It’s been a month since Good Omens Season 2 released, and the hyper is still fixating over in my little world.
I had intended today’s post to be another light essay on how hyperfixation works in my life, and possibly trying to pull together some of the fun bits of knowledge I’ve acquired through living on the Good Omens tags for a month straight. Neil Gaiman has been his incredibly patient self and answered so many fan questions, it’s really been a treat to keep up with his tumblr. He’s got a Good Omens Season 2 FAQ post that a fan put together pinned over there as well, which is pretty cool.
Anyway, that was the plan. The reality is I just got home from work, where I was fighting a sinus headache all day with limited success. Lack of sleep (unrelated to the hyperfixation, I’ve just had a lot of Life Stuff the last two weeks) is finally catching up to me as well.
My brain lost the word for “coccidia” this morning while discussing some kittens in our care, and I stammered, “Cocci…cocci…cocci…I know I’m saying this wrong…” with what I’m sure was a rather confused look on my face until one of my coworkers thankfully rescued me by asking if I was trying to say, “coccidia.”
So I mean, I’m still doing a Good Omens post. I just don’t think it will be as clever or put together as I wanted it to be.
On the hyperfixation side, it’s been legitimately interesting to come into one knowing what it is, and not fighting it more than I need to. When I need to focus on something else, that’s fine. I understand that sometimes I need to pull myself away. But if I want to have both seasons on a loop every time I’m home bc that’s what makes my brain happy? That’s also fine. It doesn’t hurt anyone. It’s a little weird, for sure! But I can contextualize that better. My brain does weird things sometimes, that’s just how it is.
Right at the moment, I’m still having trouble keeping focus on other shows/stories. I don’t say that as a negative thing – like I said last time, no one is here grading me on my hobbies and whether they are varied enough. I can watch a little bit of other shows without my attention wandering, but mostly Brain Wants Moar Good Omens Again Please, Yes.
I still don’t know how to explain that to a person who’s never hyper fixated on something. Logically, it 100% should be the most boring thing in the world for me to rewatch the same two seasons of the same show, over and over, for a month. (Note: I do usually watch anything while also doing something else at the same time, so there is that. ADHD brain can’t sit still unless at least also gaming.)
Logically I should be tired of it by now. And yet, here we are.
I think my most recent “revelation” on the season itself was realizing I actually DO like the zombie minisode. The zombie hijinks don’t really keep my attention, but it finally clicked with me that minisode’s actual focus isn’t necessarily them anyway. The minisode shows us what I believe is – if we go by the timeline – the first time we see Aziraphale and Crowley quite so comfortable with each other.
I missed that on my first chunk of watch throughs because in Present Time, they’re already super comfortable with each other. But if you take the minisode and look at it chronologically, that’s a huge difference from their earlier interactions. And that aspect is super cool to me. I was wondering if that’s chronologically the first time Crowley’s been in the bookshop as well – I swear I saw fans discussing that at one point, but I didn’t pay enough attention to see what they decided.
I haven’t had the energy to do more than dabble in the fanfic. I’m really annoying about fanfic when I read it – the characters have to fit my own personal views of their characterizations and the plot of the story itself has to be something that interests me AND the fic has to stay close enough to how I perceive the canon of the show… This is not a fault in fanfic writers, this is purely my brain being entirely too picky about it. I had the same issues when I was a teenager reading X-files fanfic.
Despite being a decent writer, I do not write good fanfic myself, so that’s not the answer, lol. (Not even “not good by my own standards.” The one time I wrote fanfic it was objectively just not very good.)
I suppose the one downside to hyperfixating is I become one of those annoying fans. *reads perfectly normal post* *thinks* “Omfg, Neil already addressed that like 5 times on his tumblr, do you even study this franchise?” (I am laughing at myself while I type this, fwiw.)
My one saving grace is at least I know I’m the one being Extra, and I do not actually respond to anyone that way.
I suppose my biggest “want to jump in but know I shouldn’t” on that topic is folks who don’t seem to realize Neil has said multiple times that he specifically wrote the show in a way that would make Aziraphale and Crowley the main characters in a way they were not in the book. A lot of the writing choices that I see questioned make perfect sense (to me, at least) when seen in that context. [This is not me saying everyone must love the series or the decisions made. I’m just saying I feel like looking at the stated goal of the thing should make a difference.]
It’s also been super interesting to revisit Season One a few times and be reminded that how my brain remembered that season was not the same as how the season actually went. I’d forgotten how goofy some of the story is for starters. Not as a negative! Just my brain had forgotten a lot of those bits. I’d also forgotten that despite my general impressions of Crowley, he is consistently the one we see noticeably emotional, not Aziraphale. When he cries to God not to test humanity to destruction, or of course when Aziraphale is discorporated.
I’m also, for the record, someone who loves both the story/characters in the books and the show despite the differences. This happens very rarely for me. Usually, “You made them act out of character!” is a death knell for me enjoying adaptations. This is just one of those rare occasions where I’ll happily take both, please and thank you.
Apologies that this got long while also being scattered and disorganized. I told myself I could indulge in another Good Omens post now that it’s been a month, and I was darn well going to keep that promise to myself no matter how sleep deprived I feel. 🙂
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LFGryph 