A Letter from “Crawly” to Azirapil
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | A Letter from “Crawly” to Azirapil |
| Author(s): | mostlydeadlanguages |
| Date(s): | English version: 8th July 2019 |
| Length: | 486 |
| Genre: | |
| Fandom: | Good Omens |
| External Links: | On AO3 Original Tumblr Post |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
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A Letter from “Crawly” to Azirapil is a Good Omens fanwork by mostlydeadlanguages, notable for the fact that it is in the format of a researcher's findings of a clay tablet – made by mostlydeadlanguages with photographs included – containing a letter from "Crawly" to "Azirapil". The etchings on the clay tablet were also the correct cuneiform, which mostlydeadlanguages had researched.
The work also included reference to the merchant Ea-nāṣir, the subject of a complaint letter written on clay over 3,700 years ago, located in Ur and documented (alongside various other complaints about Ea-nāṣir from others at the time)[1]. Ea-nāṣir and "low quality copper" became a meme on Tumblr[2], and readers were also delighted to see the reference in the fanwork.
The unique fanwork was very popular on Twitter, Tumblr, and Archive of Our Own, with the work receiving 29,000+ notes on Tumblr, and 19,000+ views and 400 comments as of February 2024.
The work inspired a one-shot, Fear of Heaven, by BarbaraKaterina.
Reactions and Reviews
oh. my. god. I'm just stunned every day how a group of such incredibly talented people - fine art, graphic design, literature, poetry, clay-cuneiform writing(?!) - just hang together here and share their work across here and AO3. I've never come across such a community just having fun and creating for each-other.[3]
[[Black_Crystal_Dragon]]
OH MY GOODNESS, I saw this on Twitter and it's GLORIOUS, I love - I love - how detailed and dedicated this is. It's amazing. You made a clay tablet!! AND THE NOTES.I love both the explanations of the names, oh wow. And the use of "weary", aaaaa!!
And, let's not forget that the note itself is just so sweet! There's so much suggested. (Isn't Ea-nasir the guy who is famous because of everyone complaining about him? That guy? Brilliant. Perfect reference.)
I'm sorry this is such an incoherent comment but I'm just so delighted about this whole thing. :D :D :D Thank you so much for making and sharing this.
[mostlydeadlanguages]
Thank you so so so much! Comments like this have been giving me absolute life. And I love folks picking up on some of the little details I included. <3[4]
References
- ^ "Think customer service is bad now? Read this 4,000-year-old complaint letter, National Geographic". Archived from the original on 2024-01-02.
- ^ "Ea-nāṣir tag on Tumblr, February 2024". Archived from the original on 2024-02-08.
- ^ "Comment reply to Tumblr post by thinkinginscripts".
- ^ "Comment thread on A Letter from "Crawly" to Azirapil".