#leaving earth
Ok there’s tons of cute art and fic and metas our there connecting Crowley’s past as a star maker to the star he wanted to run away to and the romance of Alpha Centauri being two stars that orbit each other and it’s all really sweet, but I can’t help thinking…
Y’all know Alpha Centauri is a triple star system right?
Alpha Centauri A (Rigil Kentaurus), Alpha Centauri B (Toliman) and Alpha Centauri C (Proxima Centauri).
A and B form the super romantic pairing.
C is a red dwarf, orbits much farther out (closer to Earth), isn’t visible to the naked eye, and is the one that actually has confirmed planets in the habitable zone.
Like, I honestly don’t know what romantic thing you can do with this information but i honestly love the sort of angsty/unrequited romance feel of it which doesn’t seem like a good fit for this ship (more of an OT3 thing? Or some kind of identity thing idk?) but I’m just saying if anyone pulls it off idk tag me and I’ll name a cat after you in the future.
i looked into alpha centauri because i was interested in the potential meaning of that choice as the place he wanted to run off to, and i noticed the triple star system fact as well. to my mind the red dwarf would represent earth for them - it’s the thing that united them in the first place and that allows them to continue to be together, but it fades into the background compared to their relationship to each other. i think the fact that crowley suggests they run off together to be there reinforces that concept. even though the earth is an intrinsic part of their connection (as the dwarf is an intrinsic part of this star system), when it comes down to it, it’s so much less important to crowley than his relationship to aziraphale that he would abandon the whole planet to be with him (as the dwarf is so dim in comparison to the binary stars that it’s invisible). but visibility - i.e. crowley’s perspective - is not the only thing that matters. there’s a practical reality beneath what is clear to the viewer. if the dwarf were removed from the system, the whole thing would be unstable and it could not survive. if aziraphale and crowley did abandon the earth, their lives and relationship would fundamentally change in a similarly unsustainable way. they’d be on an empty world, forever hiding in fear, with literally nothing but each other. they’d be alive but not living. they couldn’t be happy, and ultimately they would probably be found and destroyed anyways.
the only solution is to maintain all three, and two of them can continue to feel much more important, but they do need the third to stay together. which is how things work out for him and aziraphale in the end.
i think this is probably just me stretching to make the analogy work, but it’s fun to find meaning in these little things, whether it was intentional or not.
Select additional comments:
@aethelflaedladyofmerciacomment: @mochacoffee idk sounds like a pretty solid metaphor to me we often ignore how the Earth, the city, the cultures they live in have shaped them into who they are. They are what humanity has made of them.
my cat seems unimpressed tho so I don’t think she’ll be willing to be named after you.
@ambular-dcomment: Hm. I think the third one would be God. Out of sight, keeping an eye on them, exerting an influence, but basically staying out of their way.
@rudyrose365 reply: Wait. There’s an invisible third force orbiting around our romantic pairing, gravitationally acting them, and maybe creating life?
Yo. That’s _God_.
@theniceandaccurategoodomensblogreply: Two Crowleys and two Aziraphales. Hey- maybe it is Earth for Crowley and God for Aziraphale…
@tickety-boo-afreply: On a less metaphorical level, the fact that there are potentially habitable planets in that system makes it seem like less of a dumb choice to run off to. Sure, it’s abandoning earth’s humanity for the sake of each other, but maybe there are other life forms they can coexist with? And their corporations might not be useless there?
@chonaku-things comment: for me, it is earth, because it is the second love of crowley and aziraphale
@alviepines comment: Third star is their new adopted son, Adam. And/or their other son, Warlock.
theniceandaccurategoodomensblog:
Look, let’s be clear on this: from the moment the Antichirst was born Crowley was fucked. Even if he managed to avert Armageddon, the forces of Hell and Satan himself was still going to come after him and destroy him for it. So, of course, he had an escape plan. He HAD to have an escape plan.
From the moment Crowley delivered the Antichirst Crowley’s plan was:
1. Do absolutely everything I can think of, including enlisting Aziraphale’s help, to prevent Armageddon.
2. When I’ve done absolutely everything I can do and the forces of Hell come to destroy me then I will escape of Alpha Centauri, and hope that it was enough. Oh, and I’ll try really hard to convince Aziraphale to come with me.
Crowley doesn’t even mention Alpha Centauri to Aziraphale until it seems to Crowley that they are all out of ideas. Further, just mentioning an escape plan is NOT the same thing as literally running then and there. Crowley does not attempt to put his escape plan into place at all until the forces of Hell are at his doorstep.
It is not selfish for Crowley to have some sense of self-preservation. It is not selfish to have a back up emergency escape plan for if doing everything you can think of is still not enough. It is not selfish to run from the literal forces of Hell attempting to destroy you personally because you tried to save the world.
It was Crowley’s idea to try to avert Armageddon. The moment he knew about the Antichrist he was straight onto trying to prevent it without any hesitation. Crowley is the one who convinced Aziraphale. And he did it all knowing that if Armageddon didn’t go according to plan he personally would be blamed. He’s fucked either way. So, of course, he was at least partially motivated by love of the world and preventing suffering and all of that. The real reasons spill out when he’s drunk: dolphins. Dolphins, that’s my point.
Can we please stop condemning him for making an escape plan? Can we stop thinking that having an escape plan means that Crowley ‘you can’t kill kids’ never had unselfish reasons to save the world? Can we please stop condemning him for wanting to live?
And please, if you are sacrificing your whole life for the greater good, stop. Do your best AND make escape plan. It is okay to want to live your life.
