Reality Shifted App
Player Name: Bri
Player LJ: brbsoulnomming
Email and/or AIM: Email: brbsoulnomming@gmail.com | AIM: xomgshinyx
Timezone: EST
Other Characters: None
Character: Aziraphale
Series: Good Omens
Deviance: 2+, not currently being played by anyone else in game. Armageddon was averted, but Heaven and Hell weren't quite as understanding of Aziraphale and Crowley's roles - especially Hell - leading to Crowley's death and Heaven more or less shunning Aziraphale.
Age: 6,000+, looks to be in his late 30’s
Gender: Male, though technically angels and demons are sexless unless they make an effort
Species: Angel
Canon Used: The Good Omens book, up until the Apocalypse was averted, and a bit of the New Year’s Resolutions here
Appearance: Aziraphale is blond, has blue eyes, and is a bit on the heavier side. His general appearance is well groomed, with elegantly manicured hands, and his style of dress hovers somewhere around the 1950’s. (And also generally includes something tartan.) He also occasionally has large, white feathered wings, though he usually keeps them winched in.
Psychology: As an angel, Aziraphale has fairly rigid morals. Well, at least in theory, although centuries living with human kind have lead him to occasionally bypass them. He’s also to the point where he has the freewill thing just about down. He was lying to God only minutes after Adam and Eve were banished from Eden, after all. He’s generally good-hearted and does what is best for everyone, he just includes himself in the everyone. As such, he sometimes (well, okay, perhaps more than sometimes), will do things because he likes them and because he thinks it’s the best thing, and convinces himself that it is. He often has help in this, as while he does his best to resist and counter Crowley’s temptation, he’s sometimes not very good at it. Which, granted, may occasionally be because he doesn’t want to be good at it.
Aziraphale is mostly an optimist, but he does have streaks of cynicism that run deep. Although he believes that deep down, humans are truly good, he has ceased to be surprised at how utterly evil they can become. He takes the horrible things they can do to each other in stride, possibly because he’s also seen the incredible things they do. That’s humanity for you.
He remains loyal to Heaven even now, to a point, but after his last call to Heaven during the apocalypse crushed his hopes of stopping it, he has begun to question ineffability a bit. He still believes in ineffability, of course, and tends to just fall back on it when he’s stuck, but he does have the seeds of doubt. Especially when pressed, as he’ll then do things like admit that Heaven probably only had a fifty-fifty chance of winning Armageddon, despite what the supposed ineffable plan said. Or didn’t say.
Aziraphale still tries to do what he believes is good and right, he’s just starting to see that his opinions on this aren’t quite in line with the majority of his fellow angels’. Particularly in regards to humans, as he’s quite attached to humanity in general. Despite all of his messing with them over the years (or perhaps because of it), he thinks humans deserve more than to be seen as causalities in the war or chess pieces in a game. When it came down to it, he was very willing to go up against Lucifer rather than run, in order to protect a handful of humans. Regardless of whether or not they’d just been doing their jobs, he and Crowley have caused people quite a bit of trouble over the years, and it didn’t seem right to let Lucifer happen to them.
His opinion on what (or who) is good and right also differs drastically from his superiors in regards to a particular demon, but Aziraphale isn’t certain that matters much anymore.
Both of those are really what currently weigh most on Aziraphale’s mind. His doubt is currently of great concern to him. He still has his job, but he doesn’t know how certain that is, and though he does firmly believe that his opinions are in alignment with God’s plan (they must be, after all), he isn’t certain current thinking in Heaven agrees with that. And he doesn’t know what that means.
Aziraphale doesn’t really believe he’ll be damned, or anything, but there are times when he wonders if that’s just because he wants very badly to believe that God is fair and just and infallible and all that, whether or not angels (and those who speak for Him) always are. Mostly, he figures at worst, he’ll be called back up and stripped of his responsibilities, but that itself is bad enough. He might be alone and ignored by his kind on Earth, but he’d just be alone and ignored by them in Heaven as well, which is much worse. Neither place has Crowley, but at least Earth has people.
Part of why this pre-occupies him so is because if he’s worrying over Heaven, he’s not thinking about Crowley. Which might cause him some concern of its own, that he’d rather be uneasy of his position as an angel than think about Crowley being gone, but he’s not exactly aware of it. His plan to deal with Crowley’s death is currently non-existent, and while he feels it every day when he half-expects Crowley to walk in the front door to his shop but never does, Aziraphale hasn’t quite grasped that he never will again. Well, no, that’s not true. He has grasped it, that’s just what he tells himself before his thoughts veer back to his fellow angels, or his store, or his job, or Adam’s visits, or really anything other than the hole that Crowley seems to have left behind that Aziraphale can’t really explain.
Finally, Aziraphale hasn’t quite taken to the modern world. He’s still priding himself on being the first and only angel with a computer, although it’s incredibly out of date and he only uses it to do his taxes and such things. Overall, he’s relatively bemused by technology, and some modern idioms and expressions as well. Because of this, his polite, kind demeanor, and his general dislike of things like violence and cursing, Aziraphale can come off as old-fashioned and a bit of a push-over. While he’s definitely the first, and he can be the second, he’s not as harmless as he appears. He’s absolutely not afraid to stand up to even someone as out of his depth as Lucifer in order to protect the innocent (or those he cares about, but he’s already failed in that, which is something that bears heavily on him). When he gets desperate or angry enough, he can forget his general ‘do no harm’ attitude in favor of things that are more important at the moment, such as stopping Armageddon or taking out an attacking demon.
Other Skills/Abilities: Aziraphale has the ability to perform small miracles (such as healing broken bones and other injuries, fixing bikes, creating luggage racks on people’s cars, making silk handkerchiefs appear in people’s pockets, turning real guns into water pistols, and making scooters fly), create moments of divine ecstasy, and sense particularly strong emotions and auras (such as a sense that a place is loved, or a demonic aura). He’s also technically not able to die, although his body can be killed and he can be inconveniently discorporated. Should this happen, he can either go back to heaven and attempt to explain to them what happened and get a new body, or bypass that and body-hop around. He can gain temporary control of a human body, although the human is also in there and they have to sort of share. He also has no control over what body he goes into, and has to sort of just hop around until he ends up in a body close to where he wants to be. Although he usually keeps them winched in, he also has large, feathered white wings that enable him to fly. Finally, he has a broadsword that flames when in his grasp, and though his skills are rusty, he does know how to use it.
Other Weaknesses: Aziraphale’s major weakness is his human body. Anything fatal to a human is more or less fatal to him as well, and, given his current standing with Heaven, he highly doubts Heaven will be inclined to give him a new body should his be killed.
History: Aziraphale was once the angel of the Eastern Gate of Eden, until the temptation and Adam and Eve were thrown out of Eden. He also had a flaming sword, but he gave that to the humans after their expulsion from Eden (because they just looked so miserable and cold), and told God that he’d, er, misplaced it. Some time after this, he was stationed on Earth with the task of saving souls, providing moments of divine ecstasy, spreading good, and all that.
He had no protests about his job (he couldn’t, really, because he was an angel, even if he was an angel who was exceptionally good at the free will thing), but it did get lonely. Which is possibly why he found himself spending more and more time with Crowley, a demon who was also stationed on Earth. And while it was probably not what he should have been doing, consorting with a demon and all that, Aziraphale didn’t see how it could really hurt. After all, he had very little contact with any other angels, and with humans having that whole short life span and all, it wasn’t like he could befriend them. And he liked Crowley, who, regardless of their disagreements and arguments, Aziraphale always felt was strangely “good” for a demon.
Eventually, around 1020, they even formed an Arrangement, which let them spend time together without actively trying to thwart each other. It also meant they sometimes “held down the fort” for each other, which Aziraphale felt slightly guilty for, but he supposed that Crowley doing small angelic-like things evened things out (and perhaps even more than evened them out, since it was a demon doing them. Which worked as long as he conveniently ignored that occasionally he was an angel doing demonic things). But, most importantly, it worked, and Aziraphale was content.
Late in the 20th Century, Aziraphale found out from Crowley that the Anti-Christ was about to be born, and with him would come the end of the world. Which Aziraphale wasn’t exactly keen on, as he liked the world, but he didn’t really suppose there was anything he could do about it, as this was technically part of Heaven’s plan. Until a drunken conversation with Crowley, who helped him come to the conclusion that, really, he was supposed to thwart Hell’s plans, and this was one of Hell’s plans, so maybe thwarting it was part of the ineffable plan. So it was that he teamed up with Crowley to stop it, and ended up getting a lot more involved than he thought, even tracking down the Anti-Christ (they, er, managed to help raise the wrong child) to stop him - by whatever means necessary.
When they found Adam, the real Anti-Christ, he turned out to not want to destroy the world, which would have been relieving if both Heaven and Hell hadn’t been so determined on Armageddon happening. The Metatron showed up, as well as Beelzebub, and both of them attempted to get Adam to follow the plan. But he refused and even attempted to talk them around to his way of thinking. Aziraphale joined in, trying to convince the Metatron that perhaps this was ultimate ineffable plan, and when Crowley threw in his two cents as well, both representatives were convinced. Or at least, mostly convinced. They went back to check for further orders, anyway, though they implied heavily that whatever the case, neither Aziraphale or Crowley would particularly like the outcome of their involvement in stopping Armageddon.
Of course, just when they thought it was over, the ground started shaking and billowing smoke as Lucifer decided to come up and have a word with his son. Crowley was ready to run, but Aziraphale thought they should stay to protect the humans still there, and, well, it wasn’t like Crowley had anything to lose. Crowley had a tire iron, and Aziraphale had the flaming sword he hadn’t held in about six thousand years (but once you’ve learned, you never really forget it), and together they got ready to face Lucifer. And then Adam just sort of said “no,” sent Lucifer back, and put the world back the way it had been. Or, well, mostly the way it’d been.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t over for Aziraphale or Crowley. Beelzebub’s parting words made Aziraphale nervous enough that he held on to the sword that had once been his (not that the Metatron’s comments didn’t concern him, just not in the ‘keep a flaming sword near his person at all times’ way. He was sure Heaven would be more forgiving than Hell - it was in their nature, after all.)
Both Aziraphale and Crowley laid low for awhile. Heaven was completely ignoring Aziraphale (his first attempt at contact went unanswered, with a very pointed silence that said they could hear him, thank you very much, and he absolutely didn’t merit a response. His second attempt had reached Gabriel, who’d informed him with an air of extreme disapproval that no one was to speak to him until it was decided what was to be done about him. Aziraphale’s fear over what that decision might be outweighed his desire to reply that, by informing him of this, Gabriel was actually speaking to him. For once, he was polite to Gabriel.) Crowley wasn’t faring any better: Hell was deciding what to do with him as well, and they made it clear that whatever the decision, it wouldn’t be good for him.
It wasn’t long before Hell reached one conclusion: they may not have known what they were going to do with Crowley, but they didn’t want him free on Earth while they figured it out. Aziraphale and Crowley went into hiding, with Aziraphale sparing only a brief thought for how helping the demon who he’d lately teamed up with to foil what may or may not have been one of Heavan’s plans would look to those Up There. He’d like to say that he really did believe stopping Armageddon was part of the ineffable plan, and he was only helping Crowley because it would also thwart Hell, but only the first was really true. The second was just an excuse he’d thought of after they were already in hiding.
But of course, they were found. This particular demon apparently had a grudge against Crowley for a previous incident involving holy water and an ansaphone, and had been most persistent in tracking him down. And didn’t seem terribly concerned with Hell’s preference for bringing Crowley down there. If Crowley was dead, they wouldn’t have any more endless meetings trying to decide his fate. Or so Hastur said, as both Crowley and Aziraphale found themselves doused with holy water. Aziraphale survived, by virtue of being an angel and completely unaffected. Crowley didn’t. Hastur didn’t, either. You never did forget how to use a flaming sword, particularly not when faced with a demon who’d just taken away the one person who meant more than anything to Aziraphale. Even if he hadn’t exactly realized that yet.
Before he’d quite realized what happened, Aziraphale found his way to Adam’s house. Adam, a young teenager now, took one look at him and knew everything that’d happened. Aziraphale wasn’t entirely certain he knew why he’d come there, but Adam apparently did, because all he said was, “I’m sorry. I can’t.” But Adam did promise to look after Aziraphale, which he wasn’t exactly sure how to take.
At a complete loss, Aziraphale contacted Heaven again. This time, he got a response more or less along the lines of, ‘quit calling us and do your job until we contact you.’ So he did. It wasn’t the same without Crowley (nothing was the same without Crowley), but he didn’t know what else to do. Adam took to stopping by the bookstore every so often, occasionally bringing along one or two of his friends, or leaving behind books with titles like I Wasn’t Ready to Say Good-bye and Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul (which Aziraphale was reasonably certain were brought on the advice of Anathema and were studiously ignored). And nothing was okay, but Aziraphale existed anyway.
Canon Point: About three or four years after the end of the book
Reality Description: Aziraphale’s reality is pretty much Earth in the early 1990’s. The only difference is the presence of angels and demons on Earth. And, well, the teenage Anti-Christ currently residing in Lower Tadfield. Aziraphale currently lives in London, England, and when he’s not travelling about doing his job, he’s likely to be found in his dusty bookshop, which is generally closed about 23 hours of the day.
Aziraphale’s most important NPC is probably Adam, who’s really the only person he sees with somewhat regularity. Adam is the fifteen-year-old Anti-Christ who was raised human, and therefore has no desire to start Armageddon or rule the world, or really do anything except lead a (mostly) human life. Since Crowley’s death, Adam has been visiting Aziraphale occasionally, and is sometimes accompanied by one or more of his gang of friends (typically Pepper, Brian, or Wensleydale, but every once in awhile, Anathema and Newt will stop by).
First Person Speaking Sample: [Aziraphale appears on the Plane, looking about in bemusement.] Oh, dear. This wasn’t quite what I expected.
[He knew there’d been something strange about that shop. Still, it’s a bit disappointing. He’d been somewhat looking forward to the prospect of a new little store. They often contain books overlooked by everyone else in some forgotten corner.]
Adam? [Asked hesitantly, because this certainly isn’t Heaven, it doesn’t seem to be Hell, and that more or less leaves the cause of this in the hands of the only teenager he knows who’s capable of manipulating reality.]
[Then he spots the kiosk and strides over, selecting the first brochure (paper, of course, his brief interaction with the machine in order to get it to print was more than enough) and begins to skim it, murmuring comments aloud as he does.] Do former hellhounds count as sentient, I wonder? Chicago? That seems rather a random choice. Television character? As if I’d- Test subjects? Dear Lord. ‘Dragged from one reality to anoth-’
[There he stops, frowning at the area around him.] Oh, come now, dear boy, this is quite surpassing the top. [Not exactly the expression he’s looking for, but he continues on unperturbed.] Perhaps I do need a change of scenery, but this is hardly the appropriate way to go about achieving that. I’m very busy, you know, so I’m afraid I really must insist you put reality back in its proper order. [That comes out a bit more disapproving than he’d intended, and he pauses.] Er. Please. I’d very much appreciate it, if you don’t mind.
Third Person Writing Sample: Aziraphale was actually considering the possibility of opening his shop. It wasn’t actually time for the shop to be open (though really, it was hardly ever time for his shop to be open), but he had noticed just how few books he’d sold recently. Fewer than usual, even, which was saying something. And while there were quite a few that he was more than happy to not sell, there were some that he kept just for customers that were stubbornly remaining on his shelves.
Then again, if he opened his shop, people would come in it. Which, yes, obviously, was the point of opening the shop, but it could be the wrong kind of people. There were the customers Aziraphale loved, the kind that came in and looked carefully at all of the books, fingers ghosting reverently over the spines, touching minimally, chatting with him over this and that, and then generally leaving without buying anything. Even on the few occasions those types did buy something, it was always a little easier to part with the books because he knew they would be properly appreciated. But far more common were the ones who wanted to take down every book and paw at it, only to put it back in the wrong place, talk loudly with friends as though he couldn’t hear them, and finally attempt to haggle down the price of his most expensive and treasured books before leaving in a huff when he politely refused. Or, even worse, the ones who actually tried to by them at that price, not because they genuinely wanted the books themselves, but merely because they were expensive and therefore worthy of buying.
It also meant that, for every time someone came in, the door would open and the bell would ring and Aziraphale would look up and a small part of him would stupidly hope to see someone that it wouldn’t be. That it couldn’t possibly be. That thought made something twist in his chest and he looked down into his half-full cup of cocoa without really seeing it.
No. He wouldn’t open the shop today.
Though it wouldn’t do to have Adam stop by and see him sitting in a closed shop again (he might leave behind another one of those ridiculous books, and Aziraphale’s few shelves that were specifically for customers were starting to get full).
Perhaps a trip out, then. He was due for a few divine inspirations, and on the way back he could stop in a few antique stores and see if they’d gotten anything new. And if that meant he didn’t have to think of anything but his job and the hunt for rare books, well, that was only because both were quite worthy of devoting his entire attention to.
Did you read the rules? Yes indeed!