What if the children go to schools unafraid of tear gas and bullets?
What if the birds come back, and the bees are healed, and every species moves from endangered, to threatened, to thriving?
What if the rainforest ADVANCES?
What if every parking lot had solar panels? What if every structure had solar panels? What if we built climbing gyms and terraced gardens in the skeletons of old coal power plants?
What if you baked your neighbor bread, and they shared their home-grown blackberries?
What if every person who needed a home, had one? What if every person who needed healing was healed?
What if every body was treasured for what it was, not what it should be?
What if every trans child's parents attended their graduation, their wedding, their new-name-day?
What if every warehouse became a closed-circle repair station? Goods flowing out, and back, and out again? What if landfills started to SHRINK?
What if the water and air were clean? What if there was enough public transit that the cars dwindled, leaving the streets safe for kids on bikes, evening deer, midnight cats and foxes?
The condors are back. The whales are saved. The sea turtles are no longer endangered. The cranes are back. The bees are recovering. The air in LA and Tokyo and London is clean again. The aquifers in the LA Basin are refilling.
Children are kinder than previous generations. Parents are stopping the abuse cycle. Being trans and queer is more acceptable than ever on a ground level.
It's hard to see if you're young, if you don't know how to step back from social media and the news. But remember--bad news sells, and the algorithm knows despair keeps you scrolling. It's a skewed lens.
We are fighting and we are winning against this adminstration's bullying. We are coming together against the bullies and they are running away scared because they don't understand that we will do that.
People are working hard every day to find ways to make sure fewer animals get hit by cars and planes and rockets.
Maker spaces are more common than ever. Solar and wind are more common than ever. Coal plants are shutting down every day.
Unprecedented numbers of acres are being bought back or given back to their rightful stewards, and the world heals because of it. People are working hard every day to learn how to help a forest recover faster.
We are not at zero. We are at decades of effort to heal the world. We've come SO far.
In 1982 there were only 22 California Condors left in the world. In 1992, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), with its public and private partners, began reintroducing captive-bred condors to the wild. In 2001 the first wild nesting occurred in Grand Canyon National Park since re-introduction. In 2002 there were only 8 pairs of wild nesting birds population-wide. In 2008, for the first time since the program began, more California condors were flying free in the wild than in captivity. Today there are nearly 500 – more than half of them flying free in Arizona, Utah, California, and Baja Mexico.
When I was born, there were no condors in the wild. I'm 37 now, and there are over 250 condors flying free.
When my mom was born in 1955, there were days when she wasn't allowed to go outside to play, because of the air pollution. When I was born, that never happened anymore.
When I was born, humpback whales were critically endangered, and people thought they were going to go extinct. Today, they've recovered to exceed their recorded numbers. Other whales too!
We fixed it.
We CAN fix it and we ARE fixing it and we DID fix it.
Since 1990 extreme poverty has decreased worldwide by over HALF.
This is not the narrative media sells us. We have access to more information about suffering now than we used to, but things are getting BETTER overall. Yeah some people are trying to undo this, but we have made SO MUCH PROGRESS. Don't give up.
having just visited Pompeii last October, let me tell you something. You cannot swing a cat in that place without hitting a takeout counter. they’re fucking EVERYWHERE. Your fantasy novels are severely underestimating the sheer availability of takeout
From what I recall, most Romans did not have anything like cooking facilities in their home. The richest, if course, had sumptuous kitchens. And the poorest made do by cooking by their heating fire, often without any utensils. But most people ate out, or at least bought bread rather than baking their own.
The Odyssey but retold as a low-stakes modern adventure of one guy out with his girlfriend leaving the bar with his buddies to do just one (1) simple thing real quick, it'll take like 15 minutes tops, he'll be right back, but then some bullshit happens and the trip keeps getting more complicated as more bullshit keeps happening while he just tries to get back to the bar because he promised his girlfriend that he'd get back and he knows that she's still there because she told him she'd wait there.
And by the time he finally gets back it's almost 3 am and the bar is about to close while she's sitting there stone cold sober, surrounded by 5 drunk guys unsuccessfully trying to convince her to give up on waiting for him and go home with one of them instead. And the guy shows up to proceed to beat the shit out of them before explaining himself to her like hey sorry bullshit kept happening, my phone fell into a storm drain and my wallet got stolen when I was trying to find someone who'd borrow me a phone so I could call and
His girlfriend had been fending off the 5 drunk guys for most of the evening by explaining that even if she was going to ditch her boyfriend, she can't possibly leave without finishing her beer, which she is keeping perpetually full via careful sleight of hand where she's just pouring it back and forth into and out of the pitcher.
However the drunk guys are also drinking, and eventually she can't afford to buy another pitcher for the table so she can't keep up the ever-full beer glass trick. At this point she has to resort to setting up the pool trick shot that she's never seen anyone but her boyfriend pull off, and says she'll leave with whoever manages the shot first.
That buys her another hour or so and then, finally, her boyfriend makes it back. He looks like shit, hair down and just a mess, he's wearing an entirely different jacket that he got from an alley, and barely recognizable—especially to 5 guys who've been drunk for hours now. He lurks for a minute, finds out what's going on, and proceeds to pull off the trick shot first try. Throws the jacket off, fixes his hair with a hair tie his girlfriend lends him, finally looks like himself again, and THEN beats the shit out of them with the pool cue.
“Who would ever want to be immortal? Can you imagine the loneliness, knowing that there’s no one else like you, cursed to outlive -” shut up!! Some of us have shit to do and aren’t cowards!!
Thank you @ennas-aesthetic for writing the most beautiful and moving script about what should have happened with Josh and Adam. Everyone, please show her tons of love on the uploaded drabble here!!
anansajRebloggedslightlyartistFollowMEMORARE 🌟Thank you @ennas-aesthetic for writing the most beautiful and moving script about what should have happened with Josh and Adam. Everyone, please show her tons of love on the uploaded drabble here!!437126
anansajRebloggedscrambledeggwithsauceFollow[PHM comic] Dr Captain Ryland Grace’s Fuzzy Memories…finally figured out how to upload more than 10 pictures on here ! hope it's not too wonky...204041,322
anansajRebloggedevilgoodguysFollowhappy belated birthday to these old sailors! forever adventuring through the changing ocean tides2219838
anansajReblogged catkelpieaiwa-senseiFollowSummer retirement with a T-posing snake boyfriend for my lovely supporters on Patreon :)Patreon Instagram Twitter Pillowfort Redbubble443,5359,305
anansajReblogged cyphertronixtimmyrx2000FollowGuess She Kinda Ruled At ItWelcome to the debut of the GRAVITY FALLS BASEBALL AU COMICS! 😃
Inaugural comic made by THE LEGEND HERSELF... @athenoot
Wendy isn't their baseball coach for nothing 😉😁162341
anansajRebloggedobsessivelollipoplalalaFollowYep I'm repeating myself but the problem was not the ending of s2/Final Fifteen, not inherently. That cliffhanger and emotional fight left the door wide open for a variety of possibilities for what could happen after Aziraphale left for Heaven, and for a straightforward resolution between him and Crowley, so it wasn't a case of a someone writing themselves into a corner at all. The problem was that Gaiman refused to bring the cliffhanger he wrote to its logical conclusion, likely for various bullshit reasons I've discussed before. But the point is that bringing drama and misunderstanding into the story was not the problem, as these are common romance tropes and these are complicated characters with a lot of baggage and a lot of issues to work through. The scene worked great when functioning under the assumption that it was going to lead to the characters talking about the issues that drove them apart in that scene in a series climax of their character arcsThe problem with the end of s2 is one where a writer metaphorically, abruptly crashed the car into a brick wall because he decided he didn't like the path he driving on, despite choosing to take that route to begin with. It simply never had to be this way. He could've just been fucking normal about it, and indeed, I believe most other writers would've looked at the end of s2 and written a series ending that at least meaningfully addressed the fucking emotional conversation that broke up the characters and served as the cliffhanger for the season. The finale is still so frustratingly precisely because it was deliberately not following through on what was set up and making the wrong choices712
anansajReblogged vivi-theakunekotwilightofthesandwichesFollowBook!Crowley is Cool, but he’s also so so afraid and so stressed and so nervous all the time, and that’s actually what makes him so Cool.I keep coming back to glibly describing the Ineffable Husbands’ arcs in the book as something along the lines of“Aziraphale gave up on an Eternal Heaven for interesting books and fine wine, Crowley faced Hell’s Wrath for good food and long naps”. The exact Earthly Delights aren’t important, there’s plenty of intersection anyways, but their relation to their respective sides is.Book Aziraphale’s arc is about disconnecting himself from Heaven ideologically. He was already somewhat jaded about Heaven and aware that they’re Not So Different from Hell in some areas (“You'll be amazed at the kind of things they can do to you, down there.” ”I imagine they're very similar to the sort of things they can do to one up there.”) and disobeying his side obviously cannot be easy or safe for him - but the thing that's most important to his arc is that he did still keep insisting Heaven is fundamentally Good on some level, that Heaven’s victory in the Final Battle is assured and it’ll bring about a better world.But for the sake of his individual hedonistic pleasures, he started working against this abstract ideas of a 'better world' and Heaven's ideas of 'goodness'. Because what's the point of an ideal world if it has no sushi restaurants or CDs? Gradually also getting more rebellious and morally disillusioned with his 'Side' and doing more 'unheavenly' and morally-gray things, until he was disparaging Heaven openly through the mouth of a preacher and passive-aggressively challenging the Metatron's authority at the Airfield.And Crowley... well, the difference here was clear from the Beginning.Aziraphale's worries about doing 'the wrong thing' seem to be mostly about... how he wants to make the right decisions because the right decisions are good. I'm sure he's got more practical worries about disobeying orders, but the focus is on the internal conflict between Heaven's orders and his personal sense of morality. Crowley however... doesn't want to have done the 'right thing', because it can get him into troubles.Crowley always knew he’s working for ‘the Bad Guys’. He’s not totally ideologically disconnected from Hell either (‘“But it nearly worked," snapped Crowley, feeling he should stick up for the old firm.’) but he’s fully aware of what it means to be a Demon working for Hell tempting people into Evil deeds so that their Souls can be sent to Eternal Damnation. And he's got layers upon layers of rationalization and justifications for it, and he has found genuine passion and pride in his unique modernized form of sin-spreading that feels more mischievous than outright harmful, but underneath it all, Crowley just knows he's gotta keep pleasing Hell, or else.His cool, confident, laid-back attitude is not exactly a façade, but it serves for a good counterbalance to what happens whenever he has to interact with his higher-ups (lower-ups?). Where even if he tries to still play it up like he's Cool Guy Crowley and he's totally chill and smug with higher-raking Demons, like Hastur and Ligur, the moment they break away from the area he feels is 'safe' (his MO as a tempter, in which he already proven himself to the Management) and shift to the End of Days, he clamps up and becomes nervous and 'haunted'. The narration, when describing his POV, sometimes tries to underplay it as just annoyance or frustration, the way that it tries to underplay his guilt in meddling in the affairs of Humans before the M25 and Adam plop that guilt right in front of his face, the way it tries to underplay his relationship with Aziraphale as a reluctant Arrangement of convenience despite all evidence to the contrary, but… But Crowley’s fears about Hell are the most overt, probably because, well, his entire part of the plot is about being forced to accomplish a Very Important Task for his bosses (unlike Aziraphale, who until his ‘summons’ to the Final Battle, was perusing a personal side-quest no one in Heaven gave a shit about), and so they’re pretty much always breathing down his neck.That’s what this whole ‘a Demon can’t have Free Will’ thing is really about. It’s less about him being Ontologically Evil, and more about, well, the Cold War Spy metaphor, he’s forever stuck in a shitty morally-compromising job, that despite all of the perks that allow him to live his affluent and effortlessly cool life, he could not leave, escape, disobey or fail at without suffering horrible horrible consequences.But when faced with the prospect of losing Earth, and all of the experiences that come from living on it, even the most basic ones like a long sleep after a heavy meal, he tries anyway. He knows the consequences, he feels helpless and terrified, but he still risks Hell’s Wrath for food and naps. ...Well, his first plan is one that he convinced himself is relatively ‘safe’. An underhanded, cowardly trick worthy of one of Hell’s best tempters, but also informed by his very Earthly understanding of how the world works. If he performs his job as the Antichrist’s ‘Godfather’ as exemplary as he’s expected to, but places Aziraphale in to ‘thwart’ him then Armageddon could fail without Hell being able to place the blame on him. Probably. Hopefully.And when it all falls apart and Hell does start coming for him. Well, first of all, it’s important that it’s in the same sequence that introduces us to Crowley’s idea of indoor gardening, which within the context of the book is absolutely him venting what he feels about the way Hell treats him…And Crowley keeping that thermos of Holy Water in his flat shows that he’s been clearly paranoid of something like that happening for a while now. It’s a fear that’s been growing for longer than just the eleven years of the plot. And now it’s coming true. And Crowley has no choice but to face it. And he succeeds. Like, that’s part of what’s important about...Crowley was outnumbered against two more powerful Demons. He was scared and he was underpowered and he faced one of his constant nightmare scenarios and he won. He outsmarted these two technically-more-powerful Demons with a little bit of foresight and a goofy pop-culture reference and a clever use of his natural Demonic abilities but mostly his natural (and very Human) cunning and knowledge of then-modern technology and his ability to play it cool even when he is scared and then he WON.And from here on out, his road to Tadfield, to trying to stop the Apocalypse openly and directly, is basically him doing increasingly brazen and brave things, increasingly facing even more of his fears now that he's already got Hell pissed and after him. First trying to find Aziraphale at the burning Bookshop (clearly not as dangerous to him as it would be to a normal Human, but I won't say there was no risk of Discoporation), and then resigning himself to sacrificing the Bentley, and then crossing through the M25...Like, the reason why this famous quote is so important...Is because Crowley's optimism is truly 'underneath it all'. It's absolutely not self-evident. His inner monologue is always full of anxiety and fears and worst-case scenarios leaking through, thinking about how he can do nothing to stop Armageddon, thinking about how screwed he'd be if Hell finds out he fucked up Armageddon, thinking about how screwed up he is now that Hell found out that he fucked up Armageddon. One of the lines proceeding this one is literally "All was black, gloomy and awful. There was no light at the end of the tunnel-or if there was, it was an oncoming train." For the most part he might seem like a total pessimist, but he just... keeps going. He's cynical (that's his job!) and he's terrified and he just keeps going!It's, y'know, layers. On the surface Crowley is this confident, laid-back and cool Demon that loves excitement and is costing through life not worried about anything, traffic cops chasing him around for speeding is just good fun so he can dunk on them. Below that, he's stressed out and scared, fretting about what will happen to him if he falls out of relative favor in Hell. But below even that, he is an optimist. A confident and utterly cool optimist.And then he makes it to the Airfield, in the coolest way he possibly could, and... like, there are so many little character moments during the Airfield Climax. His insistence, with 'fatalistic gloom' that Adam stopping Armageddon wouldn't make a difference, but then his glee when he realizes that Aziraphale had found an out and joining him, even though it's clear how afraid he is of Beelzebub and that he is pissed with him... And then Satan comes.Aziraphale's decision to stay and fight Satan is about his ideological disillusionment arc. Sure, fighting Satan might technically seem Angelic, but he makes it clear that he does it to 'make up' for all the troubles he caused Humanity as a representative of Heaven, explictly putting his 'Job' and Crowley's 'Job' as equally problematic, with no attempt to make himself morally superior. But for Crowley, when Aziraphale asks him to stay and help him fight, Crowley realizes that with all of his greatest fears already realized, all of his worst-case-scenarios having already come true, with nothing more to lose (well, I suppose he's still got Aziraphale to lose, but since the Angel already made up his mind to try and fight the Adversary, it's not like Crowley can do anything to stop that)... He is actually 'free' now.Crowley realizes that deep down, he can and he wants to do such a brave and selfless thing.Well, at the end, he doesn’t actually need to, but, like, it’s the thought that counts, right?I think there’s a tendency in Fandom to treat characters with a seemingly self-contradictory nature as either just one side of their character or the other. Either flattened to their surface-level characterization or people do notice their hidden depths, but treat everything around it as a false facade and not another essential element of their character (this happens to poor Book Aziraphale as well). Book Crowley isn’t just the laid-back, confident demon he seems on the surface, or just a terrified nervous wreck pretending to be cool and confident, he is both. His ‘Cool’ attitude helps him cope with his fears and he is so utterly, utterly Cool not despite of, but because he’s so afraid.73171
anansajRebloggedobsessivelollipoplalalaFollowLestat: I have the blood of Akasha in meEveryone else:GIF by mimis-memes-meme221
anansajRebloggedbleucalireFollow« I will try to understand why Heaven is a non-smoking area »143348
anansajRebloggedhelpfarahfamilys-blogFollowMY MOTHER IS DYING 💔😔If you scroll past this... my mother will die💔I know that sounds harsh, but it's the truth I'm living Right Now😔I keep wondering how many more times I'll have to ask before someone hears our cry for help. While you're reading this... she's lying in a hospital bed waiting... struggling... fighting for her life.The doctors told us the truth we were terrified to hear: If she doesn't get this surgery immediately, we could lose her... forever💔We only need $833. That's it. Not something impossible. that small amount... is the difference between life and death 😔$833 might not mean much to some people... But to me, it means hearing my mother's voice again. It means seeing her smile. It means she gets another chance to live.So let me ask you something honestly..If this were your mother and her life depended on $833... would you close this post and keep scrolling?Or Would you tell yourself "someone else will help"?Because that's exactly what everyone is thinking right now. And that's how people die. Not because they couldn't be saved... but because everyone assumed someone else would do it. Please... don't be the person who saw this and did nothing.🙏💔😔I am not asking for luxury or comfort. I am asking for the chance to keep my mother safe. I am asking you to help us before we lose her. If our story reaches your heart, please don't leave without doing something. Your kindness today could be the reason my mother receives her medication in time🙏Just $833... standing between her life and death. Don't think someone else will help... because right now, no one has. 🙏Current process: USD 17,473 / $18,306Vatted by: @90-ghost Vatted by : @sar-soor Vatted by: @fairuzfan farahfamily5Please donate whatever you can and share the post 🙏6,4542,433286
anansajReblogged hertenskylarkshello7thereFollowGO3: Perspective from someone who grew up with reincarnation as a religious beliefThis might be a bit incoherent.So, I'm a Hindu. Grew up as one, and honestly learnt about Christianity from cultural osmosis by growing up in Texas and doing my own research. I'm pretty sure I learnt more about Greek mythology before I ever understood why a crucifix was ever important. When I'd first heard about Good Omens its satirizing of Christianity is what drew me in. Namely because if you have the awareness that the majority of people around you follow a religion that says you're going to hell for not believing in the same god as them, you're gonna end up side eying that a little.
It was the dynamic between Aziraphale and Crowley that kept me in the fandom. They were the reason I got any social media account at all, including this tumblr blog, just because I wanted to see all the things this fandom created.
All that to say is that I fundamentally disagree with the ethos of season 3.
Reincarnation, from my experience, is a belief around death. When someone dies, believing that they are reincarnated as someone close to us is comforting. I've heard that belief from my own parents. But the person we knew is gone, and in reality we shouldn't treat someone like their past life is who they are - because they are no longer that person! And it would be unfair to treat them that way.
Obviously in a TV show, we the viewer have the knowledge that Aziraphale and Crowley have been reincarnated into Asa and Anthony, even if they don't. But that's kind of the mega huge problem. They have no knowledge of this. And in my opinion, they cannot be treated as the same person.
I'm gonna briefly discuss two Bollywood movies that have reincarnation as a plot point. One movie is called Magadheera (2009), and the other is called Manam (2014). Both movies revolve around a couple who die tragically, and are later reincarnated in the modern day. And you know what else they have in common. The couples get. Their fucking memories back! If they don't remember what happened in their previous life, portraying it in the movie would be absolutely pointless. The circumstances and time periods they live in are completely different. Being a queen in ancient India is different from being a regular woman in modern India. Being a middle aged mom is different from being a college student. Only reconciling these memories could indicate not just that these people are the same, but that they develop from the person that they once were.
Asa and Anthony have no character development. We don't have the time! All the lessons that A and C learnt, all the time they spent learning from humanity as themselves - it no longer exists. None of it ever did.
Hinduism is no stranger to apocalypses. We have a flood story too you know! But when the world ends, there are still people around who remember and pass down the memories and mythology of that time period. And it was still our world! Every time in fact! In the Good Omens universe, who is left to remember what happened? Us the viewers? But if the characters themselves don't remember, can't remember, can't apply these lessons to their own circumstances, then what happened before means nothing. As a segue way, I never saw being an angel as inherently good. Because as someone, who by Christian canon, would never be accepted by heaven (nor would I want to) I don't have a place there regardless. In season 1, the point was that every character, whether human or angel or demon or green space alien or whatever, still had free will and that doing good or bad was independent of heaven or hell. That really appealed to me as someone who didn't believe in a Christian viewpoint. It felt like there was a place for me even in a world where only Christianity was right.
And then season 3 acts like being an angel is the most valuable part of who Crowley is. Not any of his 6000 years on Earth. Just that he used to be an angel. And Crowley himself doesn't seem to value who he currently is! If a character doesn't value who they are, a satisfying conclusion is that they come to value who they are at the end of the story. That doesn't seem to happen, like, ever? Except in season 1, where despite having to face the demise of everything he knows, he still seems more secure and happier by the end than any other time in season 2 or 3.This post honestly got away from me, but the point is, as someone who grew up with reincarnation as a religious belief, I don't see Asa and Anthony as Aziraphale and Crowley. It'd be one thing if they had their memories but they don't. And I fundamentally disagree with the ending of season 3 from a character and story angle. I think it directly contradicts the main point of season 1 (which was literally the original story) and has an unsatisfying conclusion.1542128
anansajRebloggedwolfythewitchFollowToo sleepy to draw have som doodles121,5199,546
anansajReblogged iforgiveyouprimemaryn-fellFollowtheyre closed because they're moving to south downs, also Crowley needed cuddling (trust)30141
anansajRebloggedseaweednpeanutsFollowI'm so very tired of the fact that GO3 has solidified the idea that Aziraphale was a fool to try and make a difference. Why the hell was Crowley and his cynical pessimism the moral winner of this story? What happened to hope? Goodness? The will to keep trying even when odds are stacked against you? All this finale has done is make the idea of fighting for what you believe in not just a bad one, but a stupid one. Apparently Aziraphale was wrong to try. I cannot stand that. He made a difference. He halted the Second Coming. It was Michael and their free will that destroyed the Universe. Not Aziraphale's apparent naïvety. obligateweirdoI’m pretty tired of everything GO3 (and S2) did to Aziraphale, tbh. And Crowley, by extension, who didn’t really deserve selfless sacrifice.3833142
anansajRebloggedhertenskylarksFollowDid they really stick it to God?There’s another piece of meta that’s been on my mind lately. I’ve seen a number of comments from people who liked the ending of S3 because, in their view, it was a big "stick it to God" moment. The sentiment seems to be, "Yay! We got an atheist universe. That’ll really show Her." If that’s your interpretation, I genuinely encourage you to engage with this post, because I have some questions. I’m not trying to be snarky. I really want to understand how you arrived at that conclusion. First of all, do you realize that the new godless universe only exists because She allowed it to happen? To me, saying the ending "stuck it to God" feels a bit like saying, "Yeah, my boss let me take the day off. I really showed him." No... you didn't. For almost the entire story, everything unfolds exactly according to Her plan. Then, right at the end, the new universe feels less like a victory and more like a consolation prize, a participation trophy. It comes across as God saying, "Yep, I got everything I wanted. Sorry, you never stood a chance. I know, very sad. Here, have one wish to make up for it." I genuinely struggle to see how that's interpreted as defeating Her.That struggle is further compounded by the fact that religion still exists in the new universe.If the new universe is meant to be our universe, and there's graffiti depicting angels and demons, then that lore has to come from somewhere. Which raises another question: are Aziraphale and Crowley actually free from Heaven and Hell? The only difference is that, before, Heaven and Hell loomed over them in a very literal sense. Now Heaven and Hell loom over them the same way they've loomed over humanity throughout history: through persecution, inquisitions, witch trials, sexism, homophobia, indoctrination, zealotry, religious wars, and countless other forms of oppression. In that sense, they're still not free from Heaven and Hell. Nobody is. So what exactly was the sacrifice for? And let me please remind you: Aziraphale and Crowley had absolutely no reason whatsoever to believe their God was benevolent. This is the same God who was perfectly comfortable drowning children in the Flood. The same God who sanctioned the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The same God who signed off on the deaths of Job's children. And that's only the material directly referenced by the show. Expand beyond that, and we're talking about the God who killed every firstborn child in Egypt to punish a Pharaoh. The omniscient, omnipotent being who witnessed the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Holocaust, the transatlantic slave trade, and every act of sexual violence in human history, yet never lifted a finger to stop any of it. And if we're embracing the interpretation that free will was an illusion all along, that She was secretly orchestrating everything from the beginning, then the implications of all of those events become... yikes. By that point, in my opinion, any interpretation of the finale that relies on God suddenly being trustworthy, benevolent, merciful, or compassionate in any way just falls flat for me. That God? That’s the God you’re wholeheartedly trusting to give us a “better universe”?Well, then I have a bridge to sell you. My own interpretation is that the new universe is essentially the Job wager on steroids. In both the show and the biblical story, God makes a wager with Satan that's basically, "He's so loyal that I can destroy his entire life and he'll still worship me." The ending feels like the same wager, just scaled up to encompass an entire universe. "I'll create a universe where I don't even participate. I won't perform miracles. I won't answer prayers. I won't reveal myself. It’ll be as if I don’t exist. And look, these plebs STILL worship me." That motivation feels far more consistent with the egotistical deity we've been shown throughout the series than the idea that She suddenly had a change of heart and decided to give everyone a genuinely better universe. Which brings me back to my original question: did they really stick it to God? Because from where I'm standing, the only character who truly got everything she wanted was Her. Her plan succeeded. She retired (or evaporated herself) on her own terms. She created a universe where she doesn't even have to exist, yet billions of people still worship her. That's not getting owned. That's having your cake and eating it too. If I were writing an ending intended to stick it to God, then God would actually have to lose. A lot of fans suggested ending things with a card game. That could've worked. Others suggested using Jesus as an active character, having him stand up to his mother the way Adam stood up to Satan, and then having Adam and Jesus build a genuinely better world together. That would've been sticking it to God. Or, I dunno, they had the Book of Life in their friggin hands. They summoned Her with it. They could have just as easily told her to bugger off with it. Don’t know why that didn’t occur to them.But having an arguably sociopathic deity get everything she wanted, voluntarily step away from creation, leave behind a universe where she's still worshipped, and leave the protagonists living in a world that's still fundamentally shaped by religion... No matter how hard I squint, how far I tilt my head, or how much I try to read between the lines, I still can't see how that's "sticking it to God," and I’m not even fully convinced they’re free from Heaven and Hell. Am I missing something?anansajBecause the deal was:Like they asked for a single universe (nevermind god has no reason to keep their word) with the understanding they will be dead and face no consequences for their actions. Honestly, what will happen after that universe is destroyed? I don't trust this god to not rig the game again.#good omens s3 critical242772
anansajRebloggedhertenskylarksFollowDid they really stick it to God?There’s another piece of meta that’s been on my mind lately. I’ve seen a number of comments from people who liked the ending of S3 because, in their view, it was a big "stick it to God" moment. The sentiment seems to be, "Yay! We got an atheist universe. That’ll really show Her." If that’s your interpretation, I genuinely encourage you to engage with this post, because I have some questions. I’m not trying to be snarky. I really want to understand how you arrived at that conclusion. First of all, do you realize that the new godless universe only exists because She allowed it to happen? To me, saying the ending "stuck it to God" feels a bit like saying, "Yeah, my boss let me take the day off. I really showed him." No... you didn't. For almost the entire story, everything unfolds exactly according to Her plan. Then, right at the end, the new universe feels less like a victory and more like a consolation prize, a participation trophy. It comes across as God saying, "Yep, I got everything I wanted. Sorry, you never stood a chance. I know, very sad. Here, have one wish to make up for it." I genuinely struggle to see how that's interpreted as defeating Her.That struggle is further compounded by the fact that religion still exists in the new universe.If the new universe is meant to be our universe, and there's graffiti depicting angels and demons, then that lore has to come from somewhere. Which raises another question: are Aziraphale and Crowley actually free from Heaven and Hell? The only difference is that, before, Heaven and Hell loomed over them in a very literal sense. Now Heaven and Hell loom over them the same way they've loomed over humanity throughout history: through persecution, inquisitions, witch trials, sexism, homophobia, indoctrination, zealotry, religious wars, and countless other forms of oppression. In that sense, they're still not free from Heaven and Hell. Nobody is. So what exactly was the sacrifice for? And let me please remind you: Aziraphale and Crowley had absolutely no reason whatsoever to believe their God was benevolent. This is the same God who was perfectly comfortable drowning children in the Flood. The same God who sanctioned the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The same God who signed off on the deaths of Job's children. And that's only the material directly referenced by the show. Expand beyond that, and we're talking about the God who killed every firstborn child in Egypt to punish a Pharaoh. The omniscient, omnipotent being who witnessed the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Holocaust, the transatlantic slave trade, and every act of sexual violence in human history, yet never lifted a finger to stop any of it. And if we're embracing the interpretation that free will was an illusion all along, that She was secretly orchestrating everything from the beginning, then the implications of all of those events become... yikes. By that point, in my opinion, any interpretation of the finale that relies on God suddenly being trustworthy, benevolent, merciful, or compassionate in any way just falls flat for me. That God? That’s the God you’re wholeheartedly trusting to give us a “better universe”?Well, then I have a bridge to sell you. My own interpretation is that the new universe is essentially the Job wager on steroids. In both the show and the biblical story, God makes a wager with Satan that's basically, "He's so loyal that I can destroy his entire life and he'll still worship me." The ending feels like the same wager, just scaled up to encompass an entire universe. "I'll create a universe where I don't even participate. I won't perform miracles. I won't answer prayers. I won't reveal myself. It’ll be as if I don’t exist. And look, these plebs STILL worship me." That motivation feels far more consistent with the egotistical deity we've been shown throughout the series than the idea that She suddenly had a change of heart and decided to give everyone a genuinely better universe. Which brings me back to my original question: did they really stick it to God? Because from where I'm standing, the only character who truly got everything she wanted was Her. Her plan succeeded. She retired (or evaporated herself) on her own terms. She created a universe where she doesn't even have to exist, yet billions of people still worship her. That's not getting owned. That's having your cake and eating it too. If I were writing an ending intended to stick it to God, then God would actually have to lose. A lot of fans suggested ending things with a card game. That could've worked. Others suggested using Jesus as an active character, having him stand up to his mother the way Adam stood up to Satan, and then having Adam and Jesus build a genuinely better world together. That would've been sticking it to God. Or, I dunno, they had the Book of Life in their friggin hands. They summoned Her with it. They could have just as easily told her to bugger off with it. Don’t know why that didn’t occur to them.But having an arguably sociopathic deity get everything she wanted, voluntarily step away from creation, leave behind a universe where she's still worshipped, and leave the protagonists living in a world that's still fundamentally shaped by religion... No matter how hard I squint, how far I tilt my head, or how much I try to read between the lines, I still can't see how that's "sticking it to God," and I’m not even fully convinced they’re free from Heaven and Hell. Am I missing something?242772
anansajReblogged catkelpiepetrabeeeFollowi don't know how to articulate well that like, no matter the good intention or reason or logic A/C choosing to hit the reset button was, it's messed up they made that decision in the first place. they should not have HAD to."oh well humanity were all dead anyway at that point in the movie they couldn't have been involved'. but they SHOULD have been the third player. they SHOULD have had a seat at the table. Jesus would've been the perfect representation to tell them fucking no, let's try to fix what we already HAVE. this world is messed up but it's WORTH saving.i love them, i do, but the fact they made the choice on humanity's behalf should not have been theirs to begin with. 41168
anansajRebloggedluthebanFollow"how can grace live longer in the salvastra au?" uhhh fun alien chemicals or something
also do you know what's reeeally funny about chemistry-102842,209
anansajRebloggedbluemuffin-drawsFollowBased off this post by @7-inches-of-satanic-panic 663,93112,843
anansajReblogged iforgiveyouprimeruby-goldFollowI got my grubby little hands on yet another Heaven report and we may have identified the source of the current European heatwave. Aziraphale just wanted to enjoy a proper summer picnic and cranked the thermostat up to turn Europe into a terrarium. Gotta keep the snusband comfortable!1865
anansajRebloggedstarlightervardaFollowI want Devil's Minion to become canon solely so they can keep ending up in scenarios that judge Daniel for the power imbalance / age gap only for Armand to be like44152,172
anansajRebloggedbelovedblabberFollowTruly what Louis is doing with Regina is such a gutting confirmation of Claudia “never been about me” like goddddddd god god she never had a choice she was a symbol she was something acted upon she was robbed of her life and self the moment they turned her and when she was finally breaking free she was killed along with the first person to ever see her for HER and Louis’ grief is so deep and acute but it’s about HIM he kills Claudia’s rapist and reads her diary to him as he does and it’s for HIM, he finds a girl that looks like her and pays her to pretend to be her because it was never about her here’s a convincing fill in, it’s baby Lulu all over again it was never about herrrrr Claudia has been dead since the start they killed the woman she could have been and then when she was finally flying free and making herself anew she was killed again and it was never about her I am going to throw up 74171,728
anansajRebloggedpurebearsFollowwhat if you were a BROKE waitress with CRIMINAL records in DIFFERENT countries and there are RATS falling off of the ceiling of your SHITTY apartment and a BILLIONAIRE who turns out to be a VAMPIRE stalks you but he is GAY so he doesnt wanna FUCK you instead he wants you to ROLEPLAY as the DEAD girl who used to be his DAUGHTER SISTER2164648
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