The Arrangement: An Essay

[hekateras]

This is just a quick gander into the way the relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley progresses in Good Omens throughout the book, probably in not too eloquent a format.

What strikes me is that at the beginning, it is portrayed as very much a matter of necessity/convenience rather than emotional fulfillment: "they wouldn't have chosen each other

Comments

[irisbleufic]

Here's the thing about bringing a physical aspect into the relationship, at least from my perspective: it has to be very carefully done, but I don't find it illogical at all. They are, in fact, much more immense than the human characters around them can possibly know, but, at the same time, they're capable of humanity that's so profoundly human (I don't know how else to express it; forgive the repetition) that I was (on first reading), still am, and will forever be completely in awe of them. I seriously doubt that their friendship would ever take that turn before the events of the book, simply because, as you've carefully illustrated, they don't really see each other quite consistently enough until the threat of Apocalypse comes down pretty hard and fast. That's why you'll never see me write a story wherein they're physically involved pre-1990; I'm sure there are many who'd like historical A/C smut from me, but there's seriously no chance of it happening *rueful grin* Can't see it. That's not to say I don't enjoy reading it when it's as well executed as it can be.

In the aftermath of the events of the novel, however, is another story; I really don't need to list how many different variations of them working up to the point of intimacy post-novel that I've tested out in the...almost nine years since I first read the book (part of me is sitting here going nine years, nine years I've been writing my way in and around this complex question, really?) I don't see it as illogical for them to take the step (in their own exceptional way, absolutely), as there are, after all, so many other profoundly human pleasures they not only enjoy, but seem to specifically enjoy together (food, wine, strolls in the park...). To this day, I'm kind of shell-shocked that when a small group of us decided in 2005, come hell or high water, we were all going to do our best to get called on by Terry or Neil when they were both on their respective and almost simultaneous tours (figuring, that way, that at least one of us would be called on by one or both of them) for purposes of finding out what they'd decided Aziraphale and Crowley were currently doing...actually, no, I'm not really just shell-shocked the roulette wheel fell on me and Neil actually answered; I'm still giddy and charmed at what that answer turned out to be. And having things actually start for them, as it were, in 2005, the date from which the sharing-a-cottage living arrangement is effective, is appropriate. It's more than a decade on - well, twelve years on - from the Apocalypse fall-out, and it seems to me now that they'd need a decade or so of constant association, not just a scattered catalogue of interactions spanning centuries and millennia, to work up to anything more than what they've already got. And I think you were saying below that doing it safely and on their own terms is key; man, you couldn't echo my own sentiments closely enough. Aziraphale, I think, would be the most likely to be straightforward and logical (at least initially) in the approach, but Crowley's complicated emotional situation is what makes postulating the scenario in writing, time and again, an absolute joy for me as a reader of the book and as a writer of fanfiction. What a gift he is, what a stunning challenge for us to navigate - and how unbelievably fortunate Aziraphale is to have him!

[hekateras]

I'm sorry I dropped it off like that - I've been kind of stressed with exams/moving lately and what free time I had, my fanfic demons were forcing me to use otherwise. X_X Hope you don't mind me coming back to this now.

I agree completely - I'm not sure if you've read what I wrote as implying romance to be illogical, but that's not what I meant to say. When I said it's 'not like that' for them, I meant only that they have so much *more* going on than the human beings making guesses about them - they've seen the rise and fall of empires, they're busy stopping the Apocalypse, and all that. I do agree that there's no reason they wouldn't take it one step further, it's just that, like you said, I think for them it would be on the same basic level as their enjoyment of other human pleasures - and just like food can mean so much more to them, who've tasted every possible dish since the beginning of mankind, physical intimacy could also be much more meaningful for them, in very different ways than for a human, because of their unique perspective on it, and thanks in part to the fact that it's *not* inherently part of their nature, but something they would *choose* to indulge in. Ahem. Well, and everything you said, of course.

I'm glad you write them, though I've still to read most of your stuff. The fic with the charming 'plaster' line - that was yours too, correct? Because it's by far one of my favourite takes on their relationship upgrade I've seen. And wow, so you were the one who prompted the 'cottage' admission... I am so grateful to you, so grateful. :D

A decade or so of constant association - yes, that sounds good, though I'm currently working through a headcanon, hopefully a future fic, of them taking the plunge as early as the night after the averted Apocalypse, based on 'the world got away with it but we're probably really in trouble'-type of considerations - also mostly because there's that line in the book. "And perhaps recent exertions had a fallout on the fabric of reality, because .... a Nightingale sand in Berkeley Square", remember? I just... I'm having a really hard time picturing exactly what 'exertions' (ahem) could possibly be referring to that would prompt reality to reference a sappy old love song. Oh, and there's them drinking out of the same bottle before that, and all those casual brushes/grabbing-the-arm during the Apocalypse, and awww, now I'm having feels again. I've seen Neil Gaiman say that the idea of Good Omens slash is "mindboggling" to him, so it must've been PTerry who put that in there to mess with our minds, because I refuse to believe that the subtext is unintentional.

EDIT: Hahaha, look, I did a little comic based on a "Crowley just wants to feel the love" type comment: http://kaytara-art.tumblr.com/post/25642083031/so-some-time-ago-i-got-a-prompt-for-an#notes

[irisbleufic]

(Oh, God, the fic with the plaster line is the very first piece of GO fic I ever wrote. I've come on a lot since then, I think *wry grin* It's called "The Last Temptation of Crowley," though, and it was relocated to my fic journal back in 2007 or 2008 because I decided to pull all of the things I'd posted directly to this comm in 2005 and have them hosted in my own space instead. The good omens tag on my journal is a pretty good indicator of just how much more I've written in the years since then; it kind of boggles my mind that, of all my fandoms, this one has never wavered in strength, and I've never strayed from it.)

As it turns out, I've seen your art on DeviantArt; I just hadn't seen your Tumblr account. This sketch is particularly wonderful, for some reason. The contrast of their respective weapons really makes me grin.

And wow, so you were the one who prompted the 'cottage' admission...

Very much guilty as charged, and I've been writing in that vein ever since with CoT 'verse. Leave it to Terry to dodge the question (which he did) and Neil to actually answer it a week later (but not after beating around the bush just like Terry did, possibly just to make all of Boston squirm).

Mind-boggling or not, it makes an ineffable lot of sense, and as long as they're not of a mind to come after us with litigation, I'm very happy to call this a not inconsiderable part of my life's work. It pleases me beyond measure to do...this, just what we're discussing.

Right, so, I'm off to take a look at your fic link. And my adding of your journal seems not to have stuck the first time, which happens on occasion; I have fixed this by adding you again. Bloody thing. I know a lot of people are down on LJ these days, but I've been here for so long, and I'm fond of it (errors and all).