lovethistoomuch reblogged
The War Ahead
There's no our side... not anymore.
I really worked a month on this just for the gimmick and then forgot to post it uh.
FUCK THIS NEEDS TO BE SEEN BY EVERYONE
WHAT IF HE CHANGED HIS MIND MID-SMOOCH?!
you’re welcome💕✨
…They kissed a lot.
I wanna talk about The Angel Who Would Be Crowley.
Because I had a certain set of expectations, which got thoroughly trashed in the first five minutes of S2, and my genuine response is, "Oh, fuck, yup. You're right. That's WAY better."
Looking around at GO fandom, I'm not alone in this. So let's talk about it.
Basically, a lot of people (myself included) believed that he was a high-ranking angel, and therefore as chilly and remote as every other powerful angel we'd seen at that point. We pictured Crowley-To-Be as long-haired, regal and imposing --and the fanart at the time reflected this. I'd link some if Tumblr didn't hate links.
Something like this:
We were collectively drawing on a few things --mostly, Crawly's appearance and general bearing in the Biblical scenes of S1--
--But also scattered hints of his importance, backed up by conspicuous absences in Heaven and a few profound displays of power. That's all better covered elsewhere, so I won't reiterate the arguments here. All I'm saying is: I think our headcanons were justified.
But it turns out he was this:
!!!
With his curly little--!!
And his neat white--!!
IT TURNS OUT, he was an angel who squeaked and squealed when he was happy; who flailed his arms around and made explosion noises with his mouth to explain nebulas; who preened when told his stars were pretty. Furfur, who knew him before the Fall, says:
"You used to jump on me back, little monkey in a waistcoat..."
(The use of a diminutive there, 'little'...oh, that fascinates me.)
In a pretty huge subversion of expectations, we're given these glimpses of an angel who was sweet, and joyful, and heart-meltingly silly.
In sum...an innocent.
(Perhaps innocent to a troubling degree.
We see how he troubles Aziraphale, during their first conversation. He starts looking around and behind them, checking to make sure that no one can HEAR the blithe and reckless things coming out of this angel's mouth. This angel who talks like he's never been reprimanded in his life; like it's never occurred to him that anyone would want to hurt him.
Before the Beginning, Aziraphale understood Heaven better than he did. The danger is plainly occurring to Aziraphale.)
So now, we the viewers are in on a cruel joke that Aziraphale has known all along, which is that this --THIS-- is the angel who--
*checks notes*
--did a million lightyear freestyle dive into a boiling pool of sulphur. For asking questions.
...Imagine you are Aziraphale, and everything inside you wants to believe Heaven are the Good Guys, and God is Good and Everything She does is capital-R Right...and now try to reconcile that. Keep trying. I don't think he ever totally managed it in 6000 years.
All this gets further complicated when we learn that, despite all of the above, we were still right. That sweet excitable babby up there?
He WAS a powerful and high-ranking angel.
That much is explicitly confirmed, with significant evidence that he could have been among the mightiest of archangels...
...Who apparently accosted his fellow angels for piggyback rides. And was remembered millennia later by those (now fallen) angels as something 'little.'
What does that tell us about who he was? Is?
Hell, Aziraphale has known to be wary of the archangels (and the judgements of Heaven in general) since before the Fall even happened. He chooses to believe they are Good; he can't fool himself into thinking they are Safe.
Yet he's absolutely certain that Crowley won't hurt Job's children. Enough to stand in a burning building and say to them, "I can't save you, but don't be afraid. I won't need to."
And what reason does he give?
("I know you."
"You do not know me."
"I know the angel you were.")
What does that tell us about who he was? Is?
("The angel you knew is not me."
But how is Aziraphale supposed to believe that, when he can see him all the time?)
tl;dr --yes, this is better. I love the tragedy of it.
'Innocence died screaming' and all that.
lovethistoomuch reblogged
You idiot, we could have been...us. I forgive you.
lovethistoomuch reblogged
"When Gabriel smites you, you've been...smited? Smote?" "Smitten, I believe. You're being silly."
What I love so much about the Good Omens fandom is that everybody is so nice and welcoming! Especially the older fans who have been with this story for decades! I love how nice they are when interacting with us new fans who only know the show and I love the fact that I know about Crowley’s hissing when he is nervous and Aziraphale calling Crowley “my dear” without having read the book!
Being in this fandom has been such a wholesome experience and that makes me very happy. So thank you! <3
And thank you to Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett! Creating a community of loving people is such a huge achievement!
My Best Friend
Because the: “I lost my best friend”, line in combination with the “Got an old friend here” line broke my heart, here is a little fic where they finally clear that up:
They walk into Crowley's flat but as soon as they reach the second door, something dawns on the demon. He makes a big step. Aziraphale following behind him, looks down as to see what the obstacle was.
“Why is there a coat on the floor?”, he asks mildly puzzled, but with no intention to pick it up as he steps over it as well and follows Crowley into the next room.
“Oh, that was just from before, when you called me”, Crowley says, attempting to make his voice sound nonchalant: “Hastur and Ligur tried to get me. So I had to leave in a hurry. I didn't have a chance to clean up, sorry”, that's just typical, he thinks. First time the angel visits him and his place is a mess...
But Aziraphale's face is still full of confusion. “Earlier, when I called...”, he mumbles: “You said you were with an old friend...”
“Figure of speech”, Crowley answers, looking around in a hurry to see if at least the rest of his flat is presentable. Because of that he misses the look on Aziraphales face.
“But...”, the angel starts again: “I'm sorry, but didn't you say something about your best friend? In that bar I found you in? I mean, I thought you were with a friend when I called and then they got killed and that's why you were so upset?” He looks at Crowley intently, expecting some form of trickery from the demon, only with a slight bit of hurt on his face after being lied to.
Crowley stares. He had taken off his glasses as soon as they had walked in and now he regrets it. Oh, how he regrets it! “A...ughn...”, he says, trying to look away, looking anywhere but Aziraphale's face which is hard when it is so pure and vulnerable and so, well... soft.
“Ah, well, I....ah... I was talking about....you”, the last word is said in another direction, somewhere towards the wall where Aziraphale is not standing. “Don't let it get to your head, Angel”, Crowley adds in a tone that is supposed to be dismissive. But of course it isn't. Not with how he feels right now!
He doesn't dare to look at Aziraphale. He couldn't cope with any amount of pity on that face or revulsion at the thought of being considered the best friend of a demon.