#Jason & Chidi

[13taylorswifts]

Lol, I saw this on TikTok and thought I would share here, too. Credit goes to @rhondatoksaboutbooks on TikTok. The video can be found at this link.

Edit: I added image descriptions to the images. There is also a reblog with the image descriptions if that's easier for you. 😊

[lowkeiloki]

uhhhh uhh ermmm.. the... ummmm

[hamsterdads]

looking for a good place

[couldtheycatchkira]

[magicschoolbus-stowaway]

The Good Place + text posts

[thewritehag]

Michael Schur created the Good Place and just released a book on philosophy, particularly the teachings he found the most interesting. The audiobook has him as the main narrator, but Todd May (professional philosopher) and the main cast of the show also read for it. I'm not far at all in it, barely chapter two, but I can tell you this: Ted Danson needs to do more voice work.

And evil laughter

[choerrypies]

[onemightygoldfish]

I just finished re-watching "The Good Place" for the 1000th time and it remains one of the funniest, most insightful, well-written and creative love letters to both humanity and the universe I've ever seen in my entire life

[reekai-art]

Priorities....🤷

[jewishranpo]

in conclusion, they’re gay as hell

[master-gatherer]

[ineffablelunatics]

The Good Place and Crowley

A while ago, someone sent an ask to Gaiman. It went as follows, “In the book, ‘Golden Girls’ was Crowley’s favorite TV show. Is that slo TV Crowley’s favorite or does he have a current TV show that he prefers?” He answered, “I think he’d love the ‘The Good Place.’”

The Good Place is one of my favorite shows. I completely understand why Crowley would like it. It has some of the best debates of the philosophy and ethics of modern day society including the afterlife. It argues that people should not be defined as good and bad. It shows that people can improve. It tells us why and how they improve.

There’s two things about Crowley that really connect him to these thoughts. 1. Crowley does not like to be defined as good(or nice). Though we haven’t really seen that include bad, I would assume that it would be the similar thought. It also might have something to do with Aziraphale saying those things specifically, but that’s another post. 2. That people are not defined by what happened to them, and that means that anyone can improve.

Crowley fell from Heaven. He fell from grace which made him demon which means that for all intents and purposes, he should be evil. But he isn’t. Crowley doesn’t ever really commit truly evil acts. Any truly evil act that Hell thinks Crowley committed, humans committed. Crowley just took the credit. Crowley likes the thought that people can change. In Hell, he sees tons of people who are awful, but he also sees people who just made some mistakes. He sees demons who are like him who don’t find joy in treating people terribly. He’s seen angels causing harm happily, but others giving away joy like lollipops.

Those two things are fundamental in the show, The Good Place. I would argue Good Omens as well. If Adam had always been treated like he was evil, he probably would have never had friends who he genuinely cared about so much so that their fear pulled him out of his power drunken state. If Aziraphale had assumed the snake was evil(if he even saw him lol), then smited him, where would Crowley and humanity be? The demon with the imagination burned to ash and humanity living with almost decision-less whilst tucked neatly within Eden’s walls. If people couldn’t improve then Shadwell would have never been able to put aside his fears and foolishness so that he could love Madame Tracy and show it. Gabriel and Beelzebub would still be planning Armageddon 2.0 if they hadn’t moved on and fell in love instead.

The Good Place reminds us of the things time and time again. Each of the four main characters get reset, and every time, in the right circumstances, they always become better people. They are also never really defined as good and bad either. At times, others try to define Eleanor as a bad person, but every time, she reminds them that, yes, maybe, she shouldn’t be in the Good Place, but at the very least, she should be in her very own Middle Place. Every time, Chidi teaches her how to become a better person(which only works, because she wants to be one) and in the process, he becomes one too. Just like Gabriel and Beelzebub.

This was way longer than I expected it to be, but here are some quotes from The Good Place and where I think they would fit into Good Omens whether that be place and time or people and relationships.

“Sometimes, when you’re feeling helpless, the secret is to help someone else. Get out of your own head. Trust me. The next time someone asks for help, say yes.” This feels like the whole of S2, specially Aziraphale with Jim and then Maggie

“If you have bills to pay and shit to deal with you don;t have time or energy to become a better person.”  The Resurrectionists in 1827 with Elspeth and Wee Morag

“If there were an answer I could give you to how the universe works, it wouldn’t;t be special. It would just be machinery fulfilling its cosmic design. It would just be a big, dumb food processor. But since nothing seems to make sense, when find something or someone that does, it’s euphoria.” All the couples in GO, but that quote right there seems to be how Crowley and Aziraphale has been holding on for so long

“I guess all I can do is embrace the pandemonium find happiness in the unique insanity of being here, now.” Nina specially during The Ball

“People improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don’t?” Beelzebub and Gabriel

“We have no plan. No one’s coming to save us. So... I’m going to do it.” Aziraphale(specifically him at the end of S2 in my opinion)but also just everybody in S1 with Anathema, Agnus, the Them, Aziraphale and Crowley, just all trying their best

“If soulmates do exist, they’re not found. They’re made. People meet. They get a good feeling, and they get to work building a relationship.” All the couples, but especially Aziraphale and Crowley with the Agreement, they were working on their relationship before they knew they were even working on their relationship

“What matters isn’t if people are good or bad. What matters is if people are trying to be better today than they were yesterday. You asked me where my hope comes from? That’s my answer.” Crowley, because deep down, at the end of the line, we know that he’s an optimist

*reminder that all of this is my opinion, if there’s anymore quotes you would like to add, please do, some of the information might be incorrect

[a11y-kat]

The Good Place cast but in the studio mir style ✌🏼✨

[whineandcheese24]

I am a sucker for puns and I will make them whenever I can, but I have never seen a better pun than the title of the Good Place Season 4 Episode 7 “Help is Other People”. For those who may not understand, this a play on the quote “Hell is other people” from the play No Exit by Sartre. the idea in No Exit was that 3 people were sent to Hell and as punishment, they had to live with each other for eternity. at first they thought they got off easily, but they soon realized that their specific personalities, flaws, and idiosyncrasies played off each other in such away that they would never be able to live together peacefully. because as soon as 2 of them reached an agreement, the other one would ruin it, and so on, and so on.

and that idea, of a group of people playing off each others flaws in order to create the worst situation for everyone involved, was the exact idea behind Michael’s first experiment. he gathered Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani, and Jason specifically because their specific traits created the worst possible outcome for all of them. but it backfired, because instead of hurting and ruining each other, they consistently helped each other to grow and mature time after time, even on earth, essentially turning “Hell is other people” into “Help is other people”

but that’s not it, because remember, that’s all seasons 1-3 and this title is in season 4. you see, in season 4 they tried to recreate the experiment with new people to see if it work the same (despite being a fundamentally different experiment, but that’s another post). the participants-Simone, Chidi, John, and Brent-were supposed to help each other grow the way the original participants had. and in this episode, the new experiment is coming to a close, and the Soul Squad is desperately trying to rack up a few last points and get these people to help each other. to put aside their problems with each other and just help each other to grow and mature and change. and it almost works. if there had just been a few more seconds, it might have.

anyway to recap the reason I love this so much is because the phrase “Help is other people” is essentially the show’s entire thesis and statement on human interactions, and it is a play on the phrase “Hell is other people” which was the thought behind Michael’s original experiment, and the episode for which it’s the title, is the episode in which the Eleanor, Michael, and the others are most desperate for it to be true.

[blemiish]

I loved The Good Place

[jumbleddufus]

This show is my roman empire