[aedemoth]

Rant no. I don’t know what number it is anymore: Good Omens (TV) and Gender Expression made me realize some things about myself

This is sort of an essay, sort of a thank you letter, but definitely a long Tumblr post.

If you asked me several weeks ago about my sexual or gender identities, I would have shrugged rather noncommittally and said something like, “Bisexual, probably,” or “Eh.” Which isn’t an answer a lot of people find welcoming, especially during Pride Month, when everyone is rejoicing in their expression of gender and sexuality. (Disclaimer: It is very important for many, many people to have labels and have pride in them. That is awesome and beautiful to see, but I can’t find myself with a lot of pride in labels, which is probably something for a therapist to take a stab at.)

But @neil-gaiman answered a wonderful question recently about the gender expression of his and Terry Pratchett's characters in the Good Omens TV Show. He said something about angels and demons is sexless, which is in the book and general knowledge, and that Crowley, in particular, is generally male presenting, except when he’s a nanny.

Except when he’s a nanny. 

There’s no label there. I know so many people are searching for it and Neil has made it perfectly clear that we are allowed to apply whatever labels we see fit. But for me, it is so fucking refreshing to see it as something that doesn’t need an explanation.

That last bit, for whatever reason, was like some sort of epiphany for me. It was the middle of Pride Month and I was lamenting about how I don’t fit any of these labels, how I don’t want to have to fit them. Suddenly I was thinking, “Eureka! I’ve found it!”

The TV show was a whole new, wondrous experience. I had read the book before and always wondered why I resonated with Crowley so much, but seeing a visual image of it all made me realize. 

Crowley, my dear boy, doesn’t give two shits what anybody thinks about how he expresses himself. Because he’s a demon. A fallen angel nearly as old as the universe, who hung the stars in the sky and promptly sauntered vaguely downwards once he was happy with them, and he doesn’t have to fit. Because he’s ethereal, or occult, or whatever, he’s cooler than us.

And neither do I, and I should be allowed to just exist without having to figure everything out. If beings thousands of years old don’t know shit about the Ineffable Plan, then I don’t need to figure it all out either. I wish people would stop telling me I need to.

I’m a generally female presenting but masculine/androgynous expressing entity, except when I’m the opposite or something different, who resonates more with male characters, usually but not always, and whose concept of sexual and romantic identity really depends on the person and probably the time of year and whether or not a solar eclipse is nearing, but girls are pretty beautiful regardless of the position of the stars. And damn, I wish I was as good at naming myself as Anthony J. Crowley is.

And, honestly, Fuck the gender binary. I have taken the Gender/Sexuality spectrum, turned it into one of those rainbow color palettes on Photoshop, and I am the cursor on the screen. I will click wherever I so please.

Anyway, this has been long, but I should conclude Pride Month by with some pride, eh? I must thank Neil Gaiman, the late Terry Pratchett, the actors, and everyone who contributed to this project for helping me accept myself. So many other people have already thanked them, but I’ll add to the pile.

[kittycaswithoutthefur]

Hello @neil-gaiman

This is me and my best friend @sherlaen at the German Comic Con.

I just wanted to tell you that I really love what you did with Good Omens. I’ve watched the show five times already, am currently reading the book for the third time and I think Terry would be proud of how it turned out.

[babyseraphim]

*opens the good omens theme score to analyze all of the theory*

it’s such a beautifully simple melody, but all of the harmonies and extra additions make it not simple at all.

the close harmonies of seconds and thirds near the end of the key change, where the key changes from A to E flat, whICH IS A TRITONE UP FROM A, ITS SO CLEVER. plus, there’s all of these accidentals in the melody which means it doesn’t really even stick to the key and the whole thing sounds like its fighting with itself whether its minor or its major.

oh and, the last playthough of the melody with all of the thirds and seconds? the first playthrough of the harmony has no harmony with it, and sounds somewhat devious, but lonely, and the melody itself reminds me kind of a snake, and of the way crowley walks. then there’s the angelic middle section, which sounds, you know. angelic, full of choirs, not so lonely, just like how aziraphale isn’t technically alone in heaven. not like how crowley is alone in hell, anyway. and then after the angel section, there’s the tritone key change (which to me, signifies crowley showing up in aziraphale’s life)

and then the ENDING!!!! with the HARMONIES!!!!! its like a slightly dissonant dance between aziraphale and crowley, they fit well together but they don’t make the most conventional pair, and they don’t always work well together. but sometimes (signified by when it changes to the harmony being in sixths) they hit their stride and really GET each other. its not really dissonant but its not fully consonant either, and its so much more INTERESTING that way

plus the harp glissandos peppered throughout? mmmmMMMM YUMMY

[marta-bee]

Yesterday got a bit crazy, so I didn’t get to tell you all my latest GO story.

Context: I give free piano lessons to kids in my neighborhood on Saturday mornings. There’s a Catholic church that’s kind of the heart of the neighborhood. I’m not Catholic myself, but because they let me use their piano, I sometimes volunteer a bit there as well, helping stock the food-pantry or prep meals for the soup kitchen they run, that kind of thing. (It’s one way to beat the heat!) Anywho, I found myself sitting at a table slicing ridiculously large volumes of carrots and overhearing the conversation between Effie and Lupe. They’re both in their seventies, absolute dears in the “be kind but take no shit” mode. My kind of people.

Lupe apparently had seen GO and was telling Effie all about it, trying to sell her on it. If I understood correctly, Effie has always had a thing for librarians, which is simultaneously the funniest and sweetest hook for this series I’ve come across.

Anywho:

E- It sounds quite good, but I’m not still not sure. Doris was saying it makes good and evil out to be the same thing. All seems a bit too modern to me.

(NB: Doris has a good heart and all, but she most definitely has a priggish side. Don’t be like Doris, folks.)

L- That’s not it at all, though. Good’s good and evil’s evil, and God’s still God. It’s more that the angels aren’t always good, and the demons aren’t always bad. They’re like people that way.

E- (Looks pensive for a moment) That sounds like my Saul. 

L- Mmmmm?

E- Well, you remember how people used to talk about the communists. How they were evil, ruthless really. All the same. But not my Saul.

L- But Saul worked for the bank. He was hardly a communist.

E- (*waves hand as if to dismiss this inconvenient fact*) But he was a Soviet, until he came over in ‘63.

L- And he wasn’t all bad?

E- Well, I wouldn’t go that far. But ruthless? Not him at all. The man couldn’t kill a fly. 

L- Yes, like that. Right and wrong are still their own thing. Really, it’s like Fr. Javier was saying – God’s word is eternal and the rest of us sometimes get it right and sometimes get it wrong, even priests. Even popes, quite a lot of the time. You know they’re not infallible all day long.

E- I’ve been saying it for decades, they’ve been wrong about the pills and don’t know the half of the harm they’ve done on that count.

L- Just so. Why should heaven and hell get it right, either?

E- I’ve heard it’s all a bit… *E. waggles her hand from side to side*

L- Oh, that. They are, I think, or they could be if you want them to be. Like Richard and Carlos were, you remember. It’s private, somehow.

(NB: At this point, I am literally biting the inside of my cheek to keep from jumping in to their conversation, because Lupe is doing so well.)

L- And that Azie angel is quite a dish. Reminded me of your Saul, the way he’d look all forlorn when he wanted something from the kitchen. You’ll like it.

E- Well, I get enough of that from him. But if you’re so caught up in it, I just might give it a try.

…. At which point they moved on to talking about other people I have no clue who they were. I’m so proud of Lupe for being such a good fannish evangelist, and so proud of this show for making all kinds of waves.

[xenolinguistics-department]

Hey guys do you wanna see three dancing angels and seven dancing demons

Well of course you do

[roachleakage]

[iraprince]

anybody else in the club feeling this one

[windmillcrusader]

[llamasgotoheaven]

Hey so like

Originally posted by itisa-profoundbond-sarandom

Crowley’s clenched wrists and tense focused gesture

It reminds me of something

But what

Hmmm

Lol

Oh

I know

[ladyyatexel]

[egypt-museum]

The Three Musicians, 1910

Reproduction of a mural from the Tomb of Nakht.

Illustration by Walter Tyndale (English, 1855-1943).

[bmouse]

[sandersstudies]

If you and your partner practice frequent, non-sexual consent, your relationship will be healthier and easier.

“Are you comfortable with me ranting about my day for a few minutes?”

“Oh, this is your poetry? Would it be okay if I read it?”

“Do you mind if I use your phone for a few minutes?”

“Wow, your meal looks awesome. Could I try some?”

It will save a lot of grief, especially in a developing relationship. Eventually, with consistent “yes’s” and “no’s” you can figure out more permanent boundaries and guidelines.

“I need to ask before ranting about my day or taking their food, but my partner is okay with me using their phone whenever. However, my partner does not like me reading their poetry unless they offer first.”

[sandersstudies]

And this goes for friendships too! Even just stuff like “do you mind if I leave this door open?” 

[doomhamster]

…I never fully realized it before but this is a big part of why my relationship with my husband is so conflict-free. Both because him doing this all the time made it easy to trust him, back when we were a new item, and because it helped ME break out of the toxic idea that you should never ask about a partner’s preferences because if you Really Loved Them you should be able to intuit what they want, all the time, about anything. 

[tygermama]

my one son is autistic so I ask ‘hug or no hug?’

I always knock and wait to be acknowledged before opening my sons’ bedroom doors (not just because I respect their privacy but because they’re teenagers and I don’t want to walk in on any personal activities)

I don’t go into their rooms without asking

I don’t touch their phones without asking (I’ll pick one up to take to them if I find it in another room but I won’t go through it)

yesterday, my younger son walked into my room, stopped, said sorry and walked out to the hall and knocked on my door ‘because if I have to knock on his door, he has to knock on mine’

because their trust is important and I want them to know I respect their privacy

[sophygurl]

Consent is not just for sex. Consent is not just for sex. Consent is not just for sex.

[vilequeerofdigitalevil]

!!!!!!!!!!!!! Growing up, there wasn’t a lot of boundaries respected by my parents and it warms my heart to see a re-blogger practicing this with their kiddos 💖 So important for every relationship in life.

[windmillcrusader]

[yumbles]

crowley and aziraphale run into each other in berlin, 1929

a collab btwn me and my sister (her drawing, my colors!)

[awholebunchobananas]

@temporal-infidelity your a e s t h e t i c