#milton verse

[jtownraindancer]

"Awake, arise, or be forever fallen."

-John Milton, Paradise Lost

[imaginethebeautifulworld]

lucifer or prussia

You are cruel, lovely Anon. This is most difficult decision I've ever had to face- And that includes trying to decide what color to paint my shed, what college I wanted to attend, and what to eat for supper.

I think the easiest way to answer this is to give a brief rundown of why I like each of them, and go from there?

Yeh- That seems feasible.

So first we address Lucifer.

When I make mention of him in my writings, odds are the first image to come to mind may be this guy:

Or maybe this guy:

Or perhaps even something like /this guy/:

But when I write about him, I'm picturing this guy:

Lucifer, as a literary character, or as a real entity (which I'm not ruling out, but hey a gal needs her evidence), has become the iconic example of an autonomist, a free thinker, the first true patron for free will and knowledge and curiousity. Milton instilled a deep love within me, one that drove me to read Blake, to hunt down every bit of lore I could on him. My English teacher told me my Curiousity would be my tragic flaw, but the more I learn of Lucifer, the more I long to discover.

I respect his choice. I respect his decision to rebel against the Author. I respect his decision to build his own Paradise, to take the initiative to seek his own path, and the gift he unintentionally gave to Humanity by encouraging us to pursue knowledge.

When I first got into the lore (encouraged strongly by my love for the first guy~), I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Having grown up in a strongly Christian community, I knew that any interest in the Devil was considered a faux pas, and that only the "edgiest" of kids were interested in Demonology. But as I dove back into the book, now far more sympathetic-

So, trying to be succinct again- Lucifer, to me, is the Patron of Autonomy, the Father of Curiousity, the Light Bringer- instilling the first dawn of the Enlightenment into us from the very Beginning.

I actually had an interesting thread with @weepylucifer here about this very thing.

Again, I'm only approaching this at a literary perspective, and see it all as an epic lore millenia in the making, but- Who knows? He'd encourage me to pursue any answer, and honestly?

I have the deepest respect for any character who thrives on others improving themselves and valuing themselves first. He pretty much stands for everything I have ever believed about Humanity.

And then there's Prussia.

Many of you are long familiar with my absolute and inescapable fondness for Gilbert Wilhelm. There is no denying how much I care for the bastard- Most of this blog's theme is a lowkey tribute to him as it is.

But look at this dork:

How could I not love him?

Gil took a while to grow on me. At first, I thought of him as annoying, with a laugh that reminded me of a metal rake grating across gravel. But with time, he wormed his way into my heart.

I love Gil mostly because he has so much untapped potential as a character. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but Himaruya wrote Prussia to be one of the most complex characters in this series, something I come to discover each time there is an update featuring my favorite zombieboi.

In my humblest opinion, Gil seemed the most /human/ of the nations, as well. I often have the habit of latching onto the most humane of any ensemble, some long simmering pride in our species. But it went beyond more than just his inability to eat food with faces, his obsession with anime, his need for all kinds of cute things in his life.

My love came in his determination to keep learning, in his intelligence, in knowing that he taught Japan and Germany, in watching him make his grand entrance with India at a party with a dance routine they had to an art. It came in the moments he showed his vulnerabilities, in the moments he put Hungary's and Austria's happiness before his own.

He is wicked intelligent, a total dork, and carries this tough guy act with him in an effort to supress how vulnerable he can truly be.

I found a lot of myself in him- the belief that we have no true friends (which I've accepted is no longer true), our faux confidence (a skill that has gotten me far, actually), and our never ending habit of casually adopting every child we happen to come across. These similarities tugged my heartstrings, tapped into a chord that no other character had before, and honestly truly hasn't since.

Gil became my favorite slowly, then all at once.

So, Anon- I think that's where my answer stands.

Lucifer I treasure as one of my favorite mythological characters, right up there with The God of Stories (Loki, baby~) and The God of Knowledge (Enki, my dude~). ((FItting that all my favorites are regarded as purveyors of knowledge AND some variant of mischeif. Hmmmm......))

But Gil-

Gilbert Beilschmidt is one of the most fleshed out characters I have ever encountered. For that, he remains my favorite, and if the choice came down to Lucifer or Gil?

Come now. I think the decision should be fairly obvious.

[jtownraindancer]

raphael x reader: now i understand

[song sprint part two, this time to “starry, starry night.” tried to keep this as true to raphael’s onscreen personality as possible, with a little artistic leeway to incorporate a tiny bit of what i picked up from ‘paradise lost.’]

*

The breeze coming through the window carried with it the scent of drying grass, the sound of crickets, the crisp taste of a warm evening.

The sky danced in blazing golds and sparkling greens, ferocious reds and glorious blues.

The fireworks were near enough that the refractions played on the glass within the ancient window panes, but also distant enough that the sound was nothing more than a muffled roar, echoing from leagues away.

There was a magic to the scene, fireflies dancing in the garden, the fairy lights strung about your room and the patio adding a soft glow that nearly reminded her of Heaven.

She counted the stars glistening above her, shining from a shimmering sky. Part of her yearned to return to the heavens, spread her wings and twirl among them, fall seemingly endless into the light.

The continued ballad of your blade etching patterns into Ponderosa provided enough of a tether to keep her rooted to the present, gaze drifting lazily back to where you were hunched over the large piece of wood.

You hummed quietly to yourself as you worked, fingers tracing gently over each new lines you would carve, reshaping this single branch into a piece of art.

She was mesmerized, watching the way your eyes shined even as you struggled against the grain, lost in the kaleidoscopic dance of your irises.

For a moment, she dreamt of falling headlong into them as well, finding the same sparkling splendour of any star cluster.

Her Father's craftsmanship-

Shaping patterns into every quark, spinning His design into some spectacular sequence she could study for aeons.

That creativity, that passion, that dedication and imagination-

He had chosen Humanity to bestow these gifts to, giving them just enough of a spark to wonder, to dream, and Lucifer bolstering their curiosity and resolve enough to pursue it.

It was a marvel to behold, and there was an intimacy to watching your hands shape the universe to your will, as small a corner as it was.

You worked with such dedication, such careful focus-

She admired your deftness, awed slightly by the delicate designs appearing from the application of such a deadly instrument.

Who knew that your blade- one she had often seen dripping scarlet and gold with both blood and ichor- could also be used for such beauty?

The knife- Humanity's first true tool- capable of bringing both life and death when placed in the right hands.

Raphael turned her attention once more to the sky, losing herself to the memories of a simpler time, soothed by the shimmering starlight and the soft sonata of roses slowly being shaped from pine.

*

[jtownraindancer]

Raphael x Reader: Imagination

*

There had been a time, oh-so-long-ago, when you had believed Lucifer to be the greatest orator of the Archangels.

Surely the First Rebel, the one who had convinced 1/3 of the Host to fall with him- Surely he was the most skilled at speaking.

Upon discovering that Lucifer's eloquence and allure had dimmed after millennia of torture however, you began to consider others.

Perhaps the honour would fall to Gabriel, Patron of Communications, the angel to whom your station manager always prayed before going on air during football games- Perhaps he was the most articulate.

Upon introduction to the Trickster, however, witnessing him cast mini galaxies across his fingertips, casting acquaintances into dimensions of his own devising- You had accepted that the Messenger preferred to relay his meaning through actions over words.

You next considered Michael, the Warrior, the Viceroy. To lead armies in his Father's absence, to have the whole of Abrahamic Creation at his command, surely he must have some skill with a silvered tongue.

It seemed all of your assumptions fell short however, Michael speaking only when absolutely necessary, each syllable cast in careful consideration, minced to perfect necessity.

Of most surprise, it was Raphael, the Healer, who graced you with her words, weaving whimsy whenever she gained a moment away from her eldest brother's side.

She was a wonderful speaker, sharing with you stories of primordial creation and the first breaths of starlight, creating clear images of the foundations of the universe. She shared with you stories of Heaven, of her brothers, of the years before her Father had trapped His Sister, of the epochs before Lucifer's supposed corruption, before the Great War.

Each tale teased further intrigue, each retelling shaping into a more corporeal form. The only limit to your fantasies was your own imagination, painting caryatid columns in nebula, streams trickling in starlight, every hall gilded with greenery and precious gemstones.

You were overwhelmed with longing, an aftereffect of your orator's own nostalgia.

The Golden Age she shared with you, the stories she sometimes shaped into reality against the homely backdrop of your living room-

It was a realm neither of you could visit.

For that era was gone, a life she could not return to, a world you would never know.

But with her guidance, with her support, you would find your own way to preserve it, to share the former opulence and whimsy of the celestial sphere.

*

[jtownraindancer]

anyway as a writer and long-time lover of fiction in general, chuck is officially up there as one of my all time favorites because of how much depth and how many years of foreshadowing were poured into developing him into the ultimate antagonist. i loved chuck since we first met that dorky prophet, i've hated god since... probably forever? and now the writers are finally bridging that dichotomy into a more coherent tapestry that has me reeling. haven't been this excited to see the next update in a long, long time.

[jtownraindancer]

"Be strong, live happy, and love."

-John Milton, Paradise Lost

[jtownraindancer]

"I will excite their minds with more desire to know, and to reject envious commands, invented with design to keep them low whom knowledge might exalt equal with gods."

-John Milton, Paradise Lost

[jtownraindancer]

"Death is to be wish'd."

-John Milton, Paradise Lost