taking sky pictures

On the subject of whether or not they should’ve kissed: Some say no, some say yes; discourse. I am more so towards the side of “shoulda”

For me, it really isn’t about whether or not their bond is enough to leave things unspoken: it’s the fact that there’s been a buildup left unresolved, and I’ve got a pressure headache.

6000 years of treading on eggshells- major point of the series: THEY’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO WORK TOGETHER. To express anything more than formalities risks both of their wellbeing’s. We see this time and time again- “Should I say thank you?” “Better not.”

There is this fear surrounding their every interaction that, after season 1, is resolved, now we get to the part where these two uncoil. Thousands of years of repression, these two need time to breathe, to know they’re safe, let the air out of the jar so to speak.

End of season 2 they get wound up again, every moment before and since has lead up to that release, the moment these two air it all out, for the first time since gaining corporeal form, they’re gonna say what they really think, they’re going to talk.

we arrive at the now thinking “What happened?”

That release? The uncoil? This race has been going for nine damn hours, I wanted to see the racers cross the finish line- BUT THEY DIDN’T. They stopped for water half a mile out, AND WERE NEVER SEEN AGAIN.

It didn’t have to be a kiss, honestly forget the kiss- they needed to talk. A kiss would’ve relieved pressure, a conversation more so, but a kiss is still very much relevant, it’s a proclamation damnit, they get to be outward, to express.

The poet:

The thing is, I hope the Good Omens fandom goes the “the finale was a fever dream and never happened” route and keeps writing Aziraphale and Crowley as they always have: an angel and a demon who are a bit awkward, and very weird, who love each other and the world. Not because the way their story goes in the finale was inherently bad, but because it takes away what made them so interesting in the first place. The fact that they are, indeed, an angel and a demon who love each other and the world.

You know what's my favourite kind of Good Omens fanfiction? The Outsider POV ones. Especially the ones where people find a refuge, a home in Aziraphale’s bookshop, a safe space from a hostile world, something we all would like to find, honestly. A place where you can stay however long you want, just don’t buy anything! A place where the bookshop owner somehow always knows what you need, and makes the best hot chocolate, and he also happens to have a big scary snake roaming in the shop?? And then, if you stay long enough, you might meet his cool looking… Friend? Lover? Criminal who works for him? Who knows. They are fun together though. And they tell the funniest stories! Stories about ancient times, modern times, and they tell them so well that it looks like they lived them… but that’s impossible right? Right??

IC 2574: Coddington’s Nebula

In European folklore (beauty and the beast, the frog prince) characters often change to learn a lesson that typically involves humility, chastity or charity. I would argue that Crowley and Aziraphale, through their time on Earth, have already undergone such a transformation. Sure they’ve learnt to, “sin,” (or at least Aziraphale has), but largely they have learnt to love and appreciate the world around them, with less arrogance than those above and below. Here they’ve (somewhat) learnt humility, they both demonstrate charity at the airbase towards Adam and humanity writ large in avoiding the apocalypse, and I don’t really believe that chastity is something either one of them has ever worried about. These actions are all a product of their exposure to humanity - it has, as written in the book, made them more human and thus allowed them to act in more legitimately compassionate and, “good,” ways. They have undergone metamorphosis.

Even if analysed from the perspective of Hell with their “sinning,” this still works - they defy Heaven and live forevermore amongst mortal men in sin as a “punishment,” for this rebellion, which makes Crowley better at tempting and Aziraphale more gluttonous and slothful. These are not necessarily contradictory results either, as where the book differs from folklore morality is that the main “lesson,” that A and C are taught is to be more human, which includes all of humanity’s “good,” and “bad” traits. Again, they have undergone a metamorphosis that has changed them to better represent the “lowly,” creatures that they were (unintentionally) forced to live amongst by Heaven and Hell. So, From both a Heavenly and Hellish lense they can be argued to have “changed,” for the better - which is the beauty of the message of the book and its satirical commentary on politics and human nature.

Which all goes to say - they don’t need to fully “become,” human by the end of the show, because that defeats the point of them learning this, “lesson.” By which I mean they’ve already *learnt it.* You could argue that it’s the final stage of the metamorphosis - letting go of their divine power and becoming fully human, after 6000 years of “readying,” themselves, but that doesn’t work unless they retain all of their memories, because otherwise that completely wipes the lesson itself from their mind! The idea of them meeting and becoming human (and that it’s implied that they find each other in “every universe”) to me speaks more of the Greek divine-punishment angle, rather than a satisfying or “sweet” ending.

Arachne, a weaver, is turned into a giant spider because she dares to challenge Athena’s weaving prowess. Galanthis is turned into a weasel by Hera for facilitating the birth of Heracles and attempting to save his human mother. They are both examples of human characters who are not explicitly morally “wrong,” in their conduct - their only crime is defying the Gods. This is somewhat reflected in the ending of Go3 - Crowley and Aziraphale challenge God’s plan and as such are disintegrated and turned into humans, living out a similar story over-and-over again across universes, yet unable to save their original universe as a reminder that nothing, not even and angel and a demon, can defy divinity and come out unscathed. The issue is, this ending is portrayed to a degree as more of a bittersweet tragedy, or in some cases a triumph, than a true tragedy.

Certain legitimately “bittersweet,” tragedies such as the Children of Lir and Io feature human characters being turned into animals (“lesser creatures”) for protection. The animal itself specifically correlates to the moral of the story and the moral character/narrative purpose of the individuals - swans for the innocence, nobility and beauty of Lir’s children, and a cow for the inversion of Io’s beauty and her role as Zeus’s consort (I’m not as familiar with the story so forgive that lacklustre analysis, but you get the gist).

One could argue that A and C being turned into humans is a similar form of divine, “protection,” their celestial/occult love being so strong that it is literally etched into the fabric of every new universe, but I don’t think it works either (or sends a very strong message). In both Children of Lir and Io - those who undergo metamorphosis do so as a result of either divine power beyond their control or as a last resort against evil. They have no agency, to the point where they quite literally lose their humanity and human free will as a result of the machinations of OUTSIDE FORCES, which contradicts the message of good omens the book and s1 of the show.

In s2 and s3 of Good Omens, some of their more “human,” characteristics are dialled down - especially in s3, where both of them are almost completely isolated from humanity and are its *sole* protectors in the final hour. But this isn’t down intentionally. Or rather it is - but not for any effective narrative-serving purpose. It’s the result of rushed production and a show that should never have been extended past its first season without a clear, structured story. Post s1, Azriaphale and Crowley are de-humanised, and shown to be perfectly capable of making human-decisions without human-influence for the “drama,” to make their relationship feel fragile and exciting, as opposed to worn-in and known, and to put them at the centre of the show’s universe so that the audience has a titular couple to follow.

The problem with this is that it forgets the actual human element of humanity - that this is something that BOTH Crowley and Aziraphale have to *learn* to become. Showing them un-learning their lessons from s1, and indicating that a lot of their more “human” traits developed as a result of *each other* rather than *actual people* makes it seem like they never actually learnt that lesson at all. After s1, it feels as though retroactively there was no true metamorphosis before they are turned fully human, but we’re strung along to believe that there was (what we do see in s1) - so even the final, “true,” metamorphosis STILL doesn’t feel earned!

like whose word are they taking for GO2/3 being from plot discussions for a never-materialized sequel to the book? Neil Gaiman?? Pathological liar and serial abuser Neil Gaiman?? give me a fucking break. as if his general character isn’t enough to make it clear he is not a trustworthy source, the man already lied through his teeth about S1 being the totality of show!omens and switched up the story to justify an obvious cash+attention grab. and some people are still taking his word that this is what he and Pratchett supposedly planned? without a shred of actual concrete evidence? i need them to expeditiously get a fucking grip

and quite frankly I don’t give a shit what anyone on the production team or from the Pratchett Estate has said on the matter. because to be blunt i’m sure it eases the discomfort of having helped produce a Gaiman creation post-2024 to focus on the other co-writer of the book and pretend it was for/inspired by him. as for whatever the Pratchett estate has said, shockingly enough being the executor of an estate does not grant you moral authority nor divine omniscience into a dead person’s thoughts. but i do think Pratchett’s whole “bulldoze my works-in-progress after I die” request sent a pretty fucking clear message that his estate ignored in favor of making money. and they got monkey paw’d by allowing Gaiman to continue writing for, and thereby forever tarnishing the legacy of, something that was at least 75% a Pratchett creation.