Annual plein air at Carl Sandburg. Baby goat inspected.

Catawba, Cherokee, Yuchi, and Miccosukee native land

pt XIV good omens season 2 (still not traumatic) episode 2

Here we go. It might not have been traumatic, but it has made me utterly in love with a fictional character. Great.

I really wish I knew how that played out. Like at what point did it go from the camera zooming in on Crowley's face as that part of the Job flashback started, to Crowley just... wandering away... while Aziraphale was spaced out...

*incoherent trauma noises*

Stab us all with that, why don't you?

I told you all. I warned you. You brought this upon yourselves fandom maggots.

You dragged me down to your level not knowing how I fall for people. No sauntering here. I am all in.

I'm doing the million light year freestyle with Crowley and I'm taking you all with me straight into the sulphuric pits of hell.

“BUT THE GOATS. CROWLEY DEFIED HEAVEN AND HELL FOR GOATS.”

I think Crowley, at least in part, defied Heaven and Hell to protect Aziraphale from getting involved and having a crisis of faith. He knew Aziraphale was scandalized that God would do such, at best horrifically callous and cruel things to Job, and while Crowley protected the goats and Jobs children, he would rather Aziraphale not be involved at all and have a clear conscience, even if that meant Aziraphale thought he was a heartless murderer. But Aziraphale knew he couldn’t be a murderer. I adore these two. 💕

yes yes yes *sucks in breath it is 5 am and I just woke up* but if Aziraphale wasn't to know that the goats would be saved...

Crowley definitely was protecting Aziraphale by not telling him and letting him not have to defy god etc. But saving the goats? That wasn't for Aziraphale, that was for the goats, because if things had gone according to plan they'd have simply escaped as crows and azi couldn't be comforted by the thought that the goats escaped. aziraphale would put himself in danger for the children after this anyway so. either way aziraphale would come face to face with a crisis.

Crowley looked at his orders from Hell, and orders from Heaven, and defied God and Satan to save a flock of goats. and i am entirely a normal amount of affected by this.

IF THIS DOESNT MAKE SENSE DO NOT COME FOR ME THE SUN HASNT RISEN AND I SPENT MOST OF THAT EPISODE TOO EMOTIONAL OVER CROWLEY TO PAY MUCH HEED TO DETAILS-

Goats, Crows and The Flood

Or why Crowley turns the goats into crows in the Job minisode

If you're reading that and thinking "eh, what's the Flood got to do with it?" then read on. It wasn't done just so Crowley got to change his name. It's never as simple as that. C'mon now, this is the GOmens AU, I'm not going to write a meta about something like this and not give you at least three if not four layers as to why, now, am I? Certainly not, and this one won't be any different.

The job minisode is so fun and funny until you realise that the speech crowley gives to the goats he has to destroy is a speech he might as well have given to himself. “You should know why you’re about to die, god has abandoned you, the god who claims to love you and demands your praise has given you up to be destroyed. Bad luck.”

And THEN when a despairing job sits in the evidence of fire and says “how sunk in sin must i be not only to deserve all this but not even to know why” it HITS. It’s like crowley isn’t it… he doesn’t understand why he had to fall…. is he evil… why has god forsaken him…….

"I don't suppose he's getting any answers."

"No. But just to be able to ask the question."

“But they’re innocent.” “So were the goats.”

Crowley’s protectiveness of goats makes a lot of sense when the Biblical symbolism of goats is that they’re demons/devil related/evil/sinful.

In so many of the allegories, sheep are good because they follow the shepherd unquestioningly, while goats are evil because… well, they’re goats. They do their own thing and can’t be controlled/led like sheep.

The most significant section is in the book of Matthew 25, which is especially important since it relates to the second coming - the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ will be separated like sheep and goats. The sheep are told they are good and will go to heaven, the goats are told “ Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

So when Crowley gets defensive of goats, there’s a tasty subtextual layer of meta going on there.

Crowley knows he did nothing wrong and was condemned for it, and will never ever ever forgive Heaven for it.

(And yeaaaah, it delights me that Crowley would probably fall under the sheep category as someone who has done Real Good without any intention of reward or blessing. Active good compared to Performative Lip Service Good as shown by the angels)

I was just thinking about this goat vs sheep symbolism on my last rewatch and remembered that in archaeology, it’s famously difficult, sometimes impossible, to distinguish between goat and sheep bones (to the point they’ve started using chemical analysis).

And doesn’t that fit in just perfectly with Good Omens themes? :)))

Aziraphale: Then… Then you tell me that you want to do this. You look me in the eye and tell me.

Crowley [convincingly]: I want to. I long to destroy the blameless children of blameless Job, just as I destroyed his blameless goats.

Aziraphale [believing Crowley]: Then God forgive you.

[As they are both walking away in different direction a bleating sound is heard. Aziraphale turnes and sees only crows... which proceed to bleat. Crowley watches Aziraphale. Aziraphale and Crowley glance at each other. Aziraphale makes a miracle and the crows turn to goats revealing that Crowley didn't destroy the goats but changed them into crows instead.]

Aziraphale [putting his hands on his hips, cheerily]: Well.

😈 : is protective

😇 : actually does the protection

🐐 : hungry

😈 : is protective

😇 : actually does the protection

🐐 : hungry

i'm told they can be escape artists.

do you have any thoughts about having the goats do things like mow your lawn, or friends’ lawns, or help people with jungly back yards get them under control? my sister has two ‘retired’ sheep from her work, and is planning to bring them to my house next summer to help with that.