i was scrolling through your art tag and i had the silliest idea of raphael sneaking ik into the celestial realm without anyone knowing
the question is whether he invents a whole brilliant scheme to smuggle her through the gates or whether he just walks in wearing a suspiciously large trench coat... and of course i think the latter option is much more fun
michael, watching raphael scuttle awkwardly through the gate in a new coat twice his size: i'm sure that's not suspicious at all
raphael's new coat, sotto voce: it's getting kinda hard to breathe in here
In the post with the throuple,you talked about how Raph stil chooses to be on the Celestial realms side but I don't think the council would really appreciate their hit man starting to date not only a demon but the grimm reaper as well.
I feel like this alone would probably be one of the reasons Raph would be uncertain at first when he realises he's catching feelings, despite him being the one to basically make the first move (?)
Oh and also if you have any more ideas for the sillies,please share them!! I genuinely love the throuple :3
oh yes that'd probably be a point of conflict for him. i think for him, his time in the devildom is a bit of escapism - he can sort of forget the celestial realm status quo, quietly tuck away discussion/thought of the war, etc. raphael in general is just going "i'm not thinking about it" in terms of the complicated stuff - 'let me just have this simple thing', essentially, which is why he's the only one being normal about the relationship
at first he also doesn't realise how deep it goes. when he's making his first moves, it's less "i want to initiate a relationship" and more just an abstract "i want to be close" in general - a lot of spur-of-the-moment wants that he indulges because they feel quite inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, and he is not going to examine any of that, thanks very much
so in terms of conflict i think something would have to happen to bring him back to earth. maybe a disapproving word from a fellow seraph, or unexpectedly getting too nostalgic around the brothers, or an occasion of luke impulsively rattling off celestial council rhetoric without thinking
i don't think he necessarily holds back because of it though.. we've already got thirteen trying insist to herself she doesn't need anyone, and mephistopheles still semi-convinced that this is mere dalliance and his ultimate devotion is to the royal family - plus, since one of the themes i gave raphael in the earliest post "being stuck", i think it works better for him to be the one who pulls harder as a result of his conflict?
so i would say his inner-conflict-related-to-the-relationship, rather than being a catalyst for him to change, is more of a test of his change. when the uncertainty creeps in, he counters by even more fiercely asserting that he wants it - which might manifest as him becoming oddly bold, maybe a little uncharacteristically reckless and defiant
in terms of where that takes him though, i'm a little unsure. maybe the trio would have a bit of a wobble because none of them want to really talk about where this is going, even though they should, so you have a situation where raphael is trying to confront things but pushes too hard and mephistopheles - who is having his own struggles in the midst of all this - snaps and storms away because he can't handle the pressure of the choice, probably says something he doesn't mean
(you've got the angst point here for raphael, where it feels like he's the only one who wants this so much, so it hurts extra for him)
i don't want this to be a "third act break-up", so to speak, though. in fact! i would love for this to instead establish that the strength of the base dynamic/relationship is such that they can adjust to these instabilities. it's less a big blow-out fight and more a big moment where everything is put on the table, it's all a bit much for everyone, but it does ultimately get them to figure out what to do next
i.e. this is what gets thirteen to finally realise/accept that she wants this, gives up the whole "i'm best on my own and i do not need anyone else", and then she and raphael combine their powers to.... figure out how to talk this through with mephistopheles without setting off his fight-or-flight!!
i think that's all i have on that front for now. to mitigate the more plot heaviness of all that, a few more lighthearted hcs:
thirteen is the tallest. mephistopheles just looks taller a lot of the time because he wears massive heeled boots
raphael likes having his hair played with. more specifically thirteen's longer nails feel nice on his scalp, while mephistopheles has a very soothing stroke (don't tell raphael, but this is also how he pets horses (dragons in jtta thanks to the decisions i made about devildom flora and fauna))
thirteen generally does not like her hair played with or touched in general, but will permit the others to help style it on special occasions. very very rarely she might let them brush it, if she's very tired
mephistopheles doesn't really have any particular feelings about having his hair played with. normally he leans negative ("you DARE touch me, a noble, so frivolously?!"), but for these two he doesn't really care; he just prefers other forms of touch
in general mephistopheles is kind of stiff when it comes to giving/receiving affection, and he hates the awkward feeling so he tries to compensate with gift-giving. raphael appreciates that he's trying his best; thirteen often loses patience and takes charge herself
her favourite thing to do is kick him in the back of the knees (gently) and then catch him like a princess. when he buckles. mephistopheles acts like he HATES it (and he is very embarrassed) but honestly he doesn't mind as long as she doesn't do it in front of other people
raphael makes them all matching keychain ribbons. there is some blustering from the other two but ultimately they all immediately add them to their keys
I think it’d be funny if Raphael treated SpiderIk like some feral stray cat or how the Greeks treated the gods
Like, he’s obviously scared of her so he starts leaving little tributes to try and appease her the way one would leave tributes to say, Poseidon, to try and appease him for good sailing
But he obviously doesn’t want to get too close and spook her so he does that thing you do with feral stray cats where you try to get closer but not too close to where they’d attack
Ik has no idea what Raphael is doing. She just thinks he’s kinda weird
ik is early to class and sitting alone in the classroom waiting for everyone else to get here. the door slowly slides open. raphael peeks inside. ik says "hello". he just blinks with oddly wide, almost frightened eyes, then withdraws again
a minute or so later, he creeps in, still not saying a word. he stops five paces in and stares at her for a moment, then looks back and forth as if expecting someone to show up. when no one does, he very quickly walks ten paces further in, then stops at the far end of the bench ik is sitting on. he sets down a little box. he turns and speedwalks back out of the room.
ik hears his footsteps disappearing very rapidly. she scoots over and opens the box. it's a little cake. she contemplates all of this, then leans back over and looks out the window. raphael is sprinting out of the rad grounds with no signs of stopping his momentum
Raphael coming down to the Devildom and finding a tiny pint sized vigilante that could through him through a wall
I think Luke should either be Spiderkid’s biggest fan or biggest anti but not know it’s Ik
raphael points at ik like "simeon this aura simply is not normal" and simeon is just all innocent "huh what are you talking about?", meanwhile ik is holding a dresser twice her size in one hand and making casual conversation with solomon
lol i have no idea how luke wouldn't figure out that ik is the tiny vigilante who also has spider powers, unless he specifically is somehow never privy to her powers... maybe everyone assumes he knows but luke has just, by sheer coincidence, never witnessed her doing anything out of the ordinary
he's like the mum in phineas and ferb in that simeon will be like "wow luke look!!!" while ik is bounding up the rad clock tower, but then luke turns around and suddenly ik has fallen through a window and is nowhere to be seen
i love the idea of luke having inexplicable beef with spiderkid as well. what is his problem with them??? no one knows, but his tiny body is filled with rage nevertheless
You can’t tell me Solomon and Simeon wouldn’t find how scared Raphael is of Spider Ik hilarious
Girl maybe makes it to waist height
solomon absolutely points and laughs every time raphael shows fear. simeon tries to be more tactful about it but it's clear to anyone watching that he's holding back a little giggle
simeon's like "oh raphael you don't need to be so nervous, ik wouldn't hurt a fly" and then raphael grabs him by the shoulders and whispers furiously "YES SHE WOULD SIMEON SHE'S A SPIDER THAT'S LITERALLY WHAT THEY DO THEY HURT FLIES AND THEY EAT THEM"
it does not help matters that raphael, in the opposite situation to luke, somehow always witnesses it when ik is doing weird spider things
Mephistopheles monologues about Diavolo supporting Spiderkid like he’s in a Shakespearean play while trying to kidnap Ik again
Meanwhile Raphael, who got dragged along again, is slowly inching his way out of the room while he’s distracted, planning his next offering to appease Ik
HI hello sorry it took me a fortnight to check my inbox
mephistopheles has prepared a slideshow with flashcards and a laser pointer and he uses raphael as an audience while he rehearses his presentation about why this all STUPID and everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves, and lord diavolo please come to your senses soon
raphael nods politely whenever mephistopheles turns to him for approval, but his eyes are darting to the door every ten seconds and anyone watching from the outside is just going to think he was kidnapped somehow. in fact ik does see this while out for a trek on the rad walls when she walks by the window, and immediately comes in through the window to make sure everything is alright
mephistopheles immediately launches into a personalised version of his presentation, attempting to get ik herself to see sense here, and only after about an hour of this do either them think to check on raphael. raphael is, of course, no longer here, because he sprinted out of the door as soon as ik arrived
As soon as Mephistopheles finds out Spiderkid is Ik, he joins Raphael in seeing all the weird scary spider things Ik
He tries to bundle her up in a blanket and kidnap her every time
Raphael starts praying for him not to bring Ik’s attention to him
everywhere he looks it gets worse. the small human child is plummeting large distances, hanging from sheer heights, almost getting crushed/stabbed/blown up, giving him 1000000 heart attacks per second
mephistopheles becomes like team rocket constantly trying to capture pikachu, except he believes he is 100% in the right (and he is probably the most reasonable person in this situation)
raphael just nods along while he's ranting while trying to avoid saying anything, but this just ends in mephistopheles thinking raphael is his only ally in this insane world, so now he's getting roped into his looney tunes capture schemes and desperately trying to sidle away without giving away his fear the entire time
