#gabriel's inferno part

[hadersgf]

I’m like 20 mins into part two and I’m fuckign DECEASED

#that office scene #I AM SCREAMING #HOLY FUCKING HELL WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE #Gabriel’s inferno #Gabriel’s inferno part two #alex liveblogs

[vidavalor]

This is the face of an angel who just realized that his oppressors are afraid of him and his friends because, together, they are a force that threatens the regime.

This is the face of an angel that just realized all of this Metatron nonsense is to separate them and keep him-- the best strategist-- from starting a revolution. If they are split up, The Second Coming goes off without a hitch... but if Aziraphale unites them, then Heaven will fall. Crowley & Aziraphale alone are enough trouble together to stop Armageddon. Crowley & Aziraphale with the eons-long leaders and commanders of Heaven and Hell in Gabriel and Beezelbub, though? That is a coup.

How little would it take to overthrow it all at this point? How long until it's Crowley & Aziraphale & Gabriel & Beez... & Muriel & Eric & Furfur? How til they get Michael and Dagon on their side? How long until it's actually most of the demons and a sizable portion of the angels teaming up against what's left of Heaven?

Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death. Aziraphale took the coffee. The Metatron thinks it means subservience. He thinks it means he's tricked Aziraphale and that he's won and he was almost right, so is the level of trauma these beings have suffered. He didn't know, though, that coffee is already coded as liberty. He handed Aziraphale a cup of symbolic freedom and didn't realize how so very true that was going to be. Just like a certain empire once did when they gave some of their people the option to form some colonies, thinking that the empire would always remain in control, and now we call those colonies not part of Great Britain but The United States of America.

"Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks leap out"-- the Job quote on the matchbox. The matchbox containing the fly, containing Gabriel via Beez. Out of Gabriel's mouth goes burning lamps-- Gabriel lights the way. He's the path forward. He is first shots fired in the rebellion...

...and sparks leap out.

Some Boston Tea Party stuff afoot, you guys.

That is the face of an angel that just realized that he and Crowley were both wrong: the solution isn't running away but it's also not taking over a broken system that doesn't want to be fixed... it's fanning the spark that Gabriel lit into a flame and then into an inferno and burning this entire mother to the ground.

Aziraphale is no longer headed to Heaven to run it.

He's headed to Heaven to *overthrow* it.

He's headed to Heaven to *liberate* it.

No idea how much of a chance he will get to succeed alone but this is Aziraphale. He will give them hell if it's the last thing he ever does-- for Muriel and all the angels like them. For all the persecuted demons. For the humans Heaven wants to destroy. For Gabriel.

Most of all, for what they did to Crowley and the 6,000 years of fear and pain they've put them through.

That is the face of an angel who just realized that he had almost been drawn back into Heaven's web of darkness again, only to hear that Heaven wants him to oversee the destruction of 8 billion people and the Earth he calls home and the stars the love of his life built and he has reached his absolute last remaining straw.

They've taken his home and hurt his friends and they took *Crowley* and at this point, Aziraphale no longer gives one flying fuck what it might be that God wants because God can go fuck herself if this it is. The elevator scene is Aziraphale saying Crowley was right:

That angel is *untethered* with barely controlled rage. They nearly played him for a sucker. He might die doing this and they fooled him and he broke Crowley's heart and they've taken too. Fucking. Much. It's just utter destruction. There will be no system of Heaven and Hell done when Aziraphale is through with it.

Aziraphale is about to go from not sure if he should stop Armageddon in S1 to being the angel that destroys the system of Heaven and Hell in S3.

Yes, you can save everyone, Aziraphale, but not alone. You need Crowley's imagination and Gabriel's leadership and Beez's intelligence. That's what they're afraid of. You finally got it in that elevator, so get up there now, get your gang back together, and make some trouble.

#ineffable husbands #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #good omens s2 #good omens 2 #good omens meta

[indigovigilance]

This has been eating at my brain for 5 minutes, but why does aziraphale wear reading glasses sometimes. Is it for aesthetic? Is it their eyesight? Help

Hi @electronicturtlepaper, thanks for the ask! I gave this some thought, and I propose four reasons that Aziraphale wears reading glasses:

Aziraphale imagines himself having a 50-year old human body

He likes doing things the human way

They are integral to his enjoyment of art

He uses them to communicate with Crowley

Expanded arguments and evidence, as always, below the cut:

Aziraphale likes to imagine that he is a 50-year old human.

I think there's a little bit of a tendency to think of the ineffables as being superhuman. They are, but not the way Superman or Wonderwoman are. We get the best illustration of this in S1E6 when Crowley is driving through the M-25 inferno:

Crowley has something no other demons have, an imagination. Right now, he's imagining that he is just fine, and that a ton of burning metal, rubber and leather is a fully functioning car.

We know from this Season 1 scene that Crowley's imagination manifests reality; in this particular instance, it is to defy the laws of physics, to keep his body from discorporating and his car from falling apart.

Even though the way it's being used feels "super," we can see how the mechanic of "imagination manifests reality" could be used in the exact opposite way by someone who likes to think of themselves as a homely, affable pillar of the community that has owned the bookshop on the corner for as long as anyone can remember. We see other ways this manifests, like not being able to keep up with Gabriel while jogging:

He could think of himself as a battle-ready soldier, but he doesn't. He thinks of himself as someone who likes culture, good food, and fine clothes; cardio doesn't really play into that, so his corporeal form manifests accordingly. By the same token, he's an avid reader, and as far as his Whickber Street neighbors are concerned, has spent all day, every day reading books for the past no-one-knows-how-long; how would he not need reading glasses?

By sheer power of imagination, Aziraphale has manifested himself into needing corrected vision.

Aziraphale Likes Doing Things the Human Way

Keep in mind that this is the angel who absolutely did not fool Nefertiti with a single caraway seed and three cowrie shells, but he sure did put his whole entire soul into learning prestidigitation from the best human magicians of their day, and took French lessons so that he could ask his aunt's gardener for a pen.

Wearing reading glasses to read is part and parcel to a 50-year-old man running a bookshop. Miracling himself some Lasik eye surgery would be cheating, just like using a miracle to make the farthing vanish in a sleight of hand trick. In order to do something the human way, all the normal human handicaps must apply, including myopia.

Aziraphale's Enjoyment of Art is Enhanced by Wearing Glasses

I also think that Aziraphale considers wearing eyeglasses to be an integral part of the human experience of the joy of literature; reading a novel without peering at the page through silica lenses framed by metal wire would be like eating sushi without dipping it in soy sauce. The experience would be incomplete.

But, then again, look at this dork:

He's wearing his glasses to listen to music. Clearly this isn't necessary or even helpful (but as someone who has taken off their glasses so they can listen better to somebody, I can assure you it's very human). So this tells us that Aziraphale's glasses are, among other things, his "I'm enjoying art right now" accessory.

This is further reinforced in the following beat, when he's opened the door, and he's not wearing his glasses anymore:

So sometime between turning off the gramophone and opening the door for Gabriel, he took off his glasses to signal that he has quit shastakovich.exe and is returning to "normal adult responsibilities" mode.

Aziraphale Uses His Glasses To Communicate

...and we know exactly who he learned this from: @goodomensgifs credited for this wonderful gifset, hereafter incorporated by reference because my computer is so mad at me rn and can't handle loading gifs.

Crowley uses his glasses to communicate his emotions a lot. He uses them to show vulnerability. He uses them to show contentment. He uses them to threaten. He uses them to show that he is wounded and defensive. He uses them to demonstrate that he is or is not willing to talk. Aziraphale has learned from the best.

The first time we see Aziraphale leverage his lenses this way in Season 2 is when Crowley returns to the shop after their fight about Gabriel. When he's alone, waiting for Crowley to return, Aziraphale isn't wearing his glasses:

but quickly puts them on when Crowley walks in the door:

Quite a few analysts have published metas on equivocation (@cobragardens and @ao3cassandraic, maybe we should start using an #equivocation tag? Because this is becoming a recurring topic), which I incorporate here by reference. Crowley and Aziraphale have had to learn to communicate without saying a lot of things out loud, and glasses are playing a role in that.

By putting on his glasses, Aziraphale has just put up a big "I'm feeling hurt and defensive" sign; at the same time, Crowley takes his glasses off, to signal that he's ready to talk. Aziraphale peers through his glasses while he's pretending to ignore Crowley, reinforcing that his glasses are assisting him in demonstrating his umbrage.

Aziraphale finally takes his glasses off to tell Crowley that his "you were right" wasn't a good enough apology:

At this point in the conversation, the angel is allowing himself to be more vulnerable and show just how upset he is.

This evidence is taken from limited samples, but it fits with the general dynamic of the characters observed elsewhere.

Thanks for the great prompt, I never would have done this exploration otherwise but it was very rewarding.

Good Omentober!

~~~~~~

If you liked this, you may like:

Clothes + Equivocation = Romance by @cobragardens

The Colors of Crowley by @cobragardens

The Golden Lion by @cobragardens

Angel Pinky Rings by yours truly, @indigovigilance

...and any fan is welcome to drop an analysis request in my askbox!

#good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #aziraphale #crowley #ineffable husbands #glasses #equivocation #ivoc #indigovigilance answers asks

[muzzleroars]

How many fallen angels do you think there are in hell? there must be a few if Mike was able to observe the process enough to try it himself. Are they all secured in Treachery or have they been hiding from machines and angels in the other layers?

Would they welcome Gabe to the club?

oooooh yes the other fallen angels!!! in the inferno, the fallen angels are met only once the poets arrive at the gates of dis - that is, from heresy downward - so i think of them being largely concentrated in those circles (despite their sins coming from any of the layers). there are rare fallen angels that exist outside of dis and make it to the upper layers, particularly now with the angelic presence in hell much lower, but v1 never encountered them because of this scarcity. likewise, while heresy is meant to have its gatekeepers, gabrel had likely scattered any fallen angels that surrounded the cathedral before v1's arrival as the last thing they would want to deal with is a pissed off archangel lol so i have any fallen angels (after lucifer's fall) living in violence and the layers past it, though there aren't too terribly many compared to the other denizens. i actually have them very secretive by nature, ashamed in the way gabriel initially was and, like the sinners of the lower layers in the inferno, not wanting themselves known to outsiders while they can be brutal to the sinners living with them. gabriel would absolutely make them curious though - he is incredibly powerful and high-ranking amongst the choirs, but most of all he was an archangel. someone like that hasn't fallen since lucifer, so i think they would spy on him from shadows since they still don't wish to be seen by v1 (considered an outsider despite being inhuman)

gabriel really doesn't know how to feel about them, as so many of them have been warped by the cruelty of hell and have lost the sense of who they once were. it's a bit haunting really, catching glimpses of them and half-recognizing a face he hasn't seen in eons. they're all still here, all the angels that were lost that gabriel helped to expel - he expected hostility actually, but very few come out to see him. i do like the idea that he eventually speaks with some that he once had fondness for (famously, there is a watcher that was close with uriel), though they are not the angels he once knew. importantly, though, gabriel doesn't hold this against them and instead finds his anger turned on god, for allowing a place like this to exist that his children, angel or human, were cast into to be forever forgotten as they twist and rot. because he sees sparks of who they were, especially when they hear his voice, but how could they not become brutish shells of their former selves in a place like this? these are angels hollowed out, burned of everything they once were and left still alive as ashes. they are envious of gabriel, he hears it in their coarse voices, yet he wonders if he might still end up like them one day.

but i think there is a fallen angel he once knew that tells him he should go to his circle, go all the way down to the wastes of cocytus. go see him. gabriel has avoided the lucifer issue intensely, keeping away of the depths of treachery because he is terrified of what he will find, to see how god ruined him and what destroyed michael from the inside out. and that beside, what could his presence serve lucifer? but the other angel is right. he should know. so my idea for lucifer is that all the other angels that fell with him are sort of...a part of him at this point. they have no higher thought or functioning, instead only able to feel pain, while lucifer has been left mentally intact but frozen. he is a mass of angels all fused with him and encased in ice, crying out in their agony but unable to produce anything else. lucifer still thinks, still lives as himself, but while their torment is individual, he feels each and every one of them on top of his own. and he is desperately alone despite the thousands that make up his massive form (sort of in the shape of a dragon's body, but it's impossible to tell from how mutilated it is as well as how it seems to disappear into the ice). he does not speak, he does not acknowledge even gabriel's presence, though gabriel can't seem to get too close without the hulking mass lashing out at him in what seems to be pure instinct. all they do is cry, thousands of voices calling out in their suffering as they have for the countless millennia they've spent like this. but gabriel doesn't want to get close, he doesn't want to see any more even if he knows he'll never stop hearing them now and weak appeals are drowned out entirely before he has to flee. this is what god does. this was his justice against those who only questioned (gabriel has read the testaments now, they were fed lies about lucifer) and i think this just. genuinely breaks something in gabriel.

#GOT SIDETRACKED BY LUCIFER AT THE END....bc i got my idea of him pretty figured out #he would likely only ever respond to michael. and it sure would be. something #BUT anyway i think gabriel has a distant relationship with other fallen angels #esp if he maintains a relationship with the other archangels #but he does see them occasionally. and i think they're sort of comforted by him #cake answers #fallen gabriel #lucifer #rise and fall au

[aurumacadicus]

Can you believe it's time to choose our book for March already? And every single choice an absolute banger! If you'd like to join the book club, feel free to send me a message and I'll drop you the link to our Discord! Book summaries are under the cut!

Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman

Twin sisters, both on the run, but different as day and night. One, a professional rogue, searches for a fabled treasure; the other, a changeling, searches for the truth behind her origins, trying to find a place to fit in with the realm of fae who made her and the humans who shun her. Iselia “Seelie” Graygrove looks just like her twin, Isolde… but as an autistic changeling trying to navigate her unpredictable magic, Seelie finds it more difficult to fit in with the humans around her. When Seelie and Isolde are caught up in a heist gone wrong and make some unexpected allies, they find themselves unraveling a larger mystery that has its roots in the history of humans and fae alike.

Both sisters soon discover that the secrets of the faeries may be more valuable than any pile of gold and jewels. But can Seelie harness her magic in time to protect her sister, and herself?

Bindle Punk Bruja by Desideria Mesa

A part-time reporter and club owner takes on crooked city councilmen, mysterious and deadly mobsters, and society’s deeply rooted sexism and racism, all while keeping her true identity and magical abilities hidden – inspired by an ancient Mexican folktale.

Yo soy quien soy. I am who I am.

Luna—or depending on who’s asking, Rose—is the white-passing daughter of an immigrant mother who has seen what happens to people from her culture. This world is prejudicial, and she must hide her identity in pursuit of owning an illegal jazz club. Using her cunning powers, Rose negotiates with dangerous criminals as she climbs up Kansas City’s bootlegging ladder. Luna, however, runs the risk of losing everything if the crooked city councilmen and ruthless mobsters discover her ties to an immigrant boxcar community that secretly houses witches. Last thing she wants is to put her entire family in danger.

But this bruja with ever-growing magical abilities can never resist a good fight. With her new identity, Rose, an unabashed flapper, defies societal expectations all while struggling to keep her true self and witchcraft in check. However, the harder she tries to avoid scrutiny, the more her efforts eventually capture unwanted attention. Soon, she finds herself surrounded by greed and every brand of bigotry—from local gangsters who want a piece of the action and businessmen who hate her diverse staff to the Ku Klux Klan and Al Capone. Will her earth magic be enough to save her friends and family? As much as she hates to admit it, she may need to learn to have faith in others—and learning to trust may prove to be her biggest ambition yet.

Scorched Grace by Margo Douaihy

Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test in this debut crime novel.

When Saint Sebastian’s School becomes the target of a shocking arson spree, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and their surrounding community are thrust into chaos. Unsatisfied with the officials’ response, sardonic and headstrong Sister Holiday becomes determined to unveil the mysterious attacker herself and return her home and sanctuary to its former peace. Her investigation leads down a twisty path of suspicion and secrets in the sticky, oppressive New Orleans heat, turning her against colleagues, students, and even fellow Sisters along the way.

Sister Holiday is more faithful than most, but she’s no saint. To piece together the clues of this high-stakes mystery, she must first reckon with the sins of her checkered past—and neither task will be easy.

An exciting start to Margo Douaihy’s bold series for Gillian Flynn Books that breathes new life into the hard-boiled genre, Scorched Grace is a fast-paced and punchy whodunnit that will keep readers guessing until the very end.

The Shadow in the Glass by J.J.A. Harwood

Once upon a time Ella had wished for more than her life as a lowly maid.

Now forced to work hard under the unforgiving, lecherous gaze of the man she once called stepfather, Ella’s only refuge is in the books she reads by candlelight, secreted away in the library she isn’t permitted to enter.

One night, among her beloved books of far-off lands, Ella’s wishes are answered. At the stroke of midnight, a fairy godmother makes her an offer that will change her life: seven wishes, hers to make as she pleases. But each wish comes at a price and Ella must decide whether it’s one she’s willing pay.

A smoldering, terrifying new spin on Cinderella – perfect for fans of Laura Purcell and Erin Morgenstern.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

In this exhilarating novel, two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn’t heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won’t protect them from their own creative ambitions of the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

As a young horse, Black Beauty is well-loved and happy. But when his owner is forced to sell him, his life changes drastically. He has many new owners—some of them cruel and some of them kind. All he needs is someone to love him again…

Whether pulling and elegant carriage or a ramshackle cab, Black Beauty tries to live as best he can. This is his amazing story, told as only he could tell it.

Inferno by Dan Brown

Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon awakens in an Italian hospital, disoriented and with no recollection of the past thirty-six hours, including the origin of the macabre object hidden in his belongings. With a relentless female assassin trailing them through Florence, he and his resourceful doctor, Sienna Brooks, are forced to flee. Embarking on a harrowing journey, they must unravel a series of codes, which are the work of a brilliant scientist whose obsession with the end of the world is matched only by his passion for one of the most influential masterpieces ever written, Dante Alighieri’s The Inferno.

Dan Brown has raised the bar yet again, combining classical Italian art, history, and literature with cutting-edge science in this sumptuously entertaining thriller.

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

A searing and earnest horror debut about the demons the queer community faces in America, the price of keeping secrets, and finding the courage to burn it all down.

They’ll scare you straight to hell.

Welcome to Neverton, Montana: home to a God-fearing community with a heart of gold. Nestled high up in the mountains is Camp Damascus, the self-proclaimed “most effective” gay conversion camp in the country. Here, a life free from sin awaits. But the secret behind that success is anything but holy.

#book club #polls #you can vote even if you're not in book club #i know you guys like having opinions and pressing buttons lol

[goodomensgotmeeffedup]

Mafia AU Aziracrow Ineffable Husbands

So a massive crime family split into two factions, one run by Lucifer and one run by Gabriel. They are enemies and they're always trying to come out on top of each other. The original kingpin, a terrifying lady boss who went by the codename God, has retired and just let's her family run amuck. She can't be bothered anymore.

Anyways, Crowley is a member of Lucifer's gang. I don't know what their name is but something Hell flavored I guess. Lucifer is the head, Beezelzebub is the 2nd in command, and Crowley is definitely upper level. He's been doing this a long time, and he's tired. He doesn't want to do this anymore. He wants out. They're willing to let him retire but he has one last mission which is to find a way into their inner sanctum.

An inner sanctum that has an old antique book shop as its cover.

It's perfect, really, hardly anyone ever goes in. Gabriel and his inner circle are free to go and come as they please without much worry of eavesdropping and such from civilian ears. The man they have guarding the shop is quite clever as well. Bookish looks, gentle smile, sweet as could be. Very friendly, a good Samaritan. Even when police manage to get inside making inquiries, none of them ever make further than the front desk because how could someone like this ever be part of something so terrible as the mafia?

But here's the thing, the bookshop manager? Aziraphale is his name, he actually has no idea about the people who own the building. He doesn't know what they really do. He has no clue that he's actually running the cover operation of a very violent mafia. He truly thinks he's just a simple bookshop owner. He loves books so much- he's willing to ignore any vaguely questionable things he might see.

Crowley starts trying to hangout with Aziraphale and become friends with him. Anything to get him into the back rooms. That's all he has to do. Gabriel and his gang are planning something big. If Crowley can figure it out, he can be free. One last mission.

He wasn't planning on falling in love. That was definitely not part of his plan. He eventually comes clean to Aziraphale and this is how he finds out that he has no idea about any of the gang activity.

"How did someone like you end up doing stuff like this, angel?"

Aziraphale doesn't believe him at first. Gets upset and angry and tells him that he never wants to see him again. Storms away.

Crowley is left sitting there alone, stunned, hurt, and angry. He speeds off in his classic Bentley and doesn't calm down for a coupl3 hours. It doesn't sit right with him to be fighting with Aziraphale, and he understands. He does. Especially if his angel truly had no idea about any of this. It's a hard pill to swallow. He drives to the bookshop to make amends.

He finds an inferno.

#crowley #good omens #aziracrow #aziraphale #good omens season 2 #ineffable husbands #ineffable partners #good omens season 2 spoilers #spoilers #crowley x aziraphale #mafia au #human au #crowley is a human #aziraphale is a human #human crowley #human aziraphale #good omens human au #good omens prompt #good omens mafia au

[anonimato2]

since ultrakill is inspired by dante's inferno id love for the final part of the game to be gabriel's journey through the heavens to maybe tear it all down. feeling insane 😭😭 this'll never happen but i can be delulu

#head in hands. so many thoughts. im having post p1 clarity #oughghgy #someone sedate me i c ant be doing this 😭 im supposed to study law #ultrakill

[wjbs-aus]

Ok but like. ULTRAKILL is clearly based on the Inferno (Hell has 9 layers in the order Limbo -> Lust -> Gluttony -> Greed -> Wrath -> Heresy -> Violence -> Fraud -> Treachery, Gabriel is a recurring character, Minos has a snake motif, the gates in 0-5 have the "abandon hope" message written on them, etc.)

The thing is, the Inferno is not a standalone story; rather, it is the first part of the Divine Comedy, and is followed by two more poems, namely Purgatorio and Paradiso.

I don't think Act 3 will be the end of V1's journey. After all, even after Hell is emptied, there will still be life in Purgatory and Heaven...

#ultrakill #the divine comedy

[petrenocka]

I skimmed over the Dante's Inferno wiki article and now I am ready to make some god damn Ultrakill Act III predictions babyyyy.

So obviously liberties have been taken, but overall Ultrakill so far was surprisingly faithful to Divine Comedy's portrayal of Hell. Wrath and Limbo being the standout "to a tea" ones.

7th layer of Hell is Violence. In Inferno it is devided into 3 rings itself. However the third ring, a scorching desert for those who committed violence against God, was already integrated into Greed in Ultrakill.

This lives us with 1st ring and its boiling rivers of blood for those who committed violence against their neighbors, and 2nd ring for those who committed violence against themselves and are turned into infertile trees harassed by harpies.

Thus I expect 7th layer to be mostly forrest themed, with rivers of blood for the deadly "floor" like water was in 5-2. Specifically, I expect it to draw from the Japanese Aokigahara, the suicide forrest. Somehow. Maybe one of the levels is going to happen in a suspended tree house city type location, and another will be rafting down a river.

Additionally, both Limbo and Greed have introduced a flying enemy to the roster - Drones and Virtues respectfully. So I suspect Violence is going to continue that and add Harpies, who I think will be husks, if only because I can hardly imagine an Ultrakill demon flying. Maybe they'll be somewhat tengu-like in appearance, or just Filth with jetpacks. Who knows.

7-s will 100% be a Duck Hunt reference. I can feel it just as surely as I could a fishing minigame for 5-s.

Moving on. I straight up have no idea what Hakkita will do with Fraud. None at all. There is like a fucked up city there in Inferno, but Ultrakill already moved that to Lust. Other then that, maybe it'll be a volcano level, idk why. I do find the potential to have a surviving Council member as a boss here extremely exciting, although unlikely.

Maybe 8-s will be an Ac Attorney reference, because it would fit Fraud.

Moving on again.

Treachery, the last level of the Act and of the game too most likely. The gauntlet. The one where P-3 is.

Oh, Treachery. In Inferno, it is a frozen lake with sinners encased in ice. I thus expect the 9th layer to be ice themed, although since it is The Gauntlet™ there won't be new mechanics and therefore no ice physics, don't worry. But we do lack a white level, and blood splatters will look beautifully on the snow.

1st Round of Treachery punishes "Traitors of Their Kindred", and I am like 80% that either 6-1 or its ost will get called exactly that, since this is such an Ultrakill name.

2nd Round of Treachery is for traitors of their country. I think it fits Gabriel pretty well, considering he never really betrayed God of you think about it. He went against the Council. And yes, obviously a Gabe fight in 6-2, is there even a qestion about it?

Very low chance, but maybe there is 6-3 where we kill Hell itself, since it's sentient and all.

Now for P-3. Take out the crack kids, we'll need it for this one.

3rd Round of Treachery is for traitors of guests and I think it will correlate to the gauntlet before P-3 boss. This in not the part we need drugs for.

And that is because in Inferno the 4th and final Round of Treachery, at the very bottom of Hell reserved for those who betrayed God Himself, Satan, aka Lucifer, is encased in ice and is chewing Judas.

For Ultrakill that means that we have them fucking options for our Flesh and Prime.

For Flesh it could be just another container cube. But since this is the very bottom of Hell, and Hell is alive, it could also be The Heart of Hell, or something. It could also, hear me out, be Satan. In Inferno, Lucifer is basically Judas' flesh prison, in fact, I am half convinced that the imagery of Judas being chewed by the Devil is the very reason why Flesh Cubes have teeth.

Our first two Primes were ancient Greek Kings. And the Prime of P-3 might be another ancient Greek king who I am sleeping on entirely.

But I think it is pretty safe to assume that this pattern is getting broken, just like we are not going to fight V2 in act 3 either. As far as I know there is no Greek king more into defying gods then Sisyphus and the game requires escalation.

What is more important about Primes to me is that both we have so far are enemies of God. We have a peaceful protestor in Minos, then a revolutionary in Sisyphus. So the Arch Enemy of God in Lucifer seems like a plausibility for our next ass wooping.

I am personally more in favor on Judas for that role though. I mean, he is kind of the guy who managed to get God killed, if you think about it, a natural progression from Sisyphus who tried but failed. Also Judas hung himself, so him being the King of Violence, specifically the forest part of it, makes sense.

This concludes level predictions.

We are also getting Red variants for 4 weapons, a new Arm and probably an Alt version, which is ridiculous. Absolutely zero idea how the new guns will be like. Imo S.R.S is already pushing the bloatedness of our arsenal, but Hakkita is obviously a super genius, who made the ball work, so will see.

As for the arm, we are defo getting it from 7-4, and because of the colour, my bet is that we are ripping it off of the Real Swordsmachine, the twist being that the ones in Prelude were copycats afterall, explaining why there are suddenly so many of them in 6-1. Maybe it's V-0 or something, the machine that spearheaded the modular design approach, or the first blood-powered machine, period.

I also, for literally zero reason other then "what else could it be", expect the new Alt to be a Slug variant for Shotgun. A Winchester lever action rifle sort of deal.

Ye, rant over, I don't have a concise way to wrap this up.

#ultrakill #gabriel ultrakill #v1 ultrakill #ultrakill spoilers #ultrakill speculation #jesus ultrakill #swordsmachine

[docgold13]

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

October 27th - Ghost Rider / Robbie Reyes

Roberto ‘Robbie’ Reyes grew up in a part of Eastern Los Angeles plagued by corruption and criminal activity.  A bright lad with a great knack for auto mechanics, all Robbie wanted was to earn enough money to be able to move him and his developmentally disabled younger brother to a safer neighborhood.  Still in high school, Robbie worked part time in an auto body shop and made money on the side participating in illegal street racing.  

When he heard about a high stakes race with a huge pay-out it was too much for Robbie to pass up.  He was an exceptional driver and, with the souped up Dodge Charger he had been working on at the shop, he felt he was certain to win. Unfortunately, this car actually belonged to mobsters and had been used to transfer narcotics.  These mobsters caught up with Robbie and shot the young man dead. They then poured gasoline on the car and set it ablaze to hide the evidence of their crime.  

The inferno had the effect of reviving Robbie, now in blazing armor resembling a skeleton. Overwhelmed by what had happened to him, and possessing incredible new powers, Robbie chased down his attackers and took a fiery vengeance.  

Following further misadventures, Robbie was sought out by Johnny Blaze, the original Ghost Rider.  Together they discovered that Robbie was not possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance, but rather by the soul of a satanist killer known as Eli Marrow.  Marrow’s pledge to the demonic forces enabled him to possess Robbie and wield the powers of The Ghost Rider.  

Yet Robbie’s will proved stronger than Marrow had anticipated and the young man was able to maintain control over his resurrected body and the awesome powers it now possessed.  Transforming the Dodge Charger into a flaming chariot, Robbie set out as the new Ghost Rider.  The young man would later be recruited into The Avengers and found himself fighting alongside Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.  

A version of Robbie Reyes featured in the television series, Marvel’s Agents of of Shield, portrayed by actor Gabriel Luna.  The hero first appeared in the pages of All-New Ghost Rider #1 (2014).  

#365 Marvel Comics Heroes #Ghost Rider #Robbie Reyes #Avengers #Agents of Shiled #Gabriel Luna #cut-out #paper art

[alleiradayne]

In Baldur’s Gate, Dragons Dungeon You! | Art Master Post

An SPN/D&D mashup that can be read on its own or part of the greater series The Way Things Ought to Be.

On a quiet afternoon a week shy of Christmas, Dean is interrupted while poking through the news for a case. Someone is pounding on the  Bunker door. After a brief huddle with Sam and Castiel, they investigate to find Charlie on the other side, a box of books at her feet. She needs to use their archive for research and a place to stay while she does it. Of course, she's always welcome at the Bunker

After showing her to a room, Dean offers to help her unpack. He finds her collection of Dungeons & Dragons books in the box and asks to borrow one: Candlekeep Mysteries. Charlie offers to run one of the campaigns from the book, specifically, The Scrivener's Tale. And Dean, giddy as a school girl, rushes off to gather his party for a good ol' fashioned mystery.

But the game is afoot and has been since Charlie's unannounced arrival. Between that and her awkward behavior, Dean can't shake a familiar, nagging worry. There's just one problem: he can't remember what, exactly, it is about her or her behavior that's got him on edge. And neither can anyone else.

The campaign unravels—along with Charlie's secrets—as she tells the story of The Scrivener's Tale.

Characters/Pairings: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester/Eileen (implied polycule with Rowena and Gabriel), Jack, Charlie Bradbury, several original characters during the D&D campaign. Warnings/Tags: Plot-heavy, no smut, lots of comedy, action, fighting, intrigue, investigation, D&D stuff. Again, no smut. Total Word Count: 44,013 A/N: For @spn-mediabigbang 2023, I adapted The Scrivener’s Tale into an SPN story and the ever amazing @solstheimart​ rocked out some absolutely stellar art. Check out the art master post above (there’s more coming tomorrow)!

 I tried my best to format the different PoVs between the players and their characters, but blockquotes/formatting on Tumblr in general sucks, so good luck (I suggested using the AO3 link at the top of every chapter). Since this was a Media themed event, I also managed to sneak in over 80 (88 to be precise) pop culture references. Each chapter will have a count at the start, and if you can pick them out, you win fake internet points.

Playlist: In Baldur’s Gate, Dragons Dungeon You

Chapter 1 - Money for Nothing

Chapter 2 - Inferno Galore

Chapter 3 - Video Killed the Radio Star

Chapter 4 - Cult of Personality

Chapter 5 - On My Radio

Chapter 6 - The Grand Illusion

Chapter 7 - Ramble On

Chapter 8 - Destroy the Orcs

Chapter 9 - Turn Up The Radio

Chapter 10 - Hollywood Nights

This series is complete! Reblogs are loved and feedback is welcome!

#spnfanfic #spn-mediabigbang #spn-mediabigbang2023 #spn-mbb #spn-mediabb2023 #spnfanfiction #spn fanfic #spn fanfiction #dnd #dnd campaign

[heaven-said]

Canon questionnaire #3. Cmon let's sell Ultrakill :p

What’s the best thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

{{ ULTRAKILL PROPAGANDA !

Ultrakill is a video game, so there's two angles to take this-- what is it like to play and what is the best part of the narrative it is telling? But I'll go by narrative since one great thing about Ultrakill is that a lot of people like it despite not even playing it yet ! ( and it is a hard game so fair-- )

To me, if I had to choose just one thing and I can't just say gabriel is hot the single greatest thing about Ultrakill is the existentialism of the story. I don't know, it just hit me personally in just the right spot where it isn't too saccharine but it just barely dodges being too grimdark and miserable. Its really a great story and setting for taking humanity at its lowest and making you see the absurdity of it all and kind of find a humor about it all? It reminds me a lot of Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, this movie from the 60s that ends with a man waving a cowboy hat as he falls riding on an atomic bomb before the entire cast dies in a nuclear explosion. But it also takes itself just seriously enough when it matters that the sadness of the setting still resonates with you. With Gabriel, of course, being the heart of the overarching story.

Like I love that Hell is truly HELL and they don't sugarcoat it, they depict it literally to Dante's Inferno in a way most modern things usually wouldn't, but it never becomes so excessive that it loses its charm. Sometimes Hell takes on these weird and unpredictable forms, sometimes its oddly beautiful as much as it is painful, tying into the themes of finding beauty in the meaninglessness of your own nature-- and the framing of humanity as capable of inventing greater horrors than even Hell could, symbolizing the almost outdatedness of even the concepts of Heaven and Hell in the face of this end-game humanity that has gone off the deep end in a way that not even God knew what to do with us? REALLY the best thing about Ultrakill is the sheer eternity you could spend philosophizing and connecting its themes. If you are willing to stop and pay attention to what is going on in the game between the pew pew shooty times it is truly fascinating! And that's really the best part to me! }}

#hymns across the stars #✟ → { o.o.c. } ⋰⋰ #✟ → { inbox. } ⋰⋰

[bamfdaddio]

X-Men Unabridged 1985: The Trials of Magneto and Cyclops

The X-Men, those litigious mutants that have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, are a cultural juggernaut with a long, tangled history. We’ve been untangling that history for a while, but sometimes, you really want a more in-depth look. Interested? Then read the (un)Abridged X-Men!

(X-Men 200 - 201) - by Chris Claremont, John Romita Jr., Dan Green and Rick Leonardi

“Ultra low power”? Fuck, Cyclops, you’re such a massive dork. (X-Men 201)

After a year of meandering storylines, Claremont kept two good plots in the chamber. Issue 200 is a big one that is meant to shake up the status quo, while issue 201 is a quiet baseball issue that then reasserts it again. One is a trial drama about the insidious nature of prejudice and how one person can be made to represent the whole group he is a part of, the other is Storm wiping the floor with a deadbeat baby daddy.

These issues are cool because they can basically be summarized as:

Magneto is right

Storm is cool 

But first, let’s reveal why you’d never want Loki to drive your Uber and drop you off at your home. 

I love that Wolverine, of all people, is worried about papers. Also, none of the X-Men carry some money in their suits? No hidden pouch with a few dollars, two ibuprofen and a fake passport? OMG is this what let to their pouch-craze in the nineties?! (X-Men 200)

This is a very unnecessary handwave for an unnecessary complication, because there’s absolutely no time-crunch or narrative reason for the X-Men to immediately appear in Paris, other than stupidly keeping Madelyne and Scott apart. Oh, Loki. Even making mischief on a narrative level! Maybe we can blame the looming Inferno on him, eh?

There’s a trial report in progress, spilling the t on Magneto’s arrest. A journalist explains which crimes Magneto stands trial for and in passing mentions how some people think he’s just as bad a Hitler. (Which I’ve always found to be a gross comparison, considering. Yes, Magneto is racist against humans and yes, that is his flaw, but the amount of terror he’s inflicted on the world barely scratches the surface of what Hitler has wrought. He’s barely been a dictator here, and that was only for one issue.) Anyway, because of undefined reasons, the International Court has moved from the Hague to Paris. I’m guessing Paris is a more picturesque battleground.

The trial report is being observed by two rich twins whose Aryan looks are surely a coincidence.

Amazingly, these two predate Jaime and Cersei Lannister by at least 7 years. (X-Men 200)

It’s the worst two twins in the Marvel Universe! When we met them before, they randomly put a bullet through Storm. The only thing I find unbelievable here is that someone as born-rich as Andreas would ever advocate for something as common as a guillotine. 

Meanwhile, a Soviet military installation is raided and, later, a German fighter jet is attacked. Both times, a message is left by the attackers: free magneto - the x-men. LeGasp!

To trim the cast a little, Charles shuttles the New Mutants off to Muir Isle, under the pretense that if something happens to the X-Men here, they’ll at the very least be safe. The X-Men remain in Paris, on guard, and the trial starts in one of the weirdest ways possible: with a motion to strike half of Magneto’s crimes from the record on account of being *checks notes* babified. 

A ship of Theseus-argument? In my courtroom? It’s more likely than you think. (X-Men 200)

Amazingly, the judge grants Gabrielle’s motion, and all my watching of The Good Wife hasn’t taught me how a real judge would respond to that motion. It does make me wonder how much more badass Alicia Florrick would be if she got to smoke in the court room. 

More interesting, however, is the crowd’s response to Gabrielle. When I was a  teenager reading this, the antisemitism seemed out of place and a little too cynical, but these days, I’m not so sure. Surely, in the Marvel Universe, there’s fora and reddits where people hate Magneto not because he’s a mutant, but because he’s Jewish.

I wonder how many people hate Wiccan and Hulkling and the 'wocification' of their superheroes. Why can't they just all be white right, like Captain America, or rich, like Iron Man?

Anyway, during recess, it becomes even more evident that this trial is bringing out all the crazies:

Misogyny, anti-mutant, xenophobic… This crowd hits it all! Good thing the good guys didn’t bring Storm. Or Iceman. (X-Men 200)

I always love how the women in Xavier’s life temper his idealism (and, eh, his trite bon mots) with cynical realism. Moira is not exactly a rose-colored glasses kind of lady, and neither is Gabrielle. I’d think she’s being a little harsh with her parents here – I don’t think anyone who died in Bergen-Belsen can be viewed as ‘lucky’ – but I’m not a camp survivor. Gabrielle gets to have all the complicated emotions about her parents she wants. 

Incidentally, I do feel more emboldened by Gabrielle’s call to arms (“don’t surrender”) than Xavier’s “nooo, that silly crowd doesn’t really mean it”.

Then, the narrative gives old Scott “till death or long distance do us part” Scummers the absolute flimsiest reason to stay in Paris, because ‘the X-Men’ attack a hospital in Magneto’s name. This time the real X-Men try and prevent it, but it is of no avail: they still end up being blamed.

On the other side of the world, Madelyne’s water breaks. Yes, she has to have her baby all on her own. Yes, Cyclops has been hanging around in Paris for like, a week, instead of jetting back home to support his wife. Yes, Cyclops is a terrible husband. Yes, that’s about to be really in character for him. 

ANYWAY! While a pro-mutant crowd is rallied outside the court house (a refreshing change), the prosecutors bring the sinking of the Russian Leningrad-submarine as evidence that Magneto is a criminal. (Back then, drowning Russians was more frowned upon.) Magneto, dramatic bitch that he is, uses this moment to claim the spotlight and the soapbox, and explains why he let himself get arrested in the first place:

If I’d been at that judges panel, I wouldn’t have heard a word of what the silver fox with the massive upper arms was saying. Naturallement. (X-Men 200)

While I love Magneto’s reason for putting himself on trial, I dig this mostly for character development reasons. Magneto finally finishes the noble turn he’s been working on for a while. In the sixties, he was a corny villain; in the seventies, a ruthless antagonist and finally, here, he’s become an idealistic anti-hero. Of course, I don’t think his ploy will work: Magneto has long been found guilty in the court of public opinion and the crowds there don’t really do penitence.

Speaking of the public! They’re under attack! A river boat filled with attackers in robo-suits spawns on the Seine, and soon, all the X-Men are involved in a pretty scenic if expensive tour of Paris.

Would’ve been hilarious if they had then used Colossus to ring the bells of the Notre Dame. Don’t worry about the window! A planetwide Kicktarter will fix that right up. (X-Men 200)

Not pictured: Nightcrawler fighting someone on top of the Arc du Triomphe, Cyclops punching someone down the staircase of le Sacre Coeur en Storm kicking someone in front of the Mona Lisa. (X-Men 200)

Cyclops is the only one who figures out that this would be the perfect moment for a distraction. And it is. The twins strike in the court room, making the already muddled trial a lot more complicated. They call themselves Fenris and they wish to have their revenge on Haller, Xavier and Lensherr, but they have absolutely no problem with killing any and all humans that get in their way.

Together with a fly-by Rachel, Magneto subdues the twins and stops the hateful racist prosecutor from beaning Andrea (the female twin) in the head with a rock. Good guy Magneto! Rachel then picks up a thought from the twins: Strucker. Magneto then quickly figures out that they are the offspring of Baron Von Strucker, a nazi that a young Xavier, Haller and Lensherr took down in Israel. Magneto even absconded with a giant cache of his gold! 

While Magneto checks on Xavier, the Struckers seize that moment to bring down the walls! The Seine rushes in and washes the twins, Xavier and Magneto off into the catacombs! (Oh, right! That's another popular attraction! How could I have forgotten that one?)

The racist prosecutor says good riddance to bad rubbish, once again equating the literal fucking Nazi twins with Magneto, and the judge, who has been presented as Stern but Fair throughout, only has one appropriate response for him:

Exhibit A in the case of: Why Judges Should Be Allowed to Slap Lawyers (X-Men 200)

The Strucker twins are washed out of the narrative, while Magneto saves Xavier. And then finally, finally, the Undefined But Serious Malady that has been sapping Xavier’s strength for the whole year after he got jumped and mutant bashed in the street is getting the best of him. Xavier lays dying.

kiss kiss Kiss Kiss KISS KISS KISSSSSSSSS ( X-Men 200)

That’s when Lilandra and/or Editorial intervene: Editorial because they don’t want to kill off Xavier and Lilandra because she wants to save her lover and/or senses that he’s about to reconnect with his one true love. Lilandra and the Starjammers whisk away Xavier for an undetermined time of healing, leaving a bereft Magneto. He vows to keep his promise to Xavier!

Sadly, we never got the title of Magneto & the X-Men out of all this.

Instead, we check back on the X-Men when they’ve finally returned home to celebrate the fact that Madelyne has gotten a baby! I never realized I would share an opinion on babies with Wolverine, but there you have it: 

Raise your hand if you’d swap places with Rachel in an instant, and you absolutely wouldn’t mind if Kurt used the tail. (X-Men 201)

Love the detail of Logan holding his nose when Kurt ‘ports too close.

Madelyne discusses Scott’s behaviour with Storm, rightfully angry with her husband for not coming to her side during the last few days of her pregnancy. Does Scott even love her? Storm assures her Scott does, but (basically) that he’s also super-duper repressed. (So repressed he didn’t tell his friends he had a brother for like, five years.)

Rachel, meanwhile, greets her sort-of brother. I’m not the biggest fan of Rachel, especially in this era: she’s a fatalistic dourpuss who’s either:

Terrified that the dark and terrible future where she comes from will eventually come to pass;

Depressed that this timeline is happening differently so that her existence is rendered moot.

I was expecting histrionics over the birth of baby Nathan (named after Scott’s dad, who’s currently traveling space with Scott’s surrogate dad, Xavier), but no. Refreshingly, Rachel is actually filled with joy:

I wonder how useful telepathy would be when raising babies. Would you be able to figure out why the tyke is crying, or wouldn’t they have particularly cognizant thoughts? (X-Men 200)

Baseball intermezzo!

We briefly check in with Xavier, who is fully healed! But he can’t return to Earth, because Lilandra and the Starjammers are off in a distant corner of the universe, being pursued by Shi’ar hunters and zzz… Boring Shi’ar politics are only allowed when they barely figure into the plot and keep Xavier away from the main narrative, but that doesn’t mean I’ll actually pay attention.

If you’re wondering where Magneto is, well, the X-Men obviously have a hard time trusting him, so he’s down in the Danger Room, training the New Mutants. (Yo, X-Men, should the former villain really be training your teenage buddies unsupervised?) 

In fact, Magneto’s presence (and Xavier’s lack thereof) prompts Cyclops to tell Madelyne he can’t leave the X-Men! They need him! They need a leader! Storm? Storm can’t lead them, she doesn’t even have powers! Madelyne is basically all, are you that pathetic that you need the X-Men to need you? They’re having it out in a huge, loud fight and we’re all on Madelyne’s side. 

And then Storm, either annoyed that Cyclops called her useless or genuinely trying to help Scott move beyond his repression, interferes. 

I would be so fucking mad with Scott that we’d be having a make-it-or-break-it fight while he’s decked out in his fucking uniform. Madelyne, you’re a saint. (X-Men 201)

I love how Ororo plays this. She even gives him one last chance to back out, but alas. Cyclops doesn’t take it and Storm kicks his ass - even without her powers. One cool move is when she uses his own arm to block his eye beams. She wins the fight by stealing his visor, showing how sometimes having powers can be a liability. (It also doesn’t help that Scott is in emotional turmoil, but that’s kind of on him. Go raise your fucking baby, Scott.)

Yeah, Scott, everyone loves to be put second place to their partner's job. ffs (X-Men 201)

Storm is in, Scott is out. All is right with the world. I hope Scott will love his retirement and that it will be a good long time until we see him again. I hope him and Madelyne will have a very happy, normal life, somewhere in Alaska, and that–

Oh, he’s immediately shuffled off to X-Factor, where he will endure a terrible character derailment?

That’s just swell.

Sigh.

Up next: Nobody likes Magneto! A new spin-off! And… the (first) Mutant Massacre! *dun dun dun*

#x-men #cyclops #storm #nightcrawler #colossus #rogue #wolverine #rachel summers #x-men abridged #abridged x-men #shadowcat #magneto #professor x #gabrielle haller #madelyne pryor #fenris #chris claremont #don romita jr #dan green #rick leonardi

[starshine-selfships]

YOURE ALSO SHIPPING WITH AN ANGEL NAMED GABRIEL!?? TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT!!!! 🩷🩷🩷

GOD GOD YES!! Also fun fact I lowkey knew you specifically would see those tags and got excited to see if you would say anything hfjgrgj

Here's the guy of the hour, the week, the YEAR

(The art with the oranges is my own lmao)

I got the game he's from as a gift for Christmas from a friend who really likes it (and I was like yeah!! I wanna play the game too!!) so everything I'm saying has a grand total of a month and a half behind it, and I feel like the short time duration is important to highlight the insanity here kdjffk

ALRIGHT SO spoilers for the entirety of ultra.kill as a game bc he's integral to the overall plot, but some background before Gabby, the game is centered around a robot (controlled by the player) descending down through 9 layers of hell a la dante's inferno style, bc this particular machine is blood powered and mankind has been completely wiped out (partially by war, partially by something that hasn't been made 100% clear yet), so you're just going around slaughtering everything in sight, with the chunkiest graphics known to man along the way.

Gabe's role here is to step in and try to stop you bc you're basically a walking abomination to all that is holy, Gabe is the angel that sends people to hell and is also the one chosen to carry out the will of god so he's also done a lot of killing to do that; he loses to the machine, gets so mad he curses at you (calls you an insignificant fuck) and then leaves, but we see a little behind the scenes, where we learn he's never lost a fight like this and the rest of the angels call it heresy; they sever his connection with divinity and tell him he has 24 hours to fix everything or he'll die. So naturally, next fight he's pissed as hell, and starts out MAD, yelling and threatening, but as it goes on, he starts having fun and laughing and taunting, and when he loses again, he says he feels relieved and needs time to think. He starts introspecting and starts questioning everything he's been told after he realizes he wasn't feeling hatred, but a sort of passion in the challenge of the fights. He starts asking himself if the angels he followed were actually in the right, and ends up killing them all, accepting that he's going to die but that he'll die not only having been freed from the constraints placed on him, but also having freed heaven itself from the angels that basically held it hostage with their power.

He's also as close to trans as you can get without explicitly calling him such! The devs discussed angels and pronouns in a recent stream and said they wanted angels to have no pronouns if possible, but then realized that they needed to gender Gabe when another character wrote a diary entry about him, so they settled on pronouns as a mark of angel status, which means that he didn't originally use he/him, but picked it up later and continued to use it no matter what; the other angels called him "it" after the took his divinity, but the overall narration still uses masculine pronouns for him, so it comes with the implication that he's still exactly who he knows he is, no matter what is said about him, which. as a trans man. good lord fhsjg the trauma of his arc hits very close to home for me and that was part of what propelled him into the spot he has on this blog.

The other thing that got him here was. and there really isn't any other way to say it. This man turned everyone into rabid animals, I have never seen so many people look at a character and desire him so violently, everyone wants to do unspeakable things to this man and it is so funny hdsjgks his VA will also voice pretty much anything in-character as well, so there's a lot of unhinged bullshit that makes for an absolutely incredible image of this man. He's a little uptight at first and throws a fit when things don't go his way, he seems like the exact kind of man that would be kind of silly, this man would struggle to peel an orange, throw it at a wall, and then later hang his head in his hands about it. This man would be able to speak multiple languages but would somehow mispronounce every single word as he goes. He's an astounding character and he's also kind of pathetic and something about all these factors just. lobotomized me. There is a gay little angel where part of my brain should be and I've just accepted it. I had a gay dream about him one single week after I saw him in game, the grip he has on me is UNREAL and I've fully accepted it.

He gives the very fun aspect of "is not human and has no idea what humans need or how they act", which makes him utterly hilarious to me, I wanna see this man try to preheat the oven, he is trying so hard to cook something for me and he is burning it so badly, he does NOT know what a car is and is frankly too wary of it to even consider getting in it. People also arrived at the consensus that he's probably very tall, it's been confirmed that there are no canon heights in the game, but everyone has agreed that Gabby is at least 7 feet tall and it is the funniest thing on earth to me. Very large and somewhat confused angel who means the best trying very hard in his new environment. Oh my god wait when the developers had that stream I mentioned they also talked about Gabe for a bit in regards to his personality bc in-game he saved someone from being swept away in the river styx (now an ocean after an influx of souls), and they were so grateful they added a fully functional hologram of him onto their ship, saying the lines he'd said when he'd saved them, and the devs said that they'd wanted that to be a glimpse into what Gabriel is like when he's not immediately targeting you as an enemy or fighting, and the specific words they used were "he's kind and loving" and that short-circuited my brain immediately upon impact.

He is The Guy Ever, he's basically trans and 70% of the people who drew him gave him top surgery scars even before the devs talked about gender, he's got religious trauma and guilt, he's too tall and has probably never read a book outside of the bible, he giggles and whimpers, he is considered to be one of if not the most wifeable character in the entire game, he has an official body pillow, I want to put him in pretty little outfits, I want to hold his hand and take him to the beach, I want to pin him against a wall, he is. Such A Guy,, thank you so much for asking me about him he makes me feel so insane hsgjsdl

#fun fact! i typed this up on my laptop and then switched to my phone to add the pics #i uh. i like him 👉👈 this gave me an excuse to infodump about my favorite game ever so thank you!!! #this man would be so so afraid of accidentally hurting someone he cares about; he is so physically strong and it would kill him #he would however. be kind of smug about it. he is purposefully putting things out of reach so you have to call him over #the guy ever.. love this man... i am still fighting for a ship name bc i feel like i can do something so funny #sitting with like. match made in heaven and in the arms of an angel but he's got light motifs #he is literally called ''the light in my darkness'' by someone in game like. it's like there's gay and then there's whatever #this guy has going on #i am having such a major gayboy moment over him and allegedly the body pillow #(which is always out of stock mind you!!) might restock tomorrow and I'm like. it would be so funny to have it 😭 #he makes me feel unhinged and it's so much fun bc no one is normal about him #vs my bug boy that no one else cared about. the whiplash has been absolutely insane 😭 #i love my stupid giant angel he activates every single neuron in my brain simultaneously #okay okay i think. this should be everything. i could talk about him for so long 😭 #star speaks #asks #thank you so much again!!!!! 💖 #i am. not proofreading this kdjfkfk whatever i said is what's getting posted. stream of consciousness 😤

[muzzleroars]

I love that in the Old Testament, mortals couldn't look at an angel's face or God's light, because they will burnout. And in Ultrakill, we can't see Gabriel's true face, but I'm pretty sure it's clearly there, by the holes in the helmet. What a beautiful reference. In my headcanons, Gabriel's face (his true form) is more destructive than the helmeted one. From angelic mercy, he never takes off his helmet.

How is it in your theories?

Oh and what do you think about Lucifer? What would he look like? Should we wait art from you, with him?

P. S. I love you art sooo muchh

aaaaa thank you so much! AND YES....more angel theories!!! my answer will include spoilers from the new update + the arg, so proceed with caution!!

ooooh i love theories on gabe's true face and just why he always keeps it covered, bc there definitely is something under there given those holes in his helm. i have two ideas on it, and one is what you've stated here - that simply seeing his open radiance would cause severe damage and so he keeps it concealed. even in a fight he cannot win, even as v1 bests him twice, he would never resort to removing his helmet nor even consider it. it's not in his nature, nor would he ever favor a victory that relies on something so sure and honestly so cheap (and it would be considered unacceptable by his peers as well, just an incredibly poor show from anyone in heaven let alone an archangel). in fact, he would protect against it, doing what he can to not allow too much damage to his helm, not for his sake but for others.

second theory is that he could remove it without causing harm, but his true form is only to be seen by god and so he never does. i do think it would still be dazzling to look at and would radiate a significant amount of heat, but it's safe to see, even to touch for something like v1, it's just not meant for anyone but himself and god. it goes back to the idea that his identity is not his, that his face is not to be known by anyone because he is not to be known - and this is so for all true angels, none of them know one another's faces. this is the one i tend to go with more often, but it's really just because i do like gabriel allowing v1 to see his face before he dies, to let himself be known even if it's at the very end. there is no god and soon there will be nothing left of him as well...so he wants v1 to see him as he is, to break that taboo and let himself truly be remembered.

now lucifer is interesting...i saw people speculating before that lucifer wouldn't be a part of the game, but now we know he's canon due to the newest testament. and that testament is....interesting in regard to how he might fit into the story. it states how god cast him into hell, but the preceding lines are vague and i'm not sure if they're in reference to lucifer or not. an angel asks god why eternal torment exists, and this angel referred to may be lucifer who was cast out for questioning god (and causing him to question himself) BUT generally the war in heaven that saw satan damned is what creates hell in most mythologies. meaning that lucifer is being mentioned here as an example of one that god has damned while the angel that asks the question may be someone else (obviously first pick is gabriel due to his narrative importance and how the angel is described in the testament - this could be god terrified that he will again lose his brightest angel). BUT ANYWAY....how he'll be incorporated is anyone's guess, though of course he could borrow from dante's satan and that depiction is pretty interesting imo - in the inferno, satan is locked in ice, forever in tears, and has caused the deepest layer of hell to freeze over by constantly beating his massive wings. he is frozen in eternal grief, he can't interact with anyone or anything because he is so deeply buried in his own tormented mind that the outside world no longer exists. his hell is wholly internal, he seems to know nothing of the external hell he and all his sinners are in, how he himself is making it unbearable to them because he sees and knows nothing but his own emotional pain. however, i'm not entirely sure how he might work as an enemy, considering how unresponsive he is (although it could actually be kind of funny as a concept. like that thing just doesn't care and you're trying to kill it lol)

BUT but i saw over on twitter that the arg has been solved, and through that we now know (if the document is correct in canon) that hell itself is sentient. it's bored, the humans came to it and it devoured their knowledge, it analyzed them to mimic their technologies and augment the husks there. it may have some kind of symbiosis at this point with the terminals or they have worked in tandem (i keep thinking now both of them together may have wiped out humans, hell for more to play with, the terminals so that all machines would be forced to enter hell for their shared entertainment). and i have to wonder. where is lucifer in this? is he as dante's satan, ignorant of all this due to his own isolated misery? is he a part of this, a part maybe of hell itself that gave it its mind and now they're one and the same and he is no longer lucifer? is he trapped in it like the rest of the sinners there and used for hell's entertainment too? honestly there's far too much to speculate at so i can't give any definitive answer but i do think whatever the case, lucifer is going to be in a wretched state. at the very least, i've got the nebulous sort of idea that he'll show just how vile a creation hell really was.

#SPOILERS in the tags here too//// #brings a much new perspective to the testament where god says he can't unmake hell #also....with the way hell learns and how it's doing this for fun...... #it's got things in common with v1 too ouuhhhh #SORRY this got so speculative and off the rails a little #the new lore is just deeply interesting imo #and maybe hell will just be the final boss lol #cake answers #ultrakill spoilers

[immortalconclusions]

Vamptember Prompt Day 1: Roadtrip

Concept: AU where Lestat is literally trapped in corporeal hell in MtD (a la Dante's Inferno), and Gabrielle and Louis go on a road trip to rescue him.

This is just fragments, a loose collection of conversations between the two of them on their travels. @vamptember

“Why did you come here, Gabrielle? Surely there are others stronger than me who could be of more help. Why not Marius, or David, one of the elders?”

Gabrielle frowns. “You are his husband.”

“I—what? I beg your pardon?” My cheeks flush hotly, despite myself. 

Gabrielle just shrugs one shoulder, in that casual manner of hers. “Aren’t you?”

I stare at her, open-mouthed. I close my mouth, and try not to seem affronted. Try not to feel affronted. Am I his—what? The words hardly makes sense. Like a double negative, surely that sentence cannot be grammatically correct. His? His—husband. And yet it does, of course it does make sense, I am his and he is mine and it has always been that way, from the moment I first laid eyes on his head of shining golden hair. We were lovers in every sense of the word, we had a child together, and yet, and yet— 

“Are you coming or not? Or do I have to go after my son alone?”

“No—of course not. Of course I—of course I am coming. Of course, Gabrielle.”

The barest hint of a smile tugs at her lips. “As I thought, then. Good.”

***

She speaks to me only in French. There is a faint, if you blink you’ll miss it, Italian lit to her accent. I suppose that having been more or less isolated in jungles for the past two centuries, avoiding contact with other mortals or vampire unless strictly necessary, has preserved her original accent. Mine has shifted subtly yet steadily throughout the ages; we vampires are natural mimics. It just happens naturally, we don’t have to think about it or force it. In the first century of my life, I maintained a Southern gentility to my voice, tempered by a touch of smoothness from the French of my early childhood and the French we sometimes spoke at home at Rue Royale. When I went to Paris, Armand at first called my French accent ‘colonial’, which thoroughly shocked me.  Mingling amidst the people of Paris, and more broadly spending much time in the company of Armand all across Europe, my accent changed once again, and the lilt of the American south only re-surfaced when I spoke English. (Now that I think about it, Armand’s accent was rather like Gabrielle’s. I suppose it makes sense, as In their mortal youth they were once both Italians transplanted to France). 

Lestat’s accent has been even more mutable than mine, however. It had always been unplaceable to me, even when I first met him. He is, as ever, loathe to give anyone insight into his origins. And it’s probably a game to him, to pivot smoothly from one to another and beguile the listener. All part of the web that he so deftly weaves.

“Do you love him?” Gabrielle asks me suddenly. 

I swallow. There’s a hoarseness in my voice when I ask, “do you?”

She is silent for a moment. Then she laughs quietly, a low chuckle in her chest. She kicks one khaki clad leg out in front of her on the ledge. “I am his mother,” she said. “Of course I love him.” She does not, I take note, say how dare you suggest that I don’t?

“We have both abandoned him before,” I say. 

“This is true,” she says. Her words are careful. There is still breath in her that she doesn’t let out, and I know she is contemplating saying more. I am quiet, hoping she will, but the moment passes. Gabrielle is not like Lestat in this way. She will not speak just to fill space in the air. 

“I love him more than my own life,” I breathe. I hear the words as they leave me and float on the air. I take that sound and press it into my mind. 

“You say that because you value your own life and your own freedom so little. Me, I am the opposite. I did not have these things while human, though I longed for them, and so I value my life and my freedom so much that the love I have for Lestat simply cannot supersede them. I would not give up those things, and he would require that I do. He is…he is quite demanding, when it comes to love.”

“He is,” I agree.  

“You know, Louis,” she says. I feel her shoulder brush against mine, almost companionable. “When I was married to Lestat’s father, the Marquis, I didn’t want to have another child. My body had already suffered so much with the others. Six times, six times I had been pregnant and most of those infants died. That is something you cannot understand, as a man. How horrible that is. He forced himself on me, in a terrible, violent way, and that’s how Lestat came to be.”

“Gabrielle,” I whisper. “I am sorry.”

A soft smile graces her lips. “It's some irony that he turned out to be the gentlest of them all." Then she glances sideways at me, and her expression darkness. She frowns pityingly. "At least for a time."

***

“Are you asking me whom I have taken as lovers, Louis?”

I feel the echo of a blush. “I apologize, Madame, if that question is inappropriate…”

“Well. I do not often find myself interested in such things anymore. But on the occasion that I do, I find I prefer the company of women.”

I can’t help but smile at her. I don’t know why. 

She laughs a little. “What, Louis? Is this something you might have predicted?”

“Oh, I don’t know…” I draw in a breath. “Is it something you knew while you were a human?”

She tilts her head and regards me curiously. “I do not know. Other than a few experiences in my youth, it was incredibly hard to tell, as I’m sure you might understand. I was forced into that life, after all. Although if I interrogate those years thoroughly enough, I suppose I can find evidence that it was indeed my preference, even then.”

I sigh. “This is something I’ve wondered before. Why are so many of us…”

“Homosexuals?” That’s something about Gabrielle which is similar to Lestat. She does not mince words. 

“Well—I mean, well…”

Gabrielle shrugs. “We are all chosen for this, are we not? We are a self-selected species, in some ways. Perhaps those who make us are aware of something in us, that even as mortals we have already had some practice at being outcasts. Some intrinsic quality of perseverance, and the strength to hide our nature from those who would not accept it. Perhaps it is this skill which gives us the ability to carry on in this life, such as we are.”

“When Lestat was a boy, did you know...did you know that he was...”

She laughs, suddenly. “Lestat. He was always running after the village girls. I can’t tell you how many times I had to calm their frantic mothers, assure them that he wouldn’t get them pregnant. But then he took up with that boy, the violinist Nicolas, and I knew they were lovers, of course I did. They thought they were more careful than they actually were. They were inseparable, and more casually intimate than boys should be, and Lestat was bold enough even to bed him in his rooms in the Chateau. And they were,” she laughs again. “They were not quiet. Whenever that happened I was sure to try and occupy my husband and my other sons in another wing of the castle, so that they would not discover him. Poor Lestat. I can only imagine what they might have done to him had they found out. And once that happened, I knew, I knew beyond a doubt, that Lestat could never find happiness in our village in the Auvergne. So I determined to help him escape with his love. It was too late for me, I knew that. But If I could not escape, at least he could. If it was the last thing I ever did, I wanted to make sure he would not have the life that I had.”

“Gabrielle. I must know something. Would you have made the same decision, if you had known what was to happen to him when he went to Paris?”

She is silent for a long moment. I notice her lips press together into a thin line. It is, after all, the rape and the murder of her son I have asked her to consider. “Yes,” she says eventually. “Yes, I would have.” 

Then she turns to me, and her eyes are so cold and hard they look like pits. “Would you have taken your daughter to Paris if you had known what would happen to her?”

I falter. I have no words for her then. 

Despite all our differences, the fact remains that Gabrielle and I are irreversibly connected. We both love Lestat, and we both have broken Lestat’s heart. And then there is the trenchant fact that Gabrielle and I have both lost a child in Paris. 

No, not just lost. That is too kind an admission. Gabrielle and I have both sent our child to their death. That, I realize, more than anything else, is the thing that binds us together. 

Ever since I first met Gabrielle in the 1980s, it’s crossed my mind from time to time how wonderful it would have been if Claudia could have met her grandmother. Gabrielle could have taught her so much that Lestat and I never could have. Gabrielle knew what it meant to be a woman-vampire, she knew what it meant to be limited by the constraints of her own body. To be a monster in a frail form. 

Claudia was like Lestat’s mother not only in looks, but also in the way she lived so fiercely, without compromise. Gabrielle is who Claudia might have been. And yet…

***

“Monsieur!” I shout.

She turns to me, strands of her long hair having come loose from their braids and flying in the wind. She grins at me, a huge genuine grin which reminds me of her son. All right, I think. She likes it when I call her Monsieur. It makes her feel more like herself. Perhaps I should continue calling her that. 

***

[After Lestat is rescued]

Gabrielle looks pityingly at the two of us. We must look a sight, with our bloody tear stained faces. 

“You must let the dead stay dead,” she whispers. 

Lestat just puts his head in his hands and sobs. 

***

“Let’s go this way, Monsieur,” I suggest to Gabrielle. 

“Monsieur?!” Lestat looks incredulous. He looks back and forth between us. 

Gabrielle smiles at him and pats his hand. “Do not look so alarmed, my love. It’s not becoming.”

Lestat huffs. “Louis can’t just call you—he—I will not stand for it, Mother. He’s always doing things like this, just to irritate me—”

I roll my eyes. “Relax, Lestat. If Gabrielle likes being called Monsieur, at the very least it’s not your concern and at best you might try to oblige her.”

His lip curls. “You don’t get to tell me what to call my own mother, Louis.”

Gabrielle shakes her head. “Mon Dieu. How did the two of you ever live in the same household?”

#vamptember #roadtrip #vc #iwtv #louis de pointe du lac #gabrielle de lioncourt #not!fic