#Aziraphale has lied to heaven to protect 2 things: Humanity and Crowley
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"Got Any Better Ideas?" Aziraphale's Conviction and Crowley's Resignation
I was watching that scene in 1x06 again, and something clicked for me that never any sense to me before. In fact, it explained a couple things in season 2 .
See this scene is beautiful, heartbreaking, and hilarious all in one. We see yet another example of how much Crowley cares about Aziraphale... And we see Aziraphale making a bizarre move to (?) attack Crowley, then make a childish threat that won't matter given that they're both about die.
Before, I just assumed that he was just saying whatever thought ran through his head.
Now I get it.
Recap: Crowley realized that Gabriel and Beelzebub told on them Satan. Satan, who was now coming to kill them all. Crowley was this close to giving up, and then Aziraphale picked up his sword.
There's only one reason why: Aziraphale wasn't going to give up. In that moment, Aziraphale chose to fight Satan. He knew he would likely die trying.
(Psst! Past self: He's not giving Crowley some weird, friendship ultimatum!)
He's terrified. But resolved. And he knows this really will be their last conversation.
And Crowley gets it. He might not have believed that they were going to survive Satan's arrival, but he hadn't quite put together like this: If he isn't able to come up with another plan, Aziraphale will take up his sword against Satan and Crowley will have to watch him die.
So Crowley got a better idea, remembering Adam's power, he decided to give the human(s) the choice and protect it alongside Aziraphale.
Season 2
This is part of larger ongoing dynamic where (unless circumstances allow Crowley to give Aziraphale a better plan which actually addresses the problem) Aziraphale will act, like choosing to help Jim!Gabriel. If he thinks it's the right thing to do, he'll do it, regardless of the costs. It won't deter him at all.
Crowley learned that about him some time ago.
He saw Aziraphale lie to save Lot's children despite fully expecting to go hell for it.
(Plus Aziraphale straight up lied to God about the flaming sword that time, right? UMM... Why didn't he fall????)
So there Crowley is, apologizing(?), dancing, and lying about the full extent of the danger they're in.
I don't agree with Crowley's actions, with the lying especially. (Seriously, Crowley? Tell Aziraphale about the Extreme Sanctions!!) But Crowley is resigned to help at this point because he knows Aziraphale will be in danger anyways and he knows that when Aziraphale has made his mind up, he won't change it. Crowley can only offer his help or provide a different solution.
And since their communication problems are so big right now, their dynamic is to work around each other rather than with each other.
Right from the very beginning, their conception of the problem is very different.
Crowley: We're exposed to danger because of Gabriel, we have to find a way to hide Gabriel/ourselves from Heaven and Hell.
Aziraphale: Jim!Gabriel (innocent like Lot's children/rather childlike himself) is in danger, we have to find a way to hide Gabriel from Heaven and Hell.
TAKEAWAY
-Crowley wants them both to stay away from the toxic plans of Heaven/Hell so they can be safe together.
-Aziraphale wants to directly interfere with the plans of Heaven/Hell when he feels the responsibility to do good.
Takeaway on the ending of season 2:
When their perspective on the problem is so different to begin with, the breakup makes a little more sense to me. Though no less horrible.
(Wild Card: Heaven is the symbol of what is right and good? Aziraphale since when??? UGH, I have to meta more about this: Aziraphale's (and Crowley's) belief in the ineffable plan and how it affects his idea of reform/fixing the institutional problem of Heaven.)
#good omens#good omens meta#aziraphale#crowley#aziracrow#ineffable husbands#aziraphale defense squad#aziraphale meta
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Aziraphale and the Gray Area: Why is he like that though
Good omens season 2 spoilers ahead
One of the things religious trauma gave me is a strong sense of right vs. wrong. The idea that there is always a right way to do things or a right course of action, and to not do things that way is simply wrong. This is more than just feeling afraid of being punished for doing the wrong thing; it feels like part of my identity. I think of myself as a good person, so I want to do good things and I want to do the right thing. If I choose to do the wrong thing, I lose myself and I lose what I value in myself. Sometimes it’s a good thing to feel like this, it’s what led me away from a religion that preached hate. Sometimes it’s not such a good thing, because I can hurt people by trying to do the right thing, or by trying to put my personal sense of morals onto other peoples’ situations. I have been picking through my beliefs for over a decade trying to confront and dismantle the harmful ones. It’s a painful process and it takes a long, long time.
How much longer must it take for a literal angel, a servant of God? We have the pleasure of seeing this process in Aziraphale through the ages, and it’s a lot slower than fans want it to be. I think people see Aziraphale in his moments in the gray area - lying, disobeying orders, being a bastard, enjoying human food, and loving and trusting a demon - and they think that he must be just fine with being in the middle: mostly right, a bit wrong, very human. But that characterization oversimplifies and misses Aziraphale’s true nature.
The sense of justice and good vs. evil is central to who Aziraphale is. He is not just another angel following commands; he is doing what he truly thinks is right no matter what the consequences may be. He ends up being quite a bit more good and loving than any of the other angels we meet, because he isn’t okay with doing what he knows is wrong. He knows it innately, but also he knows it because of what he was taught. When you’re taught that hate and violence and greed is wrong, but then you see hate and violence and greed being perpetuated by your teachers, you start to wonder where that dividing line really is.
That’s where the gray area comes in. When Aziraphale gives away his sword, he’s aware it’s not technically the right thing to do, but decides it is the actual right thing to do to protect Eve and Adam and their child. Same as when he lies to the angels about Job’s children, only this time instead of fudging the truth and avoiding the confrontation, he has to make a direct choice to do something that is technically wrong - lying - in order to avoid doing something he really, really knows is Wrong - murder. In this case, he’s not okay with lying despite it being wrong, he’s okay with lying because it is the right thing to do. It still causes a large amount of internal conflict when he thinks he will be sent to Hell for disobeying, but that fear of punishment didn’t stop him from doing what he thought was good.
For Aziraphale, the gray area is not about being a little bit evil, it’s about fudging the Rules and disobeying authority in order to remain completely good. Since Crowley is in the gray area with him, surely Crowley must be in the same boat of wanting to do the Right thing. Throughout thousands of years of history Aziraphale never stops arguing the side of Good, trying to convince Crowley to do the right thing. Sometimes he finds that Crowley was actually right all along, and then Aziraphale can feel safe to align himself with whatever the demon is doing. Sometimes Aziraphale even tries to convince Heaven to do the right thing with him. During Armageddon, Aziraphale avoids telling Crowley the truth because he thinks it would be better to get Heaven to stop doing the wrong thing. And he’s right, a lot of problems would be solved and life would be easier if Heaven would listen to Aziraphale and stop inflicting their harmful views on the world.
It would be nice if Aziraphale would realize, at the end of the first season, that Heaven is not interested in being good or even being right; they just want to win. Aziraphale is too naive and pure to believe that of Heaven. After everything, he still wants to be an angel, and he still wants to be part of a Heaven that is doing good. What he did at the end of season 2 is not at all out of character for him. It makes perfect sense that he would want to take the opportunity to change Heaven for the better. Anyone can see what a delightful place it would be with Aziraphale making the decisions. Angels could drink hot chocolate and stack books in their offices or pop down to Earth to go to the theater. Humans could live without worrying about Armageddon or the Great Plan or having their lives destroyed over a bet. And demons (or at least one specific one) who were good and loving could be forgiven and become angels again so they don’t have to be forced to carry out evil acts and always be looking over their shoulders.
Aziraphale didn’t do what he did because he doesn’t accept or love who Crowley is. He just genuinely believes that Crowley is still an angel deep down and that Heaven is where he belongs, where he could be the most happy. A better Heaven, where Crowley could create stars to last millions of years and put anything he wanted in the suggestion box. Aziraphale wanted to create a life for them to be together without any more worry of secret meetings, gray areas, and war. When Crowley rejected that life, it broke Aziraphale’s view of Crowley and his goodness. As ridiculous as it sounds, Aziraphale never expected that Crowley wouldn’t jump at the chance to be an angel with him again, and now his perception of their relationship is shaken.
Ultimately, Aziraphale can’t be so selfish as to choose to run away with the being he loves, when he knows he can do so much more good if he returns to Heaven. And so in trying to do the right thing for everyone, Aziraphale does the wrong thing for Crowley and himself. This is what is so hard about Aziraphale’s gray area; it cuts both ways. He has so much learning and unpacking to do, and I’m afraid he’s going to find that he will have much less power to change Heaven than he thought. All we can do is beg for a third season and then Wait and See.
#just my thoughts#writing this to try to heal myself after the finale#tv review#good omens#good omens season 2#good omens spoilers#good omens season 2 spoilers#gos2spoilers#gos2 spoilers#aziraphale#michael sheen#religious trauma#exvangelical#character study
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Good Omens season 2 thought
So I'm rewatching it w my bf and we got to episode two and it just occured to me that I haven't realized, just massively underestimated, just how massively brave Aziraphale was when he lied to Gabriel about Job's kids.
He fully believes he would fall for it. The worst thing he could think of. The most terrifying thing. The defining aspect to his personality, his angeldom, and he was prepared to give that up. To become a demon. To go to hell.
Bc he believed that killing the kids was wrong.
Bc he knew that giving Sitis and Job 7 more kids would not ever make up for or be better after loosing the 3 they had.
Bc he understood humanity better than the other angels and knew they were mistaken.
Bc he chose kindness.
Bc he saw that there was an element of choice in God's bet, even if that choice wasn't his or the other angels.
And maybe, partially, bc he knew Crowley. Bc he saw that being a demon didn't fully change the personality. Bc he saw that being a demon didn't have to mean constantly doing evil - he saw Crowley being kind and avoiding doing evil as much as possible. Maybe he even saw that if he fell, he would not be alone, he could be like Crowley.
And it's fascinating to see that courage, especially after season one where Aziraphale was terrified for most of it, and running away from Crowley and leaning into his fear of the other angels and what they would do.
I think partly bc he Has had millennia to see what they would do. And what Hell would do. To understand that while he might get into trouble, Hell would Destroy Crowley if they found out. Millennia to care about Crowley being destroyed, for it to become "out of the question! ". Millennia to understand that Heaven would do worse to him than make him Fall.
Plus, in season one Aziraphale is brave when he is defending someone else. Eve, Earth, Crowley. Just as now he was defending Sitis and Job and their children.
Aziraphale is at his fire a protector and he shows his incredible courage and ability to sacrifice himself best when he is protecting others.
However, when he wants something for himself he tends to avoid the risk. He needs Crowley to tempt him to give him the extra push.
It's a fascinating dichotomy and shows what Aziraphale values really well.
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Season 2 Hot Take - We're Being Manipulated
Yes I know this is going to sound like a conspiracy theory, but is it really a conspiracy if its true?
So, as someone who spent the last four years obsessing almost entirely about Gabriel's character and arc (do not get me started on him in S2) and not much else, I feel like I have a different approach to Aziraphale and his actions.
I mean, I'm sorry but I just don't buy the fact that Aziraphale is so deeply traumatized that he would return to heaven just like that. I just don't.
Like, c'mon, season 1 Aziraphale, the utter bastard who straight up lied to God's (metaphorical) face, who got gut punched by some 'bad angels', who was sentenced to death, who tried to talk to God for help and got the run around, merged with season 2 Azirpahale who saw that heaven would just let kids die and not understand why it's bad (also please don't get me started on his 'you really were truly awuful' line, I cannot), who learned the that line between right and wrong is blured and that sometimes graverobbing can be good, who found out he could do magic the real, human way, would not just be like fuck yeah heaven is the good guys let's gooooo.
I just don't buy it. And I want to trust that the writing in season 2 was purposeful and for a reason, because I want to trust that Neil Gaiman knows what he's doing (weird plot-device of the miracle block aside of course because idk how that could possibly be explained properly).
And one of my friends pointed out to me that season 2 was/felt very influenced by the fandom. So what makes the most sense? That Neil Gaiman would just write some really weird and off-character stuff to match what the people want? Or that he would use the fandom's expectations to influence how they react to a situation and event in order to hide what's actually going on?
I mean, look at all the information we're missing.
We don't know what Aziraphale's relationship was like with heaven between seasons (and I'm thinking he had to have some kind of relationship for the Bookshop to still be considered an protected embassy. Because let's face it, vindictive lil heaven isn't gonna keep a triator safe for no good reason).
We don't know the full conversation between Aziraphale and the Metatron (and the fact that Aziraphale's response after the whole Crowley as an angel thing is blocked off is the most interesting tidbit of all. We never actually find out what Aziraphale said, and we know he hadn't given Metatron a real answer before he went to talk to Crowley {yet the Metatron walks in after as if Aziraphale already said yes})
We don't know how and why it was so easy for Gabriel to sneak off after the trial. (Like, I know all the other angels are clueless, but the Metatron has clearly shown himself to have a strategic mind and, let's be honest, he would have seen something like that coming).
There's so much we don't know about, that's being hidden and held back, and we don't question it too much because it's easier to just fill in the blanks with our four years of headcanons and ideas.
And all the posts that Neil Gaiman interact with just further these ideas! I mean, let's face it, he's not gonna like this one because it's too close to the TRUTH (and also because he's busy and there's like a million posts a day but MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH)
Aziraphale is a smart character, who knows that heaven is toxic. He's strong and stubborn, and I truely don't believe he's going to just slide right back into that abusive relationship without a Plan. Aziraphale doesn't want to go back to heaven because he knows they aren't really the good guys, but that's the argument he uses because that's the only one he knows how to use. It's his default setting. (and the Metatron is most definitely probably listening in on them so Aziraphale clearly can't say what he actually wants to say, which only contributes to their horrible communication skills).
Aziraphale doesn't need to learn that heaven is in bad shape. He already knows that. But what he didn't know was that he could fix it. He's spent 6,000 years seeing all the cracks in the foundation and not having the power to do anything about it. That's his whole arch in season 1; taking control and doing what he can to fix the wrongs he sees.
But even now the idea that he actually has the power or influence to make the changes he knows are needed is a foreign concept. And the Metatron offering him the job is kind of like Crowley offering him the food. Azirpahale didn't know he could want to actually change things. That he could be the one to put in a suggestion box. He's not going back to learn the hard truth, he's going back to change the hard truth before others have to suffer a similar fate.
Our ideas and expectations were shattered, but that's only because we were coming at it with those expectations. We let them cloud the real story and distract us from the TRUTH.
This whole entire season was a magic act of the highest form using fan-service and shotty writing (dear god please let it be on purpose) as smoke and mirrors. and we're falling for it.
(And while we're on the topic, may I just slip in as an added bonus, Crowley has only himself to blame for Aziraphale thinking him becoming an angel would be a good thing, because how can he expect to go around calling Aziraphale angel all the time and looking at him the way he does and NOT expect Aziraphale to just assume that Crowley thinks being an angel is the best thing since sliced bread????)
#good omens#good omens season 2#good omens season 2 spoilers#good omens theories#good omens season 2 theories#you're not a conspiracy theorist if your theories end up being real#just sayin
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Aziraphale: an idealist, a problem solver, a denier and a protector
A meta analysis on his growth, his choices and his actions of season 2 (with a little bit of season 1 context and possible future)
so basically I'm back on my bullshit and need to consolidate my ever growing thought on these character.
Aziraphale's core traits are highly oppositional to Crowley, this could either cause great miscommunication or provide a well needed balance to the two of them. At his core he's an idealist, he assumed the best in everyone and everything, when issues arise he tries to make the best of it and solve the problem in his own way and protect everyone (regardless of the outcome the key take away is that he tries) but this no longer applies when he's afraid. Another key trait, Aziraphale throughout his life is always plagued by the fear of losing Crowley and losing his 'angel ness' and when the root of the problem comes from one of his fears, then his final trait comes around: pure denial.
The first time they met:
The first time Aziraphale meets Crowley we see a couple things, he's already absolutely smitten, he already fears questioning the plans of god and warns Crowley because he wants to protect him, and finally he sees Crowley be unequivocally happy when he gets to build the nebula.
And then.. the angels fall, millions of angels fall, including Crowley, now demons, 'unforgivable, evil, cruel' and barred from the love of god. And oh Aziraphale must feel awful, he thinks about how he planted the seeds of doubt into Crowley, if he hadn't said anything, Crowley would never have fallen, he should have stopped him. (this likely fuels another reason why he wants to restore Crowley to angel status, he blames himself for Crowley's sadness)
When he finally meets him again in the garden of Eden, and this as now is the first time he does something 'out of line' and disobeys god. And he's already afraid, oh he's gone to far, he question Almighty's plan, what is going to happen. He carries that with him, doesn't question the flood, just continues, because he is afraid. He learns one thing: god is unpredictable, he is not safe. So what does he do? he goes into denial, he pretend that god has a plan, and it is actually good, he becomes idealistic, even in such a moment, he uses it to protect himself.
2500 BC:
This flashback gives us an interesting insight into why Aziraphale chooses to make the choices he does. After years of being afraid of not question he develops a 1 dimensional viewpoint. But when he learns of the plan he can't hold back anymore, he knows this is wrong, but its heaven, heaven is good right? This time he has to question heaven and thankfully, his demon Crowley is there to protect it all, to solve the problem for him, so he is still free (as he can) but the question still lingers, and then.. then he finally tried food. Which makes him scares him even more, he wonders if he's sinned too much (questioning, sinned for eating food etc) and finally it all comes crashing down:
"I'm ready to go."
"Go where?"
"To Hell."
His fears reaching a boiling point and then he lies, and demons lie. But he goes forward, afraid but still an angel. He doesn't realize he's in this constant peril not because he deserves to fall, but because heaven and god's rules are arbitrary, contradictory and often use the most miniscule things to hurt.
1827:
His fears over the centuries of falling, losing Crowley, and openly loving him have now manifested as this idealism to life, that if humans make the perfect choices they would be okay, he carries one dimensional thinking because otherwise, he would have to face the fact god is unfair, god is ruthless.
We get quite a lot of insight into both of their philosophies in this episode. For one, Aziraphale realizes that 'bad' deeds aren't necessarily bad when you look at it from a different perspective. And that as of now he believes in that the more your suffer/lower you start in the hierarchy of life the more 'opportunities' you have to prove yourself, but at the same time he believes in 'divine punishment'
In the context of season 2 this makes sense, he has been taught that at any moment, for any miniscule reason, god can punish them (Job, Crowley, Elspeth etc) and the way he can deal with the unpredictability of god is he chooses to be one dimensional, an action is always either black and white, stealing that body is a bad choice and to validate this opinion he uses the idea that its more 'opportunities' but Crowley attacks that thought, he shows him, do you really think that's true? and of course he values Crowley's opinion and considers it, and it breaks him a little, so he goes back and finally reconsiders his initial thought, he concludes that its actually just a plain good deed, no nuance, no greyness just good.
Even though he reconsiders he doesn't reach the root of the problem, for all his problem solving skills, he is still in denial and he still believes that heaven is good, he is still after all that an idealist, he does not want to realize that god is not always right, god sometimes hurts and attacks the weak, that its unfair, that heaven might just not be good. he at this point is well and truly in denial.
Even after Armageddon, he still views heaven as 'good, the light, the truth' after all they went through, after he watched them try and tear apart humanity he still thinks heaven is the good side. Yes he questions them more now, and wants to fix them (problem solver) but he cannot shake of the idea that carried him all his life that heaven is good. His idealism makes him believe that he could fix it, he believes that there is good in all and he can bring it out. This results in less change in his relationship with Crowley then what they both desired, his fear of losing everything because he doesn't know what could happen if they finally verbalized their feelings (fear of the unknown)
So when Metatron treats him with kindness (and also a heavy dash of manipulation) and even validates his love for Crowley, he allows himself to dream. Dream of a new era of heaven, one where he no longer has to fear, one where he can be with Crowley, where he gets to see the unbridled joy that Crowley had pre-fall when he build the nebula. But this doesn't take into consideration how Crowley would feel, to go back into a place that was traumatic, it wouldn't make him happy, it would hurt him.
While this could be dismissiveness, it's likely its actually tied to his idealism and need to protect their lives. In his head he believes he could change heaven (its also important to factor in that he at this point does not know that they are trying for Armageddon 2.0) and he believes he can protect Crowley there. So he sees this as a chance to 'solve the problem', finally escape his fear, but instead falls right back into the his denial of heavens issues, that heaven and god is not 'the light, the truth, the good' but just another side fighting for power.
Growth and the way forward
In terms of growth its clear he has in fact changed though he still has far to go, he becomes less afraid of loving Crowley openly, though he still leaves things unsaid. He uses 'our' 'we' 'us' and initiates physical contact often, and attempts to reassure Crowley. His fear always makes him be subtle, his love is quiet and unseen. When he wants to tempt Crowley, its always so very subtle, he's so afraid to make an obvious move, he dances around it, leaving a clear impression, but never anything too obvious. But in season 2, he begins initiating that vulnerability, more often than not, physical contact, to show his reassurance, his feelings and heart. While Crowley grows to show more emotional vulnerability.
But in the end he cannot grow until he sees the true reality of heaven for himself, and realizes he cannot push this idealism onto Crowley, that he is wonderful, kind and humane because he is Crowley, he loves humanity in a way heaven and hell never could, he is kind and good not because he is actually an angel, but because he is Crowley
#good omens#gos2#aziraphale#crowley#good omens spoilers#gos2 spoilers#good omens 2#so much to analyze of the few glimpses we get into their 6000+ year analysis#This post will likely only get longer as I rewatch seasons over time and realize there's more to it#though I've attempted to summarize some parts because i don't want to keep it long enough to kill tumblr#anyway i would like to formally say that I'm not on any team except team 'Aziraphale and Crowley get together and go to therapy'#honestly too long and a disservice to call it a shitpost#ineffable husbands#aziracrow#updated for errors
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So...Manipulation And The Metatron (GO S2 Spoilers)
So, listen, that ending though? These are just some of my thoughts (and I promise a more cohesive meta later) but I noticed that when recounting how the Metatron described Aziraphale (as the ideal candidate for supreme archangel) he says:
1) Aziraphale is a Leader
2) Aziraphale is honest
3) Aziraphale does not “just tell people what they want to hear”
And then, that the above qualities are the reason that Gabriel came to him in the first place (Metatron imagines).
Now, this isn’t an Aziraphale hate post (in fact I have so much empathy for my poor Angel) but none of those things are true and we see why these points are wrong played out in our minisode flashbacks.
On the first count: Aziraphale is a Leader
This implies a sense of individuality and ability to work with others well. Sure he works with Crowley well, and he did just protect his Bookshop from being burnt to a crisp. But, he wasn’t leading anyone and in the 1826 flashback in Edenborough, he cannot lead any of the humans towards good (it’s only when he partners with Crowley and follows his lead that Elsbeth is able to find a different avenue in life.
Additionally, he was put into a leadership position in Season 1 (to lead a battalion of Angels for Armageddon)_ and he blatantly, outright REFUSED. He does not want that responsibility and he does not do well in those situations without Crowley.
On the second Count: Aziraphale is Honest.
The entire point of the Job Minisode was to establish that Aziraphale has no problem lying to Heaven, the Angels, (we already knew he was okay lying to G*d as that was his literal first scene in Season 1, Ep. 3), and demons (a la the 1941 minisode).
Part of the point of saving Job’s children hinged on him lying. Saving Crowley from the “evidence” of their closeness, relied on him lying. Hell, even the catalyst for getting Wee Morag killed was because he lied about changing the body.
Aziraphale. Is. NOT. Honest. (and that’s okay). If anything, it’s Crowley who generally is reliably genuine (at least to Aziraphale) and it helps highlight how his moral compass works.
For more thoughts on this, I literally wrote like 10 Meta about it in 2019. I’ll link one here.
On the third Count: Aziraphale does not just tell people what they want to hear
Across all of the Minisodes (and in the pre-time flashback) Aziraphale’s main response to stress is to either distract from the situation and/or tell people what they want to hear.
For example:
While he doesn’t tell Crowley what he wants to hear (that his nebula system will go on indefinitely), he does try to tell him that the think he’s already made is beautiful and capitulates alot to Crowley’s assertions about G*d.
In Job’s parable, he tells the angels what they want to hear about the children (both before they save them and after)
In 1826, he tells the surgeon and Elsbeth what they want to hear after he figures a way of making his morals “work” for their bodysnatching plan.
In 1941, he lies and tells the demons after Crowley what they want to hear (although as a lie to save Crowley from punishment)
This is all to say that the first way the Metatron tries to entice Aziraphale to his side is through empty praise (especially empty if he indeed has been “taking a closer look at his previous jobs and seen the partnership he has with Crowley”). When it doesn’t work, when appealing to Aziraphale’s inner insecurities is still met with resistance, then, and only then, does the Metatron brings out the “trump card”: An appeal to ensure Crowley’s safety.
I find in interesting though that these 3 characteristics (values Aziraphale has, for sure) were chosen to try to persuade him. I wonder why they were picked when they more accurately describe Crowley.
Crowley, the demon who took charge on saving Aziraphale, orchestrating rescues and then later taking charge to save the humans, (and then also took charge in saving Nina and Maggie when Michael wanted to turn them to pillars of salt).
Crowley, the demon who is heartbreakingly honest to Aziraphale and refuses to lie to him (although his omissions this season are apparent to the audience, they are not to Aziraphale).
Crowley, the demon who does not tell Aziraphale what he wants to hear because he much more values honestly and genuinely believes in the angel’s goodness.
I think these 3 values were chosen to make Aziraphale think about Crowley, priming him for the “promise” of safety later.
I’m not sure (I’m still processing the ending as are we all) but those were just some thoughts/observations I had. Thanks for entertaining my ramblings?
#good omens#aziraphale#crowley#ineffable husbands#good omens season 2#go s2#go s2 spoilers#good omens spoilers#good omens season 2 spoilers#metatron#the metatron
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As soon as I heard Crowleys playlist had Take Me To Church on it i lost my shit, and now that the new season is out (and I’ve had the song on loop for an hour) I finally wrote my analysis of him and this song! also all of this is just my interpretation, please don’t hurt me I’m young and feeble.
Major Good Omens 2 spoilers ahead!! You’ve been warned
Take Me To Church + Crowley Analysis (does not include all the lyrics soz)
My lover's got humor
She's the giggle at a funeral
Knows everybody's disapproval
I should've worshiped her sooner
Aziraphale is not very good at social cues or understanding human matters, and knows what happens when he disobeys heaven and how they feel about him, but he still does what he thinks is best; both of which are things Crowley likes about him. Crowley didn’t even fully realize he loved Aziraphale until Nina and Maggie (my hero’s) had to shove it in his face.
If the Heavens ever did speak
She's the last true mouthpiece
Aziraphale is one of the last few angels who does things that can really be considered good/godly, like helping humans and just being generally nice.
Every Sunday's getting more bleak
A fresh poison each week
Each time Crowley is forced to interact with heaven it just gets worse and worse, like being kicked out and then heaven trying to end the world, until they take Aziraphale away from him.
"We were born sick", you heard them say it
My church offers no absolutes
Everyone keeps telling them it’s unnatural for an Angel and a demon to be friends + the church not offering absolutes as in all the angels talking about the great plan though no one really knows what it is.
The only Heaven I'll be sent to
Is when I'm alone with you
Crowleys never going to make it back to heaven, and the closest he’s going to get is his relationship with aziraphale. Plus the only times he’s actually seen happy are with Aziraphale.
I was born sick, but I love it
Command me to be well
A-, Amen, Amen, Amen
He doesn’t want to go back to heaven either, he likes being a demon, he just wants them to be able to be them. He wants to want to do whatever Aziraphale wants, but he doesn’t, he has his own interests too.
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
Crowley follows Aziraphale basically everywhere, including literally a church despite what it does to him, and in his mind they shared a similar devotion because they’re “partners”. Like when Aziraphale trusted him to shoot him for a magic trick. So when Aziraphale leaves, it makes him feel like the whole thing was a lie. He even waits for him to come back, but he doesn’t, and it leaves him feeling abandoned.
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life
After the kiss, Aziraphale only says “I forgive you.” like it was a bad thing. Then he left, and Crowley can’t die, but that almost makes being alone worse. He spends so long just being there to protect him, and then he’s gone, and he no longer has someone to spend eternity with.
If I'm a pagan of the good times
My lover's the sunlight
The definition of pagan is “a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main or recognized religions,” so in Crowleys case, he’s a pagan of the good times because supposedly god wants to destroy the earth, which means by choosing to try to stop it, he’s going against Christianity. Aziraphale is just the sunlight to his darkness (I love them so bad).
To keep the Goddess on my side
She demands a sacrifice
Crowley makes many sacrifices over the course of the 1st season to prevent the end of the season, and eventually he’s forced to give up Aziraphale to heaven after they remove Gabriel because he vetoes Armageddon.
Drain the whole sea
Get something shiny
The first time they really talk is when God floods earth, and it’s also when some of the initial seeds of rebellion are implanted in Crowley specifically. Aziraphale has already given away the sword, but it’s the first example Crowley cares for people (very not-demon-like), which is what leads to their friendship/seeing each other as kindred spirits.
Something meaty for the main course
That's a fine looking high horse
What you got in the stable?
This could either be about heaven in its entirety or Aziraphale, with both acting like Crowleys below him when really they’re much more similar than that, and that all the angels isn’t perfect either.
We've a lot of starving faithful
That looks tasty
That looks plenty
This is hungry work
The demons are plenty in numbers, and greed is literally one of the seven deadly sins. Even being less “demon” than most of them, Crowley isn’t perfect. He wants a lot. Plus some of the things he does take a certain… demon-ness other people don’t have, but they get results.
No masters or kings when the ritual begins
There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin
When it’s just them working together, there’s always the looming presence of heaven and hell, but that’s not what they’re representing, respectively. Each side commits atrocities in the name of war, but with their “gentle sin” being rebelling against their organizations, it separates them from that. They’re just an “us”, to Crowley.
In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene
Only then I am human
Only then I am clean
Oh, oh, Amen, Amen, Amen
On earth they’re usually brought together by chaos and tragedy—the first season's whole hook is armageddon. In the madness of it they both lose their sides, quite literally being seen as going native, and in Crowley's mind, that scrubs him of his demonic responsibility. In the show, demons are shown to be especially dirty, with their mud and maggots and frogs and flies and stuff.
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life
In the end, the whole thing can be interpreted as an allegory for being gay and the effects of religious trauma has on that, just like the song :D thanks for indulging me, and sorry if this didn’t make any sense, the wound is still fresh 😭
#good omens#good omens 2#good omens 2 spoilers#go 2 spoilers#good omens spoilers#crowley#aziraphale#ineffable husbands#aziracrow#I’m so insane about them#hozier#crowleys playlist#good omens analysis#sad gay hours#neil gaiman im in your walls
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I've been so anxious about season 3, about the reunion, about everything, really.
But I'm choosing to cope by thinking about what it means, in the GO universe, that Crowley and Aziraphale know one another so well.
Yes, yes. Alright. Har har! Feel free to insert the inevitable "You mean knowing in a Biblical sense?" jokes here. Get it off your chest.
Because Crowley obviously likes Aziraphale. In all senses of the word.
But more importantly, Crowley knows Aziraphale. He's known of him and known him and has been known by Aziraphale in return for so long now it boggles the mind.
And what I mean is
Crowley sees who Aziraphale is in the garden, sees that he is an angel unlike the others, an angel with a conscience, an angel who doesn't always do the "good" thing but will do the right thing most of the time.
Even then, Crowley sees more of Aziraphale than heaven ever could. Crowley's intrigued, fascinated, willing to truly engage with Aziraphale, test him from the very beginning. But he doesn't know, yet. Not completely.
After all this time, however, months and months out from season 2, I still believe the Job incident solidifies there relationship for Crowley. For Aziraphale. For us, the devastated audience. And I think it works in tandem with 1941 part II to give us an idea of what to expect in season 3. Or, at least, it gives us a glimpse of how Crowley and Aziraphale's relationship could potentially go.
Because as much as Crowley is sure Aziraphale will break out of heaven's black and white mindset, Aziraphale is equally confident in Crowley's sense of justice, his inherent, if not goodness by heaven's definition, then his... humanity. Both his love for it and how he's been influenced by it.
Crowley stands in a fiery house with the lives of Job's innocent children hanging in the balance, asks Aziraphale if he really knows him, and not once does Aziraphale waver.
In 1941, we get an explicit, out loud declaration of trust along with a quiet realization of love in the ruins of a church. It's beautiful.
"You said "trust me,"."
"And you did."
But also, haven't they been doing this for millennia already? The sheer level of faith they've had to put in each other, starting from Job, carrying through to 1941, and finally to the present storyline is honestly astounding.
Circling back around, I think the heartbreak on both sides is the perceived misalignment between what each of them knows about the other and their present day choices.
So yes, they have issues. They fundamentally disagree about how to be together, how to make it finally safe to be together. They've hurt each other. They're not talking.
But!
Does that matter?
When shit hits the fan, haven't they always lied for each other, broken the rules for each other, protected each other without a thought?
They know it, too. They've known it for a long, long time.
I've seen some people say that one or both of them were naive to what their relationship was until The Kiss™, and I just can't agree with that.
So, this whole ramble is to say, just because you don't say something out loud doesn't mean it's not there. Just because you break someone's heart doesn't necessarily mean you won't come running to them in an instant if need be. And one conversation, no matter how hurtful and fraught, cannot undo thousands of years worth of actions.
They have, quite literally, been loving each other too long to stop now.
Deep down, both of them know that, too, I think. I'm choosing to hope.
#yes I’m back on my bullshit again#because these episodes have not left my mind since I’ve watched them. They have refused.#and I much like Crowley I’m choosing to be an optimist#good omens
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I posted 3,918 times in 2022
That's 3,918 more posts than 2021!
133 posts created (3%)
3,785 posts reblogged (97%)
Blogs I reblogged the most:
@cassandralie
@fandom-indy
@gretchenzellerbarnes
@dubiousduckears
@maria7potter
I tagged 1,815 of my posts in 2022
#good omens - 889 posts
#heartstopper - 534 posts
#aziraphale - 340 posts
#crowley - 313 posts
#ineffable husbands - 243 posts
#nick nelson - 220 posts
#charlie spring - 208 posts
#fanart - 110 posts
#meta - 58 posts
#joe locke - 57 posts
Longest Tag: 134 characters
#get you an ethereal being of light and love who looks at your treasures the way aziraphale looks at the bentley after the notpocalypse
I sent 1 gift in 2022
My Top Posts in 2022:
#5
Okay, man, hold on. Everything is clunking into place for me, after reading this post about Aziraphale being Israfil in Islam, the angel whose job it is to blow the cosmic horn that starts Armageddon.
And so then, Crowley is the Serpent of Eden, who sets the human story in motion, and, presumably, the need for an Armageddon, where humans are measured and sorted into Good and Bad, sent to Heaven or Hell.
And someone else in another post I read long ago pointed out that Crowley signs to start the Armageddon process at the beginning of the series.
See the full post
449 notes - Posted July 17, 2022
#4
I want to talk about the conversation between Tao and Nick in episode 8. "Why is he avoiding you?" Tao asks. And Nick says, "I think maybe he's finding it hard having to lie to people about us."
And this is interesting to me, because I don't think that's why Charlie is avoiding Nick. My take was always that Charlie felt responsible for Nick getting hurt, and he was trying to put distance between them to protect Nick. (I'm happy to be dissuaded if people have other takes!)
I think "he's finding it hard having to lie about us" is why Nick is upset. Nick is feeling pain when he sees Charlie denying him to other people. This amazing meta breaks it down. Somebody wrote recently, the conflict isn't "Charlie wants him to be out," it's "Nick wants to be out and doesn't know how to get there." Nick wants to be able to run to him on the rugby pitch, and hug him at the bowling alley, and kiss him in the park, and hold his hand in the cinema.
I just love the writing in this little scene. I love that Nick is projecting and seeing Charlie's actions through the lens of his own love for Charlie, and I love that he gets it a little wrong. Because that's how it is in real life. You don't really understand what anyone else is thinking. You see everything through the lens of your own love and your own hurt. And we have to make do with that. We have to make the best of imperfect understanding and imperfect feeling, learn how to make it right when we've said or done something wrong, and learn how to keep on loving someone when they've wronged you.
And we have to learn how to set boundaries, how to decide when to not let someone keep being part of your life and your love, when they wrong you and don't try to make it right. Charlie is feeling so guilty that Nick is dumping all his friends because of him. But Nick isn't dumping his friends because of Charlie, he's dumping his friends because they suck. Nick is learning to set boundaries and say, no, you don't get to behave this way and still be my friend. Nick is also learning that the feeling he has when Charlie lies to people about them is unacceptable to him, and how to live in integrity with that.
In conclusion, Alice Oseman is amazing, and this show is a marvel.
450 notes - Posted August 13, 2022
#3
When Charlie said to Ben, "I said I don't want to meet up with you anymore," and Ben said, "Yeah and I don't believe you. You're clearly just scared of getting caught."
And when, on sports day, Nick said to Charlie, "And if you really want to break up, I would respect your decision."
I just--
581 notes - Posted August 13, 2022
#2
Quick rundown of the things Crowley lists that Aziraphale won't get to enjoy anymore once Heaven wins the great war of Armageddon:
first-class composers (Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, all of the Bachs)
Albert Hall
Glyndebourne
fascinating little restaurants where they know you
gravlax and dill sauce
old bookshops
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
single-malt Scotch
frou-frou cocktails with umbrellas
Stephen Sondheim first nights
Things Crowley doesn't list but Aziraphale mentally adds with his eyes when he makes this face as Crowley walks away:
Crowley.
865 notes - Posted July 13, 2022
My #1 post of 2022
I noticed something on a rewatch about the arc of Aziraphale's coat. When it gets hit by that paintball, he says, "I've kept this in tip-top condition for over 180 years."
So, since 1839. 20-odd years before the fight / breakup in St. James's Park, which is the earliest we see it.
But wait, I says to myself, he wasn't wearing that coat in the 1940s Blitz scene in the church. He wears a different outer coat in that scene, one that looks new, made of a material that's stiffer and slightly shiny.
[Of course, one typically wears nicer and more uncomfortable clothes to one's wedding, and Crowley also looks very sharp and more buttoned-up than his typical look in this scene, but that's neither here nor there.]
See the full post
1,009 notes - Posted June 26, 2022
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it’s a gray day; have a whumpy wip.
(reverse omens; raphael is an archangel, living under the guise of crowley, a lower tier angel; azira is the poor demon that raphael lied to for 6 millennia and got his heart broken upon learning the truth)
takes place at the bus stop after armageddon:
---
Azira flinches when Raphael— appearing this time as Crowley— approaches.
Raphael opens his mouth, trying to get a word in, but Azira won't let him.
"You shouldn't be here."
Crowley— no...Raphael pauses. It's the same words he greets the demon whenever he shows a little too much enthusiasm at spending time with the angel.
"They'll come for you, if they knew your involvement. You may be an archangel, but you'll be outnumbered."
"I don't give a damn about that!" Raphael automatically retorts.
For the first time since his arrival, the demon turns to look at him. "Since when?" Azira asks evenly.
This time, it’s Raphael that flinches. He always used that excuse to avoid getting closer to the demon, the excuse to stave off those feelings that have been brewing since the beginning of humanity.
What will my superiors say when they find one of their own fraternising with a demon?
Words he threw out so carelessly before, but Azira had always been undeterred, always saying that he'll be sure to be careful.
(he never was, hence why Raphael had to lie and say he was only manipulating the demon for Heaven’s benefit)
He’ll make it up to him. He will. "Since now," Raphael says, sitting next to him on the bench.
His heart aches when Azira stills before inching away from him. "There's no need. What's done is done. They don't need to punish both of us."
"I won't let you suffer alone— "
"You don't need to be here, Raphael."
That word, that name, doesn’t sound right coming from Azira's mouth. It was always Crowley. He was always Azira's Crowley.
But Azira's not done. "You have what you want and I have what I want. Perhaps it's time to end this little arrangement—"
"What," Raphael grabs him by the arm, heart splintering when Azira looks at him with fright. "What do you mean—"
"The hellfire. It's yours. And I—" Azira swallows. "I have my earth. I may not have long to enjoy it but—"
"Then come with me,” Raphael pleads. "I'll protect you, I've always—"
"No," Azira gasps. "No, I don't— I'll be fine on my own."
"Azira, no, we both know—"
"Yes, yes, I know, I've always depended on you to keep me safe, isn't that right? Well, it's a damn good thing I'll no longer be your burden to bear!"
"Burden?" Raphael breathes out. Where is this coming from?
"It's a fine thing you did, hiding your name, hiding your power, hiding your intentions all this time. I know I wouldn't have the patience to pull it off."
"My intentions—"
"Were to manipulate a demon, isn't that right? Gather intel for Heaven?"
The realization sinks in. His demon overheard him and misunderstood. "Azira, wait—"
"I'm no longer of any use to you. When they bring me back, it will be to my execution." He turns to Raphael, the warm, firebright glow that always used to shine when the demon looked at him, dulled to dying embers. "I don't have much time. Please, let me go."
"You're mad if you think I intend on letting you go—I'm telling you, I can protect you! I won't let them hurt you, you know that—"
"By what? hiding me away? Do you have a cozy little prison waiting for me in Heaven where Gabriel can torture me for more information with the bloody Sound of Music—"
Raphael's growing frustrated; time's running out and—he's never had Azira deny him before. Not like this. Not even with the hellfire. "Do you honestly think I’d do that to you!?" Raphael's grip on Azira's arm is beginning to hurt and the demon whimpers under the force. "How long have you known me, Azira? I would never—"
"I don't," Azira gasps, prying his arm from Raphael's grip and scrambling away from him in a panic. "I don't know who you are."
Raphael's heart breaks. "It's me. Yes, I lied about my name and my position in Heaven but that's all—Azira, I swear to you! I lied to the others so they wouldn't suspect a thing when they saw us together—"
"So you lied about being worried that your superiors might catch you?!"
"Azira!" Raphael knows he should be apologizing, begging for forgiveness, but he can't stand that look of contempt on his demon's face, not when that face had only ever shown him warmth and happiness when they were together.
"I loved him, did you know that?" Azira breathes out, eyes wet.
Something ugly twisted in Raphael's chest at the admission. "Who?"
Who is he? who stole your heart after all this time? After I thought you had only wanted mine?
"Crowley," Azira says, tears streaking down his face.
Raphael’s heart stops. "Azira..." A delirious warmth spread throughout his chest. Raphael wants to gather the demon in his arms, kiss him until the tears stopped and kiss him more after that. "I'm here, Azira, please— I lo—"
"But he was a lie too, wasn't he?"
that’s all i have so far.
the idea i had in my head was a reverse!omens with a demon aziraphale and an archangel raphael who lives on earth under the alias of crowley
the gist of the whumps is that azira fell and fell hard for crowley and crowley....cared about him (this is really a reversal) and only learned to love him much later on—
only for aziraphale to realize that the person he fell in love with is a lie.
crowley never existed. only an archangel who lied to him for millennia
it's the reverse of Good Omens too in that azira is very open in his adoration and (giant) crush on crowley, but crowley always played it off, at first believing that— well azira's a demon so that's a no-go, but also later on when he does start admitting to himself that he cares for the demon a lot more, he ALSO puts the barrier up because... he knows now that he's putting the demon he genuinely cares about in danger by being with him
later on, when they have an argument over hellfire (crowley wants it as insurance; he may be powerful, but so are the other archangels), crowley calls their tentative whatever it is "fraternising" and it honestly breaks azira's heart
like poor azira, he genuinely thinks that maybe there's a chance that he could be more than just good company to have, someone the angel can converse with over wine about topics that he can't with other humans—
but it's there that azira gets this feeling that crowley...might just be using him.
it. hurts.
but azira's in love and has been in love for so long, and against himself, he gives crowley the hellfire anyways. he leaves it there, warming the cold, barren hearth of crowley's apartment
in the attempts at botching the Armageddon, azira misplaced the antichrist. crowley's furious, not really at the demon, no, but azira's right there and a target of the archangel's panic and ire
azira recommends that they run off together and crowley scoffs at the idea
in crowley's mind, he knows that he won't be able to protect them both this time. he won't be able to fend off the other archangels who not only want his blood, but his demon's as well
crowley needs a plan and needs it fast. and— he can't have azira flubbing it this time
((raphael, obviously stronger than azira, has spent maaany millennia saving the demon. weird, it's almost the spoilt thing wants to be rescued))
he tells azira to leave and go home; he already made a mess of things as it is and that he'll call azira if he needs something
((further cementing the feeling azira has that crowley is only using him))
heartbroken, azira leaves but not before finding the book of prophecy the witch-girl left after crowley, in his panic-stricken mind, actually ran over (she was okay; azira made sure she survived) he goes through it, poring over it and understanding the prophecies and goes to crowley to show him what he's found out— show him that he's not just a burden—
only to sense the powerful presence of several archangels
azira panics— what if they found out what crowley was up to? what if they take him, or worse, punish him for trying to avert armageddon?
he hides his presence (a neat little trick he picked up; very useful when following the trail of the angel you love) and listens in on the conversation and nearly has a heart attack when crowley drops the façade and shows his form, his true form, the archangel raphael
heartbreak 1: crowley lied to him. in fact, worse: crowley was the lie himself. the being that azira loved and cherished never existed
heartbreak 2: the archangels are talking to Raphael about the demon that he was supposedly 'manipulating' in order to gain intel (a lie Raphael came up with so that they wouldn't be suspicious about why he was hanging around a demon so much); of course, azira believes them and understands, truly, that he was just being toyed with from the start
heartbreak 3: Raphael sounds like he's all for war (he's not; he's playing the role the archangels expect him to) ready to eradicate the legions of hell and bring an end to this miserable world (the world azira loves, the world where he feels he belongs, the world where he fell in love and almost believed himself to have a chance at being loved in return)
azira leaves and vows to fix things
he doesn't need crowley, raphael, whoever— he is
he'll stop armageddon himself if he needs to
azira goes to track down the boy himself using the prophecies from the witch's book meanwhile, raphael is panicking; the plans are underway and even speaking to the metatron doesn't give him access to speak to God— his last-ditch effort
he thinks back to azira's stupid suggestion—that they run off together—and a part of him is desperate enough to believe that even prolonging their demise would be enough.
he can't—won't fight azira in the battlefields. and he'll slay his own kin if they so much as raise a sword to his demon
he's calling azira's bookshop but there's no answer. he goes there himself and finds it engulfed in flames
hell has found his demon and raphael gives up all hope
it’s azira that finds Adam and is the one to single-handedly convince him to stop armageddon, that he doesn't need to be a slave to this supposed destiny of his
meanwhile, crowley watches on, stunned—that his demon is alive and—actually competent?
raphael wants to be there, wants to stand by azira's side so badly
he knows he has a lot to explain, a lot to apologize for, over 6,000 years of lies and deceit but it's that look in azira's eyes from across the tadfield air base that stops raphael in his tracks.
fear
azira is afraid…of him
armageddon is averted all thanks to a demon that loved this world more than anything and no thanks to an archangel who would have committed treason to save the demon he loved
#good omens#ineffable husbands#ineffable partners#reverse omens#wip#whump#crowley#aziraphale#demon!aziraphale#angel!crowley
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Good Omens question: Crowley knows Aziraphale gave away his sword, but do you think he knows that Aziraphale lied to God about it? "[God] has never mentioned it again." seems to be as close as the angel's ever come to discussing it. Did Crowley take that at face value, do you think, or is it all subtext between them at that point? Lies about lying. How un-angelic.
I think he both did and did not take it at face value.
What I mean is that I think when Aziraphale says “the Almighty never mentioned it again” what Crowley hears is “we talked about it once and She never brought it up again and neither should you.” And, importantly, Crowley heeds that silent request.
Do I think Crowley, in that moment, believes Aziraphale lied to Her? No, not really. There’s no reason at all for him to believe that. Lying is something I assume would get Aziraphale into a LOT more trouble than “I gave my sword to the needy humans you asked me to take care of.”
IN FACT if you want to know what I think of the situation? I think Crowley’s been hanging out with all these humans, probably doing a bit of tempting here and there, and Noah and co start building this big boat and gathering animals and whatnot to survive an incoming flood, and then Crowley sees Aziraphale.
Now, angels are (or should be at least) beings of love and are supposed to serve and protect. And many angels, maybe the rest of the angels that Crowley knows of, are kind of dicks not really interested in that. But Aziraphale? Aziraphale gave up his flaming sword knowing it could get him into trouble, but it was the right thing to do. It might not have been the holy thing to do, but it was the right thing to do, and now Crowley sees Aziraphale here, where a Very Bad Thing is incoming and he goes right up to him and offers the conversational starter that is 2 things- 1, a reminder that “I remember you and 2, I remember you did a good thing, are you here to do another good thing and stop this?
The problem is that Aziraphale isn’t there to stop it. Aziraphale is there to witness it. He’s not there to make sure it happens. He doesn’t appear to be there to influence anyone in particular. He is standing among the people who will perish. He’s been sent to watch it happen and Crowley almost necessarily must assume, given the way Aziraphale reacts to being questioned about the sword, that this is a punishment for Aziraphale.
He gave them a sword to protect themselves, and now he must watch a large group of them die and be helpless to save them. That’s obedience. That is the “right thing” Heaven is trying to make all of the angels do.
So does Crowley think Aziraphale lied? No, I don’t think so. I think Crowley thinks Aziraphale told the truth, and it landed him here and Crowley spends the rest of the conversation poking at “well isn’t that just awful that She’s doing this to you??” because 1- it is and 2- that’s kind of Crowley’s thing, questioning the Almighty.
#good omens#good omens meta#anon asks#asks#I'm sorry this got long#I apparently have a lot of feels about things#all of the time#Anonymous
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for love casts out fear
or, Ineffable Idiots raise the Antichrist (somehow)
-
He should leave, before Hell comes looking for him and Heaven finds out about the Arrangement. He should, but the truth is that he wants for them to sit in this very room again, and laugh and drink and eat together and for the world not to end.
Must be why he came to London in the first place, the hope they’ll be able to fix the end of times if they only try hard enough - and the best chance they’ve got is the infant sleeping in his lap.
He just needs to make Aziraphale understand his point, and also come up with a sensible reason for the baby to still be with him and not with the American diplomat’s wife. Piece of cake.
«[…] It seemed like a good idea at the time.» he says, even if it still doesn’t seem like a good idea.
If he looks convinced enough, though, he could try to suggest what he’s about to suggest without sounding completely bonkers. Aziraphale already thinks he is, if the vehemence of his protest is any indication, so it wouldn’t do him any good anyway.
«Well, it clearly isn’t! You should go back and-and give him to them like you were meant to, Crowley! They’ll notice, and then you’ll be in deep trouble. Us both, if they catch us here.» he says, eyes darting to the child in fear. He’s gotten better at the yelling-under-his-breath thing, and the baby doesn’t even stir, this time. Crowley swears he looks relieved of half his problems just for that.
«I can’t. It’s too late. Had a time frame, fucked it up-» he starts, but static interrupts him, the antiquated gramophone in the corner of the back room coming to life without any warning.
It’s not playing something to take over – although Crowley wouldn’t have been too surprised if it blasted Queen –, so Hastur’s voice is delightfully his own, if a little distorted, nails-down-a-blackboard-like.
CROWLEY.
The angel startles, looking around frantically, but they don’t know where he is. He’s sure of that, so he just shoves the child in Aziraphale’s arms, prompting a look full of panic.
He ignores it, trying to convey an urgent “shut up and leave the room before he wakes up” at the best of his abilities, pushing him through the door when it doesn’t work.
Hastur can’t see him, but he plasters a smile on his face nonetheless, just in case, and steadies himself to hear the long and detailed list of his sins and consequent punishments, surprised they even bothered giving him a heads up.
«Oh, Hastur! Long time not hearing from you.» he tries to keep a neutral but cheery tone, prepared to meet his end with at least a sliver of dignity intact.
YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE WITH THE PRINCE, CROWLEY. THE SISTERS COULD HAVE MISSED HIM, AND WHERE WOULD YOU BE IF THEY HAD?
Notwhat he was expecting. It makes about three dozens alarm bells go off in his head simultaneously.
He didn’t even go near the convent, and whatever the nuns found is not the Antichrist, but Hastur doesn’t need to know that.
A tiny, practically nonexistent spark of hope lights up in his chest. Crowley crushes it before it can take form, because it would be absolutely ridiculous if it was like that, wouldn’t it?1
But if they know and they’re just playing with him, he has nothing left to lose.
He tests the waters, as casually as he can manage while lying through his teeth. This is easily the biggest risk he ever took in his existence, and he was never a good gambler.
«Wasss in a hurry, lots of places to be. I take it the exchange went well, then?» and he hasn’t prayed in a very, very long time, but if Hastur’s saying what he thinks he’s saying maybe he should have.
The pause that follows is electric with tension.
Crowley can feel the hair at the back of his neck stand up, his fists clenched by his sides.
He moves in the angel’s line of sight, ready to signal him to run if he’s wrong and they are on his tail.
Wide, blue eyes meet his own, and Crowley knows he will never be able to forget the way Aziraphale looks in this moment, the light from the table lamp like a halo around his head, baby fast asleep in his arms, dread and determination etched into his expression. He’s beautiful and terrifying, and Crowley will fight, he will beg, he will do anything it takes to protect what they have and what they are and to keep it safe, in this place of theirs.
Static again, loud and threatening. Crowley doesn’t look away from him, and he waits.
THE CHILD HAS BEEN DELIVERED TO THE DESIGNED FAMILY. IN ELEVEN YEARS’ TIME ARMAGEDDON SHALL BEGIN. UNTIL THEN, HOPE WE DON’T CROSS PATHS AGAIN.2
The gramophone gives another bit of crackling, and then turns off as it had turned on3.
There is, then, a moment of perfect stillness, silence growing heavy between them as they both try – and fail – to process the implications of Hastur’s words, looking for something on the other’s face to confirm it happened. It goes on for about twenty-three intense seconds, only to be interrupted at the twenty-fourth by a blood-curdling scream.
Aziraphale almost drops the child, letting out a truly undignified squeal of surprise. He manages not to4, and stares down at the crying, red-faced baby he’s holding with a very specific mixture of confusion and fear usually reserved for particularly disgusting insects.
Crowley is too relieved to even laugh, and the sound is starting to get on his nerves. He has met enough newborns in his life to know what the matter is.
The Antichrist, the Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan and Lord of Darkness, is hungry.
-
1 Life and fate, Crowley had found, are often much more ridiculous than any plan humans and occult beings alike can conceive.
2 The unexpected arrival of Mrs. Young had caused havoc in the hospital, and a third child in a picnic basket had conveniently been left on the steps of the convent at the right time for Sister Mary Loquacious to stumble upon him in her quest for biscuits. This would not have happened, hadn’t Crowley needed a golden-haired male baby in a picnic basket so bad as to accidentally convince a young girl to not abandon her unwanted child on the side of the road, but to keep walking just five minutes longer. The exchange had gone just – or mostly – as expected, and the hospital had burned down before anyone could ask questions.
3 Sputtering and whining, and as if everything is perfectly normal. Gramophones, being non sentient objects, don’t really care for life-changing events, and Aziraphale’s is no exception.
4 Crowley knows it takes a minor miracle, because he’s the one to do it.
—————————————————————————————
Way, way too excited about my current wip. Is getting an entirely-too-long sneak-peek out the best way to deal with it? Probably not.
And yet here I am anyways. (‾◡◝ )
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Guardian angel
Chapter 5
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Crowley has seen the witch too many times this week; she doesn't seem like someone with bad intentions towards his Aziraphale, but there's something about her that makes him feel... uncomfortable.
Perhaps it's just because he's already nervous; Beelzebub wants him to tempt Aziraphale to turn him into one of theirs and Crowley is sure that Heaven is going to come for his human soon as well.
He's nervous, constantly in the bookshop and keeping a close eye on Aziraphale; always staring when he thinks the other is not looking. His sunglasses help him a lot not be too obvious, although he believes the girl has noticed it.
Anathema sits on the old couch, adjusting her glasses, pushing them further up her nose and looking at a couple of notes she always has in her pockets.
It has never bother Aziraphale; he's too happy looking at the books he just bought a couple of days ago (well, actually... Crowley bought them for him but he doesn't like to think about that, he knows it's not normal for a demon to want to please a human all the time).
"What do you have there?" The demon asks, just to let her know he can be observant too.
"Agnes Nutter, my ancestor, was also a witch," she smiles. "And she wrote prophecies... hundreds of them. They're all in a book, but I always keep copies of them close to me... You see, they're not easy to interpret."
Crowley glances at Aziraphale who's still too distracted to have heard any of that or see the way the demon tenses at Anathema's words.
He starts wondering if Agnes Nutter wrote something about him... What if Anathema knows?
"This is excellent!" Aziraphale takes one of the books, looks at it almost with adoration (which makes Crowley frown for moment, he wants Aziraphale to look at him like that) and then leaves it on his desk. "We have to celebrate with crêpes!"
He walks away before Crowley can say anything; the demon stands up, ready to follow him, but Anathema blocks his way.
"We need to talk," she mumbles. The demon narrows his eyes, ready to stop time and go after his human when the witch hands him one of her notes and Crowley starts reading with curiosity and amazement. "You see? He'll be back in a couple of minutes with five crêpes."
Crowley is still too surprised to notice that Anathema has started to circle him. He shakes his head.
"I still need to see if Azira–" he interrupts himself when he tries to take a step forward and is stopped by an invisible barrier, then he sees the circle of salt around him.
"I'm sorry... It's not that–I actually like you, you know? But Aziraphale is my friend and I have to protect him," the witch mumbles. "I know you are a demon; I had an idea you were different when you refused to walk in my cottage... I suppose you couldn't because of the protections–"
"You cannot tell Aziraphale, please..." Crowley normally doesn't beg, but he's desperate at the moment. What if his human never forgives him?
"Listen," she continues, staring at him. Crowley takes his shades off and Anathema seems to see something in them she likes, because her expression softens. "At first I decided to forget about it because I noticed the way you looked at him. I know you love him... But now that I'm sure what you are... I just need to know you're not gonna hurt him."
With his cheeks feeling like they're on fire, Crowley shakes his head quickly.
"I would never hurt Aziraphale," he says, there's no hesitation in his voice and he realizes, panicking, that he'd even risk his own life first. "I just want to protect him."
She looks more relaxed after that, but it's obvious she doesn't trust him completely... yet.
Crowley takes a deep breath and decides to tell her everything since he met Aziraphale. He's sure he's grinning like an idiot whenever the human's name comes from his mouth, but he doesn't really care at the moment if she notices.
"So... You don't know why they want him?"
"No. They don't know either, at least not yet," he says, feeling worried again. "And I'm not gonna let Heaven have him either, at least not until I find out myself what's going on. Because demons are bad, I agree with you, but angels are no better and you shouldn't forget that."
"I'll help you, I'll find out if Agnes wrote about him," Anathema says then, wiping off the circle. "But you need to tell him the truth. He can't–Why did you say you were a guardian angel?"
"I panicked," he admits, blushing again.
"I brought the crêpes!" Aziraphale walks back in the shop again with a bright smile on his face that Crowley can't help but return.
Anathema is right, he needs to tell him... but not yet.
***
Crowley wonders if it's alright to leave him or if he should stay in his car, watching the bookshop in case something happens; yes, it's definitely something any human would consider creepy, but he's worried.
Or maybe he should tell Aziraphale that, as his guardian, he must remain close to him at all times, watching over him, but lately it's been more and more difficult to lie to him.
He doesn't know what to do, but he knows it'll be a mistake to go back to his flat.
The demon stops wondering about that as soon as he feels something changing in the air; he recognizes the sensation of good, the light surrounding those creatures.
He hisses when he turns around, only to face Gabriel who's smiling with satisfaction, which is never a good sign.
"What are you doing here?" He bares his teeth. "You said you weren't interested in him!"
"I was wrong," he says, still with that smug expression that only makes Crowley want to punch him in the face. "It surprised me though... When I saw that you were actually protecting him. Why?"
Crowley is now out of the Bentley, glancing from Gabriel to the library, wondering if he can run inside and take Aziraphale. Gabriel is an Archangel though, the demon knows he's powerful, but Crowley still thinks he's faster than him.
He could stop time, although he's still not sure how long it would hold Gabriel.
"Aziraphale is special," the Archangel comments then, making Crowley hiss. "I'm sure you have noticed that already."
"What do you want?" The demon basically growls; he has decided he can't do anything at the moment.
"I want to protect him as well."
"You said you weren't interested in him, you said he was not–"
Gabriel chuckles and Crowley hates him more; angels are so arrogant, especially Archangels.
"I must admit I wasn't until Michael discovered what he truly was. He won't be safe with you anymore; Hell would kill him if they found out."
Crowley tenses, trying to think; he could be lying, yes, he's an angel, but he's sure he doesn't care about lying to demons, he probably considers it a good thing.
"I can protect him myself," he insists and he's glad he's wearing his sunglasses.
"He's not actually human," Gabriel insists; the light on the streets is even more weak compared with the Archangel's natural light. "He's just trapped in that vessel, he doesn't remember either... He needs to be woken up."
"You're ly–"
"Lying?" Gabriel chuckles. "You don't even believe that yourself. You just don't want it to be true, because you know that as soon as Aziraphale wakes up he will hate you."
Crowley feels pain in his chest, but he ignores it.
"He's an angel," Gabriel adds, grinning from ear to ear. "He won't like you once he remembers what he is, besides, you have lied to him, haven't you? Honestly... That thing about the guardian angel is hilarious..."
Crowley panics, already thinking about Aziraphale looking at him with sadness, knowing the demon has lied to him more than once.
"Please don't tell him," he blurts out, desperate.
"I won't, I'll just wake him up," Gabriel says, staring almost with fascination as Crowley falls apart. "But he won't be safe with you... The good thing is that there's a possibility he won't even remember you..."
Crowley's heart hurts, he normally doesn't like to feel... But he doesn't care anymore.
"It's..."
"Leave him to me," Gabriel insists and the demon remembers Beelzebub's orders.
"Swear to God you won't hurt him," he says, shaking. "Swear to Her!"
The Archangel looks almost affronted, he seems like he's about to protest, but Crowley takes a step forward and shows his wings.
He's ready to do anything for Aziraphale.
"I–I swear to the Almighty," he mumbles like it's almost painful. "I'm pretty sure she wouldn't like me to do that..."
Crowley nods and watches as Gabriel walks in the bookshop; he's ready to do something in case Aziraphale needs him.
His heart hurts, but it hasn't broken... yet.
***
Kofi / Patreon
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Crowley & Aziraphale are Slytherin & Hufflepuff, but you’re fucking KIDDING yourself if you’re thinking Crowley is the Slytherin out of this pair!
Aziraphale is most definitely the Slytherin here. Let me just remind you of the typical Slytherin traits:
1) Cunning (having or showing skill in achieving one's ends by deceit or evasion) Aziraphale has OODLES of cunning, wrapped up in puppy eyes. He’s VERY manipulative, especially with Crowley and he bloody gets what he wants every time. He might not be at all ‘wicked’ about it, but he twists and ducks and downright lies sometimes to achieve his objective. Even if his objective is to get his demon boyfriend to get a stain out of his coat for him.
2)Ambition (a strong desire to do or achieve something). If you don’t think Aziraphale has ambition, you’ve been reading the wrong book and watching the wrong show. His whole arc is finding a way to avert the apocalypse! He’s willing to do absolutely everything within his power and even slightly beyond, even attempting to talk to God herself and when he’s discorporated, HES SO DETERMINED TO GET BACK TO EARTH AND STOP THIS APOCALYPSE THAT HE POSESSES A HUMAN BODY EVEN THOUGH HES TOLD ANGELS CANT DO THAT! This last part also falls under...
3) Determination (the quality of being determined; firmness of purpose). Aziraphale doesn’t give up on trying to achieve his goal which also leads to...
4) Resoucefulness (the ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties). He does things he’s never done before - he doesn’t know how That Globe works but it’s a tool he’s willing to use to try and get back to earth. He also finds and posesses Madame Tracy to solve the issue of not having a physical body! That’s top Slytherin-ness that is!
5) Self Preservation (the protection of oneself from harm or death, especially regarded as a basic instinct in human beings and animals). Big one here - the Bastille. He switches clothes with his executioner and lets him toddle off to the guillotine in his place without so much as a blink. Rather you than me pal, he thinks. On top of this, Aziraphale DESPERATELY wants everything to stay the same! He doesn’t want a war. He does t want to lose everything he loves and all his comforts AND HE ACTIVELY WORKS TO PRESERVE HIS WAY OF LIFE. If the apocalypse happens, he loses everything, drafted into a war and forced to fight and possibly die! That’s not his scene, dear!
6) Cleverness (the quality of being clever; intelligence or shrewdness). We all know how intelligent Aziraphale is! He soaks up knowledge like a sponge but more than that, he applies his intelligence to work with his other qualities to get shit done. He figured out where the real Antichrist was when nobody else did by pooling his resources and applying his knowledge!
7) Fraternity (a group of people sharing a common profession or interests). Slytherins are loyal to their own. At first, for Aziraphale, this was Heaven. The angels were ‘his side’, his people, the ones he believed he shared a common goal with. Over time, and most especially in the last desperate moments, Aziraphale’s loyalty changed. Not because he was fickle or a traitor, because he tried SO HARD FOR MILLENNIA to believe that the other angels shared his love and kindness and wanted to preserve humanity. The moment he realised that they didn’t, there were no longer ‘his own’ and he knew in that instant that there was one person who DID share that with him - Crowley. Crowley was ‘his own kind’ all along but he was blinded by his loyalty to Heaven.
8) Traditionalism (the upholding or maintenance of tradition, especially so as to resist change). This one is Aziraphale all over! Tradition is heaven v hell, angels v demons, good v bad. It’s hoarding and surrounding himself with history in the form of books. It’s not moving from the same shop for 200 years, it’s the back and forward he has with Crowley that’s become routine for 6 millennia. It’s having kept the same coat in tip-top condition for 180 years. Everything about Aziraphale is steeped in traditionalism.
Just because Aziraphale is the softest softie to ever be soft DOES NOT negate the bastard in him that Crowley likes so much. He’s got so much love to give and he DOES give it, but his first concern is himself in all matters. He’s a good person, and mostly a nice person, but he’s not completely squishy!!!! Embrace the Slytherin!
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Hey so uh I forgot that I hate drawing wings lol
Anyways, this is a headcanon I came up with sometime 2 weeks ago and I’m sure someone else already came up with as well and wrote about before I finished this involved-ass drawing and wrote about it myself but I’m sharing it anyway. Of course it involves Good Omens cause uhh that’s the current hyperfixation my dudes
Basically this is the Archangel, Raphael.
About the headcanon under the cut if you’re interested (prepare for a goddamned novel)
So yeah, this is a drawing of the Archangel Raphael. I’m sure those interested have heard the theory by now that Crowley could have been the Archangel Raphael before the Fall, based on the fact that Raphael is not in Good Omens canon (seemingly replaced by Sandalphon or whatever), Raphael’s symbol is a snake wrapped around a staff, and, for me personally, the fact that Crowley can just??? Stop time????? Like what kind of overpowered Bull Shit
(I’m sure there’s a bunch of other things that support this theory that I just don’t know, please look it up some people really go in depth and it’s awesome)
Also, a brief note on angel rankings. I looked it up, and it didn’t really help because there is a lot of conflicting information out there. In the end,
I just kept it at Wikipedia cause fuck it, it is a pretty reliable source in the end. We’re gonna be focusing on the first and third spheres, since the second sphere really doesn’t apply. Basically, the highest order of angels are seraphim, followed by the cherubim and then the thrones. Skip the second sphere, and the lowest three rankings are, in order of most to least rank, principalities (or rulers), archangels, and angels. Now, concerning the difference between archangels and Archangels: apparently the capital letter makes a big ol difference. Archangels with a capital letter are not, in fact, the second lowest ranking but may be interpreted to mean above all other angels, and are the highest ranked angels even among the seraphim. Therefore, the highest angels of the highest are referred to as Archangels with a capital A. (Idk if the Archangels are even really mentioned in the book, I haven’t read it yet, so idk if their titles are capitalized. I’m talking mostly in the context of the Amazon Prime show.)
Quick description of seraphim and therefore Archangels straight from Wikipedia: “fiery six-winged beings; with two wings that cover their faces, with another two that cover their feet, and the last two they use to fly.” (Oh shit I forgot the fire goddamnit I’m such a fuckin idiot oh well it’s too late I wrote this after I finished the drawing)
So, Crowley could be the fallen Archangel Raphael. However, as someone else brought up (and I’ve seen several posts stating this), the name “Aziraphale” is like a bastardization of the phrase “Also Raphael,” meaning Aziraphale could have been the Archangel Raphael but demoted and therefore forced to be renamed. It makes sense that Aziraphale could have been at least of a higher rank than a Principality because he was supposed to be guarding the Gates of Eden, which, in biblical canon, were guarded by higher ranking angels than Principalities (I think they were as high up as cherubim?? idk).
And then I heard, when Neil and Terry were writing the book, both Aziraphale and Crowley were originally just the demon, Crowley. I think it was Terry who made the decision to split that one character into 2 characters instead.
(Also if that isn’t the most soulmate-y shit I’ve ever heard)
But also like... What if that was how it was in canon?
What if........Crowley and Zira............................were both........the Archangel Raphael before the Fall?
Cause like, Raphael (or Israfel, in some religions) literally means “God heals.” Some of the things they’re the patrons are are of “young people,” “guardian angels,” “lovers,” “travelers,” basically everyone in the medical field, and “ordained marriage.” They’re like... everything optimistic and loving and hopeful about humanity. (Nothing about time but like, wtf?? That’s so powerful it’s gotta be the power of the seraphim, it’s at least equal enough to Lucifer’s power that it’s able to give them more time before Lucifer shows up to make a game plan, like it stops Lucifer???? That’s some power to give a lowly-ass demon, that an angel as powerful as a Principality isn’t able to do) It makes you think huh, maybe they care about humanity a lot more than most of the others would. So how would they have fallen?
Well, maybe they got angry at God for testing the humans so damn much. Like Crowley said, a tree right in the middle of the garden that’s super accessible? Literally the only thing the humans aren’t allowed to touch when humans, the most curious and spiteful things in the universe, are more likely to touch something when they’re told not to, when it’s obviously not allowed, and doesn’t appear to present any immediate danger? It’s not very fair.
Another interesting thing; in some canon, Raphael is even considered to be the closest to God, able to talk directly to Her, and possibly even the highest ranking angel of all, even above Michael. So God was likely very close to Raphael in return. (Of course, in the context of the show, it seems that all of the Archangels are very disconnected and are also all on equal footing, it not being entirely clear where Michael, Uriel, and Gabriel stand with each other in terms of ranking even though Michael is usually considered the highest ranked in most biblical canon. One explanation I came up with is that after God banished Raphael, that would be two of the seven archangels that She would have had to banish, her favored, so She could have withdrawn from everything in order to have some alone time, and just became more and more withdrawn as time went on until it was like She’d completely abandoned them.)
And if Raphael started questioning this wrathful god who just kicked out like, half of heaven, including Lucifer, one of her other favorites, I imagine she’d be pretty upset and not willing to hear about complaints right now. But she trusts this angel, so instead of straight kicking Raphael out, she gives them a choice instead. It’s not like they’re trying to straight rebel, anyways.
When Raphael chooses to leave, She doesn’t have a choice then but to cast at least that part of Raphael out, the part that cares too much, who doesn’t want to harm the humans. She says, “crawl under the feet of those you care so much about,” and splits their eyes and casts their staff down into hell cause like, you can’t just have a rogue ethereal being wandering about Earth with the humans, so the newly formed snake which represents all that Raphael chose to leave heaven for is Lucifer’s problem now.
But in splitting Raphael like that, she’s left with this less powerful being who’s still attached to heaven, who still has the gold of an angel but it looks washed out on their head, and who looks up with sky blue eyes and who looks lost as anything. She doesn’t want Raphael gone, so She pretends this one is also Raphael, but She’s still kinda upset so She sends this “Also Raphael” to Earth to guard Eden. Because they’re weakened, She equips them with a limited edition Flaming Sword™ and sends them to guard the Gates of Eden.
Meanwhile, the Raphael that got sent to Hell gets processed (?) and realizes that they’re now a snake. They really don’t like the name “Crawley” in the future so I imagine that when they joined hell, they were given the name “Crawley” based on the fact that they’re now a snake, and none of the residents of Hell wanna go to Earth since the entire reason almost all the demons in hell got kicked out of Heaven is cause they didn’t wanna love humans. “Crawley,” however, got kicked out for caring about humans too much, so the lords in hell decide to send them. So “Crawley” ends up tempting the humans into eating the fruit, making sure it’s on their terms and happens somewhat safely, and watches the humans leave.
And then he meets “Also Raphael,” and, as someone else has pointed out, Crowley has never had to ask for their name. They just know 👀
Crowley, imo, has been the better of the two, consistently throughout the series. Crowley’s never killed, has always questioned why humans have to be tested and hurt and killed, including motherfucking Jesus Christ, hasn’t even lied to Aziraphale, tries to get out of doing their job consistently, jumps on the opportunity to perform miracles alongside their dastardly inconveniences, has been in love with Aziraphale ever since they found out that Zira helped protect the humans by giving the couple Zira’s own protection??? The “god-given Flaming Sword™?” HELLO THIS DEMON IS IN LOVE AND THAT IS ACTUALLY CANON?????? That, and like... while Aziraphale, who’s still a part of heaven’s whole bureaucracy deal, felt the need to contact god through a whole damn ritual, all Crowley did to try and contact God was just look up and talk. I think Crowley knows about the choice and about who they were before the Fall, but doesn’t associate themselves as Raphael anymore, therefore the “I didn’t chose to fall, (BUT) I just sorta sauntered vaguely downwards.”
(Going off of that, I don’t think Crowley knows that Aziraphale is literally their other half; I like to think that Crowley just thinks Aziraphale was the angel chosen by Her as their replacement in heaven, therefore “Also Raphael” meaning another Raphael and not literally part of them that they left in heaven. They don’t know why they knew that Aziraphale was named Aziraphale right off the bat, but it doesn’t really matter to them tbh; before they fell in love, they thought Aziraphale was just another angel, and then after they fell in love it still didn’t matter cause they were in love baby!)
Meanwhile, Aziraphale’s goodness is either out of fear of disobeying heaven or being nice to Crowley. Which, they’re not even that nice to Crowley when it matters tbh. Or humans, most of the time. Like they protected Adam and Eve but wasn’t gonna blink an eye about all those children being drowned until Crowley guilted them about it.
Although they used to be the same angel, I think that, over 6000 years and even then, in the Garden, Crowley and Aziraphale ended up becoming their own person. Aziraphale, even though God cast out the part that cared about humans a little too much and is basically Raphael’s attachment to heaven and God, ended up caring quite a bit on their own, giving the first couple that sword for protection and growing very attached to the things humans created, and abandoned their allegiance to heaven after losing their faith. Crowley, who is the care and defiance and power of the archangel Raphael, ended up a pretty lowly ranked demon and is pretty damn bitter, especially after the death of Jesus of Galilee, and when they do use their power, it’s usually to fuck with humans in some capacity (unless it’s to help himself or Aziraphale :P ).
TL;DR I think that both Crowley and Aziraphale are remnants of the Archangel Raphael after the Fall because Raphael questioned God concerning the testing of the humans and chose to leave heaven. God wasn’t happy and did some shit that ended up with Crowley and Aziraphale being as they are. But both are still their own person.
#good omens#my art#crowley#aziraphale#Archangel raphael#headcanon#dude I went off jesus I'm not doing a wordcount on that shit but goddamn#thanks for reading all of that if you did#I don't blame you if you didn't
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Aziraphale’s Lies and Crowley’s Truth (A 3-Part Series) Part 3: Liminal Spaces, Happy Faces
A final installment of a series I started!! Will wonders ever cease? >tbh I want to preemptively start this final installment saying that I’ve been staring at the word doc for a solid 3 months trying to will the right words to come to me... let’s hope these are good ones?< #sorrynotsorry for the delay
Honestly, I could do a whole other series about why Crowley is fallen and Aziraphale is not. However, I wanted to refocus this series on my central argument that honesty (or lack thereof) is a strategic tool for establishing their in-between status...their humanity, as it were.
To grossly summarize parts 1 and 2 (but no seriously check them out) Crowley can lie, he’s actually pretty slippery but he chooses to be honest and forthright with Aziraphale on purpose. Meanwhile, Aziraphale wields his lies like his sword, trying to protect the two of them from Heaven’s wrath.
The problem is, when Crowley is so heartbreakingly honest, like genuinely, unapologetically honest, to Aziraphale, he leaves both of them vulnerable. Without the security Heaven claims to provide him, Aziraphale panics, is afraid that revealing his hand -- that he feels for Crowley, wants to go to Alpha Centauri with Crowley -- will put both of them in danger. So, he does what he does best, he lies, cutting both of them. They fall out of sync, they’re set up for failure, they’re not on the same page, and ultimately they’ can’t occupy the same space or same side.
See Aziraphale’s face here? [a gif where Aziraphale is shouting at Crowley that “We’re on opposite sides”] The tone of voice? The desperation in his face? It’s clear that he’s lying, and it’s detrimental.
BUT when Aziraphale (and it has to be Aziraphale) realizes he’s miscalculated his lies, realizes that his position is not protecting Crowley (or the earth), but realizes that he IS, and perhaps has always needed to be, on Crowley’s side, the true nature of Heaven is revealed (to him).
Once they are reunited, their lies are weaponized, their honesty is protective, and they create a new space for themselves and humanity to exist. They don’t fit in Heaven or Hell or even in a garden. In a very real way, they become more human once the realize the impact of their actions and the weight of their choices.
No, I don’t mean I literally think they’re human now, they’re as magical as ever. But by the end of the series, they DO become a new kind of hybrid, occupying the same liminal space between holy and hellish that humans do. And the evolution of their honesty and lies -- their supposed “flaws” -- enable them to form their own side.
It allows them the freedom of choices.
ANGELS OF LIES
I think it’s important to point out that Aziraphale isn’t the only lying angel.
All of them lie. Often.
Examples:
We first see the lies appear when Gabriel praises Aziraphale for trying to “turn” Warlock to the good side. It becomes evident that by the end of the series, the angels never had any intention of stopping the war.
We see Michael lie (by omission) when she shows Gabriel the photos of our ineffable duo. She neglects to mention that she got them from Ligur.
The only true difference is the target of their lies and the fact that they all justify their actions under the flag of dogmatic loyalty and their presumed “goodness”. None of the other angels ever quite question their own actions. They simply “do” in the name of the Lord. Their prophecy of a great war drives each of their actions, and each reads it as an immutable fact.
While the vague nature of the prophecy allows them some wiggle room (like Michael conspiring with Ligur, and Gabriel with Beelzebub) to behave and build an ineffable bureaucracy around it, at the end of the day, none of them act like there is even a choice. They presume their destiny has been solidified.
Looking at Gabriel’s insistence that “Wars are not meant to be avoided, they're meant to be won” demonstrates, at least on some level, he firmly believes that angels are predestined to fight, to win, and to crush demons under his shoes. There is no question in his mind then, no wayward thought asking “should we do this” or “is this right”, he simply is following “orders”. There is the implicit belief then, that “to war or not to war” is not “find the solution with the least harm” but rather a really toxic “win or die” mentality. Any dissent, in this framework, must be squashed.
Any dissent...like Aziraphale.
In the GIF above, when Aziraphale asserts that the angels have a choice, “there doesn’t have to be a war.” Look at the condescending posture and the fake smile. His response “Of course there does, otherwise, how would we win it?” speaks volumes to how he sees the situation. There is no choice for him, not necessarily because he doesn’t see there’s no choice, but because the alternative would be losing, and Angels don’t lose.��
There’s a real danger for Aziraphale at this moment, although he has been conditioned not to see it. If he is honest to Gabriel, the way Crowley needs him to be as a partner, for posing the question, for insisting that there is a third option. This moment of honesty after several bald-faced lies makes Aziraphale very vulnerable to retaliation. Retaliation, mind you, that we DO see him endure (a la Sandalphon).
THE DEMON IS IN THE DETAILS
Similarly, the demons show that they believe this is their chance to overcome Heaven. That there is no choice on whether or not they will fight, because the choice has been made for them. They must fight. The only question is if they will win. Like the Angels there is no question if they can fight or not, they simply must, and everyone is vying for a role in the destruction.
Interestingly though, while Ligur and Hastur condescend “what is the world coming to if Demons started trusted Demons”, we also see an honesty streak.
Hastur, in particular, is oddly a beacon of honesty, but particularly gullible. Yeah, he’s malicious (we see him burn down the church, threaten Crowley, and kill another demon) but we don’t really see him lie... do we see him lie? Sure he’s wrong a lot, but he’s not good at lying like Crowley is, nor prone to it like Aziraphale is.
For example, we see him openly and honestly communicate with Ligur while they’re sulking, waiting for Crowley to show up. Sure, he’s wrong about what “Caio” means, but is it a lie? It seems more like his arrogance of Italian, transliterating it to an English word than an actual lie.
The closest lie I can think about is when he’s disguised himself to capture Crowley. He doesn’t even lie when he’s reading out Crowley’s crimes to the audience.
Instead, we actually see that he’s actually surprised by Crowley’s lies. As much as he claims not to trust other Demons, when he’s actively pursuing Crowley and Ligur is killed, for a split second, Hastur looks like he believes Crowley’s lie that “the Dark Council” is testing him.
This seems to put extra emphasis on Crowley’s ability to lie but not be unnecessarily cruel (whereas Hastur is cruel but doesn’t lie). Or that choosing to lie to Hell, for the sake of Aziraphale and himself, is paramount.
Crowley, in contrast to Aziraphale, realizes this “must and at no point tries to be honest with Hell. He’s smooth, he’s suave (at least he tries to be) he tries to get out of it, flatly stating that his own role in it (delivering the anti-christ) is not his scene. Then, he tries to stop the end of the world, he convinces Aziraphale it’s needed, gives him the pretext to make that third option a reality, and actively refuses the dichotomy of their bosses.
It’s not until Aziraphale is fully out of the picture (read: presumed dead) that Crowley gives up, that he succumbs to the idea that it really is hopeless. Which, I will come back to.
HUMANITY’S VIRTUE
Meanwhile, humans don’t take well to black/white dichotomies. They neither are heaven incarnate nor hell incarnate. They simply are human. And that means they have choices.
This manifests a few different ways in the series, but first, let’s look specifically at the dynamic between our “predestined” Anathema and our “what the actual fuck is happening right now” Newt.
Anathema (in the series) is pretty much trained in the ways of reading and interpreting Agnes Nutter’s prophecies. She has trained every moment since she was a child in the ways of occult studies and believes to a fault that she has no choice. The clearest example is how she doesn’t (really) choose to sleep with Newt because she liked him, or knew him, or seemed to care at all about his feeling on the matter, but because it was foretold. There is no real sense of choice.
Now, it seemed to have worked out, with them happily ending, but it’s “happiness” balances upon the fact that with Newt’s support, Anathema CHOOSES to reject the predestined nature of being a descendant. While I’m sure Aziraphale weeps over the loss of more accurate prophesies from Agnes Nutter, her decision to burn the second book is crucial not only to her sense of self but to the core message of what it means to be human. To have choices.
Then, there’s Adam, the adversary... >incredibly long title/name<. His friend’s support allows him to make the choices he wants to make, and be proactive with his powers. Aziraphale says it best when he says he feared Adam would be Hell incarnate but hoped he would be Heaven incarnate, but he’s neither, and that’s a GOOD thing.
“An Ineffable Game of Own Creation”
But why go through all of this in an Honesty series?
Consider, for a moment, this phrase “God does not play games with the Universe”. It’s a phrase that nicely bookends the series, appearing prominently in the first few minutes of episode one, and again after Adam and his friends have bested War, Famine, Pollution, and Death. But, what does its appearance mean, if anything?
Choice.
This (book/tv) series is really predicated upon choice. And, consequently the presumed lack thereof our characters have. Again and again, we are shown that the Angels, the demons, Anathema, and even God herself, repeat the idea that “God is not guessing” or “we make no real choices”.
But Adam, Crowley, and Aziraphale reject this notion and actively create an alternative.
Adam rejects his destiny, he rejects his demonic father and chooses to leave the garden (versus the original Adam and Even who were shunned, cast out, and really isn’t that a traumatizing experience in itself?) because he chooses to be human.
But Adam is Human (at least now) how is this relevant to the ineffable duo? Two unquestionably supernatural entities?
Well, Crowley is as far as I can tell upon my 6,000th review of the series, has the series’ best ability to lie, even though few of his demon counterparts do. We’ll chalk it up to his imagination, but with this great power to deceive, he actively chooses to trust Aziraphale, to be honest, even if he’s hurt in the process.
Aziraphale meanwhile is a shit liar, especially compared to Crowley’s and the other Angel’s abilities. But he is a defensive one. He needs to protect himself, then Crowley, then humanity, but he can’t do that until he chooses to occupy the liminal space between Heaven and Hell.
But they can’t do this alone.
This “third” option that they’re carving out for themselves requires them to be blunt and honest and defensively protective of each other. This is why, when Crowley is in the bar, convinced Aziraphale is dead, he breaks down. Without Aziraphale, this third option is unobtainable because there is no one else who could share the space with him. There would be, nobody to love, as it were.
This is also why (I think) the lies from Metatron breaks Aziraphale. If it’s clear, even for an instant, that no one on his “side” is willing to consider an alternative option, an option that would spare demons, then he wants no part of that option. He flatly refuses to fight in a war that would mean the destruction of Crowley and tells the quartermaster as much in his epic swan dive out of Heaven.
This new space is distinctly not human in the literal sense (neither of them is human), but it’s also not heavenly or hellish. It’s a space for them to leave the garden, to continue to be who they are, fight for what they love and feel safe knowing they are a team (romantic or otherwise).
A third space is really what Crowley and Aziraphale have been working for since day one because no other force will consider that maybe, just maybe, there are alternatives to the good/bad, angel/demon, live/death dichotomies Heaven and Hell create for themselves. It is the place that Aziraphale will lie to protect, and Crowley will honestly confront if it means they are finally going the same speed, together.
TLDR: The way that honesty and lies work in this series allows for Crowley and Aziraphale to “break free” as it were and create a space for themselves to exist.
Thanks for coming to my TedTalk
#good omens#Ineffable Husbands#good omens meta#Aziraphale#crowley#anthony janthony crowley#gomens#gomens meta#in this essay I will#thanks for coming to my tedtalk#good omens honesty#good omens lies#meta#please give me feedback#i take constructive criticism#someone give them a hug
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