Todayβs Good Omens posting is about *spins wheel*
how Crowleyβs self-loathing colors the way he sees Aziraphaleβs interactions with him and how we should take that negative bias into account
Iβm not even gonna talk about the whole final scene/misunderstanding because weβve all talked about that one by now. Instead I want to talk about Crowleyβs description of the 3 reasons Aziraphale calls him:
(Paraphrasing) βyouβre bored; you need to tell someone about something clever you did; somethingβs wrongβ
this is a succinct breakdown and it lowkey paints Aziraphale in a bad light; Aziraphale only calls Crowley when itβs beneficial to him; this is a transactional relationship
but like, I think, to some degree, those 3 reasons are simply the only reasons Crowley can actually imagine Aziraphale being interested in talking to him. The last one is a common song and dance between them, sure, but what about the first 2?
Aziraphale calling out of the blue, rambling about how things have been slow and quiet in the neighborhood of late and wanting to take that time to catch up - Crowley canβt fathom βAziraphale missed my voice and wanted to make sure I was doing okayβ and turns it into βAziraphale is just bored obviouslyβ
Aziraphale calling, absolutely giddy, talking a mile a minute about something clever heβs done canβt possibly be βIβm the first person he wants to share his victories with, the person whose opinion matters the most to him now and alwaysβ so instead itβs βAziraphale just needed someone to tell this to before he poppedβ
(Thereβs an interesting thing implied here as well, which is that itβs Aziraphale calling Crowley regularly and yet we talk about how Aziraphale isnβt taking initiative in the relationship but I digress)
Point is, I think Crowley knows that Aziraphale likes him, itβs part of what makes everything so heartbreaking - the way he ends up being rejected in spite of that - but just like I think he misunderstands Aziraphaleβs heaven proposal because he canβt see that Aziraphale thinks he is better than heaven already, he misunderstands any reason Aziraphale would possibly reach out to him as some level of wanting something rather thanβ¦ just wanting to talk to him. He doesnβt recognize that he is Enough for Aziraphale, no strings or acts of service attached.
We just need one amazing kiss conversation to set this straight