I <3 my humanist show
26 Aug 2023 12:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
promethia_tenk(The Eden Disorder, by Naumaxia on YouTube.)
I love everything about Good Omens, but if I had to choose one thing, one single thing, it would be that Crowley is the Serpent of Eden. The show means nothing without it.
Do you ever think about how Aziraphale is a huge fan of Crowley's work? The collective output of knowledge and creativity of the human race is the direct result of the Fall from Eden.
The bookshop is a sort of post-fall Eden. Of course it's a haven. It also has a world tree in its center, though the summoning circle on the floor up through the cupola:
And all the fruits of knowledge strewn everywhere, abundant. The newly innocent Gabriel, like a reverse Adam, comes instinctively to the bookshop. "Who told you I was naked?" he asks Aziraphale. (cf: God saying "Who told you you were naked?" in Genesis.) He loves the books, but does not understand them. Crowley nearly makes him fall too (out the window) before deciding he can't. The Serpent of Eden, everybody:
But, and here's the crucial bit: the bookshop doesn't exist if Crowley isn't a demon. "If you don't change [the Bentley] back right now, I'm going to start selling people books! In fact, I might even give some away!" he threatens Aziraphale. Crowley lost his demon shell after subverting the apocalypse: both the job itself and the foreboding flat that went with it. What he has left of that identity is the black, low-slung, speeding Bentley and his garden of emotional trauma in the back seat. (Notice how he keeps the plants away from Aziraphale, only taking them into the bookshop when Aziraphale is out. Of course they belong in the bookshop: what's an Eden without the garden? Or its snake.)
A number of people have noted the change in color grading this season, and its primary effect, besides being just generally gorgeous, seems to be to highlight the similarities between Crowley's coloring and that of the bookshop. Most take it as a commentary on Aziraphale's preferences which, of course, it is: here's an excellent meta on the season as nesting fic (!) with an extended analysis of the bookshop coloring. A week or two ago I was watching especially the scenes of Crowley minding the shop while Aziraphale is in Edinburg, appreciating how harmonious he looks there. But if I'm honest with myself, what I was thinking wasn't 'Crowley looks like he belongs in the bookshop.' It was that Crowley is the bookshop:
Or its animating spirit, perhaps?:
Aziraphale may match the antique style of the place, but in shot after shot, he stands out against it (not as harshly as Muriel in her stark white, but it's still a contrast), while Crowley melts into the background like warmed chocolate:
Here's the thing, though: Aziraphale was ready to give up the bookshop. He was ready to give up the bookshop to make Crowley an angel again. That is indeed the trade-off, though he misunderstood cause and effect: the bookshop doesn't exist if Crowley isn't a demon. Aziraphale thought, rather sensibly, that the books are, at the end of the day, just things. And nothing last forever. What he didn't realize is the bookshop is everything.
(no subject)
Date: 28 Aug 2023 05:58 pm (UTC)Look, having just consumed one GO human AU fic that's like... 90% Aziraphale thirsting for Crowley, it is HILARIOUS to me that the show is doing the same damn thing. Kudos Mr Gaiman.
It's not the angst so much as the stagnation of being left with it and no guarantee of whether we'll ever even get a season three. What I really want it just for people to start writing plausible continutations.
I suppose. I guess I was - partly - thinking of those with conspiracy theories, which just makes no sense to me, because it's not possible to move forward without dealing with this exact issue. I don't even want fics yet, I just want to delve into the pain. It's so beautiful. (Also I am an optimist, I can't even imagine not getting a S3.)
Fair. Though, fair warning: I suspect most of the shots will not hold up well as icons. The color gradations are so subtle.
Yeah, I have a feeling they'll be v dark, so I'll wait and see.
I've been a bit divided on whether Crowley will come back to the shop after this or run and hide. But I think he has to come back. Surely? He belongs to the bookshop. He'll need to take care of it. And have a slapstick buddy comedy with Muriel.
That, or become a hermit. But I'd prefer the buddy comedy. <3
(no subject)
Date: 29 Aug 2023 12:48 am (UTC)!! The show Nina'd me! 'I know I'm,
really upset right nownot attracted to Crowley. Whydon't I feel upsetdo I feel like I'm attracted to Crowley?'I suppose. I guess I was - partly - thinking of those with conspiracy theories, which just makes no sense to me, because it's not possible to move forward without dealing with this exact issue.
*nods* This was kind of my instinctive reaction to, like, the Metatron one: if that's true, we have nothing to do for three years.
I don't even want fics yet, I just want to delve into the pain. It's so beautiful.
Honestly, I'm not feeling the pain anymore. Once I'd sorted through the causes and had plausible explanations, it all went a bit blank. Even watching the ending it just . . . slips past me. I suspect I'd actually feel it more if someone wrote out a meaty resolution to it--then I could feel it in retrospect. Bittersweet stuff tends to hit me harder and stay with me a lot longer than straight tragedy. I could still wreck myself right now by thinking about World Enough and Time hard enough, but this?
I could use some fic to do the feeling for me. I've gotta find some season-two specific recs, though. I've hardly seen any. Just delving into the AO3 stream has been a lot of chaff.
(Also I am an optimist, I can't even imagine not getting a S3.)
I feel pretty confident we'll get a season three now, but you know it's gonna be a serious wait.
Yeah, I have a feeling they'll be v dark, so I'll wait and see.
At least when I'm making an icon, I find the first thing I need to do is up the exposure and the contrast as far as I can without destroying the image. Those bookshop scenes are not a promising place to start.
That, or become a hermit. But I'd prefer the buddy comedy. <3
My demands for season three are modest, but strict: I need about three times as much screen time for Muriel, and I need Aziraphale to call Crowley 'dearest.' And I need them to do kinky food stuff in front of Michael. Three simple requests.
(no subject)
Date: 28 Oct 2023 07:25 pm (UTC)!! The show Nina'd me! 'I know I'm, really upset right now not attracted to Crowley. Why don't I feel upset do I feel like I'm attracted to Crowley?'
LOL. I have a whole Sexy Crowley icon now...
Honestly, I'm not feeling the pain anymore.
And how is that going, mmm?
My demands for season three are modest, but strict: I need about three times as much screen time for Muriel, and I need Aziraphale to call Crowley 'dearest.' And I need them to do kinky food stuff in front of Michael. Three simple requests.
That reminds me - the fic, what are you thinking? Do you want me to write more of it?