Season 5 Episode 6 Spoilers Below:

HELP MY BOSS IS TELLING US TO USE CHATGPT

FOR STUFF THAT IS GOOGLEABLE

SHE SAID AI IS A TOOL WE CAN USE IN OUR CLASSROOMS

EXCUSE ME WHAT

"It would make my heart happy if yall used ChatGPT" - boss

KILL ME

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Explained: Generative AI’s environmental impact

MIT News explores the environmental and sustainability implications of generative AI technologies and applications.

On Gabriel:

Spoilers below…

Oh, I see. Gabriel doesn’t care about Earth. (I never thought he did, but I just figured it out).

He didn’t just leave because he knew Heaven would drag him back.

He was trying to get himself cast to Hell to be with Beelzebub.

Which is sweet, but so…so selfish. Literally the opposite of what Aziraphale wants, who is selfless to the point of ruining the only thing in his existence that matters.

It Needs Saying:

How Regeneration informs character

Christmas Invasion is off for Rose because the man she loves, the only person she knows that thinks she’s fantastic explodes in front of her with a really vague explanation after she wakes up from passing out with her memories missing. She is scared at first because she reasonably assumes that this could be a threat. She’s encountered malevolent shapeshifters and dangerous teleportation rays fairly recently.

And now, there’s this younger, flirty, seemingly happier man promising that he remembers everything, that swears he’s same man. Except this too-good-to-be-true man whispers seductively as he grabs her hand, and smiles like Casanova, and gives her the impression that he definitely dances and wants to with her.

Nine wouldn’t do any of this even if she wished he would, but she knew he loved her, thought of her more highly than anyone she ever met. He loved her so much that a Dalek felt it.

She’s beginning to believe him but then he passes out.

“The proper Doctor would save us” is a weird thing to say about someone who woke up from a coma because you whispered help me. It’s not a weird thing to say about someone who less than twelve hours ago didn’t need to be asked to save people. (Obviously Rose still hasn’t been told what regeneration sickness is because Nine gives a really vague explanation as it’s happening and Ten does explain it but not how to help him because he has ADHD and can’t focus even to literally save his life)

This is also Rose learning the lesson that the Doctor is not a perfect hero in a practical way. She has by now learned about the Time War, about what he did, witnessed his dark rage in Dalek. But now she’s seeing him physically vulnerable, having to take him down off the pedestal in a different way.

He’s getting worse and aliens are invading and she doesn’t know how to help him. She tries running away and saving the people she cares most for (which still includes him) but that fails. She then tries to use what information she’s picked up even if it costs her life. There’s always been a hero in Rose. She risked life in Rose, Dalek, Parting of the Ways and World War III, she does the same now.

Then the Doctor returns and saves the world, with the same fierce protectiveness as Nine. And she doesn’t have a smidge of doubt.

It used to bother me that he yelled at her for giving up on him, but in all fairness “Can you change back?” Probably deeply hurt his feelings, even if it’s hilarious now in 2023.

But she’s leaving out an important part of the question.

She’s asking, “Can you turn back into the person who thinks I actually have worth? Who I know wants me?”

In the end of the Episode, she admits that her concern was that he wouldn’t want her anymore.

It isn’t until he gives explicit verbal confirmation that he still wants her to travel with him (something he hadn’t done before) that she relaxes. (Ironically this is how the love confessions go for them too).

Good Omens S2 Incorrect Quotes 2

Nina: I am not an early bird or a night owl. I am some form of permanently exhausted pigeon.

§

Nina: I'm not funny, I'm just really mean and people think I'm joking.

§

Crowley: So jellyshish-

Nina, laughing: JELLYSHISH!?

Crowley: You know what I meant!

§

Maggie: Made you all playlists!

Maggie: Nina, yours has only heavy metal, and is dark like your soul.

Maggie: Crowley, yours has sad songs and blues to pair with your crippling depression.

Maggie: And Muriel has the ABBA Gold album.

§

Crowley: I have met some of the most insufferable people. But they also met me.

§

Crowley: Name a more iconic duo than my crippling fear of abandonment and my anxiety. I’ll wait.

Nina: You and me!

Crowley: *tearing up* Ok.

§

Crowley: Nina likes to say ‘you can be part of the problem or part of the solution,’ but I happen to believe you can be both.

§

Maggie: Today, Muriel said a swear word, so Nina said that they were going to wash Muriel's mouth out with soap. Muriel replied, “It’s okay, I like the taste of soap”. Turns out, they’ve been putting soap on their lips to blow bubbles.

§

Crowley: *raises eyebrows*

Nina: Put those back down!

§

Nina: Don’t be sad!

Crowley: Why not?

Nina:

Nina: I don’t have a good answer.

§

Crowley, to Muriel: Please, picking locks is my specialty.

Crowley: *throws a brick through the window*

Crowley: Okay, let’s go.

§

Crowley: While I'm gone, you're in charge Muriel.

Muriel: Yes!

Crowley, whispering to Maggie: You're secretly in charge, but I don't want them to feel bad.

Maggie: Obviously.

§

Nina: Do you need help getting up?

Crowley: Nah, I'm cool down here on the floor.

§

Crowley: My crush isn’t picking up on my hints.

Nina: What hints have you given them?

Crowley: Well, I think about them a lot.

Crowley: And sometimes I even think about talking to them.

§

Nina: How would you like your coffee?

Crowley: As dark as my soul.

Nina: Got it, one cup of milk coming right up!

§

Maggie: You know what your problem is?

Crowley: I only have one?

Star Wars Headcanon:

When Leia makes her light saber, she styles the hilt to look like the Rhindon sword.

On the Ineffable Bureaucracy Parallels

Good Omens Season Two Spoilers Below:

It’s easier for Beelzebub and Gabriel to run off together because they were the abusers.

Aziraphale and Crowley lived in constant danger for simply interacting, let alone if they had an actual relationship.

Gabriel and Beelzebub were also the ones in power and weren’t really facing the threat any kind of punishment.

I think their relationship is very sweet, but ultimately, it is nothing compared to the beauty and complexity of Aziraphale and Crowley.

I think Neil used a crackship to make a point. He could’ve given Aziraphale and Crowley a fluffy angst-free get together like Beelzebub and Gabriel do.

But how is that meaningful? (Obviously, part of me says “screw meaningful and let them be happy”)

How is that fateful to these characters?

That’s not who these characters are, at least not yet. Aziraphale in particular has personal growth to do before being with Crowley, he still has learning to do.

He’s finally allowed himself to accept loving Crowley, but wants to take the path of least resistance to be together. One where they aren’t actively hated by two very powerful agencies.

There’s a road to the South Downs, they’re just taking the long way.

how much fun are we having in this timeline folks?

Good Omens Incorrect Quotes 5

Still not mine.

Crowley as Aziraphale: *gets set on fire and screams in agony*

Crowley as Aziraphale: Nah, I’m just kidding. Fire does nothing to me.

Crowley: I'm a firm believer in "if you're going to fail, you might as well fail spectacularly."

Warlock, T-posing in the doorway: Greetings, Nanny.

Crowley, not looking up from their coffee: Good morning, problem child.

Aziraphale: Please say words of encouragement to me so I don’t murder someone right now.

Crowley: There are no books in prison.

Aziraphale: *sighs* Thank you.

Aziraphale: Jesus Saves.

Crowley: Passes to Moses, SCOOOOOORE!

Crowley: Well, if you're not at least a little bit gay for your friends, then what kind of friend are you?

Crowley: If you don't stop talking, I'm going to jump out of that window.

Aziraphale: ...We're on the ground floor.

Crowley: I know but I want a dramatic exit.

Aziraphale: I made this friendship bracelet for you.

Crowley: You know, I’m not really a jewelry person.

Aziraphale: You don’t have to wear…

Crowley: No, I’m gonna wear it forever. Back off.

Crowley: So jellyshish-

Aziraphale, laughing: JELLYSHISH!?

Crowley: You know what I meant!

Crowley: What's gone wrong, Aziraphale?

Aziraphale: Hey! That’s one heck of a thing to say to a person. Just because I’m calling doesn’t mean there’s a crisis.

Crowley: That’s technically true, I suppose. Why are you calling?

Aziraphale: Well... There’s a crisis.

Crowley, hungover: Please tell me I'm imagining that I claimed I was king of the ducks.

Aziraphale: I would, but then I would be lying to the King of All Ducks.

Aziraphale: Crowley? What are you doing here?

Crowley, wearing a hawaiian shirt, sunglasses and holding a gatorade: My best.

Newt: I’m here for the cult stuff.

Shadwell: How did you find us?

Newt: I saw your ad on craigslist.

Aziraphale: I am in charge of this disaster!

Crowley: I have a name, you know.

Crowley, wiping tears from their eyes: If you love someone, set them free. If they come back, it’s meant to be…

Aziraphale: I’m literally just going to the store.

Crowley: I have issues.

Gabriel: Finally, you admit it! The first step to redemption is accept-

Crowley: With you.

Crowley: *on the phone with Anathema* I can’t talk right now, I’m doing hot girl shit.

Anathema: You’re pulling Oreos apart and saving off the frosting to make a mega Oreo, aren’t you.

Crowley: Maybe.

Crowley: Now, the recipe calls for 2 shots of vodka.

Crowley: *upends the bottle*

Aziraphale: Sorry, I'm late to the party. I've been doing things.

Crowley, entering in an unbuttoned shirt: I got caught up doing things too.

Anathema: Wow, Aziraphale was late too! What a coincidence!

Aziraphale: You spent all our money on THIS??

Crowley, putting tiny raincoats on ducklings: They live outside. They need this.

Crowley: Where are you going?

Aziraphale: To get MYSELF a gift cause somebody didn't get me one!

Crowley: I told you I did! Its coming here on Friday!

Anathema, knowing full well that Crowley got Aziraphale an engagement ring: *eating popcorn*

Crowley: The only thing keeping me from running away and hiding from society for the rest of my life is spite. I could disappear forever, but there are some bitches whose downfalls I have yet to witness, and I wanna be around when that happens.

Aziraphale: You’re drunk.

Crowley: Correction: drinking. Present tense. Grammar, Aziraphale.

Aziraphale: Do you see yourself as a glass half-full or glass half-empty kind of person?

Anathema: Half-full, definitely.

Anathema: Half-full and constantly rising.

Anathema: Soon the water will escape its container and consume us all.

Crowley: Okay, but what if we went to dinner not as friends this time?

Aziraphale: AS ENEMIES?!

Crowley:

my uni is like "80% of students already use ai like chatgpt so we're going to offer all our students access to ai for educational purposes!" like yall are a bunch of fucking dumbasses. students use chatgpt to CHEAT and have it do their essays for them. you are literally saying that cheating and plagiarism are okay now.

Princess and the Scoundrel Thoughts

Spoilers ahead:

First of all, the title and cover of this book are ridiculous. The art is pretty, but the pose looks like a cheesy romance. I think they’re paying homage to Courtship of Princess Leia, which while that story is hilarious, is one of the worst Star Wars books ever. But we get the Dathomir witches so it’s fine I guess.

On the other hand, Princess and the Scoundrel, is one of the best Star Wars books. Despite everything, despite all of the obstacles this book had from the beginning, it succeeds as having some of the best and most subtle character work in the entire franchise. Which is hilarious, because this book literally only exists to market a hotel. But Beth Revis said, “yeah, but what if it was good and I actually tried?”

Now, Beth Revis has clearly read COPL. You can tell and it’s kind of hilarious. For example, in COPL, there is a really long scene where Han plays sabacc (space poker) during a bout of insecurity and wins a planet to give to Leia and he uses THE MILLENNIUM FALCON for collateral. Han Solo would never do this. Now in PatS, Han plays sabacc while Leia is working to help her out by gathering intelligence. One of the players mentions that he wants to kidnap Leia (not knowing who Han is), and Han almost murders the guy. It’s awesome.

Here’s the thing, you can tell when Leia is being written by a woman instead of a man. In COPL, there is one moment where it’s brought up that if Leia marries Isolder there will be a planet for the survivors of the Alderaani genocide, but it’s only mentioned a few times and not by Leia. So any opportunity for a duty vs love internal conflict is not used. Her conflict is “Han and I are distant and space Fabio is hot so…”. Then HAN KIDNAPS LEIA USING A MIND CONTROL GUN. And she doesn’t murder him. So…I don’t care about this relationship anymore because both of them suck and it isn’t even clear why Leia falls in love with Han all over again.

Beth Revis gives Leia a very multi faceted internal conflict. Part of it is her dealing with her feelings about Vader, about being part of a team, and her guilt over Alderaan. It doesn’t take up too much time, but they inform a lot of her character.

Now, in a different canon book, that came out previously, it was mentioned in passing that Han and Leia got married on Endor. Now, at that point in both the EU and Canon, Han and Leia have been forcibly separated for a year and only actually got together a little bit before that. So, that’s really weird. But Revis is stuck with this. So she says to herself, “Why would they do this? Why would they move this quickly?”

And she remembers that this is Star Wars. They are living through war, they all almost died, and just spent a year forcibly separated. And they’ve decided that they’re done wasting time. Han just kind of…proposes and Leia (in typical fashion) debates for a second before deciding to take a leap of faith for love. It’s genuinely very, very sweet. Despite the title and cover this is not a romance book. There is no “will they won’t they” bullshit. Thank. God. They just get married and it’s really happy and Lando pranks Han into dressing nice, and it’s great. Then it’s a Star Wars adventure featuring Han and Leia.

That’s not to say Han and Leia don’t have any tension between them. The difference is it’s interesting. Han and Leia, especially her, do not know how to fully let each other into their lives. It isn’t that Han forgets for a bit that he married a very driven woman. He absolutely knows. His frustration stems from the fact that they are literally on their honeymoon, and Leia keeps leaving to work, because that is all she knows how to do. It is how she has coped with her trauma for three years. On the other hand, Leia feels like she is solely responsible for saving the galaxy, and that Han doesn’t understand that. Both sides of this argument are understandable. The book switches between Han and Leia’s perspectives. There are no stupid cutaways to Luke or space Fabio, there are no space witches. It is a focused relationship/ character study of Han and Leia while they’re on a decently interesting mission.

And the build up to the fight they end up having, is great. It’s a slow build up, you can feel their mutual frustration, and once they have the fight it is very cathartic. They don’t fight for the entire book either. They flirt and tease and have real conversations too.

So, after this huge fight, Leia is trying to divert the cruiser they’re on to this other planet, and Han finds out and helps her. Together, they succeed, but Leia is confused. They haven’t made up from their fight yet, and she asks why he helped her fight to go on a mission that’s going to take up more of their time. And Han says, “You’re my wife. If you’re running a con, I’m going to help you.”

Now, this might just be one of my favorite lines. Beth Revis understands that Han Solo is very loyal to the few people he cares about. He loves Leia, it’s why he goes back for her on Hoth at his own risk, why he saves Luke at Yavin and on Hoth. (She also understands the little bit of dorkiness Han Solo has beneath the posturing, up to the point that she gives him a sweet tooth.) Neither of them are overly mushy, they just love and respect each other.

There’s this great symbolism with their wedding rings. They’re made of hardened amber by the ewoks, and their fragility is a constant reminder of Han and Leia’s issues. They crack under pressure, and have to be maintained carefully. They eventually end up breaking under immense water pressure, but Han gives Leia a new ring (the one she wears in the sequels) reminiscent of the amber ones, symbolizing that they’re coming out stronger. It’s so sweet, and while it’s a little bit on the nose, it’s a great literary technique.

He’s acknowledging that he recognizes this part of Leia’s character, Leia realizes she needs to also put him first. In the aftermath, they both feel bad, apologize, and resolve to work on their issues together. And when they make-up, it feels real. This runs through the entire book, and the way it ends is really satisfying. Now, we know what happens to them in the sequels, so we can see how this conflict may come back into play later and lead to their eventual separation in canon. But, it’s also easy to see a different path where they work through these issues and live happily ever after. It’s just ambiguous enough to be read as either a prelude to eventual tragedy or the beginning of a long, happy life between two complex people. (I prefer the first one, but whatever).

Other things I liked:

- Han proposing. It’s literally that “I want you” “For what?” “A really long time.” quote on the internet.

Han: I want you.

Leia: Me? For what?

Han: Forever. Marry me.

- Leia tells Han about her true parentage and he just does not care. Like, he’s sympathetic towards her feelings, but is like, “why would this impact my love for you?”

- Leia finally lets herself do something spontaneous.

- Luke and Mon Mothma ship it.

- This quote:

Leia: About time.

Han: For what?

Leia: You once promised me a good kiss. I’ve been waiting.

- The conflict on Madurs is also pretty interesting. Leia is unwilling to let another planet die, giving an insight into Leia’s feelings about Alderaan, especially since Madurs values art like Alderaan.

Honestly, I want Beth Revis to write the canon “trip to Bespin” book.

Also…

This book kind of implies that Leia is bi? There’s a scene where Leia is remembering a conversation with her mother. So, when Alderaanian royals get married, their parent straps the ceremonial Rhindon sword (also used during their coronation) around their waist before the wedding.

In the flashback, Breha specifically says “whoever you marry” and “your husband or wife”…

Some people may say that it’s just ‘forced inclusion’ but that’s boring. Now, in the EU, fanon, and canon, Leia always puts emphasis on how close she and her parents were. This is something that I don’t think is ever particularly well illustrated, especially in canon. In parts the Kenobi series (she gets better later) and Leia, Princess of Alderaan, Breha in particular comes off as really unlikable.

But, if Leia isn’t over romanticizing (and there’s no indication that she is), she was really close to her parents. So, it stands to reason that her mother would know her sexuality. They at least seem really accepting in this passage, so it doesn’t seem like something Leia would keep from them.

I have no other evidence, and as far as I know, Leia is always seen in romances with men in both canon and legends, but in this context, it is a very interesting hint of something new about her character.