#show thoughts

by questioning the qualifications of succession (gender in rhaenyra's case and lineage in jace's) it puts his claim to the throne in jeopardy, regardless of what rhaenyra's wishes are or what oaths are made before she dies.

I want to start off by saying this is a no hate post. I feel like I understand both sides and I don't blame either anymore. There's just a side to this that it feels like I haven't seen a lot of people mentioning, which is religious trauma and the journey through deconstruction, specifically the step right before you admit to yourself that you no longer believe.

For me personally, there was this phase where I was completely disillusioned with the people part of religion but still convinced there was something worthwhile at the core of what I had spent a lifetime being taught to believe. And I think that's where Aziraphale is. He has fully accepted that there are bad angels. And they're making things bad for everyone around them. But he still thinks Heaven is good. He says it several different ways when he's speaking to Crowley at the end.

And I GET that. Because admitting that this thing that has been his compass, his belief system, a core part of who he is back to the beginning of time and even before could be flawed... that's a terrible thing to come to terms with.

If he accepts that Heaven isn't infallibly righteous, that the system hurts more than it helps, it means every time he proclaimed himself to be on the side of right and good, he now knows he was wrong. It means every time he drew a line in the sand and pushed Crowley to the other side of it, even if he didn't really mean it, he still never had a leg to stand on. And that is a very, very hard reckoning to process.

When he's stood for so long on the supposedly unshakable faith and the belief that he's serving a higher, deserving purpose, admitting to himself that he might have been wrong, that he built his sense of self up on something that he's struggling to believe now, that fucking hurts.

I think Aziraphale came back into that bookshop knowing that they were in danger, but he also had this bright, shining hope. His relationship with Crowley has been rigidly defined by sides for so long. From Aziraphale's perspective, it's been angels and demons; from Crowley's it's been us and them if he can only manage to convince Aziraphale about the us part. But now they have an opportunity to go to Heaven on the same side. And Crowley, he's crafty. He's clever. He's chaotic and brilliant, and he has never once failed to show up when Aziraphale needed him. If they're both on the same side again, the main obstacle that has stood between them, the fact that Crowley might be destroyed if they're together-Aziraphale expresses that fear over and over and over again, it's suddenly gone. And together, they can fix what's wrong in Heaven. They can make it the glorious, perfect thing it was always meant to be.

It must have felt amazing for Aziraphale. In those few moment it took to cross the street. The danger was still very real, but the possibilities of what they could accomplish together were endless.

i saw the show twice in Chicago and like. wow. i saw the show once on broadway beforehand and i think i genuinely might like tour better. put the pitchforks down (jk). i say this because I think I like this overall cast and their takes/chemistry together more? like i have individuals on broadway that i adore and who knock it out of the park, but this one felt more.. cohesive with the book to me

ok now for some more specific stuff. putting under the cut because it gets long

One of TVD’s greatest lies is the idea that Stefan and Damon could ever truly hate one another.

They threaten each other with death.

They betray each other.

They choose opposite sides, opposite morals, opposite lives. ‘Good cop, bad cop.’

Buuuut none of it ever sticks, obviously.

Because hatred, real hatred, requires indifference. And the Salvatore brothers are anything but indifferent when it comes to each other.

From the very beginning their relationship is framed not as enemies but as brothers locked in an endless, doomed, orbit. Every argument carries history. Every act of violence is personal. Every “I hate you” is loaded with a century and a half of grief, guilt, and love that they just don’t know how to put down.

Honestly Rebekah says it best.

‘The Salvatores may fight like dogs, but in the end, they would die for each other.’

And they do.

Stefan, in the end, does.

Stefan spends his entire existence atoning and not just for his own sins, but also for Damon’s. He saves Damon again and again, even when Damon doesn’t ask him to, even when Damon doesn’t deserve it, even when Damon completely resents him for it. Because Stefan’s love is not conditional and it never was.

And Damon pretends he doesn’t care. He buries it deep under cruelty and sarcasm and rage. But every time Stefan is gone, Damon unravels, his impulses always surface in Stefan’s absence. His humanity is tethered to his brother whether he wants to admit it or not.

That’s the tragedy of them that I’ve always loved.

They hurt each other because they care too much, they fight because they matter to each other, they can’t walk alway because the other is home.

Even hatred is still a feeling. It’s still an emotional investment. It still means the other person has power over you. And the Salvatores never stop giving each other that power. You cannot hate unless you care enough to hate, somewhere.

You don’t mourn someone you don’t love.

You don’t spend 150 years punishing yourself over someone you don’t love.

And they wouldn’t threaten if they did not love.

Their story was never about reconciliation and peace. Their story was about endurance, about loving someone so deeply even when it rots into resentment, even when it curdles into anger, it never disappears. Their love to each other is their commitment as brothers, no matter what happens to it.

They can fight like dogs, ruin each other, say they hate each other until the words lose meaning.

But in the end?? They would die for each other. Again, Stefan did.

Stefan died in sacrifice. Stefan died and allowed Damon to live a human life with Elena.

Honestly, as someone with siblings, the Salvatore brothers are painfully relatable.

Loving your sibling doesn’t mean liking them. It doesn’t mean having peace or understanding or even forgiveness. Sometimes it means screaming matches, even over something stupid. Sometimes it means saying some things that you cannot take back. Sometimes it means knowing exactly how to hurt each other because no one else knows you better.

But it also means no matter how bad it gets, there’s a like you won’t cross. A place you’ll always come back to. A loyalty that exists even when you don’t want it to.

You can walk away from lovers.

You can abandon friends.

But, at least in my case, siblings are practically stitched into you. My siblings are one of the only constants I can rely on, and I believe that to be the same for the Salvatore brothers in their own little fucked up way.

And that’s why they’ll truly never hate each other.

Because that kind of hatred requires distance that they would never allow.

They are, and have always been, brothers first and enemies second.