lorelai-thecoffeeslayer

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

This song 😅😅😅😅😅😅

without ever touching his skin

how can i be guilty as sin?

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

It's a 2-man Con

Listen, I think I know a thing.

When Aziraphale comes back from talking to the Metatron and is telling Crowley about being an angel, we've all heard the theory that he's speaking code, trying to ask for help. The more I look at that scene, the more that theory tracks.

Maybe less well-known is the theory that Crowley didn't miss a damn thing, he's answering in his own code. And again, the more I look at that scene, the more this also tracks.

(When my husband, annoyingly observant beloved partner that he is, saw the second season for the first time, he said, "That whole thing was a show for the Metatron. They have a plan. Crowley slipped something to Aziraphale when he kissed him." And I said, "Nah." But now I think he's right, and damn if he isn't smug.)

I'm gonna try to break down what I think they're saying here, because it takes just a hot minute to piece it together. I've been thinking this over for a couple of months now. I think I have most of it. I just don't know when Crowley puts whatever he's handing to Aziraphale in his own mouth. I need more eagle-y eyes, it seems.

First, Aziraphale comes back from his talk. He's pensive as he crosses the road, and anxious when he starts talking, and mouths "I need help!" as he's talking. He's acting like he does when he lies to the other angels, and once it's seen "I need help!" is pretty clear.

He does the whole thing about telling Crowley he could appoint him as an angel, like old times, but even nicer. It's all very uptight and not positive at all. My interpretation? "The Metatron is here, I think he knows we're up to something, we have to go to Heaven right now and put things right before he really does something awful to one or both of us. The time to spring the plan is NOW."

Crowley stares at him. At first it seems like he's staring in disbelief, but if you really look at his face, he's listening, hard, and interpreting as fast as he can:

He asks Aziraphale if he told the Metatron where he could stick it, then. My interpretation? "The plan has changed. I can't go with you to Heaven. You'll have to go alone."

Then Crowley starts his confession -- "We've spent our existence pretending we aren't."

Aziraphale looks at him -- not with shock, or surprise, or love, or hope, but with a "Why are you doing this now?" face. Not "Why did you wait til now to tell me, you love me, oh, I love you too!" But "Why are you telling me SOMETHING I ALREADY KNOW while our ENEMY IS LISTENING??" :

He's confused, but also listening and interpreting. What I'm hearing/seeing: I don't think this is a love confession from our demon. I think they are both well aware they love one another. They can't say it in so many words, and it's a secret from Heaven and Hell, but it's not a secret between them. I'm hearing Crowley set the scene. "The Metatron either wants us together in Heaven under control, or separated. I have things I have to do here or the plan won't work, so we'll have to separate. We need to make it look good. I do love you."

I don't think Aziraphale likes this change of plan. And Crowley can't detail why the plan has changed, not with the Metatron listening. So Aziraphale insists, come with me. The plan we had will work. Do it my way. Crowley says, "You can't leave this book shop." It's easy to interpret that as "You can't leave me," but I don't think it's that. He's saying something about the book shop being safe, or even that he can't leave without whatever they've hidden in the book shop. (I THINK THEY HID SOMETHING IN THE BOOK SHOP!) Aziraphale says, "Nothing lasts forever." I hear him saying the book shop is no longer safe, and they have to move/take whatever they've hidden and they can't speak freely there anymore.

Crowley replies, "No I suppose it doesn't. Good luck." He's gotten that much, but he is still set on his "We need to fake a break up because I can't go with you."

Aziraphale still doesn't like that. "Come back! I need you!" He's scared. Whatever he has to do in Heaven is big, and scary, and he needs and wants Crowley with him. He does not want to go into the mouth of danger alone.

This is when we get, "No nightingales." What I'm hearing? ESPECIALLY since if you listen, you can hear a LARK sing as Crowley goes out the door? It's the line from Romeo and Juliet, by Shakespeare, whose plays they both enjoy, though Crowley prefers the funny ones. "It's too late, that's a lark singing the dawn, not a nightingale singing to the night, we have to part. Our happy ending isn't yet."

Then the kiss. I do not believe this is their first kiss. I don't believe they've allowed themselves many, maybe not even more than one, but I do think they've kissed before. I'm not sure when, but I suspect 1941. (Season 3, come ON!!)

And when they part, Aziraphale stops himself from saying "I love you," and instead says, "I forgive you." I'm hearing so many things in that "I forgive you." I forgive you for leaving me on my own, I forgive you for hurting my feelings like this, I forgive you for changing the plan without telling me, I forgive you because you are forgivable whatever anyone else says, I forgive you because that's what I said when we split up at the bandstand and everything was okay in the end and I hope hope hope that everything will be okay in the end this time too.

Crowley says, "Don't bother." I'm hearing, "yeah, I hope it's all okay, too. Wish me fuckin luck. My part will be hard, too."

And as Crowley leaves, Aziraphale mouths, "No." And we hear a lark sing. A lark, singing to the dawn, and so fair Romeo must away.

Just because the break up is a ruse, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt and isn't hard. It has to look real, and so it's going to feel real, too. Ouch. :'(

And then Aziraphale touches his lips. Not once, but twice. My bad, he only touches his lips once. The first long second is pure emotion. "Why now, I hate this, I want that so badly and I can't have it."

After that, though --

After he pulls himself together a bit, he has a bulge in his cheek. He shifts his jaw to move whatever he has in his mouth to his lips, and then his first two fingers go stiff for a moment as he palms something right before he takes his hand away.

And then, this.

Edit to add: someone on Facebook asked me why a kiss to pass whatever Crowley gave to Aziraphale, why not palm it or drop it in his pocket?

My answers: 1. The kiss is a message. "We're still good, I still love you, I still want this." 2. The item is too important to be dropped in a pocket and hopefully found later. 3. The Metatron is paying WAY too close attention, and will definitely see them touch hands. Seeing a kiss and the angel rejecting the demon, though? Well, the demon forced that kiss on him, the angel didn't want it. Clearly the demon thinks this relationship is different than it is. It's a bigger gesture that sells the ruse. 4. Houdini's wife used to pass him the keys to his cuffs with a kiss before the show. This is a message that magic-loving Aziraphale WILL understand: here are the keys to your cuffs, sneaked to you by your beloved in plain sight.

That's it. That's what I got so far. I still have questions.

What did Crowley pass to Aziraphale? What's the plan? Why did it change? What does Crowley need to do that he can't go to Heaven again?

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

Sometimes I find myself thinking about this:

And sometimes I think about it AND ALSO the fact that Crowley’s FIRST THOUGHT when coming up with ideas for Nina and Maggie to fall in love was to get them sheltered together under an awning during a sudden downpour.

Gee…I wonder where he got that from…

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

"And we've spent our existence pretending that we aren't"

OUR EXISTENCE

Not the last few years, not the last century or so, their EXISTENCE.

They've been in love since the beginning 🥺

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

I think that Crowley and Aziraphale’s “home” settings say a lot about their relationships to heaven/hell and morality.

Let’s start with Crowley’s flat. He’s more of a minimalist in terms of style.

In the original description it was described as all white, and I believe @neil-gaiman once answered a tumblr question and said it’s because of all white was the height of chic interior design in the 80s, but it was changed to reflect a more modern chic design.

But I think it’s also related to the fact that Crowley didn’t “fall” and instead “sauntered vaguely downwards.” The minimalism is a lot more like the style of heaven than it is hell. And maybe it’s not all white anymore, but it’s still keeping the minimalist design. There’s a little piece of heaven still sticking around.

This analysis gains more traction when compared to the design of Aziraphale’s bookshop/hell.

The bookshop is cluttercore. It’s warm and full of personal things. No one would ever describe the style as minimalist.

And while the set of hell lacks the warmth and love, it IS full of stuff and things and items that don’t quite have a place to be but are there anyways.

I think the similarities between Crowley’s flat/Heaven and Aziraphale’s bookshop/Hell perfectly illustrate where Aziraphale and Crowley find themselves in terms morality.

Crowley may have fallen, but this is just one more way that he hasn’t succumbed to the ways of hell.

Aziraphale may still be an angel, but he can’t help forming attachments to earthly objects and is perfectly fine to “sully the temple of [his] celestial body.”

They really are on their own side. And this is just one subtle way of showing that visually!

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

When did Azi fall in love with Crowley do you think

Every day a little more since they met.

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

Honestly the reactions in this moment are Emmy worthy

"Hiya, boys"

OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH (2022— ) Episode 2.07

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

Staying within canon, this story is set in between the events of Episode 7 “This is Happening” and Episode 8 “We Gull Way Back.”

Before we meet Calico Jack, Ed encounters someone from Stede’s past and has to reckon with the jealousy he feels.

A little angst. A little fluff.

*story and chapter titles inspired by my current hyperfocus on This Love (Taylor’s Version)

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Derry Girls (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: James Maguire/Erin Quinn, James Maguire & Erin Quinn Characters: Erin Quinn, James Maguire, Michelle Mallon, Clare Devlin, Orla McCool Additional Tags: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Secret Identity, Secret Crush, Letters, secret pen pal, Partying, Drinking, Spin the Bottle, Therapy, Self-Discovery, Friendship/Love, Romance, Eventual Romance, Falling In Love, Sexual Tension, Secret Admirer, Slow Burn, Slow Build, Slow Romance Summary:

Takes place after the season 1 finale.

Secret pen pals! Spin the bottle! Sexual tension!

I’m so proud of this one!! Hope you guys enjoy it! 

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

Every time I meet a kid between the ages of 4 and 17, I have some version of this conversation.

I wanna hear his maze runner opinions...

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

I literally AM jonah simms and it’s not necessarily a good thing 😅

SUPERSTORE 3.03 “Part-Time Hires”

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

A perfect character

Andrew Scott as ‘The Hot Priest’ in Fleabag (2019)

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Derry Girls (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: James Maguire/Erin Quinn, James Maguire & Erin Quinn Characters: Erin Quinn, James Maguire, Michelle Mallon, Clare Devlin, Orla McCool Additional Tags: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Secret Identity, Secret Crush, Letters, secret pen pal, Partying, Drinking, Spin the Bottle, Therapy, Self-Discovery, Friendship/Love, Romance, Eventual Romance, Falling In Love, Sexual Tension, Secret Admirer Summary:

Takes place after the season 1 finale.

After the anonymous winner of the “Searching For Myself” writing contest is read aloud at a morning assembly, Erin finds herself with an anonymous pen pal of sorts.

Why is it so much easier to talk about her feelings with a stranger than it is her own family and friends? And it’s kind of fun. Like writing in a journal except the journal writes back!

But it’s not just a journal. There is a real life person on the other end of these conversations, and this small town is too small for something to stay secret for long.

Third and final chapter is UP!!!

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Derry Girls (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: James Maguire/Erin Quinn, James Maguire & Erin Quinn Characters: Erin Quinn, James Maguire, Michelle Mallon, Clare Devlin, Orla McCool Additional Tags: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Secret Identity, Secret Crush, Letters, secret pen pal, Partying, Drinking, Spin the Bottle, Therapy, Self-Discovery, Friendship/Love, Romance, Eventual Romance, Falling In Love, Sexual Tension, Secret Admirer Summary:

Takes place after the season 1 finale.

After the anonymous winner of the “Searching For Myself” writing contest is read aloud at a morning assembly, Erin finds herself with an anonymous pen pal of sorts.

Why is it so much easier to talk about her feelings with a stranger than it is her own family and friends? And it’s kind of fun. Like writing in a journal except the journal writes back!

But it’s not just a journal. There is a real life person on the other end of these conversations, and this small town is too small for something to stay secret for long.

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Derry Girls (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: James Maguire/Erin Quinn, James Maguire & Erin Quinn Characters: Erin Quinn, James Maguire, Michelle Mallon, Clare Devlin, Orla McCool Additional Tags: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Secret Identity, Secret Crush, Letters, secret pen pal, Partying, Drinking, Spin the Bottle, Therapy, Self-Discovery, Friendship/Love, Romance, Eventual Romance, Falling In Love, Sexual Tension, Secret Admirer Summary:

Takes place after the season 1 finale.

After the anonymous winner of the “Searching For Myself” writing contest is read aloud at a morning assembly, Erin finds herself with an anonymous pen pal of sorts.

Why is it so much easier to talk about her feelings with a stranger than it is her own family and friends? And it’s kind of fun. Like writing in a journal except the journal writes back!

But it’s not just a journal. There is a real life person on the other end of these conversations, and this small town is too small for something to stay secret for long.

[lorelai-thecoffeeslayer]

Just truly one of the top 3 best first kisses of all time.

I meant something like that.