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Language:
English
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Part 2 of CrossOmens
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Published:
2024-02-19
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0
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1/1
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CrossOmens: A Matter of Character

Summary:

Book Aziraphale and TV Aziraphale have some tuna nigiri and a conversation about what it means to be the center of your story.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

Digital comic with grayscale flat colors, page 1 of 7. Two versions of Aziraphale from Good Omens, one representing the book and the other the TV show, are sitting at a table in a sushi restaurant. There are three tuna nigiri sushi pieces left on the serving tray between them. TV Aziraphale gestures with his chopsticks as he talks. TV Aziraphale: I suppose it’s an ineffable plan in itself, this third act. It doesn’t make the wait any easier to bear, though. Or the… (he pauses.) I know I shouldn’t be bitter. I shouldn’t. I’m the one getting an ending. And yet… if only it didn’t have to hurt so.

TV Aziraphale: I know that is such a selfish thing to say, especially to you- Book Aziraphale: I am going to stop you right there, my good fellow. (he reaches for the sushi tray with his chopsticks and selects a piece) You are facing circumstances vastly different to mine. It is only natural that your new role has brought new difficulties. TV Aziraphale: The… Archangel role? Book Aziraphale: Protagonist. (he pops the sushi piece into his mouth, while the other stares at him)

Page 3 of 7. TV Aziraphale: What are you talking about? You ARE a protagonist, you and your Crowley both! You’re on most of the book covers! (Book Aziraphale grimaces uncomfortably. His next dialogue is superimposed on text boxes over a collage of images of several Good Omens book characters, centered around a picture of Adam, Dog, and the Them like panels in a stained glass window. There are no clear views of anyone’s faces in this collage. The surrounding characters are, clockwise from the bottom left, the Four Horsemen in silhouette, Anathema and Newt consulting index cards, Aziraphale and Crowley clasping hands, Agnes Nutter surrounded by plumes of smoke, Madame Tracy and Shadwell at their apartment building, and Hastur and Ligur lurking) Book Aziraphale: Crowley and I are characters who have come to represent the story in people’s minds. But the book is not about us. Not truly. If anything, it’s about Adam. Miss Device, to an extent. The ones who change and learn something by the story’s end.

Page 4 of 7. TV Aziraphale: But, but you DID learn over the course of the book. Book Aziraphale: (shrugs) A little bit, perhaps. Not nearly enough to carry an entire series. TV Aziraphale: So then, when the story was adapted for television… Book Aziraphale: It was rewritten to put you and your Crowley at the centre, yes. Which meant that the two of you had to bear the narrative. (The dialogue is in text boxes over a depiction of the bandstand breakup scene from Season 1, Episode 3 of the TV show. Aziraphale and Crowley are clearly arguing.)

Page 5 of 7. (The top panel depicts TV Aziraphale reporting to the other angels in Heaven. Uriel, Gabriel, Michael, and Sandalphon surround him, listening to him speak. Book Aziraphale’s words are in text box voiceover.) Book Aziraphale: You have also had to bear more immediate problems in your story. The other angels were not present in the book, for instance. Much more rests on you than ever did for me. TV Aziraphale (indignant) Is that supposed to comfort me? Book Aziraphale: No. But you and I have read enough stories to recognise the patterns. While the show is yours and Crowley’s, you two are now the ones with the most to learn and the most to gain from it. That’s what comes with being the main characters. (TV Aziraphale eats the last piece of sushi, looking irritated. Book Aziraphale seems to realize that he’s been unnecessarily blunt.) Book Aziraphale: … I am sorry that you are in such pain now, however.

Page 6 of 7. TV Aziraphale glowers at his book counterpart. TV Aziraphale: You believe that it is necessary. Book Aziraphale: From a storytelling standpoint, perhaps. Though if it’s any consolation, this won’t be forever. (He places a gentle hand on the other’s shoulder) I have known the creators for much longer than you have, and nihilism was never a style they wore with ease. You will not be left in despair, of that I am certain. You might even do better than I would. For one thing, you still have your idealism, and that just may be your saving grace.

Page 7 of 7. (Book Aziraphale withdraws his hand, looking off to the side uncomfortably) Book Aziraphale: I suppose that’s why in my story, Crowley looks to the light, as much as he’d protest my saying so. He always did balance me out. TV Aziraphale: (sadly) He… he does. (Book Aziraphale gives him a sympathetic look) Book Aziraphale: You’ll find yours again. I guarantee it. TV Aziraphale: … Do you? Book Aziraphale: (smiles) Well… I AM an angel. (TV Aziraphale processes for a moment, but then smiles in return, just a little.)

Notes:

Not long after I published the Crowley comic on Tumblr, I got several messages begging for an Aziraphale equivalent, and I was just as eager to get one made. Still, it took a long time to figure out what they would say (not least because Crowley was entirely correct about the two of them my-dear-fellow'ing each other into oblivion, which meant wading through the empty pleasantries for something meaningful), but it was very rewarding to tease out these insights and have the characters observe their own roles in the narrative.

Book Aziraphale in particular was fun to write because I wanted to show him fighting past his initial inclination to be condescending and blunt to try, REALLY try, to be gentle to his TV self, even if he does kind of think he screwed it up. TV Aziraphale was fun as well, though I do wish I could've found more for him to say.

This comic was pretty therapeutic to make; I hope other people take comfort in it as well.

(If you would like to see more of these silly celestials interacting, I've been posting drawings of them on my Tumblr (allysdelta.tumblr.com)! I hope to do some more comics of them soon.)

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