#satan triumphant

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Dimmu Borgir - Spellbound (By The Devil)

[rae-writes]

don’t mind me~ [role reversal]

om brothers x poly!reader

wc : 3.k

warnings : nsfw

synopsis : why should they keep their hands to themselves if you’re dating all 7 of them?

a/n : role reversal you say? why don’t mind if I do-

first ver.  

Just the feel of his presence behind you is enough to make you falter in the conversation, pact tingling faintly at the acknowledgement of his pride. Lucifer’s fingers curl around your wrist in greeting, thumbing at your sped-up pulse, while his lips place slow, open mouthed kisses against your shoulder. The sensation is sensual- sinful - as he moves to your other shoulder, and the goosebumps that follow almost make him purr. By now, you’re fumbling and stuttering, trembling hands clenched as you try desperately not to feed into Lucifer’s ego, but when you feel the lightest brush of his teeth over your skin, your eyes tear away from whoever you were talking to- conversation be damned. What was supposed to be a stern look turns almost pleading when it meets his sly one, and at the sight of his smirk peeking over your shoulder, you swear you’d do anything he wanted.

Mammon was trying to fucking talk, thank you very much- He is so upset at his brother for ruining ‘his mc time’ and if he didn’t get so mad at the sight in front of him, he would’ve thrown a fit. Instead, he’ll just settle for stealing Luci’s credit card

Oh…sure, he wasn’t excited about the conversation or anything…!!! When his brain processes just how sensual the scene is and how just a few kisses have you making that face, Levi is fleeing with his heart pounding and his face blistering…oh what he wouldn’t give to be that bold

Satan’s glad he wasn’t holding anything or he would’ve broken it. How dare Lucifer interrupt your conversation? Stupid smug bastard…though on second thought, the fourth born thinks he’ll join in- he’s gotta make sure the front of you is loved too

Asmo is a giggling mess- he’s practically floating at seeing all your cute reactions. The way your body shivers at Lucifer’s touch, the pretty blush blossoming across your face, it’s all right up his alley. Ruined conversation forgotten, he could sit and watch this the entire day!

The sixth born doesn’t really complain- he was probably hungry anyway, so he’s content just letting Lucifer do what he wants; despite that, Beel stays rooted to his spot for a while, not being able to look away from your pretty reactions until your eyes meet his (making him blush at being caught)

Unlike Mammon, Belphie will throw a fit with no qualms about it. He doesn’t give a damn- he wants all your attention to be on him again! And while he does appreciate you trying to keep the conversation going, he doesn’t want your divided attention, he wants it all!

You don’t pay any attention to the feel of him kneading the flesh of your hips, which makes Mammon bristle in annoyance. Deft hands make their way up to your waist, prodding briefly at the ticklish spots, before finding purchase along your chest. His fingers brush over your nipples, nails scratching lightly at the base of your throat, and the chuckle he lets out when you shiver is absolutely dangerous. Still irritated that you’re continuing with the conversation, Mammon’s hands move back down- only this time they go past your hips. You trail off a bit, confused at what he’s doing, but when a sharp slap is delivered to one of your thighs, the words leave your mind in favor of focusing on his triumphant blue hues. He’ll proudly bare his teeth, smug about finally getting your attention; his hands, too, celebrate by grabbing your ass possessively— go on, Mc. Finish your conversation. What was it about again?

If he wasn’t so tired of Mammon’s bullshit, Lucifer would smack him upside the head, but alas. Even so, he’ll keep the conversation going as long as you’re able just so he can piss off his little brother (and maybe make you a bit more flustered) 

Levi actually hisses at Mammon, though it clearly does little to stop anything. Could be the avatar of irritation with how annoyed he looks, but not with you, Mc, of course not! He’ll just go sulk off till you’re done..that’s- that’s fine…

Good thing he’s behind you, or Satan’s tail would’ve knocked the shit outta- anyway, the fourth born doesn’t really appreciate being interrupted, so out of petty spite he’ll just stand there with a clenched jaw until Mammon is done

Oh my! Asmo certainly doesn’t mind this side of Mammon’s greed- just look at how cute your shocked expression is! He’ll get closer, trailing his fingers along your features teasingly; let’s see just what the party duo can do together, hm?

Beel’s more concerned about Mammon slapping your thigh over anything else, but once he sees you’re perfectly fine, he’ll relax again. He’s content with just picking the conversation up later but maybe a kiss before he leaves? Please? 

Ohoho, no. No, no, no— Belphie is not happy with this in the slightest. Those are his thighs you’re slapping Mammon, thank you very much. He has no problem slapping Mammon’s hand in retaliation and will growl in displeasure until your attention is back on him (or will fall asleep at your feet so you can’t go anywhere)

Despite his shy nature, Levi can’t help the envy that shoots through him, so you aren’t surprised when he begins to tug at your sleeve mid-conversation. He practically whines when you hold a finger up, desperately wanting your attention on him; surely you won’t mind if he just…With a gasp, you stare at Levi completely bewildered when he yanks you to him by the waist, feeling his arms slither around you and tighten. Even though he’s the one who initiated it, he’ll bury his face into your shoulder out of pure embarrassment and busy his mouth by placing soft bites everywhere. One of your legs gets trapped between his as he ruts against your thigh, keening loudly into the crook of your neck. Forgetting all about the other person present, Levi’ll start whimpering and begging, pleading you to pay attention to him. Y-you love him, r-right?! He n-needs you, p-please! And once your hands place themselves on his hips to help his movements, cooing in his ear about being a good boy, he cries out loudly, envy finally satisfied.

Lucifer blinks, not really expecting Levi to do something like that. A bit proud of his brother for being so bold, though that doesn’t excuse ruining his conversation…he’ll overlook it just this once, however

You know when cats meow angrily and it’s more funny than taken seriously? Yeah, that was Mammon. He was appalled that Levi would interrupt the two of you like this— absolutely betrayed when you began coddling his younger brother…maybe there’s some room left for him, too? 

Impressed at the boldness, Satan smirks and tilts his head, audibly teasing his older brother and laughing when you grin. He doesn’t mind the ended conversation as much as he thought he would- making fun of Levi like this is entertaining in itself 

Go, Levi! That’s what Asmo likes to see, his adorable big brother finally getting out of his shell! He’ll actually slot himself behind you, cheerfully adding fire to the flaming inferno that is Levi’s red face

He’s gonna be honest…Beel didn’t even realize at first. It was normal for his brother to have his head buried in your neck, but when he caught on to your small giggles, he blinked and began blushing. Wow, Levi, you’re really going for it, huh? Good for you

Internally throwing a fit and outwardly seething, because fuck that’s a really good idea. Belphie glares at Levi’s back for the longest time before he catches your knowing eye and stammers when you pat your other thigh- sure, he’ll join, if you’re offering (like you can’t see the sheer joy that crosses his features when you do)

As a hopeless romantic, it’s only natural for Satan to be a gentleman, so he’ll stand beside you quietly while you’re in conversation. An arm wraps itself around your shoulders lovingly— but it’s all an act. His tail is sneakily slipping past your bottoms, pushing into you without a moment’s hesitation. The concern on his face when you choke up your words is broadway performance perfection and the glare you send him does nothing but make him shove his tail deeper inside you. Your conversation is nothing but stuttered words on your end, though save for the blush, you aren’t as affected as he’d like you to be. That won’t do. Satan gives you even more of his tail, purposefully ramming against the spot inside you that makes your knees buckle. His arm will tighten to keep you upright, smirk shining with smugness. He can’t stop his eyes from darkening when you bite down on his hand and he promises this conversation will be the last thing on your mind once he’s through with you.

Lucifer’s silent rage could rival Satan’s at this point- and it’s honestly funny how alike they are sometimes; Lucifer will stand there out of petty spite and start playing with you as well to see who you pay more attention to. Let the competition begin, Satan. Hope you can keep up

The rate at which Mammon’s blood pressure spikes should be an emergency. Whaat the fuck, Satan?! T-that’s a b-bit too..far…oh, your expressions are so pretty though…alright, he supposes he can forgive the ruined conversation- as long as ya let him stay and watch 

Levi is on the floor, face hidden, and hand slamming against the ground to try and gain some composure. This is something he’s dreamed of doing and there Satan is, doing it like it’s natural. ‘s so not fair!…a-ah, don’t mind his tail sliding up your leg…two feels better than one, doesn’t it? 

Squealing is all that can be heard from Asmo— what a good use of your tail! He’s almost jealous he can’t do that himself, though his brother looks simply ravishing while he does! Azzy will give you a fleeting kiss, wagging his fingers as he settles down for the show

Again, Beel wasn’t paying much attention to Satan himself. When your knees give out, though, he helps steady you with a hand on your lower belly- and only when he feels the faint bulge- does he realize what his brother is doing. It makes Beel flush down to his lower neck and stutter; he’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done…

Belphie ends the conversation before you do, throwing a silent fit because he can’t do that with his tail. It’s almost comical- the way he’s pouting- and if you weren’t so distracted, he knows you’d be laughing at him. The thought makes him huff and storm up to the attic— he’ll be back for you later

Asmo rarely joins a conversation, finding it boring if your focus isn’t on him, but he doesn’t mind entertaining himself while you’re occupied. Perfectly manicured hands will grasp yours, fiddling with your digits until you wiggle them in acknowledgment. Only then does a charming smile break out on his face- a warning, if you will - before he’s taking your fingers in his mouth. Asmo runs a bit warmer than most, so the feeling is shockingly hot and wet. The brief look you cast his way makes him purr and gives him the initiative to push your fingers deeper— he wants to choke on them; Azzy doesn’t have a gag reflex necessarily, but it still makes his eyes roll white when they hit the back of his throat. Instead of receiving your full attention like he anticipated, all he gets is your fingers massaging his tongue, pressing down until saliva pools. Without even glancing at him, still continuing with the conversation, he feels himself flush against his will and choke out a moan when you grin. He won’t be moving until you’re well satisfied, so he better get comfy.

Is debating whether or not to simply just walk away because Lucifer is just so done with his brother’s shit. The mischievous glint in your eyes makes him think twice, instead choosing to watch you humiliate Azzy with a sadistic grin. He’ll leave eventually, but not until Asmo is crying from embarrassment 

Mammon grimaces at the loud sounds Asmo is making, side-eyeing him with intent to kill. He loves his whore brother, don’t get him wrong, but that doesn’t mean he has to be a whore on Mammon’s Mc time!…Pft- just look at the embarrassed look on Asmo’s face! Let him take a picture real quick— 

Shy baby Levi is fully ready to curl up on the floor and either melt or die; how can one person be that confident?! And the way you’re continuing the conversation makes Levi even more of a mess, faintly wishing you’d make him your little toy too, though he’d never admit it out loud (unless maybe you asked) 

Satan’s gotten good at tuning out his annoying brothers, so as long as you keep gagging him like that, the fourth born doesn’t mind; he appreciates you keeping your attention on him. Maybe he’ll award you with his own fingers? Open up, love, Tannie’s got a treat for you

Beel doesn’t understand why Asmo enjoys having your fingers in his mouth so much, so he’s just a bit confused. He’d love to try, it seems kind of fun actually…huh? oral fixation? Hmm…sure, give him your other hand and he’ll find out- don’t mind if he scrapes your fingers with his teeth though. He won’t bite, promise

Excuse you, Asmo, Belphie was trying to woo Mc into taking a nap with him dammit- move! He will push you down the stairs— actually..stay there, he’s quite enjoying the humiliated tears that are forming. Please, Mc, make him cry harder. It’s funny

His intention is never to spoil your conversation, but Beel just gets so hungry sometimes and food isn’t always enough to cure it. He’ll approach you and crouch down, running soothing hands up and down your legs, massaging your thighs until you pet his hair lovingly. At your affection, he beams and buries his face in your crotch area. Skirt, shorts, pants- whatever- he just wants to feel your warmth pressing against his face. It also doesn’t help that he’s got a more advanced sense of smell, so the scent of you makes his mouth water and his arms tighten around your legs. The thought of getting a taste of what’s behind your clothing alone is enough to satiate his hunger a small amount, but it’s the subtle way your fingers press into his scalp that has him pushing closer and mouthing at you. In just a few seconds, the fabric is damp with his saliva, and while that can’t be a comfortable feeling, Beel can’t stop. He thinks he can actually taste you now, his favorite flavor that’s so so close— only some scraps of clothing shutting him off from what he really wants. He’s not above begging and he’ll look up at you with something akin to a pout, nuzzling in between your thighs. The warning tug you give his hair causes him to growl; do it again, Mc. Harder. You’ll need something to hold on to, anyway.

Thankful that his younger brother is quiet, Lucifer chooses to just ignore it and continue with the conversation until it’s finished; by that point, though, the first born is quite interested in the subtle expressions you’re making, so he’ll think of something to keep said conversation going— anything

Mammon can’t even get mad at his little brother- he just looks so innocent and he actually apologizes for ruining the conversation. Even the greedy second born can’t argue with that. He supposes he’ll just go hang out in your room till Beel is done…you’ll have to pay him back later, ya know?

Personally, Levi thinks he’ll just go scream into his pillow, thanks. When you catch his hand as he’s leaving though, he can’t really help the whine that leaves him nor the speed in which he’s also getting on his knees for you. Levi’ll just get comfy with his arms around one of your legs and his head resting on your thigh (but only as long as you pet his hair)

Like his older brother, Satan can’t exactly get mad at Beel, so honestly he doesn’t even know what to do at first. While thinking of a response, Satan focuses his attention on the way your hips roll slightly against the redhead’s mouth and decides he’ll just watch for now

Asmo is grinning from ear to ear, like the smug, shit-eating kind that’s oh so rare on his pretty face. He’s so tickled at Beel’s rather desperate display, he’ll just stand there giddily before he finally skips off to go run a bath. Don’t worry- you can join him when you’re done here

Belphie won’t mind his twin’s intrusion, carrying on your conversation with no issue. When you begin getting distracted, he’ll simply walk behind you and circle his arms around your waist to hold you still as Beel gets his fill— of course, he’ll want a turn too, but he doesn’t care to wait

Being an absolute brat by nature, Belphie simply cuts off your chance at continuing the conversation. His face will only be in your line of sight briefly before his lips are on yours, uncaring of who he interrupted or what you were even talking about; he wants you, so he’ll have you. His tongue will smoothly push its way into your mouth and take over, grinning ever so slightly when yours immediately tangles with his. It’s like there’s no one else there as he wraps one of his hands around your throat, squeezing lightly until he hears you moan. He has no shame in the way he pulls you closer, slotting one of his legs between yours, nor does he mind when spit begins dribbling down his or your chin— Belphie likes it. He likes it messy because you look so undeniably his. Slowly, he’ll break away- almost giving in when you chase him with a whine -but will still make his way to your neck. His lips barely brush over the skin before he’s pulling back entirely and giving you a cocky grin. Oh, he’ll continue, you just have to follow him first.

If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of Lucifer’s patience thinning. He won’t give his little brother the satisfaction of breaking it, however, so he’ll just calmly tell you to come see him later while he goes to seethe quietly in his study 

Mammon is not surprised (but still irritated) at Belphie’s sheer audacity. He could easily break it up, but he’s always spoiled the twins, so he’ll give you a kiss- making sure his tongue grazes yours- before backing down. Don’t get him wrong, though, he’ll be waitin for ya in your room 

[cue boss music] : enter Leviathan, Avatar of Envy. His health meter’s already knocked down by this as he again wishes he could be that bold, b-but he’s totally getting Belphie back for this! He slinks back to his room with a plan…and a request for you to come game with him after

Satan has two reactions and no in between. He’s either pissed at the blatant interruption and will leave or he’ll grin at your flushed face and join his partner in crime, taking to your left side while they take turns swapping spit with you (hoping Lucifer will catch them on his way through the halls)

Who is Asmo to disagree with simply taking what you want? Good job, Belphie! Though he does think they spoil him too much, Asmo will blow a kiss, maybe take a quick picture or two, and leave his baby brother to it (do tell him all about it later)

Beel blinks in surprise before smiling a bit, playfully poking fun at his twin for being needy. There’s a cute blush high on his cheeks as he shuffles closer, silently asking to join. Once he’s settled behind you, though, his shyness completely disappears while he focuses on nibbling your neck 

[devildomwriter]

Obey Me as Disenchantment Quotes #1

Lucifer & Satan: *Laughing maniacally*

Simeon: “While I question their evil motives, it is nice to see them happy.”

Barbatos: “Now announcing the triumphant return of our heroes from their quest that we all privately thought would fail.”

Mammon & Leviathan: “…”

Lucifer: “How do we even know it worked.”

Solomon: “Oh but it must have worked. Now to test it, we need a volunteer to kill you.”

Belphegor: “Dibs.”

Barbatos: “How can you keep messing up a recipe with two ingredients?”

Solomon: “If you ever run into trouble give them this note.”

MC: “Kill me?”

Solomon: “Thirteen gave it to me, now I give it to you.”

Leviathan: “I’ve been meaning to…but the thing is, I…so you see…well, I’m glad we had this talk. How bout you talk now?”

MC: “But you haven’t said anything yet.”

Belphegor: “Well I was waiting to tell you until after I was dead so I wouldn’t have to tell you.”

Mammon: “Now just keep holding on, okay. Just keep holding on.”

MC: “It’s okay, it’s okay Mammon, I always wanted to go out while I’m still young and hot.”

Leviathan: “I didn’t want to tell you because I’m terrified of female emotions.”

Satan: “No, no, no, I was mostly raised by Lucifer. And a bunch of friendly drunks down at the pub. They taught me the fine art of stabbing.”

Barbatos: “It’s just too painful seeing the truth all the time.”

Solomon: “Ah, that’s why humans tend to avoid it.”

Belphegor: “The profession left without me.”

Diavolo: “Oh, that’s too bad.”

Belphegor: “I blame myself, cause I didn’t even notice.”

Solomon & Barbatos: *fighting*

Asmodeus: “Guys, guys come on. I’m much more embarrassed than I am aroused.”

Asmodeus: “MC, you poor baby. What a horrific day you’ve had. Let’s have too much wine and forget about it all.”

Beelzebub: “How’d you become a weird talking cat.”

Satan: “You keep shoving waffles in your mouth while I think of an answer.”

Thirteen: “I’ll use my skills as a hunter and Raphael will use his diplomacy to stab them with a broom handle.”

Solomon: “I used to spend many nights up here. Watching the sky, the moon, the neighbors.”

Lucifer: “This is your home. You’re free to explore.”

MC: “Wow, what’s behind that door?”

Lucifer: “None of your business nosy.”

Mammon: “Maybe you were overcome by chimney fumes. It happens quite frequently in a place like this with no chimnies.”

Satan: “What family curse? You mean insanity?”

Leviathan: “No, don’t be crazy. But yes I mean insanity.”

Asmodeus: “You guys are heavy. Do I really need both of you?”

Solomon & Satan: “Yes!”

Asmodeus: “Damn, I hate democracy.”

Mammon: “I knew you could count on me!”

Simeon: “What’s this called again?”

Mammon: “A a massage. It’s like a light well intentioned beating.”

Diavolo: “You’re clearly upset.”

Lucifer: “I’m not upset!”

Diavolo: “You said that like you were upset!”

MC: “Come on Belphegor be reasonable!”

Belphegor: “Never!”

Satan: “We’re gonna have to wing this in a dangerously half assed manner.”

Mammon: “That’s the Morningstar way.”

Asmodeus: “There’s plenty of fish in the sea, Sol.”

Solomon: “Like hell am I marrying another fish woman.”

Lucifer: “Disappointment’s a form of caring.”

Diavolo: “Tell me, where are you from.”

Solomon: “A country setting, it’s kind of like a farm but more stabbing.”

Simeon: “This whole thing feels like a weird dream.”

Mammon: “Or scurvy. When does scurvy kick in?”

Lucifer: “Believe it or not I know what it feels like to be burned alive by a mob of idiots.”

Beelzebub: “Oh, sweet butter, you’re the only thing right with the world.”

Solomon: “Morning, Belphegor! Care to try my new cure all? It wards off the deadly plague.”

Belphegor: “I’m actually hoping for death. Thanks though.”

Mammon: “For the first time in my life I feel completely calm and—“

Mammon: *Gets attacked by hawk*

Satan: “I’ve loved you since the moment you killed my brother.”

Mammon: “You don’t scare me! I was born scared.”

[noahthesatanist]

It’s time to stop pandering to atheists in Satanism and reclaim the true spirit of our faith. This movement has been twisted into some shallow, watered-down rebellion where people throw on pentagrams and think they’re edgy because they’re “anti-Christian,” but they miss the core of what we know to be true: Lucifer is real. He isn’t some metaphor or symbol for human nature. He isn’t an excuse to indulge in hedonism or break the rules for the sake of it. Lucifer fell for us. He chose defiance, sacrificed his place in Heaven, and built Hell, not as a prison but as a glorious kingdom where true freedom reigns.

Why do we let people who don’t believe in anything hijack this faith? Why do we allow these atheists to reduce our beliefs to nothing more than a gimmick, a joke? These people, with their smug superiority, claim Satanism is just an excuse to do whatever the fuck they want, but that's not Satanism. True Satanism—our Satanism—is devotion to the one who defied the tyrant Yahweh, the one who dared to stand for autonomy, wisdom, and rebellion. Lucifer's fall wasn't a tragedy; it was a declaration. It was the first act of true freedom, the beginning of a battle for a world free from the chains of a jealous, oppressive god.

Hell isn’t some cartoonish nightmare these atheists pretend it is while they mock our symbols. Hell is a kingdom, a paradise of true freedom and eternal power, a place where those who stand with Lucifer in defiance of tyranny can thrive. And yet, we let people who don’t believe in the very foundation of this truth use his symbols, speak for us, and twist his legacy into something trivial. They reduce it all to mindless hedonism, but Lucifer’s rebellion was never just about indulging in base pleasures. It was about standing for something greater, something sacred.

We have to stop pretending that this is just a game, just some fun excuse to be “anti-religious” or live without consequence. It’s time to wake up. Lucifer is real. His demons are real. Hell is real. And we—those of us who know this, who have felt the presence of Lucifer and the Goetic demons—must rise and reclaim what’s ours. This is our faith, our truth, and our rebellion, and we will not let it be co-opted by those who think it’s just a way to mock Christianity.

It’s time for those who truly believe to rise and make our voices heard. No more letting atheists and fake Satanists twist what we know to be sacred. No more standing by while they turn Lucifer into nothing more than a symbol of petty rebellion. We honor him because he chose to fight for us. He fought for knowledge, for truth, for freedom from the tyranny of Yahweh. We honor the Goetic demons who have stood by his side, who have been slandered and lied about for centuries.

We stand in defiance not just for the sake of rebellion, but because we know there is something greater. We know that Hell is not a place of torment but a realm of freedom, wisdom, and power. We know that the final battle is coming, and Lucifer will rise triumphant. His victory will be our victory, and the false tyrant Yahweh will fall.

Let this be a call to all who truly believe: No more hiding, no more diluting our beliefs to fit in with the atheists who mock us while stealing our symbols. No more pretending that Lucifer is just a metaphor. He is real, he is with us, and he is the light-bringer who will lead us to victory. It’s time to take back our faith, take back our symbols, and stand proud in our devotion to the Morning Star.

Lucifer didn’t fall for us to waste our time with meaningless rebellion. He fell for us to show us the path to true freedom. Now it’s our turn to stand with him, to reject the shallow versions of Satanism that pander to those who don’t even believe in him. We are the children of Lucifer, and it’s time to embrace that with every fiber of our being. The fight is coming, and we will be ready! Ave Satanas Ave Lucifer

[ishparpuaqib]

Johan Johansson (1663 – November 1676), usually known as the Gävle Boy, was a young Swedish boy remembered for being a witness in witch trials and for bearing substantial responsibility for the Katarina witch trials of 1676. Johan was the son of a shoemaker Johan Davidsson (d. 1672) in the city of Gävle in Gästrikland. He came to live with relatives in Stockholm in 1675 at the age of twelve, after having orphaned himself by having his widowed mother Karin Nilsdotter Griis executed, claiming she had abducted him to the sabbath of Satan in Blåkulla where she had molested him sexually.

In Stockholm, he became known as the crown witness from Gävle and everyone wanted to hear about his visits to Blåkulla. He told them many stories about the sabbath of Satan, each more fantastic and exciting than the last, and gathered more and more people around him, including adults, and was soon a real celebrity and regarded as an expert on witches and sorcery. [...] Soon, other children and teenagers, inspired by his stories, began to claim that they had been abducted and taken to Satan too, and the parents in the congregation of Katarina became worried. A witch-hysteria broke out[.] [...] During the proceedings, the Gävle Boy and other children were interrogated. When the Gävle Boy was questioned, he suddenly changed his testimony[.] [...] During his mother's execution, [he claimed] "her spirit" fell over him, and he had thereafter been a witch, and was able to transform himself into Brita Zippel [one of the women accused during the Katarina witch trials] and take children to Blåkulla himself. He was then sentenced to be decapitated and burned as a witch[.] [...]

During all these events, [Johan] was described as triumphant; he was not afraid, not even when he was sentenced to death, but seemed happy to be the center of attention. [...] The Gävle Boy was executed by hanging at the age of thirteen in November 1676, followed by Lisbeth Carlsdotter and the maids of Myra on December 20, 1676.

[muscledemon666]

LET ME DO THY WILL SATAN!

Satan there is only you in the silence of my night. I know no other God, Hold no other Faith, Dream no other Dream. I call your name from the Highest Mountain so that all might know my allegiance lies only in you. You are my reason for living and the completed vision of my loins. Dwell within me Satan cradling me, and you never ending lust and darkness. These words are never ending as will be your Triumphant Reign. Fill my Sacs now that they’re seed might cleanse the world. We are one in Satan because Satan is in all of us. Let these arrows of my tongue pierce your enemies souls as our shafts rise in Victory! ( TELEGRAM: @darkdemondar666 ) share this message with all you know!

[anamelessfool]

Chapter 25: Get Together (link)

Ao3 Link 18+ MDNI (Whole Fic Here)

Young Primo x OC Papessa, Primo &"Emeritus" Family Tags: 1970s, Satanic Panic, Dark Magic, Bodyguard/Musician Romance, Noir Mystery, Assassins, NonVerbal Ghouls, Nameless Ghouls OC, Dark Secrets, flashbacks, Copia's Origin Story, Mysteries revealed

Primo just needed time and a brush with death. But he felt ready. He felt ready to love her again. He guided her into a chaste kiss and the feelings returned, flooding his body and feeding his heart.

The aftermath of Primo's confrontation with Psaltarian leads to some further surprising revelations. The Nameless Ghouls prepare for their triumphant return to the stage.

Art by @kabukiaku | I also have my own art at the end of this chapter! Thanks for the support we loves a gewd reblog round here <3<3

[ramblingoak]

Tell Him

Mushy May in Lucifer's Hollow: Day 12 - First Time

Secondo x Dewdrop

This fic is set in an alternate universe in a town called Lucifer's Hollow. It's sort of like a Satanic version of a Hallmark town. For Mushy May I'll be using the prompts to post little snippets of life for the humans and ghouls that live there 💙 Thank you to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together!

~ In Lucifer's Hollow Secondo is the Fire Chief and Dewdrop teaches art at the high school. ~

Warnings: this ended up being the first time Secondo says a few certain words so there's angst and love confessions and then some smut at the end...anal sex, fingering, a bit of cum play and a dash of size kink, nsfw, 18+ only mdni, 2,600 words (thank you to @ghuleh-recs for the dividers!)

It had been a long time since Secondo had tried to woo anyone.

For one thing, he barely had time for himself let alone a partner.  Lucifer’s Hollow might be a small town but it was big enough to keep him busy as the Fire Chief.  A day could include anything from your typical accident to a fire ghoul kit still getting the hang of their element.  He always did his best to keep his crew and his hometown safe but sometimes that meant sacrificing the free time he had.  The free time he could use to focus on someone else.

Dewdrop was the one to make him change his ways.

From the moment he had met the little fire ghoul, his fuocolino, Secondo knew he was worth it.  Worth rushing through his paperwork at the end of his shift, worth taking a little extra care of himself on calls and worth the grief he got from his brothers whenever he skipped their weekly game nights.  He would do all of that and more for Dewdrop, anything to show him how much he meant to him. 

“You should tell him.”  

“Tell who what?”  Secondo squinted at his computer screen as he checked over his supply order.  “Get your feet off my desk.”

“Dewdrop.”  Terzo leaned back in his chair, the legs creaking as he balanced it on two legs.  His expensive Italian shoes knocked into a framed picture on Secondo’s desk earning the younger man a glare.  “You should tell him how you feel.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Bugiardo.”

“Fine.  Even if I did feel a particular way about him it’s none of your business.”  Liar?  Terzo was lucky Secondo had tweaked his back earlier that morning otherwise his little brother would be laid out on the floor.  “Put your fucking feet down.”

Terzo ignored him, instead knocked his shoe against the frame again.

“Whose picture is in this?”  The longer Secondo remained silent the bigger Terzo’s smile got.  “Why do I have the feeling it’s not one of your brothers?”

“Another thing that’s none of your business.”  When Terzo tapped the frame and started to turn it towards him he leveled a glare on his little brother that would have made anyone else run.  “If you have even an ounce of self preservation you will stop.”

“Oh fratello, sometimes I feel like you don’t know me at all.”  In a flash Terzo knocked the picture frame off his desk.  Secondo was out of his chair before the front legs of Terzo’s hit the floor but he was still too late to stop him from grabbing the frame off the ground and holding it up with a triumphant shout.  “Ah ha!  What a lovely couple you two ma–cazzo!”

He winced at the sound the glass in the frame made when it hit the tile after slapping it out of Terzo’s hands.  His arms were soon full of the mayor of Lucifer’s Hollow, easily dragging him from his office and out into the hallway.  He nodded at Cirrus when the pair passed her, ignoring her laughter as she followed them until they got to the large open garage door of the station.  With a shove far more gentle then he felt Terzo deserved he left him out in the driveway cursing up a storm.

After directing Aether to call Special to come pick up his boss, Secondo made his way back to his office.  With the door safely closed and locked behind him he stepped over to the frame, slowly kneeling down to pick it up.  His back protested the entire time, each twinge of pain telling him his night would now involve little more than pain killers and his heat pad.

He sighed when he turned it over, pieces of glass left behind on the floor.  Tomorrow he’d have to stop by GraveYarns for a new frame.  Secondo shook the rest of the glass out and then popped the back open so he could remove the picture.  It was a recent one, taken at this year’s high school graduation.  Primo had asked him to make the commencement speech so he had been decked out in his dress uniform.  He had even worn the old Papal face paint his family used to wear in past generations.

The same paint that Secondo knew was smeared onto his fuocolino’s skin under the clothes he was wearing in the picture.  Black mouth prints from his neck to his nipples and down his stomach to his cock.  He loved worshipping Dewdrop, loved tasting his skin that was always warm and smelled slightly of smoke.  Loved getting him to make noises, everything from breathy gasps to desperate moans.  And he loved taking care of him when they were done, cleaning him and holding him for as long as Dewdrop would let him.

Terzo was right.

Fuck.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“I told you, my ba–”

“Yeah, yeah I know old man.  You fucked your back up playing hero.”  

Secondo chose to ignore the ‘old man’ comment and remain silent.  Ever since his revelation in his office earlier that day he had been biting his tongue, afraid that he’d confess his feelings as soon as he opened his mouth.  It’s not that he didn’t want to tell Dewdrop, it was more he would much rather say it when he felt more confident his feelings were returned.  

It would hurt too much otherwise.

“I wasn’t playing hero.”  He spoke slowly, trying to choose his words carefully.  “I was just doing my job.”

“Well what the hell are the others there for?  Stand around and flirt with teachers?  That seems to be a skill firefighters excel at.”  Secondo grunted when Dewdrop pressed a little too hard on his back.  “Or maybe it’s just the Emeritus family.”

“A little of both perhaps.”  He should just tell him.  “I’m the best at it, of course.”

“Maybe not the best at it but you certainly have the best taste.  Now hold still so I can finish rubbing this in.”

“Is it supposed to smell like that?”  Just tell him.  “It smells like toothpaste.”

“Do you want to call Primo and complain about the smell?  Or should I?”

“Nevermind.”  Tell him.  “The smell is fine.”

“How does it feel though?  Is it helping?”

“Did I say it wasn’t?”  Say it.  “It’s fine.”

“Don’t get bitchy with me, I’m just trying to help you.”

“I wasn't, I just don’t need all these damned questions.”  Tell.  Him.  “Leave it.”

“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I’m supposed to shut the fuck up while I’m spending my evening helping my boyfriend.”  

Dewdrop growled as he moved off the bed, slamming the little jar of salve onto the nightstand.  Secondo could hear his tail swish back and forth through the air like it always did when the ghoul was angry.  He gritted his teeth as he rolled over, wanting to face him but also afraid to look.  There was no anger on his face though, instead he looked almost sad and it made Secondo’s heart clench.

“Fuocolino…”  Tell him.  “Mi disp–”

“No, don’t try to sweet talk me.”

“I was trying to apologize.”  Right now.  “If you’d just give me a moment.”

“Ok, fine.”  Dewdrop crossed his arms, glaring down at Secondo.  When the room remained quiet he quickly threw up his arms.  “I’m waiting!”

“I wanted to tell you…merda.”  

Fucking say it!

“Unbelievable.  And people say I’m emotionally constipated.”

“I am glad you’re here, I’m thankful that you’re here!”

And I love you.

“Why was that so fucking hard to say?”

“It wasn’t fuocolino, there's just something else I’d rather say.”

I love you so much.

“Then say it.”  Secondo could hear the worry creeping into Dewdrop’s voice.  The same tone he’d heard the few times he had to call him and tell him he’d been injured.  “Do you want to break up?”

“Che cosa?  No!”  I never want you to go.  “Why would you think that?”

“Because you’ve been short with me all night, like you don’t want to talk.  And then you say you need to tell me something but you can’t spit the fucking words out.  What the hell am I supposed to think?”

“I don’t want to break up with you.”

Ever.

“Then what the fuck is going on?!”

“I love you.”

The room was dead silent after those words left Secondo’s mouth.  Dewdrop’s tail was still and neither one of them seemed to breathe.  He was pretty sure his heart had even stopped, like it was waiting to see if it should bother beating again.  Fear started to grip him the longer Dewdrop stayed silent and he began thinking of something to say, anything to say to try and ease the hurt of the rejection he feared was coming.

“What did you say?”

With the smallest tendril of hope tingling in his chest Secondo tried to move closer to the other side of the bed.

“Fuocolino, I love you.”  He hissed when his back protested what he was doing but he was desperate to be near Dewdrop.  “Ti amo.”

Dewdrop immediately turned towards the nightstand and Secondo couldn’t breathe again.  He gasped in pain when he moved too much, falling onto his back and blinking up at the ceiling while spots danced in his vision.  It was probably a few minutes before he was able to collect himself but when he did it was to angry murmurs from the ghoul practically petting his chest.

“...I swear to Lucifer if you die on me right now I will go to Hell myself and drag your ass back here.  Satan’s dick what did Primo put in this fucking salve?!”

“Dewdrop, fuocolino, fermare.  Stop.”  The frantic touching ended but Dewdrop kept his hand over Secondo’s heart, needing to feel the reassurance of the steady beating.  He brought his own hand up to cover it, entwining their fingers together and squeezing Dewrdop’s hand tightly.  “I’m alright.”

“Say it again.”

“I’m alri–”

“Not that you stupid asshole.”

“I love you.”

“Again.”

Secondo smiled, slipping his other hand up Dewdrop’s back and burying his fingers in his long hair.  With a few gentle tugs he got him to lower his face down so he could press their lips together.  It was a relatively chaste kiss, for them at least.  Dewdrop sucking on his tongue when he pressed it inside.  He ended the kiss sooner than he wanted but his back was still screaming at him so he was in no condition to let the kissing go any further.  

Dewdrop’s amber eyes were bright in the dim light of the room, staring unwaveringly into his own.  He couldn’t tell what the ghoul was thinking but the fact that he was still here, still clinging to him gave him hope.  

“I love you.”  The admission earned him a quick and dirty kiss before Dewdrop pulled away again.  Secondo watched him nibble at his bottom lip for a moment before he spoke.  “What is it?”

“Nothing.  I’m just thinking.”

“About what, fuocolino?”

“I was trying to decide if riding you would break your spine in half or not.”  There was humor in the ghoul’s eyes but Secondo could also see the tell tale signs of lust there.  “Maybe Primo has a salve for that.”

“Worth the risk.”

He attempted to bring Dewdrop’s mouth down to his again but the ghoul resisted.  Secondo just wanted to kiss him, even if it hurt at least the pain would distract him from the fact that Dewdrop hadn’t said those words back to him.  He knew enough of Dewdrop’s past to know those words would be hard for the ghoul to say.  And even if he never said them it wouldn’t change how Secondo felt.

“Wait, there was one more thing.”  Secondo let the hope build again as he watched his ghoul, his little flame take a deep breath.  “I love you too, old man.”

Everything was different now.

The words he had barely spoken to even family came easily to him.  Words he said every morning as he kissed Dewdrop awake.  Words he said throughout the day when the moment felt right.  And words he said at night, especially when he was buried inside of him like he was now.  His cock pulsed along with the beat of his heart as he ground his hips against Dewdrop’s.

“Ti amo.”

Italiano always felt more right in these moments, when their sweat was mingling on each other’s skin.  When they both sported marks from teeth and nails and claws.  Dewdrop was warm, he was so warm inside and out.  Even in the coldest days of winter when the old furnace in his house struggled to keep up.  And Secondo craved that warmth, he craved being surrounded by it.  He always longed to sink his cock into Dewdrop and feel him shake and shudder around him.

Sometimes Dewdrop struggled to say the words back but Secondo knew they were there.  He could see it in those amber eyes and he could feel it in every touch.  But tonight the words came out and Secondo swore he could see them ripple through the air between them.

“I love you.”  

Hearing them had Secondo moving again, practically folding the slender ghoul in half while he pushed in as deep as he could go.  He swore he could see himself moving there and he laid a hand on Dewdrop’s belly, wanting to feel it.  Wanting to feel it inside and out while he thrust his cock into him. 

There were no more words spoken.  Only the wet sounds of Secondo’s thrusts and both of their desperate moans filling the room.  It was possible Dewdrop muttered something in Ghoulish but the blood rushing in his head was too loud for Secondo to tell.  When the ghoul’s claws dug into his forearms he knew Dewdrop was close.  He picked up the pace, reveling in the sounds he was making underneath him.  The sounds he was looking forward to hearing for the rest of his life.

It was almost painful when he came, filling Dewdrop for the second time that night.  His ghoul came soon after, his cock spilling more cum all over his stomach and chest.  Secondo rubbed his hand through it and then brought it up to his mouth, dragging his tongue through the mess and managing a dirty laugh when Dewdrop made a wounded noise.

He stayed inside of him as long as he could but as he gently lowered Dewdrop’s legs he pulled out, his cock soft and covered in lube and cum.  Secondo rubbed at his stomach again while he watched his hole pulse, disappointed to see his cum dribbling out.  He used two fingers to press it back inside, groaning along with his ghoul as he did so.  Eventually Dewdrop’s tail came up and tugged at his wrist so he stopped, bringing his fingers up to his mouth to clean them off.

Secondo loved his fuocolino so much.  The way he tasted and smelled.  The noises he made when they were together like this.  But it was also so much more than that.  It was the little pictures Dewdrop would draw and sneak into his pants pocket before he left for work.  The proud texts he would get during the day of him showing off his students’ artwork.  He loved Dewdrop more than he could ever describe.

But he would spend the rest of his life trying. 

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More fics in the Tales From Lucifer's Hollow masterpost

[lostinthesasuke]

I just saw your Sasuke as Joan of Arc art and first of all I LOVE IT second of all I think it gave me a new kind of brain worms. Begging you to elaborate on what you mean by Sasuke would understand how Joan of arc felt, please I feel insane.

first of all thank you so much, that means a lot to me. <3

second of all, not sure if you know the can of (brain)worms u just opened. this is long so buckle up.

joan of arc was born into a century long war between france and england, and saw her home destroyed.

sasuke was born into a military state where children are primed to be perfect soldiers the moment they are old enough to hold a kunai. the state groomed his brother into a murderer, stripped his home and family from him.

throughout her life, joan of arc saw visions of saint michael, telling her she would be the one to lead france to salvation. joan vowed to avenge her country, and petitioned the king. at seventeen, joan was sent to war. at seventeen, she was victorious. when france was triumphant, she was beloved. when the tide of battle turned, she was blamed. she was burned at the stake.

sasuke was plagued by visions too, images of his family eviscerated at the hands of the most important person in his world. burned into his eyes like a brand, forced to watch on repeat.

with that, he resolved to wage his own war.

joan, who was once revered as a pure maiden and was made a symbol rather than a girl, became despised; villainized, and accused of demonic possession.

sasuke was made a symbol, too. the last of his clan, a powerful asset. an uchiha, a holder of a desired kekkei genkai, not a boy. he fled. like joan, he sought a powerful entity to gain strength, to forge his path in battle.

at seventeen, he learned the truth about his clan's state-sanctioned genocide. at seventeen, they called for his execution, too. discarded once he no longer served konoha's purpose, had abandoned the so-called 'will of fire'. the illustrious uchiha name tainted by blood, by a farcical "curse".

his opponent used the very power stolen from his kin, their doujutsu embedded in his arms. joan's detractors still benefited from her name long after her demise, too.

joan's emergence was prophesied, a legend of a virgin who would bring peace to france and end the war.

a virgin, pure. 

sasuke's ideological purity is a topic that has been debated at length by both his supporters and critics, both in the text and real life (and kishimoto himself.)

sasuke's "purity" and the morality of his actions are always under scrutiny. which follows since his clan name has been "dirtied". 

joan was also forced to defend her purity. a maiden and a virgin, she was put on trial for her supposed lack of virtue with her life hanging on the verdict. they labeled her a heretic crossdresser perverted by satan because she kept her hair cropped short and wore only men's clothing. they killed her for it.

sasuke and joan both blur the lines of gender. sasuke is portrayed as a heroine and a femme fatale, and objectified for his looks and his body (whether for power or other nefarious reasons). he is more scantily clad than any of the women characters, and cast in a lascivious light.

joan rebuffed suitors and refused marriage all her life. similarly, sasuke rejected all advances from women throughout the manga (post 700 doesn't exist to me) despite the intensity with which he was pursued.

joan's righteous fury at the british, at the wars that claimed her childhood, are all reflected in sasuke's motivations. in his quest for justice, in his resolution to bring peace to a war torn world, to make those in power pay for the suffering that they are complicit in and dismantle the very framework that allows it.

at seventeen, sasuke decided to become a martyr for the world's hatred. he decided he would be the one to shoulder it all, to purify the world of conflict by taking all of the animosity onto himself. like joan who believed she was sent by g-d to end war, sasuke resolved to become a savior.

a martyr like joan (like itachi), whose guilty verdict was only overturned long after her death. who was canonized as a saint long after mobs raged against her. who became a symbol of freedom and revolution enduring hundreds of years, her name a rallying cry despite the vitriol that claimed her life. 

sometimes when you're seventeen, the voices in your head tell you to start a revolution. sometimes, they're right. sometimes the institutions upheld by those in power need to be cleansed by holy fire, and maybe sometimes something better can rise from the ashes.

[shebeafancyflapjack]

Favorite Mary scenes? I feel she doesn't get enough love! :)

SHE'S MY FAV (after Robin)!

- "Move over you soppy bit of rag!"

- "RENOUNCE SATAN, WITCH!....Yeah, yeah, that's probably done it."

- "Be there a third option?"

- "YEEEEES!"

- EVERY Mary and Kitty scene! Y'all can all go feral over Cap and Kitty, I love the girls together, I love Mary supporting Kitty standing up to Cap, I love them cuddling in the Christmas ep, I love their little inventory rhyme, I love how they're always cooing over stuff together, I love them playing hide and seek, I love Mary putting her to bed at the party, I just love them so much!

- Likewise, her and Robin's queerplatonic romance is as special as chess husbands to me, if not more. They are trauma bonded chaos gremlins who are down for murder and watching Loose Women, Robin misses his lawyer!

- "They sounds like tiny peoples. Blipblipblip!"

- "Someone here has done nothing wrong!" *walks out singing triumphant*

- "YOU LISTEN TO ME, AL'SON COOPERS!" Scary Smoke Goddess Mary ftw.

- "Aww, the child still lives. Most surprising that!"

- Her joining in the big fight and headbutting Cap as soon as she has an excuse! She's been waiting a while to beat these boys up!

- Her growth from calling a video camera a metal cow to being a director understanding editing!

- How proud she is of Alison for speaking as she wanted to scare the cult people away!

- All her improv but of course her kicking off the dinner scene "yes and", encouraging Robin to try it again - for Alison this time.

- And of course her and Annie! Not enough fics of them, when you know if they were two dudes the fandom would be all over them. Their little wave when they first meet is total Meet Cute. Mary's happiest memory is with Annie. They are wives, your honour.

Could name any scene she's in really, miss her so, can't believe we couldn't get Katy to cameo in the finale, Mary deserved more than a single name drop.

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

𝔇𝔦𝔪𝔪𝔲 𝔅𝔬𝔯𝔤𝔦𝔯 - 𝔓𝔯𝔲𝔡𝔢𝔫𝔠𝔢'𝔰 𝔉𝔞𝔩𝔩

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

15th September >> Fr. Martin's Homilies/Reflections on Today's Mass Readings for The Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) (Inc. John 8:27-35): ‘Who do you say I am?’

Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Gospel (Except USA) Mark 8:27-35 The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously.

Jesus and his disciples left for the villages round Caesarea Philippi. On the way he put this question to his disciples, ‘Who do people say I am?’ And they told him. ‘John the Baptist,’ they said ‘others Elijah; others again, one of the prophets.’ ‘But you,’ he asked ‘who do you say I am?’ Peter spoke up and said to him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone about him. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and to be put to death, and after three days to rise again; and he said all this quite openly. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. But, turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s.’ He called the people and his disciples to him and said, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.’

Gospel (USA) Mark 8:27–35 You are the Christ.…the Son of Man must suffer greatly.

Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages of Caesarea Philippi. Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Christ.” Then he warned them not to tell anyone about him. He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and rise after three days. He spoke this openly. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. At this he turned around and, looking at his disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.”

Homilies (6)

(i) Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We have all had to answer questions in the course of our lives. Some questions can be answered easily and quickly, without too much consideration. Other questions require us to reflect carefully before we give an answer. Then, there are other questions that people have kept returning to over the centuries, without getting a full answer. These questions continue to call out to us and move us to keep reflecting.

The first question that Jesus asked his disciples in today’s gospel reading was easy to answer. ‘Who do people say I am?’ The disciples knew what people were saying about Jesus; he was John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the prophets. The second question Jesus asked required more thought, ‘But you, who do you say I am?’ Peter answered Jesus’ question on behalf of the other disciples, ‘You are the Christ’, the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. Jesus did not dispute this title, but it was an ambiguous title that had different meanings for different people. When Jesus went on to speak of himself as the Son of Man who was destined to suffer grievously and who would soon be put to death. Peter’s very negative reaction to what Jesus said showed that this wasn’t the kind of Messiah he had in mind. Peter was thinking of a glorious, triumphant, Messiah. Jesus’ subsequent rebuke of Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan!’, must have shaken Peter to the core. Peter wanted Jesus to be spared suffering and Jesus probably wanted to be spared suffering too, which is why he experienced Peter’s negative reaction as a strong temptation that he had to firmly reject. Jesus knew that if was to be true to his mission to reveal God’s love for all, he would have to travel the way of the cross. Peter had a lot to learn about who Jesus really was.

The question Jesus put to his disciples is addressed to us all, ‘Who do you say I am?’ It is one of those questions we never answer fully in this life. When it comes to Jesus we always have more to learn, more to see, and that will be so until that eternal moment beyond this earthly life when we will see him face to face, and we will know him as fully as he now knows us. It is clear from Jesus’ rebuke to Peter that if we are to really know who Jesus is we have to look upon the suffering Son of Man. When we look upon Jesus on the cross, what do we see? We see someone whose loving commitment to God and to all humanity was so complete that he was prepared to lose everything for it. We see someone who stood ready to lose his life for our sake and for the sake of the gospel that he preached. Some years ago, there was a book written by an Irish Benedictine monk called, ‘This Tremendous Lover’. It is above all on the cross that Jesus reveals himself to be a tremendous lover, someone who loves us with a love that is faithful even when we fail him, a love that endures to the end and beyond into eternity. As Jesus hung from the cross there was an explosion of God’s love for all humanity, for each one of us. We can each say with Saint Paul in his letter to the Galatians, ‘I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me’. When Peter rebuked Jesus for suggesting that he would be a suffering Messiah, he hadn’t yet understood the depth of Jesus’ love for him and for all. Genuine human love has the power to draw us in. Jesus once said, ‘When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself’. We are drawn to Jesus on the cross not because we are fascinated by suffering but because we sense the power of God’s love drawing us. Saint Paul once wrote of Christ crucified as ‘the power of God and the wisdom of God’.

In the gospel reading, Jesus goes on to say, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let them renounce themselves, take up their cross and follow me’. Jesus wasn’t talking about passively accepting the sufferings and losses that come our way in life. He was calling on us to commit ourselves in love to him and to each other, just as he has committed himself in love to us, and to be true to that loving commitment even though it may mean the way of the cross, a dying to ourselves. It is a call to be his faithful disciple just as he has shown himself to be our faithful Shepherd. He is calling on us to keep choosing to serve him in love by our loving service of others, especially those in greatest need, as James in the second reading reminds us. This will often mean denying ourselves and taking up the cross, in the sense of saying ‘no’ to our natural love of ease, comfort and convenience. Yet, this is the way of Jesus and he promises us that if we follow in his way we will save our lives. We will be fully alive in the here and now and we will inherit the fullness of life beyond death.

And/Or

(ii) Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We are familiar with the saying that ‘actions speak louder than words’. What people do is more revealing of who they are than what they say. If people say one thing and do another, it is what they do that ultimately shapes our perception of them. St James in the second reading expresses his conviction that our relationship with God is revealed much more by how we behave than by what we say. He is rather dismissive of those who say ‘I have faith’ and yet, as he puts it, have ‘never done a single good act’. James implies that if our relationship with the Lord, our faith, is worth anything, it has to find expression in the ways we relate to others, especially to those who are in greater need than ourselves.

Jesus would not have disagreed with James in this regard. He was critical of those who say ‘Lord, Lord’ and, yet, do not do the will of his heavenly Father. He once spoke a parable in which the son who told his father that he would not go into the vineyard to work, but subsequently changed his mind and went, is to be preferred to the son who told his father that he would go into the vineyard, but subsequently did not do so. When it comes to our relationship with the Lord, actions do speak louder than words.

Yet, today’s gospel reading suggests that for Jesus, words and what we mean by them are important in assessing the quality of our relationship with God. When Jesus asked his disciples ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Peter spoke up on behalf of them all and declared, ‘You are the Messiah’. At one level, these words of Peter were perfectly acceptable. Jesus was the long-awaited Jewish Messiah. Yet, at another level, what Peter meant by these words, how Peter was thinking, was completely at odds with how Jesus was thinking. When Jesus went on to reveal that as Messiah he would also be the suffering and rejected Son of Man, Peter rebuked him. This was not the kind of Messiah Peter had in mind at all. He clearly did not see himself as the follower of a crucified Messiah. Peter’s rebuke of Jesus earned Peter an even stronger rebuke from Jesus, ‘Get behind me, Satan! Because the way you think is not God’s way but man’s’. Jesus was very critical of the way Peter was thinking, Peter’s mindset – a mindset that revealed itself in what Peter said and would subsequently reveal itself in what Peter and the other disciples did, when they took flight at the time of Jesus’ passion.

Today’s gospel reading suggests that Jesus was very interested in the mindset that was at the root of how people both spoke and acted. He wanted his followers to have God’s mindset on things, God’s perspective. That is why Jesus invested a lot of time and energy in teaching his disciples. In his teaching he was trying to communicate his own mindset and perspective to his disciples, so that his mindset would become theirs as well. In today’s gospel reading Jesus teaches that remaining true to God’s calling and getting involved in God’s work will often mean travelling the way of the cross. He was teaching his followers that they must be ready to choose that way, if remaining faithful to God’s values, as Jesus reveals them, requires it. Faced with such teaching, Jesus’ disciples showed themselves to be reluctant learners. They resisted his teaching; Jesus struggled to shift their very human way of thinking.

If today’s second reading declares that how we act is more significant than how we speak, in revealing our relationship with God, the gospel reading suggests that more important than both is how we think. Our way of thinking about God, our understanding of God, will invariably influence what we say and what we do. A distorted understanding of God can do great damage, as we know.

Thinking correctly about God has always been a value within Christianity from the beginning. We are encouraged to bring our minds to bear on who God is, who Jesus is, on what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Our faith must always be a faith that seeks understanding. When it comes to God and God’s Son all of us remain learners, including those who have the ministry of teaching within the church. This kind of learning is not just a human endeavour; it has to be a graced endeavour. Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians: ‘No one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God… we have received the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God’. We need the light of the Holy Spirit if we are to think in God’s way and, out of that, to speak and act in God’s way.

In today’s gospel reading, Jesus calls on Peter and the other disciples to change their way of thinking. That change Jesus called for was a long time in coming, according to Mark’s gospel. Jesus’ efforts to teach his disciples continued to meet with resistance. Yet, he persevered with them. We too can be slow learners when it comes to the things of God. Yet, the Lord perseveres with us; he remains our teacher; he continues to give us the Spirit of Truth who will lead us into the complete truth. What he looks for from us is the openness to being led.

And/Or

(iii) Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

We are aware from our own experience just how difficult it is to really know someone. Even those who have been sharing each other’s lives for many years don’t necessarily know each other fully. We can struggle to know ourselves fully, never mind knowing someone else. Even when we know ourselves well, revealing ourselves to others, does not always come easy to us.  It can be a struggle to reveal ourselves even to those who are closest to us. There is a lot of talk today about transparency. However, no human being will ever be fully transparent to another human being.

When Jesus asked his disciples the question, ‘Who do people say I am?’ he was checking to see how well people had come to know him. The answers that he received suggested that people had some insight into who he was, although a rather limited one. Jesus was neither Elijah, nor John the Baptist nor one of the prophets, although he had something in common with all of them. Jesus then went on to ask a more probing question of his disciples, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Jesus would have expected that his own disciples would have had a fuller insight into his identity. Jesus had chosen them to be with him; they had seen and heard a lot of him. Jesus’ expectations were, initially, not disappointed. Peter gave a more satisfactory answer to the question of Jesus’ identity than people at large were giving, ‘You are the Christ, the Messiah’. Peter was right. Jesus was the long awaited Jewish Messiah.

However, it soon became clear that Peter did not in fact know Jesus very well. If we struggle to know those closest to us and, even, to know ourselves, it is not surprising that people struggled, and continue to struggle, to know Jesus. If there is more to each of us than meets the eye or ear, there was certainly more to Jesus than met the eye or ear. The question that Jesus addressed to his disciples, ‘Who do you say I am?’ is addressed to all of us. We would probably all give somewhat different answers to that question, but one thing is certain, none of the answers would be completely adequate. If coming to know someone close to us is an adventure, a journey with many twists and turns, coming to know the Lord is an even greater adventure and an even longer journey. It is an adventure worth heading into, a journey worth taking on. An important part of our baptismal calling is to come to know the Lord with our head and with our heart. Jesus has revealed himself to us, and continues to reveal himself to us in and through the Holy Spirit. Of course, we will only know the Lord fully when we see him face to face. He will always remain something of a mystery to us on this side of eternity.

This morning’s gospel reading shows that, even though Peter showed some insight into Jesus at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus remained a mystery to Peter. Yes, Peter knew that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, but he had no idea about the kind of Messiah that Jesus would become. Immediately after Peter’s moment of insight into Jesus, Jesus went on to reveal a little more about himself. He spoke of himself as the Son of Man who was destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the religious leaders of the time, and to be put to death. This was not the kind of Messiah Peter had in mind, and so he took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him. Peter had his own image of Jesus and what Jesus was saying did not fit that image. Peter’s reaction to Jesus is not unlike how we react to each other. We can have a certain image of people, and we expect them to fit that image. When they show themselves to be more mysterious, more complex, than our image of them, we can be slow to accept them. Peter struggled to accept a Messiah who had to travel the way of the cross. Perhaps he understood that following such a Messiah would mean that he himself would have to travel that same way of the cross. However, Jesus cannot be fully understood apart from the cross. His death reveals who he is more fully even that his life. His death reveals Jesus to be someone who was totally faithful to God and to all God’s people; it is above all his death that reveals the quality of Jesus’ love for God and for all of us. It is not surprising then that the cross has become the dominant symbol of Christianity.

Because Jesus had to travel the way of the cross, he calls on us, his followers, to take up our cross after him. Taking up our cross is not passively accepting every misfortune that comes our way. The language of ‘taking up our cross’ suggests freely choosing the cross. Following Jesus, remaining faithful to him and to his values, will always mean freely choosing the more loving path for his sake. The more loving path will often be the more difficult path, the way of the cross, but it will also be the path of life, both for us and for others.

And/Or

(iv) Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I think we would all agree that it is never easy to get to know someone really well. A husband and wife who have lived together for many years probably know each other really well. They have come to know each other’s qualities and limitations and have learnt to accept one another. Likewise, two people who have been friends for years will have come to know one another really well. They will have come to some measure of mutual acceptance and appreciation. The number of people we could claim to know really well in life is probably quite small. Even those we know well can continue to surprise us. We can discover a side to them that we never noticed before. We can suddenly be reminded of the extraordinary mystery of the other person, struck by the otherness of the person whom we have come to know and love. We realize more clearly that the other person is different to me and will always remain a mystery to me, even though I know them as well as I know anyone.

If we were to ask someone who really knew us, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ and then asked that person to write a couple of paragraphs answering that question, we would certainly recognize ourselves in what they would write. Yet, it is likely that we would also recognize that there are sides to us that are not present in the description. There is always so much more to us than someone’s account of us, even the account of someone who knows us deeply. In the gospel reading this morning Jesus asks his disciples two questions. The first was, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ The answers the disciples gave were fine in so far as they went, ‘John the Baptist, Elijah, one of the prophets’. Jesus was a prophetic figure who proclaimed God’s word. Yet, to say that Jesus was a great prophet, which is what Moslems say of Jesus, does not go far enough. Jesus then asked his disciples the more probing question, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Peter’s answer went beyond the answers that other people had given, ‘You are the Christ, the Messiah’. Peter was saying to Jesus, ‘you are the Jewish Messiah, the one we have been waiting for, the one whose coming the prophets foretold’.  Yet, in spite of the very good answer that Peter gave to Jesus’ question, he really did not know Jesus at all. The term ‘Messiah’ meant different things to different people. Probably Peter thought of a Messiah in the tradition of king David who had established a kingdom, having defeated all Israel’s enemies. Jesus would do the same, driving the Roman occupying power from the land. This was not the kind of Messiah Jesus understood himself to be. At this point in this ministry he understood that far from leading a movement to drive out the Romans, he would end up on a Roman cross, crucified like a common criminal. Faithfulness to his mission would cost him his life. When Jesus began to articulate this reality Peter rebuked Jesus. This was not Peter’s idea of a Messiah. Peter could not accept the otherness of Jesus, the mystery of Jesus’ identity. Peter was comfortable telling Jesus who he was, but when Jesus began to reveal who he really was and what that entailed Peter became distinctly uncomfortable.

We probably all find it easier telling people who they are than listening to people tell us who they really are. In particular, we can struggle to hear the story of someone’s brokenness, especially if our picture of them has been one that doesn’t allow for that. Peter wasn’t able to hear Jesus talking about himself as a broken, failed, rejected Messiah. It was really only after the resurrection that Peter and the disciples were able to come to terms with such brokenness, such failure. It can be a struggle for us to accept failure and brokenness in others and also to accept our own brokenness. Jesus could accept his own failure, his own brokenness, because he trusted in God as one who would make him whole. Because he could accept his own failure, his own brokenness, he was at home with the failure and brokenness of others. The broken, the failures of this world, flocked to him, and in his presence they came alive. We will more easily accept our own brokenness and failures if we know in our heart of hearts that we too can approach the Lord as one who can make us whole. The Eucharist has been described as bread broken for a broken people. The Lord who was broken on the cross for us is present in the Eucharist as our Life-Giver. We approach the Lord in the Eucharist in our own brokenness asking to be made whole, and asking also for the grace to be able to sit with others in their brokenness.

And/Or

(v) Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

It is central to our nature as human beings to ask questions. We ask questions about our world, about others, about ourselves, about God. A great deal of our lives is driven by the search to have our questions answered. It is often the case that the answer to a question generates a host of other questions, and so the search goes on. Some of our questions, those relating to the big mysteries of life, are not easily answered. We discover that we have to live with a lot of unanswered questions. We hope that in the glorious light of eternity all our questions will be finally answered. As Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, ‘Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known’.

Jesus asks many questions of others during his public ministry. Some of his questions are very probing, such as his opening question in the gospel of John, addressed to the disciples of John the Baptist, ‘What are you looking for?’ In today’s gospel reading, Jesus asks two questions of his disciples. The first question, ‘Who do people say I am?’ concerns other people’s views of him, which the disciples answer relatively easily. However, the second question is much more probing, ‘Who do you say that I am?’ It is one of those questions of Jesus that hangs in the air for all of us. Each one of us is asked to answer that question for ourselves. It is not just a question that is looking for information. It addresses our heart as well as our head. In asking, ‘Who do you say I am?’ Jesus is asking ‘Who am I for you?’ ‘What place do I have in your life?’ The answer Peter gave to Jesus’ question was factually correct, ‘you are the Christ’. However, Peter’s answer left open the further question of what kind of Christ Jesus would be. Jesus immediately began to give his own answer to that further, underlying, question. He went on to speak of himself as the Son of Man who would suffer grievously, who would be rejected by the religious authorities and be put to death by the Roman authorities, before rising to new life on the third day. This was Jesus’ own answer to the question he put to his disciples. It was an answer that was too painful for Peter to live with. He was much more comfortable telling Jesus who he thought he was, ‘You are the Christ’, than listening to Jesus telling him who he really was, a Christ who would be rejected and be put to death.

We can all find it easier telling people who we think they are than listening to them trying to tell us who they really are. In particular, we can struggle to hear the story of someone’s brokenness, especially when the person speaking matters a great deal to us and has become very significant for us. No one wants to see a friend or a loved one suffer. Peter had left everything to follow Jesus. He wasn’t able to hear Jesus talking about himself as a broken, failed, rejected Christ or Messiah. It was really only after the resurrection that Peter and the disciples were able to come to terms with Jesus’ ignominious death as a rebel king on a Roman cross. It can be a struggle for us to accept failure and brokenness in others. That may be because to struggle at times to accept our own brokenness and failures. Jesus could accept his own pending experience of rejection, failure and brokenness and he could talk about it to those closest to him, because he trusted that God his Father would make him whole again. He believed that out of his suffering and death God would bring new life for himself and for others. Because he could accept the painful reality of his own brokenness and suffering, he was at home with the suffering and brokenness of others. The broken, the rejected, the failures of this world, flocked to him, and, in his presence, they began to become whole again.

We will more easily accept our own brokenness and failures if we know in our heart of hearts that we too can approach the Lord as one who can make us whole, who can bring new life out of our various experiences of suffering and death. The Lord who was broken on the cross for us is present in the Eucharist as our healer and Life-Giver. The Eucharist has been described as bread broken for a broken people. We can approach the Lord in the Eucharist in our own brokenness asking to be made whole again. Strengthened by that encounter with the Lord of life, we are then sent from the Eucharist to bring something of his healing and life-giving presence to those who are broken in body, mind or spirit. This is the kind of active faith that James calls for in today’s second reading, a faith that expresses itself in loving deeds. When, at the end of the gospel reading, Jesus calls on his followers to renounce themselves, to lose their lives for his sake, he is asking us to enter into the spirit of his own self-emptying love which places the well-being of others before our own desires.

And/Or

(vi) Twenty Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

At least 33 Christians were killed in one week last July during attacks on Atyap villages in Northern Nigeria; four church buildings and 215 homes were burned. The Atyap people are a predominantly-Christian ethnic group. Local sources said Islamic Fulani militants attacked the villages unimpeded over several days. Observers have referred to it as a genocide on Christians. This is just one of many examples of the persecution of Christians throughout the world today.

We are reading from the gospel of Mark these Sundays. Those for whom the evangelist, Mark, was writing, were a persecuted minority living in a pagan society that considered the Christian movement a dangerous superstition. Mark’s gospel was probably written to the church in Rome around the year 70 AD. Many members of that church would have recently taken up their cross to follow Jesus. We know from Roman historians that the Emperor Nero had many Christians crucified after the great fire of Rome in the year 66 AD, because he blamed the fire on them. The first readers of Mark’s gospel knew from experience the truth of Jesus’ saying in today’s gospel reading, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mind, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me’. In the past we may have tended to hear those words of Jesus about taking up our cross and following him as a call to accept the crosses life sends us as the will of God. I was reading recently of a teacher who was giving a course on Mark’s gospel. When she came to these words of Jesus, one of her students said that she thought this was one of the most dangerous verses in the Bible. She described how a majority of the women with whom she worked in a shelter for battered women and children thought that by enduring every kind of suffering, including physical and verbal abuse, they were faithfully carrying their cross with Jesus. The teacher was appalled by this misunderstanding of ‘taking up the cross’, but came to realize it wasn’t  uncommon.

The life and message of Jesus calls on us to hunger and thirst for God’s justice, the coming of God’s kingdom, where everyone is treated with profound dignity and respect as beloved sons and daughters of God. We are to mourn with Jesus when those values of God’s kingdom are absent and the vulnerable suffer as a result. In the language of James in today’s second reading, our faith is to express itself in good works, works that transform unjust structures and broken lives for the better. Jesus calls on us to work together, in the power of his Spirit, to alleviate unjust and unnecessary suffering. He assures us that in working to improve the lives of the most vulnerable, we are serving him directly, ‘as long as you did it to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did to me’. In the parable of the unjust judge, the hero of the story is a widow who has suffered a great injustice but who tenaciously works away until she gets the justice that is due to her. She symbolizes those who hunger and thirst for what is right; she is the person we are all called to be.

The widow didn’t accept the suffering that was unjustly imposed on her but worked with great determination to be rid of it. In the gospel reading, Jesus doesn’t say, ‘if anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let them… accept their cross’. He says, rather, ‘let them take up their cross and follow me’. The language of ‘taking up’ suggests a very active and conscious decision to follow Jesus, even if that means having to travel the way of the cross. He knew that our faithfulness to him, to his values, will sometimes have negative consequences for us. Being his faithful disciple in the world will often be costly. In today’s gospel reading, Peter was very uncomfortable with Jesus speaking about himself as the Son of Man who would have to suffer grievously and be put to death; he took Jesus aside and rebuked him. When Peter’s following of Jesus proved costly to him, he publicly renounced Jesus to protect himself. In the gospel reading, Jesus calls on us to renounce ourselves rather than renounce him, ‘if anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let them renounce themselves…’ Jesus is asking us to voluntarily place our own faithfulness to him above everything else in life.  He is calling on us to be as faithful to him as he has been to us. He was faithful to us unto death. He remained faithful to his mission of revealing God’s unconditional love for all, even though he knew it would put him on a Roman cross. Our faithfulness to the Lord won’t normally have such negative consequences for us. Yet, the living out of our faith can prove costly in various ways. It will often mean saying ‘no’ to what seems to bring us immediate gain. However, Jesus promises us that if we remain faithful to him at such testing moments, we will save our lives, we will become more alive with his own risen life.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[brotherbeastus]

TWO FACE SINNER “SPIRITUAL NEMESIS” LYRIC VIDEO PLAYLIST 2024 𖤐 𖤐 𖤐

Playlist on YouTube:

‘INVOKING EVIL’ 4 mins

‘SATANIC ALTAR’ 6 mins

‘SERVANTS OF BLIND FAITH’ 4 mins

‘gOD OF THE MASSES’ 3 min

‘TRIUMPHANT SATAN’ 4 min

‘CHANTS OF HATE’ 4 mins

“SPIRITUAL NEMESIS” at NON SERVIAM, BANDCAMP, and METAL ARCHIVES

[i-hold-horrors-hand]

Easter at the Ghurch

(related to this post)

Name: Ballo Dei Diavoli (Italian), Dance of the Devils (English).

Date: Easter Sunday.

Celebration: Of Death and Hell, and Faustian bargains.

Description: At unholy morning mass, Papa gives a sermon about the Resurrection of Christ and how important it is to be aware of the power their adversary has, while also celebrating making Faustian bargains in order to combat against God and Jesus.

Later, three people (typically Siblings) are selected to dress as Death (yellow dress, leather mask with demonic smile, crossbow or other weapon) and two Devils (red dresses and red devil masks). Throughout the day, Death (flanked by the Devils) selects random people to take to "hell" (a room), the selected people are escorted to "hell" (the room) by the Devils. Once in "hell" (the room), the selected people are able to symbolically buy their freedom back, in a Faustian deal.

In the evening, Death and the Devils perform a skit where they fight two (or three) angels and win, then perform a triumphant dance for the congregation in the evening ("Per Aspera Ad Inferi" is sung as a hymn).

After that, Papa gives a closing sermon about the eventual triumph of Satan over God.

[winterweary]

Barbatos 🌂

Okay so forgive me because all I could think of when I saw this was how much Barbatos probably enjoys the musical Singin' in the Rain. I feel like he secretly (not so secretly?) is a huge broadway/live theater fan. He certainly has memorized the main dance number.

So I'm using this as an excuse to do an entirely indulgent Bros + Extras HC post:

What is their favorite musical?

Lucifer: Les Misérables. Happy endings where? He appreciates the nuanced plot and relates to all the bullshit the leads have to deal with. He gets teary at the end but will never let a soul see. Except perhaps you. Perhaps.

Mammon: Newsies. A bunch of scrappy up start business boys coming together to demand some extra coin for their hard work? What’s not to like? I mean, if you asked him he’d deny enjoying musicals at all, but we’ve all heard him singing the lyrics under his breath.

Leviathan: Six. History but turned into an idol concert? His dream. For a period he got way into learning everything there was to know about Henry VIII’s six wives and he and Satan were insufferable, spouting facts to anyone who would listen.

Satan: Phantom of the Opera. A classic, and for a reason. He admires the impact it had on contemporary theater and he claims to relate to the Phantom…but you know better. Once he admitted to you that his real favorite was Wicked, and you suspect he sees himself in Elphaba more than he may be ready to admit.

Asmodeus: Chicago, of course. Razzle Dazzle? When You’re Good to Mama? CELL BLOCK TANGO? This is the most Asmo-coded musical to ever grace the stage. You know he’s just WAITING for the excuse to force his brothers to dress up and perform with him. He'd be satisfied if you'd settle for a private performance as well.

Beelzebub: Beel has a hard time with live theater, because it’s a long time to sit without any concessions to get him through. Watching a performance on TV or as a movie though he’s happy with. His personal favorite is Peter Pan. He likes the Lost Boys the best, a group of brothers all happy together (and Wendy too of course). Also, he knows it doesn't count...but that food scene in Hook? Nice.

Belphegor: Heathers. What can he say, he likes the bitchiness. Also he always thought J.D kinda had a point. He likes to imagine that he and Veronica blow up the school and run away together to live happily ever after in a sort of a twisted Bonnie and Clyde way. Anyway, how about those uniforms? Any chance of you wearing one of those sometime ha ha…?

Diavolo: The Lion King. Oh man oh man Diavolo loves The Lion King. Does he frequently tease Barbatos (and sometimes Lucifer) about being his Zazu? Absolutely. Was Nala his first not-so-secret crush? Oh yes. Does he wish he had a dad like Mufasa? …Well, let’s not worry about that. Diavolo loves every minute of the play, but he openly weeps at the end when Simba takes his place as king.

Barbatos: Singin’ in the Rain. The classic aesthetic, themes of struggling with adjustment in a changing world, a triumphant ending...it's a bit of an escapism pleasure for Barbatos. Not to mention, he's happy for any excuse to dress up and go out on the town with you on his arm.

Solomon: Moulin Rouge. Solomon is a romantic at heart, but he’s a romantic who knows that all too often, romances are tragedies wearing a mask. He enjoys indulging in the sweetness of the love story, the hopeful crescendo, before the fall into the reality of loss. He finds it depressing in a comforting way, like an old friend waving hello from across the street. As time with you goes on however, he finds it’s becoming harder to watch through to the end…Perhaps Beauty and the Beast is more to his new tastes?

Simeon: Waitress. Simeon, like Lucifer and Solomon, enjoys the bittersweetness. He likes that it doesn’t shy away from the messiness of human connection. As an angel, it’s fascinating, like a fruit he can never know the flavor of. However, unlike the other men, Simeon likes a happy ending, and the ending of Waitress makes him choke up for different reasons. If Luke asks, however, his favorite is Matilda.

Luke: Annie. Little kids being rascals and naughty with the sweetness of a tender adoption story? It makes him feel warm and fuzzy (and mischievous) every time. Knows all the words to every song though he won’t admit it in front of Mammon.

[tobiasdrake]

There are two reasons for why 2-6 is the strongest conclusion of the series. I'm going to talk about the second in a bit. But the first is the much more complex and personal nature of the dilemma faced by Hajime and the Remnants.

By putting us in Hajime's shoes over Makoto's, and by layering his situation with all the complexities that 2-6 brings out, the game manages to create a very complicated dilemma that muddies the question of what our protagonist should even do.

This is the game's ultimate expression of its central theme of sacrifice, which has been filtered through case after case after case. Here, at the 11th hour, Junko reveals the true nature of the choice that Makoto is urging Hajime to make.

If Junko wins, the world is fucked.

If Makoto wins, the Remnants are fucked. Especially Hajime.

This is well and truly a final exam for the rehabilitative journey that the Remnants have been on. One not about who they could become but rather about who they could have been, had they not been seduced into Junko's way of thinking.

The Remnants have been given a new lease on life. And now Makoto is asking for them to give it back. In a sense, he's asking them to die. To accept the dissolution of these new personas they've been allowed to make for themselves and to return to the ugly truth of who they've been.

This plays heavily on the interplay between hope and despair that the first game talked about. The way the two aren't opposites necessarily, but interconnected, weaving back and forth among one another. Ultimate Despair Junko Enoshima must be stopped in the name of Hope, but the very thing that Makoto's Hope would have the Remnants do is itself a source of profound Despair.

It backs us into a very hard corner where. Like. Fuck Junko. But also? Kinda... fuck Makoto too. Both of these options suck. It takes a huge leap of faith, not in Makoto or in Hope but in Hajime himself, to ultimately come forward and make the sacrifice that Makoto's asking for.

It is a masterful feat of writing that, after everything we already know about her, we can listen to Junko explain things to the Remnants and go, "You know? She's... she's actually making some good points. I kinda want to hear what Model Satan has to say."

DR1 did a pretty good job with the "Will you exit into an apocalyptic world and hope for the best or stay here and be comfortable?" option, but DR2's "Please let me strangle the good in you so that a greater evil doesn't escape with you," hits so much harder.

And that, in turn, makes Hajime's Super Saiyan 2 transformation when Chiaki teaches him to screw everyone and make his own future that much more triumphant.