#maggie rules!

[sunderwight]

Thinking about the weird camaraderie that exists between demons but not angels in GO.

Have we ever seen two angels who are actually friends? Or even friendly to one another? We have met angels with a capacity to be friendly in general, but I think the closest we've come to two angels actually getting along would be Gabriel making a point to laugh at Sandalphon's terrible "can't have a war without War" line in S1.

Most scenes between the angels actually seem to have an undercurrent of absolute hostility. Teeth-clenched teamwork. No wonder it took them so long to notice that Aziraphale wasn't on the same page as the rest of them! The rest of them are barely on the same page as one another, either! When Gabriel goes against the majority vote, no one bats an eye at demoting him and wiping his memory. Michael and Uriel immediately begin vying for his job. The only times we've seen angels team up is when they're working together to bully someone else, like when they're trying to intimidate Aziraphale in S1 or going to the aftermath of the bookshop raid in S2.

Saraqael's overall neutrality towards Muriel is the closest we get to two angels in Heaven getting along, and it's more a lack of hostility than any kind of friendliness. At least until Gabriel loses his memories and Muriel shows up to spy on Aziraphale, and Aziraphale decides to be kind to both of them.

Demons, on the other hand, actually seem to form alliances and even friendships among one another. Hastur and Ligur are awful, but Hastur seems genuinely distraught over Ligur's death, not just fearful of suffering the same fate. Shax and Furfur conspire together and even though the 1940's investigation into Crowley's fraternizing doesn't work out for Furfur, it's not due to any double-crossing on Shax's part. Unlike the angels, who stick almost exclusively to making threats until the Metatron decides to try dangling a carrot at the end of the season, demons actually offer rewards to other demons when trying to work together. Beelzebub offers Crowley a promotion if he can bring them Gabriel, Furfur offers to back Shax up politically if she goes for the Duke position opening, and Crowley successfully stalls Hastur in S1 by pretending everything was a test and he's going to be put in charge of a legion as a reward for passing. They're still not great at socializing, but they're significantly ahead of the angels.

Of course, it's a fact that demons are awful to one another (Eric's treatment is really bad, they throw that random demon into holy water just to test it, "it'd be a funny world if demons went around trusting one another", etc) but they still seem more capable of forming friendships than the angels do.

I think that's because Hell cramps and crowds everyone together to try and increase their suffering and hostility, whereas Heaven isolates angels to decrease the odds of questioning or rebellion. Hell's methods are unpleasant, but it still ends up putting demons together, and some of those demons inevitably forge alliances and make friendships. Because as Crowley and Beelzebub demonstrate, demons are still social creatures with the capacity for love and affection, even if it's strongly discouraged and buried under nine million layers of trauma and a cultural mandate against kindness.

Angels are the same, but isolation makes is harder to form connections than overcrowding. Muriel and Jimbriel are both so eager to make friends, but Muriel's spent the past millennia shut in an empty office, and Gabriel has been distanced from his peers both through his position and also through Heaven's culture of fear and surveillance. He only breaks away from it when he finds something that's stronger than "choosing sides" (stronger than the fear of being rejected by Heaven and Falling, in fact strong enough that Falling seems worth it if he gets to be with someone he loves). Both Muriel and Gabriel are only able to start forming connections when they're away from Heaven.

I just think it's interesting that demons, despite being supposedly devoid of love, have an advantage in forming relationships compared to angels. Angels are supposed to love, but have far fewer opportunities to actually do so. Demons aren't supposed to love, but they make connections anyway.

[randomfoggytiger]

The Rules of Ghosts and Spooks

While thinking over the ending of Closure, I was struck with a realization.

The late Tena Mulder appears before her son in the same spectral form Samantha also later visits with... which should be impossible, as she and her daughter died from different causes. But if, as the show posits, they are, that suddenly broadens out the horizon of paranormal visitations... and oddly, fits into established lore.

WHO SEES THE DEAD?

Previous to Closure, Mulder hadn't been able to see ghosts without the help of Native American rituals or varied paranormal means. It was his partner, Scully, that was constantly visited by the unnatural (posts here and here.)

But if, as Closure posits, Samantha Mulder's form was a ghost-- albeit a form of starlight-- like Tena's, that leads us to some interesting conclusions.

Mulder saw the ghost of his father on an astral plane, missed the ghost of his mother in his sleep, and saw the ghost of his sister in the forest.

Scully saw the ghost of her father and daughter, and heard the voice of her deceased sister.

The victims of various paranormal visitations or reincarnated spirits only saw their would-be attacker if they had a personal connection to that phantom or were about to join them in the afterlife.

The victims of said visitations or reincarnations who were unharmed were being warned about an impending same fate (Elegy.)

In short, The X-Files posits anyone can see a ghost... but only under very specific conditions.

The ghosts Scully and Mulder saw were both linked back to themselves-- each visitation was from their loved ones.

The MOTWs followed this schema, too: villains saw their victims (Beyond the Sea, Miracle Man); the dying saw ghosts if near them (Elegy); gray-area characters saw the ghosts of the people they've let down or betrayed (Fresh Bones, The List.)

(If that be the case... guess S9 Krycek was pretty close to Mulder.)

But what sets apart the Clyde Bruckmans or Melissa and Maggie Scullys-- and even Scully herself-- from the common man?

There seem to be select groups of the population with inherited or developed supernatural ability, be it experiencing visions from the future or sensing presences from other living entities. The maternal Scully lines canonically to fall into this category, with Maggie receiving foretellings in her dreams and Melissa communing with her sister's aura or Scully herself being pulled into unwanted visitations with the Dead: bearing witness to Luthor Lee Boggs's transformations, being visited by Mulder in her dreams and elegies in her waking nightmares, hearing her sister's voice, seeing her daughter's form, and foretelling the deaths of her father and partner.

Mulder doesn't fit into the former category (until S9-- curse you, Krycek-- then never again) because his visitations were "only" personal in nature (i.e. his family.)

CONCLUSION

Which leaves one to wonder... how many ghosts have Mulder and Scully been visited by and not seen?

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[thebindingofpillo]

WE DID IT genderbent of all my main four blorbos. This took sooooooo long I started hating it halfway through so just take it I’m tired

[girlthativealwaysbeen]

it's not sinking in that today might be the last day in my house and town for many months to come

[worldofreds]

Maggie Baird

[searchingforglendowerwithleah]

Matthew Lynch definitely becomes the tallest Lynch brother, I will not be challenged about this I know I’m right

[coxinhadoce47-art]

Bry redesigns part 2!

This was a very fun project to tackle, I’m really happy with all these redesigns, they’re all so much more unique!

[jonathanbyersphd]

SORRY I AM THINKING ABOUT NANCY SAYING COPY/PASTE FOR HER AND JONATHAN'S DAUGHTER AGAIN AND IIIII

[befuddled-calico-whump]

alexei: "look at my new dogfish" *tugs at mer! uriah's leash who gasps and flops a few steps forward*

skdjdkkr

Alexei would probably see helplessly flopping mer!Uriah and just be like "oh, too easy"

zap, grilled fish.

out of my Wildefire cast, Annie is the most likely to make him a poor tormented pet. Out of just the 'heroes', Maggie is probably the most likely.

[sweetonsugden]

Here’s what I don’t understand. Why would they send Maggie out on her own for a case? Afraid of shadow. Why would they even send her out by herself?

[wanderingwolpertinger]

Tse week previews :)

[cenestpasaudrey]

200 books in 2024 Q3 update 📚

End of Q3 - I managed to finish 49 books (148 in total) 🎉

The books I liked were:

Downpour - Maggie Gates

The Housemaid - Freida McFadden

Best Served Cold - Maya Alden

Play Along - Liz Tomforde

A Love Letter to Whiskey - Kandi Steiner

The Rules We Break - Katelyn Taylor

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me - Mariana Zapata

Still Beating - Jennifer Hartmann

The Paradise Problem - Christina Lauren

Bridesmaid Undercover - Meghan Quinn

Lock Every Door - Riley Sager

Part of Your World - Abby Jimenez

[a-strange-inkling]

Day 1: Candy Cane

New York, New York 1994

“Daddy, look!” Maggie exclaims, her pink fuzzy mittens on his forehead, pulling him back until he’s looking straight up into the dark sky above. “It’s snowing!”

Indeed it is, giant flurries fluttering down, powdering the streets, catching in his lashes. “Wow, look at that,” he smiles up into the vortex, feeling her cheek resting on top of his head.

“It’s beautiful.” she says, and it’s adorable how she says it, BOO-teh-ful.

“Sure is.” he agrees, continuing toward the brightly lit theater where the people are beginning to get more congested.

“How many more days till Christmas now?” she asks for the fortieth time that day.

“Twenty-four.” he replies.

There’s a brief pause as she mulls that over.

“How many sleeps?”

“Twenty-three,”

“That’s forever, Daddy!” she sighs, wrapping her arms around his whole head, linking her hands together under his chin, slumping.

He chuckles as they wait to hand in their tickets. They’re in the shorter line with the special red tickets for family members. “Well, you’re getting a big dose of it tonight to hold you over.” he tells her, shrugging his shoulders up and down rapidly to bounce her a little, she giggles, holding him tighter. “How are we doing up there at that altitude, not too cold?”

“No, I’m cozy.” she assures, her Cs still have an essence of T to them. Tozy. “Are you cozy?”

His smile grows. “Yeah, I’m pretty cozy.”

“That’s good.”

“…Hey Mags,” he quips.

“Huh? What?”

“I love you.” he tells her.

“Oh, I love you too, Daddy.” she says very matter of factly and his heart almost bursts open and spills out onto the pavement.

The doorwoman gives them both a smile as she tears their tickets in two. “What a pretty little angel you have on your shoulder.” she notes.

Spend two minutes with her. Eddie thinks with wide eyes. “Thanks.” he squeezes Maggie’s legs a little tighter. “Hey, what do we say?”

“Thank you!” she chimes, giving her a dazzling smile. “We’re here to see my sister dance.”

“How exciting!” The woman's smile widens, immediately charmed by her. Her royal highness certainly has a way with people. “Enjoy the show!”

Maggie marvels at the inside of the theater, decorated for Christmas, with trees, garlands and lights.

“Alright,” Eddie checks the stub before spinning around. “We’re looking for section H, you see an H anywhere, Look Out?”

“Um… no, but I see Mommy!”

“Where?”

Maggie turns Eddie’s head sharply toward the west corridor, and there’s Chrissy waiting for them, smiling and waving in her pretty pale pink dress and fluffy faux fur cream coat. Part of her hair is hair tied in the back with a thin ribbon, the rest rolling in waves. Suddenly, he’s back in highschool the way his heart flips at the sight of her.

They weave their way over and Eddie leans down to kiss her. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she returns with a rosy smile. “You made it.”

“Hi, Mommy!” Maggie reaches for her.

“Hi, baby, did you have a good time with Daddy?” She takes her in her arms and hugs her close.

“Yeah, we went to see the big tree and got hot cocoa.” she regales.

“How’s Livvy doing?” Eddie asks, finding the small of her back as they make their way to their seats.

“We had a little bit of a nervous breakdown as expected, but she’s worked her way through.”

Because of her talent and height, Olivia was moved up from a Spanish Chocolate to the next act with the nine and ten-year-olds. This was something she was insanely excited about but also dreaded for the last two months.

“Poor bug,” Eddie laments. “The littlest Candy Cane in the entire Land of Sweets.”

[mikodrawnnarratives]

GOt ahold of the Supernova audiobook again, continued where I left off, and god I forgot that Max temporarily lived with Ruby's family and with the twins. Im definitely gonna start paying so much attention to them in my next reread/relisten I already have a few ideas for how their dynamic with Max could contrast Max and Maggie's dynamic, Maggie's opinions on Max's impromptu brothers, explore potential for how the supernova would change Max and the twins relationship, etc

So far, I'm thinking about Max and his two older brother figures that Maggie finds INCREDIBLY ANNOYING god. Why. Max. I hate them. (max is like. Hey. Those are my friends!) She Avoids them like the plague.

Max noticing anyone and everyone during his time in the quarantine, and its very hard NOT to notice when the first renegade HIS AGE joins. Very exciting! Especially since she keeps stealing everyone's shit. He asks about her powers and wonders the specifics of them for FOREVER, not ever really getting the chance to ask about them.

Then he gets friends his age, or close enough (I think i saw somewhere that they were around 12 but I dunno if thats accurate), and THEY WOULD BOND, he gets more brothers. And then the supernova happens and. They ARE still close, the twins never make him feel different, but there is still that worry they might be bored with him. They have powers now and max. doesn't. They aren't worries founded on anything, If ANYTHING the twins find him even cooler for being the reason they have powers in the first place.

And then Magpie and him would actually meet and. Probably have a rocky start. Maggie isn't gonna make it easy she's MAGGIE. But Max already knows her personality and being the still new to making friends kid he is (his main friends are kids Adrian introduced him to he hasn't exercised many social skills into actually getting friends) begins unknowingly implementing strategies that get REAL magpies to like you

It works. ANd the rest is history I'll talk more about it later you know I will

Some other things about the Tucker family. They canonically "Don't Do Secrets"

Tough when Max is literally befriending a Thief that can easily misstep her way into a crime that would literally get her imprisoned if she hadn't already upset someone she shouldn't have upset. Maggie doesn't want people knowing she's visiting Max on a regular basis. So Tough. Secrets art abundant when Max is spending even more time than usual outside, which was already a lot.

I will come up with more shenanigans mark my fucking words. I haven't forgotten Ruby is also tied into this and Ruby is another point of connection to Nova and Adrian if Max wasn't already living with those two

I love identity shenanigans

Also Max already got uper smart when in the quarantine since, he didn't have much to do, so imagine if he got so ahead in schooling that only a few years after the supernova he literally has already graduated highschool. Max at roughly 15 has MORE free time on his hands goddammit (he'd probably take whatever higher education available to him. 13 or so years after the age of anarchy would allow at least some version of that in the works right?)

Anyway, he has time. The twins are in highschool, around 17, and Max finds his time spent with Maggie, a kid closer to his age that isn't in school. I think of Maggie almost a year older than Max but not quite. If they were in school together she'd be on the significantly older side in her grade. Going by what ages the US puts in certain grades and all

[persistent-wallflower]

@demonrunningwild tagged me to do a favourites moodboard. That was fun, thanks! <3

If you wanna do this, tagging: @msva9 @senjukannon @privateschoolfeline @forxstboyfriend

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[gallaghersgal]

Hey there it’s *checks notes* carmy loves to grab your boob anon (????)

I’m very glad to see we seem to be sharing one tiny brain cell controlled by mr.bear 🤪

I would like to share another thought—careful, it’s definitely not as cute as the first one. So I was watching the christmas episode—as one does to relax on their summer vacation—and i realized that maybe, Carmy craves the calm and order of a professional kitchen because it is the complete opposite of what he grew up with. There’s a natural harmony, a symbiosis between each element of the kitchen with ground rules and respect and poise. Everything that lacks from his kitchen at home where it’s all too much: too much noise, too much mess, just too much.

Of course there is the idea he wanted to show Mickey how good he was but I feel like there was also a need to keep his bond to food and find a way to put some order. Like he’s subconsciously internalized the fact he can’t help his mom, he can’t put order in her life so he has to try that somewhere else.

Anyway, give this man a bear hug pls and thank you

(I’ll sign with 🧸 if it hasn’t been taken yet for next time bc i can’t go by boob anon forever can i?)

oh my god. oh my god??? see you get me, i love analyzing him like this. i wanna put him under a microscope tbh.

every bit of control he wasn’t awarded in his young life, he’s taking back now. which, it’s good for him in theory, but he doesn’t have the best ways of going about it. and in my opinion because of the way donna was, that where he gets the like… nitpicking? so to say? how everything has to be 110% perfect. the poor thing, he doesn’t want to be like his mom but there are pieces of her that show under the cracks in his psyche and i just :((

he needs the biggest hug ever. letting him bury his face in your chest and gently stroking his hair UGHHHH i love him

and yes, 🧸 anon isn’t taken!! you’re actually my first anon with a signature, how lovely!!! welcome to my blog <33