Allons-y !

Terry Pratchett is very pro humanity but I feel like people may be putting more emphasis on that than is reasonable. He's also very pro troll, and pro dwarf, and eventually pretty much any kind of intelligent creature, including goblins, who put a lot of cultural significance into snot. Pratchett's non humans are not forced to become human to belong, and many retain their own languages and culture and ways of life, while others are free to find their own ways even if their people don't like it (see Cherry for example, the first openly female presenting dwarf in Ankh-Morpork).

If Crowley and Aziraphale showed up on the Discworld, they'd be welcomed as they were right up until Crowley started a massive traffic jam and then he'd find out why you shouldn't make Commander Vimes mad. But Vimes wouldn't yell at him for being a demon - he'd yell at him for being a little shit.

Non-human beings of the Discworld don't have to conform to a specific biological or cultural paradigm to belong.

Adam chose a human life but kept his powers. Aziraphale and Crowley chose a human life too (they went for lunch) and their powers weren't taken away (a table was mysteriously vacant).

So why should they have to sacrifice part of themselves going forward? The novel already makes a point of how human they had become: they are curious and imaginative, they question and defy norms and expectations, they find love for each other and the little pleasures of a human life, they are selfish but also capable of the ultimate selfless act in the end. After the world is saved once more, I would imagine them living a quiet, apparently human life, but still driving the Bentley on an empty tank, or inexplicably finding a free table at the Ritz. Just like Adam may find himself on the other side of the hedge even though he's grounded.

What it says on the tin. Please feel free to reblog with more recs!

Criminals:

3:10 To Yuma, by ireallyneedmoretea. Rated G, 666 words. P. Dec 25.

Great human Au that packs so much in just 666 words! Crowley’s last act as a soon-to-be former deputy sheriff is to make sure outlaw Aziraphale gets on the train to Yuma Territorial Prison. Cleverness, mystery and Aziraphale’s sassiness, what more can we ask for?

Warmth by Dannye Chase (HolyCatsAndRabbits), HolyCatsAndRabbits. Rated E, 9k. P. Jan 21.

Human AU where Aziraphale lives in a small town and one day a mysterious and very handsome man pays a visit to the library where he works. The two men become friends but Aziraphale knows that friendship is all he can hope for. Or is it?

A little angst with a happy ending. Really sweet and heartwarming. 

Smooth Criminal, by Sabotaged_Words. Rated T, 11k. P. Aug 24.

Oh,I adored this story! I have already recommended it to anyone who would listen and I'll recommend it again! It's a human AU where petty criminal Crowley tries to steal items from Aziraphale's bookshop and that's how their friendship begins. Delightful humour, warm vibes, great characterisation, hilarious references to canon: this fiction is a gem.

Private detectives:

Anthony J. Crowley: Private Eye, by Tigerseye67, rated M, 14k. P. Mar 25.

Lovely human AU written in the style of a 40s noir film. Crowley is a private detective and Aziraphale hires him to recover a book that Gabriel stole from him. Several plot twists later everything ends well for our heroes, in this intriguing case!

Spies:

You're The Bad Guys by Nebz_AlphaCentauri. Rated E, 91k. P. Feb 25.

For the criminals:

Protect and Serve: Aziraphale is a police officer and Crowley is a white-collar thief with a kind of Robin Hood syndrome. This story is one of the sweetests fics I've read. It's action, fluff and smut all around. If you haven't read it yet stop whatever you're doing and go immediately to read it. Stop reading this recs! Go read it! You'll thank me later.

For the spies:

It also has a lot of different kinds of stitches you can do that make different densities of fabric.

I was surprised that I’d never heard of it though. It’s older than knitting and crocheting and even though it’s been done all over the world it’s super relevant to Nordic culture and my grandmother and I are both into keeping in touch with our roots a bit so I’m surprised I’ve never heard of it.

It’s also a lot easier to freehand and adjust as you go than crochet or knitting and you mostly go by inches instead of rows and number of stitches so a large number of accessories like stitch markers or whatever isn’t really necessary.

The downside as a beginner is that undoing mistakes is more time consuming than with knitting or crochet. You’ve gotta like sew your mistakes out backwards. Disadvantages of making a really sturdy fabric I guess.

I like the feel of this bone needle though and don’t think I’ll be trying the wooden or metal ones.

Also I think I’m gonna have to get good at doing Russian joining if I decide to get good at nalbinding because I don’t have wool yarn and the ends won’t felt together if it’s not at least 50% wool. A small price to pay for using big bone needle though.

I figured it out.