#as i hc that angels only remove masks/helmets in their private prayer so only themselves and god know their face

[cherubchoirs]

Oh I am soooo feral in love with the way Gabriel’s true face looks after his fall! It has this incredibly “gaze unto the abyss which in turns gazes unto you” vibe I love it. And something about the endless cavity just aaaahhhh. Where once was a flame burning with holy passion and devotion is now an endless and consuming maw of rock and sorrow. Does he let V1 pet the bone feathers I must know.

(reference to this!)

aaaaaa thank you!!!! i really wanted his design to reflect "the fire is gone" motif, to be left burned and melted from flames that once composed his very being. his defining feature as one of the four archangels, the eagle that blazed brilliantly to adorn his head, has been ripped out from the very core of his being to leave behind a cavernous abyss that was once the fount of his heavenly fire. just as he had burned endlessly with the fire of god's love, so now he is endlessly empty and his anatomical crown is split so all may see the vessel bereft of its sacred contents. and his face is petrified into that state, it may never heal or change to stand in contrast to the ever-changing, living flames that had consumed him before. only his eyes move encased in sockets that desperately want to freeze them in the same way, but he refuses to cry the tears that should forever lock them in place.

v1 definitely pets the feathers :] gabriel rarely removed his helmet before he fell, and only did so once allowing v1 to actually see him, so it thrills in having so much unbarred access now as gabriel learns to accept himself. it wants to touch him, hold him, experience a closeness it hasn't been able to have to this point....it's a bit overwhelming for gabe at first, feeling unworthy of so much affection and thinking v1 must be doing so as consolation. but it becomes increasingly apparent it's enamored with his face, finding it far more compelling, more beautiful in its aesthetic sense with it being scarred. like all the new features he's acquired, it shows what he chose, it's an unmistakable emblem of his autonomy. this is its gabriel, the one that it loves and knows...and besides all that, it just plain thinks he looks good yk