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tenok · 2 months

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Today I saw this ask:

and I want say it without being mean, in absolutely happy tone, because yes thank you I'm overjoed we have this discussion moving: yes!!! Yes you are, you misundestood not only Aziraphale’s, but also Crowley’s character, and that makes them both bland!

The whole point of Good Omens is about shades of grey, remember? We had it stated sever times in canon. It doesen’t mean «pure good Crowley makes pure evil Aziraphale better person». It means that they both are absolutely not perfect, and it’s what makes then human, and it what makes them actually better, because perfection leads to uniformity and they are so so unique!

Crowley’s not jumping to saving every soul he see. Even from the start! Before the beginning? He loves his stars, not concerned for some monkeys that would look at them! (which is absolutely normal! Why he should care?). Adam and Eve? He’s nervous because he wasn’t expecting such harsh punishment for some dumb apple, he thinks it’s unfair, he's willing to discuss it with Aziraphale — which doesen’t want to discuss anything, but he also can’t stand to see humans suffering when he can do something. He’s the one that selflessly and not thinking about how it will hit him back jumps to help! Great Flood? They both stands there, just watching, and yes, Crowley argues that it’s unfair again, but Aziraphale’s not there with «oh it’s actually fine :)» smile as some people insist — he’s worried too and, and things he quote sounds awfully as something heavens would say to the one angel that immediatly asked «but surely we can’t kill everyone??». He’s quoting it because he have nothing else to say, not for Crowley, not for himself. And they both can only watch. Christ? Again, they’re not jumping to save, they watch.

(side note, but I think people just don’t get how important it is. We live in awful times, there’s so much war and death around, and you can do only an itty bitty things to help but it’s not enough, and it can crush you if you’re alone. I would’ve end in hospital or in prison two years ago if there wasn’t a friend that shared all this with me. And they had each other. That's the bond that stronger than any romantic love)

Next three flashback are not about helping anyone (although let’s remember that Arragemet wasn’t some noble plan, it was about two lazy cowokers finding a way to do less work and hang out more! it’s important too! they’re lazy and selfish and want to live in forever vacation, which is mood). Then our favorite Bastillie scene — now they both watch the executioner being dragged to be killed. No one of them did something to stop it, although they could’ve, you know, just leave him there naked or something. Because nah, sometimes they both just don't care (and I want to point it too: kindness, when you do it correctly, shouldn't be only to nice people you like. Sometime you help a nasty person. Or your abusive ex-boss. But also sometime you're there for the date and you don't want to be kind to some dumb human that's so happy to kill others)

Edinburg? Yep. Crowley loves Elspbeth immediatly, because she’s doing something naughty, she’s cheeky and she makes Aziraphale fret. So he helps her… to dig the body. Which is fine, again, he finds it all amusing and he’s not concerned for this girl safety or livehood. He’s in good mood and he wants to party and maybe theoretically discuss God’s cruelty with his angel. But Aziraphale sees the nice poor girl that made choices that can cost her ethernity in afterlife, and he tries to help! And look, he's not saying she just should drop everything and pray, he's actually trying to brainshtorm what she can do insted of evil naughty thins! As living human that needs to eat! Like, he’s there asking absolutely normal questions for someone who didn’t get accustomed to industrialisation and early stage capitalism yet (he’s slow, ok, although I’m mad because remember that this dialog was in book? and it was a thousand years earlier? and it was a Crowley who took a whole year to understant that it’s unfair while Aziraphale knew this and was like, well, it’s party line, what are you expected? why they shifted context so much). In the world where no one was killed Crowley would help her with body and go back to drinking or something, lefting her to dig another body next evening and live like this forever. But Aziraphale’s the one that wants to change that!! Go through episode, read the lines, look at their faces without being attached to fanon Jesus-like Crowley and you’ll see the one being that knows that the system is fucked and doing nothing to change it and the other not understanding system wholly but being willing to bend the rules and eventually risk his life to help — and I want to point it hard — NOT innocent human! She’s a street rat, she’s a grave robber (and Crowley understands why it’s bad more than Aziraphale, until the «it’s different when it’s someone you know» moment, but still he was in favor of digging bodies), she’s not deserving of help by heaven’s standarts, and still Aziraphale’s willing to risk falling, again, for her and her human lover! (THAT'S foreshadowing much, huh? HUH?) And that’s when Crowley understands: oh, shit, it’s not funny for him! It’s not just a lesson on morality! He’s really really can get punished if he do something stupid now!

Remember that second point of season was «stop messing with humans please»? That’s where it’s started, arguably.

So, like, yes, Crowley obliviously wasn’t planning to save Elpsbeth in any way until Aziraphale was willig to do it first. And why you need it to be different? We already know that Crowley’s nice deep inside. He doesn’t do anything bad there, even. It’s not a slander to his character. There’s billions of humans he — or Aziraphale — doesn’t help every day. Crowley accustomed to this, that’s the point. But then Aziraphale’s doing something risky (again, that’s his whole deal: sword, this scene, ditching his platoon and diving on earth, the nimb bomb — all done [or almost done] in defiance of heavens and for the humanity, all by his own, without Crowley’s influence! You don’t need to take this from him and stuff good qualities into Crowley until he’s absolutely flattens, Aziraphale doing something good is not stealing goodness from Crowley!).

Also remember 1941? The ones where Aziraphale wants to take down the nazi spies while Crowley smuggles alcohol? It’s the same pattern! Crowley don’t want to be mistaken for nazi (so he changes his shirt), but he’s not involved in any anti-nazi work (we talks about canon there, you can have headcanons, I sure do). It’s Aziraphale who jumps on chance to do good, again, and Crowley, again, deals with nazi only when they are the treat to Aziraphale. WHICH IS FINE. It doesen’t makes him bad. It shows that he loves his comfortable life and a little of mischieve, while Aziraphale loves his comfortable life and a little of doing good. It’s important that in this scene there’s no visible, like, innocent kid being harmed right now — I’m sure Crowley would’ve go out of his way to help then. But Aziraphale get’s tangled with some spies and suppliers, they doing nazi work indirectly — you need to think strategically to understand why you should help there, which Aziraphale clearly does. It also shows that he willing to work on changing things and not passively wait (or sleep) untill bad times go away, when he gets a chance to do it without miracles (as we saw in Edinburg minisode, he’s afraid that too many miracles or too big miracle used to help wrong people will put him in trouble). Which arguably foreshadows final fifteen again, but it's not the point of this post.

I can go next scene by scene but whatever, I’ll just remind you that’s while stopping the apocalypce was Crowley's idea, he:

— wasn’t concerned for the humans, at least at the start — he was mostly concerned for his earthly life, as much as Aziraphale, which includes humans, but not in oh-I-want-to-save-them way. Which is good! All first season is about how being a little bit egoistical and thinks about yourself can motivate you to change the world because it's YOUR world too!

— was actually working toward apocalypse and looking forward to it, until Antichrist came and he suddenly get that it will happen, like, for real (that’s literally said by word of God, remember?)

— and also, Aziraphale wasn’t opposed to idea of stopping apocalypse, he was sure that there’s no way to stop it and all that they can do is to hope that heavens will win (at least there’s no torture in heavens!… probably)

Like, it wasn’t Crowley explaining to Aziraphale that «apocalypse bad, heavens bad», it was him TEMPTING Aziraphale to give in to urge to stop apocalypse because he loves his earthly life as much as Crowley!!

Anyway, my point is — fandom loves black and white thinking. One should always be right, let’s make another one always wrong. One should always be heroic, let’s make other one villian or damsel in distress. That’s not how it work in real life, that’s not how it work in Good Omens, and Good Omens actually would’ve be really bland if it was the case. Aziraphale changes Crowley as much as he changes Aziraphale, but as everything Aziraphale do, it’s much more subtle. And they both get changed by humanity! (remember, again, the doctor from Edinburg? He sure was an eye-opener for them both)

Another thing, I think, is that people doesen’t want to step into Aziraphale’s shoes. Why would you do it, when there’s Crowley, who’s always right? It’s much more pleasant to be right, and Aziraphale’s always so unsure and his growth is not linear and sometimes he’s even says bad things! Nah, easier to not think from his perspective at all, and easier to not symphatise with him, just patronize at best, to make Crowley a better person for being willing to teach him too (which honestly makes azicrowley looks a little creepy, but you do you, just not in front of my salad please). So people that projects into Crowley, already the ones that unwilling to be not right or not good or not the most hurt party in every fight (again, it's understandble! but really narrows your perspective), gets really uncomfortable if you points that their characterisation of Crowley is not always in line with canon, because a) that makes him wrong or not-perfect sometimes and b) it makes THEM wrong or not-perfect sometimes.

Again, it’s not me picking a fight, and it’s fine if you have another interpretations of anything we saw on screen or any different headcanons. But try to look at what I said not from the point of hostility and character slander but from the point of love, because I LOVE them so much and I love them BECAUSE they both are painted in shades of gray! You don't need to mold Crowley into absolutely different character to love him! Imperfection is fine and good!

#good omes #meta I guess?#sorry my english is bad and my meta writing skills are even worse #but I saw this ask and get exited #'why are you kin Aziraphale' they ask #because I too always think that if only we all could have a nice chat over the cup of tea we sure would've came to understanding #(that was a joke I'm a not a kinnie I'm too old to even fully gasp what's that means)

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