#The season is also about how the system isn’t fair
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There Is No Perfect System
There’s no dipping one’s toe into the solarpunk stream without noticing that although not all solarpunks are anarchists, there is a strong sense in solarpunk that we won’t be living happily, freely, and sustainably until we dismantle both capitalism and the state.
Ah, but if only it was only capitalism that is capable of social and environmental savagery. And, hey, hang on a second. It’s not as if even democracies can only be stifling and oppressive.
I will admit that for decades I too have dreamed of living in a society where we didn’t need the police, prisons, or laws because we all just voluntarily treat each other decently and all personally make sure to commit no crimes against the environment. But the older me has become skeptical that such a systemless system could ever work. Are we going to ship all the people who can’t play well with others to Mars? Look at how much trouble we’re having already, especially now that so many people (and politicians) have figured out that they can pretty much get away with murder by ignoring the social norms that keep society functioning by filling in the gaps in between the laws.
I’m 100% with you when you say that capitalism has been terrible for people and the planet. The less carefully regulated capitalism is, the more it is a race to the bottom where 15 people on Earth have all the money, the natural world has given way to soy bean fields, palm oil plantations, and toxic garbage dumps, and the rest of us are living in misery and vastly reduced life expectancy in hovels or in prison.
But—honest question—is there a better alternative?
Communism, as it was practiced in the 20th century, was also terrible for the environment. Often egregiously so. My better half grew up in East Germany and it’s tons less polluted now than it was under communist authoritarianism when, honestly, nobody cared one bit about the damage they were doing to people or nature even when they weren’t under pressure to make profit. Today, under capitalism in a still at least somewhat social democracy, there are rules and investment directed at preventing, among other things, factories and powerplants from dumping their waste or sending it unfiltered out through their chimneys.
As much as it’s easy and not far off the mark to rail against the evils of capitalism, it actually isn’t capitalism—or communism or any other -ism—that treats the environment as nothing more than a repository of resources for human use. It’s the people operating within the framework of capitalism (etc)—or at least a pretty good chunk of them. And if that is the case, why should we expect that anarchism and its lack of a state will magically delivery us from the human selfishness, laziness, shortsightedness, and greed that lies at the root of the cruelest, most unjust, most environmentally damaging, and most unsustainable aspects of capitalism?
No matter what, we will never escape ourselves. Wherever we go, there we still will be at the heart of any system we use to order ourselves and our economies.
It is as my friend Don, the now retired librarian that I talked to in Season 2, Episode 2 of the podcast, was telling me the other day. It’s comforting to think that we just need to set up the perfect system and then everything will be utopian. But there is no perfect system because systems are created and administered by people and every single one of us is flawed. We are all to some degree—although some of us to more degrees than others—clever but stupid, short–sighted but wise, fair but unfair, greedy but generous, hard working but lazy, clear thinking but delusional, and honest but mendacious.
So why are we dreaming of the day that we finally have a perfect system when instead we should be working on ourselves and how we work together to get things done?
This isn’t to say that some systems aren’t worse than others. I mean, who wants anything as lacking in counterbalancing measures as monarchies, repressive authoritarian regimes, or dictatorships?
In the name of the sensible aspects of solarpunk, let’s work with what we have on hand: the the democracies that, at least as of the time of this writing, we still have. Let’s put our dreams of anarchistic perfection on the back burner and get down to the very real, very urgently needed work of shoring up our democracies against the corrosive attacks undermining them.
I don’t know about you, but given the upcoming elections and all the hatred people seem to have for each other, for the first time in my entire life, I’m worried about what the near future will be like. And I feel like that by the time we all take to the streets to rail against the rise in authoritarianism, it may already be too late.
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Chapter 3: Blaise Zabini and his increasing exasperating day
Series Masterlist
By the third week of school Blaise had a schedule set up. Wake up at 7am and take a run around the Quidditch pitch. (And when Quidditch season starts he has already decided he’s just going to wake up even earlier). Take a shower, get ready and make it to the Great Hall early enough to be the first person to sit down at the Slytherin table.
The schedule is perfect. He gets to dodge his roommates, release some energy on his run, take his time getting ready to make sure he feels prepared for the day; all with enough time to make sure he gets access to all the food first so he isn’t just eating everyones leftovers.
It’s great.
It also allows him plenty of room to switch up his schedule. Nothing major, getting up at 7 and being first at the table are non negotiable. But everything in between can be subject to change.
Which leads to situations like today, where Blaise is heading to the kitchens for the first time in his Hogwarts career. After reading through Hogwarts : A History Blaise has come to the conclusion that the best way to get an audience with the Hogwarts elves is through the kitchen. As he approaches the infamous painting with a bowl of fruit which is said to lead to his destination, Blaise stops and for the first time wonders, “What the hell am I going to say?”.
This leads to Blaise pacing in front of the portrait for a good few minutes having an internal debate with himself.
Ok, what’s my end goal?
I want to be in their good graces.
Why?
Because they do so much for the castle and everyone is ungrateful.
…cute. What else?
…It would be nice if they would drop off my clothes when I’m there so I can organize them. How I like it, to keep it in perfect condition.
That sound so fucking pretentious.
Well I am pretentious so what of it?
Fair.
But how am I going to word that?
I don’t know, it's probably best to just be honest and get it over wi-
“Can we help you sir?” squeaked a voice to his left.
Blaise, stiffly, turned towards the voice to find an elf poking her head out from behind the portrait. All that could be seen was her bat-like ears and large blue eyes.
“Yes, actually I was wondering if I could speak to an elf about some…request I have concerning my clothing?” Blaise choked out.
I hate this, is all Blaise could think as he watched the elf process what he just said. How could I be so stupid as to not plan this out? I always plan out my conversations, that’s what I do, I plan.
“Would you like to discuss it now or shall I find you later, sir?”
“Now works just fine.” said Blaise doing his best to hold in his frown at the formal way she addresses him.
“Oh well,” she muttered, clearly unprepared to have someone actually want to speak to her “ please come inside so that we can figure something out.”
Bliase followed her through the portrait and took a breath just to absorb all the wonderful smells he was suddenly surrounded by. He did his best not to stare at the way the elves were so focused and coordinated in their movements in preparation for the children they were about to serve.
The little elf sat him down at a small table against the wall, out of the way of the mass operation commencing at the same time that Blaise came to beg for them to take special care in delivering his laundry.
I don’t like this.
“So what I can I help you with?” she practically whispered, refusing to make eye contact.
I don’t like this.
“I’m sorry I’d just prefer if instead of putting my clothes away for me, if we could set up a time where I can take the clothes from you personally, so I can put them away myself.”
She did a slow absent blink.
“I just am really particular about how I have my personal items set up, I have systems etc. So I’d really just appreciate it if you could give me my clothes directly.”
Another blink.
I don’t like this.
You’re too deep now, you must commit.
“I’ve noticed you all tend to clean the rooms and put away the clothes between 11pm-12am every Tuesday while I’m at astronomy with the other Slytherins of my year.”
Another blink.
“So if instead you could meet me just before or after astronomy so that I can take care of it myself, that would be perfect.”
Another blink.
Blaise whipped his palms on his slacks as covertly as he could under the table.
Why won’t she say something?
“You don’t want us to put away your clothes for you?” she mumbles with a shaky breath.
“Yes…” Blaise is starting to become incredibly worried with the condition that the elf is in.
“But everyone prefers it when we do it for them.” She now has a tone of confusion that does nothing to aid Blaise’s stress levels.
“Well I am weird in that sense, I have a bit of an obsession with organization so-” he trails off trying to find the right words “- I really appreciate all that you all do for us but if I could do this one thing for myself I would be infinitely happier.”
Another blink.
Blaise sends her his most disarming smile.
“Okay.” she agrees as if she was winded.
“Okay?”
“Okay, what’s your name sir?”
“Blaise Zabini.”
“Well Mr. Zabini, I shall ensure to arrive 30 minutes before your astronomy class with your clothes.” she promises with wringing her hands together.
“Thank you so much…”
“Daisy.” she stammered.
“What a lovely name, thank you so much Daisy. I’ll see you then.” Blaise said quickly.
Eager to be finished with that conversation and out of the kitchens, he walks as quickly as possible without looking rushed out of the kitchens and to the Great Hall.
I hated that.
I hated that so much.
Why the hell didn’t I plan that conversation out.
The things I do for organization, is the last thought Blaise allows himself to have before he stares at all the food before him losing his appetite entirely only being able to force down two pieces of bread with jam and a chalice of apple juice.
--------------------------------------
He sets off to History Of Magic the second he convinces himself that he’s eaten enough. He arrives beyond early, not even Binn’s is here yet. The classroom is set up the same as a muggle ‘Lecture’ classroom he visited for an abroad program in the States- though he’d never voice the comparison outloud. He takes his usual seat- he far back against the right wall to give him a perfect view of the entire classroom. Pulling out his textbook, parchment and his quills and sets himself up for today's lecture.
Blaise loves History of Magic.
He might be the only person to have ever sat in this classroom and to have thought that unironically. And he’s fine with that. There’s something about history that has always consumed Blaise. And it seems not even Binn’s monotone voice can kill his love for the stories of the past.
And so by the time Blaise has perfected his setup, students begin to trickle in. First is a Hufflepuff girl. Blaise has seen her around before; it's practically impossible not to, considering they share 3 classes together a week, but it's more than that. She seems to not exist outside of these classes. Everyone else Blaise catches a glimpse of in the hallway or at dinner or lunch or just somewhere. But she seems to disappear the second she walks out of the classroom.
And it pisses Blaise off.
Blaise likes to think of himself as observant. He knows things about people. He can tell that despite having met only in the beginning of the year two Ravenclaw boys are already squabbling with each other. He can tell that ever since she’s demonstrated her brilliance Hermione Granger has been isolated from her house. He can tell when Flitwick is having a bad day. He can tell Pansy is getting an irritating letter from home. He can tell when Susan Bones is talking down to Anthony Goldstein despite her sweet tone.
What he can’t tell is who the hell this Hufflepuff is. All he has is a name and information gathered from his eavesdropping. Name: “Isabella Reyes”. Isabella is apparently Black and Latino, which tracks with her light brown skin and curly black hair constantly pulled into a messy ponytail. She’s a Hufflepuff. Blaise had to stop himself from exclaiming, “No shit we all wear house robes.” when he heard someone whispering it to their friend group like it was the juiciest piece of gossip ever heard. And that’s it.
That is all Blaise has gathered in the weeks since starting school.
And it keeps him up at night.
And what is most upsetting is, there is no real way to fix this.
Blaise refuses to become a stalker, eavesdropping hasn’t gained him any information, and he will not speak to her directly.
Not even an option.
This plagues him. Far more than it should considering he’s never spoken to her.
But just as he starts to gain momentum in his frustration Binns begins the class…and at what point everyone filled in the seats Blaise couldn't tell you.
An hour and half later, Blaise has been sufficiently distracted with information about Emeric the Evil.
That is until he runs right into the problem he needed to be distracted from, knocking her right to the floor.
Damn. Two unplanned conversations and one bad meal in a day. What have I done to deserve this? Blaise asks the Universe as he puts out his hand to help Isabella up.
“Thanks.” she says shortly as he takes his hand.
A short “a”. She pronounced “Thanks” with a short “a” sound.
“You’re American.” Blaise states plainly, pulling her up.
All this time and the first thing and that's the first thing I say? I don’t know what I did, but Universe I am sorry.
She looks at him like he's an idiot. “Yes, thanks for pointing that out for me.”
They both start collecting her books and papers from the floor. Why have a school bag if you're just going to carry everything in your hands?
Blaise hovers with tense shoulders as he hands her her things to put away. Finished, she turns to leave and makes it four steps before turning back around and asking, “Can I ask you a weird question?”
“You just did.”
She was not amused with this response.
“I’m going to take that as a yes. What were you doing pacing outside the Hufflepuff common room?”
Daisy must have rubbed off on Blaise because all he could think to do was blink.
“This morning~” she taunts.
“I wasn’t pacing outside of your common room, I was pacing outside of the kitchens.”
She was quick, “Why?”
“I needed to ask for a favor from the elves?”
“Why?”
“Because I need their help.”
“Why?”
“None of your business.”
“You’re one to talk.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve seen you people watching. I’ve seen you blend into the background and listen in on people’s conversations.”
There’s a beat.
“Incorrect, try again.”
Another beat.
“Excuse me?”
“What you are implying is factually incorrect, I don’t do any of those things on purpose. They just happen.” Blaise said confidently.
Blaise Zabini is a bold-faced liar to everyone but his mother. He has mastered the art of spouting false information with expressions varying from a straight face to the most dazzling smile anyone has ever seen. The only one who has ever seen through this is his mother, hence why he doesn’t like to lie to her.
It's pointless to even attempt to.
The second the sentence leaves his mouth, Isabella is striding towards him. Blaise resists the urge to take a step back when she stops right in front of him.
And then she stares. She stares right into his eyes and suddenly Blaise feels compelled to tell the truth.
Before he can even think of something to say in response to her actions she takes another step forward and this time he can’t stop himself from taking a step back.
“I know that you don’t know me yet so I’m going to let that lie slide. But for the record, I do not appreciate being lied to. I will clock any lies you tell me whether it is in the moment or after digging, but I will find out. So I strongly suggest, for the sake of your health and sanity, that going forward you are just honest to me. Either tell me the truth, or that you aren’t comfortable to talk about it or whatever logic you have behind not wanting to tell me something but do not lie. Because from now on I will not accept you looking me in my face and lying to me.”
She takes a moment to breathe “ Okay?”
“Definitely, I’m sor-”
“Don’t apologize, just don’t do it again.”
And with that threat (?) she turns around, makes a left and is gone.
…Blaise has even more questions than he did before.
Starting with, what the hell does she mean “yet”?
Author's notes: thanks for reading
#blaise zabini#draco malfoy#harry potter#slytherin#slytherin boys#pansy parkinson#theodore nott#blaise x oc
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fixer upper
a short rivals duo au fic based on this prompt by @mahikamihan! featuring robot technoblade and human dream! i hope y'all enjoy.
●・○・●・○・● ●・○・●・○・● ●・○・●・○・● ●・○・●・○・●
It was the glint of light in the middle of the overgrown field that caught Dream’s eye.
All that was out here was grass and corn that hadn’t been harvested in at least two seasons, tall and brown and escaping the rows that once were carefully tended. There shouldn’t be anything glass or metal or tall enough to reflect like that and at first Dream thought he must have imagined it. But then the corn and grass began to thin until he was in a small, round clearing.
In the middle was what looked like scrap metal at first. He pushed some of the tall grass out of the way to get a better look.
“What—?”
Dream wasn’t certain what exactly he had expected but a robot wasn’t one of those things, especially not one that was shaped like a pig.
It wasn’t in good condition either; the pink paint that had once coated it was faded and peeling in most places and there patches of rust here and there. It seemed to be missing an ear and had been relegated to scarecrow in a long forgotten field.
Dream could’ve left it there, hauling it all the way back home would be a pain in the ass, but there was something the goofy eye sockets and the one bent ear that made him decide that maybe it would be worth it.
“This is so dumb,” he muttered to himself and began loading the robot into his cart.
Leaning back on his stool, Dream wiped his hands off on the grease stained rag.
He had been working on repairing the robot for days. At first he had thought of it as a side project, not something he really cared about, but now it felt important to Dream to get him working.
The first thing he had done was take care of the rusting before moving on to the circuits and wires that connected the operating system. Dream could have replaced it completely, upgraded it, but then it wouldn’t be him anymore and Dream wanted to see whatever personality program this pig-shaped robot had.
The work was almost done. All that was left was to replace the old battery with a new one and switch him on. There was a nervous flutter in Dream’s chest as he flipped on the power. If it didn’t work, he would’ve spent all this time for nothing.
And there was nothing at first.
Dream frowned.
Then there was a mechanical whirl and a low tone from the robot as the eyes lit up.
“Bbbb… Bbbbruuuuuuhhhhh.”
Dream waved a hand in front of the large white and black eyes.
The lights blinked, mimicking the way someone would slowly blink their eyes.
“Can I help you?”
Long pauses came between each word, as if the voice box was warming up, and maybe Dream was reading too much into it but he also sounded slightly annoyed.
“Well, I mean, technically I’m helping you,” said Dream.
The robot made a noise that definitely sounded like dissent. Dream narrowed his eyes a little about to say something when he was cut off.
“Really?”
The sarcasm was clear.
“Yes, really,” he said, pushing some scraps aside with his foot. “You’re—You shouldn’t even be able to ask that, sarcasm isn’t in your programing.”
“And you know this how?”
There was a slight glitch to how the robot spoke, cutting in and out, but Dream got the message loud and clear. He rolled his eyes and tried to keep the smile off his face. It didn’t work.
“Okay, I don’t but—but to be fair, you shouldn’t be able to respond like that.”
The robot’s one ear moved slightly, metal scraping against metal.
“Are you sure?”
Robots didn’t blink and so Dream gave a huff of laughter and looked away.
“No, but—Okay, fine, apparently you’re programed for sarcasm.” Dream reached for the small can of oil and greased the hinges of the ear. “Do you do anything useful?”
A low humming sound filled the pause before the answer.
“I’m optimized for combat and farmin’ potatoes,” he said.
“What!? That’s bullshit, there’s no way you’re programmed for combat.” Dream paused, tilting his head and grinning a little as the robot mimicked him. “The potato thing I believe, though.”
The robot lifted his arms in an approximation of a shrug. Those hinges squeaked as well and Dream greased them without thinking.
“I don’t know what to tell you, man.” The voice box cut out for a moment. “That’s my function.”
“Okay, sure,” said Dream, deciding that if he argued, it wasn’t going to go his way, and switching tactics. “Do you have a name?”
This pause was longer than all the others.
“Technoblade.”
“Technoblade? What kind of name is that?”
The white and black eyes narrowed.
“What’s your name?” Technoblade asked.
“Dream.”
“Dream?” A beeping sound followed, small lights on the side of Technoblade’s head flashing briefly. “I don’t think you’re one to be talkin’ about names, Dream.”
The bark of laughter that escaped Dream was involuntary and he tried to stifle it.
“Oh my god! You’re so annoying.”
“That’s also my function.”
Dream rolled his eyes.
“Whatever, let me finish fixing you up,” he said.
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Okay I’m on another thought train and you are the designated person to travel with me on these trips. So. Consider. Reverse omens, right? Classic. Sometimes it’s all the angels and demons flipped, sometimes it’s just the husbands. But consider. Reverse omens but ONLY ineffable bureaucracy gets switched. If anything I think this has the possibility to be the MOST interesting variation of this au because, like, if only Aziraphale and Crowley are switched it changes some things but they’re like…middle to upper-middle class in terms of ranking? Not much about the structure of how things work in heaven and hell changes. Everyone gets switched? More variation but arguably too many moving parts and characters to keep track of. Just Beelzebub and Gabriel (or as Beez would probably called according to our headcanons Zuriel. And …whatever Gabriel is called in this. Any thoughts?) get switched? Throws the whole system into chaos! Like here’s how I see it. Season 1 Gabriel was a total asshole. No doubts about it. Heaven was institutionally fucked up and half of it was probably his fault. Beelzebub though? I’ve always had more of an impression that hell was bad because it’s, y’know, hell. Not that Beelzebub themself was an awful boss. Like aside from killing Eric that one time and yelling a bunch they actually seem like a pretty fair boss. Just evil because that’s their job. So like in this universe hell would be like…infinitely worse. But heaven? I feel like it would actually be substantially less fucked up with Beelzebub calling the shots. The other archangels and the metatitty would likely still cause problems as always but I genuinely don’t think it would be as bad. Crowley likely has a bunch of trauma now so oops but like Aziraphales boss is pretty chill so he likely isn’t as messed up as usual. They probably do still have that firm belief in Armageddon and all that but there probably less “we’ll kill you if you don’t go along with this. pick a side Aziraphale” about it and more “Look man I’ve been ignoring you and my brothe- (yes I’m bringing ssiblingzz shit into this. You probably know my brainrot well enough by now to have guessed I would.) Crowley’s shit for millennia I can’t do that any more. It’s time to fight. Please stop being stubborn I don’t wanna have kill you you’re the only bitch I respect up here.” (Beelzebub has always seemed more aware of Aziraphale and Crowley’s situation than Gabe so I kind of think in this situation they’d actually be the type to turn a blind eye to it?)
I do have more thoughts but I need to make food so enjoy this for now and share any of your ideas. I’ll probably be back soon with more.
OOOOOH WAIT YOUVE GOT A POINT THERE- I think Gabe would be some demon like perhaps Camio (from googling, he seems to be "Demon of persuassion and communication", which seems very up his alley, and his Wikipedia article mentioned him being leader of a bunch of demons, so it makes sense-), and he'd treat Hastur, Shax, and Ligur like he treats Uriel, Michael, and Sandalphon. Beez would for sure be dry, and tired, but I think ze'd be a pretty good boss too- the other Archangels may treat zir with an actual respect! ze might also give Aziraphale some slack for interacting with Crowley, since a) it's zir brother, and b) ze might understand how he feels 👀 Demon!Gabe (Cammy?) tho, he'd smell more of plastic-promises, be more manipulative and conniving, and maybe even be more in his element, cuz being a demon doesn't take a "I'm smart and mighty, follow me" mentality, it takes an obey-or-die mentality. I mean, "t-o-s-t...e. TOAST!!" put great emphasis on that ADHFH- (also him possibly being considered as Lucifer's brother? and fellow starmaker with Angel!Crowley?? SO MANY ANGST OPPORTUNITIES-) however, he would probably be extra with keeping track of the intentions of Crowley's miracles, and yeahh poor Crowbro may be kinda frucked up even more-
I think once he sees how Zuriel actually cares about him and sees him as someone other than a big scary demon, as an actual friend and companion who understands him, he puts down his guard and fight-or-flight, and changes for the better with zir. (maybe he didn't particularly enjoy having to manipulate and scare others into doing what he'd been ordered to do, but had to in order to survive? or maybe he and his possible brother team up and are conniving little shits, whatever you think is best ^^)
THANK YOU FOR SHARING ALL OF THIS WITH ME I LOVE YOUR HEADCANONS ADN STUFF SO MUCHVAHFJDHG
#the birds have spoken#YIPPEE MOOTS#YIPPEE FLOSS#good Omens#good omens swap au#beelzebub good omens#gabriel good omens#ineffable bureaucracy#reverse bureaucracy#ssiblingzz
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after s2 rewatch im fully over coffee theory i dont mind if i turn out wrong but anyway
aziraphale originally doesn’t want to go back bc of course he doesn’t heaven is corrupt and everything he loves is on earth
but then he finds out he can make the rules and can bring crowley and that angelic part of him knows he can’t turn his back on a chance to do good on that scale. sure it’ll probably turn out that heaven’s issues are so institutionalised that it can’t be changed just by shaking up the leadership, but ever the slightly naive optimist aziraphale doesn’t believe this.
he has faith in himself, and he has faith in crowley and what they can achieve together. he has also witnessed thousands of years of crowley covertly doing good because it’s in his nature, but he isn’t supposed to actually do it. aziraphale sees an out for crowley, a way he can do the good he’s always been doing without having to pretend. he can be nice.
as aziraphale leaves the metatron he looks uncertain but by the time he’s in front of crowley he’s worked himself up and i think this is because he is sad about the bookshop and leaving earth and the way things are changing. but the thing that matters is crowley. (he was willing to give away books to make sure the ball happened and i would bet money on his dance with crowley also being a big part of his plan in that regards) he gets to keep the one thing most important to him, whilst doing the good he has always fiercely cared about doing. he’s willing to sacrifice everything in order to do good, which just goes to show his strength and belief in himself.
i don’t believe if he was influenced so strongly he would care so strongly. he wouldn’t beg crowley to come with him, wouldn’t insist this was the right thing to do, wouldn’t harden his resolve enough to bite back an ‘i l-’ to be replaced with an ‘i forgive you’. this is personal, it hurts, it is a sacrifice he makes for the sake of light. truth. goodness. he’s an angel. maybe the best angel.
it’s part religious trauma/naivety, part faith in himself (that has of course been built up in part by crowley), part want for crowley’s undeserved punishment to be undone and for him to be properly ‘free’. aziraphale wants to put into motion the ‘shades of grey’ mentality crowley has taught him. he wants to better a broken system and he isn’t willing to let it go without a fight because a) it’s been there his entire existence but also b) he isn’t the giving up kind. he helps gabriel even after everything. why would he stop there? his goodness knows no bounds.
‘come with me’ he knows he can’t turn his back on things now. he knows he’s got to do it no matter the personal cost. which is why he’s desperate for crowley to come around. because this is going to happen with or without crowley, and just like with helping gabriel, he’d always rather do it with crowley at his side.
i think it makes perfect sense for his development. not only by showing he still has trauma to work through regarding heaven, but by also showing the effect crowley has had on him working in tandem with who he’s always been. crowley has shown him how nuanced morality is, how heaven isn’t fair, and he sees this. and because he’s aziraphale, and he’s ‘far too pure of heart’, he’s going to try to implement change instead of getting out. he didn’t run from armageddon. he didn’t run from helping gabriel. it’s not like him to turn away from this ‘chance’.
i think his expression in the lift is him trying to put aside his pain and look ahead at his imagined future and the difference he can make. because without crowley he is still him. he is still an angel who wants to do good. this season kind of showed us how crowley is sort of afloat, and his only real purpose seems to be in regards to aziraphale but aziraphale threw himself straight into the gabriel mystery, has an active life amongst the street and its inhabitants. hes never seemed as untethered as crowley.
aziraphale is going to realise and work through some things about himself in season 3. crowley needs to find himself. and when they come back together it can be in a way that suits them both, where they can be themselves but also together, crowley isn’t a ‘second in command’, they are equals and they are two individuals who are also in love.
it all, painfully, makes some sort of sense.
#does this have much of a strucure? not really#but i felt so strongly i just had to brain fart#aziraphale defender until i die#good omens#good omens 2#good omens season two#good omens spoilers#good omens s2#good omens s2 spoilers#aziracrow#aziraphale#crowley#ineffable husbands
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Best Underrated Anime Group F Round 1: #F4 vs #F5
#F4: Young boxer in futuristic Japan fights in tournament
Follows the story of a young man that only goes by his ring name “Junk Dog”, set in the late 21st century. People live in a large metropolis, those without citizenship forced in slums called the Restricted Area. Junk Dog fights in fixed matches in the Restricted Area in a sport called Megalo Box, which is boxing augmented by metal exoskeletons.
One day, Junk Dog almost crashes into the CEO of the Shirato Company on his motorcycle, and he tries to pick a fight with her guard, Yuri. Yuri ends up fighting Junk Dog in a match, beating him and challenging him to fight him in a tournament called Megalonia. Forging an ID and taking the name Joe with help from his coach, the young fighter only has 3 months to win enough matches to rank high enough to get into the tournament and face Yuri. Not just for his pride, but also because of threats from the mafia, who wants money from Joe and his coach that they don’t have.
#F5: Kidnapped princess torments demons to get better sleep
The beloved Princess Kaymin Aurora Suya Rhys has been kidnapped from the human kingdom by the wicked demon king. Though she’s treated well, she quickly finds that there isn’t much to do in her cell aside from sleep and comes to the conclusion that the sleeping conditions of a prisoner aren’t fit for a princess. It doesn’t take her long to escape her prison cell and begin her quest of getting a good night’s sleep.
Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!
#F4: Megalo Box
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Propaganda:
Megalo Box is a series that got some recognition during the Crunchyroll Awards. It even aired on Adult swim’s late night anime block, even gaining a second season. But it seems like after the initial season, all interest of the show evaporated. It’s rarely talked about in fandom spaces or in anime video essays.
Which is a shame! It's a solid watch. The music is stellar. The characters are enjoyable, even if the plot of the main character Joe being a massive underdog that claws his way through a boxing tournament is a little predictable. But to be fair, this show was created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the boxing manga Ashita no Joe.
Still, the anime keeps things fresh. It has added political commentary about class and race dynamics. Joe is brown-skinned, looks mixed, and is an undocumented citizen in the city he lives in. He has to fight in illegal fixed Megalo Box matches in the slums in order to make ends meet. Even that provides little protection, as he and his coach Ganbu get threatened by the mob for more money that they can’t produce. It also touches upon how children are abandoned and abused by the system with Sachio.
Joe is the ultimate underdog story. He ends up going by “Gearless Joe” because he fights his matches without wearing any Gear—aka the metal exoskeletons use in Megalo Box. He’s essentially boxing old-school style against others an unfair advantage with tools that augment their punches and movements. Joe did this in the first place because he was too poor to buy a new Gear, his old one falling apart, so he felt he was better off training and using his natural body in matches.
The second season also explores Joe's struggles with depression and drug addiction as he trains another Megalo Boxer, which is interesting and adds another layer to him.
Plus, the show also has racial diversity in the side characters. The English dub cast voice actors of the same ethnicities for Pepe, Chief, and Maria. Also, Kaiji Tang voices Joe, the lead.
Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore.
The anime is about boxing, so characters get beaten up quite a bit (even in fantastical ways). However, there’s also some other violence threats (like Joe’s coach Nanbu getting his eye cut and threatened to earn money by the mafia). Also, a kid named Sachio joins the group to help Joe and gets beaten by thugs and threatened a few times through the series.
#F5: Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle (Maoujou de Oyasumi)
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Propaganda:
This show is probably the single most charming parody of a fantasy RPG setting I’ve ever seen. It takes an extremely generic premise and flips it on its head with a simple shift in protagonist. The characters are all fun in their own right, but Princess Suya steals the show through extreme slapstick violence against her captors and a nonchalant attitude towards literally everything that isn’t immediately related to sleep. While it’s easy for a plot like this to quickly become comedically stale, the show is careful to avoid exhausting its premise by introducing new characters that serve as unique obstacles to Suya’s goals as well as by ramping up the audacity of her actions. Additionally, we get occasional glimpses at the hero’s party as they quest to ‘rescue’ the princess, scenes that serve both as story progression as well as a nice change of pace from the princesses antics. While the premise may not be for everyone, this show executes on its concept flawlessly for anyone who finds the premise amusing.
Trigger Warnings: None.
If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.
#anime#best underrated anime#polls#poll tournament#tournament#anime tournament#animation#animated show#group stage#group stage round 1#tournament polls#megalo box#megalobox#sleepy princess in the demon castle#maoujou de oyasumi#group f
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Personally, I think that's a hell of a bird.
Heaven Sent! (we'll do Hell Bent separately!) it's an episode! that is going to be difficult to talk about! because yes it is good, but I am. I have mixed feelings about it, because I think parts of it rest on everything leading to this point and as we know, looking back at M*ffat's era, everything Did Not lead us to this point. however, if we pretend that it did and do some creative reading of narrative, that is how we'll try to engage with this story
luckily I have a system! otherwise this would become totally incomprehensible (although, this could still happen... watch out)
sexism rank objectification (female character is ogled/harassed/turned into a sex joke by the doctor and/or a lead we’re supposed to root for and/or the camera): 10/10
sexism rank plot-point (lead female character is only there to serve plot, not to have her emotional interiority explored, or given agency to her emotional interiority): 1/10
interesting complex or pointlessly complex (does the complexity serve the narrative or does it just serve to be confusing as a stand-in for smart, this includes visually): 7/10
furthers character and/or lore and/or plot development (broader question that ties into the previous ones, at least two of these, ideally three should be fulfilled): 5/10
companion matters (the companion doesn’t always have to be there, but if the companion is there, can they function without the doctor– and overall per season how often is the companion the focus or POV of the story): 5/10
the doctor is more than just “godlike” (examines the doctor’s flaws and limitations, doesn’t solve a plot by having it revolve entirely around the doctor’s existence): 9/10
doesn’t look down on previous doctor who (by erasing or mocking its importance, by redoing and “bettering” previous beloved plotpoints or characters, etc.): 8/10
isn’t trying to insert hamfisted sexiness (m*ffat famously talked a lot about how dw should be sexier multiple times, he sucks at writing it): 10/10
internal world has consistency (characters have backgrounds, feel rooted in a place with other people, generally feel like they have Lives): 6/10
Politics (how conservative is the story): 6/10
FULL RATING: 67/100 (if I can count….)
according to this rating's system this episode is worse than Face The Raven, which is patently untrue on a quality level, but we're looking at some very Specific criteria, so what canya do
OBJECTIFICATION: Clara is a figment of the Doctor's hallucination and he's not weird about her. I mean, also why would he be, because this Doctor has not been categorised as a lech (I have a theory that it was very much Capaldi's influence that lead to lechery going down basically 100% by this point -- I mean, he did say he didn't want to have any will-they-won't-they with JLC because she's just way younger than he is, and that is incredibly fair, if kind of funny, because of course, regardless of the age of the actor, the Doctor-as-character is usually always much much older than all the Companions. BUT THAT ASIDE LECHERY IS OUT! SCHOOLTEACHER COMPANION IS IN!)
PLOT-POINT: that being said... I know Clara is "dead," and that this episode isn't about her in the slightest, but I get this feeling... you know that one Twitter thread that comes around on this site sometimes about someone who was at a funeral and the dead woman's husband gave eulogy and spoke entirely about himself/what his wife gave to him, and not a single thing about who she was as a person. that's... that sums up Clara to me, and this episode really hammers it home
the Doctor is out for revenge for Clara, but this episode gives us a Doctor who's so sad she's dead, and yet not a single thing in this episode explores that particular sadness. Instead, that sadness is a catalyst for an exploration of the Doctor, with Clara's ghost doing exactly the same as Clara did throughout her run as his Companion -- asking him questions that only he had the answers to. Clara is dead, and yet this barely feels different to her presence, in *spins the wheel* under the lake/before the flood or idk, the caretaker or listen
and the thing is, that Clara wasn't originally categorised like this, and there are still episodes where she has emotional reactions to things (cold war my beloved), it's something that I think actually got worse throughout her run, rather than better, which is a shame, because for the most part everything generally was getting better throughout Twelve's era
COMPLEXITY: this is both quite simple and quite complicated, but it's complicatedness comes from things around the episode, rather than the format of the episode itself, so. divide it into two
in the episode itself, the Doctor wakes up in a transporter, explores a weird cog-like castle, eventually discovers that there's a massive wall of stuff that'd take, ooh 4 billion or so years to punch through that could be the escape, and proceeds to punch, while a mysterious creature stalks him, kills him, and he manages to send himself back through the transporter to start again
this is super cool and brings up a bunch of questions about various things -- the nature of life and linear time (after all, the Doctor doesn't remember being killed over and over and over again, but also kind of lives for 4 billion years), the Doctor's relationship to dumb, stubborn perseverance in the face of complete hopelessness, but also to avoiding their own pain by continuing on and on and on, there's the oddness of the castle itself and the creature within it which is surprisingly toned down for a M*ffat-written thing, allowing Capaldi to take the centre without distractions, and then there's also the Doctor's monologue, because this is almost entirely Peter Capaldi, and so a neat little insight into ways the Doctor interacts with situations
there's even stuff that I usually dislike with M*ffat that I enjoy here -- the idea of monologuing genius who does some seemingly random shit that turns out to be Very Clever And Necessary is such a M*ffat hallmark, but in this one it works because the Doctor is working through problems with themself. yes, one could say there's a meta-look-at-me-I'm-so-clever element to it, since there is an audience (us) but because there's no internal audience, we get to see how this technique functions not to show off, but to do a multitude of things, like stave off fear in a tense situation, make a distraction, resist loneliness, simply help the Doctor understand a situation by verbalising it, etc
so yes, woo to this plot, woo especially to Peter Capaldi and to Murray Gold for supporting the narrative so well, the music really is part of what Makes this episode
2. the second, wider plot concerns itself with "why is the Doctor here," "what is this place," who set in motion the events that killed Clara," "who the fuck cares about the Hybrid plot" (pedantic, I apologise), "what is the Hybrid," things along those lines. they are. technically important questions. and some of them are well-answered -- what is this place? it's the Confession Dial, and the Doctor got stuck in there by being teleported from the end of the last episode (genuinely had forgotten until I reread the transcript of Face The Raven, woops, but we remembered again!) and the people who hired Me, as it turns out, are Gallifreyans, because at the end of the episode, the Doctor returns to Gallifrey
and that... is next episode fuckery, but I will say that I did scratch my head about it at the end of this one. how'd they hire Me from wherever the Time Lords are stuck? did we miss an episode that explained that actually the Doctor did find the Time Lords?
for that matter, there's this short before the season starts where the Doctor is chatting with The Sisterhood Of Karn, and we last saw them back in s7 in the Eighth Doctor short -- they're the ones that made the War Doctor. And they turn up in the first episode of this season as well, and again, I'm like. wait did I miss something here?
I think that this season has a lot of that for me, there's a lot of questions I have that I will make a separate post on. things that may very well have been properly built up and explained and I just missed, but genuinely at the moment I'm going... huh?
and for this purpose, end of this episode, it's... wait how'd you just get back to Gallifrey??? I thought you were still looking for it, how'd the Confession Dial get there?
while the s5-7 arc certainly had a lot of things that went "eh trust me, this'll aaaaall lead somewhere" and then... I mean, kinda did but badly and last-minute, s8 didn't really lead into the events of s9, so the whole Hybrid and Confession Dial was this season's... mystery I guess? except idk why it suddenly matters, why did Davros bring it up?
maybe I need to rewatch that episode. but also seriously where did Gallifrey come from???
I also question the plan to put the Doctor in there -- so he's in there in order to interrogate him on the Hybrid but... is that.... really the best way to do that??? I don't think that makes a whole lotta sense unless I missed something there as well. I mean, this creature kills the Doctor, it doesn't really set out to torture for information, even though the Doctor interprets it as such. the intent is lacking in logic I think
point is, if we ignore the wider plot happening around Heaven Sent, it's thematically strong. ignore why the Doctor is there and the episodes around it for a second, have a good time (well, the Doctor isn't having a good time!)
also wtf was with that creature in there. I mean, it was cool and all and it made the plot go, but... why was it there again? maybe I'll add that to my questions post
CHARACTERS/LORE/PLOT: we learn bits and bobs about the Doctor in this one, like for example that they didn't run from Gallifrey because they were bored but because they were "scared" (which I'm sure surprised nobody, but the point is hearing the Doctor admit it outright -- therapy under pain of death, literally), and generally that they're afraid of dying
technically this episode is the least lore and plot heavy of the three at the end, when you think about it. it's very much there to make you read into the Doctor, because there's no one else there
I think. if there was one thing. I would have really really wanted from it, in terms of this point. it's an understanding of why the Doctor was travelling with Clara, beyond "she's my friend." I feel like on sooome level I can suss out why Clara travels with the Doctor (she is emotionally all over the damn place and seeking those thrills without thinking about consequences), but I never did understand the Doctor travelling with Clara in s9. it feels like they're together in that season because... well, they were together before. and there's this "duty of care" line that comes up a few times this season, which is kind of a new one from the Doctor at Clara, considering their last two seasons together, and I kind of wish there'd been a bit on that
I get it, this is an episode All About The Doctor, but it's set nearly immediately after Clara dies. even as the Doctor is essentially resurrected over and over again for billions of years, to them Clara died a few minutes ago every single time. there's something slightly jarring to me about making this relatively quiet, contemplative, philosophical episode all about the Doctor, with Clara functioning as a crutch to the Doctor's emotions and explorations... but she's dead. it goes back to what I was saying about the eulogy. this episode tells me nothing about Clara and the Doctor, other than that he's sad she's dead and she asked questions (but even then, these questions aren't actually being asked by Clara, he's just imagining it's her)
COMPANIONS MATTER: see I put this one at a five, because I acknowledge that the Companion doesn't always have to be there and that is true, AND although she's not there she does help out about as much as she usually does
“GODLIKE” DOCTOR: I've scored this one quite highly, despite it literally being "all about the Doctor," but it's only "all about the Doctor" because it's the Doctor's Confession Dial -- the next episode may score somewhat lower on this point, because then we really do get a fair bit of Doctor is centre of all important events and we all just orbit around them, but in this case it is fair
and if we actually look at what the episode is saying about the Doctor, it really does follow a fallible, questioning person who needs time to figure out what's happening, and then is like "the answer is to really painfully punch for 4 billion years" which... yeah that tracks
PREVIOUS DOCTOR WHO: this episode isn't very classic lore heavy. idk if it should be, considering it's about the Doctor, but it might have taken up too much space in a relatively stripped back character study. it does interact with the "ran away because I was bored" line which goes as far back as Two, so there is that less in-your-face reference, that also adds to the Doctor as we've gotten to know them in especially nu!who
“SEXINESS”: C U R E D of bad sexy talk (at least, until Husbands of River Song, but even that is shockingly parred back)
INTERNAL WORLD: we're in a Confession Dial, specifically the Doctors. maybe the Confession Dial should've gone up in lore, but I'm going for it as a world for now. the Doctor's confession dial is a turning castle with an endless ocean beyond it. I don't know if all Confession Dials are the same, or if it's just this one
I do actually have questions about how it's meant to work, because in the next episode (yes, cheating) the Doctor says it's meant to be this meditative, important process, and it was abused in order to "interrogate" them about the Hybrid, so is big clockwork creature always there? or is that a the Doctor must suffer special or???
idk what the consensus on the inside of the Confession Dial is. do we like this design? does it make sense for the Doctor? is it the Doctor's own mind that supplies the imagery? lot of questions I have there, add those to the question-pile
I like the Confession Dial as Vibes, but I don't know what the imagery of this place has to do with the Doctor as character, is basically my summary of this point
POLITICS: there's not really politics in this episode, which means.... let's look for the politics that's not in here. No, in many ways it doesn't need to be politically focused. it leaves us with the writing of female characters, which wasn't greaaaat but not technically the point eitherrrrr but also it Culminates in this one, so I do have to mention it on this particular point.
As a general, if there were political undertones in this episode, what do we think they could have been on? the ethics of Gallifreyan society prompting the Doctor to run away? the philosophical nature of the Doctor's tendency to run? ideas around trying despite it being all-but-hopeless as something one could relate to real-world causes? I'm spitballing, I'm not saying this episode needed that. I'm just musing
FULL RATING: 68/100 (if I can count….)
the more I think about this episode, the more questions arise -- most of them in connection with what happens next, but I do think it's flawed to not think about what happens next if one is trying to do a deeper dive into the story, as I'm doing. one can enjoy it as its own thing for its strong themes, Capaldi's acting, the music, the Vibes, but I do think it still suffers from aaaalmost every M*ffat limitation (minus the outright sexism) in that it sets up questions that will never be answered and goes more for Vibe than... idk what to call it, this is Doctor Who, but... realism? wider internal world consistency?
this is a good episode, and I think I'd enjoy it a heck of a lot more if it was a standalone, a la God Complex (which did some similar things to this episode, and personally is still my favourite of the M*ffat era), but all the questions keep bursting in
still, that's a hell of a bird (do we ever apply this story to Doctor Who gifsets/fanfics and the like? I'm sure we do, I just haven't engaged with Twelve-era much because this is only my second watch of it)
actually another question: why is it called heaven sent?
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Class Conflict in ACoFaF (& Wuuvy)
I doubt this narrative will actually go anywhere in ACoFaF but interestingly, just like the Austin novels the season is based around, there is a larger conflict than just the injustice of the Court system at play here and that is the injustice of classism. However the Court system is vilified because it stands as an Obstacle to our Heroes desires for expression and romances, whereas the class system is taken for granted and played for laughs. This is not a critique of Aabria or the season just as an interesting thing that is mirrored from the original genre and I think really shows in how the audience comes to see Wuuvy.
Some Courts hoarding power in the form of Magic is the evil meant to be defeated at the end of the story. It clearly hurts our Heroes by cutting them off from loved ones and eliminating the members of Binx’s court. It also stands as a mirror to the hoarding of Love that all of the heroes struggle with. That their respective Courts or families withhold love based on preconditions of behavior or achievement or assimilation (Binx being the exception of course).
But the actual unfairness of the system they exist in goes largely unaddressed. From the salt goblins who are expected to live their whole tiny lives in service to their superiors and die on command, to the servants Lord Airavis polymorphs and maims for laughs, to Gobble begging for his life while forced to dance, even to Andhera’s dog who is sentient, all (with the notable exception of Binx who goes out of her way to respect servants from Andhera’s dog to Lady Featherfowl’s penguin messenger) enjoy their time at the expense of those below them. This includes Rue, who uses a Command spell on Wuuvy who up to that point happily obeyed their commands and never truly apologizes or addressed the gulf between them. This is a defining moment for Wuuvy. She was happy to serve as a friend and equal and although she continues her devotion to Rue, from that point on she must understand that Rue does not see her as quite such an equal.
But we are not especially meant to feel sympathy for the lower class characters. They are either set pieces or worse, Obstacles and Antagonists for our Heroes to overcome. Wuuvy not delivering the letter to Hob is naturally seen in a villainous light because the story is about the Romance between our Heroes. However isn’t it incredibly fair for Wuuvy to lash out in the only ways that she is able. The line between her and Hob is incredible thin. Both are military leaders of lower station who see Rue’s hidden conflict and admire them ardently. They are both beastly and duty bound. Yet Rue is enamored with Hob after meeting him once and sees Wuuvy only as a friend (or servant) despite (or because of) knowing her for decades. Wuuvy demands satisfaction and does not deliver the letter not because she thinks it will make Rue change their mind or fall in love with her instead, but she has simply had too much indignity to bear. She will not deliver up her own hopes and dreams to another with a smile on her face. That is a step too far. Yet in the end it is Rue’s feeling of betrayal that the story will follow and not Wuuvy’s revelation that she could spend her life knowing every little detail about a person and they could still not understand the most important truths about her.
Again this is not a criticism of the show, and it would be phenomenal if in fact this did arise as an canonical plotline/issue, it just fascinates me that the same phenomenon I find in Austen novels replicates itself here. Characters may actively talk about the oppression of their own station (Elizabeth in P&P or Hob in the show) and yet still happily take part in enforcing the class system. They will be allowed to rise above their own station for the sake of Romance but the stations themselves will remain.
#acofaf#wuuvy#ive become insane#i had flashbacks to writing as essay in ap lit about why i didnt like p&p#i actually love this show so mu#it makes me crazy#d20#dimension 20#it perfectly captures the genre#really the best of the genre too#i could write a whole other essay about how well it captures neurodivergence#i have never seen a show where the main enemy seems to be forced behavioral assimilation to blatantly in respect to autism#i started to realize that i was disliking wuuvy even though im kind of exactly like her in many many ways#and it was because in her place i would have delivered the letter and lived in misery all my days#shes actually the one making the rational choice lolol#more things to address with my therapist
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I know everyone hates her but I appreciate how wille’s mom felt more like his mom this season rather than just the queen. idk she seemed much warmer than in season 1 in general, and I love how he kept calling her to update her on simon lmaooo (she also was like Please Do the speech bc I don’t want august to be king either and she was real for that)
i really, really loved the direction they took her this season. i’ve always been a little iffy with the fandom interpretation of her (which, granted, is fair given the nature of her actions in season one — but i always thought there was more nuance to be found there)
they were so clear this season that just like wille and everyone at hillerska, the queen is held down by traditions and duties too. she didn’t want to insert august as crown prince, but the royal court thought it was necessary — the line of succession needs to go on, the tradition needs to continue. her explicitly saying that she loves wille for who he is and he’ll always come first (which is a lie, see: actions from season one) was important nonetheless though, as it really hammered down the point that it isn’t about wille being queer but the traditions and systems upheld by being the crown prince. her actions towards wille aren’t out of some disdain for her son, but because she’s the queen and every decision she makes has to be based on that.
it was nice to see her as an Actual Mum — wille calling her to moan about simon was one of the highlights of the season. i do hope in season three (🤞🤞🤞) we get the acknowledgment from her that asking wille to deny it was him in the video was the wrong thing to do in the first place. she needs to dismantle her systems too — hey, perhaps she could have a therapy session with boris too.
wille’s never had an apology — from anyone really, about the stuff he’s had to go through — and that’s what he deserves from his mother.
#asks#young royals#yr s2 spoilers#please talk to me about the queen i find her fascinating#i havent rewatched s2 yet so the details surrounding wille being forcibly removed from hillerska is merkt#murky****
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The more I think on it I have exactly 0 qualms with Rue’s actions
Like they didn’t know Hob’s mission until ep 6 at the end, and there was that moment of surprise that it was his victories that led to the almost engagement - that was an interesting moment, especially as they tell him he was used. Rue knows plenty about being used
Also the conversation got cut away from right as Hob asked if Rue or Binx knew who had done it, likely for dramatic effect
Rue’s letter after the masquerade ball talks about wanting to KNOW Hob - what would’ve happened if that letter had actually been delivered? Would they have had a version of this conversation then?
And seriously like why THIS engagement? Why was this the one they had to break up? What was different about it? There had to be something, right??? I suppose it could just be a “straw that breaks the camel’s back” sort of thing, and it seemed like they were maybe thinking of revealing themselves at this Bloom anyway and meeting Hob tipped the scales, but I gotta know what sparked it
But no matter what it was - this is a being who was ripped from their home and made to be what this court wanted them to be, and they contorted themself into that box for millennia, working painstakingly to ensure everyone else around them might know love, or happiness, all the while being kept at arm’s length in their own court because of their origins
And something, whatever it was, finally made them go, “enough!”
That’s fucking revolutionary
And it happened before the engagement was even officially announced. Still scandalous, sure, but at least gives the goblin court plausible deniability
The whole season has had significant themes of This System Sucks so I’m just not overly Concerned about the reputation of the courts
Particularly not of a court that has been happy to use and abuse a member to the point where he gets so close to almost DYING because he won’t remove the DAMN ARROWS FROM HIS BACK out of his misguided sense of honor and service (that they knowingly take advantage of)
Hob, who has also been an outsider, who has dealt with that by fully sublimating his own sense of self, a full on trauma response
Who danced with someone 6 or 8 times and could only think “how nice of them to take pity on me”
But god forbid someone inadvertently make his terrible court look bad lol
And that’s the point, isn’t it - they’re all terrible
Love and happiness are not important, only perception, and power, and influence
The only one not obsessed with power and status is Binx’s court, and they got consumed, an easy target that wasn’t even trying to fight back, was just trying to do their own thing
Years and years and years of do this, say that, smile here, play nice, don’t upset the system, most too entrenched in their own survival mechanisms to do anything but go along
Which is fair enough, but let’s not hold the person trying to change things responsible for the failures of the system they’re trying to change
If people don’t feel like they have a choice, that’s the courts’ fault
And dismantling the courts is the only way out
Rue might be one of the only ones capable of that
After all, the Chorus knows the power they hold. That’s why they wanted them to join
Burn it all down, Rue
They have it coming
#acofaf spoilers#acofaf#a court of fey and flowers#battlemaster of ceremonies#delloso de la rue#captain k.p. hob#hob was right about rue#their entire journey has been about courage and self-actualization#which he admires because he is so deeply traumatized he can’t conceive of having for himself#there is no other fairy more responsible for joy and wonder#and now they’re finally trying to take some for themself#good!!!!#these damn fey fools have me back on tumblr looking for fandom nonsense like it’s 2014#i’m just going to wallow in these feelings for a while#why do I have so many feelings about a bugbear and an owlbear and their complex emotional bonds and traumas#ahhhhhhhhhhhh
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How is brand Harry & Meghan faring in the US? Not good | Arwa Mahdawi | The Guardian
Is America finally getting bored of Harry and Meghan? It’s starting to look that way. Only a few months ago the pair were media darlings in the US; now they have become a bit of a joke. The animated sitcom South Park gave the first big blow to their stateside brand a couple of weeks ago with an episode featuring a couple bearing an uncanny similarity to the Sussexes. In the episode, titled The Worldwide Privacy Tour, the pair travel the globe with placards saying: “Stop looking at us!” and chanting: “We want privacy!” Harry’s memoir, Spare, is parodied as “Waaaagh”. The couple also get advice from a PR expert who tells them to portray themselves as victims. Not terribly flattering stuff.
Now the comedian Chris Rock has taken aim at the couple in his new Netflix special, Selective Outrage. He dismissed Meghan’s claims about racism in the royal family, saying: “Some of that shit she went through was not racism”, but “in-law” behaviour. He also joked about how it was odd Meghan seemed surprised by the fact the royal family might harbour archaic views. “It’s the royal family! They’re the original racists. They invented colonialism,” Rock said.
Polls also reflect a shift in US-based attitudes towards the pair: their approval ratings have plummeted since the South Park episode. According to polling commissioned for Newsweek, Harry’s popularity has dropped 48 points since December and Meghan’s is down 40. Now Prince Andrew, the guy who palled around with a convicted sex offender, has higher US approval ratings than the Sussexes. Though, to be fair, that seems to be because fewer people in the US know about Andrew’s tawdry dealings than they do in the UK. Because Andrew isn’t parading himself on the US media 24/7 like Harry and Meghan, it’s easier for someone stateside to forget who he is. If only we all had that luxury.
How are Harry and Meghan responding to this seeming shift in attitudes? Well, let’s just say they haven’t exactly put out a statement saying they think Rock and South Park are hilarious and they love nothing more than laughing at themselves, ha ha ha. On the contrary, there were rumours that they were so upset by the South Park episode that they were considering legal action. While they’re certainly fans of calling their lawyers, a representative for the couple told the Guardian that reports the pair might sue were “baseless” and “boring”.
I’ll tell you what’s really boring: the neverending pity-me-please performance the two are foisting upon us. As a staunch anti-royalist I was sympathetic to the couple to begin with – my enemy’s enemy is my friend and all that – but the constant oversharing has jumped the shark. Particularly since it becomes more obvious by the day that their grievances are less to do with systemic inequality and more to do with feeling they didn’t get a big enough slice of the born-with-privilege pie. I mean, come on, you can’t go around complaining about how backwards the royals are while insisting that we plebs refer to you as Duke and Duchess. You want some credibility?
Give up your stupid titles.
Another unsolicited piece of advice for Duke and Duchess: read the socioeconomic room! You may have noticed that “eat the rich” storylines are a big theme on TV at the moment. From the latest season of Netflix’s You to the White Lotus to Succession, there are more rich-people-are-awful-sociopaths storylines on the telly than you can shake a silver spoon at. This isn’t a weird coincidence. It’s been noted that storylines about rich people tend to vary depending on the economic climate: in good times onscreen obscene wealth can be enjoyable escapism; in bad times it’s more of a hate-watch. And, I don’t need to tell you, the world is currently going through “you need to take out a second mortgage to buy eggs” sort of times.
Finally, Harry: I know you weren’t exactly the most committed student, but maybe pick up a history book. The US has something of a reputation for losing patience with British aristocrats.
Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
#revenge#tom bower#strip the sussex titles#worldwide privacy tour#megxit#frogxit#fraud and fraudess#spare us#like a spare
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I just saw this
Taking a Look at Potential Devils Head Coaching Candidates
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun mentioned some potential candidates for the Devils head coaching job, so let’s take a look at them.
By Jared W Moore Apr 3, 2024, 11:00am EDT
Two weeks ago, I wrote about what qualities the New Jersey Devils should look for from their next head coach. I didn’t really talk so much about systems or anything like that, other than I wanted somebody known for more defensive structure than the previous regime. I also talked about accountability and how there needs to be a lot more of that moving forward regardless of who the coach winds up being. If you haven’t read that, I’d suggest going back and taking a look at it as I’ll reference some key points from that article throughout this one.
Last week, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun mentioned during their “Insider Trading” segment that current interim coach Travis Green is a serious candidate for the job. In case the video doesn’t open for you (TSN can be weird sometimes with content being blocked geographically), here’s the quote of what LeBrun actually said in regards to Green and the Devils vacancy.
“My sense from talking to the Devils is that Travis Green is a serious candidate, absolutely. They love what he’s done since taking over for Lindy Ruff, the Devils feel they’re a different team, they play differently. But GM Tom Fitzgerald will probably still look at some other candidates just to have a thorough process here in terms of naming a head coach at the end of the year. So bigger names....perhaps, like (Craig) Berube, (Todd) McLellan, Gerard Gallant who hasn’t coached all year.....those are all possibilities but yes, Travis Green is very much a possibility.”
LeBrun is as credible an insider as there is and he clearly has connections within the Devils organization. His recent on-the-record conversations with Tom Fitzgerald and Martin Brodeur are proof of that. While circumstances can change and lists can change (Lindy Ruff wasn’t exactly the first choice the last time the Devils conducted an extensive head coaching search), LeBrun isn’t the type of insider who will throw anything at the wall just to see what sticks. I’m sure he didn’t just float the names of Craig Berube, Todd McLellan, and Gerard Gallant out there for no reason and on a whim if he didn’t hear from someone (Fitzgerald, Brodeur, agents, the coaches themselves) that they have some level of interest in the job. I also think if you have your sights set on a bigger name like Mike Sullivan, keep in mind that he already has an NHL head coaching job. I’ll be the first person to admit that this list is kind of uninspiring, but I don’t think its anything more than a few names LeBrun heard and that the Devils will do due diligence. I say all that to say that I wouldn’t look at the names LeBrun mentioned as a final list. Circumstances can change.
That said, that didn’t stop people from reacting to the list. Something that I was guilty of as well.
Devils candidates mentioned by LeBrun, ranked.
1. Berube
2. Gallant
3. McLellan
4. Getting hit by a bus
5. Green
After having a few days to take a step back and think more about it, I thought it would be a smart idea to take a look at each individual candidate, try to figure out why the Devils might be interested in them, and whether or not they’re the right fit.
Let’s start with the interim bench boss, Travis Green.
Travis Green
The best argument for Green getting the permanent gig might be the same argument for Principal Skinner getting his job back after Ned Flanders was fired as school principal.....he seems to know the kid’s names.
The Devils might indeed be playing differently under Green, but it’s fair to question whether or not they’re playing well, despite a 6-8-0 record since taking over.
On the season, the Devils are giving up 3.39 goals per game and are averaging just over 30 shots on goal allowed per game. In a small sample size since Green took over, they’re giving up 2.92 goals per game, however, I think that can be more closely tied to improved goaltending by Jake Allen (.923 since the trade) and Kaapo Kahkonen (.934) over what the Devils were getting the majority of the season. And while purely counting shot totals doesn’t tell the entire story of how the Devils are playing defensively, they’re giving up more shots on goal with Green on board than before (31.7 shots on goal per game). It might be true that players such as Luke Hughes have cleared the rookie wall, but this is also still a team that regularly plays Brendan Smith for some reason, so take all of this talk about defensive improvements with a grain of salt.
The Devils are also not doing so hot with the expected goals since the Ruff firing. And while I’m always the first person to point out that real goals mean far more than expected goals, it further supports the idea aren’t really playing all that well now, they’re just getting better goaltending than before.
It’s probably not fair to Green to expect him to dump Lindy Ruff’s system overnight, implement his own, and get the team to execute it when they’ve had little to no practice time and no full training camp. The Devils have played games in 14 of the 30 days since Ruff has been fired, after all. But we’ve also seen very little to suggest they’d have more structure defensively or maintain what they’ve been doing offensively. In fairness to Green, the power play has ticked up a bit since he took over. Whether that has more to do with Timo Meier taking over Tyler Toffoli’s spot on the top unit, and whether or not we should ignore that the PP was stagnant for a long stretch under Green’s coaching....I’ll leave that up to you to judge.
For what its worth, I don’t believe Green is a serious candidate to be the Devils next coach. Or at least, I hope he isn’t. John expressed his concerns with the power play back when Green was hired and I think a lot of what he wrote at that time has indeed come to fruition. Chris wrote the other day about how Green has overseen too many lifeless efforts to get serious consideration, including Friday’s loss in Buffalo, and it goes noted that a team that is supposedly still alive for a playoff spot somehow plays as uninspired, lifeless hockey that this Devils team plays.
Green does have some championship pedigree in his background with a championship at the WHL level with the Portland Winterhawks and a Calder Cup Final appearance with the Utica Comets in 2014-15, but its fair to be underwhelmed with his previous NHL head coaching run in Vancouver, as well as his tenure thus far as the interim Devils coach. I can see why Fitzgerald might want to give Green an interview as a professional courtesy, but I feel like hiring Green would be ‘settling’ and the Devils would be doing it because he’s there. The only way promoting Green makes sense is if they can’t get their preferred choice and they choose to wait until a better candidate becomes available sometime next season. Either way, the Devils should aim higher than settling for Travis Green.
Todd McLellan
McLellan brings plenty of experience to the table, as he has well over 1100 NHL games as a head coach and 9 playoff appearances on his resume. He is best known for his run with the San Jose Sharks, becoming the winningest coach in franchise history and helping the Sharks reach a pair of conference finals. McLellan landed on his feet after parting ways with the Sharks, getting the head coaching job in Edmonton, but he was fired early in his fourth season in Alberta. He took over in Los Angeles prior to the 2019-20 season and helped lead the rebuilding Kings to a pair of first round playoff exits, but was once again dismissed earlier this season.
McLellan is known for a defense-first system and clogging up the neutral zone with a 1-3-1 alignment. It’s not the most visually pleasing version of hockey to watch, and I think questions whether or not the Devils have the personnel to play that manner is fair, but McLellan has had enough success in this league to where he’s going to do things his way and want to bring this structure to his next head coaching job. I’m also old enough to remember the Devils being very successful playing a brand of hockey that could be described as somewhere between grinding, efficient, and boring.
I don’t necessarily hold it against McLellan that he got fired from his last two NHL head coach jobs (and ‘mutually parted ways’ in the third).....coaches are hired to be fired, after all. I also don’t necessarily hold it against McLellan that Cam Talbot was brutal for a six-week stretch around the time of McLellan’s firing because that’s the risk you run counting on a journeyman netminder in Cam Talbot in the first place. I also don’t hold it against McLellan that the Kings appear to lack the top-end talent a team needs to get past the Edmonton Oilers, something they have failed to do the last two seasons in the playoffs. Never mind being able to beat more complete teams like Colorado or Vegas in a Best-of-Seven series. And it should be noted that it appears the coaching change will work as the Kings have stabilized, Talbot has stabilized, and appear to be heading back to the postseason. Unlike Tom Fitzgerald, Rob Blake knew when to make the coaching change and will reap the rewards for doing so.
I do question whether or not McLellan will be able to get that level of buy-in and commitment defensively if the Devils were to hire him, as he has had issues getting that from players like Pierre-Luc Dubois and Kevin Fiala. Granted, Dubois has his own history of playing his way out of favor in markets he doesn’t want to be in and Fiala won’t be confused with Mark Stone defensively, but the Devils have their share of forwards who make cursory efforts in a 200-foot game. I question whether or not the Devils have the wingers who are capable of winning on the boards and being able to retrieve pucks. But thinking more about it, I do think with some tweaks on the roster that need to happen anyways, McLellan could be an interesting hire.
Gerard Gallant
Gallant, who as far as we know is the only repeat name from Tom Fitzgerald’s previous coaching search, is back in the mix, and understandably so. His body of work at his three most recent head coaching jobs in Florida, Vegas, and New York speak for itself as he has consistently gotten his teams to the postseason. Gallant is a former IIHF World Championship gold medalist as a coach, a former QMJHL League champion, a former Memorial Cup champion, and a Jack Adams winner. He also was the coach who led the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season, where they ultimately lost to the Washington Capitals in five games. Gallant has been known for being a players coach, to where he’d allow the skill players to play to their strengths and hold themselves accountable. That all sounds well and good, but when the opposition adjusts, Gallant’s teams in the playoffs have often been left having no answers. Lindy Ruff outcoached Gallant in last year’s playoffs, so turning around and replacing Ruff with Gallant would be a curious choice. Gallant has also been criticized for not doing a whole lot to develop young talent, and it’s probably not a coincidence that former #1 overall pick Alexis Lafreniere had a breakout season the second he left. In fairness to Gallant, his job is to coach the hockey team first and foremost win games, not necessarily try to squeeze blood from a stone in hoping that Kaapo Kakko is better than he actually is. Considering the Devils still have some young talent that needs developing in Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, and eventually, Seamus Casey and/or whoever the Devils first round pick is, I think its fair to question whether you want Gallant involved. I said previously that I think the Devils team needs a kick in the pants and I don’t know that Gallant’s “let the players police the room” approach is the direction I’d go in when that clearly hasn’t worked this year under a different player’s coach in Lindy Ruff. Add in the fact that Gallant typically has a short shelf-life....shorter than he should considering his track record of success and that would suggest to me there’s something going on behind the scenes we’re not quite privy to. I don’t know if his hands off approach tends to lead to him losing the room or if he’s just a miserable jerk behind closed doors, but I feel like Gallant would be better suited with a more veteran team where the standard is understood. I think the Devils are still in the process of figuring out what that standard actually is. Just because I write on this blog that the Devils need to have the mindset that “this can never happen again” doesn’t necessarily mean the players will show up to camp next September with that mindset.
Craig Berube
The most interesting name on this list to me is Craig Berube. Berube coached two seasons in Philadelphia and made the playoffs once before famously resurfacing in St. Louis. After serving as an assistant coach on Mike Yeo’s staff, Berube took over for the fired Yeo and the Blues went from worst to first, ultimately winning the franchise’s only Stanley Cup in 2019. Berube followed that up with three more playoff appearances, but the Blues struggled to replicate Jordan Binnington’s brilliance in net as well as replace what Alex Pietrangelo brought to their blueline. St. Louis missed the playoffs last season and they fired Berube 28 games into this season when it became apparent things weren’t going to turn around.
What ultimately did Berube in in St. Louis was poor defense and goaltending, as their defensive zone play was not good. That said, I think a lot of these issues are more on roster construction than they are on the coach himself. Torey Krug was a desperation signing after Pietrangelo left for Vegas a few summers ago that hasn’t worked out. Colton Parayko has not been good for some time now. Their CapFriendly is littered with unmovable contracts and NTCs. Players like Ryan O’Reilly who play a good two-way game ultimately left. And while Binnington is having a good year this year, the 6x6M contract that he signed a few years ago has been a mixed bag. Some good like a .912 this year, some bad like a .894 over 61 games last year. Most of this probably isn’t Berube’s fault.
That said, I think Berube was instrumental for helping the Blues become Stanley Cup champions. They got the right level of buy-in at the right time. They played as a team and played a physical brand of hockey. Berube did play 1000+ NHL games as an enforcer, after all. Instead of letting the players hold themselves accountable, he holds them accountable (which might be part of the reason why Jordan Kyrou wasn’t too sad to see him leave). That type of hard-nosed style may have a shorter shelf-life than most coaches, but it can be very effective.
Berube would need to do a better job of having all five skaters engaged defensively than Ruff did, as that was ultimately one of the things that did both coaches in in their respective cities, but I think Berube’s approach would be what the Devils need at this time.
Final Thoughts
Upon further review, I’d probably rank Berube and McLellan as my top choices from LeBrun’s list, followed by Gallant and then getting hit by a bus. And then Travis Green. Again, its not exactly an awe-inspiring list, but its still early in the process, coaches who may ultimately become available such as Mike Sullivan haven’t become available yet, and there might wind up being another interesting name linked to this opening that we haven’t heard yet.
The pressure is on for Fitzgerald to get this hire right. Odds are if he doesn’t, he won’t get to stick around long enough to make a third coaching hire.
What do you all think?
#hockey imagine#new jersey devils#nico hischier#jack hughes#luke hughes#hockey#timo meier#john marino
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The Most Pointless Mob Psycho 100 S2ep3 Rant Ever
warning: there’s a bit of spoilers here
Hello hello it’s me again, Holy~
So I’ve been binging Mob Psycho 100, because everyone started suddenly talking about it, and being the nosey bitch that I am…. I needed to get to it. So, of course I did. I spent about an hour writing this. I wanted to get this right. Especially since I felt some if the parallels lined up with my personal life experiences. So, it’s time to cut the cake.
*note, stuff that can be casually skipped over, will be written in orange
Damn this episode was a doozy.
Season 2 Episode 3: One Danger After Another ~Degeneracy~
I love Reigan. I really, really fucking love Reigan. He cares for Mob and is honestly a good mentor to him, although he himself is shady. He is seen as the one who is emotionally shaping, and raising Mob. I have issues with the way Reigan has been going about it though; and I don’t feel like that’s an unfair accusation. Like, sure, during the first season, he goes from lightly manipulating Mob, to taking notice of the effect of the actions he is making Mob take. Now in the second season, it seems as though he has now acknowledged that whether he wanted to or not, Mob has come to take his words as law; and Reigan is now a father figure to him. Here is the growth path it seems to be going down in my opinion. Now, I’m just speculating, but this season’s going to be a huge awakening for Reigan, to the fact that he has probably been the unconscious catalyst for a considerable amount of emotional turmoil to Shigeo’s adolescence . It’s almost laughable how Dimple can see it before Reigan. Yes, it may be because of underhanded motives, but to be fair, isn’t Reigan also using underhanded tactics? On the other hand though, I also see Reigan starting to become more honest; even if he doesn’t stop scamming. (Come on, we all know Reigan is stupidly good at cons; we love a bad bitch okay? Girl boss??) But I don’t see this season going further than this aspect regarding Reigan.
Mob on the other hand, I believe he has learned something about himself, each time he has exploded.
So, a little backstory. Once upon a time there was a little girl back in the 90s, who was diagnosed in the early days of mental health awareness, with ADHD; and eventually ended up with a final diagnosis 20 years later, of bipolar and schizophrenia, Trust me when I say, it took YEARS for me stabilize, with medicine. It was hard, scary, and way too much to have to deal with through my adolescent years; and I had a good, caring support system. Okay, end of flashback (phew).
This season has eerily similar undertones to the struggles I had faced, okay, scratch that; it’s screaming in my face; the similarities are quaking, alright? The most ironic thing I can say about this is, it’s fucking puberty my guys! Right now Mob is what? 14/15? That’s a really sensitive age for kids. Not to mention, imagine having the unfortunate issue of WHEN you reach emotional overload, you black out, and destroy things. Many mental illnesses come with loss of memory to outbursts, and even black out rages or mental breaks. When I was a child, I’d get so emotionally stressed where I’d sort of “go to sleep,” and it’d end with me “coming to” with myself, or others hurt; sometimes both. Mob is essentially experiencing that.
Mob is dealing with his emotions getting bigger, as he’s starting to try to be PART of the world now. He’s still desperately trying to keep control in the way he was taught: bottle it up. He went from trying to deny himself it felt like. Almost as if he didn’t consider himself as… anything. Almost feeling unfortunately born, but not wishing to leave the loose support system he does have. Everything he has learned about being a good person, unfortunately came from Reigan. Let me make this clear, I’m not shitting on Reigan. I actually love him. THEREFORE, being honest, I have to also fault him. I will give him back his points though for the following reason:
I think, being at the age where I would have children, I feel Reigan’s rule of don’t fight humans, is the smartest option for Shigeo. Think about it; at the end of episode 3, what did he say? “If I were to ever use my power to eradicate a person, is there anyone who would be able to stop me?” That’s a pretty heavy thing to have to think of around 14 years old. Mob is struggling emotionally this season. I can already see him having a breakdown. I hate to just bluntly say this, but I just have a bad feeling on episode 3, that is just steadily growing more gnawing. I feel like Shigeo starting to voice his opinion, and slowly learning to make his own boundaries and realizing his own morals, is also becoming his “undoing” of sorts. Acknowledging and learning about your emotions, and how to healthily cope with them, is honestly probably the most irresponsible to think a 14 year old to manage perfectly. Therefore, requiring a 14 year old boy to deal with situations where he has to make permanent decisions by himself (think the family of ghosts and whether to exorcise them “for the customers.”), is asking for way too much. I for one, think its super fucked up that he has to even think for one second about something like this, over his FOURTEEN YEAR OLD LITTLE BOY FEELINGS. (Thanks a fucking lot REIGAN).
I have a lot of hope for Shigeo this season. Just like little reporter girl said, “Mob-kun needs to grow much, much more.”
Thanks for reading yet another review by
The Holy Villainess~
#mob psycho 100#mob#mp100 shigeo#shigeo kageyama#anime review#anime#mp100#mp100 reigen#mp100 dimple#mp100 s2#mp100 mob#mp100 shigeo kageyama
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I don't get the hate against Timo, Spurs fans are MAD delusional if they think we're gonna get far in the Champions League without experienced players 😫😫
hi anon!!! i absolutely agree and i don’t understand the hate either. timo has been an absolute net positive for our squad; a loan with an low option to buy is generally great business. people might moan about how he doesn’t finish his chances but 1) we’ve been truly spoiled by having both kane and son who are extremely clinical finishers in our club for years (however being quite fair timo does miss chances that other pl forwards would finish) 2) the point of the system isn’t to have clinical players but rather to create chances with a high enough shot percentage for it to go on regardless of how (like the own goal yesterday where bren just blasted a low cross into the box) and 3) we wouldn’t have got him in the winter window if he could finish well, like ange has said.
timo offers a lot to the team. he’s fast, a very direct player, has a good understanding of positioning, where his teammates will be and what he needs to do to the defensive line (drag it back, stretch it forward) to provide an assist or open up a passing lane. even disregarding all of that, what his presence has offered us is squad depth and also a chance for players like bren to come off the bench instead of being thrown into the starting xi. and what a world of wonder it has done for brennan specifically! having a player like timo who’s played in the prem before and can take the pressure off some of the younger players is invaluable. i’m not saying he’s a world beater or anything but it’s just not true when people postulate that he doesn’t offer anything. we see what happens to teams with new managers that don’t have a couple of experienced players (chelsea this season for example); you need a good balance.
anyway, cl qualification isn’t wrapped up yet. it’s a tight race and i don’t want to be overconfident about it so let’s see how that goes. i do wonder if the club will activate timo’s buy clause. i guess that depends on the business we do in the summer!
#personally wouldn’t mind having him as a squad player he knows the pl/cl + is a good vibe#rahul answers
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From Fun to Funds: How Playing Ludo Online on Zupee Can Earn You Real Money
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Can we talk about how crazy it was that Beth was actually trying to get pregnant to save herself?! So after she had all that sex and got impregnated, what was she gonna do? Stay pregnant so that Rio doesn't kill her? And then what? She did not think that one all the way through.
Side note, I cried laughing when she told Dean to go again right after he came. I was sitting there thinking "He's over 40 and it's not up to him" 😂
I’ve been thinking about this one since you sent it, Anon! Because you’re right, what was Beth gonna do? Just have another baby? So I’ve come to the conclusion that she didn’t actually believe she would get pregnant. She just felt out of control and felt like she needed to be doing something to help her own situation. Almost like penance. Sex with Dean was her penance. Because he’s terrible. As a human and also at sex, with his huffy-puffy sweat face. (Gross.)
A lot of season 3 is Beth paying penance. Rhea and Marcus, sex with Dean, Boomer… She carried a lot of guilt that season so I kinda think she was terrified and desperate and grasping at straws. So like, headcanon: Beth was always on some sort of easily stopped birth control. Like the pill or Nuva ring or something. Which is why she wasn’t all that worried about pregnancy with her raw-dog sex with Rio. And when she told her lie about being pregnant she just stopped whatever birth control she was using. It doesn’t just clear your system immediately. So she was skeptical that she even would get pregnant at all.
I also think a lot of her self-delusion reflects in how she pursued this pregnancy plan. First of all, she has 4 kids. She knows how babies are made. Making your middle aged husband get a testicular hernia from strain isn’t gonna maximize your chances of conceiving. Neither is tons of sex every single day. (Which, actually, this is more evidence that she was on hormonal birth control just prior. She didn’t know when her actual ovulation window was. Because she had JUST stopped whatever she was using and hadn’t had a full cycle yet.) Second, taking 47 pregnancy tests while chugging water reduces chances of seeing a potential positive. Everyone knows to use first morning urine because it’s the most concentrated. So a negative won’t just suddenly be positive 5 minutes later. Either she’s an idiot (which is plausible) or it’s what I said – she was having a hysterical moment of desperation and just needed to feel like she was taking some action to save herself.
That’s probably why her fight with Dean about how she wants another baby and how it isn’t fair that he isn’t taking her feelings into account, isn’t about a potential pregnancy at all. It’s another one of their “you’re really good at making sandwiches” moments where he invalidates her and doesn’t see a single thing about her. She argues not for the pregnancy, but for him to just ONCE get his head out of his ass and notice her.
Lie #1
She doesn’t believe this one bit. Getting pregnant again would be a terrible thing. But she needs to do something, so she’s here having this idiotic argument.
Lie #2
Lmao, she absolutely was having sex with “someone at work.” And would again. And wants to again. Probably thinks about it in her private moments.
The almost:
She thought he almost saw her. She’s outraged but she also makes it clear that she is talking about Rio. Meanwhile, Dean has no freaking clue about anything.
Her frustration and disgust here is so palpable. She has no respect for Dean in this moment and maybe this is part of her realization just how little she cares about him. She feels guilt and responsibility toward him, but she doesn’t love or respect him. The woman who iced him out sexually for two years is now emasculating him by rolling her eyes at his prudishness. Because she’s had better and she’s more powerful and more sexual than he is. He will never satisfy or fulfill her.
She didn’t want his baby. She never believed she would really get pregnant. She just needed to go through the motions.
She doesn’t even fight that hard for it.
#good girls nbc#gg 3.03#Beth’s pregnancy scheme#was so short-lived#she didn’t even care about it that much#asks#brio#nbc good girls#headcanon
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