Too old for a teenage crush? Apparently not!!

Good Omens!! Tennant and Sheen!! 😇😎 Once just peacefully obsessed with Star Trek Enterprise & Trip Tucker, now swept away by the Good Omens maelstrom. Also love DS9, Next Generation, Voyager, flowers, photography, music, tea parties (with cake!), colour & clouds.

[ineffable-feels]

Since you motherfuckers are as thirsty as me, here’s every single frame of Aziraphale feeling indulgent relief in the beginning of the time-bubble at the end of the world. I sliced it TO THE INDIVIDUAL FRAME on either side.

I hope I recorded it good enough.

[depraveddame]

I actually think 96 minutes is plenty of time to present a cohesive and well-thought out story that doesn’t waste itself on convoluted and ultimately useless plot points while hinging on the retconning of established and vital canon (which still doesn’t help it much)

The issue with the finale isn’t the shortened time. The issue is that at the end of the day, bad writing— whether stretched across an hour and a half or six hours— is still bad writing.

[depraveddame]

I actually think 96 minutes is plenty of time to present a cohesive and well-thought out story that doesn’t waste itself on convoluted and ultimately useless plot points while hinging on the retconning of established and vital canon (which still doesn’t help it much)

The issue with the finale isn’t the shortened time. The issue is that at the end of the day, bad writing— whether stretched across an hour and a half or six hours— is still bad writing.

[ladybracknellssherry]

it's infuriating when the show breaks its own rules. imagine sacrificing yourself, your entire universe, and the person you love for a "real" universe with "free will." only to end up in a universe with reincarnation and soulmates, at the same time as everyone and everything from the previous universe.

the fact that they even made that choice at all is a paradox!

because if making that choice was indeed a choice... then they already had free will! and if it was the only choice they could have made because they didn't actually have a choice... then it was god's plan all along. how is any of that even remotely noble or beautiful at all.

[itsineffhazbinle]

s3 feels so disconnected from the rest

I keep seeing people claim that this ending was the only one possible, that the whole narration up from s1 (or even the book) was building up to this finale, that a hard reset of the universe was the endgame all along. I don't see how. Good Omens's original charm was being a parody of all religions (and a bunch of deterministic movies like The Omen). The problem of free will was discussed often with a light-hearted, parodic approach. I'm reminded of when Ligur said "I made a priest look at pretty girls in the sun today: he could have become a saint, now he's going to hell." Isn't this literally a parody of how simplistic religious moral beliefs are? The whole point of GO was not just to mock them, but to reflect on how humans are more complex than that, in a universe where, even if Hell and Heaven are literal and operative, humans still managed to successfully exercise their free will AND avoid Armageddon, even if it was advertised as inevitable by Heaven/Hell. The point was to prove both wrong. Az and Crow were there just to say that “who's to say it wasn't God's plan all along, maybe there were some small-font clauses hidden somewhere in the Plan?” It was beautiful, hilarious, humanist, comforting, open-ended. God was never this evil final boss, overarching puppeteer: the point was that she almost didn’t seem to exist at all and it was just a bunch of humans doing things while claiming a bigger entity wanted them to do that.

My takeaway from the book and first season has always been: Azira and Crowley thought they could impact humanity with their work, then quickly realized they didn't need to do much work AND that both their bosses would never understand that, so they just relaxed and enjoyed the ride lol. What I liked the most about the GO's message was: humans are both bad and good, beautifully human anyway, even in a world with Heaven/Hell, which doesn't impact their lives that much. Dumb Corporate thinks they're pulling the strings of the world, when in fact the strings have always been so loose they could as well be nonexistent: still, humanity is doing just fine. The point of avoiding Armageddon was to protect that world, created with free will and humanity being its beautiful, "human incarnate" self. That Specific Humanity was worth saving, just like Job wanted His Specific Kids back. The best thing was that humanity saved itself! No need for celestial beings basically Jesusing themselves for the world, except what they're saving is the abstract concept of a “free humanity”. Where did s1’s love for That Humanity go? They only save the ideal of it with their sacrifice: was that really the only option? It’s a fictional world, so every writing choice reveals a specific intention and message.

That's why the ending of s3 feels really disconnected to me: suddenly we're in a world where God is extremely involved, humans can never have actual free will, they're all "puppets in her own book", all the messages of caring for others and trying to improve the existing world instead of throwing the whole thing in the trash (The Them at Adam during his power trip), trying to find your footing in life despite your past and your nature (Crowley being a failed demon, Aziraphale struggling with his wavering faith, etc.), all blown out the window! I don't want to say it feels like a retcon, but it definitely feels like they flattened a lot of the previous messages and themes just to achieve the tearjerker ending. It doesn't feel earned, it doesn't feel organic, it doesn't feel particularly satisfactory as a way of tying up all the loose ends. It's nothing short of an "it was all a dream" ending.

TLTR: on where the 3 seasons differed to me:

S1 was hope and humanity in all its beautiful, messy glory, making Az and Crow basically useless, giving them a relative freedom from their jobs. Humanity is the main protagonist, it saves itself, who's to say that wasn't the Plan all along? Sure, there’s the "this wasn't the big one, the next one will be Us against all of Them" line, but it doesn't have to be literal: a well-written sequel could have kept the original themes while exploring other interesting moral conundrums in a clever way, instead of going the cheap route of "it's all bleak, let's press reset."

S2 was a wrestling match between different, opposite outlooks on life: do we stay and try making the world better, or do we run away and choose each other? Is there any reason left to hope, or is the world bleak? Can we reform an unjust system, or is it rigged from the start? A more intimiste approach, a slice-of-life approach, if you will.

S3 doesn't even try to do anything except say from the start: everything is ending, there's no point in this life, all is lost, humanity is doomed, free will never existed, I'm tired boss let's just restart the universe because as long as God exists we'll never be free (in a show from a book that was basically saying the opposite and also, a friggin' PARODY of religion, it was never supposed to get that serious*).

*Small footnote under the cut:

s3 feels, all in all, like a fix-it fic from someone who took the first book way too seriously, injected a sense of extra existential dread into a world order that was just meant to be a parody, and basically run with this idea so much that they took the liberty to kill the whole franchise and restart it to their own liking. It reminds me of Toy Story 4 and why many people hated it: first 3 movies were fun but also bitter sweet because toys were often abandoned by their children, so it was all about finding happiness where you could, seizing the moment, and making bonds with your friends, while surviving in a world where the laws were tried and true. It didn’t try to shy away from difficult themes and difficult choices. It had guts and took risks. It didn’t try to mollycoddle their audience. Then the 4th movie came out and suddenly all the previous messages were thrown out of the window: toys should just run away from their kids and find their own happiness, let’s dismantle the system! Except it didn’t feel like an empowering message, it felt like breaking all the previously established, bittersweet but beautiful messages, trampling over them, just to get this cheap, individualistic message out.

What is with sequels and their need to completely negate all the previous messages? This constant need for a hard reset, which never feels satisfactory anyway, because it rarely feels earned?

[tsilvy]

friendly reminder that aziraphale made crowley smile in rome when he realized he was in a foul mood

that he blushed when he described crowley as a wily adversary (keeps me on my toes)

that he smiled when he realized the bentley was back without a scratch after having blown up

that he refused crowley a suicide pill

that he kept an eye on crowley for 26 years after 1941, then sought him out and gave him the holy water so that he didn't have to get it himself. but i can't have you risking your life. not even for something dangerous. if we must quote it then at least let's quote it right.

that he went to hell for crowley and made sure they wouldn't bother him anymore

that he only ever cared about crowley not being destroyed

that no way aziraphale didn't check on crowley in three years

friendly reminder that aziraphale would never give up crowley without a fight, not even if crowley asked

[lumesati]

I worked on this little Fix-It version for weeks to have it exactly the way I needed it to be. It felt a bit like GO S3 trauma therapy. It also entered my unconsciousness, so a part of me now sees this as canon.

Another part of me still hopes for an ‘OV Aziraphale & Crowley being truly happy in whatever/whenever way’ extra scene in the Blu-ray box (in case they’ll release one), because this world needs as much light and love and positivity as possible. Please make it happen. <3

[reasonably-tattered]

honestly, the revelation that the finale was the work of that evil man NG and his stupid-ass horror pals is enough to make it non-canon forever imo. what I mean by that is, the story they shat out is illegitimate: in authorship, in heart, in the story's operative logic.

we anticipated closure from Good Omens 3, and a lot of that was contingent on the fact that NG would not be involved. this is how the finale was billed to fans, by production. instead, a lot of us got a bad shock from the opening credits, and a whole lot of bafflement for ninety minutes to follow.

I think what has me really heartsick--what made the spurious finale hurt so bad--is that it was imposed upon Michael and David. they illuminated Crowley and Aziraphale with every micro-expression through every minute of S1 and S2. seeing them mush through soulless writing hurt.

if NG had published the finale as a follow-up novel, as he'd hinted for a time, it would have been a lot easier to chuck the whole thing in the trash compactor. but because Michael and David became the characters, it's harder to disentangle my emotions.

[iforgiveyouprime]

Oh, my sweet, kind, beautiful, brave, courageous angel, who was always on Crowley’s side, who always found a way out, who always tried to do the right thing, who loved Earth, humans and their free will, and the way people are so intelligent and inventive, who always loved books, music, and food, who understood the value of life and fought so that both Earth and he and Crowley would have a chance, who always accepted Crowley and chose him… Who always kept his emotions to himself, who always tried to protect Crowley, who, right up until the very end, always cared for Crowley, who was willing to go to any lengths to protect him, to make sure he was safe… Who went through an enormous journey of growth, who finally deserved the chance to be open with Crowley about his feelings, without looking back, without fear, to be able to love him, to cry in his arms, to be vulnerable, to release all the pain he had been holding inside for so many years…

Who tf are you and why do you look like him?

[whimsicalali]

study

[emfandomitewrites]

The more I think about that ending, the more reasons it bugs me.

The newest one popped into my head as I was waking up, this morning.

The running theme of GO has always been to embrace who you are (Aziraphale's embracing of his love of creature comforts, and of a certain demon... Crowley's constant assertions that he's a demon who has no use for Hell, but still embraces minor acts of mischief... Adam's determination to stay in Tadfield, even when offered the entire world to rule... Maggie's love of a record shop that's essentially failing... And I could go on, but you get the point). But in the end, in that pub scene, what GO ended up saying, was "you can only get a happy ending if you become someone you're not." NONE of those people were actually the selves they'd been the whole series. Not one of them. Instead of finding happiness and peace as themselves, they had to become completely new people, to be happy??

I think that's why so many of us were so instantly bothered by it. The GO fandom has always been largely made up of queer and/or misfit people. Those society has deemed mostly "outside" the norm, at various points. GO told us we were accepted and lovable just as we are. It gave us the safety to explore who we actually were, through the lense of characters who were, themselves, unusual or outsiders. And then, in the end, it ripped away everything that provided safety and community for us, and said "you can only be happy if you conform to the status quo."

Excuse the fuck out of me?? Not just no, but HELL, no.

This is yet one more reason for me to ignore the existence of S3.

[caminholonge]

I wish I'd never watched S3 and remained in that state of happy anticipation.

[emfandomitewrites]

Need a reset/palate cleanser? I can point you to one. 😏

[caminholonge]

Yes please. I've been trying to find a gentle fix-it fic but my motivation and enthusiasm has left me.

[emfandomitewrites]

Back after S2 first dropped, I wrote this novel-length fic, Born of Starlight, to pick up just after the Final 15, and playing out my headcanon (a little about me: I write LGBTQ+ Romance. I believe in love and chosen family. And I've been a fan of GO, and of our Ineffables, since 1993. I saw them, in amongst the story, even back then, and I always pondered the rest of their story, after the end of the book).

Born of Starlight (and the sequel I'm currently writing) is how I see the Second Coming and everything after happening. And yes, I believe the world, and our Ineffables, continues. You can find your choice of smut level, here:

Standard (PG-13) version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52159429/chapters/131928235

NC-17 version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/55699651/chapters/141391873

[caminholonge]

Thank you!

[cactusflowermist]

It just gets worse when you think about how the ending was sadistically designed to mess with the audience. That became crystal clear in the script excerpt from the scene at the end: "Crowley swallows. Will this be the second kiss, a declaration of love to match Aziraphale's?" NOPE! Neil Gaiman actively encouraged an expectation that they would have a happy ending, only to viciously tear the rug out from under us. Why? Why put them in this fucked up situation in a COMEDY? Well, no one should have trusted an abuser with writing their ending.

NG really said "I'll give you a kiss, but you won't want it", for season 2, and then he gave us the South Downs ending that no one wanted (though some have accepted or embraced it, happily for them).

In a story where funny twists or loopholes like "actually you're not my father" and "isn't the great plan also the ineffable plan?" saved the day before, there would have been countless different endings that could have stayed true to the ending that Pratchett allegedly wanted, without falling into NG's grim, sadistic, darkness.

💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔

[sweet-omens-good-hugs]

Amateur ornithologist and in love with ineffable husbands, I was blown away and conquered by "there is a light & it never goes out" by @phoen1xr0se

[metalmiez]

✨Just one selfish thing✨

Would it have been so hard to give us something like this? Give them this one, small moment to express their love for each other?

Don’t get me wrong, I kind of grew fond of the hand kiss gesture. But in the Bookshop Garden, when they had privacy - probably for the first time ever - I really grieve a heartfelt conversation; about the things they did wrong, about their affection, about their options. About the reasons why they decided to choose humanity over their own happiness *sigh*

So I chose to give them this hug. We all need this. I will continue drawing moments like this ♥️😭

[adevilputaside4me]

On a meta level, Good Omens S3 was EMOTIONAL ABUSE.

... Meaning, I'm pretty sure Neil Gaiman did it ON PURPOSE, knowing how much it would upset the fans.

Neil knew how badly we wanted Aziraphale and Crowley (OUR version of Aziraphale and Crowley---the specific version of them we met in Season 1) to be together. He knew we wanted to see them resolve their issues and ultimately choose to be with each other in the end.

Instead, Aziraphale and Crowley forgo that emotional journey in favor of unnecessary pain. Neither of them experience real character growth in the finale; they are shown to be the worst and unhappiest versions of themselves, without getting a real shot at redemption. They never fix their communication issues. They don't express their true, authentic feelings for one another (don't @ me with that bullshit hand kiss thing). They never manage to get on the same page emotionally---even when they both agree to commit suicide (which I'm pretty sure was not the "one thing" Aziraphale wanted).

"Why give me Crowley? Why make me complete and then take it away?"

EMOTIONAL WITHHOLDING is a common abuse tactic utilized by men like Neil. They enjoy creating ATTACHMENT in their victims and then "TAKING IT AWAY".

It's easy to see how much Neil enjoyed frustrating his fans in retrospect. He actively taunted us on social media with the catchphrase "WAIT AND SEE" and threatened to make Aziraphale and Crowley kiss---but in a way we "wouldn't like". He loved dangling the implied promise of a happy ending over our heads, which we now know he never planned to deliver on.

Neil was unkind to his audience. He was also unkind to his characters. Aziraphale and Crowley are treated as punching bags throughout the entire series---shown to be "messy" for the sake of entertainment, but not as a real obstacle for either of them to overcome. God herself says she enjoys seeing how much Aziraphale values his relationship with Crowley. And this turns out to be her justification for "taking it away". (Tell me THAT isn't some fucked up shit.) Aziraphale and Crowley experience real emotional pain as the result of her actions---and this is demonstrated by the incredible acting skills of Michael Sheen and David Tennant.

Neil explicitly sold this as "a love story" when he created the show. Based on the tone of the book, an eventual union between Aziraphale and Crowley would have made the most narrative sense. It would have emphasized the overarching themes of love, agency, and the futility of "choosing sides". But that would have required Neil to possess the same ethos as Terry Pratchett---meaning LOVE AND RESPECT FOR FELLOW HUMAN BEINGS.

We were never going to get a good love story out of Neil. Men like Neil get off on "PUNISHING" people for no apparent reason; he obviously did this with our beloved characters, to disastrous result. Nonetheless, we still manage to ascribe deeper meaning to Aziraphale and Crowley, thanks to the phenomenal acting team and the dedication of this fandom. Aziraphale and Crowley remain the greatest love story of all time, not because of anything Neil actually wrote, but because of everything that was projected onto them by the people who cared. We assigned their relationship a depth "Neil himself" never could have imagined---one that exemplifies our maximalist ideals of love and the decision to choose it again and again, in spite of everything. It is never going to "end" on Neil's preferred terms. In this rare instance, fan interpretation STILL MANAGES TO ECLIPSE THE SOURCE MATERIAL---and that is because LOVE is always a more powerful story than ABUSE.

[legendary-lunatic]

Personally, I don’t want fix it fics, I want to pretend Season 3 was a fever dream that didn’t happen. No disrespect to people who are coping that way, but to me the real canon divergence IS season 3, because that hack job sure as hell has nothing to do with the world they established prior.

It doesn’t exist to me. I have no clue what you’re even talking about. Good Omens film? Season3? Never heard of her. Good Omens was cancelled and didn’t receive a third installment. I’m also pretty sure season 2 was a fever dream, and nothing was actually real except for Bildad the Shuhite, Fell the Marvelous, and Crowley on Laudanum.

Catch me backdating my Archive because I don’t even wanna see the number three in the tags. (Which, respectfully, PLEASE remember to tag your fics for season 3.) Asa and Anthony are NOT Aziraphale and Crowley. They get their own tags, and honestly should be tagged as Human AU as well, because that’s what it is: an alternate universe. With humans. That are not Aziraphale and Crowley.

Other people can enjoy it, sure, but I do not want reminders of this doomsday event.

They just retconned the main protagonists out of existence. Our Angel and Demon and all of their millennia of who they are is dead in another universe, and it’s vile, and I REFUSE.

Ive got 70k+ fics to choose from that don’t include this, I’ll see y’all later. I need to mentally recover from the writers’ and Amazon’s fandom abuse. I’m gonna go sit in the corner and read fics about Crowley sneaking kids onto the arc in the flood- Because the Crowley I know is generally pretty against unilaterally wiping people out of existence.

[alphacentaurinebula]

I just realised something horrific.

GABRIEL AND BEELZEBUB had a happier ending than Crowley and Aziraphale.

Gabriel.

And Beelzebub.

What the actual fuck.

[caminholonge]

Well, they had a happy ending for three years or so, then they were obliterated along with the rest of the universe.

So....there's that.