Just slightly obsessed by Good Omens, Doctor Who, LOTR, Star Trek,
Jeeves and Wooster, Dragons, random SFF, and other nerdy things.
Forced to work, study, and behave "normally".
Kind of unable to do so.
Fanfiction seems to be the answer.
Do not speak unkindly, lightly, or condescendingly of Aziraphale or Crowley.
1. The court holds Google responsible for statements made by its AI, considering them Google's statements (search engines have limited liability for results in their engine as they're the words of other sites/companies/people), meaning when their AI lies/hallucinates they're liable for the defamation/harm resulting from those statements.
2. Google's defense that customers are generally aware of the lack of reliability and are responsible for fact checking was dismissed. As the court pointed out, that would "significantly diminish" AI Search's stated purpose and it can't be distinguished from Google's business practices/statements as a search tool.
3. Studies have found about 91% of Google's everyday AI responses are accurate, leaving millions of searches per HOUR with potential liability for falsehoods. 56% of correct responses weren't supported by the sources the AI listed. Both of which mean Google is now liable for a LOT more AI "errors."
4. Google was held liable for 80% of court costs in this case and this precedent is expected to reverberate around the world. This is a massive shift from the 3rd-party search provider role Google has previously played and it comes right as they've tied ALL searches to their AI search.
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This is so painful to read over and over and over again.
Why do you hate him so much?
TL;DR:
- Aziraphale did not regress
- He succeeds at what he set out to do, try and change Heaven and avoid any disaster they plan to do next.
Not perfectly, of course (!), but he certainly didn't do what they asked and served them faithfully (because he still believes Heaven is good).
Second Coming never happened because he left at the end of S2.
- Crowley is often being given a pass for equally bad writing of him (and therefore behaviour) in S2/S3 if not worse. If Aziraphale is judged by his worst-written moments, Crowley should be too.
- The Final Fifteen is more complicated than "Aziraphale left Crowley." Aziraphale's Heaven choice was rational from his perspective. And the story's too. The only thing the convoluted mess was good for was to manipulate the audience into solely blaming Aziraphale.
- Aziraphale's behaviour and actions always reflected who he is. And he never belonged to Heaven or wanted to be part of them (and definitely didn't want Crowley to be part of them too).
However, Aziraphale understood that Heaven and Hell were real powers that could not simply be wished away.
Aziraphale survives by doing what he has always done: being careful, finding loopholes, hiding what he really thinks, creating plausible deniability, and pushing back against the system only as far as he believes is safe.
What some might read as cowardice, regression, or stupidity is often caution, survival, hope, and an awareness of consequences.
And Crowley understands that.
Recently there are many posts that say - yeah S3 sucked, look at what they did to Aziraphale. And yes by the way, I'd be happy to agree, some stuff they made him say was literally ridiculous. The writing was absolutely 100% atrocious.
But then the same posts (and others) go on and on about how S2 and S3 Aziraphale is this awful character who lost all he's learned (aw poor Crowley who can do no wrong, trying so hard to impart his wisdom only to have such a mule for a student, right?).
So pick one. Either the writing is bad or you think the character is an asshole. Don't mix them up.
S3 Crowley in my opinion is written as an absolute cockwomble. He does not seem to love Aziraphale or understand him, is acting like a moron who lost all his intellectual capacity, is cruel and unreasonable and plays the victim in the most nauseating way. (Why was he given depression and had a personality replacement?)
And yet I don't go on writing these long metas about how Crowley is fucking twat and how he broke all his promises ("I won't leave you on your own"), how all his words are just performative bullshit ("if something happens to Aziraphale..."). He acts like a wanker because that's how he was unfortunately written and I do give huge kudos to David for trying to rescue him where he could.
And yes, I too could argue that it all started in S2 when he begun with - what's the point of everything. And not seeing how hard Aziraphale tried to keep them afloat in uncertainty of their situation, not knowing what was going to happen next. How he went on with the frankly ridiculous 'confession' where he says nothing and does not notice how freaked out Aziraphale is, how much his angel is panicking.
How Crowley regresses back to wanting to run away when he knows Heaven wants to go ahead with Second Coming, having just seen hours before that the Universe and Time will cease to exist.
Where would they run to? For how long? How long would it take to efficient Supreme Archangel Michael to destroy it all after Gabriel's very short sighted 'nah'?
It's not hard to see Aziraphale. See how hard he tries to keep their safety, how hard he tries to keep their little world protected as much as he can.
No, Aziraphale could not have done more, be more open or get closer to Crowley. And Crowley, (the real Crowley not the fanon Crowley who is baffled by Aziraphale and is perpetually waiting for Aziraphale to 'learn' and 'understand' that all he needs is to choose "them") knows that this all they have. That trying anything more can easily result in disaster (like it almost happened with Furfur).
Their relationship is so perfect and interesting to watch because they are different and they want the same thing. Each other. Yes, Crowley is angry because the system is shit and he keeps pushing (with the Arrangement, with stopping Armageddon) to see how far they can take their side.
And Aziraphale is the break who says - you go too fast, who questions how safe would it be to try, who sets boundaries, who finds loopholes, technicalities, plausible deniability (everything from eating sushi because he lives among humans to 'I don't even like you!" in case they are found out, heard, intercepted, questioned. Trees have ears after all.)
Just because they survived 6000 years does not mean they were always going to. That's not how it all works. Just because I still have money for rent for next month doesn't mean I could have given up working 10 years ago.
So no. Just because Aziraphale does something you don't like or he doesn't throw himself at Crowley at every opportunity saying - Darling, let's elope together! Does not mean he is stupid.
He leaves for Heaven in S2 because he knows staying would bring nothing. Because punishment for hiding Gabriel will still hang over him because he knows there's something big behind Gabriel's own punishment. Because he knows 'the big one' is still to come. And if he has even a sliver of a chance to make a difference, he takes it. Because that's who he is.
And Aziraphale asked Crowley to help him. Yes, it would have to be as 'an angel' (and I don't think Crowley was objecting to that, he was objecting to the whole silly idea of trying to change Heaven which is like saying Aziraphale wanted to move the mountain a bit to the left with his foot) but it was the only option Aziraphale saw on how to be together.
You can disagree with that and think that Crowley was right and few days or weeks together on Earth or Alpha Centauri was the better choice but that does not mean that Aziraphale is stupid or is regressing.
He has a point. That trying is worth it.
What's more, AZIRAPHALE SUCCEEDS. He delays Second Coming for years. It does not happen in the end. Humans are not judged about their eternal fate. Crowley and other demons are not thrown into a burning lake for eternity to suffer.
I think the ending of S3 sucked but whatever you feel, the Second Coming would have been worse.
Because it all WAS bigger than them.
In F15, however much of the fandom pushed the Aziraphale left Crowley button over and over, I still see it as Crowley leaving Aziraphale more. Aziraphale asked for help in something he was going to do and which he did.
Crowley wanted to run when there was no time or place for them to run to. He was the one who walked away from Aziraphale two times and who kissed him like that too. The only kiss we have for them.
BUT rather than leaving each other, I think they were torn apart from each other by circumstances more. And by who they are and how they react to disastrous things. The decisions were in character for them both but the story around it was painted and the audience manipulated to blame and hate Aziraphale and it succeeded so well I'd give standing ovation to the monstrosity if I wasn't so disgusted.
And just a note on 'you were the best of us' (you can also check this post here I agree with)- because I am TIRED of people taking that one thing out and making at all about how Aziraphale just wanted Crowley to be an angel, he didn't understand anything, didn't learn anything in 6000 years on how it was pointless to choose sides.
Look. Aziraphale met angel Crowley just that once. And that angel basically ignored him. Why the everlasting whatever would he be dreaming of wanting that guy instead of the demon he spent 6000 years getting to know and adore. WHY. Give me a reason.
Why would Aziraphale dream of them being angels together when he always hated Heaven and all the angels were constantly awful to him and we never see him admire a single one of them or want anything to do with them if he doesn't have to.
And as for - but Heaven is the light and truth. Please. He was lying through his teeth. He looks on the verge of nervous breakdown. Yes, now we won't ever know if he was lying because he was scared Metatron will listen (a perfectly reasonable fear of the second highest being in the universe) or because he wanted to alert Crowley to the fact that he was lying and scared and didn't really want to leave.
If Aziraphale thought Heaven was good he wouldn't have spent years trying to stop Second Coming, he would have returned the missing Archangel who ended up on his doorstep, he wouldn't have deserted the war, he wouldn't have decided to kill Adam, he wouldn't have hang around with a demon and risk his existence for him. Or anyone. He would have been a good little angel like all of them.
You are probably thinking I am exaggerating or taking this too personally.
Yeah, I am. Aziraphale is my comfort character. I adore him. I think his understated strength, his delight in things, his hope and this incredible resolve he has to just keep going and find a way and hold himself up and keep trying even when he knows how bad everything is, how hopeless. He does not give in and I don't want to either you know?
Yes, I could just say, everything is shit and pointless, give in to cynicism and despair. But isn't there enough of this in the world?
Isn't that what the worst people in the world feed on? Build all their lies on? All their hate? Look everything is hopeless and going downhill they say, everything is meaningless and when people nod and feel hopeless, they say - and it's all THEIR fault! Look at them! The immigrants, the refugees, the gays, those there with different skin colour and religion and culture. They are to blame. Let's destroy them.
And yeah, I can kind of get where S3 tried to inject 'optimism' into the story, get rid of God and afterlife that was always ultimately unfair so like Adam says people would care about the life here and now.
But in my opinion (and I am happy for you if it is different for you) they failed because their world was just the same as ours and the angels and demons in the fantasy story I love deserved their redemption too and Aziraphale deserved to be free and safe and live the rest of however long he would wish (maybe until Earth lasts?) instead of being killed for dramatic purposes.
Anyway, lunchbreak over.
Thanks if you read it. I truly appreciate it. Even if you disagree.
(Iâm adding anti-GO3 tags for my reactions to this post. Iâm apparently still not quite done ranting.)
Aziraphale is my comfort character too. I loved him in the book (though I pictured him a lot less charismatic than Michael Sheen, whose portrayal made me fall in love).
I believe the assassination of his character actually begins in S1, where he is made subtly subordinate to Crowley (who can stop time! Who can create a pocket universe outside of time!). The first time I watched I was slightly taken aback by âCome up with something! Or Iâll never talk to you again!â Book Aziraphale was more poised than Crowley at the showdown, and I loved him at that moment.
It just goes on from there, with Crowley being a star-maker and Aziraphale (what was his job before the beginning? Errand angel? Janitor? Who knows! Who cares, apparently!*) looking adoringly on; Crowley becomes more and more the mentor who explains everything to Aziraphale (who is sluggish to learn, judging from 1827) and even introduces him to the pleasure of food. But Crowley suffers tooâbook-Crowley wasnât dependent on Aziraphaleâs presence to try to avert Armageddon; show-Crowley doesnât have book-Crowleyâs optimism no matter how many times people invoke it. He wouldnât have been musing in the pointlessness of everything to Shax; he wouldnât have ended up helpless in an alley. Show-Crowley has nothing, really, except Aziraphale.
I am in no way discounting depression, hereâI suffer from it myselfâbut Crowleyâs decline in S3 seems alien to me. If he had a sliver of book-Crowleyâs chutzpah he wouldnât be passed out in an alley. And youâre telling me Crowley lost the Bentley to protect the bookshop? That doesnât ring true to me.
I admit I chuckled at the closed miracle account, but how convenient that Crowley has lost his powers now, years after he openly challenged Hellâs authority? Too convenient. Just bad writing. I could have forgiven a few isolated incidents of whimsical convenience in a funny story, but the way it fetched up on the shores of tragedy sours the silly parts.
Unpopular opinion: people are very down on the way Aziraphale speaks to Crowley at their turbid reunion in S3; but, speaking as a person who has been in a very similar situation, I might have reacted to an ex I found in the gutter rather similarly. Itâs shocking. Itâs upsetting. You have t had time to adjust; you want to shock them out of it, get them on your page.
Crowley refused Aziraphale help when he begged, and now Aziraphale is supposed to fall to his knees to cuddle him and soothe his tortured brow? Immediately upon seeing him in ruin? Some might, sureâI donât think I would. It wouldnât mean I didnât care. It would mean I was slow to react emotionally, a trait I share with Aziraphale.
But neither of them are in character anyway, so itâs a moot point. Does it seem rational that Aziraphale wouldnât check up on Crowley for years if he was free to come and go? Not to me.
Apparently, despite all the care taken to show us the Nazis lip-reading through the bookshop window; that Metatron was watching closely; that both Crowley and Aziraphale were glancing at that window; that Nina and Maggie showed up at a convenient moment to distract Crowley from monitoring the conversation Aziraphale is having with the Met, to have a trite and pointless talk about the relationship of two supernatural beings whom they barely know, leaving a coffee shop unattended at a peak hourâIâm sorry about this inane sentence, but itâs how the F15 looks nowâapparently none of it meant anything.
The problem isnât Aziraphale (or Crowley, though Crowley gets called out a lot less for the times he treats Aziraphale badly), itâs shit writing.
I can understand people liking the ending for various reasonsâbut I canât understand people liking or even forgiving the terrible writing, the pointless plot-ends, and the lionization of a character who should never be put on the spot by to choose the fate of the universe.
â-
* My HC is that Aziraphale was a âGarden Deziner,â that his stint as Brother Frances and the design of the bookshop are callbacks to this. This also means that Crowleyâs passion for plants is because of his memory of Aziraphale in Eden, as so many of Aziraphaleâs color choices are paeans to Crowley.
I have HCs to help me deal with the "super!Crowley stuff that starts in s1, because I do truly believe that for all the flashy abilities Crowley has, Aziraphale surely has similar, but quieter ones (I see healing, protection, and now a sort of creative growth? The thing that keeps both his gardens and his neighbours thriving)
And I think Aziraphale was throwing those abilities at Crowley as he wilted before Satan, the protection and strengthening, as well as his millennia of knowledge on how to motivate him (that might also be being used in go3, though I'm still not sure what I think of that, as I haven't been able to watch it again yet)
I watched the entire series without thinking that Aziraphale still had faith in Heaven. I suppose I can see it if you take what he says at face value, but now that I've been shown the surveillance, the malevolence of the Metatron, the regular appearance of angels, and the times and places when he is at his most egregious BUT we see there is likely someone watching him, the fact that his actions don't match his words completely convinced me that he was always just as much a questioner as Crowley, just under different control.
Aziraphale will always be my favourite. Crowley might have been up there before, at the time of the book, before I could see show!Aziraphale and marvel at how familiar he felt.
But part of it is that I love him extra for being misunderstood and maligned. Because I know how it feels. And Go3 was just a step too far for me. Nobody should be forced to endure that much criticism and coldness from everyone he's ever reported to and loved.
As for the despair and depression, more on that later. Like my friend obligate, those are longtime friends and I can't quite put them in here right now. I have things I have to do and as it is have to hope this is at all coherent.
I actually do think we should discourage women from becoming housewives. Do not become financially dependent on a man. That's how a lot of women ended up dead over the years. A man gets violent suddenly and you have to choose between homelessness or potentially dying at his hand because you have an enormous gap in your resume and no degrees or certifications or anything that will help you pursue a career that will allow you to be financially independent. He owns your bank account. His name is probably the one on the car. Try and leave and he can report it stolen. Where will you go then?
This is so painful to read over and over and over again.
Why do you hate him so much?
TL;DR:
- Aziraphale did not regress
- He succeeds at what he set out to do, try and change Heaven and avoid any disaster they plan to do next.
Not perfectly, of course (!), but he certainly didn't do what they asked and served them faithfully (because he still believes Heaven is good).
Second Coming never happened because he left at the end of S2.
- Crowley is often being given a pass for equally bad writing of him (and therefore behaviour) in S2/S3 if not worse. If Aziraphale is judged by his worst-written moments, Crowley should be too.
- The Final Fifteen is more complicated than "Aziraphale left Crowley." Aziraphale's Heaven choice was rational from his perspective. And the story's too. The only thing the convoluted mess was good for was to manipulate the audience into solely blaming Aziraphale.
- Aziraphale's behaviour and actions always reflected who he is. And he never belonged to Heaven or wanted to be part of them (and definitely didn't want Crowley to be part of them too).
However, Aziraphale understood that Heaven and Hell were real powers that could not simply be wished away.
Aziraphale survives by doing what he has always done: being careful, finding loopholes, hiding what he really thinks, creating plausible deniability, and pushing back against the system only as far as he believes is safe.
What some might read as cowardice, regression, or stupidity is often caution, survival, hope, and an awareness of consequences.
And Crowley understands that.
Recently there are many posts that say - yeah S3 sucked, look at what they did to Aziraphale. And yes by the way, I'd be happy to agree, some stuff they made him say was literally ridiculous. The writing was absolutely 100% atrocious.
But then the same posts (and others) go on and on about how S2 and S3 Aziraphale is this awful character who lost all he's learned (aw poor Crowley who can do no wrong, trying so hard to impart his wisdom only to have such a mule for a student, right?).
So pick one. Either the writing is bad or you think the character is an asshole. Don't mix them up.
S3 Crowley in my opinion is written as an absolute cockwomble. He does not seem to love Aziraphale or understand him, is acting like a moron who lost all his intellectual capacity, is cruel and unreasonable and plays the victim in the most nauseating way. (Why was he given depression and had a personality replacement?)
And yet I don't go on writing these long metas about how Crowley is fucking twat and how he broke all his promises ("I won't leave you on your own"), how all his words are just performative bullshit ("if something happens to Aziraphale..."). He acts like a wanker because that's how he was unfortunately written and I do give huge kudos to David for trying to rescue him where he could.
And yes, I too could argue that it all started in S2 when he begun with - what's the point of everything. And not seeing how hard Aziraphale tried to keep them afloat in uncertainty of their situation, not knowing what was going to happen next. How he went on with the frankly ridiculous 'confession' where he says nothing and does not notice how freaked out Aziraphale is, how much his angel is panicking.
How Crowley regresses back to wanting to run away when he knows Heaven wants to go ahead with Second Coming, having just seen hours before that the Universe and Time will cease to exist.
Where would they run to? For how long? How long would it take to efficient Supreme Archangel Michael to destroy it all after Gabriel's very short sighted 'nah'?
It's not hard to see Aziraphale. See how hard he tries to keep their safety, how hard he tries to keep their little world protected as much as he can.
No, Aziraphale could not have done more, be more open or get closer to Crowley. And Crowley, (the real Crowley not the fanon Crowley who is baffled by Aziraphale and is perpetually waiting for Aziraphale to 'learn' and 'understand' that all he needs is to choose "them") knows that this all they have. That trying anything more can easily result in disaster (like it almost happened with Furfur).
Their relationship is so perfect and interesting to watch because they are different and they want the same thing. Each other. Yes, Crowley is angry because the system is shit and he keeps pushing (with the Arrangement, with stopping Armageddon) to see how far they can take their side.
And Aziraphale is the break who says - you go too fast, who questions how safe would it be to try, who sets boundaries, who finds loopholes, technicalities, plausible deniability (everything from eating sushi because he lives among humans to 'I don't even like you!" in case they are found out, heard, intercepted, questioned. Trees have ears after all.)
Just because they survived 6000 years does not mean they were always going to. That's not how it all works. Just because I still have money for rent for next month doesn't mean I could have given up working 10 years ago.
So no. Just because Aziraphale does something you don't like or he doesn't throw himself at Crowley at every opportunity saying - Darling, let's elope together! Does not mean he is stupid.
He leaves for Heaven in S2 because he knows staying would bring nothing. Because punishment for hiding Gabriel will still hang over him because he knows there's something big behind Gabriel's own punishment. Because he knows 'the big one' is still to come. And if he has even a sliver of a chance to make a difference, he takes it. Because that's who he is.
And Aziraphale asked Crowley to help him. Yes, it would have to be as 'an angel' (and I don't think Crowley was objecting to that, he was objecting to the whole silly idea of trying to change Heaven which is like saying Aziraphale wanted to move the mountain a bit to the left with his foot) but it was the only option Aziraphale saw on how to be together.
You can disagree with that and think that Crowley was right and few days or weeks together on Earth or Alpha Centauri was the better choice but that does not mean that Aziraphale is stupid or is regressing.
He has a point. That trying is worth it.
What's more, AZIRAPHALE SUCCEEDS. He delays Second Coming for years. It does not happen in the end. Humans are not judged about their eternal fate. Crowley and other demons are not thrown into a burning lake for eternity to suffer.
I think the ending of S3 sucked but whatever you feel, the Second Coming would have been worse.
Because it all WAS bigger than them.
In F15, however much of the fandom pushed the Aziraphale left Crowley button over and over, I still see it as Crowley leaving Aziraphale more. Aziraphale asked for help in something he was going to do and which he did.
Crowley wanted to run when there was no time or place for them to run to. He was the one who walked away from Aziraphale two times and who kissed him like that too. The only kiss we have for them.
BUT rather than leaving each other, I think they were torn apart from each other by circumstances more. And by who they are and how they react to disastrous things. The decisions were in character for them both but the story around it was painted and the audience manipulated to blame and hate Aziraphale and it succeeded so well I'd give standing ovation to the monstrosity if I wasn't so disgusted.
And just a note on 'you were the best of us' (you can also check this post here I agree with)- because I am TIRED of people taking that one thing out and making at all about how Aziraphale just wanted Crowley to be an angel, he didn't understand anything, didn't learn anything in 6000 years on how it was pointless to choose sides.
Look. Aziraphale met angel Crowley just that once. And that angel basically ignored him. Why the everlasting whatever would he be dreaming of wanting that guy instead of the demon he spent 6000 years getting to know and adore. WHY. Give me a reason.
Why would Aziraphale dream of them being angels together when he always hated Heaven and all the angels were constantly awful to him and we never see him admire a single one of them or want anything to do with them if he doesn't have to.
And as for - but Heaven is the light and truth. Please. He was lying through his teeth. He looks on the verge of nervous breakdown. Yes, now we won't ever know if he was lying because he was scared Metatron will listen (a perfectly reasonable fear of the second highest being in the universe) or because he wanted to alert Crowley to the fact that he was lying and scared and didn't really want to leave.
If Aziraphale thought Heaven was good he wouldn't have spent years trying to stop Second Coming, he would have returned the missing Archangel who ended up on his doorstep, he wouldn't have deserted the war, he wouldn't have decided to kill Adam, he wouldn't have hang around with a demon and risk his existence for him. Or anyone. He would have been a good little angel like all of them.
You are probably thinking I am exaggerating or taking this too personally.
Yeah, I am. Aziraphale is my comfort character. I adore him. I think his understated strength, his delight in things, his hope and this incredible resolve he has to just keep going and find a way and hold himself up and keep trying even when he knows how bad everything is, how hopeless. He does not give in and I don't want to either you know?
Yes, I could just say, everything is shit and pointless, give in to cynicism and despair. But isn't there enough of this in the world?
Isn't that what the worst people in the world feed on? Build all their lies on? All their hate? Look everything is hopeless and going downhill they say, everything is meaningless and when people nod and feel hopeless, they say - and it's all THEIR fault! Look at them! The immigrants, the refugees, the gays, those there with different skin colour and religion and culture. They are to blame. Let's destroy them.
And yeah, I can kind of get where S3 tried to inject 'optimism' into the story, get rid of God and afterlife that was always ultimately unfair so like Adam says people would care about the life here and now.
But in my opinion (and I am happy for you if it is different for you) they failed because their world was just the same as ours and the angels and demons in the fantasy story I love deserved their redemption too and Aziraphale deserved to be free and safe and live the rest of however long he would wish (maybe until Earth lasts?) instead of being killed for dramatic purposes.
Anyway, lunchbreak over.
Thanks if you read it. I truly appreciate it. Even if you disagree.
(Iâm adding anti-GO3 tags for my reactions to this post. Iâm apparently still not quite done ranting.)
Aziraphale is my comfort character too. I loved him in the book (though I pictured him a lot less charismatic than Michael Sheen, whose portrayal made me fall in love).
I believe the assassination of his character actually begins in S1, where he is made subtly subordinate to Crowley (who can stop time! Who can create a pocket universe outside of time!). The first time I watched I was slightly taken aback by âCome up with something! Or Iâll never talk to you again!â Book Aziraphale was more poised than Crowley at the showdown, and I loved him at that moment.
It just goes on from there, with Crowley being a star-maker and Aziraphale (what was his job before the beginning? Errand angel? Janitor? Who knows! Who cares, apparently!*) looking adoringly on; Crowley becomes more and more the mentor who explains everything to Aziraphale (who is sluggish to learn, judging from 1827) and even introduces him to the pleasure of food. But Crowley suffers tooâbook-Crowley wasnât dependent on Aziraphaleâs presence to try to avert Armageddon; show-Crowley doesnât have book-Crowleyâs optimism no matter how many times people invoke it. He wouldnât have been musing in the pointlessness of everything to Shax; he wouldnât have ended up helpless in an alley. Show-Crowley has nothing, really, except Aziraphale.
I am in no way discounting depression, hereâI suffer from it myselfâbut Crowleyâs decline in S3 seems alien to me. If he had a sliver of book-Crowleyâs chutzpah he wouldnât be passed out in an alley. And youâre telling me Crowley lost the Bentley to protect the bookshop? That doesnât ring true to me.
I admit I chuckled at the closed miracle account, but how convenient that Crowley has lost his powers now, years after he openly challenged Hellâs authority? Too convenient. Just bad writing. I could have forgiven a few isolated incidents of whimsical convenience in a funny story, but the way it fetched up on the shores of tragedy sours the silly parts.
Unpopular opinion: people are very down on the way Aziraphale speaks to Crowley at their turbid reunion in S3; but, speaking as a person who has been in a very similar situation, I might have reacted to an ex I found in the gutter rather similarly. Itâs shocking. Itâs upsetting. You have t had time to adjust; you want to shock them out of it, get them on your page.
Crowley refused Aziraphale help when he begged, and now Aziraphale is supposed to fall to his knees to cuddle him and soothe his tortured brow? Immediately upon seeing him in ruin? Some might, sureâI donât think I would. It wouldnât mean I didnât care. It would mean I was slow to react emotionally, a trait I share with Aziraphale.
But neither of them are in character anyway, so itâs a moot point. Does it seem rational that Aziraphale wouldnât check up on Crowley for years if he was free to come and go? Not to me.
Apparently, despite all the care taken to show us the Nazis lip-reading through the bookshop window; that Metatron was watching closely; that both Crowley and Aziraphale were glancing at that window; that Nina and Maggie showed up at a convenient moment to distract Crowley from monitoring the conversation Aziraphale is having with the Met, to have a trite and pointless talk about the relationship of two supernatural beings whom they barely know, leaving a coffee shop unattended at a peak hourâIâm sorry about this inane sentence, but itâs how the F15 looks nowâapparently none of it meant anything.
The problem isnât Aziraphale (or Crowley, though Crowley gets called out a lot less for the times he treats Aziraphale badly), itâs shit writing.
I can understand people liking the ending for various reasonsâbut I canât understand people liking or even forgiving the terrible writing, the pointless plot-ends, and the lionization of a character who should never be put on the spot by to choose the fate of the universe.
â-
* My HC is that Aziraphale was a âGarden Deziner,â that his stint as Brother Frances and the design of the bookshop are callbacks to this. This also means that Crowleyâs passion for plants is because of his memory of Aziraphale in Eden, as so many of Aziraphaleâs color choices are paeans to Crowley.
Ahh, you put a finger on something that I never articulated to myself but that always always bugged me.
How show Crowley seems way too dependent on Aziraphale. I know people picked up on it, I see it sometimes when people say he adores him (and kind of hates himself for it). But...why? Why this dynamic in particular?
It's not a very healthy one.
Crowley refused Aziraphale help when he begged, and now Aziraphale is supposed to fall to his knees to cuddle him and soothe his tortured brow? Immediately upon seeing him in ruin? Some might, sureâI donât think I would. It wouldnât mean I didnât care. It would mean I was slow to react emotionally, a trait I share with Aziraphale.
Very much same. I wouldn't say I'm cold at all but I would definitely give space first and think about how to react and approach again later. Esp someone who didn't seem to want to see me at all.
It might seem odd but it's how I know I would react. Crowley wasn't being actively harmed or in danger. That would be a different thing altogether.
Honestly, if F15 means anything now it's that it was a waste of time. And a lot of pointless grief. Because 95% of fans believed, based on it, that Aziraphale was being tricked and manipulated and was not getting any job and definitely not a possibility to change anything. He was just stupid enough to fall for it so they can be separated.
But Aziraphale actually achieved things in Heaven.
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To anyone worried about their emotional investment (and consequent grief/devastation/ongoing coping issues) with fictional material: Please consider sports fans and fannishness before you judge yourself too harshly. It is normal human behavior to have large emotional reactions to things you care about and even more so when it's bigger than your own life (in the way sports and tv shows can be.)
We all know sports fan activities tend to be masculine-coded and therefore socially acceptable while story fan activities are coded feminine/queer and therefore looked down on.
So don't worry about it. It would be nice if we could all meet around the water cooler and chat openly about our feelings without censoring ourselves or fearing judgement from those who don't necessarily understand. But that's why we have cons and tumblr etc.
Take care of yourselves. Be gentle with yourself. Who you are is okay. You don't need to be different. Know that time will pass and you will feel better.
If you feel this pressure to minimise your feelings from one of these sports people, it's good to have a comeback to use either out loud or at least in your head.
There is usually a goal or a call or an injury that if you bring it up, you will still get an emotional reaction even decades later-- sometimes even if this part of the game happened before the sports fan was born!
Through-The-Ages Theatre's Halloween night celebrations continue. Will Aziraphale be able to tell Crowley about Tracyâs offer? Or will a spot oâ bodysnatchinâ get in the way?
Chapter Excerpt:
Crowley weaved his wobbly way through the crowd of customers towards the entrance. But he was forced to pause at the pub door when he found it blocked by two women from the Halloween-themed hen party. They were trying, unsuccessfully, to get a disheveled mannequin that was dressed as what he could only guess to be Frankensteinâs monster out through it.
As the girls swung the mannequin around to see if they could fit it through the doorway easier horizontally, Crowley had to quickly shoot out a startled hand to grab one of the legs and stop it from hitting him straight in the face.
âOi! This one's ours, ya bastard! Go get yer own!â shouted the angrier of the two women, who was dressed as a ragged Victorian street urchin. She had a label stuck to her that said âThe Bodysnatcherâ.
Series Summary:
Aziraphale and Crowley met in a garden â well, to be more precise, a kindergarten â at a private religious school called Eden. After forming an unlikely friendship, we follow them through their time at Eden and beyond. Will they be able to turn their lifelong friendship into something more? And can they work out an Arrangement that allows them to create a happy life for themselves? A fluffy âthrough-the-agesâ inspired AU that starts, as it will end, in a garden â while hitting every âageâ in between.Â
Each work in this series will focus on one âageâ from canon, with the ratings and tags maturing as they do. Once they are adults, some of the works in this series from 'Rome' onwards will be rated Explicit.
Read now on AO3
Or start from the beginning
TW/CW: Sexual harassment (not by Crowley or Aziraphale).
Thank you so much to my wonderful betas for all of your help and patience: @brenna, Kuri_risu and @laudaddysmitten!
And a huge thank you to @goodomensafterdark and the Writers Guild!
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One of the most haunting things about GO3 for me is that the ending transforms the entire meaning of âeternityâ in Good Omens.
Back in season 1, when Crowley tries to convince Aziraphale to help raise (educate) the Antichrist, one of his biggest arguments is the horror of post-apocalyptic eternity.
Not death.
Eternity.
Not simply losing Earth and humanity, but losing everything that made existence meaningful in the first place:
Crowley and Aziraphale were never afraid of existing forever.
They were afraid of a dead eternity.
An eternity of endless Heavenly bureaucracy.
Endless âHeavenly harmonies.â
Climbing the same mountain forever and ever.
In season 2, Alpha Centauri still exists as an escape fantasy. A survival plan. A place where they could exist together forever, outside Heaven and Hell.
And Aziraphale never truly rejects eternity with Crowley. He rejects abandoning humanity.
Thatâs important.
Then GO3 does something devastating:
they literally fly past Alpha Centauri.đŤđâ¨
Past the possibility of survival.
Past the possibility of personal eternity together.
And eventually⌠they let eternity go.
Thatâs why the ending hurts so much for some of us.
Not because Aziraphale and Crowley âbecame human.â
But because the show seems to suggest something even more tragic:
that they ceased to exist as themselves.
And the reincarnation/multiverse interpretation honestly doesnât comfort me much.
Because if Aziraphale and Crowley keep finding each other in every universe, every lifetime, without memory of who they once were, then that isnât really eternal love.
Itâs eternal repetition.
Not eternal happiness.
Not eternal reunion.
Just endless versions of approaching each other again and again without ever fully reaching the original âus.â
And somehow that feels terrifyingly close to the very thing Crowley feared in season 1:
another form of eternity without escape.
A different mountain.
The same climb.
What makes it even more painful is that Aziraphale and Crowley never fully understood humanity to begin with.
They loved humans.
Protected humans.
Were fascinated by humans.
But they constantly observed humanity from the outside.
Crowley understands cruelty, violence, systems, fear, war. But ordinary human emotional chaos genuinely confuses him:
Jane Austen being both a smuggler and a romance novelist.
People turning tragedy into tourism (The story of Mr. Dalrymple, and the "Resurrectionist" pub).
Love is not working according to âconditionsâ or âritual dances.â
Even Nina and Maggie prove that human connection cannot simply be engineered.
Humans are too contradictory.
Too irrational.
Too alive.
So if Aziraphale and Crowley really did reincarnate as humans while retaining fragments of their former selves â their love of books, stars, music, nightingales â then maybe they would always remain slightly alien inside humanity.
Always searching for connection.
Always feeling incomplete.
Always sensing some absence they cannot name.
Not angels anymore.
Not demons anymore.
But never fully human either.
And maybe that is the true tragedy of GO3.
Not death.
But endless becoming.
Endless searching.
Endless learning how to be human without ever fully understanding why being human hurts so much.
Maybe thatâs why the ending feels less like a traditional âhappy endingâ and more like a cosmic elegy about memory, identity, freedom, and the unbearable weight of eternity.
This is particularly poignant to those of us who feel like we really don't understand humans and can't really be one of them even though we've been assured by family that we are them.
(especially when most other humans seem to agree that we definitely don't belong on the same planet with them)
I know I'm not alone here in the GO fandom in feeling this. What do the rest of you think?
(Personally, I can see the connection, but I'm not sure it's a healthy one for us, it feels too empty and hopeless, honestly)
In any case, it's a beautifully lyric exploration of themes, love the finale or not. I do find that I can't hold the themes for long without a profound sadness bordering on despair, so I'm going to try to focus elsewhere.
You know before go3 i used to imagine that azi would be able to persuade some of the angels close to him to change their mind by showing them kindness and humanity, show them thereâs so much more in life than just obeying orders. Like how muriel was quite fond with humans by reading books. Make some of them realize that humans are worth saving and when the second coming came round, those angels would stand on azi sides and help him stop it. Heaven and hell will resolve their problems and lives with people to experience the beauty of humanity
This was my favourite fanfiction ... er, I don't know the term for it, but several writers did it very well. It seemed to me to fit the themes and show us a path forward in the world, and it also showed that Aziraphale had character/personality strengths that meant something.
Of course, we don't know that it didn't happen. That the reason the archangels allowed the world to go on for 3 years and hadn't entirely rebelled wasn't that the underlings are all pro-Aziraphale. We didn't get to see minor angels (or demons) almost at all. Were they rising up, before they ended? I don't think we know. And in Heaven, 3 years is an extremely short time.
So, if I wanted to write something in the go3 canon time (I don't think I could, but-), maybe I would write that.
Digression: I know it isn't really a theme and I've been dinged for this before, but (and this is one reason why I really struggle with BoL stuff!) I keep coming back to how trying to do Good, whether you're Adam or Josh or Anathema or Aziraphale, it had to Mean Something even if it was retconned away by a book.
Like, if you do something good and nothing good comes from it, is it any less good?
But I digress.
I will HC that Aziraphale did do good in the GO3 Heaven and the Good did cause angels to learn and grow and do good themselves and make Heaven better (even if it didn't really carry up to the archangels) and that is reflected in their echoes into the new universe.
...for the part of my brain that is GO3 semi-compliant, but there is a large part of GO3 that for Aziraphalean reasons I can't even approach right now, so depending on where in canon I end up.
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friends, if I can give you one piece of advice for those of you who are new to work, or are about to enter the workforce, especially if you have any sort of office job:
