#lesson 44 spoilers

[anintrovertedechoe]

mammons definition of bliss is literally just being with mc. canonically. im going to cry free me guys.

[nocreativityfornames]

Call me delusional but the moment we fell I had this quick thought of "what if Michael shows up and saves us???" like imagine this being his offical reveal:

MC: *gets too close to the edge and falls*

Brothers: MC!!! *collectively panic, the ones with wings already going into their full demon forms, ready to jump and grab them*

Michael: *raises in the sky suddenly, flying with MC in his arms, holding them like this*

Michael: *flies down to the brothers* Now now, rest easy my brothers, I've caught your little human...

Michael: *puts MC on the ground, briefly petting their head before retracting his wings, smiling angelically at the brothers* Welcome to Babel.

Brothers: *were a second away from having a stroke, now seeing their brother who they haven't met in a whole millennium* ARRG WEJDKDKSKS

[misc-obeyme]

nightbringer lesson 44

OH. OKAY. I HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS.

I'm still gonna try to keep it brief but woooooooo here I go! Spoilers below!

Okay, so biggest thing I picked up from this lesson was that Solomon's soul is not in his body. Right? Right?? Everybody else got that, too, right!??! Tell me I'm not insane. More on this later.

So we spent the whole lesson in Babel, where apparently you get to have a "moment of bliss" where stuff happens that makes you incredibly happy.

It starts out with everybody telling Asmo how they really feel about him, which is of course that he's beautiful and kind.

Then everybody ends up in TSL cosplay and Levi info dumps for several speech bubbles. (It's pretty adorable aldksjf.)

Then a ton of cats show up and Satan loses his mind. (But the cats also cuddle with everybody else because Satan's happiest when he sees cats cuddling with his family, the two things he loves in one place~)

Then everybody disappears because Mammon's moment of bliss is to be alone with MC (he's so bbg I can't take it). (Oh but I do feel the need to mention that everybody else was still there, they were just invisible which is SUPER CREEPY. Like c'mon MC was having such a cute moment with their first man...)

And THEN a bunch of food shows up and we think it's Beel's moment of bliss, but it's actually Belphie's because the twins are so close that Belphie is happiest when Beel is happy.

And then it like reverses and we have Belphie napping and all the boys in angel outfits, but it's actually Beel's moment. And they talk about this time they remember Raphael unleashing his spears on Mammon in the CR. And like then they feel guilty 'cause Satan doesn't have those memories but then:

Satan saw everything from inside Lucifer? CONFIRMED. And Lucifer was aware of it, too.

And then everybody's like what was Lucifer's moment of bliss? And they're dumb about it, but MC is like Lucifer's moment of bliss was this entire experience because he's happiest when his family is happy. D'AWW very precious but also kinda meh, imo.

Then Raphael comes back, but it's really him this time yay!

And THAT is when we find out that only your SOUL is transported to Babel. Everybody's physical body was left behind.

And I was IMMEDIATELY like oh. So THAT is why Solomon couldn't go inside. His soul is elsewhere. I don't think he's soulless, I think he's immortal because his soul is being stored somewhere that isn't his body. THOUGH it would also be interesting if Nightbringer was like... Solomon's soul gone rogue al;kjdsfjdf. But I don't think that's the case.

I think they're using this as a way to explain why people so often say that Solomon is more like a demon. Even though we also got this:

Hmm. Indeed. Solomon is NOT a demon. They were mad at him for not mentioning the thing about only your soul going into Babel.

Anyway, that's my theory and it's the only thing that makes sense to me though I have no idea what it has to do with anything.

I also thought it was interesting that Raphael is now part of the Brothers No More chat group with Simeon and Lucifer. I hope this means we'll get more of him!

And then this from the hard lesson because wow I hope this isn't just No 2 exaggerating.

LOL. You want to return something? BURIED ALIVE. That's so Devildom it's amazing.

Anyway, there were plenty of cute family moments in this lesson, but the potential hint about Solomon was the biggest deal, imo. What does it mean? I could be misinterpreting and maybe that isn't the issue at all? Maybe it's like... there's something wrong with his soul and removing it from his body would either expose something about him that he doesn't want the others to know or would like harm it further and put his life in danger? I dunno. He is still immortal, so.

My first thought was soul is elsewhere, but I do think having it like... reveal something about him unexpectedly would be interesting, too, now that I'm thinking about it.

I dunno, what do you guys think?

masterlist | Thank you for reading!

[inhuman-obey-me]

Babel-ing: An Overview of NB Lesson 44

Okay, we have a couple things to talk about with regards to the latest lesson! Some interesting worldbuilding and some moments that leave us with many questions. Let's get into it, shall we?

(spoilers for NB Lesson 44 below the cut)

In terms of worldbuilding, the main point of focus in this lesson is on Babel and its power as a "place of solace and bliss."

What does this mean in practice? Well, in classic OM fashion, it means we get to rapidly cycle through short little scenes of what each brother's individual "bliss" looks like, one at a time -- with some getting more depth to the writing than others, unfortunately.

Specifically, they boil Asmo's down to just "compliments", Levi's to "TSL", and Satan's, as exhaustingly usual, to "cats". This was presumably in the interest of time, but considering what the next three then get -- come on, really?

Starting with Mammon's, however, it starts getting a little bit more thoughtful. Considering the first three, it seemed like his would probably be something to do with money, but instead, Babel gives him a little private time with MC -- though, not that private, as it turns out everyone else was just invisible. Mostly, that just makes for a funny scene, but it does say something notable about how magic works in Babel: they entered as a group and apparently must experience all of the moments collectively as a group, even when Babel is trying to grant a wish of privacy.

Next, Beelzebub and Belphegor are implied to get their bliss in the form of happiness for each other. Belphie's consisted of Beel getting to happily eat a bunch of food, and then for some odd reason, there was an odd bit about him snubbing and frowning at all the other brothers during what was supposed to be his happy time. The game suggests this is because Mammon and Asmo started sucking up to him in hopes of also getting in on their wishes being fulfilled, and he's mad about it because of the prior "Belphie is the imposter" suspicions during the entry riddle. But even so, it's a bit strange that half his "bliss" scene consists of him being grumpy, so...that's a thing.

Beelzebub's, in turn, is to make Belphie happy - specifically, for everyone to fall asleep and share a dream of the Celestial Realm together, which is when things get especially interesting.

We have theorized before that Belphegor is the one who most seems to miss the Celestial Realm, so it brings up a question of whether Beel also wishes for them all to be back there, or whether the setting is because that's where he feels Belphie would be happiest. The brothers start reminiscing excitedly about a particular memory of Raphael going after Mammon for skipping out on work, while Belphie naps happily at their feet.

There are, however, two very notable exceptions to the brothers' nostalgia - Satan and Lucifer.

No matter which of the two you address about their silence, Asmo apologizes about the fact that Satan, not having been around at the time, probably feels out of place because he once again doesn't share the same memories that the others are talking about. Now, the game handles this by deciding that, actually, since it has been established before that Satan has some of Lucifer's old memories, he does "remember" about that particular moment, and has Belphie tug on Satan's clothes in his sleep to suggest that the brothers still think of him as part of the family.

It does not, however, address how Satan might feel about the fact that one of his brothers' representations of "bliss" consists of being back in the Celestial Realm. It probably doesn't feel great for a demon who has never been an angel to just be placed into one of the angel outfits and be told, essentially, that their happiest times were before he was born, but just with him added in now! Even if he has a memory of it from Lucifer's point of view, he's not actually part of their memories in their minds.

And although questioning Lucifer's silence brings up the same discussion, he likely would have had his own reasons for being uncomfortable in this situation. We know that he has always harbored guilt over his brothers falling alongside him. In NB Season 1, he even wanted to send his brothers back to the Celestial Realm without him, so that they could be spared from sharing his punishment! They all chose back then to stay with him and Satan in the Devildom, but it must feel pretty painful then for him to have concrete proof that one of the brothers would be happiest by being angels again in the Celestial Realm after all.

Well, that sure makes it a bit of an awkward transition when the last up is, as always, Lucifer himself! Nothing in particular really happens for his, with MC pointing out that his bliss has just been seeing his brothers happy that whole time. And for once, they also throw in a little side story based on some options for what MC's "bliss" moment is, which is nice to see for once!

After everything, Raphael (the real one this time) shows up and instantly gets accused of being Michael again, leaving him grumbling about how he'd been sent by the top seraph himself to guide them but it seemed that was not needed after all. And then we get one more very interesting nugget of worldbuilding lore -- it has actually only been their souls in Babel that whole time, and their bodies have been left elsewhere.

This, combined with texts to Solomon from Diavolo last lesson, and Thirteen this time, inquiring about his choice not to go in with the family, bring up some fascinating questions. When Diavolo had asked, the sorcerer had suggested he might not pass judgment to get in and didn't want to bring the brothers down with him. However, this time, when Thirteen asks, he is more evasive and answers that it's complicated.

It's not entirely clear if his decision to keep away from the inside of Babel is related to this bit about their souls, but it's certainly a fascinating possibility! After all, we heard a bit about Solomon's soul from Thirteen in earlier Nightbringer seasons...

Finally, there's one more detail which stood out after our return from Babel. In two separate post-story texts, Simeon and Raphael both check in on how MC is doing after their trip to Babel, with the latter in particular expressing concern about any issues and encouraging them to go to bed early to "be on the safe side."

As we discussed last time, Babel is a very well-kept secret, and on the Celestial Realm side, only seraphs are even supposed to know of its existence. It was also a seraph (Michael disguised as Raphael) who administered the judgment test for them to enter. That makes it quite interesting that, aside from Lucifer who is with us, it is the seraph and former seraph who check in on us afterwards. Could this imply something more harmful or unsettling about Babel, despite the "place of solace and bliss" description? Or is it simply a reference to the strange magic that exists in Babel?

We'll see if any more of Babel is mentioned later in the season, but considering we also haven't heard from or about Nightbringer (you know, the one this new game is literally named after) in quite some time, who knows? Time will tell if the devs will follow up on any of their plot threads, ever!

[journey-to-the-attic]

there's a moment in lesson 45 of nightbringer where mc falls off a thing (again?? is this foreshadowing?? i'm going to rule-of-three this and wait to see if it happens again) and satan tries and fails to grab their hand to catch them, but now i'm imagining the same thing happening with satan and ik except he does succeed, but it's her right hand and the prosthetic just POP comes straight off

[moinstar]

Soft Spoiler - Lesson 44-13

(just me choosing Levi)

[karasu904]

⚠️Spoilers for lesson 44 of NB and the devilgram “The Devil’s Whisper. “ ⚠️

In lesson 44, we find out that Mammon’s “moment of bliss” is just being with MC. In this devilgram, we’re basically playing a version of monopoly where players can marry each other.

You have the choice to marry Mammon, Levi, Beel, or none at all. You share a sweet moment with whoever you pick afterwards. If you reject, Lucifer greets you in the hall and says he will play next time and you better think of how you’ll propose to him.

What got me with Mammon’s sweet moment is how much cuter it becomes after playing lesson 44. This man literally wants to marry MC so bad. He just wants to stay by Mc’s side. 🥹🩷

I’m really soft for people that just need their lover by their side to be happy. 🫶

[alexxncl]

‼️NIGHTBRINGER LESSON 43 SPOILERS‼️

masterlist | all lessons | season 3 | lesson 42.1 | lesson 42.2 | lesson 43.2 | lesson 44

:((( the idea of satan getting to see where the rest of them came from makes beel so happy i'm gonna cry

little do they know, he's already kind of already been to the celestial realm but i don't remember when in og that happened

my limited knowledge of the bible as someone who grew up in the church has failed me yet again

ik they mean like where the tower of babel was but like ?? i guess the significance makes sense since it's the closest thing distance wise to heaven in bible lore...so yeah

more rambling on this here with a tiny bit of dialuci implications

he's not funny 😭 "bitch i live here" BYE

also how old is he ??? why do we know where B.C. era landmarks are

he just like me fr

:(((((

aside from the sap, this feels like some kinda time paradox thing bc they DEFINITELY saw lucifer's angel form in the nb timeline when they were in cocytus

oh he's so vile for this 😭 he CANONICALLY knows he's a bad cook. he's just being malicious atp 💀 but ykw i love that for him, even if it's at the expense of the boys suffering bc he hasn't made this version of them suffer in a hot minute

EVEN MORE VILE LMFAOOOOO

mane i wanted it to be michael 🧍🏾 but ykw i'll take raph too

....spoke too soon. this is michael. it's like nightbringer all over again except we actually know it's michael now

(if i'm wrong please ignore this part)

also the fact that being banished from earth is the punishment ??? assuming mc has some semblance life and friends and family in the human realm, this is just downright evil

and even if they don't have any connections to the human realm from before coming to the devildom, it's still solomon and now simeon's home, too, so they still have ties to the human realm that they can't just easily give up

i hate him. haven't even met him properly, and i hate him. SHOW YOUR FACE GODDAMN IT

but he did say "see you later" .... as yourself or as raphael?

[mikasha-9]

「君にとって幸せとは何ですか？」

❗️Mild Spoiler Lesson 44❗️

Mammon’s moment of bliss 💛♥️

[creativeartgal]

Spoiler for lessons 44 and 45 of nighbringer

WHY IS THIS THE SECOND TIME IN TWO LESSONS WE NEARLY FALLEN TO OUR DEATHS!!!???

LIKE BRO I ALREADY HAVE A FEAR OF HEIGHTS!?!? IF I WAS MC ID NEVER GO ABOVE GROUND LEVEL EVER AGAIN!!!! oh wanna hangout in your room on the second floor? NOPE NOT HAPPENING! Need to use a ladder to grab something? FUCK THAT!!! IMA ASK BEEL TO GET IT

I would be so fucking traumatized after the first time. BUT TWICE!?!?

[nrdmssgs]

Activision doesn't understand, how Russian language works

Spoilers to CoD MW3 below the cut.

@sofasoap @siilvan @cumikering @stag-beetle-wastaken @gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot be my guests.

First and most important: this rant is not aimed to 'make Russian culture great again'. I am not offended as a representative of some cultural or linguistic group. But as a member of gaming community, I feel, as if Activision... kinda didn't give a flying f about the gaming experience, that they are trying to sell me for 60 Euros. And I can't say, I like this feeling.

Second: I will be criticizing some approaches to language, that I will never criticize in fanfiction. Because you guys are doing it for free, for the sake of having fun. So I will be ok with you just straight using Google translate to write e.g. Nikolais lines in Russian. Because you never ask me to pay 60 Euros for the right to read your works. With that being mentioned, lets roll!

Activision doesn't pay attention to their own script, when it comes to Russian lines

Ok, this is a major issue. Because Activision sometimes gives completely different information in character line and in the subtitles. And it is not some minor information, we are talking about major plot details!

Let's just watch 20 seconds of a playthrough (time code 8:44)

Pay attention closely to how Makarov starts his monologue after Nolan says "Its an honor, commander". Makarovs subtitles say 'four years', when Makarov says something like 'shest let'. "four" in Russian is "chetyre", "six" is "shest`". These words sound nothing alike! And to check this, you literally need 5 seconds on google translate! Here, Activision, I did your work for you and I don't even ask for 60 freaking Euros! You learn these numbers on your second-third lesson of Russian 101!

There are ways to fix this scene. There are even ways to do it without reshooting Julian (because ok, I get it, maybe he costs so much, that all our 60 Euros purchases would never help Activision to economically recover...). All you need is to ask him to record TWO WORDS!

Activision doesn't care for wording even in the simplest proverbs

You remember a saying "enemy of my enemy is my friend"? I mean, of course you do, even John Price remembers it! And you know, who forgot this saying? Activision did! Because honest to god, I was very happy with our new Yuri, until he produced this ominous linguistic construction... (time code 56:10)

And if you think, it sounds just a tad off in English... Well, in Russian this sounds, as if a Colonel, a man, who spent tenths of years constantly communicating with soldiers, superiors, officials, started learning Russian... a month ago.

This is an international proverb, it exists in many languages! Now this is a safe case to use an automatic translator! It gives you a very simple answer.

But for some mysterious reason, Activision writes their strange line, translate to russian and find a poor-working synonym so that Yuri doesn't say 'opponent' twice... And in the end it kinda still makes sense, but this whole phrase sounds so off!! You never choose this sick long, overloaded wording for a proverb, that you literally learn at school. They just make it look like zarin is already there and it affects Yuri heavily.

This is just one example, but in reality, almost every Makarovs monologue sounds very strangely formulated. I just got you one example, but believe me, this is a systematic issue here. And the strangest thing is that all their errors are so easy to fix, but they never bothered!

Activision doesn't care for how Russian sounds

Ok, this is not a rant against Julian Kostov. The guy does his wor absolutely gorgeous! He steals every scene, where he appears, and I have nothing, but respect for him. However... Russian is a complicated language. For real. It is full of long words, with many unfamiliar for European ear sounds. It is not only difficult to understand it - it is complicated even to imitate it.

Now apparently Julian knows Russian to some extent just because of his origin and age. But that doesn't save him from swallowing some letters, syllables, sometimes even big parts of words. And when it happens in almost every line of his character - it becomes an issue. An issue, when even Russian-speaker has to read subtitles to understand, what is going on in a scene with two Russian characters!

This whole scene is a nightmare (time code 1:42:54). Replaced letters, disappearance of parts of words, strange accents - they collected a bingo on this one.

And I dont blame actors here! Because on every shooting there is a director - a guy, who is responsible for how overall scene will look and sound in the end. There is always a possibility to find someone, who actually speaks the language and make them sit and listen! And if there are many issues with pronunciation revealed - you just come to your actors and say 'guys, you did amazing jobs, we are so happy to work with you. Now can we please do another shot and pay attention to these lines of yours?'.

And believe me, it is ok to have multiple shots for ingame cutscenes! Actors are ok with that! I don't ask for a perfect pronunciation, I just ask Activision to make sure, their characters don't sound as if they are speaking gibberish!

The most strange part here is that there are super-clean lines in game as well! Milena spoke with accent too, but she sounded clear! Some NPCs sounded perfect!

So Im sorry, but at the end of the day - this your most accurate Russian character by Activision. Because he chose to speak English.

[k-obeyme-stuff]

Spoiler for recent chapter- (lesson 44)

Mammon's moment of bliss at the babel....he just boosted up in my favourite list

Like he's been up there since a long while, but right now he's tied for most favourite with Asmo now

I knew he was down bad for every second of MCs time and affection but damn- it's not often (anymore i think) that canon puts that fact in your face

I imagined his moment of bliss would be something like him sitting on a gold throne and mc feeding him grapes in expensive clothes or something LMAO I was pleasantly surprised

And now I crave super fluffy Mammon fics

Also as much as I don't want to admit it....they did Asmo dirty again imo

like it was the best moment to learn something we didn't know about him yet but they just made him seem like his "perfect Haven" is just being perceived as beautiful by everyone and nothing more...idk it rubs me the wrong way.. alright I'll stop complaining now-

[nocreativityfornames]

@cherry-blossom80 This deserves its own separate post, because yes. The brothers know fully well how Satan feels about not being there with them in the Celestial Realm, and this whole thing definitely doesn't sit well with him and they know it.

I mean, in Nightbringer the brothers were literally proposed with a way back into the Celestial Realm if they left Satan behind. Like, "You six can come back but ditch the demon, will you? It's not like he's part of the family or anything..." How could Satan have a positive view of the CR after that?

And this especially irked me when we got to Beel's "bliss scenario" or whatever. Beel's idea of bliss being hanging out with his brothers as angels makes no sense. Not only because the brothers have all confirmed to feel more comfortable as demons but because of Satan, considering that this would put him in an uncomfortable position, even more in this situation where he had an angel form.

Beel wouldn't put Satan through that in a million years, and this was even something that they (poorly) acknowledged in the lesson, though they said nothing about the fake angel form. But Satan is already on the record saying how uncomfortable it feels to look at himself as an angel, thanks to the Angelic Event:

Satan seeing the brothers speak positively of the Celestial Realm and plan visits when he's spent his whole life witnessing firsthand the negative effects living there had on them, and seeing Beel's idea of bliss be to go back to the time when the brothers were angels and take away Satan's demonhood: 😃

He should've been enraged, and I would've fully supported him screaming some sense into his brothers right then and there.

[1st-star]

[Spoilers for Lesson 44]

ALRIGHT, WE GET IT, YOU REALLY LOVE BEING A FAMILY, CAN WE GET THE PLOT MOVING FORWARD ALREADY???

This was nothing but a filler lesson. We could have had a lot of information about Babel, perhaps even the real Raphael guiding us through it. Instead, we get to see what makes the brothers happy, something we have seen dozens of times before.

Maybe the lesson would have interesting if the moment the brothers find themselves in their angel form was what Michael wanted the most...

I haven't unlocked the extra lesson in easy mode but I doubt there's anything really interesting in it. And the hard lesson has the Little D's, which I couldn't care less about.

[logarithmicpanda]

The Narrow Road Between Desires VS The Lightning Tree

I reread both simultaneously to be able to have a more objective opinion on them.

TL;DR the new version of the story adds, on top of the illustrations, several additional scenes and some very welcome revisions. It is a kinder, queerer, and more magical version of the same story. For me it is definitely worth the read!

Spoilers below:

First let's crunch the raw numbers. Based on the audiobook version TLT has an estimated 27,807 words and TNRBD is at 71,760 words, so almost three times at long. The sections in TLT are arranged a bit differently than in TNRBD but I will use them to do a more detailed breakdown below:

TLT:

Morning: The Narrow Road (29p)

TNRBD:

Dawn: Artistry (6p) Morning: Embril (18p) Mid morning: The Narrow Road (40p) Mid-day: Birds (8p)

Total: 72 pages

The same events are covered, but TNRBD expends on Bast and Kote's characterization. I think the story takes place before NOTW btw, because Bast looks intrigued when Kostrel jokingly tells him to write a book if he knows so much. I think that was was made Bast try to have Kote write his memoirs himself, a while before Chronicler ever sets foot in the Waystone Inn.

The order in which Bast does his turns around the tree changes, the breaking way first, then the making way. I'm not sure yet how I interpret that lol.

One of the boys is changed to a girl, and the first secret she gives about a man sleeping with someone who is not his wife implies that it might be an open relationship in this version (everyone knows, including the wife).

A girl named Gretta in TLT is now Grett, and explicitly referred to using they/them.

New divination system introduced, with things called Embrils that Bast uses kinda like runes, to do tosses

Instead of a shepherdess, Bast charms a shepherd (Bi!Bast for the win) who very cutely embroiders stuff on Bast's pants while mending them

The bargain with Kostrel is more complex, touches on Fae magic and debts, and Bast gets tricked into accepting the gift of a penance coin...

When Kostrel asks Bast to describe Emberlee's breast to him, Bast says he will only do it if she gives her permission

When Bast takes his bath, both men and women are watching (in both versions, he very well knows they are there)

---

TLT:

Afternoon: Birds and Bees (32p)

TNRBD:

Mid-day: Birds (continued, 16p) Noon: Obligation (17p) Afternoon: Still (33p) Moonrise: Sweetness (11p) Evening: riddles (7p)

Total: 84 pages

I had forgotten, but TLT already had bits of queerness, namely the little girl who saw "mama kiss the maid", and when Bast goes watch Emberlee bathe, it is strongly implied she was among the women watching him earlier. In TNRBD, that is expended upon.

When the little girl wants to know if her kitten is a boy or a girl, there's this quote that I really liked: Bast would rather tell the bigger truth than the smaller one anyway. "Bows and dresses don't matter much," he said. "She decided she's a girl, so she's a girl."

The girl is also smarter in this version

Rike has a hold on Bast because of the penance coin, so there's a bit of additional plot around that

Rike's sister is named earlier instead of being an afterthought

Bast does some magic on Rike to get rid of his obligation

The description of the still is longer, and the alcohol has a different flavor (no opinion on that but some people might theorize about it lol)

There's a second Embril throw, and Kostrel admits Emberlee told him where she bathed expressly so Bast could find her

Bast, Emberlee, Kholi and Dax (the shepherd) seem to be a polycule and everyone knows haha

Grett is mentioned again, along with "harthan tea" which I assume is fantasy HRT xD

---

TLT:

Evening: Lessons (17p)

TNRBD:

Sunset: lies (17p) Twilight: carrots (1p) Night: demons (15p) Midnight: lessons (11p)

Total: 44 pages

The conclusion to the story has a long additional scene and a few more changes

Instead of Martin punching a tinker because he was assaulting a young girl, he punches the tinker because he had pushed down Old Cob

A scene where Rike washes his face and Bast notices the bruises he has from his father beating him have been moved later in TNRBD

There's a prediction from the Embrils that gets realized here, and the way the narration speaks of Bast and his desires impacting the world feel very reminiscent of TSROST, I wonder if Auri is using Grammarie? Is it just another name for Shaping?

Longer description that empathizes that Bast beat the shit out of Rike's father

There's an entirely new scene of Bast talking to Rike and helping him heal from his terror of becoming an abuser like his dad

I particularly liked that last bit, the story was always a commentary on the cycle of abuse, but this version makes it clear it can be broken. Overall, as I said in the intro, TNRBD is a lot kinder as a story. And meaner towards abusive fathers which is always a plus for me lmao. Bast is made very explicitly queer, as are some of the side characters, and the women are better treated as a whole, with more emphasis on consent. I have to say, in both versions Bast offers to take Kote to where Emberlee bathes, and there's no mention of her agreeing to that, so eh.

But I really appreciate the changes that have been made, and the extra magic. Plus the illustrations are lovely as the moon. I'm even more excited about Doors of Stone now (who knew it was possible lol) because I feel like Pat has grown a lot as a writer since WMF :D

[journey-to-the-attic]

(lesson 44 spoilers)

i was really expecting (or maybe just hoping) there to be more drama at babel but ?? turns out it was another build up to "lucifer really loves his brothers"? it would've been nice to at least get some blood out of the rock that is development for the newbie trio, but raphael was more of a cameo than anything

i'm not entirely sure what the moment of mc going "whoops i'm about to fall off this tall thing" was meant to be. maybe they needed to fill a quota of romantic interactions? it does look like they were just being clumsy but for a moment i was like "Oohoho what if babel is trying to get rid of them because of some kind of celestial realm conspiracy"

i do still think they should be resolving the time travel and nightbringer thing (solomon?? did you forget??? do you not want to know what the hell happened????), but i'd be interested if the whole thing with simeon and the weird relapse to the celestial realm WAS some kind of heavenly conspiracy..

from a surface level look at what's happened so far... feels like they're taking a weird hard turn from everything they'd done with the celestial realm prior to nb. belphie's moment of bliss being everyone as angels was ?????? honestly it felt like we were just in nightbringer timeline again

my good-faith theory is that this is all intentional and that this IS leading up to some kind of twist about what happened when solomon and mc travelled to the present because otherwise i'm going to have to assume the writers just forgot what the original brothers' deal was