remus’ so they could sink out together. They had a 9AM movie night to get to, and a really good day after.

And a really, really good life to come after that.

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #remus sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #janus sanders #character thomas sanders #platonic dukexiety #platonic moxiety #platonic analogical #platonic prinxiety #platonic anxceit #platonic thvi #my fic

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karlachismylife · 3 months ago

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I'm absolutely obsessed with your writing dude and I'm really excited to see all those ideas you talked about, your writing is so detailed and accurate to character, I struggle to stay in character. Like learning how a character acts so I can make what I'm writing about believable lol, I'm not sure how to practice either, do you have any tips?

You comrades really decided to blow up my brain with positive validation today, I'm literally feeling like an overly excited pup who got all the treats and bellyrubs and praise. Or maybe it's all that chocolate I ate, not sure. In other words THANK YOU??? *cue me crying every time I see someone on tumblr complain about people making characters OOC cuz I think it's about me*

So, as you can see, I am most definitely not someone who's confident in my capabilities of staying in character. Also, I have never, NEVER studied writing in any shape or form - I enjoyed my literature classes a lot, sure, but there is zero grams of purposeful theory studying in my gorilla head and I'm pretty damn sure it shows. Everything I write is super intuitive, and I can count on one hand how many times I made conscious desicions to adopt something for my writing style or smth. And it still was just "oh hey I like that thingy, want that in my text", no theory behind it.

So here are some

Juju's Tips on How To Maybe Stay In Character (Based On Guesses And Prayers To Gorilla Totem)

Simplify. Before everyone starts rightfully throwing rotten tomatoes at me, lemme explain: of course you won't go far if you actually take a character and shrink him down to a single trait. This is actually a very dangerous advice if applied half-assed, because this is how we get Bucky Barnes and those fucking plums (I hope this wasn't a Russian-fandom thing only). While it is good for memes and fandom to take one such thing and exaggerate, it's hurtful to the overall character image in fandom and your writing. Characters, while not fully-fledged people, are still multidimensional!

Why would I give such a shitty tip then, you ask? Well because it's a tip for your start. Take your character and try to put him in a few main boxes. Is he an unapologetically Scottish ADHD puppy with a sprinkle of violent tendencies? Is she a ruthless Mexican mastermind with ambitions that are worth more than any loyalty or morals to her? Or maybe a kind-hearted slightly shy talented tiefling blacksmith with a huge nerdy streak? An awkward Liverpool drummer guy who gets teased for his big nose and constantly gets in some kind of trouble? I bet you recognized at least some of them. This is the wrapper of your character (along with their appearance), this is what will almost always signal people that it's this lil guy. If you can at least keep inside that broad border, then you're already doing not that bad. Some stories don't even require more! Especially if it's comedy: comedy will want you to push into these things (as well as some smaller traits you can exaggerate to an absurd size), use them to paint a caricature or maybe play off of them with something opposite. But then again, maybe don't ask how to write comedy a person who cackles from pee jokes.

Next step is: know your character factually. As in, research their backstory, read their wiki, try to get and memorize as much information from their mother media as possible. Information can come from miscellaneous sources too! For example, I still beat myself up about the fact that in one of my earlier posts about domestic fluffy headcanons on Karlach x Soap I managed to make TWO factual mistakes just because I didn't check out Neil's tiktok first. If I did, I would've never said that Soap prefers showers and tea to baths and coffee. Luckily, I fixed it quickly, but yeah, it does help to see maybe what the actor/director/writer/creator mentioned in interviews or something. Fan pages are good too, but they might get flooded with popular headcanons (Soap's ADHD as an example) or lean too hard into that simplified image from previous step.

THEN is one of my favourite parts: learn your character like an artist would. Note their little mannerisms (Price's little hip movement? Iconic. Price is honestly STUFFED with Nik's cock these little mannerisms, courtesy one bery talented and well-versed in his craft actor. this shit makes characters alive, immediately recognizable, easy to parody. Or - Karlach's nose wrinkle that I love so much. Or - Bradd Pitt's character constant snacking on fastfood in Ocean's Eleven.), their habits, their quirks. If it's a character without visual, from a book, it might be even easier cuz such things would be brought up at least several times by the author. Sorry for a self plug, but my head is too empty for any other thing, but one of my characters in a biopunk story was constantly scratching her head.

This leads up to a thing you can finally write yourself: change them. Not just willy-nilly of course, but once you gather these three supporting beams (simplified wrapper, trivia knowledge and personal mannerisms/quirks), you can change them purposefully. That constant head scratching? Actually used it to show that woman's transition from hostile environment where she was oppressed to somewhere she felt accepted (people were forcing her to stop it and it worsened the habit VS no one chastised her for it and it became tame and unharmful to her). If Price constantly shoulder slaps his found family, what would it mean if he doesn't? Karlach wrinkling her nose out of anger in battle VS because she's laughing her tail off with friends? More obvious would be of course putting the characters against something like their important biography things (anything from the LONG list of abuse and torture Ghost went through, Karlach's past in Zariel army, Nikolai's Soviet upbringing etc). This is how you use already ready to go information to make a character look organic in any situation you put them in, be it bubble bath fluff or sci-fi porn au with snail tentacle aliens or fandom crossover or the most glass-chewing angst ever. Take something recognizable in hat character and either double down on it or change it - depending on whether you wanna show that they're in their element or the opposite.

Another very important thing (some might say it's actually more important than previous) is to build up off what we know. Since there's only so much a piece of media and even the creator themselve can tell us about a character, we should be ready to guess. It's rare that we're given some direct and extensive motivation for any character deeds unless we're in their head constantly (like in Dostoyevskiy's "Crime and Punishment" f.e.), and the less we're given, the more blank space we should try to fill in. If we know character's biography, we should try and draw conclusions on how their past influenced them. Ghost's trauma is the brightest example. OR the ADHD headcanon on Soap: we're given his actions, explosiveness and impulsiveness, his mannerisms and more or less type, and from that we build up that headcanon. It's not stated anywhere, but this is one of possible reasons behind him being portrayed the way he is.

In other ways, use logic, common sense and honestly - personal experience, I think it's one of the easiest things to make characters to feel alive, and alive characters always read as more "staying in character" than maybe very factually correct, but lifeless depictions - that's my lifehack btw (might be controversial). Try to deduct what lies underneath those mannerisms, think what consquencess would have character's past, simply imagine what reactions to a situation you could deem possible - one of them will be suitable for the character, I promise.

And it's already very loosely tied into all this, but since I mentioned personal experience and general believability - go do people watching. Notice their mannerisms, habits, quirks, reactions, experiences. Watch how shit's portrayed in movies, if anything; this will also help you to learn how to convey something deeper through small details (using allegories, metaphors, colour language and all that impressive shit).

Okay that's a whole load of yapping (probably more than you needed), but that's not all! Cuz there's also practice! And the only way to practice any writing is to write. Lemme give you homework :)

Grab those prompt/reactions lists and write away. What's their reaction to seeing a fat ol' spider right there on the toilet seat when they go for a midnight piss? Favourite dessert? Fill out the NSFW alphabet for them (dunno about y'all, but I always end up with some deep psychological portrait instead of masturbating material with those).

A little more advanced excersise in my opinion: try to write down a certain number of headcanons with no given theme. The trick is, you would have to justify them more or less (no, it's not oblgatory for headcanons in general, you can just have them for fun, but for this excersise you should). I say - Soap is SHIT at buying groceries. Why? Because he's easily distracted by flashy wrappers and shit. Why? Because he has ADHD. Why? Because [yada yada all the things I see in him from my own ADHD experience]. Unravel that chain, it doesn't have to be two-step thing, see, here I have sseveral steps between what we have (some of his traits like fidgeting, impatience, impulsiveness etc) and the headcanon (he's shit at buying groceries).

A couple more miscellaneous tips cuz I remembered them too late to build into the whole structure I have here (you can't see it but it's there):

The way characters speak is important, and it's not just accents. How much does this character swear? Do they mix languages? Do they prefer long or short sentences? Do they have a rich vocabulary, do they use slang, do they stutter, take long pauses, switch themes every five seconds? This is one of the "quirks" you should look into a lot.

Their relationships with other characters, the way your character views others and the way others view them are important. It might tell you a lot about how the character behaves with different people and in different situations.

All the other means of characterisation, including even the environment we see them, also will help to understand, dissect and thus adopt the character.

Use music, mate! I struggle with assigning exact songs to characters, I'm more of a "one song - one text" gorilla, but a lot of people have no such problems and you might very much benefit from it. Maybe the actor that plays the character has a playlist somewhere available?

Empathy and acting. These are my actual main instruments, but I put them in the very end, because I have no idea how to explain them or how to practise them. But the ability to put yourself in someone's shoes is everything. I am zero logic 100% emotions in my art, I will feel shit first, try to justify it second. I bet there are actually analyzing and logical processes going on inside my head when I do this, but it happens without my awareness. I just think "what if their partner gets horrible withdrawal after climax?" and then I'm like "well shit Ghost would freeze, and Soap would panic like a puppy, and SoapGaz would use humor, and Price would take extremely patronizing role on, and..." and then I'm like yeah that tracks cuz yada yada, good job Juju.

And my final advice is: you don't have to always stay in character. AND you don't always have to justify going OOC. It's art, it's fun, it's for your own enjoyment. These characters aren't real people, they cannot and never will have full-fledged personalities, that's not how media works, at some point complexity of a character stops making them deep and interesting and makes them bland and overly complicated. If you really wanna write Soap screaming like a girl at the sight of a caterpillar, or make all four of thesse guys into wearing frilly lacy panties, or say that Karlach is addicted to eucalyptus gum, or- I really don't know what to say here cuz all these don't seem too out there for me... OH OH HERE; if you wanna make Ghost bang a punk anarchist (and I do), you can. No one's gonna arrest you for going OOC and I promise, there still will be people who enjoy it. Some people won't care you went out of character, some people won't think you did. Some people will yell at you regardless (I think. luckily, I haven't been yelled at once yet, and I am very very happy about it. but I still take general and vague fandom-yelling posts personally so yeah).

Have fun. Do art. Enjoy yourself. Put love into it. Put strong emotions into it. But mainly love.

I have never encountered a fanfic that would be so horribly OOC that I couldn't read it. But I have seen works with so little love in them that nothing felt genuine and authentic, no matter how accurate it seemed. So yeah, love is all you need ✌🏼❤️🦍

#juju's replies #writing advice #writing aid #writers on tumblr #sorry i'm a yapper

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its-moopoint · 1 year ago

Note

C's last IG follow is psychotherapist Esther Perel who wrote about ways and means to close the conflicting gap between 'the erotic and the domestic' spheres.

She's also following others in the same realm and I believe the reason is her upcoming adaptation, producing, directing and possibly acting in Sarah Crossan's novel Here Is The Beehive. This is very likely the reason why. She's reading books that deal with this subject matter in preparation for the movie.

Shippers though, already made up their own theories based on an imaginary SC relationship rather than a clear future project, already in the works.

Book's synopsis:

""You made me very bad, Connor. And I am so glad." Ana and Connor have been having an affair for three years. In hotel rooms and coffee shops, swiftly deleted texts and briefly snatched weekends, they have built a world with none but the two of them in it. But then the unimaginable happens, and Ana finds herself alone, trapped inside her secret. How can we lose someone the world never knew was ours? How do we grieve for something no one else can ever find out? In her desperate bid for answers, Ana seeks out the shadowy figure who has always stood just beyond her reach - Connor's wife Rebecca. Peeling away the layers of two overlapping marriages, Here is the Beehive is a devastating excavation of parenthood, betrayal and loss."

Shippers' take and by the way is one of the worst S ass kissers and C haters.

succulently-speaking

@luckydogsgroove Let's not forget how both of those marriages ended. I am afraid that Cait wants to apply all that feminist BS in their marriage and wants a family with Sam but she wants her independence and her career more so she is frustrated over stupid shit like voicemail, which is just the way she vents her harboured feelings of self-pity while having the love of the ultimate provider and sex God who would breathe for her, if he could or if she asked.

mariaae

Cait does not like voicemail. She prefers texting but our Sam said there’s more feelings transferred over with voicemails rather than text. (I’m just grinning here imagining how he leaves his voicemails especially when Cait admitted he always begins his voicemail with “How are you” and I can think of a thousand ways he follows that with) SC did resolve the issue!

luckydogsgroove

Cait also follows, I believe- or used to- Terry Real. He is probably one of the best marriage therapists ( and worked with Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow and a whole bunch of actors.)

succulently-speaking

"to close the conflicting gap between the erotic and the domestic spheres? As in too many children, too little privacy at home? Or is it too much sex at work and too little at home?

Sick people. These bunch of loons are sick and projecting their own marriage failures to a fanfic couple that doesn't exist and what's worse, to a real family.

I hope all the garbage they spit comes back to them x10.

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married-2-the-music · 1 year ago

Text

K-pop Discography Deep Dives: BTS (Part ONE)

A Disclaimer: I was planning, when I first started Tumblr, to be a lurker, but then I began an office job and needed something to listen to to keep myself occupied. And then, I started going through entire K-pop groups’ repertoires, album by album, and jotting down my thoughts. And then, I stumbled into K-pop tumblr and decided, you know what, there’s at least four people on this hell site who would read in depth rants about these discographies and at least five who wouldn’t read it and then get mad because it’s kind of our job as K-pop fans. My lukewarm takes should be taken with an entire silo of salt and the knowledge that this is completely for fun and occupying my very bored, very neurodivergent brain. All this to say, for the love of god, I’m a sleep-deprived student and I don’t have time for internet hate, so don’t kill me. With that being said, enjoy!

So, my credentials: I’ve got nothing this time, folks. I’m not an Army; I’m too casual to even be a casual fan. I like most of what I’ve heard, based on friend recommendations, but I have no idea how representative of their work the songs I’ve heard are. I know the group members’ names, but barely anything about them, although I’m always open to learning more. The reason I wanted to do this deep dive is because I’ve been a k-pop fan for almost five years now and I’ve heard every opinion between “BTS is the second coming of Christ” and “BTS is responsible for the collapse of society,” and I want to make up my own mind, free of influence.

Since BTS has over 200 songs, I’m also doing short supplementals each week, both to give myself and you guys a break and to look at groups / soloists with discographies too short to need a full week (because this is gonna be a dissertation and I’ll have to separate it into two parts). So, grab your lightstick, get some ice cream, steal a fluffy dog, and settle in folks. Let’s do this.

BTS, as you probably know, is short for Bangtan Sonyeondan, or Bulletproof Boy Scouts, and debuted in 2013 (they just had their tenth debut anniversary) and they have seven members: Jimin, Namjoon (RM), Taehyung (V), Jin, Yoongi (SUGA), Jungkook, and Hoseok (J-hope).

First things first, I love a good intro, and the loudspeaker is funny; 2 cool 4 skool is not what I was expecting. I’m not the biggest fan of “I’m too cool for you” hip-hop personally, but I can respect We Are Bulletproof (p.2) for the fact that the message doesn’t feel empty. I believe what they’re selling, even if I don’t want to buy it. To be honest, I’m a singer, and I listen to artists to hear their singing voices, because I know that they can sing beautifully.

On the album I’m much more a fan of Like, although I prefer the slow mix from their later work. The rest of the first album gave me a bit of whiplash to be honest, but I can appreciate how unique it is, both in k-pop and music as a whole. The skits are very odd, but they did make me feel like I know more about the members than I would about an average k-pop group from their album; I can see why so many people became fans early on.

On O! R U L8 2?, N.O. immediately caught my attention with the interesting instrumental and the sing-talk and singing combo. I did enjoy it more than We Are Bulletproof, because of the melody, but I liked it, didn’t love it. (I could’ve done without the growling). Most of the b-sides aren’t for me, but I do want to talk about Coffee and Paldongangsan.

I did like Coffee (especially the harmonizing on the Baby~~ part of the chorus) but I really didn’t like the rap verses. I don’t have anything against them being there in theory; raps can be done in a quiet, calm way (like in “Child” by Mark from NCT), but it’s not happening here and they feel very out of place. It’s all well and good to rap excellently, but you need to have some variety or else everything threatens to feel the same.

But, my hidden gem from this album is definitely Paldongangsan. Look, one of my majors is linguistics, so it’s no surprise I went wild at this song. It’s about the different dialects of Korean (which originate from different places there) and the stereotypes associated with each one, and it ends with Namjoon yelling at the rest of them to stop ragging on each other for their dialects and be accepting because it’s all the same language anyway. It was actually the first BTS song I heard, about two years ago (barring Dynamite, of course), because an Army friend of mine recommended it to me. I’ve never heard a song like it before (or since for that matter) and it’s remained on my Top 25 K-pop songs playlist ever since.

Anyway, digression over, and onto the next album, Skool Luv Affair. Boy In Luv is definitely a turning point in their discography, with its drive and rock elements. I wish it was more melodic, as I always do, but it grew on me after a couple more listens and it's my favorite of the title tracks so far. Hidden gems for this album are Just One Day and especially Outro: Propose (which I wish wasn’t so short, because I thought it was pretty good.)

With Dark & Wild we turn another corner. Danger intrigued me from the first part’s guitar riff and interesting instrumental. Although I was a bit wary, the set-up of the pre-chorus, pay-off of the chorus, and earworm of the post-chorus reassured me. It’s the first single from this deep dive that I’ve liked on 1st listen. (The “don’t get me confused” is stuck in my head now.)

War Of Hormone arrives with a record scratch and a bombast of horns. And arrives is the right word: it makes its presence known. I really enjoyed this one, and I even replayed it a few times. At its best moments, it mixes very different parts together without feeling like whiplash and becomes anthemic. I especially love the contrast between Namjoon’s scratchier, lower voice and Jungkook’s higher notes, and of course, harmonizing, my one true love. It’s a bit of a dumb song but they don’t take it too seriously and I appreciate that they aren’t afraid to laugh.

This album was also a turning point for me when it came to my enjoyment of their work; I didn’t really dislike any song on it and the better balance of rapping, sing-talk, and singing made me less reactionary towards the raps that were there. There’s more variety in the raps themselves too: sometimes they’re upbeat, sometimes they’re pensive, sometimes they’re angry, but they don’t all sound like they’re trying to kill me through my earbuds. Improvement! Also, showing some vulnerability helps balance the more boastful songs that are there, so I disliked those less too.

Yes, I’m fully aware that their rapping is technically very good, I just don’t always enjoy it. I appreciate songs like Hip Hop Phile and their meanings, but appreciation still can’t make you like something that you don’t like. As for what I did like, my hidden gems for this album were Let Me Know (which finally lets them sing and be open with their feelings), Could You Turn Off Your Cellphone (harmonizing again), and Look Here (very odd but I enjoy the horns).

I Need U is surprisingly calm in its intro and is very much poppier than the last few title tracks have been, with more of an anguished edge than a youthful “I’m cooler than you” edge, which I appreciated. I liked this one. It’s much better at balancing the harmonizing with rap and the instrumental (which is very interesting, by the way) than the previous songs, and I can see how it sets them on the path after that leads to their more melancholy and contemplative title tracks further down the line.

Run works as a good foil; it’s pretty upbeat, which does make sense given that it’s (somewhat) a love song. I love the way the chorus surges forward and even though it’s poppier than the others, it doesn’t feel like they’ve lost their identity. It still feels like a BTS song, basically. It’ll probably be making an appearance on my gym playlist, which is never a bad thing.

As a side note, I love that so many of their songs embrace the idea of full pre-choruses, choruses, and post-choruses, because it makes each track feel more intentional and lived in, not like they’re trying to fill space on an album or have empty space. In the k-pop songs that are on my top 25 (of which two are BTS), this holds true for the vast majority of them.

Dope is a song that, like War Of Hormone, feels like it arrives, not begins, with its “Ladies and gentlemen”, and I love the build-up that it has leading to the chorus. But…it just doesn’t have enough payoff to that build-up for me, with an empty, shouty chorus and more lyrics about how great they are. I know a lot of people love it, but it has too many of my pet peeves to get past. Sorry, guys.

In the same vein, I should like Fire. I love an explosion of a chorus and I adore a song about burning down the system as much as the next witch. I love the lyrics, and I think that pre-choruses are good and the bridge especially is great. But I don’t like this song. At all. It comes dangerously close to grating one too many times for me, and embraces all of the worst aspects of their early material with none of the charm that had me chuckling with, not at, the first few albums. I’ve mentioned many times how much I hate an anti-drop and this song does absolutely nothing to change my mind. I expect the cursing to the heavens to come in in about 3…2…1…

Save Me is the last single from the album, and the most similar to the BTS songs I’ve heard before: ethereal, wispy, ruminating, and with a soft electronic background. I do like this one, although I wish the last chorus had more of an end (like I was a bit confused when the next song started) and I wish the main rap was a bit calmer to fit with the rest of the song. It’s at its best when it allows their voices to just be and meld with each other.

I have one main hidden gem for this album, which is Butterfly. It’s no surprise that I love this one with how insane I am about harmonizing and vulnerability, but I really do love it. I feel like this should’ve been a single instead of Save Me, to be honest. All of the main gripes I have with it are remedied here: the chorus is fuller, the ending feels earned, and the raps are just calmer enough that they don’t stick out like a sore thumb. I also appreciated Taehyung’s voice more than I have in the past, and I’m glad for him in the chorus.

Also, speaking of vulnerability, I also, somewhat surprisingly, like the intro of the Most Beautiful Moment In Life, although I didn’t plan to on first listen. I appreciate that this song doesn’t try to paint them as above the world or better than anyone, but embraces the genuine emotion that they’re so good at conveying. It’s such a raw expression of exhaustion that I felt sympathy even before I looked up the words, which is pretty damn powerful.

And….breathe. Would it surprise you to learn that we’re only in mid 2016? Yeah, yeah, me too, kid. This is where Part 1 ends, I do my Supplemental for the week tomorrow (a boy group who I highly doubt you’ve heard of), and we all go touch some grass and eat some Doritos. K? K.

I’ll see you next week, for both Part 2 of this odyssey and a girl group supplemental!

#k-pop #review #BTS #BTS review #jungkook #jin #jimin #RM #namjoon #v #taehyung #hoseok #j-hope #suga #yoongi #discography deep dive #k pop boy groups #Spotify

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