#Crowley and his plants

[zionworkzs]

Something about Crowley keeping plants...

Of course, there is THIS incredible post by @ineffable-suffering that goes into how Crowley takes care of his plants as a metaphor for self-worth, trauma, therapy, and his relationship to God. (Brilliant post, highly recommend reading this! Such an intelligent take from an intelligent person, as opposed to my dumbass that just likes to wax poetic).

I want to focus a bit more on the why behind plants specifically. I think it brings up the interesting idea of time and the passage of time for immortal beings. Plants take time to grow. They take time and effort and ample tending to for them to flourish.

It's interesting that such a fast-paced individual (changing his clothes, his hair, his style) would take up something like gardening, which is an inherently a painstakingly slow process.

I think this hits on Crowley's relationship with time and how he perceives the passage of time. Outwardly, he seems to change with the times easily. He adapts and moves through centuries like it's nothing. But the tending to plants doesn't fit in this understanding of his character. I do think this relates to how he feels inwardly. He feels some fulfillment, some comfort in taking time and care to dedicate to something that outwardly seems like a waste of time.

But Crowley doesn't see this as a waste.

Crowley could, presumably, miracle his plants to grow quickly and be in perfect health. Suspended them in perfect condition indefinitely, but he doesn't. He waters them. He takes time to care for them. What's more, he allows them, begrudgingly, to spot and wilt and make mistakes. (That he later punishes them for, but still... plants!) The key being he allows the plants to disappoint him.

Why? Does it feed into his world-view that nothing he cares for will last? Why take the time to tend to something with a limited lifespan? And such a short one in comparison to his own? No plant, even under perfect conditions can last forever. So why do it?

Because at least it's beautiful. And it gives him a sense of control over something.

I think what a lot of people get wrong about Crowley as a character is that he's fast. Aziraphale says this, and he's right in a way, and wrong in a way. Crowley isn't fast. Not really. He changes with the times because it helps him blend in, yes, but by that same token it camouflages him. It hides him.

It's can also be seen as a form of self-loathing. Because when he is fast, he can pretend he isn't a demon. He can pretend he is human. And what do humans do? They create beautiful things.

#crowley #good omens #good omens season 2 #good omens meta #crowley and his plants

[wackylittlegal]

how Aziraphale talks to Crowley’s plants vs how Crowley talks to them

#good omens #ineffable husbands #crowley #aziraphale #crowley and his plants #is this funny #i saw this clip in an our flag means death meme vid on youtube & thought of the husbands immediately

[hellfire371]

“Crowley why are your plants in your car” “uh. taking them. for a walk” “a walk?” “yeah. it’s the uhhhh newest in . gardening tips. yeah” “how thoughtful of you, my dear! do show them around the bookshop sometime, I’d love to be introduced to them” [muttering] “i’m not thoughtful, angel, I’m a demon. demons aren’t thoughtful.” “okay dear”

“……..and yea I’ll introduce you.” “wonderful! I look forward to meeting them!”

#good omens #aziraphale #Crowley #ineffable husbands #go #good omens hc #good omens season two spoilers #Crowley and his plants #Crowley’s plants

[iriswave]

This is giving Crowley energy

Crowley has definitely tried watering a plant with alcohol at some point

#good omens #crowley #crowley good omens #Crowley and his plants #please do not water your plants with alcohol

[solenaj0y]

I saw this photo and knew it had to be done 🌿

He looks so silly here I wanna redraw more cat photos as him now xD

#good omens #crowley is a cat confirmed #Crowley and his plants #Crowley loves plants #maybe Tumblr will appreciate my good omens art more than Insta does 💔 #artists on tumblr #digital artist #digital art #go fanart #good omens fanart #crowley #crowley fanart

[plumbum-art]

"...we both get plenty of use out of it..."

#good omens #good omens 2 #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #crowley #digital art #good omens fanart #aziraphales bookshop #crowleys plants #once he moves into the bookshop crowley will occupy every inch of area in front of the windows for his plants #since aziraphale doesn't need them anyway #at least not for potential customers #pb art

[mswhitedragon]

Ähm. Crowley, warst du das?

"My plants are always roting away!"

"You have to talk to them."

"I did!"

"You must threaten them!"

Crowley, were this you?!

GROW BETTER!

#good omens #crowley #plants #crowley and his plants #grow better

[doomedlemur]

Does Crowley actually destroy the "bad" plants?

I think not!

Neil Gaiman notably suggested once that he makes the shredder noise to frighten the plants, then sneaks the plant with leaf spots out and gives it to the old lady downstairs.

However, this was just in response to a question asking what could be told to a child who was upset by the scene, and so could not be considered canon. It does seem in character, but trying to be mindful of not headcanonning Crowley into too much of a meow-meow, I was prepared to believe either possibility.

But then, I was reading the book. And though much of the scene in the show was taken line for line, in the book it doesn't say he shreds the plants, or that the sound of a shredder is heard, or anything like that. It says he leaves the flat with the offending plant, and returns an hour or so later with an empty pot.

About the right amount of time to pop downstairs, have a chat and a cup of tea, and re-pot a plant, wouldn't you say? Hmmmmmmm.

#a cupperty if you will #it wouldn't be the first time something was “suggested” that later turned out to be canon: see Greasy Johnson #I need more content of Crowley and his wholesome friendship with the old lady downstairs #remember this is the same Crowley who canonically watches the Golden Girls #Tangent: much has been discussed on the subject of Crowley treating his plants as a mirror to the way Hell treats him: #This is also in the book: “It was the way they talked to you. As if you were a houseplant who had started shedding leaves on the carpet.” #good omens #crowley #anthony j crowley #good omens book #good omens meta

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

We can say however, that Aziraphale has picked up the pace. Time is of the essence as Shax marshals her forces to descend on Aziraphale's store and retrieve Gabriel.

"This is really Shax's first time out on Earth," Gaiman explains, "She is working very diligently andvery hard in Hell for a long time. Now she is on Earth, trying to figure it all out. She's just discovering what Crowley has known for 6,000 years, which is that if you're a demon and come up with a brilliant plan to screw up the lives of humanity, people will get there first and do worse than anything you could have imagined! She's coming to terms with that.

"She is having to deal with the first crisis onher watch, as well, which is the disappearance of the archangel Gabriel from Heaven. It would be fair to say that by the end of the story, she is leading as much as she can get from Hell's requisition department - a legion of Hell - in an attack on a Soho bookshop."

When audiences catch up with Aziraphale again, he's enjoying his time among humans. He owns most of the block in a Soho neighbourhood, and he's meddling in Nina's love life. Meanwhile, Crowley has been living in his car, with his plants sitting on the back seat. He's grumpy about his current status quo, but frequently hangs out at Aziraphale's. The duo began as antagonists, but their history and...

#good omens #gos2 #season 2 #aziraphale #cardboard box #sfx magazine #magazines #sfx magazine 2023 #neil interview #interview #crowley #homeless crowley #crowley living in his car #shax #gabriel #nina #plants #crowley's plants #Aziraphale has picked up the pace

[vivenecii]

Let's delude ourselves and imagine that this is actually a post credit scene where Aziraphale rethought his decision, stopped the elevator, apologised to Crowley and now they are packing their belongings to their Bentley to move together to their South Downs cottage and live happily ever after.

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens season 2 #good omens spoiler #good omens season 2 spoiler #fanart #digital #crowley #anthony j crowley #david tennant #aziraphale #michael sheen #ineffable husbands #ending we all wanted to see #also crowley packing his things: Plants? Yep. Bentley? Yep. Aziraphale? Yep. That would be all I have and all I need. #meanwhile Aziraphale: Oh heavens we need to hire two trucks to move the books alone!

[ineffable-endearments]

Crowley and His Plants in Season 2

I've got this complicated post about Aziraphale and the bookshop brewing, but I want to give Crowley and his plants their own post.

It's really important that Crowley hung onto his plants for juicy characterization and symbolic and thematic reasons. It's a major character development portrayed with relative subtlety, an excellent example of Showing, Not Telling, and I think it's a thrilling sign for Crowley's character development.

Before having a chance to think about it, I thought keeping the plants in his car was a funny and odd - but sweet - detail to include. In fact, it was so sweet that it was one of those "felt like fanfic" things!

In Season 1, and in the novel, the plants were very much there for trauma reenactment, for Crowley to vent his hurt and fear and anger and betrayal onto. In a sense, they seemed to be Crowley's way of roleplaying with himself, if we assume they were only sentient because Crowley thought of them that way. Through the dynamic of yelling at his plants, which he assumed could understand him, Crowley could emotionally act out both the terrified, powerless plant (subconsciously) and the big scary entity threatening it with destruction (consciously).

If we take everything at face value, we can also guess that Crowley disposed of plants that he no longer liked because of their imperfections, which would seem to imply he didn't have much of an attachment to them. Where they went doesn't matter that much to this particular line of theorizing. He could have given them to his elderly neighbor, he could have plunked them in a community garden, he could have left them on a doorstep, he could have shredded them in the garbage disposal. In any case, they were gone from his kingdom.

And after Season 1, I wondered if he would care to keep the plants if he wasn't using them to act out trauma anymore.

But in Season 2, the plants are in fact the ONLY thing from the flat that Crowley has hung onto as he moved into his car. Sure, it's possible that he has other possessions squirreled away somewhere and he just carries the plants around because they need sunlight, but most of the other possessions go unmentioned, so we have to guess that the plants are specifically important. They're also important enough to follow him into the bookshop and back to the car instead of just staying in the car for the trip to Edinburgh.

We also don't see a single instance of Crowley berating the plants in Season 2, but they do still express his emotions somewhat (shaking when he's afraid). He still has whatever subconscious connection to them he was experiencing before. Notably, there's at least one scene where a brown spot is visible on a plant, so whatever Crowley's doing, he's not getting rid of the plants like he used to.

This seems like an obvious example of Crowley's attachment to Earth condensed into a handy symbol. Crowley has started to admit to himself that he cares about these helpless living things, that he just likes them for their own sake. They're not a sign of a job well done for Hell. They're not a memory of Aziraphale. They're not a tool to make life easier or numb the pain. They're just Life On Earth and Crowley likes to have them.

Crowley has gone from using his plants as a tool for trauma reenactment to holding onto his plants because he has a genuine attachment to them. And, for a character whose arc I believe is going to involve forming more outward connections to others, that's a big deal.

Crowley's still got a ways to go. He's carrying these plants around, but the Bentley can't be an ideal environment for them. The whole process of driving them around, not to mention bringing them in and out of the bookshop, has to be kind of awkward for Crowley, too. It's very reminiscent of a character whose attachment to Earth is ambivalent, but who is moving in the right direction.

I wonder what'll happen next. His progress could be relatively linear, wherein he just goes off and forms more connections to humans on Earth after Aziraphale goes back to Heaven.

My suspicion, though, is that he will return to Hell with the specific goal in mind of thwarting the Second Coming and possibly trying to bring the entire system crashing down. In this way, Crowley experiences a massive setback in his position (he wants to be on Earth, not in Hell!) but is actually demonstrating a redoubled dedication to Earth and humans, so what he's doing is not backsliding. Compare it to Season 1, when Crowley is charged with delivering the Antichrist and complains, as late as the Antichrist's 11th birthday, that he didn't want to be involved, that Hell shouldn't have chosen him - when Hell choosing Crowley was the only reason he was ever in a position to try to thwart Armageddon.

But that's a lot of speculation. The point is, the plants are a meaningful connection to Earth and Crowley is taking care of them.

#good omens #anthony j crowley #good omens spoilers #go s2 spoilers #good omens 2 spoilers #Yeah the gif is Crowley baby talking the Bentley #But they are holding the plants #And I wanted a happy picture with Crowley and the plants instead of a scared or sad one #And I also can't help but think maybe his more open affection toward the car is relevant too

[lejoursobre]

Bildad....

#Good omens #Good omens season 2 #ineffable husbands #Crowley #aziraphale #bildad the shuhite #Lmao #What a look it's terrible #One of his worst and everything is terrible already #Demonic fashion icon #Duck #And plant #Fcourse

[beebopboom]

For one Prince of Heaven to be cast into the outer darkness makes a good story. For it to happen twice, makes it look like there is some kind of institutional problem. 

can we talk about how this is literally what Crowley is doing to his plants?

#like yes theories about that quote being about Crowley #and Crowley trauma projecting on his plants #and now we put them together #like babe #ow #also outer darkness is an interesting choice of words #good omens #good omens 2 #crowley #anthony j crowley #good omens metatron #metatron

[yarodrags]

Mr Nightingale he can't understand your songs

Occasionally Muriel will spot the wiry man curl up in a corner of the bookshop with his favourite tartan blanket and a bottle of chateauneuf du pape...

See the complete set here

Im so ready for Crowley to bust out his post divorce hair bc she be slaying

I subscribe to the fan analysis about how crowley is at heart an engineer 🥰 i just think that's so lovely hence his bird cage is adorned with symbols reminiscent of the Fibonacci spiral

And bc i love matching to show how these 2 complement each other azi has swirls wherw the light hits and crowley mainly has swirls in the shadows

There are also starry swirls on his turtleneck

#rip Crowley #good omens #good omens spoilers #crowley #anthony j crowley #aziracrow #angst #ineffable husbands #ineffable divorce #no nightingales #turtleneck crowley supremacy #he's in bed with wine at nine in the morning #bring back long hair Crowley #someone give my starman snekboi a hug #disaster puppy #he's my sopping wet paper towel #he's trying to recreate his own eden #i forgive you #How many angel related plants can i shove in one drawing

[somedayourocean]

its been so long since i looked at a hard copy i forgot about the little illustrations 😭😭😭😭😭😭❤️

#good omens #illustrations #i desperately need tattoos of aziraphale in the candle circle #and crowley watering his plants #physical media #book omens #aziraphale #crowley

[sentientsky]

On Crowley, the Starmaker, and the Disruption of Intergenerational Violence

(based on this post from @nightgoodomens) I started thinking about Crowley and the Starmaker and the way in which he's an engineer at heart. But then I started gathering screencaps and making gifs and stuff, and then I was thinking about how Crowley's doing a really good job of upsetting patterns of intergenerational trauma. (Of course I'm going to talk about childhood stuff, what did you expect from me??) CONTENT WARNING: this will involve discussions of childhood trauma and abuse (not explicit)

I'll be using they/them pronouns to refer to the Starmaker and he/him pronouns for Crowley. This is for no other reason than to help me differentiate in my own writing lol.

To preface, the Starmaker is so so important to me. You have no idea; they are my beloved, my everything, my most adored.

I mean, look them. What a fucking cutie (i accidently/subconsciously picked up the habit of nose-scrunching because of this goofy little cosmic Bob the Builder)

They're also an engineer, a creator of worlds—someone who spins matter and existence into being.

Their desire to create, to make things happen is carried throughout the story.

(e.g., Crowley's rainstorm) He maintains a love for the universe and all the stars in the sky.

So what does this have to do with intergenerational trauma? Well, as we've discussed time and time again, Crowley is deeply deeply traumatized by both the violence of Heaven and of Hell. Trauma, much like the worst fucking family heirloom ever, has the capacity to be passed down through the years. Let's get more specific. What is intergenerational trauma?

(source)

(source) For example, my grandfather has a horrific temper and lashes out as a way to cope with his emotions. In turn, my father learned that being abusive towards one's children was acceptable, and applied it to his parenting of me.

In this case, Crowley was abandoned and actively forced into, "a million-light-year freestyle dive into a pool of boiling sulphur" by God—someone who is functionally his parent. In Hell, he was subject to torture and other forms of cruelty. Unsurprisingly, that leaves a fucking massive mark on an individual. It would be very easy for him to simply replicate the patterns that he learned in his time as the Starmaker and turn cold/callous/cruel. And yet he doesn't do this. As mentioned here, he is kind and compassionate. He sticks around through continual rejections, despite having only known abandonment. He answers questions (invites them even). At the same time, the trauma hasn't had a nonzero effect on him, of course. He's redirected the violence into compulsive caretaking and a kind of need to prove himself, among many other things (totally not speaking from experience here. no siree!! *sweating*). Let's take a closer look at this (because I want to and you're stuck with me hehe): Questions As we saw in season 1, Crowley cites asking questions as the reason for his Fall (an idea which we see reiterated in season 2):

Instead of replicating that same violence (by belittling, rejecting, or else lashing out at those who ask questions), we see him encouraging curiosity. Not only is this evident within the Starmaker,

but also in Crowley himself, as we see with both Muriel and Jimbriel:

Along the same lines, as he's been subject to a great deal of unkindness (understatement of the year), it would be easy for him to carry that cruelty forward (god knows my family has taken that route before. who said that!!!). Nevertheless, he remains kind, even to those who have hurt him (which isn't to say that you need to be or even should be kind to those who abuse you. abuser apologists are not a thing in this household). Kindness even in the face of mistreatment + anger Gabriel, as Crowley has mentioned, has the capacity to smite Crowley. He has actively tried to kill the love of his life. The mere presence of Gabriel in the bookshop triggers a fight or flight response in Crowley, and this disruption represents a violation of the safety of the bookshop that he and Aziraphale had established within the past however many years (see Alex's fantastic meta post for more detail regarding the bookshop becoming an unsafe space for Crowley: x)

ignore my cursor. just pretend its a fly. shh shhh it's beez just being a silly lil guy (gn). i'm too tired to remake this gif, so this is what we're working with lol

(AND THEN HE OFFERS HIM A HOT CHOCOLATE?!?!?!! couldn't be me) Case Study: The Plants (shoutout to @sighed-the-snake for their post about leaf spots) Even with regards to his plants, we see a widely different side of him beginning in the second season. In the first season, we witness him using the plants as a site of displacement/projection, in which he reenacts the violence he himself was subject to.

However, in the second season, while we don't get a lengthy view of them, episode four gives us a quick glimpse into how this approach might have altered in the four years since.

(please keep in mind that my vision is absolute dogshit, so apologies if you look at my little circles and go "what the actual fuck is she talking about?" i TRIED, okay????) Had this been the first season, these little guys wouldn't have been permitted to exist in the state they're shown here. We could argue, oh well, it's just because Crowley's been busy/distracted with other things. And while that may be the case, we've seen him preoccupied with the end of the world in season 1, and yet still exert control over the plants.

...I have no solid conclusion for this, as I'm still sick and my brain is like a bowl of stagnant dishwater at the moment. I'm not putting forth any new ideas or anything, so I guess this is all to say, "yay for cycle breakers!".

#this was originally much much longer but im TIRED and i don't want to add all the explanations/reference links etc #and yeah i know there's debate as to whether crowley dumps his plants or not but again. TIRED. very sleepy. so this is what we've got #wow this meanders a lot sorry. where did my point about the starmaker go??? the fuck? eh whatever #jimbriel = himbo. gabriel = office jock loser asshole #good omens #crowley #ineffable husbands #good omens 2 #aziracrow #aziraphale #go2 #ineffable lovers #good omens season 2 #ineffable wives #good omens meta #gomens #gomens 2 #good omens s2 #crowley angst #the starmaker #david tennant #michael sheen #gomens meta #tw: childhood trauma #on intergenerational trauma