#same thing as in put it on the TV and play chess or something

[urlocalwormtoday]

i love watching pd sm. but. but my attention span is not all that strong. and bc I can only ever watch it on my phone (and can't keep it open/running in a different tab) due to patreon, I can't split my attention between chess/other games and processing the words. so I have to lock myself down and deliberately focus on focusing the words until I've turned them over in my brain enough times that I can visualize them

and eventually, after hours of doing this and being able to stave off the understimulation long enough. it finally gets to me. and I have to fully walk away and perform other tasks in order to recharge my little brain machine

this usually leads to me cleaning out my room, or getting a bottle of water, or eating a snack, or pacing and listening to music, or just doing another miscellaneous thing until I feel comfortably ready to sit back down and continue watching TvT

not an actual problem with the campaign itself, pd has been an absolute DELIGHT so far, absolutely wonderful, 10/10 would recommend

jus something I have to battle with each time I sit down to watch a new episode and wanted to vent my frustrations loll

[thankskenpenders]

I know Ken is notorious for his, um, odd creation habits, but even I’m shocked that it’s been over 10 years of work and THIS is all he has to show for it. I would maybe be a bit more lenient if each new page was hyper detailed or something like that, but as you pointed out in your review, he reused the same images across plenty of panels and so many of his backgrounds are just stock photos. The only way I can reconcile this to myself is wondering if maybe a bunch of that time was eaten up by extensive rewrites to his plans for the whole series, but even then, I’ll be even more shocked if the next volume ever comes out.

So I didn't get into this in the review because I really just wanted to focus on the book and the weird copyright situation that led to its creation, not Ken's personal life or his other endeavors, but he did make something else in the time since The Lara-Su Chronicles' announcement 13 years ago. That being his independent film: The Republic. Because after he left Archie Ken figured he'd move on to a career in Hollywood.

I think this was originally supposed to be a TV show, the pilot episode for which was released in 2010, but then in 2016 he decided to retool it as a commentary on Trump's immigration policies. I think the movie is still somehow not out despite being shot a few years ago, but he put out a trailer here:

Yes, the trailer really opens with 30 seconds of footage of Trump from CNN. I know writers who use subtext and they're all cowards etc. etc.

At least the cast is clearly trying their best in spite of the material. It's not Birdemic bad. And yes, that's Sean Young. THE Sean Young! Rachael from Blade Runner! I guess Ken's really eager to flex the fact that he's friends with a couple lower-level Hollywood producers.

Anyway, I think he's still looking for a distributor for this. It's truly a mystery why no one was eager to pick this up.

Ken's also said some stuff about how he waited years to put out TLSC: Beginnings as part of the 4D chess game he's playing with the copyright stuff. He has a general idea of what he can do based on the terms of the settlement, but he's eager to push it as far as he can. He tested the waters with things like a few small pieces of TLSC merch and an NFT announcement, to see if Sega would take legal action. In particular, the announcement that he was going to sell an NFT of Shade from Sonic Chronicles was a stunt designed to see if Sega would challenge his claim that Shade is legally the same character as Julie-Su. Since they haven't gone after him, and now it's been a few years, he's taking that as evidence that Sega isn't actively exercising those copyrights and isn't going to fight for this stuff.

There's some logic here. Part of the reason Dan DeCarlo lost his battle with Archie over the rights to Josie and the Pussycats is that he didn't take action against them sooner for making merch and whatnot. It's "use it or lose it" with copyrights. But it mostly just comes off as an excuse. If it was purely a waiting game and he had all this extra time, why did he need to recycle art so much in Beginnings? Why is he only releasing 30 new pages of material instead of a whole graphic novel? Where's the app? Why didn't he spellcheck the damn book?

[talxns]

gonna share some headcanons on specific ways that i think bruce changes behaviorally, physically & psychologically after taking in lil dickie (and touch on how it leads to his codependence)

bruce eats more “indulgent” food.

before taking in dick, bruce was incredibly strict with his nutrition. he was single-mindedly focused on performing optimally and that extended to how he ate and trained. food was strictly about the energy it could provide him and he thought little of how it tasted. during this period of time, bruce is the leanest and fastest he’d ever be as batman.

dickie is brought under his wing and there is a shift nutritionally. alfred is making sweets, and bruce is now taking a cookie (or two) from the tray, since dick is sitting with him and crunching on one. dick is offering him animal crackers in the car and bruce is not going to say no. dick wants ice cream and when bruce takes him to get it and dick asks which flavor bruce wants, bruce concedes to a small scoop. dick is hand feeding him his french fry order on a roof during a reconnaissance mission. bruce finds eating enjoyable again.

bruce puts strong focus on strength training

bruce always did strength training. but now that he has robin, he is training with heavier weight to account for however much dick weighs at any given point + his equipment. he wants to make sure that he’s able to be just as effective in case he has to carry robin around, and so he incorporates that into his training regimen.

bruce’s flexibility increases

dick encourages bruce to stretch much more often, something they do together, which improves bruce’s flexibility and lessens his instances of injury. additionally, he carries less muscle tension.

he gets more sleep

bruce has had trouble sleeping his whole life. for one, he’s not sleeping enough to begin with. when he tries to sleep he has insomnia. when he manages to fall asleep there is a high chance of having unpleasant dreams. when he can’t sleep he gets up and does things like research or training. the lack of sleep makes him (surprise) more susceptible to injury and illness. it negatively affects his concentration and memory. it makes him even surlier than usual. the only way bruce gets a “good” nights rest is collapsing from exhaustion.

and then he takes in dick. and dick is absolutely crawling in bruce’s bed. because now, dick is struggling with those same issues: insomnia, nightmares. and he is not used to being so alone at night and lacking physical reassurance. both of them are getting the delicious oxytocin they are deprived of and it increases their sleep quality exponentially. it’s much easier to fall asleep again after a nightmare when you’re being held or at least feel the presence of another next to you. and they can both cry against each other and be vulnerable and let their emotions out if they need to.

he learns to enjoy life outside of the mission

bruce did not “waste” his time with “unproductive” things like watching movies or playing games. that is, until he had dick, who wanted to have fun, as a child naturally does. dick wanted to watch movies, he wanted to play games, he wanted to spend leisure time. and bruce finds himself, surprisingly, enjoying those leisurely moments very much. this is how we get version of bruce and dick who do everything together. they are playing chess together, watching tv together, playing sports, playing games, reading poetry, studying, learning about the world around them, etc etc. bruce is able to take his mind off batman and relax. this is the kind of thing alfred is talking about when he says how good dick is for bruce (and the sleep thing!)

the physical effects

bruce gets bigger. he gains weight after he takes dick in. but it’s not all fat (there is a healthy level of fat, he’s not a dehydrated bodybuilder, he’s got a tummy) but a lot of it is packed into muscle that he is focusing his training on, especially as dick grows and gets heavier and bruce is compensating for that still, into dick’s teenage years. bruce has gone from lean to bulk. not quite a “dad bod” but he is noticeably bigger. he still retains his agility from frequent stretching.

he is healthier overall, with less injuries and instances of illness. the dark circles under his eyes are less pronounced. he smiles and he laughs more often.

he also probably gets his first few gray hairs during dick’s first proper year as robin out in the field.

most importantly, more than the behavioral and physical aspects, the most important thing that changes within bruce after taking dick into his life is:

appreciation for his own life and an active resistance to death

bruce was passively suicidal in his first years. he would jump into fights he wouldn’t be assured he’d make it out of. he’d make leaps he wasn’t sure he could make. he was sloppy and careless with his own life. he did not value himself.

he probably has a harrowing revelation one night after needlessly risking his life when he sees just how agonized dick is over it. he sees that fear of losing a loved one in dick’s eyes. and he realizes that he must live, because he is important, he is needed, and he is loved. despite all his self-hatred and flaws, he cannot deny it when he sees dick. and so! a novel appreciation and respect and reverence over himself previously never fathomed.

and so….

these are huge reasons why bruce was so nervous and upset about even the THOUGHT of dick leaving for college. he would absolutely, unquestionably miss dick. but he must have been aware of all of these improvements that dick brought to his life, behavioral and psychologically and emotional. and he is insecure because he knows that once dick is gone he will revert back to passively suicidal, surly, insomniatic, depressed and anhedonic. he isn’t going to keep eating indulgent foods if dick isn’t there. he isn’t going to watch movies or play games by himself. he does not believe himself able to continue these improvements because he has tethered them to dick, it’s all conditional, it’s whether dick is there or not. and that’s where we see this co-dependence to dick coming from bruce.

i think this is why when jason is put in front of him, bruce takes him in. because he is a child in need because he misses how life was with dick. because it was a vast improvement psychologically. and he doesn’t want to go back to how it was before he had dick

[blakeswritingimagines]

Lazy day

Eddie: He likes to sleep in, he also really likes to lay around the house and watch horror movies all day. He's also a huge fan of cooking for someone he's kind of a messy cook though, then you both would probably end up snuggling up on the couch the entire day and watching old 80’s horror movies, and he’d end up falling asleep in your arms.

Gareth: Well, it starts with you both waking up in the same bed, him spooning you close. He kisses the back of your neck and whispers good morning to you. He'll chat a little about your plans for the day, and you'll end up lying in bed for 2 hours, cuddling, while you talk about what you each want to do. Then you both finally get up and make breakfast. He'll watch some tv while eating, and then decide to go to a movie theatre and watch 3-4 movies. And then go home and snuggle.

Steve: Lazy days are when you cuddle a lot, talk about nothing, make yourselves something to eat, and then play a movie while watching it, it just means that he feels like no need to do anything because everything is already perfect at that moment.

Robin: On your lazy days, she likes to just relax together. You'll watch movies, play video games together, eat pizza, or just snuggle in bed. When you're snuggling together, you'll often talk with each other if something's on your mind, or just enjoy each other's company she really likes to spend time with each other.

Nancy: Well, it’s usually pretty lazy usually you'll both just snuggle and talk, sometimes watch a movie, sometimes play chess. If it’s a nice day you’ll probably end up taking a little drive maybe to the lake, it’s beautiful and quiet there or you might just go on a walk, maybe play some games as you walk, she often spends hours talking about silly things that come to mind that you could do or she'll convince you to read to her.

Jonathan: He likes to stay in, put on a movie, and chill on the couch. When you both have lazy days, he just wants to spend as much time as he can together with you. He loves to snuggle it's comfortable and it feels good. He also likes to cook together with you.

Arygle: You'll spend the day in bed usually, watching tv, cuddling, playing video games, etc. He'll order your favorite takeout and have a nice meal in the bedroom. You'll both spend a lot in bed and usually fall asleep in each other’s embrace.

Billy: He'd wake up really late in the afternoon, like maybe 4 or 5, He'd eat, smoke weed, watch a movie, and screw for a while, then order up some pizza and go out to eat a huge dinner. he likes to stay in bed a lot with you.

Henry: A lazy day for him would be watching TV with a cup of tea in his hand, and a good book next to him. Loves to spend most of his free time curled up with a good book. However, he always makes sure to set aside time to be present in the moment. For example, he enjoys taking walks in the forest and taking in all the sights and sounds of the world around him with you by his side. And of course, you always make time for each other. Whether you're relaxing at home or going out to explore. In short, when he is not controlling and tormenting other people's minds, he likes to be very relaxed.

[tumblezwei]

Hold on I'm about to go crazy again

during the warp jump to Penacony, scenes from the quest flash briefly on screen. We're first shown Acheron after our first encounter with her

then the moment right before Firefly's death where she turns to look at Trailblazer

a chessboard for some reason, the first image rattling around along with the turbulence of the Express

Stelle...looking at something? Outside of the Express? The angle looks like she's on the left side of the couch, near where the memokeeper for MoC stands. Or maybe on the other side. Either way this isn't a shot of her sitting on the couch like she is during the warp jump.

after that is Robin from after we crash land in the Golden Hour

then Acheron again from the same scene but played in reverse, interrupted by TV static.

I think the most base level theory we can craft with this involved Acheron and her multiple red dialogue options. Something about time loops, or multiple iterations of the same story happening at once. Personally, I don't have enough ammo in my arsenal to argue one way or another, but some things here interest me.

The first is the chessboard. I don't remember this being shown in the story quest at all, and as far as I know there isn't a chessboard on the Express. I mean, even if there is that doesn't mean anything to me atm. What does is the positions of the pieces.

We first get a close up shot of the black rook, and then a wider shot showing the state of the game board. My average knowledge of chess just tells me this looks like a stalemate. Both opponents have the same pieces left on the board, protecting their kings in the exact same way. There's potentially a trap being set up by the black rook to capture the white rook, and the white king has moves outside of its shield of pawns.

Since we haven't seen the chessboard or that shot of Stelle in the quest, my guess is that they're from future events we have yet to see. But I also think the order in which these shots appear mean something, or else why would they be included? Maybe we can view Firefly as the black pawn and the Trailblazer as the white rook. An intentional sacrifice to draw someone into a trap. After all, Sam and Firefly were working together until he abandoned her for some unknown reason, and then attacked us after we spent time finding Firefly's traces.

But using that interpretation would put us as the Trailblazer on the white side, with the king moving out of position. And I'll admit right here I don't know what that would mean. Unseen allies, maybe? Or an implication that we're entering into dangerous territory at a disadvantage? I Dunno.

Moving on I'm interested in the last sequence with Acheron. The TV static can quickly be connected to the pile of TVs we see in the primal dreamscape where we fight Something Unto Death. And the scene being played backwards brings to mind a tape being rewound. I swear to god I saw some text saying something like "you're not watching the TV, the TV is watching you" but I can't fucking remember where I saw it. So take that bit with a massive grain of salt until I can recall where I read it from, but I'm keeping it in mind.

I also think this sequence being bookended by our first encounter with Acheron is important. Is it evidence for some sort of time loop? Who knows.

Also also, that shot of Firefly is similar to the shot we get of Robin. Centered in their chests (where Firefly was pierced, and Robin has her wound) and obscuring their faces. This could have just been foreshadowing their shared fates as victims of Something Unto Death. But maybe, if my chess interpretation holds any water, could be foreshadowing Robin and Aventurine acting in similar roles as Firefly and Sam, i.e., bait for the Trailblazer.

anyways, I'm going nuts.

[bluepeachstudios]

you have any possible bonding activities you think the fusions would do in their downtime (that wont spoil the fic, of course)? i think daphy should teach mikey how to make fireworks :) fun explosion instead of attention-drawing property damage explosion

Oh god I could go on a long, long thing about this.

If we're talking about the fun thing that Mikey promised Daphy, I shan't be spoiling what it is they do :x Leo is also involved but yeah it involves fireworks.

Pheo likes just. Being around Mikey and Donnie, the same way he likes just being around Deangelo! He doesn't relax easily, he's almost nearly always in "go-mode" out of habit. Donnie and Mikey help him get into that relaxed place. They like watching movies and Pheo does some teaching by sparring them. He feels most confident in his fighting skills, so that's what he tries to help them with. Mikey especially likes snuggling up in Pheo's arms (as the babiest of brothers with the second eldest of them). Pheo, much like Leo, likes to listen to Donnie and Mikey both talk. He's got enough Leo in him where if you get him on the right subject, he'll also start talking a lot, but that Raph in him makes him horribly shy about doing it, so he needs to be nudged to continue.

Deangelo thinks Raph and Leo are the coolest people to ever exist. He will talk all day to both of them. Leo and Deangelo talking is like neurodivergent communication going on and Raph feels very left out when they do talk. Deangelo likes sparring with Raph a lot! Dea relies a lot more on speed and precision than he does on brute force, so learning from Raph is a nice change of pace. He likes to snuggle with Pheo, too. Honestly I think all the fusions wouldn't mind snuggling with Pheo, but they don't get to meet each other face to face.

Mio plays games with Raph and Donnie and will win at anything they can get him to play (except chess, which is so boring that he gives up about halfway through). He loves reading comic books and watching space heroes and being creative! He's not very good at drawing, but he enjoys it anyway. Mio is the most likely to want to watch a tv show or movie. He'll watch just about anything, but Space Heroes is his absolute favorite. He also loves moving around a lot. Daphy and him hand out and bond by Mio hovering over Daphy while he works. He and Daphy will talk to each other a lot, and though Daphy has a very short temper, he's always exceedingly patient for Mio.

Daphy of course likes to build things. They're often destructive things, but it's because he likes the flashiness, the energy that gets released, having a big impact on something. Daphy's a little hard to get into without spoilers if I'm being honest, but he gets along much better with Mikey than he does Leo, even if Mikey does annoy him sometimes. Leo and him have a bit of an awkward relationship because of Daphy's actions, and the fact that Daphy doesn't treat Leo like the leader. Usually their bonding time is silent but close. They read books next to each other. That sort of thing.

Lonny loves designing things. If Raph and Mikey have an idea for it, he can draw it out for them. They're not always the most realistic designs, but the AESTHETICS. Lonny calms down once he has something to focus on, so usually they do targeted activities with him, like playing a game or watching movies. Mikey likes to lay on him (he is the tallest of the fusions) and Raph likes to spar with him. Lonny tends to freeze up with indecision and Raph gets that, so it's nice and helpful.

Machiel is a SNUGGLER. He doesn't care what you're doin, as long as he can snuggle, he'll be happy. He also wants to DO stuff. He wants to go out and beat up some foot bots or go hunting through the junkyard or go hop rooftops or sneak into a movie theater or something. He and Leo bond by sparring, which is off-putting for Leo because Machiel doesn't fight like a normal ninja should, but it's good practice! Donnie often gets overwhelmed quickly by Machiel, but Machiel asks questions and Donnie's happy to answer.

Machiel and Lonny interacting is another spoiler <3 but as you can see, I went on and this was just simple stuff. Enjoy fusion lore?? :'D

[dr-jem-nutcase]

MvA h/cs

Cooked up some movie & TV h/cs...cuz I can

Overall

before the timeline of the movie, the monsters had a TV on occasions. This was a rare treat which lasted until the TV set broke on its own and couldn't be repaired or got destroyed

the monsters' rec area was like the hand-me-downs central; anything the staff didn't want or need anymore went to the monsters, from those playing cards to radios to whatever. It usually came from the trash heap for Dr C's meals

the 2000s brought a little variety as a lot of people at the base made the transition to DVDs and threw out their VCR sets and cassette tapes

after the post-freedom upgrade, the base set up on-demand entertainment for the monsters

for every streaming site, every monster has their own accounts. Except for Link & Butterflysaurus (or B) who share accounts

they can all agree on sit-coms and comedies, believe it or not, some film noir or some off-the-wall random movie

depending on the sport, they all like watching a good game

Susan

down for most anything anyone wants to watch

likes period and mid-century romance/dramas like Downton Abbey, Bridgerton, Call The Midwife, Mad Men, and anything based off Jane Austen's books

was a Twilight fan back in her teens and now cringes at those memories of being on Team Edward

chic flicks: Legally Blonde, Pretty Woman, The Notebook, Mamma Mia!, Audrey Hepburn movies. Titanic and Moulin Rouge! are both fully capable of making her cry almost every time. This is a very good reason why she has her own streaming accounts

can make it through most horror movies but doesn't really enjoy them

roots for all sports teams from Cali

the only monster most willing to watch whatever BOB wants to watch

liked watching cooking shows and DIY tutorials when she was small. She'll still watch them sometimes inspite of the fact she can't easily cook or pull off most DIYs

BOB

the kids' page on streaming sites & YouTube Kids all the way!

has the kid's tendency to watch the same thing over and over again and never get sick of it

the other monsters can't watch adult films and shows with him. He'll ask questions like, what's going on during a bedroom scene or "What's a [enter any profanity of your choice here]?". He's also a parrot who will mindlessly repeat a single swear word he only heard once

sometimes you'll find him watching random stuff like a Malaysian talk show or a Julia Child cooking tutorial or some abstract silent film

you know those kids' shows that interact with the audience, like Mr. Rogers, Blues Clues, & Dora the Explorer? Yeah, he REALLY gets into them

had a kids tablet for about two weeks but then accidentally ate it. Monger hasn't had the heart to give him another one

Dr C

his pastimes include lab experiments, reading books and science papers, playing chess (via a computer versus the CPU/another player online because no one at the base wants to play), and other mentally/intellectually stimulating activities, so he'll watch something if he wants and/or needs a mental break

the other monsters tried getting him into Big Bang Theory. To everyone's surprise, he didn't care for it

has BritBox

when he's chilling, he'll watch vintage/vintage-style musical movies, particularly with good dance numbers like Singin' In The Rain. One of his heroes in dance is Gene Kelly; Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers would've been on his list, but he hasn't had a skilled dance partner offhand since his college days

likes videos like Ted Talks and Infographics Show (YouTube). He may be the most brilliant man in the world but he knows there's always more to learn

his YouTube subscriptions include dance groups and science lecturers from around the world

doesn't care much for most sports but he'll gladly watch polo and a lot of the Olympics. Tried to pass the time by reading a book during a football game once, and Link said, "Doc, if you don't put that book down, I'll throw you and that thing in the trash!". Never again

Link

as mentioned in an earlier H/C post of mine, he's a closeted shonen anime fan and he'll watch anything but One Piece

football is his favorite sport to watch. He watches it when he can

NEVER misses Super Bowl Sunday. Or at least to the best of his ability. He was very disappointed when one of his missions happened on Super Bowl Sunday

also likes WWE

martial arts: always and forever, baby!

has watched both Luca and The Shape of Water. He doesn't mind them but he got pretty annoyed when people made comparisons between him and the Amphibian Man or the sea monsters. BOB was like, "Hey, Link! Why don't YOU turn into a human when you leave your tank?"

was into superhero movies and TV series in the 2010s but jumped off the bandwagon when he thought they were being overdone. Though he still likes Guardians of the Galaxy, Deadpool, and anything with Wolverine

thinks Star Wars, Harry Potter, and most other popular sci-fi/fantasy franchises are just for kids and nerds

doesn't care much for romances or most cartoons either

if something scares him or makes him cry, he'll try to hide it

it took him a while to be able to watch anything with Shrek after being mistaken for Shrek in the Halloween special

[a/n: I can also see him being a gamer]

Insecto/B

likes sports no thanks to Link

will watch most anything Link watches

likes some anime, particularly Sailor Moon for whatever reason

likes cartoon shows meant for older kids

doesn't like horror movies, has a hard time settling down or going to sleep after watching one

avoids animal/nature programs as some of them can be quite traumatizing

every now and then she'll be caught watching something with BOB like Bluey

Monger

watches the news every day

knows better than to believe everything he sees

watches a little M*A*S*H before bedtime at least twice a week

every now and then watches stuff like All in the Family just cuz he likes the comedic but logical political tension among the main characters

still has analog cable (antenna and all) at the farm

hates I Love Lucy because his wife had it on TV more than anything else

likes war films and a number of films about World War II. There's a few he won't watch tho because he thinks they're either badly made, too sentimental, or too depressing

likes comedies from the 1950s-60s

The President

likes watching himself on TV and videos online

likes talking smack to opposing politicians when watching videos of them, like, "In your dreams, bucko! Not while I'm large and in charge!"

comedies, comedies, comedies...and game shows

Simpsons fanboy

has an appreciation for daytime TV: long-running soap operas, talk shows hosted by middle-aged women, Judge Judy, Dr. Phil, etc.

considers the family sitting in front of the TV together as quality family time and sit-coms as an American staple

can't watch foreign language films with English subtitles. He eventually gets bored and falls asleep

as mentioned in an earlier H/C post, he doesn't trust biopics one bit. After finding out over half of The Greatest Showman was fictional, he lost faith in any portrayals of history both on screen and stage

Derek

liked watching famous news reporters and weather-folk as role models when he was a kid and as inspiration when he became a weatherman

took Susan and other girls he dated to the movies

if not at the movies, he and Susan would curl up on a sofa and watch something together, going back and forth between what he likes and what she likes

likes most sports, except basketball

Ted Talks, late night talk shows, and popular sit-coms

watches whatever catches his attention on Hulu and Max

had a very hard time watching anything with the monsters. Still does but it's not as hard anymore

Invisible Man

went to a few drive-in theaters with his wife on dates before and after they got married

Andy Griffith and Red Skelton were some of his favorite shows

yet he enjoyed some of the heavier and less lighthearted films, like Streetcar Named Desire. If he cried, he tried to not let anyone know

not much of a cinema-goer but he enjoyed taking his two older kids

liked what little he saw of The Carol Burnett Show while in prison

if he saw Mel Brooks' films, he would've loved them

von Wolfmann (my OC, a German wolfman and past monster, at Area 5X 1960-65)

having lived much of his 70+-year life away from society, he probably had no idea what TV & cinema were, let alone knew they existed

The Cyberian (my OC, a Soviet Russian cyborg and past monster, at Area 5X 1981-85)

TV became a bit of a staple in the Soviet Russian home over time, so there was a handful of shows that she liked throughout her life

she liked going to the movies with her dad/grandparents as a kid and teenager, a special treat

didn't like anything based off books. "Just read the book." She said. "No pictures but they're a lot more interesting than THIS sad piece of work"

thought period pieces were boring. More than once she fell asleep watching them

grew up with black-and-white TV, so she was excited the first time she saw color TV

learned some of her English from what little TV the monsters had and learned a bit about the USA and the world outside the USSR

probably would've been the only monster to have been a big fan of Star Wars and/or Star Trek

[pewpewpugh]

My Roommates Sister: part 2

Me again. I hope you enjoy part 2 as much as I enjoyed writing it! I think I'll be posting a chapter a week depending on my schedule :)

Arabella had fallen asleep in the taxi, and had refused to wake up when we arrived, resulting in Florence and I attempting to get her to bed safely. The whole time we were both holding in our laughter, trying to be quiet so that we didn't wake the neighbours as we dragged her drunk ass across the complex to our apartment. It took a while, but eventually we were able to get her into her room, where she collapsed on the bed, and didn't move another muscle.

"Wow, her head is going to hurt tomorrow" she chuckled, putting a blanket over her sister.

We headed into the living room, both of us collapsing on the sofa. I grabbed the TV remote and opened Netflix, searching for something easy to watch. I settled on Friends, which Florence seemed content with as she sang along to the theme song quietly, so quietly she probably didn't even realise she was doing it.

"You have a nice voice" I complimented, turning my head to look at her reaction.

"Shit, sorry. I didn't even realise I was singing along"

"It's fine, honestly. I wasn't kidding, you do have a nice voice"

She grinned at me before she pulled an expression, the exact same expression I've seen her sister pull a million times, and it is usually followed by a question.

"What are you thinking?"

"How did you know I was thinking anything?!"

"You and Bella pull the same expression" I smirked, "What are you thinking"

"Pizza" she paused, before nodding, "can we please have pizza?"

"Oh, that I can do!" I ran into the kitchen to grab the menus, throwing them at Florence as I came back in to the room. "Take your pick, Flossie"

"I'm going to regret telling you that nickname, aren't I?"

"Just pick a pizza so we can eat"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was laughing at me. She was actually laughing at me. It was 4:30am, the pizza was consumed, and we'd somehow gotten on to the conversation of embarrassing moments, and I happened to tell her about the time I fell over, bambi style, right in front of an ex. She thought it was hilarious, and looking back on it now, it probably is, but damn.

"Okay, I have a good story" She claimed, smirking at me, "I was trying to impress this... hm, okay hang on" she paused, looking worried all of a sudden, "For the sake of the story I just need to clear the air and let you know that, well, I don't know if Bella mentioned..." Florence paused for a moment, staring at me while she processed her thoughts, "I'm queer".

"Funnily enough, she hadn't, but so am I" I chuckled, not expecting those words to come out of her mouth. Like, it had crossed my mind that she might be (more like I hoped she would be) but I didn't think it would actually come up in conversation, especially this early into us meeting. However, having it confirmed made me feel a little more hopeful about the teeny, tiny crush I could feel myself developing for her, "but carry on"

I wish I had a camera in that moment because Florence's face was a picture. It was something I wanted to remember forever, honestly. She looked like a deer caught in headlights. A really cute deer.

"Okay so, hm..." Florence chuckled at the memory, "I was trying to impress this girl that was a couple of years older than me at school, and so I joined the chess club..." By the end of the story, I was in stitches. I was laughing so hard at Florence's misfortune, that I had tears streaming down my face.

"Oh, you poor thing" I said between laughter.

"Shut up" she grinned at me, "Your story wasn't any better"

She wasn't wrong, honestly. I shrugged, letting her know that I agreed with her comment, and we settled in to a comfortable silence. Friends was still playing on the television, and I was in to the episode, just like I always am. There's something about the show that hooks me. And even though I was into the show, I was very much aware of the girl beside me. I was aware of my heartbeat and how it raced when she said anything. I was aware of how my heart skipped when she giggled. And I was VERY aware of how every time she looked over at me, I thought my heart was going to jump out of my throat. I'll admit it, I liked her. That scared me. It scared me more than anything else on this earth, because feelings always lead me to heartbreak, and I can't go through that again.

Florence yawned beside me, and as I looked at her I could see her eyes drooping from the need to sleep. I turned the tv off, stood from the settee and grabbed her hand, pulling her up.

"You, Uh. You can sleep in my bed" I said softly, looking her in the eye and feeling the heat rise to my cheeks, "I'll sleep on the sofa tonight"

Slowly Florence shook her head no, and pulled me out of the living room and down the corridor. We paused outside of my room.

"We can stay in the same bed, right? That's okay. Between friends. Friends share beds all the time" I heard her say. My heart sank at the word 'friend' but she was right, friends do share beds all the time. I nodded okay, and followed her in to my room. I gave her a shirt and some shorts to sleep in, and threw the packet of makeup wipes in her direction. We got ready for bed in silence, but it wasn't awkward. It was nice.

The next morning I woke up remembering the events of the night before. The alcohol, the party, the girl. I opened my eyes to be blessed with the sight of Florence asleep in front of me. God, she was beautiful. I closed my eyes for a few minutes, just encouraging myself to wake up a little before I got out of bed, and when I opened my eyes again, Florence was already looking at me. She gave me a small smile, which radiated with shyness but indicating that she'd just woken up herself, before rolling on to her back.

"Morning" she mumbled, throwing her arm over her eyes and resting it there. I didn't respond with words. I just made a sound. Florence giggled and the room was silent again.

I heard movement in the apartment, indicating that Arabella was now awake. I wonder how she's feeling right now. Let's face it, she was OUT of it yesterday, it was amazing to see. I sat up slowly and untangled my legs from the quilt, before heading into the living room, leaving Florence in bed.

"Morning" I said softly, being mindful of Bella's hangover, "how are you feeling?"

"Did you hit me with your car last night?" she asked from the sofa, "because it feels like someone did"

Before I could respond, I heard movement from my bedroom, and a few moments later Florence appeared at my side.

"Morning sis"

"Flo, what the fuck" my roommate mumbled, frowning at the two of us, "full offence but what are you doing here?" Florence rolled her eyes at the comment and headed over to sit with her sister. I noticed she'd gotten changed into her jeans, but had thrown on the burgundy sweater I'd left hung up on my wardrobe door.

"Nice sweater" I said quietly for only Florence to hear as she passed me. She grinned, grabbing my hand and giving it a squeeze. Okay she's cute. I can handle cute. I can handle this tiny crush I have on her, that's easy. So easy. Yep. It'd be a lot easier if she didn't look cute as hell in my sweater though.

"Someone" Flo smirked, "not naming any names but it begins with A and ends in Ela, got so drunk last night that her housemate couldn't carry her. I lent a helping hand and then just crashed here for the night"

Arabella groaned, "I'm never drinking again"

"Until next time" I commented, throwing myself on to the sofa chair, "I'm going to order breakfast, what is everyone having?"

We ate. We whined about how hungover we were. We mocked Arabella who didn't appreciate being ganged up on. It was a painful but calm morning, and then I decided to jump in the shower. While I was gone, Arabella took it as an opportunity to corner her sister.

————— Florence's point of view —————

"Did you sleep with Soph???" Arabella's head span around so fast I thought she was going to give herself whiplash.

"No!" I defended myself, "I told you I just crashed here!"

My sister scowled at me and I could feel myself getting nervous. Can she tell that I like Soph? My sister knows me better than I know myself, so it really wouldn't surprise me if she already knew how I felt about the tiny ray of sunshine that had just left the room.

"That's her sweater" she pointed out. Oh, fuck.

"I only have my clothes from last night and I am not putting my crop top back on. I'll look like I'm doing the walk of shame leaving this place."

"But are you?" Arabella asked again but kinder, like she was just looking for gossip now and not an argument.

I shrugged. I mean, I wasn't doing the walk of shame technically.  But I would be leaving with one thing I didn't have yesterday, and that was feelings for a girl I'd just met. Arabella squealed in my ear, "you like her!" I gave her a real smile in response this time. There was no point in denying it. I did like her. I wanted to get to know her more, take her on dates, hold her hand in public. I'd not even known the girl 24 hours and I was already going down a road I promised myself I wouldn't go down again.

"Uh yeah... about that" I said quietly as I heard the shower turn off in the bathroom, "I was kind of, maybe... hoping that, if it's okay with you, that I ask Soph out on a date?"

"Flossie, babe... you don't have to ask me for permission"

"I just don't want to make things awkward around here for you" I confessed.

My sister took my hand and squeezed it softly. "Let yourself feel. You've not let yourself feel for so long... it's okay" I didn't know how to respond, she was right, I'd shut myself off from feelings and relationships for so long, I was struggling with how to cope with a potential new one, but she carried on speaking, "In all honesty, when I found out that Soph was gay, my first thought was to try and set you two up... I just had a feeling."

"Had a feeling about what?" I heard Soph ask as she walked into the living room in jogging bottoms and a tank top. Wow. She's cute. Really cute. So cute in fact that I could feel the feelings I had for her doubling just by looking at her. I was screwed, wasn't I?

"Uhhhh" i panicked. It was now or never I guess. I stood from the sofa and walked towards Sophie. As I stood directly in front of her, I took both of her hands in mine and entwined my fingers with hers. I noticed as she looked down at our hands momentarily, before glancing at my face, "I was actually just asking my sister whether it was okay to ask you out on a date... on Friday... with me..."

I paused. She paused. I thought I'd fucked up and was about to pull away when she responded.

"I'd love to"

[shadowqueen402]

Balan Wonderworld TV Show Summaries (Season 1)

Here are the short summaries of each of the episodes. That way, you all will know what each episode would be about.

Perfectly In-Balanced: When a greater evil tries to conquer Wonderworld, Balan and Lance must put aside their differences to in order to protect their home.

No More Clowning Around: A new clown joining the crew quickly raises suspicion in Attilio as he starts to suspect that there's something off about the newbie.

Two Birds Of A Feather (Don't) Get Flocked Together: All Sana wanted was a relaxing day of patrolling the forest… Too bad a forest ranger is so desperate to win her affection…

Sibling Rivalry: It's no secret that NiGHTS and Reala fight with each other constantly. Could Balan's suggestion actually help the two siblings make amends before their fights get out of hand?

A Recipe For Disaster: Balan and NiGHTS want to prepare a feast for their friends. The only problem? Neither of them can cook…

Stop Buggin' Me!: A bunch of wasps invade the stages of Wonderworld and Yuri is getting blamed for it. Can Leo and Emma work together to prove Yuri's innocence before they receive the sting of defeat?

Stormy Attitude: Jose never liked storms to begin with. But one particular storm causes his personality to drastically change. Perhaps there's something more to this storm than meets the eye…

Here, Kitty, Kitty!: A basket full of kittens are left at the doors to Wonderworld. But at the same time, reports of kittens disappearing from animal shelters are spreading around Highland Isle. The gang must get to the bottom of this.

Bad-mouthed Dancer: One of Balan's spells go wrong, causing Leo to say a bunch of savage yet hilarious remarks and insults.

Mirror, Mirror: There is one mirror in Attilio's stage that Balan restricts others from looking into. However, that doesn't explain the voices that could be heard…

Swapped!: Balan and Lance suddenly wake up…with swapped roles. So now everyone has to help Lance figure out what happened while, at the same time, avoid Balan's tricks.

Fiona's Dolphin Discovery: Fiona's discovery of a rare dolphin quickly becomes a mission to bring it back home after learning that a group of people want to capture it for money.

What A Mess!: No matter how much Bruce cleans, his stage is always a mess again. And it doesn't help that the other stages are strangely becoming littered with garbage…

Tummy Troubles: After eating a fruit that they shouldn't have eaten, Leo and Emma find themselves dealing with an awful stomach ache as well as some…stinky side effects.

Lullaby And…Goodnight?: Lance receives a music box from an unknown person, which when opened up, plays a lullaby that puts the listener to sleep. This isn't good since Reala and Wizeman will take advantage of that…

General Reala At His Service: Angered that his plans are thwarted, Reala decides to come up with a way to trap NiGHTS into their worst fears.

Blown Away (Literally!): While testing his man-powered flying machine, Haoyu get blown away into the distance by a gust of wind. The others must find Haoyu and save him.

Checkmate: Cal's love for chess is put to the test when he suddenly finds himself in an unfamiliar chess tournament with money being the prize should he win. Is this tournament the real deal? Or is it all just a scam?

Diamonds Are A Girl's Worst Enemy: On her birthday, Iben receives a beautiful diamond necklace. It isn't until after she puts it on that strange things start happening…

How (Not) To Prank NiGHTS: As soon as he learns what April Fool's is about, Reala decides to try and prank NiGHTS. Unfortunately for him, it's easier said than done…

Needy Negati: For some reason, the Negati have been extremely chatty and needy. What could possibly be wrong?

And The Worst Parent Award Goes To…: Wizeman sends Reala on a mission to obtain a sword located only in Wonderworld…without telling Reala about the dangerous traps he'd have to face.

Beauty Is Only Skin Deep: Because of her crush on Cal, Lucy feels self-conscious about her looks and decides to try a beauty treatment. But things take a turn when Lucy gets more than what she bargains for…

Let me know what you guys think!

[tyranasauruslex]

Do you have any romelukas holiday thoughts? Maybe thanksgiving?

I'm not American so I don't know anything about Thanksgiving and tbh it doesn't seem like something Lukas would be interested in - I imagine he'd just be reading out anti Thanksgiving posts whilst everyone else ate that weird Sweet potato marshmallow thing in silence. I actually think that Midsummer would be their main holiday but i'll go with a RomeLukas Christmas:

Their first Christmas together is shit, mostly because it doesn’t occur to Lukas to explain to Roman that seeing flashing Christmas decorations, listening to people sing Christmas carols off key, the expectation that gifts will be appreciated with gratitude and enforced touching is a social and sensory nightmare for him. Then there’s being expected to eat other peoples food, none of which are on his safe list, so Lukas retreats to the safety of his mums house in Sweden. She cooks everything he likes, the way he likes it and never puts lights on the tree so he can actually relax for once. He bluntly turns down Romans offer of spending Christmas with the Roys because he assumes that Roman will come with him to Sweden, only for Roman to reveal he’s been bullied into attending Kendall’s aka Logan 2.0’s family Christmas. They end up parting awkwardly with neither of them sure as to why the other one is in a mood. Over in Sweden, Mama Matsson takes great care to explain to Lukas that as this is Roman’s first Christmas without his dad, it makes sense that he would want to be with his family even if they are a bunch of “vapid energy vampires with only two braincells between them.”

Meanwhile in New York Roman spends his Christmas either being bullied and picked on by Kendall or being made fun of by Caroline for his new “homosexual lifestyle” and his as of yet unresolved daddy issues. Shiv is still banned from all family gathering so he doesn’t even have anyone that might stick up for him and is miserable the entire time. That is until Lukas calls him at the midway point between Swedish and American Christmas and they FaceTime for hours meaning that Roman doesn't have to participate in the brutality that is the Roy family game night.

Their next Christmas is spent in Sweden with the Matsson family which consists of only Lukas, his mum, his ancient Uncle Valter and his dad ashes that Mama Matsson puts on top of the TV so he can “still be involved”. With no maids or chefs, everyone has to pitch in which initially terrifies Roman because he can barely boil an egg, let alone put together a Julboard. Thankfully he gets put in charge of decorating the tree which he loves and making sure Uncle Valter stays awake until the food is ready. Then after dinner Lukas and Uncle Valter teach him how to play Viking chess which he’s awful at and then they watch Swedish Christmas TV. It's all kind of odd but still very cosy and calm, however Roman spends the entire holiday on edge waiting to either be yelled for doing something wrong or witness the fucked up family dysfunction that his previous Christmas’s have been filled with. 

It’s during his second Christmas spent with Lukas that Roman releases that they seem to be re-living the same Christmas every year; right down to the food timings and stuff they watch on TV. He doesn’t think much of it until they spend the next Christmas in New York and Lukas has an absolute meltdown over an inflatable light up Rudolf that Greg brought in for the office Christmas party. His behaviour at the actual office party is even worse, teetering between frustration and tears so Roman takes him to one of the empty offices to calm down. Thats when Lukas explains that he hates all the noise, all the lights, constantly having to mask... he just wants to stick with the Christmas he's used to. Suddenly the Groundhog Day christmases make a lot more sense so Roman declines their place at the Roy Family Christmas much to Kendalls fury. He didn't even want to go anyway and they have a low key Christmas that year spent on the sofa under a pile blankets and eating Mama Matsson’s Christmas sandwiches. Whilst Lukas recharges, Uncle Valter gives Roman a history lesson on Swedish christmas traditions and then he takes Mama Matsson out to see the The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.

The agreement is to not bother with presents which they both promptly ignore, but it’s small stuff like a bag of really good weed from their trip to Thailand or framed picture of the pair of them being silly at a GoJo party. Although Lukas did break from tradition one year and buy Roman an island. They stick with Swedish tradition and exchange presets on Christmas Eve, although Lukas always holds one back for Roman to have on Christmas Day.  

New Years they spend partying at whatever weird and far flung place they can find along with Lukas’s friends and Tabitha or by themselves in one of Lukas’s many elusive boltholes. 

[protege-not-protagonist]

Grace's note books:

Grace has a note book for almost everything in her life. She has her art journal, her project book, her sleep journal, her case book, a few junk journals and a different slim note book for each month to use as a planner and catch all. And she has many more but that doesn't mean she uses them. She forgets what's in most of the ones she doesn't use regularly and ends up creating new ones all the time. This note book here above is one Grace has dedicated to recording game plans, notes and scores. This is an important note book for her, because Grace is extremely competitive.

This note book started one day when a mutual friend, Troy, taught her about Fantasy Sports, which to her disappointment, was not games like quidditch. He explained that it was creating statistically stacked teams by picking the best players of multiple teams to bet on during a whole season of a game. Grace realised that although Troy didn't know it, he was an excellent statistician and profiler. And after a miserable defeat in Trivathlon last year, exactly the kind of person their team needed as a 'coach.'

Troy joined their trivia team and Grace helped teach him to transfer his skills in recognising plays and strengths in baseball, to trivia. Grace takes her notebook each week to trivia and writes the scores down for the week, and uses her skills as a profiler to figure out which players at which table are the strongest and most confident with the questions asked.

She has also taught Troy how to look for the same cues and take the same notes for when she is not there. But he is not as subtle as she is. So to hide Troy's intense stares and looks of concentration when observing the teams, Grace made sure their team got a specific table in the bar with an advantageous position. It allows Troy to watch the teams in the mirrored side board behind the bar under the TV's that play the sports. Grace and Troy will then take the scores home and put them in a shared excel sheet and use the data to figure out which team's topics have been picked that week, what each team and each players strengths are, and they also research the players on other teams to try to predict what the questions will be about the next week so their team can study beforehand.

Grace also writes things she observes from her chess games with Dr Reid in this note book. She is not good at chess, not at all. But she is determined to win one game, genuinely, because of course Dr Reid lets her win some because he doesn't like feeling like he is bullying her.

Grace has a plan, and it will take a long time, but the satisfaction of winning will be worth it. Slowly she is learning how Dr Reid plays. She is not focused on developing her own skill set, only testing what his is. For Grace, nothing is a stronger motivator than being told she can't do something.

Details from the Protege - an enlarged version of the note book on Grace's desk.

Taglist: @bridgeoverstrawberryfields @pleasantwitchgarden @cultish-corner

[fernsandsunflowers]

I hyperfocused on Good Omens, Crowley and Lucifer so here's a 2000 word essay that I'm not sure even makes sense. I'm going to go and salvage the rest of the day and do some of the work I'm supposed to be doing to live or whatever now. thanks for coming

I don’t know how popular the Crowley is Lucifer theory is I haven’t read into it, but I knew of it being out there. I started thinking about it randomly today and now I am obsessed. If I’m repeating anything that’s already out there I am sorry but I – went on a whole ass journey and here's why Crowley has to be Lucifer.

Most of my knowledge on Christian mythology is based on media/books that I’ve read. I have consumed A LOT of western media and I personally love stories inspired by Christian theology, including Neil’s Lucifer comics and the TV show. So, I am familiar with the concept of using Lucifer as a medium for critique. I was however, under the impression that Lucifer and Satan were one and the same, that Satan was Lucifer before he fell. And so, when I first came across the theory that Crowley was Lucifer I was a little confused. It stuck in my head though – because, wouldn’t that be just a good fucking twist?!?! – and I started researching Lucifer and Satan. And omg.

I don’t know if there’s a lot of different things in the books that I have missed not being Christian or being born into a Christian family, where Crowley would have done things that was traditionally associated with Lucifer/Satan. I’m assuming there is and that’s what led to the theory coming about? The only thing that stuck out to me was him being the one to tempt eve. I thought Satan, as a snake, tempted Eve to eat the apple. [based on google searching I know this is also debated and maybe not actually in the bible? It was just a crafty ol’ snake?]. But everything changes when you separate Lucifer and Satan.

First on why Crowley’s angel identity is one of importance:

Crowley clearly was a high-level angel, that much is clear from S1/Book and more so in the light of evidence from season 2. S2 also starts to put more emphasis into who Crowley was before the Fall, not in the very apparent ways like that first scene where he creates a Nebula. No, in clever little foreshadowy ways.

There is overt emphasis on the miracle in terms of Aziraphale’s power than Crowley’s. I know it was half-half, but while the show never once denies that it was their combined power, it continues in a way where Aziraphale is the focus of the miracle and it’s 25 lazarii power and Crowley’s part in it is made subtler almost like Mr Gaiman is trying to get us to forget. But if that miracle is so powerful and it is so unlikely that Aziraphale could have done it being just an angel, then it implies that Crowley is incredibly powerful too.

Crowley had access to Gabriel’s files.

Crowley has clearly been mind-wiped. We all agree on that right? “I know it hurts”, “looking where the furniture isn’t”. It doesn’t seem like any of the other angels/demons have. But I think everyone’s been made to forget something, erasing memory seems to be an easy enough and common enough thing for the higher ups to do. Or for Metatron to do anyway. A little tweak here and there and everyone forgets Crowley was Lucifer, including Crowley. Someone (it’s Metatron) is playing a very delicate little chess game (Metatron I see you) and there’s a lot of little signs to show that small details are missing from everyone’s memories (Metatron!!! *shakes fist at sky*). An example is that Aziraphale and Muriel have met before. In the Job memory she was the one who went through Crowley’s contract. And I know it’s a small thing – the writers could have just decided not to acknowledge it or imply that maybe they had forgotten they had already met. People forget things all the time, and it was 100s of years ago! But the whole thing struck me as exceptionally odd. I even expected there to be a comment by Aziraphale that he had met Muriel and so her pretending to be a ‘human police officer’ was doubly hilarious. But there was nothing and, to me, it felt like there was a heavy emphasis that both individuals believed this to be their first meeting. I know they’ve lived for thousands of years and memory is a fickle thing so they could have simply forgotten that meeting. But Aziraphale isn’t the type to forget a face, especially one that helped him go through a contract for something that was very important and honestly kinda life changing for him. And Muriel honestly, also doesn’t seem the type to forget the time she helped Heaven’s ambassador on Earth go through a contract involving a pretty popular and consequential bet between God and Satan. Anyway, I digress. I don’t know why it was important to erase Crowley’s (and everyone else’s?) memory of Lucifer [but I have a theory, more on this later] but Crowley would have needed to be significant as an angel and instrumental in the Fall for it to have been necessary.

What I’m trying to say is that I believe S2 was riddled with hints that Crowley’s angel identity, his past, will become important as we move forward. So his identity is possibly one that we as the audience will immediately recognize.

That’s all the technical reason’s why I think Crowley is Lucifer, but none of that stuff actually give any real foundation as to why he is Lucifer and not just another high-level angel. So here are the more abstract and very emotionally biased foundational reasons.

First a bit on etymology and history:

Lucifer (latin) is used to describe the morning appearance of the planet Venus. Venus is the morning star, the bringer of dawn or the light bringer. We all know it – it’s that big, big, bright star that always catches your eye when it’s out. Being the brightest object in the sky, outside the sun and the moon, Venus is extremely beloved and a major fixture throughout recorded human history. Because of the way she orbits around the sun, we on earth see her at different times depending on her orbital period. Either in the morning or in the evening. The morning star and the evening star. Same star. Lucifer was used to describe Venus in the morning, translating to the dawn-bringer. Venus’ appearance in the sky throughout recorded human history is described with such reverence and love. Every culture has their own stories and mythologies surrounding her and in nearly all of them (generally - each culture had specific beliefs) she represents love, light and joy. The stories differ based on whether cultures are referring to her morning appearance or her evening appearance or whether ancient cultures believed her two appearances to be the same star or different stars - There are stories of Venus’ two appearances being star-crossed lovers in ancient Vietnamese folklore, for instance.

In a lot of stories where she was seen as one and the same, including Greco-Roman folklore, the stories often featured Venus ‘falling’ or being ‘cast down’ from the heavens. These particularly related to the way Venus moves in the sky as observed from earth. Because of trajectory of her orbit around the sun, the planet never reaches the very top. That is she never rises above the sun or the moon always appearing just below and the planet never actually falls below the horizon. Apparently, this was different enough from norm (hi i don't know a lot about space) that it was included as a key point in a lot of these folktales. Numerous mythologies spoke of Venus being cast down from the heavens for trying to reach the throne. Including, in Roman folklore, that later feeds into Christian mythology. See below

Lucifer became Satan due to a small mistranslation from the Book of Isaiah. It was from a single passage following the death of the oppressor in the story, where lucifer/morning star was used, sarcastically, I gather. “How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: "Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a wilderness, who overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?". This dude was just taunting his fallen adversary, but this then, over the slow passage of time, led to the idea of Satan being a fallen angel called ‘Lucifer’ who tried to take the kingdom of heaven.

On Crowley and Venus:

We know that no matter how many times or how loudly this fool (affectionate) denies that he is ‘good’ and ‘kind’, it is his entire being. His love for the universe that he so so soooo lovingly, so excitedly, helped create led to his ‘fall’. He doesn’t just love humans in all their exceptionally flawed glory, he loves all the little things that made the universe, the universe – from ducks to nebulas. Love, joy and kindness comes to him entirely naturally, more so than it does for Aziraphale (I love you, boo, I do I do I do - but Crowley is definitely the lighter grey). So taken very literally, just based on character alone, he is like Venus, he is light and joy, excitedly rising before even the sun to herald a new day for earth. The morning star, the light-bringer.

But Crowley finds out about Armageddon and he has… suggestions. I don’t know if I can see him making a direct play for the throne. Ruling isn’t him. But I can see him starting out by wanting to stop Heaven’s plans of destruction and then ‘sauntering vaguely downward’ from there. He is different from the rest of the host of heaven in that he never quite, metaphorically, at least, reaches all the way down. Point blank: he's not quite - 'evil' in his beliefs. Venus doesn’t quite fall in an arc either. There’s no clear drop, she never disappears below the horizon – she never quite ‘falls’. She just slowly loops around the earth, horizontally, sauntering vaguely at a downward angle.

On Crowley and Lucifer (A speculative association):

Crowley’s opposition to Armageddon would gradually have led to his complete disillusionment of heaven and God’s ineffable plan, over-time (see above on sauntering downward). I think he would have genuinely tried to argue and fight the Armageddon plans. Just as he did to stop Armageddon in S1/book, though he would have done it then without pretending like he didn’t care (and acting the opposite). He would have been unsuccessful, continuously, increasingly and frustratingly so – enough to start hanging out with the wrong people. Just so he had a space to vent, you know? Next thing he knew, he’s labelled traitor by association and he’s fighting a rebellion he didn’t really believe. Or may be that’s what he remembers.

I think he played a much larger role, unintentionally, kind of, but a role significant enough that it was important no one remembered it. I know it feels like Crowley making such a major play is against what we know of his sauntering – but I sometimes I read those statements as defensive or more a nod to him acknowledging that he did ‘fall’ in that he made some wrong and less than OK moves. But he made them with good intentions in heart, he was trying to protect the universe but it led to his association with the other side... that was unintentional – he didn’t mean to fall. This is based entirely within the context of that first scene in S2 (and the fact that this man has clearly spent hours, months, millennia contemplating morality and humanity and critiquing heavens views – more so than Aziraphale has). Pre-fall Crowley is light years apart from post-fall Crowley when it comes to taking action, to fighting the system. That man talks and acts like someone who tried really fucking tried to change the system and it failed so miserably that he’s now irrevocably jaded. There’s no fixing heaven and hell – sorry Aziraphale, I tried and it just led to eternal punishment for all those that I fought side by side with and no there are two teams trying to do the thing I was trying to stop - let’s just run away to Alpha Centuari together.

Lucifer became synonymous with Satan from a mistranslation, a small little thing drop that snowballed to most believing in something that never actually happened. That 'Satan' was a fallen angel by the name of Lucifer and it he that started and led the rebellion.

What if Lucifer (Crowley) didn’t mean to but simply sparked the rebellion, with his questions and his suggestions; what if Satan (whatever that turns out to be in Good Omens, be it an actual being or simply an amalgamation or some personification of 'sin') saw an opportunity and used Crowley? You can’t quite control how things pan out can you?

Lucifer, light bringer, just wanted to keep the light on for eternity - have it last forever (but oh, Crowley nothing lasts forever - haha I'm not traumatized), he got enough people questioning things that Satan used that as cannon fodder to stage a coup. Something that started from a genuine place, got twisted and corrupted – remember Hunger Games (and I guess the real-world?? god fuck)? Shit went off track fast and there’s all out war. Heaven won and those that rebelled were cast out.

But here’s the catch. You can’t quite stamp out an idea, not once it’s been planted (fire is catching said Katniss, eliminate their beacon said Snow, also - re: inception). How long will it take before someone turns around and goes, hey that war was crazy wasn’t it? Anyway you guys remember what Lucifer was saying before things got confusing?

Nope, you can’t have heaven’s remaining angels or even hell thinking there are ‘institutional problems’. How do you unplant an idea? Easy, how do you control weeds my dudes - pull them out by the roots!

...

Lucifer who?

[slur-sayer]

How many of you ACTUALLY play chess? Do you even... really?

I'm going to guess it's around zero.

I've been watching your posts for a while now and it seems like this subreddit is full of teenagers that just like to copypasta and that's about it. Pretty on point, right?

Like when did anyone ever really post a REAL chess post here? It's all "lmao google holy passant", "lmao knook drift hurhur", but I never see ACTUAL chess techniques besides the constant "fork" meme. And quite frankly, I doubt any of you even know what that is. It's about the simplest move, but doubt you could even pull it off.

Ever seen a real discovered attack? Probably not. You probably wouldn't know what it was, even right after it puts you in check.

So my question is, why do you even come here? Are you bored of the other meme subreddits? There's plenty others. You don't have to pollute a real subreddit with your memes, and in fact it'd be quite nice if you stopped.

Edit: Wow, all of these replies really prove my point! It's almost like we're all just repeating the same thing over and over again. But hey, at least we're consistent. Keep up the great contributions to the conversation!

Edit2.0: How will we ever survive without our constant stream of repetitive, unoriginal comments? I hope you're happy that you've ruined our fun and forced us to come up with something original. Thanks a lot.

Edit 3.2:

It's such a tragedy, isn't it? The fact that people can't appreciate the true beauty and complexity of chess. They're missing out on so much! Instead of indulging in the simple pleasures of life, like watching reality TV or playing video games, they could be immersing themselves in the intricacies of the game. But alas, they choose to remain ignorant and unenlightened. It's truly a shame that they don't understand the value of dedicating hours upon hours to studying openings, endgames, and tactics. Maybe someday they'll come to their senses and realize what they're missing out on. But until then, we can continue to revel in our superior understanding of the game and feel sorry for those who can't comprehend its brilliance.

Edit 4.4:

Fuck you

Edit 5.5.5

And fuck your bitch mother

[mycupofrum]

Thanks @elvendorx for the tag!! :)

3 Ships: James/Sirius since forever. It's the absolute devotion these two have for each other that gets to me, whether they’re written in a fun way or they have some darker traits. They are two brilliant minds put together who create chaos at school and later fight against death eaters wearing matching phoenix t shirts. Lol. They are such idiots in love. You can put them in any situation or AU and they always find back to each other. My favourite friends to lovers ship ever.

Obi-Wan/Anakin. I’m basing this on how Ewan and Hayden acted together in the films. They have real chemistry (and Obi-Wan Kenobi series made me lose my mind all over again). There’s just so much obsessive love between the characters which is like yesss give me more. Also, you can play with the characters in AUs all you like, make them good, bad, something in between. Not to mention this ship has so much beautiful fanart on tumblr.

Charles Xavier/Erik Lehnsherr. I was obsessed with this ship after X-Men First Class. (Which is still the best one of them all.) The reason this ship works for me is thanks to James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. They only need to stare at each other and the sexual tension automatically intensifies. Charles and Erik ultimately want the same thing but go about it in very different ways. Beach divorce, dropping a stadium on your ex, lots of weird shit happening in the rest of the movies (which weren’t that great), and yet they end up playing chess in a Parisian cafe. They're the dramatic ex husbands who still love each other and I’m here for it.

First ever ship: I shipped people randomly in 90s tv shows but can’t remember the first one. Buffy/Angel, maybe? In HP books it was James/Lily. Now I can’t wrap my head around Lily’s character because I haven’t really written about her. I don’t see romantic love between her and James anymore, but they’d work as friends for sure.

Last Song: Ooh aah...just a little bit by Gina G (from my Eurovision playlist lol)

Last Movie I saw: Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody

Currently reading: don’t have any books started atm, so just fanfiction

Currently watching: Treason on Netflix

Currently consuming: chips

Currently craving: a long tv show where I can get lost and escape real life (like preferably 15 seasons of Supernatural long).

Tagging: @siriuslyqueer @gracelesslady23 @jmagnabo92

No pressure of course, feel free to do this if you like. Don't know who's done this already. :)

[lackadaisicalnereid]

top 5 tv episodes? top 5 songs (currently or Of All Time)??

top 5 tv episodes currently, in no particular order, things I've watched or rewatched recently:

1 sharp objects series finale 2 star trek strange new worlds s02e03 3 community s01e23 4 succession series finale 5 black sails s02e01

top 5 tv episodes ever, in no particular order 1 doctor who s01e09 father's day 2 btvs, s02e22, becoming part 2 3 twin peaks s02e22 beyond life and death 4 hannibal s02e13 mizumono 5 the west wing s02e22 two cathedrals

(also, @sunbelieving I loved both your asks (all four of your asks?) but writing the tv stuff took a lot out of me and I just do not have it in me to do the same for songs, which I think might be even more challenging. I might return to it later, however)

thinky-thoughts hidden below

sharp objects series finale

This is one of those cases where it's taken me years to get around to finally watching something I'm convinced I'll like. My life is like that, it makes no sense. It feels weird to single out one episode of a whole that is so strongly one thing, but the finale is where everything culminates & the first two thirds had my stomach in knots. The ending reveal montage was brilliant and gutting. Amy Adams and Eliza Scanlen are forever good in my books on the strength of the finale.

star trek strange new worlds s02e03

Love La'an and what she gets to do in this episode. It's both classic TOS shenanigans in a way that I thoroughly enjoy & it's also character developing in a way TOS arguably could not have been, as that was not really the tv landscape back in the day. I found her attachment to Kirk both sweet and heartbreaking, and there were some moments along the way I thought were just excellent fun, like Kirk getting them money by playing chess, because Kirk plays chess with his first officer in every universe, and La'an and Kirk choosing the same outfit when they go to the shop and need regular Earth clothing. Adelaide Kane put in a good performance as the guest star, and not only was the plot fun, but it also managed to advance some character arcs, primarily La'an's, but also Pelia's. All good in my book.

community s01e23 modern warfare

I accidentally rewatched a few episodes of Community yesterday and just had such incredible amounts of fun with this and some other episodes. The ability of the cast and crew to work across genres and plotlines and tropes and still have convincing characters and even character arcs, as well as relationship arcs, is still a brilliant accomplishment in my books. Also, early Jeff/Britta, what a wonderful sitcom disaster.

succession series finale

Look, I am not immune to siblings and tragedy. I would really love to say I have something to add to the immeasurable amounts of Succession discourse, but I am not sure I do. The final sibling argument scene wherein Kendall, for a shot at the throne, takes back his confession of murder (manslaughter probably?) which was what jump started his patching-things-up-with-the-siblings and was arguably the moment they were all most there for each other in the whole series? Horrifying, beautiful, stupid, inevitable. Tragic.

black sails s02e01

I have decided to cheer for all thing queer and fun and my friends that I am watching this with are both highly into this as well, so it's not necessarily the episode itself that I enjoyed so much, as it was my experience of watching it, but I treasure it. Also, I cannot believe I am getting attached to John Silver of all fictional characters in all the pirate gin joints, but what can you do, I am weak, someone save me.

top tv episodes of all time, in no particular order

Honestly, there's like an extremely slim chance that this is actually my top 5 episodes of tv ever, but I'm really trying here & will try to explain my thinky thoughts. Having written the list and given it a bit of a thing, there's definitely a theme here of themes being developed & brought to escalation, plotlines being finished, tragic and horrible choices being made, high stakes, and (the least in the case of the doctor who episode) the landscape of the show and of what the show is/means being changed forever by the episode.

doctor who s01e09 father's day

Listen, I know. I hear you. I want to say ANYTHING basically with Amy. Amy is forever my favorite Doctor Who companion. But on my recent Doctor Who re-watch I discovered depths of appreciation I did not know I had for Father's Day. I love Rose's self-centeredness, and Nine's anger and then angered resignation to it, which inevitably ends in honest forgiveness. I always cry over Nine's speech to the young couple.

DOCTOR: How did all this get started? STUART: Outside the Beatbox Club, two in the morning. SARAH: Street corner. I'd lost my purse, didn't have money for a taxi. STUART: I took her home. DOCTOR: Then what? Asked her for a date? SARAH: Wrote his number on the back of my hand. STUART: Never got rid of her since. My dad said. SARAH: I don't know what this is all about, and I know we're not important. DOCTOR: Who said you're not important? I've traveled to all sorts of places, done things you couldn't even imagine, but you two. Street corner, two in the morning, getting a taxi home. I've never had a life like that. Yes. I'll try and save you.

tears

(But also, you know. AMY POND.)

btvs becoming part 2

Listen, I know. There's so much of BTVS that's dear to me, and it's hard to pick any one thing and be happy with your choice. But I recently rewatched the first two seasons and was surprised at how much I felt during Becoming. Even as someone who is not extremely attached to Angel/Buffy, the setup and the tragedy of it is beautiful, imo, & SMG's terrific beyond words. And I am a sucker for high stakes. Also, whatever one thinks of Xander's not-telling-Buffy thing, as someone who's just watched s2 of Warrior Nun, DEAR SISTERS IN CHRIST, do I wish someone working on that show was not afraid of having a character make such a radical move. And not just in a show like Succession, where it does not weigh the same, because everyone's choices are horrible exactly all of the time, but in a show about teenagers, super-powered and not, just honest-to-god trying to prevent apocalypses. Not to mention the whole Angelus arc leading us to Buffy killing him. And the fallout from this arguably follows everyone in the main cast until the end of the show. Also, the No weapons…no friends…no hope. Take all that away and what's left? Me. Gets me every time.

twin peaks s2 finale

Still contains the single most terrifying scene I have seen in my life. Honestly, I don't even want to talk about it. Imagine the worst thing that could possibly happen in a show that is ostensibly about the struggle between good and evil and then that exact thing happening. It is horrifying in a visceral, existential way. I don't wanna talk about it, alright.

hannibal season 2 finale

Not me getting attached to fictional men, noooooooo. Why. Also, it's starting to look, as I am writing this, that I am way more into tragedy than I would normally say about myself, and I am not sure what to do with that. There's something so beautifully harrowing and horrifying about the obviously inevitable fallout from Will going through with his planned betrayal and then not being able to actually do it. Hannibal making a family for them and then taking it away. Abigail murdered by a father, again. Alana betrayed, Jack betrayed, all of them relevant victims that in their own right that command BOTH Will and Hannibal's love and respect, but in other ways utterly meaningless because of how blind & careless Will, and Hannibal in particular, can be towards people that are not Will and Hannibal. "Falling in love with a god is not a death sentence. The story is only a tragedy if the god loves you back."

the west wing season 2 finale

The tragedy, the elation, the fucking putting of hands into pockets. YOU GET HOYNES. The Brothers In Arms needle drop to stand supreme to all other needle drops.

(also i apparently have a thing for s2 finales whatdoyoudo. I guess it makes sense to some degree, because shows need to take time to become themselves and then afterwards often they go into directions you don't like. season 2, obviously for me, statistically, is when the show has found itself - whatever the show is, it is that the most in season 2, seems to be my judgment.)

[handelplayssims]

Twas the day of New Year’s Eve and goddamn it. It’s still blizzarding. Man I sure hope we’re getting a lot of wind power out of this. Only one person is super-excited for New Years in this family and that’s Izzy. She wants to stay up until midnight after all. Which yeah, kids love that excuse. Even if as a kid it was similar to what it was now, which was being on the computer and suddenly going “Oh hey, it’s a New Year.”

Anyway, Lara has two wishes. To hug someone and to make money. Good way to start on that is to sell off some flowers and garlic. 460 Simoleans out of that. 540 more to go. A hack outta serve us! Anyway, Cameron and Izzy woke up and decided to head on over to Lara. With Cameron’s second whim outside of sharing ideas being to have a baby, which no, alongside Lara’s want of a hug...yeah these two can spend some private time to themselves today. Once Lara gets done with this last hack to push her to 1000 Simmoleans.

I send Izzy off to read while Cameron and Lara have their home date. Because you can have dates at home! But why would you when you can go elsewhere for dates? But here in this blizzard, no one leaves home! So we actually got a date marker of watching tv, which hey! There we go, there is tv. And it makes a good excuse to have a nice chat as well. Though, once again, we aren’t going to have them be flirty at the same time. A passonate duo, they are not. Mostly because of that overclocked computer buff for Lara. ...that being said, if I cared a lot, I would get the emotional potions but I don’t care that much. These two being friends first and passionate lovers all the way down is very relatable for me.

Anyway, date was fine. Lots of chatting. Of managing needs in the middle of it. And the classic stand-by of flirting while playing chess. Which sounds like a great way for two nerds to befriend each other better. Meanwhile, Izzy is just...vibing. Well, experimented on the science playset, read a book and did some more yoga.

And I decided to end the date on something a lot more interesting. Rocket ship woohoo time! After the date, I had the family hang out together in the living room and chat a bit. Got one of those parenthood pop ups with Izzy asking about a lost toy and what she should do for it. I advised keep searching and she got her responsibility with less emotional control. At 10:30-ish, the tv was turned on to watch the New Years festivities and I thought, “yeah why not” and just let them enjoy the New Years show before the actual event happened.

...hey perhaps I should have fireworks as an event for this. But it’s usually a thing only offical things do rather than “people nab fireworks and have fun.”

Anyway, I got the midnight watch thing to work for Cameron and Izzy but not for Lara. Ah well. Anyway, to have a great holiday, I needed to do a little bit more so it was resolution time. For Cameron, I picked an easy one. Raise a Skill. I aimed for a promotion for Lara and for Izzy...well, she didn’t need to make a resolution but I did so anyway. Become a better student. Which for that would have also counted for Complete an Aspiration milestone but eh. Anyway, Lara and Izzy headed to bed but for Cameron, I had him napping. Because this would be the usual time for his work so we need to reset our sleep schedule. By the by, he finished his resolution via putting Izzy to bed and gaining level 6 in the parenting skill. Good for you Cameron. Nap finished and he wanted to work on his comedy skills so I guess why not make up a routine!? But it’s that time. The time for-

Neighborhood Watch!

Windenburg: The Sorenson household moved out.