iâm in my analysing good omens era and i was just thinking at how aziraphaleâs and crowleyâs love languages are a big part of the reason it took them so long to figure out their reciprocated love.
when youâre a demon, an unforgivable creature, you donât deserve to hear that youâre loved. demons donât go around telling each other nice things, what they do if they want to show it, is acts of services.
a demon wouldnât tell you youâre good, but they would cover up your duties for you and say that itâs so you owe them a favour which they will never claim, they wouldnât say they love you but they would linger on your doorstep for a bit too long and steal your scarf as an excuse to meet you again.
and thatâs what crowley does, he keeps aziraphale company and he makes him try food, he says that itâs to tempt him when itâs just an excuse to see the angel happy, he saves you from death situations and says that itâs because your substitute would be more of a bother than you are.
crowley never tells aziraphale anything, and thatâs his way of showing him he loves him.
but when youâre an angel, doing nice things for each other is the norm, itâs the way to show the universe that youâre Good.
angels donât go around giving each otherâs things or doing your work for you, because that should be what you would do to anyone. if an angel gives you money, itâs not because they love you, itâs because theyâre a good selfless person.
aziraphale does that countless times, he gives people his stuff, he never asks for money, he uses more miracles than necessary even if it means that heâll get a reprimand just so he can help strangers on the street. acts of services for an angel are just intertwined in their essence.
so the only way to actually show it is to talk. if an angel loves someone, they have to tell them, if they love someone they tell them that theyâre good and that theyâre worth it. aziraphale positively lights up any time someone compliments him, because thatâs what he needs to know that heâs loved.
so aziraphale tells crowley heâs good even if he knows that will make crowley skittish, aziraphale tells crowley that he always comes to save him to praise him for his caring, he tells crowley that he needs him and thatâs the most loving words he could say, because what does an ethereal creature capable of anything need from anyone? their love, probably.
but they donât understand each other.
crowley uses acts of service and aziraphale takes it as his way to show his forbidden goodness to the world, aziraphale uses words of affirmation and crowley thinks thatâs his way of feeling better about himself for consorting with a demon.
why is 1941 and crowley saving his books so important for their relationship? because i think thatâs when aziraphale realised the truth, crowley had already done his âgoodâ act, he had already proved as he did countless times that he is not the usual demon and heâs actually nice, but saving something just because he knows aziraphale cares about that, and giving no excuse for his action, thatâs something else.
it was the first act done, in aziraphaleâs eyes, for no reason other than love.
aziraphale then tells him that he could do something for him in return, people interpret it as sexual (which i find very funny, mind you) but i think itâs just aziraphaleâs way of telling crowley that he can also show him his love through acts, if thatâs what crowley wants, he can save him back if that will mean crowley will realise that he loves him too.
and thatâs why i also think that crowley is not very sure about the love being reciprocated, because he never had the realisation that aziraphale is always around him and telling him nice things because thatâs how he can show his love.
and it is even worsened in the end, because if crowley knew, he would have waited for him.
it can be seen as a selfish act on crowleyâs part, wanting your lover to put you over saving the universe, but i think itâs because crowley doesnât know what aziraphale is doing. he canât know that aziraphale is actually disregarding all of his feelings for the greater good, because crowley doesnât know about these feelings.
what he thinks is that what he always thought was true, his angel doesnât love him back and he chose heaven over him.
if they actually talked, it wouldâve been resolved.
but the problem is that they donât talk, they cling to their love and beliefs and they think that the other has finally caught up, and they are so convinced that they know everything of each other that they donât find the need to do it.