#because unlike dante with hell

[neros-left-pec]

PLAYING INFINITY NIKKI WITH THE DMC MEN

🌷 pairings: dmc men x fem!reader 🌷 warnings/tags: just fluff + probably OOC 🌷 author's note: i have really bad dmc brainrot but ive never even played the games (don't ask how this happened) LOL. i kinda see these as crack hcs since im not actually familiar with their canon personalities but i hope u can enjoy it regardless!

NERO SPARDA

you've been gone for a huge part of the day, so he starts looking around devil may cry for you. he finds you at your desktop looking VERY engrossed with what you're doing

doing his best to not alert you, he sneaks up behind you. it seems a cute video game has caught your attention, and you're playing dress-up...?

"Wait, each power lets her use a new dress? How does she change so fast?"

thinks it's ridiculous at first, but similar to Vergil he gets weirdly addicted to helping you pick the best scoring combinations

unlike Vergil, he is not very good at it. but he will try his best

"Okay okay, go with the lace gloves, TRUST ME. It's tagged as elegance which is what you need."

like dante, he is convinced he knows what he's talking about, but definitely gets pissed every time his outfits don't work out

"What the fuck, this is impossible! I thought this game was for babies!"

no nero, this game is not for babies. you need to lock in.

one day, you surprise him by coming home in an outfit eerily similar to one he had made for you in the game last week.

gets very visibly flustered when he sees you model it.

it suits you incredibly well and is very tailored to his tastes, since, well, he was the one who made the outfit after all!

he saves up a bit of money and takes you on a shopping spree. he must see you in more outfits

YOU GUYS ARE PLAYING DRESS TO IMPRESS IRL!!!!!

side note but i feel like he would go crazy if he saw you wearing black high heels. he loves black on you

DANTE SPARDA

"So it's like dress-up... but with boss fights? Kinda kickass if you ask me."

he tries to help you pick an outfit but always makes the WORST combinations EVER. the outfits colors never match and he makes you wear ugly boots with a pretty dress or something lol

is convinced he is a master fashion designer

"Look at me, I'm adorable as hell!"

not really too interested in the game itself but he likes seeing how into it you get. you get very invested in the story and he finds it adorable. you have a simple heart and he loves you for it

asks you to show off your outfits

"C'mon, spin around. Pose for me, dear! ...Oh yeah that's very nice, I quite like it honestly. You've got some talent, huh?"

sometimes he thinks about how cute you would look in pastels and gets a bit distracted. his brows furrow, a soft blush dusting his cheeks as he hides a smile behind his hand.

with his mouth covered, it actually kinda looks like he's grimacing, which is hilarious. he'll often start daydreaming about you and get flustered. others will see him and think he's pissed off because of the tense expression. if only they knew about the big smile that was hidden behind his hand

VERGIL SPARDA

he does not understand why you are stressing about losing a "style battle," whatever that meant

he stares at your screen with his arms crossed.

"So foolish..." FOOLISHNESS, Y/N. FOOLISHNESS----

watches silently. secretly enjoys watching you get worked up over something so silly

you ask him for styling advice and using the clothing stats, builds you the most min-maxxed outfit for the style battles. quickly learned the numbers have to do with if you win or not. however, he somehow manages to make them also look gorgeous at the same time (IF YOU PLAY INFINITY NIKKI YOU KNOW HOW HARD THIS IS). he does it to make you happy since you hate ugly outfits

after a while, he gets kinda into it

"No, that shade of mauve does not go with the rest of the outfit... Even the most untrained eye would know that a lady's shoes must match with her bag."

YOU STARE AT HIM....

he looks to the side and walks away.

damn him!

secretly makes a note to buy you a cute ensemble to wear to your next date

he will get rid of the price tags and fold them into your drawers so you happen across them

he will never admit he bought it but you know it was him

and of course, he buys you a bag with matching flats/heels depending on your preference :)

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

The Ineffable Detective Agency presents: Decoding 1941 Hell – The Hidden Morse Messages

The Good Omens team never fails to surprise us: In the Hell scenes set in 1941, there are subtle beeps in the background that many might have missed: morse code messages! 

We took the time to decode these messages from about 5 minutes of the show – some parts are easy to identify, some parts are really hard due to overlying sounds or noises. 

We used the 5.1 audio and selected only the channel with the morse signals. Check out an easy snippet – which line is it? :)

Then, we applied high- and low-pass filters to emphasize the code’s pitch around 1360 Hz. Some of us have pretty sharp ears, some of us worked with the frequency spectra to mark short and long signals as well as pauses in between. 

Here is what we have heard or seen, together with some facts and thoughts on the lines. Let us know what you think!

S2E4 06:19 to 08:23 “Have a miserable eternity”

Here are the pieces we have successfully decoded: 

HAVE A DREADFUL ETERNITY

We are wondering why this is different to the text via loudspeaker as well as Furfur’s “have a miserable eternity”...

TOMMY’S A LEGEND

Do we know a Tommy?

1) There's the Welsh magician/comedian Tommy Cooper (his magical act specialized in magic tricks that appeared to fail), who was the inspiration for the red fez in the magic shop. Cooper died live on television suffering a heart attack. :(

2) There's also the lead character Tommy in Brigadoon, the plot of which feels seriously GO-coded. There is a magic village hidden outside time that only appears in Scotland once every 100 years and is connected to the rest of the world with a bridge, outsiders who find "clues about the village and its people that make no sense", and a plot about unlikely lovers who are separated (because one "can't just leave everything in the real world behind"), and an ending that reunites the lovers against all odds because of the strength of their love ("I told ye, if you love someone deeply enough, anything is possible ... even miracles.")

PAUL’S OUR MIXING HERO

Could that be the Re-Recording Mixer PAUL McFADDEN?

ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION ABAN

The phrase "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" is a quote from Dante’s Inferno, Prelude to Hell, Canto III, Vestibule of Hell: Dante passes through the gate of Hell, which bears an inscription ending with the phrase "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate". So, the minisode is THE place where we get quotes from the two most famous literary accounts of Hell – with Furfur's quotation of Paradise Lost in the dressing room at the Windmill Theater: "In dubious battle on the Plains of Heaven". 

S2E4 09:16 to 10:09 “Processing the Nazis”

ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION

S2E4 11:07 - 13:12: “The offer to return as Zombies”

These two minutes are very tricky: while in the first half it is ok-ish to identify the signals in the spectrum, the second half is overlaid by so much noise… – yes, we are calling the dialogues and sounds in hell noise now :D – that we chose a different approach. 

It looked as if the sequence starts from the beginning, so we compared both parts, and now we are quite sure that it is the same pattern. 

DO NOT LICK THE WALLS HEAVEN LOOKS DOWN ON YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE PATHETIC ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION DO NOT LICK THE WALLS HEAVEN LOOKS DOWN ON YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE PATHETIC ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION DO NOT LICK THE WALLS HEAVEN LO …

So those are the sections we are pretty certain we have correct. However, there is one section we are still unsure on - maybe you can help?

Back to S2E4 06:19 to 08:23

We have been fighting hard with the first six seconds, before “HAVE A DREADFUL ETERNITY” and we think it is:

SHE’S IN MA PHONE

Who are we talking about now?

Do you have any other ideas of what this could be? If it is “She’s in ma phone”, what does that mean? Or is the S just noise and it starts with an H? Or even with a B – BE’S IN MA PHONE?

So, what are your thoughts on all of these messages? Why go to the effort of putting morse code here? Is it a fun easter egg, or something more? And why say “dreadful eternity” in morse when the quote used in the show is “miserable eternity”? We have so many questions!

Spoiler: There is more code hidden throughout the series.  Let us know what you see or hear!

-... .    -.- .. -. -..    - ---    . .- -.-. ….    --- - …. . .-. 

An amazing joint effort with @noneorother, @kimberleyjean, @thebluestgreen, and @embracing-the-ineffable at the @ineffable-detective-agency (with the incredible @maufungi, @somehow-a-human, @lookingatacupoftea, @komorezuki, @havemyheartaziraphale, and @dunkthebiscuit)

See more of our posts, plus a collection of Clues and metas from all over the fandom, here.

[msmysticfail]

How to manifest (Law of Attraction) for 8th house and Scorpio placements:

The 8th house, like Scorpio, is ruled by Pluto, the great God of the underworld, of the bowels of the Earth. It is the magnetic force of Pluto that acts on the Earth's core, which is why people with important placements in the 8th house and Scorpio are magnetic, they have that sublime magnetism that pulls people in, attracting them with that something that people generally don't know how to define it exactly.

Unlike the magnetism of the Sun, which is hot and radiates light and which everyone wants to be close to its heat, Pluto is quiet, cold, it’s extremely silent, it is that spirit that stands still in one of the corners of the room, without anyone noticing it. It's energy is not clearly perceived, felt, but it's so strong, so strong, that it doesn't need clear manifestations, "scandalous" situations to show itself. Its vibration is extremely low but he is extremely powerful. Pluto gets what he wants because his strength is vibrating so strongly within itself that it becomes a pole of magnetism for the things around him. Pluto governs irresistible attractions, governs the depths of the earth (the richest and purest gold), governs the most lethal bombs, governs the most dangerous places, Pluto governs the strength to walk through “Hell”.

Okay, so how to manifest using Pluto?

1- Look inside yourself and see what/how your thoughts are.

Have you ever stopped to think about where/what your thoughts are most of the time? You may be dwelling on what someone did to you, your mind may be fixated on the bad things that happened to you in the past, you may be furious with your insufferable boss or your ex's new girlfriend. You're going to have to start paying attention from now on - while you're manifesting - where your thoughts are in the moment.

2- Change your thoughts from what bothers you to what you want.

You know what you want, 8th house and Scorpio individuals always have something they really want and they know what it is. So, from the moment you start manifesting you will have to redirect your thoughts from the things that bother you to the things that please you, the things that you really want. This process is not easy, you may need to heal some wounds from the past first, so that you can finally have a strong and clear mind to act on your desires.

3 – Write what you want and don’t show it to anyone

Write down what you really want to manifest, you can use any type of manifestation method (scripting), write with all your heart what you want to manifest, be it a boyfriend, be it a position at work, be it the fame you want to gain, connect with the desire and let your words flow. Keep the notebook/sheet in secret (Pluto), and let its manifestation be something intimate between you (8th house or Scorpio placement) and Pluto (force of the Universe).

4 - Activate your personal power

You are angry that things are not going the way you want, you feel ugly, you feel disconnected from yourself, you feel bad inside yourself. Look, this is the hardest part. You will have to change your entire emotional universe to work deeply with your emotions, remember, the 8th house is the house of deep emotions, just like the 12th house, you will have to dive completely within yourself, to discover what hurts you (8th house), what you are afraid of losing (8th house), what gives you pleasure (8th house) even if it is prohibited. You will enter one of the most sensitive areas of yourself. There's no getting away with Pluto, however. If you want your gold, you'll have to walk through hell first. Remember, however, that Persephone had the help of Hecate, Dante had the help of Virgil, so you can also ask for help, whether from a psychologist, through witchcraft, meditation, or through physical or emotional self-care.

5 – Keep working on your personal power

After you understand your inner universe, now it's time to activate the power of Pluto. “What I want also wants me”, “What is mine is coming to me”, “I love myself, I accept my intensity, I accept my power. My power doesn’t scare me”, “I’m not going to give that power to him/her, I have the power to move forward, I have the power to change this situation”. These are some of the phrases that you will repeat to yourself, at any time of the day, while you are manifesting, you can create others, just remember that they should remind you of your personal power, that they should affirm your power, be creative and repeat firmly because Pluto will listen to you.

6-End: Don't be afraid of the journey

Pluto rules you, baby! Don't be afraid of the shadows, let them work for you, not against you, the dark cannot scare you, you are a creature of the depths, a child of the realms of the darkness. Good luck!

[tehrevving]

Random Headcannons about Dante’s Massive Triggered Dong

Dante has 4 states of penis: Human, DT, SDT and phasing.

He can only partially trigger into his DT form, not SDT. He can stay mostly human while his cock becomes fully triggered, he’ll usually grow some plates and armour on his skin, and horns, but he still looks mostly human. If you really wind him up while he’s not actively triggering then his cock will start phasing in and out of human and devil form. This cock stays it’s normal human skin colour but grows and shrinks a hell of a lot in thickness with each desperate thump of his heart that pulses through his cock. It also glows slightly molten gold as the veins become more pronounced. 

His DT cock is about an inch or so longer than his human one, but about double the width. His cock is made up of leathery skin slightly darker than his normal DT skin colour, covered in a few crimson coloured overlapping plates with molten, golden coloured veins and lights running between them. There’s a few fairly soft spikes at the base on the top and bottom of it, and their sole purpose is to stimulate the clit/perineum of his partner. The head is thick and tapers to be thinner at the tip. There’s a plate of armour that covers his groin while he’s fighting and there’s strategic cracks in it that sort of shift apart to reveal his cock. 

When he’s in his DT form, his cock won’t reveal itself if there’s no devil pheromones present. He can trigger when he’s very aroused and it’ll already be out, but otherwise it simply won’t appear, no matter how much you tease him or how desperate he is for it. You can see it, bulging through the plates of his crotch, molten gold veins throbbing and shining as he’s desperate but utterly unable to come. 

His SDT cock is fucking huge, that whole form is big and his cock is no exception, good luck taking that one as a normal, fragile human. It’s double the length and width of his DT cock and looks huge even in proportion to his huge SDT form. This cock has no trouble making an appearance when he’s aroused. The armour on his crotch simply splits apart to reveal this massive, scarly monstrosity. It’s the same dark brown as his SDT skin, armoured, jagged and covered in plates that shift. There’s more molten golden orange veins running through it and the head is thick and blunt. 

Any of Dante’s triggered cocks are super sensitive because they’re usually hidden. You’d think the armour and leather would dull the sensation for him but it just does the complete opposite. 

Leaks copious amounts of dark coloured fluid, more a brown colour that the colour of normal semen. It’s thick and sticky, works well as a lubricant and also possesses all of the throat coating, healing benefits of his normal half-devil cum. 

Comes often and with absolute buckets. It doesn’t take much to get him off and he’s ready to go again straight away without a break. There will be cum absolutely everywhere and unlike when he’s a human, there isn’t progressively less of it with each subsequent orgasm, if anything there’s even more. 

Bonus:

Play with the slit of the sheath that his SDT cock comes out of. Please. I promise he’ll thank you for it.

[theseinfernalangels]

A Guide to my Empyrean OCs

So! As I started writing my next fic™️ (Liam time!!), I realized that it would make absolutely no sense unless you all had more context for these OCs. Of course, fics will stay in second person, but I absolutely hate using “Y/N” and wanted room for specific characters with actual backstories and such. I might end up changing some lore in the future, but I figured this would be an appropriate start. Don’t be surprised when I come back to edit this a million times 🥲

Lieutenant Freya Levine – Bodhi Durran

Rider (Marked), Graduated

The daughter of Commander Erik Levine, a close confidant of Fen Riorson, who was turned in by a fellow Tyrrish officer, Major Leon Jarrell, in turn for a pardon from execution. Quietly seeking revenge and insists on aiding Garrick and Bodhi with their weapon smuggling (much to Xaden’s dismay). Quite traditional and forces herself to adapt to her new life without her parents quickly in order to protect Sloane, her foster sister. Enjoys drawing and has a photographic memory. She’s not the best at forming friendships due to the trust issues she faces, but Bodhi is stubborn and refuses to let her wallow in peace. They grew up together and he missed her terribly when they were split up after the Apostasy. 

SIGNET: Weather Manipulation (& Unweaving Wards)

DRAGON: Spéirling (Spéir) – Female Black Swordtail

Anya Holt – Dain Aetos

Rider, Third Year, Section Leader

Raised by her mother in Calldyr in one of the most crime-ridden areas until she dies when Anya is 8. Anya is very musically inclined and has perfect pitch, and sings on the streets for money with her adopted family until she is 18. She joins the Riders Quadrant and is initially looked down upon because of her upbeat, go-with-the-flow nature. She and Dain have their differences at first, but after an unlikely encounter, a couple of crash-outs, and an almost-fatal occurrence, the two find common ground. Anya is known for being sweet but overwhelmingly honest, to the point where it can make others uncomfortable sometimes.

SIGNET: Truth-Sayer

DRAGON: Fíochmhar (Fíoch) – Male Brown Scorpiontail

Ruby St. John — Imogen Cardulo

Rider (Marked), Third-Year, XO

The second of a set of triplets, Ruby grew up often feeling overlooked and under-appreciated. That was, until, she grew to be absolutely radiant and was almost married off before the Apostasy. Snappy and fierce with an underlying sweet side, Ruby is a fighter through and through and a breath of fresh air for Imogen, who can’t help but be drawn to Ruby’s best qualities.

SIGNET: Charmspeaking (& Crystallokenesis)

DRAGON: Maisefuachd (Maise) — Female Orange Swordtail

Faelyn Fox – Ridoc Gamlyn

Rider, First Year

The daughter of tavern owners, Faelyn grew up without a lot of attention, which resulted in her becoming very impulsive to try and get their attention. Recovering kleptomaniac. Snuck away from home to join the Riders Quadrant against her parents’ wishes. Kind of has no idea of what she’s doing but is fast as hell and ultra-stealthy, which she uses to her advantage to survive in the Quadrant. Especially good at hiding and finding things (and finds herself in hot water when she finds out some classified information). Her impulsivity attracts Ridoc like a moth to a flame. She didn’t see him as much more than a friend (with benefits) until she was almost taken out by a salty cadet in a would-have-been assassination attempt, and he keeps her alive. They grow closer after that, with him helping her emotionally recover from the ordeal.

SIGNET: Concealment by touch

DRAGON: Natharthaslíoc (Nat) – Female Green Scorpiontail

Kora Callahan – Sawyer Henrick

Rider, Second Year

Comes from a long line of military heroes and is secretly terrified of never living up to her family’s high expectations. The daughter of Major Raina Callahan and Colonel Dante Callahan, she is expected to be as deadly and unforgiving as them but is actually very gentle and hates violence. She should have enlisted in the Healers Quadrant given her abundance of medical knowledge, but after the mysterious death of her father, she enlists in the quadrant in order to fight for the truth. A lot of her squadmates defer to her for healing anyway because of her quiet nature and soft demeanor. She tries not to draw too much attention to herself, as she would definitely be a target of bias due to the ruthlessness of her parents. Poor baby just wants to brew her tea and help people – but she quickly realizes that her idea of helping should be traded for a different cause. Close to Eden (see below) and spends a ton of time in the infirmary when not busy.

SIGNET: Mending

DRAGON: Cridheteòm (Cridhe) – Male Green Clubtail

Iris Balaska – Aaric Graycastle

Rider (Marked), Third Year, Executive Officer

Literally had no idea of her parent’s involvement in the Tyrrish Rebellion until it was too late. They were among the first to be executed, solidifying Iris’ hatred for the Navarrian military. She doesn’t draw much attention to herself until she spars for the first time and breaks another cadet’s arm for bad-mouthing Imogen. A quiet bundle of grief and anger who just needs to punch something every once in a while. Aaric, our chill prince, has the odd ability to soothe her temper and get her to let loose for a little bit, but that’s only after they get over their prior tension: She knows who he is right away, and he tries to avoid her at all costs because she’s lowkey terrifying and he thinks she’s threatening him (she’s not – she’s just like that). She’s just suspicious of him, though, and thinks that his father sent him to keep an eye on the Marked cadets.

SIGNET: Luck-Bender…

DRAGON: Cinniúintcluain (Cinni) – Female Red Clubtail

Ronan Lovelace — Catriona Cordella

Flier, Third-Year, Seawing Drift

Ronan is the daughter of the leader of the royal guard and has been Cat’s best friend since they were children. Since the age of six, she’s trained to become a member of the guard and secretly protected Cat for their entire adolescence. Cat has no idea that Ronan has been given the task of protecting her with her life and subsequently always stays around her, even though Cat thinks it’s just because they’re friends. Had her heart broken in multiple places when she was betrothed to Xaden, but it’s nothing she’s not used to. Witty, sharp, and soft-spoken, she’ll stay on the sidelines forever if it means Cat will get her happy ending.

GIFT: Heightening and lowering the senses

GRYPHON: Theamarou (Thea)

Lieutenant Cosette Camden-Tauri – Garrick Tavis

Rider, Graduated

The bastard daughter of King Tauri, two years older than Aaric. She was raised as Halden’s and Alic’s sister (they look remarkably identical and are close in age anyway) after being taken in by the royal family, but she is always reminded that she is not accepted. The king, as a means of getting rid of her, banishes Cosette to the Riders Quadrant – he couldn’t stand the embarrassment he felt when looking at her, and her knack for running away infuriated him. What he doesn’t expect is that she flourishes there and has more potential as a rider than a royal. Exceptional with knives and collects them over the years. Garrick is not aware of her royal status at first and defends her when other, more aware cadets harass her for being illegitimate. Once they get a little closer, she tells him who she actually is, and he vows to protect her with his life. The big sister/mom friend to pretty much everyone.

SIGNET: Light Summoning

DRAGON: Seachranréalta (Seachran) – Male Orange Morningstartail

Eden Kiyoko – Liam Mairi

Healer (former Rider), First Year (repeat)

Was originally in the Riders Quadrant until she was brutally attacked by another cadet for resisting his advances, leaving her permanently disabled and unable to continue to Threshing. Luckily, her high intelligence allowed her to transfer to the Healers Quadrant with ease. Uses a cane and is always armed – even though she’s safe with the healers, she can’t help but feel the need to protect herself after her attack and develops great anxiety about being injured again. She has the uncanny ability to feel the pain of others as if it was her own, which makes her a formidable healer and allows her to get close to leadership even as a First Year cadet. Close with Kora and studies ‘under’ her to advance her medical knowledge. Met Liam purely by coincidence – she just happened to be in the same room as him and was introduced through Iris. His gentleness and her strength compliment each other greatly. Only time will tell how great her strength truly is…

Rosarie Fuentes — Sloane Mairi

Rider (Marked), First-Year

Rosarie is the daughter of two Tyrrish military officers who were felled by General Melgren during the Rebellion. Her older sister is killed during the Calldyr Executions, which a lot of other marked cadets hold against her (because, in their opinions, she had it easier). She tends to keep to herself for fear of getting too close to people who may leave her, but who says that all friends have to be alive to be present? A childhood friend of Sloane’s who decides to reunite with her following the advice of a new (?) companion.

SIGNET: Medium (& Mirror-Walker)

DRAGON: Taibhseláidir (Taibh) — Male Red Scorpiontail

Commander Sabine Ambrose – Brennan Sorrengail

Rider, Graduated, former Wingleader

Graduated Basgiath before the Rebellion started. Her adoptive moms, scribe Elora Ambrose and Commander Danica Sharpe, adopted her and her clumsy little sister when they were small children. They raised Sabine to be intelligent and quick-witted, to never accept anything half-assed, and to be loyal to those she loves. Saves Brennan when he almost gets thrown off the Parapet by sticking his assailant in the back with a remarkably small glass knife. She’s definitely the Wine Aunt of the group, although she generally presents herself to be quite the stoic in the beginning for fear of being targeted. He is able to push through her walls, though, and allows her to feel comfortable in her own skin. Sciath, her dragon, is Marbh’s mate, forever binding her to Brennan. She follows him to Aretia and is more than keen on shielding him after he (kind of?) died – doesn’t exactly coddle him per se, but is definitely protective of him – not that he minds.

SIGNET: Shielding 

DRAGON: Sciathcion (Sciath) – Female Blue Swordtail

Lieutenant Talyn Rush — Mira Sorrengail

Flier, Graduated, Summitwing Drift

Started training to become a flier shortly after her mother and sister were killed in a skirmish against the venin. Laidback, lethal, and always equipped with an infuriating smile that grates Mira’s nerves at first. Between chasing each other around Tom & Jerry style and facing quiet evenings alone, Talyn soon finds herself entranced by the deadly daughter of General Sorrengail — and ready to give her hell for it.

GIFT: Projecting images into one’s mind

GRYPHON: Machiraine (Machi)

[fiemdblunt]

LCB Sinners and fragrances I've assigned them

The formatting is going to be so ass I'm just doing this in a fit of insanity.

Yi Sang

Okay so this one is an interesting case, I've always perceived Yi sang as smelling medicinal, and this REALLY gets that. Medicinality and the overall oud and rose contrast that I adore really works well into the artificiality of Yi Sang's surrounding and the inherent strong humanity in him together. It pictures him perfectly honestly.

Faust

Words can not describe how much this reminds me of Faust. It might be her design influencing me but shush. Probably because unlike most gourmands, especially creamy milky scents that tend to lean more juvenile, it works well with the vibe Faust gives me without leaning into something that smells very young, there's a massive degree of maturity to her personality. Also fans of this fragrance are about as insane as Faust fans, horniness included.

Don Quixote

HAPPY CITRUS HAPPY ORANGES LEMONS LIME GRAPEFRUIT BERGAMO- Honestly though, Don is dreams and positivity despite it all, the most joyous scent to me has always been citrus. Citrusy scents also tend to be VERY loved by children, unlike Faust, we're leaning Don into her youthful energy. At the end of the day, Don shines like the sun.

Ryoshu

This fragrance specifically flashes her base E.G.O into my head, it's spice and sexy dried rotten flowers, that's basically the only way I can describe it. And that's very Ryoshu to me. It also smells a bit like blood.

Meursault

Peak Meursault. Unassuming at first, then you notice that something about it is unique, there's something more to it, it's nuanced. It's a bit peppery, a bit fizzy, a bit stingy. It's like there's "nothing", not nothing.

Hong Lu

Haha funny Penhaligon's is rich people perfume but this one specifically stands out through Penhalingon's to me, which is the appeal point, which is what brings in Hong Lu aspect here. It has this light and carefree idea to it, but it still stands out. It's powdery but smells modern, which is interesting because usually powdery fragrances can smell very vintage, there's an idea of standing out no matter where you go but maintaining a light attitude.

Heathcliff

Leather and violet do I have to say anything. You've played his Canto, I've played his Canto, we all played his Canto. It's his world and Cathy's world living with him, it's not just him anymore but also a memory of her.

Ishmael

I can not describe to you how her Canto made me feel. I had to grab fish conserves to experience it even better. This fragrance is very close to how I felt at the end of it, right after finishing her Canto. It's the relentless sea and the warmth that Ishmael represents.

Rodion

I am so specific about Rodya this doesn't FULLY capture her but it's pretty close. Smells like the inside of an old dusty cabinet, hell yeah.

Sinclair

Remember how I said that I associate milky and citrusy fragrances with youth. Yeah. There's a sting to it though, Sinclair is not just a coward, there is so much underlying potential. The same applies to the fragrance here.

Outis

Outis is such a chypre enjoyer and this one works really well with her. Also it smells like olive trees a bit, it grounds the rest of the very naturey colder notes, it fits Outis greatly overall.

Gregor

Honestly I tried this one fairly recently, immediately thought of Gregor. Though I will be completely honestly I haven't tested this enough to actually properly analyze it for you </3 I might do Dante, Vergilius, and Charon and maaaybe some side characters as well

[evilmaycry]

Is The Devil May Cry Netflix Show Really That Bad?

I watched the entirety of the DMC animated show (and I still insist on not calling it an "anime," as the anime premiered back in 2007, and actually fits inside the canon of Devil May Cry as a whole, after DMC5 completely canonized it.)

I watched it in good faith, as I believe in the sincerity of a good critique. My notes from each segment watched are here, from episode 1 through 3, and here from episode 4 through 6. There is no post with notes for the final episodes, as I was so tired and flabbergasted from watching that season finale was, that I couldn't type those to post.

However, in the following segment of this post, I will include my final notes, as well as my final thoughts regarding the show, fan reactions and some context regarding my own opinions. Will also try to include the basis of my opinions, with segments from the games and 2007 animated show.

Yes, there are spoilers ahead, but we already knew that!

1. The boring recap of the final two epsodes

(If you already know what happens, and don't want the extra commentary, you may skip to the next section.)

Episode 7 opens with Nelo Angelo giving his blood to the Rabbit. Let's put a pin on this for later!

Dante saved Mary and in return, she punched him, after having an awkward, "will they have a romantic connection later?" moment. The punch was overkill. They could've made her just not blush at all.

In this canon, the devil trigger is fed by rage and hatred, which implies that Dante's "makaian" (I still cannot get used to the term, and I'll keep thinking it's pretty silly) heritage is inherently negative, as those two emotions are perceived to be as such.

Magic, demonic power and such concepts are nonexistent in this Alternative Universe.

I kept a tally of the times Mary swears in the two episodes. It was 9, however, I did not count "shit" or "dickhead."

We see Mary try to face a group of demons by herself, and I believe it to be exclusively because she feels like receiving help from Dante is the end of the world. She is a seasoned federally funded demon hunter, she should definitely know better than to fight beings who are much powerful and resilient than her, even with all the equipment she had at hand.

Noting that Kalina Ann is just a military issue weapon, no customization or real meaningful connection to Mary. That is fine, I guess it comes with the fact that this is an interpretation of the DMC story.

Yes, as expected, she is defeated because she seems to "care" about Dante.

Chuck E. Cheese mentioned. What does this have to do with my friend Charles Entertainment Cheese?!

Hell is a homeland to Sparda. Did we forget already that Sparda is a baddie?

Mundus is a dictator btw, not Satan himself, just a political figure, cartoonishly affecting absolutely everyone in "Makai," indiscriminately

Dante bargains to selflessly help Mary, because yes, he is a good guy to a fault. Yes, seemingly Dante is a better person than all of us, because I would not give a fuck about a brutal cop who actively antagonized me.

This segment is a fight between cartoon Cavaliere Angelo and Dante. Since at this point we know that Rabbit created all the abomination-looking demons with mutations, there is no way that this particular demon did not come from Vergil's blood, as we know, all the angelos in the games are constructs based on him. And because mutated demons are created by DNA editing, the Rabbit would have needed Vergil's DNA to mutate a makaian into Cavaliere Angelo.

We cannot make sense of a lot, but that´s ok because Dante is cool!

Surprise! darkcom has been abusing power this whole time, and you have been murdering innocent people. She acts like she's surprised. I am sad for Lady, because Mary is completely ruining her good reputation. There is no way that people can sincerely like Mary, because right now, she is just plainly unlikable, irredeemable and corrupted. I guess that is ok because we all have tragic backstories and traumatic childhoods.

Vice President Wesker calls Lady an attack dog that needs to be brought to heel? Girl ok.

My next note says "the eventual romantic angle is shit." Yes, I agree with me from the time I wrote the note.

Also, the VP being a christian zealot is commentary. Like OK WE GET IT CHRISTIANS ARE BAD!!!

The Rabbit mutated to a behemoth, is rampaging but the anti-demon bullets cannot harm him still. OK all the basis of DNA and mutations stopped being logical as soon as we needed an extra tough guy. Let us also put a pin on this.

The fight with mutated Rabbit was borderline unwatchable, from how bad and stupid it became.

Oh, he seemingly killed Enzo, and Dante is rightfully upset. This actually checks with Dante, and one of the few instances where he is close to his canon personality.

Mary calls Dante the slur again, inviting him to team up. Let's just imagine how this would look if this was a real life scenario.

In this universe, Vergil did not disappear, Dante watched him die.

Mary besmirches the sanctity of "Jackpot" by uttering it herself. I was getting angry at this point.

WELL, they end up winning, and Dante invites her to come with him, in good faith. He still believes that this ruthles, racist cop is still a good person to team up with.

It seems like she has accepted, however... SURPRISE!!! SHE BETRAYS HIM IN THE WORST WAY POSSIBLE. Mary quite literally stabs him in the back.

The VP is an imperialist, and his god asks for a Holy War. A God, that judging the existence of Makai as a different world, does not exist, or at least is not as close to the thing they believe it to be.

The next note simply says "this shit is so ass bro..."

Operation Inferno starts! American Idiot plays! Because they think we are the idiots.

The US occupies and bombs the Middle East Makai! They are sacking their resources!

Final scenes include Dante being frozen in the timeskip chamber after Mary betrayed him.

OH VERGIL IS SHOWN! AND HE IS WORKING FOR KING MUNDUS!!!! What exactly did Mundus free him from? His own humanity?

MUNDUS IS ACTUALLY GOOD NOW!!! AND VERGIL IS VOLUNTARILY WORKING FOR HIM!! AND HE IS NOT FORCEFULLY TRANSFORMED INTO NELO ANGELO! IT'S ACTUALLY HIS DEVIL TRIGGER!!!!! AND YAMATO ALSO TRANSFORMS WITH HIM!!!!!!!!

Did we mention that Vergil IS THE STORM (that is approaching)?!?!?

2. Media insisting upon itself

One of the best expressions ever created to refer something that alleges to be earnest and profound, but in reality is pretentious, gaudy and self-absorbed. Used in Family Guy when Peter shares that he does not like The Godfather.

I truly believe this show insists upon itself, however, unlike what Lois refers to as "language of subtlety," the Devil May Cry Netflix series, is not even close to being fluent in it. They are Big in the fact that this is just an adaptation of the decades-long DMC lore, an adaptation of a beloved main character, an adaptation of a beloved deuteragonist, whose story in her first appearance, ends up being the true heart of the story. It is Lady, abandoning the name that her father gave her, realizing that "there are humans as evil as any devil, as well as kind and compassionate demons in this universe." She tells Dante that even a devil may cry when they lose a loved one.

We know this is just a one-in-a-million occurrence though. Demons are mostly evil, single-minded perverted souls that will not stop until everyone is dead. Demons and Hell, were always unequivocally forces of evil, and they manifest themselves in the human realm through sand, dust, electricity and even by possessing corpses. Majority of them are not in any way sentient, most of them don't have blood and they are magical beings. Only the high-level apparitions, like Phantom, Griffon, Echidna, Berial, etc., have the capacity to speak and rationalize. However, they are still hostile and single-minded in killing anything that comes in their way.

Some of these demons however, recognize the power of the player character and they offer their souls to their fight.

But no, in the Devil May Cry Netflix Show, the beings crossing through random tears in reality are NOT any of this. They are innocent beings, oppressed by a cartoonishly evil tyrant, polluting their ecosystem, pushing them to live in encampments, indirectly killing little children and ruining everyone's life.

They are humanoid, the main difference being that they have horns and they cover them with hoods or head wraps. Your thin veil for middle eastern peoples was too on the nose, Adi.

After episode 5 and 6, the show insists that you HAVE to feel bad for the makaians, because they are innocents, they are just immigrants to the human realm, looking a better life for themselves and their descendants. I think the allegory started allegorizing a little too much at this point.

The product wants you to believe it is good, because it showed refugees (makaians) might seem evil to us but they are actually not. However, they used literal evil, perverted and degenerate beings to be representations of the oppressed. The story tries to manipulate your emotions to convince you that, if you hate the makaians you are a bigot motherfucker yourself.

This is the way the show could probably get shooters to defend it. "You did not like it because it is commentary and gives visibility to the struggles and horrible experiences that refugees and immigrants go through."

Not really. I don't find political commentary from someone who attended the current US president's inauguration and addressed gratitude for the invitation publicly to be sincere or valid. His thoughts and feelings about the current humanitarian crises happening around the world, or in the past, become self-serving ways to appoint himself as a visionary.

(On a side note, that post has comments from 10 weeks ago, calling him a bootlicker, and other users stating that they thought him to be better than that)

3. The misunderstanding of Devil May Cry's characters

People who liked the show, (after seemingly turning their brains off, or being completely new to DMC) allege that people who did not enjoy the show are purists, stupid and want always the same. They call out nostalgia, and that somehow, naysayers are trying to gatekeep the story of an old, neglected franchise to keep the, in their opinion, "lackluster and shallow story" pristine.

Might be the case, only if Devil May Cry had a story that could be described with those two adjectives - Capcom has never worried to include much backstory in the games, but through almost 25 years of history, we know the overarching story of Devil May Cry, which has always been a battle between good and bad. Not a lot of people are morally grey in this universe, and there are no anti-heroes to be had. Red is red, Blue is blue.

However, I believe V might have come close to being a little grey, since he was always Vergil's humanity - at the end though, he accepts that all he wanted was to be cared for, and showed guilt for all the genocides he caused. BUT... He goes back to Urizen and unifies into the old asshole we've always known (and some loved.)

Shankar not only showed that he did not understand Vergil from the beginning, calling him an "anti-hero," but shows that he did not truly understand when he was watching the games cutscenes, if he even played the games at all.

Which of the characteristics of an anti-hero does Vergil possess? Maybe idealism for himself, in his constant selfish chase for power - morality for a few seconds when he teams up with Dante to kill the perversion of Sparda that Arkham had become. That does not redeem him, because he did not save anyone but himself. He had already killed hundreds, if not thousands of people when he brought Temen-Ni-Gru from the ground. We could allege that he was being manipulated by Arkham... But truly, he believed he would just rid of him at the end and keep the power for himself only.

That was just the sidebar. Vergil is not an anti hero, he is by all means a villain. Which takes me to the first pinned note: Vergil would NOT give his blood to the Rabbit for experimentation.

We understand that the Dante seen on the show is just Nero in disguise, the voice to the jokes - I was a prophetess when said before, that he would never say that. Never thought that my gift of clairvoyance referred to a your mom joke. No hate to Johnny, because he did a good job. However, he is already a character that is notorious and loved, so we cannot separate his voice from Nero. It was not until the final two episodes that I kind of stopped hearing Nero, but I heard no Dante though, that's for sure.

But the most egregious misunderstanding of a character, reputation assassination and pseudo empowering happened to Lady. To quote the guy himself:

Well, he did NONE of this. He conveniently changed Lady's story to turn her into a character that only shares name and appearance with her. Arkham (father) was a cowardly bitch whose only resort was to turn into a demon after one single attack in which he was paralyzed in fear, he killed Kalina over seemingly nothing (because there is no priestess blood in this universe,) and then Mary burned him alive. I guess? He might come back for some reason, who knows.

I saw some opinions regarding her character on twitter, and one went something like "well she is better in the show because she's had about 2 seconds of dialogue in the games after 3," and when I know and agree that the women in Devil May Cry suffer from under-usage and poor writing, Lady's CANON story and personality are much better than the slop presented in the show.

I don't know what exactly they were attempting to accomplish, either she is a tough, strong, independent girlboss type, or she is being made into an example that even women can be shitty. Whichever of these options is the right one, both are tired, little strategies to attempt at making a deep, interesting character that fall really flat.

📌Among the nonsensical things within the show, what stood the most to me, as a biologist, is the fact that the demons we see are created through "nazi experimentation" (as told by Lady Mary.) All demons are forcefully mutated into more bizarre, warped beings with science, and Rabbit himself figured out a way to keep himself alive with consuming demon makaian blood. At the end of the season, Rabbit himself unmasks and shows that he is an abomination himself, and chugs the blood out a demon. It kind of reminded me when in Dragon Age 2, the First Enchanter Orsino transformed himself into a rampaging demonic abomination.

The problem here, was that the anti-demon bullets were NOT working on the guy, despite having MUTATED completely into a demon. His body was pumped full with blood, and he also CONSUMED the blood of a demon - these bullets worked on Dante, who is naturally human. But they did not work in a guy who committed to the demon bit in a last attempt to fight.

Did anyone care for continuity or scientific rationale?📌

4. Fan nostalgia and Elitism among fans

While every piece of content is sometimes up to the consumer's interpretation, there are some things that are intentionally misrepresented and misinterpreted by fandom, inevitably. Lately (and I am referring probably around the time DMC5 was announced) the Devil May Cry fandom has chosen to comply with a fanon interpretation of Dante which might be annoying to some of us. Yes, 40-something-year-old Dante is a kissless virgin, who loves pizza, jokes and strawberry sundaes. He has never felt the touch of another human being, and is incapable for being sexual.

Where the fuck did this come from? I theorize that it is from the fandom filling the void of almost a decade without any content of the mainline Devil May Cry games.

I have been part of this fandom longer than Tumblr has been around, from the time where forums were the only way to communicate with other fans, and it was probably never like this - I do not remember at what point in time Dante was flanderized into what some sector of the fandom considers him to be. And I am bringing this up, because Shankar seems to have liked this interpretation of Dante, and put him on the screen - also the fact that the amulet in the cartoon is the amulet from DmC, so he was definitely highly inspire to attempt to splice those two Dantes-but-not-really-Dante into one for his visionary work.

This tweet expresses just how I feel regarding the complete bastardization of Dante's character by a sector of the fandom:

Eventually, some will start to roll with it, because they believe it is a funny way to engage with content of a video game series that has been criminally neglected by Capcom, however, the creators in charge of producing actual, real, canon content for the game would pick it up and think it works.

This is kind of what happened with the DMC cartoon. Shankar believes that DMC is cringe, Dante is a little meme guy and that he is all laughs, pizza and crazy stunts.

Thank god that he is not in charge of making any real canon content for DMC because he did not understand absolutely any of the characters, their world, or the fandom.

We are not wrong for engaging with this content for a few laughs, and also not wrong for thinking of it as lowbrow and erroneous.

When DmC: Devil May Cry was announced, I was a teenager, creating fan content online. The announcement came out as a true surprise, as we had absolutely no content, not even a special edition to the successful DMC4... When I watched the trailer, I did it with an open mind, and I felt somehow alienated and, at times, ignorant for not absolutely hating it.

It's not my fault for liking edgelord shit!!!

I did not stop liking it, or treating it as a true, deserving entry in the DMC history - the story was OK, the character, enemy and world designs were very good, and one of the most important aspects, the gameplay was great. It was fun to play. The music was fucking great, both the original soundtrack, and the Combichrist songs that somehow perfectly fit the narrative of the game - and I am getting to the point here, which is that I always keep an open mind to the new things presented when it's Devil May Cry, because I want to give them a fair chance, maybe they would not be bad.

DmC, as I remember, was almost universally hated among the fandom. Years went by, and DMC4SE was announced, which was a glimmer of hope for the continuation of the franchise. I spent hours upon hours promoting the release, sharing gifs, links and screencaps to help sell the damn game, because we all knew that it was testing the waters, checking if there was still interest in Dante and DMC.

It was to NOT my surprise, that when DMC5 was announced, so many things from DmC were reused. Especially Nero's new edgy look. What a great moment for me.

But anyway...

Many people believe that the DMC fandom is overreacting to the shitshow that the show is. Some believe that having a mid product is better than letting DMC collect dust. That the most recent game was released too long ago, and content is needed - it was only five years ago. Like that's too long... Maybe to other fandoms, but time works different if you are a fan of Devil May Cry.

We don't dislike and rebuke the poor invention of Adi's because of nostalgia goggles. We hate it because it's tired, insincere, self-serving, and a poor interpretation of characters who are well known and loved. It is also a work that reinvents real-life oppressed peoples as "demons," as if they were not the victim of such slander in the real world already. It is not commentary, it is opportunism.

It also insists upon itself.

I have observed people using their fan card to defend the show - "I have been a fan since--" type of arguments. One Twitter user posted themselves laying surrounded by their Devil May Cry merch to reply to a tweet where someone called them out regarding the show. I don't believe in civil fandom war, but believing yourself to be above everyone because of the money or time you've spent on something is truly below adult conversations.

I have been hit with "pick-me opinion" simply because I am a woman. My tweets get replies which infer that the people engaging with them think of me as a man, despite my girly looking profile.

I have been a fan of these games for almost as long as I've been alive, and I am pushing 30. I have been posting on forums, this site and twitter since I got internet access in my early teens. I do not believe my opinion to be above anyone's, I just think that an informed, impartial opinion is better than anything. And I already tried to engage with the content in good faith.

And in good faith, I can say that the Devil May Cry show on Netflix is shit.

Read the plot on Wikipedia.

[lu-is-not-ok]

*rises from the grave*

*trips and falls flat on my face*

Heyyyy, it's ya boy, your favorite chronically exhausted Hong Lu identity that forgor about posting to Tumblr. Hi. Hello.

So. Timekilling Time, huh? Very fun, very exciting, we love focusing on Sinners that are misunderstood both in and out of character. We love Rodya, Hong Lu, and Ryoshu focus. We love Ryoshu's butch mustache swag.

Anyway, allow me yap about it a bit, because I took frame by frame screenshots of the teaser and I haven't yapped on Tumblr in a while. I'll also give a general update on how I've been doing at the end of the post for those who are interested.

The first thing I've noticed in the teaser is Dante actually lays out the exact traits that their choice of Sinners would need. These being (exact wording):

Someone who can support Dante

Someone who can remain laser-focused on the case

Someone who can be free from biased judgement while making rational, quick spur-of-the-moment decisions

In other words, we need Sinners who will help Dante out, are able to stay focused, and who can think on their feet without relying on their own internal biases.

I think it's important to lay those out as clearly as possible, because it makes the selections made by Dante and Verg very interesting, and also kind of funny.

Let's look at Dante's picks - Yi Sang, Meursault, and Faust. These are all, at a surface level, decent general picks, as all three of them are seen as smart and rational. However, if we look at them while keeping the previously mentioned traits in mind, it turns out these three might just be some of the worst picks Dante could ever fucking make.

The biggest issue - none of these bitches can think quickly. Faust is especially notorious for this, as it's consistently pointed out how she always needs a long time to come to a conclusion or otherwise has to pause to come up with answers. We also know Yi Sang is the type of person to get lost in his thoughts and just meander instead of getting to the point. Meursault is a bit of an outlier in that we see that he can think quickly, but if he's not given any orders he's never gonna act on those thoughts. Admittedly, he has been getting better at speaking up over time, but he's still mostly in this "only does what he's told to do" mode of operations.

This is where their issues split up a little bit.

Yi Sang is probably the most likely to be supportive of Dante out of the three - we see that he cares about others and has learned to interfere and give advice when he feels it's necessary (though who knows if he's doing well enough to keep that up after Canto 6, oof). No, rather his other issue lies in the focus department. This is the guy who, as I previously mentioned, meanders all over before getting to the point. Again, like Meursault, he has been getting better at not doing that, but he's still got ways to go.

Faust and Meursault on the other hand have the opposite issue. While they're fairly goot at staying focused on what they have to do, the issue is that they never fucking speak up. They're probbably the furthest from being supportive of Dante. They're most likely to learn info and just keep it to themselves until everyone has wasted way too much fucking time. Hell, Meursault would probably make a decently good detective if allowed to do the case all on his own, but since he's meant to be a part of a group, he's unlikely to help out that much without Dante directly ordering him around.

Now, onto Verg's picks - Rodya, Hong Lu, and Ryoshu. This is where things get really, really interesting. Because we have the reverse situation to Dante's picks - on the surface the choices seem random and counter-intuitive, but if we look deeper, it turns out they all fulfill the requirements surprisingly well.

I'm about to go on a tangent here, but I find it extremely important that we're focusing on this group of Sinners in the first Intervallo between what I consider to be the most thematically different arcs within Limbus. The first half of Inferno has been pretty squarely about confronting one's past, whether learning to face it properly after running away from it (Gregor, Rodya, Sinclair), or learning to move past it after refusing to let go of it (Yi Sang, Ishmael, Heathcliff).

However, looking at the Sinners we have left, it feels like the second half of Inferno might be focused less on the past specifically, but more about the Sinners' general reality. Especially the next upcoming trio of Cantos - Don Quixote, Hong Lu, and Ryoshu - have some heavy thematic focus on the idea of one's perception of reality, especially fitting for the three Sinners with weird eye shit going on.

With Timekilling Time focusing on the Sinners most misinterpreted by others in-character (and out of character), it feels like the perfect intro to this switch in thematic focus - exploring the actual realities of people who are otherwise hard to understand.

Anyway, back to discussing how Rodya, Hong Lu, and Ryoshu fit Dante's requirements.

Supportive of Dante - this is the requirement all three fulfill pretty well. Let me explain.

Rodya is probably the most obvious - she's a hypegirl through and through, and happy to take the reigns in some way or another if nobody else is able to, as we see in Canto 2. She's often one of the first people to point out when someone is not doing well, and shares a lot of her insight if in the mood, but she also knows when discretion is necessary.

Hong Lu is a fun one here - he's extremely perceptive and insightful, often sharing his thoughts with very little prompting. His only issue is that he tends to backpedal when he feels like he said something wrong, or generally just words shit in weird slightly offensive ways. He's supportive, he just doesn't always talk like he is.

Ryoshu is one I find most interesting here, as a lot of people seem to miss this about her character - despite her short temper and peculiar manner of carrying herself, she's actually pretty understanding and helpful towards people she's on amicable terms with. She always explains her acronyms if asked (and when she doesn't it's usually because people stop asking or Sinclair translates instead), she listens when told to stand down or otherwise do something when asked of by Dante or Sinclair, and the reason she tends to stay quiet is because she only speaks when she feels what she has to say is important.

Staying focused - this one is a bit harder to judge, but I'd say the only one who might not fulfill this one is Hong Lu, but only by a margin. Ryoshu is shown to get so focused she gets impatient when she can't get to the point, and Rodya always has her goal in mind even when she might act like she doesn't. Hong Lu is a bit harder to judge, as he seems to be the type to prioritze gathering information and satiating his curiostiy over the main goal, but in a case like this that might just be a massive plus.

Unbiased quick thinking - again, all three fulfill the quick thinking part very well. Rodya shows it constantly throughout Canto 2, Hong Lu shows it best in social interactions, and Ryoshu just doesn't want to waste time and so she naturally thinks quickly as well. It's when we come to the unbiased part that things get extremely interesting.

As individuals, Rodya, Hong Lu, and Ryoshu are all very biased people. Rodya sees the world from the perspective of someone who suffered in the poor Backstreets. Hong Lu sees the world from the perspective of a rich Nest dweller coming from a family of dubious morality. Ryoshu sees the world from the perspective of (probably) an ex-Ring member obsessed with the art that is reality. Their backgrounds color the information they take in a lot.

However... this means that as a group, all three balance each other's biases out. Rodya's cynicism gets balanced out by Hong Lu's idealism, which is balanced by Ryoshu's realism. Their backgrounds couldn't be more different, and thus give the widest possible perspective when put together.

I think this is the point Verg is making with this selection. Dante's selection is the easy way out. It's people that Dante already knows how to deal with, and would rather pick even if their skillsets don't fit the situation. Verg is making Dante learn how to work with Sinners who might be harder to deal with, but have skillsets more fitting for the situation at hand.

Dante can't keep half-assing everything by always turning to the same few people. Every Sinner in the group has their use and are smart in their own unique ways. They have to figure what every Sinner's strong point is, otherwise they'll end up putting everyone in danger by relying on people who are simply not good in a situation while ignoring those who could help.

So... that's what I think.

Anyway, personal general update - I'm still alive! And also very swamped with college and constant exhaustion. So, things will have to change a bit moving forward.

Number one - I will not be returning to old analysis requests. There's too many at this point, and I just don't have the time to sit down and write longass posts whenever I want anymore. However, that isn't to say E.G.O and Sin analyses will never return! I have plaaans for what I want to do with those moving forward, it just may take some time to materialize.

Number two - I'm generally just more active on Discord than on Tumblr. Yapping on Discord feels more natural for me, as it's just... less formal than making a full post I guess. So, if you want to discuss things with me, or if you're on a server that you think would do well with having me yapping in there, feel free to shoot me an invite link in replies (or in DMs if you don't want it to be public)!

Number three - Go check out the Absolute Pride Resonance event on Youtube! I'm not a part of it maybe next time wink wink nudge nudge, but you should still check it out cause it's a bunch of cool people doing very scuffed streams, as is fitting for the scuff Project Moon is known for.

Alright, that's it. I still don't know how to end Tumblr Posts. Bye.

[thesharktanksdriver]

HELLO!!

What are your thoughts on character reactions if Honeypie was a flirtatious drunk; or if Honeypie had an accidental flirtatious moment (you know, because of how oblivious they are O_0).

Just thought this would be a fun idea to capture!

Nice skies,

good night!

Ohhh boy do I have have some thoughts on that.

When it happens to Dante he’s both happy in the moment and kinda dying internally. Because in that moment he’s basically grinning ear to ear asking you to say that again while mentally adding that to his core memories. But at the same time it’s both sweet and a little bitter to him on the fact that it was an accident, you hadn’t completely meant it. But his ass has been pinning so long that at this point he’ll take anything even if it’s a mistake. Sometimes when he’s down in the dumps he’ll think back to that moment and smile before chuckling that for as much as you complain about him being emotionally constipated you sure are as well. He sighs but can’t help but smile when he picks you up after you passed out in an uncomfortable position on the couch and instead moves you to sleep in his bed instead. He tucks you in with an almost tactical precision before leaving a bottle of Advil and a bottle of water at his beside. Before closing the door he takes a final look at your peaceful face before heading down to crash in the couch. He won’t admit it but he maybe enjoys the fact that your scent lingers there a bit too much.

Vergil on the other hand cannot compute what he just heard, he’s asking for you to say that again but unlike Dante it’s to ensure he wasn’t having an auditory hallucination. During his days whilst being tortured by Mundus and afterwards when he wandered hell he may or may not have used the memory of Honeypie to cope with what he was dealing through. He isn’t delusional in thinking what he imagined was real but is was his only comfort at those times, so hearing you say something similar to what he always imagined you to say is a little bit of whiplash for him. And once he confirms they said that for real? Well this poor Victorian man is standing there processing for a full minute whilst you’re oblivious to his internal panic. He knows you didn’t mean it in the way you said but he can’t help but hope a least a little bit of implicit feelings leaked out and some part of it was true. Later on when he reads garden of love he can’t help but imagine it in you voice as he reads.

Lady is very much used to this because her best friend is a dumbass but each and every time she smiles and pulls them close. She can’t help the rapid beating of her heart of the splash of rosey pink that colours her cheeks plus the giggle that escapes lips that desperately wish to kiss another pair. After so much she’s been through accidental words of love are enough to make her feel like a regular school girl again. She’s knows you said it in a haze of alcohol or a heat of the moment thing you didn’t realize had connotations but all the same she cherishes the feeling of softness that it creates in her along with the sense of normalcy now all but lost to her with her demon hunting and distance from normal civilians. It brings her back to the summers the two of you used to lay in the grass listening to the smiths or the cure with one earbud and the flavour of pink lemonade slushies staining the tongue as a confession note sat in her pocket with glittery heart stickers decorating the envelope with dried flowers inside and sealed with a dusty rose kiss.

For Trish she takes this accidental flirting with a certain stride befitting a confident woman as herself, flirting back. Her finger trails your arm in a sly seductive manner creating small sparks and shocks that sends pleasant pins and needles up the arm. She wonders if her electricity ever trails up to your heart, if perhaps for a moment the beating symphony stops or beats even harder as she twirls a small bit of your hair. Trish’s rouge painted lips spill lines as smooth as silk and as soft as whispered confessions at night as she lay awake in the bed you for made her in your humble home. She can’t help but try to pull more words of affection from Honeypie even if it’s half truths and perhaps a bit underhanded. Trish knows that lighting does not strike twice in the same spot and yet each time words of accidental flirty nature leave oblivious lips her heart is struck by the element she controls with the slightest movement of her manicured nails.

Credo is used to saccharin sweet compliments and velvet lined words from others as they attempt to pull him into their pockets. With his position as supreme general is perhaps expected as he deals with these comments with practiced ease and polite patience. There’s politics in fortuna and both fortunately and unfortunately Credo is typically one of its centre points. Everyone has a motive from what they say whether good or bad, they either attempt to sway him or lead to his downfall. Yet, the words that come from your lips are unabashed and completely honest even if slurred by a few glasses of fine wine. It’s a more than just disarming to hear something so truthful without motive and yet can throw him off his feet better than any well practiced line others have tried. Credo despite it being unbecoming of someone of his station becomes visibly flustered very quick, something he hides behind coughing into his fist and his eyes suddenly finding the floor a great conversation partner. And yet despite his embarrassment with a healthy mix of both shame and religious guilt goads him into perhaps yearning for more of their obliviously words that pierced him like Eros incarnate.

V is the human half of Vergil yet he can’t quite consider himself fully human in the sense that humans are what they are through experience. He’s but a temporary creation, made by desperate resolve and left to live feebly and then die too soon. That was his fate, but then fate had decided that for the few weeks he could live they’d be blessed with the experiences that make someone human, or at least made him feel more human than being a discarded husk of a broken man. Case in point V experiences a flood of emotions fill him as words of accidental romance fall from honey sweet lips. Despite all the poems of love and Aphrodite’s grace he’s read he’s yet to understand their true grasp until that moment when the words settle in his mind and his heart races like it never has before in his short life. For once he feels if for a moment truly human as the world seems to become irrelevant and Urizen becomes a momentary afterthought.

(Platonic) in the corner of the van both Nico and Nero watch the accidental salacious words and the fumbling of who it was accidentally meant for. Neither are particularly surprised considering your track record but one is amused while the other the other is shaking their head. Nico finds the entire thing to be like a soap opera in real time, she takes a long drag of her cigarette and huffs out smoke with a cheeky grin. She doesn’t particularly root for anyone but she does perhaps help a lil bit depending on if someone had paid her in cold hard cash or new devil arm materials with maybe goading you into talking about your feelings towards that certain someone (typically Trish or lady). Meanwhile Nero can’t help but a migraine watching all this go down, he loved you, he really did but never has he thought he’d seen his pseudo parental figure somehow flirt and fumble at the same time. It’s honestly impressive if it weren’t kinda mortifying for him. He only roots for Credo in This entire ordeal, mostly out of spite….at least kyrie will get her fill of gossip when he calls her later to update her on the matter. He can’t help but fold when hearing her giggle about how much of an unintentional player you are.

[aria-hannah]

Layers of Hell

For Deadboyween Day 10 - Hell, I decided to try and pick out some extra details from hell, from a combination of what we can see of Edwin's notes in the show, what we see on screen and cross-referencing information on Dante's Inferno which it is based on.

0. Vestibule Edwin's notes: Endless staircase

Limbo Edwin's notes: Do Not Ring

2. Lust No written notes from Edwin here just a floorplan, I wonder if the Xs are doors that go nowhere or doors that don't lead out of Lust

3. Gluttony Edwin's notes: written notes on the floorplan show the way to level II (Lust), the way "Back to Doll House NO." and the way to Avarice with text "Wrong Way. AVARICE. Everything too heavy."

3.a. The Doll House I'm including the Doll House inside Gluttony since that's the level it seems to be connected to based on the floorplan, though that seems to have been via tearing a hole through the wall so there should be another proper connection somewhere, based on that and Edwin saying that the babydoll spider would need to find another way through, and it did. It's also interesting to note that Charles sees a couple of misery wraiths hanging out around a door which matches the design of the door into Simon's punishment room, though this scene takes place after Simon has moved on so it is unlikely they were drawn to him specifically, possibly these rooms hold other punishments for other people as well? We only get a very quick glimpse of Edwin's notes on the doll house while Charles is looking at the ripped section of the Gluttony page but what we can see shows a partial maze with some areas crossed out, a question mark in one area and couple of places just labelled "No." There are also drawings of the gates that are found in the doll house, notably these match the design of the gates that seem to lead into the area the babydoll spider drags Edwin to, presumably it's lair. Edwin's notes: No. ___(Bolt?) the gate

3.b. Simon's punishment room I'm including this here because Edwin found his way into here from the Doll House. One of the most interesting things about this room in terms of hell itself is that it shows that: a. The blue light can come for souls in hell b. The endless' realms can connect here (I wonder if Desire looks in on the Lust and Avarice levels?)

4. Avarice Edwin's notes: Heavy labour, everyone in your way

5. Wrath No notes

6. Heresy No notes

7. Violence Edwin's notes: trapped, impaled, submerged in blood

8. Fraud Edwin's notes: snake pit, regain human form by biting other humans circle I. whipped circle II. covered in excrement circle III. flipped + feet set on fire circle IV. ___(swim?) in hot pitch circle V. head twisted backwards circle VI. weighted clothes circle VII. snake pit turn into snakes circle VIII. ____(wrapped/wreathed?) in big flame circle IX. wounded, disfigure circle X. leprosy, dropsy, ____(rashes?) Interestingly circles 4 and 5 are switched in Edwin's notes as compared to the info I could find on Dante's Inferno, so in Dante's Inferno circle 4 has all their heads twisted backwards and circle 5 has them thrown in boiling hot pitch/tar.

9. Treachery Edwin's notes: frozen + stuck + chewed on

Overall thoughts: Given the lack of notes on Wrath and Heresy, it's likely that Edwin either spent little to no time in these circles or he wrote about it in detail in another page of his notebook (as he did with the doll house). On the other hand given the notes covering all 10 circles of Fraud, he spent enough time there to have seen all 10 of them and has paid particular attention to circle 7 both in his drawings and his side notes. He also has some notes on both Treachery and Violence, which makes me think that he spent some time in Fraud and while trying to escape from there saw the circles either side, just like he has notes on Avarice from trying to escape from Gluttony in that direction.

[vintagerpg]

Friends, if there is one Role Aids product you should have on your shelf, it is this box set, Realms of Fantasy: To Hell and Back (1993). I have had it on my shelf for a while and kind of paid it no mind, partly because of use of a colored Doré engraving from Inferno just makes the thing seem so generic. Especially as it came out in the shadow of the very Vertigo-esque Role Aids sub-line, Demons, which was a far glitzier series of box sets. But this is the one. Pure gold. Probably my very favorite Role Aids product.

Inside are two primary books, by the late, lamented Nigel Findley. The first essentially translates Dante’s Inferno into game terms, from the first circle to the ninth. The second half of that book presents Dis, the city of hot iron, in fairly vivid detail. Grade-A stuff, distinct in character from and very much anticipating Planescape, which was still a year off.

The second book is perhaps even more interesting, because I simply didn’t expect it. Here we have profiles of other realms: Atlantis, Avalon, Faerie and, most intriguing, Selene, the city of vampires. The first trio adhere, essentially, to what you expect, with just a little bit of spice added by Findley. The fourth though, was a complete surprise, based on a vampire novel by Frenchman Paul Féval, one of three he penned decades before Stoker’s Dracula. I have never heard of this before and it is so exciting: in the original novel, the city is made of black jasper and situated near Belgrade, but normally invisible to mortal eyes until Ann Radcliffe (yes, the author of The Mysteries of Udolpho) and a band of unlikely allies lay siege to it in order to rescue a kidnapped friend. I need to read this ASAP.

There is also a pile of maps and a sheaf of monster sheets, full of interesting critters. The art throughout is excellent: the historical images, credited to P. Domain and Clip “The Clipper” Art, mix well with new work by Julian Jackson and Joe Develasco. Get this. You won’t be disappointed.

[officersnickers]

Reading MtEfiL's Ch. 89 the first time left me with massive question marks above my head, because I really couldn't see the reason in Verge still tagging along with Mr. Priest.

Surely, being grateful to the one who saved your most important person can lead to even going with him in the deeper circles of hell, but nevertheless, letting Dante lie there all alone felt a bit... weird. Imagine the (poor) guy wakes up after he did shoot himself, buried under petals and flowers in a coffin, still in hell. I'd take no risk in Dante wandering around the place if I was Verge...

But anyway, trying to get some of Lucifer's powers in his hands still falls in Verge's plans regarding Baba Yaga, and that was enough reason for this, well, unlikely team still going strong.

Alas!

There's still Lucifer's "prophecy", and while everyone, including Rofocale, would be putting their money on Mr. Priest being the choosen one, I can't help but think of this too:

There HAS to be a greater reason for Verge still being in the picture besides him trying to repay Mr. Priest's help, and him actually being the one Lucifer needs/ wants instead of Mr. Priest is still a possibility (to me). Otherwise, wouldn't it be kinda stupid to leave Dante again? To follow along the miracle child who openly declares to fight with a(nother) Demon Lord, knowing well the destruction this can cause?

In conclusion: Lucifer will not want Mr. Priest, but instead Verge. Give it two more months, and Pride Month with the gay witch and the Lord of Pride will be hella fun, me thinks 🧙🏳️‍🌈

(also Vergilius being the travel guide in The Divine Comedy and the manga mirroring this, but that's not important to me theory)

[lucifertheanalyzer]

SPOILERS FOR THE GASLIGHT DISTRICT PILOT!!

I LOVED it. I love how gross and scary the action was the dynamic of the Smiling Dead family was so good. But then I weirdly got upset when I realized... I wish this was The Murder Family and now it’s literally confirmed that in s3 it's only going to focus on that damn Stolitz ship that NOBODY wants

I miss the assassinations so much the thrill, the chaos the show used to have. I held on, hoping it would get better, thinking it was going to be something amazing. But now that I’ve found The Smiling Dead, I finally feel like I can let go of the show I once loved

Unironically, The Gaslight District has way better and deeper depictions of Heaven and Hell than Hellaverse could ever come up with

- The Rotlings clearly represent the sinners/humans they’re “abandoned by God.” We see the different crimes they’ve committed and the conditions they live in, and it actually feels like punishment. Unlike Hazbin Hotel, where Hell just feels like a red version of Earth, but GD makes it clear: THIS is suffering

- And Gluttony? The gross, visceral depiction of it is exactly what we’ve been missing. Finally, the grotesque side of sin is shown (Compared to Queen Furbee)

- The reference to Paradise Lost is a direct nod to Milton’s work, which centers around Lucifer.

- And The Inferno is a direct reference to Dante’s Divine Comedy, especially the Ninth Circle of Hell, where traitors are frozen also where Lucifer himself is trapped. That level of thoughtfulness and literary depth? Chef’s kiss

- Then we have the Virtues clearly based on the Seven Heavenly Virtues, which stem from the Archangels. The angelic robots in Gaslight District are way more intimidating and antagonistic in the best way. I fell in love with how evil yet elegant the Virtues are. Compare that to Hazbin Hotel’s EXTERMINATORS btw, who feel like they were written by an edgy teenager (COUGH Viv)

Like… THIS is what we wanted mysterious, elegant, terrifying heavenly beings not a misogynist punkster crew with names that are literally euphemisms for female genitalia?? That’s what you went with??

And don’t even get me started on the music. Gaslight District used choir music for Heaven finally! That’s my biggest complaint with Hazbin Hotel. Why punk music? Yes, I love the genre, but shouldn’t choir music suit Heaven more, especially for something like “Welcome to Heaven” scene? It’s associated with the church, after all.

Also, about the Anon who was worried GD would be accused of copying the Hellaverse at first, I thought it was a stretch, but now? I totally see why they’re worried. GD has a lot of Heaven and Hell themes, which Viv takes pride in her shows.

And we know how sinister her fanbase can get. Nick even worked on Helluva Boss, so you just know the stans are ready to pounce

Anyway, The Gaslight District gave me back the spark I lost. I thought I’d be loyal to the show that once thrilled me, but now? I’ve moved on. This is the infernal masterpiece I’ve been waiting for !! A PRAYER TO THE BLACK HAND !!

Gaslight District is something I fucked with heavy, and I hope there will be more episodes. The art style, amazing. The animation and the character designs, fantastic. The world and setting, interesting. I went into the show blind with no expectations, and the use of Heavenly imagery/lore was a good surprise. I like media about Heaven/Hell, uses biblical lore, or is based off Milton's and Dante's work (this is one reason I like Hazbin over Helluva). My ass will be seated for the next episode of Gaslight District and once Glitch releases merch, I am buying it.

The Smiling Dead's dynamic caught my attention so fast. Familiar relationships and dynamics are one of my favorite tropes. Like TADC, I hope there will be no romance. I like romantic storylines, but I am getting tired of romance being the main focus in media.

I am losing interest in Helluva because St*litz is just boring and the show as a whole is now boring to analyze. I will *maybe* watch S3E1 but Full Moon to Sinsmas was a DRAG to sit through.

Hellaverse Hell's is just America but red and all the citizens just look weird and have superpowers. The only Hellish thing in Hellaverse is people owning other souls and Sinners ability to regenerate after being killed by non-angelic steel. Helluva could totally be set on Earth the characters being demons is just an aesthetic.

The angelic robots were so cool and feel like a threat. I wish the fan theory of the Exterminators being robots was canon. Knowing that all of them are just women under the mask is lame. The exterminators could have been emotionless killing machines that strike fear into Sinners.

GD's music is *chef's kiss*, and it gave me chills like during Mel fight with the Angel Mother and when the crew escape. I said this before I do not like the music in the Hellaverse. Hazbin especially could have gone the Gospel route when it comes to the soundtrack. The songs sound like they are missing backing vocals and they all sound flat (dislike how some of the songs start with a conversation like in Stayed Gone with Val and Vox talking about Al before Vox's starts singing).

I do not think any of the songs are punk, maybe Adam's song is. I cannot determine what genre a song sometimes (I mainly listen into Trap, Bass, classic R&B, and with some outliners). According to Wikipedia, Stayed Gone is Electro Swing Pop, poison is Alternative dance pop rock, Loser, Baby is jazz rock, and Hell's Greatest Dad is Electro Swing.

If I see fans claiming that GD is ripping off Hazbin, I am going to CRASH OUT like bouncing off the WALL crashing out. Media about Heaven and Hell have existed before Viv was even BORN! Any media of piece about Heaven/Hell that comes out after Habzin/Helluva is not ripping it, same with media using the Ars Goetia. Spindlehorse will never own those concepts in a million years.

I feel like the Hazbin/Helluva is going to be Rocko's Morden Life in the indie space. A lot of writers who worked on RML created their own shows. Goose, Ashley, and now Nick worked on Viv's shows and now have/working on their own shows. I wonder if this is going to keep happening.

If new episodes of GD releases during the hiatus, I think the causal audience and maybe longtime fans (not the hardcore stans) who missed the violence aspect of Helluva and are tired of the boring soap opera are going to switch over to GD. I been seeing more and more listings on Mercari of Hellaverse merch where sellers mentioning in the description that they lost interest in the shows.

[iridescentscarecrow]

it's really quite fun to see the smile & the old verge manner of speech back, especially since the last we saw him he was miserable & mournful & oh so gently desperate with dante's corpse. in a way, it's uncannier then it's ever been — that teasing tone of voice. and quite a bit scary. because you know what all's behind his eyes, & also the fact that priest (unlike verge) doesn't know about dante's demise. while verge seems to know about priest's situation.

i'm excited for this arc since putting two of my favourite narrative parallels in a room (read: road trip through hell) and shaking them is something i seriously want to see.

[icycoldninja]

Alucard from Hellsing got me thinking about a female reader who is similar to Alucard (Another red clad duel pistol wielding powerful being similar to a certain woohoo pizza man but is sadistic and is a vampire), she looks intimidating and scary and has a demonic form that rivals the Sparda men. Demon blood has become her new favorite thing to eat, and she considered trying the blood of the Sparda bloodline, but due to the respect she has for Sparda and his sons and grandson in general and she fell in love, she instead goes after the lesser demons and when she’s not being a bloodthirsty killing machine, she shows affection towards Dante, Vergil, Nero and V.

I love vampires, and I think Hellsing’s Alucard is the best depiction of vampires in fiction in my opinion.

Oh yeah, here we go

Sparda boys + V x Alucard-like!Reader headcannons

¤ Dante ¤

-Dante loves your style, you look just like him!

-When you go out in public, people sometimes mistake you for siblings, which is hilarious, or they come to the conclusion that you're a couple who likes to dress alike, which is cute and kinda true.

-He was sure you were going to bite him, being a vampire and all that, and surprisingly did not object. He actually wanted to get bitten, simply out of curiosity.

-You ended up not going through with your plan out of respect for Sparda and his bloodline, as well as your love for Dante. You simply couldn't hurt your precious idiot.

-You instead go after lesser demons to sate your desires, Dante usually tagging along. He helps shoot down demons so you can get to feed on them quicker, which is very sweet of him.

-Speaking of being sweet, you can be all lovey-dovey too, though only behind closed doors, when the battleground is far away.

■ Vergil ■

-Vergil saw your outfit and immediately thought of Dante. Your flashy fighting style is no help either; he's starting to see you as a female version of his idiot brother than anything else.

-Still, he loves you, even if you are a bloodsucking vampire that may or may not bite him in his sleep.

-He's rather tense around you, especially at night when he thinks you'll be most hungry. He's very worried you'll feed on him when he goes to sleep, so he tries not to sleep when you are near.

-You quickly assure him you won't feed upon him or any Spardas because you knew Sparda himself and have great respect for everyone in his bloodline. You will only consume lesser demons, never even baring your fangs at him.

-Vergil is now considerably more at ease around you, even going as far as to bring you freshly slain demons for your convienence.

-He also finds it very endearing that you're willing to be all vulnerable and affectionate to him--and only to him.

□ Nero □

-Nero thought your vampiric nature was cool as hell.

-Your clothes were pretty neat too, and unlike someone Nero knows, you don't look like a total slob in them.

-He thinks you're the hottest vampire to have ever existed, and occasionally calls you his "sexy goth girl" because you are.

-He wasn't too concerned about your feeding habits. If you needed his blood, he would gladly offer up his neck to you.

-You announced that you wouldn't need him for sustenance, however, and that you only fed off of lesser demons out of love for him and respect for his grandfather.

-Those special moments when you are kind and loving to him are moments Nero cherishes the most. He loves seeing this adoring side of you, and wishes he could see it more.

● V ●

-V, being a rather morbid soul, was intrigued by you, and the fact that you were a vampire.

-Since vampires live for a very long time, he reasoned you must have met, or at least seen William Blake at some point during his prime.

-If you have, do tell him everything you know, it makes him very happy.

-He thinks your clothing and fighting style are unique and beautiful, just like you.

-He wasn't the least bit worried that you would drink his blood, and was actually secretly hoping you would. He's always wondered what it would feel like.

-You love him too much to harm him, and would never drink his blood for sustenance, but perhaps you could sneak in a bite or two while passionately kissing him or something like that.

[dailydemonspotlight]

Amon - Day 158

Race: Tyrant Alignment: Dark-Chaos Febuary 19th, 2025

We've talked about many Goetic demons in this series- hell, just two days ago we talked about Orobas- but something I rarely bring up with the Ars Goetia is that some of these demons have possible ties to figures from other Mythologies. Of course, this ties in to how cyclical mythological history is in general- much of history is written based on things past and present, and nothing is more in the past than, well, the very distant past- but some very interesting parallels can be driven between even the most unlikely figures. Case in point, today's Demon of the Day, Amon, who is said to have many ties to the Egyptian deity Amun.

For Amon himself, he is described as the seventh great Marquis, depicted as a stern and powerful figure, and given how high up in the ranks he is, it does make sense. Commanding 40 legions of spirits, he's described as having the body of a wolf with a serpent's tail, but can appear as well as a man with a wolf-esque body or even that of a man with the head of a raven and a canine's canines. His abilities are very similar to Orobas, ironically enough, though he grows stronger in the daytime- his abilities are that of being able to tell the summoner about the past and things to come, as well as being able to ensure that fights and feuds with friends will end. (Basically, he can probably mediate any fight. There's a discord group chat joke in here that I'm not gonna say because it'd suck) Past that, he's also one of the four attendants of Astaroth, so he has some pretty big ties in Hell itself. Workplace affiliation in the inferno must be doing a lot of lifting for this guy.

According to the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, he can also shoot flames from his mouth, and he's also one of, if not the strongest of the Marquis. However, where things grow far more interesting with Amon actually comes from the Dictionnaire Infernal, which calls an explicit reference to something very specific: Amon's relation to the Egyptian god Amun. Given that Amun is its own demon in the series, I'll keep this description brief, but Amun was basically the blue skinned head god of the Hermopolitan religion's pantheon of deities, who later was conflated with and then fused with Ra. What makes this so interesting in reference to Amon is that, according to the Dictionnaire Infernal, the ancient Egyptians worshipped Amon, describing him as "Les Égyptiens voyaient dans Amon ou Amoun leur Dieu suprême ; ils le représentaient avec la peau bleue, sous une forme assez humaine;' lit: The Egyptians viewed Amon or Amun as their supreme God; they represented him with blue skin in human form."

This passage has inevitably led to some debate, but I think it really just comes down to the fact that Christianity leaves no room for other gods in most forms, and as such, it led a lot of Christian authors and scholars to write other culture's gods as demons, heroes, legends of folklore, kings, etc. See Dante's Inferno for a good example of this, and how so many of the demons in Hell are literally just the Egyptian and Greek pantheons. However, given that the Ars Goetia predates the Dictionnaire Infernal, and that it has no mention of Amun anywhere, it seems to me that this coincidence might have been conflated with an association by the author of the Dictionnaire Infernal.

Now, in terms of design in SMT, I gotta wonder what they were doing honestly. Don't get me wrong, I love the design in SJR, but it takes pretty much nothing from how Amon is described? All it really does is play into the snake aspects, but past that, the most wolflike fur on it is really just feathers of an Owl. AN OWL. AMON IS A RAVEN! NOT AN OWL! Are the two hind legs supposed to be the wolf part? What is going on with his hands?! Are those feathers or scales?! WHAT IS THIS? Okay, okay, yeah, it's not a good depiction of Amon, but it is a really good looking design despite all that. I get the feeling that they wanted to do something new with Amon, and I do like what they did, it just isn't really what Amon actually looked like. Though, granted, translating this guy into a Doi sprite...

...yeah, I can see why they did this now. also stupid bit under the cut

Okay, if you'll bear with me for a second, I've really wanted to do this bit for a while now, ever since I first saw this guy.

ITS RA AMON!!!!! LEAKED SECRET BOSS OF PIRATE YAKUZA IN HAWAII