#Good omens bandstand

[dalliancekay]

Bandstand and Final 15

If S1 ended with the bandstand argument, I bet we'd have the same situation we have with S2, people blaming Aziraphale and calling him cruel and unreasonable for not wanting to do as Crowley asked.

Oh who am I kidding, many fans STILL think Crowley was right back then.

Was Aziraphale stupid?

Was it unreasonable of him to try and speak to God and stop Armageddon? Instead of just - trying to kill the Antichrist child and see what happens? Or run? (Run where?)

Aziraphale was heartbroken but he just had to try. That's the kind of person he is. He hoped someone will see how Earth doesn't need to be destroyed. They could go and speak to the child perhaps. There doesn't need to be a War.

But God didn't pick up his call. So we never get to know what She thinks and whether She'd do anything to help as Az hoped - and of course one could argue that everything that happened was exactly what She wanted (and wait for it, that's exactly what Crowley says on the bench as they wait for a bus). Because the 'spokesperson' who did answer Azi's call, didn't understand Az at all and fobbed him off.

After Aziraphale got discorporated in an accident (which looked like agony btw, Crowley wasn't the only one to suffer) he knew he was running out of time and resolved to speak to the kid himself. Kill him even, if there's no time for anything else. But save the world. If at all possible. He assumed he's on his own now, Crowley having left. He was not.

After losing his body (and abandoning Heaven doing a demonic thing), he learns his home and everything in it burned down.

And yet, he's determined to save the world even if he seems to be losing everything.

I see a lot of metas about - did Aziraphale know Crowley was talking about him when he said he lost his best friend...

I believe he did. But what if Aziraphale understood that after the argument, Crowley is saying he lost his best friend... because it is their friendship what is lost. Is that why Aziraphale is so careful with words at first, but when he learns Crowley saved a book, his book, THE book, he knows Crowley is the one thing he did not lose. Because how would Az know Crowley thought he lost Az in the fire? He didn't know Crowley went looking for him. He only knew he disappointed Crowley for not wanting to run and Crowley calling him an idiot and leaving. When Az reached out later from the bookshop, Crowley hung up on him. That's the last Az knew of Crowley before being forced away.

Just because things didn't work out how Aziraphale hoped or was trying to achieve, doesn't mean he was wrong to try.

If anything, he was right. And Crowley would stand right by him and say so too. Would killing the boy (which I don't think they would have attempted at all when push came to shove without the stress that came from being on that tarmac with forces of Heaven and Hell converging) change anything? No. Because they misunderstood (yes, both of them) how the Plan works (or doesn't work). It wasn't about trying to kick one step out from the Plan to topple it. It wasn't about killing the kid or persuading him to not destroy the faulty humanity. It was about shifting the whole mindset. About humanity but also about Plans.

It was about freedom to choose. Az told Adam to make up HIS mind. (Which incidentally, I think Crowley told Eve in Eden too.) Crowley gave Az the space to do so. To be kind. To be his usual self. To be an angel who is strong and brave and open.

Adam took it.

Yet, it still wasn't enough. Their superiors wanted a War. They believed the Plan. But Aziraphale didn't anymore. He changed something. Suddenly it was just a question of finding a loophole to do the right thing. SOMETHING HE IS A VERITABLE EXPERT ON HAVING HAD THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF PRACTICE IN DOING

And when it came to their punishment?

A loophole.

What would the guesses be I wonder on how would they escape? Run? Az deciding to Fall? They tricked them. Not with words this time but with appearances.

_________________

S2 is different. It's not Bandstand part 2. They changed.

Yes, Crowley poured his heart out, wanting to finally acknowledge how much he wants, how he wants things to be simple. Open. Just to be together. But the timing was so wrong you'd think Metatron tempted him into it, to confuse him.

Because Crowley has just been to Heaven and learned why Gabe was being pursued, what the new plans were and knowing Heaven, he must have known Gabe's 'nah' wasn't gonna stop anybody. Gabe just needed to be put away. Which Aziraphale put a stop to with his stubborn protectiveness.

So why wasn't he more on board in helping Az in F15?

gif by @capinejghafa "Tell me you said no." But he did! Aziraphale who said flatly no so many times. To the 'chin-wag' and how he all but laughed at the proposal of him being the new Supreme Archangel. Aziraphale who only blanched when Crowley was brought into the discussion. (Same as some 80 years before... his biggest fear is always Crowley getting hurt and them being forced apart)

(He found a loophole nobody expected, to escape)

"IF YOU WANTED TO WORK WITH HIM AGAIN" (this is the only way Aziraphale*)

So what does Aziraphale do? He gives Crowley a choice. He doesn't say - they are taking me back to Heaven, making me go (because Crowley would follow immediately no questions asked). He doesn't even say he said yes, he just says he got the offer and asks, will you come with me. After all, Az thinks this is forever, that he must leave forever (he looks so stressed and so scared in F15) and he knows they both hate Heaven and would never choose to leave Earth voluntarily - but he wants Crowley to be able to choose - he doesn't want to force him the way he was forced, over his loved one's safety. And his heart breaks when Crowley says no. BUT

Crowley could not follow to Heaven, he made his choice. But he also didn't walk away. He didn't storm off. He didn't drive away. He stayed. I do not think he waited for Aziraphale to change his mind. He knows Aziraphale. He knew the angel made up his mind. He waited so Aziraphale will see that he's there. That he will wait until he's needed. But from Earth.

*I'm sorry but if you think that should Aziraphale insist on staying that he would be left in peace to be with Crowley, than you are not paying attention to what Heaven can do.

To sum up: Their 'arguments' are never about them, they don't need to learn to communicate better (they need to be free to communicate better) they are already doing so much better than expected in the circumstances. They know each other. Their arguments come up because they are not free and there is no way they can be safely together. Yes, they love one another and want to be together (and no, Az does not need to wake up and admit what he's feeling or some such nonsense), but in their world as it is, it's impossible (or the possibility is only very brief) and that's not what Aziraphale can agree to, so he must fight on. He was given that sword for a reason. He will fight. Just not... the usual way and not for what was perhaps intended.

[xdestinykey]

always been a big fan of the ✨fingertip touch✨

[embracing-the-ineffable]

Neil Gaiman does a podcast with David Tennant (2020)

The podcast is here, and there's a transcript of parts of it here. It's all really interesting!

Here's what really resonates for me. While talking about the opening flashbacks of s1e3 (emphasis is mine):

"Neil: It was utterly budget-busting and I also knew that it would make everything else work. And also it would make the scene I knew I was going to write in episode 3… it would turn that from a scene that was a bit sniffly into one that would break people’s hearts [yep, the bandstand scene], because you’d actually spent 28 minutes watching the ups and downs of these two on Earth for 6000 years becoming the only important thing in each other’s lives and here is this moment where there are actually… they have two utterly disparate philosophies of existing and Aziraphale cannot go off with Crowley and Crowley cannot leave without him but he has to, and you wind up with a ‘Have a nice doomsday’ line. But the excitement that I had of writing that stuff and the joy I had knowing that we’re going to watch the relationship open like a flower to us, ending in the 1960 with the hand-over of the holy water and there wouldn’t be a dry eye in the house - and I knew that because it did that for me - them watching what you and Michael brought to it and it became the most most glorious tentative friendship over thousands of years, that then becomes sort of peculiar and flirty and weird and prickly and funny and glorious, and, you know, it was the one that won me the Nebula Award."

This absolutely frames season 2 for me, and in particular the final fifteen minutes, which are season 2's heartbreaking bandstand scene. During season 2, we watched their relationship once again open like a glorious, flirty flower, still the only important thing in each other's lives, until their utterly disparate philosophies of existing separated them and broke all of our hearts.

But they came back together after the bandstand, and they will again after season 2 🤞❤️

[heohl-art]

Almost forgot to post some of the photos of my recent visit to London✨

Do you recognize this bandstand?💕

Fan theory: they're gonna reunite right there in s3, listen to me🦆✨

[humbledragon669]

S1E3 – Hard Times Write Up P6 - Friday (One day to the end of the World) from "the break up" scene

Quick note to slip in right at the beginning here: the setting in the Script Book for this rendezvous was back at St. James’s Park. I’ve no idea why it was changed, but I do really like how portentous and isolated the band stand feels. Perhaps that’s exactly why it was changed.

Right, I don’t think I can avoid this much longer. I really am not looking forward to going through this scene. I know I’m not alone in finding it a difficult watch. As a reminder, it’s my belief that Aziraphale and Crowley are secretly romantically involved at this point in the storyline and have been since Adam’s birth (11 years), so I do really feel like this scene is a break-up. Furthermore, I think it’s likely that Aziraphale came to the meeting with the intention of breaking up with Crowley because he’s started to believe that they cannot stop Armageddon. I’ll pick up on a few things as I go through the scene itself that would feed into that theory, but for now, all we need to know is that I don’t like watching this pair split up. F*** knows how I’m going to get through the Final 15 write up when I eventually get there.

The conversation starts in a similar vein to the one that we just saw Aziraphale having with the archangels in Heaven – with him playing aloof and hoping that the other party doesn’t notice he’s hiding something. I don’t know why he doesn’t tell Crowley that he’s been Upstairs to discuss the matter with his superiors at this point, or that he knows where Adam lives. What I do know is that he’s nervous – not only is he feigning ignorance, he’s wringing his hands, which he does whenever he’s anxious.

Aziraphale actually gives his own game away in his response to Crowley’s question about his investigative prowess – Adam’s shoe size is the only piece of information on the list that he doesn’t have. But Crowley isn’t listening (shock horror) and completely misses the subtext. I also suspect it’s likely he won’t contemplate the possibility that the angel is keeping something from him – it’s simply not on his radar.

Here's when things start to get really rough as far as I’m concerned. There’s something that we have to bear in mind, particularly if you’re prepared to accept my head canon in terms of where their relationship is at. The couple are staring Armageddon in the face. Not death, or obliteration from existence. The annihilation of Earth. Which means that, once it’s over, they will both be sent back to whence they respectively came from. No more sneaky little rendezvous meetings in parks. No more dining at The Ritz. No more nightingales. They aren’t just facing the destruction of Earth, they’re facing the possibility of an eternity of existence apart from each other.

Even if you’re not onboard with my theory of them being in a relationship at this point in the storyline, that idea is… well… heartbreaking to be perfectly honest. If you don’t think so, I’ve no idea why you’re still reading my waffling at this point. And if that idea hadn’t already occurred to you when you were watching this scene before, I’m sorry if I just destroyed you a little bit (#sorrynotsorry).

So, with that devastating blow delivered, let’s take a look at Aziraphale’s language here, of both verbal and body types.

He looks and sounds fairly resigned to their fate here. And pretty defeated. If I was to try and subtitle this single line of script with what I think is actually going through his head, it would read something along the lines of “I think we should say our goodbyes”. And I think Crowley, despite him missing the much more obvious subtext earlier, picks up on it.

My subtitling of this clip would go something along the lines of “no, fuck that shit”. He’s not ready to give up, not after 6000 years of slow burn. It’s no surprise that Aziraphale is uncomfortable with this outburst, after all, he still believes that he’s a company man. Angel. Whatever, he can’t seem to get his head around the fact that he’s really not onboard with Heaven’s plans. What I find interesting is his delivery of his next line.

His voice cracks. At the very end of the line. The way the conversation is playing out, it could be argued that he’s trying to make amends for Crowley’s criticism of the Great Plan but I think it’s something else. This isn’t a chastisement of Crowley. It’s a request of God. As in, “please forgive him, he knows not what he does/did”. As in “if you forgive him, he can come back to Heaven”. Unfortunately Crowley sees right through that one though, laying waste to the angel’s hopeful but poorly thought out plea in a painfully realistic summation of his existence. Why he feels it’s necessary to really hammer home the point to Aziraphale is a bit of a mystery to me – it’s really not like anything he says will make the angel stop loving him, as his face tells us when Crowley has finished spitefully pointing out how truly unforgivable he is.

I find the next exchange particularly interesting.

Aziraphale’s line almost feels unfinished. And if I could take a guess as to how he meant to finish it, I would say “you could be one again” is top of my guesses, which I think is backed up by his devastated expression after Crowley once again wastes no time destroying his dreams.

It’s not hard to see why I find it so difficult to get through this scene – up to this point we’re basically seeing the Final 15 9 episodes too early. And the similarities don’t stop there so let’s keep going. Note: I am aware I am somewhat jumping the gun with the comparisons, but I don’t want this scene to interfere with the write up when I come to do the Final 15 (I want that to stand on its own merits).

Crowley does try and do some reparations, showing his faith in their capabilities as a team and sticking to the original plan, but Aziraphale knows there was always a flaw in it – what do they do once they actually find the Antichrist? We see a very clever echoing of a previous topic here too – Crowley being unwilling to compromise on his position of the killing of innocents. We saw it in Mesopotamia in 3004 BC and again in the Dinosaur Park from episode 1, although at that point he was able to disguise his stance because of his employment. I’m not sure why he doesn’t use that reasoning at this point again, as his approach causes this discussion to start its descent into an all-out argument about the morality code at play.

There’s a huge sense of irony with Aziraphale’s take on this moral dilemma – apparently the good guys don’t kill children. Clearly his memory is somewhat selective because not only have the “good guys” been doing that for thousands of years, they’re about to kill ALL THE CHILDREN with Armageddon.  It’s no wonder Crowley tries to call him out on it. And can we just talk about the fact that what Aziraphale is asking his friend to do is an absolutely awful thing to do? And for what? So that Heaven doesn’t have “blood on its hands”. Crowley’s face says everything that I could try to put into words about what he’s being asked to do:

Side note: there’s a little moment during this exchange where their fingers almost touch. Maybe actually touch given Crowley appears to react to it, but I couldn’t swear either way owing to the camera angle. It reminds me a little of the Sistine Chapel, but I don’t know that it would be an intentional reference here.

They’re about to reach an impasse in their argument, mostly stoked by Aziraphale’s dogged determination that he can continue to use the fact that he’s a Heavenly being as an excuse for not making difficult choices. The way he delivers this line suggests that not only is this a hill he’s prepared to die on, but that his stance affords him superiority.

The words of Crowley’s reply imply that it was scripted to sound like a small injection of humour into this situation, and I think you could easily interpret it that way.

Then you should kill him yourself. Holi-ly.

I however think that this is him trying to remind Aziraphale that just because you’re an angelic host, that doesn’t mean that you’re above implementing death and violence in certain situations. Perhaps when it lends weight to a moral argument. Either way you choose to read it, we’ve reached our stalemate and so it’s time for Crowley to employ his self-protection mechanisms by hurling insults and making a run for it. And if you were in any doubt that the way this discussion unfolds is meant to be anything other than heartbreaking, you’re not listening to the soundtrack that starts at this exact point – flowing strings and flute in a minor key has emotional turmoil written all over it.

I deliberately left the subtitles off that last gif because I think the vast majority of us recognise the subtext of this conversation without needing to know the exact words that are spoken. It amounts to person A saying something hurtful, causing person B to be shocked and hurt by it before saying something hurtful back as a response before realising they spoke before thinking and trying to take it back. It’s a typical couple argument, isn’t it? Aziraphale’s body language here really resonates with me – it’s such a classic display of regret and desperation that it makes my heart ache.

Are you ready for the big hitters of the mirroring of the Final 15? Let’s start with Aziraphale’s plea:

You can’t leave, Crowley.

Sound familiar?  Sounds an awful lot like a time when a demon stood in front of an angel and told him he couldn’t leave the bookshop to me. Except this time the positions are reversed (obviously). Nonetheless, the parallel with that line is strong. And hold up, there’s another one coming – Crowley’s about to suggest that they run away, maybe not as an “us” but “together”. This time it’s received a little differently though, because that look on Aziraphale’s face is pure hope (until it isn’t).

And just look at Crowley’s body language. He has literally opened himself up to Aziraphale’s acceptance. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that’s his invitation for the angel to cross the bandstand into his embrace and disappear off into the sunset together…

Now, I’m sure there are some of you thinking that Aziraphale’s line about them not being friends completely undermines my theory about them being romantically involved at this point. I would argue that actually it strengthens my theory. The way I hear that line, that’s Aziraphale saying, out in the open, that the word they use as a cover to describe their relationship is categorically not what they share. If he rushed into the next sentence about them being nothing more than an angel and a demon, I might agree that my theory is problematic at this point, but he doesn’t. There’s a pause before he continues where I think he suddenly realises what he almost just gave away and this weak little interjection story is the best he can do to try to maintain the cover. Even he’s not convinced about it – he can’t even maintain eye contact with Crowley after he claims not to like him, I suspect because those words are so hurtful that he’s actually managed to hurt himself with them. You can see Crowley is pretty confused by this whole turn of events too.

Not only is the demon pretty confused by everything that’s going on (after all, he called the meeting to try put together the next steps for their plan to avoid Armageddon, not break up with the love of his existence), but he isn’t prepared to let their partnership go without a fight.

There’s an interesting parallel with the conversation from the second episode in season 2 here – with Crowley claiming he’s protecting “his” existence and Aziraphale contesting that it’s “ours” (i.e. theirs). In this context though, this is Crowley’s last card, a desperate plea for the angel to remember what it is that they have together, what they built for themselves. It’s no good though, Aziraphale is determined to see this one through and does the one thing that he knows Crowley won’t be able to forgive him for – denies it all, which isn’t too dissimilar to the shit he pulls off in the Final 15. And then there’s this:

Those words are the definitive break-up words, aren’t they? You can actually see the thought processes going through Aziraphale’s brain as he resolves to do what he came to do, despite how much it will hurt him to do it. He only manages to make the words come out on the second attempt of opening his mouth to say them, has to take a big breath before he does it, forces himself to make eye contact when he does say the words, even visibly recoils from the sound of them after they’re said. Michael’s performance here is genuinely outstanding, it blows me away how effortlessly he portrays the complex emotions he’s going through. And in fairness, David does an equally outstanding job with his response, particularly given that he can’t really use his eyes. The fact that he conveys Crowley’s distress with the only other tools he has – body language and speech – here is beyond amazing, not least because it’s the very lack of speech that really tells us how much he’s hurting from what’s just happened.

And if there was even the slightest bit of doubt left about whether this was a relationship break-up scene or not, maybe just look at Aziraphale’s devastated expression as he watches Crowley walk away.

There’s one last thing I want to draw attention to in this scene. All the way through the meeting, it has been possible to hear individual bits of birdsong from the surrounding area. Just after Crowley delivers his apparently nonchalant parting shot (“Have a nice doomsday”), we can hear an increase in volume of the birdsong in the soundtrack.

It’s not an individual bird this time, but an absolute cacophony of song, like a dawn chorus (which is unlikely – we are led to believe that this is the end of the day, not the start of one). I would say that its increased prominence was to do with the camera angle, which now pans out to include a wide shot of the bandstand, but we also hear a subtle quieting of the birdsong as we get to the end of the scene. Given the use of birdsong for individual birds being used for subtext in this series, I’m sure there must be some meaning to this as it certainly doesn’t feel accidental. According to the RSPB, “the dawn chorus is the symphony of song performed by birds looking for love, and to defend their patch”, which would feel rather fitting for the end of this scene – the screaming of the birds representing Aziraphale’s inner turmoil that he has just pushed away the one person he wanted most to protect, but feeling as if this was his only option. Or maybe I’m full of shit, and the birds were just really loud the day of shooting.

There’s one remaining scene in this episode, but I couldn’t find anything outside of the given narrative of interest, so let’s just say that we end this episode finding out that Adam is really coming into his powers, though it should be obvious to us that he’s not exactly using them to carry out the devilish deeds that we might expect to see from the Son of Satan.

Well there we are. Did you enjoy that? I have to say, I didn’t. I started this part of the write up with a disclaimer that I find the “break-up” scene very hard to watch, and it did not get any easier going over it in minute detail. I suspect I will need some sort of food or alcohol comfort to get me through the Final 15 when I get there, but for now I’m safe right? It’s not like there’s any immediate angst coming my way in the next episode, right?

Ah bollocks. Oh well, I guess I’ll see you on the other side of that one. As usual, comments, questions, discussion, all welcome!

[somewhere-in-wales]

This makes my heart happy

Starry night

[worrynoodle]

○°•Do not send to Neil Gaiman•°○

I personally think that Aziraphale's way of saying 'I love you' is by saying, 'I forgive you.'

Looking back at the bandstand scene we have Crowley saying:

Crowley: "Great, pustulent, mangled bollocks to the great blasted plan!"

Aziraphale: "May you be forgiven."

Crowley: "I won't be forgiven. Not ever. That's part of a demon's job description. Unforgivable, that's what I am."

And from that point on, Aziraphale doesn't say 'may you be forgiven,' or 'God forgive you,' he says, 'I forgive you.'

It's as if he's saying, 'You're forgivable to me. If God, heaven, hell, all the angels and demons don't forgive you, I do. You are forgivable to me.'

To me, it's like this:

Crowley: "I won't be [loved]. Not ever. That's part of a demon's job description. [Unloveable] that's what I am.

Aziraphale: I [love] you.

[mielpetite]

Hard Times

It’s March, time for my homage to episode 3. I know there was so much else to choose but what harder time than this was there in season 1? 😅 I really wanted to do a lot with this but life happened so I had to scale it back. But I still like it. Even though it hurts. 😢

#goodomens #goodomensfanart #ineffablehusband

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

the good omens mascot: you broke me

i watched ep 1 2 and 3 of S1 on stream with you guys and fuck me

okay so i know i said that i would sleep and then come on tumblr but i just have so many emotions so i decided to make a post then sleep my head hurts from three hours of having my eyes ROOTED to the screen it didnt feel like three hours my eyes hurt from tears my heart hurts from sadness it's nearly 2 am im delirious and my orange was gaseous (anyone on the stream will know)

im just so sad crowley the bandstand no crowley dont cry i swear he loves you i swear i see it in his eyes he literally stumbles every time you look at him which is always god you're both so in love this is sickening this is beautiful ow my head hurts i didnt even follow the plotline i could just feel emotions from the looks NO THE BANDSTAND NO AND THE CASE OF BOOKS STFU CROWLEY DONT DO THIS TO ME AZIRAPHALE STOP BEING SO SOFT MY HEAD HURTS

HORRIBLE PARENTING, GOOD OMENS FANDOM, YOU ADOPTED ME AND KILLED ME 24 HOURS LATER

I am going to go sleep and dream about crowley and aziraphale being heartbroken and then i will RUIN all of your lives on this hellsite tomorrow

i love you stupid fuckers im so emotional goodnight - asmi

[embracing-the-ineffable]

A helpful summary of the bandstand scene from s1e3! The underlying parallels with the last scene of s2e6 are really incredible... Between the bandstand scene and the s1e1 conversation about what to do about Gabriel/Jim, we should have totally seen the s2 ending coming 😭

Good Omens: Can we talk about the Bandstand Scene?

The Bandstand Scene is AMAZING for so many reasons - let me count the ways - walk with me step by step here (hold on to your heart)…

(Look, for a start, it’s in Ep 3 after that huge history binge showing their friendship throughout millennia, how can you not look nine fathoms deep into this emotional dumpster fire?)

Crowley is waiting for Aziraphale. (Isn’t he always?) Aziraphale looks over his shoulder as he arrives, nervous of Heaven’s censure. Crowley is open, Aziraphale dissembles to his best friend about one of the most important things in the universe - he’s not happy about doing so - but Crowley believes him immediately. Which says rather a lot about both of them.

Crowley then blasphemes against The Plan and Aziraphale is terrified by it. ‘May you be forgiven,’ he utters like a blessing. At the same time, Aziraphale doesn’t have the freedom to cuss out the Almighty’s plans but rather wishes he did.

‘I won’t be forgiven - not ever… Unforgivable. That’s what I am…’ Usually, it’s Aziraphale reminding Crowley he’s a demon. This is, I think, the one time it goes the other way around. And immediately, Aziraphale is thinking of the inherent goodness in Crowley (you were an angel once!), as if trying to negate an insult.

“If you kill him then the world gets a reprieve and heaven does not have blood on its hands…” Once again Crowley has more self-control than I do because in the face of that horrorshow of a sentence I’d want to stab something. (Probably me, but still.)

That discussion on killing - Aziraphale is so certain that it’s within Hell’s remit, where as Crowley has had all of history to see it’s mostly just Humanity’s remit apart from once or twice when God had a hand in it. (Which definitely included killing innocents. Holi-ly. No wonder he’s bitter.)

‘This is ridiculous - you are ridiculous…’ Crowley has finally had enough of Aziraphale following party dogma despite not believing in it. He loves Aziraphale, his best friend, but can’t stand his hypocrisy in the face of Armageddon  - they’re wasting time.

‘You can’t leave Crowley! …There isn’t anywhere to go…’ Foolish angel, still unable to admit his feelings. And straight after this with barely a beat, Crowley suggests running away together. ‘Together?’ asks Aziraphale with such longing and then immediately pushes that feeling away, trying to play the part of Heaven’s Good Little Soldier.

‘How long have we been friends - 6 thousand years!’ Crowley presses. (Meaning Crowley loved him from the start, idiot snek…)

‘We’re not friends … I don’t even like you!’ His face betrays him of course, as does his tone, still desperately quoting party propaganda.

Most friends would be furious, Crowley just rolls his eyes at the falsehoods. ‘You do!’ he admonishes sounding certain - although I wonder what that cost him?

Then a few moments later, ‘We’re on opposite sides!’

‘We’re on OUR side!’ And Crowley doesn’t hisss but he advances with all the threat of a snake looking to strike.

‘It’s over.’ Aziraphale looks sick and almost surprised at the words coming out of his mouth.

And Crowley is so damn still, bleeding from a soul-wound he can’t acknowledge. ‘Right,’ he says at last, like it’s nothing. He has his pride.

Aziraphale turns away trying not to cry because it shouldn’t hurt him to cast out Eden’s Serpent but it does, deeply.

Crowley has replaced his mask and adopted his swagger once more - ‘Have a nice doomsday,’ he says like most would say ‘fuck you’, but he can’t, even now he can’t hate his angel.

And Aziraphale watches him go, rooted to the spot by heaven’s hypocrisy and his own feelings…

[skelligiri]

Part of a video I'm working on. You guys seemed to enjoy the sketch version, I figured you may like where it's located!

[dalliancekay]

"There is no 'our side', Crowley!"

I was looking for this gif and every post I came across was some variation on how poorly was Crowley treated here. Poor boy. How utterly cruel of Aziraphale. How heartless. How he just dropped Crowley like a hot potato. Cos Heaven was coming. And Aziraphale decided that they were over. And he was going back to them. Or something. If you know any that look into how Aziraphale is feeling, please tag me. What do I think Aziraphale is feeling?

Well. Was he happy to have Armageddon coming? No. But he did think it was inevitable.* However. They tried to influence the Antichrist. But had the wrong boy. Then they tried to think of how to find the real one and in that short time - what? Kill him? Talk to him? They had no idea what the kid is like. What powers he has. None.

The Great Plan. It is coming to its fulfilment. It is written. The War is about to begin. Heaven and Hell. The big one. They both know this. And this is not something Aziraphale or Crowley can avoid. It's not something they can just stop believing in. They had their Arrangement, their side (sort of), and they managed not to get caught. But now? Now Aziraphale is right. There is no OUR SIDE. There never really was. There might have been a moment in their existence on Earth (about 12 hundred years?) when they could feel like/pretend they are having their own side. But now the full reality of their existence is back. There are Heaven and Hell and they are preparing for War. They have no interest in Earth. Aziraphale and Crowley are tiny pawns in a very big picture. They both belong to their respective sides. They always have. Even when they found ways to work together. (Mostly cos their sides are conceited idiots both.)

And so Aziraphale decided for one more desperate attempt to get God to see how the whole thing can be avoided. Does he think She might understand? We don't know. Does he look full of hope as he walks back to his shop? He doesn't. He gets broken up with again by Crowley who nonsensically (and yes, romantically, sure) wants to go to another star - to do what? Wait till the end of universe reaches them? (Why is everybody always defending Crowley? And act like he's being reasonable there?) And then Aziraphale gets punched in the stomach. By a fellow angel. And told by Metatron to not be a bloody fool and report for service as the good angel he surely is.

And he gets discorporated. Which looks like it really sucks.

And then he DESERTS the War AND Heaven (that he apparently still has faith in...) and goes on a limb to find the boy and just see if he can come up with something. Anything. Thinking Crowley is gone. Packed his stuff and left. Possibly with the friend he was talking to when he tried to call his flat earlier.

Because Aziraphale feels the War and ending of the world is such injustice. Written or not. Great Plan or not. Maybe he didn't think at first he could make any difference but Crowley showed him it's worth considering it. *Crowley is always showing Aziraphale that things can be questioned. It didn't take Aziraphale long at all to reconsider letting things just play out and instead fight to the last breath he doesn't need, for Earth instead. The conditioning he needs to fight isn't that Heaven is good and right. The conditioning he needs to fight is that things can't be changed. That it is all written out. That he is a nobody and can't influence anything. Aziraphale's biggest fight and learning curve is in having faith in himself. So. Much like he felt it was unfair to leave the first humans unprotected and how he felt killing Job's kids was cruel, he disobeys and does his own thing again. He learns he can. But all this comes at a cost. To himself (thinking he will Fall for these things) but also to his beloved - and THAT is much harder for him. He would never want to put Crowley in danger. And he does. Every time they meet. The guilt he must feel for this.

Aziraphale lives between two sides. And they are both awful. And he is often misunderstood for just acknowledging this as reality he and everything else exists in.

I think his view of his reality is pretty accurate. There is no our side. They wanted one. But they can't leave their sides. Even after S1 they couldn't. Not really. And they both knew it. And no, he is not in clutches of Heaven or sometimes reverts to their indoctrination or anything like that. He goes along with Heaven as far as he MUST. And his life alongside his demon, however tentative, was always precious to him. But.

Crowley who showed him how to keep questioning things, try to make them better, didn't see it his way and left.

Aziraphale has to do the best he can and just do something. Anything. He can not just do nothing. He can not try and run. Or hide. Or wait some more. Crowley showed him that things can be different and Aziraphale had to do all to try and make it better. And he will. And Crowley will help. He always does.

Is Aziraphale always right? No. Does he make mistakes? Yes. I am never saying Aziraphale is faultless - but I think many things he is blamed for are not right. And I also think Crowley is often seen as can do no wrong. Everything he says is right. 100% correct. The right things to do. He knows more. Understands more. If he disagrees with Aziraphale than it follows that Aziraphale is wrong. That's not true. They are both beautifully rounded, full, flawed characters I love. They complement each other in ways I bet I have not even noticed yet. And they are their own beings too. They don't only exist for one another.

[brainwormcity]

The way he tries to keep Aziraphale from breaking eye contact 😭😭😭

[aydracz]

Good Omens Scavenger Hunt in London

Something's up again! Shax visited the Bandstand today to deliver Crowley's mail.

But Crowley was nowhere to be found and so she left the mail behind one of the benches around the Bandstand - together with some amazing art from @drimmsydra and @fuzzywhispersbear !

To find all the treasures, look for an angel among the bench plaques.

Please reblog this post so that it reaches as many fans as possible ❤️

Love you all!

[actual-changeling]

look, you can argue that in season 1 they both had a plan, but let's be real here—they both SUCKED. then again, at least one would have worked and it's not aziraphale's.

crowley looked at that gigantic, inevitable mess and went "no child = no apocalypse, gotta kill him unfortunately". would have worked.

meanwhile aziraphale did the equivalent of staring at a burning building and then going "let me call my boss" instead of the fucking fire brigade.

they're both so smart but trauma makes you stupid sometimes.

[onceuponapuffin]

Never in my life did I think would have such a visceral reaction to bandstands.