silverdphantom

[silverdphantom]

Iblis' child and motherhood

So... With that new chapter, we learnt something I was honestly not expecting AT ALL. Iblis, King of Fire, a fierce opponent of humankind, who had also been expressing a strong dislike for Nephilim... had conceived a child herself ?!

That raise a lot of thoughts in my head, hence this tumblr post ^^. I was really not that expecting that "backstory" for this character for several reasons.

She hates humans.

I thought that before Satan, the Grigori were the only royal demons with hybrid descendants (meaning that Azazel was the only Ba'al who had fathered Nephilim).

Before this chapter, Iblis was little more than a powerful opponent but was hardly a real character.

... How did she have him ???

Not in the sense "How do you make a baby ?" ^^', rather in the sense : "How/why did a demon like herself go through all the trouble to conceive, carry, birth and raise him ?"

"For fun." This is the explaination we got from her, and it perplexes me a bit. I don't have the experience of pregnancy, but from what I got from others, even if can be a very happy moment in the best case, it is certainly not "fun". For demons like Satan and Azazel, who are possessing male bodies, I can imagine the conception can be qualified of just "fun". The difference is, Iblis is in a female body, she is the MOTHER, not the father : she had to do all the hard work. Nine months of pregnancy, hormonal imbalance, body alterations and most of all, a very painful CHILDBIRTH. And after, you have still years of child rearing ahead (unless you have someone else do it for you, but it looks like she did her part in raising him. And she must have done at least some things correctly because he looks pretty attached to her).

It seems a bit contradictory with the characterisation of the demons, and more particularly the Demon Kings. They are hedonists, careless, selfish and easily bored, who go after materialistic pleasure and whose number 1 priority is to avoid pain. All of them (as far as we know, given that we never met the original Grigori who side with humankind) see themselves as above humans. Iblis especially wants to remain beautiful, young and perfect. So, why did she accept all the troubles to get that kid ?

Did she even love him, in her own way ? She liked raising him, yet she killed him when he dared to grow old and weak like any human. She similarly hates all other Nephilim, yet I can't help but thinking the way she acts around Egyn has something to do with her lost motherhood and long-dead son. And Lucy herself shows sympathy for the loss of her child, as if she thought this was a source of pain for Iblis.

Are demons unable to love, as Mephisto suggested, or is there something more ? A psychological defense mechanism ?

Well she is "dead" now, so we might never know more, unfortunately.

PS: Do we have to expect more Nephilim reveal ???

[silverdphantom]

"...but saving me makes him so happy !"

So funny and cute at the same time !

And that little grin... dear lord, at that moment I really thought Aziraphale hat, to some extent, realized how Crowley felt about him.

[silverdphantom]

Last Line Challenge

Rules - In a new post, show the last line you wrote (or drew) and tag as many people as there are words (or however many as you like.)

Tagged @searchingforakeythatdoesntexist <3

Only sometimes, when the wizard slept and dreamt, did the clouds escape his grasp and dare to show in inch of starry sky ; tiny, melancholic flickers of light, forever out of reach.

Nothing to do with any fandom, just the last of the prompt I wrote for my writing club ^^.

Tagging

@vanam0nde

(my dear, you have been tagged twice !)

[silverdphantom]

I love so much his expression: slightly sad, resigned but overall solemn and determined.

He does not want it, but for the sake of the world and maybe also Crowley, he will try to take on the role of Supreme Archangel. Even all alone...

Archangel Aziraphale (Good Omens) - Tribute to @dyleeart 's animatic

(My journey with a Graphic Tablet Pad: Day 34)

I wanted so much to start posting here with this one!

I CRUSHED so bad on Good Omens, and while I was trying to cope with the season 2 finale, I had the pleasure to discover this animatic made by @dyleeart. So much hidden details, so wonderful to watch! (and please take your time and read their "Little details+commentary" comment, they put real dedication and love for GO in this animated piece of art).

Their animated Aziraphale, bowing in the end, greatly inspired me (so strong as he is sacrificing his life on Earth, and yet so humble... and sad, yes). I tried to draw my own Aziraphale in the same spirit, and I had a lot of blood tears fun with his SIX wings.

Thanks to @dyleeart, I was so happy to have a little chat in comments with someone who has the same love and respect for our dear Aziraphale.

[silverdphantom]

I have also the suspicion that Jeremiah is on the Order's side. The only time we saw him acting genuine, he was begging Lucifer not to kill everybody. And he appears to be a Nephilim of Shiemihaza as well, so in term of family he should logically be on the side of the Order. He has 0 interest in Lucifer winning. And the reason he gave Draculescu for helping seems suspicious.

He is still very shady and it does not mean he is not potentally a villaneous character on thé nice guys side.

I still think that Jeremiah's goal is more related in helping the order than helping the Illuminati tbh

Like Dragulescu's reason to betray the order makes sense due to the dude being obsessed with his research and ambition, so he wanting to continue helping Lucifer makes a lot of sense because he is a mad scientist (like Shiro described him) and that's his life work

But Jeremiah's betrayal being aligned with him wanting to actually help Lucifer does not make sense to me because there is no moment during the flashback that he sees Lucifer as a leader or smth, he actually begs him to spare the children because the order bust their asses to help him get a body

So I think that he wanting to help Luci getting a body is not because he wants him to win, but because he knows that a body is what he always wanted and the second he gets one, he will stop threatening Assiah and humans.

I still do not know how Shiemi is related in the whole plan but I'm sure this is why Angel is, because he IS the perfect host for Lucifer and the only thing that can make his anger go away.

[silverdphantom]

Is Satan absorbing the power of the demon kings ?

In chapter 134, we saw Satan carelessly destroy Astaroth previous physical incarnation, and something quite interesting happened :

In this image, it looks like Satan is absorbing absorbing Astaroth's physical materials and using them to create his new body.

And at the end of the chapter it looks like Satan developped a new power :

He started to use Roth. As if he kind of absorbed Astaroth essence and power at the same time as his body.

Can he do that for all of the demons kings (+emperors), absorbing their powers ?

Well, I think he already absorbed one more of them even before. Remember what type of powers he used against the exorcists :

Lightning bolts. Which are a power of Air. And in which body did Satan incarnate : an Azazel clone.

Conclusion : Satan already absorbed two demon kings and will be from now on able to use Roth and Air in addition to Blue Flames.

The Demon kings are part of Satan

This is something that some people already discussed about some time ago on the Discord servers. In the volume 19, we were given this chart :

Mephisto states clearly that the Ba'als and the Sols are parts of Satan (or even alternative personnalities). Some people theorized that then Satan should have all the powers of the demon kings and Emperors in addition to his own blue flames. Well, it looks like those people were perfectly right. Yes, Satan can use the powers of all the kings and emperors (and possibly of all the demons).

An interesting question : can Rin do the same ?

In any case, I am practically sure we will see Satan aiming to absorbed all of the kings (at least those on his side), not caring that he would seriously harm or even kill them. I feel kind of bad for Lucifer.

Maybe he does not need to absorb Iblis and Armumahel to use Black and Red Flames, as there are already components of his Blue Fire.

Let's just hope there is one guy he does not manage to absorb, because if Satan ever gains Time powers, it will be game over.

[silverdphantom]

Analysis of the Demon Kings cover and forshadowing for the villains

I think we can agree that this cover below is one amazing piece of art from Kato :

This is the first time we see the ennemies demon kings (Satan included in his fresh new body) together, in a cover with such beautiful colors, and with all of them showing their face (well except Astaroth, still a mushrom at this point).

But, with the release of chapter 134, I started to wonder if there is not something more to be taken from this gorgeous cover.

The cover can be divided in three different parts, three different perspectives :

First, let’s look at the parts separately, then together.

1. Iblis, Egyn and Astaroth

The three demon kings, loyal since the beginning to their eldest brother Lucifer and to the idea that the low humans need to pay for the suffering they are all facing, are standing together, side by side. They are the first characters you notice when looking at the cover, thanks to Iblis’ bright flames. They are looking in the same direction, almost the same direction as Satan, with apparent enthousiasm (at least Iblis, because once again Astaroth is mushrom and Egyn is hidden in a shark suit... talk about royalty).

2. Satan

He is standing way behind, and above all the other characters. Even if he is looking in the same direction as the three siblings, looking just as greedily happy, the meaning is pretty clear. Yes, their goals are from now on the same, destroying Assiah, but he is not among or with them. He is above them all, he is the demon god and them, the kings, will just be his servants in the conquest of Assiah.

In Chapter 134, we saw how little Satan care about those demons who nonetheless did everything in their power to bringing him back to life. When he destroyed Astaroth previous incarnation, he showed absolutely zero remorse. And yet, as soon as the King of Roth was back into a physical body, his first thought was to go back immediately to Satan’s side. There is something deeply saddening to see those demon kings, who have been the rulers of Gehenna for millenia, suddenly throwing all of their efforts into gaining the attention and approval of a forty-years-old man-child, who does not give a damn about them apart from their willingness to serve him. Us humans would call that an abusive relationship.

3. Lucifer and his human followers

This part is by far the most surprising. You would expect Lucifer, the demon king who first lead the war on humankind and the first to bow to Satan, to be standing with his siblings, ready to do Satan’s bidding. But not.

He is slightly behind, in paler colors, with his human followers. Homare and the Lundstrom twins are facing a completely different direction, not competely opposed to Satan’s, but still clearly different. Lucifer’s body is facing the same direction, apart from his head, turned on the side so that he can look in the same direction as his siblings. But instead of looking enthousiastic like them (after all, HE finally succeeded, he is the one who made the bet to make Satan a good body, and he just WON), I would rather describe his expression as dark and maybe... bitter.

I think there might be a lot to unpack here. Lucifer appears separated from the other demons kings and Satan, in position and attitude, and is surrounded by humans. Something a bit crazy for this character, who was apparently shown to be the most anti-human demon of all. Even more interestingly, the red of his cloack is exactly the same color as Homare’s coat just next to him, to the point at first look both characters look like one instead of two distinct individuals. They appear as a unit, something a I remember noticing in some other pieces of art. Unlike the other demons, he is not in a position of domination but slightly bending.

Can we see in this cover a kind of forshadowing for the future evolution of Lucifer’s character ? He is not entirely facing the same direction as Satan, and instead of standing with his siblings, he is shown standing with humans and fusionned with a human character. Is it possible, that inspite of everything, Lucifer might start being the one questionning Satan’s goals and destruction, even though he was the one at the origin of the whole project ?

And also : do the humans around him symbolise that he might start to question his negative view on humanity ? And especially Homare : in the present timeline, they are almost always scene together, as in this image.

Conclusion : Iblis, her dearest brother Egyn and Astaroth, seem ready to do whatever Satan ask of them and Satan himself looks certainly ready to break down Assiah beneath his feet. In comparison, Lucifer looks almost hesitant, as to forshadow that his character might actually be faced with doubts.

It does not mean Lucifer could ever let go of his dream of creating a new “gentler” world in his own words. It does not mean he will ever have a redemption arc (I am convinced of the contratry). But in a narrative point of view, it would be extremely satisfying to see this character in particular facing doubts, and possibly sad consequences for his actions in the pursuit of his destructive dream.

What do you think ?

[silverdphantom]

A wonderful fic and, almost character study on the mysterious family of our Shiemi, the Nephilim of Shiemihaza, especially her grandmother. So happy I have found it !!

I can't recommand it enough. It perfectly fits the canon, and is so well written.

NB : I can't wait for the gang to learn the truth so we get even more material on that. Well, technically speaking, Rin should have already understood. If he is not so slow... And Izumo and Ryugi have suspicions.

A garden of dreams

It seems the garden has a long-awaited visitor today.

She can hear Shiemi’s pattering footsteps even from inside the shop as they race down the small path of stones. Soon enough, the door to the shop opens, followed by the crisp ring of the bell.

She fills the teapot without haste, sitting down at the farther side of the table to keep the garden in her view.

“Are you here for supplies?” she prompts.

The floor creaks. “Nope. I just thought I’d visit.”

“You keep bringing him here,” she says without looking up. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed.”

Shiro smiles with a sort of weary fondness, sighing as he braces a hand on the table to sit down. “They’re a good influence on each other.”

He’s been getting older these years, becoming exhausted of vitality, in a way. She can hear the strain of his bones even under the slight thump of the cushion. None of the other experimental subjects lived as long as he has.

“I haven’t spoken to him,” she tells Shiro, even as she watches the boy smile when he picks a speck of grass out of Shiemi’s hair, “but Shiemi does like when he visits.”

He is a boy soft like cotton, with gentle hands trained to hold steel, but here in her garden, he is clumsy in spite of good intentions. The ferns hold a grudge, and so does the bugleweed that was stepped on last week. They are petty creatures though.

Shiemi has not had a friend her age before. It’s only natural she’s delighted.

“How old is he now?”

It’s an idle question. She was present the day he was born, after all.

“Thirteen,” Shiro replies. “He’ll be taller than me soon, I bet.”

“Thirteen,” she murmurs, “and he’s an exorcist.” She pours two cups of jasmine tea, watching the steam curl its mellow fragrance into the air. “He has his mother’s good looks.”

“Yeah.” Shiro pauses for a moment before he smiles. “He does.”

“Where is the other one?”

Shiro takes a sip of tea, but their eyes don’t meet. “Oh, he’s probably lazing around at home.”

She traces her fingers along the smooth rim of her cup. “Good. You were wise not to bring him here.”

Shiro breathes a laugh out through his nose. “Of course,” he agrees, and that is all they will say.

To keep reading! :)

[silverdphantom]

The more I think about it, the more I feel sorry for all the demons of the Blue Exorcist universe. Being a demon sucks.

If you happen to be born powerful, you can't have a human body to enjoy the fruits of Assiah. No, you get to rot slowly and painfully from inside out for years until your body crumbles. People can keep you alive, but you'll be in agony every second you're conscious and you know they're only doing this for themselves. This isn't any life, and if you were human they'd have euthanized you ages ago, but you're a demon, and they don't care. You're just a ticking bomb and they would rather see you cough blood every day forever than have you end it all. Life in Assiah is hell, and Gehenna is likewise. The only way out is the only death you can imagine, but they don't care. They don't love you.

You crave human attachments and love but you also don't. You know, logically, that those feelings make you weak. They make you malliable, like clay, and you'll do things you know will bite you later, for creatures so much weaker than you. And you'll get hurt, betrayed, humiliated. Even that one person, that one person you thought you could trust and love purely, turned their back on you. But nobody is really stupid enough to love a demon. A demon should not love.

That's right. They'll dress you in the finest cloth they have, wrap you in gold; bracelets, necklaces, crowns, anything. They'll feed you like a king, obey your every command, throw themselves at your feet. But they don't love you. They want you, they need you, but that's not love. They want your prizes, your boons. That's not respect, or care. And the second you figure that out, and you see the damage they've done to you and yours, you'll pitch the biggest fit, but you'll still be the fool who thought humans were your friends. They don't love you.

[silverdphantom]

I have other arguments to add to that great discussion ! And I totally support the theory of Lightning being a Nephilim of Azazel !

His abilities: remember when he forcefully removed his anti-magic menacles:

Menacles should be enough to imprison a human being and their anti-magic properties should have kept him from invoking any demon. Clearly, his own colleagues were not expecting Lightening to be able to free himself. They underestimated him gravely: Lightening was much more powerful than they thought.

Vayu and Indra are some of Azazel’s most powerful servants, so I don’t see them obey an ordinary human. They are the type of demons who would answer only their own king... or his descendants.

More significative, there is the moment when Lightning tries to kill Satan’s vessel. First, he tries to behead him using a sylphid, but the second tries almost succeeded, but this time I don’t have the impression he is using a demon:

Normal exorcist exorcist can’t use magic by themselves. The only other characters we saw doing that in the manga are Shiemi and Rin, respectively Nephilim of Shimihaza and of Satan. Plus, when the attack fails because of the Seraphim, Lightning coughs. Exactly like Lucifer when he overuses his body.

Finally, the most interesting point is Mephisto’s attitude toward Lightning:

He, the mighty king of Time, is acting as if he is weary of Lightning, letting him go away with almost-agressions that would be undoubtedly very humiliating for a demon king. The only other person we saw Mephisto treat with that weird respect is Shiemi’s (our Shiemi) grandmother, also a powerful Nephilim.

As a bonus, there are also all the crazy plots Lightning came with to track down and beat Illuminati, like purposedly putting Yukio under a contract of Morinah before sending him to them. Totally worthy of a demon, even thought he is only partly one.

Also, seeing how the crystalized bodies of the original Grigori are kept safe, he does not make sense that Lightning have so easily access to one of them if he was just a human. The old guardian let Lightning pass with almost no question or even surprise when Lightning came to visit his “grand-father” Azazel.

sorry if im coming off as forword or anything , but could you elaborate more on that head canon you gave about lewin? what makes you think he’s a nephilim of azazel, and maybe more details about it? im very curious !

Hell yeah! Absolutely! It's one of my favorite headcanons/theories and me and my good friend @revlischarm have talked about it a lot!

So there are quite a few reasons I have this headcanon, and some are a bit more of a reach than others, so I'll just stick with the main ones that have some explicit canon backing.

So like I said in the original post, if Lewin is indeed a nephilim, I think he's a third generation nephilim, so it would have been one of his grandparents that actually had Azazel for a parent. This matches up with what we know of his parents and siblings having a "normal life."

(Also can I get a yeehaw for Texan Lewin, I wonder if we were from the same area lmao). But anyways, by that point, the demonic blood could have become diluted enough that it was easy to ignore and allowed his family to live normally, even if Lewin decided on a different path. But there are subtle ways that the demonic heritage is evident.

He’s also expressed that during his childhood he was comparable to a “demon” himself (very similar to how Rin was treated as a child). 

There’s also the fact that he’s so friendly with demons, and doesn’t explicitly view them as something that needs to be eradicated, which is unusual for an exorcist. Especially a high ranking one like himself. And speaking of how high ranking he is, there’s the fact that he can summon multiple extremely powerful familiars, without even using full incantations. And we know that nephilim can have strong and unusual abilities due to their demonic blood and Lewin’s skill with familiars is... odd, especially in comparison to other tamers we’ve seen. 

There aren’t really many physical tells regarding if he would be a nephilim. Except his eyes. Obviously his eyes are hidden by his hair more often than not, but when we see them, they’re always drawn... differently than all the other characters. Like Kazue puts more effort into making them unnerving, including an oddly shaped pupil

If he’s a third generation nephilim (or even a second), it makes sense that most of the physical traits would have vanished by that point, and that it would only be one or two small things to set him apart, such as his eyes. It could also be a reason that he tends to go out of his way to cover them. 

Another odd thing is that during the flashbacks when we learn about Rin and Yukio’s birth, we see a very young Lewin with Azazel. It seems strange that someone as young and inexperienced as him would be with such high ranking exorcists for no reason, (especially considering everything going on at that point in time) regardless of the fact that he was likely already considered some kind of prodigy due to his tamer abilities. 

It just seems strange that he would be with Azazel for no reason, there has to be some kind of connection. 

And then finally, this translation of Lewin calling Azazel “Gramps”

It’s all just a theory, but I think it’s a pretty fun one, and it would explain/fill in some gaps about Lewin for sure

[silverdphantom]

I whole heartedly agree.

While I absolutely love the Ba’al in AnE....if they were real I would RUN. Seriously I don’t want to come across Mephisto....or Amaimon....or Lucifer....or any of them. Ever.

[silverdphantom]

Nooooo !!!! I want to know !

My personal theory, is that he is like Shiemi ! A descendant of the Grigori, except he is a descendant of the Armumahel's bloodline, a Nephilim with actual power.

That would explain why he said to Rin and the others he was much more powerful than them without having ever received any exorcist training. And like Shiemi, the only way to access his mansion is Mephisto's keys like the one he gave to Izumo. Pretty sure it will be used later, if Izumo in a dreadful situation needs to run to safety.

I bet he was put in the same class as Rin (and Shiemi !) in order to keep an eye on him and be able stop him if he became a danger for the other students, as we know Armumahel's power is effective against Rin. He was an insurance.

And it explains why the black flames of Yamantaka did not hurt him at all during the fight with Renzo. As Todo explained to Yukio, when two forces of the same nature fight, the stronger one absorbs the other. I guess a Nephilim of Armumahel is much more powerful than a demon servant.

PS : "Nemu" means sleep, and we suspect sleep might be associated to Armumahel.

PSS : a useless detail : his hair is red... Like the Armumahel's gun !!!!!

Listen as much as I wanna know what his deal is, Katou just introducing this weird as all fuck character with obvious deep lore and then just never explaining what his deal is would be funny as hell

[silverdphantom]

Just a dumb observation

But I really like that detail of the demon kings who are on the human side (and the neutral ones who also are on mephisto's side) are all kings related to living and mortal things, while the ones who want to kill all humanity are related to things that are more related to death and like not living stuff ahsjsh (Like more towards elements than living beings)

Like idk I just think it makes it more personal, because Mephy as king of time probably finds humans fascinating because of their mortality and how they live with it, Azazel is related to spirits and he probably is the one who feels more connected and close with the human soul while Amaimon who even if he doesn't like humans, feels connected to plants and nature (just like Shemihaza) and Beelzebub with insects, all the things that will probably get killed if Satan destroys Assiah

I don't know if this means something and if Kato did this on purpose or not, I just like this detail

[silverdphantom]

"You should be scared of me" - Why Shiemi will need to break tradition to truly best Amaimon

The new chapter threw a heck of a lot of stuff at us at once, raising a hundred questions for the few it answers.

We're given a brief synopsis of Amaimon's history with Shemihaza, a relationship that has been hinted at in previous chapters, and the nature of Shiemi's final challenge: to "subjugate" Amaimon, as Shemihaza and all other 'successors' before her.

Shiemi's grandmother instructed her in such a way to make a violent battle between Shiemi and Amaimon inevitable, and Amaimon himself solidified this inevitability by deriding the strength of her abilities, implying a respect for Shemihaza's - whom he serves in a as-yet unexplained way. He may serve Shemihaza, but he is not servile to her, nor is he compelled to respect or serve her successors. Shiemi must prove herself worthy in the power department.

However, I believe that the long-term solution to her and Amaimon's respective barriers will require a change in approach to those before her. Even Shemihaza.

Amaimon's Anger

An unspecified amount of time ago, an angry Amaimon made the land. Given that he has a defined physical form, and the nature of it and his clothes, it is definitely a time in which humans are around and who nature a fear of demons.

It isn't made clear what made Amaimon so angry, but it's clear that it spurred a rage so intense that he took it out on the earth, making it inhospitable for any kind of life. This is when Shemihaza steps in, as Emperor of Creation and Amaimon's foil - she is life and creation, he is death and destruction.

Prior to this point they may have co-existed. Shemihaza may outrank him, but they share many similarities and can be seen as the two sides of the same coin, necessary to keep the world's natural order. Life and death. But Amaimon's outburst and complete annihilation of the land disrupts this order, and requires Shemihaza's intervention.

Shemihaza took pity on Amaimon, and may have also seen the practical reason for keeping him around (going back to the 'two sides of a coin' theory) and so rather than destroy him, Shemihaza sacrificed her body and crystallised herself, binding Amaimon to her in servitude.

It appears that in doing so, Shemihaza sealed parts of Amaimon - his power, or even his persona - in crystals around her frozen form. She allowed him to continue to have a 'self' - or consciousness - by becoming her servant.

Whether it was the act of sealing parts of Amaimon away, or the terms of his service, that quelled Amaimon's anger, it's clear that these measures did not really fix the issue.

Amaimon still carries intense rage within him, evident in his fits of violence and intense anger that break through his usual impassive exterior. He particularly reacts to any whiff of a suggestion that he is weak, which supports the theory that the crystallised parts of Amaimon are parts of his power. With this into consideration, Amaimon has even more reason to be angry now.

Shemihaza's Legacy

If this is the case, then it makes the problem worse in the long term. Amaimon still feels intense rage, but no longer has adequate means to express it like he did in the past. Rather than get to the root of why he feels so angry, Shemihaza has left her successors with a being that grows progressively more hateful and angry with each passing generation, despite lacking the ability to create the same destruction Shemihaza faced.

The flashback of Shemihaza and Amaimon, showing Amaimon kneeling before her, suggests that Shemihaza did not have to exert brute force in order to stop his rampage. As I mentioned earlier, in looking down on Shiemi's power he implicitly expresses respect or at least a past respect for Shemihaza's.

Kneeling before Shemihaza, who has greater power and status than his own, and with whom he may have shared a close relationship (speculation on my part), Amaimon is given a choice: serve Shemihaza and seal parts of his power/self away, through her sacrifice, or lose his sense of self.

Amaimon's options were eternal servitude and what he would probably view as castration, or death. Amaimon chose the former. As Mephisto states, once demons experience life with a body and five senses, the alternative to that, a conceptual being with no thought, senses or freedom, is the closes thing to death they can imagine and completely intolerable.

Shemihaza may have found a solution to the immediate problem of the ruination of the land, but failed to address the ongoing issue of Amaimon's anger, so her successors have continually had to 'subjugate' him into obedience, following her example. Shemihaza may not have needed to brawl with Amaimon, she likely had enough power to subdue him without fighting, but her successors command far less power than she did, especially at the stage Shiemi is at when facing Amaimon.

Pity /= Empathy

Shiemi's grandmother states that Shemihaza's pity for Amaimon's anger motivated her to give him a choice. But pity does not equal empathy, and the 'better' choice Amaimon took, as I said, does not really solve the problem with Amaimon long-term.

She felt pity enough to give him a choice at all, but a bit of empathy for why Amaimon is angry and a desire to help him could have resulted in a far better long-term solution to the problems he was causing.

When Lucifer was suffering and begging the Grigori Shemihaza to continue research into an elixir for him, he furiously pointed out her lack of compassion. Her response was that she had 'abandoned human compassion' when she took on the position.

This shows that while those connected with Shemihaza can feel pity for those around them, they are compelled or even taught to abandon feelings of empathy or compassion for others, following in Shemihaza's footsteps, for the 'greater good'.

There are positives to this way of working, and the Grigori can likely attribute their long service to this, but it also has drawbacks - shown plainly in Amaimon.

If Shemihaza had felt, or allowed herself to feel, compassion and empathise with Amaimon's plight, she may have given him a different choice that would benefit Amaimon himself also and make him a willing ally to her successors instead of a half-tamed beast who still suffers the same anger that they must forcibly take down.

Shiemi's Choice

While her grandmother stated that she must defeat Amaimon in combat in order to enlist his services, this is the will of Shemihaza and will only pass on the same issues to another generation.

If anything is to change, and if Shiemi wants to truly help 'everyone', she will need to go about her fight with Amaimon differently than her forebears.

She will need to rely on her strength, certainly, to not get killed by him, and also to prove herself worthy in the strength department, but she cannot hope to really make a difference and show her growth without showing her characteristic empathy and kindness to him as well.

Shiemi has grown stronger this past year, but her greatest strength has always been her ability to forgive and show kindness to others, especially those who are suffering, even when they hurt her.

Amaimon has hurt her, physically and mentally, but kind Shiemi will still be able to see the wounded soul behind the anger. Amaimon owes her an apology, not the other way around, but as a demon who has never known compassion he must be shown it first before he can reciprocate.

This challenge compels Shiemi to prove her worthiness to command Amaimon, to show her superiority, to order him by fear of pain or worse - as Shemihaza, Mephisto and likely every other demon he has interacted with has done.

This is not Shiemi, or who she should become. The Shiemi we know would never seek to be superior to another being, but on equal level. She would not wish to make anyone her slave, but her friend, even a demon.

When Shiemi states "You should be scared of me", she dangerously echoes the words and actions of her forebears. She cannot truly win by making Amaimon fear her wrath as she fears his, or as Amaimon feared Shemihaza's.

Shiemi needs to hold on to that compassionate side of herself, or else lose her humanity. And keep Amaimon an emotionally frustrated bomb waiting to explode for another generation.

[silverdphantom]

This isn't the final arc.

Well, let's say it's not the final battle.

This is going to be a rewind folks.

It goes back to the relationship between Satan, Shiro and Yuri.

Yuri believes that demons and humans can coexist.

Shiro only wants to kill demons because all demons are evil and vile.

In a way, Shiro was partially responsible for Satan's evilness. He goaded Satan when they played games. Satan soon realized that there was a lot at stake. It wasn't an innocent game, Yuri's love was the prize. He started a quest for knowledge and power to win Yuri. But once Satan got a taste of his incredible power he even forgot about her. Satan became unreasonable and uncontrollable as absolute power corrupts absolutely. Satan's competition with Shiro was the catalyst to a dark road that headed in only one direction.

Shiro, was very much like Satan in some ways, violent, selfish and harsh. It wasn't until Yuri died that Shiro finally realized what he'd done. How would things have been different? What if he told Yuri he loved her? What if he hadn't been such a dick to Satan? Would things had turned out differently?

Shiro's worldview was forever changed from that moment on. He raised Rin and Yukio. Raised a human and demon as loving brothers.

Despite Rin being a half-demon, Shiro loved him and treated him like a son. He understands what Yuri was attempting to do with Satan and doesn't make the same mistake with Rin.

Demons can co-exist with humans, but only if they are loved and have attachments. Strong family attachments keep them grounded. An unloved demon can and will destroy the world. I know it sounds sappy....but Mephisto knows. A demon's rage needs to be tamed and tempered. (Check out Amaimon in the last chapter....)

A demon's power and rage need to be tempered. Rin is the child that can build a bridge of understanding between two worlds. That's what Mephisto wants from Rin. He's hoping that somehow Rin can reach Satan and reason with him. To pick up where Yuri failed.

It's a crazy idea....right?

It might be...but Rin can't do it alone. He needs Yukio's help. The problem is, Yukio is like a young Shiro. He hates demons. At one point he was terrified of what Rin was and willing to kill his own brother. But Rin fought hard to prove to Yukio that he loved him. And he finally got Yukio to understand, releasing his hate. Now RIn and Yukio are united. The two pieces of the puzzle that somehow bind Satan.

The problem is.....they still got it wrong. Kicking Satan's ass isn't going to work. They need to reason with him, connect with him and find a way to compromise. They need to tame Satan and seal his powers. in a way..isn't that what Satan really wants? To feel love? To be like a human? Isn't that why all the demon kings are so angry? A body is the closest thing they have to be human, and they never get to fully experience the joy of it, the joys of Assiah. Despite Mephisto's denials, it's something that demon kings long for with every ounce of their being.

All the demon kings are all connected. Light, time, earth, spirit. All the demon kings are fragments of Satan. If Satan dies...the world falls out of balance. Everyone dies, the world is still obliterated.

That's why Mephisto drops his poker face in chapter 130. He was so close to getting it right. But not yet...

He loses his composure when everyone starts ranting about kicking Satan's ass. Mephisto is briefly devastated because he's gotta go back and try again. (Fuck...man...I'm starting to feel sorry for him...like it must be torture to keep trying to save the world over and over)

[silverdphantom]

Everyday I think how fucking scary Lucifer actually is and that's what makes him my favourite villain (antagonist?) in this manga

Because you have Satan who is like pure evil but you kinda know what to expect of him

But Lucifer is so unpredictable and predictable at the same time that is scary, we all know his plans and his goals but at the same time, when things don't go the way he wants, he does unexpected things that just make the situation worse (for example, when he burned Satan's head and made him believe it was Yuri's fault)

He is literally a man child that thinks that everyone is at fault for his own problems and if he suffers, everyone must do it too and then he hides all of that with pretty words and manipulation (just like Shemihaza said to him), I would say he is even worse than Mephisto in that (manipulation I mean) because at least Mephisto does it for a good reason and purpose that will be good on the long run and when he has to be honest, he just says it

But Lucifer uses manipulation to doom everyone around him and he doesn't even recognize it as manipulation, he just thinks that everyone agrees with him and that's it.

I always think that he is like that (a man child I mean) because his ego never sprouted completely (idk if that's the word ahsjsh), Mephisto explained that a demon's ego starts doing that when they experiment the five senses and emotions and all that stuff that comes with a body, but Lucifer who always had his bodies in a really bad condition and they can't survive longer than a decade probably never fully experienced those and he lived his life full on pain

because of that, he thinks that ALL demons with a body are going through that, including his brothers, when he is actually the only one who has this problem (because even if his brothers are not in the best condition either, they are FAR better than him) and instead of looking for a solution (which he tried tho), he wants to kill everyone and be reborn on a "gentle and kind" world

Another thing that I noticed (and maybe is what is influencing him to not find a solution) is that Lucifer is REALLY EASY TO MANIPULATE, like, he is a master manipulator but at the same time, he puts too much confidence in people he should not (like a child) and because of that he was manipulated twice in the manga

First with Mephisto and all the section 13 thing which was never meant to help him, they just wanted to pacify his anger so he wouldn't explode and kill everyone

And the second one with Yukio because he read him wrong and he thought his only motivation was becoming strong when it wasn't like that.

What I mean, is that Lucifer being constantly manipulated maybe kinda influenced to find a permanent solution and not keep trying with the clones, because he lost his hope on others and doesn't see them as worthy to survive so he just wants to end it

Idk I really like him tbh, I think he is the most interesting bad guy we had so far in the manga and I'm excited to see what Kato does with his character

[silverdphantom]

How to Tame a Demon King

Demon kings want to live in Assiah. They love what it feels like to be human and they crave it. The problem is, bodies don't last too long and demons are forced back into hell. Demons want what humans have, if they don't get it, they suffer a full-on uncontrollable rage.

The only way to get rid of this rage, allow demons to live in Assiah and have human experiences. In order for this to happen, they need to bind their powers.

What tamed Mephisto?

Well, I think he was horny and that helped! He's attracted to everything human and can't stay away from them.

Mephisto had so many Nephilium that his children took on bits and pieces of his power. Nephilim is one of the secrets for his long life in Assiah. Mephisto has his heart and power spread out all over the place, he has a family. Mephisto also hides his power in Horcruxes like swords and scabbards. Mephisto realized long ago if you can't beat them...join them.

That's why certain demon kings chose the side of humans. Humans gave them the life they wanted, and in essence, tamed them by taking on the power they can't handle.

Amaimon isn't tamed but imprisoned. He hates humans

He's just subjugated. The burning rage is still there, other Shemihazas haven't gotten to the root of the problem.

Shemihaza was forced to crystalize her body in order to trap Amaimon. Amaimon uses up his body faster than the other demon kings because he's so angry. He hates humans because he can't be one, he also calls them weak most likely out of jealousy. He thinks he's above humans and wouldn't lower himself to have a relationship with one, let alone a family. He hasn't got any Nephilim and is therefore out of balance in Assiah.

Maybe Shiemi can use her kind heart to somehow help him understand? Beating down Amaimon isn't the way to go, but loving him might be.

Lucifer isn't tamed at all. He also hates humans.

Lucifer has no outlets for his power, Homare is the only chance Assiah has to tame Lucifer. She has to either make him fall in love with her and have Nephilim. (Which we know he wouldn't do. He considers Nephilium impure.)

OR

Get him to agree to a contract to share Homare's body, and bind his powers. She's a demon-eater, after all. She can do it.

Satan is already partially tamed.

He has Nephilim. Rin and Yukio.

Part of Satan's powers is already watered down. Rin and Yukio no doubt have the power to bind him as well.

Satan has the potential to live with humans.

How do demons get bodies in the first place?

it's probably better to have a willing human. And think about it, wouldn't that be the closest thing to love for a demon? To have a human agree to become part of them? When Satan was dying, he went looking for Yuri. He wanted Yuri to save him, and it didn't happen. Satan was fucking raging after that. She denied his love. He spent years by her side, and when he needed her, she was gone.

How much of the human lives on after they give themselves over to a demon king? Is Samael actually like Faust? Does he still converse with him? Is it a slow process that takes years of acclimation, where eventually the human dies naturally and gives his demon mate a body?

Is that why Mephy is playing a game with Shura. He's keeping her hidden so she doesn't ruin his plans, but he also is trying to get her to bond with him and form some sort of working relationship. Is he hoping for something more? Yeah....maybe.