#[He] didn't even show up for the punishment - he sent angels to do it for him

[chiss-ticism]

I'm having Nod thoughts again:

Do you think Caine remembers how things really were?

He's doomed to walk the Earth eternally, lest he accept his actions as wrong and genuinely seek repentance for it, but how clearly do you think he remembers in Modern Nights? To my knowledge, I don't think it's ever explicitly implied or stated that he'd be exempt from the fact that memory is a fickle thing at the best of times, which is to say nothing for folks as long lived as the Cainites.

How much of what isn't muddied and blurred by emotion can he truly recall? Do you think he remembers the way Abel's face lit up when they'd joke around like brothers are want to do? The proud looks he must've gotten from Eve when he'd taken up gardening? The grief-stricken look Adam gave him before exiling him to the lands of Nod?

This is, of course, to say nothing of his time in Enoch and the squabbles his Grand-Childer got themselves into in the First City.

How can one truly, genuinely, repent if you can't even properly remember parse the events that have got you here in the first place after a certain amount of time has passed? A swirling miasma of emotions and trauma mudding the waters, diluting any chance at reconciliation. God In the WoD was never portrayed as infallible - [His] laundry list of fucks ups and overwhelming displays of neglect being more than enough to back up that point - but the more you delve into it, Caine's punishment seems more and more like an afterthought for something that had as many ramifications as it did. He never had a real shot at redemption, no matter how many emissaries [He] sent. Something something "the game was rigged from the start" something something

[sky-high-standards]

Yandere!!!Banished Prince!! x Female!!! Reader

He was the heir to a powerful kingdom and was a very cruel and ungrateful man and treated everyone terribly and pretty soon he was banished by his own parents and would only be able to return after a year in hopes he would learn to be humble.

He was furious but couldn't do anything about it he was sent of with 80 gold coins and some food.

The first few days he spent all his money and the "friends" he made cast him away he was starving and wandered into the forest in hopes of finding food when he saw a cute little cottage and collapsed at the door.

He woke up in a soft bed and was startled to see you taking care of him you where so gentle and beautiful that he thought you where an angel at first.

It turns out after he passed out you had come home from work at the bakery and saw him in his dying state and quickly took him in and had tended to him for about three days now.

Once you saw he had woken up you introduced yourself and asked if he was feeling alright.

The prince did nothing but stare into your (eye color) eyes captivated by your beauty with a faint blush on his pale skin.

When he was snapped back into reality he introduced himself as the crowned prince of this kingdom and was surprised when you burst out laughing.

You thought he was just sick and delusional but he tried his best to get you to believe him but gave up after a while.

Being the kind person you are you invited him to stay with you if he helped around the house. At first he refused and went on about how a prince such as himself is far too grand to be doing dishes and cleaning the house but agreed when you threatened to kick him out.

You where horrified to see the dishes sloppily done and the house a mess when you can home and you where amazed to find out that your snobby guest didn't know how to do basic housework.

After showing him the ropes he got better at cleaning and even learnt how to cook.

He soon started to fall in love with you as the days went by to the point where he would jump for joy when you came home.

He literally became like a househusband and prepared a delicious dinner for you and insisted on feeding you and giving you a massage when you came home and got all pouty when you would refuse.

He was like a lovesick puppy and would get worried when you came home late and would get extremely jealous when you brought friends home and would note to himself to get those pesky friends of your executed for stealing your attention from him.

Pretty soon a year went by and he was allowed to come back to to palace and he tried to convince you to come to the palace with him and become is queen but you just laughed like you always did and said yes as a joke.

You where very surprised to see that your guest had gone and even more surprised too see royal carriage and a messenger saying the prince had asked for your hand in marriage and would take you by force if you refused.

When you saw the him you explained how you where joking and that you didn't like him like that he did not take it well and forced you to marry him.

Somehow you managed to escape the day before the wedding with the help of your family and friends and everything was fine for about a year.

Now here you are with your friends and family all killed because according to your new husband he's all you need and they had to be punished for trying to take you away from him.

"My Darling you have taken care of me now let me take care of you, I'm all that you need one day you will understand that."

[lenaellsi]

Something I've been thinking about: Crowley was not sent to kill Job's children.

(Under the cut for length; this got away from me.)

I think we can safely infer that Hell actually did send him to destroy the goats. He has his permit ready when Aziraphale shows up, and even cheekily calls himself one of Satan's "diabolical ministers." I wouldn't be surprised if he was sent to supervise the family during the bet as well, reporting in on whether Job seems to be losing faith. We don't know whether he volunteered for the assignment or whether he was chosen because he's one of Satan's favorites, but it's clear he's meant to be there in some capacity.

But it's specifically mentioned in the basement scene that Satan sent a storm to kill the children. Not Crowley--a storm. And that means that Crowley is in that house against orders. He's not just refusing to do something terrible on behalf of Hell, he's actively working to thwart them. That's a step further than "a demon who goes along with Hell as far as he can" would imply, and it has to be incredibly dangerous for him to meddle in something Satan has such a keen interest in. So why help these humans in particular? He can't save them all--he knows that. He knows that better than anyone. (Nothing lasts forever.)

And there are a lot of reasons Crowley might choose to help Job's family, despite the risks. We know from the Flood that Crowley is disturbed by the idea of killing children just to make a point. We know that Crowley loves humanity, and that he dreads their eventual, inevitable destruction. We know that Crowley is brave enough to stand against Hell when it counts, even when it could mean his own death.

But I'd argue that in the case of Job and Sitis, it's personal. He's angry about this bet because it cuts to the core of the reason he Fell in the first place. This isn't about getting one over on Hell; it's about God. And we know that because the moment Crowley intervenes at the end, the moment he runs into a room full of archangels with no plan and no allies except an angel he's still not sure he can trust, is the moment where Sitis snaps.

Sitis is surrounded by impossibly powerful beings, the only human in the room save for her husband, who still refuses to fault God for anything. She is distraught, raging at the unfairness of it all, the callousness of the angels who have shown up to congratulate her even as she drowns in grief for her children who will never grow up. (Plenty to say here about star nurseries, about wasted potential, about futility and senseless endings--but this post is too long already). So she says so, because what else does she have to lose? If my children are dead, then I will curse God--

Enter Crowley. That never ends well, he says, barging in with a big silly grin, but we've seen Crowley as an angel, now, and we know what he means: I know how that ends. I know how it ended for me. I won't let you Fall the way I did.

This is especially interesting because earlier in the episode, Crowley seems to be nudging Job the other way. I burn with fury, Job says, and Crowley says of course you do. (That's just how it started for me.) Crowley is encouraging Job to see things his way, zeroing in on the righteous rage he thinks he's hearing, because truth and knowledge are important to him. Crowley has never been able to stop himself from offering the apple, even when he knows the stakes. (See you in Hell.)

But then Job turns his anger inward. If he's being punished, he reasons, if he's so horrified by what must be God's will, then he must be the one at fault. (I lied, Aziraphale sobs, to thwart the will of God!) And Crowley is visibly confused, maybe even a bit frustrated. What do you mean? What have you done? And you know he wants to say, You didn't do anything wrong.

Neither of us did.

Because he knows. He's read the contract. He knows that Job is a good, kind man, and that he's done nothing at all to provoke God except to be the perfect pawn for Her game with Satan. He knows that if Job objects to the obvious injustice he's suffering, he'll be damned for failing a test he had no knowledge of and no hope of passing. And of course that feels familiar. How could it not?

The Job contract is as much confirmation as Crowley will ever get, from a God who answered his first questions with a Fall into boiling sulfur, that his suffering has never been 'deserved.' God is willing to take the best of the humans, Her special favorites, the ones his stars were built for, and cast them into damnation at the first sign of doubt. So when he Fell--

You didn't do anything wrong, Crowley is thinking, as he sees Job in his despair and Sitis in her fury and the children in their fear and Aziraphale in his guilt. And even if you did, even if you weren't perfect, even if you were angry and resentful and full of doubt, how could any transgression be worthy of this?

I'm sure plenty of people have talked about how the flashbacks in S2 are from Aziraphale's point of view, and course the purpose of that is to show the audience how he comes to his decision in 2x06. We follow Aziraphale closely this episode, from when he first hears about the contract to when he decides to lie to the Supreme Archangel's face. It's an important story beat for him, one of the high points in his character arc. This episode isn't about Crowley, really--it's about what Aziraphale thinks of Crowley, and about Aziraphale's long journey to discovering his own sense of right and wrong outside of Heaven's dogma.

But that means that we never see Crowley accept the assignment to kill the goats. We never see him worry over the danger he'll be in if he refuses. We learn that he's going against Hell only when Aziraphale does. Crowley isn't the kind of person to stew in self-reflection--he spends millennia doing his best to outrun his own emotions--but even if he was, we as the audience aren't often privy to those thoughts. Crowley is as closed-off to us as he is to Aziraphale for most of S2's flashbacks.

But we still get more than enough to understand exactly why Crowley is so disgusted by the offer to return to Heaven. Because the one scene in the Job minisode that happens before Aziraphale shows up, and one of the only scenes in the flashbacks that takes place from solely Crowley's perspective, is this speech:

You should know why you’re about to die. God has abandoned you. The god who claims to love you, who demands your praise, has given you up to be destroyed.

Bad luck.

[vidavalor]

The Gabriel's Trial Video

Say you're The Metatron...

Why would you send your minion Saraqael to make sure that Crowley was shown the footage of Gabriel's trial and then let him go back and tell everyone about it?

Especially when the only person who comes out looking great in it is Gabriel and the rest of you just look like the evil fucks that you are?

What is the advantage to The Metatron?

It's this bit:

The Metatron knows they'll never convince Crowley that they're not evil (because they are) but if their temptation of Aziraphale is going to be successful, then Satan is going to have to make it look genuine by letting Aziraphale go talk it over with Crowley first.

As we've seen before back in 1.01, Satan can possess and control Crowley against his will if he is able to look at him. He has to be there in the room with him-- and, indeed, he does just that again in 2.06.

He takes over Crowley and tells Crowley that he's The Metatron, which also effectively makes Crowley incapable of considering the idea that this being is anyone but The Metatron for the rest of the season. Satan then has Crowley identify him to the angels as The Metatron-- all of whom cannot recognize him because they are not familiars of The Devil.

The Big Villain Music shows up in the moment that he forces Crowley to stay in the chair and not accompany or follow them so he can tempt Aziraphale:

Like we said, though, in order to have a shot at convincing Aziraphale that he's really The Metatron and that the job offer is real, Satan will have to leave Crowley and Aziraphale alone in the bookshop to discuss it. Satan can watch them-- and does-- but he can't possess and control Crowley unless he's looking at him directly. It's the biggest potential hurdle in Satan and The Metatron's plan. As a result, it matters to Satan and The Metatron what Crowley thinks the risks of the Supreme Archangel position are because if Crowley has a solid argument against that could dissuade Aziraphale, it will be harder for Aziraphale's temptation to be successful.

Showing Crowley the Gabriel trial video was meant to convince him of something that is actually true, which is that the Supreme Archangel position comes with immunity from being sent to Hell. It was to try to allay Crowley's fears about Satan getting ahold of Aziraphale which, as we know, is one of Crowley's worst nightmares-- maybe even his very worst.

Crowley does see that it wouldn't benefit The Metatron to send The Supreme Archangel to Hell... However, Crowley, wisely, doesn't believe that Gabriel's old job doesn't come with immunity from death, though, because his "oh, you are too cute" response to Muriel's whew! reaction to The Metatron's stated punishment for Gabriel was to lightly punch their arm in a way that showed he thought them naive.

Crowley believes that if The Metatron ever got his hands on Gabriel again, he'd try to kill him, but he is convinced from the trial video of the one, true thing that The Metatron's ever really said, which is that it is a political liability for him to keep casting Supreme Archangels to Hell left and right. Doing it once gave him a good story to use to keep the angels in line but more than that and it becomes apparent pretty quickly that The Metatron is the problem and not the angels and that threatens The Metatron's power as it could lead to a revolution.

The Metatron and Satan depend upon one another being in power to keep their own power so they've teamed up for this one so they can get revenge on these rebelling angels and demons and finally get their Armageddon on.

The Metatron is assisting Satan's temptation of Aziraphale by showing Crowley this video.

What our villains have greatly underestimated, though, is Crowley's ability to find something new and terrifying to have an anxiety attack over. They didn't anticipate that he have been stressed half to death for the prior week over a thing that doesn't exist that he and Beez made up ages ago-- The Book of Life. They're just like ok, we showed Crowley the movie, that should do it. They achieved their goal in proving to Crowley that anyone who has the position of Supreme Archangel won't be tossed to Hell because that much is true.

Crowley is just too fixated on The Book of Life being the threat to notice that there's no surety that the job offer itself is genuine.

Between the video and Satan influencing Crowley to believe that he's really The Metatron, Satan and The Metatron have tricked Crowley into believing that the job offer is genuine and that Aziraphale won't be at risk of being tossed to Hell...

...which is pretty ironic, considering that's actually exactly what's happening.

[aziraphales-library]

hi!! stumbled across this page just after season 2 came out, just wanted to say thank you for all the work you do, you're all amazing!!! i was wondering if you had any more fics for the #hell is terrible tag? thanks again !!! <3333

Hello. Here are some fics to add to the #hell is terrible tag. Mind the tags and warnings on some of these!...

The Storm's Red Ruin by EdosianOrchids901 (T)

After being tortured in Hell, Crowley returns to Earth. Unfortunately, he’s so badly injured that he’s on the verge of discorporation. Can Aziraphale save him?

Feathered Downfall by fractalgeometry (T)

Crowley doesn't usually fuck up this badly. Hell isn't usually this mad. It hurts. He didn't think he wanted Aziraphale to show up at his house afterwards, either, but maybe...maybe that part is all right after all.

An Unexpected Meeting by lydiagwilt (T)

“First thing’s first,” said Aziraphale, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. “Let’s get you somewhere warm. I know a lovely cantina in the south quarter. Open fire in winter (is it winter? I do lose track), plenty of wine. Here,” he extracted himself rather painstakingly from his fur-lined cloak. “Take this. I don’t need it.” Crowley finally raised his eyes, looking up with a strange half-smile that sent a shiver of apprehension down Aziraphale’s spine. “It’s not that kind of cold, angel.” Or, Aziraphale finds Crowley in a dungeon at the height of the Spanish Inquisition.

Have To Take You In by Snowfilly1 (T)

Crowley wants to go home. Wants it so badly he can taste it. Wants to go home, have the walls around him and the warmth, the light, the barriers that keep everyone else away.His feet are soaked through his boots; the grass around the bench has long since been trampled to liquid mud. The rest of him is just cold. He’s too drunk to even make an attempt at a miracle. Aziraphale is here at least. Or, Crowley is in Hell's good books, and that's a horrifying place to be. Aziraphale offers what comfort he can.

Morose Delectation by Unuora (M)

The nightmare began when Crowley woke up in Hell. To most people that would seem like an expected place for a nightmare to start, but to Crowley, even with all its various trappings, Hell was mostly just a place. “We have a new assignment for you, Crowley,” Beelzebub says. There’s an ominous hum in their voice. For the first time in many eons it sends a shiver down Crowley’s spine. “Directly from the top. We think you’ll find it interezzzting.” Beelzebub snaps and then they’re gone. In their place is an angel. Not just any angel. In their place is Aziraphale.

Your Other Half by anyofmany (T)

Crowley is sent to the dungeons of Hell to execute a captive angel -- who stalls him with an absolutely insane story about averting the Apocalypse and a grand romance between the two of them. Hell's just taken Crowley's memory of it all as part of their punishment. How can Aziraphale gain Crowley's trust when everything about the truth is too fantastic to believe? Can he trust who Crowley is without any of the best memories of his life? And what will it take to save them both?

- Mod D

[viviagriche]

Regef/Rezef H. (Platonic)

Name: Regef/Rezef Hills 

Character Use: Regef/Rezef Hills 

Role: Royal, Older brother of our MC

General/Theme: One-shot, Fluff 

CW: N/A 

Gender Reader: NB! MC 

Manga/Manhwa: "The villainess is a Marionette"

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶༶•┈┈୨♡୧

◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡ okay at first this man hates you the day you show up to the castle with his father. But he didn't hate you more than his father's suggestion. The suggestion was to use it as a pawn and throw you out. He doesn't mind that but you were only 4 and couldn't understand what that means. Cayena even agrees with Rezef you were so young you already been through enough pain you don't need more. They feel bad for you. Even though they don't like you at first. 

◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡ It took them a couples of month to give in. On your cute act even though they don't want to admit it was kind of cute. You followed them like a duckling around the castle. They agree to keep you around because you make their day better. The maids were shocked  whenever you treated everyone around him with respect. Every maid calls you an angel that is sent from above. Now have the young sir respect and attention. 

◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡ You keep everyone in check, you also made a club for hating on my father for no reason, Rezef and Cayena definitely join the club cause they hate him as much as you did. Cayena Just watches as her father gets pranked every everytime by Rezef would make you take a picture of his reaction lol you both got punished and have to write a full on sorry letter. Rezef didn't write one and MC did but with Cayena.  

◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡  When Rezef have a bad day he goes to your room and have a tea party and then when you  are tired he just cuddles with you for the whole night. You guys would play together and Cayena would watch in awe as you and Rezef just dress up and act sassy lol. You guys are sweet heart and could both make Cayena day whenever she is sad or she has been yelled at by her ugly mean  father. 

◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡ Cayena and Rezef started enjoying your presence even though it not much but for you it like a gift. They would never let you go. Also, never let you get hurt if you ever get hurt or they hear you cry they would hurt anyone who made you cry or you are in pain. 

◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡ You are the sunshine to their world. If anyone bullies you or says something mean to you, they are never seen again. Not many people want to mess with you or they get hurt very badly because many people never see their family or the sunlight again.  They did never want to see you cry and be found out that you're the reason why you are crying so they do anything to stop your crying. 

◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡ Sometime the poor maids gets spared due to your crying of or you telling them it nothing and you just wanted to watch a sad movie. Then they understand why you're crying and spare the maids. But they know  it's nothing bad that you're crying over. 

༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶༶•┈┈୨♡୧┈┈•༶༶•┈┈୨♡୧

[hyunjinsbelovedamericano]

The moon and the sun

-------------------------------୨୧

Angel felix x reader,angstyyyy,reader is suicidal,

------------------------------୨୧

You used to be happy,you used to be able to enjoy life freely,you used to be able to smile,you used to be able to talk.So where did it all go wrong?

Well,you know where it did,you were happy up until high-school,leaving your old friends and starting a place full of strangers went worse than you expected.No matter how hard you tried,no one included you.You were just left to the side like a dirty rag,everyone had their person but you.

Eventually,your only friends outside of school ghosted you.They just never replied to any of your messages, maybe their phones were broken?You thought but as time went by you realised they probably got bored of you and saw you as burden,just an extra person who they don't need.

Life was lonely,you had no one.No one to laugh with,no one to complain to,no one to call a friend. No one at all,is this a punishment?Were you a murder in your past life?You must've have something to earn this type of treatment!Watching everyone have someone to hold hands with and talk to,seeing your old friends post pictures with your replacement hurt harder then being hit with bricks.

What did you do to deserve this?

As time went by,nothing changed.It was an endless cycle of pain you were going through, every spark of hope inside you was destroyed.Nothings new.

You walked to a nearby park and plopped on the bench,staring off into the sky admiring the stars that decorated it.The last few years of your life you felt like a huge inconvenience,life would be better if you weren't alive,you were just extra weight someone had to carry,you weren't necessary or needed to be cared for.

Suddenly,you saw a shadow appear next to yours,turning your eyes to the side,they captured a beautiful young boy,his long blonde hair shaping his face perfectly.Freckles dotted all over his face,he was so mesmerising....

"The moon is so beautiful isn't it?"

His deep voice shocked you,how could such and innocent face pair with such a low voice?

However,you would be lying if you said you didn't like it. His deep voice was so soothing, if he sung a lullaby you'd fall asleep instantly.

"Mhm, it really is, too bad it only shines when no one sees it"

Little did you know, the man beside you was an angel who has been ordered to watch after you, he knew everything about you and your story. He was sent to fix you,he must fix what's broken.

"My names Felix, I've noticed you sat here a lot,just thought you maybe wanted a friend.. "

The man who you now know as Felix smiled, exposing his pearly white teeth and cute little dimples.

"How did you know I needed a friend?"

You questioned,was it that obvious?

"Well everyone needs a friend,even the sun and moon"

Since then,you and felix would sit in that same park on the same bench, at the same time to admire the stars.You couldn't believe it, you finally made a friend! Felix was all you could ever ask for,you two became inseparable. Physically and at heart, its almost like you two were magnetic.You and Felix stuck together every chance you got.

It was another normal night of the two of you stargazing, the moon laying in the mind night blue sky the shinning stars complimenting it.

"You know... You remind me of the moon" Felix commented, his eyes not leaving the crescent moon

"Really, why?" You turned your head to him, his elegant face now in your vision.The moonlight shining on his face, exposing all of his delicate features

"It only shows it's grace when no ones there to see it. Reminds me of you and your shyness. And all versions of the moon are pretty,just like you"

Felix's head turned to you,his eyes locking with yours

"The moon isn't all that, I'd say the sun is better,it can shine when everyone's watching. I'm jealous of it's confidence" you replied,you tried to ignore the warm feeling in your cheeks and the way your stomach was fluttering when he complimented you

"Yeah but.. Only the moon can bring out the stars at night" Felix said in a soft tone, staring back to the stars

--------------------------------------୨୧

This was way past it's due date I'm so sorry about how slow updates have been recently :(

[still-a-morosexual-help]

As I was playing the Levi bd, I saw Mammon's TSL outfit. And it's just... All lightning.

I know your theory that he's more inclined to fire, so why do you think he's just so obviously displaying lighting?

The others' outfits keep the subject/elements on point. (Lucifer has a leash 💀💀💀💀)

Yeah that's the question that created that post. I honestly don't know what that's about. It's the first and only time we see him associated with lightning because in the few times they associate him with an element it's usually fire. Lucifer gets more of a lightning association in the game tbh because the magic he uses for punishments looks like lightning and in the white day event his first response to stop Belphie & MC from napping in a blizzard and possibly dying was to suggest striking them with lightning

The reason could be something as simple as they needed something yellow for his outfit

But here's the more fun answer;

The "Lord of Fools" as a moniker is painfully inaccurate.

The rest of the brothers' TSL counterparts' names (more or less) actually fit them.

But Mammon may be a dumbass, however, the game has repeatedly shown that when he puts any effort into it he becomes extremely competent and in his brothers' words "can accomplish anything he sets his mind to". Hell they start showing it in the first few lessons of S1 itself after he starts helping MC out and comes up with all their plans.

He's also the only character with any sort of functioning emotional intelligence and he makes use of that

But this is something his brothers have obviously forgotten about, seeing as they're always suprised when he shows that intelligent side

Even Mammon's TSL devilgram (called "The Lord of Fools") is one where he is scarily competent and is nothing like you'd expect from one who inspired a character called "The Lord of Fools". That's odd right? That there's such a disconnect between the story of the devilgram and the character he's dressed as in the picture.

Even in TSL itself one of the reasons they give for him being called the Lord of Fools is because he sent food to the Lord of Flies while his kingdom was undergoing a famine but the food spoilt before it got there???? It's not a foolish act right? Given that TSL doesn't take place in a modern era and the Lords live in separate kingdoms, food spoiling just seems to be due to circumstance? And even if they were packaged wrong and so rotted sooner than it should have, the act of wanting to help someone in trouble still isn't foolish.

He's a dumbass for sure but it's not the main point of his character in the actual om! game because om! the game starts to slowly dissuade the player of that idea

The entire character of the Lord of Fools doesn't fit with Mammon. It feels like a façade similar to the one we see Mammon put on, that slowly dissolves the longer you spend getting to know him. So wouldn't it make sense, wouldn't it fit the theme, if his outfit which so storngly associates him with lightning for the first and only time in the game, didn't fit him either?

I wonder how much of The Lord of Fools was based off that angel Simeon remembers cutting holes in books & stuffing frogs into them and not off the angel who worked hard for Lucifer which eventually led to his Fall because there was never a question about whether or not he'd follow Lucifer. How much of it was based off the angel who sold pigeon feathers by advertising them as Raphael's and not off the demon, whom Simeon never got to see, who kept his family together and soothed their fears and injuries after the Fall.

TSL was afterall written by Simeon to cope with missing the brothers, he hadn't met the brothers again after their Fall until S1 but TSL existed since before S1, so it'd make sense that it'd be based off all the good times they had in the Celestial Realm with parts of the rumours he'd heard about what they are like as demons influencing the characters' personalities as well.

For example:

The rumour that the Avatar of Greed had become indebted to some witches and was unable to escape their demands would have gotten out and spread. And there's no way someone of Mammon's power could become indebted to witches unless they were a fucking idiot. The fact that Mammon ended up in this position was because the witches are looking after a human child for him and that he's paying for all her needs and also being extorted by the witches for it, wouldn't have gotten out, specially considering that even his younger brothers don't know about it

Also makes you wonder about the Lord of Masks....how Simeon wouldn't have even known Satan existed in order to miss him, how rumours about Satan's birth and Lilith's death would have floated up, how it was obvious that (if we take into account how Luke seemed to know nothing about Lilith during S3) that Lilith's existence wasn't spoken about/was kept hidden from the younger angels....... makes you wonder just what that mask is hiding

Related Posts:

Mammon being emotionally intelligent

Mammon's "façade" and how it is broken away

Mammon being smart

The duality of Mammon

Canon things mammon is good at

Mammon being the only one with his shit together post the Fall

[sendarya]

Hey! Love your videos, always so thought out and we'll articulated. Looking forward to seeing more 💕

I was wondering your thoughts on the idea of angels & demons self actualising? It was a big theme in the show Lucifer and I recently discovered Neil Gaiman had been a writer for the source material!

Haven't seen too many thoughts of it yet and was wondering if you'd come across any theories

Have a fab weekend 💖

Oh, absolutely! That's an important concept being explored in Good Omens as well. I also didn't know Neil wrote some episodes of Lucifer! Where does he find time to sleep?

I haven't got a terribly long response off the top of my head, but we do see how angels and demons don't even think they have free will in the beginning, but some of them are slowly learning to exercise it nonetheless. Heaven and hell certainly keep all of the entities quite heavily suppressed. Much like the minisode The Body Snatcher, where poverty keeps Wee Morag and Elspeth from reaching their potential, and the unjust heirarcy and oppression of the common person in the early industrial west, heaven and hell keep the demons and angels poor, not with money, but in terms of stimulus and experience. Poor Muriel only sees someone else every few hundred years? The demons live very much like the poorest workers in the early 1800s. It's a theme we see explored in all sorts of media. In Little Shop of Horrors, the Ronettes say " how do you expect us to better ourselves, mister when you from skid row, ain’t no such thing." And in Utopia, Sir Thomas Moore wrote " For if you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them, what else is to be concluded from this, but that you first make thieves and then punish them.".

Humans seem to have been exploring this concept probably every since there were humans capable of doing so. And yet, we still get caught up in anachronistic thinking, as Azirapahle was, that people can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and make choices that aren't even available to them.

But the angels and demons that get sent to earth have more opportunity to learn and grow and change, and yes, perhaps eventually to self actualize. Both Crowley and Aziraphale are still under heaven and hells thumbs, even though they had a brief respite. Only when they throw off those oppressive yolks entirely will they be free to be themselves, and that's when I think we'll really see them shine.

Ok, turns out I had more to say on that topic than I realized. Thanks for the excellent question/ thought. I think I'd like to explore this a lot more!

Have a fab weekend yourself! 😊❤️

[melverie]

Hi Melody! I hope you're having a lovely day/evening!

I am here because I want to know more about your OC Marchosias and to that end I have questions from your ask game! Hopefully these haven't already been sent to you lol but if so please ignore them.

02: Do they have a nickname? 12: What makes them soft? 08: Anything you heavily associate with them? A color, a word, a picture, or something else? 09: How close are they to falling? If they are a fallen angel, what made them fall? 08: Have they given anyone their grimoire?

I hope that's not too many but oh I am curious... also please take your time 💕

Heya CC! Today was a little stressful but overall it was nice. I hope your day is/was also great! 💚

So two of your questions have been asked by others as well, but I have a few more things to say about those, so I'll just answer them again >:)

Also, no amount of questions are too many if I get to talk about my girl Marchosias in return ♡ I'm suffering from brain rot, sent help

⸺ GENERAL INFO 02 ⸺ Do they have a nickname?

So I already answered it over here, but I have two more for her!

The first one is either 'Eden's Apple' or 'Arcadian Apple' (I'm not really sure which one to go with yet whoops). It's only really used in the Celestial Realm and the seraphs were the only ones that referred to Marchosias that way, though Lucifer and Simeon have put a conscious effort into not calling her that anymore. Raphael meanwhile is the only seraph that does not call her that at all

Also, we started calling her Mazey-baby in my friend group recently so uuhhh, yeah I guess that's another nickname of hers now lol

⸺ RELATIONSHIP & PERSONALITY 12 ⸺ What makes them soft?

Oh, there are a few things!

"""Kidnapping""" Mephisto's younger brother, taking him to Devil's Coast and seeing how his face lights up with pure joy every time. Cerberus's existence. When a friend of hers insisted on winning a zombie iguana plush for her from a crane game. Some of the silly little things humans do to show affection toward others (such as warming someone else's hands). First time seeing a firefly. Seeing Luke happy. That one time she and Mephisto wanted to get parfaits at their usual place and the owner rushed over to tell them they have created a new parfait in their honor. Staring at the stars for a while

⸺ CONCEPT AND DESIGN 08 ⸺ Anything you heavily associate with them? A color, a word, a picture, or something else?

One of things I associate with her is parfaits, because I one day randomly decided that she and Mephisto often get parfaits together and gossip talk about RAD News related stuff

The others are stars, because I decided pretty early on that I want her to be fascinated by the night sky which is also why star-related days have a little star on their banner over on @today-in-the-devildom >:) It's kind of ironic though. She is a wingless demon, so even when the stars shift close enough for demons to fly through them, all she can do is watch with longing in her eyes from the ground

⸺ ANGEL 09 ⸺ How close are they to falling? If they are a fallen angel, what made them fall?

Okay, this one is a little tricky to answer, because a) she didn't fall in the classic sense, and b) it requires a lot of background info about how I headcanon things to run in the Celestial Realm

But the short short version is that she was meant to be Raphael's first mission and therefore be killed by him, but he ultimately couldn't bring himself to go through with it and instead helped her escape. She obviously survived, and Raphael was able to avoid punishment

⸺ DEMON 08 ⸺ Have they given anyone their grimoire?

She tried to give it to Lucifer once shortly after the brothers fell, but Lucifer obviously refused to take it. I could explain the reason but it's....long 😭 Just know it's related to something that happened back in the Celestial Realm and she wasn't in the best headspace at the time

Anyway, Barbatos then took it to ensure she wouldn't do anything stupid with it or give it to the next best person and put herself in danger. It's been in his possession ever since and he'll continue to keep it safe until Marchosias decides she wants it back

Right now (aka in the OG timeline) she's considering giving it to my MC. But the idea of giving up so much control over herself is something she still struggles with immensely, despite knowing that my MC wouldn't ever really use it against her in the first place, so she's still debating if she should go through with it or not

-> to the ask game -> to all asks about Marchosias

[cbsxreader]

could i please have cbs x a reader who is an angel that was cast out of heaven and turned into a freak as punishment for being bad at their job?

Oh my god, I love this idea so much!! I put WAAYYY too much effort into this and got carried away :,)

Christian with a reader who is a fallen angel

When you're an angel, your job is to protect and help people on earth and make them live their best lives before they die. And as an angel, you didn't find it that tricky, it always warmed your heart seeing people feel better thanks to you.

But it wasn't all perfect either, otherwise there would be no purpose for angels. Some dirty work was involved as well and there was no denying it.

And that hard part of your job included Christian Brutal Sniper. Sure, he took care of other violent people in the darkest streets, but also took lives of innocents. You were asigned to see if he could be redeemed and turn his life around for the better.

But each time you encountered Christian, he only showed aggression, not hesitating to jump at you and attack. You had tried to just talk it out with him many times, only for him to pull out another one of his many weapons. Not to mention he had mastered his arsenal of weapons and sometimes almost got you in his grasp.

Soon enough though, Christian started to not take the situation too seriously, realizing what you wanted to do. He knew you wanted to change him, but now that he knew that, there was no chance he'd let himself be changed. Christian started to mess around and became more playful, and that included suddenly starting to flirt with you. You were taken aback but didn't pay any attention to him, since that's exactly what he desired from you.

After many encounters and Christian's many attempts, you gave in when he offered you a singular red rose. For a moment, you gave him a blank stare, what was he trying to acomplish with such a gesture? You still hated Christian, but the least you could do was accept the flower. Out of pity? Out of love? Who knew.

You weren't so lucky though, another angel had seen you accepting his gift and considering you still hadn't really done anything about Christian, not to mention let him flirt with you, you were in deep trouble.

One moment you were called to just have a talk, the next you sheltered yourself in your wings, hiding from everything and everyone. The cold forest air made you have goosebumps all over your skin.

Just one simple action had made you into a being you were sent out to get rid of. You were one of them now. You don't know them, but they know you. There were no chances of positive interactions between you and them. You truly were all alone. At least that's what you thought.

"Angel?"

You looked up with a glare, already knowing it was the man who is responsible for you becoming like him.

"What happened?" Christian asked in a surprisingly quiet and careful voice.

"One angel apparently saw your little gesture towards me and now I'm one of you. A freak." You tried to hide your anger, though it could be heard in your voice.

"Because I gave you a flower?" He asked.

"It wasn't a flower. It was a sign. A sign that you loved me. And I should have denied it because it was my duty to rid you of sin, but...I took it."

"Why?" He asked. You could sense Christian wanted to hear that you loved him, but you at least needed to talk some decency into him.

"Because all your attempts at flirting with me seemed so fucking pathetic that I took it out of pity for you!" You lashed out at him, baring your teeth and quickly standing up.

"You always kept trying and trying and trying again to win my heart even though I was an angel and tried to ignore you!" You raised your voice even more. Your wings suddenly spread out and puffed up, straight up scaring Christian and making him fall back.

Though you couldn't stay mad at him. He was the person you were most familair with in this world where you didn't know anyone else and had nowhere to go. It was best to stay on good terms with him. You let out a sigh and collapsed back onto the grass.

"Speaking of not giving up, may I ask, how have you kept on going eversince you turned into a freak? Despite everything that happened?" You had calmed down and seemed to be more ready to talk.

Christian sat in silence for a moment "Well, I just sorta didn't look back at the person I was before and started anew." He avoided looking at you and slightly scratched his beard.

"It's that easy? You really are simpler creatures than angels." You said back to him.

"Oi! You callin' us dumb?" He seemed offended.

"No, not at all..It's just..Is that all I need to do? Just forget my previous life?"

"Well, it's the new lifestyle of doing whatever you want and our partying that makes you not think about it too much." He explained and stood up. "In fact, I believe Painis is gonna celebrate his birthday today, what do ya say we go there and then we'll see how much you remember about being an angel the next morning?" He held out his hand to you.

You sat in silence for a moment. "I guess that doesn't sound so bad." You took his hand and he helped you get up.

He didn't let go though, instead he held your hand, kind of non-verbally asking about your feelings towards him. He looked at your intertwined hands and then looked into your eyes. You thought about it again. You had a new chance at life, a free life. You lightly squeezed his hand and looked at him with soft eyes. He let a light smile creep on his face and started to lead you to your new home.

[bagelsenjoyer14]

So when season two came out I promised I was going to dive into it and then I proceeded disappear but I'm back. Also I've been at school and work all day so sorry if some things dont make sense, or if theres any grammatical errors.

I know I talk about Crowley alot on here, but Azi has been on my mind lately, especially regarding his religious trauma. I mean this is one of the main plot points of season two (and a little bit in season one) Azi's main problem is that he still thinks in the very black and white, kind of old fashioned way of thinking that heaven is good, and hell is bad. We see this very very often in the show whether hes saying things like this to Crowley, for example:

(And in season two when he says something along the lines of "and you are evil, I'm afraid")

It seems something that Azi battles with for a long time, from when Azi freaks out when angel Crowley even CONSIDERS questioning God, he doesn't know what to say and goes in full panic. And these little remarks through the series shows what he still (tries) to believe. But I think he really begins to question during Job not only that he must be, by default, a bad angel for lying, yet he hasn't fallen, when someone like Crowley didn't do anything as severe and yet he fell?

But the problem Azi has is he cannot let this ideaology go. I mean we see him TRY to in season one and season two, he fundementally thinks Crowley is a good person, and he knows deep down the things heaven is doing is horrible. But Azi is too forgiving (we see this with Gabriel) and too optimistic in what heaven COULD be/ what God COULD be planning.

And this dynamic between him and Crowley is really interesting, it kind of shows the two spectrums of what religious trauma can do. Crowley, for example, has accepted early on that God has abandoned him, and he has learned the hard way that neither side is good and is instead better off fending for himself. We do see in his desperate moments him pleading to God, but time and time again he is ignored, which creates this weird relationship with Azi where for 6000 years he kept this weird distance between them in fear of abandonment again. While Azi on the other hand, does not know what it's like to fall, he deeply loves God and thinks She will always be good, but he is shown through other angels horrible things, and it's confusing (why would she create horrible angels, why would she cause disease and death if she was so good?) We see him get panicky once again when Crowley brings up the question in episode three as to why did God create poverty and expect those in horrible circumstances to turn out as good as those born in castles? And Azi kind of tries not to think too much about the point Crowley is making. I think Azi HAS silently questioned Her since Bliblical times, but has pushed it down, that's how his best friend fell, and the last thing Azi wants is God to abandon him.

Finally, I also want to touch on Azi's desperate need to be good and seen as good by others. I think this stems from him being seen as a "lesser" angel, being sent to Earth as more of a sort of punishment, being looked down on because of it. The one major thing him and Crowley have in common is not fitting in, anywhere. So I think all of this causes him to ache for validation that what he's doing is right. He says in season two that since he isn't reporting to Heaven, he calls Crowley to tell him about the good things he's done. We also see during the Job part where he lies to Gabriel, that he thinks he's a bad angel and once again I feel like this causes him to feel like he must over compensate and take the pain and sadness put on to the world for the better of everyone else.

Mitskis song "I Don't Smoke" always reminds me of Aziraphale becuase of the line "if you need to be mean/be mean to me/ I can take it/and put it inside of me" because time and time again Azi goes and does things to benefit others, and not himself. He puts himself on the front lines for people who have hurt him. Gabriel is a good example of this, this guy has tried to kill him! And yet he helps him. Crowley is obviously fraustrated by this, but Crowley doesn't understand exactly WHY Azi is like this, they have dealt with their trauma differently. So of course when the metatron offered him a position in heaven he took it. Not only did it help him feel validated and finally 'good enough' but also he once again jumped in front of a bullet heading directly to the world, and Crowley. He belives he is doing good by going to heaven. Even if it hurts him, he NEEDS to feel like he is helping others, and he believes that if God technically has appointed him to such a power to make sure nothing bad happens, then in his mind she must be good then.

[helldustedstories]

The Fall was, in a word, excruciating. Lucifer had been one of the favoured sons, divine, beautiful, bathed in the presence of his Father, of the Creator. His moniker, after all, was "Morningstar," and he helped to create the stars, to create the cosmos. He helped bring light itself into the universe, which was no small task.

But he didn't want to stop there; he had dreams about all sorts of different things they could create. He wanted to make fantastical creatures, wonderous plants; his ideas were endless! The world was just beginning, and he wanted to take that world and make wonders.

The other angels deemed his ideas to be too fantastical, and when he started to ask questions, to try to understand why they had decided the world around them needed to be as it was, they started to distance themselves from him. But it didn't matter, because he still felt that connection, that love, the holiness that stretched between his father and himself, and he knew that he was loved, that he was valued.

His questions had him labeled as a troublemaker, as dangerous, for who would dare to question the word of the Most Holy? Lucifer just wanted to understand, to know why they created if not for the simple joy of it. Shouldn't they be able to explore what they created, to spread their wings beyond simply following instructions sent down from above?

The other angels continued in their own work, creating the world and the first humans, and Lucifer watched as Adam and Lilith had their first argument.

He was so moved by Lilith's spirit, by the way that she questioned what was 'supposed' to be, the way she stood up for herself, despite having only been created, that he sought her out, desperate to talk to her, to meet someone who thought like he did.

And it didn't take long for the two of them to find out that they did indeed have quite a bit in common; they were both dreamers, both deemed rebellious, and it was not long before they fell in love.

It was then that Lucifer finally had the words to put to what he was feeling, why he'd felt it necessary to ask questions: it was free will. It had been gifted to the angels as well as to humanity, and he had been the first to use it.

Lucifer wanted to share this gift with others, to make sure that they knew about it, as well. He and Lilith offered the fruit of knowledge to Eve, who had been created for Adam after Lilith had chosen her own path, to show her that she could live life as she chose, not the path that had been set before her, that she was expected to follow.

And it was this act, this gift, that turned the rest of the angels against Lucifer. He had finally gone too far, finally questioned, rebelled enough. Because now that humanity knew that they could question the Most Holy, evil found its way into the world, the way it had always been trying to do.

Heaven's order was shattered, the balance thrown off, and Lilith and Lucifer were cast down into the pit of Hell.

It was in this fall that Lucifer felt the separation from everything he had ever known. The light, the holiness, the connection, the love was ripped away from him as surely place in the heavens, his place as one beloved of his father. Heaven and all those in it had turned their backs on him, and he was only able, only allowed to see the darkness and strife in the world, not the good that his decision had wrought.

He had been so focused, so fixed on trying to do good, to improve the lives of humanity that he hadn't been able to the bigger picture, the way angels were supposed to, and he was punished for that oversight.

There's part of him that still reaches out for the connection with his heavenly family, even though he knows it will never be there again, that it was well and truly severed. He's a fallen angel, a demon, embodying his own sin of Pride…., and it took him a long time to crawl out of the emotional crater his fall dropped him into.

[confusedwriter404]

Silver and Sapphire 1

Something I made while listening to Sailor's Song. This is the storyline I made for my E.C. OC (@ur-local-demonlol) x Canon

(u might need tissues idk i suck at making angst sometimes) (TW/CW for mentions of SA and religious topics. Not suitable for 16 and below. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED >:[ )

I didn't remember what day it was when I Fell.

I remember what happened, though.

I was just making my newest creation. A beautiful owl with pitch black eyes and feather-covered skin. I was proud of it. I took pride in all of my creations. I put all my love into them.

It has always been my passion as one of the young seraphim.

It was the day after I submitted my new ideas to the High Council. I didn't know how the felt after I did.

"Give us a moment," they said. I didn't want to. I was just so excited.

I didn't know it would happen.

Apparently, the ideas were too controversial. Too problematic. It would cause an underpopulation of Heaven. All of the souls who made it there would lose faith and the clouds would fall down beneath our feet. I begged to change. I begged for them to give me another chance.

But it was too late.

Before I knew it, I was in the dark streets of Hell.

Everything in there was burning. The sky looked empty. All the sinners were attending their daily punishments. The only people in their that showed empathy were the ones that came before me. Hell was a safe haven for them, apparently. It was where the ones turned into demons felt safer in. Any questions were free to ask.

Despite that, I still felt lonely.

I spent a day in the human world. Earth. 17**. I was at a bar and had tried some drinks they called "alcohol" for the first time. I preferred wine, since then. Not because I would still feel close to Upstairs. It just tasted better.

Then I met a man. He offered me to take me back to his home after I had told him I was having a terrible day.

I shouldn't have said yes. I should've known what his intentions were. I shouldn't have been fooled so easily, thinking he was a Good Samaritan.

Before I knew it, I ended up eating his soul.

It was terrifying. I killed a man. For the first time. I didn't know what I was thinking. I didn't know what made me do it.

But I felt full.

That has been my daily routine ever since. I'd seduce someone, let someone seduce me, then I'd eat. It was tiring.

I was tired of using my body every time just so I could get what I needed to survive. Even if I didn't need to eat, people would still come for me.

I couldn't stop them every time.

That was when I met him.

Apparently, he was a guardian. He's been taking care of a few humans, now. He wasn't doing a terrible job. He was just pretty unserious about it.

I suddenly grew an interest in him. I took an opportunity to meet him via scaring away his assignment before talking to him.

Needless to say, he was annoyed.

After that, I wanted to get to know him better. I scared away the other guardian angels from their assignments so that he could come down to Earth more often. I scared away the assignments sometimes, too.

I would take him for drinks, take him to see some tame animals in forests, show him the creatures I created. I didn't know if he enjoyed his time with me. I hoped he did, though.

I was starting to consider him as a friend.

After a few months, I noticed something. No humans were approaching me anymore. Every time one did, I would run away from them, then they would end up disappearing without a trace.

I didn't know why; I didn't know how. I was glad it stopped, though.

Then, the rumors started.

A nun was currently being possessed by a fallen angel that framed themselves as a pastor's wife. Apparently, she survived and was still fully conscious. Much to my surprise, my friend was her guardian.

So, Hell made a deal to the residents. Especially the demons.

Whoever took the angel or the Fallen's soul would get a chance to be redeemed and sent back to Heaven. I didn't know why I took it. Maybe it was because I still wanted to keep my faith.

I visited her, of course. She was a darling. A sweetheart. She was the nicest one out of all the others in the sick cult she had been dragged into. I felt bad for her. Then, the angel showed up.

We were bickering like children while I was trying to win a bit of the angel's soul. The nun started to suspect we had something going on together. We both denied it. But I had to admit, I felt pretty disappointed when I did.

I was starting to develop feelings for him.

I almost got assaulted by a group of men before I heard them getting hit by a car while I was running away from them. When I got home, I saw him. Running away on the rooftops of every building.

It took me a while to figure out that he was the one that's been helping me. I could never have been more grateful.

The next day, I thanked him. Before I got chased, I took a diamond ring from a soul I ate that night. I gave it to him, of course. He was thankful for it. He even gave me a hug...

I felt like crying at the time. It was the first time I experienced such a sweet gesture. The both of us went to get drinks the same day, provided the nun was going to be safe without him for the time being.

He got pretty drunk that night. I took him to the apartment I rented on Earth. When we got there, he started to grow clingy. He was hugging me, giving me affection. It was a lot to take in, but I slowly started growing vulnerable. That was when it happened.

He kissed me.

I didn't know why he did it. He was probably too drunk to even control himself. But I didn't care. Neither of us did.

I kissed him back.

I left the room after that. Thankfully, nothing that we both would end up regretting in the morning happened.

But still. He kissed me.

The angel fucking kissed me...

I tried avoiding him after that. I understood he was probably going to hate me if he found out. But he had other plans.

He was looking for me. He was trying to talk to me. Even after what had happened. My heart ached for his persistence. Eventually, I was forced to do so when he saw me eating a soul because of my bad habit of doing so whenever I felt... terrible about myself. Even if I was full.

We talked, and talked, and talked, until one thing led to another. He needed to know if it really did feel right for him.

It did. But I still felt a sense of dread in my chest. I wasn't afraid of my safety. I was afraid for his. I was worried this lovely angel would get casted down because of me.

Despite that, he didn't care. He still hung out with me. Every single day. Sometimes, if we felt like it, we would make love. It was gentle, unlike the rest that I've experienced in the past. It was a nice change of pace.

I started growing comfortable with the nun and the angel's company. If there were times that I felt unsafe Downstairs, I could visit them. Luckily, the church they were staying in wasn't as "holy" as one would think. I was able to freely roam around without feeling my entire body burn.

The angel eventually gave me back the ring since it wasn't exactly his size. I was pretty sad about it, but I promised I would get him one that fit.

When I went Downstairs, I was greeted by a load of demons asking me how I did it, some of them enraged, some of them happy for my success. But what success?

I talked to Lucifer about it. I felt lightheaded after hearing what he said.

When I gave the angel the ring, I was offering my trust in exchange for his soul. Giving it back to me took a bit of it.

I had won.

I won the deal.

(Part 1) (Part 2)

[vidavalor]

Pretty sure Aziraphale just got kidnapped, not promoted... he was just tempted by Satan, not helped by the Metatron... he just visually went up, but Mr. Fell just became a fallen angel in the worst possible way...

I mean, if you're Heaven... are you really going to promote the outcast who was as bad as Gabriel to the top job Gabriel just fucked up-- over more agreeable choices of Michael or Uriel? Why would you do this?

Earlier in the season, Crowley is given, essentially, the same choice by Hell that Aziraphale is given at the end and we know now that Beelzebub had a different motive than they let on. They let Crowley believe that they were looking for Gabriel in a way that everyone would expect them to be looking for the missing Archangel of Heaven-- in a predatory, vengeful way-- when, in reality, they were looking for their missing love. Beezlebub offered Crowley whatever Crowley wanted in terms of power to help them *without telling Crowley their true intention*. This turned out to be a relatively harmless deception, right? It was about love. If Beezelbub had told Crowley the truth about them and Gabriel, he probably would have helped them because he's nice like that lol but, because Crowley thinks he's being asked to rejoin Hell for Hellish reasons, he takes a strong, hard pass on that one. He immediately redoubles his efforts to help *his angel* protect *another angel* in Gabriel, instead. The tempter, knowing Hell, resists temptation to do wrong, and follows a more righteous, loving, pure path.

The Metatron, though, we already know from S1, does his own thing and does not really totally speak for God (who took this season off and can therefore said to be not really endorsing any of this plot lol.) The Metatron shows up at the end and offers Aziraphale everything Aziraphale has been taught to want, plus a little he didn't realize he really wanted-- power, respect, authority, the ability to influence policy and decision. The Metatron is *way* too solicitious-- he offers to make sure that Aziraphale's bookshop is looked after and for Crowley to be restored as an angel and work alongside Aziraphale. Can we just say it?

He *tempts* Aziraphale in every possible way.

*Tempts*... as Satan would.

(Not to mention that the story establishes earlier on that it just takes a quick miracle to render someone unrecognizable to someone else who knows them... and Crowley and Aziraphale then spend an entire season failing to recognize *a woman whose entire role in S1 revolved around CROWLEY REMEMBERING HER lol and who also gets her own scene with The Metatron at the end. Has Nina been Gabriel'd and doesn't remember her past fondness for lovely little tosie-wosies? Does she not recall her former devotion to a Chattering Order of *Satanic* Nuns? In a season where Hell repurposed some Nazis as Zombie'd versions of themselves and sent them to spy on Crowley and Aziraphale... why would we think that that wasn't done again after S1? What *are* Nina and Maggie, really? Is The Metatron really The Metatron?)

Aziraphale fails the test. He allows himself to be tempted by the darkness. The final shot of him is even one of anger, of wrath, more than of sadness-- he's furious that Crowley wouldn't go along with him and the sadness of losing him has now caused him to redouble his efforts. It's very like "I'll show you!", even if we saw his face when The Second Coming was mentioned and he looked doubtful-- even if we know he has regrets. What is it that was mentioned earlier in the season as the punishment for those who helped Gabriel? Extreme sanctions. Deletion from the Book of Life, which is defined as *erasure from existence*... Are we really to believe that, upon discovering that Gabriel was just in love, that everything is now okay and Heaven is fine with all of it and they've decided to promote Aziraphale to run things now?

S2 subtly set up a few things. It showed that Crowley can get into Heaven whenever he wants and mess around still in there. It gave him an ally in Sarasquel and another in Muriel. The former is still high up and going to probably be key in helping get Crowley involved in the plot in S3 but it might not be the one we are thinking of. If we're thinking about a plot in which Aziraphale is in charge of Heaven and teaching the angels about tea and sushi and trying to enact better policy... I'm actually a bit more worried about the fact that The Metatron asked Aziraphale if he wanted to *bring anything with him to Heaven and Aziraphale said no*. He didn't take a material object up there with him when he left. He doesn't have an equivalent to Bee's fly and The Resurrectionist empty matchbox. Unlike Gabriel, who was trying to get to Hell and Beezelbub and knew what happened to rebel angels and so knew he'd have to hide himself in the fly to ensure his own existence... Aziraphale just walked into that elevator believing himself about to rule Heaven.

Something (Aziraphale) is going down in the Up.

Aziraphale just fell. Metaphorically, at least, even if he was literally going up and not taking a dive into a pit of boiling sulphur.

He didn't mean to fall. He just didn't ask *enough* questions. He just let himself be taken in by those around him, who promised him what he thought was important and not what he knew truly is.

He turned his back on love for pride. He's the demon now.

[thevampyreking]

an intruder, an angel, and a grim

Timeline: 2nd December 2023, Saturday, past midnight. Location: Duang Jan Residence, Bangkok. Mood: Focused. Attire: See below.

King wasn't supposed to go anywhere today as Amree hadn't been feeling well. He didn't have a lot in schedule anyway and for the most part, the meetings he did have, he could handle virtually. However, towards the end of the day, he was called into an emergency meeting. He had no choice but to go. He instructed Akira to stay with Amree and report if there's any changes or something comes up. He trusted Akira, so he did not have a lot of worries when he left the house. However, during the time he was gone, many things happened. And he was staring at one of them as soon as he entered the study where Akira had the intruder by the neck.

King was furious at the information given to him. The intruder supposedly was sneaking inside the house - one of the well guarded residences in the city and an intruder managed to get in??? Akira informed him of a wandering dog within the gates. His bodyguard already combed the entirety of the estate and found nothing. Just to be sure, King once again sent his men outside to search the place. A grim is never a good sign. What is a grim doing within his property?

King immediately demanded the reason for the intrusion - Robbery? Vandalism? It wouldn't be the first time. The intruder didn't talk, refused to speak until his partner was dragged into the study as well. A younger being who appeared fearful. King didn't show any leniency and promised that both were to be brought in front of the Arikun elders, not the local authority.

The intruder's eyes got wider and fought Akira's grip. He didn't seem afraid and instead fought hard to get away. The intruder made threats if his companion wasn't let go.

King repeated his promise and decided on how to punish the person who dared sneak into an Arikun residence. Obviously scared for his companion's life, the intruder finally spoke and gave details of why he was there -

It did not make King feel any different. King was even more determined to bring the intruder before the elders especially after learning that the man he had in his custody is the missing companion of one of his elders...

King decided to keep the intruder until the elders decide what to do with him. As for the companion... He remains in a safe place as well.

And now, King is to confront Amree. What is his companion's cousin sneaking inside the house? The intruder's words ring in his ear:

"I'm here to take Amree away from this hell place. I heard he's not well. What do you think caused his sickness? He can't be around you or any of your family. You'll end up killing him! All of us!"

[ TBC ]