Work In Progress

Aziraphale does not...

Aziraphale does not need to learn and see how awful Heaven is

Gif by @crowlixcx

Does not need to suffer to 'deserve' Crowley

He suffered and cried enough (and so did Crowley)

He does not need to explain to Crowley why he spent millennia 'pretending' they are not friends

Crowley knows why.

Gif by @capinejghafa

Aziraphale does not need to apologise for how he'd turned Crowley away again and again

Crowley knows they can't really run away. Not for long. Not when the whole Universe is set to be destroyed when the Earth is done with. Not when they are always watched.

Aziraphale does not need to Fall to understand Crowley or be worthy to be with him or to understand anything better

Crowley loves him as the angel he is. And Aziraphale loves Crowley exactly as he is. A demon. A demon with a soft heart.

Crowley doesn't want Aziraphale to change. And Aziraphale doesn't want Crowley to change either.

BONUS

Crowley is IMO not self-destructing because Aziraphale left. I think he understands why he did. And I think he will help him willingly. Because Crowley loves Earth too.

It's not like S1 when the world was about to end and Aziraphale was gone.

Aziraphale is gone because the world is about to end. And that was the case in S1 too, Crowley just didn't know it. He does now. He helped when he found out then, and he will again.

Wake up, Good Omens fandom! We're doing something special!

Ineffable May 10

May 10 is both what is often cited as the date the book published (in 1990) and it's the day St Dunstan in the East Church (Neil's inspiration for the scene) would've matched up with the episode 3 Blitz scene (1941).

Bring on your fan works set between '41 and '90!

New or already shared fan works alike, they cover nearly 50 years of Crowley and Aziraphale knowing the other would absolutely, without a doubt save them. That's 50 years of "you can't deny this feeling".

40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. There's so much you can do with those eras, for Aziraphale and Crowley, other angels and demons, and even many of the humans! Especially in bookverse.

Or do something AU and toss canon to the wind!

(I personally love that 1967, another Hard Times cold open scene year, is when London decided to turn the remains of the Blitz scene church INTO A GARDEN. Crowley definitely had something to do with that.)

You can use the tag for any Good Omens celebrations you have on May 10 but especially for showing those fan works set between 1941 (the Blitz scene!) and 1990 (when the book came out!)

AND HEY!

ANY HELP getting the word out is super. I am but a small fan with an even smaller reach. I want anyone who wants to participate to have a chance to hear about it! Thanks SO SO MUCH!

And speaking of thanks: THANK YOU @flantasticclaude for your enthusiasm for this sudden fandom event, and stepping in to make the above wonderful, rainbow-filled graphic to get the word out.🌈😇😈

Let's all have an amazing fandom celebration on May 10!

On how Crowley and Aziraphale felt during the kiss (but mainly Crowley here):

Ok so first, the main idea for this huge meta is that a LOT of us noticed how the music from the kiss scene is similar to the nebula one, right?

Second, a lot of us also correctly noticed the parallels between the kiss and how it was to taste food for the first time for Aziraphale: bc of his reactions, the hand on lips, the similar way MS acted both scenes, the little inhale etc. So how was it for Crowley?

Aziraphale's reaction to the kiss is practically a puzzle to solve on its own, so it's fun to analyse it, but basically, in a few words, Aziraphale kissed Crowley and he discovered he was physically starving for him, longing for him, yearning for him, for his kiss, and he had no idea. Just like with the ox. And now he needs to gorge himself in him but he can't. Great amazing heartbreaking chef's kiss someone give MS an Emmy.

But there's already so much amazing meta out there about Aziraphale x Ox ribs x The Kiss that I want to focus on Crowley here, and on the music.

So back to the music. The song in "Before the Beginning" and the song that plays during The Kiss (I Forgive You + Don't Bother) are so similar. They're not *exactly* the same, but they're totally reminiscent of each other. The viewer is immediately reminded of those chords that played in the opening scene. It's no coincidence that the fandom was talking about this fact only minutes after first watching those final fifteen minutes. This is an obvious intentional choice for storytelling reasons (David Arnold is a genius).

I have no expertise whatsoever when it comes to music, so I asked our friend @otsanda to see if that made sense and not only it does and she explained it, but she also uncovered so much more hidden meaning in all of it (musicians are amazing), so check out her meta about the music that not only serves as evidence to what I'm proposing here but it also has so much more juicy information in it 💖.

Back to the point: WHY thought? Why choose a similar song? Why intentionally COMPOSE a similar song for that moment?

Hear me out. WHAT IF, by reminding the audience of the creation of the nebula, they meant to convey to us that, for Crowley, kissing Aziraphale gave him the same feeling that creating his stars did?

THAT'S what the music is telling us. THAT'S why it makes us remember "Before the Beginning". It may sound cheesy, but Crowley may have literally seen stars when he kissed Aziraphale. He couldn't react accordingly (just like Aziraphale couldn't), bc it was an overwhelming and extremely sad moment (the music is also telling us that) for both of them. They knew it was ending . They were both having a moment of huge revelation that was fated to not come to completion. Crowley was right, it was too late.

It makes sense to show Crowley's feelings through the music, bc he was the one who started the kiss, and also he was wearing sunglasses in that scene, it's different from a character like Aziraphale that has all his million expressions for everyone to see at all times. And they've been doing this ever since s1 with the Queen songs that play in his car or in the background.

So my point is: the same song being used there makes me wonder if kissing Aziraphale finally gave him what he lost. His purpose. What Aziraphale was trying to give back to him by taking him back to heaven. There's no need for Heaven. Just kiss him, Aziraphale, and there he'll find the stars you want to give back to him. There you will one day see that smile on his face you saw Before The Beginning. Neil Gaiman and David Arnold I am in your walls 😭

This is what may lead us to see this happiness in Crowley again (not the action of kissing itself, of course, but what it represents to their relationship, them being together, them being an Us).

As @otsanda said: from the music we can interpret that that moment was a Revelation for them. Almost a religious experience. Crowley found his purpose again. What he'd been missing the whole season (or even his whole life since the Fall, but we've seen him especially depressed this season).

I'm not even getting into the poetry of how one can interpret the parallel to the angel's reaction to the kiss as carnal, and the demon's as religious; that would be another whole essay but let's just agree that it's incredibly beautiful. (Let me be clear that I mean here Aziraphale's reaction is carnal specifically for Crowley, and Crowley's is religious specifically for Aziraphale, not religious as in "worshipping god")

"Do you ever wonder what's the point?" Crowley asked in s2e1. The point, for him, is Aziraphale (if you've seen The Good Place you know what I mean). I hope he figured this out with that kiss, even as heartbreaking as it was. Even if it was a (temporary) separation kiss. (I hope Aziraphale figures this out with time too, that he's more than enough to make Crowley happy, that Crowley doesn't need Heaven, or stars, that Crowley needs him.)

Maybe that's why Crowley didn't leave and kept waiting outside until the very last moment.

Aziraphale and Crowley both bit the apple at the end of s2. There's no turning back from that Knowledge now.

Edit: I just have to add here this brilliant colour analysis of the nebula scene by @halemerry. And it's pointed out that during the nebula formation there's a moment when it looks like two people embracing. And the fact that a similar song is used in the actual Kiss scene I just... I have no words

Good Omens Fanfic Friday (13 Dec 2024)

Sorry, Right Number (2K; Rated T) by @waitingtobebroken

Human AU. Apparently @waitingtobebroken recs are just going to be a weekly thing with me now. Aziraphale calls a phone sex line in this dialogue-only short. For business reasons, of course.

***

And I Did (85K; Rated E) by @di-42

This post-S2 just finished, and it's a wonderful story of the Supreme Archangel working with Grand Duke of Hell, Crowley, to stop the Second Coming. Has some great original angels and demons, and a *very* satisfying ending.

***

Reading Circle Summons (34K; Rated T) by @joyandotherstories

A companion fic to Slumber Party Summons (29K; Rated G), where instead of Crowley getting summoned, a group of older women accidentally summons Aziraphale. He and Crowley become friends with the ladies and join in their reading circle activities. The story includes excerpts from their monthly book choices, some of which are deliberately and hilariously bad.

***

Abyssal (40K; Rated E) by @snae-b

Human AU. Another excellent and terrifying sci-fi story from @snae-b. This time Aziraphale is an oceanologist and Crowley is a submersible pilot whose (secret due to fraternization policies in the contract) relationship is already established when the story begins. They're on the last day of their two-month stint five miles below the ocean. The rest of the team has already surfaced, and Aziraphale and Crowley are looking forward to twelve glorious hours alone. Except, they're not alone, and something is hunting them.

Thank you @ineffablepenguin and all the illustrators, i've got the book today and it's beautiful. 😍 https://www.instagram.com/p/CckeDd8qw3s/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Aziraphale’s wine

It is a truth universally acknowledged in the Good Omens fandom that an angel in need of a drink turns to his secret stash of Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the back room. He picked up a dozen cases in 1921, and a whole century later there's still some left… for special occasions.

Just to put things in perspective, a standard case contains 12 750ml bottles, for a total of 9 liters of wine. A dozen cases equals 144 bottles, or 108 liters of wine. That’s quite a lot for a single purchase, so Aziraphale — the established sherry and sweet drinks connoisseur — must have had a good reason for it.

One potential explanation is the aura of grandeur around this particular wine. The papal connection, rich history of the region, and recognition of high quality products give Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines a very luxurious status, considerably influencing their price tags. And Aziraphale is known to have standards.

Another one is the way in which their taste differs from Aziraphale’s usual choices: Châteauneuf-du-Pape reds are often described as earthy with gamey flavors that have hints of tar and leather. The wines are considered tough and tannic in their youth, but maintain their rich spiciness as they age.

Since everything in Good Omens has a meaning, it never hurts to run through a quick Strong’s Concordance search whenever a date pops up in a dialogue or, even more importantly, somewhere on screen. More often than not the result seems to match the researched topic, as it’s the case here:

1921: to know exactly, to recognize.

Provided examples: I come to know by directing my attention to him or it, I perceive, discern, recognize; I found out. The general usage of the word usually refers to knowing someone aptly, properly, thoroughly, even biblically. Which might be either a wishful thinking on Aziraphale’s part or just another layer of subtext in this already romantically charged scene. The table dressing, multiple candles, and focus on the lamps with Auguste Moreau’s Young Lovers statues in the background seem to successfully communicate what the angel left unsaid.

Too bad that Crowley remained so adorably oblivious for the next eighty years. At least when he finally came to the realization, he responded with an attempted temptation to another vintage red wine @vidavalor already analyzed.

But back to Aziraphale’s wine. To be exact, it’s a 1921 Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the domaine de Baban. An actual French vineyard from the Rhône region that still exists to this day, even though a few decades ago it got merged with another estate into what is now known as domaine Riché-Baban. According to the local guides, the 11 hectares on the estate are located in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape designation area in the Bois Lauzon and Mourre de Baud districts. At the moment 90% of the wines produced there are sent to wine dealers.

1920s were quite an interesting time for this region, but not because of the flapper cabarets or drag shows usually associated with the era on the Old Continent. To the horror of European oenophiles, right after World War I the whole of France found itself awash with fake wine. One of the worst outrages was the use of lead that magically transformed cheap, acid wine into something deceptively rich and sweet on the outside and one of the most powerful neurotoxins on the inside. People were already well aware of its effects — the poisoning from drinking sweetened wine probably made Handel go blind and Beethoven go deaf, but it shows how desperate for sweetness they were before sugar became available to the masses.

Admittably, it wasn’t a new practice. Far from it — the Romans liked it so much that they even advised to pack lead pans on travels to boil local wine in them to make it sweeter, especially in colder provinces like Britannia. But Aziraphale didn’t buy twelve cases of counterfeit wine for the sake of some good memories of Rome and its many health hazards. No, the fussy angel made sure to get the actually good stuff from the other side of the English Channel.

Henry Tacussel, whose name is mentioned on his wine label, was a French viticulturalist and a close friend of Baron Pierre Le Roy of the Chateau Fortia nearby, a trained lawyer and fellow winegrower from Châteauneuf-du-Pape who established the Winegrowers' Union of the Rhône Valley. Together with the Baron he became one of the founders of Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC), a labeling system intended to protect regional products and technologies that is still in use in France and serves as an inspiration to similar solutions worldwide. Their efforts were deliberately centred on Châteauneuf-du-Pape because with such a beguiling name even in comparison to other labels it seemed to attract an undue share of fraudsters at the time.

Soon after Aziraphale’s shopping spree, the local wine producers led by Le Roy and Tacussel began a very long campaign to establish legal protection for the wine from their commune. The delimited area and the method of wine production were finally awarded legal recognition after a decade, in 1933, but it wasn’t the end of the criminal activities on this front. An undercover investigation by The Sunday Times discovered that most of the “Châteauneuf” in the 1960s Britain was actually blended and bottled in Ipswich.

One question remains: was it a purely human affair, or maybe one requiring a demonic or angelic intervention?

Older drawings, Hogwart and mountains at night

Speaking of the bookshop, theories on what could be upstairs?

ooooo the BIG QUESTION.

so we can see a bit of the second floor in all these pics:

basically all we know for sure is there are A LOT MORE BOOKS, both stacked around the railing and on the circle of shelves. neil has decided not to comment on what else might be there (YET 👀) but he’s confirmed that much.

apart from that, we can see from the outside that there are six windows on the second floor:

i’m going to assume they’re part of the shop because they’re Very On Fire when the rest of the shop is on fire. SO. taking all that into account, you end up with something like this:

where the thin grey circle is the railing and the brown one is the bookshelves (as you can see in the first pic, it doesn’t circle all the way around!)

the rest is a complete mystery. i mean i’m sure the actual set was empty because they didn’t need to fill it, but in theory there’s room for some interesting stuff! with the first floor for scale i can imagine a whole flat built around that circle of shelves — a bed aziraphale never sleeps in, comfy chairs, every other angel knick-knack he’s encountered in his life. in my personal headcanon it’s all books and hoarded items covered in dust, which he leaves for authenticity.

thank you for asking!! i’d love to hear other people’s thoughts if they want to share :)

Well, time to start my page. Here is Crowley in his demonic form.

My very own kinda-art-nouveau Good Omens poster ^_^