#shakespearean crowley

[ghostofchaos-past]

confession number two

this is my all time favorite crowley look I'm not even kidding

[goosetooths]

Ashtoreth and Sera Fine: feuding drag queens to the public, in love in private ✨

[dontbotheraziraphale]

aziraphale every time someone asks him about his ~affiliation~ with the demon crowley

[idliketobeatree]

crowley's whole range of human and non-human expression from the final fifteen, but it's an honest reaction to finding out the shitshow of his life is actually considered a "comedy"

[ananke-xiii]

ghostfacers effect yes but let's not forget that uriel would never speak in english with cas. lucifer and cas scene in s5? also in enochian. michael and cas in s15? same. you'll never take this hc away from me.

[kneelbeforeyourdogbabylon]

This week I posted the final part of my Shakespearean-era fic:

I fully admit I went overboard on the footnotes, references, and dirty Elizabethan poetry, and I would DO IT AGAIN.

omg it’s FAN FICTION FRIDAY

Reblog and promote a fic of yours <3

[massivetool]

god the funniest shit just happened in a fic but i cant share that with my friends because it reveals the contents of what i was reading

[xjade-lotusx]

I want crowley to become the new duke of hell not because I want him evil and I know how much he'd hate it but because just think of the drama of it all. The Shakespearean epic that would be Duke of Hell Crowley and Supreme Archangel Aziraphale. I want to be torn to shreds because of those two

[patoslover]

Okay, time to ask the real questions.

(*OTHER SQUARED = GOLGOTHA. TYVM)

PLEASE REBLOG FOR LARGER SAMPLE

+ IF YOU CAN PUT WHAT YOU VOTED IN THE TAGS IT'D BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

(GIFS OF EACH LOOK/OUTFIT UNDER THE CUT)

Nanny

Sexy man, I mean Plant yeller (?)

(from) Eden (by Hozier)

Medium hair, dark sunglasses, slutty waist 2009

Starmaker

French Revolt

Modern s2 (actuality ig)

1941

Golgotha (don't stab me 😭)

whatever this is Shakespearean

Ugh they're so in love in the last gif I'll actually discorporate. Silly boys.

THANK YOU FOR VOTING AND REBLOGGING SORRY FOR THE MESS FIRST TIME DOING THIS LOL

Also tagging @sideblog-of-the-maggotdom And @weirdly-specific-but-ok bc reachability tyvm <3 (and pls vote if u can!)

[ineffable-romantics]

And the reverse:

So excited to see them again soon!!

[divorce-enjoyer]

what gets me about the scene where nina asks if crowley and aziraphale are partners is that thats where crowley realises he’s in love. not that he didnt know he was in love with aziraphale before (he’s aware that he’s been in love since eden) but it hits him that oh, he’s in love love. the human kind of love, italics instead of capitals, the stuff of austen novels and queen songs and marriages and sacrifices and shakespearean tragedies, that very specific messy, overwhelming kind love you feel for another person that is so much more intense than ethereal love because it is by choice, thats what crowley feels.

the type of love that would make a passerby on the street think that you and him were an old married couple. that type of love.

and then crowley goes and gets drunk in broad daylight

[bluberryfields]

Crowley and Aziraphale outfits that I wish got more screen time (in no particular order)

1967

I adore Crowley's velvet and sharp lines, but I'm so intrigued by Aziraphale's cravat and styled hair. Aziraphale is not a creature of change, so did he dress up for this big moment? I need a full body shot, pleaseandthankyou

41 A.D.

I will never stop wanting more time with the Ineffable Romans. Aziraphale looks like the marble sculpture he was born to be. Also, I understand that Crowley's daring look is pretty anachronistic, but that just makes me want to see more of it!

1793

I mean, come on, they are two very different types of snack here and I need more of both. Aziraphale is a sumptuous petit four, while Crowley is a sleek slice of dark chocolate.

1601

Are you kidding me with them in those heels? Aziraphale in all that embroidery? Crowley in what I can only describe as the sluttiest doublet? I need a whole minisode of their Shakespearean adventures.

[greenthena]

Buck up, Hamlet!

***Trigger warning: Death and taking your own life in the context of Shakespeare***

Aziraphale likes Hamlet. Likes the play so much, that he bats his eyelashes at Crowley until the demon performs a miracle to make the mopey Prince of Denmark more popular. Well, good job, the both of you, because four hundred and some odd years later, you still can't get through repertory auditions without some bugger hoisting a skull and starting that monologue. Not that I don't appreciate Hamlet from a structural and analytical perspective. And the Prince of Denmark is a character most actors would sacrifice several toes to play. But it's dark. It's not a fun one.

So why does Aziraphale like it so much? Why's this fluffy little angel so Hell-bent on one of Shakespeare's tragedies? Join me, friendly Good Omens scholars, and let's suss some shit out.

Crowley adamantly dislikes Shakespeare's tragedies. "This isn't one of Shakespeare's gloomy ones, is it? Arghhhh. No wonder no one is here," he complains, wilting like a floppy noodle. Of course, it doesn't take much for Aziraphale to weasel the demon into miracling more people into the audience. But Crowley makes a point to say that he "still prefer(s) the funny ones" as he's leaving The Globe.

Crowley, I would argue, goes to the theatre to escape his real-life situation. He's a bloody demon who, when he's not stationed on Earth, literally goes to Hell. And it's not a nice place. Crowley's everyday life (particularly when he's not around Aziraphale) revolves around pain and suffering--whether its his or someone else's is insignificant. What matters is that regularly sees and experiences tangible, visceral representations of tragedy in his actual existence. Of course he prefers Shakespeare's funny ones! They're a reminder that the world and the human race that he's accidentally become so attached to is full of more than torment and affliction. Crowley doesn't appreciate Shakespeare's tragedies because they're an extension of his own suffering, with which he's already intimately familiar. For Crowley, attending a Shakespearean tragedy is like picking a scab. You already know you've been injured and fussing with the damned thing only makes it worse.

This is not the case for Azirapahle. As an angel, he's not allowed to have any scabs, much less pick at them. Like Crowley, he sees suffering in the world. He knows that humanity is constantly facing difficult odds, and even the most wonderful of human lives eventually ends in death. But unlike Crowley, Aziraphale works within a system in which there is no gray space--and therefore, no room for an angel, an agent of the side of righteousness, to experience doubt in the Ineffable Plan. The Heavenly model is to deal with problems by pretending they don't exist. Heaven has an image to maintain, after all. Like, the sheer amount of repression we see amongst the Heavenly Host is honestly terrifying. I'm thinking about the way in which The Metatron frames the Fall and damnation of a third of the angels. "For one Prince of Heaven to be cast into the outer darkness makes a good story. For it to happen twice, makes it look like there is some kind of institutional problem." It's so cold and removed because to process something so traumatic would not fit the image of Heaven. So it's neatly boxed up and packed away into a soundbite that better fits Heaven's corporate brand.

Aziraphale's suffering is certainly no less than Crowley's. The angel's trauma is repressed. It's cloaked in shining bright hallways of pure angelic light. It's hidden behind false words and tight smiles. It's communicated passive-aggressively by abusers who still have the angel caught in their web of control and manipulation. At least Crowley's trauma is visible. When he fell, the demon took on a new appearance that physically demonstrates his suffering. He has access to feelings of anger and frustration and he's allowed to express these things because he's a demon. He doesn't have to be good.

Since Aziraphale is not permitted to own his emotions and his trauma, he outsources them. He enjoys Shakespeare's tragedies because they give him the opportunity to achieve second-hand catharsis. He may not be able to admit that he's suffering, but he can experience Hamlet's pain vicariously.

***Reminding you of that trigger warning, folks!***

And this is where we get to the question, "To be, or not to be?" This is the moment in S1 E3 when Aziraphale interacts with Richard Burbage, and shouts out, "To be! Not to be! Come on, Hamlet, buck up!" He says this with this coy little smile, obviously trying to get a laugh out of Crowley. But it's indicative of a more serious dilemma that the angel, himself, must parse out. In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet's query is expressed as he wrestles with the choice between life and death. Essentially, it's a contemplation of suicide--a dark part of humanity that Heaven manages by eternally condemning those who would risk it. However there's another way to read this question, not as life and death, but as agency and the lack thereof. We think of "to be" as the choice for life and "not to be" as the option for suicide. But the only way in which Hamlet can express his agency is by taking control of the one thing that truly belongs to him: his own life. So when asking this question of an eternal being, what exactly does it mean, "To be?" What does it mean for Aziraphale to express agency in his immortal existence?

In Western thought, we tend to divide things into binaries: right and wrong, black and white, good and evil...to be or not to be. Back in the Garden if Eden, Crowley first introduced Adam and Eve to the idea that they had a choice. The serpent presented two options, obey or disobey God's authority. Though I think a better way of looking at it would be to say, passively accept your role or have agency in your fate. This is Crowley's method. He never pushes temptations upon you. He just wants to make sure you know all your options.

Like Hamlet, Aziraphale is presented with the choice of, "To be or not to be?" He can sign on the dotted line and follow Heaven's authority or he can be an angel with agency, an angel that goes along with Heaven as far as he can. And though Aziraphale still struggles with how exactly free will pertains to angels, Crowley shows him time and time again that he has options--he can make his own choices. From the very first interaction between the angel and the demon on the wall of Eden, Crowley (ever the optimist) knows there is hope for some meaningful connection with Aziraphale, because the angel makes a choice for himself: he gives away his sword. And from that moment, Crowley realizes that this angel might be just enough of a bastard to be worth knowing.

It's no wonder Aziraphale gets attached to the tragedy of Hamlet. It allows him to observe and process the darker and more difficult emotions that he, as an angel, struggles to manage. And perhaps more importantly, the Prince of Denmark's famous soliloquy mirrors of Crowley's method of temptation, wherein the demon simply reminds him that he has a choice and that, even as an angel, he can find ways to express his agency.

[ineffable-romantics]

Aziraphale is speaking the language of "Baby It's Cold Outside" whilst Crowley is speaking the language of a "No Means No" PSA

listen that good omens lockdown phone call is literally WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING everything they tell each other goes in one ear and straight out the other it's kind of incredible

aziraphale hints so many times that crowley could come over if he wanted and does crowley get the hint? no! and then afterwards crowley says outright that he could visit him, and does aziraphale accept? NO! I AM GOING TO THROTTLE THE LIFE OUT OF THEM WITH MY BARE HANDS

[aziraphales-library]

Do you have any fics that are AU's of Shakespearean shows? I'd be especially interested in anything related to Much Ado About Nothing, I feel like that one fits them well.

We have a #shakespeare tag you may be interested in. Here are a few inspired by Much Ado About Nothings, and a bonus Romeo & Juliet AU...

i will live in thy heart by appomattox (T)

“No,” Anathema said confidently. “No, they’re in love and too stupid to realize the other one feels the same way. We have to do something about it.” A Much Ado About Nothing fusion, sort of.

Hey nonny, nonny by Joseph_Amadeus (M)

Much Ado about Nothing + Good Omens written for the GO romcom event.

Cause what is simple in the moonlight by the morning never is by space_ally (G)

The demon was in love with the angel and vice versa. But why? Much Ado About Nothing inspired.

Some Ado About Much, Or: C'mon! We Can Play Enforcing Tropes! by edna_blackadder (G)

The Them, with help from Anathema and Newt, take a cue from Shakespeare in order to nudge an oblivious angel and demon into noticing they’ve fallen in love with each other. (Because, like Dogberry, I am an ass.)

There's a Place for Us by MissUnderstoodLyrics (E)

“So, I sparked your interest, did I?” and Crowley moved even closer, backing Ezra up against the brick wall of the alley. Ezra didn't feel threatened by this; if anything, he felt … aroused. “Yes,” he said softly and honestly, looking into Crowley's eyes. “You definitely caught my attention.” In 1845 London, Crowley and Aziraphale are heirs to the city's two most powerful families, who are entrenched in an enduring feud. Each possesses invaluable gifts—Crowley, the art of manipulation, and Aziraphale, expertise in decryption and infiltration. Trained as spies and indoctrinated to despise each other since birth, they are tasked with uncovering a shared secret, forced to work together to satisfy their respective families. As their covert missions unfold, an unexpected, passionate connection sparks, and they find themselves falling fast for each other - but it's a love neither family will abide ... A Good Omens Human AU

- Mod D

[vidavalor]

A thought just popped into my head: What if Good Omens was set with Shakespearean language?

Would be quite beautiful! You've given me reason to mention a little suspicion about Aziraphale & Romeo & Juliet that I've had for a little while. Remember when we learned that one of the most romantic lines in all of Shakespeare was actually some of Crowley's love poetry?

As we know, this line winds up in Antony & Cleopatra, which was first performed around 1607, about six years after this scene. The first performance of Romeo & Juliet, though, is thought to have been in 1597, about four years prior to the Globe Theatre scene in GO.

In S2, there are some allusions to Romeo & Juliet in ways that might suggest that Aziraphale wrote part of Romeo & Juliet for Crowley-- specifically, the 'a rose by any other name' bit of Juliet's dialogue. Do we think they've been doing this in other plays and songs throughout history?