In the triune God’s final research paper on LOVE, They simulate the finale in a GLOBE. Much character analysis and plot review is discussed.
A Simulated Solution to the Second Coming Reveals Inaccurate Character Depictions and Internal Contradictions: An Alternate Approach is Required to Give Subjects A and C Their Happy Ever After
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
We have received a human-written proposal for accomplishing this reunion. Rather than immediately implementing it in the main universe, We created a miniature universe in which to simulate running this proposal to first ensure its structural integrity. This was the correct decision, as the simulation revealed multiple logical failures and mischaracterizations all designed to dictate a specific endpoint not in line with Our current goals.
Want to read the entire series from start to finish? Check the link below:
Quite a few new (or new to the calendar) events this month! There are so many new events popping up that I'm posting a mid-month calendar update to add a pretty big batch of them.
This calendar includes events inspired by Good Omens, across all eras, interpretations, and continuities. Whether you're a creator, participant, or enthusiastic cheerleader, there are plenty of ways to get involved.
Events in green have been newly added! Take a look!
⏰ indicates a submission deadline within the next month
———————————————————————————————————
Creative Events, Challenges, & Prompts: (Events where you make, write, draw, or create)
June 2026
•Time After Time — ⏰ 1st-30th June 2026 (Creation Period), 1st-31st July 2026 (Posting Period)
A Good Omens AU-focused event celebrating the many worlds, timelines, and alternate lives imagined for Crowley and Aziraphale after S3.
⏰•Good Omens 3, Fan Reactions Project—Submission Deadline 21st June 2026
Fan Reactions to S3 Compilation Video Submissions are open for a compilation of fan reactions to Season 3. Information, rules & instructions can be found on the project page.
•Summer of Ineffable Pride Bingo— Posting runs June-1st September 2026
A low-pressure Pride-inspired Good Omens challenge for writers and artists, encouraging seasonal queer-themed fanworks. This event is designed to be flexible and welcoming, allowing participants to join in whenever they like. See link for full details
⏰•The Mischief— Deadline: 30th June 2026
A call to contribute to the Book of Pride (to be displayed at TIC) featuring one-page submissions including writing, artwork, or other content printable on one A5 page (with margins). Contributions should be inspired by the Good Omens universe and Pride. See link above for details.
•The Ineffable Rewrite Challenge—A GOAD challenge encouraging fans to reimagine the finale. Stories should include the events of S1 and S2, Jesus, pizza, and the Book of Life. Beyond those elements, participants are free to take the story in any direction, length, rating, or style. See the link above for details.
July 2026
•The Ineffable Con Vid Show—Submission Deadline 26th July 2026
Video submissions are now open for the convention. Songvids, video essays, crack vids, fan trailers, animatics, dubbed comics, and more are welcome. Both new and existing works may be submitted. Convention attendance is not required.
•Julycious—Summer prompt challenge.
Odd-numbered days 1st-31st July 2026
A summer-inspired creative challenge featuring prompts on every odd-numbered day throughout July. Join in with writing, art, or other fanworks whenever inspiration strikes and add your creations to the collection.
•Monsters and Myths Collaboration— Coming Soon
Announcements are expected in early July, with sign-ups open for approximately two weeks. The event is scheduled to begin in mid-to-late July, with posting dates starting in October.
•Alternative Good Omens Finale Project— A fan-led animation project imagining an alternative ending is seeking artists, writers, and other contributors. See the link above for information and sign-up form.
August 2026
•Rare Omens Each week prompts you to create for different Good Omens canon and feature rare characters/pairs in your fan art and fanfic!
August 2 - 8: TV Omens finale
August 9 - 15: TV Omens series 2
August 16 - 22: TV Omens series 1
August 23 - 29: Book Omens
September 2026
•Good Omens Got True Talents Show 2026–Submission Deadline 27th September 2026
Submissions are open in a variety of categories, including Musical Performance, Non-Musical Performance, Arts and Crafts, Memes and Comics, Cosplay. The showcase video will premiere on 9th October 2026 through Sendarya: Exploring Visual Media Through Analysis
Ongoing/No Fixed Date
•Good-Omens-Gallery Monthly Header Project —Ongoing To highlight and celebrate Good Omens artists, the Good Omens Gallery is seeking artists to create a monthly header for the blog. Artists will be credited on the blog. Sign up anytime. Go check out this month's fabulous Pride banner!
•Good Omens Britpicking Library—A community-built resource for Good Omens creators, aimed at gathering accessible guidance on British cultural details. The initiative will also maintain a companion blog for updates, questions, and a list of available britpickers.
•Bildadzine 2—Bildad-themed zine volume 2 is in the very earliest stages of development. Watch for upcoming announcements and participation details.
———————————————————————————————————
Community Events & Meetups: (Events you attend, join, or show up for at a specific time or place)
August 2026
•Good Omens Tour of London—19th August 2026
A wheelchair-accessible walking tour of Good Omens London filming locations in the run up to TIC7. You don’t need to be attending the convention to join the tour.
•The Small Back Room— 21st - 23rd August 2026
A fan-organized weekend at Alton House Hotel, Alton, Hampshire, UK. Where attendees can gather to stream The Ineffable Con 7 together. Tickets are available for full weekend or single day attendance. Cosplay is welcome! For more information, contact @lintilla72
•The Ineffable Con 2026 21st - 23rd August 2026
Cookam, UK (but also virtual attendance options available).
October 2026
•The Ineffable Society Meetup 2026 24th October 2026
Philadelphia, USA. This looks like a great opportunity to meet fellow fans in person.
Ongoing/No Fixed Date
•Sendarya: Exploring Visual Media Through Analysis Following Season 3, Sendarya will continue Good Omens discussions while expanding coverage to additional fandoms.
If you have or know of an event to share, please submit it here or DM the calendar: Event Submission Form
Tag your posts #ineffablegoevents so we can find them and include them in the monthly roundup.
*(This list focuses on events currently open to participants and may not include events that are already closed to new sign-ups.) A huge shout-out to @naturallyteal, our agent-in-the-field. Like a particularly dedicated cryptid, he appears whenever a new Good Omens event is announced. 😉🩵
If you find this calendar useful, reblogs are always appreciated. It helps more GO fans discover events and create community within the fandom 💛
Tagging list under the cut.
Let me know if you'd like to be added to or removed from the tagging list.
Quite a few new (or new to the calendar) events this month! There are so many new events popping up that I'm posting a mid-month calendar update to add a pretty big batch of them.
This calendar includes events inspired by Good Omens, across all eras, interpretations, and continuities. Whether you're a creator, participant, or enthusiastic cheerleader, there are plenty of ways to get involved.
Events in green have been newly added! Take a look!
⏰ indicates a submission deadline within the next month
———————————————————————————————————
Creative Events, Challenges, & Prompts: (Events where you make, write, draw, or create)
June 2026
•Time After Time — ⏰ 1st-30th June 2026 (Creation Period), 1st-31st July 2026 (Posting Period)
A Good Omens AU-focused event celebrating the many worlds, timelines, and alternate lives imagined for Crowley and Aziraphale after S3.
⏰•Good Omens 3, Fan Reactions Project—Submission Deadline 21st June 2026
Fan Reactions to S3 Compilation Video Submissions are open for a compilation of fan reactions to Season 3. Information, rules & instructions can be found on the project page.
•Summer of Ineffable Pride Bingo— Posting runs June-1st September 2026
A low-pressure Pride-inspired Good Omens challenge for writers and artists, encouraging seasonal queer-themed fanworks. This event is designed to be flexible and welcoming, allowing participants to join in whenever they like. See link for full details
⏰•The Mischief— Deadline: 30th June 2026
A call to contribute to the Book of Pride (to be displayed at TIC) featuring one-page submissions including writing, artwork, or other content printable on one A5 page (with margins). Contributions should be inspired by the Good Omens universe and Pride. See link above for details.
•The Ineffable Rewrite Challenge—A GOAD challenge encouraging fans to reimagine the finale. Stories should include the events of S1 and S2, Jesus, pizza, and the Book of Life. Beyond those elements, participants are free to take the story in any direction, length, rating, or style. See the link above for details.
July 2026
•The Ineffable Con Vid Show—Submission Deadline 26th July 2026
Video submissions are now open for the convention. Songvids, video essays, crack vids, fan trailers, animatics, dubbed comics, and more are welcome. Both new and existing works may be submitted. Convention attendance is not required.
•Julycious—Summer prompt challenge.
Odd-numbered days 1st-31st July 2026
A summer-inspired creative challenge featuring prompts on every odd-numbered day throughout July. Join in with writing, art, or other fanworks whenever inspiration strikes and add your creations to the collection.
•Monsters and Myths Collaboration— Coming Soon
Announcements are expected in early July, with sign-ups open for approximately two weeks. The event is scheduled to begin in mid-to-late July, with posting dates starting in October.
•Alternative Good Omens Finale Project— A fan-led animation project imagining an alternative ending is seeking artists, writers, and other contributors. See the link above for information and sign-up form.
August 2026
•Rare Omens Each week prompts you to create for different Good Omens canon and feature rare characters/pairs in your fan art and fanfic!
August 2 - 8: TV Omens finale
August 9 - 15: TV Omens series 2
August 16 - 22: TV Omens series 1
August 23 - 29: Book Omens
September 2026
•Good Omens Got True Talents Show 2026–Submission Deadline 27th September 2026
Submissions are open in a variety of categories, including Musical Performance, Non-Musical Performance, Arts and Crafts, Memes and Comics, Cosplay. The showcase video will premiere on 9th October 2026 through Sendarya: Exploring Visual Media Through Analysis
Ongoing/No Fixed Date
•Good-Omens-Gallery Monthly Header Project —Ongoing To highlight and celebrate Good Omens artists, the Good Omens Gallery is seeking artists to create a monthly header for the blog. Artists will be credited on the blog. Sign up anytime. Go check out this month's fabulous Pride banner!
•Good Omens Britpicking Library—A community-built resource for Good Omens creators, aimed at gathering accessible guidance on British cultural details. The initiative will also maintain a companion blog for updates, questions, and a list of available britpickers.
•Bildadzine 2—Bildad-themed zine volume 2 is in the very earliest stages of development. Watch for upcoming announcements and participation details.
———————————————————————————————————
Community Events & Meetups: (Events you attend, join, or show up for at a specific time or place)
August 2026
•Good Omens Tour of London—19th August 2026
A wheelchair-accessible walking tour of Good Omens London filming locations in the run up to TIC7. You don’t need to be attending the convention to join the tour.
•The Small Back Room— 21st - 23rd August 2026
A fan-organized weekend at Alton House Hotel, Alton, Hampshire, UK. Where attendees can gather to stream The Ineffable Con 7 together. Tickets are available for full weekend or single day attendance. Cosplay is welcome! For more information, contact @lintilla72
•The Ineffable Con 2026 21st - 23rd August 2026
Cookam, UK (but also virtual attendance options available).
October 2026
•The Ineffable Society Meetup 2026 24th October 2026
Philadelphia, USA. This looks like a great opportunity to meet fellow fans in person.
Ongoing/No Fixed Date
•Sendarya: Exploring Visual Media Through Analysis Following Season 3, Sendarya will continue Good Omens discussions while expanding coverage to additional fandoms.
If you have or know of an event to share, please submit it here or DM the calendar: Event Submission Form
Tag your posts #ineffablegoevents so we can find them and include them in the monthly roundup.
*(This list focuses on events currently open to participants and may not include events that are already closed to new sign-ups.) A huge shout-out to @naturallyteal, our agent-in-the-field. Like a particularly dedicated cryptid, he appears whenever a new Good Omens event is announced. 😉🩵
If you find this calendar useful, reblogs are always appreciated. It helps more GO fans discover events and create community within the fandom 💛
Tagging list under the cut.
Let me know if you'd like to be added to or removed from the tagging list.
We are living in a timeline where the GO finale involved Aziraphale and Crowley never properly making up, spending a grumpy day together, and then dying.
I need to keep reminding myself of that. Because this outcome was so unimaginable to me. In the 990 days I spent waiting for the finale I never once considered this possibility.
This is the ending that we got. I'm getting closer to accepting it, but I'm not quite there. That's why I'm making this post - not to rile up the fandom that I know is divided. I love the positive takes too, keep em comin'. I just... need a little more time to accept that this is what we got.
I think on the other side of it I will be able to say: Yes, that was a show I loved. Didn't love the ending. But that's true for lots of shows. You've just gotta exist in the moments before that end and in all the art that comes after.
Edited to add: For me "accept" does not mean "like it" or even "internalize as canon". I don't think I'll ever do either of those things. But for me accept means stop feeling shock that this is what happened. That this is the story that was written, that was filmed. That they teased us for years, Rob showed us dolls kissing, Amazon shared fan art of them kissing, nothing but positive messaging when actually the finale was a tragedy.
The epilogue reverting Crowley and Aziraphale to their angel selves is not only weird for the "they're trauma less now so they're truly free" implications, but also because it says that if they had been free from heaven they'd have been attracted to each other immediately. But that never happened when Crowley was making nebulas? Yes, Azi was a bit smitten but Crowley didn't even look at him twice lol.
The beauty of their love was that it all started on the wall, with the "I gave it away!" "You wot?". And then their love grew, deepened, became multi-faceted as they went on with the arrangement. They weren't destined to be together, they actually noticed each other and choose each other, they started loving the other after the fall and temptation of Eve.
Why did the whole narrative suddenly retcon things, Aziraphale saying Crowley was "the best angel", indicating they knew each other deeply before the fall? Why did that become more important than their 6000 years together, the arrangement, their mutual help of each other, their companionship?
Hastur: think you're gonna get across that (the road on fire)? There's nowhere to go.
Crowley: let's find out.
Hastut; wh- why are you driving? What- stop this thing.
Crowley: you know the thing I like best about time? Is that every day it takes us further away from 14th century. I really didn't like 14th century. You'd have loved it then. They didn't have any cars back in the 14th century. Lovely, clever human people inventing cars,and motorways, and... Windscreen wipers. You got to hand it to them, haven't you?
Crowley: you are my car, I've had you from new. You are not going to burn. Don't even think of it!
This scene is so symbolic and revealing. Hastur says, "You're doomed", " There's nowhere to go". He tells Crowley that he won't make it across the road of fire, a symbol of a long, painful, impossible path. He tells him that he's doomed, that he should give up.
But Crowley doesn't give up.
He puts his foot down on the gas pedal and says, "Let's find out."
Even though he's terrified (his snake eyes taking up almost all of his eyes, showing just how stressed and afraid he is), he refuses to surrender. He keeps going. His faith is stronger than the fire, stronger than the burning Bentley, stronger than the risk of discorporation itself.
That faith comes from knowing that Aziraphale is alive and waiting for him. In many ways, Aziraphale is the embodiment of Crowley's faith and hope. And alongside that is Crowley's love for humanity (his speech about how clever humans are, inventing cars, motorways, and windscreen wipers)
That belief and love will always be stronger than the voices telling us we're doomed, that there's no way out, that we should just give up. We have to keep fighting, no matter who tells us that all the bridges have been burned and nothing can be fixed anymore. Even if we don't succeed perfectly, we tried. We didn't surrender. We kept going until the very end.
To me, this scene captures one of the central ideas of Good Omens perfectly: even if you're driving a burning car down a highway consumed by fire with only a few hours left until the end of the world, that doesn't mean you should give up and say, "To hell with it, let everything burn down. Maybe another world would be better anyway." (Yes, Good Omens 3, I'm looking at you.)
I don't know if I managed to express this thought properly, but I hope you understand what I mean, lol.
I see so many people feeling ridiculous for being crushed by the finale (me, that is me!). Terrified that they should not feel such deep pain and such a strong sense of loss because of a TV show. But is that really so surprising?
It is never truly about a TV show, is it?
If you have had a rough time in your real life for quite a while, and you were waiting for the finale to give you a bit of joy, of course this would hit hard. We are left thinking that even in fiction, a happy and peaceful existence is not an option. Love does not conquer all. The universe is rigged beyond saving. And if this is impossible in fiction, what does it mean for us, for our very real lives?
So if this is you, please do not feel that you are being ridiculous. Or at least know that it is me too :)
So, I’ve been obsessed with Pratchett since I was 15. That’s 23 years for those keeping count. I just finished GO3 and these are my initial thoughts:
Crowley and Aziraphale becoming human: I don’t love, but you could argue that that was what he planned, and I would buy it. It does follow some of his themes.
But there is a knife’s edge that Pratchett balanced between fury and compassion. He absolutely loved humanity, but he also hated what humans did to each other out of malice, spite, or even laziness. Good Omens the novel was filled to bursting with that.
The end here lacked all of that somehow. God in S1 is unknowable, but God is S3 is just a capricious bitch who seems to have it out for Crowley specifically and through him Aziraphale. The viewer certainly gets angry at God, but the narrative seems to be that, while cold, she is doing the right thing and giving them their happy ending. And while Crowley expresses compassion for humanity, it falls on such deaf ears that the narrative doesn’t actually support that.
The closing sentiment seems to be that we can make their lives better by just erasing all their trauma and baggage. No. Sam Vimes did not pull himself out of the gutter and bodily hold himself out of it every day to be told that actually amnesia would be best. If you wanted to make them human: make them keep their memories. That would have been fine.
Terry would have Crowley and Aziraphale say “fuck you” to God and protect the earth as it was. The way they protected Job’s children. The way they did at Tadfield Airbase. Here they just throw in the towel and start a new universe. They accept their failure so quickly as to be farcical.
And you will never ever convince me that TERRY PRATCHETT would have allowed the words “a story shouldn’t live past its ending” to be spoken without the speaker being immediately eaten by a banshee.
Say it with me: IT. IS NOT. ABOUT. THE FUCKING. KISS!!! That’s not why people are mad.
The Ending SUCKS because the WRITING SUCKS.
NO, I don’t find the concept of ‘tHeY FiNd eACh oThEr IN eVerY uNivErSe’ beautiful.
1) Because they don’t. There’s zero evidence that this is a recurring thing, thats 100% fandom copium- and even then they don’t have any of their memories and aren’t the same people. THATS. NOT. THEM. And it never will be because people are the sum of their experiences AND THEIR CHOICES. You don’t take a comedy Christian satire and make the solution some Buddhist-esque reincarnation philosophy that requires an entirely new suspension of disbelief no one signed up for or wanted. That’s shit writing.
2) So not only does the finale spit on every theme it had prior regarding championing human choice as miraculous and the world being worth fighting for in all its flaws as it is- you are going to sit here and tell me that actually they never had any choice at all, so they decided to toss everything down the garbage disposal for the next life. That is, frankly, terrible, and nihilistic, and not at all sensible for this series.
Aziraphale and Crowley are a wonderful love story because they were on opposite sides and they CHOSE each other, and they CHOSE to love humans. They chose to be hedonistic and compassionate and selfish and ‘human’ as they were because they knew how to make choices. Their love has always been THEIR choice.
So how can you tell me that the ending is great because they sacrificed everything for humans to have free choice- which they already had by the way- and then say the ending is beautiful because Aziraphale and Crowley are Predestined to love each other in every reality. How is that not massively hypocritical to the concept they are trying to sell us last minute out of nowhere? Is predestiny not the antithesis of what they asked for by your own definition?!
How is taking their 6000 years of choosing each other over and over again, and summing it down to a deterministic soul bond, more ‘free will’ or beautiful than them literally defying cosmic powers just to stay together and eat dinner at the Ritz on a casual Tuesday?!
People act like their life was just complete suffering, but they were perfectly happy on their own earth. Season 1 left them exactly where they wanted to be!!! Together with the Earth. It was so EASY to circle back to that, all they had to do was write it, and no one would have questioned it because that’s THEM and what they want to be doing. If Adam defied Satan for humanity, why would Jesus Christ- who’d already died once for the salvation of humanity- not tell God to be merciful?! Why not have the humans make the choice, rather than Crowley- which is another hypocritical move because he’s making choices for them just like he’s telling god not to!
How do we have any evidence this new world doesn’t have a god? Trust? In the woman who just destroyed the world after having a casual laugh with Satan? Okay. They didn’t trade their existence for freedom, they traded the apple of knowledge for ignorance.
The fact is, is that the world that championed choice and love was the one they came from, not the one they sacrificed themselves for- because choice and love doesn’t mean there are no complications, it means you take a stand and you do what you want anyways.
This dystopian nightmare of an ending where they let the universe die and don’t know each other was never a thought in anyone’s mind until it came into existence with the most shallow and contrived justifications of all time ten minutes before close, and that’s because it’s out of character nonsense.
And I’m sick of hearing ‘they were always gonna be human’ ‘it was always gonna be this way’ like there was rational grounds for it beforehand. No it wasn’t, and it certainly didn’t need to be. At most it was everyone’s joke of a worst case scenario, and that’s what they decided to give us- probably after a quick google search to find out what would piss everyone off the most.
This was Neil Gaiman and his team of horror writers, who probably didn’t even consider the source material, throwing a temper tantrum and abusing the fandom for liking Terry Pratchett’s divine optimism more than his petty ass. They designed every ridiculous contingency in this horrible script to justify their own mess.
The Ineffable Husbands were fine as they were. Even as a Demon and an Angel they were already ‘human’ enough, THATS what was funny. What the hell is so great about being mortal and not being able to have a free table whenever they want, and having to deal with real world shit like taxes, and homophobia, and Dying?
Enough Dyin’. No Maur DYIN’. It’s it’s-ITS NOT ON!!!
The two were horribly out of character this entire film. All the film did was spit on the world building and take the magic out of it.
Somewhere Anathema Device caught a glimpse of something in Agnes Nutter’s second book of prophecies, gasped, pulled it out of the fire, got Newt to drive at top speed down the M25 (somehow magically free) dashes into Soho, runs into the bookshop, slams the book down on the counter in front of Aziraphale and Crowley and screams
‘Don’t you two FUCKING dare!’
And leaves.
Several large coffees, bottles of wine and a pile of Eccles cakes and a very long reading and interpretation session later Crowley sits back.
‘Beelzebub and Gabriel, huh? Did not see that coming.’
‘Never mind that, dear,’ Aziraphale says, as he continues carving symbols onto the floor. ‘There. That should do it. The Metatron can’t get in here now.’
‘And you?’ Crowley asks delicately. Aziraphale stands up and primly clasps his hands across his stomach.
‘I have no intention of going up to heaven under any circumstances and especially not now I know how it ends.’ He says. It’s his I Will Not Be Moved tone. Crowley knows it well. He is reassured.
‘Well, maybe pop up and get Muriel. But after that we seal up that lift, agreed?’ Crowley adds.
‘Agreed.’
‘Excellent. Dinner at the Ritz called for I think, to celebrate a very lucky escape. Coming, Angel?’
‘One thing…’ Aziraphale says, and Crowley notices the cheeks of his Angel have gone a little pink, and he is turning that ring on his finger round and round. ‘Prophecy number 547.’
‘547? Was that the one with the butterflies the size of giraffes?’
‘It was not,’ Aziraphale says.
Crowley takes a step closer. He always did enjoy this bit of the temptation, although he was not quite sure who was being tempted right now.
‘Ah, the one with the Welsh Choir serenading the Kraken with excerpts from popular musicals.’
‘No, not that one either.’ Aziraphale appears to have flushed a deep red.
Crowley takes a step closer now. He can feel it - the tingle in his fingers and on his lips.
There’s another first time coming. To add to the Wall, and the Temptation of the Ox Ribs and the Rescue of the Books and all those other first times that have led them step by step to this place.
A first time they had in any timeline, but this would their first time - they, Aziraphale and Crowley in this world, their world.
‘Oh, I know, the one with the crystal the exact size and shape of…’
‘Crowley!’ Aziraphale snaps. ‘You know which one I mean.’
‘Oh,’ Crowley says softly. ‘The one where I tell you there’s an us.’
‘That’s the one,’ Aziraphale says, glancing down at the ground. ‘Of course, if you’d rather not, I understand, it’s asking too much, it’s…’
‘Angel,’ Crowley says, and he steps forward, taking off his glasses, and looks down at his angel, his enemy and ally, his closest friend. His love since he knew what love meant. ‘We have always been an us. We don’t need a prophecy for that.’
And Aziraphale, a soft and gentle angel, not a soldier or a leader, becomes a hero for that moment, and clasps Crowley’s collar and pulls him in for a kiss.
It was a nice day. It would always be a nice day. There would always be a bookshop, and later a garden. Nightingales would always sing and there would be many many kisses to follow that first kiss.
We can’t know for sure how those of us who are having a lot of grief, anger, betrayal, and so on would have felt if “a cottage in the South Downs” had never been uttered publicly by TP or NG. But I’m guessing I would have the same feelings, although probably not as intense. The Good Omens finale still betrayed the Agreement (see what I did there) that it had made with the audience. I am in no way an expert or professional critic, but I do have quite a bit of media literacy and these are some of my Thoughts*.
Genres have specific conventions, expectations, tropes, etc. that audiences know they will see at least some of. If a tv series was giving all the signs of following a particular path, without foreshadowing (even subtly and only viewed in retrospect) that it would actually be making a sharp right turn up ahead, the audience is going to be rightfully shocked. Indeed this is wanted and expected by the writers, otherwise they would have stayed on the road most traveled.
Writers are making choices at every step of the story. And these writers decided, in this condensed final episode, to abruptly take what has been building for 12 previous episodes of a fairly lighthearted, considering the apocalyptic content, fantasy romcom** and make it neither a romcom (there’s nothing comedic about the unexpected death of everyone- especially your romantic leads) nor a fantasy (they opted to create an ostensibly supernatural-free universe). The audience was definitely flabbergasted, at a minimum. We were supposed to believe that an omnipotent, omniscient being has only two options moving forward. And that Crowley, the notably creative demon, who has been literally and figuratively burned by Heaven before, is going to both abandon all attempts to think outside of the box and trust God at her word?
Thus far we also entirely jumped over the uneven Swiss cheese that constituted the preceding hour plus of plot. Much of the stress and anguish it contained seemed unnecessary and was ultimately futile. Many of the characters seemed to be behaving inconsistently within the episode and also not as they had before. Nothing in this story prepared the audience in any way for what was coming. No previously dangling strings were tied up, even while entirely new ones were unraveled from the previous season’s story.*** And no satisfying conclusion resulted from any of this.
The writers did, however, tack onto the end a fluffy little sketch of a romcom, which almost seemed mocking in its milquetoastery. It gave us the very beginning and the very end and NONE of the substance that makes us care about the characters or their relationship. This was right after they had nuked the Characters of all time, who we were there to see! It’s as if Crowley had all of the swagger and sarcasm drained out of him along with his cherry red hair dye. Then apply that to everyone.
The camera in the pub gliding past groups of two humans that look a bit like demons and angels from a previous universe, long ago and far away, also seemed like an attempt to manufacture a feeling of closure. The extremely improbable circumstances which led to all of these lookalikes not only knowing each other but also being in the same place at the same time does seem to stretch the belief that god has not put more of a spin on things than she told Crowley.
Seeing (but not hearing or knowing) these couples felt a bit like the Great British Bake-off catching you up on what all the contestants have been doing with their lives but instead it’s just the same phrase for each person “Look- they still exist!” Actually they don’t because they were all turned into Thanos sparkle dust. These are simulacrums. Asa and Anthony are fine! But we expected our vintage of awkward nerds living a happily ever after to be a particular flavor of angel and demon, not unfamiliar human.
As much as I love Cyndi Lauper, it feels like one more Queen song might have been more appropriate for this ending- “Who Wants To Live Forever”.
*Many of these Thoughts are the same ones that a lot of us have had and shared in quite a few convos.
**If anyone thinks it’s not a romcom or that it only became one in season two, I have a whole other essay I can give about that! 😂
*** The song just kept going through my head as I was writing this, so I’m passing on the earworm 𓆙
If you got this far 😅 how would you describe the One Job the writers had? Doesn’t have to be the same job I think they had
(this came out of a conversation in the comments on a previous post about an author threatening to stop updating a fic because of lack of engagement)
So there’s this idea that fic writers should write for themselves and not care too much about stats or engagement,
and i totally get the sentiment behind that. if writing becomes entirely about stats and external validation, something important does get lost - creative freedom and joy, conviction in your own writing
but i also think:
“i write for myself, but i post for others.”
because posting fic is not only self-expression. it’s social. ao3 is called an archive, but emotionally it often functions as a community space.
people post for connection, for participation, for others to bear witness to their pain and trauma and grief,
and i don’t think most people are asking to be admired so much as acknowledged. there’s something deeply human about wanting another person to encounter something that mattered to you and go:
“ok, yeah, I see what you were trying to say. I see you.”
especially because fanfic is often people processing very real feelings through fictional characters at a safe distance, one step removed,
and then uploading that deeply personal thing into a shared archive and hoping somebody else might connect with it.
And i think that’s why it hurts so much when you summon up the courage and post a fic into the void and you get nothing back,
Let's start a tag game! Reblog with a self-rec from your LGBTQ theme creations, and tag five more people! All fandoms welcome!
Please accept this offering featuring art student Crowley, librarian Aziraphale, fabulous Eric and drag show shenanigans!
Figuring It Out
Fandom: Good Omens
Pairing: Aziraphale/Crowley
Rating: E
Spring has come to London, and with it, fresh possibilities. Anthony Crowley--determined to finally follow through on old dreams--signs up for a couple of classes as he tries to revisit what he loves best, get out of a rut, and get back into his career as a freelancer. Aziraphale works as a librarian not far from St. Lucius' School of Fine Art, and when his neighbour and friend, Anathema, asks if he would be interested in a little side-gig as one of the life models for her Intermediate Figure Drawing class, he agrees.
That's not going to awaken things in anyone, right?
Read it here.
Tagging: @gaiaseyes451, @hermiola, @melians-griddle, @gaydhros, @indigofyrebird and anyone else who sees this and wants to play!!
Let's start a tag game! Reblog with a self-rec from your LGBTQ theme creations, and tag five more people! All fandoms welcome!
Here's my first ever GO baby featuring Ace Crowley and Pan Azi!
When Hell Freezes Over
Fandom: Good Omens
Pairing: Aziraphale/Crowley
Rating: T
Words: 22k
“Not afraid at all,” the angel finally says. “I mean, maybe slightly afraid. You see, my editor-in-chief doesn’t know I’m here.”
“He doesn’t?”
“I was supposed to review the new production of Hamlet…”
“The one with Ian McKellen?”
“Yes, exactly, but Eve – Miss Gardner, that is – she’s been working so hard and she would love nothing more than to be taken seriously, and she thought Gabriel gave her this assignment for all the wrong reasons, you see – and, between us, knowing Gabriel, I’m quite sure she was right – and, and I realized she needed my assignment way more than I did. So, if you really must know, I just… gave it away.”
“You what?!”
“I gave it away!” the angel repeats, slightly distressed.
“Let me get this straight: you traded the chance to review one of the most anticipated shows of the year to interview… little old me?”
-
(Or: Crowley is a magician with a new Inferno-inspired show opening in London, Aziraphale the angelic-looking journalist who's supposed to interview him. Crowley immediately tries his best to ruffle his feathers. Much to his surprise, though, Aziraphale isn't as pearl-clutchy as he looks. Things go as you'd expect.)
Read it here.
Tagging: @littleweezel, @gaiaseyes451, @cheeseplants, @curiouspupsicle, @joyandotherstories and whoever wants to play!
Happy Pride Month! 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 (including Aro/Ace and all queer identities not represented in an emoji pack flag)
Let's start a tag game! Reblog with a self-rec from your LGBTQ theme creations, and tag five more people! All fandoms welcome!
Sending a little love to the under appreciated women (at least in the GO fandom) in the queer community:
Lesson I've Learned About Love
Fandom: Good Omens
Pairing: Azira/Crowley
Rating: T
Words: 4k
Before the publican could reply, a tall, slender woman with dark, auburn hair tied up in a messy bun strode up to the bar. Azira felt the hair on her arms stand up, almost as if she had received a mild shock from the electrical energy of the woman standing beside her.
“I called in a takeaway, Marjorie. Is it ready?”
“Just a minute, dearie. I’ll go check.” With a mischievous look, she nodded toward Azira.
“Toni, this is Azira. She’s checking out Tadfield to decide if she wants to move here.”
Turning her attention to the other woman, she continued, “Toni Crowley’s been here five years. She knows everyone in town. You should ask her your questions. She’ll tell you everything the tourist board won’t.” With a wink, she turned to enter the kitchen.
“So, what do you want to know? Looking to find all the sordid corners of Oxfordshire or to avoid them?”
(Or, While listening to an address by someone very precious to her, Azira Fell reflects on the one in a trillion surprise from the universe that brought her more love than she could have ever hoped for.)
Read it on AO3. (Pssst, and if you liked the sweetness of these girls, check out Buddy Boating for a slow burn love story on the water.)
Thank you for the tag, @hermiola.
Tagging: @spectrallydistracted, @dbacklot99, @smua70, @tigerseye67, @loveagoodstory87 and whoever wants to play!
Happy Pride Month! 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 (including Aro/Ace and all queer identities not represented in an emoji pack flag)
Let's start a tag game! Reblog with a self-rec from your LGBTQIA creations, and tag five more people! All fandoms welcome!
I wrote "The Importance of Being Mr. Brown" for the TIC6 zine. It's a short story affirming everyone deserves love, even those who love the Ineffable Husbands too much. Rated T, about 2,800 words.
Sometimes an angel needed saving from the guillotine or Nazi spies, and sometimes he needed saving from ordinary humans. Particularly from the Mr. Browns of the world, the ones too smitten or too foolish to realize how taken Aziraphale was. God must love them, for although they’d left one Mr. Brown in his World of Carpets on Wickber Street, their village contained a Mr. Browne, with an “e” at the end. This one was an English teacher, which was worse because he mistook Aziraphale’s interest in books for interest in him. Someone bless it, the blond human was following Aziraphale back to their table, and Crowley’s husband was doing nothing to discourage him.
Read more on AO3:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/69379996
@di-42 @dragonfire42 @groovynightstrawberry @hermiola @klikandtuna and anyone else who wants to participate!
Crowley and Aziraphale were never supposed to be special. The whole point of their story was that they were just two beings sent on Earth with a job, who really loved avoiding doing said job, and who learned a thing or two from humanity along the way.
S2 seemed to double down on that. Other angels and demons could fall in love. Other angels, like Muriel, could like the Earth. Other demons, like Shax, could be surprised by humanity's cruelty. If anything, the story seemed to be leading towards the realization that if angels and demons just gave a chance to humanity, to love, to connection, they could all be happier for it.
So to toss it all out of the window to make Crowley and Aziraphale the special boys who get to rewrite the universe, while all other angels and demons get rewritten as humans without having a say in the matter... It feels like a betrayal.
i hate that i’m not over the gomens finale yet. i want to be a much stronger person. i want to be like oh well it’s just a tv show and canon doesn’t mean anything and i am. i do. mostly. like 70% of the time. or so. idk. and then there’s a wave of grief just crashing over me again
Right there with you. It’s not “just a TV show,” is the way I think about it. It’s all the real-life things this story connects with, all of the real-life hopes and fears and sorrows, all of the pieces of ourselves.
I do love the book, but from the time I saw the show, I saw that These Characters As Portrayed were everything and must be allowed to be happy.
No matter how much projecting we are doing, the idea that these traumatised, lovely, clever, anxious beings that distanced themselves from their people because they couldn't go along with them, and who are exactly the kind that our society has less and less tolerance for-- that they could succeed and heal together happily? It was everything.
I don't know if it hurt more that they-as-themselves failed, or how they did, or how they were first contorted into uncanny imitations of themselves first to rip apart the parts of our souls who love them so dearly by not being who we think know they are and taint not only their present (recent?) selves but also themselves through the entire canon?
There's a post somewhere on Tumblr that through loving characters we identify with, we learn to love ourselves. What happens now?
stormborns
pixelskylines
ellievsbear
gummygunk
titsay
baratheonpilled
origamiaround
tangentwithtanner
