#but at least bildad the shuhite is here :’)

[szethsmom]

So I’m planning a Catholic funeral mass (long story) and on the list of approved readings is—

Bildad the Shuhite jumpscare!

[cobragardens]

My Favorite Good Omens Moment:

An Essay on Why It Is Cool and Rad (Part 1)

There's this moment in Good Omens that makes me cackle every time I see it and leaves me full of warmth, so here's an essay on its context and meaning, because explication and analysis are how I show love. I will try to keep my thoughts as tight as possible, but they do have a tendency to spiral outwards, and I am very stoned. Come, sistren, and get nerdy with me.

My favorite moment in the series so far occurs in 1601. To approach it we will first need an assload of context. There's a TL;DR in bold at the end of the Context if you don't fancy reading the whole assload. Key arguments are in italics and bold throughout.

David Tennant gives Crowley a very consistent facial expression every time Aziraphale says something so outlandish Crowley can't quite believe he's hearing it. It's this one:

Chronologically, we see the Eyebrows of Disbelief twice before my fave moment in 1601: once (above left) in that scene on the Garden Wall that familiarizes the audience with Crowley's face before adding the dark glasses, when Aziraphale admits he's given away his sword; once when Aziraphale tells Bildad the Shuhite that he, Aziraphale, has Fallen because he lied to the angels to save Job's children.

The Eyebows of Disbelief always signal surprise and amusement with something Aziraphale has said or done. This amusement is sometimes at Aziraphale's expense and sometimes not.

In the gifs above, Crowley is laughing because what Aziraphale has just admitted to doing is fantastic and unexpected and frankly pretty gd punk rock. He's not laughing at Aziraphale, he's laughing because he is delighted with him. The only record we have thus far of Crowley laughing at Aziraphale is this one:

Crowley laughs when Aziraphale informs him--him, a demon who has personally been through the process of Falling--that Aziraphale is Fallen and must be a demon now. As though of the two of them Aziraphale is the expert on how and under what circumstances this occurs.

And yet when Crowley sees Aziraphale's distress--not his fear of being taken to Hell, but his heartbreak and lostness over the fact that his conscience has diverged from God's stated will--Crowley stops laughing, and instead he acts very kindly towards Aziraphale. He validates the gravity of what Aziraphale has done and assures him he won't turn him in. He sits with him so Aziraphale isn't totally alone (like Crowley probably was) as he goes through the loneliest moments of his existence to that point and picks himself up newly weighted with the secret he must now bear.

And after this scene (in canon as it stands thus far), we don't see Crowley laugh at anything Aziraphale says or does again.

And he really has to work for it sometimes. We talk a lot about the things Michael Sheen is able to convey with his face in Good Omens, and absolutely rightly so; David Tennant earns a chunk of his paycheck in this regard as well. If you haven't given yourself the treat yet, rewatch the scene in Will Goldstone's magic shop in 1941 and focus on Crowley's reactions:

Tennant takes great care to show, with precision, that Crowley is expending effort not to react to Aziraphale's nervous chaos Muppetry and lack of self-awareness. Crowley is self- and socially and contextually aware enough that he knows (better than Aziraphale, at least, which is not a high bar to clear) what's cringe, what's funny, what's ridiculous, how to behave. But whenever Aziraphale crosses a boundary of normalcy, or even sanity, and there is opportunity to laugh at him, Crowley very carefully doesn't react. He doesn't interrupt him, he doesn't try to correct him, he doesn't make fun of him, he doesn't even smirk; he just watches him, as stone-faced as he can manage, no matter how bizarre Aziraphale becomes.

We should be reading this lack of reaction to Aziraphale's social and rational transgressions as powerful positive action. Go watch the Doctor Who episode "Human Nature," or literally any episode of The Inbetweeners, or read or watch Regeneration, and reflect on what it shows you about English masculinity; then consider again the depth of significance in how English- and male-coded character Crowley treats English- and male-coded character Aziraphale in an England created by an English and male-codedpresenting author based off a book written by himself and another male-presenting author. Within its context of English masculinity, Crowley's lack of reaction is not a neutral stance; it is a very fucking loud show of support.

This is not even an inference; it's stated outright in the show. Crowley himself puts it into words 422 years after my favorite moment:

You know how Crowley calls Aziraphale "angel" because the factuality of the descriptor offers him plausible deniability to any Heavenly or Infernal agents who might be listening? Remember how Crowley is a great equivocator? Crowley is equivocating here, too: he's using the cover of what Maggie and Nina will take as a disparaging joke at Aziraphale's expense in order to make a perfectly sincere statement. This is his genuine perception of one of the relationship dynamics he has with Aziraphale and how he feels about that dynamic. Crowley thinks he himself is quite witty (an accurate assessment), Crowley thinks Aziraphale isn't sufficiently self- or contextually aware to hide how strange he is and therefore frequently says and does mad things (also an accurate assessment), and Crowley is Into. That. Shit.

Okay. Now let's look at 1601.

Chronologically it's been almost 1,000 years since we last saw Aziraphale and Crowley. In 537, Aziraphale isn't willing even to consider a labor-saving working arrangement with Crowley of fucking off home out of the damp of Arthurian Wessex; but by 1601, he's worked (and met, and Arranged) with Crowley "dozens of times now," Crowley says, and Azirapahle does not correct him.

In that millienium, Aziraphale has grown to care deeply about Crowley:

In fact he may be somewhat smitten with him:

Seriously, go back and watch Aziraphale here as Crowley approaches and starts speaking to him: he doesn't start smiling until he recognizes that the person speaking to him is Crowley (but he only smiles at Crowley while Crowley's not looking at him).

And Crowley is definitely become smitten with Aziraphale:

Our man(-shaped entity) is so allergic to work he sets up a meeting to weasel, cajole, or (as it happens) cheat a coin toss to get Aziraphale to do an easy temptation for him in Edinburgh, and then in the same conversation agrees to miracle a play into success because Aziraphale gives him a single hopeful look. Crowley's got it bad.

TL;DR: The Eyebrows of Disbelief happen when Crowley is surprised and amused by something Aziraphale has said or done. Sometimes that amusement is delight with Aziraphale; sometimes it is at Aziraphale's expense. Crowley is aware of this distinction, and when his amusement is at Aziraphale's expense, he suppresses it, even when it takes some effort on his own part, and remains stocially composed. This is equivocation on his part: to Celestial/Infernal operatives lacking knowledge of the intricacies of human behavior, this non-reaction would seem like neutrality; to Aziraphale, who shares with Crowley and the audience the contextual knowledge of English masculinity's utter viciousness, this non-reaction is a profound show of support; and in the safety of support from Crowley, Aziraphale lets his weirdness blossom.

As another meta points out [link if I find it again], we also see in Aziraphale's wordless request about Hamlet and Crowley's immediate understanding of it that by 1601 Aziraphale and Crowley have developed an unspoken, coded method of communication with each other.

Now that we have all of that in mind, here's my favorite moment in Good Omens:

Ixi of Fuck Yeah Good Omens has even kindly archived a closeup of the aftermath, for Crowley, of "Buck up!" In gif 4, above, you can see that the tiny smile is an involuntary reaction that happens as Crowley's eyes widen: for a fraction of a second, he's caught off-guard. In the closeup it's easier to see that he suppresses the smile and gives a tiny shake of his head, Eyebrows of Disbelief heading for his hairline.

There are a number of things Crowley's reaction could mean and what messages it could communicate (we'll get to that in a sec), but regardless, his reaction is, unquestionably, one of surprise and suppressed amusement. This is an aspect of Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship and characters that I like very much, viz., that one of the reasons Crowley likes Aziraphale (though Aziraphale is judgy and occasionally, unintentionally, horrifyingly cruel) is that in addition to being one of the kindest and most courageous beings in existence, Aziraphale is mad as a bag of frogs. Crowley does not know what is going to come out of Aziraphale's lovely mouth next, but Crowley does know there's a good chance he will struggle to believe he's hearing it, and Crowley likes that.

That's what makes this my favorite moment. What makes this moment so cool and rad, though, is its ineffability. We know from the Eyebrows of Disbelief that Crowley is surprised and amused, but any of several things could be read in that almost imperceptible headshake. Like:

What are you doing? or

Why are you like this? or

How can you be aware that you say these things out loud and yet still say them out loud? or

How has my existence come to this? this moment of listening to such insanity?

each of which is a fair and just feeling to have/message to communicate to a man(-shaped entity) who is yelling "Buck up!" at Hamlet.

But that's only if we read Crowley's amusement as being at Aziraphale's expense. And I don't think we should. Because watch Aziraphale here:

He's doing it on purpose. He is shouting a hilariously inappropriate, 100% authentic Aziraphale-brand thing over arguably the gloomiest passage of Shakespeare's famously gloomy play--right after Crowley complains about its gloominess--and he is watching Crowley as he does it. Look at his smile! He knows he's being Deeply Uncool, and he is doing it literally right into Crowley's face.

Remember that we just talked about how by this point in the chronology Crowley and Aziraphale have learned to communicate with each other nonverbally through facial expression? So what does it mean when Aziraphale responds to Crowley's grumbling about Hamlet's gloominess by smiling his minxious Mona Lisa Aziraphale smile, looking right into Crowley's face, and yelling at Hamlet to buck up? Aziraphale, in a carefully coded, carefully Aziraphale way, is joking with Crowley. His silliness in this moment is for Crowley.

So with aaaaaaallllll of this essay in mind, what does it mean that Crowley's reaction to "Come on, Hamlet! Buck up!" is widening eyes, an involuntary twitch of his mouth toward a smile, and then, his eyebrows still showing surprise and amusement, a tiny shake of his head?

Once more, with inferences:

I do propose, y'all, on the basis of this web of evidence I submit for consideration, that what we are seeing here in my favorite moment of Good Omens is the ineffable equivalent of Aziraphale and Crowley sharing a laugh.

Crowley's amusement here isn't at Aziraphale, because Aziraphale is eliciting that amusement consciously and deliberately. Aziraphale, in good spirits and happy to see Crowley, uses his Aziraphaleness to offers Crowley not only an opportunity for amusement, but the opportunity to be in agreement with him about what in this situation is funny. They're on the same side of this joke.

And his humor lands just as he wants it to: Crowley, just for a moment, is caught off-guard, and tickled--

But remember, Crowley is worried in this scene about being surveilled ("I thought you said we'd be inconspicuous here"), and he worries about audio surveillance a lot ("Walls have ears"; "Don't say that. If my lot hear [etc.]," etc.), so he's very limited in what reactions he can show or voice. Aziraphale knows Crowley must be perceived by anyone watching or listening to disapprove of his, Aziraphale's, behavior (just as he must be perceived to disapprove vociferously of Crowley's). Both of them know this.

--so Crowley suppresses the smile almost successfully, and shakes his head at Aziraphale, minutely, to say Stop. What you're doing is working, you're close to making me laugh, and if I show how much you have just delighted me, it will blow our cover of "just an Arrangement."

I offer three final data points in advancing my argument that what we see in my favorite Good Omens moment is Aziraphale successfully attempting to joke with Crowley and Crowley recognizing that overture from Aziraphale and being momentarily surprised into a reaction of genuine delight before pulling his face back under control and indicating to Aziraphale that he must stop:

Datum 1. Nothing going on with Crowley's face in this moment is accidental. We know for sure we're not seeing David Tennant react to Michael Sheen here not only because of literally every other point of Tennant's and Sheen's performances in the show, but because Tennant is wearing opaque contacts and sunglasses under film lighting and therefore cannot be reacting to anything more compelling than a level-10-lift blur because Tennant cannot see shit. Crowley's reaction is a deliberate and careful performance choice on Tennant's part, and it's underscored by director Douglas Mackinnon's choice to film Tennant in 1/2 profile to keep Crowley's eyes visible and face readable to the audience. This reaction is supposed to be there and supposed to be meaningful.

Datum 2. The husbands in 1601 is not the only moment in Good Omens when we may be seeing an angel and a demon communicate the message Stop doing that, it makes us look too familiar between themselves with a little headshake:

Datum 3: There is another moment in Good Omens when Aziraphale offers Crowley the opportunity to enjoy a joke with him. There, too, his humor lands just as he intends, so we can use this other moment as a comparison to our 1601 moment. I don't have gifs for it, but go back and watch it, S1E6 49:27-42. Snips below.

Aziraphale says something that surprises and amuses Crowley (he asked Hell for a rubber duck while he was sloshing around in the holy water)--

--but what Aziraphale says makes Crowley smile long before it makes him laugh.

In fact, his laugh, though a genuine cackle, is quite delayed, and he laughs only after Aziraphale starts laughing too.

In other words, Crowley's reaction to Aziraphale offering him amusement they're both on the same side of is exactly the same as his reaction to "Come on, Hamlet! Buck up!" right up until he laughs instead of shaking his head. Here, after Armageddidn't, Crowley doesn't have to suppress his reaction, so he can let the smile bloom; he doesn't have to control his response, so, although it takes him a few extra seconds, he lets the smile turn into a laugh.

But in 1601, it's not safe to laugh at Aziraphale's humor. It's not safe even to smile at him. A single piece of evidence or eye/earwitness testimony that he and Crowley have anything more friendly than the most passing and acrimonious of professional relationships could mean death to either or both of them, and depending on what Falling is like, maybe something worse than death for Aziraphale.

But Aziraphale is so funny, so effervescent for Crowley, at Crowley, that it catches Crowley just for a moment. Crowley's eyes widen and the corner of his mouth twitches toward a smile.

And that's dangerous. If Aziraphale keeps acting so charmingly mad, Crowley is going to laugh, and they can't afford that risk, so he shakes his head at Aziraphale. Stop, or I won't be able to keep a straight face around you.

And Aziraphale apparently receives that message, because he immediately eases off. Less than 60 seconds later we learn that he's deeply concerned for Crowley's safety--and that it's not so much that Aziraphale has Crowley wrapped around his little finger as it is that Crowley has wrapped himself around Aziraphale's little finger like a snake arranging itself on the tree branch it calls home.

UPDATE 14/10/23: HOLY SHIT Y'ALL IT GETS EVEN BETTER! THERE IS A SEQUEL!

[bowtiepastabitch]

Let's Talk Costuming: A Very Professional Midwife/Cobbler!

At last, the long awaited sequel to Avaunt! aka my post analyzing Aziraphale's (and by extension the other angels as well) costumes from the Job flashback!! I knew Bildad's robes reminded me of something but it has been hiding stubbornly in the back of my memories for weeks, and I was doing myself a little doodle and it came to me, so here we are, friends, buckle up.

For better or for worse (depending who you ask), Crowley's costuming for this bit does not mirror Aziraphale's Renaissance-inspired aesthetic. That is, he is neither buff nor naked, as demons are often shown, nor is he a fucked up little guy

Scene from Michelangelo's Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel altar wall fresco, 1534–41 (featuring buff, naked, fucked up little guys)

The historical evidence that we have for the clothing of ancient Israel is spotty to nonexistent. To my memory, there are no real descriptions of clothing in the Old Testament aside from the instructions for priestly garb. (Note that I'm using "Old Testament" simply because Good Omens is based on a Christian interpretation of religion) None of the art from the period and surrounding time/geographic region, of which there is very very little surviving, depicts clothing anything like what we see in this episode either.

And then it fucking hits me.

It fucking hits me like a sack of bricks.

Weirdly specific Children's bible that stirred up childhood memories so I stole a photo from Amazon; published in 1972

We had this one as a kid, as well as several others, and THAT my friends is what Bildad the Shuhite reminds me of. Modern illustrations of bible stories, especially those used in children's materials. Now Christians are god-awful about giving credit for art, so please forgive me when these don't have sources.

Goodsalt.com has a lot of this stuff labeled as 'religious stock imagery'

This is why the style felt so familiar yet unplaceable: I grew up expecting this as the default outfit for bible stories. If you grew up christian, you're probably at least a bit familiar with this weirdly specific style of art. (Side note: if you have any idea where it came from please let me know, but I can't find any older styles of religious art like it. Anything pre-20th century harkens more to Renaissance style than anything, which in turn is a refresh on Medieval) This is, more than anything, in fact best described as religious stock imagery. It bears a lot of resemblance to clothing worn still in areas thereabout the historical region where this takes place, but it has a distinctive flair that the costume is definitely emulating.

The stripes and colors both feel deeply reminiscent of that art style, and it makes total sense considering this is in fact intended to have the feel of a bible story more-so than any other flashback in Good Omens has. Even the odd floofiness of his beard and hair make sense when put into this context and compared against the beards in the illustrations!

We even see that 'illustrated bible' inspiration right in front of our noses, but my brain didn't even process that because again, this art style is so pervasive it doesn't feel out of the ordinary. It was everywhere in the church I grew up in: posters on the walls in the children's wing, in our bibles and our coloring sheets, all that jazz.

The cheery bright colors, which certainly would not be available as textile dyes for another almost 4500 years, add a definite stylistic flair that makes this not only inspired by modern imaginations, but historically impossible. This of course contributes to the larger theory of how the costumes betray the unreliable narrator which I explore in this post and will almost certainly expand on when the impulse strikes me. The angels can be excused as miraculous, but this is definitive proof that what's happening here is at least in part fictitious, and more importantly for our analysis, that its heavily influenced by MODERN biblical stylization.

Those reds and yellows would have been available sooner, though not 2500 bc soon, but that shade of blue wouldn't be achieved until the industrial revolution and the invention of synthetic dyes in the 19th century. It is, however, very popular in biblical illustrations.

And so, friends, lovers, countrymen, we come to everyone's favorite part. What does this MEAN?

When we talked about Aziraphale and his Renaissance-angel-drag-queen era, the biggest emphasis was on the accentuation of his angelicism and holy glory. He's set apart from the humans in a way we've never really seen the angels before, and he also fits in with the other angels in heaven, who are also dressed ostentatiously to the nines. Crowley, on the other hand, does not have his demonic nature highlighted but downplayed. Instead, he fits in among the humans *almost* flawlessly.

Aside from his incredibly amazing and goofy glasses, which I think are an obvious anachronism of memory, he's dressed in pretty much the exact style as the human people around him, a style hugely shaped by latter 20th century aesthetics of biblical times. From a storytelling perspective, it makes total sense for Crowley to be fitting in among the humans, since he's sympathizing with them and even passing himself off as a human midwife/cobbler right under the angels' noses. He even takes a human name!

From a meta perspective, the modernity of the stylings tells us that whoever is narrating is having their memories shaped by somewhat recent events. However much is true remains under question, and there's tons of fascinating time-fuck theorizing to go around, but whatever is being remembered here is being re-evaluated through the lens of the last fifty or so years max, a mere blink in the eye for our angel/demon duo.

Whether it's the not-pocalypse, the arrival of Gabriel, or something that happened we haven't seen yet, SOMETHING has caused our narrator to reshape these memories recently. The overall character arc of Season 2 belongs to Aziraphale, as he struggles with himself to bring to terms the part of him that sees his own good as an extension of his being an angel and the part of him that can see how awful heaven is, so I think the importance of Crowley being more human than ever while he is more separated from than ever plays a big role in the story we're being told and that will hopefully carry over into season 3.

[sonkitty]

The Earthly Objects Rule of Three

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

Are you ready?

...

One:

Aziraphale: Um. Hello. I'm Aziraphale.

Crowley: Nice meeting you.

...

Two:

Sitis: What "old friend"?

Crowley: You tell me.

Sitis: Oh...Bildad the Shuhite?

Crowley: Sure. So, the kids.

...

Three:

Mr. Dalrymple: You're a funny one, Mister—

Crowley: Oh, doctor. I'm not a surgeon.

Mr. Dalrymple: Of course. Doctor.

...

That's 3 times Crowley avoids giving his name.

...

Next!

...

One:

Crowley: Well, I am a demon. Maybe I'm lying.

...

Two:

Crowley: I'm a demon. I lied. Ah!

...

Three:

Crowley: I'm a demon. I lied.

...

That's 3 times Crowley brings up that he is a demon and at least that he might be lying, if not actually lying.

...

That's 2 sets of 3.

These are dialogue-related. Was I able to find a third?

Yes!

Next!

...

One:

Aziraphale: Oh, I—I'm afraid that—

Crowley: A sherry for you. Whiskey for me...Hello.

...

Two:

Crowley: Hello, Gabriel.

...

Three:

Crowley: Hello? Anybody here?

...

That's 3 times Crowley said the exact word, "Hello".

...

Now we have 3 sets of 3.

...

Each set has a little something extra about it too.

For the first set, names are standard dialogue points in Earthly Objects, so he's breaking the standard by avoiding giving his name. The name he is avoiding to give is different each time, so that amounts to 3 names he didn't give.

For the third set, "Hello" and acceptable variations of it are standard dialogue points in Earthly Objects.

Each of these exact-word "Hello" instances has Crowley in a space where he crossed an open door threshold on the way in. For the pub, we never see it happen on camera. You have to figure it out based on the clues in the story. In each of these instances, those doors are still open as he says the "Hello."

That covers the first set and the third set but let's take a closer look at the second set.

A seemingly extended form of "Hello"/"Good-bye" is what I call a "statement of place". If another suitable phrase should be used, I haven't found it. Many of these go something like "I'm back," "We're going to the pub," and "You're in trouble."

So, "I am a demon," or "I'm a demon," fits in the sense of a status and using "am", but the first two times it is used, it's not a "Hello" or "Good-bye".

Given that, what does Crowley do for the Rule of Three, being the top tier player he is?

On the very last of these three, Crowley uses it to close out the dialogue set itself, the minisode dialogue, and the episode dialogue all at once, making it a "Good-bye"...in three forms.

...

Crowley is amazing at this game.

[kuri-crocus]

Results: Good Omens season 3 wish polls

I collected some wishes I've seen fans have for season 3 and made polls out of it. Thanks to everyone for voting diligently! Making the (33!) polls, reading comments were a lot of fun to me! Here is my summary of the results. The bold answer is the most voted one. We will wait and see if some wishes come true ... As soon as season 3 is out I plan to come back for a check! I leave it to future me to make what actually happens in season 3 italic!

Prepare for a long post under the cut!

1. Do you want Aziraphale to perform the apology dance (in present day)? -765 votes-

52.5% Yes

31.6% No

15.8 % Neutral

2. Do you want Aziraphale and Crowley to end up mortal? -1046 votes-

87.7% No

9.8% Neutral

2.5% Yes

3. Do you want that Aziraphale saves Crowley at some point in season 3? -598 votes-

78.4% Yes

1.1% Neutral

4.5% No

4. Do you like God to narrate season 3 again? -529 votes-

50.3% Yes

35% Neutral

14.7% No

5. Do you like the Ineffable husbands to take custody of a (human) child? -553 votes-

54.4% No

26.9% Neutral

18.6% Yes

6. Do you want Crowley's angel name to be revealed? -1729 votes-

48.7% No

26.2% Yes

25.1% Neutral

7. What do you prefer to be Crowley's initial situation at the beginning of season 3? -432 votes-

77.3% Crowley is on his own

12.7% new leader of hell

7.2% something else. (I've read him beeing on vaction or hanging out with Nina, Maggie and Muriel)

2.8% works for hell again

8. Who makes the first step for a second kiss? -877 votes-

64.4% initiated by Aziraphale

30.9% initiated by both

2.5% no more kissing

2.2% initiated by Crowley

9. More of Angel!Crowley (without fall story) -406 votes-

51.5% Yes

26.1% Neutral

22.4% No

10. Where should the final scence with Aziraphale and Crowley take place? -527 votes-

77.4% South Down Cottage

7% The Ritz

5.1 % The Bookshop

3.4% St. James Park

3.2% Alpha Centauri

3.2 % Another location (rooftop was mentioned at least twice)

0.6% The Bentley

11. Should Aziraphale's diary have a bigger part in the plot? -307 votes-

53.1% Yes

34.2% Neutral

12.7% No

12. Would you like to see a conversation between Crowley and God? -602 votes-

49.3% Yes

27.6% No

23.1% Neutral

13. Would you like to see new angel and demon characters in season 3? -260 votes-

47.3% Yes

38.1% Neutral

14.6% No

14. Would you like it if there are more Angel x Demon couples? -359 votes-

44% Yes

28.4% Neutral

27.6% No

15. Would you like to see Crowley with long hair (present day)? -910 votes-

77% Yes

12.7% Neutral

10.2% No

16. Would you like to see Aziraphale with a beard? -359 votes-

49% No

32.6% Yes

18.4% Neutral

17. Would you like to have cameos of David's and/or Michael's family members? -318 votes-

39% Yes

34% Neutral

27% No

18. Should the historical scenes have a bigger or rather small part in the plot? -275 votes-

38.2% Neutral/anything is ok

37.1% Bigger/more like season 2

24.7% Rather small/more like season 1

19. Do you want to see the story of the great war and the fall? -287 votes-

69% Yes

17.8% No

13.2% Neutral

20. Do you want Saraquel to be an ally to Aziraphale and Crowley? -408 votes -

53.9% Yes

40.2% Neutral

5.9% No

21. Are you ready for 1941 Part 3? -713 votes-

80.8% Yes! All good things come in threes!

9.7% No, I don't need this scence to continue

9.5% Neutral

22. What is your opinion on the Ineffable Wives? -595 votes-

64.7 % Give me Fem!Azi and Fem!Crowley

25% Neutral

10.3% I don't want female presenting Azi and Crowley

23. More Bildad the Shuhite? -788 votes-

45.9% Yes

28.8% Neutral

25.3% No

24. Aziraphale takes off Crowley's sun glasses? -203 votes-

80.3% Yes

11.8% Neutral

7.9% No

25. Would you like it if Aziraphale calls Crowley "my demon" -291 votes-

43.6% Yes

30.9% No

25.4% Neutral

26. Muriel should be... -135 votes-

52.6% more prominent as in s2

43.7% as prominent as in s2

3% less prominent as in s2

0.7 % not appearing at all

27. In season 3 Muriel will wear... -151 votes-

90.1% a new earth outfit

5.3% the clothes they wear in heaven

4.6% the inspector constable costume

28. Do you want Muriel to take over the bookshop permanently? -153 votes- 

51% No

30.7% Neutral

18.3% Yes

29. More wall slamming in season 3? -190 votes-

62.6% Yes AND Aziraphale also slamming Crowley against a wall

25.3% Yes! Slam that angel against the wall!

6.3% Neutral

5.8% No more wall slamming

30. Would you like to see Aziraphale with purple eyes? -547 votes-

39.7% No

34.4% Yes

26% Neutral

31. Would you like it if Crowley calls Aziraphale "my angel"? -310 votes-

83.2% Yes

10.3% Neutral

6.5% No

32. I'd like Anathema Device and Newt Pulsifer to... -182 votes-

30.8% Every option is fine by me

29.7% only have a cameo

28.6% appear again

11% not appear at all

33. Would you like it if Aziraphale calls Crowley "Anthony"? -408 votes-

38.7% No

31.1% Neutral

30.1% Yes

[saras-devotionals]

Quiet Time 8/24

What am I feeling today?

Rather relaxed and grateful but still frustrated. I’m in Pittsburgh now and I’m very grateful for that but on the drive up, my tire popped on the highway (which I had dreamt would happen). At least I learned how to change a tire (a very nice stranger came by to help after we had jacked the car. We had to take it to the shop to fix which added about four extra hours to our road-trip but I’m grateful for how God provided during that time. However my little frustration comes from school (three of my classes have yet to be posted and the one that has shows that I need to read four articles before class on Monday). I just wish I had at least a week to prepare but it is what it is.

JOB 25+26 NIV

‭‭Job‬ ‭25‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Then Bildad the Shuhite replied: “Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven. Can his forces be numbered? On whom does his light not rise? How then can a mortal be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure? If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes, how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot— a human being, who is only a worm!””

It’s truly mind boggling to think of everything that God is in control of because it’s quite literally everything! Sometimes I take time to think about outer space and the expanse of the universe and how many planets and stars exist and it’s far more than we can count or imagine and God created all of that! Isn’t that insanity? Just how much He has done and how powerful He is. Additionally about our righteousness, in a sense I believe he is right because we’ve all sinned and therefore fall short of the righteousness of God but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t make every effort to be righteous.

‭‭Job‬ ‭26‬:‭1‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Then Job replied: “How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble! What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed! Who has helped you utter these words? And whose spirit spoke from your mouth? “The dead are in deep anguish, those beneath the waters and all that live in them. The realm of the dead is naked before God; Destruction lies uncovered. He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing. He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it. He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness. The pillars of the heavens quake, aghast at his rebuke. By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces. By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power?””

This is just a minor little detail but the water cycle is mentioned here when he talks about “He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight” - isn’t that interesting? That Job takes place around the time or early Genesis and yet there’s an understanding of this? I just think it’s fun and cool.

Lastly, everything Job lists here is incredible but it’s also true when he says that all this is just the outer fringe of His works and how little we truly understand of His power!

[astudyintheburningofhearts]

FINALLY FINISHED GOOD OMENS- IT WAS SO GOOD WTF- ALSO ALSO ALSO I HAVE SO MANY THINGS TO SAY-

(spoilers under the cut) .

.

.

.

.

.

Bildad the Shuhite, love of my life.

BRO THE METATRON- FUCK HIM, HONESTLY, WHAT A DICK- (chanelling my inner comic!Nick Nelson, can you tell?)

The FUCKING "I FORGIVE YOU" AZIRAPHALEEEEE WHYYYYYYYYY (ALSO NEIL WHY. WHY. LITERALLY MY HEART-)

Couldn't cry because family was present + It'd been spoilt somewhat for me BUT NOTHING PREPARED ME FOR THE SCENES BEFORE THE KISS WHERE CROWLEY'S TRYING TO CONFESS AND AZIRAPHALE'S TRYING TO TELL HIM ABOUT THE POSITION HE JUST TOOK- UGHHHHHHHH

AND ALSO THE RESIGNED "DON'T BOTHER" OH. MY. GOSHHHHHH- CROWLEY :( MY HEART :(

also- the way the fucking way Crowley looked at Nina as if to say "I tried" and then at Maggie as if to say "I hope you do better/I hope it goes better for you" ffs

Also, again, FUCK METATRON- because this bitch walks in IMMEDIATELY after Crowley and then wastes absolutely NO time before bitching about him- literally "Always asked damn fool questions too"- not only is he manipulating Aziraphale into sort of believing Crowley would just fall again or he wouldn't do well by his side (DESPITE MANIPULATING HIM BY TELLING HIM THAT HE COULD MAKE HIM AN ANGEL AGAIN, MIND YOU) (imo, at least)

It truly is Aziraphale, Mr. I will make it better for you and Crowley, Mr. I never wanted you to make it better/ never wanted for it to be better, all I've ever wanted is you

The "Hear that? ... No Nightingales" literally broke my heart- cuz I remember reading some meta about it somewhere on here and when I was thinking about it to myself after watching, I could only think of how it sort of symbolised then end of their relationship and that broke me, ok? Especially when the Bentley played A Nightingale Sang In Berkely Square instead of its usual Queen- AND THEN HOW CROWLEY PAUSED FOR A MINUTE TO LISTEN TO IT? NO. LITERALLY STOP, OK. LIKE THE WAY IT SEEMS THAT HE'S ALREADY REMINISCING- HOW HE'S SO FUCKING DEJECTED AND FEELS LIKE HE NEEDS TO HOLD ONTO ANY PIECE OF THEM HE CAN BEFORE HE COMPLETELY GIVES UP- (AGAIN, IMO) BUT FUCK??????

On another note, however, how freaking adorable were Beelzebub and Gabriel??????????? They make me wanna 💢 🔪

No literally- Gabriel making only Everyday play on the jukebox???? Beelzebub recognising it????????? The FUCKING FLY MESSAGE ON THE BOX- shut up that's so cute, they're so stupidly in love- ALSO THE "MY HEAVEN IS WHERE BEELZEBUB IS" "AND MY HELL IS WHERE YOU ARE, MY SWEET"?????????????????????????????????? FUCKING SLAPPED- ME WHEN BRO. ME WHEN. GOD-

AND ALSO. THE. WAY. CROWLEY. AND. AZIRAPHALE. LOOK. AT. EACH. OTHER/ SHARE. A. LOOK. WHEN. CROWLEY. MENTIONS. APLHA. CENTAURI. LITERALLY ACTUALLY STFU OK? *SLAMS A DOOR IN NOBODY'S FACE IN PARTICULAR*

ALSO- CROWLEY TELLING AZIRAPHALE HOW HE PROBABLY UNDERSTANDS IT BETTER THAN AZIRAPHALE????? BECAUSE REMEMBER? IT USED TO BE THE OPPOSITE- ANGEL!CROWLEY WAS ALWAYS THE ULTIMATE OPTIMIST, THE ONE WHO BELIEVED HEAVEN WOULDN'T TRULY DAMN THOSE WHO ASKED QUESTIONS- AZIRAPHALE WAS THE ONE WHO WAS MORE CAUTIOUS- BUT NOW, IT'S AZIRAPHALE BLINDLY TRUSTING THE METATRON (IT'S BECAUSE HE LOVES CROWLEY SUPER FUCKING MUCH, BTW, FOLKS) AND CROWLEY'S THE ONE WHO'S LITERALLY DYING BECAUSE HE KNOWS. HE. KNOWS. AZIRAPHALE HAS NEVER BEEN NAIVE- NOT IN THE WAY CROWLEY HAD ONCE BEEN- BUT LOVE HAS BLINDED HIM-

oh, and i forgot to mention: THE FUCKING LIP TOUCH AZIRAPHALE DOES AFTERWARDS-

AND THE WAY HE PAUSES AND HESITATES AND THEN FAKES A SMILE SAYING HE DOESN'T NEED TO BRING ANYTHING WHEN WE ALL KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HE MEANS TO SAY

AND ALSO CROWLEY SAYING THAT HE NEEDED TO STAY AND TAKE CARE OF THE BOOKSHOP INSTEAD OF HIMSELF- AND NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT, WHEN METATRON SAYS MURIEL WILL TAKE CARE OF THE SHOP, HE MIGHT NOT REALISE IT HIMSELF, BUT MURIEL WILL ALSO PROBABLY TAKE CARE OF CROWLEY- IDK, MAYBE I'M JUST SPIRALLING OK-

god, if only they fucking talked-

Michael Sheen and David Tennant owe me oh so many things... someone pass it on to them, please, thanks.

[marlowe1-blog]

The Book of Job Chapters 1 & 2

I'm going to put the first two chapters together because they are the ones that everyone pretty much knows about. There are certain implications that one might not immediately get, like holy fuck these are some dark chapters. I just read The Magician King and I feel like Julia's story has a similar theme which is "DON'T GET GOD'S ATTENTION". Of course in the Magician King, the world is polytheist so they get the attention of a god, just not the one they wanted. And if you've seen the first season of The Magicians, you know what happens (I'd recommend the show over the books, but the books are not bad).

Ok. That's not the real theme of the opening. It feels like it when you read it fresh, because almost everything that happens to Job is because God is going "Isn't Job the best. He's so faithful and nice" and then you got Satan going "Well why don't we fuck with him and see how faithful he is" and this happens at least twice (maybe three times.) and every time Job gets fucked over even more.

Oh by the way, since I have the Jewish Publication Society translation, they go with "The Adversary" for Satan. A major part of this book and about the history of religion is that Satan seriously changed with the Christians getting ahold of him and putting him in the role of the enemy of all Christians. Zoroasterianism seriously influenced those guys.

In the Bible, Satan is a job description. There's a use of the word as a verb when the Angel is blocking Bilaam from going to curse the Israelites but the angel is not necessarily Satan. So this is where Satan gets a name, but it could be any angel. There are some very weird thoughts on angels in the Bible. Are they a holdover from paganism? Are they ways to have G-d talk to people without taking away the fact that Moses is considered the only one who is talking to G-d directly? There seems to be a general belief held up by the text that Angels are just agents with a job and that job is in their name. So Raphael is the healer and Gabriel gives strength. Most of the time the angels don't even get names in the text itself (although midrash comes in for certain things. LIke when three angels visit Abraham, Raphael stays to heal Abraham from his circumcision while the other two go off to destroy Sodom).

So JPS changing the name to Adversary is just translating the name outright so we know that the main thing about Satan is that he's a literary function. He's G-d's "devil's advocate" and the one who challenges everything.

This seems to be a movement away from monotheism, when monotheism really only took hold a few centuries before this book (it's written in Aramaic so it's definitely a later book in the canon). But also this is a philosophical novel without a necessity in believing it as anything more than a philosophical novel (Oh I'm sure there's an evangelist who will argue that literally Job existed and had a very stressful conversation with his friends and it was all recorded, but evangelicals are fucking idiots. The guy who stands outside my building smoking pot believes in every conspiracy theory available including one about how there is no outerspace because of the firmement of heaven line. Like the Bible says that we are under a bubble so there's no such thing as Mars. I actually still talk to this dumb fuck because he's so stupid that he's almost funny when he's not horrifying).

So here's the point you know about. God says "Hey isn't Job great" and Satan goes "hey let's fuck with him" and God goes "Ok!" So JOb loses his children, his money and his health. And his wife tells him to curse G-d and die which is advice to kill himself. Because really how can he live after losing everything?

Then come Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite who sit with him in silence for 7 days. So now we have the rules of Shiva (mourning) where the first seven days people accompany the mourner but they don't talk unless the mourner talks first. And they stay silent for seven days.

They are going to come off like assholes in the rest of the book, so that part should be remembered.

Note - I'm kind of happy that my mom died during Covid so I didn't have to host people for a Shiva. I don't think my creepy roommate would have liked that and sometimes it's just not worth it. I have people over for Shabbos but he can hide in his room for a few hours.

[sixshotsinatumbllr]

Happy to oblige!

For the GO ask game - question 1, 10, 19 and 22!

Oh thanks @phoen1xr0se, this is fun!

1. Did you come to Good Omens via the book or the show?

Technically the book- the audiobook actually, enjoyed it so much that I tried the TV series, watched it all in a couple of days and I have been stuck here ever since.

10. What traits do you share with Crowley?

Ooooh... I love a bit of low level mischief and chaos. I too could sleep for the better part of a century happily. And I adore astronomy, it really inspires me. What else? I don't know. I share a lot more traits with Aziraphale, really.

19. What's your favourite minisode, and why?

Ooooh this is so hard. I love all of them. It's hard to go past Bildad the Shuite, there's so much character development and so much silliness in that one. And 1941 really really did it for me- the tension I felt in the bullet catch scene was so intense, and probably the moment that secured the brainrot for me long term... but if I had to choose one, it'd be the Resurrectionists. 10/10 no notes, wonderful costuming, great character development, DT improvising the shit outta the laudenum scenes... it really is a joy.

22. Bildad The Shuhite: hot or not?

TBH, probably the least *physically* attractive of Crowley's various looks, but you can't go past his swagger, confidence and cheek, so, I will say, hot.

[anaxerneas]

And Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and he said:

"Dominion and fear are with Him, who makes peace in His heights.

Is there a number to His brigades, and on whom does His light not rise?

And how can man be right with God, how can he born of woman be clear?

Why, the moon itself does not give light, and the stars are not clear in his sight.

How much more, man the maggot, and humankind the worm.

The shades shudder down below, the waters and their denizens.

Sheol is naked before Him, and Perdition is without garb.

He stretches Zaphon over the void, hangs earth over emptiness,

bundles water in His clouds, the scud does not burst below,

covers the face of the throne, spreads His cloud upon it,

draws a circle over the water to the border of light and darkness.

The heavens' pillars quaver, are dumbfounded by His roar.

Through His power He subdued Yamm, and in His cunning He smashed Rahab.

With His wind He bagged the Waters. His hand cut down the elusive Serpent.

Why, these are but the least of His ways, the tag-end of the word that is heard of Him. And His might's thunder who can grasp?"

From Robert Alter's translation of Job

Bildad's speech as we have it in the received text—only six verses—is inordinately brief, less than a third the length of the other speeches in the debate, and a section, or sections, of it almost certainly have been displaced or lost in the process of scribal copying. This translation follows a common proposal in transposing 26:5–14 to Bildad's discourse here. Those verses, which are wholly devoted to a rhapsodic celebration of God's cosmic powers, are altogether implausible as part of Job's speech, though that is how they are assigned in the received text.

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #22

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 2, The Clue, so were the goats

...

Hairstyle Notes

The red hair is not as fluffy and a little longer compared to the earlier minisode portion that started off the episode.

This style is what most closely resembles a "human" reading with short sideburns from the season 2 present day. Crowley is with two humans and no supernatural beings. The humans assume he is human during the scene.

Even though it's the accessory on the head, even the headband itself changed with its appearance in the back. While that looks to be a continuity issue, it's good to keep in mind that Crowley can control his own appearance so is likely mixing this headband appearance with the reading from the space.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

Job sits on the ground against some rocks. Sitis touches her own clothing.

Crowley likely receives credit for a miracle touch on a human when he says, "You tell me," and hisses at Sitis. This action looks like compelling someone for an answer though that answer is something Sitis herself decides. The name, "Bildad the Shuhite" is then said.

That name is his alias for these two. It's a human name from the Book of Job itself, and it's going to be reused later when he has this same hairstyle. While these circumstances are understandable in the context they happen, it's also a clue about the potential rule that Crowley isn't allowed to say his own name for any time period during the entirety of Good Omens 2.

Crowley has several questions when first talking to Job. Job says Sitis' name. They both say "God," in a way that I think qualifies as a name.

It's hard to really see much in the way of pockets. Everyone's separated and contained in their own cuts for most of the scene.

While Job and Sitis occasionally make pockets, those pockets are small and hard to notice to begin with. Their thumb joints do suspiciously align with edges of their clothing at times even though the Tied Hands aren't around.

Crowley's headband is like his substitute Belt Head at least. Sitis also wears something over her head.

Crowley still has the threads on his robe making pockets over his chest for where his Tied Hands would be.

When Crowley turns to show his back to the camera, then shows his front again, he does receive some extra lighting over the part of his chest exposed, before his beard covers it. He receives lighting generally in that area sometimes, and it's where the upper portion of his Tied Hands would be in the present day.

There's one cut with Job on the ground and Crowley standing, so a pocket generally exists between them though it doesn't seem to do anything special. There's another cut with Sitis pocketed between Job still sitting and Crowley still standing. Again, it doesn't seem to do anything special either.

For my tangential reading in my desperate attempt to improve my play, I finished The Sandman Volume 3. I'm still re-reading the Good Omens book.

...

Story Commentary

From the last scene, the story greatly implied that this part of the minisode is from Crowley's point of view. Aziraphale isn't around, and Crowley himself received stronger focus from the camera work.

When Crowley is talking to Job, the lighting on him is darker and favors his left.

When Sitis arrives, the lighting shifts. It then favors Crowley's right. With more light on him, his hair looks more red. After that, the hair generally stays as more red and favoring his right, regardless of the camera angle.

In trying to study the space and understand what's happening with the hair, the camera work ensures it is known that the space still has a roof—or at least roof edges—of a human-built structure, even if it is damaged and with an open threshold. Light pours in, presumably from that damage.

Crowley is not giving off the impression of someone secretly trying to save goats and children here. Without knowing how the minisode ends, the goats seem "destroyed", and now he's after the children.

Things don't look good. Well, things don't look good for people like Job, Sitis, and Aziraphale. Hell would be rather pleased.

Crowley expects Job to be furious with God and says so.

But Job isn't furious with God. He's furious with himself.

Then comes the main hint of Crowley's sympathy from the questions, "Yourself? Why, what have you done?" Then he looked like he wanted to say something more to Job's answer, but they were interrupted with Sitis' arrival.

We'll get a glimpse of Crowley's real scheme for this minisode in the next scene.

...

That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

...

Before the next post in this series, I am going to take some time to review things for The Pocket Trick that I'm hopefully starting to piece together and may update the main Sideburns Scheme post as well.

...

Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme