#if he was like he was in the resurrectionists the entire time that would be really irritating

[butchtwelfthdoctor]

the minisodes and Aziraphale's understanding of moral grey areas

ok so i was explaining the entire plot of s2 to a friends yesterday, and realised something about the minisodes that is so obvious in retrospect-

in a companion to owls, Aziraphale spends most of the time wondering about what is actually right or wrong and what god really wants and so on - of course, by the end he sees that you can do something 'bad' (like lying to thwart the will of god) and not be entirely a bad person for it - starting to see that moral greys exist, but Crowley has to really really encourage him to do it

in the resurrectionists, the first half he's on 'this is entirely bad', is presented with a grey situation by Crowley (& Dalrymple), but immediately goes straight to 'this is all good' - by the end, he sees that really it was neither (sort of) - but once again, crowley has to really prompt him into seeing the nuance

but, by the end of the 1941 minisode, he says 'well, maybe there is something to be said for shades of grey' - almost completely umprompted by Crowley. he doesn't need convincing, or Crowley to tell him that he can't do bad things cos he's an angel (which Crowley doesn't believe, surely, but he can convince Aziraphale into doing most things by telling him that), he just. accepts the moral grey of everything that just happened. (and presumably apologises for making Crowley shoot at him. or something. he does the dance at least)

this is showing the progression in Aziraphale's character - he goes from being fully convinced he'll become a demon for lying one (1) time to save the lives of children, to at least trying to see how something as initially 'completely bad' as bodysnatching can be an attempt to, in his words, 'alleviate human suffering' (good, even if he missed the point), to being able to say that he, an angel, can do things that aren't purely good. seemingly without any major anxiety over it either. and largely unprompted.

his character is not fully developed yet, and he's still pinging wildly between viewing everything as good/bad heaven/hell demons/angels, and moral greys, nuance, and 'our side'. but he is getting there. slowly.

[fellthemarvelous]

Aziraphale hate makes my brain hurt.

Like let's be really fuckin' for real here.

Neurodivergent fans have repeatedly said that Aziraphale is autistic coded. I agree with them. I have never been diagnosed but I wonder about myself. If only I could get a doctor to take me seriously enough to test me for it, but alas, I'm a 43-year-old woman living in the good ole US of A.

Those with religious trauma have repeatedly said that they identify with him as well. I'm one of those people. I endured 12 years of Catholic schools and just as much time being taught a very black and white view of things that I've had to spend more than 20 goddamn fucking years working to unlearn.

I find that my views as a survivor of religious abuse are often dismissed because people keep wanting to say "Aziraphale doesn't have religious trauma." Yes, thank you, I get that, but unless you've been indoctrinated and brainwashed into a very black and white view of the world, you probably don't understand the kind of feelings Aziraphale's onscreen experiences evoke in so many of us. Heaven might not be real, but the feelings of "God is always watching" still stick with me today even though I no longer believe in God. I have entirely denounced Christianity because of my own personal experience, and I refuse to allow people to try and guilt me or shame me for trauma that I didn't ask for. I wasn't given a choice.

As a child I was told that God was real and always watching everything you do (just like Santa Claus) and can hear everything you say and knows everything you are thinking. Do you know what I learned to do in order to cope with this overwhelming and anxiety-inducing information as a small child? I learned to censor my thoughts. I never spoke up, and I have always felt like I was putting on a show for people because I had to be who I was told to be or I would get into trouble.

Aziraphale said "poverty is a virtue" during The Resurrectionists, and as someone who grew up in the Bible belt and went to private schools, I was taught this very same shit by the Catholic church. He learned in that very same episode that "poverty is a virtue" is actually a tool of oppression to keep the poor poor and the wealthy wealthy. I know we all watched the episode. He went into that episode believing what he said, but by the end of it he knew it was actually utter bullshit. Aziraphale is not ignorant. He's highly intelligent, and he has never been too proud to admit when he has been wrong. He accepts that the information he learned before is not matching up with reality.

And it's so obvious some of you have zero experience with that type of indoctrination because of how very little empathy you show Aziraphale for his "mistake" of "choosing Heaven over Crowley" and "making Crowley sad" so clearly Aziraphale must somehow be "abusive" and "manipulative" and "selfish" and "self-centered" because he didn't choose to run away with Crowley at the end of season two.

First of all.

FIRST OF ALL...

Aziraphale has a mind of his own.

Aziraphale is always going to try and do what is right.

Aziraphale is an angel. He's a being of love. And the reason he's so "bad" at being an angel is because he actually wants to protect humanity. He has always loved humanity. He repeatedly has to contend with what is "right" versus what is "good" and "wrong" versus "evil". Yeah, he has flaws. He's an angel, not a goddamn fucking saint. He has lived on Earth for more than 6,000 years. He has seen everything. He loves doing human things.

He's obsessed with magic. It makes him so happy. He's not very good at it...well not when he's trying to put on a show for Crowley.

He chose to learn French the hard way, so even though he knows every single language in the world, he chooses to be mediocre at French. Something that annoys and amuses Crowley at the same time.

He loves to dance even though angels aren't supposed to dance, and dancing with Crowley was what he wanted the most.

He owns a bookshop and refuses to sell any of his books because they are books he's had for as long as there have been books. He will chase customers away from his collection, and Crowley understands how much they mean to Aziraphale because he refuses to sell any when Aziraphale leaves him in charge.

He and Crowley have been speaking to each other in coded language for more than 6,000 years. They have to be very careful about what they say because Heaven and Hell are always watching.

Heaven has photographs of Crowley and Aziraphale sitting or standing together throughout history. Hell had one photo of Crowley and Aziraphale actually working together and it was Aziraphale's quick thinking and how good he actually is at sleight of hand tricks that managed to get that photo out of Furfur's hands so he wouldn't be able to turn Crowley over to the Dark Council.

Aziraphale saved Crowley from being taken to Hell again. He wasn't able to save Crowley from Hell in Edinburgh, but he sure as heck managed to save Crowley from Hell during WWII. He took Crowley to his bookshop and showed Crowley that he stole the picture from Furfur. He saved Crowley.

You get that, right?

Aziraphale SAVED Crowley.

People always talk about how it's "always Crowley saving Aziraphale" because apparently heroic acts are only heroic when they are grand gestures. The sleight of hand wasn't heroic at all, am I right? It wasn't sparkly and showy. It wasn't interesting enough, therefore not heroic. At least that's all I'm hearing when people start with their "blah Aziraphale deserves to suffer because I have no imagination or ability to understand the media in front of me blah", and all these reasons he deserves to suffer is because Crowley almost got hurt.

Aziraphale did that without flinching and I watch that part closely every single time. He's not scared for himself. He's scared for Crowley, and he managed to hold onto that photograph. He did not fail Crowley. He protected Crowley.

And so here's another thing that we like to point out. The way that Aziraphale, an angel who is effeminate and male presenting, an angel who is soft and full of love, an angel who is kind and forgiving because he has empathy and compassion, is somehow painted as abusive and manipulative. He's not violent, but he could easily fuck up your world. He doesn't use his powers. We have no idea how powerful he is because we only ever see him do small acts. He's used to hiding. It's the only way he has ever been able to protect Crowley.

And I'm not saying that Aziraphale has actually saved Crowley before means that Crowley hasn't also saved Aziraphale. Like, you get that those are not mutually exclusive and their relationship is not transactional, right? They have spent their entire existence protecting each other but never actually getting to be together because Heaven and Hell are always watching.

Yeah, Crowley fell. We all know this. We are aware of this. He was the serpent of Eden. He gave humanity the knowledge of free will.

But what we don't talk about is what Aziraphale gave humanity.

What did he give them?

We all know what it is!

Let's say it together!

He gave Adam and Eve his flaming sword because it was dangerous outside the garden and Eve was pregnant and she was already having a really bad day. He showed them compassion and gave them his extremely powerful angelic weapon so they would stand a chance on the outside of the garden. He gave humanity the gift of compassion. It's just unfortunate that his flaming sword became a weapon of War.

And then what did he do after that?

Ooooh, yeah, that's right.

God asked him about it and he straight up lied to her and pretended he had no idea where he'd managed to misplace it. She didn't say anything after that. He told Crowley the truth though. He told Crowley the truth even though Crowley fell.

Yeah, we know Aziraphale has done some really fucking questionable things. He and Crowley both suck at passing for human in front of observant people like Nina. They're not human. They are still learning, but they managed to experience human history together despite being on opposite sides and their experiences with humanity are what has shaped them into the compassionate and loving duo they are now. One of them is not better from the other.

This, my friends, is what we call meeting in the middle. It's why shades of gray is so important. Aziraphale constantly breaks the rules. Crowley refused to play by Heaven's rules. It's the reason he fell. He doesn't play by Hell's rules either. These two dorks figured out how to cancel each others' miracles out throughout human history in order to have more time learning about humanity and each other because working all day every day sucks when there are so many new things to learn and experience with the people you love.

We know Crowley and Aziraphale both love each other. Neither of them are good at hiding the hearts stars in their eyes.

But here's what's really fucking annoying about the Aziraphale hate.

Aziraphale was already crying when Crowley grabbed him and kissed him. Aziraphale is trying so very hard to do the right thing. He loves Crowley. He does. But he also has a duty to humanity, and he has taken that job very seriously since the creation of Adam and Eve. He sent them out into the world with a flaming sword so they would have a chance at surviving beyond the walls of the garden.

And he knows that Something Terrible is going to happen and he spent all of second season trying to figure out what that Something Terrible was while trying to have some sort of more honest and open relationship with Crowley, but again, they aren't human, they are a demon and an angel approaching life from opposite sides who met in the middle and fell in love with humanity together.

He wants more than anything to tell Crowley how he feels about him, but he wants to do something grand for Crowley because Crowley has always been grand and dramatic and sexy and a little bit scary.

Crowley is impulsive and has a temper and sometimes says the wrong thing but he has always trusted Aziraphale because Aziraphale gave him a chance even after he fell. Aziraphale chose to shelter him instead of smiting him while they stood on top of that wall. He knew he was supposed to kill Crowley, but oops, he gave his sword away to the humans so he didn't really have anything to kill him with and Crowley is the one who created nebulas. The Pillars of Creation is Crowley's work and Aziraphale was there to witness that, but he watched Crowley more than he watched the nebula. He witnessed the pure joy on Crowley's face when he said "let there be light" as a nebula full of colors exploded before their eyes. He was fascinated by Crowley.

But Aziraphale is going back to Heaven even though he has made it perfectly clear he absolutely has no desire to go back to Heaven. He told the Metatron this during their conversation. He spoke these words out loud. They exist.

But then The Metatron said this....

The Metatron. The very same angel who told Aziraphale in season one "to speak to me is to speak to the Almighty." He's the boss. He's the big guy. He's used to existing as a giant head and he had to give himself a body so he wouldn't stand out on Earth. And he knows that Aziraphale and Crowley have been working together since the beginning. He knows they worked together to prevent Armageddon in season one, and now he's made it clear he knows they were working together long before that. And let's face it, Aziraphale really wants to know what this Something Terrible is that Gabriel is running from so he can try to prevent it from happening.

It makes sense that he would want to take Crowley to Heaven with him because he would be able to keep Hell from getting their hands on him again. Aziraphale hates it in Heaven. He doesn't want to go, but Something Terrible is happening and Metatron isn't taking no for an answer, and maybe Heaven won't be so bad if Crowley is there with him. At least they can fix Heaven together.

But Crowley can't go back. We all get that. We don't blame him for saying no. It doesn't change anything.

Something Terrible is about to happen and Aziraphale has to figure out what it is. He wants to change Heaven.

He is fully aware that Heaven sucks. He still has faith in God. His faith isn't in Heaven. He deserted his platoon in season one and threw himself back to Earth so he could figure out how to make sure the war between Heaven and Hell doesn't happen.

But see, here's the thing. Heaven is at the top. Heaven has all the resources. Heaven is responsible for the creation of Hell. Heaven is empty and Hell is overpopulated. Aziraphale knows this. Crowley knows this. It's obvious every time we see either place. Both sides are desperate to go to war and will not hesitate to destroy humanity in the process. This is the opposite of what Crowley and Aziraphale want for humanity. If anyone can change Heaven, it's Aziraphale. He's the only one up there who gives a shit about humanity as far as we know. No one else is going to speak on humanity's behalf.

Some of us are so busy getting mad at Aziraphale for going back to Heaven and giving Crowley a Big Sad. Newsflash: Crowley is not the main character of Good Omens. Aziraphale and Crowley are equals, yet we wanna hold Aziraphale to higher standards because he's an angel, and when he makes mistakes it's proof that he's the bad guy.

Holy mother of all things that trigger my religious trauma, let me tell you. I spent my entire life hating myself every time I made mistakes. I've had to teach myself that just because I mess up sometimes doesn't mean I'm bad. It means I'm human. I still struggle with it. I probably always will. So when you say that Aziraphale deserves to be punished for breaking Crowley's heart, you not only ignore that Aziraphale's heart is also broken, you're saying he deserves to be punished for doing what he thinks is right.

Wanting to change Heaven for the better is not a bad thing.

And some of y'all wanna see him suffer for going back into the lion's den that is Heaven, knowing that he is already an outcast, that they have already tried to kill him once, knowing that he is a deserter, that he has been lying to Heaven about a lot of things, and you still think he's blinded by Heaven? You think he's just so naive and that's the only reason he's going back. He doesn't show his emotions the same way Crowley does so it means he doesn't care as much. He's expected to consider Crowley's feelings over his own when making choices. Like holy shit if all of that hasn't defined my experience as a woman with religious trauma in this fucking society. He's expected to be subservient to Crowley and if he doesn't do what Crowley wants then he's being unreasonable and illogical.

What the actual fuck, y'all.

Like seriously.

I'm sick of this bullshit. I had to step away from this fandom because of how toxic some people in this fandom are. It's not chasing me away, but the fact that I chose to hang out in a a more toxic fandom that is already notorious for being really toxic over a fandom that claims to be more open-minded and welcoming should probably tell you something.

It gave me a lot of perspective, and yeah, I'm still gonna speak up against the bullshit Aziraphale hate.

People are entitled to their opinions, but the Aziraphale hate isn't an opinion. It's just ableist, misogynistic garbage. At this point we all know y'all say these extreme things about Aziraphale because y'all get more joy out of the harm and alienation it is causing others.

Keep being loudly wrong, but if you think I'm not entitled to challenge shitty-ass, harmful, hateful discourse, bite my ass.

I'm not the one who lost the plot in this fandom.

[ao3cassandraic]

Kayfabe: A Good Omens meta

"Kayfabe," in wrestling, is the performance (including outside the wrestling ring) of whatever storyline is being woven around the wrestlers. Breaking kayfabe is Serious Business for a wrestler; the illusion is part of the event. If you ever wondered how John Cena could anchor an entire HBO miniseries brilliantly, kayfabe is a big part of the answer.

Because of their histories and how their respective Head Offices treat them, Crowley and Aziraphale approach their version of kayfabe -- their whole "I am an angel! You are a demon! We're hereditary enemies!" schtick, also their "we are good bad proper little footsoldiers, honest, Boss" schtick to their respective Head Offices -- very, very differently.

I promise there's a point to this. I PROMISE. But let me walk through it first.

Both of them know that one awkward question to Upstairs at the wrong moment and its Fallsville. Crowley, however, knows a couple of things that Aziraphale doesn't have to:

Punishment isn't just once; in some ways, the Fall is never over. Beelzebub or Hastur can throw you in the Dung Pits whenever, after all, or feed you to a Hellhound, or zap you like an Eric. Crowley's lot do not send rude notes. (s2: we do not know what happened to Crowley after Hell dragged him back at the end of the Resurrectionists 'sode, but I think it safe to say it was not great for Crowley. Litotes: your key to quality meta.)

Downstairs can and does check in -- or drag Crowley Downstairs for a chat and possibly a bit of idle torture -- whenever they feel like it. Downstairs seems pretty disorganized, especially its leadership, so I'd expect ad-hoc surprise inspections from them. Downstairs can invade Crowley's flat's TV, his Bentley's radio, and his very mind to perform those inspections. Crowley is never, ever safe from this. He can't relax. Ever.

Heaven, on the other hand, has 37 levels of scriveners and zero interest in Earth. Talk of "reprimands" and "miracle budgets" and Michael being a stickler and whatnot suggests a formal review process happening on a schedule, governed largely by the dreaded (but quite possibly fake-able or spinnable) "paperwork" rather than direct observation by Aziraphale's peers or superiors. Otherwise, Aziraphale is usually left to his own devices. Remember how startled he is when Gabriel shows up at the sushi restaurant in s1? This is unusual!

(We also know from Muriel that Heaven's records office doesn't seem to get consulted a whole lot. It's possible this just means that first-through-thirty-sixth-level scriveners handle everything, but in my experience of large bureaucracies, it's the folks at the bottom of the hierarchy who invariably get run off their feet first. Don't see why Heaven would be any different.)

Moreover, Heaven's punishments seem pretty light, on the whole? Our angel is so anxious and so sensitive to slights that I'm sure the reprimands aren't fun, and nobody likes a reduced miracle budget... but Heavenly "needs improvement" reviews don't seem to be a patch on the Dung Pits. The real threat is Falling, which is more than horrible enough to serve as deterrent; Heaven doesn't need to add torments.

Moreover moreover, Aziraphale is mostly aligned with his Head Office in a way that Crowley really, really isn't. I'm sure Aziraphale does a lot of his Heaven assignments with a song in his heart and a skip in his step -- it's mostly not smiting or the like. Crowley... probably spends a lot of his work time figuring out how to obey the letter of Hellish law while defying its spirit. Crowley's in far more danger of angering his bosses.

So Aziraphale doesn't have to keep up kayfabe a lot of the time, not even while interacting with Crowley. He can and does save it for the rare occasions Heaven takes a personal interest. Crowley, however, must keep up kayfabe always, whether Aziraphale's there or not. The courage it must have taken that snake to slither up the wall of Eden!

The way Crowley navigates his permanent need for kayfabe is twofold. First, his all but instinctive refusal to accept any positive word or compliment about himself or his actions from anyone ever -- "I'M NOT NICE!" If Hell were ever to hear someone characterizing Crowley that way... That's also why Crowley is a bit less exercised when Jimbriel calls him nice: "nobody'll ever believe you."

Second, a species of Orwellian doublethink: maintaining a running commentary in his head of how he's going to justify any unHellish actions to Hell, since he can never know exactly when he'll have to or what exactly they'll have a bug up their butt (sorry, Beez) about. Even high as a kite on laudanum in the Edinburgh cemetery, Crowley can explain his current justification (in a curiously sober voice -- is Crowley ever really high in that scene? or is it all kayfabe? I lean toward kayfabe) to Aziraphale, "Not kind! Off my head on laudanum, not responsible for my actions."

We can see the kayfabe mismatch play out a few times, and it does appear that Aziraphale gets more concerned for Crowley's safety and more aware of Crowley's need for kayfabe post-Arrangement. That doesn't mean he always remembers, of course -- he wouldn't, he just doesn't have that same desperate need. And, of course, the ineffable walnuts do not communicate, as s2 went to some lengths to point out. I do think kayfabe is part of that -- it's hard for Crowley to be sincere when he's constantly doublethinking, and Aziraphale's off-and-on involvement with kayfabe (and all his other tendencies toward lying) disincline him to achieve or even learn about honest communication.

One s1 scene I went back and rewatched while thinking about this was the Globe scene, which contains Aziraphale's Saint-Peter-esque three-time denial of Crowley. I find it easy now to read that as Aziraphale going "oh crap do I need to drop back into kayfabe now? I didn't break kayfabe, did I?" and Crowley grinning, at least partly as reassurance. (Partly, of course, because Aziraphale is cute and funny even when kayfabing -- and partly because Aziraphale's sudden drop into kayfabe is Aziraphale trying to protect Crowley, of course Crowley's pleased by that.)

The wall pin, now that I think about it, also gains a little nuance from this. Crowley's fear-laced ire is genuine, but how many times must Aziraphale have heard Crowley snarl at him not to break kayfabe in this way? No surprise he's a little unimpressed. (With Crowley's demand. He's clearly very impressed by Crowley.)

In the s2 Job minisode, Aziraphale hilariously drops kayfabe (and that epic whole-body halo, loved that, great job FX folks) almost immediately. Crowley allows it, because Crowley is on firm ground -- Hell will be just fine with Crowley wrapping the angel in a Chuck-Jones-cartoon amount of scroll parchment and flipping him off.

When angel and demon collude on the con later, of course, they observe kayfabe, improv-style -- Crowley helps Aziraphale deal with the Job's-children situation without giving either of them away to the watching angel posse. Interestingly, it's Aziraphale who de-gecko-izes the kids. That gives Crowley an out, sort of: "look, the mansion collapse missed them because they were in the cellar, I turned them into geckos, totally Hellish thing to do, they'd never survive in the wild, but then this bloody interfering angel went and changed them back!"

And how does Crowley console a distraught angel who thinks he's about to be dragged to Hell? Crowley explains kayfabe in the fewest and clearest words possible. "Well, yeah, you did, but... I'm not going to tell anybody. Are you?"

So yeah. That's kayfabe for the Ineffable Walnuts.

But I promised there was a point to this, didn't I? Yes, I have a point.

My point is...

my POINT is...

my point IS...

(not dolphins, not this time)

My point is, how much of s2's Final Fifteen Minutes is kayfabe?

That's my point.

[somehow-a-human]

Whose POV is it Anyway?

Bodysnatchers & Cosplaying a bookseller

DO NOT ASK NEIL ABOUT FAN THEORY

I'm back! I took a few days off of doing internet thingsss so I took a break from writing this series of posts but I'm back and continuing with episode 3 in its entirety!

For reference & context, I recommend reading these posts:

Whose POV is it Anyway? - Introduction

Lens Filters

POV "Your 'Something's Wrong' Voice"

POV a Trip to Hell and a 25 Lazarii Miracle

POV a Companion to Owls

POV The Dirty Donkey & I think I Found a *Clue*!

Shall we get cracking?

Episode 3 gifts us the arrival of Muriel! Sweet adorable Muriel! We see them arrive to the bookshop, with the Bronze Glimmer Glass filter in full effect. Aziraphale is the only one there so it makes sense we'll have Aziraphale's POV to start. Cupperteas ensue, and Crowley arrives to be grumpy but fully accepting that Aziraphale is taking their car, I mean, he's already brought the plants inside. His sideburns are long here as well.

When the duo head into the backroom to discuss what's going on, the filter changes, the lighting is much cooler toned, and we're now looking through the Black Diffusion FX filter in Crowley's POV. Crowley's sideburns are also short now, and if my theory that POV is also correlating with his hair length, it's standing here.

As Aziraphale drives off, we see Crowley watch him from the window and sigh, sideburns still short, still his POV.

I'm going to stick to the present day storyline and switch to the bodysnatchers minisode at the end!

The time Aziraphale and Crowley spend apart in this episode is interesting to say the least. If we're trying to look at the lighting and possible lens filters used to determine the narrator or POV for these scenes... I think they're switched!

When we see Aziraphale driving the Bentley, the scene isn't awash with glowy warm lighting which we know isn't reserved just to the bookshop since we've seen it used in the record shop, coffee shop, and in the Job flashback.

It's rather cool toned lighting for a yellow bentley. Aziraphale's whole trip to Edinburgh is cool toned. The time he spends in The Resurrectionist, the graveyard, everything. I would have expected Aziraphale's magical little newspaperman cosplaying extravaganza to be dripping in his golden glow through the gorgeous Edinburgh when I started thinking about the scenes and these lense filters and these metas.

But then you look at the opposite, Crowley alone in the bookshop with Jim. Something he would hate right? Sounds like worst case scenario for him. He loves the bookshop but he's there alone with Gabriel who tried to kill the person he loves more than anything and didn't have an ounce of compassion, while Aziraphale has taken himself and his car very far away.

But what is Crowley's experience like? He and Gabriel are chummy as ever, they talk about rainstorms, vavooming, gravity. Crowley dresses down and is wearing sleeve garters? A bit old fashioned for Crowley but not for Aziraphale no? He's playing bookseller, carrying books around, albeit not quite correctly, chucking them at the end. Every scene is drenched in warm golden haze and Crowley's sideburns are long the entire time.

They aren't together, but they've always probably got one thing on their mind...

I think we're seeing these scenes through each other's eyes, or the POV is swapped if you will. Maybe that's why Crowley is wearing sleeve garters and cosplaying bookseller and being very kind to Jim? And Aziraphale is being the worlds cutest little investigator to ever exist. I think maybe they're imagining each other, or it just points to the idea that they're apart but still the only thing they're always thinking about.

Okay, cute lovebomb, now let's talk digging up dead bodies!

There isn't a lot to go off of for lighting in this minisode, but there is one detail I wanted to point out that has to do with Crowley's hair length. In all locations BUT the crypt his mutton chops are longer. When they enter the crypt both times, they are shorter.

You can see they are a distinct "J" shape in most scenes but in the crypt scenes (for example when he drinks laudanum and busts through the roof) they have been trimmed back). So if I'm going just on hair length, all scenes except the crypt are Aziraphale's POV.

If you can look past my terrible image quality, you can see on the right image his chops are notched where on the left they're doing the opposite.

NEXT

POV 1941

[aziraphales-library]

hello there! do you have any fics following the s02e03 minisode where crowley and aziraphale spend a little more time together before crowley is dragged down to hell? thank you!!!

Here are some for you...

Just this once by cricri (T)

It would have been funny if Aziraphale hadn’t been quite a bit worried. Constitution of an ox, you bet. So laudanum didn’t discorporate demons, but he wasn’t sure if Crowley had known that before he drank it. And discorporation wasn’t a nice thing to experience, all the paperwork and … well, he was rather attached to Crowley’s corporation. Somehow. Something about knowing the other in that form for a long time and getting used to it. He just didn’t do well with change!

A Bottle of Truth by theslightlyobsessedwriter (T)

It's 1827, in Edinburgh, and Crowley has just finished off a bottle of laudanum. It doesn't kill him; however, it does bring to the surface some interesting habits, some hidden desires, and some truths that he never thought he'd share with anyone, let alone the angel he's desperately in love with. Aziraphale is losing his mind and rather wishes Crowley would develop some self-preservation instincts. Or: Crowley is off his head on laudanum, Aziraphale is his very enthusiastic caretaker, and they both love each other more than they can possibly say.

like rain that you slept through by bluphaelion (G)

Crowley’s good deed in an Edinburgh graveyard goes unnoticed by Hell (for now). In the meantime, it’s up to Aziraphale to take care of a very drunk, very clingy demon.

A Doll's House by CopperBeech (T)

For a moment, in that graveyard outside Edinburgh, it looked as if Crowley'd been pulled abruptly back to Hell. Then Aziraphale realized the laudanum just hadn't quite finished with his friend. Which would mean helping him cope with an entirely different predicament. One that the angel chose not to trust even to his diary.

Constitution of an Ox by Bazzpop (T)

Laudanum; who would have guessed that such a tiny bottle of the stuff was potent enough to make a demon go arse over tip? Aziraphale surely hadn’t (and neither had Crowley, apparently, else he would have dumped the drink into the nearest empty crypt instead of necking it like a shot and smashing the glass like a git) but, nevertheless, here they were, dealing with the effects of a rather egregious combination of alcohol and opium. — What if Crowley hadn’t been summoned back down to hell at the end of The Resurrectionists minisode? Aziraphale would have taken care of an off his head on laudanum demon, that’s what.

- Mod D

[melbatron5000]

Minisode connections, again

I'm working on decoding the chiastic structure of Good Omens season 2. It's taking a long time because there's a bunch of crap going on -- not the least of which is I think I found two different structures, so that's fun -- also, I have to work and do human stuff, so I can't just sit around working on Good Omens all day, every day.

But something I noticed while counting beats to find the middle (middleS, plural, but that's another meta):

It's already been pointed out by others that the magic act in the Nazi Zombie Flesheaters minisode echoes the Big Break Up and Kiss scene -- which it certainly does.

But the Restoring Job's Kids to Life in Front of a Bunch of Angels scene also echoes both of those scenes.

First and foremost, they are all around sixty beats long. (About the same rate as a resting human heartbeat, interestingly. What else is 60 beats per minute, I wonder?)

Second, in each scene, something (someone) signals the start of it. In Job, the angels applaud just before Aziraphale enters late. In 1941, Mrs. H tells Aziraphale to get on with it. In the Kiss scene, the Metatron tells Aziraphale to go and tell his friend the good news.

In all three scenes, Aziraphale enters stage right and turns to his left.

In Job, Crowley murmurs to Sitis, "trust me." In 1941, Aziraphale mouths to Crowley, "trust me." I think in the Kiss scene, "trust me" is more implied by both of them. It starts out murmured, then gets mouthed, and by the end, is unspoken entirely.

In all three scenes, Aziraphale explains to Crowley what needs to happen. "It would be really helpful if you were an expert on human births. Gabriel here witnessed the first human birth." "Aim for my mouth, shoot past my ear." "He said I could appoint you as an angel."

In all three scenes, Crowley takes a shot and Aziraphale backs him up. Job: "Reach into his robes and pull out three ribs." *Aziraphale miracles the kids into kids again.* 1941: *Shoots the gun at Aziraphale* *Aziraphale catches the bullet* *Kisses Aziraphale to give him the records from Heaven.* "I forgive you."

All three scenes end with Aziraphale having successfully fooled his audience.

Now, I already figured out that the scenes that are supposed to parallel the Resurrectionists minisode are missing. Even Crowley knows they're missing. Time has jumped forward past some important events. I don't know what was supposed to happen to echo Resurrectionists, but something is, and it's gone. I think it matters, though. Otherwise, why would we have this:

All three minisodes on the matchbox. The box itself is from the Resurrectionists pub, it has a verse from Job on it, and the verse is 41:19 -- or, if you reverse the numbers Verlan style (which is like Pig Latin, but what they do in France -- thank you @noneorother!) 1941. I strongly suspect the verse itself may very well have to do with the missing scenes that should mirror the Resurrectionists minisode.

But I wonder why Job, 1941, and the Kiss all line up and echo each other, while the Resurrectionists is the odd one out. I feel like whatever scenes have been jumped over probably line up with something big and important that happens elsewhere in the story. Threes are very important in storytelling, a rule that should never be bent or broken. I really wonder HOW the missing scenes got jumped over -- did God do it? Did Aziraphale or Crowley do something which caused it? Given how Crowley reacts to it happening, I would say if so it was inadvertent. Is time out of whack for some reason? It keeps jumping forward, why is that? Did someone else force them past the missing scenes? Ugh, I don't know.

Several people have pointed out to me now that the 1941 minisode has a lot of wedding night symbolism in it, and I see that the Job minisode has a lot of first date symbolism in it, too! Ha! Including Crowley and Aziraphale out in the desert by themselves when they encounter Job talking to God -- what the heck were they doing out there? Making out, maybe? Is that why Aziraphale comes rushing in through the door late when the other angels arrive? Busy smooching your new crush, Aziraphale? The Kiss scene seems to be a divorce, but it's actually a long-married couple who can read each other like a book being forced apart.

So if Job is a first date, and 1941 is a wedding, and the Kiss is a (forced) divorce, what is the Resurrectionists? What comes between a first date and a wedding? Traditionally, in love stories, a break-up has to come between those things. But other than Crowley being dragged back to Hell and forcing them separate, and then their argument over the holy water when he comes back, I'm not sure I see Resurrectionists as representing a break up. Does it? Maybe . . . ? And maybe more important, what comes after a wedding but before a divorce? Would we say kids? Mundanity and boredom? Infidelity? Given that it's a forced divorce, I wouldn't say those last two things. But kids then? What else could it be? Hmm.

Does the Resurrectionists minisode and whatever its missing echo is have to do with that progression in a relationship? Or given that Job, 1941, and the Kiss all echo beautifully and Resurrectionists does not, is that something outside their relationship and the progression of it?

Anyhow. More investigative work to be done here.

In between doing alive human stuff, I'm on the case.

[ineffableigh]

Thinking a lot about some memory parallels in season two...

About how everyone in Soho is dressed VERY ANACHRONISTICALLY, but not at all coordinated with each other. Clothes look pristine, brand new, unsullied, unworn. Caricatures of humans from the 40s, 70s, 90s, 2000s. Like an oversimplified idea of what Normal Humans look like.

Like uhhh excuse you white fur coat, leopard print skirt and platform shoes? Weird BRIGHT FUCKING YELLOW shirt, a flowy vest and leather pants? 70s crochet sweater with brown pants, crimped hair and chunky heels?

Rosie the Riveter This lady (Rosie is a different extra!) over here is either wearing big flowy skirts or actual mechanic's overalls like the war posters. She's EVERYWHERE throughout the season:

Rainbow tie dye, big hat, overcoat with pinback buttons? Like the guys in the cemetery?

Lady why are you fully lurking behind a pillar and staring at the Hamm Hams

What's my point? Point is... point is...

Gabriel's memories are the same.

RUSSIA - big hammer and sickle neon sign outside, two guys in back playing chess, one with a big bushy beard and the other a flat cap. Background music sounds like traditional/folk Russian music played on a balalaika, but playback on a ratty old stereo.

USA - Route 66 sign, hubcaps, money wallpaper, budweiser neon sign, bar/pool table/pool cues, American flags fluttering in the wind outside, 50s style radio on the shelf, SAME TWO GUYS IN BACK but now playing cards, and the one on the right has a baseball cap instead. And I don't wanna be like "what modern bar would be playing Buddy Holly on the radio" but... after hearing the background music in the Russian cafe, that is a CHOICE.

Hell, check out Not-Billie-Piper back here and her GIANT 50s up-do:

SAME THING AT THE RESURRECTIONIST, YEAH? ALL THE SONGS ON THE JUKEBOX ARE SCOTTISH OR PERTAINING TO SCOTLAND. "Letter from america" by the PRoclaimers starts playing but it was released in fucking 1987

And of course we know this pub is COVERED in Pressburger references, which we know carry way more meaning than simple fun cameos or whatever. Barring that, this is the Scottishest-Pub-est-looking-pub I've ever fucking seen, and it's SO CLEAN.

A fly IN the movie playing on the screen while we watch Gabriel's memories being returned to him from the fly he receives in this memory? More likely than you think (I can't find the movie name! Not in the X-Ray apparently)...

Anyway all that to say I think the show is trying to tell us SOMETHING is wrong the entire season. There's evidence shit's out of order, everything is WEIRD and high saturation, even people's makeup (Crowley's bloody orange half the time), and it all feels Extremely Set up...

OR poorly remembered.

[drconstellation]

All The Colours In Good Omens: Version II

Part 1: Black to Gold

Even when I put together my original big colour meta back at the end of October 2023 I knew things were going to change on it. Over time it became pretty clear we were way off-track with several of the colours, and I didn't have anything for orange, which does actually appear in a significant amount in S2. There was also a bit of effort to try and incorporate the colours seen in S1 with what was appearing in S2, and to see if there was any consistency. Then I wrote the Passion of Jimbriel, and several particular religiously-themed colour-associations kept appearing, so I went on a search for a more biblical-based interpretation of colour. As a result of this, some colours have more-or-less stayed the same, some have expanded considerably in their range of meaning, and some are completely different! But I think you find the results interesting, nonetheless.

Basically, interpreting the colours in the two series is not a simple task. The colours used in S2 differ slightly to S1. For example, in S2 there is a lurid green associated with Hell (for reasons, which I will explain,) that is not used in S1. But there is also a dark green used elsewhere that turns out to have a different meaning that is not associated with Hell at all, so context becomes very important when trying to decide what it means. Rather than try and fit all the colours into one post, I'm going to split things up and take as much room as I need to explain it all this time.

BLACK

Biblical Meaning: Darkness, sin, Earth, affliction, humiliation, calamity, death, mourning

Additional: Suffering, punishment, Satan

Black doesn't automatically mean a relationship with Hell. The demons don't all wear entirely black, they are actually dressed in a lot of colour, but they do tend towards the darker shades. The colours they do wear reflect individual qualities or characterizations. For example, Lord Dagon is dark blue to reflect their fish god avatar, but it also reflects their senior authority and power. Furfur is in shades of dark green with a few tiny red highlights.

Historically black had an association with wealth over time, as it was difficult to obtain and dye black cloth. In out modern era we would tend to associate it with power and authority - or just looking "cool."

One interesting combination to mention is Aziraphale's magician's costume - black, gold and white. It's the only time we see him, an angel, wearing black. Originally it looked like he was clothing himself in mystery, but I would now say its a combination of calamity and humiliation. I've included a GIF set from S1E1 with the duo discussing Warlock's 11th birthday party in the park, plus recall Arizaphale was heckled from the audience in 1941 when his turnip trick failed. (I guess we could argue this one, its still up for debate!)

Black is also associated with the Horseperson Famine, who rides a black horse. Nobody is getting anything to eat tonight here - or the rest of the week, for that matter.

RED

We originally had red a a single colour, but it's more complex than that and needs to be split into two shades, scarlet and the darker crimson. (I will do pink in another post.)

We can still associate it generally with passion, romance, the Left Hand Side (the sinister side or demonic side), goats, sin, and the archangel Michael on the LHS of Jesus.

The Horseperson War and their parallel character Pepper from the Them both wear red as well. War is said to ride a red horse.

RED - Scarlet

Biblical Meaning: Royalty, blood of humanity

Additional: Martyrs, prostitution, wealth, power, revolution

Scarlet is a lighter red than crimson, just to differentiate between the two colours. It's the colour on the back of Crowley's collar.

Jesus was dressed in red during the Passion to mock him as a king, but he when he appears in imagery such as the sign on the Resurrectionist pub below it reflects his future status as King of kings. It also reflects his connection to humanity, through the blood he shed.

Prostitution is connected through the mention of the Whore of Babylon in Revelations, but the connection to revolutions is a more recent one that may be worth including in anticipation of S3. Wealth and power also belong here, particularly in historical connections.

RED - Crimson

Biblical Meaning: Splendor, victory, sin

Crimson is the colour that Shax wears, the darker of the two shades of red. She comes across as being hungry for success and eager for promotion, both of which tie in with the concept of victory. Her darker red is also mixed with black.

ORANGE

Biblical Meaning: Fire of God, deliverance, passionate praise

Additional: sacrifice

Originally I did not have an interpretation for orange, and did not think there was a lot of it present in S2. Then it was pointed out that Maggie's shopfront was orange, she herself wears orange several times, a lot of the extras wear orange and Beezlebub's sash is orange, too!

Yellow and orange have some cross-over in meaning with sacrifice, but I'm going to do my best to separate them and I'll explain where the fuzziness comes into play in yellow, as I think it sits best there.

Both yellow and orange are also associate with fire, as flames are seen as yellow and orange, not red. The "Fire of God" is alluding to presence of the Holy Spirit.

YELLOW

Biblical Meaning: Faith and Glory of God, anointing, joy, presence of God, fire

Additional: Illness/leprosy, God's judgement and anger, sacrifice, optimism, faithfulness in awaiting the return of a loved one

Yellow is probably the most controversial colour of the spectrum. It's the colour of Crowley's eyes, and we know Aziraphale painted the walls of the bookshop to reflect this.

But let's turn all your preconceived ideas on their heads.

It's one of the colours of fire, so it is closely associated with the presence of God, but also the expression of God's anger.

It is the colour of clear olive oil used for anointing.

On the negative side it is associated with illness, in particular with leprosy.

It is the colour that the traitor Judus Iscariot is often depicted wearing in art.

And it is the colour of saffron and marigolds, both associated with sacrifice in more than one religion. Saffron as a colour can vary in colour from pale yellow to deep orange, and so can marigolds the flower. The flower is named after the Virgin Mary, as in "Mary's-gold," and the array of petals are supposed to be symbolic of the the rays of light that crown her head, relating to the giving of her self to the Ineffable Great Plan, so to speak.

Here's Norman, leader of the yellow team at Tadfield Manor, giving his speech that includes the line "...bugger off and tend to your marigolds." I've shown in other posts that there is the allegory of the Great War/Glorious Revolution being played out here, and Norman is the analogue of Lucifer. Right after his speech he runs out and is felled by a shot to the heart: a sacrificial loser, as all the yellow team and demons end up being.

Adam wears a t-shirt with two yellow stripes on it in S1. Combined with the blue, he does appear to be anointed for a larger role in the story.

Aziraphale's hat-bands are yellow after the 1827 Edinburgh incident. Both in 1862 and 1941 his hats have a yellow ribbon around them. While this could be related to a Heavenly aspect, fanon has it that it's part of his expression of his feelings for Crowley. The tradition of using a yellow ribbon to show that one was waiting for a soldier to return from war was started around the late 1700's.

It is confirmed that the name of the colour used inside the bookshop is indeed called Va Va Voom. While it could be many things, the one thing it is not is fear.

Neither is this example - it's more likely to be fire - cleansing fire. Jim is cleaning with it.

GOLD

Biblical Meaning: Glory, divinity, holiness, eternal deity, altar, beauty, precious, kingship, majesty, righteousness

Additional: Trial of Faith

Gold is usually associated with Heaven and the divinity of the angels in Good omens. Most of the time we see the angels with some trace of gold on them. The most obvious examples were the golden collars and trim on the robes in the Job minisode in S2E2. They even wore golden sandals on their feet.

The archangels and Aziraphale all have their golden rings. Here is Michael with their ophanim ring.

We also have the golden lions that occur in several locations in S2, representing the royal house of Judea that Jesus is said to belong to.

The most interesting use of gold has been on Crowley's "throne" in S1. "Nice chair," Hastur comments at one point.

Oh, and I can't forget this one, either:

This series on colour continues in the following posts:

Part 2: Green to Purple

Part 3: Silver/Grey, White & Brown

Part 4: Tartan Colours Review

[waterlogged-detective]

hello i am asking about how horrible darcy is <3

HI THANK U

So I’m gonna make a short list of things he does/has done that are awful and morally reprehensible since i dont have the brain to prose rn:

Obligitory disclaimer that Darcy started life as an edgy creepypasta oc when i was like 17 so even if this stuff isnt as bad as it could be, he used to be cringier.

Before the Fall Darcy was a resurrectionist who not only stole bodies from cemeteries indiscriminately, but he also burked at least a couple people. To clarify: yes some of it was for legitimate research purposes but a lot of it was because he got bored and he likes taking things apart. There is no deeper meaning to this he’s just a pos.

After the Fall Darcy took it upon himself to not only figure out the anatomy of those already in the Neath (rubberies, colonists, etc. words out on devils but he probably hasnt risked it tbh) but to see exactly how much someone could be taken apart before they *actually* died permanently. Like the exact point at which a person would stop coming back.

In that vein he also decided to see how much damage it would take to tomb colonistify someone (usually putting them out of their misery afterwards because he didnt want his name to be too bad in the colonies).

He did not care if these people were awake and conscious at any point during any of these proceedurea, as long as they didn’t move around too much or get annoyingly noisy he didn’t bother to send them back to the boatman.

He also sometimes doesn’t even attempt to justify the reasoning behind a dissection, he just got bored. Like half of the things in jars are from totally healthy people (prior to Darcy being himself) and the others are from things he thought looked interesting.

He is not sharing any of the research he’s been doing with Anybody which takes away from the even thin veneer of doing something for the sake of someone else. This is total self interest. It may not have started that way, but it is *now*.

He also does not have a moral problem with ANYTHING the Masters have done or will do. He simply doesn’t care, or in some cases (like finding out about jack of smiles) he finds it absolutely hilarious.

To a lesser crime as well: in universes where Jon is human and inevitably starts seeking he has no issues with anything that entails either. He’d *help* the process, just to see what would happen. He thinks its being a supportive husband but it’s going to end Jon 100%

He also thinks cannibalism is morally okay, but never would engage in it himself due to being a vegetarian. This is less a crime and more something I just personally find funny.

There’s definitely more but these are some of the Crimes (tm). Darcy stopped being morally grey a long long time ago, and he can’t even entirely blame it on dying. He was a horrible human being and is thus a horrible corpse

[thecheshirerat]

mmkay no one’s said this yet and I’m kinda surprised because I thought it was fairly obvious but

We (and when I say “we” i mean the Good Omens series fandom) wouldn’t be here if Aziraphale didn’t feel like he needed to prove himself.

Yeah, he believes that God and Heaven are fixable, yeah, he’s been emotionally manipulated by the Metatron, yeah, he sees the Metatron’s offer as a potential safe future for him and Crowley.

But imo, none of those reasons fully account for his choice. No one’s yet (to my knowledge) mentioned the sheer simple fact that Aziraphale saw, in Metatron’s offer, an opportunity to prove himself, and to a certain extent, prove the world wrong about him.

Think about what people say regarding Aziraphale in this season, both to his face and in discussion. Shax belittles him for being soft. He is called things like “Crowley’s emotional support angel” and “Crowley’s pet.” Condescension has come towards him from his enemies (“don’t tell me YOU did it?” - Seraquael regarding the miracle, from Shax as aforementioned) but also from the people he loves around him, and it’s been that way his whole life.

Crowley’s protective nature is adorable, but his concern isn’t always communicated well. He says, “you really are terrible at magic,” rather than “I was terrified I was going to get you discorporated and I don’t ever want to do that again.” While the bookshop is under siege, Aziraphale steps forward and seems to have an idea, but Crowley dismisses it. He doesn’t give Aziraphale key information because it would upset him, but as a result Aziraphale is unaware the true depth of disgust Gabriel held for him, he doesn’t hear about “extreme sanctions” until it’s too late, Crowley doesn’t explain his absence after the Resurrectionists minisode. This lack of communication is bad for both of them, but I digress. On top of this, Aziraphale relies on Crowley for validation- he needs to tell him his good deeds, and, notably, the entire conversation at the end of the Job Minisode where Crowley gives Aziraphale the option to be “an angel who goes along with heaven as far as he can,” serves as an example of this.

Let’s even zoom in on The Last Scene, for examples of the tiny ways in which Aziraphale struggles to feel as though Crowley truly respects him. “You can’t leave this bookshop.” “I think I understand a whole lot better than you do.” “Listen. Hear that? […] That’s the point. No nightingales.” “You idiot.” Obviously there’s a lot to these lines, but Crowley’s tone is decidedly condescending from Aziraphale’s perspective- he asks questions that have trick answers, he insists he knows best, and being told that he doesn’t know what he’s doing is a real pet peeve of our Angel’s. It’s also key to Crowley’s character. He loves doing this shit, to Aziraphale, to Muriel, all over the place.

With that context, some of Aziraphale’s lines make a lot more sense. “You can be my second in command!” “Oh Crowley, nothing lasts forever.” “I don’t think you understand what I’m offering you.” “I forgive you.” He’s trying to say “two can play the condescending game,” but he doesn’t have the confidence. You can see it in his face when he says, “Well. I suppose there’s nothing more to say.” That face is screaming “there was no need for that tone of voice.” He’s mimicking the condescending tone of the other angels, striving to be right, for once- because he should be right, shouldn’t he? (“I’m a great deal holier than thou, that’s the point!”)

Because Aziraphale hates when Crowley condescends to him! He hates that, time and time again, he’s the one who ends up doing the “i was wrong dance” (why do you think he savors it so much when Crowley does it?), he hates that Crowley’s right all the time. And he knows Crowley is right, at the end of this scene. You can see it in his face when Crowley says “no nightingales,” you can tell he knows what he’s doing isn’t cute. He’s just terribly, terribly frustrated, and he doesn’t have it in him to back out now that he’s gone this far. Maybe if his self-esteem was stronger he could’ve siphoned up some humility.

So yeah. He wants to go to heaven and prove everyone wrong, and be the person that Metatron says he can be- a strong leader, wise, right all along. He knows, by the end of his conversation with Crowley, that it probably won’t be as easy as Metatron says it will be, he realizes Crowley’s suspicions could be true, but he can’t let Crowley win by backing out. Because then what would he be?

Crowley’s pet. Crowley’s emotional support angel. etc etc etc

He needs to do this in order to learn. He needs to do this in order to prove to himself that he can stand on his own. He needs to be the one to swoop in and save Crowley in season 3.

[sassasafreeaction]

While The Resurrectionist minisode gives us a lot of different things, one of the most important things that it gives us is the concept of plausible deniability and how important it is for Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship.

In the episode, Crowley drinks literal poison, and while he gets to be very silly, he also gets to be a more honest and genuine version of himself. He gets to do good, and when Aziraphale points this out, he immediately throws in the rebuttal - "Not kind! Off my head on laudanum."

Now, the next time he sees Aziraphale, he asks for holy water, so it's hard to say how much deniability the laudanum actually gave him. At the same time though, Crowley is still around and not eliminated.

The only real effect that a supernatural being seems to experience with poison is drunkness, which in a way I guess makes sense because alcohol is its own poison. However, it's also a poison that the two of them regularly partake in.

A lot of the more serious and genuine conversations that the two of them have happen while they're drinking, when they have that level of plausible deniability. It would be so easy for one of them to say something and take it back under the ruse of being drunk and not knowing what they're doing or saying, even though they both know that it takes an extraordinary amount of alcohol or a strong poison for them to actually be drunk.

The first example we see is in the bookshop after Crowley has delivered the Antichrist, and he's trying to convince Aziraphale to help him. When they had met up initially, Aziraphale had adamantly refused to help him, but once they're safe in the bookshop with several bottles of wine in their system, Aziraphale is honest for the first time about his feelings on the situation. "I don't like it anymore than you."

Sure, they sober up shortly after that, but it isn't until there is that liquid courage/plausible deniability in their system that he's even willing to dare to start to humor the thought.

(In Hard Times, you do have them sharing a drink together in Rome. It's the first time where they seem to genuinely indicate that they'd be interested in actively pursuing the other's company. There's less to pick a part because it's so short, but worth mentioning, especially because the entire time the two of them talk, they have a drink in their hand.)

The next time we see either of them drinking is right after Crowley has left the bookshop fire. A lot of people drink when they're sad, so that's not the most exciting, but he is drinking because he's sad about Aziraphale, his "best friend," and while Hell probably doesn't care because they have bigger things on their mind, it still gives that placebo level of protection.

Side note, there's a strong chance that if Crowley does remember the Fall that this is probably the most accurate description since he's the most open we've probably seen him in the show here- essentially talking crap at the Heavenly Watercooler with the boys and then ending up in a boiling pit of sulfur.

The Script Book has a line that I think is super worth mentioning as Crowley says, "Aziraphale? I'm trying to get drunk. Failing." It emphasizes how much of a cover drinking has become for them, and that the act of pretending is more important than genuinely being drunk. Also, Crowley doesn't try to hide from Aziraphale. He doesn't specifically say "I thought I lost you," but he looks absolutely wrecked. The way Aziraphale pauses in return makes me feel like he has to know, but also, they're idiots.

The two of them also share a drink before the Swap, and they get rather philosophical in regards to the Almighty. This is also the first and only time that Crowley uses the phrase 'We're on our side' and Aziraphale doesn't have a rebuttal.

At the end of Season 1, they're at the Ritz, drinking of course, and it's here where both of them tease at how they genuinely feel about the other. The drinking is on the light side though, so we don't get anything more concrete than 'To the World'. (Although the way that Aziraphale looks at him and says that phrase still makes me weak.)

Season 2 sees Crowley offering Aziraphale his first drink. The angel refuses but Bildad still gets his drink on. This is the first time that Crowley introduces the concept of not being on Hell's side.

(Also, he just watches Aziraphale pleasure himself enjoy some ox ribs which is freaking wild. I'm pretty sure everyone has analyzed the undertones of this scene to death, but there's drinking involved so it makes the cut.)

After speaking with Heaven and Hell, Crowley and Aziraphale get together at the pub to discuss their new plan. They both have a single drink, but you have the chest touch and Crowley talking about falling in love in the rain (ya know like he did).

In 1941, following the magic act, we have them drinking again. Crowley asks Aziraphale to retire the act, and then there is an important beat as they get ready to start a more serious conversation. As soon as Aziraphale decides to take them toward more serious territory, he tops off Crowley's glass. They again tease at the concept of 'our side' by discussing the morally grey.

Now, in S2E6, Crowley mentions to Muriel about taking Aziraphale for an extremely alcoholic breakfast at The Ritz, which to me suggests that even without Maggie and Nina talking with him, Crowley likely would have confessed.

However, in Episode 5, when Crowley is sitting at the restaurant, the first thing he does after getting Aziraphale's attention is ask if he wants a glass of wine. Aziraphale tells him "I'm at work and I have a meeting". I feel like this was almost the original confession from Crowley. Forgive me because I can't find the post, but I know someone has pointed out some of the other parts things that indicate this (Crowley's is the only table with a rose, him walking right into the 'smitten' phrasing because he thought that might make a good transition, etc. I'm really sorry I didn't find it right away when I scrolled and I gave up.) I think the wine speaks a lot to it though because it allows for the same song and dance of if this doesn't work out, I can always blame it on the alcohol.

Now you could say that the two of them just really enjoy alcohol and its a coincidence, but there are an angel and a demon who also happen to meet a pub. Gabriel gets himself and Beelzebub a beer, but the two of them never drink them.

Unlike Aziraphale and Crowley, they have the luxury of power to protect them. They don't need to have the plausible deniability because as far as they're concerned, they answer to no one.

Maggie, a human, also turns down alcohol while she's with Nina. Nina needs the liquid courage, but she doesn't. She has no interest in alcohol. However, Nina is in a sticky situation with her partner. Maggie carries a torch for Nina, but she's also brave enough to be the first one to offer a gift and indicate how she genuinely feels about her. They're both human, so they can be honest with one another.

I'm sure drinks will probably still be important in Season 3, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have a scene where either Aziraphale or Crowley actively turns down a drink because they no longer need to hide.

[momgothic]

ok i have read the @ariaste doc (wonderful analysis and absolute beautiful work of sleuthing)

if i may i would like to discuss and add a few things if you would allow me

1.

I complete agree with this sentiment, this was drawn out much longer (I believe) than the other “mini-episodes”. And as you say, Neil is a magician. He is a magician and he’s constantly referencing his own work. He is someone who points at things, on purpose.

And we get a whole episode about a magic trick gone awry. Well, gone almost awry.

My point being with the all the tension and lead up to the bullet, everything points to this trick NOT working. There’s no reason it should. Azi’s notably bad at magic, the miracle blocker is on, Crowley’s never fired a gun. They are both visibly anxious, by god Crowley’s hand is SHAKING on the trigger.

And then it goes off without a hitch. They get a photo, the crowd goes wild.

Why? Every single thing in this scene is telling us something is about to go wrong, and then in doesn’t??

My theory is the Neil is pointing at the whole goddamn season. The entire season is saying SOMETHING is about to go wrong, can’t you feel it? Can’t you feel the unease? What did Crowley say? “The feeling of dread”?

Gabriel saying something terrible was going to happen, “Everyday it gets a little closer” and then what, its actually a love story between Gabriel and Beelzebub? no no thats the magic trick that was supposed to go wrong but didnt. It’s open, vulnerable. Then sense of unease is still THERE.

And then theres this

The Resurrectionist was not what I was expecting it to be. Once again, everything’s pointing to something and then just…sputtering in our faces.

No one resurrected anyone. Crowley and Aziraphale didn’t Resurrect wee Morag, but the Resurrectionist is implied to have direct ties to the wee Morag incident.

And then the front side of the sign had the Resurrection of Jesus on the front.

My personal theory is that the Resurrectionist has much more to do with the Second Coming resurrection than anything else.

This entire season was filled with Fake Payoffs. Falling flat Payoffs.

I think its there as sort of narrative edging. And entire fucking season…of edging.

Thank you for your time!

[innocentlymacabre]

NOW THEY CALL ME THE PLAGUE⤳ five snippets

little collation of the excerpts I've been sharing off late for my wonderful taglist :)

“Get back out, Trance. We don’t need to hide, it’s not going to hurt us,” Eda said, her voice dripping with despair and disappointment. “It’s already taken everyone it wanted to.”

I would be remiss to say my entire time here has been coloured with pain. I was dejected at first, yes, unable to make much sense of the human world. The single sun in the sky confused me, and the constant rhythm with which it alternated places with the single moon was a routine that took some getting used to. In the Dreaming, day and night is a looser concept, the landscape shifting according to its mood rather than its position in space. Our land might not be able to talk, but to say it isn’t alive would be a gross miscalculation. One can always feel its heart beating and its blood coursing through its veins, connected to us just as much as we are connected to each other.

While Trance had no intention of ever permanently changing his shift schedule, he did have to admit that the people who filtered through the tavern’s doors during Eda’s shift were far more, for lack of better word, interesting. He only got your usual group of mops that no one but their posse really wants anything to do with. But, as the night wore on on their rare use of the Arrangement, their numbers began to dwindle, and were replaced with a far more scintillating assortment. It also made him feel a smidge more useful than he did during his usual day shifts – which wasn’t something Trance particularly cared for, if he was honest. Resurrectionists quite literally working the graveyard shift (which was a profession Trance was thoroughly fascinated by), apothecaries either on their way back from or on their way to scouring for ingredients from who-knows-where, cooks from inns and taverns that closed early, captains floating through looking for a new crew – as one of the only places open into the early hours of the morning, Smokey’s brought in everyone and more.

Trance tried to pull her back. He tried to grab her and bring her away from the ledge, away from the ship, but his hand passed through a ghost. The rules were back in play and he was once again forced into his role as a spectator, doomed to watch as his best friend in the world – someone he would do so much more than simply kill for – was subsumed by the things of her very nightmares. Eda was going in to face the worst night of her life alone, and there was nothing he could do to help her.

Trance gulped and readjusted his grip on the sword. He nervously side-eyed Eda, wondering what the play was. He’d accepted that the ship itself wasn’t somehow going to hurt him, but he couldn’t ignore the growing feeling in his gut that was warning him to turn tail and run as far away from the rooftop ledge as possible. He’d lived in Thredfrost for a long, long time, so he was no stranger to trouble. He knew how to stare it down, and, most importantly, when not to. He’d developed a sort of warning system. This ship had grabbed the system by the throat and burnt it with a vengeance. And then everything cut off. It was all still there, of course, but Trance couldn’t feel anything any longer. There was no hatred or hunger from the flames, there was no heat fanning his face, there was just nothing. A heavy sort of nothing, one that hung in the air and made you aware of its presence, but wasn’t really there all the time. The kind of feeling you get when you know you’re meant to be doing something, but can’t, for the life of you, figure out what. It was like the wool had been pulled over his eyes so unmovingly that he'd been forced to come up with a world of his own for fear of going insane in the nothingness.

↝✧↝

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[thesherrinfordfacility]

am i missing something in kinda comparing the entire maggie and nina situation to paris? 'cause there was no need to get them to fall in love. a&c might not be able to make people actually feel it, but they seem to have mind control down pat without much effort (or any moral quandaries). they could have waited for an angel to show up and just faked it- easy, certain way out. it's not like the idea of working together like that is even weird, not after the gabriel miracle.

so. either they missed it, which is plausible, and uhhh, renders this whole ask pointless, or *would* have moral issues with it (also plausible💀), or they're being completely ridiculous again, and would rather plan balls than actually make an effort to get themselves out of Mortal Fucking Peril (not that aziraphale necessarily knows it is). i think it would fit the pattern, honestly- when not having huge blowouts over *problems of their own making* (hey aziraphale kill this kid it'll be fine, aziraphale why won't you ditch earth with me, crowley why won't you come to heaven with me), the ineffables always seem to be constantly, aggressively orbiting eachother, making heart eyes and goofing off (cough end of the resurrectionists "not kind" cough) with 0 regard for safety except for the (very very sadly i can't find the -ennial word for every other century) occasional heart attack, and then just skipping right back down the aisle.

(hope this is coherent, i've been editing things a little too long to tell)

hello @aq-uatic my darling!!!💕

(bby im so sorry!!! i thought i had posted this ages ago and i went rooting around in the drafts to continue something else and realised i hadn't!!! im an idiot sorry!!!)

i think there is some context behind aziraphale's actions in particular with this scene:

we know that aziraphale has a fondness for maggie, that i'd argue goes slightly beyond the fondness he has for humans in general (and even then that's questionable at times), and he seems genuinely put out that he's not in a position to help her - to wiggle his fingers about, and make it happen for her (horrifying implications, aziraphale, but we move). so, whilst aziraphale obviously is prompted into the whole 'lets-make-these-two-humans-fall-in-love-bc-that's-totally-normal-and-okay' by holding the everyday record back in the bookshop, i think there is an element of aziraphale genuinely wanting to help her, and coming up with the ball is his interpretation of an organic way to do that (💀). but it doesn't justify the whole thing one little bit; despite the possibility of that being his intention, it's completely batshit - nina certainly didnt know, let alone consent, to anything, and maggie didn't either; they're not dolls for either of them to play around with.

essentially though, i agree - any logical, coherent, sensible thinking would have probably just helped them arrive at a solution that didn't involve warping reality and bringing a whole room of people under a horrifying amount of hypnosis. but you have two supernatural creatures who, in a fairly major way by the time of 2023 at least, have their sense of existing amongst humanity influenced by not only the clandestine, dramatic nature of their own story, but by their tendencies towards damsel-but-not-wholly-in-distress-ing and anti-hero-at-best-ing respectively. we have to barely scratch the surface to see the intertextuality between these traits of theirs, and where they might stem from stories told in certain books and movies (emma by jane austen, and james bond spring to mind).

they constantly talk in riddles to each other, in code and in double meanings - they may somewhat understand the general sense of what the other is saying, but it's not categorical and leaves too much room for error or misinterpretation (which, ultimately, it does). it's a constant dance circling each other, ebbing and flowing, pulling in and drawing back, but never coming together properly; it's a quadrille vs. a waltz.

it makes sense that they are so used to finding the most roundabout and convoluted ways to do things, and this continues into s2, because not only is it how it tends to go down in fiction, but also because that's literally how they've had to exist - not only so their closeness isn't detected, or so their true natures aren't suspected by their respective head offices, but also by nature of being literal supernatural creatures living amongst humans - sleeper agents, of a kind - and constantly having to exist without detection.

none of this makes it right, of course not - but i actually don't think they see any other way of going about things. they're so good at it, so well practiced, that (as just two examples) they run verbal rings around gabriel/metatron (book) and beelzebub chattering about the great vs. ineffable plans at the airfield, and they dance around the most straightforward solution to the maggie/nina problem. as for themselves and their relationship, they dont speak plainly to each other until the bandstand or final fifteen... and even then, i feel like its aziraphale that is maybe the first to break and speak plainly? idk:

i think it's clear that crowley is the more scared, and therefore the more cautious, in this regard. for all his objections attempting to distance himself as an angel compared to crowley's being a demon, aziraphale feels to me that he is the more inclined to throw caution to the wind. i think its because crowley understands the danger in blowing their cover a little more than aziraphale does - aziraphale on multiple occasions slips in nearly admitting their closeness (1800, end of 1827 as you pointed out, and when meeting with the archangels in heaven in s1) - and is still stuck in the safety that dancing around what should be plainly said affords them. they both - as you wonderfully put it - aggressively orbit each other, and breaking the holding pattern comes a little too late.

so no, i think your drawing the parallel between the Weird-Ass dynamic in 1793, how they handle the maggie/nina storyline, and then how they behave with each other, is very apt! but its, at this time, arguably all that they've known - acting in this way - and breaking the cycle is starting to happen, but won't pay its dividends until s3✨

[muninnhuginn]

For all people joke about season 2 being "plotless" (including myself tbh) I do think the Gabriel plotline was pretty well-constructed in terms of the mystery aspects.

There's literally enough to start suspecting as of episode one and later episodes give enough to solidify it.

Rough breakdown of the Clues below:

Episode one: blink-and-you-miss-it, but there is in fact a fly that buzzes out of the cardboard box when Aziraphale fetches it in. You also actually *hear* a fly in the bookshop at one point too, which isn't suspicious on its own but becomes so when you add it to other pieces. (Other pieces meaning that Beelzebub's own first appearance has the same fly sfx. And of course they're literally reintroduced this season surrounded by flies so we're not forgetting their whole theme any time soon. Jim also later has his whole thing with fly swatting where he says it's a-okay because the flies are always fine. My point is, flies are brought up multiple times in relation to Jim where our only prior association was with Beelzebub).

There's also Jim's line along the lines of "don't you think it'd be easier if you just had one specific person by your side". And on first watch, I'll admit my focus was way more on Aziraphale's overreaction to it (clearly thinking of Crowley) but in retrospect it's clearly *meant* to mean Beelzebub for all that Gabriel can't recall himself.

Then, later episodes, the Resurrectionist. The matchbox is literally *from* there and we know Gabriel had been there because the bartender recognised him. The bartender also said he was with someone who "looked like a mason". And masons (according to google at least :V) wear these collar-type things that resemble sashes, aka, pretty similar visually to what Beelzebub wears. You can also read into how the Every Day song was one of the few things Gabriel could remember that it was either a really strong memory or recent to just before he was mindwiped. But the news articles and the bartender all imply the jukebox changed to that song a few months/years before the present day. And again, why keep the matchbox from back then as one of his only earthly objects? So the song and the company *are* both actually pretty important to Gabriel. Genuine Clues. Possibly the companion is the same "specific person" who would make everything better? Bit of a stretch maybe but a possibility for sure.

And alongside all this, we have a number of instances of Beelzebub acting strangely. It can be written off at first as Gabriel being an archangel so it makes sense Hell is incredibly interested. We get Beelzebub offering Crowley an incredible reward, okay, kinda weird, but this is about an archangel, you know? And then it just builds. So we get the scene with the lower demon who says they usually have their tongue extracted and that... doesn't happen because Beelzebub is moping? Harder to write off but okay. And the final straw, Beelzebub authorising Shax to storm the bookshop despite it still being an "embassy". It seems like a recipe for disaster so the fact Beelzebub approved such a hare-brained scheme adds to the entire sense of wrongness around Beelzebub.

We know Gabriel had a companion we don't know the identity of. That the song was important to him when he was meeting this companion. Beelzebub is acting more and more off in their pursuit of Gabriel. There's a space there waiting to be filled and as the series goes on there are only so many people that can fill it. And so the flies are just the final nail in the coffin.

There are also some bonus bits and bobs like how it was implied Michael and Beelzebub were directly in contact by phone in episode one. (It's not directly confirmed to be them but given how Beelzebub later relays info that's identical to what was said in Heaven it seems a reasonable assumption) How the Job flashback had the whole Heaven-Hell bet. The higher-ups in Heaven and Hell have always been more buddy buddy than they'd like to pretend.

[hakureiryuu]

part 1

episode 2, and I just noticed the episode titles that call the flashback b plots minisodes. what's that about?

not-quite-a-liveblog ahoy!

crowley looks so effing weird in this outfit?? maybe it's the glasses, they're so anachronistic, almost steampunk.

I actually thought he was talking about isaac or something here lol

birds flying away after crowley firebombs the goats lmao

saying that eve was the first human birth implies that she is adam's daughter???? which I guess makes about as much sense as a single breeding pair populating the planet, we all know how much inbreeding that would take.

(side note: I remember this Flood adaptation movie that had emma watson in it. noah wanted to kill off all the humans and just let the animals survive. he said while watson was pregnant that if her twin kids were boys, they could live and humans would just die out. but if they were girls who could grow up to be mothers, he would kill them. and I'm like, implying that their father/grandfather/uncles would be the ones impregnating them? nevermind the incest, what about the age gap??? but anyway)

ofc when gabriel claimed to be an expert in human birth I immediately thought of mary, but that hasn't happened yet. I mean it makes sense that this idiot would think eve counts, but couldn't he at least make it to cain??

there's something to be said about this story and elspeth's story connecting virtue with economic status. aziraphale appears to think about that when it's pointed out, but takes entirely the wrong lesson from it, as we see with elspeth later.

"but no one would ever find them- actually that's a great idea" it reads as aziraphale not wanting to deal with gabe's bullshit rather than agreeing with it, as though he hasn't done variations of the same thing for years. I still laughed tho XD

oh hey, "every day" was gonna be the original opening song for the first season! what a cute reference that will likely have little to no further relevance!

this was the point where I was like "why the hell is crowley just hanging out in that same alleyway all the time? wait a goddamn minute, did shax take his apartment?!"

it's so cute how maggie takes aziraphale's social cluelessness in stride.

the jukebox at the resurrectionist is just like the bently turning cds into queen, what a cute reference that will likely have little to no further relevance!

trumpets sound, archangels approach.

saraquel miraclling a ramp lmao

gabriel's attempts at flyswatting never work!!!!!!

I'm assuming all those newspaper clipping say "every day" etc? for some reason? someone correct me if I'm wrong, I would really love to know.

also why is he DRAWING gabriel? later he just needed it to show someone, but why not take a picture? I'm sure you have an ancient camera where you have to hide under a blanket lying around somewhere.

shooing motion miracle at the pub, hahaha

I was a good deal sus of this plan to ship nina and maggie when nina already has a partner, but that was before I realized lindsay is a piece of shit. still, it's not like they know that either! ineffable homewreckers, they are.

everyone's talked about how crowley's first thought re: romance is taking shelter from the rain 😊

but my asexual brain is somehow always teetering over the gutter, so when he said "get them wet" I blinked a bit XDD

JANE AUSTIN WHO???!?

"you think you know someone..." "she had balls!" "what?"

actually it wasn't a what, it was a well. as in "well that's not relevant to my point" like, sir, did you know this already? in what context??

meanwhile back in job's era they're having a bit of a tense discussion. this is explicitly after the flood so it makes sense that aziraphale absolutely does not believe that crowley wants to kill some kids. I wonder why lying is such a big theme in this episode? I haven't been able to really boil it down yet.

aziraphale's smug grin really breaks the tension though XDD

jemimah is adorable. the others are the product of rich parents.

these two are playing chicken with children's lives, but hey, it's about the trust 😌

"can I be a blue one?" I love her

aziraphale discovering food is so deliberately gross, why this?

so many complicated feelings from both of them about god actually talking to someone.

god's pronouns are she/they, approved.

crowley says see you in hell but the next day when sitis is about to flip god off he says actually let's walk this all back pfffft

"reach into his robes... no, higher."

when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much, they share a very special hug...

aziraphale stating flat out with no equivocation that gabriel was awful is such a huge step forward for him 😊

(while pausing to write this I noticed that john hamm is credited simply as jim, love that for him)

this is the 2nd time aziraphale has insisted "our" in the face of crowley's "my" I'm sobbing

good omens inside good omens, gomensception

aziraphale really took that "see you in hell" seriously though huh.

the gentle, simple way he says "I don't think you'd like it" hurts me and heals me.

"you're not like me because you're a demon, you're like me because you don't want to toe the party line." y'know lining up their meetings - the wall of eden, the ark, and now this - must paint a very interesting picture of aziraphale for crowley. we always thought that crowley fell for this angel nigh immediately and spent the rest of time orbiting him. now I think aziraphale fell into crowley's orbit, and crowley gradually learned more and more contradictory (and therefore interesting) things about him. like the shelter of the wing, it's all reversed in this season.