#she just refuses to admit there’s a problem if the problem is her

[dyns33]

New life

!! SPOILERS - Careful, Venom The last dance spoilers here !!!

I was wondering while watching the movie if that would give me new ideas for Eddie and his tiny alien, and yes, yes it did.

When Y/N had met Eddie Brock in a New York cafe, he had hesitated at first before accepting her into his life.

It had taken him several weeks to open up, talk to her, understand that she liked him, and then admit that he liked her too.

Once he had offered her his trust, he had explained why to her. Really explained everything, adding that he understood that she thought he was crazy and that she would decide to run away from him when he was done.

First, he had completely ruined his career and his relationship with his fiancée Anne by being selfish and stupid. For a long time, Eddie had refused to see the truth, making excuses, but he had to admit that it was all his fault.

Then, there was Venom. The alien symbiote who had brought as much joy as problems into his existence, before sacrificing himself to save him, along with the rest of humanity.

"He was my best friend." he said, trying to hold back his sobs. "He could be annoying, but I wasn't a gift either. We were supposed to see the Statue of Liberty together, but… Well. I miss him a lot. It's weird not hearing from him all the time. It's hard without him."

Not only did these revelations not scare Y/N away, but she found herself even more in love and touched by this wounded man who was doing his best to move forward despite everything he had been through.

Like a wild animal, it took a little more time to reassure Eddie that she really loved him and especially that he wasn't going to lose her.

For their first date, he offered her an ice cream, not far from Lady Liberty. Y/N took his hand, to support him, but especially so that he knew that she wasn't going to try to make him forget Venom.

Just because they were together didn't erase everything he'd experienced with his alien parasite friend, who was a lot like a boyfriend when he told her all their stories.

"Nah, just a friend."

"You said you loved each other."

"Like buddies."

"You had arguments as a couple. He was jealous and protective. You gave him chocolate on Valentine's Day."

"Once ! And to keep him quiet. And the rest was just a symbiote thing."

"You admitted to me that he 'took care of' your erections when he was in full form. Why did you have erections anyway ?"

"… Shit, I was in a relationship with Vee."

He cried again, in shock. Not because he was ashamed, but because he had not understood the nature of their relationship, much more intense than simple friendship. He did not blame Y/N for opening his eyes, as she did not hold back from doing so, thinking that it was necessary for him to grieve properly.

Several months passed, life continuing in an excellent direction.

After using his contacts and abilities, Eddie Brock had become a formidable reporter in New York, even if he was a little more careful about his methods and the people he wrote about.

In his private life, he made Y/N very happy, learning from his past mistakes to become the best boyfriend possible. No secrets, no lies, no manipulation to get information for an article. They were not in symbiosis, but almost.

Much more relaxed and open than before, he kept his calm in most situations. Even when they had some cockroach problems. Or rather one cockroach problem.

"It's still there." Eddie noted while drinking his coffee, observing the insect that was partially hidden behind the couch.

"Do you want me to call someone ?"

"Nah. He doesn't hurt anyone, that little guy. We don't leave food lying around, we throw out our trash. No point in staying here or calling his friends. He must be lost, he'll leave eventually."

"What if he thinks you're so cool that he tells the others to come over just so he can watch you sleep ?"

"Eww, babe, gross. Listen, if he's still here in a week, I'll take care of him. But it must be a neighbor with questionable hygiene who has a colony, he'll go back there."

The cockroach stayed, but like Eddie had said, he wasn't that much of a nuisance. Most of the time he was nowhere to be found, otherwise he stayed in his corner.

Strangely, he showed up when the couple was together, as if he was waiting to watch them. His presence was still abnormal, in addition to being possibly dirty, so Y/N decided to take matters into her own hands, trying to get him out.

"I know you're the most impossible thing to kill on this Earth." she said to the cockroach that was hiding under the closet. "And besides, Eddie decided he didn't want you to die, so let me put you in this jar, I'll take you to a landfill, and you'll be the happiest little cockroach, okay ?"

Of course, the insect wasn't ready to cooperate, putting itself as far away as possible, in an impossible place to reach. It was ridiculous, but Y/N had the impression that it understood perfectly what she was saying.

Eddie found her on the living room floor, her hand under the closet, trying for several hours to catch it.

"Need some help ?"

"Thanks, Eddie, it's between him and me now."

"Poor little thing that has no chance against someone stronger than them. Accept that he's winning."

"You're hilarious. He's staring at me without moving, he's making fun of me, it's personal. I'm pretty sure I saw him smile."

"You been upside down for a long time, babe ?" he asked as he sat down next to her, rubbing her back. "Come on, I'll take care of it, I'll get rid of the horrible monster."

"No, Eddie… Please…"

It was probably the first time someone had dropped their shoe to cry and try to hug a cockroach, but Eddie being an extraordinary man, Y/N was only half surprised. Same thing when the insect started talking again, small tentacles coming out of it to wrap around her boyfriend. She had thought she had imagined that voice.

Losing its dark color, the creature was thrown out the window, while the tentacles remained around Eddie, before disappearing, as if absorbed by his heart. Then an alien head appeared near his shoulder.

"Wait… Is that Venom ?" she asked, a bit lost. "You told me he was dead."

"I thought so too ! Last time, he was just exhausted but still inside me, but this time… Vee, I thought I'd never see you again !"

"Eddie… I told you it wasn't goodbye. It took me a lot longer than I thought to find you. Cockroaches are tough, but their legs are tiny, not as fast as a horse. And then… I saw you with your new love. So I didn't know if you'd want me to come back."

"But of course I…"

Remembering the discussion they had had, Eddie turned to Y/N, as if he was scared. Now that he knew the feelings he had for his symbiote, without ever realizing it when they were together, it was embarrassing to say that he wanted him back while he was in a relationship with her.

Maybe Venom had insisted for a long time that he get back with Anne, because it seemed to be the key to his host's happiness, but then there had been no one between them.

The alien didn't know Y/N. He had spent several days observing her, seeing if she was good enough for his Eddie, and after accepting that she was a suitable partner, he had wondered if he wasn't going to ruin everything by showing himself.

After all, Eddie had often said that it was his fault that he had lost everything. Venom didn't agree, he knew that most of his host's problems were the result of his bad decisions, but maybe he had turned his life upside down a bit, forcing him to give up certain things for him, like Vee had given up certain things to please him.

A relationship was certainly one of those things. With Anne, it might have been possible since she knew about the symbiote, but someone new ? That would have been hard to sell.

"You told her about me ?" Venom realized as he stared at Y/N. "Weren't you ashamed ? Didn't you repress your feelings because of the stupid social conventions that say men should be strong and insensitive ?"

"Of course I told her about you. I made a lot of resolutions after… After. I wanted to honor your memory, while being honest with Y/N."

"That's good, Eddie ! You're a little less of a loser !"

"Thanks, buddy, so nice."

Poor Eddie grimaced, probably accepting that this insult was a compliment, but Y/N quickly understood that there was a parallel, silent discussion going on between them in his head. She could easily guess that Venom was wondering if he would be able to stay, if she would leave because of him, or worse if his host would have to make a choice, which would make him unhappy.

Ensuring the happiness of his human was so important to him that the symbiote would have been ready to stay hidden under their couch, to be close to him without risking disturbing him. Who could hate such an adorable alien ?

"If we don't adopt chickens, and we buy lots of chocolate, I guess cohabitation won't be impossible." she smiled shyly, before they found the courage to ask her opinion.

"Babe ? Really ?"

"You really chose well, Eddie ! She might even be too good for you !"

"Thanks Vee, really super nice again. But babe, are you sure ? He can be… We are… You can say it if you find it weird."

"It's weird, but it doesn't bother me."

Almost every day, Eddie kissed her tenderly, in the morning, before leaving for work, when entering their apartment, when they went to sleep, but he had never been so passionate when he kissed her at that moment, repeating that he loved her.

As if he had been there forever, the alien had surrounded them with his tentacles in an attempt of a hug, commenting on the scene that he considered the most beautiful and romantic thing he had ever seen, even better than in his favorite telenovela with Maximiliano. He immediately ordered them to watch it when Y/N told him that she didn't know who he was talking about.

Not as invested, Eddie fell asleep on the sofa, keeping her in his arms and snoring lightly in her neck, while Venom explained the previous episodes to her with great excitement, as if everything was normal.

[axelsapothecary]

I had this idea floating in my head that never made it to a comic page due to laziness a change in priorities.

It's called Take Two: Curly Knew

The general idea is sort of like the Daisuke isekai by @mellowsharkpolice, but instead of Daisuke being given a "Take Two" aboard the ship, Curly gets a "flash-forward" of what would happen if Jimmy leaves his sight right after he walks away. It's shown that Jimmy had locked the door, but in this he had forgotten to.

Curly runs in, stops him from disengaging the autopilot, and the day is saved, right? Well no, Jimmy is still alive, and Curly can't exactly kill him. He's too much of a coward for that.

So instead, Curly ties Jimmy to a chair and is kept in the maintenance room, with Daisuke tasked with monitoring him to make sure he doesn't escape and still eats.

Ok so now the day is saved, right? Jimmy is detained and the Tulpar is uncrashed. You can probably guess the answer.

After some prompting from Curly (Not realizing why she might not want to tell everyone on the ship) Anya tells Swansea what Jimmy did. Curly says that this is not to reach Daisuke. Curly is too busy, Anya was traumatized by him, and going by Swansea's reaction, Curly doesn't trust him not to hurt Jimmy. Daisuke is the only person left with the time, patience, and mental fortitude to be able to properly care for Jimmy in Curly's eyes.

Problem is, Daisuke's lack of information means that Jimmy can manipulate him scarily easily. Jimmy slowly builds Daisuke's trust, bit by bit, until he starts hinting that the others on the ship are hiding something from him. Jimmy was oh so alone compared to the others. He has this job thanks to Curly (he gags at the thought of gratitude towards that traitor), but he had no other friends on the Tulpar. In fact, Daisuke is the first friend Jimmy's made since boarding!

Daisuke should understand that if someone spread lies about him, it would be much easier for them to be believed, since everyone else barely knew him. In fact, not even Curly has seen Jimmy this vulnerable. Daisuke is special, because he's immune to liars and deceit.

Meanwhile, Anya keeps trying to convince Curly that Daisuke needs to know what Jimmy did; at least tell him that he tried to crash the ship! But Curly refuses. Daisuke doesn't need to know. Especially when he's appointed to be Jimmy's caretaker. Anya says she'll be his caretaker. Curly refuses even harder. Even Swansea agrees that he needs to know at least the footnotes version. Why won't you admit it Curly? You're just a coward He doesn't want Daisuke to know how bad he almost let it get it almost got.

Eventually, Anya overhears Jimmy telling Daisuke to get the axe from Swansea to cut him loose, and she interrupts them, telling Daisuke to go to Swansea. Daisuke refuses. He asks Anya to tell him the truth; why was Jimmy tied up? Was there some misunderstanding?

Anya tries to tell him that he doesn't need to know, but he shoots her down. What has everyone been hiding from him? Why will nobody say anything? What the hell happened that lead Jimmy to being tied up? Anya asks to speak in private, but Daisuke says if it's the truth, she can say it in front of Jimmy.

Curly and Swansea show up, hearing the shouting. Daisuke tells them he's not a kid and he should know what's being kept from him. That whatever Jimmy did, he shouldn't be tied up and that they could talk this out. Jimmy taunts Curly, agreeing that talking it out would've worked.

Anya finally breaks and tells him what he tried to do to everyone else, and what Jimmy did to her when Jimmy tries to tell Daisuke that he should be smart enough to not believe her lies (though not directed at Daisuke). Jimmy doesn't try to hide it, seeing it as his right to her body. Daisuke is shocked, confused, and angry.

He asks why nobody told him this. Anya says Curly told them not to.

He asks how long Swansea knew. Swansea says a month, maybe longer. The days are hard to keep track of.

He asks Curly how long he was planning on keeping this from him. Curly doesn't answer.

He asks whether he was planning to tell him at all. Curly doesn't answer.

He asks if Curly how long he knew Jimmy was like this. Jimmy answers.

"He gave me this job because my criminal record was so bad that I couldn't get a job anywhere else. Said he'd help me get through it when I found out Anya was pregnant"

Daisuke asks if this is true. Curly doesn't answer.

He asks again. And again. And again and again and again and again and again and- Curly. Wouldn't. Answer.

Daisuke storms off. Curly doesn't follow him.

Daisuke isn't talking to anyone while he processes what he's learned. He isn't mad at Anya or Swansea anymore, his emotions were out of control and he was taking it out on them.

He is however mad at Curly. He was a coward. Unfit to lead. If he could, he'd make sure that he never got that promotion.

Anya and Swansea were surprised that Daisuke could be lead up to this point. But Anya also knew this was a possibility. If only Curly had listened.

This AU, as you can tell, was a lot more Daisuke and Curly-centric. I had noticed how easy it was for Jimmy to manipulate Daisuke by saying how proud everyone would be of him if he disobeyed Swansea and saved Anya, and went "What if that but in a 'fix-it' AU". This AU was meant to center around how the red flags were always there but Curly closed his eyes to them because he prioritized being Jimmy's friend and savior over being the Tulpar's captain and leader.

And how Daisuke was both young enough to not understand why you'd overlook something so egregious, while being old enough to believe that Curly should've known better. Throughout this story, Daisuke would blame Curly for Jimmy's actions, hating him almost as much as Jimmy.

I'm just gonna post this and pretend it doesn't exist because while I think a lot of what Jimmy managed to do to Daisuke was very in-character (it happens over the span of weeks, and he's slow enough and methodical enough to make it seem like he's opening up to Daisuke.), I feel like Daisuke and Anya's reactions might have been OOC?

Like I don't think he'd blow up per se, but he'd definitely be mad at Curly for hiding something so important as Jimmy being a (sex pest? rapist?) with a sordid criminal record. Especially while expecting him to care for Jimmy.

Anya doesn't outright say what he did to her btw, but she implies it in a way that Daisuke is able to pick up on it. Jimmy keeps forcing her to be more explicit in her wording until she practically had to spell it out for him, too. Jimmy was expecting her to give up on explaining what happened, seeing her as too meek to go into any detail. But at that point, he knew he'd already lost Daisuke and his chances at escape, so he decided to drag Curly down with him.

Imo the reason Swansea didn't tell Daisuke in canon, but will tell him here, was because Anya and Swansea had no reason to believe that Jimmy would've put Daisuke in any sort of dangerous situation, especially since the vent was the only active threat on the Tulpar.

Meanwhile, this situation leaves Daisuke vulnerable to Jimmy convincing him of anything, since they're usually alone. Idk why Curly wouldn't send Swansea to supervise, or wouldn't at least let him go if he wanted to, but this AU was pretty half baked when I came up with it.

Maybe he naively believed that Jimmy wouldn't try to manipulate Daisuke to escape. Maybe he believed that Daisuke wouldn't be able to get his hands on something strong enough to cut the rope. Maybe he was terrified of losing the last bit of respect his crew had for him. Maybe he thought this would all blow over and things would return to normal. Maybe it's Maybelline, fuck if I know.

Also, some other things that I forgot to mention; - Curly hides the override key in the medical bay, but Swansea then hides it somewhere else; not even Daisuke or Anya knows where he hid it, though Daisuke thinks it's somewhere in the maintenance room. - After Daisuke calmed down, the first thing he does is apologize to Anya. He felt immense guilt at blowing up on her like that, especially since she's had no control over what's been happening. Afterwards, he apologizes to Swansea, who didn't take it personally in the first place. He'd be pissed too if something like that was kept from him that long. - Swansea is also mad at Curly, though he wasn't mad to the same extent as Daisuke until he found out that Jimmy had a criminal record that severe; afterwards he was pissed that he brought a "goddamn time bomb" onto a cargo ship expecting everything to be "sunshine and rainbows". - Anya feels similarly, but moreso betrayed that Curly would sacrifice the crew's safety to help his friend.

[kissingwookiees]

what is it gonna take for my mom to realize 75% of her misery is her own making and the more she tries to flip it around as being everyone else’s problem, the more miserable she’ll be.

[arolesbianism]

Despite how much I suffered making my last isat au Aris sprite redraw, I decided to do it again and once again went through hell doing it. There’s like a billion mistakes in this (such as her having the wrong arm rip) but at the end of the day I’m still happy with how it turned out :]

[savageboar]

i have to keep telling myself it'll get better. my life will get better. i just have to live long enough to see it.

[teasel-backatitagain]

Thinking about her (Karina Braun)

[beautifel]

i. hate that i cant ignore any longer how fucked up i am

[red-dyed-sarumane]

i like to think apoptosis tries to lie to tenshi but tenshi cares too much & has figured her out pretty well & can see through most of it. i dont have much to support this beyond the fact theyre clearly heavily tied together across their songs.

[weirdlizard26]

i guess the thing abt the diagnosis for me is that. nothing has ever been severe for me. its just kinda. annoying and vaguely concerning. people with the real disorder are out there suffering and im just. mildly bothered. but im still diagnosed nonetheless? sounds fake

[eviefrie]

while my grandma was visiting. she ended up shouting, at me, that her hearing is FINE and she can hear FINE and just because someone needs a hearing aid doesn’t mean they’re hard of hearing, she can hear PERFECTLY WELL so it’s FINE

[princesssarcastia]

actually it really sucks that my sole living grandmother and, apparently, my father, are BOTH experiencing memory loss, and potentially the early stages of dementia, at the SAME TIME! wow! a bogo!

that old newspaper was right—life isn't just one thing after another. the damn things overlap.

[uhode]

something something i just got paid and i’m still crying over money something something

[foldingfittedsheets]

When I was in third grade I got Weird with writing. It makes sense in hindsight. Oppressed people find their own ways of carving out space for themselves.

The first bit I did landed me in trouble more immediately. I was given, god knows by who, one of those enormous giant pencils. I loved it. My tiny nine year old body was consumed with love of this pencil that was roughly 1/3 of my height. I insisted that I would only use this pencil in school.

It was an unlucky year to be stricken with whimsy. My third grade teacher was a tyrannical Japanese woman fueled by her dislike of children. I suspect the cultural divide between how she expected children to behave and the reality of American children broke her.

She was three foot nothing and getting berated by her was the first time I’d ever looked down at an adult. I also saw her once standing next to her white 6’ behemoth of a husband and tried to conceptualize how two such disparate people had sex. I never could.

If you think I’m exaggerating her wrath it’s worth noting that my best friend at the time developed a stress disorder from this woman and I fell into a bizarre stutter that cleared up the moment I was out of class. In her classroom breaking down crying was a weekly occurrence.

But despite the frigid conditions, I persevered. I stayed silly. I brought my enormous novelty pencil to class every day. It was an act of rebellion that I sank my teeth into and refused to let go. I could barely sharpen it because its girth defied standard sharpeners the way I defied my teacher. This was my pencil.

When she attempted to confiscate my giant pencil I rose an unholy ruckus. This would not turn into the confiscated holographic Charizard, my tamagotchi, or my little pop frogs that she never returned to me. No. This was my goddamn pencil. There was no rules against enormous novelty pencils and after a heated week of debate she finally conceded I could use the hated thing.

It was stolen by my kleptomaniac friend a week or so after that a fact I’d only discover at the end of the year. But my tiny mind was convinced the evil teacher had stolen it.

In retaliation, instead of resuming normal behavior I decided that I would do all my writing upside down and backwards. No one, least of all myself, could explain why I felt this was necessary. Maybe I felt I’d be cool like a spy, maybe I just needed to buck the teachers hateful authority, or maybe I was just a little autistic kid.

When taking notes or writing essays I’d arrange the paper to be upside down. It may surprise you to know that my penmanship was actually quite decent, albeit I wrote a little more slowly than my classmates. That’s why it took the teacher a while to realize what was going on. There wasn’t a drop in the quality of my writing.

Unsurprisingly she hated it when she found out. She lambasted me both privately and in front of the class to write normally. I asked if my writing was illegible. She had to admit that no, it was not. I shrugged. I did not see a problem.

Like the pencil my new writing fixation was cited as being a distraction to the other children. But similarly she didn’t have an easy way to make me stop. She marked me down, gave me several talking tos, and generally bullied me into writing like everyone else.

All attempts at correcting me simply ran off my back. I had found a way to cope with how miserable she made all of us, by inflicting misery back upon her. I was unswayed for the rest of the year.

When I graduated up into fourth grade and had a teacher I adored it suddenly stopped. I looked at the paper and thought, Well that’s silly, and flipped it the right way round.

I can still write upside down, though, a testament to my worst year in public school.

[psychotrenny]

Been coming to terms with how much I was used. Not even intentionally out of malice, but just a mix of self-centeredness, cowardice and stupidity. I'll have to be more careful about who I let my self love next time. Hopefully I'm not too slow to learn

[greenvillainredemption]

I’m pretty sure I have to cut off contact with my dad’s mother, she went way too far with the ableism this time I can’t even consider her family at this point

[ashfae]

The thing about romance is, it makes a good story.

As soon as Neil described season 2 as "quiet, gentle, romantic" I figured we'd be in for it, because as he's the first to point out, writers are liars. And the best way to deceive is with truth.

Season 2 is romantic. The trappings of romance are everywhere. Crowley tries to set up Nina and Maggie by trapping them under an awning during a rainstorm, a classic cinematic bonding technique. Aziraphale's chosen method comes from his beloved books: the ball, the dancing, appearing as a pair in public, hands held as you twirl gracefully with your heart thrilled and racing. If they can set up a sensational kiss that will unlock the happy ever after. They've lived on earth, they've studied the tropes, they know how romance works.

The problem is a story is only a story.

Nina and Maggie had the classic romantic setup completely by accident before Aziraphale and Crowley ever began trying to interfere with them. They get locked in Nina's coffeeshop. They can't escape or communicate with anyone else, they end up talking by candlelight because there's no electricity, Nina offers wine. Maggie mentions how she'd hoped for a chance to talk to Nina, and now here they are. It's every bit as much a standard as what Aziraphale and Crowley attempt to arrange. Blanket scenarios galore exist because of that starting point. We love that story. And there's nothing wrong with that.

But it's still only a story, it's not enough. Because once that moment of connection is over, however lovely it was, all the rest of the world comes flooding back in in the form of dozens of angry text messages. Nina's messy entrapping relationship hasn't magically gone away just because she and Maggie shared a romantic encounter.

And it's so tempting think oh well, that's easy. We'll just give them more romantic encounters and eventually those will overwhelm the rest of the baggage. Must do, because it'll make them fall in love, and once they realize they're in love that trumps all other considerations, right? So it'll be fine. Love Conquers All.

Neil also mentioned Pride and Prejudice.

Darcy knows he's in love early on and makes a disasterous proposal that shows that he has no understanding of Elizabeth's perspective, possibly hasn't even thought about it. They've been meeting in forest lanes for walks, conversing, had tete-a-tetes in the sitting room, danced at a ball. And while his turn of phrase isn't as flattering as he thinks, he's still offering her everything he thinks she wants and needs: affection, security, his good name, wealth, an escape from the embarrassments of her situation, the world. How can there be anything to object to? Why would anyone ever refuse so much of value?

Elizabeth quite rightly cuts him to pieces. He lashes back with a few hard truths of his own and they separate. During that separation, he thinks and he learns. He takes to heart the criticisms she offered, re-examines his assumptions, opens his eyes. Thinks about her perspective and how sometimes the only difference between pride and arrogance is where you're standing. He does the work. When they meet again he tries to demonstrate that he's learned--not in order to court her again (yet), but because the only real apology he can offer, the only one that would have weight, is to show that he's grown, he listened to her. He changed.

Elizabeth of course has her own journey, accepting that many of her own conclusions about Darcy were erroneous because they were formed without her having the full picture to hand, and once she's done that she has to apply it to her own situation as well. She loves her family, but they do place her at a disadvantage on a number of levels, leading eventually to full-out disaster as her younger sister carelessly ruins all of their reputations. It's hard to admit, it's mortifying, but Darcy was offering her a great deal she needs. His offer did have worth for all that she dismissed it as an insult. And as she learns to value his own character more highly, and then as she sees that he did listen to her even though she insulted him so thoroughly...well, she grows too. And when they do eventually come together it's not because of courting and balls. There's a big romantic gesture in his rescue of her sister but even that isn't why they'll get their happy ever after. It was just the catalyst for the conversation. They win because they've learned how to understand each other and how to communicate for the future. How they can strengthen and support each other, how to balance their strengths and weaknesses. The films leave them at the wedding, but the book shows a bit of their marriage too, and during it they keep learning from each other. Their relationship is held up as a superior love story for good reasons.

The end of season one was romantic too. Crowley stopped time rather than face a world where Aziraphale would never speak to him again, Aziraphale walked into hell to protect Crowley, they dined at the Ritz and toasted the world. But then they stopped. Sure they spent time together, talked, enjoyed each other's company. But if they were talking about important things would Crowley still be living in his car? They had a bit of respite but all that real world baggage that exists outside of the romantic moment hasn't been faced, none of it. Four or five years sounds like a long while but for beings who are quite literally older than the earth? That's just an intermission.

Nina's relationship ends, leaving her with a tangled mess; Maggie realises the sweet dream of love she's been longing for isn't as important as the real Nina. They talk. They plan. Nina will sort through her life, get closure, figure out what went wrong with Lindsay and what she wants from a relationship, learn how to ask for respect instead of just bending under her partner's demands. Maggie will support Nina the way Nina needs, which sometimes means helping her get oat milk for the shop and sometimes means giving her processing space. They're on the same page; they're going to do the work. That's why most likely they'll succeed. To quote one of my favourite fanfics: it's not happily ever after, but it's a chance. It's all going to be okay. (The Profane Comedy by Mussimm, who absolutely nailed this theme)

The romance is nice, it's lovely. We need it to keep ourselves going. To give ourselves the dreams that help us get through the days and nights. But it's not the relationship. It's not enough on its own. The wedding can be the grandest most beautiful ceremony ever with doves flying and sweeping music and bells ringing, but that doesn't guarantee the marriage will last.

Crowley and Aziraphale have had their romantic gestures, oodles of them. One wing raised to protect the other from falling stars, another from rain. Shared ground, shared interests, hands offered in friendship and held on a bus. They've tried to get to the same page, they really have. They just aren't there yet. The biggest most important things still haven't been talked about, and season 2 showed there are even more of those big important things than we'd realised.

The show paints Maggie as Aziraphale's foil and Nina as Crowley's, even to the point of Nina casually calling Maggie 'angel'. But Aziraphale's baggage is Nina's. The toxic relationship has to be processed and understood and closed, and it hasn't been, despite season one. Lindsay never really liked Nina very much, for all that they tried to keep her trapped; Heaven never really liked Aziraphale very much for all that he believed in it. They both let themselves be used. But Lindsay left Nina and went to their sister's, whereas now the head of Heaven has reached out to Aziraphale and said here, we can fix this, you can fix this, don't you want to fix this? Others are already writing about that and maybe I'll add to it later, not sure. And Crowley, like Maggie, has had a sweet dream that he has to set aside. Maybe he'll be able to pick it up again eventually, maybe not. But sometimes you offer support by buying oat milk or rescuing your beloved from the legions of hell, and sometimes you do it by standing back while they sort through their shit.

Quiet, gentle, romantic. It was.

But that's only part of the story. Now they have to do the work. They thought they had, but they were wrong, because there's so much they just hadn't touched yet and tried to cover over with relief and sleight of hand and alcohol and forgiveness. The apology dance doesn't mean much without showing that you listened and learned. They've faced so much trauma already and that should have been enough, we wanted it to be enough and so did they and it's such a blow for it to turn out that there's still more to do, that the baggage hasn't just gone away and can't be hidden under blankets or soothed with cocoa. The texts are still coming in and demanding answers.

But it'll be okay. It will. It's still a chance. And one that in the long run makes them better, builds something real that lasts.

The best stories, the ones that last longest and become classics, are the ones that don't end with the kiss under the awning or the blanket scenario or the wedding. They're the ones that heal us while the characters heal themselves. It's hard to accept that there's still more to do. Harder to imagine how it can possibly work out. And yes, bloody frustrating to wait and see.

And we'll get through that interim by telling even more stories. Because the story is never just a story. It's how we get through the work, it's what we tell ourselves so we can do the damn work. Stories are what we cling to and how we remind ourselves we're human and connect. A book is a person you can carry with you. We're not alone, none of us, stories connect us because we love them and see ourselves in them, which means we see each other.

Aziraphale's back up in Heaven to deal with his unfinished baggage; Crowley left his behind long ago and it's clearly going to come back and bite him in the arse however much he tries to go his own way. And they can't help each other with that. Not yet.

But they'll get there. So will we.