#end of series 3 is just 'Crowley

[smug-puppy]

I like to imagine that in series 1 Crowley and Aziraphale had only just learned the word Ineffable and that's why they keep using it, like a kid learning a new word for the first time

[pomefioredove]

i just noticed on your 'yuu gets sold' sorta series that there was a good ending, by chance could you do a bad ending one? if not that's totally ok! keep safe and stay healthy ❤️

oh god. I have a very evil idea for this.

parts 1 | 2 | 3 | kalim

summary: a bad (or good, depending on your stance) ending type of post: short fic characters: surprise :) additional info: yuu is gender neutral, this is short, HELP

Everyone waits.

The chatter and banter which once occupied the courtyard dies down to dull whispers and foot tapping.

Everyone waits, and there's no Crowley.

"Wonderful," Jamil sighs. "He's probably taken all the money and run off. I told you all that-"

"Maybe he's late!" Kalim shouts. A few in the crowd murmur in hopeful agreement.

Silver coughs. "Maybe he realized this whole thing is ridiculous and is processing everyone's refunds,"

They don't like that option as much.

The sun hangs lower and lower in the sky, threatening to shroud everyone in darkness as the minutes tick on.

"Well, I've had enough of this," Vil says, turning towards the exit. "I've put off my afternoon long enough."

"For once, we can agree on something," Leona murmurs, dragging Ruggie along with him.

No one is exactly surprised with this turn of events- but there's a definite sense of disappointment that everyone is sharing.

"He probably just forgot or 'somethin," Epel says, walking alongside Ace, Deuce, and Jack back to Ramshackle to update you on the happenings.

Jack shrugs. "He's definitely not the most organized, but there's no way someone could just "forget" about this. I think Jamil is right, he probably ran off with the money while he could. The swindler..."

Deuce is the next to add something to the pity party. "And yet, we should've known this was a possibility,"

"Shoulda seen it coming..." Epel murmurs. "I shoulda listened to Vil and pulled out while I still had the chance. Dang it..."

The lights are on in Ramshackle as the four approach, a warm and welcome sight after their disappointing afternoon. And the front door is open- were you expecting them?

"Hm. Well, think of it this way," Ace pushes the door the rest of the way open. "We may have been scammed, but at least nothing changes. I mean, it could've been worse."

"A lot worse," Deuce murmurs, following him inside.

The four make it into the foyer and stop dead in their tracks.

There are many things to expect walking into Ramshackle- cobwebs, dust, ghosts, you- Crowley is usually not one of them.

"You- you've been here this whole time?!" Epel shouts, throwing his arms out. "We were all 'waitin for 'ya like a bunch of idjits!"

Deuce and Ace wince. "Dude, chill... but seriously, where were you?"

Crowley doesn't have the chance to answer before something else steals away their attention.

You walk into the room, suitcase in hand. "Guys?"

The four turn to greet you, eyes wide at the luggage you're carrying. "What's that... Crowley?"

The man himself just stands there, pretending to ponder something. "I could have sworn I sent someone to break the news... how peculiar,"

Epel's brow knots. "What news?"

"A third party somehow got wind of our little... venture and donated a very high sum at the last minute. Along with a very passionately worded letter about our dear prefect's safety here at school," he pauses. "Or lack thereof."

Crowley sighs. "The name rung a bell, but... I couldn't imagine how or why anyone outside of NRC would be following the prefect's moves so closely,"

Deuce's eyes narrow. "Crowley. What are you trying to say?"

"Well, I..." he says, seemingly at a loss for words. "I'm afraid to say that our prefect is being transferred to Noble Bell College,"

[ineffectualdemon]

The more I sit with Good Omens, and I have to watch it again from the beginning of series one, the more the ending makes sense

Yes I believe that Aziraphale is being manipulated and being deliberately separated from Crowley because they are too powerful together

Yes I think what he said and how he said it was cruel

BUT

Of course Aziraphale is going to take this chance

Aziraphale is always going to do what he thinks is right even if he has to do it alone

1. He gives away his sword in the garden before he even meets Crowley again

2. He was fully ready and willing to save Job's children himself and then walk straight into hell with his head held high

3. When the original plan to stop the apocalypse went tits up and Crowley said "let's run away together" he said no. Not because he was just going to go along with the war but because he was going to keep trying

This is what he does

That's what made Crowley fall for him in the first place!

Aziraphale stays and he tries to do what he personally believes is right and if he fails he's willing to accept the consequences no matter how dire

And I think even if he had known what Gabriel said at "his" execution he still would have helped him

Because that's the right thing to do

And I hate how he went about it and I hate how he hurt Crowley

But of course he made the choices he did

If he made any other choice he wouldn't be the Angel Crowley fell in love with

God fucking damnit

[veganineden]

On the Evolution of “Happily Ever After” and Why “Nothing Lasts Forever”

A reflection inspired by Good Omens 2

One of my favorite Tumblr posts on the second season of Good Omens 2 was actually not about the series at all, but our reaction to it, primarily the ending. @zehwulf wrote, “I think a lot of us—myself included—got a little too comfortable with assuming [Aziraphale and Crowley would] work on their issues right away post-Armageddon.” We did the work for them through meta, fanfiction, fanart, and building a plethora of headcanons. Who among us AO3-surfing fans didn’t read and love Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by Nnm?

In the 4 long years since season one was released, we did more than seek to understand and repair rifts between two fictional beings: we were forced to reckon with ourselves too. We faced a global pandemic, suffered traumatizing losses and isolation, and were forced to really and truly look into the face of our atrocities-ridden and capitalistic world. The mainstream rise of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice work, and our participation in this work, showed us that the systems in place were built to oppress and harm most of us, and they are. 

So, what does this have to do with the evolution of “happily ever after”? 

My friend put it best in a conversation we had following the season finale, when she pointed out a shift in media focus. The “happy end” in old stories about wars and kingdoms used to be “we killed the evil old king and put a noble young king in his place and now citizens can live in peace” and we’re transitioning into a period of “we tore down the whole fucking monarchy.” 

If we look at season one, written to follow the beats of a love story, it comforted us by offering a pretty traditional happy ending pattern: you get your fancy dinner with your special someone, the romantic music plays, and you have a place to call your own. Season one’s finale provided a temporary freedom for Aziraphale and Crowley, the “breathing room,” but it didn't solve the problem that was Heaven and Hell, or the agendas belonging to those systems of oppression. 

Is it good enough to keep our heads down, pretend the bad stuff isn’t happening, and live our own personal happy endings until we die? Moral quandaries aside, if you don't die (or if you care about the generations after you), then, like Aziraphale said, it “can’t last forever.” There’s a clear unpleasant end to the “happily ever after” that’s based on ignoring our problems– it’s the destruction of our relationships, and humanity. 

Ineffable Bureaucracy can go off into the stars because they do not care about humanity. 

You know who does?

Aziraphale. 

And Aziraphale knows that Crowley cares about humanity too. (He knows because Crowley was the one who proposed sabotaging Armageddon in the first place, who only invited him to the stars when he thought all was lost, because Crowley would save humanity if he thought it was possible, and Aziraphale knows Crowley has survived losing Everything before, and he will do all in his power so that Crowley does not need to experience that again.) 

In season one and two, we see how much they care about humanity, beyond their orders, to the point The Systems begin to frown at them. Aziraphale hears Crowley’s offer to run away together in the final episode of season two, to leave Earth behind, and just like the first time that offer was made in season one, he declines. He knows choosing only “us” is not a choice either of them can live with for the rest of eternity.

I believe season 3 will provide an opportunity to “dismantle the system,” but I don’t know how it will play out. I worry that Aziraphale has put himself in the now-dead trope of the “young noble king.” (I wish Crowley had told him why Gabriel was dismissed from his duties.) I worry that he would martyr himself as a sole agent for change. I worry that he doesn’t actually know how to dismantle anything by himself: because you can’t. He needs Crowley. He DOES. He needs Crowley, and Muriel, and other angels and demons and humans without fixed mindsets to help him. Only by learning to listen and making room at the table for all can they (and we) move past personal satisfaction to collective liberation. 

Crowley was right when he said that Aziraphale had discovered his “civic obligations.”

So, I think we will get our modern-day happy ending– and it’s going to involve a lot of pain and discomfort, communication, healing and teamwork– and in the end, it’ll all be okay. There will be a time for rest and a time for “us.” 

And most likely a cottage. 

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”

 - Maya Angelou

Support the SAG-AFTRA strike and other unions. Trust @neil-gaiman. Register to vote if you haven’t yet. Hold yourself and others accountable with compassion. Read books. Keep doing the work. Rest. Then watch Good Omens 2 again.  

[thealogie]

picture this. you're michael sheen, beloved queer-friendly welsh actor and recent twilight saga vampire. you want your favorite book to become a tv show, and you want to be the lead. so what do you do? you befriend the author. he wines and dines you, you become a confidant in the scriptwriting phase. and in the process of the GO script you decide you don't want to be crowley, actually, you want to be aziraphale. you put in the work for months to influence the author to the same conclusion. so when neil gaiman comes to you one day saying, "i know you joined on to be crowley... but how would you feel about playing aziraphale?" you say, what a novel idea! i was feeling the same way, i just didn't want to say anything! let's do it.

you're michael sheen, the lead in the adaptation of your favorite book. you meet david tennant as your leading man, a rising star (and vocal fan of yours) you've had a few vague interactions with in the past. on set you immediately find the closest friend you have ever and will ever find in your life, and you know this. the romance you have in your (yes, your) show is ambiguous, but you're michael sheen. you think that romance needs to be explicit. so what do you do? you become a nightmare on set. you get really hands-on; you make costume choices, you make story decisions, you tell your author friend at the very end of filming: aziraphale is in love with crowley and realizes it in 1941. now go do it again.

so the author goes and does it again. you get a season 2. you get 1941 part 2. you're michael sheen, and you are the lead of the adaptation of your favorite book, and the romance you littered into the character you built from the ground up has become unambiguous. everything goes according to plan. but, you see, you have a problem: the author you have baby trapped is acting a FIEND on twitter and tumblr. he's saying everything he can to imply aziraphale and crowley aren't sexually attracted to each other. he's getting a bit too bold with his character assumptions, is all i'm saying. so here's what you're going to do: you play it up with your pal david tennant. you made a show with him during lockdown. you're going to depict your lives as even more intertwined and homoerotically codependent as previously possible. you grow even closer. your wives become best friends, too, because how could they not? this has been the plan since the beginning, too. your lockdown show ends. it wasn't enough.

so you, michael sheen, of course you put in the work. if david tennant's there, you're damn sure you're there physically, spiritually, biblically, in whatever capacity you can be. it's not hard. david tennant is a big fan of yours, after all, so he MAKES SURE you're always in the conversation. you have him wrapped around your little finger, this lovely little boy, and so you know what you do next? you become neighbors. you make your directorial debut casting your best friend's wife watching her husband and male neighbor initiate sex with each other. you play into the swinging rumors (that you, michael sheen, had started). you create a narrative that you and david tennant are two homoerotic besties, and is there more going on in the background there? any deeper conspiracy? who really knows, but what you do know is that the world is talking about it.

and you, michael sheen, your entire acting career has led to this moment, your gay quips, your oscar wilde sex scene (and the interviews following), all of your queer roles, EVERYTHING has brought us to this conclusion. you have created the lab perfect conditions where season 3 must have an explicit gay sex scene. i'm sorry neil, my hands are tied! the people are clamoring for me and david tennant to have sex-- i mean aziraphale and crowley to have sex, the public decided this all on their own! i really don't think you have much choice. but of course, i would never deign to tell an author how to practice his veritable craft. i concede to whatever version of series 3 you create, and i will happy to bring this beloved character to his deserved ending.

and why do you say this? because you're michael sheen. you're just an actor who incidentally stumbled his way into leading the queer romance adaptation of your favorite book that wasn't a romance, and you just read the script the way that it was given to you. and if series 3 means an explicit sex scene between you and your best friend david tennant, then what a lovely coincidence that you had absolutely no part in making happen. because what power do you really have?

This is my favorite book I’ve read so far this year. A rare occasion where the author pulls off use of the second person pov. I really felt like I was a beloved welsh actor crossed with Machiavelli when I read this

[giantmushyfriend]

Listen I know everyone is excited for petty Crowley in series 3, I am too. HOWEVER, I also desperately need a super bitchy Aziraphale. Because here is the thing, in what little we know about Series 3, we know that the Second Coming is on its way and Crowley and Aziraphale aren't talking. And we have to remember that Aziraphale is also angry with Crowley, just as Crowley is angry with Aziraphale. To Aziraphale, Crowley is the one who walked away when he needed him. So when I tell you that both of them are going to be petty as hell to the other, I mean PETTY. I wouldn't be suprised if they didn't directly talk to each other for an entire episode but instead just passive aggressively had someone else be the middle man. Like Aziraphale will come into the bookshop where Crowley is moping (definitely not trying to keep an eye on Aziraphale), and Muriel has to be in the middle of this:

"Oi, kid, tell the sUpReMe ArChAnGeL to shove his apology up righteous ass"

"Muriel, will you please tell Mr. Kiss and Run that I'm not here to apologize when I was doing my JOB"

"Tell his most holiness that his only job is licking HEAVENS BOOT like a pratt"

And on and on.

Now, do I think that Aziraphale and Crowley will spend the season learning how to communicate with each other and actually discuss what they were trying to say in the last moments of season 2? Absolutely. Do I want to see Aziraphale really fight for Crowley like Crowley fights for him? Yeah, a bit. Do I need them to make a big love confession scene where they make up and finally say I love you? Yes, and I think we will get something adjacent to that. But I think they are going to be serving up divorcees in a sitcom that end up together again before that.

[neil-gaiman]

Hello mister Gaiman, I hope you're having a nice day

I've been debating for a while on wether or not I should send an ask and I've come to the conclusion that I might as well do it since the chances of getting an answer are pretty low

So I made my family watch good omens with me when I decided to watch it for the third time (I have a garbage perception of time but since we're in December I think we watched it a couple of months ago) and as we were talking I told my mum I could send an ask on tumblr and she immediately told me to send something on her behalf (clearly I'm late but let's not dwell on that)

So we watched it, I helped my mum with some of the vocabulary since she doesn't speak English as well as my brother and I, and came the end and my mum and brother cried

So from my mum : "tell him this is one of the best ending to a series I've ever seen"

Thank you from France, we loved it and will wait for season 3 impatiently while pretending to be patient

Also if I may add two questions that you don't need to answer :

Will we have more historical flashbacks in season 3 ? I absolutely adore the costuming, I think it's just so well done and so pretty and I just want to see more (I especially love the 1827 costumes, I'm on a quest to make both Crowley and Aziraphale's outfit for myself)

And while talking to my brother I mentioned the stuff that was cut and he mentioned doing a director's cut

So my second question would be, would there ever be a director's cut where some or everything that was cut would be added or would it change the story you've already told too much ?

Thank you for your time and have a nice day

Our cuts of Season 1 and 2 are the director's cut. He was very happy with them.

[maaikeatthefullmoon]

I’ll forever be grateful to Rob, Rhi, the Pratchett Estate & Narrativia for fighting for Good Omens.

It’s exceedingly clear that we, as fans, owe them A LOT. And we need to thank them. And we DON’T do that by acting as petulant children and not watching what they create. So don’t boycott, or whatever some people are calling for. Yes, polite calls for more time, budget, etc are great. Childish tantrums, no. It just ends up in your toys being taken away. Trust me.

I’ve found a lot of people’s assumptions regarding the finale’s plot interesting. Terry never witnessed the fan reaction to the series. Sure, there was shipping of Aziraphale & Crowley, but nothing like after it hit TV.

I doubt he would’ve really cared all that much, either.

His focus would be on the intricacies of the Armageddon 2.0 storyline for this finale. The zombies (dudes [gn], there’ll be undead everywhere), Jesus coming back, etc. We know he’d want to discuss the underlying nuances of the politics in Heaven & Hell and how they’re just two sides of the same coin. And isn’t it all of Them vs all of Us?

Of course our Ineffable Duo will be there. But don’t forget they weren’t actually the sole focus of Good Omens, the novel. The one Terry wrote 75% of.

I really hope we’ll get 1941 Pt 3, and a few other bits of historical context, but for the most part, that’ll be left to us to write in fanfiction.

GO The Finale will, in all likelihood, focus almost exclusively on the here & now.

I’d really recommend to anyone struggling to have a (re-re-re-x infinite)re-read of the novel, and other Pratchett works, particularly his Discworld novels. Small Gods and Pyramids are good ones for religion.

Anyway, enough from me. I’ll definitely be writing more in-universe fanfic, especially as it’s unlikely we’ll see any of the historical scenes I’ve been wanting to research. I’ve got a BIG work planned which I’m doubly committed to writing now.

[noneorother]

All the music you didn’t hear: The Good Omens soundtrack is lying to you. *Part 1*

The Bonkers Meta Series part 2: Electric Boogaloo.

I so rarely get a chance to misuse my experience in classical music, but here we are. When I realized on my most recent watch-through of the series that the David Arnold score was brilliant, but also really wonky in some parts and I couldn’t put my finger on why, @embracing-the-ineffable suggested I listen to the album soundtrack to compare.

And when I tell you what I found hidden in there, you’re going to need Eccles cakes...

1) The Song is the Clue

So right up top we have this banger. The 12th track on the album is the orchestral backdrop to the scene in the Job minisode where Aziraphale reveals Crowley’s crow/goats. The duration is 2:22 (the only track with multiples on the album), and if you look at the track by itself it doesn’t mean much. But the song just before it is actually from this fucking scene:

You know, the one where there’s a song that’s a clue to a mystery. Except Clue is capitalised, and Aziraphale pronounces it. I’ve seen guesses that this is a reference to the movie Clue, but I would put a lot of money on the fact that we are supposed to read the title of the song currently playing at that moment in the show *as a Clue*, which is super convenient, because the word Clue is capitalized in the track listing. 

Seems like the overlords of Good Omens have a message for us : The song is the Clue. It’s what God wants. Cool cool cool. WHAT SONG?

2) Symmetry in all things 

Before I straight up tell you, we have to go back and look at season 1.

Now I’m far from the first to notice tons of parallels between the story, details and even lines in both seasons. It got me thinking that maybe there are some fun synch-up parallels between the two season’s soundtracks, seeing as they are both 6 episodes long. Here’s the end of S1 and then S2

Oh that’s a bummer, I thought to myself. 

They don’t even add up to the same number, or playtime, and neither of them is exactly 60 tracks. But do you want to hear a secret? S2 is actually missing 3 tracks on the album. And because there are 2 discs in S2 (cute), the numbers of the tracks start over again from 1. Remember how much God likes sevens? Check out where all the weirdness is happening in disc 2 (I’ve added the missing track listings in red to add context):

After checking each track with the show and listening side by side (for reasons that will become clear in another post) I can definitively say that there is something *very weird* going on at the end of episode 4. 

First is track 7, Zombie dressing room, which seems to actually reach over two distinct scenes of the photo evidence in the dressing room and then Shax in hell even though it only has one title.

But *between* these two scenes we get an eerily silent wine date with Aziraphale & Crowley.

There’s really no music or even sound here besides the dialogue and room tone (until after the cheers), and it seems like a very intentionally silent version of a ritz date from season 1.

My best guess is that we are supposed to divide that track into two tracks of 7, before and after the date to get a second track 7. Or maybe the silent one is missing music? The third track number 7 is the weirdest one. It’s this scene here, when Nina parks her bike, and Aziraphale parks the car at the end of S2E4.

If you take a close listen to the music, it’s a jaunty little piece, with an oom-pah base in 3 ⁄ 4 time. The thing is, this music does not exist in any Good Omens album. Please feel free to correct me, but I’ve tried to find any part of any song that this could even be a reprise of, and I Shazammed it to be sure it wasn’t anything else. This song does not exist anywhere except in this scene. (It quickly morphs into a reprise of the original theme once Nina leaves Aziraphale). It’s an invisible song.

So we have 3 tracks at the end of S2E4: a long one, a silent one and an invisible one. Only one of which is numbered 7, but that all fit into that place in the track listing.

Which, when we add the two extras to the original total of fifty-nine we get... sixty-one! Hey wait a minute.

How are we going to get to 62?

3) The real missing track. 

So the real reason we had to go back to the S1 album was because it contains the missing track that God is talking about. Let’s compare the last tracks on each album.

I’ve highlighted the mismatch between the in-show music and the album in S2, which means I had to add A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square back into the S2 album because guess what, it’s not in the S2 album. Even though it plays in the show. 

You want to know how not in the album it is? Amazon had to track it in the show as a season 1 song. They had to give Tori Amos credit for her song on Good Omens in the X-ray bonus features because that’s how not in the album this song is.

So my fellow beings, if the song is the Clue, then It’s what God Wants.

And if God wants a happily ever after with Aziraphale and Crowley on their own side, then by Job, I think Neil is going to give it to her.

-----------

And there's more where that came from! Part 2 coming shortly.

[im-this-kind-of-girl]

Aziraphale and Crowley's unhinged character analyzis (pt1)

Controversial opinion:

Aziraphale and Crowley at the end of Season2 managed to accomplish the main goal they each had since the beginning of time. Only to realize that what they wanted no longer made them happy.

It sounds crazy, but to explain myself I have to do an in-depth analysis of their personalities and the possible transformation arc that both characters are probably going to have at the end of the Good Omens story.

Disclaimer: I have no idea about what is going to happen in Good Omens. This analysis could clearly be considered a theory since I'm not Neil Gaiman, but as someone who knows about narrative and character structure, I'm going to elaborate. Also, English is not my first language, so sorry in advance.

Aziraphale

First let's talk about Aziraphale. For two reasons, firstly because he is the one who seems to deserve the most defense right now; and second because Aziraphale, in my opinion, is the main character of Good Omens. This is because Aziraphale, out of the two, is the one who is likely to have the biggest change in his personality once his arc ends.

In a story, especially one like Good Omens with many characters, it is common for there to be many arcs, as every character has something to learn. Crowley, as a co-protagonist and love interest, is clearly going to have a change at the end of the plot, but his change won't be as big as our angel's.

First things first, what is a transformation arc?

It is the transformation that a character undergoes from the beginning to the end of the story. Basically, at the beginning of a story, a character is in a certain state of equilibrium, he lives and thinks in a certain way until he is exposed to a situation that forces him to act outside of his comfort zone. During this, he will undergo different changes that will be reflected in actions that take him away from his natural state until the climax, where the character will make a decision that will change his normality forever. This is important. In every story, the climax marks a before and after in the protagonist's life: whatever he decides at this moment has no turning back and will mark his life forever, so that after the climax, the character may again have a state of equilibrium but different from the initial one.

What is the climax of Good Omens? Well, in the 1st season we have the bodie swap and in the second season the separation of Crowley and Aziraphale. But of the story itself? It's still a mystery.

Neil Gaiman has already confirmed that Good Omens is a three-act story, so its climax will be located at the end of season 3. We still don't know what definitive change there will be in our characters… although throughout the series we have enough clues to at least know what they probably have to work on changing.

Aziraphale's Role

In order to analyze Aziraphale we must begin by understanding his role within the angelic hierarchy. Aziraphale was created as a Cherub and then, after Eden, became a Principality. Both ranks have one thing in common: they are guardian roles.

Cherubs are second in the highest circle of heaven, below Seraphims. They are described as "guardians of the universe from a divine plane and without direct contact with humans, although they positively influence them". On the other hand, Principalities are seventh within the last circle of the angelic hierarchy, and the highest rank within it. They are the guardians of nations and countries, overseeing global events within politics and commerce.

So, Aziraphale was created with the main purpose of being only one thing: a soldier. His function is to obey and protect objects, places and beings. That is why he was the angel who received the sword of fire, his task was to protect Eden. But he also has a very strong sense of intrinsic goodness that has led him to make erratic decisions throughout history that question just how much he is willing to obey orders.

If Aziraphale feels that something is wrong, he won't do it. It doesn't matter if he has to go against Heaven or sin. It doesn't matter if killing a child saves the rest of the world, he won't do it. It doesn't matter if God will grant Job new children, he can't stand idly by. These actions make him stand out from the rest. A simple soldier just obeys while Aziraphale has a critical mind, he has too strong of an opinion about right and wrong. If an event happens that he considers evil, Aziraphale will go to great lengths to prevent it.

It is remarkable that the first thing he did having free will was to give his sword to Adam and Eve. Of course he did it with the function of protecting them but, by giving them his only weapon, Aziraphale was left in a serious state of vulnerability. He did it because he is good and kind, but it could also be considered an act of sacrifice. Here enters another important issue when talking about Aziraphale that relates to religion itself.

The Martyr Hero

One of the most basic conceptions about the Christianity is that without sacrifice a person cannot really be good. Jesus was crucified to free us from our sins; Job sacrificed his whole life to prove that his faith was genuine. Even centuries later, the ecclesiastical institution maintains that the more you suffer, the poorer you are, the more chances you have of ending up in Heaven.

All the sacrifices made in life will eventually be rewarded in the Kingdom of God. It is the eternal figure of the martyr that is worshipped in Church, the idea that to really love, to really do good, sacrifices must be made.

Aziraphale believes this blindly. Now, he is an angel, not a human. He will not have an eventual reward of any kind, and that does not matter to him, because he considers himself lucky to be able to be a being of light who brings happiness to others no matter the price he has to pay. He was willing to fall only to save the lives of Job's children just because it was the right thing to do.

Performing actions for your own happiness without thinking of the consequences is frowned upon throughout the Bible. It is considered selfish and is a great source of guilt for all its faithful.

There is a line from the Good Omens Musical that has always stayed with me. When they argue, Crowley tries to talk some sense into Aziraphale by claiming all the reasons why he should help him avoid Armageddon, to which Aziraphale replies "you and I are not important."

Why didn't Aziraphale quickly give in to the proposal to stop the end of the world? Why didn't he tell Crowley where the Antichrist was without hesitation? Why did he help Gabriel in spite of everything? Why didn't he kiss Crowley back although he wanted to?

Truth be told, Aziraphale does not prioritize his own happiness because he does not consider himself important.

At the center of it all is God, good and ineffable who would never let anything happen unless it is not amenable to the greater good, then there is all the rest. Aziraphale believes he is just a soldier with a mission: to protect the Earth and everything he considers worth saving. He is not on this list: his welfare does not matter to him because, in the grand order of things, Aziraphale does not believe he is important.

There is no afterlife reward for him, though that doesn't stop him from feeling guilty about wanting it.

Aziraphale's dilemma

Aziraphale's great dilemma ould be summed up as:

Do I do what I want or do I do what I must?

Should he obey the rules or get what his heart yearns for now that it is within his grasp?

Throughout Good Omens, we learn Aziraphale has given into various temptations such as food. But these sins are small in comparison to what he really wants. For how does he explain to God that what his heart desires the most is to be able to love the Serpent of Eden?

He is madly in love with Crowley. He could lose everything: his bookstore, restaurants, music, art, but the feelings he has for him will never go away. It were years of repression, believing that if he loved him in silence, everything would be okay.

Now, in the season finale, Crowley expresses it, confesses and kisses him, offering him what he has always secretly wanted on a silver platter.

But Aziraphale was also offered a place in Heaven, finally being accepted by the family he misses. Aziraphale spent the entire 2nd season getting involved in trying to save Gabriel, in bringing Maggie and Nina together, getting perhaps a little too invested because he clearly missed having a purpose.

He was not well emotionally. He missed feeling that he does good because, despite everything, he believes in the potential that Heaven has. Aziraphale knows that if he is in charge, if he gives up everything that makes him happy, if he stops being selfish as he was all these years, he can make the necessary change to prevent the End of the World.

Aziraphale is a soldier whose main goal has always been to protect. Becoming the supreme Archangel he is able to protect everyone he loves. Because of this, he decides to sacrifice his earthly happiness and make the most difficult decision but the one he feels is right: to leave Earth, reject Crowley and become Head of Heaven.

The end of his arc and Crowley

Like any arc, Aziraphale's is clearly at the end of the story. He's already changed a lot, and he's done mostly so because of Crowley. Not just because of love, no, Crowley manages to awake something in him. Crowley is the driving force that encourages change in him, that reaffirms or questions his beliefs whenever he is in doubt about whether something is right or wrong. He inspires something that Aziraphale, an obedient soldier of the Lord never had: freedom.

Obviously, our angel always had that spark of freedom, though repressed, hidden in the darkest part of his being because he knows it is something that makes him different from the rest and he doesn't like to admit that he doesn't fit in Heaven.

Because this means that he doesn't fit in Hell either, nor on Earth completely. Ergo, admitting to being different means confirming his suspicion that he doesn't fit in anywhere. But he never had to pretend this with Crowley.

Knowing all this, how will Aziraphale's arc end?

Well, he's going to have to choose between heart and duty again. Aziraphale is going to want to save Earth at the Second Coming, that's obvious. He is going to be forced to disobey Heaven once again as he realizes that he cannot change them. In this way, he will confirm something tragic: his sacrifice was in vain.

But it is necessary that he can assume this in order to understand that he is wrong:

It is not necessary to suffer in order to deserve love.

It is not necessary to sacrifice everything that makes you happy to prove you are good.

Eternal sacrifice is not the solution. Aziraphale has to learn that being happy and being loved is not a reward that has to be given, no, it is something he is worthy of without the need to sacrifice his life. Aziraphale must understand that he does not have to prove that he is a good person by martyrdom. He is a good person because he is empathetic, smart and sweet.

The secret is to find the balance between love and duty, between good and evil, to embrace his freedom and find happiness by accepting his mistakes that make him different from the rest. The easiest way is to learn to love in the most genuine way: the human way. Discovering that love does not necessarily have to be painful or repressed, that he can do it openly, that what he feels is not a test of faith, but the reward he has been waiting for all these years.

Aziraphale will ultimately become free through Crowley's love.

[lizardaggro]

on the flip side (twst bully!au) pt 3

here we are, the long-awaited (it was literally like 1 day) part 3!! i wanted to declare on one of the actual chapters since those get seen by the most people that I DID NOT MAKE THIS AU, credit i believe goes to @azulsluver. i swear i don't hate you guys, leaving everything on a cliffhanger, but the good news is i have a lot of time on my hands due to chronic illness so i can update super often. also i gave up on the purple theme on posts bc tumblr hates me and always leaves the end of the word count black.

part 1 part 2

genre: gn reader, angst trigger warnings: bullying, mild yandere (will be escalating throughout the series, but no non-con) word count: 1246

You couldn’t really afford to space out and think about it though, not when he was right in front of you. Riddle tapped his foot impatiently, clearly irate at your lack of response. “Well?” He asked. “Do you not even have anything to say in your defense?”

Oh dear. However were you supposed to get rid of him when he was so intent on getting some sort of answer out of you? You had no idea what he wanted! He was more difficult to threaten, too, since you’d made up your mind that you didn’t want to be like your tormentors and completely ruin others’ lives. No, your end goal was just to make them leave you alone. After everything you’d been through, you really didn’t want to see them again.

It might seem strange to some people, that you weren’t dead set on destroying any semblance of normalcy they once had. You had all the ammunition you needed, of course. The Overblot victims would be the easiest to topple, considering what they’d done in and leading up to that state. But you didn’t think you were a particularly vengeful person; at least, you didn’t want to be. Crowley had always said that you must’ve been sent here to get his precious students to work together, so clearly you weren’t like them.

“I never asked for this, Riddle. Any of this. So if you think somewhere in your fucked-up mentality that you’re doing me some sort of favor, you’re dead wrong,” you intoned. Indeed, even though you just wanted them gone, you missed the days when you were all friends. Back when you thought everyone had your back no matter what. Oh, if only you knew what they’d do for you. It wouldn’t be hard at all to push some of the more unstable students over the edge. Those who felt they didn’t have anyone else. Much like a certain dragon fae who never did seem to get invited to things.

Riddle looked like he was about to say something, but before he could, he was drenched by a great torrential rain. Where did that come from? Didn’t the forecast say it was supposed to be clear skies and sunny for the rest of the week? Your question was soon answered, as you had two more visitors.

“Silver? Sebek? What brings you here?” You inquired, not at all amused. When those two showed up at the same time, it could only mean one thing, and it wasn’t good. Riddle looked like he had caught on as well, since he stepped in front of you, as if that would do any good.

“LORD MALLEUS REQUESTS YOUR PRESENCE!!” Sebek boomed. You’d made progress on his volume in the past, so you were sure he did it just to annoy you. Silver just stared. He always stared, you felt like. Sometimes you swore you could feel his eyes on you even when he was nowhere to be found.

“Oh, gee, I wonder what that’s about,” you snarked. “Poor little princey-poo doesn’t want his embarrassing little secrets getting out? Well you can tell him to fuck off.” You must’ve been feeling especially brave, since normally you knew that defying Malleus Draconia was as good as a death sentence. He wasn’t even that bad, compared to some of the others. He just… locked you in his room and made you listen to him talk, with no room to get a word in edgewise. He’d go on and on about one thing or another for HOURS, with no regard for your schedule or your bodily needs. Clearly fae had a different sense of time than most.

It was the loss of control over your own life that you hated; that, and that if he really still considered you a friend, he never bothered to do anything about your bullies. You knew he was more than capable; you’d witnessed his strength firsthand on multiple occasions. You didn’t know what his endgame was, and frankly you were too scared to find out. He could trap you there forever and you wouldn’t be able to do a single thing about it.

Sebek was not amused. He raised an arm, likely to strike you, but Silver placed a hand on it, effectively stopping him. “Don’t. You wouldn’t want Lord Malleus to see a bruise on them,” he reasoned. You didn’t get it. Since when would he care? Sebek roughly shoved Riddle out of the way, despite all his objections, and nonchalantly slung you over his shoulder.

“What the hell?!” You screeched, pounding your fists on his back. “Put me down! I’m not going!” You weren’t sure why you were objecting so vehemently; this time wasn’t any different than the others. But something about the dark gray clouds pouring rain on what should’ve been a lovely day just told you that this was not going to be good.

But alas, your plight was ignored. The three of you made your way to Diasomnia in silence. No one bothered to stop and stare in the halls, as you being carried off by people was somewhat of a normal occurrence. You could swear Savannahclaw and Diasomnia even had some sort of twisted capture-the-flag game going, for whatever reason.

When you entered the gothic-style castle, you were greeted by none other than Lilia. Much like Malleus, he’d never bothered you too terribly, only engaging in less-than-welcome pranks. You knew he was far older than he let on, so you supposed he didn’t see the point in such childish endeavors. There was, however, one thing you feared about the man: his cooking, which he tried to shove down your throat at every opportunity. How Silver grew up healthy you’d never know.

And so, of course, you were greeted by a plate of… well, goop, to put it nicely. “Here, have a seat, dear, I made lasagna,” Lilia offered with what you assumed was supposed to be a warm smile. To you in that moment, with the fumes starting to reach your nose, it looked like a shit-eating grin.

“I’ll pass, thanks. That is to say, I’d rather die than eat that shit, because it looks and smells like it’ll send me straight to hell,” you deadpanned. Sebek let out an unholy screech and started ranting about how dare you refuse Lord Lilia, even though you knew he wouldn’t want to eat it either. You did your best to tune him out. Silver looked relieved, surprisingly enough. You supposed he was able to empathize since he grew up eating the stuff.

Luckily for you, Lilia just sighed and walked off, taking his culinary abomination with him. The three of you who remained shared a look. “How are you still alive after all these years?” You asked Silver. He shrugged. If even he didn’t know, you’d just call it a miracle.

“SILVER, QUIT FRATERNIZING WITH THE ENEMY! LORD MALLEUS IS WAITING!” Sebek practically screamed in your ear. You really wished he would stop doing that. But you had more important things to worry about, like your impending death by dragon fae. Once you arrived at Malleus’s room, Sebek set you down and pushed you inside. You heard the lock click behind you. You gulped, feeling the pressure of being alone in a room with a presumably angry and very powerful mage. You looked up to see a pair of emerald eyes staring you down. Oh boy, this was not going to be fun.

taglist: @twistedcece @slxt4h1m @teawhere @pleasehugmeaether @reivelmin @aoiyx

[bellisima-writes]

A GO Season 3 Fanfic Friday

Hello fandom fam,

First let's get a few things out of the way - I believe the victims, and always have - they deserve justice and what happened with GO S3, I hope, is only the beginning. Having a 90 minute series finale instead of an entire season stings, but if it protects vulnerable people and gives consequences for a sexual predator, then it is what HAS to happen. We can be sad, but we must remain enraged at the actual cause, and him alone.

NOW. This is a fanworks blog, so I feel compelled to shout from the rooftops - There are COUNTLESS SEASON 3 SPECULATION/POST SEASON 2 FANFICS OUT THERE. And I know there is a population of the fandom who avoids them because they don't want to be disappointed (I was this person) - but guess what! YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ANYMORE.

So dig in, let loose, read every bit of Season 3 fic as your heart desires and choose the one you love the most as your version.

Here are a few of my favorite completed Post Season 2 works that have stayed with me:

Please note - Now, I've not read as many post season 2 fics as others, and there are a few giants that are not on here, and that's not to say anything about the quality of those works at all. I am just a human, with my own tastes and things I gravitate towards and things I shy away from.

Most canon compliant:

Factory Settings - the original and the best with an air of mystery that makes it almost magical. This is the closest to canon season 3 story I've read. The gist is after Aziraphale returns to Heaven he finds the Starmaker standing in front of him in Crowley's clothes, with no recollection of his life as a Demon. It's a beautiful story that if you haven't read yet, you should.

Sexiest:

We Can't Keep Meeting Like This by @gingiekittycat - if you want to read the sexiest, angstiest, heart-breakingest version of Season 3 imaginable, this is it. I LOVED this story, but I love this type of angst, so proceed with caution. Aziraphale and Crowley meet once a year to discuss the Second Coming, but instead of planning they keep having sex. There is a fully blown plot driven story here that is so great. When you're ready to handle heavy angst and the hottest smut around, read this.

Funniest:

Trial & Error by @fellshish - Fellshish is my favorite author to read when I need to smile, and Trial & Error is a fantastic post season 2 fic if you need some levity and a lot of heart. The plot is simple - Crowley is brought to Heaven to face charges that he engaged in trying to tempt an angel. The way Fellshish writes Crowley is one of my favorites: carrying himself with both his heart on his sleeve while also maintaining an unwavering amount of self worth and confidence, even if it's fragile. Crowley knows who he loves, and he knows who he is, and I find the balance of the two is rare in post season 2 fics.

Fics by lesser known authors: I always like to highlight the works of a few lesser known fics because our fandom is overflowing with amazingly talented people. So here are a few I've read that stood out despite not being as popular as the ones above.

The Beginning of the End (Again) by @addledmongoose - a sweet post season 2 story that focuses on Crowley being employed by Hell to stop the Second Coming by showing Jesus around Earth and trying to convince him not to end the world. Supreme Archangel Aziraphale hears about these clandestine rendezvous and is...jealous? The characters in this are spot on, paying respect to both Aziraphale and Crowley. Some angst, but not much, and lots of sweetness. And BAMF Aziraphale coming in strong to save the day. I definitely hoped for some jealousy from Aziraphale around Crowley and Jesus' relationship in season 3, and since that's not looking likely now, this fic will always hold a special place in my heart.

A Place for the End of the World by @kitty-kat-undercover - another tender and unique take on a Season 3. The premise is, after Aziraphale returns to Heaven the Second Coming is happening fast, so Crowley heads to an old friend's house in deep rural Canada to spend the end of days time. The characters have a ton of heart with some really lovely OCs that rounded out the story nicely. The prose in this one are the standout, as well as the tender care and time that's taken to paint a picture of the beautiful landscape as well as Crowley's heart. Like a warm cup of cocoa, this one is a slower, sweeter take on a Season 3, but it could be what people need right now. Also, never seen a better take on jealous Aziraphale than in this fic. Raging, angry, jealous Angel.

And because life is short, I'll throw my own in here - Time Marches Forward. More of a sequel to Season 1 than Season 2, if Season 1 ended with the final fifteen. This story follows Aziraphale in Heaven and Crowley on Earth as they march towards the Second Coming. No book of life, no deconstructing what secrets lie in the final fifteen. In addition to Az and C, this story has an angsty and powerful teenage antichrist coping with the knowledge of what he is and how he fits into the world and the upcoming plans for everything to end, a witch contending with knowing she destroyed the key to saving everything, and a Messiah who's been left alone for 2,000 years, waiting for his "big comeback." Lots of plot, in-depth character arcs for everyone involved, an incredible amount of heart, and an actual resolution that includes justice for Heaven, Hell and humanity. This story is very dear to me.

AND IF NONE OF THESE SOUND GOOD - Here you go: Post-Good Omens (TV) Season 2 - there are over 1200 works under this tag.

Go forth and feast, dear fandom friends.

[pomefioredove]

Ngl I want a sequel to bad ending 'yuu gets sold' series

Cause imagine the boys go to NBC just to find out that yuu is actuality doing great, better than great, even better than the time they were doing in NRC

I like to think that Rollo is legitimate a nice person when you remove the hatred over magic type of stuff

He deffo makes sure that yuu is well fed and clean (let's be honest, not something that yuu always has in NRC) plus treat yuu greatly

rollo fans who are starving since everyone stopped talking about him after november I'm here for you. I see you. take my hand

parts 1 | 2 | 3 | kalim | 'bad' ending

summary: yuu transfers to NBC type of post: fic characters: rollo my beloved additional info: yuu is gender neutral, implied romantic ^_^

It had been a long six months for everyone at Night Raven College.

The departure- and subsequent absence- of their beloved Ramshackle prefect was very much felt.

Days were longer, nights were darker, the first year class itself felt empty.

"At least they're not dead," was the consensus.

Of course, you continued to communicate with your friends- it wasn't like you completely dropped off the map, although Noble Bell College had a stricter policy about phone usage.

You even sent some letters back and forth, yours filled with updates and mementos, theirs with pictures of all you'd left behind.

Did you miss NRC?

Well...

You missed your friends.

But Crowley? The overblots? Being everyone's personal therapist?

...Yeah. You could live without that.

Noble Bell College may have been more exclusive, and more strict in their code of conduct, but it was more peaceful, too. Smaller, less students, and much less reliance on magic, so that you and Grim could be whole students independent of one another.

The curriculum was much different than NRC's. Less of an emphasis on a personal connection to magic, and more on tradition, ritual, and history. There were few times when you'd have to sit out a class, or watch your friends have fun from the sidelines.

If anything, Rollo made a point of including you.

A part of it may have been personal pride- after all, he just couldn't resist showing you how much better he is.

But he also had a vague idea about how stressful your life at NRC really was, and how isolated you felt, despite being surrounded by people. It was his duty, in a sense, to rectify that.

Even if it meant you had to sit through his lectures and recitations of the traditional magic laws.

...Though, even with his intense adherence to tradition and structure, he made quite a show of being kind to you.

Despite his best efforts to claim fairness and righteousness, it was no secret to anyone that he favored you. You quickly became the only person he spent his free time with (not that he was particularly social in the first place...)

And... it was nice. Is nice.

He holds himself to high standards, and expects that of others; he's cold, harsh when he feels it necessary, and repressed in all ways imaginable.

And yet... well, there's no sabotage, no swindling, no scamming, no manipulation to make petty ends meet.

Rollo, as a person, is both confusingly complex and reassuringly simple. You know as much. He sticks to routine, to rules, to tradition. He's diligent in every sense of the word, and highly respected because of it.

And when the eyes of the other students are turned away, he treats you with a sort of gentleness that you'd become wholly unfamiliar with at NRC. Like a porcelain doll, like something precious he desires to wrap in cotton and silk and store somewhere safe.

You wonder if his behavior towards you is at all connected to the very reason he risked his status bringing you here in the first place... but you don't dwell too long. He's as mysterious as anything.

When your former classmates come to visit over break, it's like they're meeting an entirely different person.

"Happy to see us, eh? You're like, glowing," Ace smirks.

Deuce elbows him in the ribs for that comment. "What he meant is that you look great. I mean, really! You've been sleeping more?"

You nod. "Lots, yeah,"

"Weird, I woulda guessed they'd been working you to the bone. This place is all "no funny business", right?" Ace shakes his head.

You laugh, walking alongside your former fellow first years in the streets of Fleur City, the very ones you'd become so accustomed to in recent months.

"I've actually been doing well with my studies. I think I've finally decided what I want to do after graduation,"

"Oh, that's great!" Deuce says. A lengthy pause follows, much to your confusion- it's as if everyone has something they want to say, but won't be the first to say it.

Epel clears his throat. "You been 'doin alright?"

"Um... yeah. I have,"

"Cause... you know, if anyone was giving you trouble, we'd give 'em what for!"

You chuckle. "I'm fine, really. People here are pretty nice..."

Again, that same silence follows. Epel, Deuce, and Ace look between each other, as if daring the other to say the next thing.

This time, you take the initiative.

"Listen. If this is about Rollo, he's fine. I'm fine. He's been nothing but helpful,"

The tense silence breaks and Ace sighs, shaking his head. "You can't blame us for being worried,"

"I mean, this whole situation has been really shady. Everyone at NRC has been worried sick..." Deuce says. "We just wanted to make sure..."

You smile. "I appreciate it, but you really don't have to send in a rescue party. I've been... I've been really good. Happy. And I miss you guys to pieces, but I've felt closer to home here than anywhere else. Does that sound strange?"

A short pause follows. Deuce is the first to speak, his voice sounding strained. "Not at all. We just want you to be happy,"

You can tell he's trying really hard to sound positive. Epel, on the other hand, doesn't sugarcoat anything.

"You really won't come back with us?"

You smile again, though this one is wholly apologetic. "No, I don't think so,"

The three are quiet for another moment, and then seem to drop the subject. The rest of their stay goes by smoothly, even with all the strained moments where you can tell they have something to ask. You assume they've already figured out the answer.

The day trip is over by sundown and you return to campus just before curfew, taking a seat in one of the cozy (though currently empty) lounges by a familiar face.

"They're gone?" Rollo asks, not bothering to look up from the textbook he's perusing.

You watch him carefully, and think it's best not to mention you friend's attempt to bring you back with them.

"Yes, they're gone. We had fun, nothing happened,"

"Good," he says. A brief silence follows before he speaks again. "I do trust you. But-"

"You don't trust them. I understand. If I were you, I suppose I wouldn't, either. But I'm fine,"

"When are they coming back?"

"Two months. They're taking the weekend. Might bring some other people,"

Rollo hums a note of acknowledgment, fingers rolling around the pen in his right hand. The book is still open, though he's looking ahead now. His face is flushed.

You know he's unhappy with it, but he won't say anything. You're grateful he likes you enough to let you rub elbows with people he despises. Especially after all that's happened...

He stands, closing the book. "Very well. Let me know what day so that I may adequately prepare myself. Good night. Be safe,"

And with that, he takes his leave.

Ever distant. Ever polite. One might mistake the way he speaks for coldness or resentment if you weren't so familiar with his mannerisms by now.

You turn to look into the lounge fireplace behind you, watching the flames flicker and die until all that remains are soft, glowing embers, the same shade of red that burns on his cheeks when you look at him.

[somehow-a-human]

The Filming of Good Omens Season 2 -

A Chronological Masterpost

I've finally put together this huge piece of meta that I have been working on for a very long time. I haven't written or posted much about GO since the allegations dropped. I don't think I need to explain anything to all of you about that. It has been hard to find my motivation again, but I'm finally feeling motivated to write, what with season 3 (I will not call it 'the finale' you can't make me) beginning filming very soon and all. <3

In this post I will try to put together the filming timeline of season 2, in order to hopefully give us more context and decipher the reasons behind season 2's blatant discontinuity problems.

I used any and all information I could find. From actors/writers/artists social media accounts, news articles, BTS information, filming slates, and more. We will follow a chronological timeline to establish what order the scenes of Good Omens 2 were filmed in. At the end we'll discuss what the findings might mean for the discontinuities of S2.

Are Crowley's sideburns changing lengths for a reason? Or are you just seeing them consistently grow throughout filming? However, why they might let them grow out instead of just trimming them is a different question all together...

Okay let's jump in!

Before the Beginning...

June 29th 2021 - NG posts on Instagram - Announcing GO series 2, and the BBC also releases an article announcing filming will take place in Scotland.

September 23rd 2021 - Prime XRay Trivia - Episode 3, timestamp 13:04 -

"The background plates for this car scene was the first footage shot for Good Omens Season 2 on September 23rd, 2021 at Forrestburn Hillclimb, weeks before the main shoot began."

This is the background scenery for Aziraphale's drive to Edinburgh, and was likely captured while crew were scouting locations.

October 13th 2021 - Michael posts on Twitter - His hair has been bleached for filming.

October 18th 2021 - NG posts on Instagram - First day of filming on the set in Bathgate, Scotland.

October 18th 2021 - Based on the scene number, this is likely a St. James park scene from early in episode 1 (not necessarily filmed at St. James mind you).

October 19th 2021 - Georgia posts on Instagram - David's hair has been dyed for filming.

October 26th 2021 - Aziraphale receives Maggie's note.

October 18th - 31st 2021 - Prime XRay Trivia - Episode 5, Timestamp 3:53 -

“This was the first scene Michael and David filmed together for season 2"

The scene being referenced is the modern day magic shop scene where Aziraphale invites Mutt to the ball. The ball invite scenes were some of the first scenes filmed. (Excluding the invite to Arnolds as the music shop interior was not actually located on set with the rest of Whickber Street, it must have been filmed later.)

November 2nd 2021 - NG posts on Instagram - A photo of Michael and David on set together. This looks to be one of the outdoor whickber street scenes, my best guess is this would also be the scenes where Aziraphale invites the Whickber Street shopkeepers to the ball.

November 2nd 2021 - NG posts on Instagram - a zoomed in photo of the "cupperty" scene. Only Crowley and Aziraphale's faces are visible. Quelin Sepulveda as Muriel was likely available from the start of filming, so some scenes featuring Muriel were able to be filmed at least prior to November 2nd.

November 6th 2021 - Georgia Posts on Instagram - David and Georgia attend "An Audience with Adele" at the London Palladium, so he must have gone home and spend some time with family <3

November 8th - 12th 2021 - Filming at Stirling Castle Graveyard, Stirling Scotland. This would include the episode 3 bodysnatchers minisode scenes in the graveyard, and Aziraphale's present day visit to the graveyard.

November 15 - 19th 2021 - Filming in Dumbarton and Queensferry. This would include the Edinburgh street scenes from the bodysnatchers minisode and scenes with Dalrymple at Hopetoun House. NG also says "Next week we're back in Bathgate".

November 22nd 2021 - Hell scene - Shax asks Beelzebub if she can attack the bookshop.

November 22nd 2021 - Anna posts on Instagram - The caption is: "It's Scotte-land, daddy!" Based on the previous filming slate, if they were filming scenes in Hell, Michael had some free time to spend with Lyra and Anna <3

November 25th 2021 - Ennon's house/courtyard scene is filmed.

November 26th - December 5th 2021 - News Article - Filming crews and the Bentley are seen at circus lane in Edinburgh, this would be to film any of the scenes when Crowley is in the alley.

December 16th 2021 - Georgia posts on Instagram - David facetimes her from set, holding a Good Omens 2 mug and sporting some styled Crowley hair.

December 18th 2021 - Glasgow donut shop Tantrum Doughnuts posts on Instagram about providing Christmas donuts to the Good Omens crew.

December 25th - January 1st - Georgia posts on Instagram - David is home for the holidays and Anna posts on Instagram Michael is home for the holidays.

This is the point at which Jon Hamm joined the production! He was only available halfway through filming so any scenes with Gabriel/Jim in them were filmed after this point.

January 11th 2022 - Aziraphale's arrival to the Edinburgh pub is filmed, multiple sources post about seeing the production take place.

Jon Hamm is also seen arriving on set in Edinburgh to film his and Beelzebub's Pub scenes.

January 13th 2022 - The ball begins & the demons invade Whickber Street. Scene 19 gives us the dichotomy of the warm jubilance inside of the ball contrasted with the scary scene taking shape outside as Nina and Maggie arrive.

January 14th 2022 - "You are out of order!"

January 17th - 19th 2022 - Scenes 21 - 27 are all the goings on inside the ball: the seamstress conversation, Maggie and Nina dancing, Crowley and Aziraphale dancing, etc.

January 23rd 2022 - Instagram user marty.kelly (also the Supervising Art Director of GO2) posts a photo of a stunt banana peel. Could this be the peel that Maggie tosses from her shoulder during the bookshop invasion?

January 26th 2022 - Filming Slate - "Leave now and nobody will be hurt"

February 12th 2022 - Georgia posts on Instagram - David is home.

February 14th & 15th 2022 - Filming at Bo'ness Hippodrome takes place. These are the whiskey delivery and subsequent magic show scenes from the 1941 minisode.

February 16th 2022 - The hitchhiker scenes from episode 4 with Shax were filmed at Forrestburn Hillclimb. A local car club posted about the filming crews visit.

February 18th 2022 - Shax rousing the troops.

February 22nd 2022 - Douglas posts a photo of himself in front of the blue screen set for the Before the Beginning scenes.

February 24th 2022 - Instagram user kaedesmith7, who worked on the set of GO2 posts a photo of a pen of goats with the caption "Just a normal day at work" - We can guess then that some of the Companion to Owls minisode scenes were filmed on or around this date. If I had to guess, these would be the scenes where the large blue screen set was needed.

February 26th 2022 - Georgia posts on Instagram - David and Georgia go out for a date. Sidenote: cute <3

March 1st 2022 - The last scene is filmed on the last day of shooting. Douglas posted the slate on Instagram and Michael posted on Twitter about "hanging up his angels coat"

Conclusions:

SO! What can we learn from all of this brain rot I've compiled? First, let's list the scenes of GO2 in filming order. I'm going to include some scenes I don't have explicit proof of, but were likely filmed at the same time as others.

Crowley and Shax meet at St. James Park

Azi gets Maggie's note, and additional record shop scenes

Crowley and Aziraphale invite the whickber street shopkeepers to the ball

Coffee shop scenes, Maggie & Nina scenes, and bookshop scenes without Jim were likely filmed around this time

Muriel's arrival and cupperty scenes

Bodysnatchers minisode & Aziraphale's present day visit to the graveyard

Shax asks Beelzebub if she can attack the bookshop, more Hell scenes were likely filmed as a batch during this time.

A Companion to Owls minisode courtyard and cellar scenes

Scenes with Crowley in the alley way: Shax tells him Gabriel is involved, Crowley is summoned to Hell by Beelzebub, Shax tells Crowley she thinks Aziraphale is involved

Aziraphale arrives at The Resurrectionist

Gabriel and Beelzebub's meetings through the years

The Ball and demon invasion

The first weeks of february are likely when they filmed most of Gabriels whickber street and bookshop scenes

1941 minisode scenes at the theater

Shax tricks Aziraphale into picking her up as a hitchhiker

Shax rouses the troops prior to the bookshop invasion

Blue screen scenes were likely filmed around this time including Before the Beginning, the opening and closing scenes for A Companion to Owls

The last scenes were filmed on the final day of shooting.

I couldn't find much to indicate when the Heaven scenes were filmed so if anybody has anything, this is very much a working document so feel free to share!

What does this tell us about a 53 year old man's sideburns? Well, to me it seems like they simply grew out during filming. Does this explain Bildad having two completely different wigs?! NO. Does this explain why they didn't just trim them to a consistent length during filming? NO. When his snake tattoo was being applied nearly under his jawline, there must have been conversation about it's placement, but they chose to leave it for a reason. Why? Well hopefully we'll understand some day.

I can also tell you that the progressive wear on Aziraphale's beloved waistcoat is consistent with the filming timeline. I won't bore you with the entire document filled with screenshots, so you'll have to believe me, but it appears to be that his waistcoat simply aged as filming went on.

What do you think? Let me know your thoughts and as we approach S3 filming, happy sleuthing and happy holidays!

As always a massive thank you to the folx @ineffable-detective-agency for their contributions! @embracing-the-ineffable, @noneorother, @kimberleyjean, @lookingatacupoftea, @komorezuki, @maufungi, @havemyheartaziraphale, @theastrophysicistnextdoor, @dunkthebiscuit, @ghstptats, @251-dmr, @commonmexicanname, @eybefioro, @beebopboom

[aziraphales-library]

Hi! I was wondering if you could recommend some fics where Crowley and/or Aziraphale are detectives. I would prefer if they were rated M or E. Thank you :)

Hey. Here are some M/E detective fics...

All's Fair In Love And Serial Killing by WyvernQuill (M)

Detective Inspector Crowley is 99.999 percent sure that Aziraphale Fell is a serial killer. The trouble is only that the remaining 0.001 percent are deeply in love with the man… --- In which there is A Murder - rather a lot of them, actually - A Marriage Proposal - just the one - and True Love - whose course runs less not-smooth than it takes a sharp left turn, loops a couple times, and doubles back on itself, before crashing straight into a wall. (Don't mind the metaphor. It still ends well. Promise.)

yours in black lace by okapi (E)

Hardboiled, hell-fried private investigator Anthony J. Crowley is just trying to survive a hot, boring August, but a new case and a series of anonymous naughty letters signed only 'yours in black lace' are about to make things interesting. Chapters 1-3 are case fic. Chapter 4 is smut. For the 2020 DW Unconventional Courtship challenge based on a summary of the Mills & Boon novel Yours in Black Lace by Mia Zachary.

Snow Angel by Lurlur (E)

Detective Constable Crowley has been working the "Snow Angel" case for almost a year. It's Christmas Eve and finally, his luck seems to have come in. Arresting Aziraphale Fell, big-time drug dealer, is the easy part. Questioning him is the hard part. It's a police procedural that goes sideways. I'd say it still manages to have a more coherent plot than any episode of Prodigal Son, but that's not saying much.

Tadfield's Finest by angelsnuffbox (E)

The sleepy town of Tadfield is thoroughly shaken by the arrival of DI Crowley. Where barely anything ever happened before, there is now a bustle of low grade criminal activity, and everyone knows where to point the blame. Gabriel thinks he's a bad omen for the town, many others are quick to agree. Meanwhile, Aziraphale from SOCO just thinks he's hot. Ridiculously so.

It's A Hard Life by Krisdaughter_of_Athena (M)

“Crawly” was the best delivery man in the whole city of London, and everyone knew it. Whether it be books and flowers, or narcotics and guns, Crawly was the one for the job. Easy enough for Crawly to slip in and out of tight spaces, and easy enough to keep his real name off the police radar. Detective Constable Aziraphale Pritchard is used to being told he is not very good at his job. He is as surprised as everyone else when he is the officer to catch Crawly, the Devil’s infamous delivery driver, in the act. He is the only officer to figure out Crawly’s real name. But no one else knows that, otherwise they’d also know that the DC tends to get drunk with this particular member of the notorious Demons every other Thursday, and would also know of the fragile Arrangement between the two. Aziraphale knew it couldn’t last. However, what are the two to do when Crowley is given an extra special delivery, one which places the two unlikely allies alongside each other for the long haul? How will they keep the delicate balance of their arrangement from their respective sides? And how will they keep one boy from bringing destruction to the entirety of London?

The Currents by indigo (M)

Post-End-of-the-World-that-Wasn't, a bored demon sets up a Detective Agency and obviously drags his angel counterpart in to help out. They are tasked with preventing a murder before it happens and set off to the Highlands of Scotland - where, of course, nothing works out quite the way they imagine...

- Mod D

[crowleysgirl56]

Ok, so here are some of my rather long rambling thoughts. I’ll start off with some pros and cons and then provide some speculation:

My initial negative reaction:

- Compressing 5 hours worth of content into 90 minutes feels like things will be rushed and we won’t get a good story.

- HOW do you take a month to rewrite six 45 minute long scripts into a movie length feature and have it still be good?!

- the compression of the story means we will likely not get any more flashback sequences. Admittedly I actually thought we probably wouldn’t get more flashback scenes in season 3 anyway, but this definitely proves the case that we won’t. There won’t be time for it.

- who has re-written the script? Because here’s the thing about Pratchett adaptations. They’re fucking shit. No one (in my opinion) has been able to successfully transfer that man’s unique sense of humour and writing style onto screen. Every single Discworld adaptation has been on a scale of awful to kind of meh. EXCEPT for season 1 of Good Omens. As much as we hate him now. As vile as he has become in our hearts, the thing about NG is that he understood Terry’s unique style. He understood what worked and how to transfer that to the screen. And that breaks my heart on so many levels. Because he was all we had. And we certainly didn’t want him any more. But still, who THE FUCK has written the finale script now?

Now here are my positive thoughts on the situation:

- NEIL GAIMAN GOT HIS SORRY ASS FIRED! GOOD!

- Consequences. The industry has signalled consequences. Finally!

- We are getting a conclusion! It could very well have been cancelled and we would have been left with the final 15 forever. We get to see them again. That deserves a Wahoo!

- thinking back over season 2, which I enjoyed, I actually do have to say a lot of it was kind of unnecessary filler. The flashback sequences were great. But the actual core of the season’s arc involving Gabriel was just a bit boring. I’m forever grateful for it because we got to spend almost 6 hours watching Aziraphale give Crowley heart eyes and Crowley do beautiful acts of service proving his love back. But the meandering stuff with Nina and Maggie and trying to work out why Gabriel lost his memory wasn’t all that interesting. I was here for A&C.

- so I think MAYBE that means the compression of what had already been written for season 3 means it’ll cut out the plot bits that drag. Hopefully this means it’s faster paced and tighter and more focused on A&C.

Speculations:

Thinking back to the last time NG interacted with the fandom, he had confirmed the first three episodes were written and were with Amazon for approval, episode 4 was almost done, the last part of episode 6 had been written, and he had started plotting episode 5. We never got a confirmation if he ever finished them. So this maybe indicates that the finale is lifted exactly out of these scripts. My assumption is they’ve brought in a script doctor to edit what they’ve already got and wrap up plot points. In which case, on the one hand it gives us close to the story and idea of what Terry imagined. On the other, the far more negative connotation, it’s still NG’s work. The articles that have all come out so far merely states “Gaiman is not involved with the production and the finale is based on his work”. This could be Prime distancing themselves without actually confirming how he’s contributed. Which is still largely disappointing.

So, once again I feel very conflicted. A lot of the fandom have been very adamant about not wanting to support the show if Gaiman was involved, and in the end he wrote the show. Even if he had been removed as producer and showrunner and wasn’t allowed on set (thankfully it seems all three of things have happened), I know that wouldn’t have been enough for some fans because he would still have ultimately been responsible for the product that we eventually see. And I don’t know how to feel about that.

I’m happy he’s gone, I’m disappointed the show has been gutted, I’m glad we get a conclusion, I’m sad it won’t be exactly what we wanted.

I’m SO THANKFUL that the women get some semblance of justice, that there is a consequence for a perpetrator, that a big ass company is finally listening to fans and moving with the times and signally this kind of behaviour isn’t appropriate and that repercussions can and will be felt.

Finally, I’ll remind everyone that there are going to be a lot of different and conflicting feelings from the fandom. I would ask that everyone try to be nice to one another. If you have a differing opinion, maybe rather than debating it you just allow that person their feelings and move on. Do not go after someone if you feel like they’re not reacting the “right way” to the situation. Just be kind please. It’s what Terry would have wanted.