Asterisoleil - Ad Astra

“Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely, absolute power attracts the corruptible.”

- Frank Herbert.

I Drew a pickle Xenomorph. I think this explains their acid blood. They’re all just pickles.

Guillaume Apollinaire, from Aubade (tr. by Donald Revell); Alcools: Poems, 1913

you're alive

full illustration on my patreon!

Percy Jackson in a nutshell

Dune fan art by concept artist Kentaro Kameda

I'd like to ask you how you started shipping Lucifer x Michael and what inspired you to finally write a book about it! I'm sure you have some kind of origin story behind it 😂 Just like how you thought of pairing Samyazza and Azazel, I swear that until I read A&M, I had no idea about Samyazza and the other Watchers. It was a surprise for me to look it up out of curiosity and discover that they're actual names mentioned...

I actually went into detail on why I paired Lucifer with Michael in the special birthday edition of ABM (in a long introductory note). I've also talked about it here, but I'm not really sure where that ask is.

The (reiterated) answer is that I thought it was interesting that a lot of people I knew in real life had the idea that they would have been friends once; I'm talking about my religious family and friends here. It's interesting because there's no scriptural evidence for it, and there's no... religious tradition of Michael and Lucifer being friends. The idea that they're brothers (as in, blood brothers) spawned from this (unfounded) idea everyone seems to have, I think.

There's this part in ABM where Rosier says that Michael and Lucifer loving each other "just makes sense" and yeah, it does. Outside of any ABM context, it just makes for a really compelling tragedy to all the statues of Michael casting Lucifer down that we see everywhere. It explains why Michael never looks happy in those statues, that's for sure. They're all so melancholic. You don't need to read ABM to get that feeling either.

In terms of actual biblical evidence, there is none, but I was really fascinated by the fact that Michael only ever speaks once in the Bible, despite his 4 billion appearances, and it's at Satan (in Jude 9). It comes as a memory though. Jude basically says, "Do you remember when Michael fought with Satan over Moses' body and said that God rebukes him?" The fact that it's a memory with little context and that Michael wouldn't condemn Satan with his own heart made me... think a lot.

Michael's name means "Who is like God?" also. It's meant to be a rhetorical question. Well, who do we know who'd want to answer it anyway? Who do we know that would try to become one with that question? (Kiss it, fuck it). The devil, obviously. And it just makes sense. Michael, the sword of God, the chief prince of Heaven. Of course Satan loves him. And why wouldn't Michael love God's most beautiful and favorite angel back?

god they really made kotallo one hell of a character. from his runway model strut of an entrance and tattoos and beads and wry but rumbly deep voice to his bravery during the ambush literally throwing himself barehanded into the path of a rampaging machine to save his friend to losing his arm and reclaiming his honor by battle in the arena to his conflicted feelings and complicated past with the sky clan and its commander to his little “that was an unkind comparison” and “ive still got a strong back” comments to his incredible kindness and devotion underneath the stern mask to his simultaneous ability to be an absolute BAMF ready to throw hands at any time while still being like “seashells!” and “chocolate frosting!” to his hidden humor and little salutes and soft eyes and willingness to learn and ingenuity and support and “devote what’s left of my life”…..thank you for this man