Look, your honour, I cross my heart PROMMY i have a normal, super socially acceptable and totally not para-social relationship with @prince-liest 's oc.
I am deeply enjoying giving them asymmetrical freckles, I find it REALLY fun to draw :D
Yapping under the cut!
Wanted to play around with coloured pencils bc I fr fr haven't done that in ages, ALSO wanted to play with a more... hazbin-y art style for hazbin art... I'm pretty happy with how it turned out over all! (not entirely sold on the hair, OR the colours OR the way I simplified the umbrella??? more research and testing required I think!!! Exciting!!) Really really happy with the shape of their legs and the pop of their hip, I think it came out dynamic, even if the balance is a little off, but I like to think Tzafael is about to spin the umbrella like Alastor does his staff, maybe pop it over their shoulder after
I wonder if Tzafael would wear their halo... Maybe they'd wear it like Lute wears Adam's, like a bracelet or necklace? Pondering if they'd WANT people to know they're a Seraphim or if it's more of a 'I won't tell but I won't lie' situation? ESPECIALLY after the extermination's start, or after Vox starts openly inciting war. What sort of magic would they have? Emily's is water themed, so probably something that's on the surface pretty similar but fundamentally different?
A couple (2) people have expressed interest in the Hazbin Hotel OC I mentioned in the latest chapter of 666, which is exactly all of the encouragement I needed to post about them! They're like 50% OC and 50% sona. This lovely sketch is by @gendermeh!! I got permission to post it even though they are also turning it into a really lovely digital art piece! <3
They are a former seraph and exorcist that, to steal a phrase from Good Omens, didn't so much fall as saunter vaguely downward. Sera's weird sibling that liked flexing their power a little too much and got sent to the murderous girl scouts to work it out of their system, which backfired tremendously when they liked hell too much and decided to stay.
Nowadays they spend most of their time nesting in the Pride Ring, collecting friends (contracts) to show off for, avoiding Lucifer like the plague while contemplating whether they should maybe reach out, and carousing around whichever part of hell currently feels like it would be the most entertaining to throw their celestial-class weight around in.
Factoids about the creature otherwise known as Tzafael!
7.5 feet tall.
While the halo always hovers above their head, its actual orientation is always such that the center of it faces heaven, like a satellite dish that still receives exorcist communications.
The little feather antennae are fully mobile and rise and fall based on their current expressiveness. If they get particularly spooked or annoyed, most of the feathers in their hair (and wings) start bristling up and out.
The eyes on the wings are fully functional and blink in tandem with the ones on their face. They also don't vanish when they make their wings disappear, instead remaining as a floating halo of eyeballs.
Powers include localized omniscience and minor foresight, good for: being hard to hit in a fight, and being obnoxious by unintentionally interrupting people who are still speaking.
Yes, the umbrella tip is angelic steel.
Just like Sera, they have a birdform, though they rarely use it! They are magpie-shaped.
VERY good grip strength.
They like fish. :) To eat? To keep in an aquarium? Yes.
Do you have any plans on writing anything starring Tzafael, or are they more "this is my toy I throw around in my head for funsies" :3c?
I don't have any explicit plans at this time but it's less because I don't intend to use them in my writing and more because I haven't created the right opportunity for it, ehehe.
I used to RP a lot and honestly I'd love to RP with Tzafael, but the type of RP community I am used to and prefer isn't one that I've seen around the Hazbin fandom...and I am honestly not sure that I have time and energy for regular RP replies right now, admittedly! But for non-RP purposes they'd probably make a solid antagonist in an actual fic if I can get around their main character syndrome tendencies. :eyes: I do love using minor OCs for plot reasons, though, so at the very least I'll probably drop little references like I did in Transmission 666.
(I also really want to commission an official reference for them eventually but haven't gotten around to it yet! Finally got my new phone, LOL, so I'll have to save money for a little bit, and find a person who won't mind their existing references being very patched-together from different stuff.)
Some random thoughts about Tzafael (my Hazbin Hotel "Schrodinger's fallen" seraph OC):
I initially wrote them as having an interest in fishkeeping, but I think I'm going to expand that into a general interest in plants, gardening, and creating small, self-running ecosystems in general, with the wider implication that despite sauntering vaguely downward, they still have a strong attachment to both the Garden they grew up in and an investment in replicating it (with a touch of "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" God-complex that they absolutely don't recognize).
In theory, they are invested in allowing more imperfection and true nature, but in practice they get quickly frustrated with imperfections in their work that they see as bad (pests in their plants, aquascapes that look unruly and unappealing) and have a tendency to have a nuclear, heavy duty approach to finding resolutions.
It's similar to their approach to their contracts: they are very protective of their owned souls in a way that feeds their own ego and leans towards patronizing, but also desire for their relationships to not actually inconvenience them and are ready to amputate any contract that starts feeling like more of a drag than it's worth.
@velvet-games drew their wonderful take on a design of my Hazbin OC Tzafael because apparently it is their goal this week to bring me immense joy. +^+!!!!
Look at those head wings! And the floating eyes - remember, you're not ever allowed to forget the looming presence of a seraph's six wings! We're all friends here! One of us is just going to be very intimidating about it at all times! (People say it's rude to avoid eye contact, surely they're just covering their bases!)
You and Tzafael live rent free in my head fr, I am going insane over your fics 24/7 and have to stop myself from talking about your fic with uninterested parties who wouldn't understand why I'm so obsessed ALL THE TIME. I am cursed.
Do you have anymore interesting Tzafael lore?
-☠️
Ps. Why does art take so long I wanna post my painting already
I just hope you're half as feral about my writing as I am about the fact that you're out here being interested in my Hazbin Hotel OC, because the sound this ask prompted in me is best described as the verbal equivalent of a keyboard smash. U bring me so much joy, spirits.
Ahem!!!!! AN EXCUSE TO TALK ABOUT TZAFAEL!
@spoondrifts, who knows and has studied significantly more about the subject than me, helped me figure the name "Tzafael"! To paraphrase them: The suffix -el means "of god". The hebrew word for eyes is einayim, which in its construct state would be something like eineiel/ayneyel, roughly transliterated "tzafah." It also means to watch/observe but also to predict or foresee, so "Tzafael" could mean a witness or beholder of god.
Tzafael is younger than Lucifer and knew him only a little prior to his fall. Their relationship with him is akin to how you would see the queer uncle who got kicked out of the family because he came out when you were like ten years old and didn't really understand much, except now you're also queer, twenty-nine, have established your own life, and suddenly realized you're living in the same city. Do you reach out? Do you duck behind a corner when you see him?
They... have not technically fallen. Nobody kicked them out. There's nothing physically stopping them from returning to heaven. That said: they do not often return to heaven, and heaven puts a lot of effort into not talking about why or what, exactly, they might be doing, but surely it's better that they stay gone. Nobody wants another Lucifer situation. And it's not like that! Really. Really. They haven't officially done anything wrong. Don't say the word "rogue," not even quietly.
This does mean that their halo still works and they still receive exorcist broadcast communications, though! You'd be surprised at how far the signal goes. It makes for a very interesting tea time, and they fucking love to gossip. It comes with being the Witness.
Their cardinal sin is pride. They enjoy the fact that they're almost the heaviest hitter possible in hell purely by courtesy of being a seraph so much. They like to think they stay classy about it, but those who know them also know that the best way to get a favor from the fallen seraph is to be polite and stroke their ego.
hi! I always get super excited about fandom OCs, so it's been such a treat to hear about Tzafael! I worked a little on a design for them (lmk if you're ok with me posting it) but a lot of questions came up:
this is gonna sound really vague, but what's their vibe? I'm getting "pretends to be a gentleman but will ABSOLUTELY fish for compliments and randomly fuck with people cause of the power play" but I could be totally off. does he ever snap at people/hurt them if they're not polite? are they super condescending like some of the other angels or is he more like adam and kind of,,, uhh openly a dick? or are they more of a crowley type (kind of gooey inside and mostly left heaven because it was too bureaucratic and constricting)? do they burst into hell buildings and just incite chaos? again I know this is super vague but like ,,, basically I need a dialogue snippet to know what they're like lol
what's their accent? do they have special vocal quirks/tics? special catchphrases or words they use a lot?
do they have any real friends in hell (not just contracts)? do they miss anyone from heaven?
did they like being an exorcist?
hobbies?
what are the implications of the magpie/eyeball motifs? do they have a transcendent sense of sight? are they overstimulated or even haunted by the fact that they have to see so much all the time? do they have any bird habits (preening is a must lol but anything else?)? do they have a nictitating membrane and freak people out by blinking sideways with all of their eyes?
is their magpie form like a really scary demon form or are they just like. a normal bird. (that's way funnier imo)
I'm sorry but,,, I'm such a sucker for angst. where's his soft spot? how does he react to having it poked? does he lash out like a panicked animal or break down and try to hide?
do they have sharp teeth? I've seen that in other art of them but since they're not technically fallen I'm thinking of just doing fangs
how would he react to seeing a child (is he good with children? does he terrify/terrorize them?)?
what does "very good grip strength" imply???
whew, sorry for that monster of an ask! you said you liked talking about them so I just vomited everything that came to mind while I was drawing him, but definitely don't answer anything you don't find interesting!
PLEASE DO NOT APOLOGIZE YOU HAVE MADE MY EVENING. Both by offering me a delightful plethora of questions to answer about Tzafael, and also by drawing them aaaaaaaah- I would absolutely love to see you post it!! <3
Long post incoming!!
Their vibe: They are still an angel, and subscribe to morals that involve seeing themselves as a relatively good person - kind of like Lucifer's sense of superiority over sinners! So they are polite and friendly in a way that sometimes makes it evident that they know they can afford to be because they're above most of the people around them. They won't overtly fish for compliments, but that's why stroking their ego is so effective: they won't ask for it, but it's their most major vice. It's like petting a purring tiger. They enjoy when their presence is shocking, so they will absolutely walk casually into places where they know anyone able to identify them will freak out, and they'll visibly find the results amusing, but they won't outright admit to doing it on purpose. When they actually get into conflict with people, they like to look like they're being the bigger man about it, but they're honestly biting at the bit for a reason to go casually nuclear on someone who looks like they deserve it.
Speech patterns: Tangible but not over-the-top valley girl accent. They think it's fucking hilarious. Mildly prone to nefarious laughter, though it's generally because they're genuinely amused.
Friendships: Their concept of friendship is a little bit detachedly celestial. They definitely have friends in every ring, but they're bad about accidentally not visiting for long periods of time and they're prone to feeling like nobody in hell can genuinely understand them. They make contracts with relative ease with people they are friendly with specifically because they like feeling like the person people come to for powerful assistance. They'd probably do best seeing if they can befriend any of the seven sins, to minimize the baseline imbalance of power level and lifespan, but it just feels awkward when they all know Lucifer. The unassuming, baseline comraderie is the main thing they miss about heaven.
On exorcism: They fucking loved the power trip of being an exorcist. Too much. That's why they stayed in hell in the first place. And then they thought about it too damn long and got to know the locals, and now it's just fucking awkward to go around killing indiscriminately. Knowing too much really took the fun out of it! They used to join in on the exorcisms when they came around again, but not anymore.
Hobbies: They keep fish! They like setting up self-maintaining freshwater aquariums of various sorts, and particularly enjoy feeling like they've captured a genuine slice of nature in a fish tank. They visited Vox's shark tanks once and thought they were boring as hell because the sharks are mechanical and he doesn't have any live flora. They also enjoy being a huge gossipy bitch, which is arguably like 90% of what they actually use their powers for.
Powerset: While Lucifer has the power of Creation, Tzafael has the power of Sight. They see a great many things, and they see those things As They Are. So, basically: localized omniscience. They can't read minds, but they can tell if some is lying to them, and they can also see everything within a certain vicinity (depending on how hard they're pushing it), including through walls. This isn't weird or overwhelming to them: it's how they were designed to exist! If anything, losing that would make them feel blind. They also have a very small amount of foresight, which is mostly useful for being hard to hit in a fight and also being obnoxious by unintentionally interrupting people's sentences. This does not help them come off as less condescending.
Leaving heaven: Seeing the truth of things as they are, and seeing everything around makes the facade of heaven frustrating and tedious to swallow. They prefer hell because it feels more honest!
Bird traits: Absolutely hell yes to the nictitating membranes on every single eyeball, which also doubles as protection against any eyeball stabbing! They preen, they adore shiny shit, they love to gab and gossip, and while they are mostly a magpie, any bird seraph is going to be a bird of prey in some way or another, so it is as difficult to break their grip as it would be that of a raptor of similar size. I think it's implied that all heavenly and some demonic beings have various stages of their true forms, so their humanoid birdform is a similar style to what we see from Sera in the first few seconds of meeting her, and their true form is closer to what we see of Stolas at the end of Truth Seekers in Helluva Boss, except with about a billion more looming eyeballs. As for their most humanoid form's teeth: I figured they'd stayed in hell long enough for their teeth to go sharp like Lucifer's, but I am also super down for fangs if you have a design you're playing with!
Children: Ehhh...kinda cute, when they're not Tzafael's responsibility. Frequently funny in small doses or from a distance. Delightfully honest or else delightfully poor liars. Often just not their bag, though, especially if they kids are spoiled or self-absorbed (sorry, what was that? "Hypocrite"? Must have misheard.)
ANGST: They are a social animal and they miss their flock! They keep mooning about potentially reconnecting with Lucifer because they fucking miss heaven, except heaven doesn't feel like it did when they were a kid, so it doesn't feel like home. Any small inconveniences, they feel free to whine about with deliberately humorous dramatics, but when they feel genuinely hurt, they withdraw, hide in their nest, and keep it to themselves as best as they can. It hurts the ego to admit that kind of weakness when they're supposed to be a fucking seraph, especially when they feel alone and without equals in their place in the world. But even though heaven turned out to be a damn lie, they miss family. On a more minor note, they're also a poor sport about being genuinely made fun of in bad faith.
hello!!! I have accidently found myself obsurdly obsessed with your seraph oc, is it alright if I draw them? I am going insane over them. thinking about their umbrella.
-☠️
"Is it alright if -" you MAKE MY DAY???? Please feel ABSOLUTELY free, haha, I'm still obsessed with my own OCs at heart and it's honestly very delightful and flattering that you are interested in drawing them! :D
Here's a basic/general color ref Gossie was okay with me sharing of the general flat colors! It's sans the exorcist wing bars and the, like, iridescence of the magpie wing colors, but in case you wanted an approximate idea of what general colors go where!
