Good Omens

I feel a strange sense of schadenfreude watching the Gaiman situation. Not for the people who were Gaiman’s victims, but for the people who were fans of his and who loved his work.

Don’t get me wrong, I know this sucks. This absolutely sucks and I do sympathize, really I do. I know you feel devastated. Heartbroken even, because Gaiman was someone you thought was safe and who you were proud made a thing you liked, who made something that shaped who you are today and that you STILL love in spite of who created it.

And you know WHY I sympathize with all that?

Because Rowling was exactly the same way for me. And when she broke our hearts, when she finally took away all plausible deniability and outed herself as a bigot to people who adored and trusted her, you know what a certain subsection of people did?

All they could do, while I was in agonizing pain, was point me to Neil Fucking Gaiman. For months and months, all I heard (among how I should’ve somehow known she was secretly bigoted the whole time and how I was a horrible evil person for not turning all my most valued possessions into composting), was how wonderful and perfect and unproblematic and utterly godly Neil Gaiman was. All anyone could tell me, when they weren’t breathlessly trying to guess things about my character from my favourite book series, was that I had wasted any second I had lived before I read Neil Gaiman.

And I know good people, people I know and care about are heartbroken. I’m trying to be kind, really I am. But I can’t help feeling a little smug watching the same people who smugly watched my heartbreak years ago scrambling through the same coping mechanisms we all tried.

Yeah, they’re doing everything. We’re talking “I knew all along,” “drop it right now or you’re evil” we even got “Hatsune Miku made [thing]” for people who wanna enjoy stuff and don’t wanna fight about it (people have complaints about that one, I think it’s fine, whatever). And considering how Gaiman’s acolytes treated Harry Potter fans who employed these same tactics? I find this absolutely hysterical.

You know I don’t really know what the point of this little tantrum was. Maybe it was just a means to vent. Maybe it’s a five-year-old overdue snap at people who decided to shove alternatives at me while I was grieving, and then call me a bad person for not wanting them. Or maybe I just am a huge bitch and I just wanted to put that on display for you.

I won’t ask you not to be mad, because if you see me smugly staring at you like “not so fun, is it?” and you wanna hit me, that’s totally fair. If you read this hoping I’d have advice or sage wisdom, then, I’m sorry. I don’t. I don’t think there is any. I won’t tell you “you should’ve known” or “now you have to stop loving [thing]” or “you should never be a fan of anything ever at all,” because that’s all really stupid advice. It’s also all real advice I got during the Rowling incident.

I think because of my experience with Rowling (and other creators) I’m less surprised and more disappointed with Gaiman. Though actually in his case there’s a lot more darkness in his works, so again, not entirely surprised, more just sad. Cause now I can see how certain aspects of his work that made me uncomfortable, despite enjoying the overall text, align with his behavior. Hindsight is 20-20 and all that.

I’ve been processing this for several months now and I don’t think I have a conclusion. But at the end of the day, I think it’s important that we have these conversations within fandom. After all, this is just the neighbors reacting to a local atrocity (“he was always so sweet. How could we have known?”) on an international scale. Allowing space to process emotions is important, regardless of how that may present itself. So is acknowledging that it’s difficult to separate ourselves entirely from works that inspired us.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time nor will it be the last time an author turns out to be bigoted/ racist/ abusive/ etc. It’s a reminder that at the end of the day, authors are people. And people are capable of some pretty messed up things, especially when put in positions where they have power over others.

———

AIUI, Ussher said that although the creation occurred on the autumn equinox (22 September), he gave the date as 21 October to account for the drift caused by the Julian calendar, which was in use in Ireland at that time. I think he also said that it occurred at 9am Irish time, because that's noon in Jerusalem.

What just occurred to me is that Irish civil time is calculated from the Greenwich meridian. But Ussher lived in Armagh, 6.55° west of Greenwich. The solar time in Armagh at noon in Jerusalem is 9:19am and on 21 October is 9:11am. So 9am is off by almost a quarter of an hour.

Thanks for all the happy memories and the solidarity over the years.

so you crazies blew up the other post, and many of you tried to explain the plot to me. many others said there is no plot. many said i was accurate. many said i wasn't. and then i watched a few youtube edits of the angel and the demon.

I'm convinced that I know at least a little bit more now, so like the great guy I am, I decided to share how well you've educated me.

the plot is an angel and demon become alcoholics together while doing the good ol' animal husbandry

neil gaiman doesn't have social media

everyone is crying because the angel wanted to go to heaven and the demon said no

and then the demon did the kissy smoochy to make the angel stay and the angel said no

they were not married for 6000 years but they were more married than married

there is a car. it is silver and crowley likes it.

the car is then yellow. crowley doesn't like it. aziraphale does.

there's some kind of Jane Austen ball and dance

oh but also crowley gives aziraphale a more private dance in their home and he bows while making intensely sexual eye contact with the angel who is turned on and says nice and everyone is gasping about it

no one knows about god, not the fandom, not the characters, not god herself. god is ineffable. hey mum i learned a new word!

they run over an american witch

the angel likes books in a way bordering on obsessive and worshipful

the demon likes the angel in a way bordering on obsessive and worshipful

there's a gramophone

crowley says sorry a bunch of times

aziraphale keeps getting flustered and dying coz of crowley, and the fandom dies every time. crowley is also dying. everyone is dying. hopefully not literally, im now scared of this fandom.

there's a psychedelic drug trip at some point that's in the edits where crowley goes whee down a chute. either that or the sleep deprivation is getting to me. fuck you, good omens fandom.

terry pratchett is a guy

whether he is real, or a character, or like neil gaiman he is neither real nor a character, i am unsure, but he is important and people want me to remember him

Crowley didn't know how to use a gun (a murderous weapon), and Aziraphale expected him to know how to because he's a demon.

I think Aziraphale isn't having too much trouble with that 🤭

I once saw a tiktok of a fanfic where Crowley was putting on Aziraphale's eyeliner, so I wanted to draw them in that scene SO SO BAD‼️

I have this in my head for too long... Hope you like it !

leisure drive down the streets of central london! 💨

Mr. Fell's Guide to the Gavotte! 🪽

good omens posting !!! (click image for optimal quality)