You've Been To Eden, I Perceive (short story)
You've Been To Eden, I Perceive was a short story written by Aristide Twain in 2022. A fan fiction, it crossed over Jenny Everywhere with the world of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens and the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. It also contained elements from The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids and an allusion to Discworld.
Contents
Plot
In his quiet London bookshop, the angel Aziraphale passes the time in quiet solitude until he discovers the famous and fictional detective Sherlock Holmes perusing his books. To meet a fictional character is quite unexpected – but of the various explanations he quickly discovers that the responsible party is Jenny Everywhere.
Jenny explains that she borrowed Holmes from the Interdimensional Library, which creates solid projections of fictional characters to serve as librarians, and hopes this gesture of apology will make up for her previous carelessness with a cup of cocoa near his first editions.
Worldbuilding
Jenny Everywhere
- The story features a Jenny Everywhere whose description matches the “default” Jenny used by Aristide Twain and Lupan Evezan in The Crew of the Copper-Colored Cupids and connected media: a dark-skinned, heavy-set young woman wearing goggles and a carmine scarf. This is not her first encounter with this Aziraphale.
Sherlock Holmes
- In Aziraphale's home universe, Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character appearing in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle. Jenny introduces Aziraphale to an artificial version of Holmes who is a Librarian from the Interdimensional Library.
Other
- Aziraphale is a Principality.
- Crowley's human name includes the first name “Anthony”, which he rarely uses. He is a demon.
- Sherlock Holmes greets Aziraphale with the phrase “You've been to Eden, I perceive”.
- Some time before the events of the story, the “young Antichrist” Adam “frivolously” used his powers and nearly called the “Prophesied End of Days”.
- Aziraphale wonders whether Holmes's appearance in his library might have been caused by an “L-Space phenomenon”, but recalls that he warded his shop against more extreme L-Space phenomena himself.
- Aziraphale notes that he believes he is no longer welcome “Up There”.
Continuity
- Aziraphale's internal monologue reveals this story is set after the events that form the narrative of the original Good Omens novel and the first season of the TV series: the build-up to, and cancellation of, the apocalypse as implemented by a reluctant young Antichrist named Adam.
- The title alludes to the first line Sherlock Holmes speaks to Doctor John Watson, “How are you? You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive,” in the character's first appearance, Arthur Conan Doyle's 1887 A Study in Scarlet (of which Doyle is seen perusing an in-universe copy).
- The Interdimensional Library and its Librarians were previously seen in PROSE: Century Smith and the Time Terror.
Behind the scenes
Background
In 2019, the original Good Omens novel was adapted into a TV miniseries of the same name by Neil Gaiman. Although a very close adaptation, the series does have a few discrepancies compared to the book. The short story seems to mix and match minor details from the two sources: Aziraphale's bookshop is under the name of A. Z. Fell & Co (as in the series, whereas the book's angel used A. Ziraphale), but God is referred to as a He (as in the book).
When publishing the story on Archive Of Our Own, Twain appended the following author's notes:
| I use this ao3 account very rarely, which means that its contents are now 20% fluffy, self-indulgent crossovers between Jenny Everywhere and popular Neil Gaiman characters. But that's alright. Heaven knows there are worse things ao3 accounts have been used for. Should you be annoyed that I have seen fit to bring a Sherlock Holmes/Good Omens/Jenny Everywhere fanfic into existence — and, to be sure, I am acquainted with at least one gentleman who would find that fact very irritating — I direct your blame towards the indefatigable Scott Sanford. We were discussing self-indulgent crossovers on the Jenny Everywhere Discord, and he uttered: “None exist in this universe, but I would like to think that in some worlds there are Sherlock Holmes/Good Omens/Jenny Everywhere stories. They should be exciting, and humourous, and glorious train wrecks.” Well, here is a humourous train-wreck. We shall see whether excitement and glory enter into it. |
| —Aristide Twain |
