you cant judge us, you're not the judge.

Nightmares + Subconscious thoughts

I wonder if they saw each other during the great war

Go for a picnic... dine at the Ritz.

(I've never struggled so much before: multiple wings with crazy lighting effect? Yeah sure I can do that no problem. Smiling DT in light color outfit? Not even after seven attempts. What's wrong with me honestly)

What are Aziraphale and Crowley looking for in each other? (x)

Michael: On the surface, the things that annoy them the most about each other are actually what they are most compelled by.

David: Crave, yes, yes.

Michael: And so they're sort of bound together, aren't they? In all kinds of ways. I think Aziraphale is both infuriated and maddened and very stressed out by Crowley's constant questioning of things. Things that Aziraphale thinks are just... those are the rules. Crowley being a sort of rule breaker and a rule bender, he finds incredibly stressful. And yet I think that's sort of what he craves.

David: Drawn to.

Michael: He's drawn to that.

David: Irrepressibly.

Michael: Yes.

I didn’t. I didn’t want to be this person. But Aziraphale is sitting RIGHT THERE looking like A TOTALLY RESPECTABLE Roman citizen circa 40 AD. Maybe the hair might be unusual, but the Romans LOVED blonde hair. They thought it was cool and foreign and exotic in sort of a sexy way.

But Crowley is so historically confused. And I think the production design is too good and Neil Gaiman is too on top of his game for this to be accidental. It must mean something. 

I - HAIR

What is on your head Crowley. Are you the emperor? Are you a victorious general currently participating in a victory parade? 

Sure, you sometimes see laurel wreathes in portraits. But FUNERAL portraits.

That crown is a symbolic thing, to celebrate your victories in life. It’s not STREET WEAR. 

And okay. It’s 40-41 AD. Caligula is emperor. Military chic is in. If you’re a guy, you’re wearing your hair short and un-styled (LIKE AZIRAPHALE.) Those dramatic little spit curls wouldn’t show up until at least Nero. 

But actually, pulling back for a second - are you appreciating the absurdity that is this hairstyle? Because it took me a second to notice that only the FRONT HALF is curled.

Which is a Roman hairstyle. But it’s a Roman LADY hairstyle. 

(It tends to get called ‘Flavian Hair’ because the Flavian era ladies of the 70s-90s got pretty extreme about it, but you still had less… dramatic versions in the 40s.)

That’s you, Crowley. That’s your style reference. Honestly, if you had just kept your hair long everybody would have thought you were a cool barbarian chieftain or something. 

II - CLOTHES

The black is fine. It’s eccentric, but fine. Romans wore black. Wearing black was Cato the Younger’s *thing.* It gets associated with mourning and/or protest, but it would have been really visually confusing to have Crowley wear some other color. This gets a pass.

Nope, my question is about his articles of clothing. There’s a charcoal grey garment that seems to be a toga + undershirt. It’s looped over Crowley’s arm, which is a classic toga give away. 

That part’s fine. But over the top, he’s wearing a true black… short cape? Shawl? it’s really hard to tell, because whatever it is, he is NOT wearing it correctly (is it folded in half?) Also, that irregular red zigzag pattern is very strange and I do not recognize it from anywhere. Seriously, I can’t even decide on a continent for this garment.

III - JEWELRY

Emperor Nero usually gets credit for inventing the first sunglasses, after he started watching gladiators fight though a green gemstone. He won’t be emperor for about ten years. But hey, he probably got the idea from somewhere. And dark glasses are just a really sensible way to hide your snakey eyes. This is also the first time we see Crowley put up some proper emotional barriers, so it’s a good place for the glasses to be introduced. (@theladyzephyr has a wonderful meta that goes into a lot more detail here.) 

So the sunglasses are good. BUT THAT BROOCH.

Okay. This is Aziraphale wearing a fibula plate brooch

It’s a really Roman style, and a really Roman shape (a “pelta”)

I’ve never seen one that looks like angel wings, but a Roman citizen is going to look at that and see a soppily patriotic Imperial Eagle. How nice that this lovely man from Germania/Greece has made some money and become such an exemplary citizen!

But Crowley is wearing a penannular (pin-and-ring) brooch

That’s not roman. That’s a style from the British Isles (Irish, Pictish, Scottish, Welsh.) It says barbarian, boonies, outskirts of the civilized world. 

And nobody @ me with pictures of pin-and-ring brooches from Rome. Those are small, cheap, and undecorated. They’re the cultural equivalent of safety pins. This is patterned like a snake, and it’s the size of Crowley’s palm. 

AND THAT’S ANOTHER THING. They didn’t do snake-themed jewelry in the British isles. Snakes didn’t have the best cultural associations there, and there weren’t too many of them there to begin with. This isn’t something Crowley picked up because “hey, a snake, cool,” and then got attached too. This must have been commissioned special. 

But you know who LOVED snake jewelry? 

ROMANS. 

Romans associated snakes with healing and rebirth - clinics sometimes had lil snakes crawling around on the ground to give the place good vibes. 

You cannot tell me that Crowley could have existed in Rome for any length of time and not picked up some of this jewelry. Which leads me to my conclusion:

IV - CROWLEY IS EXTREMELY NEW IN TOWN

The unfashionable pin and hair? The clothing draped the wrong way? The cultural colorblindness of wearing a laurel crown when you’re not supposed to? Crowley looks like a tacky tourist because he is one. He’s not staying here long, he “just nipped in for a quick temptation.”

He’s in a bad mod because he’s had an awful day, everyone keeps looking at him funny, the temptation was a complete bust, he has culture shock, and now he’s just trying to get a drink. But they don’t have any PROPER drinks like ALE or MEAD here, so he just orders “whatever’s drinkable.” He’s even not sure what they drink in Rome. 

Would you mind sharing some headcannons for your ineffable rascals au?

It looks so adorable captivated me immidately 💚💚

Hi! Oh thank you for your interest in them!!

I did throw some stuff in tags on my first post of them, but i kinda changed the settings for their families so here are the current main lines i’m thinking of! (bad english incoming) :

(It is set in the 20’s/30’s)

- Few years ago, Anthony was found with a bleeding head (still has the scar on his right temple), amnesia, and without parents. He’s been living in an orphanage since then. He’s very good at stealing/pickpocketing (which Aziraphale strongly disapproves of), and often brings back snacks and stuff to the other children at the orphanage (where he is liked and respected, but he doesn’t speak much with the other kids). Of course the people in charge hate him and he often get punished.

- Aziraphale lost his parents, they were doctors. He now lives with a very wealthy relative (the human counterpart for Metatron) who is quite manipulative with little Aziraphale. Human!Metatron gives a lot of money to charities and to orphanages (including the one where Crowley lives), but doesn’t actually care for the children there, and forbids Azi to meet with them (especially Anthony). He gives money because « it is the right thing to do » (and he might have other reasons…)

- They have a secret hideout in the woods that stands between human!Metatron’s manor and Crowley’s orphanage

- Anthony calls Aziraphale « Az » most of the time

Priest!Aziraphale AU, with Demon Crowley slightly (very) obsessed with the idea of ‘ruining’ this (cute) priest in particular

As it usually is with whatever Crowley does, it ends up biting him in the butt ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

They met up at Concerts! Museums! Galleries!

This is the last scene where we see Aziraphale on Friday evening:

And this is his meeting place with Gabriel the next morning: