kimberleyjean

[kimberleyjean]

100%. One of the most magical parts about this adaptation is that Neil and Co have kept it very faithful to the book, not just in terms of story and characterizations, but the layers and layers of references and wordplay.

Fun fact: the Job's courtyard in Good Omens S2 a homage to Ben Hur, the 1959 film :)

concept art:

Ben Hur film:

the GO episode:

#good omens meta #good omens references #ben hur

[kimberleyjean]

A Good Omens trip to London

The opportunity to see Michael Sheen live in Nye at the National Theatre made me plan a trip to London. And having seen the tourist attractions already many years ago, I decided I would dive into the Good Omens experience – go crazy, nobody knows you there! 😀 Easy planning thanks to @fuckyeahgoodomens and the filming locations masterpost ❤️

After four fantastic days I can only say: what a lovely fandom! It was great to meet a few of you :)

In St. James's Park, at the bench, I met a fan from Romania.

At the bandstand in Battersea Park I met a fan from Scotland and found the lovely fan art by @aydracz.

In Tavistock Square (Berkeley Square in the series) I met two fans from the Netherlands. (If you read this by any chance, I hope you enjoyed Nye!)

And then it seems all the fans in London that day gather at the theatre. 😀 – greetings to @kittensceilidh and @brandiwein1982

And well, how exciting to see Nye! It was entertaining, beautiful and touching. And Michael Sheen really is a wonderful and kind person – I very much hope I will meet him again. 🤗

Be kind to each other and take care!

And if you are interested or need a bit of inspiration for your trip, here are some more impressions. I will have to go to London again and continue the experience :)

Shakespeare’s Globe

Duke of York Monument

The Ritz

Berwick Street in Soho

#good omens #good omens fandom #london #soho london

[kimberleyjean]

The Erasure of Human!Metatron

The elephant in the room is that Neil has [purportedly] denied the existence of a human Metatron. But I, for one, think an elephant really ties the room together. So let's get started.

First, I will address Neil Gaiman’s apparent denial of the Human!Metatron storyline (below the cut):

Caption: The Metatron in Good Omens wasn't ever human.

Which would seem to put the debate to bed.

Except.

Caption: That’s not really his father. It is. It is now, and it always was.

By Adam renouncing Satan as his father, we have in-story canon evidence that the past can be retroactively changed. So a storyline past can be divergent from an in-world past which has been modified. But only to a degree, because Aziraphale and Crowley clearly remember that Adam ~was~ Satan’s son, and Adam still retains some residual powers. Like pencil marks on paper, the past can be erased, but the shadow of its former self will always be there. But if that's not enough for you, there's also...

Lucifer!Satan

Neil Gaiman has also been pretty consistent with this characterization about the non-existence of the past in other characters, for example Lucifer!Satan:

Basically (not to be rude), if you think that these statements can be taken to mean that we will definitely not get a story about Enoch aka Human!Metatron in S3, you have fundamentally misunderstood how time, history, and identity work in Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens universe.

So what Neil said about Metatron never being human… can we just collectively set that aside for a moment?

Caption: Work with me, I’m extrapolating here. Yes? Good. Read the rest of the meta.

Evidence of Human!Metatron

Now that we have established that a former, no-longer-existing version of Metatron could have been human, let’s examine the in-world evidence. The best direct evidence is:

Caption: I’ve ingested things in my time, you know.

This is weirdly important in the Book of Enoch. Food is mentioned in the Book of Enoch at least fourteen times, and consistently it is associated with being human, and having earthly desires, and subsequently with sin, whereas the angels are described as not needing to eat food but instead being nourished by faith alone. Enoch!Metatron’s own relationship with food is also explicitly elucidated:

Enoch answered to his son Mathosalam (and) said: Hear, child, from the time when the Lord anointed me with the ointment of his glory, (there has been no) food in me, and my soul remembers not earthly enjoyment, neither do I want anything earthly.

I propose that "in my time" is a direct reference to Metatron's prior existence as a human, and the fact that this time is over serves to underscore his current inhumanity, making him all the more sinister.

Other Evidence Pointing to Book of Enoch

This next bit is somewhat dubious evidence, but the entire reason I wound up investigating this is that I was actually investigating Baraqiel:

…and for the God-fearing life of me, I cannot find any reference to Baraqiel except in the Book of Enoch. So this is a pretty big ✨Clue✨ to just leave hanging out there if it’s not supposed to lead us to this text.

The Scottish Mason

Okay guys, this the part where it all comes unhinged, but I promise the payoff is worth it.

The Book of Enoch was recovered from Ethiopia in 1773 by a Scottish explorer named James Bruce, who also happened to be a Mason. In 1774, upon his return, he was made a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh. And if this quote doesn’t get you, I don’t know what will:

Amazingly, Bruce brings back not just one copy, nor two, but three! Three copies of this text, which was previously thought to have been lost to the West forever. This inevitably led to all kinds of accusations as to where he had come by them, and more importantly how? Add to this that Bruce was a Mason in one of the most influential lodges, a Bruce descendant, and an imposing physical figure and 6 feet 4 inches tall, with dark red hair and an irascible temper, it is no wonder that so much excitement and mystery surrounded the man. [source]

So, you know, this guy:

In summary:

There are reasons that we should be looking to the Book of Enoch, and the story surrounding its reintroduction to the Western world, as source evidence for Good Omens S3.

If you enjoyed this, you may also like my meta on Baraqiel and Azazel, which draws upon the Book of Enoch.

My original (in retrospect, kind of terrible) Metatron meta is here.

#good omens meta #good omens metatron #good omens enoch #good omens masons #good omens speculation #can't wait to get more backstory for the metatron

[kimberleyjean]

What I find really interesting here is that even smaller details like the arrows stuck into the walls are already present in the concept art. So, some of these things, like arrows in the wall, have already been discussed and potentially decided during the concept art process. It reminds me of reading the S1 script book and coming across all sorts of seemingly inconsequential details in it.

What I also find interesting is that this scene seems initially intended to reference ancient Egypt and had a large masonic symbol on the top of the sarcophagus. I don't think either were in the final product? (I could be mistaken, though, because it is DARK in those scenes).

Looking at the concept art for GO2 and I'm really amused by the Aziraphale and Crowley cut-out reference choices that were made and their silly faces

Matching icons for you and your best hereditary enemy.

(more concept art in this lovely post by @fuckyeahgoodomens)

#good omens bts #good omens concept art #good omens edinburgh

[kimberleyjean]

One sun pun : Gabriel's tomatoes

Hello there tomato-wonderer @scottishmushroom. I saw your post about tomatoes and I come bearing fruit answers! I was also wondering about the tomatoes, and it led me down a spiralling path of tarot cards and visual puns. I'm pretty sure Gabriel's entire entrance scene in season 2 is based on tarot card 19: The Sun. Allow me to explain...

Here is the Sun tarot card in the Rider-Waite deck, which was used as visual inspiration both season's 1 & 2 of GO. Notice anything familiar?

All of the elements of The Sun card are hidden in these opening shots quite cleverly. I am suggesting here that the red banner (that the sun carries on the card) is represented by the spill of red tomatoes because: it's a sun pun! You see tomato in English & French from the Spanish word "Tomate" that took over in the 1850s, but there's also an older expression for tomatoes that was used since it's import to Europe, that is still the origin of the word in Italian : Pomodoro.

In French we used to call it pomme d'or: just like in Italian today, the French (and the normans who were the reigning class in England) would have called it a Golden or Sun Apple, due to it's need for extreme sunshine to grow.

Which is a great callback to Gabriel's character in season one because of this iconic line:

But that's not all: Tomato was also called "Pomme D'amour" or love apple, due to how it looked like a human heart. So Gabriel walking into Soho triggering a spill of bright red sun-apples also has a double meaning as he steps on one : crushing a heart. Still not enough sun for you? Well, there's more! While Gabriel is marching into Soho we get a musical number called "Into Soho" on the Prime video series soundtrack. However, once Gabriel gets to the door and knocks, it quickly switches to a preview of a theme we won't hear until episode 6, when Gabriel opens the fly and remembers : it's a track on disc 2 called "Gabriel Revealed".

Yes, haha they made a secret "Gabriel is naked" joke in the soundtrack when he is revealed. The bonkers part comes when your realize what number the track is in the list....

#good omens 2 #good omens meta #archangel gabriel #good omens puns #good omens tarot #good omens analysis #good omens tomatoes

[kimberleyjean]

I think the *implied offscreen intimate shenanigans* trope would be so cute on GO.

Just like, Crowley and Aziraphale are called in from another room and arrive disheveled: buttons are mismatched, hair is mussed, and someone's pants are on backwards. I'm especially giddy at the thought of Aziraphale's eye-pencil-mustache being smudged all over Crowley's face, and them just trying to "act normal" in the worst way.

--------

Maggie: Mr Crowley, you have something on your cheek.

Crowley: I don't. *sniff*

Nina, snidely: And your trousers are on the wrong way round.

Crowley: Ngk 'S'stylish.

Aziraphale, with half a mustache: 😳

#just wanted to add Neil's helpful clarification #that no one could smell them #definitely no subtext here #good omens season 2 #aziraphale x crowley

[kimberleyjean]

#good omens parallels #good omens reversals #nice one!

[kimberleyjean]

Good Omens S2 Concept art by Jim McCarthy

(from)

#good omens #good omens bts #good omens concept art #concept art #good omens season 2 #good omens edinburgh #good omens resurrectionists #good omens job

[kimberleyjean]

Hello dear Mr Gaiman.

a few minutes ago I read a thread of how a succession of unexpected events Butterfly effect style led to Michael Sheen as our favorite angel / librarian. So I start to think about what specific event led you to write this great work together with Mr Terry Pratchett. Maybe a burned out lightbulb in your study that made you rethink the little miracles of science and how an old witch could have predicted it?

PS: thank you very much for all your work. the world needs more series like goos ommens mr Gaiman ... it really needs them.

Hmm.

Well, in 1985 (I think) I spent 3 weeks doing a real job. I was the editor of Fitness Magazine between the leaving of an editor and the arrival of an editor. It was my job to write everything that the magazine needed that hadn't been written, and to organize all the things that had already been commissioned. (I was given the job because I'd been filling in for the assistant editor on a magazine at the next desk.) When the new editor turned up she was vaguely grateful and offered to buy anything I wrote for the magazine. Given that I had barely any interest in fitness at the best of times (although, in retrospect, I was probably at my fittest, not being able to afford a car or taxis, and walking and bussing everywhere in London) I wrote an article taking a whole load of literary works, including Winnie the Pooh and Lord of the Rings, and writing a short bit in their style about their fitness regimen. And one of them was Richmal Crompton's Just William character. The editor rejected the article suspecting (quite rightly) that the people who bought Fitness Magazine might feel the humour was aimed at them. And I never even tried to sell it to anyone else (who would I have sold it to?). But I remembered the pleasure of writing William fiction.

And then, the following year, I watched The Omen on late night TV. "Be funny if they got the baby swap wrong," I thought. "If the baby that the powers of Hell were keeping tabs on was a perfectly normal kid. And the Antichrist were growing up somewhere nice like the village in the William books..."

And that started to grow in my head. Then I was reading The Jew of Malta by Kit Marlowe, and it has a bit where the three (cartoonishly evil) Jews compare notes on all the well-poisoning and suchlike they'd done that day, and as a Jew who never quite gets his act together, it occurred to me that if I were the third Jew I'd just be apologizing for having failed to poison a well...

And suddenly I had the opening of a book. It would be called William the Antichrist. And it would begin with three Demons in a graveyard...

I wrote the first 5000 words, sent them to a few friends, and then Sandman was commissioned and I figured I'd get back to it One Day until Terry Pratchett called and said "Here. That thing you sent me. Are you doing anything with it? I think I know what happens next. I could buy it off you or we could write it together."

#good omens #book omens #good omens references #just william #the omen #the jew of malta

[kimberleyjean]

Feathers

There is an unusual number of different types of feathers in Good Omens season 2.

Angels wings have feathers, of course.

But feathers feature prominently on Earth as well. From Jimbriel's bright yellow feather duster (which he uses naked) ...

...to Jimbriel's magnificent hand-dyed ostrich-feather ombre getup (which he puts on to present himself as the True Self he does not yet really Know he is, but then sloughs off again when he comes back into the safe space of the bookshop)

From the feathers all over the Ladies of Camelot (really, just, feathers EvErYWhErE on the stage, on the ladies, in the dressing room)...

...to Aziraphale's feather boa of victory (which he puts on out of gleeful celebration, but takes off as soon as Furfur and his occult threats enter the room).

From Mrs. Sandwich's jaunty little feathered hat ...

... to the mysterious blue feather from the poster, which never really got explained?

Do feathers represent Heaven? The imposition of a Self that is not true? (Mrs. Sandwich wears the frathered hat when she is being manipulated by Aziraphale's Manic Pixie Dream Ball. Gabriel wears feathers when he is cosplaying as the angel he really is.) Do they represent frivolity or excess? (Aziraphale and his frivolous miracles, Aziraphale and his frivolous and bafflingly risky magician scenario.) Do they represent angelic influence? What am I missing here?

#manic pixie dream ball #thankyou op #good omens meta #good omens questions #good omens feathers #good omens plume

[kimberleyjean]

Parallels - Good Omens Seasons One & Two - Part Four

Link to [ Part One ] [ Part Two ] [ Part Three ]

#good omens parallels #aziraphale #crowley

[kimberleyjean]

Parallels - Good Omens Seasons One & Two - Part Five

Link to [ Part One ] [ Part Two ] [ Part Three ] [ Part Four ]

#good omens parallels #great collection!

[kimberleyjean]

What happened to Neil Gaiman Gamma? I hope they're OK.

Can you confirm which Neil Gaiman is running this account?

Neil Gaiman Delta. Alpha, Beta and Epsilon almost never run the account.

[kimberleyjean]

👀👀👀what

#peter anderson studio #good omens title sequence #good omens opening sequence #something in the air

[kimberleyjean]

Hm… This legit makes 0 sense. I also don’t believe in the team making mistakes at all, so respectfully does anyone have any ideas on why this extra changed clothes?

More clues for something being afoot… They’re only in 2 shots as far as I can see…

#welcome to the puzzle! #good omens extras #ineffable extras #discontinuity #ineffable mystery #good omens clues #good omens analysis #I agree the slap has always seemed off to me #as do some of the acting choices in this scene #actually the whole thing is wonky lol

[kimberleyjean]

No words needed...

#good omens parallels #good omens season 1 #good omens season 2 #who's going to ask for a favour come s3?

[kimberleyjean]

A dream fanfic by NaturallyTeal ~ 14th Day

Summary: The Secret Dream Diary of a Good Omens fan (anonymous, he) who contracted a severe case of the fandom-typical brain rot from watching S1 & S2 too often, reading too much fanfic on AO3, and spending altogether too much time engaging on tumblr, digesting gifs, fanart and meta.

He dreams about Good Omens every night.

Short dreams, daily.

~~~

14th Day: Is This Paradise?

I dreamed that the snake didn’t talk to Eve, and Eve never asked, and never knew, and never knew Adam, and never had to leave, and never grew old, and never died. They never changed. They have been reliving the same week over and over. The Angels and Demons have given up watching them after a millennium or so and started playing footy instead. While I watched, Hell’s Usher chalked up win number 222 to the side of the Angels.

Hell’s score was 666,666,666,666,666,666.

[previous day]

I’m planning to post one _short_ dream daily, for 20 days. If you like, subscribe on AO3!

There’s also a “mailing list” (tagging in the replies) here on tumblr, let me know if you want on it! 😇😎

#good omens fanfiction #good omens brainrot #good omens dreams #shorties #naturallyteal #good omens football #good omens eternity