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singular-yike · 2 years ago

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thoughts on para? 🥺

Oh Para, how I wish for a good future ahead of you, unlikely as it seems 😔

I wish I had more to say about them really, but we just don't know enough. Nevertheless, if you're willing to bear with me, here's what I have managed to dig up:

Para as a Homunculus

I have tried to do some research on their species, the homunculus, but there's a surprising lack of information on them out there on the interwebs (save for whatever's on Wikipedia), or at least, it's not easily found.

I doubt there's anything I've learnt that's too groundbreaking, but here's what I've got:

- A homunculus is a tiny human made through alchemical means, typically in a flask

- The term first appeared in an alchemical text attributed to the alchemist Paracelsus, Para's namesake

- Paracelsus is said to have been the only person to have ever successfully made a homunculus

- Homunculi are Born with all the knowledge in the word

☆ Note: Curiously, I wasn't able to find anything on how they aged or died (although the Japanese version of the wiki page says that "it is also said that homunculi must be kept in their flask, or they will die", although this is clearly irrelevant to Para/Fumikado)

☆ Note 2: Similarly, I couldn't find anything on them losing their inborn knowledge either

Here's a note from the Japanese wiki page that is actually interesting:

It mentions Aleister Crowley's 1929 novel Moonchild (which, you might remember, is what Fumikado is called in their BPoHC theme) in which Crowley conceptualizes the homunculus as being created in a very similar way to what we've previously discussed.

It goes on to mention the less famous author W. Somerset Maugham, who was in conversation with Crowley for a while. In his 1980 novel The Magician, he describes the creation of a homunculus in a very different manner than that of previous writers: That they are created when a soul is guided into a newborn baby, which you could note is exactly how Fumikado became a homunculus.

Normally I'd consider that this may be too obscure to have been an intentional reference from JynX, but the fact that it was actually mentioned on the Japanese Wikipedia page for homunculus does make it seem a lot more likely.

Para, named after "Paracelsus"

In another direction, I've tried to read up on their namesake, the historical alchemist (amongst other things) Paracelsus.

While he is much more well-documented, his work as an alchemist and contributions to the field have, much like the entire historical study of alchemy, been relatively dismissed and swept by the wayside. (Which is a darn shame and a disservice to our history, if I may add, but that's neither here nor there)

There's a lot that we can go into with Paracelsus, but I'll just stick to the bare minimum here (because honestly while he was an influential figure his influence seems to be quite limited in Len'en)

- He is said to be the first alchemist to come up with the homunculus, and the first and only person to successfully create one

- He was one of the great revolutionaries of the field of alchemy, calling for a shift from a focus on transmutation (stuff like turning lead into gold) to medical alchemy

- He proposed a new alchemical model, which proposed that everything was made up of some combination of mercury, sulphur and salt. (As opposed to the "mercury-sulphur" model traditionally used prior)

So yeah, quite a big figure in alchemy, and props to Para for having such an impressive namesake!🎉🎉

Unfortunately, as I mentioned, Paracelsus didn't really influence much in terms of Len'en, not on Para, Fumikado or even Iwakado.

Para's Spell Cards

The final place we can look for interesting bits on Para is in their spell cards! Disclaimer: They don't really seem to shed much more light on Para's character, but they are interesting, so I'll just briefly go through them here.

Devil Sword "Azoth Sword" (BPoHC Stage 5: 2nd spell H/U)

- This spell references the alchemical concept of the azoth, a universal solvent sought by many alchemists has the goal of their work

- Paracelsus is said to be one of the few who achieved azoth, as depicted in his portrait above.

Secret "Card of Arcana" (BPoHC Stage 5: 3rd spell E/N)

- In alcemy, the arcana were said to be the divine secrets of creation, and is another ultimate goal of alchemy

- The arcana were said to symbolize everything from the highest philosophical truths to the most basic of physical principles

Mystery "Archeus Force" (BPoHC Stage 5: 3rd spell H/U)

- Archeus is a term coined by Paracelsus himself

- It generally refers to the lowest and most dense aspect of the astral plane, where the physical world starts to blend with the spiritual world.

Knowledge Card "Philosopher's Will" (BPoHC Stage 5: 4th spell H/U)

- This one's fairly obvious, a reference to the philosophers' stone

- A mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold

- Also said to be able to allow one to achieve immortality and rejuvenation

Like I've said, these don't really shed more light onto Para directly. Although I do like to imagine that maybe all these reference to alchemy, a field in which alchemists determinedly search for universal truths, is perhaps a representation Para's longing for their lost omniscience.

Para in the Story of Len'en

There's really not much to say here, if I am to be honest, although here's a brief recap of Para's story:

The original Para was created as a homuncular oni by Iwakado

Still a baby, they swapped bodies with a child Fumikado, thanks to the latter's ability

Now in Fumikado's body, they were heavily sealed away, unable to make use of their vast library of knowledge

Years later, Chouki frees them, and, united in their hatred for Fumikado, Para swears their allegiance to Chouki and joins them in the Heaven-Shadow War, where they guard the Dragonfly Army's home base, the Dragonfly Castle

Curiously, Fumikado does mention that "time has stopped for that body", meaning that Para is functionally ageless and immortal. This leads us to the central tragedy of Para: That they are doomed, save for ending their own life, to continuously devolve until their mind reverts to that of basically a baby's.

(A question one may ask from here, is if new knowledge that they learn will be forgotten as well. Len'en seems to posit that homunculus forget as an inherent part of their being, so the answer would seem to be no. However, I do think there is room for clarification here.)

In addition, JynX suggests that now that Para is unsealed, their body (child Fumikado's body) may start growing again. Personally, I don't really see this as a contradiction, but simply an indication that in Len'en, the concept of physical growth and aging (and eventual death) through time are two separate concepts, unlike in our reality.

One last thing about Para that one may ponder, is why they were allowed to exist in the first place? Iwakado and Fumikado clearly knew about the risk of keeping an omniscient homunculus around, sealing it away right after it was born. But their goal was just to make the perfect physical vessel for Masakado, why even bother keeping Para around? And why place their soul specifically into Fumikado's body? All mysteries that have yet to be answered.

So that concludes all the analytical thought that I have on Para. Although on a personal level I do want to point out some of the cooler bits on their design:

Hand-shaped hair ends: Perhaps a reference to nerve cells in the brain? It does kinda look like the end of axons and dendrites (Otherwise it's just the most terrifying hair I've ever seen really lol)

Headband: The same one Fumikado wears even now, they must've had multiple of the same and wore it quite a lot. Curious that Para still kept it

Butterflies(?) on their clothes: Perhaps a reference to Chouki (蝶鬼), whose name in which the first character means "butterfly"

Siblings: I've nothing on them I just think they're funky and neat

And that's all for reals! Para's fate is honestly really haunting to think about, and I pray that they get a, at least happier, ending to their story 🙏🙏

#len'en #len'en project #Para #Taira no Fumikado #Taira no Iwakado

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theskoomacat · 1 year ago

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this was..... the entire season? he REALLY wants to continue THIS? a cannon is too soft of a punishment

like okay i will write down what i think here so i stop cluttering your dash with this nonsense.

edit: i have listened and i have learned. i refuse to defend the outright bad pieces of writing, but i am overall more chill about the situation

in the beginning it was... eh. you could see there was little to no actual plot, so they interspersed with. very long flashbacks. which is not bad per se but they provided little to no support for the main plot. most of the things we were shown were what we'd already known about the guys. i think in this regard the graverobbing flashback was the most novel, but i don't think Azi getting a lesson on the lesser of two evils had any impact on the plot later. coming back to the main plot, they presented it as some kind of mystery, but in actuality there was no mystery solving, it was just Azi bumbling around and then Crowley getting all the info directly in heaven. the places Azi went to actually held No clues and were just. places that G&B have visited together, that's it. kinda disappointing

speaking of G&B. excuse me..... what the actual fuck???? this was extremely out of the blue and unpleasant, and if they aimed to parallel A/C, it didn't work. and so Now they don't want an apocalypse?? what was the entire s1 about then? also the amount of times i went "these stuck-up angels would never do that" over the course of s2 is staggering, I feel like they've forgotten that not all of them are Azi. anyway...

speaking of parallels to A/C - Maggie and Nina! it was stupidly obvious that they were a device to hurry on A/C, and the characters themselves were 2.5-dimensional enough to not amount to much more than that. they just weren't written well imo. and it's funny that the story started off with the guys wanting to bring them together to cover their tracks (because THE POWER OF LOVE makes their miracles too strong~~), but like 2/3 of the season in it became irrelevant because everyone knew they were hiding Gabriel anyway! so they were just... there. playing the role of matchmakers🙄

speaking of A/C!!! i found it extremely funny that while s1 had a lot of charged romantically-tinted moments, they were mostly absent in 2 - their dynamic has evolved into that of an old married couple. and i realized that i was absolutely fine with it - in the absense of n*il constantly mocking them it stopped being a big problem to me. i mean, i don't have any problems with the kiss itself, it was cute and only a bit spoiled by the surrounding bad writing. it's just that its entire concept was marred by the wank and people living in the acorn house in n*il's ass.

i'm sorry, can we talk about how over the entire season Azi has had his moments of doubt in heaven, then he learned that freaking GABRIEL quit heaven to avoid carrying on with the apocalypse - and then Azi decided that waltzing back in there was an idea good enough to risk losing Crowley? that's just bullshit🤷‍♀️

um. i am probably missing something, but whatever. overall to me this season's vibe felt like a slightly weird D*ctor Wh* special. Michael and David absolutrly carried everything. it did have its funny moments, but overall i think it has been a disservice to the original work. if i am going to be honest, it seemed like it was made not to expand on it, but to showcase how big of an ally to everyone n*il is. well, I am NOT his ally and so i am beating him with hammers

#well that just happened!!!!!!!!!!!!#my commentary #you really don't have to care/#good omens/

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abastardworthknowing · 2 years ago

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Not only am I ashamed of some of the people who follow Neil, but like, the fact that people seem to forget Good Omens is NOT just about Aziraphale and Crowley. It's about all sorts of relationships. It's about people AS WELL AS Aziraphale and Crowley.

You're all doing a disservice to Neil and Terry, if you think the soul of Good Omens solely exists in the angel and the demon, then you're not watching the same show as everyone else.

i really wish ppl would actually stop. you're increadibly annoying. In a Bad Way. In a way that you ought to stop and think. and if you're a minor interacting with neil - consider this.... don't.

and if you're willfully choosing to see neil as a bad person consider this ... you don't have to see his posts.

if all u want out of good omens is Aziraphale and crowley... fine. but don't bother neil about it. its about US. not just them. please don't forget this. i am very tired of it.

don't other Aziraphale and Crowley. don't make it all about them. i love them too but i also love the them. i love anathema. i love newt. i love marjorie and ... well... shadwell is a silly old goose who COULD change too.

i said my piece. i need to stop looking at the comments on neil's posts. Ugh

*edit: also you need more than just them to run the show anyway if s2 is any indicator

#good omens #azaria.text

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tehloserprince · 1 year ago

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@neil-gaiman reblogged another post about shipping not too long ago - something along the lines of some folks in fandoms focusing solely on shipping vs actually analyzing the larger themes of a story - and I've been thinking about this subject ever since. Clearly, I enjoy shipping. I've loved Crowley and Aziraphale since I read Good Omens in high school. I loved Beelzebub and Gabriel after S1, never dreaming they'd become a reality in the series; when they did, I was genuinely happy. It was so adorable and so well-written that it provided a much-needed serotonin boost during a turbulent year, and it also rekindled my own creativity.

That said, the hyperfixation on Crowley and Aziraphale's romantic relationship to the exclusion of all else is really off-putting in this fandom. I say that after seeing discussions relating every little detail, theory, etc. in the series to this relationship. I say that after seeing too many people pitting the relationship between Beelzebub and Gabriel against the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale, even going so far as to suggest that Neil wrote the entire relationship simply to show Crowley and Aziraphale shippers that a "rushed romance" wasn't something they should want - as though that entire storyline existed only to support that ship somehow. There are so many well-written characters in this series whose entire existence/fandom reception is boiled down to whether or not they were nice to Crowley and/or Aziraphale, neither of whom are infallible themselves. There are people who are mad about Beelzebub and Gabriel being "first" as though the story is little more than a race for romantic relationships, as though it's impossible for more than one romantic relationship (or any kind of relationship) between a demon and an angel to exist, as though characters who have perhaps been more trapped by/entrenched in the larger systems of Heaven and Hell are incapable of growth once they step away from all of that. David Tennant once said that angels and demons "probably have more fun" when they get together, and I agree. More angels and demons together! Doesn't even have to be romantic, I'd just love the interactions! The book had a Crowley line about God possibly testing everyone, not just the humans. Who knows, maybe this is all a part of it! Point being, the story loses so much depth and wonderful characters when it's drilled down solely to two specific characters and their romantic relationship.

Again, I enjoy shipping. I love these characters. Anyone who's seen my fandom contributions should be well aware of that. Anyone who thinks I'm somehow attacking Crowley and Aziraphale or that I haven't loved these characters for decades clearly doesn't know me. But most stories don't revolve solely around a ship. Good Omens is one of them. Even if Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship is a primary theme, it's not the sole theme; not everything in the series is related to it. Other relationships do not exist solely as reflections of Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship at different points in time. Other themes and stories may also be happening within the Good Omens universe, and they may have little or nothing to do with Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship. There was another ask a few months ago where someone said they were concerned after S2 that Neil "no longer shipped Crowley and Aziraphale." It's mind-boggling. Whatever the relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale, it is made all the richer by the larger themes and supporting characters surrounding it.

TLDR I'm sure we all love Crowley and Aziraphale, but they are not the only characters in this story. Reducing decisions that characters like Aziraphale have made solely to his relationship with Crowley does a massive disservice to his character as a whole. Acting as though any other romantic relationship in the series exists solely as a metaphor for Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship is reductive and dismisses the writing that went into them. Beelzebub and Gabriel's story was indeed quiet, gentle, and romantic, and honestly? I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Perfect interlude and setup for the final season. Wonderfully written, beautifully acted.

Can we please allow other characters and storylines to shine on their own and appreciate all of it against the rich tapestry of themes in the Good Omens universe?

Hello Mr. Gaiman! You said that season 3 would not be romantic and then that the ending would not be good (on Twitter) why is that? Sorry I have a lot of questions

Just trying to give the people what they want.

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on-stardust-wings · 3 years ago

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Regarding the good omens post I do believe it's weird useless discourse, but also I cant help but get mad when I see someone say shit like "headcanoning Crowley and Aziraphale as anything other than men is homophobic and transphobic" like yes I've only seen it once and it had a bunch of reblogs but FUCK it's so tone deaf and chronically online that it ruined my day.

Absolutely weird useless discourse, yeah. It helps nobody. It achieves nothing. It just makes people mad at each other over... fictional characters.

The beauty of Good Omens is that especially Aziraphale and Crowley, both as individuals and concerning their relationship, are so easy to read into whatever suits you best. It's one thing that really spoke to me about its fandom, too, when I first came here, the way fans were happy to interpret them as gay men, as genderqueer, as trans, as ace, as so many things, and there was art and fic with it and it all happily coexisted. Like, last year it was normal and celebrated that you'd read one fic, be it canon or AU, where they're gay married and then another where they ace and in a QPR and then one where one of them is intersex and all of them were right and wow look at all our cool rep and the community and the love and acceptance we have for each other here. I loved that. It was such a welcoming place.

And, thing is, I think it still is. The majority of those people are still here. Gatekeepers are a small, loud minority in any community, and looking at the notes on my rant post... yeah, a large number of fans want to have this open to interpretation, this accepting culture around the show and the ship (and are still in fact living it, enjoying a variety of different queer readings of the show and book).

I agree with you, it's very tone deaf.

Also, a thing people forget about Good Omens is that it isn't a queer rep show. It's the adaption of a book, it's a story about averting Armageddon, about finding out who your friends are and where you belong and who you are and learning to do what is right by you own moral compass. It does Good Omens a great disservice to reduce it to "oh, it's queer". It includes queer coded characters. It includes queer themes. But they're not meant to be the core message. They're one element of the story among many. Good Omens is a very rich and nuanced narrative, and some of those nuances include genderless characters and characters in relationships that aren't straight.

But a number of people don't see themselves represented exactly the way they want to, either by Good Omens on its own or by Good Omens when comparing it to other things like Our Flag Means Death, and now they're unhappy about it (because they're hurting), and lashing out at everyone who likes the thing they don't like, not seeing that all it does is hurt other queer people. (I'm starting to be a little bit Internet Old, and this is such a common, sad pattern in online spaces for minorities, especially spaces that tend towards minority activism. It's true for queer spaces, for disability rights, for the fight against racism... A lot of us have been hurt in our lives, and continue to be hurt, and the hurt makes us defensive, and we lash out at each other instead of standing together against the actual problems. Fighting amongst ourselves weakens and distracts us, and leaves us with less energy to deal with the actual problems. ... Sorry for ranting.)

#look I'm not even really interested in discourse #I don't want discourse #but I have opinions #even if the main opinion is 'I want to go back to not knowing about the discourse'#why can't we all just enjoy a good thing #or walk away from a piece of media is it doesn't give us what we need out of it #good omens keeps making me very happy #I'm just getting very tired of people's negativity #you know?#good omens #queer stuff #ask #p+a

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itsclydebitches · 3 years ago

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I keep seeing people calling Good Omens queer bating and a I can't help but ask why? I read the Aziraphale/Crowley relationship threw an Ace lens and they are clearly as close to married as they are probably going to get without stepping on holy ground.... and they love each other... why is it considered queer bating?

Personally, I think it's mostly young queer fans turning legitimate grievances on the wrong target. A case of getting so fed up with queerbaiting in media as a whole that they're instinctually lashing out at anything that seems to resembles it on the surface, without taking the time to consider whether this is, in fact, the thing they're mad at. Good Omens is a scapegoat, if you will. The equivalent of snapping at your partner after a long day. Your friend was an asshole, your boss was an asshole, the guy in traffic was an asshole, and then you come home to your partner who says something teasing and you take it as another asshole comment because you've just been surrounded by assholeness all day, to the point where your brain is primed to see an attack. Your partner wasn't actually an asshole, but by this point you're (understandably) too on guard to realize that. Unless someone sits you down and kindly reminds you of the difference between playful teasing and a legitimate insult - the nuance, if you will - your hackles are just gonna stay up and you'll leave the room, off to phone a different friend to tell them all about how your partner was definitely an asshole to you.

Only in this case, that "friend" is a fan on social media doing think pieces on the supposed queerbaiting of Good Omens, spreading that idea to a) people who aren't familiar with the show themselves and b) those who, like that original fan, have come to expect queerbaiting and thus aren't inclined to question the latest story with that mark leveled against it. Because on the surface Good Omens can look a lot like queerbaiting. Here are two queer coded characters who clearly love each other, but don't say "I love you," don't kiss, don't "prove" that love in a particular way. So Gaiman is just leading everyone on, right?

Well... no. This is where the nuance comes in, the thing that many fans aren't interested in grappling with (because, like it or not, media is not made up of black and white categories; queerbaited and not-queerbaited. Supernatural's finale is proof enough of that...) I won't delve into the most detailed explanation here, but suffice to say:

Gaiman has straight up said it's a love story. He's just not giving them concrete labels like "gay" or "bi" or "asexual," etc. because they are literally not human. Gaiman has subscribed to an inclusive viewpoint in an era where fans are desperate for unambiguous rep that homophobes cannot possibly deny. The freedom to prioritize any interpretation - yes, including a "just friends" interpretation - now, in 2021, feels like a cop-out. However, in this case it's an act of world building (they are an angel and a demon, not bound by human understanding of identity) meeting a genuine desire to make these characters relatable to the entire queer community, not just particular subsets. Gaiman has said they can be whatever we want because the gender, sexuality, and romantic attraction of an angel and a demon is totally up for debate! However, some fans have interpreted that as a dismissal of canonical queerness; the idea that fans can pretend they're whatever they want... but it's definitely not canon. It is though. Them being queer is 100% canon, it's just up to us to decide what kind of queer they are. This isn't Gaiman stringing audiences along, it's him opening the relationship up to all queer possibilities.

We know he's not stringing us along (queerbaiting) because up until just a few days ago season two didn't exist. Queerbaiting is a deliberate strategy to maintain an audience. A miniseries does not need to maintain its audience. You binge it in one go and you're done, no coming back next year required. The announcement for season two doesn't erase that context for season one. No one knew there would be more content and thus the idea that they would implement a strategy designed to keep viewers hooked due to the hope for a queer relationship (with no intent to follow through) is... silly.

In addition, this interpretive, queer relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale existed in the book thirty years ago. Many fans are not considering the difference between creating a totally new story in 2019 and faithfully adapting a story from 1990 in 2019. Good Omens as representation meant something very different back then and that absolutely impacts how we see its adaptation onto the small screen. To put this into perspective, Rowling made HUGE waves when she revealed that she "thought of" Dumbledore as gay in an interview... in 2007. Compare that to the intense coding 17 years before. Gaiman was - and still is - pushing boundaries.

Which includes being an established ally, particularly in his comics. Queerbaiting isn't just the act of a single work, but the way an author approaches their work. Gaiman does not (to my knowledge) have that mark against him and even if he did, he's done enough other work to offset that.

Finally, we've got other, practical issues like: how do you represent asexuality on the screen? How do you show an absence of something? Yeah, one or both of them could claim that label in the show, outright saying, "I'm asexual," but again, Gaimain isn't looking to box his mythological figures into a single identity. So if we want that rep... we have to grapple with the fact that this is one option for what it looks like.

Even if he did want to narrow the representation down to just a few identities for the show, should Gaiman really be making those major changes when he's only one half of the author team? Pratchett has, sadly, passed on and thus obviously has no say in whether his characters undergo such revisions. Even if fans hate every other argument, they should understand that, out of respect, Good Omens is going to largely remain the same story it was 30 years ago.

And those 6,000 years are just the beginning! Again, this was meant to be a miniseries of a single novel, a novel that, crucially, covered only Crowley and Aziraphale's triumph in being able to love one another freely. That's a part of their personal journey. Yeah, they've been together in one sense for 6,000 years, but that was always with hell and heaven on their backs, to say nothing of the slow-burn approach towards acknowledging that love, for Aziraphale in particular. We end the story at the start of their new relationship, one that is more free and open than it ever was before. They can be anything to one another now! The fact that we don't see that isn't a deliberate attempt on the author's part to deny us that representation, but only a result of the story ending.

So yeah, there's a lot to consider and, frankly, I don't think those fans are considering it. Which on a purely emotional level I can understand. I'm pissed about queerbaiting too and the knee-jerk desire to reject anything that doesn't meet a specific standard is understandable. But understandable doesn't mean we don't have to work against that instinct because doing otherwise is harmful in the long run. We need to consider when stories were published and what representation meant back then. We need to consider how we adapt those stories for a modern audience. We need to acknowledge that if we want the inclusivity that "queer" provides us, that includes getting characters whose identity is not strictly defined by the author as well as characters with overtly canonical labels. We need both. We likewise need to be careful about when having higher standards ends up hurting the wrong authors - who are our imperfect allies vs. those straight up unwilling to embrace our community at all? And most importantly, we have to think about how we're using the terms we've developed to discuss these issues. Queerbaiting means something specific and applying it to Good Omens not only does Good Omens a disservice, but it undermines the intended meaning of "queerbaiting," making it harder to use correctly in the future. Good Omens is not queerbaiting and trying to claim it is only hurts the community those fans are speaking up for.

#good omens #mymetas #queer

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astudyinfreewill · 4 years ago

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“it all comes down to the soul(s) in the end”: or, characters make the story work, and not the other way around

outing myself yet again as a dabb era critical blog here but. i just think the difference between carver era and dabb era is that carver era was character-arc driven while dabb era was overarching-main-plot driven with some good character moments thrown in (which may be to do with the fact that - iirc - during carver era for a while they didn’t know if they’d get renewed so they couldn’t plan too far ahead and just progressed the story by increments, as opposed to dabb era knowing they had a longer time frame to work with and deciding the plot beforehand).

the thing is, i think most of us can agree that after the kripke era - which, for all its flaws and setbacks (hello writers’ strike), had a self-contained myth arc involving both an internally coherent narrative and certain well-defined character beats - and going into the gamble “hot girl summer but make it angst” era, the appeal of supernatural relies largely on the characters. it has to, because for a show to keep running after 6-7 seasons, you have to be invested not just in the story/stories being told, but in the people driving the story forward. it simply won’t work otherwise.

and - to my perception at least - the carver era (perhaps largely due to ben edlund’s imprint in s8, lbr) knew that. some examples of what i mean:

it gave dean an arc about dealing with the toxicity of his upbringing and his unhealthy attachment to sam, as well as starting to explore other meaningful relationships for himself (benny, charlie, and of course him continuously reaching out to cas) - essentially it allowed dean to confront that he wanted things.

it gave sam an arc about dealing with his trauma re: demon blood, and having to confront what it means to be good, how he always felt impure through no fault of his own - and it shifted him over into accepting that his calling in life is as a keeper of lore and mentor to other people, by contrasting the failure of the sam/amelia relationship with him finding the bunker and discovering a different part of the hunting world

it forced cas to confront what he wants for himself, by making him deal with his own changing nature (being human, then an angel again, and the whole arc about living on borrowed grace), and with the other angels falling and what that meant for him; he got the chance to be on his own and be with the winchesters, to both make mistakes and be a leader to other angels - and then give up that leadership by choice because he prioritised his human family to his reputation in heaven (which should have been a clear indication of endgame human cas but i digress)

it brought in compelling new characters - primarily charlie and kevin, though they were both horrendously mistreated by bucklemming writing them off - claire novak as an angry teenager, aaron and his golem, metatron as a fascinatingly meta (ha) antagonist, rowena as a frenemy, and gave old characters compelling story beats (crowley and his “humanity addiction”). also, it had writers like robbie thompson who were attuned to the fan community in an unprecedented way.

with the dabb era, i feel like because they’d set their mind on where the story was going (e.g.: killing dean, having a new and “better” god in place, giving sam a white picket fence ending) they didn’t really care if they had to break the protagonists’ characterisation to get us there. we still had moments of great characterisation - steve yockey episodes first and foremost, and of course robert berens carrying the dean/castiel beats - but mostly, characterisation came second to what the story would need. this is how we get dean winchester, friend and protector to kids everywhere, being A-Okay with sacrificing a kid he supposedly cares about, not once but several times over, because the plot needed Emotional Stakes™️.

(and this, by and large, is my issue with jack as a character too, because he spends so much of his time on the show so clearly being a plot device - a literal deus ex machina - that he ends up being not very compelling to me. “but baby jack!” i hear you say. and yes, yes, he’s cute and i like him, but listen -- his characterisation reads as a blank slate because ultimately that’s what the narrative needs from him - and there’s a whole separate post i could make on that, really).

but i think the main problem is that the endgame the dabb era had in mind conflicted openly with the stakes they had set up in the carver era - and that the most attuned writers kept up with even in seasons 12-15, which is why the finale felt as stridently wrong as it did (other than being ridiculously badly written). by which i mean:

dean was set up as wanting something more for himself, more than hunting and violence, and we see that in moments - but it’s not what he ends up getting. additionally, he spends so much of seasons 8-10 breaking down his toxic traits, and then bam - suddenly, he’s turned into john 2.0, because the story demands it.

sam was set up to become a new kind of hunter, one with a men of letters background, and find happiness in the life - so you get a side plot where he successfully organises and leads a group of hunters - but ultimately he leaves all that behind and abandons the bunker (and eileen, his natural companion going forward).

cas was set up as choosing humanity over heaven because that’s where he wants to be, and choosing to become a hunter because he wants to be useful and do good - but that gets boiled down to “cas is still an angel but now he’s Also A Dad and that’s his one purpose in life now” (i’m sorry, i am not here for the hot take of “jack is good for cas because he can’t just revolve around dean”. first of all, that’s a disservice to cas’s character over the seasons, and second of all-- oh but it’s ok for cas to just revolve around jack? it don’t make no cents luv!)

i don’t think story-driven eras are inherently bad. i enjoyed seasons 1-5, but they take place when we’re still getting to know the characters; and there is a certain evolution for them there that you may like or dislike, but it makes narrative sense for them. but if you decide to go forward into a new era with well-established and beloved characters, you have to know who the characters are and what they want or your story will always ring hollow. the main problem i have with the dabb era is that it decided the story it wanted to tell - and didn’t stop to consider whether the characters living it out would actually organically fit into it. and isn’t that chuck’s whole mistake?

#spn #meta #spn meta #supernatural #dabb critical #team free will #my meta #mp #ambra.txt #in short: carver era my beloved. you committed some atrocities but i forgive you #big BIG thanks to tierney for watching me work out a shorter version of this in real time #tier i'm tagging you just in case you want to see me ramble even HARDER about this #katebushstandean #will i get cancelled for being critical of jack? stay tuned to find out #long post #long post for ts

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sayuri-of-the-valley · 9 months ago

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@aziraphaledefensesquad yeah, all of this! Also, thank you so much, I'm glad more people identify with this, I was getting worried haha (And wow, I had no idea tags/comments saying NG and TP didn't understand Crowley existed, I'm shocked 🤯😭. This is SO getting out of hand)

Really, the complaining thing is so important! It shows that Crowley feels safe with him, it's intimate and cathartic him. For both of them actually, I bet there's not much room for complaining in Heaven or Hell is there? If you're kicked out of one for wanting a suggestion box and tortured by the other for doing a good thing...

Complaining can be fun! You can have a blast seeing your partner allowing themself to be that vulnerable in front of you, especially for people in situations as delicate as Aziraphale and Crowley's. (And yeah, he would totally do the thing with the kitten, I think he's on the way to start doing that with the plants lol)

I'll never forget that s2 promo interview where the reporter asked MS and DT what would be Azi and Crowley's perfect date. DT immediately said that Crowley would want Aziraphale to make all the plans so he could then complain about it 😂😂😂. They would go to a play and he'd say how rubbish that was, and then they'd go out for drinks and he'd complain about the food etc etc. And Aziraphale would happily listen to it all. And they described it as "the BEST EVENING". That's why when Crowley was complaining about Aziraphale taking the Bentley and the temporary changes he did, he was enjoying it and I'll die on that hill. It was such a married couple discussion.

If people love Crowley then you need to take all of Crowley, warts and all, bc that's who he is.

Couldn't have said it better myself, and those things make Crowley BETTER. Crowley does have a soft side, but tries to hide from others and that's ok, he can choose who he shows it too. And his jagged edges are just as important. They make him human, they make him real.

All these bad Aziraphale takes are a great disservice to Crowley's character. I've come to realise that slandering Aziraphale inevitably causes Crowley slander as well. Shades of grey doesn't mean that you're gonna take the angel and make him all black while you make the demon all white. It means shades of grey. For both.

Sending in this take I saw today that I couldn't get over:

Idk if it's just the phrasing of the last little bit of it or what? Yknow I just can't get over the "one day you'll fantasize so hard you end up back in reality" bit of it.

Sorry if you've already been asked this one lol

I have not been asked this one yet - thank you for submitting!

#good omens meta #my meta #aziraphale defense squad #crowley defense squad #crowley #complaining

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thejolexgroupchat · 4 years ago

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the one where they met in med school - part seven

Jo’s first day at Seattle Grace

Be sure to check out our Master List for parts 1-6

You guys really have no idea how much Nat, @iamtrebleclefstories and @doc-pickles love writing this story.

(July 2007)

"You ready?" Alex asked as he looked at Jo in the passenger seat and Lexie in the back. They were sitting in the hospital parking lot, Jo and Lexie taking in the fact that today was the first day of their intern year. "You don't want to be late on your first day. Trust me, you want to hear Webber's speech. And I don't want to be late to meet my interns."

"Do you guys already know who you have?" Lexie asked. She wasn't originally supposed to come to Seattle. She had a top tier surgical residency waiting for her at Mass Gen, but when her mom died about a month ago, she got rematched at Seattle Grace to be closer to her father. On top of that, Lexie had just found out that she had an older sister who was working in this very hospital.

"No, we find out when you do," Alex shared. "Are you sure you don't want me to talk to Meredith? She's a good person. A bit emotionally stunted, but she's a good friend."

"No, Alex it's fine," Lexie shook her head. "I think she should hear it from me."

"Okay. I'm going to go inside. I'll see you guys later. Maybe if you're lucky you'll be on my service," he leaned over to the passenger seat and gave Jo a peck on the lips before getting out of the car. "Don't forget to lock the door."

About an hour later, Jo and Lexie were in the locker room, waiting for Webber to share which resident they would be working under. He went through the list of residents and called out interns.

“Alright everyone listen up. I am going to assign you to a resident. When I call your name, you will go find your resident in the hallway and await instructions. Trimble, Franklin, Morales, and Bozniack you’re with Stevens. Harrison, Allen, O’Malley, Johnson, and Phillips with Grey. Lawrence, Crowley, Vega, Brown, and Grey you’re with Yang. Last but not least, Hernandez, Jenkins, Davis, and Wilson, you’re with Karev.”

Jo and Lexie exchanged a glance. Jo knew that being on Alex’s service was always a possibility, however, she never thought it would actually happen. That would make things much more difficult than she’d anticipated. Prior to starting, Jo and Alex had agreed to keep their relationship private. Aside from Lexie, no one would know that the two of them were together, so that if Jo got to scrub in on a surgery or was handed a case, it was because she was good and not because she was dating a resident. But what was once a possibility, quickly became a reality, and they were going to have to learn how to deal with this situation if they wanted to keep their relationship private.

Soon after Webber assigned the interns to their residents, they all left the room, leaving only Jo and the other three residents there.

Jo was organizing her locker when she heard the others gossiping about Alex.

“Ughh, what was I even expecting from this? I have the worst luck ever. Of course I was going to end up with the douchiest resident. You guys heard about him, right?” Jenkins complained, Jo’s eyes glued to the objects in front of her.

“Yeah. His reputation around this place is not the best. I heard he is really good, though. Not everything is lost yet. Let’s wait and see,” Hernandez tried to be positive.

“I heard that too. Looks like he is really talented and hardworking, but I heard that if you’re not one of them, he will treat you like trash no matter what. One of the residents in his class, that is,” Davis added, making Jo’s heart sink a little.

If only they knew a bit more about him, they wouldn’t be so quick to judge. She knew that her boyfriend wasn’t the easiest person to deal with and he still had a lot of growing and learning to do, but he had the biggest heart. Hearing the other residents talk about him made Jo sigh.

“What about you, Wilson? Things aren’t looking good for him already. Dude is already late. First thing he does is make us wait for him. Ever heard anything about the guy?” Jenkins asked Jo, forcing her to pull her head out of the locker and interact with them.

“Not really, to be honest. Maybe he’s not that bad. I’m not the biggest fan of judging people before actually knowing them. Maybe the three of you can give it a shot? Soothes the soul a bit,” Jo gave them a sarcastic smile after closing the locker aggressively. She knew she shouldn’t be doing that. Getting into arguments with the people she was going to spend the next five years of her life glued to. Especially not that early into the thing, but she wasn’t about to let them say bad things about her boyfriend without giving him a chance. And she wasn’t wrong. They really shouldn’t judge him before knowing nothing but his name.

“You find him hot, don’t you?” Hernandez smiled at her. "You saw him earlier when Webber was giving us the tour and you thought he was hot."

Jo didn’t want to blatantly lie to them, so she was more than thankful for the moment Alex interrupted and entered the room.

“Hernandez, Wilson, Jenkins and Davis, come,” he ushered them to get ready.

Alex guided the four interns to the hall before glancing at his girlfriend, who was supporting a poker face like he had never seen before. Still, he could see through it with ease. His face twitched into a crooked half-smile, causing Jo to roll her eyes ever so slightly.

Although he couldn’t pretend he wasn’t excited about having her closer to him, he was worried that their original plan was going to be even harder than they had thought it would be. Knowing that she was going to be so close in proximity to him after a year of being an entire country apart, was going to severely push his restraint.

“So, I’m Dr. Alex Karev and I’ll be your resident. I have five rules, and you’ll have to use your underdeveloped brains to memorize them,” he started walking after noticing Jo was trying hard not to laugh at the things he was saying, but still keeping a straight face.

“Rule number one: don’t even think about kissing my ass. It won’t work. I already hate you, and that’s not gonna change. Rule number two: run! Trauma protocol, phone list, pagers, nurses will page you. You will answer every single page at a run. Your first shift starts now. I have no idea how long it will last. It’s not my problem. You should know that. You’re interns, grunts, nobodies, bottom of the surgical food chain. You run labs, write orders, work until you drop and don’t complain. I am not going to raise whiny babies,” he stopped in front of a door and eyed the four people in front of him before opening it and walking inside the room. “On call rooms. Attendings hog them to sleep or do other things. You will sleep when you can, where you can, and I don’t want to have to

find any of you doing the nasty anywhere, understand? Rule number three: if I’m sleeping, do not wake me, unless the patient is dying. Four: the dying patient better not be dead when I get there.”

Jo’s eyes shined teasingly as she raised her hand, “You said five rules. That was only four.”

Alex tried not to smirk as his pager went off, “Rule number five: when I move, you move. Let’s go.”

***

Jo’s first shift ended after thirty-six hours. She was completely and utterly exhausted, every muscle in her body protesting as she walked the two blocks from the hospital to her apartment. When she finally made it in the house, Alex was waiting for her with a beer and pizza in hand. He guided her to the couch and helped her sit down.

Jo groaned as her body sank down into the cushions, “I feel like I want to just curl up into a ball on this couch and sleep forever.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Alex chuckled. “I know you’re exhausted, but I need you to eat before you pass out, so take the pizza and beer.”

“I thought you said you hate your interns and that’s not gonna change,” Jo raised her eyebrows. “You’re being awfully nice to me, Dr. Karev. I hope you don’t think that this means I’ll sleep with you. Because even if I wanted to, I think I’m too tired to do anything.”

“Shut up,” Alex rolled his eyes. He looked at her suggestively. “And, you know I don’t mind doing all the work. It might be good for you, ya know? Like a stress reliever. All it will cost you is making sure you get some food in your system.”

“Are you offering to service me?” Jo laughed. This was reason one hundred fifty-seven of why she loved this man. “Is this something you do for all your interns, Dr. Karev?”

“Only the ones I’m in love with,” Alex leaned across the couch for a kiss. “Trust me when I say, I am very eager to please you.”

“You’re so dirty!” Jo giggled and pushed his shoulder lightly. “But, I may have to take you up on that offer.”

The pair talked and laughed while they shared their meal. It was nice being able to spend time together again and finally be on the same page. Agreeing to finish their food, they sat there in silence for a while before Jo spoke up again, “Are you sure this isn’t a conflict of interest? Me being your intern?”

“It might be,” Alex sighed. “I have a hard time telling you no, or when to stop because I respect you and I love you. But I also know that going easy on you would only be a disservice to your career, so I’m going to do my best to let you know when you’re in need of improvement.”

“Thank you,” Jo brought her hand up to his face. “I’m really happy that I’m here.”

“So am I,” Alex grinned. “So, what do you say we go to the room and I’ll… help you relax.”

“Three and a half years in and you still have a one track mind,” Jo shook her head, an amused look on her face.

“What can I say?” Alex shrugged. “I have a super hot girlfriend and can’t get enough of her.”

#jolex #jolex fanfic #the one where they met in med school #alex karev #jo wilson #jo karev #jo x alex #grey's anatomy #grey's anatomy fanfic #lexie grey #jolex au #richard webber #greys anatomy #residency #first day on the job #fluff #secret relationship #med school

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mostweakhamlets · 4 years ago

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SummerOmens: Ice Cream

Written for @thetunewillcome‘s summer omens prompt list! Again, I’m doing fileflies, but the husbands make an appearance in this one.

All of the prompts I’m filling are also on my AO3 in one work!

Dagon knew that it wouldn’t be the smoothest outing of their time on Earth, but she had gotten along fairly well with Aziraphale and Crowley once they had all made peace. As much peace as they all could after thousands of years of torment on Hell’s end and one traumatizing farewell to Crowley. The traitors had promised they had no intention of harming the demons (a relief as Beelzebub now had no power over Crowley who was both physically and supernaturally intimidating to them) and were only interested in a quiet life alone--with exceptions to help Beelzebub and Dagon adjust so long as the pair played fair. There were awkward, tense dinners and afternoons in one another’s gardens before they were all comfortable enough to bury the proverbial hatchet.

Beelzebub looked at themselves one last time in the mirror. Dagon had convinced them to wear a pair of jeans out rather than their typical full suit. It was far too hot for such an outfit, and even Dagon had toned down her usual look in favor a grey t-shirt and light trousers.

“It’ll be good for you to get out of the house for a little bit, and the traitors promised that we’ll enjoy where they’re taking us.”

“I don’t trust them,” Beelzebub said, looking at their floral, short-sleeved button-up. “And it’s called sloth. We’re demons. We’re supposed to embrace and enjoy doing nothing.”

“It’s called depression, and I know you’re not enjoying laying in your own sweat and filth for hours every day. Probably. Maybe you do.” Beelzebub did like their filth, but Dagon doubted that their recent habits were motivated by enjoyment. “And I don’t trust them, either.”

“Then why are we going?”

“Because it’s something to do up here, and the angel wouldn’t let me say no.”

“You’re a Lord of Hell and you couldn’t say no to a principality?”

“I’m as much of a Lord as you are a Prince right now.” Dagon regretted snapping as soon as Beelzebub clenched their jaw and looked back to the mirror. “And he’s not just any principality. He’s immune to Hell fire and stopped Armageddon. He must have done something to not let me say no. A mind trick or something.”

In reality, Aziraphale had just used his pushy charm and insisted again and again that she couldn’t say no, that he and Crowley would plan the trip, and how does Wednesday at noon sound to you, dear? Before Dagon knew it, she had solidified a date and time and Crowley looked amused.

“Where are we going?” Beelzebub said.

“Not far from here. If you’re uncomfortable, we can turn around.”

Beelzebub nodded. “I’m uncomfortable.”

“I meant if you’re uncomfortable once we get there.”

“Fine.”

~*~

Aziraphale had rambled for a good 10 minutes about how beautiful the old quarter of the town was, how nostalgic for the 19th century he was in the middle of it, and where all the divine places to dine were. Crowley listened with a sappy expression. Beelzebub tuned him out. Dagon actually took mental notes for future reference, though she didn’t acknowledge him.

“I hope you don’t mind walking,” Aziraphale said after finishing his one-sided discussion on the cafes. “It’s a lovely day, and I insisted on enjoying the weather.”

“It’s fine,” Dagon said. “Beelzebub needs the exercise.”

Beelzebub only responded with a huff. Crowley snorted and smirked until Aziraphale said, “Crowley did as well.”

By the time they arrived to the Old Town, they had drifted back into silence. Aziraphale and Crowley shared a look and a smile and lead them into the narrow streets of shops, pubs, and cafes.

~*~

Beelzebub would never admit that they enjoyed looking into the windows of shops and seeing the various things on display--odd dolls, old books, and various knick-knacks selling at high-prices.

“A lot of it is to get tourists to waste their money,” Crowley whispered to them as Aziraphale stood by street musicians, listening with a wide smile and hands clasped together. “Humans are gullible when it comes to this type of stuff.”

Beelzebub smirked. “So, humans are taking advantage of other humans with useless shopping?”

“Sort of. But it makes the other humans happy. They sort of know they’re being taken advantage of, and they don’t mind it if they can be happy in the moment.”

The smirk disappeared. “Oh.”

“But it is still... pretty evil. It’s capitalism at its worst if you ask me.”

“Did you have anything to do with it?”

“Yup.”

~*~

Dagon entered a shop with Aziraphale to look at secondhand books. She hadn’t taken to leisurely reading books yet (only gossipy tabloids), but was secretly interested in looking into them. She was used to pouring over paperwork in Hell, and with her new free time, she longed for something to hold in her hands and consume for hours on end while Beelzebub slept or moped.

“What are looking for?” Aziraphale asked.

“A book.”

“Well, we’ve walked into the right shop.” He laughed at his own joke, perhaps one he would have told to his own customers if he had actually enjoyed their presence. “What do you want to read about is what I’m asking.”

“What are books about?”

Aziraphale lifted a hand to his chest and sighed. “Anything you can imagine.”

“Then find me something about death.”

Aziraphale’s smile became tight, but then relaxed into something a little ornery. “Luckily, humans can be just as morbid as demons. I think something historical would suit you. How do you feel about tyrannical rulers?”

“I know most of them.”

“Let’s see what they have, then.”

~*~

Aziraphale grabbed Crowley’s hand as they strolled down the street. “What do you say to a treat?”

Crowley followed his gaze to an ice cream parlor a few shops down from where they currently stood. He turned around.

“Do you two know what ice cream is?”

Dagon and Beelzebub shook their heads. Aziraphale’s jaw dropped.

It sounded appalling to Beelzebub. Cream that had been turned to ice? They didn't like the sound of that. And what was its purpose?

“We have to now, dear. The poor things have never had it. Think of the disservice we’d be doing to them if we didn’t--”

“We can get ice cream, angel! No one said ‘no.’“

Crowley turned back to the confused demons. “Do you want to try it?”

Dagon and Beelzebub looked at each other. Beelzebub shrugged. They hadn’t been asked about they wanted to do in a long time. They were both used to following and giving orders.

“What’s it like?” Dagon said.

“Uh... it’s creamy and, uh, ice-y. It’s like soft, frozen, sugary milk. You can get it in different flavors.”

“Is there a pasta flavor?” Beelzebub asked. They were only familiar with pasta.

“No. You can usually get chocolate or vanilla. Sometimes there’s little things in it like sweets.”

“We’ll help you decide,” Aziraphale said.

And no one had offered to help them with anything before, so Beelzebub and Dagon stared at the angel. It was more autonomy and assistance that they had had in their entire existence because, despite willingly revolting against Heaven and their strict regiment, they had lived by rules and high expectations sculpted by fear and Her writings.

They finally nodded together, unfamiliar with the feeling they both had in their chests and stomachs.

Aziraphale ended up suggesting they start with vanilla, and they were handed two shallow cups with two scoops in each. They sat together at a patio table outside the shop where the sun could irritatingly beam in their eyes and the wind could whip their hair around. But as soon as they were settled and after Beelzebub fixed their hair for the third time, the wind died and clouds slid over the glaring sun.

Dagon scooped a small bite on her spoon. Beelzebub followed suit and put it in their mouth.

It was as Crowley had described it--soft, frozen, sugary milk. But it was lovely. It was creamy and rich and the perfect balance of sweet and bland. Beelzebub wondered what the other flavors tasted like, if they were equally sweet and had the same texture. They wondered what the cone that Aziraphale had tasted like.

They wanted to experiment with the sweets in the little jars inside the parlor tasted like when combined with the vanilla and the other flavors. The imagined a crunch to it if they added chocolate chips or a stickiness to it if they had chocolate sauce.

Their tongue was cold and the sugar rested on the very back of it, encouraging them to eat more to remind of the fresh flavor. Their lips were sticky, and they licked the corners of their mouth to swipe what they had missed.

“Ow.”

Dagon sat her spoon down and pressed her hand to her forehead. Her eyes were squeezed together in pain. Beelzebub touched her shoulder, forgetting about the frozen treat they had wanted a love affair with.

“It’ll pass,” Crowley said, smiling as he took another spoonful.

Beelzebub glared. They knew the whole trip was a ploy. If they could, they would have set the entire table ablaze with Hell fire. They would sent a swarm of flies out. They would have called on other demons to pull Crowley and Aziraphale down to the deepest pit they had in Hell.

But then Dagon sat up seconds later, fine. “What was that?”

“It’s called a brain freeze,” Aziraphale said. “It happens if you eat something too cold too fast. It’s nothing harmful. Just annoying.”

Dagon pushed her ice cream away. “I think I’ll pass on this in the future.”

Aziraphale’s bottom lip stuck out. “I’m so sorry, dear. We should have warned you. It took us by surprise the first time it happened to us.”

Beelzebub made sure to take small, slow bites of their ice cream until it was gone and when they reached for Dagon’s half-melted, abandoned cup, no one said anything.

#good omens #fileflies #fly wives cottage au #beez likes human food okay

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kylermalloy · 5 years ago

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My Official Unofficial Ranking of Supernatural Seasons That Nobody Asked For

This was...surprisingly easy. For someone who has a hard time picking favorites, I’m apparently quite eager to throw some seasons of one of my favorite shows under the bus.

My reasonings for this ranking are...all over the place. Since I’m considering seasons as a whole, I look mostly at the overall narrative structure, the prevalent themes, and the major character arcs. I won’t take individual/one-off episodes into much consideration...except for when I do. I won’t like some seasons/story arcs for any rationale between “this was sloppily executed,” “the message is misunderstood by viewers,” or even just that gif of Chris Evans “I don’t wike it.” I’m trying to look at seasons and storylines objectively, but I guarantee my Sam!girl bias will peek through at some point. Also, I reserve the right to change my mind at any point after I post this!

From bottom to top:

14 - Season 14

Ah, the twilight years of SPN. Now that we know this is the penultimate season, I’m a bit more lenient toward its shortcomings. Long running shows usually do stutter to a halt, story-wise. But still. I’m not taking it out of the bottom spot.

What was this season even about? Michael overtaking Dean? Nah, that barely lasted three whole episodes. Jack becoming evil? Not until the last six episodes. Team Free Will becoming a cohesive family unit? Lol. For a season that tried to set up Jack’s evil arc as a kid betraying his family, I hardly saw this “family” except in fanworks. The most heartfelt moments remained between Sam and Dean (not that I’m complaining about that—I loved those moments!) Was there an overarching theme besides “nobody is okay, especially Sam”? Season 14 is clumsy, unfocused, and does a poor job of telling the story it tried to tell. Even Mary’s second death reeked of “well, we didn’t know what to do with her and we needed a tragedy.” Oh yeah, and John was back for a hot minute.

13 - Season 9

Here’s one of these weird seasons. I like it, but I don’t. It’s well done, but it’s terrible. Also, I’m taking fan response into consideration on this one, since it colored my perception of it so negatively.

Season 9 could have been great. In a way, it was great. It was Dean’s dark arc—the part of Dean’s dark arc that I like. I’m not here to debate, just lay out the story. Dean stepped over a line. He tricked Sam into possession, lied to him for months, then refused to apologize afterward. He took the Mark of Cain as a penance, but it blew up in his face and turned him into something worse than he was before.

This is where fan response comes in. Fandom (from what I can tell; I wasn’t here back then) vilified Sam for setting boundaries with Dean, overwhelmingly siding with poor Dean who just didn’t want to be alone. The show, on paper, wasn’t trying to make the audience think this, but the POVs were skewed in such a way that we hardly got a chance to see Sam’s perspective and Sam’s trauma—so casual viewers didn’t really have a choice.

On a completely unrelated note (see, this is why this season is ranked so low) we have the angel storyline. What could’ve been a really cool and impactful story of celestial beings walking the earth, as well as Castiel exploring his new humanity in a way (that wasn’t just about sex) ended up a trite, dull affair about underdeveloped politics and characters I don’t care about. Did Metatron (the supposed big bad) even care about the Winchesters? I can’t remember. Only the actor’s indulgently entertaining performance saves that character. Even Castiel’s human arc was so short and ignored I sometimes forget it happened. This was a season that was so all over the place—good bones, bad execution.

12 - Season 12

This season is just...forgettable. Yet another season that was so all over the place—but unlike season 9, the story arcs did not culminate in a cool twist that pushed the SPN story to new heights. We had the BMOL, Mary’s return, and the Lucifer/Kelly/Dagon/nephilim story, and...honestly I can barely remember anything about them. The twisting story threads got interlocked at some points, like Mary working with the BMOL, and Sam and Dean working with them to take down Lucifer, but the threads were all wrapped up independently. To me, this suggests a lack of true investment in the stories and season arcs. Ultimately, Mary’s return was utterly wasted, the BMOL might as well have never existed, and the Lucifer storyline is a bloody, bloated carcass being dragged along behind the show by a fraying rope (called Buckleming) complete with a bad smell.

The reason I rank this season above season 9 is that I don’t shudder when I hear people talking about season 12. I don’t generally get angry when I think about it (except the way they did Crowley dirty) and it did give us Jack, the greatest fanon projection the show has ever given us. (I’ll elaborate on that in a minute)

11 - Season 10

This is the season in which I don’t like Dean’s dark arc. By that I mean...it wasn’t much of a dark arc. Instead of exploring Dean’s inner darkness and the choices that led him to take the MoC, we get a meandering season of (pretty enjoyable) one-offs. We are repeatedly told Dean can’t fight off what he truly is—except we’re also being told that Dean can’t truly control what the MoC is doing to him, meaning the MoC isn’t what he truly is. It’s a mixed message, and it ends up being too many episodes in a row of Dean staring moodily at his arm while he drinks. Sorry, an ancient tribal tattoo does not a compelling big bad make.

Speaking of bad guys, though, season 10 gave us Rowena! And more Crowley material! And the Stynes—wait, no. We don’t talk about...whatever they were.

I do like Sam’s determination to save Dean, and I even like the underhanded methods he used to get the MoC off. Charlie’s death was a horrifying shock, but it actually fed the story very well. And I know I said I wasn’t going to talk about individual episodes, but Soul Survivor and Fan Fiction are both epic.

10 - Season 8

...this season. This season is such a mixed bag you could almost rank it as two separate seasons! ;) This was Jeremy Carver’s first season as showrunner—and while I like what he ended up doing, I hated the way he played with the brother dynamics throughout the season, especially the first half. Season 8 starts out disjointed, very unconnected from the previous season. The story thread of “Sam didn’t look for Dean” is overplayed and very tired. Also a bit of a reach, considering the season 5 finale. My point is, Sam and Dean both act like pod people for the first part of this season. Dean is mad at Sam for...doing exactly what Dean himself did a few years ago (fandom misses the nuance of Dean’s hypocrisy and jumps right in the blame-Sam boat with him) and Sam is suddenly...living with a strange woman we barely get to meet and okay with not hunting anymore?

This is another example of the skewed POVs hurting the show’s message. We don’t get to see Sam’s grief the same way we saw Dean’s struggle in purgatory, and since Sam’s Amelia arc makes very little sense anyway, we’re forced to imagine it—and this is a disservice to both Sam and the overarching story.

However, the saving grace of season 8 is the second half. We get the bunker, the Trials storyline, which is a whump goldmine for my Sam-loving heart, and one of the best season finales this show has ever produced. I mean...they got married. In a CHURCH! I’m not really a wincester, but seriously how do you not ship it just a little when the show gives you stuff like THAT?!

*deep breath* I’m good. Moving on!

9 - Season 13

I...have a soft spot for this season. Anybody who follows me on here can probably guess why. That’s right, it’s Jack, the greatest fanon projection the show has ever gifted us.

Let me explain. The narrative structure of the season is a mess. The exploratory theme of Sam and Dean as parents is derailed by the fact that Sam and Dean spend less than six episodes with their surrogate child and spend the rest of the season spinning their wheels until it’s time for the finale. Lucifer as a villain doesn’t give a crap about the protagonists, which makes him a really boring and terrible antagonist—to say nothing of the fact that two of the writers try to make him sympathetic and end up assassinating the character harder than Michael!Dean did. I only found Scoobynatural mildly entertaining. As for Asmodeus...who’s that?

Basically, the only shining light in this season besides the brothers is Jack. And we don’t even get a consistent characterization of him. He’s essentially a blank slate, which means we as fans and fanwork creators get to make him whatever we want. While he’s supposedly the Winchesters’ kid in canon, it’s rarely shown—that falls on us as fans to make a reality. And boy do we make it reality! This is where I found my corner of fandom, and that’s why this mess of a season ranks relatively high for me. Still in the bottom half, but it gave me one of the greatest gifts the show has ever given.

8 - Season 7

I shouldn’t have to defend myself, but while most of the fandom harbors a little black spot of hatred for this season...I don’t. Like, at all.

I don’t agree with all the creative choices of this season—the Leviathans were an out-of-nowhere big bad with no connection to the Winchesters. However, the guy who played Dick Roman did a fantastic job hamming it up. And I love how all the pieces came together in the end—Sam and Dean, Cas, Crowley, even Meg as a surprise reluctant hero. We also got Charlie! And Kevin! Bobby got a fantastic arc, both before he died and from beyond the grave. And Crowley, even though he helped win the day, also rigged the game so he took all the pieces left on the board. Mad respect for my king.

Also, as a stalwart fan of Sam whump, Sam’s hallucination storyline was all kinds of awesome. (Except for how it abruptly ended and was never spoken of again)

I know objectively this season isn’t very good, but I still find myself rewatching it a surprising amount. I have a soft spot for Sera’s storytelling, and she did not have complete control over the creative decisions for this year. Season 7 only barely misses out of the top half.

7 - Season 3

This season is great, it really is. I think the main reason I rank it so low is because of the shortened season—Sam’s aborted arc. And that was obviously out of everyone’s control; the creators had to just pick up the pieces and make do with what circumstances gave them.

Basically, I don’t have anything bad to say about this season. It’s a brother-lovefest, it gives us Bela and Ruby, and yes we get some truly great one-off eps. Bad Day at Black Rock, A Very Supernatural Christmas, Mystery Spot, Jus in Bello, and Ghostfacers are among my favorite episodes to rewatch. I just mainly miss the end of Sam’s arc. Although I do appreciate the writers’ strike giving us Castiel instead, I still wish we could’ve gotten to see boyking!Sam save his brother.

6 - Season 2

While on the surface season 2 is barely different than season 1, it also gives us loads of gamechangers. It’s the coming-of-age season—Sam and Dean aren’t kids anymore; in fact, they aren’t anyone’s kids. The season bookends of John’s death and Sam’s death make a horrible tragedy that I don’t even care much what’s in the middle.

But then again, everything in between is so good. There’s not much of an overarching story, just a sense of dread and desperation as...something...draws near. (We don’t even know what it is, but it still scares us! It’s masterful!) The tone is consistent and effective, the brother dynamics are still balanced enough to fully enjoy, and of course...there’s Playthings. :)

(Y’all are gonna stop believing me when I say I’m not a wincester, I can feel it. What can I say, I have incestuous shipping tendencies.)

5 - Season 11

This is a season that I could tear limb from limb for falling so flat in the end, but...somehow I can’t bring myself to. I didn't find myself into the Amara storyline too much, mainly because the God/Darkness sibling dynamic wasn’t developed enough to parallel with Sam and Dean invest in. But this season does an awesome job of healing the brother dynamics. While seasons 8, 9, and 10 were fight-heavy, Sam and Dean spend this season in relative peace. In times of potential crisis, they band together instead of fracturing apart. And that, honestly, is enough for me to forgive...well, a lot, plotwise. The Dean/Amara connection that went nowhere, the Casifer storyline that went nowhere, the Darkness’s grudge against her brother that...went nowhere...and I’m not even going to touch on the Sam/Lucifer dynamic that started out SO GOOD and then...well...

Again, I’m not going to touch on it. I love this season despite its flaws.

4 - Season 1

Here it is. The season that started it all. I said I was going to consider mostly narrative structures for this ranking, yet here season 1 is without much of a narrative structure, fourth from the top.

The first season of a show is always the feel-around-in-the-dark season. This is where we learn the rules of the show, how the world works, and most importantly, who our characters are. We spend 22 episodes with the writers and actors just...figuring out who Sam and Dean are, most especially who they are to each other. They were so successful in this that they spawned a fifteen year phenomenon centered around this fraternal love story. As an additional plus, since the characters were so new, season 1 gives us the most balanced POV between the brothers. We get to feel for both of them without being pitted against each other, and I appreciate that more than words.

The horror is old-school, the storytelling can be a bit cliche, but every show has an origin story and I’m in love with this one.

3 - Season 6

Again, I love Sera Gamble’s storytelling. It’s most evidenced here in her first year of showrunning. This season had the astronomical task of following up season 5. How do you follow up the literal apocalypse?

...Astoundingly well. To me at least.

This season’s narrative structure is my favorite. It’s kind of a noir thriller, with more twists and turns than Supernatural usually gets. In fact, having now watched Vampire Diaries and The Originals, season 6 of SPN kind of echoes those shows. (I don’t think it’s coincidence that TVD aired its first season one year prior to this)

Instead of trying to outdo the literal devil (the mistake of latter seasons) we spend most of season 6 not knowing who the big bad is. We meet a few baddies, get backstabbed by former friends, and we’re told Raphael is a threat, but in the end the big bad was the friend we made along the way—Castiel. It’s depressing, it’s not what we expected, and it’s honestly a departure from “traditional” SPN. But I like it. I like it a lot. If Sera had been allowed to do more seasons like this, she probably would’ve stayed longer.

2 - Season 4

I love a lot of things about this season. The way they handled the angels was great—the right way to do unknowably powerful beings. I like Sam’s dark arc. It’s coupled perfectly with his good intentions and his all-consuming love for his brother. The plot twist at the end is perfect—Sam, in doing the right thing, unleashes the worst evil this world has (yet) known.

The tone is also perfect. It’s dark. A little edgier. Edging toward eldritch horror rather than ghost horror. Balanced out with light episodes that pack a hard punch in the feels regardless. And this is a little thing, but the color grading shifts back to more sepia after the technicolor of season 3. It gives us this little sense of dread throughout the season without even knowing why.

I could complain about the skewed POVs, about how fandom still sometimes crows “Dean was right about Lilith!” when all Dean opposed was Ruby and the demon blood—he wanted killed Lilith too. But as this instance of POV-warp serves the storyline in a good, necessary way, and Sam truly did need to be brought back from his dark path, I’m choosing to ignore it.

1 - Season 5

Are we surprised? Maybe some Sam fans are—I know some who get vexed about the blame for the apocalypse being solely and constantly placed on Sam...but I’m not. The overall story of season 5 is just so good. Lucifer is a good villain in this season. Sam and Dean have an excellent healing arc. The angels are good villains, also ironic mouthpieces of the overarching themes—despite touting “fate” and “unavoidable,” they are champions of free will, since they do whatever they want in their father’s absence. Zachariah most notably. Castiel was utilized in a good way (whereas now he struggles to still have purpose in the show) Bobby and Crowley both were good in this season (and also sparked a rarepair that’s—hilariously—canon) and this season did not pull any punches when it came to death. Even the main protagonists were shot point-blank halfway through the season! (Don’t talk to me about the samulet, I can’t do it without bawling)

And Swan Song remains my favorite season finale and overall episode. Dean relinquishing control of his little brother, allowing him to make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of the world. I still halfway wish the series ended with Sam and Dean both throwing themselves into the Cage, destroying themselves for the world, out of love for each other. (insert “poetic cinema” meme)

And there we have it! To my mutuals, I’d love to hear your thoughts or your rankings. And to @letsgobethegoodguys - Steph, since this was so hard for you, I did it myself so I could feel your pain. 😘

#supernatural #through the seasons #spn #rankings #kylerrambles #listen—i welcome discussion!#pls talk to me!#but if you come on my post just to argue with me—don’t bother

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mangodestroyer · 2 years ago

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I have to admit that I have not read a whole lot of GO fic. I know, I know, I have a whole list of fics I need to get around to reading and everything. And as a fic writer, I really should be making more of an effort to get in touch with the fandom. Plus, lots of fics in this fandom just look like they're going to be really good and I think I'm doing myself a disservice not reading them.

But anyway, from what I've seen so far, ficwise, I haven't really seen the "dumb" Aziraphale trope. If anything, I've only seen "painfully oblivious" Aziraphale while Crowley is portrayed as being far more socially adept than he actually is. Although in one piece of fanart, I do remember seeing Aziraphale getting portrayed as stupid and clumsy because of his weight, which I personally wasn't a fan of.

Yeah, I really couldn't tell you where people are getting the idea that Aziraphale isn't intelligent. Personally, I would think he would be considered a bit of a genius if he was human. I know he tends to hyperfixate on a lot of things, but I think he also has the innate ability to figure out complicated things as well. And I don't think he's too horrible with street smarts either. Why would he be? Wouldn't he need to have some of that if he's a principality? Like sure, he might not be good with understanding humans completely, but I thought all celestial beings struggled with that. And even when he made some "bad" decisions in the show, it's because he had some very good reasons for doing so (example: he was originally hesitant to join Crowley's side because he didn't think it would work out and didn't want to risk hurting Crowley).

I think both of these characters are intelligent in different ways. Crowley is good at finding solutions to problems and he's very creative. He's just not much of a bookie. Aziraphale is good at finding information and applying it to a given situation. He's the bookie.

I point out that both characters are intelligent because, like another commenter said, lots of people tend to portray Crowley as being stupid. And hopelessly so in some cases. Personally, I don't think it's good characterization to just limit a character to being helpless and stupid. Intelligence comes in many forms, and even if someone is lacking in all branches of intelligence (which isn't common), that doesn't mean a character can't be right about something or figure things out. Also, speaking as someone who grew up in a family where I was seen as stupid and helpless, and then later ended up in a relationship where I was treated as such, this just doesn't sound like a very good dynamic at all. If Aziraphale genuinely saw Crowley as stupid and helpless, or the other way around, it seems like the relationship could easily become emotionally abusive. So I get a little bothered by fics that make this too much of a point. Especially if their supposed stupidity comes from possible neurodivergent traits.

I think they fell in love with each other because they are both curious beings who question things. Crowley almost seems a little distressed at times with how frowned upon this is in the celestial world, so I don't think he would be interested in someone who never disagreed with authority. And I don't think Aziraphale would be interested in Crowley if he was actually as stupid as some people portray him.

Now, I could see Aziraphale maybe being protective of Crowley to a fault because, at least imo, that seems to be a bit of a thing in canon and I think it would be an interesting characterization/conflict. And I could see Crowley maybe being more emotionally intelligent than Aziraphale and having some problems there too. Those are Aziraphale flaws I can get behind. A well meaning Aziraphale who sometimes messes up.

GOOD OMENS FANDOM—> Fat does not equal stupid

The book Good Omens flat out says Aziraphale is intelligent.

Why does so much fanfic frame him as kind of stupid and why do so many people decide they headcanon him as stupid? I understand the ‘book smart common sense stupid’ types of headcanons, but the thing where he’s completely incompetent at everything- science, cooking, philosophy, childcare, artists and architecture, intuitive kindness-

Where is this coming from? I’d be less suspicious if it was not pervasive and accompanied by genius!crowley

I often see this idiot!aziraphale juxtaposed with Brilliant crowley, with multiple degrees, understandings in everything above I just mentioned- especially sciences and philosophy- emotional psychology, it goes on and on!!! And while we can infer he’s smart in canon, we don’t get a flat out statement about him.

What gives? And if it’s because people equate fat = stupid and slender = intellect, I’m gonna barf

I was going to link articles, but if you just use your search engine of choice and look up “why do people think fat people are stupid” the number of spot on hits is massive

#good omens

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catsandcataclysms · 5 years ago

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For All The Wrong Reasons Too

A ficlet based on all those posts reminding us that Crowley may seem nice but he is still in fact a demon, posted on request of a friend

If you asked Crowley why he liked Aziraphale, he would probably hiss at you and inflict a very subtle curse on you for having the gall to suggest he and an angel were friends. If you were not the type of being that could be affected by those, however, he would simply deny it, or resort to a more human reaction and flip you off. The truth was, there were a very many reasons that Crowley liked Aziraphale. Most of these appealed to the part of Crowley that had become as human as he was pretending to be, most of the time. And a large part yet appealed to the part of him that had once, indeed, been an angel. But it was the parts of Aziraphale that appealed to his demonic nature that kept Crowley intrigued, and although it wasn’t the only reason, it kept pulling him back to Aziraphale.

All of the seven deadly sins are human needs brought to their natural extreme. Humans need to eat, humans need to have the ability to stand up for themselves, humans need a motivator to complete a task, humans need to rest, humans need to own things in order to survive, humans need to be able to look at others to find out what they need, and, if they wish to procreate, humans need something that will encourage them to do so. All of those are the very base needs of the worst sins there are. So humans, naturally, cannot help but do these things, and at times, fall prey to the sinful extremes.

Angels and demons, however, do not need to do these things. Their corporeal forms, if issued to them in any case, are only there so they can interact easier with the world of humans. Anything beyond that is frivolous. Demons, of course, indulge, because they are demons, and they like to. That much was obvious. No, what intrigued Crowley about Aziraphale was that he was an angel, and yet was often subjected to human needs.

Aziraphale did not need to do any of the aforementioned things that were the gateway to the seven deadly sins. And yet, he often did them anyway. Crowley wondered sometimes if Aziraphale was indulging, in the same way demons did, or if he simply forgot that he was an ethereal being who didn’t need to do those things the way humans did. It fascinated Crowley. And it pulled strings in the darkest part of his heart, the same strings that encouraged him to tempt and push and bring souls down to Hell. He wouldn’t do that, of course, to his angel-- he would never make Aziraphale fall. He couldn’t. That was the fallen angel in him, saying “never wish this upon anyone else”, and that was the human in him too, saying “you love him far too much to make him give up his ivory wings.” But it was there. And Crowley loved it.

Time and time again, it was Aziraphale asking about lunch. Going on and on about the wonders of food, little bits of gluttony curling up like the small wisps of smoke from birthday candles, barely discernible past the scent of his piety, but still there, just enough to make Crowley itch for more and see how far he could get. And whatever temptation he had resisted making that day, or year, or century-- for Aziraphale, he told himself, which was often true but not always-- often the little bits of human trailing off of him were more than enough to make up for it. It was actually easy to reason that saving the books for Aziraphale was a “demonic” miracle. Aziraphale had been collecting books since mankind had been writing, and although it was human, although it was something Crowley wholeheartedly adored about Aziraphale in a very non-demonic way, it could also be rationalized as “An Angel’s Introduction To Greed”; for anybody looking a little too closely, at least. Because certainly upstairs would have never let him save them.

Gluttonous, greedy, slothful, Crowley would think about Aziraphale with adoration and a little bit of pride, and then he’d gleefully go down the list and see what else he could get Aziraphale to do. His angel was so reserved, beaten down by Heaven, overly cautious and lacking even the most basic confidence despite his never-ending optimism. Discounting lust, which may never wind up on the table-- and that was perfectly fine with Crowley, at least-- if he was going to tempt Aziraphale into anything earthly, pride would have to be saved for last. It filled him with a sort of protective rage, bitter at Heaven about things that had already happened to him and to things that were still happening to his angel. Getting Aziraphale to feel even an ounce of pride was going to be Crowley’s greatest challenge, and something about that made him, for lack of a better word, rather angry.

And this all, of course, is doing Crowley a disservice, because focusing on this particular sort of love that he holds for Aziraphale is ignoring all the other sorts of love he holds for Aziraphale. Crowley loves that Aziraphale can convince him to walk the line between Heaven and Hell instead of faltering to one side. Crowley loves that Aziraphale asks questions, for his own sake and for humanity’s. Crowley loves all the little things that make Aziraphale human, the little joys in his eye from simple pleasures like a nice evening with friends or getting to stay at home surrounded by books. That is to say, of course Crowley loves Aziraphale for all the right reasons. It wouldn’t be real love otherwise. But he loves Aziraphale for all the wrong reasons, too.

#good omens fanfic #good omens #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #felix makes stuff #!#i had to find a way to shorten the title beclaws initially it was essentially the last two lines #*thr33 lines #''crowley loves aziraphale for all the right reasons but he loves him for all the wrong reasons too''#but it's shorter like this vnkldsghsldkghsldgh

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