Ineffably Smitten

As much as I wanted to work more on this, it’s as finished as I can get it after messing up the files. I’m surprised that I worked on something like this for as long as I had! Now, I think it’s time to say that it is, in fact, done.

Hi Good Omens fans! I'm a Media Studies researcher who writes about fandom and media. My colleague and I are conducting an academic study of the opinions and experiences of GO fandom members and we would love to hear the voices of fans on Tumblr.

It's an online survey that takes about 30 to 40 minutes to complete (depending on how much you write and engage in fandom) and is open to anyone 18 or older who identifies as a good Omens fan. All responses are completely anonymous.

I hope some of you will be willing to participate or share the post with fellow fans. Every response helps! We are hoping to get as wide a range of perspectives as possible The survey is here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GoodOmensStudy-T

We are excited to hear from you!

They ask questions about your engagement with the fandom, the things you are looking for in fanart, your expectations for the finale, your reaction to the actual product and your experience of the controversy in the fandom following the release of Good Omens 3 as well as your perception of the different people officially associated with Good Omens.

You are allowed to skip any question you feel uncomfortable answering. They also use the anonymous mode on SurveyMonkey, meaning that your IP address won't be collected.

I feel like I wrote about this previously, but maybe not.

For Crowley, friendship is the worst thing demons can think of. Love, that’s easy, that’s something you can fall into and Fall out of (*wink wink*) but friendship? Oh boy that’s a choice, that’s a Problem, that’s involves time and trust and effort. Demons don’t TRUST each other. They’re not FRIENDS with other demons. They’re not friends with anyone! They have co-workers and targets and enemies, and that’s it. It’s despicable to consider friendship with any of those categories. It’s an insult, to suggest that not only does Crowley have a friend, that friend is an angel. An enemy. Terrible.

Whereas for Aziraphale, it’s the opposite. Those creatures, those demons got cast out of love. Like, very very specifically, they were cast down and out of Heaven to where there is no love. Friendship…. ehhhh I mean, you can be friends with humans, the equivalent of big dumb animals right, so friendship is pretty trivial. But love? Particularly the sort that would lead someone to call another being your boyfriend? with a demon, who was specifically, by God, told “no more love for you” and yeeted a million miles into a pit of sulfur? That’s super bad. That’s punishable. That’s wrong and not allowed at all.

In brief and (hopefully) simple terms (and I know it’s WAY more complex than this but we only need the gist of it), there’s this theory that Time is actually a dimension. You’ve got the zero, first, second, and third dimensions that ordinary creatures like humans perceive, and then on top of that we have the fourth dimension which affects us.

The thing about these sorts of dimensions is that a third dimension creature (like a human) lives in the third dimension but is capable of perceiving the dimensions below their own in at least semi-concrete ways. Picture it like this: The zero dimension is a dot on a piece of paper. The first dimension is the same dot, but viewed from the side, where 1D creatures could see it is actually a line. The second dimension is the same line, but viewed from the a second side, where a 2D creature could see it is actually a square. The third dimension is the same square, but viewed from a third side, where a 3D creature like a human could see it’s actually a cube.

Now, say that I am a 3D creature looking at the 2D square on the piece of paper. I am capable of perceiving that second dimension. I am also capable of affecting that dimension; for instance, if I fold the piece of paper in the middle of where the line is drawn. The 2nd dimension can be affected by the 3rd dimension, even if it can’t really perceive the 3rd dimension the way it perceives its own and lower dimensions.

The fourth dimension is reckoned to be Time. Third dimension creatures, like humans, can be affected by time, but we can’t really perceive it the way a 4D creature does. We can’t even really guess how a 4D creature sees the world, because where would you even start? It’s a little bit… ineffable, you might say.

Now, Crowley and Aziraphale, in their true forms, should be at least 4D beings, capable of living in the 4th dimension (time) while being able to experience/perceive the dimensions below their own. Now, I would posit that actually these two exist in more than 4 dimensions, I would say (if we’re following String Theory here) that they could exist in up to 7 dimensions (the 7th being the dimension where one can access multiple dimensions, which explains the existence of heaven/hell), but that’s… complicated.

The point is, the POINT issss…. if they are 4D+ beings, then the third dimension - OUR dimension - is to them what a drawing on a paper is to us. Their corporations are, essentially, a 3D representation of themselves the way we might represent ourselves by drawing pictures on a piece of paper. These projections of themselves would be governed by the rules of the third dimension; including the ability (or maybe necessity) to experience time the way we do while they are here (hence why powerful immortal creatures cannot skip around in time while they have corporations).

And then it happens.

He darts a glance out the window, nervous. He’s just literally betrayed Heaven by handing holy water over to a demon, but this? This is worse, this is harder, this takes so much more bravery from him, and he looks around to see who might be watching. Looks around to make sure they’re alone. Looks around to make sure Crowley is the only one that will hear this momentary weakness, that Crowley is the only one who will hear the one thing he can say right now-

“Go for a picnic. Dine at the Ritz.”

He can barely even get out the word “Ritz” before he is gasping at his own audacity, almost as if he could take the words back on a breath because it’s terrifying to have said them aloud. Gasping at what it means for him to have given voice to one of his personal desires. This has got nothing to do with business, he just wants to go on a date with Crowley. Someday. Right now he can barely believe he even brought it up, there’s no way he can go through with it immediately, but god, he needs Crowley to know that he wants that. He needs Crowley to know he wants there to be a someday.

The glance though. The glance is killing me. He’s always let Crowley be the one worried about who might be watching them. He’s always let Crowley be the one circling him, looking out for them, guarding them. And now they’re here, and he’s letting himself bare something he never thought he could, and he takes the furtive glance around for himself.

He’s made hundreds of deals with a demon by now.

But this is the first time he’s let Crowley see his heart.

~ the prettiest star 💫~

inspired by this beautiful frame from the good omens s2 opening title sequence

Crowley sleeping in an alley and drinking himself to oblivion night after night can work as comedy when he's a handwave away from a comfortable bed and sobriety. And that's the tone it's presented to us in, as comedy. Which fits because that's the tone of the previous seasons as well. We know he's not human, the usual human rules don't really apply.

But then we learn he can't do miracles. He can't sober up, so he's getting the full blackout drunk experience, including waking up the morning after. He can't miracle his clothes clean. He's sleeping rough, exposed to the elements. Even if we assume his corporation isn't subject to hunger, temperature fluctuations, and the negative effects of that much continued alcohol consumption, waking up soaking wet because it rained again in London, with a hangover, isn't going to be a fun experience. And it's been a few years! So throw winter weather into the mix. The more you consider the implications, the worse it gets.

There are things he could be doing to improve his living situation, but they're more work than a snap of the fingers, and he's depicted as severely depressed. Motivation to make things better, even if the task required isn't particularly difficult, tends to be thin on the ground once that sets in.

Today I choose violence.

Or…Aziraphale does.

Yes he is!

Here is about to run down Anthony’s ex who escaped from the bookshop’s basement.

Quick Aziraphale study because I'm not over it yet.

Little Free Libraries? Aziraphale came up with those! Pop up ads? That one's on Crowley.

In gaimans work, god is often cruel, but in good omens, she barely interacts with the story, only narrating passively. There is no way in terry's good omens that god would act in the way that she did.

as well as the way he doesnt even seem to understand crowley and aziraphale and why they work, why they love each other, why we love them. The ending stripped them of everything that made them appealing to us. Their thousands of years of history, injokes, and most importantly their friendship just erased like it never mattered.

But hey, they find each other in every universe right? Even though the whole point is that they love humanity and each other against the odds, despite everything.

And not to mention, the angel that Aziraphale knew is not crowley. Why is gaiman so insistent that the best version of him is the version without any of the trauma and pain he went through, and the solution to having trauma is just??? Kill yourself??? Start again??? No. Terry's Aziraphale and Crowley would never. They love each other because of their shared trauma and their differences, not in spite of those things.

I’m keeping Asa and Anthony. I mean, look at them. All sweet and OLD. With their little sweaters and matching lawn chairs. Subtle frangrance of Earl Grey and Bengay wafting after them wherever they go.

They’re CUTE.

And Slorch is a winner I don’t care what anyone says. Gimme that goth queen with his Muriel Deetz sidekick.

The Ice Cream Bentley has a permitted spot in my heart’s garage, next to Dean’s Baby.

Jesus, sorry you didn’t get enough screen time, kid. You seemed nice. I liked you WAY better than Mel “That Fucking Psycho” Gibson’s version.

That being said, I am not going to be trading in the OLD universe either. I like this universe. It’s cosy,dependable and talk about ROOMY! You can fit all kinds of stuff in here. The eldritch horrors learning how to be human, the biblical lore but FUNNY and the oh so juicy religious trauma! Mr. Brown with his disturbingly toned glutes alone is worth keeping it around. (Oh, that’s not canon? That’s just me being a weirdo? Huh.)

Plus Aziraphale is PEAK. He’s Aura. He’s SKIBIDIokay I don’t know cool kid lingo.

He’s MY GUY (shoves Castiel out of the way.)

I’m not giving up on MY GUY(avoids eye contact with Samwise Gamgee.)

You don’t Thanos MY GUYYYY (steps over drunken wet cat Spike) and expect me to be cool with it. I’m VERY not cool with it.

*insert Elmo surrounded by flames meme here*

Just like a vampire who had a cup of rice thrown at their feet, I am sat down and focused on picking up those little angel atoms. I got my Elmer’s glue and a mighty need to avoid reading anymore Breaking News these days. Have you SEEN what’s happening out in the wild? NOT GREAT, BOB.

I got the time, is what I’m saying.

So don’t be surprised when (when NOT if) you see a post of mine and it’s the NEW universe and the OLD universe together doing really weird things with their tongues.