#and neil WANTS a good ending for our earth angel and earth demon

[butchbarbie-psd]

Mark my words next season something really bad happens to ineffable beurocracy and aziracrow officially get together and live a peaceful life in South downs

[beauspot]

Good Omens Is a Big Deal

With everything going on I haven’t acknowledged how grateful I am for what Neil (and John) did this season. I always saw Good Omens as a romantic story and everyone involved seemed to be super supportive of that. To actually see a follow through on those themes was wonderful though. To see Aziraphale continue to look at Crowley like he’s the earth, the moon, and the stars. To see Crowley continue to save his angel not because he needs them to, but because they love him.

To see them have their dinners, and give the other access to their prized possessions. To see them dance. They love each other. They are in love with each other and it’s not implied or a throwaway line that can be edited out.

It’s the beating heart at the center of the story.

And they weren’t meant to be. Neil himself will tell you when he and Terry wrote the book Aziraphale and Crowley were meant to be friends and that’s it. Over time their relationship evolved and where a lot of writers would simply ignore that and keep pushing forward Neil pivoted and said “you know what? let’s see where this goes.” The last time I can remember something like this happening was with Hannibal years ago, it’s so rare with queer pairings.

I know everyone was excited about the kiss and it is refreshing to see queer people actually get to kiss, it’s still not something that happens all the time, but that’s not what made them canonically queer to me. If they remained completely asexual and never kissed or showed interest in kissing one another I’d feel the same. While I always felt they were queer what sealed it for me were 3 things:

1. Nina and Maggie, a romantic pairing that parallel our angel and demon break down to Crowley how she and Aziraphale are partners (and it’s clear they don’t mean business partners, does Crowley look like he runs a bookshop?) but they never say what they’re really thinking. They go on to state how that’s all they needed, the obvious implication here being that Nina and Maggie shared their romantic feelings with one another and that Crowley and Aziraphale need to do the same. Upon hearing this Crowley takes that as a sign to confess his feelings.

2. Gabriel and Beelzebub, another pairing that parallels Crowley and Aziraphale who are also clearly in love with one another is something Crowley references while he is confessing his feelings. “If those two lovestruck idiots can go off together, so can we. Because I love you.”

3. Crowley and Aziraphale express plainly to each other that they need the other. Crowley says to Aziraphale he wants to stop pretending they aren’t a team, a group, a them.

Aziraphale says verbatim “We can be together.” and “I need you.” He doesn’t say “We can work together” or “I need you to help me” or some other cop out that a lot of other shows or movies might come up with to continue to bait their fans, while having plausible deniability.

They love each other and it’s not platonic.

To me, the kiss serves as a way to seal the deal for people who only understand queer love when it’s punching them in the face. That’s not to say queer people can’t like the kiss, it’s one of my favorite scenes in the show simply because of how heartbreaking it is, but they were a couple to me long before that. And to add onto that by making every other important pairing in the show queer as well? Nina and Maggie being happy sapphics who don’t die at the end. They’re not together, but the implication is that one day they will be. Two non-binary beings—Gabriel and Beelzebub—falling in love and choosing to be with one another forever. The angels and demons are all genderless and no one misgenders them and no one gives a FUCK.

That means so much to me and I genuinely cannot express how thankful I am that this show and this season were made. The only thing I can say is thank you for standing for something, because not everyone does.

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

David Tennant at This Morning show with Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary talking about Good Omens Season 2, 11.07.2023 :) ❤

DO: And David joins us now. I mean, this looks like a great show.

David: Oh, yeah.

DO: So, I mean, It's pure Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, isn't it?

David: It is, yeah.

DO: The whole thing. So tell us, so if people haven't seen the first series and they want to go back, set the whole scene.

David: So I'm Hell's representative on Earth, Michael Sheen is Heaven's representative on Earth, put there to do the biding of our respective Head Offices. But we found out that if we became mates and sort of helped each other out, it kind of cut out the workload, cancelled each other out. So we're best mates. But in Series One we end up having to avert the apocalypse, which we managed to do, but as a result of that, we get cut off. So we're now living on Earth as independent individuals.

AH: So do you still need each other, then?

David: We still need each other. We've only got each other now because we don't have Heaven and Hell anymore.

DO: Because you both love earth so much, you both like.

David: Oh, we much prefer living on Earth because Heaven's a bit stuffy and Hell's awful.

DO: So you conspire to thwart the Armageddon. Exactly.

David: We thwart the Armageddon. That's fine. But Series Two begins when the angel Gabriel, Jon Hamm, who you just saw there, shows up at Aziraphale, Michael Sheen's bookshop, naked with no memory, holding a cardboard box. So suddenly we're locked into the politics of Heaven and Hell again. We don't know what's going on. We've got a mystery to solve. Why is the angel Gabriel here? The angel Gabriel tried to kill us both at the end of the last series, so we've got to...

DO: But now he's kind of got amnesia and...

David: Yes. So he becomes like our weird child, in this sort of weird sort of eternal marriage that Michael and I are locked in.

DO: So many shows now use a book as their base and then they do really well and you can see the company and the writers go, better come up some new ideas, I suppose. So the book's obviously Terry Pratchett and then Neil Gaiman, correct?

David: That's right. They wrote that together years and years and years ago. Much beloved. And that's what the first series was. But Neil and Terry had always talked about possibilities of this sequel that they never got around to making. Terry's no longer with us. But when the possibility came up, Neil thought, well, listen, I've got some ideas. Let's spin it forward. Let's see if we can tell the story we were always going to tell. So we get to come back.

AH: Should we have a little sneak look at the new series? Let's have a look. So good. Did you ever think it was going to be this successful? Did you even know that you were going to go into a second series

David: Oh, no, not at all. No. There was only one novel, so we just thought we were coming together to do that. And I didn't realise how beloved this book was. I first read a script. But it means a lot to a lot of people.

AH: And the look of you is so striking. Did you have any input into that? A bit, yeah, we sort of all found it together, myself and makeup and costume and Neil Gaiman, who ran the show. So, yeah, we kind of arrived... in the book he's a bit more - because obviously the book was sort of early ninetues, so he was a bit more sharp-suited and a bit more Wolf of Wall Street. So we've kind of had to find the kind of modern equivalent of that.

DO: Is he... obviously you're playing a demon. Has he got any humanity in him or is he purely self-centered?

David: Well, he's not a very good demon. He's good at sort of the snarl and the swagger and pretending that he's terribly cynical, but actually his problem is that he's a bit too...  there’s a bit too much heart, really.

DO: He's alright

David: Yeah, yeah.

DO: Must be wonderful playing a baddie.

David: Oh, it's great fun, but he's not a baddie, is not really a baddie.

DO: Yeah, yeah.

David: And just like Aziraphale angel is not always as goody goody as he likes it, so they meet very beautifully in the middle.

DO: You and Michael Sheen. I mean, you've worked together a fair bit, don't you. I loved Staged. That was such fun.

David: Yeah!

AH: Have you ever not worked together?

David: Now we only work together.

AH: All the time.

David: Yeah. I mean, He's not sitting on this sofa, but he is backstage. We can't be apart.

DO: He's speaking in his ear right now.

David: Exactly, yeah.

AH: But you are... you have got a genuine friendship. You're growing old together gracefully.

David: We're growing old together?!

AH: You look good for it, I'm not going to lie. What's the secret, babe?

David: A lot of makeup. It's very thick.

AH: We've got to talk about the fact that you are returning to Doctor Who.

David: Ah, yes.

AH: I can't believe this. And can you tell us anything at all?

David: I mean, beyond that I'm doing it? I think...

AH: No.

David: Really. Because that's the fun of it, isn't it? Hopefully tt was a bit of a surprise when I showed up. When Jodie Whittaker regenerated into me.

AH: We were shocked.

David: It was a bit of a surprise, so we wanted to sort of keep some shocks, but Catherine Tate's back, so it's a bit like 15 years never happened, to be honest.

DO: Know about it for a while. Like... did Russell T get in touch and say...

David: Yeah, it sort of gradually kind of evolved as an idea and we thought maybe they'd let us do a one off for old time's sake. And then suddenly it became a bit more than that and we were back for a bit of a run.

AH: So how many episodes did you get to do?

David: We did three.

AH: Wow. That's incredible. What's it like to be back? Did he just slot straight back in?

David: I mean, sort of. It felt weirdly familiar. Yeah. And you think, 'Oh, will I still able to run as fast? Can I still kind of...?' But it was like we'd never been away. It was joyous. Yeah.

DO: And could we talk about your son? Because is your son in Good Omens with you?

David: Ty's in... has a part in Episode Two of Good Omens.

AH: Is he?

DO: And I loved him in House of the Dragon.

David: I know. He's very good. He's very good.

DO: What a relief.

David: There he is. I know, what a relief. Exactly. No, I mean...

AH: Imagine if he was bad.

David: Imagine if he was rubbish. How would we tell him? Sit down, listen...I know it's sort of the family business, but maybe joinery? So... no, he's really good. And he's annoyingly good looking. You know, he's just got it all. So it's lovely and great to get to work together. Brilliant.

[im-this-kind-of-girl]

Aziraphale and Crowley's unhinged character analyzis (pt2. Crowley)

Controversial opinion:

Aziraphale and Crowley at the end of Season2 managed to accomplish the main goal they each had since the beginning of time. Only to realize that what they wanted no longer made them happy.

Disclaimer: I have no idea about what is going to happen in Good Omens. This analysis could clearly be considered a theory since I'm not Neil Gaiman, but as someone who knows about narrative and character structure, I'm going to elaborate. Also, English is not my first language, so sorry in advance.

I've already talked about Aziraphale's possible transformation arc in the Good Omens story. In here I've also written important definitions such as what's a transformation arc. I highly recommend it to read it first.

Now it's time to talk about Crowley.

Crowley, the co-protagonist and love interest.

In our role as audience, Crowley is the character with whom one tends to empathize the quickest. By the end of the second season, most would be tempted to think Crowley was right. However, this is a lie. Not only is Crowley not right, but he rejected Aziraphale just the same, choosing his principles over love.

Now, why in the first instance do we not see it that way? Well, because we have Aziraphale's point of view. We always get the angel's reaction first, we always see the way Crowley shows up again and again and again to rescue him unconditionally.

Very rarely do we have a moment where Crowley is alone in crisis because his beliefs are challenged. No, everything he does is in function of Aziraphale and we see the story from his perspective, that is, from the perspective of someone who is in love with Crowley. Because of this, Crowley is equally liked and attractive to everyone equally: we are inside Aziraphale's in love POV.

By the time Crowley proposes Aziraphale to run away together, we as the audience are seeing a proposal that is incredibly tempting to us: we want Aziraphale to accept it because it's what Aziraphale really wants. That's why the fight hurts so much, because we know internally that the two of them had the chance to be together but didn't because they're not ready yet.

Crowley's Objective

Crowley, unlike Aziraphale, was happy in Season 2 with his current situation. Having cut ties with both Heaven and Hell pleased him, because Crowley always sought only one goal throughout his entire life: freedom.

The one thing Crowley has always desired is to be himself with no excuses and no strings attached.

Since before the beginning of time, Crowley came to the conclusion that he didn't fit in Heaven. He thought he would fit in Hell, but soon realized that it was like a deteriorated version of Heaven, so he didn't fit in there either. On Earth he doesn't quite fit in either. Sure, he likes humans, has a certain admiration and curiosity for them, but he still considers them a species far different from his own. He is not human and never will be, so he can't really identify with them at all. He enjoys the advantages of humanity, but he is not one of them.

The Job episode is an indicator of this, he himself says so "I am a demon who goes along with Hell as far as I can".

In this same episode, however, the major problem he has with this is also expressed. Azira tells him "that sounds lonely". The counterpart of freedom is loneliness. To be truly free, you need to have nothing and nothing to bind you. That's why Crowley is someone who is unsympathetic and even disinterested in dealing with third parties. He does not remember faces or names, he does not get significantly close to anyone because that would compromise his desire for genuine independence.

This characteristic is the only one that is present in absolutely all versions of Crowley: the book, radio drama and even in the cursed script of the movie that never was. That's why whenever he sees danger, his first reaction is to run away.

Being free he has nothing to lose… or does he?

Crowley's dilemma

Well, Crowley never fit in by being different and so he always felt somewhat an outcast. However, it wasn't long before he noticed that Aziraphale was also different.

Clearly the angel was not like the other angels in Heaven: he enjoyed Earth, he fell into temptations, he lied to other angels. Also, it is obvious that he would not fit in Hell, and while he is more empathetic to humans, he is still innocently aloof. Aziraphale has a pure goodness that Crowley admires, the goodness that made him be kind to the demon in the first place.

Moreover, no matter the time, no matter how little they knew each other, Aziraphale could always see through Crowley's evil masquerade. The demon could burn goats and murder people, and yet Aziraphale has always held a blind faith towards him. Crowley, the Serpent of Eden, who had been his entire existence told that he's doomed to be a crawling tempter, finds in the angel an unexpected possible friend who's never been afraid or bothered by him.

Crowley eventually feels they are both the same: two supernatural entities left on Earth who learned to enjoy life on their own terms. Crowley sees in Aziraphale the companionship he never thought he'd find, the friend he thought at the moment he fell he'd never have. And that feeling of companionship and admiration slowly morphed into something more until it became love.

The season finale isn't the first time Crowley has considered leaving Earth. Probably not even his fight in Season 1 was the first time he considered it. Yet he never did. He never could because, without Aziraphale, running away would doom him to a life of solitude. Free, sure, but completely alone since no one except his angelic friend could understand him.

However, I think Crowley is not aware of what he feels. Or at least, he hasn't been for a long time. I'm sure his moment of introspection about his feelings was when Nina confronted him about it. Up to this point, Crowley considered Aziraphale his best and only friend, obviously. Crowley is loyal to a fault and always thought his relationship with Aziraphale was perfect just the way it was, but suddenly someone put it into words and he realized that yes, that's what he really wants with Aziraphale.

Crowley's decision

Crowley wants his freedom. That's why he never asked Aziraphale for explanations (because at the end of the day they were just friends), that's why he never told him that he was living in his car (because he would end up depending on him), that's why he never talked about his fall (because that would be opening up too much).

The most ironic thing about the whole ending, is that just like Crowley did with Aziraphale… Aziraphale proposed to Crowley the one thing he wants more than anything: to be together, for good, but sacrificing his freedom.

Crowley is capable of doing anything for his angel, even without acknowledging that what they had was love. He's capable of driving on fire, capable of killing Gabriel, capable of walking inside a church. Of everything except one thing.

It's the one step Crowley didn't dare take. He is not a martyr like the angel, no, he is not willing to sacrifice himself to be together. So, the obvious happened: Crowley chose his freedom over Aziraphale just as Aziraphale chose Heaven over Crowley.

The end of his arc and Aziraphale.

As I said before, I don't think Crowley will have a significant change comparable to Aziraphale's. His personality and beliefs will not be changed in a momentous way, as Crowley no longer has ties to Heaven or Hell by pulling the tab on both sides.

His side is already picked: Humanity.

His biggest change is likely to be one of purpose. Crowley is no longer going to be satisfied with his freedom. And the latter is a fact: Crowley is officially free. Without Aziraphale in the equation, he no longer has anything or anyone tying him to do anything or be any other than who he truly is. Crowley can go to Alpha Centauri and never come back; he can sleep for 3,000 years; he can go around the world in the Bentley. He can do whatever he wants. This might seem ideal to the Crowley of 300 years ago, but today's Crowley is completely consumed by loneliness.

Crowley never cared about building a home or having material things because he never wanted to be tied to anything earthly for the sake of doubt. He was always aware of the destruction of the Earth.

Love is not something that can be prevented though, and in the absence of having a home, he found it in Aziraphale.

Aziraphale: trustworthy, sweet, warm, funny, a bit of bastard but always irrevocably good. Everything Crowley lost when he fell he almost automatically found back.

To this day I wonder what Crowley is going to do now that his angel is gone and the possibility of him fleeing to the stars is becoming more and more possible. It's going to depend a lot on how much time passes between seasons, but I don't think it will be much. For not only he was his anchor, no, without Aziraphale, he doesn't have someone to cause him to want to do better, he doesn't have someone to be vulnerable with, he doesn't have a goal anymore, nobody else to impress.

He isn't evil. He isn't good. And now, he is alone.

First Crowley lost the love of God and now the love of Aziraphale. And it is then that Crowley will realize that what he really wants is not to be free, but to be loved. And this desire can only be fulfilled by the love of his life, Aziraphale.

The thing is... Crowley has always wondered why.

Why falling? Why becoming the cursed Serpent? Why could he never be truly free?

At the end of his arc, he must come to the conclusion that the answer was always in front of him:

Love is the only answer he needs.

[ineffable-suffering]

Ceci n'est pas une plume.

(from this doc of all of Neil's answered asks)

The meta goes a little like this: I like nerdy stuff about language (and also Good Omens), so I wanted to elaborate on why Angels and Demons don't actually ever speak any language except their own. They simply have the ability to flick a translation switch and (make anyone) understand what's being said in whatever other language.

Also, I end up making a way deeper point of it and why it's so telling that Aziraphale would learn French (and magic) the hard way, in the end.

Find out with me under the cut!

(Word count: 1820 | Reading time: ~8 minutes )

Aziraphale and Crowley's exchange in front of Marguerite's restaurant started me down this path and I'm pretty sure that this is actually how it works. Because it ties together a few other loose strings that have been floating around in my head about the whole langue deal in Good Omens.

Let's structure this by the questions Neil has already answered about it.

The Lead Balloon

I feel like the "in the beginning"-scene in S2 showed us that Crowley did not actually have much of an idea what exactly the plan for Earth and the humans were (instead, Aziraphale did). He might have found out later still, after asking his questions, but I feel like the second part of that answer is more likely to be true, since they both seem to understand this metaphor. This is further supported by:

Ergo: They're speaking in the language of Angels but we understand it in English (or whatever language we selected on our Amazon Prime). Automatically translated for us because Crowley and Aziraphale wanted us to understand them.

"Ciao. It's Italian. It means Food."

They sort of are, yes. Idiots who either forgot to turn on their own auto-translator, or idiots who aren't aware that they have one for other languages except English, or idiots who were miffed that Crowley actually knew-knew a word in another language and didn't want to admit that they didn't.

Où est la plume de la jardinière de ma tante?

Right, so. The exchange that fuelled this meta. First of all, as a funny side note, the origin of that peculiar sentence:

La plume de ma tante ("my aunt's quill") is a phrase in popular culture, attributed to elementary French language instruction (possibly as early as the 19th century) and used as an example of grammatically correct phrases with limited practical application that are sometimes taught in introductory foreign language texts. As Life magazine said in 1958, "As every student knows, the most idiotically useless phrase in a beginner's French textbook is la plume de ma tante (the quill of my aunt)." The phrase is also used to refer to something deemed completely irrelevant. [link]

So basically, it's historically the most nonsensical and dumb phrase any student of the French language gets taught. And yet Aziraphale has been "wittering on about it for the last 250 years". Even looking smug about it, to this very day. Gave me a good chuckle.

Also:

In the 1973 horror film The Exorcist, Catholic priest Damien Karras interviews [...] a girl believed to suffer from demonic possession. While Karras probes to determine whether the possession is a hoax, the demon Pazuzu—who has possessed the girl—speaks in Latin and French, languages presumably unknown to the girl. When Karras demands "Quod nomen mihi est?/What is my name?" in Latin, the demon exclaims "La plume de ma tante!", using the phrase as a non sequitur to mock and evade Karras' line of questioning. [link]

Using that particular phrase to avoid answering a question you're being asked? Like: "You speak every language in the world perfectly ...

Neil, Neil, Neil, *shakes head fondly*, is there anything that you don't give layered meaning to, ever? No. No, of course you don't. And I adore you for it.

The whereabouts of the aunt's gardener's pen questioned, Aziraphale then says "But you still understood me" when Crowley calls him out for his bad French.

This is curious and affirming of my auro-translator theory for two reasons:

1) Aziraphale wouldn't have said this if he'd uttered this sentence in the language of Angels and simply hit the auto-translate button. Because if he had done it that way, of course Crowley would have understood him. But the reason Crowley understands him is not because Aziraphale used his language auto-translate, but because, again, Aziraphale, for two hundred and fifty years, has been wittering on about the plume of his imaginary tante.

2) Point one is further proven by a tiny French nerdy fact I can provide because I actually did learn and graduate in French back in school, lol. Because Crowley actually makes a mistake while trying to not-automatically translate the sentence. He says:

But "jarndinère" is actually a female gardener (le jardinier = male, la jardinière = female). So, when Crowley says "he doesn't have a pen", he actually gets it wrong, which further proves to me that he (as well as all other angels and demons) doesn't actually understand the phrase like someone does who has learnt the language in a human way.

Crowley doesn't have the automated translation on in this moment, so he doesn't translate it correctly. Because he doesn't actually speak French. At least not in the sense that us humans interpret "speaking a language".

Comment ça?

Basically, what I'm trying to get at is: Would you say that Google Translate speaks every language in the world? That it's native and fluent in every tongue ever spoken? Or is it simply a program that can access all the language knowledge its been fed and as soon as you hit enter, it translates any and every language back to you?

Google Translate never learnt any language, it never sat down and went through the onslaughts of vocabulary and grammar that studying a language comes with. It never got frustrated with seemingly nonsensical sentence structures, subjonctifs (French-learnes, you know what I mean) tenses and conjugations. It never spent ages trying to understand different dialects and accents, never spoke with natives to figure out the hidden slangs and sarcasms that would never be translated on paper. It never went to night classes where the teacher wittered on about pens and gardeners and aunts.

No. Google Translate is being told a sentence and it soullessly, programatically recognizes the language through its binary coded translation filter and mirrors the equivalent in whatever other language you want it to.

It's furthest any-a thing could be from speaking a language.

And exactly like that.

Exactly like that is how angels and demons "speak" every language in the World. Hitting an imaginary auto-translate-and-auto-recognition button.

Aziraphale and French (and magic)

Just like with Aziraphale being giddy about the idea of human magic, of learning card tricks and pulling coins out from behind ears, Aziraphale chose to never hit his translate button when it came to French.

Why does Aziraphale learn magic the human way? Because he knows how to do it the ethereal way but that's "no fun."

And why does Aziraphale learn French the human way? Because he knows how to do it the ethereal way, but that's "no fun".

Let me recap real quick: Two of the very base principles of any angel's job and/or purpose (on Earth) is to 1) do miracles for humankind to ensure their souls will at some point be added to Heaven's tab and 2) be a being of Love and love all of Her creations.

Or, the condensed version: Magic and Love.

And what are the two things Aziraphale finds no fun (= boring and unsatisfying) to do the way it was intended for all angels?

Magic and (the language of) Love.

Aziraphale chose to try and learn magic as well as the language of love organically, without the God-given ability and the binary coded translation system Heaven provided his corporation with.

He wanted to learn it the human way. The hard way. The fun way.

Neil: "It's like magic tricks, which he is terrible at but loves to do, and miracles, which are no fun, but which he does very well."

Because that's the point, isn't it? Most of us think: "Wow, wouldn't it be great to be able to do actual magic? Simply snap your fingers and have any-a wish come true? Speak every and any language in the universe and never have to pick up a dictionary ever again?"

Sure, for the first few exciting moments, miracles and conversations maybe. But sooner or later, it renders everything meaningless. Soulless. Flavourless. And who loves flavour more than Aziraphale?

It's somewhat similar to why typing a sentence into Google Translate is never going to be as exciting as being able to finally translate it yourself after years of practising. Or why telling an AI to conjure up a picture of a beautiful landscape will never, ever be the same as working years on your own painting skills to one day finally be able to paint it yourself.

Heaven (and ultimately Hell) don't care about the process. The hardship. The pain and passion of putting work and effort into the journey. They only care about the end result. The means to an end.

Crowley: "They don‘t care how it gets done, they just want to know they can cross it off their list."

Want to speak any language in the world? There you go, automatic translator. Want to ensure humans will be added to the Heavenly/Hellish soul tab? Boom, you can do real magic. Get to work, then!

So, for Aziraphale to choose to learn the two things he was provided with to do his Heavenly work in the most efficient, soulless and flavourless way possible the human way instead, really says it all, doesn't it?

But he learnt the most important one the hard way, without his auto-translator.

The one language all angels are supposed to know fluently and wordlessly anyway.

The one language that makes an angel.

The language of Love.

Except that when it's programmed into you with the intent to only ever work as a means to and end instead of the beautiful journey it is, it will never be the real, organic, passionate, hard and wonderful thing it was meant to be.

And Aziraphale knows this.

Which is exactly why he learnt magic and French the real, human way.

***

Small addendum that I couldn't really fit into any paragraph up there: I think it's also really telling that Aziraphale only properly committed to learning French the right way by going to Monsieur Rossignol's (for those who haven’t seen it yet: rossignol means nightingale in French) night classes in 1760 after the first time we see Crowley rescue him (Bastille, 1739). There might have been a time before that where Crowley got him out of a precarious situation, but for all we know, it was the first one where Crowley really showed up for an angel in need who was absolutely swooning over it. Time to let the nightingale to teach you how to become fluent in Love!

[good-omens-classic]

I just watched all 6 episodes of season 2 in a row and I am having a very hard verbalizing the way I'm feeling.

I am speechless, and not in a good way.

For five and a half episodes, I was on board. I didn't expect to like this, but despite myself I found myself laughing and getting emotional and getting invested in the story, in a way I haven't been since first reading Good Omens and falling in love with it all those years ago. Nearly a decade ago at this point. I had problems with season 1 and the way the fandom changed, but that felt mostly natural and just like differences of opinion and interpretation.

The ending of season 2 feels actively malicious. Especially coming from someone who couldn't stop touting over and over on Twitter about what a nice queer love story this is.

Everything wasn't perfect--but it was...nice. It was something. It was engaging and I was starting to feel excited again, not like I'm going to start writing fanfiction again excited but at the very least I'm thinking, I can enjoy watching people enjoy this from the sidelines.

And then the second half of the last episode came. And Aziraphale wants to go back to Heaven to lead the angels. Not only is that a completely nonsensical thing for Metatron to invite him to do, but Aziraphale's entire character is that he's happy on Earth. He's happy on Earth with Crowley. OF COURSE CROWLEY REFUSED TO GO BACK TO HEAVEN. The entire fucking point is they belong ON EARTH, together, with the humans. Our own side, their own side, the humans' being neither good nor evil but full of potential and power and them learning they can be that way too.

That's the point. That's always been the point. NEIL GAIMAN KNOWS THAT'S THE POINT. Aziraphale was clearly very unhappy with this decision, and hesitant. The show made it VERY clear he was unhappy and unsure after Crowley gave him a reminder of what they were supposed to be about...and he just went anyway.

And he did this right as Crowley declares his love and FUCKING KISSES HIM. In this, supposedly the cutest best queer love story. Nobody can even say "Well they just don't have that kind of relationship, they don't need to say I love you or kiss or hold hands" anymore because THEY LITERALLY DID KISS. And then IMMEDIATELY said goodbye to each other.

Tragedy is not just about making the audience unhappy. Tragedy is making the audience ache because of something sad and unavoidable, of knowing the characters could be happy in a better world. Good omens has always been about building that world, to me. I thought maybe they were going to go in that direction, with Aziraphale and Crowley building a non-apocalypse, at peace world on Earth together, with Aziraphale's newfound authority to teach all the angels and demons the benefits of humanity. That is, in my mind, the culmination of the themes of the original story, and the one I thought season 1 mostly got right except for some stumbling blocks. But this... This feels like a slap in the face.

The tragedy here is not that Aziraphale and Crowley can't be together, but that the writers....that Neil Gaiman threw away everything in the original story, everything from season 1, Hell, everything from earlier in season 2, about Aziraphale's character development and the most important themes of the story. And for what? Who finds this ending narratively satisfying, let alone is happy with it?

I was enjoying this. Maybe it was just because so much time has passed since season 1 that I've been able to more effectively separate the versions and think of them as different stories, and just enjoy them for what they are separately, or maybe it's because there was no other version of this story for me to silently constantly compare it to, but I was enjoying this...a lot more than I enjoyed season 1. I thought it was cute, I thought Gabriel and Beelzebub deciding to basically do WHAT CROWLEY AND AZIRAPHALE SHOULD HAVE DONE and make a "third side" was a great extension of the themes of the story, and all the Aziraphale and Crowley flashbacks set it up so perfectly for Aziraphale to realize at the end: The problem IS systemic, and Heaven isn't the "good guys." and Aziraphale clearly realizes this! And yet he doesn't act on it. If the last half an hour had just been Aziraphale going "I don't want to lead Heaven actually, I belong here on Earth if you want to come to me on how to run things the Earth way," and then he skips off holding Crowley's hand. To me that would be not only the happiest AND most narratively neat, wrapped up conclusion for season 2, but also THE ENTIRE FUCKING POINT OF THE ENTIRE FRANCHISE. and ALL the character development s2 had been setting up in the first five fucking episodes.

It just all got thrown in the garbage.

I'm tired. This could have been such a good, good story, and I was prepared to be disappointed, but nothing could have prepared me for this. When the clip of Aziraphale and Crowley kissing got leaked, I was bracing myself for it to be some sort of like....joke, or dream sequence that didn't actually happen. I was not prepared for THIS.

Someone please convince me it wasn't this bad. Someone please spin it in a way I hadn't thought of before that makes it make sense. Someone please disagree with me and explain why.

[nicolegmattos]

My Christian best friend reacts to Good Omens (part 10): Post discussion

Sadly, this will be last part for now until season 3 releases. Then we’ll probably watch together and I’ll bring you our reactions with us both watching it for the first time.

Link to part 9 if you haven’t seen it yet.

Them: My God, I kin Crowley. I’m dead inside.

Me: *trying to console them* I know damn well how this feels. But remember what God said. “The story starts as it will finish. In a garden.” And they’ll probably end up sharing a cottage.

Them: I DON’T WANNA KNOW ABOUT A GARDEN. I WANT MY COUPLE.

Me: But there can be a garden in the cottage lol. I mean… Crowley loves plants. And Aziraphale pretended to be a gardener once. Also, I’m pretty sure Neil will give us a happy ending in season three.

Them: THANK YOU, NEIL.

Me: HE’S AN ANGEL. And a Demon. We hate you with love, Neil.

Them: Hahaha. Man… I’ll need therapy.

Me: We’ll need. We’ll send the bills to Neil lol. It’s his fault.

Them: Yesss.

Me: *crying* Oh, Crowley’s eyes full of tears before he puts on the sunglasses.

Them: MY GOD, YES, I NOTICED IT.

Me: What’s worse is that he had the best of intentions but not only Aziraphale is a bit dumb lol but also Crowley is not that good in communicating how he feels. Imagine the trauma. The only time he tried to do that it didn’t work.

Them: They both wanted to be together. But Azi still has a lot of that thing of respecting the Divine a little too much. And that ends up getting lost with Crowley.

Me: He has an extremely toxic relationship with Heaven. I can’t get over how his gaze was so sad when he realized he had lost Crowley the moment he leaned down his head to put on his sunglasses.

Them: DON’T SAY IT.

Me: BUT I ALREADY SAID IT.

Them: He’s dependent (of Heaven).

Me: Yeah. And like, he feels he needs it. When he cut off connections with Heaven he started reporting his good deeds to Crowley. He basically doesn’t know how to live without being an Angel working to Heaven.

Them: I think that’s a bit normal. Crowley is the kind of person that after a relationship is “Ok. Dead end”. But Azi has a sort of dependency.

Me: Yes. When both cut off connections it seemed like everything would be alright and that Aziraphale had finally understood how Heaven was. But the moment that was offered to him the opportunity to change Heaven from inside, all of that was lost.

Them: I even thought he would leave it there because he was doing some things out of line. BUT NO. Like, I get it that he wants to change it, but that would take millions of years. And maybe it would never happen.

Me: Unfortunately he believes a lot on everyone’s goodness and the greater good. He actually believes that the system is broken. But the thing is that the system is working exactly how it should and he doesn’t realize it.

Them: Exactly. It was like Crowley said. Both Heaven and Hell are toxic. It’s not for nothing that Gabriel and Beelzebub ran off.

Me: Yessss. And Aziraphale saw they could live without them. But on the other hand they couldn’t live on Earth and would always be hiding or running away. And not just that. He isn’t selfish to the point of grabbing the opportunity of being happy with Crowley in another place if he knows Earth and the people are in danger. Because Hell and Heaven still want the end of the world. He wants to do good. He wants to solve things. Even if it costs his own happiness. Because he said he didn’t want to go back to Heaven.

Them: YESSSS. Like, I understand both sides.

Me: Me too.

Them: But I’m sad.

Me: Sorry.

[actual-changeling]

I remember reading somewhere that Neil said the kiss wasn't about lust and I disagree, at least in part, because there is plenty of love-emotional lust between these two. What do you think? Is there physical lust as well ? Also, do you think by the end of S3 we could see Aziraphale Fall (could he actually choose to Fall?), and become a demon ?

Even though some people treat it as such, Neil's opinions aren't the gospel truth and not canon either. The show as it is—everything we can see and hear on screen—is our canon to work with, and while Neil definitely has a unique position when it comes to interpretation and analysis, his thoughts aren't automatically the only correct option.

In short, whatever he retrospectively says about the kiss is simply another possible interpretation of that scene.

'Show not tell' is an important principle in writing, and I think in a way it also applies to here; we have what we see, and telling us what supposedly happened is not the same as writing and producing the episodes.

Personally, I do think their attraction has a sexual & physical aspect to it, and the kiss is an expression of everything Crowley feels towards Aziraphale, including lust/desire/whatever you wanna call it.

Regarding Aziraphale's celestial status—I really hope that we do not get a "he chooses to fall" situation since it would cheapen not just Crowley's traumatic fall but that of every single fallen angel. The point is that falling was not a choice, it was a punishment, and going against heaven does not automatically degrades you or changes your (metaphysical) nature.

Making Aziraphale fall now would also serve no actual purpose. Heaven has ways of punishing angels just like hell does, and while the fall was definitely a deeply physically painful experience, the symbolism of it was just as important.

Make one angel fall and the most you get is that one angel now being in hell.

Make millions of angels fall after forcing them to fight in a war against the other half of the family and effectively remove them from their home & God's love, and you get not just collective punishment but a heaven full of angels absolutely terrified of being subjected to the same thing.

The control heaven has is largely based on fear—a fear that was justified, but is no longer validated by actual experience. Consorting with hell is second nature to the Archangels, that has never been the problem, it's breaking the rules & going against the Great Plan that angers them.

Honestly, I am not entirely sure that Neil will be able to fix the fallout of season two in six episodes, and I wouldn't want him to cheapen the story by trying to rush a fairytale ending. If Aziraphale falls, I want it to be a punishment, not a choice. I want him to go through the exact same pain as everyone else because contrary to popular believe, he is not God's Special Boy; he's an average angel with average status and a shitton of luck and time on earth that he didn't use.

Aziraphale had six thousand years to choose to fall, but he never did. He prioritized his personal comfort and heaven's opinion of him over everything else, and Crowley should have drawn a line so much earlier than he did. If Aziraphale wanted to choose Crowley over heaven, he would have by now, but he hasn't, and everything he does now is something he COULD have done earlier—but Crowley was simply not important enough to him to do it while he was still co-dependent on Aziraphale.

This is a situation of "I asked you to stop hurting me but you never did & now suddenly after the break-up you are doing all the things I have been asking you to do for years".

To quote the Good Place once again: [They were] always capable of change, [Crowley] just wasn't worth changing for.

[kaelyx-zac01]

I've seen a lot of Aziraphale hate after the S2 finale -- furious that he chose Heaven over Crowley -- which is TERRIBLY ANNOYING because a lot of people seem to miss the events that led up to the tragic finalé.

Because, let's get one thing straight: Aziraphale was only excited to go to Heaven upon knowing he could be with Crowley there.

Aziraphale literally outright rejects the Megatron's request almost immediately. He didn't want to go to heaven. He loved Earth. He has come to enjoy the delights that our world offers. "Where will I get my coffee?" perfectly exemplified that Aziraphale has grown attached to our world and the life, the home he and Crowley had built for themselves. It is only when the Metatron brought up the idea that Crowley and him could be angels together that Aziraphale accepts the offer.

And let's not forget that, the scene before that, Aziraphale was THREATENED to be erased from the Book of Life by Michael. Metatron came in like a saving grace and presented him with an opportunity to escape that threat, to possibly change things, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, have Crowley with him safely as well.

Did people not see how DESPERATE Aziraphale was to make Crowley come with him? He literally breaks down as he says "I need you." Because HE DOES NEED CROWLEY. He literally reconsiders his decision after Crowley's rejection. Crowley wouldn't be with him anymore. And, he is the one he wants to bring with him to Heaven, more than any book or object in his life. Their home isn't the earthly life they built --- it's each other. And in Aziraphale's eyes, Heaven will only be home if Crowley's with him.

Lastly, Aziraphale is literally an angel at heart. He still likes to do good deeds despite not having to. He likes telling about these deeds to other people, particularly Crowley after they retired from their respective divisions. More importantly, Aziraphale is a believer in the fundamental good in all people and beings. Which is not naivety. I think after the Apocalypse incident, Aziraphale isn't limited anymore by duty to see things as black and white anymore. But, of course, he still believes in doing good. And I think most importantly, he still believes that Heaven should represent what it ought to.

That's where his similarities end with Crowley. While Crowley is too disillusioned with the system to think of the possibility of change, Aziraphale isn't. And as someone who also saw the errors in the system, Aziraphale was hoping Crowley would be happy to help him change that. This time, he wouldn't live in fear of falling as a demon again. This time, Crowley's suggestions wouldn't be a cause for worry. Aziraphale will always welcome them as his second-in-command. And most importantly, the threat of the Book of Life will be kept far from both of them. Which goes to show that Aziraphale wasn't wrong to choose Heaven. And sorry, but I don't think he deserves to do an apology dance either.

Honestly, I get why people don't see Aziraphale's side that much. The first time I watched S2E6, I was slightly hoping Aziraphale would change his mind and miraculously appear in Crowley's car. Nevertheless, hating on Aziraphale just shows how much of the ending's nuance flew over these people's head. Did the ending hurt? Like hell, of course. But, would I want it to end in any other way? Fuck no. Let these two idiots pine for one another. Let longing break their masks and allow their characters and their relationship to mature and develop. I'm sure that whatever Neil has for us in S3 will make all the angst ever so worth it

[theonevoice]

Rumination n. 5 - Is the Metatron the skylark from Romeo and Juliet (and are we going to cry)?

I don't know if someone has already pointed this out, but I think I stumbled upon something regarding the Metatron (may he step on legos for the rest of his eternal existence).

I was in the middle of one my regular cycles of Neil Gaiman Cultural References Game appreciation, thinking of how much Romeo-and-Juliet-like is our ineffable husbands- love story. The parallel is obvious: forbidden love between two members of families in violent open conflict, side characters constantly stepping in and adding fuel to the fire, a masquerade ball (you know, where everyone shows up in different clothes than usual), a secret encounter in the garden... even a nightingale that doesn't sing, because the long-awaited night of love has come to an end and in place of a nightingale now a skylark is singing, and its song tears the lovers apart.

And then it struck me.

In classical, medieval, and romantic immagination, the skylark is the symbol of the Triumph of Good over Evil, and many cultures consider it a messenger from the gods. Are you seeing what I'm seeing?

Look at how Percy Bysshe Shelly describes the skylark:

Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! Bird thou never wert, That from Heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. Higher still and higher From the earth thou springest Like a cloud of fire; [...] Like a star of Heaven, In the broad day-light Thou art unseen, but yet I hear thy shrill delight, [...] Better than all measures Of delightful sound, Better than all treasures That in books are found, Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground!

Am I spiraling, or does it ring a bell? A metaphisical bird "like a cloud of fire" (reminder that the Holy Spirit, alternative form of God's voice, is canonically depicted in art as a bird, often a flaming one) that speaks "from Heaven, or near it" (like as God or almost, remember "you are the voice of the Almighty in the same way as a presidential spokesman is the voice of the President") and pours mezmerizing melodies from above. A bird that cannot be seen but only heard, as if it was pure voice, that scorns the earth and can mysteriously entrance you with spellbinding promises that are better than "all treasures that in books are found."

And who is casually popping up early in the morning, after the long-awaited night of love and dancing (and occasional demon smiting) has come to an end, singing a mesmerizing song (the offer of restoring Crowley to his former angelic status) that is better than books and silences the nightingale, if not the Voice of God, harald of capital-G-Good, freaking Metatron himself?

My friends, I want to trust Neil Gaiman when he says that everything will be ok but, in perfect "it must get worse before it gets better" style, I am afraid that we are going to witness a nearly Romeo and Juliet double death ending that will scare the living daylight out of us. 

Maybe Juliet-Crowley (Juliet is the one who wants Romeo to ignore the skylark, remember?) will be threaten with a permanent imprisonment in Hell (like the forced wedding of Juliet with Paris) and will have to fake his own death in order to leave his old lot behind once and for all, possibly involving fake holy water in place of Friar Laurence's fake death potion. Maybe a fatal miscommunication (I don't need to explain why miscommunication is plausible in this scenario) will lead Aziraphale-Romeo, coming back from Heaven (where he went after almost declaring war on the opposite side, much like Romeo went to Mantua after killing the Capulet Tybalt) just a moment too late and incorrectly informed, to believe that the love of his life is gone for real and to contemplate his own death, possibly throwing himself on his own flaming sword or willingly stepping into hellfire.

I will be honest, I can see Neil Gaiman pulling a shakespearian move on them (and on us). And, as someone said just before a bomb fell on a certain group of people in 1941, it will take a real miracle for them to survive it.

[thegenvyisreal]

Good Omens Season 2 Episode 6 Thoughts (for real this time)

Let's just take this chronologically so I can lose my mind at the end.

Crowley in heaven! What a dork! He looks lovely I hope SO MANY PPL cosplay him.

OKAY. OKAY LISTEN. I know we never got Crowley's angelic name but that demon was a SERAPH I WILL NOT BE TAKING QUESTIONS. I AM A RAPHAEL!CROWLEY TRUTHER AND WILL BE SO UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE.

He's so powerful! Someone on here pointed out that when Gabriel in the recording said he was the only supreme (or level 1 or something?) archangel in heaven it panned immediately to Crowley. MY MAN. MY GIRL. CROWLEY IS SO IMPORTANT!!

Throwing encyclopedias at the demons and Aziraphale wincing, boy I feel you.

And shax made fun of Zira for liking food?? Okay fat shamer! Get fucked!

Wartime Halo Demon Bomb?? Great band name.

Crowley defusing a war with just saying "no, bad, do NOT"? The power he has!!

OMG

INEFFABLE

BUREAUCRACY

First of all, I THOUGHT the fly was a Beelzebub thing! I just didn't think it had Gabriel's memories in it.

Their little love story was cute, but explain to me HOW we were supposed to deduce why the jukebox is the way it is or WHY Gabe lost his memories without the Bureaucracy exposition??? NEIL YOU WANTED US TO FIGURE IT OUT BUT HOW???

Good for them for going off together but it's just so SILLY how THEY get to have that and our duo DON'T. I do not like it.

Okay. Let's get on with it.

So I DON'T get my angsty finale, but I do get something INFINITELY WORSE.

Maggie and Nina coming to Crowley to tell him what's up. Good for them!

Nina calling Maggie Angel I ALMOST FELL OUT OF MY CHAIR

Hell yes Derek Jacobi you're so lovely but I want to punch the Metatron in the FACE.

Why on earth would you get Zira THAT coffee?? He doesn't drink coffee!! Is this some power trip?? Is there SOMETHING IN THE COFFEE???

Aziraphale. Sweetie. Darling. Dear boy. You're so STUPID.

Crowley being like, I need to tell you this right now or I may never be able to say it. And Zira like, hold that thought! YOU RUDE LITTLE BITCH LET HIM SPEAK.

Aziraphale. WHY. WHY DO YOU INSIST THAT HEAVEN IS SO WONDERFUL AND GOOD!!! THEY SUCK!! THEY HURT PEOPLE!! YOU LITERALLY LIED TO THEM ABOUT JOB'S KIDS CUZ YOU KNEW THEY WERE WRONG!! WHY DO YOU KEEP DEFENDING THEM!!

Crowley confessing. Begging Aziraphale not to do this. Aziraphale not understanding why Crowley WOULDN'T want to do this. ZIRA AFTER EVERYTHING CROWLEY'S BEEN THRU YOU WANT HIM TO GO BACK TO HIS ABUSIVE FAMILY???

The kiss.

My heart shattered.

I've been waiting for this moment for over a month, and I got it in the WORST POSSIBLE WAY. Crowley's desperation, Aziraphale not knowing how to react. Not reacting at all. Crowley kissed him and he just stood there.

Sidebar: I KNOW that Aziraphale KNOWS that he's in love with Crowley. He KNEW in 1941. You dumbass. You imbecile. You fucker. Why.

"I forgive you".

LITERALLY MURDER ME

I want to understand him. I am Aziraphale-coded for sure. But I guess I'm also Crowley-coded?? Idk what to do with my feelings.

The WAY he SAYS the line. The ACTING from Michael. Bravo bb. THE WAY. HE SAYS IT. MY HEART IS ALREADY TORN OUT AND NOW YOU PUT IT THRU A MEAT GRINDER.

Excuse me Zira I have one question:

WHAT.

ON EARTH.

DOES HE NEED TO BE FORGIVEN FOR.

YOU ABSOLUTE TWAT.

I'm gonna commit multiple crimes.

Crowley just standing there HEARTBROKEN. He LOVES THAT ANGEL SO MUCH. HE WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR HIM. I'M GONNA MCFUCKING LOSE IT.

And he just walks out. And Aziraphale looks just as broken. I hate it. I hate it I hate it I hate it.

And after EVERYTHING. Crowley still waits by his car. Waits to see if Aziraphale will come to his senses and come back for him. But he doesn't. Zira even LOOKS BACK AT HIM before going into the elevator. How DARE you. How FUCKING DARE YOU YOU COWARD.

And you know??? You know what really gets to me?? You know what really cooks my noodle?? Besides the "I forgive you"???

Aziraphale's face journey in the elevator. How it lands, at the end, on a horrific smile. Bless Michael's acting skills cuz that is a horrible smile.

And Crowley just feels nothing. Completely broken. Like all of us.

I get it. I GET THE PRIDE AND PREJUDICE PARALLELS. @sycophantastic pointed it out, that it's a 3-act structure, and I know this is the "dark night of the soul" portion of the hero's journey. I GET. IT. I still hate it.

It took me forever to get to sleep last night. Like an hour and a half. Cuz my brain wouldn't shut up. And I dreamt about them. And it was awful and sad. And NOW we're going to a friend's house to watch the whole thing with her for the first time. Again. I have to endure this again.

I need QUITE EXTRAORDINARY AMOUNTS OF ALCOHOL.

[justkingwolf]

There is something up with Good Omens and memory

Spoilers for GO2 under the cut

Obviously, the big one in season 2 is Gabriel. First the Metatron says they are taking away his memories and demoting him, and then he stores his own memories in the fly Beelzebub gifted him to escape that. We all know about that one.

But there's a running theme of memory in GO2 that feels like it MUST be some kind of hint or clue or foreshadowing.

Multiple characters mention remembering Crowley from Before The Fall, or during it, but he doesn't remember them at ALL? One minor character he doesn't remember wouldn't really stand out, but it happens more than once and the other characters seem surprised he doesn't remember. And I'm surprised too, because he usually has IMPECCABLE memory. Both him and Aziraphale do. They both remember Wee Morag and Mr Dalrymple, he remembers the EXACT words Gabriel said to Job, he and Aziraphale are constantly chatting about random little bits of history they remember - so why doesn't he remember these other angels/demons he knew?

Now you COULD say it's because his memory of Before is fuzzy, but it's clearly not because he remembers all the stars he helped make, he remembers Heaven's password for looking at classified files, he remembers other things he worked on as an angel, but he doesn't remember other beings he knew?

He also remembers that they made gravity for a reason, but when Jim asks him why he pauses and then... can't remember why.

I've read the Book of Life theory and it could work, but also I'm not entirely convinced, especially because we know nothing about how it works in universe, but we DO know that Heaven is capable of altering memories.

The more I rewatch the season the more little things kind of scratch at the back of my mind like "Huh, that's weird. It is weird, right? Right, it's weird." and they pay SUCH close attention to detail with Good Omens that it cannot be coincidence. Neil loves throwing us breacdrumbs and watching us lose our minds over them.

It's entirely possible that it's a red herring and truly Crowley just forgot, but it seems OFF.

There is SOMETHING off about Memory in Good Omens 2 and I am convinced that someone, somehow, has been fucking around with memories. To what end? No idea. But probably to the end goal of splitting up Crowley and Aziraphale. Those two have proven that when they team up they both can and will go to extreme lengths to protect what they care about (Earth, humans, their little hobbies and trinkets, each other) and that miracle they performed together? They were actively attempting to only perform the TINIEST little half-a-miracle and somehow managed to perform one that was more powerful than even most Archangels can manage, imagine the kind of thing they could do if they were both really trying to do a BIG miracle together?

Not the kind of thing you want to happen if you want things to go back to setting off a Final War, having the 2 beings responsible for helping stop the last one prancing about together blissfully performing inconceivably powerful miracles.

There were plenty more instances of memory being unclear in this season, enough that it forms a Theme and gets you going "Huh...", and I swear that some memories were tampered with. Even the memories we hear and see about seemed... just slightly off. Like little things could have perhaps been edited after the fact.

The main one for me being when Crowley tempts Aziraphale into trying the oxen. Why'd he do that? It's framed in a kind of... almost sinister way? Like he's REALLY trying to convince Aziraphale that he's going to Fall for this, and then when Aziraphale is upset about it later on thinking he's a demon now, he laughs at him, and it feels way more mean spirited than we're used to Crowley being. And it kind of goes against everything else he does in that minisode. Saving Job's goats and children. He's actively thwarting things so he doesn't have to murder innocents, while trying to convince Aziraphale he's going to Fall? It's ODD.

Similarly, when he saves Elspeth from ending her own life after the death of Wee Morag, we see he's dragged to hell presumably for punishment but like... he didn't do anything particularly good? Sure he saved Elspeth, but it's not like she was a powerful person who's soul hell would really want, she was just a poor person trying to survive, why would hell care that much? They'd be more likely to send someone to go tell him off instead of immediately drag him to hell for unspoken terrible things to happen to him because of it, and he's done MUCH bigger Good Things before and since that they haven't cared about, so... what if that memory was also altered? Not much, just a little, just enough to make it all murky.

All the flashback scenes had something to do with their relationship changing a bit during each of those moments in time. Job - Finding loop holes in their orders to do what they're told but only technically. Ressurectionists - Good and Bad is not Black and White, especially not when applied to humans, and sometimes things that LOOK Bad are actually done for Good reasons, and vice versa, and learning to recognise them. Nazi zombies - Working together is dangerous BUT ultimately they can always trust that they will look out for each other no matter what. Aziraphale trusted Crowley entirely with the gun during the "magic" trick, and Crowley trusted Aziraphale entirely when he very clearly did NOT freak out about being caught. He knows what Scared Aziraphale looks and sounds like, and he didn't know what he did while they talked with Furfur but he didn't talk or act like Scared Aziraphale so he trusted him.

Altering those memories would also alter very subtle things they each remember from those times, and if their memories were messed about with it makes sense that they'd be more susceptible to Suggestion, and they sure were at the end there - ESPECIALLY Aziraphale. Poor angel was put through a crash course in every single bit of trauma he has from how he was treated by heaven in like 30 minutes by the Metatron.

It's all WEIRD and ODD and this show is SO GOOD at subtle storytelling.

[plantyboii28]

Finsihed GO2 yesterday and its taken me a while to put my thoughts into words but heres my (very long) takeaway from the end of s2:

[spoilers for the last 15 mins of 2.06 beneath the cut]

Whilst neil's 'quiet, gentle and romantic' feels now somewhat misleading i think it is accurate in a sense; its quieter than season one at least. Season one is more about these external pressures - it's the end of the world, obviously - but our focus really for much of the series is on aziraphale and crowley's relationship and how those pressures and that situation changes their relationship: pulls their desire to be with eachother, to be 'on their own side' into the open. And that's great, you know, that spurs on their relationship, but I think the conflixts of series 2 are - at least definitely by the end - far more internal, and whilst thats upsetting, I think its important because it exposes some of the flaws in their relationship, the things that they fundamentally dont align with eachother on. As nina and maggie point out, in all the 6000 years they've been spending time with eachother they dont properly communicate, they dont talk about their real feelings and perceptions of eachother, of heaven, of hell, etc.

What that final scene really shows is that aziraphale, whilst i dont think he is under any illusion about how cruel and flawed heaven can be, he still believes that angels are (or can be), and crucially that he is 'one of the good guys', and he cant get past this idea that hell and demons are 'the bad guys'. The part of crowley that he is really drawn to is his kindness, his refusal to actively harm people, and i think aziraphale doesnt understand how crowley wouldnt jump at the chance to be an angel again, he doesnt understand that falling affected crowley, it changed him - i think aziraphale almost wants crowley to go back to being that angel that we see at the start of series 2. In his eyes, what the metatron is offering him is the best possible solution, he can try to fix heaven himself from the inside - so that he can make a difference and protect both himself and crowley - and he can have crowley by his side as an angel, as one of the good guys.

Crowley on the other hand doesnt want that - he's done with heaven and hell alike, in fact he's very self-centred: not in the sense he only cares about himself, but his care only really extends to himself and aziraphale. And we see that throughout both series: hes ready to abandon the earth and go off to alpha centauri with aziraphale, and than this season with his reluctance at helping gabriel - hes so set on this idea of runninh away and he refuses to accept that aziraphale isnt ready to let go of heaven. Running away has never interested aziraphale, he doesnt want to abandon the earth - but crowley doesnt listen to that. The problem in this scene is that neither of them actually listen to what the other one is proposing.

I think, it's easy, or its very possible to come out of that final scene feeling like aziraphale is in the wrong - crowley has confessed his feelings and aziraphale's 'rejected' him, but actually thats not what happening at all. Throughout the scene, both of them are very clear that they love eachother, they want to be with eachother: see crowley's 'we could be an us' but also aziraphale's 'i need you... come with me'. So what they're disagreeing on is not the possibility of their relationship, its the circumstance.

And then... the kiss. The kiss is such a beautiful moment for me, not because i think its positive in any way, i actually think its almost uncomfortable to watch - you can see aziraphale recoiling almost, and yes theres a bit of a internal battle there as he goes to put his arms around crowley and then stops himself, but when they pull apart you can see he's almost angry. He wants it, yes, but hes angry at crowley for going about it in that way, at that moment. And that kiss, really its not a grand romantic gesture, its not a 'ive been hiding these feelings and this is the only way i can express them' - crowley's desperate, hes angry and this is really his last ditch effort, to tempt aziraphale, really. It's almost manipulative, its using something that couldve been beautiful, couldve been something they both wanted for a long time to bring aziraphale around to his side - to say 'look, look at what you're giving up here'.

Essentially, they have spent literally thousands of years failing to talk to eachother and a fall out like this (whilst it was absolutely devastating) is sort of required before they can truly be together.

[shoemakerobstetrician]

One of the most intimate, romantic Aziraphale/Crowley fanfics I’ve ever read, with nary even a kiss:

Take My Hand, Take My Whole Life Too

Set the night after the world didn’t end, in Crowley’s flat, before the switch.

By @thebibliosphere

Apologies for the nightmare of link text that follows, ignore it. I just can’t seem to get Tumblr to show a simple link on the iPhone app! 🤬

Archiveofourown.org/works/19288561

<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/19288561"><strong>Take My Hand, Take My Whole Life Too</strong></a> (2724 words) by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebibliosphere"><strong>Demorra</strong></a><br />Chapters: 1/1<br />Fandom: <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Good%20Omens%20(TV)">Good Omens (TV)</a>, <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Good%20Omens%20-%20Neil%20Gaiman%20*a*%20Terry%20Pratchett">Good Omens - Neil Gaiman &amp; Terry Pratchett</a><br />Rating: General Audiences<br />Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply<br />Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)<br />Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens)<br />Additional Tags: hello it is me, back on my tooth rotting fluff bullshit, I have no idea if this counts as hurt/comfort, but just in case, Hurt/Comfort, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), Choosing Sides, Missing Moments, they're having a moment<br />Summary: <p>He didn’t want to think about the bookshop. It hurt in a way that was entirely too visceral to be angelic, and entirely too earth shattering to be human. It was the love of several hundred years, burned up in an instant. It shouldn’t have mattered, not if he were truly angelic. But he shed a few silent tears anyway and felt somewhat better for it. All things considered, it wasn’t the end of the world.</p><p>No, that had been much more complicated.</p><p>And yet, somehow so very mundanely human. No great battle, no heavenly sounding of horns or hordes of demons. Just a choice, a choice not between Good and Evil, but between darkness and light, hope and despair, fear and… and love…</p>

[majoringinsarcasm]

Ineffable Rewatch: S2E1: The Arrival (aka so much happened in universe in like the span of 12 hours max)

Angel! Crowley is the cutest thing in the world. Worked closely with Upstairs about the design of her nebula and also seemingly had no idea that it was going to be “\shut down” in about 6.000 years.

Aziraphale introduces themselves but gets none in return. They know about the end of the world Timestamps as well as about where Earth is going to be and the current designs for the humans.

I’m not up to date on my Bible lore but I know different angels as well as demons get put in charge of different things. Seems Crowley was a creator, specializing in the stars and the galaxy, and I’ve seen a poster or something going around on Twitter that describes Azira as a cherub, which Neil in a post said it meant a new angel and not the high ranking kind of cherub. In short Azira is a baby angel with the biggest instant crush ever and Angel! Crowley works high enough to make the stars, but didn’t pay attention when they were talking about humans and Earth. Probably due to lack of interest rather than not having clearance to hear about them.

In season 1, God in the voiceover said Crowley was the only demon who had imagination. Her reason for falling, asking questions and pointing out how things didn’t make sense and wanting explanations for things others just went along with, seemed to carry over into demonhood. Because you need to be able to rebel against what you’re told and what you see in order to imagine something different in the first place.

Angel! Crowley also sees the stars as having a purpose outside of human involvement. “It’s not just put here to twinkle!”

Also jumping ahead an episode or two but. “If I was the one running it all I’d like it if people asked questions. Fresh point of view.” And with Azira saying “I remember the angel you were” maybe that carried over to the end. Accepting the job in Heaven and taking Crowley so they can make the changes Crowley talked about long ago.

Shax checking in with Crowley is not allowed. Hell doesn’t keep a close eye on its people but it’s still not an accepted thing she’s doing. They also replaced Crowley but Heaven didn’t replace Aziraphale. Hmmmm

Heaven has not talked to Azira since the end of the world didn’t happen. He does not report to them, but it’s implied he hasn’t done any big miracles since Heaven can still sense them or monitor them.

Nina remembers her regulars, which having worked in food service, same

Heaven operates under strict rules but they could also be self regulated. Uriel and Michael can’t replace or take over for Gabriel right now. Everyone on that side seems to be in a chokehold half of their own making.

Bentley has a car phone which I don’t know if I noticed in the first season but I think it was the same back then. Wonder if that’s a different number than the cellphone or if Az is just telling his shop phone to call the car itself.

They know each other so well it hurts. Crowley can tell what’s up based on the tone of his voice. Also I think Az wanted something to calm Crowley down bc he knew the news would upset him.

“Is this something I can help you with?” And Az’s little shrug followed by Crowley downing the espresso and leading them out of the coffee shop. “Doing good again, angel?” was just cute to me

Maggie my sweet she just like me for real I did not do much as a teenager.

Crowley never needing his glasses in the bookshop because he doesn’t need to hide his eyes and also feels comfortable there. Wah

“Do we know a Jim?” The combined lives of the two of them are there from the start!!! It’s we need to get him out, get him far away from us. And when Crowley switches to “the life I carved out for myself” Azira hits him with the “I thought we carved it out for Ourselves” because for the last few years it really has been We Ours Us. They were already Us you see.

Crowley and her foot stomping tantrum bc she doesn’t have an outlet for her anger. once again she’s me. Also letting off lightning, demon power or Crowley power? Could she do that in Heaven too? She makes rain later on is that just a regular miracle thing or special weather affinity?

“I feel like your exactly and my exactly are different” foreshadowing for the end with “Nothing lasts forever” being taken two very different ways. Just the way they understand each other So Well All The Time but when it’s very important they make assumptions or miss the mark on what the other means

Azira refusing to look at Crowley when she’s in pouty wife mode / devastated by emotions and can’t process mode

“Just breathe that’s what humans do” this season really plays with how humans work and how the occult beings act like them. Anger, love, office bullshit

“There is no question of replacing the supreme archangel” AND FUCKING YET

Muriel sweet baby bean hello dear. 37th order scrivener. Wonder if the higher ranking ones deal with more sensitive documents?

OK SO might make a longer post about this later but they are NOT YET FREE OF HELL OR HEAVEN. For the simple fact that Beezelbub can just appear in the Bentley and the angels can just come to the bookshop. They are called traitors and so far have been ignored but as of episode one they can still be called upon and interrupted. Being on their own side means nothing in practice because the people they are wanting to escape from can still keep tabs on them.

THERE IS SO MUCH ANGEL CROWLEY LORE AND JUST CASUAL TALK also scaring the cherubs (new angels) with made up punishments. Azira was hinted at being a cherub. No wonder they’re so broken for so long. Who knows how many fake things they were told in the beginning especially after angels started falling.

So anyway Book of Life drama in season three I’m watching for you

PROTECTIVE CROWLEY THIS ENTIRE SEASON YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS

Maggie doesn’t drink. This is not significant I just enjoy her so much she is just chilling with her crush who she just learned is taken she’s lonely she’s sweet and awkward I love her

When good old fashioned lover boy started playing I Lost My Mind

They are sooooooo petty wives during the apology dance but. Az apologizing so much in the past I need to see them do the dance in period clothing please please please

1650, 1793, 1941 that popular year

THEY ARE SO POWERFUL TOGETHER??? Like maybe it’s bc they had Gabriel as a channeling rod and I say that because the laser indicator thing was purple and Gabe’s eyes are purple but I saw some people say it could be their combined power colors (Az as blue and Crowley as red)

Az Looking away as Crowley speaks only to snap back to attention when they say We Do It Together like

Heaven. Hates. Aziraphale. At least Michael and Uriel do uggggh get her outta there.

But also the petty energy with Michael and Uriel is So Funny to me.

Also I know we’re seeing the office of Heaven. But is there an outside the angels can go to or is Heaven just an office and the view is just for decoration I must know!

Michael also calls Az a former angel but I know this is meant symbolically bc Az was not made human it’s just interesting to see how ppl refer to them now

This episode sets up A Lot and smoothly leads into the next one. The shared life stuff and all the We stuff made me even more crazy now that I can process it. Angel Crowley lore knocked me on my ass and all the hints through the rest of the season has me eating my fingers. James, long for Jim, short for Gabriel. Loved that like it’s very fun to say.

[dastardly-ethereal-love]

New idea - share my comment on the last chapter of Good Omens FanFic that moved me with the link. The past two days I have been consumed by Driving in the Dark by Sarah_hadeschild on AO3. I’m not the same person I was two days ago. I want to try and find my long lost brother and I want to have more of an honest conversation with my husband who I’ve been separated from for a year and a bit. I want to keep working at life. I want to give hope a chance. I want to not let things pass me by because I’m scared. I want to trust there is enough love inside me to hold myself up through big risks and that I deserve any rewards that come my way.

Big damn feelings.

That’s why I’m sharing this and want to start a thing because I don’t want to forget how this story made me feel.

Below is my essay of a last comment:

Oh my… did you mean to wreck us? Did you mean to find every crevice and crack in our hearts and press hope into them? Did you want to say that it is possible to love happily ever after? I have yet to see it in reality but I’m still relatively young, I guess… only 38. Haha I remember being that full of love and hope and springtime flowers. Haha I remember being okay with shadows and darkness and then learning to walk in the light and be comfortable in both spaces because there was hope and love in my hands.

Bloody hell.

I have lost a lot over the years but I have found a lot too. I feel like I’m starting out again in many ways after a marriage I had for over 10 years ended. But the idea that “No act of love is ever wasted” really is ringing true. In every circumstance that is always true. It’s a wonderful thing to hold onto even when people around you let you down and hurt you. Even when you mess up yourself.

The idea of Aziraphale and Crowley getting their cottage and growing grey hairs and ultimately them both dying and their book remaining behind. The present tense for his name… Angel because he will always be an Angel - here on Earth or in Heaven. Damn. You are really ripping my heart out. All of it… it makes me shake and cry and yeah. Feel big feelings. Haha

I don’t think I can walk away from this story without being a bit changed. I mean, what we read in our free time mean stuff? According to Wilde? Haha I’m so obsessed with these ineffable husbands… trying to work out why shouldn’t be too hard because the themes all but shout at you. I want them to live, to love, to see each others goodness and see their own and heal. I want God and everything that holds them apart to get out of the way and let them rest. It’s like, they saved the world from Armageddon… but they don’t get a break. Isn’t that just like life? Ha! So I live vicariously through them but they are angels and demons and you made them humans and it’s way more real.

<3 Thanks for sharing your words with the world