#yeah it’s quite a religious symbol no i’m not christian it goes crazy all over literature ok

[soloavengers]

Thorns.

The prickling symbol of moral struggle, of past sins, and of redemption. Thorns tell of the suffering and self-sacrifice through which a greater purpose is achieved. They are a challenge that one must grow to overcome, or a risk one might take when picking up a pretty rose for their love. Thorns are both our resilient guardians against evil, and are the obstacles and trials which shape us. Representing the human condition, by showing the intertwining nature of beauty, sacrifice and growth. Thorns are stinging reminders of the pain that accompanies that growth, and the beauty and joy it will result in.

[ms-rampage]

Eden’s Gate: The Mother Chapter 1 - Hope County

Warnings: Some swearing

Word count: 1.8k

Where it all began. 

Summary: Mandy Winchester, a single mother who lost custody of her 2 teenage daughters 4 months earlier passes through Hope County, Montana that has been liberated by a doomsday Cult. Upon arrival in Hope County she catches the attention of a certain Leader.

Guest OCs: None

Guest Characters: Archangel Raphael (Supernatural), Chuck/God [mentioned]

Note: This takes place in 2012. Supernatural & Far Cry 5 crossover. 

*********

*Ace of Spades by Motorhead plays over the radio*

If you like to gamble, I tell you I’m you man

You win some, you lose some, all the same to me

41 year old Mandy Winchester drives down the road entering Hope County, Montana.

Passing through to get some gas, food, maybe some beer and rest.

Drumming her fingers along with the song on the wheel, singing along with the song.

The pleasure is to play, makes no difference what you say

I don’t share your greed, the only card I need is the Ace of Spades

The Ace of Spades .

Playing for the high one, dancing with the devil.

Going with the flow, it’s all a game to me.

Driving down the countryside road.

Seven or eleven, snake eyes watching you

Double up, or quit, double stake, or split- 

Not even halfway through the song, the radio cuts out with static. Changing it to some depressing Christian music.

“What the hell?!?” she says, trying to fix the radio.

When none of that helps, she shuts it off. Driving in silence. 

She was told she had to go to Hope County by Archangel Raphael. He didn’t say much on why she had to go. 

All that she had to protect a certain man.

Because “God was gonna speak with him, or that God spoke with him about the end”. Something like that. 

She doesn’t even know this man’s name, or what he looks like. But he did say that she’ll know when she sees him. Her gut will tell her, that still didn’t help. She thought she was wasting her time, she could’ve been looking for her husband’s killer, but Raphael said that this will “help her with what she needed” whatever that meant.

She drives down the road in the Henbane River. 

Nothing unusual, seems like a normal country town. She pulls into the Misty River Gas station. Getting out, putting gas into her truck. 

A quiet town. She knows her daughters would’ve loved it here. As gas is being pumped into her truck, she looks around.

“Passing through?!” a man’s voice asks from behind her.

She turns around to face him, “Yeah, I’m here on business”.

He nods, “Well be careful. There’s a lot of crazies here”.

She chuckles, “Don’t worry”, she pulls out her .45 pistol, “I got that covered”.

He nods his head, smiling, “Well that’s a good start”.

She takes the pump of her truck putting back in the gauge.

“Where can I find a place to eat?!” she asks him. 

“Well you can go to the Spread Eagle bar that's over in Holland Valley, 8 Bit Pizza, Aubrey’s Diner or Whistling Beaver Brewery they’re here in Henbane, or you can go to the Grill Steak that’s over in the Whitetail Mountains”.

Mandy nods her head, “Which one do you prefer?!?”.

He takes a moment, “I would say Spread Eagle”.

She nods her head again, “Alright I’ll check it out. Thanks”.

“No problem. Have a nice day ma’am” he says, going back inside the gas station. 

Mandy takes off down the road. Crossing over a bridge leading to Holland Valley.

“Okay where is this place?!” she asks herself.

Driving through Falls End, she spots the bar. Parking her truck outside. She walks in to it with the smell of chicken wings, and whiskey. Looking around the bar, its not too busy, not too slow, she takes a seat at the bar.

A blonde young woman behind the bar approaches her.

“What can I get you hon?”

Mandy looks down at the menu attached to the bar counter.

“Uhh, I’ll have Guinness, and some chicken wings. Buffalo sauce on the side please. Thank you”.

She gives her order to the cook, and gives her a bottle of Guinness.

“You’re not from around here are you?!” she asks.

Shaking her head, “No, I’m just here on business” she answers.

“What kind of business? If you don’t mind me asking” she asks.

“FBI” she replies. 

She raises her eyebrows, “Really?”.

 She laughs, “No, I’m joking. I’m just passing through”.

“I see you got a sense of humor. We need that around here” she says, cleaning glasses. 

“What’s it like around here?!’ Mandy asks, before taking a sip of her beer.

“It’s quiet. But beware there’s a Cult growing here” she says.

“A Cult?!” she questions.

“Yep, they’ve been growing, kidnapping people to join, stealing property.”

“What about the police?! What are they doing about it?!?” she asks.

Mary May scoffs, “They ain’t doing fucking shit. We have to fend for ourselves”.

“I’m Mary May by the way"

“Mandy” she says. 

“Nice to meet you Mandy” she greets.

She gives Mandy her food, and she eats them, while chatting with Mary.

“So what’s this Cult?!” she asks.

“They’re called the Project at Eden’s Gate”

“A religious cult. They’re the worst” she jokes.

“This Cult ain’t no joke. They’ve kidnapped people, forcing them out of their homes, taking over businesses, killing innocent people if they refuse to join them” Mary tells her, while cleaning the counter, “They’ve tried taking my bar. My father’s bar. I did everything I could to protect this place”.

They talk for another hour, and a few beers later, Mandy leaves for a motel in the Henbane River that Mary May had recommended, King’s Hot Springs Hotel, to get some shut eye. 

She planned on leaving the next day, but unfortunately due to the Cult, she’s trapped in Hope County. Now she has a reason to “protect” this man who is living in Hope County. Doesn’t know his name, what he looks like, none of that shit.

While driving back to the Henbane, on her way to the hotel, she slams on the brakes to her truck. When three bald people run in front of her truck. Looking like they escaped a mental asylum.

“Oh shit!!!” she yells, slamming on the brake pedal. That scared the living shit out of her.

“What the fuck?!?” she says under her breath.

She continues her drive to the hotel. Arriving at the hotel, she walks in, goes up to the front desk

She’s able to get a room, despite all the Cultists running around and stealing properties.

Mandy’s showers, and goes to sleep.

Figuring out who this person Raphael told her about in the morning. In the middle of the night around 1:30am, a loud crash sound of glass breaking from downstairs in the lobby wakes her up. 

Gun shots, and the sound of bodies dropping. Making her room windows vibrate. Heavy footsteps, moving up the stairs. She reaches over to her nightstand, and grabs her pistol.

Waiting for whoever that broke in, to break into her room. 

After a few minutes, her bedroom door bursts open, and before they could even take a step in, and see her.

She fires two bullets at them, one in each of their skulls. Killing them both.

“What the fuck?!?” she mutters.

She checks them both, and one of them as an usual symbol on their forehead. 

“What the fuck is that?!?” she asks herself, examining the symbol. She has never seen anything like it before.

She moves the bodies out of her room, and into the hallway away from her door.

She tries to go back to sleep, but fails to do so. Staying up, listening to every little sound. The sun finally comes up, Mandy gets dressed, and goes downstairs.

The clerk that checked her in is dead, the bellhop is dead.

A few people that were staying there are dead.

She quickly leaves the hotel, and drives towards Aubrey’s Diner for something to eat. On the drive there she sees that same exact symbol on a billboard.

“What the hell is that damn symbol?!?” she asks out loud to herself.

She pulls up to the diner, and it’s been taken over by Cultists.

“Are you fucking serious?!?” she says.

She drives away, and pulls over to the side of the road, near a huge field with cattle.  She sighs, closes her eyes and prays to Archangel Raphael.

“Hey Raphael, it's me Mandy Winchester. You told me to come to Hope County, Montana to protect some man. You didn’t even tell me his name, or tell me what he looks like. So get your feather ass down here, and give me that information!!”.

After a few minutes of silence, she’s about to start her truck and drive away when the fluttering of feathers, and the Archangel appears in her passenger seat.

“Well it’s about time!” she says.

“You prayed for me?!” he asks.

She nods, “Yeah, you told me to come here to protect some man. I don’t know from who, or from what. But you told me I needed to protect him because of Chuck”.

Raphael sighs, “His name is Joseph Seed. You can’t miss him, he wears yellow sunglasses, and is often shirtless. A very distinguished character”.

Mandy shrugs, “Okay where would I find Joseph Seed?!”.

“His compound. The middle island between the Whitetails, and Henbane. The one that's all fenced up” he says.

“Okay, so what do I do?!” she asks.

“You’ll have to wait” he says.

“For what?!”.

“For him to approach, or ask for you. God has mentioned you to him” he tells her.

“Why would Chuck say that to him?!” she asks, concerned. 

“He didn’t say. All he said to Joseph was that “A woman will make herself clear to you, and will be your guide”. That’s all he said to me, but I’m sure he said more to Joseph”.

Mandy sighs in frustration, “Great, so what do I do?!. Just sit around, and wait for him to notice me?!”.

“God will tell him of your arrival” he tells her.

“So when I do meet him, what do I say to him?!?. “I’m here to protect you?!”, or “God sent me?!”, what do I tell him?!”.

“Whatever Joseph says to you. Go with it. It is important that you protect him. From death, being arrested, anything that’ll cause him to be gone, or in danger”.

***********************************************

Joseph’s compound

The Church of Eden’s Gate just finished having their sermon, spoken by The Father Joseph Seed.

God has been speaking to him, about the arrival of a particular woman that will guide the Project to the gates of Eden.  After the sermon, Joseph gets lost in a trance, lost in his visions, he closes his eyes, the voice speaking to him.

Telling him, “She has arrived, she is here. She will show herself. The Mother will guide you, and your flock to the New World”.

Mandy’s face shows in Joseph’s mind. Her smile, driving in her truck, filling it up, eating at the Spread Eagle, checking into the King’s Hot Springs Hotel, and killing one of his followers. 

“Father?, Father Joseph? Are you okay?” one of his followers asks.

He opens his eyes. “Yes my child. It was just a vision" he responds.

“A vision?” they ask.

“Yes, she has arrived. The Mother has arrived” he answers, turning to face them.

[pocketbypass]

HWASA IS JESUS + other christian symbolism and scenes explained by a fan

I’ve already posted this on Youtube. But it’s late, my fingers hurt, and I spent 2 hours on this. So...give it a read? Please? 

As you all probably already know, the vita teaser of this song was published three days after the morte teaser version. And Hwasa is religious (Maria is her Christian name and she tricked Wheein into getting baptized as Gabriella - fun story). A Moomoo on Twitter pointed out that Hwasa probably intended to draw parallels between her and Jesus. Because like the teasers, Jesus rose from the dead after three days.

Now for my thoughts. I'm writing this after probably a hundred loops of Maria, so I could be crazy and wrong. But hear me out. This song and MV has so much meaning, including tons of parallels to Christianity. Let's talk about a few scenes and what they could mean.

At the very start of the song, Hwasa is shown lying in a pool of blood much like a swimming pool, while police safety tape is being drawn up and over her. Meanwhile, shadowy figures in the background are taking pictures. This is meant to represent a crime scene, with Hwasa as the murdererd. A spiked, thorny crown lies next to her. Pay careful attention to it.

Because a few moments later, Hwasa is shown again - this time standing behind the people taking pictures EVEN THOUGH SHE HAS BEEN SHOWN DEAD (metaphorically anyway lmao). I'll tell you what I think of this later. (but like: psst, Jesus rose from the dead. This could be. yknow...)

The next scene: lighters are being offered to Hwasa as she holds a cigarette, each one craving her attention, her recognition. Several people have already pointed out how this scene is meant to reference a film called Malena, so I won't go into too much detail here. Needless to say, Malena is a sad story about a sad woman who is reviled by women and obsessed over by men when she embraces her extraordinariness, and ultimately ends up hiding what made her special in order to fit in with society. I believe it parallels Hwasa's own story in so many ways. Hwasa never quite fit into the stereotypical mold of Korean idols, as harsh as it is. In her first few auditions, they would tell her that she could sing, just that it was a shame that she was so fat. That's..only the tip of the iceberg. As a Moomoo, I feel lucky every day that Hwasa joined RBW instead of giving up, and that those at the company and her bandmates support her. Ultimately, I feel like that's what the OT4 (BLESS) scene at the end is meant to represent - without them, Hwasa would have been Malena. She would have given up on her extraordinary talent and abilities, and we would never be here at all watching this MV.

I'm just. emotional. Ack. I love Ahn Hyejin so much!!!

Moving on. The bloody scene (yeah, you probably know what I'm talking about right? It's kinda unforgettable) where Hwasa sits at a table, surrounded by people. What is she serving? A plastic heart. What are the others eating? (I squinted really hard for this). A mouse wrapped in cords. Another plastic heart. Lego, CDs, and a bunch of cables. And yet, only the heart that Hwasa's holding has blood on it. The rest is all just plastic and machine. Cold and unfeeling. She looks at us, blood splattered down her front, with what seems to be a Malena-cigarette in her mouth. She takes it out. It's not a cigarette, it's a lollipop. What is Hwasa trying to tell us here? The people sitting at the table have eccentric, wildly different hairstyles and clothes. Is this a subtle dig at the Kpop industry? A part of me wants to say that since the song is about Hwasa affirming herself, this whole strikingly-gorey-yet-not-really scene could represent how cold and unfeeling some people can be, directing slurs and swears at a person who turns out to have a real heart behind the glamorous facade. This could very well be a representation of the hatred she receives for simply being Hwasa. That could very well explain the smile she gives them when she's seated at the head of the table, but the neutral, almost dark expression she gives the camera when her back is turned to them.

Likewise, when their heads are covered with red cloth, it could be symbolizing how their perception of her is already settled. They do not want to see her, the real human being, only taste the flavorless, hard plastic parts they already have.

Once again, the pool is shown. This time, there is no crown, no crime scene. Hwasa is inside a pool of white sprinkled with red roses. She looks far more alive than she did in the bloody water - she tilts her head and smiles. Remember what I said about Jesus? How he was reborn? My theory is that Hwasa 'died' and people took.joy in orchestrating her 'death', only for her to rise again, like a phoenix (yes im linking this to her red hair as well lmao).

Even the hospital scenes can be explained with this. First, Hwasa awakens in a dentist chair of some sort, dressed in a straitjacket. Then the camera cuts to a heart monitor, where the heart rate slowly rises from 50 to 51. For context, the typical human heart rate is from 60-100. Hwasa died. But she's alive again.

This doesn't come easily to her - she's shown huddling in a corner as pencils enroach on her. And yeah they're pencils. Extremely sharp ones. Representing the hurtful words of others.

...But also stakes. This might be a bit of a stretch, and I beg you not to think I'm stretching, but Jesus was nailed to the cross with stakes driven through his hands.

She goes a little mad in the next few seconds. We see her walking through hallways of a hospital as black wavy lines ripple around her. She reaches a crown - the same crown lying near the pool earlier - and picks it up. Puts it on her head. This, too, represents the crown of thorns that Jesus wore as he died. Perhaps Hwasa putting the symbol of her suffering on her head means that she's decided to embrace herself. Maybe she's just a fucking queen. I wouldn't know. After all, this is only my interpretation. I COULD be wrong. I still don't know what the scissors at 2:30 and 2:37 means. So I'd love for people to comment and tell me anything I missed or could improve on! 

Or just like it, cause I spent two hours on this and I have homework rip.

tl;dr: Hwasa is Jesus. Thanks for reading! I love you. And I'm sure Hwasa does too.