Aziraphale/Crowley

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Spoiler Warning: This article or section may contain spoilers. If this bothers you, proceed with caution.

Pairing
Pairing: Aziraphale/Crowley
Alternative name(s): Ineffable Husbands, Consenting Bicycle Repairmen, A/C, Air Conditioning, aziracrow, azicrow, crowzira, Ineffable Wives, Ineffable Spouses, Ineffable Partners
Gender category: M/M, F/F, Other, nebulous
Fandom: Good Omens
Canonical?: quasi-canon
Prevalence: Popular
Archives:
Other:
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Aziraphale/Crowley is the pairing of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley in Good Omens fandom.

In the early days of the fandom, based solely on the book, ship names 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

The book fandom, like the later fandom, was heavily focused on Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship, although how that relationship was characterized was different. Fans summing up the differences between Book and TV series Aziraphale/Crowley as:

Basically it’s dumbasses in an established relationship vs. dumbasses in love w/ mutual pining.[1]

I see TV!Crowley as pining for Aziraphale and Book!Crowley already in a marital status Aziraphale.[2]

i really do like the book boys’ relationship better tho like they’re just happier. crowley’s a lot further along in his healing process from falling and shit, aziraphale is a grouchy hedonist who chooses going apeshit a lot more often than he tries to be nice, and at worst they bicker and make up in that comfortable way you can do with someone you already share mutual trust with. maybe that’s harder for some folks to engage with as far as making fandom content, conflict opens up a lot of things to explore, but goddamn for me it’s just a nice fictional space to live in[3]

the chill vibe of the book husbands’ relationship versus the chaos of the romantic tension in the show is more appealing to me personally. they feel settled, they feel comfortable, it reminds me of my own relationship with my partner. whether you read book A/C as “we’ve been married for like a thousand years and just happen to leave separately for convenience reasons” or as “we’re in love and we know it but it would be gauche to talk about it because of the politics involved,” there’s just this deep sense of comfort and trust between them.[3]

But Aziraphale and Crowley can argue with each other. And they can do it safely. They can challenge each other, and question each other, and call each other out without the risk of dire consequences - without even the risk of the other saying well fuck you then, I’m leaving.

This is worth so much. It is so important. They can talk. They can hash out ideas and differences and things that don’t make sense. They can take philosophical an ideological risks, and can test them against each other. They can use each other as a sound board to figure out the universe. The fact that they are different, that they disagree, that they have different backgrounds and different beliefs and different attitudes to things, that’s why they are able to figure so much out. That’s how they are able to move away from the dogmatic extremes of Heaven and Hell and meet each other in the grey areas where most of the universe actually exists. And they are able to do this because they trust each other, and they respect each other, and they know that they are solid. They love each other. They understand each other. And they understand themselves better because of that relationship existing....

I feel like that aspect of their relationship is missing a bit, in the show. Not completely, but a lot. It’s too dangerous for Show!A&C to have proper discussions like that, Heaven and Hell are too close, too involved in their lives. And Aziraphale and Crowley haven’t even able to get close enough to each other for that to happen safely.[3]

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.

Common Tropes and Storylines in Fanworks

  • Historical Settings: focusing on them meeting and interacting over the centuries, crossovers with Historical RPF and Literary RPF are somewhat common; with characters like Shakespeare or Oscar Wilde sometimes appearing in fics, it is also common for them to witness major historical events
  • Post Apocalypse that Wasn't: stories that take place after the prevented Apocalypse, these vary from taking place directly afterwards to a more distant future. These fics also often include a love confession, because they are free from their respective roles, and being observed by their head offices. Many works depict the two sharing a home together, either in the flat above Aziraphale's bookshop, or a cottage on the South Downs.[4]
  • Ineffable Wives: both Aziraphale and Crowley presenting as women
  • Wings: fanworks where Aziraphale or Crowley brings their wings into the physical realm. Grooming each other's wings is common, this may lead to wing kink, but not always. There was a lot of wingfic in Good Omens fandom, and some fans credit the excessive amount of wingfic with giving fandom a brand new trope; wingless fic. It involves a character suddenly and unexpectedly losing their wings. This trope originated in Good Omens fandom and has appeared in other fandoms with angels or winged characters.
  • First Kiss: showing the lead up, and aftermath, of their first kiss together. Very popular before the second season of the TV series, also very popular in AUs.
  • First Time: often exploring the circumstances around their first sexual experience together
  • Virgin Aziraphale or Virgin Crowley: a smaller trope, but not too uncommon, is to have either Aziraphale or Crowley, or sometimes both, be a virgin in the realm of human sexual relations. This sometimes leads to the more experienced partner taking the lead, or if they are both virgins, them trying to figure it out together
  • True Forms: Aziraphale and Crowley being able to see each other's truly angelic or demonic forms, or revealing their true forms to each other. True Form Sex is also common, where Aziraphale and Crowley connect beyond the mere physical. These works may also contain elements of Monster Fucking.
  • Top/Bottom Dynamics: although fans have their preferences, the ratio of fics tends to be fairly evenly split between Top Crowley or Top Aziraphale[5]
  • Secret Relationship: in canon they had to keep their arrangement and friendship a secret, but some fics take this a step further and have them begin a romantic relationship earlier in canon that has to be concealed. These stories sometimes have a bittersweet feel to them, because they have to steal small moments of time to be together. Some stories end post apocalypse where Aziraphale and Crowley are finally able to love each other freely.
  • You can stay at my place, if you like: many fics take place during the period of time when, off camera, Aziraphale and Crowley spent the night together at Crowley's flat. Many of these stories made include tearful confessions, a reveal of feelings, their first kiss, their first time, or some combination of any of these (This is a TV series only trope)
  • Human AUs: fics where Aziraphale and Crowley have always been human, the most common being modern AUs where usually Aziraphale still owns a bookshop and Crowley often has a hobby or career that concerns plants, sometimes owning a flower shop. Human AUs that take place in historical or fantasy settings are also fairly common. There are also stories where Aziraphale and/or Crowley are somehow turned into humans.
  • Pining: most commonly mutual pining, them longing for each other, but they can't reveal their feelings because of their circumstances. However, when the pining is one-sided it tends to be Crowley that is more often chosen by creators to be doing the pining[6]
  • Asexuality: having either Aziraphale or Crowley, or both, be asexual, this may be because of their angelic or demonic natures, or just be their sexual orientations
  • Snake Crowley: Crowley in his snake form, in fanworks he often rests himself on Aziraphale's shoulders or wraps himself around him. Finding Crowley resting in a sunny spot in the bookshop is also common. Naga!Crowley, where Crowley is half man and half snake, can also be found.
  • Hurt/Comfort: fanworks seem to be fairly evenly split between either Crowley or Aziraphale receiving the hurt, and the other providing the comfort. Because they are supernatural beings fans sometimes have to come up with inventive ways to hurt them, some common ones are, being hurt/tortured by other angels/demons, coming in contact with a cursed/blessed object, spells, being hurt by humans, among many other ways.
  • Alpha/Beta/Omega: a smaller trope in good omens fanworks, Aziraphale being an omega and Crowley an alpha is the most popular dynamic, though the opposite can be found.
  • Mpreg: is featured in a small number of fanworks, this may be the result of A/B/O or just their ability to change their bodies at will. Pregnant Aziraphale tends be more popular, and because of their angelic/demonic natures their pregnancies are rarely like humans. In fanworks where Crowley is pregnant it is not unusual to have him lay eggs in his snake form.
  • Nesting: sometimes going hand in hand with Wingfic or A/B/O, but sometimes it just because of an angelic instinct to build a nest. In fanworks with this concept Aziraphale often builds a nest and invites Crowley to join him in it.
  • Fix-it: after season 2 of the TV series there was a lot of fix-it fanworks created where Aziraphale and Crowley are reunited, these vary from taking place right after the events of the season 2 finale to several months or years later.
  • Second Kiss: after their angst filled canonical kiss at the end of season 2 many fanworks focused on the possibility of their second kiss, which is often show to be sweeter, tender and more mutual. Some fans were unhappy with the canonical first kiss, they may ignore it in their fanworks, or rework it to their satisfaction.

Challenges

Author Response

Before the TV show, Gaiman did not personally want to be exposed to fanfiction, but he was aware and tolerant that it existed.

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, 2003[7]

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.

In 2017, Gaiman responded to a Tumblr ask about Crowley's sexuality with the following:

Stuff Up that isn’t mentioned at all, but it’s still Making Stuff Up.** (And using the kind of eagle-eyed textual analysis that Bible scholars used to decide exactly what a piece of four thousand year old verse definitely meant also counts here as Making Stuff Up.)

Which is the fun of fanfiction, and part of the tradition of fanfiction. As is, I’m afraid, grumbling at people who do not see that your ship is the only true ship, and choose to ship anyone else with anyone else.

Which is the fun of fanfiction, and part of the tradition of fanfiction. As is, I’m afraid, grumbling at people who do not see that your ship is the only true ship, and choose to ship anyone else with anyone else.

If anyone decides that The Relationships in Their Fanfiction Are the Only True Fanfiction, it seems to me they are missing the point. The point is Fanfiction exists so that you can imagine, enjoy and fill in the gaps. The point is that you can change things and have fun with them. And the stories are absolutely true... for you.

If anyone decides that The Relationships in Their Fanfiction Are the Only True Fanfiction, it seems to me they are missing the point. The point is Fanfiction exists so that you can imagine, enjoy and fill in the gaps. The point is that you can change things and have fun with them. And the stories are absolutely true... for you.

The TV series gets deeper into Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship. It’ll be canonical for the TV series, and not canonical for the book.***

If I were to Pronounce on things that are not explicitly stated in the book, I still wouldn’t be telling you if Crowley was Canonically Gay. I would be telling you what I think, because it’s not canon unless it’s in the book. It won’t be TV canon unless it’s on the screen.

So, do not worry about what they say. These are not things on which people can be right or wrong, or on which anything can be “settled”.

Make fun fanfiction. Enjoy yourself. Make things up. Share them. That’s the point.

[...]

[**]Which was what Terry and I did when we wrote the book. And what I had to do for the TV scripts when I needed to take the story into places the book hadn’t covered.

[***]They don’t contradict each other, but there is territory covered by the TV series that isn’t covered by the book, particularly about Crowley and Aziraphale in bygone years. Also the Present Day in the book is probably the early 1990s, and the Present Day in the TV series is 2019ish, although 11 years ago in the book wasn’t particularly 1978, and 11 years ago on TV is post-ubiquitous cellphones but pre-smartphones.

Neil Gaiman's Tumblr, 29 Dec 2017

In one interaction in 2019, he confirmed Aziraphale and Crowley love each other:

[Twitter user Beckminster Abbey @hatpire]

So, @neilhimself, they're gay, right? :D

[Neil Gaiman]

They’re an angel and a demon, not male humans.

[Twitter user Rhiannon @GoodnightSkye]

Okay, but they love each other, right? :D

[Neil Gaiman, 2 June 2019[8]]

Absolutely.

In another Twitter interaction around the same time in 2019, he expressed support for various headcanons about their relationship:

[Twitter user @helenefosse]

I don’t really like this notion that the main protagonists are “above” using labels like gay. @neilhimself, you probably wouldn’t have a problem saying bad angel and demon would call themselves friends?

[Twitter user @helenefosse]

Please help normalize gay and queer labels, or at leas acknowledge that in human terms, they are gay/bi/pan, or that they have same-sex-attraction towards eachother.

[Neil Gaiman, 8 June 2019[9]]

I wouldn't exclude the ideas that they are ace, or aromantic, or trans. They are an angel and a demon, not as make humans, per the book. Occult/Ethereal beings don't have sexes, something we tried to reflect in the casting. Whatever Crowley and Aziraphale are, it's a love story.

  • Gaiman confirming they love each other

  • Gaiman confirming they could be ace, aro, or trans

Example Fanworks


Fanfiction

Pre-series

Post-series

  • Repossession (Good Omens story) by dreamsofspike (2019)
  • Slow Show by mia_ugly (2019)
  • If We've Got Nothing (We've Got Us) by Kedreeva, "Two months after the failed apocalypse Aziraphale finds the first dark feather growing in his wings. A story about middle grounds, ineffable plans, and what happens when the world doesn't end."
  • Something Wanting in My Nature by mugatu, "I saw this tumblr prompt and my hand slipped. `Okay which one of you is going to write the Ineffable Husbands college professor AU with the extremely sweet and over-sharing professor fawning over their spouse and the standoff-ish secretive professor who reveals absolutely nothing about their private life who turned out to be married?´"
  • Strange Flesh and All That by FortinbrasFTW, "Aziraphale smiles back. 'What's funnier, dear boy? That I've considered it or that you haven't?'"
  • Any Way You Want It by Justkeeptrekkin, "Who'd have thought that sharing a cottage in Scotland would be quite so romantic?"

Fanart

Pre-series

Post-series

Vids

Zines

Meta

Example Art Gallery

Inspired by the Book

Inspired by the TV Series

Archives & Fannish Links

References

  1. ^ Comment on the art GO: U Do by 10yrsy
  2. ^ "Comment by Elite_Wiess on The differences between book!Crowley and show!Crowley and it's impact on his and Aziraphale's relationship, posted to r/goodomens on August 1, 2019". Archived from the original on 2022-05-22.
  3. ^ a b c "May 13, 2020 tumblr post". Archived from the original on 2022-05-22.
  4. ^ Where the South Downs thing comes from a Tumblr post by irisbleufic, 2013, accessed 14 June 2019.
  5. ^ As of September 2021 search of AO3
  6. ^ As of September 2021 search of AO3 resulting in 339 works tagged Pining Crowley vs 133 works tagged Pining Aziraphale
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ tweet by Neil Gaiman. (Accessed 11 June 2022, but transcribed from screenshot because one of the tweets is private)
  9. ^ tweet by Neil Gaiman. He followed up shortly with a tweet correcting his typo: ‘(Male humans. Not “make”.)’. (Both accessed 10 June 2022, but primarily transcribed from screenshot because some of the tweets have been deleted)
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