#( well the austen one is canon anyways)

[lineffability]

the funny thing about crowley and aziraphale and media is that you can literally make them ignorant of any piece of media for a joke and it tracks (or have them love it, same thing). crowley watches richard curtis films but has somehow missed ALL of jane austen's books AND the movies she inspired?? tracks. aziraphale collects rare dr who annuals but has probably never heard of Lord of the Rings -- but it turns out Tolkien was his friend and hobbits are actually based on HIM? sure, absolutely. crowley has the bond bullet-hole-in-the-windscreen transfers but he only knows ian fleming as a ww2 spy? of course he does. the more obviously they should be familiar with something the funnier it is. 11/10 no notes

#good omens #my omens #these are true for the following reason: i want them to be #( well the austen one is canon anyways) #aziraphale #crowley

[19burstraat]

when existence or when hope is gone : soc jane austen / regency au

"And have you made this entire call without once vexing or offending poor Miss Ghafa?” Captain Rietveld looked coolly at him. Inej bent her head over her sewing to hide her smiling, since she was not sure she would not laugh outright. She had not thought that Wylan would deliberately provoke the Captain, but perhaps his deference to his father did not reach anyone else. “I am sure that is not for me to decide,” said the Captain, “But I own I have been perfectly well behaved.” “Does he lie, Miss Ghafa?” “No— he has been quite tolerable company,” said Inej. “If not quite a perfect gentleman.” “You wound me, Miss Ghafa.” “I suspect I do not, Captain.”

contextual and explanatory notes about regency literary and social conventions are below the cut if you have questions during/after reading! plus some trivia for fun :)

The redacting of certain place names (—shire, — Street) is accurate to lots of old novels, where you will see it from time to time. I think it was a deliberate omission to avoid libel accusations if they accidentally invoked somewhere or someone real, or to also avoid confusing people if it contradicted real life. I used it here both to mimic the style, and also because that way didn't have to pick streets or regions lol.

The 'cut direct' was a social nuke and Kaz has balls of steel for using it on an older man who is his social superior 💀 if you very deliberately stared at and then blanked a previous acquaintance who had greeted you, it severed a relationship or acquaintance forever and could also make people turn on the person being cut. Pekka could have challenged him to a duel for it, but sensibly I think he saw the lapse in logic in giving a pistol to a soldier who holds you responsible for his brother's death and letting him shoot at you

A reticule is one of those dumb tiny handbags that regency ladies had

Governesses were in a uniquely vulnerable position. Not genteel enough for the family while not technically a servant, they tended to be isolated. While they were ofc not comparable to what Inej canonically goes through, many were abused by the families they worked for, rivalled the mothers for their children's affection, and some were harassed and abused by husbands or male visitors. There's a reason Jane Fairfax does not want to be one in Emma.

The navy lists are a publication that, unsurprisingly, list all the men, their ranks, and their ships currently trundling around on campaign. Kaz checks them to see who is still alive and to backseat drive campaigns (what's new!) and Wylan waits on tenterhooks for him to find Jesper. Which he always does because he was already looking for him.

Married couples did not tend to call one another by their given names, at least not in company; Nina and Matthias do it because they have a fond disrespect for one another. Or Nina does anyway and it's rubbed off on Matthias.

Although Kaz and Inej are comparatively very young, twenty six is pushing it for the 'marriageability' of young women; Anne Elliot was twenty seven and was considered to have lost the 'bloom' of her youth, so she is being bourne down upon a bit.

The money concerns in Persuasion— landed gentry losing money and soldiers becoming 'new' money in the war via prize money, but still being looked down upon by the old nobility— are kinda reflected through Kaz and Jesper.

(to be so honest I do not quite understand how the regency economy worked but I figured that like, no one else reading this does either, unless ur a regency specialist. if you are, sorry. how's academia?)

I think we're actually not quite yet at the peak of the 'scandal sheet' Bridgerton-Lady-Whistledown craze, but I couldn't possibly deprive Kaz and Inej of their fishmarket wife gossip habit in any universe.

I also hate Lord Byron. Next!

Nina, Matthias, and Inej are not at the Wesper wedding because regency weddings were super tiny affairs that only had v close / local family and friends at them

I think the circumstances of Kaz and Jordie having been minor landed gentry having to join the navy out of necessity may be a bit of a stretch but... Well I had to think of something to replicate Kaz's backstory with. The easier solution would have been for them to marry rich but I can see Jordie thinking that trying to marry Kaz 'Cut Direct' Rietveld off to a Duchess might be a bit tough

A trousseau was the collection of clothes that women bought before they were married; it was an expected thing, to send brides off with new clothes. Nina and Mrs Ghafa (and Jesper) are a lot more interested in this than poor Inej is lol.

The made up house names are entirely inside jokes with myself. Geldings references horses but is actually a play on the Geldstraat, Crawley means 'clearing frequented by crows', Stavewell is a play on the Stave where Tante Heleen and the Menagerie are, and I think Trasselwood is fairly obvious lol.

#the edit's wonky ik. shhhh #six of crows #soc #soc fic #my fics #kanej #six of crows fic #my post #austen au

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

My Sydcarmy dream happy ending? Or Storer's?

This is the 1st time I actually envisioned a whole scene with music and all in my head. I always had the feeling that the end of the show is gonna be like the final scene of Braciole: All together, the found family, maybe at the restaurant, maybe not, and just having dinner and having a good time.

After that "vision" I had, I found out that Storer mentioned in a panel that food had always saved them as a family, he was talking about his own family. So I figured: OK so since the show he created, the whole Bear universe, revolves around food, that's gonna be the ending. I felt he kinda confirmed my "vision", my take, the one I had as soon as I finished watching S1. I could already see that ending and believe in it wholeheartedly. And it looked like that, but blurry, because it was just season 1, and even though I knew there was a S2 that I hadn't watched yet (watched it the next day, actually), the overthinker in me was already daydreaming about THE SHOW'S FINALE.

OK, cut to me obsessing about this show after watching S2, that IMO was even better than S1, which is VERY RARE nowadays on TV, and then me re-watching both seasons and dissecting them till the cows go home and then re-watching S2 only over and over to analyze every single layer of Sydcarmy as humanly possible, and literally cutting my working hours to have more time to do that LMAO! etc. So, I ended up noticing the whole script structure Storer (and Calo) came up with, it's Austenian. And at that point, I was already a Sydcarmy soldier, of course, but when I picked up on the Austenticity of it all I FUCKING FLIPPED OUT because that gave me hope. It meant that the Sydcarmy endgame I had in mind could very well happen seeing as it was IC and Austenian, and it fit the slow burn process I had already picked up on right after watching Braciole, as I mentioned HERE. It all made total sense. How will it happen exactly, IDK, I wish I did but Storer is diabolical and way better than me at plot twists, so I won't even try to guess, but I will put my trust in the Austenian arc he swears by.

Me growing up reading Austen (real footage):

For those who haven't read Jane Austen, her trademark is: taking something painful and making it beautiful, finding beauty in pain, and always building towards a happy ending and redemption arc for her main characters, unless she kills them first and if she does, we can be sure that death will serve the happy ending purpose anyway (AKA: Michael, Syd's mother and probably Cicero, I wanna believe Donna will live, but I'm on the fence about her, I do believe she will be redeemed after Nat's baby is born, either way), she will take that death and make it worthwhile and beautiful. She doesn't stand for unhappy endings, but she does include bittersweetness in the endgame of some of her characters, usually not the A ones, but the B ones. The Alphas usually get a relatively "clean happy ending". Relatively being the operative word and what we can ALWAYS expect no matter what, is a "teaching", a lesson learned by the main characters. They walk out of that story as new men/women after having learned that/those lesson/s. She does this. She slow burns romances left and right, kills characters off, takes losses and turns them into gains, and builds towards a happy ending. That's an Austenian structure right there. It's usually used in Romance movies, rarely seen on this kinda TV shows, but here we are. The Storer-Calo duo are giving us Austenian characters in a nutshell.

So, back to my point, I always had this take and wishful thinking even, but up until now, I was never able to actually envision a final scene that could be actually canonical. I mean, I could even fucking write the whole script of that whole final ep, line by line, for every character if they allowed me to. I have the music in mind, the outfits, the whole set, and the final take that faiths to black and reads THE END. And no, this is not just a wishful thinking list or prediction post, it's an actual argumentative outline about why I think The Bear’s series finale will look like the Happy version of Fishes:

And just because Carmy said this, I will take a wild guess, this is gonna be part of the menu:

He associated them with his, and I quote: "fucked up family life" end of quote. So he wanted to reversion them:

And Marcus, based on Sydcarmy's pointers, came up with The Michael Cannoli:

I am also assuming, Sydcarmy will be endgame because of the aforementioned reasons, but I'm not sure Storer will actually show it on camera, maybe just insinuate it, because we all know he is diabolical and also because that's how the original movie script turned into TV script ended before Storer knew The Bear was going to be picked up for a 2° season, he always had this ending in mind for The Bear, behold:

So what I'm saying is: We Sydcarmy truthers have an actual shot here. I also dive into this theory HERE but from a totally different angle.

This happy Sydcarmy endgame we want is at arms' reach.

Now I see it more clearly.

Who's with me?

@ciaonicole85 thanks for the inspo to write this post, it all came to mind when I saw yours.

#gingerpovs #sydcarmy for life #sydcarmy #sydney x carmy #the bear #carmy x sydney #syd x carmen #carmy berzatto #sydney adamu #carmen x sydney #AUSTENIAN

[bad-at-names-and-faces]

20 Questions for fic writers

I've been tagged by @firawren @glassslippers-n-cowboyboots and @bethanydelleman

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 149, apparently. Bear in mind, most of these are very, very short, including 3 rounds now of the February Ficlet Challenge.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 297,078

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Frozen is the big one, also Tangled, various Jane Austen fandoms (mostly Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey), as well as Downton Abbey.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Means of Uniting Them (Pride and Prejudice)

Have You Heard? (Pride and Prejudice, something of a "prequel" to The Means of Uniting Them)

The Young Diplomat (Frozen/Tangled crossover)

Mrs. Darcy and Her Sister (Pride and Prejudice, Darcy/Jane, Bingley/Elizabeth)

What If... (Frozen canon divergence drabble collection)

5. Do you respond to comments? I do, even if it literally takes a year or two.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I suppose "Have You Heard?", at least of my works that have more readers than I have fingers and toes... (a few of my OC drabble collections are pretty angsty, but almost nobody reads those...)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Happiest? I don't know. I haven't published most of my darker stuff, so nothing ends too badly. I suppose some of them might be a bit bittersweet.

8. Do you get hate on fics? I got some on the Darcy/Jane ficlet.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I've written a bit, and "vanilla" would probably describe it.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I write a lot of crossovers. As far as the craziest, I suppose the Elsa/Darcy one...?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? One to German and one to Russian.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I've never tried.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship? Anna/Kristoff

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? Probably one of them that I haven't started posting outside of some drabbles and ficlets. Maybe I'll get around to some of them eventually. (My WWII Downton Abbey post-canon AU is probably the one I'd love to actually write a proper longfic for.)

16. What are your writing strengths? I've gotten compliments on my dialogue.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Feelings? That's where I feel weakest, anyway.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? A lot of my dialogue can be assumed to be translated from another language, but aside from a few words I never write dialogue in another language.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Frozen

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? The Young Diplomat, being the beginning of all the plot and characters that spend the most time living rent-free in my head, probably deserves this distinction.

No-obligation tagging @fericita-s @snowfall-in-summer @pterawaters @basingstokemercury @the-red-butterfly

#tag games #questions

[cto10121]

Hey so I read your "What is a Romance" post and found it very informative so thank you lol. I was confused about one part tho:

Can a romance focus on a beta couple as well? Generally no. In American romance novels, authors do set up the couple for the next installment, but that is not quite the same as page time and development. Romances focus on one couple at a time—once that couple’s love story is done, writers can move on to another couple’s romance. Stories that have more than one couple tend to be something else entirely.

I wanted to know how this related to works like Much Ado About Nothing (Hero and Claudio) or Pride and Prejudice (Jane and Bingley) (though I suppose that last one is a marriage plot so it might not count anyway).. Isn't Much Ado About Nothing a romance that focuses on more then one couple?

I also wanted to know this because I'm working on a romance novel and there was a side couple that i wanted to give attention to.

…I’ve been waiting for someone to ask this question, ha. Knowing all the while that I’d have to give my very unpopular opinion. Well, here it is (and thanks for in advance for being the one to bring it up!)

So no, I don’t categorize Much Ado About Nothing and Pride and Prejudice as romances, not so much because they have a beta couple, but because of their plots and thematic concerns. Much Ado is social comedy/satire and Pride and Prejudice is a wedding plot. Let me explain.

Much Ado About Nothing

Ah, Much Ado. I know people adore Beatrice/Benedick (ditto, they’re great) and feel very uncomfortable with Hero/Claudio (with good reasons). But ultimately neither of these couples constitute a true romance. Their love in the play function as social satire/commentary on the battle of the sexes. Beatrice and Benedick’s respective sexism (Beatrice’s scorn for men and Benedick’s sexism toward women) make them refuse to entertain marriage/romance and shield their obvious attraction for each other. Ultimately, though, their sexism stems not from ideology, but from personal hurt feelings and/or insecurity, so the moment they hear that the other likes them, then they are eager to cast off their previous convictions. Shakespeare even hints that B&B had been a couple before, so their realization that they actually love each other is not really true romantic development. Claudio’s actual sexism, in the meantime, actually does lead him to reject Hero. Though framed as romance plots, these two strands are part of the satiric commentary on sexism and misogyny.

Pride and Prejudice

So yeah, Pride and Prejudice is almost purely a marriage plot. Austen sets up the stakes very early and very clearly: The Bennett sisters must marry or else their estate is entailed to their cousin. But wait! Elizabeth grows to love Darcy, right? She learns she was mistaken about him, right? Isn’t that romantic development?

Well, no. Romantic development would entail mutual attraction on both sides, foiled by obstacles. While Darcy is canonically attracted to Elizabeth, Elizabeth doesn’t even begin to catch feelings until after she realizes that Mr. Darcy was the victim in the Darcy-Wickham scandal and finding out he was the one who forced Wickham to marry Lydia. Oh, and seeing his beautiful estate Pemberley. 😑 Real romantic. Austen even lampshades this by having Elizabeth joke about it!

So yeah, that is not a romance between two people attracted to each other and struggling with their class hang-ups. This is story of a woman learning that this seemingly snobbish rich dude is actually not that bad once you get to know him and his £10,000 a year manor home.

Yes, Austen was obviously inspired by Shakespeare’s Beatrice and Benedick subplot when she wrote Pride and Prejudice. But while Shakespeare focuses on sexism as the obstacle between these lovers (and the mutuality of their attraction), Austen replaces the sexism with classism and class resentment that both characters need to overcome. All well and good, but there is no more mutuality; Mr. Darcy starts to give her 🥺 from the second he notices her fine eyes while Elizabeth flirts with Wickham and still thinks he is a rich asshole for over half the book. Her change of heart is genuine and humbling, but it does not follow that she should start liking Mr. Darcy romantically. She actually doesn’t until at least the Lydia affair.

The fact that Austen gave little consideration to romantic development (there are few if no courtship scenes between the two) leads me to conceive P&P as more of a marriage plot than a romance one. That is the true goal here, not the love. It is merely enough that Mr. Darcy is established as truly a worthy man to marry. Hence, a marriage plot.

(As for Jane/Bingley, it basically functions as 1) a softer iteration of the classism theme and 2) an obstacle to Elizabeth/Darcy. Again, a marriage plot, and not a romance either.)

#much ado about nothing #pride and prejudice #cristina metas #kaleb-is-definitely-sane #ask #cristina has an unpopular opinion #yeah this is going to go over well #but i’ve never been convinced by elizabeth’s love for darcy #homegirl was barely even bothered by her dislike of him #she only truly hated him when she learned what he supposedly did to wickham

[cirrus-grey]

I have now finished watching Good Omens Season 2

If you haven't already, please block the tag "good omens spoilers" - I won't post anything else until Friday night at the earliest, but after that all bets are off.

@albertinesimonet, I did not manage a full liveblog but I did jot down my reactions after watching each episode, and those are compiled under the cut :)

(SPOILERS!)

Episode 1:

Holy flipping fuck are they actually making the ineffable husbands canon???

Okay.

Look.

I saw that it was trending alongside Supernatural and OFMD. I suspected it was going this way, and the season had ended with some sort of confession/immediate separation.

That did not prepare me for the season to open with Crowley saying "hello gorgeous" to a nebula and Aziraphale being disappointed that Crowley wasn't talking to him. Or for Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy to be playing while Crowley rushed to Aziraphale's aid, like-

This is a fanfic. This is a motherfucking fanfic, and I am pleased to say that my brain is processing it as such, a well-written but ultimately non-canon fanfic (*puts on my "I still have book!omens brainrot" shirt*) that just so happens to have been written by one of the original authors.

Anyway, outside of my snorting disbelief that the first ship that I ever shipped is apparently going canon in one 'verse, I do actually have some legitimate theories, which run as follows:

A. I know this season is the plot-bridge between the original novel and what would have been the sequel, and B. I know the sequel was going to involve the second coming of Christ, therefore C. I suspect this Resurrectionist group that kept getting hinted at in the promos is trying to bring Jesus back, Gabriel found out and tried to stop it, and that's why he lost his memories. I'm a tad bit surprised Heaven as a whole doesn't seem to be involved in the return of their special boy, but I guess we'll see how that plays out as the season goes along.

Episode 2:

Oh hey, I've read this one before! "It's ancient Biblical times and Crowley and Aziraphale are angsting about their orders and finding solace in each other's company" may have never gotten its own tag, but there are certainly enough fics about it that it could.

"Can I be a blue one?" Weird kids are the best.

So the Resurrectionist is a pub, not a group. Still think they have something to do with the second coming, but I'm open to being proven wrong.

Gotta say, I didn't expect Every Day to be plot-relevant. I knew they had it for the soundtrack, but I'm really liking this sort of spooky-mystery-music-mixup they've got going with it - love the way its incorporated into the end credits, too.

Totally down for master-thief Jane Austen, btw.

How many people are writing fics about Crowley and Aziraphale getting caught in a rainstorm and hiding under an awning even as I type...

Episode 3:

How to run a bookshop, a guide by A.J. Crowley: Carry large stacks of books around aimlessly and then toss them on the floor when you get bored.

I'm honestly surprised his awning plan nearly worked. Curses be upon weak awnings, I suppose.

I do like that the Bentley recognizes that it has to play nice with whichever one of its dads is in the driver's seat lol

Okay so they keep drawing attention to the fact that there's flies in the bookshop, and now Beelzebub is acting off. Are the flies like... telepathically communicating Gabriel's worldviews to them? Is that how they figured out he was there?

That bit he said when Crowley mentioned tempests is definitely from the Revelations. I unfortunately don't know enough about the Revelations to draw any new conclusions from this. I know they deal with the apocalypse and the antichrist, but that was S1 stuff so there must be something else...

(That bit definitely sounded like Rapture stuff though, just saying)

Lotta talk about people coming back from the dead, here. It's doing little to dissuade me from my idea that this is all related to the second coming. Their "little" miracle was strong enough to bring 25 people back? Okay. How did Gabriel add his own power to it... and who did he bring back? (Does 1 Jesus = 25 normal people?)

...Okay yeah I just googled it and the second coming (and the rapture) is definitely in Revelations. Apparently the appearance of the antichrist is its herald. *insert 'oh yeah it's all coming together' gif here*

...

Several-hours later addition: When they were talking about gravity Gabriel seemed upset that the book didn't stay where it was put, "it goes down." And that flies go up.

...did he "go down," turning into a human, and is Beelzebub "going up," and that's why they're so worried about finding Gabriel? Figure out what happened to him, so it doesn't happen to them as well? Hmm...

Episode 4:

"The rumors that you two are an item..." Yeah holy fuck they're actually doing this. I don't know why it keeps catching me by surprise??? I guess it's not like, the forefront of the plot, so every time it comes to the front it feels a bit like a new thing, but still.

Aziraphale's smug fucking little eyebrow raise at that "I didn't think you were his type." He's like yeah, and what do you know, hm?

Did not expect the entire episode to be backstory, but that was very cute, especially given how much people fixated on the church scene in S1. That little showcase of their trust, both of them worried it'll go wrong but still willing to try because they feel safe with each other. I like that they managed to keep the tension of the setting, that "I'm pointing a gun at my best friend and this could go horribly wrong" feeling, even when it's well-established that the worst that could happen is paperwork.

Also, Crowley trying really, really hard to give Aziraphale positive feedback on his magic tricks even when he knows they suck. That's true love, right there.

Another showcase of people coming back from the dead. We've had the kids getting "brought back" from shape-shifting, the "resurrectionists" digging up dead bodies, and now actual honest-to-god zombies. I am Sensing A Theme.

...are the zombies still around? What's-is-face the demon did say eternal undeath...

Aaaaaand there's going to be an army of demons dropping in on the local business association meeting. I hope Aziraphale has enough tea cakes for everyone.

Episode 5:

SEAMSTRESSES SHOUTOUT ITS A FUCKING DISCWORLD REFERENCE

I know most people are probably going wild over the Dr. Who references but. It's the seamstresses guild...

I'm sure Mrs. Sandwich and Rosie Palm would get along famously.

In other news wow they're just being blatant about the ineffableness of these husbands now, aren't they? The great thing about that is I'm watching it with my parents and I don't think either of them have clicked that it's going canon - like, they're just interpreting it as a running bit, 'haha isn't it funny that everyone keeps mistaking them as a couple' kind of thing. The same thing happened when I showed them OFMD, neither of them realized Ed and Stede were actually going to be a real canon thing until the kiss. I mean, maybe they've worked out that this is going somewhere by now? But I don't want to ask in case they haven't, because I'd love to see their reaction if it blindsides them.

I am Not Normal about the dancing. Aziraphale's giddy little grin when he drags Crowley to the floor? The fucking. Hand presses. I've probably read too much Jane Austen if I'm going this insane about them just pressing their palms together.

And just... that whole fucking scene. The amount of queer people - either queercoded or just flat-out obviously queer - is making my heart feel full. When Aziraphale referred to the magic shop owner's partner using 'they' before we met them I thought it was just, you know, being polite, he'd never met them and didn't want to assume, but then they showed up in person and folks were still using they and they were so obviously giving a huge middle finger to gender norms I just-

Man I need to watch more queer shows I love this feeling.

And the army of demons is more of a large crowd but, well, still threatening. I like the use of masks to hide demonic traits, clever costuming detail there.

But. My dudes. Don't split up, what the fuck are you doing? You've been here for all of human history, you know how stories go, surely you know things always go wrong when you split the party??? I love protective!crowley, I do, but my dude taking off to bring this mess to heaven's attention is not the way to go about saving your angel. And Aziraphale, buddy, I don't know what you're planning to summon there but I really don't think it's going to go well.

...Maybe he's planning to teleport himself, Gabriel, and the humans up to heaven, too, to get them away from the demon crowd. It would be funny if Crowley and what's their name, Muriel, step out of the elevator and Aziraphale is just. There already.

(I don't think that's gonna happen though. I think everything is just gonna get Worse)

Anyway sidenote Lottie if you've read this far, when Gabriel started talking about feeling like a house I immediately thought of you, I know that's a theme you like ♡

Episode 6:

Jesus Christ!

(Called it!)

So I got a lot of the details wrong, but I was spot on with my two big predictions from the beginning. (Hey that ending reminded me of OFMD and Supernatural, I've got a great idea, why don't we all blog about the three of them and get them trending together-)

Gotta say, I'd only given a passing thought to Gabriel and Beelzebub being a Thing, their shippers must be going wild.

I knew there was a reason they kept drawing attention to that fly.

*Spots fire extinguishers* "Hey is that a Magnus Archives ref-" *Is brutally murdered with a lead pipe before I can finish*

I actually kind of love that Nina and Maggie didn't get together at the end of it all? I had felt like it was all going a bit too fast for them and I'm so glad they acknowledged that. They've got time, now, to work things out, and I love that they left it with the certainty that they'd be there for each other in the future... but not quite yet.

Oh! Oh! Oh! And they fit in the halos-used-as-lethal-frisbees-sequence! That was fabulous, I want to see more exploding headgear.

...anyway I think that's all the little bits I wanted to mention before getting to the Main Event.

I'm actually... not all that devastated about that ending? Like, okay, my heart was breaking watching it, the miscommunication and assumptions leading to a dramatic separation, it's tragic and angsty and oh my god my ship kissed my first ever ship kissed they did it they did the thing-

But. Two seconds after the credits started rolling my mind was already flying to, "oh thank goodness, they've got a Source On The Inside now and they might actually have a shot at stopping the end of the world instead of, you know, being blindsided by it because no one in heaven or hell is talking to them"

Like, sure, major breakup here, Crowley's gonna be pissed and Aziraphale might have to do their silly little "I'm sorry" dance three or four times before they can actually get down to business, but I don't think there's a question that both of them still trust each other immensely and know they can rely on each other to help out in a pinch. They'll be walking on eggshells for a bit, but it's pretty obvious that Aziraphale wouldn't have taken the promotion if he'd known Crowley wasn't going to come with him and as soon as he manages to properly communicate that fact they'll be fine.

(Sidenote, this, right here, exemplifies the difference between Book!Aziraphale and TV!Aziraphale. Book!Aziraphale is way more cynical about the whole heaven-and-hell system, he'd never say "heaven's still the good guys," and he'd be very, very suspicious of a sudden promotion landing in his lap after such a tumultuous sequence of events. TV!Aziraphale might not be the sweet little innocent bean fandom makes him out to be, but damn is he naive compared to his book counterpart. Makes me wonder how much of the hypothetical sequel has to change to work with this plotline - I'd bet my ass he wasn’t an archangel in that one.)

Can Crowley... hear the soundtrack? "No nightingales" like how does he know that's significant? Sir you are breaking the fourth wall-

(And how powerful is he? He's a nobody in hell but he keeps stopping time and could access classified documents up in heaven, something made his and Aziraphale's miracle blow up and apparently it wasn't Gabriel, and he also just brought a whole ass dude back from the dead??? Maybe those "Crowley is Raphael" theorists from S1 had a point)

Anyway, to cap it all off: my current predictions for S3 are the aforementioned ineffable husbands makeup and subsequent spy shenanigans as they scramble to try to stop Apocalypse 2: Jesus Boogaloo; they fail and Jesus comes back, but instead of following the Great Plan he instead chooses to side with "all of humanity against all of heaven and hell" (maybe Adam shows up too to help out?); and Crowley, despite his repeated protests, actually does end up running a bookshop because he doesn't trust Muriel to do it properly.

I summation, yes I am still alive, and very excited for the next season, whenever it happens. Also I need gifsets of the dance scene and that kiss ASAP please and thank you.

#im posting this and then going to bed so ill answer any comments in the morning ♡ #good omens tv #good omens spoilers #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #crowley #original post #my good omens stuff #<- good god i need to back-tag a lot of posts into that group

[distort-opia]

RE: Catwoman #57. Oh god, same. I even was lenient to chopping my damn arm off to suspend my disbelief and allow some generous mental leeway, mostly after seeing Chip's issue with Batman #137 and how he did really well with the cards he was given.

But Tini's issue was. Difficult. At this point I'm in full blown belief that it has to be Bat Editorial being Bat Editorial yet again, because good god where do I even start with this?

God I am so difficult to annoy. Like I am a freaking raccoon of a comic reader, I'll reinterpret and weasel my way around canon and eat freaking trash if I have to. But this issue managed to piss me off, and that really says something about the critical levels of bad writing.

I think you're definitely right, there's been editorial interference all along; personally, I also think the Multiverse arc is part of an attempt to match the popularity of the concept that Marvel's enjoying with Across the Spiderverse. And it feels like Zdarsky may not be thrilled about all the elements he has to incorporate, but he's got a story he personally wants to tell, so there's... something good about it. There's a lot of parts I've actually enjoyed. But Catwoman #57? I was squinting my eyes at my screen for the very first issue of Gotham War too, the one written by Zdarsky & Howard, and now I'm inclined to think she might've had a hand in the same pattern of clunky, hollow-sounding dialogue. I would excuse it as the usual bad organization DC has shown within bigger events when it comes to keeping things consistent, but it's stuff like the Jason and Jane Austen bit, "Mama Cat", the cringe "Duchess of Gotham" scene... the characters are such two-dimensional OOC versions of themselves. It's like Howard went "Oh what's two things everyone knows about Jason Todd that I can use? Jane Austen and slashed tires off the Batmobile, perfect!"

[sigh] Anyway, I do hope things will get better in the next one. Maybe Rosenberg gets us back to a better written story, and I can happily start pretending this one issue didn't happen.

#basically. I feel you anon #asks

[bethanydelleman]

The Raw Numbers of P&P Supremacy

I’ve been blogging for almost exactly a year and I write the most about Mansfield Park, but I cover Jane Austen in general. I wanted to see which posts get me the most notes, by novel. I collected all my posts with 100 notes or more into a spreadsheet:

My meta posts do the best, but of course they have every novel. Pride & Prejudice had the most posts above 100 notes and the most notes overall. This is despite the fact that I’ve used the tag Mansfield Park 135 times and Pride & Prejudice 116 times.

And here are the other novels that made it:

So clearly Persuasion and Pride & Prejudice get me a lot more traction even though I post the most about Mansfield Park.

Here is a breakdown of notes per post for each top novel:

Now this isn’t completely exact because I posted a lot of Mansfield Park stuff before I had very many followers, but I still find it interesting.

If I want to really show what gains traction, I can zoom in on Pride & Prejudice:

All of the posts in blue are primarily about Darcy. His Jane Austen Charted post has way more notes than Elizabeth’s even though they are based on the same concept. Of my three hotness based on canonical quote posts, only the Austen Heros one makes it into my top posts. My ratings of Jane Austen’s men sexual prowess made it past 100 notes in a few days.

Conclusion: Pride & Prejudice supremacy is real, people’s favourite posts are mostly about Darcy. Meta posts do well which does make me happy, but it’s hard to tell if that is because they include Pride & Prejudice. I guess I live in hope that the few people who love Mansfield Park appreciate my posts about it.

Anyway, it’s not going to actually change what I do, because I just post about things that interest me. But I wanted to know if what I suspected would be true.

#P&P supremacy #my blog #what happens on it

[devotionsforconfession]

Semi spoilery ramble about the Mr Darcy & Miss Tilney Mysteries:

OK right so I read The Murder of Mr Wickham like when it came out last year and I finished The Late Mrs Willoughby yday and!! I still love both oc main characters and have never been more frustrated by an ending as I have been w TLMW bc I was so desperate for them to just!!! Confess their feelings!!!

Also more than anything I kind of love the fact that it's a deconstruction of the Magical Autistic Detective Trope. Literally the last thing I expected these books to be but it's like top 3 reasons why this book is so good.

Esp bc it's set when autism just... wasn't understood to be a thing, it's shown to be hard for Jonathan!! He doesn't have magical powers, he has special interests in mostly obscure stuff! People are mean to him or confused by him or don't understand him and he is just convinced that he's never going to have friends who he can ever really be himself around.

And like there have not been many scenes that made me more visceral uncomfortable that the bit in book 2 when he's at a dinner party and one of his old schoolmates clocks that he has a crush, and intentionally asks him abt his special interest so he'll humiliate himself by going on and on about it without noticing. Like I felt that IN MY BONES I think we all have an experience like that if we don't mask carefully enough.

Sometimes Juliet gives neurodivergent vibes too, she just seems to be more adept at masking so it's less obvious to the reader, herself, and everyone else. Like Jonathan is semi regularly overwhelmed and frequently, sometimes unconsciously stims by rocking, and his parents and everyone around him have just convinced him there's something wrong with him.

Juliet has moments where the mask slips and she's blunt and is totally unaware of the unspoken social dance happening around her and she's like huh society's a fucking weird place wish it made more sense. Ah well. Alas.

I think the author does the Canon Austen characters brilliantly too!! I know some ppl have said that Fanny and Edmund annoyed them in book 1 but honestly (and this may be bc I'm a Mansfield Park girlie) I loved them and I loved the way their story paralleled their book! Fanny is right and Edmund comes to realise that is basically what it's about, and Fanny's strength of character beneath all her difficulties being assertive is basically the best thing about her.

Loved the Knightleys. Hilarious. Thought Emma was going to eat him mid way through the book and not in a good way, so; accurate. Darcy and Lizzie not communicating, her misunderstanding and being annoyed at him, him thinking his stoicism is going to help them through a hard time when actually it's isolated them from each other - nice parallel, like it.

I felt endlessly bad for Wentworth and Anne, hope they come back all better in a future book.

Honestly loved Brandon and Marianne, I felt like they were very true to their book characters.

Anyway my very fervent hope is that next book we get a Lady Susan Cameo, an icon, truly That Bitch. Or maybe they go to Sanditon idk, give me some resolution for that squad.

Got the vibe that maybe Juliet is going to Bath at some point in the near future. So I wonder who she'll meet then. I mean obviously Jonathan bc fate wants them to fall in love and get married and she can teach their kids how to climb trees and he can teach them the piano, but who else!!

Book only just came out and I'm hype for the next one but honestly it ended on a cliffhanger for them!! I want them to be friends again! No juliet he does like you he just can't make eye contact and doesn't like other people touching him!! I want them to meet again and solve idk the fucking stabbing of Sir Walter Elliot or Aunt Norris or Mr Elton!

And also comes their feelings the agony of not knowing kills me lol.

11/10 no notes. Well. Many notes but all of them good!!

#the murder of mr wickham #the late mrs willoughby #claudia gray #spoilers #ramble about some books #jane austen

[orangepanic]

Directors cut for the uncommon rainsss

Aw, thank you.

Sigh. After the Uncommon Rains. Though it's not yet finished, this is without a doubt my least popular long fic. Despite some initial interest, even most of the people who normally read my stuff (all 2-5 of you, bless) aren't really picking this one up - or if they are, they aren't telling me about it. I have a few theories as to why this one is a flop, but that's not what you asked. Besides, I personally love it, so I'm gonna gush about it anyway. Maybe someone out there will give it a chance. And to the few readers it has, thank you!

As I explain in the summary and author's note, "After the Uncommon Rains" is essentially Jane Austen's last novel, Persuasion, rewritten as a Western. Some of this is self-serving. Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen, and one I think is generally severely underrated in favor of others like Emma or Pride and Prejudice. In it we have characters who aren't in the throes of folly and misunderstanding, but actually living with the consequences of that previous folly. The action opens with main protagonist, Anne Elliott, faced with the prospect of reuniting with Frederick Wentworth, a man with whom she was deeply in love and briefly engaged to some seven years prior. Her family disapproved of Frederick's lack of wealth; Anne caved to their pressure and broke it off. She's been miserable ever since. Frederick, however, is now the dashing and very rich Captain Wentworth, having made his fortune on the very wit and intelligence that Anne fell in love with. Now he's back. And oh boy, does he hate her for breaking his heart.

So immediately this screams Irosami to me. What I love about Anne and Frederick is that their attraction isn't just physical, but intellectual. They both love culture and reading and learning about the world, and have good hearts and strong moral compasses and are brave and selfless with their friends. Which is what I see as the chief attractions of an Irosami ship as well. Their minds are made for each other just as much as their bodies. But I didn't just want to re-write Persuasion with Iroh as the naval captain and Asami as the quiet victim of her family's hatred of benders. Not only was that boring, but it didn't quite fit. Asami stands up to her father in canon. She doesn't take anyone's shit. Of the two of them, I think Iroh the more likely to cave to the pressures of honor and duty. Therefore, Iroh is a more obvious Anne. And Asami, the ambitious and talented 19-year old CEO with a bit of a temper and ride-or-die loyalty, is a better Frederick. It also allowed me to bring in more members of the OC family I've already created for Iroh, including especially his little sister.

I also wanted to do something fun with the setting. I personally struggle when I have to follow another work too closely, so I thought the challenge of making Persuasion work outside of Edwardian England would help. I've been playing with the idea of a Western for a while. So, why not? A Western it became. What is Anne's stay at the Musgroves became Iroh working at Tenzin's sky bison ranch in the Si Wong desert, and Captain Wentworth's success in the navy became Asami's inheritance of Future Industrial Railroad, which just happens to be building a line out that way.

The most fun I've had with this fic is hands-down the worldbuilding I've had to do for the setting. I've done so much research on cattle ranching and clothing styles and climate and locomotives. I've looked at so many pictures of dresses and hats and trains. I have my friend with a horse on speed dial to ask her questions about riding and the care of ostrich horses. I feel like I invent a plant or animal or food every ten lines. It's really great. Is it a coach or a carriage? Did you know that there's a difference?

By far the least fun - or maybe just the hardest - is matching up all the characters. In the novel there are far fewer main characters. The Musgroves' two daughters are Anne's only real rivals for Wentworth's affections. But in this fic I had to figure out what to do with all the air kids, all the Beifongs, Korra, plus Mako and Bolin. It was absolute chaos, with like five different people filling the roles of two. Other characters don't cleanly map - Baatar Jr. is playing the role of two characters, as is Bolin, while Commander Bumi is more like one and a half and Lin combines the roles of 2-3 bit parts so sometimes I feel like I forget that she's there. The endgame Linumi is based on the flimsiest of side ships. There's no renters of Kellynch, so Frederick's sister and the Admiral's roles are spread out among the cast. The whole plotline of Mr. Elliott, Anne's creepy cousin who almost marries her instead of Frederick, is dramatically reduced because I cut out the entire inheritance sub-plot altogether. Same with Tahno, who is playing a reduced version of Mrs. Clay who doesn't really want to marry Izumi (Sir Elliott), just kind of be a sponge on the family. Basically, it's been chaos.

If there's one mistake I made in planning, I think it's probably trying to force the Korra sami bit. For one, it's probably clear as day to a reader that I don't vibe with the ship because I can't write it to save my life. The whole Korra and Asami dynamic feels awkward and forced to me. Second, though I know it's an AU and 2023 and I'll probably be roasted for this, no one remarking on the same sex relationship also feels weird for both the Western and the Austin genre, mostly because there is always so much about inheritance and marriage there. Nobody batting an eye that Korra wants to marry Asami without addressing money and heirs and all that in a world where those concerns were the driving force of most of the plots seems a glaring omission. Finally, it introduces even more people into the mix, and other side ships like Makopal that I struggle to write or have to spend extra time justifying. I think everything would have gelled better with eventual Makorra and Bopal as the other side ships. Oh well. I wanted Borra. :-) I will live with my choices.

That said, I still love this fic. I'm having fun writing it. It's stretched me in new ways, most notably in it being the first time I've ever worked with beta readers. THANK YOU YOU LOVELY AMAZING PEOPLE. And whether a lot of folks read this story or not, I'm glad that I tried to do something different and difficult.

#irosami #fanfic #director's cut #tlok

[firelordgrantham]

I kinda love seeing what people hate or love in Twilight, in a political sense as well as in characterization/plot sense.

Because every single thing in it or something like that has two edges.

Like:

Bella:

the heroine is named (Isa)Bella Swan.

She is pretty, intellectual, introverted, shown as different from her girl friends.

She falls madly in love with a vampire and

leaves family and friends behind to be with him.

Cons:

Bella Swan is litteraly ''beautiful swan'', it's bad as an onomastic but it doesn't even have a dramatic reveal of her being associated to swans or anything. Also it focuses on her beauty and (snorts, she doesn't have any) grace, so it's kinda sexist to reduce her to that.

She's not like other girls = internalized misogyny. Hurtful propagation of the myth girls are airheads who don't have hobbies or wits.

the guy she falls madly in love with wants to drink her blood and is genetically coded to hurt her. To see her fall for him is bad enough, but she doesn't second think that or anything. All she is good at is falling in love and be pretty.

Also she falls into this predator-prey relationship quickly and cuts herself from her family and friends, which is clearly indicating a toxic dynamic: yet, she is happy with it.

Conclusion: She is a bad example, she reeks of internalized mysoginy from the author and ends up in a toxic relationship, cut from her family.

Pros:

The heroine is Bella Swan. Her name doesn't mean anything grand or defining because she's just a teenage girl. She's a work in progress and also not to be defined as the heroine but as herself.

She is so much not like other girls that there is a high chance she is secretly neurodivergent (https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/firelordgrantham/692028706877784064?source=share). So props to Smeyer for showing a bit of well-done representation (yeah I know it might seem like dark humor considering the other representations but we'll come to it), and may I add (for those who won't click the link) that among other things it is highly canon that her mind is not like others because the telepaths can't read it. Also, it's from her pov, so it's kinda normal to be 17 and introverted and think ''I'd rather be in my bed reading Jane Austen than go to parties with Jessica, so I'm not like her nor like the other (extroverted) girls from Forks High''. She has trouble fitting in -> she is a relatable introverted protagonist!

Although Edward is dangerous for her, she can handle it. She also sees past appearances and loves him when he is not capable of loving himself (seeing himself as a monster).

Her family and friends are not great anyway. Her mother is a toxic womanbaby who had to be raised by her own daughter and then threw her out with the trash when her new husband came along. Her father tries his best (we love Charlie Swan on this blog) but he's busy and he barely knows her. Her friends are either pushy boys or gossipy girls who will gossip about her as soon as her back is turned. So leaving them is a symbol of leaving a toxic relationship and mindset for a thriving, closely-knit network of family members and friends with the Cullens.

Conclusion: any introverted girl can identify with Bella, as a down-to-earth, not-a-chosen-one-with-a-big-destiny girl, who feels out of her world in Forks and will leave a toxic relationship to a healthy one in the end.

The romance:

Love triangle.

There's a vampire guy and a werewolf guy.

She chooses the vampire guy.

Cons:

Love triangle. It's overused. And it shows Bella once again as only capable of falling in love and nothign more. It takes over the whole story when it could have been exploring vampires vs werewolves vs other vampires. Bella falls in love with guys is just not enough and too much seen in YA books. (Anti-feminist)

Both of the guys are obsessing over her and neither really seem like a good match.

Her choosing the white, privileged male instead of the native boy, despite Jacob giving her much more thought out presents and giving her more time and considering her opinions more, is a textbook example of golddigging from her and internalized racism from the author. Bad thing.

Pros:

It is centered around a teenage girl's passions and attractions and not shaming her for being in love or for hesitating between two guys. (Feminist)

both guys have the same intensity, which explains why Miss Thrill-Seeking is interested in both: having one be a mild-mannered gentleman and the other a charismatic bad boy would have made the ''choice'' too easy. For a real duality between Life (werewolves) and Death (vampires), Killing and Sparing, etc, she couldn't have two love interests so different in characters that the endgame is an evidence: she has to struggle to chose because both options (life and death, human and monster, Jacob and Edward) need to be equally attracting, so equally intense.

she has a choice and so she doesn't just chose Edward out of spite or because he's the only one to ever have been interested in her: it's a real love story and not just the girl eloping with the first guy to show her some affection.

it... it is a romance fantasy, not a war or thriller or else book. I mean yeah some characters could have been more developed, but the story is about Bella and Edward (and a bit of Jacob), not about the vampire politics. Putting it here because I think, even if the book is not the best written ever, well... it is a romance. So the fact the other aspects are secondary is defendable.

Edward:

108 years old

died of spanish flu

edgy boy

vampire, killed people

Cons:

Big age gap that doesn't really justify. Problematic.

ok I gotta admit I don't see anything wrong with the spanish flu.

Edgy boy. Drama queen. ''it is the skin of a killer, Bella''. ''I have no soul, god hates me, etc''. ''I'm a danger to you.''

well he is stalking her, watching her sleep, overall toxic. All the above category is right tho (except mybe the ''god hates me'' part)

Pros:

still a teen and didn't mature much so it's not too bad.

kinda actual depiction of someone with self-esteem issue who becomes immortal and has to feed on blood.

well everyone loves a bad boy, and he did kill criminals didn't he?

etc.

People will argue over everything. And the best part is most of the arguments are right both ways!

anyway here is my little beginning of an analysis of the twilight fandom/hatedom.

#twilight #twilight meta

[myfairstarlight]

A Dance With The Devil

AO3 Link.

Rated: T

Length: 6.6k

Canon Divergence: What if instead of Crowley going to Heaven after the ball, Aziraphale went Downstairs?

⋆ ✩₊˚ ʚ♡ɞ ˚₊✩⋆

If you asked Crowley, throwing a ball in which people are stripped from their free will and, unconsciously, have to comply with a certain higher influence isn’t very… angelic, he’d even call it demonic, rather, but he supposes he is not about to say that out loud. Aziraphale looks much too pleased with himself and Crowley would hate to burst his bubble.

Except he’ll have to, just not about that topic specifically, at least. Weaving through the crowd, Crowley quickly finds the angel standing on the side, observing his work in a dark corner, a giddy smile on his face.

Crowley sighs internally.

“Angel,” he calls, noticing Aziraphale straighten his back at the sound of his voice, “Making it rain is one thing but a ball with…” he cuts himself off. He did tell himself that’s not what he’s going to talk about here. “Look, there’s something wrong, there’s something really wrong—”

“Well, perhaps you could tell me,” Aziraphale interrupts, turning around with a giddiness Crowley hasn’t seen since he’s been able to put on a magic show, “while we dance?”

And just like that, once more, Aziraphale puts Crowley off-balance. “... You don’t dance.”

But Aziraphale only giggles. He fucking giggles. And then he grabs his hand anyway despite his sort of negative response to the invitation, and starts dragging him towards the dancefloor. Only for a split second, Crowley forgets himself, mind zeroing in on the warmth of his angel’s hand, before the blinding lights of the chandeliers hit him and he comes back to his senses and stops. It has the effect of surprising Aziraphale who almost falls back at the sudden recoil if it wasn’t for Crowley stabilising him with a hand on his left shoulder.

"Wait. I don't— not, in front of the lots of them, it's not for human ears," Crowley says suddenly, pulling them back into the shadows and Aziraphale looks at him with big saddened eyes.

"But I really wanted to dance!"

“Angel—” he groans, accepting defeat. “Do we still hear the music from upstairs?”

Aziraphale squeals. Honest to God squeals. Crowley is getting distracted once again as the angel rushes them upstairs, it’s nothing short of a miracle that he doesn’t use a miracle to get them there quicker, really. The upstairs is a mess, however, with piles of books scattered everywhere, making it impossible to truly move without stumbling on them.

“Uh, hold on,” Aziraphale says, “I may have run out of miracles here.”

That's a lie. Even so, Crowley rolls his eyes and with a single hand gesture, the floor clears as the books squeeze their way through the overflowing shelves. “Listen I really need to tell you—” Crowley starts only to be rudely interrupted when the angel shushes him with a finger against his lips.

“Tut tut, while we’re dancing! We would not want to break the Jane Austen rule now, would we?” Aziraphale says and he looks so pleased, it confuses Crowley to no end because isn’t this whole farce about Nina and Maggie? Why is his angel so adamant that they have their moment as well?

(A seed of hope starts to bloom in his heart. He tries to burn it down.)

“Ugh, fine.”

Aziraphale jumps in place, clapping quietly, before he offers his hand just as the music downstairs picks up again. "Wonderful! Shall we then, my dear?"

Crowley stares, heart quite literally stopping. My dear. Did he… did he hear that right?

"Crowley?" Aziraphale calls, now looking concerned. "You've stopped time again."

That snaps him out of it pretty quickly. "I have?!" The demon quickly looks down to see that both the humans and even the demons outside are now awfully still. "Oh, I have." He should have done that earlier actually, now he can finally speak without interruption. "Perfect, look—"

"You really don't want to dance do you?"

"Oh, would you shut up for a second about your dance?!"

Aziraphale physically recoils at that, holding the hand he was reaching out with to his chest, and while he doesn't seem too surprised by Crowley's outburst there's a hurt look in his eyes that makes the demon's heart squeeze uncomfortably.

He breathes in. "Sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry, I'd… I wouldn't mind dancing but there's kind of a demon invasion incoming. Like right outside the bookshop's doors and people will get hurt if we do nothing."

"What!" Aziraphale exclaims, now rushing towards one of the windows, but the demonic fog is obscuring the view. Even so, it seems to be enough for him to believe Crowley. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Crowley just gives him a look. The angel flushes. "Oh right. My apologies."

Crowley just waves his hand. Apology accepted or whatever. He’s not petty enough to ask for the dance right now.

“Alright, a plan,” the angel says, “of course, we need to bring Gabriel— I mean Jim to safety.”

“You’re still on that?” Crowley groans.

“Of course! I’m not throwing him into the jaws of danger! And anyway, this bookshop is technically an embassy so we should be safe as long as no one invites them in.”

Crowley sighs. “Fine. But let’s still get the humans out, one of them might provoke them and accidentally invite them inside.” Some humans really have no sense of self-preservation. A faulty design. “Shax hasn’t arrived yet and they’re kind of… you know, aimless if no one’s ordering them around so we might be able to get everyone back to their shop without any harm.”

“Might need a big miracle for them to just follow without question,” Aziraphale points out.

“Indeed.” Crowley offers his hand. “Or we could do it while time is stopped right now, I just need your support.”

Aziraphale stares at his hand for a while and although Crowley can tell he's already made up his mind, he still seems quite frustrated. Eventually, the angel grabs his hand, but not without a tired groan as he mumbles, "All I wanted was one dance."

Crowley would find his petulance cute if his mind wasn't presently preoccupied with the danger at hand. “Come on, angel, after.”

That makes the angel perk up, a smile finding its way back to his lips. “After, really?”

He really wants that dance, huh. “Yes, after.”

⋆ ✩₊˚ ʚ♡ɞ ˚₊✩⋆

After, turns out to really be much after. Once they’ve successfully managed to bring the humans to the coffee shop and Aziraphale puts them to sleep, they pretty much collapse as soon as they are back in the bookshop, and time resumes its course because neither of them can hold on for much longer.

“Yeah let’s never do that again,” Crowley groans, draped over an armchair and trying to block out the noises the demons are making just outside.

“Ugh. Reckon we alerted Heaven again?” Aziraphale from where he’s leaning against a pillar, holding the side of his head.

“Hope not, can’t deal with more here.”

“Everything alright? Where did everyone go?” Gabriel asks with wide-eyed innocence and curiosity. “And who are those guests at the door? We’re closed!”

“Don’t invite them in!” Crowley exclaims, suddenly jumping to his feet and immediately regretting it. “Argh, it’s like a hangover and I can’t miracle it away.”

“Jim would you just— go to your room while we sort this out please?” Aziraphale says then, pushing the former archangel towards the staircase. The clueless angel, fortunately, listens without any further prompting, a subtle buzzing sound following him up. “I suppose he never managed to squash that fly.”

“Pity, pesky, annoying little things,” Crowley mumbles then claps his hands. “Alright, a plan. What have we got?”

“Um… I still have the circle we can power up but again, as long as we don’t invite them, they can’t get in.”

“So, we’re stuck.”

“Seems like it.”

Then there’s the sound of glass being smashed and a sign falls at their feet, trying to spell out “Hand over the angel”. Key word is trying.

Aziraphale huffs and makes direct eye contact with Shax. “Now that’s just rude, we’re literally right here we can hear you.”

"You're running out of time," she petulantly says.

“Aren’t ya the one on a time limit?” Crowley chimes in. “What would Beelzebub even say if you fail huh? Gabriel is not here, you’re just wasting time and making a fool of yourself.”

“Well, I—” She clears her throat. “Then your angel is coming with us. One is better than none, I'm sure Lord Beelzebub will have a good time torturing information out of the soft one. Besides, since he's renegade, it won't even alert Heaven.”

Crowley actually laughs out loud then. “Oh, you’re really funny—”

“Alright,” Aziraphale interrupts, “perhaps your boss will be less stubborn and actually understand I’m telling the truth.”

Shax starts to smile, already summoning the elevator to Hell. She extends her hand and Crowley slaps it away.

“Hold on, angel, what are you doing?” the demon hisses, grabbing Aziraphale’s shoulders and pulling the both of them aside, away from Shax’s shifty eyes and the demons’ annoying groans.

“Making a plan of course,” Aziraphale replies nonchalantly and he tilts his head just a tiny bit as if sending a message Crowley isn't getting. He can already feel panic start to overtake his whole body because the angel looks way too determined and Crowley knows that look, and he knows nothing he can say will change his mind.

“I’m coming with you,” he decides.

“Crowley no, I need you here, to protect Gabriel, just in case.”

“Screw him, I need to protect you!” Crowley recoils at his own words, feeling his cheeks warm up. “Um, I mean—”

He cuts himself off when gentle hands reach for his face. “And I need you to trust me on this,” Aziraphale says, baby-blue eyes staring right into his soul. “Call it a feeling.”

“Angel— Aziraphale,” Crowley says, putting his hands over his angel’s. “You know how it is down there. They could destroy you, you don’t have holy water.”

“They don’t know that and they still think I'm immune to hellfire,” Aziraphale points out in a low voice. “But it won’t come down to it. I just… I got a feeling about this.”

Crowley frowns. “What feeling?”

“Love.” That just makes Crowley more confused as he takes a step back and wonders if his angel hasn't just lost his mind in the middle of all this. “Don’t look at me like that!” Aziraphale protests, “Since Gabriel’s been here there’s just… so much love surrounding him. And I wonder…”

Crowley stares. And then he shakes him. Literally. “Are you drunk? Did you use too much power? Go lay down, I’ll handle this, scare them away or something.”

“No— Crowley!” Aziraphale slaps his hands away, readjusting his clothes.

“Hey, lovebirds!” Shax calls, “If there’s no angel with us in the next minute we’ll… uh…”

“You’re so great at threats,” Crowley yells back and the other demon takes it at face value once more and says ‘thank you’ under her breath. Crowley decides not to comment on it this time to focus on Aziraphale again. “See? Not the brightest bunch, we can just wait it out until they get bored and have to leave.”

“We can’t just hide away forever. And we can’t hand Gabriel over either. So I’m going, I’ll have a nice chat with your former boss about how I’m absolutely not hiding an archangel in this bookshop, and then I’ll come back! Easy-peasy!”

“Nothing with Beelzebub is easy-peasy, angel.”

Aziraphale takes a deep breath and grabs his hand to hold against his beating heart. It betrays the seemingly confident and calm facade the angel is showing him. "Then I'll make it easy, make the impossible possible. Remember? It's like magic. Trust me?"

And those are the real magic words, aren't they? Trust me. It's always been about trust, between them.

And it goes against Crowley's every instinct really. He's worked so hard to protect his angel, to keep him away from Hell as much as possible, and especially away from Beelzebub. He sighs, just like earlier, rendered oh so helpless under those angel eyes.

"Ngh, alright. But you better come back to me in a night’s time or I'll wreak havoc downstairs to get you back and give them Gabriel."

Aziraphale has the audacity to laugh. "I know you will. But you won't have to. I promise I'll come back to you." He squeezes Crowley’s hand. “I promise,” he repeats.

And Crowley decides fuck it.

With his free hand, he reaches for Aziraphale’s coat lapel and pulls him forward. Between one breath and the next, Crowley almost hesitates as his lips are now only an inch away from Aziraphale’s but the angel doesn’t shove him away, he stays perfectly still, waiting, breathing perhaps a little heavier than he was a second ago, eyes wide and expectant. And so Crowley breaches the small gap between them.

Aziraphale makes a sound, the tiniest kind of whimper, and then Crowley feels him squeeze his hand once more and slip another one behind his head, bringing them even closer. Crowley exhales shakily, unaware he even had been holding his breath. He can taste sweetness on the angel’s lips, surely from the cakes he was eating earlier and Crowley, against his better judgement, smiles into the kiss. It’s quite clear they are both clueless about what to do here as they simply stay like this, lips locked to each other and revelling in the warmth of the embrace and the kiss.

(He’s seen humans do it, it shouldn’t be this hard, right? Something is missing, however.)

And then, Aziraphale, as he always does, gets curious. He tilts his head up just slightly and starts moving his lips, experimenting with the feeling. Crowley freezes for a second before following the angel’s lead. Their joined hands intertwine while Crowley’s right hand slides from Aziraphale’s shoulder to his cheek as he deepens the kiss. His tongue parts Aziraphale’s lips as he seeks more and more of his angel’s taste, just in case he may never be able to indulge in this feeling ever again. Aziraphale responds in kind, his hand on Crowley’s nape tracing gentle circles as he lets Crowley take and take and take.

And yet, the demon is the one who pulls back first, breathing in deeply as he rests their foreheads together.

“Come back to me, angel, or I’ll…”

“I know,” Aziraphale says softly. “You still owe me a dance, dear.”

Crowley smiles. “I do… I do.” And then, he reluctantly lets go and watches him walk through the doors where Shax was impatiently waiting.

⋆ ✩₊˚ ʚ♡ɞ ˚₊✩⋆

This is not Aziraphale’s first trip to Hell, but funnily enough, unlike last time disguised as Crowley, demons are actively avoiding him instead of pushing him around. He supposes he would have the ability to smite at least the lesser demons with one snap of his fingers, not that he’d do that and actively start a war. He's not quite sure how much power they think he has, but he better walk as if he had an immense amount.

(To any keen eye, he fails horribly. Fortunately for our angel, most demons do not have a keen eye.)

Shax is much more nervous than she appeared on Earth, eyes shifting everywhere as if expecting an incoming attack. Aziraphale supposes demons would be inclined to stab each other in the back, after all. The amount of souls stumbling around isn’t helping either.

“Is it always this busy?” he can’t help but ask. Heaven is always so empty in comparison, surely humanity should be more equally divided between them, right? Or guardian angels haven’t been doing a good enough job lately… not that he can say anything about that since he was one of those guardians.

“It’s never-ending,” Shax replies with a dismissive hand gesture, which might as well mean “shut up”, so Aziraphale just rolls his eyes and puts his hands in the pockets of his coat as they continue their way down.

That’s when he feels it, the first hint of a positive emotion ever since he’s stepped out of the elevator, here, right outside Lord Beelzebub’s door. Aziraphale presses a hand to his lips while Shax knocks on the door and demands entry. Yes, he knows that feeling very well and would recognise it anywhere.

He knew something was not quite right. He's always known how Crowley's love felt like, but the one surrounding Gabriel and following his every step…

“I just need the angel, Shax, you can leave,” he hears Lord Beelzebub say.

“But—” the demon starts to protest.

“I said leave!” There's a growl to their voice and Shax immediately recoils with a frown.

She grumbles something Aziraphale doesn't quite catch before stepping aside. "You heard the boss," she says grumpily before turning on her heels and leaving.

Well then. Aziraphale rubs his hands before pushing the door open. Lord Beelzebub half-lays on a green couch when he enters, idly playing with the flies surrounding their head. They barely move to acknowledge him but for some reason, Aziraphale doesn't quite feel the nervousness he'd usually feel creeping into his back whenever he had to report back to Heaven and face the archangels. It is not to say Lord Beelzebub isn't intimidating, he's seen what they're capable of after all, but he supposes the lack of formality in the encounter helps.

(And perhaps, just perhaps, seeing the Prince Of Hell unceremoniously draped over a piece of furniture reminds him of another demon with whom he never felt in danger.)

“They didn't tie you up,” Lord Beelzebub says at last, still not looking at him.

“I suppose they did not feel the need to, I did come of my own accord, so it was very kind of them,” Aziraphale replies.

“They're fucking useless is what they are,” the demon groans, finally sitting up. “I told them to bring me an archangel and they brought me a principality.”

Aziraphale shrugs at that.

“What surprises me the most, though,” Beelzebub continues as they stand up and slowly make their way towards Aziraphale, “is the fact you're alone here. Where's Crowley?”

“In my bookshop.”

Beelzebub frowns. “He didn’t follow you? I find that hard to believe.”

“I suppose he has enough faith in me to know I’ll come back to him safely.”

That’s when Aziraphale catches the faintest hint of a smile as Beelzebub looks away, quickly replaced with bitterness and envy. The buzzing of the flies intensifies and Aziraphale swallows.

“And you’re here, why? Because it’s clearly not because Shax managed to capture or threaten you.”

That makes Aziraphale wonder if Beelzebub even expected Shax to succeed in her attack on the bookshop considering the dismissive tone of their voice or if they allowed the attack to get the demon off their back for a little while.

“I’m surprised you’re just asking me instead of… torturing me or something,” the angel replies first.

Beelzebub scoffs. “Gotta give credit where it’s due, an angel like you must have some guts to come here on his own. Us demons like that.” Their grin is almost genuine there. "You sure you're not Fallen?"

"Quite sure," Aziraphale replies. Then he starts humming that song Gabriel has now stuck in his head as he pretends to think of what to say next and the reaction is immediate. Beelzebub freezes and even the flies are suddenly dead silent. Aziraphale prepares for impact, instead, the Prince of Hell just stares at him in disbelief, and the angel is overwhelmed by the sudden amount of love and hope radiating from the occult being in front of him.

"Crowley tried to protect you but you do have Gabriel, don't you?" Beelzebub growls.

"Well, he doesn't have his memories right now, but yes. The only thing he could remember was that song."

And there it is, the rarest sight of all perhaps— a genuine, fond smile on Beelzebub's lips.

Aziraphale was right. His and Crowley's ex-bosses are in love. Who would have thought? He tries to tone down the giddiness he feels inside but even then he keeps playing with his fingers behind his back and rocks his feet back and forth.

"Take me to him, now," Beelzebub orders but the intended threatening tone fails with the way they seem to be shaking with excitement. "I need—"

"To see your angel?"

Beelzebub falters. "Yeah, that. Wipe that smug smile off your face, you bastard. Ugh, why are you annoyingly easy to talk to?"

Crowley says that too, Aziraphale thinks idly. "I have a lot of questions, however."

"I bet you do."

“Notably… how did that happen?”

“You really think I'm just gonna tell you.”

Aziraphale shrugs. “Well, you can't enter my bookshop unless I invite you in, and if you try to hurt me instead Heaven will be notified if I get discorporated which would perhaps start a war since both sides have been wanting a reason, even though I've been technically fired. However, I am guessing neither of us wants that, considering who is waiting for us in my bookshop.”

Beelzebub blinks. Then huffs out a smile. “You're a right bastard, are you sure you're not Fallen?”

“Quite sure,” Aziraphale repeats, chuckling. “So?”

⋆ ✩₊˚ ʚ♡ɞ ˚₊✩⋆

As a new day dawns and Crowley can feel his patience run thin, the phone of the bookshop suddenly rings. The demon rushes to it just as he sees from the corner of his eyes Gabriel come out of his room, curious as always about the sound.

“Fell’s bookshop—” he starts grumpily.

“It’s me!” his angel’s voice interrupts him immediately, a giddiness to it that confuses Crowley.

“Aziraphale? I was about to head down there—”

“Don’t! I’m okay, I promise, dear.”

Crowley swallows at the pet name. Alright, that will still need some getting used to.

(And a voice in the back of his mind thanks his luck he even has the opportunity to get used to it.)

“Where are you calling from? How did you escape?”

“So, funny story.”

“He’s calling from my phone,” a new voice chimes in and Crowley physically recoils by instinct.

“Beelzebub?!”

“Hello, Crowley.”

“What the fuck,” is all he can respond to that. His old boss doesn't sound angry, though, no, they sound amused, even happy somehow, and now that's the scary part. His angel is incredible, but not that incredible.

“We'll explain everything when we get back here, could you just tell Gabriel to wait with you and stop trying to squash that fly that follows him around?” Aziraphale says. “His memory might be in it.”

“In the fly,” Crowley deadpans. But a part of him also wants to slap himself because why didn't he think of connecting the fly and Beelzebub before?

“Yes yes, everything will be explained!” the angel insists. “We're on our way!”

And then the line cuts off. Crowley stares some more at the phone, wondering if he hasn’t imagined the whole conversation to soothe his own worried heart, before putting it down just as Gabriel reaches him and simply tilts his head in question. The demon groans when he hears the faint buzzing sound of a fly at the same time.

“I can’t believe I didn’t think about it first, stupid,” he laments as he extends a hand for the fly to gently settle there. He covers it with his other hand and then looks at the former archangel. “Still not remembering shit?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Name Beelzebub ring any bells?”

Gabriel frowns and for a quick second recognition slips into his eyes before it disappears once more. “No, but that’s a funny name!”

“Jim’s dumber if you ask me,” Crowley mumbles. “Anyway, Aziraphale is coming back soon, with good news, apparently.”

“Oh! Should I prepare some tea? Do you want some?”

“Did he teach you how to make coffee?”

“Yes!”

“I'll have that, then.”

“Jolly! Be right back!”

Crowley watches him walk away to the kitchen, happily humming to himself that same damn song. He sighs and collapses into the armchair, getting a whiff of Aziraphale’s cologne at the same time. He groans, hating the way his heart squeezes still with worry. He trusts his angel, he does, but this… protectiveness, he can’t exactly get rid of it anyway.

He feels the fly start to get agitated in his hands and reluctantly lets it go just as the doors of the bookshop burst open, quickly followed by a pained whimper.

“There was no need for such violence, your demons already broke two of my windows!” Crowley hears Aziraphale complain and that prompts him to immediately jump to his feet.

“Force of habit, my bad,” Beelzebub? Apologising? Now Crowley must be hallucinating.

“Angel!” Crowley calls, and the only reason he doesn't run up to him to hold him in relief is because his ex-boss is standing right in the middle of them, crossing their arms with a raised eyebrow at him. “Lord Beelzebub.”

“Hello again, Crowley,” they drawl. "So. Where's Gabriel?"

“Making tea and coffee,” Crowley automatically replies then remembers himself. “Alright pause, can I have the explanations now?”

“I'd rather not,” Beelzebub huffs. “Oh, there you are!” they exclaim next as they see a fly approaching. “You kept a good eye on my angel, didn’t you?” they coo at the insect and Crowley feels like he’s having an aneurysm.

So he decides to focus on Aziraphale instead, getting around Beelzebub to reach his angel. Immediately, he grabs his face.

“What are you doing, dear?” Aziraphale asks although he doesn’t try to push him away.

Crowley falters slightly at the “dear” once again. “J-just checking that you’re not hurt.”

“I’m fine,” the angel insists, gently prying his hands away to hold instead. “I assure you.”

“Good, good, that means I don’t have to fight anyone.”

“Honey, you’re not a fighter.” And Aziraphale has the audacity to sound amused.

“Not the point, angel.”

(The angel, unfortunately, does have a point, however, because when faced with a battle, our demon’s first instinct is to run with his angel draped over his shoulder, not to fight.)

That is when he gets the nagging feeling of being observed. Slowly, Crowley turns around, just in time to see Beelzebub look away in a poor attempt to pretend like they were not intensely staring. Before Crowley could comment on it, Aziraphale squeezes his hands once and then lets go.

“I’ll go get Gabriel, I’m afraid he broke the kettle with the time he’s taking. I’ll let you two talk.”

Before Crowley could protest, Aziraphale slips away, running upstairs to the kitchen which does leave the demon alone with his former boss.

They stare at each other.

“I did think that promotion thing was weird from you,” Crowley says eventually. “Searching for a replacement, I should have realised something was off.”

Beelzebub rolls their eyes. “And you didn't.”

“I was… protecting someone.”

“So was I. And stop being vague everyone knows you’re in fucking love with that idiotic angel.”

“Don’t call him idiotic—” Crowley hisses. “You're one to talk, the Supreme Archangel, really?”

Beelzebub scoffs but they let a proud smile take over their lips. “Go big or go home, as they say.”

“How?!”

“Your boyfriend knows, I'm not repeating myself.”

“You willingly told him?”

“... He may have threatened to not invite me in if I didn't tell him.”

That makes Crowley snort. Yeah, this does sound like Aziraphale.

“If you had just told me we were in the same situation…” Crowley trails off.

“You wouldn't have believed me,” Beelzebub deadpans.

“Aziraphale did.”

“He's an angel. That's a prerequisite.”

Alright. Fair enough.

“Still, it would have saved us a lot of time. And stress. Was the “book of life” thing even real or were you just trying to scare me?”

“Oh no, that’s very much real but… if you keep this quiet, me and Gabriel can pull one last miracle so Heaven gets off your back.”

A beat of silence. “That’d be… nice.”

Beelzebub grimaces. “Don’t ever say that again.”

They are saved from a retort from Crowley by the two angels joining them once again, each holding two warm cups. Crowley sees Beelzebub straighten their back, eyes zeroing on an oblivious Gabriel who comes forward with a huge smile.

“Hello! You must be the important guest! I made you some hot chocolate, a tradition here,” the former supreme archangel cheerfully announces, handing a mug to the — former? — Prince Of Hell who takes it, a bit dumbfounded.

“Oh wow, you weren’t kidding, there are literally no thoughts behind his eyes right now,” Beelzebub says, glancing at Aziraphale.

Aziraphale shrugs, making a beeline for Crowley and handing him a mug full of coffee. Crowley takes it absent-mindedly, eyes focused on the odd pair that are his and Aziraphale’s ex-bosses.

He still is wrapping his head around the idea. It doesn't feel quite real yet. He's not sure it will ever feel real.

“That would be an odd thing to lie about, isn't it?” Aziraphale replies. “You were saying something about the fly being a sort of box?”

“Right.” Beelzebub takes a sip of the chocolate then puts the mug down. They whistle to call the fly back next to them. Then, they beckon Gabriel closer who follows, even leaning down to get to their height after setting down his cup as well. “Open your eyes wide.”

Crowley cringes when the fly goes into Gabriel’s right eye. Silence fills the bookshop as they all wait while Gabriel stands still, motionless. Then suddenly, Gabriel gasps loudly, stumbling a few steps back. Beelzebub reaches forward to help him find balance again. Their eyes meet and Crowley sees the way both of their bodies relax at the mere sight of each other. At the same time, he feels Aziraphale rest a hand on his right arm, not quite grabbing him, but there.

“We should… we should give them some privacy,” the angel says. “I’ll tell you everything if you want to.”

Crowley looks at him, then back at their ex-bosses who seem lost in each other’s eyes, then back again at Aziraphale.

“Sure.”

Truth be told he couldn't care less, he needed some alone time with his angel.

⋆ ✩₊˚ ʚ♡ɞ ˚₊✩⋆

In the privacy of his bedroom, Aziraphale sits down at his desk and sets down the cup of tea next to a manuscript he had been writing. Almost immediately, a certain demon slithers his way into his lap.

“I still can't believe we indirectly helped our bosses fall in love, angel,” Crowley laments, voice muffled against Aziraphale's coat. “I mean Gabriel and Beelzebub? In love? Sounds like a joke.”

“Don't be mean,” Aziraphale admonishes.

“They tried to kill us.”

“And now they have a debt towards us.”

Crowley groans. “True. I need a nap now.” And the demon promptly closes his eyes, arms tightening around Aziraphale’s shoulders.

“Dear, the bed is right there.”

“You’re more comfortable.”

Aziraphale flushes happily and simply relaxes into the chair.

Only later do they learn the whole truth when Gabriel and Beelzebub come knocking at the door. Crowley doesn’t let go of Aziraphale however and simply glares at the pair when they enter.

“Aziraphale!” Gabriel exclaims, now dressed again in a perfectly tailored suit rather than the clothes Aziraphale had lent him. Crowley hisses at him when the archangel tries to approach. “Alright, territorial.”

“A demon thing, don’t mind him, silly angel,” Beelzebub says while having a very obvious strong grip on Gabriel’s arm.

Aziraphale only smiles at the sight of them. He’s never really been the resentful type after all, and he’s an angel, who thrives on displays of love even if from the oddest places. Crowley is resentful enough for the two of them anyway.

“Anyhow, we’ll be out of your hair in a few,” Gabriel says, ignoring Crowley’s glare. “I guess… I need to say thank you, for not just handing me back to Heaven.”

“Well, you said something terrible would happen to you.”

“And you had no reason to believe me.”

Aziraphale shrugs. That's true enough. And he had been tempted to just throw him out a couple of times but then he knew he would have felt incredibly guilty. Gabriel without any of Heaven’s influence reminded him too much of a lost human child. Aziraphale has always had a soft spot for children. “Good thing I did, then.”

“Not sure he deserved it though,” Crowley mumbles but it is low enough, only Aziraphale hears him, who scoffs but doesn’t reprimand him.

“I always thought you were annoyingly trusting, even for an angel,” Gabriel comments then clears his throat, “I suppose that’s why I subconsciously ended up here, anyway.”

“You’re just rambling, spill out what you really want,” Crowley sighs.

“That miracle you managed to perform on Gabriel, we could do something similar with both of you so neither Heaven nor Hell can recognise you,” Beelzebub explains then. “Gabriel will then do some big miracles here and there to get them away from here so you’ll be definitely left alone, they’ll be too busy chasing us.”

Aziraphale frowns. “Are you sure? It sounds… tiring, to always run.”

“Nah, we’ll be fine, it sounds kinda fun to mess with them,” Gabriel dismisses. “And we’re more powerful than you.”

“Okay, that last comment wasn't necessary,” Crowley says, rolling his eyes, then reluctantly untangles himself from Aziraphale to lean against the chair instead and offers his hand. “Let’s get this over with.”

⋆ ✩₊˚ ʚ♡ɞ ˚₊✩⋆

A week passes. Crowley and Aziraphale now stand at the window of the bookshop looking across the street, where they can see Nina and Maggie talking while working together in the coffee shop.

“In the end, they did not need neither a sudden downpour nor a ball, did they?” Aziraphale comments idly.

“I suppose not. We don’t know humans that well, I guess,” Crowley replies.

“You think this will last, this time? I can’t imagine what chaos Heaven and Hell are in right now, the Supreme Archangel and the Prince Of Hell, disappearing…”

“Not our problem anymore, is it?”

“No, I suppose not. At least… until what they warned us about starts.”

Armageddon, the sequel, or the Second Coming. Crowley already has a headache thinking about it. But they'll be fine. He has faith. As long as they're together.

A beat of silence. Droplets of water start hitting the windows as gentle rain descends on Soho. Crowley slowly tears his eyes away from the streets to focus on his angel who’s already looking at him, a soft smile on his lips.

“Say dear, is it after yet?” the angel whispers.

Crowley had almost forgotten. In the week since Beelzebub's and Gabriel's departure, they had been too stressed to think of anything else. Perhaps they were tricked, perhaps they'd get erased from the Book of Life at a moment's notice. They held each other tightly that first night after a day of debating running away or not. Then the next day they walked around Soho, checking on the other shopkeepers as Aziraphale gave them each the book he had promised them, although they all seemed to have forgotten why he even promised to give them away in the first place. On the third day, Muriel came knocking at the door of the bookshop and they both worried it was the sign the miracle had failed, but the sweet angel reintroduced themself as new in town, pretending to be human again, searching for a job, as if they had never met before and Aziraphale was unable to tell them no and offered them the assistant role Jim had left behind. On the fourth day, they started to accept that a new chapter of their life had begun after all and spent that day leisurely walking around Berkeley Square, watching the kids play and the ducks swim, they even had a nice picnic where they laid down and Aziraphale read him Pride and Prejudice. On the fifth day, Crowley moved all his plants into the flat above the bookshop. On the sixth day, Aziraphale took the Bentley for a spin and Crowley, sitting on the passenger seat for once, was appalled to learn his car liked to play favouritism.

And on the seventh day…

“You really wanted a dance, huh, angel?”

“I would not give up my books and make such an effort to set up a ball for anyone, Crowley,” Aziraphale says. “I desired my own Jane Austen moment.”

“Is a dance in the rain compatible with what you had in mind?”

The angel chuckles. “You really insist on your rain.”

Sometimes, Crowley wonders if Aziraphale has simply forgotten how their second first meeting ended with the first-ever rain on Earth. One he may or may not have caused himself.

“It’s more than just rain, isn’t it?” Aziraphale says anyway with a knowing look.

“And it’s more than just a dance after all, angels don’t dance, do you?” Crowley replies, offering his hand. “So. May I?”

Aziraphale takes his hand and then drags him upstairs instead of outside. Crowley frowns, but then Aziraphale miracles a way up to the rooftops.

“Oh,” is all Crowley manages to muster before he’s the one leading the way once more, dragging a giggling angel behind him.

“We’ve done this before, haven’t we?” Aziraphale comments, shielding his head with his free hand as he looks down on the busy streets of Soho. “The roofs of Paris.”

“Would you rather have a dance there? The city of love, after all…”

Something flickers in Aziraphale's eyes and Crowley can't hold the gaze for more than a second. They're both quite surprised he's the first one to use that word.

“No,” the angel answers, squeezing his hand and bringing it closer to his chest where Crowley can feel his heart beating feverishly. “Here is perfect. It's home, isn't it?”

Crowley replies by catching Aziraphale's other hand to kiss the back of it.

(He's seen the movies, that is typically how the gentleman makes it clear to his dame that he's interested, right? In any case, fortunately for our demon, the trick is working because the angel only falls deeper. Metaphorically speaking, of course.)

Rain is still falling, this time without Crowley's interference. Blue eyes and yellow eyes lock under the cloudy sky of London. The angel wraps his arms around the demon's shoulders while the demon cradles the angel's waist. Their foreheads rest against each other as they start to gently sway to the tune of a wild nightingale's singing in their heads. Crowley breathes in and lets himself fall deeper as well.

Further down, sheltered inside a mildly busy coffee shop, Maggie looks up when she finishes cleaning a table. She becomes distracted then, and a smile graces her red lips. Soon enough Nina slides to her side, nudging her slightly to bring her back to Earth.

“What got you smiling like that, sunshine?”

They're not dating. Not quite yet. Still, Maggie's heart soars at the nickname.

“Oh just. Look.” She points to the top of the bookshop, forcing Nina to lean down to be able to see.

“Is that Mr Fell and Mr Crowley dancing? On the rooftops?” Nina asks although she knows what she is looking at. But they almost seem like they're flying, and she is starting to wonder if she has gotten enough sleep.

“Seems like it,” Maggie smiles. “They're cute.”

“They're nuts is what they are,” Nina huffs, straightening up. “Under that rain? Would take a miracle for them not to fall.”

“I don't know, I think it's romantic. I'm happy for them,” Maggie says, secretly wishing such a thing for herself. She shrugs and promptly goes back to work on cleaning a few more tables.

Nina spares one last glance at the bookshop then Maggie's retreating back before she goes back behind the counter to take more orders. Really, she's just glad that these two odd men who tried to meddle with her own relationships figured out their own at least.

One day, she'll get there as well. And hopefully, Maggie will be right here to hold her hand.

One day, she'll be ready to dance again.

#good omens fanfic #good omens fic #good omens fanfiction #aziracrow #ineffable husbands #my fics #good omens s2 spoilers

[whoredmode]

For the ask meme: 6 (specifically for the second part!), 9, 46!

Saints Row Character Building Questions

6. What voice option(s) did your character use? Were there any VA lines that affected how you meta’d your character?

so for the games i did voice 1 in sr1, male voice 3 in sr2, male voice 1 in srtt, and nolan north in sriv. just because i like nolan north and sriv is not real to me.

honestly i can’t say that there were any huge things that specific lines shaped as i had a lot of anteros’ character decided and just kinda molded him alongside the lines. some stuff i just blatantly ignore because it makes no sense for him (for example, in srtt that voice has lines that make him sound really clueless about sex and kink which like. no. anteros of all people is extremely familiar with sex work for obvious reasons. but i digress). there’s also some lines that i have at least like. written around or explained in a different way? that voice also says he’s read jane austen a bunch, and i believe anteros has but not out of a love of it, but because his dad was a literature professor and made him read a bunch of stuff way above his reading level when he was like seven.

9. Did your character set out to climb the top of the Saints’ ladder?

not necessarily? i think things just kinda happened. honestly i don’t think anteros is the best leader, but he’s what they got and they’re managing pretty well all things considered. once they get over their communication issues in srtt. i don’t think he ever thought he’d become leader of the saints in the first place; at the time he was just enjoying having actual friends. before. he died. then i think he mainly just wanted revenge on julius but then one thing leads to another and one day he’s waking up head of a (comparatively small) criminal enterprise

46. Which gangs did your character hate the most? Which gangs did they fear the most?

i’d argue the brotherhood was one he felt flat-out rage towards because of what happened to carlos. i’d also say the morningstar put a bad taste in his mouth because of their trafficking operations; kinda similarly he doesn’t like zimos because he just reminds him of people he’s had to associate with back before he was in the saints but that’s a whole different post. for clarification zimos doesn’t join the saints or anything in my canon, he mostly just plays the role of informant. but anyway.

i feel like the gang he had the most visceral feelings and reactions towards was honestly the masako? because it was dex who sent them in the first place. the masako were the things standing between him and resolution, and even after he got rid of them he still couldn’t get ahold of dex. at least at the time. but they get their finale eventually, just much longer than anteros would’ve liked.

#asks #thanks! fun questions

[rebeccasteventaylor]

Right, now to watch episode 2 in detail

Aziraphale and Crowley well aware they have to play demon/Angel and prompting each other but also taking the time to have a little chat and an catch up.

‘I have a permit’ how very Ron Swanson

Oh, Muriel and Aziraphale working together all the way back at Job’s time! And poor Aziraphale, absolutely horrified at the bet, and the murder of the children.

Aziraphale is the only one to take Sitis’s feelings into account and consider she might not want to lose her children and give birth another seven times. And he’s the only Angel to understand that the dead children will be still be a devastating loss.

Gabriel is dressed as the shop assistant in Open All Hours proving not only does Aziraphale watch old British sitcoms, he thinks that’s the way actual life works.

All those years watching Mad Men and I never knew Jon Hamm could be funny and also sing.

Although - given Shax says ‘the kind of miracle only the mightiest of archangels could have performed’ I thought she meant Gabriel but after what Crowley said later about being able to access the records - is it him?

Ok the song when Aziraphale goes into Maggie’s shop this time is the glorious and heart rending ‘You don’t have to say you love me’ sung by Dusty Springfield. I thinks it’s best I just show you the lyrics

When I said I needed you

You said you would always stay

It wasn't me who changed but you and now you've gone away

Don't you see that now you've gone

And I'm left here on my own

That I have to follow you and beg you to come home

You don't have to say you love me, just be close at hand

You don't have to stay forever, I will understand

Believe me, believe me, I can't help but love you.

Anyway - the book ‘Jim’ waves in Saraqael’s face is a Pratchett - The Colour of Magic. Now they may have chosen this Pratchett as it’s the first Discworld BUT it may also have been a clue to look at the colour of the magical plume - purple.

The big book Jim uses to try to swat the fly is The Wicked Bible which has the commandment ‘Thou shalt commit adultery’ in it.

Crowley keeping an eye on the strange man sitting at Aziraphale’s table in the pub. I dunno, first he has a naked man in his place and now this bloke is chatting him up. Crowley definitely does that ‘he belongs to me, matey’ swagger when he walks up. (Mr Brown’s newspaper headline is Nebraskan Woman Taught Duck to Play Accordion. I don’t know why that is in the Metro, which is a London based newspaper about London)

The newspaper the man behind Mr Brown is holding has the headline ‘unearthed mysterious sealed library found’ Clue to S3?

Ok, Crowley has obviously been thinking about situations to make people fall instantly in love for a while, considering how quick off the mark he is for ideas to make Nina and Maggie fall in love. And Crowley now canonically has seen Four Weddings and a Funeral. And probably other Richard Curtis films. Crowley is canonically a rom-com fan!

I love how they both have different views of Jane Austen. She did all that and had an affair with Clara…

That whole ‘fall in love at a ball’ thing sounds more Heyer than Austen to be honest.

Jon Hamm is so good. Can we keep him? Have him star in British comedy shows forever?

And back to Job and this time Aziraphale isn’t playing a part. He is genuinely trying to stop Crowley and he’s shaking and afraid and doesn’t want to do this but he must.

Wait - when did we think the first time Crowley called Aziraphale Angel was? Cos he calls him Angel in this scene. And look - Aziraphale can see the goodness in Crowley even this early on. He knows Crowley doesn’t want to kill the children even as Crowley is trying so hard to convince him he’s bad.

And then Aziraphale says he knew the Angel Crowley was and Crowley says that’s not him now and so Crowley knew all along that Aziraphale knew him as an Angel!

‘I’m a demon. I lied!’ Except Crowley didn’t lie - as soon as Aziraphale showed faith in him he saved the children. And Crowley is clicking again…

Aziraphale’s not drinking reminds me of Maggie’s not drinking.

Crowley getting him to try the food means thousands of years later Aziraphale will want to save the Earth because of little restaurants where they know him….it’s a way of making sure Aziraphale loves the Earth as much as he does.

Crowley being on ‘his side’ sounds so lonely to Aziraphale - perhaps this is where he starts to join him.

Crowley and Aziraphale teaming up to trick the angels for the first time. And the for the first time Aziraphale lies to the angels - not obscure the issue, not cleverly manoeuvre around it, but straightforward lie.

‘Our car’ And while Crowley sleeps in the car (perhaps it’s where he feels safest after he saw the bookshop burn and he was trapped in his flat) he must spend a lot of time in the bookshop to be getting a lot of use out of it.

Looking at the books Gabriel is looking at. It includes The Crow Road, the book Muriel reads later. I’ve read most of them and they’re all very good books.

‘It was a nice day’. Thats Good Omens. Gabriel was about to read Good Omens. I know several of us have written fanfics where Good Omens the book exists in the Good Omens universe.

Poor Aziraphale. So certain he’s going to Fall. So certain he deserves it. And Crowley ‘I’m not taking you to Hell, Angel’. And that’s where it starts, isn’t it? Crowley’s absolute determination that Hell will not get his hands on Aziraphale and neither will Heaven starts here, as they sit side by side in companionship. Aziraphale is so scared and Crowley is kind in his way and that urge to protect him starts here, I think, just like Aziraphale’s determination that Crowley will not be alone started in the cellar when Crowley said he was on his side and Aziraphale thought tang was lonely.

I don’t think anyone has ever been kind to Aziraphale before. And I don’t think anyone has just kept Crowley company before. And now Crowley admits - he needs a friend. And he will protect that friend - his only friend - from both Heaven and Hell.

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens 2 spoilers

[girderednerve]

reading that very fun piece against queer presentism & thinking again about the idea of the literary canon

the main contentions in this piece are that queer writers ought to look for historical queer writing, and that there's a lot of it which is often & unjustly ignored, to our detriment. at least some of the problems the article writer is getting at seem to me to be historiographical, which is what i say about nearly everything. anyway it helpfully lists several things i'd never heard of, alongside some things i had. i am admittedly a lazy reader & as a result not at all well-read. most of my interesting or difficult reading was done in school, which i don't think is that uncommon.

you can kind of tell that this is common to some extent because on tumblr where there's a strong interest in evidence of historical gay people, there's a continual air of surprise around evidence of queer lives & a particular focus on arguing that certain people you've already heard of are gay (shakespeare was gay! fight your english teacher about it! keynes was gay! fight your econ teacher about it! they don't want you to know!!). i don't entirely disagree with this preoccupation—i spent my fair share of time arguing with teachers—but it seems kind of sad, honestly! as a dull & boring gay myself i like to hear about the less- and even non-famous historical gays. but more importantly there's more writing out there than they teach in school, & as various ongoing astroturf campaigns make unpleasantly evident, what makes its way into school libraries & onto school curricula is extremely political.

i guess this is the question i find most interesting. whence canons, wherefore canons, will we ever be done with them? probably the solution instead of long tumblr posts is to actually read a) more books and b) scholarship about those books, plus what other very clever people have said about canons, but i am simply not going to do that because my focus is shot & i am, anyway, a fool.

so a few things, i guess:

1. many people do most of their expansive reading & get a sense of what they like & what literary history looks like from school, which is a solid intention of high school & college literary survey classes.

2. these surveys tend to focus on a certain set of works, which are understood to be both good & influential or important, and are thus 'canonical.'

3. there's a lot of fighting about what goes or doesn't go in the canon or whether we ought to have a canon at all; the survey of literature with which one is usually presented in one's eleventh grade english class or one's required freshman english class or whatever tends to be eurocentric, white, male, & straight, which sucks

4. there have been various initiatives to open the canon, with mixed success; my own high school education was comparatively fairly wide-ranging (we read achebe, morrison, ondaatje, and wang wei, in addition to our shakespeare, steinbeck, and austen). but consider, e.g., 'the yellow wallpaper', which was not an enormous success in its own time but was successfully championed by feminist scholars of the 1970s, who argued that it reflects an important sort of 19th century women's writing. kate chopin, too, benefited posthumously from this activism. there are probably others whom i am failing to think of, due to knowing almost nothing about anything.

5. why not argue for expanding the literary canon? why not argue that some of these writers ought to be taught in school? i love the focus on the queer self-education, but why stop there? the piece includes a call to publishers (print these older works anew! make cheap editions, new translations, accessible anthologies!) but none to curriculum composers, who surely look for what is available but can also generate demand in a way which is miserably familiar to anyone who works in a library & abruptly finds themselves expected to produce >15 copies of some school book on no notice.

6. is it just passé now to talk about the canon? are we anti-canon? this seems kind of pointless to me because surely we are all still going to be (peripherally, at least) subjected to AP english & so on for several more years, & we may as well try to get the kids to read some interesting things. i don't really see how we could get out of The Canon, however limiting we find it; it seems kind of unavoidable to me that we should have some sort of list of widely-known, well-read literature which is generally understood to be good, useful, representative, or educational in some way.

but if you got this far please do feel invited to comment!

#sorry 2 be like this. unlikely 2 improve but still sorry #it is just soup in here #you should read the article instead of my post

[fakecrfan]

please tell me more about the web being a jane austen fan

 I forget what context this was sent in, and honestly context is for the weak, anyway.

So here is the thing, if you are talking about Entity Courting Styles: Obviously, I've spent a lot of time detailing the manner in which the Eye woos humans that it has gotten obsessed with, but I think it's important to note that the different... personalities? natures? modes-of-functioning? ...of different entities would cause them to develop different patterns in demonstrating interest.

So, the Eye, as I have detailed in a bunch of different asks, is basically on the level of a grabby, curious toddler. "It sees all and understands none." It constantly wants, is invasive, and its existence is tied to the specific horror of boundary violation. So basically, any attempt the Eye is going to make to court a human for romantic  (???) purposes is going to be extremely impulsive, invasive, and immature. I also think that, along these lines, the Eye would probably crunch a lot of data from the minds it has access to and cough out a romantic attempt that basically... copies what it sees other individuals who engage in relationships doing. Basically, due to its immaturity, its attempts at romance are going to be "monkey see, monkey do." Oh people get chocolates for their loved ones? Well I will get the MOST chocolates.

Now, the Web would have to be the complete opposite of this. The Web is confirmed sentient in canon, and has had centuries, if not millennia, of time to revise its thinking. It also is evolved to (usually) operate in an extremely subtle and underhanded way for decades at a time. Because of this it needs to appreciate the importance of small gestures and little acts compiling to direct people in a certain way.

The Web's form of courtship would probably be very similar to its way of ending the world. The Web understands a good slow build. Instead of immediately grasping or demanding affection from the object of its affection, it would instead start slowly to snip away all  influences that might turns its love away from it, and then try to stack on gesture after gesture that would, in aggregate, make its target grow closer to it.

So basically, the Web trying to spin a romance would take after a Jane Austen novel: it would have an appreciation for subtlety and for how social forces like economic need and societal expectations create romance. And it would be a slow build that by the end feels like it was inevitable all along. :)

#web + jon