Maybe if he was a little less fuckable we wouldn’t be in this mess
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Maybe if he was a little less fuckable we wouldn’t be in this mess
If AO3 had a slogan
@dear-ao3
the giles buffy father daughter relationship is so so so important to me ugh her in the car being so so so afraid that he’s going to look down on her. she’s so horrified and so full of shame and he just says no. no I’m not going to chastise you. I’m not going to make you feel guilty. you acted rashly and maybe you didn’t make a great decision but guess what you’re 17 that’s what you DO. so I’m going to be here and we’re going to figure it out. it’s not your fault. it could never be your fault. tears.
also the way it’s bridging the gap between buffys two lives. normally giles is training her, preparing her, helping guide her to be more mature, to take her duties seriously. and we see her fight to experience girlhood. she wants friends and a boyfriend and to go to school dances and shop and hang at the bronze on weekends. and in this episode giles gets it. he respects her. she’s the slayer and she’s strong and wise beyond her years but she’s 17. she wants to be 17. she’s acting 17. and he’s her watcher yes but he cares for her. so he’ll guide her through this too. but he won’t do it like a job. he won’t sigh snd correct her mistakes and tell her the way it should be done. he’ll hold her while she cries. he’ll tell her it’s okay. he’ll remind her he loves her. he’ll do it like a father.
Ouuggghhj there are so many scenes where this is true. Giles loves Buffy so much. In fact, in Helpless, it’s literally acknowledged by another character that has barely even met Giles and Buffy before (being vague in case any first time viewers come across this post).
in s1e10, we see that Giles’ worst nightmare is Buffy dying. This is BEFORE he goes on his whole arc of accepting that he loves Buffy as his daughter. BEFORE.
Between seasons 2 and 3, he searches ENDLESSLY for her. He drops everything at any lead and chases it. He was desperate to find her. It was even more than her own MOTHER was doing.
The beginning of Season six is PACKED with Giles being a dad (before they sent him away 😔)
Season five has some SOLID moments (Giles desperately telling Buffy he loves her and is proud of her because he thinks he’s going to die soon)
Even THREE EPISODES IN, ONE EPISODE AFTER THE PILOT. He desperately searches for a cure to the curse Buffy has been hit with, carries her around, and breaks his magic sobriety for her!!!
Don’t even get me started on the episodes with Ethan in them. Those are absolute goldmines. The Eyhgon episode especially. Giles was ready to KILL that snarky bastard when he showed up and put those Giles loves in danger. He kind of. Went a little nuts during the rest of the episode, but when he found out Ethan had Buffy, he pulled himself off the floor and was ready to beat that man’s stupid ass into the ground.
Giles is a man who holds SO much love for the daughter he accidentally adopted. It’s insane
Rest king, you were so meaningful in my formative years. Your joy and creativity will not be forgotten.
ok i’m gonna go binge buffy and stare at giles and cry
i said this elsewhere, but ASH was really a father for an entire generation. we see this in every tribute, every outpouring of grief, and so many of the beautiful words people are sharing right now.
i think a fantastic component of his time on buffy to draw attention to here is when he was fired from the watcher’s council and still chose to stay with buffy and guide her. this, as an adjacency to buffy’s parents getting divorced and her dad actively choosing not to stay in her life resonated with so many kids who grew up with dads who weren’t around, parents who weren’t physically or emotionally available.
this man, through his work, was a father, a mentor and a guide to all of us; he made weird kids feel seen. he gave life to so many characters, characters that have since become such an integral part of our cultural lexicon. he encouraged people into getting interested in theatre. he was a staunch and proud ally for lgbtqia+ people across the world. the man carved out a niche in media that will always be uniquely and unequivocally tied to his legacy. and you know what? i’m damn sure he made people respect their local librarian a little more.
my heart really goes out to his family; the amount love the world had for him and his work was truly extraordinary. we lost a real legend today; he’ll be our watcher forever and always.
I'm truly crushed. I loved Rupert Giles with all my heart.
My thoughts are with his family and friends.
RIP.
Thanks for making me love BtVS just a little bit more because you made Giles the dad we all wanted to have.
R.I.P. Anthony Head, 20 February 1954 – 5 June 2026
My very small Anthony Stewart Head story
When I was 19, I went to England to meet in person a friend from a BBS I'd been on all through high school (and so that I would know where I was sleeping for a little while, as I was homeless at the time). Traveled around in my then-friend, eventual fiance, eventual ex-I-haven't-spoken-to-in-twenty-years' little white florist van, experiencing the country.
Eventually we ended up in the city of Bath. I was absolutely charmed, but also a bit overwhelmed by the sheer density of flesh, the constant flow of bodies down the main streets. This was 2002; smart phones didn't exist, and both of us had no extra money to spare, so mostly what happened was we'd go to a city and wander around until we found an internet cafe, check email and forums as quick as we could, and then find somewhere we could park the van up for the night. Usually a field behind a pub, or a little campground.
Bath wasn't going to have any of that for us, Bath was going to have hostels where the cost of one bed would have paid for four somewhere else. So in the late afternoon we decided we'd wander around for another hour or two, find something to eat, and then make our way back to the expensive parking lot and go.
It's important for you to know that in those days, I was a starved, feral little thing. I was taking in everything I could, in this land that was similar to but weirdly different from my own, but in many cases I'd choose silence over speech because I just didn't know quite how to behave. So when we got turned around, and we were both getting quite hungry, my companion said "You're cute, ask someone for directions!" and I, quite unlike myself now, quailed. Flat out refused. People had been acting strange about my accent every time I'd opened my mouth for weeks, and I was tired of it. I shook my head.
My companion, wry and a little frustrated, looked around the shady, cobblestoned back street we were wandering down, and located a target; man, with other people, not moving with speed. He strode over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, mate?"
And Anthony Stewart Head turned around with the most exhausted expression I'd ever seen on the face of a person who was moving of their own volition. The shape of his shoulders and the sag of his jaw, the way he choked back a sigh, this was clearly a man who'd had to do too much today by a long way, and we were adding to the burden. There was an instant, before he'd fully turned to face us, of "Oh, god. Fine." and then a gentle, friendly smile stitched itself onto his face from the bottom up. It took a moment to make it to his eyebrows. "Yes?"
"Sorry to bother you, but we're not from 'round here. Do you know where the closest Maccas is?"
And there was just this beat of what? this instant of bafflement, as the actor realized that my companion had no idea who he was. He was just some guy, treating the actor as just some guy. And a real smile bloomed right through the other one, absolutely transforming his face, crinkling up his eyes. The woman standing next to him--blonde, warm-eyed, grinning, wearing a black, BtVS-branded baseball cap--made a little delighted noise.
"No, I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you."
His eyes flickered over to me, where I stood maybe three feet behind my companion, and the smile crinkled more. I can't describe what an expression of recognition looks like, on a human face, but most of us know what it looks like; he knew it, on mine.
And I had a mad instant of wanting to say "I really liked you, in VR5." It had been a terrible show, cancelled before the full season aired, and I'd found parts of it so compelling I couldn't stop chewing on them. I'd handwritten a short piece of fic about the character he played in it. But he looked so tired, and so delighted to be incognito, that I continued to hold my tongue.
My companion said "Aw. All right, then, sorry to trouble you," and turned to walk me toward a brighter street. The actor tilted his head a little toward me and winked, I see you, I see you seeing me, and then the woman I now know for sure was his wife took his arm, and the two of them turned the other direction.
Two hundred feet off, I said "You have no idea who that was, do you." "Who?" "The man you talked to! Look--" the wider street had a Virgin Megastore on it, and I steered my companion over, pulled him inside, went to the poster rack I knew they'd have, flipped through the offerings for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer poster that I knew would be there. "Look!" Giles, looking directly at the viewer, slightly off the middle of the group of serious-looking college students. "Oh, fuck. That was definitely him. Did you want an autograph?" I didn't. I wanted to leave him be. I've thought occasionally for nearly 25 years, now--longer than I'd been alive at that point--that maybe I'd run into the man again and tell him, I'd really liked him in a little show he did thirteen episodes of, two years before Buffy started airing. I'd think, how silly, that I still have such a strong mental image of his character crawling exhausted onto the female lead's couch and falling immediately asleep, and how much that scene changed the things Baby Gen was writing, and the things I've written since.
I won't get to tell him now, not that I probably ever really would have. But I'm still glad I left him be.
I hope his way is smooth.
Buffy: Giles did you see the way I slayed that vampire last night? Giles: Yes it was very impressive. Your technique is improving greatly. Well done. Buffy: Yay! Thanks Dad. Everyone: ... Buffy: Why is everyone staring at me? Willow: You just called Giles dad. You said "Thanks dad." Buffy: What? No I didn't, I said "Thanks man." Giles: Do you see me as a father figure Buffy? Buffy: No. If anything, I see you have a bother figure cause you're always bothering me. Jenny: Hey! Show your father some respect. Buffy: I didn't call him dad! Giles: No, no, no, no, Buffy. I take it as a compliment. Xander: It's not a big deal. I once called Cordy "mom" and she's my girlfriend. Buffy: Guys! Jump on that! Xander has psycho-sexual issues. Cordelia: Old news. But you calling Giles daddy... Buffy: Hey, "Daddy" is not on the table here. Spike: But you did call him dad. Buffy: You shut up, you've done nothing but lie since you got here. Spike: Alright I was lying about everything else, but the dad thing? That happened. Buffy: Aha! He admitted that he was lying. It was a trap. All part of my crazy, devious plan. Giles: I believe you. Buffy: Thank you. Giles: Daughter Buffy: *sighs* Giles: Do you want to talk about it later? Over a game of catch? Buffy: ...I'd like that.
rocky hunting grace while hes working like heh. going to pull big prank on grace. stupid human hearing so bad very bad and only 'see' with light-sense organ in one direction at a time. eridian best hunter on all erid, evolved best hunting veeeery quiet. scare grace a lot. very funny.
rocky is HORRIFIED mid stalk when grace suddenly stiffens and turns around to stare directly at him. HOW GRACE DO THAT HOW GRACE KNOW HOW GRACE KNOW
You've had 24 (ish) hours so I can find fics without breaking my heart (more). I waited. I delayed. I ignored spoilers. I am upset.
Someone tell me that in the last 24 hours something got written that actually has our ineffable husbands in-
This video by Sendarya
We need a Season 3 version now. 🥹
I bet Crowley's reverse will be so wrinkly not even a 25 Lazarii miracle will ever straighten them again. Not even at gunpoint.
The season 3 version is a weird lip wiggle.
This is for all the beautiful stories you write that will help ease this bittersweet ending.
I really thought that Aziraphale and Crowley were going to rewrite the Book of Life.
I really thought they were going to become the Illustrator and Author.
I really thought that's why all the books in the shop were made blank.
I really thought God wasn't going to actually exist in a true form, and instead be a kind of omnipresent power of creation.
I really thought that they were going to have their forced-proximity-making-up-with-each-other as they were required to work together to write the new Book of Life.
I really thought that they were going to choose *their* humanity and not a new one.
I really thought they would still be themselves at the end.
I really thought the moral of the story was that the humanity they had was worth protecting, and that life itself (whether mortal or otherwise) was beautiful and inherently important.
I really thought this story was about a love that transcends.
I understand the path they took. However. I do think it missed the mark on what the show was really trying to say.
If you watched the Good Omens finale and hated it, and you haven't already started to feel sad about Good Omens, let the Grieving Process and the Coping start Now. It'll be healthier in the long run, I promise.
Write AUs. Engage with fandom friends. Talk about your feelings on tumblr. And slowly Aziraphale and Crowley, as they were in season 1, will come back to us, until we can let go properly and completely. When we're ready.
For something that means so much to so many people to end like this, to end like this. It's heartbreaking. I've been there. Good Omen series 1 got me through the worst time of my life. I imagine I'm just a little further along the healing process than I imagine lots of you are and that's ok.
Season 1 is the only canon to me. They love each other as they are, they are Ineffable Husbands. Everything else didn't happen and I can get my fix from fanfiction.
If it hasn't already been said enough, and specifically after the finale, and it should definitely have been,
FUCK NEIL GAIMAN.
not just for this of course. This is a tiny drop in the ocean of the harm he's caused.
And though it probably hasn't been said enough times in this fandom,
THANK YOU JOHN FINNEMORE.
It seems that some people don't seem to understand what's so upsetting about all of this so let me help you out: Aziraphale and Crowley are DEAD.
They died, along with their entire universe and everything they ever fought for. They never got to properly talk through their creation long existence together of an undefined relationship, they never got to talk out their grievances, or religious guilt, and they never got to directly choose each other over anything else.
They never got to be an 'Us.' they never got to experience that raw unfiltered, unafraid of the consequences love we've been teased with because they were too focused on trying to hold the world together and God appearing and just fucking shit up.
This isn't just about a kiss, this is about them not getting to communicate after establishing in the other seasons that they need to be more direct with each other. This is about how after 6,000 years and before the creation of time they have been drawn towards each other and will never get to truly settle down.
This whole alternate reincarnation thing is bullshit. That's not them. They are lookalikes who have lived an entirely different history from inception. No ethical struggles, no fall, no falling in love with humanity, no existential crisis, they will have a mother and a father, possibly even siblings, they presumably have a sex and gender now that's not the same as a non human entity- fundamentally they are different beings raised as different people.
THEN you factor in the fact that their love that transcends time, their long history of trust and learning to choose to protect each other in the face of powers greater than their own, a love that is unfathomable in depth, is just FORGOTTEN.
No Bastille, no War Raid, no Flood, no wall of Eden, no Shakespeare, no Knights, no Bildad the Shoeite and Aziraphale becoming a hedonist, no powering beyond their circumstances- None of what we knew about them is at play. None of what we've grown to love about them is relevant to characters from a DIFFERENT UNIVERSE.
And that's the thing, it's a different universe. They fucking gave up and let the Earth they fought so hard for just be erased. Just like that? That's insanely out of character. What about all the poor mortals doomed to fail that Crowley sympathizes so much with? What about the history and culture written down in Aziraphale's books that they've seen built over the centuries? That's their world. Y'know: "To the world."
How could they be okay with their world, and each other dying, for the sake of people that didn't exist yet? You had the book in your hands, you could've written anything!!!
There were plenty of things they could have asked to be written differently. There were plenty of ways this story could have not put them on that situation to begin with. Sorry not sorry, but I'm not just taking handouts and saying 'yes thank you' just because they gave me content. Call me ungrateful, but I expected the narrative to at least give a singular fuck about the story and characters thus far and give us a decent execution.
I don't believe that just because something is officially released that it has to have merit, because it's still a piece of fiction written by flawed people with their own opinions and constraints on giving a shit. This was a cop out- it was a way to take the story as they were struggling to resolve, and throw it in the trash in front of its fan base for having the audacity to ask they don't leave us on a massive angry kiss cliff hanger.
Also, reading comprehension and analysis isn't just taking the slop that's force fed to you- (like wow, no shit they put some set up for the agenda they're pushing in there, congrats picking up on the obvious---) It's being able to critically think about what's happening, how it fits, whether you like it, the execution, and allowing yourself to question the author and their agenda. Writers, especially teams of writers, do stupid shit all the time
So no, I don't consider this canon; I consider it a slap in the face to the world and character dynamics we fell in love with. I see it as an insult to think I should be complacent with this half assed AU substitute billions of years after the characters I actually grew to love fucking OBLITERATED themselves when all I've been wanting since the start of the series was for them to find a resolution to their challenges- not roll over and decide 'fuck it, just start from scratch.' Canon is a suggestion, and one that I'm stepping on and ignoring fully because it contradicts the core of what's appealing about a series I started for demon/angel shenanigans. I didn't come for a wattpad fic.
Screw Jesus, who knows why he was there. Fuck Mrs.Sandwhich, best of luck in the next life. Sorry for the existential crisis' Crowley and Aziraphale, turns out you're just God's soap opera and she's decided she's bored all of a sudden because Michael threw a hissy fit from being underappreciated.
Sorry I wanted a resolution to the ride or die couple we've been following, and I was hoping they wouldn't pick DIE. Sorry that a five minute meet cute with them sporting the world's worst haircuts isn't doing it for me, especially when they don't remember shit and will only get to be together for maybe 20-30 years before dying with the presumably confirmed absence of an afterlife after watching their angel and demon selves struggle for over SIX THOUSAND YEARS!!!!
I wanted a resolution to the ineffable husbands, not some doppelganger fuckery. Sue me. This ending sucked because it resolved nothing, it accomplished nothing, and it shut down everything PAINFULLY because they are effectively dead, and all the accompanied interesting world building with them. Just switched the whole ass genre on us. You thought this was a Star crossed religious fantasy romance? PSYCH, now it’s a dime store novel. Yeah, that’s what I signed up for. Not.