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#eden's gate: the mother
simonxriley · 1 year
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Me: *trying to work on something for Ellie*
My Internet: "how about i keep disconnecting every (2) minutes?*
Me: 🙃
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Hazbin Hotel Ep1 Rewrite
Okay, let’s get the shit I like first out of the way. Animation? Beautiful. Art style? Iconic. Music? Pops off.
Okay, now the fun part…
First let me just say, I adore biblical lore. So when I see something changed from the og lore, where I think the og was more interesting, I cannot let it go.
(I’m gonna focus on the Charlie storyline in the episode)
1. The Backstory
Let’s start with the first scene, the backstory of Lucifer and Lilith. In the show, they got some of the timeline and motivations wrong. I understand that the story is sugar coated, but hear me out.
“Once upon a time, there was a dazzling kingdom protected by golden gates, known as Heaven. Home to beings of pure light. Angels that worshiped good and lived in peace and harmony under the rule of God. The most beautiful of the Angels was Lucifer. He was a dreamer, with fantastical ideas for all creation. But he was restricted by God and the elders of Heaven, for they felt his way of thinking was dangerous to the order of their world.
Outraged by this injustice, Lucifer gathered an army of Angels, and declared war on the kingdom of Heaven. The battle raged on for centuries, but in the end, Heaven reigned victorious. As punishment for their betrayal, Lucifer and his army were cast out of Heaven. Banished to a crumbling wasteland, where the light of God could not reach. But Lucifer would not wallow in failure. From the barren landscape he rose a beautiful golden palace, crowned himself king and crafted a plan to share his freedom with God’s newest creation. Humanity.”
(I like to imagine that when Lucifer and his army fell, their wings burned up, leaving scattered feathers everywhere. In order to fly to Eden, Lucifer gathered these burned feathers and turned them into a new pair of wings for himself. They were black, messy, and trailed billowing smoke, but they could fly.)
Now for the Lilith part of the story. The more popular interpretation of her is that she is the first wife of Adam, but there is another version too, one where she is Adam’s second Wife after Eve. I personally prefer the latter because I can’t see anyone sinning or getting cast out of Edan before Eve eats the apple.
“He approached the garden of Edan in disguise, and offered the forbidden fruit of knowledge to the mother of humanity, Eve, who gladly accepted. But with the gift of knowledge and freedom, came a terrible curse. Evil bleed into the earth, and humanity was infected by darkness and sin.
For her disobedience Eve was cast out of Edan, to the dismay of her love, Adam. To appease him, the Angels crafted him a new bride, Lilith. Lilith was beautiful, with a voice so enchanting even Lucifer was mesmerized, but she was strong willed and refused to be subservient to her new husband. She fled from the garden, and rather than chase her, Adam found the tree of knowledge and bit into the forbidden fruit, so he could follow his true love, and be with her once more.
Lilith wandered, lost and alone, until she was found by Lucifer. Enamored by her beauty and iron will, he gave her his heart and made her his queen.”
Then you have the bit about Lucifer becoming depressed while Lilith thrived in Hell. I hate this! I was looking forward to a demonic Mortica and Gomez, not another Stolas and Stella. Plus, I’ve never been a fan of uwu sad misunderstood Lucifer. He is a complex character, but too often he’s over simplified by people who read Paradise Lost in high school and misinterpreted Lucifer as a tragic anti hero who was treated unfairly by the evil Angels. Lucifer can be tragic, even sympathetic. He can be fun and a caring father. But don’t forget that he is king of Hell. He is the prince of pride. He has an ego the size of east Texas and waged war against God himself.
And let’s not forget that in the show he is the head honcho over a strict cast system that encourages violence, allows the worst of the worst to take power, and leaves the hellborn races at the bottom at a severe disadvantage.
In this rewrite, Lucifer and Lilith essentially switch places, except Lilith isn’t a pathetic push over, she’s an incredibly famous rockstar, who’s always busy and not around often, but still has a bigger role in her daughter’s life than her husband, who’s been mia doing king shit.
And the last thing we hear about in the intro monologue is that the exterminations happens to prevent Hell from rising against them, which while that may be the case, don’t have Charlie say it!!! That realization for her would make the entire hotel superfluous! Charlie has to think that the problem truly is overpopulation.
2. Meeting with Adam
Let’s start with Adam himself. I hate this character. Especially as an adaptation of Adam. Yes, Adam is misogynistic. He expected Lilith to be subservient to him, but he wouldn’t be the frat boy type of misogynist, he’d be the old school chivalrous type. Grandpa style sexism. And shouldn’t the father of humanity care about his descendants? It doesn’t make any sense for him to be an executioner. He should be the leader of the guardian Angels or something.
In this rewrite, Adam is not the leader of the executioners, instead it’s the Angel Dumah. Dumah is the angel over the wicked dead, and he was appointed by God to torment sinners in Hell.
I want him to be an actual intimidating antagonist. He rarely speaks (his name means “silence”) and has many eyes (is described as having a thousand eyes)
As for the exorcists, they are Angels, but not actual dead humans wearing mask. They just look like that. Dumah is described as having tens of thousands of Angels of Destruction at his disposal. That’s what the exorcists are going to be, but instead of thousands, I’ll give him five. They don’t speak and are hardly sentient. They stand on top of the tower like gargoyles, until they “come to life” for the execution.
“But it’s a comedy! Shouldn’t they be funny?” No. It’s all about how characters react to them. The Litch in Adventure Time is a good example of this.
So obviously the meeting goes a lot differently.
Charlie gets a call, looks at the number, and excitedly tells everyone to, “shooooosh!” She takes the call nervously, saying, “yeah! Okay! Yes! Of course! I’ll be right there! Thank you SOOO much!!!” She hangs up and happily tells Vaggie that Dumah requested a meeting with her. Vaggie is nervous and says she should probably go with her, but Charlie says that she’ll be fine and tells her to stay and work on the commercial. She leaves excited that the Angels may finally be taking her seriously.
She makes it to the clock tower’s board room, where Dumah sits silently at the end of the table. Charlie nervously starts to greet him before she realizes they’re not alone. The Angels, Gabriel and Uriel have come from Heaven, for a meeting with Hell’s princess.
Uriel remains professional, politely bowing her head as she greeted Charlie. Gabriel on the other hand, threw his arms out, happily yelling, “Charlotte!!!” He wrapped her in an uncomfortably tight and awkward hug, saying how much she’s grown since he last saw her. He’s like a chill but estranged uncle meeting his now adult niece who he hasn’t seen since she was a baby and has no memory of him whatsoever.
Uriel watches the whole thing in embarrassment. She tells Charlie that Dumah had contacted them, regarding some, “interesting,” ideas about the extermination.
Charlie starts with her pitch, but Gabriel insists that they should take some time to catch up first. He claps his hands and summons plates of food for everyone. When we cut back to them, Gabriel is in the middle of telling the story about almost getting his ass kicked by Joseph when he told him his virgin wife was pregnant.
Uriel cuts him off, saying she doesn’t need to hear this story for the eighth millionth time. She turns to Charlie, exasperated, and tells her to get on with the pitch.
Charlie says that she has a potential solution for the over population problem in Hell. Uriel, Gabriel, and Dumah look at her blankly. Gabriel asks, “overpopulation?”
Charlie goes on to explain that she knows overpopulation is a big problem, but 275 sinners were executed this year alone and she just can’t stand to watch her people be slaughtered anymore.
Uriel asks if she’s suggesting an alternative, and Charlie very excitedly pitches her idea for the hotel. Uriel and Gabriel wear a matching “wtf” face and look back and forth at eachother like, “does this girl know what she’s suggesting?”
As Charlie is finishing, Uriel is visibly annoyed. She interrupts Charlie, complaining that this is ridiculous and has all been a massive waste of time as she stands up to leave. Charlie tries to stop her, saying, “please, you don’t understand.”
Uriel snaps back, “no, you don’t understand! They had their chance in life and they earned damnation.”
Charlie responds, “you're wrong. Sinners made mistakes, sure, but everyone makes mistakes.”
Uriel pinches the bridge of her nose (or where a nose would be on a person) “a mistake happens once. It’s an accident, an error in judgment due to naivety. Of course mistakes can be forgiven, but we’re not talking about mistakes, are we? These sinners had a choice, and they chose to live in sin.”
“A choice they now regret!” Charlie defends.
“It takes a lot more than regret to be forgiven.” Uriel says coldly. “It takes remorse.”
Gabriel chimes in, “she has a point, Charlie. It’s easy to make someone regret their actions, but to have them feel true selfless remorse, that is much more difficult.”
Charlie furrows her brow and starts to look defeated.
“But perhaps not impossible.”
Charlie beams with excitement. Gabriel explains that this is a big decision, too big to be made right now, but if she can successfully redeem one demon, they will allow her to come to heaven and pitch her idea to the entire Angelic court. Uriel tries to argue, but Gabriel just says they’ll discuss it later. Charlie gives him a tight hug before he and Uriel disappear.
As she turns to leave, Dumah puts his hand on her shoulder. This is the first time he’s moved in the entire scene. He stares at her coldly and says, “the only reason you’re here is your father has spared you from the executioner’s blade. If I had my way. Each and every one of you would be slaughtered.”
Charlie stares up at him. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
For context, part of the reason Gabriel and Uriel were initially confused by Charlie’s proposal is because they know that Lucifer is trying to keep Hell’s population as high as possible, in preparation for the second war with heaven. That’s why he and the other princes of hell work to manipulate humanity and temp them towards sin (i.e. succubi and incubi). That’s why he arranges marriages between powerful demons to make powerful demon children (i.e. Stolas and Stella). He needs as many demons possible for his army if he’s gonna have a chance at winning. So obviously, sending sinners to heaven, aka the opposing force, is the LAST thing Lucifer would want.
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youryurigoddess · 5 months
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A. Z. Fell & Co. bookshop and its statues, part 2
Welcome to the second part of my insane deep dive into Aziraphale’s world of slightly outdated decor, golden-colored trinkets, and their ostentatiously Greek (especially for a representative of an originally Judeo-Christian mythology) symbolism. As a short recap, the last installment covered six pieces in the northern and central sections of the bookshop plus a plot-important medal previously displayed on one of them, but currently left with the other bibelots on the bookseller’s desk. We’ll start right there, where we previously left off.
While a lot of the bookshop action plays out in the circle between the formerly discussed statues, its office part is especially close to Aziraphale himself. As the titular Guardian of the Eastern Gate, the angel consciously spends most of his time in this small space in the Eastern part of the bookshop, confined to his desk or reading stand. This means that the decorations of this area have more personal significance and are most probably used as daily reminders for him to keep his thoughts and priorities on track as much as provide pleasant distraction from the weary eyes.
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The two windowsill figures of the Art Deco dancers from S1 were replaced by a somewhat similar set of twin statues by Ernest Rancoulet called Retour des Bois (Return from the Woods). Depicting a young woman accompanied by a putto, Aphrodite and Eros, frolicking in a dance through the woods and meadows. This bucolic fantasy with Aphrodite makes some sense when we consider how Aziraphale’s personal love story started (and will presumably end) in a garden, but let’s deep deeper into its protagonists. Or protagonist, actually, because what else can be told about Love itself?
Eros as the god of Desire is usually presented in art as a handsome young man, though in some appearances he is a boy full of mischief, ever in the company of his mother. It is usually under the guidance of Aphrodite when he employs his signature bow and arrows to make mortals and immortals alike to fall in love. His role in myths is mostly complementary, as a catalyst for other mythological figures and their stories, with the notable exception being the myth of Eros and Psyche, the story of how he met and fell in love with his wife.
In short, they are the original star-crossed lovers from entirely separate worlds who meet and fall in love by divine happenstance, only to be separated by Psyche’s family. Convinced by her sisters that her husband is, in fact, a vile winged serpent, Psyche breaks his one rule and the attempt to kill the monster leads her to falling in passionate love with him. Eros flees and Psyche wanders the Earth searching for him and succumbing to a series of impossible tasks reminding of those from the Scarborough Fair ballad or the more modern fairytale about Cinderella. She ultimately fails, but is saved by the healed Eros, granted immortality and the status of his equal, after which they can properly marry with a huge wedding banquet, a real feast of the gods.
In the Christian Middle Ages, the union of Eros and Psyche started to symbolize the temptation and fall of the human soul, driven by the sexual curiosity and lust from the Love’s domain, mirroring the original sin and the expulsion from Eden.
Oh, and their Latin names? Cupid and Anima. C+A.
We’ll get back to them in a minute.
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According to unnecessary but extensive research, the two mid-century table lamps standing over the desk were most probably produced in France after another unspecified 19th century sculptor like the example above, although this particular putti design can be also found in the so called Hollywood regency style of the same time period. The putto is holding onto a cornucopia, a classical antiquity symbol of plenty, which then continues to the bulb section.
The cornucopia is an easily recognizable symbol of abundance, fertility and, to lesser extant, peace and good fortune. Since the horn is phallic-shaped, but hollow at the same time, it combines intimate imagery of both male and female character at the same time, which further ties into notions of fertility. In its role as a fertility symbol, the cornucopia is also usually associated with Demeter, whose small statue is also standing on the bookshop’s counter. Which seems like a recurring theme.
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I saw multiple theories about Aziraphale’s centerpiece, but somehow the truth proved to be much less significant than previously thought. This roman soldier, possibly a centurion, driving his two horses in a highly decorated chariot is made from a marble powder resin composite and takes the most visible place in the Eastern part of the bookshop even though it’s seemingly one of the newest additions to Aziraphale’s collection — its author, Lorenzo Toni, was born in 1938 and became a sculpture master by the 1970s. 
At first glance, the parallel to the Marly Horses seems obvious and we could leave it basically at what was written recently on Crowley and Aziraphale’s dynamics. But here is where instead of commenting on the antique sculpture that seems to be the inspiration behind this piece or the many intricacies of Roman chariot racing I’ll do something completely unhinged — i.e., play my Greek philosophy card.
In the dialogue "Phaedrus ”, Plato presents the allegory of the chariot to explain the tripartite nature of the human soul or — you guessed it — psyche. The charioteer is the man’s Reason, the rational part that loves truth and knowledge, which should rule over the other parts of the soul through the use of logic. One of the horses, the white one, is man’s Spirit, a motivated part which seeks glory, honor, recognition and victory. The second horse, the black one, represents man’s Appetite — an ever so hungry part which desires food, drink, material wealth and physical intimacy.
And the fun part? This triad is established to analyze the madness of love. In a classical Greek context, that is not between a man and a woman, but erastes and eromenos:
The charioteer is filled with warmth and desire as he gazes into the eyes of the one he loves. The good horse is controlled by its sense of shame, but the bad horse, overcome with desire, does everything it can to go up to the boy and suggest to it the pleasures of sex. The bad horse eventually wears out its charioteer and partner, and drags them towards the boy; yet when the charioteer looks into the boy's face, his memory is carried back to the sight of the forms of beauty and self-control he had with the gods, and pulls back violently on the reins. As this occurs over and over, the bad horse eventually becomes obedient and finally dies of fright when seeing the boy's face, allowing the lover's soul to follow the boy in reverence and awe. The lover now pursues the boy. As he gets closer to his quarry, and the love is reciprocated, the opportunity for sexual contact again presents itself. If the lover and beloved surpass this desire they have won the "true Olympic Contests"; it is the perfect combination of human self-control and divine madness, and after death, their souls return to heaven.
And such a perfect combination of the motifs already introduced to us by the two Eros statues and the Head of the Victorious Athlete.
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Aziraphale might be a titular Companion to Owls (or, to be precise, the companion to one particular Nite Owl), but he had also made sure to have at least one owl keeping him company. And of course, the owl of Athena (who was interestingly both a bird and a snake goddess) is an absolutely conclusion here as the universal symbol of wisdom and knowledge in the Western culture, but it can’t be that easy, right?
In the Bible, you'll find that owls often symbolize something unclean and forbidden, as well as desolation, loneliness, and destruction. This symbolic significance is pointed out in Leviticus 11:16-17 and Deuteronomy 14:11-17 where owls are mentioned among the birds not to be eaten. Owls were considered unclean most likely because they are predatory creatures who eat raw flesh with the blood still in it, and that was an even bigger food safety concern for the biblical nomads than to us today.
Owls are also among the wild predators that have long dwelled in the desert lands and abandoned ruins of Egypt and the Holy Land. Both Isaiah and Zephaniah speak of owls nesting in ruined wastelands to paint symbolic images of barrenness, emptiness, and utter desolation. In Psalm 102:3–6, the owl symbolizes the loneliness of the psalmist’s tortured heart:
For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food. In my distress I groan aloud and am reduced to skin and bones. I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof. All day long my enemies taunt me; those who rail against me use my name as a curse. For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears because of your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside. My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass. But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.
It’s a devastating, but still beautiful piece that deals with the feeling of utter rejection, the ultimate bad breakup of the relationship between a human and their God. And this… simply didn’t happen between God and Aziraphale, not even during his Job job. The angel had always considered Her love and ineffability as a given, even when the whole Heavenly Host was against him during the Non-Apocalypse. His allegiance stayed with God, not necessarily Her angels. Which brings us yet again to the motion of Crowley as the owl.
The angel and the demon are the companions to each other's loneliness, but Aziraphale’s needs seem significantly bigger than their Arrangement that he even considered a wooden substitute protectively hovering over him 24/7. He seems to be the one who is the loneliest and most rejected.
Oh, and if you think that putting a small bronze statue of a putto with a bronze putto-shaped candleholder right behind it (visible on the filing cabinet in the bottom right corner) is already a stretch, let me show you what’s on the other side of that wall.
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Just like before the bookshop fire, the famous sink in the small backroom is adorned with a perfectly kitschy white plaster sculpture of The Two Cherubs, a small part of a larger painting by Raphael (the painter, not the Archangel) titled Sistine Madonna. In the painting the Madonna, holding Christ Child and flanked by Saint Sixtus and Saint Barbara, stands on clouds before dozens of obscured putti, while two distinctive winged putti rest on their elbows beneath her. with bombastic side eyes and clearly unspoken, but very controversial thoughts about the whole scene and their role in it.
With an attitude like that, there’s no wonder that the putti have inspired some legends. According to one, the original cherubs were children of one of his models they would come in to watch. Struck by their posture, he added them to the painting exactly as he saw them. Another story says that Raphael was inspired by two street urchins looking wistfully into the window of a baker's shop.
The Germans implicitly tied this painting into a legend of their own, "Raphael's Dream." Arising in the last decades of the 18th century, the legend — which made its way into a number of stories and even a play — presents Raphael as receiving a heavenly vision that enabled him to present his divine Madonna. It is claimed the painting has stirred many viewers, and that at the sight of the canvas some were transfixed to a state of religious ecstasy akin to Stendhal Syndrome (including one of Freud's patients).
Their big, seemingly cherubic companion doesn’t seem to have a specific provenance, but what’s left of his limbs might suggest that it could be an infant Jesus as well as another putto. But honestly who knows at this point.
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On the other side of the same room, right at the door leading to the big backroom, there are two lamps with Auguste Moreau’s Young Lovers, a bronze sculpture depicting a courting couple on the verge of a physical embrace, holding garlands of roses and hiding under some old vines. Which aligns perfectly with the beloved romcom trope of a rain shelter leading to sudden love realizations, as well as Crowley choosing this part of the bookshop to have a word with his angel in private and then offering his advice on anything related to human love. No wonder that the angel looked at him like that.
This statue carries with it more than one allegorical interpretation, intentional or not. Arguably the most obvious one is the myth of Eros and Psyche, one we already covered in this post. But similarly to his earlier sculpture, Eros also serves here as an allegory for nature and the return to the natural state itself. Like Adam in Eden, he's unclothed and symbolically crowned as a ruler of his domain. Psyche, enamored with his confidence, is about to take her own leap of faith as her fabric restraints fall away. One could say that she's tempted to follow him into nature, deep into the garden of love.
And with that exact thought I will leave you today, dear reader. Through this analysis we learnt many things, among them two significant facts about Aziraphale: firstly, he’s an utter and incorrigible romantic, and secondly, a hoarder. Forget Crowley’s souvenirs — the amount of this angel’s statues is something else. And it isn’t even his hyperfixation!
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simplegenius042 · 9 days
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Late OCs as Horror Themes/Tropes, Ships as Tarot Cards, and 15 Lines or Less Tag
Tagged by @nightbloodbix @aceghosts @inafieldofdaisies @voidika @direwombat and @g0dspeeed
Tagging @socially-awkward-skeleton @softtidesworld @strafethesesinners @strangefable @adelaidedrubman @wrathfulrook @corvosattano @cassietrn @derelictheretic @shellibisshe @florbelles @cloudofbutterflies92 @starsandskies @onehornedbeast @josephslittledeputy @josephseedismyfather @afarcryfrommymain @megraen @turbo-virgins @minilev @carlosoliveiraa @shallow-gravy @titiagls @thewanderer-000 @snake-in-the-garden @purplehairsecretlair @chazz-anova @ladyoriza @la-grosse-patate @skoll-sun-eater @yokobai @bitchofedensgate @deputyash @ec-10 @foofygoldfish @gaeadene @henbased @vampireninjabunnies-blog and @trashcatsnark
You can find the OCs as Horror Themes/Tropes quiz here and the Ships as Tarot Cards quiz here. One OC for the first quiz, Two Ships for the second quiz, and three OCs for five lines each for the 15. The results and lines are below the cut:
DISCORD, THE MAD KIN OF CARNAGE (A Radioactive Calamity Of Love, Bombs & Gore and the Unnamed Original Works Trilogy)
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Discord was a second-generation reality bender (or more commonly known as "Kin"), and one of the most devastatingly powerful as well. His very presence was capable of reverting anything and everything around him back to its basic essential form/s (until it became rusted, rotten, and/or dust and eventually nothing at all). Had technically been killed during the Extermination Purge War, however, Arcane Urias' Chapter of the Occult, a group of warlocks, liches and dark magic users that aimed to preserve ancient magic (regardless if it was forbidden or destructive) and bring back the Old Kin (which mostly consist of the extinct first, second and third generations, as well as some fourth) to rule over the Multiverse once again, had found a way to bring back Discord, in a universe where Earth had been ravaged by nuclear war. NOTE: This result kind of describes how Discord's second death more-or-less is like.
THE BAPTIST AND THE QUOKKA [JOHN SEED X NADI SINCLAIR] (Far Cry The Silver Chronicles)
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While Nadi and John have this "loyally serving the other while yearning for each others love but beating around the bush due to bad timings and stuff and still caring and possessive of the other to an obsessively unhealthy degree"... I will have to say that Nadi's affection isn't John's only priority; Joseph and his family plus the project is John's focus and is probably what he would choose over Nadi. Nadi though views John as the person who gave her something to believe in again, to put her skill and faith in (especially after losing faith in the military and governments after the events of Call To Arms), so to her, Eden's Gate' faith is personified by John. But if either lose each one another, it will greatly impact the other's life.
HAOYU ANABUKI X ICARUS GALATOS (Life, Despair & Monsters)
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Ah yes, another main LGBTQ+ couple I made to add to my collection alongside Sonya and Jennifer. Haoyu (Non-Binary, 25) and Icarus (Male, 23) fit each other well. At first both thought the other was a jerk. However, both got to know each other, related about their experiences with distant, long-lost and/or found family (Haoyu with their father, mother and Monika plus the Literature Club, and Icarus with his parents, siblings, alters and the Dupain-Cheng Family), coming to terms with their personal lives (Haoyu with their ability to open portals and travel through reality breaches, and Icarus plus his alters with the ability to switch dimensions with this magic fungus dude named Hatter whom one of the alters had eaten inadvertently on a dare), as well as near-death experiences (Haoyu with the Ruins of the Midnight Rise, and Icarus with Evermond Scowlzka trying to dissect him and his alters to get Hatter) plus their encounters with Sir Enigma Malvolio (Haoyu is Malvolio's foil and therefore targeted as a rival, and Icarus, while never meeting Malvolio until much later, had seen the aftereffects of Malvolio putting the essence of the Court King into a close friend of his, Marinette Dupain-Cheng). They also manage to work through each other's flaws; Icarus was reserved and arrogant but self-sacrificing (hence the requirement for his alters, Hatsukami Hinode and Xavier Tulip), and Haoyu was bold and selfish yet unambitious. Icarus teaches Haoyu how to be driven, pointing them towards a goal beneficial to not only them, but everyone, while Haoyu taught Icarus how to listen and take care of himself more, as well as be open-minded. Wherever they end up after the fight with the Ruins of the Midnight Rise, know that they're both at least together.
15 LINES, 5 EACH FOR 3 OCS IN THE UNTITLEDVERSE
Calvin Darling (The Perfect Storm saga)
"Ah, back in this shit again?" He grumbles, getting up.
"Haven't you learned by now? "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before the fall"," Calvin quoted, "Try to checkmate that, you pompous dick."
"I need a drink," Calvin pauses, reminding himself of another task, "But first I shall pray."
"Mario! I'm a cartoonist, not a mechanic."
"...I'm simultaneously impressed by how smart you can be but also disappointed in how stupid you are."
Rick Thompson (The Omniscience Rule saga and The Ender saga)
6. "I don't remember hunting down clowns to be part of the initiative...?" 7. "My dream came true Ma... I am IN a Musical." 8. "Ms Darling, if I may compliment outside of regulations, you're stunning beauty is increased tenfold by the stellar addition of grime and demons blood." 9. "I may be an agent, but I'm no where near professional." 10. "Ian Graveheart is the kind of man Pa described as the worst combination you can give a loaded weapon without safety on... legs and batshit insanity."
Urijah Calaghan (The UnTitled Stories (from The Omniscience Rule saga) and The UnTitled Ventures saga)
11. "You don't matter. Nothing matters. Nothing except this mission." 12. "How cruel are our lives where we must live out a path hostile to our treading feet as the unknown entities above and beyond mock and degrade us? And what fate awaits us then? Release? Freedom? Death? A second round for your soul to enter the world again and go right back into the cosmic mechanism that grinds us down again and again and again like a broken carousel? Or a decrepit record stuck spinning on the same tune? But that's only if you're lucky enough to die." 13. "My mission is to release us, painlessly and mercifully, from the one who holds onto us; the Hand at Fate's Table, one abhorrently callous and cruel enough to take pleasure in the suffering he puts us through." 14. "You must find this tiring. For a man to commit himself against an endless stream of challenges for what is ultimately a short speck of time in our universes must come at a great unnecessary cost to your body. Do you not wish to rest, Joaquin? Wouldn't it be best to live the final minutes of your life resting? Taking a moment to hold your family one last time before our Peace?" Urijah softly questioned. 15. "That doesn't matter," Urijah softly breathes out with a smile, hot air colliding against the cold breeze as the countdown reaches its conclusion.
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lulu2992 · 1 month
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Exploration of the now-offline Far Cry 5 official websites
Part 15: Mary May Fairgrave
Recovered content
Mary May was one of the first Far Cry 5 characters to be revealed, along with Jerome and Nick. Here is what the American website said about her on July 13th, 2017:
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THE BARKEEP MARY MAY FAIRGRAVE Born and raised in the Holland Valley, Mary May, along with her family, owned and operated the Spread Eagle, Hope County’s local watering hole. But after her parents died, it became tough to make ends meet – the bank foreclosed on the bar and sold it to Eden’s Gate for pennies. Her family’s legacy is now in the unfit hands of the cult. But she’ll no longer sit back and watch them drive it into the ground – it’s time to get the Eagle back and revive everything her parents spent their lives building.
The linked video was this one:
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In the “Meet Far Cry 5's Characters” article from May 26th, 2017, this is what we could read:
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MARY MAY FAIRGRAVE A lifelong resident of Hope County, Mary May used to own and operate her family's saloon, The Spread Eagle. The bank foreclosed on the place after her parents died and money ran short, however, and Eden's Gate took it over for pennies on the dollar. Watching the cult swallow up her birthright is a bridge too far, and she's ready to take back the Eagle – and Hope County – by any means necessary.
On or before February 9th, 2018, the text in her information box was modified:
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THE BARKEEP MARY MAY FAIRGRAVE Mary May recently lost the only people she ever really loved: her parents. Born and raised in the Holland Valley, her father drove a truck and her mother ran the family watering hole, The Spread Eagle. Life wasn’t always easy, but it was good. And no matter what, they had each other. When Mary’s parents died, the bank seized the property and Eden’s Gate bought it for pennies. Mary blames Eden’s Gate, and she’s not going to let it stand. The Spread Eagle is her HOME—her parents’ legacy. Not only is she going to get it back, she’s going to get revenge.
Then, the video was under the text instead of in the picture, and the page existed at least until February 7th, 2020:
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And this is what the European website used to say about her:
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MARY MAY FAIRGRAVE THE BARKEEP Born and raised in the Holland Valley, Mary May, along with her family, owned and operated the Spread Eagle, Hope County’s local watering hole. But after her parents died, it became tough to make ends meet – the bank foreclosed on the bar and sold it to Eden’s Gate for pennies. Her family’s legacy is now in the unfit hands of the cult. But she’ll no longer sit back and watch them drive it into the ground – it’s time to get the Eagle back and revive everything her parents spent their lives building.
The video was the same (but posted by Ubisoft UK):
youtube
Commentary
All descriptions say Eden’s Gate bought the Spread Eagle and legally owned it, but my understanding of the in-game situation was that Mary May still had the bar. While the cult reportedly bribed the county to make it “illegal to transport alcohol”, as she explains in Far Cry 5, I don’t think they managed to push her out of business or that the Spread Eagle was closed. At least, not before the Reaping.
The 2017 version of the description didn’t mention her father’s truck, the Widowmaker, even though it was already visible in the Announcement Trailer.
The brother she talks about in the very first trailer dedicated to her and who is an important character in the novel Far Cry: Absolution is never mentioned in the descriptions. That said, in Far Cry 5, she never says she had any siblings either, but she confirms her parents are dead. In the trailer, she explains she lost her mother first; in the game, her father was the first one to die.
Under the cut are all the available source files, saved directly from the website, of the images you see in the screenshots:
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minihotdog · 11 months
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Captive - Eric Coulter x OC Eden Rossi
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Chapter 1: Where Am I?
Chapter 2: The Ghost From Amity
t/w: death
"Eden, go help your father in the field. I'll let the two of you know when dinner is ready" I let go of my mother's dress and run out into the fields. The endless flow of wheat towering over. I follow the voices of my neighbors telling each other tales as they work.
"Eden, you came to join us, didn't ya?" Uncle Josh says to me with his permanent lopsided smile.
"Momma said I have to help y'all till dinner time, I think she's mad because Sam and I broke somethin' when we were playing hide and seek."
"That's alright then, you can come pass the time with us till she cools off."I look around and the townsfolk for my father, his kind eyes and thick black beard nowhere to be found.
"Where's pops at? Momma said he was out working the field."Uncle Josh lets out a frustrated sigh, "He headed out to the outskirts. Dauntless wanted to have a little talk with him, pro'lly gonna steal more of our grain and leave us hungry for the winter. Ol bastards!"
"Why didn't he tell momma?"
A concerned look flashes on Uncle Josh's face, "You know how she gets when the other factions come knocking. He pro'lly didn't want her to worry."He looks off in the distance towards the gates separating Amity from the miles of nothing between the other factions. "You don't go running and telling her, alright."
"Yes, sir! My lips are sealed."
A loud blast from the distance. I cover my ears trying to suppress the frightening noise. The birds fly away from the trees in all different directions.Uncle Josh grabs my hand and we start running through the hills leading to my house. He's running so fast I almost can't get a foot on the ground.The house finally comes into view, I see my momma standing outside yelling out to us.
"Go inside and don't come out till I say!" She yells at me.
"What the hell was that?!" I'm listening to her and Uncle Josh talk, eavesdropping from the hallway leading to the kitchen.
"Now, Evelyn." He sounds nervous, "You know Dauntless keeps asking us for more than we can provide." He's standing in front of her with his hat in his hands.
"What does that have to do with anything?!" She's almost at his neck with anger, "You tellin' me my husband's been meeting with 'em behind my back?!"He's trying to get a word in but she doesn't let him even catch his breath. 
"Explain to me what that noise could have been, what part of talkin' is that?!"
"He said that he could handle them and tell 'em that we can't give them more than what they are being rationed. They agreed to come unarmed this time and talk."
"UNARMED!? They've come armed and the two of you didn't bother to tell anyone!?"
The sound of footsteps comes closer, digging into the gravel. The voice of my oldest brother mixed with heavy breathing shoots through the house.
"Momma! Dauntless is comin' through the gates!" He falls apart, and I hear the gravel shifting. "They killed Poppa!" His screams shake the house.
~~~~~
I jolt awake, covered in sweat. My heart pounding through my chest. The stress slowly being replaced by the deep sadness that usually sits in its place.
“Eden Rossi.”
A deep voice fills the unfamiliar room. 
I turn towards the voice, sitting up on the rock-hard surface, just a thin layer of cushion separating me from the concrete slab. 
The man sitting on a metal chair just inches from the bed twirls a plastic card in his fingers before holding it in between his index and middle finger. He flashes the card displaying my photo and name, “you’re a little far from Amity, don’t you think?”
“Where am I?” I ask, still dazed by the painful dream.
“The more important question is: What were you doing within the walls of Dauntless during a time of conflict?” He lifts an eyebrow at me, the piercing above his right eyebrow catches my attention. I look him up and down noticing his tattoos and large frame. 
“I was delivering this month’s ration, I don’t remember what happened.” 
He sucks his teeth at me as he shoves my I.D. into his pocket, “Doesn’t sound very likely.”
He sighs impatiently, “No vehicle, no escort, reports say you were snooping around the housing area. Not much delivering in my opinion.”
The room was cold, in temperature and in color. The walls were concrete, the floor was concrete, everything was either gray or black. The small room only had a backbreaking bed and a metal table chained to the floor with a chair to match. Next to the table, window facing the lifeless outside that surrounded dauntless in the last decade. Opposite, was a heavy metal door and a large window that allowed more than enough view into the depressing room.
“You don’t have the authority to hold me here, even if you suspect me of doing whatever it is you think I did,” I argued.
The strange man lets out a humorless chuckle, “No one gives a shit about the Communal Laws. We operate above them.” He looks away for a second before looking back at me, “You’ve been detained under suspicion of espionage, regardless we’re within our right.” 
He stands suddenly, the chair letting out a screech as it slides against the hard floor.
“I’ll be back,” He says, the heavy metal door slides open, green lights flashing around it. “The sooner you talk, the sooner this ends.” The door slams shut behind him, and I see his figure walking past in the darkened glass.
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To know that life can be truly absurd and capricious; that one is not omnipotent; that without magic as the ultimate defense, there is pain at times which hurts more than words can describe. And after the grief and the mourning, not only for the lost objects of one's fantasies, but for the fantasies and illusions themselves, to be able to live relatively without illusion. To know Time as a friend as well as an enemy. To recognize that happiness is not a condition, but an ephemeral and precious experience, that if one lives without illusion one must impart meaning to one's life; that hope must replace expectations and demands; that activity must replace passivity; that realistic hope must be directed towards the expansion and growth of one's potentialities, which implies experiencing more richly both sorrow and joy. That the gates to that Eden of infancy are closed, barred by angels with fiery swords. That mother is dead, forever, and ever, and ever.
eden project
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rolangf · 6 months
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—OCS AND VILLAIN SONGS
hey what’s up you guys welcome back to my channel— i did this post on my old blog ages ago which is unfortunately lost to time now and i wanted to do it again. so this has gotta be like, the third time some of y’all are seeing this but. fuck it we ball.
born from a post made by @unholymilf a loooong time ago that as more or less a question of if ur oc was a boss fight, what song would be playing and it struck me so here is ALL of my brain worms, including some new ones from the last post!
ANDIE— le soleil est près de moi; air.
POV: you’re bleeding out as andie is standing over you, burning white hot, hotter than the sun setting behind her. she is passionate and… reckless, and will swear this was self-defense. even if she struck first. even if she didn’t blink. even as she watches the life leave your body.
BIANCA— tricycle express; gaspard augé, mr. oizo.
POV: bianca is white knuckling her steering wheel, swiping her car against the side of your own for miles down the freeway. she is gonna run you off the road. she absolutely will; it’s unavoidable, and she’s gonna laugh while she’s doing it. this is the song she’s listening to.
CELESTE— vision; m83.
POV: “you will die soon. sooner than you were supposed to, now.” celeste deadpans as she hovers her hand over your forehead and waves. she makes a show of it, though her clairvoyance doesn’t require as much. you wish you had listened to her and thought better of asking in the first place. “it will be violent, and painful. give ares my best. leave my temple.” but you didn’t, and now it’s too late. your fate is sealed.
ELVIRA— old river; orville peck.
POV: you’re stiff, hairs on the back of your neck standing up. you’re being watched. this is a different kind of observation than the one you’re used to— the seeds constantly run surveillance on you, but this doesn’t feel as passive. you’re being hunted. and when you dare to turn on your heels to see elvira standing behind you with a crossbow bolt nocked with your name on it, you almost wish jacob was here to kill you instead. somehow, you know it would be more merciful.
OSLO— pennsylvania furnace; lingua ignota.
POV: oslo isn’t the deputy anymore. they’re the judge. eden’s gate is up a member who is worth a million and the resistance mourns a million more.
FAUSTINA— beyond the horizon; olivier deriviere.
POV: faustina is the last line of defense between you and the mother church. she’s a penitent, too, you must understand. the consecrated red ribbons she’s wrapped in are suffocating her the longer she takes to excommunicate you and she will try every prayer at her disposal to stop it—to stop you.
JEN— krack; soulwax.
POV: jen is chasing you through the fib building after she snitches on your whole operation to the iaa. you are an enemy of the state, but more importantly— you’re an enemy to agent jennifer daniels. she wants you dead, and you will be soon enough. especially if it’s up to her. and as of right now, she has you cornered in an interrogation room with nowhere to go and a gun to your head.
LOTTIE— arsonist’s lullabye; hozier.
POV: hawkins is ablaze, and lottie is at the scene of the crime staring into the flames.
LINDY— señor (tales of yankee power); jerry garcia.
POV: there’s barely anyone left to call a gang, and dutch knows as much. but he won’t admit it— that would require him admitting guilt for the losses, too. and he should be so lucky he’s still breathing; lindy wants to empty an entire revolver clip into his thick skull but knows she wouldn’t live long enough to feel the satisfaction. so she does the next best thing, and turns her back. there isn’t anything left for her, anyway. she would risk a lifetime of looking over her shoulder over having to look at him.
MAGS— change (in the house of flies); deftones.
POV: you’re being experimented on in an umbrella sanctioned lab and in walks mags— who you thought was on your side. after all, well fed devils behave better than famished saints. but not this one, she’s much worse.
MILDRED— god unbounded; uboa.
POV: you have just returned from the dead because some weirdo with a god complex and a proficiency in reanimating corpses decided that she needed the practice. and now that’s your problem, because you definitely have come back Wrong. but you’re back! surprise!
NICOLE— heart in a cage; the strokes.
POV: you’re witness to an absolute bloodbath as nicole goes crazy on the field. she’s completely lost herself, she isn’t in control anymore. she was always dangerous but now she’s lethal. she’s already gotten some of her own killed, and somebody needs to take her out before it gets worse. she’s a wild animal. and to her, you’re fresh meat.
SIBYL— summit song; nicole dollanganger.
POV: she drowns you in her scrying pool and you are never heard from again. it’s your own fault, really— anna henrietta told you to leave her be and you didn’t listen.
ROSALIND— goodbye; soap&skin, apparat.
POV: she begs mike for the coordinates of where it happened and he doesn’t budge. he never will. he doesn’t trust her not to take a shovel to the earth and dig him up. so in her state of delirium, she walks through the desert and screams and cries and repents. and becomes her own biggest villain.
ODETTE— graveyard; midnight syndicate.
POV: odette quite literally haunts her family estate, left to fall into disrepair. she’s a grief stricken wraith born of despair who brutally attacks anyone who dares step into her tomb. she’s a master illusionist even in death, so if you choose to fight her instead of just leaving, just make sure you first remove the mirrors from the wall.
okay whew that was a TASK but i’m gonna make this a tag game cs i wanna see Y’ALL make ur ocs evil and give them a soundtrack so hehe @florbelles @unholymilf @shellibisshe @ghostfvcker @benwishaw @loriane-elmuerto @leviiackrman @jackiesarch @rosayoro @statichvm @teamhawkeye @bloodofvalyria @red-nightskies @confidentandgood @simply-jason @scalpelsister @devilbrakers @lxmbert and you!
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g0dspeeed · 5 months
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What Does Your OC Carry?
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CAPPIE DE LA COSTA
Cigarettes, an old machete, bullets, a dozen mini bottles of alcohol, a journal, a hit list, two maps of Hope County, flint and steel, gummy vitamins melted into a glob she takes bites from sometimes, prescription drugs, spare thongs, Eli's jacket, at least one raccoon at all times, three spare socks, her red ball cap, an AR rifle, porn, marijuana, a hairbrush, 11 hair ties, a crisp unopened survival guide, garbage, an iPod, earbuds, a broken water purifier, and pure unfiltered hate for Eden's Gate
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RIVER PALMER
A weathered journal that's falling apart, plastic vials for nature samples, dog treats for Lady, an inhaler, sunscreen, condoms, bullets, a serrated hunting knife, leather gloves, spare socks, a picture of his family, 6 pencils, pencil sharpener, a compass he never needs, an augmented rifle, chemical compounds to test said nature samples, flare gun, a half-eaten chocolate bar, a cool rock, glowing salamanders kept in a water bottle, and his mother's love
+++
Tagged by @inafieldofdaisies 💕
Tagging @noodlecupcakes , @direwombat , @socially-awkward-skeleton , @adelaidedrubman , @ladyoriza , @onehornedbeast , @ivymarquis , @voidika , @josephseedismyfather , @strafethesesinners , @cassietrn , & @strangefable
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hibernica · 8 months
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When Harrow is having her confessional with Jod she tells him that she's a war crime. But that's weird, right? Harrow isn't the type to play fast and loose with words most of the time, so why describe herself that way? I am a genocide, sure. I am a tragedy. But a war crime needs a war. So here's my question, what war does she think she's a crime in and why? Most likely, there is only one war in The Locked Tomb. The Nine Houses versus everyone else. Certainly there's no civil wars in The Houses, regardless of what the eighth would like to do to the Ninth. But what makes The Reverend Father and Mother genociding their own house to create a necromancer be a war crime against The Houses? My thinking is this: Every child of every house is a potential recruit for the cohort. The Lyctors are the hands and gestures of Jod, but the Cohort is his weapon. I think that in Jod's evangelical crusade to dominate the survivors of the resurrection he's turned the Nine Houses into a Quiverfull Death Cult. Psalm 127:1-5 has been cited by the Quiverfull sects of Christianity, of which Catholicism is one, as the reason families should have as many kids as possible. Some of them take it a step further and frame as building God's army on Earth. I think that Jod's obsession has not merely recreated the crimes of pre-resurrection colonialism and militarism. It's made clear multiple times throughout the text that Jod may care for the Houses, but doesn't have particularly strong feelings on any individual. I think the Nine Houses have taken that to heart and every life born into it is merely a weapon to be brandished by Jod against his enemies. This is reinforced by The Fourth's rather horrifying tendency to send literal child soldiers to the front lines and everyone kind of being okay with it. Harrowhark believes herself to be a crime against Jod and therefore a crime against Jod's war of evangelization. She is casting her parents as fundamentally doing Blood of Eden's work for them and as traitors to The Nine Houses even as she herself becomes a Lyctor. Psalm 127:1-5 1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
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angelthefirst1 · 20 days
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The same beginning and end convergence concept that I talked about in my last post is at play with the following signs...
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The official AMC skybound page talks about Carol's cookies 🍪 being in the Echelon briefing.
Emily also posted a picture of a cookie on her instagram story at the same time that she posted the pizza and conspiracy theories stories.
Unfortunately, I didn't bother saving that one, so if anyone has it, send it to me, please 🙏 I'll add it here.
Carol was making cookies at (A) Alexandria 🍪 when the first wolf walker was found. This wolf walker has a bullet hole right where Beth's was...
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Carol herself represented the Wolves.
I've always said Carol and Beth are interchangeable, Carol is foreshadowing Beth's story.
Carol's cookie recipe substituted eggs (Easter eggs) for Apple sauce 🍎 Apple = reunion.
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Emily's album, "OH" Jonathan, the song Mortal, was about Beth and Daryl...
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The flower artwork on her album cover for Oh Jonathan is the same as on Carol's cardigan, and it = reunion.
The Book of Carol is the introduction to the wolves, the cookies with Apple 🍎 sauce (reunion), and the "oh" Jonathan flower jumper of love. ❤️
They all represent Beth's return.
That means Beth is what is in the Echelon briefing, and a Daryl/Beth reunion is coming.
The reason Apple 🍎 = reunion is because a bitten Apple (garden of eden) represents the fall of mankind and separation from God.
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Matthew 16.18
I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
I'll leave you to figure that one out.
Undoing that separation = cure and reunion with God.
The Echelon briefing is about Beth and is also about a fake and real cure.
Alexandria in Virginia, where the Wolves first appeared, is a play on the Alexandria of Egypt.
This is important because the pyramid/Louvre/wolf symbolism of Egypt, Alexandria, and France connects them all.
They are all symbolic of the antichrist kingdom.
The ancient Roman Empire once conquered Alexandria in Egypt back in the day. So, it became part of the Roman empire territory.
Biblically, the antichrist is said to come to power out of a revived Roman Empire.
The Roman empire was founded and made great by Alexander the Great. Hence, the name is Alexandria.
The France/Louvre symbolism is a representation of this revived Roman Empire.
The song up the Wolves talks about mother being absent ever since we founded Rome and a party when the wolf comes home...
This same episode with the cookies is when the group at Alexandria has the welcome party.
This is why I say Beth has both Christ and Antichrist symbolism at the same time.
A fake antichrist cure will be what starts the outbreak in the first place (the end is the beginning), and a real cure will bring an end to death.
At (A) Alexandria Rick and Jessie get the A stamp on their right hand.
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The mark of the beast that the antichrist makes everyone get, so they can buy and sell, goes on either the right hand or on the forehead (like Carol and the walker with the W) or the right hand, like Rick and Jessie.
That's why Daryl says HELLS that! When he sees the W on the walker. It leads to hell.
Revelation 13.16
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
What happens to the group in Alexandria with Negan is a reworked version of the Antichrist, who makes everyone bow down or "kneel."
It's symbolic of having to bow down and receive the mark of the Antichrist, which leads to death.
Beginning to end, we also have an upcoming first look at Daryl Dixon - The book of Carol (coughs The book of Revelation)
Which will air after the final of 106 off TOWL, and after a show called parish (church)
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Beginning to end while Emily is in Paris and posts the Eiffel Tower.
I've mentioned before how the top of the tower is a radio, which means Sirius. (Messanger/angel, which can be fallen or holy)
In the Apple sauce, cardigan, and cookie 🍪 scene with Carol, she says, "She's Sirius" when talking about the cookie recipe.
And now we see Emily post a cookie and Sirius the Eiffel tower (A)
On screen and off-screen, beginning to end mentions, of Carol, cookies, apples, reunions, the Wolves, mark of the beast, A for Alpha (Sherrifs hat), France and the beginning of the outbreak.
It's all lining up 🙌
"Oh," one more thing...
Daryl missed the boat at the end of DD1 and guess who (beginning to end) posts about missing a boat...
Emily...
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He catches the boat at the beginning, tho...
She's coming, and so is the beginning of the end.
🍎✝️♾️✝️🍎
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wrathfulrook · 7 months
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Holy Mary, Mother of God
Summary: As Staci suffers under Jacob and the cult, he turns back to his religion. Every day he prays to the Holy Mother, both to beg her help and to remind himself that he is not a Peggie.
Rating: M
Word Count: ~1.2k
Read it on ao3.
Staci hadn’t been to Mass in years, since he had moved out of his parents’ house. He hadn’t been to confession in even longer, not since he was confirmed. He didn’t remember the last time he prayed. Not that he didn’t believe. He did. He had Faith. He just wasn’t very observant.
Maybe this was his punishment.
While going through his trials, mindlessly killing and fighting for his life, he considered that he had died in the helicopter crash and had gone to hell. It made sense. Spending his time alert starved and thirsty in a cage under the hot sun, his time in the trials a thoughtless red haze of blood and death.
He’d prayed for the first time in a long time. Initially to God, but then to St. Sebastian. In middle school, Staci had chosen Sebastian as his confirmation saint for no other reason than that he was the patron saint of athletes and that he had survived the first attempt on his life. Staci just thought he was cool. Though, once he heard the name “Staci Sebastian” spoken aloud for the first time in front of the entire parish, he felt it was significantly less cool. And he never gave too much thought to his confirmation saint afterwards.
But throughout his trials he prayed to the saint for strength. If St. Sebastian could survive being tied to a tree and used for target practice, he could survive this ordeal. He could be strong. And so he was.
After the trials, the physical torture stopped, but Staci didn’t feel any relief. Any one slip-up, a single display of weakness, and he would be reclassified as meat. And he was under far more scrutiny than the average resident of the vet center. Jacob kept him close, made him his personal assistant. He was always there, always watching. Staci was supposed to be strong but submissive, a fine line to walk.
He didn’t pray to St. Sebastian too much after his trials. He didn’t pray to God much either. The Peggies prayed to the same God, and something about that didn’t sit right with Staci. Instead, he prayed to Mary. The Peggies didn’t care about St. Mary. Protestants never did. So Staci directed his prayers to the holy mother of God.
He started every morning with a silent Hail Mary and a request that she protect him, that she look after him. His thoughts turned to the sinless, virgin mother every time Jacob knocked him around, every time he suffered. And he suffered a lot as Jacob’s assistant. And he witnessed even more suffering. Every time he passed the cages, every time he witnessed bodies carried out of their trials, tied to posts for target practice, or fed to the wolves, he asked Mary to watch out for them, to ensure their suffering was taken into account, weighed against their time to be spent in Purgatory.
And every night, to help himself fall asleep despite the sounds of screams and howls of wolves he never got used to, he prayed the Rosary, keeping count on his fingers since he didn’t have the beads. And it always worked; he fell soundly asleep long before he reached final Mystery. But more than that, it brought him comfort. He didn’t remember every Mystery. He couldn’t recite the Apostle’s Creed. But he did as much as he could, and he tried. And it was something the Peggies never did. Not even Joseph, their beloved “Father,” prayed the Rosary, despite wearing the beads as some sort of blasphemous accessory.
No. Staci wasn’t like them and they weren’t like him. He was Catholic. His Faith had clear rules and doctrine and hierarchy. Something so horrible as the Project at Eden’s Gate could never happen in the Catholic Church. A priest goes as bonkers as Joseph? The bishop steps in. And the parish would never let their priest turn out like Joseph, because deviations from the Catechism wouldn’t be tolerated. It was all so clear. Every question had a clear, prescribed answer. And if you followed the hierarchy to the top, the Pope spoke directly with the Holy Spirit. He wasn’t a mad man claiming divine knowledge. He was official, appointed, and bound within the limits of the role.
You simply couldn’t make a crazy Catholic cult. Every cult he’d ever heard of was made up of Protestants. Staci never like Protestantism for that very reason. It was all so fluid and subjective. It never seemed like any two churches, even of the same denomination, were on the same page. That’s how people like Joseph happened. That’s how Staci ended up in this position.
They could do a whole lot to him. But they could never make him a Peggie. Not really, not in his heart.
He wished he was stronger. Maybe Jacob was right. Maybe he was weak. He wanted to be strong enough, brave enough, to pray the Rosary out loud. He wanted to tell Jacob no when he dragged him along to services. He wanted to stand up for his own beliefs and stay strong and unwavering as he was literally thrown to the wolves. He wished he had the balls to stand up and die a martyr.
But that’s where he and his confirmation saint differed. Staci could never stay strong when staring down the barrel of a gun. He couldn’t resist the conditioning Jacob subjected him to. And he couldn’t make himself assert his true beliefs, not when he’s seen what happens to the people who don’t even do anything to make the Herald angry. He was weak.
So, he prayed for forgiveness. He prayed for strength. He asked Mary to intervene on his behalf, to ask her Son to show him mercy, to help him in some way, any way.
No help ever came.
And maybe he was dead after all? Not in Hell, like he’d initially thought. Maybe this was Purgatory. He suffered so much that it had to be for a reason. Maybe this was the suffering he must endure to cleanse his soul, to finally be worthy of Heaven. If this was Purgatory, it was working. He was becoming a better person. He was less of an asshole, just quiet and empathetic. He prayed multiple times a day. Wasn’t Purgatory supposed to bring you closer to God? Staci had never been more religious than now. Maybe because he was dead.
He hoped so. He hoped this was Purgatory so that when it was finally over, when he’d finally atoned for all his sins in life, he could go to Heaven. Never to suffer again. He hoped this was Purgatory so that it wasn’t really happening to others. So that there were no people in cages back in Hope County, that no one was being fed alive to wolves. He hoped that this was all being done for his benefit, to make his soul pure again, to ready him for eternal life in Heaven.
But he couldn’t be sure. So, just in case, he prayed.
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simplegenius042 · 3 months
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Music Monday
Tagging @socially-awkward-skeleton @shallow-gravy @adelaidedrubman @strafethesesinners @strangefable @direwombat @derelictheretic @carlosoliveiraa @g0dspeeed @nightbloodbix @cassietrn @chazz-anova @josephslittledeputy @josephseedismyfather @deputyash @dephellseed @deputy-morgan-malone @trashcatsnark @voidika @vampireninjabunnies-blog @onehornedbeast @minilev @fourlittleseedlings @florbelles @corvosattano @afarcryfrommymain @skoll-sun-eater @softtidesworld @snake-in-the-garden @wrathfulrook @titiagls @inafieldofdaisies @megraen @starsandskies @ladyoriza @la-grosse-patate @thewanderer-000 @cloudofbutterflies92 and @i-am-the-balancing-point
Three songs for Far Cry The Silver Chronicles, A Radioactive Calamity of Love, Bombs & Gore and Life, Despair & Monsters. Also the last song is a song from Season 1 of Hazbin Hotel, which I'm aware isn't fully out yet, so maybe SPOILERS! Avoid the last song if you care enough. Music below:
Nadi Sinclair, a sharpshooter amongst Task Force 141, is forced to go on the run with Soap and Price in the Call To Arms duology after killing Shepard and try their darnedest to put an end to Makarov once and for all (therefore running with the metaphorical wolves after the ultranationalist leader). Though alternatively, this could be after Call To Arms, where she joins up with the Project at Eden's Gate under Alexander Khaos and Jacob Seed's tutelage, where, she literally and figuratively runs with the wolves, away from society's expectations, technology and whatnot. Song below:
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"Trick or treat, what would it be? I walk alone, I'm everything My ears can hear and my mouth can speak My spirit talks, I know my soul believes
But we're running out of time (Time, oh) All the echoes in my mind cry There's blood on your lies The sky's open wide There is nowhere for you to hide The hunter's moon is shining
I'm running with the wolves tonight I'm running with the wolves I'm running with the wolves tonight I'm running with the wolves I'm running with the wolves tonight I'm running with the wolves I'm running with the wolves tonight I'm running with the wolves
A gift, a curse, they track and hurt Say can your dream, in nightmares seems A million voices silent screams Where hope is left so incomplete."
"cardigan" is a specific song that makes me think of Ortega "Ore" Brantley's final moments in The House Always On Top, as he stands in a dam that has an active nuclear warhead nearby, injured beyond belief, with one of his father's most dangerous spellcasters, Aggravor, keeping him in one place with nothing more than one hand touching his back, a fatal touch that would soon kill him whenever Aggravor chooses. And Ore reflects with what little time he has left on his loved ones, his companions, friends, family, mother, sister, the innocents killed by Urias under his watch, even the recent loss of Ryder, the Courier's presence being the cause of why he came to Hoover Dam in the first place if only because he saw a slim chance she survived and had to jump to it before it was too late. He thinks over his regret of not killing his father sooner, of being too late to save others, but also his accomplishments, over the fact his sister, and both of their students, had survived, and Ress had evolved far from the arrogant and immaturely entitled girl she started off as. And with that, when Ress finally enters the room, he makes sure to look upon her with pride, and knowing she won't be needing him anymore, verbally passes the torch to her. He has full confidence that she will end their father's blight even when Aggravor ends his life. This song can also be towards Ress as she loses her big brother, the one constant support in her life, the one person never willing to give up on her no matter how much of an ass she made of herself, the one person she thought she would walk the Earth with forever and ever due to their ageless immortality, so she would never be alone. Her big brother who took the roles of teacher, friend and father all in one, always there to guide and support her want for freedom (unlike Urias, who would have used her as a pawn), always there to say "I'll take it from here" whenever she messed up, whenever she needed help fighting. Which must be why Ore's last words, though reassuring, had hurt so much as well. Song below:
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"To kiss in cars and downtown bars Was all we needed You drew stars around my scars But now I'm bleeding Cause I knew you stepping on the last train Marked me like a bloodstain, I, I knew you Tried to change the ending, Peter losing Wendy I, I knew you Leaving like a father, running like water When you are young they assume you know nothing But I knew you'd linger, like a tattoo kiss I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs The smell of smoke would hang around this long Cause I knew everything when I was young I knew I'd curse you for the longest time Chasing shadows in the grocery line I knew you'd miss me once the thrill expired And you'd be standing in my front porch light And I knew you'd come back to me You'd come back to me. And you'd come back to me. And you'd come back."
In The Thorned Crown of Iron Thrones, much like canon, Aegon II Targaryen isn't a good brother, nor is he a first son to be proud of (as evident by his father's absolute indifference with him and his mother's disappointment), even less a candidate to be a king of all things (sometimes he was thankful it was his half-sister who would sit the Iron Throne, though he knew that meant him and his younger siblings would be put to the sword, which was the only downside). He knew this to be true, everyone knew, even his own grandsire recognized more potential in Aemond even after his younger brother lost his eye. After the funeral of their older cousin Laena, after Aemond lost an eye to their half-sister's children for claiming a dragon which their deceased cousin had ridden on, after the arguments and screaming between everyone on both sides, for justice, for blood, for punishment, for some shred of care from the man who conceived them. And especially after hearing Corvus, the only older sibling that treated Aegon, his brothers, his sister, and his mother with more decency and kindness than their apathetic father and scornful half-sister (despite Corvus conviction to continue helping his adopted sister keep her claim), break down when father revealed the most damning and life-shattering secret about his "adopted" son (thanks Dad), Aegon couldn't handle it. Couldn't handle the shame, disappointment and hopelessness of the situation, so that night, he ran off. He ended up running off into Driftmark's woods, hoping that, maybe if he disappeared, everything would get better, that his half-sister that his father doted on more than Aegon and his siblings, or his younger brother who would do mother and his grandsire proud, or even their recently discovered half-brother, as merciful and decisive as he is (though Aegon highly doubted either father nor grandsire would allow it to happen), would sit the dreadful throne, be the ruler people wanted. Hell, he would even have Cecil to sit the throne, if it meant the self-proclaimed Royce woman would send her father, his terrifying uncle, to the Wall and marry off his siblings to noble houses willing to care for them. Not him. He wished to be forgotten, to curl up and shrink and shrink until he couldn't be seen anymore. He had not intended of coming across an ex-assassin woman who called herself Okkotsu, who had tried to murder his father back in the day and had a special connection with the recently deceased Laena. Nor had he foreseen them connecting with their troubles, through such unorthodox means. Okkotsu may not know what Aegon is exactly going through, but she knows enough to help lift his spirits up... through the power of accepting yourself as a sopping wet sad little meow-meow blorbo? Song below:
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[I'm not going to include all the lyrics, just the ones I find matter to these two downtrodden losers. Also LOTS-OH cursing here]
"So things look bad, and you're backs against the wall Your whole existence seems fuckin' hopeless You're feeling filthy as a dive bar bathroom stall Can't face the world sober and dopeless You've lost your way, you think your life is wrecked Well, let me just say you're correct!"
"Wait what?"
"You're a loser, baby A loser, goddamn baby You're a fucked-up little whiny bitch."
"Hey!"
"You're a loser just like me."
...
"This supposed to make me feel better?"
"There was a time I thought that no one could relate To the gruesome ways in which I'm damaged But lettin' walls down, it can sometimes set you straight! We're all living in the same shit sandwich."
...
"I'm a loser, honey A schmoozer and a dummy But at least I know I'm not alone."
"You're a loser."
"Just like me."
...
"I'm trapped and it gets worse with every hour."
"You're a loser, baby."
"A loser, but just maybe if we-"
"Eat shit together, things will end up differently."
"It's time to lose your self-loathin' Excuse yourself, let hope in, baby Play your card, be who you are."
"A loser, just like me."
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anarcho-smarmyism · 3 months
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That the gates to that Eden of infancy are closed, barred by angels with fiery swords. That mother is dead, forever, and ever, and ever.
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titiagls · 4 months
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Mother & Father of Eden's Gate Church
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I posted this perfect commission I got from @redreart months ago but it was gone as I deleted everything to start again this blog. I still love it very much (it's the wallpaper on my laptop ❤️) and as I'm gonna post soon a snippet of the fiction where this picture is clearly mentioned I thought it was a good time to post it again. So enjoy ;)
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