#Neil Gaiman appreciation post

[shiplessoceans]

Good Omens 2 appreciation post for that moment after Nina has just rocked Crowley's world with the revelation that no, he isn't slick and yes, it is glaringly obvious to everyone just how head over heels in love with Aziraphale he is.

Crowley takes himself off to the french restaurant and is drowning his sorrows in a bottle of wine while having the realisation that he's been following the angel around like a lovesick puppy all day with no other possible agenda other than to be around him.

And then he sees Aziraphale and whistles him over but the angel is too busy to join him for a wine in the middle of the day and Crowley tries to divert questions by complaining that he's scared Gabriel/Jim is gonna smite him and he'll be well and truly smote, no, smoted? Smited? What's the word he's looking for?

And the angel gives him a knowing look and says:

"Smitten, I believe."

PERFECTION.

GRAMMATICAL CORRECTION AND DIAGNOSIS IN A SENTENCE.

AZIRAPHALE JUST READ HIM LIKE A HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE BOOK AND DOESN'T EVEN REALISE HE HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD.

This is my new favourite double entendre.

Smitten as the past tense of Smite. And the exact reason Crowley is drinking in the middle of the day.

He's realising he's smitten, your honour.

I hope Neil closed the laptop with a dramatic flourish after writing that line. Hell if I'd written a moment that perfect I'd take a victory lap of the kitchen and then call someone to tell them how clever I'd been before I pop.

[yourtranscousin]

as much as I shit on Neil Gaiman, I have to admit that I love him. The man's an amazing artist and I love what he does. I loved Coraline since I was too young to read, and when I did read the book I loved it more. When I first heard good omens I was in the car, the audiobook going in one ear and out the other, my dad loves that book so I read it and I love it so much. It was all I would talk about for weeks and then, as with all hyperfixations, I got over it. I didn't want to watch the show because it looked bad (I thought Crowley's eyes were scary, I was also upset about his red hair. "WHAT PART OF DARK HAIR DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!?!!" -me) but once I gave it a watch I immediately fell in love and my obsession came back full force. I was pleasantly surprised that the show was good, as film versions of books tend to suck, but it is just so good!! This book will forever have a special place in my heart

[youryurigoddess]

“There isn’t actually any difference between doing something nice for someone because you are naturally saintly and perfect, and doing something nice for someone because you are secretly demonic and trying to cover it up. It’s still an act of kindness either way, and you still made their lives better. (…) What really matters is what you do, not what you are.”

Dear Neil, I am a horrible person. How to be kinder, please?

Sometimes I suspect we are all horrible people. Or at least, we are human people. Same thing. We are impatient, judgmental, irritating and irritated, grumpy, easily offended and the rest of it.

So how to be kinder if it doesn’t come naturally? 

Fake it. 

Fake it a little bit at a time. 

Because there isn’t actually any difference between doing something nice for someone because you are naturally saintly and perfect, and doing something nice for someone because you are secretly demonic and trying to cover it up. It’s still an act of kindness either way, and you still made their lives better.

Smile at people. Say hullo. Ask about their lives. Remember what they’ve told you about their lives. Do small things to try and help them. (They will not know you are horrible, do not worry. They will just perceive that you are helping.)

Give people the benefit of the doubt. Remember that it’s more often stupidity to blame than evil, that everyone can screw up (including you) and what’s important is learning from that.

Think “What would an actually kind person do now?” – and do that. Don’t beat yourself up when you fail. Just be as kind to yourself as you will be to others – even if you have to fake that.

And good luck.

[myauntspen]

Good Omens is twice as good as it needs to be. Genuinely.

If it were written by a good, experienced TV writer who could move a story along but didn’t have the nuance and world building skill of Neil Gaiman. If the leads were played by a couple of good actors with perfectly decent chemistry, but not the incredible character depth, decades of film and theatre experience, and on-screen electricity of Michael Sheen and David Tennant. If it were art directed, designed, scored and costumed by competent professionals who were good at what they do but not extraordinarily dedicated to perfection. If all of that were true, it would be a good show, fun to watch and entertaining.

But it wouldn’t have broken my heart into a thousand pieces. It wouldn’t have millions of fans wondering how they’re going to wait literally years for the conclusion. It wouldn’t have spawned tens of thousands of works of fan fiction and art. It wouldn’t occupy the thoughts and hearts of so many people daily months and months after being released.

It’s such a good example of why good enough is fine sometimes but great is something truly to be strived for, appreciated, and treasured.

[sherryfortheoldlady]

I don't think I've ever loved a fandom more than I've loved this one.

I've been in quite a few fandoms, and they all, in one way or another, had a negative emotional impact on me, until I got into the Good Omens fandom.

Being in this fandom is like being in a safe and cozy bubble, where no harm can get to you, and you feel secure and happy and reassured that the bubble will never pop, and you feel like everything is okay, you're okay, you're happy, you belong.

I love so many things about this fandom. I love how everyone is always nice and respectful towards other fans and actors and writers and just everyone. I love how almost every fan has a different theory/headcanon for a certain thing, yet they're so accepting and encouraging of other peoples' headcanons and loving of it even if it's completely different from the one they have.

I love how a Good Omens fan is the #1 supporter of another Good Omens fan, and yet they're also their #1 enemy.

I love how everyone always says that Good Omens fans have one goal in life and that is to make other Good Omens fans miserable, and yet everyone knows it's just a joke and they actually love every single bit of art and writing and poetry and eat that angst up happily because it's somehow the most beautiful thing ever.

I love how Neil Gaiman takes time to answer our questions and never makes us feel silly for asking them. Moreover, I love how he doesn't always make everything canon, even when fans ask if something is canon or not, and leaves space for our imagination to make theories and headcanons and enjoy setting endless possibilities.

I love how both him and Michael Sheen interact with fans online. I love how Michael replies to pieces of fanwork and fans' stories and tweets and how he's always so supportive and enthusiastic about it all.

I love how Michael and David (mostly Michael) jump at every opportunity to talk about how Aziraphale and Crowley are in love, how much they mean to each other, how much they care, how they're the Yin to each others' Yang.

I love how Michael, David, and Neil are always so so so nice when interacting with fans (both online and irl) and how they always make us feel appreciated and loved. I love how they 100% support all fanwork and fan fictions and never spoke horribly about people who make them but instead encouraged them because it just shows how much people love the show and how much it actually means to them.

This fandom is the one place where I've felt safe to share my thoughts online without the fear of being attacked by other people for having different views than them, and I was anxious with my first post, but now I'm always excited to post something or just see what's new, knowing that I've found a place where I won't be criticised or judged for what I enjoy. A place I feel safe.

I genuinely love this fandom and everyone involved in it so so much. Please never change you all are amazing<3

[acooksbooks]

The meds for my back turned me a bit into Crowley today (on edge and a bit snarly). Drawing Michael Sheen as Aziraphale (or Crowley as Aziraphale???) helped ease most of my tension.

[embracing-the-ineffable]

Neil's hashtag when he reblogged that: #I'm always so happy when you all do

I just can't even with him, I adore him so much

After having the conversation multiple times about how many people (myself included) had stopped writing for years until the Sandman on Netflix came along and grabbed us by the neck.

And after watching the screaming reactions to Good Omens season 2, (and all the meta and analysis and thoughts about plot structure, and suggestions for what makes sense for season 3.)

I have decided that Neil Gaiman's secret agenda is not the screaming or the angst.

I think his secret agenda is to make us all WRITE.

[paperclipninja]

When I tell you that nothing brings me delight in a show quite like a recurring gag, Crowley's duck references are up there as an absolutely fave

And the general duck-related pondering just gets me

It's not only the absolute joy that the randomness of it being ducks brings, it's the way it's part of a delayed thought process

That throughout whatever conversations Crowley's been engaged in, their brain has been mulling and searching for the epiphany that eventually comes and it's completely out of context for whoever Crowley's talking to

And while not strictly Crowley, gotta admit this was a pretty darn delightful touch:

SO. MUCH. DELIGHT

EDIT: I've just seen that there was another duck appreciation post that is put together much more nicely here and is the source of some of the fab duck gifs

[shiplessoceans]

Neil Gaiman is such a dear sweet man.

Honestly, like what other author would be reassuring readers and fans of his work that his characters will be okay? Who else would spend their time here engaging with us in his own free time? He could make money on any other social media platform and he comes here.

I just. What an angel of a human.

[embracing-the-ineffable]

"this beautiful, messy, adorable, excruciating, wonderful, heartbreaking, ethereal, down-to-earth tale" - so full of diversity and representation and just utter, messy, perfection. I love it and everything that went into it SO MUCH.

I'm processing a lot of emotions tonight and I keep being drawn back to Good Omens--not just because it's the new hyperfixation or because it's so good. That's what I thought it was, at first.

But this year--hell, the last 3 or 4 months especially, I finally started taking steps to accepting and being myself. I'm rapidly approaching middle age and I'm only just now beginning to feel like I'm allowed to be me. I came out to the people in my household, a few select friends, and a few select family members--most of whom were wholly supportive. I started testosterone injections. I stopped trying to be someone I'm not. I stopped hiding who I am and who I love.

What does this have to do with Good Omens? Nothing. But also... Everything.

So much queer representation is in characters vastly younger than me--and that's good! I want queer kids to feel safe and loved and accepted in ways I never did. They deserve better than we had. And it gives me hope for their futures. I bawled like a baby when I watched The Owl House with my son and he was totally unphazed by the queerness. It's just how people are to him.

But when something like Good Omens comes along and not only grabs every opportunity to show average, everyday old(er) queer representation... It just. I've never felt more seen. More accepted. More hope for all our futures. And season 2 just knocked that out of the fucking park. And the nonbinary, genderfluid, and genderqueer rep? My God.

And it's not subtext, it's not it's own separate plotline where they're fighting for acceptance or dealing with hateful bigotry... It's just... Accepted. It's normal. No one questions it. No one even comments on it.

It's people of any age (even millions of years old) being unapologetically themselves and loving who they love openly and fully (with one notable uncommunicative group of two ineffable idiots, but they'll get there).

I just.

I can't express how grateful I am to see older queer rep at this time in my life. It's been a rough year, and I expect it'll get rougher before it gets better. But I've never been happier in my own skin, and it means the absolute world to see my literary and media heroes like Neil Gaiman, David Tennant, and Michael Sheen (and Terry Pratchett and everyone who worked on Good Omens, honestly) making this beautiful, messy, adorable, excruciating, wonderful, heartbreaking, ethereal, down-to-earth tale.

There aren't enough words in all the languages of the world to express how I'm feeling. "Thank you" just feels... Insufficient.

I just hope they know how much it means to people like me, especially after a lifetime of buried subtext and overt queerbaiting and media ridicule and general lack of acceptance, to experience this story with them.

[taohun]

so funny that the people most snobbishly posting about the good omens whatever are supernatural fans. i support you but i saw episodes of that show. it’s bad 

[damiengravehill]

There seems to be a lack of Silas fanart

Which means I shall draw more Silas fanart

[effable-husbands]

Good Omens s3 estimated release in 2025 - for me, this means I'll be having to stay alive for at least 2 more years. Which I am not pleased about.

So congrats Neil, you've very likely postponed my ending quite a bit.

[10holmes]

So, I just binge-watched

The Sandman.

(Disclaimer: I have not read the source material (yet) but intend to. I'm merely talking about the TV show and what I read the stories and characters and their relationship and gender identity as)

Alright, so first things first: The first episode and intro immediately got me hooked! And that is saying something because not many shows achieve that

I'm often forcing myself to continue through them because I've heard the show's overall good or I saw gif sets of a later point and really want to get there...

But this was not at all the same here. The sandman definitely is one of the few shows that immediately grabbed my attention and held onto it tightly (so much so that I finished the whole season in one sitting... uuups) - God-tier show right there!

Next: The costume design, the overall setting and scenery, the animations and visual effects, the camera movement angles and lighting effects and just the composition and overall aesthetic of this show was magnificent!!!!

It just left me gaping at my screen because it was done so beautifully and felt so real and palpable! Good stuff and definitely 100% immersive!

(Aside from that one diner episode where my attention shortly drifted... but hey it was late and I'm currently feeling a little under the weather sooo forgive me...)

Now, on to the story. I loved the progression of it all and the continous build-up of suspense, as well as the way all episodes connected but also stood well individually, and that there was always room left to wonder and play detective trying to figure out what was going on, how the characters were related, and also what the characters true personality and goals and intentions are!

Especially the Nightmare wanting to be a dream was so nicely done, the way the viewer was told they were or had to be bad and up to no good, but then the first point of doubt occurred knowing that they were actually helping so how could they be bad?! In the same way there was one episode that really made me question whether Morpheus wasn't going to be the overall villain after all.

I really like this kind of story telling where you can't yet be sure who's really good and well-meaning and whose devious... And, speaking of which, in any way I liked, how the show made it clear that everyone had a reason for everything they did, even or especially for the bad stuff, and that they were ALL flawed and morally gray and not clearly good or evil. (Aside from Death my love and icon, who's 100% perfect and could do no wrong)

Damn I really dig that play with unclearly-cut morality so hard!!!

Then, let's go in to the individual characters and relationships.

As I already hinted at, Death my beloved, you are utterly gorgeous and have my heart!

Morpheus, the definition of broody, black-haired, blue-eyed male character my 25-year-old same as my past 14-year-old self still swoon and droll over. (OMG that deep voice!!! Please spare my ovaries!)

Johanna Constantine (or Clara Oswald? Hello is that you?) - just a female badass, spactacular, so hot and gorgeous it was not the hell fire that made me fan myself during that epsiode. And I want to be held at dagger point by her as well please!

The Fates - I couldn't have wished for better representation of these three almighty goddesses! So well done! (Nothing against Hercules, but what the fck Disney?!)

The biggest shout-out goes to Desire and Lucifer - my personal enby icons!!! Seriously, these two are non-binary to me, I have not read the source material yet and I'm only referring to the show, but please if I'm wrong let me bath in that amazing feeling of nonbinary represantation a moment longer!

They are both so beautiful and like, imagine what a power move it would be to make Lucifer enby because they're a freaking angel and angels don't abide to "human" laws anyway and as celestial primordial beings why would they adhere to a construct such as gender anyway? Yeah Lucifer is nonbinary. You can't change my mind.

Now, I don't know how to say this and hope this does read like I intend it to. You know how in most new "popular" Netflix productions they make sure to finally include queer characters and then it's basically just one or two and it feels a bit forced and like they only did it for morality points like "look here, we're now diverse and LGBTQ inclusive!" but it just feels a little off and overall lacking or stereotypical...?

With The Sandman, the queerness felt right. Just right. Natural. It was just there and belonged there and that's it. It got the same attention and note the het pairings or allusions did and wasn't shown as something special or new. It just was.

And I loved that so much. Because that's what good representation is supposed to look like. Not pointing with a neon sign at it but letting it appear normal and natural and unquestionable within the narrative. It's just there. Period. 🙏🏼🌈

Talking about pairings... Another thing I liked is how this show allows for so many pairings and ships right from the start!!!

Seriously when episode 1 rolled in I thought this was going to be an enemies to lovers arc between Morpheus and the Corinthian.

(still would read it as such and ship them...)

Then we moved over to Johanna Constantine being introduced and fuuuuuuck the chemistry between her and Morpheus was insane!!!! Being stuck in BL hell for such a long time I thought a het couple (other then Zutara and Lokane or Beefleaf (if you stretch it) ) would not do it for me ever again. But Morphanna might just have given me new kicks and writing juices for a het couple (no I have definitely not already scoured AO3 for fics for them).

Also you can easily make it a throuple if we reverse Rachel's tragic untimely passing (I'm still crying over here... That shit really hurt... ) 🌈❤️ and why not add Hob Gadling to the mix as well and it's a lovely polycule 😍👌🏼(though I personally read Morpheus and him as platonic first and then maybe later developing into romantic love (season 2?) but somehwere on the asexual and aromantic spectrum)

Also what in the ever loving fck was that??!!

I don't know if shipping them would count as incest seeing that they are siblings but holy freaking moly that was one spicy scene.... (that did definitely not give me several day dreams and WIP ideas and the urge to read fic for that ship...)

So now, how to finish this super long-ass post that somewhat escalated... Well, as you may have noticed I really was overwhelmed by this amazing show and am currently developing a new hyperfixation that hopefully won't interfere with my ongoing XueXiao and VegasPete brainrot... So yeah, let's see how it goes from here^^

I swear, I forgot a shit ton of other stuff I wanted to say and add (I mean I could write an essay alone on Lucifer and Death and Morphanna...), but let's leave it at that for now^^

Again Disclaimer: This was written with only my TV show understanding of the characters and relationships if its wildly off of canon then so be it.

[ms-anthrope-cellaneous]

muriel is the cutest character in the entire universe.

[shakibone]

I hate AI voice replicators

See, I like musical genre remixes. Things where a popular song is done in the style of another artist, or another era. The Baseballs understood this, with their cover of Rihanna’s Umbrella:

I’m about to go off, so more under the cut!

Neil Gaiman once said (here on Tumblr, which I'll have to paraphrase due to an unfortunate inability to find the source):

“I enjoy songs. Sometimes I enjoy them too much and they grow tired. A good cover allows me to enjoy them again for the first time.” -Neil Gaiman, heavily paraphrased

Scott Bradlee understands the power of these covers, stylistic remixes, enough to launch multiple careers off of it. Such as with his own remix (featuring Casey Abrams & The Sole Sisters) of the afore-featured Umbrella by Rihanna:

Or one of my own personal favourites, Sugar, We’re Going Down originally by Fall Out Boy:

But!

These era-adjacent (or era-divorced) covers need not be wholly original performances to have value. Let’s return to Sugar, We’re Going Down by Fall Out Boy. While Scott Bradlee and singer Joey Cook reworked it in their own way, YouTube user Johann Olsson made his own era-divorced remix, this time transplanting them Boys what Fall Out to the 80′s using the original singer’s (Patrick Stump) vocal recording re-interpreted to an entirely different genre, rythm, and style:

Listen to both covers listed here and then the original and tell me they don’t each reveal something different about the subject, that they don’t highlight new facets of the same material. This is why I love covers that work on the premise of transplanting a song to a completely different style/genre. And it’s not just divided by era! Here’s what you get when you take John Denver’s classic anthem to pastoral paradise and nature’s magnificence and run it through it’s philosophical antithesis. This is Melodicka Bros rendition, which (to my reading) seeks to find that same beauty in an industrial world stripped of it:

You can hear the singers (identified only as Joe and Dave) yearning for that beauty which John Denver knew but they will never be afforded. Or at least...

That’s my interpretation.

These stylistically remixed covers afford such great exploration of the original work alongside what the covering artist bring to the material, that it inspires awe in me. I adore this genre of remixes and covers.

And now

AND NOW.

YouTube reccomends me garbage AI covers. I’m served up the digital ghost of Frank Sinatra singing Poker Face, Spongebob (which is to say Tom Kenny, the actor who gosh darn voices him) singing Gangsta’s Paradise or some nonsense, and the entire Team Fortress 2 cast (Nathan Vetterlein, Rick May, Dennis Bateman, Gary Schwartz, Grant Goodeve, Robin Atkin Downes, John Patrick Lowrie, and Ellen McLain) singing Bohemian Rhapsody or whatever. Stolen voices twisted to shallow purposes, with no regard to the artists whose voices are taken and their wishes regarding such uses:

https://catnippackets.tumblr.com/post/722596290851176448/catnippackets-listen-i-say-this-with-patience-bc

The use of these human beings voices to speak words they did not utter is horrifying, but on a personaly level it fill my algorythmically generated feed with utter tripe.

I don’t want to end on a downer, so here’s a final example of the types of stylistic remixes I adore. Presenting Brady Love with a beutiful rendition in the style of Luciano Pavarotti of Apple Bottom Jeans (Originally by Flo Rida):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIZz2PMnEDM

This one is without preview due to Tumblr’s limitations. Perhaps we can find a metaphor in that.