Michael/Hastur/Ligur headcanons
I was just answering a very sweet anon ask about M/H/L headcanons, but I accidentally posted it before finishing it, so I went to edit it, but then I accidentally deleted it instead. Wow. I’m pretty amazing at this tumblr thing.
I’m sorry, anon! On the bright side, I had copied and can now paste some of what I wrote, and maybe the person who sent the ask can find this even though the ask itself is gone forever?
Thank you for the ask! :hearteyes: I did not expect to fall so hard for this ship, and yet here we are. It's awesome to know that you're enjoying it too! I have two sets of mutually exclusive headcanons, because I like thinking about them in different ways, and I'm not strongly attached to any of these, so I'd be delighted if other folks want to add on with their own ideas! The first set:
Michael and Ligur were close before the Fall. They didn't fight each other in the war, because Michael was a big deal general tasked with casting Lucifer down, and Ligur was more like infantry. They were both quietly grateful not to have to face each other, but also heartbroken they didn't even get to say good-bye. Michael nurses a grudge against Lucifer for twisting the minds of so many angels to his cause, most especially Ligur. And Ligur regrets that he couldn't convince Michael to join the rebellion--he's sure that it would have succeeded, with her on their side.
Ligur and Hastur became close soon after the Fall, in the early days of Hell. They understand each other on a deep and mostly wordless level, and they've always got each other's backs.
I think Michael established the backchannels even before Aziraphale and Crowley came to the Arrangement. She is nothing if not practical, and she plays a long game. I don't think she was specifically trying to get back in touch with Ligur--she'd walled off her emotions pretty well, and making a connection Downstairs was purely business.
Ligur similarly had completely buried his memories of spending time with Michael in Heaven. Until this message arrives from Heaven, smelling like her. He gets Hastur to write back, and after some cautious letter exchanges, a meeting is set up in neutral territory on Earth.
Michael shows up at the rendezvous, cool and calm and ready to exchange information . . . and there’s Ligur. It’s an emotional kick to the gut. And he’s with this tall empty-eyed Duke who is clearly protective as hell, and . . . it’s kind of sweet, really. She’s happy that Ligur has found someone. And she’s not wistful at all, and it’s good that Hastur is here, because it will keep things strictly business, and she and Ligur won’t be tempted to revisit their age-old feelings for each other.
Of course, we know how that goes.
Alternatively...
Ligur and Hastur were already an item when they were angels in Heaven. During the war, Michael was the one to throw them out (along with a bunch of other rebelling angels, including the Big Guy).
When Michael began reaching out to form the backchannels, she couldn't get any responses from Hell at first. Demons don't trust each other, and they're certainly not going to trust any angel. But Michael kept patiently reaching out every few centuries.
Finally Beelzebub gives one of Michael’s messages to Hastur and tells him to do something about it. The Lord of the Flies doesn’t have the time and interest for this themself, but they’ve decided it might be worth delegating. And hey, if Michael ends up betraying and killing Hastur, well, they never liked him much anyway.
Hastur brings the invitation to Ligur to discuss. The two of them have a relationship that goes beyond trust, they simply know where the other will be and what the other is thinking, and it gives them a bit more courage and a bit more conviction than a lot of other demons have. They decide to write back to Michael.
Cautious correspondence, eventual meetings on Earth, etc. etc.
Michael is surprised to realize that when she meets with Ligur and Hastur, she feels something extraordinary between them that she’d never expect from demons. Love. But when she brings it up, they act like they have no idea what she’s talking about.
Michael is intrigued. At first she’s studying them almost academically, wondering what makes their relationship tick, but then something happens--maybe the two of them are in danger, and she acts without thinking to protect them--and she realizes that she’s falling for them both.
