Good Omens filming locations masterpost! ❤ 🐍😊 Part 2

Others in England (cont):

Tadfield Manor (S01E01, S01E02) - Bulstrode, Gerrards Cross

Four Horsemen meeting (S01E05) – Old School Cafe, Longcross Road B386

Heaven middle floors (S01E01, S01E03, S01E04, S01E05) - Weybridge Business Park, Addlestone

Pollution by the river (S01E04) – River Wey Navigation, Guildford

Hogback Wood (S01E01, S01E02, S01E04, S01E05) - Painshill Park, Cobham

International Express Man's house (S01E04) - Shetland Close, Guildford

Agnes Nutter's village (S01E02) - Weald & Downland Living Museum, Chichester

Tadfield Air Base (S01E05, S01E06) - RAF Upper Heyford, Bicester

Soho (S1) – Bovingdon Airfield Studios

The motorway on fire (S01E05) - M96 Training Motorway at Fire Service College, Moreton-in-Marsh

South Africa:

The 1941 church (S01E03) - St. Saviour's Church, Claremont, Cape Town

Famine at a fancy restaurant (S01E03) - Mutual Heights building, Cape Town

Crowley in a cinema (S01E04) - Joseph Stone Auditorium, Cape Town

Aziraphale dancing gavotte (S01E04) - Casa Labia, Cape Town

Anathema's child home (S01E02) - Llandudno Rock Villa, Cape Town

Eden desert and ep6 time bubble desert (S01E01,S01E06) – Atlantis Dunes, Cape Town

The apple tree in the Garden of Eden (S01E01) - Waterfall Valley (formerly Cascade Country Manor), Paarl

There were other scenes also filmed at South Africa (thought not specified exactly where): Hell was filmed in Cape Town in a former abattoir. The Noah’s Ark scene and the Crucifixion scene were filmed on a windswept plain just outside Cape Town. Also the Meggido scenes. The entire village used for the scene with War causing mayhem in an african village is in fact a set, built on scrubland over a sand mine just outside Cape Town. The French Revolution scene wa shot on a set that had been used twenty-four hours earlier for the scene in Ancient Rome. Famine visiting a burger place with Elvis was shot on a set in Cape Town. Also some scene's in Anathema's cottage with Anathema and Newt.

SEASON 2

Most of season 2 has been shot inside the film studio in Bathgate (f.e. the whole Soho has been built there), the Hell in S2 has been shot in an old disused factory (not specififed which one). The shots of the Edinburgh castle have been shot from the top of the The Caledonian hotel.

Edinburgh:

Crowley and Shax in St James's Park (S02E01) – Inverleith Park, Edinburgh

The place where Crowley parks the Bentley (S02E01, S02E02) – Circus Lane, Edinburgh

AC and Elspeth in Edinburgh (S02E03) - Moray Place, Edinburgh

Detective Aziraphale parks the Bentley (S02E03) – Victoria Street, Edinburgh

The Resurrectionist (S02E03, S02E06) - Cask and Barrel, Edinburgh

Stirling:

Edinburgh cementery (S02E03) - Old Town Cemetery, Stirling

AC and Elspeth going through Edinburgh (S02E03) – Broad Street, Stirling

Meeting Wee Morag (S02E03) - Mar's Wark, Stirling

Others in Scotland:

AC drinking whiskey with Mr Darlymple and the corridor to Mr Darlymple (S02E03) – Hopetoun House, Queensferry

The Windmill Theatre in 1941 (S02E04) - Hippodrome Cinema, Bo'ness

Soho and more (S2) - The Pyramids Studio, Bathgate

London:

Possibly only streets were filmed and the Bentley was added with VFX.

C on the way to A after A calls him (S02E01) - Wardour Street, London

C rushing to A after Beelzebub's visit (S02E01) - Regent Street St James's, London

Whew! This masterpost took me several weeks, hope you enjoyed it and it might help you plan your trip to see the Good Omens places! :) ❤ 🐍😊 Wahoo! :)

Good Omens filming locations masterpost! ❤ 🐍😊 Part 1

SEASON 1

London:

AC in Berkeley Square (S01E06) - Tavistock Square, London

Crowley in the pub (S01E05) – The Enterprise pub, London

Crowley on the way to the burning bookshop (S01E05) – Wardour Street, London

AC on the bus (S01E01) - Piccadilly Circus, London

AC at The Ritz (S01E01, S01E06) - Criterion, London

AC on the way to the manor (S01E02) – Whitehall street, London

AC leaving the St James's Park (S01E01) - Carlton House Terrace, London

AC meeting in St James's Park (S01E01, S01E03, S01E06) - St James's Park, London

Newt meeting Shadwell (S01E02) – Between Westminster Abbey and Palace of Westminster, London

The Bandstand scene in St James's Park (S01E03) – Battersea Park, London

Aziraphale stops Gabriel during his jogging (S01E04) - Battersea Park, London

'Crowley' outside his flat (S01E06) - Eastfields Avenue, London

Dirty Donkey in 1967 (S01E03) - The Cat's Back pub, London

Shadwell reports to Crowley (S01E03) – Best Cafe, London

AC talking about the Warlock's birthday party (S01E01) - Crystal Palace Park, London

AC stopping in a cafe after the manor (S01E02) – Penge Cafe (then) / Antonella's Cafe and Bistro (now), London

AC watching Hamlet in 1601 (S01E03) – Shakespeare's Globe, London

Crowley after bringing down the phone network (deleted scene, DVD) – Trinity Church Square, London

Heaven top floor (S01E04, S01E06) – Sky Garden, London

Stairs To Heaven and Hell (S01E01) – The Broadgate Tower, London

Aziraphale, Tracy and Shadwell on a scooter (S01E05) - Cardwell Road, London

Where Shadwell and Madame Tracy live (S01E02, S01E04, S01E05) - Hornsey Road, London

Aziraphale eating sushi (S01E01) - Red 'N' Hot (closed), London

Some scenes has also been filmed in the West London Film Studios.

Hambleden:

Hambleden is the place where most of the Tadfield village was shot :).

Tadfield Square (S01E01, S01E03, S01E05, S01E06) – Square in front of the church, Hambleden

Adam's house (S01E02 , S01E03, S01E06) - Hambleden

The Them buying ice-cream (S01E02) – Hambleden convenience store, Hambleden

The Them planning to stop Armageddon (S01E05) - Hambleden

Anathema's cottage (S01E02, S01E03, S01E04) – cca 2km from the Hambledon square

Others in England:

Warlock's house (S01E01) – High Canons, Borehamwood

Hastur and Ligur hand over the Antichrist (S01E01) – Holy Trinity Church, Penn Street

(continue to Part 2 :))

Updated with two more locations! :) <3 Huge thanks to AppleSeedsGO who confirmed for me that the corridor AC+Elspeth bring the 'pickled herring' to Mr Darlymple is in Hopetoun House and showed me where and gave a photo; and to kartatchk for reminding me about the bringing phone Network deleted scene and is in Trinity Church Square (I forgot about it :D)! ❤

Crowley and his Bentley - Behind the Scenes of Good Omens

From The Nice and Accurate Good Omens TV Companion:

Good Omens graphic novel update: February 2024

Happy February 29th. A day that only happens once every four years deserves something special, so let’s dive right in.

ComicScene Awards win!

Good Omens: The Official (and Ineffable) Graphic Novel won the award for Best Crowdfunder at the ComicScene Awards! We want to say a huge THANK YOU; it’s an award voted for entirely by comics fans, so we appreciate the continued enthusiasm and championing of the Kickstarter. You can read more about the award here. A nice companion to the Comedy.co.uk Award win for Season 2 as Best TV Comedy Drama, and the British Film Designers Guild Planet Positive Award. Wahoo.

PledgeManager.

We’re happy to say that the PledgeManager launch is coming in a few weeks. With our monthly update in March, we’re planning to move to the next stage of the campaign: here you’ll be able to add your shipping addresses, pay for shipping, and add any additional items that you might have missed during the campaign. We’ll have FAQs available once it is launched.

Now to the new stuff…

Ready to rep the world’s best antiquarian and unusual bookshop? The first of our A.Z. Fell & Co merch has arrived: bookmarks are here and looking tip top. 

Our A.Z. Fell sample socks have, ironically, gone walkabout before we got a picture, however, here's a very quick snap of the Crowley pair.

Artwork, artwork and… some more artwork.

The prints keep on coming and this time we’ve got four in one. Behold, Anna Morozova’s take on the four horsewomen of the apocalypse in one glorious image:

The large-scale map of Tadfield (and the rest of the planet) by Julien Labit is underway, so here are a couple of sneak peeks at different locales from the world of Good Omens in their earlier design stages:

When we say it’s large-scale, wait until you see the full one. Huge! So much to explore.

And, in terms of artwork, we’ll end on a few inked previews from the graphic novel by Colleen Doran of our favourite Angel and Demon:

And… how would we describe it? A little mishap regarding losing the antichrist?

More pins.

You didn't think we could go this whole update without pins, did you? You can see updates of the pins outside of Kickstarter at goodomenshq.com. But for now, here's a few:

Future items…

Another ongoing thanks for sharing what you’d like to see in the eventual Good Omens merch store. We’ll have a few new things available via the PledgeManager directly from your suggestions - mainly alternative designs and variants for some add ons, with ambitions for plenty more on the official store. The list you’ve helped us put together is quite ambitious, but we’re up to the challenge *looks up how to make actual angel wings* 

(joking… we think?)

Moving forward, piece by piece. 

p.s. Another little preview.

Until next time.

How Michael Met Neil

original direct link [MP3]

(Neil, if you see this, please feel free to grab the transcript and store on your site; I had no easy way of contacting you.)

DAVID TENNANT: Tell me about @neil-gaiman then, because he's in that category [previously: “such a profound effect on my life”] as well.

MICHAEL SHEEN: So this is what has brought us together.

DAVID: Yes.

MICHAEL: To the new love story for the 21st century.

DAVID: Exactly.

MICHAEL: So when I went to drama school, there was a guy called Gary Turner in my year. And within the first few weeks, we were doing something, having a drink or whatever. And he said to me, “Do you read comic books?”

And I said, “No.”  I mean, this is … what … '88?  '88, '89.  So it was … now I know that it was a period of time that was a big change, transformation going through comic books.  Rather than it being thought of as just superheroes and Batman and Superman, there was this whole new era of a generation of writers like Grant Morrison.

DAVID: The kids who'd grown up reading comic books were now making comic books

MICHAEL: Yeah, yeah, and starting to address different kinds of subjects through the comic book medium. So it wasn't about just superheroes, it was all kinds of stuff going on – really fascinating stuff. And I was totally unaware of this.

And so this guy Gary said to me, "Do you read them?" And I said, "No."  And he went, "Right, okay, here's The Watchman [sic] by Alan Moore. Here's Swamp Thing. Here's Hellblazer. And here's Sandman.”

And Sandman was Neil Gaiman's big series that put his name on the map. And I read all those, and, just – I was blown away by all of them, but particularly the Sandman stories, because he was drawing on mythology, which was something I was really interested in, and fairy tales, folklore, and philosophy, and Shakespeare, and all kinds of stuff were being mixed up in this story.  And I absolutely loved it.

So I became a big fan of Neil's, and started reading everything by him. And then fairly shortly after that, within six months to a year, Good Omens the book came out, which Neil wrote with Terry Pratchett. And so I got the book – because I was obviously a big fan of Neil's by this point – read it, loved it, then started reading Terry Pratchett’s stuff as well, because I didn't know his stuff before then – and then spent years and years and years just being a huge fan of both of them.

And then eventually when – I'd done films like the Underworld films and doing Twilight films. And I think it was one of the Twilight films, there was a lot of very snooty interviews that happened where people who considered themselves well above talking about things like Twilight were having to interview me … and, weirdly, coming at it from the attitude of 'clearly this is below you as well' … weirdly thinking I'm gonna go, 'Yeah, fucking Twilight.”

And I just used to go, "You know what? Some of the greatest writing of the last 50-100 years has happened in science fiction or fantasy."  Philip K Dick is one of my favorite writers of all time. In fact, the production of Hamlet I did was mainly influenced by Philip K Dick.  Ursula K. Le Guin and Asimov, and all these amazing people. And I talked about Neil as well. And so I went off on a bit of a rant in this interview.

Anyway, the interview came out about six months later, maybe.  Knock on the door, open the door, delivery of a big box. That’s interesting. Open the box, there's a card at the top of the box. I open the card.

It says, From one fan to another, Neil Gaiman.  And inside the box are first editions of Neil's stuff, and all kinds of interesting things by Neil. And he just sent this stuff.

DAVID: You'd never met him?

MICHAEL: Never met him. He'd read the interview, or someone had let him know about this interview where I'd sung his praises and stood up for him and the people who work within that sort of genre as being like …

And he just got in touch. We met up for the first time when he came to – I was in Los Angeles at the time, and he came to LA.  And he said, "I'll take you for a meal."

I said, “All right.”

He said, "Do you want to go somewhere posh, or somewhere interesting?”

I said, "Let's go somewhere interesting."

He said, "Right, I'm going to take you to this restaurant called The Hump." And it's at Santa Monica Airport. And it's a sushi restaurant.

I was like, “Right, okay.” So I had a Mini at the time. And we get in my Mini and we drive off to Santa Monica Airport. And this restaurant was right on the tarmac, like, you could sit in the restaurant (there's nobody else there when we got there, we got there quite early) and you're watching the planes landing on Santa Monica Airport. It's extraordinary. 

And the chef comes out and Neil says, "Just bring us whatever you want. Chef's choice."

So, I'd never really eaten sushi before. So we sit there; we had this incredible meal where they keep bringing these dishes out and they say, “This is [blah, blah, blah]. Just use a little bit of soy sauce or whatever.”  You know, “This is eel.  This is [blah].”

And then there was this one dish where they brought out and they didn't say what it was. It was like “mystery dish”, we had it ... delicious. Anyway, a few more people started coming into the restaurant as time went on.

And we're sort of getting near the end, and I said, "Neil, I can't eat anymore. I'm gonna have to stop now. This is great, but I can't eat–"

"Right, okay. We'll ask for the bill in a minute."

And then the door opens and some very official people come in. And it was the Feds. And the Feds came in, and we knew they were because they had jackets on that said they were part of the Federal Bureau of Whatever. And about six of them come in. Two of them go … one goes behind the counter, two go into the kitchen, one goes to the back. They've all got like guns on and stuff.

And me and Neil are like, "What on Earth is going on?"

And then eventually one guy goes, "Ladies and gentlemen, if you haven't ordered already, please leave. If you're still eating your meal, please finish up, pay your bill, leave."*

[* - delivered in a perfect American ‘serious law agent’ accent/impression]

And we were like, "Oh my God, are we poisoned? Is there some terrible thing that's happened?"  

We'd finished, so we pay our bill.  And then all the kitchen staff are brought out. And the head chef is there. The guy who's been bringing us this food. And he's in tears. And he says to Neil, "I'm so sorry." He apologizes to Neil.  And we leave. We have no idea what happened.

DAVID: But you're assuming it's the mystery dish.

MICHAEL: Well, we're assuming that we can't be going to – we can't be –  it can't be poisonous. You know what I mean? It can't be that there's terrible, terrible things.

So the next day was the Oscars, which is why Neil was in town. Because Coraline had been nominated for an Oscar. Best documentary that year was won by The Cove, which was by a team of people who had come across dolphins being killed, I think.

Turns out, what was happening at this restaurant was that they were having illegal endangered species flown in to the airport, and then being brought around the back of the restaurant into the kitchen.

We had eaten whale – endangered species whale. That was the mystery dish that they didn't say what it was.

And the team behind The Cove were behind this sting, and they took them down that night whilst we were there.

DAVID: That’s extraordinary.

MICHAEL: And we didn't find this out for months.  So for months, me and Neil were like, "Have you worked anything out yet? Have you heard anything?"

"No, I haven't heard anything."

And then we heard that it was something to do with The Cove, and then we eventually found out that that restaurant, they were all arrested. The restaurant was shut down. And it was because of that. And we'd eaten whale that night.

DAVID: And that was your first meeting with Neil Gaiman.

MICHAEL: That was my first meeting. And also in the drive home that night from that restaurant, he said, and we were in my Mini, he said, "Have you found the secret compartment?"

I said, "What are you talking about?" It's such a Neil Gaiman thing to say.

DAVID: Isn't it?

MICHAEL: The secret compartment? Yeah. Each Mini has got a secret compartment. I said, "I had no idea." It's secret. And he pressed a little button and a thing opened up. And it was a secret compartment in my own car that Neil Gaiman showed me.

DAVID: Was there anything inside it?

MICHAEL: Yeah, there was a little man. And he jumped out and went, "Hello!" No, there was nothing in there. There was afterwards because I started putting...

DAVID: Sure. That's a very Neil Gaiman story. All of that is such a Neil Gaiman story.

MICHAEL: That's how it began. Yeah.

DAVID: And then he came to offer you the part in Good Omens.

MICHAEL: Yeah. Well, we became friends and we would whenever he was in town, we would meet up and yeah, and then eventually he started, he said, "You know, I'm working on an adaptation of Good Omens." And I can remember at one point Terry Gilliam was going to maybe make a film of it. And I remember being there with Neil and Terry when they were talking about it. And...

DAVID: Were you involved at that point?

MICHAEL: No, no, I wasn't involved. I just happened to have met up with Neil that day.

DAVID: Right.

MICHAEL: And then Terry Gilliam came along and they were chatting, that was the day they were talking about that or whatever.

And then eventually he sent me one of the scripts for an early draft of like the first episode of Good Omens. And he said – and we started talking about me being involved in it, doing it – he said, “Would you be interested?” I was like, "Yeah, of course."  I went, "Oh my God." And he said, "Well, I'll send you the scripts when they come," and I would read them, and we'd talk about them a little bit. And so I was involved.

But it was always at that point with the idea, because he'd always said about playing Crowley in it. And so, as time went on, as I was reading the scripts, I was thinking, "I don't think I can play Crowley. I don't think I'm going to be able to do it." And I started to get a bit nervous because I thought, “I don't want to tell Neil that I don't think I can do this.”  But I just felt like I don't think I can play Crowley.

DAVID: Of course you can [play Crowley?].

MICHAEL: Well, I just on a sort of, on a gut level, sometimes you have it on a gut level.

DAVID: Sure, sure.

MICHAEL: I can do this.

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: Or I can't do this. And I just thought, “You know what, this is not the part for me. The other part is better for me, I think. I think I can do that, I don't think I could do that.”

But I was scared to tell Neil because I thought, "Well, he wants me to play Crowley" – and then it turned out he had been feeling the same way as well.  And he hadn't wanted to mention it to me, but he was like, "I think Michael should really play Aziraphale."

And neither of us would bring it up.  And then eventually we did. And it was one of those things where you go, "Oh, thank God you said that. I feel exactly the same way." And then I think within a fairly short space of time, he said, “I think we've got … David Tennant … for Crowley.” And we both got very excited about that.

And then all these extraordinary people started to join in. And then, and then off we went.

DAVID: That's the other thing about Neil, he collects people, doesn't he? So he'll just go, “Oh, yeah, I've phoned up Frances McDormand, she's up for it.” Yeah. You're, what?

MICHAEL: “I emailed Jon Hamm.”

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: And yeah, and you realize how beloved he is and how beloved his work is. And I think we would both recognise that Good Omens is one of the most beloved of all of Neil's stuff.

DAVID: Yes.

MICHAEL: And had never been turned into anything.

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: And so the kind of responsibility of that, I mean, for me, for someone who has been a fan of him and a fan of the book for so long, I can empathize with all the fans out there who are like, “Oh, they better not fuck this up.”

DAVID: Yes.

MICHAEL: “And this had better be good.” And I have that part of me. But then, of course, the other part of me is like, “But I'm the one who might be fucking it up.”

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: So I feel that responsibility as well.

DAVID: But we have Neil on site.

MICHAEL: Yes. Well, Neil being the showrunner …

DAVID: Yeah. I think it takes the curse off.

MICHAEL: … I think it made a massive difference, didn't it? Yeah. You feel like you're in safe hands.

DAVID: Well, we think. Not that the world has seen it yet.

MICHAEL (grimly): No, I know.

DAVID: But it was a -- it's been a -- it's been a joy to work with you on it. I can't wait for the world to see it.

MICHAEL: Oh my God.  Oh, well, I mean, it's the only, I've done a few things where there are two people, it's a bit of a double act, like Frost-Nixon and The Queen, I suppose, in some ways. But, and I've done it, Amadeus or whatever.

This is the only thing I've done where I really don't think of it as “my character” or “my performance as that character”.  I think of it totally as us.

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: The two of us.

DAVID: Yes.

MICHAEL: Like they, what I do is defined by what you do.

DAVID: Yeah.

MICHAEL: And that was such a joy to have that experience. And it made it so much easier in a way as well, I found, because you don't feel like you're on your own in it. Like it's totally us together doing this and the two characters totally complement each other. And the experience of doing it was just a real joy.

DAVID: Yeah.  Well, I hope the world is as excited to see it as we are to talk about it, frankly.

MICHAEL: You know, there's, having talked about T.S. Eliot earlier, there's another bit from The Wasteland where there's a line which goes, These fragments I have shored against my ruin.

And this is how I think about life now. There is so much in life, no matter what your circumstances, no matter what, where you've got, what you've done, how much money you got, all that. Life's hard.  I mean, you can, it can take you down at any point.

You have to find this stuff. You have to like find things that will, these fragments that you hold to yourself, they become like a liferaft, and especially as time goes on, I think, as I've got older, I've realized it is a thin line between surviving this life and going under.

And the things that keep you afloat are these fragments, these things that are meaningful to you and what's meaningful to you will be not-meaningful to someone else, you know. But whatever it is that matters to you, it doesn't matter what it was you were into when you were a teenager, a kid, it doesn't matter what it is. Go and find them, and find some way to hold them close to you. 

Make it, go and get it. Because those are the things that keep you afloat. They really are. Like doing that with him or whatever it is, these are the fragments that have shored against my ruin. Absolutely.

DAVID: That's lovely. Michael, thank you so much.

MICHAEL: Thank you.

DAVID: For talking today and for being here.

MICHAEL: Oh, it's a pleasure. Thank you.

Art by Ma-ko

HELP - Good Omens Season 2 DVD - HELP 🥺❤📀

It's been more than half a year since the S2 of Good Omens came out and there are still no news of the DVD. I think it's time to let Amazon and BBC know that there is the market for it!!! :)

The plan 📋:

Please help - let's use multiple ways ❤ 🐍😊:

We need to tell BBC and Amazon that we want the DVDs - after S1 DVD was announced with no commentaries we wrote to BBC and it worked and they made commentaries! :)

If you can spare a coin for the post stamp please write them physical letter, physical letters are very good :).

2. Phone

This is the option for those comfortable with calling :) <3. Call them and let them know we want the DVD (with commentaries)

3. Through fill in form (BBC)

BBC Studios has a webpage for contacting them https://www.bbcstudios.com/contact/contact-us/ , I think a good way through it could be

4. E-mail

With amazon this is a bit tricky since I am not sure what are the proper emails to use, for amazon the customer service ones are [email protected] and  [email protected], also there are emails on the amazon studios page but those seems more for media enquies ? [email protected], [email protected]

5. Social media

Not sure how much this will help, but #GoodOmensS2DVD could be a nice tag + tagging amazon studios, bbc studios and prime video on the social media of your choise :) <3

What to write/say ✍️

I am writing something along the lines:

Hello,

I am a big fan of the BBC+Amazon series Good Omens. I have bought several pieces of merchandise including the Good Omens Season 1 DVD and Blu-ray but there is no announced Good Omens Season 2 DVD. Please make Good Omens Season 2 DVD/Blu-ray for this wonderful series and put commentaries on each episodes (ideally by Neil Gaiman, David Tennant and Michael Sheen).

(apologies if this is the route to say this, please redirect to the correct hands)

Thank you and have a wonderful day.

To summarize :)

This is so important actually. If you can't afford streaming, you don't have access to that content unless there is a physical copy that you can pay for once or check out from your local library. So much of what is popular today is available only on streaming, and while watching movies or shows isn't a necessity, entertainment is still important. We need ways to relax and decompress, to socialize in larger groups about popular culture to experience acceptance and connection, and I think it's such a shame when I see those really interesting documentaries or series that say "Netflix original" or "only on Apple TV" or whatever.

In conclusion, go watch Good Omens: Season 2, and try one or two of the methods listed by OP to push for a DVD copy of the season!

Endou Yuu versus the cosmic unknown 

have some more 

ok have one more before I go to bed 

Ren is also an eldritch being

I don’t think I ever posted this here

THE TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION HAVE ISSUED AN APOLOGY AND A RE-INVITATION. HERE IS MY STATEMENT

hello buckaroos. the TEXAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION have issued a formal statement and apology which you can read at the attached link.

while i find the language used to discuss what was done a little unsatisfying, i would like to start by saying i appreciate anyone taking steps to prove love is real and make things right. the genuine feeling of ‘realizing you have made a mistake and hurt someone else’ is a terrible one, and i have so much empathy for this group as they reckon with their choices causing harm. i appreciate their apology.

i also think more good than bad has come from this situation. i am so thankful this happened to me (someone with a large social media presence) and not a smaller buckaroo author without the means to stand up for themselves. i think the next time someone comes to the TXLA with an accommodation need, they will hopefully be taken more seriously

lets trot down to business about specifics now. the TXLA has re-invited chuck to the original panel and even offered to take a moment at the top of the panel to talk about what happened. this is very kind of them and i will say THANK YOU. 

unfortunately i will also have to decline.

the fact that it took this much effort, social media backlash, and discussion to let me simply EXIST PHYSICALLY in a way that is authentic to myself is not a good sign. if this organization immediately questions an authors chosen presentation in this manner, i cannot imagine what my other accommodations would be met with.

sometimes i am at an event and i very quickly need extra space to breathe. sometimes i am at an event and i need special guides to help me along from place to place. these are not ‘big asks’ and every other conference has gladly provided them, but if the TXLA had this kind of initial reaction to my physical appearance, i cannot imagine them readily helping with my other needs without ‘proof’.

this is clearly not a safe place to trot for those who require additional accommodations. regardless of any apology, their ACTIONS have shown that people who appear unusual or unique are not welcome at this event on a subconscious level. i believe the TXLA have some serious inner work to do beyond this apology, and i believe this inner work will involve actions more than words.

but even more importantly i would like to make this very important point: IT DOES NOT MATTER IF MY MASK IS A DISABILITY AID OR NOT. i appreciate the way this discussion has allowed us to trot out some deep talks on autism and proved love in this way, but i think there is a much more important point at hand.

regardless of WHAT someone looks like, it is not the job of an event or conference to pick apart WHY. physical presentation can be a part of someones neurodivergence, or gender, or sexuality, but i can also just exist as a nebulous undefined part of their inner self. it can be a piece they are not ready to openly discuss yet. the guests at TXLA are authors (aka ARTISTS) and the idea that a conference dedicated to an ART is going to deny people with unique and unusual presentations for ANY reason is absurd. since when are we applying a ‘dress code’ to our artists?

without knowing it, i personally believe there is an element of the ‘good queer, bad queer’ phenomenon going on here. there is a push to say ‘LOOK we accept these marginalized groups and cultures’ but behind the scenes that means ‘we accept these marginalized groups and cultures who are quiet and speak in turn and wear the metaphorical suit and tie’. it is easy to show diversity when you only take on the voices that arent too ‘strange’.

to prove my point i ask you this: do you think orville peck would have FOR ONE SECOND been asked to perform at the texas library association event without his mask?

so with that i say ‘very sincerely, thank you, but i will have to decline the re-invitation. maybe next year’

doctor who but i've never watched it

and so it begins again. the people asked for it. the people got it. i will ensure the people regret it.

i have never watched this show, or seen an edit, but i am a thorough researcher and i feel that i've got the essence of it.

this is what i have gathered. academicians worldwide take note.

I know, there was a lot of lore, so many of you thought I wouldn't be able to gather it all. But look how much research I did! I've got it better than maybe-actress-maybe-character Catherine, I'm sure :"]

Anyway, all the major plot points are covered above, so anyone who hasn't watched Doctor Who, feel free to refer to this and impress your Whovian friends with your knowledge! [not to be judgemental, but what a dreadfully Dr Seuss name, I rather like it]

this is not The tardis, but it is A tardis, it has some yellow, so you may not have been entirely wrong there

That... that is a hot air balloon.

This is also a tardis.

i'm SORRY THAT IS A TREE. I ADMIT I AM DUMB. I AM. IT'S A CORE PERSONALITY TRAIT OF MINE. BUT THAT IS A BLOODY TREE AND YOU ARE NOT TELLING ME IT IS BIGGER ON THE INSIDE AND A DOCTOR IS DATING IT. WHAT DOES THIS TARDIS STAND FOR THEN?

"TREE ARBORAL RELATIVITY DECIDUOUS IN SPACE"???

I am having so much fun :DDDDD lemme tell you about the chameleon circuit

TARDIS stands for "Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space", and only the Doctor's looks like a police public call box.

TARDISes are actually designed to be able to travel through time, so they have a built-in mechanism that allows them to blend in wherever they land. This is called the "chameleon circuit", because it allows the TARDIS to look like anything it wants. A big boulder... a police public call box... a tree... XD

The Doctor's is, ostensibly, "stuck as a police box because the chameleon circuit is broken"; this is a convenient excuse for the Doctor and the TARDIS's shared eccentricity in both liking it that way. If that circuit ever does get fixed (which the Doctor could get round to doing any century now), it will only be to reinforce the message that the TARDIS likes the current arrangement by having her absolutely refuse to change her shape at all.

i definitely understood all of this definitely totally 100% i got it all in my brain here wait where did my brain go

This is also the tardis. Neil gaiman made her.

so people... go inside her. and inside her... they... uh... come. to places. and what is that tag about michael sheen.

Michael sheen, the sentient planet. He made her so that he could consume the police box, which is blue.

No, right, naturally, I don't know why I even asked, that makes so much sense.

If it helps, here's Michael Sheen playing House the sentient planet in Doctor Who.

Which is green. Not blue, like The Tardis. Or yellow.

I think there is an added layer to these two sentences. Yes, Aziraphale is trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Crowley does not understand how mind-blowingly fantastic this opportunity is that he's offering him, but also, he's saying: "we can be together, just like you've always wanted, but even better - be together as angels!". Why wouldn't Crowley get this?! Isn't this perfect? There would be no more obstacles, no more moral dilemma, angels are allowed to love other angels freely... right?

And Crowley does understand all of it, much better than Aziraphale. Because, like you said so well @nightingalecottage, he knows exactly what Heaven is like and why he would never go back to the place that cast him out and try to change the unchangeable. He knows the system is entirely corrupted and there is no hope to make a real difference. He also knows now - or at least that is what Aziraphale seems to be implying - that him being with Aziraphale comes with the condition of him needing to become an angel once again. He doesn't want to run away with Crowley, his best friend, the demon, whom he loves just the way he is. Crowley has already made this offer multiple times, but back then they weren't as close as they have become in the past couple of years... and I think this time he had the smallest hope that Aziraphale might just say yes because he loves him back.

Yet, Aziraphale doesn't seem to want to choose him unless he becomes an angel. And Crowley knows, again, much better than Aziraphale, that he will not, and could not become an angel again even if he wanted to, and even if he did, he would trade one set of shackles for another, and it would come at a price that is too horrible for Aziraphale to even comprehend. More than that, it wouldn't be "them" anymore, no more "us", it would be a version of the two of them under Heaven's control. Crowley doesn't trust Heaven, doesn't trust their "good intentions", above all doesn't trust the Metatron, and he sees the whole shebang for what it is: a successful attempt to separate the two of them by appealing to Aziraphale's ambition to bring about change (and let's face it: his vanity, and his baffling naivety around the concept of Heaven being fundamentally good), and making an offer to Crowley that the Metatron knows perfectly well he will refuse.

I firmly believe that this - Crowley not being enough for him as a demon - is not, in fact, what Aziraphale intended to say here, at least in his heart of hearts. He deeply loves Crowley for who he is, and it has nothing to do with him being an angel or a demon - even though I don't think he wouldn't mind, for practical reasons, if he was indeed an angel. Then again, Aziraphale doesn't yet have the same emotional trauma - and, consequentially, the same clarity in certain aspects - that Crowley has due to having Fallen and being rejected by Heaven AND despised by Hell. For thousands of years - and even more so for a decade - Crowley has only truly wanted Aziraphale's approval, while Aziraphale still desperately seeks Heaven's as well as Crowley's.

Had he had time to think things through without the Metatron practically breathing down his neck and keeping an eye on him through the window, had he had the wherewithall in all this excitement to truly understand the impact that his offer would have on Crowley, Aziraphale would have known that it would have been a mistake to ever make it to him, that Crowley would refuse it not because he doesn't want to be with Aziraphale but because of the impossible nature of the offer, and maybe things wouldn't have gone down like a lead ballon, at least not just yet.

"I understand. I think I understand a whole lot better than you do." There is no doubt that one day Aziraphale will understand, too, we all know this. And this understanding will bring about the growth in his character arc that will allow him to choose Crowley - and a life of freedom - over everything and everyone without feeling guilty about it. Hopefully they won't have to pay too big a price for this delay.

Also, why on earth would people say that the last 15 minutes weren't real?! I mean I get why they would want it to be not real, but come onnnn....

Dear #SagAftraMembers:

We are thrilled & proud to tell you that today your TV/Theatrical Negotiating Committee voted unanimously to approve a tentative agreement with the AMPTP.  As of 12:01 a.m. PT on Nov. 9, our strike is officially suspended & all picket locations are closed. We will be in touch in the coming days with information about celebration gatherings around the country.

In a contract valued at over one billion dollars, we have achieved a deal of extraordinary scope that includes "above-pattern" minimum compensation increases, unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI, and for the first time establishes a streaming participation bonus. Our Pension & Health caps have been substantially raised, which will bring much needed value to our plans. In addition, the deal includes numerous improvements for multiple categories including outsize compensation increases for background performers, and critical contract provisions protecting diverse communities.

We have arrived at a contract that will enable SAG-AFTRA members from every category to build sustainable careers. Many thousands of performers now and into the future will benefit from this work. Full details of the agreement will not be provided until the tentative agreement is reviewed by the SAG-AFTRA National Board.

We also thank our union siblings — the workers that power this industry — for the sacrifices they have made while supporting our strike and that of the Writers Guild of America. We stand together in solidarity and will be there for you when you need us.

Thank you all for your dedication, your commitment, your solidarity throughout this strike. It is because of you that these improvements became possible.

it occurs to me that many fans have never experienced the illuminated-capital illustrations in early Good Omens books.

Illustrator: David Frampton

Soulsbornetober 2023 [PART 2]

The pub scene is even funnier when you consider that poor Mr. Brown of Brown's World of Carpets has likely had this longtime pash on Aziraphale and, like everyone on Whickber Street, he has no idea who exactly The Ginger Goth With The Old Car is. He knows the prevailing theory is mafia but Mr. Brown of Brown's World of Carpets has seen Ginger Goth hanging around Mrs. Sandwich and her "Sandwich Shop" and also around the bookshop a bit and also some naked guy was also at the bookshop recently, so... what's the likeliest conclusion drawn by Mr. Brown of Brown's World of Carpets? That the old bookseller's lonely and paying for it.

He sees them come into the pub and thinks Aziraphale is classy like that and is taking the sex worker for a drink first or maybe that's part of it-- he's gone the whole 'boyfriend experience' route. Mr. Brown of Brown's World of Carpets sees Aziraphale with that chest stroke of that Thin Dark Duke he's paying and while Mr. Brown (of Brown's World of Carpets, just FYI) isn't here to judge and gets it as he's lonely, too... and while he does think the bookseller picks some hot ones... he wants to give Mr. Fell the real thing. The kind of love you can only get between two middle-aged, still-sorta-closeted queers like they are. He'll be someone the bookseller can talk to and find some genuine chemistry with, Mr. Brown of Brown's World of Carpets will be, so he decides to shoot his shot and knows the bookseller is skittish from their past interactions, so he goes for the meeting option. He'll have to come over to drop off the chairs, of course. Give them an excuse to talk more, alone, when Mr. Fell is not, erm, entertaining.

And poor Mr. Brown--President of the Whickber Street Shopkeepers and Traders Association, Mr. Brown of Brown's World of Carpets is-- fine, upstanding, boring as all holy fuck fella... He's met by Crowley coming over with drinks and a greeting that says this is neither the first time, nor, he doubts, will it be the last that he's had to Husband the bookseller but again, Mr. Brown of Oh, You Know By Now thinks this is a bit, so he's not intimidated.

"I was just absolutely hitting on him for real, unlike you," is what he basically told Crowley when explaining what they were chatting about.

And Crowley's like lol you got him flustered enough to host this meeting. Good on you, Mr. Whoever the Fuck You Are from Whatever Shop You Run. Look at you *go*. 😍 I've got a new favorite human, Aziraphale.

He's all "you astonish me" to Aziraphale, teasing him like you're leading the poor, balding bastard on, angel. I know it's hard for you to reign in your divine sex appeal but you should maybe try. His heart is only human, after all.

Mr. Brown still thinks Crowley's a sex worker though so he doesn't give up and is all like remember, Mr. Fell, our date is right after work on Thursday in a group setting to set you at ease but I'll see you first to set it all up because I want you and I want to make sure you know I'm not just here for the business meeting.

Crowley: That's it-- I'm adopting you, Ballsy Mr. Carpet. I like your style. But you'll never wear my angel down. We've been married for 6,000 years. I am definitely up for saving you from some demons on Thursday though and making it rain on you and literally any fruity, single shop owner in the greater metro area next season. You're on the deck after my shop lesbians. Now piss off, Mr. Barnes. We haven't been to the pub in ages and you're in my seat.

Behind the Scenes of Aziraphale’s Bookshop (as it burns down)

Excerpt from The Nice and Accurate Good Omens TV Companion:

Bonus:  New-to-us Photo from Danny Hargreaves