My class on Paradise Lost and Frankenstein has got me thinking about the big questions in life, namely: Who is the sexiest Satan? Thread.
Let us being in 1847 with Alexander Cabanel's 'Fallen Angel'. A strong opening contender... I think of this one as 'pouty Satan'.
A classic in the genre are the sexy Satan statues by the Geef brothers. One was too sexy and therefore discounted... so the next brother just made a sexier one. 2/
This Satan has clearly been moulded into those clothes. A sort of 'Super-Satan', if you will. Satan, the spandex armour version. Thomas Stothard 'Satan Summoning His Legions' from about 1790
Blake's 'YMCA Satan' and his other close contender 'Hover Satan'
Get out the fans for Robert Ferri's 21st century Fallen Angel paintings.
Slipping in a self indulgent moment here! Artwork for my favourite demon centred work 'Demon' by Mikhail Lermontov by Makovsky and Vrubel respectively.
So pretty. So intense.
Riiiiight on the line between sexy and terrifying, we have Franz Stuck's Lucifer from 1890
Henry Fuseli (of Nightmare fame) really really loved a sexy Satan. 'These are illustrations of Milton's masterwork! The abs are theological... I swear.'
The Temptation of Christ is ever-fruitful ground for sexy Satan portrayals. See Surikov here for an example. And who wouldn't be tempted, eh?
Satan protect, Satan uplift, Satan... well sure, he tries to tempt you to damnation and the end of the world but... there's something about this massive Satan/tiny Jesus combo by James Tissot.
Nude but for a hat and a shadow. Meet Sir Thomas Lawrence's 'Satan Summoning His Legions'. Another one inspired my Milton whose Paradise Lost seems to have been license to create thirst pics of Satan.
A 16th century Satan from Corenlius Galle. A little more monster than man but with a certain je ne sais quoi...
As someone has rightly pointed out Gustav Dore's Satan (another one we owe to Milton's inspiration) also falls into the category of heart-wrenchingly seductive Satan.
Drama Satan!
Lucifer Morningstar in his graphic novel incarnations...
This is rather a nice segway into the world of film and tv representations of the Satanic and there are such a lovely lot to draw from... Sexy Satans ahooooooy.
First, a favourite (as I judge from the responses to this thread!)
But let's take it back a notch... there is a long and glorious history of sexy cinematic Satans.
Some of the earliest depictions have him suave and debonair (and gleefully malicious). See 'Heaven Can Wait' (1943) and Laird Cregar in the role.
Where would any list of Gothic sexy-anythings be without Vincent Price? Here he is as Mr Scratch aka Satan in 'The Story of Mankind'
But let's bring it up to date. By which I mean, let me introduce you to the Satans who inspired my youth.
First (and for me foremost, not gonna lie) it is Tim Curry's absolutely epic turn as The Lord of Darkness in Legend. So good he gets a gif AND a picture tweet.
Once again, Tim Curry as the Lord of Darkness. BEHOLD.
One of my other favourite youthhood Satan's was Gabriel Byrne from End of Days. Irresistibles. Silly priest trying out his cross. It ain't gonna work, lad. Not on the Byrne.
People are sending me recommendations as we go so I'll add them in as and when!
Behold the 'Fuente del angel caido' in Madrid (fountain of the fallen angel)
We also have Luci/Lucifer from The Wicked and the Divine which I did not know but now NEED TO.
Back to our regularly scheduled tv and film Satans! A classic Satan from my teenage years. I would 100% respond to that beckoning finger. Can one of your satanic wishes just be 'you'?
One of the best Satan performances ever (and I will hear no nay-saying!) - Viggo Mortensen in The Prophecy
Evil Satans really are the best Satans.
I will be taking no questions at this time... but I was living for each glimpse in the background.
I am getting requests for a shout out to the earlier Bedazzled movie and who am I to deny Satan's fans their thirst traps? Here he is, low-key, blending it...
Brother Justin... Avatar of Darkness
Robert De Niro plays a good Satan. Here he is in Angel Heart 1987
Now, I know he's not Lucifer but he does take up most of the Lucifer roles we know from the bible so I'm including him. Sue me.
Another favourite (or so the comments tell me) is Al Pacino in The Devil's Advocate
We draw near to the end of the thread. Not because there are not many more fabulous Satans out there but because I can only justify so long making sexy Satan threads xD
Before I go... a few more. Starting with a recommendation. 'The Librarian' by Rops. Satan in creep mode again.
One a little out of left field for you here... It's Woland aka Satan from the Master and Margarita Musical.
It's in Russian but if you'd like to see this particular Satan in action...
Now, I know that this one isn't actually Satan either but I'm stretching a point... She's definitely a demon. Still counts. (And I couldn't leave her out). Mazikeen!
We have arrived at the end. Here are some of my top picks - what are your absolute favs?
If you have enjoyed my highly educational Satan thread... I do have a ko-fi if you'd like to get me a coffee :)
You can sign up for free to anything you like and watch old stuff from the past. Next weekend we have a whole day of free writing and artistic workshops!
Ok... well, I said I wasn't going to add any more sexy Satans to my thread but I'm making this one exception.
Ok, ok! I'm hearing you all. I'll add a few more by popular demand. I can't catch them all but I will try and catch a few!
First up, Beelzebub in a homage to Tim Curry
The single most popular request! From Devilman Crybaby, an ethereally beautiful Satan
At Coventry Cathedral, an angel and a demon have a sexiness contest. With an over-inflated sense of his own, the angels stands triumphant but I reckon Satan's got something in the bag...
The requests were deafening so here you go! Some SPN content. Just a couple of Satans.
I am an old and therefore had not seen this but the evidence is overwhelming. 'Tis a very sexy Satan.
Last but not least of the new additions - Delacroix's Mephistopheles and what appears to be a mid air cramp.
I lied. It's not the end!
Epstein's Lucifer!
A lot of people have sent me pictures of a goat...
Sexy Satan? You decide. Black Philip from The Witch (with human counterpart)
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Remember that tweet thread I wrote about lacking nuance and erasing history in our understanding of women writers in the past? Yeah... tihs is what comes of it. bbc.co.uk/news/entertain…
So, we start from this lovely place. 'Women shouldn't have to use male pseudonyms to get published'. What we end up with is 'allow to me erase the agency of these writers and completely disregard the complex choices involved in pen-names'.
Is it possible that some of these women in an ideal world would have preferred to publish under their birth names? Possibly. But their pen-names are also names they chose for a variety of reasons. Some of those involve queer identities (notable case in point - Vernon Lee)
Now, I don't want to dunk of this person because I'm not about that life but while it's going viral. I'm going to use it as an opportunity to talk about something that I think about a lot... because it happens a lot. And you've probably done it. (Spicy, I know!) 1/
Now... am I suggesting that you have erased hundreds of years of women writers in one feel swoop? No.
But what does happen a lot is this weird dynamic of claiming writers' importance by creating an altered version of a) history and b) contemporary reality. Let me exemplify 2/
In a dramatic and ironic twist of fate, this often occurs when people are trying to celebrate authors from various marginalised groups.
Let me rant to you about the 'ground-breaking phenomena. 3/
I keep hearing about zoombombing and people keep getting in touch with me, worried about the groups I'm running. I'm sure that no group is totally safe but I can share some of things I've learned as I go to keep your room a bit more secure. 1/?
Problem: Uninvited guests 1) The first and most obvious is don't post your links publically 2) When you're creating groups, there is an option to create a fixed zoom ID that can be used across sessions. For big one offs (like I do), it's better to pick 'generate automatically' 2/
3) If you have smaller groups (mine are too big for this really), you can pick 'enable waiting room' (see picture) which means everyone has to wait until you allow them into the main chat having verified their identity. 3/