#good omens 2 bees

[leftduck9986]

The Whickber Street Bees and Their Queen

Hello Tumblr! Testing, 1,2,3. Making the leap from Reddit, with thanks, to Kimberleyjean.

I understand that by now it should go without saying, however, it is with due diligence that I make sure to say, DO NOT ASK OR TAG NEIL GAIMAN IN FAN THEORY.

To begin, a look at the tv and book quotes re Bees -

S2E6, Crowley to Muriel: "Angels are like bees. Fiercely protective of their hive if you're trying to get inside. Once you're in, well, I mean … is it even faintly possible that an unauthorised demon might be just wandering around in Heaven un-escorted? (…)"

Originally, in the book, it's humans:

Sometimes human beings are very much like bees. Bees are fiercely protective of their hive, provided you are outside it. Once you’re in, the workers sort of assume that it must have been cleared by management and take no notice; various freeloading insects have evolved a mellifluous existence because of this very fact. Humans act the same way.

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There was a scorcher of a summer day a few weeks ago, 40 degrees Celsius outside! After spending the day keeping as still as possible, I had a nice cool shower in the evening, unfortunately it was right before the southerly arrived and with it the 90% humidity! Already sweating more than during the day, I was not a happy bee! 'Twas a thought that got the ball rolling and I began with having a bit of fun mulling over and re-working the bee quotes:

Humans are like bees - they don't like getting w- well, let's say instead that they don't like getting their clothes wet! So humans will shelter under an awning if there is one, or whip out the brolly.

Yeah, okay … … the brain eventually latched onto something to expand upon:

There's also the protective nature and strength-in-numbers aspect that has me hopeful there are plenty of good "bees" on Whickber Street, part of The Ineffable Plan.

And what do bees/humans do when they recognise ROYALTY?

(No research done at all for this - I'm only thinking of that scene in the movie, Jupiter Ascending, where Mila Kunis' character is surrounded by bees. Some fun for anyone who likes to make Good Omens memes?)

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S2E1 "Present Day" begins with a great sweeping shot of London from above, moving into Soho (as in the soundtrack) and seeing the flow of movement from this view - the imagery - suggests to me, that:

The Bookshop is the hive;

Immediately outside, a circling ring of Whickber Street "Bees";

The next level out, cars that are circling the block;

The arrival of others - two cars with boots open, behind which are the parked scooter and motorcycle and directly behind that, a street booth with, seated inside, three (or more?) potential persons of interest;

The outermost ring of pedestrians on the opposite side of the road, (often crossing back over from the street trader stalls and circling back past the pub throughout the season).

It's the busiest activity - for the show, not irl for Soho from what I've seen reading other discussions - but would suggest that while it's sunny and relatively dry, this is a normal day of buzzing about (or is it?).

Until Gabriel's arrival.

What we're shown of his journey to the bookshop is very short - a mere two blocks - less than that - for the traffic to come to a stop so quickly, pulling over to the sides and for the pedestrians to crowd the footpaths, so as to allow for a clear walkway for Gabriel down the middle of the street. No one yells at the naked man to get out of the street, nor does anyone offer to help him to the footpath. Not one person asked the naked man where he was headed, so that they might offer him directions.

They block off access beyond the bookshop on both sides, by filling in the spaces between cars; others close in from behind Gabriel, herding/shepherding so that he won't be inclined to double back.

It seems to be a well-coordinated effort. An assisted delivery!

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Gabriel ("Me" pre-"Jim") tells Aziraphale, "… my arms were aching 'cause I had to carry that box for so long (…)" - not because it was heavy, but, you know, holding one's arms in the same position with a bit of static tension for anything upwards of a few minutes is bound to make one's biceps burrrrn.

Headcannon (hc): the cardboard box contains only the fly, but the fly had "the thing" from Heaven and now contains Gabriel's memories. Not currently on board with the idea of a detour to drop off "the thing" elsewhere - more leaning towards Gabriel getting off the lift one stop too early or too late (if he ended up pressing the lift button to Hell as well), maybe taking the stairs for the rest of the way to Earth, or emerging from the same unseen place that Saraqael, Uriel and Michael did in episode 2.

Gabriel still somehow remembers just enough to get himself straight to Aziraphale. Then, during their conversation in the bookshop does he become increasingly forgetful and distracted, but not before revealing some key information:

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 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?"

(…)

"Anyway, that's how I felt that so long as I came here the Something Terrible might not happen to me."

(…)

Aziraphale: "Please, tell me about the Something Terrible."

Gabriel: "(…) I just know that it's incredibly awful and that that's why I had to come here and give you the thing."

I'm understanding that:

one particular person = Beelzebub (but only in hindsight - I did initially think Gabriel meant Aziraphale the very first time viewing);

the Something Terrible = mind erasure: identity, precious memories of Beelzebub, fellow angels (suspecting that he feels something greater than workplace rapport for them) and knowledge of this very important thing for work, that needs to be given to Aziraphale in case of an emergency;

the thing = not necessarily the same item as "the angle", which could also be inside the fly. The thing, possibly being the real reason he is being ineffably assisted to the bookshop.

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It may or may not be so with bees, but humans respectfully make way for royalty (or the higher-ups, or - thinking of Shax speed-walking through Hell - the incredibly intimidating. Both.)

Anyway, these "bees" of Whickber Street are either excellent everyday people who don't crowd across intersections and if they see a person in the street, will pull their cars over to the sides, for the person's safety, but will also be jerks and whip out their smart phones to film and photograph a naked man without actually being helpful - well, hang on, are they really filming?

A moment to talk about the prop phones: There's one shot (14min30-34sec) where we can see that the phones don't even have active screens - and one person who really wanted their face shown on camera! (reflected in their prop phone). If these were modern day human people with real smart phones, how quickly would "naked man in Soho" grow to trend on social media? How earthly/native are the fellow Angelic Beings Who Walk The Earth - do any of them (or demons more likely, come to think of it) keep up with internet "news"? Entertaining for a moment, the thought of the inactive screens being more to do with divine intervention in order to protect Gabriel's identity and location, what about the one person who is actually using their phone AS A PHONE?

Presenting: Earth's contact to the Coordinator of the operation, Escort the Queen to the Hive:

[placeholder name] "Mary" as per this hc: her son, passing through Soho, stands to her right, his own frame of negative space to make him stand out, his hand almost permanently glued to his face for the rest of the scene!!! His Significant Other, who will stay with his parents for the next week or so, is hanging out with his Dad down the road, being all shepherd-like with the other bees behind Gabriel.

Notice how, "Mary" is on the phone with someone, not (visibly) speaking, just listening. Then she and her son (as per the above hc) have front row 'seats' (standing room only) to the show behind Gabriel. Her hand holding the phone falters upward when it seems that Gabriel has been denied entry to the bookshop, but then once he's been reluctantly invited in, "Mary" is the first to leave the scene, signalling to everyone to resume their usual buzzing about, as if to say, "he's in. Aaaaaaand we out!"

So, The Whickber Street "Bees" - are they mostly humans, just being human, but for some inexplicable - ineffable - reason, their phones weren't quite able to capture a clear image of the naked man? I'm leaning more towards it being choreographed, miracle-wise.

And who is the coordinator of operation, Escort the Queen to the Hive? Currently thinking that it's the same 'person' who sent Gabriel the thing in the cardboard box. As to who that could be - a few come to mind.

Thank you so much for reading,

See you in the new year!

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DO NOT ASK OR TAG NEIL GAIMAN IN FAN THEORY

[1941-crowley-slut]

...

[beebopboom]

silly headcanon time

Maggie actually texted her message to Aziraphale but because he doesn’t have a modern phone it arrived through the mail slot

[serendippertyy]

heaven vs hell karaoke night goes crazy

[catwouthats]

Stop saying ineffable bureaucracy is a straight ship. It’s GAYbriel not STRAIGHTbriel 🗣️‼️🗣️🗣️‼️💯💯💯🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

[anyarlly]

stealing @serendippertyy 's pony idea!! i fucking love ponies!! (i was rlly into mlp as a kid) i love how they turned out

[miumiumanzo]

home

[pumkinsyrup]

Good Omens 2 Spoiler

Okay but THROUGHOUT THE SEASON a FLY has been around the bookshop/the Bentley/Gabriel/Crowley and Aziraphale and I was like?? BEELZEBUB?! Like I noticed that fly and went omg what’s Beelzebub planning??? And then THE REVEAL I!!! LIKE????

ALSO HOW THEY SHOWED SO MUCH AFFECTION TO THE FLY AND I WAS LIKE “oh shows how much they love their flies” BUT THEN LIKE GABRIELS MEMORIZES ARE IN THE FLY AND BASICALLY THE FLY IS GABRIEL ?? Maybe when they said “your perfect” maybe it was not only towards the fly but Gabriel who is THE FLY (his mind and soul, just not his body) LIKE TGAT MAKES IT ALL SO MUCH MORE SPECIAL

[charlie-rainary]

Pre falling-in-love:

Gabriel: you are terrifyingly murderous

Beelzebub: yeah but I'm also short so it's adorable

Post falling-in-love:

Gabriel: I don't get why people are scared of Beelzebub, they're so cute!

Beelzebub, wiping blood off of their face: yeah, I'm fucking adorable!

[jonny-b-meowborn]

Hello Good Omens nation I'm one of you now. Obsessed

[7official7moose7]

Here's a Chase doodle and some headcanons because he is seriously my favorite

He always has a pack of mentos mints on hand. No matter the circumstance, there's always mints in his pocket

I think its because he used to smoke cigarettes

He calls them "cancer sticks" now

Speaks pretty good english, but forgets some words/gets them mixed up and often just opts for replacing it with the French word

This is more common when he's tired or frustrated

Julia often corrects him with the english word he was looking for

"Miss Argent, could you pass me the- uh. The um. What is the word..."

"The white board?"

"Yes that thing. Thank you."

He's a bi disaster and didn't even know it until fairly recently (Ivy told him she was dating Carmen and it made him do some reflecting)

I honestly don't know if I hc him as trans or not, but I really love the concept and all the fanfics that come with it jgdgjhkdsh

Chase probably didn't have the nicest family

He has a sister named Angeline that he hasn't spoken to in like. Seven years or something

He rarely speaks about them to anyone, but when he does, it's either a very brief/vague mention or a whole oh shit that got real moment

Chase is very aware of his arrogant/egotistical tendencies, and he has a lot of guilt about it

("I feel like Im the worst so I always act like I'm the best" - Oh No! By MARINA)

He is very prone to migraines (especially after the truth extractor) but often works through them until someone forces him to stop or he is on the verge of Death Itself™

Same thing with sickness in general, despite taking days off with that excuse, you would never ever catch him taking an actual sick day off

He treats Zack and Ivy like his own kids despite claiming he's terrible with children

They get up to extremely stupid shenanigans and Julia is the mom friend that pinches the bridge of her nose in the background

CHASE DEVINEAUX PLAYS ANIMAL CROSSING AND SPLATOON, DO NOT ARGUE WITH ME

He and Julia both moved from Poitiers to San Diego to be closer to team red and ACME

They live in the same apartment complex, you can pry this one from my cold dead fingers

He's honestly just a silly goofy man with an unknown traumatic background fr

[freetheworms]

SOFT AZCROW BABIES BECAUSE BEE IS KILLING US ALL WITH THEIR HUMAN AU

growing up together, cuteness, angst, autism, baby gays, richard siken poetry, a wedding, and one well-worn comfort yellow sweater. GO READ IT. GO NOW

[pazam]

Some nice palate cleansers :)

[beebopboom]

I don’t remember if there was ever an actual explanation for this but earlier I was just wondering -

What’s with Crowley’s obsession with having things work under water, like his watch and pen?

and because my brain loves me it goes

“oh god the flood”

so enjoy that thought with me

[serendippertyy]

I COMPLETELY BLANKED ON ASEXUAL DAY I HAVE FAILED MY FELLOW ACE BRETHREN.....💔 on a lighter note I realized something groundbreaking.....

[ao3cassandraic]

Clothing and identity in Good Omens

Angels and demons are color-coded. Angels wear gray, taupe, and white; demons wear black and dark shades of red or blue or burgundy or similar.

In Heaven, clothing also carries connotations of rank. Aziraphale's modern-day phalanx has a kilted uniform; so does Muriel (with the cutest gold-accented saddle shoes I think I have ever seen). The archangels wear pantsuits. Similar design distinctions are apparent in earlier eras; in the Job minisode, Muriel's robes are simpler and have lesser gold accents than Aziraphale's, and Aziraphale's have less gold than Gabriel's and Michael's.

The color thing is so calcified in Heaven that Crowley gets away with his staggeringly hideous bee!demon disguise; Michael and Uriel walk right by him and don't realize who or what he is.

The archangels take Gabriel's clothes away because he's been demoted. He ends up naked because he absconds from Heaven before they can mindwipe him and give him clothing befitting his new 38th-level rank.

Clothing also stands a good chance of being why the archangels (except, in my view which is not shared by everyone, Saraqael) don't recognize the Metatron, who walks into the bookshop in a black suit, black overcoat, black tie, and black shoes. (White shirt, admittedly.) He's not wearing angel garb!

(The Metatron has contempt for everyone and everything and every system. He's trolling the archangels because he despises them and enjoys making them look foolish. Extremely punchable guy, the Metatron.)

Here's the funny bit, because Gaiman and Finnemore are masters of the delayed-reaction funny bit. When Crowley goes up to Heaven in his demon-black garb and explains about bees and camouflage, Muriel protests: "But you don't look like a bee! You look like a murder hornet, or a snake!" (In passing, I love Muriel's interest in Earth fauna. Geese are big cross ducks!)

We all know Crowley's a snake.

That leaves the extremely punchable Metatron looking like the murder hornet. How very fitting.