No, said Aziraphale, it's ineffable.

trusthimhesadoctor anthonycrowleymoved

anthonycrowleymoved

the amount of people who are asking me for directions, presumably because i look like i know what i’m doing instead of being here for like, the fourth time maybe in my entire life, is quite bone chilling

ladyyatexel love-lays-bleeding

millennial-review

rafaelafranzen simply-brightly-zee

theladyzephyr

I’ve seen some fantastic headcanons on limitations of the angels’ and demons’ powers in Good Omens, but my personal favourite is that it ultimately comes down to imagination.

In my mind, it’s clear that there are limitations, otherwise why would Crowley or Aziraphale ever do something by hand rather than just miracle it? To influence the design of the M25, Crowley uses computer hacks, bribery, and physically moves some markers – he doesn’t just snap his fingers. Aziraphale has to ride a horse to Edinburgh, he doesn’t just teleport there.

One way of thinking of it is as a mana based thing – each particular being has a certain amount of power, and big miracles cost more power etc. That’s fun, and I’ve read some fantastic fics that use that premise (@kedreeva‘s current WIP is one, it’s going to destroy you all when she publishes it).

As an alternative though, let me propose this – the limitations on the angels’ and demons’ magic are based on how well they can imagine the result of the miracle. Little things are easy – Aziraphale imagining his cold cocoa is in fact steaming hot for example. Not too tricky to hold that reality in your mind. Imagining that a room full of armed guards are in fact equipped with water pistols? That’s a bit tricker to do all at once – in the book canon Aziraphale misses one.

It’s my favourite explanation for why Crowley seems so powerful – he’s exceptionally imaginative. Change the paintballers’ weapons into real guns, and ensure they all have miraculous escapes? That’s a lot of details to keep track of. His time-stopping too – he’s the only one we ever see do it.

Most of the time, whenever Aziraphale or Crowley use their powers, it’s for ‘one thing at a time’ things. Aziraphale calls light, then heals Anathema’s arm, then fixes the bike, then miracles the bike rack. Crowley diverts the path of the bomb, but rather than using his own powers to save himself and Aziraphale, he gets Aziraphale to do it. Saving the books, I’d argue, it technically two miracles at once, assuming he’s still diverting the bomb at the time, and another point where Crowley’s imagination lets him do something particularly impressive. The other obvious moments are keeping himself alive and the flaming Bentley going, and stopping time and pulling himself, Aziraphale and Adam into the time bubble.

Thinking about the other angels and demons, do we ever see them do any miracles? The only one I can remember is Michael miracling the towel for Aziraphale – not much imagination required there.

TLDR – in order to use their powers, the angels and demons have to imagine the results clearly. The limitations on their power are based on what they’re capable of imagining, rather than a finite wellspring of power that gets used up.

What do you think, folks, got any favourite headcanons about power limitations in the Omens world? Can you think of any points that support or contradict imagination based limitations? I’d love to hear them!

ref meta oh I LOVE this idea