#so many sadges

[yuno-sends-his-regards]

Yuno telling other g6'ers that he sold his truck is giving me too many emotions. They are all so confused and sad but just so friendly

[suddenly-stickmin]

Minor announcement!

Just wanted to give a heads up n say that I'm gonna be busy for the next week or two, so the Sticks will be on pause for a little bit until then!

[collinnmckinley]

Call of Duty: MWII. ↳ Infinite gifs of Cap. John Price [4/∞].

[dailydemonspotlight]

Will you do Beelzebub? One of my all-time favorite demons!

Beelzebub - Day 50!!!

Race: Tyrant

Alignment: Dark-Chaos

June 7th, 2024

This was a long time coming. I mean, come on, he's literally in my header! Beelzebub and SMT go hand in creepy pincer, the lord of flies appearing in nearly every Megaten game to date and having major roles in several, including an infamous boss fight in Nocturne. While not the king of demons, Beelzebub is among the most powerful, often contending with Satan himself! Today's Demon of the Day needs no introduction- the Demon of Gluttony, Lord of the Flies, Beelzebub. One of the most prevalent and powerful demons in demonology, this diseased despot represents not only a bastardization of Baal but also insects, envy, and excess, all of which make the lord of the flies a powerful figure in demonic circles. Without any further ado, let's dig in!

Satan almighty, where do I even begin with Beelzebub? As one of the many Kings of Hell, the amount of lore in Beelzebub's story paints a fascinating picture of not only the demon itself, but also Christianity, demonology, and how religious concepts change and are passed from area to area over time, corrupting into different forms to fit differing agendas. I guess, to start, we should look into the earliest ever mention of the Lord of the Flies, an offhand comment in the Books of Kings, a pair of books in the old testament that serve as a bedrock to the history of ancient Israel. In one of these books, King Ahaziah of the Northern Kingdom of Israel had been hurt. Bad.

After a severe injury from a fall, he sent several of his messengers to inquire about the god of a nearby kingdom, Ekron, a city ruled by the Philistines. This god, of course, was none other than Beelzebub, given the epithet 'Baʿal-zəvuv.' Terrified for his life, the king sent his people to ask that god as to if he would recover... which made a wandering prophet, Elijah, rather furious. After an angel of God visited the prophet, basically calling the king an idiot for not recognizing the fact that Israel is the holy ground for the big man upstairs, Elijah went to visit the king and delivered the message that he would die before the servants sent to inquire about Baʿal-zəvuv could return. Unsurprisingly, the king ended up dying after putting his faith in a false prophet.

This tale has several aspects to it which are curious- if you'll remember our Baal DDS, Beelzebub effectively takes the role of Baal in one of the stories outlined, wherein the faith of a man is tested against a god of another religion. Combine that with the fact that Beelzebub's name in this tale, Baʿal-zəvuv, quite literally has the term Ba'al in it, and it becomes somewhat suspect- it can easily be intuited that Beelzebub was, in effect, a different name or interpretation of Baal. This theory is confirmed later on in the text, however- the name for Beelzebub given also has a translation, roughly meaning "Lord of [the] Flies," and an earlier text by a cult which worshipped Ba'al also states that he was capable of summoning flies to cause illness. Curious! Another theory as to Baʿal-zəvuv's name actually originates as a pun- some people speculate that the deity's original name to this hitherto unmentioned cult of Philistines could have been "Baʿal zəvul," a name translating roughly to 'Lord of the Heavenly Dwelling.' Possibly after a bit of transliteration and puns, that name could've been shifted derogatorily into being Baʿal-zəvuv. It would explain why the term is so specific, as it could've originated as a pun and a twist on Ba'al's powers according to Canaanite myth, but this is debated somewhat.

Nomenclature aside, however, there's still more to this demon- while Beelzebub is believed to be based on Ba'al, it quickly spun off into its own figure in the Testament of Solomon, a non-canonical book related to the story of King Solomon, the first demon summoner. Yep, it's Solomon again! Almost every capital-D-Demon has something to do with his majesty, given that most of them originate from texts regarding him. And yet he still hasn't appeared in the SMT series. Cowards. Appearing again, though with a different name this time, far closer to the now common reading, Beelzebul appears as a demonic prince representing the planet Venus. However, another knot is thrown into this tale as, this time, Beelzebub is synonymous with Lucifer! The things Beelzebul is described as doing are things that, in almost any other Christian text, would have been done by Lucifer- whether it be through depositing despots into positions of power or inciting demonic worship, the text describes Beelzebul as being one and the same with the Prince of Hell.

While this is the origin of the common conflation of Lucifer and Beelzebub, we need to jump forward a bit more to get the canonical texts related to this buzzing bastard- Beelzebub is one of the very few Demons actually mentioned in the Bible by name. Appearing first in Mark 3:22, a group of scribes accuse our boy Jeezy-C of using the power of Beelzebul to drive out demons. In future expansions of the text, he is also brought up in several Matthew verses. To quote Matthew 12:25-28,

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."

Yes, I am reciting scripture, but look, it comes with the territory. While in the original translation, Beelzebub is referred to as Beelzebul, later translations take a few liberties; in the Syriac translation, per instance, Beelzeboul is the new name. This fly has way too many names. Jesus Christ. While this translation mistake was repeated in the King James version of the Bible, most current day translations simply refer to Beelzebub as, well, Beelzebub. Thank god. Or Satan. Or King James. In everyone's favorite first apocalypse story, the New Testament, Beelzebub finally makes a formal debut! I told you there was a lot to dig into with this guy.

Beelzebub finally appears, not in the form of an Ekronite god nor an offhand mention, as the Prince of Demons, appearing in the place of the Devil. Yes, again. This is getting frustrating. In older texts, from what I can tell, this was never truly the case- the melding together of the King of the Flies and the King of Hell was a later addition by the authors of the New Testament, who were probably just having a laugh at future demonologists. As mentioned earlier, Beelzebub was mentioned as simply a powerful demon by some scribes who were cussing out Jesus, so this sudden ascension to the throne is... strange. Thankfully for my purposes, this role of his is hotly debated, but it's still frustrating that I can't trace his later characterization to any one source!

Finally, though, we have a point of reference. At long, long last. A 16th century occultist named Johann Weyer. As given in the book 'The Devil in Legend and Literature' by Rudwin Maximilian, a set of stories written by Weyer describe Beelzebub as the chief lieutenant of Lucifer's forces, having led a secondary revolution against Heaven and later retreating to Hell to follow after Lucifer's orders. This would only be a prelude to the main star story, however- none other than Paradise Lost. As described in the infamous epic, Beelzebub, finally, gets a solid role outside of being a stand-in for Lucifer or a bastardization of Ba'al- yes, we finally get Beelzebub being a King of Hell in a text! Described as being only beaten out by Satan himself in terms of strength, Beelzebub was part of the Unholy Trinity, consisting of it, Lucifer, and Astaroth. (No Malphas, unfortunately. Gary had to sit this one out.)

In Paradise Lost, Beelzebub is an incredibly powerful and influential character who serves as a driving force for the invasion of the Human world. As Satan's closest ally and proxy, Beelzebub also is representative of the deadly sin of Envy in the story. As an observation by Bradley J. Irish states, there are obvious connections drawn between Beelzebub and envy throughout the poem, and though the main focus of envy is on Satan throughout, Beelzebub himself serves an important role in going into and speaking about envy. However, this leads into a big point of contention with Beelzebub as a whole- what deadly sin he even represents.

In the book 'The Lanterne of Light' by an anonymous Lollard, a classification of the princes of hell is given, attributing Beelzebub to Envy. This book, notably, was released before Paradise Lost, which likely influenced Milton's writing of the story. However, Sébastien Michaelis, yet another demonic scholar (and one maybe familiar if you read the Asmodeus episode) described him as representative of the deadly sin of Pride. Yay! Pride Month, headed by this oversized fruit fly! However, yet again, another person argued for Beelzebub being a different sin- Peter Binsfeld's 1589 'Treatise on Confessions by Evildoers and Witches' describes Beelzebub as the demon of gluttony, and lastly, at least according to Wikipedia, another Demonologist purported that he represented idolatry.

Later on in history, once Beelzebub was a bit more solidified as a demon outside of Satan's reign, he got up to a lot of mischief- during the Salem Witch Trials, he was typically and repeatedly used as the demon possessing or being used by several of the accused witches. Nowadays, however, Beelzebub reached his biggest height not even through his own name, but rather his epithet- the infamous book by William Golding, the Lord of the Flies, which invoked Beelzebub's name in the title. In the story, which is a tale going into the inherently destructive nature of humanity, the Lord of the Flies is invoked as a false religious figure a group of kids begin to worship, being a decapitated and rotting pig's head representing the gluttony of humanity. Admittedly, I haven't read Lord of the Flies yet, but the story and its general themes had a lot to do with shaping the cultural consciousness surrounding Beelzebub.

Which, well... what is that? The common consensus on Beelzebub is that of him being the King of Gluttony, second only to Satan in terms of power- combining several themes and ideas from the past into one composite figure, Beelzebub himself.

Generally, Beelzebub seems to be primarily based on a composite mixture of his appearance in Paradise Lost, the studies of several demonologists, and the ideas presented in Lord of the Flies, shaping this marvelous menace into what we see him as today. Or he can also just be Satan again... but that's boringggg.... However, in terms of culture, SMT takes notes. A lot of notes. So how is Beelzebub represented in the series?

Perfectly. Beelzebub is iconic, and it's not hard to see why- his design is menacing, conveys his role as Lord of the Flies extremely well, and is frankly as badass as someone can make a fly look. The scepter and the necklace of skulls make him look terrifying, especially given how imposing he tends to be in gameplay- Beelzebub is, historically, one of the most powerful demons in the series, making perfect sense given his role as the right hand man of Satan himself. I cannot stress enough how much I utterly adore this design and how it manages to mix the idea of a fly into something twisted, demonic, terrifying, and badass. Even his human disguise looks cool to me, even though it's a bit bland in comparison to the masterpiece that is his fruit fly design.

I can't find much reason why he has a human disguise, but it's likely just due to the fact that a demonic prince like himself would need to hide away. If anyone has an exact reason why, though, please tell me!

One also can't mention Beelzebub without bringing up his boss fight in Nocturne, one of the most challenging and fun slugfests in the game. With his signature skill instantly killing any demon who isn't immune to dark, massive healthpool, and insane bursts of damage, Beelzebub makes for a formidable foe if there ever was one- and besides, even if Metatron is more difficult, Beelzebub's boss theme goes way harder than Metatron's own, so he wins in that department as well. The battle is important narratively as well, due to it being the final test of Lucifer's to see if you're truly worthy of becoming his demonic general- it shows a lot of trust in Beelzebub that Lucifer would send out the fly to battle the Demi-Fiend.

Overall, though, Beelzebub is a demon of many names, many titles, and many fans, and it's easy to see why. Both fascinating historically and in the series itself, Beelzebub may be one of the best demons in the whole series, period. Now, with that over with... where did I put that bottle of bug spray?

Oh, there it is. Sorry, Beelzebub.

[mukuberry]

Trial 3 cover song wishlist

With trial 2 basically done, I want to make my last wishlist for covers... these aren't predictions because Deco hates me and won't let me be happy ever ^u^ there's quite a few songs I wanna see be covered but since we'll only get one per character, I've forced myself to just choose one each....

Haruka - Relationship Scramble

You know, we'll end up love's prisoners, hurt each other,

And say farewell no matter what, right?

In that case, isn't the right answer the twisted one?

What a pain! This pain is so great it's lingering even now.

Searching for legitimacy

Cost me so much that I fell apart.

Yuno - Rabbit Hole

If you get lonely, find anybody, just get lucky

I loathed to love but it gave me life, gonna be a smitten mitten till the day you die?

So why don't you kiss up and shake your cottontail?

A bad dance, why don't you drown in it?

Fake out! I like you! Ugh, can't take it

Fuuta - Chimera

Oh, 1 like, 2 likes...

Your face is like a wolf in sheep's clothing

But watch your step, the evaluation is using a point deduction system

Don't be greedy or you'll drown in poison

Wow! 100 likes, 1k likes!

Your face looks like you're trying to suppress your ego

Muu - Theory Of Negativity

It's not like you'd ever understand, so I'll just keep my mouth shut and make a fool of you

As long as people have secrets to hide, I'm invincible

I can be a good girl through the tears I shed

"Shall I just die"- even while making wishes like this,

I accidentally said "I want to live"

Shidou - Ghost Rule

No statute of limitations for my crime,

Robbed of forgiveness for that thievery of mine,

Things don't look any better today,

Unable to keep up this deception the way I'd hoped

Slowly lapsing in depravity

I hardly realise what has already become rotten

Mahiru - Cosmic Rendezvous

I wanna dance with you, forever, I wanna poke fun and play, forever

This sucks so bad, this countdown to bye-bye, not long until it runs out, fuck

Hey, take me with you to the other side, "together forever" like on a playground, laugh around

But seriously, what's up with my wish not coming true, fuck

Kazui - We The Hostages

I can't drag you along. I can't drag you along, so let's say goodbye.

No matter how much you love me, all I do is get itchy

So give me back the version of me that you own

The memories you want to forget are hostages

So you have to be prepared to kill them at any moment.

I knew too much, so I wish to forget

I only like your exterior. After all, I want to make you my servant

Amane - Poison Apple

You make me laugh with your "sorry", serves you right, always self-centered

On a different note, your tear-stained face, it kinda tickles me the right way

No more, not any more, you really should stop.

No more, not any more, I'd get so ripe, I just can't

Poison check that love, mmm tasty, yummy

Spine shivering sweetness, I wanna feel it, I can't forget that flavour

Mikoto - Nocturnal Kids

I want to sleep but I won't- today is still all right.

Though we've transmitted our voices to each other over and over again, and it's lasted so long,

Let's stop. Let's run away. It's okay.

You can sleep now. I'll protect you diligently, after all.

Let's say "good morning" and make it "today" again.

Kotoko - 118

Not to mention, the fact that you don't even seem to feel any remorse for your actions is just so pathetic

My iron heart has already been melted down and broken

From all the love and affection that was jammed into it

Hearing the words "I love you" just makes me hate you

Where has our happiness been hidden away?

[justanechoflower]

I think I have a problem

[redthemarten]

Life is so much right now, I wasn't even able to draw a picture of Wrio riding a goat into the Land of Tea :(

[rinneverse]

in the mood to write but also not rlly ... how do i transfer the daydreams in my head directly onto google docs

[byanyan]

thinking tonight about how byan hasn't ever really travelled anywhere and basically hasn't ever left the city they were born in. like, okay yeah, they did go to south korea to meet their adoptive parents' families once, but they were two and have no memory of it. they don't even realize they've been there, that's how little memory they have of the time. and yeah, they've also been on field trips, mostly back in elementary and middle school, but the farthest those ever went were maybe to a neighbouring city if they were really lucky, and it only ever lasted for a few hours, so does that really count?

they've never been able to leave the city of their own volition and explore another place, never even stayed in a hotel, and that's something they kind of hate because they'd love to see and experience new places. ...and also cause some trouble there but shhhh

[autoboros]

I love xeno inkfish designs. Absolute ideal creature form

Such variety in the way people interpret them too they each look so unique

[froggyrights]

The apple pie I made from all my picked apples turned out Sooooo good btw look at her

[qiinamii]

The style you use for your art looks so nice! I really like the rougher edged lineart. I think that gives art way much more texture and depth, and it's always one of my favorite details to see in any art. If you don't mind sharing, what program do you draw with? Also brushes do you use for your lineart and shading?

thank you! I'm glad it brings out that impression :)) although I was only going for simpler styles so I can churn out my silly ideas faster that time.

and of course I don't mind! I've already mentioned it years before in a past ask; I use Clip Studio Paint for all of my works since then. as for brushes ahah;; safe to say I'm stuck with redjuice's pencil brush for almost everything not seriously rendered...

asset ID: 1702962

[isatoru]

LORD HAVE MERCYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[hiding-in-the-vault]

.

[deus-ex-mona]

l e t m e i n ! ! !

[50shadesofloveanddukh]

Why tf is everyone on Tumblr so heartbroken

(PS- I am everyone)

😔🤌