drconstellation

[drconstellation]

Ah, good, good. I feel like I'm not so off course suggesting their conversation is a possible future parallel, then. It does seem very much like a foreshadowing conversation to me.

HOLY CRAP what if that ridiculous conversation between Nina and Maggie was a red herring to make us think that Crowley was too preoccupied with "Oh my gosh I have to declare my feelings right now" to think about anything else, and distract us from the fact that Crowley actually DID pick up on how stressed-out Aziraphale was and figure out whatever weirdness was going along, and actually said and did all the things he needed to do in that scene?

[drconstellation]

Flawless AU Readers be like: "Watch as these people willingly and enthusiastically throw themselves off the edge of a cliff they know is coming and into the jagged rocks they know are there, with the hope that the dodgy parachute they were given actually works" lmao

(Its me, I'm one of those people)

it’s been an honour to be your skydiving instructor

#flawless au #good omens #good omens fanfic #good omens fanfiction #good omens fanfic rec #just pull that rip cord #and rip your heart right out

[drconstellation]

It will be like the old spelling for "shoppes" I would think. It looks like it should be said "shoppies" or "shopes" but its just old english, and is still pronounced "shop." I'm not up on the whole history of why, but that is what I would be looking into.

Prophecy 2214: "In December 1980, an Apple will arise no man can eat. Invest thy money in Master Jobbes's machine, and good fortune will tend thy days."

So the thing I find interesting about this little bit is that it’s talking about Steve Jobs right?

His last name is pronounced like this “oh hey I got this new Job” though

and yet in the show it is pronounced Job, the same as the Book of Job

Job who was the most wealthy man until the bet between God and Satan which Heaven then planned to double if he passed the trials.

So I just gotta wonder what was the reason for this?

[drconstellation]

The reason can be hidden, as I think it is, but it can't be non-existent. In every scene, a character must accomplish something, whether that is going to an important place, learning important information, leaving an important place, meeting an important person, etc. Something has to get done. I saw one meta that said the reason Aziraphale goes to Edinburgh is to move the narrative forward, but it only does that if he accomplishes something. I think he did, we just have to tease out what he accomplished. I do believe we've been given all the information we need, it's just been laid out in subtext to make us work for it.

The reasons are there. They do move things forward. It's just that people haven't stopped to think, to learn, and ask the right questions yet.

Murder Board 2.0

Since I've figure a few things out, I need to re-do my Murder Board. New answers, new questions.

What I think I know:

NEIL GAIMAN IS A LYING LIAR WHO LIES. Except when he's dropping hints or answering straight out. All of his answers to anything anyone asks about GO are suspect at best. (I cannot blame him or anyone else on the cast or crew -- they spent A LOT of time and energy building this very meticulous puzzle game for us -- why would ANY of them give ANY of it away? That would ruin all the fun!)

Most of the discontinuity of Season 2 can be explained by POV switches between characters. See here and here for more. I think the title/location cards are also probably POV Clues, that needs a closer look.

Crowley gave something to Aziraphale in his mouth when they kissed. It's the fly. Now, what else was in the fly besides Gabriel's memory?

Saraqael and Crowley and by proxy, Aziraphale are all working together. That explains A. the tiny miracle blowing up into a 25 Lazarii miracle. It didn't. They had to cover for something else that did. B. Saraqael showing the archangels the book shop in 2019 in the spy hole. C. Crowley's spy turtle neck and where he went during Aziraphale's Job flashback. D. Why Saraqael helps him see the trial in Heaven. (Oh! Muriel's now in on it, too!)

Crowley's memory is fine, it's a red herring. He is dissing Furfur, he is denying knowing Saraqael even after she gives him a reason to recognize her to hide that they are working together. He tells Jim he doesn't remember why they invented gravity, but that whole scene if from Aziraphale's perspective, so the conversation likely didn't actually go just like that.

Shax is on a mission besides Gabriel -- she's looking for whatever Aziraphale and Crowley are hiding. Gabriel is a side-mission.

The hand-washing comment from Crowley in the Resurrectionists minisode -- he tells DaVinci about helicopters in Good Omens the novel. It's just a thing he can do.

What is up with Maggie? Maggie's freaking Jesus 2.0. She's what Shax is looking for, and who Crowley, Aziraphale, and Saraqael are hiding. Also, where is God? God is busy being Maggie, that's where.

SECRET SONGS??? Why are the songs secret?? I'm losing my mind, what is happening?? I think this is a message that A. Aziraphale and Crowley are okay, and B. We will absolutely be getting part 3 of 1941.

I still think the scenes might be out of order. Is it as simple as watching them in chronological order? Could be.

What still needs answering:

The clocks jumping time still don't make any sense.

The weird hand in the 1941 photo still doesn't make sense.

Aziraphale's chair position being moved still doesn't make sense.

The extras behaving strangely still doesn't make sense.

Crowley's car being in the wrong spot on the road after Shax threatens him still doesn't make any sense.

I'm not sure that the POV switches explains all the weird sounds.

I'm not sure that POV switches explain Crowley's sunglasses going from silver to black.

What did Gabriel need to bring to Aziraphale? I think he put whatever it was in the fly along with his memory.

I still don't know why Aziraphale went to Edinburgh, or why he stopped at the graveyard where Gabriel's statue is.

Why does Michael do the "nothing's in the box" thing with the matchbox? It's a petty specific action. Someone pointed out that Michael's nails look chewed and terrible, are we meant to stare at the matchbox while something else goes unnoticed? Well, duh. But what?

We most certainly did not get the whole scene where the Metatron is talking to Aziraphale. What else was said?

What did Crowley do during his ALL-NIGHT JAUNT in Heaven? Did he sneak around and steal something? Did he uncover something? Did they hurt him?

What did Aziraphale do with his briefcase that he took to Edinburgh? We see it in the book shop from his POV, and Edinburgh is seen from Crowley's POV, so they both know it exists. And then it's gone.

Why does Gabriel prophecy with God's voice? IS it God's voice? It's a woman, is it Francis McDormand? It's hard to hear.

Why the heck did Maggie and Nina go talk to Crowley while the Metatron was talking to Aziraphale? What they had to say wasn't important enough to leave Nina's shop during a rush, and I definitely don't think they derailed Crowley from what he needed to say to Aziraphale, though it might look at first as if they did. So what was that about?

When Shax stops Aziraphale for a ride, he says, "Oh, I really need to get to --" and then is cut off. He really needs to get to where? It's an easy assumption to think he means the book shop, or London. But is that all he means? Or was he on his way somewhere else? And if it was just the book shop, what does he mean he's late? Late for what?

Crowley can tell "something's wrong," and he doesn't just mean the demons. What?

Why would the Metatron allow Beelzebub and Gabriel to leave, after trying to stop Armageddon 2.0, but come after Crowley and Aziraphale like that? Because of the big miracle? Just because they're higher-ups? Something stinks.

Why does Crowley say "Oh, God," right before his confession in the final fifteen? To let Aziraphale know that he understands what Aziraphale is saying? That God (or the Voice) is there? Seems possible.

When Crowley leaves Heaven, he tells Saraqael and Muriel to come, too. But in the elevator, Michael and Uriel are there! When the fuck did they show up??

Why does Beelzebub tell Shax to attack the bookstore? Aren't they worried about Gabriel being harmed? And they know Hell is understaffed. Maybe that's why they command it? Because they know Shax won't be able to get the demons?

What about the Masons? It's such a specific thing for the pub owner to bring up, what is the meaning of it? And Maggie has a Mason symbol on her necklace. Did the Masons carve the statue of Gabriel? When did they see him?

The only narration we hear in the entire season is Aziraphale in the Resurrectionist flashback. I believe this is to throw us off the POV character switches all season. But still, why do we only hear him narrate 1 flashback? I think he's reading the diary to himself in the present day. That would explain the end, "And that was the last I was to see of Crowley for some time." He JUST heard the story of the jukebox from Maggie. And Gabriel appearing -- same city that statue is in. Of course he thought of something important from that diary entry! Now, what did he notice?

Is the Book of Life a real threat? We hear two stories about it, that it's real and that its ability to erase beings was something to scare the cherubs with, this is inconclusive. Crowley gets nervous after Beelzebub talks to him, but I think he's pissed that Heaven and Hell have taken an interest in them again, especially since they're trying to hide Maggie!Jesus.

So many promo posters show Aziraphale, Crowley, and Jimbriel together, or symbols of them. Three feathers: two white, one black. Tea cup, cocoa mug, wine glass. The three of them. Not with Beelzebub, not with Muriel, the three of them. And all three of them have been Jesus-coded in some small way. No one else. Those three. What. Why. Are they the sacrifice required to bring about the new world? Why not Beez, then?

Wait. Two Crowleys?? WTF. There are two Crowley puppets in the magic shop, and Crowley doesn't remember Saraqael or Furfur. Is he dissing them, or is that the second Crowley that never did meet either of them? Am I insane? I have no theory here, just some wild speculation that needs a lot more time to simmer. Two actual Crowleys, or two ideas of Crowley? Or something to hurt my head? Why are they in a cave in the opening sequence? The guy who made the opening sequence says they are in the fly that Gabriel stores his memory in. Okay, why? And Crowley lights a match to see. Hm. What else was in that fly that Gabriel didn't take when he got his memory out?

An album on the wall in Maggie's shop says "Rat Keith." This seems to me to be an allusion to The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett. In the book, some men have tied several rats' tails together to create a rat king that keeps the wild rats under control -- except that the rat king has too much power and is doing way more than just that. People die. So who's been given too much power and is now running the show instead of being a puppet? The Metatron, perhaps? Hm . . . Also, Keith is the young boy who plays the part of the Pied Piper for Maurice's scam. He leads all the rats out of town, never mind that the rats can talk and are in on the scam.

Repeating themes:

Beverages of all kinds -- tea for Aziraphale, wine or whiskey for Crowley, cocoa for Jim.

Time -- lots of clocks/mentions of time

Love/partnership/togetherness being stronger than separateness

Memories/forgetting/remembering

Payment -- money comes up in both the Resurrectionists minisode and the Flesh Eating Nazi Zombies minisode, but no one pays for anything in present. There is bartering, but no money.

Rising from the dead -- Job's kids (even though they weren't actually dead), bodies used for science, Nazi zombies, the Second Coming.

Unreliable narrators

Death in general -- but 9a., I'm a dirty pagan, why didn't I make this connection sooner, death always leads to REBIRTH, change, something totally new and 9b. there are tarot cards in the magic shop, and even if you're not a dirty pagan, the Death tarot card means transition, something must die before a new thing can be born. Hmmmm.

Morality and what is "good" and what is right

Recognition and identity

Repeating words and phrases:

Technically

Properly

Isn't it just?

Too late

Funny old world

Not as such

Made for each other

EVERYWHERE

Obviously

Two shakes of a lamb's tail

Hints:

Powell and Pressburg films

The Crow Road

Catch 22

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, Terry Pratchett in general

Jane Austin

Book Good Omens

The titles of episodes, minisodes, places, etc. 7a. The Arrival: a book and a movie, though the book seems far more relevant. And lovely. The Clue: a movie. Companion to Owls: a line from a Bible story. I Know Where I'm Going: a movie. The Resurrectionists: two novels, each called The Resurrectionist, singular. Both look unhinged. The Hitchhiker: a Twilight Zone episode. Nazi Zombie Flesheaters: Literally no other reference. ?? Nazi Zombies do appear in a LOT of movies, comics, and video games, usually as a dark joke. The Ball: a video game. Irrelevant? It's a puzzle-based game, so maybe not. Every Day: a song AND a movie. Some themes repeat here: Puzzle games, being re-directed from one's path to find true love, death and being brought back to life in a gruesome and unpleasant way.

[drconstellation]

Adaptive Innovations for Changing World was finished just yesterday. I recommend it as well.

I've got lots of WIPs on my list at the moment, I'll list a few that are a fair way through, but for finished ones I would go

Mussimm's Sandalford Flower Show (46K words) and the follow on in a parallel universe that even more breathtaking than the first story Tabula Rasa (78K words)

ilikeblue's and now all my garden is grown in lavender (73K words)

princip1914's The False and the Fair (173K words)

bendycello's Fifty-Two Blue (84K words)

neided's Sit tight, Take hold (150K) - I think this the Rainbow Road someone else has mentioned? Or is there more that I has missed?

Junkolt's Phersu (105K) set in Rome as they raise Nero as a boy.

MissUnderstoodLyric's The Shared Desk Dilemma (32 K) Have to admit some of this one is just hilarious. I'm not one for practical jokes but there's a classic in here.

HenriettaRHippo's Miracles on Ice. WIP up to Ch 22 and 87K so far. No chapter limit set yet, but I'm loving it so far.

Siobhans-world Telling Tall Tales (17/19 Ch, 91K) Almost there with this one, loving it as well.

Nmn's Angel-Centered Therapy Through A Multicultural Lens: An Integrative Approach (17/18 ch, 70K) This is the sequel to the famous Triphasic Approach to Demon Trauma fic that feature's Aziraphale's treatment with Davey and his drums, and more. It's almost all there. Its good in a totally different way to the first one.

mooneyinpisces' How Do We Turn On The Light (WIP, 16/22 Ch 185K so far) Haven't seen anything else like it. Even though its a WIP its worth it. And you'll need to read it more than once, anyway.

Phoenixrose314's Dont Fall Away from Me. (WIP 43/44 Ch, 209K) one chapter to go! We're almost there with this epic.

RiaTheDreamer's Are We Meant To Read The Footnotes? (WIP 53/86 Ch 314K so far) This one is huge! but well worth the effort.

I've got more I like, but some are in the early stage so might not be the best for downloading, so I might leave it there.

Hey yo everyone! My family's going on a long vacation soon, and I need fic recs!

I wanna start stockpiling them now so I can download them, since I may not have internet 😅 (btw if I disappear that's why!!)

I'm looking for longer fics, preferably E rated (though it's not a deal breaker if it's not!) probably AU but again that's not essential

I love them tender and sweet, but I'm not against angst, hurt/comfort, etc as long as there's a happy ending!

I've already read: Car Trouble, BNF (and everything else by Bilvy!), Pray For Us Icarus, Chemistry....uhh gosh I know there's more longer ones I've read, but those are the big ones

I'd ask @aziraphales-library (and I plan to scour their tags 😁 as should you!! They have some amazing recs!!) but I know they're loaded down with asks rn 😅

Any recs are appreciated!! Tysm!!

(I'm really hoping I do have internet, I don't wanna miss any of the amazing art and posts this fandom pumps out 🥲)

@goodomensafterdark it's perfectly fine if not but if you'd like to get your followers to help I'd be much appreciative!!

[drconstellation]

I still don't know why Aziraphale went to Edinburgh, or why he stopped at the graveyard where Gabriel's statue is.

This doesn't have a straight forward answer. It's not meant to. Its the same reason they go to the pub to talk about Nina and Maggie. The show isn't structured in a simple linear way, its structured in pairs and parallels. It's multilayered. It jumps back and forth, just like the structure of Catch-22 does. You can't understand some of the early stuff until you see the later scenes. What you see as the linear story on the surface is a thin veneer. The true guts of the story and its meaning is underneath that.

The statue of Gabriel is something I'm writing up at the moment for Part 4 in my Aziraphale's Edinburgh Journey series, and it is a larger parallel to some scenes in S1. I should have it out in a few days. I had help spotting that, as I will credit, but it goes wider than originally thought, and I'll be writing a couple of other posts to go with it in explanation about structure. There is nothing hidden under the statue, that is not its function.

Why does Gabriel prophecy with God's voice? IS it God's voice? It's a woman, is it Francis McDormand? It's hard to hear.

I think this may be Anathema's voice. This is only after a lot of thought and some other ops also think that. Why? Still not sure, but Anathema is tied into the future, like Aziraphale is. Will have to wait for S3, I think.

Why the heck did Maggie and Nina go talk to Crowley while the Metatron was talking to Aziraphale?

Because Maggie is a parallel character to Aziraphale/Beelzebub and they are all tied to the future. Most people have noted that some of what they say is foreshadowing, such as the waiting comment. That whole conversation is foreshadowing for something in S3, imho.

Crowley can tell "something's wrong," and he doesn't just mean the demons. What?

That's the "malignant and creeping sense of unease" Furfur offers Shax when she's trying to requisition demons. Everyone seems to forget about that.

What about the Masons? It's such a specific thing for the pub owner to bring up, what is the meaning of it? And Maggie has a Mason symbol on her necklace. Did the Masons carve the statue of Gabriel? When did they see him?

No, the Freemasons didn't carve the statue. They are there because of their beliefs, as a contrast to Christian beliefs. They are similar, but different. Did you know the Freemasons appear in S1 as well? It's just we weren't tuned to look for their symbology then. But once you know what it is, its everywhere. Its part of the Memento mori theme that's there throughout both seasons, that something has to come to an end and change. We're still getting there - the change is to come in S3.

So many promo posters show Aziraphale, Crowley, and Jimbriel together, or symbols of them. ... And all three of them have been Jesus-coded in some small way.

I did a series showing how Crowley and Gabriel, who are parallels and foils to each other in S2, trace out the Passion during S2. I've seen some ops reckon Aziraphale has Jesus-like traits as well, and there is some argument as to who might be Judas. There is something there. I think we might need S3 to work it out definitively, so stick a bookmark on that one and sit tight.

Why are they in a cave in the opening sequence?

This one bothers me from time to time, then I have to sit and think, and remember that Jesus was entombed in a cave for three days before his resurrection, and this is probably just a clue for this, and the Second Coming.

An album on the wall in Maggie's shop says "Rat Keith."

They couldn't use any real albums or band names on the walls of the record shop for copyright reasons, so just about everything in there is made up. For that reason, I don't put much weight on anything seen in there, except a few things, like the movie poster.

Beverages of all kinds -- tea for Aziraphale, wine or whiskey for Crowley, cocoa for Jim.

Both myself and @vidavalor have talked extensively about the metaphorical meanings of food and drink in the series. For myself you start with The Cupperty Ceremony, The Altar of Eccles Cakes, Wickedly Witchy Food Bribes , thoughts on the coffee in Liberty and the Tree of Life, and I'll just reference this recent thread with general drinks from the other day.

Vidavalor has their foundational Crepes meta, Bread, Fish, Canapes, Peas, and here we discuss the ice creams in S1 together (and one has to note that the red ice is actually an easter egg from an old 1960's film called Bedazzled, which is also a retelling of Faust.)

It all recalls the old words "give us this day our daily bread", the loaves and fishes, and turning water in wine stories.

And an object can have more than one metaphorical meaning laid upon it. That is what we are finding. Three or four, or even five meanings are not unusual in Good Omens, far and above most books, shows and films. Neil really has done his best to pack in as much as he can with this show!

Repeating words and phrases: Technically

Yep. I did a whole meta on the words of authority here. I plan to explore the theme of Authority a bit further, too. Just need a bit more time at the moment.

And to all the book title and movie title references and show title references - yes, you need to read/watch them if you haven't and you aren't familiar with them. I watched "I Know Where I'm Going" the other day (its a lovely film!) and there were lots of relevant references to S2 and Ep 3, which I will be writing up soon. But there is so much to do!

And unfortunately, some of it we just have to wait for S3 to happen, as well. We can see that there should be a parallel in places, but for certain scenes don't have them - they are the ones to flag for foreshadowing (and I'm starting to think some of them were meant to connect into the missing minisodes, and I'm starting to do some work on them, too). And some scenes we expect a third parallel as well. That's where you need to start making your bingo card list.

I think I'd better leave it there.

Murder Board 2.0

Since I've figure a few things out, I need to re-do my Murder Board. New answers, new questions.

What I think I know:

NEIL GAIMAN IS A LYING LIAR WHO LIES. Except when he's dropping hints or answering straight out. All of his answers to anything anyone asks about GO are suspect at best. (I cannot blame him or anyone else on the cast or crew -- they spent A LOT of time and energy building this very meticulous puzzle game for us -- why would ANY of them give ANY of it away? That would ruin all the fun!)

Most of the discontinuity of Season 2 can be explained by POV switches between characters. See here and here for more. I think the title/location cards are also probably POV Clues, that needs a closer look.

Crowley gave something to Aziraphale in his mouth when they kissed. It's the fly. Now, what else was in the fly besides Gabriel's memory?

Saraqael and Crowley and by proxy, Aziraphale are all working together. That explains A. the tiny miracle blowing up into a 25 Lazarii miracle. It didn't. They had to cover for something else that did. B. Saraqael showing the archangels the book shop in 2019 in the spy hole. C. Crowley's spy turtle neck and where he went during Aziraphale's Job flashback. D. Why Saraqael helps him see the trial in Heaven. (Oh! Muriel's now in on it, too!)

Crowley's memory is fine, it's a red herring. He is dissing Furfur, he is denying knowing Saraqael even after she gives him a reason to recognize her to hide that they are working together. He tells Jim he doesn't remember why they invented gravity, but that whole scene if from Aziraphale's perspective, so the conversation likely didn't actually go just like that.

Shax is on a mission besides Gabriel -- she's looking for whatever Aziraphale and Crowley are hiding. Gabriel is a side-mission.

The hand-washing comment from Crowley in the Resurrectionists minisode -- he tells DaVinci about helicopters in Good Omens the novel. It's just a thing he can do.

What is up with Maggie? Maggie's freaking Jesus 2.0. She's what Shax is looking for, and who Crowley, Aziraphale, and Saraqael are hiding. Also, where is God? God is busy being Maggie, that's where.

SECRET SONGS??? Why are the songs secret?? I'm losing my mind, what is happening?? I think this is a message that A. Aziraphale and Crowley are okay, and B. We will absolutely be getting part 3 of 1941.

I still think the scenes might be out of order. Is it as simple as watching them in chronological order? Could be.

What still needs answering:

The clocks jumping time still don't make any sense.

The weird hand in the 1941 photo still doesn't make sense.

Aziraphale's chair position being moved still doesn't make sense.

The extras behaving strangely still doesn't make sense.

Crowley's car being in the wrong spot on the road after Shax threatens him still doesn't make any sense.

I'm not sure that the POV switches explains all the weird sounds.

I'm not sure that POV switches explain Crowley's sunglasses going from silver to black.

What did Gabriel need to bring to Aziraphale? I think he put whatever it was in the fly along with his memory.

I still don't know why Aziraphale went to Edinburgh, or why he stopped at the graveyard where Gabriel's statue is.

Why does Michael do the "nothing's in the box" thing with the matchbox? It's a petty specific action. Someone pointed out that Michael's nails look chewed and terrible, are we meant to stare at the matchbox while something else goes unnoticed? Well, duh. But what?

We most certainly did not get the whole scene where the Metatron is talking to Aziraphale. What else was said?

What did Crowley do during his ALL-NIGHT JAUNT in Heaven? Did he sneak around and steal something? Did he uncover something? Did they hurt him?

What did Aziraphale do with his briefcase that he took to Edinburgh? We see it in the book shop from his POV, and Edinburgh is seen from Crowley's POV, so they both know it exists. And then it's gone.

Why does Gabriel prophecy with God's voice? IS it God's voice? It's a woman, is it Francis McDormand? It's hard to hear.

Why the heck did Maggie and Nina go talk to Crowley while the Metatron was talking to Aziraphale? What they had to say wasn't important enough to leave Nina's shop during a rush, and I definitely don't think they derailed Crowley from what he needed to say to Aziraphale, though it might look at first as if they did. So what was that about?

When Shax stops Aziraphale for a ride, he says, "Oh, I really need to get to --" and then is cut off. He really needs to get to where? It's an easy assumption to think he means the book shop, or London. But is that all he means? Or was he on his way somewhere else? And if it was just the book shop, what does he mean he's late? Late for what?

Crowley can tell "something's wrong," and he doesn't just mean the demons. What?

Why would the Metatron allow Beelzebub and Gabriel to leave, after trying to stop Armageddon 2.0, but come after Crowley and Aziraphale like that? Because of the big miracle? Just because they're higher-ups? Something stinks.

Why does Crowley say "Oh, God," right before his confession in the final fifteen? To let Aziraphale know that he understands what Aziraphale is saying? That God (or the Voice) is there? Seems possible.

When Crowley leaves Heaven, he tells Saraqael and Muriel to come, too. But in the elevator, Michael and Uriel are there! When the fuck did they show up??

Why does Beelzebub tell Shax to attack the bookstore? Aren't they worried about Gabriel being harmed? And they know Hell is understaffed. Maybe that's why they command it? Because they know Shax won't be able to get the demons?

What about the Masons? It's such a specific thing for the pub owner to bring up, what is the meaning of it? And Maggie has a Mason symbol on her necklace. Did the Masons carve the statue of Gabriel? When did they see him?

The only narration we hear in the entire season is Aziraphale in the Resurrectionist flashback. I believe this is to throw us off the POV character switches all season. But still, why do we only hear him narrate 1 flashback? I think he's reading the diary to himself in the present day. That would explain the end, "And that was the last I was to see of Crowley for some time." He JUST heard the story of the jukebox from Maggie. And Gabriel appearing -- same city that statue is in. Of course he thought of something important from that diary entry! Now, what did he notice?

Is the Book of Life a real threat? We hear two stories about it, that it's real and that its ability to erase beings was something to scare the cherubs with, this is inconclusive. Crowley gets nervous after Beelzebub talks to him, but I think he's pissed that Heaven and Hell have taken an interest in them again, especially since they're trying to hide Maggie!Jesus.

So many promo posters show Aziraphale, Crowley, and Jimbriel together, or symbols of them. Three feathers: two white, one black. Tea cup, cocoa mug, wine glass. The three of them. Not with Beelzebub, not with Muriel, the three of them. And all three of them have been Jesus-coded in some small way. No one else. Those three. What. Why. Are they the sacrifice required to bring about the new world? Why not Beez, then?

Wait. Two Crowleys?? WTF. There are two Crowley puppets in the magic shop, and Crowley doesn't remember Saraqael or Furfur. Is he dissing them, or is that the second Crowley that never did meet either of them? Am I insane? I have no theory here, just some wild speculation that needs a lot more time to simmer. Two actual Crowleys, or two ideas of Crowley? Or something to hurt my head? Why are they in a cave in the opening sequence? The guy who made the opening sequence says they are in the fly that Gabriel stores his memory in. Okay, why? And Crowley lights a match to see. Hm. What else was in that fly that Gabriel didn't take when he got his memory out?

An album on the wall in Maggie's shop says "Rat Keith." This seems to me to be an allusion to The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett. In the book, some men have tied several rats' tails together to create a rat king that keeps the wild rats under control -- except that the rat king has too much power and is doing way more than just that. People die. So who's been given too much power and is now running the show instead of being a puppet? The Metatron, perhaps? Hm . . . Also, Keith is the young boy who plays the part of the Pied Piper for Maurice's scam. He leads all the rats out of town, never mind that the rats can talk and are in on the scam.

Repeating themes:

Beverages of all kinds -- tea for Aziraphale, wine or whiskey for Crowley, cocoa for Jim.

Time -- lots of clocks/mentions of time

Love/partnership/togetherness being stronger than separateness

Memories/forgetting/remembering

Payment -- money comes up in both the Resurrectionists minisode and the Flesh Eating Nazi Zombies minisode, but no one pays for anything in present. There is bartering, but no money.

Rising from the dead -- Job's kids (even though they weren't actually dead), bodies used for science, Nazi zombies, the Second Coming.

Unreliable narrators

Death in general -- but 9a., I'm a dirty pagan, why didn't I make this connection sooner, death always leads to REBIRTH, change, something totally new and 9b. there are tarot cards in the magic shop, and even if you're not a dirty pagan, the Death tarot card means transition, something must die before a new thing can be born. Hmmmm.

Morality and what is "good" and what is right

Recognition and identity

Repeating words and phrases:

Technically

Properly

Isn't it just?

Too late

Funny old world

Not as such

Made for each other

EVERYWHERE

Obviously

Two shakes of a lamb's tail

Hints:

Powell and Pressburg films

The Crow Road

Catch 22

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, Terry Pratchett in general

Jane Austin

Book Good Omens

The titles of episodes, minisodes, places, etc. 7a. The Arrival: a book and a movie, though the book seems far more relevant. And lovely. The Clue: a movie. Companion to Owls: a line from a Bible story. I Know Where I'm Going: a movie. The Resurrectionists: two novels, each called The Resurrectionist, singular. Both look unhinged. The Hitchhiker: a Twilight Zone episode. Nazi Zombie Flesheaters: Literally no other reference. ?? Nazi Zombies do appear in a LOT of movies, comics, and video games, usually as a dark joke. The Ball: a video game. Irrelevant? It's a puzzle-based game, so maybe not. Every Day: a song AND a movie. Some themes repeat here: Puzzle games, being re-directed from one's path to find true love, death and being brought back to life in a gruesome and unpleasant way.

[drconstellation]

Yes! I've known about this parallel for a while, I spotted some other gifs with the same thing that someone else had done a while back, and kept it in mind. But since I'm not that familiar with the Godfather films I've had to sit on it and do some research. It's one of the unexplored avenues in S2 at the moment, I feel.

Godfather (1972) / Good Omens S2E4

#good omens #good omens 2 #shax #furfur #the godfather

[drconstellation]

I just have to take a moment to promote a fanfic WIP I'm following at the moment that I feel deserves a lot more love than it's getting. It's slow burn enemies to lovers human AU about two astronomers stuck at the same observatory for three months, and the writing and exposition is just beautiful. Not to mention the astronomical content is right up my alley!

If you don't like WIPs, please save it for later.

Rating: E Ch: 4/11 so far

Dr Aziraphale Eastgate is an astrophysicist who needs a big break for his research career to prove to his colleagues that he deserves to be where he is. He finally has the chance when he gets a research residency at the remote Mount Eden Observatory. However, the prickly and disgraced Dr Crowley is also in residence, and they clash heavily.

(or: there's only one (telescope) trope and my attempt at a slow burn)

#good omens #ineffable husbands #good omens fanfic #good omens fanfiction #good omens fanfic rec

[drconstellation]

I love how our thoughts, theories & metas on Good Omens have developed since GO2 came out.

The immediate theories were all very emotional, knee-jerk reaction type ones. Very well thought out, but thinking with hearts rather than heads.

Now that time has passed, I’ve seen a big change in the ‘angle’ of the theories. They’re more logic-based, more reasoned, less emotional.

We could all have studied 5 seconds of film close up months ago, but we weren’t in that headspace then. But we are now.

It shows that it’s worth it to have time go by to let a show sit & mature in your brain. To mull it over and chew on it. Formulate your own theories and thoughts and really sit with them. It requires time. And brainrot. So much brainrot.

#this! #good omens #good omens 2 #the brainrot is real #ineffable fandom #good omens meta #so much more to do #so much to read #so much to watch

[drconstellation]

Crowley's belt is an ouroboros, the snake's head eating it's tail, and the Leviathan is said to wrap around the world, so it also acts as one. Crowley is very deeply tied into the outcome of this story (no surprise there!)

Why are there Infinity Loops or Möbius Strips in Good Omens?

The infinity loop, it's the idea of something that is unlimited and endless, you know...

In this post, I'm going to explore some of the symbols in the show that I think relate to this concept of eternity. For example, have you noticed that the infinity loop shows up amongst the symbols at the start of Season 1? While God's narrates about her "ineffable game" of her own devising, here it is on screen:

Why do we see so many infinity symbols here? Where else can we see this same symbol?

Read on for the places I've spotted it in both S1, S2 and the book. I’m hoping you’ll let me know if I missed any, and what you think it all means!

Eternity in Good Omens

In the book, when Crowley is explaining the concept of eternity to Aziraphale, he uses the idea of a bird which flies every thousand years to the same mountain to sharpen it's beak. Here's the conversation, with Aziraphale's interruptions edited out (pg. 55 - 56 in my hardcopy):

“Just you think about it," said Crowley relentlessly. "You know what eternity is? You know what eternity is? I mean, d'you know what eternity is? There's this big mountain, see, a mile high, at the end of the universe, and once every thousand years there's this little bird—” “Okay. And every thousand years this bird flies—" "flies all the way to this mountain and sharpens its beak—” “Sharpen its beak on the mountain," said Crowley. "And then it flies back—” “And after a thousand years it goes and does it all again," said Crowley quickly.”

This story originally came from a folk tale called the Shepherd Boy. It's very short and you can read the Brother's Grimm version here.

If we take Crowley at his word, then eternity in Good Omens is represented by repeating the same thing over again, whether that's flying forever to the same mountain, or having to watch the Sound of Music "over and over and over and over and over and over and over" into infinity.

The Infinity Loop

The common symbol for infinity, ∞, was invented by the English mathematician John Wallis in 1655. Being an extremely popular symbol, it shows up in a lot of places, including the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. Several other uses are detailed on the wikipedia page.

So, where does it appear in Good Omens? In addition to God's monologue, we also see it during the S1 baby swap sequence as part of the Satanic nun's costumes. Here it is on the upside-down watches they wear:

Here it is again on Newt's belt buckle in S1:

Here's another possible infinity symbol on Newt's computer screen, when he's working at United Holdings:

Outside of the show, it also appears on the merch released post-S2 (though a little bit disguised in the form of the snake wrapped around them). Included is the tagline of "The end was just the start".

There are also two references to infinity in the book. Here's the first very near the start (pg. 14 of my 2015 hardback edition):

“He [God] plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players, [ie., everybody.] to being involved in an obscure and complex version of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.”

And here's the other, closer to the end, at the airfield (pg. 363 of my edition):

“Adam glanced up. In one sense there was just clear air overhead. In another, stretching off to infinity, were the hosts of Heaven and Hell, wingtip to wingtip. If you looked really closely, and had been specially trained, you could tell the difference.”

So, Good Omens makes a few references to infinity, which I find interesting in itself. But wait, there's more!

The Ouroboros

There is another symbol which also appears in Good Omens and also suggests a form of repetition - the ouroboros. The ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail and depicts an eternal cycle of renewal - an end which comes back to the start again. I recommend taking a look at the whole wikipedia page, which is quite fascinating:

Now, this would be a rather abstract representation, but I think this appears on the wall of Nina's cafe. Unfortunately, in my image Terry's name has been cut off, but it does say Terry and Neil within those segments of the loop:

So we have the infinity symbol, the ouroboros... anything else? Well, yes, there is a third symbol for us to ponder over.

The Mobius Strip

Closely related to the idea of the infinity symbol is that of the mobius strip. To oversimplify things, the mobius strip is a object which is a continuous surface in a loop. At first glance, it appears to have two sides, but these are indeed all part of the same side (maybe we should call this "our side"?). As shown in the below gif, an object traversing the surface of the strip can repeat in a continuous loop.

Where does the mobius strip appear in Good Omens? Well, it appears in the book. Here it is being used to refer to Anathema's broken bike wheel (pg. 92 in my 2015 hardback edition):

“Behind the Bentley a bicycle lay in the road, its front wheel bent into a creditable Mobius shape, its back wheel clicking ominously to a standstill.”

And again, describing the discussions of the Them, while Adam is coming into his powers (pg. 229 in my hardback):

“Serve everyone right if all the nucular bombs went off and it all started again, only prop'ly organized," said Adam. "Sometimes I think that's what I'd like to happen. An' then we could sort everythin' out." The thunder growled again. Pepper shivered. This wasn't the normal Them mobius bickering, which passed many a slow hour. There was a look in Adam's eye that his friend couldn't quite fathom—not devilment, because that was more or less there all the time, but a sort of blank grayness that was far worse.”

Not only does the word "mobius" appear twice in the book, but Neil has continued to be interested in such ideas, releasing the song Mobius Strip in April 2023 (as brought to my attention by @embracing-the-ineffable). The song is a meditation on the nature of time, magic and how things tend to repeat. In the song, the grandfather shows the boy a trick to creating a mobius strip using paper, tape and some scissors. Here's how the song concludes:

"I'm... Somewhere on the strip We all are, walking the sign of infinity into the darkness And I'm looking for signs of a life, in a memory Reflected in the mirror I'm a mobius strip We all are We only ever see one face It's the twist that brings you back where you started"

If you're unfamiliar with the idea of creating a paper-based mobius strip, here's a video on how it works:

Is the loop Aziraphale and Crowley?

To form a mobius strip, you need to cut the paper first, flip it, and then join the ends back together.

To me, this reminds me a lot of the S2 opening sequence, when we see the bridge disconnect, separating Aziraphale and Crowley on either side, only to then reconnect at another place.

Does this mean the bridge, and perhaps the loop, represents our ineffable duo? This merch sure seems to suggest so...

That could be one interpretation of this sequence, though I'm sure there are others. What do you think? Does the loop say anything about Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship to one another?

Put it all together and...

In summary, we have at least three different symbols signifying some sort of repetition in Good Omens - the infinity loop, ouroboros and mobius strip. So, what might they mean? Why do you think it's been included, and so often? Even more importantly, have I missed any? There's endless details to be mined from this show, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are more.

I have a few theories, but nothing concrete yet, so I'm really interested in hearing everyone's ideas!

[drconstellation]

Have you all checked out the enormous Good Omens Crackpotting Theory Tracker that @kayleefansposts maintains? Its a good summary of everyone's thoughts and theories previous metas.

There are signs about the Second Coming all the way through S2, the ongoing resurrection theme is part of it.

There is also a small parallel with the matchbox here:

You poke the demon, the demon pokes you back.

Several ops, including me, have linked the bible verse on the side of the box with Crowley. He has a kraken/leviathan link in S1 and S2. I'm just waiting to see what metaphorical form he will manifest as it in S3.

My thoughts at the moment are more about what the missing minisodes would have shown us, because I don't think they had the same themes. I'm pretty sure the Vatican one was about the misuse of authority, and I'm planning a meta about that. It's possible to see traces of the other ones, too, they've left little threads here and there that were supposed to connect up, but I'm not sure what they might have shown us yet, I haven't gotten that far with thinking about them properly.

More minisode connections:

Right here.

All of the minisodes are on this matchbox.

The matchbox is from the Resurrectionist pub.

It has a quote from the Book of Job on it.

The quote is 41:19, or, if you flip that, 1941.

What is up with these intense minisode hints??

[drconstellation]

I haven't forgotten about the star charts, I do intend to have a closer look at them again one day. I'm just in the middle of some other things at the moment, but I'm usually working on several things at once in the background.

They also seem to have the same cyphers on them them that are used elsewhere in Heaven, on the walls and pillars in Gabriel's trial, and on the security footage etc. so there is a bit of link there. The decyphering team haven't decoded any actual words yet, so, still work to be done.

Cranking up the stars and nebula

Just out of curiosity, I grabbed a screenshot of Crowley's…schematic?… of the stars and nebula he was creating Before the Beginning. Kinda fun. Let your astronomical imagination go.

What jumped out at me right away was the obvious "W" (blue) at the top, which I immediately took to be the constellation Cassiopeia, the Queen. Then I noticed that there are two other instances of Cassiopeia's W, although one of them (lower-left) is ever-so-slightly different.

This is the myth of Cassiopeia: Cassiopeia was the wife of King Cepheus of Ethiopia. Her pride got the best of her when she bragged that her daughter Andromeda was more beautiful than the Nereids, part of Poseidon's retinue. As punishment for this affront, Poseidon sent a sea monster, Cetus, to destroy Ethiopia. The only way to stop the destruction was to sacrifice their daughter Andromeda to the monster, so they chained her to a rock on the shore. Just as Cetus approached to claim his sacrifice, Perseus, returning from his slaying of Medusa, saw the beautiful Andromeda, and saved her from the beast. Ethiopia was saved. Upon Cassiopeia's death, Poseidon placed her in the stars, where she was chained to her throne and must spend half of the year upside-down as further punishment.

As a side note, the constellation of Perseus is referred to, not surprisingly, as "The Hero". The vaguely "y-shaped" constellation to the left of the top "W" (pink) is reminiscent of the shape of Perseus, although not exact.

The other constellation that seemed fairly obvious is Crux, the Southern Cross (green), and I see it twice, one of them right under the crank. I couldn't find any mythology surrounding this constellation. But, the cross, right?

The odd prominent S-shaped "constellation" in the middle of the left circle (light blue), or is it snake-shaped, isn't any actual constellation. If I just barely glance at it, maybe I can pretend to see the curves of Scorpius, but I doubt it's actually meant to look like a real constellation.

Maybe some of the other constellations match up with real ones, I didn't spend all that much time on it. But some felt familiar. Like Corvus (the Crow) (top one in the black box), but it's usually depicted as a closed polygon.

The curved one right next to and below it reminds me of either of the Corona constellations, Corona Borealis (Northern Crown) or Corona Australis (Southern Crown).

Maybe someone else can imagine if any of the others seem to resemble real constellations.

Besides the constellations, my other observation was noticing that there were tints of yellow sprinkled around, and yellow always make me think of Azi.

Finally, Crowley then uses his crank and "mixes them all up".

It's hard to see the end result of the schematic after Crowley has stirred it all together, but now there are 4 overlapping circles, and all appear to have a lot more constellations in them than at the start.

I would love to hear about anyone else's observations or comments about the schematic. Or provide me with a link to any previous discussions about it.

[drconstellation]

Screen grab from Powell & Pressburgers The Small Backroom, 1949.

#good omens #wall slam #the small back room

[drconstellation]

Because food, like the wine, =sex, and no one is actually getting any in S2, just the free little "kisses" Jim is handing out at the Ball in Ep5. Famine, one of the Horsepeople, is surreptitiously on the loose as one of the dark horses (he traditionally rides a black horse).

The eccles cakes are doing some mighty metaphorical lifting when you put it all together, and its all about not eating, eating dust instead of bread (which is also a metaphor for the two of them,) not having fun etc. No wonder Maggie refuses them when she's on her way to try and entice Nina to like her with a musical gift, not turn her away.

Drinks offered, accepted and turned down

The Metatron’s coffee (oat milk latte with unknown amount of almond syrup), as well as the whole business about it, is symbolic, I think most fans have agreed on that. It seems to me not only the drink itself is important, but the ceremony of offering and accepting/turning down a drink means a lot as well. When I think of it something archaic comes to mind: accepting a drink creates a connection and builds trust between people, and such exchanges have been symbolic in many cultures for thousands of years.

I’m not very good at drawing conclusions, but I would like to sum up all the cases when drinks are offered in season 2. So that someone more analytical than myself might have clever ideas. And I love making lists, they give an illusion of some control over this complicated narrative.

Aziraphale offers Jim some gross matter hot chocolate. Everyone remembers similar moments in  s1, right? Only this time Gabriel/Jim accepts, and it changes him, becomes an important element of his new personality.

Nina offers Maggie some wine and she turns it down in the weirdest way possible. ‘No judgement’ is already a judgement!

In the Job minisode Crowley offers Aziraphale wine and he turns it down. 

Aziraphale offers Muriel a ‘cuppertea’, and they do the most remarkable thing: they neither accept, not turn it down. They find a third way to go about it, and I absolutely love it. This is yet another small detail about Muriel which makes them so special and sets them apart from everyone - humans, angels, demons.

The barman in the Resurrectionist asks what Aziraphale will be drinking, and he doesn’t order anything. Baffles me every time, it's so not in his character and completely illogical in this situation. Everything is wrong and upside down in this episode. 

I mean, even Gabriel had enough wits to BUY drinks in the pub. Obviously later he tells Beelzebub  ‘You don’t actually have to consume it’, so it makes the drinks accepted but not taken - almost like Muriel's.

Crowley makes hot chocolate for Jim

The ’smitten’ conversation at Justine’s. Aziraphale turns Crowley’s wine down, AGAIN

Metatron’s coffee

May have missed something, but even like this it seems a lot. 

Not sure about the scene with Crowley and laudanum, it it definitely meaningful, but there was no offer. Another special case is Jim making his own hot chocolate. Precious 15 seconds of screen time are wasted devoted to an extremely informative scene where Jim makes the drink, drinks it and says ‘Ah!’. Whatever for?

More questions than answers as usual.

[drconstellation]

I have a section about the sherry in my draft for the pub scene deconstructed I'm working on:

4. Improvised line delivered by Crowley: "...and a large sherry for Lady Bracknell." Because this is an improvised line, the mention of Lady Bracknell is not all that important in the larger scheme of things, but the sherry is, being an alcoholic drink. We'll get to that in a moment. But anyone familiar with Oscar Wilde's play "The Importance of Being Ernest" will know who Lady Bracknell is and how it's a playful slap at Aziraphale. In fact, all the improvised lines about the sherry order involved female characters, and that's for a reason - sherry is considered a woman's drink. It was what the men ordered for their wives and girlfriends while they had a beer. Women were typically not allowed in the bar in the old days, and so the men would order the sherry and take it out the women in the lounge area - or, if you were in outback Australia, out onto the street where they were waiting. There's also the old joke about granny or aunty having a few too many sips of the cooking sherry while preparing dinner and getting a bit merry... But actually, sherry is a derivative of wine, and that's also the reason Aziraphale is drinking it.

Actually, some of the female characters mentioned in the improv lines, like Miss Marple, were also detectives/mystery solvers, so we missed out on that little nugget, but I don't think its necessarily a major spoiler or clue.

Drinks offered, accepted and turned down

The Metatron’s coffee (oat milk latte with unknown amount of almond syrup), as well as the whole business about it, is symbolic, I think most fans have agreed on that. It seems to me not only the drink itself is important, but the ceremony of offering and accepting/turning down a drink means a lot as well. When I think of it something archaic comes to mind: accepting a drink creates a connection and builds trust between people, and such exchanges have been symbolic in many cultures for thousands of years.

I’m not very good at drawing conclusions, but I would like to sum up all the cases when drinks are offered in season 2. So that someone more analytical than myself might have clever ideas. And I love making lists, they give an illusion of some control over this complicated narrative.

Aziraphale offers Jim some gross matter hot chocolate. Everyone remembers similar moments in  s1, right? Only this time Gabriel/Jim accepts, and it changes him, becomes an important element of his new personality.

Nina offers Maggie some wine and she turns it down in the weirdest way possible. ‘No judgement’ is already a judgement!

In the Job minisode Crowley offers Aziraphale wine and he turns it down. 

Aziraphale offers Muriel a ‘cuppertea’, and they do the most remarkable thing: they neither accept, not turn it down. They find a third way to go about it, and I absolutely love it. This is yet another small detail about Muriel which makes them so special and sets them apart from everyone - humans, angels, demons.

The barman in the Resurrectionist asks what Aziraphale will be drinking, and he doesn’t order anything. Baffles me every time, it's so not in his character and completely illogical in this situation. Everything is wrong and upside down in this episode. 

I mean, even Gabriel had enough wits to BUY drinks in the pub. Obviously later he tells Beelzebub  ‘You don’t actually have to consume it’, so it makes the drinks accepted but not taken - almost like Muriel's.

Crowley makes hot chocolate for Jim

The ’smitten’ conversation at Justine’s. Aziraphale turns Crowley’s wine down, AGAIN

Metatron’s coffee

May have missed something, but even like this it seems a lot. 

Not sure about the scene with Crowley and laudanum, it it definitely meaningful, but there was no offer. Another special case is Jim making his own hot chocolate. Precious 15 seconds of screen time are wasted devoted to an extremely informative scene where Jim makes the drink, drinks it and says ‘Ah!’. Whatever for?

More questions than answers as usual.

[drconstellation]

The laudanum is about sacrifice. I wrote that one up a long time ago. Here it is:

The Laudanum

I originally didn't include this one, but since posting this I realised how it fits in. I've written it up in this meta here - The Altar of Eccles Cakes, - because its a Sin Offering.

[A Sin Offering was for] atonement or unintentional sin. It would have the elements of a Burnt offering, as well as a Peace offering, but not be shared.

It pretty clear to most observers that Crowley did a good and "kind deed" for Elspeth here, which angered Hell in the process and then he was dragged forcibly downstairs to be duly punished for it. There is a post here from atlas-hope that suggests this is a parallel of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, drinking the cup of God's wrath to absolve Christians of their sins. They point out the laudanum is even poured into a goblet. Crumbs, that's a hefty bit of spiritual lifting, dear demon. What were you thinking, Anthony J. Crowley? It might cast that conversation you had with the carpenter back on the mountain in a new light, or least make us look back twice at it. (Plenty of time for contemplation before S3 arrives...) Remember, a Sin offering has elements of both a Burnt offering and a Peace offering: a giant Crowley gets Elspeth to promise to devote the rest of her life to being "properly good, not just pretendy good" and the money Aziraphale is forced to donate to her ensures her future prosperity. Sounds like a win-win situation there, Elspeth!

Jim's Hot Chocolate

The hot chocolate is something I've talked at length with @vidavalor as we've had slightly different opinions on it, but I think they've basically come together now (they have pulled me more in the direction of their interpretation and in reviewing S1 again for food and drink it makes more sense.)

There is without a doubt a line drawn between the American and the British in this show, but it's quite subtle. it comes out most obviously in the "Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death" name of the coffee shop, however. But once you look back into S1 you can see it there as well.

Chocolate comes from the Americas, so that is one reason to give the American angel hot chocolate. (Recall, Anathema offers the Them chocolate as one her food bribes) America symbolizes freedom/liberty, so there is one angle on what's happening, but Vida also said to me that hot chocolate is like a hug. And isn't that just so - hot chocolate is a smooth, sweet, soothing drink, associated with warmth and comfort. I've even been in one of those specialty chocolate shops where they mad the drinking mugs in a shape that matched the hands (no handle) so you would hold it cupped in both hands as you drank, like a hug, and the warmth filled your palms...woah, yeah, it can be a sensual drink. So Jim offering love and hugs in the middle of battle later on always gives me pause for thought... And Crowley offering it is his way of apologizing to Gabriel and offering Gabriel the freedom he is obviously looking for, for some reason Crowley doesn't understand yet. Oh, and Jim looking out of the window with his morning hot chocolate at the start of Ep3? He's just a lone archangel looking down on the Earth from above from Heaven and enjoying all that this wonderful world has to offer...

The Metatron's coffee - see Liberty versus The Tree of Life To me its a choice between the status quo or change.

Gabriel and Beelzebub dont "consume" their drink because they don't have to. They have a different relationship to the one Aziraphale and Crowley have. Theirs is more a platonic ace love at this point.

The wine angle is interesting - I'll admit to not thinking on all of those connections, although I've talked about others. Wine=sex basically, and Maggie is an Aziraphale/Beelzebub parallel. Ah, more things to distract me from reality this week.

Drinks offered, accepted and turned down

The Metatron’s coffee (oat milk latte with unknown amount of almond syrup), as well as the whole business about it, is symbolic, I think most fans have agreed on that. It seems to me not only the drink itself is important, but the ceremony of offering and accepting/turning down a drink means a lot as well. When I think of it something archaic comes to mind: accepting a drink creates a connection and builds trust between people, and such exchanges have been symbolic in many cultures for thousands of years.

I’m not very good at drawing conclusions, but I would like to sum up all the cases when drinks are offered in season 2. So that someone more analytical than myself might have clever ideas. And I love making lists, they give an illusion of some control over this complicated narrative.

Aziraphale offers Jim some gross matter hot chocolate. Everyone remembers similar moments in  s1, right? Only this time Gabriel/Jim accepts, and it changes him, becomes an important element of his new personality.

Nina offers Maggie some wine and she turns it down in the weirdest way possible. ‘No judgement’ is already a judgement!

In the Job minisode Crowley offers Aziraphale wine and he turns it down. 

Aziraphale offers Muriel a ‘cuppertea’, and they do the most remarkable thing: they neither accept, not turn it down. They find a third way to go about it, and I absolutely love it. This is yet another small detail about Muriel which makes them so special and sets them apart from everyone - humans, angels, demons.

The barman in the Resurrectionist asks what Aziraphale will be drinking, and he doesn’t order anything. Baffles me every time, it's so not in his character and completely illogical in this situation. Everything is wrong and upside down in this episode. 

I mean, even Gabriel had enough wits to BUY drinks in the pub. Obviously later he tells Beelzebub  ‘You don’t actually have to consume it’, so it makes the drinks accepted but not taken - almost like Muriel's.

Crowley makes hot chocolate for Jim

The ’smitten’ conversation at Justine’s. Aziraphale turns Crowley’s wine down, AGAIN

Metatron’s coffee

May have missed something, but even like this it seems a lot. 

Not sure about the scene with Crowley and laudanum, it it definitely meaningful, but there was no offer. Another special case is Jim making his own hot chocolate. Precious 15 seconds of screen time are wasted devoted to an extremely informative scene where Jim makes the drink, drinks it and says ‘Ah!’. Whatever for?

More questions than answers as usual.

[drconstellation]

@kimberleyjean I'll try to do a post just about how I see the mobius strip structure then, as I was going to try and finish a post about "deconstructing the pub scene" to show how it all fits together and links up to other bit before I posted part 5 of Aziraphale's Edinburgh Journey, but there is another good mobius strip example in Part 4 with Gabriel's statue and the Scottish thugs, which I briefly mentioned elsewhere. Then I'd have a bunch of posts about story structure to refer to when things like pop up.

Can you give me a bit more context around the Them's way of talking relating to a Mobius strip you mentioned above? I have vastly different page numbers to you, unfortunately. I can find the bike accident easily enough but I need to know a bit more about what the Them were talking about and where they were at the time etc to find that one.

Also Newt's belt buckle:

Foreshadowing, out of order?

In storytelling, is there a single word that means "the opposite of foreshadowing"?

WARNING: in trying to wrap my head around this, there will be wittering!!!

Wikipedia tells me that a flashback is a method of foreshadowing.

The Bullet Catch in the NZF minisode, being a flashback as well as told before the "present day" [speculated] event it sets up a clue for, well, that's what I've understood foreshadowing to mean until now, because isn't foreshadowing always presented before the event it foreshadows comes to pass?

The flashback/memory minisode, A Companion To Owls, is told after the "present day" event it foreshadows. Does that still count as foreshadowing, or is it instead considered "the big reveal" because it is told after?

And is this all that is meant by various things in Good Omens 2 being "out of order"?

The Hiding Miracle and the Memory That Both Foreshadows and Reveals It?

Indeed, it was a tiny miracle - as titled in the soundtrack - that worked as planned and "barely moved the dials" (but still a miracle in which "Noone will have noticed A Thing" however tiny it was, and that "Nobody notices he's here (...) Nobody can spot him, (...) especially if they're looking for him").

I believe it was the first of three events that happened that night, which, became the main focus of this "quiet, gentle, romantic" season, but paling in comparison to the other two events. Moving on!

Returning to how A Companion to Owls isn't told until after The Hiding Miracle and clues us in as to what was actually going on: this tiny miracle was made to appear far more powerful than it actually was, with the use of showmanship:

The ceremonious setup of being positioned on the circle in the middle of the room hidden under the carpet, between Aziraphale and Crowley; he could have been standing, but instead, "Jim... Sit in this chair." And it's a beautiful chair, like a throne, but Jim being taller wouldn't have worked for the image of the 'W' (similar to the 'W' shape made with Shadwell standing between Aziraphale and Crowley at the airbase, in the book Good Omens.)

ta-da!-look-at-this-very-complicated-and-powerful-miracle-that-we-are-doing

Why perform at all then, for an audience of none?

Ah, they're not alone, oooOoOoOOOoOoOooo, spooky. Go and see for yourself: check out the bottom left area of the screen when Crowley returns to the bookshop and says, "I'm BACK" (this is to do with the "framing opportunities" secret mentioned in the Gavin Finney BTS article https://britishcinematographer.co.uk/gavin-finney-bsc-good-omens-2/) Aziraphale calmly replies, "Yes, I can see that" and later gasps, reacting to something happening off-screen at 40m41s.

So this performance, not yet knowing who their audience might be, could be as a precaution, just in case.

Gabriel instinctively crosses his hands and is confused when Aziraphale and Crowley uncross them - or likely because Aziraphale was even standing there at all - because he remembers, or rather, in his mind's eye, sees the shape left behind by a missing piece of furniture.

The ceremonious setup of being positioned in the centre, between Sitis and Job, this time in the background to have Bildad appear a little shorter in height for the stylized 'W', then crossing his hands. The pot containing Sitis and Job's children being the circle, hidden by the circle of carpet (robes) made as Sitis and Job embrace.

ta-da!-look-at-this-very-complicated-and-powerful-miracle-that-we-are-doing

Had we seen Jim's and Crowley's conversation about memory before The Hiding Miracle instead of much later in episode 5, then it would have been foreshadowing, yes?

*temper rising* A "reveal," or "out-of-order foreshadowing"? (VBUAXNAUSX*keyboard smash*NYVIFGNOMAI) grrrrrr!

...

After the Job story is told, (save for the final scene) and Aziraphale calls for Crowley, my head-cannon used to be that Aziraphale wanted to talk about hair -

Aziraphale: Crowley, I gave you lovely long locks in my retelling of this story, how about you? Crowley: Nah, "shoulder-length bouncy 'bob'" is what I put - a "Lob" I think is what they're calling it these days.

But now I think that, to book-end Crowley's beginning with, "Your boss said that to Job, do you remember?" (imo they are so good at blending in, they can act human better than any human can act human! So, while feigning the memory span&loss&retention of a human, of course they can remember most everything. Angel stock: constitution of an Ox, memory of an Elephant.) Aziraphale may have wanted to remark on Jim's crossed hands from the night before and how similar it was to Crowley's doing so; that it was evidence of Gabriel still somehow being able to connect with images from his memory. "Crowley? You also did that thing... does Gabriel remember?"

If each minisode contains something that foreshadows or reveals what magic tricks occurred during this season's present day events, I feel that the only thing left is from "The Resurrectionists" minisode, where Crowley Goes Large (woah, woah, woah, another case for The Song Is The Clue?!?) ... or makes himself, something or someone else tiny.

"Size and shape are simply options" after all, so I do wonder about Hell's Usher, where the only time we've seen him is when he is small enough to fit in a bathtub and yet he is HUGE in the opening title sequence of season one. Behind him, Noah's Ark stranded between two damaged buildings (or one damaged building and maybe the Pleasure Cruiser Morbillo?)

Something else that may be revealing of stories yet to be told of the past, while also foreshadowing a near-future event:

Based on what Crowley said, this is not the first time Crowley and Aziraphale have performed a half-miracle together! Whatever biiiig miracle they're about to do (speculated event #2) could still be completely balanced and undetected, but then a plume of miraculous activity emerging from the circle gateway (privately speculated event #3) is what poor Aziraphale will appear to take the blame for.

Things being out of order may have started with the question, are season two's present day events being told out of order? There are other things appearing out of order as well, for example a change in the order of colours in the Rainbow (for "present day" episode two only I think, beginning Violet then Red, etc.) Or, in this case, narrative devices being so intertwined, one flashback-event can contain images and phrases that both foreshadow something yet to happen as well as to reveal what happened in a part of the story already told.

As always, please no asking or tagging Mr Gaiman as this blog post contains theory and speculation, thank you.