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dearlybelovedemilyko · 1 month

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The Patron Saint of Things That Go Boom

or who’s St. Barbara and what does she have to do with Shadows House?

I came across the name St. Barbara a while back, when I was looking up the meaning of the name Barbara for a possible Shadows House name meanings edit (you know the ones). It didn’t cross my mind that a Catholic saint could possibly have anything to do with a manga about shadow people in a cult and I googled her solely out of curiosity but, as you can probably infer from the fact that you’re reading a post about it tagged #shadows house, I was in for a surprise.

To sum up her life story, St. Barbara was born the daughter of a pagan noble, who kept her locked up in a tower and sheltered from outside influence. One day he came back from a trip to find that in his absence she had converted to Christianity and wanted to dedicate her life to faith as a virgin, which was not only a really bad look at the time but also ruined his plan to marry her for money. He then turned her in as a Christian to the prefect, who sentenced her to imprisonment and torture and, when she didn’t lose her faith and her wounds were miraculously healed every morning, to death. (Another Christian tried to defend her and was also sentenced to death)

St. Barbara’s father insisted on being the one to carry the sentence, killing her himself. However, a storm broke out as soon as she died, and both the father and the prefect were struck by lightning, burning to death as punishment for their actions.

Due to their role in her story, St. Barbara is seen as a protector against lightning, and consequently against fire and explosions (there is also an old belief that she could control them). The connection to explosions was so strong that she became the patron saint of literally anything explosion related, anyone who works with explosions, or anyone in danger of dying in an explosion, from gunsmiths to miners. Hell, look at this actual website calling her “the patron saint of things that go boom".

Sounds familiar, right? Barbara’s seizures, both in the manga and the anime, are accompanied by lightning effects. This is more subtle in the manga, in fact I hadn’t realized what those lines were supposed to be until I watched the anime (see: the gif right after the title of this post), but they’re clearly there. She’s the only character that gets this effect, nobody else so far produces lightning along with their soot.

Her usual seizures take the shape of a storm/tornado, complete with wind sound effects in the anime, while the worst ones we’ve seen so far, the one that gave Barbie her scar and that one that almost killed Barbara, have notably caused, guess what, explosions.

Notice also how it was raining in both occasions, and how in both of these explosions someone nearly died.

At this point the parallels seem too clear to be unintentional, and I'd believe you if you told me that somehow Somato and I fell down the same internet rabbit hole researching about this saint, so I thought I should share this information with you guys.

There are lots of coming and going fan theories about Barbara's soot powers, if we ever get to see them, so maybe this can give us some clues. It would certainly be interesting if she turned out to have lightning and/or explosion powers that she still can't control, and that work involuntarily during her seizures. It would also be cool as hell if she got a gun.

#shadows house #shadows house spoilers #barbara shadow #shadows house meta

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celiaelise · 1 year

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I got caught up on the Shadows House manga! (spoilers!!! don't read this if you haven't read it :p)

(well, almost. The latest chapter hasn't yet been posted on the app I have that gives me manga in English, so I haven't read 158.)

I have SO many thoughts!! First of all, it did throw me off how the anime stuck so closely to the manga except for, like, adding an ENTIRELY NEW PLOT ARC which completely disrupted the timelines of when certain things were revealed to the characters. Like, if I remember correctly, the main characters in the manga still haven't ever infiltrated Grandfather's house, Kate only used a Veiled Doll disguise when they were in the Star Bearers' tower to avoid Suzanna, and they have no information about Edward's soot powers. So that's weird. And the Edward of the manga seems much more subtle than to do something as brash as kidnap Emilico.

I guess they wanted a very dramatic ending for the first season? But it seems probably unnecessary to me. Like, I didn't hate that part of the show, but I don't think I would've liked the show less without it. Plus, it removes a lot of the mystery and raises plot hole-type of questions about who knows what and who's, like, in the house. (and also how John got back? I think he said he held onto Edward's bird, but then where was he when Edward got there???) I think it probably would've been dramatic enough to end with the fallout of the debut, and the brainwashing/human reveal.

I am now going to share a bunch of my thoughts on various parts of the story, in no particular order. Sorry about the super long post, I know probably more people would read this if it was broken up, but I didn't want to flood the tag or my own blog.

Maryrose and Rosemary omg!!! 😭🥺😭🥺😭 I love them so much! I think their story was pretty much exactly the same as the show. I did notice, I think just because it was my second time around, that Rosemary doesn't talk, like, at all in the big showdown, or afterward when she's detained, except for when she reveals herself and then hugs Shaun and Emilico. Maryrose does all the talking, and it's kind of set up as just a fight between her and Kate and John, and then, later, Edward. Which I guess makes sense, given the circumstances of their relationship, and especially how they're used to interacting with others, or maybe that's just their personalities. But it would have been sweet to see them behave more like equal partners. I guess I may be projecting Kate and Emilico onto them a bit 😅 They are still great though, of course.

ANYWAY, I have a THEORY!! Or maybe more of a wish? I think it would be really cute if Rosemary and Maryrose ran away to join the circus! 🎪 They already have a lot of parallels to Kate and Emilico, so it kinda makes sense!! Especially considering that Maryrose can't disguise her shadow form, so it will be hard for them to integrate into normal society. (like Kate...) We already know they love to perform, they can do supernatural tricks with soot powers, and "the beauty and her shadow" would be an easy gimmick, as well as an interesting inversion of their relationship at Shadows House. Hopefully they can find one with a nicer ringmaster than Emilico's, but they're also much more prepared to throw down with a grown man than she was.

It was SO satisfying to me when the Patrick and Louise pairs finally got filled in on everything!!! Frankly I did not understand why nobody told poor Patrick about the soot powers right after the debut; it's not like Kate cares about respecting authority. And then even Rum came back 💜 I love when they all get to be a happy little family together 🥰🥰

In general I appreciate how many things seem to go well in this story, especially because it's usually because the characters have decided to work together and trust each other. Even though the fate of their uprising is far from sealed, it's still already had a lot of success, like them befriending the Star Bearers and eliminating the coffee. I feel like in a lot of other stories everything would have to fall apart so much more for the main characters before they got anywhere close to their goals. Which, like, of course there's nothing wrong with that, I just prefer a bit less hopelessness in my stories. Like, the Star Bearer election was such a huge victory!! And they just got to have that! (obviously there will be fallout, but they still got it, y'know?)

The criticism of capitalism really is, like, glaring. I feel like it's most obvious for me in the chapter where Emilico considers that she may have been less miserable if she kept drinking the coffee, but then Kate tries to help clean, and shares her table with her, and cheers her up. It's a tiny piece of the overall story, but it's such a sweet little reminder of, "this system exists to control us by breaking us down, and it will absolutely succeed if we are not there for each other. Relationships, empathizing with one another's struggles, and providing hope and help where it is needed are essential for progress." As someone who has dealt with burnout, that was really...yeah...🥺

I am so curious about where the story is going with Lou and Louise!!! Even before the recent invitation, I kept thinking, "we really don't know that much about them..." Louise's obsession with Lou's beauty is clearly unhealthy, and I assume it's inhibiting her own sense of identity. She's not the most thoughtful, and of the main team, seems to understand the least why what Shadows House is doing is wrong. I'm not even convinced she ever stopped brainwashing Lou, though I don't think she'd realize that's what she was doing. Especially because, in the manga, her powers weren't a huge discovery for her, she was just like, "oh yeah, that's something that I do". And when all the human kids are remembering their home and the selection together, Lou struggles to have an emotional reaction the way everyone else does. That reminded me of when Kate first broke Emilico's brainwashing after the debut, and she was confused at not being able to associate sadness with the memory of Rum and Shirley's loss. However, I do think Louise is firm enough in her connection to the group and their ideals that she won't be comfortable going along with unification. Even if she doesn't feel Edward is giving her a choice, she won't be like, "oh okay this is fine".

I have NO idea where they're going with Sarah and Mia. Someone in the tag pointed out that it looks like Sarah is crossing to the other wing along with Louise, and idk what to do with that!! Honestly, I have been a little confused by their characterization in general, because the first things we learn about them are the Sarah is mean and cruel, while Mia is helpful and kind, only for that to... not quite seem to be the case. Everyone seems to think Sarah is well-meaning but immature, and Mia begins to be the driving force behind Emilico's antagonization. I mean, it does seem like nobody would be aware of Sarah's abuse, and I can see that Mia's attitude toward Emilico would change once she is perceived to be a threat. But the abuse in particular seemed to sort of be swept under the rug? Like, they introduced it and then never mentioned it again, until Mia herself initiated it, which may not be odd if Sarah hadn't become a much more central character. (idk, I'm probably overthinking it!) Anyway, some people were saying they don't think Mia's going to make it, but idk...if either of them dies, it would be the closest-to-the-main-characters character to have a confirmed death yet. And if Mia, specifically, were to die, we'd have a faceless shadow, which we've never had to deal with before, because the Belles were able to share their...Belle. (speaking of whom, is Emi the only one who cares that she LOST HER TWIN SISTER??) Would Sarah be doomed to the death Rum described, or would our group have to rescue and hide her, somehow?

Speaking of all the Belles, again, I really feel like Barbara ought to apologize to them, specifically. She tried pretty hard to kill all of them, and succeeded with one out of four. Because if Belle hadn't made it, they'd have gotten rid of Isabelle and Mirabelle, right? I know Barbara has enough angst happening right now already, but, like, are we gonna talk about that??

Oh yeah, ANTHONY. What a little freak. His backstory puts him in one of the most sympathetic positions in the whole story, but after only a few short appearances, every reader is creeped out by him!! Truly an accomplishment. I mean, we can assume he was emotionally broken by the loss of Christopher, but still. Be cool, dude. One very interesting mystery surrounding him is that of Christopher's soot powers!!! I assume he has some of his soot in the vial, (a bit macabre, to think of him gathering it from a corpse) and is using it to do mind control of some sort?

(I do feel very bad for Barbara btw. Especially after she made such progress by opening up to everyone! I don't mean to gloss over that, I just don't have much to say about it.)

Okay, okay. KATE. 🎀🌹 Dearest, darlingest, mysterious girl. I was so happy when we finally learned the truth about her doll!!! Emilico meeting her (and everyone else tbh) in the village before they went to the House seemed kind of jarringly coincidental, but once I was able to suspend my disbelief in serendipity, it was really sweet!!! 😊🥰 And her having a different history then the other shadows makes her so much more interesting! (Though it does make Maryrose seem like more of an anomaly...) It's kind of funny that so many characters have a second, secreter backstory behind their secret backstory. Has anyone else considered that Kate may already actually be the equivalent to an "adult" shadow, the perfect union of a morph and a human?? I was going to say that she's the death-free version of what Gramps is trying to do, but then I remembered her mother died, so that's a lie. Possessing and killing pregnant women is actually not more ethical than whatever is currently going on.

Romance! As a lesbian who finds most "teen romance" stories grating, I kind of like what Shadows House has done so far, with the characters having various crushes and largely not acting on them, and that taking a backseat to both the main plotlines and their friendships. The crushes are more a vehicle for the characters learning about themselves than for drama. Probably eventually people will start getting together and that will change and I'll get annoyed, but 🤷🏻‍♀️. The only ones who are like "uwu we're made for each other 😚💕" are the ones who literally WERE. I like the head canon that Kate is a lesbian, and I don't really ship anything except the Roses, of course, and kinda Kate and Emilico. But that's, like...the whole story is about their love for each other, regardless of the form it takes? Not to be like, "they don't need to be gay because their friendship is just as strong", but it is. (I do think they're gay, though) I think I picture them ending up together, but, maybe, like, in a few years?? They are still learning that they are even people. (no hate if you do ship more, though. That's just me.) And I like imagining the main squad as found family besties. Like, "I used to be in love with you when we barely knew each other, then we got close, did a revolution together, and now both we and the shape of that love have changed so much, but we're all still here," type of friends.

Speaking of years, I wonder if the story's timeline will be clarified? rn it's, like, super ambiguous, and I think that might be intentional, but I wonder if we'll get answers.

Oh, okay! I think this'll be the last topic, and it's a totally superficial one. Kate's new digs!!!! ♥️ The scene where everyone came to say hi was so cute, I loved that. Do you think she'll have it redecorated to fit her color scheme more? Also, does this mean Emilico gets a nicer room, too??? And will this make it harder or easier to meet up with the others? Farther away, well, except for Patrick, now, but possibly more space and more freedom? And does Rum always patrol the tower? Cause then they'd get to see her all the time! In general I'm excited for what new things Kate will have access to as a star bearer, but that also means that if the adults find out about the coffee, she'll be blamed for sure.

All right, that's finally it! Thank you for reading, if you read all of this, I love you so much!!! Please tell me what you think about any of my theories or thoughts or whatnot. 💕

#shadows house #kate shadow #kate mirror #maryrose shadow #barbara shadow #anthony shadows house #patrick shadow #louise shadow #is the colored text too much? it's meant to break it up some...#by elise #just me being normal and writing normal length posts #maryrose/rosemary #shadows house spoilers

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