The reason I don't categorise the Silmarillion as grimdark - despite the relentless disintegration of both the characters and the world, the endless death and loss of self - is that it is a story about people trying.
Even in the middle of what, at the height of Morgoth's power, must have felt like the end of their world, the story is full of people who keep on trying to do something right. Fingon's forgiveness and rescue of Maedhros, Finrod's self-sacrificial friendship with Beren, Gwindor's determination to help Turin, a complete stranger that he literally met five minutes ago. Celebrimbor gifting the elfstone to Idril in the hope that it would bring her comfort, Maglor adopting Elros and Elrond.
Even the things that go really spectacularly badly, like the battle of unnumbered tears, are born out of a determination to keep trying, keep fighting, even in the face of impossible odds.
The final message of the Silmarillion, its literal epilogue, is that things fall apart, inevitably and irredeemably. And yet, in the middle of the falling apart there people fighting for love and forgiveness and brotherhood and every time one of them fails or dies or gives up, it hurts all over again, because they really wanted to keep going. Not even necessarily out of a hope that things would get better, but out of a belief that it was worth doing anyway.
Even if you lost.
shoutout to people who find mother’s day hard to deal with whether your mom left, your mom died, your mom is abusive, your mom is hard to connect with, you don’t get to see her, etc. get through today as best you can. love you.
Neil Gaiman and Douglas Mackinnon on the Good Omens love story
From a Q&A at Ineffable Con 2 on 17th October, 2020.
Neil:
There are definitely people out there who seem to think that I accidentally wrote a love story, with all of the beats of a love story, including a break-up halfway through, without somehow noticing that I’d written a love story. And I may not be the brightest candle on the candelabra, but as an author who’s been doing it for a long time, I’m very well aware of when I’m writing a love story, thank you very much. And so, from my perspective, I knew that the love story would be one of the driving things that would get us from the beginning to the end.
And I also made a bunch of decisions about our angels and our demons in terms of casting, in terms of gender, that everybody backed me up on, which I loved. You know, the idea that the archangel Michael is played by Doon is something that is - or Beelzebub is Anna Maxwell Martin, whatever, there’s - it’s not like we are going these are women, there are men. We are going these are demons, these are angels. They - this is not a thing. And also doing something like Pollution where you go in and go okay, well, if we were doing this in - if 1989 was now, if there were they pronouns, we probably would have done that. We didn’t think of it at the time, but that’s no reason why we can’t do it now. And we did. And I remember having a - not exactly a battle, but a - my - very tiny skirmish with one of our execs who was very nice and very bright and was like “Why are you saying they?” and I’m like (demonstrating a pause) and I - explaining, and he’s like, “Well, I’ve never heard of that before,” and I’m like “Oh, okay, but trust me. Just trust me. It’s all - it’s all fine. Just trust me.”
Douglas:
And you know I have to say, just following on from what Neil’s saying, I’ve been directing for quite a while, and I tend to notice if characters are falling in love. I tend to notice a love story happening in front of me. And I think it’s there. And everything is meant, guys. Everything is meant.
[…]
Neil:
I would just say, there are some things that you do while you’re writing a script intentionally. The fact that - I wanted to do this, well, it was a thing I did that I really enjoyed doing, where whenever people accuse them of being a couple, they don’t deny it. They don’t argue. There’s no flustering on their part. They absolutely… everybody… what I’m trying to say is - yes, other people in the story are perceiving them as a couple too. And here is Uriel perceiving them as a couple. Here is wonderful Dan… you do scenes like that because that’s - you are trying to make a point here and you’re trying to make a point on how people are perceived.
cannae even put into words how much i love the 9th doctor. he really was just out there loving humanity that son of a bitch
the ninth doctor really be out here like “in nine hundred years of time and space, I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t important before” and “i could save the world but lose you” and “you were fantastic! and you know what? so was i!” and “i’m so glad i met you” and “just this once, everybody lives!” and “you’re amazing, the lot of you” and “and if you wanna remember me there’s one thing you can do: have a good life” and i’m supposed to just watch that and not cry? how
And who can forget, “Coward, any day.”
“You have no plan, no weapons, no backup.” “Yeah, and doesn’t that just scare you to death?” “Hello Rose I’m The Doctor by the way, run for your life!”
Hi Neil! Michael Sheen married the Twitter fandom, so can you adopt us?
I adopted you all long ago. It’s why I’m still here.
“You’ve got to watch his performance as Aziraphale. It’s a work of..such kind of.. You’re just so lovely, and heartbreaking and a bit rubbish. It’s delightful”
— David Tennant, about Michael Sheen’s performance as Aziraphale (requested by anon)