The Subtext Is Rapidly Becoming Text

This is only my second edit, and I’m not really sure how to make them properly yet, but I wanted to convey my idea, haha.

P. S. The particular line "The Groom" is about Heaven, lol. xD

A piece of Good Omens show fanon that never fails to irritate me is "Aziraphale and Crowley were useless!" The scope of their supposed uselessness changes -- for some fans it's the whole season, for some fans it's the airbase situation -- but either way, canon doesn't support it.

You can't take any of the humans, Aziraphale, or Crowley out of the airbase situation and end up in a win scenario:

Anathema: gets Newt into the command center

Newt: stops nuclear annihilation

The-Them-minus-Adam: deal with three of the four Horsepersons

Shadwell: arguably the most useless, but still the source of the Thundergun and the reason Madame Tracy is hosting Aziraphale

Madame Tracy: hosts Aziraphale and (crucially) stops him from murdering Adam

Adam: deals with Satan

Aziraphale and Crowley: pep-talk Adam, and stop the angel-demon war that would otherwise decimate Earth

No, there's a point being made here, and not subtly: no one can do it alone, for just about any value of "it."

That's another reason the finale of the finale is a big fat fail. It's vastly unfair, unbalanced, and counter-thematic for Aziraphale and Crowley (especially if you think of them as what TV Tropes calls "The Dividual") to be cornered like rats by God and Satan, without a single ally available.

They need friends (even beyond one another). We all do, pretty much. They need humanity. We all do! And they don't deserve to face the two Big Bads (sorry, everybody who trusted GO!God or wanted Her redeemed; She is as horrible as ever, the one consistent element across the entire show) alone, as much as they've done for humans.

Good Omens Fandom Events - Mid-June 2026

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.

Every Sunday we ask the writers of the Ineffable Professional Bang to post a line they wrote in the past week. The do not disappoint! We got romantic, poignant and very, very funny lines this week! Here's a random selection (posted with permission)

A Memorable Fancy by Argyle

Some Romantics have all the luck. (London, 1777).

(Aziraphale meets and inspires William Blake)

-----

Come Live in the Country (With Me, My Darling) by KannaOphelia

After their conversation was interrupted by Death, Crowley and Aziraphale's minds were wiped of certain salient events from the last eleven years. But shadows remain. And Crowley is possessed by the conviction that the bookshop is a very dangerous place for the angel to be, and some worrying nightmares about fire.

(Crowley convinces Aziraphale to move to the country with him)

-----

From Soho With Love by ImprobableDreams900

Five ways Crowley thinks he’s like James Bond, and one way he doesn’t.

(Really neat character study of Crowley)

-----

Half-baked Temptations and Holy Ground by NotASpaceAlien

Aziraphale and Crowley cover for each other at the very beginning of the Arrangement.

-----

Mirror, Mirror by ImprobableDreams900

Adam, Eve, and Crawly flee Eden through the Western Gate, and it turns out that that simple decision makes all the difference in the world...

(Crowley changes places with an evil alternate universe version of himself)

-----

There Was a Tree in the Plaza by food_forever_Friend

Jamie Hernez sits in in front of his beloved tree. It's weak and sad and depressing. But… it wasn't yesterday… was it? Maybe, with a little hard work, he can make things better.

Hi guys. You know I wouldn't do this unless it's a last resort. This year so far has been the hardest..

Please, if you don't mind sharing this around to help 🙏❤️ and if there is anyone out there that can help I'll forever be grateful ❤️🙏🫂

Link: https://gofund.me/be77f27a8

I also have my kofi if that's better.

https://ko-fi.com/dailyfennecfoxdavid

I know it's been a while since I've done one of these rec lists -- it's not that I quit reading fic but that I've been exceptionally busy -- but this one I felt was necessary. 5 amazing GO3 fix-its in this post (and please feel free to post your own favorites in reblogs or replies).

sometime is now, someplace is here by Path_Finder - A/C, 6k words, T.  Crowley and Aziraphale ask God for something else -- and they have a real discussion.  Lovely and healing.

in the kitchen by carrythesky / @carry-the-sky - A/C, 1k words, G.  In which Crowley and Aziraphale start with the books to bring the world back, and they succeed.  This is soft and beautiful and fits so well with the book/S1 philosophy.

Angiogenesis by casidicus / @a-causidicus - A/C, 6k words, E.  After being reincarnated as Asa and Anthony, eventually Crowley and Aziraphale "wake up" and remember their old lives -- and finally have a real conversation and cathartic sex.  This fic actually made me like Asa and Anthony a little bit, the story of their first date here is truly delightful.

Revival by CopperBeech / @copperplatebeech - A/C, 3k words, E.  Everything I've read by Copper has been wonderful, and this story is both incredibly hot and deeply sweet, as Aziraphale and Crowley, instead of talking to God, have a very Big Bang of their own.

Since the finale of Good Omens was released, both fans who liked and didn't like how it ended have been discussing whose idea it was. Some say it is the ending Terry Pratchett had always planned. Others deny that and argue that it was Neil Gaiman alone who decided that it should conclude this way. There has even been some speculation that the new writers, Peter Atkins and Michael Marshall Smith, did a complete rewrite of the six original scripts before cutting them down to a single 90 minute-long episode.

I think the latter can be debunked quite easily. Not only would time and financial constraints not have allowed to write six new scripts, but there are also many evidences that apart from cutting and shortening scenes, changes have been rather minimal. While Peter Atkins and Michael Marshall Smith are credited for the "Teleplay" alongside Neil Gaiman, Neil Gaiman is the only one who gets credited for the "Television story", meaning that the plot of the finale was laid out by him. There are also lines and short scenes in Good Omens 3 that are rather obviously leftovers from plotlines that have been removed, like Michael's comment about the Metatron messing with the Book of Life or Dagon declaring war on heaven seconds before hell gets snapped out of existence. Even the word "pedometer" that Neil Gaiman had teased for the finale was still included in the crossword scene (cf. this post by @crowleysgirl56).

Moreover, the concept art for the final scene was created at the time when Good Omens 3 was still six episodes long and featured a plotline in America (cf. this post). People have pointed out that Crowley and Aziraphale look much more like older versions of themselves in it and have taken this as proof that they were initially meant to keep their identities and memories. But you have to keep in mind that a concept artist does not get to decide on the costumes. The human versions of Crowley and Aziraphale were created with the input of David Tennant and Michael Sheen (cf. this interview). Louis Ralph just put placeholders in his concept art to get an overall impression of what the scene would look like. Similarly, in the concept art for the Resurrectionist minisode, the image of Crowley in his Victorian outfit from season 1 was inserted (cf. this post). And if you've followed some news from behind the scenes, you will probably remember that season 2 was originally supposed to feature a nightmare in which the bookshop was the only place left in the entire universe - foreshadowing for an ending that Neil Gaiman claimed to have come from his "subconscious/unconscious" (cf. this post).

If this still doesn't convince you, Peter Atkins has explicitly stated that the ending itself remained untouched, and that "no big narrative or thematic changes" were made (cf. these screenshots on Reddit). Rachel Talalay has confirmed that, too (cf. this interview). When asked the question "What kind of conversations did you have about where Crowley and Aziraphale should ultimately end up?", she replied: "That was very much worked out by Terry Pratchett. That was an absolute. That was in the six episodes and stayed the same through the shorter version. That wasn’t a debate or dialogue. That was what was decided. That was the reason to make it because that’s the ending Terry wanted."

Which leads us to another interesting point: the involvement of Terry Pratchett. Many people assume that the ending could never be what he wanted for the story, mainly because it contradicts the core messages of the book. The nihilistic take on the state of the world seems to fit Neil Gaiman's style a lot more and was interpreted as an attempt by him to finally make the story his own (cf., for example, this reblog by @acatwithstockings of a post by @obsessivelollipoplalala). Initially, I agreed with this view, but Rachel Talalay has repeatedly emphasized how Rob Wilkins, Terry Pratchett's assistant, who also functioned as the executive producer of Good Omens 3, assured her that it reflects Terry Pratchett's philosophy (cf. both of the interviews cited above).

Marc Burrows, who wrote a biography of Terry Pratchett (but did not ever meet him personally), has voiced doubts about the alternate universe being Terry Pratchett's idea (cf. this post). He also pointed out how Terry Pratchett not being officially credited for the story of the finale is somewhat telling, and Rob Wilkins liked his post (cf. this post). But this fact is contradicted by Rob Wilkins's role as executive producer, and Rachel Talalay's statement. There is no reason for her to blatantly lie about her conversations with Rob Wilkins, so we have to take her word for the ending being, at least officially, the one Terry Pratchett had planned. But this still leaves us with the question what aspects of the ending came from Terry Pratchett.

The destruction of heaven and hell? Absolutely yes. That was a thing that was already heavily hinted at in the book. Adam complains about the influence angels and demons have over humans: "It's hard enough bein' people as it is, without other people coming and messin' you around" (Pratchett/Gaiman, p. 366; cited below). Another instance is the analogy between the Them and their rival gang, the Johnsonites, on the one hand and heaven and hell on the other and Adam musing that the adults of Tadfield (the humans) would probably be glad if both of the gangs just disappeared (cf. Pratchett/Gaiman, p. 320; cited below). He also criticizes the concept of life after death; Crowley's line in the finale in which he asks God why people are punished for behaving like people is actually a quote by Adam from the book: "I don't see what's so triffic about creating people as people and then gettin' upset 'cos they act like people" (Pratchett/Gaiman, p. 367; cited below).

What's important to understand the context of this quote is what follows, though: "Anyway, if you stopped tellin' people it's all sorted out after they're dead, they might try sorting it all out while they're alive. If I was in charge, I'd try makin' people live a lot longer, like ole Methuselah. It'd be a lot more interestin' and they might start thinkin' about the sort of things they're doing to all the enviroment and ecology, because they'll still be around in a hundred years' time" (Pratchett/Gaiman, p. 367; emphasis in the original; cited below). Adam proposes a much longer lifespan for humans as a way for them to experience the direct consequences of their actions rather than getting some rather unrelated reward/punishment in the afterlife. He wants people to have a chance to take full responsibilty for their actions: "If you stop messin' them about they might start thinkin' properly an' they might stop messin' the world around. I'm not sayin' they would, [...] but they might" (Pratchett/Gaiman, p. 368; emphasis in the original; cited below).

A godless universe? I would say also yes. I remember this quote from back when I first read the book, before watching the series: "I mean, maybe you just want to see how it all turns out. Maybe it's all part of a great big ineffable plan. All of it. You, me, him, everything. Some great big test to see if what you've built all works properly, eh?" (Pratchett/Gaiman, p. 392; cited below). It gave me the suspicion that the ultimate goal of God might always have been to end his/her existence once creation has proven that it can take responsibilty for itself. Although I assumed that God would simply back out of the existing universe, not create a new one.

Crowley and Aziraphale sacrificing themselves? Maybe. At the end of the book, they choose not to run away and help the humans fight Satan instead, despite knowing that they do not really have a chance (cf. Pratchett/Gaiman, p. 373; cited below). So I guess a noble sacrifice would fit their characterisation, even though it would give them an unusual importance in a story that had painted them as rather incompetent bystanders so far (cf. this post by @dustbunniess).

Crowley and Aziraphale deciding on the fate of the whole of humanity alone? I highly doubt that. A story that has always been about human agency, about how supernatural beings should not interfere with human lives, about how destroying the world as it is is not a way to make it better ending with an angel and a demon single-handedly choosing the erasure of the entire universe is more than odd. We know that a plotline involving Jesus and Adam was cut from the finale, so maybe they were meant to play a bigger role in Terry Pratchett's vision. The ending as it is, however, as I said above, goes against the core messages of the book, and I will stand by that.

Crowley and Aziraphale becoming human? Possibly. They were always trying to imitate humans, so it would be a fitting conclusion for their character arc. Although I thought that the point was that they are already human at heart. All the things Crowley envies humans for - mainly free will and imagination (cf. Pratchett/Gaiman, p. 47f; cited below) - are qualities he already possesses. It actually reminds me a bit of The Wizard of Oz, in which Dorothy's friends wish for traits they've had all along. The only two things that really distinguish Crowley and Aziraphale from humans are their immortality and their miracles. Take them away from them and all the other angels and demons and they are equal to humans. I don't understand why removing the power imbalance requires them to lose their identity as well, and I'm still not sure whether this was Terry Pratchett's intention.

But even if every aspect of the ending was envisioned by Terry Pratchett, you have to bear in mind that the execution was entirely done by Neil Gaiman. He used the narrative landmarks that were set and built the plot around them. His comment about not really knowing where the idea with nightmare of the bookshop came from further suggests that he was making a lot of things up as he went. And when it comes to the messages of the story, one has to admit that he did not add much that was of value. The scene with God and Satan in the bookshop that was supposed to represent the philosophical core of the finale, for example, did not contain much original dialogue, but relied on recycled lines from the book instead, like Adam's remark about punishing people that I quoted above or Crowley's musings about human nature (cf. Pratchett/Gaiman, p. 47f; cited below).

Neil Gaiman is also the one who made the romance between Crowley and Aziraphale explicit on request of the fans, only to have it end tragically ("There was a point where I started to go: You know, I can give you what you want, but you won't want it" - that were his own words; cf. this video, timestamp 11:56-12:04). If they were always supposed to get annihilated in the end, he should have left it out. Since the story had shifted its focus to Crowley's and Aziraphale's relationship, the only narratively satisfying conclusion would have included a happy ending for them. I'm sure there would have been a way to do that without betraying the core of Terry Pratchett's vision. What we ultimately got was a weird example of 'having your cake and eating it too', as Reddit user WAR_FROM_GOOD_OMENS put it in this thread, of putting a lovestory in but also staying true to the original ideas under circumstances that had changed from the book (see also this post by @i-only-ever-asked-questions).

So, what is the takeaway from this post? Well, the takeaway is that the ending of Good Omens 3 is not the result of a rewrite of Neil Gaiman's scripts, but something that was planned right from the beginning, most likely even back when season 2 was written. And that we will never know for sure how much of it can be attributed to ideas by Terry Pratchett and how much to choices made by Neil Gaiman.

I understand that many people are unhappy with the ending and are looking for someone to 'blame' for it. And that many find the idea comforting that what we saw is not the 'real' ending and that a truer, more hopeful version of it exists somewhere. But in the end, we have to ask ourselves: does it really matter? You are allowed to like or dislike the ending, no matter who wrote it. Actually, I don't think the author of the ending should have an influence on your judgment of it at all. The finale of Good Omens is what it is, it does not become better when Terry Pratchett came up with it or worse when Neil Gaiman, Peter Atkins or Michael Marshall Smith invented it. Just look at what we've got and use your skills in media analysis to decide whether it makes sense for the story, for the characters, and for your own taste and morals. And if it doesn't, you can't change it anyway, but you can create a version for yourself and for other fans that feels more fitting. You don't have to accept an author's word on the story, no matter how famous or how skilled he is.

Keep going, Good Omens fandom!

Work cited:

Today we're featuring another writer in the Ineffable Professionals Bang! We're shining the spotlight on @drconstellation

You can explore their stories here: DrConstellation's AO3