#they've accidentally changed the course of their lives several times - fixed it but still

[doctorbrown]

Also, unrelated because now I'm just thinking about it—I imagine Marty fading out of existence had to be super painful. Like it's a horrifying, harrowing experience, and in the film even though the camera is only on him for a few seconds during the George / Lorraine moment, he looks incredibly pained. Which makes sense, I mean; he's probably losing his senses, his control over his body more and more as the seconds go, everything's just collapsing until that moment where there's nothing, not even a memory.

That deleted scene from pt.2 with Old Biff definitely supports that but it also looks like it insinuates that the ripples in time will catch up and effect a person based on how they're removed from the timeline. He fades out in a way that alludes to the fact that Lorraine shot him well before he could ever make it to that age.

[kitcat-italica]

I'm still getting the hang of writing Aziraphale and Crowley, but while I've been experimenting with this new fic I'm working on, it's been interesting to track how their mindsets and interactions change throughout the series. Each episode has a distinctive flavor for each of them.

Episode 1 is the most relaxed. I finally finally read the book (finally!!!) and ep1 is def the most faithful to the book imo. They're old friends meeting up again after a while, hanging out in the park, getting drunk, talking about their work problems and figuring out a solution together. They have their low-key banter here which is always lovely.

Episode 2 is a bit more contentious between them. Crowley is stewing about his Antichrist mix-up and he's stressed about it, so he snaps at Aziraphale a bit more (culminating in the wall-slam). Aziraphale, meanwhile, is still perfectly convinced that there's a straightforward solution and everything will be okay again. This is where the bantering becomes bickering.

Episode 3, of course, has The Montage. Here's where we get all the history of clandestine meetings, 'accidentally' running into each other, with remarks and warnings peppered in about how dangerous their association is. It all culminates with the holy water, where we finally see the lengths to which they're willing to go to protect each other, even if they have to toe the line by risking their safety to do it. This episode is layered with this quiet desperation to just be with him, but knowing it can't go as far as they want because it could get them killed.

Then we skip to present day, and the desperation leaks out all over the place. Aziraphale is desperate to do what he thinks is the right thing, wanting to tell Heaven about the Antichrist to fix the problem, because telling Crowley would be working with Crowley, and working with Crowley would put them both in danger. Crowley, meanwhile, is desperate to work with Aziraphale to fix this, because he doesn't have illusions of going to his own employers about it; he knows they'll torture or kill him for his failure. It all ends with the breakup at the bandstand, and the longing and heartbreak is almost too much for me to stand. This episode's flavor is peak pining and desperation.

Episode 4 is where their relationship with their respective sides is broken. Aziraphale realizes he can't trust Heaven, and Crowley severs his ties with Hell by killing a fellow demon. They don't have much interaction in this one, but it's telling that after realizing Heaven won't stop the war, Aziraphale immediately calls Crowley to tell him that yes, he does know where the Antichrist is. Crowley, meanwhile, hangs up on him because he's facing Hastur right now, so he has to protect them both so Hastur won't know the truth. (Of course, Hastur is trapped with Aziraphale's voicemail so he figures it out anyway.) But once he's free of Hastur, Crowley races out the door to go to Aziraphale, not even caring that Aziraphale lied to him earlier about not knowing where the Antichrist was. In this episode, their devotion starts spreading its wings for the first time.

Episode 5 is where shit gets crazy. Crowley loses Aziraphale, then Aziraphale finds his way back to him and asks for his help, and they both use the most dramatic and ridiculous methods possible to get to Tadfield Airbase like the gay disaster husbands they are. At this point, Aziraphale greets Crowley warmly when he arrives, and Crowley responds in kind. They're on the same page now, and they're on a mission. In this episode, their interactions are a little more plot-driven, but it's also where tenderness and warmth comes back in.

Episode 6 is the granddaddy of all Ineffable Husbands feels. They help save the world together, they drink wine at a bus stop while idly chatting like old friends, they support each other emotionally after the trying day they've each had. The next day, they save each other's lives, laugh together, and give each other The Fondest Looks™ while celebrating the world they still get to live in together. This is peak Gentleness for the two of them, and my favorite way to write them.

I've noticed that as I write for them, I end up using certain phrases or words from dialogue in the show. Not directly copying lines from the script, just keeping in mind the way they speak without going overboard on their idiosyncracies. It helps me hear them speaking in my head, which is something I often struggle with for these two in most fics I read.

But as I ground some of my dialogue in that of the show, it helps to remember where they were at that point in the show, so I can gauge how much the tone in the fic is diverging from that moment in the show. If that makes sense? It's been interesting to track how the bantering, bickering, desperation, devotion, craziness, and gentleness all show up in different degrees throughout the story. Each side of them is all part of their characters, but Ep2 A&C is very different from Ep4 A/C, which is also different from Ep6 A/C when we last saw them. They each have very distinct voices and mannerisms, and it's been a joy to try to capture that in fic to the point where I can imagine them saying what I'm writing for them. They're both just so lovely and I love them to bits, dramatic dumbasses that they are 😊