When angels arrived on Earth in 1938, the world took a distinct shift from our own reality. This article documents some those differences and how they have affected life on Earth.
Consumer Culture
In spite of the Fallen's semi-outcast nature, manufacturers recognized the need for products to address their specific needs. A few of those new products appeared on the market in the 1940s and sold well enough to justify their continued supply:
- preening combs with a beak-like shape
- oils used in place of soap or body wash (wings get waterlogged)
- natural hair-care products
- feather powders (for overly oily wings)
- feather oils (for dusty wings)
- water bottles and canteens designed to hang from belts
Cuisine
Angelic interest in liquid consumables was noted in the '40s and several companies experimented with marketing tea varieties, fruit juice, soda and soups toward angels. Unfortunately, due to angels' lack of expendable funds, the specialized varieties died out by the 1960s. There was some resurgence after the Blessed Choir's arrival in 1993, but the marketing campaigns worked better on humans than angels.
Because of honey’s visual similarity to angelic blood, most angels are squeamish about adding honey to tea or food. Most of them like the flavor, just not the appearance.
In the 1990s, many high profile angels of the Blessed Choir challenged the human concepts of masculine and feminine drinks. Rafael in particular just straight-up loves the little umbrellas and the bars in France and Italy have started adding them to other drinks to encourage angelic consumption.
Angels got tired of receiving angel food cake or devil’s food cake as joke gifts sometime around 1954. Most of them just stare now without cracking a smile, even the ones with better senses of humor.
Economics
Most countries declined to allow fallen angels to apply for citizenship, apply for jobs, or hold bank accounts, denying them the ability to participate in the larger economy. Fallen angels are known to take cash jobs when they are offered and readily spend money when given the opportunity, but many businesses continue to refuse them entrance. After the beginning of the Angelic Occupation, this standard relaxed somewhat, especially for fallen angels with white or very pale wings.
Many areas which were economically depressed after the closure of various military bases experienced massive recovery when those bases were converted to angelic bases in the 90s. Most of them have seen a population increase of between 10 and 15% per year with more families moving into the area. Schools have been built and renovated to accommodate the new populations, as have industries and commercial businesses.
Angels of the Blessed Choir have been excellent for business, both because they receive a regular wage in American dollars which they tend to spend in the local economy and because the presence of the base creates higher demand for services, creating more jobs and drawing more workers.
Regimental angels usually hold bank accounts and access their finances in the same ways humans do. Once direct deposit payments became commonplace, these were also used for angelic paychecks as well. Most angels do not pursue credit accounts or bank loans, as their housing is provided and they are discouraged from excessive materialism.
Fashion
Angels who fell during World War II introduced the heavenly chest-wraps and kilts.
American Apparel designers worked closely with Azarael and a team of angelic advisers in 1993 to design angelic uniforms. Standard issue uniforms are based on the Heavenly versions they brought with them: leather-and-canvas kilts past the knee; woven cotton wraps made from single pieces of rectangular fabric, nine yards long by a yard wide worn wrapped around the waist, diagonally across the chest and over the shoulder; knee-high cotton/poly blend socks; lightweight combat boots. There is a dress uniform version with fully leather kilts, more elaborately woven wraps and dress boots, as well as a cold-weather version that replaces the socks with knit leggings and the wrap is made of heavy wool.
Saris and chest-wraps similar to the angelic uniform become popular in human culture during the late 90s. While they fell out of high fashion again by the end of the 00s, they remain on the market as a utility item for both angels and humans. They are making something of a come-back due to their popularity with black musical artists including Beyonce and Janet Monet.
Kilts also came back into more mainstream fashion in the 90s. As American culture swings back toward the more conservative in the mid-2010s, there was some push back to men wearing “skirts.” Due to the clearly masculine presentation of the angels, this issue was dropped and even swung the other direction, with many white supremacist groups wearing kilts as tributes to “god and the Anglo way” in 2017.
Tattoos of wings and angel-related imagery increased dramatically in 1940 and continues to be one of the major tattoo subjects, along with Duafric figures (which are almost as frequently mangled as Chinese characters). The angels themselves have a fascination with tattoo techniques, some of which can survive the angels’ physical changes. Some particularly talented artists have managed to design tattoos that shrink or grow into different shapes depending on the skin tension. Azarael himself has one of these on his left forearm.
In their off-duty time, angels often prefer to wear sandals if the weather permits. This also spiked an increase in human sandal fashion, though it’s still ridiculous to wear them with socks.
Some of the shirt designs produced for angels include a t-back shirt which consists of a neck/shoulder/sleeve piece attached to the front of the shirt, sides that wrap around and a single clip-strap which connects the two sides under the wings, then up between them to join the neck in back. These shirts are commonly compared to human t-shirts and usually made of jersey fabric, though some are heavier weight and resemble sweaters. One of the major variations is a dress t-back which is a flat front styled to look like a human button-up dress shirt.
Angels look good in human-styled suits and they know it. Most major cities and any city host to a large angel base has at least three angel-specialized tailors who will modify suits to be worn by angels.
Human hair dye is extremely effective on angel wings. This is usually seen only in fallen angels or exiles (or off-duty angels who get very, very drunk). Peroxide also works fairly well to bleach colored feathers white, though not well enough to allow fallen angels to pass as uncorrupted. Angels who are beginning to fall and have gone static may begin to manifest single pigmented feathers and these are frequently bleached to avoid detection.
Interior Design
After the initial conversion of the existing buildings to angelic use in 1993, some architects began exploring angel-friendly design in housing and commercial buildings. Many public buildings built in the 90s and 00s include wider, taller doorways, taller ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, additional upper floor entrances positioned like porches and more roof gardens. To account for angelic customers, many franchised restaurants redesigned and remodeled their stores across the country with larger spaces between tables and seating which allowed for wings.
For the safety of the public, many buildings and businesses were re-rated for occupancy to include a “human” number, a “mixed” number, and an “angel” number to indicate how many humans and angels could safely be accommodated. This brought several press jokes about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin.
Furniture companies quickly adapted to the larger bodies of angels and their preference for stools over task chairs in an office setting. Several companies collaborated with angels to design angel-friendly furniture like the padded front benches and Tabbris’s medical exam table. As angels prefer to sleep in groups, they usually prefer futon-like mattresses on the floor.
For a while in the ‘90s, feathers were a big deal in interior decorating. It became somewhat passe by the mid-00s and almost embarrassing by the ‘10s, almost like velvet Elvis paintings.
Literature
Thousands of nonfiction books about angels since their arrival have been published, though the authors tend to be large on speculation and slim on facts. Often these end up being categorized as mythology or philosophical works by librarians due to the inability to confirm the contents. The first major book to collect anecdotes and first-hand interactions with fallen angels,
Stories With Wings was written in 1957 by an English writer, John Marrow. The collection was generally poorly received as it focused on the relative humanity of the fallen angels rather than painting them with the same cultural brush they had experienced up until that point.
The Angelic Occupation has seen a marked increase in literature written about angels in popular fiction. Some of the angels have taken to reading these as humor: not many humans get very close to their reality.
Several volumes have been published by the archangels themselves. Rafael in particular has close to a hundred volumes of poetry in publication and Gabriel has written eight philosophical works, four books of poetry and an ongoing series of short stories published online.
Unbeknownst to most of the public, the works of a fallen angel became highly successful in the late 70s. Writing under a pen name, Terashiel wrote fifteen pulp sci-fi novels, eight serial mysteries and two narrative non-fiction books examining the experiences of Black homeless humans in Los Angeles. Because fallen angels were unable to receive royalties or hold bank accounts, his publishing company held the money in trust and paid out sums on his behalf to help the homeless fallen in southern California.
Music and Dance
Songs about angels have always been popular, but the introduction of the fallen in the 1940s shifted the tone. Angels in Heaven were further idealized and "fallen" took on a much dirtier connotation, especially during the 1970s and 80s as Wasting Fall became a global discussion. The fallen were further associated with drug abuse and homelessness after the extremely successful song "Feathers on the Ground" written by Smokey Robinson and performed by the Miracles in 1972.
Angels have proven themselves to be intensely musical, both singing and dancing frequently in public. Their musical tastes vary as widely as humans, so there were plenty of angels present in the 90s rave scene. This lead to the rather delightful discovery that angels’ wings glow strangely under black light. While the humans are unaware of this, some angels have made the connection between the UV-present feather patterns and the plumage manifested after the fall which suggests that the patterns were present to begin with and aren’t caused by the fall but rather revealed.
Skydancing, the angelic form of dance which is often observed over gatherings of fallen and later over the angelic bases during off-duty hours, has been studied and a ground-based version of it taught in ballet and modern dance classes. Some dance companies in the 1980s attempted to imitate skydancing onstage with dancers on wires with mixed results.
In the 1990s, many humans requested that angels participate in the musical culture through recording their voices or singing/dancing for audiences. Due to the 100% employment rate of the official angelic population, this has not been encouraged by the established archangels, though Rafael has performed during dance festivals occasionally.
Politics
Azarael’s policies: While Azarael is in direct control of the angelic armed forces, he does so under the guise of being answerable to the American people. There is an illusion that he can be removed from power if he makes any kind of major misstep in the public eye, but it’s entirely illusionary. If challenged for control of the USAAF, he would take a battle stance and the angels would take over the American government wholesale, just as Michael’s forces have in the Middle East. Personally, there are days when Azarael hopes this will become the case, mostly because he hates state functions and making nice with politicians.
When faced with the spectacle of American politics, Azarael makes a point of staying withdrawn and emphasizes that he has no role in the choosing of American leadership. He will not endorse candidates or speak against them. He is very circumspect with his criticism of political figures and will shut down any discussion of politics by his staff to avoid leaks that would indicate he favors one side over another.
The only time Azarael has ever commented on moral issues, he stated, “I don’t speak for God. I only follow orders.” He does not support one religion over another, nor one philosophy or denomination over another. He acknowledges all major religious holidays including Christmas, Easter, Rosh Hannah, Hanukkah, Ramadan, etc. Any human staff members are permitted to take their personal religious holidays off as paid holidays. Angelic staff observe bank holidays.
Sports and Gaming
Angels have several sports they consider native to their culture, the most notable being competitive racing. Because many fallen enjoy the challenge of navigating city streets at high speeds, angelic racing has been outlawed in most countries for safety reasons. It has much the same cultural perception as drag racing.
Since the Angelic Occupation, enlisted angels have also taken to Ultimate Frisbee, variations on children’s playground games like tag, and Quidditch. These games are often observed being played by the fallen as well.
As video games became more common among the American population, angels also picked up the hobby. Most of the angelic bases have a rec room which includes several different generations of console games and some angels have purchased game-friendly laptops and computers. Angelic LAN parties were not uncommon during the early 00s, especially given the angels’ preference for being physically close to each other.
Some of the video games to come out since the occupation have included angelic flight simulators, which the angels insist are about as accurate as most early FPS running mechanics. Just as human gamers’ tastes vary widely, angels’ tastes do as well. With the advent of the smart phone, angels are also prone to getting hooked on app games the same way humans are.
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