#crowley's flat

[tsilvy]

"Crowley doesn't have Gabriel. Where would he put him?" says Aziraphale talking to Shax.

Where would he put him?

He knows. HE KNOWS. He knows that Crowley doesn't have a house anymore. That he's living in his car. But he hasn't said anything because he hasn't yet fathomed why Crowley wouldn't say anything. And he's trying to change that, too.

"You like waiting inside." Subtle, subtlest way to tell him that he knows, he understands, has noticed the telling signs. And he's saying it's very much okay for Crowley to keep staying in, whenever he wants, to consider the bookshop his place even when Aziraphale is not around.

The whole "our car", "our bookshop", "we both got plenty of use out of it". Look, I know what the common speculation about the plenty of use is, but realistically? He's heavily implying that Crowley, too, needs the bookshop. Not likes, needs. Let's spell out the analogy: I need your (our) car because I don't have my own car, the same as you need my (our) bookshop, which is my house, because you don't have your own house.

He's been dropping hints right and left that he already knows anyway, and that it's okay to ask, he'd totally say yes. And even if Crowley doesn't ask, it's still okay. He's saying yes already.

And I marvel continuously at the complexity of the character that is Aziraphale, because he can be the most infuriatingly callous bitch in the world, and then in the same breath he can be this sensitive, gentle, emotionally intelligent person who really, really loves Crowley more than he could ever put into words.

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Another memento in Crowley's flat? 👀😊

I noticed that the wooden cobra in magic shop seems kind of familiar! :) I mean, it is there in the modern times as well so Crowley couldn't steal/buy it, but he could have miracled the same one as another memento from 1941 (together with getting the eagle statue? :))

[sighed-the-snake]

Aziraphale's bookshop: Heavenly when it should be Hellish

I'm going to fly in the face of fandom here and confess that I do not like the way Aziraphale's bookshop was portrayed in the TV series.

It's described as "Aziraphale's dingy old bookshop in Soho," and in my mind, I knew exactly what was intended by the description. I have loved used book stores since I was a child. They're small, cramped and crammed full of books, they're poorly lit with a severe lack of windows, they smell weird and musty in ways that are unique to each individual shop, and the owner camped out at the check-out table because he (it was usually a he) was the only person he trusted to correctly price each book. Sometimes the book prices were labeled, sometimes you didn't know the prices until you got to the register, sometimes the owner would look at a book you brought up, say "that's not supposed to be for sale," and the bastard would take the damn book away from you.

The best ones had a bookshop cat watching you imperiously from atop the stacks.

That's the sort of bookshop I imagined when I read Good Omens. Dusty, magical, irritating, a place containing unknown treasures, a place you could explore for hours because it was just so densely packed with stuff.

But then, the series came to TV, and Aziraphale's bookshop was...well-lit? spacious? surrounded by windows and sunlight, with Aziraphale strolling around politely, not scowling or brooding at his customers whatsoever? not looking dusty at all unless a specific scene called for it and then it was more like sand than dust? altogether looking extremely warm and inviting?

I was disappointed as Aziraphale when hearing of the antichrist's toesie-wosies. "Oh."

And it was supposed to stand in stark contrast to Crowley's flat, wasn't it? Crowley's place was spacious, pristine white, perfect, untouched, unused, un-lived-in, because he didn't live there. When he was stressed from hearing nothing about Armageddon, he cleaned his flat and organized his books and music, then felt depressed when it was spotless and he had nothing left to do. Much like the boredom and perfection of heaven, right?

By comparison, Aziraphale's bookshop was hellishly dank and uninviting, designed to keep people out so they wouldn't think to buy his jealously hoarded books. He made that place as hostile and repellant as possible, made it lived-in and neglected, left work to be done all over the place so he could ignore it and indulge himself instead. It was a dark hole for him to wile away the hours in while he enjoyed all his little hobbies.

The TV show changed this by making Aziraphale's place the heavenly spacious one and Crowley's place all dark and brutalistic in its architecture.

And I think these changes really did a disservice to how grey and unlike the other angels and demons these characters are supposed to be.

[erraticopeninghours]

Crowley and Beelzebub Talk

Thoughts on 1.13: Crowley and Beelzebub talk

I feel so badly for Crowley that his “precious, peaceful, fragile existence” cannot be.  It’s interesting to contrast Heaven and Hell’s approaches to Aziraphale and Crowley, both as workers and later as retired/traitors.

Heaven treats Aziraphale’s bookshop with the same apathy that they do other earthly possessions (and beings.)  First, in the 1800 deleted scene, they almost take it away from Aziraphale, and even when they decide not to, it is never treated as an important matter.  Second, though Shadwell definitely plays a role in it, the bookshop fire would have been preventable if not for Heaven / Metatron insisting on leaving the portal open.  Following the fire, the bookshop is returned to Aziraphale (this time by Adam / earthly intervention), and what Aziraphale temporarily lost is never addressed as important.  

Both of these incidents dovetail nicely with Heaven’s approach of killing Job’s three children, then expecting gratitude after they “make it better” by giving him seven new children.  Heaven is careless with what Aziraphale values most and dismisses the importance that he chooses to place on things and people, but generally does not seek to destroy things for the purpose of tormenting Aziraphale.  Instead, they’re cruel through callousness. 

On the other hand, we see Hell actively work to violate Crowley’s boundaries and intentionally (mis)use his possessions to hurt him.  In Season 1, there’s the orders from Satan; Hastur and Ligur’s invasion of his flat; and Hastur’s appearance in the Bentley and removal of Crowley’s sunglasses.  In Season 2, we learn that Hell has continued this pattern into Crowley’s “retirement.”  Despite Crowley being “persona non grata,” Hell repossesses his flat, and Beelzebub begins their conversation by appearing in the Bentley.  

For me, just the presence of another demon in the Bentley was very unsettling and felt much more dangerous than Crowley’s earlier talks with Shax in the park and on the street.  I also feel like it was a definite power play by Beelzebub – them making a point – given that they clearly have the ability to “call” Crowley to Hell.  The fly that flew inside of Crowley’s mouth also felt like an invasion, especially since one of Crowley’s main strategies for staying safe is through quick-talking. 

Lastly, there were several phrases that Beelzebub used which I really enjoyed. 

(1) “What if I said Hell was willing to forget everything you did, that we were willing to accept you back, no questions asked with a hefty promotion?” is fantastic! Partly because it demonstrates Hell/demons’ knowledge that having past misbehavior “forgotten” is generally worth more than any token “forgiveness.”  It also completely avoids the word “forgiveness,” while clearly offering more absolution than Heaven tends to offer (at least to demons. Consider: “Unforgivable, that’s what I am.”)  And thirdly, this is what Metatron offers Aziraphale at the end of the season, except that Aziraphale - for whatever reason(s) - accepts the offer!  

(2) “[Y]ou find Gabriel for me and you can have whatever your nasty little heart desires” is also a great line because during my first watch, my instinctive reaction was that Beelzebub can no longer offer Crowley anything that he really wants.  His heart only desires a certain angel and perhaps select Earthly pleasures.  On rewatch, however, the line was even better because while Beelzebub can’t give Crowley whatever his nasty little heart desires, Crowley theoretically could have given Beelzebub whatever their nasty little heart desires - Gabriel! 

(3) “So, if you hear anything, come to me first, yeah?” is a fun line because we know that Crowley will not come to Beelzebub first.  Even though Crowley has just argued with Aziraphale over helping Jim/Gabriel and stormed out of the bookshop, we as the audience have no doubt that Crowley will go to Aziraphale first with any important information. (At least, until he doesn’t…)  Despite the accompanying frustration, Crowley is committed to their side, and that commitment is obvious to both the audience and to Crowley himself.

(previous) (next)

[camkablam]

just spent about four hours straight fixating on building crowley's flat in the sims to use as a reference for an animatic

[greenthena]

Something's afoot!

I've been wanting to write something extensive on this, but haven't gotten around to it. (I'll probably do it eventually, but for the time being...) Kids, goat and human, I would like to share with you the thing that has me convinced there's something amiss with S2, or at least how we perceive it. Look at this.

Do you see it? Do you see the problem. Let me zoom in here....

Is that a spot? Yah, that's what I thought!

I believe the leaf in question is on a chinese evergreen, which you can see right here in a healthy state. No spots. A certain demon would be proud.

I know some people may think this is an oversight, but really? Really? That is a significant blemish on a leaf that's pressed right into Aziraphale's collar. It's pretty hard to miss. Crowley would never!

And it's not like the production team was against using fake greenery, at least in S1. To my eye at least some of the plants in Crowley's flat look to be artificial. Just something about the texture of the banana(?) leaves seems a little plastic.

So if we have a brown spot on a leaf, and one placed so prominently, I think we can assume we're meant to see it. What's going on, Crowley? Is this character development or something else?

[enelica]

STARGAZER p.21

Crowley reveals the truth! Aziraphale will soon have some realizations :O

Cover - Previous - Next

Read the 8 next pages are on my patreon :)

[feraltuxedo]

Renting in Soho and Mayfair

Angels and demons clearly have unlimited funds, but I sometimes come across human AU fanfics in which human Aziraphale and human Crowley somehow manage to rent flats right in the centre of London on the salary of a waiter, or a bookseller, or a florist, or librarian, or even some higher paid jobs like a medical doctor or university lecturer.

And while this little inconsistency certainly isn't enough to put me off a good story, I just wanted to write a little something about actual rent prices in London, in particular in those to really quite exclusive areas of the city.

This is by no means meant as a criticism for those who want to indulge in the fantasy of a tearoom owner or tattoo artist renting a quaint flat above a bookshop, or a swanky bachelor pad in Mayfair. But perhaps, like me, you are quite nerdy about these details of realism, but unsure of how to research these things.

To get a rough overview of rents in London, you could and should consult the London Rent Map published by the City of London. You can enter a postcode or area and see roughly what the average rent is like in that part of the city. This is the overview:

Both Soho and Mayfair are in the City of Westminster, right in the middle of the map in red. So the median monthly rent is £2160 ($2660) or above.

That's not very specific, so you might want to look at the rent summaries published by home.co.uk. Here is the one for Mayfair:

The average monthly rent is £7465 ($9194), with about half of properties costing between £2000 and £5000. Now, Crowley is unlikely to rent a four or five bedroom flat, but even for a single bedroom the average rent is £4050 ($4988).

The rent analysis for Soho is similarly bleak. You can find it here.

The average is a little lower at £6278 ($7732), but even here, a one-bedroom flat can set you back £3734 ($4598) on average.

Okay, so that's averages. Not looking good for our ineffable husbands if they're anything less than top earners. But here is the fun part of researching rental properties. Have a little look at rightmove.co.uk, the most popular property search website in the UK.

Let's assume Crowley is looking for a flat. Nice, modern, open-plan kind of thing. Two bedrooms, one for him, one for the plants. What's on the market?

Oh.

Hm.

Bargain!

My point is- mah point is, dolphins.

Even if you couldn't care less about the accuracy of your fictional characters' fictional address in a fictional work of fiction, do have a look at rich people's rental apartments in Westminster in the Rightmove link above. It's a delicious kind of torture.

In the end, it doesn't at all matter. We accept that our favourite non-ethereal and non-demonic sitcom characters live in homes way above their paygrade, and it's the same with fanfic. It's all part of the fantasy. But just in case you ever wondered what it would really cost for an average-incomed Crowley and Aziraphale to rent right in the heart of the most affluent borough in London... there you go.