"Crowley loves Aziraphale and he absolutely hates that he loves Aziraphale."

Fun Fact:

The photo used for Aziraphale in Furfur's book is a real engraving called The Angel Appearing to Balaam, by Paul Gustave Doré, that has been edited to look like Michael Sheen

THIS IS THE KIND OF CONTENT I LIVE FOR

And the sword has gotten flames edited on top. Wonder if there are more little differences to be spotted?

Aziraphale's Ring Is a Queer Symbol

In a previous post I hold forth about the symbolism of the lion rampant on the escutcheon of Aziraphale's signet ring. The upshot is that the golden lion is used by Heaven as a symbol of its threat and its merciless, murderous corporate culture, and I argue that in S3 Aziraphale must subvert this stamp of Heavenly ownership and symbolically redefine the golden lion by summoning the courage to be soft.

Now I've learned some new stuff about how signet rings are worn. Come, sistren, and get nerdy with me.

Great observation!

The Interrupted Sleep

Artist: François Boucher (French, Paris 1703–1770 Paris)

Date: 1750

Good Omens Through the Decades

UPDATED!

This is a timeline of all the events that have happened related to Good Omens, from its inception to its publication to its future plans; editions, adaptations, failed adaptations and the like.

I originally wanted to have this post ready for the anniversary in May, that didn't work, it just kept getting larger. Then I wanted to do it for the anniversary of Season 2 in July, that didn't work either, for the same reason. So I am just going to post it now, a random date and hope for the best LOL. And guess what? After a fun and fruitful chat with another fan who prefers to remain anonymous, I added a couple of events a few trivia here and there (thank you!). So, a little bit of warning: it is loooong, lots of things have happened in 34 years. At the beginning I was going to put all the references at the end of the post, but they are a lot, so I put them in a document instead.

1985-1990 - The Book

1991-2004 - The Movies

2005-2010 - The Sequel (and the Audiobooks)

2011-2013 - The Stage (and a failed TV series)

2014-2015 - The Radio Drama

2015-2019 - The TV series (and some luxury limited editions)

2020-2025 - TV Series Season 2, a new Audiobook and some other adjacent projects

2023-2024 - The Graphic Novel

2025 - The Future

There should be a special mention of a fan created musical parody for YouTube that was in development in Russia by 62Media. This was completely fan made and not connected to the Pratchett Estate, Neil, the BBC or Amazon (which is why it is not in the list). Unfortunately it had to shut down due to COVID [81]

Fun fact: During the tour to promote the book, back in 1989-1990 the song "Shoehorn With Teeth" by They Might Be Giants became the unofficial anthem of the tour since that is what they always ended up singing when things went too crazy [82]

A. Z. Fell & Co. bookshop and its statues

To start off, you have to be warned that the former set was almost completely destroyed in the S1 bookshop fire and whatever wasn’t important enough to be salvaged before the shooting had to be replaced afterwards. Which means that a few memorable and already identified pieces aren’t there anymore, for better or worse.

This is going to be another long analysis, and certainly not a full one — I’ll describe only the big picture and the most important props. A continuation focusing on the decorations in the less prominent parts of the bookshop will follow here.

Right at the entrance we can see twin tables with the Marly Horses by Guillaume Coustou the Elder. The sculptures showing two rearing horses with their groom were originally commissioned by Louis XV of France for the entrance to château de Marly, a royal residence near Versailles.

In S2 Crowley is shown consistently using one of the horses, partially out of convenience, partially in line with a returning throughout the season dark horse theme. Ironically, the symbolic harnessing of a wild animal mirrors the supposed domestication of the demon by his angel, as seen in the transformation of the statue to the right from the entrance into an altar of his submission.

After all, there’s nothing more vulnerable to Crowley than losing the usual protection of his shades, and using a horse sculpture as a stand for his sunglasses speaks volumes about his natural aptitude towards uncertain and liminal states. He thrives in stress situations, dangles his feet while hopping onto a curb, and assumes the form of a non-Euclidean fluid when asked to sit down in a chair. Stability isn’t exactly what he’s most comfortable with. So what for Aziraphale signifies the power over his (theirs?) own domain and ultimate safe space, for Crowley means a challenge.

It makes sense that this particular spot near the exit is where the demon feels most secure in the bookshop, his favorite place in the world. That’s where he stood after crossing its threshold in 1941 too.

The statue in the middle, right on top of the central bookstand, was replaced after the S1 fire. It’s still clearly a Cupid, but in a different pose and without his weapons — instead of shooting an arrow, now he’s holding his left hand over his head, pointing up towards Heaven or God. Quite a change. This is the most similar copy made after Ernest Rancoulet. The butterfly-like wings (similar to the ones Rancoulet used in his La Nuit Tout Repose, At Night Everything Rests) on the copy in the bookshop have visible screws, so they were probably added either by the previous owner or the Good Omens art department.

What’s especially important from the analytic point of view is that similarly to S1, the Cupid in question still appears in the frame facing Crowley, but not targeting him anymore, like it used to, but rather mirroring. The most memorable example appears during the Final Fifteen™ when the demon points up with left hand to highlight his “No nightingales” line.

This one will be fun! Everyone, meet George Maxim’s bronze allegory of Music in her full glory. Angels like music in general, right? And Aziraphale is a known audiophile, which was asserted in the very first episode of the new season. But there’s another link to music in his angelic roots. A rather apocalyptic one — the Archangel Raphael is believed to blow the trumpet from a holy rock in Jerusalem to announce the Second Coming (the Day of Resurrection), and Israfil, its Islamic counterpart, Qiyamah (the Day of Judgment).

Staying in the very same context, let’s read the ballad Israfel by Edgar Allen Poe, which was obviously inspired by the titular Archangel.

Nothing on Earth lasts forever — but that’s exactly the reason why we should use it for inspiration, savor this momentary bliss, and hold it in our hearts. The ballad shares the same sentiment about all creation being temporary and only the passions of angels (i.e., Aziraphale’s and Crowley’s feelings) staying eternally unchanging as Aziraphale’s “Nothing lasts forever”. His line was intended as an affirmation of his feelings, similar to “You go too fast for me, Crowley”.

And just like the Cupid is mirroring Crowley in the “No nightingales” line, Music is targeting Aziraphale with her harp in the following frame.

On the counter there’s a smaller bronze statue, which original unfortunately remains unidentified, but I was able to track some similar designs. A woman coming back from the harvest with crops — either a representation of Autumn or the Greek goddess Demeter bringing a blessing of a plentiful harvest. In the Bible, the harvest is a metaphor for both spiritual fruitfulness and judgment. Our productivity in God’s kingdom is supposedly tied to our faith and obedience. And the most popular verses repeat an even older saying, how one reaps what they sow:

If you read The summer that was never supposed to end meta, you’ll interpret the figure itself as a rather ominous sign. Now let’s add to it positioning right next to the gigantic Victorian cash register one cannot possibly overlook and the recurring theme of payment. And the fact that it conveniently disappears at some point in The Ball (S02E05) episode, never to be seen again. Is the payment reminder not needed anymore, because its day just came?

For some reason ever since S1 this one was often interpreted as a bust of Alexander the Great by the fandom. The proper name is the Head of a Victorious Athlete, also known as Benevento Head. As this suggests, the originally bronze sculpture represents a victorious athlete wearing an olive crown and was found near Benevento in Italy, in the remnants of the ancient town Herculaneum, wiped off from the face of the earth together with Pompeii in a tragic volcanic eruption (which was conveniently used later on as a more modern example of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah). It’s an obviously Roman copy of a Greek sculpture and dates back to 50 AD, less than a decade after Aziraphale and Crowley met in Rome in 41 AD— who knows, maybe they were still around at the time? This would make an interesting connection to the statue Crowley brought back to his apartment in 1941.

And no, in the HD quality and especially en face it doesn’t appear similar to Crowley. In fact, there seems to be a very good reason why most photographers choose another, more flattering angle for this particular artwork. But aesthetics aside, the white bust seems more like a mirror for Aziraphale and his self-constructed (and self-imposed) idealized image, based on a specific set of virtues. The presented athlete is victorious because he’s the epitome of the Platonic Triad of higher Forms: Truth, Beauty, and Excellence, understood in the wider context of the Greek Aretē.

To highlight this point, in S1 the head was literally used as a designated display place of the medal Aziraphale got as a commendation for his 6000 years on Earth in the 1800 cut scene. As a free agent not affiliated with Heaven in S2 he doesn’t hang it there anymore, but the medal is still in the bookshop, visible on his desk. You can see it in detail and read the description of its provenance in the last bookshop meta.

Daedalus and Icarus are a very popular motif in the history of art, but certainly not in this overtly masculine, military style. Icarus was too ambitious for his own good and ignored explicit instructions, which constitutes both the sin of pride and that of disobedience to one's parents (or one’s Creator?).

Interestingly, there’s also a version of the myth in which Icarus fashioned himself greater than Helios, the Sun himself, and the god himself punished him for it with the fall — which resonates very strongly with my vision of Crowley both in relation to his Fall and potential S3 development.

But back to Aziraphale. If the medal in question was given to him as a commendation he from the Supreme Archangel himself, it also serves as a warning for him to not get too arrogant or comfortable with his accomplishment (i.e., life on Earth) or it might lead to his fall (or, in this case, Fall).

Foreshadowing much?

The Missing Music of Good Omens

So, it seems a few of us have noticed that the Good Omens and Good Omens 2 OST do not contain all the instrumental music written and heard in the actual series. I’m sure there is a reason for cuts to soundtracks, either time/space on an album or else copyright by the composer. My biggest guess for the missing tracks in Good Omens 2’s case, is that they did not want to reuse tracks from the first season OST, even if they were featured in the show itself. If anyone has a more conclusive reason for these choices, I would love to know why. 

But for this meta, I am returning to the final moments of episode six of season two, to track all the music we hear leading up to and including the final fifteen. This is a moment I’ve always wanted to go back to and chart, not only because of its beautiful score, but because I realized after I wrote my original post, that there were a few tracks missing from the album that were present in the show. Arnold’s use of repeating motif’s is so interesting, and, when we just go by the OST, we miss a lot of the music that gives us a more conclusive picture of what not just is happening musically, but what is happening internally for the characters.

Let’s start with a track that is included in the OST

1.Gabriel and Beelzebub: 31.30—32.34

This is the scene where Gabriel and Beelzebub light up the electric candelabra’s and disappear. Nothing to note, this is included in scene and in the OST.

2. Directly after this, we get our first missing track.

This can be heared when Furfur and Shax discuss their plans to go back to Hell.

Furfur and Shax missing track: 32.35—33.09 

The memorable section I used to track down the melody goes: A G #A and then A/G/A/G/A/G, followed by A#/A/A#/A/A#/A (This may not be accurate as I’m going completely by ear just plunking it out on a digital keyboard, but this is my best approximation).

I combed through both OST. And while it sounds familiar, I wasn’t able to find it. There may be a string of pieces that have this melody that are not included in the soundtracks, but it may also be that I missed it. 

3. Crowley and Muriel: 36.16—37.34

The next piece we here is from the original soundtrack and can be heard when Crowley is trying to get Muriel to leave the bookshop. 

4. And this is again followed by a piece missing from the soundtrack. 

Crowley Fixes the Bookshop missing track: 37.46—38.19 Continues 39.53—40.50

This is of course the track that plays when Crowley is fixing the shop. This precise version is missing from both soundtracks. What plays is what I have dubbed The Lullaby Track, which I have discussed at length because of its usage in the score. Along with the opening theme, which includes the lullaby track, this is probably the most important musical motif in Good Omens. The only track to rival The Lullaby Track for significance in season two is The Fallen Angel track. Again, see my first master poster for my thoughts to the usage of this track. 

But it’s important to note, while the Lullaby Track can be heard throughout the album, there is not a full version orchestral version of the song. One of the most famous moments where this song is used (the 1941 Book Saving Scene) does not have a track in the soundtrack, and thus shows just how often this song is played and yet goes missing from the soundtrack itself. 

So, if you want to listen to the Lullaby Track in full with the violin score, you will unfortunately have to rewatch this scene, as it is not included on the soundtrack. The closest versions we currently have are from the original OST, featured in Lullaby and End of This Story.

5. The next music we hear is also a missing track, which can be heard when Crowley and Aziraphale begin to argue in the final fifteen, starting roughly when Crowley says, “And you told him just where he could stick it…”

Stick It/Good Luck missing track: ominous notes begin to play at 43.30—44.07 and then continues from 45.47—46.32

I have connected these two missing tracks together, although their motifs are from different moments in the score. 

To find the first half of Stick It, I boiled down the melody to this note pattern I was hearing: C/G4/F4/E4. While the entire song does not seem to be from a single track, this melody that I boiled the track down to can be heard on the original soundtrack in All Change.

The second half of Stick It/Good Luck I boiled down to the rising scale you hear at about 46.08. This melody roughly goes: G/A/A/B rest A/B/B/C

This melody I connected again to the original soundtrack in the track Life After Death beginning about 50 seconds into the song, although this new version is significantly more subdued. To me, this suggests that Arnold and the music department recorded new versions of every track for Good Omens 2, but for whatever reason did not include these updated versions in the soundtrack. 

6. From there the music on the OST aligns with what we hear in the show:

I Forgive You 46.41—47.14

Don’t Bother 47.21—49.05

The Biggest Decision 49.15—50.15

The End? 50.30—End

There are so many repeating motifs in the Good Omens soundtrack. Many of the themes change and become motifs for different characters across both seasons. While so many of these small melodies sound familiar, it was hard to pin down these missing songs with anything specific. So many of these missing tracks seem to combine different motifs and tunes along with the main melody. What’s interesting to note is that with all the missing tracks, while they may be based off of motifs from season one, they were all remastered and remade for season 2 with new tempos, styles, and instruments. So why are they not on the soundtrack? I have no idea really. Perhaps this exclusion is due to space, and they decided to favor new tracks. Perhaps, especially for the Lullaby Track, they had hoped to include a full version in the season three soundtrack. But it is cool to find that the music of Good Omens remains extremely rich and vibrant with an abundance of overlapping and shared motifs. 

thanks to @samuraiko for sending me down the rabbit hole once again. It seems we are to be plagued by incomplete soundtracks

These are all about “Modern Magic”, the book by Professor Hoffman that Aziraphale shows us in S2. I went through the actual book and many of the tricks in s2 are explained there. I also decorated these info slides with a bunch of phrases.

Map Of Whickber Street (Good Omens Soho around the bookshop)

I had a lot of fun watching the entire series again and working out where all the shops were in relation to one another. Some of these are mentioned in canon, some are just shown. I've taken some liberties with scale and the like. It wasn't clear which of these streets is Whickber Street, but I suppose there must be some mystery left in the world.

I'm adding some photo references and some more information about the various shops below the cut. If you can make out any more names, I'd love to know.

From Mickey Ralph's (the Good Omens Graphic Designer) website :) <3

A little more in depth on the Desert Stills, Presentation, and Clothes

So! I realized that not everyone knows what I do about clothes or scene examination, and decided to explain why Crowley is definitely dressed like a woman and Aziraphale like a man in these two stills.

First, environmentally: all the men in these scenes are wearing turban style headwraps; all the women are wearing looser scarves. Aziraphale is clearly aligned with the men via framing; in both shits only men are standing behind him, and vice versa for Crowley. None of the men have long hair; Crowley does. None of the men are wearing belts or have their waists emphasizing via draping and cinching, but Crowley does. Environmentally, this aligns Crowley with women and tells us he is dressed like a woman.

Second, historically:

As we can see from these two helpful pages on Biblical clothing, Crowley is still dressed like a woman and Aziraphale is still dressed like a man; they are clearly apart of the same group so they are not dressed differently due to cultural influences.

Someone mentioned Thobes, Muslim clothing, and Beoduins, and I’d just like to say: don’t. They’re blending into the same group here, and Thobes and “Muslim clothing” didn’t exist at the time as it’s very likely around 33AD or earlier. Saying otherwise is not supported by given evidence, and is likely ahistorical, as is using any purely modern terminology in this context.

Excellent, and in addition, please allow me to get iconographic here:

the women at the crucifixion, liturgically and in Christian art, are associated with empathy for Christ’s suffering. Like. That’s what women do, in that scene: they weep. In medieval drama and meditative texts, audiences get to enter into the pain of the scene through the women: the grief the women feel, and the pain Christ feels through the women’s grief at his pain. It’s traditionally through the voices of women, too, that anger and confusion at god’s choices are voiced.

Here’s Hans Memeling’s Crucifixion tryptich:

That’s Mary Mother of Christ in the black - conventions vary as to whether she’s in black or royal blue, but you can tell it’s her because she’s swooning into John the Baptist’s arms. Kneeling is Mary Magdalene (you can tell because her hair is uncovered, and it’s red - MM’s hair is often red or red-gold)

Now, this is late medieval. Further into the renaissance the veils the women are wearing in these scenes get less structured. Here’s Sofinisba Anguissola’s Pieta:

Mary’s wearing a wimple under her veil here, but the overall flowing effect is not dissimilar to what Crowley has going on.

But the Virgin is hardly the main iconographic reference that’s coming to my mind here. Red-haired Crowley, with a blue-black veil loosely slung?

Here’s Lucrina and/or Domenico Fetti’s Repentant Magdalen:

I’m sure I’ve seen similar Madalenes with brighter red hair, but I can’t find one right now. Nevertheless. If this resemblance wasn’t deliberate I will eat my hat.

Conclusions:

1. Crowley as a woman at the Crucifixion is extremely resonant and liturgically apt, because what Crowley is doing is a. experiencing empathy for pain and b. questioning and evoking doubt, both of which are roles largely assigned to women in post-patristic Christian tradition (yes, Peter and Thomas doubt. Jesus himself has that ‘take this cup’ moment. But medieval and renaissance Christianity loved to explore the contradictions of anger, empathy and faithful acceptance through both the archetypal holy woman, the Virgin Mary, and the archetypal redeemed sinner, Mary Magdalen). Gaiman has compared Crowley’s questions to the strong Jewish tradition of questioning and arguing with God - although Christian tradition has generally allowed less space for that, if there is going to be space for a Jewish-like Questioner of God in this scene, it’s always in the mouths of the women.

2. Crowley’s specific colouration, the long red curls, the fact the veil is slipping off? Mary Magdalen all the way. Is that meant to position him as redeemable, or as inherently a temptress? Both? Neither?

3. In the tradition of depictions of the Crucifixion, Christian and vaugely-Christian-aware audiences since… uh… at least the twelfth century have been primed to identify with the women (you still see it in contemporary evangelical worship and the like). Positioning Crowley as a woman in that image is apt to the text: that scene is meant to align you with Crowley, with Crowley’s empathy and questioning. 

Thank you, thank you, I got three degrees and this is what I do with them, I’ll be here all week, etc.

(and we know that throughout Good Omens and Discworld the use and referencing and re-telling and re-imagining and reinterpreting of myths and legends and folktales and cultural icons and engaging their resonance is absolutely core; it’s vital and it’s omnipresent.

And that Pratchett’s and Gaiman’s knowledge of and familiarity with these myths/legends/folktakes/cultural icons is very extensive and detailed.

So yes, it’s reasonable to conclude that none of this was coincidental.)

And just to hark back to a very good post going around (and which of course I can’t find right now) about how Good Omens treats gender; it is noteworthy that Crowley presents as a woman at this moment of all moments (in that it’s hugely resonant in the context of cultural christianity) and it’s shown as completely unremarked and unremarkable (much less made fun of).

I went dumpster diving into the posters for Good Omens Season 2 and found a few pearls.

I found it odd that this season had SO MANY official posters. Hours and hours of work and real dollars from Amazon went into the production of these things. This one won a freakin Clio award. I know Neil confirmed he didn't have a lot of control of what went into these 21 (Or 22 depending on whether or not you count the umbrella piece that was made before season 2 shooting began. Personally I don't!) pieces, but I will leave no stone unturned, so here we go. I combed through every single season 2 poster I could find so you don't have to. Here's everything I've found so far:

1. The allegiances poster

After having watched season 2, knowing what we know now, this poster seems very much to me like a Game of Thrones style family at war image. We have a perfect mirror down the center, with Aziraphale/Angels/Nina&Maggie on Aziraphale's traditional left side, and Crowley with Beelzebub & Jim as reflections of Maggie/Nina, and Shax and Michael(?) as reflections of the three angels on the other side of the mirror. It seems unbalanced, unless you count the floating white head (conveniently watching in the background) as The Metatron...

two things are jumping out at me. one is how saraqael isn't aligned like the other angels and one is crowley holding the wine glass two different ways. saraqael, like muriel, is wearing the same tartan that's the sleeves and collar of jim's bathrobe.

This is the same tartan *pattern* as the one on the blanket he gives to jim, his bow ties, his magician's scarf in series one, and ... i think something i'm forgetting. cravat? but in a distinct colourway. (yes, the spacing and width of the stripes IS different on the printed fabrics vs the woven s2 fabric. my guess is that this is a function of: a) adjusting the small scale original in s1 to a much larger scale and wanting it to be balanced with good proportions; b) the way some small scale digital print designs can bleed a bit; c) possibility of having to adjust the sizes of the stripes for weaving itself) jim wears the things/clothes aziraphale provides, and he's under aziraphale's protection. are saraqael & muriel also under his protection? muriel was wearing the tartan before arriving on earth... and a & c at least acted like they didn't know them. but that was after the angels came down to check up on a, too, so.... onto crowley why is he holding out his pinky in this photo?

every shot holding a wine/boozahol drink i could find of him, crowley has his fingers tucked down

otoh

also re poster of a&c where you said "Either nobody noticed this or they refused to fix it." or -- "everything is meant"

We could've seen. bus.

Peter Anderson, in his Ineffable Con 5 session, was asked about the name of the boat in the pile of items that the procession climbs in the Season 2 intro. He didn't know off the top of his head. But he did follow that up with: "Speaking of which, did anybody look at the bus? What was on the bus?"

He didn't really elaborate on the bus, other than it "was a special Good Omens bus."

Let's assume for the purposes of this post that he's talking about a bus in the intro, which was the current topic of conversation. (Rather than the actual, in-service bus that was wrapped to promote the series.) I am pretty sure this is the bus in question:

So what's on the bus?

There's an ad on the side, which is interesting. Wings for Victory was a fundraising effort in 1943.

And there's also what looks like a route identifier on the front:

I think this says GO2 (as the route number): Soho, Green Park, Victoria; Soho Square. That's a fairly reasonable bus route; the actual 38 bus takes a similar one.

In the X-Ray, Peter Anderson also brings up where the bus is going. Very briefly. So clearly it means something to him.

There is one more thing I found, because of course there is. Amazon did a behind the scenes tour of the Season 2 set as a prize for a promotional contest. There was a bus involved:

Interestingly, there was also a TikTok including the bus which shows a different set of stops for the route.

What does it mean? I have no idea. Ours* is not to reason why; ours is to deliver packages. Of research. What do you think?

*and by Ours I mean Mine

Good Omens 2 opening sequence easter eggs:

I had originally posted these after the last Ineffable Con, but in separate posts. A lot of the things mentioned here were covered in the Con and said by Peter Anderson. (He actually left this comment).

Other easter eggs are mentioned inside of the X ray section of Prime! You can watch an extensive behind the scenes there and appreciate how the flames here were built using cotton balls or how the tartan hills were made. (Including our little spider friend, which I also asked some extra pictures from because the original concept was very creepy). You can see them better here.

More easter eggs mentioned today during TIC5:

Lover

This font is called "Amador". It's spanish, and it means "lover" ❤️

Delightful!! 😍