Goddess of Duality

I get obsessed with tv shows and ship a lot.

[iforgiveyouprime]

Art by @wingly-coded

This is exactly what I wanted to see in the finale. The film was completely devoid of any emotion. They deserved at least an embrace. A desperate, long-awaited one, full of love, the desire to protect, and to love forever… Perhaps with tears, but tears of relief, as well as the longing from a long separation...

[embirush-art]

They wrote their own story.

✨️some thoughts under the cut, feel free to ignore it and just enjoy the picture✨️

Whenever I dislike something very much, I change my mind often within a few days. It's been a week, it hurts less, but I didn’t change my mind this time. I don't accept the final. It doesn't feel right to me, and it doesn't feel fair. I wrote a very angry text earlier and it was rather emotional, not gonna delete it though, it made me feel better. I don't care if the s3 ending was intended to be so bitter or did they genuinely thought it's right and good, I just know that it doesn’t match the whole picture to me (and also, it's just not what I wanted, not gonna lie, but there are so many ways to end the story, and they chose THE WORST). I'd like to say it one more time: the problem for me is not the characters make the choice they did, it's the writers put them in this situation in the first place. And EVEN in those circumstances, i believe that our angel and demon would come to any other solution than this one. When I was drawing this, I was thinking about what makes our beloved characters themselves. It is their shared past and experiences, thousands of memories that influence their personalities and choices. It's their long story, their history. It's not just a "soul", though it matters too if it exists. So, when it was erased this easily, no reincarnations could fill the hole that many of us got. Asa and Anthony are sweet and I kinda liked them after all but their happiness doesn't really bother me as much as Aziraphale and Crowley's. Besides, I was so so sad about not only they were destroyed, but all of the people and the world we knew. It felt so wrong, especially when you think about Adam giving the Earth a chance despite it being so twisted and bad in many ways. Because, firstly it's up to no one to decide the fate of everyone, and secondly, it is wrong to give up on trying to fix things and make it better. It's so important to remember our past, our pain and our mistakes so that we don’t repeat them in the future, and when it's just gone it feels like a loss, not a win. I'm not even talking about all the good things that humanity had, and now it's all went different way. We have seen that people live just fine, and in the new world everything is very similar to ours, but this feels so... not related to us? Idk, it feels like something else. I wonder what humanity had to go through during this time, but as I said earlier, I wanted to get a chance to live on for our world, and not for someone else, who didn't even exist yet... Don't we deserve this? That's why I've drawn this picture. I usually draw something for fun or just to create something pleasing to my own eyes, but this one feel special because of so much thoughts behind it. Pretty simple thoughts but anyway. In my head Aziraphale and Crowley are alive as old selves, happy and loved. In the cottage, of course.

The last thing I would like to add is just my opinion (as everything above, sure) but I want to say it anyway. I believe that every author should tell the story the way they want, without necessarily listening to anyone's suggestions about it. But for me this story was a comforting one, the one about and for all of the people, and now it’s neither. After the S2 I felt like this show is going to end somehow lovely, with everyone achieve the peace they deserved, and that the ending would be the most cliché (in a good way) we could imagine. Because this is what we NEEDED. We needed something that ends fair and everyone is happy, that would be a beacon to help us through the hard times in reality. There are not so many stories nowadays that seems like a fairy tale that gives us hope, like the S1. I think we all have the right to grieve about something that was so important to us and turned out to be a kind of betrayal, despite the fact that it was the author's choice. They had that right, and we have the right to say what we think about it. Also, people who paid to watch it have a right to complain about the commercial product they dislike because it is obviously rushed and not really written very well hahaha but that’s not what I’m talking about. Even if this ending would be written brilliant with a full six episodes, it would be easier to accept but I probably wouldn’t.

I'm not the talkative one when it comes to openly expressing my opinions, it's always been a hard thing to me, but this is what happens when you make an introvert feel the pain about something they love deeply lol. I know a lot of people have already said exactly what I just said but I needed to vent it too. I feel so much easier after putting all of this into words and sharing. Glad if you read it! I’m open to discussion if you have anything to add or disagree.

[simperius]

It should have been Jesus running around with Adam doing second coming shenanigans and philosophizing about The Big Stuff and experiencing modernity and regular life and friendship etc. while Aziraphale and Crowley are forced back together in order to look for him and wind up hashing out their differences from before while being endearingly useless to the broader mission, slowly falling back into their Earthly rhythm, addressing The Kiss and clumsily figuring out how to express and accept their love for one another until the two plots converge in an absurd high stakes climax where the Messiah and the former Antichrist implore above and below to embrace their own free will and acknowledge their self-imposed shackles, thereby freeing all beings alive dead and otherwise from an unending cycle of shame and judgement

[starmaker-astral]

Good Omens HQ : "Hey what if we put EVERY nightmares of the fandom in that finale ?"

[daylightglitch]

aw they're gonna kiss when they're finally alone in the bookshop- nvm

aw they're gonna kiss after they made their decision- nvm

aw they're gonna kiss before they disappear- no what is the hand thing- nvm

maybe they'll kiss as humans- and then they pointed at me and laughed WELL FUCK ME THEN

[fellshish]

sorry but s2 aziraphale did not hold trembling fingers to his lips thinking do it again because he wanted to boop crowley on the lips with his fingies

[depraveddame]

I’m sorry but it’s so painfully fucking heteronormative that we got a shot of WEDDING RINGS but not one hug, not one kiss or drop of physical affection that it made my eyes bleed. Bury your gays, but make sure they lose their memories and their pasts first and most definitely don’t show ANY onscreen romance! And the idea that another kiss would just be akin to another F15 is some fucking homophobic bullshit. Unbelievable. We should not have to BEG for queer romance and happiness and I resent being made to feel like I should feel grateful for this travesty of a finale

[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. 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.

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. What is the "real world" the finale is trying to make us value? One without a god to screw things up sometimes??? The best parts of humanity always shined through anyway--and not despite, but sometimes even BECAUSE of the heavenly challenges they overcame. 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

[vivi-theakuneko]

Had to stop drawing the other comic to do this lmao

[fellshish]

and another thing… idk about you guys but my crowley and aziraphale are a demon and an angel, enemies to friends to situationship to almost-lovers, a 6,000 year slowburn. and they were fully shaped by the fact that they are supernatural beings, and by all their shared experiences, good and bad. that crowley and aziraphale have now semi-canonically been snapped out of existence, they have *never* even existed in this universe, they were basically book of lifed, the very punishment that was a threat in s2. and no weird ooc human au can ever be them because what they’ve been through and what they’ve learned is so much of who they are

[poneappol]

this fanfiction shit easy

[chaosandcardigans]

do you think we're together in another universe?

I don't care, I just want you in this one.

[theonevoice]

For a moment I thought they were going to spend eternity together in the cosmic bookshop writing the whole universe back in existence in the blank books...

[plantlordv]

Aziraphale and Crowley did NOT get a happy ending. Let that sink in.

After everything they'd gone through together, all their history, their love spanning 6000 years, they literally vanished into dust.

Their "human versions" are not them. They met each other in their 50s? 60s? and will get like 30 or so years together.

No sticking together for centuries despite being from opposite factions in an eternal conflict, no developing their rivalry, friendship, and eventually love throughout the ages, no having each other's back despite the dangers of doing so, no bickering, no rescuing each other, no "you go too fast for me, Crowley", no 'our' Bentley, no "angel" as a pet name, NO THEM. At all.

This is my worst nightmare I'm going the fuck back to sleep.

[church-of-lilith]

the gays were immortal and they STILL managed to bury them???

[alphacentaurinebula]

The destruction of the entire universe and every soul in it is a truly depressing ending. Just because God replaced it with another universe that looked similar doesn't change anything - this is Job and his children all over again. Job doesn't want new children, and neither do I.

[hollow-head]

A missing scene. Thanks for all the fanart and fic throughout the years, you guys