#HE’S NOT INFAMOUS BECAUSE OF THE WAR HE’S INFAMOUS BECAUSE AZIRAPHALE IS IN LOVE

[nice-and-accurate-ramblings]

Thinkin about the church scene 1941, and the way Greta refers to Crowley as “the infamous Mister Crowley”. Thinking about how I always assumed that meant Crowley was out there doing some James Bond Shit™️ during WWII, and thinking about how in fact he was delivering alcohol to local theaters. Thinking that there’s no reason for him to be infamous to a bunch of half witted Nazi spies… unless Aziraphale wouldn’t shut up about him when “Rose Montgomery” recruited him

[indigovigilance]

Anthony, Anthony, Anthony

What does your Anthony mean, exactly?

I feel like your Anthony and my Anthony are different Anthonies…

In 1941 we learn that Crowley has named himself Anthony J. Crowley (Aziraphale doesn’t pronounce the H but closed captions write it and Neil Gaiman hashtags #Anthony and also it’s Anthony the script book so I guess Michael Sheen is just doing a thing idk). I haven’t seen extensive discussion of this topic but I’m going to jump in with both feet.

I propose that Anthony actually has a double meaning; that is, Crowley chose this name for one reason, but Aziraphale believes he chose it for another.

(I cite as indirect inspo a wonderful Tumblr meta about how the ineffable blockheads have completely different interpretations of Jane Austen and how this informs their S2 decision-making).

Read or bookmark for later on Ao3 because this got away from me and now it's a 2,888 word meta on people named Anthony what am I doing with my life

~~~

First and foremost, let it be stated that there is no canon for when Crowley anti-christened himself Anthony. Neil Gaiman himself won’t know until he writes it.

Secondly, let it be known that I am not an historian nor a literary scholar of any kind. So people who actually know these stories may find themselves cringing at my surface-level summaries and inaccurate interpretations: I’m just piecing together what I could find easily. I invite someone else to revise and republish if they can delve deeper on these topics. 

Part 1: Mark Antony

There is a bust of Marc Antony in Mr. Fell’s bookshop as of S1E1 modern day (2019) which is still there at the end of S2E6, where it features prominently in the center of a shot. In 2019, the bust is adorned with yellow ribbons; in 2023, it is naked. The flashback to 1941 doesn’t give a good view of the part of the shop where the bust would normally be located so I have no idea when the bust actually got added to Aziraphale’s collection. I’m going to assume, for argument’s sake, that Aziraphale acquired this bust after the Blitz. I’m going to further propose that he acquired this bust because he believes that Crowley named himself Anthony after Mark Antony.

Why would Aziraphale think that? Two reasons.

1) Mark Antony was the loser of a civil war for liberty

Mark Antony was a good and loyal Roman citizen, serving Caesar with distinction, even attaining the title of Master of the Horse (Caesar’s second-in-command). See additional metas on horse symbolism seen throughout S2. After the death of Caesar, however, Octavian and members of the senate turned on Antony, starting a civil war. You know, much like a certain someone we know that was involved in Dubious Battle on the Plains of Heaven.

Mark Antony was loyal to Caesar’s political mission, which was to establish a Roman republic, where the voices of the citizens would be heard through their representatives [a suggestion box, if you will]. But Antony’s defeat marked the end of the republic, ushering in an age of autocracy. Octavian, following his victory over Antony, crowned himself the first Emperor of Rome.

2) Mark Antony was a libertine, but also the loyal, ardent lover of Cleopatra

Mark Antony was an infamous, lascivious, debaucherous, womanizing lush. He was also Cleopatra’s lover and closest ally. Though Mark Antony could not often meet with Cleopatra, their affair was allegedly very romantic, and from afar Antony did everything in his power to support Cleopatra politically, expanding her territorial holdings even while they were apart for years. 

So legendary was Antony's wanton hedonism that when he went to Athens, he was deified as the New Dionysus, mystic god of wine, happiness, and immortality. Religious propaganda declared Cleopatra the New Isis or Aphrodite (mythic goddess of love and beauty) to his New Dionysus. The ineffable emperors, if you will. [source: Encyclopedia Britannica]

Parallels arising after 1941:

After Antony had officially divorced Octavian’s sister, Octavian formally broke off the ties of personal friendship with Antony and declared war, not against Antony but against Cleopatra. Much like how Shax, after her S2E1 “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” proposal, threatened Crowley that if he did not assist her search for Gabriel, Hell would declare war not on him but on Aziraphale.

The legacy of Mark Antony, therefore, is one of hedonism, romance, fighting for a cause that you believe in, and losing that fight. It’s easy to see how Aziraphale drew the conclusion that Anthony J. Crowley took his inspiration from this historical figure.

Part 2: Antony & Cleopatra

How is this a part 2? Weren’t we just talking about Mark Antony and his relationship with Cleopatra? Hear me out.

Crowley has never expressed much interest in politics. Every time something of political import happens, he declares that the humans made it up themselves while also taking credit for it with Hell. This includes 1793 Paris and the Spanish Inquisition. If I forgot any, drop them in the comments. 

But Crowley has a deep and pervasive interest in stories, especially romance stories. If he can keep the Bentley from turning it into Queen, he listens to the Velvet Underground. He watches Richard Curtis films (to the degree that he identifies them by director rather than by title). Though book canon is not show canon, it’s worth mentioning that his favorite serial is Golden Girls; while not a romance, it is certainly heartfelt storytelling at its finest and a homosexual staple.

We know, too, that Shakspeare stole a line from him, with an adjustment for pronouns:

"Age Does Not Wither, Nor Custom Stale His Infinite Variety”

Let’s first talk about Crowley’s context for the quote.

Picture it: the Globe Theater, 1601, the house is empty because it’s one of Shakespeare’s gloomy ones and an irritated young Burbage, in the role of Hamlet, is droning out his lines like he would rather be anywhere else.

Burbage: To be or not to be. That is the question.

Aziraphale: To be! I mean, not to be! Come on, Hamlet! Buck up!

Aziraphale looks at Crowley, grinning with delight. Crowley stares back at him, shaking his head slightly, but a smile tugs at the corner of his lip. He wants to be embarrassed, but cannot help being charmed.

Aziraphale: He’s very good, isn’t he?

Crowley: Age does not wither nor custom stale his infinite variety.

Crowley is looking up at the stage, and speaks immediately after Aziraphale has made a comment about Burbage. But is Crowley talking about Burbage? Does it stand to reason that age would not have withered, or custom not staled, this twenty year old (yet somehow jaded) stage actor?

I propose that this is a poetic inversion of the S2E1 cold open, wherein the Starmaker, looking out upon creation, says: “Look at you, you’re gorgeous!” and Aziraphale erroneously thinks the statement was directed at him. Here, even though Crowley isn’t looking at Aziraphale, I believe that Crowley is actually talking about Aziraphale when he delivers that iconic line. Unlike Burbage, Aziraphale is old, very, very old, and we know that he has a penchant for custom, wearing the same clothes and listening to the same music for century upon century. Yet here is this precious angel being a cheerful little peanut gallery of one, continuing to surprise the demon after all this time. Neither age nor custom has staled Aziraphale’s infinite variety.

When Shakespeare commits the line to a play written 1606-1607, a few years after this event, Crowley will recognize his own sentiment about Aziraphale issuing from Antony’s mouth about Cleopatra. The actual historical events will not have left much of an impression, but the immortalization of his own admiration of the angel in human romantic fiction will have.

It must be mentioned that Antony & Cleopatra is a tragedy, where the star-crossed lovers are kept apart by warring factions that demand loyalty to the state at the preclusion of each other.

There are also some (as far as I can tell) nearly copy-paste plot points from Romeo & Juliet about a misunderstood faked suicide followed by actual suicide and the lovers dying in each others’ arms. It does not have a happy ending. Anthony Crowley deliberately choosing his “Christian name” from this play embodies not only his deep love but his hopelessness that he can ever get the happily ever after he desires.

In Summary

Crowley was an admirer, in one respect or another, of Mark Anthony, though he relied more heavily on Shakespeare’s portrayal and reimagining of the character than Aziraphale gives due credit. Nevertheless, the difference…

Wait a minute…

What’s that?

Is that…

A piece of canon evidence that completely undermines my argument??

This screenshot will only be visible to Tumblr users (sorry Ao3), but at some point we get a good look at the Mona Lisa sketch that Crowley has hanging in his apartment. It is signed (translated from Italian) “To my friend Anthony from your friend Leo da V.”

The problem with this is, the Mona Lisa was painted 100 years before Shakespeare penned Antony & Cleopatra.

However, Neil Gaiman reblogged this transcription and translation, posing the hypothetical, “I wonder if Crowley knows what the A in A.Z. Fell stands for.”

Could it be that the Notorious NRG is jerking us around and sending us on wild goose chases? Absolutely a possibility. But. Let’s give a little grace for a moment, and assume that this comment was made in good faith. A bold assumption, I know. But humor me.

We know that Crowley and Aziraphale both knew Jane Austen, but from completely different perspectives. It stands to reason that Crowley knew da Vinci the scientist, but that Antonio Fell knew Leo da V., an artist with a heart that yearned for an unavailable lover. I’m just making wild conjecture that Lisa Gherardini (aka Mona Lisa), the wife of Florentine cloth merchant Francesco del Giocondo, was a love interest of da Vinci, but it could be true in the GO universe and would make for a great story.

Aziraphale also collects signed items from famous people; the inscribed books of Professor Hoffman to a wonderful student, and the S.W. Erdnase book, signed with his real name, come to mind. The Mona Lisa draft fits in much better with that collection of souvenirs than with anything in Crowley’s apartment. So it stands to reason that it could actually be addressed to Aziraphale.

There remains the question of how or why Crowley has it, but I won’t subject that to speculation here. All to say. Neil Gaiman’s implication-by-redirect is… possible. So let’s assume that it is the case, just for a moment.

If the Mona Lisa sketch is signed to “Antonio” Fell, then this allows the above theory regarding Crowley’s self-naming to remain intact. But it brings up a few questions regarding Aziraphale, not the least of which is: why did he name himself Antonio/Anthony?

Part 3: Saint Anthony of Padua

Anthony was the chosen name of a Portuguese monk, taken upon joining the Fransican order. Anthony rose to prominence in the 13th century as a celebrated orator, delivering impassioned and eloquent sermons. He is also associated with some fish symbolism, since he preached at the shore and fish gathered to listen. He was, incidentally, a lover of books:

Anthony had a book of psalms that contained notes and comments to help when teaching students and, in a time when a printing press was not yet invented, he greatly valued it.

When a novice decided to leave the hermitage, he stole Anthony's valuable book. When Anthony discovered it was missing, he prayed it would be found or returned to him. The thief did return the book and in an extra step returned to the Order as well.

The book is said to be preserved in the Franciscan friary in Bologna today. [source: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=24]

This miraculous incident, wherein the thief not only returns a valuable book but also has a change of heart and returns to the bosom of organized religion, smacks of angelic intervention. But that is neither here nor there. 

Saint Anthony is the Patron Saint of the Lost, and is prayed to by those seeking to recover lost things. What is “lost” in this context is usually an item, rather than a person or an intangible concept, however he is also “credited with many miracles involving lost people, lost things and even lost spiritual goods,” such as faith. [Edit: @tsilvy helpfully contributes that "Here in Italy Sant'Antonio is commonly not just the saint patron of lost things, but, maybe primarily, the saint patron of lost *causes*."] He died at the age of 35, and in artwork is typically depicted with a book and the Infant Child Jesus.

It’s a defensible position that the thing that gives Aziraphale the most consternation across the millennia is Crowley’s loss of his angelic status, and it could even be framed such that Aziraphale does not consider Crowley actually fallen, but rather simply lost. It is a fact that he finds difficult to reconcile and, depending on your reading of the Final Fifteen, the offer to restore Crowley’s angelic status is one that is so pivotal to resolving his internal conflict that he cannot refuse. If this conflict is so central for Aziraphale, perhaps he did name himself after a booklover and the patron saint of lost things, hoping that the name would carry with it some of the power of the blessing, and return Crowley to the light, and in turn, to him.

But wait.

Because I googled “St Anthony” to look for some images and….

St. Anthony of the Desert

I shit you not there are multiple St. Antonies and we’re going to talk about another one of them with respect to Aziraphale because this guy is bonkers. The story traces to the Vitae Patrum, yet another fringe biblical text and I cannot even get a quick answer on whether it is canon or apocrypha because it’s so fringe. Anyways. I think the best way to explain St. Anthony of the Desert comes from the wikipedia page on the Desert Fathers: 

Sometime around AD 270, Anthony heard a Sunday sermon stating that perfection could be achieved by selling all of one's possessions, giving the proceeds to the poor, and following Jesus. He followed the advice and made the further step of moving deep into the desert to seek complete solitude.

[He] became known as both the father and founder of desert monasticism. By the time Anthony had died in AD 356, thousands of monks and nuns had been drawn to living in the desert following Anthony's example, leading his biographer, Athanasius of Alexandria, to write that "the desert had become a city." The Desert Fathers had a major influence on the development of Christianity.

Let’s all agree that this guy is not Aziraphale; this whole becoming an ascetic and living alone in the middle of a desert thing? Not his cuppertea. But St. Anthony is interesting not just for his decision to go into the desert, but what happened when he got there.

The Torment of St Anthony is a 15th century painting commonly attributed to Michaelangelo. It depicts demons crawling all over and attacking a hermit.

But the first round of demons are scraping the bottom of the barrel, practically the damned. Anthony’s journey continues and he meets another demon. Actually he meets two; a centaur, who is not very helpful, and then a satyr who is. It is much easier to find paintings of St. Anthony and the Centaur than of St. Anthony and the Satyr, so you don’t get an image, but I find the satyr to be a much more interesting character, so you get that story instead:

Anthony found next the satyr, "a manikin with hooked snout, horned forehead, and extremities like goats's feet." This creature was peaceful and offered him fruits, and when Anthony asked who he was, the satyr replied, "I'm a mortal being and one of those inhabitants of the desert whom the Gentiles, deluded by various forms of error, worship under the names of Fauns, Satyrs, and Incubi. I am sent to represent my tribe. We pray you in our behalf to entreat the favor of your Lord and ours, who, we have learnt, came once to save the world, and 'whose sound has gone forth into all the earth.'" Upon hearing this, Anthony was overjoyed and rejoiced over the glory of Christ. He condemned the city of Alexandria for worshiping monsters instead of God while beasts like the satyr spoke about Christ.

St. Anthony, then, is entreated by a demon to ask forgiveness from God upon the demons, and St. Anthony, seemingly, agrees to do it. He’s overjoyed to ask God to forgive demons. In connection to my analysis of the origins of the Metatron, and how Aziraphale and Crowley’s potential beef with him is that, as a human put in the exact same situation, he did the opposite, refusing to take the demon’s petition for mercy to God but instead taking it upon himself to confirm their unforgivability (yes that’s a word now) and damnation.

That seems like it would be pretty important to Aziraphale.

In Summary

I give up. I have no idea what’s going on with this show anymore. Here are two options each for both of our ineffable husbands to have given themselves the same God-blessed/damned name. You guys tell me what you think, I just have a pile of evidence and no spoons to evaluate it. 

[aziraphales-library]

Hiya lovelies ♡ One of my favorite GO trope is when Crowley and Aziraphale choosing their own side makes other angels and demons reconsider, awakens them to their own free will. I love to believe that what they did with the botched apocalypse had freeing repercussions on heaven and hell. Whether it's just a few questionning angels or demons or a whole revolution.. would you know of any fics with that kind of trope? Thank you so much for satisfying my longing for the awakening of the world ♡

Hello! We have some fics exactly like this here. And I’ve got some now where more angels and demons come to Earth and begin to question Heaven and Hell...

A terrible Demon by CarpeDiem (G)

Aziraphale is meeting with an old friend, the archangel Remiel. They do that every couple of centuries and Aziraphale usually takes her out for dinner. This time Aziraphale slips up and mentions spending time with Crowley lately. To show Remiel that Crowley is in fact a terrible demon and no threat at all, he invites Crowley over. Remiel however remembers Crowley under a very different name...

Here’s Trouble, Make It Double by crepesandoysters (G)

The demon had an amused smile stamped on their face. “So, you propose that we let the two biggest traitors of Heaven and Hell craft the reports about themselves?”

Crowley grinned. “S’really more of a helpful revision.”

--

Among the Top 10 Quickest Ways to Derail an Entire Afternoon:

First, find yourself an angel from Heaven spying on you while lurking in your shop. Second, find a demon from Hell doing the exact same thing but more smugly. Third, mutual convenience is key.

In which Aziraphale and Crowley end up following this list to the letter.

When We Find There's Life on Earth After All by jane_with_a_j (T)

An angel awakens in Heaven from a six thousand year coma, the result of a head injury taken in the First War.

He's missed everything. The entire history of the Earth. Well, except for one thing. He hasn't missed the apocalypse, because the apocalypse, for some reason, didn't happen, and no one seems to know why - or if they do know, they won't say.

He has questions. And if the rumours are true, there's one angel who might have answers: the Principality Aziraphale.

Aziraphale isn't at all what he expected.

And nothing, as it turns out, is quite what it seems.

The Right Thing by olly_octopus (NR)

Crowley’s been kind of minding his own business since that whole nasty affair with heaven and hell trying to execute him and his angel. (It’s probably for the best.) That is, until the Archangel Michael arrives on his doorstep with trembling hands and an apology on her lips and yes, alright, you can have the spare bedroom until your head’s in the right place.

One by one, all four angels find their way into Crowley’s flat and then, one by one, fall in love with humanity the same way Aziraphale and Crowley did 6000 years ago.

(A tale of love, forgiveness, London Pride and the choices one makes. Also, a tale about how the Archangels Michael and Gabriel accidentally became the patron saints of gay culture overnight. Whoops?)

Out Of Hell by corgifeathers (T)

Beelzebub is exiled and cast out of Hell for failure to start the Apocalypse, but that may just be the least of their problems.

Shifting Heaven and Earth by BuggreAlleThis (T)

For most of history, since he narrowly avoiding Falling from Heaven with Lucifer, Crowley has been working for the Angelic Corruption Unit. This ended up being far more boring than he hoped it would be, but things change when he is assigned to go undercover on Earth. His mission is to investigate Aziraphale, an infamous angel who has been on Earth since its Creation, and whom Heaven is sure is guilty of corruption or dereliction of duty. He soon discovers that life on Earth is far more complicated than he'd been led to imagine, especially when Aziraphale's demonic counterpart, Hastur, arrives on the scene.

- Mod D

[littlehollyleaf]

Right

IF I'm going to maybe headcanon the 'Crowley was Lucifer' theory, this really is my sticking point

It's a drunken monologue, he has no reason to lie - so I would read this as Crowley genuinely recounting events, as he remembers them at least

IF we assume something akin to Gabriel removing part himself into the fly happened when Crowley fell (was cast out), then it's possible we could handwave any contradictory elements in this speech as the result of memory loss...

...but idk, for me personally that feels a bit weak

BUT it might not be necessary

The most obvious reading, esp in the longer scripted version, certainly seems to be that Crowley came upon 'Lucifer and the guys' and went with them to voice complaints to upper management etc, resulting in Crowley being cast down alongside them

Buuuut... it's POSSIBLE, isn't it, to interpret Crowley as describing an outside perspective of how HIMSELF and 'the guys' came to be regarded?

As in - he was minding his own business, chatting with some other angels, then, oh hey, when that moment is recounted later in history, it's 'Lucifer and the guys'

And it's 'the guys' who say to Crowley (as Lucifer) that they should take their grievances to upper management, and so along Crowley/Lucifer goes...

So, you know, maaaaybe it fits??

And if I MUST surrender the 'Crowley and Aziraphale are just a pair of nobody angels who fucked up the system' then... Crowley as Lucifer (with S01 Satan being some version of Samael) really does tickle me best

Though it would be ABSOLUTELY KEY that Aziraphale have NO FUCKING CLUE - during either of their meetcutes in Heaven or the Garden

Cos you'd have Lucifer, right? Light-bringer. Traditionally Heaven's brightest, most beautiful, beloved by God. Who then became the Most Infamous. The angel considered (or scapegoated as?) responsible for the war in Heaven and the creation of Hell and demons. Any which way - THEE biggest celebrity of all the Heavenly Host.

Then you'd have Aziraphale, right? Who genuinely IS a nobody angel. Just a cog in the machine. Unknown by most.

And when Aziraphale meets Crowley he just... doesn't recognise him

To Aziraphale, Crowley is simply another angel, and then a demon

And... I actually love that idea

Crowley as Lucifer - this ROCK STAR angel/demon who all of Heaven knows and has Opinions on and who has likely had others continually react to him with either grovelling reverance, fear, self-righteous antagonism or all of the above - confronted with random, insignificant Aziraphale who is just 'oh hello, and you are...?'

Adorable!

I mean - the novelty, and then the FREEDOM, you know? Crowley able to exist without being weighed down by his reputation, able to just be HIMSELF for perhaps the first time, because Aziraphale doesn't see Lucifer the celebrity, he just sees Crowley

It would add something extra to Crowley's resistance to Aziraphale's attempts to remind him of, and have him reinstated as, the angel he was as well - because why WOULD he want to go back to being freaking LUCIFER, rite?

...yes, yup...if we can retcon this drunken bit to fit I can work with this idea for sure...

(it's also giving me Black Sails 'Stede not knowing Edward is Blackbeard' vibes, which is fun)

[but-the-library-of-alexandria]

I have some thoughts about Good Omens, Crowley and Aziraphale and Change. Maybe all this is obvious but indulge me anyway. 

One of the many ways that C&A are visually presented as opposites - one of the subtler ones, I think - is that Crowley’s appearance changes frequently. Crowley’s aesthetic and his everyday lifestyle is in many ways defined by his changeability. He has a few favourite pieces, but he seems to wake up each morning and find something new and on-trend to wear. He has a new haircut every few years and a few times he(?) changes his gender presentation for a while, too. Sure, he has an old-fashioned answerphone and a vintage car, but those things are pretty on-trend right now, and he also has a smartphone, a fancy TV and a chic, relatively modern home. His modernity, in every era, relies on making frequent changes to everything he owns, and himself. 

Hell, one of the first things we see Crowley do is change: 

The next we hear of him, he’s changed his name. He’s changed it again when we see him in the forties, and both times there’s a whole little dialogue around it, just to make it more conspicuous. 

And Aziraphale? Well, he literally wears the same jacket for over a hundred years. He’s had the same haircut for all of time. Aziraphale’s aesthetic - both in terms of his own clothes and in his home/bookshop/favourite places - is defined by the old-fashioned and preserved. His whole earthly life has been built around preserving antiques - the bookshop, that jacket again:

Aziraphale also never seems to change his name. He presumably has a human alias, but it’s only used once (the Nazis call him ‘Mr. Fell’) and his false forenames are never revealed, except that the initials are A.Z (according to the sign over his bookshop). He generally seems to go by Aziraphale or nothing at all; he doesn’t seem to have given a name at all to Shadwell, while Crowley invented yet another alias to deal with him. 

Doesn’t this reflect their different attitudes to bigger things as well? 

Crowley is all for carving out a new path pretty much the moment the apocalypse shows it’s face on earth, while Aziraphale, the dude who said ‘you go too fast for me’ after 6000 years, waits until the very last minute to give up on going the approved, official route. 

It’s change Crowley threatens Aziraphale with to scare him into helping stop the apocalypse - the loss of his routine, the things he loves, his old things, old books and old clothes. The end of the world would promise an enormous change, even if ‘good’ were to win the war and create some kind of paradise. 

Of course, they’re both in this because they like their familiar lives on earth and don’t want to lose that, but it seems to be lack of change Crowley fears: 

Perhaps progress, new experiences, and constant stimulation are what Crowley likes best about being on earth, as opposed to the timeless stagnation of either heaven or hell. Aziraphale, meanwhile, likes to live in a bit of a cocoon, at least in the modern day: he’s not keeping up with the latest music or technology, just basking in the things humans have already created. 

This isn’t to say that Aziraphale doesn’t change at all. In fact, he adapts his look to the current fashions for thousands of years in episode three: a new, usually quite showy, outfit for almost every era of history.

The moment he startings settling into his Forever Look is sometime during The Breakup - here he is on that day, wearing his soon-to-be signature jacket:

and again, in the forties, in almost the same outfit:

and sporting the same Look for this infamous moment:

And he sticks with it into the modern day. 

He stops changing around the time he starts to get scared about how things are going. Earlier in time - pre-Arrangement and into the earlier stages of the Arrangement era - he seems happy enough to move with the times, fashion-wise and in terms of culture. It’s only when shit starts getting real with this whole thing he has going with Crowley - when Crowley starts asking for holy water and breaking into churches, and making it clear that what they’re doing is dangerous but that he doesn’t plan to let that stop him - that Aziraphale starts looking for more stability and clinging to ‘the old days’. 

That iconic line fits this whole Change theme perfectly: at some point in time,  Aziraphale was happy to be swept along, but when he’s hit with the very real possibility of his and Crowley’s destruction, all of a sudden it’s all about keeping things how they are, or even how they were, in defiance of a future where things look to be getting more and more dangerous for them. Perhaps the sweet spot was right there in the Victorian era, after their formative lunch date in Paris but just before the holy water debacle that made Aziraphale back-pedal - so he wears the jacket that belonged to that ideal time forever. 

Crowley has the opposite approach to being faced with possible destruction: change more! Explore new avenues of self-defence, new ways of living and of being! Get hold of holy water, stop the apocalypse, form a whole new ‘side’ distinct from either heaven or hell! But Aziraphale conspicuously struggles to accept Crowley’s changes, struggling with his new names, getting confused by his new-fashioned music and slang, and of course, his proposed changes to their relationship over the course of the years.

And I think it’s this dichotomy, more than the good/evil, angel/demon one, that causes most of the tension in their relationship. I’m gonna promote this post again for Good Shit relating to this: basically the idea that crowley’s reaction to danger is to commit to your stance and prepare some ways to survive the inevitable consequences, whereas Aziraphale’s reaction is to put the brakes on whatever you’re doing wrong and try not to get into any more trouble. 

Aziraphale’s instinct to hold back, to look back to a time before the trouble started - his instinct to stop things from getting worse, and to keep everything that’s working well, everything he’s comfortable with, exactly as it is, clashes with Crowley’s instinct to keep adapting and moving forward to stay ahead of the game. And isn’t that the real difference between angels and demons: fidelity to the status quo vs. questioning and pushing boundaries?

And I just love that you can see all this in their clothes.   

[legobiwan]

What do you think Crowley, Loki and Obi Wan would do in each other's places?

WOAH, INTERESTING ASK, ANON

I kept coming back to this one and then closing it because it is one hell of a question, and I really needed to ponder all the possibilities here. (Well done, btw!)

Okay everyone, bear with me here, this is going to get WEIRD and I really have no idea what I’m talking about, hahahahaha. 

Obi-wan Switch

Loki: Okay, so let’s assume Loki is dropped into Obi-wan’s boots. We know Loki feels that he is underappreciated and overshone by his brother, that he has issues stemming from how he perceived his treatment by his father. I don’t see this improving under the tutelage of Qui-gon Jinn. In fact, whatever insecurities Obi-wan had would be intensified ten-fold with a Loki in place, who might have had more time to stew in his emotions than Obi-wan. Loki - who I love dearly - would probably be a far better candidate for the Dark Side under Palpatine, who I could see being a mirror for Thanos post-Thor 1 fall into the abyss. The question would be - would Loki crawl his way out?

Crowley: Now, if Crowley was dropped into Obi-wan’s boots. I think he’d just head for the hills. Crowley was barely skirting by in his work with Hell, and he’s not about to take the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders by trying to influence cosmic events. Except…Anakin is the Chosen and Warlock was kinda of the chosen one, in a way (or so they thought). So I’d imagine Crowley would either peace out to the nearest spice den and get involved in some shady deals with Hondo Ohnaka until he was able to get back to his own reality or he would very, very begrudgingly look after (not train, but check in on, in a more insistent manner) Anakin. But he no quests for good or light or whatever other nonsense. Ultimately, I could see him becoming a bounty hunter-type, helping out when needed but not getting involved.

Crowley Switch

Obi-wan: 

Hastur: *holds out basket* “Here, deliver the Antichrist.” 

Obi-wan: *not knowing anything about Western religion but having a bad feeling about this anyway* No. 

Yeah, I mean…Obes is not delivering the kid. I don’t even think that Obi-wan would have necessarily left Anakin on Tatooine had events gone a little differently in TPM. (I also don’t think Obi-wan would have brought him to the Temple to be trained, but that’s another story for another day.) Now, let’s just say for Narrative Convenience that Obi-wan makes his way to the infamous Soho bookstore with the child in tow. First of all, the accents of these two alone. Hahahahaa! Secondly, I just think everything would get derailed as Aziraphale and Obi-wan talk metaphysics for hours on end and reconciling Heaven/Hell with the Light/Dark. Perhaps Obi-wan gets some insight as to the bureaucratic nature of the Jedi he grew up with and Aziraphale is bolstered by some wise Obi-wan aphorisms. I think…this might be the healthiest environment for Obi-wan, as he can decidedly say “no” to Hell without feeling bad and help out Aziraphale while reading a bunch of books and drinking tea/wine. Obi-wan totally gets his nap in this situation and it is well-deserved.

Loki: Loki would *love* pulling stunts for Hell. I mean, this is his wheelhouse, this kind of semi-petty mischief, and for once he gets rewarded for being who he is instead of being ostracized at the Asgardian court. I could see Loki being pretty close to Crowley in action, but with fewer fucks left to give, and so when it comes to Armageddon, he’d just be like…”nah, nevermind.” Given their natures, I could see Loki being a gigantic pain in the ass to Aziraphale but them becoming friends just due to their mirrored natures and Aziraphale’s book collection, which Lokes really wants a go at. Plus, I imagine Loki would love traversing Midgard and, pulling stunts, and getting to live a semi-free life. Again, this is another best-case scenario for Loki, as it’s essentially an extended vacation. (And can you imagine - Loki, to the four horsepeople, Beezlebub, and Gabriel: “You think you fools know Armageddon, let me introduce you to my children, Fenrir and Jörmungandr. Now get out of here, I have to go mess with the stock market before my reservations.”)

Loki Switch

So I think the Loki switch is interesting because we can see in Crowley and Obi-wan two divergent paths of how things may have been able to go a little differently for Lokes.

Obi-wan: So Obi-wan has some experience being overlooked and I think he’d get really annoyed by Thor and his short-sighted family, even more so after finding out about any secret heritage issues. But! (And as much as I adore dark!Obi-wan), I think an Obi-wan in this situation would negotiate, hard, and even travel down to Earth to help out exiled Thor. In short, he would have been a decent ruler, shown his mettle, and maybe even brokered a legitimate peace with the Frost Giants. It would like…the best possible AU of Loki in Thor 1 (at least, for Loki’s mental health) where everyone just finally gets their shit together and team up to defeat Thanos. 

Crowley: In contrast, I think this situation would be out the worst tendencies in Crowley. He’s already insecure, wants to get into a fistfight with God, and without the stabilizing influence of Aziraphale and his trickster nature being looked down upon in Asgardian society - I think that’s when we’d get dark!Crowley, who just wants to burn shit to the ground, leave Thor to suffer on Earth, and bring the legions of the damned to Asgard and let them feast on the souls of those hypocritical warriors. It would be…the worst possible AU of Loki, in which Loki just lost all of his already tenuous moral compass in Thor 1. Crowley wouldn’t even need Thanos to screw up his mind, he’d be there already and what were once pranks would turn pretty damn malicious-to-murdery. Hell gets overcrowded in this one, for certain. 

What I think it fascinating about going through this exercise is the temperature of the different worlds. The Good Omens universe, by far, holds the most positive outcomes because it is the most upbeat world - I mean, both the TV show and book argue for optimism, which is why I think we get Obi-wan and  Loki in their better forms here. In the Asgard world, we kind of see both - the negative aspects and the redemptive ones and Marvel does tend to balance both, with the light ultimately winning out. Star Wars, however, is by far the most tragic universe, which is hilarious considering that it’s…you know, Star Wars! Luke Skywalker! Obi-wan Kenobi! Our heroes! Mixed with dirty politics, genocide, fascism, broken family bonds, slavery, torture, genetic manipulation, betrayal, etc. I think it’s why I’m so drawn to the Star Wars universe, as it’s so layered and so god damned Shakespearean and no one gets out unscathed. And so we’d see Loki devolve to his worst and Crowley, not devolve but just become totally amoral, a kind of extreme extension of his avoidance of Hell in GO. 

Anyway, this is totally off the top of my head, but thank you for the thought exercise, anon!

[ariaste]

Hi! I really enjoyed your Hallelujah fanvid and your essay on the making thereof. I was wondering, do you have thoughts on what scenes you would have paired with the “I tried my best it wasn’t much” verse had it been in the Pentatonix cover?

Oooooooooooooooohhhhhh what a good question. That is my FAVORITE VERSE of Hallelujah, and it is the one that never gets sung and I’m Mad about it.

This might get long so I’ll (attempt) to put it under a cut. Tumblr might fuck me over on this, though, and if it does I apologize. 

(if anyone hasn’t seen my Good Omens vid for Hallelujah yet, here’s a link)(and if you haven’t read the behind-the-scenes essay I wrote about making that vid, that’s right here)

I tried my best, it wasn't muchI couldn't feel, so I tried to touchI've told the truth, I didn't come to fool youAnd even though it all went wrongI'll stand before the lord of songWith nothing on my tongue but hallelujah

Oh god, this verse. You know how we all have one particular verse of Hallelujah that stabs us right in the tenderest part of our hearts? This one is the one that gets me. Sometimes you try SO FUCKING HARD, and no matter what you do, you fail. In relationships, especially, this happens a lot--you can’t make decisions for another person, and you can’t control them. Sometimes the choices they make take them away from you. Sometimes, no matter how much you love them, you have to let them walk away.

I tried my best, it wasn’t much -- This smacks of an Aziraphale line to me. I think that pairing it with the scene in the bookshop when he’s trying to talk to God/Metatron would draw a really poignant parallel, especially that moment where Metatron tells him that the war is still going to happen and you see the moment where Aziraphale’s heart breaks a little and you can see it in his eyes. The moment where he realizes it’s all pointless and that he’s the only person in Heaven who cares about SAVING anyone. He’s tried SO HARD and remained SO FIRM IN HIS CONVICTIONS, and fuck everyone who tried to talk him out of it -- both Crowley AND the angels! And yet, even though he has this moral core that believes in the inherent goodness of the universe, believes that heaven itself is The Good Guys..... they’re not. It doesn’t matter what he believed. They’re making their own choices. There’s nothing he can do.

I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch -- Oh god, and this is such a Crowley line, isn’t it? Hmmm. This is a really tricky one, though. Crowley has several moments here that could work, and that would sort of parallel Aziraphale’s moment from the previous line. Possibly the one where he’s looking at pages of the astronomy book, choosing somewhere to run off to? Possibly two moments from the scene in Rome, one where he is looking despondent and then the moment when he turns to Aziraphale and begins to smile a bit? Possibly the scene in the Bentley when he’s driving away from the burning bookshop and he doesn’t have his glasses and we see him looking utterly fucking wrecked? Possibly the scene in Eden when he turns to smile at Aziraphale (I’d have to find a different smile to use in the Infamous Two Seconds Of Smashcuts At 4:05, but that’s not a big problem). It’s such a nuanced line, I’d have to try several different options in context and SEE them play out in front of my eyes before I could pick which would be most effective. Definitely it’d be a Crowley line, though, that’s for sure.

I told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you -- I’d have to rearrange one of the other verses in the song, because I’d want to use one of the two times Crowley asks Aziraphale to run away to Alpha Centauri with him (at the bandstand “even if this all ends up in a puddle of burning goo, we can go off together”, or outside the bookshop “i’m apologizing, work with me here, yes? good? get in the car.” -- i’m leaning towards the latter). Crowley is being more radically honest in those moments than EVER BEFORE, he’s revealing his entire heart and laying all his cards on the table.

And even though it all went wrong -- hmmm, possibly Mesopotamia (”you can’t kill kids”)? Possibly Golgotha (”I showed him all the kingdoms of the world”)? Possibly another shot from the “You go too fast for me, Crowley” scene with Aziraphale looking yearning and tortured?

I’ll stand before the lord of song with nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah -- on the assumption that Pentatonix would have kept the big shift to celestial euphoria for the chorus following the FINAL, CLIMACTIC verse (ie: this one, rather than the “Maybe there’s a god above” verse),  I would have been able to use the “We can’t give up now”/”We’re fucked” pairing (at the airbase) HERE, and I would have had to put something else in its place in the previous verse. The other thing I can see myself doing is possibly using the switching-bodies shot here? Hard to say. I would have spent at least two hours agonizing over it and switching things around and trying lots and lots of different options to see what fit best. The thing about making vids is that sometimes you stumble on parallels between the scene and the lyric accidentally? Sometimes you have a whimsical idea and you just try it out, fitting the scene to the line, and it’s not until you *SEE IT* that you realize what the lyric and the scene imply about each other. It reveals a whole new layer of meaning that you didn’t glimpse before BUT THEN WHEN IT’S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU it seems super obvious. I have a feeling that that’s what I would have had to do with this line. I’d want to preserve the following set of Hallelujahs as a review of moments of their friendship and Crowley looking at Aziraphale before the big throwing-arms-in-the-air-stopping-time thing BOOM KEYCHANGE INTO SOME FUCKIN CELESTIAL HARMONIES, though, so whatever I picked would have to kind of naturally lead into that.

THERE U GO. :D Sorry it’s a bit more sketch-like and speculative than my actual essay was, but as I said before, sometimes you gotta try something and see how it works in practice before you can be sure. :)

[ineffablydelighted]

Hello @acheemient, you've awakened a monster so that is on you and on you only.

[People who are used to hate me will now hate you just the same. We're on the same boat now. I'm the companion you haven't chosen.]

I just want the infamous Kate Sharma/Anthony Bridgerton tense scene [The S02 E04 one] but applied to Aziraphale and Crowley, like:

Imagine. Season 3.

Aziraphale has tried his best to become a ruthless Supreme Archangel (being heartbroken helping immensely) and has become so much so that even the Archangel Michael avoids getting in his way.

Aziraphale has convinced himself Crowley only wanted him to be the Demon who tempts away an Angel and that he never really cared for him.

He eventually returns to Earth to personally kickstart Second Coming and runs into Crowley in his old Bookshop he thought was abandoned.

He acts all cold and impossible to reach but Crowley tries to break his "armor" again.

[Okay, you inspired me so much I just HAD to write the whole thing. YOUR. FAULT. ENTIRELY.]

Aziraphale: *enters his Bookshop* *turns on only one led candelabrum**is surprised the place is not dusty*

Crowley: *arrives in a rush, ready to fight some mafia**freezes**acts cold* It's... you. What are you doing here, if I may ask, Supreme Archangel? *says his new title super sarcastically*

Aziraphale: *acts even colder* Why are you so surprised I'm here? This is my shop, after all.

Crowley: *paces intensely* When will you return back Up?

[They exchange a first angry/confused gaze.]

Crowley: Are you here for the Second Coming? Are you here to destroy the only place we've ever loved, Angel?

Aziraphale: Yes, that is exactly why I'm here and you do not get to call me that anymore.

Crowley: *angrily mumbles* I call you the Hell that I want. *confused* And you're now sure this is part of the Ineffable Plan? That this is approved? The world crashes down, and... the War starts?

Aziraphale: Why would that concern you? You always dwelled on going to Alpha Centauri anyway.

Crowley: Forget me for a second. How have they brainwashed you so much up there? Is this what you want? *insists louder**approaches* Is THIS what YOU want, Angel?

Aziraphale: *brief movement of recoil*

Crowley: *approaches anyway* Or is it about me? Are you mad at me?

Aziraphale: *angry but his voice starts to tremble* Not everything is about you, Crowley!

Crowley: Tell me what happened, then! What did they do to you? What did I do for a whole planet to be destroyed as punishment?

Aziraphale: *muster all the coldness he can* Because... *eventually snaps* You kissed me! A demon! You kissed me, tempting me away from my real mission! If you would ever have accepted me for who I was, you would never have done that, you would just have let me leave!

Crowley: *snaps as well* You do realize I could say the same about you, right?!

Aziraphale: What? What did I ever do to you?!

Crowley: You... *approaches a bit more* You tried to make me an Angel again! Without my consent. Without ever realizing that is the last thing I would ever want for myself... And somehow, you hate ME for it. *ends with gritted teeth*

Aziraphale: *feels guilty in a closeted drawer of his mind**Still proceeds to answer angrily* You know what? I do. I hate you. You're a Demon, Crowley, we're on opposite sides, how many times will I have to tell you that before you finally grasp it?

[And then, the atmosphere suddenly shifts as Crowley makes two more steps with a new expression on his face.]

[Also, let's keep the Moulin Rouge-sounding violins in the back, I love them.]

Crowley: You're right, Angel. I am a Demon. *makes another two steps*

Aziraphale: *tries to stay cold* And we are... on opposite sides.

Crowley: And we are *only staring at Aziraphale's lips now* *whispers* on opposite sides...

[Silence. Crowley approaches further.]

Aziraphale: *struggles to breathe* D-don't... consider... doing that... again...

Crowley: *seductive/angsty voice* Say you do not care for me anymore.

Aziraphale: *closes his eyes in almost total reddition**Still tries to fight it anyway**heart racing*

[Both are temple to temple now, almost lips to lips as well]

Crowley: *calculately whispers right between Aziraphale's ear and neck so he can feel his breath* Tell me you feel nothing and I will walk away.

Aziraphale: I... I feel... *tries to evacuate but brings himself back to him**cannot say it*

Crowley: Yeah... *closing the last distance between them**victorious smile* That's what I thought, Supreme Archangel. *takes Aziraphale by the back of his neck and kisses him*

Aziraphale: *resists for less than a tenth of a second**gives in passionately*

Kisses I want between Crowley and? Aziraphale in Season 3:

1. When they see each other again for the first time since the end of Season 2, Aziraphale just plants one on Crowley, Doctor Who/Rose Tyler style:

2. Mid-battle, Aziraphale and Crowley fighting back to back and we get one like this:

3. After kissing, Crowley throws out a cheeky, "Wait a minute. Angels don't kiss like that." And Aziraphale responds with, "Oh, yes, they fucking do."

I will take any or all of the above, please and thank you.

[mysteriouslysexyphilosopher]

Where’s my Good Omens Star Wars AU?

Consider:

-Jedi Aziraphale: constantly struggling to abandon his need to possess material goods and not let his emotions cloud his judgment, but loves to work towards helping/protecting the galaxy. A Jedi that always tries to peacefully reason a solution before resorting to fighting

-Sith Crowley: kicked out of the Jedi order due to his inability to listen to orders and follow Jedi code, but really this was inevitable because Crowley sees what no one else wants to acknowledge - the corruption of the Republic and the Jedi’s subsequent involvement in maintaining the broken system

- a prophecy about a powerful boy who will bring balance to the Force. The only problem is this boy has been misidentified. Crowley goes undercover as a Jedi and he and Aziraphale simultaneously tutor the young Padawan believed to be the chosen one respectively in the way of the Dark and the Light. Meanwhile the REAL chosen one is Adam, who leads a band of smugglers known as the Them and is completely unaware of his real powers. Crowley and Aziraphale realize the chosen one has been misidentified and against orders, pursue a search to find the real chosen one and teach him the ways of the Force...

But alternatively:

-Sith Aziraphale: abandoned the Light to seek out his hedonistic urges but can’t bring himself to fully commit to the hate required to excel as a Sith

-Jedi Crowley: working so hard to gain the approval of his Master and the Jedi Council but *just can’t seem to meet their expectations*. Wants to do good but finds himself dissatisfied with the Jedi ways and their strict rules

But if neither of these catches your fancy might you consider instead:

-Galactic diplomat Aziraphale: leading a secret rebellion against the evil Empire that rules the galaxy with an iron fist. He has obtained the plans to the Empire’s latest weapon and knows how to destroy. All he needs is some help.

-Infamous smuggler Anthony J. Crowley: he’s faced the worst bounty-hunters the galaxy has to offer and he’s lived a life roaming space and wrecking havoc. His ship is his greatest love. But he discovers something he’s never had before when he’s recruited into the rebellion: a cause worth fighting for

Tell me what y'all think, any additions?

[the-prince-of-pigs]

Horror fans and Good Omens fans hear me out

Cigarette Burns AU (below the cut tl;dr long post)

Crowley is a rare antiques finder (human) tasked with finding an incredibly rare film, that of course being the infamous La Fin Absolue du Monde. Crowley needs the money to get his theatre up again and to pay off some rather nasty folk he invested with (namely Hastur and Ligor). He hears about the deal from an aged (also human) Gabriel, whose greed has driven him to be obsessed with the film, said to have only been shown once and ended up causing a riot. Crowley debates, because he has standards and Gabriel is a sleaze, but then Gabriel shows Crowley his prized possession, a set of unnervingly realistic angel wings said to be a prop from La Fin, and the being that went with them. And Crowley can’t help but gasp and feel rage, rage towards Gabriel, and a desperate need to help. Help the poor, shivering creature (man?) on the pedestal, shackled by the wrists and spared nothing but a wrap for clothing, a crude mockery of a robe. A being that seems to glow without a light source, whose pale blue eyes plead with Crowley, whose pale blond curls seem withered with mistreatment and abuse. Gabriel prattles on about how much the film means to him, how much he’ll pay Crowley, how proud he’d be to own the final piece of his collection. Crowley cuts him off. He’ll take the job, he says. He tells Gabriel that he wants double the pay. Gabriel agrees without hesitation, and the deal is sealed. Crowley goes on a quest for the rarest film ever created, with no other thought in his mind anymore but to use the opportunity to save the suffering being. He tracks a journalist to his reclusive home, a journalist who, since viewing the film, has found himself under a curse to destroy any mechanical device he touches. Crowley discovers a long list of everyone ever involved with the movie, all dead. Everyone seems terrified of this film, and nobody will talk to him about it or help him find it. Everyone who has ever searched for the film, they tell Crowley, has gone insane. From country to country he looks for clues, haunted by images of the pale man with beautiful eyes, and sometimes he swears he can hear the being screaming at him, screaming for help, pleading with Crowley to stop before he dies, crying out for the safety of humanity that follows the film staying forgotten. His cries only spur Crowley onward. He no longer cares what happens to him; he only wants to free the divine being from the cruel collector. He gets closer when he’s attacked by a group in France, who reveal themselves as fans of La Fin Absolue du Monde, who idolize the director and wish to create a film of their own. They show him printed shots of the movie, and Crowley suddenly understands the violence the film caused. An angel, held captive, mutilated and tortured on camera. Such a divine and pure being put through pain and torment and filmed raw and uncut, it would cause any mortal to go ravenous and scream for murder. Barely escaping with his life intact (the film fans attempted to murder him for their own snuff film, but somehow Crowley got away... could it have anything to do with the being—the angel—‘s image appearing to him the moment the blade swung at him? Was he being helped?), Crowley finally tracks the whereabouts of the film to its current owner, Anathema Device, the daughter of the long-dead director. She keeps the film from harming her with spells and hexes, and pleads with Crowley not to take the film. Not to show it. Never to watch it. She tells him, that once people start seeing the angel’s image and hearing his voice, their death draws near. That the producers were death, famine, pollution, and war. They caused what they created and allowed the mutilation of the innocent divine to happen on the mortal realm. No! Crowley argues. He’s not like the others! He doesn’t care about the film, doesn’t want to harness its power or whatever. He only wants to help the man, to free him! Anathema looks doubtful, but once she hears of Crowley’s escapades, and how the tortured creature seemed to be helping him instead of harming him... perhaps Crowley’s motivations are pure enough? Perhaps he’s truly not like the other seekers, greedy and hungry and corrupt and bloodthirsty. Perhaps if he took the film, he could truly end the curse attached to this film. Cautiously, she hands him the film reels, and asks him to promise that he’ll end the suffering. Crowley says he’s already promised that, to himself and to the pale creature. When Crowley returns to the collector, he tries to bargain with him. Let the creature go, and he’ll have his film. Gabriel laughs him off, and muscles him away. Betrays him, throws him out. Furious, Crowley tries his damnedest to break into the mansion, and after succeeding, realizes he’s too late. Gabriel has watched it, and is dead by his own hands, self mutilation leaving his blood and horror everywhere. As the film plays on, Crowley shuts his eyes and screams, screams to drown out the chorus of terrors booming through the speakers. Blindly, he gropes his way towards the trophy room, and finds the hands of the pale being, still bound in irons. He pleas for help, he begs for the angel to forgive him for even seeking the movie in the first place. He feels the trembling hands grip his own, hears a soft but weak voice hush him and tell him it’s all right now, that he’s done nothing wrong, that he knew Crowley wanted to help, and his righteousness won out over his greed. He softly tells Crowley that he’s forgiven. Crowley sobs, clings to him, while the gentle angel strokes his hair, until the awful sounds in the other room die away to nothing. It takes a while for Crowley to undo the shackles around the angel’s wrists and ankles, but he manages, refusing to return to the theater room for the proper keys. Once they’re off, Crowley throws his coat over the shivering being and tries to lead him away, but the angel refuses to leave without the film. As long as it’s in his hands, he tells a quavering Crowley, no human will ever be able to show or see it again. He collects the reels, and Crowley brings him back to his own place. Gently, he tends to the poor creature, bathing him and dressing him and tending to his wounds. His wings, which have long been cut off, are naught but scabbed stumps. Will they ever grow back, Crowley asks. The angel admits he doesn’t know, but it doesn’t matter now, since the film can now be destroyed. Crowley points out that he’ll be trapped in earth forever, to which the angel smiles thinly, replying that he’s been trapped here, and it isn’t so bad. If you are in the company of the right people. Crowley has no idea where to go from here, no idea what to do with his failing theatre, and feels such a devoted attachment to this lovely angel. But, he thinks, as the angel recovers and protects him, and his theatre mysteriously wins a grant big enough to stay open, and the angel smiles sweetly at him, and squeezes his hand while they sit together in the theatre and share popcorn over classics, and shyly gives Crowley his name as Aziraphale, and gently calms him after nightmares about La Fin Absolue du Monde, and presses soft kisses to his forehead while ethereal whispers praising Crowley’s deeds dance in his ears, that maybe things will be all right in the end.

[aziraphales-library]

are there any fics about crowley being a spy in the 40s? human aus or not?

Hello!

For this one, I am going to recommend my all time favorite fic:

On Espionage and Prophecy (or How to Accidentally, but Wholly, Fall in Love With a Soho Bookseller) by RockSaltAndRoll (E)

1941 is the London Blitz and the year that MI5 really comes into its own with the now infamous ‘double cross’ system. The service keep tabs on suspects, root out enemy agents and try to turn them into doubles.

Anthony J Crowley is fucking great at this job. He can be sneaky, underhanded and damn ruthless but also charming and kind. It’s what makes him good at turning.

Aziraphale is just a regular Soho bookseller who loves his shop and books and good food and wine when he’s approached by a woman claiming to be MI5, wanting to recruit him for espionage. The poor man is too trusting and gets the shock of his life when he’s approached by a charming but dangerous-looking man also claiming to be MI5.

Crowley recruits Aziraphale to double cross a double crosser and Aziraphale takes to espionage like a duck to water.

Danger, hijinks, and sex ensue.

Here are some other ones I found in my search:

by the way, didn't I break your heart? by rottingflower (T)

Crowley is trying his hand at being a spy during the Second World War. Forgetting the angel he hasn't seen in almost eighty years and trying to work around the orders from Hell is almost a full-time job by itself, though. Especially since Aziraphale isn't very good at keeping himself out of trouble.

(This series is set in a connected and canon-compliant universe, but all works can be read as a stand-alone.)

It Would Take a Real Miracle by The_Bentley (E)

London 1941. Everything about Aziraphale and Crowley’s friendship could change because of one gullible angel, some Nazi spies and a demon who happens to be in the right place at the right time to save the day and the books. Crowley's actions show Aziraphale he's more than just a casual acquaintance. In fact, Aziraphale realizes that the love of his life is the friend he’s tried to keep at arm’s length for almost six thousand years.

The Explicit rating is for the last chapter where those two dorks finally Do It. (Well, it's not the last chapter anymore, but the 4th one).

He may be an idiot, but he's MY idiot by Aaymeirah (G)

The year is 1941 AD. Being a spy for the British counter-intelligence isn't as exiting as Crowley would have liked. Despite his newfound fame in certain circles for accurate information of questionable origin, he still has to occasionally meet up with the local spy rings. Reports and paperwork are unquestionably boring, but sometimes they reveal familiar faces. Familiar faces who just might be in over their heads.

Here's one with Crowley as a spy in the 50s:

Put down the apple, Adam, and come away with me by Arokel (M)

Special Agent Anthony Crowley hadn't assumed infiltrating a lesbian convention to sniff out anti-American sentiments would be easy, but he also hadn't banked on an ambiguously-queer academic with peroxide-blonde hair and a talent for seeing right through him.

~ Mod G