#satanism is based on good morals

[devildomwriter]

Pact Mark — Bond Placement

What if pact marks appeared in specific areas based on the connection you had with the demon when you first made it? Like the heart is for love and faith, a shoulder means you can lean on them, a hand is someone you made a quick deal with or someone who very much wanted the deal, somewhere along the spine shows trust sense a broken spine can end it all, a hip or tailbone represents something more sexual, etc.

Lucifer

Lucifer’s pact was made out of trust, respect, and let’s be honest—serious sexual tension (you literally have the option to “spend the night” with him right after the pact is made). His pact mark appears on your tailbone, a sensitive place on your body.

Mammon

Mammon’s pact was made manipulatively without a close bond between you two so his appears on the hand like a deal being made in a handshake. This bothers him nowadays.

Leviathan

Leviathan’s pact was made as a deal and following through on it despite the competition weighing heavily in your favor. His appears on your chest as a symbol a faith and good-will (though originally he was going to eat you—this is canon)

Satan

Satan’s pact was made from respect rather than his original intention to just annoy Lucifer. His pact appears on the back of your neck, a place people reach for comfort because you can take comfort in the fact he is genuinely on your side, it’s also a sensitive part on the body, showing you can trust him.

Asmodeus

Asmodeus’s pact was made in complete awe of your strength, plus he thought you were cute and unique. His appears on the back of your hand like a kiss of respect.

Beelzebub

Beelzebub’s was made with a promise to help someone he cared for and his trust you’d follow through. His appears over the heart for the care in which the promise and pact were made.

Belphegor

Belphegor’s was made as a gift and apology, a sign of loyalty. His appears on the back because he will always have yours for as long as he lives.

Possible Pacts

Mephistopheles

Mephistopheles has a developed bond with you at this point. Though he mostly scolds you for behaving improperly, he also helps when you need it or when interests align. He mostly only aids if he’s given something in return but when it counts he will be there. His pact mark appears on the back of your hand as he is a deal-maker through and through.

Barbatos

Barbatos did not develop close bonds with you as quickly as the others. It took a long time for him to completely trust you. His would appear on your shoulder as he is someone you can lean on and trust.

Diavolo

Diavolo cannot make a pact but if he did it would be on the small of your back. He cares and trusts you deeply. He has a very strong influence in your life, someone to guide you forward like a hand on your back.

Guardian Angel Pact

Much like demons who make pacts, an Angel can only become someone’s guardian once in the human’s life span. What if they had guardian symbols?

Luke

Luke may be a child but he’s smart, he learns and grows quickly and he helps you as he does this. He keeps your heart warm and guides you to do what’s right like a moral conscious. His would appear on your temple, displaying the wisdom he’ll bring to your life, especially as he grows.

Simeon

Simeon cares for you very deeply, enough that he’d give up everything for you as we have seen in the game. Simeon’s guardian pact would be on the finger he placed the Ring of Light which saved your life and forever changed his.

Raphael

Raphael is hard to get close to but you can tell that he cares. His pact would be on your temple above the ear as he is a voice to guide you even when you don’t want him to be.

Michael

Michael is pretty concerned about your safety and who you become. He’s simultaneously intrigued by you and protective of you, he’s saved your life multiple times. His guardian pact mark would be near your heart since time and again he’s been the only one who kept it beating.

Reaper Pact

What if Grim Reaper’s had a pact symbol with the humans whose souls they would reap or keep with them?

Thirteen

Since Thirteen has been promised your soul once you pass (unless you end up like Solomon) her reaper pact would appear on the sole of your foot, representing the steps you walk as your life moves forward.

Sorcerer Pact

What if Sorcerer’s closely bonded, or otherwise made pacts like promises to each other? A coven-symbol of sorts.

Solomon

Solomon’s would appear on your forehead, much like a third eye of wisdom.

#obey me headcanons #obey me theory #obey me headcanon #obey me lore #obey me diavolo #obey me lucifer #obey me michael #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me thirteen #obey me solomon #obey me luke #obey me simeon #obey me raphael #obey me barbatos #obey me mephistopheles

[vergak]

I just watched this and I have a hot take. Faith as a game is beautiful in its rotoscoped animation but the narrative... It's derivative and has nothing good to say and once you realize the narrative is pro Christian it all makes sense. The creator said the game was based on the satanic panic but it has zero commentary on it other than "what if it was real and the abortion clinic is sacrificing babies to the wicked matriarch and the priest is righteous and good the whole game" is just.... That's just the satanic panic. You're just doing that again. I was waiting the whole time for there to be some twist or additional intrigue but no. It's completely straight forward and might as well be a spooky chick tract, honestly (which would have been interesting if it was subverted) It's disappointing.

Cool art or not the weird Christian morality play vibes really leave a bad taste in my mouth.

[obae-me]

hiii i saw ur lucifer post and u talked about the brothers having a role in their family, can u elaborate??

Of course! I'd be all too happy to explain! Note: I'm not an expert on this topic obviously, but I do a lot of research on personalities and character archetypes to help build my stories, so it's something I always have on my mind! I highly recommend doing research into this on your own (if you're into this type of thing). Warning: This response might get kind of lengthy, I apologize. I've got a lot of thoughts, but I'll try to break it down as best as I can. Also warning for potential Shall We Date and Nightbringer spoilers.

So, in writing and storytelling, it's commonly told that there are 12 different character archetypes. Those being:

The Lover: Led by the heart/emotions.

The Hero: Overcomes a challenge to save the day.

The Magician: Masters the ways of the universe to use for good/evil.

The Outlaw: Fights against society/control.

The Explorer: The curious one that seeks beyond what they know.

The Sage: The wise one to guide or advise.

The Innocent: Morally pure, naïve.

The Creator: Someone with ambitious goals for their creations.

The Ruler: One with power/influence over others.

The Caregiver: Protects and sacrifices for others.

The Everyman: The most relatable to the common man.

The Jester: The comic relief, but also known to drop heavy truths when it matters.

So, we have 12 characters in Obey Me (not counting the three new additions) and 12 archetypes. And even just glancing over them all, it seems to fit everyone almost perfectly. Of course, most of them are mixes of several different personalities, but all-in-all, from a writing perspective, they all fit into their assigned slots. Also, everyone might have their own differing opinion on where they fit, but these are my personal evaluations of each character.

Starting from the most obvious, we have:

Mammon: The Jester. Clearly written as comic relief in the games. Clearly the jokester of the family. Tougher moments in the game are often diluted by making a jab in Mammon's direction. However, like in many old plays, the Jesters are often the ones that come in and tell the characters or the audience the hardest truths. Mammon has been one of- if not the most- honest characters in the game. And despite being comic relief, it's clear he's got a firm head on his shoulders when it really counts. He is needed to help his family get through tougher times, and he knows how to have fun and make his brothers smile, even if most of it is written at his own expense.

Luke: The Innocent. Most characters in this archetype tend to be children, so he naturally fits that role. He's young, unaware of what the world is really like. Sticking to what he's been taught, afraid of the unknown, and in need of constant guidance.

Satan: The Explorer. Even from the moment he was first created, he knew he wanted to know more about the world around him. He felt there was more to him than his Wrath, more to the world than just what he can recall from Lucifer's memories. His entire character is based around his pursuit for knowledge, his drive for getting out there and exploring and learning about anything he can. He doesn't want to be confined to the label he was made out to be. He's always seeking something else.

Barbatos: The Magician. Even from the very beginning of Shall We Date, we all knew there was more to the butler than it seemed. He's extremely powerful, extremely intelligent, and if he's not quite all-knowing, he's surely as close to it as it gets. Without a doubt, he has mastered his powers, only turning them 'off' or restricting their use at the behest of Diavolo. When everything else fails, Barbatos is usually the one to save the day.

Belphegor: The Outlaw. This type fits him more so in Shall We Date rather than Nightbringer, but I still think he's the best fit for this role. The rebellious youngest, doing everything he can to fight against Lucifer and to get his own way. Plus, of course, the whole bit about quite literally wanting to fight his family and Diavolo for his opinions on the human realm in the first game. He's also Sloth, so no matter what situation he might be in, even if he agrees to do it, he's not going to do it 100% willingly. Or, at least, get some compensation out of it.

Solomon: The Sage. Even though MC being Solomon's apprentice is on the newer side of things, even in season 1 of Shall We Date, Solomon was always giving us little tidbits of advice. He's human, MC is human, he was always guiding us in the proper direction, even if interactions were minimal at the very beginning of Shall We Date. Now, in Nightbringer, the Sage role has come in full force. He's our guide, teacher, human companion, time-traveling confidant, he's it all. Plus he's chock full of the vague mysticism that Sages seem to have in fiction.

Asmodeus: The Lover. I know, it seems cliché, but I had to do some hard thinking before I put Asmo here. If you take away the word "Love" and focus on the aspect of being controlled by emotions, it makes sense. Now, I'm glad Nightbringer has given us a little bit more depth into his character rather than the peppy dramatic demon everyone knows him to be. Asmo is impulsive, almost as much as Mammon. He's caught up in the winds of trends and excitement, but more than that, he's not afraid to outwardly gush over his siblings. He craves love and acceptance, which we see more in Nightbringer, when he's worried he's only loved for his beauty. He's more compassionate than people give him credit for, and he craves that affection back.

Now, for the rest of them, the roles get a little more complex. They seem like they should be obvious, but I think they're a little more switched up than they seem (which is why I started talking about Lucifer's character in the first place).

Again, this is my personal opinion, but I believe that:

Diavolo: The Creator. Yes, he's a prince in title, and yes he's literally 'a ruler' but the trope doesn't quite fit him. When do we really see him demanding something? When do we see him utilizing his power to get exactly what he wants? Hardly ever. What has his entire goal been since the FIRST lesson of Shall We Date? To create a change. To cultivate a better world for all three realms. All of his actions, all of his power is going towards that goal, towards that ambition. This is the most important thing to him.

Lucifer: The Ruler. I almost put Lucifer in the caretaker role, but the ruler as an archetype is defined as a character with the biggest influence over others. Some sort of control or leadership that hinges on their actions an choices. Lucifer is the one who always has to lead the others and tell them what to do, even Diavolo, making sure the prince is keeping up on his own tasks. Even if he is not responsible for an entire kingdom, he is responsible for nearly everyone around him. For better or for worse, his character focuses around control, and all the pros and cons that come with it. He's the one with structure, the one with plans, the one that isn't afraid to say no or turn down ideas.

Levi: The Everyman. This might be completely subjective, but I believe out of every other character in Obey Me, Levi might be the most relatable. Video games, anime, tv, idols, figures, collecting, comics, manga, etc. He covers a wide demographic of things modern people enjoy. That's not even mentioning connecting to people on a mental level. Social anxiety, jealousy, low self esteem, stage fright, hyperfixations, panic attacks, stuttering, general neurodivergence, I know a TON of people in this fandom connect to Levi. Most of the time, he seems more human than even Solomon. A lot of the struggles he goes through are similar to what a ton of other people go through, and thus makes him one of the more popular characters.

Beel/Simeon: The Caregiver. I struggled with both of these two for a very long time. But eventually I came to the conclusion that they both exhibit the same character role. In Shall We Date, it was more obvious when they were in separate dorms, but in Nightbringer, I feel as if we haven't seen Simeon much at all. Both Beel and Simeon exist as characters to help others, and both have lost much because of it. They're both very giving and kind, and while they do of course have their own interests and selfish moments, most of their actions are for the better interests of others.

MC: The Hero. I originally wasn't going to put MC as an option, but it's true. We as the main character fill a role that would be empty otherwise. We are the ones constantly overcoming trials and challenges and overall doing basic protagonist stuff, so it's only natural that the best suited for the role is MC, whether it be yourself inserted or an OC that's been made. But seeing as it is an otome game, everything does revolve around our actions (even if most of those actions have been made for us).

NOW, a second thing I wanted to mention specifically about the brothers and their family dynamic. There is a second list I know of that focuses on a functioning group rather than individual character tropes. Which is what I was discussing in the post you are referring to. They exist better as a group, they are stronger as a group, and the reason why I think they fit together so perfectly as a family is because they all have their "roles" that keep them functioning.

The Driver/The Fun/The Energy: Mammon is always striving for something, always passionate about something. Even going so far as stealing things. He's the energy, the passion, the fire lit under his brother's feet. There's nothing that will stop him from getting what he wants, and I think that in turn encourages his brothers to do the same. Also, Mammon is the second oldest, he works in tandem with Lucifer to make sure his brothers are happy and safe.

The Organizer/The Structure/The Realist: This one is Lucifer. He's the one who keeps the others on task and in line so that the things that everyone is striving for can actually get accomplished. He's the straight and narrow that everyone must walk across, which can come off as rude or controlling, but most of the time he's the foundation that everyone is settled upon. He might be pompous, but he's reliable. Everybody knows that they're safe with him around. Which is essential to keeping everything together.

The Dreamer/The Visionary/The Design: Asmo definitely loves to come up with ideas. He's always trying to come up with something new for his family to do, something exciting, something fun. He works well with Mammon this way, which is why an extra firm hand is required on Lucifer's part to keep the whole thing from getting out of hand. He has an end goal in mind and knows exactly what he wants it to look like, even if he's not quite sure how to get there. He's sharing his dreams and hopes and projects with the others all the time, and a lot of them join in with dreams of their own.

The Pessimist/The Worrier/The Naysayer: While poor Levi might be an anxious mess and a self-proclaimed bummer, sometimes this can be a good thing. Of course, not when it's gone to dangerous extremes, but it's good in some circumstances to think about possible failures. Working on the other hand of Lucifer, they can both see the weaknesses in ideas or functions and come up with backup plans to ensure everything runs smoothly. Because he lacks the confidence to rush into things, he's able to more tactfully plan something out.

The Optimist/The Mediator/The Diplomat: Beel is often the one trying to quell fights between his brothers. Everyone has a special place in their heart for him and it works the same the other way. He knows how to use empathy to relate to all his brothers, and more often than not, he can work them into some sort of compromise. He fulfills a SUPER crucial role in this group/family dynamic and unfortunately he's one of the more underappreciated characters in the fandom.

The Brain/The Expert/The Researcher: Satan always brings his knowledge to the table. Even if Lucifer is implied to be more knowledgeable, the eldest's efforts are more focused on structure and order rather than education. Satan is more than happy to keep his brothers informed, and a lot of his brothers tend to turn to him for answers. And even if they come to a dead end, out of everyone, Satan is the most eager to do the research about the query they're facing.

The Unexpected/The Wild Card/The Outside Look: Belphie is a rather jack of all trades. Depending on what is needed in the moment, he is capable of fulfilling any of these slots. But more than that, he's the clever one that usually blurts out that out-of-pocket response that is the final key to the puzzle. He does things on a whim, when the mood suits him, but even so usually ends up being successful anyway. With him sleeping and (like in the first game) not being around his brothers too much, he can usually bring in a more outside perspective and catch things that the others miss.

(This was so long, I'm very sorry, but this is my full elaboration ^^)

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me nightbringer #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me levi #obey me satan #obey me asmo #obey me beel #obey me belphie #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #obey me simeon #obey me solomon #obey me luke

[indigovigilance]

When They Became Their Own Side

Can I just say that gif-clipping the scenes to make this meta broke my heart all over again so good job JF, NG, MS & DT.

Anyways.

I'm going to discuss the major contenders for "the scene in which Aziraphale and Crowley became their own side," and then tell you when I think it happened, below the cut:

Identifying the Third Side

By the time you clicked "Keep reading" you probably had a scene in mind. I'm going to predict it was this:

Which is an extremely strong contender, though frankly this entire scene is filled with character-trajectory changing lines (Satan bless you JF), so I'll take it as within-error-limits if you picked anything immediately adjacent to this.

The reasoning behind it is solid: Aziraphale knows, on a spiritual level, that he is not on Heaven's team anymore. He fully expects to go to Hell. He's ready.

But he finds out that he's not going to Hell. Despite Crawley's statement that nothing has to change, we know that everything has changed for Aziraphale. Neither truly a part of Heaven nor or Hell, he now knows that he occupies the liminal third space, a realm that has been home to Crawley for quite some time. Yes, it is lonely, but maybe a little less lonely than it was before, or would have been; where once there was only one, now there are two. By the end of this scene, they both know that they are on the same side, a third side, and the pain of separation that entails. But being and knowing are different things, and I would argue that Aziraphale was on Crowley's side before he realized it, which means we have to go further back.

The Revelation of Confluence

Maybe you thought of this:

...and this scene is a great choice, because as of this moment Aziraphale knows (and Crowley knows he knows) that they have a confluence of goals and morals. Every action in the rest of Book of Job is based on the common understanding and trust relationship they establish in this scene. But again, did they need to know that they were on the same side to be on the same side? Their moral compasses would still have aligned and they would still be working for common purpose even if Aziraphale had not uncovered the ruse. I would still say we could go further back.

Establishing Loyalty

Perhaps, trying to beat me to the punch, you went back so far that you went off the page, so to speak, to Before the Beginning:

A rare but solid choice, and entirely defensible. Aziraphale has just met Crowley and rather than ratting him out or letting him face the very just and deserved consequences that the Almighty would exact upon such a divergent, free-thinking celestial, Aziraphale gives him advice to keep him safe. He is protecting the Starmaker from Heaven, which seems to put him on the Starmaker's side in opposition to Heaven. Aziraphale's first loyalty is to his principles, stretching his proverbial wing over the Starmaker to shield him from the reign of the Almighty, and no, that wasn't a spelling mistake. We see as well that the Starmaker, quite explicitly, puts his principles first. In this way the two are similarly defective (in the sense that they are defectors), but their principles don't strictly overlap here. Neither of them are fully on Heaven's side, but it would be a stretch to say that they are on the same side.

More importantly, the Starmaker isn't really on anyone's side; the Starmaker doesn't even seem to be aware that there are sides! Just a project that would benefit from some suggestions, a fresh point of view. So they certainly aren't on Aziraphale's side. But the fact that Aziraphale has tried to protect them is important, and I will reference it later, so hang onto that thought.

Forming Trust

Maybe you're a real dreamer, and your beautiful brain lighted upon this scene:

Absolutely brilliant, tumblrite, because Aziraphale isn't even going to tell God that he gave away the flaming sword to a pregnant girl, in fact he'll lie about it to every angel he encounters until the end of days.

But he told Crawley.

Aziraphale puts his fate in this demon's hands when he shares this; after all, what's to stop the serpent of Eden from ratting him out and getting him into Big Trouble? But the thought that Crawley might betray him never seems to occur to Aziraphale, and it seems that his trust is well-placed, because as we know, Crawley will never betray this confidence.

Taken in combination with Before the Beginning, Aziraphale has both kept secrets for the Starmaker and entrusted Crawley with his own secret. This bilateral trust bond is the foundation that "our side" will be built upon.

Nonetheless, up on that wall, Aziraphale still wonders if he's done the right thing, and takes reassurance that yes, being an angel and doing the right thing go hand in hand. After this, Aziraphale will continue to make choices that betray his principles, opting to instead follow the Will of God (see: the Flood). He is on Heaven's side, and whatever Crawley may be, it isn't that.

I think we can safely say that as of this moment, Crawley (besides being head over heels in love), who is already on his own side, is ready to welcome Aziraphale into that space with him, but that Aziraphale isn't taking him up on the invitation yet.

So while it's true that they have a unique bond as of this scene, it still isn't a side.

When Aziraphale accepts the invitation to the Third Side

Sure, Crowley has been on Aziraphale's side since the moment he invented heart eyes in the Garden of Eden, but Aziraphale didn't join Crowley's side until this exact moment:

We were all a little too busy being pissed at Gabriel for this line to realize that he single-handedly brought together the greatest power couple above or below the Earth.

We are simply not stopping Hell.

What they do is up to them.

Aziraphale has exhausted all his options appealing to Heaven to save Job's children, and in this moment, he realizes (because Gabriel tells him directly) that if he wants to save them, he's going to have to go behind Heaven's back to do it.

Crawley and Aziraphale aren't even in the same room. But Aziraphale, at this moment, has turned his back on Heaven and joined Crawley's team.

Crawley just doesn't know it yet.

But Aziraphale is about to go down there and tell him:

A few other meta-analysts have written on the topic of equivocation: communicating in deliberately ambiguous ways so that the person across from you understands your meaning and any unseen spectators do not. (I personally learned this term from @cobragardens, in this meta, and @ao3cassandraic's discussion of kayfabe is a closely related topic)

We should interpret the ensuing scene (which deserves a meta all its own, like this one by @majortomyourcurcuitsdead) through that lens. "You don't have to" and "I know you" are all, on their face, harmless statements, but are all equivocation for:

We are on the same side.

Crowley is understandably wary, and isn't about to let Aziraphale know that he's been clocked. But whatever pretense that he was maintaining dissolves right about here:

Circling back to the top, yes, this is the moment that they each know they know. But knowing that they were on the same side was not a necessary condition of being on the same side. Aziraphale, when he made the decision that any further appeal to Heaven was futile, and that he must appeal instead to Crawley for mercy, had already jumped into the liminal with both feet.

Crawley will try to deny it, but they both know what's up:

In Summary

This distinction may not be important, but the theme of sides is so strong that this felt like a topic worth exploring.

The argument that Aziraphale enters and exits the third team is also a very defensible one; he will denounce and then rejoin Crowley across the millennia to come. But the first time he makes the decision that he will work with Crawley to collude against Heaven and Hell occurs at the very moment when Gabriel tells him that that is the only remaining option if he wants to do the right thing.

Which raises the question: was offering Satan a contract to terrorize Job, assigning a morally ambiguous demon to execute it, and sending in a renegade angel to thwart it all part of the Ineffable Plan?

I'll let you decide.

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

[nightgoodomens]

The whole irony and point of Good Omens is that God, the “good”, kills people and plays with their lives like it’s a funny game because he has a silly bet with Satan to see if people really are that blind and will love him no matter what, while Crowley, “the bad demon”, fallen, casted out of Heaven, is the one bringing little birds back to life and is entirely horrified at the prospect of children and animals dying and does everything in his power to not let it happen.

Heaven and Hell mean nothing.

It’s just Crowley who always had his own morals who knew what’s right or wrong. Not good or bad based on whatever someone up there decided.

He never belonged to either Heaven or Hell.

His own side. Always his own side.

#good omens #crowley #ineffable fandom #good ineffable omens #ineffable husbands #ineffable boyfriends #ineffable dumbasses #ineffable idiots #ineffable lovers #aziraphale #aziracrow

[takeme-totheworld]

I think what bothers me the most about the "Aziraphale doesn't have religious trauma" argument (which I've seen from many many different people, this is not aimed at anyone in particular) is that it's usually based on the idea that religious trauma = trauma based on being taught to believe in something imaginary, whereas in the GO universe God and Satan and Heaven and Hell are all real.

And like...yes, that's true and I understand where the people who say this are coming from.

But "being taught to believe in something imaginary" is actually not the basis for a lot of what I saw in Aziraphale that I identified so strongly with along religious trauma lines.

You know what things are a hundred percent real?

The church I was raised in and the heavy sway it holds over its members.

Institutional Christianity in general and its influence on the world in general and my country (the US) in particular.

The indoctrination I was subjected to, which was not only about the alleged existence of God, Satan, etc, but was also very much about inculcating us all with a very specific (and harmful) moral framework, and an extremely narrow-minded and tribalistic view toward the rest of society, and intensely harsh, self-punishing rules for being A Good And Righteous Person.

And all those other things, especially the self-punishing moral strictures, have stuck with me far longer and been much more difficult to excise from my brain than the fear of Hell, which I was actually able to dispense with fairly quickly once my brain made all the necessary "oh, this is all bullshit actually" connections.

So when I talk about my personal religious trauma, I'm talking about the trauma I experienced at the hands of a religious institution, which actually encompassed a much broader category of things than "being taught to believe in a scary imaginary mythology." Yes, that was absolutely part of it, and yes, that part was used as the basis to justify the rest of it—but in my case, it was in some ways the least impactful part.

When I see Aziraphale clinging to the belief that Heaven is "the side of truth, of light, of good," I see myself desperately clinging to my love and trust in the basic moral goodness and rightness of the church even when it was measurably harming me. When I see Aziraphale saying things like "it's not for us to understand" or all the weird propaganda about the virtues of poverty in the Edinburgh episode, I see myself parroting real-world ideologies I'd been indoctrinated with growing up, even in the face of factual evidence that life was actually much more complicated than that.

I was taught trust and loyalty toward a deeply harmful institution, I was taught to accept whatever that institution told me was the truth without questioning it, I was taught a bunch of factually wrong and deeply fucked up paradigms about how the actual world of human beings was supposed to work, and I had to work incredibly hard to unlearn all of that. And those are the things I see in Aziraphale that I identify with so intensely and so painfully. And all of those things are also religious trauma.

Anyway, I'm not trying to start an argument about this, just to articulate where I'm coming from. If you are a person who also has religious trauma, who doesn't personally see your experience reflected in Aziraphale, it's totally valid to say that! But to categorically state that it's therefore not religious trauma, or that religious trauma is the wrong metaphor for anyone to use here...just maybe don't do that?

If there's one thing that's become obvious to me in this fandom it's how many different lenses this story can be interpreted through, and it makes me feel icky to see the one that most resonates with me repeatedly and specifically called out as incorrect. By, genuinely, lots of different people, over and over again.

#good omens #aziraphale #personal #religious trauma #religious indoctrination

[lesbyers]

To put it very simply, I’m just saying one of the defining fears of the 80s being the AIDs crisis and November 1983 being just under a year after GRID (Gay-Related-Immune-Disease) was defined it makes it interesting that the demogorgan is a monster that makes you sick or kills you after you spill blood; often from unclean cuts, and targets queercoded characters like Will and Barb. Will who is called gay the entire show and Barb who dies because she's the only person at Steve's house that doesn't have (straight) sex (Tommy + Carol and Steve + Nancy). To add to this Will coming back sick and weak to further attacks and being bullied by being called a zombie (a creature that spreads a sickness to people through physical contact) not to mention all the implications of abuse with the mind flayed in s3. And this era-based homophobia is carried into the satanic panic era that begins in 85-86 based on reports of sodomy and is tackled in s4 with the next queercoded character; Eddie not only being the target of this moral panic but being introduced reading an article written about this panic that directly mentions sodomy. If Stranger Things is emulating the cultural fears of the 80s (it is and it’s very good at this) and you can see this with the Cold War and Russia in season 3 and the threat of nuclear war (with the Russian’s weapons building and the town cracking in pieces in s4) then it stands to reason that the AIDS crisis and the rampant homophobia in the 80s would be portrayed as well.

#very simplified but i wanted to sum up my thoughts #but just know this has been cooking for like two years if not more #st #mabel post #stranger things #will byers #barbara holland #barb holland #eddie munson #stranger things theory #tw aids #byler #(target audience for my posts) #byler tumblr #byler endgame #byler theory #steve harrington #nancy wheeler

[depressed-fanperson]

Ok so here is my theories for Good Omens season 3

☑️More Angel Crowley flashbacks (possibly his status/name as an angel unveiled[and here are my theories on that])

☑️ “Love of My Life” by Queen as Crowley proceeds to, as Castiel put it, “I found a liquor shop. I drank it.”

☑️ Aziraphale fumbling around kinda in heaven. Like he’s just kinda really awkward up there and doesn’t really know how to do things or he just changes things to have like a couch or something idk

☑️ Muriel in the bookshop (not really a theory so much as a hope) Also Muriel finally changes her clothes (I will cry if she’s still in that all white uniform even I have limits)

☑️ Crowley going to Nina and saying “Give me Death”

☑️ The Bentley acting sad/this AMAZING post

☑️ Another kiss? Maybe? Hopefully?

☑️ a happy ending

☑️ 1941 (and possibly even more apology dances) Edit: ok so I saw this post that made me realize that 1941 was the Nazi scene and that’s probably why Aziraphale did the apology dance after the whole zombie thing but I still believe that Aziraphale is gonna do an apology dance in season 3 I feel it in my rib cage

☑️ ARCHANGEL AZIRAPHALE WITH BEARD???

☑️ this post by @ineffable-cliffhangers

☑️ I really wanna know what Neil Gaiman was talking about in this post

☑️ I am desperately hoping for this post by @feathered-serpents to happen

☑️ scenes with Aziraphale in Heaven that make you cringe with second hand embarrassment(not in a negative way more in a ‘you’re amazing and I treasure you but please don’t do that’ way)

☑️ ok but you know how Aziraphale does a super accurate drawing of Gabriel? What if he does a bunch of drawings of Crowley in heaven because he misses him so much

☑️ In season 1 we see a lot of Earth (obviously) and In season 2 we see plenty of Hell, but only a sneak peak of Heaven, so we’re definitely going to see more of Heaven, especially with Aziraphale being supreme Archangel there’s finally a reason to.

☑️what happened in Edinburgh when Crowley went to Hell?

☑️Aziraphale claims to have fooled Nefertiti, and mentions several times all the magic classes he’s been to, so maybe more history of Aziraphale and magic?

☑️ Aziraphale actually TELLING or Crowley somehow finding out that Aziraphale loves his eyes.

☑️14th Century???

☑Another reference to that 'lovely Chinese fellow' who ended up 6 feet under. I feel it in my bones.

☑️In the Shakespeare scene Crowley mentions that they’ve done the Arrangement “dozens of times before.”, so probably something in between then.

☑️God is gonna come back for narration God will come back I know she will because in s2 they were figuratively leaving the Garden and now that Azi is going back (😢) we will see more of her.

☑️CROWLEY STOPPING HIMSELF FROM CALLING AZI ANGEL

☑️Roof top scene, I swear to god there better be a roof top scene

☑️The big plane, with Jesus, and the security agents/angels; the 2nd coming. This is basically confirmed lol but I have a strong feeling that one of the Christian Big 3 will be there. (God, Jesus, Satan)

☑️In the scene where they're talking about guns and Aziraphale said that they "lends weight to a moral argument; I think.", and then Crowley snickers. He's laughing when Aziraphale says 'moral argument' and mutters it under his breath and starts walking away and Aziraphale is slightly annoyed/embarrassed and I'm sry I've started reading into everything I feel like it might have some sort of connection.

I’m going to save this and maybe add to it as time goes on then come back and fill in any checks that were right. If I’m basing any of these theories on incorrect facts or you’re confused on some of them please tell me and I’d be happy to make the corrections and further explain:).

#imma fucking die #good omens #crowley #aziraphale #go2 #good omens 2 #good omens season two #good omens 3 #neil gaiman #good omens headcannon #season 3 theories

[give-soup-please]

having given good omens a rewatch in preparation for season 2, i've been doing some thinking. and i caught something this time around that i haven't noticed on previous watches. (keep in mind, i'm basing this info on the tv series because i'm in the middle of re-reading the book as well, and i'm not all the way through it yet)

most main characters had a theme about defiance or defying expectations. not just our beloved angel and demon.

crowley and aziraphale are obvious about this, they directly defied heaven and hell's orders in order to save the world. they broke away from heaven and hell and began to be on their own side.

and we have to talk about adam as well. defying satan, choosing to save the earth, choosing his friends over his heritage. he's told directly by gabriel and beelzebub to start the war, and he outright refuses. pretty obvious defiance there.

but i also noticed that anathema burned the next set of prophecies. this is after newt says 'you don't want to be a descendant your whole life do you?' or something to that effect. the prophecies seemed to be a burden to her more than a joy, seeing as her entire life had essentially been planned out for her. and so she ends up defying the idea of predetermined fate for her own lineage. she sets herself free in this way.

i noticed that newt wound up being romantically involved with someone who is technically his enemy, because he ended up with a witch. it's noted that newt's and anathema's ancestors were enemies, and that newt's ancestor burned anathema's ancestor at the stake. so newt defied expectations by romantically pursuing anathema, despite the generational feud. (if i can call it that.)

Shadwell too, who spent the majority of life being a pretty hateful guy, ended up romantically involved with madame tracy, despite the vitriol he had for her. and he goes against the teachings of his own army in order to do that.

madame tracy decides to give up offering her services, and chooses to be with shadwell. to me, it seemed to me that she wasn't happy with her career path, and found it somewhat irritating on occasion if her expressions were anything to go by. she chose her own happiness over pursuing a career that didn't really seem that fulfilling. i think i can make an argument here that she defied shadwell's expectations to keep going just the way she was pre-apocalypse. but the main point here is that she did something extremely difficult. happiness can be a hard choice to make, and a complicated one. but she did it, and she seemed pretty glad by the time the episode was over.

so what can we learn from these characters about free will, making choices, and the act of defiance?

aziraphale and crowley can teach us that we are not bound by strict moral laws, that morality itself can be relative, and that if two options suck, try and look for a third option or a way out. essentially, we get to choose our own side.

adam can teach us that we are not bound by our genetics and can make the choice to be better than our parents. we can choose to separate ourselves out from bad family members. just because our parents were bad, doesn't mean we have to be as well.

anathema can teach us that we don't have to be bound by tradition and what our ancestors did. we have the choice to abandon the worldview and throw off the shackles of expectation and predestination. we can break the mold, if we want to.

newt can teach us the same lesson there, i think. with the added addition that love has an ability to overcome certain barriers.

shadwell can teach us that it is possible to make a choice to let go of hatred and bigotry. (though, let's be real. that guy has a longgggg way to go. still, he can be credited for having a decent start) and with less hatred in his heart, he's got a better chance at being well rounded.

and madame tracy can teach us that it's never too late to pursue happiness.

it's late, i don't know how much sense this is all making. but i can't help but notice that good omens is a lot of things to a lot of people. and during my rewatch, i saw that there was a lot of focus on defying expectations, making better choices for yourself and others, and pretty clear themes on free will.

choices, choices, it's all about the choices we make and how they define us.

and as someone who has struggled with defying harmful narratives, who has parents who are not good people, as someone who has wrestled with ancestral expectations, who has struggled to cast off internalized hatred due to things that are not in my control, who is trying so hard to make choices that will lead to happiness...

good omens is an exceptionally meaningful work.

and tonight, as i'm in an overthinking and overanalyzing mood, i feel like i'm so close to grasping something important here about myself. about what it means to be human. there's something here about choosing your own path that i'm just on the edge of understanding.

an epiphany just on the tip of my tongue.

how apples are worth eating, and the cost of free will might have been worth everything that came after, sure.

but something more personal as well. something about how we can be more than what we're told to be.

i'm actually getting a headache trying to parse everything out. (yes, really)

these characters, all from wildly different backgrounds, with different experiences and traumas, all making the same choice in different ways. the choices that work for them.

hard choices, difficult choices, but ones that lead to joy, to safety, to love...

bravery, courage, doing your best when the chips are down and the world is ending (or at least, when it feels that way)

i'm trying to put all this information together in a way that makes senes, because i feel like i'm on the edge of something groundbreaking in a personal way.

if i figure it out, i'll let you guys know.

#good omens #aziraphale #crowley #anathema #newt #madame tracy #analysis #late night ramble

[teecupangel]

Just binge watched Lucifer on Netflix and now I present to you:

Desmond Miles survives 2012 (Desmond Miles Lives truthers, where ya at?), gets the hell outta dodge from the temple with new POE powers, and gets hired to work at Lux in LA. Meets his new boss and both of them are like, "!"

Lucifer instantly knows this boy is hella special because, damn does his soul reek of Isu Bullfuckery. (Headcanoned God and his Angels are sort of a rival interdimensional species to Isu, and God is the one who supposedly gave humans free will... idk I never paid attention to bible study anyway.)

Does the whole, "what do you desire?" schtick and Desmond, due to POE powers and Isu Bullshittery, wonders 'why the fuck is actual Satan here in LA?'

I imagine a platonic bromance relationship between these two. Y'know? 'Cause on the one hand we have the Reluctant Ruler of Hell and on the other hand the Reluctant Savior/Sacrificial Lamb of Humankind.

Lucifer could offer safety and protection from whoever Desmond is hiding from, while Des can be his bartender/bouncer/very much-needed BFF. And come on, I betcha good ole Lucy boy (and Maze) would absolutely enjoy dragging a couple a lot of Abstergo people Vidic down to Hell for multiple crimes against humanity(i.e. kidnapping and unethical human experimentation which results in mental instability.)

I’m all in for this idea. Desmond and Lucifer being bash brothers, yes please. Just imagine the chaos these two would get to because they're both morally dubious? XD

Also, just imagine how much faster Chloe would be finishing her cases with Desmond’s Eagle Vision? She would have two cheat codes with her this time.

Anyway, I’m going to focus on how we can integrate Lucifer into AC more in this one.

Before anything, just a sorta fun trivia: Lucifer has a little cameo in Crisis on Infinite Earths and he talks to John Constantine, implying they have some sort of history together. John Constantine is played by Matt Ryan who voiced and mocap’ed Edward Kenway XD

We will be keeping this contained to Lucifer though but you can totally add a John Constantine cameo and set it during the time Desmond is working in Lux (and you can totally add Desmond feeling some sort of longing and sorrow because John Constantine sounds and looks familiar to his Bleed of Haytham Kenway)

Alright, with that little trivia out of my system, let’s talk about how we can push Lucifer into AC canon.

(You might not have paid attention to bible study but my religion teacher was so boring he had to implement a rule that there should be no other notebook/books related to other subjects on our table during class because we kept doing other subjects when he’s lecturing us soooooo I was bored enough to read the bible he made us bring every class. I'm sure he'll be proud I'm using what I learned in his class for fic related things XD)

Let’s talk about God in Lucifer’s show. He’s obviously based on the Judeo-Christian God. Now, we have no confirmation if that said God does exist as an Isu in Assassin’s Creed BUT we do have a leeway we can use to make it easier to integrate the characters from Lucifer into Assassin’s Creed.

The Templar Order uses the phrase “May the Father of Understanding guide you”. Now, this is based on the Isu triad that pops up a bit.

The one we’re more familiar with is the Capitoline Triad where Tinia is known as the “Father of Understanding”.

However, there is an earlier iteration of this triad.

The Isus who created humans.

And the one to hold the title of ‘Father of Understanding’ during that time is Yaldabaoth.

From Wikipedia

Gnosticism presents a distinction between the highest, unknowable God, and the Demiurge, "creator" of the material universe.

Gnostic Christians considered the Hebrew God of the Old Testament as the evil, false god and creator of the material universe, and the Unknown God of the Gospel, the father of Jesus Christ and creator of the spiritual world, as the true, good God.

If we use the statements above and the fact that Yaldabaoth is considered one of the creators of mankind, we can set up God as another Isu scientist who had an alternate idea of a workforce but his idea was pushed aside and Yaldabaoth’s project with the other two Isu scientists moved forward.

God, in anger, created his ‘children’ together with the Goddess. And, to complete the triad, we’ll add Lilith as an Isu as well instead of Adam’s first wife. The three of them (although Lilith has a more advisory role to this entire thing and is actually working on her own workforce idea) created the ‘Angels’, trying to one-up all the data they could get from Yaldabaoth’s project to make them better than humans.

They are. Unfortunately, that meant they were also… shall we say… ‘freer’ than humans as well. God knew that the Isus would see them as defective and, not only that, many would find what they have done as some form of betrayal and being stripped of their rank and status would be the lightest sentence the Isu would give them. So God and Goddess kept the Angels a secret, and passed them off as human slaves while Lilith went her merry way and continued to work on her personal workforce.

And now we come to the whole ‘gave mankind freewill’.

So many like to point at Lucifer as being the serpent that gave Eve the forbidden fruit. Let’s use it. Lucifer, being one of God’s first children, takes an Apple of Eden and presented it to Eve who used it to start the Human-Isu war. Lucifer takes up arms to join the humans.

Things get super messy when they find out about the impending Solar Flare and God and Goddess decided to add their consciousness to a device called ‘Heaven’. (In this setup, Goddess!Charlotte would be like a more ‘questionable’ setup of an Isu consciousness overwriting a human’s consciousness). Their children (who did have the kind of body that would survive a solar flare and were more or less immortal) were tasked with guarding ‘Heaven’.

Except Lucifer who, as punishment for starting the whole Human-Isu war, was tasked to guard a device called ‘Hell’. He guarded it together with Lilith’s ‘children’, the demons.

What these two devices do will be a mystery but they are connected to the Gray in some way and to the Calculations. Perhaps it’s even the actual database of all the Calculations and, by that very definition, it housed all the knowledge, memories and emotions of every living thing in the world.

What defines them as a person.

What defines their soul.

And, from there, we can just integrate all Celestial things in the show as this entirely more advanced workforce’s ‘code words’. (And the devices are connected and that’s why God could boot the Goddess into hell)

By the time 2013 rolls around, Lucifer already owned Lux for a few years now and Desmond applies as a bartender as he’s had enough of all these Assassin-Templar BS to last him a lifetime. He saved the world, this is his damn retirement plan.

Lucifer sees him and goes ‘how interesting, an actual human-POE hybrid.’ while Desmond sees him and goes ‘why does he feel… familiar?’ because his Isu genes and POE-hybridness is giving him signals that Lucifer is definitely not human BUT he ain’t an Isu too.

He’s… Isu-adjacent.

Like Maze.

So Desmond continues to work there and Lucifer finds the perfect time to do the whole “what do you desire?” and Desmond’s POE-hybridness just kicked in.

We’ll make it in this fic that all the Apples are connected to one another and they have a ‘shared memory space’ so Desmond ‘remembers’ that this is the smug bastard who gave the Apple to Eve.

And, because of his limited knowledge of religion, he goes “Why the fuck is actual Satan here in LA?!”

(side note: some count Satan and Lucifer as two different beings but, in this case, we’ll just make Satan another name for Lucifer)

So now they both showed their hands. Lucifer just blatantly showed he wasn’t human and Desmond just showed he has Isu-related knowledge.

Cue an entire night of trying to get drunk while talking about what the fuck happened to them (with special mention to their daddy issues and the whole reluctant ruler of hell and the ‘more-or-less pushed into it’ savior/sacrifice)

At the end of their heart-to-heart, Desmond becomes Lucifer’s main confidant and slowly becomes his BFF. Lucifer uses his mojos to keep Desmond hidden from both Assassins and Templars.

Also… it’s not just Abstergo’s that in his shitlist. William Miles is there as well, that’s for damn sure.

Another subplot we can add is that Lucifer ‘asking’ Chloe to look into Abstergo just so he can, you know… ask them… what they desire?

Other unorganized notes:

What do we do with Juno? I set it to 2013 so Desmond dealt with Juno before peacing out to be a random bartender. Hey, if Ubisoft can do it in the comics, we can take out Juno with one paragraph… maybe even one sentence.

Desmond could see through Maze’s shapeshifting. Whenever he uses Eagle Vision, he sees Maze’s true form.

Actually, Desmond’s Eagle Vision has been powered up by his POE-hybridness that he sees EVERYONE’s true form. His only description of Lucifer’s form? “Bright as fuck.” (this also means Desmond knows Michael by 'sight')

Also, Amenadiel? He looovvveess Desmond’s Shirley Templars.

Lucifer’s deals? He has a connection to Hell and, because of that connection, he’s connected to the Calculations as well. In this case, any deal he makes impacts the Calculations slightly so the person making the deal would get what they want.

Also, this:

#desmond being bff with the devil #lucifer having an actually uncomplicated honest (platonic) relationship for once #the one who suffers is maze #a lot #assassin's creed #desmond miles #lucifer #lucifer netflix #lucifer morningstar #teecup writes/has a plot #fic idea: assassin's creed #ask and answer #i am still sad constantine didn’t get a 2nd season #liked matt ryan since criminal minds

[midnight-in-eden]

This is what I meant in this post about being an angry atheist. I was taught to think anger was bad. I was taught to place moral value judgments on emotions. And anger like angry atheists have was especially bad, because it was linked with pride.

And you know what? It’s true!! My anger is my pride saying I should never have been treated like this. My anger is my self worth saying I am worth more than this, and not because of my Father, because of me. My anger is my protectiveness for myself and people like me saying The abuse and trauma have gone on too long.

For my ancestors who left their homes and walked on bloody blistered feet for a lie. For the girls in my family tree who were treated like cattle, collected in a herd for their husband. For the people of color denied access to exaltation and eternal families through the priesthood and temple ban, for the queer people who are still denied those things. For boys at BYU who underwent electroshock and induced vomiting “therapy” for the crime of being gay. For every child abused by a bishop or other leader. For every woman who wanted a career and gave it up because she was told her only priority was having and raising children. For every young man who felt pressured to go on a mission or face rejection and soft shunning from his community. For children who were denied baptism because their parents were gay. For everyone who was ever traumatized by a violent and invasive temple ceremony they weren’t warned about ahead of time. For all the people in poverty who faithfully gave their mite even when it was the only money they had. For every non-believing kid who’s sat through self righteous lectures from emotionally abusive parents. For every person who was ever coerced to sit in a closed office with an adult man and confess masturbation or anything else sexual, especially the children who were made to give these “confessions.” For every girl who grew up feeling like her body and sexuality were a dirty and shameful thing because of all the modesty culture and law of chastity lessons. For all the kids who grew up scared by the story of Abraham and Isaac, for all the kids who felt like their faith wasn’t good enough because they knew they couldn’t do what Nephi did to Laban.

I’m angry about historians who were excommunicated for telling the truth. I’m angry about people excusing racist and sexist scriptures. I’m angry about men telling me they’ve read about polygamy and came to terms with it, so I should too. I’m angry about queer people being called enemies of the family and signs of Satan’s increasing power. I’m angry about being manipulated. I’m angry about the abusive relationship I was taught to have with God, how I was told I would never make it without him, that I shouldn’t trust my own understanding but only what God (and his prophets) said, that I should be grateful he gave me this opportunity to have trials, to suffer, because it would turn me into someone better, someone he could accept living with him. I’m even angry for the girls who sadly took out their second pair of earrings based on the whim of an old man.

Yes, I’m angry! Aren’t you? Isn’t it wonderful? Isn’t it such a relief, such a gasp of fresh air straight into your lungs, to allow yourself to be angry about things you know are wrong?

#exmo #exmormon #apostate #ex christian #ex religious #my own thoughts #angry atheist #deconstruction

[pinkandpurple360]

I have nothing against people who like the plotline idea of Vaggie being a former Angel from Heaven but I absolutely dislike the idea of it for these two reasons:

It's an Obvious Cliche/Many Coincidental Happenstance in HH. Like we already have a 'Main Female Character' Princess Charlie who is the sole child born from the two most powerful Sinners in existence, with no older/younger siblings in sight and who is born close to 'modern times.' Said Princess also has a lover in the form of a 'Human Sinner,' a whimsical decision made canon at the last moment due to Viv liking the idea, said 'Sinner' not being nervous or sweat-dropping over who her girlfriend is or how much danger they will be in.

2. I prefer for Vaggie to remain a Human Sinner for the fact that Vaggie would be somewhat of a teacher to Charlie with helping her to better understanding Human Sinner nature, redemption in general and for Vaggie to slowly overcome her Sins whilst on the journey.

Of course none of this matters since coming into the fandom once the HH Pilot turned 1 year old, I already this series was going to turn into shit with how Helluva Boss's storyline is and it's terrible execution of subject matters. Not to mention Vivziepop and the fandom's severe allergic reaction towards criticism.

To be honest this was always really obvious to me. The X over her eye, she carries the exterminators spear. Her strong sense of morality making her not fit in heaven or hell, her choosing love over it all, especially the love of another woman? Personally I like it better than ‘poor low class person x rich powerful person’ ship number a thousand. It makes them a bit more equal.

I’m wondering if maybe Vaggie did used to me mortal, and when she died she became an exterminator ? It’s never really explained. I mean, Adam and Eve were humans and how they ascended to something else.

Lastly though you’re so right…it’s a damn shame. I feel like the HB storyline is only salvageable if they stop the stolitz plot because it’s absolutely poisonous. And it needs to adapt its comedy away from the sex talk and cussing, or at least just have it be the way Blitz talks while everyone else rolls their eyes.

I’ve been analysing it enough that I can actually see the subtle storyline they’ve been weaving all this time, and it’s good, but their execution isn’t great unless you do the work to analyse the reasons behind it, and it spends wayyy too much time foreshadowing events instead of just…letting the events happen. The first half shouldn’t be Easter foreshadowing the second. And there are so many character and villain set ups that you could write a season based on that alone. We still have to get to Envy and we still have to meet Leviathan, Satan, and Belphegor. So I think when we get to wrath next that’s when we meet him and I swear to (xyz) he better he an absolutely hideous evil monster. After that the show can end and has done it’s job.

#helluva boss critical

[dizzy-izzy-in-a-tizzy]

The reality is this: A lot of people don't want to analyze Edward's behavior. They want Ed and Stede to be happy, and for good reason! Because holy shit, season 1 was our show, and they were our golden boys.

And unfortunately, a large part of the population isn't living their life based on what's moral or right—they're okay with that friend who makes one too many jokes at the expense of women, or that buddy who they'd never let date their sister, because conflict is difficult and the status quo is easy.

Edward is really fucking likeable, especially if you're hanging onto the nostalgia of season 1 and the way he can act helpless (despite having full agency over his actions).

Edward is also an abuser, full stop. Pretending he "would never hurt Stede" does not change canon, where he fully admitted his intent was to hurt Stede, his romantic partner. That's not even considering his actions towards the rest of the crew that he traumatized, or (satan help the antis) Izzy.

I've been in leftie communities for a long time, and everyone is anti-discrimination and pro-survivor until it's their buddy on the chopping block.

That's when you learn whose principles are worth a damn, and whose exist only at their personal convenience.

#ofmd #edward teach #edward teach critical #edward teach is an abuser #ofmd meta #abuse

[ultraericthered]

So, Majin Buu....

Thinking back on the original Akira Toriyama Dragon Ball run, it's pretty clear to me more than ever that Majin Buu, the final major villain of the series, the Big Bad in the story arc the series ended on, was by far the weakest Big Bad out of all the powerful, action-based Big Bads, making him second weakest overall next to Commander Red. Yes, even Tienshinhan was an overall more satisfactory main antagonist compared to how Buu got by the end. And for the longest time I just sort of took that as a basic truth without really examining why it was. I'd thought the main reason for it was that the concept of him as this ages old evil that was only just now being pulled back into the present day limelight to be the new all-powerful threat to the universe to surpass the last all-powerful threat to the universe was really cheap, as it felt like Toriyama lazily re-doing the premise of King Piccolo only more ancient and a threat to even the gods of this world's cosmology and lore. But if I'm being totally fair and honest, that shouldn't necessarily be a definitive restraint on Buu from reaching villainous greatness. After all, Buu is also a great concept for a villain and an undeniably original, distinguished, uniquely Toriyama one at that. He so easily could've worked. Why didn't he?

This year of Toriyama's passing, it finally dawned on me - Majin Buu suffered from the same syndrome that would years later plague Xehanort from Kingdom Hearts. The syndrome of being a single character yet having so many different variations of him that feel like completely separate characters that makes it hard to reconcile them all as a single entity or to understand who that single entity is at the most fundamental level and what they're all about personally and in terms of narrative function. And indeed, it is only Buu who suffered this problem. Piccolo Jr. felt like the spawn/second lifeline of King Piccolo, Vegeta as a Great Ape still felt like Vegeta, Freeza in all of his transformations still feels like Freeza, Cell is still Cell in all three of his forms (even with his brainpower being more easily expended in the Semi-Perfect form), the Zamasus all feel like different variants of Zamasu, Moro, Mechikabura, and Demigra always feel the same, etc. Yet Majin Buu feels like he becomes four or five different people over the course of his saga, which gets either unnecessarily lengthy or incredibly rushed depending on the medium you're looking at it in!

So here's basically how I feel about the Majin Buus:

Fat Buu, AKA Mr. Buu - Toriyama first created this character to be the Majin Buu, a complete subversion of expectations for how this all-powerful evil demon was built up versus how nonthreatening he appears to be once we meet him. The simple-minded, infantile, playful, whimsical and sweets-craving nature of this Buu is both the source of much comedy and becomes a source of tension that enhances the dread you feel whenever the deep malice he harbors within him comes out on display, as the tonal whiplash of this silly, chubby pink blob getting mad and doing horrible things is unnerving. But in addition, we're made to feel some sympathy for Buu since Babidi treats him in an abusive, exploitative way and it becomes clearer that for all the malice he has and all the wrongs he commits, Buu has the mind of a small child who does whatever he wants to do for fun in total innocence and naivete, not knowing or understanding what the morally right things to do and the right way to live are, and why things like killing other living creatures is morally wrong. The stuff with him and Mr. Satan is some of the best content in the entire saga, and it feels right that he joins the family and becomes one of the good guys in the end, even if not much really comes of that in future installments. I give him an 8/10, to me he's the Best Buu.

Evil Buu, AKA Slim Buu - I mentioned the deep malice within Buu that he was born with, and this guy is the physical personification of it that Fat Buu conjures out from him during a breakdown where his desires are clashing with what he now knows about right and wrong. Visually, he's the exact 180 of Fat Buu - lean face and skeleton-thin body, open eyes that are black with white pupils, dark blue cape rather than a purple one, and he's the only Buu who's not pink but is instead gray. But he's the Mr. Hyde to Fat Buu's Dr. Jekyll, another side of the same person. Were Fat Buu to defeat him, he'd conquer his inner darkness, but instead this thing defeats and swallows Fat Buu, signifying that the inner darkness has won out and will change Buu's shape into something stronger and more evil. Ultimately this Buu has no personality to speak of besides "evil" and is only there as a plot device to up the tension and stakes again by becoming the new eviler version of Majin Buu who has no qualms disregarding the lessons he'd learned from Mr. Satan. However, he does get some extra points for killing Van Zant. 4/10, Basic Buu is Basic.

Super Buu - I really like this Buu yet am really mad at him and have a bone to pick with him. 'Cause he feels so easily like the Buu I'd love the best after Fat Buu, owing a lot to a truly stellar introductory period, solid voicework in the anime, and much like Cell, some cool and catchy theme music from Bruce Faulconer in the US dub. He starts off so cool: popping his neck, yawning, sagging, screaming, and cackling maniacally in the course of seconds after he's formed, showing devastating power and killing Smitty in the most graphic and disturbing way, flying all the way to Kami's Lookout just to fight and kill his enemy, distinguishing himself from the well-spoken likes of Freeza and Perfect Cell by speaking very simply, responding to Piccolo's demand of him by simply and efficiently killing off the Earth's human population, nonchalantly turning a furious Chi Chi into an egg and not even bothering to eat her (he kills her by stepping on the egg), and retaining all of his hilariously childish dumbass qualities and sweet tooth yet possesing a raw, dangerously savvy cunning beneath his brutish exterior. And yet through all this, he it doesn't really feel like he's properly motivated in evildoing other than "he's evil", and more problems start to pile up once he and Gotenks are going at it in the Time Chamber dimention. For every golden moment he gets, he gets some ill-concieved moments (though in fairness, he shares them with Gotenks and Piccolo): it's he who instigates the "wall-breaking/plot-breaking scream". But not even that could ruin him. No, when he really does the unforgivable is when he turns into the next Buu. So he's a 7/10, should've been Buuetter but wasn't.

Mystic Fusion Super Buu - Is just Fusion Super Buu when he absorbs SS3 Gotenks and Piccolo, the "Mystic" is added when he absorbs Gohan. Yeah, the problem is immediately apparent in that premise. Since when could Majin Buu absorb anyone and add their Ki power to himself? That was Cell's shtick, Majin Buu was all about transforming his prey into sweet treats and eating them up. He got the ability to take other fighters and their powers into himself from right out of Toriyama's ass! On top of that, he now looks hideous, with a long head antenna like SS3 Gotenks' long hair, a nose and facial features like Piccolo, and he trades out between Piccolo's, Gotenks', and Gohans' clothes, and neither look good on him! On top of that, his characterization changes as with Piccolo's intellect, he starts speaking in complete sentences and elloquently articulating everything which is just....no. Don't. This is killing Buu's unique vibe! On top of that, him defeating and absorbing Gohan is an utterly cruel slap in the face of any fan who might've actually wanted to see Gohan's ordeals and new power paid off by him being the hero to defeat Buu in the end like such a set-up would normally entail. And on top of all that, he's just a bore now. The whole section of the story where he's around has always failed to interest or excite me, he's just not fun to look at, watch, or listen to, and his existence is what derails Gohan's arc, brings Goku and Vegeta as co-heroes in the spotlight, and stretches things on the barren Earth out longer than necessary, including a gross, unwelcome trip inside of Buu's body! Near the end he loses his shirt and shows his character again, and we get the welcome return of classic Super Buu for one last stand-off, but that only bumps his score to 2/10. Buuuuuuuu, you suck!

Kid Buu - Buu's final and also primal form. He's not only the most powerful, destructive, and maniacal Buu, but this is Majin Buu as originally concieved in-universe. When Bibidi first conjured him into this realm, he was like this - a living, breathing force of pure chaos who lives only for the slaughter and devastation that he finds fun. And he does work as being just that, retaining Buu's mixture of being comical yet also terrifying and dangerous. Almost everything that concerns him and the section in which he's the opponent/obstacle to destroy is perfectly fine, aside from Goku being the hero rather than Gohan and how drained you feel from all the earlier Super Buu antics, it all works and makes for a properly tense, thrilling and epic final battle against a worthy final boss for this saga. The issue with Kid Buu can found within his character set-up and in the way he gets implemented into the saga. We'd been given nothing foreshadowing his existence as the OG Majin Buu until after Super Buu has reverted to him. We had no reason to think that Fat Buu wasn't the default for Buu, nor any reason to think that this new Buu would be that much more powerful than the Buus that preceded him, making Kid Buu feel really, really cheap. For that matter, how does removing Fat Buu from inside of Buu revert him to Kid Buu yet Fat Buu expunging the Evil Buu from out of him didn't have that effect on either Buu? And as is said in this post, "Kid Buu’s defeat doesn’t feel as satisfying as it should because we barely spent time with him compared to Super Buu", and that when Kid Buu comes along to take Super Buu's place, in the manga it's in the last graphic novel volume of the series, the very same that began with Vegito VS Mystic Fusion Super Buu, while in the anime it's the point when "you’re about ready to scream “Oh my Kami, END already!” given how fatigued you are of watching Super Saiyans fighting this pink monstrosity by then. Ultimately, Kid Buu's a 7/10 - Buu Bye and guud riddance, Janemba did it better.

Uub - The reincarnation of Kid Buu, who before getting killed had been Mystic Fusion Super Buu, and Super Buu was previously Evil Buu before eating Fat Buu, who Evil Buu came from making Evil Buu and Fat Buu two different variants of the same being, so that guy gets reincarnated due to a wish to Shenron by Goku even though Mr. Buu is still alive as a separate being....yeah, the dissociative identity of Majin Buu and the flimsy idea of all forms of Buu being the same character really collapses here, and fittingly on a character whose very existence and the reasons for it, in-universe and out of it, are completely nonsensical. If Goku really wanted to keep Majin Buu as a sparring partner but only if he was a better person, why not start training Mr. Buu so that his power could grow to match Kid Buu's? And are we really expected to believe and be okay with the idea that the successor to Son Goku ends up being not Gohan, not Goten, not even Pan, but the hastily introduced in the final two chapters reincarnation of the last villain who we were also only just introduced to in that very volume of manga? I can't pretend to know exactly what Toriyama was going for when he wrote the epilogue in those last two chapters and came up with Uub, but if that was his way of leaving the door open for Toei Animation to continue the franchise on their own terms, it's pretty telling that GT had no interest in picking up on this thread and rendered Uub completely worthless, and we've seen no more from Uub in the DB continuations we've had since. Uub and the ending associated with him were just a total Uuber failure. 1/10.

#Dragon Ball #Dragon Ball Z #manga #anime #Majin Buu #analysis #opinion #criticism #Mr. Buu #Evil Buu #Super Buu #Kid Buu #Uub #they wasted a perfectly good character #Akira Toriyama #anti majin buu

[vanilla-cigarillos]

Voodoo and Hoodoo: What’s the Difference?

If you live in America, you have undoubtedly come across the terms of voodoo and hoodoo. What is the difference between the two, and how does African (umbrella term) culture play a role in each?

Voodoo

(A.K.A. Vodou, Voudou, Vodun) Voodoo is a religion that originated within Africa amidst the Atlantic slave trade. Its structure comes from a mix of traditional religions of West and Central enslaved Africans (Yoruba, Kongo, and Fon). Once brought to the Hispaniola island, Voodoo saw influences of the culture of the French colonialists who controlled the colony of Saint-Domingue (Freemasonry). 

Many Haitians who practice Voodoo also practice Roman Catholicism, not seeing a contradiction between the two systems existing simultaneously. Characterized as Haiti’s “national religion”, Voodoo is one of the most misunderstood religions in the world. Voodoo is monotheistic, giving the teachings of a single supreme God. Believed to have created the universe, this entity is called Bondye or Bonié. For Vodouists, Bondye is seen as the ultimate source of power. This perception of God is also seen as remote, not involving itself in human affairs. While Vodouists often equate Bondye with the Christian God, Vodou does not incorporate belief in a powerful antagonist that opposes the supreme being akin to the Christian notion of Satan. 

Vodou also holds the belief of many beings known as Iwa, a term that varies in its translation from “spirits” to “gods”. These beings can in many ways be equated to Christian angels in many of its cosmology. The lwa can offer help, protection, and counsel to humans, in return for ritual service. Each lwa has its own personality and individual correspondences. They can be either loyal or capricious in their dealings with their devotees, with many believing that the lwa are easily offended. When angered, the lwa are believed to remove their protection from their devotees, or to inflict harm. 

Vodou also teaches a perspective of the human soul, which is believed to be divided into two parts (both of which exist within the head of a person). One of these is the ti bonnanj ("little good angel"), and it is understood as the conscience that allows an individual to engage in self-reflection and self-criticism. The other part is the gwo bonnanj ("big good angel") and this constitutes the psyche, source of memory, intelligence, and personhood. Vodouists believe that every individual is intrinsically connected to a specific lwa. This lwa is their mèt tèt (master of the head). They believe that this lwa influences the individual's personality. At bodily death, the gwo bonnanj join the Ginen, or ancestral spirits, while the ti bonnanj proceeds to the afterlife to face judgement before Bondye.

Vodou does not promote a dualistic belief in a division between good and evil. It offers no prescriptive code of ethics. Rather than being rule-based, Vodou morality is deemed contextual to the situation.

It is very important to respect Vodou as the closed practice that it is. While misunderstood through various contextualizations, it is a religion felt deeply by a group of people who use it to guide their lives. Those outside do not have the right to infringe upon said spaces. 

Hoodoo

It is important to understand that Hoodoo does not describe a religion. Rather, Hoodoo is a set of mystical beliefs hailing from along the Mississippi River with influences from Indigenous herbalism, African spiritualities, and Christian influences. Practitioners of Hoodoo are called rootworkers, conjure doctors, conjure man or conjure woman, root doctors, Hoodoo doctors, and swampers.

Many Hoodoo traditions specifically draw from the beliefs of the Bakongo people of Central Africa during the Atlantic slave trade. After their contact with European slave traders and missionaries, some Africans converted to Christianity willingly, while other enslaved Africans were forced to become Christian which resulted in a syncretization of African spiritual practices and beliefs with the Christian faith. Enslaved and free Africans learned regional indigenous botanical knowledge after they arrived to the United States, including another influence to what would become known as Hoodoo. 

During the transatlantic slave trade a variety of African plants were brought from Africa to the United States for cultivation (okra, sorghum, yam, benneseed, watermelon, black-eyed peas, etc.). African Americans had their own herbal knowledge that was brought from West and Central Africa to the United States. When it came to the medicinal use of herbs, African Americans learned some medicinal knowledge of herbs from Indigenous peoples. However, the spiritual use of herbs and the practice of Hoodoo remained African in origin as enslaved African-Americans incorporated African religious rituals in the preparation of North American herbs and roots.

Hoodoo was also a key part in black revolution in the United States. Enslaved women would use their knowledge of herbs to induce miscarriages so white owners wouldn’t be able to take their children. There were also examples of hoodoo being used to poison and kill white slave owners. The Bible itself, in conjunction with Hoodoo, was used in slave liberation. Free and enslaved people could read the stories of the Hebrews in the Bible, and found them similar to their situation in the United States as slaves. The Hebrews in the Old Testament were freed from slavery in Egypt under the leadership of Moses (held to be a conjurer in the beliefs of many who practice Hoodoo).

Hoodoo is also a closed practice, requiring initiation for practitioners. 

#hoodoo #voodoo #african culture #religion #history #spiritualism

[papandau5566]

Hi,I want to start this by saying that I have some problems with some satanists on tiktok,I am a Luciferian Satanist myself and I dislike those people,I believe that they are fake Satanists,I want to call them out on this but before doing so I wanted to know what would other Satanists think,to make sure that I am not the only one who believes that they are posers(poser may not be the appropriate word to describe them but I dont know what else I should call them). These people claim to be theistic Satanists and believe in Baphomet,I don't know if there are other Satanists who believe in Baphomet but I think it's pretty absurd to actually believe in him,in my eyes he is just a symbol of duality that Satanists use.

This makes me think that they don't even do research in what Theistic Satanists and Luciferian Satanists believe in,from things like claiming to be Theistic Satanists but will also believe in Lucifer and claim that diabolism doesn't belong into satanism.

It's also kind of amusing how they will tell others that they actually believe in satan but then will use the 11 satanic rules and 7 satanic sins from the Satanic Bible to try and make Satanism look good,I think that this is wrong for more reasons,using paragraphs from the Satanic Bible while being a Theistic Satanists is stupid because every type of satanism holds different types of beliefs and morals and trying to make Satanism look good for non Satanists is just stupid because we don't need to explain ourselves and our beliefs to anyone and we don't need their acceptance or anything.

These "Satanists" see Satan/Lucifer how Christians see their god,claiming that you hold beliefs in Lucifer and that he is an loving god who offers you comfort is just stupid,Lucifer offers enlightenment,not comfort,and saying stuff like "Satanism is not evil and dark" is stupid,especially if you are a Luciferian one,evil and darkness are parts of our belief but they are just not wrong and them saying that you must respect everyone's beliefs but only if they respect yours,I believe that it's pretty stupid to respect Christianity,Islam and Judaism as a Satanist,Satanism is about freedom,enlightenment,rebellion and to always question the higher authority,its supposed to be hateful towards religions who are based on faith and have a history of multiple genocides and oppressing women's.

Before ending my rant I want to say that no,I will not harass those people for being "posers",I will most likely create an account in which I will call them out and post about what Luciferian Satanism is.

#satanism #luciferism #satanic #hail satan #satan #blasphemy #ave satanas #satanist #theistic luciferianism #theistic satanism