Mari-say - Mari Say

Doomed yaoi in every universe...

And D16 delivered indeed‼️🫡

DON'T GET DISTRACTED, PIERRE!

Feeling insane about Lucifer in Hazbin Hotel bc you could read so much into the apple motifs truly everywhere around him. And I will.

Obviously the instances that draw the most attention are the staff and the tophat. But if you look deeper into lore about Hazbin Hotel and the Hellaverse you find lulu world and loo loo land and OTHER Lucifer themed amusement parks/circus shows. All whose mascots are garish, but they are also APPLES. And to have the apple, which is so obviously representative as being THE GIFT he gives to humanity being so prominent in all designs that even allude to Lucifer, is such a strong and loud choice. For it to be so vividly called upon and referenced is so very interesting, because it ties this fallen Angel to one single defining choice that is widely suggested to have doomed the entire earth to suffering.

But those aren’t even close to the most interesting instance by far. Because it has to be the coat, right? It has to be the act of physically cloaking yourself in the symbol, therefore making YOU the gift. But it’s not quite an apple, though, is it? His coat, though the imagery is more subtle than other apple references, is deliberately designed to visually liken itself to an apple CORE.

A physical manifestation of leftovers, the common conclusion to what happens after an apple is given as a gift.

The trash.

To have a character that has the baggage that Lucifer already has; an entity attributed with the fall of first himself and then all of humanity, dress himself as the used and useless part of the apple, is so wildly coded for tragedy. And it works for me. Because Angel or not, Lucifer is a man who is so violently defined by everyone in the context of a single action that he, himself also defines himself by it.

It is a statement, though he may not understand what he’s actually saying—I might even be inclined to believe that this particular claim is entirely unconscious, but even subliminally it is bold.

He’s saying he’s the gift. The gift of knowledge and dreams and free will. He is saying “The snake might be the usual emphasis but what I really am is the apple. I am the gift that was accepted and used and cast aside. I am the thing you regret and repent over. I am the apple core.”

And wow is that such an interesting statement to make about the actual serpent that doomed mankind(I’m not religious in the slightest but I still think this concept goes hard) because it showcases such a level of loathing directed directly at himself, and his choices, and everything he represents. It proves that he looks at his gift to humanity and sees only the pain it’s brought. He doesn’t believe in his cause anymore. He gave humanity knowledge and hope and dreams and joy and pride and the will to strive for all of those wonderful things, and he is regretful. He is downtrodden. He views himself, the king of hell, as the trash leftover after the greatest mistake in all of creation.

That’s so insanely tragic, but it can be looked at in a different light as well.

Because the core of an apple hosts something very important; the potential for great and lasting growth. The thing that makes Lucifer so dangerous to heaven that they had to crush him, and beat him down, to banish him, and to kill his people, and to keep him separated from the good in the world, is that his very being fosters growth. And they wanted him to forget that.

And they almost succeeded. But they made one mistake. They underestimated his daughter. And the second that Lucifer decides to support her dreams, what does he say????

He says “looks like the apple doesn’t fall far”

And well. I just think that’s neat.

Invalid reasons for why a character should not be redeemed:

They’re too evil! - Redemption has nothing to do with how good or evil you were to begin with.

They don’t deserve it! - Redemption is not something that can be “deserved.”

Their actions are unforgivable! - Redemption has nothing to do with forgiveness.

It’s too late for them to change! - It is only “too late” to choose redemption when a character is dead (unless the scope of the story includes an afterlife in which change is possible).

Valid reasons for why a character should not be redeemed:

It doesn’t fit the themes of the story.

They’re not an important enough character for showing the process of a redemption arc to be worthwhile.

They’re more interesting as a character who isn’t doing the right thing.

It’s more satisfying to let them keep being evil.

It makes it more satisfying when they die.

There’s probably more, but you get the idea.

Remember, redemption is when someone realizes they are wrong, and takes steps to doing the right thing. That is not something that can be “deserved,” it is not something that hinges on forgiveness, and it is not something that it is ever too late for! …Unless the person is dead or something.

In the club

It's been months and my obsession with Ford Pines remains strong, I'm dozens on dozens of fanart and a (so far) 100k fic in, and I am still rotating him and his relationship with Bill in my mind like a microwave.

I've reached some conclusions tho

I think what I find SO SO fascinating about Ford and Billford is (along with Ford's general "there's something so so wrong with him ❤️" vibes) is that we are talking about just a guy (a freaky, and very smart geeky guy yes, but still a regular human) that managed to get A GOD obsessed with him.

I know I'm not the first to point this out, but like, Ford being obsessed/ worshiping bill? Yeah, duh! A being with phenomenal cosmic powers comes in with the secrets of the universe and showers you with praise and affection, ofc you become obsessed and devoted.

(AND YET it is not blind and unconditional, as soon as the scales fall from Ford's eyes that devotion turns to hate / desire for revenge)

However BILL, the cosmic horror, the god, becoming obsessed with Ford? Not only is it not expected or obvious, BUT ALSO BILL'S OBSESSION WITH FORD IS WAY, WAY MORE UNCONDITIONAL/ UNBREAKABLE THAN FORD'S.

Ford's been dedicating every single moment for 30 years into trying to kill Bill , and yeah the obsession remains, but he doesn't want cipher alive... BILL HOWEVER, HE DOESN'T FUCKING KILL THE ONLY GUY WHO ACTUALLY KNOWS HOW TO STOP AND OR KILL HIM DESPITE HAVING SO MANY CHANCES TO DO SO!!!

and the motherfucker triangle STILL THINKS HE CAN CONVINCE HIM TO JOIN HIM AND RULE WITH HIM?!?!?! FORD SHUTS DOWN THE PORTAL AND BILL STILL IS LIKE "OH ITS JUST A HISSY FIT, HE'LL CALM DOWN AND COME BACK TO ME"

FORD PUTS FUCKING METAL IN HIS SKULL TO KEEP HIM OUT, AND BILL IS STILL LIKE "STANFORD MY OLD PAL 🥰🥺❤️ FORDSY!!!!!😘😍 LET ME SERENADE YOU ❤️💜🧡💛💚🩵💙

Ford builds a weapon that can actually kill him and when he shoots at Bill with it, fully intending on killing him, Bill's reaction is being FUCKING HAPPY ABOUT FINDING FORD... UNBELIEVABLE

guy sitting in front of me in class was vandalizing wikipedia and i kept reverting his edits as soon as he made them and he couldn't figure out why it was happening

“some people don’t deserve redemption” redemption isn’t something that’s deserved, it’s something someone does. it’s making the choice to change the way you live your life, to be better, to do good things instead of bad things and try to make up for the bad things. and everyone can and should do that, at any time, no matter what they’ve done. we can’t change the past, but we can choose what kind of person to be now and in the future. we have the responsibility to do so. it is so completely not about “deserving.”