Comic Geekery

So this is just a theory, it could certainly be crushed or buoyed if anyone digs into the data, but it's an idea that's been echoing in my mind lately. 

I think tragic endings for minority characters (PoC, queer people, the disabled, etc.) come from allies. 

Specifically the tragic endings that the audience is supposed to feel sad about. Not the death of the walking Evil Stereotype that a bigot might write. No, I'm talking about every black friend who dies first. Every heart-of-gold little person who sacrifices their life for heroes to live. Every gay couple who's torn apart or murdered to show the bleak cruelty of the world. 

I think that all of these tragic cliches come from creators who wanted to be inclusive. They wanted to bring in the types of characters that don't usually get their stories told. The real world is diverse and we should use that diversity to tell richer stories. But then, perhaps even as a completely unrelated thought, the creator also wants to pull in the realism of the darkest parts of life. And what characters could possibly be more powerful victims?

We have a separate problem in storytelling, of only bestowing respect on the stories that are both the most realistic and the most bleak. Happy endings are simplistic and shallow. A romantic comedy could never be worthy of a Pulitzer. Nevermind that people fall in love and find happy satisfaction every day in the real world, it's still not "real" enough. 

So we have two trends converging in the minds of far too many authors and screenwriters: the enlightened choice to include minorities and the need to inflict poetic devastation. And I truly think that every time these impulses meet, the writer thinks it's completely organic. 

“It's not falling into a cliche! It's me telling a powerful, moving story, not flinching even when the story calls for a painful confrontation with reality! How dare you call my writing racist/queerphobic/ableist! Don't you know I'm one of the good ones??”

Of course, this tends to come from the usual culprits: cis, white, able-bodied men. Sometimes women too, but the majority are men. These guys are far from the majority of writers, but unfortunately they're still the overwhelming majority of writers that get a major platform. 

I do believe that usually mean well on one level or another. The problem is that they don’t understand. They often fail to understand the basic personhood of minorities, but more insidiously they don’t understand what it means to deny us happy endings.

Minorities do not lack for pain in our lives. We know, either personally or culturally, that the world does not favor us. Often doesn’t even think about us. It’s hope that’s underrepresented. Not just in terms of getting to stop the bad guys or find true love, but in as simple a way as wondering what paths we even have in life.

How am I supposed to be happy? What does that even look like? If I’m never going to be a celebrity, what else is there? There’s a void there that the straight, white, and able-bodied never have to face. It’s certainly left me feeling like my chief responsibilities in life are to stay out of the way and not be a burden.

For most of a decade now, I’ve been a very big fan of the show Good Omens. I know that there’s a range of opinions on the finale, but for me it was devastating. I related to the main characters so strongly as a queer person who was deeply mistreated by their family. Their story felt like a guiding light for whether or not I could be okay myself one day.

Then, somehow, this romantic comedy that gave every signal that the leads would come back together and finally know free love and peace instead ended with their suicides. And it felt like a fresh message about just what the world at large thinks of people like me. About what needs to happen to us in a ‘good’ story.

The finale to Good Omens was cruel to a lot of other queer characters too. Two disappeared in financial ruin with no sign if they ever got to be together. One died of an overdose that his spouse feared was a suicide. One died on screen, while explicitly telling us that they had always been an idiot. As far as I am aware, there were no queer people at all involved in the story or filming decisions of the episode. But I could have told you that without investigating. This is the core of why we desperately need more minority creators in prominent projects. Because we understand our stories in the big ways and the little ones. We know how to use tragedy against ourselves because we know what that knife feels like. We know just how dire the need is to help our communities heal the wounds we already have.

It would always include listening to each other, of course. No one person can represent every identity. We need teams and sensitivity readers and the constant feedback of every kind of audience. It’s a matter that brings up complicated and uncomfortable questions. Are studios too greedy to take chances? Are majority audiences too bigoted, or at least insulated, to learn to love new kinds of protagonists? Do minority creators need more grace and training to make up for generations of absent opportunities to learn the rules that big names take for granted?

For today though, I want to wearily demand that we all stop treating minority characters like seasoning. Stop acting like all we are is their poetic tragedy. It’s not beautiful. It’s not powerful. It’s just another boot stepping on us on the way to their happy ending.

Humans are messy, we live under systems that try to control how we live, there's people in power who hurt us and oppress us, there's inequality, injustices...the world, it can sometimes suck.

But then, I look around and there is my loved ones who make me laugh even when my heart hurts, i feel the deep breaths i take which are provided by the trees around me, the coffees which have a taste that make every morning worth it, the people who presist to do good and be kind even when everything is against them, the animals whom find shelter in the natural world and what it provides them, my treasured cats and my gentle dogs who shower me with so much hope and comfort.

There is the books i read that are written by other people with so much soul and personal touch, the art that expose vulnarbilities in ways that no emotion can fully express, the movies and series which are made by a collaboration of humans who care about craft and stories that are being told. The melodies and lyrics that create a sound that thousands connect too. The communities that are found by said mediums, the bonds that are made.

There's so much love in this world. Mothers and fathers who love their children. Children who have dysfyuncitional families and found warmth elsewhere, outside of blood. There's a people who love their dog. Their cat. Their hamster. Their fish. There is teachers who care for their students, there is grandmas who love their grandchildren, granpas who love their sons and daughters. People who love so much despite loss, their love poured in so many laughter and wails. There are people who find ways to love each other, who find community, despite systems that try to oppress them.

There are many families, acquaintances, friends, couples, and many many strangers who will choose to love, who will offer a hand instead of turning away. To create instead of destroy, to hope instead of surrender.

So thats why I reject the ending in Go3 that erases this essence and message that made the show worth it. Crowley and Azirraphale loved earth! They loved humans and our unpredictable nature. They were delighted by shared meals, treasured music and books, cared for animals, and protected spaces that people had poured love into creating.

Aziraphale found warmth in his bookshop. Crowley found fascination in the plants he grew. And most importantly, an angel and a demon, gained free will by finding love with each other. They chose each other, again and again, over the expectations of Heaven and Hell.

Aziraphale and Crowley were constantly fighting for a life to simply live. To be an us. To spend time together without fear, to love each other openly and without shame. They were meant to deconstruct the beliefs they had been taught and defy the systems that demanded the opposite of what they truly wanted.

Their love for Earth and for each other is what made this story matter. Crowley would never have chosen to destroy the universe instead of finding a way to save the world he had spent six thousand years falling in love with. He would have fought for it, just as he always had. He would have searched for another way, questioned every impossible solution, and refused to accept that destruction was the only answer.

And he would have chosen to live beside the angel he had loved for centuries.

Because that was always the point. Crowley and Aziraphale weren't trying to become heroes. They weren't searching for power or purpose beyond themselves. All they really wanted was something beautifully ordinary. Breakfasts, bookshops, greenery, rainy afternoons, lunches at the Ritz, late night car drives, sunsets, music, and watching humanity continue to surprise them.

Earth, even with its corrupt systems, doesn't need to stop existing. It needs to exist despite them. That's why there is so much love and so much kindness—emotions that stir people to challenge injustice instead of surrendering to it. To rebuild instead of erase.

The world has never been beautiful because it was perfect. It is beautiful because, despite everything that is broken, people continue to love. They continue to make art, plant gardens, rescue animals, raise children, protect one another, and dream of something better.

Aziraphale and Crowley's characters represent exactly that hope. They show that people are not defined by the systems they are born into, but by the choices they make.

An angel and a demon, raised to believe they were destined to stand on opposite sides forever, discovered that they could be destined for each other instead. That the lines they had been taught to never cross were never as important as the bond they built by choosing one another, day after day, century after century.

it starts as it ends, with a garden ... and two supernatural beings sharing a moment together

It was poorly written, the characters were badly characterized, plot points from S2 were simply abandoned and in their place poor substitutions were hackneyed in (looking at you Eternal Flame!) Yes let's let Michael - who apparently DOESN'T have free will? - destroy the Book. Let's have Crowley grab her arm but then let go almost immediately so she can continue destroying the Book. Great!

Meanwhile entirely useless side quests were forced in. Like the end of the War, not even the whole War or the Fall, just the end of the War where our heroes aren't even given original dialogue. Just more call backs to remind us all that they can't be together.

Look. I like Slorch the Vile as much as anybody but we did not NEED that. It was a fun thing for Michael Sheen to do, bless him, but it didn't add any relevance at all. The same with Crowley losing his powers, the Bentley, and the bookshop. Brian Cameron plot why? Why was so much time spent on this idiot gangster? Where is my optimistic, imaginative demon?? Why is he rolling around (sluttishly) in a dirty alley!?

Hey? What happened to Gabe and Beez? Obviously they couldn't get those actors but we had zero in-story explanation either! Sloppy!

God, the reason and driving force of all of it; the Creation, angels and demons, the temptation of humanity, then BAM destruction. Why? Humanity learned nothing evidently, and had no importance other than to be part of a plan that only God knew and apparently didn't care about.

Why do this? Why show Aziraphale and Crowley pining and yearning and finding ways to be together anyway and loving each other anyway.....and it all meant nothing. This is a comedy!

Season two was stuffed chock full of Clues and references to secret knowledge and side quests and plans that meant NOTHING! Something besides hiding Gabriel was going on and several people have written extensive metas on it.

I'm very very tired of being handed half ass endings. Asa and Anthony are ADORABLE. Of course they are. But they DO NOT have the Ineffable Husbands memories. If you wiped most of my mind and sent me off to live a new life, is that really me? No.

I know a lot of people have said the same things. So here's more of that I guess. 🥂

After agonizing for a short while over the perfect shade of yellow, Aziraphale cut to the chase and asked Crowley to remove his glasses so he could hold the swatches up next to his eyes.

And I do agree it does feel jarring, maybe if the fabled 'original' plans for GO3 have come to fruition and Young Adult Adam was actually relevant to the Plot (and maybe also promoted appearances by other Tadfield characters) it wouldn't have felt quite so disconnected. But… I think it's more than the individual Human characters themselves not appearing, there is a major and jarring shift in the way 'Good Omens' write Human characters between the Book, and thus also GO1, and Good Omens Seasons 2 + 3.

The original Human cast of characters was very Wacky and Quirky and Somewhat Exaggerated, just as much as our primary supernatural characters, Crowley and Aziraphale, were. The Them were pastiches of Kids Adventure Story Tropes, Newton Pulsifer were so bad with technology it was LITERALLY a superpower, Sister Mary Loquacious was a goofy well-meaning Satanist nun, we had an insanely determined Delivery Man just doing his job and trickster-y mad old seer and her activist occultist Professional Descendant and Shadwell, who is basically a living cartoon character.

Meanwhile, the Humans of GO2 and GO3 feel a lot more deliberately "grounded". Less goofy, no real chances of having strange-bordering-on-the-supernatural quirks, more generally "normal", even when they are in difficult situations like abusive relationships or estranged family members. The lack of the quirky narration explaining the characters' lives and personalities also lessens any comedic quirkiness they might have, but even disregarding that change, I think there was a noticeable shift. The most we have now is… what? 'Harry the Fish' being kind of a silly nickname and Brian Cameron playing Monopoly once.

I think this change in how Human Characters are characterized does kinda work in GO2, it works in tandem with the narrative focus being now truly on Crowley and Aziraphale's supernatural romance and Heaven/Hell Drama - there is just less narrative focus on Humans, and the focus that is there is used to contrast them with the supernatural characters' abnormality. And it works with the genre shift, from outright Comedy to Romantic Comedy, which although still being a 'Comedy' by definition, tends towards making it's characters feel more 'grounded' on some level… but it is absolutely one of the factors that make GO2 a fundamentally different work from GO1/Book Omens, which is only exasperated in GO3 as the story veered farther and farther away from being any sort of 'Comedy'.

But it's also… The characterization of the Humans isn't just important from the perspective of Book Omens/GO1 being a Comedy, it's important from the angle of it being a very Humanist Comedy. The characters are somewhat exaggerated and cartoony, but they reflect on the real strangeness and wackiness and messiness and self-contradictory nature of Humanity. They are a living demonstration of the reasons why Crowley and Aziraphale are so fond of us Humans, why we are the only ones with the real power to doom or save the world. Madame Tracy being both an unashamed scam-artist and the kindest person in the story, Sister Mary being both a satanist and a nurse and a bit of a scatterbrain and her transformation into a Serious Businesswoman, R.P. Taylor's failed attempts to adapt to the strange world around him... It's silly, it's goofy, but it's also all so very human.

And much like Crowley's 'modernized sin-spreading' being to blame for most of the world's everyday annoyances was inviting the readers to imagine a little of the magic of the setting in their real-life, this also extended to the quirkiness and magic of the human characters, do you ever feel like you're as bad with computers as Newt? Maybe the Weird Old Coot you know is secretly scamming an Angel and a Demon for a few hundred pounds a month? If the most important part of being a Witch is a practical mind and a kitchen knife, maybe you can be like Anathema as well?

And then, when GO2 suddenly makes all of it's Humans so… normal and saves most of it's quirkiness and Messy Drama to it's supernatural characters, it kinda feels like it's saying "Look, we all know Humans are boooring, let's focus on the Angels and Demons instead!" And… while there were Good Omens fans disappointed by GO2, because of the shift away from the Humanist themes in general or specifically because they loved the Book Omens/GO1 Humans and thus weren't 100% happy to see Good Omens turn entirely into the Crowley and Aziraphale Show. A lot of fans were fine with this shift… Because we were kinda interested more in the Angels and Demons. Like, I'm not going to pretend that I'm not one of those GO fans who always finds reading through the book's mostly AC-less middle third to be kind of a slog.

I appreciate the point of the Human cast thematically and intellectually, but speaking from a personal perspective, I can't pretend it that emotionally it actually 100% sold me on all of these guys being just as interesting as Crowley and Aziraphale. I think it would be fair to say the actual best Humanist thematically-consistent solution would be to try harder, flash out the Human characters even more, create new Human characters whose unique bizarreness and quirky charm and messy pathos can rival Crowley and Aziraphale's… But GO2's solution of just decentering the Humans while making them more grounded and sensible (including the most important ones being Crowley and Aziraphale's more grounded and sensible counterparts) worked because it was telling us this is just backdrop for the Supernatural Romance stuff, and then supplying us with the Supernatural Romance Stuff in spades.

Where the Problem truly rears it's ugly head is in GO3, which suddenly tries to pull out a big thematic curveball where actually the Supernatural Romance we've been building up for the last two seasons is now suddenly less important than the previously-sidelined theme of Humanity, and our main characters and romantic leads have to sacrifice themselves for the sake of Humanity and the whole thing… tries to end on a big uplifting message of how wonderful it is to be Human in the real world and it's actually so much better than being an Angel or a Demon in a fantasy world.

And this supposedly uplifting message fails for me and for many others for many many many different reasons. But one of those reasons is just that… I don't feel like this story actually believes in the beauty of our mundane non-magical human existence, it can't sell me on a message I just don't feel is sincere coming from it. Humanity has been so diminished in the overall story, the lack of Human characters with Agency in the narrative, the lack of a Human perspective in the climax, the moral gray complexity of Humanity abandoned for pure ‘Heavenly’ selfless sacrifice, the Human influence on our two main leads have been gradually underplayed and diminished and retconned out from…

… to now seemingly insinuating that Crowley’s qualities have all been inherent to him since he bursted fully-formed out of God’s brow, long before the creation of Humanity, while Aziraphale’s character development is portrayed as if it was purely a result of Crowley’s influence and never a natural result of living among Humans for so many years.

But it’s also about how… bland Humanity has become. Outside, again, of the Mob Boss having a mildly-dorky name and playing Monopoly once and otherwise running a totally normal casino, none of our humans can be as vibrant and wacky and weird and surprising as the supernatural characters, as the GO1/Book Omens Humans, as vibrant and wacky and weird and surprising as actual real-life Humanity.

Even Crowley and Aziraphale’s Human counterparts, the versions of them that supposedly have True Free Will, are just portrayed as the blandest, most diluted, least compelling versions of the original Crowley and Aziraphale.

GO1 (and especially Book Omens) writes all of its Human characters with an honest desire to celebrate Humanity, with all of its strangeness and all of its mundanity. Whatever it was always 100% effective for me or not, when it said normal humans are just as interesting and compelling and unique as the Angel and the Demon, I felt like the story believed it.

GO2 felt like it was saying “Look, we all know Humans will never be as interesting or cool or dramatic as an Angel and Demon falling in love, so let’s just focus on that, okay?” and that was certainly tonally and thematically discordant with the original story, and I have some mixed feelings about that and others have even more negative feelings about it, but it worked as its own standalone thing because it was honest with itself, it was supplying the audience with a generous amount of the thing it did care about and think was cool and compelling.

GO3 is trying to say that actually our mundane ephemeral real-life is actually so much more magical and miraculous than being an immortal with mild reality-warping powers, it’s trying to loop back to a closer perspective to GO1, but it’s still feels it has the same view of Humanity as GO2. It’s putting on a false smile trying to explain to me why it’s so much better to be a Human, a weak, bland, boring Human then to be the supernatural characters it is clearly far more interested and thinks are far cooler. And while I would very much like to believe that living as an ephemeral human is a wondrous, miraculous thing, because I am an ephemeral human and that’s the only option I have.

Just imagine how terrified Adam must have been when he realized that his act of courage and free will had all been for nothing. Imagine how scared he was when his family disappeared. Or think about Warlock, who never got the chance to live a life free from his father’s control. Or Anathema. Or Newt. Or Mr. Shadwell and Madame Tracy. Imagine them all disappearing, and how terrified they must have been in those moments.

Good Omens has always treated every life as equally valuable. There are no lives that matter more or less than others. It has always shown how even the smallest decisions matter, the smallest details, the seemingly insignificant people (like Elspeth and little Morag). It has always shifted the focus away from something vast and abstract onto something small, personal, and yet no less precious or beautiful.

Pride Muriel!

Why is he still wearing tartan, why didn't he immediately help Crowley up in the alley, why didn't he want to eat, why did he ultimately say yes to Heaven, why did he insist the car is theirs, why is he forgiving Crowley when he calls him an idiot, why is he trying to turn insults of god into praise of who Crowley has always been. Why is not everything he does perfect and perfectly curated to please Crowley? Yes, the writing is terrible and the treatment of Aziraphale in S2 and especially in S3 even worse. Yes, they are both written ooc. We know them better. At least I hope we do. Crowley is mean and cruel and doesn't seem to love Aziraphale at all in S3. And it starts in S2. He threatens and promises and then does nothing about either. Waves Aziraphale off to talk to Metatron who he just watched wanting to remove Gabe's memories.

But when it's discussed, there's always the undertone of - 'it's understandable' to it. Crowley was heartbroken. Aziraphale is not enough. He's not trying hard enough. He's not understanding enough. Ah, poor demon.

Crowley's actions are always excused, always reasonable. He drinks, he gambles, he yells at Aziraphale, he's sarcastic with him, he mocks him for the magic tricks (that saved his skin). That's all fine. He's a demon. And he has a lot to deal with and then he has this angel full of faults who's just not good enough. He can't be good enough or they would already be happy together. Right? Whatever Aziraphale does is always dubious. Is he doing this because he still believes in Heaven? Because he's scared of not being 'good'? Does he need more lessons to learn? More explanations? Maybe more pain to endure? Surely he couldn't like tartan jusst because he wants to set his own family away from Heaven. It's not possible he strongly hints at the car being theirs to establish they are an 'us', a group of the two of them. Like with the bookshop that Crowley was always free to enter. Surely it's not possible Aziraphale does things and says things out of caution rather than a strong need to belong to Heaven he can't shake off (which we see him despise and be scared of). He just can't let go of the cult he's in. Right?

Crowley's flaws are often treated as states of being, while Aziraphale's flaws are treated as moral or intellectual failures.

Crowley drinks because he's hurting, runs because he's scared, gets angry because he's frustrated, lashes out because he's heartbroken, withdraws because he's traumatised. It's all internal. It's about him.

Aziraphale wants to fix things, holds on to hope, seeks safety, hesitates, compromises, finds technicalities. Puts on breaks. The explanation is always - he still hasn't learned. His flaws are things to be fixed from outside. Preferably by Crowley. Who knows everything.

Crowley is described with compassion - why is he acting like this? While Aziraphale is looked at with judgment - why hasn't he figured this out yet? this ends up in people trying to understand Crowley. And correct or fix Aziraphale.

Aziraphale and Crowley go thorugh misunderstandings. Yes. And the fault is always laid on Aziraphale. Why didn't he communicate better? Why didn't he understand what Crowley wanted? Why didn't he fix it? Why didn't he just do what Crowley wanted? What is wrong with him?

Meanwhile the angry rebel gets all the grace. His flaws mean he's true to himself. His anger proves he cares. His recklessness proves he's passionate. His refusal to compromise proves he's principled. His descent to despair proves how much he loves. Right?

Aziraphale never gets the same luxury. He's not happy? He just didn't try hard enough. It's his fault.

Crowley says - let's leave. And everyone thinks, yeah, finally, be free! But Aziraphale always asks - and then what? And everyone goes - booo, you are hurting your demon, finally leave your side silly angel!

Crowley is marveling at the sight before him, a mother duck carefully guding her ducklings whom are following close behind. The mother puts herself infront of her children, but she cannot help constantly looking back at her own creations. They are flowing aimlessly in the vast body of water. One with nature. Basking in what it really means to just live.

Aziraphale on the other hand, has his eyes trained on another wonder of the world.

A young girl sits on a nearby bench, though she carries herself as if life has placed burdens upon her far heavier than her years should allow. There's another girl next to her, it's a friend, prehaps? She wraps her arms around the troubled one and holds her close, offering the comfort of her presence while the other feels whatever she needs to feel.

The wind blows softly, stirring loose strands of hair and carrying with it the distant sounds of laughter, birdsong, and the gentle lapping of water against the shore. Neither girl seems to notice. For this brief moment, the rest of the world has faded into the background.

Aziraphale sighs softly, "Extraordinary, isn't it?"

Crowley follows his gaze, his sunglasses reflecting the image of the two girls sitting together.

"Yeah," he says quietly, a softness creeping into his voice. "Funny thing is, they probably don't even realize they're doing it."

"Doing what?"

Crowley looks back toward the lake, where the mother duck nudges a wandering duckling back toward the group, "Saving each other."

The angel smiles softly at that, scotting closer to Crowley.

"Well, it's a beautiful sight to see indeed," he let's out a breath he has been holding for far too long, "but it wouldn't be as beautiful without you by my side."

Crowley sits with those words quietly. He slowly puts an arm around the angel.

"I mean, ducks are nice and all. Tiny feathery weirdos." He gestures vaguely toward the lake, "But I've seen ducks before."

Aziraphale looks at him, utterly perplexed.

"My dear, what on Earth are you talking about?"

Crowley snorts.

"I'm getting there."

"Getting where?"

"Angel."

"No, really, you've lost me."

Crowley shakes his head fondly before looking back out at the lake.

"I've seen sunsets. Meteor showers. Nebulas. Mountains. Oceans." He glances at him, "The thing that makes them worth remembering is having someone to turn to afterward."

Aziraphale's breath catches.

Crowley shrugs, as though he hasn't just said something monumental.

"And I have to say..." A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth, "If there's one thing I could spend an eternity marveling at, it's you."

Aziraphale is stunned to silence. Not an uncomforble one, the opposite actually. The kind of silence that is at art galleries, where people gaze at something beautiful and find that words would only diminish it.

Crowley shifts slightly under the angel's gaze.

"Oh, don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Look at me like that."

Aziraphale's smile is small and impossibly fond.

"How am I looking at you?"

Crowley opens his mouth, then closes it again. Because he doesn't have a name for it.

Above them, the branches sway gently in the afternoon light. Around them, life continues in all its strange, fragile beauty.

A child happily screams somewhere in the distance, the sound carrying across the park as they race through the grass.

The girl who had been crying earlier is no longer hiding behind her hands. She sits a little straighter now, a small smile breaking through as her friend says something that sends them both into laughter. Whatever burden she had been carrying has not vanished, but for the moment, she does not carry it alone.

The ducklings continue to swim along. The breeze carries the scent of grass and warm earth.

It's all terribly ordinary, really. And yet, these were the very things Aziraphale and Crowley had spent six thousand years fighting for.

Aziraphale leans into Crowley, his face only inches away.

"I love you so," he breathes. Then, he closes the distance between them.

The kiss is soft, tender.

Crowley smiles against it, one hand coming up to cup Aziraphale's cheek. He leans in without hesitation, knowing exactly where he belongs.

The world continues to turn around them. You can hear faint noise in the background. Laughs shared. The rustling of leaves. Somewhere nearby, a dog barks, and a child answers with a delighted squeal.

Then, without warning, a raindrop lands on Crowley's nose.

He blinks.

A second follows, splashing against Aziraphale's coat.

Then a third.

The sky opens.

Within seconds, rain begins to pour over the park, sending people running for cover and prompting a chorus of surprised laughter from every direction.

The girls on the bench scramble to gather their things, one of them grabbing the other's hand as they attempt to dash toward the nearest shelter.

The ducklings, meanwhile, seem entirely unbothered by the development.

Crowley looks up at the sky.

"Really?"

The rain answers by becoming even heavier.

Beside him, Aziraphale laughs.

"Well," he says, beaming, "I suppose that's one way to cool off a warm afternoon."

Crowley stares at him.

"Angel."

"Yes?"

"We are getting soaked."

"I had noticed."

"And you're smiling."

"Of course I am."

Crowley shakes his head, utterly helpless against his own fondness.

"I think this is a sign to head back to our bookshop. Warm up with some hot cocoa before dining at the Ritz?"

Aziraphale's eyes brighten at the sound of that.

Before answering, his gaze drifts across the park.

The two girls from earlier are huddled together beneath a tree, trying and failing to shield themselves from the rain. They're laughing now, but neither seems particularly successful at staying dry.

With a subtle flick of his fingers, Aziraphale performs a small miracle.

A large umbrella suddenly appears over their heads.

The girls blink in surprise.

One looks up at the umbrella.

The other looks around in confusion.

Then, deciding not to question their good fortune, they scoot closer together beneath it and continue talking.

Aziraphale watches them for a moment, satisfied.

Only then does he turn back to Crowley.

"That sounds lovely," he says warmly. "Though I think perhaps a pot of cocoa. One mug hardly seems sufficient."

Crowley snorts.

"Naturally."

"And perhaps a few pastries?"

"Of course."

"And then the Ritz."

"Obviously."

The rain continues to fall around them, drumming softly against the lake. the water nurturing the trees around them.

Crowley rises from the bench and offers his hand, "Come on, angel."

Aziraphale takes it without hesitation.

Together, they start toward the bookshop, leaving behind the ducks, the lake, and the rain-soaked park.

Behind them, the girls sit beneath their mysterious umbrella, laughing.

Ahead of them waits a warm bookshop, hot cocoa, and a dinner neither of them will ever admit they had been planning all along.

The afternoon had been beautiful. The evening promised to be even better. And tomorrow would be just as lovely.

Ordinary days.

The sort of days that, when strung together, become a life.

As they disappeared down the rain-slicked street, hand in hand, neither Heaven nor Hell watched from above, no prophecies awaited them.

Just tomorrow. And the world. The same world they had chosen, time and time again.

A world of shifting weather, of second chances. A world where ducklings finding their way home. A world were people hold each other when life became too heavy to bear alone. A world where tears give way to laughter, where old wounds heal slowly, and where kindness survives despite everything.

.......

The Aziraphale and Crowley I know would've never given up on humanity, or on the humanity that lives within them. Crowley would fight for Aziraphale the same way Aziraphale would fight for Crowley.

The answer to a broken world is not to abandon it, but to keep caring for it. That is the Aziraphale and Crowley I fell in love with, and the ones I will always carry with me.

happy valentine's day!

hope you all got your beloved ones some demonic nice flowers (if they're not allergic!) or treated them with homemade sweets (coco cacao brownies are good, i heard)

why not celebrate this day with a nice v-day fic!

💕wanna be with you everywhere💕