demonicmiracle: (048)
2023-08-20 10:59 pm
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Hey, it's Anthony Crowley. You know what to do, do it with style.

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demonicmiracle: (168)
2022-09-20 10:48 pm
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demonicmiracle: (182)
2021-09-18 10:07 pm

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OOC:

Player Handle: justine
Contact: [plurk.com profile] batsecretary
Pronouns: she/her

Invite/Current Player: Invite Link
Other Characters: n/a


IC:

Character Name: anthony crowley
Age: physically late 40s/early 50s, mentally has existed since before time
Canon: good omens (tv)
Canon Point: end of season 2, after aziraphale leaves for heaven

CRAU: n/a

History: Wiki link

Personality: Describing a demon should be simple. They’re evil, they’re violent, they’re destructive. That’s how they were made to be and honestly, there isn’t much they can do about it. Free will is for humans, that was part of the point with the apple.

Ironic, then, that the one demon who seems capable of truly exercising free will is the one responsible for all that apple business. Enter: Crowley, an angel who didn’t so much fall as saunter vaguely downwards, although the truth of how he was cast out of Heaven tends to change to suit his moods. The crux of it seems to be that he never quite meant to, and never quite settled into to being a demon the way other fallen angels did. Some part of him seems to be innately complicated compared to other demons, a fact that isn’t helped by his time on Earth.

He’s gone a bit native, you see.

This isn’t to start saying that Crowley is by any means a shining beacon of goodness, or that he should’ve remained an angel, that would be inaccurate to say the least. Crowley is a fairly selfish being, most of the time. He’s fascinated by humans, openly admires their creativity and cleverness and does care about humanity as a whole, but he has little concern for them on a one-to-one basis. This is practical in a way, and it’s not that there can’t be exceptions (he seems to have struck up a friendship with Leonardo Da Vinci). But still. He shows almost no regard for pedestrians while driving, including when he does hit someone, acting more put out by the whole business instead of expressing concern for the woman who went flying over the front of his car. And while he isn’t willing to do the deed himself, he’s more than happy to try to talk Aziraphale into killing a single child to save the rest of the world. Most of the time, Crowley is looking out for himself. Someone’s gotta do it, after all. And while he does express distress and anger with God for testing humans too much with the apocalypse, his primary motivation for trying to save the world is that he likes it there. Once things turn sour for him on Earth, he's willing to abandon any chance at saving it to save his own skin, instead (as long as Aziraphale goes with him).

There’s also the fact he’s spent a considerable amount of time making sure that as many humans as possible were as miserable as possible. Crowley has a job and he’s rather good at it, it just so happens that job is trying to tarnish people’s souls so they end up in Hell. The difference between what he does and what a regular demon does is that he likes to leave it all up to the humans, how they deal with whatever negative emotions he inspires. Crowley isn’t the devil on someone’s shoulder talking them into committing a sin, he’s just that bad day you had, because the phones were down, because there was too much traffic, because your ex’s new girlfriend looks really good on instagram, and then you take that bad day out on someone else, and a little bit of goodness is lost.

But there’s still free will. That’s important to Crowley.

Of all the characters in the show, even literal angels, Crowley seems to be one of the few with a strong sense of fairness, of right and wrong, which maybe makes sense, considering the whole apple nonsense. He questions why Adam & Eve were kicked out on their first offence, he balks when informed that God plans to drown everyone, including children, all because She’s displeased with a bunch of humans, and he seems particularly perturbed by the worst of the violence that humanity can come up with. It’s this sense of fairness that seems to drive his acts of Hell ordained wickedness on Earth, it’s the reason he tries to maintain the importance of free will in everything he does.

The one place he isn’t fair is with the plants in his flat, a recreation of a garden, where they’re held to an impossibly high standard and destroyed for even the smallest mistake. But we don’t have time to unpack all that.

Let’s focus back on all those messy human things. Those emotions.

Most demons seem capable of only a handful of emotions, namely things around anger, pride, confusion (only one person in this show has a brain cell and it’s Pepper, the 11 year old) and hate. By contrast, Crowley runs the whole gamut of emotions, from fear to hope to anger to loss to love. He’s one of the more emotionally open and emotionally vulnerable characters in the show, and that comes from an apparent willingness to expose himself to the mortifying ordeal of being known. Unsurprisingly, this mostly happens around and because of Aziraphale, but in general Crowley shows a range and depth of emotion that other demons just completely lack. Even from the beginning, there’s a surprising tenderness to the way he talks about Jesus, empathising and sympathising with someone who should be his enemy. Crowley shows disgust at learning about the Flood, he’s anguished over his Fall, he's quick to anger, especially if the topic is something he's sensitive about, and his anger occasionally leads to violent outbursts and petty grudges. He also gets a strong sense of satisfaction from his work, and he breaks down when his best friend is killed. He’s even kind and gentle on occasion, although that’s definitely more reserved for Aziraphale. Crowley craves companionship, he goes out of his way to seek it, and he seems to understand that in order to truly have it, he has to be open to a) having emotions and b) admitting them. Multiple times in the show, he puts himself and his emotions on display in the hope that they won’t be tossed aside.

They are, but he picks himself up and tries again anyway. The thing about emotions, though, is that they're difficult and complicated and honestly, Crowley just isn't that great at regulating them, when it comes to emotions of the negative side of things (anxiety especially). It comes through in the anger, but it also comes through in how quickly he gives in to despair once he thinks Aziraphale is gone, in his anxiety while trying to find the Antichrist, in the way he withdraws from his only friend for decades because of a minor disagreement. Fairly consistently, his feelings get the better of him, leading to some kind of unfortunate consequence. Crowley pushes Aziraphale too hard out of panic at losing him, and he messes up delivering the Antichrist because he's too focused on worrying over the coming apocalypse. His fears doesn't necessarily stop him from getting things done, but it drives a lot of his actions, especially as Armageddon approaches.

All that said, the stuff about free will, the fear, the mortifying ordeal of being known, the whole mess with being cast out of Heaven. It could speak to someone who takes themselves far too seriously, but while Crowley certainly has his broody moments, mostly when alone, he’s clearly also enamored with the world and with experiences, and isn’t shy about indulging himself or having fun. His sense of fun may be a little skewed, considering it once involved turning paintball guns real, during some company’s team building exercise, but it’s still fun. He likes comedic plays, he cultivates a collection of music, he uses words like wahoo, he gets drunk and rants about how smart dolphins are, despite apparently not knowing quite how dolphins work. There’s a playfulness to Crowley, an edge of dramatics, a bit of flair that suggests he does know how to enjoy himself. Even when he’s facing imminent destruction, he takes the time to leap up on a chair and put on a bit of production to trick a Duke of Hell, a being more powerful and dangerous than he is. There’s creativity there, an imagination, something else that most demons lack. It’s all very free will of him. It’s very human of him, which is also the point. By extension, he’s a lot better at interacting with other humans than most demons are, being perfectly of capable of developing professional relationships. In the book, he’s described as Hell’s most approachable demon, and while not exactly a high bar, it does say something about Crowley. He’s fun, he can be charming, he’s cool. Or at least, he likes to think he is, the actual effectiveness of any coolness he tries to cultivate is varied.

See: the aforementioned wahoo. And just the seventies in general.

He’s doing his best. For whatever that’s worth.

SO

The above is all true, however he just went through the demonic version of a divorce and is going to be kind of a mess about it for a while, since he doesn't really have good coping methods that don't involve alcohol or setting things on fire. He'll probably be fine but he might be a little extra volatile and nasty, at the start of things.

Abilities: Sorry...... there a fairly comprehensive list here that details Crowley's (and Aziraphale's) use of powers. It's book canon, but there's only minor differences between the two

The best way to summarize angelic/demonic power is to say that they’re reality warpers. The world is shaped by their thoughts — Crowley's refrigerator runs simply because he expects to it, despite it not being plugged in, and his plants are sentient because he wants to be able to yell at them effectively. He kept a burning car driving for an hour through sheer force of will and imagination. He can wish clothes and other items into existence from raw firmament/matter. He can kill animals & resurrect them with a thought — this could apply to humans as well, as Hastur is able to do at least the former. Physics doesn’t apply to demons or angels — according to God "size and shape are simply options" — they're capable of travelling through phones lines & instant teleportation (of themselves and others), and shapeshifting (Crowley can turn into a snake, for example, and seems to have some control over his corporation).

Crowley also has a knack for controlling time, able to stop it with a snap of fingers, though he can't hold it long term.

As part of his general demonic-nee-angelic nature, he neither ages nor can die naturally, he’s considerably more difficult to damage than a human, has no need to eat/breathe/drink/sleep, has a set of black wings that just disappear when he doesn’t want them around, and is to be able to sense what humans want (unlike angels, who can sense love). They're also able to manipulate humans in various ways, from forcing them to answer questions, to making them unable to perceive them.

It's not specified in the show how Crowley is able to consistently find Aziraphale to bother him over the millennia, but considering Gabriel is able to sense that something evil has been in the bookshop, it seems likely that angels & demons are able to sense each other if they make the effort. Crowley probably just got very good at honing in on Aziraphale.

In terms of weaknesses, he can be hurt by consecrated items and would be completely destroyed by holy water, even a drop.

Oh I guess he can fucking call down lightning and control the weather. Once again: I apologize. Please trust me to nerf his ass appropriately.

Inventory: His clothes, his phone, his wallet. Nothing exciting.

Eternal Reward: Freedom from Heaven & Hell, for him and Aziraphale

Goals/Ideas: FUCK NASTY

No I'm kidding. Can I just link to my plurk because that really covers it. He's spent most of his existence circling Aziraphale and like, it makes sense, I'm not necessarily saying it's some shitty codependent thing, but they only had each other! There are other aspects of life that he enjoys but he always comes back to Aziraphale, it's what kept him going through very shitty situations. He thought his end goal was Being With Aziraphale! And now he's lost that, thoroughly. Aziraphale left him for Heaven.

So! He has to learn how to be a person separate from Aziraphale, because there's no Aziraphale to go back to, not really. This would've looked very different in London, on Earth, with constant reminders of the angel, but now he's here! Somewhere totally new! With no one who knows him or his history.

Kinda wanna see where that goes, you know? Maybe he'll make friends. Maybe he'll spend the entire time drunk and miserable. Maybe he WILL fuck nasty. Let's hold hands and go on this journey together.

Samples: Sample

Secret Code Phrase: All glory to the Neon Hypnotoad
demonicmiracle: (008)
2020-12-13 08:02 pm

(apocalypse how) ic contact



Hey, it's Anthony Crowley. You know what to do, do it with style.
demonicmiracle: (Default)
2019-12-07 07:27 pm

(apocalypse how) application

→ PLAYER INFO
Name: Justine
Age: 30
Contact: [plurk.com profile] batsecretary
Character(s) in game: none
Permissions: here

→ CHARACTER INFO
Character Name: Anthony J. Crowley
Age: Infinite - has existed before time was a concept. At least 6000+ years old
Canon: Good Omens (TV)
Canon point: Near the end of the series, just before Crowley freezes time with Satan approaching
History: Wiki link! See also: the Bible
Personality: Describing a demon should be simple. They’re evil, they’re violent, they’re destructive. That’s how they were made to be and honestly, there isn’t much they can do about it. Free will is for humans, that was part of the point with the apple.

Ironic, then, that the one demon who seems capable of truly exercising free will is the one responsible for all that apple business. Enter: Crowley, an angel who didn’t so much fall as saunter vaguely downwards, although the truth of how he was cast out of Heaven tends to change to suit his moods. The crux of it seems to be that he never quite meant to, and never quite settled into to being a demon the way other fallen angels did. Some part of him seems to be innately complicated compared to other demons, a fact that isn’t helped by his time on Earth.

He’s gone a bit native, you see.

This isn’t to start saying that Crowley is by any means a shining beacon of goodness, or that he should’ve remained an angel, that would be inaccurate to say the least. Crowley is a fairly selfish being, most of the time. He’s fascinated by humans, openly admires their creativity and cleverness and does care about humanity as a whole, but he has little concern for them on a one-to-one basis. This is practical in a way, and it’s not that there can’t be exceptions (he seems to have struck up a friendship with Leonardo Da Vinci). But still. He shows almost no regard for pedestrians while driving, including when he does hit someone, acting more put out by the whole business instead of expressing concern for the woman who went flying over the front of his car. And while he isn’t willing to do the deed himself, he’s more than happy to try to talk Aziraphale into killing a single child to save the rest of the world. Most of the time, Crowley is looking out for himself. Someone’s gotta do it, after all. And while he does express distress and anger with God for testing humans too much with the apocalypse, his primary motivation for trying to save the world is that he likes it there. Once things turn sour for him on Earth, he's willing to abandon any chance at saving it to save his own skin, instead (as long as Aziraphale goes with him).

There’s also the fact he’s spent a considerable amount of time making sure that as many humans as possible were as miserable as possible. Crowley has a job and he’s rather good at it, it just so happens that job is trying to tarnish people’s souls so they end up in Hell. The difference between what he does and what a regular demon does is that he likes to leave it all up to the humans, how they deal with whatever negative emotions he inspires. Crowley isn’t the devil on someone’s shoulder talking them into committing a sin, he’s just that bad day you had, because the phones were down, because there was too much traffic, because your ex’s new girlfriend looks really good on instagram, and then you take that bad day out on someone else, and a little bit of goodness is lost.

But there’s still free will. That’s important to Crowley.

Of all the characters in the show, even literal angels, Crowley seems to be one of the few with a strong sense of fairness, of right and wrong, which maybe makes sense, considering the whole apple nonsense. He questions why Adam & Eve were kicked out on their first offence, he balks when informed that God plans to drown everyone, including children, all because She’s displeased with a bunch of humans, and he seems particularly perturbed by the worst of the violence that humanity can come up with. It’s this sense of fairness that seems to drive his acts of Hell ordained wickedness on Earth, it’s the reason he tries to maintain the importance of free will in everything he does.

The one place he isn’t fair is with the plants in his flat, a recreation of a garden, where they’re held to an impossibly high standard and destroyed for even the smallest mistake. But we don’t have time to unpack all that.

Let’s focus back on all those messy human things. Those emotions.

Most demons seem capable of only a handful of emotions, namely things around anger, pride, confusion (only one person in this show has a brain cell and it’s Pepper, the 11 year old) and hate. By contrast, Crowley runs the whole gamut of emotions, from fear to hope to anger to loss to love. He’s one of the more emotional and subsequently emotionally vulnerable characters in the show, and that comes from an apparent willingness to expose himself to the mortifying ordeal of being known. Unsurprisingly, this mostly happens around and because of Aziraphale, but in general Crowley shows a range and depth of emotion that other demons just completely lack. Even from the beginning, there’s a surprising tenderness to the way he talks about Jesus, empathising and sympathising with someone who should be his enemy. Crowley shows disgust at learning about the Flood, he’s anguished over his Fall, he's quick to anger, especially if the topic is something he's sensitive about, and his anger occasionally leads to violent outbursts and petty grudges. He also gets a strong sense of satisfaction from his work, and he breaks down when his best friend is killed. He’s even kind and gentle on occasion, although that’s definitely more reserved for Aziraphale. Crowley craves companionship, he goes out of his way to seek it, and he seems to understand that in order to truly have it, he has to be open to a) having emotions and b) admitting them. Multiple times in the show, he puts himself and his emotions on display in the hope that they won’t be tossed aside.

They are, but he picks himself up and tries again anyway.

The thing about emotions, though, is that they're difficult and complicated and honestly, Crowley just isn't that great at regulating his emotions, especially when it comes to emotions of the negative side of things. It comes through in the anger, but it also comes through in how quickly he gives in to despair once he thinks Aziraphale is gone, in his anxiety while trying to find the Antichrist, in the way he withdraws from his only friend for decades because of a minor disagreement. Fairly consistently, his feelings get the better of him, leading to some kind of unfortunate consequence. Crowley pushes Aziraphale too hard out of panic at losing him, and he messes up delivering the Antichrist because he's too focused on worrying over the coming apocalypse. His fears doesn't necessarily stop him from getting things done, but it drives a lot of his actions, especially as Armageddon approaches.

All that said, the stuff about free will, the fear, the mortifying ordeal of being known, the whole mess with being cast out of Heaven. It could speak to someone who takes themselves far too seriously, but while Crowley certainly has his broody moments, mostly when alone, he’s clearly also enamoured with the world and with experiences, and isn’t shy about indulging himself or having fun. His sense of fun may be a little skewed, considering it once involved turning paintball guns real, during some company’s team building exercise, but it’s still fun. He likes comedic plays, he cultivates a collection of music, he uses words like wahoo, he gets drunk and rants about how smart dolphins are, despite apparently not knowing quite how dolphins work. There’s a playfulness to Crowley, an edge of dramatics, a bit of flair that suggests he does know how to enjoy himself. Even when he’s facing imminent destruction, he takes the time to leap up on a chair and put on a bit of production to trick a Duke of Hell, a being more powerful and dangerous than he is. There’s creativity there, an imagination, something else that most demons lack. It’s all very free will of him. It’s very human of him, which is also the point.

By extension, he’s a lot better at interacting with other humans than most demons are, being perfectly of capable of developing professional relationships. In the book, he’s described as Hell’s most approachable demon, and while not exactly a high bar, it does say something about Crowley. He’s fun, he can be charming, he’s cool. Or at least, he likes to think he is, the actual effectiveness of any coolness he tries to cultivate is varied.

See: the aforementioned wahoo. And just the seventies in general. He’s doing his best. For whatever that’s worth.

Suitability: Gestures at the demon thing. He's more than used to doing terrible things because someone else wants him to, and although he'll be hesitant of doing anything on behalf of an Entity at first (out of a sensible amount of fear), it's more than likely he'll decide that there's little difference between making people sin for Hell and scaring people for an Entity. Maybe the scaring thing is less awful, honestly. At least that doesn't have repercussions for a person's eternal afterlife. He just has to be more sneaky about it, since it isn't exactly ADI approved.

As for sticking around, as much as he'd like to leave America immediately, ADI is his best bet at a) figuring out what's going on and b) getting home. There also may be some useful information about the apocalypse he's coming from, and he's a natural curious bastard, he'll want to learn more about the Entities, which he'll have to do at the ADI.

Powers/Abilities: I'm……. sorry. Unfortunately canon is super vague about what demons(/angels) can and can't do, because it wasn't really relevant to the story so Neil and Terry didn't bother to make any kind of rules. Which makes it hard to write a definitive list of abilities so I'm almost certainly going to forget something, but I am going to do my best! That said, I found a fairly comprehensive list here that details Crowley's (and Aziraphale's) use of powers. It's book canon, but there's only minor differences between the two.
  • Time: Crowley is capable of controlling time, to a somewhat limited degree. He can't time travel, but he can freeze time for a minute or two, and can haul himself & others outside time. Visually, this looks like a great big desert. I'm gonna go ahead and assume this one should be heavily nerfed, since it's a ridiculous power and would require a lot of energy to pull off. Maybe somewhere far down the line he'll get enough juice to stop time for a second or two, but if I ever wanted to play with that I'd check in with y'all first.
  • Resilience: It's demonstrated in the show (via a stage direction in the scripts) that Crowley's physical body is able to take a blow to the head that 'would kill a human' and is able to pick himself back up after being knocked over by a direct hit from a fire hose (ouch). If he hasn't fed his Entity, he'll be at normal human levels of resilience. Also he doesn't age and is effectively immortal (assuming he doesn't have a run in with Holy Water), does this fit here? His body doesn’t age, theoretically I suppose it would in game if he isn't feeding the Entity, but I don't think he'll go without doing that for long enough to be noticeable.
  • Healing/harming: These kind of fall under the same category, since demons and angels are able to revive/kill or heal/harm with a thought. Hastur causes a woman to have a heart attack, Aziraphale resurrects a dove (Crowley does this in the book, and the only reason for the switch was filming considerations, so I'm going to say that Crowley has the same ability). I imagine that harming will come far more easily, especially if he's doing it in a way that aligns with the Entity (we'll nerf the 'killing with a thought', that's a bit much), while healing will take a lot of metaphorical juice in the tank to pull off successfully.
  • Self-sustaining: Demons don't seem to require anything to sustain themselves, such as food, water, sleep, or oxygen. As discussed on the FAQ, if Crowley isn't feeding the Entity, he'll start to suffer from the mortifying ordeal of having a human body, and will need to maintain it with rest and sustenance. Sucks to be him.
  • Wings: They're just wings! They're black, they look cool! I definitely want him to keep these, on account of losing them would be incredibly traumatic, but it's never shown in canon if their wings actually enable flight, so let's go with a big fat no on that one, no matter how much fear he causes. I don't know if accessing them would require power, it's not really established… where they go when they aren't visible. Maybe a pocket dimension? I'll go with mod preference on this one!
  • Physical form: He's got one, in the loosest sense of the word. For demons/angels 'size and shape are simply options'; Crowley can turn into a big black snake, or transform just part of himself, or transport himself across space with a thought, or travel through the phone lines. He's a demon stuffed into a 'corporation', which is code for a human body (although they seem to be supplied by Heaven and Hell, this isn't a case of possession), and is able to manipulate said physical corporation. This is the sort of thing that could require varying amounts of supernatural juice, and would also vary based on what he's doing the manipulation of his physical form for. Showing off his fangs to terrify someone? Go right ahead. Trying to teleport himself out of harm's way? BZZT try again. The teleportation can be nerfed to within a reasonable distance, too, so that he can't pop over to another country.
  • Infernal senses: Crowley is able to sense what people want, their deep dark desires, so that he can manipulate them into sinning. It's actually kind of going to be nice for him to not have that background noise, if he hasn't been scaring people. He also seems to be able to locate Aziraphale through some unknown means, and the archangel Gabriel is able to sense 'evil', so I'm drawing the conclusion that Crowley can sense 'good', which is how he tracks the angel down. He's also able to tell when the Hellhound locates the Antichrist, despite it happening miles away. In a 'there's a disturbance in the force' kind of way. This doesn't seem especially game breaking, he'll just have to make sure to feed his Entity if he wants to be able to do it.
  • Mind/perception control: To a somewhat mild extent. They're able to make it so that people don't see them, or change how they're perceived (e.g., gender presentation, or Crowley not letting people notice his eyes), as well as putting humans into a sort of trance-like state where they'll answer any question freely and honestly. There also appears to be some level of memory wiping available to them, because why not. Spoiler warning but he's going to be Web-aligned so I feel like this fits in nicely? One of those powers that'll work more easily if he's using it to be spooky scary for the Web.
  • Languages: An easy one, really. He can understand spoken languages at will, and presumably speak them as well. Aziraphale's French is just bad because he's British.
  • The Divine: Angels and demons are of the same stock, and are equally capable of performing temptations or divine inspiration (well, Aziraphale and Crowley are capable of it, this might be the imagination thing coming into play). Crowley performs divine miracles for Aziraphale, and Aziraphale performs temptations for Crowley. So although truly divine objects hurt him, he's still capable of pulling off miracles that could be considered holy. In game, this likely won't happen very often, as I can't see the Web being super into it. Crowley will have to have done a lot of scaring if he wants to give someone divine ecstasy.

Reality warping: I left the most vague power for last*, because there's really no defined limit to what angels and demons can do. Or, there is a defined limit, and it's their imagination. This means that most of them don't really do anything with this ability, but Crowley has a lot of imagination, which makes it hard to say what he can and can't do. Make his plants sentient because he read in a book that talking to them worked? Sure. Keep a flaming car driving for an hour? Absolutely. Have a working sound system despite not plugging it in, because he simply Expects It To? Yep. There's a reason they tend to call these acts 'miracles'.

In my defense I did apologize earlier.

There are less dramatic examples of this, such as swapping clothes with a snap of fingers, creating items from raw firmament (atoms, essentially), or turning off his headlights, but the basic gist is that the power of belief is incredibly important, even if said believer doesn't know how refrigerators work. This can also hinder them, because it can give powers to negative beliefs; there's absolutely no reason that Crowley can't teleport himself from London to Tadfield, but he's so caught up in his grief and fear that he seems to forget? About that? And chooses instead to deal with traffic during the apocalypse? Idiot. In game I think this could boil down to a battery sort of metaphor. He'll need to be very charged up for any significant reality warping, such as keeping a car that's on fire held together, but could manage smaller miracles, like summoning himself a new jacket, with only a little charge. It seems feasible to say that no matter how much fear he generates for the Web, it won't ever be enough power to do anything game-breaking, like dumping all of the ADI information on the network with a snap of his fingers. If this particular aspect of his powers is something that's going to need more discussion, I'm definitely open to that. I know it's kind of a lot.

Just in case it needs to be said: I won't be using any of his powers on PCs without checking in with players first.

With regards to non-supernatural abilities, Crowley's just an odd mish-mash of skills and knowledge from 6000+ years on Earth. He probably knows how to spin thread, and also knows how to hack into a Government computer system. He's not terrible with a sword, likely has basic working knowledge of firearms (he seems fairly comfortable picking up a rifle, even if it's not a real one), and can drive a car very well. He has a good head for maths and engineering, if the fact he was able to redesign plans for a major roadway is any indication, and he can make a real good powerpoint presentation.

For weaknesses, he can be hurt by consecrated items and would be completely destroyed by holy water, even a drop.

Entity Affinity:
THE WEB. We stan a manipulative bitch who goes to unnecessary lengths to tarnish human souls rather than just nudging them directly to do something evil. Ensuring that humans have free will is important, but he does seem to enjoy the over the top, dramatic plans that involve multiple layers of subtle influence to get people into Hell. It might be worth noting that he creates these elaborate plans despite being able to achieve the same result with a snap of his fingers; a more straightforward Entity like the Hunt or Slaughter may align more with Hell's MO, but they'd bore Crowley. It's more fun to rely on trickery.

He manipulates humans, he manipulates Hell (he acts the loyal minion role well and purposefully seems to play up the Flash Bastard thing to keep other demons from looking too deeply), he eventually gets a chance to mess around with Heaven, too. He even manipulates Aziraphale, who he loves very much, playing on his emotions, reminding him of everything that will be lost, and eventually landing on the right argument (if an angel works to stop a demon, that must be allowed!) to ensure that he agrees to help Crowley stop the apocalypse. It's for a good cause, sure, but it's still somewhat underhanded.

On the other side of things, he's scared of being a pawn in Hell or Heaven's games, especially God's manipulations, and tends to worry about fate and free will and all that nonsense. He's also scared of being trapped in a more metaphorical sense; he'd love to be free of Hell, but the circumstances have him trapped serving them, and he hates it. He can feed other people's fear to the Web while also being fed on. It's a two for one deal.

Inventory: Clothes (partially burnt). A tire iron. A cellphone. His wallet. An expensive watch. He didn't take much with him to the end of the world.
Samples: TDM top level & replies

*This part isn't in the bullet point list because I couldn't work out how to also have paragraphs without it looking stupid :( HTML is hard :(

demonicmiracle: (008)
2019-09-22 04:47 pm

(duplicity) ic contact



Hey, it's Anthony Crowley. You know what to do, do it with style.
demonicmiracle: (013)
2019-07-26 08:50 pm

(wsh) ic inbox



Hey, it's Anthony Crowley. You know what to do, do it with style.
demonicmiracle: (Default)
2019-07-23 06:57 pm
Entry tags:

(lifeaftr) application

Player Information
Name: Justine
Age: 25+
Contact: [plurk.com profile] batsecretary
Current characters: n/a

Character Information
Name: Anthony J. Crowley
Series: Good Omens (TV)
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demonicmiracle: (Default)
2019-02-05 08:59 pm

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« aj.crowley » TEXTAUDIOVIDEOACTION Anthony Crowley ✦ Good Omens + CRAU
RESIDENCE ✦ Residency
GEMBOND ✦ Ruby

demonicmiracle: (Default)
2016-11-28 04:08 pm
Entry tags:

HMD

y'all know how to use these, comments are screened but not anon bc we're adults here
demonicmiracle: (042)
2016-11-22 10:11 am

(we're still here) application

PLAYER INFO.
NAME: Justine
PREFERRED PRONOUNS: She/her
ARE YOU OVER 18? Yes
CONTACT: [plurk.com profile] batsecretary
CURRENT CHARACTERS: n/a

CHARACTER INFO.
NAME: Anthony J. Crowley
CANON: Good Omens (TV)
CANON POINT: Episode 1/2015-ish, while Crowley is working as a nanny for the Dowlings (American politicians whose actual baby was swapped for the Antichrist), helping raise the Antichrist (actually a normal kid, the real Antichrist is elsewhere).
AGE: Existed before time itself, immortal, at least 6000 years old, appears to be in his late 40s
GENDER: Currently presenting female due to the nanny role (think demonic Mary Poppins). Angels/demons don't really Gender the way humans do, but he uses he/him pronouns regardless of presentation.

HISTORY: Wiki link!

APPEARANCE: David Tennant but with red hair and snake eyes, and here he is as Nanny Ashtoreth. Also: a set of big black wings that he obviously won't have at the start of the game. Also: sometimes he can turn into a big black & red snake.

With being humanized, he won't have the yellow serpent eyes. They'll just be normal, hazel, human eyes.

ABILITIES: STRAP IN LADS

The best way to summarize angelic/demonic power is to say that they’re reality warpers. The world is shaped by their thoughts — Crowley's refrigerator runs simply because he expects to it, despite it not being plugged in, and his plants are sentient because he wants to be able to yell at them effectively. He kept a burning car driving for an hour through sheer force of will and imagination. He can wish clothes and other items into existence from raw firmament/matter. He can kill animals & resurrect them with a thought — this could apply to humans as well, as Hastur (a Duke of Hell) is able to do at least the former. The concept of physics doesn’t apply to demons or angels — according to God "size and shape are simply options" — they're capable of travelling through phones lines & instant teleportation (of themselves and others), and shapeshifting (Crowley can turn into a snake, for example).

Crowley also has a knack for controlling time, able to stop it with a snap of fingers, or pull himself & others outside time, though he can't hold it long term.

As part of his general demonic-nee-angelic nature, he’s considerably more difficult to damage than a human, has no need to eat/breathe/drink/sleep, has a set of black wings that just disappear when he doesn’t want them around. The body he inhabits isn't strictly him, but rather a vessel that contains his demonic form, killing it doesn't kill him, only makes him incorporeal. Being a demon, he's able to sense what humans want (unlike angels, who can sense love). They're also able to manipulate humans in various ways, from forcing them to answer questions, to making them unable to perceive them, or subtly influencing them. This latter mechanic is not particularly well explained, but other demons talk about convincing humans to sin, or putting "Doubt" in their minds. Doubt is, in fact, capitalized in the script book, whatever that means.

While it's not specified in the show how Crowley is able to consistently find Aziraphale to bother him over the millennia. Considering Gabriel (the Archangel) is able to sense that something evil has been in the bookshop, it seems likely that angels & demons are able to sense each other. Crowley probably got very good at honing in on Aziraphale, but he would be able to sense other angelic beings as well.

In terms of weaknesses, he can be hurt by consecrated items and would be completely destroyed by holy water, even a drop. His body can be injured with some effort by mortal means, but it would only discorporate him, not destroy him.

SUITABILITY:

He's a demon from the depths of Hell that's currently dealing with the oncoming apocalypse. It's heavily implied that he's been tortured in Hell, has lived through innumerable wars, and doesn't think twice before destroying another demon in self-defense. He's not going to enjoy living in the 1960s and dealing with all the associated bullshit, but honestly? Could be worse.

PERSONALITY.

Here's the thing: a few of these answers, this one included, is all going to depend on a singular factor, and that's whether or not Aziraphale (his angelic counterpart on Earth that he happens to be in love with, don't @ him about it) would suffer any negative consequences, because he's the only person aside from himself that Crowley cares about. And honestly, he cares about Aziraphale a little more than he cares about himself. If the mistake involved harm to Aziraphale, then he'd fix it without a second thought for the consequences to anyone else in the universe, since none of them particularly matter to him. Other demons are awful, angels are awful, and humans are too fleeting to invest any emotional energy into. With the apocalypse looming and time running out on averting it, Crowley was willing to give up on Earth completely, including all the people on it, if only Aziraphale would run away with him to Alpha Centauri.

If it was another mistake, regardless of how it might've effected others or himself, he wouldn't risk consequences coming back on Aziraphale to change it. That's love, babey!

Though honestly, there's also not many terrible mistakes that Crowley would consider changing regardless. There's a few minor cock ups here and there he might consider fixing, but none of them are worth the risks, and being as old as he is, getting hung up on mistakes is exhausting. Compartmentalizing is wayyyy easier, especially if you've got a lot of memories rattling around in your head.

Being a demon is kind of reliant on negative emotions, and as much as Crowley might theoretically like to never be afraid again, or never feel grief or anger, he's been around long enough to know that even the bad stuff is important to who a person is. When discussing the idea of a peaceful eternity in Heaven (for Aziraphale, not himself), he's quick to poke holes in why everything being good and perfect isn't actually all that great. Pain and loss are as much part of him as anything else and he wouldn't give them up forever. A day or so might be nice, but he's not going to numb himself to experiences, even bad ones. That would just be boring.

The memories are... a little more complicated. There are one or two memories that he might consider getting rid of, regardless of whether he'd know they're missing. But overall, he also knows the value of memories, especially as learning experiences. Forgetting the pain of falling would be great in theory, but if he forgets it, how will he know the full capacity of God's cruelty? If he forgets his awful fight with Aziraphale in the 1800s, how will he know that the angel cares enough about him to get angry at the prospect of his death? If he forgets every time he's been tortured in Hell, how will he know how to avoid making the same mistakes that led to it in the first place? Memories are lessons, some of them more valuable than others, but he can deal with whatever pain they bring if it means avoid mistakes in the future.

No? Yes? Sort of? Mostly, he isn't concerned with being a good person, that concept doesn't really apply to a creature like him, because he's a demon and he's made to be shitty and do shitty things, so it wouldn't really occur to him that he should be forgiven*. He's not... purely evil, that's an oversimplification, because the entire point of the book & series is that people come in shades of grey, that nurture is more important than nature, and that we always have choices to do the right thing. Or the wrong thing, as the case may be, but you can't absolve yourself of responsibility either way. But Crowley is a demon and his concept of morals is entirely different than a human idea of morals, so what might be considered morally reprehensible by humans — such as tempting countless people to sin, thus landing them in Hell for eternal torment — is just him doing his job.

Which isn't to say that he doesn't experience guilt every now and then, or that he's completely callous and uncaring when it comes to humanity (he thinks they're neat!), but the concept of striving to be a good person is, to him, like it would be for me to strive to be a duck. He isn't necessarily correct in this idea, see above re: the whole point of the show, but that's how he feels about it.

In general, he just has a few hang ups about the concept of forgiveness and pertinence and the whole concept of it is complicated for him. We can blame God for that one.

*Gonna quote a recent comment by one of the authors along this effect because it vibes with me and my own interpretation of Crowley. "Crowley has not yet learned that just because you think of yourself as unforgivable it doesn’t mean that you cannot be forgiven. Or, indeed, that you need forgiveness."

This bitch has kept the most important secret for at least a couple millennia and would continue to do so for the rest of eternity if he had to. Once again it comes down to the fact that the loyalty here is directed towards Aziraphale, and the secret protects the both of them, so he'd happily keep it to himself, no matter how many people might die for it.

Anyone else's secret and he wouldn't care. Loyalty isn't a concept he really vibes with, because in his experience, it isn't a two way street. Heaven wasn't loyal to him, not considering God cast him out for hanging around with the wrong people and asking a few questions, and Hell definitely wouldn't hesitate to throw him under the bus the first chance they got. He's been kept around and on Earth because he's useful and good at his job, not out of any sense of loyalty. He's frequently betraying Hell for his own benefit, and eventually for the benefit of humanity. Telling Aziraphale about the Antichrist, working together in an attempt to stop the child from wanting to destroy the world, would have saved billions of lives, had they been successful.

You know that Guide To Troubled Birds that's like "I'd sell you to Satan for one corn chip" that's Crowley re: betraying anyone aside from Aziraphale. He’s perfectly capable of being charming around other people, and might even grow to like them, but he’ll never have any loyalty to them.

The simple answer to this is yes, and no, respectively, but it's another case of boiling things down to a human view of morality that Crowley doesn't really ascribe to, what with the whole demon thing.

Crowley doesn't necessarily enjoy causing pain in general, and he seems to find it fairly off putting when other character are overly violent for no particular reason (see: God drowning humanity during the Flood, Hastur being a violent weirdo), but he also doesn't have qualms about hurting people when he has to, and on one or two occasions, has enjoyed causing some kind of suffering. He has a little fun messing around with the paintballers at the manor, giving them real guns instead of fake ones, and although no one is actually hurt, it doesn't matter to him that the whole experience was likely pretty traumatic for all the humans involved.

He also gleefully drops a bomb on a bunch of Nazis (which... tbf... they are Nazis) and has little care for collateral damage, because he's enjoying playing the role of the suave rescuer to consider side effects of his actions. Overall, he's more selfish and self-centered than particularly cruel, willing to harm others to avoid harm being done to himself. He does also have a slight vindictive streak, albeit a petty one, and seems to somewhat enjoy dishing out retribution if he feels he's been wronged.

But none of it really bothers him, because it's not really meant to, or has been taught that it isn't meant to, even though if left alone, he wouldn't be a particularly violent person. It's been drilled into him and constantly reinforced that demons are evil and should cause suffering. If anything, he should be worse and he knows it, that’s the part that worries him, because it's the part Hell would exploit or punish him for. He lies on his reports to make himself seem better at his job and more evil/cruel than he truly is, to avoid them noticing the fact that actually, he'd much rather spend his time having lunch with an angel and driving around really fast in his vintage car.


WRITING SAMPLES.

SAMPLES:
Log sample from the TDM

And doing a c/p of a network post from another game (set in the late 90s with no network style devices) because the last two games I've been in have locked comms.

[On the community board in town, there's a simple note posted, written in a neat script.
Questions about the fog?
Look for answers.

Beneath the words is a html address that leads to a fairly simple forum website, once typed into the computer, whether it's a personal device or accessed at the library. It requests an account to be set up, but like many online spaces in the early nineties, there's no need for an email address or verification codes. Just a username and a password, and access to the site is granted.

Anyone who creates an account is able to reply to topics posted to the board, or make their own original topic. They can also privately message other uses with accounts. The website supports basic html and images, but like, barely.

Within the first week of the site being up and running, there's only a single topic pinned to the top of the board, with the title 'Information Sharing' by 'AJ Crowley'. If the title is clicked, the page opens to the topic:]

Let's get straight to business, shall we? There's a whole lot of us and we've no proper way to communicate with each other unless we sort it out ourselves, so this is me, sorting it out. The whole point of this is that we might pool together information to figure out what the fuck is going on in this place.

I'll start.

1. Attempting to leave will have you turning up in the closest medical facility and isn't advised, especially if it's foggy out.
2. No, this isn't Hell. Take my word for it.
3. The people that populate the town aren't real.
4. We're not all from the same universe or time period. Multiple universes are real, best get used to it.
5. The creatures in the fog can be killed, if you put the effort in.

If you've got something useful, let's share with the class, yeah? Can introduce yourselves as well, if you'd like, we might as well get to know each other if we're stuck here.

[And yet he does not introduce himself, because that's all there is to the message.]

NOTES.

QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS:
demonicmiracle: (Default)
2015-01-31 11:00 pm

(application) noctium

    « PLAYER INFORMATION »

      Name: Justine
      Are you over 18?: Yup!
      Contact: [plurk.com profile] batsecretary
      Other characters, if any:

    « CHARACTER INFORMATION »

      Character: Anthony Crowley
      Canon: Good Omens (TV)
      Canon point: End of the series
      OU or AU?: CRAU
      Age: 6000+
      Species: Demon/fallen angel

      AU clarification:
      cw mentions of non-consensual sex
      Crowley arrived in Duplicity free from the metaphorical shackles of Hell, knowing that even if he got home, he no longer had to answer to them, or had to play by their rules. It left him a little lost, at first, unsure how to live a life that wasn't defined by his existence as a demon, where not a single soul knew him, but mostly, he reveled in the freedom to be whoever he wanted to be. The transient nature of Duplicity, knowing that even if he was going to be stuck there for a while, it wouldn't be permanent, also gave him freedom he might not have felt otherwise, since he didn't really have to consider long term consequences for his actions.

      So he made some friends, dropped some of the 'I'm a scary demon from Hell' act, and even fell into a pseudo-relationship based on how Duplicity's society functions (basically a 24/7 bdsm lifestyle, with people divided into dominant or submissive roles). Despite the city being what it was, including the occasional sex that he didn't want to have, things were actually pretty okay and he was learning to let go of some of the defense mechanisms he'd built up over the millennia.

      And then Aziraphale turned up! Which was good because he loves him very much! But also bad because Duplicity is a shitty place and shitty things happen, including an unfortunate encounter with an alternate version of Aziraphale that left Crowley slightly traumatized, and with Aziraphale's angelic name branded into his breastbone. Not to mention sex is complicated for two supernatural beings who've been in love for thousands of years, so there were more than a few bumps in the road for them to work through.

      Overall, though, Crowley leaves Duplicity in a better place than when he arrived, at least in terms of self-acceptance. He's a little softer, less inclined to bite, more inclined to accept help where he needs it. He's still an anxious mess sometimes, and selfish except for those in his inner circle, and carrying a few traumatic experience from Duplicity. But, in general, he grew as a person and is better off for it.


    « RECORD »

      Disposition:

      • Hurt — For all that he'd like to deny it, he was deeply damaged by being cast out from Heaven and still struggles with abandonment issues and his view of himself, based on being turned from an angel to a demon. He continues to talk to God, despite knowing She isn't listening, often pleading that he never meant to fall. Being beholden to Hell, where torture is commonplace and no one trusts anyone, has only compounded these issues. The lead up to the apocalypse added fresh wounds to the issues, with Aziraphale rejecting him multiple times, then nearly dying and leaving Crowley alone. He's carrying millennia old wounds, some of which are only finally starting to heal.

      • Selfish — Most of the time, Crowley is looking out for himself. Someone’s gotta do it, after all. His primary motivation for trying to save the world is that he likes it there. Once things turn sour for him on Earth, he's willing to abandon any chance at saving it to save his own skin, instead (as long as Aziraphale goes with him). It's difficult to pour time and energy into caring about other people when the only other people are demons (awful), angels (even more awful), or humans, who die within the blink of an eye. It's not that he's incapable of it, he cares very much about Aziraphale, sings lullabies to children, showed kindness to Jesus, and at one point was friendly enough with Leonardo Da Vinci to be gifted a sketch of the Mona Lisa. It's just that more often than not, he isn't willing to invest the energy with people, and is willing to trade someone's discomfort for his own comfort.

        He has, after all, spent the past six thousand years helping convince humans to sin, potentially sending them to an eternity in Hell, justifying it by saying it's simply his job. Although his time in Duplicity allowed him some growth, forcing him to care about other people, to the point of risking his own safety & comfort for them, at the end of the day, he would've abandoned them all without a second thought if it meant guaranteeing his and Aziraphale's safety.

      • Free will — Of all the characters in the show, even literal angels, Crowley seems to be one of the few with a strong sense of fairness, of right and wrong, which maybe makes sense, considering the whole apple nonsense. He questions why Adam & Eve were kicked out on their first offence, he balks when informed that God plans to drown everyone, including children, all because She’s displeased with a bunch of humans, and he seems particularly perturbed by the worst of the violence that humanity can come up with. It’s this sense of fairness that seems to drive his acts of Hell ordained wickedness on Earth, it’s the reason he tries to maintain the importance of free will in everything he does. Rather than sit on someone's shoulder and whisper temptations in their ear, he'll present them with opportunities to be cruel, or greedy. He'll make them irritated, then leave them to deal with that as they will. It's up to them, whether they make good choices or not.

      • Playful — Crowley certainly has his broody moments, mostly when alone, he’s clearly also enamoured with the world and with experiences, and isn’t shy about indulging himself or having fun. His sense of fun may be a little skewed, considering it once involved turning paintball guns real, but no one got hurt. He likes comedic plays, he cultivates a collection of music, he uses words like wahoo, he gets drunk and rants about how smart dolphins are, despite not knowing quite how dolphins work. There’s a playfulness to Crowley, an edge of dramatics, a bit of flair that suggests he does know how to enjoy himself. Even when he’s facing imminent destruction, he takes the time to leap up on a chair and put on a bit of production to attempt one final trick, laughing as it succeeds. There’s creativity there, an imagination, something that most demons lack. It’s all very free will of him. It’s very human of him, which is also the point. By extension, he’s a lot better at interacting with other humans than most demons are. In the book, he’s described as Hell’s most approachable demon, and while not exactly a high bar, it does say something about Crowley. He’s fun, he can be charming, he’s cool. Or at least, he likes to think he is, the actual effectiveness of any coolness he tries to cultivate is varied.




      Under pressure: Existence for Crowley, up until the foiled apocalypse, has been one lived under pressure. Hell is always watching, as is Heaven. Humans are neat and all, but he's seen too many witch burnings and exorcisms to ever be himself around them. One slip up could lead to utter destruction for both himself and the only person he cares about, so it isn't entirely shocking that he's somewhat tightly strung and anxious. He tends to lash out when stressed, preferring to use anger to cover up fear or pain, as that's the safer option for a demon. That said, it means that most of what he runs into in game won't feel much like pressure, to him. Between the constant fear of Heaven & Hell, then spending several long months in Duplicity where minor infractions would be punished severely, he'll likely adapt fairly quickly to a more welcoming, relaxed society, even if it's different from what he's used to.

      Not to mention, up until the past few hundred years when he settled in London, he spent most of his time travelling from one place to another, learning new cultures and adapting himself to blend in, so that he could do his job properly without raising suspicions. He's lived all over the world, all throughout history, and has no trouble learning to fit in. If anything, it's somewhat of a comforting challenge, learning all the rules and finding limits to test.

      He's also spent his entire existence hiding his love for Aziraphale, something that he also had to do in Duplicity, due to their designations there. A lot of the pressure will come off, being able to be open about that.

      Condition upon arrival: Peachy! A little ticked off because he was in the middle of a date, but he's a peak health for a demon.

      Abilities:
      The best way to summarize angelic/demonic power is to say that they’re reality warpers. The world is shaped by their thoughts — Crowley's refrigerator runs simply because he expects to it, despite it not being plugged in, and his plants are sentient because he wants to be able to yell at them effectively. He kept a burning car driving for an hour through sheer force of will and imagination. He can wish clothes and other items into existence from raw firmament/matter. He can kill animals & resurrect them with a thought — this could apply to humans as well, as Hastur is able to do at least the former. Physics doesn’t apply to demons or angels — according to God "size and shape are simply options" — they're capable of travelling through phones lines & instant teleportation (of themselves and others), and shapeshifting (Crowley can turn into a snake, for example).

      Crowley also has a knack for controlling time, able to stop it with a snap of fingers, though he can't hold it long term.

      As part of his general demonic-nee-angelic nature, he’s considerably more difficult to damage than a human, has no need to eat/breathe/drink/sleep, has a set of black wings that just disappear when he doesn’t want them around, and is to be able to sense what humans want (unlike angels, who can sense love). They're also able to manipulate humans in various ways, from forcing them to answer questions, to making them unable to perceive them.

      It's not specified in the show how Crowley is able to consistently find Aziraphale to bother him over the millennia, but considering Gabriel is able to sense that something evil has been in the bookshop, it seems likely that angels & demons are able to sense each other. Crowley probably just got very good at honing in on Aziraphale.

      In terms of weaknesses, he can be hurt by consecrated items and would be completely destroyed by holy water, even a drop.

      Inventory: One set of clothes (a 1930s style suit), a pair of boots, his iPhone, his wedding ring, and a locket he wears around his neck.

      Gembond: Ruby
      Gem Location: Left inner arm, about an inch in diameter

    « MISCELLANEOUS »