Ineffable Queer Omens

one thing that frustrates me to no end with some people in this fandom is the people who say "aziraphale was trying to do the right thing and save everyone. he loves crowley and crowley knows aziraphale loves him"

all valid points. not disputing that.

BUT THAT DOESNT CANCEL OUT THE FACT THAT CROWLEY WAS HURT BY AZIRAPHALE LEAVINGGGGGG

of course he bloody was! of course he was hurt! why do people try to erase crowleys feelings on this matter? you can understand someones reasons for leaving entirely and it doesnt change the fact that the person leaving you is painful!

ESPECIALLY IF YOUVE BLOODY LOVED THAT PERSON FOR 6000 FUCKING YEARS.

I mean jesus christ, can people have a bit of empathy for the grieving demon please? edit: without also hating on aziraphale because aziraphale did nothing wrong!

that guy was so hurt and depressed from aziraphale leaving that he drank himself stupid, gambled and slept on the street because he couldnt face staying in the bookshop. THAT GUY WAS HURT.

*** I honestly dont accept GO3 as canon at all and i know some people think crowley wallowing like this was out of character. I think maybe the length of time he did it for was out of character. i think he would have sorted himself out after a while because he always has a plan. but I dont think him being so depressed and drinking was. especially since he loved aziraphale for 6000 years and was suddenly all alone. we saw what he was like when he thought aziraphale was dead after the bookshop fire. he went to a pub and drank 3 bottles of whiskey because he didnt care anymore. he only sorted himself out once he knew aziraphale was okay. which is also what he did when aziraphale came back to him in go3. tho i do honestly think it would have made more sense for him to be shown drinking for a while but then having him process it and heal and coming to terms with it and getting back up anyway, out of spite if anything. wanting to prove he was fine without him because hes a cool, powerful demon, hes not some pathetic creature (only sometimes lol). so drinking and being heartbroken for a while? yeah. in character. but choosing to stay that way for 3 years or hoever long it was? that was not in character for me. hes a survivor. he gets back up even when it hurts. which is also why the ending where he chooses annihilation for them both makes no fucking sense. crowley would never do that. he always gets back up and keeps going and tries to help aziraphale in every situation.***

because you can love someone with your entire heart and soul but love isnt always enough to make someone stay and thats a hard thing to realise and come to terms with. you can tear yourself apart trying to understand why someone left and it can still fucking hurt you and you are allowed to feel hurt by it.

and nobody is the villain here. nobody. aziraphale isnt a bad person for leaving crowley! and im so sick of this narrative that aziraphale defenders get when someone even slightly mentions crowleys feelings on this matter. nobody is calling aziraphale evil when we say crowley was hurt by him leaving. (though of course there is a portion of the fandom that do villainise aziraphale for this and thats fucked up too! I just hate the divide that this fandom got because of the final fifteen.) like of course crowley knows why aziraphale left. he knows his angel. he knows he was trying to do the right thing. he knows aziraphale is just trying to fix things so they can be safe. he can know all this but it doesnt mean the hurt just fucking goes away!

crowley loves aziraphale and he knows aziraphale loves him too and thats why aziraphale is doing this. even though theyve both never outwardly said it, theyve both never dared to because they were terrified of being found out, they both deeply love eachother. and when aziraphale left, it completely shattered crowley. because there is no clean villain! no one is in the wrong here! and crowley knows that and thats SO much harder to heal from than if aziraphale had just straight up told crowley he hated him and never wanted to see him again (which would obviously never happen)

its much easier to accept someone leaving if they were abusive to you or evil or a horrible person.

it is much much harder to accept someone leaving if they are a good, genuine person and you know they still love you. and you know they truly did love you with their whole heart.

there is no one to blame. there is no one to hate. there is only the deep, profound hurt and the fact that the person who once called you starlight, your safe person, the love of your life isn't there anymore. and you have all of this love left with no where to put it. (i projected too hard there whoops)

crowley loves aziraphale with his entire heart but that demon was fucking heartbroken and im tired of people shoving his feelings aside just because aziraphale was trying to protect him and save everyone.

crowley was hurt. and you know what? aziraphale was hurt too! they both were! it was painful for both of them. the events and the argument leading up to the breakup too. because they both felt different things and they both realised this just wasn't something they could compromise on or agree on. and you can see the moment both of their hearts are just breaking completely. because they both love eachother so fucking much and they know they cant be together.

its a painful situation but its especially painful for crowley. because he got left behind. and for a guy with abandonment issues, thats a pretty fucking deep wound.

intent does not erase impact. and whilst aziraphale was trying to do the right thing, crowleys feelings got hurt. and he felt abandoned. he literally got kicked out of heaven. that guy knows what being abandoned feels like more than anyone. and whilst he knows aziraphale didnt mean to make him feel this way, crowley wouldnt be able to distinguish that from his trauma.

i do love season 2's ending because it is such a deep exploration of the pain and trauma that comes with leaving someone you still love. this stuff happens in real life. it happened to me and it happened to them and it is such a fucking horrible feeling to come to terms with that you can understand the other person's reasoning and you can know they still love you but they can still leave at any point. and you can be hurt by that. you are allowed to feel hurt and angry about that.

love just sadly isnt always enough to make someone stay.

and yes crowley and aziraphales situation is slightly different in the fact that aziraphale is literally going to heaven and trying to fix it and save everyone but the circumstances and the metaphor is there.

aziraphale thinks leaving is the right thing to do. and crowley wants them both to run away together.

both options suck.

aziraphale knows he cant stay because if he stays and runs away with crowley, then heaven will destroy everyone and crowley wont be safe. but if he goes then he has to leave crowley behind because he knows crowley wont come with him. he knows how badly heaven hurt crowley so asking him to be an angel again was a desperate attempt to keep his love by his side and I think aziraphale knew crowley wouldn't agree to that.

thats why this is so painful for crowley. because he knows aziraphale is at a crossroads for what he can physically do. hes at his limit. hes at capacity and he needs to fix it. aziraphale always needs to fix it and crowley is losing him. he knows it. and he cant do anything about it. and he understands it.

and he is hurt by it.

because he just wants love to be enough for once. but because of their circumstances, they physically cant be together. and he knows this and aziraphale knows this and its painful.

crowley was hurt by aziraphale leaving him and he knows aziraphale isn't a villain for it.

its just a very deep, very painful, very traumatic situation for the both of them.

“Use your gifts and your talents to greatest possible effect while you can. Spread joy wherever possible. Laugh at jokes. Tell jokes. Make puns and bugger the embuggerances. Read books. Read my books. You might like them. You might find something else you like even more than them. Look for these things in life.

Question authority. Champion good causes. Speak out against injustice. Do not tolerate bullies or bigots or racists or anti-intellectuals or the narrow-minded. Use your education to challenge them. Broaden their perspectives. Make the world you interface with a happier place.

These are your choices. Choices you have been fortunate to have been given, so don’t waste them while you have them. Don’t look back in years to come and wish you had grasped a fleeting opportunity. Grasp it now with both hands, Live. Strive. Love.”

From A Little Advice for Life taken from ‘Terry Pratchett: from birth to death, a writer.’

Fan: "Did Crowley get everything he wanted in the end? "

David Tennant: "No. No. He was evaporated. And then someone who looked a bit like him met someone who looked a bit like Aziraphale, but it's not the same thing."

Video link on twitter https://x.com/IneffableChar/status/2062535339097391465

I'd always known that demons are destined to suffer at the time of the Second Coming, but only now did the Metatron's offer to make Crowley an angel again take on a whole new meaning for me.

"If you agree, you can save your friend, your lover, from unimaginable, eternal torment. And if you don't, then you already know the consequences."

Of course, at the time of that conversation Aziraphale didn't yet know that the Second Coming was what Heaven had planned. But I think that was the moment he began to suspect that something was very wrong, and decided to take Crowley with him for his own safety. He didn't know how serious it was yet, but he already understood that they weren't going to get away with things so easily this time.

"I don't think you understand what I'm offering you."

"I don't think you understand that I'm offering this because I'm trying to save you, you stubborn fool."

"I need you!"

"I need you! I don't want to lose you! Come with me, I'm begging you. It's not safe for you here!"

And the moment the Metatron explicitly reveals that the plan is the Second Coming, everything is written across Aziraphale's face: realization, fear, panic, despair, and a desperate need to protect both Crowley and the Earth. No one escapes the Second Coming unchanged, and demons are condemned to eternal suffering. Aziraphale knows that. In that instant, the entire puzzle finally falls into place in his mind.

That's why he glances back.

"I have to leave in order to save you. I can't let this happen. I'm terrified, but I won't let you, or everything we love, be destroyed. I don't know how I'm going to stop it, but I need you to trust me. Please, trust me."

When Crowley wants to protect Aziraphale, Crowley goes to him.

When Aziraphale wants to protect Crowley, Aziraphale leaves.

Hey there!

I'm alive

I know I haven't been active these past few weeks, I've deleted all my socials just to dodge the amount of Good Omens spoilers I knew was gonna invade all my feeds, I'm dying to watch it but my friends schedules and mine won't collab...

If we're lucky we will end this torture on Sunday (if so, be prepared to a good amount of sketches lol)

The idea of having a more Crowley tinted lenses on for S2 seemed like it should pay off in S3 when Aziraphale's hope and rationality and hard work will be rewarded and acknowledged in the end. Now it just looks sinister because the good and kind angel is just stupid and pointless isn't he. Everywhere I look, there are metas about how he's not learned anything and should have listened to Crowley. Cynicism won.

And yet, it was Aziraphale who saved them anyway. Yes, I expected Crowley and he will renew the Universe without Heaven and Hell, but dissolving into nothing is still a better fate (imo) than eternity apart - especially if God would be cruel enough to keep them separated and Crowley would suffer the demon's fate of the Second Coming.

My point is, Aziraphale's tenaciousness is what got them to the finish line. Everything was always stacked against them. And Aziraphale kept them safe. And alive.

The idea of having a more Crowley tinted lenses on for S2 seemed like it should pay off in S3 when Aziraphale's hope and rationality and hard work will be rewarded and acknowledged in the end. Now it just looks sinister because the good and kind angel is just stupid and pointless isn't he. Everywhere I look, there are metas about how he's not learned anything and should have listened to Crowley. Cynicism won.

And yet, it was Aziraphale who saved them anyway. Yes, I expected Crowley and he will renew the Universe without Heaven and Hell, but dissolving into nothing is still a better fate (imo) than eternity apart - especially if God would be cruel enough to keep them separated and Crowley would suffer the demon's fate of the Second Coming.

My point is, Aziraphale's tenaciousness is what got them to the finish line. Everything was always stacked against them. And Aziraphale kept them safe. And alive.

These characters only became who they were supposed to be when Terry Pratchett came on board as writer.

NG never knew what to do with these characters. So he turned Aziraphale into a fool, and gave Crowley the spotlight.

I'm hearing people say that Season 2 was good, as if it wasn't S2 that brought us to the Finale, as if it wasn't S2 that divided us into "pro-Crowley" or "pro-Aziraphale", where this kind of discord didn't exist before.

I'm hearing people say that the Finale would have been better with 6 episodes, or if NG had been directing it…

The problem is precisely that the only person who truly understood the characters died in 2015. And we're pretending that S2 and the Finale are something by Terry Pratchett, when it's not possible that it is.

Season 2 and the Finale are much more NG than we're all willing to admit.

Season 1 is only so good because it follows the book closely and improves upon it, like, "you want more Aziraphale and Crowley, here it is!"... But...

... It's like sugar being added to a dessert, it was good in S1, became excessive in S2, and turned bitter in the Finale.

Because those who knew these characters died in 2015, and we prefer to believe that the another writer would be able to give us Aziracrow/Ineffable Husbands.

Their day has arrived. 🩶

A little moment inspired by the embrace Arwen and Aragorn share at the end of Return of the King.

But, no, Crowley was framed as the saint, the one who could no wrong and ultimately is the one who gets to make the “true” right decision. As if everything Aziraphale tried to do for humanity, for them, meant nothing. Because he’s stupid, prideful and lazy. He’s no angel, not really, Crowley is the only one who truly “got it”. Even though Aziraphale has warned him since before the beginning. (This is not to say I don’t love Crowley, I absolutely do! I just find it worrying that one main character was sidelined and turned into the villain for the other, more “popular” one.)

God was cruel to him, Mrs Sandwich was cruel to him, Crowley was mad at him pretty much the whole time. Awful things were said to his face in front of Crowley and he said nothing.

I don’t get it, I really don’t, I feel like whoever wrote Aziraphale and the other characters had a grudge against him or something in the finale. Or maybe they wanted to appeal to fanon, to the fact that pretty much everyone favors Crowley. (and I have many, many opinions as to why that is the case…)

Sorry for ranting in your inbox, I have some mutuals who would disagree with my takes and it feels unsafe to voice them publicly.

Thank you for this.

Yes, I too think it is utterly baffling and horrifying that Aziraphale hate has become canon. That everyone was just incredibly mean to Aziraphale. On top of all the bullying (and even a physical attack) we already saw him get.

Aziraphale got absolutely no comfort in GO3. I do not understand why the writers made Crowley so cold and stand offish all the time. As if Crowley couldn't understand Aziraphale was acting for them. For their future. And he achieved it too. Or they would have burned on Alpha Centauri having had never spoken to God (however much I dislike that ending, they would have gotten none at all).

Or maybe they wanted to appeal to fanon, to the fact that pretty much everyone favors Crowley.

You know, I get you and I was actually glad to see how much outrage there was over the treatment of Aziraphale. However, as time will pass, I worry that will all just become canon and Crowley will be enforced as the main character, just like GO3 wanted and Aziraphale the foolish idiot who "left him".

When honestly, the one who left and has given up was Crowley because he decided nothing can be done and Aziraphale could not accept that.