#love the hamlet quote

[santacoppelia]

Putting the Meta in "Metatron"

(couldn't resist the pun, sorry)

Ok, this has been tickling my brain for a while. I've been thinking about how The Metatron designed his role and discourse specifically to manipulate Aziraphale into the end result we saw in the last minutes of S2. I become obsessed with it because… well, I'm a bit obsessive, but also because there were many really smart writing decisions that I loved (even when I despise The Metatron exactly for the same reasons. Hate the character, love the writer). If you haven't watched Good Omens Season 2, this is the moment to stop reading. Come back later!

We already know that in Book Omens, the role of Gabriel in the ending was occupied by The Metatron. Of course, the series introduced us to Gabriel and we won a lot by that, but I feel that the origins of The Metatron should be considered for any of this. He is not a "sweet old man": he was the one in charge of seeing over the operation of Armageddon; not just a stickler of rules, but the main promoter for it.

However, when he appears in the series finale, we first are primed to almost pass him by. He is in the line for buying coffee, using clothes that are:

obviously not tailored (almost ill fitted)

in dark tones

looking worn and wrinkled

This seems so important to me! All the angels we have seen are so proud of their aspect, wear clear (white or off white) clothes, pressed, impeccable (even Muriel), even when they visit the Earth (which we have already seen on S1 with all the visits to the bookshop). The Metatron chose a worn, comfortable attire, instead. This is a humanized look, something that fools all the angels but which would warm up someone very specific, can you guess?

After making quite a complicated coffee order (with sort of an affable and nervous energy), he makes a question that Crowley had already primed for us when asking Nina about the name of the coffee: having a "predictable" alternative and an unpredictable one.

This creates an interesting parallel with the next scene: Michael is discussing the possibility of erasing Aziraphale from The Book of Life (a punishment even worse than Holy Water on demons, because not having existed at all, EVER is definitely worse than having existed and ceased to exist at some point) when The Metatron arrives, interrupts the moment and signals having brought coffee. Yup, an amicable gesture, but also a "not death" offering that he shows clearly to everyone (even when Michael or Uriel do not understand or care for it. It wasn't meant for them). He even dismisses what Michael was saying as "utter balderdash" and a "complete piffle", which are the kind of outdated terms we have heard Aziraphale use commonly. So, The Metatron has put up this show for a specific audience of one.

The next moment on the script has Metatron asking Crowley for the clarification of his identity. Up to this moment, every angel has been ignoring the sprawled demon in the corner while discussing how to punish Aziraphale… But The Metatron defers to the most unlikely person in the room, and the only one who will push any buttons on Aziraphale: Crowley. After that, Aziraphale can recognize him, and Metatron dismisses the "bad angels" (using Aziraphale's S1 epithet) with another "catchy old phrase", "spit spot", while keeping Muriel at the back and implying that there is a possibility to "check after" if those "bad angels" have done anything wrong.

Up to this moment, he has played it perfectly. The only moment when he loses it is when he calls Muriel "the dim one", which she ignores… probably because that's the usual way they get talked to in Heaven. I'm not sure if Aziraphale or Crowley cared for that small interaction, but it is there for us (the audience) to notice it: the sympathy the character might elicit is built and sought, but he is not that nice.

After that, comes "the chinwag" and the offer of the coffee: the unnecessarily complicated order. It is not Aziraphale's cup of tea (literally), but it is so specific that it creates some semblance of being thought with care, and has a "hefty jigger" of syrup (again with the funny old words). And, as Aziraphale recognizes, it is "very nice!" (as The Metatron "jolly hoped so"), and The Metatron approves of him drinking it by admitting he has "ingested things in my time, you know?". This interaction is absolutely designed to build a bridge of understanding. The Metatron probably knew that the first response he would get was a "no", so he tailored his connection specifically to "mirror" Aziraphale: love of tasty human treats he has also consumed, funny old words like the ones he loves, a very human, worn, well-loved look. That was the bait for "the stroll": the moment when Aziraphale and Crowley get separated, because The Metatron knew that being close to Crowley, Aziraphale would have an hypervigilant soundboard to check the sense of what he was going to get offered. That's what the nasty look The Metatron gives to Crowley while leaving the bookshop builds (and it gets pinpointed by the music, if you were about to miss it).

The next thing we listen from The Metatron is "You don't have to answer immediately, take all the time you need" in such a friendly manner… we can see Aziraphale doubting a little, and then comes the suggestion: "go and tell your friend the good news!". This sounds like encouragement, but is "the reel". He already knows how Crowley would react, and is expecting it (we can infer it by his final reaction after going back for Aziraphale after the break up, but let's not get ahead of ourselves shall we?). He even can work up Muriel to take care of the bookshop while waiting for the catch.

What did he planted in Aziraphale's mind? Well, let's listen to the story he has to tell:

"I don't think he's as bad a fellow… I might have misjudged him!" — not strange in Aziraphale to have such a generous spirit while judging people. He's in a… partnership? relationship? somethingship? with a demon! So maybe first impressions aren't that reliable anyway. The Metatron made an excellent job with this, too.

"Michael was not the obvious candidate, it was me!" — This idea is interesting. Michael has been the stickler, the rule follower, even the snitch. They have been rewarded and recognized by that. Putting Aziraphale before Michael in the line of succession is a way of recognizing not only him, but his system of values, which has always been at odds with the main archangels (even when it was never an open fight).

"Leader, honest, don't tell people what they want to hear" — All these are generic compliments. The Metatron hasn't been that aware of Aziraphale, but are in line with what would have been said of any "rebel leader". They come into context with the next phrase.

"That's why Gabriel came to you, I imagine…" — I'm pretty sure The Metatron didn't imagine this, ha. He is probably imagining that the "institutional problem" is coalescing behind his back, and trying to keep friends close, but enemies closer… while dividing and conquering. If Gabriel rebelled, and then went searching for Aziraphale (and Crowley, they are and item and he knows it), that might mean a true risk for his status quo and future plans.

Heaven has great plans and important projects for you — this is to sweeten the pot: the hefty jigger of almond syrup. You will be able to make changes! You can make a difference from the inside! Working for an old man who feels strangely familiar! And who recognizes your point of view! That sounds like the best job offer of the world, really.

Those, however, are not the main messages (they are still building good will with Aziraphale); they are thought out to build the last, and more important one:

Heaven is well aware of your "de facto partnership" with Crowley…

It would be considered irregular if you wanted to work with him again…

You, and you alone, can bring him to Heaven and restore his full angelic status, so you could keep working together (in very important projects).

Here is the catch. He brought the coffee so he could "offer him coffee", but the implications are quite clear: if you want to continue having a partnership with Crowley, you two must come to Heaven. Anything else would be considered irregular, put them in a worst risk, and maybe, just maybe, make them "institutional enemies". Heaven is more efficient chasing enemies, and they have The Book of Life as a menace.

We already know how scared Aziraphale has always been about upsetting Heaven, but he has learned to "disconnect" from it through the usual "they don't notice". The Metatron came to tell him "I did notice, and it has come back to bite you". The implied counterpart to the offer is "you can always get death". Or even worse, nonexistence (we have already imagined the angst of having one of them condemned to that fate, haven't we?)

When The Metatron arrives, just after seeing Crowley leave the bookshop, distraught, he casually asks "How did he take it?", but he already knows. That was his plan all along: making them break up with an offer Aziraphale could not refuse, but Crowley could not accept. That's why he even takes the license to slightly badmouth Crowley: "Always did want to go his own way, always asking damn fool questions, too". He also arrive with the solution to the only objection Aziraphale would have: Muriel, the happy innocent angel that he received with so much warmth and kindness, is given the opportunity to stay on Earth, taking care of the bookshop. The only thing he would have liked to take with him is not a thing, and has become impossible.

If God is playing poker in a dark room and always smiling, The Metatron is playing chess, and he is quite good at it (that's why he loves everything to be predictable). He is menacing our pieces, and broke our hearts in the process… But I'm pretty sure he is underestimating his opponents. His awful remark of Muriel being "dim"; saying that Crowley "asks damn fool questions", and even believing that Aziraphale is just a softie that can be played like a pipe… That's why telling him the project is "The Second Coming" was an absolute gift for us as an audience, and it prefigures the downfall that is coming — the one Aziraphale, now with nothing to lose, started cooking in his head during that elevator ride (those couple of minutes that Michael Sheen gifted to all of us: the shock, the pain, the fury, and that grin in the end, with the eyes in a completely different emotion). Remember that Aziraphale is intelligent, but also fierce. Guildernstern commited a similar mistake in Hamlet, and it didn't go well:

"Why, look you now, how unworthy a thing you make of me! You would play upon me, you would seem to know my stops, you would pluck out the heart of my mystery, you would sound me from my lowest note to the top of my compass, and there is much music, excellent voice, in this little organ, yet cannot you make it speak. 'Sblood, do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe? Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me."

I'm so excited to learn how this is going to unfold!! Because our heroes have always been very enthusiastic at creating plans together, failed miserably at executing them, and even then succeeding… But now they are apart, more frustrated and the stakes are even higher. Excellent scenario for a third act!

*exits, pursued by a bear*

[entropy404]

You cannot, sir, take from me any thing that I will more willingly part withal: except my life, except my life, except my life.

William Shakespeare, Hamlet

[a-j-s-the-only]

“The question is: is it better to be alive or dead? Is it nobler to put up with all the nasty things that luck throws your way, or to fight against all those troubles by simply putting an end to them once and for all? Dying, sleeping—that's all dying is—a sleep that ends all the heartache and shocks that life on earth gives us—that's an achievement to wish for. To die, to sleep-to sleep, maybe to dream. Ah, but there's the catch: in death's sleep who knows what kind of dreams might come, after we've put the noise and commotion of life behind us. That's certainly something to worry about. That's the consideration that makes us stretch out our sufferings so long.

After all, who would put up with all life's humiliations-the abuse from superiors, the insults of arrogant men, the pangs of unrequited love, the inefficiency of the legal system, the rudeness of people in office, and the mistreatment good people have to take from bad-when you could simply take out your knife and call it quits? Who would choose to grunt and sweat through an exhausting life, unless they were afraid of something dreadful after death, the undiscovered country from which no visitor returns, which we wonder about without getting any answers from and which makes us stick to the evils we know rather than rush off to seek the ones we don't? Fear of death makes us all cowards, and our natural boldness becomes weak with too much thinking. Actions that should be carried out at once get misdirected, and stop being actions at all. […]”

-Hamlet. Act 3, Scene 1, Page 6

[blabbershere]

My words fly up and my thoughts remain below: words without thoughts never to heaven go.

— William Shakespeare // Hamlet

[thatshadowgastwhore]

Tbh, if for some reason I were directing hamlet, I would have him kiss half the cast and also I would very much so emphasize the homoerotic undertones between hamlet and horatio because horatio did not give the good night sweet prince speech to be called hamlets good friend

[realm-of-tas]

" Expectation is the root of all heartache. " -William Shakespeare

[thedreadvampy]

Halloween in November?

it's more likely than you think

[booksnplaysnthings]

I want a production of Hamlet that capitalizes on Horatio being in love with Hamlet, but Hamlet doesn’t realize and is genuinely in love with Ophelia. After Ophelia’s death, however, he begins to realize and there is a growing sense of love between them in the final two scenes of the play. Because, let’s face it, Hamlet is definitely bi.

[amoresperros2000]

You said I killed you — haunt me, then! The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe — I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always — take any form — drive me mad! only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live without my life! I cannot live without my soul!

william blake, my spectre around me night and day... / emily brontë, wuthering heights / celeste ng, everything i never told you / george roux, spirit, 1885 / hamlet's parents: the dynamic formulation of a tragedy / fred elwell, the wedding dress, 1911 / jamie-lee kriewitz, ghost

[aesdi]

the best thing i’ve learned since playing persona 4 golden is how much of a fucking dork yosuke is

absolute best character ever made

[andtahatsall]

Doubt thou the stars are fire;

Doubt that the sun doth move;

Doubt truth to be a liar;

But never doubt I love.

~ William Shakespeare, Hamlet

[anya-s-tuff]

William Shakespeare, from Romeo & Julliet

[a-j-s-the-only]

To be, or not to be? That is the question— Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And, by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep—

No more—and by a sleep to say we end The heartache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to—'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wished! To die, to sleep.

To sleep, perchance to dream-ay, there's the rub, For in that sleep of death what dreams may come When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause. There's the respect That makes calamity of so long life.

-Hamlet. Act 3, Scene 1, Page 3

[ilredeiladri]

I just found this attempt to the task "change an existing story by letting a character appear unexpectedly and ruin the ending" in my drafts. I'd totally forgotten that I ever wrote this but I must admit that I love it 😂

>“This is the final round, Laertes”, Hamlet growls. “Prepare to lose!”

“We will see”, Laertes retorts and raises his rapier.

“Oh, stop it, boys!” a high, very familiar voice rings out from the entrance of the throne room. Both fencers spin around to search for the speaker. As they see the girl, that is standing there soaking wet wearing a white dress and a flower crown, they gasp for air.

“I know, I know”, Ophelia sighs, “you are totally shocked to see me. But guess what? I don’t care. I’m sick to death of your childish behaviour – no pun intended. Hammy, you already killed my dad because of this lunacy, so leave my brother alone. You aren’t much of a fighter after all, are you? So better stick to your books and your little loverboy – yes, I mean you, Horatio. Please take this fool of a prince back to your studies. Whatever you do there... I don’t care. Just leave! And Laelae? Stop bitching around just because you’re frustrated by your trip to France. Guess what, people can survive getting dumped without starting a revolution. Maybe it’s time to grow up and accept that you aren’t as irresistible as you think. Other people can live with that and so will you. Just grow up, big brother! And STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT! Both of you!”

As if by command Hamlet and Laertes drop their gazes to the floor. It’s hard to tell which of them looks more ashamed and embarrassed. Nobody in the room, not even the king, says a word.

“Have I made myself clear?!” Ophelia asks and the two boys that were about to kill each other a second before nod in unison.

“Good”, Ophelia smiles pleased. She steps forward and picks the rapier from Laertes’ hand. “Let me take this before someone gets hurt. Do you have anything to say before I leave?”

“I love you”, Hamlet grovels. “I’d drink Eisel for you!”

“I love you more”, Laertes hastens to affirm. “I’d drink Eisel AND eat a crocodile.”

“Oh, don’t be pathetic, you two!” Ophelia snorts rolling her eyes. Then she walks straight up to the golden goblet filled with wine that’s standing next to the king.

“Do your highness mind if I take that?” she asks and grabs the goblet without waiting for an answer. Claudius’ eyes widen as she raises the cup to her lips.

“Don’t drink that, girl! It’s poison!” he shouts in horror.

“Yeah, I should hope so”, Ophelia rejoins with a shrug. “I’m so sick of this stupid world. And after I reckoned that drowning isn’t the best way for suicide when you are an excellent swimmer, this might be a more successful attempt. Cheerio, you losers!” Nobody tries to stop her as she downs the wine in one gulp while starting to walk back towards the double door through that she had stepped in just a few moments ago. The last thing the thunderstruck people she leaves behind see is how she carelessly throws the goblet on the ground and struts out of the door, Laertes’ rapier still in hand.

Minutes tick away until someone dares to move again.

“Wow”, Hamlet whispers. “What a woman.”

“Hands off of my sister!” Laertes mumbles automatically.

“Well, if the king spoke the truth, she may be dead already” Horatio objects "So..." He tellingly arches his eyebrows. Hamlet and Laertes interchange a look before they both break into tears as if they have gotten an invisible signal. Horatio sighs.

“Well… I kind of understand her”, he mutters while patting Hamlet’s back. “You two are actually the biggest dumbheads I ever met.”<

[optimistic-yara]

Be my Romeo and I’ll be your Juliet 💞🫶🏻

[cpcampanello]

Hamlet and Horatio