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possum walk!

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~ sometime during S3, when they finally let themselves be angry at each other about being rejected ~

If you'd asked either of them what had happened, you'd get something along the lines of "a great battle between enemies in which neither could best the other."

And indeed a few, half hearted punches and insults had been thrown, a bit of scuffling that landed some books and feathers scattered. But before long, far less than they'd have you believe, they ended up like this. Every so often one of them might spit a venomless jab or thump their first down lightly.

They didn't move for awhile.

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Tl;dr how you can personally make Neil Gaiman lose money (and not be a jerk to others.)

I see a lot of folks upset that NG will financially benefit from residuals and other compensation surrounding his involvement in the adaptation of Sandman and Good Omens (and he will.) But the answer isn’t “rage at the fans who are so emotionally attached to their blorbos because they grieve differently, and then somehow NG will be financially punished.” That’s lower-class/middle-class thinking. NG is too rich and financially diversified to really be hurt by little boycott or a couple of show cancellations (though said cancellations can cause life-changing poverty to the little guys who signed contracts and turned down other opportunities before all of this came out. Boy does NG love women in poverty 🤮)

So if you want to substantially reduce the wealth of someone at NG’s financial level—you need to do it with professional services fees.

Details below the cut:

The firm that NG has apparently engaged for online reputation management (ORM), called edendale, was once paid for their professional testimony in an unrelated slander lawsuit, which was delivered in the form of a report (2) outlining the strategy ORM firms use and (2) just how ludicrously expensive those professional services cost. (Credit to horrornobody77 for digging up the report.) We’re talking hundred of thousands of dollars for a small potatoes case, where NG’s could easily get into the millions for ORM and associated legal fees.

It’s not that long of a read, but to summarize the key action items you can take:

📆 -ORMs wait for the discourse to die down, because active discourse is much more expensive to counter. Wanna cost NG money? Talk about the accusations over time. Set a quarterly calendar event in your phone to remind yourself to post (and otherwise engage on other people’s posts) about the Vulture article. This needs to happens for years, so that NG has to pay for more comprehensive ORM and for longer.

✅-Make discourse that is Google-friendly. Use the words edendale will find concerning (they’re already running fluff pieces with the terms Neil Gaiman Uncovered to try and bury the similarly named subreddit.) If you just post a link without much comment, it’s not gonna be prioritized by search engines. Similarly, if you make a low effort post and then no one else engages with it—it’s not going to make it to the top ten search results. Engage with each other, for heaven’s sake!

🦾-Don’t let the fluff sit unaddressed. If you see random bot posts sharing NG quotes captioning random fantasy art (possibly AI or misattributed /stolen) with the comments turned on? Respond! Make it hard for the bots to understand your comment but easy for humans. “Nice quote! Mega bummer about what NG did, I used to really like him,” is hard for a bot to auto-delete. “Fuck NG,” is practically doing the bot’s autodelete command for it.

✍️ -If/when you post fan works for properties strongly related to Neil Gaiman, leave a lil callout in the author’s notes. Nothing that will get you sued, just a few words like: “I would definitely personally choose to not ever meet Neil Gaiman at a comic con.” Maybe throw in a link to your fav tumblr summary.

Anyway, to the person being paid hundreds or thousands of dollars per hour by Neil Gaiman for professional services—you’re welcome for the extra billable hours 😘

Also Edendale sounds like a law firm in a Good Omens legal AU fic, and I can’t believe it’s real.

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Yes, that is exactly my theory as well! It’s an idea you see a lot of in fanon.

Crowley has a soft spot for kids, ergo Aziraphale must dislike them. Aziraphale loves to eat, therefore Crowley hates food and never eats. Crowley loves to sleep, which means Aziraphale doesn’t sleep.

I get why “opposites attract” is so appealing as a trope, and for the ineffable husbands in particular it’s a huge draw. I don’t necessarily dislike those tropes myself (for example, one silly headcanon I hold is that Aziraphale prefers to have socks on all the time while Crowley would rather go barefoot, lmao).

But! Aziraphale and Crowley don’t have to exist on a binary with each other in everything. It’s fine for them to have things in common. Their shared love for humanity and the Earth is a driving motivation for them both in canon, after all.

They can both like food, sleep, and kids if we want them to.

Kids

I think Aziraphale's love for children should be celebrated too. In fact... I wouldn't mind if in S3 they adopted some children...

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Aziraphale + Crowley Appreciation Week 2023 ✧ DAY TWO ✧ | Crowley Appreciation Post

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it ends, as it started, in a garden

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a little downtime in Rome ✨

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Hokay, prepare for a lot of words from a tired, shattered, and angry little fan.

I posted the text in these screenshots on my Patreon back in August 2024, about a month after the Neil Gaiman allegations first broke. Figured I might as well share it here now, in the wake of Lila Shapiro’s article bringing the victims’ stories to wider audiences.

A few things I’d like to add:

As of this writing, Good Omens is continuing without NG’s involvement. It appears that after the women he abused went public with their stories in July 2024, Amazon tried to cancel the show, and the indications are that Good Omens is only being continued because Terry Pratchett’s heirs and representatives fought to finish the story (links go to tweet screenshots from October 2024 showing Rhianna Pratchett and Rob Wilkins interacting with fan conversations regarding the near-cancellation). For the sake of Terry Pratchett and his loved ones, and the hundreds of cast and crew employed on Good Omens, I’m relieved. They shouldn’t have to be punished because of one prominent man’s despicable actions, and he shouldn’t benefit from this story that was never fully his to begin with.

What happens now?

What does justice look like in this situation? What tangible actions do the individuals NG harmed need to move forward? How do we make sure this never happens to anyone else?

Other than killing our love for a story and cutting ourselves off from the community that we built up around it (which some of us can choose to do, but again, I think this is an ungenerous, unrealistic, and callous thing to demand of all of us), what can we do as fans?

As the fucked-up future crawls along, something fans can do is minimize NG’s reputation and continue to push him out of our orbit. Keep the victims’ stories in the fandom’s collective memory. Don’t let NG quietly sneak back into fan spaces years from now.

Since the allegations dropped this summer, I’ve seen frequent mentions of a “whisper network” having existed around NG for decades. But Kendra Stout, one of the women he abused, said that the whispers never reached her. As a fan, I never had an inkling either. It can’t just be whispers now.

Protest if convention organizers invite NG back into their circuits or if publishers host book signings for him. Warn newbies not to interact with him if he ever opens his ask box again. We now know that he used access to fans to harm them. We can’t let him have that access now.

Other tangible actions we can take: Our Own Side Fundraiser, a Good Omens fan initiative, has been organizing donations for Take Back the Night since September 2024. RAINN is another option if you would like to donate to support sexual assault survivors. I encourage those who can contribute to do what they can, and spread the word.

I also want to direct folks to this excellent Tumblr post by taraljc that has a link round-up of the information released so far, as well as advice for what we can do moving forward.

Let’s focus our anger and action where it belongs. And let’s look out for each other. 🖤🤍

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If the Good Omens TV Finale comes out and people are even moderately satisfied with it, Gaiman can't tap into Good Omens again without making it incredibly weird. If he tries to write something about it, for example, people will just be going "Huh? Didn't that series end years ago? People can't do anything original anymore." It's not that he couldn't make the attempt to sneak back into fan spaces by writing more after the finale, but it would be harder for him to get positive attention and more likely to backfire.

Even the most fanservicey stuff he could come up with wouldn't be appealing if the finale is satisfying and we've got this incredible world of fanworks to play with afterwards. That renders further fanservice unnecessary.

Also, people love talking about dedicated Good Omens fans as if they are too vulnerable or fragile or naive or cowardly or or or to make their own decisions, but frankly, even if you read that as true, what those fans need is closure - again, making them less likely to fall for tricks he tries to play in the future.

If the series didn't get a reasonably satisfying end, Gaiman would be able to sweep in 3 or 5 or 10 years from now and pique interest by telling people he's going to finally write the end to the cliffhanger. And people would pay attention. Some people would still be desperate for a resolution; other people would just be extremely curious. And they'd become his audience again. You KNOW they would. Even if you bombard people with the message that they shouldn't for all the most morally compelling reasons in the universe, they absolutely would. It would give him a way in.

Finally, I don't think Gaiman's feelings should matter either way here, but having his pet project survive and thrive without him would bother him much more than getting to watch it become a horrible tragedy that he caused. Which he would, let's face it, enjoy.

"You're just saying this because you still care about Good Omens!" Yeah. But I'm also right.

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Since many people are (understandably) not going to read the article could we share a screenshot of the last paragraph? I think it's an important way to highlight the strength of these women, strength that all of his awfulness will never obfuscate

Yes!! So happy that they are forming this community with each other

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Kids

I think Aziraphale's love for children should be celebrated too. In fact... I wouldn't mind if in S3 they adopted some children...

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do you think it'll let up soon?

static version:

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well, you still got one of em

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I wish people would understand that it is actually a good thing when allegations of sexual misconduct are thoroughly investigated, leaving no stone unturned, and that most survivors of sexual assault who've come forward are not lucky enough to have people take their story seriously enough to look into it in good faith, verify it, and post a long, exhaustively researched researched article informing everyone that they're telling the truth.

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People in fandoms* associated with Neil Gaiman are not showing each other the grace they should be in a stressful time, and I would like to remind people of some things:

Not everybody knows about the allegations because it is not being reported widely in mainstream media. Gaiman has engaged a PR/crisis management firm that has done work with Marilyn Manson, Russell Brand, and Danny Masterson to actively squash coverage.

The story broke on a site unfamiliar to a lot of non-UK people. There was confusion as well as outright misinformation about whether the site was a TERF outlet (it is not). While Rachel Johnson, the lead reporter on the story, is a TERF who has publicly clashed with Gaiman about trans rights, she has behaved responsibly and ethically as a journalist regarding this. I wrote more in depth about these things here.

Everybody deals differently with finding out creators are problematic. The method you prefer is not the only correct way of coping. Some people are able to divorce art from the creator and some people are not. This is an attitude that can change over time. And if you feel like you need to express frustration that somebody else's method isn't the same as yours? I would recommend shutting your fucking trap.

If people know about the allegations, it's shitty to assume they're ignoring them or think they're false until somebody explicitly says so. There are many things people don't say online, and you are not owed disclaimers or explanations.

Fandom is more than the work itself. Some people find strength in the community that has formed around it, and rely on each other to help cope with and grieve this loss. The love you have for the work and your fellow fans is not something that belongs to the creator. It never has and that can't be taken away.

Your personal relationship with a creator's work will change over time. That's inevitable regardless of whether they turn out to be problematic or not. And when those works are deeply significant and formative, like many of Gaiman's works are to me** and countless others? That's fucking tough. Be kind to yourself and others when working through this. I love you all.

--

* I have seen this in Good Omens most prominently, although I am sure there are other places where it is happening as well.

** I have been a fan of Gaiman's work longer than some of you have been alive. It has not been a great month or so.

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With the release of Vulture magazine's feature (un-paywalled) expanding on the stories of the women abused by Neil Gaiman who had previously come forward, now more than ever it's important to continue to keep the PR machine from trying to bury the stories.

LINKS

updated transcript of the Tortoise Media podcast to include episodes 5 & 6.

Am I Broken- Survivor Stories Episode 4-2 Complete Unofficial Transcript

Courtnee Fallon Rex's account of ending their friendship with Neil Gaiman

muccamukk's link round-up of Neil Gaiman Assault Allegations

Reddit's r/neilgaimanuncovered forum

IMPORTANT REMINDER

Individuals providing testimonies of abuse is evidence.

When people say 'so we are just supposed to take her at her word?' the answer is YES.

If the only reason you take his word over hers is because you want to believe that someone whose work you admire isn't capable of such actions, then this is a reality check. You can never know what is it another person's heart and mind. You cannot judge them solely by their words. You can only truly take their measure by their actions.

Examine your internal biases and ask yourself why would someone come forward and share stories of abuse by someone with significantly more power at great personal risk if they weren't true? They have everything to lose, and yet they came forward anyway to try to prevent Neil Gaiman from harming any other vulnerable women the way that he harmed them.

Only 2-8% of sexual assault allegations are found to be false.

The myth of accusing the innocent of sexual assault as some kind of revenge is exactly that: a myth perpetuated by rape culture that persists because when one cares for or admires the accused, people want it to be true.

That fence that you believe that you are standing on is an invisible line drawn in the sand.

Believe survivors. Amplify their voices. Share their stories. Hold people accountable. Actions have consequences.

THINGS WE CAN DO AS INDIVIDUALS

Repost articles and transcripts as they appear in the trades and the mainstream press, and tag them with the appropriate trigger warnings and content warnings.

Keep amplifying the voices of the survivors, and showing up with compassion and empathy and support for the untold numbers who have yet to come forward.

Keep talking about the allegations of abuse and sexual assault levelled at Neil Gaiman. Do not let it fade into the background, or be drowned out by vigorous promotion of his upcoming works. Boost the signal, particularly to raise awareness across fandoms so fans can do their best to protect themselves from potential abuse in the future.

Make donations to RAINN and The Survivors Trust, and find out what you can do on a local level to support survivors of sexual assault and abuse.

Do not tag fan works such as fanfic, fan art, quotes, gifsets, and meta discussions about Gaiman's work or live-action adaptations of Gaiman's work with #Neil Gaiman so that you are not doing the expensive PR team's work for them by helping to bury the story of Neil Gaiman's abuse of vulnerable women on social media.

Do not bully Neil Gaiman's peers in the industry, friends and family, or actors currently involved in live action adaptations of his work for not immediately making any kind of public statements.

Do not bully fellow fans. Everyone is working through their very complex feelings and relationships with both the text and the man at their own speed. Please give them the space to grieve that loss, but continue to center the stories of the survivors and express sympathy and empathy for all of the survivors who have yet to come forward.

As others have noted, The Tortoise Media Slow News podcast that initially broke the story is run by a group of well-respected journalists, and Ms Johnson is not a full-time member of the staff but was only given a shared byline on the story because one of the survivors contacted her privately which is what kicked off the year long investigation.

Filter out noise such as kink-shaming, anti-BDSM discourse, and other editorial comments and instead focus on the actual words of survivors recounting their experiences.

Remember that despite using the language of BDSM, what the survivors have recounted is in fact examples of coercive control and abuse cloaked in the language of kink. It's very important to note that BDSM nearly always includes extensive negotiation of consent to specific acts and partners check in with one another constantly, establish safe words, and engage in aftercare. That is absolutely not what was described by the survivors thus far.

Sexual assault is not about sex so much as it is about power. In every instance reported thus far, the common thread has been predatory behaviour toward vulnerable women. In more than one case, women who were employed in Neil Gaiman's households and were reliant on him for their housing and livelihood.

Do not guilt trip or shame people who are attempting to separate the art from the artist. allow people to love what they love about the novels, comics, and media adaptations, value the friendships that they have made because of them, and keep the joy that those projects brought them. Do not let Neil Gaiman's behaviour rob generations of fans of the stories that meant so much to them. He has already taken so much from so many; don't help him take more from you or others than he already has.

Do not invite him as a guest speaker to your events, a guest of honour at your conventions, or a guest lecturer at your institutions. without jeopardizing the financial future of your institution or theater, do not book speaking tours, book signings, launch parties, etc. as these events have proved to be a fertile hunting ground and provide ongoing income directly to Neil Gaiman.

If you reblog (and I sincerely hope that you will) please keep the tags intact. The goal is to continue centering the voices of survivors and attempt to limit Neil Gaiman's access to vulnerable women, particularly those in fandom.

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