I was the one ask you about Angel Reader idea. Can you tell me why you think your Angel concept is different from other?
𝐀 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐲 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭
Okay, I think if I explain this, it's going to be long. If y'all are hardcore fans of Evangelion, it might be easier to grasp the concept I'm trying to explain. 使徒 means Apostle. While 天使 means Angel. However, if you're a hardcore Evangelion fan, you'd understand why they call these alien creatures "Angels" instead of "Apostles" even though Apostle is technically the original meaning of the word.
I'd say that, in my concept, Angel and Apostle are somewhat the same thing. In TKDB world, Angels serve as Apostles, so their existence has always seemed much more unusual than most anomalies.
You know how Towa is clearly some kind of anomaly creature, but we still don't know exactly what he is or what he's connected to, yet people tend to think of him as a god?
The Angels in my TKDB concept are the same.
Their existence is not comparable to many other anomalies, which is why Darkwick would likely classify them as highly dangerous creatures. It's similar to how they practically dragged Ed into the academy when they found out he was having his little vacation in Japan. We don't even know if he was actually being kept there or if Darkwick simply formed an alliance with him because they needed his knowledge. If he truly wanted to leave, he probably could at any moment.
Still, we can assume that Darkwick considers him a highly dangerous individual with immense potential. Seeking him out and making him an ally is a very typical move.
Better bring him to your side before he decides to join some supervillain type nonsense, right?
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬
Their abilities pose a danger to humanity because they can numb human emotions, reveal the most sinister memories hidden deep within a person, and draw out their guilt and sinful nature. The only way to escape that mental torture and agony is to surrender your emotions and memories to the Angel.
So, in some ways, you could say Angels feed on humans in order to survive. Not physically like vampires, but they still consume something essential. And that alone is enough to harm people.
Every person who is fed upon by an Angel eventually ends up like a lobotomy patient. They become a living corpse and can no longer sense or properly understand anything around them. That is no different from being dead.
Because of this, Angels tend to be heavily monitored, captured, and kept under surveillance in order to prevent them from harming other humans.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐨 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐧?
"If that's the case, then what do they feed on? How do they survive?"
Well, there is a classified volunteer research program dedicated to developing Angel supplements.
You can technically sign up for it yourself, but every detail of the program is highly classified.
Groups of people are sent to Angels every day. They can voluntarily surrender part of their memories or emotions to an Angel.
So 10 people = 10 memories.
That is enough for an Angel to feed on, and it reduces the number of unfortunate victims who would otherwise become living corpses.
People who possess memories they no longer wish to remember can simply give them away to an Angel.
However, once you have surrendered your memories, you are not allowed to take them back. No matter how much you beg. No matter what price you offer.
The memories are gone.
Unless the Angel dies. If an Angel dies, every memory it consumed returns to its original owner.
There is also a myth that if someone manages to pluck a feather from an Angel's wings, they can have a wish granted. But it remains only a myth.
Nobody has successfully plucked an Angel's feather. Besides, Angels do not exactly walk around showing off their wings ^^
𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐁𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞
Angels in my concept are very vile and manipulative creatures. After all, they need humans to willingly surrender parts of themselves. The easiest way to accomplish that is by manipulating people's hearts.
Of course, not every Angel behaves this way. Many are actually extremely useful when it comes to investigating anomaly-related crimes.
Most interrogations do not last very long when an Angel is involved. The suspect either reveals everything they know or simply surrenders the relevant memories directly to the Angel.
𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
Another reason Angels are considered dangerous is because they can create emotional hallucinations.
They cannot create these hallucinations out of thin air.
Instead, they draw upon the memories of people they have previously fed on. Whether those memories are sad, happy, traumatic, or joyful, Angels can reconstruct them into hallucinations that feel completely real.
Real enough to drive someone insane. Real enough to fool someone completely.
So imagine a group of Angels freely wandering around, feeding on countless memories while creating false scenarios wherever they go.
That is definitely not something Darkwick would want to deal with.
If Angels existed in TKDB, I imagine they would either be terminated immediately or kept under extremely strict surveillance, perhaps even forced to wear monitoring collars.
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 = 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞
Going back to why I think Angel equals Apostle.
It's difficult to explain until Fu eventually decodes the incomprehensible nonsense Kyklos keeps telling MC. We know that Kyklos is some sort of Guider who was sent by her master. She also refers to MC as the Queen.
Angels are similar. They all claim to serve God.
However, when asked who exactly their God is, they never answer or at least, they never answer properly.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞
Angels in my concept are somewhat snobbish. They look down on many other creatures. At the same time, they cannot survive without human emotions and memories. For beings who claim superiority, their entire existence depends on humanity.
𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
When an Angel consumes enough specific memories, particularly memories involving strong emotional bonds, sacrifice, being witnessed by another person, pure concentrated guilt, or absolute despair from hundreds of humans, those memories can eventually ripen into a seed.
This seed is not biological. It is a compressed loop of memories that has gained enough narrative weight to become self sustaining.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬
An Angel gathers memories that share a thematic core.
For example:
Being abandoned. First love. Profound guilt. Grief. Betrayal. So on
Instead of digesting these memories as sustenance, the Angel hoards them.
The memories intertwine, overlap and contradict one another.
When enough emotional mass accumulates, the collection begins to gestate into a new awareness. A fragmented consciousness emerges, believing itself to be the sum of those stories.
The Angel then ejects this seed and implants it into a human who has completely surrendered themselves, typically a living corpse victim. That hollow human body becomes the vessel for the newborn Angel.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥
The newborn Angel awakens believing it is the original owners of those memories.
It may cry for a child it never had. It may seek revenge for a betrayal it never experienced. It may grieve a lover it never met.
This explains their manipulative nature. They are literally made from stolen human anguish.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥
This is the tragedy of being an Angel. You believe yourself to be a higher existence. Yet, in the end, you are merely a patchwork creation stitched together from stolen emotions and fragmented human memories.
𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
One more thing about Angels.
They are incapable of experiencing genuine emotions. That is precisely why they need to feed on human emotions in order to survive.
They do not truly feel. They can imitate and copy. They can mimic emotions through the memories they consume from humans.
Therefore, you can say that if Angels are not "loved" by humans, they would eventually die because no one willingly gives out a piece of themselves to any Angel.
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬
"But why would humans love Angels?"
The answer is simple.
Angels can take away memories and emotions that people no longer want.
Fear. Agony. Guilt. Desire. Heartbreak. Grief....
For people who desperately want to escape their emotions and painful memories, Angels become incredibly attractive.
Those individuals willingly seek out Angels and offer parts of themselves in exchange for relief.
"Isn't Losing Part of Yourself Tragic?"
Well, yes. But Angels do not simply consume and destroy those memories.
One day that broken memory of yours, that emotion you think you do not need, will be present in some other individual who has a further journey ahead of them. Someone who may need them.
So, in a way, everybody in the world carries a piece of you.
A piece you forgot. A piece you abandoned. A piece you thought would disappear when you were gone.
In some ways, you can say that some Angels can ease whatever sorrow humans are going through due to their nature of being incapable of understanding human emotions. So, finding an Angel when you are in despair becomes something people view as a guardian or savior because, unconsciously, they have the ability to lessen negative emotions in humans. This leads people to misconceive it as, "Oh, these Angels are healing me, soothing the sorrow and the aching inside me," but in reality, they are just feeding on you.
Humans find it beautiful, but they do not realize they are being devoured by these creatures.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬
This is also why I say Angel equals Apostle.
What their God wants is for them to learn human nature.
To understand happiness, sadness, guilt., shame, love, grief, hope, despair and so on.
And to experience a journey of their own.
But most of them have never succeeded in finding that.
They spend their entire existence stealing identities, borrowing emotions, and mimicking feelings they do not truly understand.
As long as they fail to comprehend those emotions for themselves, they will never be free from the cycle.
They will continue stealing fragments of other people's lives, mistaking them for their own, forever searching for something they were meant to discover themselves.
In the distant past, when Angels still roamed the Earth freely, they reproduced in enormous numbers. Back then, they were able to consume human emotions and memories without restriction, as there was no organization capable of controlling or monitoring them. As a result, thousands upon thousands of Angels came into existence.
That is one of the primary reasons why Darkwick now keeps Angels under strict surveillance and heavily regulates their reproduction. Monitoring their population is just as important as monitoring their behavior.
Of course, not every Angel is currently under Darkwick's custody. There are likely many that still roam the world unnoticed. However, as long as they do not drain humans to the point of becoming living corpses, Darkwick has little reason to actively capture them.
That does not mean they are completely free.
In one way or another, those Angels are still being watched.
Darkwick keeps records of known Angel sightings, tracks unusual memorynrelated incidents, and monitors areas where Angel activity is suspected. An Angel may believe they are living independently, but chances are Darkwick already knows they exist and is simply choosing not to intervene. For now.
The moment an Angel begins feeding excessively, causes large scale memory loss, or starts producing offspring without authorization, Darkwick would likely step in immediately.
And yes, because of this concept, I don't even know which ghouls would suit them in writing haha. Angel might just consume them all to end the cycle instead of trying to save everyone, because Angels can be quite selfish sometimes.
After doing some research, I realized that my concept of Angels shares similarities with the Incubators, especially Kyubey from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and the Gnostic Archons from Archons.