#And can we talk about Terry

[mari-buginette]

So Aaravos chooses to let his daughter Leola die. Tough choice, and the only way he could punish the Star elves rather than die with her and have zero consequences for the people killing his daughter.

I get that. He offered to die for her instead. He was told no, and there were no other options. Revenge was in fact his only action left. Ezran has been given choices as well, and he chooses to love, forgive, etc. I am interested to see how he reacts to meeting the assassin Runaan who killed his father.

It is not quite the same though- love for a child vs. love for a parent. Ezrans situation came with a lot of complications. Aaravos’ child was being punished for a ‘crime’ of compassion.

Terry will do anything for Claudia because he is trans, not understood by his people, and she loves him.

Callum will do anything for Rayla and Ezran, because they have been there for him and he loves them.

Amaya and Janai are compromising defining features of their lives to be together as wives because they love each other.

The story is so complex. Aaravos doesn’t try to get Viren to kill his children directly- he knows better, because if he would die for his child, so too might a human. He will hurt them, yes, but hints to Viren the idea of killing his daughter, just to counter with the magic child instead as a way of using Viren’s relief to push him to finish the spell.

He can do this, because Aaravos knows, truly, the power of strong emotions and how they can drown every logical thought. He has cried for a child he loved, who was killed, and he without her light, for a hundred years. He knows.

Aaravos is terrifying, and I think the worst moment for him will be when he has accomplished his dark goal, and knows he has nothing left, and cannot die.

I love the Dragon Prince and Mystery of Aaravos so much.

[its-leethee]

Reflecting on Claudia's conversation with Terry about the leaflynx kitten, and how even though she acknowledges that it's cute, she still can't see the sum of the animal from all of its parts.

So far, only Ezran has been able to inspire Claudia to actually relate to another creature, and not just see it as a threat or a tool: Hey, that's like me!

2x09 // 6x04

Bonus: what's with this look, Ez?!

[syl-stormblessed]

i just read Going Postal in less than 18 hours. oh my god hnghhhh how have i survived so many years on this earth without Moist Von Lipwig in my life. how have i survived so many years on this earth without Discworld in my life. i’m a changed person now.

[solarcicada]

Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett is such an amazing book to me. What if you were insane and kind of a bad person and you brought about the end of time (literally), though did so without any bad intentions, without meaning to hurt anyone, without meaning to stop time, only wishing to make something perfect because you feel that that’s what you’re meant to do and it’s the absence of that perfection that’s driving you mad in the first place.

What if another version of you who is both intrinsically, inherently, genetically you but so vastly different to you due to the vastly different lives you two have lived-completely ignorant of one another’s existence despite both of you living in the same city your whole lives-was somehow destined to stop you and save the world, pulled away from his old life due to talents he didn’t know he had and often couldn’t control and frustrated to no end at the seemingly ever-growing incompetence of his trainer.

What of as a result of this, the two halves of You became one whole person and yet lose almost the entirety of your collective humanity and now have to leave behind the person you love to fulfill the task that you were always meant for since the moment of your birth, and you have lost so much and you cannot go back to your old life because you can hardly keep yourself tethered to the present moment when there is all of time out there calling to you and it saddens you but you can see through time and it’s indescribably beautiful and infinite.

What if you were the unintentional villain and the reluctant hero and lost your humanity to become one of the inner workings of the universe itself.

[babacontainsmultitudes]

You know, as much as it was a bit of a bummer that Nicky stayed behind to fight Willy- the silver lining is that it means we’re very close to getting all the dads (and uncle) in one place 😈

[imminent-danger-came]

4x02 Fallen Stars

Hmmmmmmmm.

[zenlosingit]

I don’t think I will ever get over how the Batman Beyond Rebirth series treated/used Matt McGinnis during its run. Ever.

Cause one of the main reasons I dove into reading the rebirth series was to read about how Matt became Robin and what his time was like. And having read and finishing the entire run like a year ago it STILL upsets me how they set him up to be Robin, stressing that he is essential to Terry’s batman and to his success, only to rip it away ten issues later b/c “they didn’t want to bring in another child into the mission”.

Acting as if they hadn’t dragged Matt through the ordeal of being sidelined to helplessly watch losing his brother MULTIPLE times both before and after he was Robin. Like what was the whole point of that set up if they were just gonna rip it away?? Explain it to me, b/c I can’t find a damn reason.

[song-of-the-rune]

Also my fiance asking if their trap caught any thieves and getting a little cameo from a red-robed wizard who claimed he just tripped and stumbled into it and them only to find that he did in fact trip and stumble into it. He seems to have bad luck all around. So they patch him up and send him on his merry way and one of the players jokes about opening up the trunk he has to see what's inside and my fiance just goes "that's pearwood, right?" and I nod and he says something to the effect of "we should get very far away from this man before something else bad happens around him."

[tahnotakeover]

Just a thought about why Callum can use sky magic, but we don’t know his bio father….. sky-elf perhaps?

[storywriter12]

Omg😍he is so cute holding a kitten

[lazlolullaby]

Batman Beyond arc concept: the semi-retired Matthew "Matches" Malone + his new apprentices, Cameryn "Cam" Min-Jun and Julio "July" Jimenez

Idk it's just a set up and some vibes. But uh. I don't think Alvin Draper (Tim Drake's underworld cover in the comics) ever made an appearance in the DCAU helping out Matthew "Matches" Malone (Bruce's underworld/henchman cover identity across several universes). so.

Welcome (back) to the underworld, Terry.

After years of surviving in the Gotham underbelly, feeding Batman information and dodging both the cops and angry mafia dons, Matches Malone had decided to retire.

But money didn't go as far as it used to. After a few decades of disappearing, his nest egg ran out. Batman had also vanished in the meantime. He thought he had a few connections, some street kids he fed and put through school, but it didn't work out. They'd made it clear that they'd steal whatever pittance he had left.

So. he thought he'd go out with a bang, burning down one more warehouse in the name of his arson hobby and disappearing into the flames.

That's when Cameryn comes in. Hotheaded and lacking some street knowledge, but with some spit and polish he could be great. A notable lackey for one of the big Rogues. Cam is from Bludhaven, scrounged up his savings to make it big in the mega city of Gotham. It didn't go well. He was homeless and squatting in the aforementioned warehouse where Matches wanted his funeral pyre. Cam tackles Matches away from the flames, angrily demanding why he was trying to kill himself.

Realizing that he couldn't find an answer, Matches decides to take Cam on as an apprentice. Teaching him sneaking techniques, the main families, the history of Gotham and Old Town. They become this duo of gossipers, of grifters and information brokers. Cam is - per his name, good with cameras. Using them, hacking them, hiding from them. Eventually Matches finds out that Cam was sent here by one of his old contacts - it's unclear if it's one of his kids that can't partner him full time like Cam can, or if it was Batman, trying to both help him and train a new underworld contact.

It goes well. Then they get noticed.

A young man named Julio "July" Jimenez thought he recognized Cameryn. But he thought his name was Terry McGinnis. And Cam knew their secret handshake, but disappeared before July could check.

A few days later, Terry shows up at Julio's door, apologetic. Cameryn was a cover story.

Matches is actually his boss, Bruce Wayne. Bruce, after a lifetime of living in Gotham, finally cracked. Back in the day, Bruce was interested in helping people from the ground, not just through donations and social movements. So he created an identity he used to get information that the police and Batman could not.

Now that Bruce is elderly, sometimes the memories between "philanthropic CEO" and "mob mole" end up blurred. Sometimes Bruce doesn't recognize Wayne Manor or Terry. Matches picked up where he left off, defending fellow henchmen, but also being really tempted to just burn everything down.

It took some improv work, but Terry was able to convince Matches that he was an ally. And when Neo Batman realized their predecessors friend was back in the game, they offered help as well. They point Matches to missions and work with him while he's going through his "episodes".

But Barbara had to mess it up by giving Terry a civil service award. (Not exactly for this, no one can really know how bad Bruce got, but.) Now he's burned, he can't be on the streets with Matches. He's stuck as mission control at Wayne Manor.

Terry explains all of this to July. And sits and breathes for a moment. "I haven't actually told anyone else."

"Why not?"

"I can't tell my folks because they'd get worried and make me stop working for Mr. Wayne. Last two times I went to a shrink for myself they turned out to be connected to Rogues, I don't want to risk Mr. Wayne's rep. Powers wants any excuse to get rid of him, and if he's fired, then I'm out of the job too. I told the commissioner because she was a family friend but that got me the award and now my cover is blown." Terry puts his head in his and. "Matches and Bruce ain't bad, they're just. Needing some help."

"I see. Why tell me?"

"I didn't want you to think I was screwing up my life again."

"Wayne was as straightforward as they come. I can't believe you found that skeleton, Terry. Just your luck, huh?"

"yeah."

Another pause. July reaches, starts to hope. "you really believe in him? You think you can take them down?"

Terry immediately knows where this is going. "July. It's dangerous. I can't ask you to do this. You're trying to get out, not go in."

"I'm trying to support myself and my family. You're my family too."

He gets an ear piece and instructions, memorizes faces and places the gangs go to. July gets a stipend, weekly payments that help him and his family out. Terry says he's not paying him his PA salary but July knows better. Terry was right about Mr. Wayne and Matches: they aren't bad, just a bit rough.

Later, when it goes to heck in a hand basket and Neo Batman has to intervene and bail July out:

"You used that same voice when trying to intimidate Charlie. Try again."

Neo Batman pauses, flicks his hand under his chin and then signs "I love you" with narrowed eyes.

Commissioner Barbara Gordon gives July a witness protection deal and a new job in a better part of town.

Terry visits, eventually confirming he's Neo Batman. July is in the loop, helping out where he can. Even if it's just an ear and a break.

Idk it's an outline I don't know how to end it but it ends well. I ❤️ you.

[leoreadss]

Wait wait wait I had a thought

I'm reading 'The Light Fantastic' (I love it btw) and without many spoilers, in the end, one of the Wizards from the university took the Octavo (If you know you know). I couldn't help but connect the way the Octavo is managed by the wizard with the way the 'books of life' are also described and worked in the fan fiction I've read.

Is there a connection there? Is the idea of the book of life and how it's used and portrayed in the fics related?

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

for whom good omens is being written

Hey maggots and the rest of the fandom, it's the Good Omens Mascot here. Today I read a post about this tweet:

The accompanying video genuinely made me cry. And I've been thinking about this for a long while, as far back as February, when I saw a lot of conflicting opinions on what people wanted from the third season. It really is true that no matter what you do, some people will be dissatisfied. But what matters is that Neil is writing this for Terry.

And I was reminded of some paragraphs from the Good Omens TV Companion, which I'd read in Amazon's sample excerpt of the book. I know this is a long post, but I really truly do think you all need to read these, I've done my best to select only the most important parts. Here you go:

'His Alzheimer's started progressing harder and faster than either of us had expected,' says Neil, referring to a period in which Terry recognized that despite everything he could no longer write. 'We had been friends for over thirty years, and during that time he had never asked me for anything. Then, out of the blue, I received an email from him with a special request. It read: “Listen, I know how busy you are. I know you don't have time to do this, but I want you to write the script for Good Omens. You are the only human being on this planet who has the passion, love and understanding for the old girl that I do. You have to do this for me so that I can see it." And I thought, “OK, if you put it like that then I'll do it."

'I had adapted my own work in the past, writing scripts for Death: The High Cost of Living and Sandman, but not a lot else was seen. I'd also written two episodes of Doctor Who, and so I felt like I knew what I was doing. Usually, having written something once I'd rather start something new, but having a very sick co-author saying I had to do this?' Neil spreads his hands as if the answer is clear to see. 'I had to step up to the plate.' A pause, then: 'All this took place in autumn 2014, around the time that the BBC radio adaptation of Good Omens was happening,' he continues, referring to the production scripted and co-directed by Dirk Maggs and starring Peter Serafinowicz and Mark Heap. ‘Terry had talked me into writing the TV adaptation, and I thought OK, I have a few years. Only I didn't have a few years,' he says. 'Terry was unconscious by December and dead by March.'

He pauses again. 'His passing took all of us by surprise,' Neil remembers. 'About a week later, I started writing, and it was very sad. The moments Terry felt closest to me were the moments I would get stuck during the writing process. In the old days, when we wrote the novel, I would send him what I'd done or phone him up. And he would say, "Aahh, the problem, Grasshopper, is in the way you phrase the question," and I would reply, "Just tell me what to do!" which somehow always started a conversation. 'In writing the script, there were times I'd really want to talk to Terry, and also places where I'd figure something out and do something really clever, and I would want to share it with him. So, instead, I would text Terry's former personal assistant, Rob Wilkins, now his representative on Earth. It was the nearest thing I had.'

(...) As Neil himself recognizes, this is an adaptation built upon the confidence that comes from three decades of writing for page and screen. But for all the wisdom of experience, he found that above all one factor guided him throughout the process. 'Terry isn't here, which leaves me as the guardian of the soul of the story,' he explains. 'It's funny because sometimes I found myself defending Terry's bits harder or more passionately than I would defend my own bits. Take Agnes Nutter,' he says, referring to what has become a key scene in the adaptation in which the seventeenth-century author of the book of prophecies foretelling the coming of the Antichrist is burned at the stake. ‘It was a huge, complicated and incredibly expensive shoot, with bonfires built and primed to explode as well as huge crowds in costume. It had to feel just like an English village in the 1640s, and of course everyone asked if there was a cheap way of doing it. 'One suggestion was that we could tell the story using old-fashioned woodcuts and have the narrator take us through what happened, but I just thought, “No”. Because I had brought aspects of the story like Crowley and the baby swap along to the mix, and Terry created Agnes Nutter. So, if I had cut out Agnes then I wouldn't be doing right by the person who gave me this job. Terry would've rolled over in his grave.'

And, finally, this paragraph:

"Once again, Neil cites the absence of his co-writer as his drive to ensure that Good Omens translated to the screen and remained true to the original vision. 'Terry's last request to me was to make this something he would be proud of. And so that has been my job.'"

I think that's so heartwrenchingly beautiful, and so I wanted you all to read this, too, just in case you (like me) don't have the Good Omens TV Companion. It adds another layer of depth and emotion to this already complex and amazing story that we all know and love.

Share this post, if you can, please, so that more people can read these excerpts :")

Tagging @neil-gaiman, @fuckyeahgoodomens and @orpiknight, even if you've definitely read these before :)

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO🥳🥳🥳❤❤❤

The third and final season of “Good Omens” will begin filming soon in Scotland.

“I’m so happy finally to be able to finish the story Terry and I plotted in 1989 and in 2006,” Gaiman said in a statement accompanying Amazon’s “Good Omens” Season 3 renewal announcement Thursday. “Terry was determined that if we made ‘Good Omens’ for television, we could take the story all the way to the end. Season One was all about averting Armageddon, dangerous prophecies, and the End of the World. Season Two was sweet and gentle, although it may have ended less joyfully than a certain Angel and Demon might have hoped. Now in Season Three, we will deal once more with the end of the world. The plans for Armageddon are going wrong. Only Crowley and Aziraphale working together can hope to put it right. And they aren’t talking.”

Amazon MGM Studios head of television said Vernon Sanders added: “’Good Omens’ has checked every box for a clever, witty, and funny comedy that not only made it a success on Prime Video, but also made ‘goodness’ watchable and fun thanks to Neil and Terry’s immense creativity. The final season is sure to be packed with the same dynamic energy that our global customers have come to enjoy.”

Gaiman, who has a first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios, where he is currently working on his “Anansi Boys” TV series, continues as executive producer, writer and showrunner for “Good Omens” Season 3. Rob Wilkins of Narrativia, representing Pratchett’s estate, and BBC Studios Productions’ head of comedy Josh Cole also executive produce.

“Good Omens” hails from Amazon MGM Studios, BBC Studios Productions, the Blank Corporation and Narrativia.

[noirandchocolate]

‘Because she likes people,’ said the witch, striding ahead. 'She cares about 'em. Even the stupid, mean, drooling ones, the mothers with the runny babies and no sense, the feckless and the silly and the fools who treat her like some kind of a servant. Now THAT’S what I call magic–seein’ all that, dealin’ with all that, and still goin’ on. It’s sittin’ up all night with some poor old man who’s leavin’ the world, taking away such pain as you can, comfortin’ their terror, seein’ 'em safely on their way…and then cleanin’ 'em up, layin’ 'em out, making 'em neat for the funeral, and helpin’ the weeping widow strip the bed and wash the sheets–which is, let me tell you, no errand for the fainthearted–and stayin’ up the next night to watch over the coffin before the funeral, and then going home and sitting down for five minutes before some shouting angry man comes bangin’ on your door 'cuz his wife’s havin’ difficulty givin’ birth to their first child and the midwife’s at her wits’ end and then getting up and fetching your bag and going out again…. We all do that, in our own way, and she does it better'n me, if I was to put my hand on my heart. THAT is the root and heart and soul and center of witchcraft, that is. The soul and center!' Mistress Weatherwax smacked her fist into her hand hammering out her words. 'The…soul…and…CENTER!’ Echoes came back from the trees in the sudden silence. Even the grasshoppers by the side of the track had stopped sizzling. 'And Mrs Earwig,’ said Mistress Weatherwax, her voice sinking to a growl, 'Mrs. Earwig tells her girls it’s about cosmic balances and stars and circles and colors and wands and…and toys, nothing but TOYS!' She sniffed. 'Oh, I daresay they’re all very well as decoration, somethin’ nice to look at while you’re workin’, somethin’ for show, but the start and finish, THE START AND FINISH, is helpin’ people when life is on the edge. Even people you don’t like. Stars is easy, people is hard.’ She stopped talking. It was several seconds before birds began to sing again. 'Anyway, that’s what I think,’ she added in the tones of someone who suspects that she might have gone just a bit further than she meant to.

--Terry Pratchett, "A Hat Full of Sky"

[captainfantasticalright]

In 1985, one of the only persons interested in an interview with a “new” writer called Terry Pratchett, after his publication of the Colour of Magic, was one Neil Gaiman. Neil Gaiman was writing for Space Voyager at the time. "The Colour of Pratchett" was the name given here:

It ran exactly one page inside the June/July issue of that year. The interview took place in a Chinese restaurant in London.

Here is Neil many years later holding that issue. You can see it here if you want. Warning: extremely emotional video.

Neil arrived wearing a grey homburg hat. “Sort of like the ones Humphrey Bogart wears in movies” he later wrote. (Before saying that in fact he did not look like him, but like someone wearing a grown-up’s hat). Terry Pratchett, photo courtesy of one @neil-gaiman, was in a Lenin-style leather cap and a harlequin-patterned pullover. At this point, Terry was already a hat person, although not that hat.

Terry offered Neil this : "An interview needn't last more than 15 minutes. A good quote for the beginning, a good quote for the end, and the rest you make up back at the office"*. (Terry Pratchett had worked many years in journalism by this point ).

But the meeting went terribly well. The two of them realized they had "the same sort of brains". So well indeed, that in 1985, Neil had shown Terry a file containing 5282 words, exploring a scenario in which Richmal Crompton's William Brown had somehow become the Antichrist. Was a collaboration in the cards as of that moment? Not really. But Terry found in Neil someone to whom he could send disks of work in progress and to whom he could pick up the phone sometimes when he hit a brick in the road of his writing.

Terry loved it and the concept stayed in his mind. A couple of years later, he rang Neil to ask him if he had done any more work on it. Neil had been busy with The Sandman, he had not really given it another thought. Terry said, "Well I know what happens next, so either you sell me the idea or we can write it together". **

On collaborating together:

Here is a video of Sir Terry saying why he chose to collaborate with Neil, another video talking about the technical difficulties of writing a book when the two of them where miles apart ,and some pages from Interzone Magazine Issue 207 published December 2006:

An Interview with Sir Terry Pratchett and his works- and Neil Gaiman, where he shortly addresses the process of writing Good Omens.

Terry shortly mentions,

“Neil doesn't rule out another book with me and he was good to write with...yep, it could happen. With anyone else? I don't know, but probably not.?”

Neil says,

"Terry took that initial 5,000 words of mine and ran it through the computer (because I’d lost the files in a computer crash) and made it the first 10,000 words, and it was definitely Good Omens at that point. Neither one thing nor the other, but a third thing.”

"I think Terry could do a very good impersonation of me if he needed to, and I could do a very good impersonation of him; so we knew the area of the Venn diagram in which we were working. But mostly the book found its own voice very quickly. It helped that we were both scarred by the William books when we were kids...”

And as you know, unless you’ve been living in Alpha Centauri, the rest is history. That was the beginning of what would become William the Antichrist and later would get the name Good Omens:The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. (Title provided by Neil Gaiman and subtitle by Terry Pratchett).

More about the writing process:

Terry took the first 5,000 words and typed them into his word processor, and by the time he had finished they were the first 10,000 words. Terry had borrowed all the things about me that he thought were amusing, like my tendency back then to wear sunglasses even when it wasn't sunny, and given them, along with a vintage Bentley, to Crawleigh, who had now become Crowley. The Satanic Nurses were Satanic Nuns.

The book was under way.

We wrote the first draft in about nine weeks. Nine weeks of gloriously long phone calls, in which we would read each other what we'd written, and try to make the other one laugh. We'd plot, delightedly, and then hurry off the phone, determined to get to the next good bit before the other one could. We'd rewrite each other, footnote each other's pages, sometimes even footnote each other's footnotes. We would throw characters in, hand them off when we got stuck. We finished the book and decided we would only tell people a little about the writing process - we would tell them that Agnes Nutter was Terry's, and the Four Horsemen (and the Other Four Motorcyclists) were mine.

From the introduction to William the Antichrist:

“In the summer of 1987 several odd ideas came together: (..)I found myself imagining a book called William the Antichrist, in which a hapless demon was going to be responsible for swapping the wrong baby over, and the son of the US Ambassador would be completely undemonic, while William Brown would grow up to be the Antichrist, and the demon would need to stop him ending the world. The unfortunate demon, whom I called Crawleigh, because Crawley was a nearby town with an unfortunate name, would have to sort it all out as best he could.

It felt like a story with legs.

Terry took the 5,000 words, and rewrote them, calling me to tell me what he was doing and what he was planning to do. The biggest thing he was going to do, he told me, was split the hapless demon into two characters – a would-be-cool demon in dark glasses (which was, I think, Terry’s way of making fun of me, a never-actually- cool journalist in dark glasses) who had renamed himself Crowley, and a rare-book dealer and angel called Aziraphale, who would embody all the English awkwardness that either of us could conceive.”

William the Antichrist being a direct inspiration of the 1976 film The Omen. If the baby swap had just been a little bit messier and the kid had gone off somewhere else he would have grown up as somebody else. “And then there was a beat and I thought, I should write it, it will be called William the Antichrist” says Neil. ***

“The first draft of Good Omens was a William-book. It was absolutely in every way it could be a William book. It had Violet Elizabeth Bott, it had William and the Outlaws, it had Mr. Brown”.

Over time they realized that they would have more creative freedom if they in their own words filed off the serial numbers. William and the Outlaws becoming Adam and the Them.

But the spirit of Just William was never far away.

The joy for Neil was to construct “perfectly William sentences”. The one when Anathema tells Adam that she has lost the Book, and he tells her that he has written a book about a pirate who became a famous detective and it is 8 pages long… that’s “a William sentence”.

If you want to read more details about William The Antichrist, here are some slides I made.

Good Omens was also inspired by a particularly antisemitic moment in The Jew of Malta and John le Carre's spy novels. (Neil’s ask)

 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… (x).

“When we finished the book we estimated that the words were 60% Terry’s and 40% mine, and the plot, such as it was, was entirely ours.” -Neil Gaiman

"Neil and I had known each other since early 1985. Doing it was our idea, not a publisher's deal." "I think this is an honest account of the process of writing Good Omens. It was fairly easy to keep track of because of the way we sent discs to one another, and because I was Keeper of the Official Master Copy I can say that I wrote a bit over two thirds of Good Omens. However, we were on the phone to each other every day, at least once. If you have an idea during a brainstorming session with another guy, whose idea is it? One guy goes and writes 2,000 words after thirty minutes on the phone, what exactly is the process that's happening? I did most of the physical writing because: 1) I had to. Neil had to keep Sandman going -- I could take time off from the DW; 2) One person has to be overall editor, and do all the stitching and filling and slicing and, as I've said before, it was me by agreement -- if it had been a graphic novel, it would have been Neil taking the chair for exactly the same reasons it was me for a novel; 3) I'm a selfish bastard and tried to write ahead to get to the good bits before Neil. Initially, I did most of Adam and the Them and Neil did most of the Four Horsemen, and everything else kind of got done by whoever -- by the end, large sections were being done by a composite creature called Terryandneil, whoever was actually hitting the keys. By agreement, I am allowed to say that Agnes Nutter, her life and death, was completely and utterly mine. And Neil proudly claims responsibility for the maggots. Neil's had a major influence on the opening scenes, me on the ending. In the end, it was this book done by two guys, who shared the money equally and did it for fun and wouldn't do it again for a big clock." "Yes, the maggot reversal was by me, with a gun to Neil's head (although he understood the reasons, it's just that he likes maggots). There couldn't be blood on Adam's hands, even blood spilled by third parties. No-one should die because he was alive." -("Terry Pratchett : His World”)

(Here are some slides of mine where I go into some other details concerning the origins of Good Omens).

Another wonderful insight with Rob Wilkins in "The Worlds of Terry Pratchett".

*Quote: from Terry Pratchett A Life With Footnotes by Rob Wilkins, but said by Terry of course.

** All the quotes, facts listed here : see above.

***all other quotes by Neil Gaiman from various interviews and asks I’ll link.