#**israfel

[cyclic-laughter]

some pearl characters ive been thinking about a lot lately

first two characters were not designed by me

[youryurigoddess]

Aziraphale, Raphael, and other angelic names you should probably know

Yes, I’m digging out my oldest piece of Good Omens meta. If you’re one of the very few people who might remember it from my main blog or had followed me on Twitter before it was shared there last year, you should already get the gist of what’s going to come next. For the rest of you, this might serve as a nice warning of how true brainrot begins.

We will start at the very beginning: the name-giving. Since God has created the world with one word, in the Bible and related Jewish tradition names of things are considered of great importance. As the life-givers, they imbue meaning and power to those who bear them, and often lead them towards a certain predetermined path. The concept of true names in general is a global phenomenon, with traces of this belief to be found everywhere from Plato's Theory of Forms through Grimm’s fairytales and beyond, not only in religious, but also philosophical and anthropological context. Considering the vast number of options to choose from, coining a new name instead of just repeating someone else’s is certainly a choice.

Unsurprisingly, the one who came up with the name Aziraphale was Terry Pratchett, and according to an interview it was originally pronounced Aziraphael:

“It should be Azz-ear-raf-AE-el, but we got into the habit of pronouncing it Azz-ear-raf-ail, so I guess that’s the right way now.”

Don’t worry, we’ll get there in a moment. The second thing you need to remember from this interview is Terry’s answer to the question about the name’s origin:

“It was made up but… er… from real ingredients. [The name] Aziraphale could be shoved in a list of ‘real’ angels and would fit right in…”

Conveniently, I’ve already explained who he was and why he was so important in Judaism in one meta discussion on Tumblr, so I’ll be lazy and copy-paste my thoughts and expand them to add some details from other Abrahamic religions.

Before the Beginning, or the Angel of Love

Long story short, Libbiel was one of the archangels working with God on the creation of humans. The idea was opposed by some of them, especially the Angel of Truth, who was promptly cast down from Heaven to Earth (but promised to spring back out of the Earth eventually, don’t worry).

Unlike Michael and Gabriel, Libbiel (“God is my heart”) warned his angelic troops to accept the Ineffable Plan in advance and saved them from the Fall, which granted him God’s recognition and a new name, Raphael, the Rescuer, appointing him as the Angel of Healing (“God has healed”).

This seems to check out within the Good Omens universe: Aziraphale was involved in the Earth creation project before the rollout and had enough access to the human plans to see them with his own eyes and share this knowledge with the angel that eventually became Crowley.

He also appeared extremely anxious at the very mention of Crowley’s obligation to dissent and wanted to save him from any negative consequences even at the cost of interrupting the conversation he’s been enjoying so much.

We’ve noticed some peculiar reactions of Aziraphale to any mentions or acts of love, right? They usually involve reaching out to Crowley and might either suggest his feelings toward him or how physically overwhelmed he is with the very concept of love (or both, actually).

Interestingly, one of the official titles of archangel Raphael is Angel of Love. In Christianity he is considered a patron saint of happy meetings, matchmaking and marriage, and his healing powers involve especially eyes and… heart, in the context of both mental health and human love.

Raphael also has a canonical (at least in Catholicism) episode of playing a human matchmaker on God’s behalf in the Book of Tobit, in which he appears on Earth under the disguise of a man named Azariah. Aziraphale seems now like an obvious portmanteau for Azariah, Raphael’s alias used while disguising himself as a human, and Raphael, the name given to him by God as a commendation. An archangel embracing some humanity of his own volition.

Raphael’s color is sometimes mentioned as light blue, exactly like the light Aziraphale emits in the S2 opening sequence, and his symbol is a serpent (the ancient Caduceus, but I feel like at this point we can call him Crowley).

The angelic couple, or Zophiel and Barachiel

Remember that bit of Terry’s interview about real ingredients? Raphael’s backstory already seems complicated enough, but what if Aziraphale had not one, but two angelic prototypes? I happen to know one more angel — a cherub said to possess great feminine energy — whose story rings some alarm bells.

This is Jophiel (“The Beauty of God”) or Zophiel (“My Rock is God”, “Widom of God”, “God’s Rage”), believed to be a companion to the angel Metatron, regent of the Principalities and leader of the Cherubim, a heavenly protector — one of the child amulet angels.

In Jewish tradition Zophiel takes on the role of the guardian of the Torah as well as other books and knowledge itself, based on the fact that he was the one to guard the Tree of Knowledge and, armed with a flaming sword, drive Adam and Eve out of Eden. He also watched over Noah and his family during the Flood and was serving as an assistant to King Solomon when he spoke on Wisdom and wrote the books of Proverbs, Wisdom, and Ecclesiastes. In the Anglican tradition he is recognized as an archangel and typically depicted with a fiery sword in hand. The color belonging to Zophiel is yellow.

Lynn Fischer in “Angels of Love and Light: The Great Archangels & Their Divine Complements, the Archeiai” (November 1996) describes Zophiel as one who

“stirs the feelings through radiation of illumination and into aspiration … help in absorbing information and studying for and passing tests; dissolution of ignorance, pride, and narrow-mindedness; and exposure of wrongdoing in governments and corporations. Jophiel helps in fighting pollution, cleaning up our planet, and brings to [hu]mankind the gift of beauty. He also provides inspiration for artistic and intellectual thought providing help with artistic projects and to see the beautiful things around us.”

While this angel is mentioned in other works of fiction, Zophiel makes his most notable appearance in John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost, as the warrior “cherubim with the swiftest wings” in the battle of Heaven, where he was believed to assist Michael as the standard bearer. He’s presented as a spy returning from a reconnaissance mission to the rebel camp, much in the way Aziraphale had infiltrated Hell and fooled its demons in the wake of Armageddon’t.

As Zaapiel derived from Za’ap (Hebrew) meaning rage, anger or storm, he is also recognised as the angel of storms and, under the variant Zafiel, the angel of rain. This might be the reason why Zophiel is traditionally associated with the archangel of lightning and thunder, Barachiel (“God’s Blessings” or “Lightning of God”, especially when transcribed as Barakiel or Baraqiel) — to the point of being mentioned as his partner or consort.

Barachiel is the angel of lightning, but also — as the name suggests — blessings. In Catholic iconography he is usually depicted with a staff, a basket of bread, or a rose, each petal of which is representing a blessing from God, tossed out as the angel pleases to bless people. He is the chief of guardian angels, but in particular watches over young children, and sometimes takes on the task of delivering the blessing of offspring to prospective parents.

Like Zophiel is believed to have taught humans languages and wisdom found in books, Barachiel is commonly revered as the angel who taught them astrology, the wisdom of the stars.

Nothing lasts forever

Raphaelic legends aren’t all fun and games, but also mention the less marketed aspect of being an archangel: signaling the Day of Judgment. In Christianity, this is usually assigned as another one of Gabriel’s jobs, but he’s on the run right now, isn’t he? Well, good news! In Islam, Raphael is called Israfil or Israfel and believed to be the angel who blows the trumpet to signal Qiyamah, a counterpart of the Christian Second Coming, instead. The fact that Aziraphale has taken over Gabriel’s position in Heaven might be much less coincidental than some think.

And it’s important to remember that this power is not only destructive — while the first blow will kill all creatures and creations, the second one will revive them and prepare for the Last Judgment (yes, the very same one that in Christian belief will be administered by Jesus with the help of Book of Life). Very much in line of what Adam, the Antichrist, has done with the help of a certain shoulder angel and shoulder demon.

This is exactly the sentiment found in the poem “Israfel” by Edgar Allen Poe. In a material world nothing is meant to last forever, which is a curse and a blessing. A curse because it means death and destruction; miracles may sustain a certain bookshop in its current form through millennia, but as a tombstone to the life they led instead of a home it once used to be. A blessing, because it also means change and a new beginning — as long as there’s enough life force to replace whatever is lost in the process.

Nothing on Earth lasts forever, but we should use it for inspiration, savor momentary bliss, and hold it in our hearts. Only Heaven and the passions of its angels (fallen or not) are truly eternal.

And we can expect at least two of them to keep loving each other beyond the human concept of time, perhaps in a nice cottage on the South Downs.

[artemx746]

"i'm normal about the ghastly market scene" I say lying as if I haven't been thinking about Lambeth, tied to a throne, listening to someone go on about all the horrible things that could be done to her as they try to put a price on her, looking up at the ceiling, hoping to see it fall just to see the stars and get some form of a comfort from them as she always had before.

[nevermoor-batty]

Hey guys, Really old art I’m posting for pride this year

[ID: The “why does x call you babygirl” template with Jupiter North and Morrigan Crow. Morrigan is wearing a blue jacket and black turtleneck sweater. She asks, “Why does Israfel call you babygirl?” Jupiter, looking stressed, says, “We don’t have to talk about this.” There is a small ok written on Morrigan’s side of the drawing. End ID]

[takerfoxx]

I'm not traditionally a poly shipper (though I've been delving more into it as time goes by), but if there's one that I'm absolutely gaga about, as if in makes my personal top five ships and might even slot in right beneath KyoSaya and SuleMio, it's the one that almost certainly could not and should not happen in canon, but the thought of it still kinda makes me rabid with what could have been.

I am of course talking about AsuReiShin, AKA the Israfel Special.

Evangelion shipping is often a bizarre experience, especially amongst the core trio of pilots. There is just so much material among these incredibly fucked up characters, so many things that ought to be drawing them together, and yet they are all damaged in such specific ways that drive them to behave increasingly toxic, avoidant, or even abusive toward one another. They're all such hot messes of trauma and hangups that, hate to say it, the Rebuild ending of everyone essentially just making peace with one another and fucking off with Shinji hooking up with the controversial new girl that he at least doesn't have any baggage with was probably the healthiest choice, if not the most satisfying.

But even so, the reason I dig this triad specifically is because if you change even just a little bit about each character, you find the same traits that drove them apart suddenly drawing them together, and each individual pairing makes so much sense. Asuka and Shinji is the most obvious, with Asuka's aggressive bullying suddenly becoming proactive encouragement, and Shinji's meek avoidance now becoming the calm, stabilizing force that she needs. With Asuka and Rei it's similar, with Asuka's hatred of Rei's passivity now being being a drive to push Rei to experience and enjoy life and establish an identity, while Rei's gentle observation and lack of a filter would be give Asuka a much-needed source of self-reflection. And with Shinji and Rei, we've already seen how Shinji's kindness has encouraged Rei to step outside of her sheltered world and seek human connection, while also providing Shinji someone he felt was worth stepping up and fighting for.

Now, take all three of those dynamics and combine them together. You've basically got the perfect Id, Ego, and Superego situation. It's practically the adolescent Kirk, Spock, and McCoy dynamic!

Plus, there's also the other factors that would bring them together, even beyond the whole being hormonal teenagers in a stressful situation. Despite having wildly different personalities, they all had their lives destroyed by NERV, from Shinji losing his mother and being neglected by his father, to Asuka's mother losing her mind and taking her life thanks to the Evangelions, to Rei literally being created by Gendo to serve a terrible purpose and thus being robbed of ever having a life. That sort of "in the trenches" experience is exactly the sort of thing that would cause them to form bonds and seek comfort with one another, especially if they were all to learn of each other's past histories, and motivate them to stand up for one another against NERV's machinations, but ah, I'm delving into AU fanfic territory.

Point is, no, I don't think it would be wise for these three to seek out romance with one another, either as couples or all three of them together. But man, if they each just had just a little bit changed about them, can you imagine the pure emotional catharsis?

Note: I didn't really say anything about Kaworu because while I feel that he's probably the healthiest singular choice for Shinji, it's basically only with Shinji, making him his own separate deal entirely.

[makuta-kotok]

Scrapped Season 1 ending: Adam calls his kids.

The children of Adam have come…

(Iruel is there too, he’s infecting the camera)

[analikestodream]

Maybe I'll colour this one day, who knows, not me!

Ink on paper

11/08/24

I just absolutely adore this man and there is mot enough fanart of him, though I do understand why(hes so hard to draw, he has zendaya on her knees)

[dolliestfairy]

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰𝒕𝒔 𝑷𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒏. ݁٬ ࣪ ، ָ࣪ .🌹 ، ₊ ˖  ་ ݁

yandere Majestic boy Israfel obsessed with chubby!fem!reader <3

Author Note ཐིiཋྀ : This is My Original character Israfel Astaroth. i've been thinking about making my own yandere oc from a long time ago but i always found myself being nervous, and now i decided to. the dark theme will be using for my yandere masterlist also btw hehe ;).

🦇 Original Character Short Introduction :

Full Name : Israfel Rose Astaroth. Age : 26. He loves Vampire Gothic Style. If you want to know what he looks like, he looks like the thumbnail in the middle man. thats how i potrait him to look like. Love Interest : You.

🦇 Warning : Doxxing, his crazy fans hired a hitman to kill you, Massacre, obsessiveness, Unhealthy behavior, blood, this called yandere for a reason, i've warned you. this is a Yandere Fiction. Reader skin color is not announced. just him being crazy that he slaughtered his fans for you. and maybe some misspelled word. lmk if i miss anything.

• Israfel is a Majestic boy who is a Sucker for his chubby!fem!reader. everyone is a sucker for him, but him? he's a sucker for you. like real real, motherfucking sucker.

• would die for you. and killed for you too. dont mess with his girlfriend or they'll be dead in just a few days.

• i mean come on.. this guy has reputation and power, not to mention Israfel is a Clever guy too, but when he's with you? he's like a little boy with his favorite pillow he doesnt want to share with.

• he has TONS of fangirls and fanboys, he always come in a model poster, he always get the image of a perfection, but when people find out who is the person that have been there for him behind the stages, and how they look like, they're feeling really execrate.

• some people start doxxing you, and share your internal information, makes you feel scared and ashamed, some of them even send a hitman to kill you.

• when israfel find out how people treat his darling, he's on full rage. this is the time where the beautiful and blessed rose show its poisonous thorns.

• when i said 'thorns' he really become a character development. from a Big Star Model to a motherfucking Serial Killer. he'd kill his fans, and mostly, those bastard that doxx your information and those cheap hitman.

• after he slaughter them all, he's going to you, you were all scared and begging for mercy. but israfel just laugh, his bloody hand grab your cheeks gently, and his lips kisses your forehead. "its okay. no one will hurt you again."

• he hugged you with his body that is covered in blood, while you see a piled of dead bodies behind him, rotting.

• just like half of him now. for sure the rose petals now are already withered. but his poisonous thorns will always be strong, for you. to protect you. his walking snuggle ball <3

🌹 ּ ᮫ ˵ ִ ۪۫ ☾ "just dont leave me okay? you know you meant a lot to me. say to me who dared to look down on you and i'll slit their throat open, just for you <3."

[odbuoyjemmity]

angel of small death and the codeine scene

rating: teen and up audiences

no archive warnings apply

category: m/m

relationships: israfel/jupiter north, jupiter north & gregoria quinn

characters: jupiter north, israfel (nevermoor)

additional tags: depression, addiction, minor character death, pre-canon

jupiter is finding out post-scholar life isn't exactly what he thought it might be. he turns to the old delph for comfort.

[cyclic-laughter]

OH YEAH AND COOKIE ALSO DESIGNED THIS FELLA AND I LOVE THEM SO MUCH AAAAAAA IM So OBSESSED WITH THEM. THEYRE SO FUCKING PRETTY

[nishalabyrinthcloset]

[franksdri]

more NGE sketches, very quick one today today, israfel

[shadowsageingempress]

Happy 28th anniversary to Israfel and AsuShin!

[takerfoxx]

All right, this is probably one of the more cringy shipping things I've posted, but eh, who cares?

Now, I've mentioned a few times that for as ride or die as I am for the Israfel Special (Shinji/Asuka/Rei) triad, there's no way it would work given their personalities and hang-ups in just about every canon depiction, and some stuff would have to be altered if it even has a prayer of having a chance. Which got me thinking. In the healthiest possible version of that ship, what would their personalities actually look like, and how would they interact with one another?

Shinji? Malewife. Okay, I kid, but c'mon, it's basically what he does. Even so, he would definitely be the most grounded of the three, the one having to reign the girls in before they got into too much trouble. Despite this, he really does enjoy his partners' antics, and will allow himself to get swept up in them, so long as they're not trying something too illegal. And while he served as the superego in the original show, here he would probably be the ego: the calm, rational one that serves as a comfortable stabilizing force.

Asuka? Basically Haruhi Suzumiya. Still energetic and impulsive, but since she doesn't feel threatened by the other two and isn't constantly trying to compete with them, she instead turns that energy into this proactive force of personality, the one that keeps encouraging the others to get out there and try new things. Her insecurities are definitely still there, but she masks them with overcheerfulness instead of aggressive hostility. Loves pushing her partners to try newer and more daring experiences, but feels absolutely rotten whenever she goes too far and gets them hurt. Despite her impulsive nature, she is the superego of the group, as she is more chaotic than Shinji but also, surprisingly, has more inhibitions than Rei.

Rei? Autistic as fuck. I'm working off the assumption that she still had the same life up until meeting the other two and they're the ones to draw her out of her shell, so she's not exactly the most socially adept. Still, now that she's had a taste for actually having a life, she's boundlessly curious and quietly down for pretty much anything. Enjoys accompanying Asuka on her hijinks while also having Shinji teach her various creative outlets in equal measure. Basically, Rei Q from that heartbreaking slice of life montage from the last Rebuild movie. Also, in a change, she would be the Id, in that she comes into actually experiencing a sense of self and what she wants and enjoys very late and hasn't learned about things like, you know, a sense of restraint and a filter for her intrusive thoughts.

[mastomysowner]

使徒との遭遇 by 甘井ヤドラキ

[sleeeping-fiish]

They’re exes you’re honour