#and well we see how it is with muriel and jim

[sunderwight]

Thinking about the weird camaraderie that exists between demons but not angels in GO.

Have we ever seen two angels who are actually friends? Or even friendly to one another? We have met angels with a capacity to be friendly in general, but I think the closest we've come to two angels actually getting along would be Gabriel making a point to laugh at Sandalphon's terrible "can't have a war without War" line in S1.

Most scenes between the angels actually seem to have an undercurrent of absolute hostility. Teeth-clenched teamwork. No wonder it took them so long to notice that Aziraphale wasn't on the same page as the rest of them! The rest of them are barely on the same page as one another, either! When Gabriel goes against the majority vote, no one bats an eye at demoting him and wiping his memory. Michael and Uriel immediately begin vying for his job. The only times we've seen angels team up is when they're working together to bully someone else, like when they're trying to intimidate Aziraphale in S1 or going to the aftermath of the bookshop raid in S2.

Saraqael's overall neutrality towards Muriel is the closest we get to two angels in Heaven getting along, and it's more a lack of hostility than any kind of friendliness. At least until Gabriel loses his memories and Muriel shows up to spy on Aziraphale, and Aziraphale decides to be kind to both of them.

Demons, on the other hand, actually seem to form alliances and even friendships among one another. Hastur and Ligur are awful, but Hastur seems genuinely distraught over Ligur's death, not just fearful of suffering the same fate. Shax and Furfur conspire together and even though the 1940's investigation into Crowley's fraternizing doesn't work out for Furfur, it's not due to any double-crossing on Shax's part. Unlike the angels, who stick almost exclusively to making threats until the Metatron decides to try dangling a carrot at the end of the season, demons actually offer rewards to other demons when trying to work together. Beelzebub offers Crowley a promotion if he can bring them Gabriel, Furfur offers to back Shax up politically if she goes for the Duke position opening, and Crowley successfully stalls Hastur in S1 by pretending everything was a test and he's going to be put in charge of a legion as a reward for passing. They're still not great at socializing, but they're significantly ahead of the angels.

Of course, it's a fact that demons are awful to one another (Eric's treatment is really bad, they throw that random demon into holy water just to test it, "it'd be a funny world if demons went around trusting one another", etc) but they still seem more capable of forming friendships than the angels do.

I think that's because Hell cramps and crowds everyone together to try and increase their suffering and hostility, whereas Heaven isolates angels to decrease the odds of questioning or rebellion. Hell's methods are unpleasant, but it still ends up putting demons together, and some of those demons inevitably forge alliances and make friendships. Because as Crowley and Beelzebub demonstrate, demons are still social creatures with the capacity for love and affection, even if it's strongly discouraged and buried under nine million layers of trauma and a cultural mandate against kindness.

Angels are the same, but isolation makes is harder to form connections than overcrowding. Muriel and Jimbriel are both so eager to make friends, but Muriel's spent the past millennia shut in an empty office, and Gabriel has been distanced from his peers both through his position and also through Heaven's culture of fear and surveillance. He only breaks away from it when he finds something that's stronger than "choosing sides" (stronger than the fear of being rejected by Heaven and Falling, in fact strong enough that Falling seems worth it if he gets to be with someone he loves). Both Muriel and Gabriel are only able to start forming connections when they're away from Heaven.

I just think it's interesting that demons, despite being supposedly devoid of love, have an advantage in forming relationships compared to angels. Angels are supposed to love, but have far fewer opportunities to actually do so. Demons aren't supposed to love, but they make connections anyway.

#good omens #ineffable bureaucracy #both angels and demons are suckers for a bit of kindness too #even if they pretend otherwise and even if there are exceptions to the rule #like yeah you're probably not gonna win over the likes of hastur or michael with a nicety #but according to word of god furfur would be highly susceptible to a kind word #and well we see how it is with muriel and jim #i think this is why shax also weirdly toes the line between getting crowley destroyed and being almost-friends with him #that's just how it works in hell when you don't actually despise somebody #you can't be nice to them but you're still also kind of helpful and non-hostile a lot #don't let it interfere with your goals but sure deliver their mail and get their help with your boiler issues why not #maggie took the wrong approach to confronting the demons #if she'd been nice instead of telling them off they wouldn't have known how to handle it i bet #they're USED to being mocked and yelled at #should have given them jim's tray of canapes and offered them tea and stuff #not that I expect anyone to intuit that under the circumstances just that it might have actually held them off a lot longer #bunch of demons sitting outside of a bookshop passing around a tray of tiny little dinners and listening to records playing from inside

[highseas-swede]

Becoming Real

Recently Good Omens Prime Twitter account posted a BTS photo of Aziraphale and Furfur and it started the gears in my head turning, trying to parse it. It's only just now that it finally coalesced into a proper thought.

I kept thinking Aziraphale reminded me of something, especially when compared to the other angels. Look at him next to pre-Jim Gabriel, Uriel, Michael... heck, even Furfur, who he's standing next to right now.

Furfur is a demon, but his outfit is impeccable, it's sleek and stylish. The angel's suits in heaven are all pressed and flawless and New.

But not Aziraphale. He's dressed in old human clothes, his waistcoat is worn and tattered and long-loved. Aziraphale is, as Michael put it, like an old sofa. Worn and comfortable. He could choose to look basically however he wants, but instead he chooses to clothe himself in actual human clothes, to eat human food, to enjoy human entertainment - books, music, plays, etc. He does this despite the fact that it actively makes the other angels dislike him and find him unpalatable.

And that's what stuck out to me. Because unlike those other angels and demons, Aziraphale doesn't feel distant from humanity. He might be odd or eccentric to humans, but they don't question his humanity. He doesn't stand out to them in the way that the other angels do when they show up.

It occurred to me that this is because unlike the other angels... Aziraphale is Real.

Have you ever read The Velveteen Rabbit? There's a scene in it where they talk about what it means to be Real:

This made me think of Aziraphale. About how the other angels are these pristine things, kept aloof from the world, and then there's Aziraphale, who is worn and shabby, who's lived on earth for millennia among the humans. He's loved and learned and experienced what being human is like and because of that he's Real in a way that the other angels aren't. Humans have personhood, a sense of agency, a sense of self. Angels and demons have only the divine plan, as Beelzebub and Gabriel noted, that's all they live for "if you can call it living".

But what strikes me the most is how potentially devastating Aziraphale's Realness will be to Heaven. They only succeed at keeping angels in line because they're undistracted from the Great Plan. We see how Gabriel - as Jim - takes to cocoa after trying it. We see how quickly Muriel becomes fascinated with books.

Now consider that this is the angel they're putting in charge of Heaven. This worn, shabby, old sofa of an angel who has an endless well of love, for Crowley, for the world and the humans in it. He doesn't seem dangerous in the slightest. He seems Fragile.

But he is dangerous. So very dangerous.

But it's not because he's a guardian, not because he's a warrior, not because he's the Angel of the Eastern Gate who leads a battalion and was issued a flaming sword. He gave all of that away and it's worth noting that this is the first actual choice we see him make in the show, the thing that sets him apart in Crowley's eyes, and it wasn't even Crowley's doing! Aziraphale made a choice to give the mortals his sword out of compassion and it is a sense of compassion we don't see from the other angels.

His deviations all stem from that initial act. It takes him from being this two-dimensional cardboard entity existing only as part of the Divine Plan and set him on the path to actual Personhood.

It doesn't happen right away, of course, because as the Skin Horse says:

"It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But those things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

And doesn't that sum up Aziraphale? He's shabby and worn and he's beautiful to the people who understand and appreciate that being Real means being imperfect, and that every imperfection is still beautiful.

No wonder the angels mock his corporation, his flaws, all the things he enjoys that make him less than what they think he should be. We see evidence over and over that Aziraphale is essentially "ugly" to them. But that's because they don't understand.

Aziraphale's Realness, his personhood, what Crowley has helped nurture from the Wall of Eden all the way to that last desperate kiss, is what really matters. Good Omens has always been about People being fundamentally People. It's the underlying current that ties everything together, for good or for ill. People have agency. People have self-actualization. People have the ability to make their own choices, for good or for evil.

And now Aziraphale has that too.

That's the very real danger he presents to heaven.

Because we've already seen that any angel, given sufficient time and interaction with humans could be like Aziraphale. All it takes is one small opening, one bite from the apple. Whether deliberately or not, Crowley tempted Aziraphale into every step, the way he tempted Eve in the garden. He gave Aziraphale the knowledge of Right and Wrong, presented him with the option, the way he did with humanity. Were they even really human before Crowley? Did he give them free will? His actions cast them out of paradise, but did it ultimately set them free? Has he struggled for millennia to do the same for the angel he's loved so well and for so long?

Does Crowley know how horribly, wonderfully well he succeeded?

Bringing Aziraphale back to Heaven, putting him in charge, was the absolute worst thing the Metatron could have done for keeping the status quo and it's not because of Aziraphale's fighting prowess. It's because of the small Human acts of kindness and pettiness that Aziraphale is capable of. That's not going to go away when he's in Heaven. It's going to spread. He's going to infect Heaven with Humanity. It's going to be so slow and gradual that they won't see it coming until it's far too late.

It's not going to be the way that Aziraphale intends to change Heaven and yet, it will surely ultimately be what really makes a difference.

I wonder too, if maybe that's some subconscious part of it. After seeing Gabriel change, seeing Muriel change, I wonder if there's not some part of Aziraphale that realizes that Heaven is a miserable place that makes miserable people. He'll extend compassion to them that they don't deserve and don't know they're missing and he'll surely go on with whatever his own Plan - with a capital P, of course - is and he won't even realize what he's actually done.

And then, like the ending of S1, like the ending of S2, the ultimate deciding factor will not be who is the best warrior, who is the strongest. It will be about the Human element.

Metatron thought he could control Aziraphale, bring him in line by bringing him back to Heaven. He wants to take away the human element of Aziraphale and shove him back into that Obedient Little Angel shaped mold and he doesn't realize it's not possible anymore. Aziraphale's grown. He'll never fit, he'll never be that again. There is no going back anymore.

As the Skin Horse says: "Once you are Real, you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

And Real things, things with depth and purpose and will, are impossible to ever truly control.

#Good Omens #Aziraphale #good omens meta #good omens s2 #crowley #crowley x arizaphale #Analysis #the velveteen rabbit #what it means to be Real

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

pt XVI good omens season 2 (still not traumatic) episode 3 EDINBURGH

HELLO IT'S ME IT'S THE OFFICIAL GOOD OMENS MASCOT WHY DO I STILL KEEP INTRODUCING MYSELF IDK. If you don't know who I am, thank God and Satan for their mercy and flee. Also, the day after I post this, I'll be watching the last three episodes on livestream for the first time so. You know. I'm hyped on the energy of this being my last day not enveloped in tears. Take the summary:

Before the episode starts, someone asks why Crowley said in the last episode that Aziraphale couldn't fall because look at him, all angelic when Crowley looked the same as starmaker. I reply that "Crowley thinks he deserved it, he sees Azi as something beautiful and untouched while he probably sees himself as idk marked in some way so god kicked him down."

I am told that I am learning too fast to weaponise the narrative to induce angst. So then I say oh, I go too fast for you. Tears ensue.

The episode begins! Everyone shrieks about Edinburgh, David Tennant, how it is their favourite episode, and SCOTTISH CROWLEY.

We open with lesbians being gay, and then Muriel enters as Inspector Constable! They are very sweet and very determined to do their job right, and they are adopted by Crowley and Aziraphale just like Jim.

Crowley sits on Aziraphale's chair's arm. The maggots all swoon.

Fine, I also swooned.

Aziraphale gaslight-gatekeep-girlboss-mansplain-manipulate-manwhores his way into getting Crowley to give him the Bentley keys (BOUNDARIES. BOUNDARIES.).

WHAT PLENTY OF USE DO BOTH OF YOU GET OUT OF THE BOOKSHOP?

The really ineffable plan is whatever the fuck was happening in Aziraphale's brain when he somehow went from London to Edinburgh via Loch Ness (check the map) and then proceeded to disguise himself as a detective who pretends to be a journalist.

Crowley slays in sleeve garters and a cardigan keeping house in the bookshop meanwhile, does not sell books, instead cleans with Jimbriel and periodically yeets book stacks into corners when distracted.

Aziraphale reads his old diary entries about Crowley, a (6000+) 13 year old with a crush.

MINISODE MINISODE. They are in Edinburgh during the mid 1800s. Victorian outfits, check. Scottish Crowley, check. Capitalist Karen Aziraphale, che-wait what.

Huh. Well. There's a wee bit of body snatchin' going on, to sell to doctors for medical research because there aren't enough murderers, and to make enough money to survive.

Aziraphale channels his inner capitalist judgemental Karen and ruins that plan, come on Aziraphale you have religious trauma but you're better than this, and long story short, Wee Morag dies after Aziraphale realises his error, her friend Elspeth has to sell her corpse for pennies, and is about to commit suicide with laudanum. Azi, oh god. I'm glad you underwent character development at least.

NOW CROWLEY HERE SLAYS. I KNOW THIS IS AZIRAPHALE'S PERSPECTIVE AND IS BIASED. BUT WITH THIS POV, CROWLEY SLAYS.

He calmly educates Aziraphale about how his whole "the poor have more opportunities and you shouldn't give them money or they'll lose the virtue of poverty" is absolute bullshit, and he does this understanding Aziraphale's situation and not losing his temper.

The framing. The framing of the shot when they see Wee Morag and Elspeth sitting down on a step and explaining their situation. Aziraphale stands above, bustling with righteousness, and judges them. Crowley sits down. He sits down next to them, rather than taking the high ground. He meets them where they are and empathises. It is the fact that he is fallen and damned that makes him behave really divine and sorry I wrote a whole hymn on him have it I'll stop rambling just know I love him.

I think his amusement is a facade so hell won't think he's genuinely being good. I think he's morally grey and incredibly brave and kind.

When Elspeth is bouta kill herself with the laudanum, Crowley grabs it and drinks it himself, and grows tiny and then huge, absolutely high off his head. David Tennant takes the opportunity to travel Scotland from east to west in terms of accent variety.

He gives us the good message of NO DYIN'. NO MORE DYIN'. IT'S NOT ON. And then forces Aziraphale (who doesn't want to ruin her virtuous poverty) to give the girl all the guineas he has in his pocket, and tells her to go off and start a farm or something. BUT NOT JUST PRETENDY GOOD, BE PROPERLY GOOD.

He then gets pulled into hell. To be punished for this. Aziraphale is frightened and heartbroken for him, looking around desperately, and we find out that Crowley didn't meet him for a while after. And later he wanted holy water. To protect himself? He got punished by hell. For how long? The whole month in between the incident and the diary entry? There can't be anyone better at punishment and cruelty than hell.

Sorry I'm just screaming here.

Never mind fuck I started this summary really happy and bouncy and listening to a dance playlist. Dionysus by BTS and Italian pop is still playing and now I'm crying.

Is this the natural progression. Fuck I'm crying. Sorry guys something else happens with Aziraphale politely talking to a phone and Crowley smiling really beautifully while unsuccessfully trying to manipulate two lesbians into a relationship and something about a visit I don't care everyone's being morally dubious as usual and then lovely Scottish music outro I CAN'T FUCKING ELABORATE I'M SITTING HERE CRYING OVER CROWLEY.

right summary done, time to go sob, lmao i thought i wouldn't cry today over good omens HAHAHAHA still not traumatic eh HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

#good omens mascot #good omens #good omens fandom #weirdly specific but ok #asmi #crowley #maggots #lgbtqia #aziraphale #neil gaiman #edinburgh #scotland minisode #victorian minisode #scottish crowley #david tennant #michael sheen #ineffable fandom #ineffable idiots #good ineffable omens #ineffable brainrot #good omens brainrot #CRYING OVER FICTIONAL CHARACTERS #AGAIN #YAY #anthony j crowley #starmaker #wee morag #elspeth and wee morag

[funnyoldworld-isnt-it]

There are so many posts about the weirdness around Nina and Maggie, but the thing that has always bothered me the most is that both of them know Aziraphale but neither one of them seems to know Crowley. Like, at ALL. Not even by sight. Which doesn’t make any sense. For the last four years, Crowley has basically been unemployed and homeless (this sentence made me so sad to type). He has had literally NOTHING to do except hang out at Aziraphale’s bookshop. And the vibe at the beginning of s2 is that he’s there a LOT. Like, multiple times per week (“we both get plenty of use out of it, don’t we”). When Aziraphale calls him in the first episode, he says “2 minutes” the way you tell your spouse how long until you’re home from the grocery store, especially if you were on your way home already.

The dialogue goes to great lengths to highlight that Nina and Maggie SHOULD know Crowley, which just heightens the weirdness of it. When they're at the pub, Crowley asks Aziraphale, “What’s wrong with the cafe?” (implying they usually go to the cafe), but Aziraphale made a point of introducing Crowley to Nina in the first episode. And Nina makes a point of saying to Maggie that she always remembers “the regulars," but she doesn't seem to remember Crowley. Of course, she immediately notices both Jim and Muriel outside the bookshop, so she's clearly paying attention to what's happening in the neighborhood and it seems like she couldn't have failed to spot him coming and going all the time.

And Maggie's situation is even weirder. Her whole back story is that she basically grew up IN the bookshop because her grandmother’s record store was essentially in a corner of the bookshop. And yet, when Maggie and Nina see Crowley on the street right before the lightning strike, Nina says, “Do you see that bloke? Six shots of espresso and he's smoking,” and Maggie responds, “I think that man was just struck by lightning.” Which is something you say about someone you’ve never laid eyes on before. She didn’t say, “Oh, that’s Mr. Fell’s friend,” or “I’ve seen him around. He stops by Mr. Fell’s shop a lot.” And then when he comes back, "It's him. The one who was just struck by lightning. The six shots of espresso." Again, no flash of recognition of anything before the current day. This happens immediately after she's just told Nina about knowing Aziraphale since she was little. It’s just weird. Why build a back story that would put her in extremely close proximity to Crowley LITERALLY her entire life and then write dialogue that makes it clear she's never laid eyes on him before?

You could maybe think, well they're just so used to having to hide...but then I asked myself: Does it make sense that the day that you find out there is an extremely dangerous, existence-threatening problem hiding out in your ineffable husband's bookshop is also the day that you would decide to STOP keeping a low profile and start wandering the streets with abandon, introducing yourself to all the local shopkeepers, and ferrying large plants into and out of said bookshop? No. No, it does not.

In any other show, you could assume that the writers just didn’t think about it very carefully. But, given the layers and layers of meaning and symbolism baked into every detail of this show, from the dialogue, to the costuming, the set design, lighting, blocking, etc., and the way that the story folds back on itself again and again, it just feels significant.

#good omens #good omens 2 #crowley #aziraphale #nina #maggie #maybe she's a kobold #kidding #mostly

[noneorother]

There's a *puppet* show going on in the magic shop, and it looks awfully familiar...

(Insert unhealthy number of rewatches here) The magic shop in S2 is a real jewel box. There's so much symbolism and so many easter eggs, it starts to make your head spin. But I found something really weird going on with the puppets (or should I say angels) in the background...

Here's 1941 : you can see on the left what looks like closed red curtains, and a coatrack with puppets behind Crowley here.

Where am I going with this? Well, don't those puppets look familiar?

For my money, they really look like silly versions of Crowley and Aziraphale, with a few other familiar puppets hiding on the other side of the rack.

Now here's that exact same shot in the present. The red curtain falls away to reveal: An extremely symmetrical arrangement of truly weird puppets. The puppet in the glass case near the back is the same.*

It probably just looks like a creepy display, with our familiar Aziraphale and Crowley puppets, until I do this:

To me at least, this arrangement really looks like a depiction of a synaxis of the hosts of bodiless powers (i.e. angels) before Jesus. If you study European art history, you can't escape medieval religious iconography. It's kind of a big deal. I've put this example of Mary flanked by the nine ranks of Angels from a Cathedral in Exeter above, but you can find 100 examples of this kind of eerily symmetrical and hierarchical ranking of angels with god, Jesus, Mary etc... Before I break it down, you have to know that in the medieval period, and especially in religious art and iconography, the relative size and position of figures is WAY more important than realism or accuracy.

Obviously the costumes don't match one to one, but you get enough of a vibe that once you start seeing it you can't UNSEE it. The relationships of position and size here are fascinating to me. For one, what the hell are two Crowleys doing in a host arrangement in present day? He's not even an angel. In the second row we have archangels Gabriel, the flopsy twins Uriel and Michael, and a slightly larger Saraqael head in the center. Is Saraqael actually more important here? Technically Jim is still an archangel, so he gets the mirror of the Gabriel position, but as a sad clown wearing a tartan blanket. We also have two tiny dolls (not puppets) with star name tags, one keeled over wearing brown, and one sitting up and smiling, wearing blue. I've named them tentatively Adam & Jesus for now, because that's the vibe I'm getting, but who knows. Here's the usual position of the Jesus in a synaxis for comparison.

In the lowest row, we bizarrely have arguably the most powerful angel, The Metatron (shown here with a dark floppy overcoat hiding the fact the doll has no body) and what I can only imagine is Maggie with blonde hair and blue eyes? What? Now, the doll I'm calling God in the middle for the large size, and the fact their head is always cut off above the framing in the shot. God is clearly looming large over the rest of the host, but is in a lower hierarchy (with Muriel, Crowley & Aziraphale being fairly low ranking at this point in the show) and also has NO HANDS, a clown face and BLOOD SMEARS on their overalls. Yikes. If you take a look at the top-down shot of the dolls, you can see how they had to completely redo the god-doll's hair. This is a specific vintage English doll called "Bimbo the clown". You can see the original hair always has a fringe, and the yarn locks are usually much bigger. Compare with the new hair in the top view of the present-day shop.

Hey. Does that hair style look familiar to anyone?

Look. I don't want to go claiming something THIS insane from one doll's hairstyle in a background shot. I'm not trying to convince you this is irrefutable proof that there's some sort of storyline where Nina is actually God. But it's interesting they took the trouble to re-make the doll's hair (and costume) to look like Nina's, even when it is almost never seen, much less noticed. The fact that the god-doll is also a clown got me thinking of the Gabriel and Jim dolls, and that maybe there's another doll in the shop that should double with Bimbo? *Here's the only other doll with a name card in the magic shop in either time, the one in the glass case :

Even though we barely see it, we can tell it's wearing the same outfit as the 1941 magician. Why? If this one is the equivalent of the real god, and not the sad clown version, and if it's locked up in a box somewhere, unable to free themselves, is that why we haven't heard from them in season 2....? So many questions. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Thanks to @kimberleyjean and @embracing-the-ineffable for additional pictures.

#good omens meta #good omens 2 #art director talks good omens #go season 2 #good omens season two #go meta #good omens season 2 #good omens prime #go2 #crowley x aziraphale #good omens 1941 #1941 minisode #good omens #good omens analysis

[tsilvy]

something about those little moments in s2ep3 with crowley alone in the bookshop while aziraphale is in scotland. I watched them all as a single sequence and it's just... SO MUCH.

look. the fact that crowley is cool as a cucumber when aziraphale is around, but when he isn't... well. there's the deep, deep breath he takes while he watches azi drive away, and i can't tell if he's more scared of being alone with gabriel or worried about azi going away alone. because as someone pointed out, aziraphale gets the car keys right after muriel arrives, and obviously it's safer for him to take the bentley which will hopefully keep him safe as it usually keeps crowley safe; but at the same time, crowley has to give up what's basically an extension of him, the one protection he has ready, to shield himself or to run away with, should anything happen while the guardian of the eastern gate aziraphale isn't there.

and then crowley is alone, without aziraphale, without his comfort car, stranded in his favorite place which has ceased being safe and has become instead somewhat inhospitable because his mortal enemy now lives here too. and the way he's wearing no jacket, no waistcoat, and he's just so thin, and snake-like, especially standing there near gabriel, who is built like a tank and you just know that if he's right, if by any chance gabriel became hostile, even in a non-magic fight crowley wouldn't stand a chance.

and yet, AND YET, he's quietly explaining gravity to him, then trying (and failing) to make Maggie and Nina vavoom and also explaining THAT to jim (azi didn't stop to hear his very romantic plan so at least maybe does jim? Can I hear a fucking wahoo?!), and you can't help but feel how badly he needs to talk to someone, anyone nonhuman around who isn't immediately outright hostile, without censoring himself, without complicated feelings in between.

and then, the exact moment later, the temporary peace is broken by gabriel himself remembering something ominous and ONE MOMENT LATER YET shax is outside, complete with background screaming chorus, and then crowley is desperately trying to convince her they don't know where the archangel is, still playing cool but swallowing like that, and then she says Hell will declare war and he's just thrown for a moment and says "to me?!" in THAT voice! but it's even worse than that, because they'll actually declare war not on him but on his friend, and he could maybe cope with hell wanting his scalp (again) but Aziraphale's?! And then STILL keeping that facade and telling her that anyway the angel is inside in the basement, because he knows that Aziraphale is safe while he's inside the bookshop, and therefore trying to keep her off Aziraphale's back while he's outside and alone? Which btw doesn't work because she somehow knows anyway and proceeds on harassing the angel in the bentley the very next time we see him?! AND at the same time he's trying to keep her from realizing he is all alone, here, in the bookshop?!?

And he's been flippant throughout, but the moment she leaves he's like, wreaked?! And his first instinct is of course to go back at being mad and threatening at Jim, but even that feels pointless, because the machine is already in motion, and it's always too late, it's "we're doomed" all over again, isn't it? and the fact that he's shaking all over as he comes to this conclusion?

and then we learn that he hasn't slept all night after this, and as soon as Aziraphale is finally back he's immediately out as if he'd been looking out the window all night waiting for him to be back home safe, and for his car to be available for him to finally feel safe into, and i've seen people wonder why he bolts the fuck out of there as soon as azi is back as if he didn't need a breather after all he's been through, AND THE FACT THAT LATER ON HE TELLS AZIRAPHALE CaN I WaTcH AS IF HE'S AT ALL INTERESTED IN HIM RUNNING ERRANDS ACROSS ALL OF SOHO AND NOT IN FACT UNABLE TO LEAVE AZIRAPHALE'S SIDE NOW THAT HE'S FINALLY BACK AFTER A FULL DAY AWAY DURING WHICH HELL IS APPARENTLY ABOUT TO DECLARE WAR TO HIM SPECIFICALLY WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK

anyway what i want to say is this sequence is the epitome of anxiety and claustrophoby for me, and it plays like a horror movie. It's just A Lot

#and I'm not even mentioning the way the bloody minisode ends #or the fact that aziraphale feels the need to check on crowley immediately after that particular flashback #look i am a little unhinged abt this whole episode #and watching the parts inside the bookshop as a single sequence makes it SO MUCH WORSE #btw this is not the only claustrophobic moment now that i think abt it #the demon siege in ep5 is another one #the bookshop seems to be both safe place and limitation this season #good omens #good omens season 2 #good omens s2 #my meta #the resurrectionists #crowley

[ineffectualbookseller]

there is something to be said for how much the Metatrons' offer of restoring Crowley to an angel changed things for Aziraphale, even beyond the face value of the offer

Azirphale eventually (and reluctantly) accepts the promotion under the presumption that he will be able to change heaven - "if I'm in charge, I can make a difference."

and obviously, Muriel and Jim/Gabriel are two key narrative players to show us why Aziraphale would think heaven can still be reformed - Muriel who was unbelievably lonely in heaven and, despite all their ineptitude, is so excited to experience earth for the first time (the fondness in Aziraphale's face during their scene together in the bookshop is so touching) - and Jim/Gabriel who Aziraphle once knew to be cold, unsympathetic, and remorseless but after having the memories and influences of heaven stripped away turns out to be helpful, curious, and self-sacrificing (we see Aziraphale come to terms with this change over the season, telling Jim in e2 that he's really not sure if he's still terrible but when Crowley is questioning Jim in e5, Aziraphale's sure he's just being silly)

but even after witnessing this, Azirphale isn't jumping at the offer to run heaven. He says so point blank, "I don't want to go back to heaven," but everything changes when he gets the offer to restore Crowley as an angel

and clearly, Aziraphale is so excited by the face-value offer, he and Crowley would be safe and they'd be together, and Crowley would never be punished for doing good again. Just look at his happy little hands when he's asking Crowley to pause his confession so he can share his own great news. He's beyond thrilled to be able to offer this to Crowley, to live this life with Crowley (before he realizes it's not a life that Crowley wants - those happy hands are devastating in hindsight)

so if bringing Crowley to heaven with him was the selling point, why is he still going after Crowley says no? Because in Aziraphale's eyes, the power to restore Crowley is the power to correct heaven's mistakes. So heaven can make mistakes - Aziraphale thinks the Metatron just admitted that heaven is fallible

that is HUGE

(this is also not what the Metatron was saying - but in this context what Metatron said doesn't matter, only what Aziraphale heard)

and this isn't just coming from some angel - the Metatron is the voice of God. The closest thing to speaking to God we have witnessed since 2500 BCE in the Job minisode (the most recent evidence of God speaking directly to a character). Regardless of where God actually is during this story, Azirphale would be taking the Metatron's word as the word of God

Aziraphale has been acting against what heaven says God wants since the beginning: giving away his sword in Eden to protect Adam and Eve from their punishment (which he then lies to God about but is still allowed to stay on Earth), lying to save Job's children and openly question God's role in the plan ("I… I don’t think… that is what God wants"), and of course stopping Armageddon with his Great Plan vs Ineffible Plan pedantry (and before this, his plan for most of s1 is to get in contact with someone higher than Gabriel because of course, God wouldn't actually want this) - and when he is finally found out, Gabriel and Michael cut his ties with heaven

but now might-as-well-be-God is walking into his bookshop and scolding the middle managers and saying they've been fucking up. And he tells Aziraphale that they were wrong about him and they were wrong about Crowley and Aziraphale's the one that's been in the right

(keep in mind that Aziraphale does not know that the Metatron has been on the same subcommittees as the archangels - after Michael and Uriel don't recognize him, he's probably assuming they have very little contact)

if Corwley falling was a mistake maybe everything else Aziraphale has been internally questioning is too. If heaven can make mistakes than something has been going wrong in heaven - a fault in operations not in design - there must something to fix

Aziraphale is a being of faith and he carries such guilt for questioning that faith. The idea that the Metraton is acknowledging a mistake must be such a balm to him

It's really no wonder he thinks he can change heaven after that offer

#good omens #good omens season 2 #good omens meta #gos2 spoilers #aziraphale meta #obviously there are other things influincing his decision (esp his tendency to still fall into that heaven/hell binary) #also this is all manipulation by metatron #who just needs A and C sepparated #but I dont think metatron realizes what hes done by lighting this fire under As ass #Aziraphale is now a man with nothing to loose and everything to prove #and the metatron is going to end up regretting this

[songbird-of-eden]

A CLUE?! The Missing Death Theory

Good Omens S2 SPOILERS below!!!

Okay, it has been the nocturnal habit of mine over the last 3 days to suddenly dwell on the Good Omens finale and scrutinise every detail in a sleep-deprived thought soup.

And apparently, tonight, my last two remaining braincells fired up their little engines and decided to put something rather interesting together.

One thing that got me when I watched the finale was the book that Muriel was reading. "The Crow Road."

So I decided to give it a quick Google, and realised the opening line of the book is one that Gabriel, or Jim, stumbled across earlier in the season. It goes like this:

"It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach's Mass in B Minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach."

Now, you may be thinking, okay, but what does this have to do with anything? And you would be right to be confused, but hear me out.

Death has a major, reoccurring influence in S2.

Yes, we have the obvious coffee shop "give me coffee or give me death" reference (this has a major point that I will get to a little later, but please, bear with me). But that is not the only one.

Throughout each episode, Death has been raised and eluded by numerous characters. In ep2, Jobe's family were saved by our ineffable duo. In ep3, we have the incident with the graverobber and stopping her from calling it a day. In ep4, we have the rise of the nazi zombies. In ep5, our unfortunate fellow from the ball gets thrown to the demons and appears to die, only to make a reappearance later on in ep6, albiet looking a little nibbled on.

And then there's the fact that miracles, as Crowley points out, are measured in "the power required to raise people from the dead."

Still with me? Okay good. Because its gonna get a little more crazy from here. Time to break out the funky tinfoil hats.

So, yes, many of the characters seemingly ellude death, right? Not a big point at first glance, considering the upbeat nature of the show... until you consider this.

Whilst in the coffee shop, the Metatron asks whether anyone ever chooses death instead of coffee. A weird line to be sure - perhaps an awkward statement of an angel unsure of how to interact with mortals. Totally plausible, right? Well, what if it was a test?

Nina claimed to remember everyone by what they order, and replied that no one has ever chosen death. I mean, I would hope so, but what if Death was no longer a thing that happened?

What if our devious Metatron wrote Death out of the Book of Life, considering that Death is a being instead of a simple concept as shown in S1 - and so the Metratron was asking as a test to gauge Nina's response. To figure out if his alteration had taken effect?

Okay, yes. It sounds a little wild, but if that is not the case, it does not mean that something is not going on with Death.

Going back to The Raven Road book, the plot follows a boy in pursuit of uncovering the mystery around his missing uncle. So perhaps, it is not so crazy after all to believe that something, or rather, someone is missing.

Which leads me to another missing creature.

Remember that heartbreaking line from Crowley? "You hear that? No nightingales?"

It was the dagger in many fan's hearts, but potentially held another meaning. Because in the poem: "Ode to a nightingale", the bird is used to represent, to an extent, death. As well as the concept of immortality.

Which means it's disappearance may be signalling a strange shift in the world.

Which brings me to my final point. We are in the home stretch now kiddos!

The second coming. The Metatron's grand plan.

In biblical text, it states that the Second Coming will be a sudden and unmistakable incident, like "a flash of lightning".

Now, where else did we see lightning? Hmmm. What about Crowley's enraged outburst that sealed poor Maggie and Nina in the coffee shop?

Which makes their line an episode or two later even more interesting...

Maggie: "Did it all start with the lightning?"

Crowley: "No, way before that."

Does this mean that events were starting to be influenced and set in motion way earlier as the Metatron began to tinker in the book?

We also have the name of S2 ep1 being called "The Arrival" - a name the Second Coming is sometimes referred to as, along with the text: "For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise."

So, just take a moment to digest that.

An archangel's call. Well, we've had two of those - Gabriel calling on Aziraphale as well as Aziraphale being called to heaven. Then we have the trumpet that plays whenever Micheal and co descend from Heaven, a sound Aziraphale actually asks whether Maggie could hear.

Which leads to the final part: the dead in Christ will rise.

People are not dying as they should, be it from the influence of our ineffable duo, or perhaps, it is the Metatron's plan after all. A way to start the second coming.

Even the opening credits alludes to this with Crowley and Aziraphale seemingly leading a crowd of humans out of hell and through various time periods, but perhaps I really am getting ahead of myself.

So yep. Something is very up with Death.

Anyway. I need to be up in 5 hours for work. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk before the incoherent babbling begins.

#good omens #neil gaiman #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #crowley #goodomens #missing death theory #the missing death theory #theory #good omens season 2 #good omens season finale #good omens theory

[nofomogirl]

Metatron's manipulation step by step

Part 1: The coffee

The very first thing we see Metatron do on Earth is order a coffee in Nina's shop. Which is very convenient, because I don't think I would be able to properly analyze the finale without discussing the role of the drink first.

No, I do not believe the coffee was tampered with in any way. It's just a regular coffee. But I do agree it's important, and the scene where Metatron places his order is in the show for a very good reason.

What reason is that?

Well, what do you think is the reason for any drink that we get to see this season? Because I don't know if you've noticed but there are quite a few of them.

Maggie asks for a skinny latte, which we learn is her usual. Then she comes back, but since it's too late for coffee she asks for a herbal tea but can't make up her mind between mint and chamomile.

Crowley demands the famous six shots of Esspresso in one mug.

Aziraphale asks for a large sherry at the pub and Crowley orders a large Talisker.

Job's children make a lot of fuss about their wine.

Mrs. Sandwich buys four drinks for her girls, one of which is double Americano with oat milk and hazelnut syrup (we don't know what the other three were but we can safely assume they were just as specific).

In 1827 Crowley influences Mister Dalrymple to offer him and Aziraphale some whisky.

And obviously, Gabriel Jim gets a lot of hot chocolate.

Oh, but let's not forget the less fortunate encounters with various beverages.

When Aziraphale is first offered wine in 2500 BC, he is repulsed.

When Muriel is offered tea, they have no idea how to hold the cup and insist they prefer to just look at it.

And finally, when Gabriel and Beelzebub go on a date in The Resurrectionist, the Archangel orders "two goblets of your intoxicating liquor, please" and when the bartender asks which liquor, he specifies "whichever one it is you humans usually orally consume". After putting the glasses of beer on the table, he calms Beelzebub with "you don't actually have to consume". And indeed they never do touch their drinks.

Do you see the pattern?

Humans drink things all the time. We drink to stay alive, but also to influence our bodies in certain ways (alcohol to get intoxicated, coffee to get stimulated, herbal infusions to get calmed, etc.), and as part of social rituals. What, how, and when we drink is a very important part of our lives. We follow certain customs but we also have very specific personal preferences.

In season 2 we see a lot of humans act normally about drinks, Aziraphale and Crowley pretty much assimilated in that regard but still sticking out on occasion, and supernatural entities unfamiliar with Earth completely lost and confused by the whole thing.

And the reason for showing it all is to provide context for the scene when Metatron asks for a large oat milk latte with a dash of almond syrup for Aziraphale.

The reason for that scene, in turn, is to let us know, that Metatron knows what he's doing. He's not like the Archangels - ignorant, incompetent, and easily fooled. He knows and understands Earth. The problem is, he also wants it destroyed. And stopping him would be far more difficult than anything in season 1 was.

Continued in Part 2: learning from past mistakes

#good omens 2 #good omens #good omens spoilers

[trashboatprince]

Here's something silly for that mad scientists au I have with Dr. Crowley and Dr. McFell.

Ready to meet Jim? :)

Warning: unethical science, human-plant hybrid monster that shouldn't exist but does

On with the fic!

--

"I think that vendor scammed us!" Crowley growled as he looked into the basket. "I think we paid for apples she didn't give us."

"Well, at least we grabbed all the fresh ones, yes?" Muriel asked, looking at the basket as well as they walked back to the Crowley Manor.

"Yeah, well... still, I think we were scammed. Hope the tarts angel makes today are worth it. Things ain't cheap right now!"

"Nope! They're not!" Muriel nodded, huffing. "Just last week, when I went to get that order you placed at the butchers, I think he was trying to overcharge for the cut, and it isn't even of the best kind of meat! We were making stew, but a meal for royalty!"

Crowley smirked, listening to them rant, ah, he was such an influence on them. Just like a parental figure!

They approached the doors to their home, only to see McFell outside, fretting, pacing. He paused when he noticed them and put on a very forced, nervous smile. "O-oh! You're... you're back so soon!"

"It wasn't really a long trip to get veg, angel." Crowley commented, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"W-whatever do you mean? Nothing's wrong! What would make you say or think that?"

Muriel and Crowley looked at one another, then back at him. "Aziraphale, I'm your husband, and Muriel has been living with us for six years. We are very aware when you're upset or worked up about somethin', you're not as subtle as you think."

Aziraphale made a whimpering sound and wrung his hands, then moved to open the doors. "We can't talk about it out here, come inside."

Crowley shrugged and followed in with his purchases, Muriel trailing behind.

"Alright," Crowley started, setting his goods on a nearby table, careful of the many books on it, "who or what has you all twisted up in knots like this?"

"Well, uhh... this individual is... hmm..."

Crowley removed his dark glasses, frowning. "Is it someone we know?"

Aziraphale coughed and cleared his throat, trying to smile. "Uhh... Jim?" He called out.

This gave Crowley a moment of pause, staring at his husband. "Jim? Do we know a Jim?"

"Hello!"

Crowley whipped right around and saw an imposing figure entering their foyer. The figure was tall, slightly muscular, covered in bits of plant matter and dirt, green-tinted, and was very, very clearly naked.

It also looked just like the man that had been lying cold and unmoving on his work table in the lab just this morning.

"AHH! IT'S ALIVE!" Crowley screeched and stumbled backwards.

"I'll take care of it, Mr. Crowley!" Muriel shouted in a panic, running to the closet to grab their shovel.

"No, no! Don't do that!" Aziraphale exclaimed and rushed towards the plant man. "Don't hurt him!"

"Angel!" Crowley coughed, hand on his chest, trying to get his heart to stop beating like crazy. "How is he alive!? I thought the project failed!"

Aziraphale whizzed, looking at the monster, who was all smiles, like he clearly didn't seem to know what the problem was and was just enjoying the company. Which was probably the case. "I thought so too! But I came out of the library and there he was, right in our front doorway, ready to step out into the world as bare as a babe!"

Crowley looked around Aziraphale at the plant man. "You didn't think to cover him up?"

"I... I had a blanket on his lap, I thought he'd take it with him when he came in here."

"Clearly not."

"Hello! I'm Jim!" The plant man said, grinning.

Crowley made a face as Muriel approached, a shovel in their hands. The redheaded doctor put a hand on it, lowering it slightly, just in case. "Why did you name him Jim?" Muriel asked. "Was that the body's original name?"

"Nah, we used a variety of parts. Though there might be a James in there." Crowley replied.

"Oh!" Jim, as he was named, said. "That's the long version, right? Jim, short for James, long for Gabriel."

"Gabriel...?" Muriel raised an eyebrow.

"He looks like a man I know by that name." Aziraphale sighed. "No, I just... I panicked and just named him because he asked and it was the name that came to mind."

He coughed again, then tried to smile. "Uhh... well, at least we can say that your absolute nonsense of a scientific theory turned out to be true, eh, dear boy?"

Crowley stared at his husband, then at Jim. "You do realize this was a one in a million chance."

"Of course."

"And because of that, we now have an affront to God and Satan and all of science in our foyer, yes?"

"I am well aware."

"Who happens to be completely naked, and holding what looks like a mug of hot cocoa."

"He rather likes cocoa."

"Hm. We should probably get some pants on him and then have a long discussion about this over drinks. Strong drinks."

"That sounds like a plan."

"Muriel, put the shovel away and go get us all some of the really good stuff, it's gonna be a long talk."

--

The talk ends with them adopting Jim.

Not sure if Crowley marches off and gets hit with lightning, because this is a silly au and things like that could happen, but I'll leave that up to you, dear readers.

#good omens #ineffable husbands #ineffable spouses #crowley #aziraphale #anthony j crowley #muriel #john's drabbles

[ineffablymanic]

Crowley didn't know why he kept coming back to the bookshop. [AO3]

Muriel listened to his advice, no books were being sold. Her oddly polite "Kindly sod off!! Thank you!!" delivered with a hearty smile made Crowley's mouth twitch every time. He started sorting the books Jim had moved around, back the way they used to be, according to the order Az- he had last put them. Crowley replenished the fire extinguisher supply. He scoffed at the yellow duster and just miracled any dust he saw into the close proximity of customers who he could sense being nasty to the staff in the surrounding shops. Enjoy coughing for the rest of the day, jackass.

Crowley avoided the messy writing desk. He avoided plenty of things. Couples. Certain genre movies and music. Bentley, on days when hissing it to shut up shut the fuck up with the certain genre songs didn't work. He had plenty of thoughts he avoided like a professional.

But then he saw Muriel actively defiling the desk.

She had moved the once dispersed yellowing pieces of paper into one pile and gathered old tea cups to be taken to the kitchenette. There was a large leather bound notebook in her hands that she was maybe moving to a shelf.

"Leave. It," Crowley snarled, regretting his too harsh of a tone the moment the words spat out of his lips, but Muriel just seemed surprised. She'd gotten too used to his presence, he thought absently.

"Oh, is the mess intended? Is that another human thing?

"It's his mess. He doesn't- didn't-" Crowley tried not to groan in frustration. "Humans, people, don't like it when their personal stuff is touched."

Muriel's brows furrowed as she considered the revelation. "I guess that makes sense. I've never owned anything, angel's aren't supposed to crave possessions you see, but I do suppose if I did... I'd be upset too."

She let out a little nervous chuckle. "I'd rather like to give a permission first! I don't know what that would be like, I've never been asked." Her eyes widened and suddenly she looked like the book had burned her, and she quickly put it back down on the desk.

Crowley's irritation melted away. He couldn't stay mad at Muriel over anything. He'd forgotten how cruel Heaven was. Well, he hadn't, but spending such a long time with one angel had skewed his memory- Nope. He forced his mind to look for something else to think, anything else than that ecstatic smile when he’d obtained a rare book, or the pure, unfiltered delight when he ate or drank something delicious, or-

Crowley shook his head vigorously and started sauntering towards the door. He needed fresh air. Or a bottle of Aerstone, he wasn't sure which. 

"It's okay, glad we cleared that up. Leave the desk be, uh, yeah. Bye."

In all earnestness he considered finally going on a trip of some kind. Somewhere warm and dry, Australia maybe. Maybe he'd just keep driving and see where he ends up. Few years of Wanderlust might do him some good.

He was back at the bookshop in three days.

Irked out of his mind, Crowley acknowledged Muriel's cordial greeting with a grunt and started meandering around the bookshelves, glaring at anything that could possibly be out of place. If he focused hard enough, he could make the old plant essence in the books shiver under his scrutiny.

With a sigh, he sprawled on the sofa like a deflating balloon. Muriel left him be, in some round about way she'd learned when he wasn't in a talking mood. Apparently she'd been taking 'Demon Crowley Behavior' notes and refused to show them to him. He didn't want to compel her, in fact he was appreciative of the silence. Trying to ground himself, Crowley took in a deep breath, taking in the slightly stale scent of ancient books, leather and glue and regretted the act immediately. Another thought to avoid.

He didn't feel like leaving, no matter how often the thoughts get up, get out, why am I here kept repeating in his head. Maybe reading could distract him for a while. He lurched upright and slunk around, browsing the ever so slightly trembling book spines.

A Change in the environment caught his attention and he glanced at the writing desk. Right, Muriel had touched it so it didn't look the same as before. Crowley hadn't seen the book she'd dropped on the table before, it must've been buried under other notebooks. There were multiple pages jutting out, and he saw some colorful markings on them. His curiosity won and he picked up the book, unwrapping the leather string and started to browse it.

His eyes widened until they almost bulged out.

Crowley slapped the book shut, snatched it and staggered towards the stairs. When Muriel inquired where he was going, Crowley tried to answer something akin to "just visiting the bathroom", but what came out was mostly unintelligible garble. This apparently didn't bother Muriel.

"... Is there a bathroom? Do demons need to use the toilet? Or is your corporation different from mine? Mine didn't come with an active digestion tract, at least to my knowledge, I haven't consumed anything yet and..."

Muriel's prattling died out when Crowley crashed into Jim's (Gabriel's? Who cares) old room and slammed the door shut. The door had enough sense to lock itself. He sucked in a preparatory breath.

Crowley plopped the book on the bed, waved it to flourish open and spread his hands and fingers, moving them in an 'arise' gesture. All the loose sheets of paper spread around him in the air in a half sphere. Crowley forgot breathing existed. His heart worked overtime, seemingly pumping all the blood to his cheeks and neck.

Tens, no, more like hundreds of adept drawings. Of Crowley, and Crowley only. Various ages of paper, he could sense the trace of power that kept the older ones pristine. Ink, pencil, charcoal, watercolor. Vibrant red and yellow colors used to depict his hair and snake eyes in great detail. Worrisome amount of drawings of him sleeping in various locations. Drawings from multiple eras, of countless of his different looks and styles. Drawings of his wings. None had his glasses. He was drawn smiling in most of them (Crowley didn't know did he really have that bright of a smile or was it just drawn like that).

Aziraphale doesn't- didn't draw, Crowley thought, numbly. He kept grabbing one paper after another, staring at the details. Some of them had text next to the drawings, proving him wrong. It was Aziraphale's small, tidy handwriting.

I miss his curls.

I miss seeing his eyes glint in the sun. Like flawless, yellow garnets.

Why did men's stockings have to go out of fashion?

He looked stunning in a hanfu. Oh, who am I kidding, he’d look stunning in a jute sack.

Attractive messy bun. Perfection.

He looks so peaceful while sleeping. Some day I wish to see him as calm and content while awake.

Crowley grinned madly. Why was he shaking? A hysterical laughter was trying to tear its way out of his throat. Oh, this was rich. What a weirdo. When that bastard came back, Crowley would needle him about these till the end of time. Absolutely ridiculous. Incredible. Straight up beyond belief…

To his horror, his grin twisted into a grimace and his silent laughter warped into sobs. Before he knew it, he had dropped down on his knees, tears rolling down his cheeks. He managed to pay enough attention to not get any on the drawings.

Well, fuck. Fuck. The overpressurized bottle holding his thoughts and emotions burst open.

I miss you, you bastard angel.

#in which crowley finds aziraphale's drawing notebook #we know aziraphale is a talented drawer. it's basically canon he has a notebook like this #1300w #post s2 angst #good omens fan fiction #ineffable spouses #good omens #manic writes things #Ineffable husbands #Aziracrow

[bliphany]

The Coffee was not drugged. The Coffee reflected how we related to our own and other people's free will (of making one’s own choice)

So I read this post and agreed with it so much I felt myself vibrating. After a few hours of thinking about it, I wanted to ramble more under op’s post, initially, but found that it grew way too long. So, I decided to make a separate post.

After two months since Good Omens season 2 finale, my view of various theories/metas concerning the final fifteen minutes is that, I am okay with most of them as long as they don't erase Aziraphale’s agency.

Did Aziraphale genuinely want to fix Heaven with Crowley but with Crowley’s strong refusal he took the second best thing he thought he could get? I’m fine with that.

Did Aziraphale tried to fix Heaven to make it worthy of Crowley, the world he loved, and his idea of real goodness (he wouldn’t see the world suffer if he could help it) and with the newly-gained information of Second Coming he made his choice even though it broke his heart? I liked this a lot. It was my initial thought right after the finale and I’m still about 65-70% standing by this take.

Did Aziraphale lie to gain more wiggle room in an urgent, intense, and limited-resource situation while due to his own and Crowley’s backgrounds and characteristics they also hurt each other in the process? YES YES YES. Right now this is my favorite interpretation because it’s a realistic and complex bag of limitation/repression from the system, individual’s agency despite of it, free will and choices (never means we won’t make mistakes but always means we can still choose to do something), and their mutual (mis)understandings and relationship dynamics. It’s SO GOOD. It can lead to so many possibilities. It has its depth and enough twist for both characters and the audience. It well-reflected our world and can bring valuable discussions.

Was there something we weren’t shown and actually Aziraphale and Crowley had come up with some plan? I’m okay with that it might be fun.

What I personally don’t want (aside from “oh it’s all God’s plan God wanted them to love each other God is one of us”… but that’s another post I guess…) is to erase the weight of Aziraphale’s choice at the end of Season 2, along with all the good and bad and everything in between it could bring to the table and all the valuable exploration of “how could we thrive to make hard choices even (especially) under limited circumstances, with "a cup of coffee."

I believe that coffee did mean something though...

"Give me Coffee/Freedom or give me death."

Coffee means freedom to choose and free will. Coffee/freedom which Aziraphale was half-forced to take, meaning the “free” choice pushed upon you weren’t as “free” as it seemed after all. Especially true under our current capitalism world, wasn't it? But it was not completely drunk without Aziraphale's agency, either. Coffee/freedom which Crowley asked six shots of. Coffee/freedom which Nina served every day but still on her way to break free from a previous not-free situation. Coffee/freedom which Ms. Sandwich claimed tasted better when Nina was happy.

I think it's also worth mentioning that, Aziraphale served Muriel tea and demonstrated how to drink it but respected their choice not to drink just yet. Aziraphale invited Jim/Gabriel to have a cup of cocoa which Jim/Gabriel described as the best thing ever.

The coffee was not drugged. The coffee was a metaphor of many different ways people could relate to their free will and ability/responsibility to choose.

The most interesting part was, theoretically, we people praise free will, we value choices, and we love love characters to have their agency...

Until they made a choice that we personally don't like, against our point of view, or hurt us.**

**This is also why I never truly believed Crowley would Refuse Aziraphale with capital R in canon... Crowley was definitely heartbroken, but between the two of them, he was also the one who valued and respected people making their own choices more. We saw he did that again and again even when he didn't personally agree. The only once he "took" away others choice in canon was to prevent a suicide.**

Then, that was free will no more. We'd framed it as if said individual was nonconsensual. Or the relationship must be bad or unhealthy. Which was understandable, emotionally, but that was also exactly the point of people having free will, wasn't it?

Giving people agency means acknowledging that they are different individuals from us. There's connection. There's love. There's devotion. They're still their own person just like we are our own. Giving people freedom to choose means they might, will, and should be allowed to choose differently. If their choices break our hearts. Well, they break our hearts. That happens because people are people.

People can't truly choose/love us freely if they aren't also given the freedom to not choose/love us. (Not saying Aziraphale and Crowley didn’t love each other because they definitely do. I’m just saying, they’ve been co-shaping humanity from the start of course they would act more and more like people, and to paraphrase what Adam once said, it made no sense to make people people and then be mad at them when they acted like, well, people)

Ursula Le. Guin wrote this short story called "Nine Lives" and it was about real, meaningful connections were created by reaching out a hand in the dark, without knowing for sure whether there would be other people to reach back.

It’s a practice. To love and to love under the blessing and curse of free will choice.

Idk I’m just… the “coffee was drugged theory” especially didn’t make sense to me personally, because Good Omens has always been a story about human free will.

#good omens #good omens meta #aziraphale #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #Aziraphale’s choice #my good omens meta

[averywiseanimatedcat]

Rewatching Good Omens season 2

Episode 2, ‘The clue’ post 3

Link to previous post 2

They really gettin it with these shots.

Man.

Think I needa lie down again.

“Where did you hear it?”

“Uhhh this morning? Out my mouth?”

FUCK OFF GABRIEL WITH YOUR SMART ASS CUTE JIM CHARACTER.

Glasses off in the bookshop; my third and favourite son to whom I leave all my earthly belongings

Glasses off in the land of Uz: a broadway spinoff

Ooooo big scary Angel + simping.

Can we talk about how in this flashback this is the first time we see Azirphale really TRUST Crowley. This is maybe their 4th meeting we know about. We know Azi hasn’t seen him since the flood so it’s been a while. They hardly know each other at this point.

It also starts a pattern where we see Crowley is willing to stick his neck out quite confidently to do what he he thinks is right but Aziraphale is always questioning himself. Azi looks to others to show him what’s right and wrong where Crowley has already decided what he thinks should be done and he just does it. I think that’s what attracts Azirphale, it’s Crowleys confidence and self assurance in knowing what he’s doing is right and he doesn’t need to ask anyones permission to do it. Which is why it’s quite comical that Azirphale tries to tell Crowley he’s on heavens side in the cellar when Crowleys never been on anyone’s side, ever. Crowley has never been ‘owned’ truely, it’s just not his personality. He’s far to much of an independent entity to ever have such alliances. And if he does they’re temporary and only when it’s convenient. The exception being the relationship he builds with Aziraphale.

But Azirphale is still stuck thinking in this black and white way where you can only be on one side or the other. While Crowleys always existed outside of that.

This season also really shows how Crowley picks and chooses who he is kind to. He’s kind and sweet to Jobs daughter, and is generally nice to Azirphale. He’s nice to Muriel as well when she turns up. I think he sees intention rather than behaviour, he sees Aziraphale has good intentions and wants to do the right thing so he is kind to him. He sees the child and Muriel as just oblivious, innocent bystanders. Which is what he was when before he was cast out. Which is why I cry over this demonic baby.

Ok back to the funny stuff what IS this face. Michael is having to much this fun this season.

Disaster ADHD bitch sitting exhibit #6. And unsure if he is drunk or he just can’t walk straight/trips everywhere which is on brand for any decent, well mannered ADHD disaster. I choose to believe that he can’t walk straight ever. Because he isn’t straight. And has ADHD.

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#good omens #good omens s2 #good omens season 2 #aziraphale #aziracrow #crowly x aziraphale #crowley #go2 spoilers #good omens spoilers

[thesherrinfordfacility]

On the topic of dark grey Crowley though, I agree, and I think actually being seen as some sort of gallant hero type who makes mistakes but ultimately is good is the sort of reading of his character that would frustrate him. Crowley genuinely likes to fuck with people sometimes. When Muriel shows up Crowley can barely resist having a little fun at Muriel's expense and mocking them for being naive, and he's so excited to do it. Like I think that is the happiest we see Crowley all season. He does the paint-gun trick just for fun and can barely contain his laughter when Aziraphale freaks out, and bragging to Hell about his evil deeds constantly is a facet of his personality and something Aziraphale even scolds him for. That isn't all just for show, Crowley has a conscience, but he can still be a stinker. That said, in the same way Aziraphale has a hard time going a week without doing a good deed, you can tell Post-Retirement Crowley is also trying to refrain from some of his meaner habits in S2 with his "count to ten" stuff, and especially in his interactions with Jim. Like he's working on being better, but having a hard time not letting his temper get the best of him, or not being a little bit evil sometimes. That's how I read that quick look in the Bentley after his fight with Aziraphale when he takes off his glasses and looks exhausted. It to me reads a bit like; "I didn't handle that well." You can also see his growth at the end of the season. Like he actually listens to Nina and Maggie and takes them seriously when they tell him he needs to be more communicative, and he makes an effort to follow their advice. S1 Crowley would not have done that.

hi @oatmealaddiction, sorry for taking so long to reply to you!!!✨

this is... brilliant - you're absolutely right and i completely agree with you; he definitely seems to try getting a handle of himself in s2. there's a lot that he does in 2023 that shows that he's trying to be more gentle, conscious of his words/behaviour, and all-round a softer person. you've highlighted "count to ten" (and i'll add his immediate recognition of 'my bad' when he restores power to the coffeeshop), and how he interacts with jim, but also the way that he gently questions aziraphale about his 'naked man friend', how he interacts with muriel in the backroom and in heaven, and putting the shop back together before aziraphale comes back (firmly believe that this is the stress-cleaning as alluded to in the book, but it's still a measure of kindness and respect to aziraphale and the shop).

he still occasionally falters in all this though, which is a nice touch to show that it's all a work-in-progress (he still mocks muriel slightly in ep3 as you say, still violently loses his temper, still shown to treat aziraphale's things with a degree of disrespect, and still handles aziraphale quite abruptly on occasion), but the common denominator throughout all of that, relapsing so to speak, is him being under a good measure of stress and threat - so once again, completely understandable that he does so!!! i also like your remark on the conversation with maggie and nina; even if he doesn't necessarily listen to/act on the key points of that conversation that he possibly ought to have done, the fact that he does at all - even considers what they have to say as being worthy of his attention, as wise and insightful - is another mark of how he begins to evolve in s2, compared to s1 where he seems to be stuck in a state of inertia. crowley seems to spend a good deal of s2 anchorless (and not just in the literal 'hes living out in his car' way), and therefore seems to be grasping for routine, purpose, and/or connection wherever he can find it...?

i do wonder if its wholly to do with being out from under hell's thumb, though. as you say, and ive suggested in previous asks, crowley does seem to get some joy out of being a demon and doing demonic things, and acts in those instances with - as it seems to me, anyway - very little conscience... but these all largely occur before he breaks away from hell, even if some bad habits (?) remain in s2. im also of the (i think) widely-shared belief that crowley begins to fear hell from 1827 onward, and that his disappearance for however-long-a-time/his obvious fear and paranoia in 1862 is directly linked to how he reacts to aziraphale calling him nice/good/thanking him.

so with that in mind, his emerging willingness, as it seems in s2, to be 'nicer' and 'gentler' correlates directly to the threat of hell being removed; that would be a fairly logical conclusion. but we know that he's not out from under hell's thumb... i would like to think that crowley isn't naive enough to believe that shax is simply a harmless, innocuous protégée... but if we consider how he seems to underestimate other fellow demons in the show, it's entirely possible.

but then again, the time that beelzebub drags him from the bentley does seem to be the first time they've interacted since armageddon... so did crowley truly think that he was safe from hell? that they wouldn't dare to fuck with him again, after the bathtub ruse? did he see it as freedom to start being nicer, without fear of repercussions that - we can assume - he suffered beforehand? is he doing it for himself, because he wants to be nicer, or is he doing it to build further on the 'us' he and aziraphale were tentatively creating in the four years we didn't see?

sorry that the above is a ramble - this is basically a transcript of my brain talking itself in circles, but i think it's nonetheless interesting to think about; how much of crowley developing into this character, that seems to purposefully try being a kinder/nicer/more patient and conscientious person, is because he personally wants to, had wanted to all along, and is now free to do so, and how much is it because he thinks it's a compromise on meeting aziraphale's assessment of being 'at heart, just a little bit, a good person', so that he's more... idk, likeable - agreeable? - to aziraphale directly? wants to live up to what aziraphale thinks of him? how much of this is all the same thing?✨

#good omens #ask #god knows what im rambling about in the second half im so sorry 😂 #this was so good to think about tho so thank you!!! #crowley meta #s1 meta #s2 meta

[tessiete]

Wild Guesses and Untamed Theories about Good Omens Season 3.

Please feel free to disagree vehemently in the reblogs. Love that for us.

THEMES:

Since season one was about self-determination, and season two was about love, I'm guessing that season three is about death. Clues: 1. The Crow Road - Muriel is seen "reading" this book at the end. It's also the other novel that we see Jim alphabetise. It's about a young man whose grandmother dies, and he goes back to Scotland to wrestle with mortality, faith, and his relationship with his father. The "crow road" itself is a euphemism for death. Someone who's gone up crow road is dead.

2. The Final Nia Truc - Crowley's license plate being a reference to Terry Gilliam and his work on Monty Python. The skit it's referencing can be seen here (though you really should just watch The Meaning of Life. The Galaxy Song is maybe the best song written, and in fact I'm actually linking that and not the final curtain reference, so... (tw: suicidal leaves)

3. The Third Season is "Final" - Neil said so himself. In a three word Clue. I can't find it, so you're just gonna have to trust me. Anyway, what's more final than death? Or what isn't? You know?

4. Death as A Person - They were introduced as a physicalised character in the first season, and in the book it's noted that Death cannot be overcome. But Death CAN be delayed.

5. Book of Life - Revelations. Second Coming. Final Judgement. Jesus checking the Book of Life for the righteous. The resurrection of the dead. The end of all life on Earth. Etc., etc. The Bible is really preoccupied with this stuff, so I hear.

ARCS:

Aziraphale - He's a mess. I think we can all, well, not safely or with any certainty but at least with some...conviction? Some confidence? We can reasonably guess that Aziraphale's going to be dealing with a more complete disillusionment and emancipation from Heaven.

What does this mean in practical terms?

Probably a lot of conflict with the Metatron. Maybe Aziraphale realising he's being maneuvered as a puppet without any real authority. Potentially a coup by the other archangels? Possibly blackmail with Crowley's safety? Conceivably The Book of Life as a threat to his existence? To Crowley's? To Earth's? Sure. Why not?

Crowley - Okay, this is the neat one because Crowley had the most dramatic arc of the two of them in the second season. His was the open discovery of his love for Aziraphale, explicitly stated desire to be together, and the final (?) emancipation from Hell. Wanting to be a Us with a capital U.

So where is it left for him to go?

Forgiveness.

He's gonna have to learn to get comfy with forgiveness. With receiving it. With accepting it. With offering it.

Because he's going to have to give it to Aziraphale.

CONCLUSION:

I know, I know - no one agrees with me on this, but I'm gonna say it anyway and you can all yell in the notes.

I think this series ends with Crowley and Aziraphale becoming human. Choosing One Life to live together as humans. To have EVERYTHING, ALL AT ONCE, in one go. Together.

Because, because -- think of it:

Humanity vs. The Divine The book talks frequently about the difference between humans and angels/demons. Most clearly, here:

"The real grace and the real heart-stopping evil, was right inside the human mind."

This, to me, suggests that the things which Aziraphale and Crowley are ciphers for can only truly be realised by humans.

The book also goes on to reinforce to us how close the two of them already are.

They're said to have "gone native."

Crowley is said to have something other demons don't have: imagination.

Aziraphale is a straight up hedonist.

They live here. They work here.

And like with Dog, "form shapes nature."

And when it comes to "sides," Crowley notes in Season 1 that the final battle will really be between Heaven/Hell and Humanity. That's their side.

2. On the Nature of Free Will

Much is made about the nature of free will, especially in season one which is basically all about that. Anathema with her prophecies, Adam with his destiny, and, of course, Aziraphale and Crowley with their respective natures.

All of those arcs end with the heroes overcoming the bonds of restraint and determining their own future. In short, exercising their own free will.

While Aziraphale and Crowley don't necessarily recognise this, it is nonetheless true. And even though we're told it's impossible, we see that this isn't entirely true.

We see it in how Crowley drinks, and Aziraphale eats. Aziraphale especially engaging in all sorts of sinful activities without any celestial direction but purely because he likes it. He chooses it. And despite it going against the tenets of Heaven, he is able to do it.

Crowley wills the Bentley to survive the flames. Crowley chooses to conspire with Aziraphale time and again, not just to thwart the Great Plan but so that they can have oysters, or so that he doesn't have to ride a horse.

We constantly see them choosing.

And while, yes, in the scope of season 1 we could argue that "Ah, but - BUT! That is the Ineffable Plan. It wasn't chosen, it was always meant to be that way," this kind of falls apart in the scope of season 2 which is all about people resisting the expectations and pressures of other divine plans.

Gabriel nahs the war.

Maggie and Nina not only can't be miracled into love (so says Aziraphale), but also refuse to be manipulated into it either by miracle or meddling.

Muriel likes Aziraphale. Muriel "reads". Muriel helps Crowley.

So. Free Will.

Something that it seems everyone -- angels and demons included -- already has.

Additionally, Aziraphale's temptation back to Heaven is not based in ambition (he suggests Michael), but in self-determination (follow me, I swear it makes sense).

Okay, so the thing that sells him is the RESTORATION of Crowley to a divine state. Because he thinks that Crowley's Fall is fundamentally a mistake. That their inability to be together is because they are fundamentally opposed. Logically this makes sense, so why doesn't he feel convinced of it?

"Deep down you're a good person"

"That was a very kind thing you did"

All that stuff. He's constantly trying to assert Crowley's goodness as proof that he's not truly the demon he is. To Aziraphale, Crowley's status as a demon is a mistake that infringes upon his ability to determine his own path because when left to it, Crowley often chooses good.

While Crowley feels like his Fall is the act which bought him freedom from the shackles of Heaven. His Fall gave him self-determination.

Aziraphale sees it as something to be fixed. Crowley sees it as a choice. He sauntered vaguely downward. He goes along as far as he can.

In That Conversation, they're both hearing that the other person dislikes something they view as FUNDAMENTAL about themselves. Aziraphale IS an angel. Crowley IS a demon. They don't recognise how their choices determine their identities, and so misunderstand each other and ultimately, lose each other.

If they could see past those titles, then what would they find? And...something, something.

Where was I going with this?

Oh, right! Being human.

Anyway, if free-will is one of the requirements of Being Human then everyone qualifies whether they know it or not.

3. On the Nature of LOOOOOOVE

Falling in love. "It's what humans do." SO SAYS Aziraphale.

And well.

You know?

Enough said.

So, if Being Human means having free will AND falling in love, then...

Being an Angel or a Demon is just a job description.

And since Aziraphale and Crowley quit, then...

The only other thing that humanity has which separates them from angels and demons is that, well, they die. We die.

And so, if they are to become fully human with all the LOVE and FREEDOM of it, then they'll have to also take the death. Death, after all, is what makes the rest of it all possible. Maybe. I think, in some philosophies.

So, at a guess, the story ends like it began: in a garden.

Two humans, in love, living out their days in a cottage on the South Downs.

WILD RANDOM GUESSES (and how likely I think they are):

Jesus is a nepo baby, and Humanity turns on him because flying in a private jet is pretty gauche these days (9/10 - I think that this could go either way. When this idea was conceived in the 90s/00s private jets weren't the absolute bane of our literal continued existence as they are now. Some ideas don't age perfectly. The record shop, the...message box. Machine. The voice mail thing. The pay per view porn. But this one could have fun new connotations!)

Crowley becomes the new Duke of Hell and makes his dominion here on Earth (5/10 - Break ups can be Hell, and I think Crowley spiting Aziraphale's little efforts at beautification, or spurning all the places they used to love together is kind of fun. Also would explain global warming, buuuuut Crowley was pretty certain about not going back to Hell so...)

Aziraphale studies the porn in an effort to learn how to seduce Crowley. It's what humans do (like, a 8/10? I think it'll happen but I have no idea how it'd fit in)

Humans clone a whale. After all, God says to get back to her once we've managed to make a whale. (6/10. If Season 3 touches on the idea of emancipation (I didn't mention it up top, but here it is. Theme: EMANCIPATION) then I think it'd be funny for the cloning of a whale to signify Humanity's emancipation from Heaven and Hell, and God Herself. After all, if humans are God's children, all children - no exceptions - grow up.)

Humanity holds a General Strike against Heaven and Hell. It starts with a little old woman who just refuses to die. We all know one -- she's constantly being taken to the hospital, her family warned to prepare, and yet, somehow, she's back at the nursing home the next day. She just refuses to go. She's tired of all their nonsense (4/10 I think that there's no way humanity can outmatch Heaven or Hell for sheer strength so victory will have to come from somewhere else. Neil is a member of a union. A union currently on strike. Little guys taking on the Big Bads. I think it's a very relevant theme these days, but as I'm also in that same strike, I am le biased)

One of the guest leads is a pathologist named Dr. Leighton Quick. Because he deals with the Late. And the Quick. Get it? He's between Life and Death. Heaven and Hell. A human mediator. Seeking out answers to mete out justice on Earth. (-400/10 Absolutely impossible unless Neil has the exact same taste for puns that I do. But there are so many options, so...unlikely. I just think it's funny.)

Some old man is working in Heaven. He accidentally forgot to get off the escalator, and has been in accounting up there for 40 years. No one has noticed. (3/10. It's the kind of absurdity I can see happening. I just don't know how it'd fit. Only slight less likely than Duke Crowley)

The Somewhere Cold people go after Death is a Reception Lobby on the 42nd Floor. It's halfway between Up and Down. It has no windows and fluorescent lights. It's not horrible, but the A/C is broken so summer or winter, it's freezing cold. (7/10. I mean, it's a government office building, right? You're always waiting. It's always boring af. The A/C is always broken.)

Death is some Scottish Guy. Because of Crow Road. Because of David. Because it's funny. Because Death also deserves a little garden in the highlands. He lives on Crow Road. (10/10-1. I like it. It's probably too on the nose)

Aziraphale dies. It's some gambit. Crowley tries to intervene in some clever way, but is shocked when his miracle fails. Aziraphale smiles. Says, "It's too late, Crowley. It was always too late. Forgive me." And he walks off, hand in hand with Death. Crowley tracks Death down to Scotland. He finds Aziraphale having tea with Death in the garden (it ENDS in a garden). Death cannot be overcome, but he can be put off a bit. He agrees to restore Aziraphale to life on the condition that Crowley give up his immortality, and that someday, He'll come back for both of them. Crowley agrees. (15/10. I just like this. So, I'm betting hard on it. Vibes.)

#i think that's enough for now #more as I think of them #good omens #good omens season 2 #good omens season 2 spoilers #good omens meta #aziraphale #crowley #Youtube

[lvgoona]

☕️ good omens 2 : the coffee theory summarised as best as i can

warning: this contains MAJOR good omens 2 spoilers!

i'd like to start by saying that i am a firm believer in the coffee theory, although a lot of the theories that i have heard of are also so real. i haven't heard many theories, so if anybody that sees this has another idea, please let me know!

also note, i will be using he/him pronouns for crowley and az throughout the majority of this, i'm very much a genderqueer angel and demon truther, but i'll be using one set because it's usually a lot easier for people to understand (including myself).

okay, so let's just get to it.

the coffee theory, thus far:

if you didn't already know, the coffee theory is that the coffee that metatron gave aziraphale was spiked- most likely miracled, explaining his actions afterwards, because like we all know azi wouldn't leave crow for anything.

so, the best place to start is, of course, metatron giving azi the coffee. we have seen, all throughout the show, how both heaven and hell frown upon traitors- it's pretty much a major subplot(?) throughout both season 1 and season 2, especially as heaven and hell decided to literally kill both az and crowley for betraying their given sides. so why's metatron here giving aziraphale a coffee and asking him to be the high archangel? like??? (SMALL NOTE, REALLY OFF TOPIC: god stopped narrating at some point like there's gotta be a really important reason for that) during my second rewatch, i noticed an incredibly faint miracle noise at 35:48 - 35:50, further feeding into the theory!

time to backtrack a little to metatron's arrival. it isn't something that i immediately took note of, but peek how metatron's clothes are dark, whereas all angels that have been shown so far wear light clothes, even the ones on earth eg. muriel and aziraphale (gabriel wasn't wearing light clothes during his time as jim because he was just jim). so seems a bit sketchy, right? the only immortal beings shown that wear dark clothes are demons.

right before the walk, there's a zoom in on metatron's face alongside a suspenseful rise in music- the music in the show has been very important, a very key element (applause to the musicians that worked on good omens, huge respect!!).

now to move onto the actual walk- well we do't actually see the walk, but we do see the return. when they return, azi is seemingly.. off. he rambles and looks overall stressed, like things are just not normal.

after the walk, we see metatron entrusting the bookshop to muriel, although there was no guarantee that az would even go to heaven with metatron. the scenes following the walk are absolutely heartbreaking, and i think that because of this, the beginning of season three will be equally (if not more) heartbreaking. but, notice aziraphale's body language- he looks so distressed, could be a stretch but it's as if he's pleading and trying to reach out to crowley.

now for the motive, because there very much has to be one. the metatron mentioned something about the second coming. he would need someone that knows humans to get it over with, as we have seen he was very much not opposed to the end of the world, as shown in season 1. metatron needs aziraphale, which is why he couldn't risk azi denying the invitation- explaining the miracle coffee.

it's a far stretch, but az isn't going to be the high archangel, he'll be the duke of hell.

spiked coffee or not, i'm 100% sure that neil has something absolutely amazing in store for us, and i'd like to remind everybody not to hate on neil, the ending of season 2 was heartbreaking but i think that really shows neil's absolute genius

thank you neil gaiman you absolutely amazing man

#good omens #good omens season 2 spoilers #go2 spoilers #go 2 speculation #ineffable husbands #go2e6 #good omens coffee theory #coffee theory