Cat Omens I Don’t Like The Coloring But I’m Quite Proud Of The Pose. ^^

Supreme Archangel Aziraphale

For Ditys by @angellilou-art

Absolutely delightfully batshit things that are canon from the Good Omens book but (as far as I can remember) didn’t make it into the tv series:

- Elvis never died and works as a burger-cook at Burger Lord, the fast food chain owned by Famine

- Burger Lord franchises are banned in France

- Adam has a much older sister named Sarah and I would pay so much money for a chapter from her POV

- Baby #3 from the hospital switch grows up in Tadfield too, is called 'Greasy Johnson' and his gang of kids are the Them's greatest enemies

- Adam resurrects the postman Death killed and the postman immediately goes back to work, delivering Agnes Nutter's box to Newt and Anathema. It's also strongly implied the postman, unlike the rest of the world, remembers everything

- Adam also resurrected the ten telephone salespeople Hatsur killed. They don't remember anything. It's probably for the best.

- The Them meet the Metatron and are disappointed it isn't a transformer. They make their disappointment known. Loudly.

- Warlock Dowling is good at math, likes baseball and "plastic toys that transform into other plastic toys"

In a darker alternative universe Aziraphale and Crowley would only meet on the battlefield. Doomed to die by the hand of the other.

Stardew Omens update: the Marital Home. Aziraphale has his library space and Crowley has his plant room.

Just ignore the kegs in the kitchen, they’re getting a cellar built soon.

The book nook at night because I love how cosy it’s come out.

Country love is kissing in the kitchen~~ country love is honest and it’s true~~

Yup, indeed! I now have a Patreon account.

This is a huge milestone for me, and it took some convincing from wonderful people to finally take the leap. (You know who you are 🤍)

I still can't fully comprehend that I've actually done it...

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for all your support over the past 12 months. Your constant encouragement and comments has driven me to continually push my boundaries, refine my skills, and create better artwork. I still have a Iong long way to go but I wouldn't have reached this point without you and I'm excited for what's still to come.

Patreon

Patreon

Patreon is empowering a new generation of creators. Support and engage with artists and creators as they live out their passions!

Personalized phone case for my best friend.

Good Omens Fanfic Friday (13 Dec 2024)

Sorry, Right Number (2K; Rated T) by @waitingtobebroken

Human AU. Apparently @waitingtobebroken recs are just going to be a weekly thing with me now. Aziraphale calls a phone sex line in this dialogue-only short. For business reasons, of course.

***

And I Did (85K; Rated E) by @di-42

This post-S2 just finished, and it's a wonderful story of the Supreme Archangel working with Grand Duke of Hell, Crowley, to stop the Second Coming. Has some great original angels and demons, and a *very* satisfying ending.

***

Reading Circle Summons (34K; Rated T) by @joyandotherstories

A companion fic to Slumber Party Summons (29K; Rated G), where instead of Crowley getting summoned, a group of older women accidentally summons Aziraphale. He and Crowley become friends with the ladies and join in their reading circle activities. The story includes excerpts from their monthly book choices, some of which are deliberately and hilariously bad.

***

Abyssal (40K; Rated E) by @snae-b

Human AU. Another excellent and terrifying sci-fi story from @snae-b. This time Aziraphale is an oceanologist and Crowley is a submersible pilot whose (secret due to fraternization policies in the contract) relationship is already established when the story begins. They're on the last day of their two-month stint five miles below the ocean. The rest of the team has already surfaced, and Aziraphale and Crowley are looking forward to twelve glorious hours alone. Except, they're not alone, and something is hunting them.

Give me coffee or give me death

Why I believe the coffee is important…but not because it’s been tampered with. The coffee represents exactly how Metatron manipulated Aziraphale to return to heaven.

Let’s take a look back at that painful final episode.

In Nina’s coffee shop, the Metatron makes an interesting remark: “Do people ever ask for death? The name of your establishment is Give me Coffee or Give me Death. I assume they always ask for coffee.” And when Nina replies that they never ask for death, he says “No I don’t suppose they do. So predictable.”

This is an interesting line! And in my experience, interesting lines don’t show up for no reason. My takeaway from this is that it means when given the choice between a mildly pleasant thing (coffee) and an extremely unpleasant one (death), the predictable choice most people will make is to pick coffee. Here’s where things get interesting. The Metatron proceeds to apply this exact logic on Aziraphale.

Let’s fast forward just a little bit, to Aziraphale’s retelling of his talk with the Metatron. After being offered the position of supreme archangel, Aziraphale initially refuses! He says “but I don’t want to go back to heaven. Where would I get my coffee?” In other words, Aziraphle likes earth and is happy here amongst his people and things. To this, the Metatron responds: “As supreme archangel, you would be able to decide who to work with…” and says that he was looking back at his precious exploits and saw his “de facto partnership with the demon Crowley.” And continues “Now if you wanted to work with him again, that might be considered irregular. But it would certainly be within your jurisdiction to restore your friend Crowley to full angelic status.” On my first watching, I didn’t catch the threat — but it absolutely was one! Because here, the Metatron has asked Aziraphale to choose between coffee and death. He’ll have to return to heaven, BUT he’ll be able to be with Crowley! The alternative is the threat of never being able to work with Crowley again. And just as the Metatron has predicted, Aziraphle chooses coffee. Because to Aziraphale, the alternative would be inconceivable.

Could Aziraphle and Crowley have communicated better? Yes. Should Aziraphale probably have explained the bit about the Metatron threatening to keep them from working together. YEP. But as Maggie and Nina said, communication is something for them to work on (next season, ideally).

New scanner, so here is the better versions of my colored drawings.

How do you find a balance between “show, don’t tell” and “readers might not catch/understand this subtle concept or showing it would be too convoluted or more open to interpretation than it needs to be”? It doesn’t help that everyone encourages more showing even if it swallowing little details that are supposed to stand out. Basically, I feel like I overthink my showing as being too tell-y even when it already has several layers of meaning and is already too dense for average readers.

“Show don’t tell” resources & advice...

I think people often mistake the advice of “show don’t tell” as being in the interest of making one’s writing more literary; more “high art” than candid prose typically is. The advice is intended to help one recognize when their prose is becoming dull or unengaging to the reader. Showing is supposed to promote an organically flowing reading experience, rather than turn the writing into a flowery, pretentious, and unintelligible mess. Finding a satisfying way to deliver information in the text that isn’t “I felt” or “I thought” is important. It should never dilute the information. Clarity comes first, and then one can configure the sentence to add as much richness to the reader’s ability to immerse themselves as possible. 

If the desire is to show that the character is sad, writing that “she looked down at the floor and wrapped her arms around her own waist” is not going to be any less indicative of that information than “she felt sad”. That is the point of this advice. It is not a way for one to convert information into a code that the reader must analyze in order to comprehend the basic idea of what the scenes are about. This isn’t 1597, and nobody is asking anyone to be Shakespeare. 

Density of a piece of writing does not give it inherent worth. Ease of comprehension doesn’t always have to be the number one priority, but it should be a considerable factor when one accounts for their audience and their subject matter. If one is writing a young adult fantasy trilogy, the density of the writing should be adherent to the demographic’s ability to comprehend certain writing styles. “Show, don’t tell” applies to all writing, but different writers interpret it differently, often based on who they’re writing for. If the concept you’re trying to convey to the reader in a subtle manner is not coming across without blurting it out in the text, perhaps the problem isn’t the way you’re describing it, but the concept is weak in its current state. 

Easily misinterpreted meanings or concepts are often not the victim of descriptive style, but being underdeveloped sub textually. No important concept can be described once within a dense text and expected to translate as intended into the reader’s understanding. If it’s important enough to the bones of your story and meaning, it shouldn’t rely on the manner of description to shine through. Sometimes the density of a text is a product of too much intentional symbolism or motif. It’s okay to allow some things to be meaningful purely in interpretation. It’s okay to acknowledge that you allowed something that obviously implies meaning to be prescribed its implications by the readers. 

Here are some of my other resources on the topic that you may find helpful:

Resources For Describing Characters

Resources For Describing Emotion

Conveying Emotions

All About Colors

A Writer’s Thesaurus

Showing VS Telling in First Person POV

Using Vocabulary

Balancing Detail & Development

+ When To Use “Felt”

Showing Vs Telling

How To Better Your Vocabulary & Description

Describing emotion through action

Improving Flow In Writing

How To “Show Don’t Tell” More

–

Masterlist | WIP Blog

If you enjoy my blog and wish for it to continue being updated frequently and for me to continue putting my energy toward answering your questions, please consider Buying Me A Coffee, or pledging your support on Patreon, where I offer early access and exclusive benefits for only $5/month.