#fortunes-haven

[snek-eyes]

You recently claimed "there are no stupid questions," so I'd like to know what nail polish/manicure you'd choose for Crowley, Aziraphale, and whoever else from the cast tickles your fancy. :) And does the choice vary if they walk into your salon and tell you it's for a ~date~? :D

Aaaha 😂 okay, to the salon we go! 💅✨

Aziraphale canonically gets his nails done regularly, but I think he'd normally go in for a simple manicure without polish, maybe just a clear coat. He enjoys the experience and the practice of keeping his corporation neat and tidy, but doesn't feel the need for alteration.

That said, if he walks into my hypothetical salon and mentions he's going for a date, I think I could nudge him into something with a subtle bit of sparkle.

(Rumor has it, Portfolio, Hope, Aria)

I doubt he'd actually go for Aria, but I'd suggest it to get a laugh and make the others seem reasonable. And hey, maybe someday!

He'd pick one of the subtle ones and giggle over being daring. And of course, Crowley would actually notice and be impressed by the change.

Crowley I see as a matte black creme for most days, but he's a multichrome guy when he's feeling fancy. Maaaybe some understated shimmer. I don't really feel sparkles for him, but threw a couple in to tempt him with.

(Eclipse, Lights Out, Annabelle, Diablo)

He's briefly intrigued by Diablo, until he notices the name and gets annoyed at falling into a cliche. Maybe if there was something as dark as Annabelle but more red, he's got an aesthetic to maintain, after all.

If we want a touch of angst, for things they'd avoid: I think Aziraphale would have complicated feelings about applying earthly golds to his corporation in such a way. And Crowley would find magnetics that imitate space charming, but find them too lacking to enjoy wearing them himself. Which is a shame, because he could miracle them perfect without having to wait for the dang magnet.

Maggie I see as a person who enjoys the self-care ritual of painting her own nails. She would mostly do solid cremes or jellies, but once in a while she'd enjoy an afternoon playing around with stamping and other cutesy nail art.

(The entire Tea Crèmes collection is so her aesthetic. Stamps from Maniology, those photos are me and I can't currently remember all the colors, but the orange is Zyler The Cat.)

However, for a special occasion, I can see her branching out like Aziraphale and having fun with a jelly flakie or a shimmer.

(Gumdrop, Fairy Dust)

Nina initially grumbles about getting dragged along for this hypothetical, but then her eye gets caught by the foils. Maybe she goes with the classic gold, but her coffee shop suggests she likes blue. She spends the rest of the day catching sight of her nails and smiling to herself.

(Skyline, AU)

[saizoswifey]

fortunes-haven replied to your post “Has Saizo killed civilians?”

I find it hard to justify all the murder with "he feels bad about it" and "he was just following orders." :(

That’s fine! No one is asking you to. If you dislike him, you dislike him and his actions, and I respect that and the reasons you personally don’t like him. And I don’t think justifying is the right word. No one is saying it’s okay to murder just because he feels bad about it. At least, not that I have seen? But, I will definitely stand in the line of fire and defend him and his actions to a degree. 

It’s an otome game...meant to be dramatic in some aspects given the time period especially...But I will expound on the topic. 

I’m going to give a broad brush here though this does apply to what you commented as well. 

Literally, all of them have killed people. Even Mitsunari killed a room full of people without thinking twice about the lives he was ending and all he got was a slap for it. Nobunaga literally murdered a child in an event story because that child tried to hurt him. Yet everyone seems to want to come at Saizo? Who was born and forced and conditioned into this life??? His brother is locked into a room all of his life and used as a tool to kill people but should we also condemn him, too, because no matter what, he murders? Should we just negate the mental trauma and conditioning Saizo has had to endure from the time he was born? I mean, hell, we even give allowances for people in modern times that have Stockholm syndrome or participated in crimes because there is psychological damage to being held captive and threatened to do things or you will die. 

How are the deaths shinobi cause any different from the HUNDREDS and THOUSANDS of deaths caused by military tactics, the sieges on castles and towns and villages, that cause civilian deaths by warlords?? How. How do we have event story after event story where young children come up and yell at people like Hideyoshi and Mitsunari and Nobunaga and cry about their parents being dead for a war they didnt believe in or want any part of. And we have the event stories where Kyoichiro literally points out to Hideyoshi that it’s because of THEM and their entitlement and hubris and GREED that these orphans are running rampant with dead parents and nowhere to go, and yet people want to be pissed at Saizo. All the time. 

Most of the men (the LIs) go out into battle and kill hundreds of people and if you put into consideration the time period, the majority of these armies are made up of literal farmers and normal men who have never fought in their lives, such as MC’s father, which is why she hates war so much. They’re KILLING NORMAL MEN AND PEOPLE AND CIVILIANS, MOST OF THE WEAPONS COMING FROM THIS TIME WERE FUCKING FASHIONED FROM FARM EQUIPMENT BECAUSE THATS LITERALLY ALL THEY HAD, and yet the samurai we know and love have bloodlust sprites and are enjoying the shit out of it while slicing with their katanas and the expensive armor and YEARS of training that protects them. 

They join up as samurai because they want glory, they want to murder, they want victory, they want fame, they want to be known as strong. And even as soldiers, they kill people with lives and families and histories, just as much as Saizo does.

So I ask you, what is the difference? 

Aside from the fact that Saizo does NOT want to do what he is doing and the rest of them do? 

[snek-eyes]

I don't follow any GO meta except what you post, so I'm wondering: has anyone gone into detail about how the Final 15 reverses Crowley and Aziraphale's roles from the rest of season 2? Specifically, the whole season there's a disconnect because Crowley is desperately trying to protect Aziraphale while Aziraphale is focused on their relationship and taking steps to make it clear they're ~together~. Then, of course, it switches to Aziraphale willing to do anything to protect Crowley while Crowley finally works up the nerve to confess. I just think that's neat.

Augh. You're right and that's so chewy. Crowley spends the season on edge, because he feels the danger they're in, but he thinks after the whole Gabriel situation is resolved they'll be (relatively) in the clear. Aziraphale though, he doesn't feel that this situation is any more dangerous than normal. He doesn't know hell's part in this and he doesn't fear heaven—or, that's not quite right. Aziraphale's just been simmering in a low level of fear coated over with denial since Before the Beginning, it's his normal. I think Aziraphale isn't truly afraid until the Metatron makes him realize Crowley isn't as safe as Aziraphale has been assuming.

Welp. Here's to them getting on the same page in season three! 🥲

[snek-eyes]

You mentioned getting back into Stardew Valley. Have you tried the Good Omens mod for it? ("Stardew Omens" on NexusMods) It hasn't been updated lately, but I'd guess it still works in 1.6. I really enjoyed its original incarnation when I played a few years ago. :)

I have a little! I didn't get too far into it, but it was really charming ^^ I haven't tried it since 1.6, but I can't imagine it got tooo broken. Anyone out there who's tried it since the update?

Unfortunately, I'm realizing that I'm not that into mods that stretch the game too far outside canon, which means I haven't been able to fully enjoy most of the mods that add characters 🥲 There are so many good ones though!

[snek-eyes]

@fortunes-haven​ submitted to @snek-eyes​:

Apparently “From a Distance” can be considered a Christmas song, which is how I realized today that it encapsulates a shocking amount of Good Omens meta. No, really.

Consider: “From a distance we all have enough, and no one is in need” (or in the ‘Christmas’ version, “all is bright and calm”) and “God is watching us from a distance” - a little bang on the nose, don’t you think? God isn’t paying attention to the world anymore, and from a distance things seem to be going well enough.

“From a distance we are instruments marching in a common band” - If you don’t look closely, you’ll miss out on all the wonderful differences we have.

“From a distance you look like my friend, even though we are at war. From a distance I just cannot comprehend what all this fighting is for.” - This is just straight up going to be Aziraphale in season 3.

If watching from a distance is really so great, why not watch from oh, say, Alpha Centauri? From Alpha Centauri I’m sure it would seem like there are “no guns, no bombs, and no disease, no hungry mouths to feed.” How lovely.

In conclusion, “From a Distance” is officially a Good Omens song (and not a Christmas song; what were you thinking Bette Midler?)

Oh, I like this very much, especially as an Aziraphale song. (Though I’m sure Crowley would not enjoy having that Alpha Centauri/God parallel pointed out, much as he probably needs it.)

From a proper heavenly distance, God’s plan is clear and ineffable. A distance Aziraphale is losing with time. 

With all his time on earth, Aziraphale’s at a growing distance from heaven’s rhetoric, and from here, the lines aren’t so clear. Crowley, who should be the enemy, looks like a friend. From down here, it’s hard to see things like why it’s not allowed for him to save Wee Morag’s life. Or, why there has to be a war, maybe we can just have peace and let things be.

But you can’t stay at a distance, because you’ll lose all the specifics, and if you have the specifics, how can you not care about them?