#writing in a pandemic

[elodieunderglass]

Horror isekai where Perceiving the Weird Eldritch Thing gets you catapulted into a nightmare labyrinth of puzzle-solving.

I.e Those Who Perceive The Hunt of the Goblin King Must Partake In The Labyrinth and Can Only Be Freed If They Complete It In One Day and One Night. By Fae Law. For Reasons.

But the definition of “perception” clearly needs to be updated because some normal guy simply films the Hunt of the Goblin King Behind Arby’s, and puts it on Facebook -

No, not instagram or TikTok, it’s important that it be Facebook -

Because the rules are pretty clear, “the rules are the rules” as is carved ominously in elvish runes above the grim gate, and the Contract is Sealed. and so therefore the guy and 25 of their most random real-life acquaintances must run the gauntlet together. It’s Some Guy, their immediate neighbors, their first partner’s mom, their friends from hobby Facebook groups (oh this poor guy and their hobbies; the elderly birdwatchers from Facebook and the young up-and-coming drag king community), their random teen kid niece, college friends, a dog who also watched the video, a couple consisting of a woman who is the guy’s Facebook friend and showed her husband the video, and the husband doesn’t even know Some Guy, so he’s in the labyrinth and absolutely furious about being forced to be involved, and they proceed to break up over the course of the puzzle.

It’s important that the narrative keeps trying to be a sexy dark horror isekai! but within this the comedic reality of Catherine, 52, the guy’s horse-riding instructor, being passionately involved in escape-room-style puzzle solving and grappling with minor goblins. They are in fact speedrunning the gauntlet.

The Goblin King finally has to say: all right, actually, I only really set all this up to fuck with one (1) guy at a time, thanks for your willingness to participate, but I think all 25 of you can consider the gauntlet fully run.

And the group would be quite hurt by that. The rules are the rules. We have a contract, actually. Let Catherine cook.

[genderqueerdykes]

the COVID 2024-2025 vaccine is now available in some areas, please look into getting yours ASAP

i am a COVID survivor who is dealing with long COVID and permanent lung damage due to having caught the virus in October of 2023. this isn't a flu or a cold. this disease causes serious, permanent long term damage. i'm still struggling with even worse brain fog than i already had previously and sometimes it becomes extremely hard for me to breathe, even in good conditions.

COVID has been surging like crazy in the US this summer due to folks socializing more closely and masking no longer being required in most places. social distancing does not happen here anymore. we need to protect ourselves even while there are not mandates and rules in place stating that you MUST be masked (you still should be masking).

the CDC is stating that everyone ages 6 months and older should get the 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine:

even if you have been vaccinated in the past you still need to keep up with current vaccines as their protection decreases over time, and COVID continues to mutate and become different strains that are resistant to previous vaccines. staying up to date and masking are the only ways to stay safe. viruses mutate to adapt to their hosts, and COVID is no different.

there are currently 5 variants of the Omicron strain of COVID that are responsible for the uptick in recent cases:

from a COVID survivor who doesn't want to go through this shit a second time: vaccinate. wear your masks. wash your hands. social distance. quarantine when sick. take this seriously. it's been 4 years and COVID has done nothing but prove it is here to stay unless we make a huge change in our society.

[akindplace]

I feel like this shouldn’t be a hot take but maybe if you take into consideration what happened in the last three years it makes sense people are exhausted and grieving. Let’s not be so hard on ourselves for going through a pandemic, for going through loss, for going through economic recession and political instability, while being forced to go on as if nothing is happening. Let’s not fall into the mindset that we are weak because we are suffering, or that we deserve that suffering, because when you think about it, too much has been going on, and it’s normal to feel overwhelmed by this.

[epersonae]

Not to be old, but I am thinking about things we lost with the end of over the air TV syndication as a common cultural vector.

I was in a conversation (several conversations) about where to start with Star Trek, and where people started, and ended up formulating the thought that the best way to start is to just randomly encounter whatever happens to be on at the time and go from there. (I know a few people a little older than I am who started with The Animated Series which is a hell of a starting point.) And for decades that meant random reruns in syndication.

Then I just posted about the role of M*A*S*H in my childhood, and that too was all about it just being on kind of in the background all the time.

Then @piratecaptainscaptainpirates posted about seeing declining participation in OFMD stuff, and I was thinking about the same thing that happened gradually after the TAZ Balance finale, and then about fandoms for old shows (both recent-old, someone I follow has been posting a lot of Gallavant gifs? And old-old, like @frommybookbook with Perry Mason), and then, of course, Star Trek.

How much of Star Trek being THE fandom show is due to those years in the 70s and early 80s when TOS was in syndication at whatever random time on whatever local station? (similarly in the US with Doctor Who through the 80s on local PBS stations) When new fans can just happen upon the source material by turning on the TV on a Saturday afternoon, or every weeknight at 7, etc etc.

Idk, I'm sure someone with an actual scholarly background has written something about this, and idk what this means for the future of our little subculture(s), it just made me ponder the landscape that I grew up in that simply does not exist now.

[most-normal-eccles-cake-ignorer]

Good Omens: Lockdown and Crowley not mentioning his living situation in S2*

*till S2E6 when he asks if he can have his apartment back bc he's bored of living in his car but Aziraphale doesn’t hear bc mentally he’s in Alpha Centauri.

Having read the 'Crowley doesn't tell him' Neil Gaiman ask close to when I first listened to Lockdown (I lived under a rock until recently), my initial thought was HAS HE BEEN LIVING IN HIS CAR FOR YEARS?! but I think he was still in his apartment in 2020:

as far as Hell knows, Crowley just had a pool party in holy water (the holiest) so the higher-ups are probably willing to give him some space (plus Beelzebub is busy going on pub dates w Gabriel)

while there should be ~8 months between the end of Season 1 events (The Very First Day of the Rest of Their Lives on Sunday, Aug 25, 2019) and the Lockdown phonecall (on or near the 30 year anniversary on May 1, 2020), I can't imagine that's a very long time for Hell, especially if you're understaffed and busy dealing with fallout from Almostgeddon / going on pub dates

Shax dropping off mail and asking about the boiler seems like something one does in the first few months of living somewhere, not ~3 years in (if S2 is in 2023)

That said, I think the phone call underlines why Crowley never directly tells Aziraphale that he is living in the Bentley in S2, and it's just a great conversation (all hail Gaiman) sooo I wrote about it:

***Note: This post analyzes the Lockdown phonecall from Crowley's perspective only. Our heroine is feeling quite emotionally vulnerable at this point in time so things are going to hit him harder than they normally would.

I do not think Aziraphale meant to cause him pain (!!) but Crowley can't see that yet and I've written this post in a way that reflects that missing insight. (I explain in more detail in this reblog if you are interested) I am working on a companion post for Aziraphale's side of this conversation and how I think it affects his behavior in S2 because if we know anything about these two, it's that their exactlys are different exactlys.***

Crowley’s habit of sleeping to skip time like an RPG character by a campfire amuses me to no end, but in this context it feels heavy. Crowley already worries about losing time with what he loves and he probably hoped things would be different between him and Aziraphale after the events of S1. But things don’t change much. Then lockdowns start, and Crowley is trapped in his apartment alone, transcendentally bored, and unable to make his brain shut up. Sleeping a month away starts to sound less awful.

But Crowley hasn’t given up yet; he’s still awake when Aziraphale calls, and he’s even giving it two more days. Was he waiting for Aziraphale to call? Is it even possible not to at least kind of wait for someone’s call when you are cut off from everything and the caller has been your only friend and crush for millennia?

Aziraphale asks why Crowley isn't "out and about" tempting people or setting a bad example and he responds:

C: Everyone's so miserable and cooped up right now anyway, and I just… well… don't have the heart for it. A: *glowing audibly* I'm not miserable~ C: Really?

Crowley sounds genuinely surprised at Aziraphale's happiness and quickly assumes it's because the angel has been around people. He's so lonely/depressed/in his own head that he hadn't even considered someone enjoying being 'cooped up'. *sob*

Aziraphale goes No actually I put the closed sign up in the window and I'm having the Time of My Life, never had so few customers, not in 200 years!, etc. Although, he says:

A: …There were a few young lads a couple of nights ago who broke in through the back and tried to steal the cashbox! But they soon saw the error of their ways~ C: *clearly amused* Did you smite them with your wroth? A: Well I certainly gave them a good talking to, and I sent each of them home with cake~ C: *annoyed, swooning* Cake? A: Quite a lot of cake, actually. C: *physically ill from having such a giant crush on this dumbass baker/security guard* eeeekkkgghhh I'm gonna regret asking but.. ...rrgh.. *30 seconds of Aziraphale joyfully describing his baking while Crowley probably tries very hard not to imagine the angel eating each item in sensual slow motion* I stg you can hear him struggling in the background once or twice

A: …And once I've baked them, I have to eat them all myself, which was why I was so delighted— C: To send your burglars home laden with baked goods, yes, nnyeaayeah I follow…

Crowley interrupts, finishing Aziraphale's sentence in his nervous hurry to say the next bit:

C: *loud inhale* You know, I could.. hunker down at your place. … Slither over and watch you eat cake. I could bring a bottle--a case of… something… drinkable…?

He's trying to sound so casual about it but this is someone who was rejected/abandoned by actual literal God after asking what he thought were welcome, uncontroversial questions. Asking makes him vulnerable. He's supposed to be the rescuer, not a demon in distress. He does not feel casual about asking.

Crowley knows it's unlikely but he's so miserable and desperate for company that he can't help but ask, just in case. Even the smallest chance of spending time trapped indoors with Aziraphale—with nothing to do but drink, watch him eat, and talk about things they'd normally avoid—is too tempting.

A: *panicking* Oh I— I— I— I— I'm afraid that would be Breaking All The Rules! *nervous breathing* Out of the question! I'll see you… when this is over. C: Right. gnnehh. I'm setting the alarm clock for July. Good night, angel. *dial tone*

And just like that, Crowley doesn't need two days to decide. The depression nap doubles in length. He doesn't hear how badly Aziraphale wants to say yes behind the fear, or maybe he does and it hurts worse because why isn't Crowley enough for him? You can almost hear the spiralling:

SHOCKING, asking made it worse. It always does doesn’t it? Why even bother? you just embarrass yourself.. SLITHER over? why did I say that *grumble grumble* of COURSE His Holy Holiness, your only friend in the universe, would rather eat cake by himself while everything goes to shit than ~deign~ to have you in his presence. "AsK aND yE sHaLl ReCeIvE" bugger this for a lark im going to bed

(a bit dramatic but we've all been there)

I imagine sleep doesn't come right away. Maybe his thoughts drift to when he sat beside the angel at a dark Tadfield bus stop after a rather eventful Saturday. Crowley must've felt a tiny bit hopeful when he invited Aziraphale to stay with him: Heaven had withdrawn its favor and the bookshop was gone; Aziraphale was like him now. Didn't that mean things would change?

"I don't think my side would like that." Apparently not.

In the end, Aziraphale did ride the bus back to Crowley's apartment and stayed till the next morning when he caught a cab, but only to sell the illusion. Crowley understood that as far as sides went, the angel was still on Heaven's, even if Heaven wasn't on his.

And now this: the entire world is shut down; there is nothing for Aziraphale to do but stay in and read and bake in his magically reconstituted bookshop and he still won't invite Crowley in. Burglars and un-fallen angels only—nobody who asks questions.

So... of course Crowley doesn't tell Aziraphale when he loses his apartment. He already knows what answer he would get; the angel has told him so many times. Aziraphale is a company man first, a companion to one very sad owl when convenient.

If Crowley works up the courage to say 'please take me in, I have nowhere else to go' and Aziraphale goes 'sorry, no, far too political, but I WILL risk being erased from the Book of Life to protect this nude amnesiac former coworker who always hated me,' it's going to be too much. You can't sleep long enough for that type of hurt to go away. Better not to say anything.

"Then nothing has to change, does it?"

[iris-of-the-eye]

Me making TMA fanfic writers write more Protocol fics so our fandom could get into the 2025 ao3 femslash top 100 list

[starstuffandalotofcoffee]

one last thing before unfortunately i must send work emails (thank god i am wfh today) is that like. this is a very not fun statement but I think you have to find the line between self-care and...I hesitate to say "neoliberalism" given how warped the meaning of that word has become but like, overwhelming prioritization of the individual. That doesn't mean you shouldn't focus on yourself and your family and friends at this time, and you absolutely should not become someone who believes activism is constantly giving yourself over to every bad news item you hear; you do need to disconnect and to find happiness despite it all. but like, there is a difference between stay in bed today and watch movies vs. stay in bed for four years, you know?

[sucremedy]

sometimes i forget that my lockdown era syntax course wrote down quotes of all the insane shit our professor said during our semester together and. then i come across the document again and i feel like i'm having an out of body experience

[i-still-mask-because]

Let's talk about masking! 😷✨

The image description is in the alt text!

I'm hoping this flyer would help those that didn't already know the difference between masks, quality masks, and respirators, as well as some of the variety of options out there for quality, comfortable, breathable, snug-fitting masks & respirators!

Reblogs are tremendously appreciated, and please feel free to share this wherever you can! Print this, hang this up in your school, hang this up in your neighborhood, hang this up in public transportation, repost this, etc., etc., etc.!!!

[oh-bonerline]

He’s too handsome 🥺🥺🥺

[gracie-rosee]

There’s a startling lack of TOG content for sjm romance week. I fear a lot of tog writers have gone and disappeared 🥺

[birinboom]

not sure why but I'm once again thinking about the Kiri x reader roommates to lovers quarantine fic I never got around to writing during the pandemic... (would people even be interested in reading something like that now that it's finally over?)

Kiri is fine as roommates go. He keeps his mess out of the communal areas, he leaves your food alone, he pays rent on time. Most of that, you think, is probably attributed to him only using his room for sleep. It's rare to see him outside of early mornings while you're both preparing for work. After work he usually hangs out with his friends, or goes to the gym, or whatever, coming home long after you've retired to your own room.

You don't really mind; you have the apartment mostly to yourself this way. And it's not like you really know him, anyway. He's just a roommate.

Then the pandemic happens.

You're surprised, to be honest, that he doesn't go stay with one of his friends. But he doesn't, and now you're stuck with him. And you soon learn just how loud he can be; he cranks the volume on the video calls with his friends, laughing boisterously at almost anything they say. He shrieks and hollers at the online games they play. And even though he's quick to turn the volume down when you scowl at him, it still frustrates you to no end.

Until one morning where you discover him on the verge of a breakdown, trying his best to not cry into his cereal. You learn about how lonely he is. How much he misses physical human contact. Cranking the volume makes it feel like his friends are in the same room as him again, but it doesn't change how touch-starved he is.

"Can I have a hug?" he asks, eyes red-rimmed and brimming with tears.

You realize in that moment that you could probably use a hug too. And maybe this is a good opportunity to actually get to know your roommate.

[writterings]

i sometimes genuinely l believe that most present day internet discourse on the morality of consuming specific types of fiction comes from the steven universe and voltron fandoms circa 2016-2018. but what do i know.

[nightmanatee]

anyways it wasn't chibbs decision to make 13->11 eps long season, to switch xmas specials with new year ones, flux production was a NIGHTMARE (also led to chris and jodie declining other offers bc of the contract), he did want to have 3 seasons (and not ,w with exiting in 2022 btw), saturday->sunday timeslot again not his idea, he did want to make spin offs but there was 0 budget for it and he also said he eas reassured by bbc that the show won't end with his last ep.

it was all bbc's decisions.

I know I don't have any nmds/chibnall haters as my followers but i do hope this post may reach them bc there were many things said about him and about half of them: about those particular parts.

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

today is one of those days where i'm really grumpy at writing. like, for reals?? i'm wasting my one wild and precious life trying and failing to do THIS dumb activity for NO DISCERNIBLE REASON???

[innytoes]

Between looking up houses in LA on zillow for a fanfic and researching how US medical debt works for that same fic, I have concluded that Ray Molina is a hit man.