I reset my tumblr password just so I could post these fan arts of the characters/creatures from When The Angels Left The Old Country by Sacha Lamb. Uriel and Ash have my whole heart ;-;

Now that season 2 of good omens is only about a month away and everyone waiting has already watched season 1 and read the book multiple times, may I suggest something to tide you over while waiting:

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb! Featuring an angel and a demon best-friend pair going on a trip together and being very confused by humans and their weird ways! It is very good!

The general tone is pretty humorous and light-hearted, the characters are fun, the mythology is fun, it’s all very jewish and very queer but light on romance (there’s an f/f subplot though!). The plot is less apocalyptic than Good Omens (they’re looking for a missing girl, not trying to stop armageddon) but equally as engaging.

In short: read When the Angels Left the Old Country, please, I beg of you, it deserves so much love

Finally getting some fanart done for When the Angels Left the Old Country. I love these two.

I wanna call this the 'Ineffable niblings' AU. Little Ash and Uriel from 'When the angels left the old country' would have so much to talk about with the ineffables! Thought I'd do a little crossover for passover, featuring an orange on a seder plate because I love the idea.

Chag Pesach Sameach!

Noticed some similarities in books I like

And before you tell me gomens is also canonically queer, I'm talking about the book, not the show

Uriel and Little Ash from When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb, one of my fav books of the year (which came out today)!

I started reading When the Angels Left the Old Country after I saw it recommend on your blog and I’m OBSESSED and I just think EVERYONE needs to know about it. The flavor, the Jewish, Yiddish, alter velt flavor of this book- impeccable.

Literally excuse me??? Screaming??? At this opening??? When do we ever get books like this?? Well written, plotted, just chef’s kiss??? Talk about a book that makes you proud to be a part of its heritage (disclaimer I have only read through chapter 4 lol).

i know. ohhhh i know. it's that feeling of recognition. the feeling of the familiar cadence of Yiddish that comes through, even in the English. it's the folk traditions, barely remembered from childhood. it's the way that this little angel and demon are Jewish. the little angel is genderless, and refers to itself as "it". the little demon is one of the sheydim. and yet the little demon is terrorized by the goyishe demons in the towns nearby. it's the way that they have always been here. the way that Shtetl grew up around them. it's the way that they care about the little villagers.

it's that feeling of someone taking us by the hand and saying, "yes. i know. i see you. these are our stories".

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

goodreads

Uriel the angel and Little Ash (short for Ashmedai) are the only two supernatural creatures in their shtetl (which is so tiny, it doesn't have a name other than Shtetl). The angel and the demon have been studying together for centuries, but pogroms and the search for a new life have drawn all the young people from their village to America. When one of those young emigrants goes missing, Uriel and Little Ash set off to find her.

Along the way the angel and demon encounter humans in need of their help, including Rose Cohen, whose best friend (and the love of her life) has abandoned her to marry a man, and Malke Shulman, whose father died mysteriously on his way to America. But there are obstacles ahead of them as difficult as what they’ve left behind. Medical exams (and demons) at Ellis Island. Corrupt officials, cruel mob bosses, murderers, poverty. The streets are far from paved with gold.

Mod opinion: I haven't read this book yet, but it sounds interesting.

My dad, handing me a copy of When The Angels Left The Old Country: JEWISH GOOD OMENS

Me: but Neil said that Crowley is like, really Jewish coded already

My dad, extremely excited abt good omens s2 and When The Angels Left The Old Country: JEWISH GOOD OMENS

Every once in a while I’m sad that more standalone books don’t have legions of people who squeal and sigh over them with the level of obsessions I see in my other fandoms. This happens because every once in a while I am utterly consumed by a book, and being consumed by a book can feel more lonely than being consumed by a TV show or a movie franchise. It just seems harder to find people—or maybe I’m the one who’s terrible at finding people, maybe the fandom is there after all—or maybe we all don’t talk about our standalone book love as much… or something.

Anyway, right now I am rereading Sacha Lamb’s When the Angels Left the Old Country, and it is SO clever and engaging. It is the queer Jewish crip lit that I won’t stop talking or thinking about. It has these nice little pockets of language that I can climb into and find my gender. It writes about love in a way where it is so specific to the characters loving and being loved, and yet when I read it I feel the love myself, in my body. It talks to me about philosophy and the universe. It is at times gentle and at times boldly revolutionary and manages both so well.

I can’t really even summarize the book, even if there’s a summary you can read on websites, because it is as much how the story is told as it is about its characters or plot.

I just adore this book so much. I wish I knew how to connect with more people about it. I’m just lying on my couch with stars in my eyes at every chapter I read.

Do you know this Jewish character?

not dating not friends but a secret third thing (chevrusas)

“So angry, yet,” said Little Ash. “I love a grudge. Do you think if I spoke to her, she would bite me?” The angel considered this carefully. It had never seen a human bite someone for approaching incautiously, but, it supposed, it was not always watching Little Ash, and perhaps he had been bitten before. If it removed itself far enough to look at him with objectivity, it was aware that its friend could be very annoying.”

― Sacha Lamb, When the Angels Left the Old Country

He laid his head on the angel's shoulder, and dropped the gun onto the cobbles. He closed his eyes and sighed. "I thought you would have bled to death without me. Why did you have to go and take a human name, you wretched creature?" "I don't know," said Uriel. "I don't know. For the same reason you needed me to come to America with you, I think." "What reason?" said Little Ash, without opening his eyes. "Because," said Uriel. "You are the friend of my soul. I needed a name so I could stay with you. I have decided something. If you are going to get yourself into trouble, you need to bring me with you. It feels right, like a mitzvah. You don't have to protect me. I'll protect you, if you like." Little Ash was quiet for some time. He couldn't think of anything he could say that would mean as much as those three words, like a mitzvah, from the mouth of an angel. He loved his chevrusa with all of his heart: he'd known it by a hundred names, and he'd loved it always. He could not ask it to give up a name it liked having, not even to keep it safe. "All right," he said. He laced their fingers together and lifted its hand to his lips, kissing its bruised knuckles. "All right. You can be Uriel forever, and save a hundred rebbes. Be an angel or a demon or anything you like. Just don't leave me."

--- When the Angels Left the Old Country, p376

i read When The Angels Left The Old Country in three days and i'm already tempted to go reread it...

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Daniel Jun- Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Avicenna "Avi"- Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Hanne Brum- King of Scars duology by Leigh Bardugo

Uriel- When The Angels Left The Old Country by Sacha Lamb