#footnotes

[bagdemagus]

In an otherwise terrible book, a perfect footnote.

[fluxedbuds]

literally how could I ever be normal when Tango ended s8 alone- and likely dead- drifting in space, and then started s9 by building an Astral Library

how can I be normal about the guy who threw his life on the line for his friends coming back and barely speaking to them. the guy who knows the cold of the void now choosing to stay in ice and darkness with ghosts. How Could I Be Normal About This

[discworldquotes]

Here and there huge patches of fungi, luminous with decay, cast a faint glow over the ancient stonework.* *It didn't need to. Cuddy, belonging to a race that worked underground for preference, and Detritus, a member of a race notoriously nocturnal, had excellent vision in the dark. But mysterious caves and tunnels always have luminous fungi, strangely bright crystals or at a pinch merely an eldritch glow in the air, just in case a human hero comes in and needs to see in the dark. Strange but true.

Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms

[clubartaesthetic]

If you love someone, please tell them

[neil-gaiman]

Hello Mr. Gaiman!

Idk if it has been asked before, and sorry if it has, but whose idea was it to include footnotes in Good Omens? I'm guessing Sir Terry's, mainly because his books usually have them in abundance while yours usually don't (haven't yet read Stardust, Neverwhere, Norse Mythology and Anansi Boys - hope to get to them soon! - so don't know about those, but i don't think i remember any in American Gods, Coraline, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, The Graveyard Book, or in The Neil Gaiman Reader).

Also, once you agreed on including them, who wrote more footnotes? Or was that also a collab thing, to get to the next funny bit, even in footnotes?

Thank you for your books and being. Hope the WGA strike comes to a good end, however long it takes.

I used to be really big on footnotes -- you'll find them all the way through Don't Panic! (1987). You couldn't really do them in comics, and by the time I got to Neverwhere it felt like Terry had sort of claimed Footnotes for himself, so I didn't use many after that -- I think there's one in Anansi Boys.

There were already footnotes in William The Antichrist, the first 5,000 words of Good Omens I showed Terry, that he asked if he could co-write with me, so they were already part of the style of Good Omens.

Sometimes the one of us writing the bit would also write the footnote. Sometimes the other one would notice a bit that would footnote nicely, and write it.

[rasheednewsonauthor]

Footnote #78 in “My Government Means to Kill Me” is a reminder that protestors aren’t supposed to play by the rules.

[lvckyuh]

I saw a post about Micheal Schur’s book on How To Be Perfect,

And… yes it’s about philosophy and has so much juicy bunk like that, but…

We get hilarious crap like this…

(It’s even better with the audiobook, ft: Ted Danson, Jameela Jamil, and Marc Evan Jackson)

[aziraphales-library]

hello lovelies!! thank you all so much for all the work that you do!! y’all really are lifesavers.

i was wondering if you had any recommendations for fics that emulate the style of the original book/have a Pratchett-y vibe (footnotes, humour, structure, etc.)? i’d be especially interested in ones that are in this style but exist in the show’s canon rather than the book’s, but I wouldn’t mind either way!

We have a #footnotes tag, please check that out. Here are more fics with footnotes...

A Lot of Space Between Your Ears by nerdsandthelike (G)

“And you expect us to just waltz into Heaven, rob the archives, and walk back out?” “Yes.” “No.” Nearly a year after they successfully stopped the world from ending, Heaven obtains evidence that would result in Aziraphale being recalled from Earth. Crowley and Aziraphale decide to steal it back.

DIY How to build your own Garden of Eden by ximeria (T)

Post-not-end-of-days Crowley feels a change is needed, but he can't do it alone. Not to mention, he's not entirely sure what it is, this nebulous thing that he wants. He just knows it involves Aziraphale.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by divisionten (T)

“Well, Pulsifer, I can say with confidence I know exactly what’s wrong with your car.” “Oh? What’s wrong?” Newt peered down, looking at the undercarriage, as most people do who want to help but have absolutely no skill in basic car repair. “It’s shit.” (An anthology collection of the times Anthony J. Crowley, retired demon and occasional slumber party guest, and Aziraphale, forcefully instated Guardian Angel of the downtrodden, get summoned to deal with humanity.)

Yes and Please and Thank You by WyvernQuill (T)

"Go to alpha centauri, for all I care! Go now, this very instant, and never return, do you hear me, Crowley? Never!" Due to Crowley's firm conviction that "he need never know", Aziraphale has, for all the time they've known each other, been blissfully unaware of the obedience curse Crowley's been looping holes around since 4004 BC. You can't really blame him, is the point. Aziraphale had no idea what his unthinking words might do, and is already planning to apologise profusely at dinner... ...which might get a little tricky, seeing as Crowley has just been sighted in the vicinity of Pluto, and has concrete orders to never show his face on earth. Ever. Again.

Demon in Heaven, Angel in Hell by Hexqueen517 (T)

When the world ends, Aziraphale will be called back to Heaven and Crowley will be banished back to Hell, separated for eternity - unless they’re willing to listen to Beelzebub and Gabriel’s plan. Which is Beelzebub’s plan, of course, but they need Gabriel to act as a shield against plant misters filled with holy water. But not everyone in Heaven and Hell is on board with Beelzebub and Gabriel’s leadership. When everyone at the top of the Ineffable Bureaucracy has their own ambitions, the chances of averting apocalypse yet again may seem random. You never know who will come out on top when the dice begin to roll …

i have spent all my years in believing you by braveatironheart (M)

This is the story of how Aziraphale and Crowley inadvertently end the war between Heaven and Hell. The story of how they – indirectly, at least – avert the Apocalypse is in there, too, but I suspect you already know that one. If pressed and in an uncharacteristically honest mood, Crowley would have to admit he’d fallen for Aziraphale in the Garden of Eden. Things were not so straightforward for Aziraphale, who spent six millennia trying to ignore his growing fondness for the demon. He supposed the first time he’d felt drawn to Crowley would have been in Rome, eight years after the death of Christ. And what had he done? Invited him to lunch. It was no wonder, really, that he kissed him two thousand years later. How else was one to respond when one’s hereditary enemy saved one’s life and one’s books? 5945 years after they meet, Crowley and Aziraphale confess their love for one another. They certainly aren’t going to let anything get in the way, no matter what Heaven and Hell throw at them. aka Good Omens, except the only plot is Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship. Complete with original, lockdown-era plot.

- Mod D

[languagenderflux]

So i’m reading Michael Schur’s book on how to be perfect

And…

Did he really have to be that Extra™️ with the footnotes?

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

You know what, it’s been a few months so — I think it’s time to share Footnotes again! ✨

I wrote this when I was quite frankly losing my mind over people at best disagreeing with me and at worst attacking me when a poem didn’t precisely apply to their own feelings/experiences, and sometimes I still want to bang my head against a wall. You can probably sense my gritted teeth in the comments section sometimes, the comments section my family and friends occasionally and delicately tell me maybe I should not look at. But, I tell them, mostly there is good in there — good and thoughtful and uplifting. And that is why I still read the comments and face the negative every day — to get to that good. I am grateful for the good.

[Kristina Mahr]

[fandomsniper]

so this is my take on human Caine

keep in mind that this is all my headcanons and imagination, and I'm going with the theory that he is an AI and he wasn't a human before

(again it's my hc!) also minor tw for drvg mention

so going with that logic, man is an AI, for his whole life all he was, was lines of numerical codes and suddenly he's thrown into this world and becomes a human, as we all are aware a human body needs to comply to the laws of physics, biology, etc., it has needs that need to be taken care of for it to function right which an AI in a digital world doesn't need to do so imo all of that had to mess with his head a lot, I think that there is a high possibility that he would experience some kind of body dysphoria, he would feel that this isn't HIS body, that something isn't right, something doesn't fit etc., that would be pretty logical

complete change of how his brain operates (idk what he had as an AI but let's also call it a brain lol), human body operates on five basic senses, which is something that he didn't have to submit to, the list of "senses" he had as an AI in a digital world is probably long as fuck and now he has to lean on only five basic ones? that gotta suck and be absolutely difficult (which should be obvious, imagine suddenly becoming blind or deaf, now you need to learn to operate with even less senses than you had, fucking sucks), back in the digital world he could do practically everything with little effort and now? he is limited by this human body/world and all the laws it needs to obey

still on those senses, I think they are all over the place because of the sudden change so he would be prone to sensory overloads or something like that

he literally needs to learn all social rules, written and unwritten, and overall the basis our world works on, which we had YEARS to learn about as we grew up, and yeah as an AI he had some info about humans and our world 'cause he had direct contact with us back in the digital world but it wouldn't be even close to enough to live here among us (heh) completely out of nowhere

because of all of this, I think that he would be a total train wreck and he would be very prone to fall into some unhealthy habits, like for example imo he could easily get addicted to drugs (idk what kind tho), he takes some pills and he can "get back" to his old life at least for a moment? sign him up! for that short period of time, he could feel "right" again, he could have control again [I'm also leaning towards the idea that he could develop some kind of control issues considering who he was back in the digital world as an AI], drugs give you a high which on you can imagine/hallucinate/feel a lot of things so yeah, he could easily get addicted to those, especially if his trips would revolve around him being back in his digital world, his home

and nope, it's not me projecting onto my fav character yet again, not at all (I'm a big liar)

but fr tho, I think it would make sense if he actually was an AI who was never a human and somehow he got out of the digital world with all circus crew

and I made a visual of him in a picrew! (if anyone will want it, I will drop the link to it)

I made some small adjustments in ibis paint lol, like the eye color and the roughly drawn Glasgow smile scars (for some reason it just fits him??? cause he was literally all teeth and it connected in my brain??? idk but my mental imagine of him as a human has those scars, can't do anything about it) + a bit longer lines under his eyes

he would look like he's in his really late 20's or early 30's

bonus, cause I found that t-shirt in the maker lol, Jax gave it to him

a playlist I made and some footnotes with fun hcs

he would love the movie "The Greatest Showman", can't tell me otherwise

I think he wouldn't have a specific music taste, no specific genre etc. but I think he would enjoy music from 80's and 2000's

he cried watching Bambi

his fav candy is Skittles

for the first two weeks the only thing he would eat was any variation of buttered bread, breakfast? toast with butter, dinner? buttered bread with salt, supper? toast with butter but this time with no crust, he would have continued this if Ragatha didn't step in and practically force feed him scrambled eggs one morning and then continued to do so with other foods until he stopped eating just bread

he likes Lady Gaga

he's not allowed caffeine, under any circumstances, never again, the circus gang decided that as a group

surprisingly, he enjoys horror movies

Jax showed him that one video of car driving through the hills (iykyk), he fell out of his chair

his room is very cluttered, messy but in this artsy-homey way

he picks on his skin a lot, especially when he's nervous and because of that his hands are covered in band-aids

he once saw Zooble smoke and asked if he can try, now he joins Zooble on "smoke breaks" because he picked on the habbit, Zooble kinda feels bad about it

[fluxedbuds]

reminder that Listeners support cops overthrowing democratically elected officials while Watchers throw meteors at them btw. just so you know who's side you're really on

[relar-fela]

Terry Pratchetts footnotes get me every time.

[zer0expektation]

Will has freedom, he can do whatever he wants.

“This is a dream.” Will quietly informs Hannibal. Hannibal’s brows raise, not in surprise but interest.

“In a metaphorical sense, or the literal kind?” Hannibal asks slowly.

“Literal.”

—

Will thinks he's dreaming and takes the chance to touch Hannibal in such a way he could never in real life. Hannibal is starved for his touch and would let Will do whatever he wants to him.

[wilted-wizard]

Who needs tv when you have the footnotes of history books where the writers keep having an argument with each other in their respective books

[purplelupins]

Lamb: behind the scenes

-Footnotes, deleted scenes and commentary-

Hello my dear reader. Below you will find many comments and addiction material from Lamb that just didn’t make it in or things I wanted to explain further. Thank you so much for being here!

•spoilers for Lamb ahead•

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For transporting the cookies to the potluck, I originally had reader wait for John to help him as they had agreed in that version. It had a nice little tense moment between reader an Bev, with John coming to readers aid when Bev told her to leave it to her.

It was just another sweet scene between the two and reader and John had a private moment in the rectory where he thanked her genuinely but it was more than just the cookies he was thanking her for. It was for being a good person and for helping Millie.

Then they walked together and commented on very simple things almost like an old couple.

I scrapped it though because I realized that in the grand scheme of things, reader had known this man for all of what…three days? And she was spending too much time with him. It was just getting over-saturated with them being together and wasn’t realistic. Plus I liked making John just sort of pop up constantly because he was this foreign presence, which was just another way of showing how he was a wolf among the sheep. Reader was just an intuitive sheep who really wanted him to be like her. Turned out he was still just a wolf.

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This next scene I had in mind for a couple different times but couldn’t decide where…I was going to put it in place of the conversation reader and John had that first time in the rectory when she tells him she’s claustrophobic of the confessional. I scrapped it because it felt too heavy of a subject and I didn’t really like where it put reader and johns relationship after crafting it so carefully. I know hard conversations are very real and they happen when you don’t mean to, but I just decided against it. Still one of my favourite scenes tho so here it is!

“Have you read the other books of god, Father?” You asked.

Admittedly, the question surprised him.

“I have…years ago when I was young.”

“You should again…the Quran is…fascinating. Strict. There is no room for question or interpretation per se…almost like an instruction manual. I am…very alone here. Time is something I have a lot of. And while I still attend church…I find myself questioning. I believe in god. But I also believe that perhaps there is more to that belief than just the Bible.”

John shifted, “How so?”

“As if…the Bible was just a second edition of God’s message. The Torah was the first, then the Bible, then the Quran. Whether you believe it or not…it’s simply factual that the Quran came after the Bible, and it simply furthers what is already stated in the Bible…like an extended reading but do you know what truly makes me question the Bible, father?” You slowly rose your gaze to meet his, and you found him to be already staring at you intently. Rapt. You wondered if this was how it felt to deliver a sermon atop the pedestal.

“Tell me.” He answered instantly.

You swallowed, “It’s been rewritten and rewritten by men. Not even Christian men too…so much is missing…Did you know that there are parts that have been fully removed? It’s been translated and revised…did you ever play that game “telephone” as a child?” You asked.

He nodded.

“Well…as you know the message slowly gets distorted and changes even if you don’t mean for it to…it’s just human nature. One person doesn’t listen well and passes a message on as they see fit. That’s all it takes…one person and the message is lost. It doesn’t matter if every person told the distorted message after that is the most pious, modest and God loving human to walk the earth…they will still be worshiping the wrong thing and preaching something that wasn’t meant to be preached.” You could feel your heart beating hard in your chest. It hurt.

All your life, you had been seen as a town good girl. Sweet, submissive, giving, modest and joyful.

Never in John’s life would he have thought that you would be sitting before him with a profound and enlightened view of Gods holy message.

At his silence, you continued, “A church is still holy ground. And that is what a god fearing person needs to pray and connect. I believe in god, father. I believe in Jesus just as I believe in Abraham, and his sons, and Moses and Noah, and Muhammad and Jacob. I believe they were all doing gods works. But they were not god. Jesus was not god. He was just a messenger. This holy trinity…it’s just a complication of something that is meant to bring peace and guidance and fear. That is what god is. God was not a man who went home. God just…is. He is our guide.”

John blinked. At a loss for words for once in his life. Since he was 8 years old, he had obsessed over faith. Over his life, growing deeper and deeper into connection; taught by his own pastor and his parents then pursuing priesthood…it was simply a series of steps, one after another, he hadn’t even stopped to question if there was something else.

This entire time, John Pruitt had thought hinself a holy man…a man of god. But here you were with hands holier than his. Bathed in blessedness.

This gift given to him was not for him. It was for you. For him to give to you to preach to those who would listen.

“You came here thinking you were having difficulties with your faith, correct?” He asked.

You nodded.

“Well, young lady I think…I think you are in a very important place right now. You are questioning and examining and teaching yourself…You will find your way.”

“You don’t- you’re not…angry?” You asked.

He smiled, “Why would I be angry?”

“I just- I…well I just told you I’m not fully believing everything you stand for.”

“True. But like I said when you asked me-we are human. We question things, it’s actually one of Gods favourite things about us as humans is that we are always analyzing things. Looking for the right way. Looking to be guided. Looking for our way to heaven…or out of it I suppose there are satanists after all. But you yourself said that you love God and his messengers and that is much more than a lot of people can say.”

You nodded.

“I have faith in you that you will find your way.” He murmured.

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I made a little mistake and I decided to keep it in because it was so important and I couldn’t rewrite it. It was just too perfect and it didn’t change much. Basically I added a day for Easter- in the series, it goes Good Friday (the day where Millie runs out with Sarah) and then the next day is Saturday where Paul and the Scarboroughs and Bev are planning the vigil, and then that night is the vigil. Well I moved the vigil to Sunday NIGHT instead of Saturday because I needed that moment of reader realising that she’s being indoctrinated (for a lack of better words) and that she isn’t thinking straight. A true moment of religious fear. It really bugged me that I made that mistake but in the end it was really crucial to this story and so I kept it.

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For the second part I grappled with how I wanted Paul to be after the vigil. I kept Sarah’s death and sort of built off that…this is how I felt things might go down after that. I did almost approach this as more of a cult, so Paul was still idolized but I think realistically he realized what he did and so did everyone else so I think he would be a bit of an outcast. I think he would have a lot of guilt and would be a bit of a recluse. He removed his collar when Sarah died, and I think that was a sign of him giving up his place as a priest in that he couldn’t hold that sort of profession anymore. He betrayed God and he can’t preach something when he doesn’t wholly follow it. I think he realized how skewed his theology was.

He really thought he was helping but he ended up ruining the lives of so many.

I had Mildred kill herself because losing a child is devastating, and she was given a life she didn’t want. She was a woman of faith, and I think that even if she did stay with John, there was too much resentment there. In that final moment in Midnight Mass when they kiss, I think she forgives him because she doesn’t want to go to the grave with that on her conscious…but since I didn’t have that happen she had to survive knowing her daughter was dead and she would never see her again. Yes she loved John but love is conditional…he did something horrific and selfish and it cost her her daughter. And it’s not like she could just leave to start a new life on the mainland (okay maybe but it would be difficult) and so she did the only way out she could see. Death. In hopes that she might see her Sarah again.

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This next bit was originally going to be how the story segued into a more intimate relationship. Reader woke up after hiding in the rectory (before the attack) and he convinced her to sit with him and she basically cried as she told him she hated him and he let her then she fell asleep and he shifted her into his lap and they sort of wordlessly shifted into her sitting on him and then talking and then this scene, but it didn’t feel right. I actually wrote these stories separately but then they naturally merged into one so I had to go back in this part and edit a lot since their relationship became very difficult thanks to the build up….

John nosed at your hair, holding you close like his last piece of hope. You could feel him inhaling.

The two of you sat there just a hairs width away from eachother. John leaned his head up and kissed your forehead, then leaned his against yours. A small sense of piece filled you, but it was quickly replaced with surprised when you felt a pair of soft, dry lips caress yours fleetingly. You opened your eyes to see John with a sheepish and nervous look on his handsome face.

“What are you doing?” You murmured. It was barely a question.

“I don’t know.” He whispered back, but didn’t make any move to draw away from your space.

“You’re not a good person.” You said. You knew in your heart that it was true, but your words sounded hollow. You knew it wasn’t that simple.

I’m just here to help.

You could still remember those first words he had said when he showed up that random day. So fresh and invigorating.

You remembered how you had thought it a little heartbreaking that such a beautiful man had chosen to serve god and take those vows…now it made you almost laugh. You felt a little silly now recalling how you had confessed to him things that you would never have said to the Monsignor…that was when his name was Paul Hill and John Pruitt was healing in a hospital. Now…well now you were in the very man’s arms, weighing his soul with your gaze.

“I hoped I was. Now, I think I have to agree with you…a good person would have left that thing in that cave and told a single lie about an island’s beloved Monsignor’s passing…but I chose instead to lie over again and bribe and smuggle…and I see now. I see what happens when you think of helping gods natural order. Too little too late.” His voice rumbled.

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The following are just some lines of random dialogue that I liked but didn’t fit.

“Don’t you miss the feeling of sunshine? Warmth on your face?” You asked, staring out through a partially opened curtain at the winter sun.

“I used to…but I see sunshine every day now.” He smiled and looked over at you.

——————

{This one I chose to take out because the moment was very touching and I didn’t want to make it funny}

“What…what’s it like?” You asked, looking out at the water.

“It’s…it’s beautiful unlike anything I could describe. Clarity and vibrance in things that you see every day…the world hums and sings…smells and colours you never thought of…halos around lights that seem to breathe with you…”

You sat for a moment, “Sounds like having an astigmatism…I have one in my right eye.”

————————————

{this one was one of a few parts where I toyed with them talking about his name change.}

“God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.”

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I had a lot of rough drafts for their intimacy scene. I tried a few different ways but I just never felt right. And I found that it was because it was using too much literal and blunt terms and descriptions. Their relationship was tender and fragile…so I made the depiction of them being together just as delicate. It was honestly my all time favourite intimacy scene that I’ve ever written so far.

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So…I am sorry about the ending. When I first started the story, I wanted it to have a happy ending. I had originally wanted her to leave him and try to run away, and he lets her go and is all depressed. But then he opens the door one night, and she’s standing there in the grass, all red eyed from crying and realizing that she needs him, and runs to him and they would live happily ever after. But t every time I tried to make it happy or that they ended up together, it just felt forced and unrealistic. My whole idea for this fic was for John to redeem himself and for reader to heal, but stay true to herself. And in the end, they couldn’t do that together. It would have been selfish for him to keep her, and it would have eventually ruined her. She would have ended up resenting him all over again because he would have kept her from living how she wanted to and seeing the world and being human and following God’s plan.

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That’s all! Thank you so much for reading and being here. Please ask questions if you have them!! This has been a wonderful experience to share with you. Thank you for enjoying Lamb.

-Nora

@littleredwritingcat @zaunite-leo @f4er1e-g1rl @purplemotif @vampyre-kin @hamishlinklaters @spacechupss @pansexualpamandabear @ebiemidnightlibrarian @erialuna @nilla-bear @vintageglassheart02 @ethanhoewke @dancingisdangerouss @cherrysugarx @daisychainsinknots @thesoundresoundsecho