Well, my good Good Omens folk, that was a freaking week.
I had this fic rec post essentially in the can a few hours before we found out about the production pause on season 3. We’ve been nervously expecting something like that. Meanwhile, people throughout the fandom are hurting from the stain that the increasingly persuasive allegations leave on a book and show we love; angry both on behalf of the people making those allegations, and for the people already engaged on the project, who stand to lose the most if it folds.
Whether you want season 3 on any terms, or can’t stomach the idea of supporting it if Neil remains connected to it at all;
-- whether we even get a third season or not;
-- whether it truly restores Sir Terry's voice to the narrative, or whether it turns out Neil's just gassing about that "sequel outline" and delivers more of the (IMHO) uneven weirdness that was season 2 –
-- whatever happens, we have enough Good Omens content to beguile our hours or glad our eyes indefinitely, and it isn’t going to stop coming any time soon. We did that – by writing and producing artwork, by cheering on creators, by sharing our enthusiasm and excitement with each other. The fandom, and the worlds we built around Good Omens, are ours to keep and curate and revisit.
But I do miss the unalloyed joy and exhilaration of those first months, when fics that ranged from tender to comic to horny (often all of the above) came flooding out of us because there had never been anything quite like that before. The headiness of “I can't wait to tell a story about all these delicious characters! And another! And another!” is only accessible to me in fits and starts at present.
So this Throwback Thursday features some restorative dainties that bring that post-season-01 euphoria welling back up in my heart; that make me remember Eliot’s lines
to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Here's a summer 2019 fic that charmed me on first reading and still does: Like Lovers (E), in which Adam's preteen angst precipitates a blizzard, and Aziraphale and a half-frozen Crowley take shelter in Anathema’s vacant cottage (boy, is she going to need to settle the vibes). It’s also, possibly, the debut iteration of a highly recognizable phrase:
"I think the world is safe for today. And neither of us is getting smited, er, smote? Smitten?"
“You just got... smited... right out a window, angel!”
That made them both laugh, and all of a sudden Aziraphale pulled him into a tight hug.
(Hard side eye at Certain Parties who claim never to read fanfiction.)
Sensuous, graceful and tender writing.
@charlottemadison42 's long-form fics Shotgun Wedding and Or Be Nice are hugely popular, but I'd like to recommend a less-read brief gem from 2020, in which Crowley's ability to insert himself into a mobile phone becomes a vexation for Aziraphale and a source of consternation for a couple of Internet mavens with a call-in show.
Alex: What, uh, what led you to the conclusion that your phone is demonically possessed?
A.Z.: Well, my friend rang me up three nights ago, and he's a demon, and we had a disagreement, and now he's inside my phone, and he refuses to come out. If you ask me, he's sulking. It's juvenile.
Read it here: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a demon in possession of a mobile phone, must be in want of attention (G)
In January 2020, fandom got its hot little hands on the never-filmed 1992 Good Omens movie script penned solo by NG – sometimes affectionately referred to as the “shitscript,” since excerpts in circulation made the Crowley-Aziraphale relationship look outright toxic. However, @kanna-ophelia, not a fan to tolerate an abusive depiction of the husbands, describes it in this post (where you can access the script) as “fricking adorable,” though lacking “Terry Pratchett's grace, complex humanity and way with words (see also: GO S2).” Fic writers fell upon the script, and here's my own favorite among the results:
The Tadfield Secondary Players (G) Adam tells his schoolmates how the world almost ended. No less than Greasy Johnson insists he can write a better Apocalypse, and mounts a play recognizably based on the script – which is attended by not only the denizens of Tadfield Secondary, but all three alternate pairs of husbands (Book, Radio and Show).
Adam gritted his teeth. “Fine. Fine, I’ll help you put on your stupid play.”
Colin grinned triumphantly. “Knew you’d come around. You’ll see, I’ll—”
He put up a hand. “ But ,” he added, “there’s going to be judges. To see if it holds a candle to the real thing. And, I get to pick them.”
More script-inspired fics in this collection.
Finally, for those anticipating the tidbits that have been dropped about the events of season 3, here's @sew-birb 's O Little Town Of Swindon (T) -- Featuring special guest Jesus Christ in his first public appearance in almost two thousand years!!! Be there or be sorry!!!
Or, Aziraphale gets an annoying invitation to Heaven's post-Armageddon Christmas party, held in a budget hotel in Swindon. The other angels aren't happy about his plus-one, but they need him to explain things like Christmas dinner, Secret Santa gifts and how to pull crackers. On the upside... there's only one bed. And Crowley's old friends with the guest of honor.
"Well. Been doing charity work, have you? Building houses for the needy with all those carpentry skills?"
"More or less. It turns out there are a lot of jobs that need doing where nobody questions a man named 'Hay-soos' turning up to help out."
Do you have a consolation fic that's getting you through? Drop it in the replies or a reblog!
Tagging folk in the replies as per usual -- lmk if you want on or off the tag list.
origamiaround
pixelskylines
dededos
jacobvanloon
izzy806
dailybridgerton
blakekathryn
romaincrisis
snowghoul
kianamaiart
