Izzy follows up, ‘Why, I’ll never know. But…he does’. It’s one of few seemingly-honest lines Izzy delivers in the show, but it’s still steeped in obfuscation.
Izzy might be trying to get it off his chest. It’s eating him up, and he speaks it aloud to make sense of it. Monsters live in the dark, but if Izzy can speak this ‘awful thing’ into the light - Ed’s feelings - then he can maybe control them.
But mostly it’s a form of manipulation. He adores you, and we want to make him happy. Izzy realises Stede at least likes Ed too. And Stede hates to feel inadequate, that he’s failed. It’s a horrible irony. Izzy uses the truth of Ed’s feelings to manipulate Stede down a path towards death at the hands of the man who loves him.
Izzy is also prepared to reveal some of Ed’s feelings because it serves him. Izzy hides the full truth of Ed’s feelings in plain sight by the context in which he speaks them. It’s a horrible subversion of the moment with Ed and Lucius in the next episode where he ‘likes you very much’ is an entirely open statement. There’s no ulterior motive than to get two middle-aged men to stop talking past each other. Whereas Izzy’s incentive is to give just enough truth to prep a guy to walk unknowingly into his own murder. It’s positivity into poison.
This has been eating at my brain for 5 minutes, but why does aziraphale wear reading glasses sometimes. Is it for aesthetic? Is it their eyesight? Help
Hi @electronicturtlepaper, thanks for the ask! I gave this some thought, and I propose four reasons that Aziraphale wears reading glasses:
Aziraphale imagines himself having a 50-year old human body
He likes doing things the human way
They are integral to his enjoyment of art
He uses them to communicate with Crowley
Expanded arguments and evidence, as always, below the cut:
Aziraphale likes to imagine that he is a 50-year old human.
I think there's a little bit of a tendency to think of the ineffables as being superhuman. They are, but not the way Superman or Wonderwoman are. We get the best illustration of this in S1E6 when Crowley is driving through the M-25 inferno:
Crowley has something no other demons have, an imagination. Right now, he's imagining that he is just fine, and that a ton of burning metal, rubber and leather is a fully functioning car.
We know from this Season 1 scene that Crowley's imagination manifests reality; in this particular instance, it is to defy the laws of physics, to keep his body from discorporating and his car from falling apart.
Even though the way it's being used feels "super," we can see how the mechanic of "imagination manifests reality" could be used in the exact opposite way by someone who likes to think of themselves as a homely, affable pillar of the community that has owned the bookshop on the corner for as long as anyone can remember. We see other ways this manifests, like not being able to keep up with Gabriel while jogging:
He could think of himself as a battle-ready soldier, but he doesn't. He thinks of himself as someone who likes culture, good food, and fine clothes; cardio doesn't really play into that, so his corporeal form manifests accordingly. By the same token, he's an avid reader, and as far as his Whickber Street neighbors are concerned, has spent all day, every day reading books for the past no-one-knows-how-long; how would he not need reading glasses?
By sheer power of imagination, Aziraphale has manifested himself into needing corrected vision.
Aziraphale Likes Doing Things the Human Way
Keep in mind that this is the angel who absolutely did not fool Nefertiti with a single caraway seed and three cowrie shells, but he sure did put his whole entire soul into learning prestidigitation from the best human magicians of their day, and took French lessons so that he could ask his aunt's gardener for a pen.
Wearing reading glasses to read is part and parcel to a 50-year-old man running a bookshop. Miracling himself some Lasik eye surgery would be cheating, just like using a miracle to make the farthing vanish in a sleight of hand trick. In order to do something the human way, all the normal human handicaps must apply, including myopia.
Aziraphale's Enjoyment of Art is Enhanced by Wearing Glasses
I also think that Aziraphale considers wearing eyeglasses to be an integral part of the human experience of the joy of literature; reading a novel without peering at the page through silica lenses framed by metal wire would be like eating sushi without dipping it in soy sauce. The experience would be incomplete.
But, then again, look at this dork:
He's wearing his glasses to listen to music. Clearly this isn't necessary or even helpful (but as someone who has taken off their glasses so they can listen better to somebody, I can assure you it's very human). So this tells us that Aziraphale's glasses are, among other things, his "I'm enjoying art right now" accessory.
This is further reinforced in the following beat, when he's opened the door, and he's not wearing his glasses anymore:
So sometime between turning off the gramophone and opening the door for Gabriel, he took off his glasses to signal that he has quit shastakovich.exe and is returning to "normal adult responsibilities" mode.
Aziraphale Uses His Glasses To Communicate
...and we know exactly who he learned this from: @goodomensgifs credited for this wonderful gifset, hereafter incorporated by reference because my computer is so mad at me rn and can't handle loading gifs.
Crowley uses his glasses to communicate his emotions a lot. He uses them to show vulnerability. He uses them to show contentment. He uses them to threaten. He uses them to show that he is wounded and defensive. He uses them to demonstrate that he is or is not willing to talk. Aziraphale has learned from the best.
The first time we see Aziraphale leverage his lenses this way in Season 2 is when Crowley returns to the shop after their fight about Gabriel. When he's alone, waiting for Crowley to return, Aziraphale isn't wearing his glasses:
but quickly puts them on when Crowley walks in the door:
Quite a few analysts have published metas on equivocation (@cobragardens and @ao3cassandraic, maybe we should start using an #equivocation tag? Because this is becoming a recurring topic), which I incorporate here by reference. Crowley and Aziraphale have had to learn to communicate without saying a lot of things out loud, and glasses are playing a role in that.
By putting on his glasses, Aziraphale has just put up a big "I'm feeling hurt and defensive" sign; at the same time, Crowley takes his glasses off, to signal that he's ready to talk. Aziraphale peers through his glasses while he's pretending to ignore Crowley, reinforcing that his glasses are assisting him in demonstrating his umbrage.
Aziraphale finally takes his glasses off to tell Crowley that his "you were right" wasn't a good enough apology:
At this point in the conversation, the angel is allowing himself to be more vulnerable and show just how upset he is.
This evidence is taken from limited samples, but it fits with the general dynamic of the characters observed elsewhere.
Thanks for the great prompt, I never would have done this exploration otherwise but it was very rewarding.
Good Omentober!
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If you liked this, you may like:
Clothes + Equivocation = Romance by @cobragardens
The Colors of Crowley by @cobragardens
The Golden Lion by @cobragardens
Angel Pinky Rings by yours truly, @indigovigilance
...and any fan is welcome to drop an analysis request in my askbox!
Welcome to Equivocation, a work-in-progress interactive novel by me (Shea). Here is some information on this novel. Keep in mind that this novel is still in development, so many things are subject to change. If you have any feedback, or general ask regarding to the plot and/or the cast, I’m quite happy to receive them :)
Updates:
Cleaned up the codes for chapter 1
Added a bit of content
Made Julie and Hamish gender-flippable ROs
What to expect next:
Character portraits
Demo update
You are just one job away from completing your indentured service. It is supposed to be an easy job, for all you need to do is to retrieve a package from an independent supplier and deliver it to the headquarter of Dreamscape on Mars. Little did you know, the ‘package’ you need to retrieve is actually a living person. Then all the security drones in the area become hostile and you have to run for your dear life. Worse yet, after your escape, you discover that you are implicated and there is a sizeable bounty on your head for this botched-up job. Luckily, your co-worker is still with you, and that mysterious ‘package’ proves to be an invaluable crewmate. With them and a newly-acquainted doctor, the four of you leave the Jupiter Terminal in search for answers.
Note: I will use the default pronoun for two of the gender-flippable ROs for the ease of introduction below, but in game you can switch them around :)
Captain Julie/Jules Wells
Your co-worker and a talented pilot hired by the Dreamscape. She is exactly like the adventurers in any of the popular serials, with her reckless behavior, and the undying love for a bottle of good booze. The only thing you find jarring is that she is in the employ of Dreamscape, the company famous for its strict adherence to standards and policies. Someone like her could not possibly want a life like this, but Julie just shrugs and says that it is nice to have a stable job sometimes.
Appearance: Julie is an athletically-built brunette with beige skin and a pair of expressive hazel eyes. She is often seen wearing her lucky white vest and a pair of sturdy leather boots. Her favorite weapons are plasma sabers and sniper rifles, and it is fascinating to watch her fight with both - she can be fast like a pouncing cheetah in action and quiet like a slithering viper in wait for her prey.
Chi
They are the ‘package’ you are supposed to deliver to the Dreamscape headquarter. Although they appear rather naive due to years of slumbering in a hibernation pod, Chi is frighteningly intelligent. They have a device installed on his nape to let him manipulate the cyberspace using raw codes, and for the love of Mother Earth, you cannot figure out how they are not insane yet (or maybe they already are, seeing that how strange they act sometimes). Unfortunately, like many other tragic prodigies, they suffer from a rare case of intermittent black outs, so they require constant monitoring from doctors.
Appearance: Chi is a youthful person with androgynous features and a pair of striking green eyes. After sometime of travelling, they manage to grow out a mop of red hair which is later styled into a slick-back look. Due to the strange illness, they wear a black bio suit with tubes and monitoring gadgets attached all the time, but that does not seem to deter them from helping you out. Thanks to the connector installed at the back of their neck, Chi can gain control of digital devices easily and short-circuit them.
Doctor Hamish/Yvaine McGuire
Doctor McGuire is an outspoken secessionist living in the lower deck of of Jupiter Terminal, who happens to be the only medical personnel you can find to look after Chi without leaking your whereabouts to authorities. He is generally kind and understanding, but that does not mean that he would not use extreme measures to achieve his goals.
Appearance: Although Hamish is only in his mid-thirties, he already has silver threads of white hair near his temples due to prolonged period of overworking. With a ponytail made of messy golden locks, hollowed cheeks, and the old, shabby lab coat he wears, Hamish is no different from other denizens in the lower deck of spacer’s habitat. Like most of the spacers who cannot afford calcium pills and sun bathing, he appears lanky and pale, but underestimating him would be a huge mistake. He is deadly in combat with his surgical knives and taser guns.
It seems this week has unearthed for many Europeans a stark reminder of underlying currents in many societies that has gone unchallenged for too long! It's been a shock to witness racism alive and thriving even in the midst of warfare, whilst we abhor all lose of innocent lives in conflict, we have to address the Elephant in the room, that the origins of Racial Discrimination starts in the religious imagination! The Papal bulls that set the tone for the xolonisation of others specifically mentions the need to civilised the 'Heathens', defined by the different ways in which Africans approached their conception of 'God'/Creator and their cultural values...less so to do with skin shade or features! We can only build a better world if and when we have honest conversations that challenge misguided positions of old - we all deserve better...EQUANIMITY FOR ALL! African Spirituality Matters! www.ancestralvoices.co.uk/courses #equality #equivocation #equanimity #ukraine #russia #war #stopthewar #stopracism #afriphobia #afrophobia #stophate #blacklivesmatter #africanlivesmatter #caribbean #asian #livesmatter #africanspirituality #africanspiritualitymatters #ancestralvoices #ancestral_voices https://www.instagram.com/p/Casf6mANfbI/?utm_medium=tumblr
