#lucifer is one of those characters that you can interpret in SO many ways and i love that for him

[cosmicghoul99]

An interesting Hannibal theory I think you should know about

I'm not sure how many people know this, but if you're unaware, some really interesting things relate to the show and Hannibal's character specifically. (Wanna add that I am not religious, so apologies if I get something wrong. I mean no offense to anyone, this is just a little analysis on my part)

There are a lot of biblical references in the show. It makes sense; religion has always been a deep, moral, and philosophical concept, and Hannibal loves to incorporate the ideas of religion and God into his actions and that of those around him. One of these references is a recurring one. Hannibal is often referred to as the devil. Like this quote from Gideon:

"You really are the devil," Abel Gideon - Antipasto

Or this one from Bedelia:

"Who holds the Devil, let him hold him well. He will hardly be caught a second time." Bedelia Du Maurier - The Wrath of the Lamb

Add this to all the religious imagery, the references to stags and the wendigo, plus the season three discussions about Dante. Bedelia says that she was "swallowed whole" by the beast at the mouth of Hell. You get the picture. There is a lot of talk and allusions to Hannibal being "the Devil."

Obviously, this is a metaphor first and largely used because he is the main "evil" or antagonistic character, but there's actually some truth to this.

Both Bryan Fuller, the creator, and Mads Mikkelsen, the actor of Hannibal, have stated that Hannibal is meant to be the literal devil. He is meant to be both a personification of the devil and the literal devil.

According to Bryan Fuller, Mads Mikkelsen plays Hannibal like he is Lucifer. In an interview, he stated that "he is as close as you can come to the Devil, in the sense that the Devil has no reasons," following it up by saying that Hannibal's reactions aren’t something of a person, but of the Devil. He intentionally plays the character through the lens of the fallen angel, Lucifer. Hannibal is meant to, in the eyes of the actor, be a manifestation of the Devil

Bryan Fuller has also said in interviews and online that he believes Hannibal is the devil. Of course, he states that this is his opinion and that others are up to their own interpretation, but the show's main creator and writer believes this also means that we can reasonably see this in the show.

Throughout the show, Hannibal is simply on another level. Many times, he does not seem human but rather otherworldly. I think that is where Mad's acting presents itself, alongside whenever Hannibal is talking about humanity and God.

Hannibal loves to play at being God and also criticizes God as well. I believe it is in episode three after Will kills Hobbs, that they discuss how Will killing Hobbs felt good. Hannibal responds with this.

"Killing must feel good to God, too... He does it all the time, and are we not created in His image?" Hannibal Lecter - Amuse-Bouche 

Oh boy. This is such an interesting line. He talks about being created in His image. Let's be honest; he speaks as if he were God or knows God at least. His comment actually makes more sense if you view this as him being the Devil. Lucifer, the fallen angel, was cast from Heaven for rebelling against God. He feels that it was unjust. Most people talking about God and His actions view him with benevolence. Hannibal does not. In the bible, Lucifer had a problem with humans. And humans are, of course, said to be created in God's image. You could also argue that angels, especially Lucifer, were created in that same image, too. Hannibal has an issue with the rude. Why the rude particular? It is because those who are rude often showcase the worst of humanity's attributes and free will. Hannibal despises the rude because I believe that it, in some ways, represents the hatred that the Devil, or Lucifer, holds for humanity. The Devil had an issue with humans gaining free will and felt they did not deserve life via God's hands. This is similar to how Hannibal feels that those who are rude do not deserve to live. Hannibal, then, of course, being Satan himself, would be resentful of God for casting him from Heaven. Again, Hannibal often discusses God's motives, or what God feels doing certain things. Literally, a few seconds later in that episode, he says this:

"Hannibal: God's terrific. He dropped a church roof on thirty-four of his worshippers last Wednesday night in Texas while they sang a hymn.

Will: Did God feel good about that?

Hannibal: He felt powerful." Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter - Amuse-Bouche 

That last line about him feeling powerful gets me thinking. Hannibal is speaking not just about this but also about his own fall. But more importantly, he's also showing us what he thinks of himself. Killing makes God feel powerful. That means that killing makes Hannibal feel powerful as well. He is both giving motives and somewhat criticizing God at the same time. Hannibal seems to find the situation amusing. I think he believes it quite funny that humans were killed while worshipping God. He might even see a comparison between what happened to him and what happened here. He is simultaneously praising God and calling Him a hypocrite.

Hannibal's motives for killing are also interesting, and I said earlier that I think the reason why he kills is because he believes that rude and ill-tempered people are the problem with humanity. And he wants to get rid of them.

Now, let's explore how this connects with other metaphors, his decisions in canon, and his relationship with Will.

Let's talk about the stag. I did some research, and in many religions, including Christianity, stags represent God and his might, at least from what I could find. I find this interesting because stags are also meant to represent opposition to the snake, another symbol of the Devil. Why is the representation of Hannibal, at least in Will's mind, a stag? I think it actually represents the darkening of Will. If stags are meant to represent good, then that means that Will starts off that way and then slowly follows the stag and is affected by it, which, to me, means that Will is slowly being corrupted. Just like the stag was corrupted due to Hannibal's influence, Will is starting to change and fall deeper and deeper into darkness. It's also interesting that the dynamic between Hannibal and Will is clearly that of one between the Devil and the person they are trying to tempt. Hannibal is trying to tempt Will into changing himself and embracing the darkness inside of him.

Will is Hannibal's realization that humans are actually not that bad. They are complex, and their free will actually makes them relate to him more than he thinks. Will is his weakness, and Hannibal is intrigued by him. If the Devil, which is Hannibal, is the snake, then, in Hannibal's own words, Will is the mongoose that preys on the snake. Hannibal originally fell because of humans, and at the end of the series, he falls because of humanity again. He fell for Will. Will is meant to represent the lamb of God. The symbolism is that Hannibal fell for Will, who sacrificed himself to keep the Devil away, getting corrupted in the process.

Dolarhyde is also a factor. The original painting, "The Great Red Dragon," represents Satan. How does that tie into this idea? I think it's not Dolarhyde who is meant to be Satan; rather, it is Hannibal. We know that Dolyrhde idolizes Hannibal in a sense. Like Will and many of his other patients, which I'll get into later, Francis is influenced by what Hannibal says. Yet another temptation by the Devil. This is also connected to Will coming into his own life because Francis is also manipulated by Will. There is a connection between Hannibal and Will, which is shared via the tempting and manipulation of Francis.

I mean, we have this statement by Jack talking about The dragon, the lamb, etc. Jack says that,

"He's not the Dragon, you are. The Devil himself bound in the pit." Jack Crawford

Hannibal compares Jack to God. But I think they both are, in some way.

Many of Hannibal's patients and the people in his life, in general, are manipulated by him. I mean, some of his patients are tempted and influenced by him to do bad things commit crimes, and murder people. That's very indicative of the Devil's work, in my opinion. Even Jack and Alana end up being manipulated and deceived by him.

There is a lot of other religious imagery and symbolism, so I'll only discuss some of it. To start with, the reference to Bedelia's presentation and Hannibal's name in Italy and what they could represent. I mentioned earlier that in season 3, Bedelia talks about her time in Florence with Hannibal. She talks about how Dante gave a physical space to Hell, a solid concept, but before that, people would say, the "mouth of Hell." Then she says that she was "swallowed by the beast." This refers to Hannibal, but here's the interesting thing. In the Bible, the Devil is also referred to as the Beast. Bedelia is yet again referring to herself being used and brought into the mouth of Hell by the Beast, Hannibal. The name that Hannibal was monikered by in Italy is also the same. "Il Mostro" translates to the monster, which can be interpreted as yet another way to refer to the devil. Then, there is the obvious references to lambs in the show, with it being a sacrificial symbol. I'm sure that's been talked about a lot, and I mentioned it earlier.

There are many mentions of justice, redemption, retribution, and more in the show. This connects with the religious themes, of course, but it also plays into Hannibal's view of himself as a God, as well as how the show depicts him as the Devil. He is the one who casts judgment onto people, like his patients, and onto the rude, like a God. He is the one who issues punishment for sins and misdeeds, like the Devil. I think it's so interesting to see them both working in tandem.

I once saw a post saying that Hannibal acts like he's lived the same life a hundred or so times. And I agree. He does. He acts like he has been around for a time so long that many have forgotten it. It makes sense why he's so confident, and nothing seems to phase him. Nothing that happens has any consequence for him. The only thing, really, that he cares about is Will. That's why he tries to get Will to have his Becoming and Fall with him. He wants Will to be there with him. Which is sweet, I think :) And not to bring up related trauma for anyone that has ever been a fan of Devilman or Devilman Crybaby, but IMO, it really really reminds me of Akira and Ryo and how Ryo is stuck in the same cycle over and over again as a lesson. Idk, my opinion. Let me know what you think.

I also wanted to touch on some other interpretations of the raven stag shown alongside the wendigo and how other religions and beliefs might relate to this.

The Wendigo is a demonic entity or evil spirit from the Algonquian people of Canada. It is a winter spirit that is meant to represent greed and gluttony. When humans succumb to greed, like being greedy for money, being cruel to people, or generally evil things, the Wendigo spirit can possess you. During harsh winters, when food is scarce, people commit taboo acts and consume another human, participating in cannibalism. This also causes a possession and turns this person into a wendigo, never to be satisfied and constantly craving forever. I am not Algonquian, or even Indigenous/Native American, so I can't speak too much on this, and I don't know too much, but I hope I explained it well enough. I apologize if I did not. The show has its own visualization of this, and Wendigos traditionally doesn't look like the one in the show, but the overall message is the same. Even if Hannibal is not the Devil, he could be some manifestation of a Wendigo. It makes sense. Remember his back story? He was forced into captivity while hiding by soldiers during an extremely harsh winter during the war. Harsh enough that food became scarce, and the soldiers had to resort to cannibalism. They fed Mischa to Hannibal, which might have triggered something. Ofc this is a reach, but I did want to bring another interpretation into this.

Obviously, this is all just speculation. I love this show, with its dark complexities and incredible depth, and I wanted to talk about something I've been thinking about for a while now. Again, not everything might be correct. I apologize if that's not the case. Please feel free to correct me. I also apologize if this made no sense or was not cohesive, it's pretty late for me, but I couldn't get this out of my head.

I hope it was interesting ;)

#hannibal #nbc hannibal #hannibal lecter #will graham #hannigram #just a little analysis #i'm sleep deprived so apologies if this makes no sense #i just really wanted to share

[alexiethymia]

Hazbin Hotel Ep 5

Ok wow Ep 5 (and 6) was such a ride.

It's so fun to dissect Alastor since he's pretty much the only one who's character is hard to pin right now.

I can easily believe that Lilith is the one he has a contract with (hence the on a leash comment). I can believe that he might or might not be there because of Lilith (either he's obeying Lilith or he's getting close to Charlie because that in some way will help him get rid of his leash). I can also believe that he is intentionally pissing Lucifer off.

BUT

The thing is, even with all of this, I really thought that the Alastor we would see was the same Alastor we saw who handled Vox with so much class. Someone did a mini analysis about their face off. Alastor was completely unbothered and in control of the whole situation. He didn't bother interrupting Vox and the whole encounter with Vox losing his top and Alastor keeping his cool definitely showed that Alastor won that round.

But with Lucifer, it's different. Lucifer is pathetic and desperate. It would be so easy for Alastor to rile him up while still being calm, but there's none of that here. Where's the manipulative persona? Rather, it even seems like Lucifer brought Alastor down to his level of pettiness.

There's visceral rage right from the beginning when he sees the welcome banner, and the uncontrollable twitching of the eye when he sees Lucifer hug Charlie. The funny thing is Alastor is the first one to react to Lucifer while Lucifer is completely focused on his daughter. Twice we saw this petty eye twitching - when he was annoyed with the Egg Bois and when Carmilla could care less about where he disappeared to. So we know Alastor is capable of it. He's not as high and above everyone as he thinks he is.

Lucifer's lame comeback was enough to get him to swear?? It was such a whiplash from what was established about Alastor so far. But for him to show his annoyance at Lucifer in such an obvious way, shows that there's something about Lucifer that just pisses him off, enough to slip his usual control.

Same with his final encounter with Mimzy. They're established as good friends, but the hotel is a red line. He's not all lofty like in the past episodes when Mimzy confronts him about whether or not he actually cares about the hotel. We as the audience are supposed to be sure that he doesn't, but I was expecting at least a smirk or his usual pleasantness and I-know-something-you-don't attitude. But he was as serious as he ever has been when he gives Mimzy an ultimatum. And the thing is, it's not a show he puts on to get on Charlie's good side or to piss Lucifer off since neither of them see it.

Again, I could easily interpret the entire sequence between Lucifer and Alastor as Alastor still being on top, and willfully manipulating and using Charlie just so he can have one over Lucifer if not for those two things. His uncontrolled reactions - swearing at Lucifer and the uncontrollable eye twitching when Lucifer and Charlie hug - because what benefit even does that get him??

So maybe he is taking this step-dad thing seriously because Lilith and him are involved somehow (which, yikes in so many ways), maybe he hates Lucifer for a separate reason unrelated to Charlie and/or Lilith or his hatred of Lucifer has everything to do with Charlie (even if it started with a deal with Lilith initially) and Charlie (as well as the hotel) are starting to have more of an influence on him than he expects.

Either way, it was awesome and this was exactly the found family chaos I was hoping for and I sure am glad to get it.

#hazbin hotel #alastor #charlie morningstar #lucifer morningstar #like ep 5 and 6 were both great for found family feels #the fact that Alastor near says it verbatim in the song and shows their f'd up li'l hotel family #(except Sir Pentious) no I correct myself Sir Pentious was in the kid-friendly drawing! #but no nifty so I guess height? or because she appeared in the song already. but the drawing itself is funny though it's so pg haha #ep 6 was so great #I am so so proud of Angel Dust #how he always gets the courage to fight against Val when he's fighting for his friends #first Charlie then Nifty #like he is probably the most selfless to endure everything #as long as none of his friends are hurt #and perhaps it's saying something that he's protective over the girls #because he remembers molly #it's even in the little things like watching out for nifty's drink #or wanting to actually commit on going on the straight and narrow #husk being proud of angle dust #the grayness of morality #I'm glad we got emily #and that charlie isn't just a naive optimist #it's what makes her so admirable #AND THE FORESHADOWING WITH VAGGIE #I am late to the party #I didn't realize about the pilot outfit #BUT AGAIN duh it would make sense even in the pilot people were wondering why vaggie would be in hell #but I mean even that throwawayline in ep 4 about vaggie learning to trust through military drills which didn't make sense #from her earth background but we know now is because she was an exorcist #and even the obvious and not obvious origin of her name

[forestdeath1]

Magnum Opus or Great Work: Alchemical Codes in "Harry Potter"

"I've never wanted to be a witch, but an alchemist, now that's a different matter. To invent this wizard world, I've learned a ridiculous amount about alchemy." JKR. By the way, it seems JKR never became an alchemist because you can't be that evil an alchemist, Joanne. Something went wrong.

The first part about Lily and James

Voldemort – an occult alchemist, Lucifer. Snape – a Seeker who chose the wrong Path. Dumbledore – Keeper of the Tower. Hermione – Hermes Trismegistus. Harry, Hermione and Ron – the three principles for creating the Philosopher's Stone.

Alchemy is the universal path of spiritual transformation. In a literal sense, universal, this code is practically everywhere–from ancient myths and the Bible to the philosophy of Nietzsche (though in his understanding) and Jung's books. Harry Potter himself is a complete alchemist's path, but there's also a well-displayed second path–the path of the occult alchemist.

True alchemy tells us that God is in everything, like a seed present in every person. Through alchemical transformation, a person can be reborn – and become golden, divine, immortal.

Many famous people were fascinated by these ideas – from Newton to Goethe, from Walter to Mozart. Yes, Walter and Mozart were freemasons, but freemasonry is built on the Magnum Opus, it's its foundation. Who has seen the opera The Magic Flute? A completely masonic opera: the surface layer was for the people, and the deeper layer – for the spiritual elite of that time. In this opera, the power of love transforms people and makes them divine. Oh, it seems to resemble Harry Potter, hehe... Harry Potter also has two layers – one as a fairytale about a wizard for teenagers, the other – for those who can "feel" the symbols, even without knowing them.

Each symbol can be interpreted in several ways, that's the complexity of alchemical symbolism. For example, Albus Dumbledore. He symbolizes (in JKR's own words) Spirit ( he's white), and Rubeus Hagrid – Soul (red) – and they're both like two fatherly figures for Harry, distant and warm, judicious and understanding. But all this is at the character level. Dumbledore has other meanings – much more important ones. As I've said before, the symbolic level and the character level are different levels. In interpreting symbols, you don't need to interpret every line, you need to take the context as a whole. Characters operate on one level, symbols – on another.

So, alchemy is an extension of the universal idea – to be reborn, you need to "die." Like Jesus died on the cross, Orpheus on the banks of the River Gebre, and Osiris in the coffin prepared by Typhon, in alchemy, until all the elements (parts of the old personality) die, the work cannot be completed.

The stages of this alchemical process can be traced in the lives of almost all world "heroes" and in the mythology and legends of many cultures. This is a universal code.

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again” John 3:3

Alchemy proclaims that without decomposition, the Great Work cannot be accomplished.

The past Self dies on the cross and in the retorts and becomes black during decomposition. The new Self rises from hell, like a phoenix. The phoenix is a pure alchemical symbol.

This is the creation of the Philosopher's Stone.

It is symbolically described in "The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz". The book presents an allegorical story divided into "Seven Days" or "Seven Journeys," which tells how its author, Christian Rosenkreutz, was invited to a castle full of wonders to help with the "Chymical Wedding" of the king and queen. Harry also receives a letter in a storm (like Rosenkreutz) and goes to the castle for 7 years, chooses one of the four paths (Gryffindor), and so on.

Alchemists called the creation of the Philosopher's Stone the Great Work – Opus Magnum. This process consisted of three stages: decomposition (nigredo), rebirth (albedo), and final perfection (rubedo). Each of these stages corresponded to a specific colour: black, white and red.

Nigredo. Albedo. Rubedo.

In Harry Potter, these stages correspond to Sirius Black, Albus (white) Dumbledore, and Rubeus (red) Hagrid. The end of each stage is marked by their death. In the seventh book, it's Hagrid who carries the "dead" Harry.

There is a fundamental difference between "true alchemists" and "occult alchemist."

Tom Riddle is an occult alchemist. For him, the Great Work is also self-creation, but what kind? For him, it is complete mastery of his abilities and his future, and especially the complete liberation of his will.

Tom is a will, but his will not submissive to the will of God. It's a Luciferian will. The will of a fallen angel who began to oppose his own free will to the influence of Divine Love-Light. Instead, he sought and loved his own power outside Divinity, in himself.

"Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven" John Milton, "Paradise Lost"

Baphomet, or the Sabbatic Goat, drawing by Eliphas Levi, on its hands are inscriptions "Solve et Coagula." This is an alchemical principle. JKR, by the way, also has such a tattoo.

In occultism, it is believed that magic is control of one's will, and a will can control matter. After all, what did his followers choose for their motto? Magic is Might. Harry never defeated Voldemort with such magic. Because he doesn't need it.

What does Tom boast about? Tom boasts that he has mastered the deepest depths of dark magic. He went so far in it as no one before. Dark magic requires an iron will, and Tom achieved incredible heights in it. He even achieved immortality in this material universe, literally cursing his soul! Only Tom doesn't understand that Dumbledore (a true alchemist) is not interested in all this. Because true immortality is not there. True transformation is not there. Because their paths are completely different – Dumbledore is going to the "God and divine immortality," and Tom is going to "material immortality."

In general, fans of occult alchemy, the Left-Hand Path, and Nietzschean philosophy probably consider Tom a much more interesting character because here he is – the king of matter, a man of incredible will and strength who destroys the slave Christian morality and proclaims that God is dead, long live the Übermensch (homo superior)! (Nietzsche would have been proud of him…) By the way, Bellatrix is most likely symbolically – Lilith, Adam's first wife according to Kabbalistic apocrypha, who rebelled against Adam. God created them equal, and Adam wanted to have power over Lilith... In short, Lilith is the first feminist in human history, hehe.

The Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel. Lilith.

In short, Tom Riddle is such an adept of broken alchemy. Where Tom is his own personal will, Harry is Faith and the will of the Spirit. Harry is also very strong-willed, but his will is different, it's not individualistic. It's a will of sacrifice, a will of love, a will of mercy, a will of trust. The main theme of the seventh book is a crisis of faith. And what kind of will does one need to show to continue the quest for Horcruxes and not go for the Deathly Hallows? Simply put, the will of Harry and Tom is completely different.

And Tom will never understand this. He's an individualist. He's a Nietzschean Übermensch. He's reached the limits of human capabilities. But for what? From dust you are and to dust you shall return, Tom...

Severus Snape — a Seaker who chose the wrong Path

And Snape, by the way, initially turns away from Lily (Lily is love of God, represented in the world). Because he's obsessed with becoming dark magic, his ego and desire for secret knowledge and being proud are very great.

Btw, Lily is a mudblood. In the sense that God is not in shining beautiful armor. This is Lucifer's mask – to be pure, to shine, to sparkle. But the real God can be found by seeking, under the feet of the poorest and "dirtiest" person. After all, for God, everyone is equal. It's the Devil who divides.

And pure-bloods, for example, the Blacks, are "false purity." Luciferian purity. Material purity, purity of shining gold. It's division. And where there's division – there's the Devil.

In short, Snape turns away from Lily because this path is difficult, he doesn't understand how to approach her, he already uses dark magic, has a lot of knowledge, and delves into various secrets, and shows what "bad" paths other seekers (the Marauders) take... (The seeker is not my term, it's from the Rosicrucian manifesto, alchemists call themselves seekers) But Lily still refuses to unite Spirit and Soul. And he calls her a "mudblood," insulting her. For Lily, this is a sign that this soul is almost lost. And there's no sincere regret in him when he asks for forgiveness. He asks her to forgive him, but his soul is still on the old Path. Lily isn't angry with him, it's not about anger or offense. Snape's soul is almost lost at this moment, closed to the divine spark and love. After all, for love to enter your heart, you first need to open yourself to it.

Only when Snape sees true face of Tom's "alchemy," in which Tom is ready to kill Love, the divine spark, essentially kill God in the souls of all people, then Snape, as a real Seeker, realizes that he's going the wrong way... And he runs to the main Alchemist, Dumbledore, to ask to preserve this love, this manifestation of God on earth.

But you can't preserve it without preserving the seeker of the right Path in your soul (James) and without preserving the possibility of the emergence of the transformed soul (Harry).

This is a very important moment, not only because you can't kill people in principle. Dumbledore literally tells him that you can't save love of God, the divine spark in your soul, if you kill in yourself the one who reaches out to God (the deer) and if you kill the POSSIBILITY of becoming this new transformed soul (Harry).

For Snape, this becomes a turning point, and he decides to switch sides to true alchemy. Dumbledore asks in return for Snape's soul, but not in the sense that the Devil demands it, he asks for loyalty to the Path. Below I'll explain the symbolism of Dumbledore and what he means in terms of alchemical symbolism (I don’t think he is God).

Snape becomes loyal to Dumbledore. But Lily is killed, as is James. The world, despite the fact that Voldemort temporarily goes into hibernation (and the Savior is alive), plunges into despair. Sirius (as a divine symbol of light) is in captivity, Remus (a symbol of a seeker with a "good but not brave" soul) is somewhere wandering the world, and Harry lives very poorly with the Dursleys... Harry doesn't know any God, and the seeker in him is also "dead". And Voldemort will soon rise again, he's just gathering strength.

Harry's path is the path of returning to God through Mother of God (Theotokos). Because it is Mother of God who is the true Spirit. That's why he meets Lily only at the end of the seventh book, when he's almost completed the alchemical transformation. For Christians, this is heresy, but for alchemists, it's not. The Son and Mother of God are one whole. The Virgin Mary is part of the Trinity, because only through the spiritual unity of the Mother and the Son is the salvation of humanity possible.

And who does he meet her through? Through Snape. Who dedicated his entire life to transforming his Soul, merging it with the Spirit, ultimately coming to God.

He spent his whole life hating James, as a Seeker of a different kind, not like him—Snape always leaned a bit towards Nietzschean stories. And James always hated Dark Magic and all dark things (although this doesn't make the souls of this type much better, they can also be egocentric). Snape teaches Potions, he knows how to bottle up Love, Death and Luck... So much power, so much pride in this...

Recently, I reposted a very interesting post. Snape wanted to recover his soul, because he was guilty of Lily's death. A very beautiful meta, but I see a bit different alchemical meaning. His soul is broken not only because Lily partly died because of him. His soul is broken overall because of the Path he chose - that of an occult alchemist, and he remains a "spy" to the end of his days, playing two roles, constantly "here and there". He dies at the hands of his former master.

Snape takes Lily's letter because he needs Lily's love (like people wear crosses), while there isn't enough understanding of where to go (Dumbledore is already dead)

Snape always yearned for Lily. And Dumbledore asks for us, the readers: "After all this time?" And Snape answers for us "Always." You must love God always. And that is salvation for the soul.

In general, Snape only understands towards the end that you cannot love Lily without Harry and even James. Only one Path leads to Lily - the same as James’s path. The path of Ego, pride, thirst for power, secret knowledge, occultism, malice, hatred must finally dissolve. Snape fully exposes himself to Harry, although he shouldn't have (he should only pass on information about death), revealing the good (and the bad) that he always hid. His revelation to him speaks of his complete acceptance. He shows him his soul, literally bowing his head to him - here I am, here is my soul, in some things I have no excuse, sometimes I have justification, but I've been seeking God, seeking love all my life.

Will you accept my wounded soul?

This is confession. The realest confession.

And Harry accepts. Of course, Harry accepts. He looks at him with Lily's eyes.

Because no matter how "bad" you are, if you truly love God in your soul, if you truly seek Him, there will always be a place for you in the City of God. Snape is the constantly replayed plot of the Prodigal Son's return.

At this moment, all the "black" in Snape dies – the nigredo. Tears - the white stage, purification – the albedo stage, purification. Blood – naturally, the red stage. The alchemical transformation for Snape is complete.

(But geniuses from TikTok will still say that Harry shouldn't have named his son Albus Severus, because Snape was baaaad. Ofc he was bad sometimes, that's the point!)

Dumbledore is the embodied Path and Plan

As I mentioned before, Dumbledore asks for Snape's soul in return, but not in the sense that the Devil demands it, he asks for loyalty to the alchemical Path.

Dumbledore, as an alchemist, besides embodying the completion of the albedo stage for Harry with his death, is also the embodied Path. Dumbledore is the highest Guardian of the Tower, who watches over the Paths of others, he is the Man of Spirit, he is the Principle, he is the Master. What is the difference between Dumbledore and Lily? Lily is a more important symbol, she is like pure divine power, God = love, as in what all souls dissolve. Dumbledore, on the other hand, is the Guardian of the Path through which everyone must pass. In short, Lily is the answer to the question "where", and Dumbledore is the "how". And Dumbledore is just a man who also underwent his alchemical transformation and who can also succumb to temptation. But Dumbledore is not GOD, imo. To personify God in a book is too much (even for me, although I’m not religious at all). I don’t like the idea of him being God and... really, where? God is transcendent and pure divine love emanates from Lily that’s why she almost an empty canvas. Dumbledore is a principle. He is the answer to the question "HOW". That's why he asks to believe in him, believe in the ALCHEMICAL PATH AND PLAN. FOLLOW THIS PLAN TO THE END. Ascend the tower, as I once ascended it. After all, he lives up there in the tower. He observes.

For Snape, Dumbledore is so important because Dumbledore is the Path, a new Path that he did not have. And Dumbledore's death is so important for everyone because now no one points them towards the Path. But they must find this Path within themselves. Because the answers are inside them. You cannot become a true Alchemist if you constantly rely on external help. It's time to see the Path independently.

"You must kill me."

There was a long silence, broken only by an odd clicking noise. Fawkes the phoenix was gnawing a bit of cuttlebone. (HP and DH)

After Dumbledore says that Snape must kill him, there is silence and a very clear symbol - the phoenix and the bone. It's time for their souls to go independently, to eat away all the old to come to rebirth. Meanwhile, they also need to save Draco, who, by "Lucifer's" order, is about to kill the Path (although you can't outplay God's plan...). And then Dumbledore reveals that Harry must die.

This shocks Snape. Like any alchemist on the Path. How so, to die? After all, we all do everything to become closer to God, to immortality, and you say – just die? What kind of Path is this?

"I thought…all these years…that we were protecting him for her. For Lily.”

After all, we were protecting Harry for Lily, because as I've already said, only through the spiritual unity of the Mother and the Son is the salvation of humanity possible. Snape is protecting the son for the mother, and Dumbledore wants to kill him? For what?

Simply put, Snape doesn't understand that no one can save Harry until he dies and is reborn. It's painful, but all heroes go through this path for rebirth.

Dumbledore knows that there is a "seed" of "evil" in Harry, as in any of us. After the fall, we all carry Luciferian part within us. This is the last thing that must die in Harry, and he himself must die for it.

No one promised that the path of the alchemist would be easy. It's understandable why not everyone loves Dumbledore, he seems too cold and manipulative, but there is no other way for Harry on the symbolic level.

The Great Work

There are three stages of the Great Work: decomposition (nigredo), purification (albedo) and ultimate perfection (rubedo). These stages for Harry culminate in the deaths of Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore, and his own death, where he is carried out of the forest by Rubeus Hagrid.

And the result of his alchemical work should be Rebis — essentially the alchemical philosopher's stone, an androgynous being. In the collection of dialogues attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, God is depicted as androgynous. (Hermes Trismegistus is essentially the one who created the corpus of Hermetic texts).

Rebis is the unity of opposites. Day and night, Man and Woman, Good and Evil, Light and Darkness. All is one. There is no division. The wholeness of God. After the fall, we are all divided. And after the alchemical transformation, we can finally become whole and find ourselves and God.

In the form of merged men and women, sometimes depicted as the Virgin Mary and Christ, because They are one whole. As I have already said, for many alchemists, the Virgin Mary is part of the Trinity because only through the spiritual unity of the Mother and the Son was the redemption of original sin made possible. As I have already said, although Harry suffers more for James (his father turned out not to be as ideal as he thought), Lily is the main symbol in "Harry Potter".

The Nigredo stage literally means "blackness" - it signifies complete breakdown, decay, descent into the underworld, the trance of grief. It's a descent into the deepest fears, disbelief, denial, loss of self, anger, aggression. And through this - a return to the prima materia. This is what happens to Harry, "The Order of the Phoenix" is a very dark and depressing book, and with Sirius's death, this stage for Harry is completed. Sirius himself also undergoes transformations, but about this in the next part. The nigredo stage, during which a person's ego dissolves, is agonizing but necessary for further development. After the "I" meets its "shadow" and disintegrates into parts, it will need to be purified and recreated.

Albedo ("whiteness") symbolizes purification, transition to another world, change of life priorities, awakening, enlightenment. In alchemy, the transition from nigredo to albedo is achieved through the process of washing. The whole sixth book is misty, "white", "wet". "Washing" (albutio, baptisma) directly leads to whiteness (albedo). Purification. It's also silver, a lunar state. In Harry Potter, there is a character named Luna, which means moon in Latin. In different parts of the books, Luna also symbolizes this stage. With Dumbledore's death this stage for Harry completed.

Rubedo ("redness") - the final stage of the alchemical Great Work. The alchemist must establish a kind of sacrificial relationship with his inner essence. At the final stage, the so-called "alchemical marriage" takes place: the marriage of the Red King and the White Queen - Soul and Spirit. Harry (soul) and Lily (spirit) are united. With Hagrid carrying Harry this stage for Harry completed.

Bu the way, the Golden Snitch is an alchemical symbol also.

Firstly, Harry's position is called the Seeker. Alchemists also called themselves that. Secondly, the winged disc is a very ancient symbol, meaning the sun (God) and immortality.

The Snitch reveals to him the Resurrection Stone, and Harry "encounters" his main symbols, but the main one is Lily. It is her he asks not to leave him.

Harry's death here is read by everyone as the well-known plot of Christ's crucifixion. The path to this death is also a reference to the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane before the Crucifixion. After all, Harry also wanted to end up somewhere, but Hogwarts is his home, and he accepts his fate.

My Father! all things are possible for Thee: take this cup of suffering away from me: and yet not what I desire, but what Thou desirest. Mark 14:36

He wanted to be stopped, to be dragged back, to be sent back home... But he was home.

Lily's Eyes

To be honest, I can assume that her green eyes was chosen at random. But what if they weren't? Her green eyes may seem illogical, as this is the colour of the snake, the colour of Slytherin, the colour of evil. But this is the occult Luciferian snake, the erroneous snake. Originally, green also dates back to Hermes Trismegistus – the god who gave the knowledge of alchemy. The most famous of the old hermetic-alchemical texts is inscribed on the "Emerald Tablet". According to legend, this document was left by Hermes Trismegistus on a plate of emerald in an Egyptian temple.

"The Emerald Tablet" is very important for alchemists." According to legend, a large emerald fell to the earth from Lucifer's head when he was cast out of heaven. From the same emerald that fell from the crown of the fallen Lucifer, angels made the Holy Grail (which is also the philosopher's stone, and the Snitch...). Emerald is a sacred green stone, and the heavenly divine world - the homeland of the emerald - a precious stone in which information about the heavenly homeland is encoded.

There is also the Ouroboros - a snake that devours its own tail - a symbol of infinity and immortality.

And the Snitch, which is a reflection of Hermes Trismegistus' staff (which has two battling snakes - two opposites, Spirit and Soul, Good and Evil and so on, and Hermes establishes unity between them with his staff).

Occultists, of course, interpret these symbols in their own way.

Hermione is Hermes Trismegistus. Mercury. Ron — Sulphur. Harry— Salt.

Hermione (Ἑρμιόνη [hermi. ónɛː]) is a feminine given name derived from the Greek messenger god Hermes. As I said, Hermes Trismegistus is the main figure of Hermetic teaching, he is also the one who predicted the coming of the Savior (traditional Christianity should not be confused with Gnostic teachings, the Church has always been against Gnosticism). In addition, Hermes is Mercury, and that is knowledge. Hermes Trismegistus shares "secret knowledge" with the world, which forms the basis of many Gnostic directions - from alchemy to Kabbalah.

Hermione is a little alchemist, she shares knowledge. It is Hermione who insists on complete trust in Dumbledore, it is Hermione who often leads Harry in the right direction when Dumbledore is not around. It is through Dumbledore and Hermione that "moral lessons" are often sounded, which often seem completely out of place. Like when Dumbledore says that James would forgive Peter. At that moment, I always want to say, "Are you out of your mind?!" although I understand that it is described on a symbolic, not personal level.

Mercury (Hermione), Sulphur (Ron), and Salt (Harry) were necessary in the alchemical transformation and were the main components. To create the philosopher's stone, all three elements had to be combined, and Harry is next to them throughout all the books.

Both Hermione and Ron are equally important in Harry's development.

Mercury is the more fluid primary principle, more rational, the feminine principle, while Sulphur is dynamic, expansive, unstable, acidic, unifying, masculine, paternal, and fiery principle. Sulphur is emotional, it is desire and passionate impulse that motivates life. Sulphur is desire. And according to Jung's reflections, it can also be foul and dangerous. Complete transmutation depends on the correct application of this variable principle. Sulphur must be of quality for transmutation to occur. And Ron achieves this quality.

Also, in mystical alchemy, Sulphur is crystallized inspiration of Mercury (Mercury).

Mercury and Sulphur are simultaneously antagonists, like the male and female elements, but at the same time Sulphur is crystallized Mercury.

So I have always been and will always be for Romione! Hehe. They were made for each other!

And as for Salt - that's Harry. It's the body. Sometimes it is called earth and body, salt is the essential body (corpus).

Alchemists say that salt was the first substance created by fire, emanating from God. In salt, all creation is concentrated, in salt the beginning and the end of all things.

Salt is associated with the ultimate elevation of matter - with matter that has acquired consciousness, achieved through the unity of opposites, including the unity of fire and water, the unity of what is above and what is below. Salt is the ultimate Philosopher's Stone, representing transcendence and ultimate knowledge.

Thus, salt symbolizes consciousness (thoughts, feelings, material, etc.), which must be elevated through alchemical processes of dissolution and recrystallization. Well, that's Harry himself.

Just love this stupid moment

Well, that's it, I think I've said everything, and from the next part, we can move on to the Marauders themselves :D

#i'm wondering if anyone but me is even interested in this at all #harry potter meta #harry potter #hermione granger #ron weasley #pro ron weasley #rubeus hagrid #pro severus snape #pro albus dumbledore #pro romione #hp meta #severus snape meta #lily evans #tom riddle #voldemort #tom riddle meta #bellatrix lestrange

[lurafita]

I think that the interesting thing about the Demon of Lust title is how you could interpret that. Because on the one interpretation the fallen angels in Hell were sent there as punishment ok the other like in Lucifer, Hell was theirs to rule since they didn’t want to follow God. They decided the punishments. So I almost want to interpret Asmodeus as this demon king of lust who loathes rapist. He takes the human figure of a strikingly handsome man. He never forces a partner-he seduces them (we know in our current time that sex with the purpose of impregnation without consent is rape so his children are still the products of rape) but he never has to use violence. So his circle of hell (edom) punishes sexual predators. And I like your idea that it adds expertise and sex magic when his children find mates. Ie Malec. I studied a lot of Dante and historic interpretations of heaven and hell and there are so many ways you could look at it.

I’m sorry for this spam but I liked your prompt.

Hi! :-) As you said, there are many, many, MANY ways to interpret the lore with this. From purely religious to completely fantastical.

One could maybe even say that maybe while an angel, Asmodeus was the paragon of love, and as he fell and became a prince of hell, his original virtue turned into its opposing sin. (IF one views lust as the moral opposite to love, anyway).

And that also connected with Magnus for me. Because I see Magnus as a character who desperately wants to love and be loved, but who has been hurt so much in the past, he walled off this part of himself. (How quickly and readily those walls fell when meeting Alec, for me, just lends more credibility to my theory.)

However, his father's association with lust had consequences for Magnus that for the longest time, he didn't even know about. With this prompt specifically, I thought that this essence was a part of Magnus, in a way like an aphrodisiac? Though not in a way where his partners would be unable to refuse him or anything like that. Oh, I'm so bad at putting my thoughts into words with this.

Like, it's not something that Magnus does, but rather something that is just what he is. And before he realized that it was specifically his physiology that made sex with him so very enjoyable to his partners, he just thought this was how it was for most people. So when someone actually stirrs something in him, when there is a real relationship and chance for love, Magnus slows down. With Alec, he goes slow. Not just because it's Alec's first relationship and he wants him to feel secure and take things at his own pace, but also because he doesn't want his "walking aphrodisiac" thing to cloud any feelings Alec might have for him. So when the time comes, Magnus definitely tells him. But this is a sensitive kind of topic, that also requires Magnus to trust Alec quite a bit, so it's something that Magnus tables for as long as he can.

I'm talking in circles, aren't I? 🤦‍♀️😂

I'm so sorry.

(By the way, I do so love the idea of Asmodeus punishing rapists in his hell dimension. Though would that mean that the demons under his command also do not rape women, and therefor warlocks would mostly be fathered from demons of other realms?)

#magnus bane #alec lightwood #malec #shadowhunters tv #magnus does not want for alec to be with him just because of the sex #Prince of hell Asmodeus #Demon of lust Asmodeus #both love and lust are anchored in different ways in Magnus #Magnus wants to love and be loved #but a lot of his former lover just wanted him for the sex #at least that's how I headcanon it #asks

[cinnamon-bunni]

hm... 4, 7, 11, 12, 17, 21, 22, 24! happy new year, bunni!

4. Total number of words you wrote this year That's hard to find tbh....I didn't end up posting a lot of fics, so i dont only have to just check my statistics on ao3, but all of my possible fics ive written this year in my wip docs as well. the total i got was 58,171 words (~35k of it being WIPs and not posted)! so definitely not as much as i wrote last year which was (i think over 100k), and also not including all of my notes ive written. i did not do a lot of writing this year, so hopefully next year i'll wrap up all of my big fics and post them all <3

7. longest completed fic you wrote this year Again, i did not write a lot this year, much less finish them lmao. if you were to ask about uncompleted fics, we would have a different story--but alas, the longest completed one was Once More, With Needles, sitting at 4,414 words!

11. fandom you enjoyed writing for the most this year hm....obey me, I suppose. its hard to say really, but enjoyment from writing specifically, i'd have to give it to obey me. what can i say, the cast is just really fun to write (even when levi is impossible to write, like what the hell man i have rewritten your part in my undead fic like 3 separate times and am continuing fixing it, like what the hell man i trusted you and then you dont behave for me). like this year specifically i realized how much i love each and every character--those like lucifer reminded me as to why i love the game and the characters, and people like mephisto and raphael randomly won a spot in my heart. theyre all just so so fun to write <333

12. favorite character to write about this year lucifer!!! even though i only have like, one fic that features him thats out and finished lmao; hes such an interesting and complex character, yet is one whose mind i can easily slip into when i need to write when its his pov. idk, sometimes i find myself struggling to write characters like levi or even asmo sometimes--mainly from my own failures to pay attention to their canon interpretations and making them not out-of-character--but lucifer is surprisingly one i can always rely on to be easy and fun to write!! he is angst galore and so emotionally constipated, hes great <3

17. fics you’ll continue next year Heart Melts for sure!! i originally wanted ch3 to be out before the new year, but ive been drafting and redrafting all of my future chapters (i am trying my best to make it a psychological horror in order to match the tag that i put on the fic, but idk if its going to live up to the hype that people have for this fic ^^;;) so i sadly didnt get time to finish it. maybe by the end of January ill have it out--heres to hoping its done by then! and maybe i might continue Dirty? I didn't even update it this year lol--its def one i dont wanna leave discontinued, as i have all of the chapters planned out, but i just have many other projects that i wanna focus on and also i really wanna rewrite it, so ive been debating doing that first or just to finish then rewrite it. in a perfect world, i'll update that one too lol

21. most memorable comment/review I have two that come to mind!!! in all honesty all comments make me sooo happy, but these ones specifically is just,,,idk man, they just hit a certain way that itches that scratch in my brain that needs validation lmao i love rereading these all the time <3 theres these comments for Messy Makeup:

(make me go insane from them saying i wrote multiple fics that were their favorites <33) and of course there's this banger of a comment from @/snugglebunnies!!! idk if youre reading this but thank you thank you thank you for inspiring me so much with your fics!!! i love them so much, and this comment was just incredible! from the fic Heart Melts:

(love when people leave quotes, no matter how long or short!!!! such deep analysis is what i live for!!!!) and of course, sending out so much love to everyone who leaves a comment on any of my fics, no matter how big or small they are <333

22. events you participated in this year i didnt participate in any events this year! i tend not to do events tbh, theyre not really my style, as i dont do well with due dates unless i have months in advance lol;; usually i might do one, maybe two, events a year, but those are usually simple gift exchanges or something. nothing caught my eye this year, and ones that did i just didnt have the time to do, sadly. but! i do plan on doing the sonic big bang next year, which will be my first ever "bigger" event ive been in! exciting, but also really nervewracking as ive never posted sonic content and idk how well i'll do staying on schedule. but its still something i really wanna do (have a great fic planned for it!) so i still wanna give it a shot and do my best on it lol

24. favorite fic you read this year from this year is really hard to say--i think all of my favorite fics were found last year lmao so its a struggle to think of one. @heleentje's BOTW fic Moonlight has been a fantastic read (even though i havent finished it yet;;; i promise will soon!!) and just hits all of the right notes for me!! The batman fic Performance Piece is also definitely up there for me, as it captures so well what i want in my own writing when it comes to writing characters, especially when it comes to inner-dialogue (i might just go back and reread that one again lmao)

as of posting, i have about twenty minutes left before the new year. so happy early 2024!! 🥳🎉💝

#unrelated but. after writing so much simeon pov for That Fic. i want nothing to do with him anymore. i cant stand him or solomon right now #(but im barely halfway done so. oh well lmaoo) #favorite fic you read this year #thanks for the ask! #fun to answer all of these thanks for so many lol <33 #bunni mumbles #ask game #happy new year damian!

[mochii-roll]

*＊✿❀Obey Me Brothers X Hispanic(Leaning to Mexican)MC Shenanigans❀✿＊*pt 2 Here

FIRST POST WOOO. Sorry if the post was a little bit short on didn't know what else to put 😭 Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day/night 🤩 Edit: Should I make one with the side characters? I'm down if y'all down :))

~Lucifer~

He likes listening to old songs with you while he's working, just the thought of you humming or even DANCING in front of him makes him so happy. He will also learn the translations to understand further about your culture :))

THIS MAN. I KNOW DAMN WELL HE WILL LEARN CUMBIA OR SMTH JUST TO HAVE THE HONOR OF DANCING WITH YOU. AND HE'S GOOD

He cannot and will not drink un cafecito if you didn't make it. He likes the fact that you make time out of your day to make it for him. Sometimes you'll even add like a dessert like a concha

He thinks you speaking another language is heaven. The way your voice sounds while rolling your R's or how calming you can make the language sound.

~Mammon~

BACHATA KING

You called him Mamón for a while and he thought it was a term of endearment. (It can be if that's how you interpret affection bc same :D)

He insisted you teach him your language so it can be like secret code for you two only

Will buy jewelry or trinkets that he thinks resembles your culture in a heartbeat

~Levi~

You would think he won't have a clue what your language is called due to the fact he doesn't socialize, but he actually does know due to him playing a few games online with someone who speaks your language.

Somehow you got him watching El Chavo or Familia Peluche, even though it isn't anime, he's glad you're enjoying yourself with him and not his brothers

You make him watch the animes in your language (Smth like Candy Candy) and he LOVES it. Y'all have multiple binge nights.

After you leave his room, he will look up more info about your culture and if he can impress you with something.

~Satan~

As soon as he gets the information about what language you speak, he's reading everything, to your cultures history, holidays or customs, and of course, the language (mainly cuss words)

You painstakingly tell him about mordidas on someone's birthday. Lucifer isn't safe.

You tell him stories about your family and how they gave you a special nickname or what you did to get in trouble.

Overall he is enamored by you even more, it makes you stand out and more special to him.

~Asmo~

Will ask as many questions as he can about your cultures style of clothing, music, and parties. He already knows you're so heavenly to him so why bother asking about the beauty standards there.

Asks you to model with him wearing your traditional garb, whether it be modernized or not he loves you expressing yourself and your culture

Random ~te amos~ whispered in your ear :)))

Is all about the chisme with you. If it's about his brothers or demons in RAD, he'll get mugs with some tea for the both of you and have your lil gossip sessions

~Beel~

When he gets a minor injury from working out, you're right there talking care of him and slapping rubbing Vaporub on his wound.

Is all about the food. Is it spicy?? Awesome. Sweet?? Let him try it. If you're making the effort to show him your culture through food, he's honored. Never a bad word about it from Beel

He loves gansitos a LOT they can stand pretty close to his custard in rankings. Not to mention any other dessert.

If he ate any of your snacks, he's very apologetic and takes you out to eat to a restaurant of your culture.

~Belphie~

Them thick ass blankets are the best thing you've ever introduced to him.

Imagine him falling asleep to you singing those old lullabies your family sang to you as a child

Like Satan, he learns how to cuss in your language and about the mordida.

You make him some Abuelita hot chocolate and snuggle up in that thick ass blanket.

#obey me headcanons #obey me mc #obey me shall we date #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmo headcanons #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphie #first post

[danwhobrowses]

The Sandman - Quickfire Thoughts

So after a series of sporadic binges between Netflix tussles I've finished The Sandman. Having gone into the adaptation of Gaiman's comic fairly blind I had barely any expectations, but here's what I thought of it

Spoilers for the show of course, you were warned

As much as I don't want to invoke the wrath of Gaiman - who also frequents the tumblr - negative points for not fitting Enter Sandman in the entire show.

A strange observation but, is it me but ever since Game of Thrones Charles Dance seems to only do small or low-screentime roles now; Godzilla King of the Monsters, Dracula Untold and now Sandman, he's great but because he's great it's curious that he doesn't do many long-term roles

Dream's casting was great, and props to Tom Sturridge for carrying an aura of menace and power in the first episode while butt naked

One of the very few things I knew of The Sandman comics was ol' toothy eyes, The Corinthian, and boy howdy was Boyd Holbrook fantastic, he's one of the five characters, including Sturridge as Dream, I feel dominates every scene they're in, he's a great charismatic but manipulative villain

The Gregory stuff made me sad, the show did have a fair amount of moments where it's meant to be sad and uncomfortable, but at the same time I don't want to be that sad or that uncomfortable

Liked the river scene, it's super artsy and dark. I wish we had more of that from this series, stuff like in this gif where Dream is as chilling as any nightmare he created, would've liked to see more of the Fates too

I do love some Jenna Coleman, been a fan all the way back since she debuted on Emmerdale, but, it didn't feel like her role in her episode was enough to necessitate the Constantine nod. Jenna could've been a regular sorcerer, or even an immortal Johanna. I dunno I think I just kinda hoped to see Matt Ryan reprise as John, especially since DC is killing the Arrowverse. Maybe DC didn't wanna play ball or Neil has S2 plans for her, but we needed more of Jenna to establish Johanna.

Speaking of potential Season 2, Hell. The Hell Episode was great, mainly because of standout no.3: Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer. Tom Ellis' Lucifer series wasn't something I quite got into, I heard rumblings of it ending dumbly, but Christie's Lucifer is amazingly sinister but in a quiet way, they know who they are so they don't need to threaten, but there is that twinge of sadness and longing that Dream exploits in their Oldest Game

Though 'anti-life' felt like a cheat, I did like the Oldest Game. The wink nudge of Lucifer picking a direwolf but then, by my interpretation, Morpheus choosing hope to corner Lucifer into submitting rather than become something that would diminish their own hope. Matthew the raven gets props as well for giving Morpheus the inspirational pep talk

24/7 was one of those cases where it was a great episode but one I was greatly uncomfortable with, sometimes my own fault like forgetting that Bette's son is in college. But this does explore why John Dee's views on a perfect world is twisted and the Ruby is not safe in his hands, I did feel especially bad for Bette

Oh, John Dee is no.4, David Thewlis man. As much as Dee was unnerving, apathetic, and calculating, Thewlis did a great job in showing the childlike innocence that had been contorted by his sheltered life and manipulation, there is poetic irony that he wants a world of honesty but consistently deceives himself.

Episode 6 was perhaps my favourite, among my comic knowledge was the presentation of Death in Gaiman's story as a joyful punk rock girl who is full of life, Kirby Howell-Baptiste did a great job. I did of course feel extra sad when she approached the cradle, instant thoughts of 'no, not the baby!' in my mind, I don't know enough of her character to wonder if she still feels burdened by the abruptness of some people dying but there can be time for that later

What made it my favourite though was the Hob storyline, it was just nice and wholesome really and it explored more of Morpheus' ever-shrinking distance from humanity

The Vortex storyline I wasn't as sold on as the 'Morpheus reclaims his powers' storyline, it was still good but it did sit in the real world more than the fantasy

I enjoyed the whole house of people and Lyta, and how they all supported Rose in her search for her brother, plus the connection with Unity to merge the storylines together

Probably what made me not so connected to the Vortex storyline in spite of it having the Corinthian be the main villain is the nature of the Vortex, we're told very little about its nature and the 'I don't know' answer does feel weak, she is powerful just because

Morpheus also seems to take two steps back on his character development too, to go from Death telling him that they are not better than humans, should learn to take people's help and him accepting that he and Hob are friends to 'I will use this Vortex, a threat to the dreaming and waking world entirely just to bait some rogue nightmares' and also dismiss Gault's suggestion that even nightmares can change and want did feel like he was undoing his own work

Didn't quite like the Rumpelstiltskin vibe he was giving out with saying he'd come for Lyta's baby too, there could've been at least a bit more compassion or explanation, instead it served as a 'misunderstanding' trope to distance Rose from Morpheus

The ending was solid, albeit one which could've used a bit more explanation. Desire was a character we saw so little of - much like Cain and Abel, whose dynamic reminded me of Hilda and Zelda in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina - and even though we have them outright tell Despair that they are the mastermind of Morpheus' imprisonment and the Vortex arc, we don't actually see any of their actions, just an off-comment by Unity that clocks Morpheus in on the deception.

I feel like, while Gaiman may've intended to keep the audience out of loop, it may've served better to see Desire perform at least one action that guided the plot around, even if it was just to twirl a fake mustache, and explain how they intended to use the Vortex to be Morpheus' undoing, since there seems to be rules for not killing an endless' kin not established in the series (that I recall anyway) was the plan, but since I don't understand what that would lead to it's hard to understand the threat.

Overall I liked it, going in mainly blind I do have my questions but we had a great cast all doing really well, and I want to see more of it, so it laid some strong groundwork we can hopefully build towards.

#the sandman #sandman netflix #the sandman netflix #netflix #neil gaiman #morpheus #dream of the endless #tom sturridge #the corinthian #boyd holbrook #john dee #david thewlis #lucifer morningstar #gwendoline christie #jenna coleman #kirby howell-baptiste #hob gadling #death the endless #desire the endless #unity kincaid #rose walker #patton oswalt #matthew the raven

[bbnibini]

Give me all the info on your Lilith now (pretty please <3)!

General Info 05 Which deadly sin best aligns with them? Which one do they embody the least?

General Info 10 What was there initial reaction to Diavolo's plans of uniting the three realms? Has their opinion changed? Or rather, what would it have been?

Angel 08 Have they ever questioned Father? What for? Were they punished for it?

Angel 10 What is something they would willingly fall for? (other than love, if there is anything)

I hope those aren't too many questions but if it is, feel free to skip some! Hope you have a lovely week! 💚💚

Thanks for the ask! Lilith's character was fleshed out for my AU, which is a canon-divergent AU for Obey Me I had been working on since 2020 that surprisingly, had a lot of its elements/lore become canon throughout the years lmao. Also, I'm sorry if this is more of a Father lore dump than Lilith it's just He's deeply connected to the Celestial War cause He was the reason it even happened in the first place.;;

⭐General Info 05

Which deadly sin best aligns with them? Which one do they embody the least?

Ever since I was writing for Lilith in 2020, I had always made Satan her parallel. She is the reason why Satan looks the way he is: Satan's penchant for pranking Lucifer as a way of showing affection reminiscent of the playful and sisterly affection Lilith has with Lucifer. She is the reason why Lucifer is clouded with nostalgia and regret instead of annoyance and anger whenever Satan attempts to put a curse on him/prank him etc, because Satan resembles the sibling he failed to protect. Satan is arguably the one he spoils the most because he fills in what he had lost/whom in his eyes, he had failed and "disappointed", despite the fact that he will never admit it himself.

Of course, just because she is the reason for Satan's existence in my HC doesn't mean she and Satan are the same person. While Satan embodied wrath, the sin of lust embodies Lilith the most. In OG Obey Me, love was Lilith's driving force to committing a taboo. In my own interpretation of lust and love, both concepts are like "sisters" to each other. At times, the lines between love and lust blur. Lilith fell in love. A love deep enough that caused her to question how her Father ran the Celestial Realm. It was love, a strong desire that she knew would always be a dream. A castle in the air. A wish that can never come true. The difference between canon Lilith and my Lilith is she had done something far, far worse than loving a human. She dared to question her Creator AND fall in love with another god, Father's equal, which had of course given Father more of a motive to punish her severely. But love and lust are not the only driving forces that drove Lilith to fight back from Father's judgement; it is of course a big influence nonetheless.

I would say out of all the seven deadly sins, sloth would be the least compatible with her. Lilith is very much a go-getter and a stubborn-headed, reckless bullheaded woman who would even fight God (she actually did in my fic lmao) to protect the people she cares about, to fight for the inequality and apathy she had been seeing in how Father ran the Celestial Realm, no matter how powerless she was or how little chances she had to actually win. This woman is GRIT personified.

⭐General Info 10

What was there initial reaction to Diavolo's plans of uniting the three realms? Has their opinion changed?

Or rather, what would it have been?

Well, Lilith had passed away long before RAD was established so she wouldn't really have much of a reaction. /hj

Kidding aside, due to her experiences in the Celestial War, she is very sceptical if it would actually result into something, given how she and her brothers lost the war and gradually realised their Father is a selfish prick and "cares" in a very self-serving Old Testament kind of way and would never actually let it happen. Father's got a really big ego, is easily jealous, and hates the idea of His children loving other gods or superior beings besides Him. Even if the two other Realms are willing to negotiate, she knows it will lead to nowhere so long as Father remains…Father.

But I think she would warm up to the idea once she sees how much rizz her descendant has. MC pretty much inherited her stubbornness/grit that it might actually be possible make the Demon Prince's dream into a reality.

⭐Angel 08

Have they ever questioned Father? What for? Were they punished for it?

I tried to condense it as much as I could, but tl;dr is Lilith despises Father. Even after her husband Samael eventually forgave Him. Nope. She will stay mad forever.

Very much. My AU is slightly different from the OG and NB timeline. The reason for the Celestial War is a lot more complicated than food being fed to a human. Rather than one solid reason, it's pretty much a spider webbed-shaped stack of dominoes that collapsed on each other. It's a mess. The mess leading to one common denominator: Father.

I'll leave some snippets of the lore as links here if you're interested. Here's also the completed spinoff I wrote last last year that gives it more detail.

link 1

link 2

link 3

spinoff

Why did the Celestial War happen because of Father? It's simple---Father is selfish. In my AU, Gods are complete beings on their own. They don't need anyone to be complete. You could say His motives to create humans into social creatures is His way of trying to detach them from being completely made "into His likeness". He's afraid of others taking His spot. He's better than everyone else. No one else deserves to be made exactly like His likeness, even His son (psst it's the J man). He could have easily made His son His equal just like how Samael did with his brother Leviathan (this is a lot of lore dump but basically in my AU, Levi is a god and is not related to the Demon Brothers at all, but is Samael/OC-fied Simeon's biological brother,that's why he can't exactly fit in well with other demons, even his own "brothers" cause he had never been a demon. His powers+memories were just sealed after protecting Lucifer and his siblings when they fell so he became one.) but instead, he made His son into a human.

While it's true that He does love humanity, a being that only knew love through loving Himself would inevitably love in a self-serving way (which is why when I heard in NB this is pretty much canon now, I'm not surprised cause it does have a rl lore backing. I haven't actually read the new NB chapters so my own judgement of how accurate it is to Old Biblical texts will be reserved in the future).

Father created "everything" but had proved to be incompetent in actually running the "everything he created from nothing", leaving the seraphim to clean up after Him. He's this divine being put in a pedestal but couldn't actually care less about His creations and only expresses love when He feels like it, much like your average Olympian god. There's inequality and power imbalance in the Celestial Realm but He could care less. Rather, the concept of "caring" is foreign to Him. Everyone is pretty much "equal" in His eyes. So what if the other angels are being mistreated or discriminated? When Father was making "laws", He actually didn't know ANYTHING about social relationships and humanity (gods are solitary beings in my AU) so a lot of them are contradictory or didn't make sense. The humans? Weak. Defenceless. Sure, let's thrown My son in there. Nothing could go wrong, right? In every thoughtless action He does, He just thinks "surely this wouldn't affect My children in a significantly negative way, right? Even if it does, I'll leave Lucifer and the other seraphim to fix it". Lucifer is TIRED. Lucifer wants to go to rebel! Oh wait-

All joking's aside, once Lilith discovered and realised that there are ACTUAL GODS besides Father, that's when her beliefs in Him started to shake, even more when she realised the seraphim, HER OWN BROTHER knows this from the start? That there's these two sibling gods that embodied contradictory traits from what they know what a god was, what Father was: Samael and Leviathan treat each other like family. The love each other like family, just like how Lilith loves her own family. They know they can exist without each other but STILL CHOSE TO STAY TOGETHER AND BE FAMILY TOGETHER. They're the opposite of what a seemingly independent, solitary being a god was. Samael was kind, thoughtful, a little cowardly and gloomy but he was also pure and selfless and loving and everything that Lilith could have ever wanted. He was also a god. Forbidden. Could not be. And he was trapped. Made to believe he was something he was not. Made to think he was this strange and horrifying monster for being different from his fellow "angels", and locked himself away.

There's a lot more, morally dubious and outright disgusting things that Father did especially to Samael that Lilith is understandably furious about but it's a lot and I don't want to overwhelm with more infodump but yes, Lilith did fight back and she was punished for it. Her brothers were punished for it. Leviathan who protected them was punished alongside them, and Samael punished himself for not being able to protect them. But to save her from being obliterated, Samael preserved Lilith's soul and kept it in the darkness until they can reunite when his duties have finally been fulfilled. He also sealed Leviathan's memories and made a deal with Father to give Levi a cover-up background story that he had always been one of Lucifer's siblings. It's a lot. Samael had reasons for it and I have an entire longfic that can explain more but I'll stop there lol. Thanks for reading!

EDIT: OMG I didn't realise I left this out!!;;;

⭐Angel 10 What is something they would willingly fall for? (other than love, if there is anything)

Fighting for what's right. Lilith would willingly fall if it means she can make the lives of others better. Her fellow angels getting a better life and better treatment in the Celestial Realm is one of her other reasons why she fought against Father in the Celestial Realm.

#obey me #obey me nightbringer #ask #spoilers #biblical references #obey me lilith #this was fun but omg I just realised how much detail I put in the lore lmao sry if it's too much text;

[gilbirda]

20 questions for writers, tagged by @gremlin-bot

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

83!!! But a lot are crossposted from FFN, and not ALL of my FFN stuff is there.

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

753,449

3. What fandoms do you write for?

At the moment dpxdc, but I have projects for DP in progress. I have some really old Inuyasha stuff, and Twilight, and a Gravity Falls fic that I def will continue? but mostly dpxdc :D

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Clown around and find out (Kudos: 8,524)

Mondays, am I right? (Kudos: 8,080)

Employee of the month (Kudos: 7,865)

Can't have shit in Gotham (Kudos: 7,343)

How to confuse a Bat (Kudos: 6,749)

Unsurprising xd

5. Do you respond to comments? why/why not?

I usually do the week when I post a fic, but i stop after that period of time. I don't respond mostly because I dont know what to say... I love each and every comment!!! I just get nervous.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmmmm, I'd say What could have been. It's a DP fic from Phic Phight 2022 and the prompts I used weren't necessarily angst material, but I tied them together in a story meant to leave you empty.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I don't do "happy" endings? I think I do "realistic" endings - main quest is conquered but we lost and gained things in the way.

I do write a lot of fluff and unapologetic one shots, so I would consider all of those "happy" endings.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yes.

Fortunately is not a normal event in my fics, but now that I have dipped my toes in comic book fanfiction I've gotten my fair share of purists and know-it-alls that come to my comments to educate me on what it's "canon" and explain to me how my interpretation is wrong.

That aside, I'm not afraid to portray "problematic" ships and delicate situations ,mainly mental health stuff. I'm not the first or the last person that pour themselves in their writing and use fictional characters as a medium to work on some personal things. Of course that's gotten me enough comments telling me how disgusting I am and how I'm writing XYZ wrong.

9. Do you write smut? if so, what kind?

Yes. I don't have a lot posted, but I have WIPs.

Mostly BDSM and how important it is to trust your partner.

10. Do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one?

Mostly DPxDC!

I did have an insane crossover between Twilight and a book not a lot of people know. TBH im keeping that information to myself xd.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes.

There's a russian website that reposts fics.

And also people reposting my stuff in wattpad with a "credits to the author [name]" but they never asked me for permission.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! To Russian!!!! Made me so happy ヾ(≧▽≦*)o

13. have you ever co-written a fic?

Yes! I'm co-writing a fic with some close friends and my girlfriend. And another fic with just my girlfriend, but I'm so slow with it lmao

14. what's your all-time fave ship?

I'm a multishipper but usually I have 1 OTP that im Very Normal about in every fandom and then I'm just okay with everything else.

Some examples are:

KogKag, SessKag (Inuyasha)

Hardcover (JazzxJason)(DPxDC)

PrussiaxHungary (Hetalia)

Mabill (Gravity Falls)

HikaHaruKao (Ouran HSHC)

Deckerstar (Lucifer TV)

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

I don't want to jinx myself.

But probably the DP longfic. It's just. So long.

16. what are your writing strengths?

I've been told that my characters feel very real and that I write dynamics in a very organic way. In romance, I think I'm very good at portraying falling in love.

In general I've also been told I describe things in a way you can feel it, like you really are there.

17. writing weaknesses?

English is not my native language and I make a lot of mistakes, grammar wise. Or I let my weird miss matched speech patterns bleed into my characters and make them sound not quite right.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

Again, I'm native Spanish speaker, so I do write in English regularly xd

Other languages, I'd need someone that speaks that language to help me.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Inuyasha. I was about 11 years old. Those fics were written in Microsoft Word 2003, in script format (aka "theater" format), and every character had an assigned color and I would switch colors every dialogue line.

20. fave fic you've ever written?

Difficult to choose.

I love a lot of my fics, even older ones.

If I have to pick just one, I'm picking Friendly neighborhood vigilante

Tagging!

Not feeling like tagging today, and grem kinda stole the people I was thinking I could tag.

So, if anyone wants to do this, go ahead!

#tag game

[sauroff]

What attracted you to Sauron so much, and why do you think he is so popular, despite the fact that so much of his characterisation is in obscure material, and in the most popular adaptation, he is just a big eye?

Hello there! I love this question It's hard for me to talk about serious things because, besides not trusting my knowledge and my own interpretations of the characters, there is a language barrier that makes me feel limited when trying to explain myself. But I'll try my best

I think that, basically, we know very little about every character in The Silm. We kinda pick some extra info here and there from all the other sources, then ignore what we don't like (I sure as hell will ignore that version in which is Galadriel who founded Eregion and Celebrimbor just took it from her). We cling to the little info we have, and construct our own version of the characters. There might be a general fanon, but there are as many flavors of each character as there is people in this fandom. So, we might not have that much info about Sauron, but we do have enough to build over. And what you can build over what you got from The Silm and Morgoth's Ring is a lot more interesting that the whole eye tower/abstract representation of evil. There are so many holes you can fill, so much you can explore with him. Like, if he was so obsessed with order and control, and didn't like how the Valar managed things (very valid point there), how exactly did he thought that Melkor of all people could change that? We are told that he served him as his loyal right hand out of adoration. Why did he adore him? From the very little we know from each of them, they are opposites. Then we have the fact that we are told that at some points he did want to make Middle Earth a better place, for real. And we are also told that he did teach the elves and men things. That last part didn't age well, since that knowledge, and the progress done with it, is seen as corrupted and bad within the story. Based on that, you can theorize about his time in Eregion: Was the making of the rings and complete control of them his plan from the very beginning? Did he went to Eregion with only evil in his mind, or maybe he was just lost and on the look for a new path to follow? What if he really started with the rings as a way to heal Middle Earth, but fell into his old bad habits in the middle? (I mean, I'm sure that, in his mind, he still thought that he was doing what was best for everyone). I just love those things, and what you can build over them. On one hand, you have this talented crafter, loyal and efficient right hand, semi god that knows things of the very creation of the world and shares them with elves and men- A character whose awful actions are probably rooted on good intentions, but very very twisted by his own pride and obsession with control. A man who isn't very good at fighting (those physical fights we know he had, he lost), but it's good at singing and much better at seducing his way into and out of trouble. On the other hand, you have a man who thought that the very incarnation of chaos was just the right guy to put order into the world. A man whose ego is so big that once thought he was the greatest wolf in existence, because why not? A man who saw an already corrupted island of men and thought "I can make it worst", sent all the men to die instead of maybe recruting them, and died while laughing at God (being fair, he did manage to piss said god so much that he finally took direct measures. Nice one Mairon). A man that was obsessed with control, yet couldn't manage to make his own forces competent enough to at least use the language that they have created for them. And I mean, knowing that he isn't a big eye in a tower, but rather a (literally) hot Lucifer-like figure does help a bit too. But almost every character on those books is hot, so that alone doesn't do the trick. Also, for those of us who like to add queernes to our interpretations of media, there is this constant in his story about seducing/being seduced by male characters, while also being basically the only male presenting character that wasn't smitten by Luthien as soon as he saw her, that gives him a certain queer vibe we kinda dig. He also has some strong genderfluid vibes, but I can't explain those besides "There is not such a thing as a cis shapeshifter".

Anyway, that's my (very long) explanation. I'd apologize for it, but you asked :P Have a female presenting Annatar I sketched sometime ago

#ara answers #long post #sauron #eamonorous-blog #thank you for the ask!

[twistedtummies2]

The Devils I Know - Opening & Rules

Lucifer. Satan. Mephistopheles. Beelzebub. Old Scratch. The Devil has many names and many faces. Whether you believe in Hell and the Devil as actual, real entities or not, the concept of the Ruler of All Demons has remained an indelible idea for many cultures across history. Just about every religion that believes in an afterlife usually believes in some sort of “ruler of the underworld” who punishes and/or guards lost souls. It’s hard to say exactly where the concept of the Devil really started, but regardless, the notion of a King of Evil has remained eternally attractive to not only spiritual minds, but creative ones as well. There are dozens upon Dozens upon DOZENS of different characters in fiction and popular culture who are either inspired by the Devil, or directly intended to represent him. I’ve always been fascinated to see how different interpretations of the Lord of Darkness toy with the many different ways one can represent the ideas of this mythical figure. Some Devils are more comical, others are more overtly menacing. Some appear more human, while others appear more monstrous. Some depict him as a tempter, a schemer, and a master manipulator; others make him more of a bullying scoundrel, who uses intimidation and force to get what he wants. Many times, you’ll find Devils who lie in-between all of these different directions. And while the name of the Devil may change throughout different reimaginings, the character himself is unmistakable. For this Halloween season, I thought it would be fun to go over numerous, various versions of the Devil that I enjoy from all over the place. Movies, television, video games, literature, and even music will all be covered on this countdown! There are a few ground rules that I want to cover before going into this countdown, however: one, I obviously have to know about the Devil in question for them to appear, and I have to like them. Simple enough. Second, I’m not going to be counting stuff like “Paradise Lost” or “Dante’s Inferno,” because to me, those are “too big” for me to really talk about. They’re really the cornerstones of Devil-related fiction, along with the Bible itself. Third, and maybe most importantly…with perhaps one or two exceptions here and there, I won’t be counting characters who are “Devil-like,” but are not identified as the ACTUAL Devil himself. Tied to this, you won’t be seeing mythological figures who match that area on this list: don’t expect any versions of Hades or Loki to show up. My guiding idea for this is that the character needs to have a name representative of the Devil, and their role in their universe and story must match the typical role of the Devil: they are the ruler of all demons and/or the leader of Hell itself. There will be some exceptions, like I said (mostly in the Honorable Mentions), but generally these are the rules I’ll be following. With that said, tomorrow we shall cover some Honorable Mentions: Ten Devious Devils I enjoy that just didn’t make the final cut. And for the record, I feel I should stress that this is all based on depictions of the Devil in fiction: religion and spirituality have nothing to do with this at all. So please, try not to be offended by anything I say. If you haven’t been scared off by all this, then I hope you’ll join me for a little event I like to call…The Devils I Know!

#the devils i know #top 31 devils #fiction #countdown #list #favorites #best #actors #acting #movies #tv #animation #anime #video games #literature #theatre #music #musical theatre #opening and rules #halloween advent calendar #october special

[thebeingofeverything]

For the shipping ask:

Your humble opinion on two kind of related ships, if only that the characters are related:

Mephisto (in past or present form (s)) X Lucifer

And Mephisto X Arthur August Angel

I am wildly curious about the last one especially but figured while I'm here *shrug*

After like 2 months I'm finally getting to this :`)

Whether I ship it or not:

100% I ship Meph/Lucifer past and present.

Why I ship it or not:

Technically I ship all the kings with each other because I think of it almost like the greek/roman pantheons. Those guys don't have too many equals and it's hard when so few actually understand you on that level. And also just chemistry wise I think the fact that they have that history together is extra juicy. They basically did a friends to lovers to enemies in canon and I'm dying to see more of the past and what they were like in the early days of formation.

My opinion of their canon potential:

Tons of it, though not pretty in the slightest. Neither are willing to change their minds/paths currently (although I'm beginning to suspect Lucifer may waver at some point with Satan's treatment of him). Mephisto has a lot of pride tho and he doesn't like being beneath anyone, so Lucifer and his views are always going to rub him the wrong way, even if they were on the same side. It's basically not a healthy relationship at all in any sense of the word lol

My opinion on fanon interpretations/fandom around it (favorite widespread hcs, pet peeves, etc):

I think this is one ship that I've seen a decent amount of interpretation on that doesn't actively irritate me. They get the kinda nostalgia/melancholy that comes with thousands of years of memories together and that split they had in ideologies. Though there is still a bit of woobifying on both parts that I think is a big thing that irritates me in fandom in general about humanizing the kings.

For Mephisto/Angel:

Whether I ship it or not:

I can't say that I do, in part bc I lack interest in the human characters in the series so I don't tend to care about ships including them. That said, I don't actively hate it, I just can't see it working well at all for Angel.

Why I ship it or not:

I think any human in a relationship with a king is bound to end in tears for the human. Especially in Mephisto's case bc he is not a creature that will ever be able to give a human what they need, which is that actual connection. He will always see them as a cute toy. He might enjoy teasing Angel or riling him up, but it wouldn't ever go beyond that. I think doubly so bc Angel is, to put it bluntly, too easy to manipulate. He isn't someone who could ever get Mephisto to drop his guard or think highly of his character. He'd be a cute plaything for a bit and then politely sent on his way once Mephisto no longer had a use for him.

My opinion of their canon potential:

Again, not very high. Mephisto seems to be setting him up to get messed up by Lucifer somehow. He actively goads Angel into continuing on his path, hinting about the clone/nephilim status while Angel seethes and falls further into his I Hate Demons stand point. He just kinda toys with Angel and mocks him while Angel is oblivious to it all (like, even Lewin teases him with things that fly over his head.)

My opinion on fanon interpretations/fandom around it (favorite widespread hcs, pet peeves, etc):

This ship runs full into my I'm completely baffled by fandom interpretation of it. Like, this is a one sided hatred on Angel's part with Mephisto looking at him like a simpleton only good for being a pretty pawn. But everything I've seen is woobifying/humanizing Mephisto into somehow falling for someone who's at best a pawn in his mind, at worst, an idiot who can't compete with him on any level. (And sorry to Angel, I think he's come a long way from cutting off Rin's foot in canon and I can see some major character development on the horizon for him, but I just don't see it working out enough to garner him Mephisto's respect, let alone enough to consider him an equal in a relationship).

Thanks for the ask!! @philosophicalparadoxI love doing these :D

#tboes asks #ask response #ship ask #ao no exorcist #blue exorcist

[disasterghaster]

9 5 26

9] personal blogs?

As long as you're not being disruptive, I don't mind a personal blog following or liking content! Don't have to RP to enjoy it. I imagine it's like interactive fanfic! I see them from my RP blog, but usually I only follow back with my own personal blog for dash content control. Not always, but sometimes.

5] dash commentary?

A lot of my casual open posts are of this category. They are absolutely invitations of interaction in my case. Though I also don't tag them as 'dash commentary'. I think I get a little uncertain if a post is open to interaction if it IS explicitly tagged as 'dash commentary' as it gives me the impression that someone is just throwing out a reaction to be read, but not for interaction. Maybe that's not super logical. But that's how I interpret them. But it is fun to read, anyway.

26] another active muse?

...So many. I can't pick. A short list of character currently in active threads and those that I would like to be active, but aren't currently; Alan, Alanna, Asmodeus, Lucifer, Merlin, Roka, Viktor. I do not get overwhelmed. I'm a freak that way. Though it can be a couple days between some replies due to my work schedule or irl stress. As any human might. I just meant that many of the same rp partners have more than one thread with each of these characters and I do not care, it's great. I will not be upset if you do that.

#ooc

[archived-kin]

late with lucifer

note from kin: i just realised that the title sounds like a talk show ffs

anyway get ready to get SAPPY (and also get ready for a low-key out of character lucifer)

fandom: obey me!

character(s): gn! reader, lucifer, satan, beelzebub, belphie

pairing(s): lucifer/reader

warning(s): brief existential dread right at the end but i think it’s relatively light

genre: fluff all the way (with maybe a teensy bit of angst???? i accidentally got kinda deep towards the end)

Deciding to commit yourself to a bona fide workaholic music nerd who would sooner chop his own hand off than skip a single working day for potentially the rest of eternity has been... a choice and a half, to say the least. Yes, he’s a sweetheart most of the time, and you love him more than possibly any being in the known universe (though jury’s still out on cats and the dragon you met a couple of months ago who brings you giant mouthfuls of leaves every weekend), but you’d be lying if he didn’t have qualities that make you want to drop kick some sense into him sometimes. And one of those qualities happens to be his absolute refusal to just take a damn break.

“Just one more hour,” He keeps telling you whenever you ask him if he’s finally finished with his mountain load of paperwork. “One more hour, and then we can spend some time together.”

It has been five hours since Lucifer went to his study to ‘get a bit of work done’. Five hours of attempting to finish the mountain of books Satan has recommended you in the corner of the library, probably irritating the poor guy to no end with your constant restless shifting. You're surprised that he hasn’t up and left to go read in his room in peace - then again, it’d be hypocritical of him to tell you off for moving about. You’d think a bookworm like him would be so absorbed by his beloved books that he wouldn’t be able to move at all, but he fidgets about so much when he’s reading that you’re surprised he hasn’t somehow worn a hole through his favourite armchair yet. At any rate, you’re pretty sure you can see him getting ready to flip himself upside down for the seventh time this evening in the corner of your eye.

You try once again to focus on the lucrative business deal happening in Chapter 52 for the fourth time in the last ten minutes, but your brain just doesn’t seem to be listening to you right now; no matter how hard you try to register what’s going on, the words just don’t want to be processed. Finally, checking the clock on the wall for what feels like the hundredth time this evening, you decide that you might as well go bother your busy bee upstairs. It’s been at least a fortnight since you’ve been able to spend a full evening or night with him, and, if you’re honest, it’s beginning to get a little on your nerves.

Satan barely looks up from his book as you hop to your feet and begin making your way out, though he does lift a hand to wave a brief goodbye. Contrary to your prediction, he has not flipped himself upside down, but is now sitting the wrong way around on his armchair instead, facing the seat’s back, with his book carefully balanced on its head. Unconventional, but you’ll give him credit for the creativity.

The House of Lamentation is oddly quiet for a Friday night, but you’d guess that’s because Asmo and Mammon, the two loudest members of the house, have taken it upon themselves to celebrate the arrival of the weekend by going out for the night and probably blowing their savings in the process. Well, Asmo will be blowing his savings - Mammon will most likely find a way to put his spendings on one of his other brother’s tabs, or worse, yours. Then again, you don’t buy things often, so you suppose you can spare a bit of cash. (Knowing Mammon, though, he’ll probably buy enough to put you in debt for the rest of your life.)

On your way through the corridor, you’re struck by a sudden idea. Lucifer’s been shut in his study ever since he got home from the R.A.D., which means he most likely won't have eaten anything. At any rate, you know for a fact he wasn’t there for dinner with everyone else, which means you now have a much better excuse for going to see him other than just wanting to. Lucifer may be a stubborn demon, but he's never been able to resist a mug of tea and some biscuits on long nights when it's you offering them.

Beel is rustling about in the snack cupboard when you slip into the kitchen - no surprises there, but it is a little odd that he’s going for the lighter foods rather than something more filling. You'd comment on why he's down here so late into the night - he should really be in bed - but then again, it's Beel. He'd listen to his stomach over his brain any day of the week.

“Oh, hey,” He greets as he retreats from the cupboard with an armful of what look like several cookie boxes stacked on top of each other. “Did you get hungry as well?”

You shake your head and pull two mugs out of the crockery cabinet. “Nope. Just thought I’d bring Lucifer some tea and biscuits, you know?”

“He’s been in his office for ages,” Beel agrees with an earnest nod. He glances down at the heap of cookies in his arms, then pauses. “Ah… here.”

You look up as you fill the kettle with water to see him holding one of the boxes in his arms out to you.  “...what’s this for?”

“There aren’t any biscuits left in the cupboard,” He says by way of explanation, shaking the box he’s offering to indicate that you should take it. “So you can have these.”

“Aw, you don’t have to do that, Beel!” You gently push the box back towards him and give his arm a fond pat. “I’ll just bring him something else. Go ahead and eat the cookies, okay?”

On any other occasion, Beel would most likely have accepted your offer without hesitation (the day that Beel rejects food will probably never come, but you have a sneaking suspicion that a black hole would rip this reality apart if it does), but it must have been a really good day for him in terms of being fed, because he actually continues to try to give you the box. You’re tempted to coo at the big softie’s uncharacteristic generosity, but you’re not particularly sure how that would go over with him. If being in a relationship with Mr Pridey McPrideface upstairs has taught you anything, it’s that you can never take a reaction for granted.

“No, you have it,” Beel insists, shifting so that he doesn’t drop the rest of his biscuits and stubbornly attempting to shove the box into your hands. “I’ve got plenty right here.”

Your surprise must show on your face, because a moment later he smiles a little sheepishly and adds, “I promise I’m not sick or anything. I’ve still got lots right here. One box won’t make that much of a difference.”

You think it over for a moment as the kettle begins to bubble aggressively behind you. You’re a staunch believer in the fact that one should never deprive Beel of his food, partially because he’s an absolute sweetheart who deserves the food he eats, and partially because something bad could and probably would happen if said food is taken from him. Then again, you’re not taking the food from him, strictly speaking - he’s the one offering it to you. That exempts you, right? At the very least, you have a counter-argument if Belphie tries to persecute you for taking his beloved twin brother’s biscuits. (He probably wouldn’t - the kid adores you - but it’s good to be prepared for possible trials.)

“Ah, fine...” You eventually relent and allow Beel to press the box into your hands. Your compliance is well worth it - the beam on his face and the little pat he gives the box in your hands in satisfaction could probably cure multiple strains of cancer. “You’re the sweetest, you know that?”

He flushes slightly. “I-it’s not that big of a deal…”

“Oh, that’s nonsense,” You tell him firmly over your shoulder, beginning to busy yourself with the teabags and sugar as the kettle hisses to a halt. “Personally, I think I’m going to remember it for the rest of my life.”

You smile to yourself as Beel laughs a little bashfully behind you. “Thanks…”

“No problem, bub,” You reply, pausing in your work to turn around and shoot him a wink. “Hey, chuck me a spoon, would you?”

He nods and does just that - literally. He throws the spoon across the kitchen with such precision that it lands perfectly in your outstretched hand.

You thank him and begin to pour the hot water into Lucifer’s mug. He says that he likes his tea as is, without any bells or whistles or fancy additions, but you’ve been doing this thing for long enough that you know that he actually prefers his tea with a teaspoon of honey and just a splash of lemon. He just refuses to actually say it out loud.

(To be honest, you’re not sure why he does that - does he think tea with honey and lemon is a wimpy drink or something just because you told him it’s often drunk as a remedy for a sore throat in the human world? Knowing the way his mind works, it’s probably something along those lines, but still, it’s a weird conclusion to make.)

You finish preparing Lucifer’s tea quickly - you’ve done this so many times that the movements have become second nature to you at this point - and start making your own. The drinks are finished a minute or so later, and with that you begin setting up your little snack tray.

After a moment’s debate, you decide that today is worth going the extra mile, and start to carefully arrange the biscuits on a pretty plate.  It’s a bit of a hassle to get them into the right formation, but it’ll be well worth it once you get them to their intended receiver - Lucifer always gets the fondest little smile on his face when you bring him his biscuits in patterns, and that man doesn’t smile nearly enough for your taste. Personally, you’d quite like it if he smiled like that all the time, but then again, their rarity is what makes them so precious to you.

Ah - you’re starting to get sappy again. That’s a surefire sign that you haven’t spent enough time with your beloved demon lately. Well, it’s a good thing you’re going to see him now, isn’t it?

The door to Lucifer’s study is still as tightly shut as it was five hours ago when you approach it, but you doubt he’s actually locked it. He’s stopped doing that ever since your visits while he works became a regular thing - he hasn’t said it out loud yet, but you know that it’s his way of showing you that you’re always welcome to come in.

Unlocked as it is, though, you can’t exactly turn the doorknob to let yourself in. You’re a human of many talents, but being able to balance a heavy tray in one hand is not one of them. Lucifer’s tea wouldn’t make into his study - it’d just end up all over the floor.

“Lucifer!” You call softly through the door, mindful that he might be having another one of his work-induced headaches, “I’ve brought you some tea! Open up!”

For a while, the only reply is silence. You know there shouldn’t be any reason for him to be, but you can’t help but worry briefly if Lucifer’s somehow angry at you. Then again, Lucifer’s always liked to play the fashionably late card against you - whether to tease you or to disguise something, you’ll never know.

It turns out that your little worry was unfounded - a few moments later, the door swings open to reveal your favourite demon in all his exhausted-looking glory. Lucifer, who looks like the physical manifestation of work burnout, offers you a tired smile, and stands back to let you enter.

(Here’s a little secret - Lucifer would never tell you this, but he’d perked up like a kid when candy is offered the moment he heard your voice. Still, gotta put up the cool front, right? Even if that means waiting restlessly right next to the door for a minute so that you don’t think he’s over-eager…)

“Thank you.” He murmurs as you bring the tray over to his desk and set it down on one of the few patches of wood that aren’t covered by papers.

You dramatically pretend to swipe sweat from your forehead as if you’ve just finished a ten-mile run and shoot a smile up at him. “All in a day’s work, love.”

He smiles softly and leans in to gently press a kiss to the crown of your head. His pale cheeks have darkened slightly - Lucifer’s always been a softie when it comes to the host of sappy nicknames you’ve given him. One gentle ‘sweetheart’ and he’s melting like an ice cube on a hot day. It’s the sort of thing that people like Mammon and Levi would probably call gross or something, but you honestly couldn’t really care less about that. It’s not harming anyone else and it makes both of you happy, so why shouldn’t you give your lover as many endearing pet names as you can come up with?

“What even is all this?” You ask, peering at the papers scattered across the desk as Lucifer moves over to have a look at the plate of biscuits. You look up just in time to spot the way his eyes light up slightly when he sees the flower you've arranged them into.

“This and that,” He replies vaguely, hovering a single gloved hand uncertainly over the plate, as if trying to decide which biscuit he can take without spoiling the pattern.

“That’s hardly an answer at all,” You complain, plucking three broken quills from among the documents and waving them at him. “Why do you keep using these? A pen would be way more efficient.”

“Official documents should be written in the traditional way,” Lucifer tells you. He takes his time chewing the biscuit he’s finally chosen before continuing. “And Diavolo prefers quill and ink calligraphy to look at.”

“Honestly…” You round the edge of the desk and reach up to brush some powdered sugar from the corner of his mouth. “You don’t have to do absolutely everything according to him.”

Lucifer blinks down at you, lips parting slightly in half awe and half surprise as you smile at him. “Ah…”

His smile widens slightly, and he gazes at you with so much fondness in his eyes that you almost feel a little weak at the knees at the very sight. Lucifer really is a dangerous demon - in more ways than one.

“Well, c-come on, then,” You prompt him abruptly, not wanting him to realise how much his gaze has affected you, because you just know it’s going to give him an ego boost. He pauses in surprise as you start tugging him over to the big armchair beside the fire - the one that the both of you can fit snugly into together. “Let’s have a drink together.”

“I still have papers to fill out—” He attempts to say, but cuts himself off as you shake your head and stubbornly attempt to push him down into the seat. It doesn’t work - Lucifer’s much stronger than you, after all - but he does at least seem to appreciate the effort.

“You’re taking a break whether you like it or not,” You insist, starting to smack lightly at his arms in an bid to get him to listen to you. “Papers can wait. I’m more important.”

That does get a little chuckle out of him, and he finally relents, sitting down with a subtle sigh. “That goes without saying.”

You laugh, suddenly a little more hot around the collar than you’d have liked. “You said it!”

Pausing to retrieve the tray with the tea and biscuits and set it on the table beside the armchair, you quickly join Lucifer in front of the fire, snuggling in at his side and letting out a blissful sigh as you feel him start to draw circles on your arm with his fingers. It’s a sort of habit that he’s developed over the last few months - you’re not sure if he even realises that he’s doing it.

The two of you stay like that in comfortable silence for several minutes. Lucifer’s tense shoulders relax more and more with each passing moment, and soon enough, he’s sprawled out against you, pressing his cheek lovingly into the crown of your head. 

It’s only at moments like this that you get to see this softer version of him, so you always cherish it when it happens. Lucifer may be a slightly passive-aggressive panther who could kill most beings with a swipe of his hand if he sees fit, but, every now and then, he’s a sleepy panther who’ll roll over and let you scratch behind his ears.

Conversation is usually sparse at times like this - the two of you are content enough in each other’s presence that you don’t really need to make small talk. Today, however, Lucifer seems to have something he wants to vent about.

“Belphie has been missing a lot of his homework again lately,” He murmurs. You make a noise of affirmation to indicate that you’re listening, staring at the mugs of tea sitting on the table and pondering whether the two of you will actually manage to part for long enough to drink them.

“Is it anything important?” You ask after a moment, playing absent-mindedly with his left hand. He doesn’t make any move to stop you as you mess about with his slender fingers, so you assume that he doesn’t mind.

“Mostly essays,” He replies, shifting slightly and letting out a quiet sigh. “He’s never liked writing them, but he hasn’t had so many missing before.”

You make a thoughtful sound. Now that you think about it, wasn’t Belphie confiding in you about this the other day?

“It’s just hard to sit down and concentrate sometimes, especially when I’m always so tired,” You remember him saying resignedly over hot chocolate and marshmallows. “It’s not like I don’t want to turn all my homework in on time. Sometimes I just can’t.”

“Well, you shouldn’t force yourself to do them, either,” You’d replied, giving his shoulders a sympathetic pat. “Needs over school of course. If you need to sleep more, then sleep more - if you feel like you can’t write the essay, then don’t write the essay. I’ll talk to Lucifer if he gets mad at you.”

He’d given you a grateful smile then, and turned back to his hot chocolate with a marginally brighter look on his face.

“Belphie’s been having a lot of nightmares lately, so he isn’t getting as much sleep,” You say slowly. “I told him to go ahead and take as many naps as he has to. His needs are more important than schoolwork, after all.”

Lucifer takes a long while to answer, but you don’t mind. It’s only fairly recently that he’s really come to terms with the idea that he doesn’t need to be so hard on his brothers - that it’s okay to put their comfort before whatever image of respectability he’s trying to keep up for Diavolo. The change has been somewhat jarring, according to Satan, but it’s not an unwelcome one, and you’ll gladly take responsibility for it with your constant reminders and careful explanations that Lucifer’s younger brothers have their own problems that he needs to give more leeway for.

“...did he come to talk to you about this?” He asks finally.

“Yeah.” You can’t see his face, but you can practically hear the frown beginning to pinch at his brows. “I know it might not seem like it sometimes, but he does want to make you proud. He’s never wanted to disappoint you.”

He takes a deep breath and releases it with a low hum. “...Belphie has never disappointed me.”

“Seems that he doesn’t realise that sometimes, though,” You sigh, tracing the seams of his glove with your index finger. “He’s a good kid, really.”

Lucifer doesn’t give a verbal reply, but he does hum again. You shift slightly and turn to look up at him; he looks back at you with sleepy, half-lidded crimson eyes. “Take it easy on him, okay?”

He gazes at you in contemplative silence for a long while, blinking slowly like an affectionate cat. Finally, he nods, and you beam proudly, dipping your head to rest on his chest, carefully positioning yourself so that his buttons don’t dig into your cheek.

“I’ll speak to his teachers,” He says quietly. “We should be able to arrange something.”

You smile against the fabric of his waistcoat, taking his hand in yours and giving it a squeeze. “That’s progress. I’m proud of you.”

He doesn’t respond, but you know full well that he loves it when you say that to him. He didn’t in the early days of your relationship, mostly because he’d thought you were patronising him, but now that the two of you are so much more familiar with each other, he’s learnt to recognise that you don’t mince words; you say what you mean, and you mean what you say. Which is exactly why, as the Avatar of Pride, he absolutely loves it when you tell him that you’re proud of him.

Lucifer himself is deep in thought. Struck by a sudden warmth spreading through him, quite independent of the crackling fire before him, he wraps his arms around you, resting his cheek against your head. It’s at moments like these, when you’re so close to him, that he realises just how fragile humans like you are.

It terrifies him sometimes, knowing that the unforgiving march of time means that you cannot be with him forever. One day you will leave, and you will grow old and fade away without him, because, no matter how much he wishes otherwise, you belong to a different realm. You are not a demon, and he is not a human; your worlds can collide briefly, for a single, beautiful moment, but then they will continue to move in their own orbit - and perhaps they will never meet again.

Some would say that, for this reason, he never should have fallen in love in the first place. Relationships like yours have always had a sort of taboo, even in the Devildom, because all beings are not created equal; humans have such short, meaningless lifespans compared to demons and angels, such little power, always depending on leaders and faith in a deity that they cannot prove the existence of. That is what demons tend to think of humanity, and until he’d met you, Lucifer had felt similarly.

But your life has been anything but meaningless, and the power you hold over him and his brothers is far stronger than any amount of potent magic that any being holds. The seven lords of the Devildom would lay waste to all three realms should anything happen to you. 

Lucifer had never thought that he had the ability to love so deeply and so purely, but then again, he’d also never thought that a human like you could exist. It seems that he’s been wrong about a lot of things, and he can only pray that he will be wrong in his prediction of how this will end.

But you’re with him now, curled up against him with a content smile on your face. For now, you’re here, and while you are, Lucifer doesn’t want to waste time on worries.

Your story is yet to reach its ending, and if Lucifer knows anything, it’s that he will stay by your side until then. As long as your worlds are still connected, he will continue to love you, and he will love you long after your worlds separate again.

He’s sure of it.

#unedited #obey me #obey me x reader #obey me imagines #lucifer x reader #swd lucifer #swd satan #swd belphegor #swd beelzebub #fluff #lucifer is one of those characters that you can interpret in SO many ways and i love that for him #he's pretty fun to write as well #existential dread #we love a good big brother lucifer #for those of you reading these tags here is a hint for the next obey me piece #remember the simeon with a himbo bf piece? #we're getting a part two baby #(warning: the part two is likely not going to be anything remotely like what you're thinking of) #;)

[brokensoulmates2000]

Remember those weird scenes in Adolescence of Utena between Touga and Shiori? Well, they are not as weird as they seem

TW: Mentions of sexual abuse to a minor and homophobia

Alright fellas, it's been some tough weeks for me so I’ve been rewatching the last chapters of RGU as well as the movie cause, what else is better to watch than two women harboring hope in the midst of despair and starting a revolution? Also, they are super gay so sign me up.

There's so much I want to say about Adolescence of Utena because that movie is so unapologetically wild. I love it. Also after several rewatches in the span of six months, I think I know what is going on. The scenes (I hope) I grasped are those between Touga and Shiori.

From my perspective, Adolescence of Utena is about overcoming trauma, psychological patriarchy and imposed heterosexuality. Anthy is the one "running Ohtori". There is a whole conversation to be had on whether or not movie Ohtori is the same as anime Ohtori. Also, we would need another conversation to debate whether or not the rest of the characters except Utena and Anthy are actually themselves or if they are interpretations of their characters made by Utena and Anthy.

At the end, what matters is that Akio is dead and Anthy has killed him. Yet she is still the Rose Bride. Why? Because the effects of trauma and patriarchy are that insiduous. A revolution is not achieved until everyone unlearns everything the old regime taught. And what Akio taught the student council continues to affect them. From Anthy who keeps Ohtori up and running and sees herself as nothing more than an object to Saionji, who is back at clutching to his regressive views of masculinity. Without Akio around and no antagonist, we have to find those two characters who represent what the movie stands against: psychological patriarchy, imposed heterosexuality and trauma. The prince and witch archetypes embody this perfectly. Touga and Shiori too.

The symbols present in their scenes show this intent. First, let's talk about the sheets. Seems something only the movie used but-

The anime used it too.

By the way, the subtitles say: "I don’t have a roommate so I would like you to come back."

This is a good place to mention the castle represents heterosexuality. Akio said this in chapter 38:

Yes, Anthy is running away from heteronormativity at the end of the movie. Could she be more iconic?

Let's go back to the movie. To be more precise, the call between Touga and Akio. Akio starts by saying he doesn't know why his sister kidnapped the Rose Prince. Then he proceeds to reveal something very important: the prince never existed, he was The Lord of The Flies all along and Anthy put a spell on him to make him look as a prince.

The Lord of the Flies is another name for the devil, which is basically another code name for Akio, “the morning star”, Lucifer. In other words Akio always existed and he was never ‘transformed’ into that. I’m not saying Akio never had traits he shared with Utena, but that ugly part of himself, that evil in humanity associated with The Lord of The Flies, was always part of him. However, instead of accepting it and working through it (like Utena does when she accepts she only saved Anthy because of her ego), he preferred to indulge in his worst parts.

If Anthy’s magic was what made him appear as a prince… I’m not sure how that makes me feel. It can lead some people to believe Anthy deceived everyone willingly all along, but there are many factors that could motivate her decision. First, did she notice the world needed a prince and sent her brother knowing the world would never allow her to be a prince? Let’s also consider she is the youngest out of the two so her decision can be a result of needing protection, and "making" her brother become the prince she needed. That is of course, if Akio is not lying.

I only believe half of the things Akio says. He has a tendency to deflect questions, project his guilt onto others, manipulate and lie. In that same vein, Akio says Anthy's powers stopped working, therefore revealing the true nature of the prince. Then he goes on to say they created Ohtori to make Anthy’s magic come back which is not true. Because Anthy's magic is working just fine. And his powers too.

By that point, we should see Akio’s prone to lying to others and himself. That is why I believe he was always one with Dios. Akio, his bad side and Dios, his good side, inhabited his body. However his bad side was revealed to the world and he blames his sister for it even though she was the one who defended him and prevented his premature death at the hands of the mob. The world was disappointed he wasn’t perfect. He blames his sister for the discovery and the world demanding that perfectionism from him in the first place.

In the anime Akio says he wants back the power from his prince days, but he is still as powerful as he was in the past.

He takes Utena’s sword out of her chest.

And he teleports Anthy to the stairs leading to the castle.

There’s obviously some degree of magic he wields. On top of that, when Utena opens the Rose Gate, he orders her not to open it.

My first assumption is that he wanted to be the one to do open the gate, but shouldn’t he have said something like “Utena, you don’t understand how dangerous that is! Let me do it”? Instead his first instinct is to scream her not to open it. Why? Because he doesn’t want the power beyond the gate. In reality, he is scared of it. Deep down he wants the gate to remain close for all eternity because that keeps Ohtori operating. I don’t know if he takes any excuse that blinds him from the bitter truth consciously or not, but he does it: the power of revolution is for him to have his powers back, the power of revolution is for his sister to have her magic back. He created a system in which he never has to grow, a functioning coffin in which he is the master of everything. The only thing in his mind is to keep it running.

Now that is out of the way, let’s move on to another scene.

When Touga starts talking about this trauma, at some point a machine starts pulling the sheets, making them move. This serves as a visual representation of Ohtori, our trauma-fueled machine, waking up from its long sleep. That sex scene between Touga and Shiori is a form of trauma bonding. Trauma intertwining if you will. Touga is engaging in the same pattern of behavior he used to engage in with Akio (having sex with someone he “schemes with”). Still in bed, he shares with Shiori a hurtful truth: his dad sold him to his adoptive father who sexually abused him as a child. In the scene that shows the act, Touga is lying down in a field of lettuces.

Just like Adonis was in his death.

And that represents the death of a side of Touga. A death that hindered his relationship with his sister and caused him to resent her so much. A death that ruined his relationship with his best friend who sensed Touga’s emotional distance and confused it with superiority.

I’m aware some people interpret lettuce fields as male sexual impotence, but that is clearly not the case with Touga. In fact he copes with his sexual trauma with hyper-sexuality, but just like impotence, they are both a malfunction of sexuality.

Moving on, the camera turns towards a lettuce and we view Shiori.

There are sheets coming out of her back which shows how much compulsive heterosexuality and homophobia she has assimilated, and how she views them as the answer that will make her misery disappear. If she clutches to those ideas, she can be “free” like a butterfly. Also, we can interpret that scene as her response to Touga’s trauma. “Yes, my homophobia was right because one man did something terrible to a boy.” You know, classic talking points for homophobes.

This trauma intertwining and Shiori inserting herself in Touga’s flashbacks mark the birth of, you guessed it, more trauma. This is the product that such system as Ohtori creates: misery and emotional guardedness, dissatisfaction and delusion. Things Akio clutches onto and wants everyone to clutch too.

Too bad car sapphics are so hard to beat.

#revolutionary girl utena #meta #adolescence of utena #also #Touga kept his hair long years after his father instructed him to keep it that way #that poor boy #I really want to see him get over his trauma and be happy #he needs his happy ending just like anthy #his female counterpart #the images are in two different languages #call me Spanglish queen #good to mention English is not my native language #just in case there’s an error #anthy x utena #utena x anthy #anthy himemiya #juri x shiori #touga kiryuu #akio ohtori #nanami kiryuu #in defense of Anthy

[house-of-laminations]

Eldritch Demonic/Cosmic Divine

A list of hcs I have for what it means to be an Avatar, Demon, or Angel at the grandest scale - starting with general/shared and going into specifics for each character under the cut. A lore dump, heavily influencing my From Afar series!

cw: references to addiction/addictive substances in Asmo's section. Nothing explicit, but it does have a brief discussion about how his sin presents itself in humans through addiction.

General

An 'Avatar' is the interface that provides you agency in a world that you are intrinsically incompatible with. It is the representation of a being in a recognizable form that fits itself into a given world. Many believe that the Avatars of Sin are named as such because they are the vessels in which the Seven Sins exist amongst humanity, the divine, and the demonic. This is assumption is wrong.

The sins existed before the Fall - arguably what caused it in the first place, besides love. What didn't exist was the idea of Fallen. Too distinct and willful to be divine, too of god to be godless. The Demon King, by creating these Avatars, allowed the brothers to exist - as more than demon, less than angel, above and below humanity. He provided the brothers with a shape, and they filled it with their entire beings - torn edges and all.

This means the Avatars are the ultimate expressions of Self.

"Human form" and "Demon form" are arbitrary distinctions - kind of like gender - nothing more than preferences of physicality. Demons can choose between either, a combination thereof, or not at all. A demon's physical form is created from their power and their sense of self. (read more about my thoughts on 'true forms' here!)

Demons know enough about humans to know how to twist their desires and corrupt their hearts, but they don’t know enough about humans to be able to have a clear and healthy relationship. They’re very good at getting out of you what you want but they have trouble talking about their own needs. It’s very likely that they don’t even realize they have some of those deeper, emotional needs.

Angels dress slutty Like That because the idea of nudity, and thus of chastity and promiscuity, just doesn’t exist. Clothes are more for adornment, expressions of self. Their humanoid forms are already restrictive - why continue to entrap themselves further?

The distinction between Angel and Demon is really arbitrary, and not based on any kind of physical characteristic. To be an angel is to keep yourself to a very specific worldview and epistemology - one that puts the collective above an individual, even if that individual is one of their own. This worldview is very rigid, and doesn't allow for differences in ideologies. It is is inherited from their interpretations of their father from a time Before the fall, and it's discipline and restraint, the choice not to do something - an expression of Free Will.

Demons are made of the same Cosmic Stuff as angels. The difference is that they have been so far removed from that original worldview, that was originally designed to keep their power and their influence on the weak contained. In some ways they have less free will than angels as they're much more beholden to their whims and desires - extremely easily influenced, especially by outside forces like human consciousness. The Avatars are an example of this - so beholden to their own drives and identities, even to the point of self-destruction.

Lucifer

When their Father said "Let there be light" he spoke Lucifer into existence.

He remembers a time in which it was only him, a few brothers (not those who Fell with him), and their father. A time before Time. Perception and Being back then were not as they are understood now. There was no need for eyes, for hands, for wings or faces. He existed only as himself, an identity created in a void. Perhaps that's why he best embodies Pride. It was all he had once.

Lucifer still is light, but the way it manifests is not illumination or potential. It is in the nodes, where light of identical frequencies meet and are cancelled out until they can separate again. Lucifer is that tension between tradition and revolution. It is not unthinkable that he would shine again in rebellion. Pride would allow him nothing less.

Mammon

Mammon, even as an angel, had a curiosity that couldn't be sated. Material wealth or ownership wasn't a thing in his earliest days but he had a hole inside him that couldn't be filled. It was an anomaly in his creation - a deliberate one. Their Father was still experimenting with what makes a good angel, after all.

Talking with his siblings, spending time around them, asking questions, absorbing their wisdom and their love was the only way that drive was sated. It's no wonder the younger angel would latch onto Lucifer given the opportunity. Lucifer was light and love and there was an abundance to him that could easily sooth and consume Mammon's ragged edges.

Michael didn't understand how this creature, so different and yet so similar to all the others who came before couldn't just adapt the same way they all did. He cut off Mammon from his siblings, making that hole a gaping wound. When Mammon fell, that wound never healed and the light and love of his brothers was not the same. So he grasps at money and objects and power to staunch that flow. It never works.

Leviathan

Leviathan's creation was absolutely ordinary, for all that the formation of cosmic entities could be ordinary. He was not important or first like Lucifer, nor was he an anomaly like Mammon. He was like an over-correction: Mammon was too inward-focusing, and so Leviathan was the opposite - only able to ever see and appreciate the strengths of others. He was quite good at building up the people around him, and as an Angel, he never really needed that attention for himself. Or so he thought.

This hampered his ability to care for and love himself, but also, when it comes to physicality, he has no idea where he begins and ends. That is why he is Leviathan - he spans entire worlds and has so much at his grasp and yet fails to see it.

As a demon he gained the ability to be self-reflective, though not in a constructive way. Now all he can see is the holes and the failings in himself, and can only compare them to others and not his strengths - numerous as they are. He still sees the strengths and the weaknesses of others and that's what makes him an effective strategist and a terrifyingly competent admiral.

Satan

(stick with me here)

Lucifer was the First. And no one gets it right on the first try. Not even their father. When Lucifer was created, their father didn't let go - not completely. They were connected by their anger, by their sense of justice. Lucifer was righteous, and god rained his fury down from the heavens. When Lucifer decided to forsake his father for his sister, he tore off the wings that marked him as Favorite. And in doing so, he tore that connection.

But that energy had to go somewhere.

Thus, Satan was born. Or rather, became his own distinct entity, separate from both Lucifer and their Father. The effect of this was a much more mellow, forgiving Father, and a Lucifer who would much rather directly confront a slight than let it fester.

Satan is reliant upon Lucifer, but Lucifer's very existence warrants the presence of Satan. It is something the elder is very aware of, though Satan himself is adamant that he can be independent. He doesn't really believe this though, and that shows in the way his violence and hate festers within himself.

Asmodeus

Asmodeus is addiction. The need to numb the pain, to feel good, and find any way to do it. Sex, drugs, and alcohol, yes, but also sugar, caffeine, cosmetic surgeries, and more recently: online attention. When both he and Lucifer have their claws in a human it is very hard for that human to come back.

He is hedonism in demon form. It's not just sex, it's pleasure and indulgence.

Even when he was an angel, able to focus his reach inward rather than outward, Asmo would habitually make decisions that ultimately lead to his own satisfaction. Whether it be an interest in self-adornment or the shirking of duties that were more demanding. Asmo as a demon is one of the worst things that could have happened to humanity.

Beelzebub & Belphegor (& Lilith)

Mass production at the cosmic level was bound to have some repercussions.

In Beelzebub it was more positive: a return to basics, an appreciation for the simple fundamentals of what it means to exist. To be alive, and to appreciate what it takes to continue to function. However, in falling, Beelzebub lost the ability to control and limit himself, to say no, to stop.

In Belphegor it was more negative: the knowledge that the attention was not on himself as an individual, that the love and care of their Father was directed elsewhere. He was never going to be a very good angel, because that knowledge infected him from the start and drove him to take interest not in what is right but what is interesting. As a demon, utterly beholden to that idea, Belphegor does not consider the time or attention of others to be worthwhile.

(and in Lilith it was a combination of both: an appreciation of life but a selfish drive towards her own fulfillment. A pragmatism that doesn't care for what is right but instead what is best.)

Diavolo

When demons have 'children', these children have to be manifested from some kind of cosmic energy - energy cannot be destroyed or created, only transformed. This could come from an angel or demon who was killed or has simply stopped manifesting entirely. It could come from a particularly turbulent time in human history - all the negative energy absorbed from higher beings once again being expelled through horrifying acts.

Diavolo is powerful, born in a time of unrest, but also at a junction in which there was plenty of potential energy just waiting to be taken. He never knew the rules and restraint of Angels, and yet he's the first 'born' demon to even come close. He is not restrained (humans and demons and even angels are drawn to him, this font of potential and selfish fulfillment), and yet... he has restraint. This is what makes Diavolo truly powerful.

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#obey me fic #obey me headcanons #obey me swd #obey me brothers #this has been sitting in my drafts for over a month so im just yeeting it out there #am i using my own research on representations of self in digital spaces to help inform some of these? you bet i am!!!!