Aziraphale/Crowley
| Pairing | |
|---|---|
| Pairing: | Aziraphale/Crowley |
| Alternative name(s): | Ineffable Husbands, Consenting Bicycle Repairmen, A/C, Air Conditioning, azicrow, crowzira, Ineffable Wives (when female), Ineffable Spouses, Ineffable Partners |
| Gender category: | M/M, nebulous |
| Fandom: | Good Omens |
| Canonical?: | quasi-canon |
| Prevalence: | Popular |
| Archives: | |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Aziraphale/Crowley is the pairing of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley in Good Omens.
In the early days of the fandom, based solely on the book, ship named included A/C or "Air Conditioning" (more common on Livejournal), and "Consenting Bicycle Repairmen" (a description of the two, taken from the novel). Later, on Tumblr, fans took to calling the ship "ineffable husbands," in reference to God's ineffable plan. This name was partially chosen because "Air conditioning" caused problems with unrelated posts turning up in Tumblr searches. Ineffable husbands became the most commonly accepted ship name as the fandom grew post-show.
Canon
Aziraphale is an angel of Heaven and Crowley is a demon of Hell. They met after Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden and have met up throughout human history. The fact that they are supposed to be enemies is a source of tension throughout their relationship. Good Omens follows them as they attempt to thwart the coming of the Anti-Christ and the apocalypse.
Fandom
Aziraphale/Crowley is the main ship in GO fandom. Many stories take advantage of the fact that the two have been around throughout the entirety of human history
Book
Common Tropes & Storylines
- Many works take place in historical settings as these two have been in existence forever. Crossovers with Historical RPF and Literary RPF are somewhat common; with characters like Shakespeare or Oscar Wilde sometimes appearing in fics.
- Post Apocalypse many works depict the two sharing a cottage on the South Downs.[1]
TV Series
Since airing, the series and the original novel, have been referred to as a "6000 year slow burn", and this tag has also begun appearing on works pairing Aziraphale/Crowley.
In response to the fandom's boom, The Rec Center newsletter #180 on June 14, 2019, contained "fanfiction + explainer: good omens", a primer/fandom overview by guest editor Kira. On Aziraphale/Crowley, the primer said:
Good Omens has a long history as a slash fandom; while perhaps not a grandparent of slash, it’s at least a favourite aunt. Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship in the book is that of an old married couple, an interpretation that was only bolstered by the authors’ revelation that post-canon they were sharing a cottage in the South Downs. There are multiple fandom introductions/starter packs, and a great place to dig into the history of the fandom is Lower Tadfield Air Base, a Livejournal community that’s been running since 2003. This was the centre of the fandom for many years, and is meticulously tagged for easy browsing. The recs tag is an excellent place to start if you want to see what people were recommending back in the day.
Author Response
And this has less to do with prudery than with my own comfort levels. I can just about get my head around the concept of Crowley-Aziraphale slash, and would rather not read it thanks. Out beyond that, I don't actually want to know...-- Neil Gaiman [2] 2003
However, Gaiman's responses seemed to change after the TV series. He commented a number of times on Twitter that he was open to or supported interpretations of the relationship as romantic, but maintained that they are not human males and do not fit into the human conception of a gay male relationship.
Example Fanworks
Fanfiction
- The Sacred and the Profane (Good Omens story) by afrai – Role Swap AU in which Crowley is an angel and Aziraphale is a demon. (2002)
- A Diamond Sky Above Titanic by SeaBlueEyes, The year is 1912, and one angel and one demon's lives are about to change forever as they embark on the fateful maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic - and a relationship utterly forbidden by both Heaven and Hell. Once again, I apologise to the fandom for reading a comedy and writing a tragedy. (2011)
- Your Own Side, a 350,000+ word series by NotASpaceAlien. (2016-19)
- Repossession (Good Omens story) by dreamsofspike (2019)
Fanart
- "How long have we been friends? 6000 years!", Archived version by madvalgo (June 2019)
- the knight and the serpent 🌿 ⚔️, Archived version by seancefemme (June 2020)
Meta
- Ineffable, a Ship Manifesto essay by jennaria (2005)
Art Gallery
Good Omens by IrenHorrors (2019)
Untitled piece by Johanna the Mad (2020)
ineffable husbands by gaypompeii (2019)
Deleted scene by CeciliaGf (2019)
the lovely wives, by seancefemme on tumblr (2020). In line with the gender fluidity typical for fanworks of this pairing, seancefemme tagged this work with three variations of the ship name: ineffable wives, ineffable spouses, and ineffable partners.
Interior art by mittiepaul, from the zine Somebody To Love (2019)
Cover art by Ria Martinez, for the zine It's Ineffable! (2019)
Aziraphale and Crowley dolls, a fancraft by c_nilsen (2020).
Looks of Love by rocheg (2019)
Archives & Fannish Links
- Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens) works at Ao3
- (Aziraphale, Crowley) pairing on Fanfiction.net
- Posts tagged ineffable husbands on tumblr.
References
- ^ Where the South Downs thing comes from a Tumblr post by irisbleufic, 2013, accessed 14 June 2019.
- ^ 3.9.2003, In which it is decided there are Some Things That Man Was Not Meant To Know by Neil Gaiman, accessed 13.10.2011
