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Quantum Boogaloo

@dreamingreality00 / dreamingreality00.tumblr.com

Fandom and semi-personal blog here. You can call me Alex (they/them)
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I’ve had my share of [Crowley voice] you idiot thoughts at both of them over their terrible communication skills and severe chronic inability to say what they mean. But like. I get it.

For 6000 years, they had to talk in code. They had to express themselves in grand gestures and subtext and plausible deniability, out of fear of being found out. And they got really good at it! They developed a whole secret language of ways to say I love you because they couldn’t say it out loud.

But now that they can—and need to—talk about what they are to each other with actual words, they don’t know how.

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Up until the almost-end-of-the-world, the way Aziraphale and Crowley maintained their relationship was through a collection of well-established and repeated patterns (dances, you might say). These little rituals were what they used to communicate affection, intimacy and trust when they couldn’t say the things they wanted to say out loud. I like spending time with you. You make me happy, and I like making you happy. We’re in this together. I’ll always be there for you, even when your own side is not.

In season 1, as the stress of the impending apocalypse puts more and more pressure on their relationship, we see their patterns start to break down, and it’s very distressing for them. They’ve been communicating like this for so long that they don’t know what to do when one of them doesn’t follow the dance steps.

When we first see them in season 2, they seem in some ways to be closer than ever. They touch each other more easily, Aziraphale in particular. Crowley is comfortable enough in the bookshop that he has a Spot for putting his sunglasses when he takes them off by the door. They’re more open about acknowledging how much time they spend together and how many things in their lives are shared.

And I think, also, we expect them to be happy. They won, didn’t they? So it takes a while for the cracks to start to show.

It wasn’t until this post pointed out that the whole season, we never see them sit down and share a meal together in the present day (no, Crowley doesn’t eat; yes, it still counts) that it started coming together for me. The closer you look, the more you realize the old patterns they’re used to relying on are broken.

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neonvqmpire

we need to talk about how close aziraphale actually was to saying no to the metatron after the kiss and why:

he's extremely conflicted and keeps looking out of the window to crowley in the car.

he previously said "nothing last forever" when crowley told him that he cant leave the bookshop (crowley also meant "you cant leave me"; the bookshop is a metaphor for their lives on earth for him) and he states exactly this as the first objection here. obviously the metatron shuts it down by appointing muriel as the next owner of the shop.

now he's stuck between wanting to be with the being he loves & who he now knows loves him back and his deep inner need/duty to do good. crowley's confession and kiss clearly made him question his decision and change his mind because here is when he actually decides for both.

you can see how he does not want to join heaven alone. he keeps looking out the window when asked if he needs anything to take with him.

he desperately needs crowley there but he can not have him so he lies and says no.

i this moment he tries to say no to heaven one last time. he starts saying "i think i-" and then looks out to crowley one last time. he's really considering crowleys offer here. i think the decision that he makes instead is actually FOR crowley as well.

he decides to join heaven not as he was previously convinced by the metatron to do good and rule together with crowley (which he did not want to do) but instead to go and keep a close eye on heaven FOR crowley.

aziraphale isnt stupid, he remembers what crowley said about heaven being toxic.

i think the confession and kiss makes him question heaven. crowley, who fell for asking questions made aziraphale question heaven too. something that he was always too scared to do. he has started to rebel in his head. he realised that something has to be up with heaven/the metatron bc they offered him the position. he decided to go but with a completely different purpose than before. 

he puts on a smile and it seems fake because it is. he wants to appear like he hasn't just fundamentally changed his position and decided to go against the one force who he was always afraid of yet dependent on. 

this is sth extremely relatable to someone who is queer and autistic and was raised by very conservative family members. even the thought of supporting queer people felt rebellious, terrifying but also extremely exiting and powerful because i knew it was the right thing to believe. 

aziraphale was being so brave here. he saw a glimpse of the life he wants and can have and choose to join heaven anyway to fight for this life. he is convinced it will not be possible for them to be together if heaven is still kicking about and making him feel powerless and scared. he wants to secure their future by changing or possibly even destroying the system from the inside out. 

unfortunately he didn't have time to tell crowley about his change of intention and i think it really breaks his heart. crowley would probably not understand it anyway. they still have a lot to work through and learn but ultimately they will find each other again. they always do.

i am so so interested to see where and how they meet again in s3, if we get it. after everything i just really want them to be happy and to spend their eternity together. they deserve it after all they went through.

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cramopener

I think what makes this even more exceptionally heartbreaking is that to Crowley, Aziraphale is basically saying in so many words that he doesn’t love him as he is, the demon that despite being a demon, has gone out of his way for Aziraphale time and time again and been there for him every single time he needed it. He wants the Crowley that is “good” by default, uncomplicated and easy to love, not the actual, complicated person he’s been through thick and thin with and has had to work through difficult situations and emotions with. God, that is such a fucking gut punch

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gabriel going to find aziraphale because he knows what it's like to fall in love with your demonic counterpart......because he knows aziraphale is a principality and will protect him when he's vulnerable........because he knows aziraphale is better than heaven.

and the metatron uses that play, that knowledge, to trap aziraphale in gabriel's stead. i'd bet gabriel didn't foresee that, but i doubt he'd have cared even if he had.

if one angel falls in love with a demon, that's a good story. if two angels fall in love with demons, that feels like an institutional problem. gabriel is just betting that he'll beat aziraphale to first place.

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sitzfleischh

Ok ok ok but the THING the thing that GETS ME about Aziraphale and I feel like I don't see as much about it written on here is that yes we all know that Crowley pretends to be cynical and dark because he wants so badly to be joyful and optimistic but he's been hurt & let down too many times so he puts up the cynicism as a facade.

But Aziraphale is ALSO DOING THIS, just using the opposite tactic.

Crowley assumes everything will go badly because he's protected from disappointment when it does, and gets to be pleasantly surprised when it doesn't.

Aziraphale assumes everything will go well because he's unBELIEVABLY anxiety-ridden ALL THE TIME and cannot deal emotionally with even the prospect of things going wrong. So not only does he optimism his way out of seeing issues that are right in front of him until he absolutely can't avoid them any longer (see: dancing in his bookshop surrounded by demons), but he also actively gaslights himself into thinking that the bad things that happened to him or that he was involved in weren't that bad, and pretends that he doesn't have negative emotions and is just fine and happy all the time because he doesn't know what to DO with those feelings-- he's an angel! He's supposed to be placidly happy forever! What do you mean he's angry or sad or disappointed or disgusted or lonely? Angels don't feel those things!

Season 2 showed us Crowley getting in touch with his feelings of love and care, and I think season 3 is going to show us Aziraphale getting in touch with his feelings of anger and disappointment, and I for one CANNOT WAIT.

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RAARARARARGH it’s the way some of the things that were so romantic about their s1 dynamic have spiraled into these unhealthy coping mechanisms.

Aziraphale, who was valued so little in Heaven, found someone who valued him SO MUCH, who always, always showed up for him. But now he’s gotten so used to Crowley showing up, always being there, maybe with a few grumbles but always going along, that he’s shocked when Crowley gives him a hard no on something and they have no way to work through it. He sees it as Crowley refusing to help him, abandoning him for reasons he doesn’t understand, just when it looks like they could be getting everything they want.

And Crowley who was always circling Aziraphale, keeping a watchful eye out for both of them, has just wound himself tighter and tighter around his only friend, no connections to the humans they just helped save (not even the acquaintance-level ones that Aziraphale has with his neighbors), no hobbies or pastimes it seems (waiting around in the shop for Aziraphale is not a hobby), no home, never more than a few minutes away from being at Aziraphale’s side (I’m betting that alley where he parks is close by). It’s fear, it’s all fear, but buddy that’s not healthy. And then the gut-punch that after all that, maybe Aziraphale never really saw him at all.

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Thinking about how Crowley was wearing his sunglasses during the kiss. Thinking about how it was not romantic, but rather desperate and angry. Thinking about how it was probably their first kiss ever, for both of them. Thinking about Aziraphale grasping at Crowley's back. Thinking about the moment during the kiss where Crowley seems to try and pull Aziraphale even closer. Thinking about how Aziraphale most definitely wanted to kiss back but didn't. Thinking about how Aziraphale could interpret it as Crowley tempting him. Thinking about how it was the most human way Crowley could possibly convey what he was feeling. Thinking about how it was awkward and went on for too long. Thinking about Aziraphale pressing his fingers against his lips afterwards. Thinking abou-

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roastedeel

Individualism is a poison upon this earth.

You and i overlap in more categories than we remain seperate. A mirror is held up every time you face another human. I am you and you are me bitch

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