#the lib and their very healthy coping mechanisms

[namearentfunfr]

wiggly who takes pleasure in people's suffering

wiggly who never cheers his own brothers up

wiggly who doesnt know how to be happy

wiggly who only knows how to make others feel worse

wiggly who thinks hes happy

webby who knows the truth

[identityonfilm]

Character analysis - Lucifer Morningstar

Staying true to my chosen topic, identity and the importance of representation on cinema and TV, I decided to analyse one of my favorite, most complex characters from TV. I went through this based on watching the episodes of the show, watching and reading interviews from the creators and the cast of the show, theories and also talking and debating with friends who have watched the show and can relate to him and his experiences, putting in evidence the importance of representation.

Being such a complex character that represents and normalizes a lot of stigma, he allows me to explore trauma, coping mechanisms, sexuality, mental illness and above all, identity.

Lucifer Morningstar is a character from the Lucifer TV show (originally from FOX and found a new family on Netflix after being canceled in 2018) based on the DC comics by the same name.

Lucifer is, quite obviously, the Devil. We’ve since our childhood been taught to think he’s terrible and to fear him, but that’s practically impossible with this fictional satan. If anything, he shows us the biggest, hardest path to redemption humanity could ever witness and that if he can, so can we.

Even though this Lucifer isn’t completely based of the Bible, his origins are. Lucifer Morningstar, born Samael, is the son of God and Goddess, the favorite son, the Poison of God, the Lightbringer. His task was to light up the stars. He and his siblings were neglected from a young age, since Dad was too busy with humanity and his only contact with his children was to command them. Our hero got enough of the neglect and, fascinated by the free will humanity possessed and angels lacked, started a rebellion against his own Father. In result, he got thrown out of Heaven and into Hell as his sentence, becoming its ruler. In the Underworld he created his own identity: Satan, the Devil, detaching himself from his angelic nature. From there, he commanded demons and gave out punishment to the most rotten, guilty souls that got into his realm. There, the demon Mazikeen became his friend and protector, until both of them left to Earth for a “vacation”.

Lucifers backstory is tragic and clearly traumatizing. The Lightbringer went from being the purest angel, God’s favorite son, to being the Devil, owning up to his original name’s meaning, the Poison of God. Lucifer became violent, impulsive, frustrated and, under his carefully crafted layers of confidence, a very insecure creature, full of self hatred. He’s an immensely relatable character to a lot of viewers, for a multitude of reasons. Along this post i will explore these topics.

 Daddy issues: The root of all of Morningstar’s issues is undoubtedly, God Himself. His own father, who’s supposed to love and protect His son, failed, abandoned and vilified him. Throughout the series Lucifer vents and rants about the pain He caused, His injustice and unfairness. His family is the root of all his trauma and the abandonment from a parental figure is something a lot of children and teens unfortunately go through and seeing this strong, seemingly indestructible character breaking at the thought of his Dad, just like they do, is extremely important.

 Trust issues: Alongside the daddy issues blooms his trust issues. He was wronged by his family, everyone he’s ever met and even has been vilified by all of humanity. In the 13 billions of years he’s been alive, he has learned how to build his walls up and close himself off from possible friendships and even relationships. He doesn’t completely trust anyone, not even himself, but we see his walls crumbling down throughout the seasons, especially with Chloe Decker, his partner and eventually, his lover, and Linda Martin, his therapist.

 Interpersonal difficulties: As mentioned before, Lucifer has his walls way up, which doesn’t allow him to have healthy relationships. Most of his relationships are rocky and unstable, big part of that due to difficulty in communication. While his most toxic friendship is with his oldest friend Maze, his rockiest is possibly with co-worker Dan, all the way through his growing relationship with his only present brother, Amenadiel, sweetest sibling-like relationship with Ella, a very awkward friendship with the detective’s “spawn”, Trixie, to the most focused on relationship of the show - “Deckerstar”- his relationship with Chloe Decker, his co-worker becomes friend becomes best friend becomes lover. Chloe is Lucifer’s soulmate, the one who makes him emotionally and physically vulnerable, the true love of his life. The key to his path to redemption. But his most important friendship is, without a shadow of a doubt, his therapist, Doctor Linda Martin. The normalization of therapy is such an important point of this show. Lucifer starts therapy in the beginning of season 1 and continues throughout the show, where she helps him breakthrough most of his issue and teaches him how to deal with his emotions and himself. His character is full of denial. He refuses to be seen as weak, fragile, “human”. He sees emotions as a flaw and weakness. His sessions with Linda help him open his eyes to a new reality and to connect with and embrace his vulnerable side.

 Self-destructive behavior/unhealthy coping mechanisms: Lucifer often falls into unhealthy behavior when something somewhat tragic happens. That unhealthy behavior ranges from excessive use of drugs, abuse of alcohol, sex, self-harm, cutting his wings off often because they’re a symbol of divinity that represent his loyalty to his Father), all the way to being completely reckless and attempting to get himself killed. His complete disregard for his own life and well-being is a constant in the series, going as far as dying to protect/save someone, but in these moments of despair, it goes from a place of protectiveness for the ones he loves to suicidal behavior rooted on his self-hatred and guilt.

 Hypersexuality: As mentioned above, one of Lucifer’s coping mechanisms is engaging in sexual activity. This is often linked to childhood trauma, either by abuse where victims need to reclaim the power over their own bodies or by neglect and lack of physical affection in formative years. He chooses to numb his pain and emotions with pleasure.

“They are addicted to the neurochemical and dissociative high produced by their intense sexual fantasy life and ritualistic behavior.” by Robert Weiss on Psych Central

 Isolation: Due to depression, trauma and spending years alone in Hell, Morningstar tends to isolate himself when things get rough. While he craves love, friendship and affection, he denies that to himself, he doesn’t understand that he can be loved, fully, for who he is, both angel and devil, without it being a manipulation from his Father.

 Sexuality: Lucifer Morningstar is a canon bisexual character, and the best part about it, is that it’s normalized. There isn’t a big storyline about his sexuality or homophobia, he just openly talks about and is shown with both women and men. And it’s normal. Actually, most of the characters on the show are canon LGBTQ+, which is one of the reasons the show is so loved by many. Representation is so important and seeing ourselves and our experiences represented on TV is immensely important in helping us feel more normal and seen. As of 2020, the actor Tom Ellis has won two bisexual representation awards for playing Lucifer. (x)

 Upon this analysis, we can confirm that his trauma, behavior issues and his identity as we see on the show is widely shaped by his childhood and his background story, mainly by his Dad, Mum and siblings. According to the NSPCC, some effects of neglect are:

 l “taking risks, like running away from home, using drugs and alcohol or breaking the law.

l getting into dangerous relationships

l difficulty with relationships later in life, including with their own children

l a higher chance of having mental health problems, including depression.”

 However tragic it may be, his story and his path to redemption and happiness is extremely inspiring and shows the audience that no matter where you came from, your past does not define you. No matter what you’re going through, it gets better. It’s a message of hope, love and identity.

 References:

 Weiss, Robert. (2018). Hypersexuality: Symptoms of Sexual Addiction. Retrieved from https://psychcentral.com/lib/hypersexuality-symptoms-of-sexual-addiction/#:~:text=Sexual%20addiction%20or%20hypersexuality%20is,of%20at%20least%20six%20months.

NSPCC. Effects of neglect. Retrieved from https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-is-child-abuse/types-of-abuse/neglect/

Feser, Madison. (2019). The Doctor Is In: Therapy Is The Medicine Of Choice In Fox’s ‘Lucifer’. Retrieved from https://studybreaks.com/tvfilm/lucifer-fox-therapy-mental-health/

https://lucifer.fandom.com/wiki/Lucifer_Morningstar

[fairycosmos]

My dad cares more about his gf than he does about me, i just broke down crying and shaking to him telling him I want to die and asking him for my pills and he just left to go see his gf who lives an hour away and wont be back til late tonight and he also gave out to me for 'not letting him stay at hers last night because I wouldn't sleep at my nanas and he wouldnt leave me alone all night' yet he just left me and I want to kill myself everybody has someome they care about more than me

what the fuck, i’m so so sorry to hear that?? your dad sounds like a shitty fucking person and parent in general and it’s horrible that you have to deal with him, seriously. i wish there was something i could actually physically do for you because i know how hard it is to be stuck in a fucked up situation :/ honestly, that type of treatment from a parent is going to hurt for a while regardless of what i say or what you do. it’s going to feel really raw and it’s okay to cry and be pissed, as long as you try to deal with it in a healthy way.  it’s not always going to feel as intensely bad as it does right now, i promise. please please believe me when i say that your worth isn’t based on your dad or the way other people treat you, that’s on them - not you. you can’t control what they do but you can control how you react to them. look, you exist and that means you have an inherent worth that can’t be taken away from you, and your mind is lying when it tells you that you don’t matter. not every thought you have is true. you’re so much more than you think you are.

i know it’s hard to believe right now, but there is a way to get through this. it’ll be difficult, but it won’t be as bad as your brain is telling you it will be. you have to try to make yourself care about what happens to you. you have to force yourself to do what’s right for you. have your own back, you know? imagine if your best friend was going through what you’re going through, what would you tell them?you need to give yourself the same courtesy and kindness and love. because honestly, your dad is a fucking asshole and he doesn’t deserve a kid like you. and one day, probably a day that will come a lot quicker than you think it will, you’re going to get away from him and your life is going to be full of people who genuinely care about you, people who love you. you’re going to be an adult and you’re going to live on your own terms and you’re going to be happy. there is genuine friendship and light out there in the world for you, and you’re going to find it in time. like, just because you feel alone right now, doesn’t mean you always will be. you’ve only lived a very small percentage of your life and the future is a lot brighter than you can even imagine. it sounds like bullshit, but it’s not. to be honest, it’s okay to have a bit of hope in the future. it’s okay to have a bit of faith in yourself. 

i know that doesn’t really help with the way you’re feeling right now, but it can be good to remind yourself that some of the best times in your life haven’t even happened yet. it’s really important that you realize that you’re not alone, that there are people that can relate to what you’re going through and that there are people who can and will help. and even if it’s scary and weird and odd to ask for help, you have to be stronger than that. you can be afraid and do it anyway. you’re braver than you realize, okay? if you’re still in school, there will definitely be a counselor or nurse you can talk to and they can offer a lot more than you might think - coping mechanisms, advice, a place to let your feelings out. trust me, it can really help. idk if you’ve seen a doctor about it, but if not i’d really really recommend it. you don’t have to fight this alone, and you can make it easier for yourself by making your mental health a priority. in addition to that, there’s a lot of mental health organizations that offer support and guidance to teenagers, i’m sure you could find some in your area if you googled it. there’s also a lot of hotlines that you can call, i’ll leave the link to some numbers below. i know that a lot of people are hesitant to use them, but i’ve called them twice and they can genuinely help a lot. like, you don’t have to tell them anything you don’t want to and you’re in complete control of the call. it’s a good way to talk to someone without feeling judged. anyway, my point is is that there’s loads of avenues of help and support even if you don’t realize it yet. please please just stay alive. take a deep breath, put things in perspective a little. you’re going to be alright. check out these links cause i really think they might help -

suicide hotlines:

http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html

ways to feel better/calm down -

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hide-and-seek/201204/fighting-suicidal-thoughts

http://imwiththeclouds.tumblr.com/post/38347319557/100-reasons-to-why-you-shouldnt-commit-suicide

https://www.yourlifecounts.org/sites/default/files/coping-with-suicidal-thoughts_2.pdf

https://psychcentral.com/lib/becoming-aware-of-your-depressive-thoughts/

it’s going to be okay, dude. you’re strong enough to get through this. try to get some rest. recognize the thoughts and feelings as they come, and then do your best to let them go. breathe. do something to distract yourself. this is temporary. no matter what, this isn’t going to last. don’t do something stupid, don’t make a permanent decision over temporary feelings. it’s not worth it. just message me if you need someone to talk to or if you ever need a friend, ok? i’m always here. 

[namearentfunfr]

so yall remember my lords in black human au? (here) well im back with more ways to make their lives miserable :)

this post is inspired by marvelmaniac715's post where pokey uses a wheelchair (this one), and its only fair that these sadistic eldritch creatures be mildly inconvenienced for once.

pietro uses a wheelchair. hes not a fulltime user, but he cannot do the complex choreography that he forces his actors to perform. its a source of immense frustration. the actors complain that what hes demanding is impossible, he insists he couldve done it in a snap

bryson has extremely sharp eyes. he can see things others miss, further away than possible. in turn, all his other senses are shit. he wears hearing aids and has really low pain reception. thats probably how he could spot the lady in white stalking them occasionally.

toby's internal clock is royally fucked up. he wakes up at 2 am, gets sleepy at 7pm, gets hungry right after hes had lunch, is groggy the entire day, cant sleep at night. he cant help it. its only thursday, but it seems months have passed

for now theyre the only ones i can think of. maybe nibbly has some digestive issues? i have no idea what to give wiggly tho