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Latest Posts by nowthatisanexcellentquestion - Page 3
The reason Vox has a picture of duck Lucifer is because he got the picture off of Charlie’s profile picture of him on her phone.
source
Nifty hugs Alastor’s legs. Alastor might not have been Charlie’s dad, but he sure is Nifty’s. I love Lucifer’s and Husk’s faces while everyone else is actually happy to see him.
I need a scene where the V’s find out Nifty is Alastor’s gremlin. I think at least Valentino would give trying to hurt Alastor a second thought.
I know this is kind of a popular question, but how powerful is Alastor? He was surprised when Adam broke his staff, he fights with Lucifer, etc. So is the deal he has weakening him? Was he more powerful before? Is that why he’s so stressed out, because he knows he’s more vulnerable? What about the wing comment he made during his part of “The Show Must Go On”? The stitches on his smile suggests that he literally can’t stop smiling, or at least feels like he can’t. I’m not sure if Lilith is the one who owns Alastor, but it’s still not a coincidence that they were both missing at the same time. He really is one of the most beautifully written characters because he’s such a complex character with complex emotions that we don’t know a lot about but still try to figure him out. This is a bit of a ramble, but I really hope we get more of him in the second season. I’m really liking the Roo theory right now because, to me, it makes the most sense.
”Alastor’s hair sucks” “it’s so ugly”. Yeah, maybe it’s not the best. But what about VALENTINO’S FEATHER?? WHY HAVEN’T I SEEN ANYONE TALK ABOUT THAT HUH?!? HES BALD AND TRIES TO COVER IT UP WITH A BIG HAT AND FEATHER?!?
I think the main thing that gets me about episode 6 is that it shows how truly unfair it is. Like, Adam literally said “we don’t have bad days” THEN HOW CAN YOU JUDGE HOW SOMEONE ELSE COPES IN A PLACE WHERE THEY ONLY HAVE BAD DAYS?!? Lute looked directly at Angel in pain and said that it was his fault, like he had a choice. And maybe he did, but it’s still not his fault of all the horrible things that’s been done to him. They never had to experience that and feel no sympathy for things they don’t understand. Thats why I don’t think they want to know what the system is of how they ended up where they did. They think they won and that’s all they need to know to think their better then those is worse situations.
This might be spoilers
About one of the main characters dying, did Viv say it was going to be in this first season? I saw somewhere that they’re making the second season.
Do you think that Alastor doesn’t like Lucifer because he blames Lucifer for the extermination? Maybe he genuinely thinks he’s a better dad because he thinks Lucifer failed at his job as ruler?
Not Vox dressing up as a priest and Alastor dressing up as a nun to prove a point during a duet with someone they hate.
We talk about the scene that Alastor swears directly to his face (because it’s perfect and hilarious), but what all the times he pushed him around during the song? Making fun of him because he’s short? Leaning on his hat and smacking him out of the way? I might be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that this episode is where he gets more physical with anyone than any other episode. Mimzy, Lucifer, and Charlie.
These last two episodes have been amazing! One thing I’d like to point out are Alastor’s actions throughout the fifth episode. First, he makes himself look like a good guy/father even though we haven’t really seen any build up to a father-daughter relationship with him and Charlie which makes me think he’s doing it mostly to anger Lucifer (or maybe it has something to do with Lilith? I know that’s a theory going around and I like it a lot.) or he actually does kind of care and just wanted to cause chaos. Then we see him threaten Husk. We’ve seen him go demonic before, but what he did with the lights and his form was genuinely terrifying. Another thing during that scene that made me pause was the fact that Husk actually had to courage to talk to Alastor like that in the first place. It’s still a horrible relationship, but I still don’t think it’s the kind of relationship Angel has with Valentino other than obvious reasons of Alastor not being into that. It shows that Alastor’s reaction might not have been normal and was unexpected. Also, I’ve seen people talk about the chain difference which I thought was really interesting. Then towards the end, with Mimzy. Do you think it’s because of Lilith that he’s protecting the hotel? That’s a “friend” he's had since he was alive and it’s implied he’s protected her before. She was shocked when he asked her to leave. I NEED TO KNOW WHY ALASTOR IS THERE!! Hopefully in the next two episodes. Do you think the reason why he asked Mimzy to go is because Lilith or someone else saw that she could be a threat and made him ask her to go? Or was that all him and he’s starting to actually care? He’s such an unpredictable character and this entire season we’ve been chasing after any evidence on what he might be doing. Same thing with Lilith, as her face was blurred out in the episode. And what about Eve? What happened to her? Maybe it’s not Lilith but Eve that has Alastor’s leash?
DEAR FANFICTION WRITERS
Thanks for existing
reblog if you are ASEXUAL, support ASEXUAL PEOPLE, or SECRETLY A DRAGON IN HUMAN FORM
reblog if you love women
Reblog to kill it faster
This is about Sci-Hub. yeah we get it.. gatekeep knowledge and protect the interests of capital…
You know when your obsessed with a show and you introduce said show to a friend, but their not AS into it as you are and so when you go on hour rants about your theory’s and how you watched the show seven times, they look at you like your crazy. Couldn’t relate.
Awhile ago @ouidamforeman made this post:
This shot through my brain like a chain of firecrackers, so, without derailing the original post, I have some THOUGHTS to add about why this concept is not only hilarious (because it is), but also...
It. It kind of fucks. Severely.
And in a delightfully Pratchett-y way, I'd dare to suggest.
I'll explain:
As inferred above, both Crowley AND Aziraphale have canonical Biblical counterparts. Not by name, no, but by function.
Crowley, of course, is the serpent of Eden.
(note on the serpent of Eden: In Genesis 3:1-15, at least, the serpent is not identified as anything other than a serpent, albeit one that can talk. Later, it will be variously interpreted as a traitorous agent of Hell, as a demon, as a guise of Satan himself, etc. In Good Omens --as a slinky ginger who walks funny)
Lesser known, at least so far as I can tell, is the flaming sword. It, too, appears in Genesis 3, in the very last line:
"So he drove out the man; and placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." --Genesis 3:24, KJV
Thanks to translation ambiguity, there is some debate concerning the nature of the flaming sword --is it a divine weapon given unto one of the Cherubim (if so, why only one)? Or is it an independent entity, which takes the form of a sword (as other angelic beings take the form of wheels and such)? For our purposes, I don't think the distinction matters. The guard at the gate of Eden, whether an angel wielding the sword or an angel who IS the sword, is Aziraphale.
(note on the flaming sword: in some traditions --Eastern Orthodox, for example-- it is held that upon Christ's death and resurrection, the flaming sword gave up it's post and vanished from Eden for good. By these sensibilities, the removal of the sword signifies the redemption and salvation of man.
...Put a pin in that. We're coming back to it.)
So, we have our pair. The Serpent and the Sword, introduced at the beginning and the end (ha) of the very same chapter of Genesis.
But here's the important bit, the bit that's not immediately obvious, the bit that nonetheless encapsulates one of the central themes, if not THE central theme, of Good Omens:
The Sword was never intended to guard Eden while Adam and Eve were still in it.
Do you understand?
The Sword's function was never to protect them. It doesn't even appear until after they've already fallen. No... it was to usher Adam and Eve from the garden, and then keep them out. It was a threat. It was a punishment.
The flaming sword was given to be used against them.
So. Again. We have our pair. The Serpent and the Sword: the inception and the consequence of original sin, personified. They are the one-two punch that launches mankind from paradise, after Hell lures it to destruction and Heaven condemns it for being destroyed. Which is to say that despite being, supposedly, hereditary enemies on two different sides of a celestial cold war, they are actually unified by one purpose, one pivotal role to play in the Divine Plan: completely fucking humanity over.
That's how it's supposed to go. It is written.
...But, in Good Omens, they're not just the Serpent and the Sword.
They're Crowley and Aziraphale.
(author begins to go insane from emotion under the cut)
In Good Omens, humanity is handed it's salvation (pin!) scarcely half an hour after losing it. Instead of looming over God's empty garden, the sword protects a very sad, very scared and very pregnant girl. And no, not because a blameless martyr suffered and died for the privilege, either.
It was just that she'd had such a bad day. And there were vicious animals out there. And Aziraphale worried she would be cold.
...I need to impress upon you how much this is NOT just a matter of being careless with company property. With this one act of kindness, Aziraphale is undermining the whole entire POINT of the expulsion from Eden. God Herself confronts him about it, and he lies. To God.
And the Serpent--
(Crowley, that is, who wonders what's so bad about knowing the difference between good and evil anyway; who thinks that maybe he did a GOOD thing when he tempted Eve with the apple; who objects that God is over-reacting to a first offense; who knows what it is to fall but not what it is to be comforted after the fact...)
--just goes ahead and falls in love with him about it.
As for Crowley --I barely need to explain him, right? People have been making the 'didn't the serpent actually do us a solid?' argument for centuries. But if I'm going to quote one of them, it may as well be the one Neil Gaiman wrote ficlet about:
"If the account given in Genesis is really true, ought we not, after all, to thank this serpent? He was the first schoolmaster, the first advocate of learning, the first enemy of ignorance, the first to whisper in human ears the sacred word liberty, the creator of ambition, the author of modesty, of inquiry, of doubt, of investigation, of progress and of civilization." --Robert G. Ingersoll
The first to ask questions.
Even beyond flattering literary interpretation, we know that Crowley is, so often, discreetly running damage control on the machinations of Heaven and Hell. When he can get away with it. Occasionally, when he can't (1827).
And Aziraphale loves him for it, too. Loves him back.
And so this romance plays out over millennia, where they fall in love with each other but also the world, because of each other and because of the world. But it begins in Eden. Where, instead of acting as the first Earthly example of Divine/Diabolical collusion and callousness--
(other examples --the flood; the bet with Satan; the back channels; the exchange of Holy Water and Hellfire; and on and on...)
--they refuse. Without even necessarily knowing they're doing it, they just refuse. Refuse to trivialize human life, and refuse to hate each other.
To write a story about the Serpent and the Sword falling in love is to write a story about transgression.
Not just in the sense that they are a demon and an angel, and it's ~forbidden. That's part of it, yeah, but the greater part of it is that they are THIS demon and angel, in particular. From The Real Bible's Book of Genesis, in the chapter where man falls.
It's the sort of thing you write and laugh. And then you look at it. And you think. And then you frown, and you sit up a little straighter. And you think.
And then you keep writing.
And what emerges hits you like a goddamn truck.
(...A lot of Pratchett reads that way. I believe Gaiman when he says Pratchett would have been happy with the romance, by the way. I really really do).
It's a story about transgression, about love as transgression. They break the rules by loving each other, by loving creation, and by rejecting the hatred and hypocrisy that would have triangulated them as a unified blow against humanity, before humanity had even really got started. And yeah, hell, it's a queer romance too, just to really drive the point home (oh, that!!! THAT!!!)
...I could spend a long time wildly gesturing at this and never be satisfied. Instead of watching me do that (I'll spare you), please look at this gif:
I love this shot so much.
Look at Eve and Crowley moving, at the same time in the same direction, towards their respective wielders of the flaming sword. Adam reaches out and takes her hand; Aziraphale reaches out and covers him with a wing.
You know what a shot like that establishes? Likeness. Commonality. Kinship.
"Our side" was never just Crowley and Aziraphale. Crowley says as much at the end of season 1 ("--all of us against all of them."). From the beginning, "our side" was Crowley, Aziraphale, and every single human being. Lately that's around 8 billion, but once upon a time it was just two other people. Another couple. The primeval mother and father.
But Adam and Eve die, eventually. Humanity grows without them. It's Crowley and Aziraphale who remain, and who protect it. Who...oversee it's upbringing.
Godfathers. Sort of.
I just had a thought. What if after everything and when (hopefully) the Metatron is away, Aziraphale is asked to be the voice of God? BUT he chooses Crowley instead? Just a thought.
falling in love with a guy for breaking the rules and taking on great risk to himself in order to protect humanity and then acting surprised when he's willing to give up everything that makes him happy in order to protect humanity
I’m still processing season 2, BUT IF THERE IS ONE THING I WANT FROM SEASON 3 IS AZIRAPHALE LOSING IT AND PROTECTING CROWLEY!!!!!!! I mean I know Aziraphale leaving was most likely a misguided way of protecting Crowley and I both hate and love that, but I want him to get ANGRY!!!!! I WANT HIS EYES TO GLOW AND HIS WINGS AT FULL DISPLAY IN FRONT OF CROWLEY!!! I DONT EVEN CARE WHO HES PROTECTING CROWLEY FROM I JUST WANT HIM TO DO IT!!!!!!
I don't think some of you should be coming down on Aziraphale so hard for his decision and I'm going to point out something not enough people take into consideration.
Just think of the circumstances he was in. He got offered a deal that could fix pretty much every single problem they have and that could consequently make both him and Crowley incredibly happy.
At least that's how he sees it. It all comes crashing down once he realises that that's not what Crowley wants. That it's not that easy for them to have that perfect life. Having that opportunity and then it being ripped right out of his hands. Just look at how giddy he was when he was telling Crowley, after which he straight up went into denial and refusing to listen to what Crowley has to say, because this. would. have. solved. everything.
But... it's not what Crowley wants. And it's not as if he can make him go with him to Heaven (thank god) because he's not that kind of person. He's not possessive or controlling. And more than anything he loves Crowley and up until that moment he had the perfect means to make him happy. And now it's gone.
So not only does he have this earth shattering realisation about Crowley and what he wants he also now has to deal with what he himself wants. Now if anyone knows how it feels to be in such a stressful and agonising dilemma over something, you will probably feel and emphasise with Aziraphale pretty hard in this scene. Because this is where old coping mechanisms start to hit. This is where he falls back on something reliable, something he can trust will make the right decision, and that is his old belief that Heaven is to be obeyed and that it can do no wrong, that is still so ingrained in his instincts and decision making. This is where his trauma comes into play.
And he fights it.
How fucking strong do you have to be to be able to fight your own gut feeling, that has been trained and created for millions of years. He actively tries to tell the Metatron "no" multiple times, shame that the Metatron is a master manipulator and doesn't let him the opportunity, but he still does it nonetheless.
(This is the part I wanted to point out) This boy had to make a life changing decision that would determine how he would spend the rest of eternity itself. And he didn't even have 10 minutes to make it.
He had only minutes to make this decision. Imagine the sheer soul-shattering heart-rending turmoil that has been going on inside him. The sheer panic and dread he was probably feeling.
And despite what millenia of training and what his thoughts and logic were telling him, he still followed his heart, he still chose Crowley... until the Metatron sensed exactly that and told him about the Second Coming.
Well, now that made things much simpler. His happiness or the universe. And he sacrificed himself. Again...
And to top it all off, he had to fucking smile. He has just lost everything he loves, earth, the bookshop, crepes... and Crowley. No. No, it's more than that. After Crowley's confession he realised he lost everything he never even had. Utterly and completely alone. And he cannot dare shed a tear. How. Fucking. Strong. Do you have to be to be able to do that.
Also something really important I want to point out about Aziraphale's religious trauma.
It's often framed as him being directly abused by Heaven, generally emotionally. And while I don't doubt he's been belittled at points - probably not by Gabriel, the iconic exemplar of the Toxic Positivity boss, but we know how Michael and Uriel etc. can be - it also seems like he's received quite a lot of praise and has generally managed to pull off the appearance of being A Good Angel, or at least a satisfactory one. I don't think, and this is controversial, but I don't think Heaven was usually overtly hard on him.
Because that's not how this kind of cult mentality usually operates. Instead, it teaches you to abuse yourself. Your overseers don't have to directly hurt or insult you if you're so ingrained with fear of failure by the culture you were brought up in that you constantly question yourself as not good enough.
It's not as... satisfying, I guess? As an external abuser being the main issue. But it's a lot more real. At least to me, because I suffered so much anxiety over being 'good' when I was a kid, and it wasn't from direct abuse. It was absorbed from the culture I was surrounded by. I picked it up by osmosis from society at large, and it tormented me. I worried, I doubted, there was a time I literally feared going to Hell. And I wasn't raised strongly religious. My mother certainly treated me as a Good Kid, and never gave even the suggestion that I wasn't. But I felt that way anyway. And it tore me apart. Because internalizing that shit makes it so much harder to fight.
And to be clear at this point, I am not saying Heaven isn't abusive. I just think the nature of its abuse is more subtle and insidious than it's often given credit for. And - this is even harder to accept, but it's true, and it's important - it's not just abusive to Az. All the angels are victims of it. Yes, even Gabriel. The moment he, one of the most powerful forces in Heaven, steps out of line, we see that no one is exempt. Never even mind Muriel, who is literally on the lowest rung of the Heavenly ladder and has probably never been told they're worth anything beyond being, you know, an angel, so at least you're better than humans and demons.
It's a contrast with Crowley, who has long since accepted most (not all, there are definitely some deep issues remaining, but they're nothing like Aziraphale's) of his internal doubts and struggles. His fears are almost entirely external. He doesn't beat himself up if he fucks up. He doesn't have to. There are people happy to beat him up for him. So when things go really bad for him, his instinct is to run. To get out of the way of harm as much as possible.
The fact that Aziraphale is harder on himself than anyone else could be is a vital part of his character. He self-punishes. He self-criticizes. He feels awful every time he breaks the rules in the slightest, even though he isn't usually caught at it. Crowley can find some safety in solitude if he keeps his wits sharp and his head down. Aziraphale can't, because he carries Heaven's conditioning with him at all times. He doesn't need oversight, it doesn't take external threats to keep him in line. You don't need direct threats when literally everyone in your celestial workplace has seen firsthand the consequences of rebellion.
I don't know if I'm making sense here. Again, this is informed by personal experience and I can't claim to be unbiased. But I see so much internalization with Aziraphale. He literally can't even accept praise without being nervous as hell, and I don't think it's fear of punishment or ridicule that's his primary motivation. He simply cannot ever be good enough for himself.
That's how they get you.
Anyway, I think it's why his reaction to disaster is the opposite to Crowley's, why he feels he has to turn and face it and somehow avert the horror (or, alternatively, find some way to reconcile it in his head and accept it - because let's be real, that's often what happens) rather than get himself away. He's less afraid of failing his superiors than he is of failing himself. And God, who is, objectively, the biggest abuser in the entire story.
The fact that Crowley knew immediately who Nina was referring to when she asked about his “partner”.
I think it’s the fact that Aziraphale doesn’t actually want Crowley to change, not really, that kills me. He wants to protect him, make it easier for them to be together. He doesn’t want to be separated from him any more than Crowley wants to be. He still wants to be good and he thinks that in taking Crowley with him to Heaven they can still have the same relationship as they do on Earth. Aziraphale doesn’t understand, not like Crowley does. Crowley has been at the mercy of both Heaven and Hell, quite literally punished by both. Aziraphale went to Hell to save Crowley and witnessed the blunt cruelty of Hell. Aziraphale still believes Heaven to be pure because Heaven covers its corruption with ‘good’ intentions. Crowley knows better.