Crowley and Aziraphale didn't kill anyone. Michael destroyed the universe. Yes. But.
If they let Adam destroy the world in S1 or their superiors to start a war, it would not have been them doing it either. But it would be a weird conclusion to a story about a bunch of characters who try to save the world to - not save it.
What some of us (everyone did before S3, surely?) expected was that they will save the humanity they had lived among. Not die and hope god, who is a cruel heartless mean asshole, will start a new one like they asked. I see no point in this. I see no reason I should believe it. I would never have chosen for a God to start a new universe. In my fantasy show that is satire on religion. It would have been 'better' if they killed/eliminated God and disappeared because of that and from their death/decision/sacrifice the new universe started.
But I still would not like it. There could be a multiverse of other universes where someone with my face lives in each one and good for them I guess, I hope they are happy, but it makes no difference to me.
Just the same as it makes no difference to me that people have a million other beliefs about what is happening after we die or outside of what we know.
Jesus deserved explanations. Adam deserved to live the life he chose. Anathema and Newt deserved a long life after their bravery. Madame Tracy deserved a long retirement. The Them deserved adulthood they fought for.
Aziraphale and Crowley deserved to breathe and be safe and tell each other everything they never could and deserved the longest hug in the existence of anything and they deserved a quiet cottage with nightingales and a future full of bickering and exchange the softest, sweetest glances that turn water into syrup.
Angels and demons deserved to be free from their shackles and go off to do whatever they wanted in the vast universe.
Nina and Maggie deserved happiness in wherever they were off to. Mr Brown deserved luck in his next adventure. And Mrs Sandwich deserved to be told that the angel she berated saved her from eternal flames.
All the kids and animals and plants deserved to keep on living in their universe. They did not deserve to be wiped by flood because someone didn't like them. It does not matter that new ones were brought in. It does not make it a good ending to me.
The charm and beauty of Good Omens was the commentary of how even two supernatural powerful beings can't do much about any large events but we watch them choosing the right thing where they can.
And then they stumble on the Big One and make the right decisions. Because they have hearts in right places.
I can't stop big oil or armies, I can't build a house for everyone, but even if never perfect, I can and should and will - try and do small things where I can. Because - you never know how big a difference it makes to someone. That's the message. Fight for the world we have, now.
That's what I expected to see in the Finale.
I wrote this as a comment on someone's post but decided not to post it to them directly.
‘The charm and beauty of Good Omens was the commentary of how even two supernatural powerful beings can't do much about any large events but we watch them choosing the right thing where they can.
‘And then they stumble on the Big One and make the right decisions. Because they have hearts in right places.’
This is exactly what I adored about Good Omens. We get to see how even these two incredible forces of morality and might still can't influence humanity either way.
Good Omens was the satire of how a world with Heaven and Hell, God and Satan being real works. How even though oppressive forces try to intervene and play with humanity, with timelines and pathways, humanity wins. Tested, sure, but never to destruction...
Now I know people may say here that humanity wins in GO3, and I understand why it's often said. I do think Humanity as a concept isn't beaton. But in this case, I don't think it ‘wins.’ I think God wins. Humanity in the original universe is wiped out and replaced. The idea of humanity isn't destroyed, sure, and I think that's the argument for the ending, but those humans and characters we adored, were destroyed. Every single character that lived as the humans did. With their own free will that tested boundaries and miracles alike. I don't think there was much difference between angels, demons, and humans when you drop the miracles and mortality. They're all people who deserved better. Or at least a choice of their own.
Since I run out of lines, there is no option for - he would not be interested in sex. Sorry.
Obviously all these options imply the correspondent one for Crowley. Although I understand things can easily be much more complicated than that.
And of course, a couple can enjoy a D/s dynamic without a sexual relationship at all, as well as only include in the occasional scene to living the dynamic 24/7.
All of these nuances are too much for a Tumblr poll but I would still like to see what you prefer to read/write/create/HC etc.
If you go with multiple HCs, pick one that you feel you like most today? Or most of the time?
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.
Imagine looking at this sweet, brave baby and thinking "Ah, yes, he deserves to be belittled and insulted repeatedly, treated like the villain for *checks notes* enjoying earthly pleasures and trying to make things better and save the universe and make Heaven and Hell stop treating people like shit, and not get the happily ever after he's dreamed of for so long."
Imagine looking into his round pookie sunshine face and his bright eyes and being mean to him.
I think I bristle so hard at people correcting the way Aziraphale behaves when he finds Crowley in the alley and Crowley tells him to go away...
Is because I don't think Crowley should be in the alley in the first place.
No amount of - oh I believe you never had your heart broken before, have you - comments will get me to agree that that's a valid response to what happened in F15. Not least because Crowley is not stupid and he must have known running away would lead nowhere.
The Crowley I know from the book and S1 would spend a day or two at most disilusioned that they are separated again. Not even blaming Aziraphale. Just - upset and angry at their shitty circumstances. And then he would find a way to contact Aziraphale and ask how he can help.
The Crowley Aziraphale found in the gutter is not his Crowley. He didn't love him or understand him. He didn't even like him!
Aziraphale, surrounded by his bullies for years, managed somehow to delay the Second Coming that would mean an awful, terrifying eternity for Crowley and very questionable results for humans. And all he gets back for it is scorn, because he didn't do a good enough job.
"You clearly can't do this on your own" - Yes! Aziraphale said he needed help?
The restaurant scene, however adorable and however David and Michael tried, still feels forced to me - see what you were missing? Yes, yes, he does. He knows Crowley. No need to pile it on.
Yes. I am very aware that a lot of fandom thought Crowley will end up in the gutter and miserable after S2.
But the consensus then was that Aziraphale left because he was manipulated and wanted to trust Heaven and he will come back crying because was tricked.
He did none of those things. He fought Heaven for years (just like some of us said he will) and kept Earth and Crowley away from horrible end.
And Crowley knew about the Second Coming. He knew Aziraphale was among the Archangels he personally saw tried to murder Aziraphale a few years back. He promised not to leave him on his own. He knew the next one will be 'all of us against all of them'. And then it wasn't. Because the authors didn't know who Crowley was.
Why didn't Crowley go check if Aziraphale was ok? Why did it have to be Aziraphale who had to check on Crowley? Crowley who told Aziraphale no. Who walked out of the bookshop after Aziraphale begged for help.
Didn't Crowley care what happened to Aziraphale? Whether he's not memory-less too or thrown in some dungeon?
If he knew Aziraphale is trying to fix things (and he did because Aziraphale said that's what he's going to do), however impossible he suddenly felt it was, why not at least try to help him?
Why not at least stay in the bookshop and keep an eye on the tenants?
Maybe if he tried any of that, the nonsensical ending feel more earned.
Giving Crowley depression and declaring the universe unchangeable and unfixable so Crowley can be the hero who chooses a creation of a new, better world just like he imagined was one of the weirdest story choices I have ever seen.
Especially since the new world is as shitty as the old one was. It just doesn't have him and Aziraphale in it. Was new world really a better choice than cutting of meddling with the universe's fate and afterlife?
Crowley was getting sick of it. He'd taken the opportunity to reread Aziraphale's notes, and to thumb through Agnes Nutter's prophecies, and to do some serious thinking. His conclusions could be summarized as follows: 1) Armageddon was under way. 2) There was nothing Crowley could do about this. 3) It was going to happen in Tadfield. Or to begin there, at any rate. After that it was going to happen everywhere. 4) Crowley was in Hell's bad books. [Not that Hell has any other kind.] 5) Aziraphale was-as far as could be estimated-out of the equation. 6) All was black, gloomy and awful. There was no light at the end of the tunnel-or if there was, it was an oncoming train. 7) He might just as well find a nice little restaurant and get completely and utterly pissed out of his mind while he waited for the world to end. 8) And yet . . . And that was where it all fell apart. Because, underneath it all, Crowley was an optimist. If there was one rock-hard certainty that had sustained him through the bad times-he thought briefly of the fourteenth century-then it was utter surety that he would come out on top; that the universe would look after him. Okay, so Hell was down on him. So the world was ending. So the Cold War was over and the Great War was starting for real. So the odds against him were higher than a vanload of hippies on a blotterful of Owlsley's Old Original. There was still a chance.
This is Crowley. A Crowley that talked an angel into going against the end of the world the first time. Did they do it for nobel reason, hell no, but they did it anyway.
Listen, I don't want to argue about the finale. I just want to share my love of these ineffable dumb dumbs and the art I made to celebrate them. They were one of the earliest additions to the Wall of Hyperfixations.
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