#even if that’s not what she’s going for the symbolism the mythology - everything in hermit craft/traffic life is actually fantasy/mytholog
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Scarlet Pearl is like evil red riding hood. To me.
#scarlet pearl#pearlescentmoon fanart#pearlescentmoon#my hand slipped while working on another piece-#I love pearl’s evil red riding hood aesthetic ok it scratches something in my brain#even if that’s not what she’s going for the symbolism the mythology - everything in hermit craft/traffic life is actually fantasy/mytholog#y interpretations now#trying to remember the little versions I made in my head before I started engaging with fandom a couple months ago for the first time#I live for the drama#anyway#watching these guys is always delightful I had to recover from surgery and spend huge amounts of time in bed and fr mcyt was a help#secret life smp#secret life#secret life pearl#slsmp#slsmp pearl#my art#art#artists on tumblr#pixel art#digital art#artistsontumblr#this isn’t my best work but hey I made something 🤲#telling myself my deep dissatisfaction w my art as of late is just a sign that I’m growing as an artist my eye has evolved my hand and oth#er skills will catch up I am determined but frustrated lol
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The Sweet Elite characters as tarot cards
Ooooookay! This is something I wanted to do for a while now (totally not because I'm a huge persona nerd) but yeah, my understanding of tarot cards is really basic and limited so don't take this too seriously! I just thought that it would be fun to make.
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Scholar: The Fool/ The Jester/ The Madman (number 0 or XXII but most times without a number)
Obviously, as the main character, Scholar is the one going on a journey. The Fool is often portrayed as wearing ragged clothes and carrying a small bag with their belongings, showing that they're going on an adventure. The card represents freedom, madness, inexperience and chaos.
Here the description is pretty self-explanatory. I think it's easy to see how Scholar fits this card 👌
Alistair: The Sun (number XIX)
Well, another obvious one! The Sun Arcana is often portrayed as a child or children playing in a field of sunflowers under a blazing sun meaning that their innocence will be replaced with knowledge. The card represents optimism in difficult situations, hope, happiness, discovery and accomplishment.
Now we can make the joke that Alistair is literally a ray of sunshine! 😂☀️ (Not that anyone ever doubted it.)
Axel: The Star (number XVII)
I swear I'm not making these puns on purpose! But since Axel is literally a rock *star* the card does fit him...
The star is often portrayed as a woman with one foot on the ground and the other in water (which is apparently a metaphor for the conscious and unconscious mind) and the star shining above is her core essence. The star in itself can allude to a person with great influence, a star shines above it all but is fated to fall one day. Thus, the Star Arcana represents self-confidence, loss, faith and peace.
Claire: The Empress (number III)
This one may seem weird but when I looked more into it, I realized that The Empress Arcana fits Claire a lot!
The Empress is often associated with the goddess Venus in Roman mythology (and Aphrodite in Greek mythology.) The Empress is seated on a throne in a field meaning that she looks after nature, she also wears a crown meaning that she's the one ruling over nature, not only growing it. The Empress Arcana represents motherhood, romance, life and fruitfulness.
Basically, Claire is like a mom rather than a cold-blooded queen. She just looks after the people around her and that's why the Empress fits her.
Ellie: Fortune/ Wheel of Fortune (number X)
Okay, this one was hard to choose. Believe it or not but at first I gave Ellie the Death Arcana. Though it doesn't mean literal Death but rather starting anew I kinda didn't want to give that card to her since her biological parents are dead... thus I went with the Fortune Arcana instead which is surprisingly similar to the Death one but much more light-hearted!
The Fortune Arcana is portrayed as... Well, a Wheel of Fortune. The card represents opportunity, fate, luck and success.
The reason why I chose this card for Ellie is because even though her parents' death was unfortunate, that bad luck brought her good luck too. If her biological parents hadn't died her dads wouldn't have adopted her and from what we've seen so far, she always says that she's really happy with them and that they're great parents. The Fortune Arcana is all about big changes through luck, be it bad or good luck.
In the end, I'm happy that I changed her card to Fortune because while the Death card also means a new start, that new start is achieved through the end of something else. But in the case of the Fortune card, that new start is achieved through a particular event involving good or bad luck. In Ellie's case, I believe it was both.
Karolina: The High Priestess/ The Popess (number II)
This is another odd one, isn't? Karolina sure doesn't look nor sound like a Priestess 😂 But like with Claire I looked more into it and that card does in fact suit her I think.
The Priestess Arcana is most times associated with Pope Joan, a woman who pretended to be a man in order to become the Pope. It is unknown if she really existed but it is said that the church was so ashamed of their "mistake" that they tried to get rid of all records that had Pope Joan in it. Unfortunately, it is said that she was stoned to death because of her "betrayal".
The High Priestess card represents power, passion, wisdom and tenacity.
Karolina is really headstrong and she's the type of person who would be able to do anything to get what she wants. Thus, I believe that the Priestess fits her.
Neha: The Lovers/ The Twins (number VI)
This one took me a while to find but after thinking for a bit I think this card fits Neha after all.
The Lovers card is often portrayed as a naked woman and a naked man standing before eachother. While the card is in most cases seen as a sign of an irreversible relationship, it is said that sometimes the card doesn't even have anything to do with a romantic relationship but rather having to make an important choice which will lead you to two different paths in life. That's why the man and woman in the card are often separated by a crossroad. The two paths can represent the "right" way and the "easy" way, that's why the decision is so hard to make between those two roads.
The Lovers Arcana represents trials to overcome, beauty, failure and love.
I chose this card for Neha because I think that she's the kind of person who has a hard time choosing between her feelings and her logic. Between the right path and the easy path. I may or may not be completely wrong about this one. There's maybe another tarot card that would fit her better but I thought this one really suits her.
Raquel: Justice (number VIII or XI)
This one is easy to see! Raquel was really vocal about her anger and really protective when the whole Nakano scandal happened.
The Justice Arcana is portrayed as a King or a Queen holding a sword and a balance meaning that they will punish whoever breaks the law. The card symbolizes a strict trial of justice. It represents objectivity, rationality, equity and triumph.
Finally a simple one to explain! At first I was considering on giving her the Strength Arcana but I like Justice better for her. It might be a stupid reason but I think that the Justice Arcana sounds cooler than the Strength Arcana 😅
Tadashi: The Emperor (number IV)
I legit wanted to try and give him the Death card somehow to keep up with the trend of "haha, you like bullying Tadashi!!" (Which is not wrong but sshhh!🤫) The Death Arcana just didn't fit him in any way I think. I mean, you could say that when his father was arrested and he broke ties with him it could be seen as a new beginning for him and a big change in his life. However... to apologize for all the time I treated him like shit I decided to give him the Emperor Arcana (which sounds really cool, right?) Also, this card really fits him so I'm happy with how it turned out!
The Emperor is portrayed as... Well, an Emperor (duh) sitting on a throne, he's often associated with Mars, the god of war in Roman mythology. However rather than mindlessly going to war, he's considered to be a guardian who fights for the peace of its people. That's why The Emperor Arcana represents fatherhood, compassion, stability and protection.
But of course, to diss him just a little bit, The Emperor Arcana can also mean that maybe you're trying too hard to look after everything, you have a strong desire to control everything in your life (which is obviously impossible to do) and that mindset may or may not end up with you giving trouble to the people around you.
Yep, it sure sounds like our mister student council president 😂
Tegan: The Hermit (number IX)
Oof, okay. I'm not totally sure how to explain this one but you'll see that this card suits him.
The Hermit card is portrayed as an old man in a dark place or on a cliff carrying a lantern to illuminate his surroundings. The card represents introspection, inner guidance, prudence and wisdom.
Basically, the way I see it is that Tegan is someone who helps others from behind the scenes. He never puts himself on the spotlight however he's a really smart and driven individual. Kind of like a candle in the dark if we want to go into cheesy descriptions 😂 But yeah, he has a great value and he often does his good deeds in the background so he's seen as a support even if his place in the team is really crucial he rarely takes credit for it. (Probably because he does his best to turn the attention away from him 😅)
Tyler: The Moon (number XVIII)
And finally we have Tyler! Oh godddd I love him 😭💗 Anyway, here goes.
The Moon Arcana is portrayed as a wolf and a dog howling at the moon, they symbolize our fears in the conscious and unconscious mind. The card represents inspiration, illusions, fear and creativity.
From that conversation we had with Tyler in chapter 8 I think it's pretty obvious that he has some self-confidence issues. He's scared that he isn't good enough. He's constantly comparing himself to others and doesn't see how amazing he is 😥 But of course there's also the creativity and inspiration part which hints to his talents in the fine arts 👌
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Aaaaand that's a wrap! This actually took me longer than I expected but I'm happy I did it! It makes me feel like I was productive today even though I didn't finish my homework... yet.
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New Post has been published on https://lovehaswonangelnumbers.org/re-claiming-the-fish-saturn-and-capricorn-in-the-age-of-aquarius/
RE-CLAIMING THE FISH: SATURN AND CAPRICORN IN THE AGE OF AQUARIUS
RE-CLAIMING THE FISH: SATURN AND CAPRICORN IN THE AGE OF AQUARIUS
By Louise Edington
In Astrology, the sign of Capricorn is said to be a feminine sign, and both the sign and it’s ruler are represented by the sea-goat which is a creature of impossibility with the front half of a goat and the tail of a fish.
Over millennia of Patriarchal rule and conditioning the planet and sign has lost it’s yin qualities with the sea-goat becoming a goat alone much of the time and Saturn and Capricorn being said to represent the Father amongst other things. Saturn and Capricorn have been spoken of in Astrology as harsh, cold and unloving and this article challenges that as being a reflection of the patriarchy itself.
Saturn, the planet is named after a male deity, traditional ancient astrological technique of sect described Saturn as diurnal, which is usually seen as more masculine. And yet, Saturn and Capricorn are earth energies which is traditionally feminine.
However, the universe is essentially neutral or genderless. It’s the language of Astrology and humankind that has assigned polarity in our search for certainty. In my new book, to be published early in 2020, I invite readers and students of Astrology to, and I quote Astrologer Jason Holley here in the Mountain Astrologer who informed some of this thinking, “embrace multiplicity, non-linearity, and uncertainty” in Astrological language as we move into the Age of Aquarius and as science itself moves further into Quantum wave and entanglement theory.
I can’t go into more detail yet because of contractual obligations with the publisher but I want to talk about the sea-goat myth in terms of reclaiming that sense of multiplicity and genderless Astrology. After all, we cannot see the gender in the Astrological chart itself.
As I write this Saturn has just stationed direct at 13 ̊ 54′ Capricorn, and will retrace his Retrograde steps to 20 ̊ 31’ where he stationed Retrograde on April 29th, and is approaching another conjunction with the South Node before moving towards the transformational conjunction with Pluto on Jan 12th 2020 at 22 ̊ Capricorn and, days later, squaring dwarf planet Eris in Aries.
Additionally, both Saturn and Pluto are being occulted by the Moon, ruler of the Cancer North Node every month this year other than January and December for Saturn as November gets two occultations and January for Pluto. This means their energy is literally being eclipsed by the Moon and Eclipses are re-sets. Saturn’s own South Node is also at 18 ̊ and Pluto’s South Node at 19 ̊ Capricorn so Saturn will also be transiting over these points before meeting Pluto and squaring Eris.
Then we also receive the news that twenty more Moons of Saturn have been discovered meaning Saturn is now known to have a total of 82 Moons, flying past Jupiter’s 79. New discoveries like this always shift the energy of a planet in our collective psyche. I would suggest that this, alongside the occultations, is softening Saturn’s image in our consciousness.
The convergence of all these factors is hugely transformative and a big shift away from old rules and ideas.
It’s my belief that all these Astrological events are inviting us to re-visit and eclipse the patriarchal ways of looking at and speaking about Saturn and Capricorn. This also means that we are being invited to re-visit and eclipse the patriarchal world our perceptions and words have created. In turn, this will ripple out just as wave theory does to change our language about all of Astrology.
This wave is being reflected in the world, the universe as a whole, and is reflected in the wave glyph for the Age of Aquarius.
What of the sea-goat myth? How can we learn from that in this re-visiting?
The primary sea-goat in Greek mythology is Pricus, an immortal ruler of time created by Cronos, the God of time, son of Uranus and a Titan from the Greek mythological pantheon.
We must, of course, remember that myths are also created by man to order and explain the universe and aspects of humanity and the Greek civilization was in itself patriarchal in nature.
Pricus had children who were in his image and who were able to talk and these children were drawn to the land. However, being on the land caused them to turn into goats and lose their powers and intelligence. Pricus attempted to stop this and turned back time to bring them back but they kept returning to land. Not wanting to be a lone sea-goat, Pricus begged Cronos to let him die but Pricus was immortal so unable to die. Instead, Cronos cast Pricus into the stars as the Capricorn constellation so that the lone sea-goat could watch over all his children.
Like all myths, this is based on more ancient myths from the sands of time when myth was carried down in the oral tradition and Capricorn mythology in ancient Sumeria as associated the the God Enki, the God of water, knowledge, and creation. In Babylonian times Capricorn was described as fishtailed Ea who was the “Antelope of the Sea” and who watched over the land but lived in the ocean at night so never lost the energy of the ocean, as the more modern patriarchal sea goats did. In these ancient mythologies, Capricorn was seen as the gate of death with the opposite sign, Cancer, being the gate of birth.
It could be said that the Greek Pricus myth itself reflects the loss of, or deliberate erasure of, the night energy under the patriarchy. I use the term night for what has been spoken of as feminine, energy in our society. The patriarchy has demonized and sidelined all that is not day, outgoing, and what has been seen as masculine. The loss of powers experienced by the sea-goats as they rejected the water reflects the loss of essential powers within each of us under the patriarchal structures and language we have lived under for millennia. Though interestingly, in other myths, the goat actually suckled Zeus as a baby, and Zeus or Jupiter is the King of patriarchal pantheons moving forward as he took down the ancient God of time.
The occultations of Saturn and other aspects of Saturn in the sign of rulership are asking us to reclaim the seemingly impossible nature of the sea-goat in my opinion. We are each both goat and fish, both day and night, both land and sea. We all inhabit both realms. We each are born and die. There are no opposites and polarities even though our human need to make sense creates this separation because everything is connected in entanglement and cycles and waves.
Like the cycles of life and death, Capricorn and Cancer work in tandem, together. Like the Sea Goat, the Crab that is the symbol of Cancer, inhabits both the land and the sea though taking the Hermit crab as an example, the Crab can only survive on land if it stays moist. Both the Seat Goat and Crab lose their powers if on land for too long and if they don’t return to the water regularly.
In patriarchal times, the qualities of the night have been devalued. These are the qualities of acknowledging and validating emotional responses and feelings, the value of nurturing and supporting others, true humility and empathy. Left brain characteristics of rational, logical, factual and verbal reasoning have become over valued in relationship to the right brain qualities of creativity, emotion, intuition and imagination.
Think of the language used in our lifetime to devalue the night energies of the right brain.
‘It’s just your imagination’
‘You are irrational’
‘Control yourself’
I’m sure you get the picture.
Yet Saturn and Capricorn are night or feminine energies, though I believe Saturn as traditional ruler of Aquarius has both day and night qualities as do all the traditional planets, and the language used in Astrology for both planet and sign is that of the left brain.
Saturn is described as the Father, external authority, rules, limitations, control.
Capricorn is described as discipline, practicality, determination, leadership, controlling, responsibility.
They are all of those but our human minds have interpreted this all as very male and taken those qualities to mean dominion over others, to mean hierarchies, and to mean controlling others rather than the self.
This is a simplistic explanation to say that the night qualities of Saturn and Capricorn, or the fish tail of the sea goat, have been lost.
A higher understanding of Saturn and Capricorn is that of the wisdom of the elder or crone, near to the ancient Gate of Death and in tandem with the Cancer Gate of Birth. Both working in cyclical and circular harmony.
In the Cosmic Intelligence article written by Linea Horne on the Lunar occultations she speaks of the Circle of Grandmothers for becoming more enlightened Capricorn energy and I agree. I would take it even further as we move into the Age of Aquarius and merely call it the Circle of Wisdom.
Ancient cultures had pantheons of Gods that represented both day and night energies and that had equal value so we must move away from the binary and oppositional world of the patriarchy and return to a more inclusive and integrated language in Astrology and life.
The re-claiming of the fish tail of the impossible (I’m possible) sea-goat will aid us in that path.
When speaking of Saturn and Capricorn as a night energy Astrologers can, and many are, speak of external authority as how we allow others power of us and how the only real authority is within, rather than speaking of it as a controlling and dominating energy. After all, we can only be controlled if we allow outside forces to dominate us.
As we move into the wave energy of the Age of Aquarius, we are being asked to take a more diffuse view of both Saturn and Capricorn and to change our language as Astrologers to reflect the receptive, more malleable, and softer, elder wisdom energy they both contain. Discipline is a loving parental act if done with wisdom, for example.
If Astrological language itself re-claims the seemingly impossibility of being both night and day as we approach our work, we can help to shape the New Paradigm itself.
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Kenny Reacts to: Ramayana (& Hindu Mythology in General)
So, for those who don’t know, “Ramayana” is one of the big epics of Hindu Mythology, comparable to the Illiad or other legendary Kings such as David or Arthur, centering around Prince/King Ramchandr, one of the Avatars of Vishnu
My boyfriend (who happens to be Indian) introuced me to a TV show based on it, and I, being a mythology nerd, couldn’t resist...
Since a lot of people actually believe in this as a religion, first a disclaimer: I’m a complete atheist with no belief in the supernatural whatsover, but I’m a huge believer in the value of storytelling (and a writer - the more mythological references the better, at least if you’re aiming for as much of an ‘universal’ flavor as possible) and do hold that myth holds an important place in the human experience. I will be approaching this completely from a literature perspective.
My boyfriend is not a believer either, though he used to be an actual Hindu growing up & still has it as a cultural background (I know myself that the stories you’re brought up on do influence you just by the archetypes and poetic shorthands they make available to you) - apparently he found it quite interesting to see me react to it & see it properly from start to finish. (though it has actually caused a resurgence in childhood song earworms)
So, with that out of the way, let’s get to the actual “review”
What did I watch
It’s a somewhat older show from the 80s or 90s so the special effects could have been better - but I say that only because with a concept like “Demons versus monkey people” and “battles with dark sorcery and vaguely described divine weapons” there is a lot of potential for creative visuals.
In this implementation the style of costumes was more “historical” overall, but great care was taken nonetheless.
Indeed, though childhood nostalgia filter my boyfriend likes this particular version because it was made by an 80 year old dude who dreamt all his life of making a TV show out of this story & worked hard to make everything ~just right~ - there have been never, fancier interpretations since but they tend to be more generic & plasticy in terms of the actual screenplay (my boyfriend, though biased by childhood exposure, says that “You don’t get the feeling that you’re looking at Ram, you’re looking at a supermodel”) whereas in this one, the director took great care to write all the songs & handpick the actors -
Which, with those mythical, ‘archetypical’ characters is quite important, they have to have the right ‘aura’, ‘presence’ or ‘atmosphere’ around them to connect to the larger-than-life timeless ideas they’re intended to embody. They made sure to cast tall, wry dudes as the monkey people, had some really good acting, made sure supposed relatives actually look alike etc.
This adaptation (at least insofar as I’ve watched it) seems to have gone with the “good ending”, that is, the version where the Prince & his wife live happily ever after returning to their home city (for a change, the original/older one... though it makes little sense to debate about the true version of a myth, it’s their very nature to be passed around & reinterpreted and for each listener & reteller to put their own spin on it) - there’s a second one that’s much more anal about social divisions, harder on the mysoginy and ends with him disowning her ass, though there’s some ring to the idea of the Princess returting to whence she came (mother Earth) in humiliation. It depends on what sort story you want though it doesn’t seem to fit with Ram’s characterization as the type who always looks to resolve things peacefully & reasonably & think before acting, & he may lose some of what makes him interesting if you take that away.
Indeed the director saw the need to sanitize even the orginal “chastity test by fire” scene - more than I would have done even if I wanted the Prince to keep looking heroic, I suppose, a lot like how many Christians will explain away many inconsistencies in the bible (and pretty much everything in the book of Judges) because they need their headcanon to be consistent with what they associate with the deities.
The Cosmology
One of the interesting parts about this particular ‘verse that got me more interested in it beyond my initial watching of that show is the rather complex makep of the world -
In most places religion has gone though certain discrete stages in accordance to the civilization that thought it up, with the various ideas (animism, polytheism, dualism, monotheistm etc.) all influecing each other subtly by the need to react to each other but in this case you had this evolution happening gradually without the previous being completely discarded.
So you have river spirits, sacret trees, elemental monsters, demons, titan/jötnar like entities, your basic greek style deities, a big head honcho lord of the universe, concepts of self-enlightenment and pantheist universal unity all coexisting in the same setting.
It’s basically a religion kitchen sink. (and I mean that in a good way, though I get why some may prefer the more ‘streamlined’ ideas of modern Christianity or Islam)
Impressions & Surprising things
Very interesting - because of my familiarity with mythic universals & certain shared cultural roots ( They even have their own wandering handsy thunder god! - though he’s squarely in the middle of the cosmic hierarchy and seems to be the designated Worf Effect recipient) , I could count down all the tropes and see a lot comming but because of different cultural ideals there were many points where I REALLY didn’t know what was going to happen next
Also, it was a veritable soap opera and I did not expect the feels. The heroes were more adorable than I’d ever have thought.
The level of “Honor Before Reason” and “Because Destiny Says so” is about comparable to the ancient greeks, but the “humble sinless all-loving hero come to earth for an ardurous mission” might remind one of Jesus, especially in the conception that “The Hero”, in the most archetypical sense, is to be not just badass but moral - though rather, Jesus resembles Ramayana because Ramayana came several centuries first; Just a sign IMHO that there myths come from the human mind and humans everywhere are more similar than different.
Funny thing is, since christian apologetics have this complex to prove how “special” their religion is (I mean it is unique in that no one has the exact same combination of traits but that’s true of every religion and the elements are universal), they spend a lot of time dismantling Islam (often with bonus racism) but usually completely dismiss Hinduism because “Well, they’re polytheists” when the two religions actually have a lot of ideas in common - indeed a lot of beievers will speak of the Hindu Trinity (or their favorite part thereof) or the Mother Godess much like the average dualist or monotheist would talk of their god, like, “O supreme being that dwells in all goodness” etc.
Unlike Jesus (who, despite his popular interpretation, in the original bible had quite a temper) Rama’s patience & forgiveness is a bit less of an informed ability, though you do get the sense that this comes from a warrior culture as well as a very stratified society where living up to your given social role (including that of a wife) is everything - in a Western work Ram probably would’ve seized the city with the support of the citizens. XD
One could comment that Ram & his brothers are still royalty & that the focus is on that whereas Jesus deliberately took the shape of an ordinary dude, though Ram still gets to spend years as a hermit & Jesus is still convolutedly made to be descended from David - the Jesus myth being the way it is probably has more to do with the political circumstances of its origin (conquest by rome) than the nobler meanings ascribed to it later.
Another, subtler/ less apparent aspect of the destiny trap thing is that if everyone has their fate, no one can be blamed all too badly. (Deathbed redemptions galore) Nonetheless, as the prover goes, “karma is a bitch” and these people invented it.
That said, tough still a simplistic story (that purtports there’s only one clear universal law everywhere and that the good guys always win - That’s an air castle if there ever was one, we need to work for that) I was actually surprised by the sophistication of morals & politics at times, it went into specific questions (hypocrite accusations, hypocratic oaths, how to charioteer, what a good king should be like etc. )
This is probably an artefact of being written from the PoV of royals & warriors, or just an indication of the great asian civilizations having existed so long & relatively unbroken compared to the many shifts in where things where going on in the nothwest.
This is the first time in ANY mythical story that I’ve seen anyone raise the concern of preserving the innocent citizens of the enemy faction and how to stabilize the political situation afterwards (after dethroning the local evil overlord, they put in his turncoat brother who joined the good guys for damage control), something that I haven’t seen a SINGLE time in the Bible (and I’ve read the whole thing), though the heroes steer clear of the line to “simplistic stupid good” if you discount the “honor before reason” parts.
There’s 4 ways you can do ‘archetypical’ characters: Wholly & completely stick to the simple archetype, bring the archetype to full circle & detail while milking it for maximum symbolism, “not what they seem/contrast” and giving them depht without having them ever stop to be their archetype - it’s the latter that was done magnificiently here, especially in terms of 3Dimensional antagonists, they have enough redeeming qualities for it all to strike you as a tragic waste of life, but not enough to let go of their pride and avert the divine punishment.
(The “wicked cultured” Dark Sorceror Evil Overlord being interesting is a given, but of all characters, the cocky big mouthed Demon Prince was the last one I expected to have hidden dephts)
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