So I was thinking of this scene, and it was making me almost weep happy tears, while driving to work.
And I thought about why I love this scene so much: it’s because of their utter delight in each other. Crowley is enchanted by mischievous Aziraphale, and Aziraphale is equally enchanted by Crowley’s delight, and by the fact that he can make him laugh like this, with his whole self. And there we have it, two characters who ADORE each other.
It’s the kind of moment we are used to seeing, and writing, in fic. Two characters who love being together in the small moments between everything else.
And then I thought, the best thing about this scene, is that we don’t have to imagine it into being. It’s right there, on the screen. Brought to life by two brilliant actors, a magnificent writer, a director who really GOT the story they were telling. We don’t have to add it in the gaps they left.
We can imagine other moments, and they feel extra true, because we already have this moment.
And I thought about that all day, while trying not to cry tears of joy at my desk.
1. Humans say ‘ow’, even if they haven’t actually been hurt. It’s just a thing they say when they think they might have been hurt, but aren’t sure yet.
2. Humans collect shiny things and decorate their bodies and nests with them. The shinier the better, although each individual has a unique taste for style and colouring
3. Humans are not an aquatic or even amphibious species, but they flock to bodies of water simply to play in it. They can’t even hold their breath all that long; they just love to splash!
4. When night falls and the sky goes dark, humans become drowsy and begin to cocoon themselves in soft, fluffy bedding.
5. Some humans spend time in each other’s nests! Just for fun! It’s not their nest; they’re just visiting each other.
6. Some humans use pigments and dyes to make their bodies flashy and colourful! They even attach shiny dangly bits to their cartalidgous membranes!
7. Humans are very clever, and sometimes adopt creatures from other species into their family units. They don’t seem to notice the obvious differences, and often raise them alongside their own young!
8. If a human sees another creature in distress, they can commonly be observed trying to help! Even at their own risk, most humans are deeply compassionate creatures!
9. If a human hears a particularity catchy sound or tune, it will often mimic it, even to the point of annoying themselves!
10. Sneezes are entirely involuntary, and completely adorable. Especially when the human in question becomes frustrated
11. Humans love treats!!! Some more than others. Many humans will save these treats specifically for a later date when they are in need of comfort or reassurance. IE, pickles, pop tarts, Popsicles, etc
12. They’re learning to travel in space!!! They can’t get very far, but they’re trying!!! So far, they’ve made it to the end of their yard, and have found rocks
this sounds like it was written by a really enthusiastic alien humanologist
i’m cRYING
“So far, they’ve made it to the end of their yard, and have found rocks” is still maybe the cutest thing that’s ever been said about space exploration.
do u ever realise that you’re gonna be an adult for the rest of your life
There are so many other words in the english language and you just had to go and say these
a few months ago I was on a plane flying across the U.S. I had a couple friends with me, but we weren’t seated together, so I was sat between a middle-aged businessman and a very elderly man. after takeoff was over I flipped down my tray table and pulled a big ol’ book out of my bag, with a couple pencils and stickynotes, and set to work preparing for my upcoming exams. next to me, the old man pulled a book out of his bag and set it out on his tray table. we smiled at each other, a sparkling moment of inter-generational mutual understanding - there’s probably a fifty-year age gap between us, and your life experience has not been anything like mine, but for the next hour we’re both gonna sit quietly and read our books. once the flight landed and I’d taken my headphones out and was starting to pack up, he asked me what I was reading and if I was in school - my furious underlining and constant reference to the endnotes probably gave me away. I explained what I was working on. “When I was a young man I used to read big books like that,” he told me, cheerfully. “Now I read stuff like this.” his book was a beautiful, illustrated Grimm’s Fairytales.
in the course of a whole life, we do return to childhood. we think of this as a curse, because we’re so afraid of not being independent, of needing help to do things we once did alone. but it is also a gift.
Reminds me of the 90 year-old woman who was in my Women of Grace bible study. She was elegant and charming, still lived on her own and her entire wardrobe consisted of clothes that she had sewn herself. She sheepishly admitted to us that she often stayed awake into the early hours of the morning because she was too engrossed in her books - which happened to be fairy tales.
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”
CS Lewis
My heart 🖤
I know it’s been books so far but I remember waiting for a flight in Memphis for thanksgiving break in uni and I happen to pull out my sketch book and started uselessly doodling my own characters.
Across from me was an older woman, probably 70-ish(?) with a sketch book of her own with glittery stickers on the front. When I stood up I got a glance at what she was drawing,
It was a princess, holding hands with a prince in a very beautiful and detailed style.
(with deep respect for Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd)
Once there was a little bunny who realized e was nonbinary. So e said to eir mother, “I am not a boy bunny or a girl bunny.“
“I love you, but I don’t understand,” sair eir mother
“Male and female bleed into each other like day and night,” said the little bunny. “There is space between them for sunrise and sunsets.“
"I’ve always thought of male and female like land and water,” said eir mother. “Separate.“
“If they were, then I would be a frog, who lives half in and half out of both,” said the little bunny.
"I’ve always seen female and male as light and shade,“ said eir mother. “Divided.”
"If they were, then I would be a cat, who lies half in and out of the sun,“ said the little bunny.
“I’ve always believed that male and female were like two trees,” said eir mother. “Distinct.”
"Then I would be a bird who flies back and forth between both,“ said the little bunny.
“Whether you are a sunrise, or a frog, or a cat, or a bird, I am still your mother. I will support you wherever you go,” said the mother bunny. “I love you.”
"I love you too,“ said the little bunny.
This story is a loving remake of “The Runaway Bunny” (1942) written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. This version was written and illustrated by Maia Kobabe: instagram / patreon / portfolio / the nib / etsy
hello. i am writing to let you know you did good job on the stars, and also on cats.
yours respectfully, me
dear universe,
in the original post of this, it says “dogs” where it now says “cats”. i do not know when (or how) it got changed, but i am glad that someone loved cats enough to do that, because i love my dog and i also love my cats and i felt bad about not mentioning it that first time. i’m also glad for all the tags where people told me what i should have added (like libraries and waffles and maple syrup) and i am glad for all the comments about how much they love their pets (and some people have such cool pets!)
i kind of think, universe, if we are your children, this is our macaroni art. see, see, see, you gave us a little bit of the stars, and we’ve made our own constellations. we tried to give back to you by making art and music and books and bad poetry and our laughter and our love and our tv dramadies. we took pictures of the night sky and pictures of sunsets and pictures of dew, we fell in love with space and the rivers and the rain. i personally have my desktop background as a picture of one of your nebulas. your hair looked great that day.
i think…. you did a good job, universe, on the stars, and what the stars became, because you put us together and yes, yes, things might be terrible - but good gracious did we make so many things worth loving, worth writing to you about, worth telling you - thank you, i’m taking the spark you put in me and using it to be kind, to be alive, to be wildly fierce about our gardens and gentle about our pets.
so hello. i amend my previous memo. i am writing to let you know you did a good job on the stars, and on my dog and my cats and the lizard i kept illegally in my apartment. and universe, i hope you’re watching, because some of the people you made? they’re great, universe, and they’re full of love, just endlessly capable of loving. and they give me hope.
and through them, universe, that’s you. that’s how the stars sing.
