An Eco-friendly Angel...

The sheer amount of guilt Aziraphale experiences is utterly tragic. But what's interesting is he rarely feels guilt for the things humans usually feel guilt for - indulging in food, wine, books, comfort (which is marvelously subversive because it shows none of these things are actually worthy of guilt but, in fact, what make existence worthwhile).

No, he only truly feels guilt when he does the Right Thing.

Or when he realizes too late what the Right Thing is.

All of his guilt is attached to things that are, in fact, Good and Right, but in opposition to the black-and-white doctrine of Heaven.

Which makes the guilt he is so clearly experiencing here:

hit like a goddamn freight train.

Because loving Crowley is Good and Right.

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

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

Mammals both produce milk and have hair. Ergo, a coconut is a mammal.

Why all the ducks? 🦆

Good Omens has always been my favorite book. I've seen some posts from people wondering about the prevalence of ducks. I wanted to share my interpretation of why the ducks keep popping up* so that other people can appreciate how clever the writing in my favorite book is.

The word duck is in the book a lot. Aside from the actual ducks in the duck pond, there are several references to popular expression about ducks. Notably all the duck quotes are botched or incorrect in some way, so the reader has to know what the correct expressions actually are in order for the joke to work. For example:

Crowley forgetting the phrase "like water off a duck's back": "Ducks!" [Crowley] shouted. "What?" "That's what water slides off!" Aziraphale took a deep breath.

The same phrase is referenced later: whenever she tried to think about him beyond a superficial level her thoughts slipped away like a duck off water.

And we have "like a duck to water" to describe Aziraphale's dancing while he had initially taken to it like a duck to merchant banking, after a while he had become quite good at it

The English language has a lot of expressions about ducks and the book expects the reader to be familiar with them. The one that I think is significantly conspicuously absent from the book is "If it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, then it's a duck." I think that the point of the other duck expressions is to evoke this one, since it's the whole thesis of the book. Good Omens is about humanism and self determination. Adam isn't human, but he is shaped like a human so grows into being a human. He looks like a human and quacks like a human. He is a human. His parents are his parents. His hellhound is a cute dog. And he chooses to keep it that way. Aziraphale and Crowley get so used to being human shaped they'd prefer to keep doing that. They don't have to be enemies and can determine their own fate, just like Anathema and Newt and all their other mirrors. So by choosing humanity and embracing what I guess you could call human performativity, they all get to be what they want to be. So I think that's the significance of the ducks. *despite Crowley dunking them

Tiffany couldn't quite work out how Miss Level got paid. Certainly the basket she carried filled up more than it emptied. They'd walk past a cottage and a woman would come scurrying out with a fresh-baked loaf or a jar of pickles, even though Miss Level hadn't stopped there. But they'd spend an hour somewhere else, stitching up the leg of a farmer who'd been careless with an axe, and get a cup of tea and a stale biscuit. 

It didn't seem fair.

“Oh, it evens out,” said Miss Level, as they walked on through the woods. 

“You do what you can. People give what they can, when they can. Old Slapwick there, with the leg, he's as mean as a cat, but there'll be a big cut of beef on my doorstep before the week's end, you can bet on it. His wife will see to it. And pretty soon people will be killing their pigs for the winter, and I'll get more brawn, ham, bacon and sausages turning up than a family could eat in a year.”

“You do? What do you do with all that food?”

“Store it,” said Miss Level. 

“But you-”

“I store it in other people. It's amazing what you can store in other people.” Miss Level laughed at Tiffany's expression. “I mean, I take what I don't need round to those who don't have a pig, or who're going through a bad patch, or who don't have anyone to remember them.”

“But that means they'll owe you a favour!”

“Right! And so it just keeps on going round. It all works out.”

“I bet some people are too mean to pay-”

“Not pay,” said Miss Level, severely. “A witch never expects payment and never asks for it and just hopes she never needs to. But, sadly, you are right.”

“And then what happens?"

“What do you mean?”

“You stop helping them, do you?”

“Oh, no,” said Miss Level, genuinely shocked. “You can't not help people just because they're stupid or forgetful or unpleasant. Everyone's poor round here. If I don't help them, who will?”

"A Hat full of Sky" - Terry Pratchett

An angel and a demon in Eden🍎

Old pic

(If you've seen it before, you may (or may not) notice some smol changes, cause I didn't like the old one ver, but I like the setting so much. And I decided to give it a second chance)

No historical accuracy obviously. Something from the long timeline of the Roman Empire and that's enough :)

Could you maybe reblog this post if you think respecting trans peoples' names and identities is a basic right and not a political opinion?

No pressure. Just seeking some validation of my sentiment. Due to some. people