Church On Ruby Road

Because of Good Omens brain rot, I’ve been doing a Ninth/Tenth Doctor rewatch. And I was reminded of something I started to notice when I did my first ever rewatch.

The jokey attitude Rose has in the face of danger is a trait she shares with the Doctor, but it’s not something she picks up from him.

In Aliens of London/ World War III, Harriet chides her for making jokingly says something to the effect of how the Slitheen’s compression field works as a kind of weight loss program. This is the first time it’s ever been called out, but it’s not actually the first time she’s done it.

In the first episode, while the Doctor is explaining the living plastic she makes a wry comment about all of the breast implants coming to life. She’s only known the Doctor for a few hours at this point. It goes completely unremarked on, but it’s there.

She does it in the Empty Child when Jack catches her in his transmat beam. Her voice is literally shaking in this one, both from physical exertion and terror.

The thing is, I think it’s a coping mechanism. I think Rose has learned to bury her fear behind snarky remarks and jokes, one she probably picked up to deal with her life on the estates, to deal with being belittled, to deal with her abusive ex.

The first time I really came to this conclusion was while watching Tooth and Claw for the second time.

During the episode, Ten and Rose have this little bet running to see if she can get Queen Victoria to say her “we are not amused” line. Every time Rose does it, she is giggling.

Until she says it after the werewolf (this is a really strange episode even for DW…) attacks.

After taking a second to be relieved at being alive, her face kind of drops, her eyes widen and glaze over a little bit. The line “I bet you’re not amused” is rushed out of her mouth and significantly quieter than she was a minute ago. The delivery is uncharacteristically monotone until the little emphasis she puts on the end.

She does this weird almost-smile like she’s going to laugh even though she is patently not smiling. She does this small little head shake, her arms are tense.

It’s a really unsettling moment, and it was this performance by Billie Piper is what made me start thinking about this.

Queen Victoria yells at her, and Rose immediately apologizes, won’t even make eye contact with anyone. She curls in and turns away a bit.

This moment always bothered me and it took me a few watches to really articulate why.

Rose is scared.

I didn’t see it immediately because Rose displays fear in so many ways.

When she fears someone she cares about is going to leave her, (usually it’s the Doctor), Rose will lash out. This happens in Father’s Day, School Reunion, and Girl in the Fireplace. (The last one is so justified. She’s way more compassionate than I would’ve been at the end of that episode). She also does this Fear Her (when Nina Sosanya’s character continually refuses to watch her possessed daughter)

Other times, she’s able to turn her fear into action. She does this in her very first episode, the series 1 finale, the Cyberman two-parter, the Satan Pit two-parter, and earlier in Tooth and Claw.

Sometimes, she runs. In Christmas Invasion, she is facing a world-ending threat without the Doctor for the first time. She can’t do the heart of the Tardis trick again without ripping a hole in the universe.

Many times she’ll turn to the Doctor or her mother (who does her best but doesn’t always say the right thing)

But sometimes she makes a snarky comment or tells a joke to convince herself and maybe others that it will be okay.

She uses jokes for this specific reason to cheer up the Doctor in the Satan Pit.

Because Rose is compassionate. To Raffalo, to Gwenyth, to the Empty Child, to Jack. To Cassandra and Flora and Elton. She even tries to comfort Reinette, who is condescending towards her and who the Doctor repeatedly abandons her for because she regrets antagonizing Sarah Jane last episode. (I mean Sarah Jane was kind of mean too despite being a grown woman and Rose only being in her early twenties).

It’s the final confirmation the Doctor needs to realize she’s possessed on New Earth.

She will allow the Doctor to sacrifice her without question to save people and shows compassion to a Dalek both before she knows what it is and after it proves to be capable of changing.

She will drop everything for her mother despite whatever disagreements they have, will bend the universe to keep her father from dying alone.

She will literally sacrifice herself and stare into raw time to save the Doctor.

A lot of people think that Rose’s character in s2 is not as interesting. While that’s true, I think it’s more to do with the lack of interactions between her and Ten that aren’t about their romance. Nine and Rose have interactions that challenge each other’s morality. (Dalek, End of the World, Fathers Day, Unquiet Dead). On the rare occasions that Ten and Rose clash, it’s over jealousy brought on by Rose’s fear of being forgotten and Ten’s fear of committing, or feels like it’s in the shadow of his behavior with Reinette. Ironically, it’s their debate in Fear Her (a not great episode) that is one of the more interesting exchange of views that they have.

I wouldn’t completely agree that Rose loses her compassion in the second season. I think some of her more toxic pre-existing traits are just brought to the surface. And her protectiveness does become selfish.

But series 2 dumps a lot on Rose’s shoulders.

Ten’s weird hot and cold demeanor is probably emotionally taxing too. She has a lot of inferiority issues, probably because of how she’s been treated by her mother and others in her life. She frequently reiterates that she doesn’t matter. You can see how much it means to her when Nine earnestly admits she saved his life in response to her nervous teasing and posturing. And you can see how crushed she is when he calls her stupid in a moment of anger in Father’s day. (An event that is partially his fault because he didn’t explain the rules to Rose until afterwards) He immediately apologizes. (He does have that weird flirtation with Lynda but that is dropped just as abruptly as it starts).

The Tenth Doctor has this deeply frustrating set of episodes in series two where he is utterly awful to watch, and it’s after this that the relationship becomes the shallow, unhealthy, codependent one people remember. (I will expand on this in another post)

But it’s not even necessarily because of the Doctor that it’s hard for her. She says in Parting of the Ways that it wasn’t even the adventures she loved, it was him showing her a better way of life.

The adventures, the death, those are what wear her down the same way they wear down Ten.

She is, at one point, told by literal Satan that she is going to die imminently.

No matter how cheerful an episode begins, the loss always brings something melancholic out of Rose, but also someone desperate to hold onto the person she loves and carve out some sort of hope for a future. Impossible Planet does this really well with the little exchange about getting a mortgage. You can tell both of them find the idea appealing, or would if the Tardis was on call for the occasional weekend trip and weekly visit to Jackie. Because Ten likes Jackie, likes having a family.

Because deep down what these two want is each other and to rest. Not stop, they never could do that entirely. That’s why, I think TenToo works well in Empire of the Wolf (I don’t think it’s handled well in the actual show). Because they are still having new adventures with their daughter, just smaller ones.

So while Rose does have her flaws (selfishness, jealousy, a coping mechanism that is not always in the best taste). But she’s 19, she’s human. She’s allowed to and -as a character in a piece of media- should have flaws. I think they are what make a fundamentally brave and compassionate character feel like a real person. They make her more compelling.

(I want to do a later meta on Mickey, because Rose could’ve handled that better, but I also have issues with early Mickey. And it ties into some other stuff…so later meta.)

On Wording in the Final Scene

Good Omens Season 2 Spoilers:

I’m doing a rewatch, but it has taken all day to watch the season. I keep pausing because I know what’s coming.

But now The Scene is here and…I discovered something that made it so much worse.

Aziraphale says, “Obviously you said no to Hell, you’re the bad guys.”

He doesn’t say “they” he says “you”.

We know that Aziraphale doesn’t see Crowley as a demon not really. Crowley knows what he is, but Aziraphale sees him as a Fallen Angel. It probably doesn’t help that Crowley also often minimizes his own Fall (like telling Aziraphale that he sauntered vaguely downwards). It probably confuses Aziraphale even more. He can’t reconcile that Crowley is a demon who is nice.

And I don’t think Aziraphale wants to “fix” Crowley. I think he sees Crowley’s Fall as a mistake, and that Crowley deserves to be an angel (because he still thinks angels are good).

And it makes sense for Aziraphale to think this way. He just witnessed Gabriel’s redemption. Gabriel who tried to brutally murder him, and callously dismissed human life.

And yeah, Beelzebub is a demon falling in love, but Aziraphale probably explains this as “Beelzebub is another Fallen Angel (rather than demon)”.

Which could perhaps mean that his view of evil is a little more complicated than anyone, himself included, give him credit for. He thinks demons are evil, but not beyond redemption.

But in the moment, Crowley doesn’t think about any of that. He just hears Aziraphale call him “a bad guy”. After everything. In the moment when it matters most, Aziraphale lumps him in the evil category.

And both my heart and Crowley’s shatter a little bit more.

What even. I’m just… it’s YOUR book. YOUR fantasy world. Aren’t you at least… interested in it?

The Bastile Summarized:

Aziraphale: I cannot speak French and I refuse to dress like someone that isn’t being actively guillotened right now. Also, I can’t perform miracles.

Aziraphale: Time for crepes, brioche, and a stint as damsel in distress.

Crowley, aka the one who turned Aziraphale into a hedonists: I have regrets.

Crowley: Are we going on a date or wot?

So, I’m rewatching Season 1 of Good Omens because we are hours away from Season 2. (I’m very normal about this obviously).

Anyway, I noticed a line that I had never really thought about.

And I finally realized just how hopeful this series is. It’s something I so desperately needed so enjoy…

After Warlock’s birthday when Aziraphale and Crowley are in the car, Crowley mentions that “it’s the last [party] they’ll ever have”.

So…he doesn’t think this plan is going to work. He thinks the world is going to end, The whole “influence the antichrist” plan is his idea, but he doesn’t think it will work.

The funny explanation is that he is convinced after seeing Warlock’s behavior (which included bullying Aziraphale. How dare), he comes to the conclusion that Warlock (who he still believes is the antichrist at this point) is pure evil.

However, Crowley has been visibly less optimistic about their chances (as seen on the bus) for awhile.

Even after Dog is named he bleakly states “we’re doomed.” Yes, he could mean himself and Aziraphale, but his back-up plan is to run away together. I like to think he’s including the two of them along with the humans. Earth is their home as much as it is the humans.

But despite everything, he still tries. He still does his best to save the Earth.

Yeah, he doesn’t want to lose his easy life on Earth where he doesn’t need to work hard and he can drink and drive and listen to music and see Aziraphale relatively unnoticed.

But deep down, despite all of the bad he sees humanity commit, he still thinks that they are worth saving.

When he’s in his apartment, yelling at God, he expresses that She “shouldn’t test them (humanity) to destruction. Not to the end of the world.”

A demon from Hell who has seen the worst of humanity for 6000 years still thinks we’re worth saving. Because he’s also seen the good. And for him, that’s enough.

And that’s honestly so beautiful.

Good Omens S2 Incorrect Quotes 2

Nina: I am not an early bird or a night owl. I am some form of permanently exhausted pigeon.

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Nina: I'm not funny, I'm just really mean and people think I'm joking.

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Crowley: So jellyshish-

Nina, laughing: JELLYSHISH!?

Crowley: You know what I meant!

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Maggie: Made you all playlists!

Maggie: Nina, yours has only heavy metal, and is dark like your soul.

Maggie: Crowley, yours has sad songs and blues to pair with your crippling depression.

Maggie: And Muriel has the ABBA Gold album.

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Crowley: I have met some of the most insufferable people. But they also met me.

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Crowley: Name a more iconic duo than my crippling fear of abandonment and my anxiety. I’ll wait.

Nina: You and me!

Crowley: *tearing up* Ok.

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Crowley: Nina likes to say ‘you can be part of the problem or part of the solution,’ but I happen to believe you can be both.

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Maggie: Today, Muriel said a swear word, so Nina said that they were going to wash Muriel's mouth out with soap. Muriel replied, “It’s okay, I like the taste of soap”. Turns out, they’ve been putting soap on their lips to blow bubbles.

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Crowley: *raises eyebrows*

Nina: Put those back down!

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Nina: Don’t be sad!

Crowley: Why not?

Nina:

Nina: I don’t have a good answer.

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Crowley, to Muriel: Please, picking locks is my specialty.

Crowley: *throws a brick through the window*

Crowley: Okay, let’s go.

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Crowley: While I'm gone, you're in charge Muriel.

Muriel: Yes!

Crowley, whispering to Maggie: You're secretly in charge, but I don't want them to feel bad.

Maggie: Obviously.

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Nina: Do you need help getting up?

Crowley: Nah, I'm cool down here on the floor.

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Crowley: My crush isn’t picking up on my hints.

Nina: What hints have you given them?

Crowley: Well, I think about them a lot.

Crowley: And sometimes I even think about talking to them.

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Nina: How would you like your coffee?

Crowley: As dark as my soul.

Nina: Got it, one cup of milk coming right up!

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Maggie: You know what your problem is?

Crowley: I only have one?

Writing using genAI is a special kind of lazy. You couldn't even be bothered to plagiarize the old fashioned way, noooooo, you had to use the Planet Killing Water Waster 3000 to do it for you. Incredible. Truly.

I reread this snippet from the book:

“Aziraphale had tried to explain it to him once. The whole point, he’d said—this was somewhere around 1020, when they’d first reached their little Arrangement—the whole point was that when a human was good or bad it was because they wanted to be. Whereas people like Crowley and, of course, himself, were set in their ways right from the start. People couldn’t become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked. Crowley had thought about this for some time and, around about 1023, had said, Hang on, that only works, right, if you start everyone off equal, okay? You can’t start someone off in a muddy shack in the middle of a war zone and expect them to do as well as someone born in a castle.”

And I had a few thoughts:

1. Aziraphale and Crowley spent 3 years straight having a philosophical debate. (This isn’t a whole lot of time considering their lifespans). Or they just spent three years around each other, then this rebuttal spontaneously occurred to him, and he blurted this out to Aziraphale out of nowhere (kind of like how the “ducks! That’s what water slides off” incident, just more prolonged).

2. Aziraphale and Crowley saw each other once in 1020, had this debate, and Crowley thought of nothing else but Aziraphale (more specifically Aziraphale’s argument, but still…). He came with this answer and either hung onto it in nervous excitement until he sees Aziraphale again or actively seeks out Aziraphale immediately to make this counter argument. He says it even in lieu of greeting before he can forget it.

Side note: I also think Crowley really wants to show off to his bookish angel that he’s smart too.

Okay, so I’m working on Part 4 of Domestic Burlesque, it’s just that it covers 1964-1966 (if you know you know). Obviously, it’s going to end happily, but it gets pretty dark. So, I decided to post a little bit of fluff first. Please let me know what you think!