🪻dela🌲

28 🧿 | she/they🌙 | bisexual 💗💜💙 | mexicana americana🫶🏽 🌟multi fandom/multi shipper🌟 delawrites8 on ao3 💫

[sasukesun]

he’s a fictional character to you, i know him personally

[ae-dela]

[amadaestrella]

i didn’t know what to do but since i just binged Good Omens i thought it was fitting to do wings. these are just the ones i did this afternoon, i’ll work on the rest after work.

happy pride to everyone but especially our transgender friends who are being hunted and killed. to our bisexual friends who are being invalidated on their sexuality. to everyone who feels like they don’t deserve love. to those who feel like they don’t belong in their own body.

[amadaestrella]

my oc’s + their aesthetics 1/2

[amadaestrella]

my oc’s + their aesthetics 2/2

[depraveddame]

AND ANOTHER THING.

“Destined to find each other in every universe no matter what” is literally the definition of predeterminism— it’s the soulmate trope.

Is the free will in the room with us?

[rainbowhyperfixation]

This was my comment when I reshared this meme I made about 6 months ago:

Yes, this. Fuck predeterminism, fuck god shipping people she’s torturing, fuck queerphobia even if it’s unintentional, and fuck Neil Gaiman

[tweedfeather]

I didn’t love them because they were soulmates or “meant to be together in every universe” or because God shipped them.

I loved them because they were two lonely weirdos who found each other all on their own while getting by in a fucked-up little universe. I loved them as an angel and a demon who cobbled together something strange and meaningful between them even when they were never supposed to do that. I loved how they loved each other in spite of the great plan, in spite of a system intended to tear them apart.

I wanted their love story to be one of defiance, not compliance with destiny.

[depraveddame]

This 👆🏻

Their connection was one they formed against all odds.

How could it ever be them in a hypothetical, fated-to-be-together multiverse where there are no odds at all?

[itisnotanillusion]

This this this!!! 😭

[depraveddame]

half agony, half hope by depraveddame

A Good Omens 3 Fix-It/Scene Rewrite: The Alley, or: Aziraphale helps Crowley up off of the ground instead of walking away from him.

Aziraphale doesn't know what to expect when he returns to Earth after three years, and he's shaken to his core when he finds Crowley lying in a filthy alleyway, shattered and alone. There is much he wants to say and even more he wants to fix, but the first step is helping a stubborn demon up off of the ground.

| tags |

season 3 fix-it, scene rewrite, protective, caring, anxious Aziraphale, depressed Crowley, references to alcohol use, emotional, light angst, holding hands, hopeful ending

| excerpt |

The inside of Aziraphale’s nose tingles as it recognises the faint but unmistakable— familiar, second nature— scent of the last electrically-charged moment before a sudden rainstorm splits the sky—

I know what you smell like.

— but that sharp, crackling shower of sparks is deadened by something far more overpowering, something heavy and oppressive and bleak that chokes the atmospheric fragrance: despair.

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[dustbunniees]

tbh my biggest problem with go3 is that aziraphale and crowley do stuff that affects the plot and actually makes a difference in the story #notmygoodomens. my ineffables do NOT save the world, they are there while the world is saved

you’ve taken the two most useless beings in existence and you made them make a decision. look at them. they’re suicidal now

[just-sauntered-vaguely-downwards]

If only we could’ve imagined…

[wintergirlantics]

I find it bleeding hilarious how with the chaos and disappointment of the Gomens finale, I haven't seen a single post blame Micheal.

Just a straight bypass into acknowledging it was the logic of the story's fault. Even people who liked the ending aren't blaming Michael. Some even agree with their motives a bit and relate. (I too agree occasionally lol)

This is absolutely beautiful when you remember that 2, almost 3 years ago we were all threatening to beat the shit out of the metatron🤣

[vivi-theakuneko]

Fix-it ver. Don't Stop Me Now

[rainbowhyperfixation]

[armageddidnt]

The 5 real themes of good omens that the finale completely botched

I know we only had 1 episode and whole plotlines were scrapped but I was just left feeling so empty after the finale given how powerful and moving and profound the themes of season 1/the book were. So buckle up for a long ride let's talk about it

Theme 1: Human Incarnate

The book and the show established that humanity is unique because it is neither purely good or purely bad. From the book: "Most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally evil, but by people being fundamentally people." This Aziraphale describes as "much better" than either Heaven or Hell

This is one of my favorite sequences in the whole show. And the music is soaring and gorgeous (but was never released in the official soundtrack, unfortunately, but I digress). Adam recalls the things in his life he has come to know and love; his parents, his friends, his dog, his home. He makes it have nice weather all year. Aziraphale could feel that love at the Tadfield Manor. Heaven and Hell tried to create an instrument of destruction. But by putting that inside a human boy, they didn't realize the strength of that boy's love would be strong enough to literally burn the hell out of him. He told Satan himself to shove it and rewrote reality to have the dad he truly loved. The power of humanity's love is stronger than any immortal power could ever be.

This is the idea that would have been so cool for the finale but unfortunately never paid off. As the second coming prepares to destroy Earth again, Aziraphale and Crowley could have teamed up with the power of humanity to reshape heaven and hell for good. Adam and Jesus as the Antichrist and Christ born to end the world and instead used their humanity to save it. Instead we got the book-of-life arc and humans were literally left to dust

Theme 2: Free Will

Good omens establishes that angels and demons are just puppets but humans are the ones with real free will because they have the ability to be good or bad. Even with heaven and hell, the humans on Earth always have a choice. Aziraphale even describes free will as the defining characteristic of humanity, as the crucial element that angels should exist to protect. In seasons 1+2, they agree on this, but Crowley's main grievance is the inequity of it all. Humans have free will but it still isn't fair.

God made angels and demons and humans but the humans never had to follow her 'plan.' Free will and the ability to recognize what is truly right outside the propaganda of good vs evil is what saves the world.

Humans always had free will, even if God was around to kill a bunch of them with floods or take their stuff to win bets or something. Creating a new universe without God wouldn't change that. They would still have free will, just less threats from above/below, I guess. Crowley just kind of assumes that without a God, humans will somehow have more free will than they do now, and that will somehow solve all of the problems they’ve encountered in humanity?? What Crowley's established character really should have wanted here was to fix the inequity inherent in human society. That's what is truly holding them back, not a lack of will. Removing God from the universe doesn't actually solve the root problem.

Theme 3: Our Own Side

This is something Crowley learned very early and spends the whole show trying to teach Aziraphale. That good must be separated from heaven and bad must be separated from hell.

Heaven can do some truly appalling horrors and demons, at least Crowley (and somewhat Beelzebub I guess) have the potential to be kind. 'Their own side' is one where they have the freedom of humanity, to do what is objectively right. Not of heaven or hell, but true morality. Aziraphale and Crowley sort of found their way there in the finale, but it was all rushed and Aziraphale never really turned his back on heaven, it sort of just became irrelevant when everything started disappearing. What a beautiful world they could have created together, not one of good or evil, but one that--for all its flaws--is kind.

Theme 4: Love Conquers All

What was it all for? Love. God implies Aziraphale and Crowley were made for each other because she liked to smile at the silliness of their love. The literal only constant in the entire universe. Their love for the world and each other saved it. I think the decision to turn Aziraphale and Crowley's queer love story into a tragedy was the biggest mistake of seasons 2/3. Forcing the soft and romantic comedy of good omens into a queer tragedy was the moment it all crashed and burned. Now everything is tainted leading up to the pain and destruction of it all and the whimsy and lightness is gone. There were moments of it, but it was all leading toward the end. And queer love deserves to not be a tragedy. We have far too much tragic queer love in our society. Yes we got the south downs, but Aziraphale and Crowley never got to experience that freedom. They finally came together just to instantly be destroyed. We deserve happy and fulfilling queer love that is sweet without the bitter parts. Good omens was intended to be a comedy, not a tragedy

And then this was SUCH A COOL IDEA they introduced. Perhaps the first time ever an angel and a demon performed a miracle together. The power of their love could create magic stronger than anything heaven or hell had ever seen. I was so excited to see the wonders they were going to create, they ways in which they could have rebuilt the world better using that love. If they had this kind of power doing a tiny miracle, what could they have accomplished if they really put their minds to it??? God herself couldn't have stopped them. And instead, the finale literally revoked Crowley's miracles for the entire episode. They sacrifice themselves for a new earth and people that didn’t even exist yet instead of using any of their power to change it. The god awful execution of this theme is probably the biggest letdown of the entire finale imo

Theme 5: Fix It, Don't Replace It

This is so obviously established in seasons 1/2 I cannot believe how badly they missed the mark with this one

Literally shows us the horror of replacing the Earth with all new people. Even children can recognize that just because something is broken, it doesn't mean you throw it away and start over. They loved the world enough to want to save it. The world is inherently worth saving, flaws and all. If you love something, you don't abandon it. The ENTIRE PLOT of season 1 explores the horrors of humanity and yet humans, Aziraphale and Crowley do everything in their power to save it.

It absolutely blows my mind how directly this scene contradicts the entire message of the finale. Job didn't want new children, he quite liked the old ones. Aziraphale and Crowley didn't want the antichrist's new Earth, they quite liked the old one. We didn't want new human versions of Aziraphale and Crowley, we QUITE LIKED THE OLD ONES. Where the hell did that mentality go when they told God to create an entirely new universe?????????? Season 1 said the world is flawed but it deserves saving exactly as it is. Season 1 said an angel and a demon go off to the ritz together, exactly as they are. The finale said the world is too broken, we have to make it disappear and start over. The finale said Aziraphale and Crowley have too many issues/traumas to be happy, we have to destroy them and start over. That's why as cute as Asa and Anthony's love is, we quite liked them exactly as they were, angel/demon trauma + history and all. They deserved saving too.

At the end of everything they’re giving up, we are simply left with asking: What is the "real world" the finale is trying to make us value? One without a god to screw things up sometimes??? All we see of this new world is Asa and Anthony finding each other. There's no evidence to show that humans are doing any better, there's any less pain or suffering, that humans have any more opportunities or free will than before. They seem to imply it's the exact same world, just without God or angels or demons. Then what was the actual point of destroying the original one??? If the real problem was God, they should've just destroyed God and left the world alone. I guess they didn't have enough time to really explore it. But they're hinging everything on the new universe being better but then do next to nothing to support that idea.

IN CONCLUSION: Good omens has always been so special to me for how much it pokes fun at but also celebrates the messiness and wonder of humanity and love. The 6-to-1 episodes was a major setback but somehow the finale still managed to drop basically every one of its most endearing and powerful messages. It's very clear good omens as a whole was always meant to be a one-season/one-book story. There was so much potential and missed opportunities and I wish we could have had the finale we dreamt of. I will always love the world of good omens season 1/the book, so that is the world I'll keep in my heart. And all the nightingales therein

[azariaheverest]

💯

Adding to this because I'm so frustrated with how GO3 ended and disregarded everything IMO.

Adding onto the themes that were disposed of completely in the finale, and the many plot holes or side plots that didn't go anywhere and had no real purpose to the plot. At first I thought the mafia man who stole Crowley's car was going to die of a heart attack, become a demon and be the new big bad they faced. But nothing really happened with that except Aziraphale telling his daughter that she can 'love her dad, and not have to be like him'.  (Paraphrasing)  The only purpose I can see for that line is Az realizing he can love God and not be what God (and heaven) expects him to be. He can be his own person and still be 'good'.  But again, nothing came out of that.

I get Aziraphale winning the Bentley back was a form of reconciliation between them, but they could have put the Bentley in danger another way that made sense to the plot. (Or another way for them to reconcile.)

I could have accepted that they sacrificed themselves for humanity IF they didn't ask God to help them. We've established that they were powerful enough together to perform a 25 Lazarus level Miracle. This could have been used as the final FU to the ineffable plan. God could have come and told them all that she did and crowley could have stopped time, discussed it with Aziraphale, then used their combined powers to create the new universe they dreamed of.  In doing this, their love for each other and humanity would influence that world for the better.

(A little fan theory I've been thinking about is because they Miracled up a new universe with their love, it would have been so rewarding and satisfying to see them meet up in every lifetime, echoing the many times we see them meet in their original timeline. (Eg as knights, Shakespeare's time, in Germany, Edinburgh, the bookshop, etc) Upon first meeting, everytime, instantly falling in love and kind of recognizing each other in a 'have we met before...?' way as a nod to them being soul mates and an incarnation of their love that they used to make this universe. )

It bothered me that they didn't use the continuous theme of fixing it, instead they chose starting new, eliminating the 'problem'. 

I really had hoped they'd use Jesus more. It made sense for Jesus to come to earth and be taught by humanity to say FU to heaven's plan. And kind of poetic to have him meet and/or team up with Adam who is human incarnate and the anti christ to save the world and humanity.

The Michael plot line was so obvious it wasn't worth setting up the metatron as the villain last season. The evil look he gave crowley before going to talk with Aziraphale was pure hatred. I do not think he thought Aziraphale was the best man for the job. He just needed them separated from each other, especially after their huge miracle.

[depraveddame]

At the end of the day, aside from the endless plot holes and nonsensical narrative that is literally canon non-compliant with s1 and s2, this ending does not and will not work for me on many personal levels, including this one:

I am the wrong person to talk to when it comes to erasure and replacements and how shiny new unblemished things are a clean slate and therefore better. My apartment is filled to the brim with old things. I am helplessly attached to that which is broken and battered and resistant in spite of the trials they’ve been put through. I treasure every chip and crack that marks the antique porcelain and vintage ceramic I rescue from flea markets and I adore the crumbling gilt gesso frames I pluck from the trash. I am not put off by mirrors that have begun to lose their silvering and I still think leather bound books are a treasure even as their spines splinter and unravel under the pressure of a long life. I honor the craftsmanship that cannot be replicated today and that has been forgotten or shoved to the side as unnecessary and frivolous. I save things at my job every day, works on paper in such bad condition after being exposed to the elements and that which is life that they’re financially meaningless but mean everything to those who love them in spite of their damage.

Restoration and healing is a worthy pursuit and is never hopeless. Sentiment should not be punished. Memory should be honored. What we go through cannot be erased, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to heal and keep living. It doesn’t mean it’s not always worth it to try. I will always choose kintsugi over a factory replacement.

[gabe-dasha]

It's been almost 48 hours. I have processed the finale. I'm past my grievances. I've ran out of the conventional stages of grief and I'm currently on the secret 6th one. It's time for memes

[gabe-dasha]

Alternatively

:)

[geekyoldlady]

Both of these are super important

[twilightofthesandwiches]

By the way, it is SO fucked-up that, like, through Aziraphale’s entire relationship with Crowley, he was struggling with this precipice between self-indulgence and self-denial. Like, Aziraphale is already a very indulgent person who enjoys a lot of things that a Good Angel is not supposed to care about, and he’s not immune to feeling shame and insecurity about it when Heaven points that out…

But he could still convince himself that eating at London’s best restaurants every day is not only harmless, but actually Important to his job of blending in with and inspiring humanity. But then there was Crowley….

And on some level he always knew that being with Crowley and loving Crowley were the things that made him the happiest, but he also ‘knew’ that this was wrong, bad, evil. Crowley is supposedly his ‘hereditary enemy’ and Ontologically Evil. But as always, Aziraphale can’t keep himself away from temptation and joy, but it’s just that sense of guilt manifests as the self-righteous moralizing and the emotional distance he still put between them.

And then he finally got the reaffirmation that the supposedly ‘selfish’ and ‘unheavenly’ things he wanted, Crowley and also all of the earthly delights of the world and avoiding the War, were actually the real Good Things all along. And now he can live with Crowley in a… not exactly the Happily Ever After they 100% wanted deep down, but definitely the happiest and closest mutual co-existence they ever had.

There was still tensions, Aziraphale’s desire to do good still sometimes clashes with Crowley, the end of the world was coming up again and neither of them had a good idea for stopping it, and while Aziraphale’s indulgent selfishness is not as inherently bad as he always believed it was, it did have a dark side that was making him take Crowley for granted and ‘take’ too much in their relationship. But… it didn’t seem like anything they couldn’t resolve between each other eventually.

… Until the Metatron comes in with the temptation of a lifetime, what if instead of unlearning your shame and your indoctrination and needing to balance the Greater Good with your desire to be with Crowley Happily Ever After, you really could just have it all? What if you could make Crowley the Thing You’re Not Ashamed of Loving and the two of you could fix Heaven and save the world together? Maybe even make the world a Better Place? But by taking that bait, he just hurt Crowley and drove him away from him. But he still chose Heaven, over his actual happiness with Crowley, because he convinced himself that was actually the good, selfless thing to do.

He sacrificed everything that actually made him happy, again.

I think Aziraphale's GO1 Storyline makes for a perfect narrative all on his own. Unlearning guilt and embracing 'selfishness' only to realize your supposed selfish desires are aren't only okay, but are actually way more Good than the thing you were trying to 'selflessly' sacrifice for in the first place, is a very good throughline for this story about satirizing Christianity and embracing moral grayness and Queer Love.

But since GO2 really tried to make a Thing about the idea the amount of self-sacrifice in the relationship was unbalanced... I really wish Aziraphale’s arc could conclude with him being able to lean balance, some actual shades of gray, between the importance and beauty of his ‘selfish’ love for Crowley and also not expecting him to be the one who sacrifices everything in the relationship. Instead, by the time he finally embraces the fact that nothing makes happier than simply being with Crowley and learns to not take him for granted and actually give him something to show his love… apparently the one thing Crowley wanted, the actual ‘Greater Good’, not only requires them to not be together, but for neither of them to even exist.

And Aziraphale ends this arc of his basically at the same place where he started, believing that his happiness with Crowley is antithetical to Doing the Right Thing and that he should sacrifice it all. Only this time there's nothing stopping him from actually going through with this...

[bellisima-writes]

On Open-Ended Endings

PSA THIS POST IS VERY ANTI-GO S3 so if you don't like don't read please. Please protect yourself. I'm not here to change minds, just to exorcise thoughts.

LEAVE

IF

YOU

LIKED

THE

FINALE

OR

ARE

STILL

REELING

PLEASE

AND

THANK

YOU

AND A CUT FOR GOOD MEASURE

So, on this blog I try to stick to fanworks and discussions of writing. So I wanted to talk a bit about open-ended endings.

Confession - I hate open-ended endings, with very limited exceptions. This is my totally subjective and non-academic opinion, but they just feel lazy to me. I personally feel the storyteller's duty should be to tell the story they want to tell and tell it clearly. Now that does not mean say everything, it does not mean stare at the reader and mouth message at the big moment or big speech. It means give enough evidence on the page or screen so the reader at least understands what happens. How they interpret that is up to them and outside of the author's control, but the what happens should be agreed upon.

Now, in my mind the most obvious exception to this is the ending to Inception. When the credits start to roll, we don't know whether or not Cobb's token falls over. We don't know if the children he runs to are flesh and blood or figments of his imagination. But the entire point of the movie was that debate - does it actually matter? Is a dream more real than reality when the dreamer wishes it to be? It was asked MULTIPLE times, stated out loud and shown through the plot, so in the end it does not matter. Those are his children because he chose them. He was home because he chose to be. The end. The token falling or spinning into eternity has no baring on that ending.

The ending of Good Omens, I would argue, is not open at all. Universe remade, no angels, no demons, no god, no satan, everything left to chance. True free will. And then there's the Asa and Anthony scene, which makes no sense whatsoever if we trust the sacrifice made (which we have to, or the whole thing is even worse). They look the same, find one another again, are instantly attracted to one another and then go to a pub where every cast member of the show was present at that moment. The whole thing is statistically impossible. So in my mind, this was fan service. Angels and demons in human bodies? Jesus, born 2000 years ago, alive in London in present day having beer with Adam? Arthur and Deirdre would have Warlock Young. Adam would not exist.

BUT - INTERLUDE - Elizabeth Berrington can serve me drinks any day she wants.

That whole ending made no sense. Soulmates? Okay, but that clearly destroys the point of the sacrifice. Where is free will if someone is cursed to not feel fulfilled until they find their match? The demon Crowley who sacrificed his existence to free humanity would be devastated if this were the world that grew from that sacrifice.

So, needless to say, this "open-ended" ending fails because it not only does not live up to anything that was set up before, but it blatantly contradicts and negates it. Whether you liked it or not, the fact is it is not open ended in the least. It's confusing. It's contradictory. It is storytelling and fan service at its worst because it leaves the viewers arguing over which part of the end is more important based on their feelings or personal beliefs. And it's caused a rift in our community because of its negligence.

That is it's gravest cruelty.

I know there are many out there struggling deeply because of this ending, and I am so sorry. It feels wrong because it was wrong not only for the characters but for the story and for the way stories are meant to be told. I hope someday we can all move forward from this in whichever way works for us and find joy in the lives we've given them over and over and over again in our fanworks. There is one canon and tens of thousands of happy endings. The sting will fade, the bruise will heal, and they live on, because we will them to.

[bee-zle]

The placement of the graffiti?

The angel wings in space?

The demon disguised as cupid shooting at Anthony's heart?

I'm sick

[onion-chan29]

3 weeks ago, Good omens 3 broke my heart, destroyed my heart, burnt my heart. And it continue even if it's over... 😭

[catkelpie]

This post on Twitter kinda sums up the entirety of what's wrong with Good Omens 3 - they destroyed all the magic. They destroyed that magical, whimsical, optimistic universe and replaced it with bleak reality, a world without magic. Before the finale, we could visit all these places and believe that they were there, read ancient history and believe that they'd been there, blame our computer troubles on Newt, take things as prophecies from Agnes Nutter...and now? We're left with emptiness.

[shohji666]

always miss each other

artwork as acts of self-harm...