OOC: Migration Notice

I hate to do this so soon after I just came back to IWSY, but with the recent developments of what Tumblr staff has been doing, I've honestly had enough. If you missed it, the basic rundown is that the CEO of Tumblr, photomatt, has been personally targeting, harassing, and threatening to call the cops and the FBI on a trans woman. This is the last straw for me in a long string of fuck ups from Tumblr staff, and I'm moving operations off of Tumblr. I'm going to finish up Status Update 13 here, but future updates will no longer be on this blog.

That isn't to say that IWSY is shutting down for good. I've made an account on Cohost, but I'm still learning the new site and figuring out how things work. If Scene 14 starts before I've finished setting things up, it will be temporarily run over at the official website for IWSY. This is, for the record, the ultimate goal for the website: To function as a non-account dependent way to witness and engage in the story being told. But for now, IWSY is migrating to Cohost while I learn javascript and figure out how to add commenting functions. You don't need an account to read Cohost posts, thankfully, but you will need an account to interact there, just like on Tumblr. You can also join the official Discord server for IWSY as an alternative.

This blog will stay up and the pinned post will probably be periodically updated, but after this I imagine this will be converted purely into an ask blog that isn't canon to IWSY's events. Thank you for sticking around for this story, and I hope you'll continue to keep up with the gameplay. If not, the AO3 version will always continue updating.

I keep coming back to drawing Innocence covered in blood

Kinda fanart of Innocence Won't Save You, @flecks-of-stardust's interactive story. Go play it. Now

¡¡Hola, Stardust!! Esta pregunta es opcional, te la envío en caso de que quieras escribir algo en chino hoy.

Cuando escribes alguna historia, ¿te gusta pensar en qué patrones de habla tus personajes tendrían si los escribieses en tu idioma? ¿Qué personajes te imaginas que usan mucho "slang"?

Que tengas un lindo día c:

hi fran

finally getting around to answering this but! i am using this to share more about the characters of IWSY! because yes.

i've actually,, never really thought about my characters speaking cantonese before, bar one character? but i specifically made her because i wanted to see myself and my origin in a story, and she's for a very different story i haven't talked about on this blog. for the IWSY characters i've never done it before, but tbh it's comforting to think about it. i'm gonna put the rest under a cut because this is pretty long.

the baby group is the easiest to answer for. they're all intended to be kids (or, well, 'kids.' relatively speaking.), so slang is going to be pretty common for them, especially slang that's currently used. anything vulgar is free game, but really it's just about like. modernity, i guess? my classmates were very crass when talking to each other LMAO and that's kind of how i think the baby group would be. loud, chatty, every three words a slang term is thrown in, etc. des and prayer i think are the ones to use the most slang as well. des because... des. i don't know how to explain that, it's just right, and prayer because it will Absorb whatever it hears into its vocabulary. so in a way it's des' fault i guess FKJGS

i don't actually have examples of the slang they'd use because i myself don't know jackshit about the slang because i live under a rock 👍 but that's how innocence is as well. they and moth use slang the least, but they don't Not use it. these two are just generally the quietest, and cantonese is. ah. loud. :D it depends obviously! but cantonese is definitely part of those languages where if you're talking cheerfully and excitedly someone that doesn't know the language might go 'hey why are you arguing?' and that's definitely a thing that des and prayer and grace, sometimes, will run into, but usually innocence and moth are quiet enough that it never comes up for them.

silver is the one who uses the ~fancy~ words because he's a fucking nerd. everyone makes fun of him for it. they love him but they dunk on him for it fJKNJKSD but he'll fire back readily, it's all in good fun. second place for fanciness would be grace, but silver definitely wins on this front. they're both pretty eloquent for sure, and would just know more literature and so more, like, idioms than the rest of the baby group. silver just does it more, and grace does it when he's being dramatic. though granted, he's dramatic pretty often.

night is just chill, as it usually is. it and innocence are just chill vibes generally, with moth usually in that corner as well. night isn't quiet though, that's something else. just chill. probably has the nastiest mouth though actually. night would curse your family out in a very mellow tone and not bat an eye :D

as for day, she's much, much older, so her speech patterns are going to be more reminiscent of someone who's approximately in their 60s. her pronunciation will be different, with less 'lazy' sounds, so like there's a more clear separation of /l/ and /n/ phonemes and also the nasals are more distinguished. she also, by default of being older, sounds a bit more fancy, like she's sometimes. less direct about what she means i guess? but it's also because of how much she knows and the experience she has. she's easy to talk to still, she just markedly talks Different because she communicates with what is common in her generation. it's basically like talking to your grandparents. i guess. actually idk if that's applicable generally, but for me talking to my grandparents was always a little different. something something chinese culture i guess, idk. also regarding slang, idk she probably uses slang from her generation. no idea what it'd be though.

for reference, the approximate human ages i'm working with here have innocence as around 19, the triplets (des, silver, and night) being 18, grace and prayer being 17, and moth being 20, almost 21. these are Very rough approximations that don't match up to the actual age difference between these seven. day is somewhere in her... early 60s i guess? mid 60s maybe? to compare with the timescale in rain world:

unparalleled innocence — first came online in late 1515 clandestine question, nine silver linings, no mournful night — came online in mid 1522, in that age order. they were turned on only a few cycles apart each, so they consider each other to be the same age mist on the horizon — came online in 1503 gracious mercy — came online in early 1529 one final prayer — came online in late 1528 delight of day — powered on in 808

for reference, pebbles came online in 1509. these 8 are all part of the final generation, while day is part of gen 1. also, my generations are probably pretty different compared to a lot of other people's headcanons. moon and wind are gen 18, sig is gen 19, and suns is gen 10. there's more generations and different generation cut offs. the point here is that day is Very, very old, and the baby group are really really young.

Wtf kinda resident evil spaces are y'all in that it's common to see someone "lament" Leon losing his job as a c*p. Maybe leave those places asap.

Missing people and regretting shit o'clock

i still have much to unpack about my personal experiences online & the weird culture/behaviors that insular online spaces can breed but one takeaway worth mentioning is if you ever find yourself terrified to engage with anything that hasn’t been pre-approved by your social circle, something is wrong

my D&D group frustrates me

rereading sleeping in the shadow of the other self and having floor time. because of this fic

After the hospital bombing, I finally heard back from my grandmother and confirmed that several of my relatives were murdered by Israeli bombing. Seven of them, to be precise. Three are still going, including her. We've been talking constantly ever since.

Asked if it was possible to head south, and was told they did but were also bombed there. So they decided to go back home, in Zeitoun. Their home was bombed and they were pulled out of the rumble, then driven by ambulances to the al-Ahli Arab Hospital. There were people in every corner. Gazans sheltering, sleeping on the floor. Gazans dying on the floor, waiting for beds.

Four were declared dead on arrival, three were in need of surgery and other three were just bandaged. Then, a bomb was dropped in the parking lot that made parts of the ceiling collapse, like Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah reported in that horrific conference/interview. Those in need of surgery died.

By the way, just in case you didn't know: the Church of Saint Porphyrius, the third oldest in history, bombed by Israel a few days back, was located near the hospital.

When looking for new shelter, they saw schools with signs hanging outside, "We can't take any more families." They met families, sympathetic but already sheltering too many people. They're now staying in an apartment building they found empty. Sleeping in the corner of the living room. If the family comes back, they'll apologize and leave.

Told me she was saving her phone battery for when the bombing stopped, and she had to ask for help to rebuilt the neighborhood. But she doesn't think it's gonna stop anymore. The ones still with her are mute most of the time, like they're saving energy, but she feels lonely and wanted to talk. There's no internet and to connect to WhatsApp, people are buying "a card from the supermarket, there's a password and username." Not sure what she meant. Still, the internet is inconsistent and won't load neither videos or images nor pages, so she doesn't know what's happening on the outside world.

Told her there were a lot of people protesting to stop the genocide, she replied, "The bombings are getting worse by the day." The bombing yesterday was the worst she ever witnessed. The entire neighborhood is infested with the smell of death, of decomposing bodies. Bodies are piling up in the streets and she's not sure if it's because they ran out of places to store them, but most of them are in bags. The smoke of the bombings hide the blue sky—she hasn't seen the clouds for a while.

Asked if I could share their pictures, names and dreams with people and was told, of which I partly agree, "they're not entertainment." If anyone genuinely cared, they would be alive—I'd argue there are people who do care, but I'm not gonna lecture her pain. And they don't deserve to be used to fulfill someone's sick fantasy. Told me to remember what some Israelis do with pictures of dead Palestinians. And I do.

For those of you who are not familiar, many times before settlers got together to celebrate the murder of Palestinians. For one, in 2015, Israeli settlers set a house in Duma, West Bank on fire. An 18-month old baby, Ali Dawbsheh, was burnt alive. Both parents later died of wounds and only a 5-year-old, Ahmad, survived, although severely injured.

Two celebrations of their murder are widely known, one at a wedding and others outside the court in which two were indicted for the terrorist attack. In the wedding, guests stabbed a photo of the toddler, Ali, while others waved guns, knives and Molotov cocktails. Israel's Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was present.

That's what happens in an apartheid. Palestinians are so abused by authorities that their "innocent civilians" come to accept the brutality as necessary or are desensitized by our suffering. After all, it's been 75 years—get used to it!

So I won't risk the image of my loved ones, in fear they are used in these kinds of depravity. I will say, though, the world lost a young footballer. Lost a female writer and an aspiring ballerina. Lost a kind father, who was also a great cook, and a loving mother that enjoyed sewing and other types of handicraft art. Lost a math teacher and a child that wanted to become one.

People think Israel is testing new weapons on them. There's civilians arriving at the hospital with severe burns, which they thought was from white phosphorus, but apparently the pattern is different from the one caused by white phosphorus. It's widely believed Israel tests weapons in Palestinians.

Jeff Halper, author of War Against the People, a book on Israel's arms and surveillance technology industries, said: "Israel has kept the occupation because it's a laboratory for weapons."

They've ran out of drinkable water and the "aid" Biden sent was only for the South of Gaza and no fuel, for hospitals, was allowed in. Many shelves in the supermarket are empty. She said many are convinced that if they don't die from the bombing, they'll die from starvation or dehydration, or whatever disease will develop from the dirty water they're drinking.

Told me all people do now is pray, cry and die. Told me she hopes West Bank is spared. Told her Israel bombed a mosque in West Bank and dozens of Palestinians in West Bank are being murdered by settlers, so she bided me goodbye.

✨Betty ♡ ⋆｡˚ What if we rewrite the stars ?┊Love,

✨Betty ♡ ⋆｡˚ A little taste of heaven┊Lust ,

✨Betty ♡ ⋆｡˚ I may be sweet but I am strong┊Musing ,

✨Betty ♡ ⋆｡˚ Pretty in pink not as innocent as you think┊Aesthetics, ✨Betty ♡ ⋆｡˚ Shoot me down I won't fall I am titanium┊Visage, ✨Betty ♡ ⋆｡˚ The girl next door┊HC,

There is almost no recap in wano so far.... well 4 minutes.... it's like a 2 min reduction

Scene 13

As like last cycle, a quiet hum of activity filters through your consciousness as you come to. Your umbilical cord is still clamped firmly between your arms, and your neurons are undisturbed. For that, you are thankful.

You clear your vision and find several scavengers staring at you—or, well, your neurons. You pull them closer, glancing between all of them. The brown scavenger from last night is in the group, blinking at your neurons. Their gazes are still more curious than afraid, though there's a definite air of uncertainty among them now.

It would be good to explain your... biology, or at least attempt to. You point at your neurons, then at yourself. "This me."

You get a crowd of rapid, confused blinking. The brown scavenger from last night creeps a little closer, hesitantly reaching a hand out towards your neurons. You tighten your grip on your umbilical cord, bracing yourself for having to snatch it away. "This you?" it repeats, gently poking your neurons. "Glow is you?"

"Yes." How do you convey these ideas with your so very limited vocabulary... You mime plucking off one of the neurons. "Dangerous me." Close enough?

A gradual understanding, though still laced with confusion and curiosity, comes into the scavenger's eyes as it glances between you and your neurons. Then, it shakes its head violently at you. You stare at it in confusion. It stares back; there's a moment of awkward silence before the scavenger scuttles away, tail tucked between its legs. You decide not to go after it.

You should follow their lead though. You clamber to your feet, retrieving your lance, and you stare down at it for a few moments. Honestly, it's a lot easier to carry it in your hands than put it into your harness. The harness might still be useful for some other weapon you may get further along your journey, but you're better off just holding your lance for now you think. You heft it over one shoulder as you make your way out of the scavengers' settlement.

You saw part of it last cycle, but you're still taken aback by the sight of the ruins of the nectar sector as you emerge from the dim depths of the scavengers' abode. Piles and piles and piles of metal as far as you can see, without any semblance of the delicate nectar flowers that were supposed to grow here... You should have expected—were expecting—this, but it still settles inside of you uncomfortably like a stray spark of electricity.

A lot of this metal was here to prevent the nectar flowers from being crushed by the rains. That clearly backfired; you gingerly step around some of the wreckage, straining to lift a particularly large sheet of metal momentarily before giving up and letting it go. Maybe there was a chain reaction. One part collapsed, causing neighboring parts to collapse, which eventually spread to the whole nectar sector, ruining it all in one fell swoop.

... you could stand here theorizing all day, but you really shouldn't. You need to get some more food, and to be on your way.

I hate cops as much as the next guy, but I think people need to start getting more comfortable with calling highway patrol on somebody. Not for tailgating alone - like chill, dude, but I'm not gonna report it - but if you start weaving through super dense traffic like youre playing subway surfers with the freeway I'm calling the cops on you I'm sorry I don't make the rules

I wanna talk about The Angel Who Would Be Crowley.

Because I had a certain set of expectations, which got thoroughly trashed in the first five minutes of S2, and my genuine response is, "Oh, fuck, yup. You're right. That's WAY better."

Looking around at GO fandom, I'm not alone in this. So let's talk about it.

Basically, a lot of people (myself included) believed that he was a high-ranking angel, and therefore as chilly and remote as every other powerful angel we'd seen at that point. We pictured Crowley-To-Be as long-haired, regal and imposing --and the fanart at the time reflected this. I'd link some if Tumblr didn't hate links.

Something like this:

We were collectively drawing on a few things --mostly, Crawly's appearance and general bearing in the Biblical scenes of S1--

--But also scattered hints of his importance, backed up by conspicuous absences in Heaven and a few profound displays of power. That's all better covered elsewhere, so I won't reiterate the arguments here. All I'm saying is: I think our headcanons were justified.

But it turns out he was this:

!!!

With his curly little--!!

And his neat white--!!

IT TURNS OUT, he was an angel who squeaked and squealed when he was happy; who flailed his arms around and made explosion noises with his mouth to explain nebulas; who preened when told his stars were pretty. Furfur, who knew him before the Fall, says:

"You used to jump on me back, little monkey in a waistcoat..."

(The use of a diminutive there, 'little'...oh, that fascinates me.)

In a pretty huge subversion of expectations, we're given these glimpses of an angel who was sweet, and joyful, and heart-meltingly silly.

In sum...an innocent.

(Perhaps innocent to a troubling degree.

We see how he troubles Aziraphale, during their first conversation. He starts looking around and behind them, checking to make sure that no one can HEAR the blithe and reckless things coming out of this angel's mouth. This angel who talks like he's never been reprimanded in his life; like it's never occurred to him that anyone would want to hurt him.

Before the Beginning, Aziraphale understood Heaven better than he did. The danger is plainly occurring to Aziraphale.)

So now, we the viewers are in on a cruel joke that Aziraphale has known all along, which is that this --THIS-- is the angel who--

*checks notes*

--did a million lightyear freestyle dive into a boiling pool of sulphur. For asking questions.

...Imagine you are Aziraphale, and everything inside you wants to believe Heaven are the Good Guys, and God is Good and Everything She does is capital-R Right...and now try to reconcile that. Keep trying. I don't think he ever totally managed it in 6000 years.

All this gets further complicated when we learn that, despite all of the above, we were still right. That sweet excitable babby up there?

He WAS a powerful and high-ranking angel.

That much is explicitly confirmed, with significant evidence that he could have been among the mightiest of archangels...

...Who apparently accosted his fellow angels for piggyback rides. And was remembered millennia later by those (now fallen) angels as something 'little.'

What does that tell us about who he was? Is?

Hell, Aziraphale has known to be wary of the archangels (and the judgements of Heaven in general) since before the Fall even happened. He chooses to believe they are Good; he can't fool himself into thinking they are Safe.

Yet he's absolutely certain that Crowley won't hurt Job's children. Enough to stand in a burning building and say to them, "I can't save you, but don't be afraid. I won't need to."

And what reason does he give?

("I know you."

"You do not know me."

"I know the angel you were.")

What does that tell us about who he was? Is?

("The angel you knew is not me."

But how is Aziraphale supposed to believe that, when he can see him all the time?)

tl;dr --yes, this is better. I love the tragedy of it.

'Innocence died screaming' and all that.

The Good Omens Fandom has had a lot of fun recently with the knowledge of Aziraphale and Crowley holding hands on the bus at the end of season 1.

Soo here's everything that went through my head as I learned of it for the first time.

For that entire scene, Aziraphale is really far gone. He's dissociating so hard he can't even realize he's been sitting on a sword. Crowley is probably the only thing keeping him grounded.

They just narrowly stopped Armageddon after a showdown with literally Satan, and still can't let their guard down. For the first time ever, they're completely on their own side. Now they have to orchestrate a body swap to save both of them. They wouldn't just be killed, they'd be completely destroyed. Everything must go exactly according to plan, but how often does that actually happen?

And on top of that, his bookshop, his home, his safe place with the demon he has to pretend not to love is burned and gone.

Crowley is so incredibly gentle and reassuring this entire scene. He's been through so much trauma himself and has spent a lot of his existence shielding the angel from it, hoping to protect some of his innocence and naivete. Crowley is absolutely familiar with every symptom of PTSD and anxiety.

Now he has to see his sweet angel see such a small bit of the horrors of heaven and hell and start to crumble inside. He's going to do his dam best to try and help Aziraphale through it. Speaking softly, ("the bookshop burned down... remember?) slowly and carefully, gradually helping to pull the angel back to reality, reminding him that he's there and will help ground him.

They get on the bus, and sit next to each other. 11 years ago, they sat nearby but separated while Crowley begs Aziraphale to help him prevent the Apocalypse. Now they are sitting together. Both an act of reassurance and unity.

Crowley sits first, Aziraphale could so easily just sit across from him, behind or in front. But he chooses to sit right next to him. And hold his hand. Aziraphale desperately needs to be near to the *former* demon he loves, to hold him, to make sure they won't be separated.

In the book, their famous lines of "none of this would have worked out if you weren't, deep down, just a bit of a good person" and "just enough of a b*stard to be worth liking" came as Satan rose from the earth, as a goodbye in case they were destroyed.

Luckily, that didn't happen and they survived. Armaggedon was stopped. But the angel is still so anxious of losing Crowley. So he chooses to reach out, to anchor himself and reassure himself that Crowley is still there beside him and that they are okay, at least for a few minutes.

And Crowley let him. He knows how badly Aziraphale needs him, he needs the angel just as much. He knows how badly he craved an anchor and support system as he was first abused and traumatized by his Fall, then further by Hell. So he's going to continue being there for Aziraphale, doing everything he can to make his angel feel safe and comfortable.

Over the next few years, Aziraphale would become so much more comfortable reaching out and touching Crowley. Leaning into him, resting a hand on his shoulder or briefly touching his chest. Somehow both reassuring himself that the former demon was still there, and reminding Crowley that he's still there for him at the same time.

Then Crowley becomes more comfortable with the touch, leaning into the angel by himself. No longer flinching at a sudden graze of a hand or reassuring squeeze.

That one moment of the two holding hands on the bus cemented so much of their relationship. "The last few years, not really..." all started on that bus the moment Aziraphale chose to sit down next to Crowley.

edited: at first this said "new knowledge" because I just found out about this all the other day, and wrote this up at 3 AM, and didn't really fact check when this knowledge became well known. I've only really been a GO fan since maybe 2021, and only really started being active in the fandom during the last few months, so a lot of info that is fairly well known is still generally new to me. soo yeah this was edited :)

source for anyone asking for it!

Hello, would readers husband ever come back to pay the debt or would he just leave her mafia könig's hands ( if he's asking for his money anymore that's fine!)

Our husband might be an asshole, but he isn't a huge asshole...he doesn't want to leave his wife in the hands of Konig and be a cuck champ, obviously! He was fully expecting you to be tortured when he returns, to be turned into a steak and feed to the dogs or made up to be a whore in the fine establishment for rich and famous of Vienna - he was ready to save you, with newly aquired money from a lone shark somewhere in Poland, and he was ready to be the hero of the day... He sees you, his shy and pretty wife, sitting on Konig's lap with your face nuzzled into his chest. It was an almost innocent picture - but then he can see the slight shaking in your thighs, a big hand fondling your leg and getting under your dress...you never cockwarmed him - you were never that kinky in bed, always opting for laying on your back and vaguelly staring at the ceiling. But you whimper on the lap of your kidnapper, of the most dangerous guy in the whole country. Konig has a hand with pistol rested on your thigh, but you don't even care - your breathes sound like a pure bliss, like you wanted to be here. Oh, but Konig is pissed. Not only your loser of a husband returned with money - just enough to pay off the interest of his loan - but he managed to barge into the office while he was pleasing himself with his new favorite girl. You're adorable, shy and sensitive - even when you like sex, you would always act innocent, so he loves to take you in public, to make everyone know that he fucking owns you...but with your husband in the picture, he might actually ruin the perfect fantasy. It's like a curtain was taken off from your face - you're shoked when you see him, relieved, a bit scared for his life...poor thing, you have no idea of what to do - you just want him close, and you almost scramble from Konig's lap to go and greet your husband...but you're stopped dead in your tracks. Of course, how could you forget who really owns you now. Even if your husband tries to take you back, he'd be lucky if he would just be thrown off the premises and not killed outright. Konig is already doing the needed marital proceedes to make you his in the face of the law - and he won't tolerate any wedding destroyers.