#archangel gender nonsense

[quietwingsinthesky]

anyway. thinking about it/its and she/her Lucifer now. I was talking earlier about Michael’s gender/sense of identity and how it contrasts against Lucifer’s. Michael builds himself up in opposition or in support of something which is. Fine? But that’s not really an identity of his own, something that’s only his. Take those others in his life away and he flounders for purpose and identity, yeah?

Whereas Lucifer, its had to build up its own identity, but it is still an angel. (Michael’s not exactly original when it comes to his approach of building (or not building) a sense of self. Most of them are defined a lot by their relationship to heaven/other angels in their garrison, and real individuality is discouraged to punished at worst. Even “higher ups” like Zachariah like. He’s doing his job. He’s there to do his job for Michael. That’s who he is.)

But Lucifer doesn’t have that. can’t have that. Not anymore. So what does it have? Titles and roles. The lightbringer, the Morningstar, the devil, and it takes them, all of them, and fits them into itself. Turns the puzzle pieces until they can be jammed together to make a being who knows what they are (or at least, thinks they know what they are.)

And so, when taking a vessel, wearing flesh and blood, human words and ideas filtering through a borrowed brain, why would she not take on these roles as well? Fit them to herself. She introduces herself in the image of Nick’s wife, as Jessica, and it’s not so much that she’s feminine/a woman but that the words can be molded into its identity.

The good and the bad of the roles, too. She did not shy away from what being the devil meant, after all, the terrible things she would do. She stands before Nick and Sam as a ghost first, vengeance in a white dress second, and these are pieces of her, right?

This is rambling, I know, but thoughts. Thoughts. Lucifer’s identity may be one she can construct internally, one she can keep ahold of even when she’s alone, but it is still heavily influenced by the views of others and how she absorbs that perception.

#Lucifer spn #spn #archangel gender nonsense #realizing I didn’t go into the it/its part of this as much. #uh. I swear I have canon reasons. beyond genderweird!lucifer being lovely to think about. uh. #I swear it’s NOT JUST self-indulgent give the devil my pronouns I swear #it’s that one post god what was it. the one where it’s like. #‘if you think of it/its pronouns as derogatory because they make you think of small things #remember that you use the same word to refer to mountains and stars.’ #and THAT’S Lucifer babyyy

[requiem-if]

You had only heard stories about the fabled assault on the Silver City; an assault that had been carried out by one of the most trusted Archangels. One that had been ended after years of battle— of bloodshed— and ended in the banishment of all those that supported the usurper. You never imagined that you’d ever come face-to-face with the very being that caused it all.

That is until you’re given a task that not many had been given before…

Travel down to the land of humans— Earth— and wrangle in the aforementioned individual; a task that was passed down to you from the very siblings that had been betrayed.

You just weren’t expecting all the issues that would arise because of this task. With what the human world had to offer you when in comparison to the Silver City.

You also weren’t expecting to be pulled into a conspiracy, a criminal investigation, and the issues that humans seem to face everyday.

How were you going to explain this?

Features

This story will be rated 18+ for profanity, sexual themes, alcohol use, and a variety of other things that will be explained as they crop up. (This game will be free from start to finish as it takes inspiration from one of my favorite shows Lucifer… though it’s my own interpretation of Luci.) The Demo will be added at a later date.

Play as an Angel sent down from the Silver City to wrangle in the Ruler of Hell; possibly becoming a babysitter in the process.

Customizable MC: name, nickname, gender, sexuality, appearance, and a smattering of other things.

Help the Devil find out who killed their dearest friend. Or… still help them but roll your eyes a lot while doing so.

Figure out what it means to be a human after being apart from them for so long. What is this thing called ice cream?

Romance 1 of 5 possible options that’ll either bring Heaven or Hell to Earth.

And just remember to have fun!

The Devil

Lucifer Morningstar is one of the hottest names in Los Angeles. The influence they have over the city being undeniable— even if you’ve never stepped foot in it before— and you can understand why upon stepping into their night club. Sharp blue eyes, ethereal blonde hair, and lightly tanned skin screams of divinity. If it wasn’t for the flash of red you could see lurking within the crystal depths of their eyes; showcasing what they truly were beneath their flirtatious smile, quick wit, and charm. Fallen.

“You’re quite miraculous, darling, I’ve been able to see peoples desires— their innermost machinations— but I’ve never felt such things before. As I’ve always been one to take what I want but I desire you in all the best ways. And I’ll take my time to show you that.”

The Angel

The one that gave you the job to begin with; Gabriel is unlike their siblings. In that their joyous smile never waned when looking at someone outside of the Archangel members. Bright green eyes, raven black hair, and fair skin pull everyone’s attention towards them but they’ve always seemed to have a special interest in you. Their warmest smile, silliest jokes, and loudest laughs all directed towards you. You’ve just never understood why. Until now.

“I’ve always known that you were special. That you would either destroy or rebuild me. I don’t even know how long you’ve held my heart, dearest one, but I hope you know that it’ll always be yours.”

The Demon

One of the only people you’ve seen that Lucifer actually seems to tolerate. Syrus/Selene Palmer doesn’t take shit from anyone and would sooner throw a knife at Lucifer than listen to them yammer on. The sharpness within their grey eyes— their dark brown hair always pulled from their face— highlights the bronze tone of their skin. The no nonsense attitude fading just a little the longer they spend with you.

“I was one of the people that was tasked with torturing souls— it was a job that I reveled in— but it’s one that you can grow tired of. I’ve known pain, and I’m old friends with suffering, but you make all of that a bit easier to handle. You make me want to be better.”

The Detective

They didn’t ask to be pulled into celestial nonsense— not that they were fully aware— but Lucifer wouldn’t take no for an answer. So, unfortunately for them, they were tasked with helping you both. You couldn’t say you were exactly unhappy with the turn of events; Detective Cole/Cora Pierce being one of the most highly regarded officers within the LAPD. Intelligent hazel eyes, going well with the medium brown tone of their skin, always surveying the area. Ebony curls falling over their eyes as they force themselves not to roll them as Lucifer speaks. (Has a son named Theodore.)

“Where have you been all my life? I’ve been looking for you in every person that I’ve dated and never found you. It’s like you fell from the stars and ended up in my lap. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have you.”

The Doctor

The soft spoken, yet kindhearted, medical examiner for the LAPD. Doctor Nathan/Natasha Grey aren’t exactly what you’re expecting when stepping foot into the morgue for the first time, but you can’t say it’s all that bad. Light brown eyes, that sparkle with flecks of gold, allows their dark auburn hair to stand out. Olive toned skin shimmering gently underneath the lights. A timid, yet warm, smile quirking their lips.

“People scare me. I’m not used to speaking to them, being near them, which is why I stay down here. I don’t know how to interact with people that well but you make it easier. You’ve always made it easier.”

#requiem #interactive fiction #interactive novel #choice of games #hosted games #no demo

[trilobiter]

I have thoughts about the name of the Musk/Grimes child. Should he read this one day, I’d like to apologize ahead of time, because the only people who should feel bad about his (apparent) given name are his parents.

Maybe this makes me some species of curmudgeon, but I’m really over the use of creative orthography in the naming of children.

A human’s name is not the title of a conceptual artwork. It’s a gift from a parent to a new person, and as such it belongs to the person who bears it, not the parent. Treating the process of naming a person like performance art is, frankly, an abuse of a highly personal trust.

When I was a kid, I was extremely adamant that my name was David and I was to be called that, because I was often bullied and made fun of, and I didn’t trust people with “Dave” or especially “Davey”. Looking back, I feel I was overly stubborn at times, but all the same it was my name and I was within my rights. To this day, I insist that most people call me David.

When I got a little order I loosened up a bit, and I used “Dav” a lot in writing, especially online (pronounced like Dave). But that was my choice, and it was also something I wasn’t nearly as comfortable hearing out loud. Only a handful of people call me Dave now, who met me online as Dav, and I tolerate it because I did after all introduce myself that way.

My uncle often greets me with a Spanish “David”, but that’s cool because we get along really well and he’s Puerto Rican, so it comes naturally. My dad does it occasionally too, because he’s a dork like that. But I’ve never questioned in my whole life that my family took my name seriously when they gave it to me, and have respected my right to have it the way I wanted.

Names mean a lot to people, and it is disrespectful to trifle with them. I have a student whom I met four years ago with one name, and then within a few months reintroduced himself with a new one, because he was transitioning to a new gender. Within a year he was on to a new name/nickname combination, and so far it’s stuck. Making sure his name and pronouns were respected was one of our main priorities in helping his whole class through the transition.

Most people don’t have to go through a process like that, but those who do can surely appreciate that a person’s name belongs to that person alone. And even if a person makes the decision to put their birth name aside and take on a new one of their own choosing, it would be considerate of their parents not to start them off in life with a name that reflects nothing but their own vanity.

I would never go so far as to say all spelling variants, or unusual names, or even faux-unusual fad names are illegitimate, because that’s nonsense. What’s important is the parents’ motivation in giving a name, and I for one think it’s transparent that “X Æ A-12“ is a name that exists to turn the birth of a child into a spectacle and promote the Musk/Grimes brand.

People speculate on what the Musk/Grimes child is going to actually be called by his parents when they put their twitter accounts down and use spoken language, but what about the matter of what this kid is going to call himself, in his own mind? Naming a child after the mere concept of a mathematical variable, a multilingual orthographic pun, and a goddamn military spyplane, all at the same time, does not communicate that the name was given with any thoughtfulness. It’s trifling masquerading as significance.

And it would still be a thousand times better if they had just spelled it as X Ash Archangel, instead of insisting on turning the act of reading the name into a rebus, or a cryptic crossword puzzle. But no - they preferred to give their kid the precious gift of one day being able to google himself and learn that the occasion of his birth was met with a chorus of utter confusion over what a weird fucking name he was given.

Name your kids whatever you want; but is it too much to ask parents to consider what is it about names that actually gives them meaning, and even “uniqueness”? Or at the very least, to not treat the naming of a child like an album drop or an IPO?

#trilobiter #language #names #words #goddammit #elon musk #grimes #art #capitalism

[player-1]

Anyone who’s been in the TMA fandom (or those who understand the bare minimum of the story) know damn well that whatever was going on with Michael D. Stortion and Gabriel/Worker-of-Clay was not just a simple Avatar/Entity partnership. No, in the twisted timeline of the Spiral itself, the Armageddon arms-race pales in comparison to the romantic tragedy subplot those two had long before Jon and Martin were in the picture.

(This is also going to be a long one, and with some MAG 101 spoilers, so buckle on in...)

Here’s what I mean:

Gabriel (or in this case, Gabe) works with Neil Lagorio (Web aligned special-effects dude) in the mid 1900′s on their first movie The Labyrinth of the Minotaur. Unfortunately for him, Gabe quits in 1972 just as the movie was released. 

Not much is known of this time after 1972 up until the dreaded sculpting class in 2004. Speculation-wise, Gabriel might have been corrupted by the Flesh during his movie-making times or earlier before he came into contact with the Spiral.

Reasons: -The Spiral connects with the unraveling of reality, question one’s sanity and eventually “spiraling” into insanity. -The Flesh, in its literal sense, connects to the fear of people or animals being killed for meat; even the appearance of flesh/bone being twisted, bent, or butchered. But it can also connect on a emotional level, such as being viewed weaker than others, mostly relating to a person’s body image. That’s also the reason why the nature of his death is completely unlike the Spiral simply letting him fade out of reality. -Gabriel displays more Flesh-like qualities in his appearance and work up until the end of MAG 126. He doesn’t want people to judge him by appearance alone (even if his entire body is made up of clay) but he makes up for it with his unassuming personality and amazing talent. In a literal sense, he wants to mold himself into the kind of person that gets praised for his clay-making abilities, not just from his creations alone.  

[Enter Ｔｈｅ　Ｄｉｓｔｏｒｔｉｏｎ: Stage Left] Of course, while there’s no evidence on how, when or why the Distortion would target him specifically, but there is one thing. Compared to all the other Spiral avatars and fear-aligned creatures, they all used to be humans in the past. The Spiral by nature is to cast aside their humanity and submit to the nature of insanity. But since most of the Spiral avatars either faded out of existence or just refused to do anything ritual-wise, how was it supposed to create a new world if all they ever do is destroy? It adopts an artist, of course. There’s nothing more chaotic than the struggles of a budding sculptor such as himself. But while that may be a convincing argument for the Spiral to get Gabriel to join the Dark Side, there could be more to convince him that it’s worth following the unknowable being of delusions. Long story short, there was no reason for Gabriel to judge himself so poorly if he knew how to reshape the world to how he sees fit. it would convince him that, like the archangel he’s named after, he could show the world the coming future; twisting the laws of reality so that there’s no room to judge how something should be right or wrong, imaginary or real.  As if they were said from the Lord himself, Gabriel heard the Distortion’s tell him about a new world and finally found inspiration in them.

Then comes the sculpting class.  It’s worth noting that, even with the angel symbolism for Michael and Gabriel, it could be implied that Gabriel is also a goody-two-shoes Christian boy who regularly attends church, as evidence of Michael having knowledge about Mass in MAG 20, assisting the Flesh in driving Father Edwin to cannibalism (so the Flesh and Spiral have an interesting partnership, huh?).  Besides that, this is where Gabriel takes the spotlight. From Deborah’s point of view, he was a strange little man from the beginning; eyes always jutted out of his face, appearing right in someone’s personal space and disappearing just as fast, and of course, his works of clay. (Also a random headcanon just because: Gabriel may be afraid of water, either because his entire body being made of clay, and since you need water to help shape the material, he does not want to get it melded into his own flesh. Could also be the reason why he has short and greasy hair, cause he would practically melt into a puddle if he was unfortunate enough to get wet.) And apart from Deborah and her friends’ growing discomfort over Gabriel in general, he’s just vibing in the back of the class, trying to make a shape for the unknowable form of the Distortion. And the second Deborah inadvertently gives him a break from his artist’s block, he quite literally takes control of the class; switching over the biweekly schedule it was before into every week, and even manipulating the space of the classroom to further support his artistic needs. 

“Ray told us the lesson was ‘faces.’ I put my hand up to say that sculpting faces was probably a bit advanced for where we were in the course, but he shook his head, and said that we were… a lot more talented than we thought. He said the key was that faces were twisted. All faces were twisted on the inside, and all you had to do was reach into the deepest part of yourself and put that twisted on the outside of the clay, and as soon as you can scream you’ll have your own face staring back at you.”  (MAG 126)

This is also the key to the Spiral itself. With Gabriel’s assistance, he will be able to let the spiral to insanity move in reverse, create the physical manifestation of that fear instead of letting it collapse and destroy itself. And in that lesson as well, Gabriel finally creates a fitting image of the Distortion...A door, the physical entrance to insanity itself.

Then comes the final stretch in Sannikov Land, the nonexistent island that was said to exist between the years 2009 and 2011. And as Michael D. Stortion explains in MAG 101, was the perfect place for their ritual, The Great Twisting. After everything Gabriel had done to appease his good “friend”, The Distortion seemed extremely invested in the Worker of Clay at that point. Nevermind the fact that its telling Jon how its identity was stolen away from Michael Shelley by merging with the Distortion, but there’s more to this origin story.

“Michael was protective of the frail old woman he believed her to be. So… so delicate, so forgetful, yet gently wise. He cared for her. He trusted her. And she fed him to me. She made him to destroy our transcendence. And she did not hesitate.” “And it was me they sought to stop. Me and the others of It-Is-Not-What-It-Is. Our Great Twisting. The-Worker-of-Clay had laboured for decades on that contorted, impossible edifice of doors… and stairs… and falsehoods… and smiles. A thousand staring morsels stood, and not one of them believed themselves sane to look upon it. And in the centre, the door that would open to all the places that were never there, was me.“ “Perhaps I should have realised what was happening; seen those two lonely figures approaching me, but I cannot tell you the existential joys of truly… becoming. Of an entireness finally crossing the threshold into your self. So ecstatic was my completeness, I did not even hear my own door creak open.“ “Even sharper than the joy of becoming is the agony of being opened and remade. To have your who torn bloody from your what, and another crudely lashed into its place. To become Michael. And to do so at such a crucial point in our Twisting, in our becoming, well of course it destroyed it. The impossible altar collapsed. The-Worker-of-Clay tore out his veins to dissolve himself in crimson mud. The others of us were cast to all the places that aren’t; some have still not found their way out again...My very existence tied to my pointlessness. Wearing my failure as the very fabric of my being. Reduced once again to feeding on the unsuspecting and confused. That is who I am.“ (MAG 101)

Even if all of this was to explain how the Distortion became the being it is in the series, it’s easy to see how overjoyed it was during the ritual. All that the Spiral ever did was bring the sense of unreality and paranoia unto people for ages, only breaking down the mind until they eventually spiral into oblivion. It wanted to be something, it wanted to make something twisted and nonsensical from the world, to shape the world itself to the nature of insanity. And after all that time, no matter how many avatars it had in its control, Gabriel was the only one who began creating the ritual. Even if it was for an ulterior motive, The Distortion was pretty giddy as Gabriel worked for years on end to create the meaning of insanity; to create something that the Distortion saw as the perfect vessel for itself. And even as it was explaining it, with all these feelings of joy and ecstasy and very human thoughts and emotions, this was before it was forced to become Michael. So much for not being bound by human nature, huh? But it’s pretty ironic that, as the embodiment of delusions, insanity and lies, it never considered the idea of having an avatar that could make something out of that chaos. Even if the Distortion was explaining how Michael-not-Michael Shelley came into being, it also can be interpreted as Michael just yearning for his best Avatar so far.  So instead of “I’m going to tell you my entire backstory.”, it’s more like “I’m going to tell you how a nosy old woman and her idiotic assistant ruined my chances to be with my Avatar of the Decade who may or may not be my boyfriend.”

In conclusion, Gabriel AKA The Worker of Clay AKA Igor with an art degree became the Hands of the Spiral because the nonbinary embodiment of delusion (who is also a door) gave a miserable struggling artist a shot of self-confidence (and a shot out of the Flesh’s control), eventually becoming its #1 Boyfriend Avatar of all time, and is the only person that would make the “hates gender and existence itself” Distortion yearn for years after his tragic death.

Takes notes people, this is what peak performance looks like.

#not kh #tma #the magnus archives #tma spoilers #tma michael #tma gabriel #tma michael shelley #gay shit #shitpost #rant post #text post

[bez09]

Guardian Angel part two

M/C Guardian angel Sabriel, after sobering up, decided to go down and visit his younger brother Simeon at Purgatory Hall where M/C was going to visit also. 

Simeon smile was rather stained as he looked over at Sabriel, he had heard that the archangel had not taken the news of his human being picked for the exchange program well, and seeing one of heavens strongest warriors shaking so badly that he rattled his teacup and saucer was unnerving, to say the least. Sabriel was a very tall angel, with a muscular figure, board shoulders and jaw. He had short blond hair, wore heavy make-up, painted nails, a long white fitted dress and answered to either gender. 

“Are you sure you are going to be alright seeing M/C Sabriel? It had been a couple of months since your last visit” 

“I’ll be fine Simeon,” said Sabriel with a smile as the teacup cracked in his grip. “You have been given me updates about her after all and I know you wouldn’t lie to me. Plus once M/C is here I’m sure between us we can convince her to return to the human world and forget all this demon nonsense” 

“Ah!” Simeon swallowed and shared a worried look with Solomon and Luke. Yes, he hadn’t lied to Sabriel...he just hadn’t told him the whole truth. Yes, M/C was well and healthy but she was now in several pacts with the demon brothers, has a demon dog and has been almost killed a handful of times. 

The doorbell rang and Sabriel jumped up and ran to the door before the others could stop him. 

“M/C! Darling! How are….” Sabriel looked down at M/C and felt his heart slowly sink in his chest as his eye violently twitched. M/C was wearing a paring of plain grey jogging bottoms and a short purple top that exposed her torso, chest and arms. Along with all her Pact Markings. (In my version the brothers had to kiss M/C and their mark would appear on her body as proof of the pack) beside her was a large three-headed dog that was growling and baring its sharp teeth at him and just behind her were Beelzebub, Mammon and Leviathan.

“Hello, Sabriel! It’s wonderful to see you again” M/C beamed happily at her guardian angel and gasped loudly when the angel fell back in a dead faint. “Oh, my goddess! Are you ok?” 

Mammon was laughing like crazy and even Beelzebub was trying hard not to smile. 

“Best reaction ever!” laughed Levi as he had recorded it all on his DDD. 

“I was afraid of this,” said Simeon as he knelt down beside the fainted angel. 

“Can you guys stop laughing and help!” snapped Luke as he glared at the demon brothers. 

“Calm down doggie! Otherwise, you can join Cerberus on the leash. Besides, it looks like she’s coming too” said Mammon as he came over. Sabriel groaned loudly as he sat up and looked around until his eyes fell on M/C. 

“Sabriel are you alright? Do you need to go ins…” 

M/C was suddenly crushed against Sabriel’s mighty chest and pinned there by his arms as he wailed and glared at the demons. 

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BABY! YOU MONSTERS!” 

“What?! We haven’t done anything!” snapped Mammon “You crazy angel!” 

“She definitely has a screw loose!” added Levi as he continued to record the outraged angel to show the others later. 

“Do you think if we ignore her, we can just go inside and eat the cake Luke has made?” Beel asked as the angel continued to cry and wail. 

#obey me shall we date #OBEY ME #obey me

[leightaylorwrites]

Leigh Dissects YA fiction: Fallen Kingdoms (Chapter Seven- Chapter Ten)

Chapter Seven - Auranos

Sigh… I thought we’d at least get a break from Cleo by heading back to Magnus but I guess that was foolish of me to hope.

No one knew why, but Cleo guessed her sister had fallen in love with someone else.

The gender-neutral “someone” makes me hope for a single lesbian in this story. It’s another foolish hope.

Emilia had never so much as cast a flirtatious glance at any of the men in the palace [...]

LET EMILIA BE GAY 2K18

His parents didn’t approve of smoking inside the house. Aron might be arrogant and confident, but he was still seventeen and had to abide by his parents' rules until his next birthday-unless he wanted to move out ahead of schedule. And Cleo knew without a doubt that he didn’t want that sort of responsibility, financial or otherwise.

I’m sorry when did I leave this YA high fantasy and enter a teen drama on the CW? This entire part is a mess of modern-ness and should have been cut.

Aron: [I’m not sorry for killing him lol I kind of liked it too]

Cleo: How can you sound so calm about this?

Aron: Would you rather I lie and say I have nightmares too? Would that ease your own guilt?

Cleo: I want the truth.

Aron: And that’s what I’ve given you.

I get that Aron is a horrible creepy killer, but he has a point. He IS honest. When the villain makes more sense than your heroine, there’s an issue.

When he smiled, the look was equally menacing and enticing. “I will find you.”

YA authors stop writing scary love interests challenge.

Chapter Eight - Limeros

“Naughty girl.”

She ignored the flush that immediately heated her cheeks.She wasn’t being naughty; she was being inquisitive.

And I’m being disgusted. So not only does Magnus have the hots for his adoptive sister, Lucia blushes when he calls her “naughty.” Clace are BOTH unemployed.

“Cleiona’s also the name of the youngest Auranian princess,” Magnus mused. “Never really thought about it before. Same age as you are, right? Nearly to the day?”

I have… questions. First, how does he know Cleo’s exact birthday? Two, it’s likely going to come into play later that they are at most a few days apart but how does that work with Lucia? How does Magnus know her day of birth? We find out later Sabina (the lady from the prologue) brought Lucia to the palace as an infant but it wasn’t the day she was born so how would Sabina know her birthday? Even if she had a vision on the baby’s day of birth or something like that, how did Lucia survive without being breastfed? I need answers.

Magnus: One of grace and beauty, my sister, with a multitude of suitors at her beck and call. Forced to be siblings with a scarred monster like me.

Lucia: As if that scar makes you a monster. You can’t be blind to how girls look at you-I even see maids here in the castle wistfully watch you pass, even if you never notice them. They all think you’re devastatingly handsome. And your scar only makes you more… intriguing.

If you think plain hetero splooging is bad, just wait until you see plain hetero incest splooging!

“[Tomas] was cut down as a spoiled lord tried to show off in front of a princess - Princess Cleiona [...] The two watched Tomas Agallon’s young life bleed from him in front of his own family.They didn’t feel sorry for the pain they caused that family and all Paelsia.”

I mean… it’s true. Too bad the evil king is saying this and therefore the reader is supposed to disagree with him and know that Cleo the Super Special White Girl can’t do anything wrong ever but still. He’s right.

The words were acid on his tongue as jealousy flashed through him like a bolt of lightning. “But [Lucia] isn’t interested in walks around the palace grounds. Not with, well… not with you.”

The boy’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

Magnus forced a tense look on his face as if he’d said too much and now felt guilty. “It’s really none of my business.”

[...]

“It’s just that she’s mentioned you to me [...] And she made it clear that if you ever stopped by, you should not be encouraged any further. She means no offense, of course. But… her interests in a potential suitor lie elsewhere.”

In case incest splooging wasn’t enough to make me hate this character, he’s entered Rowboat’s, well, boat. Territorial pricks are not cute @ YA authors.

Magnus had no patience for anyone who would be manipulated so easily. If the boy was truly interested in Lucia, he should be able to stand up to any adversity, including an overprotective older brother.

But you literally just told this kid Lucia SAID she doesn’t want him. If he’s taking your word as truth, that’s not him being manipulated, it’s him believing you because why would a prince lie to him about this? He’s not doing anything wrong by respecting what he believes are Lucia’s wishes??? He has more respect for her than you do?? Why do people like Magnus??

“I wouldn’t hesitate to say you were lying.” He took her arm in his and squeezed it until she flinched. A flicker of fear went through her pale eyes. “Who do you think the king would believe? His son and heir? Or a kitchen maid?”

Amia swallowed hard. “I apologize, my prince. I would never say such a thing.”

“Smart girl.”

So… Magnus is literally physically abusing and threatening his casual hookup and people stan??

There was no Limerian law that stated that pure royal blood was necessary for the position. Even the son of a whore could become king.

Magnus is being all emo over the fact that Tobias could be king someday, a problem which is easily solved by Magnus killing Tobias. This doesn’t happen, but I think I’ve found the problem with all these series that try so hard to be the YA version of Game of Thrones/ASOIAF: nobody has the balls to write how these conflicts would actually play out in a real political setting. YA does have to be toned down in comparison to adult fiction but when you tone things down so much that they make no sense, it doesn’t work at all.

Blood sacrifice? How deeply savage.

Can’t tell if I’m tired of the word savage being used in this book (it’s used at least 20 times in reference to Paelsia) or if I’m tired of it in general (thanks stan twitter).

The king swiftly moved behind the boy, pulled his head back, and slashed the blade across his throat. Tobias’s eyes went wide and his hands came up automatically to his neck. Blood squirted out from between his fingers. He collapsed to the ground.

I’m DONE. We got half a page about Tobias being a threat to the throne for Magnus and instead of seeing them battle it out, or Tobias team up with an enemy later on, or anything that might give some payoff to the fact that Magnus has a secret half-brother, he’s sacrificed a few pages after his main introduction. Do you see what I mean now about YA fantasy writers holding back?

Chapter Nine - Auranos

I DON’T CARE, WHERE IS JONAS

“It’s unfortunate about Princess Emilia, though. So, so sad she isn’t well enough to attend.”

We get it. She’s dying. You’ve reminded us like four times already.

[...] Emilia’s most recently finished painting, a study of the night sky.

Subtle foreshadowing isn’t subtle enough for me.

That [her marriage] was solely a political choice sounded so cold, so analytical.

Does Cleo… not know what politics are? Does she not understand that royal arranged marriages happen all the time? Does she not realize she’s a princess? Why is she so dumb??

“You do know [Nic] is madly in love with you, right?”

Dammit. We came so close to having that platonic relationship but we can’t have a young man in this series not want to splooge over Cleo. It’s the first book and Cleo already has three love interests for this series. Alien Trashryver is worried.

Emilia: “I fell in love with someone else [...] I’ve never felt such love as I felt for him.”

DOUBLE DAMMIT.

Despite being named for the goddess, Cleo wasn’t invested in religion [.]

Isn’t being named after a religious deity frowned upon? I know in some religions you can be named after a minor figure - such as Christians with the archangels. But you can’t name your child God. Cleo being named after the primary person in the religion seems wrong.

But how else would we know she’s a Super Special Magical White Girl if she didn’t have a name far beyond what she deserves?

Her sister had been in love with a guard who’d died two months ago. “It was Theon’s father, wasn’t it?”

Isn’t he like… old??

Her sister had been in love with the king’s bodyguard who’d been thrown from his horse to his death. A tragedy.

That is verbatim from the book and I can’t stop laughing. This bitch said “a tragedy,” I’m CRYING.

Emilia was always the rock - comforting Cleo when she was upset over [some petty stuff] or the loss of her innocence to Aron.

“You’re the same as you were yesterday and the day before,” she’d soothed. “Nothing has changed. Not really. Forget what troubles you. Regret nothing, but learn from any mistakes you make. Tomorrow will be a brighter day, I promise.”

If you think things are cool because HEY we’ve got a YA heroine who isn’t a virgin, we later find out Cleo was drunk when this happened and therefore is an assault victim. The book never acknowledges the later, but instead has Emilia tell Cleo to learn from her mistakes and that nothing has changed. Feminist YA at its peak, y’all.

“You can’t. You’re to be the queen one day. If you die, that means it’ll be me. Trust me, Emilia, that would be a very bad thing. I would make a terrible queen.”

I mean, yeah I agree that Cleo would be a shitty queen but I’m more annoyed at how these five sentences are written.

Emilia: “There’s no one out there spying on us through the eyes of birds, hoping for clues of where to find the Kindred.”

Cleo: “I’ve never believed in such nonsense.”

Btw, Cleo said earlier she thought the birds were watching her. Consistency is hard, I guess.

[Theon] shook his head. “I knew my father cared about someone, but he wouldn’t say who it was. I figured he was involved with a married woman. Now I know.”

So Cleo’s boyfriend is her sister’s dead husband’s son… Cleo’s love interest is her nephew. He’s her step-nephew, but her nephew nonetheless.

Chapter Ten - Limeros (this time with the bird dude)

[...] to see his bird friend, Phaedra, perched on the branch next to him.

Now, I could give this book points if the whole point was that the western world was meant to be Greece, while Mystica is a mix of Italy and Spain. But the existence of Paelsia with its North African/Asian/Roman setting messes it all up.

All [Lucia] would see when she looked at him was a golden hawk. For some reason, this realization pained him.

So we can’t have lgbt+ romances or poc romances but Cleo the Super Special Magical White Girl can get three+ love interests and Lucia can get two love interests - her adoptive brother and a dude who can turn into a bird. White authors, man. White authors…

One thing I do like about this Ioannes dude is that his chapters are short, leaving little room for bullshit. However, they make me go back to Magnus and Cleo sooner than I want.

#leigh reads it #leigh dissects ya #falling kingdoms review

[oneshot-twoshot-redshot-blueshot]

The Other Archangel

Requested

______________________________________________________________

“Fuck,” Dean said, slamming his hands on the table. “Another freakin’ apocalypse.”

“We’ll get through it,” Sam said. “We have before.”

Dean shook his head. “Every time, these things get bigger and bigger. And one of these days…”

“We’ll get through this,” Sam said, more forcefully. He knew his brother was upset, but he also knew that now was not a time to give into thoughts of failure.

“We need to find Lucifer,” Cas said. “We need his help.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Dean growled. He popped the cap from his beer and downed half of it in one drink.

Sam snatched the bottle away from his brother, causing him to dribble down his shirtfront. “Cas, do you have any idea where he could have gone?”

Cas shook his head. “The possibilities are endless. And since I’m not an archangel, I don’t have any sort of mental connection to him.”

“And we know Michael and Raphael wouldn’t want anything to do with us,” Dean said. “What about Gabriel?”

“He’s still… salty with you.”

“Great.”

“Although…”

Both Winchesters perked up. “Although?” Sam asked.

“There is… another one.”

“Another what?”

“Archangel.”

“That’s… that’s impossible,” Sam said. “Lore says there’s only four.”

“The lore… is wrong,” Castiel said.

“Well, what’s the deal with this other one?” Dean asked. “What’s he like? Where’s he been hiding? Can he help us find Lucifer?”

“She.”

“What?”

“She. The other archangel is female.”

Dean was quiet for a moment. “Huh. Well, it’s about time Chuck got some gender equality in the ranks.”

“What’s her name?” Sam asked.

“Y/N.”

“And how has she stayed out of… literally every religious text?”

“She keeps to herself. Father wanted her to stay out of… ‘big business’. She was his favorite, after Lucifer of course.”

“Do you know how to find her?” Dean asked.

“I can look around.”

Dean nodded. “Go. Find her. Bring her here so we can get some sort of plan in action.”

______________________________________________________________

“Dean.”

The Winchesters turned, finding Cas standing behind them with a young woman next to him.

“This is Y/N,” Cas said.

“The other archangel?” Sam stood, walking over. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise.” You shook his hand, giving him a small smile. “My brother has filled me in.”

“Is there anything you think you can do?” Dean asked. “Any sort of tracking you have on Lucifer?”

“I haven’t heard from him recently. But I may be able to find him.” You paused. “But you should know, even if I find him, I don’t know that I’ll be able to convince him to help stop the apocalypse. He always did like… commotion.”

“What about the others?” Sam asked. “Do you think you can convince them to help us find Lucifer and stop Amara?”

“I don’t know.”

“Nonsense,” Cas said. “You know they listen to you.”

“Castiel,”

“They do. You’re practically the only other one they listen to after Father.”

You sighed. “I shall see what I can do.”

______________________________________________________________

“So, why have you asked us here, little sis?”

“I need your help.”

Gabriel propped his feet on the table and helped himself to the bowl of jellybeans you’d set out. “With?”

“Lucifer.”

“He is of no concern to us,” Michael said.

“He should be.”

“Why?”

“Surely you’ve heard what he’s done.”

“We’ve tried to distance ourselves from him,” Raphael said. “He’s not one of us anymore.”

“Well, that logic falls through, because he’s still an archangel.”

“His actions would say otherwise.”

“Look, unless we all come together, things are not going to end well.”

“Maybe we should hear her out,” Gabriel said.

“Eat your jellybeans, Gabriel,” Michael said.

“I am. But I can multitask. And I think we should hear Y/N out.” Gabriel dropped his feet to the floor, leaning over to you. “So, Y/N, what’s going on?”

“Well, as I’m sure you’ve heard, Lucifer has escaped the Cage.”

You could tell by your brothers’ reactions that they actually hadn’t heard that. What, had they lived under a rock recently? You shook your head.

“He’s out, and unless we find him, Earth is not going to end well.”

“Lucifer does damage, but it’s not the apocalyptical standards you’ve set,” Raphael said.

“We don’t need to stop him from destroying the world. We need his help to stop someone bigger.”

“Who?”

“Aunt Amara.”

“Shit,” Michael said, a rarity for him.

“We’ll help you,” Raphael said.

#supernatural oneshot #supernatural fanfiction #dean winchester #sam winchester #castiel #gabriel #michael #raphael #dean winchester one shot #sam winchester one shot #castiel oneshot #gabriel oneshot #michael oneshot #raphael oneshot #dean x reader #sam x reader #castiel x reader #gabriel x reader #michael x reader #raphael x reader #spn one shot #spn reader insert #spn fanfic #request #for anon #archangels #angel!reader

[squigglysquidd]

2 for both Cassia and Damocles! What do they think of mama shep? Bonus points if you want to cover this for Garrus too :)

2.  Their mother (father)?  How do they think of her(him)?  What do they hate?  Love?  What influence - literal or imagined - did their mother(father) have?

Alright, so let’s start with Jane and then do Garrus:

Cassia and Damocles think their mother can do no wrong in their eyes.  Cassia thinks she’s the most beautiful being in the galaxy, no matter the species or gender.  To her, Matriarchs have nothing on her mother.  However, her beauty goes beyond looks to Cassia.  Jane is everything she wants to be, strong and has a regal air about her in the way she holds herself - even if Jane would deny any of that nonsense.  Jane is everything Cassia wants to be, even if she would rather wear more girly things than her mother would ever be caught dead in.  The only fault Cassia sees in her mother is a sense of self-consciousness about those very looks that she envies.  No matter what she or her father say to Jane, there is still a bit of disbelief in her being anything but ‘Commander Shepard who practically lives in unflattering armor’.  Cassia just doesn’t see that and gets frustrated when those around her can’t see what she sees with her more positive outlook.  On her own, she wants to work to develop that ‘give no shit’ attitude her mother has (or at least the ability to keep her emotions in check) as Cassia herself seems to let her emotions get the better of her in the moment.  While they do not have a lasting effect like her brother, sometimes she wishes she could be unaffected.

Her father, to her, has such control over himself that she could swear he is like an immovable mountain.  He is set in his convictions and, even if it goes against his actual feelings to the contrary, he will follow through on that self empossed set of ethics.  Garrus may seem stern at some times (and shares a bit of the qualities his father has in that), but he differs from his father in that his only direction is to solve a problem, not shape the twin’s lives.  His weapons training may seem difficult, but they will be all the better for it and he doesn’t force a set training style on them but lets them choose.  That very quality of focus also shows in his care for Jane and the kids, which Cassia tries to emulate with every person she meets and becomes friends with.  He gives parts of himself without opening himself up to pain, and Cassia sometimes wishes she could do the same.  In a way, she trusts too easily and pays the price when those close to her hurt her, and she wishes she could build that sort of protection her dad has as shown around even the Normandy family.  On the other hand, some of that focus can often make her father seem cold as she learns later in life when she begins to work for the Wraiths.  He becomes a different person as their superior and, though she understands it’s to ultimately protect them from getting hurt because he acts on feelings instead of logic, it still sometimes hurts.  That split moment of emotion in reaction to that can sometimes make her hate her father, but, like him, logic over the situation quickly follows.

Damocles absolutely adores his mother.  She is much the same to him as she is to Cassia, only he needs hers and Garrus’ strength more than his more confident sister.  Where Cassia sees their mother in a dress and thinks ‘wow, my momma looks like a queen!’, he looks to her with an awe for her ‘don’t give a shit’ attitude.  He’s able to see the same self-consciousness in the jokes to brush off compliments that his mother has, but she pushes through it, keeps going.  She may not feel she can wear a dress, but, dammit, she’ll flaunt it with just the slightest prompting from Garrus.  Damocles can’t do that, can’t put aside his self-doubt.  In a way, he hates her a bit for that strength.  Despite his feelings about his own self-image in his personal life, he has learned how to push through any obstacle that he can physically fight.  Call it sheer stubbornness, but if he has to train hours on end out in the cold, pouring rain just to accomplish a set goal, he will not stop even if the galaxy was burning around him.

For Damocles, the name Archangel for his father is fitting in his eyes.  He has seen how his father protects the family from struggles both physical and mental and wants that very same ability.  He wants to be there for his sister (which he feels as more affected by self-doubt in his self-projection of his own pain) and is willing to shoulder any weight for her even at the cost of his own well being.  How can his father seem so unaffected, he often asks and envies Garrus for.  It just doesn’t seem fair that his father can do so much like it’s nothing.  He both hates and wants to be that very same person.  His father also equates to a focus he knows he can never have because he’s just too impatient from his internal pain and need to express it.  His father is a pillar of strength for them all and Damocles wishes he had just an ounce of that seemingly divine power.

Wow, those were some long responses!  I talk too much, lol

Thanks for the ask :)

[quietwingsinthesky]

The baseline of all my gender nonsense is that none of the angels really have A Gender in the way we’d define it? It’s just the best/closest lens to their experience to talk about their identity issues through For Me because I am a genderfucked freak.

Some of them pick up a more human aligned sense of it along the way (like Gabriel, again, having fun with his multitude of funny gender hats (though his internal experience of that is not one-to-one with genderfluidity? It’s weird. He’s weird. He likes his hats.)) The one with probably the most human connection to gender is obviously Anna, because. Well. *gestures at her*

(Trans woman Anna btw. It’s real. I see it. You see it. I should talk about her more.)

#still thinking thoughts sorry #I have much to say on angels and gender apparently #Gabriel and his funny hats…. #I’m not trying to imply his experience of it is superficial btw #like. it’s similar to being envesseled at all. that is not a superficial thing. #vessel hood is important. the skin they’re in is made to fit them. (or lmao if you adopt my Gabriel headcanon #she literally built it from the ground up for herself. bits and pieces all sewn together. vessel Frankenstein’s monster.) #(which actually might be the best way to describe her experience. Gabriel takes from the culture he’s observed. participated in on occasion. #some of it dead. some of it damned rotten (he is weird and terrible sometimes! in very human ways! on purpose! #because xe thinks xe’s funny!) #but all of it is Gabriel’s to keep. to collect. to wear and feel good in. you know?) #spn #archangel gender nonsense

[quietwingsinthesky]

Ideally, writing from Michael POV, I wouldn’t use any pronouns at all, just his name. Unfortunately, that is so annoying to read.

#the archangels all get their own personalized pronoun nonsense #Lucifer will use it/its until its gotten used to something else. and then will adopt what’s used for her into her internal monologue #Gabriel has all of the gender. like wearing funny hats. #Raphael is they/them Only because they are not here for being gendered as a human and because they can remind themselves they are #part of a collective. angel hivemind gender #archangel gender nonsense #spn

[quietwingsinthesky]

I think what I’m getting at here is that if you give an archangel a pronoun you are either going to be ignored (Michael), disintegrated (Raphael), stared at while he sneaks it into his pocket (Lucifer), or asked for more until you run out (Gabriel)

#spn #archangel gender nonsense

[quietwingsinthesky]

I don’t know how to easily explain Michael’s gender. I default to he/him normally for ease of writing (+ for fandom at large consensus) but if you asked Michael he’d go ???? Not because he doesn’t understand gender. He’s been paying that much attention to humanity, he gets it, but it’d be like walking up to someone and asking “Hey, what species of penguin are you?” and not in a ‘personality test’ way. (Difference between Michael & Gabriel is that Gabriel absolutely can abstract that into a personality test thing and will answer accordingly and that is Gabriel’s experience with gender.) You can ask that, but you’re not going to get an answer because you are asking a human person who is not a penguin of any kind. And so, similarly, that’s how Michael would react to being asked about his gender.

(Difference between Michael & Raphael: the experience of being gendered is not an uncomfortable or unwanted thing for Michael where it is for Raphael. For Raphael, this is a reminder that they have to live under rules that are Nonsensical and Wrong for them. Dipping into apartmentverse a little here, but like. In a situation where they both get called ‘ladies’ or ‘fellas’, it’s going to dig under Raphael’s skin and upset them (rightly so) where it doesn’t with Michael because he doesn’t connect to it at all.)

In Michael’s internal monologue, there’s a space where a pronoun should be, but instead it’s been crossed out until it’s unreadable and Michael’s pasted a picture of his true form between God & Lucifer with an arrow pointing towards him. That’s the closest Michael gets to gender. He is like God (but not enough) and he is not Lucifer (and not favored or fallen because of that.) All of his identity is tied up in how he defines himself by and against others. (The good son, Lucifer’s older brother, etc.)

(Difference between Michael and Lucifer: Lucifer doesn’t really define himself by others as they are, but he works with their perceptions of him, develops them into his own identity. Yes, he is the devil, but like we see in 5x01, he makes sure that Nick knows what that means to Lucifer, that it doesn’t make Lucifer a liar or evil. Lucifer has worked the identity of being the devil into how he perceives himself, into his own victimhood and his inability to escape his role. God wanted the devil, and all.)

#does this make any goddamn sense #lmao archangel gender nonsense don’t mind me #I like when the supernatural creatures have weird senses of identity #Michael spn #spn