booknerd-1313

[booknerd-1313]

[booknerd-1313]

Just an appreciation post for all the talented, kind, warm, and welcoming folks kicking around here and supporting one another in the Good Omens fandom. Y’all are awesome humans!

#good omens #ineffable husbands #david tennant #michael sheen #neil gaiman #it doesn’t cost anything to be kind

[booknerd-1313]

@queer-reader-07, I stumbled across the fandom on tumblr when I became hyperfixated on all things Good Omens. I joined for all the metas, fan fiction, and of course Neil Gaiman’s posts, but I have stayed because this is the most positive, welcoming, and kind corner of the internet I have found in a very long time. When I saw the graphic below, I immediately thought of and wanted to share with the GO fandom.

look i can't speak to the fandom at large but i can speak to my very specific, curated corner of the internet where i don't get angry at every post that comes across my dash.

and if there's something i love most it's how chill most people are about differing headcanons regarding sex and aziracrow. like i've got mutuals who think they're ace as can be and don't fuck nasty once in their eternal lives, and i've got mutuals who make them fuck nasty in every conceivable way via fic.

and it's just. so nice. that we're all just coexisting and vibing and cheering each other on.

i personally headcanon aziraphale and crowley as ace because what are characters for if not self projection? but i can and will cheer on all my lovely friends writing the filthiest smut (affectionate) about the husbands

anyway, just being sappy on main because i love this little corner of the internet a lot

#good omens #neil gaiman #spread kindness #be a good human #ineffable husbands

[booknerd-1313]

Shamelessly pilfered from @neil-gaiman over on Bluesky:

“First of all, read this article:

and then you'll want to spread the word and raise support for this GoFundMe:

Helping people stay warm in the winter—and helping the helpers—is the right thing to do. Kick in if you can, darlings.

[booknerd-1313]

[booknerd-1313]

Pt I good omens but i've never watched it

i've never seen good omens but it's all over my tumblr dash so this is what I've gathered can someone please confirm if i've got it right

there's a demon named crowley

there's a biblically inaccurate angel named aziraphale but like it's very sexy when the demon calls him 'angel'

the demon and angel have been married for 6000 years and they still keep looking at each other all sappily

Neil Gaiman is somehow involved, I think he's the writer but also he's on tumblr (uh, @neil-gaiman) and people keep questioning if he's real

is neil gaiman like a fandom inside joke why is everyone asking if he's real

there actors are called michael and david and amazon prime thought they were the same

there is a bookstore and crowley is sad

they kiss and it is very nice and desperate and crowley says we could have been us. i have no context for this. someone is going to heaven i think.

there is a god, i'm not sure if they're good or evil though

the demon wears sunglasses

it's a comedy but for some reason everyone's crying after whatever the last season was, are you guys okay

things are on fire

they are very gay

there was a book and at one point they switch bodies

more fire and crowley screaming

they are called ineffable husbands i dont know what that means

they fight crime or they do crime or they fight crime by doing crime i really cannot remember which

gay

[booknerd-1313]

Michael Sheen falling in love with David Tennant on national television

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together, soft, shining ✨

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Well, shit. Now I am sitting there with my coffee and bawling my eyes out first thing this morning. This is hauntingly beautiful.

they did in fact, not end up lying with each other and forgetting the world

#good omens #ineffable husbands #fanvids #good omens breaks my heart again

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why. am i like this.

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Me with books and also Good Omens!

#good omens #ineffable dumbasses #ineffable husbands #breaking my heart and my soul #neil gaiman #this also applies to ocean at the end of the lane

[booknerd-1313]

Why we won't have an Apology Dance in S3--or, why I'm choosing to start WW3

Much as I love the Apology Dance, I have a hunch that neither Crowley nor Aziraphale will perform it in S3. It's such a weird (affectionate) little mating ritual, and I cannot see it without thinking of David Attenborough's "Birds of Paradise" clip from Our Planet. (The little fuckers really get going around the 2:30 mark, if you're interested.)

S2 demonstrates so many of these bizarre little mating rituals. Specifically, I'm thinking about the "Don't hesitate to ask me if you have any questions" moment...

...I mean, Goddamn. Someone damn it. Aziraphale is about to climb that demon like a tree.

And the exchange about borrowing the Bentley...

...which is a battle lost before it's even begun because Aziraphale flashes those pretty eyes and Crowley's too smitten to really put up a fight.

Mah point is (dolphins). My point is that every aspect of their interaction, particularly in S2, is a dance, a courting practice, a mating ritual to which only these two weird (affectionate) little birds know the steps.

And the Apology Dance is one of the key steps in this ritual. We know how important it is because Aziraphale has memorized each year when he performed it for Crowley. 1650, 1793, 1941... And Crowley has now reciprocated. But for all the importance of the Apology Dance, we never hear an actual apology. The words, "I'm sorry" are never exchanged between the Ineffables.

Of course, Aziraphale has forgiven Crowley on multiple occasions (have a tissue), but the absolution is never in response to an apology.

Why does this matter, you ask? Because Crowley has never asked to be forgiven. It's one of his self-identifying traits.

And every time Aziraphale offers him forgiveness, it calls into question Crowley's whole identity. I think this is why Crowley initially refuses to do the dance. He doesn't "do the dance," because he doesn't apologize. Because what's the point? If you believe yourself to be beyond forgiveness, why even bother with an apology.

But that's not what's most interesting to me. See, outside of mending his relationship with Aziraphale, I don't think the demon could give a single fuck about forgiveness. On the cosmic level, it's just another carrot dangled by Heaven. The whole concept of forgiveness of sins demonstrates a pretty fucked up power differential. I mean, who gets to decide whether God has forgiven you when She's not even talking?

I think it's fascinating that despite their squabble, Crowley removes his glasses the moment he steps back into the bookshop, performing the Apology Dance in his "naked" face. It suggests that he knows before he even starts that everything is going to be okay. He can approach the situation in a state of vulnerability because he deeply trusts his angel. But the dance, the mating ritual, still has to be completed. It's similar to how Aziraphale knew Crowley would let him drive the Bentley, but they still had to negotiate their way through the motions.

We've called it the Apology Dance, despite the fact that no apology is offered and no forgiveness given. Remember, Aziraphale's response to Crowley's successful completion of the ritual is, "Very nice."

So here's the crux. All these rituals that they perform, the Ineffable dances, if you will, rely on one crucial element. The result of the ritual has to be established before the ritual has begun. They each have to enter the ritual in a state of vulnerability, knowing the outcome will be safe and satisfying. And I think that's why Aziraphale doesn't say, "I forgive you" after Crowley's elegant spin and bow.

Because forgiveness is something Aziraphale only offers the demon when he feels cornered, frightened and unsafe. Think about the two times he's said it. In both cases, the forgiveness was weaponized.

(Apology Dance incoming for this next gif.)

In a very real way, when Aziraphale forgives Crowley, he invalidates his best friend's lived experience. Crowley doesn't want to be forgiven. He wants to be accepted. Loved. Seen.

So as much fun as it is to speculate about who might dance for whom in S3, I truly hope neither angel nor demon apologize to the other. For me, the most meaningful conclusion would be for them to complete their mating ritual not with some dogmatic, pedantic, fucked up power differential where one forgives the other for perceived iniquities. Nah. Fuck that. I want them to accept and love and deeply see one another and fully embrace whatever that means.

Here. Have some tissues.

[booknerd-1313]

I need to read this story!!!

You know what, I want DT and MS to act in a movie or tv show together and I want DT to play a proper psycho because he is really interesting in those roles. We know he can play all the other roles perfectly but we don’t have enough of proper psychopaths.

And then imagine MS as a… detective? Trying to catch him? Probably catching him a few times and the interrogations would be fantastic! Their chemistry!!!

DT’s character would keep on escaping anyway. The frustrations would be growing. Murder mysteries after murder mysteries. Or not really mysteries because MS’s character knows it’s him but he just can’t bloody prove it.

And DT’s character is having the time of his life, pissing him off, laughing in his face. And everyone just falls for him because he’s pretty and charming and must be innocent! And MS’s character falls too BUT his moral high ground has to win. But, god, he realises he is looking forward to another mystery so he can catch him and talk to him. Sick.

And DT’s character drives the audience insane too because he’s so charming, funny, pretty and flirty, and oh so clever, but everything points to him being the murderer.

And he keeps on manipulating everyone around him with charming stories and sad stories and audience doesn’t even know which ones are true but everyone always, always, always falls for him.

And MS’s character has literally everyone against him because everyone adores the little psychopath and frustratingly so does he but NO oh god this is so wrong. So bloody wrong. Oh god maybe it’s NOT him?

And DT’s character loves the fact that MS’s character is giving in to him but… he stops chasing him. So he goes more obvious. It’s boring without being chased!

And MS’s character is a mess catching him again and says we know it’s not you, because he doesn’t want it to be him, and DT’s character leans over the table and whispers in his ear;

I will tell you who’s next.

And he does. And MS’s character runs to save the person. But he’s late.

The problem is. When he tells others he knew from DT’s character… nobody believes him. How could it be him when he was already arrested? What if… it’s MS’s character behind it?

He gets suspended. The psychopath set free.

MS’s character locks himself up away from everyone, angry at everything. And then the little psychopath starts showing up at his place.

And he’s drunk enough to let him in. Because he’s pretty and charming and that insanity in his eyes that kept him sober usually is gone. He’s perfect.

And everything feels perfect. The charm, the jokes, the sex, the conversations, the breakfast in the morning.

Except whenever he disappears for some time, another murder happens.

And what do you do when you fall in love with a psychopath?

[booknerd-1313]

The whole New Year's Wishes sequence in one place...

A decade ago, I wrote:

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art – write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

And almost half a decade ago I said,

...I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you’ll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you’ll make something that didn’t exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.

In 2011, my wish for each of us is small and very simple.

And it’s this.

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

  Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

  So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

  Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.

  Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

  And last year, I wrote:

It’s a New Year and with it comes a fresh opportunity to shape our world. 

So this is my wish, a wish for me as much as it is a wish for you: in the world to come, let us be brave – let us walk into the dark without fear, and step into the unknown with smiles on our faces, even if we’re faking them. 

And whatever happens to us, whatever we make, whatever we learn, let us take joy in it. We can find joy in the world if it’s joy we’re looking for, we can take joy in the act of creation. 

So that is my wish for you, and for me. Bravery and joy.

[booknerd-1313]

Not over the way that everything would be better if you were just near one particular person is literally the story of what happens over and over again in S1. I know this is the implicit message of all those gifsets (god bless) but I'm a words person, I have to talk it out to really put it together.

And--that's the theme of the 1x03 cold open, right? One or the other of them is in a bad place, mentally or physically, and then the other one shows up and even if everything's not all right, it's better. Aziraphale's face lighting up in the Bastille. Crowley being surprised by how amused he is at "Let me tempt you--" in Rome. Time after time, they're confused or upset or in trouble and then, they meet, and everything's a bit better.

It's not just in the cold open, either; we see it when Crowley's in the bar after the bookshop burns, feeling hopeless until Aziraphale shows up. Everything's better.

We see it in literally their first interaction, when Aziraphale's fretting over whether he did the wrong thing, and then he meets Crowley, and he laughs (however briefly). Everything's better.

So it's been happening since the very beginning, and by now it really is if you were just near. As soon as you're here, everything's better.

[booknerd-1313]

I love my birthday cake that my equally Good Omens-obsessed 11-year old made and decorated for me!

#good omens #neil gaiman #terry pratchett #birthday cake

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When I started Tumblr 4 months ago, one of the first things I read was someone posting encouraging everyone go on writing, painting or whatever, if you get 1 or 1000 likes, it doesn't matter. Because with our work, even if it's just reading, liking and reblogging, you keep the fandom alive. Everytime I post something, I will remember this sentence (whoever can remember writing that, feel embraced).

Looking forward to an exiting 2024 with hopefully shooting of S03 finally starting, Michael and David dyeing their hair again and maybe some snippets from the shooting in the fandom. This time it's me encouraging all you great artists, investigators and all the readers to share the exiting (but surely exhausting) journey to S03. As you all know, we are a team, a group of....many.

So: A happy new year especially to my mutuals, but also everyone else reading, and "To the Word", hopefully a better one in 2024.