Hey y'all Olicity fans! Looking for betas for part II of my Open Your Eyes series.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/3502301/chapters/7697771

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@skcolicity
Hey y'all Olicity fans! Looking for betas for part II of my Open Your Eyes series.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/3502301/chapters/7697771
I just watched the live action Little Mermaid...
and I think it has surpassed the animated version as my favorite of all time. Let me explain.
The Little Mermaid animated movie is/was my favorite Disney movie growing up. it's the movie I've seen the most times in my life, with Lion King probably coming in second. I lived in a family/community that had rules that were strict, and I never felt I really belonged. I always wanted to collect experiences, something I still do to this day. the only thing I want out of life is to travel all over and discover new places and people and feel wonder and indulge my curiosity, find new obsessions. it's why I tend to fall deeply in love with stories and shows, why I read and write fanfic, to explore more of these worlds in my mind. I eventually left that world of strict rules and dogma and found the love of my life who let me be who I really am, who encouraged me to explore every part of me as a person. I think that's why Little Mermaid has always resonated with me. (Also, I love the songs.) The animated version will always have a place in my heart.
But the live action version.... man.... it took all the really great moments in the original and translated them almost word for word, beat for beat, like the entire beginning sequence, the first scene between Ariel and Ursula, the blue lagoon scene, and so many more. It was *chef's kiss* perfect.
And then, they took some parts that in retrospect are kinda weak, in comparison, and made them BETTER. They made Eric a much more interesting character with an interesting backstory. They took tiny little moments from the original and expanded it, like his reluctance to be a king in the traditional way, like giving his wanderlust a greater motivation, being a different kind of leader. His goal in life is much more than finding the perfect girl, it's building a better, more connected world for the family he became a part of.
The first time Ariel sees him on the ship, they made that more impactful in the live action version. It was clear and palpable that she was seeing a kindred spirit in him, something made even more powerful when she found his room of knick knacks. The entire sequence in that room of Eric teaching her all kinds of things is something I don't think we really see in the animated version. It's seeing how well they fit together, like they're made for each other, they get each other at a deep level. And she taught him things he never knew, lighting him up with wonder.
Speaking of wonder, I really loved how much time they spent on Ariel's wonder of the human world on their day out. Halle did such an amazing job expressing that curiosity and wonder with her bright eyes and innocent expression. She really is the perfect casting for Ariel. She has such a sweet smile.
Ugh this movie made me so emotional. It definitely tapped into a younger me and made me feel all my feelings. It brought me on a journey and gave me so much more than I expected, so much more than the animated version did. It's better than the original, and I don't regret saying so.
Also, that new song that Ariel sings about gravity? AMAZING.
Question about Amazon and views of Good Omens to ensure a season 3
Does Amazon only count how many unique accounts have watched the show? or does it count total views, including an account's multiple views? Cuz I will watch season 2 over and over if it helps, but if not... I'll probably still watch it over and over.
We don't need Heaven, we don't need Hell, they're toxic. We need to get away from them, just be an us. You and me, what do you say?
GOOD OMENS - 2.06 Every Day
If you say so.
GOOD OMENS SPOILERS.
So I've been thinking a lot about Muriel. About how they're sweet and naive and sort of dumb, and they're a 37th class angel.
In fact, Muriel’s level of naivety is nearly the same as Jim-level naivety/dumbness. And Jim was supposed to be a 38th class angel, after being demoted from Supreme Archangel and having his memories removed.
And when this was revealed Muriel says 'I didn't know there was a class below me', what if Muriel is just a demoted angel? What if Heaven just keeps demoting any angel who goes against God’s (the Metatron’s) Plan and making a new, lower class for them? Instead of making them fall, they just keep taking memories and demoting angels so that there wont be a perceived ‘institutional problem’. Which there isn’t. Right?
Oh shit I need to reblog this again because I love it so much like literally no other meta has made me GASP with recognition of the possibilities hidden in plain sight quite like this one.
So if I may violently YES AND this gorgeous meta, may I just add:
This is how you get a homogenous society of yes-men.
Literally SO MUCH of this season was spent establishing the angels are dumb as fuck. Like cartoonishly dumb. How in the world do you get a functioning society if everyone at the top is this dumb? I mean it’s a comedy so it’s a little hard to parse if it’s in-universe or just a gag on corporate culture but STILL.
But the thing is, corporate culture has incentives. You don’t just tear capable people down for funsies, you do it to advance some goal. And Metatron gave us that goal: hiding institutional problems.
One Prince of Heaven questions God and Falls? That’s a great story! A great cautionary tale. But if you have two? We’ve got a systemic problem. So what do you do? The angels aren’t stupid. More and more have got to question things over the years. And unlike Aziraphale, they don’t have a savvy demon to tell them to keep their mouths shut and help them cover up their questioning.
But you can’t cast these angels out! That would swell the ranks of Hell! That would make it look like maybe there’s a bigger problem at hand. So what do you do? You mind wipe and demote them.
But the long term effect of doing this is that the only people left are stupid. They’re not curious. They never question. They never strive. Now there you’ve got your stagnant corporate culture metaphor. It’s not that everyone smart gets fired, they get demoted or never advance. You get literal brain drain.
Gosh sorry I’m just so excited about this meta and its possibilities because yes. If we take Metatron’s words at face value then that means we’ve had this philosophy ruling heaven for a while. So where are all the new demons? Why hasn’t there been another rebellion or fall? Aziraphale can’t be the only Angel questioning things.
They didn’t go anywhere. They’ve been right here the whole time.
Everything Is Meant (long S2 analysis, part 3)
Part one
Part two
There's SO MUCH excellent meta out there right now, and I'm going to try not to reinvent the wheel too much, but I want to keep going with tying the episodes/ elements up together because on first watch it wasn't entirely clear how everything fit. I also strongly recommend a rewatch, no matter what you felt about the ending... if you need to stop it 10 minutes early, do that, but you pick up so much more the second time around.
So: Maggie and Nina. I spent most of my first watch wondering why we were bothering with them, honestly. Later in the season Nina, and then Maggie and Nina, gave Crowley some insightful advice, but their actual relationship didn't progress despite all the meddling, and the amount of emotional investment BOTH Aziraphale and Crowley had in making them get together was frankly strange.
I started thinking in terms of mirror couples, since that was such a big deal in S1 and that's clearly what they were set up to be, but I made the mistake that all of us made on first watch: that Nina was Crowley and Maggie was Aziraphale. It still wasn't really coming together.
Then I put the psych hat back on and started to think about displacement. Displacement is a defense mechanism, and it consists of satisfying an impulse (usually an unconscious one) with a substitute object. At the beginning of the season, Aziraphale and Crowley aren't really in a good place, and I think on some level they know that. Aziraphale is trying to SHOW Crowley that he wants to take the next step through all the casual touches and phone calls and inviting him in, and feeling frustrated because Crowley doesn't seem to be taking the bait. (I absolutely think that Aziraphale tried to get Crowley to stay with him at the bookshop instead of living in his CAR, and Crowley said no. That's a whole other meta.) Meanwhile, Crowley, I think, is waiting for a Grand Gesture. Where did he go, as soon as Aziraphale brought up trying to get two humans to fall in love? Romantic tropes. Getting caught in the rain under an awning. A dramatic kiss that opens someone's eyes. That's the sort of thing he's always done, right? Big rescues, impassioned pleas on the street, fancy dinners, "give you a lift anywhere you want to go". He's defensive and guarded and unlikely to let someone in unless he's CERTAIN he won't be rejected, and Aziraphale's approaches are just too... quiet. No one's fault, they just don't speak the same language.
Then, they're handed the opportunity to make two humans fall in love, and they're both All In immediately. Look at Crowley's face when he summons the rainstorm. This is HUGE for him. Why? Because of displacement. Look at Aziraphale arranging the ball and being borderline deranged about it. They're both desperate to demonstrate what they think it takes for two people to move past their misunderstandings and fall in love. They can't do it for each other because the stakes are too high, and if either of them shows their cards unequivocally the vulnerability feels life-shattering. They're codependent and terrified of rejection and also, importantly, have no idea what they're doing when it comes to love. "Saw it in a film", Crowley says. Aziraphale's read about it in books. But they have zero practical experience.
Instead of learning to communicate, they try to say what they want to say through the medium of Maggie and Nina, up to and including the questionable moral decision to exert control over people's actions and thoughts during the ball. If I can just make this come out right, they both think, then things between us will be alright too. It HAS to come out right. They're attempting to gain some control over their own lives, over something that feels so overwhelming and shattering they can't look directly at it.
It doesn't come out right. Nina's relationship falls apart, but that doesn't mean she's in love with Maggie. While Crowley's stress-cleaning the bookshop to the music that played when Aziraphale got his books back in 1941 (just fuck me up David Arnold), they come in and tell him so. "I don't understand", says Crowley. Because it should have worked. Why didn't it work?
They tell him, of course. "You need to talk to each other. Say what you're really thinking." But here's the thing about communication: you have to learn it. You need to get the hang of expressing your feelings without blaming your partner, and separating intent from impact, and staying away from getting defensive and lashing out. No one has ever taught Aziraphale and Crowley how to do this. It's like Maggie and Nina put Crowley in front of a loom and asked him to recreate the Bayeux Tapestry. He doesn't have the skills; he's always going to get it wrong, even if he tries his hardest.
And he does try. But that's where Maggie and Nina the mirror couple, rather than Maggie and Nina the displacement relationship or Maggie and Nina the Greek chorus, come in. Aziraphale, as Nina, has just ended an incredibly toxic, invasive relationship with Heaven. A relationship that invaded every facet of his life, isolated him, and prevented him from being close to anyone else. "Rebound mess," Nina says. Aziraphale is a rebound mess. He's transferred the responsibility for his emotional wellness to Crowley. Crowley is the person he calls when he's in trouble, or (and this is key) when he wants to report a clever/ good thing he's done, or when he's bored. (At no point did Crowley reference Aziraphale calling him for a solicitous reason-- another problem.) Crowley is meant to take care of him. He forgets, I think, that Crowley is a person with his own wants and needs, just like Maggie and Nina are people with their own wants and needs who don't appreciate being messed with. (I think things would have been much different had Aziraphale BEEN THERE for Maggie and Nina's talk with Crowley, but he wasn't.)
And Maggie-as-Crowley? Lonely. Behind on rent, at risk of being evicted (it's important to note that Aziraphale saves Maggie from losing her record shop, as he couldn't save Crowley from losing his flat). Pining. Awkward. Revolving around Nina like a planet, to the extent that we don't get much of an impression of her otherwise. They realize, there at the end, that they both need to round themselves out before jumping into a relationship. Aziraphale and Crowley need that too. They need to take time apart and learn to be healthy on their own. Unfortunately they don't have the skills to get to that conclusion in a healthy way, so it all explodes in their faces and everything falls apart.
Aziraphale tries to teach Nina and Maggie to dance as a substitute for communication. Nina and Maggie try to teach Crowley communication as a substitute for the dance they've been doing around each other. That's the reason they're a part of the plot: they exist to demonstrate the way Aziraphale and Crowley might have succeeded in forging a better dynamic. Sadly, the boys' dance is too practiced and they got sucked right back into it.
It's okay, I think, that Nina and Maggie's storyline never really went anywhere. It wasn't supposed to. It's an allegory, not something that needs to stand alone.
Aziraphale & Crowley + parallels
AZIRAPHALE & CROWLEY + text posts
Aziraphale and Crowley in S2 + touch
Everything Is Meant (long S2 analysis, part 2)
Part one here
Okay, so that's how I think the pre-creation scene and Gabriel's arc connect to Aziraphale's choice. I also think the ineffable bureaucracy speedrun exists to prove totally different things to Aziraphale and Crowley: Aziraphale loves that they can love each other but notes they have to run away to be together; Crowley sees this and immediately thinks "hey, we can do that too!", forgetting that running away is not a solution Aziraphale has ever been interested in. It's the mentality of an individualist vs a group-oriented mind, and neither of them is necessarily wrong, it's just that their priorities are different and they HAVE TO TALK ABOUT IT, which they don't.
Continued analysis under the cut:
Everything Is Meant (long S2 analysis, part 1)
I cannot figure out for the life of me how to make gifs so this will have to be a gif-less essay. If anyone more tech savvy than me wants to reblog with relevant media, please do!
I've seen a lot of people saying how Aziraphale's actions in the final ten minutes come out of left field and are OOC, and when I first watched the episode I felt the same, but now I think I couldn't have been more wrong. And I don't think Aziraphale is being controlled... I think the entire season showed us exactly what was going to happen.
On first watch, what struck me was the number of plot points that seemed disconnected. I couldn't figure out how Job related to the present, or the Victorian era, or the Nazi zombies (still at sea on the zombies part tbh). I didn't know where the Maggie/ Nina subplot was going, or why we were bothering with it. Then I put my "psych hat" on and it was like seeing one of those 3D pictures come into focus. It's a psychological networking rather than a plot-driven one, which is what Neil told us to expect.
Detailed analysis under the cut, with spoilers:
Crowley's POV
Based on an excellent analysis (pt. 1, pt. 2) by @twilightcitysky, other analyses I've read on tumblr and my own analysis
Aziraphale's POV
Aziraphale's POV
Based on an excellent analysis (pt. 1, pt. 2) by @twilightcitysky!
Crowley’s POV
The thing that still gets me about that final scene is that both Aziraphale and Crowley actually admitted for the first time that they wanted to be together like ‘that’. They didn’t say it in a direct way but it was implied through the language they used.
Crowley was the initiator, and I think people misinterpreted Aziraphales actions as a rejection of ‘them’ when it wasn’t.
‘Together’ meant the same thing to both of them in this conversation because Crowley defined it by using Beelzebub and Gabriel as an example of together. So what together meant was established, and Aziraphale reciprocated Crowleys feelings. He literally said ‘We can be together.’
The problem is that they differ on how they want to be together.
Aziraphale sees the Metatrons offer as the perfect opportunity-they can be on the same side and the ‘issue’ of them being a rouge angel and demon is removed. They can be together peacefully (he believes). He wants them to work together with their collective power and strengths to make the institution of Heaven better. He is still stuck in some of his black and white thinking, but his intention is good.
But Crowley sees him and Aziraphale as a team against the world, Heaven and Hell. Their relationship has become a safe, secure place for him where he feels accepted. He doesn’t care about angels/demons/politics and all that ‘pointless’ stuff. He doesn’t want to be a part of the institution. He doesn’t believe it’s fixable. He doesn’t believe they would ever be treated fairly. He doesn’t want to shift the relationship. He wants him and Aziraphale to be their own team removed from all the things he believes will corrupt the relationship and push them apart.
The intention of both of them in this conversation is preservation. They each think that what they want is what will preserve the relationship and they fundamentally disagree with the others perspective.
It’s just so fucking sad because they’re both standing there telling each other that they want to be together. They’re trying to bring the other one to where they think they will be safe together and I’m…
I found my new ship
And they broke my heart
So I've started writing drabbles of Act II of Open Your Eyes, and man.... Ra's Al Ghul is so fucking evil and conniving, and I'm here for it.