#and also for the church imagery: that they're in a church and god is said to be unconditionally loving

[enbyjane]

the truth is (a perspective on love)

context: edit based off a personal conversation with @onlineproblems about parental love, unconditional love and the love we deserve bonus: her wise perspective:

more bonus:

[transmutationisms]

Hi Caden don’t know if you listen to Ethel Cain but was wondering what u think abt her subverting the Americana aesthetic since I think she’s often compared to Lana, at least online. I do think she’s doing something different & to me more compelling than Lana, but I don’t really know how to articulate it.

yep i like ethel cain. i agree she and lana are doing very different things. like, i said before that lana uses american nationalism because she's playing off the fact that it makes/has an erotic appeal, and she places herself as the object of desire in that paradigm—tell me i'm your national anthem, etc. my read on ethel is that she's interested in the rural americana 'trad' aesthetic from a very different angle, where she's trying to connect the homestead and american rural social structures to the perpetuation of violence. there's some overlap here in the sense that lana is definitely also interested in sexual violence and sexuality-as-violence, but in her work the violent or abusive man is generally a specific figure who's aberrant from the norm, and a lot of the artistic interest for lana comes (i think) from her interrogating what it is about this man that's appealing to her and how she sees herself through his eyes. with ethel, on the other hand, she portrays violence as coming through the infrastructure of normal and normative social structures, like the family and the church, with abuse understood to be a feature of these and not a bug. family, church, etc are in turn understood to be part of the infrastructure of american rural communities, casting the critique she's making through the ethel character onto this entire social apparatus (& there is some implication here of how this is all a part of westward colonial settlement—which is a potentially fruitful direction to go in, the idea of expansion into the 'frontier' as a narrative of, or narrative prerequisite to, violence).

so for example this is partly why, for ethel, incest specifically is a mode of sexuality & violence that she continually uses and interrogates: she's invoking it as an intensification of the 'normal functioning' of the family, which means the whole family structure gets pretty ruthlessly questioned through the character of ethel and the violence she faces. she invokes the trad aesthetic and the idyllic family homestead, then shows you the brutality that creates and is created by them. for lana, the family is not a concern in this way and is not something she's questioning or challenging the way ethel does (the daddy/girl thing in lana's work is p far removed from even a pseudo-incestuous reading most of the time, even in her lolita references). there's a similar distinction with how ethel examines protestant theology and practice with the explicit goal of pointing out inherently violent aspects of it, whereas for lana, invoking god or christian imagery is generally more on the level of playing off the way that american nationalism resembles and uses rituals of religious worship. lana takes political phenomena like the appeal of nationalism, and expresses them through the erotic configuration of these relationships with older, dominant men. with ethel it's more that she looks at social structures and practices signified by the rural americana aesthetic, and pokes and prods at these structures until the violence inherent to them is glaringly obvious to listeners through the ethel character's story. it's a way of problematising these institutions and practices, not letting them hide in plain sight by presenting themselves as benevolent.

so yeah i can understand why people might want to compare these two artists, but i think they're actually doing very different things. i would probably not say either of them 'subverts' americana or signifiers of nationalism, which is not a criticism, i just think that concept is often poorly defined and less frequently applicable to art than people sometimes think lol. ethel uses her character's story to deconstruct and question the american aesthetics and institutions her work invokes; lana translates these aesthetics and institutions into explicitly erotic discourses and dissects them through the allegorical figures of the people and relationships in her songs. (this is not to discount the importance of erotics in ethel's work as well obvi but this post is already long :P)

[museofpangolins]

sooo here's my top 10 most Good Omens-coded Hozier songs

10) Jackie and Wilson

this one isn't super deep, I think it just gives off that vibe of fun adventures together that mostly the first season had. also, this line

9) Swan upon Leda

this is a song that through religious metaphors captures the brutality of human nature in a way that's so beautiful and poetic. this one isn't so specific, but in my opinion it conveys some of the feeling of the story as a whole

8) Eat your young

I find it insane how it's possible for someone to sing about the exploitation of the innocent in such an incredible way. in this case it can be read about how the authorities (heaven and hell) are only driven by their personal goals and are using humans as a way to achieve them. it's even more literal in Job's story, with angels having no clue on how much his children mean to him and being completely uninterested on the matter, because they're too busy following God's plan.

7) Work Song

here things are starting to get a bit more specific. Work Song talks about a love that goes beyond the grave, but also a love that's so unconditional it goes beyond every human or religious imposition

6) Francesca

Hozier takes inspiration for this song from the tale told by Dante about two lovers condemned to damnation in hell, but the main aspect he uses for this song is the idea of it being worth it in order to be with the loved one, even at the cost of giving up a place of comfort and security. which is also what I hope will happen in season 3.

5) All Things End

I'm so sorry for this one. I'm really sorry. but I swear it's the only thing that could come to my mind when I saw this scene

I won't elaborate more because otherwise I'm going to cry.

4) Unknown/nth

i can't believe this song isn't officially about the two of them. I mean:

you mean mr Hozier didn't intentionally release it last month in honor of Aziraphale and Crowley?? sounds fake but ok

3) Take me to Church

religious trauma. questioning Christian values at its FINEST. love for humanity and for what being human means. all while discussing love and how religion ties it to the concept of sin.

2) Like Real People Do

absolute season two anthem. I think the whole point of Aziraphale and Crowley's characters is finding humanity in themselves, going beyond their angelic/demonic nature and whatever is expected from it. they're neither heaven nor hell's side, but on a completely different one that allows them to live in their own personal identity while often aligning with the interest of humans. that's why even their love for each other is an expression of how close to real people they've become.

1) From Eden

what can I say? it's just so perfect. just one song to summarize every important aspect of the story.

the familiarity derives from the previous angelic nature of Crowley. the destruction of idealism, chivalry and innocence symbolizes the disillusionment with heaven and hell, and the final line how the only hope can be found in the human world, but also, much like Francesca, the idea of giving up safety to be with the loved one. in this case though this is depicted with the use of religious imagery, specifically the garden of Eden. Therefore my hope is that this could be interpreted even more literally once in season three Aziraphale will give up heaven for Crowley. there are many other things that could be said about this song, and I really really hope it will be included in the soundtrack of the show.

if you read all of this, thank you so much, and please let me know if there are songs I didn't include

[nightmaretist]

TIMING: Current PARTIES: Lukas @lukas-dark-miracles & Inge @nightmaretist LOCATION: A churchyard. SUMMARY: Two immortals sit in a churchyard and look at a church they're not entering for their own reason. A discussion on God and morality follows. CONTENT WARNINGS: Religion-heavy (christianity/catholicism), mentions of parental, sibling and child death

Attending church had become a rarity for Inge, who struggled to connect with the religion that had once ruled her life. It was too confrontational, did not fit the easygoing way she preferred to go to life — dealing in terror, sure, but supposedly not affected by it. Church was a place of guilt and shame, a place of reflection and remembrance, and those weren’t things she looked for most of the time. And yet, every now and then, she felt herself pulled to such places. 

That was not to say she was going into the church today. Just the churchyard, moving past the graves of people long gone and filing away some of the imagery for later. It was a rare moment of feeling somewhat grounded, in touch with the person she was before she’d died and become what she had been meant to be. A god-fearing creature. She still believed that he existed, but no longer did Ingeborg think he had any say on where she would end up post-death. If anything, she was more demon than a person made in his image.

Oh, what did it matter, what she was? Those were the kinds of questions she’d asked in the first years, when she had still been grappling with her nature, and ones she’d asked after her daughter had died and the world seemed wholly unfair. But now, it mattered not: the sun shone! A bird whistled cheerfully. She saw a stranger on a bench and decided, why not approach — better to chat up a random stranger than to keep mulling over her own existence and that of some higher power. The bench was sat nicely in the shade, which Inge did prefer. “Afternoon,” she said, sitting herself down and staring up at the church. It was a nice building. Catholic, which meant it actually had some charm unlike the reformed churches she’d gone to as a mortal. “Hope it’s alright I’m sitting down.” If it wasn’t, she’d stay. Her gaze remained on the building, one of its high towers. For a moment, she was quiet: “What brings you here?” 

Lukas wasn’t sure why he kept doing this, sitting outside in the courtyard of the Church he once ran. Perhaps part of him did it instinctually, he had on many occasions sat out here after all. It was a perfect place to contemplate everything, the good and the bad. Maybe it also reminded him of those twilights with his Sire, where she wasn’t so scary. The gardens of a church had been a place of peace - the last time he had peace. So he sat there quietly thinking, his hands clutching each other in a pretend version of a prayer, his head bowed for prayers he no longer thought God could hear. 

Maybe this just proved  he actually wanted to pray and turn to the light, but he was already a monster. He was chosen for this after all. Salvation for Lukas could only be through the darkness, so he should stop trying to hear the choirs from inside the church. He should stop trying to hold a rosary closely. He should move from his spot, even if just being near the old church gave him comfort. He didn’t need it anymore, and more importantly he didn’t deserve it. Surely though he could stay in the garden outside. After all, Eden was the place where good and evil were hand and hand until it tipped. Surely the snake had the same amount of rights to wander the place as did the rest of creations. 

Even if he was damned, and could only be saved through the darkness, Lukas could still have a place in the garden of good and evil. 

Still, as his spiral started yet again Lukas heard a woman’s voice and for a moment his eyes grew wide thinking it was his Angel - just to realize it wasn’t. Relaxing, he moved to sit up properly and said, “No problem at all. Go ahead." Afterall, he didn’t own the seat, and he was ready to not think about the gnawing questions just at the surface of his damned existence. He didn’t like thinking of the roles he - well wasn’t sure he wanted to play. At the question though he sat for a moment thinking and said, “It’s a good place to contemplate I suppose. What brings you?” 

If Inge believed in God – and that was an if, these days – then she wanted Him to exist in the simplest and most mundane of things. He was the flowers waving in the sun, the light through the trees, the sweet food on the table and also all the rest the world had to offer. The cold of night, the thunderstorm crashing down on the earth’s surface, the feeling of terror like a cold fist around a heart. If she believed in Him, He was something cyclical that she was part of.

Of course, that didn’t negate all she was taught and had once believed. It was ever-present, like a nagging thought in the back of her head. A song that had been stuck there since the moment she gained consciousness. But she sinned so much these days that she couldn’t let it rule her days any more. There was no afterlife waiting for her, anyway. Or so she told herself, convincingly and endlessly. Life was the earth’s pleasures and sorrows for her, and God was in them — and that was the end of that.

But here she was, in front of a church that would disagree with her. Inge lacked self-awareness to see it as anything else than a whimsical decision. “I appreciate it all the same.” The silence was comfortable, but she wouldn’t mind filling it. Conversation was a favorite of hers, after all: there was so much silence in her life, as it stood. “It is, isn’t it? I find churches and their grounds often are. And I don’t know, exactly, I suppose it is contemplation I’m after. I guess I used to find it inside, but it’s been a while. What about you?”

Often now, as he sat in the shade of the trees outside of the Church he wondered exactly how it felt like to be removed from the narrative of Goodness. How he would word it. Lukas always thought of Cain, the first murder, who asked if he was his brother’s keeper. Who had been rejected.  He didn’t realize how cruel it had been, that he had been Marked and told to live forever after walking the world east of Eden. Perhaps Cain still sat outside of holy places as well, waiting for an invitation to go back to God. Idly he wondered if he ever would. 

He wondered idly how many people were like him, sitting right outside of the light, rejected from being welcomed in through no fault of their own. After all, he was tossed aside like he hadn’t mattered. Normally Lukas pushed those thoughts away, convinced he still had a purpose, but surely that meant his purpose was to embrace the dark. If that was the case, sitting in the church courtyard was merely a way of reminding himself that he was not welcomed. He was marked, and he would remain here in this weird in between light and darkness. Neither protected, nor fully rejected the courtyard could provide a sort of Limbo the rest of the world couldn’t. 

“I don’t feel particularly welcomed inside if I am completely honest,” Lukas said with a small nod towards the other, an uncharacteristically solemn look to his face. “So I would rather contemplate outside of the hallowed halls where I do feel welcome to sit and simply be. Although I do believe the inside is beautiful.” It was, at least to Lukas. “Do you come here often then? I don’t think I have seen you before.” 

That was honest. Inge looked at the other, at the solemn look on his face and the truth he offered. People of faith so often claimed to be honest, didn’t they? To lie was to sin and yet, lie they all did. She herself included — but if immortality anything, it was to be above sin. So what did it matter if she lied? Maybe that was why it was somewhat unsettling and strange, that this person she didn’t know spoke with a rawness. Refreshing, even.

And maybe she agreed. Not feeling welcome wasn’t something that usually held Ingeborg back, considering all the breaking and entering she did on a regular base. There was something different about it though, wasn’t there? Maybe there was still that young woman inside her, who turned to her priest in a time of need and expected to be answers. Who thought that maybe a demon was ruining her nights, making it impossible for her to rest without terror. She knew better now, of course: mares were not demons, even if some religious zealots might think so. And for as far as she knew, there was no space for God in the astral, either.

“Neither do I. It’s been too long.” She let out a breath of air, “And I was never catholic, anyway.” That had mattered so much, back at home. The Dutch world split in catholic and protestant, society built on those differences. Inge now thought they mattered little. “There’s something holy about the gardens too though, hm? And no, not often. I have been inside, though, once, maybe twice.” Mostly to see the art. “It’s beautiful. Do you come here much?” She stared at the towers again. “What is it you’re contemplating?”

Lukas almost hummed in agreement on the idea of it being too long. After all, it always seemed that he had just entered the church days ago. If he just calmed his mind he could hear the choir and see the lights streaming through the stained glass windows creating beautiful and awe inspiring lights across the altar, illuminating the scene as he held up the eucharist. 

Still, he knew that it had changed, and it was indeed too long. He knew that even the words had changed, he no longer knew them. He knew that if he tried to touch that sanctified chalice up to God that it would burn him. His hands already bore that fact time and time again. Things that he had loved were already long gone, and while he hadn’t wanted to accept that, the years blurred in a way so he did. 

At the woman’s words,  Lukas chuckled and said, “The gardens are open to everyone I would think.” He did think that, or else he wouldn’t be here on the borderlands between what was holy and what was damned. If he could be here, there was no reason that she couldn’t, no matter what God or path she followed. Perhaps at the end of times maybe one of the loudest people would have been proven right, but Lukas thought there was such a big time before that. 

“The gardens are lovely this time of year, they’ve always been my favorite,” Lukas said with a light nod. They seemed to hold life better than most places and while the Church inside was beautiful and peaceful, there was something about the peace in nature out here. “I try to come out here a couple of times a month.” It wasn’t truly a lie, but more so stated in the opposite. He only allowed himself the calmness of this place twice a month. He couldn’t get used to a  comfort blanket that wasn’t his after all.  “Do you come by often?” 

At the last question Lukas thought for a moment and said lightly, “I suppose what I think about good and evil and an individual’s position to even begin to answer those question. In front of a church it can be hard not to think about that, although I think that’s probably too big of a problem for me.” He had a sheepish smile on his face as he continued, “Did you have any thoughts on the subject?” 

A hum of thought exited her throat at those words, “These gardens are, at the very least.” Those behind the pearly gates of heaven were a little harder to access, weren’t they? Ah, what did it matter — it was hardly a subject to get upset about, in Inge’s case, though she found herself wondering sometimes. Whether it was all real, of course, and if so who had been admitted there.

Where had Vera gone, upon death? Was she up there, looking down? Were her own parents there, too? She wondered if her two still surviving siblings prayed for her. Inge hadn’t prayed for them in quite some time and wondered if perhaps she should, despite the fact that she hadn’t seen them in so long. Hard to do, with her appearance not having changed a bit in forty years. Hard to do, when they all reminded her so much of that horridly bleak and restrictive existence. 

She remembered, with striking clarity, going into the church back in those human days and asking the pastor for guidance. It had been when the nightmares had been at their worst, her mind fraying at the edges because of a constant state of terror. Is He punishing me?, she had asked, as he rubbed his hands and considered her question. There had been so little comfort in his answer, as he’d told her to keep faith.

Inge was glad she’d left the church, even if she hadn’t completely abandoned God. There was no priest or pastor that could speak to her existence any more. “They are very beautiful. A good place for contemplation. A good use of space, too.” She wondered how many vampires roamed this place at night. How the gravestones would look covered in the blood of their victims.

He expressed questions of good and evil. Inge shifted in her seat so she could look at him better. “No, it’s understandable. It’s a large question.” Not one that bothered her much in her personal life, as she didn’t let herself be held back by human debates of morality. But even she had her little moral codes. “I think, these days, I’ve started to see God as someone who’s capable of ambiguity, right? Good and evil.” These were words that would have plenty of her family pale. “And if we are made in His image, then so are we — good and evil. I suppose it is personal, at the end of the day, what you lean towards more. But it’s also natural, that both occur within and because of you.” 

“It’s easy to think, here at least,” Lukas replied about the gardens, thinking thoughtfully about how even in the summer they looked beautiful. Even in the evening, when most people found the Church ominous and there was a sense of forboden, there was something beautiful there. He had heard once, something about the sublime being even more compelling than the beautiful. Maybe that was one of the reasons the Church had always enraptured his soul. It was awe inspiring and compelling - to the point of ego destroying in itself. 

At her shift Lukas looked at the other, for a moment, thinking back to another woman who’d sat not unlike her talking about similar topics. It should have made him nervous, but instead he felt a kind of nostalgia he’d missed over the past decades. While his Angel always prodded and asked questions and gave answers, there was always a glint in her eyes that suggested she didn’t particularly care about her answers or his. She was always playing the devil’s advocate to his sincerity, and for some reason he didn’t think this stranger was. 

He listened carefully, and found himself agreeing with her. After all, had he not come up with a similar conclusion. Still, it was probably why he was sat out here instead of inside of the Church now, a heretic of the highest degree. “I find myself thinking similarly,” Lukas said softly, “After all, what is one without the other? If good or evil were to win over the other would it stop mattering? Theoretically of course, I don’t think in the here and now such ideas matter for day to day living.” 

Well, for most people he supposed they didn’t matter - but for the former Father they did deeply hurt. He fixated on the idea of good and evil - how a balance of them could be achieved. It was hubristic for him to think about this. It shouldn’t have been up to him to decide any of this, but without anyone seemingly looking down what else could he realistically choose? He was denied the ability to be good - that much was clear with what had happened to him. He wasn’t even Job, who could continue to weather the storm even if it seemed as if no God was hearing him. After all, he couldn’t even hold a rosary anymore, much less properly be resolved of sins. 

He had so many sins  on his soul now. It had been 7365 days since Lukas’s last confession after all, and he couldn’t be absolved of any of them. 

Looking back to his companion Lukas continued, “Do you think then that it is up to us then? To decide how much good or evil we contain? Or do you think it is out of our own control?” 

That much was true. The gardens were a good place to think. Inge wondered what it said about her, that she had come here — she wasn’t a person prone to contemplation or reflection, after all. She did it in her art, revisiting memories that had scathed her as a person, but she did not tend to sit down to think. And yet she’d come here, to this churchyard, and joined in on conversation the way she might have when she’d still been Ingeborg Beenhakker, that poor mortal woman. “It is indeed.” Nothing more was said on the matter.

She chalked it up to the gardens, that she was contemplative now. Speaking of morality, using God as a vessel through which to explain and grasp it. She was a woman of little moral qualms now, time and experience having hardened and desensitized her to a point where little held her back. But there were areas where she tried to be good, weren’t they? She cared for the earth and its climate, held social-economic ideas that were idealistic (even if her own greed sometimes went against them) and fought to remain progressive, even as she grew older.

And the things she did to others — that was, perhaps, objectively evil. But maybe all consumption was, especially these days. Mortals got their hands on unethically produced foods but would balk at the sight of a vampire drinking blood or a mare creating nightmares. To eat was to claim something for oneself, an inherent selfish act of care for your own body. To call it evil was redundant, useless. (Her methods, then, those were … questionable, morally speaking, but Inge was far beyond the idea of changing that. It improved her art. It improved some other mortals’ art. And she never took it too far where her sleepers died.) 

“No, I agree. They’re hypotheticals, thinking in black and white — which is at the end of the day, where we as people will always lose. If we humans exist in shades of gray, then so does God.” Inge stretched out her legs, placed her hands on the bench next to her thighs. “Which makes me feel conflicted about heaven and hell. It’s so binary, isn’t it? Purgatory exists, but still, I don’t think that brings the nuance the church sometimes lacks.” 

His question was interesting. Inge thought on it for a second, before shrugging. “Both. There are things outside of our control – the way this world functions, for example, or the things our natures demand of us.” This part was more true for herself and other undead, of course: humans hardly had instincts to harm others (and yet committed that harm all the same). “And yet there is always some semblance of choice. Again, there’s … no black or white answer here, hm?” 

Lukas listened to his companion closely, not wanting to think too much about how his hands looked bloody. He didn’t want to think about how many sins now weighed his immortal soul down. So instead he focused on Inge - something that kept the panic from bubbling up in him. 

She had a similar viewpoint to him, although Lukas didn’t think he was gray at all. He was stained, dragged down to something not quite demon but not at all human. Surely, humans were made to be this gray - easily tilted into either good or evil - but something like him? He must be dark. After all, sun burned his skin and he couldn’t even try to hold holy items. “I agree,” He said softly looking at the steeple thinking about how unfair it all was. 

He continued contemplating deeply, hardly paying attention to his words . “I also can’t help but think there are things in the world - maybe people who are that white and black you know? Maybe most are gray and those examples are there to show the edges. Maybe heaven to some in that case is hell to another. We are all just searching for something then, and maybe everything is just purgatory. ” He paused, and if he could have he might have blushed as he realized that he was thinking particularly raw emotional ideas out loud. “Apologies, I doubt I’m making much sense.” 

Still as she continued Lukas couldn’t help but focus on the ideas - something that was at the heart of his obsessions at times. “I can agree to that. It is possibly too much to ask to go against our own natures, but at the same time too permissive to suggest that we have no responsibilities.” He thought of that verbiage, wondering if he should write that down later. “It is gray too I suppose,” Lukas said with a little chuckle. “Maybe that’s why most of the old philosophers went mad, hm? Always thinking about the nature of good and evil. Still, it’s hard not to think about it.” 

It was hard for Lukas not to after all. Even as a human he thought about it constantly, and now that his ‘role’ was reversed it became even more important to him. If he was casted as a villain now, he should act like it right? Could good really exist without evil? Was it so wrong for him to want to push people to the edge to pull them back into immortality if they weren’t going to heaven anyway? After all, he couldn’t lead people to the light anymore, but he could lead them to immortality anyway. Didn’t those people deserve a chance too? 

Didn’t Lukas deserve a chance? 

Glancing at Inge, Lukas gave a small real smile and said, “I appreciate your thoughts on the matter, though. Thank you for sharing them. Thinking about this outloud is much more fun than thinking about them alone.” 

Things, he spoke of things, people as those things — Inge furrowed her brow at him, wondering what hid beneath his skin, behind those eyes. Was he something else, then? Not just a mere human, but something that no longer counted as a creation of God? Or maybe he was simply edgy, someone who thought differently than most mortals for no good reason besides having some weird philosophy that set some apart from others. 

“You make sense.” She shook her head in disagreement, though, “But no,” she said, “I don’t think there are people – or things – out there who are the perfect extreme, one way or the other. There is no such thing as complete evilness or complete goodness. Shades of gray — some darker, some lighter, but none of them completely one way or the other. It’s like with painting … you never use the pure white or pure black.” 

She had tried to get into philosophy, once, and some of it had appealed to her — but at the end of the day, Inge didn’t tend to think that deeply about life. She was a hedonist, if anything, someone who followed whim and desire and hunger, who cared little about consequence and implication. Some ideals came into play, but most of the time? The world might as well be a planet which revolved around her. (It was, admittedly, something that came with the territory of the loneliness she found herself caught in — but that wasn’t something she wished to admit, either. Her lack of reflection helped in this regard.)

“They thought too much and did too little. Perhaps if they had gone on a few more strolls or had partied some more …” She smirked. “But it’s an endless discussion, I suppose, that of free will and good and evil. No right answer.” Except, of course, her own opinion — but even that was subject to change. “At the end of the day it’s all so very nuanced that there’s no definitive way to answer it, hm?”

She liked that thought, anyway. The in-between space. To mark everything off with harsh lines was not only limiting, but dull too. Why should she call herself a villain, when there were humans more cruel than her – even if their impact wasn’t so directly measured? Why should others call themselves good when they had done plenty of mean things? People – immortal or otherwise – were not so easily defined. She would not be bound by it, anyway.

Inge nodded at the other, agreeing with his statement. “Thank you for sharing your own with me. It was refreshing, if not insightful.” She got to her feet, however, feeling too bare and open than was comfortable. High time to flee. She did dig into her bag, though, producing a business card that bore her name and the address of her studio. “I’m Inge. If you’d like to continue this conversation some day … here’s how to reach me. Enjoy the weather, won’t you?” With the business card in his possession, she turned on her heel and was off, her head significantly fuller of thought than it had been before.

[grazer-razor]

i was thinking, and have come to a conclusion.

FNAF isn't as great as you think. i just woke up, so i'll keep things relatively quick and simplified.

if i recall correctly, scott cawthon entered a phase where he was making smaller games(i checked geeks under grace's interview with him, and didn't hear it, so i must've heard this somewhere else). even if i didn't hear that correctly, FNAF falls in this category, because it's literally just "survive all 5 nights at increasing difficulty" with a few spooky easter eggs. compare this to things like TDH and chipper sons and lumber, which were bigger than FNAF. scott only showed part of his gamedev power and that was the only time he went viral.

but wait there's more.

all that this small game has going for it is basically the horror aspect(and maybe the easter eggs like foxy's pirate song and those crying faces on the wall, which are still pretty small considering how small FNAF 1 is as a game). for a while, i thought that the spookiness itself was fine-ish(because it's possible to provide a thrilling "man VS. wild" experience without adding traumatic themes or imagery. think hiding from the SA-X in metroid fusion, which has a similar atmosphere to FNAF), but recently, god showed to me that FNAF was really not a good game. when i asked him to explain in a way that i could identify, he told me this piece of literal art...

"five nights at freddy's is a crappy game. horror and jumpscares are this game's fame. horror and jumpscares are this game's name. five nights at freddy's is a crappy game." - Yeshua Hamashiac himself (i actually asked god to explain in a way that i could identify a second time, and he said he already did. so i think this was him)

the worst part is that this is the perfect trap for becoming assimilated into the world. while looking at geeks under grace's interview, i saw this-

that last part is full of wisdom. not just making bad games, but PLAYING them is a sign you need to get your heart right with god. i have multiple friends in church who play games like call of duty, bayonetta, and metal gear rising, and while i don't know a lot about COD(it could just be action movie shooter with blood splashes in it), i know enough about bayonetta and MGR to know that they're really not great of games(plot of MGR involves a cyborg ninja being led to believe that he's a killer and ends up ripping a senator's heart out, bayonetta is literally a naked witch communing with demons, yadda yadda). i say this because scott saying this SHOWS that he has some grasp of the truth!

yet, scott ended up making stories like into the flesh and breaking wheel. and even if he co-partnered with writers, the fact that he still let these stories into FNAF canon speaks volumes about what's going on RN.

speaking of that poem/rap/whatever from god, i also asked him about the desolate hope. and he said that it was "an awesome game with beautiful graphics", and that i was "being too hard on scott".

this leads us to the most important part. while scott slipped up a bit making FNAF, he is still a talented man with jesus's love in his heart. even if he's made stuff like the 5th paradox(which we will not talk about aside from linking to a post regarding it), he still has a good enough head on his shoulders to know that you can't just make or play bad video games without having a heart issue.

he has a good enough head on his shoulders to stick firm to his beliefs when pressured by the FNAF fandom(AFTER the majority of FNAF's works were published, mind you!), and explain that he was a christian who was pro-life, republican, ETC.

so what if scott isn't perfect? WHO EVEN IS PERFECT, IN THE FIRST PLACE?

grazer, out!

[agentrouka-blog]

Hello! What's your general opinion on the Faith of the Seven? I feel GRRM expects us to find fault with them more than he does the Starks' old gods but I don't think they're the worst Planetos religion out there. Also, do you think at some point they'll have a reformation as their real life counterpart the Catholic Church did? Thank you

Hi anon!

I wouldn't agree that GRRM is actually depicting them in a worse way than the old gods.

If you want to pick a religion GRRM is showing with a heavy negative bias, Melisandre's R'hllor is right there. We see mainly its most extreme, apocalyptic form with next to no depiction of a more neutral, peaceful, day-to-day application. Same with the Drowned God, there's almost no depiction that isn't connected to a certain dehumanizing callousness.

The old gods aren't much criticized but neither are they much praised. They are prayed to but there is no element of comfort surrounding them, mainly gloom. And then there's the hints at utter darkness: human sacrifice. At White Tree, and in olden times the whole North. The cold black pond at Winterfell's heart tree doesn't mirror the black waters in the House of Black and White for nothing. The old gods are undeniably connected to the threat of the Others one way or the other, so less than a mere religion, we are talking about a magical entity playing its own game.

The Faith of the Seven is - I think - the most fleshed out of all the religions in the books, as well as the least magical one. It's embedded int he world of people. We see the top functionaries and the lowly septons on the ground, we see everyday worship, we see different groups and their role in society, we see hypocrisy and genuine service, we see harassment and comfort, we see people engage with this faith intellectually and we see extremists. They have a dark history of violent conquest by the Andals, but in current times, we also have interfaith marriages (Ned and Cat) and inclusive phrases ("by the old gods and the new") so if nothing else the Faith is flexible. It's complex and interesting and the reader is given a lot to work with on top of calling on the general familiar imagery of the Catholic religion it leans on.

If I had to guess, this one is GRRM's favorite among the asoiaf religions, not because he is generally pro-religion but because he pays so much attention to it.

If there is a bias against the Faith of the Seven in the fandom, it likely has the same roots as bias against the South in general: the misconception that GRRM wants us to consider the North as superior. If he did, he wouldn't show them being just as bad (and just as good) as the South.

As for a Reformation, I couldn't possibly speculate. I'm not particularly informed about the history of the Reformation in its various forms, so I couldn't begin to try and find where the parallels to the Faith of the Seven begin. Nor am I as informed about the theology of the Seven in asoiaf history to see in-universe causes for a wide-spread reform movement. I'm not sure the Faith as it currently exists in the books has the same direct political influence or the same theological conflicts as the Catholic church back then? Are they selling indulgences? Owning vast tracts of land that they rule as feudal lords?

As I said, my brain is unfortunately making static noises on that topic.

[burymeinblack2022]

i used to adore panic from my early to late teens and still listen to the first four pretty often but i just can't for the life of me get into pftw & the three singles. idk if it's cause i don't like urine as a person or if his songwriting is genuinely just awful imo but i can't stop hating on it <3 also i keep seeing people say the new one has pretty odd vibes?? like po was actually good & imaginative idk what they're on about. or maybe i'm just a bitter old person now lmao

tbf i only got into panic right when 'they' were starting the too weird era and even when i was most into them i wasn't *that* familiar with the band's history/drama but no i think ur right lol i don't think he's ever rly been a great songwriter what he's had, however, is a lot of luck and talented ppl in his corner he could hide behind (bc the frontman is always gonna be the center of attention regardless of their involvement in the process)

ryan was always the one responsible for the theatrical/creative aspects and the lyrics in the beggining and you could tell bc there was a shift when he left but it was still pretty good bc of jon's (i think? correct me if i'm wrong) and pete’s involvement in vices. then around that time i think dallon joined, and we know he's a pretty good songwriter and artist in general, and someone else said it best in the tag that too weird was basically repuposed brobecks he didn't release and he carried most of that album on his back ...beebo piss basically just showed up and sang. i quite liked that one but i can't listen to it now bc remembering how shit beebo piss is and my hatred for him vs how much i love certain songs makes trying to listen feel like i'm a demon trying to enter a church lmao 💀

then doab you can tell he was more involved bc it was MIIIIIILES from what the 'band' used to be and a lot more focused on like, lyrics-wise living large and the pursuit of fame, money and drugs with a bunch of high notes so you'd think it was amazing (and my 15/16 y.o ass thought like half that album was THE SHIT for how it sounded) less creative both in lyrics and imagery and more in line with what was popping off at the time instead of going against the current

but like literally with pftw (which even when i was listening to him still i thought was just the cringiest and most try-hard name) is when it really starts to show he's literally just bad lyrics and high notes in a trenchcoat bc dallon wasn't there anymore and there was no one to hide behind so he had to do all that shit himself. i s2g the only time i listened to that album in full, a bunch of songs fused together in my subconscious bc they all sounded SO SIMILAR i knew they were different but they were just....eh i don't remember being super blown away by any of it and it was by far my least favorite bc it was just. SO pop. i simply couldn’t even bring myself to listen to that silver lining song bc the lyrics and the singing were ATROCIOUS like.....oh my god. yeah...

i haven't listened to any of the singles from this album except for a clip of the newer one to see how bad it was and....it wasn't just bad...it was *REALLY* bad. there's this massive post that compares his newer stuff to rejected imagine dragons and i think that's kinda generous bc imagine dragons might not be 'amazing' but at least they're consistent and the vocals/production is alright. even before for mr piss if the lyrics weren't great he could hide behind good vocals, decent production or talented band members but now even his voice, the star of the show, now sounds so strained from all the drinking and smoking that he can't pull those same notes he used to as his 'one trick' so it's straight up unsalvagable because there's nothing going for it like 'oh the song isn't great but the lyrics are good' none of that. it's just ALL bad now.

i've seen ppl say 'oh but he wrote some songs in po and those were good it's bc he has a lot of cowriters' but it's like. if he was actually good on his own he wouldn't need them and working with them wouldn't make the music worse. i think he's gotten way too comfortable over the years with other ppl doing the work for him and letting fame get to his head and he's no longer capable of making anything good bc he's not that person he used to be (and even then idk if he was v good as a person...)*edit: he's also surrounded by yes men and enablers (Idk if that creepazoid Zack is still around...)*he's been beating a dead horse for years after everyone that made it what it was (good, unique,etc.) left and thinking he was too big to fail. now no one's interested in his music anymore bc not only is he shit, his music is shit too. u kinda almost have to wonder how he managed to push everyone away. he should have taken the L and let the band name go years ago but he knows he's nothing without it and anything he can do on his own will never reach that level so he's living in a shadow thriving of the nostalgia of times long gone but it's just starting to not cut it anymore and people are starting to really see it, i think.

also i absolutely from the bits i have unfortunately seen, don't think it resembles po in any sort of way: it's not folksy, it's not imaginative it's just more sterilized top 40 friendly pop that sounds like 50 other artists and you could tell me anyone else made and i'd be none the wiser. there's no heart it in but it's sure to do well.....delusion is one hell of a drug ig

sorry this was so long i get mad talking abt his stupid ass i could dunk on him for dayyyyys

[aprillikesthings]

The Legends of St. James the Greater [citation needed]

Because I'm doing the Camino de Santiago next spring, I've been reading stuff about St. James the Greater, because the stories around him are why the Camino exists in the first place.

And, oh my god, they're Something Else. Because nearly everything I read is either 1. extremely unlikely 2. kinda wince-inducing. at best.

I want to make it clear: I don't think it matters, at this point, how much of his post-Biblical legends are factually true, in regards to walking the Camino. People have been making sincere pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela for so long that bits of him might as well be there, yeah? It's became a sacred place devoted to one of the first of Jesus' apostles whether his actual bones are there or not. Also, quite frankly, many of the legends aren't any more or less believable than anything in the Gospels themselves. Disclaimer over.

Things that were recorded soon enough after they supposedly happened that they are the likeliest to be true:

He was one of the first apostles of Jesus, along with his brother John. The two brothers (plus Peter) were witnesses to some of the more notable parts of Jesus' life and ministry. He was also the first apostle to be martyred; beheaded by sword on the order of Herod in 44 AD. (His beheading is in Acts 12:2, just one sentence: "He [Herod] had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword.")

After that...things get...weird.

Legend has it that he traveled all the way to what is modern-day Spain to preach the Gospel there, and that after he came back to Jerusalem and was beheaded, his body was miraculously taken by angels and set in a boat that washed up on the coast of Spain. During a wedding. Which spooked a horse and rider. Who fell into the ocean. And then emerged miraculously unharmed and covered in scallop shells...and that's part of why scallop shells are symbols of St. James and pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Yeah, okay.

"Oh thank God, I'm not lost." And yes, lots of people get some variation of this as a tattoo. (I know I probably will, ahaha.)

(That all said: there's an Armenian Apostolic Cathedral in Jerusalem that claims to have his head. So maybe the angels only took the rest of him. Who knows? Not me.)

At some point his relics were moved to the location of what is now Santiago de Compostela by some disciples of his (from his earlier visit to Spain? I think?), and the fact that the relics were there was revealed to a hermit by a field of stars in 814. He reported this to a bishop, who told the local king, who built a chapel on that site and is said to be the first pilgrim to Santiago. The chapel became a church in 829, the church was burned down by the Moors in 997, and in 1075 the king started building a cathedral there (it was finished in 1211). In the 900's pilgrims started arriving from all over Europe, and once the cathedral got started their numbers increased dramatically. Both St. Francis of Assisi and Margery Kempe did pilgrimages to Santiago, for instance. Margery did it multiple times, bless her.

But here's the thing: somehow nobody noticed the whole "his body is in Spain" thing until that hermit? And just coincidentally, this was a time when the Catholic church was trying to stamp out the remnants of a particularly popular heresy that had started in Spain. Just saying.

But wait, there's more!

Another thing that was happening in the 800's and for, y'know, a LONG time after (seriously it went on from 711 to 1492); was Christians and Muslim Moors fighting over Spain.

The Christians of Spain named St. James as their patron and protector, in part due his miraculous help in a battle that, uh, never actually happened. The date of the battle is given as 843 or 844, but somehow was never recorded until 300 years later. (Are you sensing a theme here, because I am.)

St. James is therefore sometimes portrayed as Santiago Matamoros, aka St. James the Moor-Slayer. A lot of medieval imagery of him portrays him on horseback, slaughtering people. 😬 Many of the old churches along the Camino include this portrayal--and some of those churches were originally mosques. Oof.

CAN IT GET WORSE? YES.

Look, I'm just going to copy/paste from the wikipedia page on this one: "The iconography of James Matamoros was used in the Spanish colonization of the Americas as a rival force to the indigenous gods, and protector of Spaniards from the indigenous peoples of the Americas. He was depicted as a conquistador."

I mean, thankfully; I won't run into much of that in Spain. But...euggghh.

Anyway.

I kinda feel bad for the actual James, who was just a fisherman working with his dad and brother before becoming one of Jesus' close friends. James was just A Guy! The other apostles apparently found him and his brother kind of annoying! He sometimes had a bad temper! The stories about him in the Gospels just make him sound so human.

There are two common portrayals of our man James all over the Camino: St. James the Moor-Slayer, and St. James as a pilgrim, wearing a floppy hat and robe and holding a walking stick. Much nicer.

Now that's a guy I'd walk across Spain for.

[everysongineverykey]

a new take on deltarune's "second speaker": friend or foe?

alright i will try my hand at this. i know we all assume the second speaker at the end of the gonermaker sequence is someone working with gaster, but... what if they're not? what if they're actually working against him?

see, in his announcement tweets, gaster seems fairly genuine about his goals with deltarune- "AT THAT TIME / I WILL ASK YOU A FEW QUESTIONS." "THEN / USING YOUR RESPONSES / WE WILL APPROACH ITS REALIZATION". kinda seems like he's really intending to do something with our vessel! of course, he COULD be lying, but... i don't think he is. and his speech during the survey is interesting too.

gaster is proud of us and the vessel we've made! he calls it "wonderful" at least twice! he seems to feel like we're really accomplishing something with this form- and then he's abruptly cut off mid-sentence by some other person throwing it all out.

i think he intended for this vessel we made to be our vessel, and then someone else- i don't know quite who- intervened for whatever reason and gave us kris. i mean, the game keeps all but telling us that we Should Not Be Controlling Kris! with the way we're said to be deviating from their normal personality ("kris, are you ok? usually you're not so talkative", etc), and evidence everywhere that they are their own person, kris is, like, the anti-vessel! this story was never meant to be theirs!

of course, there's the matter of gaster saying "AN INTERESTING COINCIDENCE" and "YOU ARE ABOUT TO MEET SOMEONE / VERY, VERY WONDERFUL" when we name ourselves or the vessel "kris", so they probably were originally intended to be part of the story, but i don't think they were meant to be the vessel. i think our vessel was just going to be the one we made in the beginning.

anyways. the point is that "-Will now be discarded." feels a lot like an interruption than a planned switch of speakers. i have no idea who this is speaking. i'd be inclined to say papyrus, but he talks in all caps. it may be chara. it may be dess (though that feels unlikely). it may be "mike" (though that also feels. super unlikely. i think mike is probably just the next chapter's final boss or something. although there is one faint possibility- asriel. continuing under the readmore cause this gets LONG. but hear me out.

think about it. asriel is weirdly absent from deltarune. they say he's off at college, but... i dunno. it feels weird, with the cat dad calling him a "big shot" and thus associating him with spamton for some reason, and with asriel in both undertale and deltarune being heavily tied to angel/god imagery (see previous ties to spamton, who's got that whole heaven obsession, plus in deltarune he sings with the choir at church and goes to "confess" his "sins" even though there's none of that in their religion, plus the angel doll they made or tried to make, etc), it would make sense if he was connected to gaster, who, as the presumed creator of this world, would act as "god".

there's also the "your name is-" *fade to white* in deltarune, parallel with his "my name is-" *fade to white* in undertale. an interesting coincidence.

i think that asriel's got something to do with the creation of deltarune- or possibly not asriel. not deltarune asriel, at least. i think it may possibly be flowey who's up to no good here.

i know we all think it's chara's doing, but they seem like an unlikely candidate- they're dead, after all. i think we just assumed it was them because of the familiarity of white text on an ominous suddenly-black screen. it seems like more of a red herring. i think flowey, with his knowledge of determination and resets and different timelines/worlds, is more likely. you also have the existence of his boss move hyper goner, the skull-shaped blaster he attempts to purge the timeline with in his pacifist battle. that's one of only two times the word "goner" is used in undertale outside of the context of gaster. i think he's almost certainly involved. PLUS the return of asriel probably in chapter 7, predicted by sans to coincide with the return of papyrus- who in undertale was flowey's favorite character to mess with. plus, the simple nihilistic nature of "no one can choose who they are in this world". sounds an awful lot like flowey's black-and-white "kill or be killed" shtick. i know flowey probably developed as a character after the pacifist ending, but i think him messing with gaster's interesting little experiment isn't outside the realm of possibility at this stage. maybe it takes place after the stuff in the alarm clock dialogue. i don't know. all i know is that the seven flowers in asgore's room, and the golden one representing the red soul, aka presumably determination, and being the same color as flowey is way too suspicious not to be a chekhov's gun.

[pinkpruneclodwolf]

*cha-chas real smooth into ur inbox* IM BACK FOR MORE BOISSSSSSSSS AND THIS TIME ITS WITH *drumroll* SEBEK AND JACK.

First of all Jack---Jack's a wolf. While there's a lot more that could be said with Jack his whole thing circles back with him being a wolf and there's actually a lot of symbolism about wolves that you can find in Jack himself. White wolves---or wolves in general are often times linked with freedom or breaking from the status quo---something we can see clearly during the events of savanaclaw, but they are also linked with great instinctive powers (his natural prowess as a beastman maybe?), intelligence, thirst for freedom(?), energy, and social connections, although it can also represent a threat and lack of trust---something we can see through one thing---the fact that he doesn't have a pack yet (or so he says *squints*). Something we see that is slowly changing---much like Ace's character growth his seems to be more subtler and slower. But excluding his character growth for a moment---despite the threat of his lack of trust, Jack is loyal though. As a wolf they are family-oriented (as seen with how he talks about his own family) and its even bluntly stated in his introduction page too, that he's loyal and knows the hierarchy and respects it (as seen with leona and him by the end of the chapter and the events with octanivelle).

From what I could gather wolves were often times linked with guidance and war---this could easily translate to his role in the final chapter of the main story. If Ace and Deuce are the trump cards then maybe Jack would be Deuce's right hand man (since Deuce's motif is militia and warrior/general/king) during the battle Jack would be the one to scout the area and basically aid them in general. I also see this as his way of giving back to Yuu's help in chapter 2 since without their intervention then maybe things would have gone worse, since wolves while feral are helpful once you've helped them in return. This could also open up to Jack becoming more open and trustful to others as a result, making way to bump his character growth further. (As seen in the ending with the White Fang after he attempted and failed to [redacted] he ends up having his own little family in the end and all is well Yana please I am manifesting hear me--the cry of your wee little follower please)

Moving unto Sebek. Odd fact about him is that his name is actually derived from the crocodile God Re in Egyptian mythology. He symbolized fertility as well as death and burial. He was also the patron of kings too (Malleus). His symbolism lightning in a bottle fits well with his own personality, however i feel like his character growth can be found in the lightning--the destruction of ignorance. Him realizing that fae can be too weak and that humans can rise to the occasion would be a slap to his rose-tinted world giving forth to his lightning in a bottle scenario--beating malleus and growing from it. This would also push him into respecting his human counterparts more and would also result him into growing a relationship (read: friendship in case you got your shipping lenses on) with the rest of the crew. Also I read somewhere that Sebek is based on Prince philip and silver is the sword essentially, but I think they're both the swords and prince philip but thats another worddump for next time.

BUT BASICALLY In the fight--its sort of surprising but he'd be actually Ace's right hand man. Is it because of the church imagery? Yes its because of the church imagery. Him being Malleus's warden who he almost borderline revered as like a god and siding with someone who's essentially--lower than Malleus would be a good way to show how much he's grown. Sebek would be Ace's sword since Ace is already the "shield" between him and deuce. (and jack would be Deuce's "shield" since deuce is the sword). Also I almost forgot but the color green symbolizes: nature and life but also rebirth, renewal of life, and even immortality often times (*cough*ortho*cough*epel). There's also the saying getting the green light which means taking action once allowed to which I think fits with his entire personality.

KJHDFJKSHDJKF THIS IS SO SHORT????? IM SO SORRYYY BUT LIKE I have so little to go with the two so I'm sorry. I'll probably go back and resend this to you once we get more info on them both (hopefully jack get's his own event much like epel's) KJSHDJAHDKJAHS Anyways stay safe as always :heart:

IM GOMNA SAY THIS RIGHT NOW

IM ACTUALLY KINDA DUMB

I forgot that Sebek has relations to Sobek, its why Floyd calls him crocodile and Ortho sharing the same theme as Sebek makes fucking sense GOOD GOD I NEED THAT BRAIN FRK.

Noooooo, noo, bc I forgot that one of Ace's themes is also desire, making Sebek the shield ties into his desire for Malleus' acknowledgement and his desire to separate himself from his human half—its why even with having an active human father he's still willing to diss humans because its safer that way.

Idk fae politics but judging by Sebek's treatment of Silver and the other humans Fae are generally mistrusting of humans so someone like Ace (who tricks/traps people for shiggles) being able to break down those walls actually says a lot about both Ace and how Sebek will develop.

See crocodiles share themes of primordial wisdom, authority, efficiency, stealth, fierceness but they also share themes of protection and sovereignty to one's territory— Yuu's house mayhaps????????

Not to mention his knight hood.

Sebek sharing a base with Silver actually means a lot in theory—Silver is more associated with the sword of Prince Philip and Aurora's narcolepsy, the only thing hindering Sebek is his superiority complex towards those he doesn't respect but once he's on your team he's amazing, you can that shine through when Riddle realizes this in one of the personal stories (forgot which).

What is more noble than having your purpose be to "strike down ignorance" while also representing "danger and destruction"?

By tying into Ortho's theme, them having a connection would kinda be funny because electricity and technology are synonymous, but too much can lead to a clash where the nature (Sebek) wins.

Epel could essentially be the Second Adam that brings life or the golden apple that brings immortality—or Sebek/Yuu's redemption ????

We see him play a role in Chap 6 where Ortho's theme is "affront to nature" and he's one of the driving forces behind Yuu as well, Rook also plays a role (Atalanta and her associations with Artemis) not to mention he hangs Deuce "the warrior" and Jack ......

WE NEED MORE EPEL CONTENT I JUST RAN MYSLEF INTO A DEAD END

[your-20th-century-boy]

Under appreciated musician check!!

Y'all i just need a second to talk about Dan Fogelberg. I know very little about him and that seems to be the general picture the internet has on his stuff but like ive done a little digging in the first 7 years of his career.

Here's my personal highlights

I've briefly mentioned this one before when 4 hit 30 hours, but it's the sweetest song I know of.

So often in music people talk of romantic love and platonic love, but I've yet to come across a familial love song like this.

Its a song about his father, and its painted crystal clear. in talking about it he said something along the lines of when his father passed that song left nothing unsaid, and you can hear it for yourself! The words themselves are sweet and poetic, musically being accompanied by an acoustic guitar and the occasional brass instrument (I believe they're French horns)

Now to throw things back is an earlier track, while reading up on him the other night I discovered this album was produced by Joe Walsh which got me excited, Joe is the equivalent of god to my Grandmother and I've grown fond of projects of his, what a small world that these two collaborated!

Music wise its not as simple as Leader of the Band, it's got things like cowbell, bass, piano, and a brief feature of an electric guitar!! Overall a much more upbeat track

Its another story based song, not of one of love but more the meaning of life. Its a story of one understanding the world around them, and from what I understand that things are part of a grander plan.

There's no surprise in a meaning like that it does at times pull biblical imagery. But nothing too in your face go to church and kiss that bible heavy

Lastly, another one off souvenirs (as I really like this album)

This is the closest one in my books to the typical rock sound, though from what I've heard and read generally he can be categorized under "soft rock"

I appreciate this one for that more rock sound, though still heavily reliant on the acoustic guitar it pulls heavier on that electric guitar and piano from earlier.

Lyrically its nothing fancy, its a common trope of "if you've heard ive been sleeping around its a lie", but y'know not every song needs to be a grand novel with a plot, the backing music speaks enough for itself no fancy words are necessarily needed.

Now to wrap my thoughts. I know i have a lot to learn over time, but I love where I'm starting. I think hes a hella strong lyricist and id be lying if I said I never cried to leader of the band (every. single. time.) I also quite enjoy his voice, he can capture quite strong emotions in it if he wished, which is a huge aid to the stories he writes.

[zoanzon]

The Monkey Archives: Episodes 30-35

Guess who's been forgetting to post his updates like he should be? That's right, this idiot!

Technically they'll still be 'fresh' as they were sent to my friend right after listening, I just forgot to actually crosspost them until now.

Merry Hannukwanzmas?

Episode 30

God, the Killing Floor. 0.0

That fucking description, both of the place pre-Incident, and what it was like as a labyrinth. I won't say it's the worst one yet, but it's definitely one of the starker ones.

Also, guessing Tom will be a reocurring/reappearing character; just something about his description makes me think 'supernatural entity/avatar' more than just another person caught in the mess.

(And his place was said to be in disrepair after vanishing: was he stapling meat to the walls and floor?)

Also, the stuff about 'slaughter not ending when you close the door' and all the door imagery in the episode.

- MC seeing the 'Exit' and opening a door into the killchute

- Door into the Pit

- Door into the actual outside, letting him free from the labyrinth and the actual factory

- And, semi stretching it, him resigning right after: he 'shut that door' but the abattoir is still going.

And last thing: the builders commenting that the place is large enough. It's Weirdness is starting to wholly spill free? Perhaps boosted by tje weight of all that blood and pain?

Episode 31

God, just...the British-American comparison/contrast. :D

Guns, and distance, and the demeanor differences...

Also, yikes; wolfman was actually scary. Considering what the story's done so far, guessing we'll see him again down the road...

And damn, the post-transcript; the mess with Prentiss has to shift soon, or else the team is gonna snap (which, I guess, would still shift the situation).

Also, something I've noticed for a while but have been forgetting to note: damn, does John do the voices of the characters exceedingly well. Like, droll/condescending John, versus the emotion in the voices of those he's transcribing, is just amazing. It's reminding me of Will Graham from Hannibal weirdly enoguh, though I can't place why...

Episode 32

oh GOD I LISTENED TO HIVE ON THE WAY TO WORK

God, I'm going to need to relisten to that before I go to the next ep. Will send preliminary thoughts as I can, then will send further thoughts during/after second listening.

[Note: Have not yet relistened, need to do so soon.]

[...]

Ok, on my lunch break, so preliminary thoughts:

Prentiss definitely isn't doing well at transcript time, but unsure how much is her own mental instability - ie, would've happened without the Influence - and how much is her being worn down from the Influence's corruption.

Pretty sure her accounts have codified that 'entity' of the Hive, both as an actual entity and/or perhaps as an 'alignment force', something you resonate with like a tuning fork. There's a phrase that comes to mind from a fic I've read: 'Even inert objects can still shape other ones.'

I'm not sure if the Hive is anything we'd consider 'sapient', but that could be even worse in some ways.

And the Hive hates the Institute, and seeing/understanding stuff. (Eye's domain, perhaps?) So Prentiss isn't just fucking with Martin; she might be gearing up to try and raze it. (Or, she's got Plans, which honestly is more terrifying than plain destruction.)

Also, she used the term Beholding. I've seen that in one or two TMA posts before I started listening, though I don't remember the context; I have a feeling her usage is...unfortunatly correct.

(Ie, both correct, and unfortunate for being so.)

God, just all the ways this chapter relates to the underlying myth arc...

Episode 33

Makes me think of a lottery of sorts? Like, 'The Lottery' where they stone people, or something like Hunger Games. Needing to feed something, or pay a tole perhaps?

(Curious why Sean was voted for and not her, if she kept asking questions the crew didn't want to answer.)

Wondering if the Tundra transports a single piece of cargo, rest is just 'dressing' to keep the facade up.

Also, interesting insights into Lucas family, and their fingers in many paranormal pies. And Elias; I'm torn on whether he's unaware of the true depths of the paranormal stuff, if he's trying to protect John and the others by trying to keep them out of things, or if he's very aware of what they're poking their noses into in a 'secretive, perhaps antagonist' way.

Episode 34

Ok, those kids were creepy. Unsure if we'll see them again: my guess is that, if this connects ro the larger meta-arc, it'll be the main character - Dr. Elliott - reappaearing, or will use John's noting of other academic circles giving the Institute shit as foreshadowing for an arc with 'other institutions attacking the Magnus Institute'.

Also, lol at Dr. Elliott being perfectly fime with the older equipment, especially after my comment guessing 'giving the equipment shit' would be a reoccuring thing.

Episode 35

GOD, Lightner. Also, he's actually encountered in-transcript; guessing the Institute will have fun with that. (Writing this just as tje transcfipt ends, before John comments on the file.)

Also, hey there Jarod! Glad to know you've been in this mess from the teens. (Also, listening to Megadeth; wonder if that's a nod-to anything, lol)

Also, if that room/the tunnels aren't plot-relevant down the road, I'll eat my metaphorical hat; and the same goes for architect Smurk, especially with John noting the paranormal spike regarding his buildings.

(And yes, I'm guessing Smurk's attempt to design churches WILL be relevant to later myth-arc.)

Also, the end of the episode, ohhh dear. I'm...pretty sure I can guess what company just dropped off a package...

(Here's to hoping it's not a coffin...)