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sawcathuntingplainrawlasagna · 1 year

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Analysis of Avatrice as Talk and NFWMB by Hozier

I’ve been thinking abt these songs and how well they could be about Ava and Beatrice so here goes nothing

Disclaimer: this analysis is completely detached from the original meanings behind the songs. I approached the lyrics on their own and by completely ignoring the original intentions behind them.

Bea’s POV - Talk

The song begins with the line:

I'd be the voice that urged Orpheus When her body was found

Instantly, two things - first off, Avatrice is very the-myth-of-Orpheus-and-Eurydice coded and secondly, there is no way Beatrice doesn't know all about greek mythology and in particular about this exact myth. I just know her gay ass knows it by heart and is very deep into greek mythology. And also it reminds me of Portrait of a Lady on Fire which I cannot imagine not being a favourite of Beatrice's.

About the actual line - the so-called voice is one that urges Orpheus to go to the Underworld and try bring back the love of his life - Eurydice (exposing him to danger, making him do something irrational).

Beatrice risked the mission and the world in order to keep Ava and it makes a lot of sense she would see herself in this 'voice'. A voice urging to be followed into the greatest of dangers.

This ties to the next lines as well.

I'd be the choiceless hope in grief That drove him underground I'd be the dreadful need in the devotee That made him turn around And I'd be the immediate forgiveness In Eurydice

She sees herself as the problem. The problem which leads to all danger.

The narrator sees himself as all dangerous and tempting and so does Beatrice. Her feelings are putting their mission, their lives to danger. She sees herself as something that needs to be put out, a fire that is a little bit too dangerous.

As for the forgiveness in Eurydice, I assume it speaks to the part after Orpheus looks back. To me this is acceptance of this vision of herself. She has accepted she is someone, who imperils the natural, right, way of things and has based a shit ton of her decisions on that information.

Imagine being loved by me

And then there is the actual craving that peeks underneath it all - Beatrice actually dreams of taking care of Ava. But actually she already does, she wants Ava to just try and imagine it - what they could be together. She isn't even asking of her to actually answer Beatrice's call, to be loved, she wants her to imagine it. It doesn't have to be reality. She wants Ava even if it is only in her dreams. It is an image she often thinks of and doesn't dare try to make into reality.

But it also reveals something more. She knows what she can offer. The image is a good one. She knows the lengths to which she will go in order to have Ava. She knows how much she can give (because she has already done that before in her life, probably didn't end well). She probably knows it's not good for her, but she cannot help herself.

It could also be a kind of question to herself and to Ava, which she tries to answer in her head. Can Ava imagine being loved by Beatrice? Is that a possibility?

I won't deny I've got in my mind now All the things I would do So I try to talk refined for fear that you find out How I'm imaginin' you

Beatrice fantasises about Ava. About what they can be and all the things she would do. Not only when they are together, but also to get them be together. Whether that be changing seats in the van or killing off 30 armed men.

And she does talk refined. She calculates all her words and rethinks her sentences 3 times before saying them out loud. She doesn't give away her internal monologue (not with words anyway). She is reserved because she does not want to rebut their mission (and the world's well being for that matter), but also because she is scared of rejection. Right, the tough, calculating and precise Beatrice has feelings. Feelings that run very deep to say the least. And Beatrice is scared. Scared of her feelings, scared of letting the world down, scared of letting Ava down.

She talks refined in an attempt to hide behind her words, or rather sometimes lack there of. She talks refined to hide away her fear.

I'd be the last shred of truth In the lost myth of true love I'd be the sweet feeling of release Mankind now dreams of That's found in the last witness Before the wave hits, marvelling at God Before he feels alone one final time and marries the sea Imagine being loved by me

This second verse to me is once again about all the things Beatrice can and is so willing to give to Ava. All the good things she can be for Ava in the time they have together, before it all goes to hell.

I won't deny I've got in my mind now All the things I would do So I try to talk refined for fear that you find out How I'm imaginin' you x2

It is Beatrice finally accepting it all - her love for Ava, her attraction towards her, all the things she feels with her (old and new), all the thoughts that keep her awake at night, all the things she would do, all the circling around the point, all her passion.

and then

Ava's POV - NFWMB

NFWMB begins with the lines:

When I first saw you The end was soon

This line to me refers to the end of Ava's ordinary life, the end of the world as they know it and the end of Shannon's life as well.

'The end' was what brought them together and what (tried to) set them apart.

Ava remembers the exact moments she first saw Beatrice and how that was connected to the 'ending of the world'. Most importantly how that made her feel.

To Bethlehem it slouched And then, it must've caught a good look at you

Biblical references, of course, very on brand :). The end (?) slouched for Bethelehem, I interpret as a very destructive force headed for something divine. And this also fits the setting of Warrior Nun quite well, which kind of wraps it up with the exposition and gives way to Ava's feelings.

Might be a little bit of a stretch, but I feel like giving an exposition is the way Ava has been taught to begin stories, because of all the TV and books she has seen/read. She tells this story like a tale.

Give your heart and soul to charity 'Cause the rest of you The best of you Honey, belongs to me

And now we enter our topic of interest - Avatrice.

Ava knows how pure Bea's heart is and this mission that she is so emerged in seems like charity work. Not that Ava thinks Bea's intentions are entirely pure, more so that she knows how unintentionally Bea has gifted her youth to something, to a cause, to a belief. She has seen enough brutality. She knows that Bea's devotion has grown to be very strong.

But this devoted, ghost of a person that Beatrice has given to the OCS is not what her heart contains. Ava sees that. The rest of Beatrice is in Ava's eyes not 'the rest', but actually the most essential part of her. This part shines so brightly for Ava. And even though Camila and Mother Superion for example know that there is more to Beatrice, they have not seen her like that, they have not been able to read her so clearly.

This part of Beatrice is exclusively reserved for Ava, and her alone.

This line also exudes a lot of confidence. Confidence Ava has and shows, confidence with which she moves through the world and which is also one of the things that Bea is so attracted to.

She isn't being cocky or flaunting Bea's feelings, rather is telling a very big truth in a very honest way. This type of honesty about such big feelings can only work between two people who have complete trust and know how to communicate.

Ain't it a gentle sound, the rolling in the graves? Ain't it like thunder under earth, the sound it makes? Ain't it exciting you, the rumble where you lay? Ain't you my baby, ain't you my baby?

This brings a very new perspective to the world surrounding them and a direct opposite to the way Beatrice feels in the world. Ava reveals a type of sweetness in all the danger. This is not to say that it is fun to see so many get killed or to have to fight such brutal fights, but to call out an inevitable truth of it all - they are not doing it all for selfless reasons. In fact, a lot of what they do is for selfish reasons and there is no need to hide that. Ava seems to be very honest, while Beatrice is one to conceal.

What they do, even if motivated partly by inevitably selfish reasons, is still very hard. This is Ava’s appeal to Beatrice to relax and loosen up.

Nothing fucks with my baby Nothing can get a look in on my baby Nothing fucks with my baby Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing

Ava has been very protective of Bea, risking it all not only once. And even though Bea has done the same, it is different with Ava. Bea is everything Ava has and the first person who has been there for her and continues to be by her side, no matter what. So Ava will fight with teeth and claws to protect that. The repetition of ‘nothing’ seems to highlight how Ava would do anything and everything to protect Beatrice.

If I was born as a blackthorn tree I'd wanna be felled by you Held by you Fuel the pyre of your enemies

Blackthorn trees are associated with witchcraft and ill omen. The Halo feels like a burden to carry, almost like carrying the cross. In a situation where Ava has to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders, the only thing she wants is to be ‘felled’ by her lover. It is a play of words - the word sounds both like ‘felled’ and ‘felt’. Felled as in saved from it all. Saved like how christians aim to be saved by God, only God is a divine woman named Beatrice. And felt as in not only physically, but also emotionally. She wants them to be together in all ways possible. Physically, emotionally, here, now or somewhere else, some time else. In this life or the next.

Fuel the pyre of your enemies is an act of devotion. She wants to do the dirty work, she wants Beatrice to know.

Ain't it warming you, the world gone up in flames? Ain't it the life you, your lighting of the blaze? Ain't it a waste they'd watch the throwing of the shade? Ain't you my baby, ain't you my babe?

While the world is burning, so is their growing mutual love. The world burning is after all what brought them together, because of it they met at all. Ava is using the world going up in flames as a metonymy for their love growing bigger.

The world going up in flames is also the umbrella that covers their love story. While the world will be busy with its own destruction, underneath it all a great love story will have ran. An undercurrent determining the fate of the world. It is after all their love that is the core of it all, the determinator of fate.

Nothing fucks with my baby Nothing can get a look in on my baby Nothing fucks with my baby Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing

And one last time, nothing can do harm to Beatrice as long as Ava is there. Nothing can even try and take a glance at bisexual jesus’ hot gf Beatrice (throwback to Ava murdering the girl in the bar with her eyes for daring to look at Beatrice). Looking at Beatrice is reserved for Ava, because only her gaze can do justice to Beatrice’s beauty.

In conclusion

NFWMB is a very fiery song, revealing someone ready to fight, someone who gets angry when their gf is being flirted with.

Talk is a very watery song, for someone who feels and thinks deeply, someone who gets sad when they think their gf is being flirted with.

Fire can also be gentle and warming. It needs support to burn, but can get out of control fast.

And water can be very powerful and persistent. It is healing, but also should not be undermined in its destructive properties. (it can also make ur pants wet ;))

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But what I love the most about Warrior Nun (and Portrait of a Lady on Fire for that matter) is that the two women are equal in all ways. Meaning that these two songs can very well be swapped and would also make a lot of sense the other way around :)

We see them slowly switching positions and beliefs throughout the two seasons and the two songs can be used as reference points to the beginning and ending states of their beliefs. the binary oppositions at hand are freedom - duty, honesty - hiding, openness - reservation etc. They share a lot of the same qualities in their cores, but swing very heavily into extremities. An example is Ava who is very honest and direct in the beginning, sharing most of what goes on in her head, to Ava at the end of the second season, who straight up lies to Beatrice and hides her true plans.

There is something incredible about how Ava and Beatrice absorb so much from each other. They are almost like guiding lights to each other, but in such a morally grey world that we cannot actually tell which of the things they absorb are good and which not. We are gays, though, so definitely whatever keeps them together, right?

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This was my humble analysis, I hope you enjoyed it and if you actually made it this far, I love you and thank you.

Take care, gays.

Drink your water, go outside and do not forget to breathe.

and of course keep begging for #SaveWarriorNun :)

Screenshots of the whole lyrics of Talk and NFWMB below.