#V.E SCHWAB

[ikomahis]

evervale in a nutshell

[booklover-s]

Just remember when Addie is at the marquise's house wearing her things, about to cover her freckles with makeup and Luc appears, with: “I would rather see clouds blot out the stars.”

DAMN HOT VILLAINS WITH DARK HAIR!!!!

[i-needserotonin]

Religious Imagery and Symbolism in Eli Ever:

Note : everything in this analysis was or could have been linked in a more generalized and not necessarily true theology, only as a way to try to associate or make connections with the mentioned character.

Baptism

His first death can be likened to a Baptism.

Baptism is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three times, once for each person of the Trinity. 

" The baptized person emerges from a watery grave into a new life."

Baptism is a symbol of Christ’s burial and resurrection. The entrance into the water during baptism identifies Christians with Christ’s death on the cross, His burial in the tomb and His resurrection from the dead.

The parallel between Eli's first death and baptism is evident. Just as a baptized person emerges from a "water tomb" into a new life, Eli undergoes a transformation after his first death.

"signifies that "you" have died to your old self and sin, emerging as a new creation."

This means that, in the same way, Eli's death represents a passage into a new phase, where he leaves behind his previous "self", emerging as a new creation, almost like a rebirth.

“Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising from the dead as he did Christ." Colossians 2:12-14

Furthermore, there is an evident connection between sin, death, and God's gift of eternal life. As mentioned next.

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

Three

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is the central doctrine concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

The Christian Church has celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ on a Sunday—three days after remembering his death on Good Friday. This timeline of three days is based on numerous references in the New Testament. Jesus predicted it many times, the three-day timeline matters to the biblical narrative because it is the special day on which God creates new life and activates his covenant with humanity.

three times he shot victor.

three years since they met.

three times he died ( manifesting he coming back and dying again)

" He met his gaze in the mirror and began to unbutton his shirt, exposing the scars from the bullets of Eli’s gun one by one. He ran his fingers over them, touching the three spots where he’d been shot the way a man might cross himself." Part One; Chapter XXVI , Vicious.

In the Bible, we can find more examples of the use of the number three as sacred or a persistent and symbolic repeating pattern, but I only mentioned these few situations that I found relevant or that fit the narrative of 'Vicious'.

Cross

The Cross, is the principal symbol of the Christian religion, recalling the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the redeeming benefits of his Passion and death. The cross is thus a sign both of Christ himself and of the faith of Christians. In ceremonial usage, making a sign of the cross may be, according to the context, an act of profession of faith, a prayer, a dedication, or a benediction.

"to outline the form of a cross as a Christian religious act by moving the hand from the forehead to the breast and then from one shoulder to the other, seen as representing the trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit."

The use of blood as part of a ritual is laden with symbolism.

"Wouldn’t You?” He cut deeper, through to bone, over and over, until the floor was red. Until he’d given his life to God a hundred times, and a hundred times had it given back. Until the fear and the doubt had all been bled out of him. And then he set the knife aside with shaking hands. Eli dipped his fingertips in the slick of red, crossed himself, and got back to his feet. "Part Two; Chapter IV, Vicious.

In the context of this specific text, Eli blessing himself with his own blood appears to represent a desperate quest for answers and validation from God regarding his identity and the powers he possesses.

This action can be seen as an extreme act of devotion and sacrifice. It may represent the intensity of Eli's search for a divine answer or for God's forgiveness. Making the sign of the cross with his own blood suggests that he is willing to sacrifice or suffer in search of a deeper spiritual connection or proof of divine will.

Blood, Red & White

"And by the law almost all things are made clean with blood, and without blood there is no forgiveness." Hebrews 9:22

In the Old Testament, animal sacrifices were a means of seeking forgiveness and reconciliation with God. The shedding of blood in these rituals symbolized the payment for sins.

The New Testament sees the shedding of Jesus' blood on the cross as the ultimate act of redemption. Christians believe that through His blood, believers are forgiven of their sins and reconciled with God.

And also associated with purification and cleansing.

As we know, Eli associates his murders with a distorted view of divine justice. He believes he is eliminating those people he considers unnatural or threats to society, as a purification, justifying his murders as a way of protecting the world from “villains” with extraordinary powers, this vision can be easily associated, by the way he thinks and acts throughout most of the narrative as a clear link to the Christian view of sacrifice and blood itself.

Red, associated with sacrifices, sin, power, sinfulness. can be conected with redemption and atonement. It represents the idea that through Christ's sacrifice, believers can be cleansed of their sins and find redemption, also linked to martyrdom. Martyrs who died for their faith are often depicted wearing red, symbolizing their willingness to shed their blood for their beliefs.

&

White, purity, innocence, righteousness. Associated with the idea of resurrection and new life in Christ. It signifies the hope of eternal life after death, it can also represents the state of being free from sin.

And for red and white, which are colors normally associated with the character as they continue to be described with him in the narrative or mainly associated with the vision that people have of him, with white clothes, gun and glasses being one of the easiest ways to identify him, we can see that both colors connect with sacrifice, martyrdom, purification and eternal life, which are elements present in the character and his narrative.

Name.

In the Villains series, the name theme remains, whether in a satirical way, a reference to comic books or just a way of demonstrating what a character represents.

Eliot means “The Lord is my God", “Jehovah is my God.”

With the meaning of his name I would like to close this brief summary that I tried to make about the symbolism that I could notice predominantly in the narrative of his character, from his name to the meaning of eternal life and the usual theme, we can see that Eli is a character strongly linked to religiosity and can be easily associated with various concepts of Christianity.

Final Note: Thank you if you read this far and I hope you enjoyed it.

[sgtbradfords]

Chenford Week 2023

day six -> poem/quote dedication

(insp.)

[island-in-ignorance]

"Not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero. And not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster" is a line that goes SO HARD and also reminds me of the line from Vicious

"Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.”

And it is an UTTER delight of mine to connect lines from Rick Riordan (childhood favorite author) to V.E Schwab (adult favorite author)

[fireat-will]

It's so funny to me that Kell fucking hates his future brother in law but his future wife is besties with that guy. Truly fighting a losing battle against his brothers husband and his partners best friend

[orionlancasterr]

R.i.p August Flynn you would have loved Tokyo Ghoul

[dayalloused]

Hello Vicious Tumblr!

this is me shamelessly promoting my fic: The Blue Wrath which is a zombie apocolypse AU! Kind of! It's mainly a vehicle for a Sydney Clarke character study.

Featuring:

A lot of time exploring Sydney, Serena and Victor's motives for their actions in canon

Sydney, Mitch and Victor's dyanmic in Vicious applied at their Vengeful ages (Sydney is 18, Mitch and Victor are somewhere in their 40's)

Eli and Serena having a dysfuncytional working relationship.

Dol acting like a stray dog! (He bites! causing said apocolypse.)

Canon typical Eli and Victor homosexual shenigans.

Toxic sisterhood.

If any of this intrests you, you should go and check it out! It'd mean a lot to me :D

[ohmypawsandwhiskers]

LENOS DESERVED BETTER

[messythings-blog]

J’AI MON TATOUAGE SHADES OF MAGIC ET IL EST TROP BEAUUU

I HAVE MY SHADES OF MAGIC TATTOO AND IT'S TOO BEAUTIFUL

[ikomahis]

just some eli ever rant

what’s so depressing and fucked up about Eli is that his abuser (his father) won

his father spent years abusing an innocent child by calling him a monster, and Eli spent the rest of his life desperately trying to prove he wasn't one. he lived by those words, shaped by them, warped by them his entire life

then finally, after all that, he finds his first real connection, his only ''friend'', and that friend calls him a monster too?? (even before he really did monstruous deeds)

and we're all supposed to be mad he went on a killing spree? nah. good for him jfc, his ''best friend'' just turned into someone he didn't recognize anymore and killed his girlfriend, so why wouldn't he think he is 'special' since his powers cannot hurt anyone but can serve to get rid of those who could potentially harm others (I DONT CONDONE HIS ACTIONS, but i can see from where he's coming from, especially given his religious trauma and abusive childhood) HIS BEST FRIEND JUST HURT HIM LIKE HIS FATHER DID TOO

the more I reread some parts, the more I realize Vic never cared about Eli the way Eli cared about him

to Eli, Vic was his first and only friend, the first person who really mattered but to Vic? Eli was just someone he wanted to beat. a rival he needed to conquer to prove he was better

idk but it makes me so sad and unlike Victor, he had no one by his side. EVER. everyone he cared about died or betrayed him (ahem Vic, bc in reality, who really betrayed who huh my dearest unreliable narrator Victor Vale) like, also, why no one talks about the fact that Serena sexually abused him by forcing him into being intimate with her through her powers?? i won't even go into details that Haverty (or what's the name of that dipshit) did to him bc that part was too triggering for me to even read lol anyway justice for Eli Ever he just wanted to be saved

[ikomahis]

while Vic always had a help from others or simply luck (mostly bc V.E. Schwab writes things going in his favor ,, like 'oh how convenient!') Eli was ALWAYS by himself, relying ONLY on himself and saving himself through his entire life and no one ever came to help

I think one of the most horrific parts of Vengeful is Elis repeated vivsections in EON.

I think that is the worst possible thing you could do to someone who is immortal. He begged for a death that could never come. When Haverty started cutting out organs, he got to feel a bit of relief, that he might actually get to die but he *doesnt*.

He wants to be saved, but not even death can get him out of this situation. There is nothing that can save him. In his childhood, in EON, all throughout his life, he had to be the one to save himself.

[the-modern-typewriter]

I think I saw that one of your fav authors is VE Schwab. I actually found your blog while I'm waiting for one of her books at the library. I love how you both do power dynamics and flow! I 💕 your blog!!!

I would love to see a possessive king who has to keep recovering a prince that's betrothed to him but keeps running.

Thanks for giving me my fix while I try to last the months long wait at the library! 😂

"You're clever enough to keep escaping despite all odds," the king murmured. "Why aren't you clever enough to realise that will never end where you want it to?"

The prince glared at him.

The king helped himself to another sip of tea, before he finally deigned to glance up from his breakfast table. Implacable. So seemingly genteel among the fine trays and silver, as if he were not a thing of avarice and dominion made flesh.

"Even should you make it all the way back to your kingdom," the king said, "they'll send you straight back. They gave you to me, remember? You are my betrothed by right."

"They don't know you. If they'd known who was truly asking-" The prince bit himself off, his fists curling.

The king hummed.

"And you think telling them of my true nature will spare you it. That they'd fight for you?"

"Of course they would."

"And would they fight for you like I would?"

The prince stared.

The king smiled, pleasantly, and slid a plate of hot bread rolls across the table towards him. An indication to sit.

The prince did not, though his legs felt jellied with the exhaustion of running. He said nothing.

"I'd fight for you like a holy war," the king said, voice too soft for such dark eyes. "Like laying siege to paradise. I'd fight for you in a thousand year campaign. I'd reduce your kingdom to a citadel of bones and ash before I let them keep you from me. I'd begrudge you no amount of bloodshed, no horror, because you are mine." His head tilted. "How would your former people fight for you?"

"Honourably," the prince snapped, mouth dry. "Kindly. I am their prince!"

"Perhaps." The king shrugged. "Or perhaps they'd begrudge. Resent the ordinary lives wasted and the livelihoods ruined by their pretty little princeling who thought he had the right to marry for love. As if he were just a man."

Bile burned up the prince's throat, at that.

"Merely something to think about," the king said.

"Maybe I won't go home then! But even five minutes away from this place, away from you, is a blessing."

The king did not seem offended or bothered by that, any more than he had the prince's glare or numerous defiances. It made the prince want to shake him until his teeth rattled.

"Do you not care that I do not love you?" the prince demanded. "That I do not wish to be yours?"

The pleasant smile flickered off the king's face for the very first time and what was left was terrible.

The prince took an automatic step back, though he did not consider himself a coward.

The king rose from his chair, rounding the table. The prince looked around at the guards but they were the king's guards, no matter their official job title, and they only stared ahead unmoving. No doubt, they would stare even if he started screaming. Crying. Pleading.

The prince backed up another step before forcing himself to hold his ground. His shoulders squared as the king came to a stop in front of him. He braced for - he wasn't sure what.

"I will say this once, and only once, my clever prince." The king stroked the backs of his knuckles gently down along the prince's jaw, nudging his gaze back when it tried to slide away. The prince's breath hitched. "If I did not care, I could keep you with broken legs in a straight jacket, blind and dumb and mute until I felt you'd learned your proper place here. I could marry you tomorrow without care for your own customs, rituals or comfort. Do you understand?"

The prince felt a little dizzy.

"There a worse fates in the world than being mine," the king said. "The sooner you understand that, the sooner you might make a home in this place that you are not so eager to run from."

"So I should thank you?" It came out hoarse.

"I do not expect you to thank me. I know who and what I asked for when I asked for you."

The king's hand dropped and, for the first time, the prince felt strangely bereft of its heat. Its grounding presence. He swallowed.

"Get some rest," the king said, his pleasant smile back, "if you will not join me for breakfast. You have had a difficult night, from what I've heard, and I'm sure your next attempt to flee this place will be no less gruelling. You'll need your strength, love."

The prince let himself be led back to his chambers in a daze.

[septemberkisses]

March - the month of dreams and hopes.

Excerpts from:

Warm Moon by Mary Oliver • With the Fog So Dense on the Bridge in Almond Blossoms and Beyond by Mahmoud Darwish, tr. Mohammad Shaheen • The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab • Pinterest • March by Hannahrowrites • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens • To March by Emily Dickinson • Worth the Wait by Schuyler Peck • Sylvia Plath, from a letter to Aurelia Plath written c. February 1953 • Second Dedication by Anna Akhmatova, tr. D.M. Thomas •

[ace-artemis-fanartist]

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab.

I support sapphic rights and sapphic wrongs!

[typingwithmyhandstied]

Me when a V.E. Schwab character exists: Now that's a character. That's a CHARACTER. THAT'S A CHARACTER.