Line #160 WMG/Goodomens


1	[[WMG: A Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square subtext. What do you make of it?]]
2	At the end of the book: a nightingale sang in Berkeley square. As said on the YMMV page, it's a very old and sappy love song but, don't you notice somethings very interesting about the lyrics?
3
4	--> That certain night, the night we met,
5	--> There was magic abroad in the air.
6
7	true in general, for all couples
8
9	--> There were angels dining at the ritz,
10
11	If you notice, Aziraphale and Crowley always dine at the Ritz together.
12
13	--> And a nightingale sang in berkeley square.
14
15	The event at the end of the book
16
17	-->I may be right, I may be wrong,\
18	But I'm perfectly willing to swear\
19	That when you turned and smiled at me,\
20	A nightingale sang in berkeley square.
21
22	-->The moon that lingered over london'town\
23	Poor puzzled moon, he wore a frown.\
24	How could he know that we two were so in love?
25	-->The whole darn world seemed upside down.
26
27	Hm, interesting.
28
29	-->The streets of town were paved with stars,\
30	It was such a romantic affair.\
31	And as we kissed and said goodnight,\
32	A nightingale sang in berkeley square.
33
34	~interlude~
35
36	--> When dawn came stealing up, all gold and blue
37
38	The next day after the Apocalypse was all about the dawn.
39
40	--> To interrupt our rendez-vous,\
41	I still remember how you smiled and said,\
42	"was that a dream? or was it true? "
43
44	A lot of the characters walked away thinking if it was true.
45
46	-->Our homeward step was just as light\
47	As the dancing of Fred Astaire,\
48	And like an echo far away\
49	A nightingale sang in Berkeley square.
50
51	What do you make of it? See anything there? And what do you think Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman were doing there?
52	If there is a couple, who do you think is the narrator?
53
54	[[WMG: Who could play the different characters?]]
55	Not that much of a [=WMG=], but it fits here better than on the main page.
56	** Creator/SummerGlau could play Anathema Device really well... A pretty pale skinned brunette with touches of cuckoocloudlander-ness.
57	** There's growing support for Tom Hiddleston as Crowley and, by virtue of the fact that they have established rapport ({{Wallander}}, Film/{{Thor}}, etc.), Kenneth Branagh as Aziraphale. It's an understatement to say this would be ALL KINDS OF AWESOME.
58	*** I second Tom as Crowley. He was literally the first thing that popped into mind when I read his description. I can't quite see Kenneth Branagh as Aziraphale though. I keep seeing Martin Freeman.
59	** Creator/StephenFry is Aziraphale--gay, intelligent, extremely English, well-read, middle-aged, [[Series/{{QI}} even has a habit of calling people "dear" ...]]
60	*** Which means that Creator/HughLaurie is Crowley.
61	*** These two could be put to far better use as minor characters. Creative cameos!
62	** Mark Gatiss is Aziraphale. Martin Freeman is Aziraphale. Benedict Cumberbatch is Aziraphale.
63	*** Too much Series/{{Sherlock}} baggage on all of them at this point, although Freeman could've done Newt ten years ago.
64	** Colin Farrell is Crowley. I'd even say Paul Bettany is Aziraphale.
65	*** For my money, Colin Farrell might make a good Newt, and Paul Bettany would make a ''perfect'' Metatron.
66	** David Tennant...oh, bugger it for a lark, he could play either of them. Brilliantly.
67	*** Actually, I'd love to see him as the Delivery Man. It's a minor role, but a crucial one, and he'd play it with appropriate whimsy!
68	*** Tennant playing Crowley with Creator/BenedictCumberbatch as Aziraphale.
69	*** Confirmed: David Tennant will be playing Crowley in the TV adaptation of the book.
70	** Mark Sheppard is Crowley. (He's already played a [[Series/SuperNatural demon named Crowley]]...)
71	*** From what this troper's seen so far, that particular name match-up has provided a great excuse for crossover fic.
72	*** Really not sure I could see him as Crowley (his manner's not quite right), but what about as Hastur or Ligur?
73	** Noel Fielding as Crowley and Julian Barratt as Aziraphale. That is all.
74	** Creator/TomHardy as Aziraphale. I don't know why, it just works.
75	** Imelda Stauton as Sister Mary Loquacious.
76	** Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Hastur and Ligur.
77	** Andy Serkis as Shadwell.
78	** Matt Gordon as Crowley, appearance-wise. He's the Paco Rabanne model for 1 Million. This troper's not so sure about his acting skils, but that's what he should look like. It's the cheekbones, what can I say?
79	** Suranne Jones (played Idris in ''Series/DoctorWho'') as Anathema.
80	** Creator/SteveBuscemi is Crowley, Creator/StephenFry as Aziraphale. That would be utterly perfect in my opinion.
81	** Vinette Robinson (yes from Sherlock) as Anathelma Device. Just think about it. It works, in my opinion!
82	** Thomas Sangster as Adam. Scarlett Johansson as War. (See what I did there?) James Earl Jones as the voice of Death. Hey, it could happen... in a quantum sense, anyway.
83	** Tim Curry as Death
84	** This trope is always going to be disappointed that she'll never get to see young Kyle MacLachlan as the delivery man. Or Aziraphale.
85	** Creator/CillianMurphy as Famine. It works.
86	** Creator/RichardAyoade as Azirphale, Sendhil Ramurphy as Crowley, Oona Chaplin as Anathema, and Dev Patel as Newt. Think about it.
87
88	[[WMG: The 4-part TV adaptation of ''Literature/GoodOmens'' will have a soundtrack consisting entirely of music from Music/{{Queen}}.]]
89
90	Search your feelings, you know it to be true.
91
92	* [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic God I hope so.]]
93	* Yes, but... but... ''Bat out of Hell!''
94	* And "Under Pressure," and "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy," come to it.
95	* But you can't forget "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square."
96	* Additionally, Brian May and/or Roger Taylor will make a cameo. And the world will collapse because of the overload of pure epicness.
97	* Confirmed!
98
99	[[WMG:When the REAL Judgement Day comes, God will make Crowley and Aziraphale honorary humans.]]
100	Angels are either good or evil. Humans come in shades of grey. Crowley and Aziraphale are basically humans with special powers. Therefore, on the real Judgement Day, God will judge them as if they had been humans all along and not slowly become that way.
101
102
103
104	[[WMG: The Them grow up to become [[ComicBook/ScottPilgrim Sex Bob-Omb]].]]
105	Or, at least, they are each other's AU equivalents. Adam is Scott (warping reality to fit his ideal, which has now become video games), Pepper is Kim (redhead, irritable, heart of gold), Brian is Stephen Stills (relaxed and more fun-loving), and Wensleydale is Young Neil (um... process of elimination?)
106	* Alternatively, Adam went on to become Music/OwlCity.
107
108	[[WMG: The Them will grow up to be the next Horsepersons/Bikers of the Apocalypse]]
109
110	Alternatively, they ''would'' - but because they're human, they don't fulfill the roles properly and the apocalypse never actually comes to pass.
111
112	Pepper is War. She's always getting into fights. Brian is Pollution - he's constantly dirty and crisp packets apparently accumulate on the ground wherever he goes. Wensleydale is Famine. He's very fastidious and therefore is probably very careful about what he eats, just as he's very careful about everything else. Adam is Death. He's everywhere, all the time, and you can't really get rid of him.
113
114	* I noticed the parallel on my last re-read and assumed it was deliberate. [[spoiler:Adam was supposed to be the Antichrist, but instead he grew up human. So instead of changing the world with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, he gathered his own horsemen (well, horseboys and -girl) and turned the world over to human control, rather than starting a war that would end in either Heaven or Hell controlling the Earth.]]
115	** It's interesting how this overlaps with Creator/PiersAnthony's idea of the Incarnations of Immortality, that each Personification keeps the job until they die/get bored with it, and nominates a successor.
116
117	[[WMG: Shadwell is an angel/demon gone rogue (and native).]]
118	Probably an old-fashioned angel, considering the witch-hunting thing and his constant condemning of Madame Tracy's, ahem, profession. It could be inferred that he has some kind of supernatural ability, considering his ability to apparently produce cigarettes from nowhere, light them without a match or lighter and make them disappear when he's finished with them, plus the fact that he manages to subsist on nothing but condensed milk, sweet tea and the aformentioned cigarettes, which no human could do.
119	* Problem: It's mentioned Madame Tracy cooks meals for him and leaves them at the door. Shadwell waits just long enough for her to leave before opening the door and taking the food.
120	** Who says he actually eats the food though? He could just take it because of the sheer inconvenience of leaving it outside the door to pile up and start smelling a bit.
121	** He's a British old-age pensioner living on bugger all money who finds it difficult even to make rent. Of course he'd eat free food, even if he isn't grateful for it.
122
123	[[WMG: {{God}} is the unnamed postal service worker who delivers the Horsepersons' artifacts]]
124	Because He is the only character who is listed among the dramatis personae but is not explicitly introduced in the text. Also, we all know that God loves playing janitors, postal workers, and such.
125	* This sounds like a brilliant WMG, but how would you explain Him getting killed?
126	** He doesn't actually get killed though. Even after meeting Death, He appears at the end of the last battle.
127	* He IS ineffable.
128	* Or he could be Jesus, since the Seals are meant to be broken by 'The Lamb of God'.
129
130	[[WMG: Tadfield stands on the same spot where the Garden of Eden once was]]
131	There are many hints throughout the book lampshading its "paradise"-like properties. Also, makes sense for it to be in the middle of everything.
132	* That's because Adam lives there. He wants it to be nice, so it is.
133	* At the end of the book, Adam [[spoiler: climbs up an apple tree and reflects on how "there never was an apple... that wasn't worth the trouble you got into for eating it"]]. Based on that alone, I'd say the above WMG is completely true, if never explicitly stated.
134
135	[[WMG: Agnes' second book only had empty pages in it]]
136	Because she has, of course, foreseen that [[spoiler:Anathema will not read it. The collection of pages exist as a means to end her career as a "professional descendant". Casting them into a fire creates a decisive break between her past and future]].
137	* Keep in mind Agnes' prophecies were not written in chronological order of happening. The last prophecy could as well be the first one that came true.
138
139	[[WMG: Ligur was resurrected along with the humans killed in the Armageddon't.]]
140	Thus, Hell no longer has a reason to let Hastur harm Crowley. Doesn't mean he might not try, but Hell may step in. Or Adam may.
141	* I don't know if you invented the Armageddon't, but it is magnificent.
142
143	[[WMG: Hastur bought Creator/HPLovecraft's soul.]]
144	Hence his inclusion in the Franchise/CthulhuMythos.
145
146	[[WMG: The original four Horsemen are the first four biblical humans.]]
147	Eve got the flaming sword; This is Red's ''sword'' sword. As far as I can recall, it's never said that Aziraphale tracked down his original sword, and he could have been given a replacement after going through [[FateWorseThanDeath the proper bureaucratic channels]]. If it ''does'' say that that's the sword he gave away, then Red's sword is just a different, less [[FeedItWithFire warm]] sword that exemplifies her personification. Cain got KickedUpstairs into the role of Famine, as part of his [[WhoWantsToliveForever eternal]], [[ImmortalityHurts highly unpleasant]] punishment for killing Abel. Abel, the first human to die, provides a filter through which Azrael can communicate with living humans and the world of the living without them dying (prescriptively ''or'' proscriptively). Adam was Conquest, who followed his wife; everntually, in his role as both the first [[ZergRush hu]][[HumanityIsInfectious man]] and what follows in the wake of War, he became Pestilence. I'm not sure who Pollution is; He may be practically anyone, depending on when Pollution stepped into the job and how long someone can be around ([[UnfazedEveryman in]] [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence whatever]] [[TheUndead form]]) before taking on the mantle.
148	** This overlaps quite nicely with Creator/PiersAnthony's idea of the Incarnations of Immortality, that each Personification keeps the job until they die/get bored with it, and nominates a successor.
149
150	This is not ''quite'' incompatible with the highly significant plot point that eating the fruit of The Tree of Knowledge (of Good and Evil) gave humans mortality. Humans have been shown in Literature/TheBible to be able to attain immortality (through divine intervention, or after death, but still). If having eaten of the fruit personally made Adam, Eve, and their unborn child/children exceptionally human, they could easily have become some of the {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of ''humanity'', and the ones who happened to be tasked to ride out (by God or [[SelfFulfillingProphecy fate]] or [[UnstoppableMailman a poorly addressed package]]) in the event of an [[ApocalypseHow apocalypse]].
151
152	[[WMG: The reason that Aziraphale & Crowley are now living together in a cottage on the South Downs is that they were ReassignedToAntarctica]]
153	It was quite embarrassing for both {{Heaven}} and {{Hell}} to have prepared so extensively for an Apocalypse that never came to be, so they needed to find someone to blame. Thankfully neither Aziraphale nor Crowley had directly contributed to the averting of the Apocalypse, so they couldn't be charged with any crime in particular except perhaps not obeying orders or murdering another demon in cold blood in Crowley's case. But from Hastur's attitude, demons probably kill each other all the time with little to no repercussions, so Hell couldn't pin that one on Crowley. And anyways, it would be even more embarrassing to admit that two agents were fraternizing with each other, so to cover up the whole mess Aziraphale and Crowley were demoted and sent to a quiet village where they would be able to do very little harm and keep out of sight. Of course, since both are very fond of each other and actually like living with humans, they probably egged on their superiors [[BriarPatching in an attempt to stay together on Earth]]. So now Aziraphale and Crowley are essentially retired and living comfortably with each other while their superiors consider this a punishment for the Saturday That Never Was (an Arrangement that works out for EVERYBODY, fangirls/-boys included, if I ever saw one).
154
155	[[WMG: To go with the above, Aziraphale's position on Earth was also ReassignedToAntarctica]]
156	After all, Aziraphale is a Principality and used to the Guardian of the East Gate of Eden, and it should be noted that Aziraphale is the only angel we meet that is seen on Earth. Perhaps God wasn't pleased about Aziraphale giving his flaming sword to humans and banished him to Earth, where he adapted and learned to like living among humans. [[InMysteriousWays Or was it a punishment after all...]]?
157
158	[[WMG: Pestilence is going to come out of retirement]]
159	Due to antibiotic resistant disease strains.
160	* Or to make zombies.
161	* Pestilence spread the idea that vaccines caused Autism.
162	* Or he's working at a [[Series/{{Supernatural}}retirement community and owns a green pinto.]]
163
164	[[WMG: War was once known as [[UsefulNotes/TheTrojanWar Helen of Troy]].]]
165	Daughter of Zeus my left foot. Now ShroudedInMyth, War is in no way associated with that gorgeous redhead that used to hang around Menelaus and Paris a lot. Alternately, War had a daughter, who turned out to be Helen.
166
167	[[WMG: How Adam's powers work]]
168	Adam altered reality to fit his view of the world. But where would he get a view of the world? From books. Adam probably read books with eleven year old protagonists when he was a child, and he thought that he would grow up like that. So he did.
169
170	[[WMG: Crowley doesn't just drink because he likes the taste...]]
171	* He doesn't seem to be all that happy about what happened during the Spanish Inquisition. It's at least vaguely hinted that he drinks to forget.
172
173	[[WMG: Crowley Fell because that's where he was needed]]
174	* It's hinted that everything just might have turned out the way it did because of God's ineffable Plan. Which means every player on the field was in the exact place he/she was needed to be for it all to go off without a hitch. If the Plan was all along for Adam and Eve to get kicked out of Eden, maybe he was the only one with the ability to pull it off. Also maybe his role as Hell's not-so-evil representative on Earth was important as well in some way even though his and Aziraphale's actions seemed to have no effect on Adam Young's decision to not go through with Armageddon.
175
176
177	[[WMG: All of the story is just a story made up by Adam in his imagination]]
178	* He likes making games for his friends to play, and this was one such game. They were roleplaying, and each person had multiple characters. Besides, each WMG page simply ''must'' have one Character's Imagination guess.
179
180	[[WMG: [[{{FriendlyRivalry}} Greasy Johnson]] is "Baby B" from the prologue]]
181	* Johnson notably is [[{{TheGhost}} never actually seen]] during the story, so he could be the unnamed award-winning fish breeder.
182	** It's outright stated in one of the footnotes that Greasy Johnson is "Baby B"
183
184	[[WMG:[[Film/PulpFiction Jules Winnfield's]] Bible came from Aziraphale's shop, hence why the version of Ezekiel 25:17 that Jules quotes is different from the standard version.]]
185	This could also explain why the bullets in Brett's apartment missed. Jules (or else someone close to him, from whom he got the book) paid a hefty sum for that Bible. Aziraphale was grateful for the business, and he saved Jules and Vincent to repay the favor and hopefully nudge them onto the path to salvation.
186
187	[[WMG: Pestilence caused the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic sometime after]]
188	Kind of self-explanatory, perhaps after getting the wrong kind of confidence boost from anti-vaxxers, he decided to create his own Armageddon. He started small in Wuhan and let things build from there.

Context WMG / Goodomens