#And going back to Chip On My Shoulder AGAIN Aziraphale calling Harvard 'my personal circle of hell' is... extremely on the nose

[decepti-geek]

okay listen Aziraphale has basically NOTHING in common with Elle Woods aesthetically but besides that minor detail a Legally Blonde (specifically: The Musical au) would be PERFECT for Good Omens/Ineffable Husbands????

And I wanna make a distinction right off the bat - if we went by the movie, Crowley would proooobably be the only one who really fits Elle because she's the only one with a real fish out of water narrative. HOWEVER. Musical!Elle is more overtly like... fish out of water but still with some safety nets (ha) to fall back on, which are highlighted within the story. And meanwhile Emmett gets his own fish out of water story with the specific focus on his comparatively underprivileged background, and when you put those two together, Crowley feels a lot more Emmett to me.

Like, Aziraphale has the two key Elle qualities of a) lots of shit going unexamined because he's never truly lacked power/privilege before, and b) belligerent determination to do the right thing even when people are telling him it will cause him personal detriment. Crowley's whole dynamic with Aziraphale in the Job and Resurrectionist minisodes is basically just Emmett in Chip On My Shoulder if you swap 'navigating the heaven/hell dichotomy' with 'navigating law school.' GABRIEL IS A DEAD RINGER FOR WARNER. THE METATRON WOULD BE CALLAHAN. Serious and Blood In The Water fit them both so well post-s2 I'm just [clutches face] (the reprise for Serious is probably even more fitting for Gabriel than the initial version tbh).

Also, What You Want is just concentrated Aziraphale energy imo - "So! I will get into Harvard, impress Gabriel, win him back, and then marry him! Wait, you really think I need more of a plan than that? Can't I just... charge ahead and do it anyway?" In some ways I think I like this AU because it's effectively Aziraphale walking up to Crowley and going 'god says it's MY turn to be the absolute hot mess'

Beelzebub can a) be Vivian and b) stay together with Gabriel at the end, as a treat for Gabriel (Gabriel still drops out to become a model). This is partly because I find the idea of Beelzebub becoming Aziraphale's personal cheerleader towards the end fuckin delightful. The Brooke thing feels like it would take some finagling but I am confident it can be wrangled into a good shape with the right choice of characters (Harriet Dowling is legitimately a frontrunner right now but I think that could very easily change).

I can think of multiple directions in which to approach the Paulette and Kyle subplot, and honestly multiple couples who would fit if you changed up the surrounding circumstances a bit? I like the idea of Nina and Maggie in a very drifted version, maybe where they both still own their canon businesses, because then TECHNICALLY Nina as the one with the horrible ex would be Paulette, and it would be fun to switch around who is hopelessly pining after who!!

I am also playing around with Delta Nu roles BUT I know in my soul that Muriel is Margot if only because then they get her line like "Keep it positiiiiiive~ As you slap [them] to the floor! :D" Please take a moment to imagine Muriel singing that in full earnestness, it's a delight.

(And having decided this I kind of want the frat boys from the bit in What You Want to just be like... multiple Erics).

These are the edges of the idea, where stitching it together into something coherent starts to get a bit shaky, but at its core is Ineffable Husbands content along such lines as!

Crowley getting Emmett's little moment of delight at the end of Chip On My Shoulder when Aziraphale makes his first successful argument in class! ('Fell' rhymes with 'Elle' we can get some scansion going here with 'little Miss Woods comma Elle' I know it)

For that matter, the "Where are your law books?" bit in Chip On My Shoulder would be extremely funny if Aziraphale's dorm room is just the bookshop in miniature, and then still under all of that the textbooks are plastic wrapped and completely buried and unread becase they simply do not interest him the way an antique bible does.

Aziraphale in the playboy bunny costume and Crowley doing the "What's up?" [excruciating pause] "... Doc?"

The proposal right at the end where Crowley gets the repeated little 'oh my god's!

So many things about Take It Like A Man!

"Swallow your pride for me, just nod yes" is just such an Aziraphale @ Crowley line, generally.

THE CHORUS "Here you'll become what you're supposed to be/You think you can't but you can/Think of the guy you want most to be/Here's your chance to make it..." I will FIGHT people on how much this fits, Aziraphale has always wanted Crowley to have a place where he can inhabit the wants-to-do-good parts of his personality without fear or punishment, which Crowley is convinced he cannot have. This is the same idea!! (And in this AU, a more seamless role in the establishment is... legitimately the best that Aziraphale has the power to offer Crowley, tbh).

"Why can I never say no to her?" is basically just Crowley's canon inner monologue, c'mon.

"That's the best part/The outside is new/But now it reflects what's already in you/Couldn't change that if I wanted to" Again, I am prepared to Fight about this being a brilliant fit.

And then finally with this song, "Don't watch me change!" would have added embarrassed Crowley Noises which is wonderful to think about.

AND!!! The part of this whole stupid concept that so deeply compels me!!!!!

The duet part of the title song from either side of the door!!

"What about love/I never mentioned love/The timing's bad I know/But perhaps if I'd made it more clear/That you belong right here/You wouldn't have to go/Cause you'd know that I'm so much in love"-

AND

"We both know you're worth so much more"

AND

"If you can hear, can I just say/How much I want you to stay"|"It's not up to me..."

AND

[in chorus] "You are the best thing about this place-"

I am going to be thinking about this last one for days.

#Ineffable Husbands #Aziracrow #Good omens #Legally blonde #Legally blonde the musical #Aziraphale #Crowley #Ineffable bureaucracy #muriel #beelzebub #vinylatte #the metatron #gabriel #Also Aziraphale post-breakup with Gabriel doing the whole 'Must we all descend into madness?!' that feels extremely Him #And going back to Chip On My Shoulder AGAIN Aziraphale calling Harvard 'my personal circle of hell' is... extremely on the nose