Aziraphale/Crowley

Aziraphale/Crowley is the pairing of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley in Good Omens fandom.
==Canon==
Aziraphale is an angel of Heaven and Crowley is a demon of Hell. They met after Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden and have met up throughout human history. The fact that they are supposed to be enemies is a source of tension throughout their relationship. Good Omens follows them as they attempt to thwart the coming of the Anti-Christ and the apocalypse.
==Fandom==
Aziraphale/Crowley is the main ship in GO fandom. Many stories take advantage of the fact that the two have been around throughout the entirety of human history 
=== Terminology ===
In the early days of the fandom, based solely on the book, ship names included A/C or "Air Conditioning" (more common on Livejournal), and "Consenting Bicycle Repairmen" (a description of the two taken from the novel). Later, on Tumblr, fans took to calling the ship "Ineffable Husbands," in reference to God's ineffable plan. This name was partially chosen because "Air Conditioning" caused problems with unrelated posts turning up in Tumblr searches. Ineffable Husbands became the most commonly accepted ship name as the fandom grew post-show. Later on there was a push to use the smush name "Aziracrow", because it was more inclusive of their fluid gender presentations, but most fans seem to use the terms Ineffable Husbands and Azriacrow interchangeably.
===Book===
The book fandom, like the later fandom, was heavily focused on Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship, although how that relationship was characterized was different. Fans summing up the differences between Book and TV series Aziraphale/Crowley as:
===TV Series===
Since airing, the series and the original novel, have been referred to as a "6000 year slow burn", and this tag has also begun appearing on works featuring Aziraphale/Crowley.
===Common Tropes and Storylines in Fanworks===
*Historical Settings: focusing on them meeting and interacting over the centuries, crossovers with Historical RPF and Literary RPF are somewhat common; with characters like Shakespeare or Oscar Wilde sometimes appearing in fics, it is also common for them to witness major historical events 
*Post Apocalypse that Wasn't: stories that take place after the prevented Apocalypse, these vary from taking place directly afterwards to a more distant future. These fics also often include a love confession, because they are free from their respective roles, and being observed by their head offices. Many works depict the two sharing a home together, either in the flat above Aziraphale's bookshop, or a cottage on the South Downs.Where the South Downs thing comes from a Tumblr post by irisbleufic, 2013, accessed 14 June 2019.
*Ineffable Wives: both Aziraphale and Crowley presenting as women 
*Wings: fanworks where Aziraphale or Crowley brings their wings into the physical realm. Grooming each other's wings is common, this may lead to wing kink, but not always. There was a lot of wingfic in Good Omens fandom, and some fans credit the excessive amount of wingfic with giving fandom a brand new trope; wingless fic. It involves a character suddenly and unexpectedly losing their wings. This trope originated in Good Omens fandom and has appeared in other fandoms with angels or winged characters.
*First Kiss: showing the lead up, and aftermath, of their first kiss together. Very popular before the second season of the TV series, also very popular in AUs.
*First Time: often exploring the circumstances around their first sexual experience together
*Virgin Aziraphale or Virgin Crowley: a smaller trope, but not too uncommon, is to have either Aziraphale or Crowley, or sometimes both, be a virgin in the realm of human sexual relations. This sometimes leads to the more experienced partner taking the lead, or if they are both virgins, them trying to figure it out together
*True Forms: Aziraphale and Crowley being able to see each other's truly angelic or demonic forms, or revealing their true forms to each other. True Form Sex is also common, where Aziraphale and Crowley connect beyond the mere physical. These works may also contain elements of Monster Fucking.
*Top/Bottom Dynamics: although fans have their preferences, the ratio of fics tends to be fairly evenly split between Top Crowley or Top AziraphaleAs of September 2021 search of AO3
*Secret Relationship: in canon they had to keep their arrangement and friendship a secret, but some fics take this a step further and have them begin a romantic relationship earlier in canon that has to be concealed. These stories sometimes have a bittersweet feel to them, because they have to steal small moments of time to be together. Some stories end post apocalypse where Aziraphale and Crowley are finally able to love each other freely.
*You can stay at my place, if you like: many fics take place during the period of time when, off camera, Aziraphale and Crowley spent the night together at Crowley's flat. Many of these stories made include tearful confessions, a reveal of feelings, their first kiss, their first time, or some combination of any of these (This is a TV series only trope)
*Human AUs: fics where Aziraphale and Crowley have always been human, the most common being modern AUs where usually Aziraphale still owns a bookshop and Crowley often has a hobby or career that concerns plants, sometimes owning a flower shop. Human AUs that take place in historical or fantasy settings are also fairly common. There are also stories where Aziraphale and/or Crowley are somehow turned into humans.
*Pining: most commonly mutual pining, them longing for each other, but they can't reveal their feelings because of their circumstances. However, when the pining is one-sided it tends to be Crowley that is more often chosen by creators to be doing the piningAs of September 2021 search of AO3 resulting in 339 works tagged Pining Crowley vs 133 works tagged Pining Aziraphale
*Asexuality: having either Aziraphale or Crowley, or both, be asexual, this may be because of their angelic or demonic natures, or just be their sexual orientations
*Snake Crowley: Crowley in his snake form, in fanworks he often rests himself on Aziraphale's shoulders or wraps himself around him. Finding Crowley resting in a sunny spot in the bookshop is also common. Naga!Crowley, where Crowley is half man and half snake, can also be found.
*Hurt/Comfort: fanworks seem to be fairly evenly split between either Crowley or Aziraphale receiving the hurt, and the other providing the comfort. Because they are supernatural beings fans sometimes have to come up with inventive ways to hurt them, some common ones are, being hurt/tortured by other angels/demons, coming in contact with a cursed/blessed object, spells, being hurt by humans, among many other ways.
*Alpha/Beta/Omega: a smaller trope in good omens fanworks, Aziraphale being an omega and Crowley an alpha is the most popular dynamic, though the opposite can be found. 
*Mpreg: is featured in a small number of fanworks, this may be the result of A/B/O or just their ability to change their bodies at will. Pregnant Aziraphale tends be more popular, and because of their angelic/demonic natures their pregnancies are rarely like humans. In fanworks where Crowley is pregnant it is not unusual to have him lay eggs in his snake form.
*Nesting: sometimes going hand in hand with Wingfic or A/B/O, but sometimes it just because of an angelic instinct to build a nest. In fanworks with this concept Aziraphale often builds a nest and invites Crowley to join him in it.
*Fix-it: after season 2 of the TV series there was a lot of fix-it fanworks created where Aziraphale and Crowley are reunited, these vary from taking place right after the events of the season 2 finale to several months or years later.
*Second Kiss: after their angst filled canonical kiss at the end of season 2 many fanworks focused on the possibility of their second kiss, which is often shown to be sweeter, tender and more mutual. Some fans were unhappy with the canonical first kiss, and they may ignore it in their fanworks, or rework it to their satisfaction.
=== Challenges ===
* Ineffable Idiots Big Bang
== Author Response ==
Before the TV show, Gaiman did not personally want to be exposed to fanfiction, but he was aware and tolerant that it existed.
However, Gaiman's responses seemed to change after the TV series. He commented a number of times on Twitter that he was open to or supported interpretations of the relationship as romantic, but maintained that they are not human males and do not fit into the human conception of a gay male relationship. 
In 2017, Gaiman responded to a Tumblr ask about Crowley's sexuality with the following:
In one interaction in 2019, he confirmed Aziraphale and Crowley love each other:
In another Twitter interaction around the same time in 2019, he expressed support for various headcanons about their relationship: 
File:87987089098790.PNG|Gaiman confirming they love each other
File:TwitSS NG GO ace.PNG|Gaiman confirming they could be ace, aro, or trans
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
====Pre-series====
* The Sacred and the Profane (Good Omens story) by afrai – Role Swap AU in which Crowley is an angel and Aziraphale is a demon. (2002)
* Flights of Angels by Daegaer, an early example of a Wingless Fic (2003)
* A Diamond Sky Above Titanic by SeaBlueEyes, The year is 1912, and one angel and one demon's lives are about to change forever as they embark on the fateful maiden voyage of the R.M.S. Titanic - and a relationship utterly forbidden by both Heaven and Hell. Once again, I apologise to the fandom for reading a comedy and writing a tragedy. (2011)
* Your Own Side, a 350,000+ word series by NotASpaceAlien. (2016-19)
====Post-series====
* Repossession (Good Omens story) by dreamsofspike (2019)
* Slow Show by mia_ugly (2019)
* If We've Got Nothing (We've Got Us) by Kedreeva, "Two months after the failed apocalypse Aziraphale finds the first dark feather growing in his wings. A story about middle grounds, ineffable plans, and what happens when the world doesn't end."
* Something Wanting in My Nature by mugatu, "I saw this tumblr prompt and my hand slipped. `Okay which one of you is going to write the Ineffable Husbands college professor AU with the extremely sweet and over-sharing professor fawning over their spouse and the standoff-ish secretive professor who reveals absolutely nothing about their private life who turned out to be married?´"
* Strange Flesh and All That by FortinbrasFTW, "Aziraphale smiles back. 'What's funnier, dear boy? That I've considered it or that you haven't?'"
* Any Way You Want It by Justkeeptrekkin, "Who'd have thought that sharing a cottage in Scotland would be quite so romantic?"
===Fanart===
====Pre-series====
*Inappropriate Goings-On... by danny-sama
*Good Omens_2 by Fishik
*Nap Time by xxsymmetryxx
*Pointless fluff by lord-october
====Post-series====
* by madvalgo (June 2019)
* by seancefemme (June 2020)
*Aziraphale and Crowley in Kew Gardens by toastedbuckwheat
===Vids===
*All I Want by Mary Tyler
*True Love by Pinkly
*Somebody to love by GossipVal1
===Zines===
*Flaming Like Anything
*Good Old Fashioned Lovers
*It Began in a Garden
*It's Ineffable!
*Somebody To Love
*Thwarting Wiles
*Sweet Indulgences: A Sugar Baby Aziraphale zine
===Meta===
* , a Ship Manifesto essay by jennaria (2005)
* Ineffable Husbands Rule Good Omens - Aziraphale & Crowley a video essay about the ship, and some differences between book and TV fandoms
*Evidence that Crowley and Aziraphale want to fuck by falsepremise (2020)
*Mandatory things you find in a proper Good Omens AU Fan Fic (2023)
==Example Art Gallery==
===Inspired by the Book===
File:Good Omens Winter.jpg|Good Omens: winter by Linnpuzzle (2004)|alt="illustration of winged, dark haired, Crowley, and winged Aziraphale, who is holding an umbrella, while snow falls around them"
File:Good Omens by rhianimated.jpg|Good Omens by rhianimated (2007)|alt="illustration of Aziraphale holding a book and tea cup, and dark haired Crowley wearing a leather jacket, holding a bottle of booze"
File:Friends 3 by noxcape.jpg|Friends.3 by noxcape (2009)|alt="Comic, top panel dark haired Crowley kissing Aziraphale's cheek, second panel Aziraphale yelling "Don't tempt me, you old serpent!""
File:Ineffable by danny-sama.jpg|Ineffable by danny-sama (2009)|alt="illustration of Aziraphale and dark haired Crowley naked and kissing, surrounded by their wings"
File:Crowley grooms aziraphale by stephanielamb.png|Crowley Grooms Aziraphale by StephanieLamb (2011)|alt="illustration of a dark haired Crowley grooming Aziraphale's wings"
File:Kiss by candra.jpg|.Kiss. by Candra (2012)|alt="drawing of Aziraphale and dark haired Crowley kissing, Crowley has pieces of hair sticking up to make it look like horns"
File:Crowley and Azriphale kissing by tio-trile.jpg|Crowley and Azriphale kissing by tio-trile (2014)|alt="illustration of dark haired Crowley kissing Aziraphale on the nose, Aziraphale is holding a book"
File:Aziraphale and Crowley by Ememchan08.jpg|Aziraphale and Crowley by Ememchan08 (2015)|alt="illustration of a winged Aziraphale with a halo, holding a book, and a dark haired Crowley with wings and a pointed tail"
File:Some good omens fan art by merildae.jpg|some good omens fan art by merildae (2016)|alt="illustration of Aziraphale and dark haired Crowley reading and sitting on a couch, Aziraphale has his legs in Crowley's lap"
===Inspired by the TV Series===
File:Good omens by irenhorrors.jpg|alt="illustration of winged Aziraphale and red haired Crowley, dressed in Victorian era clothing"|Good Omens by IrenHorrors (2019)
File:Ineffable husbands by gaypompeii.png|alt="illustration of Aziraphale and red haired Crowley sitting at a table, Azirphale has a book and Crowley a glass of wine"|ineffable husbands by gaypompeii (2019)
File:Deleted scene by ceciliagf.jpg|alt="painting of red haired Crowley kissing Aziraphale, they are sitting on a park bench"|Deleted scene by CeciliaGf (2019)
File:Zine ineffable husbands.jpg|alt="Cartoon images of Aziraphale and Crowley in suits, with a white background. There is a doodle of angel and demon wings at the top and bottom of the image"|Interior art by mittiepaul, from the zine Somebody To Love (2019)
File:It's Ineffable.jpg|alt="Red haired Crowley and and Azirphale enjoying a picnic, with the text "It's Ineffable! (A Good Omens fanzine) by Ria Martinez""|Cover art by Ria Martinez, for the zine It's Ineffable! (2019)
File:Two Angels Rocheg1.jpeg|alt="illustration or Aziraphale and red haired Crowley glancing lovingly at each other"|Looks of Love by rocheg (2019)
File:JohannathemadGO.png|alt="illustration of red haired Crowley pulling his hand away from Aziraphale, Crowley is saying "Ew""|Untitled piece by Johanna the Mad (2020)
File:Aziraphale and Crowley dolls.jpg|alt="Home-made dolls with wings. Their heads are round wooden ovals, both dolls are dressed like the characters Aziraphale and Crowley"|Aziraphale and Crowley dolls, a fancraft by c_nilsen (2020).
File:Ineffable Husbands Make-Up Meme by lejoursobre.png|alt=illustration of Crowley drawing a moustache on a sleeping Aziraphale|Untitled art based on the Girls Doing Make-up meme, by lejoursobre (2023)
File:Axel GoodOmens Leyendecker CoupleDancing.jpg|The ineffable husbands as "Couple Dancing" by Leyendecker by axel-tired-student (2023)
==Archives, Awards & Fannish Links==
* Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens) works at Ao3
* (Aziraphale, Crowley) pairing on Fanfiction.net
* Posts tagged ineffable husbands on tumblr.
* Ineffable-Husbands, a DA group
* In 2024, the relationship won 1st place in the fourth MLM Ship Bracket Tournament out of 112 entrants.
==References==
Category:Good Omens Relationships
Category:Slash Pairings
Category:Non-Binary Pairings
Category:Social Media Feature-Ship Sunday