: Re: Subverting the essence of fictional and/or religious entities; is it acceptable? I talked to a critique partner not too long ago about an angel in my book. I said, he was a subversive character,

@Kevin153

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Writers do this often, so clearly it can be done. And fiction is neither non-fiction, with its implicit commitment to accuracy and facts, nor a religious document, intended to shape people's beliefs, nor yet a course in moral improvement and uplift. Therefore, the blanket judgment that this is "wrong" seems questionable. With that said, I can see several productive ways of taking your critique partner's comment:

While you may not personally be religious, there are plenty of readers --your critique partner may be one --who believe in the literal, non-fictional existence of divine, intrinsically good angels. Recognize that your book is not going to be a good match for that audience.
Given that the original conception of angel is so distant from your depiction, your critique partner may be calling into question whether it makes sense, is illuminating, or is even interesting to call this being an "angel." You can write a book where you call a horse a "fish" (or call a dragon a "hobbit," for a more mythological example) but there doesn't seem to be much reason to do so. In this case, you have something that strongly resembles an angel, but arguably only at a superficial level.
Finally, the "fallen angel" conceptualization is seemingly a more common --some might say overplayed --depiction in modern popular culture than the original one. Perhaps your critique partner is just tired of this modern pop-culture trope.

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