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Here's a neat detail:

Not to talk about season 1 Good Omens in the year of our Lord and Season 3 announcement 2023, but I kind of just realized another little moment that's very sweet and true to real life.

I really like that Crowley isn't just fine again after he learns Aziraphale survived the bookshop burning after all. Normally in stories when there's a "surprise, I'm alive!" moment, the characters just kind of celebrate for a minute and then move on business as usual. But Crowley doesn't, he continues to be visibly be shaken and a little unfocused throughout his conversation with Aziraphale, and when he has to explain what happened, he starts crying again.

I don't know I just thought that was a really nice detail because anyone who's experienced similar whiplash in real life knows about that... residual grief period I guess? I think this was a core memory that informed a lot of Crowley's behavior in season 2, you don't ever really forget that moment you lost them no matter how brief. There's just something very loving and vulnerable in him being like "I thought you were gone, and even though I know now you're ok, I want you to know just thinking about it upsets me deeply."

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You know you're fucking up when the gal that's supposed to be THE demon, THE temptress, THE Serpen of Eden, is looking at you like this after you tell them what your God is doing

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Day 257 of posting Good Omens memes Everyday until Season 3

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Yes, yes, the "i forgive you," the "no nightingales," and the "nothing lasts forever" are all great lines. But to me, the most heartbreaking was this one

And not enough people are talking about it.

This is the moment where Aziraphale breaks. This is the moment he realises the severity of their conversation. The horrible consequences that could follow.

This is the moment where Aziraphale, for the first time in probably all 2 seasons, spoke from his feelings instead of his logic.

Accompanied by Michael's breathtaking acting, where in just 2 seconds, he managed to convey all the excruciating and tragic feelings that Aziraphale has been going through all this time. His eyes, relaying the utter pain Aziraphale is, and has been, feeling for a long time, that he's finally unable to control anymore.

This is the moment where we and Crowley understand that Aziraphale has been lying this whole time.

"He's not my friend. We've never met before we dont know each other." Yes, he is. Yes, we have. Yes, we do.

"Were not friends." Yes, we are.

"We have nothing whatsoever in common, I don't even like you." Yes, we do. Yes, I do.

This is the moment he admits that every time he's called Crowley a fiend, an enemy, evil, not his friend, he has been lying through and through in an attempt to hide what he really feels, what he really thinks, should by chance Heaven or Hell get a word of it. He has been lying every single time.

This is the moment where he lets his true feelings out. Prompted by sheer desperation and panic, he finally said what he's been denying for millennia.

"I need you"

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“Two Minutes to Run”

Thank you. But (or maybe And). . . .

 “What will you take you?” is a question people think they can answer, but can’t until it happens.  It’s like being faced with the danger of death - some people freeze, some people run, some people laugh and charge. But you don’t know which you will do until faced with such danger. Same with the moment of fleeing. People don’t think, they react. 

Some people react practically. They grab official identification and jackets and water. 

Some people react sentimentally. They grab stuffed animals and photos and books.

Some people react frantically. They grab the coffee grinder and. . . .and. . . .time’s up. They have the coffee grinder. 

I am a professor of archaeology who studies diaspora and immigration and identity through the things people keep and collect and move with them. I have found bodies of refugees who have died along the US border fleeing to a better life. Many of my fellow archaeologists have too. And our graduate students - one who did an exhibit on the objects found in temporary camps and on the bodies of the dead.  So we know what people take, but we also know what people shed as they flee and it gets harder and harder and harder to stay alive. But you know what the bodies of those who didn’t make it almost always have on them? Identification. Sometimes in a pants pocket, sometimes sewn into a coat, sometimes grasped in their hands. A final plea. Do not forget who I am. Tell my family. 

My point? I don’t know. You are one of my few remaining living heroes, your writings have been a companion to me since I stole my ex-boyfriend’s Sandmans from him in 1990 when in college. And I know I am not special in this (well, the stealing of Sandmans maybe). Your words have a power that mine do not. Whether fiction or non. So I guess I just wanted you to have more information so you can continue to make the world an even better place. 

I guess that is my ask - continue to make the world a better place, which is response enough to my inquiry. 

Thank you for writing this.

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The way Crowley orbits around his angel 💫

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Crowley being attracted to bad boys (gn) and Aziraphale being into good boys (gn) is something that can be so so personal.

Oh you're attracted to the SERPENT of Eden, the one who couldn't even kill a bunch of goats to save his own skin? Oh you're attracted to a DEMON? You mean the one that cares about the well-being of ducks? The one who risked his own life to save a grave-digging girl? The one who likes making stars and likes watching them twinkle? The one who can't fight for shit and has to rely on his wits and intelligence to get him out of a situation? His skinny ass can't even open a jar. Can't even hit a hedgehog if he tried. That one Aziraphale???

Or are you attracted to the one who defies Heavens orders at every single turn? The one who lied to GODS FACE? The one who's trained as a soldier and given a flaming sword to fight and kill? The one who's been fraternizing with the "enemy" for thousands of years? Who's performed temptations and has committed numerous sins throughout his lifetime and not once repented for them or shown any remorse? The one who quite literally makes mobsters DISSAPEAR and run for their LIVES? The one that was ready to shoot a CHILD in the FACE to end Armaggedon aka to go against every order he's been given? That one Crowley? Hmm?

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Things I'm noticing on rewatch

Aziraphale knows how reproduction works (and realizes you need a pair) because (unlike Crowley, rip unicorns) he saw the human design plans, if maybe didn't directly work on them. Presumably there are other angels who know, it's a good thing that none of them were tagging along for the whole Job bit. Or maybe they just didn't want to contradict Gabriel.

The "this way up" sign on the box is so cheeky. Aziraphale and Crowley could've solved the whole mystery if they'd just ignored the rules and upended the system box, but there's still part of them (esp. Aziraphale) still instinctively following the rules.

Literally the first thing they say to each other in the present sets up their entire season conflict of not communicating properly, while being hidden in a joke. *groans loudly*

okay wait did we figure out what the deal was with this getting so specifically highlighted?? I've tried looking up the passage and I am.. still pretty baffled. Other than the obvious connection to Crowley being about to explode in a few minutes.

Edit: There's a theory I like quite a lot here, though still open to other interpretations if you've got em!

Crowley opening the door for Aziraphale and Nina staring in fascination is SO funny. She's just dying to know what tf is going on there.

Originally overlooked this bc it's not his usual coy heart eyes, but this is an Ask from Aziraphale. Aziraphale glances to Jim and back like, Well I'm not doing that.... and Crowley gets the message that this is (at least partially) why he's here, to be the demon and not the nice one.

Really can't get over the walls matching Crowley's eyes. You can't leave this bookshop indeed.

Despite the fact that Crowley is storming out of here so angry that he will literally explode in about 60 seconds, he does not slam the door. It's not the bookshop's fault / he really is trying to control his temper / he doesn't want to leave things on that final of a note / choose your interpretation.

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Aziraphale always opening the bookshop door for Crowley

I am so. very. weak. for how every single time Crowley & Aziraphale go back to the bookshop together, Aziraphale unlocks the door, holds it open for Crowley and lets him go in first.

Is it the being so gentlemanly and respectful towards a being that has been treated terribly and not known a lot of kindness? Yes. Is it mostly just though that I love how Aziraphale made his home this place for Crowley and it's the only place in the universe where Crowley can go and be free of Hell for as long as he needs? Where he can breathe a bit and rest? Yes.

Aziraphale doesn't even need to unlock the door with physical keys the way he does. He's magic. He can snap it open if he wanted to-- Crowley does this when he goes in and out of it, alone, when it's on fire in S1. Aziraphale, though, uses the human keys to the shop so he can unlock the door by hand so he can physically hold it open for Crowley, who likes it so much that he never just snaps the door open when they're together.

Aziraphale *loves* inviting Crowley in. Crowley has been coming to the bookshop for 223 years and practically lives there now and it doesn't matter. Aziraphale invited Crowley in that first time and then just never stopped. He just keeps inviting him in, every time, ever since... like he's silently saying It's alright now. I know you're tired. Come in and I'll take care of you. You're safe now...

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The thing about "you go too fast for me" is that it is unmistakably a love confession.

We all knew it. I don't know anyone who watched that scene without being pierced right through by it. But it's a confession and a refusal all at once. It's, "I love you, but we shouldn't." It's, "I love you, but we can't." The double blow is what makes it hit so hard. The revelation and the rejection happen all at once, inextricably tied up in each other, and you walk away remembering above everything else that Aziraphale said no.

But after season two, this scene is coming back to haunt me. What's finally hitting me in a way it never has before is that Aziraphale wanted to say yes. He told Crowley that he wanted to say yes. The "we can't" came through so painfully clearly, but the other half of the sentence was what he spent most of the scene trying to say. "I need you safe" and "maybe one day" and "if only."

It wasn't supposed to be, "I love you, but it doesn't matter. We can't." That was never how it sounded in his heart. The way he meant it, the thing he wanted Crowley to understand, was "We can't, but it doesn't matter. I love you."

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so... do we finally realize that the metraton chose aziraphale for his plan maybe, in part, because he literally declared war with hell??? by throwing his halo??? which makes him "a leader"

............OH.

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So I was watching this old video again because the new Good Omens season triggered my obsession with Neil Gaiman's stories that creeps up periodically ( and his voice is soothing to listen to while I draw) And at about 1:25:30 there's a part that really made me giggle, cause this is what he says when asked about themes in his work:

"I remember once somebody asked me about the kiss that would occur in my books three quarters of the way through, to indicate that we were now moving into act three. And I said 'what'. And they said 'well you must be conscious of it, you do it every time.'"

And I mean...

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The way Gabriel's memory works is very interesting to me.

It's very much all like, on the tip of his tongue. If he catches it off guard, he can unexpectedly grab snippets of it. If he finds a trigger, it can lead him right to a very specific fragment. But if he tries to think too hard, it's just gone.

It's interesting because it feels like a very exaggerated version of how my memory works, which I imagine like a spiderweb-ish maze. If I manage to follow the right paths, I will arrive at the memory I was looking for, but otherwise I'm lost. The other day I forgot my own address because I approached it from the wrong path (I was imagining it written down) and I couldn't get my rote memory to override it. I was thinking about it too hard and all I could do was stare blankly at the receptionist and go, "Well -- it's X street."

I'm very much a fan of "Crowley has (at least some) memory loss" theories, and it inspired a little bit of a theory on how Heaven wipes memories. I feel like they'd be the sort to just go through and snip all the connections to these things -- but not remove them entirely. But, in doing so, you leave behind a bunch of jagged pieces. So, using context clues (where the furniture isn't), you can see this piece lines up with the jagged ends of that piece, even if you don't have the full context as to why or what the other pieces look like.

Sort of explaining why he would remember things like building the nebulas, but not who he built them with. Or remembering being part of the rebellion, but not running around with Furfur.

((by the way I've been having lots of migraines lately and I see I have a number of asks; I won't be able to address them yet, but will when I can))

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Okay but like Aziraphale asking Crowley for things isn't just for Aziraphale. In fact it's often something Aziraphale does for Crowley. If Aziraphale asks, even wordlessly, this creates a scenario where Crowley is allowed to do something nice for someone while being allowed to hide it behind the context of an eye roll or an if you insist. It puts a degree of removal between Crowley and the act itself that makes it easier and safer for him to do. Crowley likes to do nice things. Aziraphale knows this. Just like Crowley knows Aziraphale likes to be cared for. They've stumbled this way into this mutually beneficial act where Aziraphale gets to indulge in being indulged and Crowley gets to indulge in doing the indulging - which are both things they do not normally get to indulge in - because they're complimentary even in this.

Asking the being that just quoted poetry at you to save this dying play you're both watching. Creating scenarios for him to rescue you when you know he loves the chance to get to save someone for once. Letting him drive you both around in his fancy new machine he's so delightfully proud of even though you got a license the same year he got the car. Asking him to remove a stain so he can act like you're the dramatic one while taking all the joy in theatrically removing it for you. They're all acts of mutual care and love. Because they're both so hopelessly smitten with another they can't help themselves from indulging the other.

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There's just something about the fact we’re introduced to the Starmaker by seeing them alone in the dark. Something about the way he’s so isolated he doesn’t even know about plans for the all important earth. Something about the way Aziraphale comes crashing through the darkness as a literal ball of light and immediately compliments both the nebula and also the Starmarker himself. And about the way Aziraphale immediately starts asking questions about the beautiful thing before him and about the way the Starmaker leaps so eagerly to answer them.

There's something in the way they approach each other in the beginning too. Like familiar not quite strangers whether it be at the wall or before the flood. There's something in the way they share a meal, even if one does not literally partake. Something about the promise of safety and hospitality long before I think either would consider themselves friends. There's something in the admission of being different. In the acknowledgement of shared loneliness. In the pact between two people existing in the gray space between. In the looking into another set of eyes and seeing someone who understands staring back at you.

There's something in the connection itself that catches you in its gravity. And suddenly you're spinning closer and closer around the consistency of togetherness throughout the vast ever changing millennia. There's something about knowing that if you handed them a loaded gun they would not dare to let it harm you - that if you walked into a church to save them they would protect you in turn.

There's something about being so intertwined that you are more aware of where each other is than you are of when and where you and them became an us. There's something about the devastation when that connection is lost unexpectedly. There's something about choosing each other over all else except possibly the place you grew to love together. There's something about the breaking of each other's hearts and there's something about the mending that follows. There's something about getting it right when it really matters. There's something in the ordeal of being known and in the learning to know in return.

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THEY WERE SO INSANE FOR THIS