I like the devil.
He's one of my favorite figures in mythology. It's this dude who's calm, collected, and calculative. He goes around fucking with people because he's got nothing better to do and nothing more to lose. In many depictions, it's always a guy who tempts and nudges and walks with a confident, deliberate, paced stride. And he's never exactly evil. It's not like he goes around dismembering kittens and shit. All he does is draw out the evil in people. They make the decision to betray their loved ones and what-not.
I'm not talking about the circle of blood pact whateverthafuck kind of thing. I'm not even talking about the snake and the apple and the butt naked girl. You'll see different renditions of such a character all over the place. In the Disney movie, The Princess and the Frog, Dr. Facilier is the "tainted deal maker" much like the Faustian devil. You'll see him in stuff like Bedazzled and Constantine and Rick and Morty, and hear him in songs like Immortal Tech's "Dance With the Devil" or that one with the fiddle... even in the movie Southpaw, with my boy, Jake Gyllenhaal. and my bae, Rachel McAdams - Fifty Cent's character is immediately shown as the guy who offers Jakey Jake a sweet deal that could cost him his "soul;" sharply dressed, confident smirk, convincing impatience. This is a devil that makes you eat yourself. He gives you what you want, and then takes what you need.
But in the end, he's such a pitiful, tragic character - this devil. All of his doings amount to nothing. He's not an inch closer to defeating his creator. He's got nothing to lose, and more importantly, nothing to gain. His evil made mundane in repose against eternity. An immortal life dedicated to bringing about suffering to beings who suffer anyways. Better to troll humans on Earth than serve in Heaven, I guess.
uhhh #literature? #musings #archetypes #devil #Faust #butts #JakeyJake #Dealwiththedevil