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#good omens angel rings
cobragardens · 4 months
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Aziraphale's Ring Is a Queer Symbol
In a previous post I hold forth about the symbolism of the lion rampant on the escutcheon of Aziraphale's signet ring. The upshot is that the golden lion is used by Heaven as a symbol of its threat and its merciless, murderous corporate culture, and I argue that in S3 Aziraphale must subvert this stamp of Heavenly ownership and symbolically redefine the golden lion by summoning the courage to be soft.
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Now I've learned some new stuff about how signet rings are worn. Come, sistren, and get nerdy with me.
Aziraphale's ring is one of several we see angels wearing in Good Omens. Here in an indispensably useful post, @indigovigilance lists the known rings of Show Omens angels and those rings' qualities and placement. Note how of the angels who have rings, everyone except Saraqael and Aziraphale wear their rings on their LEFT pinky fingers. There's a reason for this.
Since the medieval period in Britain and Germany, and from there in the U.S., signet rings have been bestowed by professional associations as a sign of membership, particularly at the upper end of society: trade guilds, colleges, hospitals, the Church(es), noble families, and societies like the Freemasons all issue(d) signet rings to some of their members. The traditional placement for signet rings of show professional affiliation is the left pinky finger.
In fact, as it was not socially acceptable in or past the Victorian era for men to wear rings on more than one finger, men who wore signet rings and wedding rings both would have their wedding rings sized to fit the pinky finger below the signet. If a ring had to be moved to preserve masculinity, it wasn't the pinky ring that was going anywhere. Family signets can be worn on any of a number of fingers, but since the Victorian period the men of the British Royal Family (who are from Germany) have been especial sticklers about wearing their signets on their left pinky fingers as well.
So. If you're British and you have a signet ring that's meant to indicate professional affiliation, you wear it on your left pinky.
But Aziraphale wears his signet ring on his RIGHT hand.
Before I offer my opinion on what that means, here's some more fun background on the history and significance of pinky rings in Anglo-American culture:
The Victorian period was when pinky rings started to become associated with queerness.
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As fellow members of the Hundred Guineas Club, Oscar Wilde and Aziraphale would likely have been acquaintances.
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According to Wikipedia (ibid.):
"During the Victorian era, both single men and women uninterested in pursuing marriage could wear a ring on the little finger of their left hand."
This quickly expanded to a pinky ring on either hand. Here's Wikipedia's picture of farmer and philanthropist Caroline Rose Foster in 1917, the Edwardian era, wearing a pinky ring on her right hand:
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Do you smell a euphemism in "uninterested in pursuing marriage"? I do!
By midcentury--so only 30 years after Ms Foster up there--American and British queers, both men and women, were using signet pinky rings specifically to signal queerness to each other.
"For gay men in the 1950’s and 60’s, a way of signaling to others was through the wearing of a signet ring on the pinkie finger."
"During the 1950’s and 60’s signet rings were worn to signify membership of the gay community; both lesbians and homosexual men wore such rings."
The pinky rings @indigovigilance points out Maggie wears may mean she's an angel; they also match her midcentury lesbian style. Devious of the costumers to give her pinky rings on both hands rather than commit to one or the other.
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Screenshot by @indigovigilance
To review, there are three reasons a person in Anglo-American culture might wear a pinky ring:
They just feel like it--This can be any kind of ring and can be worn on either hand or both
Professional affiliation--This is a signet ring worn on the left pinky finger
To signal queerness--This is a signet ring and can be worn on either pinky finger
Aziraphale has worn a signet ring on his RIGHT pinky finger at least since he repaired the Eastern "Gate" in the Wall of Eden, so I'm not suggesting that he adopted the 20th-century pinky signet trend to signal his queerness (although as a clockably 'gay' 'man,' Soho fixture, and member of the Hundred Guineas Club, he may well have started it). What I am suggesting is that Aziraphale has been given a ring by Heaven that Heaven intends him to use to show his professional affiliation, but as with the flaming sword he gives away, Aziraphale doesn't use the ring for its intended purpose. By wearing the ring on his right hand, Aziraphale removes the option of interpreting it as a symbol of his professional affiliation with Heaven and renders it strictly a personal ornament. He subverts a symbol of Heavenly menace into an object of beauty and queerness.
I mean queerness in both senses. If a human takes any symbolic notice of his ring, they'll note the signet is on his right hand and conclude Aziraphale is gay. If another angel takes any notice of it, they'll conclude Aziraphale is a bit odd--that he doesn't pay attention to the finer points of how to fit in with the archangels, doesn't do things like other angels do.
In conclusion, pinky signet rings as a queer signal are just the fucking coolest and I vote we bring them back immediately.
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indigovigilance · 7 months
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Angel Pinky Rings
I'm going to get strangely obsessed with finger jewelry for a moment.
Please do not ask Neil Gaiman to confirm or deny.
Before the Beginning, Aziraphale doesn't have a ring:
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...then after the Beginning, he does:
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...which he wears continuously for the rest of the story:
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Archangel Michael
doesn't have a ring in Book of Job:
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and then they do:
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Uriel does:
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...even Saraqael does:
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...and Sandolphon:
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...but not the Supreme Archangel
not in Book of Job:
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and neither before Armageddidn't:
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nor after:
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...and not the 37th Order Scrivener:
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Originally I thought the rings might denote rank, but Gabriel not having a ring throws a wrench in that.
Left vs. Right
Every angel that wears a ring wears it on their left hand (everyone except Saraqael wears it on their pinky, who wears it on their ring finger) except for Aziraphale, who consistently wears his pinky ring on his right hand. Furthermore, the style of each ring appears to be unique; we don't usually get a very good look at them (or at least I don't, I have kind of crappy hardware) but the differing styles seem to be meaningful to the individual. Putting it on the left may indicate that it has a negative connotation; the fact that Aziraphale's ring is on the right sets him apart.
Protecting the Ring
Additionally, all the angels that have rings, when they fold their hands, tend to cover up their ring-bearing hand, almost protectively:
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Semi-Rational Theory
The rings are vessels of memory: they are only worn by angels who have transgressed against God's will, and are worn forever after as a symbol of the covenant made between the Creator and the Servant. They dump the memories of their transgressions into the ring so that their minds are made clean, but carry the mark of their prior sin with them for the rest of time. Much like a rainbow, it serves as a promise that the transgressor will never transgress again. The angels protect it because, consciously or not, they know that this ring contains a part of themselves, and it is both precious and shameful.
Absolutely Irrational Theory
Aziraphale wears his ring on his right hand because it doesn't fit on his left. That's because it's not actually his ring; it is Angel!Crowley's, and he is keeping it safe for them. Crowley and/or Aziraphale might not even know anymore that that is what it is, but by some pact between them made before the Fall, it is in Aziraphale's stewardship to keep safe until such time as Crowley can safely have his memories restored.
Again: Please do not ask Neil Gaiman to confirm or deny.
EDIT: MAGGIE HAS A PINKIE RING
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This bish is sus AF
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If you would like to reblog, please reblog from this repost with additional content and references.
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To read more of my original content on erasure theory:
Jimbriel, Satan, the Book of Life, and what it means for Crowley
The Erasure of Human!Metatron
Baraqiel and Azazel
or, my first and my most popular post to date:
A Nightingale Sang in 1941
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drconstellation · 7 months
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Michael the Watchful
Updated 11 Nov 2023
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I'm going to be upfront - I don't like Michael. But I am intrigued by some of their actions in GO.
The above screen shot highlighting their angel ring came across my dash last week, and there was a comment that the ring looked like "Ophanim rings with pearls for eyes." I have to admit that for all that I am fairly widely read in mythology I hadn't heard of these before, and had to go look them up. I realize its probably because I'm not up to speed with all the religious references yet. Don't get me wrong - I'm not a complete newbie in that dept, its just a muscle I haven't flexed in a while and its a kind of "use it or lose it" kind of thing, you know? Happens when you've been around for a bit.
Ophanim: "The many-eyed ones." Oh. Right. That's tv series Archangel Michael to a T, actually.
(There are probably some parallels to the greek monster Argus here, but not sure if I should digress. The hero Perseus, winged sandals, Medusa's snek-locks, the 1000 eyes that never sleep, rescuing a maiden, the goddess queen's grief over the slain monster...)
Michael was the one that presented the incriminating photos of Aziraphale and Crowley meeting over time to Gabriel in S1, then followed it up with a phone call to Hell on the back-stairwell to Heaven.
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And Michael is the Duty Officer during S2, they are "on watch" so to speak.
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Michael is also the one that maintains the back channel connection to Hell, "the grapevine that obviously doesn't exist" that Beelzebub mentions to Crowley in S2E1, and that Gabriel also officially denies exists in S1E4.
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The fact that in S1 they were seen talking to Ligur originally, who was destroyed by the holy water Crowley obtained from Aziraphale, and then in S2 they are talking to somebody else again (Beelzebub) in S2 via their angel phone again, says that they have to have established a new connection in between seasons. I commented elsewhere it seems to be implied the contact is Dagon, due to the little flirtation the tried to send to the angel that Michael quickly shuts down in S2E6,
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but the fact the back channel is still working is still something to be concerned about. I mean, weren't you just a little suspicious when it was Michael who turned up with the holy water for the bath during the body-swap punishment scenes, when Hell only bothered to send a disposable Eric clone with the hellfire to Heaven?
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Wondering how this angle is going to play out in S3.
Edit:
Found some information about the golden collars in the Job minisode in S2E2 and the detail on Michael's costume adds to this meta.
Around their neck they have row upon row of eyes, and around their sleeves they have wheels.
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innefableidiot · 3 months
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I have no idea if I'm overthinking this or not but does the archangel michaels ring look kind of like a biblically accurate angel?
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It may just be the overlapping
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dreameroftheblue · 5 months
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mentally I am chewing on him like a stim toy
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donacienpingoin · 1 year
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《 An angel cries, keeping the stars alive. 》 a portrait of Crowley.♡
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pandaakatsuki · 4 months
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That post about the husbands as ANCH Blathers and Flick? Yeah Well my headcanon is that Aziraphale has a private book collection on the island and whenever Crowley is there to survey the local flora and maintain the community blooms, he usually makes a trip to Aegolius' Boobookery House to 'save' the 'entomophobic' bookkeeper from household pests and then stays for a grateful nightcap
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dora-papp · 4 months
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The good old one and the newest Hungarian edition, plus my serpent and angel wing rings. Happy Season 3 announcement, Good Omens family! We are so lucky to have Neil, Michael and David. I've been a fan of Neil for like 15 years now, I just can't tell you how much he's helped me, how deeply he inspires me to be a better writer. Yes, I rejoined tumblr for him. Yes, it's so good to be back.
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wolviestars · 6 months
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aziracrow rings 💕
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elentary · 8 months
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Ok, I am watching again the second season of good omens and a particular caught my eye:
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Michael's ring.
Is that a biblical accurate angel in ring form? Wheels (gold rings) and eyes (pearls)?
Oh, I also noticed Aziraphale hasn't got his signature ring in the first episode when he's meeting the angelic version of Crowley.
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I wonder why. Probably rings haven't been invented yet (but hand cranks were).
I still wonder what ring Aziraphale has on his finger during the Job minisode: too blurry to recognise anything.
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(well, there were other properties here 😏)
I wonder if he'll sport the usual ring in the next season.
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winepresswrath · 9 months
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An important thing about Aziraphale is that he cares so much about being good, but also, he is only ok at it. Not terrible! Just mediocre. Very brave and trying his absolute best with mixed results. To paraphrase the book, neither fundamentally good nor fundamentally bad but fundamentally Aziraphale. He is however trying very hard to save the entire planet and that is really very lovely of him and should count for a lot, especially because his hot not-boyfriend finally made a move after six thousand horny, horny years and he could easily have chosen to get really spectacularly laid instead of reviewing organizational flowcharts and being trapped in meetings with people who hate each other only slightly less than they hate him.
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salzsee-e · 5 months
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This came out of nowhere but I wanna see ineffable husbands in Story of My Life au but since I don't want them dead it's going to be Crowley trying to remember Aziraphale in his bookshop (that is in Crowley's mind)
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drconstellation · 6 months
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The Golden Lions of Heaven
S2 has several prominent lion symbols in it, and at first watch they don’t appear to have anything to do with the main story line. But there are lions in both seasons, and they are all connected.
Lions are intrinsically linked with royalty, and are often called King of the Beasts or King of the Jungle. They also symbolize courage, nobility and strength.
Whenever lions appear in GO they are always coloured gold, which is associated with Heaven. Nearly all the angels have some bit of gold on them somewhere - unless they have just discorporated.
In Christian iconography Jesus is represented as a lion upon his return. When he was crucified he was a sacrificial lamb, but the Second Coming is a time when he returns to reign again. As a descendant of the royal house of David, it therefore seems quite logical to assign this symbol to the king of kings.
There is also this paragraph from the Medieval Bestiary:
“In Christian allegory, the three main natures of the lion each have a meaning. The lion erasing its tracks with its tail represents the way Jesus concealed his divinity, only revealing himself to his followers. The lion sleeping with its eyes open represents Jesus, physically dead after crucifixion, but still spiritually alive in his divine nature. The lion roaring over his dead cubs to bring them to life represents how God the father woke Jesus after three days in his tomb.”
There is also an often misquoted line “when the lion shall lie down with the lamb,” but it’s not that at all. The full verse is:
“The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.” [Isiah 11:6]
It is referring to a time of peace that should come once Jesus returns. Somehow I don't think we are going to get that in S3.
The Two Lions in the Dirty Donkey
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There are two large golden lions sitting on the ends of the bar in the Dirty Donkey. Because one of the underlying themes in S2 is about the Second Coming, even if its not obvious until the end, its fairly easy then to interpret these two as being connected to this event. The Dirty Donkey itself can be seen in several ways: a simple donkey that needs a wash, or a black horse. Both are relevant to referencing Jesus. In the former, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem the first time to signify he came in peace, but the second time he arrives will be like on the back of the black horse of a conqueror come to rule. One lion for each occurrence.
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The Lion under the lamp in Jimbriel’s room
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While there is some argument for Jim’s character in S2 re-creating parts of the life of Jesus from two thousand years ago, such as the cleansing of the temple and facing temptation from demons. I think we shouldn’t also forget that this is also Gabriel the Herald, and he was doing some ominous heralding of doom at various points in S2 that in hindsight we can see were warning us about the Second Coming. So this lion at the base of the lamp Jimbriel is playing with has to alert us to Jimbriel’s connection with Jesus. (I will probably revisit and add/rewrite this one in the future, I think there is a bit more to it)
The Lion Rampant on Aziraphale’s Ring
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At the end of S2 we learn that Aziraphale has been manipulated into going back to Heaven to run the Second Coming by the Metatron. In hindsight, its hard to see how he wouldn't be involved, somehow. What is surprising, however, is that this expert in prophecy didn't see it coming - but then he didn't expect to see Jimbriel arriving either!
Usually the first thing we notice about Aziraphale's ring is the stylized lion rampant on the shield. We know it's definitely a lion because it upright - if it was down on all four paws it would be referred to as a leopard. The upright tail tells us its on guard.
There are more elements to the ring that also add to the story here, it's a much more complex ring than Michael's. The crown on the top is a symbol of victory and sovereignty, and also a connection to God, who considered the "King of all." On either side of the shield are two stylized sprigs of laurel, reinforcing a picture of triumph and fame.
Then there are a fringe of feathers, banded in sharp triangular spikes. Feathers signify willing obedience and serenity of mind in heraldry, so I would tend to lean towards the former. The triangles represent celestial rays, so they reinforce his obedience to the will of Heaven.
You might think, "well this makes sense, Aziraphale is a Principality, he's a protector, that's why there is a lion," but I think it more complicated than that. It tells us something about both the past and the future at the same time. The purpose of the rings remain a mystery to us at the moment, in that we don't know why some angels have them and others don't, or if they have any function. Aziraphale has a tendency to touch his when he is feeling troubled or worried (its easy to miss if you aren't paying attention,) so perhaps it helps to strengthen his connection to Heaven somehow, or is a reminder of his duties.
There is another connection Aziraphale has to a lion, and that is through his past status as a cherubim in the Job minisode in S2E2.
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As pointed out in this post, the pattern is stylized to represent the four wings that Cherubim are said to have, with a pearl in the center for an eye. These Cherubim also have four faces: an ox, an eagle, a lion and a man. Well, we sort of get all of those with Aziraphale at some point in the wider story. And the angel set at the eastern gate of Eden with the flaming sword was supposed to be a Cherubim, too. Yes, Aziraphale changed rank from Cherubim to Principality, we just don't technically know whether it was a step up or down...
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The Honolulu Roast Lion
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There is a lion you don’t see in S2 – the lion logo for the Honolulu roast coffee, mentioned briefly on a blackboard in the background of a shot inside the coffee shop.
The islands of Hawaii were a kingdom up until 1893, when a commercial coup took them over and allowed them to be annexed by the US. You can read more about it here. While the op in that post relates it the Eldritch Ball in S2E5, it still connects a lion to royalty.
The lion at the beginning of S1E1
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Right at the beginning we have a lion as well – a real live lion! After Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden they meet a big lion out on the dunes. As Aziraphale and Crowley watch and talk atop the walls of the Garden, Adam confronts the lion with the flaming sword Aziraphale gave him and eventually kills the lion before he walks away with Eve.
What are we to think of this? I've see one op suggest that it was Aziraphale "throwing them to the lions" as his first act. To me it seems more like Adam has just slain God instead to gain their freedom.
The Lions on Crowley’s “throne”
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There are two lion heads on the arm rest of Crowley’s “throne” (I don’t know what else to call it, really) in his Mayfair flat in S1. If I understand correctly, this should first be viewed as a homage to the US show Supernatural, as this chair is the exact copy of the one the demon Crowley in that show sits in, only his one is black. But if I’m to look at it in terms of GO symbology, my brain keeps going [error 503: Server cannot process the request due to a system overload; should be a temporary condition...] because I can’t quite believe what its telling me. And I should, because I’m the one running around touting a list that is now 22 items long for why Crowley was once a very powerful archangel and written a batshit-crazy meta on King Arthur themes presenting in GO. So I’ll just present my quandary this way: There are lions, they are golden, of course, so they are connected to Heaven, and a symbol of royalty – but they are being used by a demon in a residence paid for by Hell…(too.much.gold...! what were they thinking?)
Further reading: The Golden Lion by Cobragardens
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ingravinoveritas · 1 year
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I saw your hashtag saying it's interesting that you can't see either of their ring fingers, but Aziraphale's ring finger is visible in the new poster, is it not? Or am I missing something?
Hi, Anon! Well, @fuckyeahgoodomens posted this fabulous hi-res version of the poster, so hopefully we can get a better look:
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So yes, Aziraphale's left ring finger is indeed visible, but it's his right ring finger that we can't see (or the bottom half of it, at least). This is significant because that part of his finger is where one might see a ring--though traditionally, wedding rings are worn on the left hand, but engagement rings are on the right (or at least that is where they are moved when the wedding ring is put on the left hand).
Again, I know we can see Aziraphale's left ring finger and there is nothing on it, so all of this could just be wild conjecture. Or what's on their fingers could be something other than human rings, since Aziraphale and Crowley are celestial beings and would (at least in my opinion) very possibly have other ways of showing their eternal commitment to each other. And that's something I would love to see in the second season--rings or no rings, kiss or no kiss. Just two immortals being domestic and lovely and devoted endlessly to encasing anyone who would hurt their beloved in a box with the Benny Hill theme playing on repeat and a bunch of trained piranhas that only attack when they hear the Benny Hill theme. (Do piranhas have ears?)
Well, I hope that helps to answer your question, Anon. Such an amazing day we've had with all this content, and so much more still to come. Hopefully we'll eventually find out for sure what is going on with the Husbands' hands. Thanks for writing in! x
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megsforeva1 · 8 months
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Found this old ring I used to wear 20 years ago. Now I'm going to wear it again, calling it My Good Omens Ring 🤍🖤
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sh4d0w-gl · 8 months
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CROWLEY RING CROWLEY RING CROWLEY RING CROWLEY RING CROWLEY RING CROWLEY RIN-
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