#Diablo spoilers

[fluff-writing]

Mulling over Inarius's whole plot in D4. I think it's even more pathetic than the game shows.

See-

Inarius seems to think the Heavens are watching him and judging his actions. He thinks he's appeasing them somehow, and trying to earn his way into their good graces. (Why he wants to go back to Heaven at all is anyone's guess. They'd probably just throw him into the Fist without thinking twice. Or kill him. Or both.)

Whether Lilith believes the angels are truly watching or not, she goads Inarius by using their apparent 'silence' on the matter. He takes it well! Starts talking at Heaven/the Souls of the Damned/whatever voice is in his head at the moment.

Here's the thing;

I don't think the Heavens have one damned idea what's going on with Sanctuary right now. I'd be amazed if any of the angels even knew Inarius wasn't in Hell. He's not exactly their problem or responsibility anymore, and hasn't been for a while; as far as they're concerned, his Fate is in Hell, with Mephisto.

The past has shown that the Heavens are not omniscient, not when it comes to Sanctuary or Hell. The nephalem aren't in the Scroll of Fate, and frankly, neither is Inarius anymore. They couldn't even find Sanctuary until enough demons got summoned to it, and even then it took a while for Tyrael himself to find it. They had no idea about Malthael faffing about for years down there, instead believing he was out in Pandemonium maybe. No one kept tabs on Urzael or any of the maidens that were sent after him. They didn't know about Tyrael's Shenanigans until they got very big and very worldstone-boomy.

How would they even know what Inarius is doing? I'd be amazed if any of them knew who Rathma was, let alone the significance of Inarius murdering him.

And after all that, it was only Tyrael himself acting as a go-between for Heaven and Sanctuary, informing the angels about what was going on. None of the Horadrim mention any other angels hanging around, or visiting Heaven to drop off newspapers. There is no link between Heaven and Sanctuary, not without Tyrael.

Speaking of Tyrael - did he and Inarius ever connect up? I wonder when exactly he disappeared. It's after Donan and Elias became part of the Horadrim, but before Elias left. Was it after Astaroth? Cuz Inarius was definitely around for that (he helped build Eldhaime.)

Methinks they might have had confrontation. Hell, maybe Tyrael is the one who brought him back somehow. Prolly not, but it'd be nice of him.

Anywhoozle, point is the Heavens aren't likely to know a rogue angel is mucking around down on Sanctuary, again. Why would they even care? The humans are not their problem. Inarius is not their problem.

I think they locked the Gates to Heaven, and are tuning reality out. Fate, Hope and Valor have turned their backs on Sanctuary after all.

Unless we're saying Inarius got free from Hell, went to Heaven first, got told to fuck off, and came back to Sanctuary for some reason. Somehow, I don't see that happening.

We know he's delusional too. Sin War, D4, he's delusional as fuck. Convinces himself he's in control when everyone from Mendeln to Diablo is manipulating him, convinces himself Tyrael + the Angels hadn't found Sanctuary (as they literally invade through a hole in the sky), convinces himself the prophecy is about himself. I could see him genuinely believing he's undergoing some sort of divine trial at the behest of the Angiris Council. Maybe he thinks Rathma's prophecy was sent by Itherael for some damn reason.

There's nothing to really imply the angels are watching. They shut the gates and barred the door. If they're even alive at all up there, but that's a whole other theory.

#Rambles #Diablo IV #Diablo spoilers #D4 Spoilers #Inarius #Dumb bastard #he's a bitch and I like him So Much #This is why we let Lilith make the plans and Inarius carry out the execution #doer not a thinker #Donan lowkey glomming onto Inarius as a replacement for Tyrael after he left? #hmmm

[potato-dragons]

𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕻𝖗𝖎𝖒𝖊 𝕰𝖛𝖎𝖑𝖘

Mephisto: Lord of Hatred

Baal: Lord of Destruction

Diablo: Lord of Terror

Edit: Yes i know for diablo and baaal there actual true “animal forms” are different (i think something about an owl and a one winged bat????). However I find that sorta.... blah.... and find it much funnier of them taking the forms of cute animals (chucky in diablo case) and thus pics above are the only headcanon I will accept. 

#diablo spoilers #diablo 4 spoilers #diablo 4 #mephisto #baal #diablo #i dont know what other animal forms that baal and diablo actually take when there essence is reforming #but this above is canon to me #images dont belong to me

[fluff-and-such]

~~~~ Tears of blood rained on a desert jewel, and the way to Hell was torn asunder, Then came a spear of light, piercing Hatred's heart, And he who was bound in chains was set free.

~~~~

Can't get over that whole thing with the blood rain in Act 6.

Since there's really no explanation for it other than 'tHe prOphEcY', I'm going to assume Inarius made it happen for drama purposes. Some paragon of the light.

I started sketching him with Teeth for funsies and it got unexpectedly serious. His armor is still a pain to sketch but quite fun to shade in, who knew.

#Inarius #Diablo IV #Diablo 4 #Spoilers #Diablo spoilers #blood rain #oh he has hair bcuz fuc yu bizzard #Fluff Art #Art #my art

[swindlefingrs]

Diablo IV: Hatred vs hatred

i wrapped up a second playthru of the diablo iv story and i think there's something to the fact that there's a distinction the game makes between "Hatred", proper noun, and "hatred", common noun. i can't stop wondering why this delineation exists:

i don't think its a typo since a handful of dialogue options make a distinction between Hatred and hatred within the same conversation:

my initial thought is that Hatred isn't shorthand for Mephisto or Lilith, not a specific entity, but rather their plane of existence or domain. the game mentions a few times that demons can't be killed, hence the soulstones, that they eventually return to their domains to reform. if their domains were obliterated, would they also cease to exist? would the eternal conflict end if there weren't a Burning Hells or High Heavens?

this could also align with the idea that to be a "Lord" in the vaguely feudal sense - they're addressed as Lord of (the place name/land they steward). in this case, that land would be Hatred.

Donan talks about how a demon's essence seeps into reality from where it's held in a soulstone. maybe a demon brings parts of its dimension with it into Sanctuary?

so it seems to me, that the prophecy is talking about light piercing the heart of the realm of Hatred. what that "light" is and what/where the heart of the realm of Hatred is, i dunno!

#diablo iv #diablo 4 #diablo meta #diablo spoilers #i don't know the lore #of the other games #so maybe i'm off #but i don't think Rathma's prophecy #is talking about a person #but a place #maybe that's where Neyrelle is going?

[raspberrykraken]

So last night I finished the Diablo 4 campaign. And then immediately started finding all the Alters of Lilith. Because the next big push of content is on July 18th when the pre patch drops and you need 3 things done so you can go into Season 1 with maximum effiency.

Finish the Campaign

Clear the entire map

Collect all Lilith Statues

Logging in on the 18th or after with the character who has all these 3 done the most lets your seasonal characters have these things too!

Theres other details dealing with these things but these are the core aspects of what’s coming. Because if I think about the story of the campaign I am going to scream.

Note: at the time of working on this, July 12th, 2023 on twitter Joe Shely announced you don’t even have to complete the campaign to count it as completed. You play it partially and then turn around in the menu to skip the rest. I am livid. I am beside myself. I voiced my thoughts on Twitter about it and go no response. Because its so bad they know it and are offering people a way out. Wonderful.

I have played all the other games. And honestly trying to provide any kind of rank to them doesn’t do anything. The problem is how much time people have spent with each game forming strong opinions about them and Diablo 4 is new. The drip of content has only just begun for it. And it seems like every patch notes they nerf Barbarians again or fix some bug that makes them unplayable.

The Lore has always been cooking in a crockpot since Diablo 2. With books and speculation. Which is why Diablo 3 felt like a betrayal with its more “cartoonish” approach and throwing key characters aside for the sake of brevity. Letting the narrative get highjacked by a npc and then having the deal with those consequences. It both “advanced” the story, brought Heaven to its knees, and the rewrote its ending in its expansion. Honestly you can argue they have been trying to course correct since 3 and still are with 4.

The following will be me screaming into a pillow over the story because no wonder my coworker played it with his friends and was confused as heck with it.

In Diablo 2 you are dogging the Dark Wonderer who inserted the stone into his head to protect the world from Diablo and becomes corrupted. You are always one step behind them roaming the world, seeing the destruction and chaos of Hell. Overtime you do meet Inarius who is bitter about his fall and the creation of Sanctuary. You make other friends along the way, all the while trying to help as much as you can. Eventually leading to a climatic battle where the World Stone that the Barbarians had been guarding for generations to be shattered and left in a what if moment with Sanctuary no longer being shielded from both sides.

In Diablo 4 you are dogging Lilith and Elias. Roaming across this intrepid world making friends, trying to make people better. All the while in high quality cutscenes Lilith and Elias are doing “bad” things. I mean having other people sacrifice their friends, family, children, animals to her is totally bad. Because she is a cocreator of Sanctuary. In a way Inarius uses the Church to do the same thing in the name of holiness and righteousness, rejecting sin and putting to death the sinners. It’s an interesting dichotomy that doesn’t give the player time to think about.

In previous games we have never met her, heard her side. We have met Inarius before and he’s as bitter as he’s always been casted to the mortal realm for his involvement in cocreating Sanctuary. The Heavens have disengaged with him, don’t want him back because he had sex. And the children they had were too powerful for their own good. Only to be narrowed/mentioned to one. Rathma who we don’t get to meet either.

All we get in the end of this “journey” the narrative gets highjacked by npcs sailing off to the end of the world, which the world is super flat btw. Sanctuary is like small Pangea. To find and defeat Diablo and Baal because Mephisto is already in the stone/influencing the entire game from the start. Giving no room in this narrative for Lilith or the player character. How fatherly.

Also in the ending moments the Church has turned on the player character and Lorath. Never thought about or mentioned again. Just go the Tree of Souls, start doing bounties! Explore the map! Collect statues! Do pvp! Get back to the Diablo 3 mindset! Get to level 50 and move up a world tier! Also Season 1 is coming, get ready for that!

The gameplay loop is good, I just see where Blizzards heart is now. It’s not focusing on the narrative anymore. And thats where I am with this. Frustrated and a shame. Because Blizzard promised more lore and story with each seasons and adding on to the campaign. Definitely doubting it.

#diablo #lilith diablo #diablo series #diablo spoilers #diablo iv #diablo 4 #spoilers #game spoilers #upcoming events #thoughts #hot takes

[phoenixtv]

Come kick it with me in my premier of Diablo 4, exploring depths, sheds, demons & more

#gaming #games #video games #positivity #youtube #positive thoughts #self care #fucking truth #nerdy girl #youtube gaming #diablo resurrected #diablo spoilers #diablo series #diablo 4 #gamernerd #retro gamer #gamer girl #girl gamer #gamergirl #girl gang #girl power #girlgamer #youtubegaming #youtube channel #youtumblr #premiere pro #gaming girl #gaming community #gamisjumbo #gamisbigsize

[scoped44magnum]

finally killed the dark god dam

i beat him 2nd try, faster then lazarus which took like...10 at least. but big dude scared the shit outta me fuckin came out of nowhere. (for some reason i really noticed his sprite ass, dude got the miguel o hara)

#diablo #diablo 1 #diablo spoilers

[raekleindogpaintings]

Revolutionary Girl Utena (1997) // The Devil's Backbone (2001)

#shoujo kakumei utena #revolutionary girl utena #rgu #the devil's backbone #el espinazo del diablo #very reliable posts #watch the devil's backbone YES YOU THE GIRL READING THIS! #rgu spoilers

[rebeccaotool]

Lisa Frankenstein said trans men are men. 🏳️‍⚧️  ❤️

#lisa frankenstein #lgbtqia #trans #transgender #trans rights #zelda williams #diablo cody #fuck yeah #lisa frankenstein spoilers

[lisafrankenstan]

Personal canon:

As befits his poetic sensibilities, the Creature continues to take pieces from folks who wronged Lisa to make them both whole - he takes Tamara’s tongue and larynx for himself to reverse her gossip and ugliness, and her skin for Lisa so Tamara can’t get under hers anymore.

I like to think he’s continued to cause so much chaos that that side of town is, for all intents and purposes, abandoned, and that’s why he’s so confident about having her in open air there.

#lisa frankenstein #lisa frankenstein spoilers #cole sprouse #diablo cody #kathryn newton #liza soberano #zelda williams

[fluff-writing]

D4 Rant Time!

I really think if you took Inarius out of D4 it would change just about nothing whatsoever. His impact on the story is...killing Rathma (who, before this game, was supposed to have been dead since the end of the Sin War soooo) and I guess re-starting the Cathedral?

And the Cathedral...helps with a few missions...and then is wiped out in Hell, along with Inarius.

Like.

The whole Caldeum sequence could just be you bashing your way through cultists and demons without Prava.

I think Vigo might be the most impactful thing to come out of the Cathedral - his folly with lilith and trying to fix what he did are pretty impactful. Could still kill him off without sticking him in the giant shish kebab armor. Or hell, have him find the armor himself, and put it on as a choice, rather than being coerced by Prava.

Even getting the lights blessing...like, it coulda just been Neyrelle opening the way.

The story doesn't gain much from Inarius.

Oh, angels can be bad too? We already had Malthael and Imperius to an extend prove that.

Inarius was hyped up in all the promos and he's barely in the damn game. When he is, its to either be a bitch or die. (I am fine with his bitchliness. I would like more Inarius being bitchy. That's the whole point of him). They coulda have him hang out in the Cathedral or Kor Valar the whole time. Give him some bitchy dialogue where the character asks wtf is wrong with him and he just brushes it off.

Oh, and you know what would have been fun for Lilith's character? Have her be the one to kill Rathma.

Have it be a big decision for her; she wants to empower humanity, and the only way to do that is to kill her precious child, who dares stand in her way.

He would not have given her the key. He doesn't support either of his parents, and locking Hell in the first place was to try and prevent her from completing the prophecy. Rathma would have fought back against his mother. If Inarius hadn't killed him, Lilith would have.

Have her run him through and weep over his corpse, but determine that he was one of the 'weak' mortals that needed to be swept aside so that the strong could survive, or whatever. Give her a little development, a little conflict, as a treat.

There's not enough Lilith in this game either, for the record. At one point Mephisto straight up says 'you guys are focusing too much on Elias and not enough on Lilith'. And he's right! Elias was a cool villain and I liked his story, but there was too much of him and not enough Everything Else.

The Inarius we got was inconsequential. That was probably the Whole Point, but its still frustrating as hell.

#Diablo 4 #Diablo IV #spoilers #Inarius #Lilith #They could've either had More Inarius #or No Inarius #but what we got just felt disjointed and weird. #diablo spoilers

[potato-dragons]

Seeing Inarius realizing that everything that he has done was all for nothing was a bit hard to watch especially hearing the utter despair in his voice.

Im probably like... one of two people for saying this but i hope he comes back. Though given his.... predicament, I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon given that hes melted to the floor in hell and all of that.

#diablo spoilers #diablo 4 spoilers #diablo 4 #diablo #inarius

[egophiliac]

Have you heard of the "Crowley is Malleus' dad" theory going around? Where Prince Levan (or whatever his name is) didn't actually die and just went out to get some milk and is now known as Dire Crowley, the silly man? The implications of that theory is absolutely hilarious when you think about it

hold on, we can figure this out, we just need LISTS

PROS THAT CROWLEY IS SECRETLY REVAAN/LEVAN/LAVERNE/WHATEVER:

unspecified fae of some kind, with similar coloring to Mal

the animal masks are apparently a Briar Valley thing

has some kind of big blackmailable secret that was alluded to in episode 4, and then as far as I know never brought up again

(unless this was just Azul bullshitting, which is extremely possible)

based on Diablo, which...maybe means something?

has canonically worn Dad Shorts

CONS:

(gestures to Crowley's entire personality)

NO LISTEN Revaan was the guy they sent off on diplomatic missions and to take care of delicate political situations, and...look, I love this dweeb, but would you trust Crowley to be in charge of negotiating your war treaties

despite my brain insisting on reading his name as "Raven", Revaan's title does imply that he was also a dragon (or super into longan berries, I'm not ruling that out)

currently unclear why Lilia "my closest friend Revaan...he is no longer with us...I used to make fun of him for being kind of a priss about eating jerky..." Vanrouge has somehow not noticed or said anything

Malleus' Aloof Anime ~Aristocrat~ vibe had to come from somewhere, and by all accounts it was NOT his mom's side of the family

???:

turns into a bird in the opening, I don't know if that means anything but it's kinda cool, I guess

all that aside, if Malleus and Yuu are any indication, then the Draconias have...questionable taste in their social choices. so anything is possible!

#art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #twisted wonderland episode 7 spoilers #twisted wonderland book 7 spoilers #disclaimer that this is half joke and half speculation so like. please take it in good spirits and don't yell at me #right now i'm leaning away from crowley being revaan because i think the evidence is currently circumstantial at best #but who knows what the future will bring! #man. whenever i consciously remember that crowley is diablo it also reminds me #that his name is supposed to be pronounced like dear and not like the word dire #which always fucks me up a little bit. this is the worst thing about him bar none. #damnit crowley #anyway every time a new part comes out i rewatch the opening just in case there turns out to be any more foreshadowing #(there never is) #(but that ONE really quick bit where you can see overblot azul means i always have to look) #which is to say i have been carefully reanalyzing all the crowley bits and i have reached the conclusion #that i still have no idea what is going on with him #he may be the world's biggest mastermind or the world's biggest idiot and these are not mutually exclusive #(this is a strictly pro-crowley post btw) #(i'm allowed to make fun of him because i love him dire-ly)

[spookytuesdaypod]

love their love 💙💜💖

#lisa frankenstein #diablo cody #zelda williams #kathryn newton #cole sprouse #spooky tuesday #lisa frankenstein spoilers

[tradingjack]

There's no turning back.

... Is there anyone who'll be able to survive what lies ahead?

#millions knives #trimax #trigun spoilers #knives sure as fuck didn't lmao #ending my sick drawing saga with this one <3 i feel better now thx #yeah i'll give knives the piano piece. fuck you #i do love drawing knives beautiful. i loved doing the detailing on this one tbh it was a ton of fun #now i am less confident in the background but. what can you do :3 what i get for trying not to use red ig #it's so interesting that quote is from elendira too. she really just wanted to watch the world burn. get it girl <3 #manga #illustration #artists on tumblr #drawing #my art #comic #fanart #trigun #i've been drawing too much knives for someone who likes other characters way better lmao. listen. im still processing the uhh #my own sibling trauma ok #drawing diablo vash is therapeutic in a similar way tbh lmfao

[raspberrykraken]

I’m finally in the endgame of Diablo 4, by endgame I mean Act 6 to finally finish this campaign out. I did play Diablo:Hellfire on gog, Diablo2: Resurected, and the last season of Diablo 3 plus indie games while waiting for Diablo 4 to come out. Perhaps this will be a personal retrospective of the games and being a little upset because of how the campaign panned out for D4. Spoilers below.

In the opening scenes of Diablo 4 we are already having influences from Hell on two sides. Mephisto and Lilith. The first is more secondary than the second. Oh, why you ask? Because although you were “given” her petals she isn’t able to directly influence your character at all. You find signs of her throughout the game with more petals and visions. But the core gameplay is you being distracted by shiny things across the world while pursuing her.

Yes she has cut a path of cults and killed lots of people across the world. So has her former lover Inarius with his church. Both share extreme ideals, both are sides of the same coin. Lilith has more self awareness and understanding of her status, her mission. Inarius is a pompous jerk who wants to go back to Heaven and regrets ever being with her, doing any of this of creating humans, Sanctuary, the controversial Nephalem that are wrote out from Diablo 3. They get regulated to a group solving that problem as Diablo 4 takes hundreds of years into the future.

Diablo Immortal takes place in between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3. It’s gameplay is refined Diablo 3. It’s okay.

On the side Mephisto gets to directly influence your character. Offering advice, help, guide you through certain areas. Prime Evil of Hatred who had the foresight that if he was helpful to random strangers then maybe they will help him. In previous games he was trapped but managed to influence people before being freed by his brother Diablo in Diablo 2. So definitely a mysterious character that hasn’t been explored throughly from a story perspective but this isn’t his story. Yes he can intervene as the Father, which he is as Lilith is his daughter, but he completely railroads the narrative to his side.

It boggles me that Lilith only directly talks to your character on the second time you use the Sightless Eye, an ancient magical artifact, and tries to influence you to joining her. Not whispering to you, taking to you, trying to justify her actions, how people who see her get it wrong. But no, the story is written as if its all been pre decided, which it has. I get it, can’t take any kind of risks of an ARPG game by adding the RPG elements of choices in it. Your player character has already made up their mind on the whole thing and accept her Father over her.

I know on one hand she is the villain of the game. On the other Mephisto has been too and wised up unlike his brothers. She helped create Sanctuary giving everyone something new to fight over as the Eternal Conflict will never end, she was looking for a safe place with Inarius. In the lore all this has happened before, it will happened again. Humans are just pawns in their game. And thats where the narrative is being left. Very Battlestar Galactica of it.

Exhausting is definitely the word for it. I’m not trying to justify her actions. Her and Inarius do. I just feel like there could’ve been more. And I am hoping the seasonal updates will help.

I guess I am spoiled by other ARPGs like Dark Souls series. Arguably they do give you some kind of choices, especially in Elden Ring, and I guess I wanted that.

And if you made it this far thanks. Thanks for reading. <3

#thoughts #hot takes #diablo spoilers #diablo iv #diablo series #spoilers #feelings #endgame #disappointment #More RPG in ARPG #Dark Souls is an ARPG #Elden Ring #Elden Ring is an ARPG #Diablo 4 isn’t Elden Ring