#ressurectionist

[mandrawsdog]

concept art/style test from a personal story i'm planning on letting you guys see sometime (relatively) soon. they are siblings

[nofomogirl]

We need to talk about body snatching

I'm not a massive fan of the 1827 minisode - if you're curious why it bothers me, I've explained it in my post about two GO canons - but there's no denying it does an amazing job at exploring the complexity of morality and moral choices. It starts with a very black-and-white two-dimensional image and gradually adds shading and perspective, making it harder and harder to judge as we go along.

I think it's worth digging into (pun not intended but I'll take it).

Layer 1: body snatching bad

We learn someone did something

It's those first few seconds where we see a person robbing a grave, and since we know that robbing graves is a crime and generally not a good thing to do, we can quickly form a tentative conclusion that this is wrong.

Okay, in this exact instance, we immediately get enough context clues to see that this kind of judgment would be oversimplistic and superficial. Only Aziraphale, who for some reason acts as if it was his first day on Earth after a thorough memory wipe, is ready to condemn Elspeth based on just that.

Nevertheless, this is the first layer - the deed itself with no context.

Layer 2: body snatching acceptable

We learn about the person who did the thing

That's the whole journey with the first dug-up body where we get to know Elspeth and become privy to her circumstances - she's desperately poor, she has another person depending on her, she robs graves to survive. Aziraphale's suggestions that she might earn her living by selling books, weaving or farming just serve to prove how inaccessible more honest and dignified professions are to her. In turn, her comment about how she's not hurting anybody who isn't already dead hints that from the realistically available options, Elspeth could have chosen something much worse.

Technically this layer is a significant step up from layer 1 but it still isn't really challenging. Things are spelt out really loud for us, and most importantly everything we learn about Elspeth is just attenuating circumstances. To top it off both she and Wee Morag are immediately endearing. The takeaway is that sometimes things that in theory are bad can be excused which is important but the verdict still comes without any second thoughts.

Layer 3: body snatching complicated

We learn the larger context around the thing

This mostly happens when Aziraphale and Crowley discuss body snatching with Mr Dalrymple. We learn that the stolen corpses are used for a medical study that can advance human knowledge and make it possible to save living people and that surgeons have no legal means to obtain enough of them for their research - hence their need to buy them from body snatchers.

At first glance it's just more of what we got in layer 2 - more agruments in favour of body snatching that aren't all that nuanced and don't really give us any pause - just from a larger perspective, beyond Elspeth's individual experience. But if you glance more than once you'll notice this is when things stop being straightforward and easy to judge.

The moment we enter a proper grey area is when Aziraphale asks why Mr Dalrymple doesn't acquire the bodies himself. This is a very valid question - while we might easily agree that studying the human body to further medical knowledge is a good thing, and with just the slightest hesitation admit that it's acceptable to resort to using stolen bodies if that is the only way the research may continue, it's not as easy to excuse taking advantage of the poor and the desperate to do the actual stealing that we know is very dangerous.

The moment we know without a doubt we are in a proper grey area is when Mr Dalrymple laughs at Aziraphale's concern.

Objectively, the surgeon is right that it's more effective if he doesn't risk his own life in the graveyard and uses his time on actual research, teaching students and saving lives. But it's also clear he doesn't exactly see people like Elspeth as actual human beings and feels he has every right to use them. On the one hand, he is paying, on the other, he happily benefits from the cruel class system and is not even one bit remorseful about it. On the one hand, he takes risks too, on the other he has a chance of rewards Elspeth will not benefit from. It's not the poorest whose lives will get bettered by the progress of medicine, even though they're the ones who pay with their lives for that progress. And if Mr Dalrymple gets lucky and is knighted for his work (we know he wasn't in the end but it was a possibility), the poor still won't be pardoned for stealing for him. Nevertheless, he has no issue with that.

As I said, things get nuanced.

Layer 4: it's different when it's someone you know

The thing actually happens in your life

I think you'll all agree that the turning point of the minisode is when Elspeth decides to sell Wee Morag's still warm body. This is what finally leaves us speechless.

That's because up until now we've been approaching the issue intellectually. It's not that we didn't care about the characters, but we were allowed to keep a safe distance. The whole thing was like a problem to be solved - "Is body snatching right or wrong? Discuss in 500-1000 words" - and everything we've learned so far was data for this assignment. I believe that one of the reasons why this detachment came naturally was that there was a very thick line between people involved in body snatching and the bodies that were being snatched. The former were, well, people, obviously. The latter were inanimate objects.

It isn't until Wee Morag is to be sold that we are forced to see a person in a dead body. This is also when real emotions enter the equation.

This shift forces us to question our judgment for the first time. It was easy to justify Elspeth when she was selling a nameless corpse. But the fact that she decided to sell her closest companion - and most likely lover - shocks us. Something inside us strongly objects to how quickly she makes the decision.

And then there's the transaction, and it is also different when it's someone we know. The fact that we knew Wee Morag fully exposes Mr Dalrymple for the heartless jerk that he is. The way he treats Elspeth is the absolute worst and if you haven't realized he was a hypocrite earlier, you should be disillusioned by now.

But at least Elspeth is not a hypocrite, right? It may seem cold that she sold Wee Morag but it just proves she simply believed it's all right to sell a dead body, doesn't it?

Well, about that...

Layer 5: it's different when it's you

You are forced to face the thing happening to you

This layer is reached when Elspeth plans her suicide and asks Aziraphale and Crowley to bury her "somewhere where no ghouls will ever dig her back up again".

It turns out Elspeth McKinnon really was a filthy liar.

Not long ago she was insisting that body snatching doesn't hurt anyone who isn't already dead, and asking why she should let Wee Morag rot in the ground when she starves. But she wants to make sure it doesn't happen to her own body. The idea that someone might dig her up terrifies her and she calls people who do it ghouls. So why was digging up other people okay again? Why should she rot in the ground while other people suffer? There were other people living in the street where she and Wee Morag hid. Why not ask Aziraphale to give the money to them? Or just anybody in need? Why not ask to sell her body as well and use the earnings the same way?

Also, if you look at it from a certain perspective, Elspeth betrayed Wee Morag in the worst possible way. Wee Morag believed that if someone's body gets cut, that person's soul cannot enter Heaven. Yet Elspeth sold her to Mr Dalrymple, claiming that Wee Morag would have wanted her to have the means to survive. Perhaps she was right. Perhaps Wee Morag would have made that sacrifice. But then Elspeth decided to kill herself and use the money she got for Wee Morag's body for her own funeral.

But does it make Elspeth wicked? Certainly not. She's simply torn by grief. I seriously doubt she's been planning to commit suicide when she was taking Wee Morag to Mr Dalrymple. She might have genuinely tried to carry on but the reality of what happened caught up to her. Mr Dalrymple's cruel words certainly didn't help her cope with a personal tragedy. I even suspect one of the reasons she sold her friend was that she had no idea what else to do with a dead body.

Does this excuse her actions? Kind of, but not really.

Elspeth was a tragic character, not an innocent lamb with a heart of gold.

The point is - can any of us really judge her?

Which, coincidentally, is a question that the original Good Omens book toyed with quite a lot.

If you've reached this far, thank you for reading!

[seefasters]

good omens 2 + the book

[revvethasmythh]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Critical Role (Web Series) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Ashton Greymoore & Avandra the Changebringer (Critical Role), Fresh Cut Grass & Ashton Greymoore, Ashton Greymoore & Orym Characters: Ashton Greymoore, Avandra the Changebringer (Critical Role), Orym (Critical Role), Bells Hells (Critical Role) Additional Tags: Spoilers C3E91, Major Spoilers, Grief/Mourning, Self-Loathing, Anger, Bargaining Summary:

In the wake of tragedy, Ashton has an unexpected audience with a god.

[shayminsh]

parker and i have decided that kohga would put his entire heart and soul into being a mcdinraals manager

[beans-in-your-socks]

little doodle i did while studying biology :)

[journal-three]

Good Omens is such a good name for the show bc really. that's what they are

[edgarallennope]

Hey has anybody done this yet

[c0rpsedemon]

throwback to when i was like 12 and superrrr proud of myself for making my first male mc in order to be "more relatable" to more people bc like. that was the beginning of the end (me having trouble creating female ocs for actual years)

[everysongineverykey]

honestly as entertaining as they often were the minisodes/flashback stories were just altogether too long... like. it's always interesting to see them bond and react to different situations throughout the ages but i don't really feel like spending literally around half the episode watching aziraphale hem and haw about graverobbing while crowley goes scot wild. the main plot is fun and engaging! i would really rather watch aziraphale investigate in edinburgh than sit through ~30 minutes of filler. to be clear, i'm by no means anti-filler! i love character-focused stories! i just. i just feel like if you take huge chunks of time out of your main plot to tell almost completely unrelated stories that never come up again, it's a sign you don't have enough confidence in that main story to let it carry things. like i said, i don't HATE the minisodes, they're quite fun at times, but they really could've been cut in half.

[mandrawsdog]

story concept art stuff i had laying around from last year

[master-gatherer]

One annoying thing is that Amazon has all this money, and yet the production values are still bad

[thestrangestperson]

The way Aziraphale cradles the tumor of the seven year old boy in the Ressurectionists minisode never ceases to break my heart.

It reminds me of those child graves with the angels who failed to protect them in stone weeping over them.

It's such a horrible realisation for him and you can see the way he looks to Crowley as if to say "How could this happen?"

Crowley forces him to look in the eyes of death. "Too late." after Wee Morag passed. It's the only way to make him understand.

[rangerfromstarship]

Ok we have to talk about s2 moments that make me love Aziraphale even more

- pretending to be a journalist and just like. being as adorable and pure and kind of dumb as Muriel pretending to be a police officer

- going against Heaven to protect Job's children! He questioned Heaven twice, then tried to protect them from Crowley and then actually lied to the archangels to save them. HE WAS WILLING TO FALL FOR IT

- him actually grieving and hugging that jar with the tumour after the ressurectionist told him it was from a seven year old

- "you don't seem his type at all" *eyebrow raise*

- giving away his books! his books!!!!! to help Maggie and Nina

- "Smitten, I believe" *looks smittenly at Crowley*

- "You're being silly!" *adorably soft and tender*

- "well perhaps you could tell me...while we dance" AND HIS HAPPY FACE AND GRABBING CROWLEY BY THE HAND TO DANCE

- "You came to me. I said I would protect you and I will" he is an Angel of his word and even if he doesn't like Gabriel he will protect him! bc he promised it! we support a responsible, empathetic and caring being

- being shocked and putting a hand on Crowley's shoulder when they see Gabriel and Beelzebub together like "oh my, are you seeing what I'm seeing"

- THE SOFT LOOK TO CROWLEY - I MEAN I can't deal with it I can't watch this scene without tearing up (after Gabriel and Beelzebub vanish)

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

The New S2 Poster Details

Terry's hat and scarf ❤ With an ook pin! ❤

Crowley's old glasses on the statue. The statue itself is the Marly Horses by Guillaume Coustou the Elder.

Aziraphale's bow tie on the floor 👀

The cardboard box - long ago Neil shared on his instagram: Game on! There are mysteries, histories, secrets revealed and Something Too Terrible To Be Revealed on the way. Also a cardboard box.

Three feathers. One white, one blac and one white with a bluish/grey tinge (if it's not a shaddow)?

The angel mug is back 🥰

'The Resurrectionist' matches with skull and crossbones. In the previous poster there was a The Resurrectionist leaflet.

Again the Eccles cakes (already were in the previous poster)

Feather duster with dark gray/black feathers

On this shelf there books also in the previous poster, but at different place 🤔: The Crow Road, Catch-22.

And: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, from wikj: mystery novel by nritish writer Mark Haddon. Its title refers to an observation by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in the 1892 short story The Adventure of Silver Blaze

And: No Woman No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley by Rita Marley a memoir of Bob Marley by wife, Rita.

Also heard the people say that the right one of the Catch-22 they see Gabriel García Márquez on the spine (I can't read it :)).

Lord Jim and Treasure Island have also been identified in the previous poster but now are in a different place 🤔👀.

Three books by Jane Austen: Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice and Emma. We have already seen Pride and Prejudice in the previous poster but it was a different edition so Aziraphale has more than one :).

Candy?

Again geckos! :) 🦎 (there were three in the previous poster)

The Buddy Holly Everyday was also in a different place in the previous poster. And there is a note on it

The Ressurectionist, 66. Goat Gate, Edinburgh 👀.

[beniplantsstuff]

Last week, since the flights were so cheap and I had some time off from university, I decided to take a trip to Edinburgh! Here, I visited most of the filming locations of Season 2 of Good Omens, and I would love to share them all with you! Hope you enjoy💙🪽

Circus Lane, where Crowley parked the Bentley throughout Season 2 of Good Omens. This stunning lane is where stablemen and employees of rich families in New Town used to reside. The cobbled streets are lined with colourful houses and flowers, overlooked by the clock tower of St. Stephen's. Crowley clearly has a taste in parking spots.

Moray Place, where Crowley and Aziraphale discussed the morality of Elspeth's body-snatching while carrying a barrel of "pickled herring" in Episode 3. This estate is surrounded by parks and lots of green, giving the whole place a tranquil and quint atmosphere. Keychains by Noicyleech!

Victoria Street, where journalist-detective Aziraphale parks the Bentley to visit The Ressurectionist pub in Episode 3 of Season 2. The colourful shops contrast with the Gothic buildings the city is known for in just the most perfect way. I was really suprised to see they photoshopped Edinburgh Castle in the background of the shot, and was a bit let down since I fully expected it to be visable from the street. That's movie magic for ya.

Iverleith Park, the stand-in for St. James, where Crowley and Shax discuss the appropriate food to feed to ducks. The park has a gorgeous pond and a viewpoint that overlooks the whole of the cityscape and serves as a perfect place to rest your legs after all that walking. I reckon the sign about feeding the ducks the right food that we found in the park might have been hung up by a certain demon.

The Cask & Barrel pub was where the scenes of a certain angelic detective researching a repeating record in The Ressurectionist and the date of Gabriel and Beelzebub were filmed. Fun fact, there are two of these in the city and we accidently had lunch in the wrong one. Either way, their pork pie is to die for.

Edinburgh is such a fantastic city and absolutely worth a visit, with or without visiting these spots. Many thanks to @fuckyheagoodomens 's list of filming locations, it was an enormous help! Happy wandering, and remember to double-check your pub locations (I'm looking at you, The Enterprise in London)