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justhereforthemeta · 8 months

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Romantic expectations and the story we didn't see: A magic trick hiding in plain sight

Here's a hopeful meta for all my fellow celestial brainrot sufferers out there. Cheers! :)

This idea started as a dead end, trying to track the movements of Crowley’s sideburns/tattoo because I thought time travel shenanigans were afoot. I had to abandon that theory when it was pointed out that David was simultaneously filming as the sideburns-having Fourteenth Doctor, and in-universe Crowley can do whatever he wants with his facial hair whenever he feels like it. But hey - null findings are still findings!

On the bright side, pausing the show to make notations in a spreadsheet forced me to slow down and notice other changes I'd overlooked the first time around: acting choices, costuming choices, references to book lore. And possibly a few surreptitious flicks of the wrist, in places where we’re meant to be focused on the magician’s other hand.

@amuseoffyre and @ineffablefood had a great exchange recently about romance and “the significance of misdirection and three-in-one (magic) tricks” throughout the show. I suspect Neil has done something brilliant with the audience’s long-standing expectations (since the 1990s, really) for the love story between Crowley and Aziraphale to develop. And while it is a wonderful story indeed, playing to this expectation lets Neil distract his audience from the blink-and-you'll-miss-them seeds he's planting for the final chapter.

Continued below the cut...

Let’s start at the beginning of Episode 2. First, context: In the previous installment, Crowley stormed out of the bookshop, was whisked away to Hell by Beelzebub where he learns about the Book of Life threat to Aziraphale’s existence, then returned to the bookshop to dance a little apology dance and hide Gabriel with an unintentionally massive joint miracle. In S2E2, we and Shax catch up with Crowley as he's snoozing in the Bentley.

Shax: “You’re in trouble”

A. J. Crowley, cool as a cucumber: “Obviously. Former demon, hated by Heaven, loathed by Hell. How will our hero cope?”

Interesting! Sarcastic? Yes, absolutely; but that’s also a good 4500 years and an averted apocalypse away from “I’m a demon. I lie,” wouldn’t you say? Someone is sounding a whole lot less depressed and aimless and navel-gazey (do snakes have navels?), and a whole lot more like he’s got a project to focus on, since his "what's the point?" ruminations on the park bench in E1.

And of course we all noticed the costume change right away. Hello, black turtleneck. Feeling cute today, thought I’d cover up my graceful long neck? That sounds unlikely. Let’s put a pin in this one.

There’s also an interesting acting choice going on here. Crowley speaks to Shax in a funny, drawling, too-cool-for-you voice that we haven’t heard in a while. Specifically, not since 1967. If you go back and give the S1E3 scene in the Dirty Donkey a listen, you’ll hear it (and if you know of another instance of it that I've missed, please let me know!). In S2E2, he keeps up this odd voice (if anybody knows what kind of affect this is supposed to be, please do tell!) throughout this dialogue with Shax, except for the brief moment when she first surprises him about the joint miracle having been detected.

1967 was a fun year. Crowley masterminded a heist! And seemed like he was having a ball doing it, right up until his little caper was called off after Aziraphale brought him the thermos of holy water. Crowley spoke to his co-conspirators in that same funny, very 60’s-caper-film voice. He wore a hip 60’s turtleneck. He bought petrol for the only time ever, so he could get those sweet James Bond bullet hole decals for his car (per the book, seen on the Bentley in the show).

Those James Bond bullet hole decals would of course have been part of a promotion for this 1967 release, which you just know our film-enjoying demon went to see in the theater:

Starring this suave, be-turtlenecked guy:

And now - begging your forgiveness - a brief rant.

There are a number of posts out there that refer to Crowley’s S2E2 turtleneck as a flirtatious sartorial choice - actually, ‘slutty’ seems to be the favored accusation. There are even a few posts floating around commenting on how sweet it is that Crowley swaps out his slutty, kinky, throw-me-over-your-desk-and-take-me turtleneck for a more dressy and appropriate collared shirt specifically to attend Aziraphale’s Jane Austen ball.

Now this is all in good fun, and Crowley does indeed look fantastic here, and I do love a good fangirling sesh as much as the next person. However, fandom’s collective tendency to interpret what we are seeing on the screen through the lens of romantic expectation can, at times, give rise to a kind of blinkered enthusiasm that obscures the original text in a haze that is part Mandela Effect, part unrestrained horniness, and part in-group code talking and identity reinforcement.

Respectfully, Crowley’s black turtleneck does not appear at all in S2E5: The Ball. In fact, it never appears again after the end of S2E2.

For Someone’s sake, let’s collectively pull our heads out of the romantic fog/gutter for a moment and focus on what we are actually seeing in the book and on the screen. For Crowley, this is an uncharacteristic within-period costume change. There is a surreptitious flick of the wrist happening here, out in broad daylight, and we are all missing it.

So here’s a thing. Aziraphale appears to have settled comfortably into life on Earth, his neighborhood, his books, using Crowley as an outlet for sharing his good deeds that he would once have reported to Heaven. Meanwhile, at first glance, Crowley appears stuck in a rut. There he slouches on a park bench with Shax in S2E1: a guy who lives in his car, stagnantly clinging to old familiar habits, mulling over the pointlessness of it all.

Setting aside the bit about living in the Bentley (I’m going to attribute this to well-documented issues between him and Aziraphale, discussed in many other excellent metas, and move on), Crowley has at least two very good, proactive reasons for maintaining his contact with Hell through Shax. First and foremost, it’s a source of information he can use to keep ahead of potential threats to Aziraphale and himself.

But also, I would posit…he kinda likes it.

Recall that book GO was first conceived as a parody, with Aziraphale and Crowley as spy-against-spy (but not really) field operatives in an ages-old cold war between Heaven and Hell. Their entire book dynamic is rooted in the trope of two opposing agents who have been in the field for so long that they now have more in common with each other than with their respective head offices. Their St. James’s Park meetings among other spies and ministers trading secrets are a sendup of what was once a well-known Cold War-era cliché.

Our contemporary Crowley still likes slick outfits and hellaciously expensive watches and high-performing vintage cars and pens that write underwater while looking like they could break the speed limit. He coaches Shax on how to blend in as a demon on Earth, and he helpfully redirects the wayward contact looking for the Azerbaijani sector chief. He loves improvising and getting away with shenanigans under the institutional radar. And boy golly was he impressed with Jane Austen: master spy, brandy smuggler, and mastermind of the 1810 Clerkenwell Diamond Robbery.

And if you look at it a certain way, for as long as Crowley has considered himself to be on “[his] own side” - going at least as far back as Job - he could almost think of himself as a sort of double agent. It’s actually a very romantic sort of notion, befitting our hopeless romantic of a (professedly former) demon; but it’s romantic in a very different way than we, the audience, have been primed to watch for.

In other words, in a very “on my own side” kind of way, Crowley really gets a kick out of being a spy. Or at least, dressing up and accessorizing as one, and moonlighting as a good-doing double agent when he can get away with it. And also being a plotting criminal mastermind. Two sides of a coin, really. Just look at Jane Austen.

My point is: No, Crowley did not wait around for Shax to come find him in a turtleneck so that he could go flirt with Aziraphale later. He’ll flirt with Aziraphale no matter what. No, this:

is actually this:

Much like the one he wears to the Dirty Donkey in 1967:

whilst holy water heist-plotting. Here's a clearer shot with gratuitous Bentley, because I love them:

…and which he'll wear again, with appropriate camouflage, while infiltrating Heaven in S2E6:

That is the 1967 planning a HEIST turtleneck for committing ESPIONAGE and STEALING THINGS in. Because turtlenecks are what modern human master spies wear to get their hands dirty - after all, he saw it in a movie once.

Crowley dons his tactical turtleneck sometime during the first major break in the action (which doesn't happen until after the joint miracle to hide Gabriel) after he learns about the threat the Book of Life poses to Aziraphale. Loverboy started mentally preparing himself to go after that book immediately upon learning that it was in play as a genuine threat.

Now let’s pick up at the S2E2 Dirty Donkey scene, reading the story from this angle. Of course, Crowley enables Aziraphale’s delusions about Heaven by hiding information from him, and does not disclose the Book of Life threat when they meet again. They go into the pub, Aziraphale shamelessly paws Crowley’s chest like the seductive Bond Girl he is, and Crowley gets to act all smooth and suave and intimidating as he chases off the interloping Mr. Brown (or Mr. Collins for the Pride & Prejudice fans, take your pick).

Ergo, theory: beginning in S2E2, Crowley is already thinking of himself as a Jane Austen/James Bond action hero (“How will our hero cope?”), psyching himself up to rescue Aziraphale by getting his spy game on and stealing the Book of Life.

Now, watch closely...This is where Aziraphale and Crowley brainstorm their plans to solve the problem they both know about: getting Maggie and Nina to fall in love and thereby get Heaven off their backs. Crowley’s vavoom plan is drawn from yet another movie (“Get humans wet and staring into each other’s eyes - vavoom, sorted. I saw it in a Richard Curtis film.”). But Crowley also implicitly shares his solution to the problem he hasn’t told Aziraphale about. And true to form, Crowley’s Jane Austen solution isn’t the same as Aziraphale’s Jane Austen solution.

Two solutions that fail by the end of Season 2, and a secret third one that might still work...and there's our magic trick of three.

‘“I’m lost. Am I doing a rainstorm?” Yes, babe. And a heist, too - just not until season three. Can I get a wahoo!?

I won’t spend time on A Companion to Owls during this meta, except to note that in all three minisodes, we get to watch stories that involve Crowley acting as a double agent on “his/their own side” - successfully making Hell and Heaven think he’s fulfilling their will while saving Job’s goats and children; failing to fool Hell when he does a good deed in Edinburgh; and of course, collaborating with Aziraphale whilst evading detection as an infernal turncoat during the Blitz.

(Because this is getting long, I'll also skip over Crowley's interrogation of Jim in this episode - I'll probably come back to that in another meta. But interrogating is a rather spy-ish thing to do.)

When we catch up with Crowley again later, he’s already slipped out of the bookshop, having left Aziraphale to his biblical reverie about Job. He saunters snakily down Whickber Street as usual, but with a very pointed and swift glance over his shoulder (see pic above). This demon is up to something - possibly something we didn’t get to see, something that may have happened offscreen while he stepped out. In any case, knowing there’ve been unfriendly angels in the neighborhood that morning, he’s rightly concerned about being spied on.

From this point until the beginning of episode six, there isn’t a whole lot of opportunity for Crowley to make any next moves. He babysits the bookshop, during which time he manages to wring some crucial information out of Jim; he follows his Crowley’s Angel around like a puppy, and downs a bottle of red like a good old fashioned lovesick boy once that’s been pointed out to him. If any plotting or scheming is underway, this occult being is keeping stumm for now.

This has been a long one, so I’ll wrap up with Crowley’s infiltration of Heaven with Muriel. The turtleneck disguise works (Archer fans, be vindicated!) long enough to gather some information that will be crucial not just to the denouement of S2, but also to Crowley’s journey in S3 (previous post on Crowley's Fall, Saraqael, and memory wiping). And Aziraphale gets to enjoy that view exactly zero times. The point isn’t oh, a turtleneck! How flirty! So cunty! So cute! Y’all. Everything matters. The costume change was a deliberate choice. In-universe, Crowley’s decision to wear his special spy turtleneck for spying in is a signal that he is out doing spy things, even as we watch.

In sum: Beginning in S2E2 and continuing through the end of the season, Aziraphale and Crowley are actively living out the scripts of two parallel, concurrent, and completely different Jane Austen stories. But you and I, dear fellow audience member, we came here for a comedy with a hefty jigger of romance, and that’s what Neil gave us to focus on. And right up until the Final 15, that was the only story we saw.

Meanwhile, Special Agent A. J. Crowley doesn’t have time to mope around at the end of S2E6. He’s kicked down, but he’s not out. He's got a Book of Life to steal, a very serious bone to pick with a certain memory-wiping angel, and his Angel and the world to save.

“‘Heigh ho,’ said [romantic, optimist, former demon, hero, master spy] Anthony Crowley, and just drove anyway.”

#so honestly #I think the biggest mark against this conclusion is that Crowley sees his mirror Maggie taking a nap at the end of S2E6 #there is a strong chance of a depression nap before any further spying gets underway #but I am counting on Muriel to be a dorky ray of sunshine and snap him out of it with Clues #good omens #good omens meta #good omens 2 #crowley in a turtleneck #demon bookseller plantdad spy

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toms-topic · 2 months

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Things you didn't know ab me:

1. I am not the sunshine

2. I am a willing victim of a cannibal

3. I'm half human and half machine

4. I'm Lance Armstrong (you're the necromancer tho)

5. I'm the Ruler of Everything

6. I'm the only one on your AM Radio

7. I am not the moon at night

8. I got shamed for claiming friends from either perspective of &

9. I won't hurt you unless you cheat

10. My friends are saying I have a undiagnosed mental illness

That one isn't a song reference they think i need a psychiatrist.

11. I'm no one if I'm nowhere in between

#will wood #will wood and the tapeworms #wwattw #tally hall #marvin's marvelous mechanical museum #good and evil #lemon demon #cabinet man #touch tone telephone #ruler of everything #tally hall cannibal #Cannibal tally hall #6up 5oh #dr sunshine is dead #everything is a lot #self ish #spirit phone

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ellydrawsstuff · 2 months

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"Please just stay here with me"

#hazbin hotel #charlie morningstar #vaggie #chaggie #charlie x vaggie #hazbin hotel fanart #hazbin fanart #The inner demons can be brutal #Having a supportive partner doesn't magically make the yelling go away but they can be there to try and help comfort #Sometimes all you can do is be there #Fluffy art coming soon tm but not today #Little miss sunshine isn't immune to self loathing is my belief and it makes her a deeper character :)#tw self loathing #tw selfhate #angst #vent art #vent #Sorry if I missed a tw I tried to tag the ones I know

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josyuss · 10 months

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summer mitsuri

#mitsuri kanroji #kanroji mitsuri #kny #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #my art #pov: you're on a date with mitsuri #she is sunshine yes #theres probs no way all her hair would fit under that hat but shh #posting this before jjk hype takes over #*side-eyes all the leaks*

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opens-up-4-nobody · 10 months

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:-P

#bruce being a fucking demon and dick being a ball of sunshine #i fucked these up on the colors. sometimes i forget i csn make things bright and obnoxious and not realistic #batman #dc #bruce wayne #richard grayson #robin #tw blood #the pose is partly based on one of the covers. idk which #fuck it. ill post this today lol

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roscoe-me-and-this-fuckin-kid · 25 days

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the world tried to burn all the mercy out of me but you know i wouldnt let it. the world tried to burn all the mercy out of me but you know i wouldnt let it. the world tried to burn all the mercy out of me but you know i wouldnt let it. the world tried to burn all the mercy out of me but you know i wouldnt let it. the world tried to burn all the mercy out of me but you know i wouldnt let it. the world tried to burn all the mercy out of me but you know i wouldnt let it. the world tried to burn all the mercy out of me but you know i wouldnt let it.

#sunshine riptide #fall out boy #fob #i dont ever wanna talk that way again i dont wanna know people like that anymore as if there was an obligation as if i owed you something #all these grandstanding gaslights black eyes and fist fights i romanticize #i scraped my knees while i was praying and found a demon in my safest haven #and the worst part is before it gets any better were heading for a cliff in the free fall i will realise im better off when i hit the botto #i think ive been going through it and ive been putting your name to it stretched out over n over again til im creased and im bout to break #rip myself apart i'll be whatever you need me to be you need me to be cut myself down i cut myself down to whatever you need me to be

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komoboko · 2 months

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May one politely make a request of an Obanai x fem!reader where he's in denial of the fact that he's catching feelings for said lady considering his hatred towards women??(please🙏🏻🙏🏻) And in this case of scenario the reader is like his tsuguko/disciple or smth with a sorta happy-go-lucky personality

SORRY IF THIS WAS TOO SPECIFIC 🥹🥹🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

Obanai Iguro x fem!tsuguko reader

spoilers for obanai’s past ・Obanai my beloved..

Obanai has yet to ever feel this conflicted before.

Time and time again obanai feels as love is something that should be pushed aside, his occupation already cuts his life short and in his eyes he is tainted already. Undeserving of it.

Adding onto the wound, obanai is not very.. fond of women. After the physical abuse of the all female clan he was born in. He already had started his hatred long ago.

So why does he stare at you with such a longing look in his eyes?

You were only his tsuguko, just somebody training under him to become his next successor. He tried not to get close, well he tried it was really you who was putting in the effort to get to know him. Your determination was always one of your admirable qualities.

Each and every day he really did try to push you away from him, but every time you persisted in trying to get to know the serpent pillar. At one point he gave up on trying to stop your advances as it would only bring more trouble for him compared to you. Once he finally did let you hang around him was when he started noticing more things about you.

You were a positive person to say the least in some ways you reminded him of mitsuri. Always had a determined look during training and always celebrated after getting down with a much harder training session. You had a attractive personality in his mind.

Not to say the additional plus that somehow kaburamaru has taken a liking to you to. If the chance ever comes where kaburamaru isn't with iguro, he'll find the white snake somewhere with you. It's hard to get kaburamaru to like anybody at all, so if his snake actually seems to enjoy your presence then maybe he should try and give you a chance.

But there is no way Obanai liked you. It was just a phase he was going through, something that he would get over and move on. He's probably just impressed by your skills, it must be it. You were a skillful swordsmith after all, he could tell you had so much potential for the future.

The more he attempted to push you away, the more he wanted to actually seek you out. He started getting used to you saying good morning to him and your constant “nagging” presence. He’d always shake off the feeling trying to get ahold of himself, but he would always begin thinking about this another time again.

Oh no, but the serpent pillar was not in love. It just physically impossible. Mathematically impossible as well. He was simply admiring you. Everybody does that obviously. He only wants to understand what your fighting style is.

Obanai could not be in love, this used to be a fact every slayer knows. Now it’s has turned into just words of encouragement for Obanai until he realizes he’s head over heels for you..

#demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny #demon slayer x reader #kny x reader #x reader #fluff #@.komoboko writes #headcanon #kny fluff #obanai iguro #kny obanai #obanai x reader #obanai iguro x reader #grumpy x sunshine #kaburamaru #this is ooc I’m crying

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gravehags · 6 months

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watching a horror movie with the ghoulettes and ghouls

Cumulus - Loves it when you cuddle into her side and hide the bottom half of your face with the blanket. You usually hold a pillow during particularly scary scenes but she is a much soft, warmer, and sweeter substitute. Loves paranormal horror and ghosts.

Cirrus - Queen of the move where you slowly wrap your arm around someone else's shoulders. Very smooth. She strokes your arm throughout the movie and tickles you when you start at a jump scare. Will trace her claws up the inside of your thigh during a tense moment on the screen, making you blush.

Sunshine - Is the jump scare. You'll be at a quiet part in the movie and she'll screech and leap at you, making you scream and swat at her while she attempts to distract you with kisses. You barely get a chance to hit the pause button when she drags you to the floor with her.

Aurora - Is huddled underneath the blanket with you, but has a distinct taste for gorier horror movies. When you're grossed out she loves it and gets a good laugh out of your queasy face but ultimate comforts you in the end. Hogs the popcorn.

Swiss - Attempts to distract you from your fear with his lips on your neck, fangs scraping against your pulse point. Especially enjoyable when the two of you are watching a vampire movie - you love the irony. When you're not canoodling you've got your legs in his lap.

Aether - King of making a comfortable space for you. Pillows, blankets, snacks, everything. You definitely swoon a little when he wraps one of his big, strong arms around you and pulls you into his chest.

Mountain - Unshakable. No matter the scare, no matter how gory he can weather it all. Teases you when you jump at the simplest things but still knows to leave the night light on when the two of you go to bed.

Rain - Gets distracted easily while watching a horror movie because he's got his fingers running through your hair. Cannot stomach heavy gore - which means you get to tease him for being a very poor example of a ghoul.

Dewdrop - Tries to sneak his hand into your pants at random intervals throughout the movie. Will murmur delicious little sinister promises into your ear at the same time someone is being mauled or mangled on the screen. He knows exactly what he is and what it does to you.

Phantom - Ultimate scaredy cat. You jump, he jumps and he has an iron grip on your hand the whole time. Hides his face behind a pillow at scenes even you can handle, which makes you laugh despite the fear.

#i just think watching an exorcism movie with them would be so fucking funny #some priest on screen talking about demons when you're next to a literal demon #nameless ghoulettes #nameless ghouls #cumulus ghoulette #cirrus ghoulette #sunshine ghoulette #aurora ghoulette #swiss ghoul #aether ghoul #mountain ghoul #rain ghoul #phantom ghoul #dewdrop ghoul #the band ghost

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