Only Here For The Coffee

[curiouspupsicle]

Good Omens Fan Fiction Friday (2/28/25) - Alt Season 3 Speculation

Following the ending of Good Omens season 2, desperate fans brought all their creativity to imagining what season 3 could look like. And they created some AMAZING and EPIC works.

Many of them began with a drunk and destructive Crowley left to make sense of Aziraphale returning to heaven. Eventually, the pair find themselves working together to avert the Second Coming (not always after reconciling). And then follows chapters of action-oriented, plot-driven, high-drama fan fiction. This list is not about those fics. (But someone else definitely needs to recommend a bunch of them in their own post.)

Instead, I'm recommending the quirky, alternative views of what might have happened after the final 15. These are fics where Crowley is less self-destructive. Where the action is generally toned down. Where feelings matter more than the plot.

In other words, these are the speculative season 3 fics that zig when everyone else zags.

Let's start with a silly one--Kidnapping a Supreme Archangel for Fun and Profit (T) by @waitingtobebroken. This four-part series has Crowley becoming Grand Duke of Hell. And befitting his high office, Crowley sets about tormenting the Supreme Archangel Aziraphale--by force-feeding him sushi, holding him by the hand to keep him from escaping, and leading him on a forced march through the park. How evil!

A longtime favorite of mine is But You Are An Ocean (T) by megzseattle/ @ineffably-good. Rather than fall apart, Crowley moves to the South Downs himself and becomes a "project" for the locals to befriend. Our ineffable pair are eventually reunited but without fireworks and flaming swords. And it's just a delight.

I'm breaking my own category by including the action-packed Down/Up (M) by @klikandtuna. I can't tell you more without spoiling the story. But you won't regret reading this story of BAMF!Crowley and BAMF!Aziraphale. It's a unique and fascinating take that still fits with this theme. Mind the content warnings.

In Among the Stacks (NR) by MeinirRhos/ @rhosmeinir, Crowley senses Aziraphale for a year after he returns to heaven. Until, one day, he doesn't. After moving on the best he can, Crowley finds Aziraphale is working in a library. Or is he?

And here's my exception to avoiding drunk Crowley--don't let this darkness fool you (M) by @mygalfriday. The Mayfair flat is a disaster zone when Shax shows up with a fallen Aziraphale. Everything about the Second Coming is extraneous when it comes to our demon caring for his angel.

Finally, Ginger_Cat/ @gingiekittycat wrote a long one-shot that hints at the epic speculative season 3 they would write in Prelude to an Epic (T). Crowley takes the role of Duke of Hell strictly to get the last word with Aziraphale. Instead, he finds himself in--well, a prelude to an epic story of heaven and hell. Can't give much away without spoiling the story. But this would be a good work to pair with Down/Up.

I'll be back next Friday with more recs on an entirely idiosyncratic theme. Follow and reblog to keep track.

And check out previously recommended fics on my pinned post of weekly Good Omens fan fiction recommendations

[curiouspupsiclelibrary]

Seems like a good time to reblog this list. There were some wonderful speculations about season 3. I see no reason not to read them now.

[dalliancekay]

The South Downs was always for Aziraphale and Crowley. It was a thing for them to have, to be in, a retirement akin to Sherlock Holmes’s. Just longer. And happier.

And this was long before the series happened. It was basically canon. Just waiting to become. It was something the fandom accepted. Expected. Before and after S1. Definitely after S2 and its now senseless 'break up'.

To pull it out from under our feet, having the two silly adorable supernatural, involuntary heroes who were just not doing their jobs, having to sacrifice themselves because suddenly the world they found each other in and loved each other in was no longer good enough…

Nobody asked for this kind of subversion. It makes no sense. It contradicts the themes of the book and previous seasons. In the book they were a part of a random medley of characters with a vague goal. To point out the ridiculousness of many common religious tropes, to point out the ridiculousness of the cold war, of the nuclear threat, of killing the planet we stand on.

What's more, Season 3 severely rolled back Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship. For what reason I have no idea. To make us accept the ending easier? To appease any criticism an overt romantic relationship between a queer angel and a demon might bring?

Better have a safe enough, harmless middle aged, middle class cis gay couple holding hands. A tick for the representation! Why mess with Crowley’s gender fluidity or Aziraphale’s agenderness? Who even wanted an autistic coded introverted angel and an ADHD demon who would be your worst colleague but climb the corporate ladder with ease?

Nothing wrong with a random gay couple spending a happy retirement together. I hope there will be oodles of them. But I wanted my long suffering angel and his infuriating long black shadow to be safe and happy in an imperfect world.

[ineffableclassics]

Athens, Ancient Greece, 430 BC.

An unknown pathogen that would be known as The Plague of Athens has been ravaging the ancient Greek city, killing thousands and thousands with no end in sight. Just outside the walls surrounding the devastation, a guilt-wracked angel and a raging, despairing demon seek refuge from a violent downpour and the stench of death in an old, abandoned dwelling.

And under the heaviness of what's happening just outside the hut and the relentlessly pressing weight of their forbidden desire for the other, they crumble.

Words: 10,812

Status: Complete

Rating: Explicit

https://archiveofourown.org/works/70041046

[i-am-the-oyster]

The Boys of Dungeon Lane

The central thesis of each song according to me:

As You Lie There I was an obsessive young man, and I'm an obsessive old man. If I fall for you I want you to obsess about me too.

Lost Horizon We live in time we lose people and things that meant a lot to us. Knowing that ought to shape what we do.

Days We Left Behind I'm feeling a lot better about a lot of things, but it's been a hard road getting here.

Ripples in a Pond I can't quite give full vent in public (possibly also in private) to my insecurities but I'm really glad you're here Nancy.

Mountain Top It can be really nice and fun to do mind altering drugs together.

Down South What I had with George before I met John was real and important. I love you George.

We Two I miss you John. Down South has me all in my feelings about poetry.

Come Inside I've already said I'm not going to say the secrets out loud, and that you should listen to my music. Listen!

Never Know I miss you John. I miss being your number one. And despite my previous protestations on this album I'm still never completely certain what I meant to you.

Home to Us When I speak positively about Liverpool, it doesn't mean it wasn't hard. And when Ringo speaks negatively about Liverpool, it doesn't mean it wasn't his home.

Life Can Be Hard Life can be hard. But I don't like to think about that. And honestly that approach has served me pretty well.

First Star of the Night Linda's spirit watches over our family and gives me a lot of comfort. I'm sad she's gone.

Salesman Saint The past weaves into the future. I forgive my Dad for some things I don't want to think about, but I can't think of anything I need to forgive my Mum for.

Momma Gets By The similarities between my mother's death and Linda's death still disturb me. The shit they put up with is honestly pretty upsetting. But I know, in a way that can only be conveyed in music, what it is to love someone that way.

[planet4546b]

im currently completely losing it about the great stalacpipe organ. are you fucking kidding me they made an organ out of a CAVE???? IT TAKES UP THREE ACRES??? i legit am about to lose it

[planet4546b]

this is a comment left on a recording of moonlight sonata played on an organ that is literally made out of a cave and its making me so emotional its not even funny

[image id: a youtube comment that reads ‘wonderful…and the moon has never shone there…’ end id.]

[marlynnofmany]

All that and no pictures??

According to Wikipedia, it works by hidden rubber mallets on the naturally-musical stalactites that tourguides have been knocking on for over a century. The guy who made the organ may have gotten the idea when his son whacked his head on a stalactite.

Here’s a video. It is hauntingly beautiful.

[spirit-pyrite]

In case anyone is looking, here’s the link to the video op mentions.

https://youtu.be/HsKUUn29tSs

[starmaker-astral]

BookAziraphael would have let Crowley die in a ditch, SeriesAziraphael cares about Crowley a bit more.

I beg to differ

Book Aziraphale might give bastard-ish vibes, he is still an angel, and he still cares about his (best)friend/unofficial husband

Best exemple I have right now is this moment in the book :

At some point Warlock gets a hold of a gun and Aziraphale's first reaction is to perform a last minute miracle to turns the gun into a harmless water gun

And the water hits Crowley. Warlock was aiming the gun at Crowley, who was distracted with looking for the hellhound.

And then Az is hit by a cream pie

He wasn't even paying attention to his own surroundings, because he had to make sure Crowley didn’t get discorporated FIRST

This is probably the most obvious instinctively attentive and caring thing that Aziraphale did for Crowley in the book

[vivi-theakuneko]

I have been getting several... "Show is better" comments on my art (2 in one day actually??).

This one upset me the most

It makes me so sad that because Book Omens aren't explicitly showing their love, or acting like ShowOmens's bumbling teenagers going through forbidden love arc, there are people saying they are "less warm", "the show is another level" on my BOOK OMENS ART of all places. (On Facebook, not here)

First of all, the show being better? The book didn't kill everyone off and AziCrow didn't die. AziCrow in the Show didn't even say a proper Goodbye before they got erased. They had awkward smiles and finger kiss. Not even a hug. Where's the warmth?

Second of all, Book Omens are like gay old men who are so comfortable with each other that they don't even need to run around saying "I love you" or kissing to understand that they care and love each other. Think those old ladies living together with cats that you are so sure are a couple but you have no proof. That's Book Omens.

To me, Book Omens feel more... mature. More fitting for actual 6000 years in love beings.

By the way, if anyone didn't need a kiss, it's Book Omens. Not Show Omens.

Anyway, made me sad so I looked at the book again. Here are some things I like from the Book about their characters:

Aziraphale didn't let Crowley get fined for speeding. He blushes!

Aziraphale casually eating from Crowley's plate lol

Crowley checking on his angel's wellness XDDDDDDD

Arm grabbing! (not that you don't have this in the show I just love it)

Aziraphale already is aware that Heaven aren't better than Hell. He didn't have the struggles of ShowAzi because the two of them have had these discussions long before mordern time. Both of them have had conversations about their "company policy" long ago.

Even the gun moral argument thing wasn't Azi's thought. It was "current thinking". Not his personal belief.

Aziraphale knows heaven's propaganda is bullshit. He just go along as far as he can.

Look, the wall slam was hot or whatever. I know. But for me, it was unnecessary. They are so cute just talking. I felt the wall slam was a bit too aggressive for my taste. Just preferences.

I love how Crowley learned to control his mischief when he's with Aziraphale. LOL

HE FEELS ALONE. MY POOR SNEK.

This one is enough said. People analyised it to death already.

The implication that Crowley often spent time around Aziraphale until he's hinted that he should leave. lol

This moment alone melts my heart:

They thought they were going to die together here. And this is how they were saying Good bye.

I love that to Shadwell this looked gay af lmao

[poorlyoriginalthief]

In hindsight, I guess it's obvious that the only way Season 2 was meant to be a bridge was as a bridge from Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, the collaborative effort between Terry Pratchett and NG to Good Omens: The Story of Crowley the Extremely Cool Demon Who Was Also the Best Angel, the story as NG originally envisioned it. And it is equally obvious to me that he did not understand how Crowley had evolved from his original idea and that he resented Aziraphale's inclusion in the story at all. They were never meant to be a couple in his eyes but he was happy to play with the idea as a way to make his self-insert suffering martyr version of Crowley even sadder by turning Aziraphale from a co-main character and equal partner into an unworthy love interest who never really understood him.

And it all just pisses me off because while I can dismiss S3 as a piece of shit written by a piece of shit, part of the legacy it leaves behind is the poisoning of the fandom, now and in the future, against a character I have loved for 30 years.

(I know Crowley was treated very badly by Season 3 too. Please don't @ me to tell me how much worse he had it - that was the intent. They were both done extremely dirty, but you're meant to sympathize with Crowley and to see Aziraphale as cruel.)

What a "tribute" to an alleged friend, completely assassinating the character he created for your shared story just to elevate your own. "For Terry" indeed. 😠

[tweedfeather]

On the matter of tags: an earnest attempt to communicate

As a random member of the Good Omens fandom community, I’d just like to toss my hat into the ring and attempt to clear up some misunderstandings. I also want to encourage some honest, good-faith dialogue in a severely fractured fandom.

This is not an attempt to convince anyone to interpret the finale a specific way. This is a practical conversation about how we discuss the finale in fan spaces.

For the purposes of this discussion, I will be focusing on tags as they are used on social media platforms like Tumblr, Twitter, Bluesky, and Instagram. AO3 tagging is considerable more complex and warrants a whole convo in its own right, so I won't focus on that here.

THIS POST INCLUDES DISCUSSION OF SUICIDE.

So, tags. Tags have become a thorny issue in the Good Omens fandom. I suspect this issue is so pertinent now, two months after the finale aired, because most of us have dropped “GO3 spoilers” tags, which people would have been filtering out if they did not wish to see anything from the finale. The finale is no longer a fresh commodity, so we are all trying to determine for ourselves what the next phase of our engagement with fandom will look like.

In fandom spaces, tags are a courtesy. No one can force anyone to use tags, of course. But tagging is a long-running standard of fandom etiquette across multiple online platforms. Tags are tools that help us find or filter out specific content. But what happens when we disagree on what tags should even be used in the first place? When tags themselves are a battleground?

I have seen assumptions that finale dislikers are demanding that all content with Asa Fell and Professor Anthony Crowley be tagged with “suicide.” It's possible that I’ve missed some significant conversations, but as someone on the disliker side, I have not seen anyone demand that Asanthony shippers use a "suicide" tag on all their posts featuring Asanthony. If anyone has asked that, I agree that it would be unreasonable! But I strongly suspect this perception comes from a game of fandom telephone in which different conversations are being conflated.

What IS being asked:

All content featuring Asa and Anthony should be tagged with their names or their ship name, Asanthony.

The "ineffable husbands" ship name should not be used for Asanthony.

Content warnings are strongly encouraged when sharing visuals of the scene where God grants Crowley and Aziraphale’s request to be removed from existence, specifically the moments as they disintegrate, as this decision is interpreted by many fans as a suicide.

Let’s address that first point now.

Tagging Asanthony as "Asanthony" makes sense. I think most people are already doing this. If you’re not doing this, well… I strongly advise you to reconsider. Tags aren’t just for those filtering out content, but for those seeking it. Someone who doesn’t want to see Asanthony can use this tool to avoid them, and someone who is specifically seeking out Asanthony content can use the tag to find them and share some appreciation.

Where we have some disagreement is the second point listed above: whether Asanthony deserve to be tagged with the general “ineffable husbands” ship name as well. I don’t think we’re ever going to agree on this one. Some people do see them as the same ship, and others do not. Personally I’m someone who does not see Asanthony as "ineffable," but I am okay to concede on someone using the general ship tag for them, as it really does boil down to one's own interpretation. In my view, so long as "Asanthony" is also used, tag them as you see fit.

Now for the third point. This is where I'll be talking about suicide.

Suicide is obviously an incredibly sensitive and distressing subject, one that is highly likely to carry a personal resonance for many fans on all sides of the GO3 debate. I understand why people are upset to have to bring this subject up in their tags when they do not see the final scene that way.

But if you do find it upsetting to even consider using that tag... that means you agree that this topic is distressing, yes? The ineffables' decision was genuinely genuinely distressing for people who interpreted their choice as a suicide. I am pleading with you to understand this: there are members of our community who struggle with suicide ideation, and that scene genuinely triggered some of these people.

You don’t like to see this tag imposed. Well, others don’t like to suddenly come across visuals that in their view shows a suicide. Not seeing Crowley and Aziraphale's decision as a suicide is just as much an interpretation as seeing it as a suicide is.

We will never agree on our interpretations of Crowley and Aziraphale's final request to God and how it played out. The fact remains that the scene where they make this choice and it is granted is triggering to a significant portion of the fandom. This is not a niche opinion.

We won't be able to reconcile our views on this. But we do have to share fandom spaces together. Blocking others who have a different approach to discussing this scene is always an option. But maybe we can also attempt to reach a middle ground in the form of a tag.

I have chatted with others about this, and an idea I have seen discussed is for the fandom to come up with a neutral term for the scene where God grants Crowley and Aziraphale's request, akin to how we settled on “the Final Fifteen” for the last fifteen minutes of season 2. This term should not favour one interpretation over another.

Some suggestions:

The Final Half Hour (or… the Final Twenty? How long is this scene? Anyone clocked it?)

The Decision

We’ve Come to a Decision (WCTOAD? Well, I do like toads)

Please chime in if you have other suggestions!

Like I said at the top, no one can force anyone to use tags. This is ultimately down to one's own discretion.

But I think it's fair to say that our fandom is currently in crisis. The community has fractured — or perhaps it is simply going through some very nasty growing pains. Maybe we can grow with it.

We will never be in a place where we all agree on GO3’s choices. Right now, we are all figuring out how we want to navigate this story and fandom we have all come to love. However we feel about the finale, we are all trying to find new ways forward.

We can argue about who’s right. We can block as we see fit. We can tag or not tag according to our own interpretation to make a point.

We can also decide to make productive choices that will help us all navigate our fandom spaces moving forward. Above all else, we can choose to be kind.

If you've read this far, thank you for hearing me out.

[di-42]

This sounds very reasonable, thank you.

[ineffablepretzel]

Agreed.

I'll make sure to use the tag "#the decision" so ppl can avoid it!

[ineffably-queer-book-lover]

Thank you for this very reasonable take and your suggestions, OP!

I've struggled with proper tagging, because I really don't want to trigger anyone, but I've seen requests that literally everything to do with Asa/Anthony should be tagged with a suicide warning and that is just madness and taking things too far (in my opinion).

Tagging #the decision in the context of that specific scene does make a lot of sense and is neutral enough either way. Thank you!

While I genuinely hate portmanteau ship names and would never ever want to tag anything with #asanthony or (even worse) #fellony, I understand the need for people to filter things out.

I have tagged with #asa/anthony, #ineffable humans, or even #effable humans (these were the fandom-wide agreed upon tags in the immediate aftermath of GO3) so far and I think these tags have been in use by many fans and probably filtered/blocked by those who don't want to see them, so they should be safe as well, right?

[fleurdescotland]

Agreed , #thedecision works very well. Thank you for this very cordial and thoughtful post.

[brinnanza]

there are a lot of Extremely Married moments in good omens, but I maintain that the Most Married moment is when crowley says out of nowhere, “ducks! they’re what water slides off.” and aziraphale heaves a deeply put-upon sigh and says, “….just drive the car.”

[alexunbalanced]

a close runner up is when Aziraphale wants to do magic at Warlock’s birthday party and Crowley just goes, “Make you disappear”, and Aziraphale’s not put out in the slightest

[silver-shores]

and third place goes to “Oh Lord, heal this bike”

[amadness2method]

“Not you, I know what you smell like.”

[ednav]

I’m sorry, but the Most Married Moment is the compromise:

A: “You lost the child.” C: “We lost the child.” A: “A child has been lost.”

[ashfae]

For me it’s always the bit on the airfield where Aziraphale is going “I was technically on apple tree duty–” and setting up for a very long explanation akd Crowley just looks at him and makes a little gesture and shakes his head a bit with “Sweetheart this is really not the time” written all over him.

[joyandotherstories]

I feel like at some point this post will have just listed every exchange they have

[pyracantha14]

forever and always and @ashfae put it so well “sweetheart this is really not the time”

[lovesburntofferings]

I can hardly get my head around the fact that back in June of 2021 when Prime announced there’d be a S2 of GO, that it *wouldn’t be* based on the conversation in a hotel room between *both* authors, but a ‘Soft and Romantic’ interlude NG wrote alone, that way back then he had already locked in THIS S3 ENDING. (Which my heart believes he alone is responsible for.)

All his talk of a ‘Happy Resolution’ and a ‘South Downs Retirement’ for Aziraphale and Crowley were LIES. Five years of hurtful, cruel, manipulative lies. Was he laughing at us? At our love and sense of connection to not just an Angel and a Demon and their forbidden love story, but to the whole GO Universe?

He knew the importance of Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship to the queer community. A vulnerable, at risk community in need of safe harbors and representation. And he planned all along to not just unalive our angel and demon, he made them chose to do it to themselves!

What an effing bastard!

[bovid-beauty]

"Fascism"—New Federal Rule Would Require Federal Funding Recipients To Deny Trans People Exist

The rule could have heavy impacts towards trans people across society.

Last week, the Trump administration quietly released a sweeping new federal rule that would use funding threats to force institutions across the country to reject transgender people. The 400-page proposed regulation would codify the administration's anti-trans executive orders into binding federal policy, imposing a blanket prohibition on federal funds going toward "gender ideology"

The proposed rule, formally titled "Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance," rewrites the government-wide framework governing all federal grants across every agency. Among its most consequential provisions, it requires that before a federal grant recipient can receive money, the award must pass a "pre-issuance review" conducted by a political appointee—not a career expert or peer reviewer—to ensure it is "consistent with applicable law, Federal agency priorities, and the national interest." The regulation explicitly instructs these appointees to screen for "denial by the recipient of the sex binary in humans or the notion that sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic." [...] An institution that acknowledges transgender people exist—through its policies, its training, its healthcare, its bathroom access, its HR procedures, its name-change processes—could be deemed to "deny the sex binary" or to “support the notion that sex is mutable” and have its federal funding blocked.

Importantly, the gender ideology prohibition has no age limitation—hospitals could be targeted not just for providing care to minors but for providing gender-affirming care to adults, because prescribing hormone therapy to a transgender patient of any age could be deemed promoting the belief that "sex is a chosen or mutable characteristic."

[junequeer]

THIS IS OPEN TO COMMENT UNTIL JULY 13, 2026

[featherandstorm]

This is all very bad and horrible, but I want to be clear that it’s worse and more sweeping than just eliminating trans research.

This torches everything. And I do mean everything.

A very abbreviated list of its ramifications include (but are not limited to):

ending funding for ALL DEI related initiatives

allowing the government to terminate grants at any point for any reason

preventing researchers from publishing, going to conferences, and being part of academic societies

requiring that topics must support the president’s agenda.

What this means, and if anything I’m under selling it, is the death of science and research in America. It allows the government to restrict any topic they please at a whims notice, putting officials who have no background in the topic in charge of deciding funding continuity. It controls what gets researched and if/how researchers are allowed to share their discoveries. There are no books to burn if the government never allows them to be written. This is fascism plain and simple.

Please, if you only ever write one public comment, this is the one to do.

[genderkoolaid]

Bringing back this guide to writing an effective public comment. This gives you the basics you need to know, what you need to include, a basic outline you can follow, etc.

Public comments are not a vote, it is a chance for you to say "here is an issue with this law I think you need to address" and provide justification for legal challenges if it goes forward:

"Comments raise the bar that agencies have to meet when making a rule; “if an agency fails to adequately respond to significant, relevant comments in a final rule, members of the public may seek to challenge the rule in court on that basis and claim it could be struck down.ˮ"

But also, if possible, don't stop at writing a comment. Don't stop at calling your representatives. You should ideally be talking to people in your community about this and organizing resistance on-the-ground; there is a good chance people are already doing that even if you aren't hearing about it.

[cherrispryte]

Some added 101-level context from someone (me) who’s worked in federal grantmaking for 20 years and is literally certified on this document - this is a document that governs all federal grantmaking. It’s been around for over a decade and is a mega-document that combine multiple previous smaller documents that have been around for ages. It is updated every few years and generally the updates are minor - a notable change in the previous update was raising the small procurement threshold from $10,000 to $15,000 for example. Deeply dry boring minutiae that no one outside of federal grantmakers need concern themselves with. It was also federal GUIDELINES, which means there was flexibility.

This year’s is different. They are now federal REQUIREMENTS, which means there’s no flexibility. As was said previously, the 400 pages are not singularly devoted to being absolute shitheads to trans people. Theres a lot of stuff in there, some of which is the standard dry boring grants stuff, some of which is the horrible ideological warfare outlined above.

This document is issued by the OMB, the Office of Management and Budget, which is currently lead by fucking Russell Vought, the principal architect of Project 2025. This is how they’re going to implement all the horrible shit in there that wasn’t covered by Executive Order. Russell Vought is actively coming for my job, my marriage, and my kid, and most of my friends lost their jobs last year because of him. He is the fucking arch villain behind the heinous shit the current regime is doing.

So yes, please comment. You don’t have to read all 400 pages before doing so, it’s dry and dense as fuck, but I thought this information might be helpful. Also, while there is a public comment period, this isn’t voted on by Congress. The OMB just fucking issues it. Pressuring your elected officials into publicly saying “hey what the fuck are you doing here” is good, though.

[mikkeneko]

Please note the comment period is open through JULY 13th, not JUNE 13th. I saw a lot of relogs yesterday saying "last day!" and I just want to say it is very much not too late.

[grison-in-space]

As of today, 7/8/26, we have five days for public commentary on this to go through. I am begging y'all: if you care about independent science in the country that produces the most global science funding in the world, please leave a comment.

[emptypatrycja]

I have a short thought. You see, I know that when Season 2 aired, many people were disappointed. That definitely wasn't me, but I understand why they felt that way.

In the book and Season 1, the plot is important. Good Omens is a satire. Among other things, it explores humanity. People's ability to do both the best and the worst things imaginable, the ways in which religion, the promise of Heaven, and the threat of Hell affect them, and so on. Aziraphale and Crowley becoming more human, acting as spies who slowly grow closer, is not the only (nor necessarily the most important) part of the story.

This clearly changes in Season 2. The season has very little plot and is primarily focused on the development of Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship. The other characters introduced are mostly there to reveal something about Aziraphale and Crowley and their dynamic.

That was a huge shift, but I was not upset by it. To me, the change of focus made sense. It was simply a different story. Zooming in on our ineffable boys. It worked for me because it never contradicted what came before, either in terms of the plot or the general message. (Well, I would probably remove the opening scene with Aziraphale being fascinated by angel Crowley, but even that was something I could forgive.)

Therefore, I would never be angry just because Season 3 was very different from the previous seasons. A story is allowed to change its focus. However, my problem is that Season 3 contradicts what was established in Seasons 1 and 2. And it does so both in terms of the plot (humanity using free will to avert Armageddon; Gabriel and Beelzebub using theirs to try to prevent the Second Coming) and in terms of the general message (that messy and imperfect humans can still be incredibly potent when they put their minds to something; even when it feels like extremely powerful forces are against us, hope is not lost).

I am back, I guess. Missed my ranting? Me tooo... :D

[copperplatebeech]

Welcome to Throwback Thursday, which -- thanks to @curiouspupsicle, @rogue-bard, @sakascal, @quitequaintrelle and now @ineffabildaddy and @scribblerinthestars (and I've probably missed someone) -- is now apparently A Thing! (I have yet to catch up with all the er tempting fics that have been posted. Damnit, real life, really.)

I started doing Throwback Thursdays a couple of years ago, featuring favorite fics from the first year or two of the Good Omens fandom, or my own fics that hadn't gotten traction when I shyly poked my foot in the door. Post-s3, these delightful writers have joined in to reflect on their early fic and let us enjoy. I love it.

About a year after s1 aired, I got, shall we say, medically beaten-up. A lot of staples and things were involved, along with a stern admonition to make no whoopee for six solid weeks. It's not as if I hadn't written smut before that, but... umm, I went kind of crazy, and for the first time took a fly at gender-switching our Ineffables, in F/M and F/F combinations. First it was a three-part arc featuring Naughty Nanny Ashtoreth, and then -- well, Mistress Aziraphale deserved a turn. Last week I re-read the first of four fics featuring her in all her buxom glory, and realized it suited the moment we face after season 3 *makes apotropaic gesture*.

Faith, or, Serpent In My Bosom - rated E, ~3,300 words

They're free of Heaven and Hell, the Earth and their earthly corporations are theirs to enjoy, and it's time to experiment (with an occasional spice of tender blasphemy). And if Crowley still worries that Aziraphale might long to reconcile with Heaven, his angel is quick to reassure him.

(Redeeming Social Value. We need that right now. Don't we?)

“Alexander’s mother was supposed to have nursed her snakes. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”   “Wasn’t even in the area. Not a snake thing anyway. Urban legend.”

“No one would know it to look at you, dear.”

“Entirely selfless, what I’m doin’ here. Mmhm. Spirit of charity. Atonement for my many sins.”

“Oh, certainly.”

Read On AO3

Tagging in the replies as usual; drop a note if you want on or off the list.

I write mainly Good Omens, along with occasional ventures into Sherlock Holmes (BBC and ACD), Doctor Who, and my first love, Star Trek. Find my fic here on AO3.

[gleafer]

Aziraphale got the idea when the South Downs retiree book club, Grannies Gone Wilde, chose 50 Shades of Gray to discuss

New tag! Good Omens Season 4

This is after Odin returns them to their original form because their god can “eat a dick.” -said like Matt Berry

[azfell-ajcrowley]

They've been through some shit.

[sunkissed-strawberries]

what if the most good omen-y thing for the fandom to do was to carry on and find joy in spite of it all. what if we kept creating and prevailed.

[ineffable-endearments]

I have been thinking along these lines. Nodding sadly and agreeing when Satan tells us it's time to end the world we love doesn't sound very Good Omens of us.

[electricarpeggio]

What if, on finding out that the creative power behind this universe vacillated between "unknowable" and "knowable and cruel," we said "well, screw that" and saved the world anyway?

[pansypaladin]

Anyway the Good Omens social media crew can try to convince us that the lights are off and the bookshop is closed.

But the bookshop in my brain is still open. Only on weekends, or the occasional open stint on a quiet midweek day or two, but Whickber Street still bustles around it. It still exists, and is still tended to by a fussy, soft bookseller and his angular, hot headed, but incredibly loving husband. No one was invited to the wedding, needless to say. They just kind of showed up wearing rings one day, and no one had ever thought to ask when they tied the knot, or in fact if they ever even did.

And within its walls are a stock room, still painted yellow; a bedroom, now shared by a snoozing demon and a reading angel, on the weekend and those hazy midweek days; and a desk which never gets dusty or messy.

There’s also a cottage in the South Downs, with a large green house and vegetable plots which miraculously never deplete, and roses which bloom year round; there’s an armchair which has a worn down left arm cushion, from where a demon drapes himself over his angel more often than he sits on the matching chair across from it; a bedroom, shared, again; and the sounds of two lives well lived, infinite happiness and love beyond measure echoing within its floral, wallpapered walls.

Sometimes there’s still a free table at The Ritz just for them. The piano plays a familiar song softly, in time with the song of a Nightingale, and two immortal beings toast to a World which never closes or goes away, which never shuts, and which never ends.