#The great plan

[gahellhimself-blog]

Ok Tumblr I can keep that secret..

Me and my best friend have a Big Project, the Great Plan.

He is stylist, I'm artist and together we'll make something...

Aziraphale and Crowley from the opening of Good Omens but.. in art doll !!

I start sculpt an angel

20 hours work for now!!

I'll sculpt the faces, the hands, the feet. Make the body and the glasses, put the hair on their faces and after that it will be the turn of my dear friend. His mission : do the clothes, good luck to him, I'll be very very annoying!! Everything must be perfect!!

If you want to support us on the Great Plan you can buy us a KoFi on my Kofi just here :

KoFi/gaelhimself

Thanks ya all!!

tommorow we start our favorite demon!!

[yvesribastudio]

It's the Great Plan, Charlie Brown!

Happy Halloween! Enjoy a little Good Omens fun based on the beloved Peanuts TV special, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" In the story, Linus unwaveringly believes in the existence of the Great Pumpkin, who rises out of the Most Sincere Pumpkin Patch on Halloween night to bring treats to kids.

Linus convinces Sally, Charlie Brown's little sister (who has a massive crush on him) to join him in the local pumpkin patch and wait for the Great Pumpkin. When the GP doesn't show, Sally goes on a huge tirade about how she wasted her time waiting in that pumpkin patch when she could have been out trick or treating. You can watch Sally's tirade here. Even Crowley can't match her bitter fury.

Elements of this scene, especially the expressions of the original characters in this moment, reminded me so much of Aziraphale and Crowley in the Bandstand scene from S1 that I knew I had to turn it into Good Omens. I had a lot of fun reimagining this, from the changes in character design, to the play on words with Great Pumpkin and Great Plan.

Peanuts characters seem simple enough to draw. However, they are not. Charles Schulz' line art includes very specific angles and shapes that would take a lot of practice to master. Therefore my image is traced from a still drawing by Charles Schulz from the original TV show.

[drconstellation]

First-Order Archangels

Part 3: Seeing Eye to Eye

Part 1: Maybe You'll See An Archangel Part 2: Foils of War

This is a topic I've wanted to address for some time (ha!) concerning a discussion around Jim's moments of lilac-eyed possessed prophecy and Crowley not wearing his sunglasses around Jim inside the bookshop in S2. I've had rough thoughts about what's going on at these times, but because its more of a sub-textural implication, rather than being overtly stated I guess I've hesitated somewhat and wanted to think it through properly first. Then I started writing this, and as I starting checking things, one thing led to another...and it's tripled in size. Enjoy the juicy long length!

I've decided to included this meta as part of the First-Order Archangel series as it will focus on Gabriel and Crowley, and their connection with time and prophecy. Both of them wear wristwatches - Gabriel seems to wear one instead of an angel ring, which I find most curious. Both have moments where they talk about the future that has been revealed to them. But when it comes to the Great Plan of the Almighty, they couldn't be more opposite.

The Seer and the Herald

Time is Crowley's domain. He can stop it for short periods, and he seems to know about fragments of human science and technology in the future. For example, he suggests to Mr Dalrymple that a change in hygiene might be beneficial, upon meeting him. It could also be said that he acts an oracle, as he gives advice and counsel, both here with Mr Dalrymple and in 1941 when he warns the Nazi's to flee before the bomb arrives, and that they won't like what comes after. (Although, 1941 was a case of Crowley actively manipulating the outcome of the future, so perhaps that doesn't count.)

Crowley: You might want to think about washing your hands. It's gonna be all the rage in a few years, I'm telling you.

Gabriel, as the Herald, is also given knowledge of the future. It was said he spoke to Daniel several times, explaining the visions Daniel had, which were of things to yet to come, and he was tasked with the "foretelling" of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus to their prospective mothers. I realize none of these examples are GO canons (yet,) but there is also the interesting parallel character in S1 of the lawyer Giles, who delivers the second manuscript of Agnes Nutter to Newt and Anathema the day after the Nopocalypse in S1 who is definitely Gabriel-coded and "heralding" the future possibilities there.

Tense Moments

There are two times during S2 that Jim is possessed by a divine spirit that takes over his corporation, turning his eyes back to Supreme Archangel Gabriel-lilac and putting words into his mouth.

The first instance is about the past: in S2E2 Jim recites a verse from Job 38:7 - and Aziraphale and Crowley both remember it, because they were there when the words were said.

The second instance, towards the end of S2E3, is about the present...

"There will come a tempest, and darkness, and great storms."

...and the future.

"And the dead will leave their graves and walk the earth once more. And there will be great lamentations."

Past, present, and future. For both of them, Crowley has his sunglasses off and he is peering into Jim's face.

I have some notes about which verses these are supposed to be from (Hebrews 12:18 for the first half and Matthew 27:53 for the second half) but upon checking them I'm wondering if they are actually correct, even if we take into account they have probably been re-written for the show, like the lines from the Book of Job were paraphrased in the Job minisode. But that aside, we can still deal with them within their temporal frames of reference - the former describing the not-insignificant piece of weather-work that Crowley had just stirred up, and the latter is pointing to the Second Coming, with the resurrection of the dead.

Both halves have words of significance: The first half has the word tempest, and the second half has the word lamentations.

The Foreshadowing Storm

Storms are often used as a trope to foreshadow trouble in the future of a story. I don't think we tend to see Crowley's rain storm as foreshadowing of what is to come as he was in control of that storm and it was for a particular reason - which failed. But Jim's words contained the future tense of "will" - There will come a tempest - so lets have a look at some possible connotations.

A tempest is a violent storm or thunderstorm, but it can also be an situation in which people are very angry or excited, an upset, calamity, or some unexpected misfortune.

And you could say that did happen by the end of S2.

There is also Shakespeare's play, The Tempest, which our demon would no doubt be aware of (it's considered a romance - you know, once of the funny ones.) In it there is a wizard of sorts, Prospero, the former Duke of Milan, who was usurped from his position, and fled with his infant daughter to an island. Many years later the King of Naples and the Duke's brother are passing in a ship, so Prospero magically whips up a storm and shipwrecks them on the island with him and his now teenage daughter, Miranda. He then tries to manipulate a romance between the King's son and heir and Miranda. Other stuff happens as well but in the end they all escape the island and there is a kind of happy ending, and forgiveness.

The Book of Lamentations

Back to the second half, that is supposed to be from Matthew 27:53, but probably more likely Matthew 27: 52-54. Yes, these verses do describe the dead rising from the grave, but the use of "great lamentations" here is a paraphrasing flag being waved in our faces.

A lament is a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. It can also be a complaint, or an expression of regret or disappointment.

Biblically, a lament is a prayer expressing sorrow, pain or confusion.

And with that, we can go back and re-contextualize a scene from S1.

The Book of Lamentations in the Bible contains five chapters describing the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 587 B.C. after a long siege. Each chapter is a poem from a different viewpoint about this event.

But what do we have in S1E4 instead? We have Crowley with a book of things he helped to build, expressing sorrow and pain at their imminent destruction, and that of the humans and the Earth. He prays to God, asking questions in vain hope of finding answers to his confusion as to why it seems it must all end with such finality.

Jerusalem was destroyed a second time, in 70 C.E. by the Romans. The city was rebuilt, and still stands today, but the Temple of Solomon wasn't, and this is a topic of contention in some beliefs. This also fits in with the theme of Memento mori, "Remember that you die," a reminder that life is brief, and there is a cycle to life and death.

Nonetheless, the Second Coming is connected with a New Jerusalem, a walled garden (a paradise) where those with their names written in the Book of Life will reside, with access to the Tree of Life in the middle.

Within the Walls of The Garden

The bookshop is Aziraphale's modern day re-creation of the Garden of Eden. Within it's walls he has gathered knowledge that he protects, there is a circular "gate" at the entrance, and he's made it a sanctuary for him and Crowley from other supernatural beings, particularly demons.

During S2 we see Crowley spend quite a bit of time inside the bookshop, and more often than not, he has his sunglasses off here.

While we can understand Crowley not wearing his sunglasses around Aziraphale, its perhaps more surprising that he doesn't seem to worried to not wear them around Jim either. He gets into Jim's face, eye to eye, but they don't agree with one another. It takes a lot of questions, from both sides, to turn this around.

The Great Plan

There's the Great Plan, and the Ineffable Plan.

Gabriel would never dream of deviating from the Plan.

At least he didn't, until he said "no" to the second Apocalypse.

Gabriel: Anyway, Armageddon the Sequel, that's a nah.

His own plan went awry when he forgot where he was going.

AZIRAPHALE: Then why did you come to my shop? GABRIEL: I don't know. I just thought I should. You know what it's like when you- when you don't know anything at all, and yet you're totally certain that everything would be better if you were just near one particular person?

And with his memories gone it was time to relearn things from the beginning. Good thing the original teacher from The Beginning was on hand to give some lessons, because we seem to be repeating some things from S1 and the beginning again here.

Right. So who's got a plan? Who's not seeing it this time? Are you actually questioning Crowley's plan, Jim? That's not like you to question plans. Maybe you are finally learning something.

Crowley's other plan was give "Jim" a test, to see if Gabriel was really there. This time Jim was prepared to follow instructions without questions. The gravity of the situation was kind of lost on him, and Crowley had to stop him before it was too late.

Too Early, Too Late

Prophecies are not just about who, what and where, they are also about when.

Crowley makes an angry threat to Jim in reaction to Shax's visit to the bookshop but backs off to enigmatically remark that "it's always too late." There is also the 1827 Resurrectionist minisode, where Crowley stops Aziraphale from healing wee Morag after she is shot with the grave guns, telling him it is too late there, and I think there is even a mention of too late by Shadwell in S1, but I can't remember where (plus Crowley's watch in the book, that has a time-zone in Another Place that is always Too Late.) We are kind-of left hanging here - what is too late? Too late to stop what is already in motion?

Except when its early, and early seems to be associated with destruction as well in the Good Omens AU. We have the examples of Job's house being destroyed, and the arrival of the baby Antichrist, which heralds the destruction of the Earth.

CRAWLEY: Oh. They've started early. Well… Might as well get comfortable. [sniffs wine and pours a glass]

Here, when the Antichrist is delivered in S1E1, Crowley expresses dismay that the time has come so soon.

CROWLEY: "No. Already?"

Could it actually be that the Nopocalypse was too early? And was that why it didn't go to Plan?

The Chosen One

The Antichrist is a sub-trope of The Chosen One tropes, which in itself is prophecy trope. The Chosen One is needed to fulfill the prophecy. We could do a whole line of discussion on how Crowley and Aziraphale then try to subvert this by raising the said Chosen One, only they raised the Wrong One. Instead, I want to point out that Crowley was also a Chosen One. He was chosen to deliver the Antichrist to the satanic nuns on the appointed night. But why? Why didn't Hastur and Ligur just do it?

Ah, you missed that, did you? I don't blame you, and Frances was trying to distract you with a game of three-card monte with the babies as well (and there have been many discussions about that, too!)

This then makes an interesting parallel for Gabriel being the Herald of the first Christ, and Crowley being the Herald for the Anti-Christ. (Or, some meta-ops might even argue, the Second Christ! But that is yet to be determined. How far away is S3 again...?)

The Earth is a Libra

One final prediction, from the very beginning...

Do you recall this seemingly random daily star sign reading from the opening of S1E1?

Most of it makes sense.

A friend is important to you.

uh huh.

Help could come from an unexpected source.

uh huh.

You may be vulnerable to a stomach upset today, so avoid salads.

wot?

I had to kick myself after while on this one, because I was being all smug to myself about catching a quick mention of liver between Madame Tracy and Shadwell at one point, and any mention of a bodily organ is a reference to an emotion and/or virtue. The first thing one must do with deciphering organs is determine whether you are looking at a western or eastern philosophy, as that is most important, but because this is GO we also need too include any biblical influence.

And whoeee - jackpot! There is indeed some symbolism around the stomach in a biblical sense; it is a place of transformation and renewal, where food is broken down and transformed into new energy and the renewing of minds. It emphasizes the need for continual growth and spiritual renewal.

That should ring some bells with you straight away, I would hope.

And the salad? A salad is a mix of different foods together. Foods not separated. (Keep your angels and demons on different sides of the plate, please, no mixing - and don't play with your food!)

[theriverspath]

Ineffable May 2024, Day 29: Metatron

Rated Teen for non-graphic mention of corporal punishment.

The Metatron flexed his shoulders. The old scars pulled against the movement, itching and resisting the stretch of skin. No matter what he’d done to his corporation, no matter how many times he’d voluntarily discorporated and rebuilt his body, the white ropy marks across his back remained. Sixty lashes he’d endured. Sixty strokes of fire, each a kiss of agony. All because of the heresy of one human.

They were all the same, though. It was no wonder Aher* had mistaken him for Her equal, had needed to see him laid low before Her throne in order to convince him otherwise. None of them truly knew what it was to worship the Almighty. None of them had lost themselves in devotion so thoroughly, so deeply, that their very existence became the Name of God. None of them could even hope to comprehend the all-consuming bliss of Her words flowing through them, of being transformed into the direct instrument and record of Her will.

And none of them could ever know the pain of having that all taken away, of sensing only emptiness where once Her presence rang clear and true.

The fine cotton of his undershirt scraped like sandpaper with every step The Metatron took toward the elevator. Soon, the entirety of humanity would atone for Aher’s ignorance. They would all be sorted, their sins judged and cataloged for eternity. Out of their mindless chaos, the proper order would finally be enforced. He just needed to convince one rogue angel to fall back in line. Then, once the Great Plan had been fulfilled, perhaps She would speak with him again.

-

*I am no theologian. But, I did some poking around on the internet and found the story of the human, Aher, who went to heaven and saw Metatron sitting down. Apparently, no one is supposed to sit in the presence of God, so Aher concluded that Metatron must be another deity who is the equal of God. To prove that he wasn't, Metatron was flogged in front of Aher to show that who he thought was a god was just an angel who could be subject to punishment if necessary. I got this from a randomly found academic paper about the debate over whether or not The Metatron and Enoch were originally depicted as being the same person. (Spoilers: the author says no.) You can read it here for free.

-------

prompt list

[pumpkin-king46]

Alright so just a lil analysis/speculation about the Job mini-episode.

A big part of this episode was Crowley's whole "I'm a demon, I lied" right?? And I just can't stop think about the scene where the bird makes a goat noise. Crowley had absolutely convinced Aziraphale that he was in fact a demon carrying out is devilish deeds until the goat sound.

And I just can't stop thinking. What if?? What if in a hypothetical but very possible s3 we see a scene so so similar.

Aziraphale is carrying out a job intended for the progress of the Great Plan. Crowley so tired and distraught trying everything to stop him. To convince him.

This is wrong Aziraphale this isn't you. I know you.

Aziraphale gives him a look of I won't give up and you can't convince me otherwise. Crowley begins to turn away.

Then a dead give away, much like the bird. Relief washes over Crowley. Aziraphale sheds a tear and walks away, leaving Crowley to put together the puzzle pieces on his own with one thing in mind...

My angel is on our side.

[finethingswellworn]

Some thing I keep thinking about…

At the end of season two episode six, the Metatron says “I can’t think of a better Angel to wrap this up and to put into motion the next step in the great plan.”

The word choice here is so fucking intentional and it’s driving me mad!

Because the Metatron said the great plan. Very specifically the great plan. Not the ineffable plan. 

So, I believe we are setting up for Aziraphale to confront the Metatron about The fact that he actually has no idea what God’s ineffable plan is and he’s making up his own great plan to judge all of humanity without Her direct say so. 

It’s so good it’s so good it’s so good it’s so good! 

[brainwormcity]

“Best not to speculate. It’s all part of the Great Plan. It’s not for us to understand. It’s ineffable.”

“The Great Plan’s ineffable?”

[narwhalsarefalling]

my (cis) brother is using my old license to buy wine and it has the gender marker F on there. so whenever he gets asked he just says “oh i’m trans”. its literally worked every single time.

[movedtodykedvonte]

*Spidey and the Sinister Six having their usual fight*

Doc Ock, landing a hit: You’re getting slow Spider-Man! Age finally catching up to you?

Spider-Man: You wish! I haven’t even hit my 30s! From those costumes I can already tell I failed to save you guys from those midlife crises! Sorry by the way.

Vulture: Watch it wallcr- wait… Did you just say your not in your thirties yet?

Spider-Man: Surprised that this spiders so young and spry? Well-

Electro: Dude I’ve been fighting you for at least 5 fucking years! How old even are you?

Shocker, joking cause he’s the only one who picked up no grown adult acts likes Spidey: Don’t swear in-front of the boy you don’t want him to pick it up.

Rhino: Christ! You’re tellin me I almost crushed some 12-year-olds skull all those years ago?

Spider-Man, regretting his quipping: I was not that young! Like just starting freshman year but-

Sandman, horrified as he’s the only one with a kid and dad instincts(as of my iteration): I could’ve killed a kid…

Shocker, genuinely curious: Are you even old enough to drink? Cruel to kill a man who ain’t had his first drink yet.

Electro: Please tell us you’re at least over 25 as of this fight. Hell, I’ll take over 21!

Spider-Man:….

Sandman, realizing just how young he really is: Oh my god.

Spider-Man: My birthday’s coming up soon so I guess it counts?

Doc Ock, exacerbated: It. Does. Not!

Vulture: What would your mother think if she knew her son was out here risking his life telling poorly constructed jokes?

Spider-Man, offended cause it quips slap: 1. My jokes are great 2. She and my dad are dead so-

Sandman, hysterical cause holy shit he almost killed a kid orphan: OH MY GOD!

[gahellhimself-blog]

Great plan day 4. I think it goes the good way

I'm exhausted... x__x 'll take a little break and draw some fanart today.

[whetstonefires]

You know what I realize that people underestimate with Pride & Prejudice is the strategic importance of Jane.

Because like, I recently saw Charlotte and Elizabeth contrasted as the former being pragmatic and the latter holding out for a love match, because she's younger and prettier and thinks she can afford it, and that is very much not what's happening.

The Charlotte take is correct, but the Elizabeth is all wrong. Lizzie doesn't insist on a love match. That's serendipitous and rather unexpected. She wants, exactly as Mr. Bennet says, someone she can respect. Contempt won't do. Mr. Bennet puts it in weirdly sexist terms like he's trying to avoid acknowledging what he did to himself by marrying a self-absorbed idiot, but it's still true. That's what Elizabeth is shooting for: a marriage that won't make her unhappy.

She's grown up watching how miserable her parents make one another; she's not willing to sign up for a lifetime of being bitter and lonely in her own home.

I think she is very aware, in refusing Mr. Collins, that it's reasonably unlikely that anyone she actually respects is going to want her, with her few accomplishments and her lack of property. That she is turning down security and the chance keep the house she grew up in, and all she gets in return may be spinsterhood.

But, crucially, she has absolute faith in Jane.

The bit about teaching Jane's daughters to embroider badly? That's a joke, but it's also a serious potential life plan. Jane is the best creature in the world, and a beauty; there's no chance at all she won't get married to someone worthwhile.

(Bingley mucks this up by breaking Jane's heart, but her prospects remain reasonable if their mother would lay off!)

And if Elizabeth can't replicate that feat, then there's also no doubt in her mind that Jane will let her live in her house as a dependent as long as she likes, and never let it be made shameful or awful to be that impoverished spinster aunt. It will be okay never to be married at all, because she has her sister, whom she trusts absolutely to succeed and to protect her.

And if something eventually happens to Jane's family and they can't keep her anymore, she can throw herself upon the mercy of the Gardeners, who have money and like her very much, and are likewise good people. She has a support network--not a perfect or impregnable one, but it exists. It gives her realistic options.

Spinsterhood was a very dangerous choice; there are reasons you would go to considerable lengths not to risk it.

But Elizabeth has Jane, and her pride, and an understanding of what marrying someone who will make you miserable costs.

That's part of the thesis of the book, I would say! Recurring Austen thought. How important it is not to marry someone who will make you, specifically, unhappy.

She would rather be a dependent of people she likes and trusts than of someone she doesn't, even if the latter is formally considered more secure; she would rather live in a happy, reasonable household as an extra than be the mistress of her own home, but that home is full of Mr. Collins and her mother.

This is a calculation she's making consciously! She's not counting on a better marriage coming along. She just feels the most likely bad outcome from refusing Mr. Collins is still much better than the certain outcome of accepting him. Which is being stuck with Mr. Collins forever.

Elizabeth is also being pragmatic. Austen also endorses her choice, for the person she is and the concerns she has. She's just picking different trade-offs than Charlotte.

Elizabeth's flaw is not in her own priorities; she doesn't make a reckless choice and get lucky. But in being unable to accept that Charlotte's are different, and it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with Charlotte.

Because realistically, when your marriage is your whole family and career forever, and you only get to pick the ones that offer themselves to you, when you are legally bound to the status of dependent, you're always going to be making some trade-offs.

😂 Even the unrealistically ideal dream scenario of wealthy handsome clever ethical Mr. Darcy still asks you to undergo personal growth, accommodate someone else's communication style, and eat a little crow.

[hiramekiicotl]

Today i offer you a low quality cotl drawing on a cat meme once again ‼️‼️🗣️

tomorrow? Who knows

Original,

[farsight-the-char]

Lizard Box Purchased.

For The PLAN.

[nerdpoe]

The Justice League has been working to dismantle the GIW for awhile, and finally found enough evidence to get them shut down.

Superman is picked to be involved with the dismantling of the base, and equipped with some sort of strange watch bought from a family-run ghost hunting business in Illinois. Apparently, the thing prevents him from being possessed.

He has, of course, ordered fifteen of the things.

Being possessed and used to hurt his friends and family has and always will be one of his worst fears.

As they circle the base, hidden and in groups, waiting for Cyborg to bypass security-Cyborg pauses.

They have someone.

A small-town hero, Phantom. They have him strapped to an operating table, and they're literally about to start carving into him.

Superman sees red.

Inside the base, Danny's waiting for the GIW thugs to start cutting into his duplicate so he can record it and get evidence to the Justice League, so that they know these guys are really fucked up.

He isn't expecting the ceiling to suddenly go missing.

He really isn't expecting to see a spectacularly pissed off Superman start towards the GIW agents while Martian Manhunter (calm down fenton don't be a nerd don't geek out omgomgomgomggggg) himself frees the duplicate.

Then Martian Manhunter pauses.

Looks at Danny.

Danny wills himself onto the visible spectrum and allows the duplicate to dissipate.

Unfortunately, in his effort to not sound starstruck, he just sounds pissed.

"Oh, so now you show up? In the middle of my sting operation?"

[peachdoxie]

What if I made an impromptu drive several hours north of me to see if I can spot the aurorae predicted for tonight

[stil-lindigo]

when worlds collide