pommedepersephone

[pommedepersephone]

"Nye" was amazing. Michael Sheen was a force of nature. The rest of the cast was phenomenal. The staging was powerful, with a minimal set of hospital props that were rearranged to create his memoryscapes. And for a person who sat at her father's bed as he passed from this world, the show's message of the importance of ensuring human dignity was a main concern in healthcare hit me right in the heart. Overall, what an absolute joy.

Sadly we didn't get to meet Michael post show because, well, he had more important things to do. Anna, David and Georgia were all on the audience and who are we to keep them apart post show??

#michael sheen appreciation post #michael sheen #nye #just theatre kid things #had a good cry and a lot of laughs

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My FIL likes to print memes off the interwebs and mail them, in bulk, to my Spousal Unit. Giant manilla envelopes of printed memes, and we have to look through them because he will ask about them when he calls.

This will never NOT be funny.

#big get off my lawn energy #old man yells at cloud #putting the fun is dysfunctional #family

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Some further pondering on my favorite GOS2 episode!

I love this quote from @drconstellation especially:

A physical problem is usually easily identified (such as the foot). But what if the problem is invisible, because its on the inside? How do you see into a body, find a problem and make it visible, if you have not been presented with this problem before? Or perhaps you know something is wrong, but don't know what to call it?

The whole episode is Crowley pointing out the cancer to Aziraphale - the malignancy of poverty and of greed, but mostly of willful ignorance. When you are comfortable in a system, it's easy to blame people's actions on their essential nature - that simply label something as wicked - rather than look for the ways the system has led to their actions. It's so easy to think in black and white if that is what you are told to do.

Stocktaking in the Basement

Aziraphale's Edinburgh Journey: Part 3

Usually one would think of going through their memories as a learning experience as more of a "rummaging around in the attic" metaphor, since the brain, the keeper of memories, is in the highest part of our bodies. But one of S2's underlying themes is the looming Second Coming and the resurrection of the dead, so its underground that we need to head - to the basement.

Aziraphale does a great deal of "stocktaking in the basement" during his trip to Edinburgh. He recalls the encounter with the body-snatcher Elspeth and her companion wee Morag in 1827 on the way up, has his memory jolted by the statue of Gabriel to something more recent, then thinks about what happened in 1941 on the way back. We are largely going to deal with aspects of the 1827 minisode in this meta, and some possible implications for S3.

Lets have a look at why this year, 1827, was chosen for this minisode. The Anatomy Act of 1832 gave doctors and medical students legal permission to use donated bodies for research and educational purposes, and was made so to stop the distressing trade of body snatching that was occurring at the time. But this minisode isn't necessarily about stopping that activity, rather the reasons for doing it in the first place. Looking at Strong's Concordance, as we must, in the Greek, 1827 gives us "convince" or "prove to be in the wrong." This sounds about right for this minisode, which includes the conversation about poverty inducing more opportunities to be wicked, which somehow leads to holiness, from the book. The minisode shows how Aziraphale has this idea turned around for him - he's convinced otherwise, and shown how his initial beliefs about the practice turn out to be wrong.

Also, around 1827 is the time when the building of private mausoleums was at its peak. A mausoleum was (and still is) a display of wealth, so featuring one here plays into the story in the minisode of the virtues of poverty versus the rich. (It's also a call back to the origin of the Bentley's number plate, which was written on a mausoleum in a Monty Python sketch.)

Digging Up the Past

Shax does her own stocktaking when she receives the above push-back from Crowley, and realizes that Aziraphale is not in the bookshop at all at that moment, and goes looking for him. Later, she digs up his own dirty past to taunt him with, in an effort to make him crack and give up Gabriel.

But why is Aziraphale digging up this particular memory at this time? We know he is fond of Edinburgh and has visited many times, so this particular memory must contain something of importance for us to see.

There is the title of the minisode, some Masonic symbology and the metaphorical act of the snatched bodies as the dead rising from their graves which all point us in the direction of the Second Coming and Judgement Day, which we will cover in Part 4, so we'll put that to the side for the moment.

Changing Sides

Let's have a look at some of the blocking of the scenes in the Resurrectionists minisode. This wont cover everything, so if you do go back to have another look at it yourself, do pay close attention to who stands where.

When we first meet Crowley and Aziraphale in 1827, they are standing on what we think of as their "normal" sides, angel on the right and demon on the left. Elspeth, caught in the act of body snatching, is even further to the left, the real demon on the scene, which actually pushes Crowley back to the middle ground.

Straight afterwards, we see all three of them walking together through the streets of Edinburgh. Crowley is still in the middle, but now Elspeth is in the angel's position and Aziraphale on the far left as a demon, as they all discuss the virtues of poverty. Oh dear, Aziraphale, you're losing the argument here, and losing badly!

Inside Mr Dalrymple's rooms, Aziraphale decides to take matters into his own hands, where he thinks he is doing the right thing, and miracles the first body into soup. Elspeth is caught innocently in the middle of this, and Dalrymple is on the demonic left.

A conversation is had with Dalrymple following this. Crowley is hidden in the right-hand chair, Aziraphale, who needs to be swayed, is in the middle, and Dalrymple is still on the demonic left.

After heading back to the cemetery for another body, Crowley and Aziraphale inspect some of the protective measures set up to guard the graves. Crowley is still on the moral right, questioning if the rich are more worthy of being protected from body snatchers than the poor.

Despite changing his mind about body snatching, Aziraphale still ends up on the wrong side of the argument in the end. As a giant Crowley looks down on the two of them, its Aziraphale standing on the demonic left side as the virtues of poverty lose out once more.

Timely Lessons

Back to the fireside chat with Dalrymple. We have this heartfelt reaction from Aziraphale when he learns the preserved specimen he is holding came from a seven-year-old boy.

AZIRAPHALE: [takes the jar] Well, that's a foot. So it's definitely not a foot. [laughs] DALRYMPLE: That's my point. If you two smart gentlemen can't identify it, then what are my students to make of it? I removed this tumor from a seven-year-old boy. AZIRAPHALE: Oh. Oh dear. And… Is he…? DALRYMPLE: [shakes head] And that is why we need a steady supply of cadavers. We need to cut. If we can't cut, we can't learn. If we can't learn more, a lot more, then how on earth are we going to win the battle against monstrosities like this one? I'm just trying to save lives and teach students. I either end up with a knighthood or condemned as a resurrectionist and hanging from a rope.

This, I feel, is an important lesson for them, and it seems for Aziraphale in particular. Why? This part focuses more on his reaction to the tumor, rather than Crowley's, and when we focus on Aziraphale it has ramifications for the future.*

A physical problem is usually easily identified (such as the foot). But what if the problem is invisible, because its on the inside? How do you see into a body, find a problem and make it visible, if you have not been presented with this problem before? Or perhaps you know something is wrong, but don't know what to call it?

It doesn't even have to be physical, it can be a mental, or a psychological problem. One still has to learn how to "see" the problem, to identify what it is (such as a particular pattern of behaviour) and to know the best course of action to overcome it.

Crowley wishing for more murderers to facilitate Dalrymple's research is one thing, but not being able to save a 7 year-old boy...this is the theme of the death of innocent children we've seen repeated throughout the series (the Flood, Job's children, the aborted attempt on Adam, the Crucifixion, and the implications around Crowley's Fall, to name a few.)

This also plays into the "representation matters" theme from the end - you can't be what you can't see.

This is not a lesson about the fact that they care, because they do, but how they learn to see the real problem in the first place.** I'll be interested to see the matching scenes/parallels to this in S3.

The Two Dalrymples

It has not gone unremarked that there is a Dalrymple mentioned in S1 as well - Witchfinder Colonel Dalrymple, who made the fancy Thundergun that was taken to Tadfield to shoot the antichrist with.

Now we can talk about the connection between the two Dalrymples - they are both about removing "monstrosities" from humanity.

Take the line in the passage above: "If we can't learn more, a lot more, then how on earth are we going to win the battle against monstrosities like this one?"

As I've mentioned before, the root of the word monster is from the Latin for monstrum, "a divine omen (of misfortune)," but also monstrare, which means "to point out," which bring us back to this scene in S1, on the tarmac of the Tadfield Airbase:

Aziraphale took Witchfinder Colonel Dalrymple's Thundergun to remove the monstrosity that was Adam the antichrist to save humanity, and Mr Dalrymple the surgeon is trying to learn how to remove and save humanity from the monstrosity we know as cancer. I'm just making a spot now on my S3 bingo card for a third Dalrymple mention, that will no doubt have some connection to the removal of monsters and/or monstrosities from the world.

Balancing the Books

The final bit of stocktaking might just be the coldest part of the whole recall process.

When Aziraphale calls from the cemetery in Edinburgh, he mentions Dalrymple's fate to Crowley:

AZIRAPHALE: Oh, do you really think so? Um, Crowley… Do you remember Dr. Dalrymple, The one who bought, err… CROWLEY: Wee Morag's body. Not a doctor… A mister, yes! Yes, whatever happened to him? AZIRAPHALE: [reading pamphlet] He left Edinburgh in disgrace. And then he killed himself. CROWLEY: Mmm.

Mmm, indeed. They might have saved Elspeth from Hell to meet up with wee Morag again, but the count of souls was still balanced out in the end, with Dalrymple heading the other way. The last time we see him he is still on the demonic LHS of the screen in blocking as he pays for wee Morag's body. Hell had him marked well in advance of his demise.

Time to move on to Part 4: Judgment Day, where we look at all the signs that the End Times are approaching. Again.

Thanks to @vidavalor for the thematic inspiration for this post.

For further reading:

You Say Potato, I Say Excellent! Or blocking, accents and legacy of morality tales in ‘The Resurrectionists’ minisode PART II by @pommedepersephone

The linked post at the beginning Historical Analysis: class and injustice in 'The Ressurrectionists' minisode by @bowtiepastabitch is here.

An intro to Elspeth and wee Morag being parallel characters to Aziraphale and Crowley by @good-soupmens I'm going to follow up on this in Part 5.

*I explained in Part 2 that I believe we are being shown the future through Aziraphale and his parallel characters, Beelzebub and Maggie. Another reason for this is that in S1 is that Anathema is one of his parallels, and she is also caught up with living in the future through the prophecies of Agnes Nutter. In contrast, Crowley's story, and that of his parallels, such as Gabriel and Newt, are about the past and trying to live the life you want that isn't bound by expectations. Urrgghh, I can see I might have to expand on this somewhere later.

**Crowley, with most of his story in the past, shows us an example of this with his "looking where the furniture isn't" comment.

The other posts in this series can be found here:

Part 1: Detective Aziraphale Part 2: Aziraphale-Beelzebub Parallels Part 4: Judgement Day Part 5: I Know Where I'm Going

#good omens #good omens meta #the resurrectionists #shades of gray #morality tales

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No kinda. Very very fruity.

Love me like it's Sunday again - Aziraphale's Prayer

There is a garden. It is not large, it is only mine, and I have had to make myself small to survive loving you. I have managed off meager rations but, love, many waters cannot quench my thirst for you.

Rating: T | Chapter 2/2 | 1k words

Full prose on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54790039/chapters/138870388

[pommedepersephone]

Love me like it's Sunday again - Aziraphale's Prayer

There is a garden. It is not large, it is only mine, and I have had to make myself small to survive loving you. I have managed off meager rations but, love, many waters cannot quench my thirst for you.

Rating: T | Chapter 2/2 | 1k words

Full prose on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54790039/chapters/138870388

#bible quotes as foreplay is my kink #queer divinity #religious smut #good omens fanart #aziraphale x crowley #good omens fanfic #fanfic #fanart #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow

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Me in a daily basis lol

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Sigh. I wish I didn't identify with this.

repressed aziraphale i love your fail life

#not today satan #too busy for feelings

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im not particularly religious but i think it’s very cute that Trans Day of Visibility and Easter are on the same day this year :)

its no question that something like this could be triggering or upsetting to a number of queer ppl given the current sociopolitical climate, so i want everyone to remember that u are loved! Regardless of what u or others believe, there are ppl who will love and support you always. Give yourself patience and treat yourself with care!!!

happy and peaceful TDOV everyone!! And Easter to those who celebrate :D

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#trans day of visibility #good omens

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🥚🐍

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Developing a Pavlovian response to ribs forever more...

when you think of it. Bildad the Shuhite's last 24 hours in the minisode not bloody optimal

getting a combat mission to kill everything his buddy Job owns just because She got into some stupid bet

the kids too??? horrid

right in the middle of growing out his hair awkwardly that angle appears. perfect timing to get thwarted. not like that

oh no he's now legit pissed, like it's HIS fault

good (bad) that Bildad has a plan. bad (good) that Aziraphale follows around like a lost sheep, ready to blow his cover anytime. not like that

cue the mortifying ordeal of being known

angel's smugness visible from alpha centauri and he can't even wipe it off with an angry kiss

the kids remain alive but at the cost of annoyance. human twink has the gall to flirt with Aziraphale right in front of his demonic eyes. is nothing sacred anymore

unsolicited temptation backfires badly ( he didn't sign up for food kink development. Regret)

no let me say it again: sexual awakening through ox ribs what even is his life

angel insinuates being the only demon in existence who tries to go his own way seems lonely -> needs to get wasted immediately

literally so hungover the next day he can barely stand and THIS is the moment he witnesses former Mum talking to a human, probably for the first time since Eden. actually stop here, try to step into his shoes and watch the arrow on a scale for secondhand embarrassment doing a full 360°

magical obstetrics time (he still doesn't know where babies come from)

and to top it off: the devastating vision of Aziraphale almost crying

to conclude, pour one out for Bildad the poor bastard deserves it.

#i want to be the ox rib #food porn #bildad the shuhite #bildad my beloved

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it's not exactly how I wanted it to look, so maybe I'll draw it again later.. idk, it's still a good one

#look at you you’re gorgeous #starmaker #the glow dear satan help me

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The colors are so lovely, and Crowleys' expressions... Yes. Just yes.

The husbands meet the wives.

Crowley(s): Stay away from my angel, bitch!!!

#good omens fanart

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Love me like it's Sunday again - Crowley's Prayer

I don’t want to be forgiven. I want to be seen.

Would you have me then? My love for you is patient, but my teeth would not be kind.

Rating: T | Chapter 1/2 | 1k words

Full prose on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54790039/chapters/138870001

#a little suggestive prose for your friday #queer divinity #religious smut #good omens fanart #aziraphale x crowley #good omens fanfic #fanfic #fanart #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow

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Laughing crying screaming.

Good Omens season 3 looks gorgeous

#i can hear this #nina is really over their shit

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God showing Job her love.

#if this is love i'll pass thanks #good omens job

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TMI Tuesday from @ineffabildaddy:

Send me asks about any of the following!

- fanfic writer questions here and here

- send a made-up fic title and I'll tell you what i would write to go with it

WIP Tag Game from @hakunahistata :

If you’re tagged, make a new post (don’t reblog this one) and share 1-2 sentences from your most recent unposted WIP(s) with zero context— Let your followers guess via ask or reply!

WIP 1: 🍎⭐️

Hope is born from loss. I split open the apple and saw your stars hidden at the core.

WIP 2: 💀

Unlike the maddeningly wan smiles he normally gave, this was a full grin. It stretched his mouth so wide it felt like it tore through some glamour she had not previously been aware of, exposing something dark and old - ‘This is what you see right before you die,’ she thought somewhat hysterically.

WIP 3: 🫦🖤

Would you have me then? My love for you is patient, but my teeth would not be kind.

WIP 4: 👓❤️

Specs is slowly, so slowly, drowning in lust for his friend. Crowley can relate.

Thanks to @ineffable-rohese for the tag. Tagging in (with no pressure) @captainblou @humoringholly and anyone else who wants to play along!!

#wip ask game #my wips #tmi tuesday #wip tag