#but I think that it’s also an incredible character arc if Aziraphale truly still believed Heaven could still be changed

[nefertiti-fooling-fellow]

What if Aziraphale knew what kind of effect it would have when he offered to restore Crowley to full angelic status. What if Crowley walking away was what he wanted? What he needed to keep him safe? Aziraphale just never expected the kiss.

What if “Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death,” wasn’t just the name of a coffee shop, but also a threat? What if all of the lies we saw him told (Job’s children…The Miracle…), the performances we saw him put on (The Jane Austen ball…the Magician act) was all a lead up to his biggest lie yet? “You’re demons, you’re evil.”

What if that was what Aziraphale thought he needed to do to keep Crowley from putting himself in danger to “rescue” him one last time?

What if Aziraphale didn’t want to reform Heaven so much as he wanted to rip it up by the roots and tear it apart, so it can never hurt Crowley again?

What if he knew.

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #aziracrow #good omens 2 #ineffable husbands #ineffable divorce #this is a whole lot of nothing #my brain is a melted cocktail of despair and sadness #I needed season 3 like yesterday #it’s fun to speculate #but I think that it’s also an incredible character arc if Aziraphale truly still believed Heaven could still be changed #BUT it’s suspicious as hell that we never actually saw Aziraphale’s reaction to the Metatron’s initial offer #im just SAYING. ITS SUSPICIOUS #And I also just love BAMF!Aziraphale marching into Heaven to fuck it UP

[avelera]

The Doylist Argument for Crowley Being An Important Angel (Pre-Fall)

So I just read a great essay on all the arguments for why Crowley is Raphael by @cyan-cirby and rather than subjecting them to attaching my long-winded additions directly onto their post, figured I'd make my own.

(As a quick aside, I do think Crowley was probably Raphael specifically. It's just too big of an omission of archangels that People Have Actually Heard Of to include Gabriel and Michael, and then jump to lesser known archangel names like Uriel, then totally obscure names like Sandalphon while skipping Raphael, a goddamn Ninja Turtle of well-known archangel names. And I don't think Crowley was Lucifer because Satan is already a character and Neil point-blank said Satan and Lucifer are the same person, otherwise it's too confusing (never mind other evidence like that Crowley referred to Lucifer in the 3rd person in S1, but I digress).)

Anyway! There's plenty of fantastic essays like the one I shared above that go into the fresh new Season 2 evidence for why Crowley was Raphael or at the very least important and high-ranked before he Fell. But I'm a fresh (and still primarily) denizen of the other Neil Gaiman Recent TV Show Adaptation of The Sandman so I want to delve into why Crowley was An Important Angel because that's just how Gaiman writes.

- Crowley is the more Gaiman-y of the two characters and Aziraphale the more Pratchett-y. I’m not making this up from nothing, Pratchett and Gaiman have taken photos and done promotions for the Good Omens book where they modeled themselves that way and basically cosplayed those characters respectively.

- I'm a Pratchett Super Fan first and foremost and can say with some authority that Pratchett tends to write Normal People. Even his Special People are Normal People who have to put their socks on one at a time in the morning. However, his Normal People do Special Things. That's the point. He truly believes, deep down in his bones, in equality and it shows in his portrayal of his protagonists as normal people who rise to an extraordinary occasion.

-Aziraphale is Pratchett's angel in Good Omens and it follows from that that Aziraphale is a Normal Angel doing extraordinary things (defying Heaven’s will to save the world). It aligns with Pratchett's general writerly sensibilities that his angel who saves the world is just a normal low-ranked angel, nothing special by birth, who is fussy and imperfect but nevertheless rises to the challenge to do incredible things in a comedic way. That's how Pratchett's protagonists work.

- Gaiman writes Special People. Dream/Morpheus and the other Endless are born Special People. Rose in Sandman learns she is born Special. Shadow in American Gods learns he was born Special.

- Gaiman very often writes about protagonists who are mythological and/or magical and thus who are super powerful by birth. They are generally only limited either by their own emotional immaturity or by Cosmic Rules.

-Gaiman has also, on more than one occasion, inserted a character who rather resembles him and mirrors his sartorial choices of wearing all black into the story as a protagonist and then made them a Cool Character. Not a criticism, just sayin’, Dream/Morpheus and Crowley come from the same era in his career.

My point is, Crowley is the Gaiman character so, in my opinion, especially when you combine this hunch with the new lore additions in S2, there are some past authorial choices and sensibilities that lead me to believe that with sole creative control of Crowley’s arc and character background, as well Pratchett’s tacit collaborator blessing since this is Gaiman’s Character, we’re going to see a default to old habits and a continuation of this trend because authors are people and they tend to have their way of doing things.

Which is why I think we're going to learn that Crowley Is Special By Birth (being an archangel), super overpowered (like Dream), and only limited in achieving what he wants by Cosmic Rules and being emotionally stunted.

#good omens #good omens spoilers #spoilers #good omens meta #crowley #the sandman

[thedeepmiracleperfection]

Ok so I’ve literally been up all night without sleep after that good omens season finale because what the absolute fuck. And I was angry and kind of felt betrayed cause for me it was just so unexpected and what I felt to be out of character. But I’ve been doing a lot of thinking (literally not thinking about anything else) and I have to admit that upon further consideration the ending actually does fit their characters and their overall arc.

For both Crowley and Aziraphale, Hell and Heaven have acted as sort of abusive families. The difference between Crowley and Aziraphale, is that Crowley has always recognized the abuse for what it is, whereas Aziraphale is still very much in the “well sure they have problems but don’t we all? I mean I can’t just leave they’re my FAMILY” mentality. 

Crowley didn’t agree with the way Heaven was set up, so he voiced his opinion and was outcast for it. From that moment on his eyes were opened and he saw Heaven for what it was: hypocritical, controlling, and isolating. This is why he’s been able to let go of his ties to Heaven and has no desire to return. This is the equivalent of someone who has gone no-contact with abusive relatives. It’s normal and natural to grieve the relationship you had before, while also still recognizing that it was bad for you and you’re better off having set boundaries and putting yourself first. Before Crowley was offered a chance for “redemption”, one could have made the argument that he was a little bit in denial. That maybe his whole “I don’t want to be forgiven, not ever” bit was only because he knew he’d never have the chance. But now, having been offered Heaven and still refusing, it shows that he knows Heaven is abusive and toxic, and he knows that it’s healthier and safer for him and Aziraphale to not give them any more opportunities to mess with their lives. He wants to maintain no-contact, because that’s what’s best for them.

And I think a lot of people overestimated the journey Aziraphale made in season one. Going against Heaven’s orders and doing what he believed was right even if it didn’t line up with Heaven’s ideology was the first step towards independence. Their success in saving the world bolstered Aziraphale’s confidence in his judgement of right vs wrong and good vs evil, but in doing so made him more firm in his incorrect beliefs than before. Because the question in his mind was never whether or not Heaven was inherently good, but whether they were doing things Right. I think by the end of season one, Aziraphale realized that just because Heaven is good, doesn’t mean they know what they’re doing and doesn’t mean that everything an Angel does is the Right or Good thing. He never took the next step and questioned WHY that is, and whether the flaws in Heaven were perpetuated by those in power. I think that’s why now he believes that he can change things if he’s put in charge. The fact that the world was saved has given him false confidence that he was actually right about goodness and evil and only reaffirmed his belief that Heaven isn’t the problem, Angles are. The system isn’t broken, it’s just been led astray by a few bad apples.

And it really is hard to hate Aziraphale. Because we and Crowley know that he’s only doing what he truly believes to be right. He doesn’t have malicious intent, he doesn’t want power, he truly wants to do good. But he’s also incredibly insecure and naïve, and will jump at the opportunity to do things which reinforce his beliefs and not examine if it’s truly the right thing or if it’s what he wants the right thing to be. And when he visibly hurts those around him, namely Crowley, he convinces himself that they’re being wrong and difficult instead of questioning himself or his reasoning. 

In other words, he’s a bit of a selfish coward. And the tragic thing is that it’s intentional. That’s what systems of oppression do. They make you frightened and insecure and perpetuate the idea that the way to make things Better is to reinforce the system, not stray away from it. They make you turn on your neighbor. They make you believe that if you just do things the right way and play by all the rules you can escape punishment, but you never will. They’ll just change the rules on you. Because the truth is that you’ll never be safe, they don’t want you to be safe, because then you’re harder to control and you’ll leave. But he doesn’t know that. Not yet. 

I actually think that them breaking up, as tragic as it is, is good for the both of them. Aziraphale has a lot of internal work he needs to do, and while as a partner Crowley could help him with that, Aziraphale is still being fearful and selfish and not considering the feelings of those around him, so Crowley would just be opening himself up to further hurt and rejection. Crowley needs to take a step back and stop coddling Aziraphale and let him struggle on his own for a bit. It was done out of love, and not wanting to see Aziraphale get hurt, but Crowley really fucked himself over by not letting Aziraphale ever fully experiencing Heaven’s hypocrisy. He’s protected and shielded him, but also sheltered him and therefore made it easier for Aziraphale to run back to Heaven. I’m not saying it’s Crowley’s fault or trying to blame him or anything, but I think it’s time for Aziraphale to stand on his own two feet and struggle without Crowley at his beck and call to catch him when he metaphorically (or perhaps literally) falls. They need to be their own people for a while while Aziraphale decides what it is he wants and so Crowley can have distance to heal from his own trauma without always prioritizing Aziraphale’s feelings.

#good omens #good omens season 2 #gos2 #good omens spoilers #crowley #aziraphale #innefable husbands #Omg that was a lot and I don’t know if anyone will actually read this #but I just have so many feelings I had to get them out #Neil I swear to god don't make me wait another 4 years