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Holy shit, op. Excellent historical analysis, especially bringing in the gifs. Would read.

Good Omens Historical Trivia That's Haunting Me Today...

So we all know A.Z. Fell & Co is located on the fictitious Whickber Street in Soho and was established in 1800.

Aziraphale has run the shop ever since then and was in contact with Crowley at least until the 1820's when they took their little jaunt to Edinburgh and Crowley got sucked down the tube slide to Hell. They meet up again no later than the 1860's, when Crowley asks for Holy Water.

Stands to reason that between the 1820's and 1860's Aziraphale was in Soho doing Aziraphale things. Running his bookshop. Eating tiny cakes

Yeah... you know what else was going on in Soho during that time?

The worst cholera epidemic in London history.

If you don't know, cholera is a deadly bacterial infection caused by drinking contaminated water. Prior to the 1850's humans weren't really sure what caused cholera, but they knew it was terrifying and also that it was absolutely epidemic in big cities.

TW: this is gross - The main symptoms of cholera are agonizing stomach pain and non-stop watery diarrhea, eventually leading to the skin turning blue due to the thickening of blood from severe dehydration. Patients can lose more than 20% of their body weight in hours as they quite literally evacuate every drop of water in their bodies until they die of heart failure. - OK gross part over

Cholera symptoms show up as short as 5 hours after infection and could kill within as little as 12 hours. Cholera was especially terrifying because of how quickly and painfully it killed you, and because the patient maintained mental clarity up until the point of death. More than half of the people who contracted cholera died within a few days after consuming the bacteria-contaminated water.

And guess what water had cholera bacteria in it?

The public water pump on Broad Street in Soho in August of 1854

And this wasn't one of those epidemics that starts slowly and drags on. It hit like a bomb. It killed 600 Soho residents in ten days.

That's roughly 60 people a day in a 3-4 block area. Most of them died at home because the disease struck too quickly for them to to make it to a hospital. Survivors described hearses stacked with coffins 4-5 high going down the street nonstop all day long during the outbreak. Entire families were wiped out overnight.

What does that have to do with Good Omens?

Aziraphale's book shop was right in the epicenter of this outbreak.

Neil Gaiman has been pretty free about the fact that Whickber Street is a thinly veiled expy of the real Berwick Street in Soho.

This is a famous map showing the 1854 Soho Cholera epidemic. I highlighted Berwick Street and the public water pump that was the center of the contagion. The black bars (I circled a few in blue) on the map designate deaths. The thicker the black bar, the more people died in that particular house.

51 people died the week of the cholera outbreak on Aziraphale's Street alone.

Cholera was one of those diseases that provoked a lot of panic, not just because of how fast and painful it was, but because of the way it didn't follow common conventions about class or age. Children died while the elderly survived (often because the elderly had no one to gather water for them). Lower class houses were spared while their middle class landlords died. Churches were packed that week, because people in Soho had no idea who would get sick next. The epidemic pretty much burned itself out in a week and a half, since by that point everyone who drank the water had already died. I have to wonder what our resident Angel was up to during that time. Obviously cholera can't hurt him, but that's his neighborhood. There's no way hundreds of people, including entire families with children, are dying painfully in his neighborhood and Aziraphale doesn't notice. That means that in between this scene:

And this one:

Aziraphale would have watched one of the worst disease outbreaks in London history play out right outside his front door. I feel like there's great potential for a good story there if anyone better than me wants to write it.

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6.000 years later he is still amazed at the things his angel does

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Crowley’s many hairstyles

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Well, well.

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David Tennant speaking to Esquire Magazine about his BAFTA 2024 red carpet look - during the promotion for Rivals

Video Source [ X ]

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What's the point of it all? Heaven, Hell, Demons, Angels. That it's all… well, pointless?

Crowley + criticizing everyone's job

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Finally made a tumblr! Enjoy this painting of Elizabethan era Aziraphale I made a while ago :)

Oil on 11x14” canvas

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"Teach me" comic

P.1 to p.6

next

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Brilliant mashup with one of my favorite images of all time.

This was a fun challenge

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Swallow, Sam Rush

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My first pen drawing! Mr. Anthony J. Crowley in shades of dark grey 🩶😎

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- What did you even tell that artist?

- I wasn't...I didn't!!! I was simply trying to get Gabriel off our backs by-by planting evidence of our rivalry!

- Uh-huh

- I didn't think they'd draw me looking like a strongman!! Or...or quite so hairless...

-That is a shame...

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do you think it'll let up soon?

static version:

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wing stuff!

experimenting with a more cartoon style, idk what i'm doing loll

tagging: @goodomensafterdark <3

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James Bond isn't the only spy inspiring Crowley

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If anyone deserves a vacation it's them. 🏝

I'm leaving for Hawaii in the morning! I just wanted to post one more thing before I continue panic packing. ✈🌺

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Let sleeping sneks lie.

I snuck in this quickie sketch on vacation. Quickly expressing movement and mood with wild lines was sorta my bread and butter in art school. More of this or nah?

Please advise.