#gabriel: woe v1 be upon ye

[cherubchoirs]

I love love love your angel OCs and like to imagine them vibing on their own or together post gabriel murdering the entire council, like either they were spared or had some reason why they weren't there and weren't killed or whatever however I also like to sometimes imagine that these are the people who were killed during all that because we don't really know much about the people in the council Gabriel killed besides their devotion to God and this makes Gabriel's actions kinda like hit harder, if that makes sense. Like he killed actual dudes, some of them were nice or cool or whatever, but he thought it had to be done regardless. Makes it like sad but also more impactful. idk i just have fun thinking about it sometimes I'd love to see more of these OCs! I love the little glimpses into the inner workings of the council and heaven that they offer!

aaaa thank you!! i absolutely have ideas about at least a couple pieces i want to make with them, as i sort of decided to finally solidify their designs and characters largely to explore some other sides of gabriel. as the other archangels, he knew them best throughout his time in heaven as the four of them were made as a "set", all to balance one another. i really did consider making them a part of the council, but ultimately i made them separate from it for two reasons: they rank the same as gabriel and i think the council members specifically may have blocked their entry due to the idea that any one of them, let alone all four, could easily overtake the other members and control the entirety of the council; also i...just want to play with their interactions post-gabriel's "betrayal" and loss of grace since i think they all have very different reactions to it.

like i mentioned in raphael's post, he was actually the only other archangel present at the death of the council - he and gabriel had increasingly sporadic interactions throughout that time, with both of them consciously chalking it up to how busy they were given raphael's emotional tending to the people of heaven and gabriel's constant work for the council...but in reality, i think gabriel's faith was weakening while raphael refused to acknowledge any issues, making it harder over time for gabriel to continue relating to him. i do definitely want to draw raphael finding him just before he leaves heaven afterward, knowing that gabriel is now going to be condemned to hell and struggling to understand what that means for the archangels, for heaven as whole, and for the plan he has always been so sure of.

uriel and michael, on the other hand, actually don't know anything about the council's formation - uriel's meditation began before it was conceived while michael left heaven around the time they began to discuss potential fixes to the leadership issue, claiming he would find god to plead his return but hasn't been seen since. they only all meet again when gabriel falls - in the interim, raphael has been left on his own to deal with the inevitable fallout while he mourns both gabriel and all that once was. uriel wakes first upon gabriel's death and rebirth as a fallen angel, the disturbance so terrible and unexpected that he can no longer stay dreaming. he finds a heaven collapsed, eternal blood stains that can't be scrubbed from the halls of paradise and distinctly feeling the horrible loss of gabriel - to lose one is to lose a part of themselves. he seeks out raphael to fully understand what's happened (who is deeply grateful to have another archangel back), but shortly thereafter michael finally returns to heaven.

angels, by their very natures, are creatures not meant to live alone - while they're certainly not a hivemind, i do like to think they have clusters they are interconnected with for their work like i've been talking about with the archangels. michael, being so far gone for so long and away from the tempering personalities of his fellow archangels, has grown into an extreme and twisted form of his intrinsic personality and position. importantly, i see gabriel as his biggest influence - they are warriors matched in strength both physically and characteristically, but gabriel had always been more compassionate while michael was stronger in faith. because of their even footing, they retained a mutual respect and understanding of one another that allowed both of them to be kept in check even though they tended to butt heads the most out of the four. now, however, michael has lost his counterpart and has been too long on his own besides, so upon his return, he is consumed with righteous fury and a dire need to see gabriel punished for his fall. michael, as the binder of demons and the damned, wishes to personally chain him to the lowest circle of hell, to never move freely again and to only feel pain for the rest of his existence as all those condemned must. as the prince of angels, his strength of personality and god-given leadership convinces uriel and raphael to join him in his work, though the two of them are not nearly as sure about the proper course of action.

heaven is changed, god and one of their archangels is gone, as well as many of the highest due to their loss as council members; additionally, hell itself is in shambles, self-directing and doing as it pleases as its own entity with machines making it down to its very bowels. but michael doesn't care, nor does he seem to realize his motivations now are far from a simple exercise in doing as god would have wanted, but instead are driven by his own personal pain and by a mind changed by his time in solitude (plus, in a sense, feeling responsible as michael's faith bolstered gabriel's and so...is something of his fall not on his shoulders now?) and so he commands uriel and raphael by his side to see gabriel bound or killed if he refuses to accept his due punishment. gabriel, physically, has always been the strongest of them in my interpretation (due to his title of "god is my strength"), but michael is matched quite well and with the other two, he fully believes them capable of subduing the fallen angel. unfortunately, he doesn't realize gabriel's going to give him a much harder time than even THAT, since he's got. he's got a creepy little robot now!!!!

[peridots-pixiwolf]

[Start ID. A digital drawing of Gabriel and V1 from Ultrakill in super-saturated, pixellated colors. It seemingly takes place during phase two of his second fight, judging by Gabe's bright yellow-cyan wings and the consequent blush shining through his helmet. Gabriel is pictured on the left, facing the left side of the screen with his head turned to V1, preparing to strike them with the bloodied spear in his right hand. Small but frequent splatters of blood dot his armor and outstretched wings, fabrics torn through in places. V1 is on the right, aiming its piercer revolver at his face. Their arms are stacked in pairs on either side, idle Feedbacker and Knuckleblaster on the left and Whiplash tucked atop their default arm on the right. Both parties are stylized to resemble insects, Gabe with beetle wings and a halo in the shape of antennae, and V1 with the four wings, four arms, short antennae and bristles expected of a dragonfly. End ID]

woah.... happy 1 year anniversary to gay people

also a couple alts (background removed, just gabe, and just v1, respectively) in hopes it'll be a little easier to understand what's going on and all!

additionally once again: special thanks to @magnumopos and @muzzleroars , neither of which I have actually spoken to in my life but both of which are credited with partially inspiring this! (dedicated section under the readmore due to the fact I do not generally tag people at all ever and wasn't sure if I should, but thought it was worth mentioning!) The former for giving me the wonderful idea of dragonfly V1, the latter for drawing V1 like a strange little creature + for the feedbacker plate, I enjoy both your works :]

(retroactively, on march 27th of 2024, assigning them a full bingo with credit to deep-space-lines. ehehehehe)