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drconstellation · 4 months

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Goats, Crows and The Flood

Or why Crowley turns the goats into crows in the Job minisode

If you're reading that and thinking "eh, what's the Flood got to do with it?" then read on. It wasn't done just so Crowley got to change his name. It's never as simple as that. C'mon now, this is the GOmens AU, I'm not going to write a meta about something like this and not give you at least three if not four layers as to why, now, am I? Certainly not, and this one won't be any different.

Recently I picked up a book that has been sitting for far too long on a pile near my kitchen that needs sorting through called Parallel Myths* and in it is a section on Flood myths. (It's got lots of other good bits as well, but the Flood myths are what I want to talk about here.) The Flood is a wide-spread myth, with stories all around the world from India, to the Greek myths, to the Incas and Aztecs and in North America as well.

There are four stories that include crows as messengers who are sent to look out for land. The first is our familiar bible story. Oh, did you miss that bit? Yeah, I know, you keep getting told about the dove that represents the holy spirit that came back with the olive branch. Why would they want to tell you about a dirty old crow? And why is that crow dirty anyway? Ah, hold that thought...we'll come back to that shortly.

Another very famous story that include a crow being sent out to look for land after a great Flood is in the epic story of Gilgamesh. While on a journey Gilgamesh meets an old man named Utnaptishtim who tells the hero how he survived a great flood by building a boat after being warned by the gods to do so, and then floating for several days before coming to rest on a mountain top. At first he sent out a dove, but the dove returned. Then he sent out a swallow, but the swallow returned also, so he knew there was no land yet. But the third bird he sent out was a crow, and it didn't come back, so Utnaptishtim knew it was finally safe to leave.

There are also crows mentioned in two North American Flood myths, with the Cree and the Algonquin, and in both stories they are also sent to look out for land.

So why am I telling you this? Because of this:

Which is, as we know, is a bit of a play on words, but it establishes the association between the ungulate offspring and the human offspring when we run into the next occurrence of the innocent being killed on the Almighty's fickle whim in the Job minisode in S2. And we know our favourite demon is just not going to take that lying down that without some kind of protest.

So after delivering his open monologue to the goats, which gives an insight into himself, then being confronted by Aziraphale, and revealing he has a permit, from the Almighty Herself, no less, he turns Job's goats into crows.

(And if you've missed the bit about why the goats, and not the sheep, which the archangels kept going on about, its because sheep were seen as more "Christian" as the rams were considered faithful to their ewes, as good followers should be, but goats were observed to just do it with any-nanny, with no sense of commitment, if you get what I mean, so they were considered more "demonic" in nature.)

The bible seems to have a bit of a love-hate relationship with birds. On hand they can be used for food or sacrifices, on the other hand they are metaphorical demons! There is an association made between "birds of the air" and demons, waiting to pick off the weak (of thought) and young before they can be enfolded into the "safety" of the church.

Even the noble eagle is frowned upon in a way, as it eats carrion, or rotting meat. And that is something ravens and crows are known to do as well. This eating of dead animals, and humans on the field on the ancient battlefield, led crows to be associated with death and the afterlife, and by extension, transformation from one form to another.

(I can't help thinking at this point about the Sandman's assistant crow helper that travels between worlds, but also I've written a couple of metas about both Crowley and the Bentley being facilitators for the crossing of thresholds between different worlds.)

If you've ever had a close association with a crow or two- and I have, over several years, they can be wily opponents! - you come to respect their intelligence and adaptability, no matter how they might be frustrating you! **

The raven is also mentioned in the Book of Job 38:41

Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

We didn't hear this line delivered to Job during the minisode, though we certainly heard some of the other lines from verses 38 and 39 that come before and after it. God is in the middle of telling Job about the universe, the earth and the creatures upon it, and how She looks after them. The line Jimbriel speaks about the morning stars all singing together is Job 38:7, for example. Just before mentioning this loathsome bird, She mentions that most noble of animals, the lion. But look, She also cares about ugly croaking raven fledglings that seem to get kicked out of the nest as soon as they can fly. How do they fend for themselves? It is seen as the mercy of God that she provides for each of the creatures of the Earth, both the lion and the raven. (Well, there's some interesting metaphorical links riiiight there...I hope I don't need to spell them out....)

So where are we? We've gone from a crow being a messenger for Noah, to kids/goats from the Flood scene in S1E3, to demon-associated goats being transformed into demon-associated crows in the Job minisode in S2E2, just before Job's human kids are saved from destruction by being transformed into geckos - which is also a significant symbolic creature for resurrection (which I explain in another meta.)

You know, I wouldn't be at all surprised if we loop back for a longer look at the Flood in S3. Kids, crows, a transformative experience...

Va-va-voom, here we come!

*Parallel Myths by J. F. Beirlein (1994) A Fascinating look at the common threads woven through the world's greatest myths - and the central role they have played through time. ISBN 0-345-38146-7

**I know there are corvids all around the world, and they can be shy, important birds in the ecosystem but here in Australia they can also be big bullies who know they are bigger than the other birds and throw their weight around accordingly and then do gross stuff like dirty up the backyard bird bath by finding discarded sandwiches and dog bones or even Lego blocks and drop them in to "soften" them for later consumption and just leave a filthy mess there for everybird else. yyyiikkk.

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #good omens analysis #good omens theory #crowley #good omens s3 #goats #crows #not the kids #the flood

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sparklecarehospital · 9 months

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Please send Pollarrydoomi asks/questions I want to talk about them

#text #pollarrydoomi #the ship #not the kids

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aaftaabkoo · 1 year

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maybe if taare zameen par wouldn't have been used to traumatize me as a toddler i'd have better mental health

#no because it's a movie for the parents #not the kids #why was i so scared #why did they use it to scare me #why did they tell me they'd send me to a boarding school like ishaan #taare zameen par #desiblr #desi tumblr #movies

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20-kids-and-some-adults · 9 months

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In my AU for Kindergarten 3, there are just 4 new kids bcuz there are like, 16 of the kids from the other two

But anyways, I guess ya’ll can like, ask stuff to Thomas, Alexi, Grace and Drew (<- The kids in my K3 AU)

And maybe the tchers and the staff-

#kindergarten #kindergarten the game #kindergarten 2 #kindergarten 3 #not the kids #ask the kids! :D

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thosegoodbois · 2 years

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I think autistic characters should be sexualized actually. Tired of the uwu cutesy baby shit. Give me some autussy. Give me some autitties. Give me a slutty infinity sign shirt in which the inside of the infinity sign is cut for your tits to pop out. Give me stimmy sex. Give me autistic people who swear and fuck and are open about it. Give me an autistic person who is like me.

#THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO CHILDREN OF COURSE #NOT THE KIDS #just the adults #give me autistic ADULTS doing that stuff

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kithtaehyung · 1 year

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Everyday I think I’m going to live in peace as a yoongi ult and everyday I am proven wrong.

@yoongi da kids miss u🥲🥲🥲

-🍒

LMAO cherry oh god… you will never know peace, I fear💀

#like what is that #😭😭😭#NOT THE KIDS #🍒 anon #club myg #mailbox💌

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galaxywhale-moved · 2 years

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schools canceled it’s nap time now

#for me #not the kids #keep yourself busy pls kids

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nominalnebula · 2 years

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everything that’s happening in the arboreal calix and the ring of brass turning on each other and then cerrit’s just booked it out and cutting to him talking to kir, to his son, tell him to get his sister and go home and I’m just

yeah no it’s no longer fine

#micky watches critical role #IT'S NOT FINE #NOT THE KIDS

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vamprisms · 28 days

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i feel like a lot of the 'i hate kids' crowd would be more tolerant if they understood that due to a kid's limited experience of the world that 4 hour flight might just be the longest they've ever had to sit still for or that trapped finger might literally be the most pain they've ever felt in their short life or they might not have ever seen a person with pink hair ever so of course they want to touch it or nobody's told them yet that they can't run around the museum and they only just learned cheetahs are the fastest animals so of course they want to put that to the test. how were they supposed to know etc etc.

#like majority of the time kids are not just 'being naughty'. they have big feelings inside little bodies it's a lot #also like.#it should be illegal to dye your hair fun colours if you aren't prepared for kids in public to ask if youre related to a my little pony #EDIT: the notes on this post are an absolute cesspool. i don't care about your reasons for hating kids you sound like a disney villain

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drconstellation · 2 months

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Being Kind To One Another

So I was watching through S1 again the other day for something, and you know how little things stand out to you that sometimes you didn't notice before. Like word puns that just fly past so quickly. Then one day the meta-brain inside suddenly goes "wait-wot! That was a repeated word!" and leaps upon it. yeah, you don't ignore stuff that in Good Omens.

So what did I hear repeated?

Kind.

One word. Three meanings.

Oh, come now, we can't just have one or two meanings with it. This is Good Omens, after all. The more that can be stuffed into it the better. And all of it works.

To start, we have the pun with the goats in the Flood scene, during the cold opening of Ep3, Hard Times.

Kids. Children. You can't kill children. Yep. Just warming you up here. Actually, its a bit of a theme in Good Omens, avoiding the slaughter of innocents, but we are getting a bit off track. Here is next bit:

[And because I cannot find the GIF to go with it] Crowley replies sarcastically:

"How kind."

oh. Oh. Geddit? No? Well, you might be excused, because it's actually doing a cross-over job with the next time period scene, at Golgotha, and it's one of those puns that you can really only understand going backwards.

On the one hand, we have the German meaning for kind which is "child," but we also need to introduce the third meaning for kind.

Remember this exchange?

We can take the kind here to be "thoughtful and caring," but you could also use another meaning for kind - as in like kind, or all belonging together, as in a family. So, be like family to each other.

Oh, yeah. Considering how some families are to each other that would definitely get some people upset.

Please, won't you consider the children?

I explain the other pun with the demon names here.

#good omens #good omens meta #crowley #aziraphale #not the kids #be kind to one another #just punning around #word play #language stuff

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bodhimcbodeface · 5 months

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I really think they need to start teaching kids in schools that most blind people can see a little bit, most deaf people can hear a little bit, and most wheelchair users can walk a little bit. And they are still disabled.

#I’ve tried explaining this to kids before and they’re always surprised #sometimes adults too!!

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newlevant · 5 months

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