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createserenity · 6 months

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I won’t leave you on your own.

Right, this might be controversial, or I might be the only one who sees this moment in this way, but I need to talk about this now. It’s really sweet when Crowley says this, except what happens afterwards isn’t sweet at all. And can I just add right now that I love both Azirpahale and Crowley, they’re both wonderful and also brillianty flawed, I don’t hate either of them. But as far as I’m concerned Crowley behaves really stupidly here.

GIF by ladybokatankryze

C: I’m going to get the humans out of here and then I’m coming back. I won’t leave you on your own. A: I know.

Oh dear, Crowley. Why did you leave him on his own after saying this? Why did you let Aziraphale down? Why does no one talk about the fact that you did? You walked out that bookshop and Aziraphale was so confident you would come back that he expressed this confidence to the humans and then defended his reliance on you, “Crowley will have a plan,” “Rescuing me makes him so happy.”

But you didn’t come back, Crowley! Why? You left the bookshop, spotted Muriel and then in some super weird ADHD* move just left Aziraphale to sort out the demon problem on his own whilst you went off to heaven. Whyyyyy?

Now okay. I admit, Crowley was working towards the ultimate goal of finding out what the heck had happened to Gabriel, which was something that needed to be done. He spotted the opportunity, knew it probably wouldn’t come up again and so took it. He did what probably needed to be done. He also did it expecting that the demons wouldn’t ever be able to enter the bookshop because Aziraphale was never going to say they could come in. It’s not his fault Maggie is an idiot. I still love him and so does Aziraphale. Also Aziraphale is perfectly capable of defending himself in some ways and we see this after Crowley leaves…

BUT. What a mistake.

He basically left Aziraphale on his own to fight the demons. An Aziraphale who trusted so absolutely that Crowley would come back, and that Crowley would know what to do, that he hadn’t bothered to come up with the whole plan himself. He didn’t have to. Aziraphale and Crowley are a team, they work together and they don’t let each other down.

Except this time Crowley did.

It’s unclear exactly how long Crowley spent in heaven watching the trial etc but since the ball starts at 6.30pm and the demons seem to turn up not that long into the evening, we can assume it’s a really long time. By the time he comes back it’s very clearly morning again, the entire night has passed. Maybe Crowley didn’t intend to be away that long, maybe he expected his jaunt to heaven to be quicker, or maybe this is because time passes differently in heaven and Crowley had no way of knowing exactly what time he’d return to earth, but whatever the reason, he leaves Aziraphale alone for a really long time, after explicitly stating that he won’t leave him on his own.

By the time he does turn up it’s long after the battle is over and long after Aziraphale has been forced to take an action he really didn’t want to take in order to defend himself and the bookshop.

Just look at Aziraphale’s face when Crowley returns, he isn’t super delighted to see him, he's sort of happy, but more looks like he can’t believe Crowley is actually there.

When he says, “You came back!” he sounds kind of surprised and also perhaps relieved. Why? Because he’s given up on Crowley coming back by that point. He has no idea what has happened to him or why he let him down so badly.

I think we can fairly safely assume that Aziraphale and Crowley can sense at least to some extent where the other one is when they are both on earth if they try to do so, and it’s probable that at some point after sorting out the demon problem Aziraphale had wondered where Crowley had gone and tried to sense him, so likely he knows Crowley has been away from the earth. What he doesn’t know is where he’s been or whether he went there willingly (at least until he turns up with a bunch of angels, at which point he’s intelligent enough to work it out).**

So now he knows where Crowley went, but he doesn’t know why or what he discovered. He’s still in the “Crowley let me down,” space at this point. Then Crowley asks what happened to the demons and Aziraphale has to tell him he blew up his halo. Crowley finds this delightful and he laughs, but for once they aren’t laughing together. This is only the second time that we have seen Crowley laugh at Aziraphale (the first is when he mocks him about thinking he’s a demon after the Job thing, which he quickly stops doing and switches to being kind when he realises how upset Aziraphale is). When he laughs about the halo he doesn’t mean it to be mocking, it’s actually the same disbelieving reaction that he does on the walls of Eden about the flaming sword, except magnified, he doesn’t just do a single “you what?” of disbelief and amusement as he does in Eden, he properly laughs because he knows Aziraphale better and thinks their relationship can take the laughter.

Usually he’d be right, but the problem is he’s just let Aziraphale down. So while he isn’t really mocking Aziraphale, because he loves that Aziraphale does these unexpected and wonderful things, Aziraphale doesn’t like the laugh at all. Look at his face. He glares at Crowley and his look very much is one of, “if you’d come back like you said you would, if you hadn’t let me down, I probably wouldn’t have had to do it at all.”

Then since Crowley rather stupidly doesn’t read the reaction and stop laughing the look changes more to, “I’m really upset about all this, please, please don’t laugh at me, you’re hurting me.”*** It's only shown briefly so it's difficult to capture, but you can just catch this in his expression before the camera cuts back to Crowley, and then again for a second when it recuts to Aziraphale, just before he reacts to the arrival of the demons.

Basically, Aziraphale is really fucking pissed off and upset with Crowley at this point. (Side note, Maggie and Nina look less than impressed by the laughter too – even they know it’s not the right reaction.)

If you need anymore evidence of how annoyed he is, look at how far away he stays from Crowley whilst he’s laughing. Aziraphale never stands that far away from him!

Luckily for Crowley Aziraphale is very good at forgiveness, and also very much likes it when Crowley takes charge of a situation and thankfully Crowley finally steps up. Whilst Aziraphale worries about what he’s done (look at the tension in his hands) Crowley categorically declares there will be no war and the demons react by listening to him. You can see Aziraphale start to reconnect with Crowley, his eyes flick back to him and then once Shax is up and awake his hands relax and he closes the distance between him and Crowley, angling his body towards him and standing close to him again.

Crowley is going to sort things out and Aziraphale’s faith in him is easily restored, although without doubt it’s suffered some damage underneath.

So what does this all mean? Well, firstly Crowley hurts Aziraphale deeply here and doesn’t realise he’s done it (and this is the second hurt he’s caused him within the space of a few days). Aziraphale forgives him pretty quickly, because Crowley unknowingly repairs things and Aziraphale is so full of love that it will take more than this one transgression to break their bond.

What it does mean though is that Aziraphale has just had a reminder of the demonic nature of demons shoved in his face. Crowley has just hurt him in several different ways in the space of a very short time. I doubt he consciously sees this as demonic because by this point I don’t think he really even thinks of Crowley as a demon on a day to day basis, but I do think he is responding to that hurt in a very human way.

Look, if your partner left you in a sticky situation and told you they would be back immediately and then didn’t turn back up for hours wouldn’t you be pissed off? Even if nothing happened (if Maggie had never let the demons in for example) you’d still have a few things to say about your partner’s hours of absence – yes, even if they had just unveiled a huge clue about why the whole situation was happening in the first place. That wouldn’t undo all your thoughts about how they let you down really badly and left you on your own in a terrible situation.

Another issue is Shax’s demonic nature – specifically how Shax has hurt him during the attack on the bookshop. If Crowley had been there there’s no way Shax would have had even half a second to get in her jibes to Aziraphale, but he’s not there and Shax gets her chance. What she does is play on Aziraphale’s fears about Crowley’s feelings for him (right at a time when Crowley is letting him down) and also remind Aziraphale of some of the ways in which he is a less-than-stella angel (as a side note I find it really interesting that Shax seems to have this ability to look at people and see their worst fears about themselves – do all demons have that or does every demon have a slightly different ‘power’?) So now Aziraphale has been let down by Crowley, which has directly led to Shax hurting him, and had his worst fears about his own nature brought to the forefront of his mind.

He’s been let down, mocked and emotionally wounded, and he goes into the conversation with the Metatron carrying that hurt, only to hear the Metatron singing his praises and telling him he’s, “the perfect angel for the job”. The Metatron deliberately soothes Aziraphale’s worst fears about himself in order to manipulate him. I’m not saying Aziraphale doesn’t see through it or that he is completely taken in by it or that this is his motivation for accepting the job, I think there’s more to it than that, but well… something to think about?

Mainly though, Crowley acts in a bit of a daft way here. His jaunt to heaven is funny and useful for moving the mystery along, but in terms of his relationship with Aziraphale it's an absolute disaster of a move. I'd want the "I was wrong" dance as an apology for that one if it was me. Just saying.

#good omens 2 #good omens meta #ineffable husbands #good omens #final 15 #aziraphale #crowley

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radioactive-killjoy · 4 months

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I’m watching the Final Fifteen and at 40:49 I realize that you CAN actually see Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death through the window (which I’m sure others have pointed out but my understanding of the layout of that street isn’t very good), and then a few seconds later Aziraphale DOES look over at the window. So he knows that’s where the Metatron went and can even possibly see Muriel and the Metatron. In fact, Aziraphale looks to his left (Metatron) six times, plus an additional two when the POV is from behind him.

Then I watched the speech again. Now, I know that Crowley has always been more in tune with Aziraphale than vice versa (“I know what you smell like,” talking about Aziraphale calling for three reasons) but Crowley was not being subtle. He said he wanted to go first AND he says “Really?” when Aziraphale interrupts him. So Aziraphale is choosing to carry on anyway.

I’ve always hated when Aziraphale calls Crowley “the bad guys” because both seasons made it clear that Aziraphale doesn’t really see Crowley as being part of Hell. I thought it was out of character and needlessly cruel. But when Aziraphale says “We can be together…angels” it made me realize that he’s trying to get Crowley to read between the lines. Saying “I need you” was his last resort. Through the rest of his speech, he’s expecting Crowley to pick up on the things he’s not explicitly saying.

Whenever Aziraphale and Crowley have secret codes, Crowley always comes up with them. I’m thinking of “to the world” which is about more than the world. Crowley isn’t picking up on Aziraphale’s pleading because Aziraphale tends to be straightforward with him. Why wouldn’t he take this at face value when Aziraphale is telling him angel or bust?

Aziraphale and Crowley are exposed in the bookshop. This is not a private moment for them. He can’t be honest with Crowley for so many reasons, and this is BEFORE he knows about the real danger. When Crowley doesn’t pick up on what Aziraphale isn’t saying, the only thing Aziraphale can do is push him away. There is no other response he could have given to the kiss if he was under ANY impression that the Metatron was watching.

I don’t know if the Metatron really knows the extent of their relationship, but the moment he brings up Crowley as a sort of ally to Aziraphale, Aziraphale freezes. If Aziraphale showed that he valued Demon!Crowley more than Angel!Crowley, then that would raise suspicions. So he has to play it off like that’s what he would want. He has to say, multiple times, that he wants Crowley back as an angel. Anyone watching the show should know that it’s just not true. It’s Demon!Crowley for him, every time.

#holy shit this might not make sense #I rewrote it like five times #please let me know if you have questions #some of this might be turned into separate posts #ineffable husbands #final fifteen #the final fifteen #good omens 2 #good omens #good omens 2 spoilers #spoilers #aziracrow #Aziraphale #Crowley #good omens meta

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 8 months

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Do you think all the characters are assholes?

Because i think they are despite their tragic backstories and i also don't think they appreciate Yuu enough, except for maybe the first years

I mean, the TWST characters are (mostly) inspired by Disney villains... Plus, they’re immature high schoolers still in the process of emotionally maturing. Of course they're not going to be perfect balls of sunshine. They're all going to be rude or have faults in their own ways, but they also have their strengths and charm points. I do call them assholes (lovingly), but I would hesitate to slap a singular label on any of the characters when they're all very well-rounded and morally ambiguous.

On the topic of Yuu, I think it makes sense that most of the cast doesn't really "appreciate" them. To begin with, most of the characters are not the openly sentimental types; they wouldn’t overtly express that gratitude even if it were present. Then we have to consider that Yuu isn't directly involved in their character growth or arcs in most cases; it's often the other characters who are confronting the OB boys or instigating, physically battling them to snap them out of it, and then comforting them afterwards.

As early as book 1, that pattern holds true. Ace is the one that initially pissed Riddle off. Adeuce are dueling Riddle. Ace decks Riddle and claims his last straw. Trey is the one calling out to Riddle as he's losing it. It's the members of Heartslabyul who gather around Riddle when he reawakens following the OB. (I'm not going to go through and list off what happens in every single book, but I'm sure you can think of many other instances... Lilia insulting Leona, Deuce and Epel having the heart-to-heart on the beach, Octavinelle's plot against Jamil, the twins checking up on Azul post-OB, etc.) To me, it feels like it is the boys and their bonds with one another responsible for the change, not Yuu's involvement. Yuu is usually along for the ride and actually does and says very little despite all the fandom jokes about "being the school's unpaid but overworked therapist" or Crowley's shallow claim that Yuu can help the boys learn to cooperate (which feels more like a vague ruse only shown in the prologue to shoehorn Yuu into the plot). There's actually very little in-game that shows them being active in helping the students change for the better. Much of the time, the boys can resolve their own struggles to get along without Yuu being there (like all those pair-ups in book 6–sure, it may have taken a while, but the fact remains that they did eventually resolve their own issues and cooperate without Yuu having to orchestrate for them; this also happens many times in events like Port Fest, Wish Upon a Star, Ghost Marriage, the Halloween events, etc). A very common complaint (at least among English speaking players) is that Yuu isn’t “involved enough” or that they don’t have a big impact on the events of the story. Therefore, most of the boys not feeling close or indebted to Yuu makes sense from their POV. What has Yuu actually and explicitly done to help them? Not much. It’s mainly in individual fan interpretations where Yuu/a Yuusona/an OC in Yuu’s role is actually able to play a more substantial part in each characters’ life and growth. In general, the standard in-game Yuu is more of a "fly on the wall" character that witnesses events unfold rather than someone who plays a large role in each book. The boys are seemingly the main characters, not Yuu. It's just convenient to have Yuu/a blank slate in the story because they, as an outsider, need TWST concepts explained to them (thus making it easier to give exposition to the players who may also be unfamiliar with the information). The first years, by comparison, are closer to Yuu simply because 1) Yuu is implied to be in the same year level as them (so they're more likely to be exposed to one another) and 2) their preestablished relationships with Grim, Ace, and Deuce opens them up more to first year interactions. "Friends of friends", if you will. It makes more sense than Yuu being appreciated and loved by everyone/most people in the main cast of 22ish. (How many people do you know irl that have 22ish significant friends?) They spend the most time together. Everyone else tends to stick to their own groups (with maybe the exception of Heartslabyul, since Yuu is already close with Adeuce). They’re just... not as intimate with Yuu, and therefore not as inclined to find much appreciation for them.

I want to clarify that this doesn’t mean there are zero instances of the characters outside of the first years expressing gratitude toward Yuu. Like, of the OB boys, it’s only Vil who consistently apologizes for the trouble he caused (note though: it’s not specifically to Yuu, but to everyone in the VDC/SDC squad. Yuu is then given prize money from most of the other boys as thanks for letting them crash at Ramshackle… Of those, only Kalim cites being grateful that he was able to stay and have fun with everyone because of Yuu green lighting the decision. This makes sense, as Kalim’s one of the few who wears his heart on his sleeve and is friendly to most. It just isn’t true for the majority of the cast, and we shouldn’t expect it to be.

As late as book 5, you can see characters like Leona not being so happy to be called out to or for Grim to act all buddy-buddy with him. That indicates to me that the rest of the cast is not that close to Yuu + related parties and doesn't have a real reason to be. (Note: I'm not counting character voice lines here as proof of friendliness with Yuu, as it can be argued that the relationships and events explored in the cards don't run in tandem with the main story and are meant more as fanservice for the players.)

Again, while it's not that fun to read in a narrative, it does leave things open-ended for anyone who wants to self-insert or to expand on those blank relationships for their own characters. I believe this is by design to appeal on an individual level to players. You get out of it what you put into it!

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justkeeptrekkin · 9 months

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I think Aziraphale was planning to make a move at the party.

so I went into good omens s2 actively looking up spoilers because I couldn’t cope with watching it and not knowing what the end of the season would have in store.

I therefore found it REALLY interesting seeing how Aziraphale behaves at the start of his party, considering I knew how he responded to Crowley.

One instance we see this is how furtive and coquettish he is when he tells Crowley to ‘wait and see’ (seen below). Like there’s a surprise for Crowley, as well. It’s actively flirtatious.

This is the face of a man who is *bashful*. This is a teenager before a school dance. He is excited about Nina and Maggie and nervous and he is living variously through them, of course. I also, genuinely, think he was planning something to do with Crowley. Like, this is the face of a man who has thought to himself, ‘I’m going to show Crowley how I feel about him, and he doesn’t even know it!!!”

more under the cut:

Then of course we have the DANCE SCENE. This is an explicitly romantic affair that Aziraphale has orchestrated. It’s clear that both Aziraphale and Crowley are projecting massively onto Maggie and Nina, consciously or not. He’s designed this evening to be a meet-cute/match-making event, and Crowley knows this. So yeah, it’s really transparent what Aziraphale’s doing when he asks Crowley to dance.

Thing is, I don’t think he’s being oblivious here. I don’t even think he’s planning on just taking a risk. I think this is Aziraphale making a move. This is Aziraphale being wholly himself, happy, silly, playful, vulnerable, and openly affectionate with Crowley.

That’s why when Crowley’s trying to warn him that something’s wrong, he ignores it-- it’s scuppering his plans to sweep Crowley off his feet! This evening is meant to be perfect!

Let’s look at the dance invitation moment:

^ The serious look in his eyes here. Like he’s steeling himself to just make that leap of faith and be brave. Knowing that Crowley will probably think he’s taking the piss.

^ the innocent vulnerability of this moment. Tell me this isn’t a much younger Aziraphale asking his crush to dance with him at prom. He’s been planning this and he so desperately wants it to be like how he’s imagined it, but he’s also terrified. Look at how nervous he is! He’s being so brave. You know he’s thinking ‘It’s finally happening! I’m doing it!’

^ a very blurry image of Aziraphale’s nervous little giggle as he takes Crowley’s hand and drags him over for a dance. He’s absolutely buzzing of the anticipation and nervous energy and the butterflies! He’s so happy and so YOUNG here and it is so so pure. god the little laugh he makes as well-- like he knows it’s forbidden, that it’s cheeky and silly, that he’s living his lil Jane Austen dream here.

Ok, so then we have the moment with Beelzebub and Gabriel. We all have foamed at the mouth at how he looks at Crowley here when he realises that they can run off to Alpha Centauri, too. And that it’s possible for them. When he instinctively grabs Crowley’s arm... good lord.

It’s like Aziraphale’s dream has come true here. He is seeing validation of what he has started to plan. He’s seeing that this isn’t just a pipe dream that he’s indulging in. He can be happy with Crowley!

Then of course, Metatron comes along and offers what he thinks -- in his abuse-victim mind-- is the perfect alternative. By going to heaven and bringing Crowley with him, he’s pleasing everyone! (Right?) ((I will discuss this in another post...)

I mean, this is literally all just conjecture, obviously. I am wearing my silly little tin foil hat. but when you pair all of this with the fact that he literally gazes with heart eyes at Crowley for the whole season, is pretty flirty, lets Crowley come to his rescue... we are seeing an Aziraphale here who is acutely aware of his crush on Crowley.

#good omens #good omens season 2 spoilers #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #just chats shit

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halemerry · 9 months

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hii first of all, i absolutely love your metas on GO s2! your breakdown of the last few minutes of ep6 was really insightful and i love you for your meta about aziraphale and his role as a protector - it is a very astute look into his character and motivations which not a lot of people acknowledge in their theories/speculation after s2.

more to the point of this ask: this is something i've been mulling over and is the only thing that still doesn't make sense to me in ep6. why is crowley so nonchalant, or at least not noticeably worried, about the metatron showing up to the bookshop (a space he is very protective of) and taking aziraphala away for a talk after aziraphale has already been threatened by micheal? throughout the whole season crowley has been extremely protective over aziraphale and is very much aware of the real danger he is in (re: the book of life). this is also right after crowley has returned from heaven and has learned what the metatron was willing to do to gabriel to ensure 'institutional integrity' and that much bigger plans were afoot. i find it hard to wrap my head around his calm demeanor when the metatron enters the scene and takes aziraphale away, even if it's supposedly for a harmless talk. i wonder if you have any thoughts/speculation about this?

(opps this got too long and rambling). i would love to hear your thought but ofc please don't feel pressured to answer :) love your posts about the season and i look forward to reading more from you. have a lovely day!

Hi!! Thank you so much! This ask has had me by the throat basically since you sent it. It sort of touches on some things I already wanted to write about so forgive me if this spirals a bit.

So in a lot of ways I think this is a question that can have a one word answer. But since I do wanna talk about the way the show gives us this answer I actually want to start with Nina. Specifically I want to start with the thing she tells Crowley as Aziraphale’s off with the Metatron.

“You’re the hard bitten one that can’t trust anyone ever again and Mr. Wherever He Is is the soft one that still believes in magic people being basically good and all that."

I’ve talked a little bit about this line before in my meta about the build up to the Confession here because I think it’s important to view from the perspective of how it preps Crowley for the following conversation he’s about to have. But, aside from that, I think it's really important because it's wrong. Nina is describing herself here, not Crowley. She’s projecting her own issues onto him and Aziraphale in the way that she perceives herself relating to them. Crowley himself is actually the one that calls out her trust issues for what they are explicitly.

Nina doesn’t trust and she sees herself in Crowley far more than Aziraphale both in demeanor and aesthetic so she assumes he doesn’t trust either. But she has it backwards. Because Crowley isn’t hard bitten as much as someone who tries very hard to be perceived as such. And, most importantly in this specific context, Crowley actually trusts quite a bit.

And he nearly always has. Even as far as back as the Starmaker.

Just look at the way that the Starmaker and Aziraphale both talk about interacting with God. Aziraphale is nervous, anxious and pretty much immediately clocks that what the angel that would become Crowley is saying is going to get him into trouble. But the Starmaker? Even upset about the information he’s been given, he remains confident in the fact that it can’t hurt to ask a few questions. He trusts there to be no consequence for expressing an objection. He trusts that his opinion is valued. Even if he ends up wrong here there’s no inclination at all that he thinks his words will be taken inappropriately. And even the Fall itself doesn’t burn this out of him.

We see him trust Aziraphale, the cherub who was supposed to be guarding Eden from things like him, not to smite him on sight. And trusts him enough to not only have a conversation but express his own worries about his own actions. He then approaches Aziraphale like a friend at the Flood and makes no attempt to censor his horror at what is happening there.

Job is the first time we see Crowley act in a way that implies mistrust between them. This is the first time they’ve met since the Flood which I suspect is contributing to his reluctance to be honest with Aziraphale here. They fall into their roles and then very rapidly fall out of them. The fact Azriaphale reaches out to Crowley here is important. As is the moment where Crowley asks Aziraphale if he’s sure. After Aziraphale more or less agrees to be all in something changes. Crowley is surprisingly honest about his view on the world, mostly trusting Aziraphale not to use it against him. He places himself in front of a host of angels, trusting that Aziraphale would not expose him. And then later he’s even more honest, admitting to Aziraphale he’s lonely in an attempt to show solidarity.

The entire Arrangement could not exist without them trusting each other. Crowley’s pushing at Aziraphale’s boundaries is a constant exercise in trusting that Aziraphale will come around eventually - or that he at the very least isn’t about to weaponize the treacherous things Crowley is saying against him. As early as 1601 we see Aziraphale voicing active concern for Crowley's well being. We then see Crowley actively trust Aziraphale with both their safeties in 1941 - whether it’s trusting Azriaphale to save them from the bomb about to drop on them or trusting Aziraphale’s trust in him to not accidentally discorporate him during the bullet catch. They even explicitly talk about their mutual trust in this year during their shades of gray conversation.

During Armageddon Crowley shows up trusting that Aziraphale will help him fix this and once Aziraphale agrees never once seems to consider the idea that Aziraphale would hide anything from him (even when Aziraphale is actively doing so).

He also critically knows that Aziraphale tried to reach God and got himself discorporated as a consequence. And likely specifically knows that Aziraphale talked to the Metatron and came away from that conversation realizing that Heaven would not help him. It's worth noting whether Crowley knows this bit or not that in this conversation Aziraphale not only explicitly questions the Metatron's authority but also uses the conversation to extract information from the Metatron.

Aziraphale leaves this conversation with an active lie to the Metatron and attempts to call Crowley to tell him everything he knew. He then continually chooses Crowley over Heaven. They pick their own side and help stop the world from ending.

And then, all season, Aziraphale keeps proving that the trust Crowley has always had in him is well earned. Aziraphale, even more than Crowley himself, brings up ideas of 'us' and 'our side' and 'our car'.

Aziraphale openly talks negatively of Heaven. Not only does he agree with Crowley's disbelief that Heaven managed to stay in charge sending people like Muriel down, but he even goes a step further, implying that they perhaps never had control over earth in that way.

He also, most critically, immediately and without hesitation, tries to turn down the Metatron's offer to even have a conversation. Aziraphale, who has also just brought a group of archangels to order, reaffirms his lack of interest in Heaven right then and there in front of Crowley. Right when the Metatron has reaffirmed the threat of the Book of Life is out of play.

Crowley trusts Aziraphale. He always has. And more than ever lately Aziraphale has given him proof that he doesn't have to worry about where he allegiances lay.

But. It's also worth noting. I don't think Crowley is as chill as he maybe seems like he is. Yes, he's sprawled out and speaking casually here, but to some degree this is a bit of posturing. He's playing it cool and also not encroaching on the control Aziraphale has managed to wrangle on this situation. But he also doesn't just let them wander off either. As soon as they hit the door, Crowley is out of the chair and walking to the front of the shop to watch them leave through the window. He's keeping tabs as they walk away.

He then banishes Muriel and promptly starts to clean. Now I'm always a little wary to mix Book and Show canon, but I do think his cleaning of the bookshop (as well as him carrying around stacks of books while babysitting Jim) are manifestations of Book!Crowley's tendency to want to stress clean. He's keeping himself busy and gets done too quickly then promptly glances at his watch before throwing himself into the chair with a frustrated noise. He's anxious and stressed the entire time Aziraphale is out of his line of sight.

In other words, Crowley's not actually as calm as he's presenting himself to be. He's trying to take that nervous energy out in a way that doesn't conflict with giving Aziraphale agency. Because he trusts his angel. And that in part is why it hits him so hard when it all blows up in his face.

#good omens #crowley #good omens meta #good omens spoilers #gos2 spoilers #good omens season 2 #answers #oh yeah this got waaaay long #oops

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zionworkzs · 7 months

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Okay, but I need to talk about Good Omens and The Sound of Music.

First of all, I’m genuinely obsessed with it being explicitly canon that The Sound of Music exists in the GO universe and is, for some reason, God’s favorite movie. Neil says here that Heaven misses the point of the movie/musical, but I find it incredibly fascinating that Aziraphale outwardly despises it.

Brief summary of The Sound of Music incoming as well as some really interesting parallels:

So we've got Julie Andrews playing Maria, who is studying to become a nun in an abbey in Salzburg. Problem is, she isn't the best nun, and is often late to chapel and just isn't the shining beacon of holiness that the rest of the nuns expect her to be.

In response to this, the Reverend Mother of the abbey decides to send Maria to live with sexy widower Georg von Trapp, a navy captain who desperately needs help with his seven children. The Captain is a bit of a hard-ass since the death of his wife, and has been treating his kids like little soldiers as well as banning music from the house.

The 7 kids are rambunctious and make things difficult for Maria at first. But one night, a thunderstorm scares them, and they run to Maria for comfort. The kids realize that Maria is really fun, and then later, when their dad is off to Vienna, the kids and Maria end up running around Salzburg singing, dancing, climbing trees, and having a blast.

When the Captain comes home and hears about this, he sends Maria away. But then he overhears the children singing a song Maria taught them and he gets all emo and remembers how much music meant to him and his late wife. He asks Maria to stay after hearing the song, telling her she's brought joy back to their house.

And oops, Maria and the Captain are falling for each other, but the Captain is sort of kind of dating this blonde bombshell.

There's a big fuck-off party, and the Captain and Maria dance together.

But, oh, no, Blondie saw them and can clearly tell they're in love. She tells Maria what she's seen and Maria is freaking out cause she's just realized she's in love.

Mentally, my girl Maria is going through a lot. She thinks she’s disappointed God by falling in love when she was supposed to be doing a job. She feels scared by the depth of her feelings and because of all these emotions, she runs away. Back to the Abbey. Back to presumed safety.

Mother Superior figures out what happened real quick and tells Maria that she isn’t wrong for falling in love. She sends her back to the Von Trapps, and it's such a great scene. If you wanna watch, I included a link below.

youtube

Maria goes back, and the kids are elated and she and the Captain confess their feelings (and oh my god, don't even get me started on the lyrics to the song they sing to each other while confessing, Something Good).

(I’m unwell.)

So that's the Sound of Music. There's a subplot going on with WW2 and the Captain being pressured to join the Nazi regime (which he is very against). King, we love him.

I pointed out some obvious parallels, but I'd also like to pull some random thoughts together here:

Mother Superior (God) is the one that sends Maria (Aziraphale) to help the Von Trapps (humans) in the first place.

Maria (Aziraphale) extends grace and patience with the children (humans) and refuses to give up on them, even going so far as to disobey their father by letting them fuck around and be kids (going against God's wishes and giving humans the flaming sword).

Mother Superior (God) also sends Maria (Aziraphale) back to the Von Trapps after realizing that Maria (Aziraphale) is in love with the Captain (Crowley).

Here's to hoping we see God telling Azi that loving a demon is chill and he should go back to earth in S3.

Overall, it's incredibly amusing to me that Aziraphale, our Aziraphale, doesn't like The Sound of Music, with the main plot being about a woman who choses love over religious obligations and a man who rejects an authoritarian regime so that he might make his own way in the world.

Maybe Aziraphale recognizes the parallels and is in denial. Or maybe he just prefers Sondheim...

#can you tell i watched the sound of music too much as a child #fuckin love this movie #ineffable husbands #aziracrow #crowley #aziraphale #good omens #aziraphale x crowley #good omens season 3 #good omens meta #good omens season 2 #the sound of music #Youtube

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charcubed · 9 months

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I NEEEED people—especially those with unfathomably large platforms???—to start doing just a tiny bit of internal evaluation before they log onto a blue website and say “I don’t want these queer characters to fuck in canon” or “I’d be fine if these characters never kissed again” or whatever.

This is a post about Good Omens and the prospect of Aziraphale and Crowley potentially having sex in season 3. It's a response to a tweet that I'm crossposting, but let it be known the above statement and this topic applies broadly across multiple fandoms too.

But anyway, in regards to Good Omens specifically:

I am seeing this take that essentially boils down to "Canon has now made it clear that these characters want to have sex with each other through subtext (i.e. Aziraphale and the ox), but I don’t want that to reach narrative completion because the idea of them having sex makes me uncomfortable or isn’t my personal preference” and it is, to put it mildly and delicately, A Very Bad Take.

This is rhetorical (and I do not expect or particularly want an answer), but: explain to me how and why queer characters who are unavoidably visibly queer (aka 2 "man-shaped beings") fucking on screen wouldn’t be a net positive, especially when you can indicate how canon has set it up.

Presumably, some people say things like this because ~they want to see them as visibly ace.~ Okay. But by some of these people’s own admission, there IS more evidence in canon now to indicate these characters crave sex with each other (vs arguing otherwise)... yet people would rather that be ignored/erased all for the sake of them feeling comfortable or feeling better about what canon shows or doesn’t show explicitly??

I’m sorry, but—speaking as an ace person, to be clear—your personal preferences for the story shouldn’t / don’t affect anything here. There’s too much in this.

Yeah, I understand on a personal level not having “representation.” I almost never see myself or my unique experiences and identity reflected in stories. And yet, I also understand that that doesn’t change any story or the world in which we live. Things like this are not said in a vacuum.

Any queer characters having sex on screen IS a net positive. It is rare and impactful, and openly calling for or hoping for otherwise when canon points to its potential is a detrimental alliance with purity culture, whether intentionally or accidentally. Because we live in a Goddamn society!

Who knows (other than Neil Gaiman) whether Aziraphale and Crowley ARE going to fuck on international TV. None of us do! But the subtext right now blatantly says they’re starving for it. And you don’t have to like the prospect of that, but honestly? We SHOULD get to see it play out. There’s no truly legitimate reason we shouldn’t ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Whether you "prefer" it or not.

And my ultimate hot take is… if someone balks at the idea of that or doesn’t understand the importance of it, despite even seeing the subtext… then they should perhaps unpack that? Just a thought.

Truly the way fandoms are managing to hit either “subtext doesn’t count :/ ” or “let’s keep it to subtext so it’s ‘open to interpretation’ :) ” nowadays depending on what corner one visits is MADDENING. Whiplash-inducing. Surreal. And so much nonsense you can’t pick where to start.

So! I do genuinely hope I'm not kicking off discourse but I felt this Needed To Be Said (and on more than one site). Because posts like “even if they never kiss again, we’ve won <3 “ make me want to be like…

These characters are YEARNING. Do not doom them and us to it. For once, we can reach for the stars and maybe–against all odds–pull them down. Embrace it!

---

[Update: after more discourse has occurred, I have somewhat elaborated on this further, from the POV of the significance of the queer themes in Good Omens and more specifically how they center illicit pleasure/desire]

#good omens #good omens season 2 #good omens spoilers #good omens season 3 #neil gaiman #aziracrow #ineffeble husbands #I'm OVER ITTTT.#this is the delicate version of this rant. trust me. I tried to keep it chill for the sake of posting on main #char writes things #PS adding some brief tags now that the discourse has Escalated:#Mr Gaiman can be pedantic on the internet and pretend by omission he's never heard of subtext all he wants.#it's not what his story is saying and I do actually think he DOES know how to do stories. so. love & light to whatever his deal is.#(what I mean: do not come into my house & try to say 'neil said the ox scene isn't sexual.' inaccurate + that's a whole suitcase to unpack)#(I have now written about All That at length elsewhere with exasperation but it doesn't need to be linked in this post lol.)

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marmalademouse · 7 months

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I finally read Good Omens!🥳

Although I already knew a lot of book facts, just from being in the GO fandom, there were still quite a few aspects, that surprised me for one reason or another. So here are the notes I took while reading.

!Spoilers for the book “Good Omens” by Neil Gaiman!

Things that surprised me:

God is referred to as He?! (But I might have misinterpreted that?)

Nanny!Crowley has a gray dog named Rover with scarlet eyes.

Aziraphale & Crowley take on more roles during their time with Warlock, than it is shown in the show. Nanny!Crowley and gardener!Aziraphale leave, and return as Warlock’s tutors, Mr. Harrison (Crowley) and Mr. Cortese (Aziraphale).

Crowley is the one who resurrects the dead dove, that doesn’t survive Warlock’s birthday and Aziraphale’s magic show.😌

It is stated that Crowley isn’t good with animals. (Apparently he used to fall off of horses.)

In the book we get an answer on the whereabouts of the third baby. The boy lives in Tadfield as well. Adam calls him Greasy Johnson and he is the leader of another group of children in town.

Adam has a sister named Sarah!

Contrary to its portrayal in the show, Crowley’s flat is described as rather bright, with white walls and a white leather sofa.

Crowley met Leonardo da Vinci and explained “the helicopter thing” to him. One more example of Crowley’s strange bits of knowledge of the future.

The bookshop collapses completely during the fire.

Aziraphale briefly occupies multiple other bodies, before he stays with Madame Tracy, which was extremely funny to read.

Crowley doesn’t go to a pub after the fire and therefore he doesn’t encounter the disembodied Aziraphale. But later on it reads: “He [Crowley] might just as well find a nice little restaurant and get completely and utterly pissed out of his mind while he waited for the world to end.” So I guess they took Crowley’s musings from the book and made them reality in the show.

Crowley has bright red eyes while driving the burning Bentley.

Metatron was at the air force base and he appeared as a young man.

The wings of demons are the same as angels, however they are often better groomed. So book!Crowley’s current wings are white as well?

Satan never appears in person.

They don’t switch bodies/ appearances!!!

Unlike the show, the book doesn’t end with the nightingale line. The book ends with Adam, which is fitting in more than one way. Reading the book after watching s1 and especially after s2, makes it a bit difficult at times to acknowledge that the story/ the book is mainly about Adam, the Antichrist and the apocalypse, and only secondarily about an angel and a demon.

And then there are all the things that aren’t in the book…at all... Crowley doesn’t miracle away the paint on Aziraphale’s coat. No nose to nose scene in the former nunnery. No bandstand break-up scene. No “And when I’m off in the stars I won’t even think about you.”. No “Somebody killed my best friend.”. … And no flashbacks!!!🤯

Things I assumed were fanfiction inventions or fan’s headcanons, but turned out to be real:

It is explicitly mentioned, that Aziraphale has “elegantly manicured hands”!

Crowley loves the TV show “Golden Girls”.

I was sure all the posts, I read about Anathema’s thoughts on Crowley and Aziraphale, when they drove her home after the accident, were just fan headcanons. However she is indeed unsure what to make of the two (in her view) men, who picked her up. She even tells them that she has a bread knife at hand to defend herself if need be. But when Crowley says “Goodnight, miss. Get in, angel.”, she thinks “Ah. Well, that explained it. She had been perfectly safe after all.” 🤭

“For Go-, for Sa-, for somebody’s sake” is a book thing as well!!

Apparently wing grooming is canon. 😅

WTF- and 🥰-moments:

Nanny!Crowley’s description: “Something about her might have said nanny (…) It also coughed discreetly and muttered that she could well be the sort of nanny who advertises unspecified but strangely explicit services in certain magazines.” 👀😳😘

The scene when Crowley says goodbye to Aziraphale, who just found Anathema’s book in the car, broke my heart a little bit: “He [Aziraphale] fumbled for his keys, dropped them on the pavement, picked them up, dropped them again, and hurried to the shop door. “We’ll be in touch then, shall we?” Crowley called after him. Aziraphale paused in the act of turning the key. “What?” he said. “Oh. Oh. Yes. Fine. Jolly good.” And he slammed the door. “Right,” mumbled Crowley, suddenly feeling very alone.”

Adam argues with Metatron and Beelzebub about him not wanting to rule the world and says: “I’m pointing out things. Seems to me you can’t blame people for pointing out things.” This reminded me of angel!Crowley, who had only asked some questions, who had just pointed out things…😢

“He smiled at Crowley. “I’d just like to say,” he said, “if we don’t get out of this, that… I’ll have known, deep down inside, that there was a spark of goodness in you.” (…) Aziraphale held out his hand. “Nice knowing you,” he said. Crowley took it. “Here is to the next time,” he said. “And… Aziraphale?” “Yes.” “Just remember I’ll have known that, deep down inside, you were just enough of a bastard to be worth liking.” 😩😍I loved the whole passage, and for some reason I always thought it was “worth knowing” and not “worth liking”.

Towards the end, Aziraphale tells Crowley, that there are new books in his bookshop, books he never chose himself, due to Adam putting the world back together a bit differently than it was before. And then we get this: “Gosh, I’m sorry.”, said Crowley, who knew how much the angel had treasured his book collection.🥺

Book details used in season 2:

The season 2 conversation between Crowley & Aziraphale, in Scotland during the 1827 flashback, about people having the chance to choose between good and evil, is from the book.

In the book there is a witchfinder named Mr. Dalrymple, which is the name of the surgeon in Edinburgh in 1827. I doubt it is the same person though.?

In episode 6 of season 2 Crowley says to Muriel: “Angels are like bees. Fiercely protective of their hive if you’re trying to get in. (…)” In the book it says: “Sometimes human beings are very much like bees. Bees are fiercely protective of their hive, provided you are outside it. (...)”

Evidently Neil used some details of the book, which weren’t incorporated in season 1, for season 2, and now I’m super curious which remaining elements (if any) he will pick for season 3.

I know these are no new observations or groundbreaking thoughts, but I wanted to document my experience reading the book for the first time.😊

#good omens #book good omens #book good omens spoilers #book omens #book omens spoilers #english is not my first language so please excuse any mistakes #sorry for the long post... maybe it is of interest for some people :o

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goatbeard-goatbeard · 8 months

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The Resurrectionists: a world with life after death

I didn’t fully appreciate the 2x03 minisode when the season first aired, but I keep finding more great details the more I think about it. Unlike our world, Good Omens is a world with confirmed afterlives. This minisode really digs into the implications of that, even in more subtle interactions where heaven and hell aren’t explicitly mentioned.

For example, the biggest issue with digging up bodies is NOT the corpse desecration. In fact, Aziraphale throws on some extra corpse desecration just for good measure. In a world ruled by heaven and hell, morality is less about the effect people have on the world, and more about the effect their actions have on their own immortal souls.

So Aziraphale is much less concerned with doing good than he is with encouraging the humans to do good. That’s also why he’s so unhelpful during the second grave robbery. He’s not being lazy; the humans have to do the actual work so they get the moral credit for doing it.

Now, he clearly wants to adopt earthly morality, and he does in flashes. He cares about the boy’s death, and he wants to heal Wee Morag. But he knows heaven exists, so he quickly focuses back on eternity — not for himself, but for the humans. And hoo boy, as a former evangelical, is that Relatable.™️

Crowley is sort of the reverse. He spends most of the minisode advocating for earthly morality. But, at the climax, he abruptly switches. He emphasizes that Elspeth has to be properly good, not just pretend good. “Pretend good” would have similar if not identical positive effects on the world, but it wouldn’t work for getting into heaven. Now, Crowley knows heaven isn’t that great, and he obviously thinks their moral standards are bullshit.

But… going to hell would eternally separate Elspeth from Wee Morag. Elspeth trapped in hell and Wee Morag in heaven, while the little bird wears down the mountain with its beak.

Hm. I wonder why Crowley might have strong feelings about that?

#he knows where she’s going #good omens #good omens 2 #good omens spoilers #good omens 2 spoilers #good omens 2x03 #the resurrectionists #cat clarke #wee morag #elspeth #good omens meta #good omens analysis #ex christian #exvangelical #tbh I probably would have noticed all this a lot sooner #if I wasn’t over a decade away from my own deconversion

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prince-kallisto · 7 months

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I am going to assume you noticed this years ago and have already written 15 essays on it and I am very not smart for only realizing this now, but in addition to Crowley's noted interest in Pomefiore over other dorms (and in the novel, Pomefiore's dorm is described as having a similar aura to that of the main campus), there...there is a crow. Raven?

There is a black fluff-bird. In the scene in 1937's Snow White, with the evil queen and the poison apple. I can't. That has GOT to mean something?

Thank you for the ask- please don’t worry about “not being smart!” Σ੧(❛□❛✿) Im happy to answer any questions. And this is a very good ask, because the thing is- the role of the bird in Snow White is very unclear!

There is indeed a black bird in the Snow White. It’s interesting how Wikipedia pages refer to the bird as “the Raven,” but in the Twisted Wonderland fandom, he’s commonly referred to as “the Crow,” with people thinking Dire Crowley is based off him. If anyone can clear this up with official Disney information, I’d greatly appreciate it because I’m uncertain of what the bird from Snow White is supposed to be! Haha I like the “black fluff-bird” though, what a cute name.

Funnily enough, neither Diablo or the Crow resemble the bird they’re supposed to be. They both look a lot more like blackbirds, as crows and ravens tend to be entirely black. Diaval from the live action Maleficent movie, however, is entirely black like a raven.

The Crow from Snow White seems more like a pet than the sidekick that Diablo was. The Crow mostly serves as an audience stand-in, scared and horrified by the Evil Queen’s plans. He seems to be very afraid of her, but his fate in Snow White is unknown. Snow White was released in 1937, and Crowley actually makes a reference to this date in one of his exam voicelines. Because of Crowley’s obsession with Pomefiore and the Fairest Queen, some fans assume he’s based on the Crow.

Diablo, on the other hand, was far more capable than Maleficent’s little army. He elevated her appearance and relished in her evil schemes. At the end of the Sleeping Beauty movie, he was turned to stone by the fairies.

In the live action Maleficent movie, Diaval is an interpretation of Diablo. He becomes even more significant because Maleficent turns Diaval into a human, and he serves under her as thanks for her rescuing him. Since he can switch between raven and human form at will, his fighting prowess is even better. Interesting how similar Crowley’s hairstyle is to Diaval’s, isn’t it? Because if his shape shifting ability (it’s implied Crowley can transform into a bird in the animations), connection with ravens, and foreshadowing of potentially evil schemes, some fans assume Crowley is based on Diablo. It doesn’t help that Yana Toboso, creator of Twisted Wonderland, says that Dire Crowley is pronounced as DIA Crowley, not Dire. In Japanese, this sounds like the English word “Dear,” as in “beloved.” Interesting how Dia sounds similar to Diablo or Diaval, yes?

In Japanese, “karasu” is a word that doesn’t specify the difference between crows and ravens- both birds as essentially the same thing. Interestingly enough, there may be a translation error in the English server…OR it’s done on purpose.

In the chats, Rook reference the Fairest Queen’s bird as a crow. Like I said, he’s described as a pet.

But MALLEUS describes Diablo, who is EXPLICITLY a raven in Sleeping Beauty, as a crow. Hm?? Did the TWST translators not know about this- which is very odd considering how well known Diablo’s lore is- or is this done purposefully? Crowley=Revan? 🤪🐦‍⬛ But here, Diablo is a scout, fought against armies, and was Maleficent’s right hand man. It’s interesting how Malleus says it would be a marvel to meet someone like this “maybe someday.” Seems like foreshadowing for Levan in the dreamworld or Crowley, doesn’t it?

Sorry, this got very long! I hope I was able to clear some things up 🧐 I personally think that Crowley is inspired by both Diablo and the Crow, but only time can tell what he truly is. Thank you for the ask! 💞🐦‍⬛

#ask kallisto #kallistopost #twst theory #twisted wonderland #twst #twst dire Crowley #twst Crowley #dire Crowley #twst levan

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nightgoodomens · 4 months

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Yeah, the oversexualisation...Neil explicitly said they can be ace. Not that they are but that it's just as possible as them being allo and it means so much cuz I'm ace too and never really had that kinda rep. And now so many people sexualize scenes and all even though Neil said there is no sexual implication to stay open for ace or allo interpretations. It's exhausting. I don't mind people making their own posts abt it but there are so many people taking over ace readings posts it makes me so sad. I'm scared it'll start feeling they're allo to me even if it's blank on purpose :( Not to even mention the character assasination... I found a little safe space in the fandom and I will keep blocking to protect it for sure.

Hey anon

When you spend some time in the current fandom you begin to wonder whether you missed out on something because everyone else apparently watched p*rn while you watched a romantic comedy with touch of drama.

When I watched Season 2 I was not involved with the fandom yet - to me it was a season of Aziraphale trying to woo Crowley, trying to make them confess their love, become an item, and Crowley trying to protect them. It was a season on them already acting married, which includes what realistic marriages include - love, devotion, protectiveness, dumbass fights, teasing, flirting. There was nothing explicit.

But yes then you come here and suddenly everyone watched explicit p*rn. And a completely different show because the characters I read about on here have nothing to do with the real Aziraphale and Crowley and their dynamics are horrifying too. And frankly I would want nothing to do with the show if their relationship was the way fandom was seeing it. Crowley does not deserve what the fandom is doing to him and it is actually upsetting.

As annoying as it is, you’re not the one who’s wrong, so remember that. And there is still plenty of us who remember canon so keep close with your own group and try to block and ignore the rest like the rest of us 😊

As for them overtaking posts - that is fucked up. It happened to me and I was fuming. Again this is something that wasn’t happening and now everything you try to post here has someone turning the post into something it obviously was not meant to be.

I honestly think that at this point some people need to go outside and touch some grass because something isn’t right here.

Or watch the show to remind themselves what it actually is about and who the characters are.

Take care of yourself, anon. I’m here if you need a chat.

#NightGoodOmens answers

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mamuscript · 8 months

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On the Idea of Forgiveness:

For all that Aziraphale is a “being of love,” (and don’t get me wrong - I’m an Aziraphale defender until actual Armageddon) he consistently avoids opportunities to tell Crowley how he feels about him, while Crowley is consistently telling Aziraphale what he means to him, albeit also not explicitly.

The closest that Aziraphale comes to telling Crowley what he means to him is after the duo performs The Bullet Catch, and he says, “I knew you would come through for me. You always do.” Aziraphale clearly demonstrates how he feels about Crowley, thanks in large part to Michael Sheen’s sublime and peerless performance: the way he looks at him; the giddiness with which he grabs Crowley’s hand and drags him to the dancefloor; they way he relies on him; the way he bounces out into the world every day, full of conviction that Crowley will be by his side. And Aziraphale tells Crowley again and again, despite resistance from the demon himself, that he is a good person, a nice person. That is so important - Crowley needs to hear that, and he needs to know that Aziraphale believes that about him - but it’s all so subtle.

On the other hand, Crowley expresses to Aziraphale, again and again, that they’re a team. When the world is about to end and Crowley can’t think of any other ideas, he asks Aziraphale to run away and be with him. He shows up to protect Aziraphale time and time again, including from himself. He shows that he knows Aziraphale fully - “You have three reasons for calling me,” etc. He threatens everyone who poses danger to the angel. After the fire at the bookshop, when Aziraphale appears in his spectral form before Crowley, the demon tells him, “I lost my best friend.” Aziraphale could comfort him in this moment, he could return the sentiment. But instead, he only says, “I’m so sorry to hear it.”

And this one hurts the most - Crowley keeps letting things go and coming back to apologize, even though he isn’t wrong.

When they argue at the bandstand, it’s because Aziraphale is being deceptive, cruel, and sanctimonious. The angel is willing to sacrifice their relationship for his ideals, while Crowley is willing to sacrifice everything for their relationship. Aziraphale is clearly in the wrong, and yet Crowley comes crawling back - “Whatever I said I didn’t mean it. Work with me - I’m apologizing here.” When they argue over Gabriel, neither of them is wrong, per se, but Crowley has an excellent point - Gabriel is a significant threat to them both, and in particular to Aziraphale. Once again, Aziraphale dismisses him out of hand. But when Crowley learns that Aziraphale is in trouble, he comes back and apologizes (even though he wasn’t wrong) in order to protect the angel.

Crowley keeps putting himself out there, making himself vulnerable, swallowing his pride, and Aziraphale not only doesn’t do the same, he never even acknowledges it.

This is what withers my heart about that final scene. Crowley has put himself out there for Aziraphale again and again over thousands of years, has come far closer to telling Aziraphale what he means to him than the angel has to telling him. And despite the inevitability of the rejection he’s about to receive, he does it again. He makes himself vulnerable, he tells Aziraphale that all they need is each other - my guy comes so close to telling him that he wants to spend eternity at his side. And Aziraphale shoots him down again.

Not only does he cast Crowley aside, but he has the audacity to tell Crowley that he forgives him.

I’m not going to dissect that particular act of forgiveness (not right now, anyway).

But I will say this: that despite the ever-present topic of what Crowley may or may not have done to get cast out of heaven and whether he’s worthy of mercy, despite Aziraphale priggishly deigning to offer Crowley forgiveness not once but twice, despite the fact that Crowley has the black wings and Aziraphale the white… Despite all of that, in an ironic twist of fate (or rather, due to the unparalleled and masterful achievement of the storytelling here) the next time we see these two, it won’t be Crowley who will need to earn forgiveness. It will be Aziraphale.

#good omens #crowley #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #neil gaiman

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radioactive-killjoy · 8 months

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On Aziraphale, Crowley, and Humanity

Inspired by @give-soup-please (post) and

and @on-stardust-wings (post)

So I started thinking about the discussion about Aziraphale’s guardianship of humanity. Aziraphale definitely thinks that protecting humanity and it’s goodness is an inherent part of his job as an angel, though Heaven as an institution clearly doesn’t seem to care about that much. Part of Aziraphale’s decision to go back to Heaven is to change this - he says it explicitly in his speech to Crowley. But I saw some people seeing this as Aziraphale putting humanity above Crowley, and I disagree!

The thing that the Book of Job minisode, A Companion to Owls, focuses on is how both Aziraphale and Crowley are going out of their way to protect Job, who is meant to represent the best of humanity according to both sides. That’s why he’s used as part of the bet between God and Satan. Even more than that, Aziraphale and Crowley are trying to protect Job’s children, who are innocent. They don’t admit it at this point, but they’re both being pushed away from their respective identities and this moves us toward “our side.”

In the book, after the original Apocalypse is thwarted, this conversation takes place:

“For my money, the really big one will be all of Us against all of Them.” “What?” You mean Heaven and Hell against humanity?”

I think this can be read either way, but in my mind Crowley is putting Aziraphale and himself on the side of humanity. We know that humanity is actively changing them:

“...centuries of association with humanity was having the same affect on him [Aziraphale] as it was on Crowley, except in the other direction.”

In the show, Crowley is being framed as always being good and being wronged by the Fall, but in the book we at least know that humanity is making him better in some way outside of whoever he was to begin with.

I think it’s also worth noting Adam’s perspective on the angel and demon. When Adam initially looks at Crowley and Aziraphale:

“Adam turned and appeared to notice them for the first time. Crowley was not used to people identifying him so readily, but Adam stared at him as though Crowley’s entire life history was pasted inside the back of his skull and he, Adam, was reading it. For an instant he knew real terror.”

But then, later:

“I don’t think you need to go worryin’,” said Adam gnomically. “I know all about you two. Don’t you worry.”

He knows everything. He knows that they’re not following the rules, he knows about the Arrangement, he knows that they’re fighting to allow humanity to continue. He sees the humanity within them. I know that Crowley is afraid of what Adam can do, but part of him being “all human” is that it makes him not a threat to the duo. (See: my post)

Back to now: When he tells Aziraphale “you can’t leave this bookshop,” he isn’t just saying “you can’t go back to Heaven.” Crowley isn’t just asking him not to go back; he’s asking him not to leave. He’s supposed to stay on Earth. It’s what they fought for. It’s where they found their similarities and all of the things that they love. The Bentley, the bookshop, wine, music, plants, magic, each other! I think he’s too afraid to outright say it, but the only reason Crowley wants to leave Earth and run away is because that would keep them safe. And as On-Stardust-Wings pointed out… Alpha Centauri isn’t even that far for an angel and demon to be running away from the powers that be. He doesn’t want them to be gone forever.

Aziraphale thinks that leaving for Heaven is going to help humanity, and therefore he will be helping Crowley. Crowley knows that Heaven might change Aziraphale back. What if he forgets all of the things that made humanity worth protecting? I don’t think Crowley is being entirely selfish, because he always knew that Apocalypse 2.0 would be coming, especially after Heaven’s reaction to Gabriel denying them.

Crowley doesn’t see protecting humanity as an obligation like Aziraphale has. He wants it, despite everything he’s told about himself being a demon. I hope that we don’t see Crowley backslide because of the hurt Aziraphale caused him. I hope that we continue to see that softness in him grow (and I’ve said before, I hope that he warms up to Muriel, who I think is going to have a similar experience to Aziraphale in learning to love humanity.)

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 1 year

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Saw a tweet talking about how Malleus noticed he was on the process of overblotting and just let it happen because he wanted the power to keep Lilia with him and holy shit.

Rewatched part 2 and he does react to the blot accumulating both times if I’m not mistaken (also it really took that little for him to overblot; he wasn’t fighting it at all! there was no breaking point, he just embraced it!).

Mmhm, the animations that play out for Malleus’s model do indicate that he seems to have an awareness that blot is accumulating. I don’t know if we can say anything at the moment about what his intentions in letting it accumulate unchecked though?? I don’t think it necessarily says anything about not resisting the OB when it starts to set in, either.

The process of collecting blot isn’t an indication that one is in the “process” of OBing either; a mage collecting blot is totally normal since blot is the natural byproduct of magic. I think it’s more like… OBing happens suddenly when an excessive amount of blot has pooled. Having blot in any amount in general at any given moment doesn’t mean you’re undergoing OB.

From the OB animations that play and how Crowley describes blot, it’s implied that any regular mage can just look at their magestone to see how clouded it is to gauge how much blot they have accumulated. Using this visual indicator, the mage can then rest, eat, and/or destress in order to bring themselves back to baseline. Knowing this, it’s possible that Malleus just let his own blot go unchecked because he’s 1) used to being so powerful and can pull off great fears without OBIng, he may genuinely not even think OB is possible for himself and 2) he may underestimate the effect of his own negative emotions and how they accelerate blot.

Malleus didn’t even realize he was lonely (despite having lived decades like this) until Yuu explicitly pointed it out to him. He also fails to understand the feelings of his peers. Malleus just isn’t super emotionally intelligent, so it’s likely that he overlooked his own feelings and how they’re impacting his psyche (and thus his blot). What does Malleus tend to do when he’s upset? He sulks and he bottles his feelings up, then when he does react, he tends to overcompensate with measures considered extreme by others but are 100% justified and okay in his own mind.

Malleus’s OB coming on so fast feels to me like it isn’t really a case of “he was 100% aware and let himself OB so he could have the power to keep Lilia with him”. It feels more like “he knew he was collecting blot, but he overestimated his own tolerance and thought he already had the power to stop Lilia; he also downplayed his emotions and how those would impact his blot”. Malleus lacks general awareness, both of others and of himself. He probably didn’t engage in self-care or other efforts to reduce his blot in the time between learning Lilia was leaving and the farewell party; he just kept mulling it over and over, which in turn fed into his fears and loneliness, this speeding up the blot and worsening his condition.

I think if there was an period of conscious awareness of OBing at all, then it probably came after he cast his UM?? At that point, Malleus had already made up his mind and taken drastic measures. There really was no going back from there, not unless he wanted to say those bittersweet farewells. In his mind, there was no other option than to let himself be consumed.

#Malleus Draconia #Lilia Vanrouge #spoilers #notes from the writing raven #Yuu #Dire Crowley

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