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#6 before Apocalypse Crowley
gahellhimself-blog · 7 months
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I saw that you liked 1941 Crowley with his violin but…
What about 6 years before Apocalypse Crowley bass player???!!
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Shirtless version on my Patreon
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I’m a demon…
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I lied..
Never had a Patreon!!!
Let there be Rock!!
Enjoy
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aheavenofhell · 8 months
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Book!Aziraphale things you should know (based on this post about Crowley)
1. When the Bentley gets a parking ticket he’s the one who blows it up.
2. He’s so good at his taxes he’s been investigated for fraud.
3. He intimidates “men in dark suits” trying to buy his shop.
4. He just Takes Bites of Crowley’s food.
5. When Warlock got older, he became his tutor. Neither he nor Crowley wanted to teach him math, but they both taught him very different history.
6. He fights with Crowley about directions.
7. At Warlock’s birthday, Warlock takes a gun from a security guard and accidentally fires it at Crowley. Aziraphale turns it into a water gun (and then feels embarrassed)
8. He (Aziraphale) also gets hit with a cream cake at said party, which he swipes off his jacket and licks off his fingers in the Bentley (because free snacks).
9. Aside from books of prophecy and Wilde first editions, he specializes in Bibles with printing errors.
10. “Are you going to introduce me to your new body?” “Oh? Yes. Yes, of course—“ The way Michael Sheen delivers the “oh” in the audiobook is exactly what you’re imaging.
11. He can’t beat the gay allegations. Not that he actually tries.
12. When looking for a body, before he finds Madame Tracy, he lands in an American televangelist preaching about armageddon. He gets so annoyed that he starts correcting the sermon (then gets excited when he realizes he’s on television).
13. He and Crowley can’t stop having little side chats while trying to actively stop the Apocalypse from starting.
14. He’s ✨touchy✨ with Crowley.
15. READ OR LISTEN TO GOOD OMENS YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT
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aziraphales-library · 3 months
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hi yall !! i really appreciate how much youve done here, its been so helpful to someone like me who's new to ao3 :D
i wanted to ask if you know of any fics that involves supreme archangel aziraphale after the ending of s2? or anything similar, where aziraphale is some sort of higher power and does alot in heaven
it doesnt have to be after s2, i just like the idea of tired n serious aziraphale who's busy with heavenly duties :)
tysm !! i love you all <3
Hello and welcome! Here are some supreme archangel Aziraphale fics...
We've Got Problems, Memory Problems by davethefish (T)
Aziraphale is Supreme Archangel, tasked with bringing forth the Second Coming. But he keeps thinking about Crowley, until he doesn't. Crowley is stuck on Earth with nothing to do. That is, until he's ripped from Earth into some other place. Work takes place after Season 2 Episode 6, spoilers ahead.
When the Weeping Angel Smiled by Celestially_Being_God (G)
As he went up to Heaven in the elevator, one thing was for sure: things needed to change. And he knew how. A smile planted on his lips as had already orchestrated the first part of his plan, one that no one, not even Metatron, would see coming. All he had to do was play a facade for the angels. Then, he could return to his true home. If he played his cards right, it wouldn't take too long. And hopefully, Crowley would understand his intentions.
The Injury Of Finally Knowing You by unpack_my_heart_with_words (T)
Once in heaven, the angels do what they always do— a kindness. The only blessing is that without his memories, Aziraphale has no idea what he has lost. It will end, as it began, in a garden.
Good Omens: Revelations by Andimyon (M)
After returning to Heaven, newly appointed supreme archangel Aziraphale has to face new and terrible challenges, which he can't solve alone.Will he be able to pay the price to save the world? Can he get help in time, or do the wounds he caused run too deep? Once again, everyone's fate is in their hands...
Re-Canonized by Snarky_Synesthete (T)
Aziraphale remembers who his heart was made for, long before The Beginning...but if that secret is revealed, it will only cause more pain. Hiding his longing and fear from Crowley throughout the ages leaves him desperate for a way to protect them both, once and for all. Saying yes to The Metatron's offer, however, causes some unintended consequences. Now Aziraphale has to figure out how to both protect Crowley as well as earn back the demon's trust.
No Light, No Light by PolarisVega (T)
-- SPOILERS. Please watch season 2 first! -- Aziraphale left his life on Earth behind to take the job as the new Supreme Archangel of Heaven. Delighted to be welcomed back and to have finally earned the respect of Heaven, Aziraphale is doing as much Good as he can from the inside. But when Heaven's plans for the second coming of the Apocalypse are revealed. The consequences of his choices, past and present, are greater than he ever imagined. Can’t wait for season 3? Me neither! This is my version of what could be. Please enjoy! The story is now complete.
- Mod D
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shallowseeker · 5 months
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Why did Cas kill Balthazar?
Sometimes I chat with folks and we're surprised to revisit the fact that Cas killed Balthazar in a fit of cruel paranoia before he ever gulped in the soul juice.
Cas is incredibly paranoid when he kills Balthazar, and it was quite possibly one of his worst moments. It seems irrational and mad at the time, but Cas's psyche is actually very understandable. Cas was betrayed by Heaven numerous times from seasons 4-6. That set him up to be backed into a corner.
In early season 4, Heaven drags him in for torture for daring to even consider warning Dean about their corrupt plans.
Uriel tries to kill him and join Lucifer.
At the end of season 4, Cas gets brutally murdered for standing up for what he feels is right. Bazillions of years of military service and loyalty mean nothing to his superiors, and he's vaporized in an instant. He seems particularly betrayed by Raphael.
When Cas returns to Heaven post-Apocalypse #1, he's ashamed that they want to start up Apocalypse #2. He even stands against Raphael at first! Interestingly, Raphael doesn't kill him again but "knocks him into next week." I think this hints that Raphael was at one time fond of Castiel, or else he'd have simply killed him again.
So, angelic civil war.
Cas doesn't go to Dean or Sam or Bobby because he's ashamed of Heaven, and above all, he wants to protect them. Not to mention, he didn't want to make them a target because to angels, they're a relatively soft target. While he's in battle, he can't be there to protect them.
So away, Cas and Crowley go for a SuperMario power-up by tapping Purgatory's battery. Meanwhile, Cas convinces a team of angels to stand with him against Raphael.
Even with his "show of power" via the souls Crowley loaned to him (and I'm guessing Cas can wield soul power in a way Crowley cannot?), that's still a big risk those rebel angels are taking.
And Cas doesn't tell them critical parts of his plan. Because he knows his plan is wrong. He doesn't even tell Balthazar everything. But more importantly, he doesn't trust Heaven. Thanks to what Heaven has wrought, Cas doesn't even trust his rebel angels--the ones brave enough to take on friggin' Raphael with him.
I mean, sure. He was always going to double-cross Crowley, but it didn't even cross his mind to divvy up the soul power with Balthazar or his rebel angels. That's because he's paranoid of them turning on him.
And with what Heaven has thus far shown itself to be...why wouldn't he be?
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naturegirl555 · 2 months
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Ranting about supernatural because I hate this show so so much (I’m so so obsessed with it to the point where it’s concerning) and I’m on season 6 episode 20 “the man who would be king” and can I just say how incredibly annoying the boys are! Like can you maybe hear cas out maybe! His reasons for doing these things aren’t malicious or demonic. He is fighting a war in heaven which they couldn’t give to shits about and now they are gonna be mad because he was MANIPULATED by crowley (I love the man but still) like can they use their brains for one moment. And I feel this may come off like I hate Sam and dean and I do not in any way they are very complex characters with trauma and trust issues but cas has done everything for them. He was trying to save them. He didn’t know the outcome. Like Sam and dean have never made a mistake before. Because I remember a couple seasons ago where Sam was going crazy gorging on demon blood because he thought he could do good with that power! So why be so hypocritical and get mad at cas in the way they did. And can we just talk about how broken cas looked when they trapped him in the holy fire! Like Sam said to him did you bring me back without a soul on purpose and his eyes god! Like in what world would castiel who saved you both from hell do that purposely! It was already hard enough to save dean it was a group project in a way he didn’t have help with Sam! And cas is also doing all of this because he thinks its what god wants. He is so blinded by his faith again because he got brought back to life. He had the idea that he was brought back for this reason and chuck did absolutely nothing because all he wants is drama and trauma for the collective and not caring about how his kids feel! Castiels faith breaks my heart because no one could understand it. Dean couldn’t and Sam couldn’t. Castiel has been an angel since the beginning it’s not so easy to give up everything you’ve ever known even when you know that it might not be the right thing. Was it easy for dean to see his father the way everyone else saw John. No. So why can’t it be difficult for cas. They truly never give cas a break. And yes I’m a major destiel shipper. But the way dean acts towards cas sometimes makes me so enraged. But this “breakup” dean looked heartbroken. Castiel had lied to him. Him of all people. The man who he had a profound bond with. He just wanted cas to ask for help and cas didn’t because he doesn’t do that. He’s never been not capable before things have never been this difficult for him before. And when you look at what castiel did there was truly nothing wrong with it. He was blinded and manipulated and he didn’t want all of the shit they endured to stop the apocalypse to be for nothing. He didn’t go to dean because he saw dean living a normal life he saw him getting out and he wanted to respect that. How could castiel have known dean wasn’t happy in that life. Castiel isn’t very good with human emotions and his thinking is very black and white while the winchesters have shades of gray thinking. So how is it fair to blame cas for all of it. I’m sorry about this rant i just feel so much about this! Like castiel is my favorite fictional character of all time and I wish I could’ve teleported into the show and been his lawyer because no one would listen to him no one ever does. I love all of them very very much but it would be dumb to think castiel doesn’t deserve better. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk about castiel. It may happen again
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relatableblorbopoll · 5 months
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Round 1 of preliminaries, group 6
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The first two places get a place on the bracket
Little reminder: there will be 2 more rounds of preliminaries, the losing blorbos of this poll still have 2 chances of getting in the official bracket
propaganda under the cut
Jesper Fahey (Six of Crows)
No Propaganda
Crowley (Good Omens)
"He's gender. He's been in love with one guy for literally 6000 years and then royally fucks up his entire confession. He yells at his plants. He drapes himself over every fucking surface he sits on. He walks like *that*. He just fuckin makes sounds sometimes. He's me fr."
Dave Strider (Homestuck)
"everything that can be said about Dave's relatability will probably sound redundant, clichéd, or overdone if you are at all familiar with tumblrs sort of blorbo culture. this is exactly why he should be in this tournament.
stop me if you think that you've heard this one before: he hides his genuine emotions behind a persona, deflects sincerity with jokes, but also has a deep desire for validation and connection, so that his persona has many cracks where little bits of his true self slip through. deeply insecure, compares himself to others. a defeatist streak, avoids responsibility. does not wish to be troubled by The Horrors. he just wants to hang out and do his lil creative hobbies (making music and drawing comics). talks a lot to the point of being pretty awkward, rambling, and accidentally saying stuff he shouldnt.
all these things I think tend to resonate deeply with a lot of people, especially on Tumblr - that "person who is insecure and struggles with emotional openness so copes by making jokes" sort of trope, it's just like kin bait (affectionate). he also has a complicated relationship with gender which I know many find relatable (shout out to the "Dave homestuck was my trans awakening" homies) but whether it's about figuring out gender or sexuality or trauma or the apocalypse or anything else, Dave comes at it with an initial, learned, fear and reluctance that I think a lot of people have experienced, because it's very human and very much a part of many readers experiences (we live in a society). but he's always good, and likeable and that makes for a very important sort of relatable character. very comforting. even if he's a mess and he's an idiot you can believe he can get to something better, and you can watch him develop and grow.
also, I think he's extremely relatable because he never really knows what's going on in the comic either. I mean, that's gonna be relatable to most people Vis a vis homestuck. he's confused and he just wants to vibe and make his friends laugh. WHO AMONG US cannot relate?? I do not believe you if you say no.
I wrote too much and got way too weird about it. I'm sorry it's late I'd edit down but I really don't have the brain capacity.. which is very Dave core of me actually"
Junior (Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race)
"i relate to him a lot because his whole character is being embarrassed of his dad who tries too hard to be cool, but still loves him anyways. that is literally me"
Kim Dokja (Omnicient Reader's Viewpoint)
"kim dokja. oh kim dokja. so, without going into spoilers too much, kim dokja is very much a character you are expected to relate to and it makes the novel DEVASTATING. here's just a few things about him: - he is obsessed with a particular piece of media, and finds comfort in it when real life doesn't give him any. he's constantly thinking about it and defending it and trying to recommend it to other people (even though no one else bothers reading it, because it is an objectively bad 3000-chapter webnovel). even beyond that one novel, he's been using fiction as an escape for just about his entire life, something that rings true for a lot of people, especially in the modern world. - he struggles with socializing with other people. the first chapter alone gave me so much second hand embarrassment. it's so real but god it's So bad. he has zero friends and has that sort of loneliness where you're miserable but you can't really bring yourself to feel anything but resigned to it. in general he is just very Resigned to his unfortunate life and can't fully understand or accept it when it finally does get better - he has a complicated relationship with his mother. it's the kind of relationship where the parent genuinely does love their child, but they fail to give them what they need & have to accept that they hurt their kid and that they cannot be the most important person in their life. it's certainly not a universal experience but those sorts of parent-child relationships are woefully common but scarcely acknowledged -the insecurity. god there is so much insecurity in that man. it's hard to even completely tell it's there at first, because it's so ingrained in how he thinks that you don't question it until you know more about his character and suddenly it's all too apparent. he cannot believe that he can be loved (or, if that he can be, that they certainly would not be able to love all of him, only what he chooses to show them), and is selfless but like. the literal meaning of the word, where he will throw away all of his being for the people he loves. in general there is a lot of sacrifice as a love language which like. while i'm not off around throwing myself in front of magic death beams for people or anything i sure would give up everything i could if it meant helping the people i love - ok enough of that. here's some funny things i can relate to. the guy meets his favorite fictional blorbo and instead of worshipping him instead he bullies him constantly and internally complains about how unbearable he is both in the book and in real life. it's like a "i love my blorbo. i would not last 2 seconds in a room with him." You know. he gets so caught up in his fanon characterizations and biases about characters that he completely mischaracterizes them like constantly. he literally kills a guy half because he was his least favorite character. -this is a poll about blorbo relatability. therefore i must mention that kim dokja too related to his blorbo (or at least attempted to) and what is more relatable than that. anyways. kdj made me realize far too much about myself and is by far the most i have ever related to a character (and i Hate it). and tumblr would definitely relate to him too so :thumbs-up:"
"(SPOILERS) He is literally all of us. Reader. Just some guy. And then insane tragic backstory. But he’s also just some guy. He’s special and also just a guy. He’s also god. He can be shipped w anyone. He has versatility and interests and motivations. He also never tells anyone anything ever. He is so me."
"He reads a trashy, long-ass novel as a coping mechanism and doesn't think he's capable of being loved. Bro dissociates when he's emoting too much."
"I'm a homestuck fan, a Dave Strider fan even Never heard of Omnicient Reader's before Voted for the kim fellow because judging by the propaganda it looks like he himself would be a homestuck reader therefore making him more relatable than the homsetuck character himself"
"This guy’s been my companion since I was 11, I’ve grown up with Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint and I think that’s pretty funny since he grew up with Ways of Survival (the 3149 chapter novel) and therefore I’m straight up mirroring him. I, too, scare everyone off by being too enthusiastic whenever the webnovel is brought up! His insecurities are severe but I do see myself in some parts of him (which is worrying but whatever.) He is absolutely The Guy Ever. Utterly pathetic wet cat of a man. I love him. He represents the crazy fandom tumblrina in all of us."
Donutella (Tokidoki)
"she's made of donuts basically like me at this point"
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jjs-other-other-blog · 6 months
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It's insane how much supernatural's tptb hated Castiel. At some point during season 6 they must've realised "wait a second, a lot of the fans are starting to get really attached to the side characters instead of focusing on the brothers".
And it kinda makes sense, season 6 was a bit of a mess what with Dean trying to keep his thing with Lisa going, Sam being soulless, the Campbell's running around, civil war in heaven, the Alphas, the mother of all monsters being a thing, Cas plotting with Crowley, ... There was a lot going on, Kripke had just left the show and they were trying to find their footing after finishing the big heaven vs hell - Lucifer vs Michael - apocalypse arc.
So in preparation for season 7 they apparently decided to make some changes. Cas gets a quick moment of redemption and is then promptly killed off, Crowley only really appears in 5 episodes that season, Bobby gets killed off as well. They end up bringing Cas back of course, but he's only in a handful of episode in season 7 while in any other season after his original introduction to the show he appears in well over 10 episodes.
After that they start making Cas "smaller" in other ways. In season 6 he was already seperated from the Winchesters and made an antagonist of theirs, but he was still very present and plenty powerful. He was on the wrong track, not quite unlike Sam wanting to use demon blood for the right reasons, but still a powerful angel. Everything afterwards though seems to be a thinly veiled "Sam and Dean are the main characters here and stronger and more important than Cas" message.
[In season 7 he loses his memory, then his mind. In season 8 he gets brainwashed and tricked by Metatron (which makes him appear slightly naive and gullible, easy to manipulate, even though his core character trait as shown in seasons 4&5 is the exact opposite - he has doubts, he questions his orders and has his own, strong moral compass). In season 9 he loses all his powers, hits a new low, becomes human, defenseless, vulnerable, even dies because of it. Season 10 has him struggling with his powers again, his stolen grace slowly fading and even after getting back his own grace he's not back to full angel power. In season 11 he gets tricked and used as a weapon again first by Rowena then by Lucifer. Season 12 is pretty similar to 6, we see more badass Cas following his own agenda (even if the Winchesters disagree with him), but he's still not back to full power. The last three seasons I didn't watch personally, but as far as I'm aware they're more about interpersonal drama, he still seems to make a bunch of mistakes in the eyes of Sam and Dean, he never gets his full powers back.]
In short: He's constantly presented as this guy who's generally trying to help and who used to be strong, too, but now he's physically, mentally and emotionally fragile and often additionally untrustworthy, he needs to be saved from himself before he makes another stupid mistake.
And even inbetween the big plot points he's constantly overpowered in fights where even Sam or Dean come out on top - even though Cas is a seasoned warrior, a military expert and excellent fighter with at least some super strength left. There's no logical explanation for that.
Now lucky for us, us Cas fans we don't automatically assume the Winchesters are right and Cas is at fault for everything that happens, a lot of us are in fact rather critical of Sam and Dean. Also a lot of the above mentioned plots were actually super interesting. Cas becoming human for example was intense. Tptb also miscalculated big time: Making Cas less badass and powerful never made us love him any less. The pattern however remains.
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aceofwhump · 8 months
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Do you have recomendations (or a list) of fanfics with Crowley Whump?
I think I've given a few recs here and there but never a big rec list so here ya go! Tons of excellent Crowley whump fanfics:
Five Times Aziraphale Saves Crowley (And One Time He Fails) by Captain_Kieren Summary:
Basically what it says on the tin. 1. Holy Water 2. Exorcised 3. Thrown 4. Stabbed 5. Demon Hunter +1. Betrayed
Crowley's Armageddon and Recovery by Wolfgirl4vr Summary:
Aziraphale and Crowley couldn't stop Armageddon. Adam changed his mind, and now the war is finally happening. Crowley is captured and there is no sign of Aziraphale. As a prisoner of Heaven, Crowley endures more than he thought the Angel's were capable of. Especially from the Angel Gabriel, and through it all, all he can think about is Aziraphale, and hopes that his friend is still in hiding. Crowley only hopes that he can escape before the Angel's kill him, but is help closer than he realizes.
my first Good Omens fic please be gentle by taylor_tut Summary:
My first Good Omens fic! There's not enough Crowley whump in the world so I'm here to p r o v i d e for y'all. This one was a request from my tumblr. Aziraphale and Crowley are in charge of a holy object, and even just being close to it drains Crowley's energy. Eventually, he collapses, and Aziraphale is there for him.
Suspendin' Gravity by ahyperactivehero (ahyperactiverhero) Summary:
Takes place directly after the bus ride in episode 6. Aziraphale rejects Crowley's offer to come home with him, only to change his mind. He finds the puddle of Holy Water and assumes he's too late.
Black Lines by Eladriel Summary:
Two years after the not-apocalypse Crowley gets attacked by an old enemy and left with a wound that will kill him slowly. What will Aziraphale do when he finds out? Will they find a way to safe him?
Holy Mistakes by winterspirit13 Summary:
anonymous asked: Can you do a piece where Crowley is accidentally burned by the holy water Aziraphale gave him, and while it isn't enough to kill him he's hurt real bad and Aziraphale feels super guilty? I love your blog!
When Aziraphale gives Crowley the thermos full of holy water, it's like a leap of faith for the angel. Crowley basks in the newfound trust, but that's quickly taken away. Hurt, he sulks, and things get out of hand when Aziraphale won't pick up the phone. One thing leads to the next, and there's a very hurt demon being helped by a very worried, guilty angel.
Things turn out for the best, somehow.
I Stretch Out My Hands by sherlocktheholmes Summary:
With no final prophecy from Agnus Nutter, and no word from Heaven or Hell for months, Aziraphale and Crowley are cautiously optimistic that neither of them will face retribution. They never considered that they should fear personal revenge.
My Life With You Means Everything, So I Won't Give Up That Easily by PositivePumpkin for jessikast Summary:
After the apocalypse, house hunting with Aziraphale gets an interruption. Or, Crowley is summoned by some humans who actually want to start the apocalypse.
Palliative Practices by VerdantVulpus  Summary:
Based on the following prompt. What if every time Crowley does a good deed, he suffers pain after because it goes against his demonic nature (and the greater the good, the more intense the pain)? Then Aziraphale finds out that Crowley has been living with that pain ever since the Arrangement. or 5 times Crowley masked his pain and 1 time he accepted help.
Hell Freezes Over by lilac341 Summary:
Crowley is not supposed to be cold. Or silent. Or still. Heaven puts an icy curse on Crowley to get rid of him once and for all. Aziraphale must find out how to unfreeze his demon companion. Tenderness and angst ensue.
let sleeping snakes lie by kythen Summary:
The world doesn't end. Crowley falls asleep. And Aziraphale stays by his side, waiting for him to wake up again.
Demonology and the Tri-Phasic Model of Trauma: An Integrative Approach by Nnm Summary:
As soon as Aubrey Thyme, psychotherapist, had opened her office door and seen her new client, Anthony J. Crowley, sitting in her waiting area, she was observing and assessing him. At first glance, she paid attention to the following: --His clothing was expensive and stylish; --He wore very strange but noticeable cologne; --His relationship to the seat he occupied could only, very loosely, be described as “sitting;” --He looked angry; --He was wearing sunglasses. What Aubrey Thyme, a professional, thought, upon first seeing her new client was: you’re going to be a fun one, aren’t you?
Growing Pains by hope_in_the_dark Summary:
“So if he comes back, you’ll… what? Take him into your arms, let him back into your life? No questions asked?” Crowley grunted. The therapist — Mark, Nina had said — was sitting forward in his chair, looking at Crowley with a kind smile and wide eyes. He was what the humans would call ‘emotionally intelligent.’ Crowley was looking to tap into a little of that. Crowley goes to therapy, because he needs it. This is a story of healing, learning, growing, and an eventual happy ending. Post-Season-2.
And Will Again by justajemreally  Summary:
Crowley hasn’t breathed for seventeen minutes. His heart has thumped twice in that time.
The Deepest Pit by EdosianOrchids901 Summary:
Stricken by unexplained depression, Crowley gets stuck in bed. He can’t even cheer up once Aziraphale comes to check on him. But as always, Aziraphale is happy to keep him company even in the darkest moments.
All Good Hearts are Heavy by Sarah_hadeschild Summary:
Crowley has always dealt with bouts of depression-- periods in which he cannot bring himself to do much more than exist. Over the centuries, he grew accustomed to enduring these episodes on his own. But now, Aziraphale is with him. And although the angel cannot miracle away his lover's distress, he can try the only remedy he knows with any certainty. He can love him. (A comfort one-shot with lots of love, and very little plot)
Late For Lunch by obsidian_boi Summary:
Crowley and Aziraphale have a lunch date and Crowley is running late. He just can't seem to pull himself off of his couch, but he knows he has to get up, has to be there for his angel… He just can't seem to do it. Part 1
Never Late for Lunch by obsidian_boi Summary:
Crowely's late for lunch and Aziraphale grows worried. The demon is never late for lunch, well, at least never this late. After not hearing from his friend for a stretch of time, the angel finally brings himself to go check on Crowley, but he isn't prepared for the state he finds his friend in. He immediately wants to help Crowley, but what if there isn't anything he can do? Aziraphale's POV of Late for Lunch
Cold Showers and Dark Thoughts by obsidian_boi Summary:
Crowley's sleep is plagued with nightmares and when he wakes from one, he doesn't want to disturb his angel. Dragging himself to the shower instead, Crowley succumbs to his dark thoughts. Will his angel find him in time?
Rushing In, Rushing Out by Smooty Summary:
Crowley has a nightmare
walk like christ in grace and love by wartimelovers Summary:
“Just tell me, please, if it hurts too much.” As if, Crowley thought. Would be a funny old world if we told each other how we feel. or Crowley feels some very human effects of stepping on consecrated ground and Aziraphale tries to help.
Somebody to Love by Bookwormgal  Summary:
Everyone knows that demons can’t feel love. It was one of those well-established facts that no one even bothered to doubt anymore. The sky is blue, the Ineffable Plan was beyond comprehension or understanding, angels do not question or doubt Her commands, and demons can’t love. Angels could sense love and none of them ever sensed love in the presence of demons. Everyone considered that to be conclusive evidence and moved on. Believing otherwise was foolish and a waste of time. But while it was considered an unquestionable fact of the universe, it wasn’t quite accurate. Demons were perfectly capable of feeling love. Any form of love. Despite common knowledge and despite the fact that the Fall ensured that they could no longer sense Her love, demons can experience love. What demons can’t do, however, is feel love and survive.
Tension by supernaturaltimemachine Summary:
"Crowley was in pain. Not the acceptable kind either. Not anything human, like loss or doubt or a stubbed toe. Living on earth more than made up for those inconveniences. No, what Crowley was feeling was ethereal." Or, Crowley's wings hurt, and Aziraphale is determined to do something about it.
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amaranthhiding · 1 year
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Samwena in 13x19 Funeralia
Excuse me while I fall into another obsessive Funeralia spiral. (I swear, every single time I rewatch any scenes, this episode gets me!) Or even better yet, join me on my descent!
When Dean tells Rowena that Sam is the one who's going to kill her in every single one of her books, she is hurt. Ruth's acting is absolutely phenomenal, you can see the hurt in every little change on Rowena's face. It even goes far enough for her to have that little lip and chin tremble.
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Jared's acting is just as stellar because Sam's guilt over the whole thing is tangible in the air between them. He is so torn by guilt, he can barely look at her reaction for two seconds before he has to swallow and avert his gaze.
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Then Sam tries to handcuff her, and she falls back into her pattern of trying to mask her hurt with humor. She thinks she managed it by proving her superiority with that astral projection stunt. She's fleeing in a wild run because of course she wants to avoid getting captured. But I think she's partly also trying to run away from this hurt by physically distancing herself from the place it happened, and especially from the person who caused it.
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Note how at this point it doesn't seem to be her plan at all to abduct Sam in any way. She's just trying to run.
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Then Sam catches up to her, and she doesn’t even try to flee or fight or use magic. She’s just standing there, frozen on the spot, like she has to know the truth. She has to know if he’d actually do it, but she can’t even face him while he makes his decision.
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Sam struggles, he does. There are actual tears in his eyes.
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And he realizes he can’t do it. Everything inside himself screams at him not to. He lets the weapon sink.
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Thinking Sam has made up his mind, Rowena finally dares to turn around to look at him in a moment of connection because she thinks it’s safe.
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That’s when the promise Sam has given Dean takes over that he’d put a bullet in Rowena if she breaks bad.
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After the car talk with Rowena in 13x12, Sam finally admitted how helpless he’s feeling to Dean. Sam has failed over and over again this season, and nothing would work out the way he’d intended. He got knocked out like 6 times during the last few weeks and Dean had to come save him multiple times. Sam thinks he’s the one who got Kaia killed, and that he’s the one to blame for Jack being stuck in Apocalypse World. And just one episode ago, he let Gabriel go after using the archangel’s grace to heal him. When Dean found out, he reacted with an extremely volatile outburst of frustration targeted at Sam specifically, for giving away their last hope of saving their mom and Jack. That outburst was loud enough to actually make Sam wince. All of Sam’s choices this season leading up to this point have turned out so terribly wrong that it cost people’s lives.
So Sam allows Dean’s choice to overrule his own because he has lost every shred of trust in himself and his own decisions. Sam can’t let Dean down again, he can’t.
He raises the weapon back up and pulls the trigger.
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Sam can’t believe what he just did. He doesn’t want to see Rowena’s corpse slump to the ground. But the outcome he was dreading did, in fact, not happen because she stopped that bullet. Sam can’t bear to see the expression on her face and hear the slight tremble in her voice.
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For Rowena, the hurt cuts even deeper than before, burning more fiercely than anything she has experienced in a long time.
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Nobody was supposed to be able to hurt her like this ever again. She thought she had fortified herself against it ever since that trauma all the way back with Crowley's father who broke her heart by leaving her. She'd had no idea that Sam possessed the ability to hurt her like this, that they'd somehow grown close enough for this to be possible at all. And now the hurt just won't stop, so she short-circuits and tries to make it stop in the way her old self has done over all these centuries... by lashing out at whoever is hurting her, and making sure they can never do it again.
Naturally, the way she chooses to do this is by... putting him to sleep and transporting him into her room (How even? Levitation?) where she busies herself with lighting all the candles until Sam comes back to his senses. Then she cuts into her own palm, tears his shirt open, and presses her blood onto Sam's bare chest right over his heart. You know, as you do. Completely normal way of attacking someone. Absolutely nothing to see here.
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(Also note that while the whole thing did seem to hurt Sam because he groaned in pain, no mark whatsoever is left on his skin. Not a burn. Not a scratch. She made herself bleed, but not him.) Death appears, and while Rowena is claiming that what she's doing here is killing Sam Winchester, her body language is telling the exact opposite. Throughout the entire exchange, she's threatening Billie, not Sam, with the knife. The whole thing hilariously looks like she's defending Sam against Billie! Her body is in a very clear defensive pose and she's positioned exactly in front of Sam.
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Even when she finally turns her attention from Billie to Sam, supposedly to make true on her threat to kill him, it's only her head that moves to look back over her shoulder, but her arm with the knife stays aimed at Billie.
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That damn knife never even gets anywhere near Sam. Then it's entirely gone in the next shot, so she must have dropped it as soon as she realized there was no way in hell she would cut into Sam's skin with it.
She’s talking softly with Sam about Crowley, but she is so confused. At this point, her emotions are boiling so high she can't handle them at all any longer, so they burst out into the open in exactly the same way they did earlier when she targeted Sam's heart, but this far more violent outburst is aimed at the target that won’t take any harm.
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She doesn't understand what's happening, why she can't kill Sam to make sure she's the one in control, why she can't make the hurt stop in the way she has always done in self-preservation over all these long centuries.
Billie is the one who has to put into words what has been so glaringly obvious through the whole scene to anyone other than Rowena herself. "You were never going to kill him. There was a time you would've, but not now."
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That's when Rowena caves and finally admits to everyone including herself that she has no idea what to do with all these feelings, because the only way she knows how to handle them is no longer working. She doesn't even get back to her feet to defend herself when Dean bursts into the room, instead just cowering there with quiet sobs.
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Sam is the one who stops Dean with a panicked-sounding warning call. Dean was in no danger whatsoever, not from Rowena and not from Billie who clearly just stated that the Winchesters were needed. So the only possible meaning I can read into Sam's call is that he's begging Dean not to shoot Rowena.
After a scene cut, Rowena is still sitting on the floor in a position very similar to the one she's been in ever since her breakdown, with Sam and Dean sitting opposite her. She has something to drink in front of her now, though. And hilariously, we see Sam reach into the fridge like he lives there to take a bottle for himself and Dean each, so I assume he's the one who handed out the drink to Rowena as well, trying to make everyone feel better.
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He goes even further than that, asking both Dean and Rowena how they are feeling and getting them to talk openly. In addition to genuinely wanting to know how these people he cares about are feeling, I think what he's doing here is ensuring the waves are smoothed over enough that this will not be a repeat of the Amy Pond situation where Dean went back to kill the "monster".
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Rowena asks, "Sam, what've I done?", sounding stifled and horrified like she thinks she has ruined their relationship forever, and she still hasn’t even fully stopped crying.
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This is her way of both saying sorry and carefully testing out the waters of where they're standing after all of this. He gives her a look that I can seriously only describe as soft, telling her "You had a chance to kill me and you didn't. I'd call that progress."
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The wording makes even more sense considering that Dean is sitting right next to them, so Sam is making a point of putting emphasis on the fact that she isn't a lost cause, that she isn’t something they have to hunt.
Then Sam goes so far as to tell her that it wasn't her fault what happened with Crowley, even though he must realize that's blatantly false and that her way of (not) parenting clearly had a strong influence on Crowley's fate. The way Sam says it with that frowny headshake and soft voice almost gives me the impression they're talking in code, and this is his veiled "I forgive you" in reply to her veiled apology from before.
This whole exchange is insanely gentle given the fact that they both just tried to kill each other. Yes, clearly neither of them wanted to kill the other, what with those tormented expressions on their faces when it happened and Sam firing only a single bullet (which was probably his loophole way of justifying to himself that he kept his word to Dean without actually getting Rowena killed.) But still, it's remarkable how soft this conversation is after the insanity of this episode.
When Dean begins one of his motivational speeches for Rowena, Sam listens quietly, knowing he has won. He has accomplished his goal of making sure Rowena is no longer on Dean's kill list. And only after that, Sam proceeds to say the most outrageous thing possible in this situation, complimenting Rowena on her deadliness and luring the first real smile out of her still tear-streaked face. And with that one seemingly crazy comment, he cements towards her that things between them are fine and that he accepts her despite her past.
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(I'm in awe of Sam's emotional intelligence.)
When Rowena asks if they think she can still be redeemed, Sam waits and lets Dean go first, even though one can basically see Sam itch to get his own reassurance out. His mouth even opens! But he has to know for sure first that Dean really has no ill will towards Rowena any longer.
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And because he actually trusts her and wants to show both her and Dean that he does, he nips a potential future conflict in the bud by openly telling her the truth that Lucifer is back instead of somehow hiding that fact from her. Dean comments in a way that shows clearly he thought she was going to freak out at this piece of information, but Sam just sits there with a calm face because he trusted that she would not.
Even with everything that's at stake for Sam (they need Rowena to find Gabriel to save Mary and Jack), even after the way Gabriel let him down just one episode prior and Sam's willingness to trust in the good in people has buried them in a whole pile of problems, Sam still wants the relationship between Rowena and him to be based on open trust from here on out. So he gives her the truth about Lucifer, knowing fully well how traumatic it is for both of them.
And Rowena in turn takes that offered trust and returns it to Sam in the most outrageous way possible, finding solace in the fact that he, not Lucifer, is the one prophesied to kill her. Because Rowena is the living proof that his blind faith in the good in people was never wrong, Sam is suddenly shown to have hope and self-esteem again “You changed other people’s fates, maybe we can change yours,” after he had all but abandoned any kind of it following his interactions with Gabriel and Dean in the episode before this one. (He couldn’t even get out anything but stutters when they called Rowena at the beginning of this episode and Dean had to steal the call from him, that’s how low Sam was!)
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And Rowena is so touched by still being trusted and accepted despite everything that of course she agrees to help them save their family, when at the start of the episode she had still refused because she was busy trying to save hers.
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I... am not okay? Help?
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teamfreewill2pointo · 7 months
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Analysis of the Soul Fisting Scene Part 3
Please read parts 1 and 2 first.
Soulless Sam's submission to Dean's authority in the soul fisting scene and season is fascinating to me because it's so different to how Sam is. On one hand, you could argue that his submission is due to him feeling that something is wrong and trying to regain the sense of normalcy he had before.
Soulless does talk about how he knows something is wrong and it worries him. Perhaps he's just saying that for Dean's benefit. It's possible that he's only letting Dean have control because it reminds him of his past, but he was also following Samuel Campbell around and he didn't have a past relationship with him.
Regular Sam rebels. He rebels against John, against Dean, and he demands an egalitarian relationship from s1 through s15. A lot of the Sam and Dean conflicts arise from Dean trying to control Sam or making decisions on Sam's behalf.
Although Sam has more power and force (and isn't afraid to use it) when Soulless, he doesn't push back on Dean until he worries that Dean's attempt to resoul him will kill or damage him.
In the belt scene, he's not worried about Dean or Castiel actually harming or killing him here. Although he has no emotional attachment to them, he regards them as allies and feels safe enough to allow himself to be tied up and tortured by them. Castiel is acting shady and still Sam trusts him, probably because Dean does.
It's also fascinating to me how Dean directs Castiel's actions in invading Sam's body. Throughout season 6 and the series in general, there is the question of Sam's bodily autonomy.
Sam's body is frequently used as a tool by others in the series: Meg, Azazel, Lucifer, Castiel, Dean, Crowley, etc. In season 9 this issue explodes, but it's a heavy theme in season 6.
In the very next episode, Crowley wants Sam and Dean under his control, so he threatens Sam
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Crowley says,
You need to stop thinking of this as some kind of deal. This is a hostage situation, you arrogant little thug. I own your brother! Do you understand me?
Bolding mine. Sam's body is regarded as Dean's property. The decision to resoul Sam is placed in Dean's hands. After Sam regains his soul, Dean tries to control Sam's access to his memories.
Likewise, when Castiel wants to control Sam and Dean and get them to stand down, he harms Sam.
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Both Crowley and Castiel harm Sam's body in order to control and manipulate Dean. Both heaven and hell regard Sam's body as Dean's property. Even Death puts Sam's soul back in his body for Dean, not Sam.
Like Sam, Castiel also becomes an extension of Dean's body. This isn't the first or the last time that he engages in torture on the direction of Dean.
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It's interesting because, as an angel, Castiel is commanded to carry out God's will, which he did before he met Dean. In a way, he replaced God with Dean, so he now carries out Dean's will... for the most part. Occasionally, he will rebel, which causes conflicts between them (see s14).
In s6, Castiel is hiding information and acting in secret, but everything he's doing is in service to Dean (and Sam). He's trying to keep them out of another apocalypse. Even when he's opposed to Dean, he's still in service to Dean.
Dean is threatened by Soulless and is acting out of fear. In s6, Dean becomes a lot more vulnerable than he's been since s1 and it's due to the threat by Soulless. For example, the scene where he's turned by the vampire has him as a victim of both the vampire and Soulless, who allows him to be turned.
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If you like hurt!Dean, s6 is full of prime content. Yes, it is mostly other people victimizing him not directly Soulless, but they are doing so in order for the narrative to show how vulnerable Dean is with Soulless Sam. Although Dean is directing Castiel in the Soul Fisting, he's also standing behind him, keeping a safe distance from Soulless.
In the next episode, 6.08, Dean wakes up from sleep very vulnerable
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Soulless has caught him off guard
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What's interesting is that Soulless sleeps (or doesn't sleep) near the door, when normally Dean is closer to the door.
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While Sam is Soulless, Dean is off kilter and wants Sam back and he's willing to play games with Death in order to get his brother back. He'd do anything for Sam, so why is he so rough with Sam's body? Yes, Soulless is in the body of his brother, but the same time, Soulless is a monster and Dean hunts monsters.
As mentioned before, once Dean knows what's wrong with Sam, he wants Soulless to be locked up. He doesn't want to risk Soulless hurting him or anyone else again.
Soulless refuses to be locked up (his submission to Dean only goes so far) and Dean is forced to keep Soulless with him, in part because Soulless' refusal to be locked up is one of the most Sam aspects about him.
As the person who requested this meta has not seen past the beginning of 8, I'm going to stop for now and then I'll write more if/when they watch 9 because a conversation about Soul Fisting is incomplete without knowing what happens in 9.
(Also there's no way they didn't know what they were doing when they filmed and named this)
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wilycreature · 7 months
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𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒!
1. Metatron cast out Crowley, not God.
2. God knew Crowley wasn’t that bad but needed a demon they could trust to help stop the apocalypse.
3. Crowley never made it to ‘God’ to talk about his suggestions before being cast out
4. Angels who fall had their memories taken, selectively.
5. Only God asks the questions, and everything else is meant to wonder and marvel at their creations, so by asking— Crowley acted like god, a false god, hence sinning and falling with the rest.
6. Angels and demons having an all out war was never Gods ineffable plan, but Metatrons.
7. Metatron is an allegory for organised religion and religious leaders.
8. Aziraphale watched Crowley fall. Either from another part of heaven or from within the same space.
9. Aziraphale is the first to see Crowley after his fall.
10. Crowley was heavens best engineer and the nebulae’s don’t evolve or grow as well without him.
11. Metatron has planted false memories within both Aziraphale and Crowley in order to control them.
12. I think Crowley is the Archangel Raphael or Kokabiel.
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orionsangel86 · 9 months
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Good Omens Season 2 - Overall Review
You know every now and then its nice to step outside of the echo chamber and get a fresh perspective on things. I've been looking at some negative reviews for GOS2 this evening after some critical comments came across my dash which was a surprise at first because my dash has otherwise been filled with GOS2 love and adoration (if perhaps also some odd theories floating around).
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but it made me really consider mine, so I decided to write it down. I know I still have episode reviews for eps 2-6 to write up, which I will get to, but I needed to get this off my chest first. This is generally just a reaction post outlining all the things I liked and didn't like about GOS2. Under a cut because looooong.
I hadn't read the Good Omens book before I watched Season 1. I watched that show completely blind and my main reason for watching at the time was because
a) I'm always going to be a little bit in love with David Tennant and so watch absolutely everything he is in always no matter how horrible (Des was a particularly hard watch)
b) I had heard that GO was partially some of the original inspiration for Supernatural and I'll be a Supernatural slut til the end of time.
c) I love all things fantasy and it genuinely looked like a great show.
Whilst I loved the first season, the thing I loved about it, was Aziraphale and Crowley. I also very much enjoyed the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Angels and Demons, and Anathama and Madam Tracey as characters.
I hated the kids. They were bloody awful and on every rewatch I have done in the past few years I have had to skip over their scenes. I find them completely unwatchable. I found Newt to be boring and Shadwell a pain in the ass. I don't find that particular brand of misogyny funny so his scenes are also just painful for me. I loathed the fact that he ended up with Madam Tracey in the end, AND that she changed who she was completely for him. What the FUCK was that all about?
Anyway, now that that is off my chest, the point I am making is that the only thing I really enjoyed about Good Omens was Crowley and Aziraphales love story plus a few of the awesome female characters they had helping them. I also enjoyed the quirky narration by God which I think had a distinctly Douglas Adam's feel to it (which I believe was the vibe Terry and Neil were going for at the time).
I have always been of the opinion that it was GOs faithfullness to the book which let it down. I read the book after watching the show and whilst it was a good book, it dragged on in parts, spent too long focusing on the kids, and Aziraphale and Crowley weren't quite as lovable in book format as they were brought to life by DT and MS. To me, the book was a 6/10, the show a 7/10. I was a fan of AziraCrow and their love story. I did not, and have not ever, believed they were "canon" in season 1 (though i was loathed to admit this due to the rabidity of the fandoms insistence that they were - which was spurred on by Gaiman much to his own detriment).
So when GOS2 came around I had no expectations that it would kick off with AziraCrow being all lovey dovey and shacked up - having confessed their love and living together as life partners - as I genuinely believe some GO fans expected to be the case - after all these are the fans that insisted it was canon in season 1! Surely that means they'll be together in season 2 right?
Well obviously that wasn't the case. First mistake for Neil Gaiman - maybe don't spend 4 years trying to convince your fanbase that these characters are already together and in love if you are going to write a whole second season revolving around the fact that they still aren't together.
I was also really worried when GOS2 was announced that they'd bring back the bloody kids, and Shadwell, and the other season 1 characters. I was very much relieved when I heard that wasn't the case. As much as I enjoyed Madam Tracey, she was ruined at the end of S1, and as much as I liked Anathama, I was very aware that her story was over the moment she burned the new prophecy book.
So going into Season 2, I was expecting and hoping for a few things:
The romantic development of AziraCrow from friends to lovers
More time with the angels and demons
A fun lesbian side story
Technically, I got all three things.
I am aware that GOS2 has its flaws. It's pacings a bit dodgy, and I do find some of the dialogue a bit jarring particularly in the Maggie and Nina scenes. The entire season has this slightly saccharine quality to it where I feel like if I watch it too many times too quickly I'll get sick from the sweetness. There needed to be a little bit more gruesomeness and angst to counteract all that sugar - Zombie Nazi's notwithstanding.
The Maggie and Nina mirrors to Aziraphale and Crowley were more heavy handed than in a season 8 MOTW episode of Supernatural. I've made that joke before, but it still stands. I wish that Neil had been a bit more subtle with it. As much as I like Maggie and Nina, they could have used a bit more development and a bit of distance from Zira and Crowley. I did find the scene where they sit down with Crowley at the end to basically tell him to get his shit together and tell Zira how he feels like something out of a fangirls dream. Does anyone remember that really OTT gay Hallmark style Christmas movie that came out last year? Single All The Way? Gods, when I first watched that movie I thought it was sweet, but it was so obviously taken from fanfiction that I couldn't take it seriously (I say this as someone who adores fanfiction and has huge respect for fanfiction writers - but we all start somewhere, and its usually as a teenager writing really sappy YAOI and that's what I feel inspired Single All The Way - side note: Trixie and Katya's review of Single All The Way is one of the funniest things I've ever watched, nothing like watching two drag queens absolutely destroy queer media that was absolutely NOT written with gay men in mind)). Anyway, I mention SATW because there is a scene towards the end of the movie where two teenage girls sit the protagonist down and tell him that he's an idiot who is clearly in love with his best friend and he should go confess his love before its too late.
Look I'm sure we've all had that fantasy. I know I did when it came to Destiel for years. Nothing better than picturing myself standing in the bunker shaking Dean Winchester by the shoulders yelling at him to go kiss Castiel because goddammit that angel needs to know he's loved!
It's a great fantasy. But I DO NOT want to EVER see it played out for real in ANY media. When I realised that this was exactly what was happening in GOS2 I curled up into a ball and screamed into my hands, and not in a good way. That was... bad. Someone slap Neil on the wrist for that terrible decision. There were a dozen better ways they could have explained the AziraCrow miscommunication issue.
Having said all this, everything else about GOS2 I adored. There is criticism about the minisodes. Sure, they are totally expansions on the popularity of Season 1's episode 3 opener, and are rather self indulgent and not really connected to the main Gabriel mystery, but they are each of them an absolute blast. They dig deeper into AziraCrow's relationship and help to understand a bit more of their dynamic and the underlying issues that they have been facing for their entire friendship.
I totally understand where people may criticise the Gabriel/Beelzebub romance coming out of left field as well. It was totally unexpected and yeah, sure, Gabriel was basically the villain of season 1, so I can understand the irritation and him getting to have a happy ever after love story when he has never even apologised to Zira. But I gotta be honest, I don't really care. I thought it was hilarious and a fun twist as well as well as a much more subtle narrative mirror to AziraCrow than Maggie and Nina were. You can accuse Neil of taking that idea from fans if you want, its totally possible that he came across some ineffable beurocracy fanart and thought huh, that could be fun. But I don't care if he did, or if it did come to him completely separately to the fans. I never shipped them, but I find it hilarious in the same way I find the Dean/Crowley ship in SPN hilarious. That went canon too, much to the horror of the entire SPN fandom. NO ONE ASKED FOR DROWLEY and yet they inflicted it on us anyway... I'll never quite get over that fact.
As for Aziraphale's characterisations. I disagree with everyone who says he was out of character. I love that he's still struggling with the idea of not being part of heaven. I love that he is still dealing with the millennia of abuse and brainwashing and manipulation. I love that he still hasn't quite grasped the tyranny and institutional corruption at Heaven's heart. I found the end of season 1 to be very satisfying in a lot of ways (other than the lack of handholding in the Ritz) but when I really think about it, Season 1 really doesn't resolve Zira's issues with Heaven. He get's discorporated, decides he doesn't want to fight, goes back to Earth and then he's dealing with the apocalypse and he never actually has any communication with Heaven again after that, because it's Crowley who goes to Heaven in his place and witnesses just how cruel they are (at least Hell gave Crowley a trial).
Nothing happens at the end of season 1 that could be enough to break him away from 6000 years of cult-like indoctrination. He still puts it down to a few bad angels. He never actually talks to God, and whilst the Metatron disappoints him, its very easy to believe that Zira would change his mind after receiving a few kind words, and the promise of restoring Crowley to full angelhood.
Crowley was perfect throughout the entire season. 10/10. No notes. Absolutely utter perfection. Outstanding performance from DT, I laughed, I cried, I wept, I desperately want to hug Crowley and let him cry on my shoulder for an entire night.
Other things I adored about the season include the entirety of episode 5 The Ball. My fave episode. It was so silly and adorable and funny. The entire "Seamstress" conversation had me rolling with laughter. Shout out to Donna Preston (Our girl Despair) who absolutely stole every scene she was in. Miranda Richardson shines as Shax (an excellent choice to recast her as a new character after the butchering of Madam Tracey's character at the end of S1). I think Muriel was a bit underutilised but still loved their wide eyed innocence and naivity.
The biggest thing I think was missing was Francis McDormand's narration as God. They brought her back for episode 2 for a very minor role, I don't understand why Neil couldn't have just had God narrate it again, with more Douglas Adams crossed with Monty Python style sequences of explanation (the angels dancing on the head of a pin is one of my absolute favourite moments in all of season 1). I presume that God's narration in S1 was to ensure the books more abstract explanations got faithfully adapted, but I wish Neil could have at least tried to recreate that for S2.
Finally, the AziraCrow romance was almost exactly what I hoped for. All the way through the season they built on it and built on it, whilst also shedding light on the fundamental issues at their core. They are still so opposite even though they want nothing more than to be together. It's heartbreaking, it's shippy AF, its all romance tropes and fanservice sure - but I don't consider fanservice to be a dirty word. The kiss is heartbreaking. You can feel the desperation oozing off of Crowley in that moment. The heartbreaking cliffhanger is exactly what's needed at the end of act 2 of a 3 act structure. If we had been given the episodes week by week, i fully believe by week 6 we would have been more prepared for it, because after rewatching a few times now, its built in rather seemlessly imo. It was always gonna end that way.
When I consider everything, I can honestly say hand on heart that I preferred this season to the first. Though that's only because season 1 doesn't have enough AziraCrow in it and I'm ultimately here for them. This season was made for the AziraCrow fans, so it makes sense that I'd prefer it, whereas I suppose for book lovers and people who prefer the story of book 1 to the relationship between Az and Crow then yeah, for sure I can see why perhaps you wouldn't be too happy with this season. Perhaps Season 3 will be a better blend for all GO fans.
It was a joy. Fanservice? Yes. A bit like fanfiction? Also yes. Are either of these things bad? Not at all. It was extremely queer, fun, silly, romantic, and heartbreaking. The lack of overarching domineering plot was a good thing tbh. Some of my favourite shows focus more on character development than plot, look at WWDITS, which has never had a proper plot in a single episode of its 5 season run. Yet it is hugely successful and critically acclaimed. Half the time in Supernatural the plot was the absolute worst thing about it. You ignored the plot as much as possible and instead focused on the subtext because that's where all the fun was! So yeah, the lack of overarching plot doesn't bother me in the slightest.
I will leave it there. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, though I do wish that anyone who is particularly critical of GOS2 would please tag it as such, because now I've done my dive into the critique of it, I'd like to avoid and blacklist all such critique going forward. I want to remain in my little GOS2 happy bubble for a while longer - before I inevitably revert back into deep meta analysis of the much darker, and sometimes depressing story of The Sandman.
:)
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alex51324 · 9 months
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GO2 reaction
OK, now that all that has had some time to settle...
I can definitely why Neil decided to leave the season on a (heartbreaking!) cliffhanger--it makes a certain amount of sense from a storytelling perspective, and a massive amount of sense from the perspective of a storyteller who has a third part of the story he wants to tell, but needs authorization/funding to do so. With that ending, Season 3 feels urgent in a way that wouldn't if we'd left Aziraphale and Crowley having a champagne breakfast at the Ritz and wondering what Heaven has up its ineffable sleeve next.
I can also see why Neil was hoping for an episodic release instead of all 6 at once. It would have been nice to have several weeks to squee over all of the fun things that happened in the first 5 and a half episodes, before having to reckon with That Ending.
Shifting now to the Watsonian level,
3. I see where Aziraphale is coming from, re: That Ending, but man is he infuriating in that last scene. How many times does he need to have it demonstrated to him that Heaven is always going to yank away the football before he can kick it?
I do think that he probably at least partially figured out what was going on when Metatron said Second Coming: Heaven wants him off Earth (and away from Crowley--Metatron tips his hand in the bookshop that he anticipated Crowley wouldn't take the deal) because he has a track record of foiling the Apocalypse. They probably have their doubts about getting him on-board with the New Plan (although I personally figure, with him being such a people-angel-pleaser, it's about 50/50 on him trying his best to go along and find some kind of compromise, at least until they go Way Too Far) but figure it's better to have him inside the tent pissing blessing out.
(And the whole Gabriel-going-missing thing has given Heaven some practice at working around having a big empty spot at the top of the Org chart; they can presumably similarly work around having a figurehead nobody has any intention of actually listening to about anything important.)
But anyway, in the Aziraphale-at-least-somewhat-knows-the-score hypothesis, one of the first things he's going to want to do is get back in touch with Crowley and tell him what's happening. Lots of opportunities there for Shenanigans to Ensue, as Crowley is probably not going to be super-keen on taking his calls for a bit. (Dare we hope for a reprise of the "I was wrong, you were right" dance?)
4. I'm digging the Nina/Maggie relationship as commentary on the Aziraphale/Crowley one. Just as Nina needs to process her breakup with...was it Lindsay? With her emotionally abusive partner before she's ready to enter into a new relationship with Maggie, Aziraphale hasn't processed--or really committed to, as we see in That Ending--his breakup with Heaven. He needs to do that before he can really be a partner to Crowley.
Which is cool--but it does circle us back around to Aziraphale being infuriating again, because this breakup arc has been going on for six thousand years.
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aziraphales-library · 7 months
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Hello! Before I ask my question, I would just like to thank you for all the work you’ve done, you’re doing an amazing job!
Now to my question, I was wondering if there were any fics that focused on Aziraphale having PTSD. I know there are plenty of fics that focus on Crowley having PTSD, to which Aziraphale provides comfort, but it would be nice to read a few fics in which Aziraphale receives the comfort.
Once more, thank you so much, and have a wonderful day or night!
Hi! For more fics you may enjoy you should check out our #heaven is terrible, #aziraphale's trauma, #anxious aziraphale, and #protective crowley tags. Here are some along the same lines where Aziraphale has PTSD...
What's a Panic Attack? by EdosianOrchids901 (T)
After humans engage in their first real battle, Aziraphale finds himself flooded with memories of the War. He has a panic attack—only he doesn’t know what a panic attack is. Crawley explains what’s happening and helps him through it.
A Shadow In The Light by CosmosMercury & VinnieTheDuck (T)
While having a nice walk in Saint James Park, then having quite the homophobic encounter, Crowley says something during it that accidentally triggers Aziraphale.
reply to my tenderness by losttrackofmysoul (T)
In the beginning, there had been Crowley, Aziraphale and the Garden containing the start of human kind. A couple centuries later, the red string of fate appeared and things got easier for humans and vastly more complicated for a certain angel, specially when he discovers his own string, which shouldn't exist in the first place, is tied to the demon he's known for 6000 years.
In a Perfect World, I would Hold your Hand and Kiss your Cheek by boredom (T)
A chance encounter with a young man leads Aziraphale on the path of healing and discovery. Maybe now he can finally admit to what he wants, without guilt and without fear. Maybe now he and Crowley can finally move forward, together.
I second that emotion by HolRose (T)
It is after the failed apocalypse, and Aziraphale is struggling. No longer affiliated to Heaven, and thoroughly disillusioned with his former employers, he descends into a very troubled state of mind. Can his demonic counterpart offer anything to help lift his friend out of his low mood? Are you joking? Of course he can!
Kills the Lights by PassengerPidgin (M)
Crowley and Aziraphale may be immortal, but that doesn't stop the nightmares -both real and dreamed- from plaguing them. Less of a 5+1 and more of a 6+2+1
- Mod D
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God's role in Good Omens is fascinating to analyse over two series.
In Series 1, God acts as the narrator, indifferently dictating the events of the story as they unfold as a neutral observer. She seems divorced from, even annoyed by the affairs of Heaven, and at NO POINT do they get involved. When Armageddon gets subverted, when Aziraphale and Crowley fool their respective celestial authorities and live on Earth together, she makes no effort to interfere.
As an audience watching Series 1, we are led to the conclusion that this means God is effectively on our side: that they aren't bogged down in the ineffable bureaucracy of heaven and hell, and simply want the best possible outcome for everyone. Which happily happens to be the one we like.
Series 2 comes out and completely flips that on its head. Because in retrospect, God doesn't refrain from getting involved because she's 'on our side': rather, because up to that point, everything was going according to plan.
We realise that Aziraphale's 'insane gambit' at the air base was CORRECT: the Great Plan failing was absolutely part of the Ineffable Plan, or as God describes it in episode 1, 'her Ineffable Game of her own devising'. Armageddon 1 was always meant to go down like a lead balloon, as was everything else up until that point: maybe they wanted the also seemingly-omnipotent Antichrist Adam out of the way before they got to business. Agnes Nutter, a mortal human, KNEW that the apocalypse wouldn't happen in 2019 because she wrote a second book of prophesies: it isn't impossible that she was more powerful and prescient than literal God, but it does seem unlikely. Hell, God is narrating right up until the very end, down to the nightingales. Everything is going exactly according to plan.
Until that Ineffable Bureaucracy they refused to get involved with rears its head in an unexpected way.
Gabriel and Beezelbub falling for each other was. Not. Part. Of. The. Plan. Gabriel falling was. Not. Part. Of. The. Plan. Metatron didn't show up to Aziraphale's trial, the trial of the guy who directly prevented the event that the entire universe was purpose built for, but they do turn up to Gabriel's. Armageddon 2 was meant to go ahead, but the Ineffable Game is coming off the rails. God is not narrating Series 2.
Originally, Crowley and Aziraphale were a means to an end, but they've just become symptomatic of the gravest institutional problem God has ever faced: the accelerating dissolution of the absolutist moral divide separating Heaven and Hell. The idea that there's more to life than God's will. And this will not do.
With that in mind, lets look at 2:6.
Metatron seems equally exasperated with both the Archangels and the Dukes, but they're extremely friendly to Aziraphale and deathly cold to Crowley. 'Well Crowley's a demon' yes but God knew that Crowley would fall by design. The malice in that glare makes no sense when compared to the indifferent annoyance they direct towards the LEADERS OF HELL.
God is trying exceptionally hard to bring Aziraphale back into Heaven's fold for completely bullshit reasons: Aziraphale is good in a crisis, but he can't lead his way out of a paper bag. Even though he's technically 'leading' in the Battle of the Bookshop, that mostly boils down to Nina and Maggie throwing random bullshit down the stairs as he nervously protests. Aziraphale and Crowley have become an unpredictable entity, and unpredictability is anathema to God's plan.
Crowley is frustrated that Aziraphale doesn't recognise the toxicity of heaven and hell, but he still can't see beyond that dichotomy: he's hell-bent (no pun intended) on avoiding the chess pieces to the point where he can't see who's moving them.
God is not on the audience's side. God's interests were briefly aligned with ours, and now it's time to correct course.
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raina-at · 9 months
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Just finished watching Good Omens 2 and I....have a few unpopular opinions. They're under the cut because I don't want to be murdered by tumblr. They're also a bit incoherent.
I think with all due love for Neil Gaiman, this show and the characters, I did think this season was... um.... unevenly paced, shall we say. The flashbacks and the present story weren't balanced out very well at all, and some of them were way, waaaay too long (Job and the whole Elsbeth thing were way, way too long).
I also don't think they set up the whole Gabriel-Belzebub thing at all, I knew it was coming because I was spoiled from Tumblr and up to the midpoint of Episode 6 I still asked myself when they were planning on doing that.
I'm also not a fan of Maggie and Nina, most of the time they bored me, and at the end I thought their roles as Aziraphale and Crowley mirrors were just a bit on the nose. Also, I didn't see why Maggie was in love with Nina, who was so rude and abrasive to her at times.
I also don't understand why Gabriel and Belzebub just cancelled the second Apocalypse, that was before they... I don't know, fell in love? Three flashbacks didn't exactly sell me their relationship. Gabriel's turn from complete and utter dick in S1 to guy who falls in love with demon and runs off with them isn't exactly given the room it needed in my opinion, because I frankly didn't understand it and I didn't quite buy it as well. That storyline needed so much more room to breathe.
There's still a lot to love here, don't get me wrong. Obviously Aziraphale and Crowley's love story is beautiful, and there's loads of funny, sweet, cute and adorable moments (how happy Aziraphale was that he got to dance with Crowley was just one of them, and the whole Jane Austen thing was just *chef's kiss*). The ending where they break up is heartbreaking and so well acted. And you can see both their points, because Aziraphale thinks he can fix heaven and Crowley knows that's impossible, because the flaws of heaven aren't a bug, they're a feature, as he experienced. But Aziraphale sees it as a chance for the two of them to be together openly and safely without having to constantly run away and look over their shoulder. And they're both right. And of course David Tennant and Michael Sheen give it their all and could read the phone book together and it would be entertaining. I just feel like they've relied a bit too much on that this season, to the detriment of the plot, the pacing and all the other characters, especially Gabriel (not Jim, he was delightful, but actual Gabriel, with whom we've spent about ten minutes).
I do absoultely get why the shippers are both happy and heartbroken, but I'm painfully reminded of Sherlock S3, The Sign of Three: When it was done, my wife turned to me and said, "What a badly paced, slightly incoherent mess." And I said, "Yes, but as a shipper, I loved every second of it."
It wasn't as bad as Sherlock S3 and S4, but after six episodes, I'm not sure why this story needed to be told. They had the same fight in S1. And I don't see how S3 can end any more perfectly than S1 did.
So. Um. Yes. A lot to like here, a lot of lovely moments, and funny dialogue, and Aziraphale and Crowley are obviously so completley in love with each other, and the reconciliation in S3 will be beautiful, but the pacing was really off, the story wasn't very efficiently told, and most of the latter half of Epislde 6 came out of absolutely nowhere for me. I'm a bit sad, honestly, because I wanted to love it as much as S1, but the pacing just really threw me out of the story so many times.
And the thing is, I couldn't really tell you what this season was actually about. I could just about tell you the plot, even though... not really? So Gabriel loses his memory, shows up at Aziraphale's bookshop, then a few angels and demons are looking for him as well, then Aziraphale... tells someone... the miracle was about Maggie and Nina... and then he goes to Edinburgh, where he discovers....um, what, exactly?... and then he comes back to London and they throw a ball and some demons attack the bookshop because they think Gabriel is inside and they want him for... um... reasons? And then everybody yells, Gabriel runs off with Belzebub (and they're allowed to do that for some reason) and Aziraphale is now chief archangel for... um... reasons.
So Season 1, for me, was about free will versus predetermination, of right vs good and of love vs faith.
I have no idea what S2 was about. And it's all very well if you lovely tumblr fans want to explain it to me, but you really shouldn't have to.
I just hope S3 is a bit more evenly paced.
Don't get me wrong, there was some really good stuff in there. The breakup, omg, that was hard to watch. And Aziraphale's joy at getting to dance with Crowley, and their whole "we're so married" but not actually communicating with each other at all. I just sometimes felt like they didn't have enough plot for six episodes of stuff for this season, so they padded it out with unnecessarily long flashbacks during which I'd already forgotten what had happened in the present. And I know it's basically the padding to get from S1 to S3, but what if we never get a S3?
Yeah. So.
I'm glad they're very firmly canonically in love, and the way they look at each other and look out for each other and always think of each other first (Aziraphale would have turned down heaven flat if Metatron hadn't told him he could bring Crowley along). I just wish the rest of the season was as strong as the last ten minutes.
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