View source for The Sacred and the Profane

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{{quote|  ''"Suffer the little children to come unto me..."''}}


''Somewhere else, the happy ending was different.''

''[http://www.populli.net/thewritegirls/afrai/s0.html The Sacred and the Profane]'' by Afrai is a retelling of ''[[Good Omens (Literature)|Good Omens]]'' [[Canon]] with Aziraphale as the one who fell instead of Crowley. Don't worry, they're still instantly recognizable to anyone who's read the original book: Zirah is still a [[Affably Evil|kindly]], [[Stepford Smiler|smiling]] [[Cute and Psycho|bookseller]], and Caphriel is still a sunglasses-wearing [[Deadpan Snarker]] [[The Fettered|dedicated to his job]]. They've just been translated through a [[Deconstruction|dented mirror]]. The plot, while rather condensed, is largely faithful to the events of the book, but with a [[Dark Fic|couple of necessary tweaks]] to match [[Cute and Psycho|Zirah]] and [[Knight in Sour Armor|Caphriel]]'s characters.

Maybe you ''should'' worry. And keep a box of tissues by your side while reading.

It's still an excellent read for those who want to see the original canon in a whole different light.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

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=== This fanfic contains examples of: ===

*  [[Affably Evil]]: Zirah
*  [[Alternate Universe Fic]] 
*  [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking]]: "...Caphriel had a bizarre tendency to get upset over the slightest things, like murder and rape and duck torture." 
*  [[Axe Crazy]]: Zirah
*  [[Badass Longcoat]]: Caphriel
*  [[Bilingual Bonus]]: Caphriel means "God is my redemption."
*  [[Dark Fic]] 
*  [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Caphriel
*  [[Deconstruction]] 
*  [[Determinator]]: Caphriel can't ''afford'' to give up. 
*  [[Dissonant Serenity]]: Zirah 
*  [[The Dog Shot First]]: "You hurt him!"
*  [[Downer Ending]]
*  [[Epiphany Therapy]]:  {{spoiler|[[Tomato in The Mirror|"I'm a demon."]] }}
*  [[The Fettered]]: Caphriel 
*  [[For Want of a Nail]]:  {{spoiler|[[Nightmare Fuel|...all from having the wrong thought at the wrong moment.]]}} 
*  [[Friendly Enemy]]: Of course, but in a much more painful, conflicted way than in the original.
*  [[Good Is Not Nice]]: Caphriel 
**  Caphriel was ''very'' nice. It made the story hurt more.
*** Positively angelic, even.
** He's kind, but he's not necessarily nice. He'll go out of his way to help anyone, but he might end up swearing at them.
*  [[Hannibal Lecture]] 
*  [[Hero With Bad Publicity]]: Caphriel 
*  [[Insult Backfire]] 
*  [[Knight in Sour Armor]]: Caphriel 
*  [[Like a Badass Out of Hell]]:  {{spoiler|[[Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth|Zirah was up on earth because Hell didn't]] ''[[Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth|want]]'' [[Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth|him there, they're all]] ''[[Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth|scared]]'' [[Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth|of him.]]}}
*  [[Love Martyr]]: Caphriel 
*  [[Mad Love]]: Caphriel and Zirah.
*  [[Mirror Universe]] 
*  [[Mistaken for Pedophile]]: Caphriel wears sunglasses and a long black coat and just wants to help people.
*  [[Murder Is the Best Solution]]
*  [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished]]: Caphriel gets slapped for trying to help a crying child.
*  [[Noodle Incident]]: "When had he got the stick, anyway? In the fourteenth century, hadn't it been -- he'd been given it by a carpenter he'd helped in a small matter involving a priest, three goats, and a rosebush."
*  [[The Nothing After Death]]
*  [[Original Flavor]] 
*  [[Only Sane Man]]: Caphriel 
*  [[Perfect Poison]]:  {{spoiler|"Drink your tea, dear."}} 
*  [[Poisonous Friend]]: Zirah 
*  [[Psycho Supporter]]: Zirah again.
*  [[Shoot the Dog]]:  {{spoiler|Caphriel's killing of Zirah.}}
*  [[Slash Fic]] 
*  [[Sociopathic Hero]]: Zirah is a combination of this and a [[Complete Monster]]. 
*  [[Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism]] 
*  [[Stepford Smiler]]: Zirah, denial isn't just a river in Egypt anymore  {{spoiler|it's mostly to convince himself that he never fell.}} 
*  [[The Stoic]]: Caphriel 
**  [[Not So Stoic]]:  {{spoiler|after Caphriel kills Zirah.}}
*  [[Time Abyss]]: This is why Caphriel wears [[Cool Shades]] in this universe, his eyes are older than his face and reflect the suffering of millennia. 
**  Which also falls under [[What Beautiful Eyes]].
*  [[Trauma Conga Line]]	
* [[Truth in Television]]: Caphriel's reasoning behind wearing his sunglasses all the time is terribly similar to that of mild agoraphobes or people with social anxiety.
{{quote|  ''He felt a little better with their comforting weight on the bridge of his nose. They were a sort of protection against the world.'' }}
** Making his self diagnosis with {{spoiler|clinical (suicidal) depression}} all the more awful.
*  [[The Unfettered]]: Zirah  {{spoiler|there's nothing you can do to him that would be worse than what has already happened and there's no [[Moral Event Horizon]] he won't cross.}} 
*  [[Villainous Breakdown]]: Zirah 
*  [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: Zirah 
*  [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]] 
*  [[Yandere]] / [[Cute and Psycho]]: Zirah 
*  [[You're Insane!]]

{{reflist}}
[[Category:The Sacred And The Profane]]
[[Category:Fanfic]]