#that went down like a lead balloon

[greenthena]

Somebody to Love

Aziraphale does this little thing with his hand when Angel!Crowley starts gesturing all wildly like he does. It's like he thinks for a moment about reaching out to grab Angel!Crowley's hand. To make a connection. Or, I dunno, maybe, just for a second, he imagines Angel!Crowley is reaching out to him.

But Angel!Crowley is entirely preoccupied with the sheer joy of what he's made. He's really very self-absorbed. Not in a rotten way, but like a kid who is so pleased to have done something he finds wonderful and is hyperfocused on his creation. The way Angel!Crowley looks back to his nebula in the end of the gif above. He's made a connection, already. But he's connected to this thing he's made, not to another angel.

It's not until Aziraphale tells him that the word from upstairs is that Angel!Crowley's nebula is only going to last a few thousand years that Angel!Crowley finally really looks at him. And even then, Angel!Crowley still doesn't reach out to make any meaningful connection with Aziraphale. Instead, he shares his plan to go straight to the top and give the Almighty some suggestions for how to run things. Angel!Crowley has the confidence (in this case meaning a combination of optimism and naivete) that God will hear his questions because he has no concept of self-doubt. He is entirely confident in his own abilities and because of this, he's not looking for a peer to fulfill his needs, even his need for connection.

Fallen Crowley has to be self-sufficient because he can't trust anyone. Hated by Heaven, loathed by Hell. How will our hero cope? And, yes, he trusts Aziraphale more than he trusts anyone else, but that trust is fragile and we rarely see Crowley lean into it. We see how very new and delicate this trust is in 1941, after the bullet catch when Crowley says, "You said, 'trust me.'" And Aziraphale replies, almost in disbelief, "And you did."

Now hear me out. Angel!Crowley's brand of self-sufficiency is the precursor of Fallen Crowley's trust issues.

Angel!Crowley demands a bit of help from a passing angel, barely acknowledges the help provided, responds flippantly to Aziraphale's praise, and ignore's Aziraphale's advice to proceed with caution in his dealings with the higher ups. Angel!Crowley only engages in connection with Aziraphale (and I'm guessing other angels, as well) when he needs something. Unlike Aziraphale, Angel!Crowley's not a particularly social being (at least from what we're shown) except when social interactions create immediate, tangible benefit to him. (I say this with nothing but love for Angel!Crowley, myself an AuDHD adult who struggles to understand the function of many forms of social interactions.)

I think that in the Fall, Angel!Crowley's self-sufficiency shifted from a sort of confident, creative individualism to a withdrawn, mantled motivation for self-protection. Crowley's never been good at connecting with others. As an angel, this manifested in his demonstrated tendency to become fully absorbed in his work. As a demon, we can see this same trait evidenced in his trust issues.

But here's what I find fascinating. On the wall, when Crowley slithers up to Aziraphale, it's the demon who initiates the bid for connection.

As Angel!Crowley, his self-sufficiency had been buttressed (yes, I'm sticking to my word choice) by his innate connection to the Almighty. He didn't seek out connection with other angels, because he already felt naturally connected to his Creator. But Fallen Crowley has lost that connection. So now, he's torn between protecting what's left of his identity, shielding himself from additional suffering, and inching his way toward trying to find someone with whom he can connect.

And now, please cue Freddie Mercury.

[leoreadss]

I do not usually post my face or myself on the internet but today is a special day. I have an interview in about 30 minutes for an English company (a Welsh one to be precise) and I needed something to calm my nerves so I put on my best shirt and a special ring.

Happy 'Every' day to the beautiful Good Omens fandom!

Update:

Oh well, that went down like a lead balloon

They couldn't offer me a Sponsorship. So. I'm going to cry a bit and then, I don't know, eat something, I guess.

[demontobee]

Crowley's memory theft was personal!

Okay so Heaven seems to have deleted some of Crowley’s memories of his time as an angel, right? But apparently they don’t do that with all demons. I noticed that when I rewatched E4. After Aziraphale’s successful magic trick, when Furfur comes in and tells them they are busted, he is offended when Crowley does not remember him or any of the details of their fight in the rebellion. That means Furfur must remember details, right? So my theory is that they only delete the memories of former angels who could be dangerous to them afterward. I am not saying that Crowley was (necessarily) a very important or powerful angel. I am suggesting that he has always been a critical thinker and – in the words of the Metatron – “been asking damn fool questions too”. They probably knew he was not gonna blindly side with Hell (as most other demons, like Furfur, would do) and that he could mean trouble. So they deleted detailed memories of the rebellion, people he knew or met, and intel about the creation (like why they made gravity a think etc.). They just left him with the vague notion of the rebellion and the fall, hoping that this would prevent any future disaster.

[whenthenightingalesings]

And That Went Down Like A Lead Balloon

but then again, who cares? Collaterals. Casualties.

There’s always something to be lost for something to be had,

And it always comes to which something you value more.

It all went down like a lead balloon,

Fast and merciful. But that’s always only the beginning.

The real thing starts when the balloon hits the ground—

That’s when you start caring,

Right after something has been lost and something

has been had—something worth losing, once again.

And the casualties don’t matter very much anymore,

They don’t do much anymore, except for haunting,

A dull reminder that this was how you felt the first time,

That this is completely different from how you’ll feel

the second time—fast, merciful.

The first one went down like a lead balloon, but

the second one flies forever. It flies with the promise of forever,

atleast. And you don’t think it will ever come down

Until it does. After all—

How long can you keep it afloat? A millennium? Six?

How many times can you nudge it gently up

just as it comes low enough to touch the ground?

As many times as it takes, you think.

You’ve always thought that.

[linipik]

"Works every time, apparently"

Aziraphale's plan went down poorly, but maybe Crowley's would work

[david-tennant-wearing-things]

Unfortunately didn’t have a chance to record/post this until now because it’s been a bit of a shit day, but what can’t be fixed by David dropping eggs on the counter and talking to his kids? also everything he's wearing is related to a franchise he's part of and I'm so here for it

[lineffability]

huarghhh The Nanny AU.......rich guy Aziraphale Edenson who's not good with children but has taken in his neighbour's kid Warlock after his parents disappeared under mysterious circumstances hires Crowley Fell as nanny for reasons as of yet comprehended by the neighbors

[depressed-cherry11]

how the fuck did crowley know what a balloon is?

did crowley invent balloons?

did crowley invent this idiom?

were balloons invented because of this idiom?

this one sentence invites so many questions and it’s gonna drive me bonkers

[mitrielle]

Aziraphale: A young customer told me a lovely little joke today. Crowley: Hmm… Aziraphale: Do you want to hear it my dear? Crowley: … Is there any way to avert it? Aziraphale: Absolutely not! Crowley: *sighs* Spill it! Aziraphale: *clears his throat* What would happen if all the koala bears would die? Crowley: … Aziraphale: The Eucalypse! *chuckles* Crowley: … Crowley: *turns into snake form and slithers out of the room*

Behind the next corner:

Ok, it looks a lot more like he's crying. (I've tried really hard to draw a laughing snake! Yes it is as tricky as it sounds, thank you very much).

Maybe it has triggered a trauma from the nopocalypse he has averted with Aziraphale instead.

Feel free to interpret!

[magentagalaxies]

ok maybe it's just because it's almost 3am and i went down a rabbit hole of trying to track down veggietales-related things i only very very vaguely remember from when i was a toddler but why the fuck does this song from the goddamn veggietales jonah movie soundtrack slap so much?????? like yes obviously it's nostalgia but that fucking hook "iiiii'm sleeping with fishes here / iiiiii'm highly nutritious here" has no right to go as hard as it does it's making me insane

[eliraillustre]

Hi! I don't know how tumblr works but I'm here for good omens 🥹

[spiderman-adorer]

ive been pausing the 1st episode??? pilot??? of good omens every 30 seconds because these two are too perfect for their own good and ive been spouting nonsense about them and quotes from both of them to my poor poor friend whos trying to mourn the loss of multiple dead anime duos. im sorry ash if u see this

[stryfeposting]

i think what i truly want is to roll around in some very old fashioned post-trauma, warding off ego death through the subsumption of the flesh type frank/nathan romance.

choke has high marks on the sucking dick as an expression of relief and self-critique rubric but i'm a greedy little boy and want to shovel some old style pornographic whump onto my plate.

[snoopyist]

did anyone actually think greywaren was good

[confinesofmy]

wow my dad is desperate to have a relationship with me. bro i do not know you. i don't suddenly need a dad just because i don't have a mom anymore, back off. if i needed you it would've been in the immediate aftermath and you acted like an asshole then so it's over dude.

[dingledraw]

Well, that went down like a lead balloon.